The Young Elites vs The Hype-o-Meter!

Guys I have news for you, I redesigned my blog!! (yet again) It now has a new theme, a new header image and other stuff. If you haven’t seen it yet, hop out of your reader and go check it out!

And today we have a much anticipated (for me, but I hope it was for you too haha) post with us – the first in a collaborative series with April @Booked Till Midnight in which we pit popular books against our very own hype-o-meter. (have no clue what is going on? take a look at the introduction to this series here and here)

The first book we (buddy) read for this series was none other than The Young Elites by Marie Lu! Let’s see how it fared against the hype-o-meter.

Book Details

Title: The Young Elites

Author: Marie Lu

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Format: E-book

Synopsis:

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

Thoughts

If The Young Elites was to be described in one word by me, the word would have been NO. I know it lacks eloquence, but I cannot find a better way to get my point across. The plot was a no, that characters were a no, the overall atmosphere was a no. Hey hey, don’t come at me with war hammers and pitchforks just yet, I’ll try to explain it all.

There was absolutely nothing unique about this book that separates it from 10476 other young adult fantasies out there. It’s almost like it was screaming “I am a typical fantasy that everybody got tired of long back” in every single page. People with magic are hunted? Check. Secret magical society? Check. Fire-boy? Check. Rebellious prince? You wouldn’t believe it, but unfortunately, check.

Normally, I am all for morally grey characters, but I took a dislike to Adelina, our very morally  grey main character right from the beginning. She was everything I hate in fictional characters – confused, self-pitying, often contradictory and repetitive, and of course, she had no idea how to sort her priorities and made bad decisions all the time. Our other main character, Enzo wasn’t much better either. The only character I actually cared about a little was Lucent, and guess what, only her name gets mentioned and that too perhaps half a dozen times in the book. Ever heard of character development?? Anyway, more on that later. 

The basic essence of the book doesn’t make sense, to be honest. Are you telling me this entire story takes place because our main character accidentally kills people?Is that even possible? If I wanted to sum up the plot of the book it would go – Oh, Adelina kills people by mistake and cries about it later, no biggie. 

What breaks my heart the most is the fact that this book truly had the potential required to make me fall head over heels in love with it – the elites were all that were needed to execute a beautiful found family trope. And there was SO much scope for more dialogue and witty banter between the elites. But do we get this? Nope. What we get are sorely underdeveloped characters (what do we ever get to know about Raffaele except a description of his clothes and mask? And with Lucent and Emma and Michel, we didn’t even get that) with absolutely zero sassy dialogue.

The next paragraph contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

I do not know what exactly I was expecting in the end. Perhaps I was looking for something extraordinary, something that redeems how bad the rest of the story was. The actual ending was far from extraordinary, and maybe this book would have got a much higher rating from me if that end hadn’t been there.Like of all the mistakes she has done and all the people she has killed, Adelina kills Enzo instead of Teren? Are you kidding me??

Verdict

Soo. That definitely did not go as expected. The hype-o-meter vanquished the Young Elites without a second glance. Tough luck.

Oh, and that’s not all! Click HERE to read what April thinks about The Young Elites!

Have you read The Young Elites? What would you rate it on the hype-o-meter? Let me know in the comments!

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Discussion Post: Role of Parents in MG and YA fantasy (Part 2) + 8 book recommendations with active parent roles!

Hello guys, how are you all today?

You can find part 1 of this discussion HERE . I would suggest that you first read the first part if you haven’t and then come back here. But if you don’t want to, that’s absolutely fine, you can continue reading this post. (also, if you’re on WP reader, please continue reading this post here to enjoy better formatting)

In the first part, we talked about how a lot of MG and YA novels ignore parents, and often have the absent and/or dead parent tropes. I also shared the results of a survey I conducted, which revealed that most readers do not prefer such novels, instead they would rather have books where the parents do have a role to play in the story.

I personally agree with the majority. It is really important for MG and YA books to portray parent-child relationships, not only because most young readers will find the experiences relatable, but also because it is crucial for children (as well as adults) to understand the benefits of a healthy parent-child relationship and to learn to steer clear of unhealthy ones. If I have to make a list on the advantages of showing parental relationships in books, here’s how it would look like –

• As already mentioned, most readers will find the experiences of the protagonists quite relatable, and this will add to their enjoyment of the book.
• It gives the reader a chance to reflect upon his/her own relationship with their parents/children and judge whether it is healthy or not.
• The reader (especially if young) gets exposure to the different relationships parents and children share.
• It adds a little realistic element to the story, therefore getting the readers invested into the story and help them in empathizing with the characters all the more.

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Parents definitely should have some role in the books, and this does not mean only biological parents. Adopted parents add to the story even more, don’t you think? The Book Thief and Keeper of The Lost Cities are good examples, I’ll be talking about them in the later part of this post.

There are books like The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, where there is some ambiguity regarding the identities of the protagonists’ parents. Something along the lines of I-never-knew-my-father trope, if you know what I mean? I wouldn’t really consider books like these to be the ones with active parents, but whenever the identity of the biological parent is revealed, there is a certain element of surprise which adds some enjoyment.

The Aurora Cycle, The Mortal Instruments and The Keeper of Lost Cities all have something in common – villainous parents. Of course, parents are wholly included in these books, but on the opposite side of the protagonist. Usually protagonists of such books have this internal struggle – whether to side with their parent(s) or their friends.

Many books revolve around the main character trying to find his missing parents, like Ash in Frostheart by Jamie Littler, or trying to get vengeance for their dead parents, like Nova in Renegades by Marissa Meyer.

Then there are books like Six Of Crows duology, which I think cannot be included in any of these categories (absent parents, dead parents or active parents). Colm Fahey, Jesper’s father, definitely made a great addition to the book, and I was really happy when Inej got to meet her long lost parents. Wylan’s father was one of the main villains in the first book in the duology. But the other three main character’s parents are absent or dead, and I don’t think I would have liked having them in the story anyway, for the reason that Six Of Crows was one of those YA novels where the characters are in the higher age bracket (17-18 years old).

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There are a lot (though not as many as I would have liked) of books out there which show the ups and downs of parent-child relationships and impart valuable lessons along the way. I will now be talking about 8 such books that I have read and loved. You can click on the cover images to know more about the book on Goodreads and add it to your TBR!

The Miracle On Ebenezer Street: This book was so adorable! The entire plot revolves around George trying to get his father to enjoy Christmas (and life in general) like he did earlier, before George’s mother died. I went “Awww” so many times while reading this. This perfect Christmassy read will definitely cheer you up whenever you’re feeling low.

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The Six Bad Boys by Enid Blyton: I must have read this book a gazillion times now, (my first time reading it was 4-5 years back and my most recent reread was a week ago), and it never fails to make me all teary-eyed. I think this is one of the best books there is for showing the different types of parent-child relationships there can be. I think the major lesson here is that it is too easy for children to be led astray if their parents neglect them and make them feel unwanted. And what impacted me even more was how young the protagonists were – Tom was twelve-ish and Bob was even younger. A must-read for all coming-of-age (and everyone else, of course!) readers. (And its quite short so it can be read in a single sitting. Seriously, read it and you’ll thank me later!)

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The Flame Of Olympus: Apart from its wonderful take on Roman mythology, the major thing I loved about this was that the mc’s father accompanied her on her quest to save Olympus and the human world from falling! Do you realize how rare that is in MG fantasy? Usually, in a book like this, the protagonist would have lied to their parents and snuck off, but this was a pleasant surprise!

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Keeper Of The Lost Cities series: The main character, Sophie, finds out that her ‘human’ parents whom she has always known and loved are not her biological parents since she is an elf. Since nobody knows who her real parents are, she is sent to live with an elvin couple, who in turn, are battling their own grief of losing their only daughter to an accident. I loved seeing their relationship slowly build from hesitant to loving. This does not happen entirely in the first book, but gradually throughout the series, making it even more impactful.

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: Ah one of my favourite standalone novels of all time! So the main character is adopted, and her relationship with her foster father is so sweet! Though this relationship is a little sidelined throughout the novel, but that’s understandable because the story focuses on other much larger things. This book has gained a lot of popularity, so I am sure a lot of you have read this already, but if you haven’t, click on the cover image right now and add it to your TBR!

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Matilda: You all recognize this one, don’t you? It was one of my childhood favourites, and so so good. Basically the main character is a sweet, incredibly intelligent girl who has got terrible parents who don’t care about her at all and provide an unsuitable environment at home for a little girl like their daughter. The ending (a happily ever after, I assure you) will definitely make you cry happy tears!

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Misfit by Jo Zaida: I love how Elle (the main character) and her parents’ relationship grew through the course of the story, and the ending was just…*chef’s kiss*

This is releasing on 24^th May 2021, so do add it to your TBR!

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Buddy by Nigel Hinton: It’s been quite a while since I read this, but I do remember liking it a lot. The relationship between Buddy and his dad is the prominent theme in the book, so I would definitely recommend!

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These were my opinions on the different fictional parents in MG and YA books. But why should this discussion stop here? This is why I am now adding a new feature to my discussion posts – I will be tagging some fellow bloggers to continue this discussion on their own blogs! April @Booked Till Midnight, Ashmita @the fictional journal and Pilar @The bookworm shelf, I would love to read your thoughts on this! You can twist and stretch this topic any way you want. No obligations of course, but if you do decide to do this, ping me back so I can read your posts!

Let’s Chat!

What are your thoughts on the inclusion of parents in MG and YA books? Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Did you find any of my recommendations helpful? I’d love to discuss with you in the comments section!

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff | Book Review

Synopsis

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

They’re not the heroes we deserve. They’re just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.

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My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

(4.5 stars)

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Review

I will be honest, though I had heard lots of good things about this book, I picked it up purely because of that amazing synopsis. The synopsis promised so much, and if there is one thing I am sure about this book, it is that it delivered those promises. I often start reading the book and then try to compare it to the synopsis, and I did the same with this one and found that somehow while being exactly what the synopsis said it was, the book also managed to be something quite different altogether.

The characters made this book for me. I loved each and every member of squad 312, though I still am a little uncertain about whether I like Auri or not. But a fact worth noting is that I haven’t come across many books recently where I loved ALL of the main characters, and that too there are six of them. Each character was crafted so beautifully, it was impossible not to love them. I loved how Scarlett also holds a rather high esteem of Tyler, and there was no sibling rivalry there. I loved the ‘scarcasm’ throughout the book (You rock, Scarlett!). I want longer Zila POVs, please! For some reason, Zila sounds a little like me (don’t worry, I don’t shoot my bunkmates repeatedly with a stun gun😂). But the “Your problem is that you know how everything works except other people” part that Tyler says to her, I get that a lot. What can I say, I can be pretty blunt and straightforward at times🤷‍♀️. And Kal. What can I say about him? My heart melted every time he said “Be’shmai” in that beautiful voice of his (well, I am assuming he has a beautiful voice). I felt a little wary of Finian at first, but he turned out to be all right. I liked how the author didn’t use the classic “nerdy boy who doesn’t speak much and gets bullied by everyone” trope for Finian, because I was kinda expecting that after reading the blurb. I guess now I have to come to the character I have been trying to avoid speaking about. Cat. Oh wait, did my heart just clench at the sound of her name? Yes it did. But I am not going to say anything about the reason because I do not want to give any spoilers. All I will say is that for all her tomboy-ishness, Cat was…adorable. Yes, I am weird like that😉.

Usually, with fantasy books with the Found Team trope, the team begins working together suddenly after some big incident occurs. But in Aurora Rising, our crew gradually warmed towards each other and tried working together. That impressed me.

For those of you who have read the synopsis and are not wanting to read the book because you think it will be the cliche “Future with robots, and humans in space” and that kind of stuff, let me assure you, you have nothing to worry about! I myself feel that this book is less of a sci-fi than a fantasy. So even if you are not a science or space geek, you should give this book a go!

And I also wanted you to know one thing that I have no idea why I rated the book 4.5 stars and not 5. It was purely on impulse. And also, this rating is subject to change, which I suspect it will, once I read Aurora Burning.

Wait, how come my review is already so long? Half of you are thinking of leaving already, aren’t you? Okay, so since I want you to be around for my other posts as well, I won’t bore you to death, and end this post now. I hope my review is reason enough to pick up and read this amazing book!

Have you read Aurora Rising? What did you think of it? Do you want to recommend me any books similar to this one? Let me know in the comments section! See you there!

Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo | Book Review

Synopsis

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager

A runaway with a privileged past

A spy known as the Wraith

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes

Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

(5 out of 5 stars)

Review (non-spoiler)

Wow wow wow! Six Of Crows was every bit as fantastic as I had expected it to be. It makes me wonder, have I already read one of my favourite books of 2021?

I have plenty to say about 3 star and 4 star books (you might have noticed that in my previous reviews😁) but with 5 star reads…I am speechless. But I will still try my best to convince you to pick up this novel through my review.

Six Of Crows was fast-paced right from the beginning. Usually, YA novels start off slow, so this was a surprise. There were no introductions to the characters and to the world, and though all the names and the different groups were a lot to take in in the first chapter, everything was explained later on, through each character’s thoughts and memories.

That brings us to the other unique thing about this book. It had multiple POVs, around 7, which is a lot more than usual YA novels. I feel like this brought out each character’s feelings really beautifully, allowing us to familiarize ourselves with not just the main character, but the others as well. This is one major reason why this book gets 5 stars from me.

Then the action. Six Of Crows made me realize that I love books where things, you know, happen, like, all the time. In this book I felt like there was an action sequence and a climax in each and every chapter, leaving absolutely zero chances for any kind of boredom.

This book hardly had any of the cliche tropes -most books that I come across nowadays have, for instance, the main character was not a teenage girl who suddenly discovers she has magical powers. I mean, I do like those typical kind of books (I love KOTLC, so….) but Six Of Crows was a nice change, you know? All the characters were morally grey, I think, that really added to the book.

Favourite Quotes

^{_{“You haven’t been arrested since you were fourteen, and since I know you are not an honest man any more than you were an honest boy, I can only assume you have the quality I most need in a criminal: You don’t get caught.}}

^{_{“Kaz leaned back. “What’s the easiest way to steal a man’s wallet?”}}

^{_{“Knife to the throat?” asked Inej.}}

^{_{“Gun to the back?” said Jesper.}}

^{_{“Poison in his cup?” suggested Nina.}}

^{_{“You’re all horrible,” said Matthias.”}}

_{^{Jesper could never tell how much of what Kaz got away with was smarts and planning and how much was dumb luck.}}

_{^{Jesper knocked his head against the hull and cast his eyes heavenward. “Fine. But if Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost.”}}

_{^{Brekker’s lips quirked. “I’ll just hire Matthias’ ghost to kick your ghost’s ass.”}}

_{^{“My ghost won’t associate with your ghost,” Matthias said primly, and then wondered if the sea air was rotting his brain.”}}

Rambling/Ranting

Alright, I showed a lot of restraint in the ‘review’ section by writing everything very formally and spoiler-free. But now I want to shout my heart out to the people who have read this book, which is why I present to you, my ‘ramblings’ section. This is going to be very much spoiler-y, so if you’ve not read the book, I’d suggest you go read it, and then later come back to this section.

First of all, Kaz. HOW CAN SOMEONE BE SO SMART? I really admire him for his foresight, I really really do (too many reallys?!). The decoy boat (remember? Ferolind, I think the name was) seriously blew my mind. And that was just the beginning of his amazing planning. I wish I could see his ‘scheming face’ as Inej, Jesper and later Wylan, call it. But when he’s so smart, WHY DIDN’T HE KILL OFF PEKKA ROLLINS IN THE CELL IN THE ICE COURT? (You can’t fool me Kaz, I know you easily could have killed him then and there). He would have got his revenge, and the crew would have one less problem to deal with. That just shows over-confidence, doesn’t it? Like he knows for sure that he would have another chance, and then he would kill him as he pleases. Maybe if he would have killed him, he wouldn’t have got that money from Pekka, but there are plenty of ways to earn that much money in Ketterdam, especially if you’re willing to sell your Crow Club shares, am I right Kaz?

I was beginning to like Inej, but I can’t help being cross about her attitude to Kaz. He is trying, isn’t he? She should understand how hard it is for him.

The one character of the crew that I didn’t care for was Nina. Wasn’t she too showy, and just unbearable, or am I the only one biased against her because of what she did to Matthias? But after finishing the book, I *may* have some respect for her, but only because she took the jurda parem to save the others.

The scientist had been dead all this while?! Serious dampener. It would have been so much more satisfying if after all that effort, they had actually found him.

How did Leigh Bardugo do it? The ending was not a cliffhanger, but was still very much a cliffhanger. Know what I mean? Anyway, I think I have shouted and screamed my heart out a bit too much, thanks for listening!

We have reached the end of this long post. Thanks for staying put. My final say on this book is Pick. It. Up. Right. Now.

And on that very *non-threatening* note, let’s conclude. Oh, and before you go, let’s say it together: NO MOURNERS, NO FUNERALS!

The Red Scrolls Of Magic by Cassandra Clare | Book Review

Name of the book – The Red Scrolls of Magic

Author – Cassandra Clare

Genre – Fantasy

My Rating – ⭐⭐⭐

My Review (non-spoiler)

First I would like to warn you something about this book – brace yourselves for extreme boredom in the beginning. The first half of the book was so monotonous, I nearly DNF’d it. But I was curious so as to who really was the villain (emphasis on curious, because in most books, I am not merely curious, I am dying to find out) so somehow I continued reading. I must admit, I am glad I did, because the rest of the book was much better.

The action and the actual plot began after around 60% of the book. And its not like there was any character-building or world-building in the first half. Come to think of it, the first half of the book wasn’t telling any story at all.

^{“I’ve realized—I don’t need to change. And neither do you, Helen, or you, Aline. It’s the world that needs to change, and we’re going to be the ones to change it.”}

Then I would like to tell you that the synopsis was a little misleading. You know, the “revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping” part. Firstly, there was no such secret Alec had (I was actually looking forward to this) and secondly, Magnus did not reveal his secret.

The twist (I mean the one where we know who was the ‘villain’) was very unexpected and quite clever, I must say. It was one that I should have seen coming, but didn’t. As for the other twist, the one on the very last page, very last sentence, well, THAT was a big and really shocking one.

^{“He did not want to die in this banal pit, surrounded by the pallid ghosts of past mistakes, but if he had to die, he planned to die with style.”}

Raphael Santiago is officially my new favorite character. I loved how he was portrayed in this book, as somebody who pretends he is heartless, when he actually does care about people, and does his best to help them. That moment when Alec found out who Raphael was texting at the party, that just broke my heart.

Although I rated this book 3 stars, which is a pretty average rating, I don’t think I will be reading the next books in this series, because this just failed to engross me and have that need to know more (know that feeling anyone?).

Hope you liked my review and it helped to convince you to read or not to read this book. I would also like to tell you that while this book was not that great, all the other Cassandra Clare books I have read (the Mortal Instruments series and the Infernal Devices trilogy) were really good, so I’d recommend that you check them out!

What I might be reading in December // I know I should be calling it my TBR, but it’s too tentative

Whoa! That’s a long title, but hopefully it gave you an idea of what this post is going to be about. Yup, it is my December TBR, and not my TBR, at the same time. Okay, that doesn’t make much sense. Let’s put it like this, since December is the last month of the year, I decided not to join any readathons this month, and not even have a planned TBR. I will just go with the flow. However, I do have a list of books that I might read (big emphasis on ‘might’) this month, and I would like to share those with you.

Do also keep in mind that I don’t know much about these books, and I am just planning on reading them because of their popularity nowadays, so please do tell me if you’ve read any of them and didn’t like them, because as I said, my (so called) TBR is subject to change!

Featured in the image are –

• Tin by Padraig Kenny
• Hollowpox : The Hunt For Morrigan Crow
• The Middler by Kirsty Applebaum
• The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• The Miracle on Ebenezer Street by Catherine Doyle
• Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
• The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

After reading their synopsis, I feel all of them are really amazing books, and I want to read all of them at once. But since that’s not possible, I’ll need your help in deciding which one I should start first, or whether I should not read any one. Also if you have some additional recommendations, do feel free to share them in the comments. I would love to know any thoughts you have on these books, or on anything else in general!!

October TBR (Page-a-thon and Colour-a-thon!)

October is a month of firsts! For the first time ever I will be participating in more than one readathon in a month. This will also be the first time I have made a proper bullet journal spread for the readathons (a bullet journal flipthrough coming soon!). And I will also be starting 4 new series this month! Exciting, right?

To start off, this month I am joining two readathons; Page-athon and Colour-athon. I belong to Team Spring for the former and Team Blue for the latter. Since my team for Colour-athon binds me to read only blue-covered books this month, that is what I am going to do (with a couple exceptions, of course!). So be ready to dive into a TBR full of blue books! All book covers at the end!!

THE BOOKS!!

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

This will be one of the new series I am going to begin. I have been waiting since forever to watch the movie, but since that wish couldn’t be fulfilled (why don’t I have the Hotstar premium subscription?!) I decided to read the book. A boy nearly my age, always in a suit, AND a kidnapper! A perfect read for me!

Nightfall by Shannon Messenger

As some of you may already know, I have been pursuing The Keeper of Lost Cities series since August. Nightfall is the 6th book in the series (I can’t believe I’ve read 5 books about Sophie Foster already!). This book will also get me some extra points for Page-athon (I assume the ‘fall’ in Nightfall can be counted as an ‘Autumn related word’!) and it fulfills the colour criteria for Colour-athon, so there was every reason for this book to be included in my TBR!

Flashback by Shannon Messenger

This, as some of you might have guessed, is the 7th book in the Keeper Of Lost Cities series. It also has a tinge of blue, so I thought, why not?

School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

I have been wanting to read this book for the last two months, but never got around to it. This will be the first book in the School for Good and Evil series, and I look forward to it!

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

This is the only non-blue book on my TBR. I really, really wanted to start this series, and I couldn’t wait till next month, so I decided to put it on my TBR, even if it doesn’t count for Colour-athon. It still does get me some points for Page-athon, so no worries!

The Island Of Silence by Lisa McMann

This is the second book in the Unwanteds series, so if I like the first one, and if I am in a mood, I am going to read this one as well. And…it is blue (kind of)!

Ice Wolves by Amie Kaufman

Another start of a series! This one is the first novel in the Elementals series, and was kind of a last-minute addition to my TBR. This one is kind of a blind read, I just read the name and a little bit of the reviews, otherwise I have no idea what this book is about!

Vimana by Mainak Dhar

I read very few novels by Indian authors (even though I am an Indian myself), but I decided to go for this one. Who can resist some mythology, right?

THE COVERS!!

And that was my TBR for October. What are you planning on reading in October? Are you participating in any readathons? Let me know your views on my TBR as well as yours, in the comments section. Bye, till my next post!