Meet Madeline ♡ Introducing New Members

hello everyone! my name is madeline, and i’m so excited to say that i am a new co-blogger for Twirling Pages! xan asked me the other day if i wanted to start co-blogging at the beginning of october, and here i am! i’m fifteen years old, and i’m living in the beautiful state of New Hampshire for boarding school at Phillips Exeter Academy, but i’m originally from Alabama. first of all, i am a tiny person– i’m less than five feet tall, and it’s looking pretty bleak that i’m going to grow much more…oh well. short people have more fun anyway.

i run cross country and distance track, and i really love it. by “love,” i mean i enjoy it about 70% of the time and the other 30% i’m actually running and kinda wanna lie down on the ground and sleep. i also used to be a competitive gymnast for almost eight years until i ‘retired’ last year, which was when i started running A LOT more. 

you just might be shocked to hear this, but i am a huge bookworm. i know. SO SURPRISING.

i thought i would tell you about some of my favorite books! (the hardest question a bookworm can answer…)

• six of crows by leigh bardugo – in general, i LOVE morally grey characters, so it’s no surprise that kaz brekker is one of my favorite characters of all time. dude, the writing, the plot, THE CHARACTERS– everything about this duology was amazing.
• the secret history by donna tartt – o h  g o s h. how do i even put this into words?? this book is freaking amazing. i know that this book isn’t for everyone (see: extreme pretentiousness and dislikable characters) but that’s what makes me love it so much. i’m such a nerd for the classics soooo that’s also a huge part of the reason why i love it. also, francis ‘asparagus is in season’ abernathy is a precious cinnamon roll who never deserved any of this. 
• the shades of magic series by v.e. schwab – just a heads up, now that i’m here on Twirling Pages, be prepared for the fact that i am going to screech about queen schwab’s books any and every chance i get. just letting you know. ANYWAY, the characters in this series are so well developed and the world building is on point. i am trash for rhy&alucard. READ THIS.
• the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater – i am a huge fan of character-driven books, and the raven cycle is the best example i know of an almost entirely character-driven book. Blue Sargent’s feminism slays me, and Ronan Lynch is one of my fave characters of all time for obvious reasons: he’s kinda morally grey-ish and magical.
• to all the boys i’ve loved before by jenny han – it’s so incredibly uncommon to find biracial characters in ya, much less half-korean characters, even with all the diverse books that have been coming out lately. being half-korean myself, it’s so important to see this representation, and i think that jenny han did so well with the half-korean rep in this series!!

i looveee listening to music. oh my goodness, i love Lorde so much (!!!), and also Billie Eilish, Young the Giant, and Coldplay. no seriously, i think that the release of Melodrama was the high point of my year so far?? (kidding but not really) i don’t really watch that much tv, but when i do, i either watch glee (MY ACTUAL FAVE) or Sherlock.

also, i am such a biology and classics nerd. i could talk all day about plants and their vascular tissues or greek/roman history. i love learning, and i find nearly everything interesting and worth learning about. writing is also a passion of mine, and i’m currently working on plotting + developing my first novel (EEP). 

AND FOOD. i think that i would have to say my favorite food is korean?? bimbimbap and galbi and manduguk IT’S ALL SO YUMMY. but i also love japanese food and pizza with broccoli!! AND ICE CREAM (even though i’m lactose intolerant and can’t eat it very often). i think my favorite ice cream is ben and jerry’s chocolate therapy as well as salted caramel and coffee. it’s all very delicious. 

(wow i’ve talked for a long time so)

finally, i guess i might describe my personality a little?? i’m very obsessed with myers-briggs personality typing, so in that test, i’m an INTJ! (prepare for world domination and missing socks) i would consider myself hard-working and determined (that’s a side effect of the gymnastics), and i’m very deadline focused. i would also call myself a “pre-crastinator.” i get very stressed when assignments are hanging over my head, and i usually try to get things done sooner rather than later. 

and that’s me! you can find me on instagram, twitter, and tumblr, as well as my blog, Reverie Pages. i’m so excited to be a co-blogger here and fangirl about books and life with you guys!!

xo,

madeline