Mark This Book Monday: After The End by Amy Plum!!

Hello everyone! This week starting the week & as the first entry for Mark This Book Monday I have one of those very much awaited books for this year. At first I had added this to my dystopian challenge, but after reading it, I have taken it out because it is not dystopian, but still was a very cool read!



After the End by Amy Plum

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm a huge fan of Amy Plum's previous series and I really was excited about this one when I started hearing about it on Twitter (as the author was writing it, commenting on Juneau). I was even more excited when I heard about it being dystopian, even if it ended up not being so.

I will try my best to keep this review spoiler free, and to do so I'll try and keep it as vague as possible, as to allow you to discover things for yourself as much as possible.

I loved how the book started, with Juneau living in this postapocalyptic world with her tribe. We get a very good overview of the life she had and that would help us understand the massive shift the next events will mean to her.

When Juneau starts her travels to this new world she didn't know it existed, trying to save her father and her tribe, she continues to use her connection to the Yara and her abilities. And that leads her to Miles, the son of the guy that is hunting for her. These two are extremely different and make the most charming, hilarious and somewhat irritating travelling companions ever!

The biggest part of this book is taken by the road trip that Juneau and Miles take: Juneau trying to find her tribe, trying to deal with her shift in what she believes and what she thought was true; and Miles spends it trying to take Juneau to his father to win back his approval, trying to deal with Juneau's crazy past and abilities and trying to find out what are the real reasons for his father to get his hands on Juneau.

I was always entertained while reading, may it be cause of the small details here and there about the Yara, because of the banter between Miles and Juneau, or all the information that we seem to be gather about what was the real reason for Juneau's parents and those to were part of the tribe to retire to Alaska and lie about the fate of the world.

The ending was an absolutely awful cliffhanger, but also the kind that is awesome, and I cannot wait for the next and last book! Yay for duologies! Well deserved 4 stars for this one!



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Showcase Sunday #35!!

Showcase Sunday is a weekly feature hosted by Vicky of Books, Biscuits, and Tea where all book lovers can share with others what bookish goodness we got this week, be it purchased (physical or eBook), won, gifted or for review!

This week I went a bit crazy with the book shopping, but since some of that was on Book Outlet and The Book Depository, those books haven't arrived yet! Buuuut to compensate for that I got some really amazing signed swag that I won in a giveaway from Wendy Higgings and also finally gonna show off the signed swag that I got for preordering The Taking from Kimberly Derting and the just because on Twitter signed swag that I got from Sharon Biggs Waller! Thank you so very much to all the awesome authors that are so generous to the readers!

Giveaway or otherwise won/received swag

That's my own copy of the book with the awesome swag that Sharon sent!

 

No, I didn't win the books, just the awesomely signed bookplates!

Purchased (via The Book Depository)

The Lovely And The Lost by Page Morgan

Purchased (via Kindle app)

Parallel by Lauren Miller

Sixth Grave of the Edge by Darynda Jones

Free To Fall by Lauren Miller

The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

And that's my haul for this week! Next week I won't be having a Showcase Sunday cause I'm gonna be super busy all week baking 200 mini cupcakes for one of my besties' wedding and on Sunday I'm gonna be hungover and recovering for all the wedding celebrations from Saturday!!

What all did you guys get this week?

Saturday Pages: Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong!!

Well, as the second and last entry for this week's Saturday Pages, I have a book that was chosen by Alyssa from The Eater of Books! We decided to push a book on each other for every month of the year (inspired by Epic Recs) and for this month, I chose this one! And quite unsurprising... Alyssa triumphed once again! This girl has such a similar taste to mine that it's scary!



Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the first book that I read after reaching an agreement with my fellow awesome blogger friend Alyssa from The Eater of Books, based on Epic Recs, we've decided to push one book on each other each month! She actually sent me a huge list, but I went for Sea of Shadows cause I already had it on my Kindle app!

I am so very happy that I chose this one! It was a great read and totally put me in the mood for reading more epic fantasy!

This is the story of two sisters, twins. Physically identical but quite different in attitude and ways to deal with their responsabilies. They're the Keeper and the Seeker of the Forest of the Dead and they live in the village of Edgewood, right at the start of the forest. Ashyn and Moria are facing the rituals to put the spirits of the dead at peace on their own for the first time and each in their own way are trying to deal with the nerves and stress of the situation in their own way.

As with most fantasty books the pacing is not fast but with the wonderful world building we have entangled with the plot progression, I was kept enganged, entertained and even mesmerized! The mythology in this series simply seems amazing. The world seems like a mix of Japanese and Middle Ages with a twist, and the depth of information we glipse at everytime we peel a small layer here and there it's amazing!

The story is told in dual POVs from Moira and Ashyn, and I always felt they were distinct enough to never feel confused or wonder who were following in each chapter. The first chapters are prefect to introduce us to the world and to show us enough of the sisters together, to show their bond and their interactions. Then some unexpected and quite dire events happen and the sisters are separated, and both end up on their separate ways with varied travelling companions. Both trying to get to civilization to get help for themselves and their village.

Each of the sisters go through their own inner and outer journey, each with a guy that they wouldn't have chosen to accompany them. You can expect some romance because of this, but nothing really prominent at all. For most of the book, if not all, we see these relationships develop, getting to know each other, how to work with each other, and they first start with a friendship that seems to be progressing to something more.

Before I continue babbling about this book more, I cannot miss mentioning both Tova, Ashyn's hound and Diago, Moira's wildcat! Both beasts were no mere pets, but bonded to the girls since they were chosen as Seeker and Keeper. They're loyal and protective of the girls, and they're as important companions as any of the other human characters!

This a great first step on a larger journey, with plenty of world building, establishing our characters and although the ending leaves more than enough opening for more to come, with an actual twist that was quite a shocker that I didn't see coming AT ALL! But we close a chapter and the journey comes to an end. No real cliffhanger per se, so that's a plus!

Very well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars for this one! Thanks Alyssa for pushing this one me! Cannot wait for book 2 now!



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Saturday Pages: The Lovely And The Lost by Page Morgan!!

Happy Saturday everyone! This week I'm starting Saturday Pages with an amazing sequel to a pretty great book that my favourite book pusher made sure I read (THANK YOU ALYSSA!). Not only is an awesome sequel that brings the story to a higher level & broaden the world building but also is one of my reads for the 2014 Book Blogger Summer Reading Program!

The Lovely and the Lost by Page Morgan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you are looking for a fantastic series with a great first book and an even more amazing sequel that doesn't suffer from middle book syndrome, you NEED to get your hands in The Dispossesed series! (Thank you again, Alyssa, for making sure I read them!).

The Lovely And The Lost start right after the events that take place in the first book, so you can expect some spoilers for book 1 in this review. Otherwise, I will try to keep my review as spoiler free as possible.

After their battle with Axia, the Waverly siblings are back to their abbey, but their return hasn't brought things back to normal. Gabby has returned with visible marks and a desire to learn to fight and join the Alliance. Ingrid is trying to learn to control her powers after discovering more about them and is trying to deal with her own emotional mess after Luc's declaration at the end of the book. And Grayson is even more confused and unhappy that before, having a very hard time reconciling his two natures.

If things were not complicated enough, two paternal figures are introduced and none of them are nice at all. Both were ignorant, headstrong and in short... awful! We also find out a lot more about the Alliance and more about the others with demon blood. We also find out about new players in the game, ones that even being human don't have anything to envy to Axia's on evil plans to gain power.

The love triangle that was hinted at in book one is more present here, even if Ingrid was always quite sure who her heart belonged to, no matter what was happening. Might be that why this love triangle didn't bother me as much, and I'm NOT a fan of love triangles at all!

The stakes are higher, the conflict gets even more broader and not only you're fighting demons but you no longer know who your allies are, if you even have any allies left. There's a war brewing and even those on your side might be taken away from you.

The atmosphere of the book was fantastically historical and gothic at the same time, and the way the plot moves along had me turning the pages barely fast enough! I love the relationships between the Waverly siblings, even if I wish someone would help Grayson somehow fight better to accept himself and gather some control, instead of just giving himself into self loathing.

This was a fantastic second book and one of the best sequels I've recently read! Very much deserving of 4.5 stars and damn, where does the third book come out then?!?



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Friday Reads: The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes!!!

As the final entry for this week's Friday Reads I have a book that I featured earlier this week, and one that I was quite excited about reading that not only didn't disappoint but that also worked as therapy for my currently quite messed up emotional state!

It is also part of my list for my 2014 Book Blogger Summer Reading Program, and I'm quite glad to say that so far I'm doing pretty well on this one, even if I'm a bit behind on reading the books as they're releasing!

The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I had been quite excited about this one after reading some fantastic reviews for it, so much that I preordered it and I started reading it that very same night while at work! (I promise I didn't ignore my patients or my work, you just have some time to kill from 4 to 6 am if everything goes well!).

This is the kind of contemporary book that even not huge fans of contemporaries like myself can enjoy and that leaves you with a wonderful feeling upon finishing the book (and also hoping for more!).

I'm guessing I might have connected with this book more given my own state of heartbreak, even if Lainey's and my situation are completely different and I'm way older than she is. Still, a broken heart is a broken heart, and all the lessons she's learning and how's trying to patch herself up just made me feel so much hope and smile through the tears while reading.

Lainey thought she had her summer and senior year of high school all figured out, until her "perfect" boyfriend dumps her in front of everyone, without very good reason, at her family's coffee shop. Lainey refuses to believe all her perfect plans are over, and wants to get Jason back more than anything else. Her best friend decides to support her through and through although she might not agree with her choice, and they decide to use The Art of War for advice on how to win the boy back.

This might sound bizarre, and it kind of is, but it works so well! Not only made me want to read The Art of War (that I can't believe I haven't read yet) but works great to show the interactions and the relationship between Lainey and Bianca, and it also helps reveal some sides of Lainey's character to us and to herself.

Lainey wasn't exactly the most sympathetic of characters in the beginning, she's a teenager and as such, she's a bit oblivious of anything outside her own perfect bubble until it is burst and by trying to put it back together she goes out of her comfort zone and realizes she wasn't even sure who she was, so she starts learning about herself. She seemed to have been going on an inertia of getting the perfect life and perfect imagine, but as soon as Jason left her she wasn't even sure who she was anymore. There's a lot of growth to Lainey, and although I felt like shaking her at some point, mostly when she dealt with Kendall, I felt extremely proud of her by the end of the book!

Bianca and Kendall are both Lainey's best friends. As I see it, only Bianca really deserves that title. She's amazing and supportive, even when she thinks Lainey is wrong! She helps her trying to win Jason back even she doesn't think it's the right choice. She's always loved Lainey as she was, and was there for her through thick and thin, the same that Lainey was for her when she needed her. Kendall I really couldn't feel much empathy towards her, no matter how hard her life was, she just acted like a bitch all the time, and I kept on hoping Lainey would be more assertive and put her in her place.

Jason was very oblivious and a very typical bratty popular guy. Inmature and going with the flow, and I was clearly never rooting for Lainey to get back to him, not after the way he was treating her. Then we went Micah, a bit more prickly, with plenty of layers and contradictions, a rocker chef! And I knew I was gonna be rooting for him like mad! I loved him and Trinity, his younger sister! I loved how he kept on challenging Lainey and showing her that out of her comfort zone was a good place to be!

I guess I could just go on and on about this book, rambling about how much I love it, but I'll just say this: GO READ IT, NOW!! Very well deserved 5 stars for this one!



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Friday Reads: Insomnia by J.R. Johansson!!

Hello everyone! Welcome to yet again another edition of Friday Reads! This week's first entry is another recommendation by the quite awesome Alyssa from The Eater of Books, and one that had been on my TBR list for quite a while, and as such is part of my 2014 TBR Pile Challenge!

Insomnia by J.R. Johansson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was a very interesting read! I had it in my TBR list for a while, and when I got approved for the sequel in NetGalley I knew it was the right quick to get to reading it already!

Insomnia is the story of Parker, a teenager that cannot sleep, he doesn't have his own dreams, he ends up inhabiting the dreams of whomever he made eye contact last. No sleep is taking a horrible physical toll on him, and a mental one too, since he hasn't told anyone around him for fear of being thought insane and sent to a padded room. It all changes when he meets a girl with different dreams, the kind of dreams that allow him to sleep for the first time in forever. But instead of things getting better for him, it all starts going downhill from there.

This book was fantastic at building the suspense and to make me feel all the creepy-ness in it! I could really feel for Parker and how he suffers, how torn he is about all his choices. His descent into certain degree on madness and obsession is written so well that you feel like you're going downwards with him!

The other characters were also great, I loved Finn as main sidekick/best friend/comic relief, he never felt like an add-on but always had a voice that served as a contrast of normalcy with Parker's increasing otherness. Mia was a great character, even if at first we aren't sure how important she'll really be. Addie is a bit of an odd one here, she's Finn's sister and Parker seems to have a crush on her, but we never really get to know her too much or feel for her much until the very end.

The mystery and the twists in the book were fantastic, but the one thing that annoyed me and that actually costed this book one star was the lack of answers we get. We only know what Parker has somewhat figured out about his "curse" or "ability" and although we suspect something bigger is at stake and we're even teased at and hinted at more answers coming we are not given any in this book, and that really irked me!

This was a very engaging book that kept absorbed and intrigued, turning page after page, and I give it well deserved 4 stars. I'm only annoyed at the lack of answers by the end of the book about the bigger picture! Hopefully I'll get some of them in the sequel!



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Ink & Batter #3: The Ring And The Crown by Melissa De La Cruz!!

For this third week of Ink & Batter I'm making cupcakes inspired solely on the cover of a book! It is a book I do not own yet, so it's a book I haven't read. But I got it suggested to me, and just by looking at the cover, I had the perfect inspiration for making some decorated cupcakes: The Ring And The Crown by Melissa de la Cruz!

Since Becca has already done this cover for her Cover Puppies already, go check it out HERE! Ain't Gentry perfectly cute with her flower crown?? 

Here's the cover you can all oooh and aaaahhh at it, and tell me if you like my cupcakes take on it!

And now, onto the cupcakes!

For these decorations I decided to go for the flowers that make up the crown in the cover, so I made some stenciled ones and some with fondant in reds and oranges and one purple. The liners were gifted to me by a good friend a lil back, and being light blue with flowers and with a whimsical feeling I felt they were perfect! The buttercream was once again done with two colours to achieve the double tones of pink of the cover.

As for the recipe, I tweaked my mango lassi recipe and made it with strawberries (since they're in season) and made a buttercream with a Romanian cherry liquor gifted to us by my next door Romanian neighbours. That yummy liquor was what inspired the recipe as much as the book inspired the decorations!

What say you? Did I success with my recreation despite not having read the book? Hope you'll like them!

Stay tuned for more Ink & Batter cupcakes next week!

Waiting On Wednesday #43!!

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-while-waiting-for this week? The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings!

Goodreads Summary:

"An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?

Action-packed, blood-soaked, and chilling, this is a dark and compelling debut novel by Lindsay Cummings."


Why am I eagerly awaiting The Murder Complex? I love dystopians, this one sounds like a thrilling and action packed one, and it's one of my most anticipated debuts of the year! I'm even more excited after having seen some really positive early reviews, so I cannot wait till this one is in my hands!

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