Okay so last year had been my first ever YALC visit, and I found it pretty great in all honesty. I came away with a pretty good haul and though I had some issues with the queuing system in place (it was pretty hectic) overall I had a pretty good time.
This year, I genuinely don’t think I could do a full wrap-up.
In all honesty, I was not in a good place and that meant that a lot more things upset me about this year. I know that some have already spoken out about the accessibility issues and there are probably a lot more to come but I’d rather just focus on my ridiculous haul because if I start ranting about things I didn’t like it’d probably bring my mood down massively? Also because I brought 62 books back with me, so this is a mega-post with that alone.
Books I Took With Me
Again, I took a fair few books with me to get signed by authors, including:
- Viper by Bex Hogen (FairyLoot edition)
- Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan (UK ARC, FairyLoot and OwlCrate edition)
- Flame in the Mist and Smoke in the Sun by Renée Adhieh
- City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
- Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron (this was one I’d lent to Amy)
- Other Words for Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin
- A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab (this was the one I chose to get personalised)
- The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab
- The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman
- Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
- The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James (Lauren wasn’t able to attend YALC but I’ll definitely be bringing it for the next opportunity!)
- The Last Namsara and The Caged Queen by Kristen Ciccarelli
- The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven
- Heartstopper Vol. 1 and 2 by Alice Oseman
If this doesn’t make you go ‘oh god how many did she end up getting’ then well, well done for having hope in me. I am, however, rather impulsive in general and VERY impulsive where books are concerned, see below for proof.
ARCs
I adore this part of my haul because a few I’ve been really excited for!
- Infinity Son by Adam Silvera – I NEEDED THIS SO BAD! Hashtag Reads were giving out 100 at the start of Friday and Saturday and I managed to get one on the Friday (the last one too) but I love Adam’s work and he’s such a great person I’ve been excited for this since he announced he was working on a fantasy book!
- A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell
- Reverie by Ryan La Sala
- Midnight Beauties by Megan Shepherd
- Wild Savage Stars by Kristina Pérez
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
- What She Found in the Woods by Josephine Angelini
- Jackpot by Nic Stone
- GIRLS OF STORM AND SHADOW by Natasha Ngan – I very recently read Girls of Paper and Fire and ADORED it and I’m so happy I managed to get a copy of this on the first day (buy two books and get an ARC)!
ARCs were given in a variety of ways, of course Infinity Son was first-come, first-served for Day 1 and 2 (this changed to a raffle system for Day 3), the next four were from Melia Publishing Services with ‘Buy a book get an ARC’, I won The Ten Thousand Doors of January with a raffle ticket, What She Found in the Woods was from purchasing We Hunt the Flame, Jackpot had actually just been put in the book swap area and GOSAS was of course the two books for an ARC (I was DESPERATE for this, and actually managed to get it signed by Natasha on the Sunday).
Books I Got There
- Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart (I got this from the book swap for a book I wasn’t too keen on, came in handy for a gift though)
- Mirage by Somaiya Daud (I already had the OwlCrate and FairyLoot edition but I LOVED this so needed this final copy)
- Sea Witch Rising by Sarah Henning (recently read and adored this for a blog tour so when I saw Harper360 was selling it I jumped at the chance)
- The Antidote by Shelley Sackier
- The Shadow Glass and The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco
- Bright Smoke, Cold Fire by Rosamund Hodge (this was gifted by Harper360 because it was in too bad of a condition to sell, but I had my eye on it already so was pretty happy)
- Shadow & Flame by Mindee Arnett (I still need to read Onyx & Ivory but I like to have the next one ready!)
- Ember in the Ashes and Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir
- Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff (paperbacks are just easier to read…)
- Emily Eternal by Mark Wheaton
- The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James (it’s hidden in there)
- Tarot by Marissa Kennerson (this book looks so pretty)
- Through the White Wood by Jessica Leake
- A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan
- Stormtide by Den Patrick
- Gemina and Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
- What Magic is This? by Holly Bourne (I also got this signed there)
- We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faisal
- Sherwood by Meagan Spooner
- The Sword and the Dagger by Robert Cochran
- Solitaire by Alice Oseman (also one I got signed there)
- Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy
- Wilder Girls by Rory Power (I won this early copy from MyKindaBook!)
- We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
- Avenged by Amy Tintera (this was from the book swap area, think I swapped my 8th copy of Finale which I’d bought for the Strange the Dreamer tote bag…)
- The Extinction Trials: Rebel by S.M. Wilson
- Beauty and the Beast MinaLima edition (I’ve wanted this for so long!)
- The Deepest Blue by Sarah Beth Durst
- The Curses by Laure Eve
- Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
- Seafire by Natalie C. Parker
Oh, and an Ariel Pop! I picked up from LFCC is also of course making an appearance! She’ll be great for bookstagram photos. I picked up a few samplers I was interested in too and some posters but the books were what I really excited for, even if they killed me for the week after!
Swag
My aim for this year was to come home without masses of prints and samplers that I didn’t want, so I tried pretty hard not too pick up too much! I took my preorder posters of Roa and Asha so I could get them signed by Kristen Ciccarelli too because I just love them. Swag picked up is to follow!
So I was as careful as possible with samplers! I may have picked up a few more than shown here but I aimed to get the ones I was most excited for! I seriously can’t wait for The Queen of Nothing especially, of course!
Pins… So Illumicrate were doing three YALC exclusive pins and I definitely had my eye on these two! Yes I still need to read both books but I know I’ll love them.
And finally, prints and posters! I got the ACOTAR print from Illumicrate’s lucky dip and I was so happy – I’ve loved it since I first saw it! The City of Brass and Nevernight posters were from Harper Voyager (I also signed up for the email newsletter so I could get the gorgeous tote bag) and finally the prints for Priory and ADSOM were both from Illumicrate!
So, as you can see from the above my haul was pretty damn good this year! I’m happy with everything I picked up and my only complaint about it all is I don’t know where to start with it really – I’m focusing on the ARCs but after that then who knows? Because I don’t…
Did you go to YALC?
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Lauren (The Bookish Fairy) says
That Ariel pop is so cute. How did I miss you getting it?
Luchia says
I think I just wandered off on the last day to go Pop! hunting, because the only thing that matches my book collection is my Pop! one… oh and pin collection :’)