Hello, friends, and welcome back to Hardcover Haven! I’m Lila and today I’m gonna take a dive into The Bookish Heavenly Virtue Tag!

When I was tagged by The Orangutan Librarian to do this tag, my good ol’ former-Catholic-school-girl heart was overjoyed! Finally! A chance to perhaps use my otherwise useless theological education! Just kidding—I would never subject anyone to a fate as horrible as that! Useless knowledge of Catholicism aside, this is a fun tag that combines the basic, Christian “heavenly virtues” with bookish fun.

So, let’s jump right in!

I used to like Colleen Hoover books, but looking back they were…Y I K E S ! I found them fun and fluffy at the time and because I wasn’t reading critically I didn’t notice how problematic they were. I kind of wish I hadn’t wasted my time and had gone for better books. Then again, who knows—I might not be the reader I am without the experience of reading all the books I’ve read, Colleen Hoover books included. All I know is that I am well past the Colleen Hoover phase of my bibliophilic life and I think we can all breathe a big sigh of relief!

So, I’m currently reading Daisy Jones & the Six but I’m moving through it so slowly. Not because it’s bad or anything, though! Just because it’s so good that I don’t want it to end!

Daisy Jones & The Six is about a singer (Daisy Jones) and a band (The Six) and their rise to fame together and subsequent implosion. Told in interview format, the book is full of drama, heartache and heartbreak—and, of course, music! It’s insanely good and I don’t want to leave the characters, so I’m savoring it as best I can.

I constantly shove The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty at literally anyone and everyone I can! I’ve even gotten irl friends to pick it up (and, thankfully, they loved it)!

The Daevabad Trilogy is a complex, Middle Eastern high fantasy which is my all-time favorite series and it is indescribably good! It follows three central characters—Nahri, Ali, and Dara—as they navigate through the delicate and intricate web of the tribal politics of djinn. Nahri is a Cairo conwoman who, after accidentally freeing Dara (an ancient djinn warrior with a troubled past), is whisked away to the magical djinn capital of Daevabad. Nahri soon finds herself at the center of the djinn’s deadly politics alongside Ali, the djinn’s deeply devout and zealous young prince, whose rebellious ways have put him in a precariously perilous position. The books are full of action, adventure, and intrigue and stay true to honoring the different Middle Eastern cultures and histories which the series is based on. Bottom line:

I think this is saying no matter what happens in the book/series and how long you had to wait for the next book, so that’s how I’m gonna answer this one. Anyhoo! For me, I have several authors/series like that, one of them being Claire Legrand’s Empirium series! The series so far includes Furyborn (book #1) and Kingsbane (book #2) and it is such an addictive series! It follows Rielle and Eliana, two queens living centuries apart whose destinies are inherently entwined. One of them is destined to be the destructive blood queen and the other to be the sun queen, the savior of the world—but readers don’t know which girl is which. It’s full of lots of heart-wrenching, gut-punching twists and yet I keep coming back for more because asdfhjlkhmfgbfgbfgb it’s just so addictive!!! At this point, I can’t quit the series—I just have to find out how it all ends!

When I first began the An Ember in the Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir, I wasn’t overly impressed. But! By the end of book two I had become a hardcore fan! I think while the first book had me interested with the plot, I just wasn’t quite 100% invested in the main characters. But with the addition of a third main character (who happens to be my favorite character of the series) in book two and the deepening of our understanding of the two original main characters, I really began to feel invested!

I would absolutely consider Evelyn Hugo (from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid) to be my role-model for real life! I mean, I have legitimately thought, “What would Evelyn Hugo do?” at points in my life since reading the book. I look up to Evelyn’s confidence, ambition, determination, and fierce love both for others and for herself. If I could emulate any book character, it would be her.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is about Evelyn Hugo, a bisexual, Cuban starlet in the 1950s and her seven marriages, as well as who the love of her life truly is. A lot of people say that Evelyn is “the ultimate Slytherin protagonist” and/or is an “unlikeable” main character, but I actually disagree with that. Through the narrative, we see that Evelyn is a woman who is fiercely ambitious, as well as a woman who is willing to do anythimng to protect her loved ones. I think a lot of people see that as “unlikeable” because it’s unusual to see women who are so fierce. But that’s a different conversation. Regardless, I’ll always look up to Evelyn Hugo!

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao is such an underrated gem! It’s an East Asian retelling of the origin story of the Evil Queen from Snow White and, y’all, it is so good! With a deliciously dark main character and a fantastically fairy tale-like atmosphere, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns is a stunning retelling that captured my imagination and had me begging for more!

So, that’s all for today, friends! I hope you enjoyed this super fun tag as much as I did! It’s been a wild world out there lately and it was so nice to have a fun, little reprieve from all the madness. With that being said, stay safe, remember to wear a mask, get out there and make a difference, and always remember: your story matters. Until next time, friends!

• Are there any books you wish you could go back and un-read?
• Who are your fictional role models?
• What’s an underrated book that you highly recommend?