I finished off the Red Rising trilogy with MORNING STAR by Pierce Brown. I'm not gonna lie. This book made me cry at the end. It was so good, and the whole trilogy will go down as my favorite. I loved the writing, the plot twists, the characters. I was completely invested in the trilogy from beginning to end. Brown did an amazing job with this series, and I recommend it to whomever I run into.
I then read LIPSTICK & LATTES by Tracy Krimmer (full disclosure, she's my critique partner and good friend) and I loved this too. The story was original and sweet, with enough tension and drama to keep the story moving at all times. If you're looking for a sweet romance, you want to check this one out!
When I was done with LIPSTICK & LATTES, I flipped through two non-fiction books by James Scott Bell, CONFLICT & SUSPENSE and VOICE – THE SECRET POWER OF GREAT WRITING, while I was writing for NaNoWriMo. I learned some good tips in both of them and I hope that I applied them well in my writing!
I then listened to ROSEMARY AND RUE by Seanan McGuire, the first October Daye book. This is my first listen/read of Urban Fantasy, and I did like it a lot, but I realized while listening that I'm not sure I'm a fantasy person. I have a hard time suspending my disbelief to believe in magic. Harry Potter was easy, but other ones have been more difficult for me. This is not the fault of the author or this book, because I did like the book. It's more me. I'm kinda a scifi girl. Sigh. But I do recommend this one to anyone who loves fantasy or urban fantasy. It's well-written with great characters and the audiobook was awesome too, narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal.
After October Daye, I listened to THE DISPATCHER by John Scalzi. Guys, this one was SO SO GOOD. I really enjoyed it and this new universe that Scalzi created. Plus, it was free (when I got it) AND it was narrated by Zachary Quinto! His voice was so perfect. I really wish I could listen to more books by him! Highly recommend.
Turns out I've listened to a lot of audiobooks because after that, I went on to listen to the Expanse Novella, THE CHURN by James S. A. Corey. This one really got me. I totally did not see the final twist in the story coming. And although, I didn't like the narrator as much, I was still sucked into this story as it's about one of my favorite Expanse characters. And now I know why he's the way he is, and even though it's disturbing, he's still my favorite character. Damn, this whole series is so good. I've been really happy with it.
Lots of books listened and read! It's been a productive time since my last Book Chat! Hope all your reading is going well!
You got a lot of books read and listened to! I only have read These Broken Stars in that series so far, I have book 2, but haven’t read it yet. Glad to hear you’re enjoying it so far! I also read Lipsticks & Lattes recently, I enjoyed it.
I haven’t read Rosemary and Rue. But I do love urban fantasy and fantasy/ paranormal in general. Maybe it depends on how the fantasy is written if you enjoy that part? But I am glad you enjoyed it overall.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this, what kind of fantasy I do like. Because I loved Harry Potter. And maybe I enjoy fantasy where the main character is introduced to the world slowly, like in Harry Potter or in the Sweep series by Cate Tiernan or in Jonathan Strange or the Magic 2.0 series. That’s the kind of fantasy I’d like to write, so I think it’s the kind that I’d like to read. When I start a book and there’s already magic and everyone knows it and how to use it, I don’t enjoy it as much. There’s not that sense of wonder that I get from the main character.
That’s interesting! I like lots of different type of fantasy books, but the type of story where someone slowly is introduced to magic can be a lot of fun. As then you can discover things alongside the main character and it’s more mysterious and more that sense of wonder as you don’t know everything. It’s very different from series where magic already exist and everyone knows of it.
The last series like that I’ve red is the Cainsville series by Kelley Armstrong. The main character isn’t aware there is anything otherworldly, but slowly you learn more about that during the series.
I googled the Sweep series and found out I actually have read that series a long time ago. I think in dutch even, as I only know the series under the name Wicca.
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