hi yes I have a blog and I remembered it exists for once. you might ask: why did you suddenly decide to log onto wordpress and actually write a post? well because the wonderful May over at Forever and Everly created a PJO & HoO book tag, and I just HAD to do it!!

all credit for both the tag itself and the (incredibly cute) graphics goes to May!! (ignore me linking to her blog twice because I want to make sure she gets the credit she deserves hjhhjhhg)(also y’all should go follow her because she’s amazing) I’m so happy and excited that this tag exists, and it’s literally so fun and I love it!!

also I just very much am hyped!! about the show!! I never did watch the movies, but I’m sooooo glad this wonderful series is on its way to getting a good adaptation!!

also hahahahahahahaha funny story about percy jackson: I didn’t even like it when I first read pjo (I just?? didn’t care about the world or the characters?? clearly I had no taste??), and then last summer I read HoO and fell completely in love and now I’m obsessed with the riordanverse and recognize that Child Me was tasteless

Rules:

• Thank the person who tagged you and link to their post.
• Link to the original creator: May @ Forever and Everly! Please note that she made the artwork/graphics, if using them. *If you care about graphics having a clear quality, make it big enough so that the dimensions are 1103 x 175!
• Match books with the given prompts.
• Tag however many people as wanted!
• Copy-paste the rules and list of prompts.

hands down The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow!! I read this book in February, and even then I knew this was a pretty strong contender for my favourite book of the year. now, almost five months in, nothing has even come close to comparing (at no fault of the other books—this book is simply too spectacular)

I literally do not have words for how much I love this masterpiece of a book

do not say the sound of stars do not say the sound of stars do not say the sound of stars— I don’t think I have ever read writing quite as beautiful as the writing in Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles, and awe truly is the only word I have to describe how I felt when reading this book. so many elements of this book were masterfully done—the plot, the world-building, the characters—but the writing was what really left me stunned

please do your eyeballs a favour and read this beautiful book when it releases in August!!

in case you’re new here: I love Echo After Echo by Amy Rose Capetta so much. it’s easily one of my all time favourites. and so the fact that almost no one seems to have read it is honestly a travesty to me.

I’m so glad that Amy Rose Capetta is getting a lot more hype recently with The Brilliant Death and Once & Future, but people! stop! sleeping! on! this! book! I love it so much and like . . . honestly why not read a beautifully written sapphic theatre murder mystery?

*waves awkwardly at the Heroes of Olympus series (by of course the one and only Rick Riordan)*

it’s not exactly that I thought I would hate these—I don’t tend to read books I think I’ll hate—but I expected them to be . . . okay. I barely even convinced myself to pick them up. I definitely didn’t expect to read the entire series (all five huge books) in four days, and become entirely obsessed with everything riordanverse. And yet I did, and now here we are

Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli was honestly such a groundbreaking book to me, and although it’s not my absolute favourite book anymore the way it used to be, reading it will always feel like a warm hug. I just . . . I love this book so much, and it’s so happy and funny and sweet, and never fails to put a smile on my face

I love so many books about siblings, but for this prompt I just had to go with I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver. the relationship between Ben and their sister Hannah isn’t exactly the closest sibling relationship I’ve ever read, but I absolutely adore how complicated it is. They have their issues, but they also love each other so much, and I just truly think this is one of the most real sibling relationships I’ve read in a long time

I swear, I tell myself I’m just going to reread a *little* bit of Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, and the next thing I know it’s 2am and I’m flailing incoherently over Nick and Charlie and crying over not having the next update yet

(also along with the time theme: I have been following this webcomic for more than two years, and I sort of can’t believe it’s been that long, but also wow it’s been so incredibly cool to grow along with these characters)

okay firstly: jgfgdfgHHJGHFGDHJGHFGDHJGHFGDHHG NICO MY CHILD I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AHHHHH GHFGDJGHFG I JUST!! LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!

anyways now that that’s out of my system* let’s get back to the question: it seemed only fitting for me to choose one of my favourite books for this question, since Nico is one of my favourite fictional characters. and what incredibly well-loved book is also one of my favourites? why Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab of course

if y’all’ve been around a while, you know that I am Certified Schwab Trash, and this has long been one of my favourite series. it’s just . . . truly unlike anything else, and I love it so so much! the characters and the world and the writing and just!! everything!!

*(it’s not. loving Nico will never out of my system)

in news that I’m sure shocks absolutely no one: if I had to be marooned on an island with one book it would absolutely be Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston!! I love this book SO MUCH, and after five rereads it has nowhere near gotten old. Also it’s the perfect mix of happy, sad, hilarious, and hopeful; suitable for any mood

but also please please please no one ever cut me off from books like that, I need more than one book khgfkkhjgfgdk

in case you didn’t know: I love Alice Oseman. Like a lot. I’ve already mentioned an Alice Oseman book once in this post, but I honestly adore everything she’s ever written (except solitaire but we don’t talk about that, she’s improved) and on top of this Loveless sounds absolutely amazing.

and so here is truly no book I am more confident I will adore than Loveless by Alice Oseman

can I say loveless again? no? okay fine.

one of my most anticipated releases (read: the only other book I’m as excited for as Loveless) is Cemetery Boys by Aidan Thomas. I literally need this book right now. please. I’m desperate. it sounds so fucking good, and from what little I’ve seen of it I already adore the characters and I just . . . please. gimme the book. now. I want it. (also I’m so sad that the release date got pushed back, even though I do understand why it happened 😭)

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee has been on my tbr for a long time, but I only finally got around to picking it up when Enne @ Our Worlds of Words yelled at me to read it, and I am so glad they did because I absolutely adore this book and it makes me so incredibly happy!!

although Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales wasn’t quite as light as I expected and deals with some tough subjects, it is also one of the funniest books I’ve read in a very long time! I absolutely adore Ollie’s voice, and just . . . the whole book is utterly hilarious. I laughed out loud quite a few times during the course of this book, and it honestly just makes me so happy!!

I must have first read Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine . . . two and a half years ago now? and I know that isn’t all that long, but my tastes have changed so much in that two and a half years, and the fact that this is still one of my favourite series is honestly so impressive!!

if you’ve read Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab . . . you know I was right to be scared.

I read this book so long ago now that I don’t even remember how I knew to be scared—whether I’d seen reviews talking about the pain, or if the ending to the first book was also emotionally distressing, or if I could just sense it coming—but I very vividly remember being so terrified of the pain I knew was coming that I literally got like halfway through, and then put the book down for a week and refused to look at it lmao

I’ve seen so many mediocre or just outright bad reviews for Infinity Son by Adam Silvera, and went into it very dubiously because of that, but I just genuinely loved this book!

like I truly do not understand the hate? I fell so in love with the characters, but I also thought the plot and world-building were incredibly well done? and I mean sure, the plot was pretty tropey, but tropey plots are FUN, and also I loved how self-aware it was of the fact that it was tropey

hi I hate a court of thorns and roses. it doesn’t deserve a link to it’s gr page, and I cannot be fucked with bolding or even capitalizing it’s name. because it fucking sucks. there are very few books I really truly hate. I think that to this date, in my almost three years of reviewing books, acotar is the only book I have ever one starred. I like. really, REALLY hate it. it’s just a fucking problematic mess and it romanticizes abuse and it’s so creepy and I hate it and this book does not deserve all the hype at all, and like honestly it can fucking burn

I really meant to not repeat anything in this tag, but for all the amazing romances I thought of, nothing can quite top Henry and Alex’s romance in Red, White & Royal Blue.

Maybe it’s because this book is a romance, maybe it’s just because Casey McQuiston is a fucking amazing writer, I’m not sure. But either way, the fact remains that I have never shipped two characters more than Alex and Henry, and this book owns my whole entire heart ❤

honourable mentions because I feel bad that I ended up reusing rwrb:

• Lei and Wren from Girls of Paper and Fire
• Dani and Carmen from We Set the Dark on Fire
• Evelyn and Celia from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

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Who’s your favourite Rick Riordan character? Or what’s your favourite Rick Riordan series? Do you love Nico Di Angelo or do you love Nico Di Angelo? And are you excited for the show, or nervous (or both)?!