Review: Gifted

GIFTED
H.A. Swain
Young Adult/Sci-Fi
Feiwel & Friends
336 pages
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
In Orpheus Chanson's world, geniuses and prodigies are no longer born or honed through hard work. Instead, procedures to induce Acquired Savant Abilities (ASAs) are now purchased by the privileged. And Orpheus's father holds the copyright to the ASA procedure.

Zimri Robinson, a natural musical prodigy, is a "plebe"--a worker at the enormous warehouse that supplies an on-line marketplace that has supplanted all commerce. Her grueling schedule and her grandmother's illness can't keep her from making music--even if it is illegal.

Orpheus and Zimri are not supposed to meet. He is meant for greatness; she is not. But sometimes, rules are meant to be broken. Here is a thriller, love story, and social experiment that readers will find gripping--and terrifying.

MY THOUGHTS

Gifted takes a little while to settle into, a futuristic world where young people have brain surgeries to catapult them to fame and fortune in music, arts or entertainment making it initially (and likely purposely) challenging to relate to Orpheus and his ilk. Zimri, being a lowly plebe and hardworking factory girl is of course easy to root for from the beginning, and watching as Orpheus finds himself walking a mile in her shoes makes their story a satisfying one.

Zimri is a young woman who's lost both parents to a world where one company single-handedly determines who is worthy of wealth and status and who is not, and though she's much easier to connect to than Orpheus, we never get to know either of them very well. Her relationship with her grandmother is the strongest of all those in this tale, the depth of her love and loyalty toward the woman who's always been there for her something that shines brightly from the pages. Zimri's friendship and eventual romance with Orpheus stays firmly on the surface, a few highlights and cute moments scattered throughout as they prepare to facedown Orpheus's father and the CEO of Chanson Industries–the company responsible for the brain surgeries–but we never delve too deeply into the emotional complexities that typically accompany a star-crossed type of romance.

Additionally, the final confrontation between Zimri, Orpheus and his father is shorter and less intense than expected, a few pulse-pounding moments as things fall apart holding our attention before everything is remedied quickly and easily, denying us the gritty details of a revolutionary action. All that being said though, Gifted is still a quick, enjoyable read, a look into a future that hopefully never comes to pass but isn't entirely hard to imagine given our fixation on the entertainment world as a whole.

Rating: 3.5/5

Find Heather.:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

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

The Winner's Kiss Blog Tour: The Winning Kiss

Today is a very exciting day everyone! Not only do I get to be a part of the promotional tour for The Winner's Kiss, the final book in Mariet Rutkoski's outstanding young adult series, but I also get to swoon and gush and wax poetic about fictional kisses and the couples who share them. *happy dance*

The enormously creative team at Fierce Reads has asked each participating blog on this tour to share the book in which our favorite literary kiss occurs along with a little explanation as to why that particular kiss is so special. KISSING FOR THE WIN! As all of you probably know by now, I'm a romance lover at heart and it's not often that I pick up a book, YA or adult, that doesn't have some kind of romantic relationship in it, so this is my kind of tour.

Okay, let's get to the good stuff! Juicy questions and answers coming right up:)

WHAT BOOK IS YOUR FAVORITE LITERARY KISS IN?

I think you can all probably guess that this was a very hard question for me to answer. Very. Hard. I decided to go with not necessarily my all time favorite kiss, but rather the kiss that kickstarted my love of romance. We'll call it the Kiss That Launched An Obsession, and it took place in a little book called Frostbite by Richelle Mead, the second book in her monstrously popular Vampire Academy series.

WHO IS KISSING?

Rose and Dimitri. Of course! Instead of telling you all about it though, I thought I'd just let Ms. Mead do my talking for me and share a brief excerpt of the Kiss That Launched An Obsession:

The hand I'd hoped would touch my hair suddenly reached out and grabbed my pointing hand. He pinned it to the wall, and I was surprised to see a flare of emotion in his eyes. It wasn't exactly anger...but it was frustration of another kind.

"Don't tell me what I'm feeling," he growled.

...

I could see his labored breathing and knew his heart was beating as quickly as mine. And he wasn't pulling away. I knew this was wrong–knew all the logical reasons for us staying apart. But right then, I didn't care. I didn't want to control myself. I didn't want to be good.

Before he realized what was happening, I kissed him. Our lips met, and when I felt him kiss me back, I knew I was right. He pressed himself closer, trapping me between him and the wall. He kept holding my hand, but his other one snaked behind my head, sliding into my hair. The kiss was filled with so much intensity; it held anger, passion, release...

He was the one who broke it. He jerked away from me and took several steps back, looking shaken.

"Do not do that again, " he said stiffly.

WHY IS IT YOUR FAVORITE?

I think what I love so much about this scene is that it shows a tiny crack in Dimitri's emotional armor. After the events of the first book it became clear to both Rose and Dimitri that a relationship between them posed so many challenges as to make it nearly impossible to be together, so in the build up to this moment they've both been angry and hurt, wanting what they can't have and taking that frustration out on one another. Dimitri is the more buttoned up of the two, holding his feelings close to his vest and hiding them so well that he makes not only Rose doubt his attraction to her, but us as well. This brief interaction is the perfect swoony reminder that despite all his strength and his legendary control, Dimitri is still flesh and blood. And struggling just as much as Rose to keep distance between them:)

WHAT KISS DO YOU HOPE WILL OCCUR IN THE WINNER'S KISS?

If Kestrel and Arin aren't madly in love and together at the end of this book I will curl into the fetal position and start sobbing. I say this with absolutely no exaggeration:)

I'd love to know what book has your favorite kiss or couple, so please share in the comments! There's no such thing as too many romantic recommendations:)

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

THE WINNER'S KISS

Releases March 29th

War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.

At least, that’s what he thinks.

In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.

But no one gets what they want just by wishing.

As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

Amazon • B&N • Goodreads

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 

MARIE RUTKOSKI

Marie Rutkoski is the author of The Kronos Chronicles, including The Cabinet of Wonders and The Celestial Globe. The Cabinet of Wonders, her debut novel, was named an Indie Next Kids’ List Great Read and a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, among other honors. Rutkoski grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the oldest of four children. She attended the University of Iowa, where she took Writers’ Workshop classes and studied with Pulitzer Prize-winner James Alan McPherson. After graduating, she lived in Moscow and Prague. Upon receiving her Ph.D. from Harvard University, she held dual appointments as a lecturer there in both English and American Literature and Language, and History and Literature. Rutkoski is currently a professor at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance Drama, children’s literature and creative writing. She lives in New York City with her husband and cat.

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Don't forget to check out the full list of participating blogs for more winning kisses!

Review: These Viscious Masks

THESE VICIOUS MASKS
These Vicious Masks #1
Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas
Paranormal Young Adult
352 pages
Swoon Reads
Available February 9th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Jane Austen meets X-­Men in this gripping and adventure-­filled paranormal romance set in Victorian London.

England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent. But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose. The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.

MY THOUGHTS
These Vicious Masks is a fun start to this series, a heroine with a delightfully quick wit bringing a smile to our faces even when life and death are on the line. Mr. Shanker and Ms. Zekas have a gift for writing hilarious banter, making the interactions between Evelyn and everyone she encounters–especially Mr. Kent–a highlight of this first installment.

Evelyn is a young woman with modern sensibilities stuck in a time period governed by societal rules that have her chafing at the bit, and while we can't help but applaud her for flaunting her disregard for those rules as she tries to find her sister, we also wince on her behalf when the might of Ton shows her that their apparent frivolity has real power behind it. Evelyn's smart mouth is only one of the reasons she's such an enjoyable protagonist however, with her determination to find her sister and her ability to actually communicate with those aiding in her search also joining the list. She does go charging into a number of potentially dangerous situations in the hopes she'll find Rose, but she at least doesn't do so on her own and takes what precautions she can to ensure her safety.

While the mention of both Mr. Kent and Sebastian Braddock in the synopsis might give many an avid young adult reader the beginnings of a nervous eye tic, no true triangle forms in this first book as Evelyn's focus is almost exclusively on locating her sister. Mr. Kent does makes his romantic interest known toward the end, but the banter between them feels like that which exists between longtime friends, and though a spark between her and Sebastian certainly exists, the authors poke fun at his typical YA love interest broodiness through Evelyn's early observations of him. As a result, it's difficult to label Evelyn's relationship with both young men a triangle, and Mr. Shanker and Ms. Zekas do an outstanding job of making sure the romance remains both secondary and light while not lacking in substance.

Overall, These Vicious Masks pleasantly surprises with its humor, but it's certainly not all laughs as Evelyn uncovers a world she never thought possible. We're given a solid resolution to Rose's kidnapping, but the journey to track her down opens a whole new set of doors and gives this series legs to stand on moving forward into the next book.

Rating: 4/5

Find Tarun:

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Find Kelly:

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Buy These Vicious Masks:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher  free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

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

Join The Resistance: A Lunar Chronicles Giveaway

YOU GUYS!!!!! Do you know what tomorrow is? It's the release day for a little book called Winter, the fourth and final book in the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer. *fangirl flail* I have been obsessing over this book from the moment I met Winter in Cress, and now, after waiting 133 years (okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, it just felt that long), it's finally time.

In order to celebrate Winter's release, the amazing team at Fierce Reads is letting me give away a prize pack of AWESOME including a copy of Cinder (for those of you who need to start at the beginning!) and fun Lunar Chronicles metallic tattoos. It's possible I've been sporting shiny gold wrist cuffs for a few weeks, forcing my husband to ask the question he should really know better than to ask by now: Why? I told him I'd joined the resistance because Winter was coming. He just nodded and walked away, probably because that's not even in the top 10 weirdest book-related things I've said to him. He's super glad he married me, obviously ;-)

Before I get to the giveaway, here's a little bit about Winter just in case not all of you have stalked this series as closely as I have:)

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend--the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer's national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.

Amazon • B&N • Goodreads

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

GIVEAWAY

To enter, please fill out the rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is open to US addresses only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: First & Then

FIRST & THEN
Emma Mills
Contemporary Young Adult
272 pages
Henry Holt & Co
Available October 13th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Devon Tennyson wouldn't change a thing. She's happy watching Friday night games from the bleachers, silently crushing on best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school. But the universe has other plans. It delivers Devon's cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent for football, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive star running back, Ezra, right where she doesn't want them first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.

Pride and Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights in this contemporary novel about falling in love with the unexpected boy, with a new brother, and with yourself.

MY THOUGHTS
First & Then is an utterly genuine and authentic snapshot of high school life, giving us just a few brief months with Devon before we find ourselves on the last page, but in that time we experience the highs and lows of teenage life free of the exaggeration so often overused to create drama. Instead of cocky, arrogant beautiful boys and petty, cruel popular girls, Ms. Mills gives us characters that are a gorgeously human jumble of both winning attributes and imperfections who smile and stumble their way through day to day life.

Devon is a gem of a young woman, a dry delivery accompanying a quick wit to ensure we have a smile on our faces more often than not, and we can’t help but be pulled into her story despite the fact that nothing momentous occurs over the course of the book. Our time with her is more slice of life than anything else, but the beautiful relationship between her and her cousin Foster as well as the slow-building romance with Ezra keeps us turning the pages as quickly as if she were facing one life and death situation after another.

While Devon is a standout character, her younger cousin Foster is a show-stealer, one of those lucky people who’s completely at home in his own skin and comfortable with who he is at age 14 in a way that would make many an adult green with envy. He’s blunt at times, quirky at others, and absolutely adorable all of the time, winning our hearts from the moment he steps on page.

For the romance lovers like myself, there’s a beautifully subtle relationship that forms between Devon and star football player Ezra, but instead of a popular-boy-falls-for-social-outcast-girl scenario we get a much more nuanced and realistic portrayal, one full of growing pains and quiet but personal revelations that result in the beginning of something lovely. Overall, First & Then is a story that feels free of noise, almost as though we’re reading with headphones on, everything that’s unnecessary canceled out to allow us to focus on the smaller details that make Devon, Foster, and Ezra so perfectly real.

Rating: 4/5 

Find Emma:

YouTube • Twitter • Amazon • B&N • Goodreads

 

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

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

First & Then Book Superlative Blog Tour: A Pair of Love Letters

Today I'm beyond thrilled to be a part of a very unique blog tour for First & Then, a contemporary young adult debut from Emma Mills (LOVED IT!). Since this novel deals with life in high school, the amazingly creative team at Fierce Reads decided to put together a superlative-themed blog tour, one where each blogger is assigned a yearbook-style superlative to address along with Emma. What superlative was I given you ask? Well, I'll tell you:

BOOK MOST LIKELY TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Instead of simply listing a few reasons as to how our book of choice impacted our lives, I thought it might be fun to write love letters to the character(s) of those books instead. I asked Emma to let protagonist Devon take the reins though, so she's here to share a love letter to one Mr. Sam-I-Am. Take it away Devon!

Dear Sam-I-Am (Mr. Am?),

Thank you for so faithfully shepherding the events of Green Eggs and Ham, which is the first book I remember reading all by myself. I’m a pretty serious reader now— Jane Austen books are my favorite, but I like YA and mysteries and fantasy as well—and you, Sam, kicked it all off with your culinary adventures and your rhymes. Thanks for paving the way for me to read everything else that I enjoy. I couldn’t delight in Sense and Sensibility had I not hashed out that reading thing way back in the day with the help of your unapologetically green breakfast.

Fondest regards,
Devon Tennyson

Like Devon, I wanted to write to one of my firsts as well, so here I go baring my fictional soul:

Dear Cast of Twilight,

There are many who would read this letter and scoff at my choice of book for this particular superlative, but I've never been one to be embarrassed or ashamed of my reading preferences, so it seems silly to have any hesitation in writing this letter now. You all have been mocked mercilessly over the years, your character flaws dissected and posted for ridicule on every corner of the internet, and while you are undoubtedly imperfect and your poor movie adaptation laughable at best, you are single-handedly responsible for both this blog and my current employment.

Before you came along reading for me was a chore. You see, I was traumatized in high school by a pair of classics by the name of Moby Dick and Crime and Punishment. These books were painful for me. My soul died a little with each page I forced myself to flip (I DON'T WANT TO CALL YOU ISHMAEL DAMMIT!), but I persevered because in the end I would be tested. I would have to recall names. Quotes. I would have to wax poetic on symbolism, metaphor and character motivation. And though I read both cover to cover, I met with near failure in the from of a D grade on both tests. Those grades haunt the overachiever in me still.

In the aftermath of that academic tragedy I could not be persuaded to pick up a piece of fiction for any other reason than it was required of me for class, but then, years after college, a friend told me of you. Read this, she said. Fangirl with me, she said. And so I did. What followed was me seeking out every paranormal young adult story I could get my hands on, and I became a proud stalker of the YA shelves at my local bookstore. I started a blog to share my newfound love of reading. And, as of this moment five plus years later, I have a new career designing book covers, something that would never have been possible without you.

So, while some may snort at the idea of you having a profound impact on anyone's life, please know that you forever changed mine for the better. As I wrap up this letter to go work on a new cover, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Warmly,

Jenny

• • • • • • • • • • • • • 

FIRST & THEN

(releases October 13th from Henry Holt & Co)

Devon Tennyson wouldn't change a thing. She's happy watching Friday night games from the bleachers, silently crushing on best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school. But the universe has other plans. It delivers Devon's cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent for football, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive star running back, Ezra, right where she doesn't want them first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.

Pride and Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights in this contemporary novel about falling in love with the unexpected boy, with a new brother, and with yourself.

Amazon • B&N • Goodreads

• • • • • • • • • • • •

BOOK SUPERLATIVE TOUR

Don't miss out on all the amazing stops on this tour as each has its own special superlative. I also hope you guys add this one to your lists as I absolutely adored it (full review to come next week!)

 
 

Review: Six of Crows

SIX OF CROWS
Six of Crows #1
Leigh Bardugo
Young Adult/Fantasy
480 pages
Henry Holt
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.

MY THOUGHTS
Six of Crows is everything we've come to expect from Ms. Bardugo; an extraordinary cast of characters who shine brightly from the darkness of their world to ensure their memory is forever seared into our minds and hearts. This tale could have been pure chaos, five distinct character perspectives as well as sporadic flashbacks to their varied histories ingredients for a jumbled storyline, but in the hands of Ms. Bardugo this dark adventure unfolds smoothly and richly, a gorgeous reveal of a seemingly endless series of layers that keep us on our toes throughout.

While there are six members of Kaz Brekker's team of uniquely talented gutter rats, we get the perspectives of only five of them, and each is given what feels like equal time in the spotlight. What's so impressive about Ms. Bardugo's ability to craft her characters is that none outshine the rest, instead they're all nuanced to a degree that we'll never learn all there is to know about them (Kaz especially), but we'll be damned if we don't want to spend hours on end trying to do just that. All six have their shadowy corners, their secrets and shames. All have pasts riddled with varying degrees of brutality; privilege turned into poverty, dreams turned into dirt and filth, and wishes turned into weapons used for money and revenge, and we're nothing other than spellbound by each and every single one of them.

Ms. Bardugo also possesses an uncanny gift for writing characters to whom we should easily be able to affix the villain label, but yet we find ourselves repeatedly rationalizing their actions, finding ways to excuse the pain they cause in our need to see them redeemed. A need that remains a far cry greater than their own desire to achieve redemption. Kaz is one such character, a young man capable of monstrous actions and cruel words that cut to the bone, yet we latch on to his rare moments of vulnerability and use them to further tint our rose colored glasses. He's absolutely magnetic, a mystery whose motivations we've barely started to grasp by the time we reach the final page, and who will likely continue to surprise us at every turn as this series progresses.

Overall, Six of Crows is stunning from beginning to end, a true triumph of characterization that leaves us in tears over the fact that we must wait a full year to be reunited with these six men and women.

Rating: 5/5
 

Find Leigh

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

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

Review: The Heart of Betrayal

THE HEART OF BETRAYAL
The Remnant Chronicles #2
Mary E. Pearson
Young Adult/Fantasy
470 pages
Henry Holt & Co.
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape. Desperate to save her life, Lia's erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komizar that she has the gift, and the Komizar's interest in Lia is greater than anyone could have foreseen.

Meanwhile, nothing is straightforward: there's Rafe, who lied to Lia, but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom Lia always believed to be barbarians. Now that she lives amongst them, however, she realizes that may be far from the truth. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her sense of self, Lia must make powerful choices that will affect her country... and her own destiny.

MY THOUGHTS
The Heart of Betrayal is a bit of a tricky sequel, picking up the exact moment the first book left off and continuing Lia's story without the benefit of any recap. Those (like me) for whom it's been a year in between books will likely struggle to settle in, trying desperately to recount the finer details of past events and stumbling at the mention of characters who don't ring as loud a bell in our memories as we need in order to feel emotionally invested. The fact that this second installment is a bit slower in its pace only adds to our difficulties, failing to reach out and grab us to the degree that our inability to recall certain aspects of its predecessor becomes irrelevant, instead leaving us without the anchor we so desperately need.

That being said however, Lia is still an enjoyable heroine, playing it smart while in enemy territory by using silence as a weapon, largely keeping her mouth shut and evaluating all that's shared in order to fill the dead air. She's willful when necessary though, showing the Komizar and everyone else that her spine is not lacking in steel and that she will not break as easily as they so clearly expected. When it comes to the romance, Lia's feelings are clear throughout, but the hint of a triangle remains because she must play a role in order to protect herself and the one she loves, keeping the three of them riding a razor's edge of tension that at any minute might end up cutting them all to shreds.

The main issue keeping this tale from a higher rating aside from the lack of any small reminders to help us recall book one is the fact that Rafe, Lia and Kaden are all in a holding pattern for majority of the book. Rafe and Lia spend their days in Venda waiting for Rafe's friends to sneak in and help them escape, and while we're grateful the two of them realize such an endeavor is far more than two people can handle on their own and therefore don't make any easily avoidable mistakes, we don't learn all that much as they bide their time. A few chess pieces are moved though, and the Komizar proves to be a character of depth and complexity who piques our curiosity whenever he appears on page, keeping us flipping the pages in the hopes that a little action will be waiting for us.

Overall, The Heart of Betrayal is a bit slower moving than The Kiss of Deception, a book that is a rumble of thunder on the horizon, warning us of the storm that is to come in the final installment.

Rating: 3/5

*Full disclosure: I've been in a bit of a YA reading slump of late, so this very well could have been more me than the story itself. Anyone who loved book one should definitely give this a try!

Find Mary:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the author  free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

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

Waiting on Wednesday: These Vicious Masks

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine and is a fun way to see what books other bloggers just can't wait to get their hands on!

THESE VICIOUS MASKS

Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas

Paranormal Young Adult

Releases February 2016 from Swoon Reads/Macmillan

From Goodreads:

Evelyn has no interest in marriage and even the dashing Mr. Kent can’t inspire her to give in to society’s expectations. She’d much rather assist her beloved sister Rose in her radical quest to become a doctor. Then she meets Sebastian Braddock. The reclusive gentleman is vexing, annoyingly attractive, and quite possibly mad—and his interest in Rose is galling. So when Rose disappears, Sebastian is immediately suspect.

Yet Sebastian’s strange tales of special powers soon prove to be true, and Evelyn learns that Rose’s kidnappers have much worse in mind for her than simply ruining her reputation. Surrounded by secrets, lies, and unprecedented danger, Evelyn has no choice but to trust Sebastian, yet she can’t help but worry that his secrets are the most dangerous of all…

Well hello there, gorgeous cover! I love absolutely everything about this cover, from the background texture to the type to the bright pop of red in the ribbon, so it of course went on my list as soon as I saw it. And while characters with secrets (I'm looking at you Sebastian) cause me stress, especially in a romantic situation, I still can't help but want to uncover every last one of them like the obsessively curious reader I am. I die a little inside every time I look at the release date, but I'm sure it will be 2016 in no time, right? RIGHT?!

Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday: First & Then

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine and is a fun way to see what books other bloggers just can't wait to get their hands on!

FIRST & THEN

Emma Mills

Contemporary Young Adult

Releases October 13th from Henry Holt (Macmillan)

From Goodreads:

First impressions can be deceiving . . .

Devon has life pretty much figured out: she’s got her best friend Cas, her secret crush (also Cas), and her comfortable routine (mostly spent with Cas). New experiences: not welcome here. But as she enters her senior year, her parents take in her cousin Foster, an undersized weirdo who shows an unexpected talent for football, and star running back Ezra takes Foster under his wing. Devon can't figure out how she feels about Ezra. He's obviously stuck-up, but Foster adores him. Ezra has nothing to say to her, but he keeps seeking her out. And... Devon might actually like him. If only she can admit it to herself.

Funny, fresh, and layered, First and Then proves that change doesn't always tear things apart—sometimes, it brings them together.

First of all, this cover makes me happy. Yes, it's a design made up entirely of either rain or tears, neither of which has overwhelmingly positive connotations, but it's so simple and colorful that I want to blow it up to poster size and hang it on my wall for when I need a little visual pick me up:) Also? I'm getting an antagonistic relationship vibe from the blurb which would have sold me on this one if the cover hadn't already taken care of that. I LOVE romances that start out a bit rocky, and I can't wait to see how Devon's opinion of Ezra changes over time.

Amazon • Goodreads

Review: Dream a Little Dream

DREAM A LITTLE DREAM
The Silver Trilogy #1
Kerstin Gier
Paranormal Young Adult
Henry Holt
336 pages
Available April 14th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Mysterious doors with lizard-head knobs. Talking stone statues. A crazy girl with a hatchet. Yep, Liv’s dreams have been pretty weird lately. Especially this one where she’s in a graveyard at night, watching four boys perform dark magic rituals.

The really weird thing is that Liv recognizes the boys in her dream. They’re classmates from her new school in London, the school where’s she’s starting over because her mom has moved them to a new country (again). But they seem to know things about her in real life that they couldn’t possibly know, which is mystifying. Then again, Liv could never resist a good mystery. . . .

MY THOUGHTS
Dream a Little Dream is a bit darker than its cover suggests, the whimsy and vibrancy of the depicted dream sequence but a small moment in this tale compared to the prominent shadow of a possible demonic threat. (It should be noted that I wrote this review a while back with the original cover in mind, though it does still apply somewhat.) While the story itself has serious themes, Ms. Gier's sense of humor is present and accounted for, bringing a smile to our faces as we attempt to sort out just what Liv has gotten herself into with the young men at her new school. There's an ease to Ms. Gier's writing style that causes the pages to turn in rapid succession, drawing us in and holding our attention throughout until we find ourselves staring at the inside back cover far sooner than expected.

Liv is someone with whom it's easy to settle in, quick with a sarcastic quip and first (along with younger sister Mia) to roll her eyes at some of the sheer ridiculousness perpetrated by those at Frognal Academy for Boys and Girls. She's not one to swoon over the quartet of physical perfection that is Arthur, Jasper, Henry and Grayson, instead she calls them out on their insincere flirting, corrects them when they get her name wrong and mentally pokes fun at them when they allow the reactions of the other girls to stroke their egos. She does require the suspension of disbelief in one particular area though, diving headfirst into the dream/demon happenings with shockingly little thought as to the potential repercussions of meddling in supernatural affairs. Granted, she doesn't believe in the supernatural and therefore assumes her participation in the boys' rituals is harmless, but regardless of whether or not demons do in fact exist, we can't help but wish she might give her involvement the gravity it deserves.

Her lack of sound decision making with regard to the paranormal aspect aside, Liv is a thoroughly enjoyable young woman with a hilarious relationship with younger sister Mia. Mia is a highlight despite her relatively minor role, the sweetness of her young face always belied by the things that come out of her mouth, and we can do nothing but smile every time she appears on page. Overall, Dream a Little Dream is a fun start to this series, and while it's a little light on answers to our many questions regarding the dream world and the possible demon responsible for it, it's easy to free ourselves from those tangles and simply enjoy a well-told story.

Rating: 4/5

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

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