BOOKENDING WINTER 2020: Bookish Rant & Rave Tag

Another day and another catch-up-and-double post! I promise tomorrow is the last day (fingers crossed) that you get two posts in the same day from me! But since it’s Bookending Winter and all the content is quality content, I figured you gems are rockstars and wouldn’t mind the extra-ness! Today in my world of #BEWinter20 catch up, I will be partaking in Sumedha @ The Wordy Habitat‘s prompt that is all about ranting…and raving!

If this is your first time here on my blog (hi! Hello! I’m Sam!) and you don’t already know what Bookending Winter is, its a month long event in December that was created by myself and Clo @ Cuppa Clo where we aspire to bring the bookish community closer together through the platform we love the most–blogging! Each day throughout the month, we have different prompts from different hosts that participants can replicate! I am so excited to check out everyone’s posts and prompts as we get more into the month as our hosts this year are dishing out quality content! You can also catch me smiling from ear to ear as I get to meet all of you on your blogs and on our Twitter (@bookend_events if you haven’t followed, you totally should!) page!

Also, don’t forget that we have a blog hopping masterlist! The list features all of our participants and those who are participating in Bookending Winter can put their post links next to their name for easy blog hopping! Can’t wait to see all your amazing posts! And with that, let’s get into today’s prompt!

-TODAY’S PROMPT-

Bookish Rant & Rave Tag

Use this tag to dump your thoughts on books which you’d like to talk more about but usually don’t. Time to really rave about loved books, and rant about frustrating books.

RAVE: a book you loved but don’t talk enough about

I will probably go to my grave absolutely loving this book and it shocks me just how little I talk about it here on the blog, but Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell completely snuck under my skin and I have yet to shake it. I found a lot of myself in Cath and was able to relate to her in more ways than I care to admit. Rowell has this unique writing style that completely encapsulated my imagination and my heart and I couldn’t tear myself away from the words on the page. Maybe the reason I barely talk about this book, is because I can’t put into adequate enough words just how much I love this book.

RANT: a book you didn’t like and haven’t spoken about

Reasonable Doubt by Whitney G. 

Oh my sweet baby Geebus, did I loathe this book. The entire hour I spent reading this novel I really wanted to hit the main characters upside the head and throw a huge and heavy restraining order on top of our Hero’s head while I was at it. Absolutely no character development and the plot went no where–literally no where–until the end when, HEY-YO plot twist, to which it’s so twisty you low key want to grab the second volume just to see what happened (nothing happened).

I lost many braincells that day. RIP.

RAVE: an author who’s works you love

THIS IS A HARD ONE I LOVE TO MANY! But if I had to choose one…I’d probably have to say Mariana Zapata (BUT PLEASE NOTE THAT JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT AND SARAH J. MASS SHOULD ASLO BE HONORABLY MENTIONED!) because I would literally her grocery list without batting an eye. Her signature whit and humor became my new addiction several years ago when I first read her novel, The Wall Of Winnipeg and Me, and ever since I have been HOOKED.

If you are a frequent storyteller here or have seen at least one of my listicles, you will know that I frequently mention at least one of her works, because by god she is that good. Slow burn queen, she has a way of making you fall in love with each and every cast member without even realizing you are–even the bad ones (I’m still shook).

RANT: an author who’s works you just cannot like

Cassandra Clare

Now before you throw your slippers at me and gasp, please let me say I have tried. By God, I have tried. But I really can’t with her. I think maybe it is her writing style, but sweet Galifianakis, Clary made me want to gouge my eyes out on more than one occasion.

RAVE: a book you recently loved that you want everyone to read

Hands Down by Mariana Zapata

I told you I’m obsessed. This is a slow burn football second chance, friends to lovers romance that had me swooning (who am I kidding, I’m still swooning) from the first page. Our heroine, Bianca, is a online baker, who lost contact with her childhood best friend, Zac, after a misunderstanding a decade ago. Grown up, and with almost all her wounds healed, Bianca is of the firm belief she has finally got her life semi-together; but when an unexpected call has her thrust back into Zac’s life, she starts to question whether those wounds actually healed at all.

My synopsis does not do this book justice, so just read it and thank me later–I promise you wont regret it!

RANT: a book you did not finish recently and haven’t spoken about

Pretending by Holly Bourne

I got this bad boy for a blog tour because based of the synopsis and the cover I thought this was going to be a cute and fun contemporary. I made it to around page 30, and I couldn’t waddle through it anymore. The storyline is darker than is advertised and I wasn’t in the mental state to handle the seriousness of the topic at that moment (TW: Rape, Sexual Assualt), and I really wished I was given a trigger warning or content warning during the blog tour sign up or even in the book so that I could prepare myself for it all. The author’s writing is great and under different circumstances I probably would have loved this book–but unfortunately, it wasn’t a good time.

RAVE: a book you would recommend to everyone

I am trying my very hardest not to mention a Marian Zapata book, so when in doubt we move onto the next queen! You could read literally anything from her but I highly recommend Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout, If Science Fiction / Fantasy is your game in life, and you love a dose of trashy YA/NA romance–this is your book! JLA serves us her signature snark and sass with unbelievable beautiful aliens that make me clutch my pearls with every page turn (no wonder my carpel tunnel hasn’t gone away yet).

I am currently reading From Blood and Ash, which her first High Fantasy novel, and based off these reviews I’ve read so far–you should read this one too!

RANT: a book which others like and you don’t understand why

The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

Like I said before, Clary ruined it for me…and then the Pseudo incest was wild, I just don’t understand the hype when the characters barely have any development until god knows how many books in. If TMI is your cup of tea, by all means do you! God knows I read and love a lot of books that others would probably squint their eyes and question my taste level (or my mental health), so no judgment here! Its just that TMI isn’t my choice of reading beverage.

I Tag…

Destiny @ Howling Library | Jeimy @ A Novel Idea | Ruby @ Bookishly Ruby

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