Hello everyone! I am back from my hiatus that I call the end of sophomore year. It is over. And now I am free to read. To celebrate my end of semester, I decided to go to a book signing at Books of Wonder for Fantastic Teen Reads, featuring Roshani Chokshi, Sarah Mccarry, Marie Rutkoski (who teaches at my college; I found out!), and Renee Ahdieh.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Monday, May 30, 2016
[Review] SST Review - Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee
Hey guys! I'll be reviewing this book as part of Nori's SST. So, I received this book in exchange for an honest review, which doesn't impact my review in any way.
Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee
Version: ARC Paperback
Rating: 5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis:
San Francisco, 1906: Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong is determined to break from the poverty in Chinatown, and an education at St. Clare’s School for Girls is her best hope. Although St. Clare’s is off-limits to all but the wealthiest white girls, Mercy gains admittance through a mix of cunning and a little bribery, only to discover that getting in was the easiest part. Not to be undone by a bunch of spoiled heiresses, Mercy stands strong—until disaster strikes.
On April 18, a historic earthquake rocks San Francisco, destroying Mercy’s home and school. With martial law in effect, she is forced to wait with her classmates for their families in a temporary park encampment. Though fires might rage, and the city may be in shambles, Mercy can’t sit by while they wait for the army to bring help—she still has the “bossy” cheeks that mark her as someone who gets things done. But what can one teenage girl do to heal so many suffering in her broken city?
I remember reading the Magic Treehouse series as a kid, one of which took place in 1906, San Francisco, during the great earthquake. Many years later, I am reading about this earthquake, but from a totally different (and more accurate!) perspective.
Mercy Wong is a Chinese-American teen growing up in San Francisco's Chinatown. The first few chapters are an eye-opening experience to the racism of the time, with Mercy conniving her way into St. Clare's School for Girls, to show that she is just like any other girl, so she can succeed and help her family.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
[Review] SST Review - Beyond the Red by Ava Jae
Hey guys! I'll be reviewing this book as part of Nori's SST. So, I received this book in exchange for an honest review, which doesn't impact my review in any way.
Beyond the Red by Ava Jae
Version: E-ARC
Rating: 3.5 stars
Published: March 1st 2016
Alien queen Kora has a problem as vast as the endless crimson deserts. She’s the first female ruler of her territory in generations, but her people are rioting and call for her violent younger twin brother to take the throne. Despite assassination attempts, a mounting uprising of nomadic human rebels, and pressure to find a mate to help her rule, she’s determined to protect her people from her brother’s would-be tyrannical rule.
Eros is a rebel soldier hated by aliens and human alike for being a half-blood. Yet that doesn’t stop him from defending his people, at least until Kora’s soldiers raze his camp and take him captive. He’s given an ultimatum: be an enslaved bodyguard to Kora, or be executed for his true identity—a secret kept even from him.When Kora and Eros are framed for the attempted assassination of her betrothed, they flee. Their only chance of survival is to turn themselves into the high court, where revealing Eros’s secret could mean a swift public execution. But when they uncover a violent plot to end the human insurgency, they must find a way to work together to prevent genocide.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
[Blog Tour] Soldier by Julie Kagawa
Julie Kagawa was the author that got me into Young Adult literature with her debut The Iron King. I have remained a big fan of her work, and I am so happy to be able to take part in the blog tour for Soldier. Oh, and HAPPY RELEASE DAY! *confetti*
Here is my dream cast for the Talon series!
I put them alongside Julie's illustration of the characters for comparison.
Ember Hill - Chloe Grace Moretz
(imagine her with redder hair!)
Riley - Chris Hemsworth
Garret Xavier Sebastian - Douglas Booth
Dante Hill - Cameron Monaghan
What is your dream cast? Let me know in the comments!
ABOUT SOLDIER:
That was what Garret Xavier Sebastian thought he was part of as a soldier of the Order of St. George. What he learned from a fiery dragon hatchling twisted all he believed in and set him on a collision course with certain death-but not without a chance to put things right.Betrayed and on the run again, Ember and rogue dragon Riley discover an unthinkable truth about Talon and St. George. They'll need Garret's skills and insider knowledge of the Order to negotiate an impossible deal-and if they fail, there will be no way to stop all-out war.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Indiebound | iBooks | The Book Depository
ABOUT JULIE KAGAWA:
Julie Kagawa, the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.
When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time (okay, at least the illustrations did), but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a
real job.
real job.
To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dog trainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full time.
Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, an obnoxious cat, an Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and a hyper-active Papillion.
Be sure to follow the rest of the tour!
Tour Schedule:
Week 1:
4/22: Vi3tbabe - Review
Week 2:
Giveaway:
1 set of TALON, ROGUE & SOLDIER (US Only)
Sunday, April 24, 2016
[Review] SST Review: The Island by S. Usher Evans
Hey guys! I'll be reviewing this book as part of Nori's SST. So, I received this book in exchange for an honest review, which doesn't impact my review in any way.
The Island by S. Usher Evans
Version: Paperback
Rating: 4 stars
To Be Published: April 26th 2016
Prince Galian is third in line to the throne, but prefers his place as a resident at the Royal Kylaen Hospital. When his father urges him to join the military to help reclaim their colony, Galian is forced to put aside his oath to Do No Harm and fight a war he does not believe in. Across the great Madion Sea, Captain Theo Kallistrate dreams of a day when she is no longer bound by conscription to fight for her country's independence. But when the Kylaens threaten, honor and duty call her to the front lines to fight off the oppressors. When an air skirmish goes wrong, both Theo and Galian crash on a remote island hundreds of miles from either nation. Grievously injured, Theo must rely on Galian's medical expertise, and Galian must rely on Theo's survival skills, to live another day in a harsh and unforgiving terrain. Can they put aside their differences long enough to survive? Or will the war that brought them to the island tear them apart?
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