1. The Room Where It Happens: book world you would put yourself in
Absolutely Lord of The Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Possibly in Rivendell, where time doesn’t have much meaning.
2. The Schuyler Sisters: underrated female character
Susan Pevensie from C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, she is almost never mentioned as a very strong character. She had to take care of her brothers, she excels in archery and I am still salty about how the author treated her at the end of the saga. The reason is a spoiler so I’ll put it at the end of the post.
3. My Shot: a character that goes after what they want and doesn’t let anything stop them
William of Baskerville, from The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Such an amazing character. His helper, Adso, can also be in this category. He doesn’t let anything stand between him and the truth, even when he has to make difficult moral decisions.
4. You’ll Be Back: Sassiest Villain
This villain is in American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. He is the true villain of the story, and is just soooo sassy. And cool. I’m going to praise him a bit more at the bottom because it’s a massive spoiler.
5. The Reynolds Pamphlet: A Book With A Twist That You Didn’t See Coming
Uzumaki, by Junji Ito. Ok it is a manga, but still, manga is literature right? Especially Junji Ito. Uzumaki, like every single other work by Ito, has so many unexpected turns that often I could just stare at the last page of the chapter thinking “what? why? please someone explain”
6. Non-Stop: A Series You Marathoned
I Regni di Nashira, by Licia Troisi. I’m sorry for anyone who does not know Italian and is missing out on this author and this series especially. I was so obsessed that I ended up reading the first three books in one week, at the seaside, and then I had to wait for an entire year for the last one to come out. It was pure torture.
7. Satisfied: Favourite Book With Multiples POVs
Ok ok it’s not one book, but The Demon Cycle, by Peter V. Brett. The last post was on this series so I’ll stop here, otherwise I’ll start rambling again about how great it is.
8. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: A book or series you feel like will be remembered throughout history
All the Harry Potter books, by J. K. Rowling. They are history, and I think they will be forever remembered among the books that shaped a generation (or more than one).
10. Stay Alive: A character you wish was still alive
KINDA SPOILER (I think we all read this book tho):
Snape. And Fred. Why J. K. Rowling? WHY?
11. Helpless: A relationship you were rooting for from the start
Laila and Tariq from A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini. Great book, it will always be in my list of “books I think anyone should read in their life”
12. Ten Duel Commandments: Favourite fight scene
I’ll avoid saying “literally every fight scene in The Demon Cycle” (ok I said it), and I will say the Battle of the Five Armies, in The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien. The first time I read this book, I was so surprised by this battle. The entire book before had some kind of “fairytale” aura, but this was perfectly staged.
13. What Comes Next: A series you wish had more books
A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin. Man, if you read this, can you please please FINISH THE SERIES?
14. Right Hand Man: Favourite bromance
Not a book bromance but Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are the best.
15. What’d I Miss: A book or series you were late to reading
Ehm... basically 90% of them? I usually add the series that everyone is reading to my list, but by the time I reach those books the hype is gone (⇀‸↼‶)
Spoiler 1: Yes, Susan Pevensie. SHE DOESN’T GO TO NARNIA BECAUSE SHE LIKES LIPSTICK? Knowing how religious the author was, I wonder if it is a metaphor to say “you’ll not find salvation if you are fivolous”. It becomes even worse if lipstick = sex, which wouldn’t surprise me.
Spoiler 2: Mr Wednesday/Odin is my favourite character of the book, without him I would have rated it really badly. Somehow this one villain makes it really good, even for me (I’m not particularly fond of urban fantasy lol)
