Top 5 Saturday: Books About Killer Plants
This Saturday Top Five series was created by Amanda at Devouring Books, she has kept it going since last October, every Saturday and holy hell has it grown!!! I don’t typically tag anyone but anyone and everyone is welcome to join. Here is the schedule for May
Rules!
- Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
- Tag the original post (This one!)
- Tag 5 people
The Saturday Top Five Schedule for May:
5/2/20 — Retellings
5/9/20 — Books with a Number in the Title
5/16/20 — Books by Debut Authors
5/23/20 — Books about Plants/Flowers (Can be on cover, in title or plot)
5/30/20 — Books from a Male POV
Sixth Sense
Puts on really creepy kid voice…
I see killer plants… they’re everywhere
I’ve been telling Amanda (and anyone else that would listen) that over the past year I’ve seen this trend of deadly plants in books. In my recent interview with M.R. Carey, he made a really good point.
“You’re right, ecological themes are everywhere right now. But we tell stories about the things that are looming up big in our own minds. The trick is to tell them, so they feel new even if you’re treading over familiar ground. Everything is in the execution.”
Top 5 Books: Plants Gone Wild
*Bonus Points! One even goes into my favorite topic- YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE DAMN FAE!
Execution. Yes. Execution. Let’s talk about that for a moment. While all these books have some kind of killer flowers, plants, forests etc… each book is very different than the next. The execution of that vehicle is very different, which keeps it from feeling overused or repetitive. Sometimes it is the centerpiece of the book, sometimes it is symbolism, and then sometimes it is a strong but secondary piece of the plot. With that, let’s get these five reasons to maybe not stop and smell the roses, or any other flower, started.
*All but two (either as a backlist or ARC) are apart of the Spring/Summer Fling 2020 (update coming this week)! And one of those is apart of LAST YEAR’S Summer Fling!
All reviews/interview/relevant blog tour links are provided so no long explanations necessary this week (LUCKY YOU)… except, of course the first one… but of course!
1) Six Of Crows and Crooked Kingdom
Yeah, let’s go ahead and get this over with first… give it to me… let’s go…
BUT! I feel like I should just tell you that when you roll your eyes at me when I put Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom into something, or talk about it? You know what that eye roll looks at to me? Yeah, even when it is Tony Stark? You know what you are basically doing, right?
Plus I’m sure Kaz would love to sit down and have a perfectly civilized conversation, with his cane about all of this, if you would like. Perfectly. Civil.
Photo Courtesy of Merwild
Anywhoo, you guys know I’m a big marshmallow lol. I’ve never actually reviewed SOC/CK on this site because it predated this site and sooooooooo I linked the post (which is very old and lord I’ve never gone back to look at it which scares me) that list this and other books that led me to start this site.
For those of you scratching your head as to how in the world SOC/CK ended up on this list? Jurda Parem, my dears. Jurda is an innocent plant- stimulant. Parem is another ball game. Used to enhance Grisha abilities, it is highly addictive and wipes their bodies clean out. It is up to Kaz and company to stop it from basically committing Grisha enslavement, and eventually genocide.
Summary: Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. The gripping Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom duology, by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Leigh Bardugo, is now available in a stunning hardcover boxed set. Follow Kaz and his crew into a world of magic and mayhem as they attempt to pull off—and survive—the job of a lifetime.
Category/Genre: YA Dark/Epic Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Release Date: September 2016
Publisher: Henry Holt
2)The Book of Koli (Rampart Trilogy #1) (Review Link) By M.R. Carey (Interview Link)
The Trials Of Koli (Rampart Trilogy #2 Coming September 15th)- Not Linked Because- Spoilers!
But plenty coming- Watch this space!
Summary: The first in a gripping new trilogy, The Book of Koli charts the journey of one unforgettable young boy struggling to find his place in a chilling post-apocalyptic world. Perfect for readers of Station Eleven and Annihilation.
Beyond the walls of the small village of Mythen Rood lies an unrecognizable world. A world where overgrown forests are filled with choker trees and deadly vines and seeds that will kill you where you stand. And if they don’t get you, one of the dangerous shunned men will.
Koli has lived in Mythen Rood his entire life. He knows the first rule of survival is that you don’t venture beyond the walls.
What he doesn’t know is — what happens when you aren’t given a choice?
Category/Genre: Adult Sci-Fi/Dystopian/Apocalyptic
Released: April 14, 2020
Publisher: Orbit Books
3) Girls with Sharp Sticks and Girls with Razor Hearts by Suzanne Collins
Summary: The Girls of Innovations Academy are beautiful and well-behaved—it says so on their report cards. Under the watchful gaze of their Guardians, the all-girl boarding school offers an array of studies and activities, from “Growing a Beautiful and Prosperous Garden” to “Art Appreciation” and “Interior Design.” The girls learn to be the best society has to offer. Absent is the difficult math coursework, or the unnecessary sciences or current events. They are obedient young ladies, free from arrogance or defiance. Until Mena starts to realize that their carefully controlled existence may not be quite as it appears.
As Mena and her friends begin to uncover the dark secrets of what’s actually happening there—and who they really are—the girls of Innovations will find out what they are truly capable of. Because some of the prettiest flowers have the sharpest thorns.
Category/Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi/Horror (I mean not traditional but- come on, man?!)
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Released: March 2019/March 17, 2019
4) New York Times Best Selling Wilder Girls (Review Link) By Rory Power (Interview Link)
Follow-Up (and INCREDIBLE!) Burn Our Bodies Down Review – (Releases July 7th, 2020- Information also in Spring/Summer Fling 2020)
also fitting into this week’s theme– yeah I sneaked that one in- but read the review because you best start preparing NOW
Summary: It’s been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty’s life out from under her. It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don’t dare wander outside the school’s fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything.
But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there’s more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true Unfortunately for Buc, the gods have other plans. Unfortunately for them, so does Buc.
Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror
Release Date: July 9th, 2019
Publisher: Delacorte Press
5) Venators (Book #2): Promises Forged
To be very careful of spoilers and to get everyone pumped up for The Write Reads The Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour for Promises Forged and then the soon to be released Book 3- Legends Rise, I’m going to cut and paste everything straight from my Spring/Summer Fling 2020 post. I think I reread how I did it there about 100 times now to make sure I got it all right.
I can say this, though. Promises Forged gets ALL THE BONUS POINTS.
You have a dangerous forest and flowers, and why? BECAUSE YOU DON’T MESS WITH DAMNED FAE. <breathing> That isn’t a spoiler. It is a fact.
At some point, it is going to become a tattoo. It is just getting to that point. “Brick By Brick” and “YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE FAE.”
Below you can see my review for the first book Venators: Magic Unleashed and the cover reveal for Venators: Legends Rise. Also, an amazing video interview with author, Devri Walls. Once the second round the blog tour is completed for, Venators: Promises Forged (I will have an AMAZING GUEST POST coming from Devri Walls on June 2nd), I will link the review below (same for Venators: Legends Rise). Due to the Pandemic, let’s see how many times I have to say that, there are two separate release dates, as of now. The original release date of May 12th still stands for the audible and e-book. The paperback is not set for release until September, AS OF NOW (as always, that could change).
Links:
Venators (Book #1): Magic Unleashed- Review
Venators (Book #3): Legends Rise – Cover Reveal and Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour Details
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Release Date: May 12, 2020 Ebook/Audible and September 22, 2020 (Paperback)
Publisher: Brown Books Publishing
Sooooo…. How are you feeling about plants, flowers, the birds and the bees…. (if you get that reference, you get all the points)?
This week I am launching a challenge for some new friends to join us! And go check out their sites!
Rachel – Rachel With A Blog
Tattooed Book Geek (we need some guys around these parts)!
Madeline- Mads Books
Scarlett- Readz and Runz
Ahh I’m so happy to see your post! I would have never thought about SOC and Jurda Parem!!! Totally fitting. Makes me wish I thought to add The Poppy War!!
I’m dying to check out Girls with Shapr Sticks now. I never knew what that book was actually about. And I still have yet to read Burn Our Bodies Down!!
Ohhh…. I haven’t read that but yes. It would’ve fit. I completely forgot Aurora Rising and Burning so we both let them slip.
Do you have an ARC of BOBD? If so, drop everything and read it NOW. LOL
I do have a copy of Burn Our Bodies Down. I read like three pages but I feel like the blurb doesn’t tell you much what it’s about. LOL I guess I should just read it because I did LOVE Wilder Girls..
With Rory Power, you don’t want to know anything, really. The less you know the better. So that’s good. Just dive in and go with it. Because where you start, especially with this book- even more than Wilder Girls. You have no idea where you are going. I mean. NO CLUE. I made sure my review kept it that way.
You threw me for a loop with SOC and then I was like ohhhhh! ????. Awesome picks here, I’ve been looking forward to you doing your killer plant post ????
thank you! I can’t believe I forgot Aurora Rising/Burning though. bleh lol
Oooooo! Good list! I’m literally about to pick up Promises Forged again right now. Not even a quarter of the way through but I’m intrigued. Can’t wait to see how the plant stuff comes into play!
Thank you! Oh the FAE… it is all about the FAE… DON’T MESS WITH THE FAE! I hope you LOVE IT! 🙂 Also I saw and retweeted your post this morning! Good to see you back! Miss your face!