Teaser Tuesday #6- Rumors

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme where you post a quote from a book you are currently reading. It is hosted by A Daily Rhythm.

“Plain little Lina Broud in a box at the opera; she could not have been more surprised if he had presented her with a diamond tiara and crowned her the queen of Persia. She had spent all morning dressed as a society girl, but tonight, rather than remain invisible in her room as she usually did, she was being offered the change to walk among them. She would be brilliant and looked on, just like the girl Will had believed himself to be in love with." -Rumors, pg. 67, Anna Godbersen

Find the book here: Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository

Let me know in the comments what book you are currently reading!

Review: World After by Susan Ee

“You're naming your collector's-item, kick-ass sword that's made to maim and kill, specifically designed to bring your ginormous enemies to their knees and hear the lamentation of their women- Pooky Bear?"

Title: World After
Author: Susan Ee
Publication Date: Nov 19th, 2013
Publisher: Skyscape
Source: Copy via NetGalley
Where to find: Goodreads / Amazon





This series is fantastic. I love the characters, the plot, the premise. They all go together to form this amazing fast-paced, action filled story. World After starts off right where Angelfall left off, and like Angelfall, I flew through this book. I did not want to put it down, I wanted to find out exactly what was going to happen to Penryn and Raffe, and even Paige and their mom. One thing I can say is that while I’m glad I waited until now to start this series since End of Days comes out in May, I’m also sad that I waited this long. This series is so amazingly done that I wish I had read it sooner.

My only complaint with this installment is the lack of Raffe for the first half of this book. However, while he may not be with Penryn physically, the sword brings them together. I loved all the little background information we got on Raffe from the sword. And of course once they were together again, I was beyond excited. The banter between them is perfect and I love every minute of it. They are both such strong characters who work perfectly together, but are also completely capable on their own.

To me this installment seemed creepier and darker than the first. Locust like beings have a strong presence in this installment, plus what goes on with Paige in this book is down right creepy. I felt so bad for what she had to go through, especially when you remember that she is only 7. There were many times in this book where I would forget just how young Paige is. And to imagine what she went through and is going through is heartbreaking. But at least she has Penryn and her mom who will do anything for her.

*I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

♛ ♛ ♛ ♛½

I cannot wait to get my hands on End of Days. I hope it picks up right where were left Penryn, Raffe, and Paige. I also really need more Raffe and Penryn. So I'm definitely counting down the days to End of Days on May 12th.

April 2015 New Releases

These are the new releases that I'm most looking forward to in April!

Title: An Ember in the Ashes 
Author: Sabaa Tahir 
Publication Date: April 28th, 2015    
Publisher: Razorbill
About: Everyone has been talking about this book and raving about how great it is. I'm really hoping it lives up to its hype. This book is basically about a Roman like empire and an academy for soldiers. Our main character is Laia who is sent to spy on the Empire from within. This is written as a standalone so I'm really looking forward to reading another standalone fantasy since those are hard to come by. Sabaa Tahir is a debut author and I look forward to reading her first book.
Where to Find: Goodreads / Amazon

 
Title: The Girl at Midnight 
Author: Melissa Grey 
Publication Date: April 28th, 2015     
Publisher: Delacorte Press
About: This book focuses on two different worlds and has been compared to the Mortal Instruments Series, which I loved. Our main character is also a thief which I love. This is one of those books that I think it is better off going into it with little to no expectations. This is also Melissa Grey's first novel!
Where to Find: Goodreads / Amazon

Title: All the Rage 
Author: Courtney Summers
Publication Date: April 14th, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin   
About: My interest in this book is solely based on the subject matter. It deals with sexual assault and our current culture surrounding it. The book focuses on a young girl who attempts to come forward but no one believes her and she is forced into hiding. It also sounds a lot like Speak which I really enjoyed. This book sounds like it will be amazing if it is well done and the topic is handled appropriately. 
Where to Find: Goodreads / Amazon

Title: The Death Code
Author: Lindsay Cummings
Publication Date: April 21st, 2015
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
About: This book is the sequel to The Murder Complex. which I have not read, but I have heard great things about. Now that the 2nd one is coming out, I may finally start this series. I really love the premise of a world full of murder and our main character being a trained teenage killer.
Where to Find: Goodreads / Amazon



Did I forget any books that you are looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Near Enemy by Adam Sternbergh

"The far enemy is the one you hate, the one you're sworn to fight against. The near enemy is the one you're close to, who you trust, but shouldn't."

Title: Near Enemy
Author: Adam Sternbergh
Publication Date: Jan 13th, 2015
Publisher: Crown
Source: Copy via BloggingForBooks
Where to find: Goodreads / Amazon



Near Enemy is the sequel to Shovel Ready. You have Spademan, your garbageman turned contract killer living in post-dirty bomb NY. In this book, Spademan is attempting to figure out how to stop another potential plot against an already decimated NY. With all this going on, he still has to deal with protecting his “family” and keeping Persephone and Mark safe.

I really enjoy the writing style of these books. Sentences are very short, choppy, and to the point. It adds to the noir, hard-boil detective genre. It is action packed and fast-paced. Once I got into the book, I flew through it, plus these books are short at around 300 pages. Spademan is this dark brooding character that you cannot help but love, even though his choices are morally ambiguous.

In this installment, we find out a lot more about the dirty bomb and the initial terrorist plot. We also get a larger glimpse at how the city has moved on from the attack through the limn. The limn is this dreamlike state that allows someone to go to a different world to live their days. This book focuses on the idea of the terrorists attacking from inside, specifically from within the limn rather than overtly.

I definitely enjoyed this installment more than the first due to the faster plot. I think I connected more with stopping an imminent terrorist plot than the corrupt minister of Shovel Ready. The one thing I didn’t like was that from the beginning the villain was plotted as being Muslim. While this fits with current ideas on who terrorists are, I think it perpetuates the growing mistrust of all Muslims. I think it is unjustified that from the beginning, they are targeted as the bad guys. I’m currently in a class that focuses on US policy post 9/11, so I do have a certain lens that I’m reading this through. I just think it is unfair to have the initial terrorist attack in the limn be carried out by a woman in a Burqa.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to future books by Adam Sternbergh.

*I received a copy of this book through BloggingForBooks in exchange for an honest review*

♛ ♛ ♛ ♛

Let me know in the comments if you have read the book and what your thoughts are. 

Review: The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

“Because that was the night we went wild. I remember how we fought and we cried and we hid and we flung ourselves through windows and we pumped our legs with everything we had and we went running as far as we could make it, which wasn't far.”

Title: The Walls Around Us
Author: Nova Ren Suma
Publication Date: March 24th, 2015
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Source: ARC via NetGalley
Where to find: Goodreads / Amazon





The Walls Around Us was a fascinating read focusing on the lives of three teenage girls. The cover alone draws you in. It is stunning. But under the cover is a fantastic book filled with mystery, heartache, and guilt.
 
So with this book, I definitely think you should go into with little-to-no knowledge of the plot. Personally, I think the synopsis gives away too much. I think you are better off going into the book blind. I think the book was more enjoyable for me because I had not reread the synopsis prior to starting the book.

This is another one of those alternating perspectives that all intertwine in some way towards the end of the book. And Nova Ren Suma is a fantastic writer. She just has a way with words that pulls you in and keeps you  entertained, but also guessing as to what is going to happen. There were so many quotes and lines in this book that were beautifully written. The writing was definitely a large part of my enjoyment of the book.

The characters in this book are amazingly written. You really feel and see the guilt, the fear, the anger, and the hopelessness in the characters. I will not go into specifics because you really should know as little as possible about the characters going into this book. But the writing is just phenomenal, it really brought you to the feelings these girls were having and what they were dealing with.

While this book has the alternating perspectives, I feel like it does it in a unique way. You follow one character for 3 or 4 chapters before you switch to another. I really liked that we got to follow a character for longer before we switched. You really got to go deep into what was happening with them rather than flipping back and forth. It also added to your growing feelings and attachment to the characters.

Overall, this was a beautifully written book that I really enjoyed. The writing and the characters were done really well. I definitely will need to look into reading more of Nova Ren Suma’s books.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

♛ ♛ ♛ ♛

Let me know in the comments if you have read the book and what your thoughts are. 

#Gautierathon

So this week I marathoned the 5 books that are currently out in the Chronicles of Nick Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I personally called this endeavor the #Gautierathon. I read all five books in six days, and that was a huge undertaking for me. I spent any time I was not sleeping or at work reading so that I could get through all 5 books during my Spring Break. Now since I read all these books back-to-back, my ability to differentiate between the 5 is not as good as it would be if I had read them further apart. But I can say I'm an now eagerly anticipating the next book in the series, Instinct.

As for the series as a whole, I really enjoyed it. I adore the writing and how everything weaves together in the different books. I loved the humor and sassiness of the characters as well as the action packed plot and introduction of all the different characters. Kenyon has said this series will be 15 books which is quite a lot and that is not even counting all the Dark Hunter books that contain the same characters. I'm still undecided about whether or not I'm going to pick up that series, but I really want to. I just know it is a huge undertaking. One last thought on the series as a whole before I go into full on spoiler review, I love that each book is a one word title that starts with an I. I really hope Kenyon can continue to do this for the rest of the series. It is a nice touch. Plus I love the matching covers.

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

This series follows lovable Nick who is a fantastic character. He is destined to be the destroyer of the world, but yet he cowers from his Mom and has the weirdest group of friends. It is even more amusing once you add in all the paranormal beings to his world. Throughout the five books we see Nick battle zombies, shapeshifters, demons, etc. all while trying to live a normal teenage life with an overprotective mother. I love how there is not really any paranormal being that is not introduced in this series. I love all the different fantasy and paranormal elements.

While I love Nick's mom and everything she means to him and keeping him from going full-blown evil, there were so many times when she would annoy me to no end. She would never let Nick get his side of the story in and always assumed the worst. It was so frustrating to see Nick be bullied at school only to come home and have his mom attack him for sticking up for her. Their relationship starts to change in Infamous, which I really appreciated.

I luckily did not have to deal with all the cliff-hangers at the ends of the books (well except for the end of Illusion). And let me just say I really need to know what is going on with Xev. So I cannot sympathize with everyone who had to wait between books to figure out the "foreshadowing" at the ends of the books. I am so lucky I could pick up Inferno right after Grim told Nick about Kody in Infamous and that I could pick up Illusion after Nick was put in the alternate realty at the end of Inferno.

There are so many characters in this series who we are introduced to and I never know if I should trust them. When we met Thorn in the nether I was super excited. I loved his banter with Nick and figured since he was helping him avoid Noir he was a safe ally. But it appears I was wrong, since he was behind a lot of the attacks in Illusion. But I'm still holding on hope that he is not a complete enemy. I also absolutely love Caleb. He may be enslaved to the Malachi, but he still berets and torments Nick. I truly think he may be one of the only ones we can truly trust (other than Nick's mom of course).

One last thing I want to touch on is something that happens in Infamous. The whole plot of Infamous revolves around a website that is basically bullying everyone at Nick's school. Bullying is definitely a theme in this series that Nick deals with. During Inferno, there is a letter written by Brynna where she writes to her tormentor. It was so wonderfully written and so heartfelt. I love that Kenyon took the time to write out the letter in whole, rather than just referencing it or putting parts of it in the book. The letter just really stuck with me and I think it could be really important to show anyone who is dealing with bullying that it is not okay and that they should not give up.

Last part of this review is a ranking of the books and the ratings I gave each individual one.

1. Infamous- ♛ ♛ ♛ ♛½
2. Illusion- ♛ ♛ ♛ ♛
3. Infinity- ♛ ♛ ♛ ♛
4. Invincible- ♛ ♛ ♛½
5. Inferno- ♛ ♛ ♛

I did short reviews for each book on Goodreads if you want to see a little bit more about my thoughts on a specific book.  Overall I really enjoyed this series so far and would say it is a solid 4 Crown series. I cannot wait to continue on with the series as Instinct comes out on March 31st!

Book Unhaul #1 and Update

I know I have not been posting as regularly as normal and that is not because my reading has slowed down. It is the opposite really. I have been marathoning the Chronicles of Nick series while I'm home for Spring Break. I have just started book 5, so once I finish that, I will be posting a series review (of the first 5 books) that will contain spoilers (which I know I do not typically do).

As for the real reason for this post, I am going to do something I have never done before an unhaul 5 maybe 6 books. All of these are books that I have had and just have no desire to read and since I'm attempting #0by16, this unhaul will help. The one I am unsure of is a British edition and I think I want to collect the US editions instead.

The books:

• The Unidentified by Rae Mariz. I got this one for like 50 cents and have decided I will never actually read this.
• Strand of Deception by Robin Carroll. This is in a series of books, I beleive you do not have to read the series in order, but again I have no interest in this book anymore.
• Soul Enchilada by David Macinnis Gill. Initially this sounded really interesting plus it goes with my whole demon obsession thing. 
• Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor. So I really want to read this series (This is the 2nd book). But I have a British Edition and I think I like the US covers better and I want my series to match, so I'm going to get rid of the British copy so I can get all three US covers. 
• The Barefoot Queen by Ildefonso Falcones. I have attempted to read this twice now, but have been unable to get through it. It portrays women extremely poorly and I just could not get passed it enough to finish.  
• Oblivion by Anthony Horowitz. So I really want to read this series because it sounds fascinating. But Oblivion is the fifth book. I don't know if or when I will actually get to this series, but for now, I'm going to part with this book.  

As for a #0by16 update, the official number now stands at 67. This should be doable based on my current pace of reading. However, I'm going to need to stay very strict on the book buying ban so that I can accomplish eliminating my TBR.