Friday, October 12, 2018

ARC Review


Wow, it's been forever since my last review... BUT that is okay because I am super happy to be reviewing What if it's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera. 



Title: What if it's Us 
Author: Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Publication Date: October 9th, 2018
Publisher: Harper Teen 
Pages: 448 pages
Format: ARC
Description: Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.
Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.
But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?
Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated. 
Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited. 
But what if they can’t quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third?
What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn’t try hard enough? 
What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play? 

But what if it is?


When I found out that there was going to be a collaboration between Becky Albertali and Adam Silvera I freaked out. Both authors hold very dear places in my heart, so I was sure that this book would just be astounding. What if it's Us met all my expectations. This book brought humor, pop culture references, and heartbreak together in a way that felt new and original.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Books that come out today

Have you noticed a lot of our most anticipated YA books get released on Tuesdays? Well if you haven't, now you have. A lot, and I mean a lot of books get released on Tuesdays. Now you readers will have the intel on what books get released today, or at least my eagerly anticipated released books.

So welcome to my "Release Day" September 18th edition...

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Blog tour ~ Mirage



Hello readers! I know it's been quite some time, but today I am excited to announce that I was apart of the Mirage Blog Tour hosted by the lovely people over at Raincoast books. Today on my stop I will be sharing with you my review and a brief excerpt. Enjoy!



Title: Mirage
Author: Somaiya Daud
Publication Date: August 28th, 2018
Publisher: Flatiron
Pages: 320 pages
Format: Advanced Readers Copy
Description:In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated moon.

But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place.

As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancĂ©, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection...because one wrong move could lead to her death.
Disclaimer: I have received a free copy of this book from the publishing house and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion of the novel.

Kirkus wrote "Though the machinations of politics and identity create a slowly burning narrative, readers will appreciate the rich world and prose built by a much-needed diverse voice." and I'd have to say that I completely agree with this statement. The world building of this book was phenomenal, and though I sometimes found myself lost among the politics, it didn't make the story any less interesting. The characters also had great character building and story lines.

This book is action pack filled with raging internal conflicts due to the way the world is ran. However, that did not lead away from the romance that was within this book. The book's romance wasn't a focal point, nor did it draw away from the main plot. However, it was there and it was done in a way that supported the story. The romance also allowed for the story to have a little lightheartedness to it. 

My only complaint is that of which I mentioned in the first paragraph, due to the politics I found it to be a little slow at times. However, it did not take away from my reading experience whatsoever.

All in all, I would highly recommend this book to fantasy lovers, and everyone above. This book is lyrical and I cannot wait to read the sequel to Mirage.


Prologue
He is the only one of his family without the daan. They say this makes him ideal; no traditional markings on his face to identify him should he die. No way to trace him back to his family. He is young, not yet fifteen, too young for the daan ceremony. This is what she says to him when she comes to choose him.
That he is young and that he is skilled and that he is steady. This, she says, is all that matters.
He does not feel young. He feels hungry, the sort of hungry that gnaws at him day and night, until it is so much his companion he does not know how to live without it. He feels hard, because he knows how to take a beating, how to fall just so when a guard hits him with a baton. He feels angry, so angry, the sort of anger that does not need fuel.
He is invisible in a sea of invisible faces.
The crowd is silent, but then the crowds at these events are always silent. They are solemn. Too solemn. The nobles sit on velvet cushions behind gold rope, but those who stand, who look up at the podium waiting for her to appear, they are the poor. The hungry. The weak. They are here because they must be here.
The makhzen titter among themselves like jeweled birds, gowns glittering in the sunlight, scabbards flashing as men shift in the uncomfortable summer air. It is a wonder any of them are Andalaan; they all look Vathek now. They have accepted Vathek rule. They would not dress so, not if they truly were Andalaan in their hearts.
He thinks of his younger sister as he moves through the crowd. Dead for two summers now, her stomach bloated from hunger. His father, long gone, too weak to support them, to stay.
He has one sister left, and a brother besides, and his mother. All to be taken care of after this. She’d sworn. A husband for Dunya. A cottage away from the city for them all, with access to grain and a garden, and mayhap even livestock. Away from everything they know, but a chance for a new life.
His hands sweat. He has trained for this, he is ready, but he has never taken a life.
The blood never dies, he remembers. The blood never forgets.
This is for a higher purpose — one more important than his life, more important than any life. These things must be done, he thinks. In the name of Andala. In the name of freedom.
He marvels, as she climbs the steps to the dais, that one who looks so much like his kin is capable of causing such terror. He has heard the stories, knows that these things are often twisted through the telling. But his life, the lives of his siblings and neighbors, bear witness to some truth. The occupation is cruel. Its heirs crueler still.
The sun flashes against the silver metal of his blaster. He lifts it, aims, fires.
Twice.


Wednesday, May 16, 2018

WoW


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're all eagerly anticipating.
This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Blog Tour~Furyborn


Hello readers! I know it's been quite some time, but today I am excited to announce that I was apart of the Furyborn Blog Tour hosted by the lovely people over at Raincoast books. Today on my stop I will be sharing with you guys my review and a brief Q & A with the author herself, Claire Legrand. Enjoy!



Title: Furyborn {Empirium #1} 
Author: Claire Legrand 
Publication Date: May 22nd, 2018 
Publisher: SourceFire Books
Pages: 512 pages
Format: ARC received from Raincoast books
Description: When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.
A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.
As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.
Disclaimer: I have received a free copy of this book from the publishing house and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion of the novel.

I believe Furyborn is going to be one of those books that people are either going to love or they are going to hate. They aren't going to hate it for the story or the characters, but more for not being able to connect with the authors writing style. It's told in a unique way that generally speaking, I didn't have a problem with. However, I have been exposed to the author's middle-grade work, which though the content is different, style same. So I could understand why someone may not be able to connect with it right away or at all.

Monday, March 19, 2018

ARC Review



“What could I become if I stopped worrying about death, about pain, about anything? If I stopped trying to belong? Instead of being afraid, I could become something to fear.” 
― Holly BlackThe Cruel Prince




Title: The Cruel Prince {The Folk of the Air #1}
Author: Holly Black 
Publication Date: January 2nd,2018 
Publisher: Little, Brown 
Pages: 384 pages
Format: ARC received from publishing house 
Description: 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.

Disclaimer: I have received a free copy of this book from the publishing house and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion of the novel.

When it comes to fae YA novels, these tend to be an auto-buy for me. However, not everyone can capture the true fae characteristics that make them cunning and devious. Holly Black has held true to the fae identity and crafted a dark enchanting fae novel that will leave you wanting more.

The thing I enjoyed most about Cruel Prince was the story. The fae felt real and terrifying. This book awakens the sense that a mortal would not want to stumble across the fae courts. This novel invoked all the elements that captivate mortals but brought them into a new light.  Anytime soon if they had any senses. The storyline was paced at a good speed, I felt like I got a lot of this book without scenes feeling rushed. It had enough action and trickery to keep any reader on their twos. A lot of elements kept me guessing, things would happen that would come out of nowhere, but then make complete sense after. This story felt new, and concepts added were intriguing. This book is meant to be the first in a trilogy and thought the ending leaves you wanting more, it wraps up this segment of the tale nicely.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

WoW

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're all eagerly anticipating.
This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Books that come out today

Have you noticed a lot of our most anticipated YA books get released on Tuesdays? Well if you haven't, now you have. A lot, and I mean a lot of books get released on tuesdays. Now you readers will have the intel on what books get released today, or at least my eagerly anticipated released books.

So welcome to my "Release Day" March 13th edition...

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

What Books are out today

Have you noticed a lot of our most anticipated YA books get released on Tuesdays? Well if you haven't, now you have. A lot, and I mean a lot of books get released on tuesdays. Now you readers will have the intel on what books get released today, or at least my eagerly anticipated released books.

So welcome to my "Release Day" March 6th edition...

Wednesday, February 14, 2018


Hello everyone! Today on the blog its all about the sequel of Timebreaker by Tara Sim. Chainbreaker is the stunning sequel in this series and a good bridge between the first and what has to come in book three. This blog tour is hosted by Thomas Allen & Son, and stayed tuned until the end of the post as there is a giveaway!

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Blog Tour~ Reign the Earth


Hello everyone, today on the blog I am joining Reigh the Earth blog tour hosted by Bloomsbury. Today's post is all about who we would want to team up with to essentially reign the earth. The choice was completely up to the bloggers, and this person could be fictional or a real. Be sure to check out the end of my post, as there is a giveaway in store as well!

While picking who I would want to reign the earth with I had a couple of ideas come to my mind. I could pick a person I knew in real life, like one of my blogger friends (Stephanie from OhanaReads, or Alexis from Mad For Books, Luv). However, I can actually explore the world with them. So I decided it would be cool to imagine a fictitious person to room and reign the earth with.

Friday, January 26, 2018

Blog Tour~ The Hazel Wood


Hello everyone! Today is my stop on The Hazel Wood blog tour hosted by Raincoast Books. 
I will be reviewing this book, which reminded me of my childhood and my fairytale obsession. As well, us bloggers were given an opportunity to ask the author one question, so stay tuned to the end of the post to see what Melissa Albert's answer was to my question.

Friday, January 12, 2018

Air Awakens book tag



When I first started my blog, me and my blogger friend Alexis from Mad For Books, Luv decided we wanted to make themed tags that correlated with certain holidays or events. We called it "LL & A's monthly book tag". Some of you may remember this, some of you may not. We unfortunately slowly ran out of ideas and that resulted in us stopping the tag. 

However, we had a lot of fun making the photos and coming up with the questions. So, with both of us constantly reading we decided that it would be fun to create tags that revolved around books. 

So each month Alexis and I will come up with a tag revolving around either a book or a book series. The questions are non-spoiler, and everyone can participate. Along with each tag, there will a photo for you to share around as well. This month we chose the Air Awakens series by Elise Kova. 



1. Vhalla is a library's apprentice if you could have an apprenticeship where or what would be?

Having an apprenticeship would be cool, but the actual idea of where is the tricky part. Could an apprentice and an intern be the same thing? I think I am going to treat it as the same in this situation and say that I would love to have a physical internship at a publishing house.

2. Vhalla battles with many friends by her side, which one of your blogger/booktuber friends would you like to battle alongside?

If I needed to go into a battle choosing some friends to help fight would be hard. Out of all my blogger and bookish friends, I feel like either Stephanie from Ohana Reads or Booknut from 21st Century Once Upon A Times. Alexis from Mad For Books, Luv would also be a worthy friend who would totally have my back.

3.  Aldrik finds a rose garden to be his quiet spot, what's your favourite place to read?

My favourite place to read is nowhere special, but in my bed covered in pillows and blankets. Its just super comfy and cozy. Plus its always super quiet so it helps me focus. 

4. If Baldair invited you to the Gala, what colour would you choose for your grown/suit?

I think a royal blue would be nice, something that is not too poof. 

5. Affinities are dangerous in the Solaris empire. There are WaterRunners, FireBearers, EarthBreakers, and WindWalkers. Which would you want to be?

The author Elise Kova actual made a quiz that helps you sort out your Affinity. You can find that out here http://elisekova.com/quiz-find-out-your-affinity/

However, I would choose to be a FireBearer because I am always so cold. Plus with fire some posses the ability to see into the future, so that would be pretty cool. I have also taken the quiz before and ended up with FireBearer. SO, in the end, I think it was just meant to be. 

6. What book would you recommend to Vhalla Yarl if you ran into her at the library?

If I ran into Vhalla, I would definitely recommend The Cruel Prince by Holly Black because that book has a strong female protagonist. I feel like Vhalla would go for those kinds of books.

7. Baldairs Golden Gaurd consists of six members. If you had your own guard, who would be five book characters including yourself in it?

Choosing five characters to be apart of my guard is a tough one. There are so many characters who I would love to be in a guard with. I would love Jude from The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, Feyre from the ACOTAR by Sarah J Maas, Rowan from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas. Julian from Caraval by Stephanie Garber, and lastly Alyssa from the Splintered series by A.G. Howard.

8. Between Jax, Daniel, and Baldair, who would you kiss, marry, and kill (If you don't know who those characters are, pick three characters from the same book and do the same verbs.)?

This is a very tough question becuase I love all of them, but I think I would marry Baldair, kiss Jax....and....kill......Daniel...

That was hard and broke my heart a little bit.

9. Vhalla's favourite dessert is a lemon cake, what kind of dessert would you like to eat while reading a book?

 I love ice cream cake. I am not a huge fan of actual cake, but ice cream cake is AMAZING!

10. In the Air Awakens series, which cover is your favourite?

My favourite cover would have to be Crystal Crowned for everything that it represents. Vhalla also looks super bad ass on the cover. The colours chosen as well were really pretty.

If you participate be sure to tag me or Alexis on social media. We will reshare all the posts done for it and attach it to our posts!

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Welcoming 2018


Hello readers, November and December were hectic times for me with University winding down and the Winter term finishing up. However, while I was on a blog break I had some new ideas come to mind from the down time. So with welcoming the new year, I decided it was time to reinvent some blog ideas.

In my blog I would like to incorporate a lot of different posts then before. My usual posts end up being reviews and Waiting on Wednesdays. Though those posts will continue, I want to start opening up my blog to new and creative posts. I have given it a lot of thought, and decided on some features I would like to do weekly.