Vicarious by Paula Stokes Nerd Blast: Review & Giveaway!!!

Hello there guys!!

Today I'm taking part of the Nerd Blast organized by Jean Book Nerd for Vicarious by Paula Stokes!!

I will be sharing the book trailer, my review and also there will be a giveaway at the end of the post!

Vicarious by Paula Stokes

Winter Kim and her sister, Rose, have always been inseparable. Together, the two of them survived growing up in a Korean orphanage and being trafficked into the United States. But they’ve escaped the past and started over in a new place where no one knows who they used to be.

Now they work as digital stunt girls for Rose’s ex-boyfriend, Gideon, engaging in dangerous and enticing activities while recording their neural impulses for his Vicarious Sensory Experiences, or ViSEs. Whether it’s bungee jumping, shark diving, or grinding up against celebrities at the city’s hottest dance clubs, Gideon can make it happen for you—for a price.

When Rose disappears and a ViSE recording of her murder is delivered to Gideon, Winter is devastated. She won’t rest until she finds her sister’s killer. But when the clues she uncovers conflict with the digital recordings her sister made, Winter isn’t sure what to believe. To find out what happened to Rose, she’ll have to untangle what’s real from what only seems real, risking her life in the process.

  

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

About the author:

Paula Stokes writes stories about flawed characters with good hearts. She’s the author of several novels, most recently Vicarious and Girl Against the Universe. Her writing has been translated into eleven foreign languages. Paula loves kayaking, hiking, reading, and seeking out new adventures in faraway lands She also loves interacting with readers.

Find her online at authorpaulastokes.com or on twitter as @pstokesbooks.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook 

REVIEW

 Hold on to your knickers tight guys! This one will leave your mind reeling, your heart pounding and you'll likely commit a felony to get your hands on the sequel!!

Vicarious is science fiction thriller, more mystery and thriller than science fiction, since the world is very similar to ours with advanced different technology but essentially something that feels like the world we know.

Winter and her sister Rose escaped a horrible situation and found a better life in St Louis, both of them working for their rescuer that is like family to them. It all changes when something happens to Rose and Winter decides that she needs to find out what really happened to her sister.

Vicarious is such a thrilling read! From the very action packed beginning with Winter & Jesse recording a ViSe to all the dangerous situations that Winter finds herself while looking for Rose, you can barely turn the pages fast enough! The mystery of what happened to Rose will keep you guessing and second guessing and third guessing and once again turning pages like there's no tomorrow!

Paula can write a mystery and keep you on your toes but where she really shines is in writing amazingly complex characters and their relationships. Winter and Rose, their relationship with Gideon, their rescuer and Winter's relationship with Jesse, her ViSe recording partner... They all are layered and carefully crafted, they make you feel like they're real people with complex feelings and maybe something hidden at times.

I could talk and talk at length about how fascinating I found the characters and how the book kept me guessing time and again (wrong every time) with the mystery or how I kept holding my breath in some of the action scenes, but it might lead to unwittingly reveal something that I don't want to, because Vicarious needs to be enjoyed with as little information as possible!

One last mention before I tell you to run grab it from your favourite retailer or library, it deals with some really tough subjects since Winter and Rose were sold into human trafficking as children and had to deal with very horrible situations. It's handled in an extremely respectful way and mostly just flashbacks into the sisters' relationship, but in case it's a trigger, be aware.

Very much recommended & very much deserved 5 stars!

GIVEAWAY

Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

- A signed copy of Vicarious or an ARC of the sequel, when available by Paula Stokes + Special Mystery Bookish Gifts

CLICK HERE FOR THE RAFFLECOPTER

Sunday Street Team: Outrun The Moon by Stacey Lee!!

Sunday Street Team is organized by Nori @ ReadWriteLove28. SST is a cross between a blog tour and street team for a couple different titles each month. As the title suggests, the posts go up on Sundays!

Go here to learn more about SST.


May had some really awesome authors and I'm very happy helping promote a book I am extremely excited for (and cannot wait to get my hands on!) Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee! 

I have a fantastic guest post by Stacey Lee to share with you all, as well as 3 giveaways (so don't forget to scroll down for those!) but first let me tell you about book & author!!

Outrun The Moon by Stacey Lee

San Francisco, 1906: Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong is determined to break from the poverty in Chinatown, and an education at St. Clare’s School for Girls is her best hope. Although St. Clare’s is off-limits to all but the wealthiest white girls, Mercy gains admittance through a mix of cunning and a little bribery, only to discover that getting in was the easiest part. Not to be undone by a bunch of spoiled heiresses, Mercy stands strong—until disaster strikes.

On April 18, an historic earthquake rocks San Francisco, destroying Mercy’s home and school. With martial law in effect, she is forced to wait with her classmates for their families in a temporary park encampment. Mercy can't sit by while they wait for the Army to bring help. Fires might rage, and the city may be in shambles, yet Mercy still has the 'bossy' cheeks that mark her as someone who gets things done. But what can one teenaged girl do to heal so many suffering in her broken city?

 About the author:

Stacey Lee is a fourth generation Californian with roots in San Francisco Chinatown. Born in Southern California, she graduated from UCLA then got her law degree at UC Davis King Hall.

She has lots of experience with earthquakes, having skinned her knees more times than she wants to remember diving under tables. One day she hopes to own a hypoallergenic horse and live by the sea. See what she's up to on Twitter & Instagram: @staceyleeauthor.

GUEST POST

- San Francisco, a multicultural haven of a city: Myth or reality historically speaking?

Reality! San Francisco was the main Pacific gateway into the US, as the entrance to one of the best harbors. The first settlers were Native Americans, the Ohlone Indians. Then the Spanish sailed in, establishing military settlements, and religious ones for converting the Native Americans to Catholicism. Curiosity over this new land and hunger for a piece of the pie led to more explorations by the French, the English, and the Russians, but eventually the area became part of Mexico after its independence from Spain.

Not long after independence, gold was discovered, and immigrants from all over the world headed for the gold mines of California, so gold-hungry that often sailors would just abandon their boats in the harbor because no one wanted to make the return trip home. The first significant wave of Chinese immigrants arrived during this Gold Rush of 1849.

By the time of OUTRUN THE MOON (1906), San Francisco was truly a diverse city, though folks tended lived in their own neighborhoods (not always by choice, as with the Chinese). The earthquake shook up that dynamic, at least temporarily.

 

GIVEAWAY

There are three fantastic giveaways that you can enter!!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a56222a25/" rel="nofollow" data-raflid="a56222a25" data-theme="classic" data-template="56cb42ba0990be710ccf0799" id="rcwidget_8s5o5d2s">a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Show Me San Francisco code:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a56222a23/" rel="nofollow" data-raflid="a56222a23" data-theme="classic" data-template="56cb42ba0990be710ccf0799" id="rcwidget_8oz5ux29">a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Hand Knit Shawl code:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a56222a28/" rel="nofollow" data-raflid="a56222a28" data-theme="classic" data-template="56cb42ba0990be710ccf0799" id="rcwidget_nxyq4kpv">a Rafflecopter giveaway

2016 Challenges: Diverse Reads Book Challenge hosted by Read Sleep Repeat!!

Hello there guys!

Here I am with yet another reading challenge for 2016 and this is my fifth one!! I feel like I'm getting myself into trouble with so many challenges to keep track of, but I'm hoping I can do decently well at this!

The moment I saw Shelly from Read Sleep Repeat talking about this challenge I knew I'd be joining it! The 2016 Diverse Reads Book Challenge is hosted by Read Sleep Repeat and Chasing Faerytales and it's a way to help us read more diverse books!

I'm gonna be copy-pasting all the relevant info for the challenge so I can keep it handy on my blog, but HERE is Shelly's original post, where you can also sign up for the challenge!!


The Rules:

• Read books that are diverse.
• The MC must be part of a diverse group*

Defined by We Need Diverse Books: We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities*, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.
*We subscribe to a broad definition of disability, which includes but is not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses (this may also include addiction). Furthermore, we subscribe to a social model of disability, which presents disability as created by barriers in the social environment, due to lack of equal access, stereotyping, and other forms of marginalization.

• The book can be set in a diverse setting, but not necessarily
• #Ownvoices stories (stories about marginalized groups written by a member of that marginalized group) are widely encouraged as well! Promoting diverse books by diverse authors is important.
• If the book is a fantasy it can be based on/inspired by a diverse mythology or folklore ( E.g. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh)
• If the book is a sci fi or dystopia, it has to be based on a dystopian country that’s not USA. ( E.g. Cinder by Marissa Meyer)
• Intersectionality is encouraged.
• The novels don’t have to be YA, but as we are YA bloggers, those are probably the novels we are more likely to read

The Logistics:

• This challenge will run from the 1st of January 2016 to the 31st of December 2016.
• You can join in anytime you want.
• This challenge is meant to be a personal goal challenge to help find more diverse novels and to read more diversely.
• There are no levels/points! You can read as much or as little as you’d like, this is a personal goal and is mainly individualized
• To join the challenge, add your sign up post to the link up at the bottom of the post. You can include your TBR for the challenge if you want, but it’s not a requirement. Your sign up post can be a separate post or a part of a giant list of all your 2016 reading challenges. Anything is fine.

My personal goal is going to be to read at least 24 diverse books, 2 per month! Since I can combine this with my other challenges for the year, I'm thinking it'll be rather manageable, but at the very least I plan to read 12, one per month!!

How to choose what books to read when is usually a bit complicated for me, so I'm gonna be following the guidelines & themes that they have as a sort of guide for each couple of months!:

• January-March: Ethnic diversity
• April-June: LGBTQIA+ diversity
• July-September: Religious diversity
• October-December: Mental and physical health and disabilities.               

I already have one book ready to be read in my TBR pile for this month that fits the Ethnic diversity suggestion, so I just need to check my list for another and I'll be set!

Are you joining this challenge? What books would you recommend that have ethnic diversity?

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

Mark These Books Monday: Mini Reviews for Toads & Diamonds and Soul Warrior!!

Hiya there!

Happy Cyber Monday guys! Are you doing some online shopping?? I totally plan to do so as soon as my paycheck comes in! I've been eyeing stuff for quite a while, and now that there are so interesting sales, I'm gonna indulge a lil bit! Not in books though, giving my self imposed book buying ban.

Today I'm starting the week with a mini reviews edition of Mark This Book Monday. Today I have two books that are based on mythology or folk tales, and as such both will count towards the 2015 Mythology Reading Challenge, which means I continue to improve on that already conquered challenge!

Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A gorgeous book both inside and out! With a beautiful mix of mythology and fairy tale/folk tale feel, with goddesses and gifts that could be blessings and curses.

The story is one that I think I've heard before, two girls meet a woman that is a Goddess in disguise (could be a fairy or something other, cannot remember the first time I heard it) and each of them get a different gift/curse. For one diamonds and flowers drop from her lips everytime she speaks and for her sister it's toads and snakes.

I've just loved the way the author twisted the tale here though, although the girls get the same gifts, in both cases it's bestowed both as a gift and a lesson, not gifting one girl and cursing the other. And the relationship between both girls although they're stepsisters is wonderful, they love each other as sisters and support each other as such.

I love how each of them faces their gift/curse differently, and how their mother handles each curse with the same aplomb and want for secrecy and how it just goes awry.

Diribani is taken to court with the prince and princess, and there among privilege she wonders what good is the miracle she's been gifted and how can she help others. Tana is feared by the conqueror rulers but not the people, and starts a journey to understand the Goddess' purpose.

I simply loved the writing and the descriptions in this book, so lush and vivid! It was clearly based on the Mughal empire conquest & of the many hindu kingdoms of India, even if the religions are changed and don't really correspond, they do have that feel of cultural clashes and how the conquerors handle letting the conquered having their traditions and their faith.

It has a very clear folk tale feel in the telling of it all, because while there's plenty of world building to show us the kingdoms, the plot doesn't drive to a certain event per se, but more as a way to change things and to get the girls to find their way and learn their lessons and teach them to others.

A wonderful take on a known folk tale, where the girls get to make their choices and fight their battles as well as they can, with a wonderfully diverse background! Very much deserved 4.5 to 5 stars!



Soul Warrior by Falguni Kothari

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I discovered this book via Twitter when Sonali Dev recommended it to me. I requested it on NetGalley and was approved and a lil late because it's already been released, I finally got to read it!

Epic fantasy based on hindu mythology. If that sounds intriguing and interesting to you, go grab this one immediately! A certain knowledge of Hindu mythology would be good, to sort of know who is who, but the author also adds her own spin and twist, so it's not absolutely necessary (or you can read the book and find references & then learn some about Hindu mythology too!).

Lord Karna is the Soul Warrior, the one that fights to keep the balance and the demons out of the Human Realm. And he gets assigned a task he never wanted, train 6 new warriors to help him defeat the demons.

To add to the unwanted task, the warriors are the offspring of his brothers that he hate, and the woman he loved but that spurned him in his human life. And then as it happens, the warriors are girls!

One word of warning, different incarnations, God's avatars as they are born into the human world, reincarnations, human life and then immortal life... yes, it is confusing! But that's Hindu mythology for you... take it or leave it, really. It's explained as easily as it could be here, but it's a complex and confusing mess, probably even for the Gods themselves. It does let itself to epic fantasy and loads of family & romantic drama very well though, and it's handled great by the author.

The plot progresses with quite a bit of family and relationship drama, as expected with Gods & Goddesses, learning lessons from the past and Karna learning lessons from his charges. What seemed like a strange request turns to be a much bigger quest, one where he'll have to choose between honour and the task he always fought for over thousands of years, and family and love and finding a way to protect the Human Realm and those he love.

Full of quite a few twists, fun characters as the 6 girls have their unique voices that manage to drive Karna nuts for the most part, a plot that thickens as pages go by and quite the cliffhanger at the end, this is a book that I highly recommend if you like epic fantasy with a heavy mix of mythology!

A bit torn between 3.5 to 4 stars! Cannot wait for the sequel!



View all my reviews

The Last Faerie Queen by Chelse Pitcher Blog Tour: Guest Post & Giveaway!!

Hello guys!! Today I'm super happy to take part of the Blog Tour for The Last Faerie Queen by Chelsea Pitcher hosted & organized by the lovely ladies of RockStar Book Tours!!

I will be hosting Chelsea over in the blog talking about the importance of diversity and how she feels she will always include it be it contemporary or fantasy stories! And not only that, there will also be a giveaway to enter at the bottom of the post!

But first a lil bit more information about the book!

THE LAST FAERIE QUEEN
Author: Chelsea Pitcher
Release Date: November 8, 2015
Pages: 408
Publisher: Flux
Formats: Paperback, eBook

A FAERIE REVOLUTION . . .


After risking her life in the mortal world, the faerie princess Elora returns home to incite a revolution. Allied with the Bright Queen, Elora rallies her people for a battle aimed at overthrowing her mother, the Dark Queen. While some question their ability to win, Elora senses victory, knowing she has a secret weapon: Taylor, the human boy she loves, and a motley crew of his school friends, each armed with a skill that can turn the tide of the coming battle. 


A MORTAL SACRIFICE . . .

But then Elora's supporters in the Dark Court turn on her, believing she has forsaken them in favor of humans. When the Dark Queen kidnaps two of her human friends, Elora must mount a daring rescue mission to free them before her mother offers them up as a sacrifice. 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Diversify Your Faeries! 

Why My Fantasies Will Never Be White-Washed or Straight-Washed 

Several years ago, I was tinkering around in a shop in Eugene, Oregon. It was the kind of shop that specialized in magic-related items (less cards tricks and sleight of hand, more faeries and paganism). I was just rounding a corner, looking at the little winged figurines, when I overheard a conversation between a customer and the shop-owner.

“I’m looking for the goddesses,” the customer said.

The shop owner, a middle-aged man with a Jerry Garcia beard, pointed to a row of statues from Africa and Asia.

The customer shook his head. “No, the real goddesses,” he said, pointing at a poster. I followed his gaze. There, splayed out in a come-hither pose, was a blond, buxom lady with milky-white skin. The real goddesses, I thought, gaze trailing back to the statues along the wall. Not, mind you, the goddesses from the oldest civilizations on earth. Not the ones with brown skin and curves. No. To him, the word “goddess” conjured up an image of a pale-skinned, golden-haired lady who looked remarkably like Pamela Anderson with a pair of wings slapped on her back.

I wanted to say something, but I didn’t. Questioning random guys in magic shops isn’t exactly my thing, and besides, people can like what they like. Still, this idea of “real” stuck with me when I sat down to write “The Last Faerie Queen.” Creating a white-washed fantasy world just didn’t make sense. If faeries are elemental beings (the spiritual aspect of the earth’s physical body), wouldn’t they have skin in shades of golden brown, or even inky black? They might have branches for limbs or leaves growing out of their hair. They definitely wouldn’t all be pale and blonde:


“She rose, and that light bled away from her like rivulets into the sea. Now unburdened by her luminescence, I could see her more clearly: those curves, bound tightly in a gown of diaphanous green; that skin, warm and brown as the earth kissed by sunlight. She was larger than life, this great forest queen. And she had power I could not comprehend.” 


~ Elora, describing the Queen of the Bright Faeries in “The Last Faerie Queen” ~ 


Once I had a clear idea of how the faeries would look, I started to think about their sexual identity. I knew that faerie sexuality would be different, because they wouldn’t be influenced (biologically or socially) by a need to reproduce, and they wouldn’t believe in human religions. In my version of Faerie, people would love who they loved, and want who they wanted. The gender of the lover wouldn’t be important.

Still, knowing something and effectively portraying it in fiction are two different things. If all of my faeries were bisexual (or polysexual or pansexual) would they indentify that way? Or would they take for granted that love was love and desire was desire, and not feel the need to label themselves? In “The Last Changeling,” Elora chooses to define her sexuality because she’s in the mortal world:


“Human distinctions of sexuality don’t exist in Faerie, but if they did, I would probably identify as polysexual.” 


But in “The Last Faerie Queen,” I decided to show the fluidity of faerie sexuality, rather than announce it. It isn’t hidden (in a “Dumbledore is gay, but I’m telling you after the fact” kind of way), but it also isn’t explicitly explained. As an author, and a bisexual person myself, I knew it was important to put this information into the novel, but using human definitions in the Faerie world didn’t make sense. So, while two human characters (Kylie and Keegan) openly identify as bisexual and gay, the faerie characters illustrate that their sexuality is fluid. You can see it in their actions (when a satyr leads Keegan off into the forest) and hear it in their conversations (whenever the Bright Queen’s affections are discussed). In the end, I found I’d written a story with one straight character, and a whole host of queer faeries and humans!

Thank you so much to Pili for having me, and please leave us comments about the kinds of diversity you love to see in fantasy worlds!!

Thank you so much Chelsea for this amazing guest post, I just cannot wait to read the book! Faeries are never ones to let themselves be judged by human standards!

  

About the author:

Chelsea Pitcher is a karaoke-singing, ocean-worshipping Oregonian with a penchant for wicked faerie tales. She began gobbling up stories as soon as she could read, and especially enjoys delving into the darker places to see if she can draw out some light. She is the author of THE S-WORD (Simon and Schuster), THE LAST CHANGELING (Flux), and THE LAST FAERIE QUEEN (Flux 2015).

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Blog | Goodreads | Tumblr

GIVEAWAY

  2 winners will receive a signed finished copy of THE LAST FAERIE QUEEN, US/Canada Only.


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TOUR SCHEDULE

Week 1

11/2/2015- Seeing Double In Neverland- Interview

11/2/2015- Driftless- Spotlight

11/3/2015- Mama Reads Hazel Sleeps- Excerpt

11/3/2015- Revolutionary Reads- Review

11/4/2015- Kelly P's Blog- Interview

11/4/2015- PBC - Spotlight

11/5/2015- Books Eater- Guest Post

11/5/2015- Arkham Reviews- Review

11/6/2015- Two Chicks on Books- Interview

11/6/2015- Curling Up With A Good Book- Excerpt


Week 2

11/9/2015- Once Upon A Twilight- Guest Post

11/9/2015- Milky Way of Books- Review

11/10/2015- The Cover Contessa- Interview

11/10/2015- alwaysjoart- Review

11/11/2015- In Love With Handmade- Guest Post

11/11/2015- Literary Musings- Excerpt

11/12/2015- BookHounds YA- Interview

11/12/2015- Cover2Cover- Review

11/13/2015- Me, My Shelf and I- Guest Post

11/13/2015- The Book Lovers' Lounge- Review 

Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of Soundless by Richelle Mead!!

Hello there guys!!

Monday is here and for me is my 6th day on a row of work (even if it's a night) but yeah, technicalities aside... I really need a day off!

I've been in a bit of a reading and review writing slump this past week and I hope I'll be getting over it this week! And I'm trying my best by starting the week right, with a new review for Mark This Book Monday!


Soundless by Richelle Mead

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Soundless is not my first Richelle Mead book, because I'm in love with her Age of X series, but those are adult dystopia/fantasy, and since I almost am scared to admit, I haven't read her Vampire Academy series, this was my first Richelle Mead YA.

I was quite excited about Soundless since it was a standalone fantasy book, but once I got my hands on an ARC at BEA, it was quite a tiny ARC so I began to worry about the world building and the full ARC of a fantasy story in a book with less than 300 pages!

BUT I should have not worried! Somehow the author managed to wove a complete story with a fantastic world building and some lovely Chinese mythology included, that made for a very welcome change!

Our main character, Fei, lives in a village on top of mountain and their livelihood depends on their mining of precious metals since they send them mountain down in exchange of all the food they cannot grow. Everyone in their village has been deaf for generations so they depend on the artists to paint everyday their news and happenings. But now the villagers are also going blind, starting by those that work in the mines, they're sending less metals down and getting more foods up.

Things are getting dire, and when Fei's sister starts losing her sight, Fei feels like she needs to do something more. And then she recovers her hearing and that changes everything.

The world building is done in such a lovely progression. We get to know the village, and their way of life and surroundings quite well through the work of Fei and her interactions with others. Then when Fei starts her way down the mountain with Li Wei, we see more and more of what's in this world other than their little village cut from everything and everyone.

As they discover that they really knew nothing of what's going on down the mountain and so many secrets are revealed, we meet a few new characters here and there. Some of them felt more vague, like more archetypes than characters, and others were more fully fleshed.

The relationship between Fei and sister is the main motivator of Fei's quest and I was quite glad to see that for a change, instead of the romantic feelings. Even if there are romantic feelings, but for Fei, her sister is first and foremost.

I don't know a lot of Chinese mythology and I always mean to read more of it, but getting a smaller story based on it like this one, it's always a good reminder and a good motivator to do so!

The feel of this book is not of epic fantasy, but more of folk tale or fairy tale (and I agree with Jessica from Rabid Reads on that) but that for me was not a bad thing at all!

The descriptions felt very visual and rich and I feel the author did a great job at trying to describe and explain hearing when everyone around you has been deaf for generations, and you have to try and find books written by people that could hear, and figure out what sounds are what words! Made me really think about how many things us lucky enough to be in possession of all our senses take them for granted!

The ending was what I had expected more or less with a few clues that we were getting and it was both open but with enough resolution to imagine what might continue to happen in the village. Once again, it felt very fairy tale-like!

Very well deserved 4 stars for this one!!



View all my reviews

Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin!!

Hello guys!

I'm back after a lil break since last week I took a trip to London with my younger nephew and I didn't have the time or energy to leave some scheduled posts!

I promise to share photos from my trip as soon as my laptop and my phone stop acting up and decided they want to talk to each other, because right now, I cannot get the photos from the phone to the lappy! *frustrated groan*

For this week's Mark This Book Monday I have one of my ARC from BEA for review and one that goes very well with my goals for October to read more diverse books because this one has a Jewish protagonist in a Third Reich victorious world, and if that doesn't make us reflect on diversity and the importance to not ignore the voices of all, I don't know what will!

Wolf By Wolf by Ryan Graudin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My first Ryan Graudin book and I couldn't have chosen a better one! WWII was always a subject that was engrossing, fascinating and revolting at the same time for me.

A book with an alternate history were Normandy, operation Overlord and Day D did not happen... it's again both fascinating and beyond scary and the author handled it perfectly.

Yael, our main character is as complex as they come. She was a Jewish girl taken into one of the Nazi camps and used as a the first subject in a cruel experiment by Doctor Death himself. But Yael uses her new abilities to escape the camp and finds herself with the resistance. But after all Yael is not sure who she really is anymore, who is the real she if she can be anyone? I loved how she used her pain and her memories to by her center and to feel who she really is.

If you are wondering what the Wolf by Wolf title does have to do with the book, well, you very soon understand that it is extremely important and that wolves have a relevance to Yael and to the story, in more than one way! Very cleverly done by author!

The book is told in alternating both the now and the then, as we follow the unfolding of the plot to assassinate Hitler by getting close enough to him by winning a race (impersonating a previous winner) and as we learn the past of Yael and her wolves.

Jumping from one time to the other was never jarring in the story, at least for me, it managed to give an extra layer to everything that was happening in the now as well as providing context and character growth to Yael without having to insert it forecefully somehow in the main present line of narrative.

The tension of the race was always there, not only in the shape of the dangers of the race itself, the tension of having to win, the rivalry and the probable dirty tactics used by rivals, but also in the risk of discovery by two people that were close to the rider that Yael is impersonating: her brother Felix, and a fellow rider that had relationship with her that was never know in a paper trail, Luka.

Yael has to bluff her way through tangles of a past that she knows nothing of and avoid discovery at all costs to protect her mission, and at the same time, she finds herself tangled in Adele's life and needs more than ever to remember who she really is and what her mission means, to her, her wolves and the world.

The world building was quite fascinating, not just because we visit quite many places along the race from Germania (former Berlin) to Tokyo, but also because the author has to imagine what sort of society would have emerged from a Third Reich victory. And she does that brilliantly, painting a society that keeps on making me thankful to live in the society we do, despite the many flaws that it might have nowadays!

A fantastic book that leaves us with an ending that opens for even more questions and that packs quite a punch of surprises! Cannot wait for the sequel!! Very well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars!



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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!



View all my reviews

The Broken Hearts Society of Suite 17C by LeighAnn Kopans Blog Tour!!

Hey there everyone!

Even though if my blog is still mostly on hiatus (I will be trying to write some BEA posts over the weekend) due to the process of cleaning, painting and moving (and furniture assembling, packing and unpacking...), I will continue to take part on the blog tours I had agreed to take part on!

So today I have my review for the Blog Tour for The Broken Hearts Society of Suite 17C by LeighAnn Kopans, organized by the ladies of YA Reads Blog Tours!!

This tour is all about the reviews, so if you feel like you need to check more opinions than mine about it, feel free to check out the full tour schedule HERE!

The Broken Hearts’ Society of Suite 17C by LeighAnn Kopans
Genre: Upper YA/lower NA contemporary romance
318 Pages

Friends don’t let friends make the same horrible relationship mistakes twice.

Rion, Amy, and Arielle, the three occupants of first-year dorm Harrison Tower’s Suite 17C have never met before the first day of school, but they soon discover they have one thing in common – being on the wrong end of an epically awful breakup.

Heartbreak sucks, especially when the girls should have seen the trouble coming from a mile away. But there’s no better time than the beginning of college to take charge of your own love life, and nobody better than a roommate to keep you accountable. Over ice cream and pizza their first week, the girls vow never again to date anyone like the assholes who ripped their hearts out and smeared them across the quad.

And that's how the Broken Hearts’ Society of Suite 17C is born.

Now, if only Crash, the tattooed, pierced, and probably stoned guy who works at Rion’s newest job, wasn’t so damn sexy and sweet...

If only Matt, the thoughtful and driven pastor’s kid, would quit being so okay with just being Amy’s friend…

If only Lauren, the innocent small-town girl with her own set of issues, would stop finishing Arielle’s sentences and invading her dreams…

it would be a lot easier for the girls to keep their promises to the Society and to themselves.

If only.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

  About the Author:

Raised on comic books and classic novels, LeighAnn developed an early love of science fiction and great literature. As an adult, she rediscovered her love for not only reading, but also writing the types of fiction that enchanted her as a teen. Her novels are packed full of flights of fancy, first loves, unexpected friendships, and all the other things that make self-discovery stories so fun to tell.

LeighAnn, her husband, and four children live in Columbus, Ohio. When she’s not immersed in the world of fiction, you can find her with her nose buried in her Kindle, obsessing over the latest superhero movie, or using her kids as an excuse to go out for ice cream (again).

Website | Amazon | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

Review

I was sure I was gonna like this one because I love LeighAnn's writing and storytelling, but I was a bit unsure because NA contemporary is not my go-to genre. But I shouldn't really have doubted that I would less than love this book!

Amy, Arielle and Rion easily crawled into my heart and their heartbreaks felt like mine, as did their struggles and triumphs. I cheered for them, felt like shaking them at times, and loved seeing them step out of their comfort zones and grow so much! Their relationships weren't easy because real things never are, even when they should be, we tend to complicate them.

Amy, Arielle and Rion and three very different girls that find themselves living together and supporting each other on their very first day as roommates after some tough break ups. These three girls have very different pasts, very different objectives and are very different from one another, but they make the choice to support one another and seeing them become friends and grow together and separate as their own person was a joy to read!

Amy was raised in a very strict and deeply religious family and environment, but when all her future plans crumble, she has a crisis of faith and needs to find a way to be herself, do what she wants to do, not what others expect of her and find a relationship with God that is right for her. Being an atheist I was so very happy that Amy's story never felt preachy even if I was very angry on her behalf about the way her family acted and reacted.

Arielle has a wonderful family life with a mum that is supportive and that loves her very much, but she comes to college because of her girlfriend and once the break up happens, she's very much drifting, not being sure of what she wants. She's not much of a fighter and she learns how to go for what she wants and not just let others choose for her.

Rion is the one with the toughest past, the most prickly of the lot and the one that needs to learn how to trust again and how to let others help her. She's been burned before and quite badly, so she does the mistake of letting appearances shape her opinion of someone when she's the first that suffered that before.

There is growth for all three of the girls, as individuals, as part of their own families, as friends and also growth and development in the relationships they form. They need to learn to trust themselves and others, to not judge someone by the mistakes of others and give them the benefit of the doubt.

Full of diversity, sex positive and with amazing supportive friendship tying our main characters together, this is one book I can highly recommend!

If you love NA contemporary, you'll adore this book. If you don't, give this book a try, it might change your opinion! Well deserved 5 stars to this one!

Interview with Holly Bodger author of 5 to 1!!!

Hello guys!!

The blog is currently on hiatus, but I still have a few posts scheduled here and there because no matter how busy, crazy, crazy busy or totally exhausted that I might be this month with the paperwork, the cleaning, the furniture buying & assembling and the move... I want and NEED to share some things with you all!!

And one of the things that I REALLY NEED to share with you is my love for 5 to 1 and its author, Holly Bodger! I do hope to get to meet her at BEA with some luck! She was fantastic on assuring I got an ARC from NG and she was so nice to agree on coming over here for an interview!

Welcome and thank you so much for visiting my blog, Holly! Feel free to grab a cupcake and sit anywhere except where the two mini-dragons are!





Mmmm, cake.

- First off, I want to start asking you how did you end up writing a dystopian novel set in the Indian subcontinent? We don't get as much fiction written about India by a non-Indian author and even less a dystopian!

The story was inspired by a journal article I read about the effects of son preference and gender selection in countries such as India and China. Once I started to think about what is going to happen in these countries in the future, I couldn’t get it out of my head. I initially put the idea aside because I didn’t think the world needed another dystopian novel (even though I don’t really consider this book dystopian but I knew others would). When I realized I would not get the idea out of my head until I wrote it, I decided to just go for it. The rest is history!


- As someone that has been part of an Indian family for a few years and spent time in India and living the society from the inside, I love all the lil touches that make the book so realistic, like the different names for the family members and the like, how much reseach did you do? Anything very interesting or curious that you learnt but didn't end up using?

I did an insane amount of research and probably used only 5% of it in the book. I would have loved to go on and on about all the beauty and the ugly of India, but I needed to stay true to what Sudasa and Kiran would notice and so I had to leave a lot of that out. I also had to keep reminding myself that this Koyanagar had separated from India because they wanted to fix things, and so it would not have made sense for them to keep all the laws and customs of India.


- I love how your story was told in dual POV and how we get to see the two sides of the story and how the main characters see each other. Was that always part of the plan for the story or did it happen later as you were writing or editing? If so, who was the sole POV you started with?
I wrote the book entirely as verse from Sudasa’s point of view first. It was only when I was told that something was missing that I realized I needed to add Kiran, too. At the time, it had never occurred to me to write a half-verse, half-prose book, but now that I’ve done it, I can’t imagine it any way else!

- Your descriptions of Indian food and clothes and jewelry are fantastic! Have you worn a saree yet or do plan to? Your favourite Indian food? I do hope you'll get to try cheese naan soon!

I have not yet worn a sari, although I have a friend who says she’s going to put me in one soon! I do own a salwar kameez, a kurta, several dupattas, several pairs of juttis, and tons of Indian jewellery. I eat curry probably once a week (more often after Christmas and Thanksgiving since I love TURKEY CURRY!) My lack of cheese naan really deserves some kind of attention from a national foundation. J But don’t worry, I am going to be in New York several times this summer and I’m sure I’ll find it there!


- I love how your book uses a dystopian setting to explore big and important issues as feminism and gender equality. It seems like this world started as a way to protect the women from the horrible treatment that girls still get to this day in India, but those good intentions go awry pretty soon and oppression of the other gender is not a better option. I wonder how did you decide to turn the tables to make us see how wrong gender inequality is?

I did this for two reasons. The first was because the reality of gender selection is that countries such as India and China will soon find themselves without enough girls of marriageable age. As of 2011, India had 7 million more boys than girls under the age of 6. Fifteen years from now, that means there will be 7 million boys who can’t find a wife or partner. The girls who marry will have their pick of boys which is why I imagined them all ending up with the rich ones, thus gaining more riches and power for themselves.

The second reason I did this was because I felt like there were already enough people yelling about gender inequality from the rooftops and yet their words have been falling on deaf ears. I wanted to show the situation in a different way; in a way that shows that this will hurt boys too. That is the real crux of the situation: gender equality helps everyone while gender inequality hurts everyone.


- I'm a big fan of mehendi/mendhi and when I saw your cover I was in insta-love! How was the process of the cover? Were you involved at all or was it a stunning surprise for you too? Is there a particular meaning on the fishes drawn in the palms?

I am going to be interviewing my cover designer as part of my book launch blog tour and plan to ask her these same questions. I really had no idea what to expect and was extremely surprised when I saw the first comp of the cover. I’m guessing that she used the fish because of Kiran’s poem at the end, although I like to imagine that she knew I was a Pisces and wanted to incorporate that. J

- The ending of the book was quite open and although I'm sure it could stay as a standalone, I must confess to hope and wish for a sequel to see what else is there in this world! Might we be getting lucky? If so, will it be a proper sequel, a companion novel?

I would love to publish a sequel to this book. I always imagined it as a two-parter: one part in Sudasa’s world and the other in Kiran’s. I have also been thinking about the idea of a companion, however those thoughts are mostly still inside my head!


Thank you so very much for all your answers, Holly! Be sure to check your pockets and bag so neither dragons or sheep try to smuggle out! Take another cupcake for the way!

Mmmm, cake. You know the way to a girl’s heart!

 5 TO 1 by Holly Badger

Publishing date: May 12th 2015
Knof Books for Young Readers

In the year 2054, after decades of gender selection, India now has a ratio of five boys for every girl, making women an incredibly valuable commodity. Tired of marrying off their daughters to the highest bidder and determined to finally make marriage fair, the women who form the country of Koyanagar have instituted a series of tests so that every boy has the chance to win a wife.

Sudasa, though, doesn't want to be a wife, and Kiran, a boy forced to compete in the test to become her husband, has other plans as well. As the tests advance, Sudasa and Kiran thwart each other at every turn until they slowly realize that they just might want the same thing.

This beautiful, unique novel is told from alternating points of view-Sudasa's in verse and Kiran's in prose-allowing readers to experience both characters' pain and their brave struggle for hope.

 About Holly Bodger:




HOLLY BODGER has a BA in English Literature and has spent her entire career in publishing. She is an active member of RWA and is a 2013 Golden Heart finalist in the Young Adult category. She lives in Ottawa, Canada.

Anniversary Nerd Bast for Summer On The Short Bus by Bethany Crandell!!

Hey guys! Happy Thursday!

Welcome to the Anniversary Nerd Blast for Summer on the Short Bus by Bethany Crandell hosted and organized by Jean Book Nerd!!

Summer On The Short Bus by Bethany Crandell

Publisher: Running Press,U.S.
Format: Paperback | 256 pages
Publication date: 17 April 2014
Publication City/Country: Philadelphia
ISBN 10: 0762449519
ISBN 13: 9780762449514

 Spoiled, Versace-clad Cricket Montgomery has seventeen years of pampering under her belt. So when her father decides to ship her off to a summer camp for disabled teens to help her learn some accountability, Cricket resigns herself to three weeks of handicapped hell.

Her sentence takes a bearable turn as she discovers the humor and likeability of the campers and grows close to fellow counselors. Now, if she can just convince a certain Zac Efron look-alike with amazing blue eyes that she finally realizes there's life after Gucci, this summer could turn out to be the best she's ever had.

Summer on the Short Bus is a very non-P.C., contemporary YA with a lot of attitude, tons of laughs, and a little life lesson along the way.

You can purchase Summer on the Short Bus at the following Retailers:

 Bethany Crandell lives in San Diego with her husband, two daughters (one of whom is differently-abled), and a chocolate lab with no regard for personal space. She watches too much TV, savors avocados, and is still waiting for Jake Ryan to show up at her door. She writes YA because the feelings that come with life’s “first” times are too good not relive again and again.

  

Giveaway

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