V is For Villain and A is For A-Hole

Expected Publication:  May 20th, 2014

V Is For Villain

By: Peter Moore

Disney-Hyperion

ISBN-13:  9781423157496

Brad Baron is used to looking lame compared to his older brother, Blake.  Though Brad's basically a genius, Blake is a superhero in the elite Justice Force.  And Brad doesn't measure up at his high school, either, where powers like super-strength and flying are the norm.  So when Brad makes friends who are more into political action than weight-lifting, he's happy to join a new crew - especially since it means spending more time with Layla, a girl who may or may not have a totally illegal, totally secret super-power.  And with her help, Brad begins to hone a dangerous new power of her own.

But when they're pulled into a web of nefarious criminals, high-stakes battles, and startling family secrets, Brad must choose which side he's on.  And once he does there's no turning back.

Perfect for fans of The Avengers, Iron Man, and classic comic books, V Is For Villain reveals that it's good to be bad.

Review

     This book reminded me of a cross between the Disney film, Sky High, and a recent superhero read called Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson.  It has elements of YA angst, with the majority of the novel being set in a superhero school and the classes being split into those with powers and those without them (or with entirely useless or barely there ones).  The Disney edge about it is that the novel centers around the Baron family, is which Blake has all the powers and works on a team, as a real-life superhero.  His younger brother Brad is ordinary and viewed as an embarrassment to the family, a freak accident of nature.  The Steelheart thing about this book, is that the entire world knows about the superheroes.  They are the celebrities of this world and are followed constantly for coverage of their heroic exploits.  

     Brad is the protagonist of this novel and we spend the whole thing in his head, trying right along with him to decide if the superheroes really are the good guys and if he should become a villain instead.  We definitely get Brad's end of the spectrum quite a bit more, with him almost being paralyzed at the start of the book after being tackled by one of the powered kids too hard.  After mouthing off to his teachers one too many times, Brad is switched over to the A Program, and falls in with a group of kids who call themselves A-Holes.  The real reason Brad is interested in becoming villain though, is to hack into his geneticist mother's computers, and look at his gene mapping.  He wants to know why Brad has powers and he doesn't, when genetically speaking he should.  But digging deeper into his own past brings to the forefront a horrifying secret about the involvement of the government in the existence of super powers in the world - and just who the real heroes and villains are after all.

     I really enjoyed reading this one.  I felt that the characters were well developed, especially Brad and Layla, who were both really trying to think things through and have a sound reasoning for going to "the dark side."  Also, the whole superpower thing with Brad made for an interesting ride.  I wasn't expecting Moore to give him a secret one that he never knew he had.  It did make for a connection with Layla on a completely different level and still allowed Brad to be a societal outcast, albeit in a different way.  I liked the rest of the crew too, but felt like they were little kids playing dress up and sure enough, as soon as shit got real they all bailed out.  Blake was a superb caricature of the smug, self-involved, dumb brute hero character that's common in comics - that is, until he wasn't.  I loved the way Moore lulls you into thinking everyone is something different than really are and rips you apart with revelations.  My only complaint is that while the big reveal about Brad and Blake's respective powers at the end made sense, it was pretty cliched and really damn "muhahaha" in tone.  Other than that, I truly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to fans of comics and superheroes.  It struck the right balance most of the time between humor, action and philosophical musings.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is May 20th, 2014.*

Pretending That I'm Doing Well

Published:  January 2nd, 2014

Imposter

By: Susanne Winnacker

Hoddor Children's Books

ISBN-13:  9781444916171

Tessa is a variant with extraordinary abilities.  She could be a hero, but all she wants to do is fall in love...

Tessa is a variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance.  Shunned by her family, she's spent the last two years with the Forces of Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI.  There she trains with other variants, such as long-term crush Alec, who each have their own extraordinary ability.

When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again.  Tessa hates everything about being an imposter - the stress, the danger, the deceit - but loves playing the role of a normal girl.  As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she'd do anything to keep.

Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself.

Review

     Tessa has lived a hard life, with her abusive mother, an absent father and a string of horrible step-dads.  Now she is living with a group of people who are special like she is - they're known as variants.  At a government sponsored training facility, the variant teens are learning how to use their special abilities to help the U.S. government from behind the scenes.  Tessa's ability is especially unique.  She can transform into anyone she's ever touched.  So when a serial killer starts killing people in small-town Oregon, it's time for Tessa's first solo mission - to impersonate Madison, one of the killer's victims who is dying of her injuries.  Taking over Madison's life, it's up to Tessa to find the killer and bring him to justice, before there are any more victims.  But with a family, friends and people that actually care about her, Tessa is beginning to want to stay in Madison's life, permanently.  She can only run so far from herself and her past before everything comes back to haunt her.....

     So, I went into this one excited for something that would be reminiscent of X-Men and have some butt-kicking action to it's story.  That isn't quite how this book went down though.  In reality, this is more of a feelings book with powers, than the other way around.  The first part of the book introduces us the idea of variants, Tessa as a person and her history, hot best friend (who Tessa wants to be more) Alec, her friend Holly and mean girl Kate (who is sort of dating Alec).  I understood where Tessa was coming from, with her past of being abused and abandoned.  That shit messes a person up.  But her fixation of Alec was just embarrassing.  And she lets Holly talk her into transforming into Kate so that she can kiss Alec.  Of course he finds out it's really her, and it's a truly humiliating episode, which is difficult to read about because it's such an immature betrayal of trust on her part.  I felt like Alec was kind of an asshole anyways, treating Tessa like a potential girlfriend half the time, and the rest of it was spent treating her like a petulant child or a complete stranger.  He sends off some of the most confusing signals EVER.

     The real heart of the book and most of what I enjoyed about it, started when Tessa begins to live Madison's life.  The mystery about the serial killer was intriguing, and there was a nice twist about the motivations that I probably should have seen coming, but didn't.  But I never considered the situation as anything other than a run-of-the-mill, everyday, garden variety serial killer!  Tessa's emotions are stressed to the breaking point, falling in love with Madison's family and experiencing a sense of belonging for the first time ever, all the while lying to them and pretending to be their dead daughter.  Plus there's the problem that Madison's twin brother is one of the suspects in the case - so is her ex-boyfriend, who refuses to let her go.  The mystery was the best part of this book.  The romance was disappointing and as I've seen other people point out, there will definitely be a love triangle in the next book!  And I'm not sure how I feel about that, because I'm already rooting for the dark horse in that triangle (i.e. not Alec!!!).  Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to seeing the direction the next one goes in.  I'd recommend it if you're a fan of X-Men, but don't mind trading the action for a whodunit!  And P.S., I LOVE that cover!  It is absolutely representative of the book and I love looking at the differences between half-Madison and half-Tessa! :D

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, Hodor Children's Books, via NetGalley.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book was published January 2nd, 2014.*

Princesses Can Save the Prince Too!

Published:  December 17th, 2008

The Stepsister Scheme (Princess #1)

By: Jim C. Hines

DAW

ISBN-13:  9780756405328

You know how all those old fairy tales take you through lots of scary adventures till you finally reach that inevitable line: "And they lived happily ever after..."  Guess what?  It's not true.  Life in never-never land isn't all sweetness and light.  Cinderella - whose real name is Danielle Whiteshore (nee Danielle de Glas) - does marry Prince Armand.  And (if you can ignore the pidgeon incident) their wedding is a dream-come-true.

But not long after the "happily ever after," Danielle is attacked by her stepsister Charlotte, who suddenly has all sorts of magic to call upon.  And though Talia - otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty - comes to the rescue (she's a martial arts master, and all those fairy blessings make her almost unbeatable), Charlotte gets away.

That's when Danielle discovers a number of disturbing facts: Armand has been kidnapped and taken to the realm of the Fairies; Danielle is pregnant with his child; and the Queen has her very own Secret Service that consists of Talia and Snow (White, of course).  Snow is an expert at mirror magic and heavy-duty flirting.

Can three princesses track down Armand and extract both the prince and themselves from the clutches of some of fantasyland's most nefarious villains?

Review

     I am a fairy tale obsessed, freak!  I love retellings of fairy tales - modern ones, retro ones, historical fiction, christian fiction, disneyfied ones, humorous ones, etc.  Doesn't really matter what exactly it is, I am bound to be attracted to it, if not drawn in completely.  The cover on this book looks a bit like Charlie's Angels crossed with Brothers Grimm, so color me intrigued.  I was told by a couple of my online friends to read it, even if just to get to the second one (which they said is better).  So I decided to give it a go and see what would happen.  Is starts focused on Danielle de Glas (aka Cinderella), who has married the Prince and now has to learn to become a Princess.  She still can't help her instinct to befriend all the servants and clean the palace around her though; but she loves her husband, Armand, and is willing to make some changes to be what he needs.  Imagine her surprise when her stepsister Charlotte tries to kill her seemingly out of the blue, using magic she's never had before.  Danielle is saved from assassination by Queen Bea's secret protector - Talia, otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty.  It turns out she and Snow White work for Bea, and help her keep the kingdom and its royals safe from threats.  But when they find out Armand has been kidnapped by Charlotte and her sister, it's up to Danielle to rescue him - with the help of Talia and Snow she might even succeed.  However, what will the cost be to retrieving Prince Armand from the danger he's in?

     I enjoyed this one a lot.  At first it feels pretty slow moving (even with an assassination attempt), but once Talia, Danielle and Snow finally hit the road, the plot picks up its pace pretty quickly.  Probably my favorite thing about this book is that it uses the darker and older versions of the fairy tales that a lot of people only know from the Disney versions, for the back stories of the characters.  Talia's in particular is a real doozy and definitely gives a great basis for her inability to connect emotionally to other people and fondness for solving difficult situations with violent means.  Also, the fact that Snow herself worked with mirrors for magical purposes (a la the Evil Queen) was interesting and not something I've ever seen done before in a retelling or reworking of Snow White's story.  The lack of Prince Armand was both disappointing and refreshing.  So wonderful to see a fantasy/fairy tale book NOT laser-focused on the romance, but considering that Danielle is going to great lengths to save him, it would have been nice to get some more insight into her relationship with Armand (especially considering how little time they've actually known each other when you consider their relationship as a whole).

     The entire novel, while revolving around an assassination plot, still managed to feel like it was moving at molasses speed.  But when it hit Fairytown, shit really started to hit the fan!  I enjoyed them trying to find an ally and since by this point Danielle knows she's pregnant, the whole thing with every fairy asking for the baby in exchange for the help was hilarious!  Such a stereotypically fairy tale thing to do!  I also really was impressed at how much motivation and character development Hines managed to work in for the Stepsisters (Charlotte and Stacia) who are usually just cardboard cutout villains in any adaptation of Cinderella that's published/filmed.  The rescue of Armand and the imprisonment of Danielle are both full of very dark scenes and somewhat disturbing.  Especially when we're unsure whether or not the baby is going to come away from the ordeal unscathed.  The one complaint (as others have said) that I really can think of besides slowness, is the one dimensionality of Talia and Sleeping Beauty as characters.  But by the end of the novel, we've gotten closer to understanding what makes them tick.  Also, I have read the second book in the time before I started writing this review and it definitely gives us more meat to those two characters.  Overall, I had a swell time trying to figure out where Hines was taking this and I think I'm along for the whole ride.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

The Heart of a Dragon

Published:  September 3rd, 2013

Scorched (Scorched #1)

By: Mari Mancusi

Sourcebooks Fire

ISBN-13:  9781402284588

Trinity

Don't leave me here...It starts with a whisper.  At first Trinity thinks she's going crazy.  It wouldn't be a big surprise -- her Grandpa firmly belives there's a genuine dragon egg in their dusty little West Texas town.  But this voice is real, and it's begging for her protection.  Even if no one else can hear it...

Connor

He's come from a future scorched in dragonfire.  His mission: Find the girl.  Destroy the egg.  Save the world.  

Caleb

He's everything his twin brother Connor hates: cocky, undisciplined, and obsessed with saving dragons.  

Trinity has no idea which brother to believe.  All she has to go by is the voice in her head -- a dragon that won't be tamed.

Review

     Trinity Foxx has been living with her Grandpa and struggling to make ends meet ever since her Mom died.  Then her Grandpa goes and blows all their money on what he believes is the last real dragon egg in the world for the museum he curates.  Trinity is understandably angry and thinks that they're going to lose their home and everything else because of this.  But then imagine her surprise when Connor shows up and trys to steal the dragon egg.  Trinity might not want the thing, but if he takes it they can't get the money back either.  So she goes with him and finds out that it really is a dragon egg!  Connor wants to destroy it to stop a future dragon-scorched apocalypse from happening.  On the other side of things is his twin brother Caleb, who wants to save the egg and dragons from destruction.  With new things coming to light at every turn, who can Trinity trust?  And how can she decipher the feelings she is developing for both Connor and Caleb?

     I wanted to like this book, as I have been a fan of Mancusi's Blood Coven series for quite some time (since sometime between books 2 & 3 to be more precise).  But I started out feeling fairly bored.  Also, Trinity seriously got on my nerves!  She goes off with a guy that she only just met.  Even when proof of the existence of dragons is given to her, Trinity doesn't believe it until she has absolutely no other choice.  Plus, when her Grandpa first tells her about the dragon egg, the thing she's most worried about is that they might have to return her Christmas present - an expansion pack for her favorite computer game.  None of the plot twists really surprised me, the least of which was who the "good guys" and "bad guys" were.  Probably the single truly awesome part of this book was when Trinity went into like an alternate zone where she could fly with her dragon and talk to it, etc.  I liked the ending as well.  

     But for the most part this book's plot structure, action and climax was extremely jumpy.  The characters weren't very well developed and I left this book feeling no greater connection to or interest in Trinity, Caleb or Connor then when I started it.  Overall, this one just wasn't my cup of tea personally.  To be honest, it kind of reminded me of the teen books published by MTV back in the day.  Interesting, largely forgettable and only ever truly good to a young teenager!  If you like dragons though (i.e. are obsessed with them) maybe it might be worth giving this book a shot.

VERDICT:  2/5 Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire, via NetGalley.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book was published September 3rd, 2013.*

Siren's Curse Book Blitz - Release Date: December 5th, 2013

Title: Siren's Curse

Author: Sara Jiang

Date of Publication: December 5, 2013

Circe only has seven days to live… and time is ticking.

Long ago, Sirens were cursed to stay on the rocks. If they ever stopped eating human flesh, their horns would pierce their bodies and they would die.

Circe had a choice: stay on the Perch with her sisters, feeding off of sailors for all time, or to dive into the deep, face the unknown, and take her chance at freedom.

On her journey into the ocean Circe meets a precocious little sea dragon, a heart-throb shark, and an eel with a vengeance. She comes face to face with witches, madmen, monsters, and a mysterious, loud rumbling that seems to only be getting louder.

Can she break the curse?

Purchase from Amazon | B&N

About Sara Jiang

Sara Jiang was born in 1991 and lived on a sailboat in the Caribbean for 3 years when she was younger. This exposure to the ocean influences much of her art and writing. She is currently studying for her Bachelor's in Vocal Music Education at Abilene Christian University.

Sara Jiang does commission artwork and recently won Abilene Christian University's Summit Art Contest with one of her pen and ink drawings.

Website | Twitter

Lucifer (Sons of Old Trilogy #1) - Review & Blog Tour, Plus Giveaway!!!

 

Published:  January 31st, 2013

Lucifer (Sons of Old Trilogy #1)

By: Annabell Cadiz

Self Published

 

Have you ever wondered what could be hiding in the shadows?

Well, for eighteen-year-old Zahara Faraday, she doesn’t have to wonder. You see she comes from a lineage of Light Witches, those who have chosen to help protect and serve between the supernatural world and the human world. The only problem is Zahara, like her father Solomon, is as human as a human being can be whereas her mother, Mia, and her Aunt Catalina, were born as Light Witches. As a family they hunt down rogue supernaturals—creatures who harm humans or who have committed an act against their kingdom.

Zahara’s hunting skills are usually kept dormant since her parents would prefer she live life as a normal human girl without knowledge of the supernatural world. She plans on doing just that—except when she finds a couple being attacked by fairies, she has no choice but to step in. Before she can return to pretending to be blissfully ignorant, Zahara encounters a problem she isn’t the least equip to handle: Bryan Hamilton, the good looking new co-worker she has to help train. In a heartbeat, her best friend, Becca King, has set her up on a double date with herself and her new crush, Rekesh Saint-Louis, who happens to be the most powerful leader of the biggest Imago Coven in South Florida –supernatural creatures with the ability to control water . . . and suck out human souls.

Zahara has no time to focus on how she’s going to explain her double date with her best friend and the enemy they have a tentative truce with to her parents because soon one of the members of Mia and Catalina’s coven is found murdered with a strange tattoo of a snake with wings carved into his arm.

Zahara is then thrown into a whirlwind battle with an angel determined to have revenge against God, an Imago coven she doesn’t think they should trust, and slew of dream-eating fairies and powerful Nephilims, hybrid children of angels and humans, more than happy to rip her to shreds.

Normal just got a deadlier definition.

 

Review

 

     The book opened up with almost immediate action, so I started out intrigued and wanted to know more.  As I kept reading, I really did enjoy myself for the most part.  Zahara is an interesting girl, with a smart mouth and some kick-ass loyalty to her friends and family.  Even if that does lead to her jumping into dangerous situations without always thinking it through.  Her friend Becca is loud, sassy and unafraid to say it straight (even if what she's saying might be somewhat embarrassing).  But she also has a huge heart and jumps right in beside Zahara to fight against the supernatural creatures she has to stop from hurting ordinary people.  It was truly nice to see a new adult novel that wasn't all sex and angst as well.  Zahara and Becca are 18, which places them in between NA and YA technically but I would classify this as a New Adult book myself.  I was impressed by the in-depth creation of new supernatural mythologies and the Imago (which I had never heard of before) was definitely an interesting creature to encounter for the first time.  Especially with the contrast of the Imagoes attacking people and Becca's love interest/leader Imago, Rekesh. 

     Speaking of the romance, both the relationships between Bryan and Zahara & Rekesh and Becca were interesting to read about.  I personally preferred the 'opposites attract' phenomenon of Rekesh and Becca over the 'bad boy syndrome' phenomenon of Bryan and Zahara.  It kind of left me rolling my eyes, even if he ultimately was a really nice guy.  Solomon (Zahara's Dad) was actually one of the better parents I've read in YA or NA in quite some time.  He was actually there, trying to protect his daughter from everything and be her parent.  He didn't let her walk all over him and actually punished her when she broke the rules.  Plus, Solomon was just plain funny as well.  His first interaction with Bryan absolutely cracked me up. 

     I have to say though (and I'm not the only one from other reviews that I've seen) that the gratuitous and constant descriptions of what everyone was wearing almost completely ruined this for me as a reader.  They got extremely annoying, interrupted scenes where they didn't belong and overall made me irritated.  Yes, they were good descriptions.  But did they move along the plot or make the book better?  No, they did not.  If anything they made it worse.  Also, the book needs to be re-edited.  There were some sentences missing words and it could have compromised the reading had it been worse.  I understand that this is self-published.  So if you can't afford an editor, have a really English-minded friend do it please!  I can get over the predictable nature of the villain and the ending that I saw coming.  But no more clothing descriptions please!  Overall it was a pretty good first novel and I did enjoy the supernatural aspects of it.  I don't know if I'll be reading the next one though.  It reminded me of The Mortal Instruments a little bit, and I'm not really a fan of that series either.

 

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

 

*I received an E-book Copy from the author.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book was published January 31st, 2013.*

 

 Excerpt

 

     Is that blood?” Zahara asked eyeing the ground a few steps in front of them.

Becca looked down toward the ground and moved closer to the gloopy stain of red. She bent down and tilted her head to the side. “Looks like blood.”

Zahara kneeled down beside the blood and looked down the hall on the left, which led outside to where all the dumpsters where found. “There’s more down that way,” she directed with a thrust of her chin.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Becca said grabbing onto Zahara’s arm.

“Becks, we have to check out what it is; someone could be hurt.”

Becca was already shaking her head no. “Are you stupid? Follow the path of blood down the dark hallway into the back alley where there can possibly be a body and some killer. It’s too cliché horror movie for my taste. We are not those stupid girls. Let’s go get your parents.” She yanked Zahara back toward the food court, but Zahara pulled her back.

“By the time we get to my parents, explain what we found and they come to investigate, the person in the back alley could be dead and it’ll be our fault for not helping when we could.” Zahara turned around and started walking down the hallway, taking out the dagger from her back pocket. She unclipped the can of pepper spray from the keychain clipped to her pants and tossed it to Becca. “You coming or am I going in alone?”

“Stupid best friend is gonna follow the stupid trail of blood down the stupid hallway with a stupid can of pepper spray and a stupid dagger and she expects us not to get killed,” Becca mumbled through tight teeth as she followed Zahara.

They walked slowly, sticking to the wall so as not to step on the blood. The door leading out to the dumpsters was shut. Zahara leaned back against it and looked at Becca. Becca swallowed hard and gave her a quick nod, shaking the can of pepper spray. Zahara threw the door open and twisted around on her heel as fast as she could. Becca ran outside with the can of pepper spray held high, but they found nothing more than blood on the ground.

Zahara tiptoed around the drops of blood on the ground, walking farther back into the alleyway and stopped as she heard voices.

“Tell us where you’ve hidden it!” a man snapped. Skin slapped against skin and another man cried out.

“I told you, we do not have it!”

Zahara felt her heart bang against her ribcage. She recognized that voice. She moved closer, staying beside one of the dumpsters, and knelt. Becca knelt beside her and took a deep breath.

“That sounds like Eric,” Becca whispered.

“You have one last chance to tell us where you’ve hidden the arrow, Jacobson,” the same male voice threatened.

Zahara had no doubt he meant what he said. She knew she would probably regret this later, but she jumped up and ran around the dumpster, hearing Becca’s faint curse as she did. Three sets of eyes turned to look at her. Eric, one of the members of Mia and Catalina’s coven, was on his knees, arms bound by the grip of another man standing behind him.

He was tall and slender, enough muscle to show he wasn’t lazy, but he didn’t look strong enough to be able to hold down Eric’s six-foot, four-inch frame, which was nothing but toned, hard muscle. Eric, on the other hand, looked to be in pain. He had slices across his face and his bottom lip was split open. Blood slithered from the open wounds onto the ground.

“Let him go, now!” Zahara demanded. She gripped the dagger handle more tightly, holding it pressed against her thigh.

 

 

REVIEWER GIVEAWAY! 

Listen up fans and readers a-like! Make sure to show love to your favorite blogger/reviewer by leaving a comment on the Lucifer Blog Tour Post! The reviewer with the most comments will win a $20 Barnes and Noble Giftcard!!

**NOTE: Reviewers MAKE SURE to send the DIRECT LINK to your LIVE post from the LUCIFER BLOG TOUR to Dianne at tomakunisnumberone(at)gmail(dot)com! If you don’t, you do not qualify to win the giftcard.**

 

 

FAN GIVEAWAY: Lucifer Inspired Swag Pack

**Must be 13 or older to enter**

**Opened to U.S. ONLY**

**Winner has 24 HOURS to respond before new winner is chosen**

 

Swag Pack Includes:

 

–An e-copy of Lucifer (Sons of Old Trilogy, #1) by Annabell Cadiz

–Lucifer Inspired Keychain

–Lucifer Inspired Button

–Beautiful Day Lotion and Body Spray

–Notebook

–Bookmark

 



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Enduring Chaos Cover Reveal and GIVEAWAY!

Years ago, the last remnants of magic were banished. Yet some forces cannot be suppressed by human hands. For a girl with a gift she can no longer control, her troubles with magic are only beginning.

Book Blurb: Cursed with fearsome eyes and a dangerous gift, any chance of Damian Sires having an ordinary life was dashed the moment she was born. All her life, she has hidden her abnormalities and fought for acceptance behind the shadow of a veil and her respected merchant father. When Damian's power spirals out of control and casts her out alone into the world, she finds herself caught up in plots as old as the gods themselves. Bitter exiles, deposed nobility, clandestine knights, and a divine being with an ancient grudge all close in on the unstable power radiating from Damian. Desperate to keep that power contained, she sets out with mysterious allies in an attempt to find someone who can help her in a world that fears magic. Yet the source of Damian's ability is far more deadly than she imagined.

The World of Elderra:

Enduring Chaos, Book One of the Sisters of Chaos Series, is set in JR Dwornik's world of Elderra, visible in the map above, and featured in Dwornik's novel, Ruins of Change.

Excerpt:   

     Damian Sires stood at the bow of the ship, her veil and gown rippling softly in the breeze. The river water lapped at the hull close below, the deck of the flat-bottomed barge floating barely out of arm’s reach above the surface. To her right, rolling pasture broken up with groves of trees and the occasional rocky bluff stretched away to the horizon, a few flocks of sheep or cattle grazing in the distance. To her left, forest encroached straight to the bank, trees reaching out over the river and even growing up out of the water, roots submerged beneath banks flooded from the spring melt. The single sail, used to carry the barge against the current, remained furled, the river’s flow pulling the ship downstream.    
     One other person stood at the prow, staring out toward where the river disappeared in the distance alongside her. He let out a breath.  “Well, here we go again.”  Butterflies fluttered in Damian’s stomach with the thought.  Her father, Claude, turned to her with a smile. She wondered if she reminded him of his late wife, the mother Damian never knew. Damian’s movements and manners replicated her father more than her appearance. His hair, now half gone to grey, had given her some of its darkness and its straight texture, though his square and moustached face, darker than Damian’s fair complexion, showed only a passing resemblance to his daughter. Both, however, dressed well.    
     More slender than shapely, Damian’s jade green gown drew more looks for its style than for the small curves it enhanced. She had pulled her long auburn hair back into a plait with ribbons and pewter clasps for travelling. As for her oval-shaped face with its high forehead and delicate features, that remained covered by a charcoal grey veil, patterned with flowers about the brow and the hem that rippled across her shoulders.      Her father was one of very few people who still smiled even when he saw Damian without the veil, when he looked upon the feature that she kept hidden from everyone else. The eyes with irises of yellow, as vivid as polished gold.    
     “Are you ready for another market season?” he asked.  Their home village, Aether, already lay three leagues behind them. Bolts of the town’s fine wool and linen filled the hold beneath their feet, the cargo that would accompany Damian and her father across the kingdom of Faneria from one market to the next. Summer would be only a memory by the time they returned.    
     Damian smiled, trying to look as steady and convincing as she could. “Yes.” Even as she stood there, she could feel energy roiling through her and sparking around her fingertips. She curled her hands into fists, barely managing to keep the sensations contained within her. Yesterday she left blackened hand prints on a barrel in Aether, a few embers still glowing as she hurried out of the alley where the barrel sat. A week before, the wind had been drawn to her, following her around the town and through the windows into her and her father’s home.

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A perpetual temp who has worked for a number of evil empires, Catherine decided to forgo things like a salary and regular human interaction to start a business. She lives near Toronto, Ontario with her husband, daughter, and a black Himalayan with a tendency to slide into walls.

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Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair

 

Published:  May 10th, 2011 (Originally published in 2009)

Ruby Red (Ruby Red Trilogy # 1)

By: Kerstin Gier

Henry Holt

ISBN-13:  9780805092523

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Review

     Gwyneth Shepherd has a very unusual family - into each generation one of it's members is born with the time travel gene!  There was a prophecy by from Sir Isaac Newton about this generation's member, and all the family believes that Gwen's cousin Charlotte is the one it speaks of.  She has been trained since birth to travel through time and they are expecting that it will happen any day now.  What no one counted on was a lie told by Gwen's Mom, trying to avoid the prophecy.  So when Gwen time travels during class she is absolutely shocked by it.  After she tells the family Gwen is thrown headlong into a whirl of secret societies, mysterious history and good versus evil.  Paired with another teenage time traveler, Gideon, it is soon apparent that Gwen is in way over her head.  Going up against Gideon's Uncle and her Aunt, who disappeared years before after stealing one of two machines owned by the Society that is dangerous in the wrong hands, the two must find a way to recover it before its too late.  And will their growing feelings for each other get in the way of their mission and put everyone at risk?

     Gwen was an interesting main character for sure.  She spends her whole life thinking that she's ordinary and her pretentious cousin Charlotte is the special one.  Only to learn that she herself is about to have adventures she never even dreamed of.  I thought that Gier managed an interesting and original time-travel mythology all her own.  I liked the explanations of the society that Gwen got, the mystery surrounding her Aunt Lucy and Gideon's Uncle running off together and the way the sudden addition of time travel into her life affects Gwen herself.  She has a great sense of humor, but is a little low on self-worth in regards to Gideon and Charlotte especially.  Gwen's best friend Lesley was hilarious and I was smiling every time her antics were happening on the page.  Gwen has told her everything about her crazy, time travel gene carrying family and Lesley not only believes her but is super excited to be included in the whole thing.  The friendship has no real reasoning behind it that we're given, but the loyalty and true strength of it is definitely shown whenever the girls are together.

     Gwen's Mom seemed like a nice lady, but I thought that her reasons for trying to hide the prophecy were weak and selfish.  She had to have known the truth would come out - there was no way around it.  Charlotte was portrayed as inherently obnoxious and a self-entitled, priggish, know it all.  But at times the reader would catch a glimpse of her as just a normal teenage girl, thrust into becoming someone not of her own making.  It's understandable she's be lost without what had become her identity.  As for Gideon, I agree with a lot of other readers who say that he acts like a douchebag to Gwen for the majority of the novel, all because he refuses to get to know her.  Gideon falsely stereotypes her just because she hasn't been training since birth (does everything to let her know he thinks she's stupid, except for just coming right out and saying it).  The romance between them was bare bones at best, insta-love at worst.  The mystery, world-building and time travel aspects are just interesting enough to almost cancel this particular fault out though.  The ending of the book finally gives us a window into the mysterious, 'evil' relatives and from the cliffhanger/surprise revelation, I am super interested in reading the rest of the series just to know how it plays out.  Overall, it fed my time travel addiction quite well but it reads a little young for my usual taste.  Unless you're okay with middle grade fiction (the level this reads at in my opinion) don't touch it;  or you'll spend the whole book frustrated and no one deserves that when reading a book.  If you like adventure and mystery, with a touch of fantasy though give it a whirl.

*On a side note, which cover do you guys like the best?  The original German, the American cover or the Polish one?  These are just a few as the series has been translated into quite a number of languages.  I like the German one best personally! :)

VERDICT:  3.5/5 Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

You Didn't Quite Measure Up

 



Published:  August 9th, 2012
Measuring Up
By: Nyrae Dawn
CreateSpace
ISBN-13:  9781470313235

Seventeen-year-old Annabel Conway is tired of the Hillcrest High School elite making her life miserable because she’s not a size two. This summer, she's hiring a personal trainer to help her lose weight.

Annabel doesn’t expect her trainer to be a gorgeous guy around her age. Boys like Tegan are jerks. They pretend to like girls like her so they can make an idiot out of them. Been there, done that. Totally not going there again. She kind of hates him on principal. Blond. Muscular. Funny. It doesn’t help that he knows her measurements!

Soon, Tegan's so much more than that. He’s the boy who teaches her to box when she has a bad day. Who jogs with her and lets her set the pace. Who kisses her until she melts. He makes her feel beautiful regardless of what the scale says. Unlike her mom, he doesn’t expect perfection, and he doesn't try to shield her from the world like her dad and best friend. Tegan likes her the way she is.

But what happens when he’s not there? He can’t always be there…

Will Annabel be able to stand on her own and learn that she already measures up? That her worth doesn’t lie in what the world thinks, the scale says, or even what Tegan tells her—but in herself?

Review

 

     Annabel has been uncomfortable with her weight and has despised the way she's been treated because of it for a long time.   But when a humiliating incident with a boy at school makes her feel like she has nothing left to lose, Annabel becomes determined to lose weight and shock everyone at school - so she can be the one doing the rejecting for a change.  Maybe prove to her hypercritical Mother that she is a worthy daughter after all.  Hiring a personal trainer for the summer seemed like a smart idea - until she found out he was a hot guy only a couple years older than her!  Tegan is everything that Annabel could ever want in a boyfriend, so of course he must be too good to be true, right?  Vowing not to trust him, Annabel can only watch helplessly as he breaks through every last one of her defenses.  But Tegan has some serious issues of his own and his guilt over something in the past just might keep them apart from each other.  Can Annabel gain the confidence to love everything about herself, for who she is and not depend on the opinions of others - even Tegan?  And will Tegan finally let go of the past and create a future with Annabel?  Read and find out if love triumphs in the end...

     I have read a few books in the New Adult category so far and this was not my favorite, but from what I've gathered it showcases one of the few semi-healthy relationships in the entire genre (which favors extremely damaged protagonists who tend to inflict serious emotional abuse on each other).  Annabel is definitely NOT the perfect in every way (plus a tortured past) heroine of so many novels.  She's smart, prickly and vulnerable.  Tegan is charming, loyal and has a wonderful sense of humor.  But I didn't enjoy their interactions in the first half of the book, mainly because Annabel had a very bad habit of making the same snap judgments as her tormentors and she treated him like dirt.  As their friendship develops and then becomes something more though, it was very realistic and I appreciated the distinct lack of insta-love.  I honestly love gradual gain of confidence on Annabel's part and the deep relationship between Tegan and his Mom and younger brother.  Overall though, the angst between Annabel and Tegan in their romantic relationship just seemed drawn out and exhausted me as a reader with its repetitiveness after awhile.  Plus, her personal dramas and family issues where about half as interesting to me as Tegan's.  I liked the idea of Annabel better than her actual character which was extremely bland in my opinion.  I wish the book had been mostly about Tegan, instead of mostly about Annabel.  I would have most likely been giving it five stars instead of three.  I do give major props to the author for portraying one of the least fucked up New Adult relationships in the genre as a standard.  Thank you for the respect you've shown to your readers and their thirst for something to break the mold!  Not a bad read, but not quite what I wanted either.

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

It's a Crewel World for a Woman or a Girl

 

Published: October 16th, 2012

Crewel (Crewel World # 1)

By: Gennifer Albin

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

ISBN-13: 9780374316419

 

Enter a tangled world of secrets and intrigue where a girl is in charge of other’s destinies, but not her own.

Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has always been special. When her parents discover her gift—the ability to weave the very fabric of reality—they train her to hide it. For good reason, they don’t want her to become a Spinster — one of the elite, beautiful, and deadly women who determine what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die.

Thrust into the opulent Western Coventry, Adelice will be tried, tested and tempted as she navigates the deadly politics at play behind its walls. Now caught in a web of lies and forbidden romance, she must unravel the sinister truth behind her own unspeakable power. Her world is hanging by a thread, and Adelice, alone, can decide to save it — or destroy it.

 

Review

 

     Adelice Lewys has just turned sixteen years old and taken the test that will decide her future.  Because of her hidden talents Adelice is in demand by the branch of the government that recruits Spinsters - women who weave the fabric of reality.  But because of her parent's training her to hide her abilities and trying to run away with her when they came to retrieve Adelice, her entire family is ripped away.  Her Mom and Dad are dead and her little sister is re-woven into another life - and another family.  Adelice will do anything to protect Amie, even if it means playing along and pretending that she's given in.  But when it's revealed just how much power Adelice really does have over her future, she's in a race against time to break free of the trap she's been caught in.  But will it mean death and destruction for her new friends, her sister and their entire world?  I had never thought of the possiblity that someone could weave the fabric of space and time, to keep reality running smoothly.  It's a very original idea and the execution was beautifully done.  I did feel that Adelice was a bit bland as a heroine, but the novel was character driven in a way that a lot of dystopians (even sci-fi oriented ones) are not.  I LOVE a character driven novel.  It sucks me in and gets me involved, making me care what happens.  In the novel, women are second-class citizens and oppressed beyond belief.  They really only have two viable choices - marriage or to become a Spinster.  I loved that Adelice didn't just give in to their demands and bribes after they'd destroyed her life and left her with nothing.  The relationships with Jost and Erik were very different and it was easy to tell which was the more real of the two.  I can definitely say I was NOT expecting the revelation at the end of the book about how they were connected to each other.  Cormac the villain seemed a little too 'muhahaha' for my taste, which is saying something.  Maybe I'm just tired of villains whose only motive is power.  It just seems weak to me as a reader.  The other revelation about Arras and Earth was interesting, but more than a little confusing.  I guess I'll just have to read the next one to find out more!  Overall, an enjoyable sci-fi, dystopian YA debut novel with a fresh idea and good execution.  Not anything above and beyond the norm though.  I wasn't 'wowed' by it's awesomeness.

 

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

 

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Madness Is In The Blood

Expected Publication: January 29th, 2013

The Madman's Daughter (The Madman's Daughter # 1)

By: Megan Shepherd

Balzer + Bray

ISBN-13: 9780062128027

In the darkest places, even love is deadly.

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.

Review

     Juliet Moreau is just trying to survive, working as a maid among lecherous old men in the University she cleans for a living.  At sixteen, she still remembers the charmed life she shared with her Mother and Father, before the latter (a famous scientist and professor) was accused of heinous crimes and destroyed by scandal.  Forced to flee London, Juliet has always assumed that her Father, the infamous Dr. Moreau was dead.  Otherwise why hadn't he come to save her and her Mother?  But when she discovers that her Father has been living on a remote island, Juliet accompanies his assistant (their former servant boy) Montgomery back, to ascertain for herself whether or not the accusations were true.  With her Mother dead, she has no other family left and wants to believe in his innocence.  Did her Father practice the illegal vivisection, the dissection of live animals?  Or was he doing something far more horrific and with longer-lasting consequences.  With the help of castaway Edward, she is determined to figure out whether her Father is innocent once and for all.  Juliet is also torn between the passion she has for Montgomery and her interest in Edward.  But when the natives' restless natures explode, will any of them live long enough to escape?  

     This book was truly astounding.  My only complaint being that yet again, there is a FREAKING LOVE TRIANGLE!!!   So sick of them that I could scream.  Although, the ending definitely resolved the situation fairly quickly.  The moral issues in this book are ones that still make themselves relevant to me, a reader almost 150 years after the original story by H.G. Wells was written.  Juliet is a truly likable, feisty heroine.  I identified with her quest to believe in her Father's innocence and the mixed feelings/confusion she had about the origins of the natives on the island.  Dr. Moreau was completely insane - brilliant in an entirely twisted way.  The truth about Juliet's disease and injections made me completely revolted, but I still loved her.  That says something great for Shepherd's writing.  The dilemma of Montgomery was so epically drawn and still completely true to the split loyalties of someone doing something they know is wrong - but doing it out of compassion and love.  Overall, the shocking ending to the book, including the conclusion to the mysterious identity of a 'creature' slaughtering villagers and who escapes the island, had me gripped and practically howling in frustration.  In certain ways I am happy that this is going to be a series after the strong feelings it invoked in me, but I am also very hesitant to believe that another book would be as good as this one.  Highly recommended for readers who like a little science-fiction/horror fix, with a dash of classic literature thrown in.  A proclivity to Gothic romance can't hurt either.

VERDICT:  4.90/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on January 29th, 2013.*

We Are Young, Let's Set the World on Fire

Expected Publication: October 2nd, 2012

The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse # 1)

By: Cassandra Rose Clarke

Strange Chemistry

ISBN-13: 9781908844019

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship whenever parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan: she wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiance. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her. 

And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.

Review

   Ananna has much bigger plans for her life than her parents do.  So when they arrange a marriage with a fellow pirate captain's son, she makes a break for it.  Planning on eventually becoming the captain of her own ship, she's willing to take the risk of striking out on her own - even if it means that her fiance, Tarrin of the Hariri, and his parents will send an assassin after her for the insult.  Which of course they do and when Ananna finds herself on the end of Naji's blade she thinks her death is certain.  But then she saves his life from a deadly snake and they are bound by an impossible curse that appoints him as her protector, however unwilling.  Is there a way to break an impossible curse, or will the pirate and the assassin be stuck together forever?  Also, are the Hariri clan the only enemies on their trail or does a secret in Naji's past hold a far deadlier resolution?  I thought that this book would end up disappointing me like the last assassin book I read, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, did.  I however was pleasantly surprised by this one.  It has a lot more action and adventure than I expected, with only a slight hint of unrequited romance near the very end.  This book was ride, starting with the prison break of Ananna at the beginning from her arranged marriage to a man she knows won't treat her as an equal.  I love that she is such a strong character, very honest and witty in a normal sort of way.  She never hesitates to say what she's thinking or to do what she believes is right.  Plus, she has a lot more common sense than a lot of YA heroines do.  And she freaking USES IT!!!  How rare is that?  Naji is a kick-ass assassin, but he's also a sensitive and oblivious young guy who doesn't understand friendship and leads a really messed up life.  The two of them together are absolutely hilarious and the side characters like the bitchy Leila were a great addition to the sometimes slowly moving pace of the plot.  The authentic speech on the part of Ananna surprised me - not a lot of authors throw in that particular detail and it was nice addition that a girl raised by pirate parents actually talked like one too.  Overall this was a fairly satisfying book, even if the majority of it was setup and world-building without a dramatic cliffhanger or climax at the ending.  I am looking forward to what should be non-stop action and adventure in the sequel.  Highly recommended to fantasy, pirate and adventure fans who want a book where romance IS NOT the driving force for once! :)

VERDICT:  4.35/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is October 2nd, 2012.*