The LOVELY crew at Macmillan reached out and asked a bunch of bloggers to take part in a blog tour for Marie Rutkoski’s fabulous Winner’s Curse series in anticipation of the release of book 2, THE WINNER’S CRIME. I was equal parts STOKED and ANXIOUS about answering the question they’re asking of us, though! Because it’s HARD. But anything for this series, friends. If you haven’t started it yet, it’s time to do yourself a favor.

So, without further ado, THE QUESTION:

The ‘Winner’s Curse’ is an economics term that means you’ve gotten what you wanted – but at too high a price.  What would you pay too much for?

WHOA, right? WHOA. Have you guys ever seen the movie Little Women? The new one with Winona Ryder? Remember that one scene near the beginning when the sisters are up in the attic and they’re talking about what they want for Christmas and Amy asks for a cuter nose or limes or both and Jo asks for pens or something (I can’t remember the details of their wishes, and I can’t remember Meg’s at all), but Beth asks for the war to end so their dad can come home and everyone else is like, *crickets* and then–you can see this on their faces for a second–“Shit. We’re all assholes.”? I feel like I’m at a similar crossroads here. I could be superficial like my actual namesake and say, “I would pay too much money for books, and stuff from Ulta, and books, and scarves.” I could be like Jo and ask for things that would help me further my career or my dreams, like time to write or an awesome library job. Or I could be like Beth and say that I would pay too much money for my dad’s health to be better, a winning lottery ticket so my parents didn’t have to worry about money, societal equality, an end to bullying, and a host of other things. I’m having a real crisis about it.

So, I guess what I’m going to do is break it down for you: something superficial that I would pay too much money for, and something serious. Sound good?

Superficial first: I would hands-down pay too much money to have a huge library in my own house. I have so many books and not enough room for them all, so I’d fork over whatever cash I could scrounge up for not only someplace to store and showcase them, but a sanctuary for me to read as well.

Like this:

Or this:

Or this (OMG THIS ONE. I WANT):

I’d take this one, too:

I want a big, airy, cozy space that’s big enough for all the books I have and all the books I’ve yet to buy, but with big fluffy couches and lots of windows and maybe a fireplace. AHHH, PEACE. *daydreams*

If I’m being serious, I’d pay all the money in the world for my dad to be in better health. Don’t get me wrong: He’s not ill or in danger of imminent death, nor am I sure that this would be a curse for me, per se. He’s just not 100%, you know? He had a very mild stroke a few years ago and has a pacemaker and a few other things going on. Everything is managed really well and he’s doing great, but like, he’s my DAD. Supposed to live forever. So I’d pay too much money for that in a heartbeat. Like, right now I’d do it. If my mom had similar issues, I’d do the same for her or anyone in my family. NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO DIE, OKAY? Maybe we can all become vampires and live together forever. That actually sounds like a great plan, right? I thought so. I can see you nodding.

Now that we’ve got that slight downer out of the way, it’s time to give away things! HUZZAH! That’s right, as long as you are over 13 and live in the US, you are eligible to win one copy of THE WINNER’S CRIME by Marie Rutkoski, thanks to those aforementioned lovely folks at Macmillan. You may do a happy dance now. I’ll wait. *waits*

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Don’t forget to check out the other stops on this awesome blog tour! You can also visit the dedicated website for The Winner’s Trilogy for all kinds of super fun things!