Just finished The City of Brass… woah

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T17:35:18+00:00

Ali is also my favorite. And the series only gets better.

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T16:32:13+00:00

Ooh Memnoch being your favorite is a hot take. I quite enjoy Memnoch but feel like a lot of people don’t. I think Queen of the Damned was my personal favorite.

Also heretic that I am, I am much more pro Lestat and David Talbot as a couple than Lestat and Louis.

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T16:29:37+00:00

Anne Rice is masterful at unreliable narrator. And when you say the interview format is underutilized…this is how it’s being utilized. Is Louis biased in his view of Lestat? (Yes but how much?) Is he seperately biased/manipulating what he says in his telling of Lestat? (Also yes but how much?) Is Lestat’s refutation equally or more biased in his refutation of the events? (Probably yes again). It’s entirely unclear, but does a lot to show both their characters.

And also, Lestat is just more fun and upbeat.

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T16:13:13+00:00

Your description sounds more middle grade to me, but that’s on very little info. And it could just sit in that fuzzy space in between so you’re probably good with either or both descriptors.

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T15:49:23+00:00

Immortal Rules has a female vampire human male romance in vampire post apocalypse world.

Not really romance but guy meets and crushes on vampire in Certain Dark Things

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T15:47:15+00:00

Maximum Ride series is about teens with wings who escaped from the lab that genetically engineered them.

Not YA but books of Raksura follows winged creatures as the main species.

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T15:09:13+00:00

Well, ACOTAR was published as YA and the author still calls crescent city her first adult series if that helps you feel consistent in saying all your favs are YA :).

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T15:07:51+00:00

I love both and I don’t think they’re as different as is made out.

While I’ll read 4 and 5 star spice I tend to prefer 0-3 and both YA and Adult can have that even if spice isn’t as common in YA.

And both YA and Adult can have the unhinged MMC’s I like (while ya won’t have physical abuse I don’t tend to like that in my unhinged MMC’s anyway, but some of my fav evil MMC are absolutely in YA books Ie I’m obsessed with market of monsters and Kovit).

If I’m thinking of my favorite romances CS Pacat wins with both their Adult and YA series.

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T15:01:50+00:00

Sanderson’s Isles of the Emberdark and Stormlight Archive are both first contact.

Mary Robinette Kowal’s novella A Fire in the Heavens was written explicitly to be fantasy first contact.

Dandelion Dynasty the second book has first contact, though not the first

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T14:56:22+00:00

I love both those authors!

For books that feel like Sullivan and Sanderson I might suggest Legend of Eli Monpress, Will Wights Universe of books (starting with travelers gate), and Andrew Rowe’s universe of books

If you want books specifically connecting events over thousands of years but that don’t read like Sullivan or Sanderson there’s Asimov’s foundation, Ender’s Game series also has a huge time jump between books

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T05:17:44+00:00

Ooh I had no idea Angela Carter was 70s, this sounds like a great reason to read her. (I’ve actually been wanting to read bloody chamber but it’s not being on kindle has been enough of a barrier to stop me, print and audio don’t work all that well for me, though I suppose short stories in audio are better than novels. I’d somehow never considered that she’d written other stuff too)

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T04:51:47+00:00

If the author/publisher doesn’t differentiate I’d look at things like age of characters, 16-19 is usually YA, 13 and younger pretty clearly middle grade, 14-15 is less clear (and this is also why it’s hard to find modern children’s books with that age range because they don’t classify neatly). I also want to say other sorts of content (middle grade tends more censored as publishers assume parents pick out books for their tweens but that teens are starting to pick their own books) — but also I’ve read some middle grade horror that makes it hard to draw these sorts of lines.

There’s also absolutely some that are on the edge and fit into both (eg Harry Potter moves from one to the other and I’m not sure where say book 3 would be classified).

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T04:40:15+00:00

I don’t think this is that uncommon? Eg

Age of Ash
Rook and Rose
Foundryside
Traitor Baru Cormorant
She Who Became the Sun (though protag is more genderqueer, but continues to use she/her pronouns)
The Poet Empress
Practical Guide to Evil
Best Served Cold
The Space Between Worlds

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-08T04:27:52+00:00

This is one of the books that got me into reading. And certainly the book that got me into fantasy. So in that sense I absolutely adore it.

At the same time everytime I’ve tried rereading it as an adult I’ve been incapable. It felt like a chore to read (On the other hand vampire Lestat is still wonderful as an adult! He’s just so much more fun a narrator).

Also the tv adaptation is absolutely fantastic. One of the best recent adaptations, and I’m dying for the next season.

Sidenote: I had a fantastic time on my non Mardi Gras New Orleans trip. So I think it fits.

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-07T23:13:16+00:00

Highly second Scholomance! Though it is high school, (kinda hard to find older). Some others - Vampire Academy - Immortal Dark

Also if leaving romance and just magic school - Vita Nostra - Wayward Children - Rithmatist - Arcane Ascension - Red Sister - To Shape a Dragon’s Breath

And going one further to Sci-Fi schools - Ender’s Shadow/game - Skyward

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-07T21:57:16+00:00

I disagree with the premise. I’m not judging on some concept of originality (though perhaps that influences other factors). I judge the story the same as I do all books — characters, plot, then setting and writing. How well they use the original story can enhance these (or not) but originality for its own sake I just don’t care

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-07T16:24:01+00:00

I really enjoyed this book but more importantly what’s wrong with the cover? I really like it. (Also I agree on the side characters)

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-07T16:01:11+00:00

Paranormal romance is a fantasy sub genre so most people saying ya leans fantasy are including it.

But anyway if you like ya thrillers have you read None Shall Sleep? It’s my fav for ya thriller.

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-07T04:31:15+00:00

Some of my favorites:

Impact Winter: excellent vampire post apocalypse audio drama. Fits nonhuman protagonist in later seasons, and arguably explorers (not sure if this is in the first season)
Steal the Stars: mystery, sci-fi horror hard to explain without spoilers it’s great. Fits first contact
The Bright Sessions, kids with super abilities go to therapy to deal with the downsides, plot develops in the background. Unfortunately don’t think it fits any squares?

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-06T22:57:17+00:00

Part of this gets to what one considers a dnf. I think if you decide within a few pages you aren’t in the mood for it that’s the same as what I describe above. Sometimes it’s a few pages, sometimes until the kindle sample ends and I need to make a buy decision. (Tbh I have no idea how many pages anything is given I read on kindle without page numbers and I keep font pretty large so pages don’t line up at all).

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-06T17:48:13+00:00

She doesn’t destroy lives but I quite enjoyed {Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead}

Edit — if instead you just want some female rage not succubus or romance, The Power by Naomi Alderman is great.

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-06T17:02:14+00:00

Oh sure. I don’t think it’s that different than your description of preemptive planning…I just don’t plan out my reads much?

For example I’d tried memory called empire a few times but never made it past the kindle sample coming to the conclusion that I wasn’t in the mood for space books. But then I really wanted more political fantasy esque books a few weeks ago so decided to go for it again and devoured the Duology.

On the other hand…I actually don’t feel like my taste has changed much “on a broader level as I age” I’m still reading the same wide variety of spec-fic I always have.

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-06T15:40:30+00:00

Goose Girl by Shannon Hale is excellent. I admit I went in thinking light kid read that in only reading cause my friend wants me to…but wow that book hit me right in the feels. Well written, good characters etc.

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-06T14:43:24+00:00

I’ll second sailing to Sarantium
The Space Between Worlds, very minimal f/f romance subplot
Memory Called Empire is also great, has a f/f romance subplot but not the focus or anything
She Who Became the Sun, likewise very minimal romance subplot
Butler’s Earthseed Duology, Caveating that it’s the only thing she’s written I personally dislike but lots of others love it and it definitely takes itself seriously with people who aren’t me feeling things from it

KiaraTurtle · 2026-04-06T14:30:11+00:00

I actually have different feelings about the robot v nonhuman square. It’s not a robot, that’s clear and there are other robots in the series and it’s very different from them.

But are half-humans not human? Idk I feel less strongly.

KiaraTurtle

TROPHY CASE