Before you do a double take and arch your eyebrows, yes, I haven’t really been posting Fictional Fridays. Blame my inability to plan three regular posts a week, blame my laziness, whatever works. The reason I’m bringing this feature back, is so I can share books I bought with me on my holiday.
I’m currently either escaping the scorching heat or enjoying a book beside a pool in Corfu, Greece. Safe to say, I’m definitely enjoying myself but I also wanted to share the books I’m most likely also enjoying. Sure, I’m not reading them all and definitely not all at the same time, but I bough options (ebook format rules)! Because I never know what mood I’m going to be in, or what book I might want to pick up, so it’s good to have a variety of them with me.
POSION STUDY SERIES by Maria V. Snyder
Five years ago (I thought it was longer), I read the first book of the series in Estonian and set myself out to get the second book at the local library. Sadly, they didn’t have the second book and that’s where it all stopped. I’m now determined to start the series again and continue until I’ve read it all.
This is a fantasy series which starts off with Yelena, a prisoner, who is given a choice. Be executed or become the Commander’s new food taster. But while food tasting sounds fun, it’s really not, since the job requirements include knowing, tasting and eating poisons. As far as I can remember, the first book was amazing and it seems to only get better from there on out.
THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This year, surprise surprise, I have read a few adult fiction books and this one has been on my TBR list for quite some time. It is historical fiction, so that’s another genre I’m trying to venture more into.
Main plot revolves around Monique, who Evelyn Hugo, a famous actress, picks out to write her life’s story. It is clear that this book is inspired by Elizabeth Taylor’s life and her seven marriages. So without a doubt, this book promises to be an interesting read. And though I haven’t read anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I trust my first experience with her to be a positive one.
WHAT TO SAY NEXT by Julie Buxbaum
I would be lying to myself if I didn’t bring any YA to my holiday. It was hard to pick something from the long list of books I still need to read but this ended up making the cut.
What to Say Next is about two teenagers, one popular, the other not. Their unlikely friendship surprised everyone, including themselves. But sometimes you simply need a new perspective to understand life. As far as YA tropes go, the popular teenager befriending an unpopular one is definitely among my favourites.
THE WRATH AND THE DAWN by Renee Ahdieh
And we’re back to fantasy because it is my comfort zone genre. The Wrath and the Dawn has been in my TBR for a while as well, and it’s surprising since I’ve only heard good things.
It’s the retelling of the infamous One Thousand and One Nights, where a woman saves herself from execution every night by telling a story but not finishing it. Which means the main plot of The Wrath and the Dawn is an intriguing one to say at least.
ELANTRIS by Brandon Sanderson
The only physical book I’m bringing with me is Brando Sanderson’s Elantris. His first book to have been published, and the one I’ve had on my bookshelf for a long time.
This is a high fantasy novel following three main characters. It tells a story of Elantris, a place that used to be filled with magic, but a cataclysmic event stripped the magic away and the city was sealed off. I own the revised version of this novel, which is said to become now a trilogy. The second book is set to be released in 2020.
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I hope you’re having a lovely time in Greece! I loved ‘What to Say Next’…until I got to the last 20 or so pages. There was something there that didn’t resonate with me, and I felt the ending to be a bit rushed. Then again, it might be just me. I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo; I ended up getting a copy but I haven’t started yet.
I had a great time, thanks!! 🙂
SAME! The ending was.. horrible. It was so.. it didn’t fit the book at all and I guess now that I read your comment, I wish that I had known this before finishing the book. 😀
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is the only one I didn’t pick up during my vacation, the rest I wrapped up in this week’s Fiction Friday. 🙂
Ooooh I’ve read to of those but didn’t like them 🙈
One was Seven Husbands… I LOVE Taylor Jenkins Reid, but that was the first book from her that really didn’t grab my attention. I was hoping for more Old Hollywood juice, but either way none of the characters stuck with me. A lot of people seem the love it though, so you might too! Anyway it’s quite different from her other books, she’s usually more of an emotional romance kind of writer, so maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy it as much.
The second book was The Wrath and the Dawn. Ugggggh!! The setting is perfect, I love it so much. But the book felt childish to me, idk. And really unoriginal? Very meh.
Sorry I don’t bring good news. 😂
Oh, I’m so sad to hear that you didn’t like Seven Husbands… I still haven’t read it.
BUT I totally agree with The Wrath and the Dawn! I hated it so much! Like, I love the idea, the set up actually worked, but the writing was just so awful. I couldn’t bring myself to DNF it though, so I finished it. I did give it 1 extra cup for being a cultural representation of Middle Eastern, which I haven’t read about a lot so I feel like it’s important to appreciate that aspect of the book.