What I’m Reading {1}

A lot of great fantasy, lately!

Golden Son by Pierce Brown 

The second in the Red Rising trilogy, this sucker was such a gut punch. Brown is an author who doesn’t go easy on his protagonist, Darrow, and the entire book will have you hungrily flipping the pages, needing to more as you read more. The action is intense, the plotting is tight, the motivations are ever-changing, and the end of the book will leave you gasping and counting down the days until the third book comes out.

The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta

As my friend Michelle (whose debut novel you can add on Goodreads now!) put it: “I could read three more books of these characters sitting around having breakfast together.” And it is so true. Over the course of three books, you get to know a very large cast of characters in a way that feels personal—and you love all of these characters. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where I legitimately enjoyed every single character and was rooting for all of them. The writing is masterful, the world-building is lush and thorough, the characters are incredibly complex, and the trilogy is just so wonderful. There’s mystery action and delicious romance and political machinations and rich histories and backstories and JUST READ THESE BOOKS, OKAY.

Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo

The first book of the Grisha series, this sucker weaves Russian folklore and mythology into an easily digestible, completely addicting YA fantasy novel. It’s dark and moody and beautifully rendered—it’s a world of magic that makes you feel like if you could just get to Russia you could find this place.

Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Be warned: this book is erotic fantasy. It centers on a Phedre, who lives in a world where sex isn’t taboo or something to be ashamed of, and serving as a courtesan is a way to act as an instrument of the gods. Read: there is a lot of sex in this book. But! The sex is actually sort of running in the background of the narrative and isn’t truly what the book is about. Really, it’s a murder mystery. A really long, really intense murder mystery. And it’s AWESOME. If you aren’t the type to be easily embarrassed or offended, definitely pick it up.

A Darker Shade of Magic by Victoria Schwab

The concept of this book is really cool—in it, there are four Londons in parallel universes, all of which exist in the same location, with the same time, but are vastly different places. Three of the Londons have magic, and the one that doesn’t (our world, basically) still has doors that universe travelers can go through to pass between the Londons. All in all, this is an adventure story wherein a very atypical YA female main character meets a traveler and basically forces him to let her travel with him. And yes, adventures ensues. I honestly didn’t love this one the way I wanted to, but the characters in this are vastly different than YA archetypes, which, in and of itself, makes it worth your while.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

It’s a Sarah J. Maas boooooook! Considering how obsessed I am (and everyone who has ever read those books are) with her Throne of Glass series, it’s no surprise that I really liked this, although it inherently had some issues because it’s a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, which is just a story of manipulative Stockholm Syndrome. But that doesn’t mean I dislike it. I just have some issues with it and those issues can’t be resolved, sadly. But, issues aside, this is one hell of a Beauty and the Beast retelling. It’s very dark and twisty and once you hit the mid-point of the book you will not be able to put it down. You’ll think you need to run errands, and that you’ll get up and around when you finish the chapter, but you won’t. You’ll keep reading until you’re finished with it. Because you are Sarah J. Maas’s bitch and there ain’t nothin’ any of us can do about that.

So those are the things I’ve been reading lately. Feel free to share what you’ve been digging into in comments!