My Favorite (?) Character Deaths Calling them my favorite is both very true and completely misleading. That sensation of a heart being yanked out, stomped on, and smushed back in still smarting is one every bookworm knows. And alhough ‘like’ is a strong word for that feeling . . . it’s definitely something I’d recommend. Just so you can suffer with me. Okay. If we’re going to do this, let us get in the properly devastated mindset first: Now that…
Isn’t it the best when those mischievous feelings sneak up and, WHAM, catch our protagonist upside the head? It’s the literary equivalent to the ‘suddenly; squirrel!’ humor trick and I can’t get enough of watching it play out. Our characters are happily spatting [this is a theme I really like so I read a lot of enemies to lovers, get used to that trope showing up everywhere in my rec posts ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ] all while one of them is insistent…
To preface this list: I try hard to stay away from bashing bad books. In the first place, I wouldn’t like it done to my books. That shit hurts. Second, I might meet the actual author some day, and that would be awkward AF. Can you picture it at a convention? Me: “Oh, hi, you’re [author]? You must be the one who wrote [this book, which I totally trashed in a review].” Poor Author: “Yep, that’s me. So you’ve read…
In the grand tradition of December, let’s do some wrapping up. Wrap some presents. Wrap-up your post-holiday shopping. Write lots of wrap-up lists. Wrap-up small, misbehaving children Krampus style to mail to . . . haha . . . ooops. Don’t do that. Got carried away there. Number Of Books I Read: A very respectable 174 I kept my goal of 200, despite knowing that was stupidly unrealistic with me going back to work full time. And indeed, my reading…
This trope flavor du jour starts with a firm, succulent base of Brooding Big Bad. Spicy hints of Shades of Grey add to the morality, while robust kicks of Standoffish, Blunt, and Guarded finish the dish for a well-rounded palate. The discerning reader will love the fact that this character absolutely has no time for anyone in the world . . . except for that one, special someone they can’t resist. They are secretly (OH so secretly) soft and protective…
Quick internet search tells me that a nerd is defined as; “a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted, interested in obscure or not-popular things, and lacking social skills.” Basically? I am ALL OF THOSE THINGS. It’s like the internet knows my life!* *Dear NSA Agent skimming my blog: please do spend some quality time with my trope rec posts. I promise you will need reading material because my life is very boring and these books are more fun. Also…
As we all know, one of the Ten Bookworm Commandments is: Thou shalt never be satisfied with a movie adaptation because THE BOOK IS ALWAYS BETTER. Obviously, the prompter for this blog post (Kibby of The Dark Forest Co) just wanted to fling that match and watch the bookworm world burn. While standing there looking cool, backlit by the flames, walking away in slow motion. I approve, which is why I wrote this post defying one of the cardinal bookworm…
For this post it’s that trope, nearly always employed in an enemies-to-lovers type situation, where one of the duo gets sick/injured or is suddenly in imminent danger. Ruh-roh, Scooby! Because they are acting like antagonists life conspires to basically FORCE their defenses down in a way the character would probably never do on their own. Isn’t it the best? When they’re happily spatting, all defensive maneuvers deployed, sarcasm shots launching A+ hard, and then it’s all “Wait, you’re sick? Really…
Yep, it’s time for another trope recommendation post. This one is my very, very favorite, ride or die, auto-buy trope, so this will be a very long rec post. Be warned! Do I know there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of retellings of this fairy tale? Yep. Does that stop me from buying them and hoping more come out? NOPE. Something about seeing through outward appearances to the genuine, worthy, real person within has always caught my attention. You know that…
Sometimes I’m in the mood for a super specific, really niche trope. It’s like a food craving, where only that certain brand from that one store will do. In this case it’s a good old grovel. Not the little token apology with immediate making-out, ohhh no. I want the real down-and-dirty, sincere, I-fucked-up, oh-my-god-I-was-so-dumb, dawning realization. It doesn’t particularly matter to me which character (hero or heroine or all three heroes in a reverse harem) is doing the groveling. There…