Tag: treasure

‘Something Wilder’ by Christina Lauren

- Stephanie Leave a comment

‘Just because thoughts are loud or constant doesn’t mean they’re right.’ – Christina Lauren, Something Wilder

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren is the newest novel by authors Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. This novel is full of laughter, romance, wilderness, and the hunt for treasure.

Lily Wilder grew up in the shadow of her father Duke Wilder. Duke was a notorious treasure hunter which sadly made him an absentee father. Lily’s mother left when she was young, leaving her to grow up with her father and her uncle on Wilder Ranch, a property owned by her uncle. After her uncle passed away, her father took control of the ranch, something he detested. He repeatedly left the ranch to go exploring with Lily to handle the day-to-day running of the ranch. Duke’s constant explorations left little money, so running the ranch was what Lily had to do to make money to survive. She grew to detest the treasure hunts that pulled her dad away.

Now that she’s older, Lily uses Duke’s hand-drawn maps to lead tourists on fake treasure hunts through the red rock canyons of Utah. Lily would love nothing more than to stop doing these tourist trips, but sadly they are the main way she makes money. She only makes enough money to pay the bills, but nowhere near enough to buy back Wilder Ranch which her father sold years ago. The summer Duke sold Wilder Ranch was also the summer that the man she loved left her and never contacted her again. He broke her, something that Lily swears she will never let happen again.

Imagine Lily’s surprise when her lost love shows up for a treasure hunt with a group of his friends. Her emotions run ragged. Once Leo Grady gets over his shock of seeing Lily in person again, he decides that he is ready to leave the past behind and reconnect with Lily. She however is only interested in keeping their relationship professional – it’s her business after all to make sure they all stay safe on the trip.

Not long into their hunt, disaster strikes, leaving the group scrambling to figure out what to do next. The biggest question: is the legend of the hidden treasure that Duke spent his life searching for actually true? In order to find the truth, Lily and Leo must work through their past. They must decide how much of themselves they are willing to risk.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Board Games: Forbidden Island

- Callen Leave a comment

Did you know you can check out board games and puzzles from the library? If you hadn’t heard, we have a great variety of games at all three branches of the library, from classics like Pictionary to kids’ games like Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes! Today I’m here to review a cooperative (as opposed to competitive) board game called Forbidden Island that was recommended to me by a fellow book lover.

In this game, your team of 2-4 players must work together to retrieve four sacred treasures from an island which is steadily sinking into the sea! The game is played on a set of tiles laid out in a grid, with each tile representing a location on the island. There are only a few tiles where treasures can be found, and only one tile which gets you off the island. But on every turn, you have to draw a Flood Card, which tells you which tiles to flip over. If a tile gets flipped over, it has flooded, and is one step away from being lost forever. On each turn, you can also move your pawn, rescue a tile that has flooded (turn it back over), and draw Treasure Cards. If you collect four cards featuring a given treasure, and you’re on the right tile, you can claim that treasure – but watch out, because you might draw a “Waters Rise” card instead, flooding even more tiles!

The excitement comes from racing against the cards, and trying to strategize your movements and which cards you have. Teamwork is key, because you can only keep 5 cards in your hand at a time, which means that in order to accumulate four cards each of all four treasures, each player will have to focus on one treasure at a time. The aesthetic is a fun bonus — the art on the tiles and the way the treasures are crafted adds fantasy atmosphere to the gameplay. In my opinion the whole thing is complicated enough to be interesting, but not so complicated as to be daunting. The cooperative, story-like elements are refreshing, and it works pretty well with two players, though four is better, especially because each player is assigned a role with special abilities.

I personally recommend this game for those who don’t like conflict but enjoy adventures; it reminded me a bit of the new Jumanji movies, so liking those might help too.