Do you have an ultimate favourite genre?
I want to say yes but I do go back and forth between contemporary and fantasy 😩 Cannot pick for sure and it pains me. But today I really want to talk about the best of both — aka contemporary fantasy. Or urban fantasy. Magical realism. Paranormal?! ALL those. I never know the exact difference so I’m lumping them all together as just contemporary fantasy today while I do the…
This tag is created by Violet And The Never Ending TBR over on booktube, so I hope it’s alright that I’m blogifying it. I only have two braincells left and one is twirling slowly as it thinks about naps and the other is just went through the dryer on a high speed and is covered in lint. Thus I have summarised my life right now. 😌👌🏻 Am fine.
1. One of your favourite stand alone books
I’ll say The Darkest Part of the Forest because I just reread it and realised how deeply, deeply I ADORE it. It also has really influenced my writing and I didn’t even realise?! I hadn’t read it in nearly 5 years. Faeries, dark magic, complex growing up feels, queerness, messy kids and aching hearts and rotten ruinous forests!!!! It’s just everything I need.
2. One of your favourite series
Obviously I slam The Raven Cycle down on the table for this — it is my life. I feel like I haven’t talked about it as much lately, but this series means genuinely everything to me. It’s not just the magic (both lovely and darkly insidious) but also the characters who just ache and love and wonder and break together, and how they hurt each other but hold each other, and how they are creatures of wild magic without words to explain it. I am obsessed. I can’t 😭
3. What is a trope that you like in this genre
- the odd magic!! the love of the peculiar!!
- soft ghosts 😌I swear there aren’t nearly enough in YA altogether.
- magic doors to other worlds!!
- the contrast of like a dark old magic vs doing modern things (ancient faeries wearing genes and ordering a frappe ok, this will forever be my thing)
4. What is a trope you don’t like in this genre
- the tendency to have absolutely no plot to speak of 😂I live for flowery prose but omg pull yourself together, kids, and find an actual plot and goals before I draw you up a 5-year plan myself. 🤨
- genuinely despise alpha-male romances
- characters coming into powers and just *snaps fingers* they’re instantly great warriors and ready for battle. I hate training scenes but would prefer them to everyone being insta-perfect at fighting.
5. A disappointing book in the genre
I do try to keep my disappointments to myself more these days? Just in respect for being an author myself and knowing how much it sucks to stumble on someone dissing your book. But uuugh there have been a complete this year. At the end of the day, I am still a bookworm of fierce and flaily emotions and I hate being disappointed!!
6. A book that’s on your TBR that you want to get to soon
Definitely these!!
7. An intimidating book or series
Going to say…The Night Circus. It’s intimidating for two reasons: (1) I absolutely freaking ADORED The Starless Sea this year. It’s rivalling for best of 2020 already…I can’t say how deeply I loved the world and just related to Zachary Ezra Rawlins. I will cry on your coat right now. It was just exquisite. So the Night Circus has THAT to live up to. And (2) I’ve heard it’s a bit confusing? And I am sitting here realising I don’t know what it’s actually about apart from circuses and, hopefully, nighttime. Plus it’s not a small book and I’m intimidated by anything over 300pgs, let’s be real.
8. What is another book genre you want to read more of
All of them?! Maybe sci-fi, because I tend to be hit-or-miss with it and therefore avoid it. But then I’m missing so many potential faves?! I really love Illuminae, Gideon The Ninth, and The Knife of Never Letting Go!
9. What book genre intimidates you the most
Adult epic fantasy. I freaking LOVE IT, but it’s intense and my brain is often way too tired to tackle it. I also have particular tastes for it — younger characters, angsty siblings maybe, complex magic systems, super dark… Basically The Ruin of Kings is perfect and I would like another [checks notes] twelve of them. And I also wince at how long it takes me to read a 600pg book so that definitely weighs in to why I don’t read this genre much.
And because I wholly can’t help myself!! I’m leaving you with a few other magical realism/contemporaries that I adore and would love to softly pile into your arms. They all link to reviews. 😍🥰
And I also admit I have a lot of anti-favourites in magical realism. I feel like it’s either the BEST for me, or I absolutely hate it. 😂Eh who needs to have middle ground when you can be hyper all or nothing.
tell me your favourite genre? (if it’s “fantasy” be specific what type though!!) and do you have any modern fantasy ones you love or could recommend me? (and feel free to do the tag if you want to as well!)
I am intimidated by The Starless Sea for the same reason you’re intimidated by The Night Circus. I read Night Circus so long ago and loved it and now I’m scared to even start Starless Sea!
Oh my goodness, don’t be! I’m half way through and it is the most beautiful read
it’s hard right?! we don’t want to be let down!
The little pics made me crave dessert.😆
😂😂 dessert fan here!
Ahh I love this tag Cait! I’m so glad I finally finished The Raven King this year! So many books for me to pick up heh (I’m speeding through them on audio though!). Glad to hear you loved Starless Sea, I don’t think I was in the mood for it at the time.
Starless Sea is probably not one I’d blanket recommend, right? It’s just…peculiar and slow 😂 but hit me at the perfect time!
My favourite probably would have to be historical fantasy! I just love anything magical with a historical feel.
I’m rereading the Raven Cycle on audio and I’d forgotten how much I loved it! I first heard about it on here so thank you so much, your constant recommending works! Hehe.
this makes me so happy 🥰 I love being able to flail about books with other fans of the series!!
Ha yes!
My favourite genre is endlessly changeable. I’ve been reading a lot of shonen manga since I was about 12. I’ve always loved fantasy stories. I discovered horror on lunchtimes spent alone in the school library. Contemporary is nice for a change of pace. Mysteries can swallow me. I got into superhero comics in my last year of uni. Just recently, I’m obsessed with sports stories, and this year I’ve also started to read some non-fiction about history, crime, and feminism. My year in books on Goodreads is always a mish-mash of everything and I have NO REGRETS.
This is good!! I feel like varying what we read helps stop slumps too?
Fantasy (of all kinds) was definitely my favorite genre as a kid, but for some reason it tends to intimidate me more now? I don’t know if it’s because I’m older or what but contemporary is where my tastes gravitate lately, but I do still love the escapism of magic. So I don’ t know, I’m torn! Maybe urban fantasy is a good compromise. I love magic in the everyday world.
I feel like if we’re tired…sometimes contemporary is easier? I know I used to dive into epic fantasy without a flinch when I was younger too 😂 I think I had more head space.
I definitely read very widely and across all sorts of genres (I think it keeps me from getting bored), but I always find myself drawn to psychological thrillers/mysteries/suspense. I just love being sucked in to a story, trying to figure out what has happened or is about to happen!
I do like to shake it up too! There’s goodness in aLL the genres.
I think that high Fantasy is one of my favorite genres and I am super excited to finish The Starless Sea!
And i just add so many of this to my tbr!😍❤
The Starless Sea is just SO GORGEOUS and just fit my whole heart 😭💛
So many good book recs! My TBR is softly crying lol. FYI – magical realism began as movement in Latin American literature, and there’s been some debate over whether non-Latinx writers should use the term for this genre or if it’s cultural appropriation. It’s really interesting to read about, and I’ve started shifting away from using that specific term for books like this by non-Latinx writers. This article has a good introduction and lots of helpful links, if you’re interested!
https://www.vox.com/2014/4/20/5628812/11-questions-youre-too-embarrassed-to-ask-about-magical-realism
That’s why I said magical realism/contemporary fantasy, since half the books I mentioned here are by POC and BIPOC authors (ie: all the Anne Marie McLemore is Latinx and also A Song Below Water is by a Black author).
My bad! I read it as you using them interchangeably, since that happens so often. I only recently learned about this, and thought I’d share. But you’re much more knowledgeable about bookish/publishing things, and always strive to be sensitive, so I should have trusted that you know what you’re talking about! 🙂 Much love!
I confess that while I love fantasy, contemporary fantasy is my least favorite of all the fantasies. Sorry. Don’t throw things at me. Unless it’s, like, delicious baked goods, because now I’M HUNGRY, for some strange reason that I can’t quite put my finger on. Ahem.
Like you mentioned, the lack of a plot thing and the lean towards characters that are automatically perfect at their gifts just irks me. I have a super short attention span (surprise, right?) so if there’s not some sort of plot pulling me along, I tend to wander off.
Mmm, yeah, I’m with you on the epic fantasy thing, though. If you can brain me with a book, I’m not sure I want it laying around on my nightstand for the thousand years it takes me to read it. It’s just awfully tempting for the people I live with, you know?
I tend to like dark fantasy. The stabbier, the better. With aaaall the gray characters and shady villains, please. One contemporary fantasy that you should totally read that I think you’d like is The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune. My new favorite author. It comes out next month, and it’s basically the real world plus superheroes plus a cinnamon role protagonist with ADHD, plus a super cute, slow-burn M/M romance.
I’ve read The Extraordinaries! I would call it scifi.
It’s really hard for me to pick my favorite genre since it’s between YA contemporary and adult romance! But I guess I could just say overall romance, and that would cover a lot of the YA contemporaries that I read as well! So that’s my answer, if I really need to choose just one genre!
In the fantasy genre by favorite would have to be magical realism! I also really like soft magic, where it isn’t about kingdoms and saving the world, but something more unique. For example, I love The Star-Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi and Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson. I’ve also found that I love lyrical writing like in the three books I just mentioned. In fact, The Starless Sea is on my TBR for that very reason! I heard that the writing was gorgeous, and the plot wasn’t kingdom based (at least I don’t think it is) and I was sold!
that’s a fair answer!! and actually cool it stretches from YA to adult with what you love 😍🥰 choosing one favourite genre is just as mean as choosing a favourite book anyway ahahha
I do hope you love The Starless Sea! And it’s actually modern!
Ah very cool tag, though it seems intimidating to answer! Probably my favorite genres are fantasy (urban? I don’t even know), mystery and sci-fi? I hate answering these kinds of questions because I have so much trouble committing. Lol. I enjoy some sci-fi but admittedly I avoid straight “space” based sci-fi because I don’t love all things “space”.
I too thoroughly enjoyed the Raven Cycle and its characters, however I was kind of let down by Call Down the Hawk. Of course I’ll continue with the series but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Raven Cycle and that really bummed me out.
I thought I liked all things fantasy. I thought I could say “Go Fantasy!” across the board without a hitch but I’ve been kind of frustrated with Epic Fantasy. I’m sorry to say this because you love it, but The Name of All Things really frustrated me and I couldn’t wait for the audio book to be over, freeing me to move on to something different. Don’t jump on me now, but as a result I think I’m done with the series. There was just SO MUCH TALK. Talking AT me, lecturing, and info dumps. Much of the information didn’t come across naturally. I enjoyed The Ruin of Kings and even liked Janel (sorry for my spelling right now) in the beginning. Slowly but surely I felt like she didn’t evolve into a different character, as in her character arc, she just WAS. I also didn’t appreciate that she was supposedly 16 years old but the only reason I knew that was because they called her foal or referenced her age otherwise her character, behavior and actions didn’t ring true to me as a 16 year old. I also really didn’t like the narrator this time around, was she the same as Talon last time? Or did she just sound like her? Sorry to break your heart but I’m not afraid to share an unpopular opinion.
You’ve got me looking into a bunch, like The Otherlife, Wild Beauty, Salt and We Were Restless Things. In terms of sci-fi and fantasy you might want to check out Nnedi Okorafor. I’ve read Lagoon (first encounter, very cool), Akata Witch #1 and am reading Akata Warrior, #2, a series I definitely recommend and will to my 12 yr old niece too. Binti is great and i need to re-read The Book of Phoenix. In terms of fantasy you might also like Mishell Baker’s Arcadia Project series. Just to name a few.
Thanks for sharing!
well…everyone’s entitled to their own opinions, but it does seem pretty selfish to see someone talking about how much they love something and then tell them every reason you hate it.
The Night Circus is my favourite books ever!! I would recommend it so much 🙂 personally I enjoyed more than the Starless Sea and I thought the storyline was easy to follow once I got into it (I actually found the Starless Sea a little more confusing). Would 100% recommend.
the Starless Sea at the end was just like…I don’t even know 😂 what on earth. But somehow I LOVED that about it?! I definitely want to try the Night Circus this year!
I’m re-reading The Darkest Part of the Forest for the third time right now – and every time I re-read it, I realize just a little more how beautifully crafted it is. There are moments when I sniff a hint of an editor wanting to drag out a subplot too much…but Holly Black absolutely made it keep coming back to the relevant points and not letting it become a massive 500-page doorstop. It’s perfect to me for length, plot, characters, psychology, tough topics without being preachy (the way no one literally gives a damn about Ben being gay was GROUNDBREAKING for a YA novel published in 2015), and although there are so few standalones in fantasy, I almost crave a sequel!
I’ve never attempted The Night Circus, either! Its length alone makes me squirm, lol! I thought about trying the audiobook, but then I worried how many hours I’d need to devote to listening! bleh! Probably long books are just destined to never take up residence in my life!
Favorite genre how can I even!? Okay just kidding I totally can, you know I am an absolute sucker for dystopian/post-apoc because even though that ship sailed about a decade ago, I have never been able to quit it. Sci-fi would probably be a close runner-up. I also find myself enjoying an angsty contemporary these days.
Funny, contemporary fantasy is SO very hit or miss for me! I find that I have LOVED some of these you list (The Darkest Part of the Forest, Wilder Girls, Salt, Release, to name a few) and then have loathed others- though actually none of the ones on your list but that is clearly because you have good taste hahah.
Great tag! I think my favorite will always be high fantasy, because creating an entire new world is just the coolest to me 😀 I’m very much into unique settings and genre-blending (like Gideon the Ninth. Necromancers in space! Sure! Let’s do it! Or for another example, Archivist Wasp, which is post-apocalyptic high fantasy + sci-fi).
But I also love me some contemporary fantasy (Wilder Girls and The Raven Cycle are among my favorites too). Recently, I really liked the book Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You, about a band releasing an album (a new track every day) that has strange supernatural effects on its listeners, and which may or may not destroy the world when it’s complete.
Don’t mind me over here sobbing because The Scorpio Races is on your list, and it’s perfect. Sean and Puck are perfect. Finn is perfect. Dove and Corr are perfect. George Holly is perfect. November cakes are perfect. Hell, even Dory Maud and Peg Gratton are kind of perfect. Mutt Malvern got his perfect ending too.
THE CAKE GRAPHICS!! You need to stop making me hungry Cait pls!!
Your TRC description may also have brought tears to my eyes because I,,, that reread did things to me
Also oh my gosh thank GOODNESS I’ve found someone else who dislikes alpha male romances,,, I?? don’t?? get?? it?? Like ew no thanks I would not want to be treated like that.
I agree! It’s hard to choose between contemporary and fantasy for me, too. I feel like I’d have to with contemporary, though, because it just seems easier for me to read and I find that fantasy is more likely to let me down sometimes.
I love the books you have up there!!
The covers are so nice too!! It really makes me want to read them all! Haha