No, I am not writing this because it's my birthday this weekend.
But yes, I absolutely am writing this because I love talking about books that I love, and since I talked about books for boys... I thought I might as well talk about some books for girls that are some of my personal favorites.
Also... I've been having a hard time loving reading recently and thought this might be a fun way for me to go back and reminisce about books that made it very easy to love reading.
Because I wanted to not do any duplicates of books that I've already talked about, these aren't all necessarily my favorite books ever, but they're definitely at the top of my list, and hopefully, you'll enjoy them too if you pick any of them up.
In addition, I listed them from best characters, to least best characters (because none of them really have bad characters), but that doesn't mean the book with the best characters is necessarily the best book, it's just the one that I connected with most and really enjoyed the characters.
1. The Lunar Chronicles by Melissa Meyer
This series has to go first because it has the coolest characters ever, is one of the most unique fairytale retellings I have ever read, and is just ultimately one of my favorite series ever.
It's hilarious, cute, has tons of action and twists, and incredible worldbuilding. The characters and romances are adorable. The villain is perfect. And I could go on and on.
The first book, Cinder, is a Cinderella retelling where Cinderella is a cyborg and has a cruel stepmother in a future China where everyone is dying from a disease. The second book, Scarlet, a Red Riding Hood retelling, follows a girl trying to find her grandma as Lunar wolves try to attack and take over Paris.
The third book, Cress, is a Rapunzel retelling about a girl trapped in a space satellite that is half-rescued by Cinder and Scarlet's motley crew and then crashes into Earth. And finally, Winter, the fourth book, wraps everything up in a Snow White retelling following the daughter of the Lunar queen, who is going insane.
So... it's a lot of characters and a lot of stories and everything fits so perfectly and it's so so well written and the way that every fairytale has its little nuances and ways it tweaks the story... these books are amazing. Incredibly, perfectly amazing and I would absolutely recommend them to anyone and everyone.
2. Unraveling by Sara Ella
So, Unraveling is actually the sequel to Unblemished/the second book in the Unblemished trilogy and, since I couldn't include Unblemished (since I already talked about that one) I had to recommend the second one.
And this one is honestly probably my favorite of the whole series, and my second favorite of all of Sara Ella's books (Coral being my first favorite).
Think pirates and palace prisons and beaches, love triangles and love potions and adorably snarky little sister. Or think the cutest romance on earth, mixed in with villains and twists and romance gone wrong, half-sisters and protective brothers and magic falling apart.
It also has my most favorite guy character ever - Kyaphus Rhyen - who is amazing (probably why this one is so high on the list of favorite characters lol).
But really, the themes are my favorite too - themes of finding your identity and knowing who you are and your inner beauty, all based not on ourselves or the characters, but on the Verity, which in a sense symbolizes the Holy Spirit or God.
So if you're wanting a book with adorable aesthetics and cool settings and pirates, but not cliche at all (and not really pirates), and a theme and message that constantly points back to God, go read Unblemished, and then read this one!
3. The Words We Lost by Nicole Deese
This is the last book I read that really truly hooked me - as in, I couldn't put it down and wish there were a hundred sequels - and I've been waiting for it for like... months. Ever since I knew the release date and saw who it was dedicated to and heart the heart behind it.
Now, some writers or authors don't like to read books about writers... but I do. Something about it is just fun to read and I connect in a way that I don't connect with very many other passions/jobs, so I was very excited when I thought that the main character in this was an author.
I was wrong.
The main character is an editor, and her best friend is the author. Thing is, her best friend is dead.
Instantly, the whole book hit differently because I couldn't stop imagining that I was the best friend that had died, I was the author who left her fanbase without a finished novel, and I was the person that left people they loved behind.
So yes, this book is the first one in a while that made me cry. It's a book that somehow... felt like home, and I can't get it out of my head. (And yes, it sparked like twenty hundred million book ideas in me... but that's for another blog post!)
I'll do a more in-depth review in the future, but for now, I just want to say that Nicole Deese does a beautiful way of expressing deep themes and grief and heartache, and this is definitely one of my favorite books ever.
4. The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson
So, this is actually not a full-length novel, but a novella - in other words, if you're wanting something short and sweet, but also full of incredible, relatable characters and a chilling, twist-filled plot, this is the book for you.
Think a girl that's insane, imaginary friends, multi-worlds, and a character that just wants to be loved, and when she finds out the boy she thought was just fake is actually real... she loses him.
Also, Kara just has amazing writing and incredible themes mixed into the most unique plots and stories ever. She's one of my instructors for The Author Conservatory and I have absolutely loved receiving her feedback and brainstorming ideas - she has been such a blessing to me and my stories, and most of my ideas somehow trace back to her.
This was the first book I ever read by her and... it has a special place in my heart. Maybe that's why I love writing characters that are slightly insane, or at least, everyone else thinks they're insane.
But really, this story is a masterpiece and has all the perfect mixtures of love and family, contemporary and fantasy, reality and dreams all combined in a beautiful, but short, story.
5. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
This book has one of the best love triangles of all time and a fascinating worldbuilding, society, caste system, and magic system. I can not vouch for the rest of the series (because I haven't read them) but this first book is... beautiful.
It has the vibes of Hunger Games but... a totally different world, totally different twists, and a main character who is killer. It has a super unique social structure, with different colors of blood (one of my all-time favorite things ever) cool technology, family ties, war, and all sorts of blackmail and hard decisions.
The twists especially are especially golden. I absolutely never saw it coming, but it fit so perfectly, which is just a testament to Aveyard's writing and finesse.
These characters will always hold a special place in my heart, and while it's not my absolute favorite book ever and it's not exactly Christian, it's a very well-written book and has fascinating worldbuilding that really just sets it apart.
6. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
This book is... a classic on so many levels. I almost don't even know how to say it but it's just... good.
I especially love the main character - you know those main characters that slowly are able to harness their powers, or become powerful, or just do the things by the end of the book, and it feels so... perfect?
Well, this girl does that. And the thing is, she's a princess that goes and becomes like a commoner, but it doesn't feel cliche at all. It fits.
It also has some super fun twists, revenge, excitement, and everything that makes a good modern fairytale. I got it for Christmas a few years ago... and finished it by that night. So yeah, it's good.
Hale is also a very good storyteller, so Princess Academy and all those books are good too.
7. A Cross Country Christmas by Courtney Walsh
And this final book is just... a fun, cross-country romance that made me laugh and smile and just grin so hard at the book.
It's one of those books you read for fun, and then it pulls you in with the adorable characters and deep themes and backstories and second chances. Also, it's a road trip where one of the main characters most definitely does not want to be there with the other character, or on a road trip at all.
What's not to love about that?
Courtney Walsh writes some of the best hilarious contemporary romances that are full of tropes, but not cliches, and this one is definitely on the top of my for-fun reads. It was honestly hard to put it at the bottom of the stack because it's so good and hilarious.
But Let's Remember
The best book we could ever read is the Bible - God's letter to us, His perfect story. No matter how many fantasy or fiction, biographies or devotions we read, it will never compare to His actual words. Nothing outside of His words will ever be completely true. Nothing and no one outside of Him will ever fill us up and complete us and make us feel whole.
He is our everything. He is the one that makes us complete. He is the one that fills in our imperfections and makes us beautiful and washes away our sins.
He is everything we will ever need and ever could need.
But it is beautiful when the books we read point us back to Him and His love and His perfectness. It's beautiful when authors' words turn us back to our Creator and we are able to glorify Him through that.
So as you're reading, remember that it's all for Him. It's all because of Him. Our worlds, our lives, our reading all revolves around Him.
And the characters in a book could be so so amazing, but they will never surpass the importance of real-life people around us. They will never compare to the actual people God put in our lives.
Reading is a way to see the world, but it is not the world.
God is our world. He is our everything, and the people He put around us are far more important than anything we could ever read. They are more important than any to-do list, any waiting laundry pile, any homework, and any work.
God put people in our lives so that we can glorify Him by loving them. That is what He commanded - to love the people he puts in our path.
So go and enjoy reading, get lost in another world, but never ever forget the real people God has put in your life.