A lifelong reader of all things YA and books with heartfelt moments that punch you with all the feels. Currently expanding my reading interests to encompass anything that makes me feel deep and resonate with the characters
Leslie @ Books Are The New Black created a fun monthly post featuring book covers that fit the birthstone of the month.This can be the color of the cover or the color in the title.
Anyone can join, just be sure to give credit where it’s due.
Today, I’ll be showcasing a number of books I’ve read with pretty purple covers for February’s amethyst birthstone!
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
It’s a shorter work week for me but this Tuesday morning still feels like it’s been the longest week already. Does anyone ever feel that way?
Anyway, this week’s TTT is all about those awesome duos. I tried to stay away from just romantic couples because that’s a completely separate thing. These are the power duos who work so well together, who have amazing camaraderie, and honestly aren’t their best without each other.
Starting with…
1. Safi and Iseult
These girls are the definition of besties and they fight like a well honed unit. Where one is, the other surely isn’t far behind. Unfortunately they do get separated a lot in this series, but they always have each other’s backs regardless of the distance between them.
2. Katsa and Po
Okay, these two are also romantic partners but their Graces and fighting styles are so well matched that it’s hard not to see how great they are beyond just the romance of it all. They make great investigative partners and their loyalty to each other is everything.
3. Puck and Ash
In this original trilogy, these two boys are part of the love triangle, but they also have such a complicated history with one another. There was even another girl that once came between them, but here we are having the two fight on the same side again against all odds. Their banter makes the series, let’s be honest!
4. Janco and Ari
These guys aren’t the power twins for no reason! You’d rarely see them apart from each other and they make the best pair of loyal friends/guardians anyone could ask for. But watching them fight together is truly a wonder to behold! Even better would be to learn from them.
5. Nate and Bronwyn
Also a romantic couple, they had to be included on the list because their chemistry is off the charts in this opposites attract kind of duo. Their problem solving, the ups and downs of being murder suspects, yep, these two make quite the pair.
6. Will and Jem
I will end off with these two. As part of a complex love triangle where everyone is absolutely lovable, these boys are bound by love themselves as parabatai. Their friendship is to die for, and any snippets of just the two of them in a story is enough to make me tear up. Enough said, they’re the best duo I’ve ever read.
I’m keeping the list a little shorter this week. These are my favourite duos for their chemistry, bond, and ability to be half of a whole. Who’s your favourite duo?
Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she’s found with Prince Casteel. She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. It’s a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed. The true ruler of Atlantia. She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers.
The enemy and the warrior…
Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. But as the kingdoms’ dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat. And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon Poppy’s head.
A lover and heartmate…
But the greatest threat to them and to Atlantia is what awaits in the far west, where the Queen of Blood and Ash has her own plans, ones she has waited hundreds of years to carry out. Poppy and Casteel must consider the impossible—travel to the Lands of the Gods and wake the King himself. And as shocking secrets and the harshest betrayals come to light, and enemies emerge to threaten everything Poppy and Casteel have fought for, they will discover just how far they are willing to go for their people—and each other.
And now she will become Queen.
After the absolute bore-fest that was book 2, I’m actually happy to say book 3, The Crown of Gilded Bones, did better at holding my attention. Maybe being a glutton for punishment isn’t so bad? Sometimes?
The story starts off where the cliffhanger ending left us. We finally (finally!) get to know more details about who or what Poppy is. She’s got that *special* main character thing going for her since Day One when she was simply called the Maiden. Clearly that doesn’t mean anything like she was taught to think it represented, but it seems Atlantis’s enemies may know that she’s special in some way too.
The world building is also picking up. Atlantia has so much to offer and we’re finally HERE (after two super long books but whatever). And it doesn’t disappoint. We get to meet the different citizens that make up this kingdom, learn more about the lore of the gods and what happened while they were still awake. The action is there from the start and it doesn’t lag too much because the enemy kingdoms are finally feeling like they’re near the tipping edge towards war.
Down the Rabbit Hole 