When I was younger I would spent hours upon hours playing the Sims, so much time would go into creating the perfect houses for each of the families I created. Granted I don’t play it at all now, but this tag brought back some fond memories for me. I was tagged by Heather at The Sassy Book Geek. Thanks so much for the tag Heather, I had a lot of fun with this one so I hope you enjoy reading my answers just as much.
The Original Sims:
The best author debut.
The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
This was one of my favourite reads of 2016, and actually if it hadn’t been for Crooked Kingdom I think The Star-Touched Queen would have been my top read of that year. It was full of such beautiful writing, and an incredible world that I just wanted to fall into and live in for the rest of my life.
The Grim Reaper:
Saddest character death.
*SPOILERS BELOW: Proceed at your own risk.*
Gabriel
Half Lost by Sally Green
I didn’t see this death coming. I mean, I assumed something terrible would happen to Nathan and/or Gabriel, but I still hoped it wouldn’t be this. The worst part is because of the way the next chapter began I didn’t actually think Gabriel had died, but then when it was revealed Nathan was hallucinating Gabriel it was like a punch to the throat. I was in tears on the train home reading this book.
Sims Getting Stuck:
A character that just got in the way.
Mal
The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
Yes he’s one of Alina’s love interests, and yes Mal has been her friend since they were children, but in every single book it seemed like he was holding her back. Mal was the reason Alina suppressed her power, he didn’t like Alina being a Grisha or moving so far beyond where he was. Even when they weren’t together it seems like he was always on Alina’s mind and as such still in her way.
Simlish:
A book with amazing writing.
I know the prompt said book, not author, but I never could’ve picked just one Laini Taylor book for this question. She’s an incredible author, all of her books are full of fantasy and magic, and while it can take a while for me to fully immerse myself in her books I know it’ll be well worth it when I’m hooked on the story.
A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland
This was such a beautiful book, and not at all what I expected based on the blurb. I thought A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares would be a fun story about a girl facing death to break a family curse, but what I got was much deeper than that. Krystal Sutherland has written a beautiful book that tackles some important issues, such as mental health, in an emotional and moving story.
Expansion Packs:
A series where the books keep on getting better.
Dark Gifts series by Vic James
Gilded Cage was good, granted there was a few issues with the story and the characters but what first book doesn’t have a few things to iron out. The second book however was incredible. Tarnished City was fast-paced, dangerous, darker and so much more intense. I was hooked from the very first page and now can’t wait for the third book.
Sim Romance:
The worst case of insta-love.
Alyosha and Kara
Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza
When he was first introduced I quite liked Aly’s character, but then Kara was introduced and that all changed. Aly seemed to feel more for this girl he’d met a few days ago than his best friends, his brothers, who he’s known for years. It was a serious case of insta-love, and not a relationship I enjoyed reading at all.
Ella and Christian
The Truth and Lies of Ella Black by Emily Barr
This book has probably the worst case of insta-love I have ever read. Ella’s and Christian’s eyes meet as he is leaving an elevator she is about to get on (something like that) and all of a sudden she knows this is the person she has been waiting for her whole life. He’s her soulmate, and she’s practically planning their life together, just from a single one-second glance.
Cheats:
A book that was entirely unrealistic.
I primarily read fantasy books, so every book I pick up is unrealistic. As fun as they are, let’s face it, in the real world there are never going to be big feats of magic performed.
The Fandom by Anna Day
The Fandom tells the story of four friends who end up transported into the world of their favourite book. It’s something every fan has dreamed of when it comes to their favourite book/series, I know it’s something I’ve dreamed of, but after finishing this book I’ve realised how much safer it is just reading about all the epic and dangerous adventures my favourite characters have.
Needs Fulfilment:
A character who made all the wrong decisions.
Quinn
Wesley James Ruined my Life by Jennifer Honeybourn
Quinn wanted to ruin Wesley’s life for something he did when they were younger, but I just couldn’t get behind her motivation or her actions. She ends up hurting and using other people in her quest for revenge, and at the end she doesn’t even apologise for her actions just gets away with it.
Sarah Jac
All the Wind in the World by Samantha Mabry
Sarah Jac has had a hard life, but a lot of her actions were so hateful that all it ended up doing was making me hate her character in return. There’s something she did at the end of the book that nearly made me DNF All the Wind in the World, that’s how bad it was.
Error Code 12:
A series that started off great but went downhill from there.
The Chronicles of Ixia by Maria V. Snyder
I am a massive fan of the Study trilogy, the first three books in The Chronicles of Ixia series, in fact they’re three favourite books of mine. However as the series continued with Opal’s story, and then went back to Yelena and Valek’s adventures, I found my interest dwindling. I still love the world and the writing, I’m just not as much of a fan as I was before.
The Sims Vortex:
A book/series that completely engrossed you.
Moonrise by Sarah Crossan
This was such a beautiful, moving and emotional book that I couldn’t stop reading. Moonrise was my first foray into poetry and it definitely won’t be my last, in fact I very recently added Sarah Crossan’s other books onto my TBR list. I fell in love with her writing and her characters in Moonrise and I can’t wait to get around to more of her works now.
My tags:
- Michelle at Book Adventures
- Paige at Paige’s Pages
- The Reader’s Bay
- Sophie at Sophie’s Corner
As for everyone else out there reading this post, let me know what your answers for these questions would be. Which books have you read with amazing writing? What’s the worst case of insta-love you’ve come across? AndĀ if there’s anyone out there who wants to take part consider yourself tagged.
Ah I loved the Sims too š Iām glad to hear that about Star Touched Queen cos itās on my tbr. Haha so agree about Mal. And yes to Taylorās writing! And Iām so looking forward to a semi definitive list of worst nightmares. Awesome answers! ā¤
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An addictive game right? š Oh I really hope you enjoy The Star-Touched Queen, hopefully youāll be able to get around to it soon as well, same goes for A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares as well.
Thanks so much! š ā¤ļø
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hehe yes!! Thank you!! You’re welcome š ā¤
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Hello Beth ā¤
Thank you for this tag!! I haven't played the Sims before (I know right? I must've been living under a rock haha) but I may do this tag in the future š
A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares sounds like such an interesting book. I added this to my TBR and I'm looking forward to reading it!
I am glad to hear that you enjoyed Moonrise. I've had my eyes on this book for a while and I look forward to reading this even more now š
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Hi Sophie. š ā¤ļø Thatās all right, but oh shame you havenāt played The Sims before, maybe taking part in this tag will make you want to try out the game as well. š
Itās a great book, a favourite of mine as well so Iād definitely recommend it, and the same goes for Moonrise actually. That one was kind of a surprise for me because I was a little nervous about a book written entirely in prose but I ended up really loving it. š
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Haha maybe I will, just to experience what The Sims is like š
I am a bit nervous about Moonrise for the same reason, however I am glad that you enjoyed it. I will save this book for a day when I want to try something different š
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You’ll probably find yourself addicted (it’s one of those games that’s easy to get addicted to I think).
Well I’ll keep my fingers crossed you enjoy it, like I said it’s a good book so hopefully you’ll agree. š
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Oh lovely answers for this tag, Beth – and what a lovely tag! I remember when I used to play Sims for hours on end, building houses and so on, that was so much fun haha.
I still haven’t read The Star-Touched Queen, but I am hoping to sometime soon, it sounds like a great book, I am so curious about the writing style and the fact that you love it so much makes me eager to read it š
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Thanks so much Marie. š Yeah this was a great tag to take part in, and brought back some fun memories because Iām sure a lot of us spent hours playing The Sims at one point or another right? š
Oh I really hope you manage to get around to it soon then. Like I said in my post itās a brilliant book, a beautiful story set in a magical world, so Iāll keep my fingers crossed you love it as much as I did! š ā¤ļø
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Aaaah I used to be obsessed with playing the Sims! The countless hours I spent building the dream house of mind through that game was insane š Reading this tag brought back fun Sims memories for me, too — I enjoyed reading your post! š
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Iād spend ages building perfect houses too, but then Iād get bored within a few minutes and go on to working on the next perfect house. š It was definitely an addictive game and looking back hours of fun as well right?
Thanks so much Zoie! š
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SAME i also thought Mal was in the way, like i dont even like him and i had to get through 3/4 book all about him even when hes not included in the scene im reading, personally i thought that Alina should embrace her evil side and be with the darkling but then we wouldnt have six of crows so its fine i guess
also ive only read strange the dreamer by lanie taylor AND THE WRITING WAS SO MAGICAL THAT IM??
a semi-definitive series of worst nightmares sounds SO GOOD
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Iāll admit I was a fan of Mal in the first book but then in the second he seemed to go through a personality transplant and I hated him. Personally I think Alina would have been better on her own, she deserved better but I guess at least we got Six of Crows right?
Oh Strange the Dreamer was brilliant, it was one of my favourite reads of last year and yes definitely magical, but Iād expect nothing less from Laini Taylor! š
Itās amazing, Iād highly recommend it if it sounds like the kind of book youād be interested in. š
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Ikr mal wasn’t half bad in book 1 but in book 2 Idek what happened to him?????
True though Alina on her own would’ve been way better tbh
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It was almost like he reverted to a child who was in a bad mood because he couldn’t get his own way (at least that’s what a lot of his actions made me think a lot of the time!)
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Aaahh The Sims! Such awesome memories š Granted, I also made my sims suffer perpetually like a mad God but hey, who didn’t? š
I’m really really intrigued about The Fandom. It sounds so great and relatable.
As for Mal, I really liked him and felt he was a major reason why Alina didn’t get herself killed because, boy, that girl was always in so much danger it was silly. He was trying to protect her, even if not always in the best of ways. Though, that is of course my opinion. I quite liked them together.
I’ve had so many serious cases of instalove in my reading years it’s hard to even remember them… I can’t come up with a single one right now but I know I probably have a big list š
Laini Taylor for the absolute win! That woman is a writing goddess and I love her so much šā¤ļø
Lovely post, Beth!
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Oh I did the same with my Sims too, I almost feel like part of the game is acting as a malevolent God right? š
Iād recommend The Fandom, it was a good read. I think weāll have to agree to disagree on Mal, I liked him enough in the first book but in the second and third I just hated some of the decisions his character made. I thought he acted like a child around Alina at times.
Yeah Iāve come across more than a few, but the two I mentioned are the two that stand out simply because of how bad they were. Honestly they infuriated me more than any other case of insta-love Iāve read before or since!
Itās going to be hard to any author to come near Laini Taylorās level of writing for me! Sheās incredible.
Thanks so much Sophie! š ā¤ļø
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Hahaha I knew it! š
I’ll definitely check out The Fandom š Sound pretty interesting.
And yeah, agree to disagree š
Laini is a Queen ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
No problem, Beth!
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Oh great, let me know what you think for sure, I’m not aware of too many people who have read it. š
Yep, so excited for The Muse of Nightmares right now! š ā¤
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Sure thing! š
Aaaahh I didn’t know there was a sequel!!! š±š± MY HEART ā¤ļø
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Yeah! Not sure when itās released but I do know I canāt wait to have it in my hands! š ā¤ļø
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I like your answer for “Cheats” hahah It’s sort of like you also cheated by answering with a fantasy story hahah š Awesome answers Beth! You even had some that I just knew were going to be in certain categories too *looks at Laini Taylor’s books* š
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It was kind of built into the questions so it was the perfect answer right? And as much as I wish I could fall into my favourite fantasy world I know how unlikely that is. š
Thanks so much Lashaan, and yeah there are some answer choices here that were obvious, but why not right? š
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Oh, god, Mal definitely was in the way! I honestly don’t ship Alina with ANYONE in the series (tho I haven’t read the third book) and I really feel so “meh” about all the characters — EXCEPT FOR NIKOLAI. š But Mal got in the way sooo many times and was definitely annoying!!
And aaahh Laini Taylor has really magical writing!! I feel like in Strange, the writing was a little too flowery for me?? But still BEAUTIFUL. I also love Anna-Marie’s writing so much. š
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Part of me feels like because of who Alina was Mal was a good fit for her, in book one. In books two and three I couldnāt stand him and yeah kind of shipped Alina with no one because no one really deserved her. Nikolai was a great character, and oh Iām so excited for his book as well! š
She really does but itās a shame itās a little too flowery for you May. It does take me a while to really get into her stories I will say, but always worth it in the end. It can be the same with Anna-Marie McLemoreās books though not as bad. š
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Oh yeah, I think I was fine with them as a couple in the first book! But then Alina got so independent that having an LI would be really weird for her.
Yeah, luckily the more I read her books, the more used to it I get! (And yeah, Anna-Marie’s voice can definitely get really flowery, but both authors’ styles are beautiful. š)
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I guess we just need her to release even more books so you can get more used to it. š
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This is such a fun tag! I love your answers. Lani Taylor is a phenomenal writer! There were quite a few I havenāt read that I need to add to my list
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Thanks so much. š Yeah Laini Taylor is definitely one of my all-time favourite authors, and oh in that case I hope you manage to get to them soon! š
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I always really like your tags!! Thanks for the nomination but a slight problem: I haven’t read that many series to answer a few questions here š
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Thanks, and thatās all right. š Oh thatās a shame but maybe you could save this tag for when you have, or maybe adjust the questions slightly for the books you have read. Whatever works because either way Iād love to see your answers for this one. š
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Yupppp I will def do this, don’t worry. The questions are waaayyy too interesting haha
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Yay, Iāll look forwards to seeing your answers then for sure! š
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oh my gOD I HATED MAL THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING ME
you’re probably the first person i’ve met that views this similarly to me? he ended up being straight up annoying at some point tbh… Great post, the tag is really interesting!
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Alina deserved so much better right?!
And really? Iām a little surprised by that because I know quite a few people who werenāt fans of Mal at all, but yeah by about halfway through the second book I just wanted to scream at him through the pages!
Thanks so much. š
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Oh my god, I kinda started disliking Alina more and more as she let Mal influence her… I can’t stand the guy??
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I get what you mean, like she had the power of the sun at her fingertips and she let herself be so effected by everything he did.
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Exactly!!!
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Definitely in agreement with some of these! Gabriel’s death nearly killed me. It was so so sad. I really didn’t expect him to die and Nathan’s reaction to his passing made it even worse. I’m still heartbroken over that ending and it’s been 2 years! And yes, Mal was a really annoying character. The Darkling was so much better haha. Laini’s writing is amazing. Everything she writes is so musical! I’ve been meaning to read a Semi-definitive List of Worst Nightmares for a while now. You’re positive comments about it only make me want to read it more. Great post, Beth!
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I was literally crying in the train when I realised what really happened to Gabriel, and yeah seeing Nathanās reaction and reading the end of his story just made it worse. I donāt think Iām ever going to be over that ending (or ever fully forgive Sally Green for going there with the two of them!)
The Darkling was definitely better, he certainly annoyed me less than Mal did.
Laini Taylor is one of my favourite authors ever, and oh A Semi Definitive List is an incredible read Azia. Definitely pick it up one day because Iām sure youāll love it as well.
Thanks so much! š ā¤ļø
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I loved Moonrise! It was so beautiful and sad </3
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It really was, and I was actually a little surprised how emotional it was considering it was told through poems. Such a beautiful story though. š
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Same! I was really surprised how much it hit me. Have you read her other book One yet?
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Not yet, but after I finished Moonrise I put it straight onto my TBR list. Have you read it?
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Great list! Totally agree with Mal as a character that just gets in the way hahaha! And I now want to pick up Tarnished Cage! I liked the first book, Gilded Cage, but didn’t love it. But from you description, it sounds like it gets way cooler in the next one! Might just have to check it out š
-Lo
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Thanks so much. I feel like every choice Mal made in the second and third books just really annoyed me. I wanted to kick some sense into him (or just plain kick him!)
Tarnished City was amazing, I enjoyed the first book but the second was leagues better. Iād definitely recommend it because after reading it Iām that much more excited for book three! š
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Awesome! I will definitely have to pick up book 2 then š I am excited!
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This is the best tag ever! I love The Sims!! These are perfect questions and loved reading your answers!
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It was a lot of fun, and yeah I love The Sims too (itās been ages since I played it but I feel like itās one of those things you always love!)
Thanks so much Kristin. š
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HAHAH
a character that just get’s in the way
“MAL”
he was good in the first book and then annoying in the other two, like nooooo I really didn’t like him towards the end š¦
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It was the only answer I could have picked for that question. š I feel like every decision he made in the second and third books just infuriated me!
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I really liked this tag! I will definitely have to look into doing it š
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It was a lot of fun, so feel free to take part. Iād love to see your answers! š
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