Hello again, dear friends! I hope you all are well, and if not, I hope brighter days head your way soon! Now y’all know I’m a big fantasy fan, so today I thought I’d do something fun to celebrate that fact. I found this tag—the Get To Know The Fantasy Reader Tag—over on Imyril’s book blog, There’s Always Room for One More… and I just knew I had to participate! This tag was created by Mads at the booktube channel a lil bit mads and it totally speaks to my fantasy fangirl heart! So let’s dive right in and get going!

What is your fantasy origin story? (The first fantasy novel you read)

Oh god, I honestly don't know becauset feels like I've always been devouring fantasy stories! Like, for instance, some of my earliest memories are of being a toddler and a young child and my mom and older brothers making up these epic fantasy bedtime stories full of fairies and wizards and gargoyles and such! And, the minute I could read chapter books, I instantly gravitated towards fantasy books! So yeah, I don't exactly remember but that's more because I've always loved fantasy.

If you could be the hero/heroine in a fantasy novel, who would be the author and what’s one trope you’d insist be in the story?

some Olivie Blake books

Wow, another tricky question! Hmmm...I think I'd want Olivie Blake to write my story because she always writes such interesting books! Plus, her stories seem to be very character driven, so I think that'd make my story extra compelling.

Some fantasies featuring the “academic rivals to lovers” trope

In terms of tropes I'd want in my story, I think I want to go with the "academic rivals to lovers" trope! I don't think we see this trope enough in fantasies, but I think it's such a fun one! Plus, I've always been very academic and I'm just the kind of dummy who'd fall for my rival lol!

What is a fantasy you’ve read this year, that you want more people to read?

I’ve actually been reading some pretty under-the-radar fantasy literature this year, but of all of the fantasy I’ve read so far I think I want more people to read Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier. Somehow this book has managed to already become a “hidden gem” despite being published fairly recently this year, and I’m pretty bitter about it! Dragonfruit is a mesmerizing island fantasy which is inspired by Polynesian cultures (and written by a Polynesian author) and involves sea dragons. It’s got a very laid back “islander spirit” to it, but it’s still a really fun read! The only sad thing about Dragonfruit is that it’s a standalone, cause I would definitely read more books set in its world!

What is your favorite fantasy subgenre? What subgenre have you not read much from?

some MENA inspired fantasy books

I genuinely love most all of the fantasy subgenres, but there's a special place in my heart for MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) inspired fantasy! I'm part Middle Eastern (specifically, Lebanese) and I always love seeing parts of my cultural heritage show up in MENA inspired fantasies, especially when it's done well! It always means so much to me to see various MENA cultures being represented and celebrated, especially in recent decades given contemporary views on people from the MENA region and the corresponding bigotry we face.

As for a subgenre I haven't read much from, it's probably grimdark fantasy. Its not that I don't see the value in grimdark, but I also fundamentally disagree with the typical main assertions of grimdark themes that people are inherently awful and there is no hope for a better future. As an anthropology student I find those messages lacking in nuance and, as a result, fundamentally incorrect and sightly ignorant.

Who is one of your auto-buy fantasy authors?

Shannon Chakraborty's Daevabad Trilogy

Any fantasy that's written by Shannon Chakraborty, I will read! I truly think the woman is a genius when it comes to fantasy writing!! I absolutely LOVED her debut series, The Daevabad Trilogy, which also happened to land a spot in my top five all-time favorite book series list! Her writing is so immersive, her characters are nuanced and complex, her world building is vast, and she still manages to have tightly plotted stories on top of all that. She honestly is such a fabulous writer, and I encourage everyone to read from her!!

How do you typically find fantasy recommendations? (Goodreads, Youtube, Podcasts, Instagram...)

I tyipically get my fantasy recs from other book bloggers, as well as from my favorite booktubers! I don't use Instagram that much, and I don't find many good fantasy recommendations that fit my taste on TikTok unfortunately.

What is an upcoming fantasy release you’re excited for?

I absolutely cannot wait to get my greedy little book goblin hands on Heir by Sabaa Tahir, which is the first book in her new upcoming fantasy duology. Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes quartet is another one of my all-time favorite series, so I’m beyond excited to dive into her latest fantasy work! I’m especially excited as I recently learned that this new duology is, indeed, a sequel series to the An Ember in the Ashes quartet—so now I gotta hurry up and finish reading the final book in that quartet!

What is one misconception about fantasy you would like to lay to rest?

Probably that YA fantasy isn't as "deep" or meaningful as Adult fantasy. First off, there's plenty of Adult fantasy that isn't deep or meaningful. Likewise, there's also plenty of YA fantasy that is meaningful and deep. Just look at Laini Taylor's books and their messages on the affect of war on both soldiers and civilians, as well as the generational trauma which war causes! Or Julie C. Dao's darkly feminist Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, which follows the origin story of a female villain! Or Tracy Deonn's Legendborn, which takes on systemic racism! Just because something is aimed at younger readers doesn't mean it automatically doesn't or can't have nuanced and deep takes on "serious issues." As a matter of fact, sometimes books aimed at younger readers have much more nuanced yet accessible takes on such things by virtue of being aimed at a younger audience.

If someone had never read a fantasy before and asked you to recommend the first 3 books that come to mind as places to start, what would those recommendations be?

I think another misconception about fantasy books that often drives readers away is the idea that fantasy books are very dense and filled with confusing world building and magic systems. Certainly, some fantasy books are, but there are also books that manage to weave in things like world building and magic systems in a much less dense and much more flowing and easy to read way. Many such books are Adult fantasy books, but I think there are even more books like this that are YA, which is why I'm recommending three vastly different YA fantasy novels:

1. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson A much lighter and fun fantasy Sorcery of Thorns is about Elisabeth Scrivener, who is a librarian trained to guard maggical books. When a dangerous magical grimoire escapes from the library, the blame is pinned on Elisabeth. Facing judgement at the capital, Elisabeth must lean on a notorious young sorcerer by the name of Nathaniel Thorn. The problem? Elisabeth has been raised to suspect sorcerers and Thorn is the worst of them in her eyes!
2. Wicked Fox by Kat Cho In this YA urban fantasy set in Seoul, Korea, readers follow 18 year old Miyoung, who is a magical gumiho (a nine-tailed fox spirit who eats the souls of men). But when rescues a teen boy named Jihoon, she ends up losing her fox bead (which holds her gumiho soul) in the process. Miyoung and Jihoon form a delicate friendship which plants the seeds for more, but there are murderous forces at work in Seoul which they must confront.
3. The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi If you, like me, love adventurous treasure hunting stories like Indiana Jones, The Mummy, and National Treasure, then you’ll adore The Gilded Wolves just as much as I did! It’s about a young man who is the former member of a magical secret society and who pulls together a crew to find magical treasures, and it’s so much fun!!

Who is the most recent fantasy reading content creator you came across that you’d like to shoutout?

There are so many awesome bookish content creators who focus on fantasy, but the fantasy booktuber who I came across most recently is Rachel from the channel ravenhairedreader. She focuses largely on romantasy, and her enthusiasm is so infectious—plus, I love seeing a girly who unabashedly focues on romantasy, given that the subgenre and its mostly female readers are so often snarked about! Our tastes may not always align 100%, but I still love watching Rachel’s reading vlogs, and I manage to find plenty of good recommendations in her TBR and wrap up videos. So, if you’re a fan of romantasy or are looking for some good recommendations in the subgenre, then definitely check Rachel’s channel out!

spill the beans, friends!

• What book or experience got you into reading fantasy?
• What’s your favorite fantasy book?

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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!

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CHASTITY

WHICH BOOK/AUTHOR/SERIES DO YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER READ?

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!

TEMPERANCE

WHICH BOOK/SERIES DID YOU FIND DO GOOD THAT YOU DIDN'T WANT TO READ IT ALL AT ONCE AND YOU READ IT IN DOSES JUST TO MAKE THE PLEASURE LAST LONGER?

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.

CHARITY

WHICH BOOK/SERIES/AUTHOR DO YOU TIRELESSLY PUSH ON OTHERS, TELLING THEM ABOUT IT OR EVEN GIVING AWAY SPARE COPIES BOUGHT FOR THAT REASON?

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:

DILIGENCE

WHICH SERIES/AUTHOR WOULD YOU FOLLOW NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS AND HOW LONG YOU HAVE TO WAIT?

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!

PATIENCE

IS THERE AN AUTHOR/BOOK/SERIES YOU'VE READ THAT IMPROVED WITH TIME, STARTING OUT UNPROMISING, BUT ULTIMATELY PROVING REWARDING?

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!

KINDNESS

WHICH FICTIONAL CHARACTER WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOUR ROLE-MODEL IN THE HASSLE OF EVERYDAY LIFE?

https://inspiredbyabook.tumblr.com/post/184296024227/read-in-2019-5-the-seven-husbands-of-evelyn

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!

HUMILITY

WHICH AUTHOR/BOOK/SERIES DO YOU FIND MOST UNDERRATED?

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!

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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!

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SPILL THE BEANS, 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?

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SUPPORT BLACK LIVES

If you haven’t noticed by now, I’ve been in a very Harry Potter-ish mood lately! I’ve given Hogwarts house booktube recommendations for Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff (with Gryffindor coming soon, y’all 😉), but, nevertheless, my Very Harry Potter Mood™ has persisted! So, inspired by the lovely Trang and Lashaan of Bookidote and their wonderful original Harry Potter book tag, I took action and created The Pages & Potions Book Tag: A Harry Potter Book Tag! I know, it’s a long title, but I’m hoping that, in this case, long title equals lots of fun!