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

NaNoWriMo Update #3

I can't believe it. NaNoWriMo is already half over. The hours spent in front of my laptop have flown by surprisingly fast.

I'm over half way done with my novel.

In seventeen freaking days.

Do you know how long it took me to get to the halfway point last time?

Six months.

And it took me six months to get a quarter of the words I've written for NaNo already.

It's strange, I keep flip flopping between feeling on top of the world and like I'm withering away. For example, Thursday of last week, I think, I flew through my words, getting them done rather quickly, but then today I've been doing a lot of staring at an empty screen.

I just can't get my brain to communicate with my fingers.

I'm having a really hard time writing.

Words Completed Today: 832 (but imma do more, i promise *cries*)
Words Completed Total: 29152
Favorite Snippet:

(Just a little explanation: this is not Pryor narrating, this is Livvy, his little sister who's been infected and is slowly being changed by the disease, both mentally and physically.)

We watch the wall. No. I watch the wall.
I thread my fingers through my hair, pulling until the stinging sensation in my scalp brings back a shred of sanity. The room is empty. White. You are alone, surrounded by nothing by unforgiving silence. You glanced towards the solid wall of shimmering exo-glass and realize that you are not you.
The girl's mind is cluttered by a thousand voices vying for control, for attention. I am not me. Something terrible is in my head, breaking her—breaking me—down piece by piece. I am loosing myself.
I look to the exo-glass, expecting to see Pryor's back pressed against it. She doesn't hear his voice. How long has it been since he came back?
A day? A year? A single minute?
I don't understand where he is. You crawl towards the wall, your fingernails, untrimmed and caked in dried blood-
Blood. She feels sick.
Why is there blood on my hands?
Then you remember. Your teeth sunk into her neck. Screaming. Hands scratching—hers and mine. Scarlet liquid flowing down your chin and onto the floor.
Tears wells up in my eyes, falling down her cheeks. You are scared. I'm so much worse than even a few days ago—or am I? I can't remember. You don't remember.
She curls in on herself and cries.
Where is Pryor?


There you have it, folks.

Until next time.