Mark These Book(s) Monday: When The Moon Was Ours & A Study In Scarlet Women!!!

Hello there guys!!

Yep, I'm well aware that the blog has been pretty silent for the most part, despite a few blog tours post here and there. Seems like blog tours have been the only way to motivate me to blog as of late...

I'm hoping that a bit more blogging that I have up for this week will continue, even if it might be just three days a week for the most part.

Today I have two mini reviews for Mark These Book(s) Monday and both were highly coveted eARCs that I was approved for via Netgalley and sent a widget by the publisher for NG too. I am beyond happy that they allowed me to read these books in advance!

As Netgalley eARCs I'm also counting these two as part of my NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge!

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What an absolutely gorgeous book! The writing, the characters, the little bits of magic here and there, the relationships between characters... it all fills me with a sense of wonder!

I have only read one or two magical realism books before reading WTMWO but I had not liked those previous books much, hadn't got into any of them and the fantasy elements seemed too random in relation with the story somehow, but even with those previous experiences, I went into reading this book with an open mind and I'm so very glad I did!!

The writing, Anna-Marie has a gloriously gorgeous writing style and a way with words that simply ensnared me from the very first page and line! I was not sure where the story was going, but I knew I was going to love my reading journey!

Miel and Sam, Honey and Moon, are both fantastic and complex characters, with a lot of magic in their story in very small and big ways but they felt so right and so part of the story, even if they never felt like we're in a fantasy world, but in a world very much like our own, just with a magic we might not see.

I absolutely loved the journey of growth and self acceptance and discovery that both Miel and Sam have to go through, and it's a beautiful story about Sam finally making his own decision between being Samir or Samira and how he wants to continue his life, and it was quite fantastic to see support for him in his family and Miel. And Miel also had a lot to learn and accept about herself and her past and to find a way to move on and be true to herself.

If you've ever wondered about reading magical realism, and you want to read a wonderfully diverse book, with a trans boy, Latina/o characters and amazing writing, When The Moon Was Ours is your book!

Very much deserved 5 stars!



A Study In Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'm not usually a big fan of retellings, but if there is a kind of retelling I seem to adore, it's Sherlock Holmes retellings/reimaginings! The moment I found out about a gender swapped retelling of Sherlock done by Sherry Thomas, I knew I needed it badly, and I was extremely lucky to be allowed to read it early!

Charlotte (I was so tickled about the choice of name for our lady Sherlock!) is an uncommon woman, for her time and society and even for her closest family. We met her after she's made quite what it seems a rather unreasonable choice that will mark her life forever, but soon enough we see she is quite resourceful, despite the low position she has to overcome.

It's a while till we are involved in the main case for the book but I was so captivated by the character interactions and figuring out who would be who in this retelling, I adored how we get our Mrs Hudson and Watson all in one and with a wonderful past to boot! I love how much support & solidarity between can be found in this book, even with how very accurate to the time period everything is kept.

This gender swaped Sherlock Holmes captivated me from the very first page and had me in its thrall until I turned the last page! That characters were amazing, there is quite a shippity ship and the mystery was intriguing enough to have me guessing and still quite surprise me by the end!

I just need many many books to come in this series and I will devour them all as avidly as I've done with this one! Bravo, Sherry Thomas! So very well deserved 5 stars to this one!


View all my reviews

Mark These Book(s) Monday: The Architect of Song & Warrior Witch!!!

Hello there guys!!

Back on the blog today! I keep trying to be a bit more constant with the blogging and the reviews but something or other keeps on getting in the way!

BUT today I am back with two reviews of eARCs! One of the will count towards my NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge and the other counts for my ARC August Challenge!!

The Architect of Song by A.G. Howard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Anita Howard is one of my auto buy authors and every book of hers reinforces this more and more!

The Architect of Song is a perfect example of a brilliantly done gothic novel. Atmospheric, enticing and absolutely captivating!

The writing is as vivid and visual as it was in her previous books and it paints us clearly both settings and characters without bogging down the narrative.

Very soon we are completely enthralled by the mystery and Juliet's experience through it all. Given Juliet's disability and her losses in the book, she is a wonderful & strong main character that tries to be strong and true to herself even if it goes against what society expects and accepts in her time.

She still has a support system that accepts her as a whole and even if misguidedly try to push her towards something or other, they always try and be there for her when she needs it.

The romance is very much part of the mystery, a mix of love triangle and forbidden love and the author really managed to surprise me and very much like and enjoy the way she did & resolved the love triangle, and that really IS saying something!

There's so much tension in this book, romantic tension and character development tension and it's all so well paced! It just keeps you glued to the page, wanting to continue reading and finding out more and finally knowing what will happen!

And the way the book ends is done so very well!! It's the first book of a series of companion novels and as such ends up resolving everything very satisfactory, but have you looking forward to more stories too! Very much deserved 5 stars to this enthralling & perfect gothic tale!

Warrior Witch by Danielle L. Jensen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Warrior Witch is the final book in the Malediction trilogy and as such it had to find a way to solve everything that had come to clash and burn at the end of the last book.

Once again Tristan and Cécile need to find a way to work together and learn from each other how to balance the greater good and the individual good and how to balance thinking and acting. Cécile is still the one that will always throw herself into action and will always be more emotional, and Tristan is the one that thinks everything through and through every possible angle. They do find a way to let each other do what they have to, even if not everyone agrees with the tactic.

Things are more and more complicated because not only we have the trolls out BUT we do have the trolls ancestors throwing their on sides of the war in, and that makes everything even more complex!

I wasn't thrilled by some of the choices that both Tristan and Cécile made, but they were very much in character and in the end proved to be the right ones, even if they were probably more of the "lesser of two evils" variety at some point.

The ending really packed an emotional punch, and there were plenty of casualties and pain along the way, but I'm so glad that Danielle managed to add hope and redemption in this very harsh road! I don't think the trilogy could have ended better in any other way. Very much deserved 4 stars!

Mark These Book(s) Monday: Splinter And Paper & Fire ARC reviews!!

Hello there guys!!

I'm somewhat tentatively back! I needed a break before and after my trip to Star Wars Celebration in London and I really needed a break because work and life make blogging a bit more complicated!

So here I am back now with two ARC mini reviews for this week's Mark These Books Monday, trying to start August right! These two totally work towards my Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge too!

Splinter by Sarah Fine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I read Reliquary and really enjoyed it, although our main character Mattie sometimes got on my nerves and I wanted to shake her more than once, but I decided to cut her some slack, because given how her life is thrown upside down... Gods know how I'll handle something of that magnitude!

I'm really happy to report that I loved how Mattie did grow as a character, not only on her powers and her knowledge of the world she is now part of, but also in what she really wants or who she really is. She starts the book in a bad place, both physically and emotionally, even if she had got what she had fought so hard to get back.

I had chosen a ship quite clearly during book 1, even if I wasn't entirely happy about the relationship seemed to be forming at the time, but once again, decided to give it space and see what might come of it, and I'm quite glad to see that although the progress seems to be very slow all through the book, it is what I'd call the right kind of progress!

Splinter is the second book in the trilogy, but it does NOT suffer from middle book syndrome or sequel slump at all! The stakes got really higher, more slightly unexpected betrayal (I was not expecting it entirely, I knew he was not exactly reliable but goodness!) and more enemies coming together to make life difficult (thankfully also more allies) and it also left me wondering about the original relics and how much more we'll learn about them in the bigger picture on Mosaic!

A very much deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one! A half star probably because of Asa and Gracie and how much I love when canines are okay! Thank you for that Sarah!!


Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed the first book in the series because it touched on something that had long fascinated me, the Alexandria Library, and created an alternative future where not only it had not burnt but one where it controlled the world. And it is a rather less wonderful world than I would have expected.

On Paper & Fire stakes get higher, betrayals happen unexpectedly and the action is absolutely non-stop! From the training and the fear of discovery in the beginning, to the plotting and sniffing around to mount a rescue, to trying to be ahead of the Library from then on to make sure the rescue doesn't turn into a massacre of all of those involved... we barely get any respite!

Jess has to deal with so much in this book! Not only in terms of being hunted and fighting for his life and figuring out how not to die while facing the Library's automata, but also on the more emotional side of things. He has to figure out his feelings and loyalties towards his family and his friends, and also how to navigate the mess that his feelings and relationship with Morgan are.

Rachel Caine managed to make me even more scared for my poor dear books, sometimes I'd just stop reading the book and go pet my poor darlings in my library room and tell them "You're okay, I would never let any evil Library take you away or any crazy people burn you!!". We get quite a few more unsettling revelations, go through very traumatic events and with quite a few unexpected twists here and there that culminate in one hell of an unexpected cliffhanger!!

Very well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars! I just cannot wait till I can get my hands on the third and final book!! *bites nails*


View all my reviews

Mark These Books Monday: Mini reviews for Double Down, Ivory & Bone and My Lady Jane!!!

Hiya there guys!

New week, new Monday (YAY for Mondays off work!) and today I have a bunch of mini reviews for Mark These Book(s) Monday to try and clear out the backlog of books read and not reviewed, and to try and not procastinate, because sometimes writing proper long reviews can be daunting if you have many pending, but writing mini-reviews is always more manageable!

Ivory & Bone was one of my most highly awaited debuts of the year and so it counts towards my 2016 Debut Author Challenge that I had failed at updating as of late!

Double Down by Gwenda Bond

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really hope Gwenda will be writing more Lois Lane stories because I'd read, nay, devour them all! They're, fun, intriguing and with a touch of the fantastical that is so in line with the stories about superheroes, but with it being about a girl that doesn't mind getting in trouble for doing what's right.

It is true that the cases that Lois has to investigate remind me of the Smallville TV show, mostly because it deals with the extraordinary and have plenty of science (sometimes more probable, sometimes more improbable) but instead of having a young S guy solving it with his gang, we have our inquisitive Lois with her nose for news figuring out things.

This time it's not just a bad guy to fight and innocents to save, but Lois has to deal with events that might affect her newly formed friendships, and although she knows how to deal with news and bad guys, she has many more doubts on how to deal with problems that might affect her friends and her relationship with them. I loved how important the friendships have become for her and how she's ready to fight for her friends and how she wants them to be true to themselves and how she puts herself on the line for her friends and their family.

Once again the Lane sisters relationship is showcased and Lois has to reflect on what she wants and doesn't want to happen. She makes a choice and works to make sure that she shows love and appreciation. More than one sibling relationship is important in this book, and both end up coming up stronger after communication and putting into it. Quite a bit of food for thought there too.

Add to that the wonderful relationship that she has with SmallvilleGuy and you have me impatiently waiting for the next one! I just cannot get enough of the virtual or chat interactions of those two and I'm dying of impatience till they get to meet face to face!

We also got a new character introduced (technically we heard about them/him in the previous book too) and I have my strong suspicions about who he'd be from the Superman stories, but I cannot wait to see if I'm right in the book(s) to come!

Very much deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one! MOAR Lois Lane stories, please & thank you!


My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


With all its amazing references and wonderful humour and well, I don't know how to put into words how much I absolutely adored reading My Lady Jane! I just need the Lady Janies to write MOAR books because these three ladies have done a brilliant and hilarious job together!!

I had read a few lines here and there, and a lil preview of the first three chapters and I was so excited because I was sure I was going to love it, and I'm glad to say that the full book didn't disappoint. My Lady Jane changes history and adds a big fantasy/supernatural element to the story we all know, but it does so in a very seamless why!

I loved how we get three different POVs, each of them very distinctive and with an unique feel (must confess I have no idea what author wrote each POV, but they all did an amazing job) but my fave had to be our dear bookish and NOT headless Jane Grey herself. I loved her love for books and how when she got nervous she kept spouting synonyms!

The humour and references (Pop culture and others) were superb and totally on point and then there's the hate to love and romantic tension between the Lady Jane Grey and her husband G. Marriage of convenience that doesn't start exactly right, but I loved their banter and their interactions.

I've seen some references in other reviews about the size and lenght of the book at 500 pages, but I must confess that since I read my Kindle copy, I barely noticed the lenght, and it didn't feel like I was reading a long book at all!

Very much deserved 5 stars to this one! I'm seriously hoping & wishing Jodi, Cynthia & Brodi will write more books together!!


Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ivory and Bone is what I'd call a Pili-bait book. Anything ancient history or pre-historical is very dear to my heart because although I've always wanted to be a nurse, my back up plan if I couldn't get into nursing school was doing a history/archeology degree!

So any books that are set in ancient history and/or prehistory have me making grabby hands. If we had that one of my most beloved series of all times is the Clan of the Cave Bear books by Jean Auel... well, let's just say that my first reaction when hearing about this book was "GIMME!!" and so it was one of my most highly awaited debuts!

I'm very happy to report that I loved it as much as I hoped I would! I was very surprised when I heard that it was told on second person POV, because it's used very sparingly, but it worked so very well with the narrative and the plot for this one! We see everything from behind Kol's eyes, and that's another rarity, since it's a male POV. The story is coloured by his perceptions, his prejudices, his fears and his loves. What we know about other characters is what Kol knows, consciously or subconsciously, and we find out more about other characters and the plot as Kol does.

Julie Eshbaugh did a great job of giving us plenty of details and information that shows off she has done her research properly without bogging down the narrative or the plot and without making the storytelling too descriptive. It shows us that life and death are very much the same side of a coin that can flip at any given time, food can kill you, your clan needs everyone to survive and adapting and changing can be the key to continue living.

I was surprised when I reached the ending because of the lack of cliffhanger and the resolution given to the story. It is the first book of a trilogy, and it does give us closure to the plot and the story, although there's also enough to continue telling the story of Kol and his clan, which I am very much looking foraward to! Very well deserved 5 stars to this one!


View all my reviews

Mark These Books Monday: I'll Give You The Sun & Carry On!!!

Hey there guys!

For this week's Mark These Books Monday I have two books that count both towards my Diverse Reads Book Challenge as well as the Rock My TBR Challenge!

Carry On was my buddy read with Melanie from One Less Lonely Blog for #RockMyTBR and the other one, I'll Give You The Sun, I finally decided to read because of Mel too! It is one of her fave books, and I decided to read it while I waited for her to catch up with me on our buddy read!

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I cannot decide if I should give this one 4 or 5 stars. My gut feeling after finishing was 5 stars but this morning I was thinking of a few issues I might have with it...

I really enjoyed this one, it grabbed me and wouldn't let me go! I kept reading and reading and I really needed to know what would happen, what was going on, what happened in the past, simply everything!

The book is told in dual POV from Jude and Noah, the twins, but one is present time (Jude) and the other one is 3 years in the past (Noah). I loved both their voices, even if Noah's was the more bright and emotional, at least at first. He's the artist and he's falling in love with a guy and also has all his hopes up to join the arts school that's his dream. We meet a different Jude there that the one we spend time with as a 16 year old on her pages and Noah is also different in her pages, not just because we see him from his sister's eyes, but because of events that happened 3 years ago.

Changing from one POV to the other was quite a bit jarring because how different things and characters were in each of the narratives, but I really liked the character development and the complex family dynamics and relationships. I really loved also how important art was for both Noah and Jude, but how differently they both felt and lived it and expressed it.

After a bit of thought, I'm giving this one 4.5 stars but will leave the rating as a 4 stars here. The changing POVs sometimes interrupted the flow for me, even if sometimes they complimented each other very well, I was left a bit unsure about how I felt about the family complex dynamic and how it was resolved in the end. Also a bit unsure about the age differences in the relationships and how it was presented. I'm still not sure if I feel like they can be problematic or not, so those small bits are nagging me from giving it a full 5 stars.

View all my reviews



Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I absolutely loved this one! It has not dethroned Fangirl as my Rainbow Rowell favourite book, but it was close! I loved her take on the Chosen One story and the magical school, and I simply loved Baz and Simon and Penny and Agatha! I'm also extremely glad to have buddy read it with Melanie from One Less Lonely Blog because we've had a lot of fun chatting about the book as we progressed!

I know not everyone loved the Baz & Simon snippets on Fangirl, but I loved them as much as the story itself, so I was super excited to read their full book story when I was announced, but for some reason once it published... I was wary of starting it, I guess? I dunno, but since October last year it had been sitting in my Kindle. And boy, why did I doubt Rainbow Rowell? I was hooked probably since page 1!

The vaguely Hogwarts-y feeling was there but in such a way that it was different enough to be its own story but some winks that simply made me want to re-read the Harry Potter books! This magical world is different, and so is our Chosen One. But I must say, that my favourite part and what I think the strongest of the book is not exactly the magical world of Chosen One plot, although it is very well done and wrapped up in a single book. No, the strongest part of this book is the characters, their dynamics, relationships and their development.

The book is told on multiple POVs, the main ones being Simon, Penny, Baz and Agatha, althought we also get Lucy's which at first we aren't sure who she is, and the Mague. I really enjoyed all the main 4 POVs but I must confess my favourite has to be Baz! I really liked his voice, his self-deprecanting voice and how he accepted who he was, and how he made himself the villain if need be. I couldn't stop shipping him and Simon like mad since his POV chapters started! Simon seemed well obsessed enough with him too, even if he seemed to be think it was just concern for whatever Baz could be plotting against him (yeah right... denial is not just a river in Egypt, indeed).

As I say, I adored all the main characters, Penny was a delight, outspoken, loyal and not letting Simon be self sacrificing in stupid ways and Agatha? Agatha was trying to find her place in a world where magick is everything and she couldn't care enough about it, and I loved how she ended up being true to herself and her true feelings, not to family pressure. And I loved how Baz & Simon's relationship progressed in the midst of a murder investigation and the onset of a massive war.

The conflict was explained and solved in a rather more satisfactory way than I expected and I was happy to see what happened after, even if it was just the immediate aftermath. A bit unusual for a fantasy but pretty much in line with how unusual a fantasy story this one. After all, it was all about the characters and who they are/were.

Very well deserved 5 stars for this one!

View all my reviews

Mark These Books Monday: We'll Never Be Apart & Discover Ruta Sepetys sampler!!

Hello there guys!!

*waves* *yawns*

Today is a Monday off work, even if it's because I worked night shift on Sunday! But hey, I've slept a bit in the morning and I don't have plans beyond sorting some books, doing some chores around the house and start my buddy read of Carry On with Mel!

For this week's Mark These Books Monday I have two more reviews that shall count towards my Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge, both backlogged eARCs from Netgalley that should help me remain with my ratio at 80% or more!

Discover Ruta Sepetys by Ruta Sepetys

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I got this sampler for both Between Shades of Grey and Salt to the Sea from Netgalley because I've heard many things about Ruta Sepetys' books and all of them good, so I wanted to check the writing for myself and see if they are my kind of books.

And well, the answer is yes, they are my kind of books for sure! I only got a few chapters of each book and I already was turning pages fast, completely engaged and very much drawn into the stories of those I had just barely met! The characters voices felt so very real and the writing is simply fantastic, drawing you into the story and keeping a hold of you!

Now I need to get me both Between Shades of Grey and Salt to the Sea ASAP!!

View all my reviews



We'll Never Be Apart by Emiko Jean

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


We'll Never Be Apart was a book that I requested last year because it sounded very intriguing, it was a debut book and I wanted to read a bit more contemporary. For some reason or other I couldn't get to it before release date and then it joined the ranks of my poor backlogged eARCs.

I read most of the book last Friday during night shift, and that means both that I had a rather good shift and that the book was a fast and engaging read! The book would have got a higher rating if I wouldn't have suspected so early what the twist at the end of the book was. I'm not saying it was super obvious, because there was not just one thing to point out that might have given it away...

The book is told from Alice's POV while she's at a mental health institution and also by her journal entries and memories. Alice is a complex and intriguing character and discovering her past anew and her reflections on it were also quite fascinating.

The way the author wrote the tension and the fear and trepidation that Alice felt was fantastic and the pacing was also done very well. The book makes you want to turn pages and find out more about what might have happened, about who Jason really was, what happened that night and how Alice can get better.

I wasn't too keen on the possibility of a romance when we first met Chase, but I have to say it was done so well and it really didn't bother me as much as I would have thought at first. Chase was more than what he might have seemed at first, and his character development was done really well.

All in all, it was a very engaging book, even if the epilogue did change things around a bit again, and although I had guessed the twist, the book managed to keep my interest! 3 to 3.5 stars to an intriguing debut!

View all my reviews

Mark These Books Monday: ARC Reviews Blackhearts & Beyond The Red!!

Hello there guys!

Last week I totally failed on the blogging front! I only had my Monday reviews up and then I was distracted reading, working, feeling rather crappy and completely stuck on review writing... so I'm gonna be upping it up this week and I hope to get as many reviews up as possible! Also, finally got to the ever ellusive 80% ratio on Netgalley, so YAY!! Now, the hardest part... to keep it!!

Starting the week right with another edition of Mark These Books Monday, I have two 2016 debuts, but only one of them will count towards my 2016 Debut Author Challenge as well as my NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge, because one of them I read in Dec'15 and I had failed to review it till now!



Beyond the Red by Ava Jae

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A fantastic debut indeed! I really got a "classic science fiction" feel from this one, and although it was more focused on the plot and the action than the world building, the author did a really great job with establishing the setting.

The books is told in dual POV from halfbreed Eros, that lives with the human refugees, and queen Kora, the first female ruler of her territory in many generations. The book starts with them in very different places and situations but soon they cross paths and change each other's lives.

We can easily picture ourselves in the red desert camp, among the humans that are making their life there as best as they can, and we can easily picture ourselves into the city that Kora rules, feeling quite intrigued about the kind of society that she lives in, and the kind of political war she finds herself involved in. I kept on wishing for a bit more of in-depth explanations about the past history, because we get some lil bits here and there, with legends and stories and snippets, but I wanted more!

Humans & aliens, although technically the humans should be the aliens since they're the ones not indigenous to the planet (and no, it is not Mars, even if the Red bit of the title made me think it'd be) with an us vs them relationship based on discrimination, hate and political power plays. The resentment was clear but the fact that Eros as a halfbreed existed also made me wonder about how different both species could be and if there might not be closer ties than the ones we know about?

The relationship between Kora and Eros moves from the only way out of a really bad situation for Eros to a reluctant alliance to a more solid one, and there's attraction quite clear there. Eros sees that a position of power isn't exactly free of pain, hurdles or doubts, and sees that despite his anger & pain, helping Kora might very well be the lesser of two evils. Kora finds an ally with no political designs that she feels she can trust and one that shows her a different light on her situation as a ruler and what she thought she knew about humans too. Part forbidden relationship, part unbalance of power, their interactions & the way the relationship changes and progresses is great.

I already said the action is quite non-stop and we also get quite a few revelations, although some of them were easier to suspect than others. Once the main one happened, there others were easier to see coming, although after that ending, I'm not really sure what will come next and I really hope there will be a next! It could be a rather open ending and be left at that, but I'm really hoping that we'll get a sequel and with it more answers to questions about the past!

Well deserved 4 stars to this science fiction debut!

Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Blackhearts was initially not one of my most awaited debuts of the year, I cannot pinpoint why because I like stories about pirates but for some reason I was a bit undecided. But then I saw a few super positive reviews for it and Sarah (The YA Book Traveller) made her book trailer and I was absolutely pumped for the book!

Being approved after being not approved for it my Simon Pulse on EW seemed like a sign that I had to read the book ASAP, and so I did! And guess what? Another fantastic debut that I'm beyond glad I didn't miss!

Just keep one thing in mind, Blackhearts is not a story about pirate adventures, pillage and battles. Blackhearts is all about the unknown and untold backstory of Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard.

Blackhearts is a character driven novel, told in dual POV from both Teach and Anne Barrett. Anne is mixed race and is employed as a maid at Teach's father's house, but she's got too much spirit for a maid and her looks set her apart and make people suspicious or underestimate her. At first that makes her clash with Teach but soon enough that changes.

Teach has just returned from spending a year at sea and he doesn't want to go back to fold into his father's expectations and society's norms. He wants to return to be the man he was on the ship, where he was valued for himself and the choices he made, not the choices others make for him, or climbing the social ladder.

Teach and Anne first meetings are rather clashing and quite fun to read about too. And the way their relationship progressed from Anne hitting him (not on him) to them finding they understand each other much better than they could ever expect given their different backgrounds.

I loved the setting and how very much immersed into the story and the time I was. And I was so very easily drawn to both Teach and Anne and their budding relationship. I really appreciated Anne's fierceness and determination and Teach's open mindness and the way he looked at people's worth as themselves and not their social status or connections.

The ending was quite open and rather cruel too, and I'm really hoping there will be a sequel so we'll get a bit more on the story of Teach and Anne, and a bit more of pirate adventures too! Still, very much deserved 4 stars for this debut! Don't miss it!!


View all my reviews

Mark These Books Monday: ARC Reviews of NEED & An Inheritance of Ashes!!

Hello there guys!

Mondays off are one of those lovely treats, aren't they? Today I really must catch up on some house chores and also run a few errands, but I'm hoping to also have some time to relax and read a lil bit, or maybe just go back and continue binge watching BSG on Netflix... who knows??

For this week's Mark These Books Monday I have two reviews of eARCs that I got approved for quite a while back on Netgalley but I never got around to reading in time, so now they're part of my Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge and my ongoing battle for finally reaching the 80% ratio (and keeping it!).

NEED by Joelle Charbonneau

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


NEED was one of those books that I requested because they sounded extremely interesting: social media and teens using it to get what they really wanted with no concern for what they have to do in exchange... Sounds really cool! It also was a Read it Now when I got it on Netgalley.

Then release date rolled over, I couldn't fit it into my schedule and fast forward till I had a conversation with a friend about it and I remembered I had the eARC somewhere in my Kindle!

NEED was a very fast read and one that had me turning pages rather fast wondering if what I was figuring about it would be right or not. With multiple POVs it could have felt slow or cumbersome, but given that they were also short chapters for the most part, they didn't seem to slow the pacing as much. I know other people have said that some POVs seemed pointless to them, but for me it showed the outreach of the website and different people's reaction to the website, their actions and the consequences of those actions.

But the moment the big reveals started to happen... I was disappointed. I can't really go on in depth about why because I would spoil the ending and climax for everyone of course, but it just made me think, and I'm sorry all my dear US friends, "oh come, yet another typical American movie move". It felt like very typical combination of a blockbuster + conspiracy theory... just... gah.

Given how disappointing the ending was for me, I cannot give this one more than 3 stars and only because it was an interesting take on social media and the freedom to forget about being responsible from our acts & choices that seems to be inherent to anonimity sometimes, and the mob factor. Multiple POV was also done well for me, but nothing can take away how disappointing the ending was.

An Inheritance of Ashes by Leah Bobet

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Some books have slow beginnings peppered with enough small bits here and there that make you want to keep on reading to see if it delivers what it promised, and this one is one of those. From 40% onwards it became better and better and ended up earning 4 stars.

An Inheritance of Ashes is one of those books that needs to be given a chance because they develop slowly and hides its secrets quite well. For a good part of the book I wasn't sure if it should even be considered fantasy because despite the mentions of the Wicked God and the presence of the Twisted Things, what we get is two sisters at odds, trying to survive in the aftermath of a war and the trials and tribulations that come with that.

The biggest strengh of this book lies in the characters and the story & relationship between the two sisters and their struggle to survive. Hallie and Martha have to deal with their family history, the losses from the war and being alone in running the whole homestead on their own. The book is told from Hallie's POV but we get to see that things might not always be as she perceives them.

And the secondary characters aren't any less strong, meeting the neighbours that love the girls as family, even if sometimes the sisters feel like they have to prove they don't need help. Tyler, Nat & their family weren't without issues on their own, but dealt with them differently and provided with a great balance for the sisters.

I said it before, sometimes I struggled with the book till I reached the 40% mark, because I wasn't sure where it all was going, or wasn't sure about the world building, but after the 40% mark I was well and truly hooked, not only because everything started to come together both plot and world building wise, but because the character development continued to grow and expand and the interactions between the characters grew even more complex as new revelations started to drop here and there.

The mix of magical world of fantasy and the feeling of historical fiction/period drama was so well done. So much about the mistrust between family members, living within a lie to protect yourself, and consequences of war and how it changes you when you're lucky enough to return from it. This book is one wonderful study on human nature and how we shape or relationships with those around us with our fears and hopes and secrets and not only how the others act.

And once thing I haven't been able to stop thinking about was a conversation about help, how we need to make sure when we're offering help to others is NOT to offer things we want to do for them, but to make sure to ASK them what is the help that they really NEED. I will have to look up the exact quote because I really need to have it up somewhere in some shape, because I feel it is SO relevant and so important!

As I already said, the last 60% of the book really earnt itself the final 4 star rating and I'm very glad I got the chance to read it!

Mark These Books Monday: ARC Review of Night Study & The Abyss Surrounds Us!!

Hello there guys!

Monday for me this week also means back to work since I had the weekend off (as most people tend to, but a once a month occasion for a nurse like me). I spent it reading & catching up on shows and sorting the library room!

For this week's Mark These Books Monday I have two books that I read in 2016 and that also count towards my challenges of the year (YAY me!). One of them even counts for three challenges: 2016 Debut Author, Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge (since both are eARCs, both count for this one) and the Diverse Books 2016 Reading Challenge!

Night Study by Maria V. Snyder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Action filled, with many twists and surprises, very many unexpected surprises that are changing the game as we knew it and that are keeping the series fresh and me turning pages like there's no tomorrow!

Shadow Study left us with quite a bomb and thankfully Night Study picks up right there where we were left, with Yelena and Valek as a team, trying to figure out things together. I so love that as the series progresses these two continue to make a fantastic team, facing threats together and without pointless drama.

Things are more dire than ever, Yelena without her magic and no idea how to get it back, Valek with his torn loyalties and his fierce need to protect Yelena but trying not to be a traitor to the Commander... and twisting and complex net where their enemies are getting the upper hand and refuse to stay dead.

The pacing in this one was neck-breaking and I could barely turn the pages fast enough to see how they'd get themselves out of the very dire situations and dangers they kept finding themselves. Working together or apart Yelena and Valek and their allies/friends/family are always a great team, even if this team all their efforts are barely enough to keep their heads above the water!

There were even more surprises and shocks and twists in this one, that I wasn't expecting, that made a lot of sense but that were real game changers once again! The death toll is also starting to raise and I'm beginning to get worried for my fave secondary characters, because the prospects are are dire and things are looking more and more grim by the moment!

Another fantastic installment in the newly extended series, and frankly with the way the author is keeping things spinning, I'm looking forward to many more books, although I don't know if this was planned as an extra trilogy?? Either way, I'll be bitting my nails here waiting for the next book! Very much deserved 4 stars for this one!

The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Tough as nails lady pirates, monsters from the deep, and a slow burn romance with a cruel twist at the end, this was a wild ride that had me glued to my Kindle! Proper review to come, but I need a sequel like NOW!!

We meet Cassandra on her regular life, and we learn as the pages pass about the world we are in, with a few conversations here and there to add to the knowledge of the set up and the way it's changed from ours. Not a full info dump, and we don't know all the details of how or why, but enough to figure out the differences and get a clear idea of where we stand.

But soon enough the real action starts and Cassandra has her world turned upside down. Her first solo mission as a Reckoner trainer ends in failure and death and she finds herself among the same pirates she's always fought against, and what's more, finds herself with torn loyalties and scrambling around for a way to survive and keep doing what she thinks is right.

Once the pirates enter the book, we have this cast of grey and extremely interesting characters that shake Cas' world in ways that she really didn't expect. Cas always grows as a character tremendously, doing her best to survive and trying to hold onto the sense of right and wrong that was her moral compass before, but also discovering that not everything is so black and white and that people aren't always so black & white either.

I loved how gender stereotypes are subverted in many small ways and how in the narrative and the world, they are what they are, not challeged and not taken as exceptions. Santa Elena is a ruthless, tough as nails pirate that can chop off fingers and care for her son and conquer a boat with him strapped to her back or celebrate a victory wearing a ball gown. A father can be the one to stay home to care for the kids while the mothers come and go to the sea and might never come back. No one doubts what a girl can or cannot do because of their gender.

The relationship between Cas & Bao, her new Reckoner charge is quite complex, because she doesn't want to train him as Santa Elena wants him trained, she resents him for his own nature and how it traps her because of her knowlegde, but still, it's always a close bond between trainer & Reckoner.

And there's a fantastic romance, with a great slow burn and a girl that recognizes her feelings but also see how messed up the situation is and doesn't exactly throw herself into the mess anyways. It's still used against her, it's still full of chemistry and heartache and fantastic, and it's a lesbian romance (YAY diversity!). I was rooting for them both all through the book and was quite shocked and shaken at the end because holy spoilers Batman!

I'm so very glad we do have a sequel coming next year (it's written and all!!) because although this ends in a open but bearable way plot wise... emotionally... nope, unresolved as hell! Very much deserved 4 stars for this fantastic debut!

View all my reviews

Mark These Books Monday: Truthwitch & The Impostor Queen!!!

Hello there guys!!

Happy New Year 2016!! 

I had plans to have blogged a bit more last week and all, but given how busy with apartment things my days off work were... blogging had to take the back seat! And on the 1st, when I finally had some time off... I just spent the day reading, and I really needed that!

So, now back to business!! I'm starting this year's first Mark This (These) Book(s) Monday with two reviews for two ARCs of books that publish tomorrow and that you REALLY NEED AND WANT to read!!

One of them was my first read of the year and also counts towards my Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge, so I'm starting strong on my challenges this year! ;)

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I just... have no words!! What an amazing book!! How do I deal with a book hangover as epic as this one will be? HOW?!?

----

Many months and two re-reads later I don't feel much better prepared to review Truthwitch, but given how the release day is almost here, I feel like I need to finally should try! Give that I've already told you I've re-read the book twice already and I'm planning another re-read once I get my preordered final copy... that should be proof that this book is worth reading. In short, the hype for Truthwitch? Very well deserved!

It is high fantasy at its core, with a magical system and political wars between Empires and different nations and a legend that has been mostly forgotten but seems to be relevant once again. The world building is fantastic, woven quite seamlessly into the story, narrative and plot. We get glimpses here and there at the Witchlands, but there's so much more to explore and discover in depth! We got enough to immerse ourselves in the story, but we can also look forward to new world to explore and discover in the sequel(s).

First books in epic fantasy series can sometimes be slow or lack action because of the need for world building, but this is not the case. Truthwitch was nonstop action pretty much from the beginning to the end! We are given very few respites from it, and very much needed ones because you cannot stop turning the pages to know what's to come next! And on those less frantic moments, there's information to absorb and ponder on before you're back to biting your nails & the nonstop action!

I loved the characters to bits too, Safi and Iseult are best friends, Threadsisters, their friendship is pivotal to everything that happens in the book. They're always there for each other, no matter what messes they might get into, no matter whose fault the mess is, they're always there for each other, fighting together no matter what. Safi and Iseult are very different from each other, both complex and flawed characters, full of doubts and questions, but always growing and ready to support each other. I really loved them and their strong relationship!

I don't want to give many details about the rest of the characters to allow the pleasure of discovering them yourselves, but let's just say that all of them are well crafted and have much more hidden than you'd expect at first for sure. Bad guys aren't black & white for the most part, there are plenty of grey characters, not entirely good, not entirely bad. And most of them have hidden depths that we're just starting to discover!

There's romance in this book and for me being a romancephobe, I was extremely surprised how much I shipped these ships! Yes, plural! I was shipping a ship that's barely a hint in this one, but it's already OTP for me! Susan does a fantastic job on building tension and chemistry without hindering the story or having it take over the plot!

So yes, Truthwitch gets very much deserved 5 stars from me, and I've been dying for the sequel (to come in 2017!!!) since June 2015, so... yeah.



The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Sarah Fine is seriously carving herself a spot in my auto-buy list of authors. The Impostor Queen is my first YA by here and I just cannot wait till I can continue devouring all the rest of her books!

When I got approved on Edelweiss for this one, I was beyond happy! And after finishing the book, I am even more grateful that I was given the chance to read it early!

The Impostor Queen is a fantastic epic fantasy book, full of magic and brilliant characters and a plot that manages to surprise you at every turn, no matter how much you think you might know what's to come.

Elli is our main character and she's been raised as the future queen (or Valtia) of the Kupari, bu things don't really go as expected when it's her time to inherit the magic and take the throne, so she ends up on the run, taken in by outlaws. Elli discovers that many things she had been taught had been either incomplete truths or outright lies, and she discovers that despite her lack of magic, she is not useless. I loved Elli's journey from coddled but controlled heir to proud and hard-working girl. I also loved that she is bisexual and it's shown as something that's accepted by those around her and not something that makes her a freak (although she had some worries at first).

The plot build up was fantastic, because we keep on hoping Elli will be okay, she'll get her magic or some answers at least, and following her very hard path is very rewarding! The plot and the world building go hand in hand, the twists keeping us on our toes whenever we feel like we're getting comfortable and the new information changing our perspective more than once!

The rest of the characters are also quite intriguing and usually more than what we see at first. Elli finds herself struggling about who to trust and how to earn people's trust, and some characters do manage to surprise us more than once with their motivations and/or actions, but Sarah does a great job to make us care for a lot of them quite deeply!

The ending of the book is a resolution of the first conflict but with more definitely to come, so thankfully without a cliffhanger, but it also leaves us wanting more, with quite a few questions that I'm sure will be answered in the final book in this duology!

Fascinating, immersive and with fantastic world building, with well crafted characters that feel real & with a plot that unfolds unhurried but relentlessly, The Impostor Queen is a must read for any fantasy lover! Well deserved 4.5 stars for this one!


View all my reviews

Mark These Books Monday: Mini Reviews of Written In The Stars & Hollywood Witch Hunter!!

Hello there guys!!

After the craziness of the holidays and my work and juggling everything and getting a lil sick on Xmas day and the craziness of the Top 10 of 2015 week, I'm back with a more regular schedule of reviews.

To start this week right I'm gonna have mini reviews for Mark These Books Monday because the backlog of reviews that I have is rather insane, and I want to start reviewing books before the year ends!

Both books count towards my Diverse December challenge and one of them, Written in the Stars, I feel that is a most poignant book, and one that needs to be better known and more widespreadly read!

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What an amazing book. Tough and poignant, it confronts us with a reality we might not know or might not want to acknowledge, but one we need to face and change. And what a debut! Very much deserving of 5 stars.

Written in the Stars is NOT based on a true story, at least not in one narrative only. There was no Naila in real life that is telling us her story, but that's how real and raw this book feels. You feel like this has happened, and we are reading about it in a biography of sorts, but it also feels as we are watching it as it unfolds, discovering what is happening as Naila does.

Everything feels so real, so like we are there! Naila's secrets, how they're discovered, how she goes on vacation with her family and finds herself trapped... I felt like I was right there with Naila! With the language, the descriptions, the relationships between the characters. Everything felt raw and real.

I know about the different kinds of arranged marriages that are still quite usual in Pakistan & India (and other countries) but I wasn't sure that'd be as spread on the communities from those countries living in the USA or the UK, but reading this book made me realize how some families do keep even those traditions no matter where they might live.

Adults and teens alike need to read this book. It'll help us understand a different culture and also maybe even help those that might be in a similar situation. Really, anyone and everyone NEEDS to read this book!!


Hollywood Witch Hunter by Valerie Tejeda

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is one of those books with positives and negatives and where the balance ends up being an in-the-middle 3 star rating.

I really enjoyed reading about a Latina main character that kicks arse and is proud of her heritage, and I really liked Iris as a character. I really liked that she had decided that she would not back down from her being a witch hunter no matter how many things would get in her way, and how much disdain she'd get from the rest of the all-male Witch Hunter Special Ops Team.

Iris knows she is good and she doesn't back down when she feels she is treated unfairly and wants to get to the bottom of a few strange happenings that are challenging what she knows about both witches and the hunters. She has a good relationship with her brother which was really nice, since he supported her in being the only female hunter and a not so good with her dad.

I felt the pacing was fast and kept me engaged and wanting to continue reading, the world building quite interesting and a different twist to the usual witches and hunters, but I had two main issues with the book.

One, the two possible love interests being introduced in very opportunistic ways... the moment they came on the page, you knew they'd be involved with Iris. And two, there was too much telling and not enough showing. I felt that I was being told things all the time instead of them being shown happening. And that tends to make it hard to connect or be engaged with book for me.

So as much as the pacing and the world building was interesting and fresh, the telling more than showing style really took out a lot of the enjoyment of the book for me. With more showing and less telling, this would have easily been a 4 stars for me!


View all my reviews