Hello, lovely people.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve posted a book review every Sunday, and I’ll continue to do that. Think of those as feature reviews. Then I thought, why not make a collection of short reviews of a few series I love?

So, here they are, in (probably) no particular order: four of my favorite young adult series.

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

Eragon, a farmboy from the middle of the north of nowhere finds the lase dragon egg. He and this dragon named Saphira make it their mission to overthrow King Galbatorix and gain the support of everyone in the world, basically- humans, elves, dwarves, and Urgals, all to defeat the evil king. All the while, they’re learning how to navigate their new partnership.

I have loved this series since the first book was published during my dragon phase in 2002. I might just have two copies of the first edition version of each of the books. Sometimes I forget how good it is until I reread it, and I get sucked into this wonderful world of magic that is written in such a compelling, absorbing way. And yes, it is worth every minute it takes to read it.

Sidenote: I also met the author at his book signing for his newest novel, The Fork, The Witch, and The Worm. My friend and I drove 45 minutes in a snowstorm to see him.

The Heir Chronicles by Cinda Williams Chima

Every magical person, called Weir, is born with a small stone behind their heart that gives them powers. There are five magical guilds: wizards, warriors, soothsayers, sorcerers, and enchanters. In the first three books, we meet Jack, a wizard born without a stone. A wizard named Jessamine Longbranch implants a warrior stone, effectively making Jack a warrior. Jack is used as a pawn in an inter-guild war for control of all the magical guilds. In the fourth and fifth books, Jonah and Emma find themselves on the outside of the guilds and blamed for some brutal murders, and they have to help mend the tension between wizards and the rest of the guilds.

I thoroughly enjoyed these books every time I read them- yes, I also read these books multiple times. And yes, my books-about-magic phase happened at the same time as my dragon phase. Chima does a great job bringing readers into the world she created, and all of the (many) characters are compelling. I do wish she focused on one main character throughout the whole series. She shifts narrators at least three times, and it left me wishing we were still reading from Jack’s perspective. I loved Jack.

Sidenote: I also met Cinda Williams Chima when she came to my high school. I skipped class for her. Lovely woman.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Katniss volunteers as a tribute in the brutal Hunger Games to save her sister. She and Peeta, a boy from her district, are sent to fight against a boy and a girl from each of the other twelve districts. After a show of pageantry, they are thrown into an arena and the fight begins.

You’re thinking one of two things: of course I like this series, everyone does; or this series became so popular that I’m annoying for having said anything. And, yes, the movies were insanely successful, but I’m not talking about those. I’m talking about the books, which dive deep into complex love for family and friends and the dangers of an authoritarian government system. I’m talking about the important social commentary of the books, not the commercialization of the movies.

Sidenote: I have not met Suzanne Collins.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Elisa is married off to the king of a neighboring nation on her sixteenth birthday in a secret treaty arrangement. The king she marries, Alejandro, wants to use the power she was born with to keep his country from falling apart. But Elisa is forced to join a group of revolutionaries who are fighting a war that she thought was long over, and she has to navigate her way as the new queen of a crumbling nation.

A book about a child queen? Who is forced into an unlikely and difficult scenario? And was married off to a thirty-year-old? Sign me up! No, in all seriousness, the world Carson builds is captivating, and Elisa truly is an unlikely hero. There are also quite a few twists you won’t expect.

What do you think?

Let me know what book series you like, or if you have any deep-seated animosity for any of these series.

Also, if you have any book recs for me, feel free to comment that, too!

Goodbye, lovely people!