There are many, many instances now where I stumble upon a book and my mind, my heart, my soul just screams at me that I absolutely NEED to read it. This tends to happen more and more, because while book blogging, while being a part of a reading community, recommendations tend to pile up every now and then, until you’re buried under a tower of books of your own-making and regretting everything.
Despite this, still and always, there will be books that will whisper to me, their pages turning on their own, their covers shining, blinding me, making me want to read them. Let’s forget the book bloggers, the recommendations and the hype of all the books and take the books in themselves. In the end, no matter what the hype, I manage to trust my gut before getting any kind of book and these things are what pushes me down that edge.
Well, in theory. Actually, I’m not an instant-get-the-book-this-second kind of person, more of a “leaves the book in the virtual basket for a month before deciding to get it.” Unless it’s a favorite author’s new book (*cough* say, Laura Silverman’s You Asked For Perfect *cough*) or I’m having a momentary unreasonable moment, I’m more of an anxious bean waiting a long time before deciding to get a book. Also well I can’t necessarily afford said-book or find a way to get it by other means -say, a library, because international reader problem- at the moment either so….Let’s just say I’m more of an instant-add-to-TBR person, then wait a gazillion years to get to the books. Oops.
1. Childhood friends
Okay, so I have a thing for childhood friends. I’m not sure if it’s whether or not I watched Dawson’s Creek way too much (strangely, I always was team Pacey, but… well, that childhood friends thing forever stuck with me. Hell, I’m writing a book with that trope) or whether it’s just rooted deep in my mind, but I ADORE childhood friends and any, any kind of story fitting the bill with two friends knowing each other since forever just, gets me. I love these books.
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2. Disappearances
I have no idea why, but books with people disappearing tend to fascinate me/intrigue me SO much. There’s something about the mystery surrounding a person’s disappearance, how the book builds up as they search for that missing person, that suspense and I don’t know, the story overall just always has me hooked.
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3. Sisters & Siblings
You might know this if you’ve been following or reading my blog every now and then and, well if you don’t, now you do: my sister is my best friend in the entire world. I am always craving and love books featuring strong siblings relationships because it’s something I love seeing. Complex, amazing, heartbreaking, beautiful siblings relationships.
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4. Friendships & a strong emphasis on friendships
I am kind of a marshmallow and I love sweet, adorable books with romances that will warm my heart, make me melt and leave me smiling like an idiot. Yet, if there is something I adore in books, it’s A SQUAD. Whether it’s in a contemporary or a fantasy book, if it promises me a great group of friends and even more, if that group of friends is at the heart of the story and strongly shaped, I AM HERE FOR IT.
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5. Texting / Internet friendships and relationships
Because a lot of my best friendships happen to be online, because it’s just such a massive part of our lives and of young adult lives’ nowadays, my heart always goes towards the books highlightning the realness of these kind of relationships, the way they build, how genuine and genuinly amazing they can be.
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6. Mental Health Representation
Mental health representation matters a whole lot to me in books. Obviously, the kind I can relate to, most specifically when it comes to anxiety, but also the kind I can’t exactly relate to, but wish to know more about. Mental Health rep is so, so, so important to me and when I stumble upon a book that has a main character dealing with anxiety, depression, social anxiety, OCD and more, I’m most of the time interested.
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7. Celebrities & Royals, a.k.a the life of the famous
Ever since my boys-band days and even before, I’ve always been kind of fascinated by, well, celebrities’ lives, wishing I could get in their shoes for a day (even if it’s most likely not pretty nor that glamorous) or just become a small, tiny mouse and follow them around. Thankfully I don’t have to do that, because books and authors’ incredible imagination fills that craving and always makes me happy.
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8. Emotional books
I don’t know why I love books that make me cry. Maybe it’s because I might be a little bit masochistic. Or maybe it’s just because, somehow, the fact that a book and a writer has that much power to make you feel every single word, feel for the characters that much, well this is somehow kind of magical.
Okay, but how the heck do I know this book is going to make me cry? Well, judging from the synopsis only, from fellow bloggers and readers’ recommendations, too.
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9. Boarding Schools Settings
I’m not sure why, but whenever I read a book’s synopsis set in a boarding school, my interest rises, like, of 50%. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been to a boarding school, or maybe it’s because I’ve read multiple books like that and really enjoyed them, but… there’s something about these kind of books that appeals to me. That setting just leaves us so many possibilities.
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10. Slow-burning romance
When it takes AGES for two characters to get together, when you adore them right from the start and know they will be together eventually and you watch them slowly but certaintly going down that road and ahhhhh. Here for this.
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I tried to narrow it down to ten, but honestly I forgot a lot of things. Friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, these pretty covers that make you want to marry them right this second, family vibes, anything by favorite authors and so on.
I feel like, the more I read, the more I want to read. It’s a vicious circle.
Do you also take a long, long time before deciding to get a book? Why, or why not?
Do we share any favorite tropes or kind of books? Do you have any recommendations for me? Are there any books you hear of and want to buy instantly? What are your key-words to get you to want a book? Let me know in comments!
I am definitely going to let you know if The Light Between Worlds is really that emotional! But you also made me discover something I want to read!! Screen Queens definitely sounds like it’s up my alley 😀 Great post!
Oh yes please do! I’ve heard it’s such a good book, I’m very excited about it 🙂
And YAY! Screen Queens sounds like such a fun read, I’m so happy I found out about it. I hope you’ll love it 😀
Thank you so much, Kat <3
Great post!! So many book recs, my TBR is shaking ? I also like most of the tropes you mentioned here ✨
Once I start, it’s hard to stop recommending books, sorry ? I’m SO happy you agree with my choices! Thank you so much for your sweet comment 🙂
I love emotional books too! And royals- ah, there is a different kind of the thrill in those. Lovely post
YAY I’m glad we have things in common! Thank you so much 😀
I’m also a boarding school book person. I don’t know why. Maybe because I always thought going to one would have been cool when I was a kid?
I can’t really explain what draws me to boarding school books so much, either, but… I just love them ? glad I’m not alone!
Thank you so much for your comment, Denise 🙂
We do share a few tropes! The siblings and group of friends is a massive love of mine as well, I find siblings relationships fascinating as I didn’t have that growing up! 🙂
As for mental health representation, I’m always here for it, but I have yet to find a good one for my own mental illness. Everytime it appears in a book that I’ve read, it’s mostly badly researched or simply used as a plot device and it tends to make rate a book really low when that happens. I only found one exception to this, and I hope I can find more in the future 🙂
YAY this makes me so happy! 😀
I’m so sorry to hear that, it is so annoying and complicated at times to find good books with good mental health representation :/ I’m happy to hear you found an exception, that’s so great and SO important – may I ask what the book is? I’m always looking for good books with mh rep <3 I hope you'll find more as well <3
Thank you so, so much for your sweet comment <3
The exception was Wintersong by S-Jae Jones ? Liesl is the main character and she’s bipolar even though it isn’t explicitely said, the author who is bipolar herself has said she was, and I definitely could tell and relate to some parts of her character! ?
Ohh that’s so great – and in a fantasy book, I find that SO great just as well. I’ve heard good things about Wintersong, maybe it’s a sign I should add it to my TBR? 🙂 I also heard that, For A Muse of Fire, by Heidi Heilig, has a bipolar main character, too, that one might interest you! I haven’t read it just yet, but it’s on my TBR 😀
I think For a muse of fire is on my TBR? I’ll have to check it out 😀
Yes please do, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. I really need to read it, too 🙂
I loved Fame , First love sooo much ?
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Ahh I’m so happy to hear that, I can’t wait to read it 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
“Let’s just say I’m more of an instant-add-to-TBR person, then wait a gazillion years to get to the books. Oops.”
…mood. I feel like that’s the international reader life. No libraries, limited budget, shipping costs… I have to be sure I really want that book before buying it. I only make exceptions for favorite authors and ebook novellas (because they’re cheap).
Anyway, great list! I love books about siblings too (Far From the Tree!!) so I really should get to Summer of Salt and The Light Between Worlds.
I’m so glad you could relate to what I wrote <3 I always am as sure as I can be when I get a book, too 🙂
Thank you so much! Far From The Tree was AMAZING and I can't wait to read these others books 😀
I also wait a really long time to buy a book. Some books have been on my TBR list for years. I have to find them on sale at a time when I have money. That rarely happens! I think my favorite trope is “a stranger comes to town.” I love when someone shows up and changes everything.
Some books have been waiting for so long on my TBR, too ? I think in a way, that’s cool, too, because… going through my TBR, I find some gems I forgot were there and that I want to read again, even more now ?
Oh that’s such a great trope, I really like it too 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
I’m team Pacey as well for Dawson’s Creek!! ? My sister is my best friend too so I definitely enjoy a good sibling bond!!
Squads in books are so good– that is definitely one of my favourite tropes. I will pick up most books if I know there is a squad involved.
I adore slow burning romances– the build of tension is incredible.
It does take me a while to decide to buy a book so my TBR builds up a lot but I have been more impulsive with buying books this year.
Great post!!! ?
YAY FOR TEAM PACEY ? Oh I miss this show sometimes ?
I’m so happy we have so much in common, we need to share more book recommendations for sure! I agree with you, the slow-building romance and the tension and ughhhh I LOVE this so much <3
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! 🙂
Yess!!! I know ? even though the finale is heart breaking ? but beautiful.
Yes absolutely. I know it’s so good to read about– I can never put the book down with a good slow burn ?
You’re welcome ?
I’m almost done Serious Moonlight and it is so freaking good!
Ahhhhh really, I’m so, SO happy to hear this! I can’t wait to read it, fingers crossed I’ll love it too 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! 🙂
I’m finished now and I loved it! Both main characters are awesome and the romance was really great. I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
Yay that’s great, I can’t wait to read it! I hope I’ll love it, too 🙂
I love this post Marie 🙂 I love how you make fun posts. I also have the light between worlds on my TBR and I hope it’s good!
Ohh thank you so, SO much, I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
I can’t WAIT to read this gorgeous book, SO excited about it!! 😀
I love this post, Marie! So many great books on here and so many that I am really looking forward to reading. I need more time in a day, because there are so many books that I NEED to read! <3
Oh thank you so much, Ashley! <3 I agree with you, I need ten more hours every day to read all the books that I want ?
Ooh, yes, these are EXCELLENT tropes. I’m so with you on squads, texting/internet relationships, and slow-burn romances. 90% of the reason I loved Six of Crows so much was because of the tight friendship factor.
Some other tropes that will almost guarantee I impulse buy a book is if it’s about writers, time travel, theatre geeks (though there aren’t nearly enough of those books), or fangirls/fandoms.
Ahhh thank you SO much, I’m so happy you liked this post, thank you! <3
OH yes, Six of Crows was so good especially because of the friendships, I love them together!
These are great choices – and yes there aren't enough theatre geek books, though I can think of the AMAZING ALWAYS NEVER YOURS, a YA book with Megan, the main character, sort of a theatre geek/wanna be director 🙂
This was such a relatable post! Aaaah I feel so happy every time I see Far From the Tree in your posts — the family and sibling relationships/friendships in that book were so beautiful and tear-worthy ❤️ And I agree that any notion of a slow-burn romance in books makes me want to pick it up immediately. I feel like some people might be drawn to immediate gratification when it comes to relationship development in stories, but I always prefer romances that develop over the span of an entire book — even several — because the payoff is always so worth it ?
Oh thank you so much Zoie, I’m so happy you enjoyed this post <3
I LOVE Far From The Tree, such a great book and I love books like this one with great siblings relationships, they always warm my heart.
I'm with you on slow-burning romances, too! It can feel a bit frustrating, having to wait for so long for a couple to get together, but when they do by the end it's just so, ahhh, so worth it haha 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment <3
I’m all for a good book with siblings relationship and even more for missing people or disappearances, that sounds so creepy for some reason ?. I’m happy I’m not alone ???
Ughh yes I feel so strange whenever I mention that I like books with disappearances? ? glad I’m not the only one ?
Thank you so much for your comment!! <3
This is such an amazing list of books, Marie ? So many books on my TBR. I don’t know how you control tourself so much ? I only wait for the prices to go down and then instantly buy the books I want to read for long time ?
Thank you so, so much Sim, you’re so sweet! <3
To be honest, it's a mystery – I WANT SO MANY BOOKS ?? but then again I know I'd feel too stressed out with a lot of books to read at the same time, so… I try to keep things controlled ?
I’m a big mood reader and I think I’m also a mood buyer? I can leave things in my cart for weeks, then suddenly be in the mood for YA contemporary and buy lots of those impulsively. I love books about friendship too, The Raven Boys is one of my favorites and I’m so excited to read The Gilded Wolves ?
Oh yay for books about friendships! I love a great cast of friends as main characters, it’s always so great to read. I hope you’ll love The Gilded Wolves 😀
Thank you so much for your comment <3
I totally, totally relate with looking at a book, and then instantly adding it to my TBR but never actually reading it. Goodreads TBR’s are just so convenient! It’s so easy to just click “Want to Read” and then completely forget about it. I’ve been trying to be better about it, though. I have a lot of books in my radar at the moment, but I haven’t added all of them to my want-to-read shelf yet. I’m kinda trying to create two shelves in my mind: books that I actually can read in a near future, so for example books that have been published in my country or that I can easily get my hands on; vs. books that I’m interested in reading but know that at this moment it’s just unrealistic that I’ll ever get around to them. It’s confusing, but what I’m trying to say is: I GET YOU and I’m here for you, hahaha.
And as for your favorite tropes, I relate to so many as well! Childhood friends is one of my favorites (and especially if they become lovers too), as well as boarding school scenarios. I also love mysteries surrounding a missing person or a murder with teenagers & friend groups. I feel like it’s a very common trope, but it’s always so fun to read! But for me, one thing that makes me instantly add a book to my TBR is bromances & male perspectives. If there’s a book with a male protagonist in which he’s there to help a best friend – like A List of Cages and the upcoming Patron Saints of Nothing – count me up immediately. And also coming of age books (moreover if they’re queer!!!).
Great post, as always, Marie!
Oh yes yes I’m so happy you understand that struggle ? it’s too easy to run to goodreads and to add the book to my TBR, I’m actually thankful that I am quite forgetful and I just sometimes don’t add everything, but… I’m certain there are so many books on my TBR that I’m not interested in, but… I really should do a spring cleaning or something… in spring ?
OH YES YES childhood friends and childhood friends to lovers, my favorite kind. I love this so, so much.
Oh that’s such a great thing, too! I don’t feel like I read enough books with bromances and male perspectives somehow, I need to read more of them. I LOVE A List of Cages so much 🙂 and yes!! coming of age and queer rep, 200% here for these too <3
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Lais <3
Oh Marie, you will love Summer of Salt! I just know it! I’m glad to see we share quite a few favourite tropes <3
Ahhhh, it’s funny because I have a feeling I could really adore this book with all of my heart, I’m glad you’re feeling that way too, somehow haha <3
Thank you so, so much for your comment! <3
Marie, we have eerily similar reading tastes…?I mean, I remembered this from my old blog in 2017 but it’s somehow become more pronounced?
This whole post had me just YASSSS! I’m a sucker for boarding school books – for some reason as a kid I always wanted to go to boarding school, which is weird considering I actually like my family? And I love books that focus on friendship so freaking much, because there just honestly aren’t enough of them. And then obviously I’m obsessed with mental health books because that rep is personally so important to me.
GAH, I love your blog, but it’s awful for my TBR! ?
OH MY GOD CHRISTINE, THE STORY SALVE AHH I AM SCREAMING. It just now tilted in my head that it’s YOU AND AHHHH I’m screaming hello hi it’s so so so good to see you and chat with you!! I hope you’re doing amazing <3 <3
I'm so happy that we still have the same reading taste, yay!! Same here, somehow I'm still fascinated by boarding schools ? and yes yes to great mental health rep in books, always here 200% for these kind of books. <3
Ah I'm still feeling overwhelmed with emootions and very happy ahh. you're too sweet, thank you SO much! <3
AWWW HI MARIE!! It’s good to be back and see that some of my faves are still around! <3
IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU BACK <3 <3 <3
A really great celebrity book is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid!
This is an AWESOME post. I may need to keep it in mind for later. I loved the layout and that you put books you enjoyed with those tropes and also some books you’re looking at that supposedly contain them. This was really well done :]
AHH YES such a good suggestion. I haven’t read Evelyn Hugo just yet, but I’ve heard so many recommendations, I hope I’ll love it once I read it 🙂
Oh thank you, I’m so happy you enjoyed it – I don’t want to get into how many hours went into creating this post and researching books ?? THANK YOU so much! I’m happy you enjoyed it, I’d love to see your own list if you feel inspired to do one 🙂
This is such a fantastic collection of books! I love the books that are set in boarding schools. Something about that setting just gets me excited to find out more about the book. 🙂
Oh thank you so much!! Same here, I love these kind of settings, they’re just so much fun 🙂
I’m a sucker for most romance tropes. Friends to lovers, enemies to lovers etc. As for mental health for some reason I’m particularly drawn to books about schizophrenia and selective mutism. I also love reading about amputees and blind and deaf characters. To put this all in perspective I’m majoring in biomedical engineering, so I feel like my medical interest bleed into my reading interest a bit here.
Yay for romance, I love romance too, I’m such a marshmallow kind of reader ?
Oh that’s so good – wow wow, biomedical engineering, that sounds so complex to me, that’s very very cool! <3 I hope you're enjoying your studies!
Thank you so much for your comment <3
I’ll get excited about anything marketed as a really dark, intense fantasy, preferably with some kind of assassin, political intrigue, and royalty. Also, the enemies-to-lovers trope is my favorite, so I’m always super excited to pick up books that I’ve heard have a relationship like that, too.
Ohhh, yes, royalty. I really like royalty too, though I’m more drawn to the swoon-y contemporary kind of royalty, I like the fantasy every now and then too 🙂
AND AHH yes enemies to lovers, such a good trope, I LOVE that one as well 😀
Thank you so much for your comment!! <3
Love this list, Marie! I also don’t know why I’m drawn to “Disappearance” books either, but I always am! And I so need to check out The Disappearances! It’s been languishing on my shelf way too long. And you ABSOLUTELY need to read The Light Between Worlds!! It broke me, healed me, and broke me again and I loved EVERY minute of it. 😀
Oh thank you, Kathy! I’m so happy to hear I’m not the only one drawn to this, though it feels a bit weird to say it ahah, there’s something about the mystery of it all 🙂
I can’t WAIT to read The Light Between Worlds, SO excited! Hopefully I’ll get to read it soon. Thank you so much for your comment! <3
marie you truly outdid yourself with this post! i absolutely LOVE this idea
the siblings and sisters tag, like i JUMPED to add those books to my tbr, you’ve found my fictional weakness. (also far from the tree and emmy and oliver??? ? choices)
texting and internet friendships are so soft i love when it is used in fiction so much. (side note: if you’re ever feeling like a fun new adult romance ‘my favourite half-night stand’ has this group of friends who are constantly texting each other and theyre SO FUNNY i adored it)
i LOVE boarding school settings and shocker, i haven’t read ANY of the 4 books you mentioned, so guess what’s going to be priority reads??
this is such an epic post, i seriously love it! thanks so much for the never ending recs, lol
OH May thank you thank you thank you, this means SO much to me, I worked too long on this I don’t even want to admit how long haha. THANK YOU ?
Oooooooh. thank you so much for that recommendation, it sounds like the kind of book I’d love to read!! Thank you! And yes yes, please read these boarding school books as soon as you can, the ones I already read were AMAZING 😀
Thank you! You’re too sweet to me <3
I adore this post, Marie! You named so many great tropes and books ahhh ? I absolutely loved Our Year of Maybe and IWBFT, as you know ? And I LOVE books with amazing & well-written friendships, which is why I’m extremely excited to read Famous in a Small Town!! (And honestly all of Emma Mills’ books have great friendships ?) You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone is definitely an emotional read – I hope you’ll love it! And YES @ The Forbidden Wish, I absolutely loved the slowburn romance in that one haha ? Wonderful post!!
Oh Dezzy thank you so, so, so much, you’re going to make me cry, I worked way too long on this, I’m thrilled you liked it so much? I love Our Year of Maybe soooo much. I can’t wait to read You’ll Miss Me when I’m gone, it sounds incredible 🙂
Thank you so much!! <3
Yes, I don’t add books to my TBrs as impulsely anymore. It’s much better that way because then I won’t stress over how many unread books I have on my list. ? I loved The Raven Cycle, Eliza and Her Monsters, Emergency Contact, and I’ll Meet You There. So we have the tropes of these books in common. I finished Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss a couple of days ago. I liked it, but it wasn’t my favorite. I think if you enjoyed Foolish Hearts and Geekerella, you most likely will fancy this one too. I’m currently reading A Breath Apart, and it’s really good so far. It’s a YA heartbreaking hot mess. Not to mention, the slow burn romance is very captivating as well. You should check it out. ? I try to hold off buying hyped books or adding them to my TBRs unless they’re by my favorite authors. ?
Ahh we have so much in common, I love that so much! I need to read Foolish Hearts, planning on doing so this month, very excited, I hope I’ll enjoy it 🙂
Ooooooooooh. Now you have me very, very interested, I have to check out this book, thank you for the recommendation 😀
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
SO MANY GOOD BOOKS ON HERE *dies*
Ahah I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you for your comment! 😀
a thought for these books waiting in virtual baskets / wishing list. They / might / sink into oblivion. ? I’m so in love with squad books! I love reading and writing them. They are the best! ? Oh, btw if you like Pretty Little Liars, you should read the Amateurs! Thank you to remind me yet again that I still not have read Eliza and Her Monster. ?
I’m so glad to hear that, squad books are THE best I love them so much!
I haven’t read the Amateurs, thank you SO much for the recommendation, I’ll have to check it out 🙂 and yees yes yes, I hope you’ll read Eliza soon, it is an amazing book <3
Thank you so much, Morgane <3
This is the perfect post, Marie, I love this so much (and I’ll have to add A Lot of new books to my TBR now…) ♥️ I’m so glad you also love books featuring siblings / sisters — my sister is my best friend, too, so I feel that. Also, Far From the Tree is one of my favourite books ever and I’m sooo excited to read Summer of Salt ? and mental health rep in books is basically the best thing ever!
Oh thank you so, so much Hannah, I’m so happy you enjoyed it <3
That's so sweet to hear, I'm so close to my sister as well, it is the best. <3 I hope we will both love Summer of Salt, it sounds like such a great book! 😀
Thank you so much!! <3
I’m so with you on so many of these!! Like anyone just literally has to whisper the word “found-family” and I’M SO THERE. And also siblings. I absolutely love sibling centric books and ones with soft characters. Baking is also one for me. ?If it’s set in a bakery I am just d e a d. It will be 100% my book. (I loved Emergency Contact for the texting and baking omg.)
Ooohhh yes, baking is such a good one too, I need to read more books with baking, I love them so much and they always make me so hungry, too haha 🙂
YES! Emergency Contact was incredible <3
Thank you so much, Cait!
Strong friendships are my favourite! There are just so many opportunities for fantastic dynamics, especially when it’s a group of people.
With the boarding schools, I kind of wonder if part of it is because they make everything so contained? School story but more intense because the characters and what’s going on at school really are the primary influence on each other, without home life not being as much of a contributor from the day-to-day…
Ohh yes, that’s such a good argument actually, everything seems a little more intense in these kind of settings and I guess that may be why it’s so interesting, too 😀
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
AHHH I love all these tropes <3 I'm such a sucker for childhood friends and slow burn romances. I also love seeing that so many of the books on your radar are also books I really want to read. (aka Serious Moonlight and RW&RB) 🙂
I’m so, so happy to hear that, thank you so much Tiffany <3 I can't wait to read both of these books, they sound amazing 🙂
I love all these kinds of books so much!! Especially slow burn, friendships, sisters, and emotional stories!! Haha. I’ve personally read Eliza and her Monsters (loved it!), I’ll Meet You There (I think my heart is still weeping slightly), and the Raven Boys! Wonderful post, Marie! ❤️
Oh my heart is still weeping about I’ll Meet You There as well. Such a good, emotional book . I loved it so much <3 Thank you, Kelly! <3 <3
I love this post!
I usually check a book on Amazon when a blogger I love recommends it and sometimes it’s on sale so I go for it (now you know how I have more tha 200 unread ebooks :p)
I have enough ammo for now, so I don’t jump on books as I used to before my TBR reached the point of being able to kill me if it falls…
Oh thank you so much my sweechie, I’m so happy you enjoyed it 😀
200??? how?! I would feel so stressed out! But… well at least you can never run out of books to read? 😛
We share the love for the royalty trope! I’m also big into hate to love, because I need romantic angst in my life and I like to torture myself ?
Yay!! Haha and yes, I get that, I also love romantic angst, it’s just so fun to read 😀
I love reading about people’s tropes that make them interested in a book! ? I also love sister books and anything with a strong group of friends (The Raven Cycle is the PERFECT example), and I’m SUCH a sucker for a slow burn romance! ?
YAY! I’m so happy we have so much in common, and slow burn romances are THE BEST ??
Thank you so much for your comment! <3
Great post! I read an ARC of If You’re Out There and really REALLY enjoyed it, highly recommend!
Ohh that’s amazing, lucky! I hope I’ll love it too 🙂 Thank you so much for stopping by, Kaleena <3
This is such an awesome list, Marie! Of all these, I believe that I too have a thing for books that integrates a nice and beautiful friendship angle to it. It always sends chills down my spine when they do things that only real friends would do! 😛
Ahh I’m so glad you agree, I love it so much when we can see genuine friendships in books, we always need more of these, don’t we 🙂
Thank you so much, Lashaan! <3
So I don’t necessary take a long time on deciding to get a book typically, it’s just that I usually wait to get books until I’ve read others or until I can afford them. So usually is a money delay, but I already *know* that I am going to get a book.
If you like emotional books, definitely check out A Thousand Perfect Notes if you haven’t already. It’s amazing and I honestly cried a few times reading it. Honestly, one book I heard of recently and was like *buy* was The Ruin of Kings. I was going to be really good and get it from the library but then I went to the bookstore…
I have read A Thousand Perfect Notes and loved it so much, it was such a hard book to read, at times, but also a really GREAT one. I can’t wait for the author’s sophomore novel to be released 🙂
Ahah, sometimes you just can’t resist 😛
Thank you so, so much for your sweet comment, Stephanie! 🙂
I’m late in my response but um THIS IS THE BEST LIST EVER.
I want to write YA and make it meaningful. Some of these tropes/themes are ones that I thought were “out of the box”. It’s good to know there’s a market for these kind of stories I didn’t realize were already there. I can’t wait to check out a lot of these books. Great post! I may feature it in my next monthly wrap up 😀
Oh you’re not late AT ALL, hi thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3
There is always a market for different kind of tropes, if you ask me. A book can't appeal to everyone, because we all have different taste for sure, but your story will find its readers, I'm sure of it 🙂
Thank you so much! 🙂
you like books with disappearances? it’s not like my WIP is ALL ABOUT THAT HAHAHA. and i love friendships in books – like there’s not enough in YA and while I love romance, platonic relationships are so refreshing to read about!!
Okay so one question: WHEN CAN I READ YOUR WIP, I AM HERE FOR ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. Ahhh that’s so exciting!!
Love this list! My favorite tropes are enemies to lovers, hate to love, slow burning romance, Internet Friendships and relationship, and also pen pals romance.
Thanks for the recommendations! 🙂
Oh thank you! I’m so happy we have things in common and yees pen pals romance is such a good one! <3
This is such a cool idea for a blog post! I haven’t read many of the books that you mentioned, but you’ve definitely put some on my radar! I’m also a huge sucker for books set in boarding schools and books with disappearances and when the two are combined? Even better! Awesome post!!
Oh thank you Lara, I’m so happy you enjoyed it! I hope you’ll find some books to love here 😀
omg omg I loveee books that me makes me cry!!! I don’t know why but it’s just something ? And thank you for including the recommendations, I will definitely put it on my tbr!
To be honest, all of your recommendations looks SO great! It attracts me so much. I don’t know if I’m supposed to be happy or cry ?
Anyway, I LOVE THIS POST ?
AHHH this makes me so, so happy, though I’m a little sorry for expanding your TBR so much haha. I hope you’ll love these books! 😀
Thank you so, so much for your sweet comment <3
I agree with so many of these! I’m personally a sucker for boarding school books, celebrity books, and anything with a slow-burn romance. Disappearance books tend to be so fascinating as well and I’m also interested in reading If You’re Out There this year; it sounds so good and creepy.
YAY! I’m so, so happy to hear we have so much in common, yay! I can’t wait to read If You’re Out There, this book sounds fascinating. I hope we’ll both love it 🙂
Thank you so much!
This is completely out of topic, by the way, but I couldn’t find an email to contact you on your blog so I thought I’d mention it here: I haven’t been able to comment on your blog for the past two weeks, I feel like none of my comments go through, maybe they are in your SPAM folder or something? I feel like there is some sort of issue there and it’s bothering me a lot, especially as I tried again today and it still doesn’t seem to work? :/
oh weird, I have been wondering what happened to people commenting; it suddenly seemed to drop off after I switched! okay I’m not going crazy. I’ll look into it; thank you for letting me know!!
Ahhh wonderful post, as always, Marie! I love this concept of breaking down things that draw you to a particular book. I’ve noticed the sudden influx of YA books coming out that emphasize friendship and sibling relationships, and I love it so much! Have you read Akemi Dawn Bowman’s other book, Summer Bird Blue? It’s super emotional and focuses on sibling-death, but it’s one of the most beautiful books I’ve read. 🙂
Oh thank you, I’m so happy you enjoyed this post <3
I'm so happy about that, too, we need more stories focused on friendships and family. I haven't read Summer Bird Blue, just yet but it is on my TBR, it sounds fantastic! I'm so happy you loved it. I think I have to be emotionally ready for it, but I can't wait! 🙂
Thank you so much, Aimal <3
Oh god I enjoyed reading this post so much?? I agree with so many of the tropes you’ve included in here!! Especially slow-burn, friendship (and also found family / friend gangs for me!), sister/siblings, mental health rep, and emotional books. And I especially love books with more than one of those tropes haha (Six of Crows anyone?). And I honestly didn’t expect to love books with celebrity MCs as much as I did, since celeb lives tend to be full of drama and I’m not the biggest fan of drama — but I read both of the books you featured for that trope and I loved them! This was such a fun post, Marie, and, like the formatting nerd I am, I love the formatting you did with it haha!
AHHHH May thank you, honestly this post took me WAY too long to put together and that formatting was a mess ? so I am so, so happy you noticed and enjoyed it, thank you!! <3
YAY! I'm so glad you enjoyed both books on that celebrity trope thing, even though you're not a fan of drama. I'm a big fan of a book with tons of drama every now and then, so these kind of books are great ?
Thank you SO much! <3 <3
I do really love some of these tropes/themes, like books that focus on friendships or siblings, books set in boarding schools, etc. Thanks for all the fun recommendations too!
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
Yay, I’m so happy you like these! Thank you, Lauren! 🙂
The second I saw this post I knew you’d have childhood friends on your list somewhere! 😀 It’s kind of the one trope I associate with you (if you can associate a trope to a person you know?)
But you’ve crossed off some of my favourites too; the strong sibling bonds and strong friendships which I feel like I never stop talking about to you are two main ones of mine. I have Summer of Salt on my TBR list too, and I really really want to get started on The Gilded Wolves (I’m just still waiting for my copy to arrive!)
Great post, and I hope you enjoy all of these books that are still on your radar when you get around to them! 🙂 ❤️
Ahhh Beth you know me too well now, you know I can’t resist a good childhood trope in my books 😀
I can’t wait for you to read The Gilded Wolves! I really hope you’ll love it as much as I did. And Summer of Salt sounds fantastic, I’m tempted to order a copy but that would not be reasonable right now haha. 🙂
Thank you so much! <3 <3
I can’t wait to get started on it either (the only thing holding me back is that my copy hadn’t arrived yet, which I’m very mildly annoyed over!)
Ha, if only we had unlimited funds for books right?! 🙂
Ahah, that would be the dream… but we would be cruelly missing space in our rooms for all the books ?
Gosh, I just added nearly all of these to my TBR. They all sound so good & the covers are all beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing!! ♡
Ahhh this makes me so happy! I hope you’ll love these books 😀
Thank you so much for your comment <3
These are great! I love so many of the same tropes you do! You MUST read You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone! And I mean, the one good thing about When We Caught Fire is the relationships? Ish? Eep. I really liked If You’re Out There, and now I will probably need more disappearance-y books, so I am glad for the recs!!
I really can’t wait to read You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone, it sounds amazing and I am certain I’ll love it! 😀
Thank you so much, Shannon! and thank you for letting me know about When We Caught Fire, I’m… well, I’m curious about that one hahaha. I hope I’ll enjoy it better than you did then :d
some of your favorite tropes happen to be some of mine! I added some more to my list! I want to read that book by Kasie west too! I’ve read so so many of her books recently, and have read a lot of her books in the past, and have always enjoyed her cuteness. Great post Marie! I am always surprised by all the amazing topics that you can make about books! Super creative xxx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com
YAY, I’m so happy we have so much in common <3 Thank you so, so much, you're too sweet ??
With contemporary books I always seem to choose those with heavy themes. Mental health rep books are super important to me so I always try to pick those up! With fantasy, the darker the better haha
I really like how you’ve listed books you like and upcoming ones!
Oh I tend to be attracted to heavy kind of reads, too, at times, I wonder why ? and yes, mental health rep, I love these kind of books and they are so important, too. <3
Thank you so, so much Cam, so happy you enjoyed this post 😀
Ahhh yes I agree with all of this!! I ADORE books about siblings, and sisters, they always touch my heart! Friendships, internet relationships, emotional books, and mental health representation are always so amazing to see in books, I just have such a great time reading books with these things ahh. Great list! <3
Ohh thank you so, so much, I’m so happy to see you enjoyed this list and it makesme even happier to see we have such similar taste!! <3 Thank you!! <3
Emotional books are always a win for me. I’m a sucker for a book that makes me cry! And mental health books draw me in too, along with childhood friends.
OH yes me too, I don’t know why, but I love emotional books A LOT haha 🙂 Thank you, Nicole!! ❤️
hehe unfortunately I relate a little too well to books languishing in my basket for ages 😉 I love childhood friends in books and emmy and oliver is a great one for that. And I adore books with a focus on friendship and siblings too!! I love when books explore virtual relationships as well. And slow burning relationships are great as well. Fantastic list!! 😀 <3
I’m so glad you agree with so much of these books, yay!! thank you so, so much for your comment! <3
I am all about a slow burn. I also love a good enemies to lovers, and my trope that I will never not buy is a mistaken identities, especially if it involves a women disguised as a man for some reason. I do not know why, it’s just catnip to me. I love the wacky hijinks that ensue!
Ooooh yes, this is such an interesting trope, definitely need to read more of that one 😀
Thank you so much for your comment! 😀
I was going to ask you if you’ve read You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone after I saw you listed Our Year of Maybe and sister relationships, so it’s funny that you mentioned that it was on your radar. I highly recommend it! If you liked Rachel Lynn Solomon’s writing, you’ll love her first novel! Also, the relationship between the twin sisters is so complex. Great post 🙂
I LOVED Our Year of Maybe so much, it’s a favorite, so I can’t wait to read the author’s debut, I hope I’ll love it 🙂
Thank you so much! 😀
I hope you love it too! ?
Thank you! 😀
It’s so interesting!! I also have The Similars and Girls with Sharp Sticks on my I-hope-I-get-to-read-those-one-day pile ahah, I love the boarding/elite school trope so much! I can recommend you If we were villains, by M.L Rio, that takes place in a theater elite school, with mysteries, romance, shakespeare-stuff, and much more very addictive things!
I also love the strong friendships storylines so much! I came upon The Friends We Keep the other day (forgot the name of the author…) that seems really good too! Thanks for sharing all these books !
AHH YES another boarding school/elite school fan! I love these kind of settings SO much, they always are so interesting to read about 🙂
Thank you for the recommendations, I’ll have to check out these two books! 😀
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3
I LOVE boarding school books! I also really love books that involve heists! Any kind of thief as a main character is a book that I want right away. Girls with Sharp Sticks is at the top of my list as a book that I really want!
YAY! Boarding school books are awesome, I agree 😀 and Girls with Sharp Sticks sounds incredible, I can’t wait to read it 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! 🙂
I always wanted to go to boarding school actually! I just thought it would be cool. I am SO in need of a great boarding school read so I think I’m going to read it soon.
Yay, I hope you will love it! 😀
Me too!
Oh my, your website is such an inspiration. Absolutely loved it
Oh, oh wow thank you so, so much, you’re way too sweet, this means SO much. Thank you!! <3 <3 <3