💘The Lover Book Tag!💘

Hello. I am spiralling.

Why am I spiralling you might ask?? Because I hate all my clothes and just impulse bought a new jacket online which has only added to the spiralling. It sounds stupid, I know. My anxiety is clutching at straws and running with it.

Anyways. To distract myself from the spiralling and the weird feeling that there’s a hole in my chest, I thought I’d do the Taylor Swift Lovers Book Tag.

I’ve done the Folklore and Evermore tags and I’ve had every intention of working my way back through her albums and doing those tags. But, because I’m a genius I waited until February, the month of love, to do the Lover Book Tag created by Nish & Ngoc’s Book Nook.

Yes that’s right. I’m continuing to milk the Valentines Day cow. Woop Woop!!

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I Forgot That You Existed  // A book that you want to forget you ever read.

“It isn’t love, it isn’t hate, it’s just indifference …“

I read a weird ass reverse harem book a couple of years ago that I would like to purge from my brain please and thank you. The entire time I kept asking myself “oh my god why are you still reading?!?!” and couldn’t give myself an answer. It was like a car-crash I was disgusted by but couldn’t look away.

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Cruel Summer // A book you turn to when the going gets rough

“Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes. What doesn’t kill me makes me want you more …“

My go to comfort read is All For the Game by Nora Sakovic. Even if I don’t go and re-read the series, I do go and splurge on fan content: fics, headcannons, fanart. Everything.

I have no idea why I find this series so comforting when it deals with such horrific contents. A more wholesome comfort-read is Percy Jackson.

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Lover // Your book OTP

“Have I known you 20 seconds, or 20 years?”

I have so many OTP’s that whenever I come across a question like this I just go with my current favourite which at the minute is Kaz and Inej from Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo.

I re-read Crooked Kingdoms recently and just various scenes such as “if I couldn’t walk to you I’d crawl” and then when Kaz is trying to bandage Inej’s wounds without his gloves, and then just the final chapter in general make me smile when thinking about them. I love them so much.

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The Man // Your fave kick-ass female protagonist

“I’m so sick of running as fast as I can. Wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man.”

(Honorable Mention to: “I’d be just like Leo, in San Tropez)

Another question that changes on the day-to-day. I feel like today I’m feeling like Penelope from the Carry On series by Rainbow Rowell. It’s that or I talk about Six of Crows again (Nina I love you!!!).

I finished this series towards the end of 2021 and really enjoyed Penelope’s character. She just proved that the chosen-one can’t survive without a smart and bold girl by their side. Also, the scene where she’s getting all legal. That was badass!!

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The Archer // A book with good mental health representation.

“All the kings horses and all the kings men, couldn’t put me together again”.

I feel like Alice Oseman does a really good job in all her books that tackle mental health. The next book of hers I want to read is Radio Silence which I hear also has good mental health rep.

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I Think He Knows // Your fave fictional crush

“I want you, bless my soul, and I ain’t gotta tell him, I think he knows”

There was no way I was reading Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy and not falling in love with Cooper.

He crosses off every box for my fictional crushes: dark haired badboy with tattoos who is actually a sweetheart. Plus Elle Kennedy wrote him as rescuing a puppy. How am I supposed to not fall in love with that!!!

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Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince // Fave angsty romance

“You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes …”

As Many Nows as I Can Get by Shanna Youngdahl is the definition of an angsty romance. Hence why I almost bawled my eyes out and why it made my favourite of 2021 list.

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Paper Rings // Book with an ugly cover that you absolutely adored

“The moon is high like your friends were the night that we first met ...”

Paper Rings is such a good “sing in the shower song”. It gives me all the serotonin I need in a morning.

I like wrestling and that paired with me being a reader means I like wrestling autobiographies. I read one in December called Young Bucks: Killing the Business from Backyards to Big Leagues and I enjoyed it so much that I finished it in like 24 hours. But the cover is just a no.

(Lowkey scrapped my entire December wrap up cause the covers of the books I read that month just looked terrible together lol).

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Cornelia Street // A book or series you never want(ed) to end

“I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends”

The final book in the series hasn’t come out yet but I really don’t want The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes to end. Not only do I love the drama and mystery to this book, I just overall like Avery, the main character, and seeing her live out the dreams of us all: inheriting a shit ton of money.

With that being said, I am 100% ready to have The Final Gambit in my hands right now.

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Death by a Thousand Cuts // A book or series that deserved a better ending

“You said it was a great love, one for the ages, but if the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?”

I love the Renegades series by Marissa Meyer so much but the ending really let’s it down. We go from big climatic fight to everything being more or less wrapped up in a neat little bow. No! Give me more!!

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London Boy // Your fave British male protagonist

“They say home is where the heart is, but God, I love the English”

When I was reading More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn I full on gasped when I realised Luke was British and then seconds later was like “why am I gasping? I’m British!”

I can say on the record that British boys are not special, their accent doesn’t make them cuter. Southern boys are just … southern and Northern boys call you “lass” and “duck”. I legit got called “lass” the other day at uni and was so confused. My own East Yorkshire accent was twice as strong that day.

(I say all this but I would not be opposed to more Northern/Yorkshire boys appearing in fiction – specifically East Yorkshire rep!)

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Soon You’ll Get Better // A book that your heart will never recover from

“I know delusion when I see it in the mirror”

I’m kind of cheating here. I’m going with The Infernal Devices but also The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare. These books are sad when you first read them and certain things happen. They’re twice as sad when you re-read them and know what’s coming and this time around see the build up to it.

Clockwork Princess was one of the first books I ever cried to. Really freaked my parents out when they came to say goodnight and I was just sat there in the dark sobbing. And I nearly dehydrated re-reading Lord of Shadows before jumping straight into Queen of Air and Darkness. So much pain I’m bound to experience again soon.

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False God // A character you would leap into the burning pits of hell to save

“Religions in your lips, even if it’s a false god, we’d still worship”

My boy Nico di Angelo. Would he need me to jump into hell to save him? Considering the fact that he’s already survived Hell imma say no, but it’s the thought that counts.

I’m very excited about the Disney adaptation of Percy Jackson but I’m not emotionally ready to see Nico in the flesh.

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You Need to Calm Down // A book with a powerful message

“Say it in the street, that’s a knock out. But you say it in a Tweet, that’s a cop-out.”

I recently read The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo and fell in love with it.

It really touches on the difference in how daughters are treated compared to sons; how parents can suffocate their daughters, blaming them for the male attention they receive simply for existing, aswell as generational and cultural differences within a family.

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Afterglow // A book you want to give a second chance

“Why’d I have to break what I love so much?”

I’ve gone through all the books I’ve read over the last couple of years and sure there’s books I want to re-read but none I’d say I want to give a second chance to??

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ME! // Best character development

“Hey kids, spelling is fun!”

Rose from the Vampire Diaries slowly but surely going from wrecklessly wanting to take down the system to strategically taking down the system counts as character development right? Either way I liked seeing her grow and mature as a person and as a dhampire over the six books, all without loosing what made her entertaining to start with.

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It’s Nice To Have A Friend // Fave friends-to-lovers story

“Church bell rings, carry me home, rice on the ground looks like snow, call my bluff, call me babe, have my back everyday, feel like home, stay in bed, the whole weekend, it’s nice to have a friend”.

The Play by Elle Kennedy is by far one of my favourite romances let alone friends-to-lovers.

Hunter and Demi start off paired together for a class project, grow closer and develop a strong and hilarious friendship which was so fun to read and in and of itself. Only a friendship thought, one because Demi has a boyfriend, but also because Hunter is going celibate for the hockey season.

This book was by far my favourite of the Briar U series.

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Daylight // If you could only read one book or series again and again, what would it be?

“I wounded the good and I trusted the wicked”

Either the Shadowhunter Chronicles or the Camp Half Blood Chronicles … ya know, cause there’s like a million book in each series. Work smarter not harder lads.

So there was the Taylor Swift – Lover Book Tag! I had a lot of fun and can’t wait to do it all again, next time with the Reputation album.

In my opinion Reputation is the best of the bunch so I’m excited for that. It won’t be for a while though because God these tags are long! Need to read some more books so I’m not recycling the same answers.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings on this album, the books mentioned or literally any other Taylor Swift album. Thank you for reading :))

Elli xx