Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo

So this is probably a post I should have written a while ago… I finished Shadow and Bone a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say, it definitely lived up to the hype. I’ve heard such good things …

When in Oxford: A Bookshelf Switch and Termly TBR

So this is what Oxford looks like today:

Still as beautiful as ever, if very very wet. And yes, I am finally back. I spent my morning today training to be a consent workshop facilitator, which basically involves leading discussions on consent and the culture surrounding it. Discourse surrounding sexual abuse and consent is incredibly important if we want to break the culture of victim shaming and ‘Blurred Lines’ to quote the incredibly awful Robin Thicke song. Without talking about these subjects, the bad becomes normalised, and incidents get brushed under the carpet; we act as if, by not talking about them, they cease to exist. And that got me to thinking about the role consent plays in books. *Spoilers* In Anna and the French Kiss for instance, she asks Etienne to kiss her – clear consent, even if I have other issues with that particular scene. In Crown of Midnight, Celaena is clearly consenting to her escapades with Chaol. All of which is great. But I think that there is more to be said on how consent is explored and portrayed in books. This post is not where I want to do this – it’s far too big and important a discussion and so I want the chance to go home to my bookshelves and do a bit more research before plunging into the topic headfirst. If I’m going to talk about it then I think it’s important to do it properly, and I don’t feel in a position to do that yet. But I did still want to mention it here to start to get people thinking, especially with the huge importance the conversation on sexual abuse is currently playing within the YouTube community. If you don’t know hat I’m talking about, go and look it up, as a lot of people have great things to say. So this may be just barely touch on the idea, but I do want to come back to it so watch this space, and if you know of any books in which consent is a particularly big theme, or for that matter, a minor one, please do send them my way.

What I did want to do with this post is actually far more trivial, so sorry to disappoint anyone who was hoping for an in depth discussion of what I learnt this morning. You’ll have to wait. Moving back to Oxford means that I had to leave my bookshelves behind. *cries* For the next eight weeks of so, I will be swapping fantasy and dystopia, for these:

And for anyone whose ever actually read Arrian back to back, you’ll know that a ten page description of troop layout and battle tactics is far less enticing than it is in YA fiction. I did, however, allow myself a few escapist reading books. So without further ado, here is my termly TBR:

The Programme: Suzanne Young

I’m already a fair few chapters into this and it seems okay so far, I’m not completely enthused by it, but it still has time to woo me. It’s set in a dystopian-esque world in which teen depression, leading to suicide, has become an epidemic. In an attempt to cure it, the government instrumented a therapy known as ‘The Program’, but those who go through The Program don’t come out the same. Oooooh dramatic. Tbh, I’m just waiting for the main character, Sloane, to get thrown in already.

The First Book of Calamity Leek: Paula Lichtarowicz

I think this is about cults? I don’t know. I’ve heard it’s weird but the cover is pretty.

Cress: Marissa Meyer

I loved Cinder, I loved Scarlett. I hope I love Cress. The entire Lunar chronicles are retellings of classic fairytales in a futuristic society. Cinderella is a cyborg. Red Riding Hood is in love with a mutant wolf man. And now we get Rapunzel – I can’t wait.

Shadow and Bone: Leigh Bardugo

I bought this book because I kept hearing so many good things about it. I bought it without actually reading the blurb though… So I’ve just gone and read the blurb and apparently it’s about an orphan who gets thrown into the world of the elite and has to save the kingdom. There also appears to be a love triangle between her childhood friend, and a potentially evil guy called the Darkling. Because god knows we all need more love triangles. But yeah, I’ve heard good things about it, so maybe there isn’t a love triangle after all… I’ll let you know.

What are you all reading this Autumn?

~ Becca x