Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Wishlist Wednesday #131


*Wishlist Wednesday is where you show a book that has been on your wishlist/TBR list for a while, the meme is hosted by Pen to Paper*


The Ravenous by Amy Lukavics

PublisherHarlequin Teen 
Release DateSeptember 26, 2017
Pages: 304

The Story:

There's something wrong with Rose. 
From the outside, the Cane family looks like they have it all. A successful military father, a loving mother and five beautiful teenage daughters. But on the inside, life isn't quite so idyllic: the Cane sisters can barely stand each other, their father is always away and their neglectful mother struggles with addiction and depression. 
When their youngest and most beloved sister, Rose, dies in a tragic accident, Mona Cane and her sisters are devastated. And when she is brought back from the dead, they are relieved. But soon they discover that Rose must eat human flesh to survive, and when their mother abandons them, the sisters will find out just how far they'll go to keep their family together.

-via Amazon




Meet the Author

Ever since she was little, Amy was especially intrigued by horror books and movies. Raised in a small mountain town in Arizona, she sustained herself on a steady diet of Goosebumps, Fear Street, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books before discovering Stephen King in her mother's bookshelf. 

Amy lives with her husband, their two precious squidlings, and an old gentleman cat by the name of Frodo. When she isn't writing, she enjoys cooking, crafting, and playing games across many platforms.



Want to see my entire Wishlist? Check it out on Amazon: Books I Dream About

Happy Reading!

Monday, April 24, 2017

New YA Releases : Week of April 24th


Here are some upcoming releases this week. Release dates sources: 
Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.




Escape from Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Legion by Julie Kagawa

The Whole Thing Together by Ann Brashares


Are any of these on your Bookish Wishlist or Pre-Order cart? Which do you look most forward to?

Happy Reading!
Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Wishlist Wednesday #130


*Wishlist Wednesday is where you show a book that has been on your wishlist/TBR list for a while, the meme is hosted by Pen to Paper*


Odd & True by Cat Winters

Publisher
Amulet Books 
Release DateSeptember 12, 2017
Pages: 368

The Story:

Trudchen grew up hearing Odette’s stories of their monster-slaying mother and a magician’s curse. But now that Tru’s older, she’s starting to wonder if her older sister’s tales were just comforting lies, especially because there’s nothing fantastic about her own life—permanently disabled and in constant pain from childhood polio.

In 1909, after a two-year absence, Od reappears with a suitcase supposedly full of weapons and a promise to rescue Tru from the monsters on their way to attack her. But it’s Od who seems haunted by something. And when the sisters’ search for their mother leads them to a face-off with the Leeds Devil, a nightmarish beast that’s wreaking havoc in the Mid-Atlantic states, Tru discovers the peculiar possibility that she and her sister—despite their dark pasts and ordinary appearances—might, indeed, have magic after all.


-via Amazon



Meet the Author

Cat Winters is an award-winning, critically acclaimed author of YA and adult fiction that blends history with the supernatural. Her YA works include IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS, THE CURE FOR DREAMING, THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY, and the forthcoming ODD & TRUE (Fall 2017). Her adult novels are THE UNINVITED and YESTERNIGHT. She has been named a Morris Award finalist, a Bram Stoker Award nominee, and an Oregon Spirit Book Award winner, and her books have appeared on numerous state and "best of" lists.

Winters lives in Portland, Oregon. Visit her online at www.catwinters.com.



Want to see my entire Wishlist? Check it out on Amazon: Books I Dream About

Happy Reading!

Monday, April 17, 2017

Review : The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi


*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher
St. Martin's Griffin 
Release DateApril 26, 2016
Pages: 352
Source: Own

The Story:

Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you're only seventeen?
Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire...
But Akaran has its own secrets -- thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most. . .including herself.
A lush and vivid story that is steeped in Indian folklore and mythology. The Star-touched Queen is a novel that no reader will soon forget.
via Amazon

Rating








One-word Review STUNNING

Reading Tune Fantasy by 
Alina Baraz 
& Galimatias


Tag Line:


Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you're only seventeen?


Opening Line:


Staring at the sky in Bharata was like exchanging a secret.

My Review

The Star-Touched Queen was so breathtakingly magical! The plot was thick with rich storytelling, 
fantastical twists and stunning details. A cursed motherless princess shunned by everyone is fated to a marriage of Death and Destruction. Or so her star-touched horoscopes promises.


Princess Maya came to terms with her great and terrible horoscope. Used to being sneered at, overlooked and ready for a life of learning. 

Then in a flash she finds herself married. To Amran. The King of Naraka. Naraka is a known as the Otherworld. With Amran Maya learns the impossible. Magic is real. Compassion is real. Akaran opens her up to new experiencing she could have never imagine. 

The very stories Maya's told her younger sister are her reality. And she is Queen of that magical otherworldly realm.

What I loved most about 
The Star-Touched Queen was: the rich storytelling. Chokshi's poetic prose is phenomenal - she truly has a voice for storytelling. Filled with folklore so remarkably woven in, it made the magic of The Star-Touched Queen come to life. The world-building was badass - a perfect blend of reality and enchantment. The pace flowed seamlessly with the stunning unfurling of the story.


While he slept, I betrayed him.


I wove my own magic. A dream of sleep full of silvery spangles that I slipped over his eyes in the same moment that stole away the noose. -- page 197


All in all, I so thoroughly fell in love with 
The Star-Touched Queen. Chokshi was born with a gift for storytelling and I am so pleased I gave The Star-Touched Queen another shot.

Character Breakdown:


There were several character arcs but instead of distracting the reader away from the main timeline, it fleshed it out more-so. The plethora of vivid characters drove the story forward.


Maya - Clever, smart, has a love for learning and sharp edges.


Amran - Charming, mysterious, otherworldly. And unconditionally in love with Maya.

He flashed a vulpine grin. "Kill, if you must. String a garland of severed heads around your waist if you want. I would take you in my arms if you were drenched in blood or dressed in rubies  . . ." - page 111



Meet the Author:



Roshani Chokshi is the New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen. Her work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Shimmer, and Book Smugglers. Her short story, "The Star Maiden," was longlisted for the British Fantasy Science Award.

***Check out Roshani Chokshi's website for more information about her and The Star-Touched QueenHERE


Happy Reading!


New YA Releases : Week of April 17th


Here are some upcoming releases this week. Release dates sources: 
Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.



The Adjustment by Suzanne Young

The Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie

Fans of the Impossible Life by Kaye Scelsa

Meg & Linus by Hanna Nowinski


Are any of these on your Bookish Wishlist or Pre-Order cart? Which do you look most forward to?

Happy Reading!
Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Wishlist Wednesday #129


*Wishlist Wednesday is where you show a book that has been on your wishlist/TBR list for a while, the meme is hosted by Pen to Paper*


Unnatural Deeds by Cyn Balog

Publisher
Sourcebooks Fire 
Release DateNovember 1, 2016
Pages: 288

The Story:

A novel of infatuation and obsession, Unnatural Deeds has an electrifying ending that readers won't see coming.
Victoria Zell doesn't fit in, not that she cares what anyone thinks. She and her homeschooled boyfriend, Andrew, are inseparable. All they need is each other. That is, until Zachary Zimmerman joins her homeroom. Within an hour of meeting, he convinces good-girl Vic to cut class. And she can't get enough of that rush.
Despite Vic's loyalty to Andrew, she finds her life slowly entwining with Z's. Soon she's lying to everyone she knows in an effort to unravel Z's secrets. Except Z's not the only one with a past. Victoria's hiding her own secrets, secrets that will come back to haunt her...and destroy everything in her path.

-via Amazon



Meet the Author

While the other neighborhood children were out getting fresh air and sunlight playing Zim Zam and freeze tag, Cyn Balog preferred to be locked in her bedroom, writing. When she emerged, with her growth only slightly stunted, she graduated from Rutgers with a degree in Shoelace Tying or something. She’d wanted to major in Writing, but certain “wise elders” in her life told her that career writers must learn to subsist on three Saltines a day, and being part-Italian, Cyn adamantly refused to give up Pasta Sundays. 

Cyn now lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with her husband and daughters. She rarely listens to “wise elders” anymore, still eats pasta regularly and is currently looking for a way to get back her figure, possibly by taking up Zim Zam or freeze tag. Her first novel, FAIRY TALE (Delacorte), is a 2009 RITA finalist in the young adult category, and her second novel, SLEEPLESS, which School Library Journal calls “an interesting, quick-paced, and compelling paranormal romance” and Kirkus calls “a lovely read,” released this year. Two more young adult paranormal novels, STARSTRUCK and LIVING BACKWARDS, will be released in 2011 and 2012. Visit her online at www.cynbalog.com.



Want to see my entire Wishlist? Check it out on Amazon: Books I Dream About


Happy Reading!

Monday, April 10, 2017

New YA Releases : Week of April 10th


Here are some upcoming releases this week. Release dates sources: 
Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.




Cheesus by J.C. Davis

Out of the Shadows by Ashlee Nicole Eve

The Rememberer by B.F. Accordi

Unearthly Things by Michelle Gagnon


Are any of these on your Bookish Wishlist or Pre-Order cart? Which do you look most forward to?


Happy Reading!
Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Wishlist Wednesday #128


*Wishlist Wednesday is where you show a book that has been on your wishlist/TBR list for a while, the meme is hosted by Pen to Paper*


When Ash Rains Down by Cecelia Earl

Publisher
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Release DateDecember 1, 2016
Pages: 312

The Story:

The final battle between Heaven and Hell is about to begin and the devil has his sights set on claiming a human-angel hybrid, eighteen-year-old Julia White, to use as a pawn to destroy Heaven and Earth...

Julia has a routine: work, study, school. She doesn't have time for friends, and she certainly doesn't have time for fun. When her father left home, he took away her faith and carefree spirit. Since the day he left, she's worked as hard as she could, determined to give her mom and brother the life they deserve.

When the guy of her dreams suddenly takes an interest in her, and a mysterious guy shows up claiming that demons exist, her life seems to take a strange turn. Her mom's diner is nearly robbed, and she swears something about the thief wasn't right. It was something demonic.

Thrown into a classic battle of good versus evil, Julia learns that the world is more complicated than she thought, and she's caught in the middle. In order to protect those she loves, Julia will have to battle her greed and determine on which side she belongs. 

-via Amazon



Meet the Author

Cecelia Earl graduated with a degree in education and has been teaching ever since. She’s a wife, a mom of three boys, and an owner of a magical laundry pile that never stops growing. She lives near enough to Green Bay, WI that her refrigerator is always stocked with cheese, and the first colors her children learned were green and gold. She’s a teacher by day, a mom always, and a writer in her sleep, but that’s okay because being an author is a dream come true. She writes angel books for young and youngish adults. If you feel young, she writes for you—whether or not you feel particularly angelic. 

Receive forthcoming book updates, access to giveaways, and exclusive bonus content if you're on Cecelia's email newsletter list. Sign up by copying and pasting the link into your browser: http://eepurl.com/cdvvIj



Want to see my entire Wishlist? Check it out on Amazon: Books I Dream About

Happy Reading!

Monday, April 3, 2017

Review : Hunted by Meagan Spooner


*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher
HarperTeen 

Release DateMarch 14, 2017
Pages: 384
Source: Own

The Story:

Beauty knows the Beast's forest in her bones--and in her blood. 




Though Yeva grew up with the city's highest aristocrats, far from her father's old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who's ever come close to discovering them.

So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there's no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas...or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva's father's misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he'd been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.

Deaf to her sisters' protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory--a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva's only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?
via Amazon

Rating









One-word Review HAUNTING

Reading Tune Howling by 
RY X / Frank Wiedemann


Tag Line:


A Beauty deadlier than the Beast.


Opening Line:


Yeva watched the sky over the far-off forest, listening to the baronessa with one ear.

My Review

I did not even read the synopsis for Hunted. I heard it was a Beauty and the Beast and immediately purchased a copy.


And I am glad I did. 


What I loved most about Hunted was how brave and true to herself Yeva - A.K.A. Beauty - was.


Offspring.

Perhaps our plan is not lost. We watch her  from our hidden place, breathing her smell and listening to the silence of her steps. She moves like an animal in a woman's body.

She moves like beauty. - page 84

The plot was more edgier than the original Beauty and the Beast. And I loved every bit. Hellbent on seeking vengeance for her father's murder, Yeva hunts down the Beast. And lands herself captive. So, armed with the folklore her father told her as a child, she slowly lulls the Beast into trust and friendship. Then BAMMMClever and patient, she bides her time until the very moment she can sink her knife into the Beast's throat. 


Yeva lifted the knife.

The Beast's lips parted, his eyelids flickering. "Yeva," he mumbled. "Beauty."

She froze. He was dreaming about her. She swallowed before she could stop herself, body flooding with every ounce of uncertainty she'd been pushing into the dark, unseen corners of her mind where she wouldn't have to face it.

She swallowed, and the Beast heard it, and his eyes opened.

They met hers, still clouded with dreams, hazel-gold reflecting the firelight and hiding no other hint of red. "Beauty," he said again, more distinctly, and his mouth was human, and Yeva could not move. His mouth. She couldn't look away.

The Beast's face cleared of sleep, and he blinked, and then he saw the knife. For an instant his eyes snapped back to Yeva's, shock and confusion and hurt mixing together, and in that moment he was human, and Yeva saw it, that only his human aspect could register and respond to this kind of betrayal.

She knew in another heartbeat he'd be the Beast again. And because she knew she'd die when he was, and because the animal instinct deep in her heart knew what to do, she struck.

THe knife stabbed deep into his throat, and hit bone, and Yeva gasped aloud as she jerked the knife sideways, trying to slice. It wasn't quite sharp enough and it met with resistance, all the tissues and tendons in his neck fighting her. His gasp turned to a gurgle and to a whimper. And then the knife was out, and there was blood everywhere, blood on the rug and blood spattering the wardrobe. Blood spattered the pages of a book that had been left open by his bedside, as though he'd been reading just before he slept. - page 236


Hunted pacing was a little slow but not in so much that I could not get into the story. Spooner's writing is intriguing. The world-building was fantastical and I wish I could have spent more time in the other dimension of the forest - the world beneath; you will understand what I mean when you read the story.

Character Breakdown:


The character's were well fleshed out. Each character was unique and believable.

Yeva  - Yeva was hardcore and loyal to her family and clever
.

Beast - As beastly as ever. Lonely, nasty attitude with a capable heart deep down.


Here is one of my favorite quotes:

"You said that you didn't hear music." Yeva watched his face. "What do you hear?"

"For me," the Beast replied, "it is like a heartbeat."

Yeva fought a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "The heartbeat of the forest."

The Beast gave himself a little shake, then tilted his head eastward. "That is enough for today. We will return now."

As he turned to pass her, the Beast moved o top of the snow, his paws not even stirring the loose snow dusting the icy crust. Yeva' boots crunched through, but he moved like wind, like spirit. He was showing her how he could travel through the forest without leaving a trace, and Yeva watched each step as if hypnotized.

"It is the same sound I heard," the Beast said as he passed her, "when I first saw you." - page 192


Meet the Author:




Meagan Spooner is the New York Times bestselling author of the Skylark trilogy and the Starbound trilogy.

She grew up reading and writing every spare moment of the day, while dreaming about life as an archaeologist, a marine biologist, an astronaut. She graduated from Hamilton College in New York with a degree in playwriting, and has spent several years since then living in Australia. She's traveled with her family all over the world to places like Egypt, South Africa, the Arctic, Greece, Antarctica, and the Galapagos, and there's a bit of every trip in every story she writes.

She currently lives and writes in Asheville, North Carolina, but the siren call of travel is hard to resist, and there's no telling how long she'll stay there. 

In her spare time she plays guitar, plays video games, plays with her cat, and reads.


***Check out Meagan Spooner's website for more information about her and HuntedHERE

Happy Reading!