The Hamilton Book Tag

  This week on Libby's Current Obsession, we have Hamilton: An American Musical. A couple of weeks ago, I decided I had to see what all the fuss was about so I listened to the soundtrack...AND IT BLEW ME AWAY. I recently got into musicals after taking a musical theatre course at school this year, and as soon as I listened to it, Hamilton was at the top of my list. This tag was created by Maureen Keavy on YouTube (click here to check out her channel). It is essentially a list of songs from Hamilton that have corresponding questions about bookish things. I immediately wanted to do it for obvious reasons and because it would allow me to fangirl about books while jamming out to the soundtrack. The original tag is 10 questions but I will be doing the extended edition because some of my favorite songs are extra questions. If there are any spoilers in my answers, I will put up warnings for whatever book I might spoil in the heading for each song. Now let's get to WORK!

The Room Where It Happens: a book world you would want to put yourself in.
    As easy as it would be to say Harry Potter (because who doesn't want to go to Hogwarts?), but I'm going to go with Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter universe. I don't know if I've discussed this before, but Cassandra's world-building is absolutely incredible. She's created a universe that is global, has it's own government/politics, and families that go back centuries. One of my favorite things about her books is that whenever a character is introduced, fans of the series can make connections based on their last name. All the Shadowhunter families are intertwined and related to one another. All the institutes are different from each other and run by a different family. Cassandra touches on a lot of subjects in her books, especially prejudice. There are multiple races that make up Downworld and work with the Shadowhunters. I would want to live here despite the demons because the world is just so intricate and I look hella good in black.

The Schuyler Sisters: an underrated female character.
    Well we certainly have a wealth of these, don't we? I definitely think the character I have chosen would be friends with Angelica, and they would be a fearsome duo. For this song, I've gone with Samirah Al-Abaas from Rick Riordan's Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. Samirah's mere existence has done so much for racial and religious representation in YA and middle grade literature. For those who aren't familiar with Riordan's work, he has so many strong female leads, but Sam has a special place in my heart, even after only one book. She kicks ass in her magic hijab and teaches both the readers and Magnus about her culture and even touches on Islamophobia. I also really appreciate that Riordan doesn't present her as a token, she's a main character who is complex and is not defined by stereotypes. And her sibling bond with Magnus is actually the best thing ever.

My Shot: a character that goes after what they want and doesn't let anything stop them.
    A revolutionary just like Hamilton deserves to be the answer for this question so of course, I have chosen Linh Cinder from The Lunar Chronicles. It is not so much that Cinder goes after what she wants, even though she does whatever it takes to escape her situation in the first book, but that she doesn't let anything stop her once she sets her mind to something. Her survival instincts are incredible and she is extremely clever but also ruthless, a quality that makes her the perfect leader of a revolution because she harbors no delusions and does what needs to be done. Hamilton would be proud.

Stay Alive: a character you wish was still alive.
***spoilers for Order of the Phoenix
    There are many characters from Harry Potter that didn't deserve to die, but the one that would have made the biggest difference to me if he had lived is Sirius Black. He was the only real family Harry had and he as taken away from him too soon. I think Harry really would have turned out differently if he had not lost Sirius as a father figure. Sirius was there for Harry when Dumbledore wasn't. Let's not forget that Sirius was willing to take in Harry immediately after his parents were killed. Yes, I realize Dumbledore had a plan and there was a reason Harry had to live with the Dursley's, but how much happier and less traumatic would Harry's childhood have been if he was raised by Sirius? And even once Sirius was brought back into Harry's life, he was taken away too soon that Harry did not have nearly enough time with him. Sirius could have adopted him! God, I hate Bellatrix so much!
   
Burn: the most heartbreaking end to a relationship.
***spoilers for Tiger's Curse
    The end of this book absolutely devastated me. I thought Ren and Kelsey were meant to be but Colleen Houck seemed to think otherwise. What was so sad about this break up was that it came from a very insecure part of Kelsey. She has a lot of baggage and emotional issues. She just couldn't believe that someone like Ren could love someone like her, even though she is amazing and he would be lucky to have her. She says, "Ren said all the right things. I just wasn't prepared to hear them." Every time I reread this series, I understand Kelsey's decision more and more, but that doesn't mean I don't cry ugly tears when I read the part when Kelsey is leaving for the airport and she hears an earth-shaking roar of despair come from the jungle behind their house.

You'll Be Back: sassiest villain.
    I've always said that Valentine Morgenstern is my favorite villain but I don't remember him being particularly sassy, just clever and manipulative. Instead, I'm going to break the rules a bit and go with a TV character (the TV show was a book first so I think it's still within the rules of the tag). Of course I'm talking about Moriarty from BBC's Sherlock. Andrew Scott is absolutely amazing in the role. He's creepy and terrifyingly clever but also endearing at the same time so that you can't help but love him. Let's just say Hamilton and Moriarty have one thing in common...ah ah ah ah stayin'  alive.


The Reynolds Pamphlet: a book with a twist that you didn't see coming.
***just don't read this if you don't like knowing if there are twists. However, I will not spoil the twist.
     For this song, I'm going to choose three books that really shocked me. I'm not going into details about any of them, but I definitely suggest picking these titles up. I went into all of these not knowing much about them, which I think is for the best, so I'm just going to list them and move on.
The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black
A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Non-stop: a series you marathoned.
     Three years ago, I picked up City of Bones to read at the beach. BEST. DECISION. EVER. A lot of people don't like the first book of The Mortal Instruments and have to power through to the third one before they get into it, but I was immediately hooked. I sped through the first five books that summer, but the sixth and final one wasn't out yet. This was good because it allowed me to read the prequel series The Infernal Devices before the last book came out. This was an amazing series to marathon because I was completely absorbed in this world for about two months straight as I read it.

Satisfied: favorite book with multiple POVs.
    How can I not pick the Heroes of Olympus books for this one? There are a total of 9 amazing narrators who all grow and develop as the series goes on. I love each and every one of them so much it is hard to put it into words. We have classic favorites Percy and Annabeth, some new favorites, and the highly anticipated Nico narration. The way the narrations swap between places and conflicts as well as characters makes these books so much more suspenseful and amazing.

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: a book/series you feel like will be remembered throughout history.
    This is a book I think is a modern classic. It's already being read in schools and it's just a masterpiece. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak is incredible beyond words and one of my favorite books of all time. It chronicles Nazi book burnings and one little girl's love of literature and the power it has. This story deserves to be remembered, so if you haven't picked this one up, I'd highly suggest it.

Helpless: a relationship you were pulling for from the very start.
    Yes, I realize this is the third question I have used a Rick Riordan book for, but I don't care! Those books are universal! Percy and Annabeth are my ultimate OTP so if I didn't put them for this question, I would be betraying my own heart. I truly was pulling for them since the first book. My favorite relationships are those you see develop over a long period of time. Throughout the books, you see Percy and Annabeth grow up and you just can't help but root for them.

Ten Duel Commandments: favorite fight scene.
***spoilers for Tiger's Quest and Queen of Shadows
    For this one I'd like to give a few answers because there are just so many amazing fight scenes! I really like fights that involve plans the readers are not privy to. I love not knowing what's going on and just seeing it all unfold then figuring out the whole shebang after the fact. I absolutely love the fights at the end of both Cress and Winter of The Lunar Chronicles. Other fights with that type of dynamic include: saving Ren in Tiger's Quest, Aedion's jail break in Queen of Shadows, and the epic heist of Six of Crows (this was not just one scene but it was so suspenseful and awesome and ugh I can't handle this book).

Say No to This: a guilty pleasure read.
    I honestly don't think I have one. My books are my pride and joy. I'm not embarrassed about any of them.

What Comes Next: A series you wish had more books.
    As crazy as this might sound, I don't actually want more Harry Potter books. I loved the way that series ended and I don't want anything to mess with it. I'm intrigued by The Cursed Child but I don't want it to ruin my image of the story and its wonderful characters. Other series I think about loving are series that are getting more books. Riordan has Trials of Apollo and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (although I would like more books than just a trilogy). Cassandra Clare still has two more series left in the Shadowhunter universe. The one thing I can think of is Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows even though it's not over yet. That series is only set to be two books, and I would love it if there were many many more because the first book blew me away.

Right Hand Man: favorite brotp.
    For this one I think I'm just going to list a bunch because there are too many good ones! Brotps are some of my favorite relationships in books. My favorite bunch of besties is...Jem and Will, Ren and Kishan, Alec and Jace, Leo and Hazel, Percy and Jason, Cinder and Thorne, Celaena and Dorian...and the list goes on and on!

What'd I Miss: a series you were late to reading.
    This one isn't a series but a book. I felt really late to the TFIOS train.  The Fault in our Stars was blowing up the YA book scene but I didn't read it until 2014, two years after publication! I really wish I had read it sooner, not just because it was an amazing book, but because it introduced me to John Green, Vlogbrothers, and Nerdfighteria.


    That's it for the Hamilton book tag! This was really fun to write considering how much I love Hamilton and of course how much I love books. I hope you enjoyed this, and if you haven't listened to the Hamilton soundtrack, you definitely should. I cannot stress that enough. I will leave you with a Xtinemay parody: THERE'S A MILLION BOOKS I HAVEN'T READ...BUT JUST YOU WAAAAAIIIIIT!!!!!