Month: February 2016

Reviews, YA Paranormal

Book Review: The Power by Jennifer L Armentrout

Liz Brooks

The Power (Titan)

GoodReads Summary:

With any great change, there is always strife, and the Covenant University has become the frontline between pure-bloods who want the Breed Order reinstated and the half-bloods who want the right to control their own destinies.

Fate has other plans.

The violence is escalating and war between the races seems inevitable, and it couldn’t come at a worse time. Hyperion may be out of commission, but Josie and Seth know they have only earned a reprieve.  Seth must get Josie fully prepared, which means controlling her newfound abilities, and they need to find the other demigods before the Titans do.

But the gods are sensing a greater threat. 

Only one thing is more dangerous than a bunch of starved Titans, and that’s an out-of-control Apollyon. The aether in Josie is drawing Seth in deeper, and when lust mixes with love and gives way to power, he knows being close to her is not only dangerous to her, but to everyone around them, but letting her go requires a level of selflessness that just isn’t Seth’s style.

The paths taken in the past are becoming the roads of the future.

Just as chaos breaks out, familiar faces from the past return, complicating the already strained bond between Josie and Seth, and when the danger from the Titans erupts with devastating consequences, the dark allure of power calls to Seth again, but this time Josie might not be able to pull him back.

And when the struggle between power and love becomes the deadliest battleground, there may be no salvation.

My Review:

So, we know this is the follow up to The Return, a spin-off series of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Covenant Series. In the first book we meet Seth again, the Apollyon, one year after the events of the Covenant Series take place. He is charged with protecting Apollo’s daughter, Josie, a demigod. The second book picks up where he first left off. Josie and Seth are the Covenant University in South Dakota training so that Josie can gain control of her demigod powers.

I was underwhelmed with this book. Maybe my expectations were too high? Or maybe because the characters need to grow, it wasn’t as exciting? I am not totally sure. The writing was still very good. And Seth was still the jackass… nothing changing there. I mean, we even got to see Alex and Aiden, my baes from the Covenant Series. But this book was less about the action and more about the relationships- pure-bloods vs. halfs and the Breeding Order, Josie and Seth, Josie and Apollo. And I guess I wasn’t expecting that; maybe that’s why I am underwhelmed.

I still really enjoyed reading it, but not as much as The Power, or some of Armentrout’s other novels.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Reviews, YA Paranormal

Book Review: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Liz Brooks

Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1)

GoodReads Summary:

In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.

Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she’s a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden – lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult’s true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls’ heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

My Review:

Truthwitch is such a refreshing read in the YA Fantasy genre. There are a ton of different novels written about witches, but this felt completely original. A witch whose only power is to discern truth from lie. A witch who can smell the blood of a person- specifically what that blood represents. A witch who can see the colorful life threads around her.

The story revolves around a friendship between Safiya and Iseult. I think it’s important to emphasize that because you have a lot of novels that would use a F/M love relationship to drive the plot, but Dennard doesn’t do this. This friendship is everything to these two girls and they would do anything to save the other. And you see this constantly happening throughout the book.

There is also the theme of personal growth and the realization that selfishness can cause a lot more harm than people realize. At the start, Safi is quite a selfish character, only thinking about herself, and Iseult. She doesn’t think about how her actions impact the lives around her- her uncle’s, her teachers, etc. And because of this thought process, Safi and Iseult are launched down a path they never would’ve chosen given the choice.

Merik is a great character and doesn’t put up with Safi’s crap. ❤ Character development over the course of the book is steady and marks the important decisions each character is faced with.

I do think Dennard’s world building could’ve been better. If it weren’t for the map in the front of the book I wouldn’t have understood where all these countries were located in respect to each other. She does give great attention to clothing detail.

Also, I wish there was an index so that I could have the proper pronunciations of the different words Dennard uses, as well as, the definition of them because while in the real world they mean one thing, in this fictitious world they mean something else entirely. But these few items don’t take away from the the story.

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Tuesday Meme

Top Ten Songs I Wish Were Books

Liz Brooks

TopTenTuesday

 Thank you to The Broke and The Bookish for this wonderful meme! If you want to learn how to participate, click here and check it out. Promise you won’t regret it.

I know I listen to a lot of music and each has it’s own story. Below are the ones I wish were books so I could read more about the characters.

Liz

  • Enchanted, Taylor Swift
  • Here With Me, The Killers
  • If I Could Fly, One Direction
  • From Afar, Emmylou, and Georgia, Vance Joy
  • Not Over You, Gavin Degraw
  • Springsteen, Eric Church
  • Ain’t Much For Lyin’, Fairground Saints
  • Transatlanticism, Death Cab for Cutie
  • Dead Flowers, Miranda Lambert
  • Mine, Third Eye Blind
  • Today, Joshua Radin

Clearly I am a sucker for sad piano ballads.

Veronica

  • Style, Taylor Swift
  • Must Have Done Something Right, Relient K
  • Sahara, Relient K
  • I Almost Do, Taylor Swift
  • It Was Always You, Maroon 5
  • Gravity, John Mayer
  • Makes Me Wonder, Maroon 5
  • Friends, Lovers, Or Nothing, John Mayer
  • Edge Of Desire, John Mayer

Yes, I listen to a lot of sappy sad love songs…

Reviews, ya contemporary

ARC Review: 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad

Liz Brooks

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl

Goodreads Summary:

Growing up in the suburban hell of Misery Saga (a.k.a. Mississauga), Lizzie has never liked the way she looks—even though her best friend Mel says she’s the pretty one. She starts dating guys online, but she’s afraid to send pictures, even when her skinny friend China does her makeup: she knows no one would want her if they could really see her. So she starts to lose. With punishing drive, she counts almonds consumed, miles logged, pounds dropped. She fights her way into coveted dresses. She grows up and gets thin, navigating double-edged validation from her mother, her friends, her husband, her reflection in the mirror. But no matter how much she loses, will she ever see herself as anything other than a fat girl?

In her brilliant, hilarious, and at times shocking debut, Mona Awad simultaneously skewers the body image-obsessed culture that tells women they have no value outside their physical appearance, and delivers a tender and moving depiction of a lovably difficult young woman whose life is hijacked by her struggle to conform. As caustically funny as it is heartbreaking, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl introduces a vital new voice in fiction.

Review:

I really enjoyed reading 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl because I empathized with Lizzie. Struggling with weight in a society that won’t accept you if you aren’t skinny is difficult. It affects you mentally and physically. The book is an eye opener- you need to be comfortable in whatever body type you have. And if you are heavier and lose weight, your thought mentality won’t change just because you lost that weight; you’ll always be worried about getting fat again… like Lizzie does. Reading through this I definitely understood the thoughts Lizzie has- trying on clothes is the worst experience, nothing fits right, she has a difficult time looking at and talking about her body, and she has a lot of insecurities with guys because of her weight.

The ending wasn’t my favorite, but it makes sense. As a women, I believe we need to accept our bodies and while Lizzie may not ever accept her body, she understands that this is only body she has, therefore she needs to take care of it.

Mona Awad takes a deep look at the character’s flaws and insecurities, and should be a must read for all women whether you are skinny, fat, short, tall, etc. It is reflective of our current society and something we need to change.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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This book will be released on February 26, 2016. And is available at Amazon and B&N.

Disclaimer: Thank you First to Read and Penguin Random House for providing the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this book for free does not influence my opinion.

Reviews, YA Paranormal

Book Review: Remembrance by Meg Cabot

Liz Brooks

Remembrance (The Mediator, #7)

GoodReads Summary:

You can take the boy out of the darkness.

But you can’t take the darkness out of the boy.

All Susannah Simon wants is to make a good impression at her first job since graduating from college (and since becoming engaged to Dr. Jesse de Silva).

But when she’s hired as a guidance counselor at her alma mater, she stumbles across a decade-old murder, and soon ancient history isn’t all that’s coming back to haunt her. Old ghosts as well as new ones are coming out of the woodwork, some to test her, some to vex her, and it isn’t only because she’s a mediator, gifted with second sight.

From a sophomore haunted by the murderous specter of a child, to ghosts of a very different kind—including Paul Slater, Suze’s ex, who shows up to make a bargain Suze is certain must have come from the Devil himself—Suze isn’t sure she’ll make it through the semester, let alone to her wedding night.

Suze is used to striking first and asking questions later. But what happens when ghosts from her past—including one she found nearly impossible to resist—strike first?

What happens when old ghosts come back to haunt you?

If you’re a mediator, you might have to kick a little ass.

My Review:

Oh my word, this book was everything I didn’t know I was missing in my life. Having devoured The Mediator Series about five years ago, I never dreamed we would get a follow-up. And it is classic Meg Cabot and Suze Simon.

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Suze Simon, after all these years, is still a very classic, kick-ass, strongly written, female character. Just like past stories, this one has all the Non-Compliant Deceased Persons you could want.

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And all your favorite past characters come back. Paul Slater, Suze’s ex-boyfriend from high school, makes an appearance and is his beautiful ray of sunshine self (insert sarcasm), as he always was.

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OF COURSE we see lots and lots of Dr. Hector “Jesse” de Silva and his yummy goodness.

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Suze’s best friend CeCe is still representing and helping Suze in her mediator missions. The step-brothers are the comic relief they always proved to be. And, there is a plot twist I didn’t see coming, and you probably won’t either.

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The love that Suze and Jesse share is very much alive and burning, especially with their pending nuptials, and Jesse’s continued “respect” for Suze and her family… and her body (If you’ve read Proposal, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, go read it first!).

Meg Cabot’s writing is so on-point. It’s like she didn’t take a break from writing about Suze’s life. And I’m hoping she won’t. I could use a story (a novel please- 400 plus pages) where Suze gets pregnant. It would be a full circle series for me.

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Rating: 5 out of 5

Also, I am doing a give-a-way for this book!

Reviews, YA Paranormal, ya romance

Book Review: The Siren by Kiera Cass

Liz Brooks

The Siren

GoodReads Summary:

A girl with a secret.
The boy of her dreams.
An Ocean between them.

Years ago, Kahlen was rescued from drowning by the Ocean. To repay her debt, she has served as a Siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless strangers to their deaths. Though a single word from Kahlen can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again.

Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude…until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of.

Falling in love with a human breaks the Ocean’s rules. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.

My Review:

I was so excited when this book was announced. Kiera Cass is a favorite author of mine due to her Selection series. But then I actually read the book. I should’ve known I would be let down. In the past, when I have read books about sirens, they don’t live up to the description or expectations set.

Kahlen is a whiny brat and I hated her. She has been with the Ocean for 80 years, serving her sentence for being saved from drowning, but she isn’t happy. She has “sisters” that the Ocean has also saved, but they aren’t like her- they are out-going, and one of them, Elizabeth (yes I was excited that my name was used) even goes to clubs and goes home with guys. But Kahlen sits under a tree drawing, or in the library, researched all the people she has ever killed… because you know, she’s a siren and serenades people to death.

Kahlen meets Akinli, and it’s like the sun has finally broken through the gray clouds. They meet three times and she falls in the love with him. I hate this. They have no relationship to build on, and this insta-love is an insta-hate for me. Did I mention that Kahlen can’t speak to Akinli or else he’ll die? So yeah, no relationship, little dialogue. How is it possible for them to fall in love, especially Akinli. If a girl kept running away from me… I would have given up on her and told her to get away from me.

This book is unrealistic (for a fantasy novel), in that these two characters know nothing about each other, barely speak, and only meet for a total of 4 times that span from a few minutes to  barely a single day in the matter of almost 2 years. And how the end happens, it’s insensible. This book doesn’t have enough of a plot for me to want to keep reading, though as I waded my way through, I hoped that somewhere, a plot would form. Set your expectations at zero. This book is a mess.

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**EDIT** I just recently saw that this book is a #1 New York Times Young Adult Hardcover best seller. I am very upset by this. It does not deserve this award. There are so many better books than this. How about numbers 3. Passenger by Alexandra Bracken, 4. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, and 5. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (This is as of February 7th). I hope this books falls off the face of the planet (End rant).

Rating: 1 out of 5

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Tuesday Meme

Valentine’s Day Top Ten Tuesday Part Two

Liz Brooks

TTT Valentines Day

Thank you to The Broke and The Bookish for this wonderful meme! If you want to learn how to participate, click here and check it out. Promise you won’t regret it.

Part Two: Swoon Worthy Quotes

Liz

  • “Don’t cry.”
    “How can I not?” I asked him. “You just said you loved me.”
    “Well, why else did you think all of this was happening?” He set the book aside to wrap his arms around me. “The Furies wouldn’t be trying to kill you if I didn’t love you.”
    “I didn’t know,” I said. Tears were trickling down my cheeks, but I did nothing to try to stop them. His shirt was absorving most of them. “You never said anything about it. Every time I saw you, you just acted so… wild.”
    “How was I supposed to act?” he asked. “You kept doing things like throwing tea in my face.”
    ― Meg Cabot, Abandon
  • “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he whispers.
    He moves in, closer, lips pausing inches from mine. Wraps his arms around me, pulling me into him. I let out a quick gasp of air.
    “I dream about you,” he murmurs, eyes grasping mine.
    “You don’t sleep,” I choke, feeling a delirious passion coursing through my veins.
    “I dream about your smile. About touching you. I dream about being with you. Like this.”
    ― Katie Klein, The Guardian
  • “I have better things to do.”
    “Like what?”
    He opens one eye and looks at me. “Like convince a stubborn girl to admit she’s madly in love with me.”
    ― Susan Ee, End of Days
  • “… Somebody who helps balance her out, someone who makes sure her feet stay on the ground when life is tough and lift up into the aid when her lips find his. She needs somebody smart and funny and comfortable and exciting all at the same time. She needs somebody to go to sleep with who makes her feel secure enough not to care that she snores or drools, and somebody to wake up with who won’t judge her when he hair sticks up and pillowcase lines crease her face.”
    ― Heather Lyons, A Matter of Truth
  • “I can’t keep pretending that I don’t want this – that I don’t want you. I can’t. Not after what happened to you. It thought… I thought I’d lost you, Alex, forever. And I would’ve lost everything. You are my everything.”
    ― Jennifer L. Armentrout, Deity
  • “You’re beautiful, Genesis.” I swallowed, placing my hands on the table in front of her. “Immortals would fight wars over you, and not just your face or your hair or the way your smile penetrates to someone’s very soul — but because you’re good.”
    ― Rachel Van Dyken, The Dark Ones
  • “I’m glad you misdialed.”
    “Well. Easy mistake to make,” she said. “Might do it again.” A very, very long pause. She opened her mouth to fill it, then changed her mind and didn’t. She was shivering again, even though she wasn’t cold with the pillow on her legs.
    “Shouldn’t,” Gansey said finally. “But I hope you do.”
    ― Maggie Stiefvater, Blue Lily, Lily Blue
  • “You cannot fathom the distance I would travel for you.”
    ― Alexandra Bracken, Passenger

Veronica

  • “He reached out and pulled me to him, one hand on my waist and the other behind my neck. He tipped my head up and lowered his lips to mine. I closed my eyes and melted as my whole body was consumed in that kiss. I was nothing. I was everything. Chills, ran over my skin, and fire burned inside me. His body pressed closer to mine, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. His lips were warmer and softer than anything I could have ever imagined, yet fierce and powerful at the same time. Mine responded hungrily, and I tightened my hold on him. His fingers slid down the back of my neck, tracing its shape, and every place they touched was electric.”

—Richelle Mead, The Golden Lily

  • “I tried to be a better person for her, but it was to impress her, to get her to want me. But when I’m around you, I want to be better because… well, because it feels right. Because I want to. You make me want to become something greater than myself. I want to excel. You inspire me in every act, every word, every glance. I look at you, and you’re like… like light made into flesh. […] You have no clue how beautiful you are or how brightly you shine.”

— Richelle Mead, The Golden Lily

  • “The moment my lips touch yours, it will be your first kiss. Because if you’ve never felt anything when someone’s kissed you, then no one’s ever really kissed you. Not the way I plan on kissing you.”

– Colleen Hoover, Hopeless

  • “I kiss her every way I can possibly kiss her, because I plan on loving her every way I can possibly love her. Every single time we refused to cave in to our feelings in the past makes this kiss completely worth the sacrifices.”

– Colleen Hoover, Maybe Someday

  • “I know that unlike that night, tonight I won’t kiss her. Or touch her. Or even see her up close.
    Tonight, I’ll listen. And that’ll be enough.”

– Gayle Forman, Where She Went

Tuesday Meme

Valentine’s Day Top Ten Tuesday Part One

Liz Brooks

TTT Valentines Day

 Thank you to The Broke and The Bookish for this wonderful meme! If you want to learn how to participate, click here and check it out. Promise you won’t regret it.

Whelp, Valentine’s Day is around the corner and that means one thing- all the romance and swoony quotes from all the fictional men we love in our lives. Veronica and I decided to do a Two Part Top Ten Tuesday. Part one is our top ten OTPs. Part two is our top ten swoony quotes quotes from books.

Part 1: Top Ten OTPs

Liz

  • Nina and Matthias, Six of Crows
  • Scarlet and Wolf, The Lunar Chronicles
  • Logan and Grace, The Mistake
  • Evie and Reed, The Premonition Series
  • Ron and Hermione, Harry Potter
  • Jack and Rose, Titanic
  • Gansy and Blue, The Raven Boys
  • Alex and Aiden, The Covenant Series
  • Suze and Jesse, The Mediator Series
  • Chloe and Jonah, The Fate Series
  • America and Maxim, The Selection Series
  • Gensis and Seth, The Guardians Series

Veronica

  • Adrian and Sydney, Bloodlines
  • Christian Kane and Elyse, The Summer of Chasing Mermaids
  • Isaiah and Rachel, Crash Into You
  • Logan and Grace, The Mistake
  • Hale and Kat, Heist Society

Reviews, YA Paranormal

The Talking Bookworm February Give-A-Way

Liz Brooks

February Giveaway

Hey guys! So in honor of one of my favorite series, The Mediator Series, and authors, Meg Cabot, having published a new book in the series, Remembrance, I am going to give-a-way a copy of the book. Your choice, paperback or ebook. This give-a-way is international because The Book Depository does have the paperback version of Remembrance.

Remembrance (The Mediator, #7)

The give-a-way will run February 2 through February 14, 2016. I will announce the winner on Valentine’s Day. Good Luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I will check retweets, twitter accounts, blog follows and comments.
Tuesday Meme

Top Ten Historical Settings You Love/ Ten Historical Settings You’d Love To See

Liz Brooks

TopTenTuesday

Thank you to The Broke and The Bookish for this wonderful meme! If you want to learn how to participate, click here and check it out. Promise you won’t regret it.

While you don’t see a lot of reviews of Historical Fiction from our blog (this is something I am slowly working through), I do enjoy reading this genre. It’s always interesting to see where authors go in the time period and how accurate it is.

  1. The American Revolution
  2. World War II Germany, England, America
  3. Victorian Era
  4. Scottish Highland during the 18th Century (Clearly referencing Outlander)
  5. Civil War
  6. World War I
  7. Post-World War II (love the fashion)
  8. Turn of the century New York (1900)
  9. Russia during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II
  10. England during Queen Elizabeth I

Clearly I am a sucker for war stories, but I also love novels during periods of change or great prosperity. In general, I love history.

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