Mark This Book Monday: Mind Games by Kiersten White!

For yet another Mark This Book Monday entry, this book was different than I was expecting, but as it happened, in a good way.

Mind Games by Kiersten White

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Writing a review for Mind Games and keep it spoiler free is not gonna be easy, but I'm gonna try my best.

For starters is quite a different kind of book from what I've read recently, and very different in style and theme from the author's previous series, Paranormalcy. It's more raw and with two not-very-reliable narrators.

Fia and Anna are two sisters who lose their parents in a tragic accident and get a chance to join a school for girls with extraordinary gifts. Fia has flawless insticts and Anna's sight is not outwards but inwards, she's blind and she can see the future.

Fia's instincts tell her that there's something very wrong with the school, but both girls are very young when they join and Anna thinks that it'd be the best chance for both of them. But Fia is never wrong and there's something very wrong at that school, and soon neither of the girls is sure who is the one kept as hostage and who is the one they actually value the most. Both girls are highly protective of each other and love each other fiercely and that is used to keep them in line.

The story is told from the perspective of both Fia and Anna, and keeps on moving from the past to the present, and even if it's a slow way of trying to put all the pieces together and figure out what's going on from two very different perspectives, since none of the sisters can see the full picture despite their gifts, it managed to keep me pondering and turning pages trying to figure out what would happen next!

There's a bit of romance in the book, but I'm not sure if I like Fia's choices or what exactly those choices are, cause she seems to be going against her instincts but not really? James and Adam play a small but big part on how events play out, or even better, not big actions but big reactions to the part they play.

The ending was quite a shock and left me awaiting eagerly, and quite puzzled, the sequel. I really have no idea where the story is gonna go from here and I can't wait to find out!

A very solid 4 stars for this one.



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Mark This Book Monday: Elegy by Tara Hudson!

Monday is here and with it a new edition of Mark This Book(s) Monday!

Let's get this started, right?

Elegy by Tara Hudson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Elegy is the final book in the Hereafter trilogy and with it Amelia's struggle with her after life, her relationship with Joshua and the fight with the forces of Darkness all clashes into a final battle.

I can't really talk about Elegy and keep it spoiler free for the previous books, but as always I will try my best to keep it spoiler-free for the book itself.

Elegy starts pretty much where Arise left us, with a Risen and very shaken Amelia, trying to figure out how she can defeat the forces of darkness and try to keep all her loved ones safe. She's already had to face the fact that keeping secrets from her loved ones and Joshua is not the solution, and that she can't face the demons from the brigde on her own. After getting an ultimatum to give herself in or what those around her die, she decides to take action and bring the fight to the demons.

Joshua and Amelia keep on facing dificulties on their relationship, because even if now that she's Risen Amelia can be seen and can interact more normally with Joshua's family, they lost the intimacy of touch, and all the "fight the demons or they'll kill everyone you care for" is putting a lot of strain to their relationship, but they do manage to get through all the highs and lows with working on their issues and talking about them, and that's a lesson we should all take to heart: talk about your issues with your partner, don't expect others to guess and magically fix things!

Amelia has to make some slightly unexpected alliances and not all plans go as planned, but they're ready to give a fight to the devils on the bridge, and quite unexpectedly when things go awry, Amelia gets contacted and gets some explanation from the side of Light about what's going on, and she gets offered a way out. But that is not good enough for Amelia, since she needs to do what she feels is right and she has to fight the demons and save those inprisoned there, and she's not getting any help from the Light side in there, and I found that very disappointing, it seems that in the world Tara created the evil guys are more proactive than the good ones, and neither of both sides care enough about errant ghosts.

The ending was quite action packed, a little bit unexpected and quite heartbreaking even if there's also a note of hope.

There's a definitive character growth and progression in Amelia and Joshua, and also in Jillian, cause she was quite irritating in Arise, but she's much more than an angsty brat in Elegy, she turns out to be quite of a hero in the end.

I was a bit scared to start the book, cause I feared how it would end, but it was a fast read, with a tight plot, many questions answered and what might not be a very cheerful ending but one that does make sense for the story and is true to the characters.

I give Elegy 3 and a half stars.





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Showcase Sunday #6!!

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

Purchased (via Kindle app)

Earth Girl by Janet Edwards

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Mass

Won in a Giveaway (thank you so much C.J. Redwine!)

This was my first ever signed ARC and I was stalking my poor postman hoping for it to arrive! It is also my second ever physical ARC, after the Alienated one!

Deception by C.J. Redwine

For Review (via NetGalley)

After three weeks of rejection after rejection on NetGalley this was the week I was approved for every single ARC I requested, I'm nearly overwhelmed now!

Parasite by Mira Grant

All Is Fair by Emma Newman

Tainted by A.E. Rought

A Covenant With Hell by Priscilla Royal

The Mephisto Mark by Trinity Faegen

The Pentrals by Crystal Mack

The Darkness of Shadows by Chris Little

This week the reading muses have been extremely kind to me, to the point that all my reading schedule has been thrown out for a loop, but I'm so grateful!

What did you lot get this week? Hope you were as lucky as me!

Thankful Thursday: The kindness of others.

Hello everyone!

Thankful Thursday is that little space I like spending each week thinking of something I'm grateful for.
Sometimes is easier to complain about the bad than to be thankful about the good, but I think it's even more important to look for the good and acknowlegde it.

What I am thankful for this week? I'm thankful for all the people that are kind and nice to me one way or the other. Doesn't matter if it's a stranger, a friend, a co-worker... If we stop and think about it, there's always someone that can be there when we need a lil push, a kind word or a nice gesture, and we need to focus more on that and on spreading it than on complaining about the not-so-nice one that cut us on the exit for the highway!

Be kind.

And have a cupcake!

Waiting On Wednesday #3!!

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!


So what am I eagerly awaiting this week? The newly cover-revealed Ultraviolet Catastrophe by Jamie Grey!

Goodreads summary:

 "Quantum Electrodynamics. String Theory. Schrödinger's cat. For sixteen-year-old Lexie Kepler, they’re just confusing terms in her science textbooks, until she finds out that her parents have been drugging her to suppress her outrageous IQ. Now Branston Academy, a school run by the world’s most powerful scientists, has tracked her down and is dying for her to attend - as a research subject.

She takes refuge at Quantum Technologies, a secret scientific community where her father works as a top-notch scientist, and begins her new life as girl genius at Quantum High. But the assignments at her new school make the Manhattan Project look like preschool - and Lexie barely survived freshman algebra.

Her first big assignment – creating an Einstein-Rosen bridge – is also her first chance to prove she can hold her own with the rest of QT's prodigies. But while working with the infuriatingly hot Asher Rosen, QT’s teen wonder, Lexie uncovers a mistake in their master equation. Instead of a wormhole, the machine they’re building would produce deadly ultraviolet rays that could destroy the world. Now Lexie and Asher have to use their combined brainpower to uncover the truth behind the device. Before everyone at Quantum Technologies is caught in the ultraviolet catastrophe."


Why am I eagerly awaiting Ultraviolet Catastrophe? Well, I found the first chapter at the end of One by LeighAnn Kopans and it intrigued me so much! It's gonna be a mix of science fiction and contemporary with loads of science and geeky references, and I just can't wait to read it! Also... look at that absolutely amazing cover!! Ain't it gorgeous?? September 24th is still too far away!

What are you all (im)patiently waiting to read?

Mark This Book Monday: Infinityglass by Myra McEntire!!

And for the last Mark This Book Monday entry of the week, the final book of the Hourglass trilogy!



Infinityglass by Myra McEntire

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A fantastic ending to this great trilogy! I will try my best to keep the review as spoiler free as possible, but in all probability there will be spoilers for the previous two books.

Infinityglass starts with a look back at the past, and we do so with a new POV, Hallie, and who is Hallie, you might ask? Hallie is the daughter of Paul Girard, the main guy behind Chronos, who used to be business partner and so much more with Teagan. Hallie has been raised overly protected and sheltered by her dad, but probably quite unexpectedly she's bold, sarcastic and has a lot of spunk! She's always been rash and brave, and that paired with her time gene given ability makes her quite a character! But little she knows that she's more than she could even imagine.

The second POV is Dune, the official Hourglass expert in the Infinityglass, that goes to New Orleands to try and help solve the mystery of the Infinityglass and if possible heal the time continuum that is good and well messed up. He meets Hallie, and she's quite a handful to deal with, and Dune not only has to help keep her safe, but help find out the answers in the Infinityglass lore to see what it really means for a person and not an object to be the Infinityglass.

After reading the book it's quite clear that the story had to be told by Hallie and Dune, since they are the ones in the thick of it, and any other POVs would have been telling their story for them. Hallie and Dune get through a initial deception to working together, to falling in love, and they become each other's strenght. Lily and Kaleb, Em and Michael, they do come into the story, but they are there to complete their journey and to support Hallie and Dune on their, but this is the Infinityglass show, and so they're just supporting characters.

The time continuum continues to get more and more messed up (or should I say wibbly wobbly) and the past is threating to invade the present and take over, and the stakes get even higher when Teagan and Jack come into the scene, always with an ace under their sleeve.

With a fast moving pace but allowing time to develop the new characters while moving the story along, and plenty of geeky references (including quite a few Doctor Who ones) this book hooked me from the start, surprised me with a few twists I wasn't really expecting and managed to wrap things up quite neatly in the end, with a bit of shocker in the resolution!

All in all, 4 and a half stars for this book, and probably for the whole trilogy as well! Thank you Myra McEntire for this fantastic and fun ride!





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Mark This Book Monday: Frigid by J Lynn!

For the next Mark This Book Monday entry a slightly unsual read for me. I'm not really much of a fan of contemporaries, but since this one was written by Jennifer L Armentrout under her other pen name, and I really love all of her other books, I knew I had to give this one a chance, and glad I did!


Frigid by J. Lynn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Frigid is full of what Jennifer L Armentrout does best, and as J Lynn, she can push the limits a bit more. What does that mean? That means we get the same humour, the same witty banter and even more steamy & swoony scenes!

Kyler and Sydney have been friends since kindergarten, always being there for each other through thick and thin. Once puberty hit the friendship continued but at some point both fell in love with each other, Sydney accepted it, Kyler didn't think he was good enough for Syd so he hid it in denial and a lot of casual dating and sex.

Now, they're in college and continue being best of friends, Kyler taking care of Syd and finding fault in any guy that shows an interest on her with a "no guy is good enough for me, least of all me" mentality, and Syd is trying to continue being a friend to Kyler despite the continue hurting that his men-whore ways bring to her.

Everything is bound to change when they get stuck in a big snow storm during their usual winter break retreat in the mountains, isolated and just the two of them. That means loads of tension, Syd taking a "to hell with it" attitude and Kyler having to face what he has been denying for a loong time! It is not an easy road for them, and since both of them have a lot of baggage to deal with: Syd mostly insecurities and Kyler mostly mistakes, they're gonna have a lot to deal with!

I loved reading this book, and not even the wrong assumptions and confusions took me from enjoying Syd & Kyler, with their banter, the steamy chemistry and most of all, their insane loyalty to each other and their friendship.

A 4 star read and the perfect summer book!



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Mark This Book Monday: Earth Girl by Janet Edwards!

Well, Monday is here again and with it a new edition of Mark This Book(s) Monday!

I'm gonna start this week's review with a very nice surprise and discovery, even more since the sequel for this one comes out this Thursday!



Earth Girl by Janet  Edwards

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After reading the synopsis, I wasn't completely sure I was gonna love the book, but it sounded intriguing enough: humans have colonized the stars and can go anywhere instantly via portals, but some are born Handicapped and can't survive anywhere but old mother Earth. Something in their immune system reacts to other planets and they get severe anaphilactic shock, so babies have to be portaled to Earth right after birth to be able to survive. They are called "apes" and are considered inferior, and parents usually abandon them to the care of Hospital Earth, funded by all the colonies. The kids are raised in communal classes till they are 18, getting a ProMum and ProDad who look out for them but don't actually do any parental caring. There's an enormous stigma associated with having an "ape" baby, and couples usually blame each other's genes for it and divorce.

Jarra is an Earth Girl, she's Handicapped, an ape, and she's got a lot of anger and resentment about the ways most "normal" people, the ones born away from Earth, the ones that can portal from place to place. She wants to prove to the "exos"("ape" is considered a bad word, a demeaning word, "exo" is the equivalent to it used by the Handicapped to refer pejoratively to the normals that can portal) how an ape girl can be as good as any of them, and she wants to prove it going undercover, so to speak.

Jarra's biggest love is history, more precisely pre-history the period of human history before the invention of the portals and the massive Exodus of humankind to the stars. She wants to study History and pre-history and she wants to do it hiding the fact she's an "ape". All universities first courses for History have to take place in Earth, since the first year always focus on pre-history and that means Earth. She'll join an outer planet university and show all the exos that she can be as good as them.

Jarra's journey in this book is one from anger and resentment to acceptance and growin up. She does a lot of growing up in the book, because the exos are not the only ones with prejudices, Jarra is ready to hate everyone in her class just cause she thinks they'd hate her and belittle her for being an "ape". It really is a coming of age tale. Discovering who she is and dealing with it, dealing with the losses and the victories she's given, and learning to trust others and to actually see herself not for what she fears others will see, but for who she really is, not what.

There romance in the book does have a bit of an odd progression, slowly building in a way, but with some sudden stop/starts all intermingled with the plot, and since I want to keep this spoiler-free I don't want to dwell much on that. Fian is a sweet character and adds a lot to the way Jarra learns to deal with things and despite his less out there attitude, he does a great job at keeping Jarra grounded when she needs it the most.

There's a big focus on history and archeology in this book, and the love of Jarra for both subjects is contagious, even if I'm also a big lover of both subjects myself. Add the science fiction setting of it all, and this book had the right recipe for me to love it.

The story's ending is complete and even though I'm quite eager to continue reading about Jarra's story, it didn't end with a cliffhanger!

Very well deserved 4 stars!



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