Roseblood by A.G. Howard Release Day Blitz!!

Hello there guys!

I know the blog has been so very quiet as of late but I am so excited about ROSEBLOOD by A.G. Howard that releases today so I had to take part of the Release Day Blitz!

If you haven’t yet heard about this amazing book by author A.G. Howard, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for a signed ROSEBLOOD poster and a mask courtesy of A.G. and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

About The Book:

Title: ROSEBLOOD

Author: A.G. Howard

Pub.Date: January 10, 2016

Publisher: Amulet Books

Pages: 432

Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook

 Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Audible

In this modern day spin on Leroux’s gothic tale of unrequited love turned to madness, seventeen year-old Rune Germain has a mysterious affliction linked to her operatic talent, and a horrifying mistake she’s trying to hide. Hoping creative direction will help her, Rune’s mother sends her to a French arts conservatory for her senior year, located in an opera house rumored to have ties to The Phantom of the Opera.

At RoseBlood, Rune secretly befriends the masked Thorn—an elusive violinist who not only guides her musical transformation through dreams that seem more real than reality itself, but somehow knows who she is behind her own masks. As the two discover an otherworldly connection and a soul-deep romance blossoms, Thorn’s dark agenda comes to light and he’s forced to make a deadly
choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or face the wrath of the phantom who has haunted the opera house for a century, and is the only father he’s ever known.







I was beyond lucky to get sent a physical ARC of Roseblood by the UK publisher, so I could read it early and I'm just beyond grateful for it! Now I'm awaiting my preoder of the gorgeous finished copy and it won't arrive soon enough for my taste!

I read my ARC while listening to the Spotify playlist and it was simply PERFECT! It created the absolutely perfect mood and I highly recommend that you do too if you can! You can find the Spotify playlist for Roseblood HERE!

I must confess that all my knowledge of The Phantom of the Opera comes from popular culture and the Iron Maiden song, because I haven't read the original book or seen the musical, BUT NOW... Now I'm itching to see the musical and read the original book, as well as re-read Roseblood!

Anita's writing is as visual and lyrical as always, it's one of the things I love the most about her books! I'm not usually one to get images very clearly in my head while reading, but with Anita's books? I always feel like I see and feel and almost even smell it all!

About A.G. Howard

A.G. Howard was inspired to write SPLINTERED while working at a school library. She always wondered what would've happened had the subtle creepiness of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland taken center stage, and she hopes her darker and funkier tribute to Carroll will inspire readers to seek out the stories that won her heart as a child.

When she's not writing, A.G.'s pastimes are reading, rollerblading, gardening, and family vacations which often include impromptu side trips to 18th century graveyards or condemned schoolhouses to appease her overactive muse.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Pinterest | Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

1 winner will receive a signed ROSEBLOOD poster and a Mask. US Only.

Ends on January 17th at Midnight EST!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid Nerd Blast!!

Hello there guys!

Today I'm taking part of the Nerd Blast organized by JeanBookNerd to celebrate The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid!

I've heard such amazing things from my fellow bloggy friends about this book that I'm really excited about it and cannot wait till I can finally read it!

 The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid

Red Queen meets The Hunger Games in this epic novel about what happens when the galaxy’s most deadly weapon masquerades as a senator’s daughter and a hostage of the galactic court.

A Diabolic is ruthless. A Diabolic is powerful. A Diabolic has a single task: Kill in order to protect the person you’ve been created for.

Nemesis is a Diabolic, a humanoid teenager created to protect a galactic senator’s daughter, Sidonia. The two have grown up side by side, but are in no way sisters. Nemesis is expected to give her life for Sidonia, and she would do so gladly. She would also take as many lives as necessary to keep Sidonia safe.

When the power-mad Emperor learns Sidonia’s father is participating in a rebellion, he summons Sidonia to the Galactic court. She is to serve as a hostage. Now, there is only one way for Nemesis to protect Sidonia. She must become her. Nemesis travels to the court disguised as Sidonia—a killing machine masquerading in a world of corrupt politicians and two-faced senators’ children. It’s a nest of vipers with threats on every side, but Nemesis must keep her true abilities a secret or risk everything.

As the Empire begins to fracture and rebellion looms closer, Nemesis learns there is something more to her than just deadly force. She finds a humanity truer than what she encounters from most humans. Amidst all the danger, action, and intrigue, her humanity just might be the thing that saves her life—and the empire.

 AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

 S.J. Kincaid was born in Alabama, grew up in California, and attended high school in New Hampshire, but it was while living beside a haunted graveyard in Scotland that she realized that she wanted to be a writer.

 Her debut, Insignia, came out in July of 2012. The second book in the series, Vortex was released in July of 2013. The final book in the trilogy, Catalyst, came out October 28, 2014. Her standalone novel The Diabolic will be released in fall 2016.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook  

GIVEAWAY

Open INT!  Five Winners will receive a Copy of Diabolic +Swags by S.J. Kincaid.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

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!

Wednesday Audio Waves: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater!!!

Hiya there!

I finally have got an alliteration idea for my audiobooks reviews!

I'm a bit of an odd duck and like having names for my review days and alliterations are my prefered form whenever possible. So much that I've been postponing posting my audiobooks reviews until I came up with a name! But now Wednesday Audio Waves is born and my first audio review is here!

I had never been a big fan of audiobooks (except the Harry Potter ones, read by Stephen Fry) but I have two of my bookish friends that are huge fans of audiobooks and that have very recently converted me! Both Nikki & Cassi love audiobooks and listening to them is their preferred way to re-read books.

I decided to give audiobooks a try because I want to be able to continue reading even when you cannot be reading from a book because you need your hands and eyes. Like cleaning the house or walking around.

And after asking both Cassi and Nikki for recommendations, I signed up for Audible and got The Scorpio Races as my first book! And it was as amazing as Nikki promised it'd be!

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

As my first audiobook (after a disastrous experience with a Sookie Stackhouse one) this couldn't have been a better choice! With dual narrators, one for Sean and one for Puck, the characters really came to life with their voices!

And the book was so atmospheric! I don't know if it was the book itself or the narration or a combination of both but I simply adored the vibe and feel of the book!

There was some real magical feeling to the book, with the capaill uisce, the race and the small town with traditions and mysteries and distrust of strangers.

I loved that both Puck and Sean had different reasons to want to run and win the race and that although both had the more to win and the more to lose, they both managed to not become real rivals. They began to work together and although the romance is on the light side, it is also quite deeply felt and rooted at the same time!

There's so much more than just the race, but there's also so much about families and what you'd do to keep yours together, to get freedom, to feel safe again... And the relationships between characters were do complex and well crafted!

If you haven't read this book, I do very much recommend that you do, and if you can? Do listen to the audiobook! It will add some more magic to the already atmospheric book! Very much deserving of 5 stars!

Thursday Thoughts: Girl Against The Universe by Paula Stokes!!!

Hey there guys!!

I'm finally here with a review that is not part of a blog tour, so maybe now I can get back on track with reading AND reviewing! Because yes, I haven't stopped reading at all, but I've been really bad at writing reviews for all the books I've been reading (and loving!).

And the first review had to be for Girl Against The Universe, a book that is massively special in many ways, and it's become my most re-read book of 2016 already! From the first time I read it as a beta reader I fell in love with it so completely I kept on sending all sort of "feels filled" messages to Paula while I was reading and cursing her for making me tear up... Everytime I've started reading the book I've been unable to not read it cover to cover because it's the kinda book that grabs you and doesn't let you go!

This book is extra special because I am a character in the book, Nurse Pili here everyone, and I'm also mentioned in the acknowledgements and both those things still have me reeling and being overwhelemed and giddy, but those are not the reasons I give this one 5 stars, those would be responsible for some extra stars, but the book itself made me fall in love with it, hard!


Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Girl Against The Universe is the kind of contemporary that I can re-read time and again and love it as much or even than I did the first time!

Contemporary YA is not my go to genre, but since I'd read anything that Paula Stokes would wrote and her first contemporary was absolutely therapeutic for me (The Art of Lainey), GATU was a must read and it delivered in every which way.

It's what I call a "feel good" book, there's conflict, there's serious issues but there's no overabundance of drama and there's no unnecessarily added conflict. There's wonderful relationships, from family to friends to a developing new romantic relationship but none of them are really the focus or maybe all of them are. All the relationships are important in this books, and all of them help Maguire to finally get fighting to try and get better.

Mental health is an important issue to discuss and although not all cases are equally dire or grave, they all deserve attention and treatment. This book does a fantastic job on showing up different levels of mental health issues and different stages of acceptance of help and progress of treatment, as well as a positive depiction of therapy, along with the false starts, the progress, the doubts and the reality of humans "not being toasters that can be fixed".

Maguire had a lot of bad things happen to her and she came to think that she was cursed and was a danger to others, so she kept herself from interacting with the rest of the world as much as she could. The book starts with her first therapy sessions where she starts by being silent and thinking it's a waste of time, to start listening to what her therapist has to say and once she finally decides she want to try and face her fears, we see how she makes progress, how there are setbacks and doubts and we're there with her every step of the way.

The romance in this book is the kind that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and it adds to the "feel good" feeling of the book. And no, the romance doesn't mean the mental health issues are fixed by finding love or anything of the like. The characters do provide support and motivation for each other, first as friends and then as more, but they both have their own issues to face on their own, and they do. The relationship is not a crutch to make everything better.

This book managed to make me laugh, sigh, swoon, want to hug the characters, tear up more than once and upon finishing I procedeed to hug the book and have a contented smile on my face. I've re-read it quite a few times already, and it will be one of my go-to books when I'm on a slump and I need a favourite to make me want to read again!

Very much deserved 5 stars if not a few more!!



View all my reviews

Girl Against The Universe Blog Tour: Deleted Scene & Giveaway!!!!

Hello there guys!!

I know it's been a while but first was my slump and then vacation... but today I'm back with a brilliant post!

I'm super honoured to be part of the Blog Tour for Girl Against The Universe by Paula Stokes, organized by the lovely Hannah from Irish Banana Tours!!

There will be a giveaway at the end of this post, so stay tuned for that! I'm gonna be sharing one of the books deleted scenes that I really wish could have stayed!! I will be sharing my 5 stars review for GATU either later this week or early next week too!

Girl Against The Universe by Paula Stokes


Maguire is bad luck.

No matter how many charms she buys off the internet or good luck rituals she performs each morning, horrible things happen when Maguire is around. Like that time the rollercoaster jumped off its tracks. Or the time the house next door caught on fire. Or that time her brother, father, and uncle were all killed in a car crash—and Maguire walked away with barely a scratch.

It’s safest for Maguire to hide out in her room, where she can cause less damage and avoid meeting new people who she could hurt. But then she meets Jordy, an aspiring tennis star. Jordy is confident, talented, and lucky, and he’s convinced he can help Maguire break her unlucky streak. Maguire knows that the best thing she can do for Jordy is to stay away. But it turns out staying away is harder than she thought.

From author Paula Stokes comes a funny and poignant novel about accepting the past, embracing the future, and learning to make your own luck.

 Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes&Noble | The Book Depository

About the author:

Paula Stokes writes stories about flawed characters with good hearts who sometimes make bad decisions. She’s the author of several YA novels, most recently Girl Against the Universe and Liars, Inc. 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 | Instagram | Facebook | Goodreads

DELETED SCENE

Paula: So this is a scene that got cut in a huge four-chapter delete because of multiple major changes to the storyline. There was no psychologist in the first draft, so Jordy was helping Maguire test her curse and she was helping him with math homework in return. One day she’s tutoring him and checking out his tennis trophies in the living room and he offers to show her the stuff in his room… That turns into them kissing, and then Jordy’s mom comes home unexpectedly and Maguire is trapped in Jordy’s bedroom. Jordy isn’t allowed to date because of his tennis schedule, so he and Maguire have to enlist the help of Jordy’s younger sister to explain Maguire’s presence upstairs. The plan is for Maguire to pretend to be friends with his sister. I have purposely obscured the identity of Jordy’s sister in this deleted scene because it’s a mini-spoiler for the book. 



“Oh my God,” I say. “Every day is the most embarrassing day of my life.”
Jordy’s sister starts rifling through her closet. “What are you embarrassed about?” she asks, her voice muffled by a mix of T-shirts and designer tennis clothing. “I think it’s cool he finally found a girl he likes enough to risk getting in trouble for.”
“But I don’t want him to get in trouble,” I protest. “I tend to do that—somehow get other people into bad situations that don’t hurt me at all.”
“Really?” Ducking out of the closet, she eyes me curiously.
“It’s a long story, but yeah.” I glance at myself in the mirror again. My skin is slowly returning to normal color. “Thank you,” I say. “Jordy’s right. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Maybe,” she says. “Or maybe I should have let you two get busted. I hate that my parents make him feel like he has to sneak around. You weren’t doing anything wrong, even if you were having sex.”
“But we weren’t,” I say quickly.
She blinks innocently. “Not yet.” Then she rolls her eyes. “Oh boy. Just when you were starting to go back to your normal color.”
I turn back toward the mirror and will myself to return to my usual shade of pale. School, I think. Mr. Ginger. Terminal Velocity. Trigonometry. I force-feed my brain the least sexy things I can imagine and it seems to work. Slowly the redness fades from my cheeks.
“Okay. Put this on.” Jordy’s sister hands me a tennis dress that is at least two sizes too small for me. “My mother will never believe you came over here to practice with me wearing jean shorts.”
I suddenly wish I hadn’t left my duffel bag in Jordy’s car. I wriggle into the tiny dress and tug it down over my hips and thighs. It’s so tight I can barely move.
She gives me an appraising look. “Hmm, that’s a little snug, isn’t it?” She tries to pull up the neckline and pull down the hemline simultaneously, but the dress still looks borderline obscene. “Maybe I have some warm-up pants that will fit you.”
There’s a knock at the door. “It’s me,” Jordy says from the hallway. Jordy’s sister opens the door a crack and he holds up my duffel bag. “Thought you might need this.” His gaze falls on me in the too-tight dress and his jaw drops a little. “Whoa,” he says.
“Get out,” his sister hisses as she grabs the bag. I flash him a grateful look just before she shuts the door in his face. As I quickly change out of her dress and back into my own tennis clothes she says, “Sorry. I think not being able to date is making him extra-pervy or something.”
“It’s okay. It’s kind of flattering.” I check my reflection in the mirror. Much better now that I’m back in my own clothes.
She clicks her tongue at me and shakes her head back and forth. “No it’s not. Don’t be one of those girls who finds being objectified flattering. Be flattered that he likes you for reasons that actually mean something.”
Because you’re smart, and funny, and talented, and kind. He does like me for reasons that actually mean something. But can I say the same? Maybe I only like him because a boy who could have almost anyone picked me. Maybe I only like him because I know that sooner or later I’ll push him away for his own good. He’s safe, because I won’t let things get carried away…will I?

GIVEAWAY

1 - $25 B&N gift card, or in the event of an INT winner, choice of one book from The Book Depository or Wordery. 

2 - Swag pack winners

                                                 Enter the giveaway HERE

Tour Schedule:

Week 1:

5/16: Reading Teen - Review

5/17: In Love With Handmade - Deleted Scene

5/18: The Irish Banana Review - Review

5/19: Snuggly Oranges - Deleted Scene

5/20: Fiction Fare - Review

Week 2: 

5/23: Bookiemoji - Playlist

5/24: Mary Had A Little Book Blog - Review

5/25: Adventures of a Book Junkie - Q&A

5/26: Lili's Reflections - Review

5/27: Please Feed the Bookworm - Dream Cast

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

Friday Reads: Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman!!!

Hello there guys!!

Happy Friday!! This is the first review that I'm writing at my new apartment, since I've finally moved!
I still have a lot of work to do, sorting things and moving all the book boxes, and getting more furniture... but I'm now living in my apartment!

For this week's Friday Reads I have up for review one of the ARCs that I got from BEA and one that made me really want to read more westerns!!



Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I liked Erin's dystopian trilogy and was extremely intrigued by this YA Western, even if I'm not a big westerns reader, and it was in my priorities list for BEA, thank you so much HMH Books!

Vengeance Road is written in dialect from Kate's POV first person and I was a lil worried at first wondering if it'd might keep me from getting fully into the book, but I worried in vain, after chapter 4 I was used to the dialect and Kate's voice and it actually made the book feel more authentic, more real.

Kate is a very complex character, dealing in the grey area of the ethical spectrum. She is driven by vengeance first and foremost and she seems to be remorseless in her pursue of the killers of her father, even some innocents might suffer in the process. But as the story unfolds, there is so much more to Kate and how she decides to face the world, she grows so much! And she really is a cactus type of character, prickly but with a treasure inside!

Vengeance Road could be called a roadtrip book, if going after a band of bandits on horseback disguised/dressed as a boy can count as a roadtrip! The plot seems quite straight forward at first, Kate goes after her father's assassins, but soon things get more complicated when she is joined (quite against her wishes) by a pair of brothers that want to protect & help the "son" of a friend of their father. And then with the killing and the hiding and running and being hunter and hunted... With a few quite unexpected twists, well, is very hard to put this one down, you just want to keep turning pages to see who will survive!

But where I feel like I must give the biggest props to Erin Bowman, at least for me, is in the descriptions and ambiance she manages to write for this book. You simply feel like you are there, with the sun hitting your back, sweating and almost feeling the gritty sand in your mouth! The atmosphere is fantastic and full of tension and you can tell that the author has done her research, because you really feel like you are THERE!

The secondary characters were also very well fleshed out and even the bad guys were not just cartoony bad guys. And with Liluye we have a completely different culture, outlook and experience that Kate learns to respect and even try and understand.

I loved how the romance played, for the most part it was rather slow burn and muted, because it was never part of Kate's plan and it was at first a very unwanted distraction, but I was very happy to see how it all played out, how in the end Kate made sure her life was not defined by anyone or anything else but herself and at the same time didn't close herself to love and hope!

This is my absolute favourite Erin Bowman book to date and I highly would recommend it to anyone that wants something different, wants to give westerns a try and anyone that appreciates great characters! Very well deserved 4.5 to 5 stars to this one!



View all my reviews

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman: Mini preview review and PREORDER CONTEST!!

Hey there guys!!

Happy Friday! And happy start of the long 4th of July weekend to those of you in the US! Also happy belated Canada Day to all my Canuck friends!

Today I am going to share my love for one of my BEA books that will come out in September with a mini preview review, since it's still a lil early and also spread the word on the preorder contest that is going on for said book!

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman was one of those books that I knew I needed to get from BEA this year, and even though I'm not sure if they had any drops or anything, me and my BEA crew got our ARCs by the very simple method of going to the HMH Books booth and ask about it!

As the mood reader that I am I really couldn't wait till a closer time to release date to read Vengeance Road (but at least it's not as bad as already having read Truthwitch, that comes out in Jan... I know, I know!!) and since I had like well enough Erin's Taken trilogy ( I still need to read the final book though, soon!) I was pretty excited to read this one!

Vengeance Road truly blew me away! I loved it from beginning to end! It took me a lil while to get used to Kate's dialect (and the general way everyone speaks in the book) but after the first 4 chapters I was so immersed in the book and the story, it just felt natural to me!

I'm not the biggest western lover or expert but I've watched my fair share of John Wayne movies with my dad and enough episodes of Bonanza on weekend mornings to not be a complete newbie, BUT, I don't think I've really read a western book before, unless you count the 3 Rin-Tin-Tin ones that my brother had?

Vengeance Road was both atmospheric and had a very visual setting, you could almost feel the scorching heat and the dust in your eyes! I loved how Erin did use a real legend and added some historical characters into the story as a base for Kate's story. I loved how the pace was quite fast and a lot happened in the book but never to the point of being overwhelming or confusing, and I love how we got some seriously unexpected plot twists here and there!

Kate is quite a cactus character (I love that metaphor that Amber Argyle created on her Summer Queen book and plan to continue to use it!) very prickly and for a while she had me a bit worried about her lack of remorse, but I love how by the end of the book she was both stronger and softer than she was in the beginning.

There are two boys, but no love triangle, unexpected allies and a band of bandits that hide more than one ace on their sleeves, a quest for Vengeance and gold and redemption and quite a few shocks and deaths and a wonderful slow burn romance and a heroine that doesn't know the meaning of giving up!

Not only I gave Vengeance Road 5 stars but I also have it preordered already! And I MUST INSIST that you all go and preorder this one! If you liked Erin's previous books you must get this one and if you weren't too keen on them... I insist even more!!

And if you need a lil bit of a push to preorder the book already... Erin Bowman has a fantastic contest going on in her website. You get an awesome swag pack just by preordering the book, and then you enter a contest to win even more awesome stuff! For more details, click HERE!!

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!

Friday Reads: ARC Review of Uprooted by Naomi Novik!!!

Hey guys! Still on hiatus, currently in NYC attending BEA for the very first time, but I felt like the blog could do with a lil update since I feel bad for abandoning the blog and since it might be a longer hiatus that I had planned originally... things with the apartment are taking a long while enough and I might not be moved and settled till July itself!

This is the last ARC review that I needed to complete my For Review category for my 105 Challenge, woohooo!!

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Another recommendation from bloggy friends that was an absolute success! A wonderful fantasy with wonderful characters, a plot that was never exactly what I expected and surprised me always for the best!

I started it an wasn't sure what to expect of it and very soon was enthralled with Agnieszka's voice and her story! I loved how she kept on being her own self, struggling with being told to change and finding her own way to do things despite it all. I loved how strong her love for her family and her amazing friendship with Kasia, that despite the ups and downs, is strong enough to brave the dangers of the Wood.

The Wood, oh boy, that's a whole character in itself, and probably my favourite part of the book, along with Agnierzka's journey of discovery of her own magic and her own worth. The Wood was all sorts of creepy and gruesome and simply fantasticly done! And when we get to learn about how it all started? Really NOT what I had expected and I loved how the climax was resolved!

I adored the relationship between Agnieszka and the Dragon, how it went from strong dislike, to reluctant respect & collaboration to explosive chemistry!
I really loved how things progressed with them, slowly and tentatively, but with plenty of spark and I loved that Agnieszka is not pasive about it, takes things into her own hands when the Dragon doesn't allow himself to, and when he runs away, she doesn't simply pine after him, she continues with her work and then doesn't take any of his nonsense.

I read this book in two big chunks, from start till about 56% then got into a slump once they got to court after the fight at the Wood and then went back to it and the court part that I wasn't too keen on was shorter than I expected and things started getting more interesting, dire and creepy very soon! In the end, I wanted the book to keep on going and be longer because I simply love the world too much! The ending is rather open and definitive at the same time, and although a sequel is not necessary, I wouldn't be adverse to getting more stories set in this world!

Very much deserved 4.5 stars to this one!



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Waiting On Wednesday #91!!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted at Breaking The Spine  that spotlights those can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-them books that we are eagerly awaiting!


This week the book that I'm extremely excited and cannot wait for it to be released is Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge!!

Goodreads Summary:


"When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption."
 


Why am I eagerly awaiting Crimson Bound? Well, I'm not usually too fond of fairy tales retellings but I heard so many great things about the author's debut book and I'm very intrigued about a Little Red Riding Hood retelling where the main character is fighting to save the world!


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

Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of Made For You by Melissa Marr!!

Hey there!

Monday is here and it's a new week to look forward to! I'm having a heavy on the workload week, but I'm hoping that some book mail will improve the week for me! I'm also awaiting a few things for my new apartment, so I cannot wait for them to arrive!

For this week's Mark This Book Monday I got the review for an eARC that I was approved for via NetGalley, thank you so much for the auto-approval Harper Collins UK!! It counts for my books for review category on the 105 Challenge!

Made For You by Melissa Marr

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I had been really intrigued about this book for quite a while, so when I was approved for an eARC for it via NG, I was quite eager to start reading it!

Eva Tilling is your super popular girl in a small Southern town, where popularity and status comes from who your family is and how long they can claim to have been in the town. Thankfully Eva is not your mean queen bee, but instead we get someone that isn't sure of continue fitting in because it's how things are, or to ignore convention and do what she feels right. She has the perfect boyfriend and a group of friends she's known forever and Grace, her non-Jessup-native best friend.

Made For You could feel like your typical and topical contemporary story about privileged teenagers but then we get a few twists, one is the murder mystery that starts with the attempted murder of Eva herself and two is the paranormal element introduced after Eva's accident and her seeing visions if someone touches her.

Those two twist are not the only things that make this feel less topical than usual, I must say that one of the topics I loved seeing twisted & broken were the absent parents that we usually see in YA. Eva's parents are always travelling and busy with their work, so Eva has always been very self reliant, but after her accident/attempted murder, her parents really are shocked into a change of attitude, and I loved how Eva's mum reacted to everything. I love how she decided that she needed to take charge and responsability and that being a mother was something she had been failing at. Not something common seeing an adult admiting fault AND taking steps to fix it, and even less in something as parenting.

We get 3 POVs in this book, Eva, Grace and Judge, the serial killer aka completely-off-his-rocker-guy. Being in the killer's head was utterly creepy and disturbing, but it was incredibly well done. I was always wondering about who Judge would be from Eva's group of friends and although I suspected right, waiting for Eva to connect the dots wasn't as fustrating as it could have been.

I think the bit that worked less well for me were the visions, even if they were clearly key to actually apprehend Judge and to save Grace and Nate. But we really don't get much of an explanation or clue as to why visions are possible, or other clues about paranormal stuff, so it was a bit odd.

As for the romance... I was happy to see Eva and Nate working things out and talking and being upfront with each other and that Eva decided to stop acting the way she is expected to for social convention. And I loved that she was strong and sent her bf packing when she found out about the cheating and that she was adult enough to avoid bitterness and still help him when he desperately needed it.

I really enjoyed the writing and the pacing even if not everything clicked 100% for me, and I was particularly happy to see the way nurses were depiced in this one, so thank you for that Melissa Marr! Definitely I'm gonna check more books written by her. Well deserved 3.5 stars for this one.



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Friday Reads: ARC Review of Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill!!!

Hello there guys!!

Happy Friday!! It is a Friday after night shift from me, so although it's a pretty awesome day since I have it off, it is also a bit inconvenient since I really need my nap in the morning after work. Do forgive any typos that might happen right now!

For this week's first Friday Reads entry I have an ARC that I was approved on NG by Quercus books and that is an amazing book but also extremely tough to read! As an ARC it shall count towards my 105 Challenge in the books for review category and also as part of the Dystopian Reading Challenge 2015!!

Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Brilliant, relevant and enraging all at once. Is this an amazing book? YES! Will it be easy to read and give you fuzzy feels? HELL NO! But I think it's something every woman of every age NEEDS to read!

This was a particularly hard book for me to read, and I'm pretty sure it'll be for any woman out there, because it holds a mirror to the ugliest parts of ourselves: our envies, our self-hate and self-doubt, how we've all sometimes agreed to some injustice to stay on someone's good side, how we lose control of ourselves and our bodies... and all that hate and those messages about the perfect body, the Vomitorium, the kcal blockers... it reminded me of some less than stellar moments of my teenage self and made me want to go eat some chocolate because I could.

A dystopian story set in a future where women are designed and created, not born, raised together in Schools where they're prepared for their future as companions, concubines or chastities, the only roles allowed to women now. And as the best dystopians, it is so scary because it could be true. Women, specially young girls, have no real rights, no right to think for themselves or to ask questions, they only exist to give birth to sons, please men or care for the other eves. What are the eves? They're the women, and they are as unimportant as to have their names without a capital letter.

So many of the things that happen in the book are already happened, albeit in a smaller scale. Women are still treated as property in many countries, and even in the first world ones, the pressure to look perfect, to be perfect, to be thin, to look perfectly composed, to not be overly emotional and the fact that women still turn against each other for petty reasons instead of focusing on fighting for what's important really, like true equality.

We follow the story from freida's POV, one of the eves in her final year at the School, hoping to be chosen as a companion. I had the biggest swings with freida that I've ever had with a character, I kept on going from hating her to pitying her to understanding and empathy to loathing and wanting to shake her, time and again! She wants attention and she puts up with so MUCH to get it, risking everything for approval.

As I said, this is a MUST READ BOOK and if you know or find any girls out there that think feminism is not their issue or relatable, give them this book and make them think about that it says!

Despite how I needed a break now and read from reading the book, this is a brilliant book and deserved to ger more out there!



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Saturday Pages: ARC Review of LIARS, INC by Paula Stokes!!!

Hey again guys!

Today as my second Saturday Pages entry I have a book and a author that are specially dear to me. This is one of those special books that I got as an ARC and that I owe big thanks to both my dear friend Sarah and to the author herself, because on my trip to Chicago I got my hands on a physical (and slightly annotated) ARC! I loved it so much that I just cannot wait for my preorder to arrive and re-read it!

Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was very lucky to read this book well in advance, but given the fact that there were a few changes made into the finished copy from the ARC, I'm absolutely dying to get my preorder so I can re-read it again!

I'm quite a big fan of murder mysteries and I've devoured every Agatha Christie book out there, and although that doesn't make me an absolute expert, it does make me rather good at seeing patterns and trying to identify what might be going on and where the twists might lead us.

Another thing that you need to know is that I read this one during my trip to the US last October and I was suffering an acute case of jet lag that turned me into a morning person, meaning that I was up at 4 or 5 am and conking off at 8 pm at the latest. Why would that be relevant you may ask? Well, the day I got this book I stayed up reading, passing pages like a madwoman and only stopped for a quick dinner break and didn't go to sleep till I finished the book at midnight! That ought to tell you something about the gripping pacing and how intriguing the plot was!

Liars INC, is the story of Max and his two friends, Preston and Parvati, the murder of Preston, Max being accused of it and Parvati trying to help Max prove his innocence. But who would trust you when you've made lying your business?

Not only the pacing was absolutely addicting and make you want to keep on turning page after page, in the beginning learning all about the Liars and who they are and then following Max's escape and the investigation and all the things we discover about the characters too. Seems that the Liars are really good at lying to others and to themselves too! The plot was very tightly woven and although it seemed rather straight forward at first, we kept on getting a few twists here and there that I didn't see coming AT ALL! None of my initial theories were right, and although I got my suspicions about something, it was too vague on my part to really think I guessed right!

Max was a fantastic character with a genuine boy voice. He wasn't a jerk per se, but he has his rough edges and also his vulnerabilities that he keeps really tucked close, and has some real trouble with showing off his affection and even more with his family. I loved the diversity that you can find in this book, presented like the most natural thing in the world. Max is adopted and has two Korean baby sisters, his family is lower middle class and he lived on the streets for a while as a kid.

Parvati, other of the Liars is half Indian and she seems to both embrace her heritage but refuse to be defined by it. She is also prickly and difficult to straight away like. But she ended up being my favourite character of the lot. She's very capable and totally trained to kick arse, good at flaunting rules and has some mental health issues that can tweak her perception of circumstances and the way she reacts to them. I just need a book all about Parvati, she's such a fascinating character!

Preston... well, Preston is also quite a box of surprises, because once he gets offed, we do learn so many unexpected things about him and how there's much more to him than just the "poor white rich boy" and his problems.

If you are looking for a different kind of read, a very compelling and intriguing YA thriller with a twisty murder mystery, a very genuine male voice and a lot of very welcome diversity... YOU NEED TO GRAB THIS ONE NOW!

Very well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one!



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