Midnights Book Tag

It’s here. Taylor Swift’s Midnights is finally here.

And people have already created book tags in its honor.

Three hours after the album’s release, Taylor dropped a 3 AM edition with MORE SONGS.

THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST INTENSE TAYLOR RELEASE OF MY LIFE THUS FAR.

I’m doing both the Midnights Book Tag (Pt 1.) and the Midnights Book Tag (3 AM Edition) from Star is All Booked Up.

Best believe if I find more Midnights tags, I will be doing those also.

Lavender Haze: A book you will always love and defend

BookTok has been pissing me off of late. Their worst move was putting The Black Flamingo on a problematic books list because…a cis man did drag? Who knows.

I love this book. I’m moved every time I read it. BookTok is full of shit.

Maroon: A spicy book

Katee Robert, master of spice, just released The Demon’s Bargain.

I might have liked it even more than The Dragon’s Bride.

I screamed SEVERAL times at different plot points.

Anti-Hero: Unreliable narrator

I would like to make very clear that the women in How to Be Eaten can be trusted about their own experiences.

The stories they tell are true, even though they sound fantastical.

The unreliable part comes from their takeaways.

The women believe (and are repeatedly told by the public) that they were the aggressors, that they’re liars, that what happened to them wasn’t that bad, that they wanted it.

None of them believes they’re a victim until they start comparing notes.

Snow on the Beach: An unexpected surprise

I was shocked to see a new book from Alexis M. Smith, author of my beloved Glaciers.

I grabbed her new novel Marrow Island from one of the display tables at Powell’s.

I’m excited.

You’re On Your Own, Kid: A character that really needs a hug

Lissla Lissar from Deerskin goes through more than anyone should have to.

It takes her a long time to recover.

I feel saddest about her reluctance to connect with others despite her obvious desire to.

Midnight Rain: Star-crossed lovers

I DNFed Juniper & Thorn because I was under a lot of stress and the book wasn’t helping.

Marlinchen and Sebas have a lot of obstacles standing in the way of them being together.

It’s TOO MUCH.

Question…?: Grumpy x Sunshine (or neurodivergent rep)

Act Your Age, Eve Brown has both!

Jacob (grumpy) and Eve (sunshine) are both autistic!

Eve hits Jacob with her car!

This book is incredible!

Vigilante Shit: Favorite character out for revenge

My friends tell me this is the plot of runaway bestseller Iron Widow.

They also say it’s a must-read.

Bejeweled: Strong character development

Honey Girl‘s Grace learns to divest her worth from her productivity.

This book is as much a self-love story as a romance.

Labyrinth: Second chance romance

American Gods has an interesting case with Shadow and his wife Laura, who died and was accidentally brought back to life by Shadow.

This book is weird. I love it.

I bought a used copy of the author’s preferred text while at Powell’s. I finally upgraded from my beat-up mass market paperback and I couldn’t be happier.

Karma: Favorite full circle moments or parallels

Piranesi has the best example of bookends I have ever read.

I got it tattooed on my body and EVERYTHING.

My tattoo artist listened to the audiobook while tattooing me. He DRASTICALLY misunderstood the plot.

Sweet Nothing: Favorite fluffy/cozy read

Girls Can Kiss Now just graduated to a comfort read.

I think about these essays constantly.

The one about the FBI really freaked me out, yet it also contains an amazing joke that twists “I. Am. LIVING!” into “I. Am. Technically Alive?”

I laugh every time.

Mastermind: Perfect world building and storytelling

It’s wild to think that Phillip Pullman doesn’t primarily write fantasy. Whenever he does, the worldbuilding is incredible.

He released a novella called The Collectors this year. Of course I bought it.

It was perfect for Halloween. I described the plot to my mom and she was freaked out just from hearing about it.

The Great War: Love that rises even above the hardest times

I picked up I Hope We Choose Love and The Book of Delights because I have been really struggling this year to stay hopeful in the midst of everything.

I would like for something to cut through the dread I’ve been feeling for a while.

I’m interested to hear Kai Cheng Thom and Ross Gay’s perspectives.

Bigger Than the Whole Sky: A book that deals with grief

Transcendent Kingdom deals with complex grief.

Protagonist Gifty was abandoned by her father, lost her brother to drug addiction, and is caring for her ailing mother.

She tries to process all of these things along with her previous faith over the course of the book.

Paris: Favorite escape

I am rereading One Last Stop for the third (?) time this year.

I can’t often picture a happy future.

This book makes one seem within my grasp.

High Infidelity: Love triangle

Wicked Beauty starts as a love triangle between Achilles, Patroclus, and Helen.

It resolves with all three of them in a relationship.

Interestingly, it portrays both men as equally attracted to Helen, though both agree not to go after her.

This obviously doesn’t last long and all three of them have to deal with the fallout.

A lot of people didn’t like this plot point. I thought it was handled well.

Glitch: Friends to lovers

This stays my least-favorite trope.

(Funnily enough, I really like this song.)

A Lesson in Thorns technically qualifies, as the six main characters all grew up together.

As adults, they form a secret society/cult.

It’s fine.

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve: A book you wish had a different ending/DNFed

On Rotation easily could have been a top ten contender if it had handled Ricky differently.

Ricky is all of my worst dating nightmares wrapped up in one character.

The narrative tries to paint Ricky as the injured party after he

• gives Angie mixed messages
• flirts with Angie while he has a long-term girlfriend
• tells Angie he doesn’t want a serious relationship after treating her like a girlfriend from jump
• ghosts Angie

Fuck Ricky. I wish Ricky a very Leave Women the Fuck Alone.

If this book had been advertised as a horror novel, I might have been okay with the ending.

Dear Reader: A book that taught you something important

I picked Conversations on Love for this prompt before having some of the worst weeks on record.

Conversations taught me that love is sometimes about luck and bravery and that rejection can be a gift.

It was helpful to hear at the time.

I have two more Midnights tag posts prepped and ready to do.

I have been listening to the album pretty much nonstop.

My favorite song changes daily.

“Anti-Hero” gets stuck in my head most often, so that might be my favorite.

This will not be cleared up in time for the next post.