There are so many things that are downright better in books.
For instance: delicious chocolate factories. Or magical schools. Or any human ever. Honestly people are just better when they’re not real, is probably what we’re trying to say here. But anyway. Books are a blessing to our existence because they provide us with worlds that are just better!
I can definitely guarantee with about 8% surety (because I’m CONFIDENT in myself) that you’ve read a book and at some point thought: “Wow I wish I lived here.” Whether it’s because the world is full of magic or adventure or dragons or just has a world where they actually fill up the potato chip packets instead of making you pay for half a bag of air.
THE POINT IS we’re often very very in love with worlds that don’t exist!
And there are obviously types of worlds that make our hearts flutter faster or else make us pause, think for 3 seconds, stretch our neck out like a turtle and shout: “nO THANKS.” Today I want to list 5 bookish settings I love VS 5 that I hate. Because #BALANCE.
And there’s a quiz at the end (!! I’m wonderful to you !!) to find out what type of bookish setting YOU would be in if your life was a YA book.
I’m also linking up with Top Ten Tuesday for their prompt “Ten Bookish Settings I’d Love to Visit” which is vaguely what this post is about ha ha hahahaha. I’m sorry.
1. OLD LIBRARIES OR CURIOSITY SHOPS
Just give me buildings full of dusty secrets and curious objects that are probably magical and will kill you if you get too close. I love the old and tired and boxes full pocket watches and ancient books and old letters and strange waistcoats. Just try and tell me the aesthetic is nOT EVERYTHING GOOD IN THIS WORLD.
Also fun fact: I’m so allergic to everything I just mentioned above. Like wow if you want to kill me, literally lock me in an old library. I will inhale and die. #FunLifeWithAllergies Clearly I have to read about it to satisfy my aesthetic soul???? WHAT IS THIS LIFE.
2. THE DARK FORESTS AND GARDENS
I HAVE SO MUCH LOVE FOR THE DARK CREEPY WOODS I CAN’T EVEN. I mean, they’re so exciting! Will you go in and then come out? Are there monsters there? Will a faerie still your soul? Do the trees speak Latin? Are there anxious monsters in the trees? Is that flower going to kill you? Is there a witch stuck somewhere in there because they have a terrible sense of direction and can’t get out??
WHO KNOWS. EXCITING. I want to read 20 million books set in forests. No no! Do not doubt this goal of mine! It could be worse anyway — I could be collecting dead bugs or something please appreciate how lucky you are.
3. SUPER RICH, LAVISH CASTLES
You know how our lord and life, Flynn Rider, says, “Guys, I want a castle”??? Well that’s literally me too. SO! I like to read about these to fulfil that need deep in my soul. Also just the rich lavishness is GORGEOUS to read about. Like let’s have everything be jewel-encrusted and your bathtub is a swimming pool and we eat croissants at all hours of the day.
I also love the added bonus of throwing kids who are raised here into those dark forests so they can have anxiety. OR!! Putting poor waifs into this settings so they end up eating the soap and sleeping in the linen closet.
4. STRANGE LITTLE TOWNS WITH WEIRD STUFF GOING ON
There’s nothing quite as lovely as those little towns where everything is quaint and the milkshake place has vintage cups and then — BOOM, ACTUALLY WEREWOLVES LIVE IN THE FOREST AND THERE’S A CUT IN THE WORLD THAT LEADS TO THE SPIRIT REALM. I love it. I adore it.
FUN FACT: I actually live in a tiny town and I’m still waiting for the magic to present. So far at one end of my street there are paddocks of cows, and at the other end of my street is the centre of town. This sometimes makes me cry but okay. And even though I have both (a) mountains, and (b) cornfields, which are BOTH proven to be where magical oddities happen — so far the only weird thing that’s gone down is me balancing two bookshelves on top of each other and they haven’t fallen and killed me yet.
5. CIRCUSES, FESTIVALS, AND CARNIVALS
Because if you see this happening in a book you know (a) someone’s going to get randomly murdered, and (b) there will be MAGIC, MURDER, and MAYHEM. I’ve really only started reading about these, but I love it?! I love how sinister it can be and then everyone exists on popcorn and toffee apples and wonders why they’re so cranky all of the time. Low blood sugar, you fools. Eat some iron. Anyway. I’m so so all for the oddballs and the curiosities and the misfits. I love misfits.
I, personally, am a bit of a misfit because sometimes I can’t seem to match my socks.
(Note: I have MANY books that I love that do have these settings! I just don’t gravitate or choose them willingly…but bribe me with donuts. Like that could help.)
1. SCHOOLS AND CLASSROOMS
Maybe this is because in my wayward youth I actually homeschooled but holY HECK do people actually find books set 80% in a classroom fun??? Don’t we want to escape the notorious classroom when we read?? I honestly can feel some of my brain melting and sliding out my ears whenever I realise a book has a HUGE focus on a prison setting.
OH HAHA DID I SAY “PRISON”?? I meant school.
2. PRISONS OR REHAB CENTRES
But speaking of prisons — I hate them too. Look it’s just boring. There’s not much plot to sustain in a small cell. You just get to be alone with your thoughts, and newsflash: no one wants that. I do like prison breaks and I don’t mind the small flutter in and out of bars, but just don’t LEAVE ME HERE in a book where the setting is so stagnant that a 100-year-old pond has more active social life.
3. DYSTOPIAN FACTION SETTING THINGIES
Is it just me or do I hate on dystopians recreationally these days?? I’M SORRY. I TRULY AM!! I do have love for some dystopians! But just the ones where we’re all sitting in a hole underground or in like a bunker and everyone wears white jumpsuits and eats cream corn (I just threw up a little) and conspires against the evil government…I just feel a little like whitewash was poured into my eyes. IT’S BORING. I don’t want endless hallways in a science lab!! It just don’t work for me!!
4. ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE BECAUSE ROADTRIPS
See road trips can be awesome (See: The Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue which I will absolutely climb onto your hat and shout about how good it is) but a lot of the time I fall apart because (A) there are SO many settings that nothing gets described really well, or (B) a lot of it is set in the same sort of places, like a weird hotel room or a car or if it’s fantasy it’s some forest and an inn of bedbugs, or (C) the plot is also dull because alllll thatttttt walkingggggg.
I hate reading about people walking. I love walking, but it is very very boring to watch, ok.
5. RICH PEOPLE’S HOLIDAYS TO PRIVATE ISLANDS OR WHATEVER
This is usually because said rich people spend the entire time getting drunk, accidentally falling into love-hexagons, and then murdering each other. I mean that CAN be interesting, but usually I despair for humanity and end up needing to run up Mt. Everest and scream at the sky. It just annoys me. Make good decisions, kids. Put on sunscreen and stop ruining your livers and DON’T KILL ANYONE WITH THE SILVER WEAR OMG IT’S NOT THAT HARD.
Now imagine you are the protagonist of a YA book? What setting would your book take place in?! Lucky for YOU, I exist and am here to tell you everything with a quiz that can’t possibly go wrong!
I’m so reassured already!!
Yes! Of course I was born to live in a castle! and probably be the reason everyone gets turned into furniture 😐
Love this post as always, Cait! I think my favourite setting would be stuffy, magical antique shops. I could find an egg for a rainbow dragon or end up releasing a legion of demons, who knows!
WHAT ELSE IS LIFE FOR IF NOT TO ASPIRE TO CASTLE LIVING. #Legit And I’m so glad you enjoyed the post!! 😂 We need more magical antique shops in books, right?!
Haha, I’m SO not surprised to see that I got castle! It’s 100% my life goal to live in a castle…for obvious reasons. When I went to the UK a couple of years ago (I mean, it feels like yesterday, but apparently not) I was actually obsessed with the castles. Some of them were so beautifully restored, too! Castle Urquhart was amazing, but sadly, I saw no loch ness monster in the lake. That was sort of off-topic, but mortal of this comment is that castles = amazing, and if a book has ‘castle’ written the blurb, there’s a good chance I’ll read it. (And looking at my fantasy WIPs… YES, most (all?) of them include castles/lavish estates in some way. Fitting.)
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moral*
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This is an excellent life goal and MINE TOO. I mean why would we want anything else out of life??? Seriously. I absolutely want to go to the UK and see castles though. 😍😍 (Also I think that typo is the most perfect thing and no correction needed. I love mortal comments.)
(And all of my fantasy WIPs have super lavish castles too…that usually get destroyed BUT YOU KNOW. THESE THINGS HAPPEN.)
My YA book would have a school setting?!!!? Excuse me!? I graduated this past summer. WHY OH WHY?! Well, actually… I plan on going back to college in August so it makes sense?! 😭😂
I love your list, Cait! I just agree with everything, hehe! 🙊
NOPE YOU’RE GOING BACK TO SCHOOL AYLA. THE QUIZ CANNOT LIE.😂😂
I’ve got a roadtrip! It’s not the worst possibility so I can live with it!😋
I gave up on The Lord of the Rings because I just couldn’t handle the amount of pages that was filled with the description of hills and grass.. Just walk faster!! 😋
Great post!😊
Ahhh that’s how I felt about LOTR too.😂 The movies made it slightly more interesting?! But like can’t we skip ahead to the part where they ARRIVE.
…School. I resent that.. Especially as I picked dragon-riding as my preferred method of travel (I bet everyone did).
If a story is set in a library, I’m reading it. It does not matter what it is about. Reading it!
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Noooo the quiz is being CRUEL TO YOU. 😭😭 But I’m the same with library settings. I mean say no more, I just want to read ALL the libraries.
I got ‘strange little town’ which, maybe, but I think a magical forest is much more likely. At the moment (for the next two weeks brb sobbing) I live in a forest. I haven’t lived on a road for seven years (and I’m proud lol), and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Into the Woods. I love library settings too! (and, psst, Lirael by Garth Nix has a magical library WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR). Circus’s and cool too! I like The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern a lot. I quite like small towns though, because when they’re done well they’re done so well. I don’t really like rich people’s lives, small towns in America (I’m just over it lol). I’m not picky about settings tbh, but I would LOVE to read more books set in mountains (like Lirael by Garth Nix) (sorry) (not sorry)
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Woods and forests are really awesome!! Lots of magical things happen there and also probably creepy murder things if you’re in a Stiefvater novel. EXCITING. I’M SUCH A FAN.
I need to read Night Circus now with my new found appreciation for carnivals!
And agh yes, the small like “boring” towns are a bit dull? I like small towns + magic.😂
(SURE YOU’RE NOT SORRY.😂)
I didn’t need a quiz to tell me what setting my book would be in, but you’ll be happy to know your quiz is scientifically accurate and got my answer right XD I love circuses/carnivals in real life (I used to do silks and whatnot a bit) and I also love when books are set at them! The old-school circus style ones are especially inherently magical/creepy. *wow so many adverbs and adjectives in one sentence lol*
I do tend to avoid books w/ school settings, but that’s more because I get annoyed by all the tropes that usually come with those books.
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OMGG QUIZ WIN!! *pretends is not super surprised* 😂 Ahem. And oh yes, old school or fantasy circuses are super creepy. I’m not sure why someone always gets murdered but IT HAPPENS. And that’s really true about the school books. It’s the tropes that really drive me up the wall. Unless it’s Hogwarts.😂
Oooh nice variety here!! The ONLY school setting I’d approve of is Hogwarts of course! But I also included Hogsmeade and basically everywhere else that Harry and crew went!
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Actually that is SO true. I love Hogwarts and will read endless books about it.😂
DUDE I AM TOTALLY HECKA EXCITED ABOUT YHE RESULTS. I got freaking ROADTRIP! Boom. I would have expected nothing less and would probably dub myself the bagel-toad princess if I had gotten something else. Literally, road trips are my favorite books I LIVE FOR ROADTRIP NOVELS. I’m constantly saying “I’m going on an adventure!” and I love snacks and seeing new places and walking around. And mysterious and attractive people 😂😂Duuuude I love you so much omg bless you my #queen you #slay 💖
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Bagel-toad princess.😂😂😂 THAT IS THE GREATEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD EXCUSE ME.😂 Ahem. Anyway I’m so glad the quiz actually worked!! I mean the questions were all based on purely scientific results OF COURSE.
I got road trip. Which is pretty accurate, because I’m always down for the adventure. But they have to be done right. My first published book fell into that. But I largely glossed over the traveling and mostly talked about the two months where they got stuck at Robin Hood’s camp.
Um, other settings I love? Castles, forests, the moon, weird worlds with natural laws so counter to our own that it’s awesome. LIBRARIES. I’m not a huge fan of circuses or mental asylums. They tend to be creepy, and I’m not here for the creepy.
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Honestly the best roadtrip books are when they focus on the stops and the destination…and don’t do pages of travel.😂 I can handle that hahhaa. AND OHHHH MOONS ARE AWESOME TOO! I LIKE MOONS.
Oh, yes! Library and Curiosity Shops! Love them!!! If a book is set in a library…especially a magical, mysterious, quirky library…I’m in 100%
haha, I never find books set in schools very interesting either (HIGH SCHOOL SOUNDS LIKE A TERRIBLE PLACE I’M GLAD I NEVER WENT)…but then, I was homeschooled too, so maybe that’s why. 🙂 The exception is creepy Victorian boarding schools. I feel like those have a lot of promise for mystery & adventure.
YES EXACTLY THEY’RE SO AMAZING!! I want to read them all!! And write some.😂
School is just…egh. I think we can blame our homeschooled lives on it a lot though…we just know there’s a bigger world out there.😂
My absolute favourite setting is a library or bookstore! I just really love to read books about books ~
According to your quiz, my story would be a roadtrip. I don’t read a lot of contemporary books about road trips, but an adventure like The Hobbit sounds really good! I just wanted to pick all the desserts btw, but that wasn’t possible… 😋
The dessert question was obviously the cruel one there haha.😂😂
I love creepy forests! I actually want to live in one someday. Then everyone will leave me alone. I love castles, too, even though I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in real life. All the castles are far away in other countries.
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That is SUCH a good life goal though. Or like be a witch in a gingerbread house and then just eat anyone annoying who drops by?!? It has to work. *nods*
I am so in love with books set in the old libraries and curiosity shops. I really want to write a book set in one of those creepy little museums that seem to be all over Europe that’s like, taxidermied animals and real human bones and class cases full of butterflies, but, alas, I have no plot to go with it. I just want to write the setting.
And I agree, I am SO TIRED of books that take place at school: colleges, high schools, whatever. I mean, I know Leigh Bardugo is writing the book set at Yale and I’m still super excited for it, but that’s also about secret societies and black magic so somehow I don’t think it will really be about school. But the last truly “school” book I enjoyed was Fangirl.
Also, give me all the strange little towns.
Eeep, same!! I wrote one set in a library, but my next stop is definitely an antique or curiosity shop of some kind. 😍😍 They are just TOO interesting and almost always definitely magical and betwitched. Goals.
I didn’t know Leigh Bardugo’s series was set in Yale haah. OKAY BUT I TRUST HER so it should be okay (plus isn’t it a bit of a thriller? So that should be fine) but like just the average highschools with all the cliches…it’s getting a bit old.😂
I got “school” on the quiz and I’m only okay with it if it’s Hogwarts.
Also every time I read your blog I sit here in the living room and literally laugh out loud multiple times and my family is like “WHAT? WHAT DID WE DO?”
THAT MAKES ME SO HAPPY, HAILEY, YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE.😂😂
I got the castle.
I LIKE THIS, because although the woods ARE lovely, dark and deep, I don’t do the bugs and the walking and the snakes and spiders and falling into holes.
This is totally relatable. Like, heck yes I’m going to write a million dark forests but I would rather not be IN them.😂 I like my warm hobbit hole.
i got roadtrip! which is fine with me, as long as its a roadtrip through a fantasy world, with dragons, and trees, and flowers, and fairies, and jewels, and evil minions to fight. 😛
Most crazily, ~Olive
SO BASICALLY ERAGON AM I RIGHT?!😂
yep! just replace fairies with elves. XD
So far, the only magical books that I’ve read with school in them that are cool is Harry Potter. Cause, I mean, HOGWARTS!! 😍 Does this mean that I get to go there because my quiz results were school? :3
Hogwrats is AMAZING I will not argue it at all.😂
I got roadtrip. I want a redo. 😂
Agreed, you deserve better than that omg.😂
I love the way you tackled this theme – I’ve read some other posts on it. I also usually cannot stand any institutionalized setting – prisons or schools. I will die from boredom. Hogwarts is the exception for me – not very institutionalized. I also love old libraries and fancy castles. Damn – I should write a book about a secret hidden library within a magical, glamorous castle.
Aww thanks, Rebecca!! I had a lot of fun with this one.😂 And ugh yes, the ones were the setting is so stagnant? That really bothers me. I get so bored! Hogwarts is always the exception though because MAGIC and also great food.
I got carnivals but I hate carnivals? Not just as book settings, just…in general. I know, I know, I have no joy in my life. But there are people at carnivals, at the rides are overpriced, and the FOOD is overpriced, and it’s STICKY and LOUD and DARK and sometimes clowns show up and need I go on?
I actually enjoy novels set in schools (even though I myself am abandoning school as we speak). I think it’s cause the characters are always forced to spend time together, and plus I really love the feeling of walking into someone else’s school and sneaking/spying/observing the drama without being part of it. I only went to public school for the last 2 years of my childhood and honestly most of the time I was the psycho kid in the back spying over their copy of Wuthering Heights. So, yeah.
Honestly, I prefer books about deep thought and inner crises over books about action, so….to each his own, I guess. Anyway, thanks for the quiz. Maybe me hating carnivals is the reason the book I’m in would be set there… (screams in terror)
Like, Cait, you inspire me to break the molds and do FUN STUFF with these Top Ten Tuesday prompts!!! I’m drooling all over my keyboard thinking about the dark dark woods, the luxurious castles, and OMG DON’T get me started on the weird towns where once every season, as per usual, someone gets killed!
My necessities for towns are being satisfied with all of the T.V. shows recently. And I’m PUMPED. Riverdale, Stranger Things, Gilmore Girls, Dark… It’s like the Netflix Gods are listening.
And please, you NEED to add The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern to your Circus list! In case you haven’t read it yet, I’ll tell you it’s totally your aesthetic: the writing is perfection, the ambiance is dark and mysterious, and the characters- OH YOU’LL LOVE THE CHARACTERS. Warning: don’t fully trust the Goodreads synopsis. It’s only half of what it says it’s about.
AND also!!! Daughter of the Burning City is finally picking up the pace for me! I think this is also partly psychological because you said you loved it, so then I have to love it too. We’ll see. 😉 Oh hey, I was about to close this comment but I haven’t even finished reading the post yet. #Distractions.
My book would take place in a castle! I knew this. I am too posh and royal for everything else. Except I won’t be elegant at all because I’ll probably be running around through those secret pathways all day long and replacing shampoo with permanent glue. I’ll be the evil princess. WUAHAHAHA. GREAT post!
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AHH I’m so glad to hear that!! Honestly the reason I love TTT posts is that there’s so much room to be creative in them! It really makes my day.😂 And omg I’m so glad we love a lot of the same settings. *slams fist on the table* BOOKS SHOULD GIVE US MORE CREEPY FORESTS AND CASTLES AND WOODS!! WE NEED THIS!!
Stranger Things is a precious gift to this world.
Also I’m so annoyed that I haven’t read The Night Circus yet?! I’m thinking it’ll be totally my thing. And omg Daughter of the Burning City was just so magical and beautiful and awesome.😍😍 Particularly Luca. HE’S MY FAV.
“Castle”. Sounds about right. I do enjoy feeling fancy and trying not to fall as I run down extravagant staircases.
Honestly, I didn’t even realize how much I dislike reading about schools until you mentioned it. It’s like, I already escaped the school system, and now I have to rEAD ABOUT IT??? No thanks.
So true right?! Like who doesn’t want to run gallantly down a hall with your sword at some point. #Life #Goals
In the quiz I got castle! Which is awesome :D. It would be cool to live in a castle.
I love books about books or libraries! That would have to be one of my favourite settings. I agree about the dystopians, I don’t like them like I used to. I don’t think I’ve read many novels set in prisons to be honest, other than occasional scenes of a person in a dungeon in fantasy books. I have only read a handful of roadtrip books too I think.
I personally like it in some books where a school setting plays a part in the story, but I can understand that other people have a different opinion. In school I didn’t get along with most of the other students, and outside of school I was bullied sometimes. But I liked most of my teachers. I guess I like it when school work and / or classes / projects / teachers are involved in the story (because they were important to me when I was a child and teenager), but less so the social aspects about the other students lol. Because I can just relate more then, as for me my schoolwork and doing well in school was important, but I didn’t understand most of the other students (and they didn’t understand me). I loved most of my classes but I hated lunchbreak because it was so noisy with all the students around in the same area. I was the odd one out, I would usually rather read in my breaks in a quiet room (or study if needed) rather than make small talk with the other students. I do find it interesting to read about schools in other countries as well as my own (so Dutch YA vs US, UK, Australia, and other countries). There are some aspects to US high schools I cannot relate to at all. Homeschooling is not allowed in my country, I think it’s mandatory to be in some sort of school until you’re 16 (I was in school until I was 18 and then I did university, which I sometimes regret doing but that’s another story). Sometimes I think if homeschooling was allowed here, that might have been much better for me. But I also had a lot of good times while in school, I learned a lot and I enjoyed learning more about the world (because it was so confusing to me, it’s still confusing now but less so).
I’m sorry for not responding to your blog posts much during the past while. I went on a holiday a while ago and then I was busy, so I’ve had a lot to catch up on and am still catching up on, but I am still reading your blog even if I don’t post many comments. Your blog is very relatable to me because we have several things in common (books/reading, autism, anxiety, liking pretty colours, making lists, writing long posts/messages) and I think it may in fact be my favourite blog. I am excited for your debut novel and any other future novels you may write.
And food, that’s another thing we have in common. I love how often you mention it on your blog, because food is very important to me too.
Food is like EXTREMELY important. I mean, what even is the point of a conversation if it doesn’t contain food. I am here to fill that need. :’) Also so glad you got castle because that’s the BEST.
I guess I struggle with the school-centric books because I never went.😂 Well I went for like a month in 2nd grade, so that hardly counts. And American schools seem SO WEIRD. My little sister went to school and can attest that our education system is very different from the US. So it’s all very alien for sure. I’m really sad you had such a bad time in school though, that sucks. I would’ve been absolutely overwhelmed and terrified in a school setting, so I’m really glad my mum chose to homeschool me.
Also please don’t be sorry! I love and appreciate all your comments of course, but seriously no pressure! <3 *sends cake* I also love that we have so much in common, that's really encouraging to me too!! ❤️❤️ Honestly this comment fully made my day, you are the kindest ever.
Butbutbut… WHY AM I IN SCHOOL. I READ FOR ESCAPISM AND NOW YOU’RE TELLING ME I’LL STAR IN A SCHOOL- I feel betrayed, I chose Toothless as a mean of transportation. Maybe it was linked to Harry Potter and it doomed me ? FREAKING TOOTHLESS.
My favourite settings are actually big towns. Glass and metallic buildings, blue lights, endless roads (my favourite atmosphere because DAMN ALL THAT BLUE AND SHINY BUILDINGS)… And parts of the town that are a bit older, with gratifies on the walls, darker buildings, parks and lot more. There can be endless adventures and atmospheres in a town, and we can tell the stories of many different people.
I’M SORRY, RACHEL. BUT CLEARLY THE QUIZ CAN’T BE WRONG. I’M TOO PERFECT FOR THAT.😂😂 Also I think Toothless should’ve linked you to castle so I have no idea what’s going on there.😂 Fire the quiz maker. (Wait…it me.)
Actually I do like big towns too! They can be quite exciting!
I got school. Huh, not so surprising for a ravenclaw I guess, haha.
I am there with you on the settings you dislike. Who even wants to read about rich people going on vacation. Like nope, stop flaunting your money. Do you know how many books I could buy with the amount your vacation cost? Exactly, a million….
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AHHH the quiz wins!! 😂 I am…very surprised I’ll admit hahha. Ahem.
I just get so anxious when people don’t spend their money wisely. Like what the heck people, you could be using that on books!?? Priorities.
I got “Strange Little Town”. I don’t know if I’ve read that many books that would fit into that category. Well, I can think of a few, but I didn’t like most of them (especially a couple I’ve read recently).
Some of my favourite settings are fantasy ones that are based loosely on real historical settings (think the Grishaverse or Game of Thrones). It makes it a lot easier for me to imagine the place if it’s inspired by someplace real. Some of my favourite books in this sort of vein are The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (with its Greek/Mediterranean vibe), Tiger Moon by Antonia Michaelis (with something like British colonial India as a backdrop), Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (set in a sort of Greco-Roman Britain), and Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox (with an early-1900s New Zealand-esque setting).
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Ah so you like the bit of the historical vibe then? That’s cool!
Ooh, yay, I got castle!! I think castles are actually my favourite setting, closely followed by libraries…
I really don’t enjoy the books where they are traveling all over the place, and just walk, and walk, and walk, and it’s SO BORING! I also really don’t like dystopians… I haven’t read very many of them, and some of them have certainly been good, but I hate the setting.
Castles and libraries are SO awesome. Better yet = a library inside a castle. #winning
I got prison…they found out I murdered someone with a spork. Circuses/Carnivals and Forests are my favorite type of settings. 🙂
AHHH THEY’RE SO MAGICAL AND WEIRD, RIGHT?!
YESS, Very 😀
I would certainly take a curiosity shop or the like… as long as I didn’t have to collect teeth!! And forests if there was a snug little cabin… I’m not a fan of roadtrips… I feel like even described well there are a bit boring…
I love top 10 Tuesday… Here is my post if you’re interested in my choices <3 https://perspectiveofawriter.wordpress.com/2017/12/05/top-10-tuesday-bookish-settings-to-visit-as-a-tourist/
Ugh omg I’m with you. I do not want to collect any teeth.😂 We’ll leave that to Karou.
Personally, I love school settings because it tricks me into thinking some good can actually come out of going there (HAHA WHO AM I KIDDING), but I also LOVE the old libraries (like Ink and Bone, which was great ((although I’m probably not gonna read the next book because, honestly, I am satisfied with this ending pls don’t kill my poor bean he just wanted books))) and circuses and creepy forests and just AHH! I usually tend to avoid the white-washed science facilities too (ALTHOUGH I’M GONNA END UP WRITING ONE FOR LIKE,,, FOUR CHAPTERS AND IT’S GONNA KILL ME BUT PLOT SAYS I GOTTA) (also one reason I noped my way outta finishing Mockingjay WHOOPS)
For the quiz I got School (big surprise) and honestly the fact that you added “Try not to die” at the end lowkey gives me the belief that I would be the character who dies and starts this mess. But hey, at least then my ghost can look down at all the suckers as they try to find the killer and chill with some popcorn and 90% of my favorite characters.
ALL!
Actually that’s a really good way to look at the school settings.😂And i mean if they’re teaching magic they’re not so bad. But it’s the contemporary schools that are so confusing.
OMG BUT THE INK AND BONE SERIES IS AMAAZING!! BOOK 3 WAS SO GOOD I NEARLY SCREAMED MY HEAD OFF.
(I think I put “try not to die” in like all my answers for the quiz hahahaa. I’m so lovely.)
Ah, true.
BUT POOR WITTLE JESS JUST NEEDS TO STOP RUNNING TOWARDS D E A T H, Give him a book, pls.
(It’s okay, death is very hard to avoid.)
Omg I know right?! He needs to retire as a librarian…like in a smol quiet calm library. UGH, JESS, STOP NEARLY DYING I’M STRESSING OUT.
He just needs to be that nice old man who runs the local bookstore and if you get to know him, he’ll tell you the greatest stories and you can’t tell if they’re real or from a book, but either way they’re great.
That’s #aesthetic.
cool, your quiz-thing said I get a castle.
That’s neat.
also why would any book ever take place in a school ever again; have we not established that those establishments suck?
Castles are obviously the best answer. *nods* Who wouldn’t want a castle.
Great post, and thanks for the quiz! I got Festival/Carnvial, which was pretty unexpected. 😉 I like books set there, but also I run away at the slightest MENTION of anyyything resembling something scary, so I’d probably die really quickly.
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Ahh haha, sorry, Olivia.😂😂 The quiz has it out for you!
Oop it looks like I would have an adventure at school (hahahahha no). There better be ghosts or vampires there, otherwise I’m going to be very bored. lol
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I’M SORRY.😂 But hey the quiz can’t lie obviously. :’)
I’d love to read more about Cait-approved-settings #1 and 4! But does #5 of the Cait-must-be-bribed settings include We Were Liars? because that was the first (and only) book that came to my mind.
ALSO THE LAST QUIZ YOU MADE GAVE ME ‘SCHOOL’ AS WELL. Apparently I’m not a homeschooler on the inside??
Honestly I really liked We Were Liars so that works.😂 I’M SORRY ABOUT THE SCHOOL THOUGH. CLEARLY THE QUIZ KNOWS WHAT’S BEST THOUGH, JEM.
I ADORE the old library setting which is of course why I love the Ink and Bone series and Strange the Dreamer, soo good. Forests creep me out especially when there’s fae. Road trip books never really pan out because it’s mostly about travelling in a car really.
APPARENTLY MY IDEAL YA SETTING THO IS A ROADTRIP AND I STAND TO BE CORRECTED.
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YESSSS WE HAVE GOOD TASTE THAT IS FOR SURE! And omg Strange the Dreamer is A+ for every setting ever I am so in love with that book.😍 jafdkslafjdkl
I mean, the quiz can’t lie, Jeann. Obviously.
All the ones that you loved are amazing. I do love the rich people on vacation setting though. I hate it when it’s set in a prison, because there’s literally nothing to do, and I love when books are set in cities, especially ones that I know well, such as NYC.
Prisons are super boring ugh. I mean if they break out it’s interesting, but otherwise it’s very stagnant and tedious?
Love this!!!! So many wonderful story settings! And I did the quiz and got “Old Library or Curiosity Shop” and YES, I am satisfied with life now!!!!
ONLY THE BEST ANSWER OBVIOUSLY. 💕😍
And of course, I’m gonna get “Roadtrip” for my book setting. I love to do that in real life but in books, as you’ve said there is too much information left unsaid or lost between the pages. You’re here after a minute you’re somewhere else. Cannot keep up with that. Real life road trips are better! Anyway, I’d love to go to some rich castles as the ones in The Crown’s Game or The Selection series (just imagine the food that is served….okay, enough hehehe) Dark forests and anything else that is creepy is on my list. Oh, the fearless adventure that I am *smh*.
Omg The Crown’s Game has such a gorgeous and lush setting. I’m fully in love with it! (And, not going to lie, that Russian food sounded amazing.)
Hey, just out of curiosity, are you doing beautiful people this month?
I think we’re on break!
Wow, I’m at school. Okay….not.
I’M SORRY.😂
Hehehe I’m so happy my setting is a CASTLE! Great quiz! 🙂
So I lovee to read books set in castles (obviously!), and in schools! (but not like normal boring schools, magical or dark schools are super fun!) Anything dark and creepy! 🙂
And as you I’m also kind of bored of the classical dystopias! 🙁
Magical and dark schools ARE really fun though!! But like the ultimate life goal is to live in a castle for sure. :’)
I got Roadtrip. I agree because I wish I could do that in real life minus the illegal thing that almost kills me.
That would be MUCH NICER to avoid that near-death-thing that inevitably happens in a roadtrip book.😂
YES I hate those underground bunker people doing nothing settings too. It’s about 90% of the reason why I didn’t love Mockingjay. And I’m not too fond of road trip books either. I’ve been on enough road trips in my life to not get excited by them. Please just get to the destination, I can’t handle any more travelling 😴
I did like Mockingjay but I think that was my life quota for that setting.😂 Otherwise it’s so freaking boring haha.
I got school which is basically correct. Thankfully I’m not in Secondary School anymore so I don’t have to be surrounded by blatant foolishness.
I think books set in school are okay. Roadtrips? Not so much.
I love this list! My favourite setting is Les Cirque de Reves from The Night Circus (also my fave book), it’s so magical!!
Eeep I SO need to read The Night Circus for sure!! I’m in love with that type of setting!
SCHOOL..
This can’t be any more true. I will be at a school. Most of my dreams (and nightmares) are still around my high school, even though it has been years since I passed out.
I would love a castle as well. What is better than ordering around other people, but like politely, cuz I am a NICE person.?
Castles are great though, I think we all deserve a castle just for persisting in existing. *nods*
I love this post!! My favorite settings would have to be dark forests and little time-twisty paranormal towns. Or anywhere in Britain. *dies* As for the quiz, I got prison! XD Doesn’t surprise me, considering I start the majority of my stories with a prison break. 😛
AWW THANKS, NICOLE!! And ahh I’m sorry you ended up in prison there.😂😂
All the ones on your love list, I was just nodding my head, like yeah me too, me too, especially the castles-I have a big thing with castles, if I ever get married it will be in the grounds of a castle, for sure! I don’t mind schools……if they’re magical, I agree that regular ones are super boring and that settings for dystopians can be a bit rubbish. My book would apparently take place on a road trip, which I am cool with, because I’ve done some with my friends that have been super fun and I love travelling so I’d actually really enjoy a road trip I think!
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Actually magical schools ARE awesome…so I agree with you there.😂 And omg I know right?! But like don’t just get married at a castle, also stay there to live. :’) What could be a better life. :’)
Ooh, I love this post!! I am 100% in love with the weird magical small town setting, and also the mysterious forest setting, and ALSO THE MAGICAL SCHOOL SETTING. The only school setting I am not bored by. (Which is ironic because I got “school” for the quiz ahaha.)
And omg I absolutely hate when characters are traveling ALL THE TIME in books! (I mean, Gentleman’s was amazing.) It makes everything very boring and repetitive, and I can only take so much “and then we walked and stopped for lunch and then we got on our horses and rode again until dinner and slept in a hotel bed of fleas”‘.
Great post!!
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Actually I love magical schools SO I WILL ADMIT THAT. I mean who hasn’t wanted to go to Hogwarts at least at some point.😂 And Gentleman’s Guide is like the ONLY book that has done travel perfectly. Probably because they sass each other to death the whole time, bless them. :’)
You know…. if this author thing doesn’t work out…. You would be a great quiz maker
Just saying.
EXCELLENT SECONDARY JOB IDEA.
Any fantasy setting is the best setting!! I love massive worlds to explore with a whole heap of different climates and towns and creatures. Also love historical (pre 1900s) locations.
As for the quiz, I got Strange Little Town!
Oooh, big worlds are fun to explore, especially when they travel a lot!! AGREED.
Harry Potter has 3/5 of those wonderful settings. It’s amazing, and I love them. I love those amazing settings too. It’s very, very hard to do classrooms and proteins right. I mean, classrooms consume my life, and though I (sort of) enjoy school (mind the stress), blue I don’t want to read about it. Mainly because a) it’s boring and b) it’s cliche and c) I read to escape the stress of school. However, unless it’s a really cool school, looks a magic School or a semi-dangerous school. (But honestly, I’m getting pretty tired of dangerous competitions).
Prisons are also pretty boring and mostly consisting of the protagonist complaining about their conditions. I just finished a book that was set in a prison for the most part (Before She Ignites), it was a decent book, but it took forever to get into, and even when it got better, it was still pretty boring. It’s Mackie attribute were the characters and their relationships, and CUTE, CUDDLY DRAGONS!!!! Yes, that was the best part of the book. I think and I hope there will be more deadline and magic in the next book.
I’m a bit tired of competitions too honestly.😂Just because they’re a bit overdone? But I do like magical schools, I will admit!
omg I’m so scared to hear that about Before She Ignites!! I’m about to read it AND I’M NERVOUS because I want to love the dragons but being set in prison sounds really boring to me. *cries*
I’m a school! I was hoping for library, because, like, LIBRARIES. But I am such a Harry Potter nerd that it’s okay. What did you get?
I can’t really take the quiz since I know how to rig it because I made it.😂😂
The quiz tells me I would be in a circus or a carnival, which is frankly terrifying. I think I would prefer a nice dusty library or curiosity shop, thank you very much. But the quiz was super entertaining (as they always are) all the same.
I relate to thinking that school settings are boring! Why are so many books about kids in school? Honestly. I don’t need this is my life. Though I can think of a several books that have school settings that I love. I am not quite sure how that happened? I cannot make up my own mind apparently.
Fantastic post. Also, I really appreciate the Flynn Ryder quote and The Iron Giant GIF.
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I’m super glad you enjoyed the quiz! And good luck as your life in a terrified circus.😂 DON’T DIE NOW.
And agreed about the school! Although, I mean, I like Hogwarts and Camp Half Blood (is that a school?!) so sometimes it can work.
(Yessss you know the Iron Giant!! YOU ARE GREAT.)
Woohoooo I got a CASTLE <3
Now that sounds pretty awesome to me haha. Pretty funny, one of my fav settings is actually schools, BUT magic schools, I'm a sucker for magic boarding schools! Yes I'm rereading Harry Potter for the 166277398739861751th time and this basically the only setting I can think of haha.
CASTLE IS AMAZING. I AM GLAD YOU HAVE MADE GOOD LIFE DECISIONS WITH YOUR CASTLE.😂 And actually I agree that magical schools are the best kind fo schools!
Ooooh I got Festivals and Carnivals, and I am here for it. I honestly don’t even know if I have read a book set in those? But I would. I will! And I definitely want to go to one. I agree with your list for the most part, except road trips. Road trips are the BEST. In reality AND in books. Also, I won’t lie, I am in love with dystopian settings, but I do agree that the whole district/faction/other separation thingy is overdone at this point. Funny enough, the stuff I have ideas to write about happen to be in some of your hated spaces, but that’s okay, challenge accepted 😀
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I will give you ALL the roadtrips then.😂And I’ll keep the creepy carnivals hahah. I think maybe if I hadn’t over-eaten dystopian I wouldn’t be so pithy about it now.😂 I mean, THG we can all agree is above reproach. <3 But these days if it's dystopian, I just want a little bit of a different twist on things? Please, world?😂
(MAKE ME LIKE THEM!!!😂)
I mean I got school. Which is where I am at currently. But the bio describes me perfectly. I am a big book-worm and I am into theater and I do really hate( love or have a crush) on my boy enemy. My favorite setting is in a car traveling to find or solve something. Also magical houses or schools. Thanks Cait!
-Emmy
Ooops, sorry for sending you to school, Emmy.😂😂😂
FOREST SETTINGS FOREVER AND EVER, PLZ
I really really REALLY love ancient bookshops (great, because it’s what the quiz said), so that’s probably the kind of place my story would be set in to if I was the protagonist of my own book. Also, I love, I meant I ADORE sci fi utopian cities where things apparently go all in the best terms possible but there’s the terrifying thruth inside of it (e.g. Brave New World), or dystopian cyberpunk societies with lights everywhere and retro-futuristic ambience and settings. It’s probably because I live in some kind of a dystopian country, and believe me, Cait, it’s not cool. But I love reading and writing about that.
Omg I believe you that it’s not cool. However dystopian cyberpunk DOES sound cool so I trust you there!! And BOOKSHOPS. *all the heart eyes*
I got a road trip, but it seems that my WIP has more trips in helicopters then on the road. So, would that be an air traffic trip?🤔
Air traffic trip has a lovely ring to it. 😂
I got school and if that means I can go to Hogwarts then I’m 1000% satisfied. (As long as I don’t have Snape as a teacher. Obviously.)
BUT WHY ARE YOUR QUIZZES ALWAYS SO ACCURATE?!? IT’S UNNERVING OMG. How did you know that I like drama and English class? *looks around suspiciously*
I haven’t had to do a group project with my (super hot) worst enemy yet though. Just sayin’.Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous post! <3
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LOL, such fun, this post! I got Carnivals and Festivals, which was unexpected, since I almost never read books set there. But you used a Greatest Showman gif, so I am pleased. 😉
Alexa
thessalexa.blogspot.com
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I’m so glad you liked it!!😂 And omg I still need to see the Greatest Showman.😂
Everyone needs to see it! It is so good!!!
Alexa
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