Wine & YA

Emily and Christina dig back into the second and final installment of Marie Lu's technicolor near-future Warcross series with Wildcard, which leads them to contemplate the very nature of life and death, give some investment advice, and incites one of the hosts to launch their 2020 campaign??

Emily and Christina kick off a new series with Furyborn by Claire Legrand -- an epic fantasy with two fierce heroines intertwined in a millennia-spanning conflict. The girls unpack the captivating opening chapter, make prophecy predictions, and clash over an angel villain love-interest (per usual).  

Emily and Christina jump back into Sabaa Tahir's bestselling An Ember in the Ashes series with the third book, A Reaper at the Gates. The girls catch up with Laia, Elias and Helene and try to predict how this romantic (and gut-wrenching) series will conclude.

Emily and Christina gush over The Cruel Prince by Holly Black -- the first book in a dark, whimsical series centered around a mortal girl in faerie court. Brimming with complicated family dynamics, royal intrigue, twisted power plays, and (of course) romance, the girls may even go as far as to call it their favorite book of the year.

Emily and Christina jump into the West African-inspired fantasy debut, Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi and explore how and why it's taken the YA world by storm. 

Emily and Christina go deep underground to talk about S. Jae-Jones's haunting debut Wintersong. They navigate a labyrinth of questions such as: Can goblins be hot? How did this book legally get published? Is our protagonist actually Beethoven?  

Emily and Christina talk contemporary YA for the first time on the podcast, with a spoiler free discussion of two critically acclaimed books: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. 

Briefly stepping away from books, Emily and Christina can’t help but discuss the latest Star Wars blockbuster, The Last Jedi. With a love story that feels like it’s straight out of YA, how could they not? [*Spoilers for Last Jedi and Grisha Trilogy]

Emily and Christina delve into sci-fi with Marie Lu's action-packed VR video game book of their dreams. Listen along as they chronicle their own gamer experience (or lack thereof) and gush over Emika Chen, a badass protagonist with hacking skills, a hoverboard, and truly Instagram-worthy hair.

The boys join Emily and Christina for the final book in Sarah J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series. Friendships are severed, wars are fought, and it's possible not everyone will make it out alive...during the recording of this podcast. 

Emily and Christina are finally discussing the popular Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. Diving into the first three books, the girls cover the melting pot of dystopian and high fantasy elements and how their impressions compared to the hype, along with (surprise, surprise) some disagreement on the love interests. 

Emily and Christina enjoy some red wine while unpacking best-selling series by Mary E. Pearson, The Remnant Chronicles. Expect ample discussion on the unique premise of the first book and who they thought the princess was falling for (high stakes with a mystery prince and assassin), as well as mind-blowing map revelations (yes, you read that right).

Emily and Christina are BACK and discussing Empire of Storms, the fifth book in Sarah J. Maas' bestselling Throne of Glass series. The girls dig deep into the series' growing pains, analyze what works (and what doesn't) in YA sex scenes, and go through at least an entire bottle of red. 

Emily and Christina are back in the Grishaverse talking about Leigh Bardugo's Crooked Kingdom, the second book in the Six of Crows series. The girls discuss the ups and downs of a series with constantly shifting POVs and what makes this series a standout in its genre. If you're new to the series, take a listen to episode 5 on the first installment, Six of Crows. 

Christina and Emily discuss one of this fall's hottest books: A Torch Against the Night. The 2nd book in Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes series, the girls gush over the book's depth of culture, badass women, brutal bad guys, and epic romance...and of course how we all feel about Keenan...

Emily and Christina go back to the series that started it all. In the beginning of the pod, they discuss the results of their Pottermore quizzes. After that, they break down their reactions to the script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a new play from J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany.

The boys are back! Emily and Christina's friends make a return appearance to discuss A Court of Mist and Fury -- the 2nd book in Sarah J. Maas' best-selling new adult fantasy series, A Court Thorns and Roses. 

Emily and Christina discuss The Winner's Trilogy, the best selling series by Marie Rutkoski's about warring societies, forbidden romance, and political intrigue. After a year of eager anticipation, they spend some extra time weighing in on the highs and lows of the recently released conclusion to the series, The Winner's Kiss.

Emily and Christina discuss one of the biggest YA books of 2015, An Ember in the Ashes -- diving into the ancient Roman influence, love squares, and brutal yet fascinating world of Blackcliff Academy. Also, not gonna lie, we got a little tipsy for this one... P.S. Technical difficulties set us back quite a bit for posting this episode, so please ignore our mentions of how we've been so good at sticking to our regular podcasting schedule. Oops.  

Christina and Emily are joined by two of their best friends, Max and Robbie, who bring as much masculinity as they can muster to discuss the Beauty and the Beast-inspired new series by Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses.