Hi, friends! It’s uh…been awhile, hey? 2 years to be exact. But if you know us, you know there’s nothing like a new Taylor Swift album to bring us out of hibernation (sorry that we slept on you, Evermore 😭 )
Some quick life updates before we begin the tag…
- We finished med school! And we’re baby doctors working at the same hospital now 🥺
- Nish got a puppy 🐶 – his name is Chandler and he is more photogenic than we will ever be
- Ngoc got engaged (*insert Nish screaming here*)
- Taylor released FOUR!!!! albums
Anyway, onto what you all really came here for – the tag!
The rules:
1. Link back to the original creator of the book tag (that’s us!)
2. Thank the person that tagged you and link to their post
3. Tag as many people as you want!
Lavender Haze
“Surreal, I’m damned if I do give a damn what people say” – a book couple that persevere despite the odds
Nish: From my latest Book-Tok find, Twisted Love by Ana Huang. No spoilers but there is a LOT against these two.
Ngoc: Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games – need I say more？
Maroon
“And I wake up with your memory over me/That’s a real fucking legacy” – a book that gave you an epic book hangover
Ngoc: One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I could not stop thinking or talking about this book after I finished it, and I was already recommending it to anyone with a pulse long before I reached the last page.
Nish: Mine would be They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera. I finished this book at 2am in the morning and could not stop thinking about it for a long time after/could not read anything else while I recovered.
Anti-Hero
“It’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me” – your favourite antihero/unreliable narrator
Nish: Absolutely Mara Dyer from the Mara Dyer Trilogy. She’s an unreliable narrator who is slightly/majorly unhinged in the best way.
Ngoc: I would have to (unsurprisingly) agree – she’s absolutely insane, but I would also protect her with every fibre of my being.
Snow On the Beach
“But it might just have been you, Passing by unbeknownst to me”– A side character you completely forgot about (sorry Lana, where were you girl? 😭)
Ngoc: Andre from An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. It’s not so much that I forgot about him – I actually felt like Tayari forgot he was an integral part to the story for the final third of the book. I was so confused. Where did he go? And then he resurfaces at the end without any explanation and we’re just supposed to accept that?!
Nish: Okay so I was once upon a time obsessed with The Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Read. A side character in the series was Sydney Sage, and I personally felt like I just didn’t learn anything important about her in that series. Funnily enough I came to love her in her own spinoff series Bloodlines, and forgot how she was even connected to the original books until it was very clearly laid out in the plot.
You’re On Your Own Kid
“From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes/I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this” – a character that gives their all but it isn’t enough
Nish: SAY IT WITH ME. TRIS FROM DIVERGENT. *begins chanting*. I will never get over this Ms Roth.
Ngoc: I mean, he’s actually a real human, not a character – but Adam Kay (from his own memoir, This Is Going to Hurt). TIGTH is a heartbreaking but unfortunately accurate representation of how doctors in the NHS get treated, all while being paid less than the hospital parking meters.
Nish: Tbh Mr Kay’s life is a bit too relatable at the moment.
Midnight Rain
“He wanted it comfortable, I wanted that pain” – a book you once loved but have outgrown
Ngoc: The Darkest Minds trilogy by Alexandra Bracken – you have no idea how much those books (and specifically, Liam) had a chokehold on me. For years I wanted to re-read it and now I sadly no longer have any desire to pick it up again.
Nish: Mine would probably be To All The Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han. Though I still have fondness for the series, I just didn’t love the books as much as I once did – both the characters and the writing style felt too immature. I still think that 16 year old me would die if I ever met Peter Kavinsky, 26 year old me just feels a bit differently.
Ngoc: That’s so funny, because I was completely the opposite with TATBILB – I hated it when I first read it and then DEVOURED the series when I gave it another shot a few years later. I felt like for some reason, I was a lot more forgiving of Lara Jean and her immaturity/indecision.
Question…?
“Does it feel like everything’s just second-best after that Meteor strike?” – a sequel that doesn’t live up to the first book
Nish: I remember loving Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, and I read the entire trilogy but just felt the second and third books did not live anywhere up to the first.
Ngoc: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver. I read this series in my peak dystopian era, and I thought Delirium was genius. Sadly, Pandemonium felt like a bit of a filler for me – the plot was meh and the love triangle felt forced.
Vigilante shit
“Lately I’ve been dressing for revenge” – favourite revenge plot
Ngoc: Tatiana Lightwood from The Last Hours series. I know technically this series is based on Great Expectations, but Cassandra Clare’s writing just hits different, ya know?
Nish: I actually haven’t read many revenge based plot books (if you have any good recs let me know!) but Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn had me *shocked emoji* the whole time. I may not condone what MC Amy did but damn does she do it well.
Bejeweled
“Diamonds in my eyes/I polish up real nice” – best character development
Nish: One of my favourite character arcs is Don Tillman in The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, where he is changed throughout the book by a certain someone but doesn’t lose the essence of himself.
Ngoc: Draco Malfoy. I think the movies did him a huge disservice by not including *certain scenes* from Deathly Hollows and he definitely deserved a better redemption arc than he got, even in the books.
Labyrinth
“Oh no, I’m fallin’ in love again” – a book you did not expect to love
Ngoc: Call Me Maybe by Cara Bastone. I was kind of in the mood for an easy contemporary romance, but I didn’t expect to love this so much! It’s exclusive to Audible and the narrators do such an amazing job! I listened to this at the gym a few times and it had me grinning cheesily like a maniac.
Nish: I am not one for non-fiction so I had reservations going into I’m Glad My Mum Died by Jennette McCurdy – I listened to the audiobook (narrated by Jennette) and thought it was exceptional!
Karma
“Sweet like honey Karma is a cat purring in my lap because it loves me” – a character who gets what they deserve
Ngoc: I’m kind of cheating a bit, but I hope that Daphne from the American Royals trilogy gets served a good slice of karma pie in the finale, Rivals. No fictional character has riled me up quite as much as this nasty, two faced, scheming little backstabber.
Nish: President Snow from The Hunger Games got exactly, exactly what he deserved.
Sweet Nothing
“I find myself running home to your sweet nothings” – your favourite comfort read
Ngoc: It comes as a surprise to absolutely no one that mine is Pride and Prejudice. It truly feels like coming home every time I lay eyes on that infamous opener “It is a truth universally acknowledged…”
Nish: When I think of comfort reads, I think of rereads. I honestly could have a third degree in rereading. A PhD even. My go to reread is The Deal by Elle Kennedy, an answer I have given before and will give forevermore.
Mastermind
“I laid the groundwork, and then, just like clockwork, the dominoes cascaded in a line” – a character you would mastermind your way into a relationship with
Nish: I would come up with a solid 42 point plan to date Will Herondale from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare…in fact perhaps I already have…
Ngoc: You know it’s gotta be Jem Carstairs for me, because damn, Cassandra Clare writes her men well. An added bonus – Will and Jem are besties so the four of us would just live happily ever after in a four way best friendship, and what could be better than that?
Nish: Literally would be livin’ the dream.
If you’re still reading…thank you for sticking with us and we hope you’ve enjoyed the tag! Please feel free to share/respond/tag others (and most importantly, if you’ve enjoyed Midnights, let us know what your favourite songs are!
Until next time,
(which, honestly, could be a week, a couple of months, or even another few years, who knows? 😂)
Nish and Ngoc's Book Nook 