Hiatus Alert // I'm Going To Realm Makers!!

Time for a two-week hiatus, y'all

Because I am going to MY FIRST WRITER'S CONFERENCE. 

how perfect is it that this year's theme is dark fairytales, and that's what I'm writing (and will be pitching!)?

You guys have probably heard me SCREAMING WILDLY INTO THE ABYSS talking about this a ton, but I'm going to Realm Makers! 

Which, of course, means I'm flip-flopping between extreme excitement and extreme stress as I try to get EVERYTHING together ;D. (mostly it's wild levels of excitement - I MEAN, I GET TO MEET SOME OF YOU GUYS FACE TO FACE! - but then also...there is all the last-minute things I haven't done and pitching *bites nails*)

So. To reduce all the things I have to do, a hiatus is in order!

I'll be going on hiatus for two weeks, and then I'll be back with a recap of the conference. But until then - adios, my friends! I'll be back soon, keep being epic! <3

~ Savannah Grace

how many of you will I be seeing at RM??

Book Review - The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

I have done it. I have finally done it.

I have read the entire Raven Cycle by the Writing Queen, Maggie Stiefvater.

And now I don't know what to do with myself *melts into a puddle*

Overall Series Rating: 4 Stars

The rundown:

The Raven Boys: 4.5 Stars
The Dream Thieves: 4 Stars
Blue Lily, Lily Blue: 4 Stars
The Raven King: 3.5 Stars

My good gracious, you guys - when I said I didn't know what to do with myself, I meant it. I just finished this series last night and I HAS FEELS. Lots of feels. Very confused feels. My feels are slain. JUST FEELS. Okay, we better get onto the review before I pass out right here and now. 

From The Back Cover

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

View The Raven Boys on Goodreads   ---   View The Raven Boys on Amazon

- The Raven Boys and Blue. Basically all the characters. ALWAYS THE CHARACTERS. But seriously - the characters in The Raven Cycle are some of the best I've ever read. I love them so much I CAN'T *flailing*. I loved the characters in The Scorpio Races (you guys have probably heard me scream about that before) but the Raven Boys and Blue are on a whole different level. I could probably write any entire post JUST SCREAMING about my love for these characters. They just felt so REAL and I loved them all so much! I can't, you guys, I can't <3 <3 <3.

- Henrietta and 300 Fox Way. Because I simply ADORED the setting for this story (honestly I could have mentioned a lot more places than just Fox Way and Henrietta but #spoilers and we'd be here all day), it was absolutely perfect and I would die to spend a day at 300 Fox Way. The feel of it was PERFECT and the characters fit into it so well, and I haven't seen a setting this unique that felt so REAL for some time. Many many points to The Raven Cycle for this <3. 

- The emotions. The Raven Cycle definitely packed a massive punch in this area. Like, I literally LAUGHED OUT LOUD at a few parts (murder squash song and 'He threw me out the window!' for those of you who've read the series - among other parts xD), and I just don't normally do that with books? And then in the next chapter I'd be curled in a smol ball of sobs and melting-ness. MY HEART. IS JUST. I don't know you guys I don't know what to do *flees*.

- THE PROSE. But it's a Stiefvater book so #EXPECTED. But my gracious, Maggie Stiefvater absolutely outdid herself. She does things with words that make the story a whole different animal from what it would have been had someone else written it. It's incredible. It's like magic. <3 <3 <3   

- The pure genius of it all. This series blew my mind. That is all, the end.

*mic drop before I ramble for another three days, because I REALLY, REALLY COULD*

- So. Much. Language. My word, you guys, out of all the books I've read in all my life, this book has the worst language. And there's a lot of it. F-bombs make multiple appearances. But I kinda-sorta trained my brain to either replace or skip straight over the swear words, which made it less terrible, but I could have done without it.

- A certain development in book four. I am not one to completely skip over pages in books - but I completely skipped over a few pages in The Raven King. The fact that Adam and Ronan got into a gay relationship in the fourth book was...awkward...and extremely annoying. It wasn't a massive part of the story, but it was still there, which resulted in me skipping straight over a few uncomfortable pages. Flat-out didn't read them at all. Which made it easier to pretend that it had never happened xD. If not for this, the fourth book in this series probably would have snagged four stars, but alas I had to knock it down *smol tears*.

Oh, gracious. My feels are still spinning, how on EARTH am I supposed to give any 'final thoughts?' (they would mostly sound like "AJSGLJAGSLJG *dies*"). Guess I should try though, huh...

The Raven Cycle was a mystical, beautiful series (albeit with some issues that messed up the final book for me), with some of the most real characters and the most real settings and the most real emotions that I've ever read. I don't know how much I would actually recommend it, mostly just for stuff in the fourth book and swearing (and the fact that this series isn't the cleanest), but if I was to recommend it, it would be for ages 16+ who don't mind taking bad with the good. THE CHARACTERS ARE JUST THE BEST. I've already got book hangover, and I probably will for some time ;D.

Excelsior.

~ Savannah Grace 

have you ever read The Raven Cycle? or any Steifvater books in general?

chat with me, friends! <3 (and happy 4th to my American readers!)
 

Highlights Of June 2018

   Half of 2018 has flown and the second half is soaring in! Summer is officially here and I. Am. Happy. <3 June was a very good (and hectically busy) month - want to hear about it?

Oh gracious me. What DID I do in June? Well, we had relatives come up to visit for a week, and we celebrated my sweet second cousin's birthday, which was SO FUN. I always love having them up here, we have a blast.  (we also may or may not have shot off a rocket in our front yard and got it stuck in a tree...*sheepish grin*)

And I'm also working on revamping my bookshelf! It's a tan-brown kind of color right now, and I'm painting it white and reorganizing it so that I can use it for book pics. I'll show you guys when its done ;).

Art! Art has happened! (now pay attention to the fact that I didn't say it was GOOD art...) I started out drawing in notebooks and...usual things...but then I switched over to something a little different. Now I art in my actual books. 'WHAT??' you're probably shrieking as you hide your books away. BUT! But! I have reasons! I only art in the books I have two copies of (which is, surprisingly, quite a few xD). Right now Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident is being scribbled in. And somehow there ended up being a doodle of Blue Sargent in there? Don't know how that works? But it happened and I don't question it. *continues scribbling* 

And we celebrated my second-youngest sister's birthday yesterday! (I may have ate way too much ice cream while reading Blue Lily, Lily Blue...) Happy birthday, Jaidyn! <3  

Oh my. Oh dear. This section is going to be full.

FIRST OF ALL: I finished up The Genie Bone and submitted it to the Oath and Iron anthology! Massive THANK YOUs to my alphas and betas. Shout-out to True, Chloe, Micaiah, Faith, Hanna, Audrey, Lisa, Soleil, Skylar, and Ariel! (Forgive me if I'm forgetting anyone - my brain has been fried since yesterday when I sent it in xD) You guys definitely helped that story a ton <3. It's honestly one of my favorite things I've written, so I'm hoping it does well!

SECOND OF ALL: I finished co-writing my first story! The epic Soleil and I coauthored a story for the Oath and Iron anthology and OH MY GRACIOUS. If you guys have writing friends and you haven't coauthored a story yet, DO IT. It's so very much fun, I had a blast writing The Star's Shadow with Soleil! (you're the best, my friend <3)

THIRD OF ALL: I got published again! A piece of my flash fiction, The Threat, was published in Splickety's Heirs and Spares issue. So that was super cool <3.

FOURTH OF ALL: Major headway has happened with Forgotten - remember that 20k novella that I entered in the Rooglewood writing contest? Well, it's now sitting pretty at 58k and I just submitted it to an agent. We'll see what comes of that, but I am VERY excited!

FIFTH OF ALL: The 100-for-100 Go Teen Writer's challenge is going swimmingly! I haven't missed a day yet, and most days I've written 1,000+ words. It's been a blast! We'll see if I can keep up that speed when I'm at Realm Makers xD.

SIXTH OF ALL: I know I'm forgetting something. So here's me saying I know I forgot something xD.

+ The Backwards Season by Lauren Myracle

WHOO you can tell that summer is finally here xD. I've read SO MANY good books (and I wish I could review them all but TIME. Time is a thing) this month and I'm super excited to scream into the abyss talk with y'all about them!

- All The Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater. I LOVED IT. But it's Stiefvater, so I mean...could you expect anything else? I adored The Scorpio Races, so when All The Crooked Saints came out, I absolutely had to read it! And I adored this book - it actually was cleaner than The Scorpio Races, which was super super nice. 4.5 stars to this epic book <3.

- The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. IT'S LIKE THE PLAGUE I CAN'T STOP READING HER BOOKS. Right off the bat, this book is not clean (F-bombs are used multiple times and WOW does Stiefvater like her swearing) but THE CHARACTERS. The plot line. Just her writing style is the most epic thing ever. And did I mention that I am deathly attached to these characters? Oh dear. Once I'm done with the series (I finished the second book and I'm starting the third!), I'll review it for y'all. 4.5 stars. <3

- The Scourge by Jennifer Nielsen. This author never disappoints (she's one of my top favorites of ever! <3), so when I found a copy of this at a thrift store, I snagged it. And then read it. And then loved it (SHOCKER) xD. The main character was so sassy and perfectly GOLDEN, I loved her. 4 stars to this lovely book!

- A Sea of Purple Ink by Rebekah Shafer. Okay, first off, that cover? I mean <3. And the inside of the book is just as gorgeous as the outside! I was actually (and pleasantly!) surprised by the world building, it was AMAZING. And the characters! I just! The "magic" system (it wasn't actual magic, but I can't think of another way to describe it) is so unique <3. 4 stars, and definitely check this one out!

- Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley. I randomly nabbed this one when I saw that it was about the circus (what can I say? I like circus stories), and it was different from what I expected. But in a good way! I really loved this middle grade story, it was such a sweet book. 4.5 stars to this one <3 <3 <3

 
I know. I skimped. I'm sorry. But I was on multiple deadlines (still am...) so I'm giving myself a pass this time xD. I would promise that I'll do better in July, BUT I'll be taking a hiatus for Realm Makers, so...we'll see xD. I'll try! 

- CAIT IS PUBLISHED AND IT IS LOVELY *dies*

- Micaiah Saldana did a three-part blog series about strong female characters, which I LOVED (she also wrote this piece of flash fiction that you will cry smol tears over if you read it <3)

- The Penprints Flash Fiction Dash happened, which was tons of fun, even if I didn't get my entry done in time ;D. Everyone else did amazing! <3

- Christine, Faith, AND Rachael did my Get To Know Me Tag: Writer's Edition which basically made my day <3 and (if any of YOU have done this tag and I haven't mentioned you yet, drop a link in the comments so I can check it out! <3)    

- Lisa over at Inkwell celebrated a lovely blog birthday AND she's having an epic contest with an epic prize, so you guys need to go check that out and give her some love! <3 <3

- The cover for Mary Weber's upcoming book, To Best The Boys, was revealed and OH MY GOOD GRACIOUS. My eyeballs are happy <3 <3 <3. 

Honestly? I have no idea! July is going to be a hectic, wild month (writing deadlines! life things! fourth of July! REALM MAKERS! <3), but I'm hoping to get a few posts in for you guys ;). We'll see what happens!  I may or may not have a special one coming up on the 7th...shh...

ANYways, I think that's about it. Shout with me in the comments about all the books you read this month (and let me know if you've read any of the ones I read!) - and tell what fun stuff y'all did this month! I hope all of you had an awesome June <3.

Keep being epic, my frens!

~ Savannah Grace 

how was your June?

chat with me, y'all! <3