The Trope Recommendation Challenge

Hey readers! Today I’m doing a fun challenge combined with book recommendations. Basically, I’m combining my two favorite kinds of posts into one. Okay, so, the idea of this is really simple and easy but I’m hoping it’s going to turn out fun! I have a loooong list of book tropes (some that I like, some that I hate) that I’m putting into a random generator thingy, and whichever tropes I get, I have to recommend a book with that trope on the spot. Hopefully that makes sense. If it doesn’t, you should get the gist of it soon. I'm excited, because typically I do challenges and book tags other people have come up with, but this one is all me. Alrighty, let’s begin!

Aaaand the first trope is….

Best Friends

Oooh, I love this one. The first book that comes to mind is Heartless by Marissa Meyer. The best friends are Catherine, or Cath, our main character and her maid Mary Ann. The two of them want to start a bakery together, with Cath handling the baking portion and Mary Ann dealing with the finances and paperwork and all that. The problem is, Cath’s rich parents would never allow her to start her own bakery, especially with the king’s interest in her.

Happily Ever After

Every time I think of the “happily ever after” trope, I think of Gail Carson Levine’s books. It’s like she can’t help but write a happy ending. Specifically, I am going to be recommending Ella Enchanted because it is the most popular and I think it’s one of her better books (Serena, don’t attack me). It’s a Cinderella retelling, and since that fairytale (at least the Disney version, lol) had a happy ending, this one does too.

Enchanted Castle

I had to think about this one for a minute. I could think of many enchanted buildings but none of them happened to be castles. But, I finally thought of one, and am ashamed I didn’t think of it immediately. Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber has multiple enchanted castles in it. Our main character, Evangeline, visits like three enchanted castles in the series so far.

Fairy Tale Retelling

Okay, this is funny, because I’ve already mentioned two fairy tale retellings above. Normally, I would recommend the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, but I already used one of her books earlier. So, I’m going to recommend The Girl who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh. This book is a retelling of some Chinese folklore, so if you’re not familiar with that sort of thing it will be like reading a totally original storyline.

Mentor

YES, I love this one. There are so many I could say for this one, but the immediate first one that slammed into my brain like a truck was good old Gandalf from Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien. He’s a classic, I freaking love this man. I’m not sure Gandalf needs any explanation of why he’s the best mentor in book history. If you think he does need an explanation, read some Tolkien.

Impossible to Pronounce Names

It wouldn’t be a Kamama Deere post without a Sanderson book! Okay, seriously though, why are so many of his names so freaking complicated, and in the Stormlight Archive specifically. In some of his other books, we have names like: Vin, Breeze, Sarene, Fort, Siri, Spensa, etc. And then in the Stormlight Archive he busts out names like: Taravangian, Szeth, Jasnah (some people pronounce the “J” as a “Y”), Elhokar, Adolin (this one doesn’t look complicated but the debate is HEATED over correct pronunciation), Mraize, Sja-anat, Tuaka’il’na’calmi’nor. I rest my case.

Heists

Aw yeah, another one of my all time favorites. I don’t care that I literally just recommended a Brandon Sanderson book two seconds ago, Mistborn is the ultimate heist book. I love it so much, *cries.* The majority of the book is the main character preparing and planning the heist, and our main character is “undercover” as a noblewoman attending balls and such. And yes, the actual heist happens within the book too. Love this one, highly recommend.

Rags to Riches

This trope isn’t as self explanatory as some of the other ones we’ve covered, so I'll go ahead and explain real quick. Basically, it’s when a character starts out with nothing or is super poor, and then somehow ends up super rich or becomes royalty or something. It’s a pretty common trope actually, especially in fantasy. Since it’s so common, I’m actually going to recommend a book with a special little twist… riches to rags and then back to riches. Welcome to the complicated plot of The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows. It’s about a princess who lost her kingdom and became an orphan on the streets, and then fought to reclaim her kingdom.

Talking Animals

I have a lot of books for this one, but I’m going to go with a middle grade novel called Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. The talking animal I’m thinking of specifically is a giant cat who runs a hotel. It’s been a while since I’ve read the book, so I can’t remember how many other talking animals there are, but there’s at least a giant cat who is very sassy.

Found Family

OOOH, I was hoping I would get this one! I love, love, love this trope! I’m going to use one of my all time favorite book series for this trope, Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland. Found family plus dragons equals one of the best series ever. My brother is reading this series for the first time, and he loves it so far. We actually get to see two arcs of found family in the series (I’m only counting up to book ten because I refuse to acknowledge anything beyond that). I especially recommend it for readers new to fantasy. It’s fast paced, has fun characters and an engaging plot.

Okie dokie, I think that’s all I’m going to do for today. I want to save enough tropes so some of the other girls can try and do this challenge, if they would like. I think it would be fun to see everyone give this a try. Hope y’all enjoyed it!

Until Next Time!

~Kamama Deere