Fantasy Recs Friday! ep 3
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I did not realize that I would be posting this on Jan 1 (GMT) until I actually scheduled it so, here's to happy coincidences 💕
It has simply been way too long since I have posted one of these episodes... or regularly posted in general.
What is Fantasy Recs Friday?
- a recurring recommendation segment on my blog wherein I recommend 2 fantasy books that I have read and 2 fantasy-ish books that I have had my eye on (a priority TBR, if you will). As a fantasy junkie that is always looking for new SFF books to read, I know the feeling. I got you.
These episodes have also turned into a sort-of diary that is significantly less professional than most of the other things I post about on my little corner of the internet. I kind of like it. A break from everything else.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret (not as much of a secret as it is a personal opinion) and I think any kind of media creator can attest to: the hardest part in creating media content is formatting everything. Basically, the logistics to everything, including but not limited to: links, graphics, tags, scheduling, categorizing, platform designing, and all that goes into making sure that your content is actually consumable for your viewers. Curating the list of books per post is actually my favorite part but adding all the links? please tell me if you want to be my co-owner of this site. Kidding. Unless? 👀 In all seriousness, I'm actually considering it but I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in the first place.
Anyhow, even with my slight blook slump, I managed to read some great books that I have yet to properly share with you guys. Because sometimes, you just want to read, you know? To all my fellow creators out there: don't be afraid to take a break and just read when you want to 🍃 I know we always have deadlines to make but don't rush it.
Finally, I do have posts planned since I got quite a few ARCs and Blog Tours, as well as my own personal content this coming 2021 so look forward to those! A sneak peek of some ARCs that you'll be seeing in the coming months: One of the Good Ones, We Could Be Heroes, Gearbreakers, Mala & the Mask of the Gold, Meraki, and more! As always, I'm going to be in Inkyard Press' Seasonal Blog Tours so thank you so much to the lovely publicist that I always have the best time working with. I am so excited to share more diverse and great books with all of you!!
With that, I apologize if I am not coherent enough for you to grasp what these books are about but you know what... those are what those links are for :)
2 BOOKS THAT I HAVE READ AND LOVED
[ ☀️ Adult ]
┈ The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang ┈
Tags: Historically Asian inspired fantasy setting (Opium Wars)
Publishing Date: May 1st, 2018
I can't believe it took me 2 years to finally read this series ⚔️
I recently found Book Trigger Warnings where you can find databases filled with... well trigger warnings for different books. Just awareness of a book's trigger warnings can be helpful to a lot of people so I'm trying to engrave it in my reviewing system to add links to their pages in my Goodreads reviews whenever I can. Some people prefer not to know the specifics (such as myself) so instead of just writing them out plainly I have decided to attach links instead.
[ ☀️ Adult ]
┈ The Deep by Rivers Solomon ┈
Tags: LGBTQ+ characters, Mythology
Publishing Date: November 5th, 2019
the fact that this book is so short makes me want to not explain what it's about 🌊 I even ended up deleting my Goodreads review because I just could not find the proper words that would give it justice.
the basic plot is about mermaids but it does have very strong themes engraved into it such as climate change, racism, etc. It's really packed and I have nothing else to say other than it was great! 🐋
PSA (and a reminder to myself): you don't need to review every single book you read. But as a reviewer, I try not to dwell on that concept too much since reviewing is basically what I do. I just wanted to share this book with you guys.
2 BOOKS THAT I HAVE HAD MY EYE ON
[ ⛅️ Young Adult ]
┈ These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong ┈
Tags: Historical Fiction, Romeo and Juliet Retelling
Publishing Date: November 17th, 2020
This has book is my #1 most anticipated release of 2020 and I am counting down the days when I can finally read my copy. Not that I'm complaining but for some reason TVD became a Group Read for both The Procrastinator's Book Club (which is a book club on Goodreads that I moderate) and The Subtle Asian Book Club in January... so I thought it would be perfect since I do not think I was going to get to this before December ended anyway. 🌹
Shakespeare + enemies to lovers + historical fantasy, just give it all to me!
I have already read the first chapter of this and let me tell you: *it's already everything I wanted and more*
[ ⛅️ Young Adult ]
┈ Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta ┈
Tags: Science Fiction, Asian characters
Publishing Date: June 29th, 2021
I already spoiled you guys in my intro but guess who's going to be getting an ARC of this? 🌖
This is more Sci-Fi but I don't care, I am willing to add that genre into Fantasy for sake of these episodes and this book. I literally opened the e-mail on my birthday and I could barely contain the amount of serotonin I got.
It's basically Pacific Rim with Asian protagonists if I'm not mistaken and that's all I really needed to know... that's all I think you should know. There is still half a year until the official release date but you bet I'm going to you all know my thoughts as soon as I read it.
Hope you all found at least one new book this Friday! Have ave a great weekend and maybe you'll spend it curling up with one of these books?
I have papers to get back to and academic deadlines to meet before my bookish ones so I don't know when you're going to see me next but hopefully soon ⭑
stay safe, wear a mask, enjoy your books ♡
