Bookish Playlist Roundup
Music is the soundtrack of all our lives. We set it as the backdrop for every single experience we have. Because of this I decided to make playlists for all the stories I read. Every book has its own message and general vibe so its music should shift accordingly. Here I will be breaking down my recent top playlists that I have made. Links can be found to Spotify with each section.
Title: After by Anna Todd
Rating: 5/5
Description: Tessa is a good girl with a sweet, reliable boyfriend back home. She’s got direction, ambition, and a mother who’s intent on keeping her that way.
But she’s barely moved into her freshman dorm when she runs into Hardin. With his tousled brown hair, cocky British accent, tattoos, and lip ring, Hardin is cute and different from what she’s used to.
But he’s also rude—to the point of cruelty, even. For all his attitude, Tessa should hate Hardin. And she does—until she finds herself alone with him in his room. Something about his dark mood grabs her, and when they kiss it ignites within her a passion she’s never known before.
He’ll call her beautiful, then insist he isn't the one for her and disappear again and again. Despite the reckless way he treats her, Tessa is compelled to dig deeper and find the real Hardin beneath all his lies. He pushes her away again and again, yet every time she pushes back, he only pulls her in deeper.
Tessa already has the perfect boyfriend. So why is she trying so hard to overcome her own hurt pride and Hardin’s prejudice about nice girls like her?
Unless…could this be love?
Now newly revised and expanded, Anna Todd’s After fanfiction racked up 1 billion reads online and captivated readers across the globe. Experience the Internet’s most talked-about book for yourself!
There was the time before Tessa met Hardin, and then there’s everything AFTER ... Life will never be the same.
About The Playlist: This playlist was beyond fun to make because of the fact that it wasn't just full of traditional love songs. I was able to incorporate a lot of songs with conflicting emotions aside from the stereotypical default of love. After represents a morally grey relationship and I wanted to have that be present in the playlist because it's central to the storyline. Because of this fact we are left with a lot of songs that aren't one dimensionally good in the stories they tell.
Favorite Songs: Worst of You by Maisie Peters, Bitter Love by Pia Mia, and Blu by Leeuw
Title: Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus
Rating: 4/5
Description: Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.
The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.
Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.
About The Playlist: This playlist was different than anything I'd done before. Two Can Secret is a YA mystery which I have had the chance to delve into previously. Since it's YA I wanted to pick songs that were modern while still following the same mood as the grim storylines present. It turned out better than I could have anticipated with really cool finds that I got to add to my personal playlist.
Favorite Songs: This Could Kill Me by Amy Stroup, Broken by LovelyTheBand, and Twisted by Two Feet
Title: Belly Up by Eva Darrows
Rating: 5/5
Description: There’s a first time for everything.
First time playing quarters.
First time spinning the bottle.
First totally hot consensual truck hookup with a superhot boy whose digits I forgot to get.
First time getting pregnant.
Surprised you with that one, didn’t I?
Surprised me, too. I’d planned to spend senior year with my bestie-slash-wifey, Devi Abrams, graduating at the top of my class and getting into an Ivy League college. Instead, Mom and I are moving in with my battle-ax of a grandmother and I’m about to start a new school and a whole new life.
Know what’s more fun than being the new girl for your senior year? Being the pregnant new girl. It isn’t awesome. There is one upside, though—a boy named Leaf Leon. He’s cute, an amazing cook and he’s flirting me up, hard-core. Too bad I’m knocked up with a stranger’s baby. I should probably mention that to him at some point.
But how?
It seems I’ve got a lot more firsts to go.
About The Playlist: The playlist for Belly Up by Eva Darrows was one where I wanted to include a mix of bubbly music that reflected the core humor of the story and some more contemplative songs given the growth the main character goes through. It morphs as it goes from the kind of carefree expression I thought was there and then goes into deeper songs about growing up - in more than one way.
Favorite Songs: Your Text by Sundial, Secrets by Mary Lambert, and Stay Young by Maisie Peters
Title: A Danger To Herself and Others by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Rating: 4/5
Description: Four walls. One window. No way to escape. Hannah knows there's been a mistake. She didn't need to be institutionalized. What happened to her roommate at her summer program was an accident. As soon as the doctors and judge figure out that she isn't a danger to herself or others, she can go home to start her senior year. In the meantime, she is going to use her persuasive skills to get the staff on her side.
Then Lucy arrives. Lucy has her own baggage. And she may be the only person who can get Hannah to confront the dangerous games and secrets that landed her in confinement in the first place.
About The Playlist: The songs chosen for this playlist are all about the psychological element that weaves its way through A Danger To Herself and Others. There is a very firm understanding that you are in the head of the main character but she is an unreliable narrator. Because of all of this I wanted to convey these aspects of the story in the playlist.
Favorite Songs: Panic Room by Au/Ra, Sedated by Hozier, and Cut by Plumb
Title: Romanov by Nadine Brandes
Rating: 5/5
Description: The history books say I died.
They don’t know the half of it.
Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them, and he’s hunted Romanov before.
Nastya’s only chances of saving herself and her family are to either release the spell and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya has only dabbled in magic, but it doesn’t frighten her half as much as her growing attraction to Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her.
That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.
About The Playlist: I'm going to be real here, my playlist for Romanov was heavily inspired by the original animated motion picture that I loved as a child. But I did also consider the retelling the author did and kept it in mind as I put together the song list. You will find a lot of songs I felt fit the mood perfectly. As a side note, this was also one of my favorite reads of the year so I wanted this playlist to show that connection I feel to the work.
Favorite Songs: 100 Years by Florence + The Machine, Across The Sea by The Sweeplings, Daylight by Ron Pope
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