ARC Review: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Author:  Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
Genre: Young adult, sci-fi
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 20, 2015
608 pages, hardcover

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

NOTE: I was provided with an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Knopf Books for Young Readers for letting me read this!
ALSO, shout out to the lovely Vania who gave me her physical ARC because it’s BEAUTIFUL.

After the illegal Kerenza colony is attacked by the BeiTech corporation, two teens, Kady and Ezra, find themselves racing through space for their lives along with thousands of other survivors. They are attempting to outrun the Lincoln, a BeiTech ship dead set on their destruction in order to ensure there are no living survivors of the attack on Kerenza. But not only do they have to survive this deadly race, they also have to survive the fleet’s AI system, which was damaged in the attack and has gone a little…crazy. As if all of that wasn’t enough to completely stress these survivors out, there’s also a horrible plague making its way through the fleet.

HOLY ████, you guys. This book is ███████ awesome. All I could say on Goodreads when I was done was “WOW.” I’m still struggling to find words to describe this book because it’s seriously awesome. I was pretty wary of this book before starting it for two reasons. 1. I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but I don’t read or review a lot of sci-fi on this blog. It’s rare I find sci-fi that I like, but this? THIS I could read over and over. I can’t wait for the next book to be out! 2. The ███████ hype. It was pretty intense. I don’t know if I saw a single bad review of Illuminae before I started reason and it felt like EVERYONE walking talking about how much they loved this book. Let me just tell you: they hype is seriously well-deserved.

I mean, if that absolutely incredible summary doesn’t hook you, I’m not sure what else will. But let’s see. This book is told through an awesome series of “hacked” documents (like emails, IMs, medical reports, interviews, ship schematics, military docs, and more) put together in a dossier by the mysterious Illuminae group. Then on top of the alternate story-telling methods, which you know I LOVE, the formatting is so ████ beautiful! I kept showing other people how pretty the setup was. It’s ███████ fascinating, and I read its 600 pages in only TWO days.

The bottom line: Illuminae is fast-paced, emotional, and brilliant. It will make you rage, laugh, cry, and clutch the book to your chest. There’s some swoony moments, some holy-████-what-is-happening moments, some rage-y moments, and a lot of this-book-is-incredible moments. I am not even a big fan of sci-fi, but I devoured this one. Can we have the next book, please?! I ordered this book for the library, and I can’t wait for it to come in so I can push recommend it to everyone!

Rating: 9.5 – practically ███████ perfect

ARC Review: Don’t Fail Me Now by Una LaMarche

Author:  Una LaMarche
Genre: YA, contemporary
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: September 1, 2015
288 pages, hardcover (273 ARC)

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

NOTE: I was provided with an ARC of this book through the Decatur Book Festival as Una was on one of the panels I moderated. This does not influence my review.

Don’t Fail Me Now is a unique, diverse, moving road-trip novel chock full of interesting characters and all the feels. Forced into a terrible situation by their absentee mother, Michelle, Cass, and Denny (three African American children surviving on Michelle’s part time job at Taco Bell) join forces with their newly found half-sister Leah and her stepbrother Tim (white, middle-class, and taken care of) on a cross-country road trip to meet Buck, their dying father who left them years ago. Nothing goes as planned and the hardships the group faces both brings them closer together and pushes them farther apart. Michelle is a strong character who takes care of her family; she’s been through a lot in her short life and doesn’t let it get to her. I think this shows what an incredible, hardworking character she is, but I also appreciated the scenes where it is very obvious that she is only human.

I think my main issue was that, while race and white-privilege are brought up, they aren’t as well-addressed as I would have liked. I think the story could have gone a little deeper into these issues. My other complaint was the middle part of the book, which dragged a bit to me, especially considering the strong beginning.

The bottom line: Diversity; road-trip; strong main character; hardships and persistence. If any of those things sound like something you’d like, pick this one up.

Rating: 6.5 – between good, but not great and pretty good

ARC Review: The Rose Society by Marie Lu

Author: Marie Lu

Genre: Young adult, fantasy

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: October 13, 2015

416 pages, hardcover

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

Shout out to Brittany from Brittany’s Book Rambles whose giveaway I won and received The Rose Society from.

Expect a lot of caps lock in this review. This is what my immediate reaction was upon finishing this book and what I wrote as my Goodreads review:

I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS AND NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE HOW BRILLIANT THIS BOOK WAS.

I’m still struggling to find the words to describe how much I loved this follow up to last year’s The Young Elites (which I also LOVED). It’s rare that I read a sequel that I find to be completely up to par with the first book, but this was. Plus, it’s darker and more devious and delightfully delicious. I devoured it and this one’s not even out yet but I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE THIRD BOOK.

I got chills after the two pages. That’s the mark of a book that pulls you in immediately and doesn’t want to let you go. I swear, if I had not had to go to work, I would’ve read it straight through, and do YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT WAS TO GO TO WORK?

We’ve got to talk about Adelina, of course. Man, do I love her. She’s fierce, dark, strong, and decidedly stubborn. And in The Rose Society she takes it a step farther. She isn’t afraid to get what she wants, to fight for revenge, to be mean if she has to and bitter and tough. I love her. It’s refreshing to read about a main character who is, well…a little evil. She’s losing her mind somewhat, and that downward spiral is captivating.

This book will break your heart and make you crave more of it. And that ending. No spoilers, but it’s both deliciously satisfying and slightly enraging in that I NEED MORE NOW. I’m so pumped that my teens chose The Young Elites for our November book club read at the library.

Even though I was obviously obsessed with this one, this one felt more slow-burning than The Young Elites which was packed to the brim with action. I liked the focus on Adelina’s mental state, but I think TYE was a little more intense, if that makes sense.

The bottom line: If my review isn’t enough for you, I’m not sure how else to get my point across. READ THIS SERIES. You won’t be disappointed. In fact, you’re probably going to be completely enthralled, put under a spell that you won’t want to break.

Rating: 9 – practically perfect

ARC Review: The Nest by Kenneth Oppel

Author:  Kenneth Oppel
Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Genre: MG, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Horror

Publication Date: October 6, 2015

256 pages, hardcover (247 ARC)

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

Shout out to my love Kimberly from Little Shop of Stories who knew I’d love The Nest and let me have her ARC. She wasn’t wrong.

It’s really hard to tell you what The Nest is about, because, well…it’s strange. Steve, whose family has been struggling to cope with his sickly new-born brother, finds his dreams suddenly invaded by angels who offer to “fix” his brother. But Steve realizes that his angel is actually a wasp queen. All he has to do is say yes to her and his problems will be fixed, but that’s such a difficult and powerful word.

The best words, to me, that describe The Nest are these: strange, haunting, lovely, sad, dry, unique, creepy, quick. The entire time you’re reading, you have this eerie feeling like something bad is about to happen, and it’s really well-done. You’re never really sure what’s real or not until the end. Plus, the queen is seriously frightening. She pulls you in and makes you want to like her even though you know she’s evil.

It’s a great book for its intended audience too. It touches on some real life issues that MG readers will face – anxiety, OCD, family dynamics, being brave even when it’s absolutely terrifying to do so. But I also appreciate the fact that I am 25 and I still enjoyed it and even related to several parts of it. I felt that Steve, an anxious kid who just wants to be normal, but what does normal even mean?

The bottom line: The Nest is unlike any other book I’ve read. It’s strange, but in the best way. It gets pretty creepy at times, and it’s a seriously fast read – I read it in just a couple of hours.

Rating: 8 – freaking fantastic

Blog Tour – Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl (Review & Giveaway)

I am so excited to be kicking off the BLACK WIDOW: FOREVER RED blog tour with my review! Before I get to it, let me tell you a bit about the book.

Release Date: October 13, 2015

Pages: 304

Publisher: Marvel Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

Enter the world of the Avengers’ iconic master spy. Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

MY REVIEW

Most of your probably know how into comics I am, and, like most of the world, I’m a big fan of superhero movies, so when I found out there was going to be a novel about one of the Avengers (particularly one I believe deserves more attention), I was pretty pumped. I hadn’t read a Margaret Stohl book before, but I wasn’t disappointed. Here are my favorite things about the book:

• Black Widow: I loved learning more about Natasha Romanov. I’ve always thought she was fascinating in that she is so human. She doesn’t have any special powers/technology/etc. She’s so engaging in this book, and I was totally engrossed in all of her scenes. I honestly didn’t think there were enough scenes with her.
• Interview transcripts: You guys know how much I like alternate storytelling methods, and we get part of an interview transcript at the end of every chapter, which was so cool. It kept me reading, wanting to know what the interview was about and who had been the line-of-duty death they were discussing.
• The voices: Stohl nailed the voices of Natasha, Tony Stark, and Agent Coulson, especially for MCU fans – they are spot on. Stark is arrogant and Coulson is a nerd, and it’s so great.
• Ava: She’s a pretty cool character. Tough but vulnerable, bitter, and tough. She does what she has to do, and I thought she was pretty badass.

There were a few things I wasn’t as big on:

• The length: For comic book fans, Black Widow: Forever Red is going to run pretty long. I’m used to 24-page single issues or 120-150 page trades, so a novel about a comic book character coming in at just over 300 pages was a little long and felt somewhat drawn out.
• MORE Natasha: As much as I enjoyed Ava, the main character, I was hoping for more scenes with Natasha, as she was the most engaging part of the book for me.
• Instalove: There was a mild case of instalove/too hot too fast, which didn’t fit with who Ava was previously. It felt a little out of character for her.

The bottom line: Overall, this was a fun, action-packed, kick-ass novel about a comic character that I felt deserved more attention. Natasha was hard, tough, bitter, and awesome, and I thought the well-known comic book characters were spot-on. It’s a little long but I still enjoyed it.

Rating: 7 – pretty good

ABOUT MARGARET

Margaret Stohl is the #1 New York Times Bestselling co-author of the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES Novels and DANGEROUS CREATURES novels, as well as the author of BLACK WIDOW: FOREVER RED forthcoming from Marvel Press (Marvel YA), and the ICONS Novels.

She is the USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Indie-Bound, Wall Street Journal and Internationally Bestselling author of nine YA novels, and has been published in 37 languages and 48 countries. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES was adapted into a film (2013) by Warner Brothers and Alcon Entertainment, and was an ALA William C. Morris YA Debut Award finalist in 2010, as well as a SCIBA award finalist, a NYPL Book for the Teen Age, and a YALSA Teen Top Ten Pick. Beautiful Creatures was named the #1 Teen Pick from Amazon in 2009, and the #5 Editors Pick, Overall.

Prior to becoming an author, Margaret worked in the video game industry as a writer and lead designer for sixteen years, eventually co-founding 7 Studios game developer with her husband, Lewis Peterson. She is also the co-founder of YALLFEST (Charleston, SC) and YALLWEST (Santa Monica, CA), two of the biggest kid/teen book festivals in the country. An alumnus of Amherst College, Stanford University, and Yale University, Margaret lives in Santa Monica with her family, two rescue cats, and two bad beagles.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

THE GIVEAWAY

3 winners will receive a finished copy of BLACK WIDOW: FORVER RED. US Only.

CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE TOUR 

Week One:

10/5/2015- Caught Read Handed– Review
10/6/2015- Mundie Moms– Interview
10/7/2015- Novel Novice– Review
10/8/2015- IceyBooks– Guest Post
10/9/2015- Word Spelunking– Review

Week Two:

10/12/2015- Fangirlish– Interview
10/13/2015- Wishful Endings– Review
10/14/2015- Nerdophiles– Guest Post
10/15/2015- Chapter by Chapter– Review
10/16/2015- The Reading Nook Reviews– Interview

Guest Post: Nicola Yoon, author of Everything, Everything (& Giveaway)

I am SO excited to bring you this super fun guest post from Everything, Everything author Nicola Yoon! If you haven’t heard the news, the rights to Nicola’s amazing debut have been optioned for film by MGM!! So freaking exciting! I asked Nicola if she’d tell us some of the songs she’d like to see on the soundtrack to the film. Plus, Nicola was nice enough to sign the copy of the book I bought when I met her at the Decatur Book Festival (she is SO nice) AND donated a copy of the EE audiobook for the giveaway, so you should definitely stick around to end of the post and enter to win it!

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I don’t listen to music while I’m writing​,​ but music definitely influences​ me​​​​. Usually when I’m writing a book, there are just a handful of songs or albums that I’m listening to on repeat. I’m a total lyrics person, so a particularly good lyric can really inspire me. For example, when I was writing EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING, ​I kept coming back to ​a few lines in Noel Gallagher’s “If I Had a Gun”​:

Hope I didn’t speak too soon
My eyes have always followed you around the room
‘Cause you’re the only God that I will ever need
I’m holding on and waiting for the moment for my heart to be unbroken by the sea

I love all​ the​ lyrics​ in this song, but it’s the “waiting for the moment for my heart to be unbroken by the sea” part that really gets me. It’s epic​. ​It’s a little bit mysterious. It speaks to a big, big love that can only be moved by something as vast as the sea. For me, it really encapsulates Olly​’s​​ feelings for Maddy.

I’ve always said if I could write a book that made you feel as intensely as a four minute song​ can​, I would be a very happy writer. Hopefully, I’m getting closer to this the more I write. Any type of art can influence any other, and inspiration can come from unexpected places. For me, music is definitely one of those places.

THE PLAYLIST

“​If I Had a Gun​”​ by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
​”​Pieces​”​ by Andrew Belle
​”​Four Minute Warning​”​ by Radiohead
​”​Videotape​”​ by Radiohead
​”​I Need My Girl​”​ by The National
​”​Graceless​”​ by The National
​”​Hannah Hunt​”​ by Vampire Weekend
​”​Rehab​”​ by Amy Winehouse
​”​This Place Is A Prison​”​ by The Postal Service
​”​Mezzanine​”​ by Massive Attack
​”​Angel​”​ by Massive Attack
​”​Extraordinary Machine​”​ by Fiona Apple

Unfortunately, the two Radiohead songs are not on Spotify, but you can find them on YouTube – listen to “Four Minute Warning” and “Videotape” for the full experience!

ABOUT NICOLA

Nicola Yoon grew up in Jamaica (the island) and Brooklyn (part of Long Island). She currently resides in Los Angeles, CA with her husband and daughter, both of whom she loves beyond all reason. Everything, Everything is her first novel.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr | Goodreads

THE GIVEAWAY

There are two prizes (a signed hardcover and the audiobook); the first winner chosen by Rafflecopter will have their choice of the two and the second winner chosen will get the second prize.

Terms & Conditions:

• This contest is open to US residents only.
• The giveaway will run until October 22, 2015 at midnight CST.
• You must be 18 years or older, or have parents’ permission to enter.
• I will check all of the entries for the chosen winner. If any of them have been given and you haven’t actually done them, you will be disqualified.
• If the winner does not respond to my e-mail within 48 hours, I will choose another winner.
• I am not responsible for any items lost in the mail, and I cannot replace anything that is lost. I’m sorry.

Waiting on Wednesday: A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine in which we share a book that we are eagerly anticipating!

Author: Mindy McGinnis

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Release date: October 6, 2015

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

In this beautifully twisted historical thriller, Mindy McGinnis, acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, good and evil—and the madness that exists in all of us.

Why I’m excited: I’m excited because THIS BOOK SOUNDS AMAZING. Also, this line, “Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness” just speaks to me; I don’t know why. The description sounds fascinating, and I can already feel myself drawn to Grace. Plus, LOOK AT THAT COVER. I cannot wait to read this one, and you can bet I’ll be ordering it for my library.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:

Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR

                    

Truthwitch // Zeroes // The Serpent King // Blackhearts // Illuminae

                    

The Nest // Dreamstrider // An Ember in the Ashes // Legacy of Kings // Daughter of Smoke and Bone

What books will you read this fall?

Book Review: Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout

Author:  Katie M. Stout

Genre: YA, contemporary

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Publication Date: June 9, 2015

304 pages, hardcover

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

Hello, I Love You was really cute. Grace is running away from her family, and she decides to head to the complete opposite side of the planet to a school in Korea, where she meets a Korean musician who is brooding and…even rude at times. Grace has to navigate a country and culture completely different from her own as well as potential love.

When I first finished this book I was kind of…angry? Grace is not a nice person. She was ignorant, patronizing, judgmental, and just flat out rude to a lot of the people around her because they were different than her. Now that I’ve had time to think about it though, I realize that a lot of that was because of how she was raised – her family shaped her and influenced her thoughts on other cultures. While I do think she began to break out of that by the end of the novel, I don’t think it was quite as much as I wanted her to. But it was a start.

The romance was cute at times. I got a little annoyed by Jason (the love interest) as he continued to flip flop about his feelings and I wanted to reach in and shake him. Well, honestly, both Grace and Jason were hot and cold for each other throughout the novel. There were several times when I questioned WHY they even liked each other. However, this did kind of remind me of KDramas a LOT, which I know Katie is a big fan of, so I guess it makes sense.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to you if you think this a book about KPop or Korean culture because those themes are almost non-existent. Differences in American and Korean culture/customs/food/etc. were mentioned occasionally but not explored in depth like I was hoping. I was pretty disappointed with that. However, if you’re looking for a book that really resembles a KDrama (emphasis on the drama bit), Hello, I Love You is for YOU! The end of the book will give you all the feels.

Rating: 5.5 – take it or leave it (some people could really dig this one)

Book Review: Our Song by A. Destiny and Elizabeth Lenhard

At the beginning of September, I was at the Decatur Book Festival, where I moderated two panels, including Thicker Than Water with Una LaMarche, Katie M. Stout, Elizabeth Lenhard, and Marie Mardquart.

Author:  A. Destiny and Elizabeth Lenhard

Genre: YA, contemporary

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: July 7, 2015

240 pages, paperback

Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.

Our Song is a super quick, light read. Nell doesn’t want anything to do with her family’s business – her family is “folk music royalty” and everyone at the camp she’s sent to knows it. She’s rebelling against her family and trying to figure out who she is. And then Jacob shows up – he’s a fellow musician at the camp, and through their interactions, Nell realizes she might be more in love with her family’s ways than she thought (but in her own way), and quite possibly in love with Jacob.

This book was cute, you guys. It has that distinct summer-book feel with its light story, cute romance, and summer camp shenanigans. I read it quickly and laughed a lot. Nell and Jacob’s banter was adorable. I really enjoyed the focus on music – Elizabeth includes a lot of musical sounds in the book; in fact, Elizabeth described her book is these six words: Grumble; Stutter; Clang; Sigh; Sizzle; SING! How cool is that?

Our Song also has a distinctive focus on family. Nell may be rebelling against her family and everything that means, but throughout the book, she also comes to realize that they might mean more to her and who she is than she originally thought. I loved this. The book may have a few clichés and such, but it was cute and I enjoyed it.

Rating: 7 – pretty good