Friday Reads: The Forgetting & Stalking Jack The Ripper!!!

Hello there guys!

Friday is here and with it a pair of more mini reviews for Friday Reads of some of my highly awaited ARCs that I got from BEA, and that will totally count towards my ARC August Challenge pile!!

The Forgetting was a book that I was pretty excited about because it sounded fantastic, I had read Sharon Cameron's books and really enjoyed all of them, and that coverrr! And after I read Alyssa's review, I knew I had to grab it and read it ASAP, so it ended up being my Alyssa Recommends book for August!


The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Forgetting is one of those books that starts a bit slow, with very few details and knowledge at first but not in frustrating way, given how forgetting and not knowing anything beyond the most recent 12 years before another Forgetting is the way people live in this world Sharon Cameron has created.

The writing was amazing and by going with Nadia's POV we both know what goes outside and inside of her head, because she's quite a silent one but there's so much going on in her head all the time! I loved how her bright self started poking out from the shell all through the book and she has a really fantastic character development!

She was so ready to fight for her family and to give them the best chance of being together and save in the next Forgetting and that plan changes and evolves as she finds out more about what's really going on on her partnetship with Gray.

Gray was also a very interesting character, one that at first is coloured by Nadia's memories and that seems to have two faces, depending on what memories Nadia focuses on. He really grew on me and I was glad that Nadia continued to keep him as an ally even when some revelations came up.

The world building was simply fantastic, starting with so little and making it grow and grow with little hints here and there and then finally more explanations and revelations, but they really did not shape the book so much as the choices the mains characters and the secondary ones had to make.

The biggest strenght of this book is not the amazing world building, the fantastic writing or the brilliant character development but the way all of it came together and shined when the hard questions were asked and how the book simply gives us so much to think on the choices made and what might have changed and which one would really be the right choice and if there's such a thing for everyone.

Science fiction with dystopian feelings, this brilliant standalone book will keep you guessing all through the pages and will leave you with plenty of food for thought for days after you've read it! 4.5 to 5 stars!!


Stalking Jack The Ripper is a story that I discovered through my dear friend Cassi from My Thoughts Literary and I was beyond pumped to get me a signed ARC copy at BEA and to meet the absolutely lovely and wonderful Kerri Maniscalco!


 Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Brilliantly done!! The pacing, the atmosphere, the setting, the characters and the mystery, so well done!! I fell for the main red herring just has my dear Audrey Rose did, but I managed to guess the identity of Jack the Ripper before her, so I'm feeling quite happy with myself!! What an absolutely wonderful debut!!

I absolutely adored that Audrey Rose was struggling with keeping with what she loved and wanted to do, societal conventions be damned, but at the same time was trying not to worry her brother was trying to keep appearances to a point, but it all changes once things get really dire and when she starts suspecting her own blood of being involved in the cases she's dealing with.

I've always been fascinated by Jack The Ripper and all the theories about his identity and the mystery of who he could have been and what his motivations were? And in this book Kerri Maniscalco does a great job of presenting us a theory that works so great with the characters she's created and although it tweaks the actual events a lil, it could really have worked well in the time and place!

I loved how Audrey Rose was both intellectual and proving that she was not a fainting delicate rose but at the same time didn't need to lose her love for dresses or fashion, even if she was not keen on sticking with the strict society rules when it came to women.

Kerri's writing was very atmospheric and rich in details that really immersed you in the narrative and did not bog down the plot progress or the character development. She really made me hungry with all the talk about desi food and now thinking about it I'm once again having serious cravings!

The relationship between Audrey and Thomas was both intriguing, maddening and a lot of fun! They challenge each other in many ways and Thomas is both an intellectual in a rather Sherlockian way but at the same time, he's a bit of a rake and a flirt, so quite fun to read about!

With a rather emotional ending that I managed to guess a lil before it was revealed and still getting enough resolution to not leave us twitching, I'm so very looking forward to more installments into this companion series in which we'll follow Audrey and Thomas in more murder-solving adventures!

ARC August is HERE again!!

My beloved friends Octavia & Shelly from Read Sleep Repeat are once again organizing ARC August!! The month to stop and catch up with all your various ARCs before they get too out of control!

The good thing about ARC August is that both physical and digitals ARCs count, so I can finally allow myself to tackle my ARCs from BEA as well as focus on some backlogged Netgalley ARCs that will also count towards my Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge!

My goal for ARC August is to tackle all the September ARCs I got from BEA (that'd be a total of 7, if I don't read any from that pile during July) and then 3 or 4 backlogged eARC from NetGalley.

My tentative list:

BEA ARCs

- Stalking Jack the Ripper
- Three Dark Crowns
- Metaltown
- The Female of the Species
- A Shadow Bright & Burning
- Vassa in the Night
- The Forgetting

And eARCs:

- Warrior Witch
- Wild Swans
- Tell The Wind & Fire
- Unicorn Tracks

Wish me luck guys! I hope I will do better than my major fail this past ARC April!!

Saturday Pages: DNF Review for Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman.

Hello there guys!

Happy weekend! I hope you guys are having a great weekend, all I'm hoping is for a pair of quiet shifts at work, because at least I have awesome co-workers for the weekend!

For today's Saturday Pages I have a DNF review... I have a hard time not finishing books, but I'm learning to let go of those that really don't grab me enough, so I can focus on the next one that I might just LOVE!

 

Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known: Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series


DNF Review:

I was quite excited to read this one because Alexander the Great is quite a favourite historical character of mine, and the Alexandros series by Valerio Massimo Manfredi is one of my favourite historical fiction series! 

That one is NOT YA and this book is, and I hope that I was not drawing unconscious comparisons mentally while reading, because that wouldn't have been fair to the book... 

I read till 48% of the book, stopped... and didn't feel like getting back to it at all. I sort of wanted to know what happened, but I just didn't want to grab the book again AT ALL. And that's a sign that I needed to DNF for sure.

My first issue with the book was the multiple POVs. I don't always enjoy multiple POVs, but there are books that I've loved to bits and the different POVs have not been a hindrance for the plot or the storytelling, but here... we jumped from one POV to the next with very little information about what would tie them all together, or where the story was going. And when we did, we got the information repeated in various POVs...  And by halfway through the book I wasn't sure of the relevance of some of the POVs to the story overall... Somehow I barely cared about the different characters and I didn't find them compelling.

The plot... we get too many unsubtle hints about some things and at the same time, we have no idea why the different POVs matter or how they will combine to form a coherent plot... 

I liked that it seemed to be a mix of historical fiction and fantasy, but the writing and the character progresion (or lack thereof) really were off putting for me. I just didn't care enough!

So, if I had to sum up my review for this book in one word and the reason why I DNFed it?: MEH!


Now, for something different I leave you with Iron Maiden's Alexander The Great! An epic song that tells the whole story much better than this book would in about 8 minutes!

 

Friday Reads: ARC Review of Into The Fire by Manda Scott!!

Hey guys, happy Friday!

Today I know it's a rather somber day specially to all my US friends so I'm sending loads of love to everyone that was touched by tragedy that day.

For this week's Friday Reads I have an ARC that was on my late pile and that I read for ARC August!

Into The Fire by Manda Scott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What a fantastic book!

Manda Scott is the author of my of my favourite historical fiction series: Boudica, and so when I saw this book up for request on Netgalley I was really excited to see a book about Jeanne of Arc, decided to read it closer to release day and next time I saw it, I thought it was a dystopian YA and postponed reading it until I properly checked the book and remembered which one it was... I blame my mind gone nuts with my moving!

I usually love a good mix of historical fiction and alternative (slightly conspiracy theorist) theories with a good foundation in history! The dual narrative at the time of the Maid and then in the present time complemented each other greatly, both building on each other towards the discovery of the intended truth and both keeping me turning pages anxiously!

One of the two narratives is on present time, with Capitaine Ines Picault trying to uncover and apprehend the perpetrators of arson attacks on the city of Orleans, claimed by an Islamist terrorist group via phone calls. But things get more dire when a body is discovered is one of the fires and while investigating it seems that Ines' past and present might be more than relevant to the case.

The second narrative is the historical fiction one, and deals with the rise and fall of the Maid of Orleands, and it's from the POV of Thomas, English spy trying to discover the truth about Jeanne to bring her downfall.

Both narratives are connected by the Maid of Orleans and the mystery of who she really was, if she really was just a peasant girl from Domremy that happened to ride and joust like a knight or if there was someone else behind the Jeanne of Arc name. And this kind of mysteries, where we take a different look at an established historical fiction account that doesn't seem to be based on many facts and take a look at the story with a least miracle-inclined eye, are something I simply love to bits.

Ines is a fantastic character, a captain of the police and one that is resented by some of her colleagues, but that focuses on doing her job the best she can. Her personal circumstances with the family connections and power plays added quite an interesting twist to the already captivating mystery of the arsons and the murder and the motives and discovering what they might have to do with the identity of the Maid.

Thomas was a very interesting character too, changing names and personas from English to French side, being a spy and finding himself with unexpected sympathies for the side that he's intent on bringing down.

The Maid is also an extremly interesting character, full of love for France and a woman that acted like a knight while pretending to be a poor, illiterate maid from Domremy. I found this characterization so refreshing, seeing her fighting amongst the men and directing the fight with a knowledge of strategy, a woman in a position of power unheard of at the time! And with a much believable explanation that just the one that made her a saint, after being burnt at the stake by the same church. Is it the truth? Probably not, does it make more sense than the usual miracle-filled story? Quite so!

If you like historical fiction and strong female characters, look no further! I'm kicking myself for not reading this one earlier! Very much deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one!




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Mark This Book Monday: Tonight The Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales

Hiya guys! Happy Monday!

In my case it's Buying Groceries Monday because I still need to stock up in a lot of things since I just moved to my apartment last week. And to add some motivation to the grocery shopping after night shift I'm also buying ingredients to make ice cream! Mmmmm, ice cream!!

For this week's Mark This Book Monday I have the last book that I read as part of ARC August and one of the ARCs that I got at BEA'15! Since it is a YA contemporary I'm counting it towards that category for the 105 Challenge!

Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Another unconventional coming of age story about a girl learning who she is and finding her worth not definying herself in relation to others.

Unfortunately I couldn't relate as much to Arden as I would have liked, and when you can't relate with the main character the emotional connection with the book diminishes, and since I'm a gut-feeling kind of girl when it comes to rating, I cannot give this one more than a 3 stars.

Characters are very well written and realistic, complex and with good and bad things. The relationships between friends and family are also complex and feel real. Friends are there for each other, but also resent each other on occasion and feel like they matter less or underappreciated. The way that Arden deals with her mother leaving is also excellently done.

The writing was fantastic too, but that is something to be expected of Leila Sales, so even if I wasn't too keen on Arden or her story I just couldn't stop reading. Seeing Arden's growth towards the end of the book was satisfying and I also liked how the people around her shook her ideas about them and herself by the end too and how she learnt to look at herself and others in a different way.

But for most of the book I just couldn't stand Arden and the way she was handling herself or her life... I just couldn't relate to her at all, and then when we meet Peter? Nope, couldn't stand him at all either...

One of the things I loved the most about this book, as I did with TSWSYL, is that the romance is not magically fixing anything, and that it's not the most important part of the book. Growth for the characters is, figuring out who they are and who they want to be and understanding themselves and others better is.

And I think that after loving This Song Will Save Your Life so MUCH and relating so much and feeling so much for Elise, it was dissapointing to feel so contrary and so little empathy for Arden...

So yeah, clearly this was a case of "it's not me, it's you" with a book. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 because of its superbly written characters.





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Saturday Pages: ARC Review of Walk On Earth A Stranger by Rae Carson!!

Hey there guys!

It's the weekend! Well, I say so while I crash after working night shift and going grocery shopping afterwards to avoid the weekend crowds! *collapses in bed* I shall be taking a nice middle of the day nap!

But I'll leave you with a Saturday Pages review for one of the books that I read for ARC August! And it is another YA Western! I think I have a new appreciation for westerns since I really enjoyed the two that I've read, and they were quite different from each other!

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I adored Rae's Fire & Thorns trilogy so I was dying to grab her next book and when I heard it would be a western I was even more intrigued!

If any of you are wondering about similitudes with Vengeance Road, they really don't exist aside from that both are YA westerns with a female main character that disguises herself as a boy for a part of the book. The main characters couldn't be more different and so couldn't be their journey, voice or plot.

Leah can feel gold, keeping her ability secret for fear of robbery, murder or exploitation. She lives modestly with her parents, until her life is turned upside down and she must flee from a man that would use her ability for his own means.

She decides to run away and join the Golden Rush to California, hoping that her ability will help her find a new life there amidst the gold madness.

Leah's journey is one of running away a future that she doesn't want, towards the hope of a better one. But in the end the destination isn't as important as the journey itself.

Leah as Lee finds herself with a freedom that would have been unheard of and meets quite a few characters that both change her and are changed by her.

I must confess that at first I was expecting the voice of the book to be in dialect too, and at first it sounded very modern, but once I got hooked on the action and the characters' relationships and dynamics I stopped noticing if the language sounded modern or not.

The biggest strenght of this book for me is in its characters and the way their relationships change and evolve as the journey goes on. All the secondary characters had more complexity than expected at first and they keep surprising us now and then. How some accept the conventions and rules of the time, and how some of them subtly bend them to their convenience. It really irked me how some attitudes changed from being Lee to being Leah, but I was glad that she had enough allies and friends that would not change the way they treated or appreciated her no matter what she was called or if she wore skirts of pants!

The plot of the book is pretty straight forward, it's a road trip in oxen carts, looking for a chance at a better life, so it's all about the very hard journey that it is. Injuries, power plays, encounters with "Indians" that will make your blood boil for the treatment of the Native Americans, but so true for the time, and that might make us think of what has really changed from then to now.

The end of the book brings us full circle to a situation that could have been very much the same that Leah was running away from but that is completely different because of the journey she and her fellow travelers went through. I know this is the first book of a trilogy, but it could have equally been a standalone with enough resolution if a lil bit of an open ending to imagine more details of the future on our own.

Very well deserved 4 stars to this one!



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Mark This Book Monday: A Curious Tale of the In-Between and The Copper Gauntlet!!

Hello there guys!

Welcome to what I've decided to call the Middle Grade edition of this week's Mark This Book Monday!

Today I have two of my BEA ARCs that I read for ARC August up for review and for are MG books, so both count towards my MG reads category on the 105 Challenge!

 

A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm not the biggest middle grade reader ever, but I do enjoy some MG books now and then. After reading my BEA ARC of A Curious Tale of the In-Between I know I'll read any and all MG that Lauren DeStefano will write!

Pram is a lil girl that lives with her aunts at the home for the elderly that they run. She's always been special as she can see ghosts, but her aunts think that she's just peculiar and has imaginary friends, which is easier than to think she sees ghosts.

Once I started reading the book I wasn't sure what to expect because I had not re-read the summary since I added the book to my TBR GR list and my BEA list.

But I really enjoyed reading about Pram and how despite being peculiar and not wanting to be someone that she isn't she makes a friend when she goes to school, but she also tries to keep her friendship with ghostly Felix. Clarence and Pram help each other with their own issues that they feel adults can't or won't help.

I was quite intrigued when I saw where the book went with the ghosts storyline and how it was great in terms of world building but also character development, not just for Pram. Villains are not just black and white, even if their actions are despicable enough.

I really don't want to say much about that part, because it is heartbreaking and kept me quite on my toes and turning the pages fast, it's my fave part of the book and I think I enjoyed it as much as I did because I had no idea what to expect from it!

The ending of the book had enough closure to make it a story unto itself but it also left enough open for more of Pram and Clarence and Felix adventures and I cannot wait to read the sequel, which I hope it'll be equally as creepy, disquieting, heartwarming and endearing as this one! Well deserved 4 stars for this one!




The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I enjoyed reading the first Magisterium book last year, so when I had the chance to grab an ARC of The Copper Gauntlet at BEA this year I didn't hesitate!

As in The Iron Trial we find ourselves with characters and situations that might remind us of other stories at first sight, three friends, a magic school, a connection between the bad guy and one of our heroes... does it ring a bell? Well, this book did it again, and took things in the most unexpected and unfamiliar direction you could expect.

Callum finds himself in an even worse situation than he did in the first book, because he has a big secret to keep about himself, one that makes hum doubt his every choice, and not only that but he suspects his dad is no longer on his corner.

Aaron and Tamara continue to be his friends and partners in crime (and escaping from home and the Magisterium and fighting unexpected Elementals... you know, the usual!) but they find themselves facing a few issues about trust and priorities that end up with Cal and Tamara butting heads.

I was quite surprised about the final showdown and how it was resolved, but also glad for how the auhors once again went for the less expected course of action. I might have not connected with this book as much as I would have liked, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless and will be looking forward to the sequel. 3 to 3.5 stars.



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ARC August: Final week recap!!

Hey there guys!

I've just returned from a weekend at the cottage so it's time to get on with my final ARC August recap!

How did I do this week? Well, not too impressively, I must confess... I only read one ARC and as it was, I just needed to finish it because I had started it last weekend.

But by finishing the ARC of Tonight The Streets Are Ours I did manage to achieve one of my main ARC August goals, that was reading all the Sept releases ARCs that I got at BEA! Hooray!

As far as to get to 80% ratio on Netgalley, I did achieve it! YAY! But it bloody well only lasted for a day or two because since I have ZERO self control, I requested a bunch of book, were approved for a few and not I'm back at 77%! Bad Pili, BAD!

All in all, I'd say this edition of ARC August was a success and I want to thank Octavia and Shelly for once again organizing and hosting it! You ladies rock!!

Friday Reads: Firewalker by Josephine Angelini and The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts!!

Happy Friday guys!

I've been reading loads as of late, which is great of course, but I've been really remiss at writing reviews, and now I have a backlog of reviews to write and publish, but hopefully I'll manage to sort that out!

I'm starting with two reviews for this week's Friday Reads! I'm having an ARC review that counts towards my ARC August goals first!

Firewalker by Josephine Angelini

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Last year I read and loved Trial by Fire, so getting my hands on an early copy of Firewalker was one of my top priorities at BEA, the fact that I met the author and got a signed ARC were one of my highlights of the event!

Firewalker starts pretty much where Trial of Fire left us, and so you might expect some spoilers for the first book in this review but I will try my best to avoid spoilers for this one.

Lily and Rowan are back in Lily's own universe and her own version of Salem, having escaped Lillian... more or less. Being back means having to deal with the consequences of her disappearance and having to explain a lot of things to her family and friends, the first one Rowan and her burns, even if her mum does help with everything in very unexpected ways.

But the respite of reality does not last long, and Lily find herself facing some really tough choices and keeping secrets from everyone, even from Rowan, which she knows is a very bad idea, but once started doesn't how to stop or explain.

Firewalker was a brilliant sequel because it takes us in a direction we really weren't expecting to go, with Lilly finding herself a new coven and being able to be who she really is with her family and friends.

We learn more about Lillian and her motivations for her despicable actions, and although we might still not agree with her genocide and killings, we do understand better her reasons and the fear behind what she's doing. Things stop being clearly black and white for Lily and for us, and she has to make her choices in what's clearly more in the grey spectrum and finds herself having to choose between the lesser of two evils. And she finds herself keeping more and more secrets, some with the power to break those she love.

But Lily proves that she's herself and not Lillian, no matter how she can understand the tough choices she made, and she finds herself trying to find an answer to the Woven to try and save Lillian's Salem and that reality from turning into a cinder world with her friends and some of her old allies, but not all of them.

Firewalker has plenty of new information, loads of unexpected twists and some hints at even more baffling reveals to come. Plenty of heartbreak and jarring revelations. The world building is expanded in many ways, the characters are challenged in different ways, the plot moves forward in unexpected ways and we are never sure what will happen next.

The ending was shocking, heartbreaking and a proper game changer and although I'm not a fan of cliffhangers, I have to say that Josephine Angelini really managed to left me both speechless and excited, shocked and intrigued and quite a bit shaken!




And then as my second Friday Reads review, I have August's book for The Midnight Garden Classic MG & YA challenge!

The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This month I read the #tmgreadalong book on time and I really enjoyed it!
I keep on thinking how much I would have liked to have read this one as a young girl and how I would have dreamed that I could also move things with my mind, like Katie does.

Katie has just moved into a new place with her mum and she's having to adapt to the new place and living with her mother and a new place and new people. Something that might be hard for any kid, but Katie has never been a normal kid, and adults tend to be wary of her.

She finds herself dealing with unwanted babysitters, nice neighbours and others that are certified jerks and she makes some friends, and finds some acceptance to her oddity but still finds herself very much alone.

It was hard for me to read about how alone Katie really was, not able to confide in her mother or having her support, but instead feel like she was judged weird and held at arms lenght. She entertained herself and even if she tried to hide how she was "peculiar", she still felt like she shouldn't have to be ashamed of it.

I loved to see how resourceful she was once she found a hint of answers for her being different and how determined she was to finding someone else that would maybe be like her and would understand how she felt.

Seeing Katie use her powers for both good and mischief was a lot of fun, and I kept rooting for her to get rid of the babysitters and instead hang out with her neighbour, who would lend her books and was kind and understanding for a change. And once more silver eyes enter the fray, it was a lot of fun to see them understanding each other and working together.

It was quiter heartwarming seeing Katie's mum proving herself reliable and a better mother figure than appearances led us to believe at first, even if something dramatic had to happen to shake her into it.

All in all, a great read, both fun and with enough depth to hold its own well with younger and older readers alike! Well deserved 4 stars!



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ARC August: Third Week Recap!

Hey guys!

This post should have been done yesterday, since it's the recap for last week and all that, but since I was unplugged at the cottage, it'll have to be done a day later!

Clearly I do much better with my reading when I don't get distracter with Twitter and logging my reading progress on GR, so whenever I need to kick the TBR pile real good, I need to pack my books and head off for the cottage!

I finished Into The Fire before going to the cottage and I hope to review it soon! While at the cottage I read A Curious Tale of the In Between, Firewalker, Walk on Earth a Stranger and started Tonight The Streets Are Ours! (I also finished one book and read another two, but they are finished copies and therefore don't count towards this challenge).

Now... now I need to get my arse in gear and WRITE ALL THE REVIEWS!!

How did you guys do??

ARC August: Second Week Recap!

Hey guys! Welcome to my recap of the second week of ARC August!

This week I haven't done as well as I would have wanted, but being the mood reader than I am, I got through two re-reads and read a newly released book and started another... and so I only finished two ARCs, one physical : The Copper Gauntlet, the review will be up tomorrow and an eARC: The Bollywood Bride, review HERE.

I gave up on Legacy of Kings so I've DNFed that one, and will write a short DNF review after its release. Now I've started two ARCs and I hope to finish them early next week: A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano and Into The Fire by Manda Scott!

Into The Fire is one of my backlogged ARCs and I cannot believe I had forgotten about it because it's an adult historical fiction mixed with actual events novels by an author I love and I'm completely immersed in the book now!

Let's hope my mood reading is better and I can get through more ARCs since I'll be spending a few days at the cottage!

How did you guys do this week?

Saturday Pages: ARC Review of A Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev!!!

Hey there guys!

Happy Saturday! I came back from spending a pair of days (mostly) unplugged at my parents' cottage, getting loads of puppy love, getting pampered by my mum and watching shooting stars at night with my mum and bro. And reading, loads of reading! Less ARCs than I should have, but I despite my best intentions, I'm always a mood reader at heart!

Still I managed to read a pair of ARCs and start another, and one of them is the one I'm reviewing today for this week's Saturday Pages, counting it towards my ARC August challenge and also since it is a diverse read, towards my 105 Challenge!

The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read and loved Sonali's debut last year so when I heard about her next book coming out this year I knew I had to read it! Of course I did a lil jig when I got approved for it on NetGalley by the publisher and after reading it I already have it preordered for myself and for my ex didi.

Ria's story is not an easy one, given what a traumatic past she had to deal with and what she fears will be the sure consequences to her future. She's carved herself a career on Bollywood and she keeps everyone away from her. But when her cousin calls her and begs her to attend her wedding, she feels like she needs to go and be there for the family that loves her, and after a potential scandal, leaving Mumbai for Chicago seems like the best option.

While I don't know all that much about the insides of the world of Bollywood, I have been treated as part of an Indian family both in India and in the US, and reading this book felt like being back there. The descriptions are effortless and vivid and the relationships between the characters always so well developed!

Ria is a very complex character with many different sides to her, and we can very well see them at play when she is just Ria with her family, to when we see her as Ria Parkar, the film star. She's both strong and enormously fragile, always battling with herself and trying to get through everything on her own. I wanted her to finally allow others to help her and seeing how hard her path was through it all really made my heart ache!

The romance here was particularly heartbreaking because of the history between Vikram and Ria and how meeting again after ten years there's a lot of pain and anger and suffering but still an undeniable chemistry and a knowing about each other that was painful to read about. I don't know if it'll be as painful for other people as it was for me, but the emotions jump out of the pages!

Mental health and the stigma still associated to mental health illnesses is also a big component of the book. Ria's life has been defined by that stigma and it's what continue to define how she sees herself and how she shapes her future.

A fantastic book with a wonderfully complex romance and a lot of depth. Bravo Sonali Dev! Very well deserved 5 stars!



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Friday Reads: ARC Review of Beastly Bones by William Ritter!!

Hey there!

Friday is here once again and I'm back from the cottage to get ready to go back to work this weekend, but at least I have some awesome co-workers this weekend, which is always a relief, and even more during the summer months!

For this week's Friday Reads I have another ARC review for ARC August and one that I hope it'll help reach the ever-ellusive 80% ratio on Netgalley!

Beastly Bones: A Jackaby Novel by William   Ritter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After reading and loving Jackaby last year, I was thrilled to be approved by Algonquin books via NetGalley!

This book is also from Abigail's POV and it starts like any other day in the life of our paranormal investigators, with an intriguing and strange case of dangerous but apparently fluffy kittens.

And with such an intriguing but mostly harmless case we start and things get more intriguing and more dire once there's a murder and then they're hired by the police to help on the investigation because there's been another similar murder at the village where a certain handsome and somewhat canine policeman was destined after the events of the previous book.

We meet a peculiar friend of Jackaby's that has a special love for "unique" creatures and a whole new cast of characters quite distinctive all of them! Some a bit more exagerated than others but not to the point of being ridiculous, even if it was rather humorous at times!

Abigail gets to be more than just Jackaby's assistant because she gets her time to shine when it comes to her passion: paleontology! The murder happened close to a dig with an amazing dinosaur discovery and things start getting more and more mysterious and it seems like they might be related somehow.

I love how Abigail worries about her feelings for Charlie and if acting on them would end up cutting down the freedom she fought so hard for, to the point of crossing the Atlantic on her own. And I loved how Jackaby's reactions and advice were odd but somewhat on point (rather reminded me of the Tenth Doctor in those moments, with a lil of 11th too!).

So threads seemed to be unconnected: Jenny's acting unusually ghoulish, the strange kittens, and odd man that Abigail sees twice, the whole murders case...

It was a super fast read and I was never bored but I did get a bit frustrated because I felt that they took too long to put two and two together and I had guessed something rather big quite early on, although I had not guessed exactly who or how was responsible for it.

I was extremely excited about the end because it opens rather epic possibilities for the next book! A mastermind behind paranormal cases! Jenny's case! Cannot wait!

Well deserved 3.5 stars for this one! Quite recommended to those who want something that mix urban fantasy with historical fiction!



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Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of A Riot of Storm And Smoke by Jennifer Ellision!!!

Hello there people!

Today is a new week and one of those Mondays after working the weekend, so nothing much is different for me!

I'm hoping to get some quiet time to read at the cottage during this week since I work the weekend once again... On the bright side that'll mean a lil extra on my next pay check, which will be highly welcome!

For this week's Mark This Book Monday I have an ARC of a book that I have been eagerly awaiting and when the author asked if I wanted to get I'm surprised she didn't go deaf from my squealing... I guess she's like she lives in Florida!

As an ARC it is part of ARC August and as a fantasy book it'll also count towards my 105 Challenge!

Riot of Storm and Smoke by Jennifer Ellision

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What a fantastic middle book! It's got everything that a second book in a trilogy should have: plot development, action, character development, new conflicts and new characters!

Riot of Storm and Smoke starts right were Threats of Sky and Sea left us, but Jennifer does a very good of jogging our memory to bring us up to speed with lil nudges here and there, but nothing too repetitive that could bother someone binge reading the books.

The book is told in (mostly) alternating dual POVs, Bree and Caden's, and it manages to be distinct enough and to move along the plot, showing us what is going on both sides.

Bree is on the run with her friends and she's keeping quite a few secrets from them, which usually isn't the wisest course of action, but give the situation, I cannot really blame her for trying to figure out things on her own and trying to clutch to the last vestiges of her old life, even if she knows nothing is as she once believed. She's struggling with all the revelations and it shows in her grasp of her power.

Scaping the king will prove difficult enough even with the Underground's help and at every step of their way there's a new difficulty and we get quite a few surprises! We even meet some unexpected allies and an enemy comes back in a very different way winning a measure of reception even!

Kaden's side is no less painful and worrisome to read and although he grows a lot as a character, he is also dealing with some deep worries that sometimes hinder his ultimate goals of freeing his country and doing what's best for his people. His search for allies is not without even more danger than Bree's flight but he also finds himself with a loyal ally and friend that also has enough sass to keep him in check! I adored Lilia's names for him!

There's a lot of tension in the book, with a few more calm moments now and then that simply lull you into a feeling okay before some new worrisome twist is sprang on you! And the ending? Well, talk about an explosive climax in more ways than one! And yes, it does end in a cliffhanger!! BUT it's the exciting kind of cliffhanger, one that leaves you excited and making grabby hands for the next book, but not one that leaves you screaming in frustration!

A fantastic second book very much deserving of 4.5 stars!



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ARC August: First week recap!

Once again I joined ARC August hosted by the lovely ladies of Read Sleep Repeat and this is my first recap post to keep myself accountable!

Between work and my apartment stuff related, I'm not reading as much as I hoped, but on this first week I've focused on reading eARCs, to try and get on with the ever ellusive 80% on NetGalley! I'm happy to report that right now I am at 79%! NEARLY THERE!!

I finished two eARCs this week, Fated by Sarah Fine that I reviewed HERE and Beastly Bones by William Ritter, which will be reviewed next week on the blog.

I've also got two other eARCs started, Riot of Storm & Smoke by Jennifer Ellision that I hope to finish today itself (and hopefully have up for review on Monday) and Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman that I hope to return to at some point and not just give up on... I'm currently at 43% but not too invested, too many POVs seem to be a problem for me...

For week 2 I plan to focus on physical ARCs, and since I'll be gone to my parents cottage for a few days next week, no distractions will mean loads of reading time, or so I hope!

I'll be back next Sunday for another recap!

Saturday Pages: ARC Review of Fated by Sarah Fine!!!

Happy Saturday guys!

I hope you're weekend is being quite fantastic, I'm only hoping that things won't be too terribly busy at work and that I can get some quiet reading time tonight!

For this week's Saturday Pages I have an ARC review that I was supposed to leave for later in the month but thanks to miss Alyssa from The Eater of Books I ended up devouring in one day!

It's my first full ARC read and reviewed for ARC August! and since there's quite a lot of Greek mythology involved in this one (with the three Fates and all) it'll also count towards my 2015 Mythology Reading Challenge!

Fated by Sarah Fine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Servants of Fate books were my first contact with Sarah Fine's books and I couldn't have chosen a better gateway because I've loved them all, and now I want to read all of Sarah's books!

That said, this one has to be my favourite book of the trilogy and an absolutely perfect and brilliant ending for it!

When I finished reading Claimed I suspected and hoped that the final book would be about Jason Moros and Aislin Ferry and when it was confirmed, I was both very happy and intrigued! None of them had seemed easy characters to like or understand in the previous books, even if Moros had a certain charm to him, if he seemed unreliable and dangerous.

But from the first moment we see things from their POVs things quickly change on our perception. Aislin is not the seemly cold and ambitions person we thought on Marked, but someone that is fully dedicated to protecting her family and to do what's necessary to keep humanity safe too. She knows how to handle power and how to hold it and use it, thankfully for the right cause! I loved that she allowed herself to lose control here and there and that her feelings towards her family are showcased so strongly too!

And Jason Moros... oh dear, I have massive crush on the personalization of Death ladies and gents! From his worry about his sisters (the three Fates) to his growing devotion to Aislin and how determined he was to fight Chaos no matter what! I loved how he proved that he was not just worried about keeping himself in business so-to-speak but he had the well being of his Keres very much in mind. And he's ready to fight for what's right even if no one expected him to!

One word of warning, this is a fantastic book, but not an easy one to read sometimes, because there are some tough bits, with Aislin suffering at the hands of Moros' other siblings (Lies, Strife and Vengenace) and with things getting really dire and with very little hope of a HEA, you might need a lil breather now and then while reading, just be sure to persevere!

Not only we are fighting for Aislin to keep the Ferries under control and supporting her for whe she'll have to face the Keepers but we also continue with some fantastic world building by visiting yet another realm that could not be more diffent from what we've seen so far!

I'm having a very hard time trying to review this and not spoil anything (anymore than I could possibly have done already!) but this was such a fantastic book and even if I got a few suspicions on what could happen in the end, I was still surprised that it happened the way it did!

I give up, just... READ THIS! IT WAS BRILLIANT! Very much deserved 4.5 stars to this one!!



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ARC August is back and I'm totally signing up for it again!!

Hey there guys!!

Once again the amazing ladies at Read Sleep Repeat are doing ARC August (for the third year!!) and I do plan to once again, sign up for it!!

You might be asking, what is ARC August? Well, I'm gonna let the mighty Octavia explain it to you, words taken right out of her blog:

"For those of you new to RSR let me explain ARC August. And to answer your first question, no it is not a month where ARCs of you most anticipated books rain from the heavens and fall directly into your laps.

I started ARC August my first (was it really my first?!) year of blogging, as an attempt to get caught up on my ARCs and get my Netgalley ratio up since it was completely in the shitter (think 32% people) and it wasn’t changing any time soon. And, like they say, misery loves company so I invited my fellow book nerds to tackle their ratios and piles with me and it was GLORIOUS! Not only did we have fun, I really made a dent in my pile! So I’m bringing ARC August back and am inviting all of YOU to look over those ARCs and show them who’s boss."

I was so close to getting to 80% ratio on NetGalley before I had to put the blog on hiatus, so I'm hoping to get back to eARC reading and reviewing with a vengeance, so I can end the month of August with the ever ellusive 80% NG ratio! And also, I need to tackle my BEA pile of ARCs in the proper order!

That's why I'm planning to read and review all the September ARCs from the BEA pile

And I'm also planning to read another 5 eARCs that are currently in my Kindle, probably Legacy of Kings, The Veil, Beastly Bones, Lair of Dreams and at least a pair of titles that I'm late to read and review...

My goal is reading at least 10 ARCs, between physical and eARCs, and I hope to succeed! After all, once I'm done with ARC August, I'll have Queen of Shadows to read, and what better way to read it that with all the Sept ARCs read and reviewed!! No guilt!!

Are any of you guys thinking of joining ARC August? Wish me luck!!

Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley!!!

Hello guys! Happy Monday!

I work night shift today, so althought I do have to work, I get to sleep in and spent most of my day at home!
I'm starting the week for Mark This Book Monday with a tough read and a wonderful book all rolled into one, one I cannot recommend enough for everyone to read and then stop and think.

This is one book that will be better if read with someone, and that's why I'm so happy I was doing a buddy read for it with the very awesome Becca of Pivot Book Reviews and Pivot Book Totes! You can read her review of the book HERE.

I got approved for it by Harlequin Teen that are usually wonderful to me like that via NetGalley! As an ARC it is part of my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge and also my ARC August challenge!

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was one tough book to read, at least the first third of the book was extremely heartbreaking to read. But, this is one of those books that I think everyone needs to read, we all need a reminder about what the perpetuated lies and standards of "us vs them" really are.

This a great example that if we are looking for diverse reads they are out there, this is historical fiction set in more modern times, of the long and very tough journey of integration.

The story is told from two points of view: Sara, the black girl that is for the first time enrolling into an all white school; and Linda, the white girl whose father is the main opposer of integration and equality in their town, and the more vocal, given that he runs the local paper.

The book starts with Sarah's POV, and there was a point I wasn't sure I could continue reading. The amount of hate and humiliating stuff they go through was upseting, saddening, maddening and made my blood boil. I was feeling as anxious and my heart rate got higher with the tension and anxiety that Sarah went through. Really amazing how the narrative made me feel so much!

Then we switch to Linda's POV and we see things from her side, and lil by lil see her thinking for herself and finding out that maybe those beliefs she thought she had weren't so right or as strong as she thought they were. It was a fantastic example of how reality differs from theory and how when "them" as an abstract entity becomes a real human being in front of you, the differences are not so big.

This book is mainly about the differences or lack thereof about being black or white, but then adds yet another layer and it can be just about being different in a way that society as a whole, or a chunk of society seems to disapprove of, for no other reason than being different, fear and hate just turning it into an " us vs. them" fight once again.

Hope and finding the right way to live life the way you want to, making sure you don't have to hurt others but not letting them making your choices for you would be the very positive message by the end of the book. So be warned but not be discouraged at all, this is a must read of a book! 4 to 5 stars for this one, I can't seem to be able to pick a rating for it!



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ARC August Update Week #3!!

Well, I'd say this week I didn't do as well as I would have wanted for my ARC August challenge, but I am hoping I'll be able to give it a final push next week and reach my challenge goals and complete all the books I had added!

This week I didn't manage to read too many books as it is, so I only read 2 ARCs and one of them is a novella... but I also have another 2 ARCs started, so I'm hoping to finish another one tonight itself!

Hopefully I can finish those two ARCs and hopefully another 2 more next week to reach my challenge goals, but we'll see cause I have a cupcakes order to fill on my days off!

Saturday Pages: Mini reviews of Outcast & Swamp Bones!!

Hello guys!

This week's Saturday Pages is happening a lil latter than usual, but they almost didn't happen... I was extremely tired last night and went to sleep without having any posts ready and today I woke up feeling rather tired still, but I decided to still manage to crank up a pair of novellas reviews that I had pending!

One of them is a novella that I got this week on NetGalley so it will totally count for my ARC August list!

 Swamp Bones: A Novella by Kathy Reichs

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I've always been a big of both this series by Kathy Reichs and Bones the tv series (at least till I lost interest once the drama got a bit too much for me) even if they were rather different. I had forgotten a bit about the books till I saw this novella on NetGalley and realized I had missed reading one book and there was another coming! So I just got the previous book to this one and preordered the next!

Swamp Bones is a novella that can be read without having read all the Tempe Brennan books since it's a story on its own, but I don't think it's the best of the Tempe stories either.

But even as one of the weakest stories in the mystery sense of the murder(s) to be solved, cause there was a point were the suspect was pointed at too easily, so much that I was expecting it to be a red herring, the story was always fascinating because of the way the science is weaved in. Even if most of the science was about pythons in this one, and snakes are one of my few irrational fears!

Tempe can be a bit too rash and impulsive and given some of the bad situations that has got her into in the past, it makes me wonder why she doesn't seem to learn given how intelligent a character she is. I guess we all have our flaws, and hers is being a bit rash and overly optimistic on outcomes.

All in all, a good enough novella that really got me in the mood to read more Tempe Brennan books! 3 stars to this one (for the too obvious resolution).




Outcast by C.J. Redwine

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Outcast is the very much awaited novella featuring our dear Quinn and his sister Willow's story before they meet Rachel and Logan and become allies. This is the story of why Quinn understands how broken Rachel can be and how both he and his sister got exiled from their tribe and came to meet Rachel's dad.

Quinn has always been a very interesting character and we knew there was a lot more to his past than what he himself or his sister had revealed before, both about what caused their exile and why Quinn refused to kill when fighting and in this novella, we find out exactly how horrible their childhood was being trained to be killers with the excuse of being defenders, and how abusive their relationship with their father was.

We see Quinn from feeling like what they're doing is wrong, to finding the strenght to face his father and try to put a stop to his madness when he thinks of protecting his sister and finds an unexpected ally on Rachel's father when Jared stumbles onto the village's perimeter trying to hide from Rowansmark agents.

For a short novella this one packs a really emotional punch and we find ourselves loving and understanding much better both Quinn and Willow and even get a lil better understanding of what a good man Rachel's dad was. One of those novellas that are a joy to read, even with the tough themes in it which earns it 5 stars.



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