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.

Review + Giveaway: Never Fade

NEVER FADE
The Darkest Minds #2
Alexandra Bracken
Young Adult/Dystopian
512 pages
Disney Hyperion
Available Now
Source: Finished copy for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster.

When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her.

As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?

MY THOUGHTS
Never Fade is a sequel we enter into with far less dread than we might expect given the emotional conclusion to The Darkest Minds, our nerves eased a bit with the knowledge that Ruby’s most debilitating fear already came to pass and therefore can’t taunt us with its inevitability in this book. That’s not to say that Never Fade is an easy read by any means, Ms. Bracken proving again and again just how brutal and twisted this world can be, but there’s a certain warmth in our chest that comes from knowing Ruby has hit bottom (or close to it) previously, and now we get to watch as she transforms from a little girl scared of anything and everything to a young woman who fights through that fear in search of a better life for those she cares about.

Ruby has come a long way from the somewhat timid girl with a gift for being her own harshest critic–always first to refer to herself as a monster in her own mind, and first to agree with those who say it out loud–but though she still has a paralyzing fear of her abilities as an Orange, they don’t render her practically useless in a life or death situation as they have before. More than anything this second installment focuses on Ruby’s struggle to come to terms with who she is and what she can do, oh-so slowly beginning to see that the motivation and intent behind the gifts of an Orange defines what makes a monster more so than the abilities themselves. It’s a rocky road for her throughout, and she gets knocked down and beaten far more than she wins, but she always gets up and continues forward regardless of the obstacles in her path.

Though this sequel rises above middle book syndrome in a multitude of ways, sparing us familiar plot devices such as the separation of the main couple to make room for a new romantic interest, it does fail to provide any concrete information to help answer all the questions carried over from book one. Given its impressive length, we can’t help but hope somewhere in its hundreds of pages lie clues as to the why’s and how’s of the disease that killed nearly an entire generation of children (and US children only) and left the survivors with preternatural abilities. Unfortunately for us, no answers are to be had, instead we spend all of our time bouncing from one bad situation for Ruby and company to the next. While the many scuffles, narrow escapes, and all-out fights show us how she’s growing little by little into someone we’re one hundred percent rooting for, it feels as though this story could have been streamlined in some parts to keep our attention razor sharp the whole way through.

Just when we start to find our attention wandering though, wondering if and when all our unanswered questions will be addressed, the side characters grab hold of our faces and wrench our gazes back to them, delighting us with well-timed humor and an abundance of attitude. Ruby is a strong heroine– one who seems as though she will only continue to get stronger–but Chubs, Vida and Jude steal the show in Never Fade, their sass, charm, and exuberance bringing a welcome smile to our faces. Based on the concluding events of this story, it appears as though the focus of the next book will shift to exactly where we want it, and I will most certainly be picking it up in a desperately greedy search for all my much-needed answers.

Rating: 3.5-4/5 
(I'm splitting the rating because I would give the characters a solid 4 or higher, but I wanted a few more answers with regard to the plot, which ended up somewhere around a 3.5)

Find Alexandra:

Website • Darkest Minds Website • Facebook • Twitter
Goodreads • Amazon

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GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the wonderful people at Disney Book Group, I have a very cool giveaway to share with you all today. One lucky winner will receive a custom Never Fade t-shirt as well as a copy of the book. Woo hoo! To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is open to US residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guest Post and Giveaway: Kat Bastion + Forged in Dreams and Magick

Today I'm pleased to hand the blog over to author Kat Bastion who's popping in to talk a little bit about the writing of her newest adult paranormal romance novel, Forged in Dreams and Magick. She's also generously offering up a paperback copy of the book to one lucky winner, so be sure and check out the bottom of the post for all the giveaway details. Welcome to Supernatural Snark Kat!

Electrifying a Scene: Tension in Forged in Dreams and Magick 

When I imagined the scenes in my paranormal romance novel, Forged in Dreams and Magick, they burst into my mind and flowed onto the page, full of energy and passion, chemistry sizzling.

How does an author bring the exciting adventure to life for the reader?

By creating tension.

Which would you rather be a passenger in?

A McLaren rocketing down the Autobahn, pushing Mach 1, careening to avoid a projectile hurtling toward the windshield while you white-knuckle grip the edge of the dashboard?

Or an aged Volvo sedan whose check engine light laughs aloud as the accelerator defies its purpose, your ride coasting to an unremarkable stop?

You got out of the Volvo, banished the bland experience, and hitched a ride in the sexy, dangerous McLaren, didn’t you?

Tension manifests both internally and externally in a compelling story. The internal conflict powers our ability to get to know the characters, enabling us to feel their roller-coaster emotions. External hazards lay the obstacle course that our hero and heroine must journey through to make it to the other side.

Their adventure along the way is the amazing story.

How does an author craft such an elusive, but critical, component?

The outer layer of any gripping novel is the exhilarating plot, along with the character’s corresponding goals, motivation, and conflict within its framework.

When we peel away a layer of our powerful onion, each chapter should have a goal at the beginning, challenges our characters face getting there, and either a positive or negative resolution.

The deeper layers break the chapters down to their scene, the paragraphs within, and the sentence structure holding everything together.

And then there are the words…

Well-chosen words have immense power. Why use sentences to explain what a character feels, if a few delectable words plunge you there in one heart-wrenching gasp?

One can even create tension in a title. Take this blog post.

The title originally began as “Tension in a Scene,” which was my topic. Okay. While a good start, it felt like our Volvo. I escalated to “Charging the Scene” and graduated the experience to maybe a Ferrari or a Porsche. I wanted a thrill-ride title to capture your interest, though, and transformed it into “Electrifying the Scene,” and here we are.

Writing style also plays a critical factor in creating a page-turning adventure. During the editing process, I rearrange, restructure, break apart and reshape sentences until I feel the conflict coming through.

The best way I’ve found to incorporate tension into every dimension and facet of a story is to dig deep into the emotion of the characters. What’s at stake? How important is their goal, and what are they willing to risk to get it? When is the best time to throw the worst event imaginable at them? Will they discover who they are when severely tested? Where will the journey lead them and how will they grow?

One final word of advice: Be sure to give your readers plenty of smooth-coasting moments along the journey in between the harrowing twists and turns to give them a chance to breathe.

Now that you’ve had a peek into how I weave tension into a story from the height of the plot down to the power of a single word, I encourage you to experience the journey yourselves by reading Forged in Dreams and Magick.

I hope you have an electrifying adventure!

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KAT BASTION

Kat Bastion is an award-winning paranormal romance writer, poetic warrior, and eternal optimist who loves getting lost in the beauty of nature.

On a never-ending, wondrous path of self-discovery, Kat throws her characters into incredible situations with the hope that readers join her in learning more about the meaning of life and love.

Her first published work, Utterly Loved, was shared with the world to benefit others. All proceeds from Utterly Loved, and a portion of the proceeds of all her other books, support charities who help those lost in this world.

Kat lives with her husband amid the beautiful Sonoran Desert of Arizona.

Website • Blog • Twitter • Goodreads 

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FORGED IN DREAMS AND MAGICK

Isobel MacInnes wakes up in present-day California, lunches in medieval Scotland, and by ten days’ end, falls in love with a man and his country, only to lose them in a heart-wrenching twist of fate . . .

Found in the arms of her second soul mate . . .

Forced to balance the delicate strands of time between two millennia . . .

Shocked by revelations rewriting the very foundations of history . . . of everything.

Isobel, a rising-star archaeology student, is dropped into two ancient worlds without warning . . . or her permission. Her fiery spirit resists the dependency thrust upon her. Amid frustration at her lack of control, she helplessly falls in love. Twice.

She struggles to adjust to the unimaginable demands of two leaders of men—a laird in the thirteenth-century Highlands and a Pict chieftain in a more ancient Scotland. Isobel transforms from an academic, hell-bent on obtaining archaeological recognition, to a woman striving to care for those she loves, and ultimately . . . into a fearless warrior risking everything to protect them.

Amazon • Goodreads • B&N • Kobo • All Romance eBooks

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GIVEAWAY

Kat is offering up a signed paperback copy of Forged in Dreams and Magick today, to enter just fill out the Rafflecopter below! Giveaway is international. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Damsel Distressed: Cover Contest Entries

Hey Everyone!

Some of you may remember a little while back I posted about a new cover design contest held by the team at Spencer Hill Press for Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke, one of their 2014 releases. I've entered several design contests in the past, and while there have been some truly amazing prizes that made the fangirl in me do an absurd happy dance through my living room, this contest is a little different. The winner of this contest actually wins the design commission, meaning their design will be the final cover of the book. *Jenny falls down dead*

I've been a graphic designer for going on ten years, but up until now majority of my work has been in the wedding stationery industry. While I've loved working with brides, this past year I've been craving a new challenge, and so I've begun to dip my toes into the world of book cover design. I have high hopes for this new business venture moving forward (though mixed in with all my excitement is no shortage of nerves), which is why this contest is such a fantastic opportunity for me to get a foot in the door.

I submitted four designs overall, and was lucky enough to have two of my entries make it to the top ten. Now that a top ten has been chosen, a public poll is open so people can vote for their favorites, with the winner automatically making it through to the final three. Below are my two submissions, nicknamed "Moody Masks" and "Black Bird" by the Damsel Distressed team. There are some truly amazing entries submitted by a variety of designers and illustrators, and you can vote for your favorites by following the link below. You can only vote for one at a time, but you can vote as often as you'd like, so technically you could vote for all ten if you wanted. If mine are among your favorites, I'd so appreciate your vote, but I'm in outstanding company so I encourage any of you who are interested to check them all out!

VOTE HERE

"MOODY MASKS"

Damsel Distressed is going to be a unique book in terms of format, with doodles and journal entries belonging to heroine Imogen scattered throughout the book. As a result, I wanted the cover to have a doodle or hand-drawn quality to it, hence the different flourishes and florals top and bottom.

Like so many people, Imogen has her day to day struggles which include pills and cutting, so I wanted to make sure there was an obvious contrast to the cover to highlight all the different elements that make up Imogen's life. The top half features warm, happy colors with things like earbuds, candy, and movie tickets appearing alongside the doodles to represent Imogen in her better moments, while the bottom half focuses on cooler colors and incorporates sharper objects like razor blades and safety pins, as well as tears and pills, to indicate her darker moments.

Imogen is also very involved in the theater, so I thought the very recognizable theater masks would be a perfect fit both literally and figuratively.

"BLACK BIRD"

With this second design, I wanted the overall look to be similar in its emphasis on doodles and handwritten fonts, but I went with a far bolder color scheme to kick the drama up a few notches and make sure it would pop online or on a shelf.

In addition to the doodles and journal entries, this book also has a huge focus on music, which was the main inspiration for the bird and its beautiful yet jumbled song made up of the highs and lows of Imogen's life.

 • • • • • • • • • •

Voting will run through October 31st, after which time the final three will be announced. I'm really proud of how my two entries turned out, and am so honored to be in the top ten. If you get a chance to vote, that would be amazing, but if not, I'd just love to hear what you think about the designs in the comments!

Horde Blog Tour: Review

HORDE
Razorland #3
Ann Aguirre
Young Adult/Dystopian
432 pages
Feiwel & Friends
Available October 29th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY
The horde is coming.

Salvation is surrounded, monsters at the gates, and this time, they're not going away. When Deuce, Fade, Stalker and Tegan set out, the odds are against them. But the odds have been stacked against Deuce from the moment she was born. She might not be a Huntress anymore, but she doesn't run. With her knives in hand and her companions at her side, she will not falter, whether fighting for her life or Fade's love.

Ahead, the battle of a lifetime awaits. Freaks are everywhere, attacking settlements, setting up scouts, perimeters, and patrols. There hasn't been a war like this in centuries, and humans have forgotten how to stand and fight. Unless Deuce can lead them.

This time, however, more than the fate of a single enclave or outpost hangs in the balance. This time, Deuce carries the banner for the survival of all humanity.

MY THOUGHTS
Horde concludes the Razorland trilogy in a frenzy of claws and teeth, but in between the deep lacerations and the brutal blows delivered to our hearts Ms. Aguirre beautifully infuses the warmth of friendship and first love, filling each emotional slice and tear the Freaks make with just enough light to fight off their darkness. Horde takes us on more of a journey than the previous two books, Deuce and Fade constantly in motion as they seek to build an army capable of meeting the Freaks head on, but instead of being a slow build to a final epic battle, we’re given a more painfully realistic setup wherein minor and major battles (both mental and physical) are fought throughout to keep our breath escaping our lips in short pants. The pacing is beautifully executed, blood and death chilling our blood while love and family heats it again, leaving us exhausted and emotionally depleted by the end, but also so very hopeful.

Deuce has been an extraordinary young woman from the beginning, her mental and physical toughness accompanied by a sweet vulnerability when it comes to dealing with relationships and feelings of any kind. In Horde she’s at the top of her game as a fighter and leader, but the true beauty of her lies in her weaknesses just as much as it does her strengths, and the devoted effort she makes to be both emotionally and physically demonstrative to those she cares for is as much a joy to experience as her battlefield successes. In the darkness of the underground enclave she was a warrior only–her life dedicated to a single purpose–but the woman at the end of Horde is a striking combination qualities, too large and full of life to fit in any one neatly labeled box.

Fade has our hearts in a vise for a good portion of this book, the lingering effects of the abuse he endured in Outpost present and accounted for, and we can’t help but flinch or wince with him whenever someone makes physical contact. He’s been such a force to be reckoned with in these books that it’s a special kind of torture to see him brought so low, but through his obvious pain the fire that’s always burned so brightly in him shines, and we have the pleasure of watching him fight his way free of the fears paralyzing his mind to find Deuce waiting patiently for him on the other side. The two of them together are an extraordinary and unforgettable pair, one destined for the favorites shelf to be read and enjoyed again and again.

Overall, Horde is an emotionally-charged and action-packed finale, showing us with more than just Deuce how one person can inspire change and rewrite what was sure to be a dark and bleak history, both humbling us and sparking in us a renewed desire to bring forth our own change, however small it may seem in the grand scheme of things.

Rating: 4/5

Find Ann:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

Ann is a part of the Fierce Reads Tour (along with the amazing Leigh Bardugo, Gennifer Albin, and Jessica Brody), so be sure and check HERE to see if they're coming to a stop near you!

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HORDE BOOK TRAILER

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GIVEAWAY

Thanks to the always outstanding team at Macmillan, I have paperback copies of both Enclave and Outpost to give away today, as well as a hardcover copy of Horde. To enter, please just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is open to US/Canada only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Be sure and check out all the remaining stops on the tour for more interviews, reviews, guest posts and chances to win!

Monday 10/14

Rainy Day Ramblings

Tuesday 10/15

Supernatural Snark

Wednesday 10/16

Two Chicks on Books

Thursday 10/17

Almost Grown-Up

Friday 10/18

Alice Marvels

Monday 10/21

The Midnight Garden

Tuesday 10/22

PageTurners

Wednesday 10/23

Curling Up with a Good Book

Thursday 10/24

Birth of a New Witch

Friday 10/25

Adventures of a Book Junkie

Review: Finding It

FINDING IT
Losing It #3
Cora Carmack
Contemporary New Adult
320 pages
William Morrow
Available October 15th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Sometimes you have to lose yourself to find where you truly belong...

Most girls would kill to spend months traveling around Europe after college graduation with no responsibility, no parents, and no-limit credit cards. Kelsey Summers is no exception. She's having the time of her life . . . or that's what she keeps telling herself.

It's a lonely business trying to find out who you are, especially when you're afraid you won't like what you discover. No amount of drinking or dancing can chase away Kelsey's loneliness, but maybe Jackson Hunt can. After a few chance meetings, he convinces her to take a journey of adventure instead of alcohol. With each new city and experience, Kelsey's mind becomes a little clearer and her heart a little less hers. Jackson helps her unravel her own dreams and desires. But the more she learns about herself, the more Kelsey realizes how little she knows about Jackson.

MY THOUGHTS
Finding It, following in the wake of its hugely entertaining predecessors, seems initially as though it's going to pale in comparison, heroine Kelsey a woman who in the opening chapters makes us question whether or not we can even bring ourselves to spend several hundred pages with her as she makes one spectacularly poor and dangerous choice after another. The only excuse she provides for her bar and bed hopping is the self-delusion she's filling herself so full of life that when she returns to a cold, empty and regimented world of wealth and privilege she'll have her time in Europe to carry her through. Her reasoning appears weak at best to us in the beginning, and it's difficult to do anything other than grimace at her behavior, watching as what appears to be a spoiled rich girl drinks herself to stupidity in order to forget the not-unique misfortune of having a grossly imperfect home life. What we soon come to see though is that we should have had faith in Ms. Cormack from page one, Kelsey's story turning out to be impressively gut-wrenching as it casts an entirely new light on a character we're mistakenly quick to judge.

After a rough start with Kelsey, we're given a few small hints here and there that bring an abrupt halt to the judgmental rant we'd been creating in our heads, forcing us to look harder at the young woman in black and white before us. What we find is someone with so many faces she honestly doesn't know if there's a real one in the bunch; someone who from an appallingly young age has been throwing booze and men in the path of her past as she's run away from it, trying in vain to slow down its relentless pursuit with obstacles so she can continue to find empty comfort in hiding herself away from the world. Though Kelsey recognizes what happened to her so long ago and what she's done to herself since then are far less gruesome than what so many others are forced to endure, it doesn't take away from the reality of her pain, and we feel every agonizing beat of her heart as it bleeds for the girl she feels she could have been.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the romantic setup of Finding It is how little we actually get to know Jackson Hunt, a young man of secret smiles and hooded eyes that hide far more than they reveal, but even so Ms. Cormack writes a stunning relationship between the two of them rich in realism and believability. Just because we don't get to know him all that well doesn't mean he's not an absolutely fascinating character with a past as dark–and in some ways darker given his time in the military–than Kelsey's, and he easily manages to charm us just as he does her. It's not difficult to guess what he's hiding, but knowing in advance doesn't detract in the least from the devastation we feel when Kelsey learns the truth for herself, the fragile foundation of a new life brutally ripped away to reveal ruse where she desperately needed reality.

Though the bitter and deeply troubling relationship with her parents could have been explored with more depth, it likely would have taken us on an unnecessary detour, our minds and hearts so involved in Kelsey's life that we can't help but want every element of her existence to be detailed for us. Overall, Finding It rockets right on by both Losing it and Faking It to easily become the best of the series, taking us to new emotional highs and lows and challenging us as readers to not make snap judgments based on limited information, instead showing us just how much unexpected beauty can be found in patience.

Rating: 4.5/5

Find Cora:

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon

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.