Hello!

I’ve decided I want to start a new series on tiktok called ‘where’s the hype?’, shouting about books that I absolutely adored that I haven’t seen anyone else talking about that deserve to make it on to the ‘BookTok made me buy it’ tables at Waterstones.

So I thought I’d give anyone that reads my blog a little sneak preview of the books I’m going to talk about on TikTok – there’s a definite romance lean, because that’s what I enjoy the most (and arguably, so does TikTok) but what I liked about these books were the elements around the romance, rather than the romance being the bit I liked the most so hopefully that doesn’t put you off!

The Mismatch – Sara Jafari

Soraya knows she could never fall for someone like Magnus. He’s her complete opposite in every way. Popular and confident, Magnus seems to have his life figured out, while Soraya has got to 21 and has never been kissed.

Soraya’s mother Neda also knows what it’s like to feel mismatched. She left Iran with her husband in the wake of revolution, and the aftershocks of that decision are still being felt decades later.

When Soraya sets her sights on Magnus for her first kiss, the last thing she expects to find is first love. But sometimes the person you least expect might turn out to be the perfect fit . . .

A dual perspective, dual timeline narrative showing the parallels and differences between two Iranian women trying to figure out their relationship with their identity, highlighting what life is like in being an Asian immigrant in England and being a British born Iranian girl in London and all whilst trying to decipher the complexities around love?

I ate this up and writing about it here makes me want to reread it.

As a British born white woman who grew up in a working-middle class town and has faced no hardships due to my race in my lifetime, I love reading stories like this by authors who write from their own experience and getting an insight into what other’s peoples experiences are like. We can all empathise with feelings of loneliness and isolation – even if the causes aren’t the same, but I absolutely adored not only Soraya’s perspective in a contemporary UK trying to walk the line between her parents Iranian principles and her culturally British social upbringing but reading about Neda growing up in Iran and going to university and being a respected academic in a time where a woman being the main household earner would have been controversial was incredible. Her relationship with how she is perceived and deciding to wear a hijab was so interesting and considering I picked this up on a whim in The Works thinking it would be another one of those average reads that you wouldn’t find in a mainstream store like Waterstones, this is when I realised that the books in the Works are not warehouse rejects. I still see copies in the store even though I read it almost a year ago and I can’t sing it’s praises highly enough – I’m blown away that this is Jafari’s debut novel and I hope to see more from her in the future.

Ace of Shades – Amanda Foody

Welcome to the City of Sin, where casino families reign, gangs infest the streets … and secrets hide in every shadow.

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted. Frightened and alone, her only lead is a name: Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected – he’s a street lord and con man.

Their search for clues leads them through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets, and into the clutches of a ruthless Mafia donna. As Enne unearths an impossible secret about her past, Levi’s enemies catch up to them, ensnaring him in a vicious execution game where the players always lose. To save him, Enne will need to surrender herself to the city …And she’ll need to play.

I listened to the entire ‘Shadow Game’ trilogy on Audible last year and other than accidentally reading book 2 and 3 the wrong way round because I made the silly assumption that ‘Queen of Volts’ came before ‘King of Fools’, I cannot speak more highly of the fabulous world building in this universe. From the depths of New Reynes, to the concept of blood talents that teeter on the edge of magical without people having ‘powers’ per say, and the whole execution of the Shadow Game was just excellent. Again, writing about it makes me want to reread it!

Although there are romance elements, it’s definitely not the focal point of this series – it’s a fantasy that feels almost political, especially in book 3. Street lords, gangs, casinos and rumours of extinct blood talents send Enne and Levi on a hunt around New Reynes for Enne’s mother and although the narrator can be a little grinding in the audiobook at first, it’s a wonderfully immersive YA fantasy and I’m on a mission to find physical copies of the series and have so far only been successful with book 2.

Once Upon a Con – Ashley Poston

Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball, and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck (and her dad’s old costume), Elle’s determined to win…unless her stepsisters get there first.

Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons – before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but the Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake–until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.

I’ve included the summary of book 1, Geekerella, because whilst it is a series of three stand alones they make so much more sense when they’re read in order, but book 2 is The Princess and the Fangirl and book 3 (my favourite) is Bookish and the Beast – I started off listening to book 3 first, then realised it was a series and I’d probably understand it more if I read the other 2 first (though I already rated it 5 stars without the minor contextual clues) so I then listened to book 1 and 2 and then book 3 again to conclude the series properly. It’s the first time I’ve ever reread a book so quickly but the bad boy young actor with a reputation for recklessness and the girl who loves books and Starfield because her mother loved it before she passed away? Give. It. To. Me.

Described as ‘part romance, part love letter to nerd culture, and all totally adorbs, Geekerella is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom’ – it takes everything I remember from being a hardcore fangirl in my early teenage years (writing fanfiction, looking for every interview and picture of a celebrity ever, wearing all the merch, etc) and put it into words. It’s a story that perfectly communicates through words on a page how much it means to be connected to a piece of media and all the paraphernalia that comes with it.

It made me want to watch Starfield – a fictional science-fiction show that doesn’t exist.

These books made me glad I spent nearly 2 hours a day commuting to work because I could devour them. I’m honestly surprised these aren’t more popular online.

If I keep writing posts like this I’m never going to get through my tbr because I’m just going to want to keep rereading these old favourites. Have you heard of any of these books? How have I done in selling them to you? What books do you think deserve more hype on BookTok?

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx