Fall of Thrones And Thorns by Jennifer Ellision Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway!!

Hello there guys!

Today I'm starting the last week of work before I finally get some vacation time being part of another Blog Tour for the new book in a series I love! I will be sharing my review and there's also a giveaway at the end of the post, so don't miss it!


Fall of Thrones and Thorns by Jennifer Ellision
(Threats of Sky and Sea #3)
Publication date: September 27th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

War hurtles in, a typhoon over the sea.

After Bree’s life was torn apart, Nereidium had represented a haven to her. A place that—if she could save it—was beyond the King’s reach.

And, at last, she’s arrived upon its shores. But things in Nereidium are not what they should be.

The land is plagued by a rash of mysterious earthquakes, the likes of which it’s never known. The governors are distracted by old traditions, while Bree and her friends grapple with changing identities and the sense that the longer they wait to take action… the greater the danger from Egria grows.

Bree is tired of living under the shadow of King Langdon’s power. And she’s tired of waiting for him to be the first to act.

In this final chapter of the Threats of Sky and Sea series, it all comes down to Nereidium or Egria. To Bree or the King. It’s kill… or be killed.

And not everyone will escape the battle unscathed.

 Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Smashwords

Previous books in the series:

 

Author Bio:

Jennifer Ellision was born and raised in South Florida and lives in perpetual fear of temperatures below 60F. She spent a great deal of her childhood staying up past her bedtime with a book and a flashlight. When she couldn’t find the stories she wanted to read, she started writing them. She has an OTP, loves character analysis, and is a master of the fangirl flail, with a particular soft spot for fanfiction. She frequently bursts into song (and they are often of a Disney persuasion). Sailor Moon is one of her favorite things on this planet.

Threats of Sky and Sea is her first novel.

She also blogs at The Bevy Bibliotheque, where she talks about books, TV, movies, and other things that she goes fangirl over. For review requests or blog inquiries, please visit http://www.thebevybibliotheque.net to contact the blogger who best suits your request.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

REVIEW

For some reason I had failed to realize that this was the last book in the trilogy till I was nearly halfway reading it and thought that it read like a final book! For some reason I expected 4 books instead of a trilogy! *shakes head at self*

Fall of Thrones and Thorns starts right where Riot of Storm & Smoke ended, with our characters in Nereidium and dealing with the shock and repercusions of the truth about Bree & Aleta being revealed to all.

The beginning seemed to be a bit anticlimatic after the shock, but the slower pace was quite necessary for the characters to deal with the revelations and the change on status and the new reality of the new place. There was character development that needed to happen and there were politics to deal with and that always slows down the pace and the action, both in books and (even more) in real life.

I was glad we got alternate POV for Caden, Bree and Aleta and we also got a few small peeks at what was going on at Egria which helped with not losing sight of where the real danger was coming from.

It's always hard to review a final book in a series because you try to avoid spoiling others that might have not yet started the series, so bear with me while I try to vaguely & spoiler-free continue to try to be articulate about the book!

Both Bree and Aleta do have tough paths to deal with on their own ways, and I was glad that their friendship became stronger for it, even if it was on shaky ground after the revelations. It was great to see how their friendship helped each other, even if it was just in a "WWAD" way for Bree many times!

There's so romance in the book but rather understated and pushed back to something secondary given the dire situations and the importance of the fight, but speaking as a romancephobe, there were times where I wished there was a bit more development to some of the pairings. And also, I wished that at the ending we had a wee bit more of a hint of what's to come? The big conflict is resolved and the future is full of hope, the rebuilding is in progress but I still don't know if those two will find a way to work out! But since that part of the ending is open, I can choose to think yes and be happy about it! ;)

A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy and well deserved 4 stars!

GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Blood of the Prophet by Kat Ross Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway!

Hello guys!

I'm quite pleased to take be taking part on the Blog Tour for Blood of the Prophet by Kat Ross, the second book on her The Fourth Element series!

I'll be giving you some information on the book & author below, as well as sharing my review and a tour wide giveaway!


Blood of the Prophet by Kat Ross
(The Fourth Element #2)
Publication date: September 12th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Visionary. Alchemist. Savior. Saint.

The Prophet Zarathustra has been called many things. Now he spends his time drawing pictures of weird-looking goats. That’s what happens when you’ve been stuck in a prison cell for two hundred years. But the man who might be mad, and is definitely supposed to be dead, has suddenly become very valuable again…

It’s only been a few weeks since Nazafareen escaped the King’s dungeons with her daēva, Darius. She hoped never to set foot in the empire again, but the search for the Prophet has led them to the ancient city of Karnopolis. They have to find him before Alexander of Macydon burns Persepolae, and Darius’s mother with it. But they’re not the only ones looking.

The necromancer Balthazar has his own plans for the Prophet, and so does the sinister spymaster of the Numerators. As Nazafareen is drawn in to a dangerous game of cat and mouse, her newfound powers take a decidedly dark turn. Only the Prophet understands the secret of her gift, but the price of that knowledge may turn out to be more than Nazafareen is willing to pay…

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Sequel to:

About the author:

Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She lives in Westchester with her kid and a few sleepy cats. Kat is also the author of the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day (Skyscape, 2014), about a world where the sea levels have risen sixty meters. She loves magic, monsters and doomsday scenarios. Preferably with mutants.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

REVIEW

Kat Ross has become an auto-buy author after managing to make me love her books no matter what she writes, be it dystopia, fantasy or mystery, and this one was one more reason to reaffirm my love!

Blood of the Prophet is the second book in her The Fourth Element series and although it starts a bit on the slow side of things, and with some choices on Nazafareen & Darius side that made me shake my head, but it never suffered from "second book syndrome" and before the first third of the book mark the action quickly started picking up pace, and started hinting at some rather juicy revelations to come and change the way we see the world, and what our characters knew or thought they knew!

I love how the world building is expanded, not only in terms of the Empire and cities visited but also in terms of what we get to know about the daevas, the magic system and the Druj and what they are and aren't. And I'm quite excited about getting to know more in the upcoming books!

I love that Nazafareen and Darius' characters continue to grow both separatedly and as a team, and that we finally get a lil bit of progress on the romance side of things, although it never takes over the plot or the story, and that's one thing I'm really thankful for! It's not the only important relationship though, because the friendships between Myrri and Tijah and the friendship between Tijah and Nazafareen, and how well the four of them worked together.

I was quite surprised when we started getting POV chapters for two of the main antagonists of the book, the Necromancer and the Numerator, but it served the purpose to giving us an insight on their heads (not very pretty places to be inside, though) and motivations and to give us more information about the past as well as the present of the whole story, and they were both quite complex characters and both made my skin crawl for different reasons!

The ending of the book really left me wishing for book 3 like RIGHT NOW, so I hope that Kat Ross is writing like the wind! Very much deserved 4 stars for this one!

GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake: Ink & Batter Cupcakes & a Giveaway!!

Hello there guys!

Today I'm more than elated to be part of the Blog Tour for Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake, organized by the lovely Hannah of Irish Banana Tours!

I was super happy when Hannah told me that I was to make decorated cupcakes inspired by Three Dark Crowns and I made sure to take some notes as I read (as best as I could, because I got so into the book at some point I completely forgot to take notes and simply immersed myself into it!).

 Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.

If only it was that simple. Katharine is unable to tolerate the weakest poison, and Arsinoe, no matter how hard she tries, can’t make even a weed grow. The two queens have been shamefully faking their powers, taking care to keep each other, the island, and their powerful sister Mirabella none the wiser. But with alliances being formed, betrayals taking shape, and ruthless revenge haunting the queens’ every move, one thing is certain: the last queen standing might not be the strongest…but she may be the darkest.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Three Dark Crowns Ink & Batter Cupcakes

I was extremely lucky to be able to chat with Kendare herself about the cupcakes, their flavours and the possible decorations for them all, and she was super excited about them and approved all of my ideas!

I decided on vanilla & caramel cupcakes for Mirabella, red velvet cupcakes for Katharine and strawberry with white chocolate cupcakes for Arsinoe.

Arsinoe's cupcakes (the Naturalist queen)

Arsinoe's were strawberry cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese icing, with a rose & chocolates (if you've read the book, you know they're quite important), a big wild bear and a crown!

Katharine's cupcakes (the Poisoner queen)

Katharine's are red velvet, red and luscious, with cream cheese icing with a hint of bitter orange flavour. She has her crown as well as a candied scorpion and Katharine's beloved snake, Sweetheart.

Mirabella's cupcakes (the Elemental queen)

Mirabella's are vanilla cupcakes, with caramel sauce filling and caramel cream cheese icing. She has her crown, a serrated knife (again, you'll know how significant they are if you've read the book) and a flame of fire (made as best as I could, I tried a bolt of lightning, but it was quite impossible!).

Three Dark Crowns! 

 

About the author:

Kendare Blake is the author of several novels and short stories, most of which you can find information about via the links above. Her work is sort of dark, always violent, and features passages describing food from when she writes while hungry. She was born in July (for those of you doing book reports) in Seoul, South Korea, but doesn’t speak a lick of Korean, as she was packed off at a very early age to her adoptive parents in the United States. That might be just an excuse, though, as she is pretty bad at learning foreign languages. She enjoys the work of Milan Kundera, Caitlin R Kiernan, Bret Easton Ellis, Richard Linklater, and the late, great Michael Jackson, I mean, come on, he gave us Thriller.

She lives and writes in Kent, Washington, with her husband, their two cat sons (Tybalt and Tyrion Cattister) and their red Doberman dog son, Obi Dog Kenobi.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

GIVEAWAY

3 Finished Copies of THREE DARK CROWNS (US Only)

CLICK HERE FOR THE RAFFLECOPTER

Tour Schedule:

Week 1:

9/12: The Irish Banana Review - Review

9/13: Reflections by Lili - Review

9/14: The Bookkeeper's Secret - Q&A

9/15: Pandora's Books - Review

9/16: Princessica of Books - Q&A

Week 2:

9/19: No BS Book Reviews - Review

9/20: In Love with Handmade - Bookish Inspired Cupcakes

9/21: My Friends Are Fiction - Guest Post

9/22: Swoony Boys Podcast - Character Interview

9/23: Arctic Books - Review

Vicarious by Paula Stokes Nerd Blast: Review & Giveaway!!!

Hello there guys!!

Today I'm taking part of the Nerd Blast organized by Jean Book Nerd for Vicarious by Paula Stokes!!

I will be sharing the book trailer, my review and also there will be a giveaway at the end of the post!

Vicarious by Paula Stokes

Winter Kim and her sister, Rose, have always been inseparable. Together, the two of them survived growing up in a Korean orphanage and being trafficked into the United States. But they’ve escaped the past and started over in a new place where no one knows who they used to be.

Now they work as digital stunt girls for Rose’s ex-boyfriend, Gideon, engaging in dangerous and enticing activities while recording their neural impulses for his Vicarious Sensory Experiences, or ViSEs. Whether it’s bungee jumping, shark diving, or grinding up against celebrities at the city’s hottest dance clubs, Gideon can make it happen for you—for a price.

When Rose disappears and a ViSE recording of her murder is delivered to Gideon, Winter is devastated. She won’t rest until she finds her sister’s killer. But when the clues she uncovers conflict with the digital recordings her sister made, Winter isn’t sure what to believe. To find out what happened to Rose, she’ll have to untangle what’s real from what only seems real, risking her life in the process.

  

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

About the author:

Paula Stokes writes stories about flawed characters with good hearts. She’s the author of several novels, most recently Vicarious and Girl Against the Universe. Her writing has been translated into eleven foreign languages. Paula loves kayaking, hiking, reading, and seeking out new adventures in faraway lands She also loves interacting with readers.

Find her online at authorpaulastokes.com or on twitter as @pstokesbooks.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook 

REVIEW

 Hold on to your knickers tight guys! This one will leave your mind reeling, your heart pounding and you'll likely commit a felony to get your hands on the sequel!!

Vicarious is science fiction thriller, more mystery and thriller than science fiction, since the world is very similar to ours with advanced different technology but essentially something that feels like the world we know.

Winter and her sister Rose escaped a horrible situation and found a better life in St Louis, both of them working for their rescuer that is like family to them. It all changes when something happens to Rose and Winter decides that she needs to find out what really happened to her sister.

Vicarious is such a thrilling read! From the very action packed beginning with Winter & Jesse recording a ViSe to all the dangerous situations that Winter finds herself while looking for Rose, you can barely turn the pages fast enough! The mystery of what happened to Rose will keep you guessing and second guessing and third guessing and once again turning pages like there's no tomorrow!

Paula can write a mystery and keep you on your toes but where she really shines is in writing amazingly complex characters and their relationships. Winter and Rose, their relationship with Gideon, their rescuer and Winter's relationship with Jesse, her ViSe recording partner... They all are layered and carefully crafted, they make you feel like they're real people with complex feelings and maybe something hidden at times.

I could talk and talk at length about how fascinating I found the characters and how the book kept me guessing time and again (wrong every time) with the mystery or how I kept holding my breath in some of the action scenes, but it might lead to unwittingly reveal something that I don't want to, because Vicarious needs to be enjoyed with as little information as possible!

One last mention before I tell you to run grab it from your favourite retailer or library, it deals with some really tough subjects since Winter and Rose were sold into human trafficking as children and had to deal with very horrible situations. It's handled in an extremely respectful way and mostly just flashbacks into the sisters' relationship, but in case it's a trigger, be aware.

Very much recommended & very much deserved 5 stars!

GIVEAWAY

Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

- A signed copy of Vicarious or an ARC of the sequel, when available by Paula Stokes + Special Mystery Bookish Gifts

CLICK HERE FOR THE RAFFLECOPTER

Sunday Street Team: A Shadow Bright & Burning by Jessica Cluess!!!

Sunday Street Team is organized by Nori @ ReadWriteLove28. SST is a cross between a blog tour and street team for a couple different titles each month. As the title suggests, the posts go up on Sundays!

Go here to learn more about SST.

2016 is full of amazing debuts and today I'm helping promote & shine a spotlight to one of my most awaited and the beginning of a new YA fantasy trilogy: A Shadow Bright & Burning by Jessica Cluess!

I'm gonna give you some information about the book and authors and will also be sharing my review!

A Shadow Bright & Burning by Jessica Cluess

I am Henrietta Howel.
The first female sorcerer in hundreds of years.
The prophesied one.
Or am I?

Henrietta Howel can burst into flames.
Forced to reveal her power to save a friend, she's shocked when instead of being executed, she's invited to train as one of Her Majesty's royal sorcerers.

Thrust into the glamour of Victorian London, Henrietta is declared the chosen one, the girl who will defeat the Ancients, bloodthirsty demons terrorizing humanity. She also meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, handsome young men eager to test her power and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her.

But Henrietta Howel is not the chosen one.
As she plays a dangerous game of deception, she discovers that the sorcerers have their own secrets to protect. With battle looming, what does it mean to not be the one? And how much will she risk to save the city—and the one she loves?

Exhilarating and gripping, Jessica Cluess's spellbinding fantasy introduces a powerful, unforgettably heroine, and a world filled with magic, romance, and betrayal. Hand to fans of Libba Bray, Sarah J. Maas, and Cassandra Clare.

 About the author:



JESSICA CLUESS is a writer, a graduate of Northwestern University, and an unapologetic nerd. After college, she moved to Los Angeles, where she served coffee to the rich and famous while working on her first novel. When she's not writing books, she's an instructor at Writopia Lab, helping kids and teens tell their own stories.

REVIEW

 An excellent debut and very promising first book in a new fantasy series!

Herrietta is our main character and she's always been a survivor in a world where women are second class citizens at best, and were women & magic equals witch and witch equals death. As someone with magic she's been scared & hiding her powers all her life and when she's discovered, her life is shaken upside down, but not by the threat she expected at all!

This book might seem to be going through often throd paths when it comes to setting, as it's Victorian London, with the constrictions and customs of the time, and when magic is added to the mix, we keep on thinking it'll be the magic we know well and true, and very early on we start to see that none of the tropes and cliches to be expected will remain so.

Jessica Cluess does an amazing job at building a different system of magic from the ones we've usually seen, nothing that we haven't seen before, not really, but mixed and done fresh and differently! Same with the world and mythology of it, and we keep discovering how different things are from the expected route along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed having my expectations turned upside down and being wrong about what might come next!

We get a heroine that is NOT the chosen one but will not back down from doing what she can in the fight and in challenging the prejudices of society. We get some light romance because it's very much on the side and even if it's not a linear romance, it's also not clearly stablished as any sort of geometrical shape either. There's a very close relationship with a childhood friend & ally that could be something more but undefined and unexplored, and there's a certain entanglement of attraction with another fellow magic user but that's cut short very wisely. And there's something that might be nothing that's the one I'm rooting for because apparently I like things complicated!

We get quite a few revelations that shake not only our preconceptions but also the characters' knowledge of their world and history or at least what they thought they know, and although that leaves us really looking forward to what's to come in the next book(s), it manages to avoid the utter pain of a cliffhanger, which I was extremely thankful for!

Fantasy can have many well known characteristics and tropes and they can still be used to construe a fresh and original story, and this book is proof of that! 4 to 4.5 stars to this one!

GIVEAWAY

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Unrest by Wendy Higgins Cover Reveal!!!

Hello there guys!!

I know I have been a bit scarce around the blog as of late but Twitter drama and spoilers and general crap has got my motivation on the very low, so I decided I needed a break from blogging too.

But today I am back to share with you the cover of the next installment in a series by one of my adored auto-buy athors: Wendy Higgins!!

Wendy has decided to become a hybrid author and self publish her newest series: Unknown! And today we're revealing the cover of the second book in said series: Unrest!!

Are you guys ready to see the drool worthy cover of Unrest???




*scroll*




*scroll, scroll*





*scroll, scroll, scroll*

Unrest by Wendy Higgins
Release date: February 16th 2017

Being on the run in the desert means food and sanctuary are hard to come by, but Amber Tate and her crew are not about to give up. Not after having so many of the things they love brutally ripped from them by an unknown enemy who sent their world into the apocalypse.

 

Survival takes precedence, but once safe shelter is found, their guards fall and the emotions they’ve been holding in are finally released. Anger, insecurities...lust. In their tight quarters, Amber, Rylen, Tater, and Remy can't escape it. The past must be faced, and passions run even stronger in the darkest of times.
 

In the midst of unrest, their worlds are rocked again when they discover the truth about the war that’s ruined their lives. They thought finding out the enemy's identity would give them the edge; instead it’s revealed terrifying dangers they never thought possible.

I devoured Unknown in a few hours and loved it and I just cannot wait to get my hands on Unrest!!


If you guys want to check out Unknow here are a few links to grab it:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Book Depository

About the author:

Wendy Higgins is the USA Today and NYT bestselling author of the Sweet Evil series from HarperTeen, the high fantasy duology The Great Hunt, and her independently published Irish fantasy, See Me. She is a former high school English teacher who now writes full time, and lives on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with her veterinarian husband, daughter, son, and doggie Rue.

Wendy earned a bachelor's in Creative Writing from George Mason University and a master's in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford University 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram