Blog Tour (Review): The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg

Title: The Dream Lover
Author: Elizabeth Berg
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: April 14, 2015
Acquired Via: TLC Book Tours
New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg has written a lush historical novel based on the sensuous Parisian life of the nineteenth-century writer George Sand—which is perfect for readers of Nancy Horan and Elizabeth Gilbert.

At the beginning of this powerful novel, we meet Aurore Dupin as she is leaving her estranged husband, a loveless marriage, and her family’s estate in the French countryside to start a new life in Paris. There, she gives herself a new name—George Sand—and pursues her dream of becoming a writer, embracing an unconventional and even scandalous lifestyle.

Paris in the nineteenth century comes vividly alive, illuminated by the story of the loves, passions, and fierce struggles of a woman who defied the confines of society. Sand’s many lovers and friends include Frédéric Chopin, Gustave Flaubert, Franz Liszt, Eugène Delacroix, Victor Hugo, Marie Dorval, and Alfred de Musset. As Sand welcomes fame and friendship, she fights to overcome heartbreak and prejudice, failure and loss. Though considered the most gifted genius of her time, she works to reconcile the pain of her childhood, of disturbing relationships with her mother and daughter, and of her intimacies with women and men. Will the life she longs for always be just out of reach—a dream?

Brilliantly written in luminous prose, and with remarkable insights into the heart and mind of a literary force, The Dream Lover tells the unforgettable story of a courageous, irresistible woman.

Praise

“In her masterly new novel, Elizabeth Berg inhabits the adventurous heart of George Sand, making sense of a puzzling legend who dared to live and write against the grain.” — Nancy Horan

“The Dream Lover—what a bold, insightful, and enticing novel. And how vigorously Elizabeth Berg brings us the iconoclastic life of George Sand. Berg writes with such intimacy and compassion that I think she must have some shared ancestral DNA with Sand. I savored every page.” — Frances Mayes

“What a rich, heartbreaking, triumphant novel Elizabeth Berg has written! I recommend reading it with a highlighter in hand to mark the insights about love and life and being a woman that are on every page so you can reread and savor them.” — Ann Hood

“The Dream Lover is a historical novel at once expansively researched yet intimately imagined. George Sand may be the ultimate Berg heroine. ‘A life not lived in truth,’ Berg writes, ‘is a life forfeited.’ In this latest work, Elizabeth Berg has poured her own great gifts and her own great heart into the story of a woman determined to refuse any such forfeiture, no matter the cost.” — Leah Hager Cohen

“The Dream Lover is the dream match of writer to subject, Elizabeth Berg animating George Sand so vividly that you feel the Frenchwoman speaking directly to you. Infamous for her eccentricities and her passions, Sand is shown to be a touching figure, a woman needing to love and be loved.” — Robin Black

My Review

Before being given the opportunity to review The Dream Lover, I didn't really know that much about George Sand. I'm so glad I read this novel, because George Sand was an extraordinary woman and a much needed voice in her time and ours.

Waiting on Wednesday (100): The Shadow Revolution by Clay and Susan Griffith

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: The Shadow Revolution (Crown & Key #1)
Author: Clay and Susan Griffith
Publisher: Del Rey (Random House)
Release Date: June 2, 2015
They are the realm’s last, best defense against supernatural evil. But they’re going to need a lot more silver.

As fog descends, obscuring the gas lamps of Victorian London, werewolves prowl the shadows of back alleys. But they have infiltrated the inner circles of upper-crust society as well. Only a handful of specially gifted practitioners are equipped to battle the beasts. Among them are the roguish Simon Archer, who conceals his powers as a spell-casting scribe behind the smooth veneer of a dashing playboy; his layabout mentor, Nick Barker, who prefers a good pub to thrilling heroics; and the self-possessed alchemist Kate Anstruther, who is equally at home in a ballroom as she is on a battlefield.

After a lycanthrope targets Kate’s vulnerable younger sister, the three join forces with fierce Scottish monster-hunter Malcolm MacFarlane—but quickly discover they’re dealing with a threat far greater than anything they ever imagined.


I really enjoyed the married duo's first novel in their Vampire Empire series, The Greyfriar. I just haven't had time to read the rest of the series. But I'm always up for a historical urban fantasy/steampunk urban fantasy, especially since this one involves werewolves.

What are you waiting on this week?

Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Title: Gone Girl
Author: Gillian Flynn
Publisher: Crown (Random House)
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Acquired Via: Personal Collection
Marriage can be a real killer. One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet? With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.

My Review

On the day of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne discovers that his wife Amy is missing. Told in alternating points of view, a stressed and frazzled Nick depicts quite the different story about his marriage than Amy’s telling diary entries. While Nick’s story is told mostly in the present (flashing back to explain bits and pieces of his wife’s relationship with his dying mother and woman-hating father), Amy’s diary starts in the past and moves to catch up to the present day action. As the story unfolds, the reader learns quite a bit of history about the less-than-perfect marriage through both unreliable narrators. When the police get involved and find evidence of foul play, it is up to the reader to discover what happened to Amy and decide whether or not Nick is involved.

Audiobook Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

Title: The Martian
Author: Andy Weir
Narrator: R.C. Bray
Publisher: Crown Publishing (Random House)
Release Date: February 11, 2014
Acquired Via: Personal Collection
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

My Review

The Martian had been on my radar since its release last year, but I never felt too strong of an inclination to read it. It winning the Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction didn't really affect me either. It was not until The Martian stayed checked out for so long from my library that I was concerned it was lost did I finally decide to give it a shot. I already had a Kindle copy because I have no self control when it comes to Daily Deals, but per my Goodreads friend Damili's recommendation, I went for the audiobook.

I am telling you all of this because my review could be nothing but GIFs and/or emoticons otherwise.

Review: Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh #Giveaway

Title: Shovel Ready (Spademan #1)
Author: Adam Sternbergh
Publisher: Crown (Random House)
Release Date: January 14, 2014
Acquired Via: Publisher
The futuristic hardboiled noir that Lauren Beukes calls “sharp as a paper-cut” about a garbage man turned kill-for-hire.

Spademan used to be a garbage man. That was before the dirty bomb hit Times Square, before his wife was killed, and before the city became a blown-out shell of its former self.

Now he’s a hitman.

In a near-future New York City split between those who are wealthy enough to “tap in” to a sophisticated virtual reality, and those who are left to fend for themselves in the ravaged streets, Spademan chose the streets. When his latest client hires him to kill the daughter of a powerful evangelist, he must navigate between these two worlds—the wasteland reality and the slick fantasy—to finish his job, clear his conscience, and make sure he’s not the one who winds up in the ground.

My Review

Shovel Ready has put me in a really weird position, bloggerwise. I received a copy of it months ago to review, and I started reading it immediately. I was taken with the protagonist, Spademan, and I wanted to see more of the dark, dirty world he was in the more I read. That being said, the writing style was strange, so I took my time with it. (Don't go in looking for quotation marks.)

Joint Review: Golden Son by Pierce Brown (Spoilers)

Okay, if you haven't read Red Rising, you may want to skip this discussion/review. If you haven't read Golden Son yet, you may want to be careful while reading this review. If you have read Golden Son, we totally need to have a party and discuss All The Things.

Proceed carefully.



Title: Golden Son (Red Rising Trilogy #2)
Author: Pierce Brown
Publisher: Del Rey (Random House)
Release Date: January 6, 2015
Acquired Via: Publisher
With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game, and Game of Thrones, debut author Pierce Brown’s genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom.

As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow’s kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds—and their only path to liberation is revolution. And so Darrow sacrifices himself in the name of the greater good for which Eo, his true love and inspiration, laid down her own life. He becomes a Gold, infiltrating their privileged realm so that he can destroy it from within.

A lamb among wolves in a cruel world, Darrow finds friendship, respect, and even love—but also the wrath of powerful rivals. To wage and win the war that will change humankind’s destiny, Darrow must confront the treachery arrayed against him, overcome his all-too-human desire for retribution—and strive not for violent revolt but a hopeful rebirth. Though the road ahead is fraught with danger and deceit, Darrow must choose to follow Eo’s principles of love and justice to free his people.

He must live for more.

Our Review

You can read Kayla's review of Red Rising, the first book in the trilogy, HERE.

BEWARE! THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR Red Rising (AND MAYBE Golden Son) BELOW!
Amber: So I decided to play hooky the last few minutes of work and finish.....

My first thoughts at the end were "Well, fuck."

At least Sevro and Mustang are free somewhere. They'll get Darrow out somehow.

Kayla: So did you see any of that coming? I knew what's-his-face would end up betraying him, but I didn't think Finchner would be killed. But then again, I didn't see a lot of things coming. Every time I thought I had it figured out, something would spin it on its head.

Blog Tour (Review & Giveaway): City of Liars and Thieves by Eve Karlin

Title: City of Liars and Thieves
Author: Eve Karlin
Publisher: Alibi (Random House)
Release Date: January 13, 2015
Acquired Via: TLC Book Tours
A crime that rocked a city. A case that stunned a nation. Based on the United States’ first recorded murder trial, Eve Karlin’s spellbinding debut novel re-creates early nineteenth-century New York City, where a love affair ends in a brutal murder and a conspiracy involving Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr erupts in shattering violence.

It is high time to tell the truth. Time for justice. . . . How she was murdered and why she haunts me. It is not only Elma’s story, it’s mine.

On the bustling docks of the Hudson River, Catherine Ring waits with her husband and children for the ship carrying her cousin, Elma Sands. Their Greenwich Street boardinghouse becomes a haven for Elma, who has at last escaped the stifling confines of her small hometown and the shameful circumstances of her birth. But in the summer of 1799, Manhattan remains a teeming cesspool of stagnant swamps and polluted rivers. The city is desperate for clean water as fires wreak devastation and the death toll from yellow fever surges.

Political tensions are rising, too. It’s an election year, and Alexander Hamilton is hungry for power. So is his rival, Aaron Burr, who has announced the formation of the Manhattan Water Company. But their private struggle becomes very public when the body of Elma Sands is found at the bottom of a city well built by Burr’s company.

Resolved to see justice done, Catherine becomes both witness and avenger. She soon finds, however, that the shocking truth behind this trial has nothing to do with guilt or innocence.

My Review

By the time I began reading City of Liars and Thieves, I had completely forgotten what the book was about (and why I wanted to review it). That being said, I would like to give Past Kayla a major fist bump for choosing such a great book to review. City of Liars and Thieves is precisely my sort of mystery: full of history and great writing.

Review: The Boleyn King by Laura Andersen

Title: The Boleyn King (The Boleyn Trilogy #1)
Author: Laura Andersen
Publisher: Ballantine Books (Random House)
Release Date: May 14, 2013
Acquired Via:Goodreads First Reads
Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory, Alison Weir, and Showtime’s The Tudors, The Boleyn King is the first book in an enthralling trilogy that dares to imagine: What if Anne Boleyn had actually given Henry VIII a son who grew up to be king?

Just seventeen years old, Henry IX, known as William, is a king bound by the restraints of the regency yet anxious to prove himself. With the French threatening battle and the Catholics sowing the seeds of rebellion at home, William trusts only three people: his older sister Elizabeth; his best friend and loyal counselor, Dominic; and Minuette, a young orphan raised as a royal ward by William’s mother, Anne Boleyn.

Against a tide of secrets, betrayal, and murder, William finds himself fighting for the very soul of his kingdom. Then, when he and Dominic both fall in love with Minuette, romantic obsession looms over a new generation of Tudors. One among them will pay the price for a king’s desire, as a shocking twist of fate changes England’s fortunes forever.

My Review

I love alternate history stories and anything dealing with the Tudors, but I had a copy of The Boleyn King languishing at my house for a year and a half before ever reading it. I knew that it would probably be the perfect combination for a really great read, so I have no idea why I never got around to picking it up. However, I got into a really bad reading slump after my house flooded, and this book really brought me out of it.

Dystopian Giveaway Hop #2 (INT)

Happy Halloween! Welcome to my stop on the Dystopian Giveaway Blog Hop. This hop is co-hosted by April & Kat at My Shelf Confessions and Kathy at I Am A Reader, Not A Writer.

What You Can Win

One of the best dystopian novels that I've read this year is Pierce Brown's debut novel, Red Rising. I read and reviewed this book a earlier this year, and I enjoyed it so much that I want to share it. Here's a little about the book:



Title: Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy #1)
Author: Pierce Brown
Publisher: Del Rey (Random House)
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Pierce Brown’s relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

“I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”

“I live for you,” I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Buy Links
Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Fishpond


Giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday (74): The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: The Girl at Midnight (The Girl at Midnight #1)
Author: Melissa Grey
Publisher: Delacorte Press (Random House)
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she's ever known.

Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she's fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it's time to act.

Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it's how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it.

But some jobs aren't as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire.


So, this sounds a lot like the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor, except set in New York instead of Prague. The U.K. or, at least the non U.S., cover just released, and it is MUCH better than the U.S. cover. I LOVE how simple yet beautiful it is. And that writing in the black is genius.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday (67): Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: Princess of Thorns
Author: Stacey Jay
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: December 9, 2014
Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?


I would have wanted to read this one regardless because it is fantasy and involves a curse. But I HAVE to read it because it's a YA fantasy standalone - almost unheard of.

What are you waiting on this week?

Review: On a Clear Day by Walter Dean Myers

Title: On a Clear Day
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers (Random House)
Acquired Via: Around the World ARC Tours
Release Date: September 23, 2014
Young heroes decide that they are not too young or too powerless to change their world in this gripping, futuristic young adult novel by the New York Times bestselling author of the Printz Award–winning Monster.

It is 2035. Teens, armed only with their ideals, must wage war on the power elite.

Dahlia is a Low Gater: a sheep in a storm, struggling to survive completely on her own. The Gaters live in closed safe communities, protected from the Sturmers, mercenary thugs. And the C-8, a consortium of giant companies, control global access to finance, media, food, water, and energy resources—and they are only getting bigger and even more cutthroat. Dahlia, a computer whiz, joins forces with an ex-rocker, an ex-con, a chess prodigy, an ex-athlete, and a soldier wannabe. Their goal: to sabotage the C-8. But how will Sayeed, warlord and terrorist, fit into the equation?

Walter Dean Myers was a prolific author for young people, writing over one hundred books and receiving every major award in the field of children's literature during his lifetime. He was the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature during 2012 and 2013.

My Review

I don't believe that I've ever read anything by award-winning author Walter Dean Myers before, so I thought On a Clear Day would be a good place to start. I love speculative fiction, so I was sure that this would be great.

I was wrong.

Blog Tour (Review): A Triple Knot by Emma Campion

Title: A Triple Knot
Author: Emma Campion
Publisher: Broadway Books (Random House)
Paperback Release Date: July 8, 2014
Acquired Via: TLC Book Tours
The critically acclaimed author of The King’s Mistress brings another fascinating woman from history to life in an enthralling story of political intrigue, personal tragedy, and illicit love.

Joan of Kent, renowned beauty and cousin to King Edward III, is destined for a politically strategic marriage. As the king begins a long dynastic struggle to claim the crown of France, plunging England into the Hundred Years’ War, he negotiates her betrothal to a potential ally and heir of a powerful lordship.

But Joan, haunted by nightmares of her father’s execution at the hands of her treacherous royal kin, fears the king’s selection and is not resigned to her fate. She secretly pledges herself to one of the king’s own knights, one who has become a trusted friend and protector. Now she must defend her vow as the king—furious at Joan’s defiance—prepares to marry her off to another man.

In A Triple Knot, Emma Campion brings Joan, the “Fair Maid of Kent” to glorious life, deftly weaving details of King Edward III’s extravagant court into a rich and emotionally resonant tale of intrigue, love, and betrayal.

Praise for A Triple Knot

“A colorful and historically detailed saga.” — The Seattle Times

“A well-written, comprehensive view of the period in which women were marginalized, their glittery, gem-laden gowns reflecting the corruption of the times.” — Historical Novels Review

“A medieval lover’s dream novel.” — RT Book Reviews

My Review

I'll be honest - most of my historical fiction reading that romance-related (I refuse to label intelligent books such as these "historical romance") has been set later in the Medieval period. *cough*Tudor*cough* Because of this, A Triple Knot was a piece of history that was fresh to me and left me feeling smarter...erm...more educated.

Review: I Love You More by Jennifer Murphy

Title: I Love You More
Author: Jennifer Murphy
Publisher: Doubleday (Random House)
Acquired Via: Edelweiss
Release Date: June 17, 2014
One man, three wives, the perfect murder. A scintillating novel of betrayal and conspiracy.

Picasso Lane is twelve years old when her father, Oliver, is murdered at their summer beach house. Her mother, Diana, is the primary suspect—until the police discover his second wife, and then his third. The women say they have never met—but Picasso knows otherwise. Picasso remembers the morning beautiful Jewels showed up at their house, carrying the same purse as her mother, and a family portrait featuring her father with two strange boys. Picasso remembers lifting the phone, listening to late night calls with Bert, a woman heavily pregnant with Oliver's fourth child. As the police circle and a detective named Kyle Kennedy becomes a regular fixture in their home, Picasso tries to make sense of her father's death, the depth of his deceit, and the secrets that bind these three women. Cunningly paced and plotted, I Love You More is a riveting novel of misplaced loyalty, jealousy, and revenge.

My Review

I picked up I Love You More because it seemed like it contained drama and mystery and the polygamy story seemed interesting. I was a little hesitant to read it though, because I knew it was being compared to Gone Girl which I detested. I really didn’t want another book with unlikable characters, an unbelievable plot and infuriating ending. I was pleasantly surprised with I Love You More.

Review: Hexed by Michelle Krys

Title: Hexed (The Witch Hunter #1)
Author: Michelle Krys
Publisher: Delacorte Press (Random House)
Acquired Via: NetGalley
Release Date: June 10, 2014
If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?

Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it’s when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.

Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie’s about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.

My Review

I decided to pick up Hexed because I had been reading some lengthy epic fantasies and urban fantasies and wanted a lighter young adult fantasy. And that is exactly what I got with Hexed. I had a lot of fun while reading Hexed and it was a very quick read. It wasn’t the most poignant, issue driven book in the world, but I enjoyed it.

Waiting on Wednesday (53): Lark Rising by Sandra Waugh

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: Lark Rising (Guardians of Tarnec #1)
Author: Sandra Waugh
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 23, 2014
Full of romance and nature magic, this debut fantasy is perfect for fans of Shannon Hale, Juliet Marillier, and Kristin Cashore.

Lark has foreseen two things—she will fall for a young man with sage green eyes,and he will kill her.

Sixteen-year-old Lark Carew is happiest close to home, tending her garden and gathering herbs for medicines. But when her Sight warns her that monsters called Troths will soon invade her village, Lark is summoned on a journey to seek help from the legendary Riders of Tarnec. Little does she suspect that one of the Riders, Gharain, is the very man who has haunted her visions. Or that the people of Tarnec have called her there for another reason: Lark is the Guardian of Life, the first of four Guardians who must awaken their powers to recover four stolen amulets. Together, the amulets—Life, Death, Dark, and Light—keep the world in Balance. To take back the Life amulet, Lark will have to discover her true inner strength and give in to a love that she swears will be her downfall.


I have been on this high fantasy binge lately that doesn't seem to be stopping any time, so, of course, I want to read this debut young adult high fantasy. Also, the fact that there are stolen amulets just reminds me of the triforce in the Legend of Zelda (my absolute favorite video game). And, that cover, especially the full book jacket, is absolutely stunning.

What are you waiting on this week?

Blog Tour (Review & Giveaway): The Quick by Lauren Owen

Title: The Quick
Author: Lauren Owen
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: June 17, 2014
Acquired Via: TLC Book Tours
An astonishing debut, a novel of epic scope and suspense that conjures up all the magic and menace of Victorian London.

London, 1892: James Norbury, a shy would-be poet newly down from Oxford, finds lodging with a charming young aristocrat. Through this new friendship, he is introduced to the drawing-rooms of high society, and finds love in an unexpected quarter. Then, suddenly, he vanishes without a trace. Unnerved, his sister, Charlotte, sets out from their crumbling country estate determined to find him. In the sinister, labyrinthine city that greets her, she uncovers a secret world at the margins populated by unforgettable characters: a female rope walker turned vigilante, a street urchin with a deadly secret, and the chilling “Doctor Knife.” But the answer to her brother’s disappearance ultimately lies within the doors of one of the country’s preeminent and mysterious institutions: The Aegolius Club, whose members include the most ambitious, and most dangerous, men in England.

In her first novel, Lauren Owen has created a fantastical world that is both beguiling and terrifying. The Quick will establish her as one of fiction’s most dazzling talents.

Praise for The Quick

“A suspenseful, gloriously atmospheric first novel, and a feast of gothic storytelling that is impossible to resist.” — Kate Atkinson, bestselling author of Life After Life and Case Histories

“A sly and glittering addition to the literature of the macabre . . . As soon as you have breathed with relief, much worse horrors begin. It’s a skilled, assured performance, and it’s hard to believe it is a first novel.” — Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies

“Ambitious, elegant, atmospheric, and often deeply poignant, The Quick is a seamless blend of Victorian London and rich imagination. This is a book to savor.” — Tana French, bestselling author of In the Woods and Broken Harbor

My Review

Sometimes, I wish I wasn't a blogger so I would have more time to devote to books like Lauren Owen's debut, The Quick. I love books set in Victorian England, and this one was right up my alley. The book is beautifully written and the characters are well imagined, but it is also very, very long.

Audiobook Review: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Title: Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy #1)
Author: Pierce Brown
Narrator: Tim Gerard Reynolds
Publisher: Del Rey (Random House)
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Acquired Via: Publisher
Pierce Brown’s relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

“I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”

“I live for you,” I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

My Review

Red Rising is Pierce Brown's dystopian, science fiction debut novel that is set far into the future on the planet Mars. It has been compared to The Hunger Games and Ender's Game. Shockingly, I have to agree with these comparisons (though I usually won't on principle) because Brown gives us a gritty, dark novel that speculates on what human civilization can become and how powerful love can be, no matter how downtrodden the ones feeling it.

Waiting on Wednesday (51): Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



Title: Six Feet Over It
Author: Jennifer Longo
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Release Date: August 26, 2014
Home is where the bodies are buried.

Darkly humorous and heart-wrenchingly beautiful, Jennifer Longo’s YA debut about a girl stuck living in a cemetery will change the way you look at life, death, and love.

Leigh sells graves for her family-owned cemetery because her father is too lazy to look farther than the dinner table when searching for employees. Working the literal graveyard shift, she meets two kinds of customers:

Pre-Need: They know what’s up. They bought their graves a long time ago, before they needed them.

At Need: They are in shock, mourning a loved one’s unexpected death. Leigh avoids sponging their agony by focusing on things like guessing the headstone choice (mostly granite).

Sarcastic and smart, Leigh should be able to stand up to her family and quit. But her world’s been turned upside down by the sudden loss of her best friend and the appearance of Dario, the slightly-too-old-for-her grave digger. Surrounded by death, can Leigh move on, if moving on means it’s time to get a life?


This sounds like the YA book version of the TV series Six Feet Under, which was a really good show. There's just something about undertakers and coroners that I find extremely interesting. Plus, I'm always on the lookout for fresh YA contemporary authors.

What are you waiting on this week?

Review: Fates by Lanie Bross

Title: Fates (Fates #1)
Author: Lanie Bross
Publisher: Delacorte Press (Random House)
Acquired Via: Around the World ARC Tours
Release Date: February 11, 2014
Perfect for fans of Jennifer Armentrout, Julie Kagawa, Rachel Vincent, and Sarah J. Maas, and for girls who love all things pretty, romantic and inspirational.

One moment. One foolish desire. One mistake. And Corinthe lost everything.

She fell from her tranquil life in Pyralis Terra and found herself exiled to the human world. Her punishment? To make sure people's fates unfold according to plan. Now, years later, Corinthe has one last assignment: kill Lucas Kaller. His death will be her ticket home.

But for the first time, Corinthe feels a tingle of doubt. It begins as a lump in her throat, then grows toward her heart, and suddenly she feels like she is falling all over again--this time for a boy she knows she can never have. Because it is written: one of them must live, and one of them must die. In a universe where every moment, every second, every fate has already been decided, where does love fit in?

My Review

Fates by Lanie Bross is a young adult paranormal romance novel spun with a smidge of Greek mythology. It is also incredibly tiresome. I know, I know, I seldom write reviews like this, but Fates did have some promise in the beginning, but ultimately left me underwhelmed.