Obsession with Books

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Waiting on Wednesday - Allegiant by Veronica Roth & Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Hi everyone, thank-you so much for stopping by my WoW!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine which spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My WoW for this week is Allegiant by Veronica Roth, I absolutely love these characters and the dystopian world created so I’m eager to see how it all ends.

Also, Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas – I adored Throne of Glass so this is high on my wishlist.

Author: Veronica Roth

Series: Divergent

Pages: 496

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Harper Teen

Amazon pre-order

Release Date: 22^nd October 2013

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

One choice will define you.

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

The explosive conclusion to Veronica Roth’s #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy reveals the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: Throne of Glass

Pages: 432

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Amazon pre-order

Release Date: 27^th August 2013

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt.
But her heart never wavers.

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

What are you eagerly awaiting this week?

Review: Feudlings (Fate on Fire #1) by Wendy Knight

Feudlings by Wendy Knight

Author: Wendy Knight

Series: Fate on Fire

Pages: 283

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Astraea Press

Amazon

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Nothing makes a new school suck worse than discovering the guy you’re in love with is your prophesied nemesis.

Ari is the most powerful flame-throwing sorceress ever, and her people’s last hope in an ancient war. But she’s also a seventeen-year-old girl, and in her free, not-hunting-nemesis times, she jumps from school to school, trying to figure out regular people her own age and pretending she’ll get the chance to graduate.

Shane lives a double life. He goes to school and masters the art of popularity, hiding the fact that he has a fate with a slim chance of his survival. He’s destined to end a 300 year-old war by killing or being killed. He knows he’s hunted by a powerful enemy who’s not afraid to die. Only problem? He has no idea who that enemy is.

When Ari shows up at Shane’s school, angry and sullen and determined to keep him at arm’s reach, neither of them realize they are supposed to be killing each other, not falling in love. Until Ari does realize it, and she almost dies – by Shane’s hand.

Review: 2 ½ out of 5 stars

Star-crossed love stories always appeal to me and Feudlings appeared to have all the elements I tend to enjoy in a Young Adult novel based on the synopsis alone but unfortunately I wasn’t wowed right from the onset although I think it is a promising start to this series.

Seventeen year-old Arianna Delacour is an Edrens who has trained from a child to be the most powerful sorceress she can be to fulfil a prophecy which states she needs to kill the enemy Carules prodigy to end the war.

Arianna was a stubborn, powerful but at times detached character who I did like but didn’t love; she has moved from one school to the next, never forming any connections or making friends but things change when she moves to Adlington and forms some close relationships, including with the school hottie, Shane Delyle who happens to be Arianna’s sworn enemy – the Carules prodigy.

Shane was pretty swoon-worthy but lacking in personality for me, there were no knee-wobbling gushing moments that I usually enjoy; the attraction and connection is there but I think the overall appeal was missing.

The plot was interesting and evenly paced, the prodigy’s needed to kill each other to end the war - the feuds and fights between the clans were fascinating but the imagery of the setting was not there, I couldn’t picture how the fights played out. The world-building was regrettably lacking; I was curious about how everything came about – the sorcerers, clans, flames etc. so I hope these aspects are further explained in the sequel. I always like to get the history to fully appreciate the overall story.

The secondary characters were likeable but a few needed further development such as Will, I would have liked more detail on his role as the renegade colony leader and his feud with the Edrens, I can see him playing a bigger role as Ari’s guard in future books and I needed more information about these aspects to truly appreciate him. Hunter had me intrigued and I loved Charity and the new friends at school Ari had made except of course the clichéd mean girl Brittany who I think came across as immature and childish.

I think this book has so much potential, it was very well written and the premise is really fascinating I just felt the back-story and execution was lackluster overall for me.

Feudlings has received a lot of praise, so please don’t let my review deter you from reading this book, what’s good for me may not be for someone else so please be sure to stop by Goodreads for differing opinions.

About the author: Wendy Knight was born and raised in Utah by a wonderful family who spoiled her rotten because she was the baby. Now she spends her time driving her husband crazy with her many eccentricities (no water after five, terror when faced with a live phone call, etcetera, etcetera). She also enjoys chasing her three adorable kids, playing tennis, watching football, reading, and hiking. Camping is also big: her family is slowly working toward a goal of seeing all the National Parks in the U.S.

You can usually find her with at least one Pepsi nearby, wearing ridiculously high heel for whatever the occasion may be. And if everything works out just right, she will also be writing.

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

ARC Review: Seventeen & Gone by Nova Ren Suma

Seventeen & Gone

Author: Nova Ren Suma

Series: -

Genre: Young Adult

Pages: 354

Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont

Puchase: Amazon - TBD
Australian release date: 1st July 2013

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Seventeen-year-old Lauren is having visions of girls who have gone missing. And all these girls have just one thing in common—they are 17 and gone without a trace. As Lauren struggles to shake these waking nightmares, impossible questions demand urgent answers: Why are the girls speaking to Lauren? How can she help them? And… is she next? As Lauren searches for clues, everything begins to unravel, and when a brush with death lands her in the hospital, a shocking truth emerges, changing everything.

With complexity and richness, Nova Ren Suma serves up a beautiful, visual, fresh interpretation of what it means to be lost.

Reviews: 3 1/2 out 5 Stars

I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading Seventeen & Gone by Nova Ren Suma and for that I was pleasantly surprised.

This won't be an in-depth review to avoid spoilers, it's the sort of book you need to unravel piece by piece to get the overall clear picture of what is going on yourself; it makes you think right from the onset and stays with you long after you have finished, of course with better understanding of the story's purpose.

Our protagonist is Seventeen year-old Lauren who begins to have visions of girls who have gone missing ‘the lost girls’; she is intrigued by their stories and feels the need to unravel more.

Lauren was a likeable character although a little distant; the story is told through her eyes and while she was believable the emotions I felt this story needed to be conveyed were unfortunately lacking from her, she more or less became obsessed about and consumed by the missing girls and if you add her real-life dramas into the mix it made for quite an intense read.

What surprised me was the unclear feeling this book has, there were no definitive answers initially which left me confused but also intrigued by what was actually happening - the psychological aspect was compelling, I was absorbed by the mystery and left saddened by the believability of the subject matter; it’s a story which makes you think and the overall message is extremely poignant.

Hearing the stories of the missing girls - Shyann, Abby, Fiona, Natalie and a few others was interesting but at times a little too much; it became repetitive unfortunately although their back stories could have been quite interesting if there weren’t so many. Abby was a stand-out character to me because of the overall role she played. This was definitely a character driven novel.

The last portion of the book really held my attention; the surprising twist blew me away and really made the story all the more interesting and I found myself satisfied by the overall conclusion and came to understand Lauren and connected more with her as a character – up until this point, I felt indifferent towards her.

This is the first book I have read by Nova Ren Suma, her writing flows beautifully, it’s a gripping story that leaves you thinking long after you have finished reading which I think is a wonderful sign of amazing storytelling. It is a complex and captivating plot and intricately crafted with great attention to detail and researched extremely well.

Overall, Seventeen & Gone is a great psychological thriller with an intriguing mystery; it’s a book which is dark and gritty and held my attention throughout wanting to know more about Lauren, her visions and the missing girls.

Thank-you kindly to Hardie Grant Egmont Australia for providing me with a copy of Seventeen & Gone to read and review.

About the author: Nova grew up in small towns across the Hudson Valley and can currently be found in New York City and online at her blog distraction no. 99.

Nova Ren Suma has an MFA in fiction from Columbia University and a BA in writing & photography from Antioch College, and has been awarded fiction fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Corporation of Yaddo, and, twice, from the MacDowell Colony. She has published short stories for adults in literary journals including Gulf Coast, LIT, Small Spiral Notebook, and more, and is the author of the tween novel Dani Noir (Simon & Schuster/Aladdin, 2009).

Imaginary Girls (Dutton, 2011) marks her YA debut. She is at work on a new YA novel, slated for future release from Dutton.

Website - Twitter

Australian VS US covers

Monday, 17 June 2013

Review: Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X #1) by Richelle Mead

Gameboard of the Gods

Author: Richelle Mead

Series: Age of X

Pages: 448

Publisher: Dutton

Genre: Adult - Paranormal

Amazon – TBD

Synopsis (Goodreads)

In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of Xseries, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series such megasuccesses: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense.

Review: 3 out of 5 stars

I admit to having a bit of an obsession with all things Richelle Mead, I adored her Vampire Academy, Georgina Kincaid and Bloodlines series so I was more than eager to start on her adult paranormal series Age of X but unfortunately it didn’t leave me with the euphoric feelings I usually get from a Mead book and it saddens me to rate it accordingly.

Our main protagonist is Mae Koskinen, an elite Praetorian raised in an aristocratic caste and fierce amongst her kind – at the beginning of the book she had brutally beaten another woman at a funeral, she wasn’t to be messed with and unfortunately her cold demeanour didn’t endear me to her right away although as the book progressed so too did my feelings toward her.

As part of her punishment she has been sent to Panama city to locate and return Justin March who lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. I wasn’t Justin’s biggest fan, he was conceited and has an obsession with booze, drugs and women; he wasn’t a hero I enjoyed reading about unfortunately despite his intelligence and knowledge.

It took me a little while to get into Gameboard of the Gods, not because it wasn’t enjoyable because the world Mead has created was certainly ambitious and interesting but the complexity of it all left my small brain scrambled as I was trying to piece together what was going on and without explanation of the terminology being used, I was baffled.

The pacing also started off really slowly as we are introduced to the characters and the world, I found myself putting the book down on numerous occasions just to mull over it all. The plot follows Mae and Justin as they go in search of a ritualistic murderer, their mission was intriguing and I found myself enjoying the mystery of it all and the secrets we came to learn.

What I did love was Mead’s futuristic world which has nearly been destroyed by religious extremists and is now separated by the Republic of the United North America (RUNA) and the Eastern Alliance (EA) with the outlying areas considered the lower castes, seen as backwards in comparison. The imagery was vividly detailed and despite the complexity, I enjoyed the uniqueness of it.

We get a bit of romance but it wasn’t convincing to me at all, there are no sweet, knee wobbling moments that had me gushing and the relaxed attitude towards having other partners sexually really put me off. I didn’t feel the connection between Justin and Mae so I wasn’t fully invested in their relationship especially considering their completely differing beliefs.

Richelle Mead’s writing is pure perfection, you can’t fault it but unfortunately this book failed to wow me as her others have. The concept was certainly promising; I enjoyed the political, religious and militant aspects but my detachment from the characters let it down for me.

Overall, Gameboard of the Gods reads differently to all of Richelle Mead’s other books; I found myself loving the game being played out and the fascinating and detailed world but there were a few too many elements which let it down for me. I do see potential in this series and will pick up the next book.

Thank-you kindly to Dutton for providing me with a copy of Gameboard of the Gods to read and review.

About the author: Scorpio Richelle Mead is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy books for both adults and teens. Originally from Michigan, Richelle now lives in Seattle, Washington where she works on her three series full-time: Georgina Kincaid, Dark Swan, and Vampire Academy.

A life-long reader, Richelle has always loved mythology and folklore. When she can actually tear herself away from books (either reading or writing them), she enjoys bad reality TV, traveling, trying interesting cocktails, and shopping for dresses. She's a self-professed coffee addict and has a passion for all things wacky and humorous.

Website : Facebook : Twitter

Saturday, 15 June 2013

Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post (15th June)

Hi everyone!! thank-you so much for stopping by my blog today.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews

It's a chance to share what has happened the past week, showcase books and other bookish things we have received and talk about what is coming up on our blog.

The below books are what I have received over the past few weeks, some I have already read and reviewed others I am really excited to start on.

(Clicking on the title will take you to Goodreads)

Received for Review

The Academy, Game on by Monica Seles - YA

Stung by Bethany Wiggins - YA

Transcendence by C.J. Omololu - YA

Conquer Your Love by J.C. Reed - Adult Contemporary

The Athena Effect by Derrolyn Anderson - YA

Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken - YA

Zoe & Zak and the Ghost Leopard by Lars Guignard (audio book tour) - MG

Resilient by Patricia Vanasse (book tour) - YA

Banish by Nicola Marsh (book tour) - YA

(A very BIG thank-you to Netgalley, Bloomsbury Publishing Australia, Harlequin Teen Australia, Disney, J.C. Reed, Candace Book blog & Derrolyn Anderson)