What you NEED to read to overcome that ACOMAF hangover!

A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas has been out for almost a month now--and been sitting #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List for two weeks to boot!!!

We've all been reading it together. We've all been mourning the wait for the next book together. We've all been buzzing, been gushing, been talking, been EVERYTHING about this book.

One more thing we've been doing together?

Getting drunk on ACOMAF and having the BIGGEST. BOOK HANGOVER. EVER.

Ask around and everyone is saying the same thing: They can't read, or have no interest in reading, or everything is mundane in comparison to how amazing ACOMAF was.

I've been saying that all other books are like ashes in my mouth.

I mean, listen. I read one of this year's BIGGEST releases right after ACOMAF--a book EVERYONE is obsessed with. And I went MEH. *THEN* I read a book I've been wanting to read for over a year now. And I went MEH.


All I wanted to do was re-read ACOTAR/ACOMAF.

(And I had just re-read ACOTAR and first-read ACOMAF, and I never want to go back and start all over again right away! I think the last times I remember doing this were for The Hunger Games trilogy that I binged back-to-back and ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins. It's very rare!!!)

And so I DID. Well...I re-read certain parts from both books. Which I knew I would very early on reading ACOMAF. And I think I'm already ready to read both books AGAIN. ^^;;;

How can I move on to something new when I'm still so stuck in another world? Book after book, nothing was working.

I decided: I needed to read something SIMILAR to ACOMAF.

...But....there really isn't anything quite like it.

On a whim (And remembering NOTHING about the synopsis), I decided to try the adult fantasy series Tairen Soul by C.L. Wilson that has been sitting on my nook for years. I've always wanted to read it and have heard great things about it, but have never gotten around to it.

But these covers, though....

THIS WAS THE BEST DECISION EVER!!!

So far, it has helped me overcome my ACOMAF hangover in a way that no other book has come close to.

I think it's because there are themes that resonate the same way in both books, and it's structurally what I needed.

There are fae warriors in both books (And let me go on record: I'm not a big reader of fae books. These are more fae warriors than traditional fae in both books, and they read differently!). Both books also feature worlds where the fae/fey are feared, where their magic and choices bleeds into and affects the lives of humans. Both have wars coming that will change the fates of both humans and fae alike.

Both series feature human girls with drastically different, more magical futures than they ever envisioned for themselves.

Both books have prophecies and destinies. Tales of romance, of soulmates, of truemates.

Structurally, Tairen Soul is more like Maas' debut series Throne of Glass in that both books are in third person and have POV switches to other characters, including villains, while the A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy is in first person.

Both series are technically composed of adult fantasy novels. I don't really care that the ACOTAR series is in teen, because it's hard for me to recommend the series to a young teenager. It's just not meant for new teens (Sorry.) Maas and her publisher were originally going to publish the series as adult before deciding to keep it in teen with her ToG series.

Granted, I'm not saying that the two series are on the same playing field, because they're not. But the two worlds have enough similarities that my soul latched onto it when it wanted no other type of world after being so entranced by ACOMAF.

I've been enjoying the first book, LORD OF THE FADING LANDS, a lot, and have already moved on to the second book, LADY OF LIGHT AND SHADOWS. After I finish, there are still three more books in the series--and they're all published--so I'm really excited to have a lot of new reading material!!!

Why did I wait so long to finally pick this series up?

Well, for one, maybe the covers. They're so cheesy!!!! For another, I think I picked the series up right around when I started blogging more frequently, and I tend to read review books and ARCs for books I'm really excited about before I have time to read the stuff I've already purchased. ^^;;;

I need to get better at that!!!

But what's it about?

The series centers around a girl named Ellysetta who is on the brink on turning 25. Once she hits 25, marriage is no longer possible. Nobody wants her save for a bully she despises who tricks her into a betrothal. The series also stars Rain, King of the Soul, who harbours a Tairen Soul within him. He consults the Eye of Truth Oracle to find out if there's a way to prevent the Tairen and the Fey from dying into extinction and is called to the city of Celieria. Once in Celieria, Ellie's soul calls to Rain's, marking them as truemates. But how can a fey and a human be destined to be together? How can a human girl be fated to save the Tairen and the Fey...and to save Rain himself? There's more to this not-so-ordinary-human-girl than what meets the eye, and with war on the horizon, she may indeed have the ability to save them all--but only with Rain's help..

If you're suffering from an ACOMAF book hangover or, heck, just want to read something in a similar genre, check out the Tairen Soul series by C.L. Wilson.

You won't regret it!
  ~*~
O F F I C I A   I N F O:


Title: LORD OF THE FADING LANDS
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Release Date: Oct. 2, 2007
Publisher: Avon / HarperCollins
Received: Purchased

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17368138-gilded-ashesd
SUMMARY:

Once he drove back the darkness.
Once he loved with such passion his name was legend.

Once, driven wild with grief over the murder of his beloved, the majestic Fey King Rain Tairen Soul had laid waste to the world before vanishing into the Fading Lands. Now, a thousand years later, a new threat draws him back into the world—and a new love reawakens the heart he thought long dead.

Ellysetta, a woodcarver’s daughter, calls to Rain in a way no other ever had. Mysterious and magical, her soul beckons him with a compelling, seductive song—and no matter the cost, the wildness in his blood will not be denied.

As an ancient, familiar evil regains its strength, causing centuries-old alliances to crumble and threatening doom for Rain and his people... he must claim his truemate to embrace the destiny woven for them both in the mists of time.

  ~*~
O F F I C I A   I N F O:


Title: A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Release Date: May 5, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Received: For Review;
since purchased!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17368138-gilded-ashesd
SUMMARY:

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

 
Title: A COURT OF MIST AND FURY
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Publisher: Purchased!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17368138-gilded-ashesd
SUMMARY:

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

  ~*~

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