Waiting on Wednesday (Yes, I know it's Thursday): Deception

Author: C.J. Redwine
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Synopsis:
Baalboden has been ravaged. The brutal Commander's whereabouts are unknown. And Rachel, grief stricken over her father's death, needs Logan more than ever. With their ragged group of survivors struggling to forge a future, it's up to Logan to become the leader they need—with Rachel by his side. Under constant threat from rival Carrington's army, who is after the device that controls the Cursed One, the group decides to abandon the ruins of their home and take their chances in the Wasteland.



But soon their problems intensify tenfold: someone—possibly inside their ranks—is sabotaging the survivors, picking them off one by one. The chaos and uncertainty of each day puts unbearable strain on Rachel and Logan, and it isn't long before they feel their love splintering. Even worse, as it becomes clear that the Commander will stop at nothing to destroy them, the band of survivors begins to question whether the price of freedom may be too great—and whether, hunted by their enemies and the murderous traitor in their midst, they can make it out of the Wasteland alive.


In this daring sequel to Defiance, with the world they once loved forever destroyed, Rachel and Logan must decide between a life on the run and standing their ground to fight.

** So, this is the sequel to Defiance and let me just say that i have been waiting for this book to come out ever since i read the first. it's sort of a dystopian/ post apocolypse/ steampunk-ish book :) Those of you who like those kind of books would probably find this series interesting. 

** Yes, i know it's thursday and i'm making a WoW post but better late than never, right?

**Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event is hosted by Breaking the Spine to share upcomming releases we are eagerly waiting for :)

The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

Title: The False Princess
Author: Eilis O'Neal
Release Date: January 25th 2011
Synopsis:

Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court. But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection. Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known.

Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks. But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.

Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.

Review:

All it took was the first few sentences of the synopsis on the inside flap of the cover jacket of the book and i was intrigued. I wasn't sure if this was exactly my kind of genre so I was hesitant, but then i read the synopsis and I decided that it was too interesting to just pass up. The best part is that after the first few paragraphs, I discovered that this book fit perfectly into my preferences. This book was set back in the 1100's with an interesting twist: magic. The author had her main character describe it as something you don't really think about, you know it's just there, like air. You accept it as part of your life even if you can't wield it because it's just something no one can live without.
Anyway, this is one of those books that, by the first chapter, you are tied to the main character. I could easily imagine how she felt when her life was ripped away from her and given to someone else. I mean, I could easily go on a rant about it... so buckle up and enjoy the ride because here I go...
Though I see the king and queen's justification in switching their daughter with another at birth, I still see the flaw. I mean, why would you endanger the girl you are now raising just to save the life of your true daughter whom you have never met? I understand that the parents loved their true daugter so much that they wished to protect her by any means, but seriously. you are just throwing another girl into harms way like a human shield. I get the whole, she's-the-rightful-heir-to-the-throne thing, but honestly, there are better ways to handle this. Think about what you did to the girl who thought she was your daughter for 16 years. You took away the life that was all she knew, one of politics and no hard labor, and threw her into a life where she knows nothing. And your actual daughter... well, she grew up getting treated as an orphaned noble and when she was told that she wasn't who she thought she was, she wasn't thrown out onto the curb. Nope. She was given a palace to live inside, parents she never knew about and a place to call home. But the stand in princess has a deadbeat mother, a literally dead father and an aunt who despises her.
Yep. all the justice in the world.
Okay. Now that that is off my chest, i'm moving on.
This novel was actual really good and beyond interesting. It has more twists in it's plot than a curly fry. And they are seriously unexpected. I wont go into too much detail because that is for you all to uncover on your own.
Now, unlike my usual review i am not going to go into depth on a large array of characters. i'll ust give you two that are vital to the story and that i can talk about without giving away anything.
Sinda is the stand in princess (and main character) who's only purpose was to die for the actual princess...to live her life until the foreseen murderers came at her. Only, they didn't. So she was tossed out to live a life she was unprepared for. You see, Sinda is nice and polite and she loves to learn... her only flaw is her clumsiness and tendency to accept things even when she should be fighting against them. It seemed like she sorta knew she didn't one hundred percent belong where she was. Not that she fit in well where she was sent either. Anyway, later on in the novel you see that she has more determination then she lets on. you notice her good heart and the loyalty that lies inside it.

Kiernan... well, he's the guy in the book. You know which one i mean. The one you are cheering on just because he's freaking awesome and you think he and the main character should get together. Yep. He's that guy. Anyway, like Sinda, he is loyal unlike her, he actually is a noble. So once the revelation regarding Sinda is outed, they are, of course, expected to act like they never met and Kiernan is supposed to treat the new princess like his best friend. Being who he is, he tries... but that doesn't mean it works.
Okay, i could go on all day about Kiernan and his complete awesomeness but I wont. You all can read about him yourselves,

I'd love to go on about other characters but that would risk way too many spoilers.
All in all, the book had a wonderfully laid out ending with just the right amount of closure. The plot was all wrapped up and snug with everything working out the right way. All the events happened in a quick but fulfilling way that was not at all hasty. The author really did a great job in telling the story and filling the plot with everything it needed. Well done, Eilis O'Neal :) This book earned a solid A from this reviewer and is recommend it to all readers who like medieval/ renaissance ish time eras.

**PS this is my first review in a long time so bare with me here:) Hope you guys like

Updates and whatnot

So I've been out for a while for multiple reasons (school being a big one) and I have left my poor blog unattended. Recently I've been thinking a lot about my blog as its been sitting here starving for posts and I've come to a decision. That decision is that I will keep my blog dormant until the school year is over (I may post something here or there or at least try to). Once summer comes along I will find the time to keep reviewing and reading. I have a list of books I want to get through that I haven't been able to hardly touch. Anyway, I apologize for my absence but life gets hectic at times.
Here's a bit of an update: I've read a multitude of books since my last post in September but have been unable to write anything about them. I will be updating my GoodReads account at some point and will rate the majority of the books I've read when I get the time. I will also try to post more twitter stuff soon:). Also, I read what has become the best have-to-read-because-of-school novel in be world, many of you may be familiar with it. It's To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm actually writing an essay about it so whoopee!
So that's a random update and a whole bunch of small promises I will do my best to try and keep. I plan to fulfill them all but it may take some time since i have to integrate it all back into action.

Iridescent by Carol Oates (book trailer)

So, coming in October is the blog tour for Iridescent which is book two in the ember series. I'm excited to say my blog will be one of the many (and I mean many) stops during this tour. I'll be posting reviews on the 14th of October but untill then, enjoy this book trailer of the book :D




Ember synopsis:

When Candra Ember wakes up in hospital after a dangerous encounter with a red-haired woman, she is shocked to discover that seeing a winged boy wasn't her imagination. Candra is exposed to a world of rivalry and sacrifice she never knew existed, and the aftermath of a war to save humanity thousands of years ago. Soon she finds herself relentlessly stalked by Sebastian, a beautiful and arrogant Watcher Angel and romantically pursued by his darkly seductive rival, Draven. Ultimately, dubious about her own goodness, Candra's very existence compromises a tentative peace in the city of Acheron.

Sounds cool, huh? I'll post more information on the tour later :)

Summer Reading Blog Tour: Destiny's Fire Review + Giveaway

Title: Destiny's Fire
Author: Trish Wolfe
Release Date: January 10, 2012
Synopsis:
It’s the year 2040, and sixteen-year-old Dez Harkly is one of the last of her kind—part of a nearly extinct race of shape-shifters descended from guardians to the Egyptian pharaohs. Her home and her secret are threatened when the Council lowers the barrier, allowing the enemy race to enter the Shythe haven.

As the Narcolym airships approach, Dez and her friends rebel against their Council and secretly train for battle. Not only is Dez wary of war and her growing affection for her best friend Jace, but she fears the change her birthday will bring. When Dez’s newfound power rockets out of control, it’s a Narcolym who could change her fate... if she can trust him.

Dez’s guarded world crumbles when she discovers why the Narcos have really come to Haven Falls, and she's forced to choose between the race who raised her and the enemy she's feared her whole life.





Review:

By the first paragraph I was hooked onto this fantasy/romance/steampunk-type book and by the end of the chapter, I could hardly take my eyes off it's pages. If you've read the book, then you know why. The book takes off in the middle of an action-y scene that leads you to meet three of the most interesting characters in the book (Jace, Lana, Nick). Honestly, it was the first chapter that set the books pace; it kept moving along at a constant rate from then on, running headlong from one amazing scene to another with out rushing and lack of detail. That's one of the best things, really; the author knew how to give the right amount of buildup in the plot to justify her story from beginning to end.
But despite the amazing story line and everything I LOVED about this book, I clouldn't help but wish for a little more of a stronger... first impression... pretaining to the characters. Throughout the course of this book you end up knowing/loving/hating/wanting to slap the majority of the characters as you go but when they were first introduced, it was too much of a BAM! here they are. I would have liked it to have a little bit more of an intro so I could get a firmer grasp on the vision certain characters were made to create. What I'm trying to say is that first impressions were only so-so but as the book went, you got a clearer picture of what you hould have seen in the beginning. Wow. I'm trying to put my thoughts into words while making it make sense...but it's not working well so I'm moving on. :)
Dez is different in more ways then one. The most obvious to everyone is her lack of preference for the more "girly" clothing in their time. She dislikes the skirts and corsets her best friend is always pushing at her. To me, this shows that her character doesn't give care much of what others may think of her and I respect that in her. Anyway, the less obvious complication/difference in her is the fact that she doesn't fit in her own race of Kythan Guardians, the Shythe. Not to mention she's the outcome of a "failed" experiment between the Shythe and the Narcolym (two races of Kythan that have been at war for a long time).
Jace... ahh... famous Shadowhunter he is not. But he is one kick a** Shythe with a knack for fighting and being constantly moody. To me, the thing that make him who he is is how extreme he gets about everything, be it their fighting club, his hate towards the Narcolyn or his need to keep his siblings and Dez safe. At the beginning I was seriously rooting for Jace and Dez, I mean they obviously liked each other and had been friends for there entire lives... not to mention the fact that Jace is totally smoking ;)
Reese was raised as a Narcolym (the enemy of the Shythe race) and ends up more or less pushing his way into Dez's life. Of course, being the "evil" race of the Kythan, Dez and her triplet friends don't like or trust him. At least... not untill he catches Dez's interest.
Lana is that best friend who is always joking and pushing you to do things you normally wouldn't. Let's face it, everyone has one of those and we all love them to pieces. Anyway, Lana is extreme in a completely different way then her brother. For her, everything she does, she gives 100%. She can the silliest person in the world or the most serious. Honestly, without her, the book would have been not necessarily dull but it would have been definitely not as exciting and moving as it was.
To me the most responsible and levelheaded of Dez's friends (and the triplets) is Nick. I honestly there was a bit more of him in the book because while he was in the book, he was mostly a presence in the background.
Now that you have the lowdown on someone the more main characters, I'll move on.
To me, everything past the climax of the book was the most exciting parts of the book. But, if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the ending.
The ending had the most drama and the most action then nearly any other part in the book. You discover so much about certain characters and one side of the Kythan races. As I read it, I literally stayed up all night and felt both nocturnal and sleep deprived for three days afterward. Now, I am counting down the days until the release of the next book of the Kythan Guardians series. I am eager for more of Reese, Jace, Dez and I can't wait to see what will happen between the Shythe and the Narcolym in the next book.
Destiny's Fire has the perfect amount of action, love, conflict and plain awesomeness to keep the reader enthralled until the very end and then begging for the next book the second they turn that last page. For this reason and countless others you can only understand if you've read the book, I give this book a sincere rating of an A. Recommended for paranormal romance lovers and people who like steampunk-type books. Oh, and anyone following this blog tour around the internet, will probably like it, too. :)

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Now, the very awesome people of Omnific Publishing and AToMR tours have readied a giveaway for you all. So enter, have fun, tell your Twitter page, and check out the other stops on the tour by clicking---> here<----



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Deja Vu Thursday #7

Deja Vu Thursday is a weekly post that I am starting on my blog. It focuses on similar book covers, may it be design, cover model, etc. It's like seeing doubles! And, let's face it, midweek, everyone feels like they are loosing their mind anyway.

 

The ]left cover is called  Masque of the Red Death. The middle cover is the German cover. The right one is the cover for Die For Me. Both the cover for Die For Me and the German cover of Masque of the Red Death have the same cover modles and the designs are very similar in many ways. The color schemes are both red and each have a city in the background. Also, if you look closely at the German cover of Masque of the Red Death you can see an overlay swirls near the top ; it's more obvious in the cover of Die For Me, though.

Masque of the Red Death synopsis:

Everything is in ruins.
A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them.
So what does Araby Worth have to live for?
Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.
But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.
And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

Die For Me synopsis:

In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.
When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life--and memories--behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.
Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.

*I'm sad to say that I have not read Masque of the Red Death yet, but I did love Die For Me.

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Gathering
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Release Date: April 12th, 2011
Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet.



Review:

Contrary to belief this is not the fourth book in the Darkest Powers series, unfortunately, seeing as that one was cut a little short :( . But The Gathering is the first of a spin-off series called Darkness Rising. Honestly, I've been hesitant to read this book, fearing that it would not be as good as the Darkest Powers Trilogy because of the new story line and characters... Turns out I was wrong and had nothing to fear.
The Gathering was as intriguing and brilliant as any book in the Darkest Powers Trilogy, even if it lacked the Lyle House for "crazy" kids, werewolves and ghosts. The readers gets to experience the world the author established in the first series in a different perspective. Instead of an asylum and meds you get a small town in Canada based around a medical research lab. If you read the Darkest Powers Trilogy first then you know that there is something wrong with the scientists and you know their plan. And if you are like me, then you may feel the sudden urge to gently yell at the characters to run as fast as they can in the other direction.
Anyway... like I mentioned before, the story revolves around the small town and research facility, but it's main focus is Maya, one of the 200 towns people.
Maya is blunt and sarcastic and she knows. She doesn't like to turn down a challenge but she is good at making sure she doesn't get into too much trouble. Like every characters, she has a struggle, but her's is more than your average teenage angst. You see, Maya was adopted at birth and knows little to nothing about her real Native heritage, and for her, that's a major issue when she goes into town and is called a witch or, more accurately, a skin-walker.
Daniel is Maya's best friend but he honestly acts more like an older brother: protective and comforting. He knows her better than anyone and he's the first person she goes to when weird things start occurring. Also, he as this weird ability to "feel" things and "know" when something is wrong, the ability is like a gut feeling and he always listens to it because it's always right.
Another one of Maya's friends is Rafe...okay, "friend" is sort of pushing it, she can't really stand him in the beginning of the book. But that's how most attractions start, right? Anyway, they grow closer throughout the book and... well, you can find out the rest. Just keep in mind that not everyone is 100% truthful in their motives.

There are a few sketchy characters in the books to, like Hayley who doesn't like Maya and Sam who seems to like Maya okay but also seems to be harboring secrets. And let's not forget Mina Lee and the notorious Dr. Davidoff who didn't show his face in this book but only his name. It's sort of ironic that even out of the Lyle House in the  Darkest Powers Trilogy, people don't like him much.
Anyway, there are other characters but I'll let you meet them yourselves.
I forgot to mention this earlier but the first chapter is what initially grabbed me and pulled me under (no pun intended). You see conflict from the beginning and that particular conflict fuels some of the characters' motives in the book.
Now, skipping to the ending... This author has a thing for cliffhangers, it seems. Just as the book reaches it's peak of the story and the reader is glued by their nose to the pages, she cut's it off in a squealing halt. Okay, that's a little bit of an exaggeration because she let's the action die down enough to were it's a good ending to the book but it does leave the reader begging for more. I noticed this pattern in the Darkest Powers Trilogy, also. This is what, in my opinion makes Kelley Armstrong such an amazing author. she knows how to keep us interested from beginning to end. Plot to cliffhanger, apparently.
For all the reasons stated in this review and everything I left out because of spoilers, I give this book an A- and highly recommend it to anyone who read the Darkest Powers Trilogy and now has The Gathering siting on their desk collecting dust because they are, like I was, fearing it wouldn't be as good as the others. Also reccomended to all of you who like YA, books about evil scientists and paranormal/supernatural stuff.