Drag Race UK 2 Book Tag!

I’ve been looking for some book tags to do, so when Ross from The Royal Bookshelf asked if anyone wanted to do a Drag Race UK themed book tag on Twitter I asked to be tagged. My family watches Drag Race together and with the UK version we at least usually get the references on Snatch Game. It’s a lot of fun to watch so I’m happy to be associating books with these contestants!

Asttina Mandella – A Book Set In London

A book set in London was pretty easy for me to find. I read a lot of chick-lit, and the majority of that is British. So for this I chose In Case You Missed It by Lindsey Kelk. This book was a lot of fun. It follows Ros, who moved to America for a career in radio, but has now had to move back home. Living in the shed of her parents house, and having to get used to back with being with her old friends, she also winds up contacting an ex by accident. And now she decides to see if maybe she could get back to the life she had before the move

A’Whora — A Redemptive Character

Back when I read Caraval by Stephanie Garber for the first time, I wasn’t a fan of Tella. She seemed so selfish, and I wasn’t at all sure whether I’d enjoy book 2 with it being solely in her perspective. I thought I would always love Scarlett more. But getting into Tella’s head redeemed her a lot for me, She might be the flightier sister, but she’s loyal, clever and determined. I loved her and her relationship with Dante so much. Caraval is a YA fantasy trilogy following two sisters – Scarlett and Tella as they play the dangerous game of Caraval for the chance of winning a wish. Things aren’t what they seem though and magic isn’t something they should be playing with.

Bimini Bon Boulash — A Book That Started Rocky

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko was a book I read a sample of long before I bought the actual book. It seemed interesting, but I wasn’t completely sure. I’d heard such good things so I wound up getting myself a copy. When I started the book, I still wasn’t sure. Fortunately, the book did get a lot more interesting as it went. I did find it to be a slow start since the book does span across a few years, but once I got into it, the story and the worldbuilding really was interesting. I just really wasn’t sure whether I’d like it from the start. It follows Tarisai, a girl who has only known servants and vaguely her absent mother. One day she finally gets to leave the walls of her home but only so she can kill the prince under orders of her mother.

Cherry Valentine — A Book with a Red Cover

For this prompt I wanted to share one of my favourite book series. Spellslinger by Sebastien De Castell has a lot of red on the cover, and it’s one of the most gorgeous covers out there. I love how these books look, even if this first book isn’t as good as the later ones. This series follows Kellen, a boy who has been struggling to learn magic and who with the help of a traveller, Ferius, and a fierce squirrel cat, he learns a lot of tricks and gets a lot of trouble. These books are a lot of fun and you get to see a male main character in a fantasy novel who isn’t afraid to show emotion, and actually reacts to things. It was refreshing to see and that with the worldbuilding and humor is why I’ll always recommend this series.

Ellie Diamond — A Book Published in 2021

A book that I actually read last year, but has been released this year was The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna. I’ve not actually talked much about this book this year. It’s only been recently released, but it’s definitely a book that everyone should be checking out. Look how gorgeous it is! This follows Deka, a girl who has been raised in a village assuming she was a normal human. But on the day of an important ceremony, it’s revealed that she has demon blood and she is sent away to be trained in a special army of demons. I loved this book so much and I’ll definitely have to reread it some point this year.

Ginny Lemon — A Book with a Shocking Plot Twist

I struggled a little with this one. Which is weird. You’d think I’d remember the shocking plot twists. But I guess it’s more that I don’t remember whether I was shocked or not. So I chose Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury. I pretty much didn’t guess a lot of things in this book. It was a short read, but a definite page-turner. This book is very twisty and I enjoyed it very much. I can’t really say what the twists are as spoilers, but it’s definitely worth a read. Everyone thinks they know what happened to Alva’s mother and she’s desperate to get out of this small village. But as she goes to leave, a dark secret comes to light.

Joe Black – A Misunderstood Character

I’ve picked a villain for this. I’m sure many people would argue that he’s not misunderstood. But I look at this boy and see how things could have been different if certain things hadn’t happened. Steve Leopard is from the Cirque Du Freak books by Darren Shan. These books follow young Darren Shan, a boy who after stealing a spider has to take on the life of a half-vampire. Steve was supposed to be Darren’s best friend, but after certain things happen, he is forced into the role of an enemy. This is all down to destiny though and poor Steve winds up getting the bad end of the stick.

Lawrence Chaney — A Book That Makes You Laugh

I’m going with a rom-com novel for this option. The Unhoneymooners is by Christina Lauren, and is definitely a popular book. I listened to this on audio, and, boy did I laugh a lot. This book was mostly single perspective which I definitely preferred. Olive and Ethan may hate each other, but their siblings have recently gotten married. The wedding buffet didn’t agree with them though ,and rather than waste their honeymoon, Olive and Ethan get the chance to go instead. Pretending to be married is going to be a nightmare for them both, but at least they get to discover how much they really like each other.

Sister Sister — A Book About Siblings

I’m not sure if any of you will have heard of this book, but I’ve been enjoying this series. Soul Beach by Kate Harrison is sad, but it definitely has a focus on a sibling relationship. Alice’s sister Megan recently gained some fame on a singing show. But the fame got her killed. On the day of her funeral, Alice gets a weird email inviting her to the soul beach, where she would be able to see her sister. She doesn’t know whether this is real or not, but she does want to know what happened to her sister. I’m onto the final book of this series now and I’m excited to find out what happened.

Tayce — A Resilient Character

Resilience is a trait that Renata has in abundance. Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova is a YA fantasy where the protagonist has suffered a lot. Stolen from her family when she was young, she was raised in a castle doing things she regrets. Now she has been working with the rebels to bring the king down so no more children with powers can be used again. Renata has to do a lot of things she hates but she survives and even thrives. She doesn’t think what she’s doing is good or redeemable but she does her best and I love that about her.

Tia Kofi — A Character You Rooted For

Let’s go for a favourite series here. I adore the Chronicles of Ixia by Maria V. Snyder, and they start with Poison Study. Yelena has dealt with so much already by the beginning of the novel. You watch as she learns more about herself and tries to prove that she deserves to live. I love the friendships she makes, the love she discovers and the magic that she has to learn. I rooted for her from the moment the book started and she’s one of my favourite protagonists for sure.

Veronica Green — A Book That Disappointed You

This book didn’t completely disappoint me. I still enjoyed it to an extent, but it wasn’t what I was hoping. Not Your Villain by C.B Lee is the second book in a series. But the first part of the book follows what happened in the first book. Just in a different character’s perspective. And I thought this book would carry on from the end of the first. This meant that even if I was seeing different things, I had an idea about a load of the things that happened. And it was a little boring. It does eventually move on to new topics and plots. And the book did get more interesting then. But it…just wasn’t as amazing as I’d hoped it would be.

I won’t tag anyone but if you like Drag Race UK too, then why not do this tag yourself?