Christmas Stocking Tag Blogmas 2018

Hi friends how are you all doing? Today I’m doing an original tag created by Kate at Reading Through Infinity! It was a challenge and I really enjoyed going through books I’ve read trying to figure out which fit this tag.

Rules

• Link to the person who tagged you (me!)
• Link to Kate, as she’d love to read your answers
• Answer all 10 questions, choosing books for each theme
• Tag five people to do this

You get up on Christmas morning and your stocking is full! You take it down and start to unwrap the treats inside. The first thing you see is…

An orange! Which book is refreshing and vibrant, both inside and out?

Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse
on March 7th 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary
Pages: 336
Goodreads

Sophia has seven days left in Tokyo before she moves back to the States. Seven days to say good-bye to the electric city, her wild best friend, and the boy she’s harbored a semi-secret crush on for years. Seven perfect days…until Jamie Foster-Collins moves back to Japan and ruins everything.

Jamie and Sophia have a history of heartbreak, and the last thing Sophia wants is for him to steal her leaving thunder with his stupid arriving thunder. Yet as the week counts down, the relationships she thought were stable begin to explode around her. And Jamie is the one who helps her pick up the pieces. Sophia is forced to admit she may have misjudged Jamie, but can their seven short days of Tokyo adventures end in anything but good-bye?

Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse was a really lovely story! Based in Tokyo, it’s full of Japanese culture and I really loved it. And that cover? GORGEOUS.

The next thing you see is a bag of chocolate coins. (Yum) Which book have you recently bought that was expensive, but totally worth the high price?

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
Published by Jimmy Patterson Books on November 6th 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 400
Goodreads

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for...and the most cruel.

But this year, there's a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.

In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it's Lei they're after--the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king's interest.

Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king's consort. But Lei isn't content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable--she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge.

TW: violence and sexual abuse.

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan is amazing and I bought the special B&N edition… even though I already had a copy. The shipping to the UK cost more than the book itself… oops!

You also pull out a bath bomb. Tell us about a book that had explosive action scenes.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on October 20th 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 602
Goodreads

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

BRIEFING NOTE: Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

I don’t tend to read action but I feel like Illuminae fits this? I love this book so much!

Next is a pack of playing cards. Which series won you over?

From a Distant Star by Karen McQuestion
Published by Skyscape on May 19th 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 272
Goodreads

When Lucas Walker inexplicably recovers from a terminal illness, everyone is astonished --except for his girlfriend Emma, who never gave up hope. However, as friends and family celebrate the miracle, Emma becomes alarmed: Lucas has changed. He speaks haltingly, can't recall past events, and even his own dog doesn't recognize him. Emma begins to suspect something is terribly wrong. What happened to the Lucas she loved? Does his strange behavior have something to do with the shooting light that fell into Lucas's backyard the night he recovered?

As the two set off on a road trip in search of the truth, the journey takes an unexpected turn. First they're shot at by unknown enemies and then helped by unlikely allies. Before long, Emma and Lucas are plunged into a desperate life or death race against time.

Packed with intrigue and emotion, FROM A DISTANT STAR is a riveting novel about loyalty and the power of love.

From a Distant Star took me a while to enjoy but then I LOVED it.

You also get a candle. Which character is a symbol of hope in their story?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Published by Scholastic Press on September 14th 2008
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 374
Goodreads

Winning will make you famous. Losing means certain death.

The nation of Panem, formed from a post-apocalyptic North America, is a country that consists of a wealthy Capitol region surrounded by 12 poorer districts. Early in its history, a rebellion led by a 13th district against the Capitol resulted in its destruction and the creation of an annual televised event known as the Hunger Games. In punishment, and as a reminder of the power and grace of the Capitol, each district must yield one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 through a lottery system to participate in the games. The 'tributes' are chosen during the annual Reaping and are forced to fight to the death, leaving only one survivor to claim victory.

When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives. , she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.

Katniss is totally a symbol of hope as the Mockingjay! I love Katniss so much, she’s so flawed but so strong.

There are socks inside too. Is there a book that you think really encompasses all the distinctive tropes of its genre?

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on February 28th 2012
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 487
Goodreads

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Divergent is VERY Tropey of these dystopian futures. Some of the tropes I don’t enjoy, like the whole thing where people who ‘love’ each other decide they can’t be together for whatever reason which makes no sense. For this reason I never read the last one in the series.

There’s also a notebook. Which author’s writing process do you find most interesting/inspiring?

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada
Published by Simon Pulse on November 7th 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 425
Goodreads

Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.

That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.

When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.

Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself?

Emily Suvada is WRITER INSPIRATION AND GOALS. You need to follow her on Twitter because her writing tips are amazing. Like did you know that she writes the last sentence of every chapter before anything else? It keeps the pace going and you can really see how it makes the novels awesome!

To go with the notebook, there’s a fancy pen. Is there a book or a series that you’d change if you’d written it yourself?

I’m going to go with no… honestly I had a think and can’t think of any instance of where I would rewrite? Maybe some bits here and there I would update maybe?

There’s also a small bedside clock. Which book took you a long time to pick up but was worth it in the end?

Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Published by Tor Books on September 24th 2013
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 366
Goodreads

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 archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

I didn’t read any of V E Schwab’s books until this year, Vicious being my first. I really loved it and I regretted not reading it earlier!

Your pile is getting really big. You reach in to pull out the last gift and it’s… a lump of coal? You’re a little disappointed. But you look closer and realise there’s a seam running through the coal. You crack it open and sitting inside is a tiny golden snitch. Tell us about a book that surprised you in some way.

Dry by Neal Shusterman, Jarrod Shusterman
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on October 2nd 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 390
Goodreads

When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.

The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers.

Until the taps run dry.

Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.

Okay I really struggled with this. I tend to DNF quite quickly if I’m not enjoying a book so I guess I don’t really get a lump of coal that changes into a golden snitch. SO I thought I’d put Dry here because I LOVED THAT BOOK SO MUCH.

Hope you enjoyed this post! Have you read any of these? I’m going to tag a few people below but even if I don’t tag you, you should still do it!

Bookish Laura

Bookish Luna

Emily

Hannah

Beth

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