The Firsts of 2024 Tag

Hello, everyone! I did this tag for the first time last year and had a lot of fun with it. So, I’m back again to talk about my firsts of 2024. It seemed like the right time since we are approaching the end of the first quarter of the year. This book tag was originally created by Tanya @girlxoxo.

First book read this year

My first book of the year was Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. This was a pretty good start to the year. It significantly widened the scope of this story and introduced a lot of new characters to the series.

Book Synopsis 📚

Celaena has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak-but at an unspeakable cost. Now, she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth . . . a truth about her heritage that could change her life-and her future-forever. Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. Will Celaena find the strength to not only fight her inner demons, but to take on the evil that is about to be unleashed?

First book reviewed

The first book I reviewed this year was The Slain Divine by David Dalglish. This was a good conclusion to the trilogy, and it also happened to be the second year in a row that a book by Dalglish was my first review. You can find my thoughts on this book here!

Book Synopsis 📚

In the thrilling conclusion to USA Today bestselling author David Dalglish’s new epic fantasy trilogy, a usurped prince must master the magic of shadows in order to reclaim his kingdom and his people.

The Everlorn Empire’s grip on Thanet is tighter than ever. The God-Incarnate himself has arrived on its shores to crush the struggling rebellion and carry out his final, sinister he will sacrifice the entire island in order to rise, reincarnated from its ashes.

The rebellion is struggling to separate allies from enemies, and to figure out a way to stop the slow destruction of everything and everyone they care for. Meanwhile, Cyrus is disappearing deeper beneath the vicious mask of the “Vagrant”. Under the mantle of the legendary assassin, he may be strong enough to take down the Empire, but at what cost?

First book by a debut author

My first book by a debut author this year was The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers. It was mysterious and atmospheric, but the end wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped it would be. See all my thoughts here!

Book Synopsis 📚

A young woman descends into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge to break her family’s curse in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy debut.

For centuries, generations of Everlys have seen their brightest and best disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick – and never forgives a debt.

Violet Everly was a child when her mother left on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. When Marianne never returns, Penelope issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find her mother, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer. Unless she can break it first.

To do so, she must descend into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. She must also contend with Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted – and yet whose knowledge of a world beyond her own is too valuable to avoid.

Tied to a very literal deadline, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.

First book by a new-to-me author

My first book in 2024 by a new-to-me author was A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen. I had this book on my TBR for quite a while and initially picked it up because of the cool cover. The plot was interesting, if a bit repetitive, but the main character was annoying AF. So, it ended up just being okay, rather than great, for me.

Book Synopsis 📚

One of Us is Lying meets A Deadly Education in this fantasy thriller that follows six teenage wizards as they fight to make it home alive after a malfunctioning spell leaves them stranded in the wilderness.

Ren Monroe has spent four years proving she’s one of the best wizards in her generation. But top marks at Balmerick University will mean nothing if she fails to get recruited into one of the major houses. Enter Theo Brood. If being rich were a sin, he’d already be halfway to hell. After a failed and disastrous party trick, fate has the two of them crossing paths at the public waxway portal the day before holidays—Theo’s punishment is to travel home with the scholarship kids. Which doesn’t sit well with any of them.

A fight breaks out. In the chaos, the portal spell malfunctions. All six students are snatched from the safety of the school’s campus and set down in the middle of nowhere. And one of them is dead on arrival.

If anyone can get them through the punishing wilderness with limited magical reserves it’s Ren. She’s been in survival mode her entire life. But no magic could prepare her for the tangled secrets the rest of the group is harboring, or for what’s following them through the dark woods.

First book that slayed me

The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake was the first book that slayed me this year. I know that a lot of people didn’t like this one, but I ate it up. I thought it was a fitting conclusion to the series with all the things I loved about the first two, including endless philosophizing and horrible decisions by insufferable characters. See all my thoughts here!

Book Synopsis 📚

Only the extraordinary are chosen. Only the cunning survive.

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment.

Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.

And still the outside world mobilizes to destroy them, while the Caretaker himself, Atlas Blakely, may yet succeed with a plan foreseen to have world-ending stakes. It’s a race to survive as the six Society recruits are faced with the question of what they’re willing to betray for limitless power―and who will be destroyed along the way.

First book that I wished I could get back the time I spent reading it

Faebound was a bit of a boring mess to me. The world-building wasn’t that great, and the romance was seriously lacking in this romantasy. I ended up giving it 2 stars, which was generous.

Book Synopsis 📚

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FINAL STRIFE, comes an enchanting new trilogy.

DIVIDED BY BLOOD.

IMPRISONED BY FATE.

BOUND BY DESIRE.

WELCOME TO THE INTOXICATING WORLD OF THE FAE.

Yeeran is a warrior in the elven army and has known nothing but violence her whole life. Her sister, Lettle, is trying to make a living as a diviner, seeking prophecies of a better future.

When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven lands, they are both forced into the terrifying wilderness beyond their borders. There they encounter the impossible: the fae court.

The fae haven’t been seen for a millennium. But now Yeeran and Lettle are thrust into their seductive world – torn between their loyalty to each other, their elven homeland, and their hearts. . .

Welp. There you have it! My firsts of 2024. I’m not going to tag anyone specific in this one, but I’d love to read the answers of others. So, consider yourself tagged. 😁

7 thoughts on “The Firsts of 2024 Tag

  1. Hey Chris,

    I have to say it: Heir of Fire is my favorite book in this series. Even though all the other books are also amazing, nothing beats the way the FMC starts to own her anger, grief, and pain. And she finds someone who is able to bear a part of it for her and who doesn’t shy away from whom she really is, even deep down.

    City of Starlight is still on my TBR, and I hope I can get into it soon. I read the first book of the series by Olivie Blake but I had to DNF it. I just couldn’t get into the whole thing.

    Oh my, I am sorry to hear that Faebound wasn’t for you. I still have it waiting on my TBR.

    I had some time for my post: The Firsts of 2024 | Book Tag (translation tool in the sidebar)

    Cheerio
    RoXXie

    • I enjoyed Heir of Fire, too. It expanded the story in such interesting ways while also providing such an emotional arc of growth for Aelin. My favorite so far, though, is definitely Empire of Storms. I just love how everything is coming together.

      I hope enjoy both City of Starlight and Faebound. I totally get that Blake’s series isn’t for everyone. It’s been quite divisive, and even people who liked the first books didn’t necessarily love the ending.

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