Beauty and the Beast Book Tag

Thanks to icebreaker694 who tagged me for this a little while back, I’m finally getting round to it! Go check out her blog if you don’t follow her! And thanks to the creator of the tag,  Kristy and the Cat Read too!

Questions

1. TALE AS OLD AS TIME – A popular theme, trope or setting you will never get bored of reading

Okay, this has to be dystopian for me. Everyone is saying “oh it’s so overdone now”, but I totally disagree. As long as the society and plot are unique then I’m happy! I love the idea of different societies and what life might be like under a regime where kids kill each other for entertainment in arenas (The Hunger Games) or where a child hasn’t been born in decades ( The Children of Men). There are endless possibilities in this genre, so I don’t appreciate it when some books are clearly a rip-off of another and are just trying to jump on the bandwagon.

2. BELLE- A book you bought for its beautiful cover that’s just as beautiful inside too

All the Birds in the Sky was definitely an immediate cover-buy, although the blurb sounded really interesting too. It mentions the word ‘apocalypse’ after all so I was totally sold! However, I try not to buy books simply because I like their covers. A book could have some amazing cover art, but if it sounds boring or isn’t really my cup of tea, I won’t get it.

You can check out my review for All the Birds in the Sky here. It was a really magical and fantastical book, with some great characterisation too.

3. BEAST – A book you didn’t expect much from but that pleasantly surprised you

This has to be Throne of Glass. I hate the covers to this series. I know I just said I try not to judge a book by it’s cover but I just really don’t like the covers! I think they’re very kiddy and a bit corny. It definitely put me off when I first saw Throne of Glass, but then I also thought the blurb sounded pretty cliche too, so I steered clear. Like I said, if the synopsis had sounded great I might have tried it a bit earlier and not been such a snob. But when I joined the blogosphere and saw everyone raving about this series, I decided to finally give it a shot. And lo and behold, I was proven entirely wrong; I loved the first book! I’ve only read the one but I hope to get my hands on the second book sometime in the near future. Check out my review of Throne of Glass here.

4. GASTON – A book everyone loves that you don’t

Sorry guys, but I just can’t get into these books. I’ve read City of Bones and attempted City of Ashes but they’re just not for me. Actually, I think I even got as far as City of Glass but never finished it. I don’t even know. As you can tell, these books haven’t really stuck with me. I’m not a massive fan of all this urban fantasy/paranormal romance stuff. I can’t deny they’re pretty well written, but I never became obsessed like a lot of people.

5. LEFOU – A loyal sidekick that you can’t help but love more than their counterpart

I was 100% more of a fan of El Capitan than I was of Bradwell. I loved all the characters, but there was something just that little bit more special about El Capitan. He’s a really troubled soul and he’s ruthless, but he’s also exceptionally caring.

If you haven’t read this series, you are missing out on some of the best world-building, writing and characterisation I’ve ever read. This series is flawless.

6. MRS POTTS, CHIP, LUMIER & COGSWORTH – A book that helped you through a difficult time or that taught you something valuable

Do I even need to say why?

7. SOMETHING THERE – A book or a series that you weren’t into at first but picked up towards the end

Can I just start by saying there are so many different covers for this series and they’re all amazing. I love them.

But anyway, my love for the series as a whole didn’t quite start in the same fashion. In fact, I loved the opening chapter and the world; I was totally hooked. Aaaaand then the romance started and my interest went from 100 to 0. I just didn’t feel invested in the romance at all. But then the pace picked up again by the end of the first book (however, that motorcycle chase… what on earth?!) and continued on throughout the series. I preferred Julian to Alex, as you can probably tell, and was rooting for Julian throughout the series. By the final book, I had really come to love this trilogy, it’s just a shame it had a bit of a shaky start.

It’s odd really, because normally the first book in a trilogy is amazing, the second feels like a pointless filler, and the third picks up the pace and can either be amazing or a disaster. For me, I felt like the first book was a bit of a filler and the plots of the second and third novels were much more interesting.

8. BE OUR GUEST – A fictional character you’d love to have over for dinner

Anyone from the Old Kingdom series. Please come and love me and be my best friend. Especially Mogget. And Dog. And Sabriel and Lirael and Touchstone and Sameth and Nicholas. Everyone please. My ARC copy of Goldenhand is up next in my TBR and I’m practically salivating in anticipation of reading it.

I Tag

• Demi @ bookstraveller
• Arianne @ Beyond Chapters
• Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks

If you don’t do tags or you’ve already done this one, then please ignore me! If not, then have fun!