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Taylor Swift’s “evermore” Book Tag (Original!)

If I had to choose just one thing I didn’t expect from 2020, in this year full of unexpected things, it would be a surprise Taylor Swift album. But two surprise Taylor Swift albums within 5 months of each other? Unheard of. But Taylor Swift is the gift that keeps on miraculously giving, and after the success of our folklore book tag, we’re back with an evermore book tag!

I’ll keep it real: this one was much harder to conceptualize than the last. But Taylor’s stories, characters, and beautiful portraits were just as captivating, enthralling, and evocative, and we know that there must be some books out there that capture the same magical, heartbreaking feelings as evermore. So without further ado, we present to you an evermore book tag, with a prompt not only for every song on the album but the two bonus tracks (!!!) as well.

Though we are a YA-focused blog, this tag is not exclusively for or about YA novels.

Happy reading, happy tagging!

RULES
  • Link to the original creator: Paige @ YA Books Daily
  • Tag at least 3 people.
  • Declare the rules and prompts in your post.
  • Thank whoever tagged you and link to their post!
  • The graphics are free to use if you’d like, but please note YA Books Daily as the owner!

willow: a book with a magical element, or that cast a spell on you

“Wink kissed deep. Deep as a dark, misty, forest path. One that lead to blood and love and death and monsters.” // “Wait for the signal and I’ll meet you after dark. Show me the places where the others gave you scars.”

Like Taylor Swift said herself, “willow” sounds like a love spell. While I don’t know if I would go so far as to classify Wink Poppy Midnight as “magical,” it surely cast a spell on me. I read this so many years ago that my memory of the book itself is now faint, but I remember being absolutely enraptured by the storytelling, all the breathtaking, enticing ways it was weaved. If you’ve been a long-time reader of this blog, you’ll know Tucholke is one of my favorite authors of all time. She always casts a spell on me, but particularly in this one.

champagne problems: a book filled with glitz and glamour

“I salute your spunk, but I question your sanity.” // “‘She would’ve made such a lovely bride, what a shame she’s fucked in the head.'”

The Diviners might just be my favorite YA book of all time—even though I still need to get to finishing The King of Crows ASAP. Nothing screams glitz and glamour like the 1920s, and no one defines champagne problems quite like Evie O’Neill. Her air of perfection, her desire to maintain her image, while behind the scenes her life, her world, falls apart, immediately stood out to me as the perfect fit for this prompt. If no one else will, I’m sure that I will remember her champagne problems.

gold rush: a book featuring unrequited love

“I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity.” // “My mind turns your life into folkore, I can’t dare to dream about you anymore.”

Consider this a happy extension of my pick for the last song, because I’m going down the Classics route for “gold rush.” Not only did this quickly become one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs of all time, and is certainly one of the best on evermore, but the daydream nature of this song and the quick backtracking on the fantasy that is so beautifully laid out just screams unrequited love. While I was close to picking Wuthering Heights for this one, despite having not read it yet, I decided what better than The Great Gatsby, since so much of folklore and evermore are filled to the brim with Gatsby-like images and references? What’s unrequited love without that deep longing that Daisy and Gatsby exemplify?

’tis the damn season: a book with a holiday romance

“I am worried about being in love, because it involves asking so much. I am worried my life will never fit into his.” // “I won’t ask you to wait if you don’t ask me to stay.”

Friends, it appears I am slightly cheating again. Like my pick for “august” for the folklore book tag, here I am picking an anthology to fit “’tis the damn season” on evermore: My True Love Gave to Me. As someone who doesn’t pick up holiday romance books that often (I prefer a movie, thank you very much) this is a collection I adore. It covers the whole spectrum of holiday experiences, all the stories are beautifully written, and some of them I still think of fondly and regularly. My personal recommendations: “Midnights,” “It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown,” and “Welcome to Christmas, CA.”

tolerate it: a book you loved, but whose sequel didn’t love you back

“While you were out building other worlds, where was I?”

Sometimes, a sequel lets you down, whether it’s just not what you wanted or objectively bad. Second books are always hard, and I normally give them time and space, looking for the good first, but there are always a few that really bomb. For me, that was The Treatment. I loved The Program (with time and age, however, I’m pretty sure I may actually hate it now), but The Treatment is one of the rare few books I’ve encountered that I actually couldn’t finish. But when I was young and naive in 2014, I adored the first installment, and that follow-up was a huge letdown.

no body, no crime: a book with a murder to be solved

“There is nothing so serious as a game.” // “I think he did it, but I just can’t prove it.”

If you know me, you know I love a murder mystery, a thriller, a crime novel. And I’ll go to my grave maintaining the opinion that Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious series is one of the most deftly crafted, intriguing, and satisfying mystery series out there. And with the first three books revolving around a decades-old crime where there is literally a missing body, what better pick for evermore‘s instant country classic “no body, no crime”? What was originally a trilogy seems to have spun into a series, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I can’t wait to see what Stevie gets up to in The Box in the Woods, and I know she’ll prove whatever hunch she has.

happiness: a book that broke your heart in a good way

“Maybe we just lived between hurting and healing.” // “There is happiness in our history; across our great divide, there is a glorious sunrise.”

I can’t think of a book that more perfectly encapsulates the brilliance and the aching hurt of “happiness” than Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. I know it’s been said, over and over, by so many before me and so many who will come after, how utterly perfect this book is, but it will always remain a favorite of mine. While Aristotle and Dante is no break-up novel, I still see so much of this chasm that “happiness” paints a portrait of in the two boys’ dynamic.

dorothea: a book with a high school romance

“But leaning against him, crying into his stupid tweed, I thought I could maybe stay there forever. It was such a relief to be able to sob and have someone know all the reasons why.” // “And if you’re ever tired of being known for who you know, you know, you’ll always know me.”

Here I am, again, telling you to read Rebel Belle. But Harper and David are one of the greatest YA couples of all time, and you can hold me to that. And “dorothea” is literally the perfect song for the two of them: Harper, the seemingly picture-perfect homecoming queen, pageant queen, Southern belle; David, the only one who really understands her, who she is and what she’s going through. The magic of Rebel Belle is that it perfectly meshes high school romance with intriguing supernatural/superhero elements, but at the core of the trilogy is the two of them. And if you’ve finished Lady Renegades, you’ll know exactly why this song hits close to home for those two.

coney island: a book you’re waiting to be released

“Did I leave you hanging every single day?”

There are so many levels to evermore‘s “coney island” that I had to go the most straightforward route to create a prompt for this one: “coney island” is, at its core, about waiting. Waiting, and hoping, and regretting. So with that in mind, let’s turn our attention to what we’re all waiting for: 2021 releases! There are so many phenomenal books coming out this upcoming year, so use this chance to spotlight one, or two, or however many books you’re looking forward to getting your hands on. Personally, I am so anxious to read Dahlia Adler’s Cool for the Summer, and May feels torturously far away.

ivy: a book that understood you deeply

“He came. He left. Nothing else had changed. I had not changed. The world hadn’t changed. Yet nothing would be the same. All that remains is dreammaking and strange remembrance.” // “I’d live and die for moments that we stole on begged and borrowed time.”

No book has spoken to the core of my person the way Call Me By Your Name has. Since the folklore book tag touched on how seen I felt by Gemma Doyle, for evermore and “ivy” I chose to look at things a bit differently—what book saw you before you saw it? I know the discourse surrounding CMBYN is never-ending (and believe me, I’m willing to discuss it with maturity) but the very heart of the matter is that this book accessed a lot of my person for me, for it is firstly about identity creation. I adore it with my whole heart and soul, and the book itself fits “ivy” perfectly. And I have to be careful, or I’ll dedicate a whole post/thread/etc. to how evermore speaks to CMBYN.

cowboy like me: a western, or a book with a western thrill

“Seems like I’ve been waiting for you to come around my whole life.”// “Never thought I’d meet you here; it could be love.”

While I haven’t read Walk on Earth a Stranger yet, it has been in my pile, and on my list, for so long. I’m sadly so unfamiliar with YA books that have a bit of a western flare, and there don’t seem to be many, and I’ve never read a western before, at least not that I know of. So, I’m wedging a slice of my TBR into this evermore prompt as a reminder to myself to get to reading this series. And now that I’ve seen this quote, I have to admit I’m hungering to read it and put “cowboy like me” on heavy repeat.

long story short: a book under 300 pages

“I just know there’s more.”

Don’t let the Goodreads page count fool you: the actual text of this book is just under 300 pages! I’m skeptical of books shorter than 300 pages more often than I think I should be, but not necessarily when it comes to literary fiction. My Year of Rest and Relaxation was one of my favorite reads of the year, and you can hear me wax poetic about it here. Though short, it packed such a punch.

marjorie: a book with a strong family element

“We have more story than time to tell it—but I suppose that’s true for all of us.” // “And if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were talking to me now.”

Maybe, possibly, a strange pick for “marjorie.” But while I’ve read a fair number of YA books that had a heavy focus on family, Sadie stood out to me as the perfect fit for this one because the strong emphasis on family not only grounded the story perfectly, but came as a bit of a surprise to me. It’s not often that a thriller, a crime novel, etc., gives so much textual space to family, but I am so glad this one did. No other book could fit the lyrics of this song so perfectly, in my opinion.

closure: a book you never want to see again

“I know that it’s over, I don’t need your ‘closure.'”

I was part of the blog tour for What Unbreakable Looks Like, and as unbelievably grateful as I am for the opportunity: oof. I do not understand the praise this book got, and I’m glad I chose to go the route of excerpt posting rather than review posting, because I kind of went in on it on Goodreads. And for very good reason. It baffles me that this book has such a high rating, and if I never see or hear about it again, it’ll be too soon.

evermore: a book that healed you

“Meeting your soul mate is like walking into a house you’ve been in before—you will recognize the furniture, the pictures on the wall, the books on the shelves, the contents of drawers: You could find your way around in the dark if you had to.” // “In the cracks of light, I dreamed of you; and it was real enough to get me through. I swear—you were there.”

It makes me deeply sad that I’ll Give You the Sun has become something of a “cliche” YA novel, because it’s truly one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. Not only was it so heavily about healing, but the prose itself was so evocative, powerful, and lyrical that it feels infused with a healing power of its own. “evermore” is without a doubt one of my all-time favorite songs now, and I think it’s so heavily misunderstood by fans, and that upsets me so greatly, because it is just an unbelievably gorgeous and healing piece of music. I see so much of this novel reflected in this song, and when you really think about the beauty of what “evermore” is doing, I think you will too.

right where you left me: a book that left you in a serious reading slump

“…things get broken, and sometimes they get repaired, and in most cases, you realize that no matter what gets damaged, life rearranges itself to compensate for your loss, sometimes wonderfully.” // “Glass shattered on the white cloth, everybody moved on, I stayed there.”

As I sit here and write this, I am actually still in the thick of reading A Little Life. But from everything I’ve heard, from all the warnings frineds have given me, I know a serious book hangover/reading slump awaits me at the end. I’m determined to finish this before the year ends, which means pushing my heart through a lot of difficult material quickly, and tbh, I’m scared to see where that leaves my brain come 2021.

it’s time to go: a book you just couldn’t finish

“And you know in your soul when it’s time to go.”

I’ve only ever DNF’d 7 books in my life. Yes, that’s right, seven. Once I start a book, I will almost always finish it, even if I know I hate or greatly dislike it. But when I read The Kiss of Deception, I got about 350 pages in before I had to throw in the towel. It just had no flavor to me. I found it boring, repetitive, pedantic, and downright confusing. Whatever magic it worked on other readers, I felt none of that.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for checking out our evermore book tag! Here are all the categories listed for convenience, and if you’d like to participate in our book tag, please tag us so we can check out all your fantastic picks!

  1. willow // a book with a magical element, or that cast a spell on you
  2. champagne problems // a book filled with glitz and glamour
  3. gold rush // a book featuring unrequited love
  4. ’tis the damn season // a book with a holiday romance
  5. tolerate it // a book you loved, but whose sequel didn’t love you back
  6. no body, no crime // a book with a murder to be solved
  7. happiness // a book that broke your heart in a good way
  8. dorothea // a book with a high school romance
  9. coney island // a book you can’t wait to be released
  10. ivy // a book that understood you deeply
  11. cowboy like me // a western, or a book with a western thrill
  12. long story story // a book under 300 pages
  13. marjorie // a book with a strong family element
  14. closure // a book you never want to see again
  15. evermore // a book that healed you
  16. right where you left me // a book that left you in a serious reading slump
  17. it’s time to go // a book you just couldn’t finish

We tag!

10 replies on “Taylor Swift’s “evermore” Book Tag (Original!)”

ahh, all of these prompts are so creative!! i also loved the graphics!! ahah i also created an evermore book tag recently, so it was amazing to see how our prompts were different, and different perspectives on the same song!! i will try to do this tag soon, and i loved reading through this post ❤✨

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