End of Year Survey: Part 1

I'm really excited today to participate in the End of Year Survey put together by the fabulous Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner. I always have so much fun reading friends and fellow bloggers' favorite book lists around this time of year, so I thought I would hop aboard this Train of Win and give the survey a try. 

It's a shockingly hard survey to fill out. I've read innumerable amazing books this year, so it was crazy difficult to call out only a handful. Also, my memory is more sieve than steel trap, so it may or may not have taken me several hours to go back through my review list and figure out what books would fit into which category. Well done me ;-)

This is a fairly lengthy survey, so I decided to split it into two parts with the second one posting tomorrow along with the list of books that got a 4.5 or 5  from me in 2013. Without further ado, I give you some of my favorite books of the year!

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Best Book You Read In 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)

Contemporary YA: Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

Contemporary NA: True by Erin McCarthy

Dystopian: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill is a close second. (Both of these books span genres, but I'm tucking them into this one for the purposes of this survey.)

Historical Fiction: The Madman’s Daughter (yes, this is a bit of a stretch for this genre ;)

Paranormal: Iced by Karen Marie Moning

Science Fiction: Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris and These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.

Fantasy: The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas and Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Romance: Kinked by Thea Harrison

Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Taken by Erin Bowman. I’m a sucker for a stunning cover (as so many book lovers are), so I had very high hopes for this one after seeing its gorgeous cover. Unfortunately, it didn’t work quite as well for me as I’d hoped.

Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013?

Impostor by Susanne Winnacker and Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most?

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon and Iced by Karen Marie Moning

Best series you discovered in 2013?

The Guards of the Shadowlands by Sarah Fine

Favorite new author you discovered in 2013?

So many! Sarah Fine, Samantha Shannon, Kasie West, Cristin Terrill, Erin McCarthy, A.C. Gaughen, Mindee Arnett, and Cora Carmack.

Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas. For a while now I’ve told myself that fantasy is not the genre for me, but multiple times this year I’ve proven myself wrong and I couldn’t be happier about it!

Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?

Iced by Karen Marie Moning. If I didn’t need my hands to work, I would have Ryodan in a death grip 24/7.

Book You Read In 2013 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon or Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor. Both have sequels that should be releasing in 2014 (hopefully on The Bone Season anyway, I know it's book one of seven), and I will gladly re-read both of these to make sure I remember everything I need to before tackling the newest installment!

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke. I also absolutely ADORED this book.

Most memorable character in 2013?

Ryodan from Iced
Warden from The Bone Season
Sturmhond from Siege and Storm

Most beautifully written book read in 2013?

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. This book was just so beautifully atmospheric, it had a dark hypnotic quality that left me completely mesmerized.

Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013?

This answer is a bit of a surprise for me, but I’m going to go with Endless by Jessica Shirvington. The Violet Eden Chapters and I got along very poorly in the beginning, but with each book my love for the series has grown, and Endless absolutely ripped my heart out and stomped on it. It makes me a bit of a masochist, but I loved every second of it.

Days of Blood and Starlight and Sanctum/Fractured would be on this list as well.

Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read?

I’m going to change this question a little bit to be “Books I still can’t believe I haven’t read given it’s 2013”

Anything by Gayle Forman (I KNOW!)
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2013?

I fail this question. I never highlight or mark quotes or passages, so I honestly don’t have one.

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?

Shortest (not counting novellas): Neptune’s Tears by Susan Waggoner
(218 pages)

Longest: Lover at Last by J.R. Ward (597 pages)

Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

Pretty much the entirety of Iced. It’s a conversation starter for sure. Also, the ending of Fractured *falls down dead*

Part two will be up tomorrow!

Series Review: Sanctum + Fractured

SANCTUM/FRACTURED

The Guards of the Shadowlands 1&2

Sarah Fine

Paranormal Young Adult

Amazon Children's Publishing

Fractured releases October 29th

Source: Bought/BEA

THE STORY - FRACTURED (from Goodreads)
In the week since Lela returned to Rhode Island as Captain of the Guard with Malachi as her second in command, local news has been dominated by chilling sightings of human-like creatures running on all fours. Lela knows there’s only one explanation: the Mazikin have arrived in the land of the living.

Needing to maintain the appearance of a normal life for her foster mother, her probation officer, and her classmates, Lela returns to Warwick High along with Malachi. At night they secretly hunt for the Mazikin nest. To assist, two new Guards from very different parts of the Shadowlands are assigned to Lela’s unit, including the bad boy Jim, who repeatedly challenges Lela's authority. Lela struggles to keep all her Guards on the right side of the law, but their mistakes come at a terrible cost.

As one painful revelation follows another and the Mazikin start targeting those closest to her, Lela finds herself more vulnerable than she’s ever been, wanting a future more than she ever has. With an enemy determined to separate soul from body, one question remains: how much is she willing to sacrifice to protect those she loves?

MY THOUGHTS
The Guards of the Shadowlands is a stunningly dark and beautifully challenging series, testing our mental and emotional endurance as Lela and Malachi are tested again and again, but luckily for us Ms. Fine seems to have a direct link to our hearts, knowing just where the line dividing what is bearable from what is overwhelming lies to guide us on a terribly stunning journey along its edge without ever letting us tip over. She provides us with a pair of protagonists in possession of infinite strength despite the cracks that spiderweb their emotional armor, giving them a gorgeous vulnerability to contrast their impressive physical prowess and add yet more colors to an already striking and vibrant couple.

Lela is an exceedingly memorable young woman, her utter devotion to those select few who have shown her compassion and kindness connecting us to her instantly, while the brutal truth of her past launches her to the top of the list of people we admire. She's a fighter through and through, her determination to ensure the safety and happiness of others when she so rarely feels safe herself causing goosebumps to run unchecked across our skin, so moved are we by her actions. Her relationship with Malachi is a perfect sort of torture, her poor sense of self worth–compliments of her gut-wrenching past– creating such fragile moments between them, their emotionally delicate interactions an intricate dance of pain, hope, friendship and budding love.

Malachi is as richly nuanced as Lela, his bad boy status not simply a young adult fiction label but rather an extraordinarily apt description; death and violence a cloak he appears to wear with confidence and surety. Underneath the blood though is a pair of hands that itch with a desire to hold and protect Lela; hands that bring as much comfort when she comes barreling into his world as they instill fear into those terrorizing the Shadowlands and the human realm. He is as uneasy in romantic situations as Lela is, the tension between them a pulsing beat we can practically feel reverberate through the pages, and we can do nothing other than cherish every quiet moment between them as it's clear to us their road will never be one easily walked.

Fractured, book two, does adopt the typical middle book ploy in which the primary romance dissolves, but instead of irritating us Ms. Fine makes sure we're devastated instead, the new distance between them like a clawed Mazikin hand sending a raging infection of wrongness through our bloodstream. Additionally, where Sanctum wraps up nicely Fractured leaves us far more off-kilter, but our faith in Lela and what's she's capable of is a spark in the blackness; one we lunge toward in the concluding chapters and cling to like a safety net as we begin the painfully long wait for book three.

Sanctum: 4/5
Fractured: 4.5/5

Find Sarah:

Website • Blog • Facebook • Twitter • Amazon • Goodreads

 

I had the opportunity to interview Sarah a few weeks ago, if you didn't get a chance to check that interview out, you can do so HERE.

Fractured was given to me by the publisher at BEA  free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Interview: Sarah Fine + Fractured

I'm extremely excited today to welcome young adult author Sarah Fine to the blog to answer a few questions about her Guards of the Shadowlands series. I first heard about Sanctum from fellow bloggers who all had outstanding things to say, but I didn't have the opportunity to pick it up until I went on vacation recently and I kind of want to punch myself in the face as a result. It was amazing. Fractured, book two, is even better (full review coming soon), and I'm one-hundred percent in love with Lela and Malachi. As you may have guessed, I can't recommend this series enough and having Sarah on the blog completely makes my day. I hope you all enjoy the interview!

The human Guards of the dark city, given they died in different time periods, all bring varied skills and knowledge with them when they begin training. If you found yourself in Guard training with Malachi, what skills or information would you bring to the table that might be useful to them?

I’m told that I have a disapproving stare that sends chills down the spine, though I doubt that would deter a Mazikin. Apart from that, I have a sick imagination and the ability to assess and diagnose mental disorders. Again, probably not that useful, unless we want to have a Mazikin admitted to the hospital on a 72-hour involuntary hold.

Lela’s story is a brutal and highly emotional one. What’s the last book you read that tied you up in emotional knots?

SECRET by Brigid Kemmerer (it comes out in January 2014). Brigid has a talent for creating tense, emotionally charged family dynamics and romantic relationships, but in Secret, she outdoes herself. Her main character, Nick, is so anguished. His need to understand and accept himself, his intense desire to connect with the guy he’s falling for, his fear of losing control, as well as his anxiety about revealing his true self to his family was palpable and raw. It’s a phenomenal book.

What is one quality Lela possesses that you wish you did? One quality you have that Lela would benefit from?

Lela is incredibly resilient and fierce, and I’m not sure I could endure what she has and still be as functional as she is. As for a quality I have … I’m much less prone to shooting off my mouth. Most of the time.

As a reward for all their hard work, the Judge (in a magnanimous mood) grants Lela and Malachi a single day in the world of another piece of YA fiction. In what worlds might each of them choose to spend their time?

This is such an interesting question because I tend to read such dark YA fiction with bleak, scary worlds, and really, all Lela and Malachi want is rest (and each other). I think both would choose a contemporary, less urban setting, like Mercy Falls from Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver/Linger/Forever, where they’re likely to have a bit more peace and quiet.

If Malachi were to ask you to rewrite one small thing about his character, what do you think he would want to change?

I think he might ask to be as brutal and emotionless as he sometimes tries to act. Malachi, in his soul, craves peace and gentleness. He doesn’t seek or want greatness; he never asked to be part of this epic story. But since he has to be, I think he’d want to be a little tougher internally, because he also has a deep sense of duty and doesn’t avoid doing what he thinks is right, even if it causes him great pain.

What aspect/element of the dark city was the first to take shape in your mind when crafting the Shadowlands?

The fact that people could have whatever they wanted, that they could grow whatever they desired, but that it just wouldn’t be that great or satisfying. That was inspired by one of C.S. Lewis’s books, and I built the whole city around it.

You’re in a group interview setting with all the characters from Sanctum and Fractured. Who is the first to speak and what question do they ask?

Wait—are they interviewing me? If so, Michael would dominate the rest through the sheer volume of his voice and demand to know why he doesn’t have more page time. Then he’d probably curse at me in Farsi.

• • • • • • • • • • 

SARAH FINE

I’m the author of the Guards of the Shadowlands urban fantasy series (Skyscape/Amazon Children’s Publishing), including Sanctum (October 2012) and Fractured (October 2013). My gothic young adult novel Of Metal and Wishes will be published by McElderry/Simon & Schuster in August 2014. In May 2014, Putnam/Penguin will publish Scan, the first of two thrillers I co-authored with Walter Jury under the name S. E. Fine. When I’m not writing, I’m psychologizing. Sometimes I do both at the same time. The results are unpredictable.

Website • Blog • Facebook • Twitter

• • • • • • • • • • •

FRACTURED

(releases October 29th)

In the week since Lela returned to Rhode Island as Captain of the Guard with Malachi as her second in command, local news has been dominated by chilling sightings of human-like creatures running on all fours. Lela knows there’s only one explanation: the Mazikin have arrived in the land of the living.

Needing to maintain the appearance of a normal life for her foster mother, her probation officer, and her classmates, Lela returns to Warwick High along with Malachi. At night they secretly hunt for the Mazikin nest. To assist, two new Guards from very different parts of the Shadowlands are assigned to Lela’s unit, including the bad boy Jim, who repeatedly challenges Lela's authority. Lela struggles to keep all her Guards on the right side of the law, but their mistakes come at a terrible cost.

As one painful revelation follows another and the Mazikin start targeting those closest to her, Lela finds herself more vulnerable than she’s ever been, wanting a future more than she ever has. With an enemy determined to separate soul from body, one question remains: how much is she willing to sacrifice to protect those she loves?

Amazon • Goodreads

*Fractured (or Sanctum if you've yet to read it) is one of the books I'm giving away as part of the Something Wicked Returns Giveaway Hop, so be sure and enter HERE if you haven't yet!