IN A SENTENCE: book recs and why you should read them
FANTASY
carry on by rainbow rowell: itβs harry potter but gay and with extra scones and dumbledore wears tights
the raven cycle seriesΒ by maggie steifvater (everyone has heard of this already so): delightfully weird with the strongest set of characters in anything iβve read and lots of cars and bees
shades of magic series by ve schwab: whimsical fantasy and cross-dressing pirates and again, brilliant characters and just excitingness
monsters of verity duology by ve schwab: so so dark with savagely beautiful imagery and creepy nursery rhymes and almost horror writing in book 2
villains duology by ve schwab: moral ambiguity!!! edginess!!! subversion of the superhero genre!!! characters you both like and hate!!! gritty urban settings!!!
six of crows duology by leigh bardugo: more moral ambiguity and an absolutely stellar cast of six with an insanely well-crafted heist
the great library series by rachel caine: a book about books do i need to say more also christopher wolfe is my dad, the worldbuilding is insaneΒ and this is SO underrated
the girl at midnight series by melissa grey: the poetic justice makes me cry every time i think about it and honestly itβs just worth reading to see the character development dorian goes through
magisterium series by cassandra clare and holly black: harry potter but so much darker even though itβs mg not ya, and it has already made me cry my entire soul out so considering itβs written by 2 of the most popular authors this is criminally underrated honestly
strange the dreamer by laini taylor: iβm only halfway through this but the worldbuilding is amazing and the writing is absolutely gorgeous and it actually has a plot unlike some books this reminds me of
CONTEMPORARY
all for the game series by nora sakavic: so dark and so quick-paced and exciting with more amazing characters and more jaw-dropping plot twists and a mc who likes to destroy people on live tv
one of us is lying by karen m. mcmanus: criminally good ending that might be a direct comparison to a certain other popular tv series around rn with also a good cast of characters
troublemakers by catherine barter: really poignant narrative on protesting and things and it really helped me come to terms with the attack on my city in may
release by patrick ness: ok this crosses over into fantasy but itβs like 80% contemporary and itβs just a really good story on coming out into a homophobic environment and coming to terms with being loved and stuff
a list of cages by robin roe: just straight-up made me cry until i couldnt breathe honestly it has lots of narrative abt child abuse but if thatβs not bad for you itβs really really good
HISTORICAL
the song of achilles by madeline miller: again, i straight up cried by the end of this one. the dramatic irony (cough cough what has hector ever done) is honestly the best dramatic irony in any book ive ever read ever
the gentlemanβs guide to vice and virtue by mackenzi lee: just a really fun whimsical book with pirates and a cute relationship and good side characters and things like that
PLEASE SEND ME MORE IβM RUNNING OUT OF BOOKS TO READ
