The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

Book 1

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

I'm very inclined to say that the Grisha Trilogy is the best book series I've read to date. Bardugo's first book, Shadow and Bone, drew me in and kept me hidden away in my room under the blankets for 12+ hours. Shadow and Bone made me wish I was a Grisha…Something like a Corporakli Healer, or an Etherealki Inferni. Over the course of the books, I grew so attached to Bardugo's characters (The Darkling and Nikolai especially) I'm pretty sure I spent the last half of Ruin and Rising crying tears of blood.

Book 2

I'm not kidding guys. These books are amazing. I can't recommend them enough. I have an issue with what I not-so-affectionately call the book hangover—the complete and utter inability to begin a new book because the one you just finished was just so good/heartbreaking/unforgettable etcetera. I wasn't able to start a new book after the Grisha Trilogy for like a month.

Anyways. Back to the books. 

Siege and Storm picks up right where Shadow and Bone left off. I don't think the pace dropped for even a second. I was fascinated with the world Bardugo had created. Frankly, I'm jealous I didn't come up with this idea. Grisha are cool; it's a fact of life.

It's interesting, because Siege and Storm took a different direction than I thought it would. Over all, I think Siege and Storm was my least favorite out of the series. However, it's by no means lackluster.

Now, for my favorite. Ruin and Rising. This was the book that ripped my heart in half, threw it on the ground, stomped on pieces with sharp metal cleats, sent it through the blender, and then poured it on my head.

Book 3

This book freaking sucks. In a good way though.

There's so much emotion packed into this book I don't know how she didn't just keel over and die writing it. This book destroyed my soul. 

At the end, my blankets were tear stained (I actually think I messed up some of the pages too ;_; ), I could barely see, and I wanted to read more.

It's didn't end how I wanted, but I think over all it was a great wrap up to the series. Plus, I'll always have my head cannons.

So, dear blog readers, I'll leave you with this. Go out there and get your hands on these books. Buy them, rent them, borrow them, steal them, I don't care. Go read these books. They're fantastic.

~ Sincerely, a feels starved reader

Standardized Tests Suck

Let me tell you a story…

Nine days ago, a stressed young writer sat down in her local high school, surrounded by other not-nearly-as-nervous-seeming-test-takers, no. 2 soft lead pencil and scientific calculator in hand, and dared to take the PSAT/NMSQT.

This stressed young writer hates standardized tests that have a pesky habit of determining the academic future of a person, and as such, had a near panic attack on the way to said local high school. Once the building, a squat, wide complex stinking of opportunity, came into view, all bets were off. Her heart sped up, thudding dully inside her chest, and her palms began to sweat. She walked inside, chewing her bottom lip as if it were her only hope.

While her mother reported the reluctant arrival of her daughter, all our stressed young writer could hear and comprehend was the pounding of her heart. The next ten minutes passed slow (her family was notorious for arriving early) and all she wanted to do was crawl under the nearest blue cushioned chair and hide.

Finally, after an eternity, it was time. Our young writer was lost, with no idea where to go, seeing as she's a homeschooler who only sets foot on high school grounds to take said standardized tests. One, brave, front office worker offered to take the writer, and another home schooled boy, to the testing room. The walk was long, and quite painful in the writer's mind.

Upon arriving to the dreaded testing room, the writer was ushered inside, pushed to a seat in the front row, and given her testing materials. A very long time elapsed, filled with the furious filling in of personal information that will not be disclosed in such a public place at the world wide web--she was grateful though, as it gave her hands time to stop shaking.

Over all, the young writer feels good about how she did. Her overwhelming sense of panic and foreboding was replaced with a strange, fragile calm once the test booklet was opened and she read the first question. Unfortunately, she/we/I won't know just how well (or poorly) she did until December.

Now, with all that backstory out of the way (no, I won't be offended if you skipped all of that (okayiwillbutjustalittlebuthey)), I can get to what I actually wanted to tell you about.

This morning, after my very long, very warm shower, my Mom registered me for the ACT in December… And she's also looking at signing me up for the SAT. In December.

'Yay' does not even cover what I'm feeling right now.

Like I said, I just got finished with the PSAT. NaNoWriMo is going to basically take over my November, and now I might have not one, but two, tests in December.

somebodyhelpme
._.