GOALS GOALS GOALS

I’d like to say I’m an ambitious person. I try to set goals for myself, both achievable and far-fetched. As this page has proven, even the achievable is out of reach at times.

Last year I tried and tried to find a house to buy with my husband, but it wasn’t in the cards. I wanted to publish my long-since completed novel. That didn’t happen either. Last year’s accomplishments were moving up in the world at my day job, acclimating to that new position, and trying to stay sane during the crazy year that was 2020.

This year I **seem** to be heading in the right direction on the home-buying front and that led me to believe I could try my hand at the publishing thing one more time. Instead of slowly, slowly, working toward a theoretical date to shoot for, I’m giving myself deadlines I have to keep–reaching out to editors, cover designers, just seeing how it goes. The book is written, it’s gone through drafts, and I actually feel like it’s alright. No close friend that has read it has told me it’s crap.

So here goes nothing. 2021 is gonna be the year. I’ll be not just a reader, not just a writer by hobby, but a published author.

Here we go!

XX T. G. Noble

The Dream Thieves

Blog 2 of my blog series on The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater is here!

In this post I’ll be talking The Dream Thieves, the second book of The Raven Cycle series, and some of my favorite moments in it.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!

Listen. Ronan continues to be the most enthralling of the characters in The Raven Cycle, and this one focuses most heavily on him.

“I am being perfectly fucking civil.” –Ronan

Ronan has to grow in The Dream Thieves. He has to face his demons and learn to forgive himself and unlearn his self-hatred as well as master his abilities as a dreamer. It’s a book about secrets, particularly the secrets Ronan keeps from other people and the secrets he keeps from himself.

Adam’s response was buried in the sound of the second-story door falling open. Noah slouched in. In a wounded tone, he said, “He threw me out the window!”

Ronan’s voice sang out from behind his closed door: “You’re already dead!”

Half of Ronan’s appeal is the dangerous, vicious, and cuttingly beautiful way he is described. Steifvater always does it so perfectly.

“What a grin he had, what ferocious eyes, what a creature he was. He had dreamt himself an entire life and death.
Ronan said, “I want to go back.”
“Then take it,” said his father. “You know how now.”
And Ronan did. Because Niall Lynch was a forest fire, a rising sea, a car crash, a closing curtain, a blistering symphony, a catalyst with planets inside him.
And he had given all of that to his middle son.”

The plot:

THE GRAY MAN! OMG I LOVE HIM! (Seriously one of my favorite characters in the series. Like… might actually be number one) shows up in Henrietta looking for the Graywarren, a mythical object that is supposed to be able to make dreams reality. He is a hitman employed by a man named Colin Greenmantle who collects supernatural artifacts. The Gray Man, more often than not called Mr. Gray, had also been hired in the past to kill Ronan’s father to get Declan, Ronan’s older brother, to admit where the Graywarren is. The problem is a that a secret the Lynch family keeps is that the Graywarren isn’t an object. It’s Ronan.

Declan of course doesn’t give up his brother and this is the book that readers are able to see Declan for the first time without the overbearing crappy older brother lens of Ronan and his friends and see that Declan really is just looking out for his younger brothers and trying to protect them from all the people who deal in the supernatural and would love to get their hands on a family of dreamers and dreams. (Side note I loved Declan long before Call Down the Hawk if it wasn’t perfectly obvious.)

While Mr. Gray searches for the Graywarren, Ronan is being dogged by a fellow dreamer in town Kavinsky who is also a fellow thrill-seeker but who is abusing his abilities and weakening the ley lines around Henrietta and subsequently Cabeswater. Ronan must learn from Kavinsky what he can about being a “dream thief” before trying to stop Kavinsky before he destroys the ley lines, Cabeswater, and potentially their town.

Kavinsky… how messed up is that guy? Like seriously. Dream Thieves is a book that deals in layers and layers of secrets and the reader, like the characters, has to sort out a lot of truths for themselves and interpret the layers. And I picked up that Kavinsky was probably gay and very very into Ronan. It was pretty obvious–there was so much homoerotic subtext in their interactions (and the whole book in general)–almost entirely one-sided of course (pretty sure it’s obvious almost from the start about Ronan’s feelings for Adam), but it was there. But what I’m referring to about messed up… is like… well…. He takes a picture of an unconscious Ronan’s dick to send to Gansey!!!! WTF! He seriously just touches him while he’s dreaming without his consent and then uses his phone to send out a picture to Ronan’s best friend. Like… wtf. When I read it the first time I just assumed Kavinsky sent a pic of his own dick to Gansey from Ronan’s phone to be an ass, and it wasn’t until I read the wiki that I realized what had really happened. Also KIDNAPPING SOMEONE’S BROTHER TO FORCE THEM TO COME TO YOUR PARTY IS NOT CUTE KAVINSKY!

But the giant fire dragon vs albino nighthorror fight at the end is seriously epic and he did help Ronan master his powers so… I suppose Kavinsky was good for a few things.

Also going on in The Dream Thieves is Adam being overwhelmed by… a lot of things; his powers, his bills, living on his own, dating Blue, school, work, lack of sleep, worries about the future, but mostly the whole powers thing. He has no control over his connection to Cabeswater and it’s taking over his life. But listen. Adam IS A BITCH in this one–it’s understandable, but we hates it. *cue Golum voice*

What do you want, Adam?

To feel awake when my eyes are open.”

While so much is going on with Ronan and Adam and the Gray Man, (WHO IS FALLING IN LOVE WITH BLUE’S MOM! THIS IS NOT A DRILL IT IS THE CUTEST THING IN THIS UNIVERSE) let’s not forget the rest of the characters.

The rest of the Gangsey is continuing their search for Glendower and involved in their own affairs. While Blue and Adam’s pseudo relationship is crumbling, Blue and Gansey are growing closer. Noah is behaving more and more like a ghost and less and less like the loveable Noah they all know which in turn is causing Blue to have a better handle on her battery/amplification/mirror abilities for the supernatural. All of Blue’s interactions with Noah and Mr. Gray in this book and the next two are pure GOLD! (Or should I say glitter? 😀 )

“In some parallel universe, there was a Gansey who could tell Blue that he found the ten inches of her bare calves far more tantalizing than the thirteen cubic feet of bare skin Orla sported. But in this universe, that was Adam’s job.
He was in a terrible mood.”

Gansey is the sweetest boy. And also hilarious. I didn’t talk about that enough in my first Raven Cycle blog. A lot of my favorite moments with Gansey are the ones where he shows just how much pressure he puts on himself and how sensitive he is to his friends’ needs, how guilty he feels when he can’t help them, and how frustrating it is when they won’t let him help. Vulnerable Gansey is literally the most heartbreaking and heartwarming thing to behold. He has some of the sweetest moments with everyone and I just love it.

“I wish you could be kissed, Jane,’ he said. ‘Because I would beg just one off you. Under all this.’ He flailed an arm toward the stars.”

Overall I loved the Dream Thieves. It was equal parts frustrating and magical, but that is not at all a bad thing. It was overall much darker and creepier than book 1. It felt like the most worst and wondrous parts of a nightmare.

“While I’m gone,” Gansey said, pausing, “dream me the world. Something new for every night.”

I loved all the times Ronan dreamed of Adam, even the horrifying one, and thought of him, and… well everything about Ronan and Adam gives me life in all the books, I liked most of the off-color humor Kavinsky had at Gansey and Ronan’s behalf. I loved Gansey and Blue’s growing feelings for one another, and I loved all the quirky humanity in the Gray Man. He has such a great relationship with Blue and her mother.

I was frustrated because Ronan always reads like an unreliable narrator to me and is always keeping things from both the reader and himself. Adam was even more frustrating as he struggled to be independent and prideful despite being at his lowest and unable to trust the things he sees and feels because of Cabeswater. Again, I understand it and it doesn’t make me like him any less, but it was just frustrating to go through it all with him until he comes out the other side. Blue’s journey in all this seemed almost easy in comparison to what all the Raven Boys were going through.

“In that moment, Blue was a little in love with all of them.
Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness.
Her raven boys.”

This book focuses a lot on brotherhood. The brotherhood between Ronan and his two brothers, the brotherhood between the Gray Man and his brother, and most importantly the brotherhood between friends, specifically between Ronan and Gansey.

“When Ronan thought of Gansey, he thought of moving into Monmouth Manufacturing, of nights spent in companionable insomnia, of a summer searching for a king, of Gansey asking the Gray Man for his life. Brothers.”

If The Raven Boys was the beginning, the call to action, then The Dream Thieves is the part of the journey the heroes face their demons and learn to control their abilities to face the road ahead.

5/5 Stars

T. G.

Crow Queen Review

The Raven Boys Review

As promised last week, I wanted to talk more in depth about The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. The Raven Cycle is a series containing; The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, Blue Lilly, Lilly Blue, and The Raven King.

I’ll be doing a 6 Part series of reviews/posts about the Raven Cycle where I talk about each book individually and then in a few more posts go into more depth about characters and themes in each novel and the series as a whole. In this one I’ll talk about The Raven Boys.

The Raven Boys tells the story of a psychic’s daughter named Blue who befriends a group of private school boys from Algionby Academy, locally known as raven boys due to their mascot, and becomes swept away in their hunt to search for a sleeping Welsh King in the mountains around their magical town of Henrietta Virginia. And while that might not sounds like a dramatic, hilarious, wondrous, and strange journey to follow on page, it most certainly is. It is quirky and dark and magical and enthralling.

END OF SPOILER FREE REVIEW. FROM HERE ON THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!

Seriously, if you haven’t already, go read this series STAT and then come back here and finish reading. I PROMISE you’ll love it.

The Raven Boys Review

“Fate,” Blue replied, glowering at her mother, “is a very weighty word to throw around before breakfast.”

Blue was told from a young age by all the psychics that live in her home at 300 Fox Way that if she kissed her true love, he would die. So when she and her aunt go on Mark’s Eve to catalog the spirits visible that night of all the people who will die in the coming year and she sees a spirit for the first time on her own, she is not surprised when her aunt says that must mean he is either her true love or she is responsible for his death. For Blue, she knows that means she is both.

The spirit she sees is of the still currently living Richard Gansey III. He attends the local private school of Algionby Academy and he has a group of friends just as unique as he is, and they are all on a quest to find the body of a Welsh King said to be buried and sleeping somewhere in the very mountains around their town of Henrietta. It is said that if you find the sleeping Welsh king, he will grant you a favor, and this is Gansey’s obsession.

It should be noted that Blue seeing Gansey’s spirit in chapter one made me sob. There was so much… illusion to how he would die and though I didn’t know Gansey yet, I just knew that I, like Blue, eventually would by the time this came to pass. And so I cried. In chapter one. I am not ashamed!

Anyway, back to the plot, Gansey is joined on his extracurricular crusade by his friends Ronan Lynch, Adam Parrish and Noah Czerny. Ronan is a brooding thrill seeker with, eventually, an actual raven on his shoulder, Adam is a genius scholarship student trying to overcome his less than ideal home life, and Noah is a quiet, shadow of a boy who is still inexplicably always game for all of Ronan’s schemes. And Gansey is their charismatic leader, guiding them on their journey chewing mint leaves and driving his oft broken down bright orange Camaro.

When the short, spiky haired, feminist, and eventual owner of a pink switchblade Blue Sargent joins their group, it seems finally complete and that’s when their journey starts.

I need to pause here to point out that Blue’s family at 300 Fox Way, the million women that live with her and her mom, are a freaking DELIGHT! I love them.

And the raven boys? I love them too.

Ronan? Actually the best. Every word out of his mouth is funny as hell. Most of the times I found myself laughing in this novel was because of quotes like this that are either from him or about him:

“We have to be back in three hours,” Ronan said. “I just fed Chainsaw but she’ll need it again.”

“This,” Gansey replied “is precisely why I didn’t want to have a baby with you.”

And this:

“Did you get notes for me?”
“No”, Ronan replied,”I thought you were dead in a ditch.”

And this:

“Her name’s Chainsaw,” replied Ronan, without looking up. Then: “Noah. You’re creepy as hell back there.”

Anyway… along their journey the “Gangsey” do several notable things:

They find a body—spoiler it’s Noah’s– and SURPRISE–he’s a GHOST!

They find a magical forest where time is a slinky and the trees speak Latin.

Oh and their Latin teacher tries to kill them as they get closer and closer to finding Glendower and unleashing the power of the ley line that runs through their valley.

“Is this thing safe?”.
“Safe as life,” Gansey replied.

Through all of these surreal events, there are human concerns that drive the plot as well. Instead of dating Gansey, Blue decides not to temp fate and end of killing her true love, whom she only friends marginally tolerable half the time anyway, and dates Adam instead. Adam is fittingly also bullheaded and refuses Gansey’s help getting out of his abusive household.

What I LOVE LOVE LOVE about The Raven Boys is that this book seems to be more about Gansey and Adam’s friendship than anything. It’s about all of the small resentments, the fierce loyalty, and the ongoing arguments that are present in this complex, moving, realistic portrayal of best friends. Instead of Gansey, it’s Adam that ends up making a deal with the ley line and the magical forest at the end of the book. And through it all, there is magic, wonder, friendship, murder, loss, vision, and love.

“Is that all?” she whispered.
Gansey closed his eyes. “That’s all there is.”

Some of my favorite moments were whenever they visit Cabeswater, the conversations between Blue and the other women at 300 Fox Way, and the argument between Gansey and Adam outside the hospital. I love the wonder of Cabeswater the first few times they go, I love the organic, mystical, whimsical, atmosphere of 300 Fox Way and the lived-in, run of the mill psychicness of all the women there. It all feels natural and not put-on. They are a family and I feel Calla and Persephone are as much Blue’s mother as Maura is. And I love, love, the theme of Gansey and Adam’s friendship with is strongest in this novel but carries through the rest of the series. Their argument outside the hospital is heart-wrenching in it’s realness. I fell so hard for Gansey in that scene and it’s wasn’t even a scene that contained either characters’ love interests.

This book does a wonderful job of pulling into this world and really giving us time to get to know the characters. Looking back at The Raven Boys in comparison to the other books, this book is so hopeful and young. It is the beginning of the journey, the bright starry eyes of youth, before everything becomes hard and dark for our heroes.

5/5 Stars

I could go on forever about how much I love each character and what my favorite moments were for each, but I’ll save that for another post. For now, I hope you enjoyed my take on The Raven Boys. If you’ve read it, drop a line in the comments telling me about some of your favorite moments in the book or thoughts on the series in general.

T.G.

Crow Queen Review

Top 5 Books of 2019

I read a lot of books in 2019–68 books to be exact.

However, because my TBR pile is always teeming with books, I’m always several years behind on new releases, but every once in a while I make an exception and impulse read a new release. (Okay, so I read 14 new releases in 2019–that I know of–68 is a big number and I’m not pulling out each one to look at release dates).

Here are a few 2019 releases that stood out and stole my heart.

1. Stain by A. G. Howard

Description:

After Lyra—a princess incapable of speech or sound—is cast out of her kingdom of daylight by her wicked aunt, a witch saves her life, steals her memories, and raises her in an enchanted forest . . . disguised as a boy known only as Stain. Meanwhile, in Lyra’s rival kingdom, the prince of thorns and night is dying, and the only way for him to break his curse is to wed the princess of daylight—for she is his true equal. As Lyra finds her way back to her identity, an imposter princess prepares to steal her betrothed prince and her crown. To win back her kingdom, save the prince, and make peace with the land of the night, Lyra must be loud enough to be heard without a voice, and strong enough to pass a series of tests—ultimately proving she’s everything a traditional princess is not.

My Thoughts:

Stain absolutely blew my mind from page one. It is the most beautifully written and executed novels I’ve read in years. From the lyrical prose to the expert weaving of familiar fairy tales and dark originals, Stain was a feast for my imagination and my soul. It was dark, lovely, original, familiar and strange. The characters, particularly Stain (Lyra), Vesper, Crony, and Luce were all perfect.

2. The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

Description:

One way or another, we always feed the crows.

A future chieftain

Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.

A fugitive prince

When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses—and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

A too-cunning bodyguard

Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?

My Thoughts:

THE MERCIFUL CROW IS AMAZING!

Okay, I’ll calm down now. Who am I kidding? No I won’t. The Merciful Crow has some of the best worldbuilding I’ve read in a while. The magic, the castes, the gods, the Crows’ customs! UGH! Just wonderful! Seriously, I would read anything this author wrote in this world because it is so rich with detail, but never too much at once. It’s just the subtle details in everyday society that just brought the book to life and made it so rich and layered! The character development too was subtle and wonderful. I love Fie so much. All the characters are a joy to read about and see them interact. I love Barf and Tavin, Pa, Swain, and Wretch. They’re all great!

3. The Devouring Gray

Description:

Branches and stones, daggers and bones, They locked the Beast away.

After the death of her sister, seventeen-year-old Violet Saunders finds herself dragged to Four Paths, New York. Violet may be a newcomer, but she soon learns her mother isn’t: They belong to one of the revered founding families of the town, where stone bells hang above every doorway and danger lurks in the depths of the woods. Justin Hawthorne’s bloodline has protected Four Paths for generations from the Gray—a lifeless dimension that imprisons a brutal monster. After Justin fails to inherit his family’s powers, his mother is determined to keep this humiliation a secret. But Justin can’t let go of the future he was promised and the town he swore to protect. Ever since Harper Carlisle lost her hand to an accident that left her stranded in the Gray for days, she has vowed revenge on the person who abandoned her: Justin Hawthorne. There are ripples of dissent in Four Paths, and Harper seizes an opportunity to take down the Hawthornes and change her destiny—to what extent, even she doesn’t yet know. The Gray is growing stronger every day, and its victims are piling up. When Violet accidentally unleashes the monster, all three must band together with the other Founders to unearth the dark truths behind their families’ abilities… before the Gray devours them all.

My thoughts:

I can can’t wait for book 2. I really can’t wait. This book was the definition of atmospheric. I love when settings in a novel become a character of their own. The Gray was a place, a villain, a threat. The characters were all engaging and interesting to follow; Violet, Harper, Justin, Isaac. I WANT A DECK OF OMENS! THE ART ON EVERY INCH OF THIS BOOK IS AMAZING! Anyway. The plot was super engaging and I love how all the pieces and the founders tied together.

4. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver

Description:

When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they’re thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents’ rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.

But Ben’s attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan’s friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.

My thoughts:

In all the reviews for this book readers mention how important this book is. And while it’s true, nonbinary kids and adults do not have enough representation in media, in addition to the necessary representation Ben provides us with, it’s just a good story.

When Ben is thrown out of their parents’ house and moves in with their sister and her husband, they are able to start a new life with new experiences and new friends. Nathan, more than just a great love interest, is a good friend who is funny and charismatic and literally lights up every scene he is in. Ben also has a wonderful online friend Mariam and a supportive sister and brother-in-law and a great therapist. I don’t usually read a ton of contemporary coming of age dramas, but this one is so engaging and sweet and REAL. It has amazing representation and it made me laugh and cry.

5. Call Down the Hawk

Description:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Raven Boys, a mesmerizing story of dreams and desires, death and destiny.

The dreamers walk among us . . . and so do the dreamed. Those who dream cannot stop dreaming – they can only try to control it. Those who are dreamed cannot have their own lives – they will sleep forever if their dreamers die.

And then there are those who are drawn to the dreamers. To use them. To trap them. To kill them before their dreams destroy us all.

Ronan Lynch is a dreamer. He can pull both curiosities and catastrophes out of his dreams and into his compromised reality.

Jordan Hennessy is a thief. The closer she comes to the dream object she is after, the more inextricably she becomes tied to it.

Carmen Farooq-Lane is a hunter. Her brother was a dreamer . . . and a killer. She has seen what dreaming can do to a person. And she has seen the damage that dreamers can do. But that is nothing compared to the destruction that is about to be unleashed. . . .

My thoughts:

Listen. I inhaled the Raven Cycle in December. Inhaled it. Consumed it. I read all four books in like 5 days. And then I read Call Down the Hawk during the already dreamlike time of the year that is the last six days of December (it didn’t take me that long, only two days, but I digress). The point being, I devoured this series and the first book of this new trilogy. And I liked it a lot. Not that the final book of the Raven Cycle and Call Down the Hawk didn’t have frustrating moments for me, which I will detail in reviews later in the month, but overall Call Down the Hawk was a dream–yes I mean to keep going with this metaphor.

Call Down the Hawk had most of things I loved about the Raven Cycle. The impossible and mystifying dreaming, Ronan, Chainsaw, Opal, Adam… but it also gave me new things to love, namely, Declan!!!!!!!! and Jordan!!!!!!!! It still had the beautiful prose Maggie Stiefvater is excellent at. No one else’s novels have such unique, perfect, particular phrasing–no ones. It has just as much action and mystery, magical plots and human bonds. Bonus, in addition to flashy cars, there is now a flashy motorcycle. Read it y’all. But even though it stands well on it’s own, I do think you get the most out of it if you read the wonder that is the Raven Cycle novels first.

That’s it folks, the top 5 books I read in published in 2019. Did you read and love any of these? What were your top 5 of 2019? Let me know in the comments below!

T.G.

Crow Queen Review

Top 5 Series/Books discovered in 2019

Last week I discussed the top 5 books I read and loved that were published in 2019. This week I wanted to talk about the top series/books I discovered in 2019 that might not have been published in 2019.

Though I loved the books on the prior list, particularly the top 3; Stain, The Merciful Crow, and The Devouring Gray, and they definitely are some of the top books I’ve read this year, there are some older novels I discovered that I loved a lot. Quite a few on this list are part of a series, some that have been out for years, but hey, better late than never.

1. All for the Game Series (Foxhole Court, The Raven King, The King’s Men) by Nora Sakavic

Description:

Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He’s short, he’s fast, he’s got a ton of potential—and he’s the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher.

Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn’t need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed.

But Neil’s not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil’s new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can’t walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he’s finally found someone and something worth fighting for.

My thoughts:

Though I only gave you the Amazon description for one of the books, the three books in this series are about Neil Josten as he joins the Palmetto Foxes and he and the rest of the team go from underdogs to rising stars in their division as well as learn how to not only play together on the court but also become their own complicated, dysfunctional found family off the court.

Neil must face not only the demons from his past, but also those of his teammates, and along the way he does find someone he can call ‘home.’

It’s a dramatic, gut wrenching, Mafia/crime syndicate drama, an underdog sports story, and a slow-burn romance. It is hilarious and dark, heartbreaking and violent mixed with the most wholesome moments I’ve ever read outside of fanfiction. It was basically the perfect series. I love Neil Josten and I love the monstrous guy he ends up with.

5/5 Stars for all three books.

2. The Raven Cycle Series (The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, Blue Lilly, Lilly Blue, and The Raven King) by Maggie Stiefvater

Description:

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them–until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn’t believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

My thoughts:

Honestly this series is magic. I have too many words for this post alone so I’ll be doing another Raven Cycle post next week that goes into (spoilery) depth about it, but basically, I love it.

With these four books you get to fall in love with each and every one of the characters, but particularly; Blue, Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah. You see Blue, her Raven boys, and the women of 300 Fox Way take on so much to find a dead Welsh king and save their friends, family, and the town of Henrietta, VA.

It’s hilarious, it’s poetic, it’s magical, and dark, and the stakes are high. It’s a nightmare and a dream and you just have to read it to understand what all that means.

4.5/5 Stars (5 stars for three of the books and 4 stars for one of them)

3. The Selection Series (The Selection, The Elite, The One, The Heir, and The Crown) by Kiera Cass

Description:

Prepare to be swept into a world of breathless fairy-tale romance, swoonworthy characters, glittering gowns, and fierce intrigue perfect for readers who loved Divergent, Delirium, or The Wrath & the Dawn.

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape a rigid caste system, live in a palace, and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon. But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her, and competing for a crown she doesn’t want.

Then America meets Prince Maxon—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

My thoughts:

This series is a series you binge and one that brings out the teenage girl in all of us. It’s a very little of the Hunger Games meets a whole lot of the Bachelor, and I enjoyed every minute of it. It’s such a guilty pleasure read. I tore through the first three books in three days and I tore through the last two, the spinoff books, in a day and a half.

America is at first unwilling to compete for Maxon’s heart, there is an inevitable love triangle, and I ended up caring about the characters much much more than I thought I would. It’s a glittering spectacle and a feast for anyone who is a romantic at heart.

4/5 stars (Three books are 5 stars, two are 4 stars)

4. Windwitch (Witchlands Book 2) by Susan Dennard

Description:

Susan Dennard returns with a follow up to New York Times bestselling novel Truthwitch.

After an explosion destroys his ship, the world believes Prince Merik, Windwitch, is dead. Scarred yet alive, Merik is determined to prove his sister’s treachery. Upon reaching the royal capital, crowded with refugees, he haunts the streets, fighting for the weak—which leads to whispers of a disfigured demigod, the Fury, who brings justice to the oppressed.

When the Bloodwitch Aeduan discovers a bounty on Iseult, he makes sure to be the first to find her—yet in a surprise twist, Iseult offers him a deal. She will return money stolen from him, if he locates Safi. Now they must work together to cross the Witchlands, while constantly wondering, who will betray whom first?

After a surprise attack and shipwreck, Safi and the Empress of Marstok barely escape with their lives. Alone in a land of pirates, every moment balances on a knife’s edge—especially when the pirates’ next move could unleash war upon the Witchlands.

Sometimes our enemies are also our only allies…

My thoughts:

Okay, why this book is on here is going to take a bit of explaining. So I read Truthwitch (the first book of this series) when it first came out and then I abandoned it. It wasn’t that I didn’t intend to read the rest of the series, but I don’t know, I just… put it down. I think the companion book, Sightwitch, came out before the next book in the series and I just …didn’t read it? But then Bloodwitch (the third book) came out and it was all over my twitter feed and instagram and I was like… okay, okay, I have to backtrack. So I read Windwitch AND LOVED IT!

I still have to read Sightwitch and Bloodwitch to catch up with the series, but book 2 was when the story really, really picked up. There was such depth to the characters in this book I didn’t necessarily feel in the first one and the pieces of how everyone’s stories intertwine with their greater world is set up in this one and you can finally see all the threads (Haha–I think I’m funny–series pun).

I LOVED all the characters and honestly, if you don’t ship Iseult and Aeduan more than life after this book… well then there is no hope for you. (Come on, this is not a spoiler, you had to have seen it coming in book 1)!

5/5 Stars

5. Top Secret by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Description:

LobsterShorts, 21. Jock. Secretly a science geek. Hot AF.

LobsterShorts: So. Here goes. For her birthday, my girlfriend wants…a threesome.

SinnerThree: Then you’ve come to the right hookup app.

LobsterShorts: Have you done this sort of thing before? With another guy?

SinnerThree: All the time. I’m an equal opportunity player. You?

LobsterShorts: [crickets!]

SinnerThree, 21. Finance major. Secretly a male dancer. Hot AF.

SinnerThree: Well, I’m down if you are. My life is kind of a mess right now. School, work, family stress. Oh, and I live next door to the most annoying dude in the world. I need the distraction. Are you sure you want this?

LobsterShorts: I might want it a little more than I’m willing to admit.

SinnerThree: Hey, nothing wrong with pushing your boundaries…

LobsterShorts: Tell that to my control-freak father. Anyway. What if this threesome is awkward?

SinnerThree: Then it’s awkward. It’s not like we’ll ever have to see each other again. Right? Just promise you won’t fall in love with me.

LobsterShorts: Now wouldn’t that be life-changing…

My thoughts:

I counted this book on this list because I just discovered Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy through their prior books Him and Us early in 2019 which led to me following them on Amazon and being alerted when this book came out.

The connection between these boys, LobsterShorts and SinnerThree is GREAT, both online and in person. It feels so organic and is the driving force of the novel. I really, really felt SinnerThree’s life struggles on a personal level, the poverty, the trying to prove himself, the trying to rise above his family… UGH! My heart! And LobsterShorts ended up being a seriously, seriously romantic person (I don’t feel like this is terribly spoilery). This book is SCORCHING HOT and also sweet and serious and romantic in places. It has real-world drama but a textbook perfect premise and storybook ending.

5/5 Stars

That’s all for me this week, for more sweet 2019 reads, check out last week’s post.

What were some recent novels or series you discovered in 2019? Leave your answers in the comments below!

T.G.

Crow Queen Review