Top 5 Tuesday // P to T

“You’re taking me hostage,” he said.”

First line in Proxy by Alex London

We’re nearing the end of the alphabet with this week’s Top 5 Tuesday with the letters P, Q, R, S and T. Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah from Bionic Book Worm so go check out her blog if you’d like to participate.

Again, I managed to find a book for each of the letters this week. That’s not going to happen next week so enjoy this one.

P for Proxy by Alex London

A YA science fiction/dystopian about Syd who’s a proxy to rich-boy Knox. That means that every time Knox does something wrong, Syd takes the punishment. When things go really wrong and Knox accidentally kills someone, Syd is sentenced to death but decides to flee. With Knox.

 I don’t remember too many details about this book, but I know that I liked it. It has a gay main character which was rare for me to find at that time. Also, it’s a duology, so if you love it, there’s one more!

Q for The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

Book 2 in The Queen’s Thief which is my favorite so far. This series just has the most EPIC plot twists. I’ve never seen anything like it and it’s just amazing. Add the most endearing main character and writing that almost reads like classic fantasy and you have The Queen’s Thief. Just read it.

R for The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

If you didn’t know, I love Patrick Ness dearly. The Rest of Us Just Live Here makes fun of the “Chosen One” trope by following the characters who aren’t the chosen one or friends with one. They are just bystanders trying to live their life and graduate high school which is challenging enough. The book’s a bit ridiculous but in a fun way if you ask me. It also deals some more serious topics of mental health and figuring out what you want to do with your life.

S for The Shamer’s Daughter by Lene Kaaberbøl

If anyone has read this, I would be genuinely astounded. It’s the first book in a Danish series that I loved as a child. Second only to Harry Potter.

We follow the child Dina who’s a Shamer, meaning that she can make people feel ashamed of things they’ve done just by looking them in the eyes. People don’t really like that, so Dina is an outcast and nobody wants to associate with her. Her mother who has the same ability is called to the city of Dunark to get a prisoner to confess to the murder of the royal family. The only problem is that he hasn’t done it.

If you like reading middle grade, I highly recommend this. It has dragons and a genuinely creepy villain. It’s been translated into English and there four books in the series that only gets better.

T for They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

This is probably my favorite book by Adam Silvera so far. It’s based around the invention in this world called Death-Cast which means that someone calls you on the day you’re going to die. We follow Mateo and Rufus who get the call on the same day and even though they don’t know each, decide to spend their last day together.

It’s a really interesting way to explore what people would do when they only have one day left to live. I found it funny how the world had adapted to the situation. Everything had been commercialized which is just too real and a bit hilarious.

The characters are really sweet, and I loved following them through their day and constantly worry about what was going to kill them.

That’s it for this week. Happy reading everyone!