Read Game Craft

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...

One of the main things on my Christmas wishlist this year was books, of course. As much as I'm looking forward to getting some of the books I asked for, the fact that it's getting closer to Christmas means I can't buy any books for myself right now. First of all, I need that money to buy presents for other people, and second of all, I can't buy presents for myself this close to Christmas. So basically all my book wishes are on hold until I see what I get for Christmas. All is not lost, though. Today I got two books from the library that I'm happy about. Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead and The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma. I've been hearing a lot about Nova Ren Suma and saw both of these books on a Book Riot list of books about dancers and knew I had to have them. If I love them enough, I may have to later buy myself my own copies so I can keep them forever and make notes in them. In addition to having heard of Nova Ren Suma before, I'm currently workin...

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: The Wrath and the Dawn Author: Renee Adieh Publisher: Putnam How I Found It: I saw it all over both Twitter and Tumblr, specifically from my friend Lisa. Synopsis: Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend. She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that...

I know my last post was a Week in the Life post too, but don’t worry. We’ll be getting back to regular book reviews soon, I promise. I wanted to write this post looking toward the week to come instead of looking back at the one I just finished because last week was a mess for me. I was sick in addition to having a lot going on at school and there were a lot of other, more personal things that I’m not going to get into because they’re not interesting to anyone but me. I’ve already started completing my college applications but this week marks when I need to get even more serious about them because I’m applying Early Action to several colleges and those applications are due in just over a month. Specifically, I need to start asking teachers for recommendations and drafting all my essays. Are any of you applying this year or next year? Are any of you currently in university? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments. Book of the Week: The Wrath and the Dawn by ...

I've just finished my first week of my last year of high school. My week started with driving myself to school for the first time. I'd been driving a lot this summer, but it was still a really good feeling to have this added independence. The obvious downside is having to pay for gas... Later that day, I and eight of my Creative Writing classmates had to give advice to underclassmen in our department. That was just one of the things that happened this week that reminded me that this year isn't going to be like any other, which I know sounds cliche, but it's true. This week was the beginning of my last year at home, and I couldn't be more excited for what's coming. Things I've Been Loving This Week: Mountain Dew - I know how terrible it is for me, believe me, but I still love it and I've been drinking a lot of it as I've been trying to get used to waking up early again. Also, Kit Kats (this isn't all food, I promise) Boyfriend jackets - M...

I start my senior year of high school on Monday. Despite the fact that I'm going to have more going on than ever this year and I already have a ton of deadlines looming, I'm not scared. I'm honestly more excited than anything else. My junior year was really hard for me academically and personally and had a huge impact on me. This summer has been exactly what I needed and lately I've been feeling like I'm finally myself again. I'm excited for school for the first time in a while and I feel like I've rediscovered what it was about myself that made me a straight-A student my first two years of high school and hopefully I'll be able to get those same grades again during my senior year even in my AP Calculus class. School makes me more motivated so I'm looking forward to getting back to studying and hopefully being able to put more energy into this blog.