The Artisans Blog Tour Review & Giveaway!

About the Author

Born in Ohio, I lived next to my grandfather’s horse farm until the fourth grade. Summers were about riding, fishing and make-believe, while winter brought sledding and ice-skating on frozen ponds. Most of life was magical, but not all.

I struggled with multiple learning disabilities, did not excel in school. I spent much of my time looking out windows and daydreaming. In the fourth grade (with the help of one very nice teacher) I fought dyslexia for my right to read, like a prince fights a dragon in order to free the princess locked in a tower, and I won.

Afterwards, I read like a fiend. I invented stories where I could be the princess… or a gifted heroine from another world who kicked bad guy butt to win the heart of a charismatic hero. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? Later, I moved to Florida where I continued to fantasize about superpowers and monsters, fabricating stories (my mother called it lying) and sharing them with my friends.

Then I thought I’d write one down…

Hooked, I’ve been writing ever since. I write historical, contemporary, urban fantasy, adventure, and young adult romances. I love strong heroines, sweeping tales of mystery and epic adventure… which must include a really hot guy. My writing is proof you can work hard to overcome any obstacle. Don’t give up. I say, if you write, write on!

☆ How to find Julie ☆
Website ☆ Twitter ☆ Facebook ☆ Goodreads

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About the Book

They say death can be beautiful. But after the death of her mother, seventeen-year-old Raven Weathersby gives up her dream of becoming a fashion designer, barely surviving life in the South Carolina lowlands.

To make ends meet, Raven works after school as a seamstress creating stunning works of fashion that often rival the great names of the day.

Instead of making things easier on the high school senior, her stepdad's drinking leads to a run in with the highly reclusive heir to the Maddox family fortune, Gideon Maddox.

But Raven's stepdad's drying out and in no condition to attend the meeting with Maddox. So Raven volunteers to take his place and offers to repay the debt in order to keep the only father she's ever known out of jail, or worse.

Gideon Maddox agrees, outlining an outrageous demand: Raven must live in his home for a year while she designs for Maddox Industries' clothing line, signing over her creative rights.

Her handsome young captor is arrogant and infuriating to the nth degree, and Raven can't imagine working for him, let alone sharing the same space for more than five minutes.

But nothing is ever as it seems. Is Gideon Maddox the monster the world believes him to be? And can he stand to let the young seamstress see him as he really is?

☆ Where to find The Artisans ☆
Amazon ☆ Barnes & Noble ☆ Kobo ☆ The Book Depository
☆ Goodreads ☆

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☆ Mindy's Review ☆

My rating
Story Elements

THE ARTISANS is a Beauty and the Beast retelling that takes place in an urban setting with a southern gothic feel to it. While reading, you get the sense that there is something paranormal involved, and many times I felt on edge as I got an eerie feeling while reading this intense story. But figuring out the paranormal element is part of the mystery to this story AND…OMG…it’s all so freaky!

The story primarily takes place at a “Victorian monstrosity” (Giddeon Maddox’s mansion)…a place where Raven Weathersby reluctantly agrees to live while designing clothing to pay off her alcoholic gambler-of-a-step-father’s debt.

Writing Style

I really like Julie Reece’s writing style and I felt like I was able to read THE ARTISANS really fast. Julie’s world building and character development were exceptionally compelling, so much so that she was able to connect me to the story while also compelling me to continue reading.

Characters

I can’t say that I always agreed with Raven’s actions, but I couldn’t help but really like her character. She would do anything for the people she loves. That’s why it’s so easy to understand the reason why she gave up her freedom for her stepfather. And, even though I’m not artistic, I would love to see someone put together some of the outfits she designs. They sound fantastic!

Maggie and Dane are the best-est friends anyone could hope to ask for. I love Maggie’s personality; she’s hilarious. And Dane is so caring and sweet that he seems to worry about and wants to take care of everyone.

Gideon is extremely mysterious! The intensity he portrays throughout the story is what keeps you on edge. I kept craving for him to appear on every page just so I could figure him out.

Final thought

I tried to be really cautious in this review to avoid spoilers, but I have to say that I’m obsessed with this book! I don’t think anyone could have prepared me for the story twists! And the romance is insanely intense! I can’t wait for everyone to experience this book because it is so freakin’ good!






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This is a tour hosted giveaway!
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of The Artisans by Julie Reece (INT)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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☆ The Tour ☆
Week One:
5/18/2015 Novel Novice – Guest Post
5/18/2015 The Mama Games – Review
5/19/2015 Magical Urban Fantasy Reads – Review
5/19/2015 The A P Book Club – Guest Post
5/20/2015 Jorie Loves A Story – Interview
5/20/2015 Book Hounds YA – Spotlight/Promo
5/21/2015 Paper Cuts – Review
5/21/2015 Two Chicks on Books – Guest Post
5/22/2015 Simple Wyrdings – Review
5/22/2015 The Page Unbound – Spotlight/Promo
5/23/2015 Bitches n Prose – Spotlight/Promo
5/23/2015 YA Chit Chat – Review
5/24/2015 Diana’s Book Reviews – Review


Week Two:
5/25/2015 We Do Write – Interview
5/26/2015 On Writing and Riding – Interview
5/27/2015 The Shadow Realm – Review
5/27/2015 Kimber Leigh Writes – Review
5/28/2015 A Thousand Words A Million Books – Review
5/28/2015 Reader Girls – Review
5/28/2015 Mundie Moms – Review
5/29/2015 Beauty and the Bookshelf – Guest Post
5/29/2015 Tale of the Ravenous Reader – Interview
5/30/2015 Wishful Endings – review
5/31/2015 A Book Addict’s Bookshelves – Guest Post
5/31/2015 Jennifer M. Eaton – Review

The Remedy Blog Tour Stop + Giveaway!

About the Author

Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program series. Originally from Utica, New York, Suzanne moved to Arizona to pursue her dream of not freezing to death. She is a novelist and an English teacher, but not always in that order.

Suzanne is the author of THE PROGRAM, THE TREATMENT, THE REMEDY, and HOTEL RUBY. She was also on an episode of House Hunters where she talked about her love of grass and trees (while living in the desert).



☆ How to find Suzanne ☆
Website ☆ Facebook ☆ Twitter ☆ Pinterest ☆ Goodreads ☆ Instagram

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About the Book

Can one girl take on so many identities without losing her own? Find out in this riveting companion to The Program and the New York Times bestselling The Treatment.

In a world before The Program.

Quinlan McKee is a closer. Since the age of seven, Quinn has held the responsibility of providing closure to grieving families with a special skill she can become anyone.

Recommended by grief counselors, Quinn is hired by families to take on the short-term role of a deceased loved one between the ages of fifteen and twenty. She's not an exact copy, of course, but she wears their clothes and changes her hair, studies them through pictures and videos, and soon, Quinn can act like them, smell like them, and be them for all intents and purposes. But to do her job successfully, she can't get attached.

Now seventeen, Quinn is deft at recreating herself, sometimes confusing her own past with those of the people she's portrayed. When she's given her longest assignment, playing the role of Catalina Barnes, Quinn begins to bond with the deceased girl's boyfriend. But that's only the beginning of the complications, especially when Quinn finds out the truth about Catalina's death. And the epidemic it could start.


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☆ Mindy's Review ☆

My rating

THE REMEDY is a prequel to Suzanne Young’s bestselling duology THE PROGRAM and THE TREATMENT. To me, THE REMEDY is more like a spin-off. It takes place in the same setting, but with different characters and a little bit of a twist to the story elements.

Story Elements

THE PROGRAM duology is a dystopian genre but in an urban setting. In the series, the government has discovered what they think is a solution to a teen suicide epidemic. This solution involves closely monitoring every teen’s behavior to see if they exhibit any signs they may be depressed. If they do, they are forced into The Program which is designed to prevent teen suicide.

THE REMEDY takes place in this same urban setting, but there is another system in place that can help people through their grief while they deal with the death of a loved one. Quinlan (protagonist) is what they call a closer. Closers are hired to act the role of a loved one that has died, and it’s the closer’s job to help the grieving family find closure.

Writing style

Suzanne Young is an extremely compelling writer. While reading her stories, I feel that her writing easily keeps me engaged in the story, and she continuously keeps the story progressing so you feel the desire to keep reading. She’s absolutely marvelous at character development; I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a degree in psychology. Suzanne is amazing at being able to connect me to each character’s first person POV, and she has me completely understanding their actions. She also does really well at building the side characters and helping me understand their actions and motivations.

Characters – Note: I wrote the majority of these character traits before I had finished THE REMEDY because I didn’t want the ending of the story to influence my opinion about a character and to avoid anything that might be spoilery.

Part of what makes this story so interesting is trying to learn Quinlan’s true character traits even while seeing from her “closer” point of view. She has played the role of other people so many times that she seems to keep losing herself in the roles she plays. My heart breaks for this character. It’s interesting how deeply she would mentally get into these roles. She even went as far as mentally putting herself in each deceased person’s role by presenting the deceased girl’s family and friends as “my sister, my brother, my mother, my father, my friend or my boyfriend.” While playing these roles, Quinlan experiences what it feels like to be loved by other people. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have anyone in her own personal life who shows they care and love for her, so she’s only getting that affection through these false roles.

Deacon is Quinlan’s ex that she is regularly on and off with. She finds him to be the one person she can be most comfortable with, but he tends to break her heart pretty frequently so they have decided to just be friends. Even though he seems a little like a DB, I actually really like the guy.

When Quinlan plays the role of Catalina, there are several new characters introduced into the story and it’s interesting to follow how these new characters react to this girl playing the role of Catalina.

Final thought

This book was flipping FANTASTIC! While reading, I was feeling extremely scared that I knew the direction this story was headed, and I didn’t like where I thought it was heading. Surprisingly, I was completely wrong! Nearing the end, something extremely insane happened, and it had me really freaked out! Then, shortly thereafter, there was a major curve ball thrown in and I was utterly shocked! I’m extremely thrilled that Suzanne Young introduced us to this freaky premise to her insane series. I loved it! This morning I checked online to see if the storyline developed from The Remedy was going to continue, but I couldn’t find anything . . . and I really hope that I get a chance to read more about what happens in that storyline!




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This is a tour hosted giveaway!
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
1 winner will receive a signed set of The Program, The Treatment, and The Remedy.
1 winner will receive a signed ARC of Hotel Ruby.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

☆ The Tour ☆
Week One:
4/13/2015- Once Upon a Twilight- Interview
4/14/2015- Books and Swoons- Review
4/15/2015- Fictitious Delicious- Guest Post
4/16/2015- My Reading Room- Review
4/17/2015- Fiktshun- Interview


Week Two:
4/20/2015- Me, My Shelf and I- Review
4/21/2015- Bad Bird Reads- Guest Post
4/22/2015- Novel Novice- Review
4/23/2015- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Interview
4/24/2015-Magical Urban Fantasy Reads-Review

Tour Stop! Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers + Giveaway!

About the Author

Robin LaFevers was raised on a steady diet of fairy tales, Bulfinch’s mythology, and 19th century poetry. It is not surprising she grew up to be a hopeless romantic.

Though she has never trained as an assassin or joined a convent, she did attend Catholic school for three years, which instilled in her a deep fascination with sacred rituals and the concept of the Divine. She has been on a search for answers to life’s mysteries ever since.

While many of those answers still elude her, she was lucky enough to find her one true love, and is living happily ever after with him in the foothills of southern California.

In addition to writing about teen assassin nuns in medieval Brittany, she writes books for middle grade readers, including the Theodosia books and the Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist series. You can learn more about those books at www.rllafevers.com.

☆ How to find Robin ☆
Website ☆ Twitter ☆ Facebook ☆ Goodreads ☆ Pinterest ☆ Tumblr

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Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own.

She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has...

My take: This book was so flipping good that I ate it alive! In Mortal Heart, Robin LaFevers reminds us how remarkably brilliant she is at crafting riveting historical novels, and she ended this trilogy phenomenally; but I’m super sad that it’s all over. I sure hope Robin will write a spin-off.

I loved how, with each book in this series, we follow a different character in the His Fair Assassin trilogy, and I appreciated how different, yet connected, each book was in this series. In the first book, we have a girl that has lived a life of pure hatred toward men where finding a purpose in life allows her to have an outlet for her hatred . . . and love. In book two, we have a girl that is severely mentally disturbed who has tried everything to escape the hauntings of her past but the past eventually catches up to her and blows up . . . and it’s horrifying. And in this last book, we have a girl that helped train girls to be Death’s assassin, she watches each assassin get their assignment but she never does and all she wants to do is serve her god. This last book is about discovering who this girl, Annith, really is and discovering her purpose in life.

There are a few truly insane twists throughout this book. While reading it, I felt like I was continuously engaged in a guessing game to help figure out where Annith’s story was going to go. Annith was an insanely good eaves-dropper and investigator throughout this series. She always wanted to know the “why” of every situation and circumstance. But there were times Annith would hardly give the evidence in front of her face the smallest bit of notice, where even I could see it plainly, and I wanted to yell at her through the pages to open her dang eyes! The storyline in Mortal Heart was well laid out, but it really was the unexpected plot twists that made this story phenomenal.

There were many things in this trilogy that were dramatically changed by how this story ended, and there were also new, exciting elements that were introduced in this book. The story ended beautifully, but because of the new elements that were introduced in this book, I’m hoping that a spin-off will be revealed soon.




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This is a tour hosted giveaway!
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

☆ The Tour ☆
Week One:
10/27/2014- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post
10/28/2014- Katie's Book Blog- Review
10/29/2014- Once Upon a Twilight- Interview
10/30/2014- Magical Urban Fantasy Reads- Review
10/31/2014- Reading YA Rocks- Guest Post



Week Two:
11/3/2014- Mundie Moms- Review
11/4/2014- Tales of the Ravenous Reader- Interview
11/5/2014- The Starry-Eyed Revue- Review
11/6/2014- Step Into Fiction- Interview
11/7/2014- Parajunkee- Guest Post

Tour Stop! Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch + Giveaway!

Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then — her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Her debut YA fantasy, SNOW LIKE ASHES, the first in a trilogy, comes out October 14, 2014 from Balzer + Bray. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures.

☆ How to find Sara ☆
Tumblr ☆ Twitter ☆ Facebook ☆ Goodreads ☆ Pinterest

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Publisher’s summary: Game of Thrones meets Graceling in this striking fantasy tale of dark magic, dangerous politics, and discovering your true self. Sara Raasch’s debut fantasy is a lightning-fast story of loyalty, love, and controlling one’s destiny.

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. The Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been searching for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild their kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, Winter’s future king—she would do anything to help Winter rise to power again. So when scouts discover the location of half of the ancient locket that can restore their magic, Meira decides to go after it herself—only to find herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics, and to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

My take: I absolutely loved Snow Like Ashes! This book has it all . . . chaos, betrayal, heartache, torment, despair and bloodshed . . . all the while still including moments of friendship, loyalty, sacrifice and love. I’m absolutely blown away with everything that happened and I’m more than a little excited to read anything else written by Sara Raasch; more importantly, I’m dying for the next book in the Snow Like Ashes series.

My all-time favorite aspect of this book is the character build. We immediately start to learn the unique personalities of these characters, and Meira is the perfect heroine for this series. As each character is introduced, you almost immediately have feelings of admiration for the character or utter hate. There is nothing better than a story where you can actual have as much hate toward a villain as do the characters in the book. Or when there is a betrayal, you feel as though that knife was plunged into your back right along with the character. I have to say to Sara, “Now that’s talent!” Normally I’d pick several characters to talk about at this point along with the specifics of my love, my hate or my anger towards them, but I’m scared I might spoil something by expressing my feelings about any one character. Well . . . I will give you a shout-out about two characters. First, I have a huge crush on Theron and, second, Nessa is just so dang cute. Both characters you will not meet right away. Is that good enough?

The world Sara created in this book is truly phenomenal, even though I have to admit that I’m a little confused over the differences between the Seasons and the Rhythms and all that. But I absolutely loved the politics! Oh! My! Gosh! There is so much betrayal, backstabbing and desperation when it comes to the politics that it’s just plain crazy! And then when someone actually does recognize the need to be self-sacrificing, it even turns out worse when it doesn’t even work out the way they wanted it to. Or, worse, when it doesn’t work out at all! INSANE I tell ya!!!

I love how, in only one book, there are so many changes in scenery as we get to see the characters’ lives from multiple angles. And, oh my! I’m sitting here thinking that Snow Like Ashes was going to be like most books where we have a storyline that might lead to a crazy insane ending…but no! Sara wants to give us the entire craziness right smack in the middle! Because, even though there are some crazy action scenes throughout the book, something really big happens right smack in the middle, and it completely changes things! Or does it? I’m going to stop now . . . or I might end up taking away some of the awesomeness of this book by telling you about things that happen. All I’ll say is that, at that point smack in the middle of the story, the scenery completely changes again…to very dark. But Sara doesn’t leave it there . . . and there are still tons of moments of heart pounding intensity, with an ending that leaves me craving for more.


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This is a tour hosted giveaway!
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

☆ The Tour ☆
Week One:
10/6/2014- Bookish- Interview
10/7/2014- Magical Urban Fantasy Reads- Review
10/8/2014- Bewitched Bookworms- Guest Post
10/9/2014- Fictitious Delicious- Review
10/10/2014- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Interview


Week Two:
10/13/2014- Fiction Freak- Review
10/14/2014- Dark Faerie Tales- Interview
10/15/2014- Fiktshun- Guest Post
10/16/2014- IceyBooks- Review
10/17/2014- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post

The Inventor’s Secret by Andrea Cremer

Publisher's Summary: New from Andrea Cremer, the New York Times bestselling author of the Nightshade novels, comes an action-packed alternate-history steampunk adventure.

In this world, sixteen-year-old Charlotte and her fellow refugees have scraped out an existence on the edge of Britain’s industrial empire. Though they live by the skin of their teeth, they have their health (at least when they can find enough food and avoid the Imperial Labor Gatherers) and each other. When a new exile with no memory of his escape or even his own name seeks shelter in their camp he brings new dangers with him and secrets about the terrible future that awaits all those who have struggled has to live free of the bonds of the empire’s Machineworks.

My Take: Yes! I’m so excited that Andrea Cremer has created another trilogy that I’m going to love to death! I’m a huge fan of her Nightshade series and I’m completely sold by The Inventor’s Secret!

One of my favorite things about this book is how phenomenally detailed Andrea was in creating the setting for this book! I keep telling people that I would be thrilled if this book were made into a movie, and I think the movie would be amazing! She created and described the steampunk gadgets and machines so amazingly that, in my mind, the world she created is almost magical! I feel like it’s similar to how I would picture things from a Middle-Grade book, only we get some YA romance and some pretty vivid moments of … how do I say … well, I’ll just be blunt … there’s some killing.

There are quite a number of difficult challenges the characters need to face throughout the book and right after they cross one stumbling block there always is another! It was so good!!!

I just loved Charlotte’s character! She is so openly blunt about things and she’s so not the girly-girl type, but she’s thrown into playing the part of a girly-girl and it’s hilarious! She can’t hold her tongue and I loved it! I feel like she’s a lot like me, she is very opinionated, bossy (except I'm not bossy LOL) and very vocal about her thoughts and it’s extremely entertaining! Very rarely does she hold back, but if she ever does it always seems like things turn out good for her anyways.

The ending was extremely sucky but in a really good way, and I’m going to be dying for who-knows-how-long before book 2 comes out!

The Treatment by Suzanne Young

Publisher’s summary: Can Sloane and James survive the lies and secrets surrounding them, or will The Program claim them in the end? Find out in this sequel to The Program, which Publishers Weekly called “chilling and suspenseful.”

How do you stop an epidemic?

Sloane and James are on the run after barely surviving the suicide epidemic and The Program. But they’re not out of danger. Huge pieces of their memories are still missing, and although Sloane and James have found their way back to each other, The Program isn’t ready to let them go.

Escaping with a group of troubled rebels, Sloane and James will have to figure out who they can trust, and how to take down The Program. But for as far as they’ve come, there’s still a lot Sloane and James can’t remember. The key to unlocking their past lies with the Treatment—a pill that can bring back forgotten memories, but at a high cost. And there’s only one dose.

Ultimately when the stakes are at their highest, can Sloane and James survive the many lies and secrets surrounding them, or will The Program claim them in the end?

My Take: CRAZINESS!!! The last half of this book gave me such crazy anxiety it’s not even funny! It was a build-up of a heck of a lot of crap that my mind and emotions had a hard time handling it. But it was soooooo good, and the ending was phenomenal! This book made me a huge fan of Suzanne Young, and I’m so sad that it’s over!

The first part of the book had me getting reacquainted with the characters and getting sucked back into the scary paranoid life of the teens in this duology. And speaking of sucked…since Sloane doesn’t have her memories from before The Program (and since it has been a year since I read The Program), it took me some time to figure out the “who, what, and where” of this story. But that didn’t cause any problems with me enjoying The Treatment because the writing and the continued story-line was so intriguing that I was completely absorbed into the story.

One thing I loved about this book was the rollercoaster of emotions it put me through. Throughout the entire book, I agonized over who I thought Sloane should trust when she would get to those dark, depressive states. I think it would be horrifying to be a teen living in a world like this. The other thing I loved about this book was learning to love and hate all of the characters right along with Sloane. Sloane is by far my favorite character in this book and there was only one time I was mad at her over her actions.

There were so many cans of worms opened in this book and so many unanswered questions from The Program that I never thought they could all be tied up in a duology. All along I kept thinking this series was going to be a trilogy and, as I was nearing the end of the book, I was getting a little freaked out thinking that I was going to have to wait a whole nuther year to relieve this anxiety. But IT.IS.OVER! And I couldn’t be more thrilled with how this book played out even though I’m so sad to say goodbye!

For those of you who haven’t read this series, read it now!

The One by Kiera Cass

Publisher’s Summary: The time has come for one winner to be crowned.

When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.

My Take: OMG! I loved every bit of this book! Well, I’m actually quite upset with a death in this book, so I can’t say I loved EVERY bit of it (that death was extremely sudden) but, other than that, I loved it. This was one of those happy fairytale fluffy books…and I feel like I needed it! I think I had a smile on my face throughout the whole book, but I will admit that there were a few moments I had tears running down my face. And I can’t tell you how many times Jaime from Two Chicks on Books had to hear me giggling out loud while I was reading this book. Basically, I had a lot of emotions going on while reading this final book in The Selection trilogy.

One thing everyone wants to know about is the love triangle. Well I’m not going to spoil, but it’s pretty apparent right from the start who she’s going to choose. That’s one thing about this book; there are not a whole lot of surprises. So once you start to read, you’ll know.

My favorite thing about this book was how I was reminded that Cass is really good at character development. I think that is why so many people are invested in this series; it’s because you learn to love the characters. Well in this book I grew attached to a character that I never would have guessed would happen. And she ended up being one of my favorite characters. America really grows a strong independence and an understanding of how she can make a difference in the situation she is in. There are some decisions she makes that causes drama, but those all worked out perfectly in the end.

The end of The One was just insane! That ending happened extremely fast and tied up all the loose ends and I loved it! Kiera Cass did a fantastic job and I’m more than satisfied with this book and the series and I highly recommend them.

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Publisher’s summary: Winning what you want may cost you everything you love.

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

My take: This is one of those books that have an ending that makes the entire book so unbelievably worth it! That was a phenomenal ending, I tell ya, but it’s also one of those endings that makes you think, “That sucks!”

This book was so good that I read the entire book in one sitting, and I didn’t even feel like my day was consumed! I felt like it happened in a snap! Yep, it’s that good. (Full disclosure . . . I did start it a while ago and only read a few chapters before putting it aside. But when I picked it up this time, I started from the beginning and didn’t stop until I was finished. Well, I MIGHT have gotten up to go to the restroom once, but I know for sure that I definitely left a dent in my couch where I sat while reading!)

One of the things I loved about this book is that it was fantasy with absolutely no paranormal aspects to it. So the war and lifestyle portrayed in the book were completely foreign to me but so much fun.

I think my favorite character in this book is for sure Kestrel. She’s an independent thinker and does what she wants and she’s kick butt! I liked Arin too, but there were times where I was worried about Arin’s decisions even though I understood his actions.

The ending to this book has all the tables turned, with a completely different set –up from how the story started, and I’m so excited to see where Marie Rutkoski is going to take us. Even though I loved this book so much, I have a feeling it’s only an introduction to a phenomenal new trilogy and I’m more than eager to follow along!

Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

Publisher’s summary: Divided by day and night and on the run from authorities, star-crossed young lovers unearth a sinister conspiracy in this compelling romantic thriller.

Seventeen-year-old Soleil Le Coeur is a Smudge—a night dweller prohibited by law from going out during the day. When she fakes an injury in order to get access to and kidnap her newborn niece—a day dweller, or Ray—she sets in motion a fast-paced adventure that will bring her into conflict with the powerful lawmakers who order her world, and draw her together with the boy she was destined to fall in love with, but who is also a Ray.

Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day-night divide, Elizabeth Fama's Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights, and a fast-paced romantic adventure story.

My take: Now that’s an awesome ending! I think I liked it because that ending wasn’t a surprise to me, and it’s not a happily ever after because it would be way too impossible to have an ending that worked out after everything that happened in this book.

This book took me a little longer to read than I would have liked because there were just a few things I had a hard time relating to, and I debated my star rating for quite a while but I think these following issues had way too much influence than I would have liked. First, what’s up with this book and people acting like stealing a baby is as okay as stealing someone’s phone simply because you have the intent of returning it? It’s a baby! And not just one baby is involved, two completely different babies from two completely different families are stolen, and for two completely different reasons. This should be an extremely serious situation, and people wouldn’t just tiptoe around this kind of thing! And I don’t care who you are, as a parent you’d change your whole life if this happened to your children because it’s a natural need for parents to be so protective. And I know that the whole point to the kidnapping of these babies is to try to show this extreme seriousness, but so many unconcerned people were involved that it was hard for me to accept! I just had a really hard time coming to terms with this idea. The other thing I had a hard time with is the lifestyles of these people. This whole Day people verses Night people lifestyle thing, evolving out of the Spanish flu of 1918, was hard to wrap my mind around as to the “why.” At first, I kept wondering if this was a futuristic book where the people were all told the wrong history of the world. But then I realized it’s a book where this is a “could have been” lifestyle brought about if we separated people between night and day (for whatever reason) because of the Spanish flu. I just had an extremely hard time with this fantasy vision of the world, obviously, because it didn’t happen in the real world. But you give me a book with a bunch of power hungry people, and I’ll get it.

Other than all of that, I really loved the story. The characters were really well done! It was like they were meant to be together. Sol was a little too selfless for my liking, but I still ended up liking her. And now that I’ve fallen in love with the characters and I’ve wrapped my head around the world Elizabeth Fama created, I’m super excited to read the next book!

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

My Take: This book is a bizarre world that is extremely hard to explain. The story takes place in a very strange setting and it has a very different feel to the writing that I don’t think I’ve ever felt from another book. It’s like a young adult version of an epic fairytale. Does that even make sense? I think the closest I can come to explaining the “feel” of the writing while reading Cruel Beauty is that it was similar to the bizarreness I felt while reading The Night Circus.

The main character, Nyx, has lived a cruel, horrifying life and she has so much animosity for her family. Normally, a character with that much negativity is one I would have a hard time liking, but I never had that problem with Nyx because it was the life Nyx has lived that had me completely understanding all the hate she had in her heart. But even with all that hate, I wouldn’t say that she is totally full of pure hate because if she were, she wouldn’t feel so guilty or have such a desire to make things right, or to do good, or to save the people of her land. I think most people who lived the life she lived, would just give up! They wouldn’t try to fulfill the destiny that was thrown upon Nyx’s shoulders.

And when Nyx is introduced to her new husband, Ignifex, and his shadow, Shade, I was immediately intrigued by Ignifex. I really didn’t care too much for Shade because he actually kind of annoyed me. And even though Ignifex was cruel (what I think a lot of people would define as evil), he was still interesting to me. His snarky comments and his banter with Nyx were extremely entertaining. I kinda struggled with the book because I really wanted to like the “bad boy,” and it kind of bugged me that he was supposed to be so evil. But the bizarre world kept me reading along and I’m glad I did.

There are a lot of magical elements throughout the book that keep the story very unique, and there is, of course, a huge betrayal/twist in the story. And then, when all elements of the story finally come together, and all the parts of the puzzle about this bizarre world finally fit into place, I was absolutely blow away by how amazing the whole story was! And I loved the ending! I will be keeping my eyes open for any other book written by Rosamund Hodge.

Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood

Publisher’s summary: With the Brotherhood persecuting witches like never before, a divided Sisterhood desperately needs Cate to come into her Prophesied powers. And after Cate's friend Sachi is arrested for using magic, a war-thirsty Sister offers to help her find answers—if Cate is willing to endanger everyone she loves.

Cate doesn't want to be a weapon, and she doesn't want to involve her friends and Finn in the Sisterhood's schemes. But when Maura and Tess join the Sisterhood, Maura makes it clear that she'll do whatever it takes to lead the witches to victory. Even if it means sacrifices. Even if it means overthrowing Cate. Even if it means all-out war.

In the highly anticipated sequel to Born Wicked, the Cahill Witch Chronicles continue Cate, Maura and Tess's quest to find love, protect family, and explore their magic against all odds in an alternate history of New England.

My Take: I’m such a huge fan of this series! Oh my! It is so good!

I’m starting to realize that I am loving books that are set in historical periods, but with paranormal aspects. I know that what I’m describing is historical fiction, but I don’t really need books that have true “historical moments in time” in them. I think I just really like books that pick a historical time era and then use that era’s lifestyle and incorporate it into the story.

Okay, enough about my liking of historical fiction and back to the book. I loved Star Cursed because in Born Wicked we learn about the historical setting of the story as well as the prophesied destiny of the three Cahill sisters, what they are each capable of and what motivates each of them. We also learn a little bit of the motivations of the horrible Brotherhood, and we also learn to be leery of the Sisterhood. Then, in Star Cursed, we get to know about the Sisterhood first hand, and we learn about the role they actually play as well as who to trust and whether or not a prophecy can be changed.

I loved following along with Cate’s story as she tries to decide if she’ll be a leader of the Sisterhood, struggling with her own wants and needs. I liked following her constant dilemma of trying to do the right thing and do what’s best for her sisters. I never had a moment where I thought Cate made a bad choice, and I was always really fond of her character. But, just like in the first book, I’m not a fan of Cate’s sister, Maura. I think she’s a brat…I have a better word for her, but I’ll keep that out of my review. But I absolutely love her other sister, Tessa. She’s just way too cute, she is extremely mature for her age, and I loved seeing her become more and more wise throughout the story. There are also some new characters in this book that I grew really fond of as well.

While reading, you know that the story’s leading up to something pretty insane. The story does get to some real nail-biting moments and, along the way, there’s a really sad moment and a lot of really happy moments. But all the while, I had this strange feeling that I should be bracing myself for something that would totally rip me to shreds, and I just knew that it would be a huge betrayal that would cause it. Boy was I right! It wasn’t anything that I could have imagined, and it’s just horrible! It’s one of those epic cliffhangers…like a truly awful, but totally awesome, cliffhanger.

Star Cursed was so good that I literally picked up Sisters’ Fate the moment I was finished reading Star Cursed (even though it was 11:30pm) because I was determined to continue the story. I really hope that the upcoming release of Sisters’ Fate will get more readers into this trilogy because I think these books are not getting the attention they deserve!

Half Bad by Sally Green

Publisher’s summary: In a world of witches, there is only good and evil.

Begin the hunt!

Sixteen-year old Nathan lives in a cage: beaten, shackled like a dog, trained to kill. In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world’s most terrifying and violent witch, Marcus. Nathan’s only hope for survival is to escape his captors, track down Marcus, and receive the three gifts that will bring him into his own magical powers-before it’s too late. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is tracked, when there is no one safe to trust, not even family, not even the girl he loves?

Half Bad is an international sensation and the start of a brilliant trilogy: a gripping tale of alienation and the indomitable will to survive.

My Take: So…Half Bad is just crazy insane! Some of the things in this book were so crazy that I had a hard time even imagining them happening!

First off, I want to talk about the writing style of this book! I read the non-Americanized manuscript and I don’t know how much the writing style will change in the final Americanized version, so I won’t talk about some of the wording I didn’t understand that I had to research online to figure out what the author was talking about (that was fun!) Anyways, the writing starts off as if someone were speaking to you directly, putting “you” (the reader) in the actual POV of a boy (Nathan) who’s locked in a cage and you are being told, step-by-step, what you are doing. I wasn’t really a fan of this style because it was hard for me to distinguish between what was actually happening with what the boy really wanted to happen. Then the second part of the book is in the first person past tense POV of Nathan before he was put in the cage, but there’s also a little portion of this section that was written as if Nathan’s older sister is telling him about what happened to him when he was only a baby. By a little more than midway through the book, the story leads back to the present tense and moves forward from there.

Other than the writing, the story itself was crazy! I felt so bad for Nathan throughout the story. There is a cute romance that was introduced, but the crazy, bizarre things that Nathan endures were way more interesting to me than the romance. Once the story got to the present tense, I think that was when I really started to like the story, and the last few chapters were by far my favorite. There are a few characters that were introduced in those last few chapters that I really liked, along with a whole change in scene, and everything that went down in the end was totally awesome. And the very last scene was just brilliantly done! It left me thrilled with the end, but also left so many doors open for the story to continue!

After reading this book, I’m really excited to see what others will think of this story. I think that it’s one of those stories that you either will really like or that you will really NOT like. I can hardly wait to see!