Review: Asunder by Jodi Meadows

Title: Asunder (Newsoul #2)
Author: Jodi Meadows
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins)
Acquired Via: Library
Release Date: January 29, 2013
Darksouls
Ana has always been the only one. Asunder. Apart. But after Templedark, when many residents of Heart were lost forever, some hold Ana responsible for the darksouls—and the newsouls who may be born in their place.

Shadows
Many are afraid of Ana's presence, a constant reminder of unstoppable changes. When sylph begin behaving differently toward her and people turn violent, Ana must learn to stand up not only for herself but for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

Love
Ana was told that nosouls can't love. But newsouls? More than anything, she wants to live and love as an equal among the citizens of Heart, but even when Sam professes his deepest feelings, it seems impossible to overcome a lifetime of rejection.

In the second book of Jodi Meadows's Incarnate trilogy, Ana discovers the truth about reincarnation and will have to find a way to embrace love and make her young life meaningful. asunder explores the beauty and shadowed depths of the soul in a story equal parts epic romance and captivating fantasy.

My Review

You can read my review of Incarnate (Newsoul #1) HERE.

Asunder is the follow-up to Jodi Meadows' debut novel, Incarnate, set in the fantastical world of centaurs, dragons, sylphs, and souls that have been reincarnating for thousands of years, except for Ana, a newsoul. However, we get to see in Asunder a little more of what it means to have a boyfriend who is five thousand years older (yes, you read that right) than the heroine, how people react to losing loved ones for good after many thousands of years together, and how the replacement newsouls will be treated.

Review: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Title: Incarnate (Newsoul #1)
Author: Jodi Meadows
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins)
Acquired Via: Publisher
Release Date: January 31, 2012
NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

My Review

This review was originally posted on my Goodreads profile on November 29, 2011 and was one of my first reviews.

Jodi Meadow’s debut, Incarnate, is a beautifully written young adult novel, in which she builds a fresh, new world made of very old souls. In it, humanity consists of a million souls that are reborn repeatedly in a magical land of dragons and sylphs.

Audiobook Review: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

Title: The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories #1)
Author: Chris Colfer
Narrator: Chris Colfer
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette)
Acquired Via: Library
Release Date: July 17, 2012
Alex and Conner Bailey's world is about to change, in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairy tales.

The Land of Stories tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about.

But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.

My Review

Fairy tale retellings are some of my favorite things to read, and I'm pretty sure that middle grade versions of these are the best. That being said, The Wishing Spell did not disappoint. Many childhood favorite fairy tales are prominent in the so-called Land of Stories, and the book was a fun way to find out what happened to the main characters of those stories after their happily ever afters.

Audiobook Review: Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson

Title: Magic Marks the Spot (The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #1)
Author: Caroline Carolson
Narrator: Katherine Kellgren
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Acquired Via: Publisher (print) & Library (audio)
Release Date: September 10, 2013
Admiral Westfield sucked in his breath and released it in a tremendous gust. "My dear," he said, "let me be clear: You are a young lady. You will not tell silly tales and you will never be a pirate."

Hilary Westfield has always dreamed of being a pirate. She can tread water for thirty-seven minutes. She can tie a knot faster than a fleet of sailors. She particularly enjoys defying authority, and she already owns a rather pointy sword. There's only one problem: The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates refuses to let any girl join their ranks of scourges and scallywags.

Girls belong at Miss Pimm's Finishing School for Delicate Ladies, learning to waltz, faint, and curtsy. But Hilary and her dearest friend, the gargoyle, have no use for such frivolous lessons—they are pirates! (Or very nearly.)

To escape from a life of petticoats and politeness, Hilary answers a curious advertisement for a pirate crew and suddenly finds herself swept up in a seafaring adventure that may or may not involve a map without an X, a magical treasure that likely doesn't exist, a rogue governess who insists on propriety, a crew of misfit scallywags, and the most treacherous—and unexpected—villain on the High Seas.

Will Hilary find the treasure in time? Will she become a true pirate after all? And what will become of the gargoyle?

My Review

I promised myself a blog hiatus, but here I am writing this review. It's an illness, I tell you - very similar to the pleurisy that has taken over my lungs and breathing. But you're here to read my thoughts about Magic Marks the Spot. I'll start off by saying that this book is unbelievably, painfully, and wickedly adorable, with my new favorite middle grade character. However, I started this book back in May, which means that it took me approximately seven months to read. I started with an eARC, but I got accosted with All The Life Things and finally had to finish with an audiobook. Let me tell you something - the audiobook is SO GOOD, that you're missing out if you read Magic Marks the Spot any other way.

Waiting on Wednesday (34): Breakable by Tammara Webber and Avalon by Mindee Arnett

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.
Amber's Pick



Title: Breakable
Author: Tammara Webber
Publisher: Berkley Trade (Penguin)
Release Date: May 6, 2014
He was lost and alone. Then he found her. And the future seemed more fragile than ever.

As a child, Landon Lucas Maxfield believed his life was perfect and looked forward to a future filled with promise — until tragedy tore his family apart and made him doubt everything he ever believed.

All he wanted was to leave the past behind. When he met Jacqueline Wallace, his desire to be everything she needed came so easy…

As easy as it could be for a man who learned that the soul is breakable and that everything you hoped for could be ripped away in a heartbeat.


Easy was my first New Adult novel and one of the only New Adult novels that I have thoroughly enjoyed. This is the companion novel to Easy, and I am so excited that we get Lucas's story!

Kayla's Pick



Title: Avalon (Avalon #1)
Author: Mindee Arnett
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Release Date: January 21, 2013
Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth-and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.


I haven't had a lot of luck with full-on YA science fiction, but I keep on trying to find one for me. I love coming-of-age stories (probably why I enjoy YA so much), and heavy sci-fi is one of my most favorite things ever, so why can't I find a blend of the two to work for me? The reviews of Avalon is pretty good, so maybe I'll love it?

What are you waiting on this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing Me

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing Me



1. Dangerous Women edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner R. Dozois
This has a lot of great authors – my have-to-reads on the list are George R. R. Martin, Jim Butcher and Brandon Sanderson.





2. Shadowdance (Darkest London #4) by Kristen Callihan
Callihan’s Darkest London series is one of my favorite series. It is a mix between steampunk, urban fantasy and paranormal romance.

Back to the Classics Challenge 2014

I didn't have a lot of luck with challenges this year - I forgot about the TBR Challenge and Paranormal Reading Challenge until like March. By the time I remembered, I was too busy with All The Jobs and couldn't be bothered. HOWEVER, this one will be different. My fabulous co-blogger, Amber, and I will be reading the books for this challenge together and doing joint reviews once we have them read. For the "New to You" category, we'll do separate reviews. (I've read nearly everything by H.G. Wells, and Amber has read everything by Jane Austen.) This is going to be a lot of fun.

Karen at Books and Chocolate is the host of the Back to the Classics Challenge this year. Below is some information about the challenge, taken from the sign-up page, if you're interested in joining in as well.

Guidelines:

Blog Tour (Excerpt & Giveaway): Clan by Realm Lovejoy

Clan Tour Schedule



Title: Clan
Author: Realm Lovejoy
Release Date: November 12, 2013
Clans are Unity.

No variation. No deviation.

On Clades, to be a Clan is to be an exact copy.
A perfect society cloning themselves to survive, even as the zombielike Frags threaten to overrun them on an unforgiving planet.

Clan 1672 (privately known as Twain) was never supposed to survive the Incubation Tank.
But he did. Illegally.
He is different from the other Clans.

A secret that could destroy him.


Praise for Clan

"In this fast-paced novel, Lovejoy uses economical prose while developing the story’s characters and setting in detail. She also meets the challenge of creating memorable characters in a world of identical people..." - Kirkus Reviews

Book Trailer