All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis

All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis

Published: September 1st 2017 by Harlequin Teen

Speth Jime is anxious to deliver her Last Day speech and celebrate her transition into adulthood. The moment she turns fifteen, Speth must pay for every word she speaks (“Sorry” is a flat ten dollars and a legal admission of guilt), for every nod ($0.99/sec), for every scream ($0.99/sec) and even every gesture of affection. She’s been raised to know the consequences of falling into debt, and can’t begin to imagine the pain of having her eyes shocked for speaking words that she’s unable to afford. But when Speth’s friend Beecher commits suicide rather than work off his family’s crippling debt, she can’t express her shock and dismay without breaking her Last Day contract and sending her family into Collection. Backed into a corner, Speth finds a loophole: rather than read her speech—rather than say anything at all—she closes her mouth and vows never to speak again. Speth’s unexpected defiance of tradition sparks a media frenzy, inspiring others to follow in her footsteps, and threatens to destroy her, her family and the entire city around them.

This book was one of my highly anticipated reads for 2017 – the concept is completely unique and it had the potential to be amazing. However, I was completely disappointed with this book and ended up dnfing it.

The beginning of the book started out promising. We are immediately introduced to a world in which almost everything is paid for – words, gestures, fashion etc. We meet Speth, who is about to deliver her first speech (her first paid words) on her 15th birthday.  However, after witnessing her friend commit suicide, she decides to go silent instead – which causes chaos within both the system/society and her family. The beginning of the book had me hooked – I had to know about the world that Katsoulis had created and how it came about. However, I feel like, after a while, the book became relatively boring and repetitive, whilst not much was really happening plot wise.

I struggled to relate to the characters and the relationships between the characters because there was no real way that Speth could communicate. Her inner voice moaned a lot about the fact that she couldn’t communicate with anyone and how much she wanted to, but she decided to stay silent. It became repetitive and it affected the way in which Speth reacted and related to the other characters around her.

I also wish that there had been more world building around the way in which the laws came to be. There wasn’t much explanation as to why words became copyrighted and paid for and how society ended up the way it did. It would have helped the story along to know the backstory a little earlier – it took too long for the little information we did receive to come out.

I was extremely disappointed with this book, especially because it was one of my most highly anticipated reads of 2017. I did, however, like the concept of this book and the uniqueness of this book. I gave this 2/5 stars.

Firstlife by Gena Showalter

Firstlife by Gena Showalter

Published: February 23rd 2016 by Harlequin Teen

ONE CHOICE.
TWO REALMS.
NO SECOND CHANCE.

Tenley “Ten” Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl…who has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she’ll live—after she dies.

There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death.

In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, longtime enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the two realms who will do anything to win the right to her soul. Who can she trust? And what if the realm she’s drawn to isn’t home to the boy she’s falling for? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision…

I have had this on my TBR for ages! It was actually a highly anticipated read for last year and I just never got around to it! However, I wish I had gotten to it sooner because I absolutely loved it!

Tenley (Ten) is our MC who is currently stuck in Prynne prison because she refuses to sign with Myriad. I enjoyed her as a character. I loved her strength of mind despite everything that she went through – if anything, her experiences actually made her stronger. She doesn’t trust easily and she usually follows her gut instinct, which I quite like about her. I like the way that she began to open up throughout the book and become more trusting with both the boys and also the way that her relationship grew with Sloan, who is someone that she hates from the prison.

I think between Killian and Archer, Killian was my favourite. He has his own issues, like Ten does, but he manages to see past his past mistakes and begins to also open up with Ten like she does him. It doesn’t come to him easy, but he begins to see what Myriad truly is and he begins to make decisions based on what he thinks is best for her rather that purely getting her to sign with Myriad. I did like Archer too, but he is a lot more open with her and I feel like he is more the big brother role.

The premise of this book is really intriguing. I like the idea of having an Everlife after your normal human life and the idea that you can choose between two realms – or if you don’t choose, you go to a hellish sort of place called Many Ends. I also really liked the way that both realms are completely opposite, Troika being light and Myriad being dark. The realms are pretty mysterious and that remains throughout the whole book. No one really knows what the realms were like until you died, which made the decision of who to choose even more difficult. From what I had read, I would have chosen Troika – I don’t think I’m cut out for Myriad.

Can I also just mention the end!! :-O I mean, I guess it was foreshadowed thanks to Loony Lina, but I still was not expecting it to happen the way that it did! I don’t want to give too much away because spoilers, but I was extremely upset and I felt betrayed. It was a character that I really grew to like throughout the book and I was really upset when she did what she did.

I will say, though, that I definitely feel like Ten was sometimes a little too strong a person, if that makes sense? I know we all like strong female leads, but I feel like everyone has a breaking point and I don’t feel like she ever really reached that breaking point – either mentally or physically. It would have been nice to see some form of weakness, even when she was injured.

All in all, I really liked this book. The plot kept me intrigued and on my toes because you never knew what was going to happen next. I absolutely cannot wait to get a copy of the next book! I gave this book 4/5 stars.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking the Spine

Hey guys! It is time for another WoW! This weeks pick for me is a relatively new find, with a cover that I absolutely love! I cannot wait for its release date!

The Continent by Kiera Drake

Expected Publication: January 3rd 2017 by Harlequin Teen

For her sixteenth birthday, Vaela Sun receives the most coveted gift in all the Spire—a trip to the Continent. It seems an unlikely destination for a holiday: a cold, desolate land where two “uncivilized” nations remain perpetually at war. Most citizens tour the Continent to see the spectacle and violence of battle—a thing long vanished in the Spire. For Vaela—a smart and talented apprentice cartographer—it is an opportunity to improve upon the maps she’s drawn of this vast, frozen land.

But an idyllic aerial exploration is not to be had: the realities of war are made clear in a bloody battle seen from the heli-plane during the tour, leaving Vaela forever changed. And when a tragic accident leaves her stranded on the Continent, she has no illusions about the true nature of the danger she faces. Starving, alone, and lost in the middle of a war zone, Vaela must try to find a way home—but first, she must survive.

Look at how beautiful that cover is!! I just want to stroke it! Also, doesn’t this sound so amazing! I’m hooked! I want to know everything!

What books are you guys waiting on? Feel free to drop links and comments and I will check them all out!

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