Hey everyone! Yes, I know, I forgot to blog again, but I’m back! (Hopefully!)

Virginia @ The Sassy Library Fox tagged me for the Disney Princess Book Tag, and I’m looking forward to this! The questions look like a lot of fun, and I mean come on, when are princesses not fun really?

Rules:

• Mention where you saw the tag/thank whoever tagged you because that’s
  always good fun
• Tag Mandy @ Book Princess Reviews and Zuky @ BookBum so they can check out the wonderful Princess fun throughout the blog world
• Play a game of tag at the end!

1 – SNOW WHITE – this book (like the movie) started it all
Favourite debut book from an author:

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that Victoria Schwab is one of my absolute favourite authors, so naturally I had to go with her debut here.

The Near Witch was one of the last Schwab books I picked up, and I have to admit, I was a bit wary. But while she’s certainly grown as an author since her debut, The Near Witch is still a damn good book, and I absolutely loved it.

(Also it was recently rereleased, so you definitely need to go pick it up ;P)

CINDERELLA – a diamond in the rough
Just like Cinderella, you didn’t expect much out of this character in the
beginning, but they turned out to be a total gem:

Zoya (and everyone tbh) from The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo 

When we first meet Zoya in Shadow and Bone she is the most cliche, unlikeable, mean girl. Not only did I dislike her, I also thought she was a shallow, poorly written character.

But by the time Ruin and Rising ended Zoya has been so beautifully developed. And I freaking love it.

AURORA – sleeping beauty
A book that makes you sleepy or could not hold your attention:

An Ember In the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

*hides face*

I’m sorry. I know this book is super popular. I was just so bored reading it.

So so so freaking bored.

(Don’t mind me just adding in this line of text to make my formatting work ARGH)

ARIEL – under the sea
A book with a water/ocean setting:

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

This book was so incredible! It was… adult horror. So not my usual cup of tea. But I loved it soooo much!

And I mean killer mermaids. What more can you ask really?

And okay maybe it made me extremely mildly terrified wary of the ocean, but… it was worth it.

BELLE – beauty and the books
Name a book with the best bookworm/book lover:

The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

My immediate response would have probably been Strange the Dreamer, but I decided not to use the same one as Virginia, so I went with The Infernal Devices instead.

I completely adore how bookish this book is. Tessa and Will bond over their shared love of books, and it’s so sweet. Also you know, I’m complete trash for anything shadowhunters.

But seriously, the bookish love in this series is so wonderful.

JASMINE – the thief and the princess
Name a book with an unlikely love story (either in terms of romance or a book
you didn’t expect to love so much):

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

This fits the question on both counts.

First off, I didn’t really expect to love this one. I liked Nevernight a lot, but it’d been ages since I read it, and when I started Godsgrave I was really having a hard time remembering why I’d loved Nevernight so much.

These books are completely not my style, and quite frankly Godsgrave started off pretty slow. I thought I’d end up slogging through it, but a third or so of the way through it it picked up and I started to REALLY enjoy it.

Second of all, the romance in this book is… pretty unlikely. There’s not much I can say without spoilers, but… after the events at the end of Nevernight, this couple was a little bit unlikely to say the least. (Hate to love murderous power couple…)(But I love them.)

POCAHONTAS – the real life princess
Name a book that is based on a real life person you want to read/have read:

Queer, There and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World

Real life? What is this real life of which you speak?

I gravitate mostly (okay almost entirely) towards fiction. Queer, There and Everywhere is the only nonfiction book I’ve read in the past… year and a half? (Aka since I started keeping track of what I read. Who knows about before that.)

But this was really fascinating, and I loved it!

MULAN – the princess that saved her country
Name the fiercest heroine you know:

Bri from On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

I just finished this the other day and I fell completely in love with Bri.

She’s flawed, she’s hotheaded, she makes some really stupid decisions, but this girl is so fierce and so badass and I adored her.

TIANA – the princess with the coolest and most diverse crew
Name a diverse book, whether it is a diverse set of characters or just diverse in general:

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy

Not only is this book funny, fast paced, and unique, it’s also wonderfully diverse.

And also I just really loved it.

Like a lot.

RAPUNZEL – let your long hair down
Name the longest book you’ve ever read:

Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

According to goodreads this book is 912 pages. I can’t check my own copy, because it’s an ebook, but no matter what the exact page count is, this book was really long.

Also of course it came while I was super busy, so for three days I switched between doing things I absolutely needed to do and reading this book, and NOTHING ELSE.

It was quite the experience.

MERIDA – I determine my own fate
A book where there is no love story/interest:

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Yes I will continue to scream about Alice Oseman forever. There is no stopping me.

But seriously, Radio Silence has such a wonderful focus on platonic relationships. A large side character has a romance, but the main character is single, and she doesn’t care, and she makes it very clear that she has no romantic interest in the male lead, and akdgffhgjghfgdfhj I love it!

ANNA & ELSA – frozen hearts
A book in a winter/cold setting:

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I really struggled to come up with an answer for this one, and then I remembered how much of SoC takes place in Fjerda.

And if you’ve read it, you know that one of Fjerda’s main characteristics is how cold and icy and snowy it is.

Not to mention that the world building in this series is top notch, so everything about this setting is wonderful.

MOANA – how far I’ll go
A character that goes on a journey:

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

It’s been a while since I screamed about my love for Rachel Hartman, but hi I LOVE LOVE LOVE HER BOOKS, AND THEY ARE CRIMINALLY UNDERHYPED, AND YOU REALLY NEED TO READ THEM IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY.

Okay great, now that I’ve got that out of the way, let me just say that the journey in this book is freaking amazing.

It’s a literal physical journey, for sure. She spends most of the book traveling. I mean for goodness sakes the word road is literally in the title.

But it’s also a metaphorical journey. It’s a journey of finding herself, and learning to love who she is. And it’s freaking beautiful.

Have you read any of these? Do you have any recs for books without romance? What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?

H