Saturday Pages: ALL THE SAMPLERS!!

Hello there guys!!

Yesterday I absolutely enjoyed my first opera experience, getting goosebumps and nearly crying at the end, Madama Butterfly was fantastic! Now the besties and me are planning to go see Rigoletto next when the company plays it in Feb/March!

Today for this week's Saturday Pages I have mini reviews for all the samplers that I recently got from Netgalley! I know a lot of you guys don't like samplers but I seem to have zero self control when it comes to books I want, and also samplers are very useful when I'm curious about a book by a new author, or for a book that I should be more excited about since it's an author I love...

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab


This one was simply lack of self control... AGOS is one of my top 3 most awaited sequels for 2016 and the moment I saw this sampler available on NetGalley I knew I had to read it.

It's quite a big sampler, and I'm already itching to re-read it, so I won't have a problem with re-reading the beginning once the book comes out!

Although I was 100% before now I'm 1000% sure that I'll absolutely love this book!! Our beloved Lila Bard is being her badass self, and even more badass that ever before! I just had to adore her & her restlessness and her wish & fear to belong and settle down.

We see that change has come to Red London, Grey London and White London, and whatever we thought we knew about the Antari is being challenged very early on! Or maybe I'm just reading too much into certain details... Who knows!

We meet a few new characters, although we barely get to know them, although Alucard gets a bit of more page time, and he promises to be a very interesting character indeed! There seems to be a certain history that will come into play later on, and I cannot wait to find out more!

Really guys, if you haven't read ADSOM, go read it now and if you have... go preorder AGOS NOW! If you already have it preordered, as I do... rest assured, we're gonna love this one to pieces, I KNOW IT!!

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury


Jessica Khoury has a few books out already but for some reason I haven't read anything by her yet, so when I saw the sampler for this one (fantasy! Aladdin retelling!) I decided to check it out and see if it could be my kinda thing.

And as it happens, it is! I really enjoyed both the descriptions and the writing and loved how it starts and feels familiar (if you've watched the movie) but also how different it is, and not only because the genie, jinn in this case (let's be proper) is a girl, but also because of how much history is behind the current story. How much regret and guilt the jinni carries with her.

We meet quite a few characters that could be familiar but that are also complete different and with a very different history and development, from Aladdin himself, to the princess, to the Jinni... And I cannot wait to see more of these characters, and of course to get more of the world building and of the history snippets that Zahra gives us here and there.

The sampler gave us only a small peek at the plotting that might come into play in the book, from Zahra's mission to gain her freedom to Aladdin's quest to do something important, and where both might clash at some point and what choices will Zahra make this time!

This sampler convinced me that I want to check this book, so much that I ended preordering it!

Riders by Veronica Rossi


This is sampler that I requested because this is a book that by all usual standards I ought to be super excited about! It's by Veronica Rossi and I adored her Under The Never Sky series, and the book is a reimagining about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, so really... it sounds like it'd be a Pili book! But for some strange reason I'm not that excited about it.

Reading the sampler I was a bit thrown off by how it starts in the middle of the action so to speak, and how our main character spends his time tied to a chair telling someone from the US government (and us of course) all that's been going on till that moment.

I don't usually mind that style of storytelling, but I'm not sure how I'd like if the whole book is gonna be told like that till the final part or something... At least all of the sampler is Gideon recounting what has happened. And although I want to find out more and meet the rest of the Horsemen and know what the hell happened to land Gideon in military custody... it feels like there's a lack of urgency since it's a recount of the past.

After reading this sampler I'm still unsure of this one, and will be awaiting reviews from my bloggy friends that got ARCs before deciding whether I get this one or pass it up.

Tell Me Tuesdays #32!!

Tell Me Tuesdays is a meme/feature created by the awesome La La In The Library, where we can share how we choose the book we are currently reading from our TBR pile!

I'm always curious about that, cause as much as I tend to make myself a rough schedule for books to read and the like, I'm quite a mood reader and sometimes I just HAVE to ignore my schedule and read something else!

It's been a while since I last posted on Tell Me Tuesdays so hi there!!

The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes

A thief’s good deeds are never done.

Loch and her crew are determined to stop the ancients from returning to reclaim the world they once ruled, but a kidnapped friend throws their plans awry. When a desperate rescue turns into a shocking reunion, the ancients return and seize power. Determined to stop them, Loch and the crew look for a way to close the gate to the ancients’ world, but this time, they find themselves up against an enemy that has insinuated itself into the highest ranks of the Republic. Cruel, cunning, and connected, the ancients target the crew’s families and histories, threatening to tear friendships apart.

If that weren’t bad enough, Loch must deal with her treacherous assassin sister, her turncoat ancient friend, and a daemon who has sworn to hunt her to the ends of the earth. In order to save the Republic and pull off her largest con ever, Loch will need her friends…and maybe her enemies too.

 Riders by Veronica Rossi

For eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake, nothing but death can keep him from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.

Recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can't remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen--Conquest, Famine, and Death--are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.

They fail.

Now--bound, bloodied, and drugged--Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he's fallen for--not to mention all of humankind--he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.

But will anyone believe him?

The Paladin Caper is the last book (for now, hopefully there will be more) on The Rogues of the Republic series, a fantasy heist series, as I like to call it, and one that I'm loving to bits! So happy that I got approved for them on NetGalley!

And Riders is only a sampler I got from NetGalley, because as much as I think the summary sounds amazing and should be something I'd be all over it, I don't seem to be able to be as excited for it as I should! So I got the sampler hoping to either discard it completely from my list or finally get as excited as I should.

That sounds odd, I know, but that's me, I'm quite odd! ;)

So what are you all guys reading and how and why did you decide to pick up that book? Shiny new ARC? Comfort read? Scheduled for review? Must have new release? Tell me!!

Friday Reads: Into The Still Blue by Veronica Rossi!!

For this week's Friday Reads and also Valentine's Day, I have a book with one of my favourite romances, with a couple that won't let even the Aether get between them! This is also one of those final books in a trilogy that I was dying to get my hands on this year and that luckily didn't disappoint!

It is also part of my 2014 Dystopian Reading Challenge books!

Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After becoming a fan of this trilogy after reading Under The Never Sky and falling even more in love with it with Through The Ever Night, I was a bit worried about the final book. You love something so much and you are hoping you won't be let down and at the same time you really need to know what happens in the end!

Into The Still Blue was a brilliant book and after a few days after I finished it, I'm still not sure how to talk about all that happen and all that I felt without spoiling anything, but I will try my best. What I have to warn about is very probable spoilers for the two previous books.

This book has action and very unexpected twists but what it really excells at is at the character development. I love seeing how Aria and Perry grow both as individuals and as a couple, how they learn to deal with their issues, how they learn to communicate better and to understand each other better. Reading Roar is such a painful experience, you can feel his grief, his anger and how broken he feels. We get some new and truly unexpected characters that add even more to the emotional mix.

The title in itself is a big clue of what happens in this book, but it cannot give you a hint at the pain and suffering and the emotional journeys the characters go through. There's fighting, there's betrayal, there are twists and Sable proves once again that he's a guy that's delirious with power and a very dangerous villain. There's a lot of issues that we can apply to any time and period, like mistrust between different people and the need to find a way to get past prejudices and work together. The need to leave all you know behind and start anew and how fear can make you unreasonable or reckless.

Another thing that made extremely happy was how there was this amazing friendship between Roar and Aria that was just that, an amazing friendship that helped both of them and even Perry to deal with all the heartbreak and tough moments they have to confront. I was also happy to see Brooke and Aria mending bridges, they might never get to be best friends, but who knows they're both strong characters and they sure can relate to each other.

I have to warn you, if you are truly invested in this characters and series you will have a case of all the feels when you reach the final part of the book. The ending is quite open and leave us to figure out what we want for our characters but giving us enough closure to be happy about it!

5 stars for this one, and a big thank you to Veronica Rossi for this amazing dystopian full of fantastic characters!



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Waiting On Wednesday #25!!

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!


What book am I biting my nails waiting desperatedly to get my hands on this week? Into The Still Blue by Veronica Rossi!

Goodreads Summary:

"The earth-shattering conclusion to Veronica Rossi's "masterpiece" Under the Never Sky trilogy and sequel to the New York Times bestselling Through the Ever Night (Examiner.com).

Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it's time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.

Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won't even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

In this final book in her stunning Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close."



Why am I eagerly awaiting Into The Still Blue by Veronica Rossi? Are you kidding me? It is the final book in another trilogy that I'm in love with, and I just cannot wait to see how everything plays out! There are quite a few favourite series ending this year, and it's gonna be a very bittersweet feeling, cause I'll finally know what happens, but I'll also have to say goodbye to the characters, and I'm not gonna like saying bye to Aria and Perry at all!


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

Friday Reads: Mini Reviews of Night of Cake And Puppets and Brooke!

Hello everyone!
For this week's edition of Friday Reads I'm happy to say that I have successfully completed my challenge of November is for Novellas that Lisa Loves Literature set up!

I have read all the novellas I had planned to and one extra!

Brooke by Veronica Rossi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Sometimes novellas are more fun than anything else, and sometimes they add to the story and manage to make you appreciate a character that you weren't so keen on before.

Brooke, the novella, manages the later for me, and I was trying to find time at work this last night to finish it! We get to know her a little bit better, with a few flashbacks and also quite a bit of introspection and we get to understand her motivations better. Her POV is not as harsh or confrontational as she comes along when it's from Aria's, and we also get to see how kick arse she is. I'm all for kick arse main ladies, and the more the merrier! Brooke can hold her own with any of the guys from the Six.

She seems to be trying to sort out herself and her feelings for Perry and also, there's a threat to the Tides' new compound in the cave. Loads of action with some romance and a bit of flirting here and there rounds up this novella pretty well. A very nice addition to the TTEN world, and having the first three chapters of Into The Still Blue doesn't hurt either!

Well deserved 3.5 to 4 stars!




Night of Cake & Puppets by Laini Taylor

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Night of Cake & Puppets was my introduction to the world of Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bones series, and it showed me that I have really been missing out! I was so tempted to just start the first book right after reading this one, but I've decided that I'll wait till the final book is out so I can binge read the whole series!

This is the story of Zuzana, the "rabid fairy", and Mik her "violin boy" and how their first night and first date played out. I went into this story knowing nothing about the world or the characters and I was enthralled, enchanted and in love by the first few pages! The writing is just fabulous, so evocative and so strong! Full of magic & quite creepy, fantastic really. And the characters have such fantastic and unique voices, I fell in love with them instantly.

If you, like me, hadn't read anything by Laini Taylor before do start with this one! Even if it's gonna be probably a bigger treat for those fans of the books, it was a perfect stand alone introduction to the world and an absolute treat to read!

Very well deserved 5 stars!



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