Category: Book Tags

Posted in Book Tags

The Disney Book Tag

Posted on by Line

“One summer night I fell asleep, hoping the world would be different when I woke up.”

First line in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I wanted to do a tag and had come across this one a couple of weeks ago. I really like Disney so that was the only excuse I needed. The Disney Book Tag was originally created by Kat from the booktube channel Katytastic and you can see her video here. Let’s get onto the questions.

Answer: Enne Salta from Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

A character out of their element is a typical thing to come across especially in fantasy books. However, no one is more perfect for this than Enne. She’s spent all her life trying to become a proper lady. You know, she’s polite, knows what all the cutlery is for etc. In the beginning of the book, she arrives at New Reynes which is the complete opposite of what she’s used to. There’s crime, violence and gangs which she then has to navigate to find her mother.

Bonus answer: Eugenides in The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. It’s the third book in the series and therefore too spoilery to talk about but if you’ve read it, you know what I mean.

Answer: Vin from Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

I struggled a bit with this one but decided to go with Vin. I can’t think of anyone else having as much character development as her. She’s a completely different person by the end of book three. Also, she kind of gets the whole Cinderella transformation in the first book so she needs to be my answer here.  

Answer: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

SO many characters in this one both good, bad and everything in between.

Answer: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

The third book in The Inheritance Cycle about Eragon who finds a dragon egg. I remember that this quartet was supposed to be a trilogy but Brisingr was added because Paolini couldn’t contain the story to only three books. In my opinion, Brisingr shouldn’t exist. As far as I remember, NOTHING happened in it and I was so bored the entire time. I really like the other three books but this one was just pointless.

Answer: Jude St. Francis from A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Let’s just not talk about that because I’ll just cry again.

Answer: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

I feared this book because so many people love it but the synopsis didn’t sound like something I would like. I don’t normally enjoy that storytelling narrative that this is so heavily based on but I actually ended up enjoying it. The writing kept me hooked because that was just beautiful.

Answer: Lazlo Strange from Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Lazlo almost seemed to obvious to me. His entire character is based upon his wish to find the lost city of Weep and someone happens to show up to take him to it. I definitely think his life improved by getting his wish granted.

Answer: Arya Stark from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin.

At first, I thought this question would be really difficult but then I remembered Arya. When is she actually Arya Stark in these books? She most often goes by other names (Arry, Weasel), and Martin puts emphasis on how she becomes those names/people. She is even more appropriate for this question in the later books.

Answer: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I want to be able to talk to Cath and be a nerd with her. I also just want a guy like Levi to exist in real life because he’s just so sweet.

Answer: Ruin from Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

I feel like I often go with The Mayor from Chaos Walking for this type of question so I wanted to pick someone else. Ruin is almost all-powerful and that is the kind of villains I love. I need to actually fear for the characters and feel like the villain could trick me at any moment.  

I hope you enjoyed this little tag. If you want to do it yourself, consider yourself tagged. Otherwise, happy reading!

Posted in Book Tags

Mid Year Freak Out Tag

Posted on by Line

“Dima heard the barn doors slam before anyone else did.”

First line in King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Hi, fellow readers. It’s June. It’s summer (although I live in Denmark so not really). It’s time for the popular tag: Mid Year Freak Out Tag. I’ve never done it myself before, so it should be exciting.

I’ve read 30 books so far this year and my Goodreads goal is 55 so it’s going great. 30 books for 15 questions means there are some books I mention twice but I really tried to pick different answers. Here is a list of a few stats to give you an impression of how I’ve been liking the books I’ve been reading:

  • Four 5-star books (although two of those were rereads)
  • One 1-star rating. The book was Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart.
  • My most popular rating was 4 stars (12 books).

That’s it for the stats. Hope you enjoy the tag.

Best book you’ve read so far in 2019

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. I’m really trying to do a post without mentioning this book but what can I do. It’s the best book! It’s a character-driven story that takes place over a period of about 30 years. I loved seeing how the characters developed over such a long time and then it’s just a book that hits you right in the feels.

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2019

I’ve read quite a lot of sequels, so this question was almost impossible to answer but I’m going with Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. This sequel is the reason I consider the series to be one of my all-time favorites.

New release you haven’t read yet but want to

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. So much hype is going around this book, but I believe it’s genuine and it sounds awesome. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping my library will get it soon. Otherwise I’ll have to buy because I must read it.

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

I need to mention two here. Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell (September 24th) and Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater (November 5th). My expectations for these sequels are way too high but I need them right now. 

Biggest disappointment

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi. This was the book that was supposed to be similar to Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo but it was so far from being that. A critique I often see of this book is that it’s confusing which I 100% agree with. I had no idea what was going on. Also, so many inventions that didn’t make sense but seemed to exist purely because the characters needed an invention like that. The book had potential but didn’t live up to it.

Biggest surprise

I didn’t have an obvious choice here, so I went with Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare. I started reading her books back when The Mortal Instruments was published, and I just can’t stop. I don’t enjoy them as much anymore, but I need to know what happens to the characters. I ended up flying through Queen of Air and Darkness mainly because I really liked all the side-characters. Now I’m almost excited for her next series.

New favorite author (debut or new to you)

There was a contest here. Neal Schusterman won. I’ve read both Scythe and Thunderhead by him this year and I found that I really find his writing style captivating. I’ve decided that I need to read more of his books. If anyone knows where to start, please let me know in the comments.   

Newest fictional crush

Do I have one? Maybe Nikolai Lantsov from the Grisha Verse by Leigh Bardugo because who doesn’t have a crush on him.

Newest favorite character

Locke Lamora from Gentleman Bastard by Scott Lynch. I’ve read the first two books in the series this year, and Locke is just a cool character. He might sound like a stereotypical character that you’ve read about so many times before: thief, bold, smart, sort-of-bad-guy-but-we-love-him type. Lynch has just managed to make him so layered and charismatic that I can’t help but find him fascinating.

Book that made you cry

I’m sorry but the only book that made cry these past six months was A Little Life. It’s the saddest book I’ve ever read.

Book that made you happy

Not quite sure about this one. I haven’t really been reading any “happy books” this year. The closest to it would be Radio Silence by Alice Oseman because it had a sort of feel-good vibe to it that I enjoyed. It put a smile of my face at least.

Favorite book to film adaption you saw this year

How am I supposed to remember this? I saw a Danish adaption of a childhood favorite of mine, The Shamer’s Daughter, but that was truly horrible. I’m going to go favorite book to TV adaption instead and say The Magicians by Lev Grossman. A situation where I actually prefer the TV show because the two are very different and I didn’t care so much for the books.

Favorite review you’ve written this year

As this is a new blog, I’ve only managed to do two reviews at this point. My favorite of those is probably my review for The Binding by Bridget Collins because I felt I had a lot to say about that book.

Most beautiful book you’ve bought this year (or received)

I bought the collector’s edition of Six of Crows and that is just beautiful inside and out. It even has these cool illustrations of the characters at the back.

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I’ve started The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski this month, and I would like to finish all seven books before the TV show starts. That’s highly unlikely so I’ll be happy if I just manage to read two more, but we’ll see how it goes.

A lot of answers about my reading these past six months. I hope you were inspired to read some of the books I liked. If you’ve already read them, tell what you thought of them.

Happy reading,

Line

Posted in Book Tags

The Game of Thrones Book Tag

Posted on by Line

“We should start back,” Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them

First line in A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

I’m doing a book tag! As the show is now officially over, I need to get my dose of Game of Thrones from somewhere else. I figured you might need it too so here’s the Game of Thrones book tag. Originally created by BiblioNyan so go check that out too if you haven’t. All of my answers are spoiler-free.

HOUSE LANNISTER: HEAR ME ROAR – Name a book that you originally loved, but upon a re-read realised that it wasn’t so great after all.

This is actually a very easy question to answer for me. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. It’s the second book in the Maze Runner trilogy and in fact, I could mention all three books for this question, but we’ll stick to the second. I remember loving this series and just flying through it so fast I wouldn’t be able to tell you where each book began and ended. They all just blurred together. I loved the premise and how I had no idea how it was all going to end. Turns out that Dashner didn’t have an idea about that either so the ending was horrible in my opinion.

When I reread them, The Scorch Trials just seemed so pointless. It specifically annoyed me how Thomas didn’t know the names of the people in this group he’s supposed to be very tight-knit with. And he didn’t care to learn them apparently. I know it seems like a small thing, but it came up so many times. Add that to all the other “plot-conveniences” and it equals as lazy writing to me.

HOUSE STARK: WINTER IS COMING – Name your most anticipated book release for 2019.

The Winds of Winter! Oh right, not this year either. Sorry, I’ll be serious now. My most anticipated book this year was actually King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo, which was released in January. However, I’m also really looking forward to Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell, the sequel to Carry On. The funny thing is that I didn’t particularly love Carry On. I thought it was fine and gave it 3 stars. I kept thinking that Rowell clearly wasn’t a fantasy author. The synopsis of Wayward Son has me intrigued though because it seems as if the problems will be more psychological. That’s more up Rainbow Rowell’s alley.  

HOUSE TARGARYEN: FIRE AND BLOOD – Name a book that you felt completely slayed with fantastic characters, plot, pacing, etc.

The Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson in its entirety but more specifically the first book, The Final Empire. Without a doubt my favorite book in the series. It has very distinct characters. They all have a purpose and are necessary to the plot without being flat. The pacing is quite good considering it’s the first book in a series and you have a lot to learn about the world. Some might feel it’s a bit slow in the middle, but I really liked the characters, so I didn’t mind too much. The plot feels very original and intriguing and yes, I felt completely slayed by the MAJOR plot twists in the end. 

HOUSE BARATHEON: OURS IS THE FURY – Name a book that ended with a cliffhanger ending that genuinely pissed you off.

I’m going meta and saying A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin. He left not one, not two, but three major cliffhangers in this book which I believe must be some kind of record. I’m not going to talk about them here as I wont spoil you. Luckily, we have the TV show to tell us what happened after that book ended. I still need The Winds of Winter right now.

HOUSE MARTELL: UNBOWED. UNBENT. UNBROKEN. – Name a book, or book series, that’s been on your TBR since the dawn of time.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. I saw as a musical of it once and found out that it’s nothing like the Disney version! Honestly, a little afraid to read it.

HOUSE BOLTON: OUR BLADES ARE SHARP – Name the most graphic or disturbing book that you’ve ever read.

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. No competition. It’s so horrifying. I remember wishing I was watching it as a movie so that I could look away. When it’s a book, you have to read the words to get past the disturbing scenes. I still think it’s a good book and found it very fascinating to be inside this man’s head. It’s just very disturbing and I believe Patrick Bateman would make Ramsay Bolton proud. 

HOUSE TYRELL: GROWING STRONG – Name a book, or book series, that gets better and better with every re-read.

I have to go with the series I’ve reread the most: Harry Potter. I feel like I still find small details that I previously hadn’t noticed even though I’ve probably read some of the books about 15 times.

That’s it for the Game of Thrones book tag. I hoped you enjoyed it and learned a little more about what I think of these books.

Hope you have a joyous day filled with reading.

Line