Why I Love Urban Fantasy

Hallo loves,

I bet you've all been wondering where I got to? Truth was, I just wasn't feeling blogging anymore. I thought maybe I'd quit for good, but I wasn't sure, so I just...left, for a while.

 Instead, I was hiding out and reading whatever the hell I wanted. And what I wanted to read, apparently, was urban fantasy.  I've said it before on the blog, but I used to love UF when I was younger, but I haven't read as much of it in recent years. Mostly because a lot of it is adult and I have been on a massive YA kick. I wish there were more YA urban fantasy series'. If anyone can recommend anything, seriously, do. (I've read Strange Angels, Sarah Rees Brennan's books, The Demon Trapper's Daughter books...prolly some others I can't think of off the top of my head...)

So anyway, I've been reading UF. I devoured the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews which OMFG I adored. It's gonna be a long wait for book 6 (and they appaz are no longer published in the UK, sob) and I read the first 4 of the Hollows series by Kim Harrison, the first 6 Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs and the first 2 Chicagoland Vampires books by Chloe Neil.

I figured that instead of reviewing allllll these books, I'd do a post about why I love UF so much instead:

1. Girls

Now this (probably) isn't true for all UF, but most of what I read is written by female authors with female protags. I like this. I'm female, I like reading about females. I like reading about males too, but female protags always have a special place in my heart.

2. Awesome girls

So not only does UF have girls in, it has awesome girls. Girls who can stand up for themselves, who do stand up for themselves and who are strong, independent and capable. They fight for themselves and what they believe in and who they love. They arent self-sacrificing; they want to live, but if they're going down, it ain't without a fight.

3. Plotlines

 UF have MUCH better plotlines IMO than their PNR counterparts. There's more mysteries to solve, evil to battle, obstacles to overcome. While I do like a bit of romance in my books, I am much more about the plot. 

4. The Obstacles

The best books are those where there's something for the characters to overcome...and you don't know how, or even IF, they will overcome it. This can be ANYTHING of course, but in UF it is *usually* a life or death kinda sitch. Then you have the whole planning, gearing up for battle and the tension of "OMG who is gonna die, someone is definitely dying, there is no way they're all making it out of here alive" which is both terrifying and exhilarating 

5. Personal Growth

Again, this happens in a lot of books, but I especially like the theme of it in UF. It usually starts off with a tough-as-nails heroine, who slowly comes to recognise that life is much better with people that you love and care about and can depend upon and builds herself a network of unusual but loyal friends. I like that. 

So there we have it...my five favourite things about UF. If you like UF, what do you like about it? What books and series' are your favourites? If you DON'T like it, has my post inspired you to maybe give it a go?

As I'm sure you're all aware, GFC will be vanishing in July. So I would appreciate it if you would:
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