Book recs!! ✨
Hi! So a bit ago, I met a lovely amazing anon on ao3 (who is a BLESSING compared to the other mean anons commenting out there, thanks Kat, you make mine and im pretty sure other author's days too). So we got into talking about books and I offered to make a list for her and post it on tumblr so other people too can scrounge through so here we are lmao.
I gathered this list from the personal notes I had made to myself to add these books to my bookshelf when i move out and also from another list i made for my little siblings because no way are they gonna not read the good stuff I found. It's like a rite of passage now.
Just a note: I don't read romance. But since books don't have the very convenient tags we get on ao3, I end up getting to romance-y parts. The only romance books I have read are middle school level romance lmao XD Nothing except kisses and stuff lol.
Let's go!
The Maze Runner series
Maze Runner
I love this book. This series. Ngl, one of the first books where I felt that heart-clenching feeling of hurt. Love the characters, the world-building was in the fandom for a brief while and I love the plot too. Better than the movie plot anyway XD
Mare Runner: Scorch Trials
Second book in the series, also very good. Literally an adventure. So many twists and turns. Once more, the characterization is also amazing!
Maze Runner: Death Cure
Third and last book in the series as a main. Heartbreaking. Did shed tears. Page 250 still kills me. O u ch.
The Fever Code
Also in the same series and OUCH. It's the characters before the whole drama happened and they're kids and higehrfwb 😭 No kidding I was squealing and nearly threw the book multiple times out of excitement. It solved a couple plotlines too. I adored it. Plus, it gave me some closure from the many many (inevitable) deaths.
Crank Palace
It's a novella, but clears the mysterious gap that was in the third book. Plus, it gives much much more closure but I'm still crying so do what you will with that information. I love the new "OC"s here too.
Trials of Apollo
The Hidden Oracle
The Dark Prophecy
The Burning Maze
The Tyrant's Tomb
The Tower of Nero
Listen- listen- I know this is kinda obvious and you might be asking "where's the rest of the pjo series?" but that's a given. My personal favorites are the pjo, hoo and toa series, but toa somehow spoke to me more because the main relationship wasn't a romantic one like all the other teen books I read. I also adore Apollo/Lester's character development? Like, at first he was this carefree god, then at the end of the series, he transformed into a person who cared so much and so deeply and was willing to die for others. That is peak character development and if I hadn't read toa, I would still be blundering around and confused with my multi-chap fics as to how characters actually develop. Because you can see that journey so clearly in toa.
Jinx series
Jinx: The Wizard's Apprentice
Jinx's Magic
Jinx's Fire
I love this series so much??? I am a sucker for fantasy novels and this was so so good. I love the storyline and-
AND I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE FOUND FAMILY ASPECT HERE. THIS. IS LITERALLY RELUCTANT MENTOR-FATHER AND HYPER AND KEEN MENTEE-SON. AHHH.
Anyway, this was my first found family novel. I loved the whole storyline too, this was also the series where I was first introduced to the concept of whump (without knowing what whump actually was).
The Mapmaker Chronicles
Race To The End Of The World
Prisoner Of The Black Hawk
Breath Of The Dragon
These were also some of the first whump books I read. And I especially loved this because the plot was it. A smartass scrawny boy who accidentally turned into a hero? Hmmm, I wonder who that reminds me of. (Tim Drake. It reminds of Tim Drake)
But the characters are also special to my heart. There is minimal romance in here. Any romance is to move the plot forward.
Also a mentor-mentee relationship here. Not so much found family to the heart seeing as the main character already has family back home, but the whole crew definitely is a family of their own. I especially adore Ash! Ahhh! She's lovely and amazing. Oh and Zain- *sighs* he is the perfect mentor figure to scrawny li'l Quinn. And the hateable characters are so perfectly hateable!! The author truly is talented at stories.
Although the second book could do with more whump
Nevermoor series
Nevermoor
This book was described in the reviews as "Harry Potter meets Alice in Wonderland" and it stayed true to its description. It had beautiful and amazing characters, and an evil-mentor & reluctant hero-mentee relationship (though not at first) and I am a sucker for that. Also, I just love the character herself. Morrigan is a very good and fleshed out character and I will love her forever.
Wundersmith
We explore more of the evil-mentor & reluctant hero-mentee relationship. But Jupiter, Morrigan's actual caretaker, is the PERFECT uncle/caretaker for her and he's so protective of her and i just-
*sobs* I stan.
Hollowpox
Here we discover some of that delicious power upgrades. I also love all the friends! HAWTHORNE IS MY FAVORITE AND WILL ALWAYS BE I LOVE HIM. Stunning characters here 💫 Also some wise comparison of the different isms and phobias (as in homophobia, racism etc.) here in terms of fantasy.
The Mysterious Benedict Society series
The Mysterious Benedict Society
The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Perilous Journey
The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Prisoner's Dilemma
The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Riddle of Ages
This... was one of the first mystery books I had ever read (my actual first was Sherlock Holmes cuz I found it on my grandparents' bookshelf and read it cuz I had read every other book they owned which wasn't a lot). I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline. It was calm and just- a bunch of kids going on a perilous journey to solve a mystery to save the city. Those kind of vibes. But the vibes were so good. So enjoyable. Every time I hear about this series, I just sigh in contempt.
There are very, very interesting characters here too. The characters are what made the story so good. All of them have unique quirks which they use to crack clues and form conclusions and dive into actions. Such good characters. 10/10, honestly.
The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict
This is part of the Benedict society universe, but it takes place years before the main events. It has adventures of the leader of the group in the main series as a kid. This book has a special mention because the storyline was different to the style of the main series and it had tropes. Just- the friend and the character itself and- dnfhbevbiluw
Okay, I admit, Benedict here does remind me of Tim (my fav character in DC). Like y'know smol Tim with the camera? Those kind of vibes. Very strong vibes. I read this way before I discovered Tim even existed so maybe this book plays a part in my favorites?
Jessica Brody books
The fact that I put the actual author's name here should tell you something.
Addie Bell's Shortcut To Growing Up
This book... brought me to tears. This was the second book that prompted salt water to slip out of my tear ducts. It was a strange feeling. Cuz I was not used to crying for books and movies and shows.
The plot just hit hard. A 12-year-old Addie magically time-travels to when she's 16 and experiences life as a teenager. The plot gives more than you expect. There are boys, yes, but that is a side plot, not a main plot. Which is why I love the book so much. Addie wants to be one of the "girly" girls who talks about boys and stuff and goes to parties like her older sister, but then as she lives the life of a teenager more and more, she realizes just how much she lost. Friendships, family, her personality, her interests, herself.
The part that made me cry was her missing her sister. Cuz, well, I'm an older sister. And my sister who is the oldest after me has the same age difference as Addie and her older sister. It wasn't just her missing her sister in that scene, it was everything crashing down on her that moved me to tears. Amazing book. If anything, I recommend you either read this or 'Better You Than Me' if nothing in this list goes towards your liking.
Better You Than Me
This was the first book that made me cry. It has two characters, one in middle school, the other who is an actress, swap bodies. So the typical middle school kid gets to live as a famous actress, and the famous actress gets to live as a typical middle school kid. Of course, neither of them end up liking their new life very much, but that only teaches them two important messages: appreciation and communication. God, I learnt so much from this book. I was like 13 or something when I read it and it resonated within me enough to make me cry. I adore this. SO much.
I Speak Boy
I actually have a library-borrowed copy with me right now XD It's about a middle school girl, Emmy, being very confused with the opposite gender. (Very much hetero, no homo despite it being published in 2021). But, once again, the reason I love this book isn't cuz of the romance (though it is kinda satisfactory but also a bit cliché). It's how the main character realizes that boys aren't everything. Just like in 'Addie Bell's Shortcut To Growing Up'. It's a lot about friendship.
The reason why I like these books by Jessica Brody (I haven't read the others yet) is because of the Bechdel Test factor in it.
S. K. Ali books
Again you have another author's name. This time, it's Muslim fiction!
Love From A To Z
The first Muslim fiction book I've ever read. And yes, it is a romance book. But it does not have any touchy-touchy stuff (except in the Epilogue and a couple dream scenes, very vague though and only kissing). As in, the main characters follow mainstream Sunni procedures and do not touch each other as they're not married. Which just leaves room for a ton of emotional romance.
I adore this simply because I'm a Muslim Hijabi myself and I am very much biased.
It deals with so many aspects of romance though, like personality first, lust last, and whether they are the right fit or not and whether they actually like each other or the idea of each other and how families play into this and online hate and emotion control and of course, the marvels and oddities of life. It is packed with so much. And when I finished the book, I had a good long cry. This is the first book that made me cry the longest. Because- because I was starved for representation! And this book did it so well! I just- love this so much.
The author has published a sequel, Love from Mecca to Medina, I have yet to read it because I'm waiting for it to be in a library. I prefer physical copy books.
Once Upon An Eid
Okay, this is very Muslim-based, but if you treat it like Muslim Christmas, everything becomes clear XD Also, Ali wrote only one story here. This book is actually a collection of stories by different Muslim authors. And each story is so special. Many people don't really know how Muslims celebrate Eid or why it's so special (besides spiritual reasons) and what it looks like. This paints an accurate picture. And it contains most, if not all, types of Muslims celebrating Eid. Sunni, Shia, refugee, African, American, revert/convert, South Asian etc. So really diverse.
Saints and Misfits
Misfit In Love
Very much love-centred, but also has very vague mentions of sexual assault/rape/non-con. Yes, in a Muslim community. It exists. A lot actually. But it's hidden and hushed down. Disgustingly.
But the first book addresses it and how a Muslim girl battles it. She's in love with a white boy, yes, but she doesn't give in to her white boy desires. Neither does she fall to a non-white boy, at least not fully.
Which is why I recommend that if you're reading the first book, you definitely, definitely read the second one along with it. Because I felt even though the ending of the first book was satisfactory, it wasn't satisfactory to me. But the second book was! Because at the end of the second book, Janna (the main character), comes to the conclusion that boys aren't everything. And even though there is a very perfect boy that fancies her and she fancies him too, she takes a breath and says that she isn't too focused on that. And I adore that. But she only comes to that conclusion after falling in love with many, many, many boys. I did get a bit uncomfy cuz romance just in general makes me uncomfy, its a personal thing, but I kept reading it cuz... Muslim fiction! Anyway, good book series. But I like Love From A To Z better.
Now, those are... a lot of books. And a lot of me talking. And there are still so many more. So I'm just gonna go through some quick filtering and put the titles and authors of the other books here in dot points.
London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd (my first novel, Kat knows about this lol)
Skyfire series by Michael Adams
NERDS series by Michael Buckley (it's an acronym that stands for National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society. It's weird but I laughed a lot so)
Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens
Mallory Towers series by Enid Blyton
Naughtiest Girl In The School series by Enid Blyton
Scarlet and Ivy series by Sophie Cleverly (fuck- I forgot to add this to the main list, but this book is hella hella good and I recommend it very much)
Bounce by Megan Shull (life lessons in here)
Sick Bay by Nova Weetman
The Adventurer's Guild series by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos
Luck Uglies series by Paul Durham ("DADDY ISSUES!" screams Quo. "I love this book because I have daddy issues among other issues and that is all.")
Time Hunters by Chris Blake (it is very much a children's book, not even middle school, but I read it because it has an intriguing storyline and interesting historical facts that had me raising my hand in every history lesson)
There are no classic books here because that will need its own separate post.
And that's it! Thank you very much!
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the rwd season 4 qna inspired me to start thinking about college au headcanons except a lot of these are gonna be really specific to my school and y'all are just gonna have to deal with that <3
Kyana feeds some of the school cats. she would feed all of them if she could
Dani smuggled Plug (the scrawniest black cat you've ever seen) into her dorm room illegally and somehow management hasn't caught her yet (based on a true story) (Kyana visits to see Plug all the time)
Finbar keeps an updated tier list of every canteen in the school with breakdowns of the best stalls/dishes for each
A senior from the school of engineering once said to me 'all the engineering people dress like rats cuz our classrooms don't have aircon' (context: tropics) anyway that's Dani
Kyana would probably be involved in a lot of freshman orientation events from second year onwards. she just likes talking to the new kids and giving them advice like she would be the kind of orientation group leader who'd get messages from her freshies asking about all kinds of random nonsense because she's made sure they know they can always contact her with questions
VR-LA is The Guy you go to for textbook pirating resources
(this is more of a 'wouldn't that be funny' but VR-LA is just Veerle's discord handle)
Docent is the name of VR-LA's old laptop that broke down so he gave it to Cassimere (computer engineering major he met once at a networking event) to fix except Cassimere got everything off the hard drive and then somehow managed to fuck it up Even More so he had to get a new laptop (and named it Emi)
Roy has gotten food poisoning from his dorm meal plan at least once (based on at least one true story)
The heap trio + Mandy would be those friends constantly playing majong in the dorm lounge and if all the majong tables are taken they just play in one of their dorm rooms on a towel to dampen the tile shuffling noises (it was Mandy's idea)
Every morning Dani goes to the drinks stall at her faculty and orders one iced coffee to the point where the stall owner starts preparing an iced coffee whenever they see her approach (based on my true story)
Roy would be one of those people who goes clubbing every other week and every time he tries to drag the rest of the heap trio and Egan almost always goes and Dani would go if she didn't have a good excuse but always begrudgingly. anyway Roy would always be the only one having a good time until Egan gets drunk enough to start having fun
Finbar actually uses the dorm kitchens instead of just buying canteen food and it always makes the hallways smell really good
Vhas also uses the dorm kitchen sometimes but like. one time i walked into the pantry on my floor and someone had left cut sweet potatoes and 2 eggs in an inch of water in a pan on the stove. that's Vhas
Kyana's constantly applying for overseas exchanges and international summer/winter school programmes. the world is large and she wants to see it!
Maxim's the definition of a hall phantom. you know he lives on your dorm floor because you pass him by in the hallways sometimes and literally nowhere else. sometimes you're not convinced that he actually exists
VR-LA and Maxim's friendship stems from them being from wildly different faculties (VR-LA's in STEM, Maxim's doing anthropology so arts/social sciences) but also having lots of weird interests they cant really bug anyone in their home faculties about
Elyse is in student government and every once in a while Finbar receives a series of angry texts about the newest idiocy she's had to put up with
MR-SN and AS-TR start a stargazing club together. other notable members include AS-TR's girlfriend E-DN, MR-SN's friend C-RA (the one who always volunteers to carry the heavy ass telescopes) and MR-SN's friend K-LB who he pestered into coming to fix one of the wonky scopes even though K-LB's actually in electrical engineering but he's the only engineering person MR-SN (an arts student) knows
oh and of course VR-LA joins because he genuinely just likes space (developing a crush on his club chairperson was not on his bingo card)
Kyana and E-DN were MMA sparring buddies at one point which is how she found out about the stargazing and joined immediately
honestly i can probably think of more but this post is fuckin long LMAO
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