The Try A Chapter Tag

I saw this tag being done by Anette @ Anette Reads and just thought it was the perfect way to decide which book to finish off the end of February with.

This tag was created by BookParadise on Youtube.

RULES:

• Pick 5 (or more) books from your tbr
• Read the first chapter of all of them (including the prologue if there is one)
• Tell your readers if you’re sold on the book and what you thought of the first chapter.
• Are you going to finish the book this month?

I chose 5 different books that I’ve been wanting to read for a while now. I also tried to make sure that they were all fairly different in terms of genre, plot, etc. so that they wouldn’t mix together as I was trying to read through them all. And without further ado, here are my choices…

1. The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire, #1) by C.J. Redwine
2. Love, Lies, and Spies by Cindy Anstey
3. Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
4. We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun & Susan Mullen
5. Armada by Ernest Cline

---

Option #1: This one was 15 pages long, including the prequel. We are basically introduced to the main character, Lorelai, who is basically in hiding from the queen, her wicked stepmother. This is a retelling of Snow White, so I’m sure you all know where this is going. But this story has Lorelai full of magical abilities that she is trying to build up to one day be able to defeat the queen. She’s currently in hiding with the old captain of palace guard and her younger brother, the prince.

I thought this one was light and funny, with some really interesting characters. Lorelai was alright but I was more entertained by her brother. He had me cracking up with all of his hilarious comments. I feel like this will be a fairly quick read too. I’m intrigued to see where the story will go and how closely it will stick to the original story.

Option #2: The first chapter for this book was 17 pages long. We are first introduced to Juliana who is actually hanging off the edge of a cliff out over the ocean. She’s in a bit of a predicament but is luckily rescued by two gentlemen that happen to walk by at the right moment. They never give any information about themselves and quickly send Juliana on her way home.

Okay, this one had my giggling out loud at Juliana’s thoughts and comments. She’s a very spunky and strange girl, especially considering this to be set in Regency England. I loved how quick her interactions with the two men were. This one makes me think of Pride and Prejudice but with a modern twist, if that makes sense.

Option #3: Furthormore was the shortest first chapter being only 8 pages, including the prequel. This chapter was really only used to introduce us to the main character, Alice, who is completely devoid of color. This is especially strange, because her world is magically full of color and very vivd colors at that.

I’ve always loved Mafi’s writing style, but I think she really hit her stride with this book. It’s so whimsical and really vividly paints a picture of the world within the story is set in. I actually felt like this one has the whimsical and classical writing that is reminiscent of Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland series. Seriously.

Option #4: As this book isn’t written in chapters, but is instead written in a series of letters back and forth between the two protagonists, I read about 10 pages. We are introduced to Scott and Cath who are best friends that have grown up next door to each other. Now Cath has gone off to college at Wake Forest and Scott has stayed at home to work at his father’s clothing store. This book is set during 1982 as well, so they’re only source on contact is by writing letters back and forth.

This one is so cute. I loved the fun and silly relationship between these two characters. Scott’s letters would leave me cracking up with all of his jokes. I also enjoyed reading about how much Cath couldn’t stand her roommate, so funny. I like that this will also be a really quick read due to the fact that it’s formatted in letter form. It also includes an 80’s playlist curated by the author’s to listen to, which is pretty cool.

Option #5: This one was a little longer, coming in at 13 pages long. This starts off with the main character, Zach, sitting in class and as he is staring out the window, he notices a UFO flying around outside. However, no one else has noticed this at all because they’re too busy watching the class jerk, picking on a shy kid. Apparently Zach has anger-management issues and has previously gotten into a fight with this bully before. Well, he comes to the rescue of the shy kid and then before things escalate too far, he runs out of the classroom and drives home.

I thought this was a really interesting first chapter. I loved how we got to see so many different sides to Zach in such a short period of time. I also loved that just like Cline’s previous novel, Ready Player One, we are given so many pop culture and nerdy references. However, this one doesn’t really focus just on the 80’s but rather from all over. Zach’s two best friends are actually overheard discussing which fictional weapon is better, Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, or Frodo’s sword, Sting.

And Winner Is…

Option #4 – We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen

I don’t read many contemporaries and this was one that I actually found myself caring about what happens next. I also like the letter format and how this could be a really quick read, maybe even quick enough to finish within 24 hours. I think it’ll be good to mix up from my normal fantasy and science fiction books. Hopefully it continues to be good! I did enjoy all of the books I started so much, that I’ve added them all to my March TBR though. 🙂

---

Have you read any of the books on my list? What did you think of them? Would you like to do the tag to help choose your next read? If so, then I tag you!!