A Royal Christmas Engagement (2020) - Movie Review

Although this is a movie and not a book, I decided to review it since I hated it so much and desperately needed someplace to vent my hatred. I would say it was like any other teen royal drama - except that it wasn't. It was worse. Much, much worse. And if I hadn't watched Inside Out, I would have said that this is the worst movie I have ever seen.

This review is going to be long, and it's going to be difficult, but I will get through it, and hopefully make you hate this movie as much as I did. I have a lot to say, so I will divide it under headings to give it some sort of structure.

The plot

Non-existent.

The main character of this movie is this really annoying woman called Lauren. And though I never fully understood her job, she seemed to be working in an office with her best friend Chelsea, and another woman who was her enemy. A European guy called Paul wants Lauren's company to collaborate with his chocolate company, and so he is to come to America to discuss things further. However, since his wife is about to give birth, his friend, the Prince, convinces him to let him go in his stead. The Prince introduces himself as Paul to Lauren and she swoons at the sight of him. Similarly, our charming Prince is smitten just by a glance, but of course, they do not know each other's feelings. Then there's the Prince's servant called Patrik who follows him there under the Queen's orders, but he is hardly important to the story. 

They tell us the entire "plot" right in the beginning. In fact, the title tells us the whole story. One would think that the movie starts with what the title tells us - that it is the story of a Christmas on which a royal is getting engaged. But no, of course not. The title is how the movie ends. The title is the whole stupid conclusion of this whole stupid movie.

I have seen a lot of movies having a similar storyline. A foolish young "hard-working" girl up in the world of business meets a young handsome man. Falls in love. Finds out he is a prince after a few days. Throws a tantrum. Gets back together. Happily ever after. Yet those were a hundred thousand times better than this.

At one point of time, when Lauren finds out that the guy is actually a prince and not some Paul, she gets mad at him and tells him that she hates him (indirectly). So maybe somebody, while watching the movie, may have assumed that she will not forgive him and they won't get back together. That would have made this movie so much more interesting. But do they allow such speculations? Do they make us wonder how the movie is going to end? Well, simply read the name of the movie and you'll know.

The entire movie had absolutely no story whatsoever. It was just a lot of scenes of the two of them hanging out at restaurants or at her parents' house. Even though I skipped chunks of it in the middle, I can say with hundered percent surety that I missed nothing. Never before have I felt so cheated out of my time and my laptop's battery.

Everything that happened in the movie was so fake and predictable. Of course, the prince is going to fall in love with the mean woman just because she's the main character. The villain or whatever of this movie was so much nicer than her. And not just from my point of view. She was just a much nicer, kinder and polite person. She helped out others when they were confused, offered her ideas to the prince when he didn't know what to do about his assignment, gave directions to Patrick when he was searching for the prince, all while Miss Main Character Lauren sits complaining about her oh-so-horrible life.

The characters

I hated every single person in this movie. The acting was terrible. Even I could've done a better job. Their speech was slurred, they kept mispronouncing words and everyone put zero emotion into their dialogues. Not even these professional actors could make the horrible script better.

Lauren : Ah, the main character. So beautiful, intelligent and kind. Did I think so too? Absolutely not.

She was mean, ignorant, self-centered, immature and plain stupid. Her boss gives her a very important assignment that the entire office would have loved to have. What does she do in return? Be rude. Take leaves. Party in her hometown. Flirt with her co-worker. Demand chocolates (at this point, I won't even bother explaining).

Since it was Christmas, her boss, Mr. Holiday (yes, that was his actual name and no, I haven't made it up), gave her a Merry Christmas card. She brings it to her desk and chucks it in the corner like people throw away candy wrappers. Since it was the day of her important presentation, her friend wished her good luck. She gives her a fake smile, a very obviously sarcastic 'thank you' and gets back to cutting strips of paper (nothing she did in life made any sense). Since a girl in the office feels bad about her having to ditch Mr Prince for not telling her truth sooner, she says 'I'm sorry'. Our wonderful Lauren says 'What?'.

I'm telling you, she was a bad, bad girl.

The Prince : I don't get the obsession of certain authors and screen-writers with the name Edward. And the name Charles for royalty. So naturally, this guy was named Prince Edward Charles. 

He was very clearly the worst character of them all (and my, my, weren't there a bunch of weirdos to choose from) and just his character made this movie so much worse. He was extremely narcissistic and had utterly no regard for other's feeling. Sure, he was a prince, but he used that as an excuse to bully everyone else and make them feel unimportant.

He was one of those royals from the books and movies who are tired of their royal life, and want nothing more than to be one of the common people of this world. But when they want to book a first class ticket to America (he lived in UK), they have no problem using their parents' royal money. When they want to impress their crush with their "style" and designer outfits, they don't complain about being Princes who can buy anything they want. When they use their servants to get their work done, they don't have any issues with belonging to the palace. It's all so annoying I feel like screaming.

Who doesn't want to be royalty? Having a cool palace, lots of servants and cars- and basically anything you'd want. Why does being second in line to the throne have to be any different from a normal person's life, except a lot more luxurious and comfortable? If someone doesn't want all that, fine I'll try to understand. But saying you're tired of being a prince and then using your father King's money to not be a prince just doesn't make any sense.

For most of the scenes, I just felt second-hand embarrassment for this guy. His dialogues were so cheesy and he thought so much of himself that I almost felt bad that no one had told him how big a failure he actually was. He was also extremely disrespectful of his family and their culture. Not being a great fan of his family's royal traditions was okay but he was downright rude to his mother when she requested his presence at their family's Christmas celebrations.

Here are some examples of Prince Edward Charles's annoying-ness.

When asked why he had come as his "dear friend" Paul -

"So I could just escape the utter boredom and frustration of being a prince. Royal life is killing me."

And here is where Lauren says something sensible for once in her lifetime -

"You pretended to be him because you were bored?"

And since this portion of my rant focuses on His Highness, I am allowed to agree with Lauren. He is so stupid.

"You were right, what's done is done. but that doesn't mean it can't be undone."

It does, Ed, 'what's done is done' does mean that it can't be undone. I was just about ready to cry at this point.

"Now's the time. If you love me, you have to tell me. Please, just trust your instincts. Tell me not to go. Please"

Excuse me? Who does he think he is? Trust your instincts, sure. Because who doesn't love the great prince of wherever.

Chelsea : The only reason I'm writing about her is because she was the only one whose acting was even semi-decent. I hated her character, sure, but at least her emotions were conveyed through her voice and expressions (although they were overly exaggerated) unlike the others.

Her character was completely unnecessary. The story would have been the same even if all the scenes with her in it were cut out. Although she was the one who had initially approached Edward about his fake identity, Lauren would have found out and said something soon enough, since it was the headline of a newspaper she probably read too. Chelsea was like this fake BFF of the main character who stands by her through thick and thin etc. and makes appearances whenever necessary.

The ending

Of course, we all knew the ending right from the start, but what was even more annoying was how every single thing worked out so well. As it was obvious, the Prince's parents didn't want him to marry her in the beginning. But their hatred towards her is resolved in one simple "His parents soon started liking me too" sentence. And I get that to make the ending happy, they have to show that certain stuff just happened, but not every single character has to be left satisfied and blissful. They took it to such an extent that even the villain got the man of her dreams (sort of, and only for a while but it still counts).

I would give this movie a 5% rating, if only because of how much efforts they had put into the costumes and set designing. Their make-up and clothes were okay, but I didn't like any of their hairstyles. Chelsea's hair was too big, Lauren's hair was too slicked and Edward's hair was just gross. 

This movie was terrible, and I would definitely not recommend it to anyone. Perhaps if you have run out of options, you can give up and hour and a half of your lives just to enjoy how lame this move is. Actually, don't. It's not worth even that. You'll just get yourself annoyed at all those characters and the lame plot-not-plot. 

Lesson learnt : never ever watch this movie.

Books in the Grishaverse by Leigh Bardugo

The Grishaverse consists of two series - The Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows. There are five books in total, and all are set in the universe of magical people called Grisha. There is another series called Nikolai Duology, which is about a character called Nikolai from the Grisha Triology. 

[ I ] The Grisha Trilogy

"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."

The first book introduces us to the main character Alina, and her friend Mal. Once Alina discovers her powers, she is taken to the court of the Darkling to train and develop her powers. Alina had never thought her life would change so drastically, and now she must learn to survive with her new identity. Her powers are one-of-a-kind and are the only thing that can rid their world from the Fold, and the beasts that live there.

However, life isn't easy for Alina. Being the only Sun Summoner, she instantly becomes the object of envy for the other Grisha. The training she has to go through is very hard and she soon starts becoming weak. She is also constantly worried about Mal, who does not reply to her letters.

Anyway, enough about the story. I think I would rate it 4 out of 5. It's good, but not oh-my-god-I'm-completely-blown-away good. But then again, hardly any books are that good. The characters are decent but not very relatable or likeable. The world-building is good too. It is supposed to be based on some ancient Russian folklore, and combines magic, armies, and some cheesy young adult drama.

The three books in this series -

1. Shadow and Bone

2. Siege and Storm

3. Ruin and Rising

[ II ] Six of Crows

"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.

Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first."

I love this seires a lot. It has so much of action, suspense and thriller scenes, as well as drama, magic and some romance. It follows six main characters - Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Nina Zenik, Jesper Fahey, Matthias Helvar, and Wylan Van Eck. 

Kaz and his gang are essentially a band of theives, and although they are going to be heavily rewarded for their mission, it will ultimately lead to good. They have to break into an almost-impenetable prison in the middle of a guarded castle to get out an unwilling scientist. All the characters have their own interesting backstories as well as secrets that they keep even from each other. None of them know who they can trust, but they all must stick together to complete their mission - and escape with their lives.

This book is very happening and thrilling and keeps us hooked to the story the entire time. It deserves a solid 5 out of 5. I cannot recall any part where I got bored or annoyed, and all the intelligent, mysterious characters make it an amazingly interesting book to read.

The two books in order -

1. Six of Crows

2. Crooked Kingdom

[ III ] Nikolai Duology 

"Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal."

Firstly, I'd like to say that I love that book cover.

I personally can't say much about this book, since I never managed to finish the series. I had really loved Nikolai when he was in the Grisha Triology, but somehow this book did not live up to my expectations. Of course, that is only my opinion (from my forgetful brain which doesn't remember reading the first book at all), and honestly, almost everybody liked it. I can't really remember why I stopped reading the first book but perhaps some day I shall read it again.

The story sounds very exciting and the main character is very entertaining. Since most of the characters are from the first series, if you like it, there are huge chances you'll like this too. There a lot of political games and court workings shown in this book too, and the ending is said to be extremely surprising and thrilling.

The two books in this series -

1. King of Scars

2. Rule of Wolves

I hope you read these books. Enjoy!

The Magisterium - A Series For Those Who Like Harry Potter

The Magisterium is a series about a twelve-year-old boy called Callum Hunt. All his life, his father has warned him about the evil Magisterium, which is a school of magic. Call doesn't know much about it, except that both his parents went there, and now his mother, Sarah, is dead. Call too thinks of it as evil and desperately tries to fail in the Iron Trial, which is a test all the children prone to magic must give. However, he fails at failing and soon finds himself chosen as an apprentice by the renowned Master Rufus. Call has no option but to go to the Magisterium - the underground school that he has been taught to hate his entire life.

Even at the school, Call tries to fail, in the hopes that he will get kicked out and finally be free from the wicked Magisterium. But try as he might, Call soon finds himself loving magic. He had been prone to it as a child and he cannot escape it now. He also discovers that if he fails his first year, or flees the Magisterium, his powers will be bound and he will be unable to use magic. Call soon decides to stay and learn magic willingly, despite his father's warning.

He begins to make friends there - his fellow apprentices Aaron and Tamara, as well as others. Call finds that he is good at magic and starts to enjoy his life in the eerie underground world of the mages.

The series is written by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black. It has five books in total - one for each year Call spends at the Magisterium and follows his journey from ages twelve up to seventeen. The five books in reading order are The Iron Trial, The Copper Gauntlet, The Bronze Key, The Silver Mask, and The Golden Tower.

The main reason this series feels so much like Harry Potter is, of course, the school of magic the young male protagonist attends. The mages sound very similar to the Professors at Hogwarts and this book too has students from different backgrounds. While most of them have been inclined towards magic as kids, and know all about The Magisterium, some are new to the world. The children of the powerful magical families look down upon such new children and form groups of their own. Call is one of the most powerful and special children of his generation. He is assisted by his two friends, a boy and a girl, as he explores and develops his powers.

The villain in this series is an evil guy nicknamed "The Enemy of Death", who had caused the death of hundreds of mages in the Cold Massacre. The Magisterium had constantly been at war with him till his death in the same battle. Sarah had also lost her life in this war, which made Call's father hate The Magisterium and everything to do with magic.

There are a lot more things along the way that give us a sense of deja vu. The "games room" for example is like the common room in the Harry Potter series where all the young magic learners meet and relax. Their school is an old castle with creepy decorations and hidden rooms. The villain is desperate for immortality, and he has a loyal crew complete with spies inside the school. And the reason all this sounds so familiar- Harry Potter.

To be fair, this book does gain its own identity towards the end. The story becomes a lot more original, and there are a few twists that take the plot in a different direction. I enjoyed reading the series overall, and if you liked Harry Potter, there is a good chance you will like this too.

Marked : House of Night Book #1 by PC and Kristin Cast - Book Review

House of Night has a unique take on vampires, but I can't say I liked it very much. In fact, the book sucks. It was this off-brand, trying-too-hard-to-be-different version of Twilight which turned out to be an epic fail.

Okay, maybe some parts of it were fine. But most were weird, stupid, disgusting, boring, repetitive, predictable, annoying and lame. The main character was terrible, all her friends were fake, and her so-called "boyfriend" was the lamest guy ever.

The main character : finally someone whinier than Bella Swan.

Zoey thought too much of herself. Of course, she was gifted with great brains and was a one-of-a-kind fledgeling. She had amazing powers like no one had ever seen before, magically gifted stunning tattoos, a coloured-in super cool Mark, smart friends who always had her back, a gorgeous and popular boyfriend, and only the best mentor in the school.

Was she grateful? No.

Was she polite and understanding? No.

Was she kind to her friends? No.

Did she really even like her boyfriend? No.

Did she deserve any of what she had? NO.

She was mean and rude, and since the entire book was written from her point of view, every single person whom she met was either - a) lame, b) annoying, c) random or d) a loser.

Seriously, the amount of times in that book that people have been called losers is atrocious. I mean, everyone who wasn't a big fan or loyal friend or faithful worshiper of Zoey's was inevitably a loser. 

Her "boyfriend" Erik was so random and useless it was hilarious. Of course, he was the ex-boyfriend of the most popular (and naturally, Zoey's arch-nemesis) fledgeling in the school, the most handsome, the smartest - and honestly I don't even need to continue. We all get it. He was perfect.

Why did he like Zoey, you may ask. Well for the exact reason every other cliche protagonist is loved by the dashing hero - none at all. The first time he approached Zoey, she ignored him. The second time - she yelled at him. The third time - she cried. The fourth time - she rejected him. The fifth time - she almost got him killed. The sixth time - she kissed him and fell in love.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the touching love story of our protagonist. 

There was absolutely no use of Erik in the entire book. He did nothing except "be there for her" and provide unnecessary comfort and undeserved love (both of which happened one out of hundred times). He just followed Zoey around, asked her creepy questions, pried into her life, made her very uncomfortable and did nothing to make her life easier. So very romantic.

I will refrain from writing about how extremely irritating it was that all the best things in the world happened to Zoey because that's how the world is. That's how our great, awe-inspiring heroine is. She's the best. She's the absolute best at every single thing.

The plot : acceptable but annoying

Honestly, the plot was fine. But it was hidden underneath all the layers of unedited writing (I really need to talk about this), useless characters, the annoying-ness of Zoey, and of course, her "boyfriend".

The story was not too bad once it actually started. But when did it start? In the last chapter of the whole book of two hundred pages. The rest was just rubbish added to make the book longer and build-up to the final moment. Or to make the book more like Twilight. 

The author (authors? I really don't know) has basically just written the first thing that came to her mind. She was perhaps trying to make Zoey a relatable character by writing her "thoughts" or whatever all those brackets were supposed to be. She has written "hehehe" or "hahaha", or something along these lines, once in every page. All the girls in the school who Zoey hated were blonde. Just blonde. Because that described them so well like the mean, bratty, holier-than-thou girls they were supposed to be.

The author has used just one word to describe everything. If an object happens to be black in colour, that's all it ever is. If a girl has blond hair, that's the only thing she is - a blonde. If Zoey hates someone, she will hate them forever, and if someone is her "friend", he or she always will be.

I have heard many nice things about the series and perhaps the "vampire fiction" part of it is okay. Most reviews also say that the story gets better in the next few books. I have lost all hope of the writing-style or editing to get better, but maybe the story will.

And yeah, this review was not exactly written in praise of the book, but I am going to read the next one, so there was a little part of it that makes me want to see what happens next. 

So I will go read the next book and get right back to you.

The Fates Divide : Book #2 by Veronica Roth - Book Review (no spoilers)

I honestly don't even remember much about this book anymore, despite having finished it only a few days earlier. It was an unremarkable, expected, unsurprising ending, but satisfying, for what that's worth.

The beginning of this book is a lot like the middle part of Divergent. Slightly boring, repetitive and with forcefully added couples scenes. Unlike the first book, which picked up right from the beginning, the author has taken her time in this one to establish the setting and describe the scenes.

In Part 1 of the book, the characters spend most of their time aboard their space ships, flying through the "vast, dark expanse of the universe", with "nothing but inky black around them", and with few people for company in their routine lives, with shifts for navigation and sleeping, and whatnot. It started to feel very repetitive after a few chapters.

The author has also added two more points of view in the second book, which made it boring more than anything. More POVs just help write short stories in a longer way. She sent some of the characters off to enemy ships, some on friendly planets, and some travelling in between, to write the same events from different angles.

Some of the new characters, or some of the side characters who became more important in the second book, made the book interesting, but most got tiring with their exaggerated personalities. There were a lot of characters and all of them had confusing, similar-sounding names, Ara, Aza, Ava and Ylira, Yma, Yessa; after a while, their names just blended together and left me with a half-read book and thoroughly baffled brain.

In the course of the entire book, there was only one storyline - to war or not to war. Both sides constantly changed their mind about this, and of course, some people on one side thought they should fight, the other half disagreed, and so on. 

In Parts 2, 3 and 4, the story became slightly more engaging. The author stopped constantly switching between POVs and completed an event in one person's world before moving on to the next. There were thankfully very little 'Cisi' (a character) chapters, and more about the happening world of Akos and Cyra. 

I do not remember much about Part 5 (I'm not even a hundred per cent sure if there was a Part 5), though perhaps it was just the after-ending and before-epilogue part of the story.

At one point of time when the story started to feel a little like Red Queen, I was just about ready to give up on it entirely, but fortunately, the author's writing style is much nicer and it made me want to see what happened at the end of the book.

I would recommend reading the Carve the Mark series, for many aspects of it are one-of-a-kind and they make it a great YA book to read.

Order of The Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare

The Shadowhunter Chronicles written by Cassandra Clare consists of four series, each of which has a different protagonist.

[ I ] The Mortal Instruments 

The Mortal Instruments is a series of six YA fantasy novels, whose protagonist is a teenage girl called Clary Fray. She stumbles across a group of Nephelim, who are Shadowhunters, while they are doing their usual job of hunting demons. Except she, as a mundane, isn't supposed to be able to see them. She is taken to the Shadowhunters' (Jace, Alec and Isabelle) home where she learns more about her own heritage and family history.

She meets various kinds of creatures as she continues to discover the Shadowhunter universe - warlocks, werewolves, vampires, demons and angels - and battles a lot of enemies alongside the others. 

The books of this series in reading order are - 

1. City of Bones 
2. City of Ashes 
3. City of Glass 
4. City of Fallen Angels 
5. City of Lost Souls 
6. City of Heavenly Fire 

[ II ] The Infernal Devices

This book deals with Tessa Gray, who moves to London and gets entangled in the lives of the Nephilim living there. This book is written in a time before the Mortal Instruments took place, and has few characters, but a gripping storyline.

At the Shadowhunter house, Tessa meets Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs, as well other Shadowhunters who help her adapt to her new life. Tessa has peculiar powers, as is a being like none of them have ever seen before. When enemies threaten their house, Tessa stands with the others to defend it and uncovers various secrets from her past.

The books of this series in reading order are - 

     1. Clockwork Angel  

     2. Clockwork Prince

     3. Clockwork Princess

[ III ] The Dark Artifices

The series follows Emma Carstairs and her journey as a Shadowhunter living in the Los Angeles Institute. She lives there with her best friend and parabatai, Julian Blackthorn and his family. Their parabatai bond makes them connected in a special way, and very powerful. However, there is one drawback - you are forbidden from falling in love with your parabatai. 

The Dark Artifices is a trilogy about their struggle against their enemies and how both of them deal with their forbidden love and its consequences. The series is written from the point-of-view of the different characters in the story.

The books of this series in reading order are -     

1. Lady Midnight 
2. Lord of Shadows
3. Queen of Air and Darkness

[ IV ] The Last Hours

This is the story of James and Lucie Herondale, in the Edwardian Era of London. They are accompanied by their parabatai, Matthew Fairchild and Cordelia Carstairs. Children of many of the characters from The Infernal Devices also star in this series, as well as the characters themselves, now older. The story moves back and forth between London, Paris, Cornwall and Idris (the home country of Shadowhunters).

Many of the misleading factors of the family tree as shown in the previous books are cleared up in this series. Some important objects and characters from the previous series also make an appearance here. 

The books of this series in reading order are -  

    1. Chain of Gold

    2. Chain of Iron

    3. Chain of Thorns

There are also other series and individual books written by the author, which tell us the life story of some of the side characters or give us more information about the Shadowhunter world.

The Eldest Curses -

1. The Red Scrolls of Magic
2. The Lost Book of the White

Books not a part of any series -

1. The Bane Chronicles
2. The Shadowhunter’s Codex
3. Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy
4. Ghosts of the Shadow Market

Carve the Mark : Book #1 by Veronica Roth - Book Review (no spoilers)

This book is great!

For the first few chapters, I thought it was sort of like The Golden Compass, since the two main characters were still small and the people travelled between multiple worlds. There was lots of magic, and it was all about "the current that flows through every living object", which felt sort of like the Dust in Philip Pullman's books.

However, after that, the story became a lot like Divergent (no surprise there) but with a touch of royalty and castles, as well as technology. Most of the time, when authors write such books which have a mixture of so much - kings, magic, technology, space travel, wars, culture and still have a lot of the typical YA fantasy drama - they end up sounding stupid. 

But this book has just the right amount of everything, and it will appeal to book lovers (or non-book lovers) or all sorts; those who love reading about royalty, or those who like magic, those who like sci-fi and technology, or interplanetary travel, or those who like books about friendship, love, loyalty and trust; and of course, those who love everything.

Everyone in their universe has a "currentgift", a special power in the people due to the current flowing around (and through) them. Every gift is different from the other, and discovering each character's currentgift as the story proceeded, also added some level of suspense and excitement.

This book also contained a lot of war and the enmity-between-kingdoms theme. The main guy character (Akos) was from a place called Thuvhe and the girl (Cyra) was from a kingdom called Shotet. Both of them were fate-favoured (which means that their fates had been seen by the Oracles during birth, and there was no avoiding them), and thus considered special.

Cyra was the sister of the ruler of Shotet while Akos was the son of the "Sitting Oracle" of Thuvhe. When soldiers from Shotet come for the oracle and find that she is not there, they take her second-born child instead, who is "fated" to be the next Oracle. Akos, as it turns out, has Shotet blood in him, and is also captured by the soldiers, and whisked off with his brother to their enemy land.

The title 'Carve the Mark' refers to the ink-filled mark that the Shotet people, and now Akos, make on their arm to record a loss of a loved one or a murder they have committed. It is sometimes equated to the status or skill of a person since a kill mark shows their prowess in combat.

This book has all the best-selling YA genres mixed into one fantastic tale, and I'm very eager to read book 2.

5 More High Fantasy Series

These are some high fantasy books that I haven't read yet, but have heard a lot about, and am looking forward to reading.

1. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Graceling is the story of a young girl called Kasta, who is one of the Graceling - people born with an extreme skill. Her extraordinary power, or curse, is to be able to kill a man with her bare hands. Since she is the niece of the king, she should be able to lead a luxurious life, but as she is Graced with killing, she is forced to be the King's executioner and carry out her dirty work. Disgusted by the acts she is forced to commit and her growing reputation as a monster, Katsa works in secret with a handful of trusted friends to spare the innocent citizens from the wrath of the many corrupt kings of the Seven Kingdoms.

2. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Zélie Adebola is a peculiar teenager with bright white hair and theoretically, also the ability to perform magic. In her land of Orisha, under the orders of a ruthless king, the maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. But Zélie is their one chance to save magic from disappearing forever. With the help of a rogue princess, she must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating all the magi for good.

3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Feyre gets dragged into a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, and discovers that her captor is hiding far more than he lets on. His face is obscured by a jeweled mask, as is everyone else's at court, and she is always very closely guarded. Soon she begins to learn the reason for all this, and her feelings for her captor turn from hatred into affection. She realises that the faerie lands are actually a far more dangerous place than she had initially thought. Now Feyre is required to complete tasks to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

4. Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Princess Lia’s life has always followed a fixed course. As the First Daughter of the King, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight, but she doesn’t. Her parents have always decided everything for her and now they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighbouring kingdom—to a prince she has never met. On the day of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, where she meets two mysterious and handsome strangers. She is unaware that one of them is the Prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Lia doesn't know who to trust, and what to do, as she finds herself falling in love.

5. An Ember in the Ashes

The story is set in the Meridian Empire, where everyone who doesn't bow down to the king receives severe punishment. Laia lives a simple, poor life with her grandparents and elder brother. When her brother gets captured for treason, she is forced to make a trade with the rebels who promise to rescue him for a price. Laia has to risk her life to spy for the rebels from within the Empire's military academy. There she meets Elias, who is one of the finest soldiers of the land, but he is secretly a rebel. Both of them soon realise that their destinies are entwined, and they must help each other in their quest that will ultimately decide the fate of the whole Empire.