#1 Fan: Authors I Will Always Read no Matter What

Welcome back everyone! As an avid reader, I have read books by many different authors. Some who I loved and some who I didn’t. Today I want to talk about the authors whose books I will always read. There are two people who come to my mind when I think about this topic: Sarah J. Maas and Katie McGarry.

Now, I’ve talked about Sarah J. Maas before on my blog. Most of her books/series are in my top 10 book recommendations. I’m going to try not to geek out while explaining to you why you should read her novels. She is an AMAZING writer. The details, the arcs, the character developments, the redemption of characters, the plots! Its all so incredibly well done ALL THE TIME. The worlds she builds are so elaborate and well thought-out. As a reader, you can tell she took her time and really thought about everything. There is so much detail that goes into her writing. She is able to build book upon book and create a world the reader never gets bored of. I have reread her series, A Court of Thorns and Roses at least three times, and every time I find something else I hadn’t noticed before. (Fun fact: my sister and I both love this series so much that we got matching tattoos inspired by it! We have roses on our ankles for the first book).

Anyways, I highly recommend Sarah J. Maas; her books are always so amazing. You will become so attached to the characters. You will start the first book in one of her series, and when you finish it, you will realize just how far you’ve come in the world. You will be so far from the beginning that you’ll be amazed at how the journey all started with that first book. There is so much world building. All of her books are considered fantasy because they deal with fae, medieval worlds, kings, queens, magic, assassins, angels, demons, etc. The Throne of Glass series has eight books (technically). Assassination’s Blade is more of a prequel and Tower of Dawn happens at the same time as Empire of Storms. The A Court of Thorns and Roses series has three books and a novella right now; a fourth book is coming out early next year! Lastly, Crescent City is the first book in her new series. Right now, there is just the one book. Also, she does have a stand-alone book called Cat Woman which is a twist on the superhero tale.

If you want to know where to start, I suggest picking up A Court of Thorns and Roses. It is a fast read and the shortest series so far! You will still get a feel for her writing, world building, and characters. The characters in this book are my favorite ever. My favorite book in the series, though, is A Court of Mist and Fury. I just love where Maas takes the characters, and I love seeing them and the story develop further.

The next author I want to talk about is Katie McGarry! I feel like her books do not get the hype they deserve. They’re so good! Moving away from the fantasy genre, her books are more realistic fiction. They usually center around high school kids, motorcycle gangs, and the cliché good girl, bad boy trope. All of her books follow the same plot structure of new girl, new town, living with some distant family relative, going to school where she meets said bad boy, they’re told to stay away from each other, but they can’t, they start breaking the rules, something bad happens, they break up, someone is saved, and everything is all butterflies and rainbows again; they’re kind of like a less mushy version of a Hallmark movie; a more realistic version.

Her books are broken two into series: Pushing the Limits series and Thunder Road series. She also has three stand-alone books, but technically, all her books are kind of stand-alone books. You don’t have to read them in any particular order. All the books in the same series reference the same characters, and they don’t give much away from any previous books. Usually one book will introduce the character that the next book will be about. They are very easy and quick reads. I highly recommend this author and these series. I would start with the Pushing the Limits series because I think the books in this series are better. I also started with this series so maybe that’s why I think so highly of them. McGarry wrote this series first as well. The plot in these books is simple, but the character and actions are what really elevate it. I love her writing and the way she portrays her characters. If you want something simple to start with since there are so many books in that series, I would try Say You'll Remember Me or Echoes Between Us. Those are a few of her books that are not a part of either series. Also, she does this cool thing where she’ll make a playlist in the back of her book for the story and characters. I mentioned this in my last blog post, but I just think it’s so cool. She will include songs that remind her of each character and specific scenes in the book.

While McGarry is completely different from Maas, both take care of the worlds they build, they take care of their characters, and they take care of their readers. What more can you ask for as a reader?