Book Review - Maxon

Maxon
Author: Christina Bauer
Series: Angelbound #5
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | New Adult
Release Date: 12th May 2015
Publishers: Ink Monster LLC
Source: Review Copy - Ink Monster LLC
Rating:

Prince Maxon may be twenty-two years old now, but he's still haunted by his boyhood abduction and torture in Hell. To deal with his past, Maxon limits his present-day activities to killing demons and seducing women. No long-term relationships. No combat too dangerous. No problem, right?

Wrong.

Maxon’s life has stalled out. The old thrills aren't there anymore, either on the battlefield or in the bedroom. While staking out his next fight, Maxon meets what seems like just another girl after a good time. What he gets is a close encounter with Lianna, a lady warrior with ties to the mysterious elemental rulers called the monarkki. It's love at first fight. Trouble is, Lianna's running from a dark history of her own, and her elemental enemies are closing in. When Lianna gets taken, Maxon realizes that after years of wrong choices and dead ends, the right woman is worth risking it all.

Ugh, why wasn't this the amazing sequel and look into Maxon's life I was hoping for? I'm not sure if there was something about my expectations, or my slightly less impressed state with Armageddon, or that there was overall more character and development, plot and action issues, but this was not what I had in mind. Credit where credit is due, this is a really good sequel, and I'm still going to continue reading the instalments that follow, I'll just be sure to lower my expectations this time around.

Book Review - The Traitor

The Traitor
Author: Allen Zadoff
Series: Unknown Assassin #3
Genres: Mystery, Thriller | Young Adult
Release Date: 12th June 2015
Publisher: Orchard Books
Source: Review Copy - Orchard Books
Rating:

The Program has sent Boy Nobody on countless missions, instructed to kill whichever target he was given. But now, after going rogue, he is on his own mission to rescue his friend Howard who was captured by The Program.

Boy Nobody manages to free Howard as well as Tanya, a mysterious girl who was being held with him. Howard and Tanya help Boy Nobody collect information about his father, eventually revealing a dangerous secret that teaches Boy Nobody a valuable lesson..

..he can't trust anyone.

I hate saying goodbye to any series I've had strong feelings for at the best of times, but saying goodbye to Unknown Assassin is definitely up there in 'most saddening au revoirs' ever. I will never forget just how much The Hit blew me away and surprised the heck out of me, and I definitely can't get how awesome The Mission was out of my mind, and yet I feel as though The Traitor just trumped both these previous instalments by a mile. The long year wait was hard, counting down the days was painful, but I'm pleased to say, The Traitor was a roller-coaster ride of adrenaline-fuelled perfection.

Zadoff has this extremely brilliant way of writing that, no matter how long it's been since reading previous novels, you can't help but fall right back into the world of The Program and Zach, into the mind and feelings that a young boy assassin would have, and it's superb. I felt like I'd never been away from this series. After the horrendously unacceptable cliff-hanger in The Mission, I admit to being a little surprised at how easily the tables were turned when it came to addressing that cliff-hanger, but my surprise didn't affect any of my enjoyment whatsoever, it heightened it, which I never thought was possible. I've fallen head over heels for this world of assassins, or danger and action, of explosions, car chases, questionable motives, untrustworthy characters, twists and turns at ever corner, and you'd think I'd come to expect these great things from Zadoff, but alas, he continues to excel, and I'm seriously not complaining.

The characters and hidden motives and aspects of loyalty, friendship, family were all intensely strong in this instalment - not that they weren't already, but seeing just how far Zach has come, from pure detachment in The Hit, to a group of people he would lay down his life for, people he would fight to the very end for, it's really rather wonderful to see the development through his actions, his emotions and his thoughts. It's been a slow development, and a realistic one at that - it would be unusual to see an assassin got from murder to being best buddies, but the pacing and the experience's Zach has been through with both his missions, the program and the friendships he's made along the way, it's helped create a character I couldn't love more.

The banter and humour in this series though, it helps strike the perfect balance within the dark, dangerous, slinky spy work, and the light-hearted angle of friendships and love. Seeing Zach interact once again with Howard was beautiful, really, it made me face, and heart, light up - watching their relationship, their never wavering loyalty, their support for one another, the advice they gave each other, the real sense of brotherly love between them, it was struck wonderfully with the joking scenes they shared, and yet the best banter came from the romance between Zach and Tanya. That girl can put a knife up my back any time - she was strong and willful, wise and intelligent, independent, creative and totally badass - the perfect addition to a fantastic double act, creating, without a doubt, one of my favourite trios to date. Zach and Tanya's banter and jokes, the emotional rollercoaster of doubt, trust, loyalty, lies and hidden agenda's that came between them, and the honest and realistic emotions that bloomed was really rather good. For a man that writes superb mystery novels, Zadoff sure can right a romance I can get behind. I'm impressed.

The Traitor, while really focusing and hammering home the characters, the development, the friendships and the romance, never once forgot about it's speedy styled plot, it's fantastic and amazingly well paced feel, and the variety of scenes, delicate or dark, twisted and horrifying - his simple yet completely immersive writing compliments the quick taste of action and defiance, of deceit and entertainment that this series gives, it's physically impossible for me to fault it. Getting much needed answers to questions that haunted this series though, that was one of the stand-out features behind the The Traitor and boy oh boy did I get what I wanted. Zadoff knocked every twist out of the park each and every time, and just when I thought it couldn't get any more amazing, it did. Taking steps back into the past in order to revisit and close up loose ends, finding out more about important characters just at the right time, being reminded of just how realistic this novel is, and how scarily real the events in this novel could be true, I confess, I almost want them to be.

I'm always in awe of Zadoff, and I'm sure I always will be. The series has been one of the most action-packed, exciting, plot-filled, character driven, intense and completely mesmorising I've ever read. It wowed me, enthralled me, and captured my heart. I'll be sad to see this series end - saying goodbye to characters I've connected so easily with, turning my back on a plot unrivalled in this genre, and to a series that I never expected to fall so madly in love with before, but it's definitely not the end. This is a series I will without a doubt read again some day, and Zadoff is an author I can guarantee I'll be reading more from. Let us pray the wait isn't too long.

Book Review: One Night

One Night
Author: A.J. Pine
Series: Only You #1
Genres: Contemporary | New Adult
Release Date: 21st April 2015
Publisher: Intermix
Source: Review Copy - A.J. Pine
Rating:

Twenty-one-year-old Jess used to have everything - a loyal best friend, a boyfriend she loved, and a future that was right on track. But in a single night, her whole world changed.

Now, Jess lives for the impersonal connection of drunken hook-ups and to-go coffee cups in the morning. All she needs is one night to pretend everything is fine.. until she meets Adam.

Thanks to a sports injury, gorgeous, charming basketball star Adam Carson is stuck in physical therapy at the hospital where Jess interns - giving her the perfect opportunity to see his sweet, considerate nature and making her realize that maybe she does want something more.

But while Adam might be the best thing that's happened to Jess in a long time, letting him past her carefully constructed walls means letting him know what happened.. and why he'd never want her for more than one night.

The moment I found out Pine had another book set for release, I halted everything I was doing and rushed to find out more about it. That's one of the most wonderful things about having an author that you love, especially when you're almost completely certain that everything they write will please you. One Night, much like If Only and What If, isn't doesn't differ much from other New Adult novels in the genre, but there's something about Pine's characters and writing, I just can't get enough of it. One Night is special, and utterly broke my heart.

Book Review - Mindwalker

Mindwalker
Author: A.J. Steiger
Series: Mindwalker #1
Genres: Dystopian | Young Adult
Release Date: 9th June 2015
Source: Review Copy - Knopf Books for Young Readers
Rating:

At seventeen, Lain Fisher has already aced the Institute's elite training program for Mindwalkers, therapists who use a direct neural link to erase a patient's traumatic memories. A prodigy and the daughter of a renowned scientist-whose unexplained death left her alone in the world-Lain is driven by the need to save others.

When Steven, a troubled classmate, asks her to wipe a horrific childhood experience from his mind, Lain's superiors warn her to stay away. Steven's scars are too deep, they say; the risk too great. Yet the more time Lain spends with him, the more she begins to question everything about her society. As she defies the warnings and explores Steven's memories, it becomes clear that he's connected to something much bigger…something the Institute doesn't want the world to discover.

Lain never expected to be a rule breaker. She certainly didn't plan on falling in love with a boy she's been forbidden to help. But then, she never expected to stumble into a conspiracy that could ignite a revolution.

So yet again we have book that was available from LoveReading4Kids for request, it is yet again one that I had heard nothing about and was completely unaware of until I got the email through about it. I think it would be safe to say that it was another book requested on a whim, one that I wanted to read purely because its a dystopian and everyone must now by now how much I love my dystopian books. When I first read the summary the first thing that caught my eye was just how unique and original the story sounded, it wasn't one I felt like I had read hundreds of times and instantly my expectations were. Everything about it sounded good but it was one that seemed to be relatively unknown throughout the young adult community, so that itself was enough to make me unsure about reading it. LoveReading4Kids is pretty lethal to me at the moment because I can't seem to stop requesting books that I may be on the fence about reading, however it wasn't for them I wouldn't have known about some great books otherwise and I'm happy to say that Mindwalker was one of them.

Book Review - Nowhere But Here

Nowhere But Here
Author: Katie McGarry
Series: Thunder Road
Genres: Contempoary | Young Adult
Release Date: May 26th 2015
Source: Review Copy - Harlequin Teen
Rating:

Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighbourhood. Sure, she's curious about her biological father—the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent—but that doesn't mean she wants to be a part of his world. But when a reluctant visit turns to an extended summer vacation among relatives she never knew she had, one thing becomes clear: nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both.

Oz wants one thing: to join the Reign of Terror. They're the good guys. They protect people. They're…family. And while Emily—the gorgeous and sheltered daughter of the club's most respected member—is in town, he's gonna prove it to her. So when her father asks him to keep her safe from a rival club with a score to settle, Oz knows it's his shot at his dream. What he doesn't count on is that Emily just might turn that dream upside down.

No one wants them to be together. But sometimes the right person is the one you least expect, and the road you fear the most is the one that leads you home

When I heard about Nowhere But Here I was excited but also very cautious. Personally speaking I was in a love affair with Katie's writing at the start, but as the series went on I felt like we had become comfortable and I began cheating on it with more exciting, challenging and memorable contemporary books, while always going back for the happy memories we had (much like a marriage haha). I knew I would request Nowhere But Here, I knew at some point I would read it and experience new characters with different situations (hopefully). However what I didn't know was just how much I would end up loving it. When I decided to bite the bullet and just get the book over and done with, I wanted that spark I first felt when I picked up Pushing The Limits and I would be lying if I said I didn't think I would get that with Katie again, I'm so glad to say that I was wrong because from the first chapter my heart was not only fluttery but I was hooked!

Book Review - A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Genres: Fantasy | New Adult
Release Date: 7th May 2015
Source: Review Copy - Bloomsbury
Rating:

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin - one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae.

But with an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, Feyre must find a way to stop it..
or doom Tamlin - and his world - forever.

This book and/or review may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due its use of language, sexual content, drug and alcohol abuse and/or violence. Please bare this in mind before reading.

Sometimes, books just don't impress you. No matter your expectations, nor the authors talent, the story itself can just feel, flat, and to me, that is what ACOTAR felt like. Flat. Unimpressive. A little, meh. Don't get me wrong, Maas' talent and writing still sings to me in a way many other authors couldn't even begin to dream of doing, and her talent of crafting stories in a way that always keeps me additively reading is commendable, if not fabulous, and yet ACOTAR felt miles away from any of my few expectations, and that's not a good thing. As featured with Deep Blue and The Rain, ACOTAR will be reviewed in the only way feels right to me..

Book Review - Because You'll Never Meet Me

Because You'll Never Meet Me
Author: Leah Thomas
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 2nd July 2015
Source: Review Copy - Bloomsbury Children's Books
Rating:

Ollie and Moritz are best friends, but they can never meet. Ollie is allergic to electricity. Contact with it causes debilitating seizures. Moritz’s weak heart is kept pumping by an electronic pacemaker. If they ever did meet, Ollie would seize. But Moritz would die without his pacemaker. Both hermits from society, the boys develop a fierce bond through letters that become a lifeline during dark times—as Ollie loses his only friend, Liz, to the normalcy of high school and Moritz deals with a bully set on destroying him.

A story of impossible friendship and hope under strange circumstances, this debut is powerful, dark and humorous in equal measure. These extraordinary voices bring readers into the hearts and minds of two special boys who, like many teens, are just waiting for their moment to shine

Everyone who knows me will know just how much I love a good, well written young adult contemporary. I'm always on the look out for the next best thing in the genre ever since getting my first taste of Sarah Dessen and John Green, and once in a while I come across a book that is so different than I expected or I'm left speechless, this everyone is how I felt after I finished Because You'll Never Meet Me. The first time I heard about this book was when I received an email from Lovereading4kids asking if I would like to review it, I skimmed over the summary and thought that I might as well because at the worst way it would just be a quick read. I was wrong, so so wrong. It was a quick read, but I was never prepared for the attachment or emotions I would feel towards the characters.

Mini Reviews - My Secret Ella Remix

My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend
Author: Eleanor Wood
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: June 4th 2015
Source: Review Copy - Macmillan Children's Books
Rating:

Geeky girl meets famous boy.. what could go wrong?

Tuesday Cooper is happy being normal -doing her a-levels and indulging in her twin obsessions: buying weird vintage clothes in charity shops and writing her beloved music blog (which nobody ever reads). Her love for music started when she was thirteen and had a massive crush on Jackson Griffith, teen rock god and SUPER HOT LOVE OF HER LIFE. Now Tuesday's eighteen and has moved on to fancying boys in real life and Jackson went off the celebrity radar years ago.

So it can't be him that's messaging her on her blog, can it?

I think the thing that made me want to read this book is the fact that I just kept thinking about what I would do in the situation. When I was around 13 I was completely obsessed and in love with Marilyn Manson (he's gone downhill over the last few years but going back 12 years he was still good) and I had a blog where I would talk about my life and my 'struggles' as a teenager, I was pretty much the original emo, and I would mention him on there a lot because I listened to him all the time. Anyway I was trying to think what I would do and how I would react if I was Tuesdays (granted giving what Marilyn Manson was like I probably wouldn't sneak off to meet him because that would be silly, even at 18) so before I even read it I was already really intrigued with the storyline.

Book Review - Day Four

Day Four
Author: Sarah Lotz
Series: The Three #2
Genres: Horror, Thriller | Adult
Release 21st May 2015
Source: Review Copy - Hodder & Stoughton
Rating:

Four days into a five day singles cruise on the Gulf of Mexico, the ageing ship Beautiful Dreamer stops dead in the water. With no electricity and no cellular signals, the passengers and crew have no way to call for help. But everyone is certain that rescue teams will come looking for them soon. All they have to do is wait.

That is, until the toilets stop working and the food begins to run out. When the body of a woman is discovered in her cabin the passengers start to panic. There's a murderer on board the Beautiful Dreamer... and maybe something worse.

When it comes to Day Four, I only really heard of it because of The Three, and then when I was given the opportunity to read and review it for LoveReading I was a bit cautious at first. It's been a long time since I last read what is classed as adult, I used to read them more than young adult books when I was a teenager but recently I've only read 1 or 2 over the last 3 years. Anyway I've been looking to get back into adult books lately, and I thought that Day Four would be just the book to help me make the transition (I'm not leaving the young adult community, don't panic haha). When I first read the summary it struck me as a really creepy read, something that would keep me interested and have me hooked. I was looking forward to it, I wont lie, but sadly it wasn't as good as I hoped. Its meant to be a companion to The Three, but you can read it as a standalone. It has mention of some of the characters from the 'first' book but overall I don't think you would be missing much if you read this first.

Book Review - Life Unaware

Life Unaware
Author: Cole Gibson
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 28th April 2015
No. Pages: 320
Source: Review Copy - Entangled: Teen
Rating:

Regan Flay has been talking about you.

Regan Flay is on the cusp of achieving her control-freak mother's 'plan' for high school success - cheerleading, student council, the Honor Society - until her life gets turned horribly, horribly upside down. Every bitchy text. Every bitchy email. Every lie, manipulation, and insult she's ever said have been printed out and taped to all the lockers in school.

Now Regan has gone from popular princess to total pariah.

The only person who even speaks to her is her former best friend's hot but socially miscreant brother, Nolan Letner. Nolan thinks he knows what Regan's going through, but what nobody knows is that Regan isn't really Little Miss Perfect. In fact, she's barely holding it together under her mom's pressure. But the consequences of Regan's fall from grace are only just beginning. Once the chain reaction starts, no one will remain untouched..

Especially Regan Flay.

Books are special. They're a mixture of 26 letters, jumbled up into an impossible number of variations, influencing us and our thoughts, our decisions, our emotions, changing our perspectives, our opinions, our attitudes, rearranging our point of view, how we see people and the world, but most of all, when they're good, connect and allow a reader to completely and utterly resonate with the story that's being told. When a book is that good that it takes a hold of your sensitive heart strings, those that feel, sometimes, just a little too close to home, and manages to make the world, in the time you're reading, less scary, and less intense, less, overwhelming, that's when you know you've got more than just a good book - it's perfection. Life Unaware, to me, was nothing short of perfection.

Book Review - Love, Lucas

Love, Lucas
Author: Chantele Sedgwick
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: May 5th 2015
No. Pages: 208
Source: Review Copy - Sky Pony Press
Rating:

When Oakley Nelson loses her brother, Lucas, to cancer, she thinks she'll never recover. Between her parents’ arguing and the battle she’s fighting with depression, she feels nothing inside but a hollow emptiness. When Mom suggests they spend the summer in California with Aunt Jo, Oakley isn't sure that a change of scenery will alter anything, but she’s willing to give it a try.

In California, Oakley discovers a sort of safety and freedom in Aunt Jo’s beach house. Once they're settled, Mom hands her a notebook full of letters addressed to her - from Lucas. As Oakley reads one each day, she realizes how much he loved her, and each letter challenges her to be better and to continue to enjoy her life. He wants her to move on.

If only it were that easy.

When it comes to the summary of Love, Lucas, I like many other I'm sure, were completely and utterly in love with the premise of how good this book could be. Just going on the fact that its a story about a young girl who has 1) lost her brother to cancer and 2) is left with a notebook that he wrote in while in hospital, is enough to interest you right? Well it was for me. When I saw this on Edelweiss for direct download I would be lying if I told you that my original intentions of downloading it were pure, they weren't. I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to review some books for Edelweiss, thus boosting my feedback rating (I know I isn't the same as Netgalley, but there must be something keeping score). That might be my reasons for wanting to download it, however after I read the summary I was just thankfully that would I expected to be a heart wrenching book was available without the hassle of requesting. I wouldn't say I had any expectations as such before I started reading Love, Lucas, but sadly I was hoping for more.

Book Review - The Last Summer of Us

The Last Summer of Us
Author: Maggie Harcourt
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary, Road Trip | Young Adult
Release Date: 1st May 2015
No. Pages: 295
Source: Review Copy - Usborne
Rating:

Limpet, Steffan and Jared. Three best friends crammed into a clapped-out rust bucket of a car on a whirlwind road trip to forget their troubles and see out the end of the summer.

But no matter how far they drive, they can't escape the hidden secrets and slow-burning romance that could upset the balance of their friendship..

..perhaps forever.

Before I saw this book available for request from LoveReading4Kids I hadn't heard of it. I loved the cover and did a quick research on what the book was about and after being intrigued, I decided to request it on nothing more than a whim. I'm a big sucker for a good contemporary and when road trips are added into the mix it is more often than not a recipe for success right? Regardless of how much I was looking forward to the book I was somewhat cautious, there really wasn't much about the book anywhere and because the review had to be in by the end of the month I was worried that it wouldn't be as good as I expected, leaving me in a situation where I would have to try and write a less than positive review, something I struggle with from time to time. However I tried my hardest to keep my expectations low and was just happy to be reading more UKYA. Though it took me a few chapters to really get into the book, as I feel it started of slow, I became hooked and devoured it in a few hours.

Book Review - Perfectly Ella

Perfectly Ella
Author: Candy Harper
Series: Strawberry Sisters #1
Genres: Contemporary | Childrens, Young Adult
Release Date: 23rd April 2015
Source: Review Copy - Simon and Schuster
Rating:

Meet the Strawberry Sisters!

Oldest sister Amelia wants to be left alone to have deep thoughts, so she's grown a fringe to hide under. Second up is Chloe who's sport-crazy and in training to be a wrestling star (this week anyway). Littlest sister Lucy is the cute one who's training an army of earwigs.

Then there's Ella. The middle one who's still trying to work out what makes her 'Perfectly Ella' and how to stand out in a house full of big personalities.

And now there's a new Strawberry Sister.
Baby Kirsti who lives with Dad and his Finnish girlfriend.

Along with her sisters and one very tired Mum who's struggling to keep it all together, Ella's small home is crammed with almost-finished homework, nearly-clean jumpers and a vampire bunny called Buttercup. With so much going on, life can sometimes feel totally crazy but the Strawberry sisters have a secret weapon against the craziness of the world they live in, each other.

Candy Harper is what I would call one of my 'staple authors'. She's an author whom, whenever I see or hear of new work to be released by her, I'm on edge, watching and waiting, researching and stalking, ready to snap up advance copies of her work and every time, I'm impressed. With every new release, harper creates youthful characters I fall in love with, relationships and family connections that just turn my cold heart in a warm slushy goo, and stories that tug on my heartstrings and remind me of my own childhood. Perfectly Ella is absolutely no different and was beautiful to read.

Book Review - Flesh and Blood

Flesh and Blood
Author: Simon Cheshire
Series: Red Eye Standalones #3
Genres: Horror | Childrens, Young Adult
Release Date: 2nd March 2015
Publishers: Little Tiger
No. Pages: 336
Source: Review Copy - Little Tiger
Rating: 

I must record the facts that have led me to where I am now. So that, when someone reads this, they understand.

Sam Hunter's neighbours are pillars of the community, the most influential people in town. But they're liars too.

The Greenhills are hiding something and Sam's determined to find out what it is. As his investigation unfolds, he realizes the lies reach further than he ever imagined - is there anyone he can trust?

Uncovering the horror is one thing.
Escaping is another..

Co Review - Red Queen

Red Queen

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Series: Red Queen Trilogy #1

Genres: Fantasy | Young Adult

Release Date: 10th February 2015

Publishers: Orion

No. Pages: 320

Source: Review Copy - Orion

Rating:  | 

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood - those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.

To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard--a growing Red rebellion - even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

Initial Feelings

Amanda: Oooooo, I hate to start off this chat in a wild and laid back manner, but I seriously have a lot of feelings about Red Queen, lots of them positive, and simply have no idea how you were not just a smidgen more impressed with it all? I feel like a leper. Very few people seem to like this book like I do..

Stacie: I know you enjoyed it, and I'm really happy you did, but my biggest problem with the story was that it lacked originality and I didn't find much that was unique about it. It reminded me of so many books, better books, that I just felt like I had read the story before. Does that make sense?

Amanda: I think it makes sense.. I've heard a lot of people say that it reminded them of Red Rising, or The Hunger Games, or Throne of Glass, or, some other dystopian or fantasy read, and if I'm honest, I think I can understand and see why people would think that, originality is a tough cookie to bake. I personally couldn't see or feel anything that felt hugely like other books, or like anything I'd read and enjoyed previously, but then again, I didn't particularly enjoy Red Rising, The Hunger Games was good rather than great for me, and it didn't feel all that similar to Throne of Glass.

Stacie: I noticed a lot of similarities, but then again I read the 50 Shades of Gray books an all I could think about was Twilight.

Amanda: Oh.. I've not read either, guess that makes me safe right? I don't know though, Red Queen just felt so much like a 'me' book and I've got to say, I'm beating myself up for ever thinking of not reading this. It's true what they've say, you either love this book, or feel cheated by it. I get the impression you feel cheated?

Stacie: Honestly? Yes, but not the way you think. This should have been a 'me' book, you know my taste, tell me you don't think this book should have been anything less than perfect for me?

Amanda: This should have TOTALLY been a 'you' book, hence it surprised me so much that it wasn't..

Stacie: I felt cheated because no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't stop thinking about the other books. I felt cheated because of the plot holes and some characters not coming across how Aveyard intended. Most of all, I feel cheated because I was so looking forward to this book, only for it to not reach my expectations (Aveyard isn't fully to blame with that..)

Amanda: Ouch.. I guess we best go into more detail pronto.

Book Review - We Are All Made of Molecules

We Are All Made of Molecules
Author: Susan Nielsen
Standalone
Genres: Mystery, Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: 7th May 2015
Publishers: Anderson
No. Pages: 336
Source: Review Copy - Anderson
Rating: 

Meet Stewart. He's geeky, gifted and sees things a bit differently to most people. His mum has died and he misses her all the more now he and Dad have moved in with Ashley and her mum.

Meet Ashley. She’s popular, cool and sees things very differently to her new family. Her dad has come out and moved out – but not far enough. And now she has to live with a freakazoid step-brother.

Stewart can't quite fit in at his new school, and Ashley can't quite get used to her totally awkward home, which is now filled with some rather questionable decor. And things are about to get a whole lot more mixed up when these two very different people attract the attention of school hunk Jared..

Book Review - Made For You

Made For You
Author: Melissa Marr
Standalone
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal | Young Adult
Release Date: 16th September 2014
Publishers: HarperCollins
No. Pages: 368
Source: Review Copy - HarperCollins
Rating:

When Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital, she's confused - who in her sleepy little North Carolina town could have hit her with their car? And why? But before she can consider the question, she finds that she’s awoken with a strange new skill: the ability to foresee people's deaths when they touch her.

While she is recovering from the hit-and-run, Nate, an old flame, reappears, and the two must traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva’s power to keep her friends - and themselves - alive. But while Eva and Nate grow closer, the killer grows increasingly frantic in his attempt to get to Eva.

Made For You is a book that I had been dying to read for a long time but knew next to nothing about, the one and only thing I knew about it was that it was suppose to be a pretty creepy read (that and Amanda fangirled pretty hard over it). I purposely kept away from reviews or mentions of it because I've been wanting to read the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr and I had read her Carnival of Secrets book but it was so long ago that I really cant remember much about the story of her writing style, so I really wanted everything to be a surprise. Right from the start I had a good feeling about it, it was creepy and mysterious just like I was hoping and I enjoyed the way the story was laid out. I loved that the killer had his own voice and it gave pretty much nothing away, but as the story went on little things just started to get on my nerves and that's why I sadly I only gave it a 3.5 stars.

Book Review - I'll Give You the Sun

I'll Give You the Sun
Author: Jandy Nelson
Standalone
Genres: Contemporary | Young Adult
Release Date: April 2nd 2015
Publishers: Walker Books
No. Pages: 412
Source: Review Copy - Walker Books
Rating:

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking.

Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways.. until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else — an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

So to say this book was very high on my wishlist would be nothing short of an understatement. The minuet I first heard about it I knew that I had to have it, even before I put two and two together and figured out it was the same author who did The Sky is Everywhere. Though that book had sat on my TBR list from many years and I had no previous experience with her writing, I was excited. However when it came out I completely forgot about it, I kept forgetting to buy it and it seemed like for a while it was going to just pass me by, until that is I got an email from Lovereading4kids offering me the opportunity to read it (I should note too that it was them that gave me the chance to read The Sky is Everywhere haha). Obviously I jumped at the chance and though I had to wait a few weeks due to issues, my excitement just grew and grew. I dived straight into the book the minuet it turned up at my house and right from the beginning I could tell that I was going to love the story.

Book Review - Half Wild

Half Wild
Author: Sally Green
Series: Half Life #2
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 24th March 2015
Publishers: Penguin
No. Pages: 384
Source: Review Copy - Penguin
Rating:

After finally meeting his elusive father, Marcus, and receiving the three gifts that confirm him as a full adult witch, Nathan is still on the run. He needs to find his friend Gabriel and rescue Annalise, now a prisoner of the powerful Black witch Mercury. Most of all he needs to learn how to control his Gift - a strange, wild new power that threatens to overwhelm him.

Meanwhile, Soul O'Brien has seized control of the Council of White Witches and is expanding his war against Black witches into Europe. In response, an unprecedented alliance has formed between Black and White witches determined to resist him. Drawn into the rebellion by the enigmatic Black witch Van Dal, Nathan finds himself fighting alongside both old friends and old enemies. But can all the rebels be trusted, or is Nathan walking into a trap?

Book Review - The Winner's Crime

The Winner's Crime
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner's Trilogy #2
Genres: Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 4th March 2014
Publishers: Bloomsbury
No. Pages: 368
Source: Review Copy - Bloomsbury
Rating:
Buy From: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes and Noble | Waterstones

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement.. if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For- unknown to Arin - Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.