This is a meme from The Broke and the Bookish. For info about the topics and how to participate, click here.
Initially, when I saw today’s topic, I kind of drew a blank. “Huh. What. *moans* I have to think?” Under the shower I started laughingly thinking of what I could write about if I chose Doctor Who, and guess what, I HAVE FREAKING GLORIOUS IDEAS. So. Doctor Who fans, be prepared. And if you don’t watch Doctor Who… I’m sorry. BUT still read the list, and if enough of your favorite books are on it, maybe you’ll finally make the A+ EXCELLENT LIFE DECISION to become a Whovian.
All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill remains the best time travel book I’ve read to date. Not only is the plot one that shocks you, much like Doctor Who could, but I really liked the world building and time travel logic. So many books get that wrong or just don’t quite make it, but this one, to me, was solid. It kind of blew my mind.
I LOVE Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS for a WHOLE BUNCH OF REASONS (*cough*gratuitousamountsofWhoufflé*cough*) but I have to admit that the episode was also majorly creepy. The TARDIS was a wreck and the “salvage” crew wanted to cut it up… then there were those zombie creature things. And then the ship started to warp. SCARY SCARY SCARY. And in that sense it perfectly matches the vibe and atmosphere of Avalon by Mindee Arnett. Though it’s not my favorite book ever, it was good-creepy and appealed to my sci-fi nerd self.
At a higher level, Doctor Who is just plain sci-fi, so obviously I had to draw some parallel to recommend Cinder by Marissa Meyer. But I love how both capture those classically brilliant things like androids and cyborgs (though those are way different in Doctor Who *cough*). If you like K-9, you’ll probably love Iko, Cinder’s android. Not only is Iko herself super cute, but their relationship is also aww-worthy.
BUT, if K-9 is not enough to convince you to read The Lunar Chronicles series, and you are a fan of Oswin in Asylum of the Daleks, you definitely want to get to Cress by Marissa Meyer. You’ll love Cress, the character, because she’s just like Oswin in that episode (albeit more naive and less snarky) – she’s a hacker watching over the other characters from afar, helping in whatever way she can. Yeah, that parallel made it into my review of Cress. Not sorry.
or Clara’s in The Name of the Doctor…
Err. This is a more complicated one, because haha OBVIOUSLY Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge is not sci-fi. But I can’t get into either side of this parallel for fear of spoilers. Just feelings in a plot twist. Feeeeeelings.
If you like Jack, you’ll probably love Sturmhond in Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo. I mean, okay, Sturmhond isn’t gay (thank god because I want a slice of that), but he’s also the kind of hilariously charming character that immediately catches your attention and gets you all flustered and giggly. And just like Jack, you learn later that there’s SO MUCH DEPTH to this one guy who you thought was just all charm. Looooove.
Parallel worlds can be SO NASTY for getting in the way of OTPs, amirite? But so basically, if Ten/Rose is your OTP, you will probably cry yourself silly because of the most glorious ship in Pivot Point by Kasie West. They will break your heart. And not a Ten/Rose shipper? Neither am I, and Pivot Point is still one of my FAVORITE books ever. Parallel timelines. Seriously. That should be enough.
Okay, the time travel logic of Doctor Who is solid to an extent (aka don’t think about it too much), but I really love the idea of the fixed moments in time. Usually, for the Doctor, this is more bad than good – there are moments he just can’t interfere in, and he just has to let certain bad things happen. But on the other hand, it can have a positive fate-like aspect for other characters. That’s what I loved so much about the eventual message of Parallel by Lauren Miller‘s parallel universes. It’s just a beautiful story.
BEWARE THE SHADOWS. Haha, if you liked that scary Doctor Who monster, you’ll definitely want to check out Arclight by Josin L. McQuein, even though I just read the sequel and was quite disappointed by it. But Arclight is all about shadow monsters. Gotta stay in the light. My fear of the dark was rekindled. Yay creepy!
back to Victorian England…
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier is just fun fun fun. The characters and the laughter they incite through humorous banter is probably the closest parallel to Doctor Who. A character like Ximerius – I could totally picture him in the Doctor Who universe. But Ruby Red also has time travel and fun short trips to the past. It is very aesthetic, since a lot of emphasis is placed on the characters blending in – so they have to learn about the appropriate clothing and behavior. SO. Yes, I love this series
DEBBY. THIS LIST. IS. PURE. PERFECTION. I’m really just speechless at the awesome choices you made for awesome reasons and omggggg perfecccct
♥♥♥♥♥ 🙂
I have not watched Doctor Who (don’t throw tomatoes at me), but it’s something people keep recommending to me. Obviously I need to give it a try. Love your references to Pivot Point and the Lunar Chronicles, though. 🙂 Glorious ships, indeed.
I love Who and I love this list so much! I love the way you arranged it with the “if you love this part” I really agree with All Our Yesterdays, and Harkness being similarish to Sturmhond! I need to check out some of the other books on the list, but ahh this was fun =)
What a great list! Doctor Who + YA books = LOVE. You made awesome book recs and the gifs were pure love.
Rose Red was awesome and I LOVE the movie!!! I cannot wait for the sequel, I wish I understood German so I could see it quicker.
NO I HAVEN’T WATCHED DOCTOR WHO yes I know I have a sad life. But I still love this list!
I don’t watch Doctor Who. D: Buuut I loved All Our Yesterdays, Cinder and Cress! I liked Cruel Beauty as well. All of the other books are on my to-read list on Goodreads. 🙂
I remember seeing All Our Yesterdays discounted when it first came out but I never got it, really wish I had now, I’ve heard is fantastic, and the recommendation is more than enough to make me work on getting it and I’m genuinely getting to The Lunar Chronicles this month, I mean it, and I’m so excited about it now.The Grisha Trilogy is hitting my radar more now too, and with the Jack Harness recommendation, it’s much higher, in fact, this entire list is just fantastic and appeals to my Whovian nature, such a good list Debby! 🙂
OH I have been meaning to read Ruby Red! I will just have to pick it up that much sooner now.
I’ve never seen Doctor Who (I know! Terrible right?!) but I DO love so many of the books on your list. 🙂 I’d love to read Cruel Beauty too. But I already love The Lunar Chronicles and The Grisha series. SO much awesome! My TTT!
I love the detail you went into for this! I have not watched any Dr. Who, but I am very intrigued 🙂
Okay this post is made of awesome. I loved all those parallels you found. And Yay a couple of titles I’ve been on the fence about, thanks to this post I have to read, soon. Thanks!
I did Doctor Who as well, and not one of our books is the same – that’s how deep the show is! Great list!
Loving this list! I didn’t do one this week because I couldn’t think of anything, and I wish I’d come up with this. Such a great list.
Oh my god I LOVE that you went with the different aspects of Doctor Who! It really nails how all encompassing the show is (and why it’s so hard to explain to people why I love it). But can you believe….I’ve only read Ruby Red off this list! *Gasp* At least I know where to head in my TBR next 🙂
Exactly! Doctor Who has so much going for it, when I tell people about it and they’re just like, “So it’s nerdy sci-fi about time traveling, um, ew” I just want to cry. It really has something for everyone. 🙂 Hope you enjoy these picks! You should definitely prioritize The Lunar Chronicles, Pivot Point, and All Our Yesterdays 🙂
I love Doctor Who! I considered using Doctor Who for my TTT this week, but I wasn’t sure if I could think of enough recommendations. I love all these GIFS. Also, David Tennant’s face in the Rose/Ten Gif – makes me all weepy all over again!
And now I have even more reason to read Pivot Point, gah! I love these comparisons and so agree and now don’t mind me while I go sniffle about Rose.
Yesyesyesyes go read Pivot Point. Everyone needs to read Pivot Point. I shall not rest. *pouts*
Pivot Point…..ALL MY PAIN!!
Beautiful post, Debby!
I’ve read Cruel Beauty, Siege and Storm, Cinder & Cress of course. I also read All our yesterdays. I can’t wait to finally try Pivot Point, especially since I need to read something from Kasie West, right 😉 Parallel sounds really good too!
For me–you win at TTT this week. This is perfect in every way. I am a proud Whovian and I love the comparisons you’ve made. And the GIFs…brought on some feels for me. Love this!
Awwwwww thank you Kristen 🙂 I could make so many more parallels though, seriously. I love how diverse Doctor Who is. I might do a follow up to this sometime because it was so much fun to make 🙂
I don’t consider myself a Whovian (just yet anyway). I’ve seen Season 1 but it didn’t draw me in – I’ve heard that the first season is the worst one, though, and because so many people seem to love it, I do want to give it another try.
And this post…I’ve read about half the books, but obviously I can’t speak to your comparisons. But it’s so well done! I like how you really zeroed in on specific aspects of the show and how they can be related to YA books. It definitely makes me want to read the remaining books I haven’t AND watch the show! 🙂
Now see, if only I’d heard about the Ten/Rose Pivot Point parallel earlier! MUST READ!
Pivot Point should be read by all regardless of this Ten/Rose parallel. 😛