If I said that The Bone Season is like a roller-coaster, I would be lying. Most people would think this is a bad since roller-coasters are the most exciting rides at amusement parks. Well, most people are wrong. I am of the opinion that roller-coasters are just metal death traps with a deceiving name. We should not tempt fate by flinging ourselves in the air at unnaturally high speeds just for the sake of an adrenaline rush.

Anyway, The Bone Season is more like bumper cars. You are shoved into a small, mostly dark arena and told to smash into other people. There is no real structure to the madness. Due to conservation of momentum and other principles of physics that I vaguely remember from high school, as soon you crash into each other, both of you are repelled from each other. In The Bone Season, as soon as you touched something interesting, you are immediately pushed away. You bump into a lot of other people (or a lot of people bump into you if you are a rookie) but in the end you don't really accomplish anything.

Click the link above to read more of my thoughts on The Bone Season and my final rating!

Today I'd like to discuss adult fiction novels that I would recommend to readers of young adult, particularly since some of them feature main characters who are "YA-age." I was inspired to create this list because I loved reading Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, and I'm always looking to branch out more into adult fiction. I don't always trust the recommendations I get in that regard, but I'd really like to read more beyond YA. So here's my list of recommendations, separated loosely by some categories!

First up on the list...

FANTASTICAL FICTION WITH FAIRY TALE ELEMENTS:

The three books that I'm recommending under this category are: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, and Sunshine by Robin McKinley.

First off, Daughter of the Forest is what inspired me to make this list. It is the book I'm most OMGFLAILING INNERFANGIRLING over. It's set in the 9th or 10th century Celtic Ireland, and it's a retelling of the lesser known Grimm fairy tale, The Six Swans, I believe. Mel at the Daily Prophecy recommended this to me AND NOW I'M RECOMMENDING IT TO ALL OF YOU. I loooooooove the combination of the fierce, silent Sorcha (main character) with her romantic interest, and I loved rooting for Sorcha through all her harrowing trials. There's a language barrier (in more than one way) and character histories providing extra tension... and even though this a fairy tale retelling, with recognizable tropes like the Evil Stepmother, the characters are all so, so fully fleshed. The side cast is wonderful and these characters! These characters! #fangirling. I loved this book so much that I moved onto the next two books (despite not being as interested in the synopses for those books). Yes to more Juliet Marillier books!

One thing I will say is that all three of the books I'm recommending here are a tad slow to start. That doesn't mean there aren't things happening, but that it might take a while for those main plot events to really unfold. I wonder if that has to do with the framework of the fairy tale and fairy tale retellings in general? ANYWAY, I recommend these books to YA Readers because of the journeys that all three heroines have to undergo and the fairy tale like elements - the way these books are written, I can see a lot of YA readers enjoying them as well.

I've talked about Uprooted at length before, and in fact you can read a review from me about that book, but essentially I can see quite a large overlap between the two fanbases, so if you've not read one, definitely change that ASAP.

The other book is Sunshine by Robin McKinley, which is a vampire fairy tale. It's about a girl who doesn't know the extent of her magical powers, but when she's kidnapped by vampires as human bait, she has to find out what precisely she can do and save herself from a perilous situation. It's actually quite a bit different from Uprooted and Daughter of the Forest, which are more inspired by Grimm fairy tales. Sunshine has a lot more world-building than either of those two, I think, but all three have a distinct atmosphere and would not be what they are without their fairy tale like elements.

If you like A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, try out one of these books.

A COUPLE OF LITERARY RECOMMENDATIONS:

The two books that I'm recommending under this category are The Magicians by Lev Grossman and The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman is like if you aged Harry Potter and took away the youthful idealism, the paragons of virtue and symbolism and inserted a more cynical main character and magic system derived from the amount of effort that students are willing to put in. It's pessimistic and darker than Harry Potter, but also pays its tribute to the series that captured so many fans. It has its own literary truths about life and I've had several people tell me that it's "more realistic" than Harry Potter (mostly, I think, because the magic system is based on effort and that is a reflection on a lot of things in our lives now instead of memorizing spells).

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is set in a New England college, and involves a group of students who are in the same class with an enigmatic professor and start some... bad habits. Very vague so that I don't spoil the book for you, particularly since it's a contemporary literary thriller. Like The Magicians, this book has a whole lot of atmosphere and a huge set of side characters.

I'd recommend these two books for YA readers because even though they're more literary, they also have distinct character arcs and a character lens that you can find in YA, if you're reading a particular type. Like Seraphina for The Magicians.  If you like The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, try out one of these two books.

MORE COLLEGE SHENANIGANS:

The Secret Society Girl series by Diana Peterfreund is set in a fictional Yale. The main character is in the first cohort of females invited to an all male secret society. What happens after initiation = college politics, girl power, a hint of romance and a whole lot of fun. If you like NA books but want more of the actual college aspect to be covered, definitely give this series a shot.

ZOMBIE BOOKS THAT AREN'T ZOMBIE BOOKS:

On this list we have:  Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion and Feed by Mira Grant.

Don't be like my college professor and write off Warm Bodies because you're like AH YOUNG PARANORMAL PROTAGONIST! THIS MUST BE LIKE TWILIGHT AND THEREFORE I SCORN IT.

o.O

Warm Bodies was one of the first adult books that I'd read and immediately thought it perfect for the YA crowd. I actually reviewed it ages ago (not a very good review...), but I'd still recommend it to the YA crowd not only for the character journey but for the metaphor inherent to the characters. It has a sort of youthful idealism about what makes us human that would actually appeal to people who read Twilight and wanted to see the boundary between human and monster more fully explored. In this sense, to me the book is less about the main character being a zombie in a post-apocalyptic world and more about the meaning of life.

There's also a movie adaptation of Warm Bodies. Can't tell you much about that, but I can recommend that you read the book.

I also actually wrote a mini review for Feed by Mira Grant because the audiobook was FANTASTIC. It's hard to describe the world, but we've got cures for things like cancer.... but nothing for zombies. Zombies are everywhere, and they're the number one problem for government officials. Their platforms are about the zombie threat. Bloggers have become extensive journalists. The book explores the zombie problem while tackling tough questions about journalism, politics, and freedom. I thought that it'd be appropriate for YA not just for YA bloggers and the inherent appeal to our hobby but also for the youthful energy of the main characters, the sense of wanting to DO SOMETHING to make the world better or help in any way. I felt that way a bunch as a teen, and I think that this book, in not really being a zombie book, addresses that.

If you like Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor not because it has angel and demon figures but because it goes deeper into what makes us human and the horrors of war, try out one of these books.

URBAN FANTASY WITH KICKASS HEROINES:

On this list are: Soulless by Gail Carriger, The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, and Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill.

I've actually reviewed both Soulless and the Fever series and fangirled about them both. The Parasol Protectorate series incorporates steampunk, Victorian high fantasy and manners with politics, murder mystery, and other paranormal creatures. Sass and wit abound. The Fever series is about a girl who travels to Ireland to investigate the mysterious death of her sister and finds out more about their upbringing and the powers she never knew she had. The Chicagoland Vampires series is about a graduate student who was turned into a vampire against her will and who then gets involved in vampire politics and investigates various mysterious situations, including murders.

I would recommend these to YA readers because they all feature strong women at their forefront navigating unfamiliar landscapes. This is often at the heart at many young adult books, and I can see teens and adults alike being very interested in and invested in the paths that these main characters take.

If you like Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead or Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas orGraceling by Kristin Cashore -- fantasy series with kickass heroines at the lead, who usually have some snarky comment and are often the heroines touted for being "strong female characters" -- try one of the above books.

WANT MORE WORLD-BUILDING:

And finally, the last book is The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon.

I've raved about this book so many times - my first book review and my extensive fangirl-y posttrying to get people to read the series. It feels like y'all should just already know that I'm recommending this one to you. It's set in a futuristic London where this otherwordly creature has subjugated humans who have the ability to deal with the aether in some way (aka the magic system of spirit combat). The books mix a lot of sci fi and fantasy elements and have only been getting better as we get further into the series. I can't wait to read book 3!

If you like Court of Fives by Kate Elliott or just want more world-building in your YA SFF series/books, check out The Bone Season.

So, those are my recommendations for adult fiction for all of my fellow wonderful YA reader fans.Do you agree with these recommendations and the Like/Try/Why aspect of this? Have you read any of these books? Let me know!

As when I read Blue Lily, Lily Blue, I thought, while reading The Mime Order, how am I going to review this without everything being a spoiler? And again, instead of reviewing TMO, I'm going to make a case for why you should start The Bone Season, a series of seven very immersive novels and very well suited for movie adaptation.

 First, a little about The Bone Season:

The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon | Goodreads
Release Date: August 20, 2013
Published by: Bloomsbury

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.

Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine—a young woman learning to harness her powers in a world where everything has been taken from her. It also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

Now, about the book & series:

1.) It drew comparisons to Harry Potter for a reason. Here's the thing: I know a lot of people say, "NO WAY, don't go into this book with that level of expectations! She's nothing like J.K. Rowling!" Well, yes, no one is like JKR especially because JKR is still alive and writing. And two, I'm not advocating saying that this is the next Harry Potter, but I do think that the comparisons were there for a reason beyond the fact that it's a seven book series written by a UK author and published by Bloomsbury. If you look at these books from an objective standpoint, you see a few facts: they are both plot-oriented, with series and individual book plots intertwined and building on another, with characters secondary to world and plot but still possessing individual motivations and personalities that would influence world and plot, and very immersive worlds in which you can easily picture yourself, what sort of job you might have, and the level of roleplay I'd normally associate with video games. Which Harry Potter has, and I imagine, if TBS becomes popular enough, it would have in the future. So in other words, if you liked that there was a new adventure to HP in each book, that's another similar element to TBS. If you liked feeling like you could participate in that world and imagine yourself going to Hogwarts, you can do the same with TBS. And so on and so forth. Harry Potter was an ambitious series. So is The Bone Season.

2.) Each book can stand on its own in terms of plot. One of the main enemies of series everywhere is when you pick up the later books and don't understand the plot because you can't remember the plot of the previous book and this plot is mostly driven by series plots. It's true that The Mime Order does rely on a reader's knowledge of the powers and dreamscape described in The Bone Season, but I imagined myself reading without that knowledge of the world and figured that others would do just fine - there's enough context (in addition to an extensive glossary) to help lost readers. Shannon also reviews the plot of the previous book and continues with the plot of the Mime Order. It's one of the best workings for a series because everything feels richer, all intertwined and interconnected and building on already established themes.

3.) The world-building is phenomenal and imaginative. This is probably the element that most reviews agree on most frequently. A futuristic London. An alternative history for that future. Another race. A set of powers based on a spiritualist world and seven orders of them. The ether/aether of the nineteenth century brought to life. Spirit combat. So, so much more -- but I'll let you explore it for yourselves. Also you can read my original review of The Bone Season.

4.) Cinematic writing & improvement in writing. When I first read TBS, I was very impressed by the cinematic action. There are several scenes that read "MOVIE I WANT IT NOW" and indeed it's not at all surprising that Shannon's novel was optioned for film. I love this kind of writing because it appeals to non-visual reader me. I love too that when I read The Mime Order, it felt like Shannon's writing had already improved a LOT. I saw complaints about too many short sentences, abrupt pauses, etc. etc. -- I can tell you that I did not personally notice any of these things while reading the Mime Order. The Mime Order to me is a testament of how much Shannon can improve and again how cinematic this entire series and her writing is.

5.) The romance isn't everything but is steamy. Here's the thing: I also know that a lot of people were squicked out by the idea of romance in this novel simply because the summary makes it obvious that Warden has so much more power than Paige and there's a potential Stockholm Syndrome like dynamic between the two of them. But here's the thing: every book I read in this series, I think, so much potential. So when I read TBS, I remembered the six others and thought this chemistry is very well done for the first book. I'm already on board for their relationship. I personally like relationships that have tough barriers like this a lot more than ordinary relationships because it makes the dynamics more fascinating to explore as a reader. I trust Shannon to explore those dynamics and her first book already established that she can write steamy scenes. Same for The Mime Order. For readers less interested in romance, another great thing is that the romance enhances the main plot but does not take over the book/series entirely.

6.) Layers and predictions and all the fun things of series. One of my favorite part of series is the level of potential. Potential for the kind of layering you can't do in a standalone; for the kind of predictions about future plots and character deaths that again a standalone can't fulfill. With the first book of this series, I had the privilege of being involved on a group email thread with predictions for future books. One person suggested Beauty and the Beast and I was suggesting The Bell Jar for a certain symbol. Another was wondering more about the Rephaim and I'd pointed out She'ol, but neither of us could predict the extent of the internal mythology Shannon would develop in future books like The Mime Order (some predictions were half correct, others entirely off-base). It's already that kind of series. And those, for me at least, are the most fun. Kirkus Reviewseven mentioned that "this book is for those who like their dystopian science fiction multilayered, philosophical and complex."

7.) Paige is and isn't a Everywoman. Paige is one of very few dreamwalkers, so she does have a level of Chosen One ness to her, but Shannon helps to ground this element of Paige's power by making Paige's desires feel commonplace and Everywoman-like. A common element in various books is to point out how people are more than what you see, greater than the sum of their parts. One of Paige's most insidious fears is that no one will see her for her and will only ever see her for her power and what she represents. What person hasn't wanted to be seen? To be known for who rather than what you are? And in that it is easy to empathize with Paige.

8.) Adult/New Adult/Young Adult - HUGE crossover potential. This reminds me of Red Rising. Neither is a young adult novel, but both have younger main characters and could slide into the young adult category and draw some of its readers. If you're on the older end of YA or are looking for something a little darker, a little edgier and sexier than most YA, this fits the bill exactly. That's part of why, I'd imagine, the book was being marketed as New Adult fantasy/science fiction and thus would also appeal to fans of new adult looking for something different from the genre's usual offerings. And for the adult crowd, this is still an imaginative sampling in the fantasy and science fiction crowd.

To me it all comes down to whether you believe in the potential of the series and the author. I 100% believe in this author and I hope that you'll give her work a chance too.

Bloomsbury have been trying so hard to make The Bone Season happen. From the 6 figure advance to the Today Show book club to comparing its author to JK Rowling, they pulled out all the stops. And yet it only sold mid 5 figures in hardback. 

Why?

Read all about it on Bibliodaze!