This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is books I’d want with me while stranded on a desert island. If I were in this situation I think I would want fun, trashy, fantastical reads that I could dive into and forget about my current situation and be happy to reread multiple times until I am rescued. So I’m leaning more towards series that I love that have expansive worlds and characters that I never get tired of.
The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas
Book of the Ancestors Series by Mark Lawrence
I had a pretty good reading month for August, it wasn’t as successful as previous months but I was actually super busy in August so I am pretty proud of how much I was able to get through!
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker – ⭐️4.5/5 stars
Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston – ⭐️4/5 stars
Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence – ⭐️4.5/5 stars
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas – ⭐️5/5 stars
The Test by Sylvain Neuvel – ⭐️5/5 stars
Vicious by L.J. Shen – ⭐️4/5 stars
Defy by L.J. Shen – ⭐️3/5 stars
Ruckus by L.J. Shen – ⭐️4/5 stars
Scandalous by L.J. Shen – ⭐️4/5 stars
Wilder Girls by Rory Powers – ⭐️4/5 stars
Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody – ⭐️4.5/5 stars
King of Fools by Amanda Foody – ⭐️4/5 stars
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang – ⭐️5/5 stars
Percy Jackson & the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan – ⭐️5/5 stars
Vow of Thieves by Mary E Pearson – ⭐️5/5 Stars
Finale by Stephanie Garber – ⭐️4/5 stars
Boss I Love to Hate: An Office Romance by Mia Kayla – ⭐️3/5 stars
These are five quotes that stuck with me from the last 5 books that I’ve read!
The Test by Sylvain Neuvel
“When faced with a choice, humans almost invariably seek a no-action, no-change option, even when one of the presented alternatives is quantifiably and logically more advantageous.”
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
“When you spend so long trapped in darkness, Lucien, you find that the darkness begins to stare back.”
Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence
“There might not be a meaning to the world, or in it, but that does not mean that what we do has no meaning.”
Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
“You are”, he says, “the absolute worst idea I’ve ever had.”
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker
“…you mess with them, you mess with us.”
*SPOILERS*
The third and final instalment in the Book of Ancestor series by Mark Lawrence follows 3 years after the epic conclusion to Red Sister. Nona is on the cusp of becoming a fully-fledged Sister of the Convent and the Empire is on the cusp of war with the Scithrowl.
A lot happened in the interim between books two and three, but I appreciated that the flashbacks were put in so we can see how Nona and Zole got away and how they made it through the ice. I loved how in depth Mark Lawrence went with the descriptions and world building on the ice. It’s so different to their usual settings and helped to break up the story and keep me invested. I could almost feel how cold it was and it really added a layer of urgency to the storyline. I ultimately knew Nona was able to make it out but no mention was made of Zole in the present so I was very intrigued to figure out her story over the course of the plot.
I’ve always loved Nona’s character, so is just so unpredictable and entertaining. Her attitude and growth over the course of the series has been wonderful to read and she is exactly the kind of main female protagonist I love; capable, hardworking, willing to put herself on the line for others and still able to surprise me with her cunning. It’s really shown in Holy Sister how she contrasts from her former self as the little Nona Grey to the deadly Sister Cage she has now become!
The plot wasn’t my favourite in the series, simply because I am not the biggest fan of long drawn out war scenes. There was a lot going on all at once and I was having a little trouble keeping track of everyone. However, I loved how the plot unravels and all of Abbess Glass’s plans start to come to light. Her intellect and schemes have always had me on the edge of my seat and she has consistently surprised me throughout the books.
I absolutely loved this series, definitely amongst my top 5 favourite fantasy series that I’ve ever read! I will for sure have to look into Mark Lawrence’s other series he has out because I have just loved his writing style and the complex, diverse characters and the immense world’s he creates. Going into it not really expecting/knowing much about the series was a bonus because I captured by surprise and totally swept away into this world!
⭐️4.5/5 stars Everything that I love about fantasy!!!
The N.E.W.T.S Magical Readathon is hosted by Book Roast on YouTube & I’ll link her video with all the information regarding the readathon HERE.
The career I have chosen is to be a Hogwarts Professor and teach Charms, honestly because I would love to live at Hogwarts full time and I think Charms is such a fun, crucial subject in a young witch/wizards magical education! So to pass my NEWTS I need an O in Charms and E in Defense Against the Dark Arts and at least 2 A’s in secondary subjects of my choice which equals to 7 books in all that I need to complete for the NEWTS. If I have time throughout the month I am still going to try and complete as many of the other prompts that I can!
So the prompts and my TBR for the NEWTs are:
A: Read a book that has a gorgeous cover
E: Read a comic / manga / graphic novel (or book under 150 pages)
O: Spongify (softening charm) – read a paperback book
A: Book that’s black under the dust jacket
E: Gilderoy’s Memory Charm – first book that I remembered just now from my TBR!
A: Read a Fantasy
A: Read a book with LGBTQA+ Representation
Amy Leigh Reads 