The Lover Book Tag

If you know anything about me, you'd know that I adore Taylor Swift. I first fell in love with her music when I listened to Speak Now on repeat in 2011 and was fully whisked away when I saw her on the Red tour in 2014. I've never been to a concert where the artist displayed such glamour and showmanship, all while providing gorgeous vocals throughout. If I wasn't obsessed before, that concert definitely changed that.


So it came as a surprise to me when I realised: I'd never proclaimed my Swift love on my blog before. I considered doing a Latest Love post so I could scream about the perfection that is her latest album, but then I discovered What Vicky Read's wonderful Lover Book Tag and I knew I had to take part. With that said, let's begin!

1. I Forgot That You Existed – A book on your TBR that you’d completely forgotten about

Red Rising by Pierce Brown is one of those books that I added to my TBR purely because everyone else loved it. I still intend to read it because I have the audiobook, but I'm not surprised that I keep neglecting it for the giant stack of physical books that threaten to kill me if I don't read them all soon!

2. Cruel Summer – A perfect summer read

Summer is when I like to read light fluffy contemporaries, and What If It's Us fits the bill. The characters are precious and the story made me smile so much that my face hurt. 

3. Lover – Your Favourite Book/Series

Never ask a bookworm to pick only one favourite book! I've had colleagues ask this before when they find out I read a lot and I always make a little screaming wail noise because HOW DO YOU ANSWER THAT. For the sake of this question though, I'm going to highlight a favourite series that I think needs a little more love, and that's Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas. This duology has the sweetest characters and I wish more people would read it so we can get the third book.

4. The Man – An amazing female character

Taylor Swift's song The Man totally crushes the patriarchy. The only female character I can think of that destroys double standards to the same level is Marcella Riggins from Vengeful, and that's because she literally destroys any man who gets in her way or looks down on her.

5. The Archer – A book from your childhood because you never grew up

While everyone else was busy reading Harry Potter, my life revolved around Artemis Fowl. These books were sharp and witty and even though the series probably didn't need to go on for 8 books, I devoured every one.

6. I Think He Knows – A book everyone knows you love!

Look, everyone knows I'm obsessed with The Raven Cycle. It's what my friends know me for. It's how I cemented some of those friendships! (I forced the book into one friend's hands and said she could talk to me when she was done and we have been best friends ever since so clearly this technique works.)

7. Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince – A book that makes you so sad you could paint the town blue

They Both Die at the End was the last book that made me ugly cry. I loved it so much and really want to read it again but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to because of how emotional it made me.

8. Paper Rings – Your favourite OTP

At the moment it's Nick and Charlie from Heartstopper! They are such cuties and I wish more stories for teens were about the innocence of first love rather than drama and angst. 

9. Cornelia Street – A book that lived up to the hype

It took me a couple of tries to get into Six of Crows, but once I did, I understood why people couldn't stop talking about it. I definitely need to read all the books in the Grishaverse before getting on to King of Scars.

10. Death by a Thousand Cuts – A book that saying goodbye to is death by a thousand cuts so you just have to re-read it again

Sadie by Courtney Summers was a masterpiece. It was one of those books that left me thinking about it over a month after finishing it. I really want to do my review for it justice, so I'm going to re-listen to it before writing my review. 

11. London Boy – A book set in London

I had to choose V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series for this one. The different parallel Londons are so vivid and magical (even Gray London that had no magic felt magical). This is another series I need to re-read but have no time.

12. Soon You’ll Get Better – A book that brightens up your sky

Starfish was an emotional but gorgeous read. It filled me with so much hope to see Kiko fight for herself and her art. I love all of Akemi Dawn Bowman's books, but this one is probably my favourite.

13. False God – A book that you could re-read over again because it still does it for you, babe 

I don't normally like fantasy books that are more romance focused, especially if it's at the expense of world-building but Shatter Me is the exception. This series is a total guilty pleasure read, and even though I didn't love the last couple of books as much, I can definitely see myself re-reading the series.

14. You Need to Calm Down – An LGBTQ+ book you’d GLAADly recommend

I'm recommending I Was Born for This because I love it to pieces. I could have recommended several Alice Oseman books, but this one feels criminally underrated. It's a standalone book, but I want a sequel so badly.

15. Afterglow – It’s not the book, it’s me (A book that wasn’t for you)

I'm really sad I didn't enjoy The Scorpio Races because I love Maggie Stiefvater's other books (The Raven Cycle, mainly, but The Wolves of Mercy Falls has audiobooks that are very peaceful to listen to). I just didn't feel invested in the characters or the story.

16. ME! – A Character You Relate To

Darius the Great Is Not Okay made me feel so seen. It's about an Iranian-American boy visiting Iran for the first time. So many of my experiences overlapped with his and reading it changed my life for the better.

17. It’s Nice to Have a Friend – A Character You’d Love to be Friends With

Frances and Aled from Radio Silence are podcast nerds, which, same. I am a major podcast addict, and Frances is also an artist so she was even more relatable to me. I think I'd get along with these two really well because we're all nerdy for the same stuff.

18. Daylight – A book that you weren’t sure of at first but turned out to be amazing!

I wasn't sure what to expect with Harley in the Sky. I knew I'd enjoy it because I love Bowman's writing, but I was completely whisked away into Harley's world from page 1.

Bonus Question: Favourite Taylor Swift Album

The first Swift album I fell in love with was Speak Now, and the Red era still holds a special place in my heart. But right now, my favourite album is undeniably Lover. There are a lot of tracks, but I love every single one.

I don't actually know which of my followers are fellow Swifties, so let me know in the comments! If so, I tag you!

What about you? What is your favourite Taylor Swift album? Do you have a favourite track from Lover? What book does everyone know you love?