Tag: bookrecommendation

YA Retellings.

Beauty and the beast:

Into the heartless wood by Joanna Ruth Meyer.

The woodland is a deadly place where men and women are lured to their deaths by siren song. A witch has been harvesting souls to feed the callous tree for ages, harnessing its power to expand her realm.

Seren, one of the witch’s tree-siren daughters, saves Owen Merrick’s life rather than ending it after he is led into the witch’s wood. Every night, he climbs over the garden wall to see her, and her desire to be human becomes stronger. Seren’s desire to become human will take them into an old struggle waging between the witch and the king who is trying to stop her, as a shift in the constellations foreshadows a dreadful curse.

Romeo and Juliet

Roman and Jewel by Dana L. Davis

Who would play the leads in a Hamilton remake of Romeo and Juliet? This is the storey of a young woman who believes she has what it takes…and the rest of the world agrees.

Jerzie Jhames will go to any length to get the main role in Roman and Jewel, Broadway’s hottest new show, a Romeo and Juliet inspired hip-hopera with a diverse cast and current twists on the play. Her aspirations are dashed, however, when she discovers that Cinny, the mega-star, has won the lead…and Jerzie is her understudy.

It’s a bad idea for Jerzie to fall for male lead Zeppelin Reid, especially after she knows Cinny wants him for herself. Star-crossed love is doomed to fail. When a video of Jerzie and Zepp practising goes online and the entire world votes on who should play Jewel, Jerzie realises that while fame is expensive, friendship, family, and love are invaluable.

The phantom of the Opera:

Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson.

There is no such thing as Isda. At least not beyond the opera house’s ornate walls.

Cyril, the opera house’s owner, protected her from being cast into a well at birth for being one of the magical few who can modify memories when people sing. He has protected her from the violent world outside since that day. He only requests that she use her influence to keep ticket sales high—and that she stay hidden. Isda and Cyril would pay the price if it was discovered she had survived.

But when Isda meets Emeric Rodin, a handsome boy who upsets her tranquil, isolated life, she defies Cyril’s cardinal rule. His voice is unlike any she’s ever heard, but the true shock comes when she discovers glimpses of a way out of her gilded prison in his recollections.Isda spends more and more time with Emeric, haunted by the potential, searching for answers in his music and his past. But the cost of liberty is far greater than Isda could ever imagine. Even as she battles with her growing affections for Emeric, she realises that the only way she can control her own future is to become the monster the world sought to drown in the first place.

Pride and Prejudice:

Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price

Despite the meddling of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the stern young heir to the prominent company Pemberley Associates, seventeen-year-old aspiring lawyer Lizzie Bennet seizes the opportunity to establish herself when a shocking murder shakes London high society.

Lizzie vows to solve the murder on her own, convinced that the authorities have imprisoned the wrong person. However, as the case—and her feelings for Darcy—become more convoluted, Lizzie realises that her ideal career may make her happy, but it may also lead to her death.

Rapunzel:

What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell

The virtuous people of Corona search for the all-healing Sundrop flower to cure their queen and her unborn child in a desperate attempt to preserve their queen’s life—but instead obtain the sparkling Moondrop flower. Regardless, it heals the queen, and she gives birth to a healthy baby girl with moon-like silver and grey hair. It brings with it perilous magical abilities: the ability to harm rather than cure. Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower and placed in the care of Mother Gothel, a powerful goodwife, for her own and the kingdom’s safety.

Rapunzel has been kept away for eighteen years, knowing she must protect people from her miraculous hair. However, when she leaves the only home she’s ever known in order to witness the floating lights that emerge on her birthday, she becomes entangled in an adventure with two robbers that takes her throughout the kingdom. Rapunzel discovers that there may be more to her storey, and her miraculous tresses, than she ever imagined before she reaches her happy ending.

A book for every romance trope. (part 2)

Soulmates.

Crave by Tracy Wolff.

When Grace walked inside the academy, her entire life altered. Nothing about this facility or the other students there is right. Among gods…or monsters, she is a simple mortal. She’s still undecided about which of the warring sides she belongs to, if she even does.
There’s also Jaxon Vega. A dangerous vampire who hasn’t felt anything in a hundred years. But there’s something about him that appeals to me, something damaged in him that matches what’s broken in her in some way.Because Jaxon built a barrier around himself for a purpose. And now someone wants to awaken a sleeping monster, and she’s starting to wonder if she was deliberately sent here as bait.

Arranged marriage.

The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen.

Lara, a warrior princess who was raised in seclusion, is guided by two certainties. The first is that the Bridge Kingdom’s King Aren is her foe. The second is that she will be the one to force him to kneel.The Bridge Kingdom enriches itself while depriving its rivals, including Lara’s hometown, by being the sole passage through a storm-ravaged planet. So when she’s sent as a bride under the pretence of peace, Lara is ready to go to any length to pierce its impenetrable fortifications. As well as its king’s defences.However, when she infiltrates her new home and learns more about the battle over the bridge, Lara begins to doubt if she is the hero or the villain.And when Lara’s feelings for Aren shift from icy animosity to ferocious love, she must decide whose country she will preserve… and which kingdom she will annihilate.

Childhood friends to lovers.

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare.

It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire pushed the Shadowhunters close to extinction. Emma Carstairs is no longer a grieving girl, but a young lady hell-bent on figuring out who killed her parents and exacting vengeance.Emma must learn to trust her mind and her love as she explores a diabolical scheme that runs from the Sunset Strip to the magical waves that pound the beaches of Santa Monica with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn. If only her heart didn’t led her down the wrong path.Julian’s brother Mark, who was kidnapped by the faeries five years ago, has been returned as a negotiating chip, further complicating matters. The faeries are frantic to figure out who is killing their kind, and they need the Shadowhunters’ aid. In faerie, however, time moves at a different pace, thus Mark has hardly matured and doesn’t recognise his family. Is he ever going to come back to them? Will the faeries actually let it happen?

Love Square.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer.

The Renegades are a group of prodigies — people with exceptional powers — who rose from the wreckage of a crumbling society to bring peace and order to a place where chaos ruled. Except for the criminals they once toppled, they remain a symbol of hope and courage as advocates of justice.Nova has a grudge against the Renegades, and she’s out for vengeance. She meets Adrian, a Renegade youngster who believes in justice — and in Nova — as she comes closer to her target. Nova’s devotion, on the other hand, is to a villain who has the power to destroy them both.

The guy falls first.

The Selection by Kiera Cass.

The Selection is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for thirty-five females. The chance to break out from the life that has been carved out for them since birth. To be immersed in a world of gilded dresses and expensive gems. To live in a palace and fight for Prince Maxon’s affections.Being Selected, on the other hand, is a nightmare for America Singer. It means abandoning her hidden love for Aspen, a member of a lower caste. Leaving her home to compete for a crown she doesn’t desire in a heated competition. Living in a palace where deadly rebel attacks are a continuous concern.Then there’s America’s meeting with Prince Maxon. Gradually, she begins to doubt all of her expectations for herself, realising that the life she’s always envisaged may pale in comparison to a future she’s never imagined.

Friends to lovers.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a terrific job, a supportive best friend, and a growing crush. That’s why she’s not happy to be sent to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair, that is. Étienne is smart, charming, and gorgeous, and he also has a serious relationship. However, in the City of Light, desires do come true. Will their long-awaited French kiss put a stop to a year of romantic near-misses?

A book for every romance trope. (part 1)

Love triangle.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

Avery Grambs has a plan for a brighter future: go through high school, obtain a scholarship, and leave. When millionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and gives Avery almost his entire wealth, her fortunes shift in an instant. What’s the catch? Avery doesn’t know why, or who Tobias Hawthorne is. Avery must move into the huge, hidden passage-filled Hawthorne House to accept her inheritance, where every room bears the old man’s touch—and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes.Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also home to the family that Tobias Hawthorne has recently evicted. The four Hawthorne grandchildren are among them: dangerous, charismatic, smart guys who grew up with the expectation of inheriting billions one day. Grayson Hawthorne, the heir apparent, is convinced that Avery is a scam artist and is determined to bring her down. Jameson, their grandfather’s final hurrah, sees her as a twisted conundrum, a puzzle to be solved. Avery will have to play the game herself to survive in a world of money and power, with danger lurking around every corner.

Grumpy and sunshine.

Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.

So starts the newest whirlwind romance from the bestselling writers of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has placed a red notebook full of dares on the shelf of a favourite bookshop, waiting for the right person to come along and accept them. Is Dash, however, the ideal person for the job? Or are Dash and Lily doomed to swap dares, aspirations, and wishes in a notebook they pass back and forth at various spots across New York? Could their real-life selves relate as well as their virtual ones? Or will they be a hilarious mismatch of epic proportions? Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have crafted a love storey that will have readers hunting for love on bookshop shelves.

Star-crossed lovers.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

Ketterdam is a busy crossroads of international trade where anything can be gotten for the right price—a fact that criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is well aware of. Kaz is offered the opportunity to take part in a dangerous robbery that may make him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. But he won’t be able to do it alone…

A convicted criminal with a hunger for vengeance

A sniper who can’t afford to lose a bet

A fugitive from justice with a privileged past

The Wraith is a sassy spy.

A Heartrender uses her abilities to keep herself alive amid the slums.

A criminal with a knack for improbable escapes

If they don’t murder each other first, Kaz’s crew may be the only thing standing between the Earth and disaster.

Fake dating.

The Deal by Elle Kennedy.

Hannah Wells has finally met someone who makes her want to turn on. However, while she may be self-assured in other areas of her life, she carries a lot of baggage. She’ll have to push herself out of her comfort zone if she wants to capture her crush’s attention… even if it means teaching the obnoxious, juvenile, conceited captain of the hockey team in return for a fake date.Garrett Graham’s only ambition after graduation has always been to play professional hockey, but his slipping GPA is jeopardising everything he’s fought so hard for. He’s all for helping a caustic brunette make another guy envious if it means keeping his spot on the squad. Garrett quickly realises that pretending isn’t going to cut it as one unexpected kiss. Now all he needs to do is persuade Hannah that the man she desires resembles him.

I’m here to kill you.

The Wrath and The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh.

Each morning brings misery to a new family in a kingdom controlled by a bloodthirsty boy-king. Khalid, Khorasan’s eighteen-year-old Caliph, is a monster. He takes a new wife every night, only to have a silk chain tied around her throat the next morning. When Shahrzad’s sixteen-year-old best friend is murdered by Khalid, he swears revenge and offers to be his next wife. Shahrzad is determined not just to survive, but also to put a stop to the caliph’s reign of terror.Shahrzad seduces Khalid night after night, telling him enthralling stories and securing her survival, despite the fact that she knows each morning may be her last. But then something unexpected happens: Khalid turns out to be nothing like she had imagined him to be. This monster is a young boy who has a broken heart. Surprisingly, Shahrzad finds herself in love. What gives that this is possible? It’s a heinous act of treachery. Even nevertheless, Shahrzad has come to realise that not everything in this marble and stone mansion is as it appears. She vows to find whatever secrets are hidden and, despite her love for him, to kill Khalid in retaliation for the numerous lives he has stolen. Will their love be able to endure in this world of secrets and stories?

Enemies to lovers.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black.

When ude’s parents were slain, she and her two sisters were kidnapped and taken to the perilous High Court of Faerie. Jude, despite her mortality, wants nothing more than to belong there ten years later. However, many fey loathe humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the High King’s youngest and most vicious son.She must resist him–and bear the consequences–in order to get a seat on the Court.Jude finds her own propensity for deception and slaughter as she becomes further immersed in palace intrigues and deceptions. But, when treason threatens to drown the Faerie Courts in bloodshed, Jude will have to put her life on the line in a hazardous partnership to preserve her sisters and Faeri.

The Prince and the Commonner.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.

This is a universe where blood is separated into two types: red and silver. The Reds are commoners who are dominated by a Silver elite who wield godlike abilities. And it appears that nothing will ever change for Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the impoverished Stilts. That is, until she is offered a job at the Silver Palace. Mare realises that, despite her crimson blood, she wields a lethal power of her own here, surrounded by the individuals she despises the most. One that poses a challenge to the power equilibrium. Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers declare her a long-lost Silver princess who is now betrothed to a Silver prince and conceal her in plain sight.Mare works quietly to aid the Red Guard, a militant opposition group, in overthrowing the Silver dictatorship, despite the fact that one error would result in her execution. Mare has engaged a hazardous dance—Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart—in this realm of treachery and deception.