Stranger Things Book Tag (Take 2)

I was tagged by Pore Over the Pages to do the Stranger Things Book Tag the first time in August of last year, and you can check my first completion of the tag here! So, you’re probably wondering why I’m doing the tag again, when no one else has tagged me to do it? Well, let me tell you! I finished watching season 2 of Stranger Things…well, just a day or two after the episodes were released, and then I was left wanting more. So I decided to reboot this tag with new graphics and to see if any of my choices for each category have changed! This tag was originally created by A Running Commentary, but when I clicked on the link to their page, it took me to an entirely different blog. So, I don’t know what happened to them. If any of you know, or if you are A Running Commentary, please let me know!

When I completed this tag back in the summer of 2016, the choice that I went with was This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab. And while that answer still applies (a lot), mainly because I have not yet read the end of the series, I will be going with a more recent read for this reboot: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao! For those of you who don’t know, this is an origin story retelling of the Evil Queen. I love me a good villain, and while it started out to be about the Evil Queen, I’m not sure if the rest of the series will be? So, I was left feeling intrigued and confused!

The first time that I did this tag, I picked the world of the The Hunger Games series. But thinking about it now, I guess this doesn’t apply to the entire world in the series? I mean the Capitol people lead pretty alright lives, right? So, going by the assumption that a manga is also considered a book, I will have to go with the world from the Attack on Titan series by Hajime Isayama! I mean…it would be a truly terrifying world to live in!

I went with my very worn out copy of  Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone last time. And while this category still applies to that book, I thought that I’d switch it out with another old and very much loved book of mine…and that is the first book in the The Sword of Turth series: Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind! This is the first book in an adult high fantasy series which I read when I was entirely too young for it, hahaha. I think I was 13? Anyway, my copy is quite battered, and I’ve read this book maybe 5 times or more.

I haven’t completely read a lot of trilogies, and while last time I cheated and picked the A Court of Thorns and Roses series (even though the third book hadn’t come out yet by that point), I’m not sure if I would read it as a pick-me-up? When it comes to my new choices, I’m also not sure if it would actually cheer me up more than the A Court of Thorns and Roses books, but, I can say for sure that I loved the writing, and the world. Yeah. I’m going with The Modern Faerie Tales series by Holly Black!

I went with The Weaver from A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas last time, and while she is still quite terrifying for me, I will be picking another “beast” this time around. I don’t know about you, but demons and possession really really scare me! So, this one goes to the demon from My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix! While this book was not super scary, the scariest part of it was the demon and the possession itself. It gave me goosebumps!

Last time, I chose the villain from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child who I chose not to name because spoilers! This time, it was a really tough choice between King Hybern from A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas and the villain (who I choose not to name for the same reason as with The Cursed Child) from Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco…and the villain who won is….King Hybern by…like…a hair!
Last time, I chose Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling because I’d encountered a lot of poorly-written books featuring same sex couples at the time, and had kind of expected the same from that book. I was pleasantly surprised by it though, and highly recommend that book AND the series!  This time, however, I will be going with the first book that came to mind when I read the prompt, and that is All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater! Having never read any Stiefvater books before this, and having heard that some people love her style and others really dislike it, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I was apprehensive…but I’m glad that I gave it a chance, because it’s now one of my favourite releases of 2017!

At first, it was difficult to think of books for this one. Then it was a tie between my previous choice, Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy, and thee others: Zero Repeat Forever by Gabrielle Prendergast, Little Nothing by Marisa Silver, and Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones. But in the end, Wintersong won out. All of the above books have strange settings, but I mean, it’s pretty hard to beat the underground world of the goblins!

Milana @ A Couple Reads

Lilly @ Lair of Books

Diana @ Diana Prince Reviews

Katie @ The Queen of Teen Fiction

Lois @ Lois Reads Books

PS. for those of you interested… the Stranger Things 2 Book Tag is coming soon! Let me know in the comments if you’d like to be tagged (if you hadn’t already told me on Twitter)!

PHEW! THAT WAS QUITE A BIT OF WORK! REALLY HAD TO THINK FOR SOME OF THOSE CATEGORIES. THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMPLETE THE TAG EVEN IF YOU HAVEN’T BEEN TAGGED! ALSO, HAVE YOU READ ANY OF THE BOOKS I CHOSE OR LISTED? WHAT DID YOU THINK? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!