I cannot believe that this is my first time writing one of these posts! I adore reading posts like this, but I have never found enough book pairings that I felt confident in sharing. Something changed in 2020, and I read so many books that I thought were perfect for readers of other books that I loved. I am so excited to talk about them!
The Broken Girls/Plain Bad Heroines
I could not think of a more perfect pairing than The Broken Girls and Plain Bad Heroines. Both of these mysteries are set at an all-girls boarding school where there have been murders and where characters from the future are looking back on what happened at these schools many years ago. They have a very similar atmosphere and tone and elicited similar emotions in me as the reader. I would recommend starting with The Broken Girls and then, if you enjoyed the themes, I would pick up Plain Bad Heroines, which is longer and a bit more complex. I read and loved both of these books in 2020, and I look forward to seeing what both authors write next!
Grown/My Dark Vanessa
Grown and My Dark Vanessa were both published in 2020 and both took on the difficult topic of the grooming of teenage girls. The main characters in both of these books are abused by men who are in a position of power and authority. Grown is YA while My Dark Vanessa is adult fiction, but I found them to be equally harrowing and I find myself haunting by them. These books made me deeply uncomfortable, which was the intention of both authors, and I appreciated that the “relationships” were never romanticized in any way. I highly recommend both, but proceed with caution.
Sadie/The Female of the Species
The Female of the Species has been a favourite of mine for a couple years now, so I could not help noticing the similarities when I finally got around to reading Sadie last summer. Both are YA novels that follow a teenage girl who is seeking revenge for the murder of her sister. Both Sadie and Alex, the protagonist in The Female of the Species, will go great length on their journey for vengeance. I don’t want to touch on any more similarities between the two books, as they could be seen as spoilers. Both books are incredible in their own right and I think that you will take something different away from each of them, so it is still worth reading both.
Let Me Hear a Rhyme/The Beauty that Remains
What makes Let Me Hear a Rhyme and The Beauty That Remains a perfect book pairing is that they both follow teenagers who have experienced loss and turn to music to deal with their grief. They both highlight the power of music and how everyone grieves differently. They are also both incredible examples of the found family trope where a shared grief brings characters together. These are two of my favourite YA novels that I find myself constantly recommending.
The Illuminae Files/The Themis Files
I am just now noticing how similar the titles are these two series are! The Themis Files feels very much like the adult version of The Illuminae Files. Though they are different in many ways, both series are SciFi stories that are told through mixed media, including security tapes, emails, reports, etc.
The Five People You Meet in Heaven/The Midnight Library
The Midnight Library was one of my favourite books of 2020, and I think a large reason why I enjoyed it so much was that it gave me the same feelings I had when I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven, which is one of the books that made me fall in love with reading again. Both books have this SciFi element where the main character has died and is reflecting on their life. In The Midnight Library that means living through alternate realities where the main character makes different choices each time and in The Five People You Meet in Heaven it means meeting people whose lives were affected by the main character. I found both to be incredibly inspirational and they both made me reflect on my own life.
Have you read any of these books? Do you have a perfect book pairing?
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Love this idea. I always try to put in my reviews similarities to other stories. I just finished Sadie, going to try your recc there.
That’s a good idea! I don’t think about book pairings very often, but it something I want to do more of!
Would love to hear your thoughts on The Female of the Species!
I’m reading Plain Bad Heroines now and I have The Broken Girls on my TBR! I’m even more excited to pick it up now 🙂
Amazing! I cannot wait to hear what you think of Plain Bad Heroines. I know it is not for everyone, but I just loved it. I think The Broken Girls is one I would more universally recommend!
I love these kinds of posts! I definitely need to check out The Female of the Species after this Sadie comp. And I really want to get to Grown, heard nothing but amazing things about it!
I love them too! Those are two of my favourite YA books. I would be so curious to see what you think of them!
I love these types of lists! I really want to read Grown and the Midnight Library sometime soon. I read my first Tiffany D. Jackson book last year and I am definitely a fan now! 🙂
Tiffany D Jackson is just the best! The only one of hers I have left to read is Monday’s Not Coming, and I am saving it. Just not ready to be done!
That’s actually the one I read first! I thought it was great 🙂
I really enjoyed The Sleeping Giant series, and several friends have recommended Illuminae. More books to add!
I think you will really enjoy The Illuminae Files. It gave me such a similar feeling to The Themis Files, though that series will always be my favourite.
Grown was so heartbreaking and so difficult to read because of the topic, but I loved it, I also loved Let Me Hear a Rhyme and The Five People You Meet In Heaven. I’m intrigued by The Midnight Library.
I trust Tiffany D Jackson with every topic. She is incredible!
I really think you’ll love The Midnight Library. It gave me the exact same feeling as The Give People You Meet in Heaven did, which is rare.
I trust Tiffany D. Jackson with every topic too. It’s a great feeling when you can trust authors with topics.
Oooh I loved this post and your recommendations! I really want to read Grown soon!
I would love to hear your thoughts on Grown. Such a difficult read, but Tiffany D Jackson does it so well.
I’ve been really intrigued by both Vanessa and Grown … definitely agree with Five People/ Midnight Library pairing and the Illuminae/ Sleeping Giants pairing! Great rec list! 🙂
Thank you! My Dark Vanessa and Grown are very difficult reads. You really have to be in a good headspace for both of them!
Haha I’ve either read both of the books or neither! Except for Sadie, whcich I loved, so I will definietly check out The Female of the Species!
(www.evelynreads.com)
I love when books talk to each other! Book pairings intrigue me!
Same!
I’ll be sure to try out Sleeping Giants since Illuminae is one of my all time favourites!
I got Sleeping Giants for Christmas and I am SO EXCITED to start reading it!!!
I loved Plain Bad Heroines, so I’ll need to check out The Broken Girls! I loved the Themis Files books, but sadly, Illuminae just didn’t work for me… I love all your pairings!
Thank you!
I really think you will enjoy The Broken Girls! You’ll want to read her newest books as well- The Sun Down Motel. She is amazing!
Great to know! I haven’t read any of her books… off to Goodreads for more info!
Oh, thank you for pointing me to The Themis Files. I didn’t know about the series and I may try it, as soon as I finish Illuminae.
Great article and great hints 🙂
That makes me so happy. My favourite series!