STILL IN A STAR WARS MOOD.
Someone on BookTube created this tag and another lovely blogger expanded it!
20 PROMPTS. It’s a miracle.
I found this tag on several fabulous blogs that you can read for even more Star Wars content.
R2-D2: The lovable droid filled with sass
Name a book that made you laugh
The shade in Sharp is next-level.
I kept giggling over the insults.
I really wish these women had supported each other, but at least we got some great zingers.
Padme Amidala: Even though she’s not a Jedi,
she sure does kick some butt
Name a badass female character
Dread Nation just came out in paperback.
I. LOVE. JANE. MCKEENE.
Strength AND sass AND vulnerability.
Leia Organa: The girl gets herself into a rather strange love situation
Name your favorite or least favorite love triangle
Is this REALLY how we’re choosing to remember GENERAL ORGANA?
NO ONE TOLD HER SHE HAD A BROTHER.
The love triangles in The Steampunk Chronicles annoyed me.
Kady Cross seemingly forgets about her primary love triangle in the second book.
Probably for the best, as the secondary love interest was the most stereotypical focus group bad boy.
GIRLS LOVE BAD BOYS, DON’T THEY?
The series’ ADDITIONAL love triangles were equally dumb.
Cross teases a love triangle between Robot Sam, Gearhead Emily, and Cowboy Jasper.
Said love triangle amounts to nothing.
Jasper’s POV chapters introduce a cowboy/ex-girlfriend/gang leader love triangle.
Worry not, for the ex-girlfriend is evil and dies in the most confusing way possible.
WHY EVEN BOTHER, THEN???
Luke Skywalker: The last hope to restore the Jedi Order
Name a rising or new-to-you author that you love
I love Mariko Tamaki’s writing (she also did This One Summer) and adore Rosemary Valero-O’Connell’s artwork.
UUUGHGHGH Valero-O’Connell also worked on Lumberjanes. Loooove.
Their work is so soft and the book they created together is pure joy.
Anakin Skywalker: A character whose morals changed over time
Name a series that started out well but ended badly
The Maximum Ride series doesn’t have the BEST writing.
I tried reading the first book at least twice before I got into the story.
I did end up liking it. I got to ship a self-insert character with a broody bad boy.
(I’m easily bought.)
Oh, and there was a REDHEAD.
The series’ fourth book, The Final Warning, gets…
How do I put this?
Sure, the human-wolf hybrids were DUMB, but they fit the human-animal experimentation theme.
So why was the Flock attacked by ninjas…made of cubes???
NINJAS??
Oh, and James “Ghostwriter” Patterson makes some INTERESTING romantic choices.
FOR INSTANCE:
Fang falls for a scientist named Bridget who we later learn is 21 years old.
Fang is…14.
NO ONE OBJECTS.
One book later, doughy, brunette, 21-year-old Bridget the Scientist becomes skinny, red-headed, 18-year-old Bridget the Scientist.
Okay, STILL ILLEGAL.
Also, Bridget is supposedly an ACTUAL scientist, not an intern or lab assistant.
Being a scientist at 21 was a stretch, but 18????
The book ends with a message about global warming, because…
Sure, it seems super relevant NOW that the planet is dying, but back in the 2000s, the preachiness was LAUGHABLE.
JAMES. GET IT TOGETHER.
Qui-Gon Jinn: Lost to a terrible fate
Name a character who suffers a tragic death
Take a deep breath…
…and let it out.
That’s all I have.
Han Solo: Unsuccessfully using his wittiness to get himself
out of sticky situations
Name your favorite sassy character
My two favorite lanky shave-head boys.
(Jesper has a shaved head in my headcanon. Let it happen.)
Jesper’s a funny lad. This gem, though, comes courtesy of Ronan:
“I thought you were dead in a ditch.”
“Did you take notes for me in World Hist?”
“No, I thought you were dead in a ditch!)
I live for The Raven Cycle quotes.
Emperor Palpatine: A well-constructed character in a vast universe
Name a series with incredible worldbuilding
Do it. Stew it. Blew it.
(Could Palpatine be considered well-constructed?)
I love the credibility of the nightmareverse in The Handmaid’s Tale.
My 9th-grade English teacher recommended this book to us. She said it was important.
SHE WAS RIGHT.
I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO ADULTS IN 2007.
The book’s worldbuilding is excellent and the graphic novel uses visual storytelling to an amazing degree.
I love recommending this book. SPARE STORYTELLING. IT’S A MASTERPIECE.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Even though he is by-the-book,
he’s a force to be reckoned with
Name a series that exceeded your expectations
“FORCE!” HA!
I LOVE A STAR WARS PUN!
I despised Tamora Pierce’s The Immortals, so I came to the Protector of the Small series with some trepidation.
I liked it a whole lot, even more than The Lioness Quartet!
I LOVE Kel. I love Team Normal protagonists surrounded by a team of superheroes. (Hence my adoration of Scarlet Benoit.)
I dug the romance, I dug the animals, I DUG IT ALL.
It even tackled sexual harassment pre-#MeToo.
THIS SERIES HAS EVERYTHING. IGNORE THE FINALE.
Master Yoda: A being containing so much wisdom
Name a book or series that taught you something or made you grow
Queer, There, and Everywhere makes me wish I’d learned queer history in school.
Everyone you covered in high school history was likely queer.
Not sorry ’bout it.
Darth Vader: Learning about how he became this man only made us love him more
Name your favorite villain
I HATE QUESTIONS LIKE THIS.
This time, I came up with some decent answers.
The nameless protagonist in The Graces technically qualifies as a villain. Watching her villainous progression was a treat.
Perhaps she made mistakes, but I’m on her side.
And, as an honorable mention, I’ll include a horrifying entry I found on a YA villain list.
Said list named a surprise villain from The Raven Cycle: BEES.
BEES!? The greatest villain of all is BEES!?
This is how the world will end: Burn or Bees.
I choose Bees.
Chewbacca: Loyal to his friends, he’s always got your back
Name your favorite fictional best friend
I READ THIS BOOK IN 2015 AND HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR IT EVER SINCE.
I was on the “Lindsay is a nightmare friend” train from the start of Tonight the Streets Are Ours…but I had to get off.
Lindsay was a way better friend than I would have guessed, so much so that I STILL THINK ABOUT HER FOUR YEARS LATER.
I’ve wanted to use her for a prompt for a WHILE and I FINALLY remembered the title of this book!
All it took was the Google search “YA novels about catfishing.”
Oh, uh….spoiler?
C3PO: Despite his simple ways, he always gets himself into trouble
Name a character who always needs saving
Yipes, Cress.
I know Scarlet (MY FAVORITE CHARACTER) got into sticky situations several times, but she was pretty good at getting out of them.
Cress, not so much.
Girl SPRINTS into dangerous circumstances ALL THE TIME.
“This woman seems kind! Surely she won’t sell me into slavery!”
Cress, come on, what are you DOING?
Boba Fett: Witnessing the death of his father must have been difficult
Name a character who went through a traumatic childhood experience
It’s a tie between trauma peddlers Neal Shusterman and Kevin Brooks.
ALL of Kevin Brooks’ qualify, but the hardest for me to read was Candy.
Teenager forced into sex work murders her pimp? That’s appropriate for a 14-year-old to read. (Ninth grade was an interesting year.)
I love Neal Shusterman, though I have chosen to take an extended break from his prose.
Just read Bruiser as to why.
The eponymous Bruiser absorbs the emotional and physical pain of everyone around him.
I wonder now if the plot is a metaphor for traumatized kids.
It’s a TOUGH read.
Rey: A scavenger who JUST SO HAPPENS to be Force-sensitive
Name a character with a mysterious past
Something about Kell being left on a doorstep with a coin?
And his tricksy magical coat?
I don’t know what his deal is yet.
Honorable mention to Holland, whom I adore.
Stormtrooper FN-2187 (AKA Finn): Questioning his future,
he finally makes the decision to change sides
Name a character who has questioned their morals
In 2007, Young Lauren decided the book Evolution, Me, & Other Freaks of Nature sounded like the perfect book to confirm all of her religious beliefs.
SHE WAS WRONG.
Imagine the controversy of a 14-year-old evangelical stumbling upon a YA novel that hinted that Christians…could believe in evolution!?!?
I was not ready for the crisis of faith this book caused.
In the book, Mena, a fundamentalist Christian teen, is blacklisted at her home church just as her high school science class begins its evolution unit.
(That is oddly similar to what was happening in my life at that time…)
Evolution causes Mena to rethink her entire belief system.
Also, her parents think The Lord of the Rings is sinful.
Really, parents?
Outside of The Chronicles of Narnia, it’s hard to get more Christian than The Lord of the Rings.
Mena questions everything and comes out okay.
She’s…actually pretty inspiring in that regard.
Poe Dameron: An amazing pilot flying through hyperspace
Name your favorite series that travels through time
It’s a tie between The Magic Attic Club and The Magic Tree House.
There was quite a bit of time travel in the ’90s…
Who okayed this?
What were we trying to get back to?
Kylo Ren: Obsessed with an idealistic view of his grandfather
Name a character who will stop at nothing to fulfill their destiny
Natasha Ngan’s Paper Girls tried their best to survive a difficult situation.
Mean Girl Blue goes out of her way to gain favor, endangering her fellow Paper Girls in the process.
I don’t really blame her.
Sometimes survival trumps female solidarity.
Ugly, sure, but it happens.
IT HAPPENS, OKAY?
Maz Kanata: Even though she’s Force-sensitive,
she never trained in the ways of the Jedi Order
Name a character who doesn’t rise to their full potential
Poor Murtagh.
I might be biased due to the casting of Garrett Hedlund in the awful, awful film version of Eragon, but I LOVED Murtagh and I think Christopher Paolini did him dirty.
He has a more interesting backstory, personality, and moral alignment than Eragon, AND YET…we’re stuck with Immortal Whiny Elf and his scruffy cousin.
FUN.
BB8: Following previous droids is not an easy task,
but he is loved by all
Name a sequel you prefer over the first
Clockwork Prince was BY FAR superior to Clockwork Angel.
Clockwork Angel is boring.
Clockwork Prince does the love triangle right.
Too bad about Clockwork Princess, but I don’t like talking about that…
I’m in Oregon thinking about Star Wars, just like I promised.
First play of the week is Hairspray, which features a heel-face turn…
…which reminds me of Kylo Ren…
I am out of control.
Narrative Paradise 