Folklore Tag


This week has been all about folklore, Taylor Swifts brand new, brilliant 8th studio album. I am completely in love with it (and I can't stop talking about it!), so I'm super excited to take part in Cielo's book tag inspired by folklore. I'm so happy to get to combine my favorite books with my new favorite album. This is also my first book tag I've ever done! Thank you to Cielo for tagging me.
If you want more folklore content, I wrote a post for my music blog breaking it down song by song and sharing my favorite lyrics here. I also reacted to the entire album on my YouTube channel. I embedded the video below, but you can also watch it through my link here and subscribe to my channel here.
As you read through the tag, if you want to know more about a book, just click the title to get to my review. This post also features affiliate links to Bookshop so you can easily order a copy of your next favorite book. Using this link means I might get a small commission which would help keep the blog going at no extra cost to you.
I hope you enjoy the tag, and make sure to let me know in the comments which song is your favorite off folklore.

Rules
The 1 – A book you wanted to read but never did
“You know the greatest films of all time were never made” 
I bought We'll Fly Away by Bryan Bliss a couple years ago and completely intended to read it immediately. For some reason, I never got around to it, and I still haven't had a chance to pick it up yet. I just keep finding new books and it gets pushed down the line for my TBR. I think it's written in letters, and that's a format I'm really interested in. My bookshelf, if I don't read it right away, is where books go to get dusty 
Look by Zan Romanoff
Cardigan – A character that didn’t end up with their first love interest
“You drew stars around my scars / But now I’m bleeding”
Look
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Spoilers Below If You Haven't Read This Book
I can't actually remember if Lulu and Cass get back together in the end or not (I read a lot of books and my memory of endings isn't great. I also couldn't find a sufficiently spoilery review on Goodreads to figure it out), but I'm choosing it regardless because they were the characters that popped in my mind when I first read this prompt. Also, she was with Owen first in the book, so it technically counts. 
Anyway, I thought of them because of the lyric. Lulu feels uncertain about a lot of things going into the relationship, and even though it goes through some significant bad patches and never gets well defined, their time together allows Lulu to grow so much and gain a lot of confidence. I love this book so much.

The Last Great American Dynasty – A book with an epic female protagonist
“There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen / She had a marvelous time ruining everything”
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My brain instantly went to my latest favorite book when I read the prompt- He Must Like You.
Libby is as strong as a protagonist gets. She's been put through a lot, and she continues fighting for what's right. Libby, like Rebekah, is villanized by the town when she dumps a pitcher of sangria on basically the town savior, who also happens to be a serial harasser. She has to navigate a difficult road in a close-minded town while still fighting to get herself and her co-workers the safety they deserve. 

Exile – A book about walking out of a toxic relationship
“You were my town, now I’m in exile, seeing you out / I think I’ve seen this film before”
While this book centers around friendship instead of a romantic relationship, it felt like the only appropriate choice. I've never seen a more toxic relationship than the friendship that forms between Remi and Elise. The unreliable narration and twisty story support the exploration of how a relationship can go so dangerously wrong, especially when your world solely revolves around a single person. 

My Tears Ricochet – The fictional couple that made you suffer the most
“And if I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes, too”
Eliza and Her Monsters
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This fictional couple put me through a lot because they're so perfect for each other, but they take forever to fully accept that. I loved this story about two very lonely people finding each other despite the odds. I also loved Eliza's story arc of creating this super popular web comic that no one knows she produced and living this amazing life online and Wallace who feels out of place finding solace in what she's making.
Mirrorball – A swoon-worthy, sweet couple
“You’ll find me on my tallest tiptoes / Spinning in my highest heels, love / Shinning just for you”
How do you not swoon over the two hottest country artists becoming a couple? I loved reading Clay and Annie's story as they navigated fame, personal issues, a new relationship, and newfound adulthood all at once. They're a couple you want to cheer for, even through their rough patches. They both shine like a mirrorball. 

August – A book you’ve read very fast
“August sipped away like a bottle of wine / ‘Cause you were never mine”
I could not put this one down. It was just as brilliant as everyone said it was. Maybe more so. I have so much love for Felix, and the setting descriptions are so vivid I felt like I really was in New York. This book is the best of everything contemporary YA has to offer, and it ended way too soon.


This Is Me Trying – A coming of age book
“Pouring out my heart to a stranger / But I didn’t pour the whiskey”
Today, Tonight, Tomorrow
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This one might seem like a strange choice here considering it takes place in a single night, but Rowan and Neil really do seem to come of age over the course of the book. After graduation, they're forced to work together on a scavenger hunt around Seattle, per school tradition. Over the course of the night, there are feelings uncovered, dreams affirmed, questions answered, and security in newfound adulthood formed. 

Invisible String – A book featuring a road trip
“Time, mystical time / Cutting me open, then healing me fine”
Paper Towns
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This one and Amy and Roger's Epic Detour were the two road trip books that immediately came to mind. I read them both in the same summer a few years ago when I systematically read my library's entire YA section. Road trips open up the world to so many random antics and fun tropes, so they're always great for summer reading.  

Epiphany – A book that made everything disappear while you were having a rough time

“Just one single glimpse of relief / To make some sense of what you’ve seen”
I Wish You All The Best
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I read this book at a particularly high anxiety time. I was doing a lot of doom scrolling, which wasn't productive and was destroying my mental health. Mason's book lifted me out of that awful headspace and gave me the chance to live in Ben's mind for a while. Even though it's not an easy story, it totally captured my attention and gave me a pocket of escape.

Betty – A book with second-chance trope
“I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything / But I know I miss you”
What I Like About You
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Halle has a secret life on the internet as book blogger, Kels. Kels has tons of friends in the bookish world and even a crush on comic maker, Nash. When Halle moves in with her grandfather in Connecticut for senior year, she ends up running into Nash face to face. The only problem is that she doesn't tell him who she actually is when they first meet. 
When the truth comes out, Nash is understandably upset, and Halle has to figure out how to persuade him to give her a second chance. 
Peace – A book with a passionate affair that wasn’t meant to be
“But the rain is always going to come if you’re standin’ with me”
Verona Comics
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Possible Spoilers
You should be able to guess how this one ends when it's constantly compared to Romeo and Juliet. No one dies, but it isn't a story about enduring love. This whole thing is a massive spoiler, but I really loved the ending. Even though they figured out that maybe they weren't supposed to be in each other's lives forever, they still got where they needed to go and learned a lot from the experience. I almost like those endings more in YA than the happily ever afters. 
Hoax – The saddest book you remember reading
“You know I left a part of me back in New York / You know the hero died so what’s the movie for?”
How To Make Friends With The Dark
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This book emotionally destroyed me, probably because it centers around probably my greatest fear in life. When Tiger loses her mom, she loses everything. With no other family to take her in, she's put into the foster care system where she faces a slew of awful hardships that compound having to process the death of her mother. I don't usually cry for books, but I cried over this one multiple times, including one moment that was only a couple chapters in. Kathleen never fails to amaze me with her ability to totally devastate me with her words.


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Comments

  1. Ohh, nice tag!
    A few of thoses are on my virtual wanna read; the only one I did read is Eliza & her monsters. Absolutely agreeing with you on that one!

    Kristina @ books-and-dachshunds.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed. All of these books are all time favorites of mine, so I would encourage you to pick up the ones on your TBR!

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