If YA Books Were Musicals

I love musicals. LOVE. Looooooove love love love love. Old ones, new ones, Hamiltonones, non-Hamilton ones--doesn't matter, I love it. And I love YA novels (obviously). So put them together and A THING I LOVE EVEN MORE IS BORN. Broadway people, call me. I have idea. Let's do this.

The other day on Twitter I asked which YA novels you'd love to see as musicals, and the answers were so AMAZING that I decided to do a post about the ones I most wanted to see immortalized in song and on the stage!

Review: The Rose & the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

The Rose & the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh
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Series: #2 in the Wrath and the Dawn duology
Release date: April 26th, 2016
Publisher: Putnam (Penguin)
Length: 432 pages
Source: ARC from the publisher
Rating: WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE THE END???



The much anticipated sequel to the breathtaking The Wrath and the Dawn, lauded by Publishers Weekly as "a potent page-turner of intrigue and romance."

I am surrounded on all sides by a desert. A guest, in a prison of sand and sun. My family is here. And I do not know whom I can trust.

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad has been torn from the love of her husband Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once believed him a monster, but his secrets revealed a man tormented by guilt and a powerful curse—one that might keep them apart forever. Reunited with her family, who have taken refuge with enemies of Khalid, and Tariq, her childhood sweetheart, she should be happy. But Tariq now commands forces set on destroying Khalid's empire. Shahrzad is almost a prisoner caught between loyalties to people she loves. But she refuses to be a pawn and devises a plan.

While her father, Jahandar, continues to play with magical forces he doesn't yet understand, Shahrzad tries to uncover powers that may lie dormant within her. With the help of a tattered old carpet and a tempestuous but sage young man, Shahrzad will attempt to break the curse and reunite with her one true love.

I love Renee Ahdieh's words so much. I want to live inside them. I want them to be my life. I want to roll around in her imagery and be forever immersed in the beautiful depth and passion and romanticism of her characters and forget my humdrum life, because everything is so much better when Renee Ahdieh writes it. Dangerous, of course, and far more dramatic, but so much more beautiful and full of the kind of love that can ravage deserts and burn cities and you GUYS. I JUST. I never wanted this book to end, and I'm bereft that it has.

When Book Bloggers Go to Bookstores

AKA when professional readers invade their natural habitat and frighten the amateurs

Review: The Mirror King by Jodi Meadows

The Mirror King by Jodi Meadows
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository
Series: #2 in the Orphan Queen duology
Release date: April 5th, 2016
Publisher: Katherine Tegen (HarperCollins)
Length: 544 pages
Source: eARC via Edelweiss
Rating: a LOT of great stuff here, but it should have been two books



Wilhelmina has a hundred enemies.

HER FRIENDS HAVE TURNED. After her identity is revealed during the Inundation, Princess Wilhelmina is kept prisoner by the Indigo Kingdom, with the Ospreys lost somewhere in the devastated city. When the Ospreys’ leader emerges at the worst possible moment, leaving Wil’s biggest ally on his deathbed, she must become Black Knife to set things right.

HER MAGIC IS UNCONTROLLABLE. Wil’s power is to animate, not to give true life, but in the wraithland she commanded a cloud of wraith mist to save herself, and later ordered it solid. Now there is a living boy made of wraith—destructive and deadly, and willing to do anything for her.

HER HEART IS TORN. Though she’s ready for her crown, declaring herself queen means war. Caught between what she wants and what is right, Wilhelmina realizes the throne might not even matter. Everyone thought the wraith was years off, but already it’s destroying Indigo Kingdom villages. If she can’t protect both kingdoms, soon there won’t be a land to rule.

In this stunning conclusion to THE ORPHAN QUEEN, Jodi Meadows follows Wilhelmina’s breathtaking and brave journey from orphaned criminal on the streets to magic-wielding queen.


This is probably going to be one of my least coherent reviews ever, so bear with me, because my opinions are ALL over the place. On the one hand, I loved it! On the other hand, it needed some nips and tucks! On the other hand, the plot was amazing! On the other hand, it should have been chopped in two! And now I have four hands. So you can see how well this is going already.

The Problem I've Been Having with My FAVORITE GENRE Lately

Anybody who reads my blog semi regularly knows that when it comes to YA genres, I think fantasy is the cream of the crop. It's the crown jewel of genres to me. It's my favorite thing to read, and I never get tired of i. It has elements of all the other genres: it's got a plot like a thriller, it can be creepy as horror, it should have feels like a contemp, cool old timey bits like a historical, and (if you really want to make Gillian very very happy) it should bring the swoons like a romance novel. PLUS MAGIC.

I love the tropes. I love the epicness. I love the inventiveness. I love being immersed in a whole entirely different and entirely better but also with much higher and more dangerous stakes. I love dragons and wizards and warriors and beasts and queens and I LOVE FANTASY.

So...why have so many fantasies been letting me down lately?

A Birthday, An Anniversary, and Thoughts

I don't normally get overly personal on here, unless you count shrieking at the top of my lungs about my OTPs as personal (which you should, because my OTPs are my life). But it's my birthday. A rather important birthday, for several reasons, and it wouldn't be honest of me not to share the many complex feelings clogging up my heart place.

(Possible trigger warning for peeps not yet ready to talk or think about loss or grief, aka my sisters in suckitude <3)

Today is my twenty-fifth birthday. Twenty-five years ago exactly, my twin brother and I said GOODBYE, CRAMPED WOMBY LIVING QUARTERS, HELLO WORLD and graced Los Angeles with our magnificent presences. (I came out first, of course, because I must always win.) I like to think I immediately quipped, "Phenomenal cosmic power, itty bitty living space" but a) Aladdin came out a year after I was born and b) as a newborn, I wasn't quite on top of my pop culture references, nor the ability to make word sounds with my mouth hole.

Looking Forward: April Releases

OH MY GOD HOW IS IT APRIL HOW IS IT MY BIRTHDAY MONTH HOW AM I OLD HOW IS TIME STILL PASSING WHAT IS TIME WHAT IS HUMAN LIFE WE ARE ALL DANDELION FLUFF WANDERING AIMLESSLY THROUGH THE SHAPELESS ANNALS OF TIME FLOATING TOWARDS THE INEVITABLE DEMISE OF ALL HUMAN LIFE

I am aging so gracefully

Ahem. Ignore that. Just...look at all the pretty books that release this month! My wallet cries. But it's birthday month so give me all the books, bitches!

The book of the month is a total no-brainer: