I decided to remove The Journey from this list because I set it aside until I can muster up some interest in it again.
Well, here's to reading and not having enough time to do so.
Once again, I have failed my reading challenge. I'm starting to think I'm never going to finish this list. But, I'll try to be optimistic and see if I can convince myself that I will finish this list eventually. Doesn't help that I keep adding books to this list either.
I decided to remove The Journey from this list because I set it aside until I can muster up some interest in it again. Well, here's to reading and not having enough time to do so.
✓ read -+- reading {_} to be read
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Title: So Shall I Reap
Series: The Unseen Series Author: Kathy-Lynn Cross Published: June 30th, 2015 Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing Genre: YA Paranormal Content Warning: Violence and adult language Synopsis: There is no protection from the Unseen. Las Vegas, Nevada can’t contain Alexcia Crystalline Stasis, who is living the ideal teenager’s dream as the school’s elite socialite. That is, until a fatal car accident changes everything. Now Alexcia’s emotions are on the verge of combusting. As if mourning the loss of her boyfriend isn’t enough, she is also dealing with extreme night terrors that leave her wondering if she just might need to be fitted for a straightjacket. Tevin isn’t your normal daemon. He’s the leader of his clan, and he also happens to be a very active Grim Reaper. He never wanted to be charged with babysitting the one girl who can sway Creation’s Balance. Tevin has known and kept Alexcia safe most of her life. Now that he has to become even more personally involved in her protection, Tevin finds himself having a hard time separating his sworn duty and pure curiosity. What does make Alexcia tick? Will Tevin be able to keep Alexcia safe from the Unseen? And will Alexcia’s emotions eventually help Tevin attempt to understand what being human is all about? Or will the entities and assassins’ of the Unseen get what they want … her dead.
Review
***I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***
I want to start off by stating that the prose in this story is absolutely phenomenal. It's been a while since I last read a story where the words blend together beautifully and vividly make you visualize and even imagine what something sounds like. For example, this is a passage that jumped out at me while I was reading: "Taking another deep drag, I let the smoke dance inside my mouth for a while. It flowed in and out, nice and slow, with the smell of nicotine lingering like a presence.
You go from one thing that sounds smooth and even and then you read something that jars you from that easy flow and I just love that. To me, as a reader, that is something that makes reading interactive and makes me want to read more of the story because the prose makes me feel and experience the events and surroundings. I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself at all, but I'm going with it. And that quote is just at the 3% mark.
Now, if we are talking about characters, Alexcia is not a favorite of mine, which is odd since the protagonists are usually my favorites. I have to side with Tevin and say she is reckless with her life and constantly puts herself in harm's way, whether it's on purpose or accidentally still remains to be seen. The reapers are interesting characters, and I specifically want to know more about their world, and more about Alexcia's dad, Max, and Tevin. The reason this book is not receiving 5/5 platypires is because I was a little confused at the beginning when it was Alexcia's POV. There were some scenes where I could not tell if she was remembering something, like a flashback, or if it was the story being told in real time. If it was just one or two scenes, I wouldn't have even mentioned it, but it happened more than a couple of times at the start of the story. But, other than that, I really enjoyed reading So Shall I Reap and I look forward to the sequel whenever it becomes available. So Shall I Reap gets 4/5 Platypires!
Title: Wicked Luck
Series: Wicked Luck Trilogy #1 Author: Shannon L. Maynard Published: June 23rd, 2015 Publisher: Crimson Tree Publishing Genre: NA Romance Content Warning: Violence, Adult Themes Recommended Age: 14+ Synopsis: How can Ava Starr’s worst nightmare be Dax Miller’s dream come true? For the past three years, Dax has been stranded on Lamarai Island with his stepsister and two tribes of cannibals. But now a beautiful girl named Ava has washed up on shore. After secretly reading her journal, he believes she is a perfect match to the girl of his dreams. He’s determined not only to keep her alive, but also to win over her heart by convincing her to forget about her past and the secrets that continue to haunt her. Ava Starr has always been the epitome of bad luck, but she never imagined she would wake up and find herself on a cannibal-infested island with no memory of how she got there. The last thing she remembers is boarding a plane with her pilot boyfriend, Preston. But now he and his crew are missing, and she must find him before a tribe of hungry cannibals finds him first. But Ava’s troubles have followed her to Lamarai, where once again she’s surrounded by danger and people who want her dead. She finds herself caught in a web of deceit and soon discovers the answers to her mysterious past can be found in the most unlikely of places, and that no one is actually who they seem to be.
Review
***I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***
I have to say this book pleasantly surprised me when I started reading it. We jump right into the story with Dax as he rescues a girl who has washed up on the shore. I'm instantly curious as to how he seems to know her and this helps me become deeply invested in the story. This book holds many secrets and mysteries, and while I became frustrated with myself in trying to solve and understand the tangles and web of lies, it excited me because it has been a while since I last read something where something was not blatantly obvious. I enjoy trying to understand what motivates the characters and why there is deceit and lies. I like getting to the bottom of things. The author was creative in creating her flashbacks of the past, having Ava either remembering something or having Dax read it in the entries of Ava's journal. The information gained from these flashbacks was crucial to understanding the mysteries of Ava's past. Although I have to say that Ava's character exasperated me to no end. She's weak and fragile, but I think with Dax's help she will become stronger and won't settle for less than what she deserves. This story is intricately woven and I give Wicked Luck 5/5 Platypires!
Author: K.C. Finn
Title: The Mind's Eye Pages: 352 pages Genre: YA Historical, Paranormal Romance Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing Date published: March 30, 2014 Synopsis: A girl with a telepathic gift finds a boy clinging to his last hope during the war-torn climate of Europe, 1940. At fifteen, Kit Cavendish is one the oldest evacuees to escape London at the start of the Second World War due to a long term illness that sees her stuck in a wheelchair most of the time. But Kit has an extraordinary psychic power: she can put herself into the minds of others, see through their eyes, feel their emotions, even talk to them – though she dares not speak out for fear of her secret ability being exposed. As Kit settles into her new life in the North Wales village of Bryn Eira Bach, solitude and curiosity encourage her to gain better control of her gift. Until one day her search for information on the developing war leads her to the mind of Henri, a seventeen-year-old Norwegian boy witnessing the German occupation of his beloved city, Oslo. As Henri discovers more about the English girl occupying his mind, the psychic and emotional bonds between them strengthen and Kit guides him through an oppressive and dangerous time. There are secrets to be uncovered, both at home and abroad, and it’s up to Kit and Henri to come together and fight their own battles in the depths of the world’s greatest war.
Review
I've had this gem on my kindle app ever since last December (or was is January?) and I've let it gather dust. Since Joood read it, I thought it was high time I brought it out and began reading it. This is the first book from K.C. Finn that I have read, and it did not disappoint.
The story starts out with Kit and her brother being shipped off on a train during wartime. You know right away that she is disabled, but the story doesn't revolve around how she isn't normal. Rather, the story revolves around her psychic powers and how she strives to expand those powers while also striving to improve her physical mobility. She's a strong, brave, fighter of a character who does what she can to be useful to those around her. You also get so emotionally involved in the lives and fate of all the characters, even the ones you may have hated at the beginning. Take Blod and Dr. Bickerstaff; I was convinced I hated them at the beginning of the story, but somehow I became invested in how their story would turn out. It's hard not to become attached to all of them and feel for them when things go awry. The concept of the story is pretty cool. How often do you read about characters with psychic powers who help out during WWII? It's not an idea I've come across until now, and I must say the story succeeded in thoroughly captivating my attention, so much that I couldn't wait until it was morning so I could finish reading the book. The relationship between Kit and Henri is a sweet one, and when Kit spoke to Henri for the first time I was laughing just imaging how Henri must have felt having someone talking to him inside his head. They are sweet together, and are an incredible team when they work together, even if they are not together physically. If that makes sense, haha. I loved this story because of the many different qualities it possesses. It's light and funny at times, romantic and sweet, dangerous and adventurous, and sometimes even sad and heartbreaking. It's a well-rounded story that I feel everyone should read. And because I absolutely adored The Mind's Eye, I give it 5/5 Platypires!
Synopsis:
Vanessa Michael Munroe, chameleon and information hunter, has a reputation for getting things done: dangerous and not quite legal things that have taken her undercover into some of the world’s deadliest places. Still healing from a Somali hijacking gone wrong and a brutal attack that left her near death, Munroe joins her lover, Miles Bradford, in Japan where he’s working as a security consultant protecting high-value technology from industrial espionage. In the domesticity of their routine she finds long sought-after peace—until Bradford is arrested for murder, and the same interests who targeted him come after her, too. Searching for answers and fighting to stay alive, Munroe will soon discover how far she’ll go to save Bradford from spending the next twenty years in locked-up isolation; how many laws she’ll break when the truth seems worse than his lies; and who to trust and who she must kill. Because she’s a strategist and hunter with a predator’s instincts, and the man she loves has just stabbed her in the back. With break-neck pacing, incendiary prose, and an unforgettable cast of characters, The Mask features Vanessa Michael Munroe: a brilliant, lethal heroine who will stop at nothing to find the truth, no matter what it may cost.
***I received a copy of this book from Penguin's First to Read program in exchange for an honest review.***
When I started reading this book, I did not realize that it was the fifth book in the series and while these books can sort of be read as standalones, I think knowing Vanessa/Micheal's background story is a little important in getting to know her character. I think it would have helped me better understand her history with Miles Bradford. Anyway, I found that the story is a little dull at the beginning, so much that I considered not reading the rest of it and putting it aside as a "Did Not Finish." It's just so routine and dull that I had a hard time not skipping ahead in hopes of the story getting better. I hit 30% when it finally did start looking up, and 58% when my interest was all-in. I'm disappointed it took until I was past the 50% mark to get fully invested in this book, because I feel it was a waste of my time. But then the action started, and the story really took off with mind-games and trying to figure out who-dun-it. I was actually grinning at 82% because of the mind games going on between Vanessa and one of the guilty parties. It was entertaining to read about, which is why I really resent the first half of the book for taking up space and taking so long to get to the great parts of this book. This is a good book, but it isn't great, which is why it was docked 1 platypire. The 2nd platypire was docked because the first half of the book was not memorable in any way nor was it exciting or thrilling to read about. It was dull and lifeless, and the book could have been better off without it. But, I did like the action and spy/espionage portion of it, as well as how brilliantly the author describes her scenes in a foreign country. I felt like I was there and could envision the places being described, which is something I greatly admire. So mad props to the author for that. Because of all of these factors, I give The Mask 3/5 Platypires. Review
Synopsis:
How could Corbin possibly do what he was supposed to do? After Corbin’s mother died, Maxim Moritz Grobian took him, penniless orphan that he was, under his wing and taught him the magic that was their heritage. Corbin owed Max everything, and now Max had given him a mission. Corbin was to bring Max's estranged daughter to New York. Lorelei was the only one, Max insisted, that could use the Heartstone, a crystal of phenomenal power, to keep mages safe from the Inquisitors that hunted them and allow mages to finally take their rightful place in the world. A worthy goal, thought Corbin initially, but now that he had actually met Lorelei all he really wanted to do was to run for the hills. Both afraid of hurting her and endangering himself, he needed to stay away from her, not befriend her to do Max’s bidding. Besides, his instructions were more than to just befriend her. He was supposed to make her fall in love with him. There was no way, absolutely no way he was going to do that – not after what she had told him.
Add it on Goodreads:
***I received a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.***
If I am being honest, I have to say that the beginning of the book was a little boring. About a third of the story is just background info on Corbin. I'm not saying that is a bad thing, I personally love background info, but it was excessive. I feel that all that background info could have been worked into the story casually and distributed throughout instead of lumping it all together at the beginning. At the beginning of the story we get a scene that is in present day, and then that is followed by about a third of the book being in flashbacks of Corbin's life. By the time I got back to present day scenes, I had forgotten that one present day scene at the beginning and was quite confused. There was also the issue of being "told" versus being "shown." I wondered why this story was so difficult for me to get into, and when I truly read what I was reading, I found that it was the classic "tell" versus "show." Because of "tell," the story lacked a great amount of emotion and failed to pull me in like I was hoping it would. I was very disappointed with this book, but I will say that things did get interesting toward the end. Even though it wasn't a book I enjoyed, I can say that the story did begin to pique my interest when Lorelei was introduced into the story. I didn't see anything wrong grammatically, and it is carefully edited. While I liked the concept of the plot, it could have been better executed. I am willing to read the sequel and see if the author's technique has improved. Unfortunately, I have to give Smoke and Mirrors 2/5 Platypires. Review |
About MeJust a girl from Illinois with a passion for reading. QuotesGoodreads
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