Books to Music - Halsey Edition.

My 'Books to Music' posts are usually just me sharing my bookish playlists but this time I was inspired by Alexandra's post 'A Bookish Ode to Badlands' and decided to share with you which books I think about when I listen to Halsey's music. I hope you enjoy because I had some serious fun making this list.

Please be aware that some of these explanations may have spoilers. I'll also put an extra warning when spoilers are coming but please be wary when reading.

Honestly, there was no competition for this book. Castle has Throne of Glass written ALL over it. 

SPOILERS FOR HEIR OF FIRE:

Now I haven't read Queen of Shadows but I can only assume that it includes Aelin fighting for her place as rightful Queen of Terrasen and terrorising the people who get in her damn way. 

Castle, for me, is a song about women taking what we deserve and what we've worked hard for and not being the 'meek' people that 'the man' has always told us we have to be. I love Castle. It's a song that I can so clearly picture a music video to (featuring Halsey sitting on a throne with the King's head in her hands, covered in blood, wearing red lipstick in a white throne room and smirking at the camera - with a bloodied crown on her head, of course). 

Also, this song isn't just for Aelin. It's for Nehemia, Manon and every other female bad-ass character in this series.

This has Alina and The Darkling's relationship written all over it and I think it really signifies Alina's attitude throughout the book. Her constant battle between being who the people want her to be and who she knows she really is. 

SPOILERS FOR RUIN AND RISING:

When I relate Hold Me Down to this book I really think of The Apparat as the three piece that Halsey is talking about. It's a constant battle between Alina and him because he wants Alina to be more than she is. Darkling on the other hand, he's the devil that wants to infiltrate her mind and make her weak. 

I think that Alina has her very own Badlands in The Grisha Trilogy and Hold Me Down is a song that very aptly describes her feelings towards it. 

I was struggling to find a book for this song. I went from Throne of Glass to The Raven Boys to Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist but then I remembered Looking for Alaska. I remembered Pudge. I remembered how he treated Alaska like she would answer every single one of his problems. I remembered how she was going through problems of her own, and that she was slipping deeper and deeper into a depressive state but Pudge just saw her as 'mysterious' and a challenge that he needed to conquer. 

The bridge from Hurricane perfectly summed this up. Alaska was not something for Pudge to own, which is something I feel that she constantly tried to tell him. 'Don't belong to no city, don't belong to no man' and boy, did she prove that.

Roman Holiday is a song that makes me incredibly happy every time that I listen to it. It's a song that makes me think of road trips, and concerts and friends and theme parks and everything that makes me happy. So does Simon VS. I can just imagine Simon and his friends and BLUE being happy together and making memories and having the most spectacular time. 

Roman Holiday makes me think of living without regrets and I hope to god that's something that happens for Simon.

Here goes the nearly impossible task of me talking about this book without breaking down into tears or ending up as hollow as I was when I first finished this book.

Ghost is the epitome of Why We Broke Up. Ghost is the epitome of falling in love with someone who isn't fully capable of falling in love with you. Ghost is the epitome of putting your everything into a relationship with someone who can't give themselves to you the way you want them to. Ghost is the epitome of waking up one morning and realising that the person you fell in love with, isn't the person you thought you fell in love with. Ghost is the epitome of Why We Broke Up. 

I don't want to talk about this book any more. I wish I could delete this book from my memory.

I know there are people out there who say Drive is THE Bluesey song but to those people I say: A) YES. B) No. Have you even heard Strange Love?

SPOILERS FOR BLLB:

'They think I'm insane, they think my lover is strange' is a pretty apt description of Gansey and Blue, don't you think? People don't really talk to Blue because she comes from a family of psychics and Gansey? He spends his spare time looking for a dead, welsh king!

Not to mention the lyric that's written above. The one that just lit up 'Bluesey' like a neon sign. I don't want Gansey to die. Adam doesn't want Gansey to die, Blue doesn't want Gansey to die. No one wants Gansey to die. But Gansey will probably die. It's basically inevitable. (Yes - I just admitted that. Yes - I am going to spend the rest of the night crying). 

Also: "They know you walk like you're a god, they can't believe I made you weak"

I don't know how I can explain this without just stating the obvious, other than it just feels completely and utterly right. 

Violet and Finch were a complete whirlwind from the very start. They were both people who needed a little brightness in their life and Finch saw that. He wanted to be the brightness in Violet's life. In fact, I think that he spent so much time putting his fire into Violet that he forgot how much he needed it himself. Now he's gone and she's confused and sad and angry and lonely and she's feeling every possible emotion and she's not ready to let him go and she won't let him go and she can't let him go so she goes on one last adventure for him. With him. To find him. 

I didn't realise how much writing this post would HURT me.

For those of you who have read Dangerous Boys you'll probably understand exactly why I chose this book for Young God. 

The song starts off perfectly normal and actually kind of romantic but it gets more and more sinister and twisted as time goes on. That's exactly what reading this book is like. It's addicting and mesmerising and completely cruel and the entire journey is fucking spectacular. 

Halsey and Abigail Haas both have a way of telling a story that is hypnotising and I couldn't have found a better match, honestly.