Tag: #Sci Fi

Goodreads Monday

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Hey Guys! It has been a LONG time since I did one of these – again, sorry about that hiatus. I have been reading more recently, but I just wanted to get back into the swing of reading again without the pressure of writing a review afterward. However, I do want to start doing these again and hopefully get back at the whole review thing soon.

Anyway, this weeks pick for me is a book that I am so stoked to get. I absolutely LOVED the first instalment and I will probably swing by the bookstore later today (it’s Saturday at the time of writing this) to see if they have it in stock!

Wildcard

Wildcard (Warcross #2) by Marie Lu

Published: September 18th 2018 by G. P. Putnams Books for Young Readers

Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo’s new NeuroLink algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she’s always looked up to, who she once thought was on her side.

Determined to put a stop to Hideo’s grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone’s put a bounty on Emika’s head, and her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika soon learns that Zero isn’t all that he seems–and his protection comes at a price.

Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at risk, just how far will Emika go to take down the man she loves?

Have any of you read this book yet? Feel free to leave comments and links and I will check out your GM posts as well 🙂

Tarnished by Kate Jarvik Birch

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Tarnished

Tarnished by Kate Jarvik Birch 

Published: December 1st 2015 by Entangled Teen

Freedom comes at a cost…

Ella was genetically engineered to be the perfect pet—graceful, demure…and kept. In a daring move, she escaped her captivity and took refuge in Canada. But while she can think and act as she pleases, the life of a liberated pet is just as confining as the Congressman’s gilded cage. Her escape triggered a backlash, and now no one’s safe, least
of all the other pets. But she’s trapped, unable to get back
to Penn—the boy she loves—or help the girls who need her.

Back in the United States, pets are turning up dead. With help from a very unexpected source, Ella slips deep into the dangerous black market, posing as a tarnished pet available to buy or sell. If she’s lucky, she’ll be able to rescue Penn and expose the truth about the breeding program. If she fails, Ella will pay not only with her life, but the lives
of everyone she’s tried to save…

I loved the first book in this series. I thought it was unique and well written and I was looking forward to seeing what the author was going to do with this world she had created and how she was going to develop it. However, this book fell completely and utterly flat for me. I was left feeling so disappointed and wanted to punch the characters.

One of my biggest issues with this book was the plot – in a lot of ways, it felt too convenient and predictable. From Missy being right there when Ella wanted to escape the safe house in Canada (with no explanation as to how she got there and why she was there), to the easy way these characters just strolled through the story and the way that Ella’s plan to get Penn just fell into place without any issues whatsoever. The plot really suffered in this book, and I struggled to pick the book up throughout.

I loved the unique idea of people (namely women) being owned as Pets. Having said that, I was expecting this to be more developed in book 2. We had gotten a pretty good look at the life of Pets and what they’re expected to do, but we have no idea how America got to the point of allowing this kind of legislation through. The world needed to be developed more to make it plausible. The America that was presented to us was very much like a modern day America…they had just allowed people to becomePets (slaves). What happened to the constitution, the people who uphold the law, the supreme courts and everything else that would stop this kind of bill from being passed? Especially genetically engineering people to be pets – where are the ethics? Scientific ethics etc. Nothing about this was written in a plausible way.

Another major issue I had with this book was Ella. She was naive to the point of being a 10 year old child and a lot of her actions were extremely stupid. I physically couldn’t get on board with her actions because they all felt extremely stupid and I didn’t agree with her reasoning. The love between Penn and Ella is really too insta lovey for me, so using love as the reason to return and get him (even after everything he sacrificed to make sure she got OUT of America) just… I wanted to bang my head against the wall, ok? I struggled. Her naivety about EVERYTHING else throughout the whole book, despite everything she had been through in book one and the things she had seen, also left me struggling to pick up the book if I had put it down.

Missy was another aspect of this book that I struggled with, but I did sort of like her. She was constantly sacrificing herself for Ella and protecting her. She was definitely a strong character – but her actions made no sense to me. She openly admitted to not liking Ella in the first book. She suffered and went through a lot to get to Canada and then she just decides to help out Ella (eve after miraculously being there with no explanation). Nothing she did was explained and I honestly don’t know why she did what she did throughout the book.

All in all, this book suffered severely with second book syndrome. The plot was underdeveloped and all too convenient, the world building itself was completely lacking anything that would make it plausible and the characters were naive to the point of me wanting to bang my head off the wall. I gave this book 1.5/5 stars (half star for Missy).

 

Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch

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Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch

Published: July 1st 2014 by Entangled Teen

Perfection comes at a price.

As soon as the government passed legislation allowing humans to be genetically engineered and sold as pets, the rich and powerful rushed to own beautiful girls like Ella. Trained from birth to be graceful, demure, and above all, perfect, these “family companions” enter their masters’ homes prepared to live a life of idle luxury.

Ella is happy with her new role as playmate for a congressman’s bubbly young daughter, but she doesn’t expect Penn, the congressman’s handsome and rebellious son. He’s the only person who sees beyond the perfect exterior to the girl within. Falling for him goes against every rule she knows… and the freedom she finds with him is intoxicating.

But when Ella is kidnapped and thrust into the dark underworld lurking beneath her pampered life, she’s faced with an unthinkable choice. Because the only thing more dangerous than staying with Penn’s family is leaving… and if she’s unsuccessful, she’ll face a fate far worse than death.

For fans of Kiera Cass’ Selection series and Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden series, Perfected is a chilling look at what it means to be human, and a stunning celebration of the power of love to set us free, wrapped in a glamorous—and dangerous—bow.

I have had this on my TBR for AGES! I have also had it on my kindle for the longest time. So, when I was offered a place on the blog tour for the third book (which releases in a few days), I thought it would be a great time to FINALLY pick this series up. I actually really enjoyed this book, and I am totally bummed at myself for not picking it up sooner!

I liked the concept of this book. The idea of certain humans being raised to be ‘pets’ (and those people being exclusively women) was unique. It was very reflective of society today in the way in which they have expectations of how they are to act and present themselves and what is expected of them b their ‘owners’ – they were expected to be thin, beautiful, have shiny hair, hold themselves in a certain way, have multiple talents, etc.But of course they weren’t allowed to speak for themselves. It is very reflective of the way in which some parts of society still see women and I liked the fact that it was compared to slavery in its own way (which it basically was).

I also liked the fact that the author didn’t shy away from using language that really drove home the fact that these people were considered pets and, therefore, property. She repeatedly used phrases such as ‘pets’, ‘Kennel’, ‘Trained’ etc. It made me extremely uncomfortable in places that humans were considered this way, and I liked the fact that it made me stop and consider it.

What I also like about this book was the fact that a lot of people in the society were vehemently against the idea of keeping humans as pets, despite the fact that the MC didn’t really understand that she was a slave in her own right. Whilst a lot of dystopian books focus on MC’s who are a part of the rebellion to change the society they are in, this book wasn’t like that. It took a lot of convincing from people outside of the MC’s usual life, along with other aspects, for her to really understand what was going on.

This book, however, was a little predictable – much like a to of the books written around this time period,I think. I had already guessed from relatively early on why the previous girl had been sent away and I was expecting the ending to happen in the way in which it did. I also felt like the ending was a little too easy (Don’t want to give away spoilers) and I would have liked to have seem more of a challenge for the characters to face.

I would have also liked to have seen the characters be fleshed out a little more. I felt that they were a little superficial and I struggled to really connect with them. The relationship between Penn and Ella was eye roll worthy because of the insta love and I felt like that could have been developed much better to be a slow burn, as opposed to what it was.

All in all, despite a couple of issues, I enjoyed this book. I liked the pacing of it and the plot overall and the way in which it reflected aspects of today’s society. I gave this book 4/5 stars.

 

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

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Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Published: March 13th 2018 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they’ll find seven months after the invasion?

Meanwhile, Kady’s cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza’s ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha’s past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.

With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken.

I’m not going to lie, I don’t even know where to start with this review. Obsidio is a book that I had on pre order since last year May – so you can imagine my reaction when this baby FINALLY reached my door! Words cannot even describe. I loved this instalment so much and I am feeling bittersweet about it because it is the final book in the series. I am no ready to let go of this world and the characters and, honestly, I call for a spin off. Like… I need more!

Like with Illuminae and Gemina, I loved the layout of this book! It is so unique from everything else out there and it was easy to follow, despite the layout. It was fun, eye catching and is a huge reason that I fell in love with this book. The book itself is HUGE, and the layout really helps to cut through that amount of pages and really makes it a quick read, despite the size (or maybe I was just too obsessed?)

I also loved the fact that the characters from the previous book started to come together in this one, whilst also introducing us to new characters at the same time. The story of each and every one of these characters began to weave together as they got to know each other and become a part of their every day lives. All of the previous characters, along with the new characters, retained their unique personalities, so it was easy to see who’s perspective we were reading from. Each and every single character brought something new to the story and they all had their own purposes throughout – even as things and circumstances changed.

I loved Aidan’s character. The authors managed to weave him into an extremely complex character (considering the fact that he’s AI). He’s lovable in his own way, but then commits really horrific actions that has the readers struggling to deal with. His character is really morally grey, and will have the readers questioning their own morality. He was programmed to think and act logically, and save the most amount of people – so while his actions were horrific, they saved the most amount of people… I love the fact that readers are struggling to really decide if he is evil or not, a protagonist or an antagonist and I loved the fact that he brought something extremely complex to the story that could generate a debate for both good and evil.

The plot, like the first two book, was just fantastic. It was full of twists and turns that I never even saw coming; character deaths that I wasn’t expecting(don’t worry, no spoilers) and an ending that I really just reeled at. This book was a rollercoaster from beginning to end and I was just hooked the whole way throughout – I finished in less than a day, which had my husband really questioning how I managed to read that many pages in such a short amount of time.

This book even had me ugly (and I mean UGLY) sobbing in a corner… TWICE! I’m not going to mention what happened, either time, but it broke me… and then broke me all over again for completely different reasons and I really struggled to deal. I love the fact that the authors managed to suck me in completely and really had me invested in the plot and the characters to that extent.

Another thing I found relatively amusing (and actually pretty clever) was the way in which the author paid homage to OTHER AUTHORS throughout. Whether it was Claire LeGrand, Danielle Paige, Alex London amongst others, I thought it clever how they wove the names into the story, along with something that linked to their respective book series throughout. I had fun picking them out as I read.

All in all, I absolutely LOVED this instalment! I’m still up for a spin off after the ending and… I just want more from these characters and this world. I am not ready to say goodbye just yet – if ever! I gave this book 5/5 stars.

Goodreads Monday and Cover Reveal!

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Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted here. To participate, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off! Don’t forget to link back here and feel free to add your link to the comments so that others can see what you picked! 

Hey guys! I hope you all had a great weekend – and happy (belated) easter to all those who celebrate! It’s still ice cold over here and it keeps snowing…so I am kind of hoping the weather gets over that some time soon.

Anyway, I come to you with a cover reveal this week of a book that I am looking forward to picking up! The cover is absolutely beautiful as well! I will note, there was a short synopsis available for people who signed up to do the cover reveal, but I’m not sure if it’s the final synopsis or not, so I won’t be sharing it!

Star-Crossed-500px (1)

Star-Crossed by Pintip Dunn

Expected Publication: October 2nd 2018 by Entangled Teen

Look at how pretty it is! As mentioned, there was a short synopsis, but it wasn’t included in the email – I will update it if I get a synopsis! 😀

Pre Order:

Amazon/iBooks/B&N

About the author:

Pintip cropped.jpg

Pintip Dunn is a New York Times bestselling author of YA fiction. She graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, with an A.B. in English Literature and Language. She received her J.D. at Yale Law School, where she was an editor of the YALE LAW JOURNAL. Pintip’s debut novel, FORGET TOMORROW, won the RWA RITAÂŽ for Best First Book. In addition, it is a finalist for the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, the Japanese Sakura Medal, and the MASL Truman Award. THE DARKEST LIE was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award. Her other books include REMEMBER YESTERDAY, the novella BEFORE TOMORROW, and GIRL ON THE VERGE. She lives with her husband and children in Maryland. You can learn more about Pintip and her books at http://www.pintipdunn.com

March Wrap Up

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Hey guys! I hope you all had a great month. I have definitely had an amazing month, and when I look back through it, I feel like March has been extremely long. In amongst everything I managed to read, I also managed to binge watch Vampire Diaries up until about episode 8 in season 5. So… I’ve definitely gotten through a lot this month!

Read:

Started:

Bought/Acquired:

ARCs/Review Copies:

Beta:

  • Rock – A – Bye Baby by LRW Lee

Goodreads Monday:

 

Other posts:

Book of the Month:

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The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Published: January 2nd 2018 by LBBFYR

Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

I hope you all had an amazing month like I did! Feel free to add your links to the comments so I can check them out!

Goodreads Monday

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Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted here. To participate, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off. Don’t forget to link back here and feel free to add your links in the comments so that others can see what you picked.

Hey guys! I hope you all had a great weekend – I’m still waiting for the weather to actually decide what its wanting to do…hopefully get warmer!

This weeks pick for me is a book that I have been extremely excited about since it was announced. I loved the originally trilogy and I am so glad that the author decided to carry one with the series.

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Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi

Published: March 6th 2018 by Harper Collins

Juliette Ferrars thought she’d won. She took over Sector 45, was named the new Supreme Commander, and now has Warner by her side. But she’s still the girl with the ability to kill with a single touch—and now she’s got the whole world in the palm of her hand. When tragedy hits, who will she become? Will she be able to control the power she wields and use it for good?

Circle of Ashes by Elise Kova and Lynn Larsh

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COA

Circle of Ashes by Elise Kova and Lynn Larsh

Expected Publication: April 9th 2018 by Silver Wing Press

EVERY WISH HAS A COST BUT WILL THE SOCIETY BE WILLING TO PAY IT?

Once a hacker-for-hire living in the shadows, Josephina “Jo” Espinosa is the newest member of a magical Society. Their mandate? To grant the wishes of mortals. A simple enough task until Jo is faced with an impossible wish – and her inability to grant it might spell disaster for her entire team, if not the Society itself.

Jo is used to high-pressure situations, but after a string of disasters, the last thing she needs is stakes of this magnitude. Especially given that neither she nor the Society know quite what the consequences of failing to grant a wish might be.

The only person with answers is the Society’s aloof and cryptic leader, Snow. Yet while Jo is enigmatically drawn to the man, all their clandestine encounters leave her with only more questions about the true nature of the Society, her magic, and her own history.

Time is running out for the Society, and an executioner will rise from among them to exact the price of failure.

Note: I received an ARC copy of this via the authors for an honest review. This in no way influences my opinion.

After reading Society of Wishes, I was anxious to get my hands on this book. I loved the first book and I just needed to know how this story and world were going to develop – and I was not disappointed. This book had me so hooked and I fell in love with this world even more!

I think the best thing about this book was the wave of emotion on every single page. The authors really did a great job of making the emotions jump off the pages and it really added to my reading experience! I was invested in each and every character… well.. almost every character ( I hate Pan, #justsaying) and I really felt everything they were feeling throughout the book. It felt as if I were there with them and friends with them. There were times that I was crying ugly tears because I was so invested and affected by what was going on.

The book was extremely easy to get lost in. The character and plot developments, along with the world building and the emotions really swept me up into this world and kept me turning the pages. I had to know what was going to happen next and I ended up reading this book in one sitting because of that!

We got to know more about the characters and how they came to be in the society! I loved the fact that we got into some of the characters wishes and how different they seem! I loved the fact that the authors used actual historical events and based a couple of wishes around them explain why history took the turn that it did – along with creating their own histories (since the book is set in the future) to explain history affecting the characters as well. I also liked the fact that, whilst some of the wishes were on a larger scale that affected the course of history, other wishes really only impacted the characters themselves and the people in their lives. It was an even balance between the two and I liked the fact that not every character did something to help a whole nation of people because it kept the characters relatable.

We also got a little more into Snows character and I am infatuated! I was so intrigued by him in book one and I just kept gravitating toward him as a reader and wanting to know more about him – the same can be said about this one! I am still extremely intrigued by him and the history that he and Jo share and … I just want to know  everything, ok? He’s been around the longest and has seen everything and I just want to know what he knows… I am also completely and utterly curious about what his history is and how he ended up in the/creating the society! I need answers!

As mentioned previously, I hate Pan. I don’t want to go too much into it because spoilers, but I hate her character. She is such a dark and twisted character and, whilst I am intrigued to know more about her and how she ended up the way that she did, I also just want her to be killed off already. She still reminds me of a gender reversed Peter Pan, but an evil one.

I don’t want to get too much into the ending because, again, spoilers, but it broke me. I loved the fact that the authors didn’t take an easy ending and showed the idea that some things just don’t work out the way you expect them to, but it still broke me. I cried ugly tears for a good long while after finishing the book!

All in all, I absolutely loved this instalment! I enjoyed both the character and the plot development and the wave of emotions that left each and every page! I gave this book 5/5 stars.

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

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the last magician

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

Published: July 18th 2017 by Simon Pulse

Stop the Magician. Steal the book. Save the future.

In modern-day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic—the Mageus—live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives.

Esta is a talented thief, and she’s been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink. With her innate ability to manipulate time, Esta can pilfer from the past, collecting these artifacts before the Order even realizes she’s there. And all of Esta’s training has been for one final job: traveling back to 1902 to steal an ancient book containing the secrets of the Order—and the Brink—before the Magician can destroy it and doom the Mageus to a hopeless future.

But Old New York is a dangerous world ruled by ruthless gangs and secret societies, a world where the very air crackles with magic. Nothing is as it seems, including the Magician himself. And for Esta to save her future, she may have to betray everyone in the past.

I have had this book sat on my shelf since some time last year, so when I saw that book 2 is being released some time this year, I had thought I had better pick it up. The premise of this sounded amazing and I have had high expectations for it since I first heard about it pre release. However, this book just fell short of what I was expecting and I was left pretty disappointed.

The beginning of this book felt extremely jumpy and disconnected. It didn’t make a lot of sense until Esta really went back in time for what she was meant to do throughout the main portion of the book. The constant jumping around between characters felt relatively jarring and I struggled to get into the book because of it. It did start coming together when Esta went back for the book and that is when I started to enjoy the book a little more.

Carrying on from that point, there was no real hook for me. Whilst the story was enjoyable whilst I was reading it, there was nothing really compelling me to pick it back up if I put it down. The book didn’t stay in my head when I had to do other things and it failed to really blow Me away.

The plot itself was ok, if not a little predictable. I enjoyed myself throughout reading it and it was a relatively quick read – butI had predicted a major plot twist at the beginning of the book. It was missing that spark to really blow me away and it didn’t leave much of an impression after I had finished the book.

Another issue I had was that I didn’t feel any real connection to any of the characters. Whilst I enjoyed reading the interactions between Harte and Esta because they were sassy and fun, none of the characters really stood out to me. The characters and their personalities bled together within the multiple POVs because their voices were just all too similar.

All in all, whilst this book was a quick read, it didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. The plot was ok, but it was reminiscent of other booksI have read in this genre, and was executed as well as others I have read. I gave this book 2.5/5 stars.