Four London Book Tag

I saw this tag floating around over a year ago, and I’ve wanted to do it since I read the first book in the Shades of Magic series. For those who don’t know, this book series was written by V.E. Schwab, and it’s about four worlds that intersect at London. Each world has it’s own version of London (Grey, Red, White, and Black), hence the Four London Book Tag. The worlds used to be traveled between easily, but evil magic that destroyed Black London and tainted White London forced one of the worlds to close its borders. Only those who perform blood magic can travel to the different Londons and act as diplomats.

Before I move on with answering the questions of this tag, let’s give a shout out and credit to Arkon and Annie, who created this tag. There are some pretty difficult questions here, and I’m glad that they made me think.

Now on with the tag!

Grey London

A book that you keep going back to despite trying to quit it.

Lila can never get away from the Stone’s Throw, no matter what she does. What’s my Stone’s Throw?

I keep going back to Blood Promise by Richelle Mead. I have donated and then rebought this book two to four times now (along with the rest of the series). I always think that I’m finally done with the Vampire Academy series and that I’ve gotten my fill of that book, but then I miss it too much when I give it away. I’ve tried quitting it many times, and I just can’t.

A book/series that you’ve left behind forever.

The Maximum Ride series. After I saw the sticker that said “Maximum Ride R.I.P.” on the Nevermore cover, I couldn’t stop considering that as the last book in the series. I’ve felt put out over James Patterson continuing the series from there, so I refuse to read beyond that book. I haven’t revisited the series since.

A majorly bad book/series with just one beautiful spark.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child sucks and should not be counted with as part of the main Harry Potter series. It’s one beautiful spark is the sweet Scorpius Malfoy. He deserves all the love.

Red London

A book/series that you feel blessed to have read. Aven.

Aven, an Arnesian word used frequently in Red London, means “blessed.”

I suppose I feel blessed to have read Paradise Lost because it gave me a chance to study something that had a religious theme and to try to learn about a body of work in depth.

A book that changes every time you read it.

The official connection is to Kell’s coat, which seems to have an infinite number of folds. I see more of a connection to Red London’s ever-changing architecture.

There are few books that I’ve read multiple times. A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, has changed every time that I have reread it. There has been something new for me to take from it every time.

A fictional world that makes you feel love and fear. Antari.

Kell and Holland are rare and the most powerful type of magic-wielder. This makes them well-loved. They’re partially feared for the black magic that manifests in one of their eyes. I like Arkon and Annie’s analysis that “tiny mortals don’t like sentient beings to be able to do more than them.”

I love and fear the world of HBO’s Game of Thrones. The world is beautiful and ugly, loving and cruel, magical and political. The world is so real. I love and fear the people. I particularly fear the White Walkers and Cersei.

So much has happened since Season 1. There are characters I have changed my mind about. A long time ago, I didn’t like Sansa, but I’ve rooted for her now. I can say the opposite about Daenerys too because I loved and rooted for her and really came to hate her in Season 8. I want to see more of that world and follow more characters, but I’m afraid that whatever HBO would do would turn out as bad as Season 8. Also, check out the maps of the world in one of the title sequences.

White London

Book/series that started off meh, but ended up being great!

After witnessing the transformation of the cruel and hungry world of White London at the beginning of the trilogy, it was quite the transformation.

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That’s hard to remember. Maybe The Mortal Instruments series in different stages. I had a hard time getting into the first novel in the first trilogy and the second trilogy. (The six books dealing primarily with Clary Fairchild should be called two different trilogies instead of one series.) It took a couple of tries to get into both City of Bones and City of Fallen Angels, but the books that follow them are very good.

A book/series that you would kill for.

Those are strong feelings about a book. Is it kill to get my hands on? Kill to save from being destroyed? Kill because it ordered the reader to?

I’m not sure what to make of this question. I have strong feelings about the Harry Potter series (the original 7 books).

The world is dying. Save one book.

White London has been dying since Book 1.

Arguably The Complete Works of Shakespeare, but I think this should be a more fun answer. Forget what would be good for the world to keep. Let’s go with the book that I can’t stop revisiting, Blood Promise.

Black London

Name a book/series that has utterly consumed you.

Harry Potter. I can’t stop loving the books, movies, and fanfiction. This is one of the few series where I know the characters live on beyond the story in the books.

A book/series that you refuse to open.

As we avoid anything associated with Black London like the plague, I refuse to open Moon Chosen by P.C. Cast. I don’t want to read anything by her right now. I just don’t want to get into a series that’s going to become ridiculously long, like her and her daughter’s The House of Night series.

An author who controls your purse strings a la Osaron.

This is hard to think of because I avoid buying like this anymore. I don’t autobuy books by certain authors anyway. I stopped doing this with J.K. Rowling and Cassandra Clare. I guess if I find any Anne Rice book that I don’t already own at a used book sale or a thrift store, I will probably buy it.

Bonus Questions

Spinoff: What character/s from the Shades of Magic trilogy would you like to see have a spinoff?

Mind you, my desire for spinoffs is based on A Darker Shade of Magic and a piece of A Gathering of Shadows. These are who I want spin-offs for:

• Holland. I want to know how he became who he is or what it was like training Kell.
• The Stone’s Throw. I want to know this place’s history and maybe the owners or guests who have stayed there.
• Lila’s Guardian/Parent. I want to know who took out her eye and get some backstory on that.

Rule: If you could rule one of the four Londons, which one would you rule?

I have to say Red London because I have a skewed view of the other Londons because I have only read through part of the second book. Red London seems like it would have interesting architecture and has so much magic.

>^..^<

If you would like to participate in this book tag, consider yourself tagged.

That’s all for this tag. And it was a good reminder to tell me to finish reading the series. Have you read the Shades of Magic series? Let me know in the comments!