Showing posts with label 4.5 Stars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4.5 Stars. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Welcome to the Nil blog tour! I'm so excited to have you! If you're looking for a YA Survivor style action packed book, Nil is gonna be the one for you! Read on for info about the book, my thoughts and a chance to win your own copy!
Nil
by Lynne MatsonPublished: 3.4.14
Pages: 384
On the island of Nil, the rules are set. You have one year. Exactly 365 days--to escape, or you die.Seventeen-year-old Charley doesn’t know the rules. She doesn’t even know where she is. The last thing Charley remembers is blacking out in an Atlanta parking lot, and when she wakes up, she’s naked in an empty rock field.Lost and alone, Charley hunts for a way out. She discovers desolate beaches and human remains, but no sign of civilization--until she meets Thad, the gorgeous leader of a clan of teenage refugees. Soon Charley learns that leaving the island is harder than she thought . . . and so is falling in love. With Thad’s time running out, Charley realizes that to save their future, Charley must first save him. And on an island rife with hidden dangers, their greatest threat is time. They can’t stop the clock. They can only hope to beat it.
Sounds so awesome right?! Make sure to grab your copy today since this beautiful baby was released yesterday! Now here's a little info about the brain behind it all.
About The Author
Lynne Matson grew up in Georgia in a house full of books and a backyard full of gnarly pines. Back then, Lynne would stay up late, reading Nancy Drew books under the covers (with a flashlight . . . a weak attempt at ninja stealth). Now she still stays up late reading books and writing them. When she doesn't have a book in her hand, you'll find her listening to music, messing around with paint, or hanging out with her husband and their four boys . . . or all of the above.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for review. No funds were exchanged in any form for either profit or privilege.
Nil is the kind of book that will suck you in from the get-go and before you know it you've read a hundred pages. Set in a unique setting and told from alternating points of view, this book was quite the ride, let me tell you that.
From the start one of the most vivid parts of this story is Nil itself. The island was the main antagonist, the villan of the story. And Nil had a voice. The disconcerting nature of Nil and her ways is something you begin to feel right away. In the way that the island behaves and the reactions of the teens on the island. The way she messed with them was so messed up. But oh I loved it. When the villain is done right, it makes the book so much better, and this villain, was fantastic.
I never thought I'd say that about an island.
Sometimes dual POV doesn't work. Sometimes it does. This book was a working case. Charley, is the newcomer, Thad isn't. What made this case of dual scenario was the island and it's twisted nature that I already mentioned. Thad has been on the island for so long and the island has been getting to him and you can see the effect and the real evil of the island through his voice. Nil's voice in Thad's head made for a strong villain and character in Thad. He is a strong, fantastic character that you can't help but love, but at the same time he's got demons that mess with him in terribly awesome ways.
(I'm a writer, I have joy in watching the suffering of characters. Because it makes them stronger of course...)
Charley's voice is the perfect contrast to that because she hasn't experienced the terrors and illusions of Nil as Thad has yet. And I really liked that. For her it's a process of coming to understand the island and it's ways. Matson's writing deftly explores her side of the story. Beyond her island perspective, her character as a whole was very fun. Charley isn't the brainiac but she has a brain and she is smart. She's still a teenager I could relate her. She's a good firm person who fit the arch needed for the story of Nil.
And that's why the romance works. Two characters dealing with the same issue in contrasting ways. Aah. it's a brilliant While feeling a little bit insta-lovey at the get go, it slides into a nice nitch in the story adding a drizel of romance to sweeten the whole package. Yum! Nil is a fast paced novel filled with tension, romance, a vividly creepy setting. If you're looking for a quick adventurous read to suck you in, check out Nil! You won't regret it!
Like what you just read? Want to get your hands on Nil now? (Of course you do!) Here's your chance!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for stopping by! You've heard my thoughts, now tell me yours! Have you read Nil? What are you most excited for about this book? Leave your thoughts of it below in the comments! XOXO,
Thursday, October 3, 2013
by Romily Bernard
Published: 9.24.13
Pages: 307
"Find Me." These are the words written on Tessa Waye's diary. The diary that ends up with Wick Tate. But Tessa's just been found...dead. Wick has the right computer-hacking skills for the job, but little interest in this perverse game of hide-and-seek. Until her sister Lily is the next target. Then Griff, trailer-park boy next door and fellow hacker, shows up, intent on helping Wick. Is a happy ending possible with the threat of Wick's deadbeat dad returning, the detective hunting him sniffing around Wick instead, and a killer taunting her at every step? Foster child. Daughter of a felon. Loner hacker girl. Wick has a bad attitude and sarcasm to spare. But she's going to find this killer no matter what. Because it just got personal.
Let it be said, right here and now that I suck at anything computer savvy. I can do the basic HTML that I need for my blog, but beyond that, if it requires codes or etc, I am useless. So I was really interested with the hacking aspect of this book. It was actually quite interesting, and while some of it flew over my head, I thought it was kinda exciting to read about.
Wicket, our MC was fascinating. I'll be honest, I didn't get into her head from the very beginning. It took a little while for me to really connect with her. But once I started to get her, I sympathized and could really see and understand who she was as a character. All the rest of the cast was fabulous. Loved Griff, the cute boy who's also a computer nerd. Score! Dad, the guy you're afraid of more than anything. Lily, the sister who you live for. Lauren, the best friend who wasn't kept in secret! Aah, how refreshing. Love them all.
And then we have the mystery side of this book. Such a thriller! So well done! Romily kept me guessing. She sets up the plot and all these possibilities and I'd think I have it, and then NO, could it be this? Wait...maybe it's not...AAH. The real answer just crept up on me till I was staring at my kindle in shock, while at the same time, horrified and understanding at the same time. It was so obvious, yet I completely missed it. That's why I loved this so much. I couldn't predict anything.
All in all, I'm gonna have to go with a thumbs up. I was glued to my kindle, eager and itching in excitement and terror as I waiting to find out what would happen next. I totally recommend this if you are looking for a edge-of-your-seat novel! Besides, how could you resist the gorgeous cover?
Content: Moderate
[some language, innuendo, kisses]
Romily Bernard
I graduated from Georgia State University with a Literature degree. Since then, I’ve worked as a riding instructor, cell phone salesgirl, personal assistant, groom, exercise rider, accounting assistant, and, during a very dark time, customer service rep.So don’t let anyone tell you a BA degree will keep you unemployed.
Inky Question: What research did you have to do for the hacking aspect of the book?
Romily: I did a lot of Googling and asking around. Luckily, my husband works in IT so I could bounce ideas off of him. I've started keeping a folder of computer/hacking related news articles that I can go back through as I finish the last two books. I'm always on the lookout for cool new ideas.
Inky's Reaction: SEQUELS?!?! I had no idea! Eepster!
As part of this FABULOUS tour we've got a fabulous giveaway for you! Enter below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Check out the rest of the tour! Thanks for stopping by! Have an awesome day!!! XOXO,
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
The Eliteby Kierra Cass
Published: 4.23.13
Pages: 323
Source: Library
Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.
America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.
Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
The Program
by Suzanne Young
Pages: 408
Pages: 408
Published: 4.30.13
In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program. Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories. Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them
Thursday, May 16, 2013
by Natalie Whipple
Publishing: 5.21.13
Pages: 368
Plenty of teenagers feel invisible. Fiona McClean actually is.
An invisible girl is a priceless weapon. Fiona’s own father has been forcing her to do his dirty work for years—everything from spying on people to stealing cars to breaking into bank vaults. After sixteen years, Fiona’s had enough. She and her mother flee to a small town, and for the first time in her life, Fiona feels like a normal life is within reach. But Fiona’s father isn’t giving up that easily. Of course, he should know better than anyone: never underestimate an invisible girl.
*Many thanks to Harper for providing a review copy*
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
How I Lost You
by Janet Gurtler
Published: TODAY! [ 4.30.13]
Pages: 320
There are a few things Grace Anderson knows for sure. One is that nothing will ever come between her and her best friend, Kya Kessler. They have a pact. Buds Before Studs. Sisters Before Misters. But in the summer before senior year, life throws out challenges they never expected. And suddenly the person who's always been there starts to need the favor returned. Grace and Kya are forced to question how much a best friend can forgive. And the answer is not what they expected.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Alicia Wright Brewster
Publication: April 25th 2013
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
The countdown clock reads ten days until the end of the world. The citizens are organized. Everyone's been notified and assigned a duty. The problem is . . . no one knows for sure how it will end.Inky's Blurbings:
Energy-hungry Mages are the most likely culprit. They travel toward a single location from every corner of the continent. Fueled by the two suns, each Mage holds the power of an element: air, earth, fire, metal, water, or ether. They harness their powers to draw energy from the most readily available resource: humans.
Ashara has been assigned to the Ethereal task force, made up of human ether manipulators and directed by Loken, a young man with whom she has a complicated past. Loken and Ashara bond over a common goal: to stop the Mages from occupying their home and gaining more energy than they can contain. But soon, they begin to suspect that the future of the world may depend on Ashara's death.
I've really enjoyed this book. It's fun and it's a very interesting take on a fantasy apocalypse. At least that's what it feels like to me. It's set on a new earth, with the apocalypse coming in just ten short days, yet there is quite a big of elemental magic if you will. I thought it was interesting to see how some of these common powers were adapted and made to fit this book. The concept of Mages and how they oppose the rest of the good working 'magicians', so to speak.
We find our MC, Ash living a normal life when out the blue she's thrust into this world because she supposedly has a great power, yet she's never known about it. Ash is a strong female lead. She knows what she wants, and she can be somewhat stubborn, but she also has a brain. She can be a little rash in her comments, but she also knows when not to say something. I really liked her. She's easy to connect with, and has a very nice narrative voice.
The romance is a little funky, but it's really sweet. It was an interesting predicament from the beginning and I liked watching it progress and change. Hehe. Loken is pretty cool. I loved his powers. It was just so neat to learn all the cool these these peeps could do. Overall, this is a fun book. It moves along at a clipping pace and is full of magic with a dash of romance on the side. If you like fantasy and some apocalypse, then you should totally pick this one up!
4.5 Stars
Alicia Wright Brewster is a mild-mannered lady of average height and above average paranormal obsession. By day, she works in an office. At night she is an author, an electronics junkie, and a secret superhero.
In her virtually non-existent free time, she loves to read, watch movies, and eat food. She is particularly fond of the food-eating and makes a point to perform this task at least three times per day, usually more.
And...since this is part of an epic-tastic tour, I have a giveaway for you of course! Go ahead and enter to win some awesomeness extraordinaire!
And that is all the awesome for you today! Thanks to Giselle for hosting the awesome tour! What are your thoughts loverlies?
Friday, February 22, 2013
by Ally Condie
Published: 11.13.12
Pages: 512
After leaving the Society to desperately seek The Rising, and each other, Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again. Cassia is assigned undercover in Central city, Ky outside the borders, and airship pilot with Indie. Xander is a medic, with a secret. All too soon, everything shifts again.Inky's Blurbings:
When I read
Matched for the first time back in 2011, I fell in love. I fell in
love with the characters, the setting, and especially the
breathtaking voice that Cassia has. Same thing happened with Crossed.
Reached hooked me in just the way the first two did, but this book
was so different from what I expected. Maybe that's a good thing.
Dystopias are
generally an easy to predict sort of book. They all have vaguely
similar outlines. We've got the iron-fisted Society and all the
suffocating rules, varying depending on situations. And then there is
the Rebel. Maybe it's the love interest or maybe it's the MC, but
there is aways the group or person that stands up. Then we've got the
Outside, or that safe haven where the rebels go to plan and plot
leading up to the Revolution. The big fight and clash back up against
the Society.
The last of the
four key points is where Reached begins. It's the end and the
beginning of the books. That moment when they revolt. However, this
book took me in a very different direction then the one I expected!
It was more of a quiet revolution. We have this sub-plot of a plague
that seems to BE the revolution. It's hard to explain, but this felt
like a slow quiet and easy fight. The hard part is getting over the
effects of the plague.
It was a very
interesting take on the coming down of the society, but I felt like
it was too vague. We don't ever learn too much about the workings of
the Society. We never learned a huge amount of information about how
the Society just “gave up the ghost” of sorts. It felt like we
were getting all this talk about how the Rising was slow and steady
and then the we hear that the Society is finished. Something was
missing for me.
However much I
thought stuff was missing, I still found this Plague intriguing. I
thought it was neat how this was able to be such a prominent point of
a Revolution. It was for sure a very unique ending to a ruling
society, and it was very interesting to watch it play out, with them
searching for the cure and all.
Another big aspect
of this book is the romantic triangle. In the first two books we've
had a good base built for it. We've got Cassia stuck with the most
impossible choice between Xander and Ky. Both are fantastic
characters and have been developed so well. Both could be with
Cassia, and it's quite a dilemma honestly. Though in truth, my heart
belongs to Ky.
In the previous
installment we got to see the story from Ky's point of view for the
first time along with Cassia's. In Reached we have Xander's
perspective added in. It for sure added this new aspect to the story
that was really interesting. I love Xander. His character goes
through so much anguish in the love aspect, even though he's so well
off. But he's strong and it's hard not to love him. He's Cassia's
best friend and you can tell he cares about her so much. Ky, on the
other hand doesn't have that great of a life, and he doesn't know
Cassia as well. But it's his character that just draws you in. He's
really thoughtful and with Cassia they connect in this deeper more
poetic way than I think she does with Xander.
Now, as with all
Love Triangles you get a little anxious to find out how things end
with that. And I was pretty confident that I would get my boy, er
that Cassia would get the boy I want her to be with. And I'm not
saying ANYTHING, but there was a pretty crazy roller-coaster that
made me fidget a lot as the book progressed. It was almost agonizing
waiting for the final end. But then the end came and well, you'll
just have to read the book to find out.
I really only have
one other thing I'd like to mention. The writing. I LOVE LOVE LOVE
LOVE LOVE Ally's gorgeous writing in this book. It's like poetry. And
not only is it gorgeous but she weaves in poetry. Real poems that are
simply gorgeous are a big part of the story. They are signals they
are stories and they have MEANING in the book. I loved that. It gave
such a unique feel to the book. It was fabulous. Thumbs up.
So...now that all
those thoughts have tumbled out of my head, what did I think overall?
This book was fabulous, despite the questions I had. It ended well,
and even though I'm sad that Cassia's story is over, I'm glad it
ended on a good note. Bravo Ally. And now I'm excited now to see
where she goes next in her writing.
Content: Clean
Content: Clean
4.5 Stars
And that is my take on Reached. Have any of you finished this fab trilogy? Did any of you not like it? I'd love to know your thoughts!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Published: 9.4.12 by Razorbill
Pages: 394
GOODREADS / PURCHASE
Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home--and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.
Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia's origin--a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.
Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia's origin--a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.
Inky's Blurbings:
This book left me breathless. Literally. The first thing I start of when I opened this began this book was, "OH! It's like a modern-day sci-fi Rapunzel story!" I mean seriously, She stuck in this compound, has never been outside, knows like NOTHING about the outside world and when she meets a boy it all changes. Doesn't that scream Rapunzel to you? I totally don't know if that was intentional or just a coinky-dink, but I love it!
Pia was a very interesting charrie. She's in theis interesting predicament and she deals with it incredibly well. Oh and by the way her name sounds like PIE-UH. No it's not PEE-UH. That's just awkward. CONFESSION: It took me a while to figure it out. :P Moving on, Pia had a lovely narrative voice. It was pretty, easy to follow the story through her eyes and get all the feelings and struggles she went through. Now she's not one of those kick-butt characters you never forget but she's got her own charm and she will always have a small place in my heart.
So. Naive, innocent Pia is
Okay so yes. Insta-love. I think this is the biggest complaint I've seen about this book. Sure, I can totally see where those complaints are coming from, but I'm going to have to disagree. Which is weird since I'm normally very annoyed at insta-love. But remember my analogy to Rapunzel? She has NEVER seen a teenage guy before, let along one hot boy like EIO. So. This is where I justify her attraction. Now I do think that by the end of the book some of the development was missing so I wasn't sure I was cool with them being all. "I love you." But I do love their romance.
EXCEPT, for one
The plot was awesome as well. There were plenty of secrets and revelations to push the story along and combined with that romance it seemed like it was just fantastic! Honestly I have no complaints in this era. Applause to Jessica for a wonderful story. But before I end this, stare at the cover for a sec. Isn't that GORGEOUS?! It's shiny and smooth in RL, but it's still pretty on the computer. I LOVE the forest and how it surrounds the stunningly white figure in the middle. Oooh, do you think it could Pia? And maybe just maybe, those leaves and trees represent the forest in the book and/or the scary dangerous world outside Little Cam? OHMIGOSH you guys! We just figured out the hidden meaning behind the cover. Peace. Out.
So yes. This book was a delight to read! It left me breathless. Gorgeous writing, and romance with a lovely story, it had everything I love about YA. *Applause, applause, ONCORE!*
Content: Very Mild
(A few instances of mildlanguage - Deity-Da**-He**)
4.5 Stars
Thoughts? Have you read this? Did you like it? Were you less impressed? Do you want to read this? Are you in love with all the Breathless Reads so far?
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