Top 5 Authors I Would Love To Meet

So I saw this post over on Lauren’s blog and I thought I would write one too as there are so many authors I wish would come to the UK and by UK I mean outside of London.

You can read Lauren’s post here

So I have actually been quite lucky over the last few years that I have been able to meet quite a few authors. Leigh Bardugo being the very first author I met back in 2016, though I do hope I get to meet her again! I’ve also met authors such as, Alwyn Hamilton, Samantha Shannon, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black and Angie Thomas to name a few!

But there are some that I would absolutely love to meet but either haven’t been able to go to the event or they haven’t come to the UK, so these are the authors on the top of my list that I would fangirl so hard if I ever got to meet them:

V.E. Schwab

I know right? I have never been able to meet her despite her doing several UK tours. One day, hopefully! I adore all her books though The Monsters of Verity is my favourite! I randomly picked it up one day at the library because the cover looked interesting and I am so glad I did!

Marissa Meyer

The Lunar Chronicles are one of my all time favourite series and I would squeal so loud if I ever got to meet her! Her characters are some of my favourites, I especially love that they are so different from each other and that she shows different qualities in what makes them amazing. From Cinder being a mechanic to Cress being a tech nerd. Cress is also a fangirl and I loved that she wrote her like that!

Renee Ahdieh

Her books are some of my favourites and I feel like her events would be so much fun! Her writing is so lush and beautiful and I would love to hear her talk about how she retells these stories giving it such a beautiful twist. Not to mention the incredibly romantic and complete cinnamon roll of male characters she writes. I mean have you met Khalid? *swoon*

Sabaa Tahir

Another author who I think would be so much fun to meet and listen to at book events! Pretty sure she would kill us with teasers about her books. And if her IG stories are anything to go buy she is so sarcastic and funny and it would be so cool to hear her speak at an event.

S.A. Chakraborty

It’s no secret that I am OBSESSED with her Daevabad trilogy, so let me tell you that if she came to the UK and I could meet her, I would actually die of joy! Yup, I would die happy if I could meet her and tell her how much her characters and her story means to me. It’s been a long time since I have so completely fallen in love with a book like this!

So these are my top 5. Have you met any of them? Who would you love to meet?

Illumicrate Unboxing – Magic and Mayhem Box

This is super late but I still wanted to share this unboxing with you all. This was a special edition box by Illumicrate. It was inspired by V.E. Schwab’s books and as usual this box was amazing! I absolutely loved everything in the box.

They also recently released their next special edition box which is inspired by the Grishaverse. It will be sent out in time for the release of King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo. I cannot wait to get this box!

So back to the unboxing of the Magic and Mayhem box. There was so many amazing items in this box and I just cannot choose what my favourite item is!

The first item is a double sided tote bag, one side inspired by shades of magic and villains inspired on the other. I love this bag so much! The artwork is by @rowatree

They included a make up bag with a Lila Bard quote designed by @stellabookishart and it’s beautiful and such a great size.

They also included an As Travars keyring designed by @fableandblack

They included a set of 4 beautiful character bookmarks inspired by the shades of magic books. The artwork is by @merwild

I loved that there was useful items included too like this travel bottle. The lettering is by @xcrini

There was a set of 6 tarot style character cards which are all stunning. Artwork by @amaretta_

Also included was a beautiful art print of Lila and Kell designed by @victoriaying

I love getting candles in book boxes so I absolutely loved that they included a layered candle inspired by the four Londons. Made by @ameliakitchencandles

Mugs are another favourite item of mine so I loved that they included one! This beautiful mug artwork is designed by @temporaryplacesshop

I love that a knitted scarf was included as it’s getting cold and I can’t wait to use it! It’s designed by @fableandblack

They also included a set of 4 postcards which is inspired by the 4 Londons. I love the artwork on the cards. They were designed by @moledrocraftco

A beautiful booksleeve inspired by Victor Vale’s love for black out poetry designed by @illumicrate

Another of my favourite items is enamel pins so I love the one they included! It’s stunning! And designed by @fableandblack

Lastly they also included an exclusive cover of Vengeful by V.E. Schwab and a letter written by her too. I love this cover so much!

So this was everything included in the box! Seriously guys, I highly recommend buying their boxes, both their special edition and quarterly boxes. I love getting both! They are worth every single penny and I know that if I ever didn’t get a box I would really regret it.

Vicious by V.E. Schwab – Book Review

I originally read Vicious a few years ago so I wanted to reread it before Vengeful released. And it was just as amazing as I remembered it to be!

Rating: 5/5

If you don’t know what Vicious is about then you can read the synopsis from goodreads here:

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the arch nemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

This book is a wonderfully dark story filled with morally grey characters. It deals with the complexities of what a hero and villain is. Both Eli and Victor are complex, dark and very arrogant. They always know how to be in front of people but inside are something else altogether.

The first chapter shows Victor with Sydney digging up someone’s grave. It is such an interesting way of opening a book because it makes you instantly curious and want to know why he is doing that. We then are taken back ten years to when Victor was at university and each chapter goes forward and back in time through which we are slowly given the information to understand the full story. It built up the suspense and made me want to read one more chapter to see the big picture.

Victor Vale is one of my favourite characters and our anti-hero, he is arrogant, ridiculously smart and petty and is hell bent on seeking revenge but he still cares for those he works with, especially Sydney. The way he is with Sydney is just adorable! He does use her for his own advantage but still tries to protect her when it’s possible. I was totally rooting for him throughout the book.

Eli was his own brand of crazy, he has a god complex and feels that what he does is truly the right thing to do. I just couldn’t relate to him at all. He was a sociopath, even when his girlfriend died he didn’t feel anything, just used it to his advantage.

Sydney and Serena’s relationship was so tragic. You could see how close they were before they became EO’s and that path led them down a destructive road and they ended up on opposites. It was heart breaking watching their relationship devolve and I truly felt so bad for Sydney.

Sydney is a child and is pulled into this because of Serena and she’s innocent but at the same time it was scary how well she adjusted to Victor’s plans and didn’t seem fazed or scared by it.

Vicious is an addictive, fast paced read and if you love anti-heroes with an element of sci-fi then I know you will love this book!

Top 5 Wednesday – Favourite Magic Systems

Hey booknerds! It’s another Top 5 Wednesday post! This is hosted by Sam over on Thoughts on Tomes where you share you top 5 for the chosen topic for that week. You can check out each weeks topic over on Goodreads.

So this weeks topic is favourite magic systems

There’s so many ways that magic is incorporated into book and I love discovering all the ways that magic works in that world. They all work so differently from each other and some of my favourite books have magic in them.

1 Harry Potter by J.K Rowling – okay you knew I would mention this one! I mean who hasn’t wanted to go to Hogwarts?!

2 The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell – I read this book recently but I quickly fell in love with the magic system in this world!

3 A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab – the system in this story is so unique and I just really want to go to Red London!

4 The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty – the way magic works in this world was so different to what I’ve seen and I loved it!

5 Everless by Sara Holland – I really loved the way magic was incorporated into the story especially as it played such a central role to the plot

So here’s some of my favourite magic systems. What books do you love that have unique magic systems?