Here are 3 books that I fangirl over is a topic I am very excited to talk about. I freakin’ love reading books. Actually I love them to the point where I almost wish many of these stories happened in real life.

I say the word almost because some of the books I read are horror and apocalyptic type genre. No one wants to be in a world where they have monsters or crazy individuals harming the Earth.

Reading books is also good for your soul. It allows your imagination to run freely in your mind as you daydream about your favorite stories. You wonder about the characters you relate to and what their universe is like.  

When I was younger (and even now), I go to the library, check out books, and usually fangirl over the stories I read. My personal go-to is romance, but I also love action and adventure genres. These days, I try to explore book genres I don’t normally read.

With that being said, here are 3 books that I fangirl over. Enjoy!

Unwind

For the first book that I fangirl over, it is called Unwind by Neal Shusterman. I first read this story around eighth grade and the beginning of high school. I’m older now, and yes I am aware that this book is geared toward a young adult and teen audience.

However, I recommend for anyone, no matter what age you are, to check out Unwind. This is one of my favorite books because the story is so impactful and explores taboo concepts such as raising children for inhumane purposes and organ harvesting. (You’ll see what I mean if you read the book.)

The story is just super creepy. In a good way. Goosebumps covered my arms every time I encountered a new chapter.

I’ll try not to spoil too much because I want you to be surprised like how I was when I first read Unwind.

Unwind is the first book which introduced multiple POVs to me. For those who don’t know, POV stands for point of view.

When you open a book, the story is usually either told in first person to make you feel like you’re in the character’s shoes. Or it’s told in third person, and you observe the characters’ scenes from a distance.

Most books I come across are not written in multiple POVs because it is challenging to write from more than one person’s perspective. I admit that I initially found the multiple POV to be kind of hard for me to digest at first. Eventually I liked how the story flowed later on, especially when the main characters all meet each other.

As for Unwind, this story is portrayed from 3 different characters’ viewpoints. Those characters are named Connor Lassiter, Risa Ward, and Levi Jedidiah Carter (aka Lev). They are young teenagers who fight to survive in a cruel, dystopian society.

The story of Unwind takes place in the United States, where a civil war was fought over abortion and reproductive rights. As a result, the government passed laws which gave parents the choice to have their children between the ages of 13 and 18 to be “unwound”. Unwound means that the kids would get sent to harvest camps where they get slaughtered, and their body parts and organs get donated to other people.

If you’re freaked out by reading that, don’t worry. It’s fiction. But then again, people are crazy.

It still creeps me out whenever I think about Unwind. And I am going to read it again lol. The author, Neal Shusterman, did a fantastic job at conveying the story in a way where you can imagine these types of events happening in the US or the world in general. 

I actually want to talk about one of my favorite scenes in the book. This scene is somewhere in the beginning, so I’m not revealing anything too major.

If you don’t want to see the spoiler, scroll down until you see the next heading that says “Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead”. 

Spoiler

I’m going to show some interesting moments featuring Connor Lassiter from Unwind.

So in the beginning of the story, Connor is depicted to be a bad kid. He causes trouble in school by not caring about his grades, playing hooky, and acting out. Shusterman emphasizes how Connor and his parents have a bad relationship. His parents are often frustrated and angry at Connor because they feel like they cannot control him.

One day, Connor finds out that he’s getting unwound. His parents did not even have the guts to tell this to him in person. They were planning to keep it a secret until Connor is taken away by the authorities. Connor only learned the truth because he discovered 3 plane tickets. Those tickets were only for his mom, dad, and his little brother. 

What made this scene even more devastating is when he tried looking for the fourth ticket. Connor didn’t want to believe his parents would sign his life away. He stopped searching when realized that his parents didn’t want him anymore. They were going to send him away to a harvest camp and then go on a vacation to forget about it.

Connor was not going down without a fight. I enjoyed watching Connor’s retaliation when he knew about their dirty secret. He chooses not to confront his parents about how he was getting unwound. Instead, he does better in school and cleans up his act which breaks his parents’ hearts.

For example, Connor shows his dad his grade for a class at school: a B. Normally, he failed his classes in the past. Then Connor said this one line which was something like: “Look dad, at the end of the semester, I can get an A.” His dad did not say anything in response. But he stared at the wall for hours straight, instantly regretting his decision. 

The unfortunate thing is that when the order to be unwound is signed, no one is able to reverse it. The government goes through all means in order to capture the wanted children. There are even officials in the story who specialize in tracking down children who run away. 

I know it may be terrifying or uncomfortable to think about this, but this particular scene just made me angry at the time. It is common sense for a parent to love and care for their child. But having them get sent to a death camp because your kid is acting out? That is insanity.

End of spoiler

Anyways, let’s move on to a lighter topic.

Vampire Academy

For the second book that I fangirl over, it is called Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. When I was a teenager, Vampire Academy was one of the most popular book series for young adult readers. 

It was so popular that this book was inevitably made into a movie. You can watch the Vampire Academy movie on Netflix or on Youtube if you’re interested. And yes, you do have to pay money in order to watch it.

In my opinion, I prefer the book series over the movie. But I’m biased because there are 6 books in total, and they provide a greater storytelling experience.

Although there are 6 books, the story I’m talking about in this section is the first one. After Vampire Academy, the remaining books are called Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, and Last Sacrifice. I read all of them, and they still remain as one of my favorite series to this day.

Vampire Academy stars a 17 year old girl named Rose Hathaway, who is half-human and half-vampire. In the series, these mixed breeds are called dhampirs. Rose is best friends with this girl named Lissa Dragomir, who is a vampire princess.

Lissa is a big deal in the story, not only because she’s a princess, but she is the last of her kind. By “last of her kind”, I mean that she is the last of her family bloodline. Not the last vampire. Lissa wields the rarest vampire magic which is called Spirit.

Rose and Lissa ran away from St Vladimir’s Academy (the boarding school they lived in) and have been on their own for 2 years. 

The pair of friends expected their life to always remain this way until a group of vampire guardians who had been hired by the school tracked them down. Rose tried to flee with Lissa, but one of the men, Dimitri Belikov, easily subdues Rose and takes both girls back home.

One of the reasons why I love this book, well the series in general, is because Rose has strong character development. Actually all of the main characters evolve into better people over time. However, I noticed how much more mature and selfless Rose becomes every time I read a new book. 

Dimitri Belikov is the male lead in the Vampire Academy series. Since he is older than Rose, Dimitri portrays himself as someone who is stoic, mature, and wise. He gives Rose advice on how to be a successful future guardian and adopts a teaching role. But Dimitri also learns a lot from Rose, especially when it involves following his heart and creating his own happiness.

Vampire Academy is my favorite book series growing up because it exhibited so many relationship themes, and they are all woven together beautifully. Rose and Lissa are the perfect example of best friends forever and share an unbreakable bond. They would put their lives on the line for each other.

Romance is also an ongoing occurrence in the books. For Rose specifically, there are different types of men presented to her. While Dimitri is considered to be her soulmate, I find it interesting when the author shows off how the second male lead proves to be an equal match for Rose as well.

Vampire Academy is mainly written for women, but I still recommend this book to any gender. The series is hilarious, entertaining, dramatic, action-packed, and more importantly, it will make you contemplate various life lessons as you witness the characters’ development.

Covert Game

As for my third book that I fangirl over, it is called Covert Game by Christine Feehan. Covert Game is intended for older adults because there are explicit scenes in the story, and I don’t recommend this book for children. The previous books I mentioned, Unwind and Vampire Academy, can be read by a younger audience.

In Covert Game, this woman, Zara Hightower, is a world-renowned expert on Artificial Intelligence. Her intellect is notable because she infiltrates a crime lord’s base under the guise of doing a presentation about AI technology.

Although Zara is sent there to fool the enemy, her real mission was to wipe out the crime lord’s computer network and erase sensitive data. Zara succeeded in her mission, at the cost of being held captive by the crime lord’s minions. 

Luckily, Zara is eventually rescued by the Ghostwalkers. The Ghostwalkers are usually composed of men (and some women) who have enhancements and psychic powers. They are trained to go on specialized missions, such as saving Zara.

Zara falls for one of the Ghostwalkers, a man named Gino Mazza.

I liked how the author described Gino as a dark man who struggles with his inner demons. He was considered to be the perfect killing machine who only focuses on the mission. Nothing else mattered to him. Yet he eventually warms up to Zara as she lights a candle in that previously damaged heart of his.

Covert Game explores Zara and Gino’s slow burning romance, as well as the Ghostwalkers banding together in order to defeat the notorious crime syndicate who once detained Zara.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thrillers and spicy romance. After reading Covert Game, I feel compelled to read more of Christine Feehan’s Ghostwalker novels.

Thank you for reading Here are 3 books that I fangirl over! I hope you enjoyed it! 💜

Comment down below and let me know what you think about these book recommendations. And what books do you like to read?

If you are interested in joining the Nikkaflora fam for this journey, scroll down this page, sign up for my weekly newsletter, and follow me on my social media.

You’ll stay updated on what’s new, receive more personal growth and creativity content, and we’ll have even more fun. See you there!

Until then, let’s create, appreciate, and f*** that hate! Bye guys!