A Definitive Ranking of the Winners of RuPaul's Drag Race

A little over a week ago, I posted my rankings of the seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, which you can check out by clicking HERE. It's one of my absolute favorite shows, which of course means that I love ranking anything and everything related to it, so I'm back again to do another Drag Race related ranking. Today, I'm going to be ranking the winners of the show. Like with the season rankings, I'm including both the winners of the main show and All Stars. 

I feel like I need to set up my criteria here just a bit, since this ranking seems a bit more subjective than the season rankings. As per usual, I'm taking a lot of different things into account when comparing these queens. Obviously, the first is their performance on the show-- how consistent they were, how many times they were in the bottom, their Dusted or Busted score, etc. But, another important factor is how they were as a character on the show. Were they one of the more entertaining queens? Were they likable? Were they so unlikable that they were entertaining? Stuff like that. And, of course, personal preference. Even if we can agree on paper which queens were stronger, pretty much everyone is going to vary when considering which queens they gravitate toward, like more, and generally rooted for. Given that criteria, this list is going to be pretty subjective. As always, I have my opinions & you have yours. I respect your opinion, so please respect mine in return by not yelling at me in the comments. I promise, we can disagree without getting in a huge argument. Now, on to the list!

11) BeBe Zahara Benet- Season 1

This should come as very little surprise given my opinion on S1. Overall, I didn't find much about the season compelling, and that includes most of the cast. BeBe was certainly one of the stronger competitors and one of the bigger personalities, but I definitely preferred some of the other contestants like Shannel, Ongina, and Nina. I certainly don't dislike her, but I just don't really have a strong opinion of her. I think that she was up against a cast that was clearly the weakest cast across the board. While she was a strong competitor, she certainly didn't completely dominate everyone, while some other winners did completely annihilate seasons with much stronger casts. My apathetic feelings toward her, the strength of the other queens on this list, and the weak field in her season all combine to land her down at the bottom despite the fact that she's a fierce queen overall.

10) Tyra Sanchez- Season 2

If this list were made after my first watch of Season 2, Tyra might've been all the way at the bottom. The first time I watched season 2, I really, really disliked her. After re-watching the season in May, my opinion turned around on her a bit. Some of the things I said about BeBe still stand for Tyra. Her competition was certainly weaker than modern seasons. The drag was more ready-to-wear. However, I think that Tyra did better in her respective season than she got credit for. Yes, she was a bit unlikable, and yes, she doesn't have as strong of an aesthetic as some other queens, but she was very polished, especially relative to the queens around her. She had a really strong track record-- 3 wins, plus several appearances in the top and only one in the bottom 3. Ultimately, she winds up here mostly because she's not a queen I like very much, and that despite doing rather well in her season, the level of drag that season was still rather ready-to-wear. 

9) Violet Chachki- Season 7

Violet is another queen that I liked more upon a re-watch of her season. Although she was really unlikable at the beginning of the season, by the second half, she'd really gotten a bit of a redemption arc. So upon a re-watch, I saw her in a bit of a different light. I'd never totally hated her, but upon first watch, I'd certainly been rooting for anyone but Violet in the finale. On re-watch, I still preferred a few of the other queens, but I found her to be a much more rootable character and felt like I understood her a bit more. That being said, Violet has some really clear flaws that I think makes her weaker than the queens above her on this list. Violet's big weakness is her ability to perform. She did alright in the lip sync performances, but the acting challenges were absolutely abysmal. That being said, she certainly does make up for it some with her fantastic fashion. So many of her looks have now become iconic, especially the one in the above gif. Like with the last two, season 7 has also been criticized for being a weak cast of queens. While I like the cast quite a bit, I can definitely see that argument, and I think that's a bit of a knock on Violet as a winner. Overall, I like her and think that her fashion is fantastic, but I also think that she has several weak points in her abilities. 

8) Chad Michaels- All Stars 1

I went back and forth on these next two queens, but I eventually ended up with this order because although I think Chad had a stronger showing on her season(s), I prefer the queen that I put in 7th place. That being said, I do really like Chad. Once again, it took a re-watch for me to really appreciate Chad. I've always respected her and her talent and how incredibly polished she is, but it wasn't until a re-watch of season 4 that I began to really grow to like her and root for her. Her personality is much quieter than many other queens, and I think that definitely contributes to the reason that I really had to warm up to her. Chad is one of those people who seems to be almost too perfect. She's so put-together, so polished, and just so perfect that she almost doesn't even seem human. Chad killed it not only in the All Stars Season that she won (in which she basically just demolished everyone), but also in her original season 4. Overall, I really enjoy Chad and I think that she's incredibly polished and amazing, but she's not a personal favorite for me. 

7) Raja Gemini- Season 3

I really like Raja. We're to the point in the list where I fell in love with these people my first time through, and even if they weren't my favorite in the season, I still cheered them on as they won. However, Raja was definitely my favorite in her season, and I really love her outside of the show as well. Of course, I watch Raja and Raven on Fashion Photo RuView, and I usually really like her opinions on things. And on her own season, I think she was also really great. While she was definitely firmly in the "fashion queen" department, she proved that she was incredibly capable in other areas and extremely well-rounded. She proved that she was funny and a competent performer, on top of her amazing fashion sense. While there was certainly a bit of a mean girl vibe to her throughout her season, she was also really fun and snarky and gave interesting confessionals. Like I said, at this point we've gotten to some of my all-time favorite queens and the only knock I really have on Raja is that she was a bit of a mean girl sometimes and that I like some of these queens better than her and think that some of them are even more well-rounded than her and have made bigger impacts on both the show and on drag in general. 

6) Sharon Needles- Season 4

This might be my most controversial placement of a queen, given that Sharon was such a monumental winner and because she's become such an icon for the show. Once again, I see Sharon as mostly tied with the next queen on the list, but for one reason or another, Sharon ended up just slightly lower. Like I mentioned already, Sharon was an incredibly strong competitor, who really made everyone think about drag in an entirely new way. When she walked into the workroom, she was seen as a joke, but she quickly proved that her uniqueness wasn't the only thing that she had. She won an unprecedented 4 challenges throughout the season and did well in many of the other challenges as well. She quickly became not only a strong competitor, but also a rootable, lovable character. She wasn't even really an underdog, but definitely took on that role because of how much people didn't respect her drag aesthetic. Overall, Sharon was just an incredible competitor, a phenomenal winner, and a lovable character. Like I mentioned with Raja, we've gotten to the point where I love all of these queens and the largest difference is just who I like more.

5) Jinkx Monsoon- Season 5

As I mentioned with Sharon, she and Jinkx are mostly tied in my mind. Jinkx edges her out just slightly, for a couple of reasons. When making this ranking, I went back and looked through the Dusted or Busted score cards just to see how they technically compared to each other on paper. That really shed light on how impressive Jinkx was, because she was in the top for nearly every challenge. There were literally only 2 challenges where she wasn't in the top. There's only one other queen who's ever done that, and that queen is also the only person to have a better Dusted or Busted score than Jinkx... but we'll get to her in a bit.

So, given Jinkx's impressive track record, you're probably questioning why she's all the way at #5. If she's that good, she should be all the way up at #2, right? My main reasoning for her being a bit lower (and I think I'm sounding like a broken record here) is just personal preference. There are just some other winners that I gravitate toward a bit more than Jinkx. That being said though, I still absolutely love her. The other slight knock on Jinkx is that she's not the most polished when it comes to her runway. She definitely has a clear aesthetic, and she turned out some amazing looks, but she also turned out some looks along the way that weren't quite up to par. But her performances in the challenges, her personality, and her humor were amazing enough to get her consistently in the top despite some of the lackluster looks. Overall, Jinkx is an incredibly strong queen, a deserving winner, and definitely one of my favorite Drag Race contestants. 

4) Sasha Velour- Season 9

Going into the finale of S9, I felt like Sasha was the underdog. Sure, she had the fan support by A LOT, but Trinity and Shea both had more wins under their belts and were generally seen as the obvious top 2. So, when she turned out those fantastic lip sync performances, I was so excited, just hoping that she would take home the crown. And she did! A look back at her track record proves that she certainly deserved the crown. She was never in the bottom 2 (and hardly deserved her one appearance in the bottom 3), was in the top 7 times (same # as Shea), and probably should've won at least one more challenge than she actually did. But that last one's just my opinion. 

Either way, Sasha was one of those queens who just spoke to me immediately upon the cast announcement. The second she marketed herself as the brainy, intellectual queen, I was sold. And she continued to impress me throughout the entire competition with how well-spoken and witty she was. She certainly wasn't one of the most out-there personalities on the show, but I kinda loved that. I loved that she became the go-to for an intelligent comment on the more serious discussions. I was a bit worried about her versatility at the very beginning, but she quickly proved to be well-rounded, turning out interesting looks, killing the challenges, bringing the humor, and ultimately bringing home the crown with her impressive lip sync skills. Overall, Sasha was absolutely fantastic and I was legitimately cheering when she finally won.  

3) Bob The Drag Queen- Season 8

Let's be honest, S8 should just be re-named "Bob's season." Bob was the front-runner from the very beginning and dominated the competition pretty much the entire way through. While she doesn't have the same flawless track record as some other queens that got a bit lower than her, Bob completely dominated the entire season in pretty much every single way. She was the clear stand-out personality, dominating screentime both in the workroom and in confessionals. She also got the most wins under her belt, beating out Kim Chi. For me, S8 is a season full of interesting, fun, and likable queens, so it should be difficult for one queen to completely steal the show, but Bob did it with ease. Any comedy challenge probably should've just been handed directly to Bob, because she didn't falter in the slightest. Her performance in the RuCo's Empire challenge is possibly the best single-challenge performance in the history of the show. It was masterful, over-the-top acting and comedy at its finest. Her Snatch Game performance was also top-tier. Pandora Boxx's Carol Channing has always been a favorite Snatch Game performance for me, and Bob did just as good a job, if not better. Overall, Bob was just an absolutely phenomenal performer and character, and while her march to the end was predictable, she was clearly the best in her season. 

2) Alaska- All Stars 2

Honestly, Alaska's All Stars win is the majority of the reason that I wanted to include All Stars winners & seasons on these lists. She's always been one of my favorite queens from Drag Race, and she was also probably my favorite to win All Stars 2. While her tantrum in the second-to-last challenge is still extremely off-putting, she's still definitely one of my long-standing favorites and she absolutely demolished the season. She was in the top for nearly every challenge, and she essentially won half of the challenges. She definitely came to win this season, and she proved it pretty much every single episode with how hard she was trying.

And while Alaska wasn't the most likable in her All Stars appearance, she was definitely my favorite on S5 by a long-shot. Don't get me wrong, I loved Jinkx, but Alaska's personality was so hilarious and so endearing, despite the fact that she had attached herself to relatively unlikable people like Roxxxy and Detox. Although Jinkx clearly had the best showing in the season, if not for the public outcry for her as the winner (due mostly to Roxxxy's bullying), I think Alaska could honestly have taken it. She was such a stand-out queen and character, and so many people just absolutely fell in love with her that season. While I'm a bit lower on her post-All Stars, she's still definitely up there as both one of my favorite queens and one of the best queens that's ever been on the show. 

1) Bianca Del Rio- Season 6

This is pretty much a given, right? Bianca Del Rio is far and away not just the best winner in the history of the show, but the best queen who's ever competed on the show. PERIOD. Not to rely on Dusted or Busted scores too much, but Bianca is the reigning champ on there, due to her 3 wins, 5 times in the top, and 0 trips to even the bottom 3, let alone the bottom 2. Not only did she show her skill in the challenges, but she was definitely the stand-out personality of the season. Sure, Adore was also right up there with her, but the development of their friendship was one of the prevailing storylines throughout the show. Although she markets herself as being hateful, Bianca was never afraid to lend a helping hand to anyone who needed it, simply because she knew she could still beat them. 

Sure, she delivered different versions of the same look over and over throughout the competition. But, do you know who else does that? RUPAUL CHARLES. If the looks are put together and polished, who cares if they look similar? Bianca knows what works for her, and she knows the aspects of her drag persona that are important. AKA- her humor, her wit, and her scathing rolodex of hate. Bianca is truly the whole package. She's entertaining, funny, intelligent, well-spoken, and despite being so snarky, she's inherently lovable. Bianca is, unquestionably, both the best contestant and the best winner in the history of RuPaul's Drag Race. 

So, those are my rankings of the winners of RuPaul's Drag Race! Sometime in the near future, I'm hoping to do a ranking of all of the queens in the history of the show, so if that's something you're interested in, let me know!

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A Definitive Ranking of the Seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race

Over the past few years, I've watched and enjoyed many new shows, but there are few shows that have impacted me the way that RuPaul's Drag Race has. I started watching about 4 years ago, and quickly fell in love with it and went back and watched every single episode of every single season. It's a show that I find myself going back and re-watching all the time, and it found itself super high up on my list of favorite TV shows when I ranked them back in May (which you can check out HERE).

So, as with everything that I really love, I've decided to do a ranking of all of the seasons of Drag Race! I've decided that this list is going to include both the regular seasons AND the All Star seasons. I went back and forth several times, but eventually settled on including them because when I do my winner rankings (coming soon!) I want to include the All Stars winners in my rankings. So, these are my rankings of all 11 seasons. Per usual, I'd like to remind everyone that these are just my opinions. We all have differing opinions. I respect yours, so I hope you'll respect mine by not yelling at me in the comments if you disagree with a season's placement. With that being said, let's go ahead and jump into the rankings!

11) Season 1

I feel like season 1 just has to be the worst by default. It's also been dubbed the "Lost Season"... and for a pretty good reason. Fans always joke about the horrible "blurry filter" but I feel like the video quality is even worse than the jokes lead on. In my opinion, this is by far the least compelling cast. As the show has gone on, it's gotten much more high fashion, while this first season was very ready to wear-- some queens even walked into the workroom in a t-shirt and jeans. Seriously. Like many first seasons, Drag Race hadn't quite figured out their formula yet. The timeline within the episodes was incredibly wonky, jumping back and forth between segments in a way that was hard to follow, and including things that they would later realize simply weren't important. There are definitely some good aspects to the season-- Tammie is such an interesting character, Ongina's story is always inspiring, and we get some really great queens like Shannel and Nina. But overall, this season is the clear weak link when compared to the other seasons. 

10) All Stars 1

To be perfectly honest, I struggled to get through this season. Sure, there were some queens brought back that I really loved, but the twist that RuPaul threw into the mix just made it so little fun to watch. Fan-favorite Pandora Boxx was cut episode one because she was forced to team up with Mimi Imfurst. Still not sure why anyone decided to bring her back. It had lots of great queens, the same judges, and the same studio, but the pairs twist just made it feel very foreign-- almost as if it wasn't Drag Race at all. I'm glad that Chad won, because Chad was definitely one of the most deserving losers of the main show, but overall this season was just a struggle all the way through.

9) Season 3

OK, so we've gotten out of the "bottom of the barrel" section of the ranking and into my next tier, AKA the next 2 seasons. The seasons placing at #8 & #9 are mostly tied and are a definite step up from the ones below. Overall, I really enjoy season 3. There are certainly aspects of it that I like more than the season that placed just above it, but there are also some definite detractors. I think the major knock on season 3 for me is that I have yet to re-watch the second half of the season. Might be a bit petty, but for a show that I go back and re-watch regularly, the fact that I've never re-watched half of this season is a definite knock on it. I feel like there were also a lot of queens that I didn't really love. Raja and Manila are fantastic, and I love Shangela, but other than that there weren't many queens who I really gravitated toward. I do think that the level of drag and the quality of the challenges was definitely upped from S2, but overall this one just comes off as a bit less memorable and often overly catty/mean. 

8) Season 2

Like I said, Seasons 2 & 3 are mostly tied for me, but I originally had them flipped. And that was mostly because the level of drag in season 2. It was kinda walking the border between S1 & S3. Not quite as ready-to-wear as S1, but not quite upped to the level that someone like Raja brought in S3. But what really stands out to me this season are the characters and the storylines. Raven and JuJu are still some of the most memorable queens in the history of the show. Pandora was lovable and hilarious. Tati was sassy and snarky but in the most fun way possible. And Tyra was... Tyra. I didn't like her the first time, but upon a re-watch my mind definitely was changed just a little bit. Still not my favorite winner, but she was more likable the second time around. And even some earlier eliminees like Nicole Paige Brooks and Mystique Summers Madison were really memorable. Also, who green-lighted the "Chicken or what?" competition? Because that's still a head-scratcher 7 years later. Overall, it's a really fun, drama-filled season that's just a bit rough at the edges. 

7) Season 9

I really enjoyed this season of Drag Race, so after finishing up my ranking, I was actually a bit surprised to see that I put it all the way down at number 7. I think that on its own speaks to the overall strength of this show and how much I love it. Like with Season 2 & Season 3, this one and the next one are mostly tied, but this one got edged out by just a little bit. Overall, Season 9's biggest strength for me was the quality of the queens. There were certainly some weak points in the cast, but once we got up to the top 7, everyone was so talented. I honestly kinda liked how nice the cast was to each other, especially since we got all of the fighting out in the reunion episode. I also absolutely loved that even by the final 4, I had no idea who was going to win. Yes, Shea won the most challenges. Yes, Sasha had the fans' support. Yes, Pepper probably had the worst track record. But all 4 of them brought it so hard all season long and proved over and over that they deserved to be there. There were just so many really strong contestants this season.

We also got some really gag-worthy moments, like the cringey lip syncs and Sasha's finale lip syncs that made up for all of the bad ones. I think the weakest point for me was some of the challenges. They were fine, and nearly all of them fit into one of the typical challenge molds for Drag Race, but it just always seemed like something was missing, whether it was the contestants' ability to impress, the writing, or just the challenge as a whole. While I'm mostly very #GurlBye on Lucian Piane being gone, I do think that his musical talents were pretty sorely missed.

6) Season 8

This season was really solid across the board. The challenges were really great. The a cappella lip sync is probably my favorite lip sync challenge that we've had across the board and the RuCo Empire challenge was absolutely hilarious. The queens were really awesome across the board. I liked almost every single one of them, and they were all really strong queens. The few weak links got cut fairly early, leaving us with an overall really strong cast. The biggest down side to the season is that it was pretty clear from the beginning that Bob was going to do well, if not win. Bob was the front-runner from the very beginning and it was a pretty easy march to the end with maybe one little tiny slip-up near the end. Overall, it was definitely a really fun season and really strong all-around but not quite as great as the next 5 seasons. 

5) Season 4

I feel like this might be a bit controversial, but I'm alright with that, because this is just how I feel. I know that Season 4 is the season that really got people into the show and was really the first of the "modern" Drag Race seasons, but for me there are a few seasons that are better. I feel like this cast is the perfect case of amazing highs and incredibly low lows. Sharon, Chad, Latrice, Willam, and even PhiPhi were really strong, while there were some absolutely disastrous people like Alisa, Madame LaQueer, Milan, and Kenya Michaels. There were, however, some really fun challenges. Honestly, pretty much every single one of them is really memorable to me. The prison acting challenge is probably the biggest stand-out, though. Plus, we get some really iconic moments like the "go back to Party City" fight, Willam's disqualification, and Sharon's apocalyptic look. Speaking of Sharon, she's probably one of the most memorable queens in the entire history of the show. I have yet to do winner rankings, but she's definitely a queen that I've really loved and appreciated, and both her presence on the show and the fact that she won had such a huge affect on drag. Sharon was the weirdo that broke the rules and it was so great to watch her win.

4) Season 7

I'm pretty sure this is the most taboo of all of my rankings, because Season 7 doesn't have such a great reputation. But I loved it, and I love going back and re-watching it. Admittedly, a lot of the reason that I love watching it is because I love watching the train wreck over and over again, but it makes it such entertaining TV. Season 7 gave us one of the biggest stand-outs in recent years- KATYA. I'm also a pretty big Pearl fan (her personality just speaks right to my overly-chill heart), and I really liked Max as well. Apart from them, there were a few other strong queens, many weak queens, and a few really unlikable queens. I actually don't mind Violet, and I generally like Ginger, but Kennedy and Jasmine were nearly unbearable. But the challenges this season were really great. Shakesqueer was fantastic despite being a mess, the parody music video was hilarious, and I re-watch videos from the Divine challenge and Glamazonian airways on the reg. Yes, I think that the cast could've been a bit stronger in the talent department, but I think that they made up for it with the entertainment that they brought to the show.

3) All Stars 2

I feel like everything this season was either absolutely amazing or just really messy. The cast of queens was amazing. I've never been a big Coco fan, so I thought she was a bit unnecessary in the cast, but everyone else clearly belonged on the season and was great to watch for their own unique reasons. Even including Coco, the entire cast were all people who were incredibly memorable and made huge impacts on their respective seasons. On top of this, the challenges this season were fantastic. The All Stars Snatch Game was great, and my personal favorite was probably the Herstory of the World lip sync performance. To be honest, I don't think there was a single challenge that I thought was a dud. They were all really interesting and gave us some really great moments. Even the makeover challenge, which is usually a bit of a snooze for me, was really great because it was their own family members. We also got the now-classic Shut Up and Drive lip sync between Alyssa and Tati, which was just absolutely phenomenal and probably the best (or at least, most competitive) lip sync in the history of the show. 

Now, here comes the slight negative. I feel like this season definitely tainted my opinion on a few queens that I absolutely love. Going into All Stars, my top 3 favorite Drag Race queens of all time were Adore, Bianca, and Alaska-- probably in that order as well. Now... let's just say that Bianca is firmly in first place. I still love Alaska and Adore, and they're probably still both in my personal top 3. But, for some people, this season completely tanked their reputations. I have no qualms with Alaska winning the show- she killed it almost the whole season and clearly deserved the crown. But, that hissy fit that she threw in the second-to-last episode was just a mess, and I think we all know that Katya deserved the money on at least one of the challenges that she narrowly lost to Alaska. Despite those couple of hiccups, I really enjoyed this season and despite some pretty low moments, I thought it was a really entertaining season.

2) Season 5

These top 2 seasons have consistently been my top 2 over the years, and I really don't see them going anywhere any time soon. Both of these seasons are just so awesome, and I find myself gravitating toward re-watches of them constantly. However, season 5 is the clear #2 for me. I think the cast this season was pretty awesome. I mean, if you look at the All Stars 2 cast, the entirety of the top 6 this season (sans our winner, Jinkx) was brought back. That's literally half the All Stars cast. Season 5 really had everything that you could want in a season of Drag Race- a great cast, great challenges, and oh. so. much. drama. This cast is especially interesting to me, because I feel like it was very top-heavy (AKA, the best were super strong, not that they were all tops haha) but the rest of the cast was kinda weak. However, we got a ton of really memorable personalities. We got introduced to Serena ChaCha, who chachaed onto our screen for a hot second to fight with everyone and then shashayed away. With Jinkx, we found another really quirky queen who helped to try and change the overall perception of quirky queens. We got our first on-show trans confession with Monica Beverly Hillz. And, of course, we got our first double-elimination and Roxxxy's wig reveal lip sync. So, even though some of the queens were a bit weaker, they still gave us great moments. 

On top of that, the challenges this season were fantastic. We got the perfume challenge, which gave us the now-classic Alyssa's Secret. The RuPaul Roast was not only a fantastic challenge overall, but the lip sync that episode was the one where we got Roxxxy's wig reveal. We also got the great telanovela challenge and the candy couture challenge as well. Plus, the kids Barnyard Buddies TV show challenge. There were just so many really, really great ones this season. And of course, the drama. Alyssa and Coco were constantly at each other's throats, giving us the amazing "Backrolls?" line (technically, that was Jade's doing, but let's just forget about her), Roxxxy was coming for Jinkx constantly, and the aforementioned Serena ChaCha totally brought the drama for the 2 episodes she was on. This whole season was just so entertaining from beginning to end, and I can't help but re-watch over and over and over.

1) Season 6

And finally, we're at my favorite season of Drag Race. To be honest, it's not even close. Ever since the first time I watched this season, it has been my favorite. I've re-watched this season probably more than I've watched any other season put together. Everything about it is absolutely fantastic. The best part about the season for me is the cast. Every single queen brings something to the season-- even Magnolia Crawford. Joslyn Fox is completely precious, Gia Gunn is so oblivious, Milk is crazy-unique, De La is so rootable, Adore is a perfect mess, and Bianca is just actual perfection. Even Trinity K Bonet is fantastic. I just absolutely love this entire cast. They're so awesome and such a great mix of personalities, all of whom made a huge impact on the season. Personally, Gia Gunn annoys me to death, but it's so much fun to watch her on the show. Overall, the cast is just absolutely fantastic. 

The challenges this season are also amazing. Honestly, I think every single challenge this season is memorable. Every time I re-watch, I have trouble stopping because I see the next week's preview and think "ooh, I love that challenge." For me, this season's Snatch Game is unquestionably the best in the history of the show. Even the people who landed in the middle were overall fantastic, on top of the fact that Bianca, Adore, and De La's performances were elite. The Scream Queens challenge was really great, Oh No She Betta Don't was hilariously perfect, and Shade the Rusical is in contention for my favorite challenge in the history of the show. It's amazing. Like I said, I don't think there's a single challenge this season I don't like. Every single one is so good. Plus, in addition to these challenges, Laganja gives us a great amount of drama. It's so much fun to also watch the Adore/Bianca friendship develop from strangers, to slightly antagonistic, to actual besties. Plus, the development of Trinity K Bonet as a character is really fantastic. Overall, this season just has everything I could ever want and I re-watch it over and over and over. It's amazing.

So, those are my rankings of the seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race! I'm planning on ranking the winners very soon, so watch out for that very soon! Let me know down in the comments what you think of my rankings, and which season of Drag Race is your favorite!

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Book Discussions #2

Hey, y'all! Back in June, I did a post where I did short discussions about some stand-alone books that I'd read recently and said that I might make it a series... and that's what I've decided to do! In these posts, I'm going to be doing discussions for every single book I read. This was going to be just for stand-alones, but I realized that (even though I wish I could) I can't marathon every series that I read. So single books within series will be included within these as well. If I read 2+ books of a series back-to-back, they'll get their own posts. I plan on including 6-7 books per post, so new discussion posts will be up after every 6-7 books I read, give or take a few.  These discussions will be entirely spoiler-free and fairly short.

Also, all but one of these were written within a day of finishing the book. so even though it's been a few months since I've read many of these, the discussions were completed when the book was still fresh in my mind. I was waiting for one more book before posting this, but I decided I'd rather get it up before the end of the year instead of waiting for one more book. So here we go!

Looking For Alaska 
by John Green

So, I actually read this all the way back at the beginning of March and forgot to add it in my first Stand-Alone Discussion's post. Oops! But I had a lot of opinions about this book, so I just had to talk about it. I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for this, but... I wasn't impressed. I didn't like it. First off, I didn't like the characters. I couldn't empathize with them because I didn't care about them. Maybe it's because I'm a boring adult, but I found their constant drinking/smoking/rule-breaking to just be stupid, immature high school students trying to be cool and just wasn't impressed. I kinda-ish ended up liking The Colonel, but don't even get me started on Pudge. If you want to know why, ask and I'll explain why I don't like Pudge, but it's a long explanation so I won't discuss it right now. I also felt like John Green wanted to make Alaska this very deep-thinking philosophical character, but she came off as someone trying too hard to pose as a philosophical person. Like she was trying to be the stereotype. Another problem that I had was that nothing about this book kept me guessing or surprised me. I saw the twists coming. All of them. To me, that's a sign of a plot that is way too predictable. Overall, I just didn't like it. Sorry, not sorry.

I gave it 2/5 stars on GoodReads, so I'll give it 4 stars out of 10. Please don't hurt me.

And Then There Were None 
by Agatha Christie

This was not a first-time read for me. If I'm being realistic, it's closer to the 10th-15th read. If you saw my Top 15 Stand-Alones post (Check it out here) then you'll know that this is my all-time favorite stand-alone novel. After all of those challenges and after that huge reading marathon, I just wanted to curl up with my favorite book. So that's exactly what I did. It was a great choice. I read it in just a few hours and really enjoyed reading it again. It was very comfortable and familiar. And great. Philip Lombard will forever be one of my favorite literary characters. It's just a very well concocted mystery and I just love it.

It's my favorite book! How could I give it anything but 10 stars out of 10?!

Ready Player One 
by Ernest Cline

I knew going into this that I was going to enjoy it. Although I didn't grow up in the 80s and I'm not an expert on the decade, I do have a pretty high interest in the decade. Most of my favorite movies are from that decade, and I really enjoy a lot of the rock music from the 80s. Even more importantly, I love dystopians, and I love video games. If you've read anything where I've talked about dystopian novels, you know that when I read a dystopian, I want world building out the wazoo. This book has all the world building I could ever hope for. It made my little curious heart sing. But it didn't suffer because of it. It was still extremely action-packed and really awesome. A lot of the video game references went over my head, since I'm not well-versed in older video games, but the book did a great job explaining things. Honestly, this book just had everything I could want from a book: action, adventure, magic, a fantastic world, a fantastic plot, mystery, etc. it was just all great. 

Overall, I had to give it 10 stars out of 10. 

Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore 
by Robin Sloan

I'm not quite sure what I expected going into this book, but it wasn't really... this. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book! But it took a really weird turn that I totally wasn't expecting. I knew that there was something weird and mysterious going on with the bookstore based on the synopsis, but I was thinking that it would be something illegal or something like that. Either way, I didn't love this book, but I did like it. There were several things that I thought could have been explained better. There were a few parts where I found myself having to try a little too hard to understand what was going on, because something hadn't been explained enough. Aside from that though, this book was pretty enjoyable. Overall, it was likable but unimpressive.

I decided to give it 7 stars out of 10. 

Fangirl 
by Rainbow Rowell

I went into this book not knowing a ton about the plot or characters... except the main character. When I heard that the main character was an introverted girl who wrote fanfiction and was going to college for the first time, I knew I had to read it because that was me 2 years ago. I feel like a large percentage of young adult readers will be able to relate to Cath. I know I definitely did. This book was completely adorable. I laughed out loud and said "Aww" more times than I could count. It was so cute. It was realistic and believable, and even had some deep moments. But overall, this is light contemporary at its finest, and I loved it.

I think I'm going to go with 9.75 stars out of 10. Almost perfect.

The Bone Season

by Samantha Shannon

Y'all. Y'ALL. So, I had high expectations for this book. It's the first in a new series, it's a fantasy and dystopian mix, it's got a main character who's close to my age, it's set in England... the list goes on and on. The point is, this book had absolutely everything I love in books... and it did not disappoint. The main gist is that our main character, Paige, is clairvoyant. In this dystopian future, being clairvoyant is a crime and clairvoyants are hunted down and killed. There are many many many different types of clairvoyants, and Paige is one of the rarest. She works for a voyant (slang for clairvoyant) gang in London. A lot of people weren't huge fans of this book because they didn't like the info-dumps and they found it hard to keep up with the different types of voyants. But I loved all of that. When I'm introduced to a new form of 'magic' or a new world or a dystopian version of my own world, I want to learn all of the information. And I definitely got that. And loved every second. 

Since it is the first book of a series, there is a lot of world-building and character development, and I really enjoyed it. Another of the key characters, Warden, is especially interesting. I won't go into detail to avoid spoilers, but if you've read the book, you know what I mean. I did find it a bit difficult to keep up with the characters, because nearly all of them have 2 names, and they're used interchangeably, and sometimes it's hard to keep up with which 2 names refer to the same person. But honestly, that's the only criticism that I have about the book. I loved all of it. It was incredible. The Mime Order comes out in late January and I really just don't want to wait two whole months for that book. NOW. NOW. Please, NOW. 

This is an easy 10 stars out of 10. This was amazing.


So that's it for the last Book Discussions post of the year! I hope you enjoyed this! Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!

I've started doing Booktube a little as well, so if you want to check that out, you can click HERE. I plan to post most of my videos to my blog, but just in case I miss one or decide not to post it on here, that will keep you up-to date. 

I've also created a Facebook page for my blog, so if you want to check that out and like it, you can click HERE. I'll try to keep that pretty up-to-date with new posts and such.

Thanks for reading! If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe/follow so that I know you're enjoying what I'm posting! See y'all soon!

The Grinch Tag | Book Tag

Hey, y'all! So I love talking about my favorite books just as much as the next book blogger, but as a person who gets annoyed pretty easily, I'm always up for talking about things that I hate. So when I saw Jamie from Ermahgerd Berks do this tag on her Youtube channel, I knew immediately that I wanted to do it because it just sounded like exactly my type of book tag. And since it's Christmas, this is especially appropriate! So let's just jump right into it!

1. Half of the lights on the Christmas tree are burnt out : Name a book/series/character that started out good but then went downhill. 

This series is the epitome of "series that started good but went downhill." I absolutely loved Divergent. I read it in a single day because I just couldn't put it down. I picked up Insurgent almost immediately afterward, and was slightly disappointed. But it wasn't until Allegiant that I became really disappointed with the series. Allegiant took the trilogy in a direction that was completely out of left field, and characters died unnecessarily, and I just didn't enjoy it. I didn't dislike it because of that one really spoilery thing that happened near the end of Allegiant, but that was definitely one of the negative factors. Just overall, this series went from having a first book that is one of my all-time faves to having one of the most disappointing endings to a trilogy ever. 

2. Annoying Great Aunt Sally who will not leave you alone : Name a book that you didn't enjoy, but everyone else seems to love so it never goes away. 

Everyone absolutely loves this book, and I could. not. stand. it. I thought it was predictable and the characters were utterly unlikable. You can do SO much better, John Green.

3. Your pets keep knocking over the Christmas decoration : Name a character that kept messing things up for everyone else (can't pick a villain!).

Oh, Clary. I love Clary. But she's basically a pro messer-upper. Is that a real term? No. But it should be. She just made so many dumb decisions. It didn't make me love Clary any less, but it did make me facepalm and shake my head at her.

4. You hear your parents putting out the presents and learn Santa isn't real: Name a book you were spoiled for. 

I was spoiled for a couple books...

I still haven't read Mockingjay (at least, at the point that I'm currently writing this) but I did get spoiled for part of it, as well as part of Allegiant. For Allegiant, I got spoiled for a character death (if you've read the book, yes, that character death), and for Mockingjay I got spoiled for a character death as well as the resolution of the love triangle. 

5. It's freezing outside: Name a main character you just couldn't connect with.

I just could not connect with Juliette from the Shatter Me trilogy. I just didn't understand any of the decisions that she made, and couldn't connect with her personality. She was so weak in the beginning and was so dependent on a man, and I couldn't connect with her personality and even when she became a stronger character, I just couldn't get why she did some of the things she did. I didn't hate her, and I didn't think she made insanely stupid decisions, I just couldn't get it. 

6. Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas is You' and it's giving you anti-romantic feelings : Name a couple you couldn't stand. 

I don't want to spoil anything for people who haven't read this book, especially since the series isn't finished yet, so I'm going to be very vague here. There's a bit of a love triangle that forms, and by the end of this book, two of the characters start a romance, and I hate it. I much prefer the other guy that the girl could be with. I can only hope that this situation will get fixed by the end of the series because I really hate this couple. Like a lot.

7. That scratchy homemade wool sweater you got for Christmas years ago but won't get rid of : show some books that have been sitting on your shelves for a while, and you aren't motivated to read, but you don't have the heart to get rid of. 

Here are a few... it's mostly the contemporaries I've purchased. I'm interested in the story, but I'm almost never in the mood for contemporary. My little stitch of interest is what keeps me from getting rid of them.

8. Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer: Name a character death you still are mad about (warn people for spoilers! You can also use TV or movie deaths). 

WARNING: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS SPOILERS AHEAD!

I could not, still have not, and probably never will be able to cope with the death of Fred Weasley. In my mind, he's still alive. The Weasley twins are probably my favorite characters in any series ever, and I just cannot deal with Fred's death. I can't. What death? I don't know what you're talking about. The Weasley twins are both alive. Neither of them died. 

9. The malls are overly crowded with holiday shoppers: Name a series that has too many books in it/went on too long. 

This is really hard for me, because I really love series, especially long series. However, I will name a series (that I haven't read) that just has way too many books in it.

Unfortunately, this isn't even all of the books in the series. Two more have come out since the last one in this picture. There are a whopping 12 books in this series. And I don't think that's all (although I'm not 100% sure, so don't quote me on that!). I tried reading the first book, and didn't even get halfway through because I hated it and didn't think it was written very well. I don't know how on earth it has managed to get 12 books out of it. 

10. The Grinch : Name a main character you HATE (No villians again!).  

I had to pick someone from Looking for Alaska, because I disliked basically all of the characters. I especially hated our narrator, Pudge as well as Alaska. I thought that Pudge was the absolute biggest pushover ever. He becomes this completely different person when he becomes friends with these people and I absolutely cannot stand that. And I thought Alaska just tried too hard to be this really philosophical, deep person, but she was just another teenager who thought they were cool for sneaking away to smoke and get drunk. Maybe I'm just too old for this book. I don't know. I just hated all of the characters, especially Pudge and Alaska.

So, that's The Grinch Book Tag! I really enjoyed doing this one, because sometimes I just need to talk about things that I hate!

I've started doing Booktube a little as well, so if you want to check that out, you can click HERE. I plan to post most of my videos to my blog, but just in case I miss one or decide not to post it on here, that will keep you up-to date. 

I've also created a Facebook page for my blog, so if you want to check that out and like it, you can click HERE. I'll try to keep that pretty up-to-date with new posts and such.

Thanks for reading! If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe/follow so that I know you're enjoying what I'm posting! See y'all soon!