the best bookish friendships | forest of souls #hearourvoicestour
Hi friends! I took a small one-week break from blogging to take some time to listen to the voices of the Black community and to educate myself following the horrible murders of George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. The first half of this month has truly shone a light on how blind and desensitized to the basic components of humanity in favor of privilege and power based on the color of our skin. I've processed and seen how internalized racism has ingrained itself into my community and life and it's time to address these issues and rebuild a broken system.
There is an amazing compilation of important links of petitions, donations, and other resources that have been really helpful so if you haven't taken the time to read and educate yourself, I definitely recommend you do so. One thing we can learn in this time is that staying silent and neutral is not an option.
This feels like a strange transition, but in light of the spirit of community which has been incredibly important during this time, I thought I'd share some of my favorite bookish friendships in honor of a surprise promotional tour for Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee which comes out this upcoming Monday (06/23).
There is an amazing compilation of important links of petitions, donations, and other resources that have been really helpful so if you haven't taken the time to read and educate yourself, I definitely recommend you do so. One thing we can learn in this time is that staying silent and neutral is not an option.
This feels like a strange transition, but in light of the spirit of community which has been incredibly important during this time, I thought I'd share some of my favorite bookish friendships in honor of a surprise promotional tour for Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee which comes out this upcoming Monday (06/23).
The Forest of Souls
While I wasn't able to read an ARC of this, the synopsis alone describes a friendship that descends even death. I'm super curious to find out how Sirscha will navigate the domain of the Spider King and the ancient forests definitely gives me major Uprooted vibes.
The Raven Boys
One of the most iconic friend groups in YA is definitely the beloved Raven Boys. This series has honestly been on my mind recently and I think it's calling for a reread because I miss the camaraderie between all the characters.
The Bone Witch
I could not have a post about the best bookish friendships and not include one of my favorites. First of all, Tea also unknowingly raises her brother from the dead which sets her on the journey to being one of the few bone witches in the kingdom, but also this trilogy has one of the best friend groups ever. Especially in the sequel, I adored seeing this group grow closer as more trials and tribulations come their way.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Another one of my favorites - Zuzanna honestly wins as one of the best bookish friends in YA. She stayed by Karou's side throughout the entire trilogy even when faced with a world that was full of monsters and fiery angels. Their banter is also some of my favorite dialogues as well.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Can we get any more iconic than this crew? I had to include Percy, Annabeth, and Grover (to name the original trio at least) especially since I'm still on a PJO high with the adaptation news. They are one of the original found families and I'm so excited to see their interactions on the screen soon.
Making Faces
Finishing off with the most wholesome of friendships, Fern and Bailey are the epitomai of supportive and loyal. This story never fails to hit me with all the emotions every time I think about their relationship. Bailey in particular just has so much wisdom and continues to challenge Fern to seek happiness because life can't be lived with any regrets.
That's my brief list of some of my favorite bookish friends! Going through my Goodreads was honestly so nostalgic and I definitely miss reading about these great characters. I'm really excited to pick up Forest of Souls when it comes out on June 23rd and jump into what I hope is a new bookish friendship to love!
10 Comments
I love this post! It's so important to talk about the issue surrounding racism and discrimination, there is still so much to be educated about. Oftentimes I just wish we could all live in a world where we all accept one another.
ReplyDeleteWith the books you've highlighted, my fave is Karou and Zuzanna <3 absolutely loved that book and the friendship between the two characters. Laini Taylor's books will always be one of my favorites. Thank you for sharing this Riv :)
jillian @ jillian etc.
Jillian 💕 thank you for your comment - it's definitely been a very challenging month but we can only hope to continue and pursue change for that better world. I ADORE Zuzanna so much, I'm thinking about picking up Laini Taylor's short story about her and Mik soon and I am SO READY for the pure happiness of it. We all need a little sunshine sometimes ☀️☀️
DeleteJust discovered your blog through the #HOVForestofSouls blog tour and I am in love!! The PJO series is one of my favorites and I just absolutely adore the gang's friendship. So glad you included that one. I'm very excited for the adaptation too! As for the others in your list, I have yet to read the books (most of them are in my TBR) and I'm looking forward to the friendship aspects in those. What a wonderful post, Riv!! ��
ReplyDeleteThank you for your sweet comment!! 💖💖 When you get the chance to pick up any of these, PLEASE let me know what you thought!!
DeleteA huge yes to the lightning thief gang! love those books so much. Need to reread them at some point. I also really loved the characters from The Raven Cycle. I really need to continue the series soon. Love the post!
ReplyDeletethank you so much!! ahh if you pick continue with The Raven Cycle let me know what you think!!
DeleteAh this is a lovely post, it's so great to highlight some beautiful friendships in books <3 I only read Daughter of Smoke and Bone so far, but I really loved the friendship in that one for sure, I need to go on with this series eventually! :)
ReplyDeleteZuzanna and Karou are absolute GOALS! I just read the novella about Zuzanna and Mik and I'm honestly on a serotonin high, it's pure happiness in a book! 💕💕
Deletethis is so cute!! i wasn't aware of the friendship group in the bone witch, and though i'm a bit nervous about not liking that one, it's gone up my tbr because of that haha! i love friend groups in books so much. and yes to the trio / bigger found family in pjo/hoo!! forever my og favorites <3
ReplyDeleteYayyy for the bone witch slowly but (maybe surely) moving it's way, if you pick it up please let me know what you think! I will put a small disclaimer and say that the first book is more world focused but if you power through, the second book is just SQUAD GOALS ❤️❤️
Delete