Read Game Craft

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda   Publisher: Balzer and Bray Release Date: April 11, 2017 Overall Rating: 4.5/5  Synopsis:  Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful. Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. If Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back. There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right? ...

Publisher: Blink Release Date: May 9, 2017 Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Tatum Elsea is bracing for the worst summer of her life. After being falsely accused of a crime, she's stuck under stepmother-imposed house arrest and her BFF's gone ghost. Tatum fills her newfound free time with community service by day and working at her covert graphic design business at night (which includes trading emails with a cute cello-playing client). When Tatum discovers she's not the only one in the house keeping secrets, she finds she has the chance to make amends with her family and friends. Equipped with a new perspective, and assisted by her feisty step-abuela/fairy-godmother, Tatum is ready to start fresh and maybe even get her happy ending along the way. A modern play on the Cinderella story arc, IT STARTED WITH GOODBYE shows us that sometimes going after what you want means breaking the rules. Right now, the ebook is $1.99 on Amazon and you can get it  here . Even if it weren't...

Once and For All by Sarah Dessen  Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers Release Date: June 6, 2017 I got an e-galley from Netgalley. Synopsis:  Is it really better to have loved and lost?  Louna's summer job is to help brides plan their perfect day, even though she stopped believing in happily-ever-after when her first love ended tragically.  But charming girl-magnet Ambrose isn't about to be discouraged now that he's met the one he really  wants.  Maybe Louna's second chance is standing right in front of her.  Sarah Dessen’s many fans will adore this latest novel, a richly satisfying, enormously entertaining story with humor, romance, and an ending that is so much more than happily-ever-after. Sarah Dessen's novels are classics. Over the years, I've made my way through each and every one of them. They're some of my favorite books to read during the summer and I've read most of them multiple times. Once and For All  is Dessen...

Hello, Sunshine by Leila Howland Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Release Date: July 11, 2017 Synopsis:  Becca Harrington is a reject. After being rebuffed by every college on her list, she needs a fresh start, so she packs up everything and moves to LA, giving herself one year to land an acting gig or kill herself trying.   Unfortunately, not everything turns out as planned, and after a few grueling months, LA is looking like the worst idea ever. As hard as she tries, Becca can’t land an agent, she's running out of cash, and her mom is hounding her to apply to more schools. In an act of desperation, Becca and her friend Marisol start posting short videos online—with the help of their adorable filmmaker neighbor, Raj—and the videos catch the attention of a TV producer. Could this be it? Her big break? Or will she have to move back home with nothing but some bad head shots and a monstrous credit-card bill?  Review: This book was so much fun to read, though Becca's risi...

Publisher: Balzer and Bray Release Date: September 8, 2015  Synopsis: Mira is starting over at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to pretend that she could act like a functioning human this time, not a girl who can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby. Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn, it’s as if he’s been expecting this blond, lanky boy with mischief glinting in his eye. Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and impromptu road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives. As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secre...

Oh, how I loved it. I read this book in a few days and read the vast majority of it in one evening. It was a summer romance but it also made my heart ache. This book tackles grief and mental illness and it does it beautifully. I've never lost a parent, but I did lose a grandparent six months ago and I related to Jonah in how hard it was to watch my mom grieve. I spent the week my grandmother was in the hospital with my mom and I promised not to leave and that if she wanted to stay all night I would to, but I had to leave her a few days after my grandmother passed away. My mom had to drop me back off at my dorm just a few hours after the funeral and I know it was hard for both of us. Like Jonah, I have a hard time talking about grief and in the past, I've been someone who's tried to pretend everything is okay even when it's not. There have also been times where, like Vivi, I've thought I was doing better than I really was, though luckily the realization came more...

Release Date: April 4, 2017 Publisher: Amulet Books I received this book after requesting it from NetGalley. Official Synopsis: Quinn Cutler is sixteen and the daughter of a high-profile Brooklyn politician. She’s also pregnant, a crisis made infinitely more shocking by the fact that she has no memory of ever having sex. Before Quinn can solve this deeply troubling mystery, her story becomes public. Rumors spread, jeopardizing her reputation, her relationship with a boyfriend she adores, and her father’s campaign for Congress. Religious fanatics gather at the Cutlers’ home, believing Quinn is a virgin, pregnant with the next messiah. Quinn’s desperate search for answers uncovers lies and family secrets—strange, possibly supernatural ones. Might she, in fact, be a virgin? Review: I got through this book really quickly and I really enjoyed it. I read it in long blocks and never got bored of it. I would've read it all in one night but I've been sick and I needed to go t...

Synopsis for Six of Crows (because the synopsis of Crooked Kingdom has spoilers for the first book): Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price--and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone... A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction―if they don't kill each other first. I just finished Crooked Kingdom a few minutes ago, and I have so many feelings. First of all, it was wonderful. Second of all, this duology was so stressful to read. I ...

Title: Lies We Tell Ourselves Author: Robin Talley Publisher: Harlequin Teen Release Date: September 30th 2014 I'd heard about this book online a lot and had wanted to pick it up for a while and finally did once I had enough money.  Synopsis: In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever. Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily. Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town's most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept separate but equal. Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another. Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning ...

Title: Tell the Wind and Fire Author: Sarah Rees Brennan Publisher: Clarion Books Release Date: April 5, 2016 I received an early copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis:  In a city divided between opulent luxury in the Light and fierce privations in the Dark, a determined young woman survives by guarding her secrets.  Lucie Manette was born in the Dark half of the city, but careful manipulations won her a home in the Light, celebrity status, and a rich, loving boyfriend. Now she just wants to keep her head down, but her boyfriend has a dark secret of his own—one involving an apparent stranger who is destitute and despised. Lucie alone knows the young men’s deadly connection, and even as the knowledge leads her to make a grave mistake, she can trust no one with the truth. Blood and secrets alike spill out when revolution erupts. With both halves of the city burning, and mercy nowhere to be found, can Lucie save either boy—or herse...

Title: Passenger Author: Alexandra Bracken Publisher: Hyperion Review: I just finished Passenger —as in, two minutes ago just. Normally it can take me a while to write a review but with Passenger I just couldn’t wait. In my opinion, it was the best of Alexandra Bracken’s books so far—which is how it should be. I really love being able to see an author grow. Passenger was fast-paced and incredibly engaging with characters you fall in love with from the very first page. At the beginning, I found Passenger a bit hard to follow but part of that could have come from the fact that being an e-galley made the formatting a bit wonky. After the first chapter or two, I found my rhythm in it and from then I loved it until the very last page. Even if you don’t find time travel particularly interesting, you should read it all the same. Passenger has the best aspects of multiple genres and mixing them all beautifully. Alexandra Bracken combines time travel, action, historical fic...

Title: Red Queen Author: Victoria Aveyard Synopsis:  Graceling  meets  The Selection  in debut novelist Victoria Aveyard's sweeping tale of seventeen-year-old Mare, a common girl whose once-latent magical power draws her into the dangerous intrigue of the king's palace. Will her power save her or condemn her? Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own. To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard—a growing Red rebellion—even as her heart...

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for the Throne of Glass series but not for Queen of Shadows specifically. Title: Queen of Shadows Author: Sarah J. Maas Synopsis: Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire-for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past... She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight. She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return. Celaena's epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena's story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that mi...

Title: Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel Author: Sara Farizan Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers Rating: 3/5 Synopsis (taken from Amazon):  High-school junior Leila has made it most of the way through Armstead Academy without having a crush on anyone, which is something of a relief. Her Persian heritage already makes her different from her classmates; if word got out that she liked girls, life would be twice as hard. But when a sophisticated, beautiful new girl, Saskia, shows up, Leila starts to take risks she never thought she would, especially when it looks as if the attraction between them is mutual. Struggling to sort out her growing feelings and Saskia’s confusing signals, Leila confides in her old friend, Lisa, and grows closer to her fellow drama tech-crew members, especially Tomas, whose comments about his own sexuality are frank, funny, wise, and sometimes painful. Gradually, Leila begins to see that almost all her classmates are more complicated than they firs...

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, #1) Author: Laini Taylor Publisher: Little, Brown Rating: 4.5/5 Synopsis (taken from the series' official site): Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well. Meet Karou. A young art student from Prague. She has bright blue hair, an ear for languages… and a haunted past she can’t quite remember. When a mysterious stranger — the beautiful, haunted Akiva — fixes his fire-colored eyes on Karou in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself? And will this newfound love survive the threat of a brutal otherworldly war? Cover: Review: The first thing that struck me about Daughter of Smoke and Bone was the beauty of Laini Taylor's prose. While reading this book, I told my mother that I wanted to take Taylor...

Title: Unspoken  (Lynburn Legacy, #1) Author: Sarah Rees Brennan Publisher: Random House Rating: 4/5 Synopsis (taken from the jacket flap): Kami Glass loves someone she's never met...a boy she's talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn't silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outside in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn't suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head. But all that changes when the Lynburns return. The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami i...