Waiting On Wednesday #55!!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted at Breaking The Spine  that spotlights those can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-them books that we are eagerly awaiting!

So, what book am I absolutely-dying-cause-I-just-cannot-wait to get my hands on it this week? Yet another series finale! Deliverance by C.J. Redwine!

Goodreads Summery:

"In this final installment of C. J. Redwine's Defiance trilogy, a rich postapocalyptic YA fantasy perfect for fans of Graceling and Tamora Pierce, Rachel Adams has been kidnapped by enemy forces and is being taken to Rowansmark while her love, Logan McEntire, is imprisoned and awaiting trial, unable to leave Lankenshire. As uneasy alliances are tested and their enemies plot against them, will the two manage to find a way to rid their world of the tyrannical Commander and destroy the tech that controls the deadly Cursed One once and for all?"

Why am I eagerly awaiting Deliverance? Well, the Defiance trilogy is one of my fantasy + dystopia series and with the ending of Deception with such a cliffhanger... I just cannot wait!! And have you seen that beautiful cover??

What are you all (im)patiently waiting this week?

Friday Reads: ARC Review of Deception by C.J. Redwine!!

I've decided I need more days to review books here in the blog, so let me introduce you to Friday Reads!

For the first entry I'm having a review of an ARC of one of my most anticipated books of the year, and one of those reads that give you a "book hangover".


Deception by C.J. Redwine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ever since I finished Defiance last year I had been eagerly awaiting the continuation of Logan & Rachel's story, so when I had the chance to win an ARC of Deception on a giveaway I jumped at it. It was a strike of luck that I won and couldn't be happier that I got to read this book in advance.

Deception starts where Defiance left us, so this review might have a few spoilers for the first book but I promise to do my best to keep it as spoiler-free as possible. Logan and Rachel are trying to organize the survivors of Baalboden after the Cursed One attack and the Commander's flight and they both are trying to deal with the aftermath of everything that happened.

Rachel is still our fierce warrior, but she's also trying to deal with how broken she feels and how she doesn't think she can stop and deal with all the hurt inside cause there are a more important things to deal with, like leaving ravaged Baalboden and travel the Wastelands in search of assylum in another state-city.

Logan has been chosen leader of the survivors and he continues to be his logical self, planning and plotting and doubting he can be up to task of getting the survivors to a safe haven.

There is not a dull moment in Deception, right from the start there is dissension between the survivors since not everyone agrees with Logan's leadership. Then they get attacked before they are completely ready to leave Baalboden, so they have to make a more hurried departure under Carrington's army attack. Once they travel along the Wastelands they discover the bigger threat might not just be the Commander with the army coming after them, but also a potential traitor on their midst that starts by trying to sabotage Logan's inventions and quickly escalates the actions ending up in murder.

Rachel and Logan continue to try and make their relationship work even with the numbness and guilt that Rachel can't seem to deal with and she gets no respite, cause it seems that whoever is after them will make sure to add to the torture of losing people they care for.

There is a little bit of everything in Deception, romance with some tiny swoon moments where Logan proves he's not just a "best case, worst case scenario" kinda guy, quite a few heartwrenching moments with Rachel trying to deal with all her loses and her guilt, a murder mystery feel to the whole "enemy mole in our midst" and all the tensions any group of human beings would have to deal with under pressure: mistrust, panic, solidarity and even xenophobia. I kept on having to take little breathers now and then cause I was fearing turning the page wondering what new hardship the would have to face! We also get a broader look at the world they leave and even more information on the past and present, and a few quite unexpected revelations!

The ending was just one of those "WHAT THE HELL, YOU CANNOT END IT LIKE THAT?!" sort of cliffhangers... There is quite a lot of hope in it too, and I'm very happy about how Rachel grows as a character, but in the name of everything that has ever been holy... I need book 3 now!

A great sequel, I'd even say better than Defiance, very well deserved 4 and a half stars.



View all my reviews

Waiting on Wednesay, first edition!

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly awaiting.

For my first Waiting On Wednesday, which equals to "damn-is-it-here-yet" I chose Deception (Defiance #2) by C.J. Redwine.

Goodreads summary:

Baalboden has been ravaged. The brutal Commander's whereabouts are unknown. And Rachel, grief stricken over her father's death, needs Logan more than ever. With their ragged group of survivors struggling to forge a future, it's up to Logan to become the leader they need—with Rachel by his side. Under constant threat from rival Carrington's army, who is after the device that controls the Cursed One, the group decides to abandon the ruins of their home and take their chances in the Wasteland.



But soon their problems intensify tenfold: someone—possibly inside their ranks—is sabotaging the survivors, picking them off one by one. The chaos and uncertainty of each day puts unbearable strain on Rachel and Logan, and it isn't long before they feel their love splintering. Even worse, as it becomes clear that the Commander will stop at nothing to destroy them, the band of survivors begins to question whether the price of freedom may be too great—and whether, hunted by their enemies and the murderous traitor in their midst, they can make it out of the Wasteland alive.

In this daring sequel to Defiance, with the world they once loved forever destroyed, Rachel and Logan must decide between a life on the run and standing their ground to fight.

 Why am I eargerly awaiting on Deception?

I have a double reason, and that's why I chose it for my WoW, firstly I loved book 1, Defiance, so I can't wait to see what's next in store for Logan and Rachel, and discover more of their world, and secondly, I'm awaiting a signed ARC to come in the mail that I won on C.J. Redwine's massive giveaway!

What book(s) are you waiting on?

Friday Photos: Defiance by CJ Redwine inspired cupcakes!!

Hi there again!

Remember the cupcakes I was thankful yesterday for being inspired to make? Well, here you can read all about half of them! ;)

This Friday Photos is the result of my brain wave & inspiration yesterday to take part on a contest!

What contest you may be wondering? Well, as it happens, CJ Redwine the author of one of my favourite books from last year, Defiance, is hosting a contest on her blog for the chance to win an annotated ARC of the next book in the series, Deception! Getting any ARC is super cool (Advance Reader Copy) since the book doesn't come out till August, but an annotated one? That's like 10 times cooler!

The contest called for us the readers to create something inspired by Defiance, be it a poem, photos, a cake... and even though I'm thinking of also trying to get some photography inspired by the book done, I just got the idea of baking some cupcakes!

I wasn't too sure of how to decorate them, so I decided to re-read the book last night and instantly started getting ideas! So this morning I was up bright and early with plenty of energy and super excited to start baking and decorating!

 Yeah, those are all the tools involved... a wee bit of a mess!

The cupcakes recipe is for lemon cake cupcakes, since lemon cake is Rachel's (the main character) favourite dessert, with a lemon buttercream, with fondant decorations.

And then it was time to start piping the frosting to then decide how to distribute all the fondant decorations I had made.

Celtic knots, ribbons with initials, sticky buns, a wrapped parcel and leaves from the forest, it all has a significance in the book. I wanted to include one of the "Cursed Ones" but my modelling abilities are not up to par for a wingless dragon creature yet!

The Celtic knots might be my favourite part, I love how they look and I love using the stencils with fondant!

 Don't they look cool? I love those designs! Also, I spent quite some time trying to get a fondant colour that would match the cover colour! Yay for gel colours! At one point my hands were looking as if an unicorn had barfed on them, so many colours! I think after all the hand washing and the dish washing I got rid of all of them...

So there you go! Those are half the cupcakes that kept me busy and happy yesterday. Whatcha think? They're not poetry, but I think they look quite awesome, even if I say so myself! Wish me luck on the contest!