This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is new to you authors. This list is 10 authors that I read from for the first time in 2020 and I loved them enough to want to continue to pick up either their back-list or any books they may publish in the future!
Pierce Brown
Talia Hibbert
Blake Crouch
Kerri Maniscalco
Brent Weeks
S.K. Ali
Emily Henry
Tricia Levenseller
K. Ancrum
Nnedi Okorafor
Just like last year I’m making more of an effort to read from a variety of authors from different cultures and backgrounds or books featuring a diverse main character. These 5 books have been on my radar for a while now and are ones I really want to prioritise in 2021!
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
Vicious Spirits by Kat Cho
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Morena-Garcia
The Wicker King by K. Ancrum
*Spoilers Below*
Daevabad has fallen. After a brutal conquest stripped the city of its magic, Nahid leader Banu Manizheh and her resurrected commander, Dara, must try to repair their fraying alliance and stabilize a fractious, warring people. Having narrowly escaped their murderous families and Daevabad’s deadly politics, Nahri and Ali, now safe in Cairo, face difficult choices of their own.
Nahri’s character remained pretty consistent throughout the course of the series, this finale was just all about finding answers to her past and how she came to be in Cairo in the first place, her parentage and why her appearance was altered. I liked the fact that even though she wanted to fly back to Daevabad and kill Dara after poisoning her brother she chose to not go through with it and actually stay and work out a plan. I feel like it definitely showed growth in her character and we see just how far she has come from stealing on the streets.
Ali in this book wasn’t as impactful to me and his storyline with the Marid’s I wasn’t as invested in to be honest. Sure he goes on this journey of discovery into the ocean and discovering his lineage with Sobec and the Marid’s but the timing just seemed too convenient to me. I did however loved watching his budding romance with Nahri and seeing how they fumble over their obstacles and smother their feelings, trying to do what’s right for Daevabad.
Dara is a tricky one. On one hand I loved the person he was when he was with Nahri I don’t like who he became when he sided with Manizeh. He became the scourge all over again and started to actually believe it. He had so many moments of clarity when he knew Manizeh wasn’t doing the right thing and seen how she was changing and yet he still stayed somewhat loyal. I would of been more on his side had he done a little more to undermine Manizeh but given his circumstances I think he did the best he could. I appreciated how his relationship with Nahri came to a close and I think he made the best of his current situation in the end.
I liked the travelling elements, I think it expanded and already pretty large world and made this series as a whole feel a lot more epic. It was nice to have a new setting and revisiting where it all began back in Cairo and seeing what might of been had Nahri and Ali stayed. I have to say I am extremely satisfied with how this series ended. I wouldn’t say it’s my new favourite book I’ve ever read but I am just left feeling content with this series as a whole.
⭐️4/5 stars this series is a MUST read!!!
I did this tag last year and once again I figured it was the perfect tag to start off the new year!
Fonda Lee – There has been so much hype for Jade City and I want to see how I will feel about it!
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
Again classic’s honestly don’t interest me, so probably none 🤷🏾♀️
I’d like to reread Crown of Feathers before I read Heart of Flames
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton is haunting me at this point…
A big book I would like to read is The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks
Emily Henry – I’ve only read Beach Read so far and she has so many more books I’m interested in.
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
The Gentleman’s Bastard Series by Scott Lynch
The Shadow Game Series by Amanda Foody
I would like to read at least 100 books again this year!
There is something about Seanan McGuire’s writing that is both whimsical and compelling. I found myself lost in the story and enraptured by the world of the moors.
Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline. Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you’ve got. They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.
Jack and Jill just aren’t my favourite protagonists. They just grated my nerves which makes me unable to connect with them. I mean they were only 12 when they stumbled into the moors and they had to adapt to survive but I just found them both to be unlikeable. It was interesting to see their choices about who they wanted to stay with and how they reacted to each other’s choice and the subsequent way their lives devolved.
There is a discussion to be had about their parents and the dismal childhood they had to endure, being regimented into the roles they deemed where appropriate and being unable to grow, change or evolve out of those roles. They cared more about how they were perceived by their peers rather than catering to their children’s needs first and that really made me dislike them.
These novellas I don’t think are going to gel with me as a reader simply because I need more substance. I want to learn all about the world and find out what actual creatures and monsters inhabit the moors. I want to know how everyone came to be here and the way the Vampires took over. Is there a magic system and how does it work, what is the history? Whereas I think these books are just supposed to touch on the individual characters experiences in their worlds and how it changes them before coming back to the real world where they are supposed to readjust.
Overall it was an interesting reading experience.
⭐️3/5 stars I just want to know more!!
Amy Leigh Reads 