Top Ten Tuesday | Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and allows us to combine our love of books with our love of lists. This week’s topic is, “My Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019”.


  1. Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManis
    This may or may not be cheating because it came out today, but I’m still including it because I can’t wait to read it! I’ll be starting it as soon as I finish The Poppy War. I’d start it now, but I promised myself that I wouldn’t do the thing where I read multiple books at a time this year because it never ends well.
  2. The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1), by Roshani Chokshi
    This one has mystery and secret societies. Also, Roshani Chokshi wrote it. That’s enough to make me want it in my life!
  3. King of Scars (Nikolai Duology #1), by Leigh Bardugo
    It’s set in the Grishaverse! Need I say more? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go read Six of Crows!
  4. The Dragon Republic (The Poppy war, #2), by R.F. Kuang
    I’m in the middle of The Poppy War right now, and I can already tell that I am going to need the sequel in my life!
  5. How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow
    I’ll read literally anything Kathleen Glasgow writes after reading Girl In Pieces. Also, that title is brilliant!
  6. Tunnel of Bones (Cassidy Blake, #2), by Victoria Schwab
    This is the sequel to City of Ghosts which I absolutely adored. Also, Victoria Schwab wrote it, and I’ll read anything she writes!
  7. The Bone Charmer by Breeana Shields
    The title is enough to make me want to read this one. Also, there are psychics!
  8. Nocturna by Maya Motayne
    This one has shape shifters, and mobsters, and forbidden magic! Enough said!
  9. Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1), by Emily A. Duncan
    First of all, the title is intriguing. Also, there is magic, and murder, and a girl who can talk to gods!
  10. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
    This is not the kind of thing I would normally read, but Angie Thomas made it onto my “Must Read Everything List” with The Hate U Give.

The Emotions In Colors Book Tag

Hey, bookish and writerly people!
School has almost officially ended for me, therefore I might actually have time to blog again! I need to review a ridiculous number of books, but I’m going to kick off my blogging comeback with The Emotions In Colors Book Tag created by Cait @ Paper Fury. I wasn’t officially tagged for this; I just thought it looked cool and decided to do it!

In this tag, you are given ten prompts consisting of a color and the emotion associated with it. You are then asked which book, (or books), you associate with that color and emotion.


1. Blue: A book that made you sad.

Salt to the Sea by Rita Sepetys is the last book that I remember crying over. It’s heartbreakingly hard to read, but you should all go read it anyway because it’s SO good!

Also, Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow completely ripped my heart out and put it back together again because it’s so beautiful and sad at the same time!

2. Red: Bookworm problems that make you angry.

◦When authors kill off their main characters. If this serves a writerly purpose, I have no issue. If it’s blatantly obvious that the author was thoroughly sick of writing that story and wanted an excuse to end it, I’ll probably never read anything by that author ever again. *Refrains from ranting about very popular series*

◦When my iPad dies in the middle of a page. This is just obnoxious and needs no further explanation.

◦Running out of Audible credits and being forced to wait a number of days before starting a new book.

◦Accidentally touching my iPad screen and sending the Kindle app scrolling off to who knows where. This is even worse when you accidentally read a spoiler in the process of trying to find your place again!

◦Not being able to find a book in an accessible format. This is a blind bookworm problem that will not apply to the majority of readers, but it’s THE WORST! 😤

3. Yellow: Upcoming book you’d be happy to have right now.

If Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor could just go ahead and exist already, that’d be great!

4. Green: Favorite unlikely friends.

Can I nominate Adam and Niko from my own book for this one? They’re basically the definition of unlikely friends! No? I have to pick something published? Fine…

I’m going with the gang from The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. None of these characters should work together, but they totally do!

5. Grey: A book you are totally emotionless about.

◦The Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. I read the first three or four books in this series and decided I didn’t care anymore. I don’t even remember what it’s about except that it was like The Hunger Games with aliens, which sounds cool in theory but definitely does NOT work in reality.

◦Basically all of John Green’s books. It’s not that I don’t think they’re good books; they’re just not my genre.

◦Everything by Rainbow Rowell except Fangirl. I loved Fangirl because of the writerly aspect; I just don’t have enough Hufflepuff in me to enjoy her other books. Again, they’re not my genre.

6. Pink: Book ending, (no spoilers though), that you loooove.

The Raven King: I didn’t expect it to end like that, but I love it anyway!

Crooked Kingdom: There isn’t a single thing that I would change about this ending! It’s just SO perfect! 😍

The Cruel Prince: This ending provides the perfect amount of closure and manages to leave the plot open for the sequel at the same time.

7. Purple: Book you never really understood??

My favorite color is purple; does that make me hard to understand? The answer is a resounding, “YES,” if my unedited writing is any indication. Anyway, here’s another list:

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens: Once upon a time, I did a massive book report over this book. I guess my teacher didn’t understand it either because I passed the class with an A!

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe: What even is this? 😖 It makes my brain hurt…

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: Before you yell at me in the comments, I am fully aware that this is an unpopular opinion, and I do not care! I have tried to read this book twice, and I still do not understand it or the hype surrounding it. There’s just something about the writing style, pacing, timeline, or head hopping that prevents me from focusing on it enough to understand it. It may also be that historical fiction just is not my thing, and I don’t exactly agree with the portrayal of the blind character in this book.

8. White: Author you’re scared of (they’re just SO mean to their characters!)

Since when is white a scary color? I associate white with purity and goodness! Oh well… here’s another list:

◦J. K. Rolling because what she did to Dobby proves she’s heartless.

◦Laini Taylor because she kills off everybody I get attached to.

◦Marissa Meyer because… I’m not going to spoil Heartless, but if you read it, you’ll understand.

◦Maggie Stiefvater because she has to possess some kind of dark magic in order to rite like that!

9. Black: Book you think is powerful and influential.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is probably going to be everyone’s default answer to this, but that’s what I’m going with! It has SO much significance in the context of the real world, and you should all go read it if you haven’t because it will give you a new perspective!

10. Orange: Playful characters who are just too adorable.

◦Jest and Catherine from Heartless by Marissa Meyer. I just love them!!!!

◦Marco from The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia. I wouldn’t really call him playful, but he’s adorable!

◦Noah from The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. Noah is under appreciated, okay?! He deserves recognition for being the smudgy Hufflepuff that he is!

◦Nina from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. She’s just SO bubbly!


Have you done this tag? Drop me a link in the comments so I can check out your answers! Also, let me know what authors scare you and why, and recommend me a book that you think is powerful. I’d love to see your thoughts! 🙂

Six of Crows

Six of Crows
“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.”
-Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

Title: Six of Crows
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Series: Six of Crows #1
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Suspense
Pages: 462
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Published: September 29th, 2015
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iBooks
Audio
Goodreads

Synopsis From Goodreads:

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he’ll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:

Break into the notorious Ice Court
(a military stronghold that has never been breached)

Retrieve a hostage
(who could unleash magical havoc on the world)

Survive long enough to collect his reward
(and spend it)

Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done – and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable – if they don’t kill each other first.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Six of Crows is very dark for a young adult novel, yet it still manages to be an easy and entertaining read. The character development is amazing, I loved the romantic tension, and it has some of the best world building I’ve seen since Harry Potter! The only major complaint I have is the plot. As far as I can tell, the first chapter is completely unnecessary, and the pacing seems kind of slow for the first quarter of the book. That being said, Six of Crows is easily one of my most favorite books ever because of the characters and world alone!