Friday Reads: Reboot by Amy Tintera!

For the final entry this week on Friday Reads another dystopian that manages to not be just another dystopian.


Reboot by Amy Tintera

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Reboot was one of those books I had on my TBR list for quite a while before I decided to read it. The premise seemed different enough to be an interesting read, and I love dystopian & postapocalyptic stories, but I was scared that there would be too much romance of the insta-love category and it'd end up dampening my book experience.

I'm glad that I decided to read it anyways, cause even if it didn't blow my mind, the book was very entertaining and I'm surely awaiting the sequel!

The premise for Reboot is that humany has been falling prey to this virus that kills but not permanently, at least in some cases, so after some time the person comes back to life, changed, stronger, self-healing and depending on the time it took them to come back, less human. At first humanity looked at it as boon, no more fear of death! but after seeing how different the Reboots could be after their change, there was a war: Reboor versus humans and the aftermath of said war is the world where the story takes place.

A Reboot does sound a bit like a zombie, since seems like they reanimate and are undead, only way to kill them is blowing their heads off... but Reboots are not exactly zombies, but much more. Adult Reboots are killed upon reanimation, but any under 20 is taken into special facilites to be trained and controlled and turned into efficient fighters and killing machines to do the dirty work of humans, the perfect special forces that don't question orders.

Wren 178 (number refers to the minues you've been dead before reanimating) is the most perfect of those special forces, she had been training and taking missions for a long time, and she's drilled herself to not feel and to just do her job. Along comes Callum, a mere 22 minutes that make him almost human, a new recruit that starts turning things upside down for Wren by not settling into the routines and challenging the status from small to big ways. Add an ugly situation with Ever, Wren's room mate and even when ever did not show it, her only friend and all hell breaks loose.

I was glad that the romance that started between Wren and Callum was not the only motivator for Wren's change, but also her relationship with Ever and what happens to her is what makes Wren realize she won't just take orders anymore.

For some reason I can't pinpoint exactly the later third of the book didn't kept me as engaged as the first half of it, so it lost a little of steam for me... maybe having them running wasn't as compelling as the build up for me, but the end of the book really was something! And will be the reason I will make sure I'm NOT missing out the sequel!

Still unsure if I'll give it 3 or 3 and a half stars, so I'll leave it as 3 and a quarter stars!



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Friday Reads: Earth Star by Janet Edwards!

Seems that all my Friday Reads so far are the second book in either a series or a trilogy! Luckily this one also did a good job on following up a great first book!


Earth Star by Janet  Edwards

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Earth Star is the sequel to Earth Girl and it starts right where Earth Girl left us: Jarra has received the Earth Star & the Artemis medals from the military, everyone knows she's a Handicapped (or an "ape" to use the pejorative term) and she has to face her classmates after lying to them. She's got Fian supporting her even without the approval of his family and she's got her love for History and archeology.

Once they're trying to get back to the routine of classes after moving to a different site dig called Eden in Africa, for Jarra with some unpleasant surprises in the shape of bullying from some of her classmates, there are some news that throw everything they think they know for a loop! Jarra and Fian are called up by the military under the utmost secrecy to be part of the Alien Contact program that has been activated.

What does that mean? Well, it's a military protocol established for the moment when humanity in their reach for the stars happen onto intelligent & civilized alien life... except that they haven't found it out there... alien civilization has come to Earth in the shape of an unmanned sphere!

This is at the same time thrilling and scary and Jarra once again finds herself in the thick of it! She's even made part of the military along with Fian and she finds herself providing key information and getting thrown into a command position in the madness of it all.

Jarra is still adjusting to being ok with who she is and appreciating the fact that she's good at what she does and that her being an "ape" still doesn't give others the right to judge her. She's gone from being angry at the world to not wanting to make a fuss about other people's disrespect and clear hatred of her just for having a different immune system.

Earth Star continues to show us how close minded humans can be and how easily we make divisions between the "us" and the "others" for the silliest of reasons. If you find it difficult to believe the fact that a deficient immune system would turn those humans into pariahs and having so many other consider them subhumans, just look back and look now and see how there are still people that think a different skin tone makes someone less than them. Now, take this one stage further and think, if we can do that to fellow humans with a difference, what would we not to do really different beings, like aliens?

I love how this book manages to present us with some serious issues and questions and at the same time add some realistic and well needed levity, like having your prudish Deltan lecturer be a rock'n'roll drum player!

Jarra is doing so much growing up in this book, on dealing with who she is, finding out more about her family, her relationship with Fian... She is still learning to trust Fian and to not expect him to run when things get complicated, and she's quite lucky to have such a stubborn and loyal guy that won't let her throw away their relationship for fear of making things difficult for him. Fian also has to deal with some issues himself, but he's an all around solid character.

The plot progresses without major twists but instead keeps on building up the the climax of a cliffhanger ending and leaves us hanging till the next book is released!

Earth Star doesn't suffer from the middle book syndrome, instead it gives the overall plot of the series a new twist and rises the stakes up a notch! Very well deserved 4 stars!



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Friday Reads: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas!!

For my next Friday Reads review a highly awaited sequel that didn't disappoint!


Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It's not everyday that a sequel of a book you loved exceeds your expectations and blows you mind as thoroughly as Crown of Midnight did for me.

This is one be one hard review to write, and the reasons are manyfold. For starters this book was INTENSE and such a rollercoaster of all sort of feeling that even after 4 days I can't really put my opinions into very coherent words, the more I love a book, the more I babble! Let's not forget the fact that this a book that needs to be experienced as spoiler-free as possible and that means trying to convey how fantastic it was without giving any specifics... you get the picture.

Celaena is now the King' champion, but that doesn't mean that she's loyal to the crown. If you remember how scared she was of the king, you can only imagine what her deception must be costing her and to keep her charade realistic, she's keep it a secret even from those closest to her.

Celaena keeps being this amazing mix of girlie girl with deadly assassin, loyal to the core but not letting others come too close in fear of putting them at risk. She's full of secrets and we find out what some of those secrets are, and let me tell you, they are BIG ones!

Chaol and Dorian are also full of surprises for us, some more unexpected that others, and for Dorian specially, quite shocking ones! The not-exactly love triangle continues to be explored here, but I think it seems to stop being a love triangle and become more clearly solved, despite some more shocking and "what the...?" heartwrenching moments.

The plot? Well, let me tell you this plot is a maze of twists and turns and shocking revelations one after the other! It seemed to be a case of turning page after page and getting your expectations and theories blown to the wind! I was kept on my toes all through the book, and kept avidly awaiting more pieces to add to solving the multilevel puzzle that Crown of Midnight was.

In short, characters grown, there are swoony moments and some truly happy ones, some terribly heartwrenching ones, many shocks and surprises, many twists and one hell of a "you've got to be kidding me, you can't end the book like this and leaving me hanging for a year!!" kind of ending.

I'm just gonna leave you with one spoiler, rest assured FleetFoot IS well and safe.

A wonderful whirlwind of emotions and a severe case of book hangover makes Crown of Midnight a 5 stars read!



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Friday Reads: ARC Review of Deception by C.J. Redwine!!

I've decided I need more days to review books here in the blog, so let me introduce you to Friday Reads!

For the first entry I'm having a review of an ARC of one of my most anticipated books of the year, and one of those reads that give you a "book hangover".


Deception by C.J. Redwine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ever since I finished Defiance last year I had been eagerly awaiting the continuation of Logan & Rachel's story, so when I had the chance to win an ARC of Deception on a giveaway I jumped at it. It was a strike of luck that I won and couldn't be happier that I got to read this book in advance.

Deception starts where Defiance left us, so this review might have a few spoilers for the first book but I promise to do my best to keep it as spoiler-free as possible. Logan and Rachel are trying to organize the survivors of Baalboden after the Cursed One attack and the Commander's flight and they both are trying to deal with the aftermath of everything that happened.

Rachel is still our fierce warrior, but she's also trying to deal with how broken she feels and how she doesn't think she can stop and deal with all the hurt inside cause there are a more important things to deal with, like leaving ravaged Baalboden and travel the Wastelands in search of assylum in another state-city.

Logan has been chosen leader of the survivors and he continues to be his logical self, planning and plotting and doubting he can be up to task of getting the survivors to a safe haven.

There is not a dull moment in Deception, right from the start there is dissension between the survivors since not everyone agrees with Logan's leadership. Then they get attacked before they are completely ready to leave Baalboden, so they have to make a more hurried departure under Carrington's army attack. Once they travel along the Wastelands they discover the bigger threat might not just be the Commander with the army coming after them, but also a potential traitor on their midst that starts by trying to sabotage Logan's inventions and quickly escalates the actions ending up in murder.

Rachel and Logan continue to try and make their relationship work even with the numbness and guilt that Rachel can't seem to deal with and she gets no respite, cause it seems that whoever is after them will make sure to add to the torture of losing people they care for.

There is a little bit of everything in Deception, romance with some tiny swoon moments where Logan proves he's not just a "best case, worst case scenario" kinda guy, quite a few heartwrenching moments with Rachel trying to deal with all her loses and her guilt, a murder mystery feel to the whole "enemy mole in our midst" and all the tensions any group of human beings would have to deal with under pressure: mistrust, panic, solidarity and even xenophobia. I kept on having to take little breathers now and then cause I was fearing turning the page wondering what new hardship the would have to face! We also get a broader look at the world they leave and even more information on the past and present, and a few quite unexpected revelations!

The ending was just one of those "WHAT THE HELL, YOU CANNOT END IT LIKE THAT?!" sort of cliffhangers... There is quite a lot of hope in it too, and I'm very happy about how Rachel grows as a character, but in the name of everything that has ever been holy... I need book 3 now!

A great sequel, I'd even say better than Defiance, very well deserved 4 and a half stars.



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Thankful Thursday: The perks of being a book blogger!

For this week's Thankful Thursday I want to say thank you for all the things that as a book lover and huge bookworm I'm really excited about since I started being a bit dedicated to book blogging!

Everything started with Goodreads, that website might have pros and cons as everything does, but being able to keep track of what I read and even more important, being able to keep a list of books I want to read and knowing when they come out, that's priceless for me!

Then, I have to mention Twitter... who would have thought authors would be so willing and nice to interact with readers in such a great way! Also, meeting and chatting with other book bloggers, getting recommendations and tips... Twitter is a goldmine!

And for what I am the most grateful and still quite startruck is about the possibility of getting Advanced copies of books, the ARCs, something that a pair of years back I had no idea it existed! I'm so honoured every time I get approved for one on NetGalley and even more when an author sends me one!

Once again, THANK YOU!

Waiting On Wednesday #4!!

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!

Today I'm gonna spotlight just one of the many books I'm eargerly awaiting that will release next week, on August 27th! Really, is a bit overwhelming the amount of books I'm dying to read that come out on the same day!

My choice is Pretty When She Destroys by Rhiannon Frater!

Goodreads summary:

"Amaliya Vezorak always believed she was destined to live a failed life in obscurity until she was brutally murdered by an ancient vampire named The Summoner and reborn as a powerful vampire necromancer. Now it is up to her to save the world…"


Why am I eagerly awaiting Pretty When She Destroys?

Well, it's the final book in the Pretty When She Dies trilogy, and in the last book the stakes were very high and things were looking pretty bleak, so even if I'm sure I'm gonna cry and be upset when characters I love die, I can't wait to read this final installment! Rhiannon Frater writes the very gritty, monster-like vampires, but also writes great human characters, no matter if they're human or monsters!

Mark This Book Monday: Biting Bad by Chloe Neill!

And for the final Mark This Book Monday of the week, the next instalment on a series I'm still happily enjoying!

Biting Bad by Chloe Neill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Sometimes a favourite series seems to be losing steam as the books keep on coming and I end up losing interest, but I'm very happy to say that so far it isn't happening with the Chicagoland Vampires series. Biting Bad is the 8th book in the series and I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

Because it is the 8th book it's gonna be quite impossible for me to not post spoilers, and probably unwittingly big ones for the previous books, but I will try my best to not have any for Biting Bad itself.

Merit is trying to patch up her friendship with Mallory and they decide to go have some time for themselves and have some amazing pizza, but their plans go totally awry when a riot breaks out in Chicago against vampires, targeting the biggest supplier of blood for vampires in the city, Blood4You. They try to avoid the violence but end up having to do some fighting to get away from the riots and not just Merit is the one fighting, Mallory ends up using some her magic, which ends up with them discussing her progress on controlling her abilities and what will she be doing with her magic from now on.

That riot is just the start and Merit and the Cadogan vampires along with Jonah her RG partner have to try and figure out who's behind the riots and what's their real intent before Chicago turns against vampires as a whole again. Stakes get even higher when the GP decides to put an even bigger strain on the Cadogan vampires and the rioters end up targeting Merit's family.

This book has the right mix of action, mystery, politics and romance to keep me entertained, ponder on who the bad guy it is, laugh at Merit and Ethan's puns and swoon on occasion due to Ethan's Ethan-ness!

Then ending was quite a "oh no, you don't!" kind of an ending that has me now quite excited about the next book!

This series continues to be one of my solid favourites and Biting Bad is a solid 4 stars.



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Mark This Book Monday: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater!

Another book that quite surprised me and totally blew away my expectations in a good way for the next Mark This Book Monday entry.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Sometimes, upon reading the synopsis of a book you make up your mind on what you think it'd typically happen, and despite by best efforts to not do that, it had happen with The Raven Boys... I was expecting insta-love and maybe some typical cliches on rich school boys with a paranormal touch and I am so happy to say that Raven Boys was nothing like I was expecting and in the best ways possible.

Blue Sargent is the only one in her house that is not a clairvoyant or has any sort of physic powers, unlike her mother and her friends, but every year for St Mark's Day she has sat with her mother in a remote abandoned church to watch for the sould of those that would die during the year and she's never seen them. But this year, she doesn't go with her mother, she goes with Neeve, her mother's cousin/half-sister/relativ and she sees a boy, a boy named Gansey and she's told that he's either her true love or she's gonna kill him. Pair that with how she's always been told that if she kisses her true love she'll kill him, and Blue is sure that she wants to avoid love but intrigued enough to want to find more about that boy.

As it happens, Gansey attends a very exclusive school on Blue's town, the Aglionby Academy for boys, known as The Raven Boys. They meet by chance (or maybe fate) at the diner where Blue works and though they don't hit it up or fall in love, everything is set in motion from then on. Having a reading at Blue's house by her mum and friends for Gansey and the rest of his small group of unlikely friends is just the final push for the rock to roll.

This book is carried in the shoulders of its characters and they are such a complex mix that is a joy to read about them and try to discover more about each of them.

The fours boys, Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah are such an unlikely mix and so different from the very cliched stereotypes of the rich privileged boys that would attend an elite school, and their interactions and their relationship is one that makes you think of the "your friends are the family you choose" saying.

Blue and her family are such a ragtag of quirky and different personalities and as full of secrets as the boys. Whatever you see in the surface for them, is quite like an iceberg, there's even more unseen.

The plot moves at a slow but steady pace, building up on the mystery and the search of Gansey's own grial quest: finding the tomb of an old Welsh king. It is unclear if Gansey is sure of what he'll do when he finds it, cause even if it's said that you can ask a boon from the king if you find him, it seems that is the search what Gansey is using to find who he is separate from his family and his money, a quest to define himself. All the boys seem to be more or less involved on Gansey's search, some more out of loyalty, some cause they do want something out of the king. And Blue, Blue just can't help being drawn into the quest because she becomes part of the Raven Boys, she finds a different purpose and she just feels she needs to be there.

There's plenty of paranormal elements, but quite in a different and unique way, and it has plenty of gritty tough real world happenings to balance it, there's enough darkness and intrigue to keep you turning the pages and while the ending is quite final, it also leaves plenty of open doors and questions unanswered to be quite eagerly awaiting the next book in the series!

Raven Boys does deserve 4 and a half stars.




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