Books I can't wait for in 2017

***Once more, apologies for being late, I again, did write this the week I was supposed to, but life is so hectic right now that I have no time***

Week 12 of 13

Is it too early to be thinking about this?

Oh well, don't care if it is.

1) Skulduggery Pleasant #10 by Derek Landy

This was me, the fortuitous day I decided, on a sheer stroke of luck, to check out Derek Landy's blog, and stumbled upon this mind-blowing announcement:

I actually shed a wee tear of joy when I saw the video he made. At the beginning, when he was going on about people coming up to him all the time and asking for a new Skulduggery book, or at least something set in the same universe, where we might stumble across some of our old favourite characters, I thought he was going to just make it clear once and for all that it wasn't going to happen, and I cried like

but then I got to the end and was all:

Man, I am so bloody excited for this book! The release date is so far away, we don't know enough about it, but that doesn't lessen my excitement at all. I was actually kind of hoping for some sort of prequel, perhaps set in the war time, with some top notch banter of the Then-Non-Figuratively-Dead-Men. But it doesn't matter, because we would still get to see Skulduggery again, perhaps find out what happened with Valkyrie and Alice, the rest of the Dead Men- well, the ones who are alive at any rate. 

You actually have no idea how much I cannot wait for this book. It's been too long, and I can reread the old books all I like, but it's not the same as a new story, fresh off the press. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that Landy said that it's a new series following on from Skulduggery Pleasant, so that means there will be MORE THAN ONE BOOK!!! And I'll be honest here, I didn't like Demon Road. I mean, I was so excited, back when it was about to be released, I was looking forward to some signature Landy snark and some gr8 bantz among the characters, and battle of wits and clashing of minds and... I don't know, I just wasn't into it. To be honest, I didn't finish it, I got bored half way through, but we just didn't gel. I don't know if perhaps, despite being fantasy, which is totally my thing, it wasn't my type of book, or it was just a lack of book chemistry, but I was actually so disappointed. 

Even though I know it is very unlikely, there are so many questions that I have about the characters! Like, what the actual fuck is Saracen Rue's power?! He can't just mysteriously leave it "I know things"! And I'm quite curious about Skulduggery's name. Because it's obviously his taken name, but what do you reckon his birth name was? I mean, imagining him as Jim or a Harry, or even something a wee bit more exotic like Horatio Q. Pantaloons (special points if you got that) just feels wrong. He's just always been Skulduggery Pleasant. Also, can we get a bit more of China and Skulduggery's history? Because we know that she fancies him, but come on! We need some backstory! How does a person as enigmatic and seemingly-uncaring as China Sorrows, end up falling for Skulduggery? And I want to find out more about Skulduggery's family as well. Not his birth family (but I must admit, I am intrigued by the idea of the older Pleasant boys), but his wife and son as well.

Y U DO THIS 2 US, LANDY!!!???

OUT SUMMER 2017

2) Lord of Shadows (Dark Artifices #2) by Cassandra Clare

Now, I must declare a few things. When I first started reading Lady Midnight, my reaction was mixed. I am one of the rare few people who actually really enjoys Cassandra Clare's work, I know it has issues and whatever, but she is a gifted writer. I mean, I liked the characters, and I wanted to hug Mark and Kieran to death, and it was quite enjoyable, but it was also I felt, fairly slow and unevenly paced. It really picked up towards the end though, and with that ending, it really turned around my opinion of it. And although I shipped Mark and Kieran, I also know that I will end up loving Emma and Mark as well.

And because of the way Lady Midnight finished, I can't not read Lord of Shadows. Damn you Clare, must you create such compelling endings!? There are lots of things that we know will be happening- Kieran will turn up again, (how will that play with the whole Mark-Emma dynamic, I wonder) the squad will meet the Fae King (what's his relation to the Seelie Queen?) Jace will propose to Clary, and because she has a significant amount of brain cells missing, she will reject him (Girl, you need to lock that down ASAP), they'll have a jaunt across the Atlantic to London (RULE BRITTANIA!), and overall, it will be amazing.

But what about the stuff we will be less certain about? What will be happening with the mess that is the Kieran-Mark-Emma-Julian love box? Because I know that Emma will catch a sever case of the feelings for Mark, which will make a simple break up too complicated. How will Annabel Lee play into this? Who is the eponymous Lord of Shadows? Why the fuck did Clary reject Jace? I NEED THESE ANSWERS.

The thing is though, there are lots of things I don't like about Clare's stories. Her characters are fairly unoriginal, for one- come on, Clary and Emma are indistinguishable. All of the romances are way too dramatic, like, Fuck's sake mate, you're only sixteen, don't go making any grand declarations of love so soon. Julian irritates me- I'm sorry, but the guy has no personality. Zilch. Nada. BUT... at the same time, Clare writes so compellingly, has some characters you can't help but loving (I owe her big time for creating my fictional husband Will Herondale), and of course, drops some massive cliffhangers and plot twists so near the end that you have no option but to read the next book.

OUT 23RD MAY 2017

3) Throne of Glass #6 by Sarah J. Maas

(There is no place holder image, I'm afraid. Er, *panics* here, have this gif of Captain Hook instead!)

Isn't he beautiful?



I reviewed Empire of Storms here if you want to read it, and that will tell you that I ended up really enjoying it, and was not expecting to at all. When I read Queen of Shadows, I resigned myself to the possibility that even though I was going to finish the series, it had peaked at Book 5.

But no! 'Tis not the case! Up is down, black is white, Paul went to Channel 4 with the dough (Well actually, I wasn't that surprised, but see what I did there? Didja didja didja!?), and the series you thought was going to be shit... wasn't. 

And I have made peace with the fact that Chaol and Celaena will not end up together through the sheer force of the intensity with which I want them to, more's the pity. As long as she's not a bitch to him like she normally is, and my poor baby Chaol gets his legs back and finds love with someone, even if it isn't me, I can deal with it.

So, what do I want for this next installment? I am actually, once more, excited for a Maas book, and it's a fun feeling, I missed it.

• Well, I would like the rest of the cadre to get their shit together and leave Maeve, the psychotic bitch.
•  I would like the aforementioned psychotic bitch to die a slow and painful death, preferably by they hands of a character I can actually stand, although I will put money on a massive pissing contest about who claims the right to Maeve's head, that Rowan will inevitably win. 
• I would like Rowan to actually develop into a character that I can actually stand. 
• I need the same as above for Aelin
• I need Elide and Lorcan to get together and go live in Perranth or wherever and make babies together.  
• I need the same as above for Rowan and Manon.

OUT SEPTEMBER 2017

4) A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V. E. Schwab

I won't disrespect the book and say that not enough people have heard of it, because I know it is quite popular. I will say that it needs to become more mainstream and people do need to appreciate how fantastic this is, instead of all the shit that is becoming popular nowadays.

Granted, I didn't love the first book like "OMGILOVETHISBOOKSOFUCKINGMUCHIWANTTOEATITANDEATALLTHEDELCIOUSWORDSANDCHARACTERSWITHITTOOOMNOMNOM" because the characters weren't fully developed at that point, and I was a little disappointed that they were all tropes, like the strong and badass female with a mysterious and dangerous past (Fret not, I understand and am proud of the need for strong females in YA literature, but come on, jazz it up a bit! Don't want the same old again and again), the token queer character, the person with the superpower who's the last of his kind. 

But then the second book developed both the characters and the setting even more, and I didn't mind as much. Lila got on my nerves a wee bit, I must admit, especially with the immortality complex, but I ended up liking her a heck of a lot more, even if I still think she's a rip off of Elizabeth.

Please, she totally is.

And Prince Rhy became more than the token queer character, although I still feel he could have played a more important role in the story. Just the second book in general was amazing, with the same amazing world-builing and pace and description of the first book.

Here's the thing I must mention. The Shades of Magic book have a fantastically original setting. It's nt your standard quasi-Medieval setting, or your generic dystopian future. Here, we have four Londons, that all exist parallel to each other, with their own ruler and their own customs and own poltitics. And we have Kell, our protagonist, who's one of the last Antari, the only people who are able to travel betweent these four Londons. True, it does get a wee bit complicated to wrap your head around, but come on, yu haven't seen that before, have you?!

OUT 21ST FEBRUARY 2017

5) A Court of Thorns and Roses #3 by Sarah J. Maas

We've already had one Sarah J. Maas series that ended up being not quite so crap, and the same is true for her other series. Let me give you a quick rundown of my opinion of the first two books in the A Court of X and Y series: I though A Court Of Thorns And Roses was OK, it wasn't anywhere near as badass and amazing as it pitched itself to be- as a supposed retelling of Beauty and the Beast, it focused way more on the romance aspect than the fantasy. A Court of Mist and Fury, hmm... I thought it good, a lot better than ACOTAR, I just couldn't stand Feyre, the annoying mardy-arse who I actually hate more than Aelin. The whole book, I thought it was good, not amazing, but then BAM! Here comes the last quarter of the book, where shit goes down, and once more, I ended up being excited for the next book in a Maas series.

That ending though!



THAT FINAL SENTENCE THOUGH! My friends will tell you that I have a very short term memory, I literally remember nothing, but the entire ending of ACOMAF was just so phenomenal and I was getting so into it, that despite reading it a year ago, I actually remember the final line.

Feyre started to vaguely develop into someone I actually cared about near the end of ACOMAF, so I hope Maas keeps up the good progress. I know Book 3 will end up being full of badassness, how can it not, with the way ACOMAF ended, so I hope it turns out well. And overall, I am way more excited for this book than I expected to be!

OUT MAY 2017

That was it for this time guys! Like, comment and subscribe!








(...Yes, I have no shame, I am resorting to drastic measure now. Oh well, I'll be done with this in a week, I have no pride to protect)