Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I’d Slay a Lion to Get Early

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week there is a new topic for bloggers to choose and list their top ten. This week’s theme is Top Ten Books I’d Slay a Lion to Get Early.

Not that I’m condoning animal violence or anything, but there are so many books I would kill to get my hands on. Some of my favourite series are coming to an end and some intense cliff hangers will finally be resolved which means 2018 is going to be a good year for books. None of my picks this week are debuts, and chances are very few will be a surprise.

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Bright We Burn by Kiersten White

The Conqueror’s Saga is a series I know won’t end happily, but I also know Bright We Burn is going to be an epic ending and as long as Radu survives this book I’ll be happy.

Haunted by the sacrifices he made in Constantinople, Radu is called back to the new capital. Mehmed is building an empire, becoming the sultan his people need. But Mehmed has a secret: as emperor, he is more powerful than ever…and desperately lonely. Does this mean Radu can finally have more with Mehmed…and would he even want it?

Lada’s rule of absolute justice has created a Wallachia free of crime. But Lada won’t rest until everyone knows that her country’s borders are inviolable. Determined to send a message of defiance, she has the bodies of Mehmed’s peace envoy delivered to him, leaving Radu and Mehmed with no choice. If Lada is allowed to continue, only death will prosper. They must go to war against the girl prince.

But Mehmed knows that he loves her. He understands her. She must lose to him so he can keep her safe. Radu alone fears that they are underestimating his sister’s indomitable will. Only by destroying everything that came before – including her relationships – can Lada truly build the country she wants.

Claim the throne. Demand the crown. Rule the world.

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Bright Ruin by Vic James

The Dark Gifts trilogy is another series I know won’t end happily, but this has become a favourite of mine and after the way Tarnished City ended I need this book in my hands as soon as possible.

A thrilling Orwellian vision of Britain, with a rebellious Hunger Games heart, Bright Ruin is the third and final title in Vic James’s electrifying Dark Gifts Trilogy, following Tarnished City.

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Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

Anything V.E. Schwab writes goes to the top of my to-read list, but ever since she announced last year that she was going back and continuing Victor’s story I have been beyond excited for this book.

Eli Ever and Victor Vale were only medical students when their mutual discovery that near-death experiences can, under the right conditions, manifest extraordinary abilities.

They were best friends, and rivals, and then enemies. They were dead, then alive, and then—Eli killed Victor, once and for all.

Or so he thought—but Sydney Clarke felt otherwise, and used her own superpower to tip the scales. Now, a trio hides in the shadows, while another takes advantages of post-death life to take over the city of Merit.

If there can be life after death—will there be calm after vengeance, or will chaos rule?

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Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

Strange the Dreamer was one of my top reads last year so I have a feeling Muse of Nightmares is going to be a top read this year. I’d expect nothing less from one of my all-time favourite authors.

Sarai has lived and breathed nightmares since she was six years old.
She believed she knew every horror, and was beyond surprise.
She was wrong.

In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.

Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice – save the woman he loves, or everyone else? – while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she’s capable of.

As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel’s near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?

Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation all clash in this gorgeous sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer.

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The Ladies Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

As excited as I am to see Monty and Percy again in this companion novel I am even more excited to see Felicity and read about her adventures among pirates that crosses the continent.

Felicity Montague is through with pretending she prefers society parties to books about bone setting—or that she’s not smarter than most people she knows, or that she cares about anything more than her dream of becoming a doctor.

A year after an accidentally whirlwind tour of Europe, which she spent evading highwaymen and pirates with her brother Monty, Felicity has returned to England with two goals in mind—avoid the marriage proposal of Callum Doyle, a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh; and enrol in medical school. However, her intellect and passion will never be enough in the eyes of the administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science.

But then a small window of hope opens. Doctor Alexander Platt, an eccentric physician that Felicity idolizes, is looking for research assistants, and Felicity is sure that someone as forward thinking as her hero would be willing to take her on. However, Platt is in Germany, preparing to wed Felicity’s estranged childhood friend Johanna. Not only is Felicity reluctant to opening old wounds, she also has no money to make the trip.

Luckily, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay Felicity’s way, so long as she’s allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as her maid. In spite of her suspicions, Felicity agrees, but once the girl’s true motives are revealed, Felicity becomes part of a perilous quest that will lead her from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.

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Blanca & Roja by Anne-Marie McLemore

Anna-Marie McLemore has yet to release a book I haven’t loved. She’s the queen of the magical realism genre and I know Blanca & Roja is going to be just as beautifully written as her other books.

The Cerceta girls have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals. They know that one day, they’ll find themselves drawn into a dangerous game to determine which sister will stay a girl and which will be cursed to live as a swan. But when two of their childhood friends become drawn into the game, the curse threatens to decide the fate not just of the sisters, but of all four of them.

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What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

Two of my favourite YA contemporary authors teaming up? I feel pretty confident in saying this is going to be a five-star read for me, and possibly break my heart if Adam Silvera’s other books are anything to go by.

Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a show stopping romance when you least expect it.

Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.

But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?

Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.

Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.

But what if they can’t quite nail a first date…or a second first date…or a third?

What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work…and Ben doesn’t try hard enough?

What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play?

But what if it is?

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Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao

Even if I hadn’t read and loved the first book in this duology the first line of the blurb saying that “this fairy tale retelling lives in a mystical world” would have me hooked.

I’m weak for fairytale retellings.

This fairy tale retelling lives in a mystical world inspired by the Far East, where the Dragon Lord and the Serpent God battle for control of the earthly realm; it is here that the flawed heroine of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns finally meets her match. An epic fantasy finale to the Rise of the Empress novels.

Princess Jade has grown up in exile, hidden away in a monastery while her stepmother, the ruthless Xifeng, rules as empress of Feng Lu. But the empire is in distress and its people are sinking into poverty and despair. Even though Jade doesn’t want the crown, she knows she is the only one who can dethrone the empress and set the world right. Ready to reclaim her place as rightful heir, Jade embarks on a quest to raise the Dragon Lords and defeat Xifeng and the Serpent God once and for all. But will the same darkness that took Xifeng take Jade, too? Or will she find the strength within to save herself, her friends, and her empire?

Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world filled with breathtaking pain and beauty, Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix is filled with dazzling magic, powerful prose, and characters readers won’t soon forget.

Fans of Stealing Snow, Red Queen, and The Wrath and the Dawn will hungrily devour this page-turning read.

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Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

When this book is released I can finally pick up The Dark Artifices trilogy, and see what all the fuss has been about over the cliff-hangers most fans have been unable to cope with.

Dark secrets and forbidden love threaten the very survival of the Shadowhunters in Cassandra Clare’s Queen of Air and Darkness, the final novel in the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling The Dark Artifices trilogy.

What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the blight that is destroying the race of warlocks. 

Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

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The Wicked King by Holly Black

After everything that happened in the first book I have no idea where the second is going to go, and I’m not sure how The Wicked King could be any better than The Cruel Prince but I’m sure it will be.

The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince.

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

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So what do you think? Did you take part in this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, if so let me know what books you’d slay a lion to get early. Did any of my picks make your list, and if so which one are you the most excited for?