50/50 Friday is a meme hosted by Carrie @The Butterfly Reads and I and focuses on the opposite sides of books (best/worst, differing opinions, etc). Every week will have a new topic and several advance topics will be listed in the tab labeled 50/50 Friday!
Today's Topic: Favorite Book You've Reviewed/Not Reviewed
Reviewed:
This is so, so difficult because I have so many favorites!! The one that comes right to my mind is:
Standalone to date
Blurb:
"An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.
At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined."
At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined."
Not Reviewed:
This is the case for so many of the books that I reread over and over again but one of my favorites is:
Graceling Realm #2
Blurb:
"It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. The young King Nash clings to his throne while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. The mountains and forests are filled with spies and thieves and lawless men.
This is where Fire lives. With a wild, irresistible appearance and hair the color of flame, Fire is the last remaining human monster. Equally hated and adored, she had the unique ability to control minds, but she guards her power, unwilling to steal the secrets of innocent people. Especially when she has so many of her own.
Then Prince Brigan comes to bring her to King City, The royal family needs her help to uncover the plot against the king. Far away from home, Fire begins to realize there's more to her power than she ever dreamed. Her power could save the kingdom.
If only she weren't afraid of becoming the monster her father was."
This is where Fire lives. With a wild, irresistible appearance and hair the color of flame, Fire is the last remaining human monster. Equally hated and adored, she had the unique ability to control minds, but she guards her power, unwilling to steal the secrets of innocent people. Especially when she has so many of her own.
Then Prince Brigan comes to bring her to King City, The royal family needs her help to uncover the plot against the king. Far away from home, Fire begins to realize there's more to her power than she ever dreamed. Her power could save the kingdom.
If only she weren't afraid of becoming the monster her father was."
This is more of a companion book to the first one (set in the same world, but with different characters) and it's my favorite go-to book if I ever feel like I'm on the cusp of a reading slump. I'll pick this up and I'll read it in just a couple of hours and feel better instantly. For some reason I never got around to writing a review for it! I'm thinking of starting a new feature where I write tiny, fangirly mini-reviews for all the books like this where I've reread them so many times, I just can't even articulate what I love about them so much because they're just too ingrained in me.
Have you read either of these? What did you think of them? What are your favorite books that you've written or not written a review for? Make a post and link up down below!
Next Week's Topic: Best/Worst Graphic Novel/Manga You've Read
I absolutely LOVED A Monster Calls! It was so sad, but also such a clever concept and I applaud Ness for bringing this story to life.
ReplyDeleteMe too!! It's so lovely and wonderful and something I would have never thought of. I love the role the monster plays :) I still have to see the movie and I'm really excited to see the visuals that the director dreamed up. Thanks for stopping by, Emily!
DeleteI want to read A Monster Calls but haven’t been able to get my hands on a copy yet! One day! I just reread Fire and sadly realized it wasn’t my favorite. I prefer Graceling. And I still need to read Bitterblue.
ReplyDeleteYou must!! If you can, try to get the illustrated version; it's so beautiful! Ooo yes I love Graceling as well! Bitterblue is also really good. It's also really cool to see everything come together and see how Monsea is dealing with the whole Leck disaster. That, and there's ciphers involved which is always exciting :) I hope you enjoy it and thanks for stopping by, Jenny!
DeleteI loved A Monster Calls too! I had the audio version and listened to it far too soon after being in a similar situation to Conor so was in a massive weepy mess for days but the book really did help me get myself back together again. (Hopefully this makes sense and is spoiler free!!)
ReplyDeleteI completely get it! The monster's stories and how they help Conor come to terms with his own feelings regarding his mother are so breathtaking and real. I'm so glad it was able to help you through a tough time, Stephanie :)
DeleteBoth of these books are on my TBR! I haven't read either of them before, although I have seen a lot about them. I am glad you could enjoy reading both of these ^.^
ReplyDeleteHaha I know the struggle! There are so many amazing books that I see on everyone else's blogs and they all tell me to read them ASAP but there's only so much time in a day :) Thanks for stopping by, Olivia!
DeleteA Monster Calls by Patrick Ness is on my reading wishlist. I'm hoping to read it one day!! I have so many books on my reading wishlist + tons of books in 'my to be read' pile already! Too many books so little time!
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy it when you get around to it! Even though it borders on MG, I think everyone should read it at some point in their life. I have the exact same problem, though, where I see all these awesome books on everyone else's blogs and I have no time to read them all! The best we can do is to just read as many as possible, I suppose. Thanks for stopping by, Lisa!
DeleteI read Graceling a couple years ago (and really liked it!) but never followed through with the series. I knew they were companion novels, and I didn't want to be disappointed and read a book with different characters. But it's so well loved! I'll probably end up reading it one day!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness you must read the rest Genni!!!! Fire has different characters than Graceling but the third book, Bitterblue, is back in the Graceling universe and (slight spoiler) they do end up intertwining at some points during Bitterblue which is really cool. I hope you'll be able to read the last two soon and I'm definitely looking forward to hearing your thoughts :)
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