The Rec League: Pure Escapism

This Rec League came from our own Sarah! It was a tough one:

What do you think about a Rec League of escape books: stories, esp romance, that are so absorbing, you disappear into the book for a long while. And the catch is, no one can rec a book they’ve rec’d before?

Sarah: Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan, but this is not a cozy kind of fantasy. A young woman with cancer is swept into the world of her and her sister’s favorite fantasy series and finds herself as the villain.

So there’s plots and fighting and violence and rage and grief and frustration and did I mention rage? If you’re looking for fierce cathartic feels this is a good choice.

You will lose track of time. Also if you’re me, you’ll forget you need to reapply sunscreen.

Amanda: I’m throwing it back to one of favorite comforting and cozy novels (and authors!). Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) There’s something that is both gentle and very chaotic about the book. While I’m not a re-reader, I will re-visit this one every few years. I have an old beat-up mass market that has made it through many moves.

Also as a bonus, you get a lovely Studio Ghibli film to watch afterward!

Shana: Octavia Butler’s last book, Fledgling, ( A | BN | K | AB ) is a dark vampire story that totally sucks me in every time I read it. The heroine wakes up injured, with amnesia, and spends most of book piecing together what’s happened. It’s just suspenseful enough to hook me without actually stressing me out. It’s not a romance, although there’s a poly HFN of sorts.

For a romance, my pick is A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole. The main couple is compulsively adorable.

Elyse: See if I liked it I already recommended it here because I don’t have inside thoughts when it comes to books.

Sneezy: Aaaaaaaargh!!!! I’m like Elyse, I can’t think of one I haven’t already said.

What books would you recommend, especially ones that you may not have recommended before on the site?