Tell Me Tuesdays #11!!

Tell Me Tuesdays is a meme/feature created by the awesome ladies of Please Feed The Bookworm and La La In The Library where we can share how we choose the book we are currently reading from our TBR pile!

I'm always curious about that, cause as much as I tend to make myself a rough schedule for books to read and the like, I'm quite a mood reader and sometimes I just HAVE to ignore my schedule and read something else!

 Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas

Lost and broken, Celaena Sardothien’s only thought is to avenge the savage death of her dearest friend: as the King of Adarlan’s Assassin, she is bound to serve this tyrant, but he will pay for what he did. Any hope Celaena has of destroying the king lies in answers to be found in Wendlyn. Sacrificing his future, Chaol, the Captain of the King’s Guard, has sent Celaena there to protect her, but her darkest demons lay in that same place. If she can overcome them, she will be Adarlan’s biggest threat – and his own toughest enemy.

While Celaena learns of her true destiny, and the eyes of Erilea are on Wendlyn, a brutal and beastly force is preparing to take to the skies. Will Celaena find the strength not only to win her own battles, but to fight a war that could pit her loyalties to her own people against those she has grown to love?




Well, I have been waiting for this book all last week hoping that it will arrive soon but it finally FINALLY arrived yesterday, so I got to start it already even if I barely had time to read! Anything else that ought to be on my reading list, ARC or whatever, has totally been pushed back until I'm done with this beauty!

  So what are you all guys reading and how and why did you decide to pick up that book? Shiny new ARC? Comfort read? Scheduled for review? Must have new release? Tell me!!

Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black!

For second and final Mark This Book Monday I have another ARC review, but I was approved for this one on Netgalley by Random House UK (thank you!!) and it releases tomorrow in the US and on Thursday in UK!

As an ARC, I also count it towards my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge and I hope it'll help to move my ratio upwards on NG!

The Iron Trial by Holly Black

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


When I first requested this book I wasn't entirely sure I'd be approved for it, so thank you so very much Random House UK for the approval on Netgalley!

I was quite intrigued about this book cause it was co-written by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black and though I really like (some even love) Cassandra Clare books, I've never read anything by Holly black, so I was intrigued by the story and the writing style!

I read some reviews that said the similarities to Harry Potter turned them off the book, and I can understand how on the surface it can be similar, mainly because who can read anything about a school for magic and not think Hogwarts? But, even if I was reminded about Harry Potter on occasion, I felt that there were well enough differences to keep the book fresh as it is. I just don't advise reading it back to back after reading HP!

Callum is our main character and he has got magical powers and has always known that he would be tested to be taken to the Magisterium (school for magic) but he has been told repeatedly by his father that the mages are evil, that the Magisterium is the most dangerous place in the world and that he needs to flop the exam to avoid going there and remain home with him. Callum's dad is/was a mage, so he's either right about things or up to something and witholding information to boot.

But Callum gets in and we enter this quite interesting world of magic with an underground school, students "leveling up" with metal bracelets for each year, personalized lessons in very small groups (seems like 3 might be the usual number) with a mage that will be your teacher and mentor during your stay at the Magisterium. The way the authors described the Magisterium and the rules of this world was very visual and engaging and unique. The three students end up as fast friends after some trouble might have seemed a bit familiar, but trouble either unites people or tear them apart, so it's not unusual to appear in books.

The notion of the different kinds of magic and of the Enemy of Death as the bad guy they're fighting against was also one that although at first look might have seemed familiar it was quickly flipped on its feet and managed to surprise me. Actually the book took a few detours from the easily expected that were quite cool and very much welcome, so keep this in mind, even if it seems the book might go on typical and well trodden roads... it really won't!

So very much deserved 3.5 stars and I'm quite curious where the next book will go and I'm gonna be expecting the unexpected!



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Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of Athena's Ashes by Jamie Grey!!

Hello everyone!

Once again the blog has been a bit silent this weekend but I've been rather busy with preparations and travelling and meeting people and playing guide and... really have barely had any time to blog (or sleep all that either!) So today the blog is back on track and (hopefully) it will continue for the rest of the week!

To start the week right, the first entry for Mark This Book Monday is one of those sequels that don't disappoint and not only you love them, they leave you really looking forward to the next book!

Since I got an ARC of this one from the author in exchange for an honest review, I'm counting this one for my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge!

Athena's Ashes by Jamie Grey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've always been a big fan of science fiction so trilogy by Jamie Grey was appealing since I heard about book one (that I loved) and this one that is book 2 hasn't disappointed me either! Btw, thanks a lot for the ARC Jamie!

After the cliffhanger of book 1, not a horrible one but a cliffhanger nonetheless, I was really looking forward to read this one! It starts pretty much where Star Thief left us, with Renna in the care (and custody) of MYTH, while Finn and the Athena's crew have gone on the run.

This book has all the awesome things of science fiction like the obvious one of ships and stellar traveling and adventures and high stakes and ethical dilemmas about science and progress and humanity.

Renna continues to be a great main character, continually growing and trying to find out what she really wants to do, surprising herself when she finds herself doing things she wouldn't have done some time back and even when there's romance and a love interest, she doesn't really lose the sigh of what must be done, even when her subconscious betrays her in a biiiig way (not telling you want I mean with that, but it surprised me and I had a ball with that!).

I was rather surprised when the villain was revealed, because somehow I was not expecting it to be who it really was, and I won't be saying anymore cause I don't want to spoil it for anyone else! It was quite nice to see how a villain could be hidden in plain sight that way, that's all I'm saying!

There's a lot of action in this book, betrayal, unexpected meetings, a race against time for more than one reason and there's also romance. This is a NA book after all, so expect mature situations, so to speak! Very well done and with a great relationship starting to build up. Tension & difficulties but thankfully no love triangle at all!

There was a great build up to the final confrontation with deception, pain and rising stakes and I couldn't keep turning the pages fast enough, hoping that I was right about something very spoilery (I was!) and then we got a fantastic resolution with an ending that is a cliffhanger again of sorts but not the horrible one that leaves you mad and feeling like throwing the book away, but the kind that makes you go "Oooooooooh!!!" and "gimme more, I want to know what happens next!"

A very very well deserving 4 to 4.5 stars book, I know that whatever Jamie writes next, I want to read it!



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Friday Reads: ARC Review of First World Problems by LeighAnn Kopans!!

Hello guys! Happy Friday!

I hope you guys have had a good week, mine managed to improve little by little, and now you're ready for Friday and the weekend, I know I am!

Yesterday I skipped a Thursday post cause I was busy baking and cooking and preparing for a Desi Bollywood party I'm having with my friends later today, might share some photos here on Sunday!

Today's entry for Friday Reads is for a book that released this week and that you should all go check out and buy! It's become another of my fave contemporaries of the year, and you guys know I'm not very keen on contemporaries! And keep an eye on my Twitter over the weekend, there might be a giveaway coming too!

As I got the ARC from the author for an honest review, this one also counts for my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge!

First World Problems by LeighAnn Kopans

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Loved this one! Perfect comfort read that made me feel happier about things and this awful world sometimes!

I'm not the biggest contemporary fan, as I keep saying over and over, but I keep finding lil gems here and there that make me realize I might not love the genre, but I need to keep giving it a try.

First World Problems is a companion novel to Solving For Ex, one of my fave contemporaries of the year, so when I got the chance to get an ARC for this one sent by the author (thanks LeighAnn!) I jumped at it!

We first met Sofia in Solving For Ex and she was not a nice or sympathetic character, she's the one you love to hate, and she hasn't really improved much by the time we meet her again in this book, but since this is her story, we get to see what's behind that mean girl face of hers.

It all starts with Sofia going a bit overboard with a credit card (a bit = waaay too much) and her father decides that he needs to put a stop to her selfishness and sense of entitlement, so between him and his wife (Sophia's stepmom) they decide to send her to Guyana, to do community service work to help the people there into sustainable development in very dire situations.

It goes without saying, she rages, cajoles and tries every trick in her book to avoid it, but there is sent to the middle of the jungle to join a group of young people trying to make a difference.

The character development of Sofia during this book was fantastic! We meet her at first and we know she's the spoiled and entitled brat from the previous book and we're glad to see her dumped into a tough place and hope she'll be taught a lesson. And she does get her lesson and we also get one, in character development, cause from a character that I couldn't stand, little by little I was give a character I wanted to peel layers from and a character I wanted to cheer for and finally a character to feel proud of!

I loved the other characters in the book, Callum and Arielle and Lena. They were all quite well rounded up and I couldn't help but love the hate to truce to love between Callum and Sofia, and the way she found friends in Arielle and Lena, despite each others reservations.

Another thing that I loved and really made the book work for me was how realistic the whole setting of Guyana felt and read. You just feel like you are there, from the latrines, to the chicken of the trees to the shit flinging! I loved the descriptions of the treks through the jungle, the work in the gardens, the indian style cooking, the preparation of handmade cosmetics... And add to that the lovely drawings scattered through the book (not in the ARC, but yes in the finished copy) and you get yourself a fantastic and vivid setting.

If you loved contemporaries, you must add this one to your list and if you don't, give it a try, it might surprise you! Still a bit undecided between 4 to 4.5 stars, but planning a re-read already!



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Waiting On Wednesday #58!!

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!

Well, this week I'm biting my nails awaiting the release of Jackaby by William Ritter!!

Goodreads Summary:

"“Miss Rook, I am not an occultist,” Jackaby said. “I have a gift that allows me to see truth where others see the illusion--and there are many illusions. All the world’s a stage, as they say, and I seem to have the only seat in the house with a view behind the curtain.”

Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary--including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant. On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police--with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane--deny.

Doctor Who meets Sherlock in William Ritter’s debut novel, which features a detective of the paranormal as seen through the eyes of his adventurous and intelligent assistant in a tale brimming with cheeky humor and a dose of the macabre."


Why am I eagerly awaiting Jackaby? Well when I first heard it was described as a mix of Sherlock with Doctor Who, I was completely sold! Add to that some very positive reviews from some of my canaries and I'm dying to get my hands on this one!

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

Tell Me Tuesdays #10!!

Tell Me Tuesdays is a meme/feature created by the awesome ladies of Please Feed The Bookworm and La La In The Library where we can share how we choose the book we are currently reading from our TBR pile!

I'm always curious about that, cause as much as I tend to make myself a rough schedule for books to read and the like, I'm quite a mood reader and sometimes I just HAVE to ignore my schedule and read something else!

Lailah by Nikki Kelly


The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.

On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely ally – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.

In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?

Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.


When I first saw Lailah around I wasn't very sure about it, but then I met Nikki, the author, on Twitter and she's the sweetest person ever, and then the reviews for it from some of my canaries like Octavia from Read, Sleep, Repeat and Crystal, made me super intrigued! I have been dying to get my hands on an ARC of it for a long while and thanks to Nikki herself and Danny from Bewitched Bookworms, now I DO!! Thank you!

So what are you all guys reading and how and why did you decide to pick up that book? Shiny new ARC? Comfort read? Scheduled for review? Must have new release? Tell me!!

 

Cover Reveal With Xpresso Book Tours: One Song Away by Molli Moran!!

Hello guys!

Today I'm very pleased to be part of the cover reveal for Molli Moran's next book, organized by Xpresso Book Tours!


Before I let you see the pretty pretty cover designed by Marie Landry, I'm gonna tell you all about the book and about Molli herself!

One Song Away by Molli Moran
Publication date: December 2014
Genres: New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

She needs a fill-in boyfriend. He needs a favor. It's the perfect, no-strings arrangement -- until they both realize it's too real...

Sophie-Claire Wright's life is like a bad country song on repeat. She keeps running into her cheating ex, her songwriting career isn't taking off, and to make matters worse, her roommate just kicked her out of their apartment. With nothing to lose, she decides to do the one thing she said she'd never do: she moves back home. She left her small Southern town with big dreams, but now she's going home with empty pockets.

Life moves at a slower pace in Sophie’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it hometown, but her well-meaning, matchmaking mother doesn't have a slow gear. She invents a boyfriend to hold off her mother's efforts, but she’s out of luck when her mom wants to meet Sophie’s boyfriend. Sophie panics until she runs into Jake Cooper. Her high school crush is back in town, too, and when he asks her for a favor, she agrees -- on one condition. He says he'll be her fill-in boyfriend, so it should be simple: introduce him to her family and then "break up" with him after a few weeks.

Sophie is sure she'll be able to resist Jake this time and that their fake relationship will keep them both away from wagging tongues. Just because she was in love with him years ago doesn't mean she'll fall for him again now, right? But she didn't bargain for moments that feel all too genuine. Dates that don't seem fake. And she didn't count on old feelings resurfacing and complicating their arrangement —- which is starting to feel less like acting and more like the real deal.

Soon, Sophie can't tell which kisses are real or fake -- but she knows she's in deep. When she gets a chance to go back to Nashville and chase her dreams again, she has a choice to make: stay or go? Continue hoping that the life she wants is one song away, or write her own? 

Intrigued enough? Wanna see the gorgeous cover now??

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About the author:

 

Molli is a Southern writer who doesn't consider her day complete if she hasn't written. She loves coffee and talking fast, things she attributes to being raised by Gilmore Girls. She's a romantic at heart, and brings that to her books. When not reading or blogging, she can be found obsessing over Doctor Who, cuddling her various pets, or spending time with friends, family, or her girlfriend. 

Website | Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Mark This Book Monday: Linked by Imogen Howson!!

Hey guys! Happy Monday and welcome to September!

Are any of you as surprised, panicky and overwhelmed at how fast the summer has passed?? I feel like the days have blurred into each other!

I took a lil break from blogging during the weekend cause I was feeling very much on edge and not at my best emotionally and I needed the lil breather, so I'm a bit late posting the review for my August book from my Alyssa Recommends list!

Better late than never, here it is as my Mark This Book Monday entry of this week!



Linked by Imogen Howson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Science fiction will always probably be my first literary love, and Linked is one of those science fiction stories that I love! This one came highly recommended by Alyssa from The Eater of Books and it part of her Alyssa Recommends list!

We start the book with Elissa trying to find help in a new doctor to find out what's been wrong with her in the last 3 years and to find a way to fix her. She's so willing to get rid of her allucinations and unexplained pains and bruises that she even overlooks some stuff that make her alarms ping during the visit, getting her surgery scheduled in 4 days. Then we see her get to what's now her normal life of dreading the pain and visions and being shunned by her peers.

It was a necessary beginning and it really showed Elissa's personality and motivations but it felt a bit odd for me, mostly cause I wasn't sure where the book was going yet and even though this is a very good thing, even if I had a hunch about what part of the mystery might be about early on, I had no idea what was gonna happen or how. Then things started happening and the action started moving even if we get very few answers and many more new questions once Lissa meets Lin.

The dynamics between these two are very interesting, since Lissa feels responsible for Lin, given that she's her twin and she's been suffering horrible experiences (the ones she had been experiencing in the shape of pains and bruises) but also she doesn't know Lin and she's a bit scared of the unknown and the different and Lin is very much both, even if both wear the same face.

Aside from the action, we get quite an nice world building about Sekoia and the colonization of planets and space flight that we find peppered throughout the book, never too much exposition to make it feel like info-dump, but always enough to hint at things and to make us see and understand better what world is this one we're in, and the kind of mentality and mind frame the people in this planet have.

One of the most important themes treated in this book for me was the whole twin, human, non-human and sub-human. It was fantastically presented and explained and how it was compared with cloning and how it was shown once again that by making people think in terms of "us" anf "them" and labelling someone as "non-human" for whatever reason, some people will be prejudiced enough to believe their prejudices and not the evidence before them.

I was quite disgusted with the human race at more than one point in this book, even if it's science fiction and it hasn't happend and it might never happen, but unfortunately I don't see it being so impossible to happen. We've got plenty of examples of what collateral means and how money, power and the interest of those with money and power can be more important than human lives, so imagine those considered "sub-human"?.

The first half of the book was okay, Lissa did get a little on my nerves on occasion with how naive she was, and Lin creeped me out with how intense she was. But the second half of the book was so much better, full of interesting ethical topics raised, action non-stop with raised stakes and even a bit of romance thrown in (nothing like life or death situations to decide that enough is enough and you ought not keep things hidden not even from yourself anymore!).

Then ending was more of the quiet kind, not a big confrontation, but there had been plenty of surprises and revelations in the pages coming up to the final ones and it doesn't end with a horrible cliffhanger which is very much welcome! The ending is open enough to make you want to read the next but doesn't leave you hanging painfully! Well deserved 4 stars!



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