I read this book as my TBR jar pick of September and I will say that it was pretty good. It was called Curses Of Scale by S. D. Reeves.
Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Niena wants nothing more than to attend an elite bardic college, but when the dragon that shattered the empire awakens again she finds herself on the run, through the fey realm of Fairhome, to the city where she was born. On her trail are her army veteran grandfather, thrown into a commander’s role he doesn’t want, the lord of the fairies, trying to steer her to his own ends, and the husband she won’t meet for fifteen years. If she kills the dragon, she’ll save everyone she holds dear. But if she kills the dragon, she’s cursed instead to become it.
I never know what I am going to get when I take a pick out of the TBR jar but when I picked this one, I was intrigued. It deals with a girl who is trying to stop a dragon from terrorizing her village. But the dragon passes on a curse that when you kill it, you become it.
The characters were very well developed and I feel like they were differentiated enough to have a good cast. However, the plot was a little all over the place and hard to follow. It also became too descriptive at times where I was drawn out because of the number of adjectives I was reading.
That being said, it is a good standalone book with a not too complicated magic system and some fun ties to fey folklore. I am giving it a right in the middle rating because that is how I felt about it. I believe that the author can create more work like this and I would be excited to see where he goes with his imagination in his future books.
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the author in physical format to read and give an honest review.
If you want to see the rest of the books on my shelves, check out this bookshelf tour! This is part 2. Part one can be found on my youtube channel! Let me know if we have any of the same books!
Welcome to my stop on the tour for Silo Boys by Amy-Brooke Odell. Read an excerpt, and enter the giveaway for a chance to win a digital copy of the book!
One dead, one missing, and one who was never there.
In a sleepy town in South Carolina, nineteen year old Addy Marks has spent the past two years coming to grips with the mysterious death of her friend Beau and the disappearance of her boyfriend Mason. After the annual Dogwood festival, three boys were seen heading toward a local silo. When morning arrived, Beau’s body was discovered, Mason was missing, and Hunter, the best friend of the two boys, claims he wasn’t at the silo.
Two years later everything is turned upside down when Mason unexpectedly returns to town, but before Addy can meet with him he is found murdered. Coping with her best friend’s lies, uncovering the last standing Silo Boy’s sealed alibi, and protecting her friends from harm, Addy must figure out what happened that night at the silo before anyone else loses their life. As she exposes the tragic mystery, she realizes that everyone holds tightly to their secrets and misdeeds.
It’s my first time back to the silo since everything went horribly wrong, and all of the excitement and romance have long left the air. We built our relationships here, but now without my friends or Mason, it seems haunted…a shell of what it used to be. There are no more boisterous cheers from five friends racing up the metal stairs to play with the Ouija board, split a flask, or share their secrets. The secrets live by themselves in the silo now.
The looming brick structure that once filled me with such joy and adventure currently fills my bones with sadness. It looks so hollow. The farm grows quiet; I hum to myself, because if I stop making noise, I fear that I might hear the echoes of the boys yelling down at us from the window, our converse low-tops pounding up the stairs. The ghosts of who we used to be.
Amy-Brooke Odell was born and raised in North Carolina with a love so deep for the state that it permeates her writing. She has a B.A. in Theatre from UNC-Charlotte and while Silo Boys is her debut novel, she has many more stories to tell. Amy is currently living in D.C. with her husband, son, and boston terrier. You can find out more about Amy on IG: authoramybrooke and on Twitter: @amybrookeodell
The magical readathon is now over and I read so freaking much during the month of August. Landline by Rainbow Rowell was the 2nd last book on my readathon TBR and I read it in 3 days. The prompt for this one was to read a book with my Hogwarts house colours on the front of it. So I chose this one because I am a Hufflepuff and it had yellow and black.
Synopsis: Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble; it has been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now.
Maybe that was always beside the point.
Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect him to pack up the kids and go home without her.
When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts…
Is that what she’s supposed to do?
Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?
I found this book to be very different from Rainbow’s other work. And by that, I mean Eleanor and Park since that is the only other book I have read by her. This one had a much more new adult feel to it where her other stuff felt more young adult based.
I do think I like her young adult books more but that being said, this book was still pretty good. The concept of being able to speak to your significant other of the past through a landline phone was a fun new twist of old and great to see in a book considering a lot of today’s generation may not even get to experience a landline phone.
Georgie struggles with a lot of common dilemmas in the life of a married woman juggling a family and a career. Communication is waning between her and her husband and the book goes over her relationship with him.
It plays out like a romantic drama movie in book format. If you are looking for a book about love and family values then this is a good option.
Another book crushed during the NEWTS! I know that it is now September but I am just getting around to writing the reviews for the NEWTS books now because I was so busy trying to read them all before August was over. This one was called Last Call At The Nightshade Loungeby Paul Krueger.
Synopsis: College grad Bailey Chen has a few demons: no job, no parental support, and a rocky relationship with Zane, the only friend who’s around when she moves back home. But when Zane introduces Bailey to his cadre of monster-fighting bartenders, her demons get a lot more literal. Like, soul-sucking hell-beast literal. Soon, it’s up to Bailey and the ragtag band of magical mixologists to take on whatever—or whoever—is behind the mysterious rash of gruesome deaths in Chicago, and complete the lost recipes of an ancient tome of cocktail lore.
This book was so good! When I heard about it through a booktuber named “Drums Of Autumn”, I knew I needed to have it. The concept of mixing drinks that enable the person to have superpowers alone is fascinating and I was instantly intrigued.
And then I start reading and find out that it is a diverse book with a mixed-race main character named Bailey and I love it even more. It is really enriching to see more diverse sets of characters in strong leading roles. There is also a Canadian character that I absolutely loved because they didn’t exactly show a stereotypical Canadian person with the “Sorry’s” and the “I love maple syrup” but gave them a multilayered personality that was just a joy to experience.
The book would end some chapters with drink recipes explaining what powers this drink gave you and the magical history behind how it was discovered among the bartenders and mixers. They had drawings of the drinks in an old victorian sketching style.
I normally don’t gravitate towards a book with historical elements (not a fan of historical fiction) but I would love to learn all about the mixing lore and the discovery of magical drinks.
There is a lot of action, some romance and a take on superpowers that I have never experienced before. It was very easy to get through and I found myself having a hard time putting this book down! I would recommend this book to anyone that wants a fun urban fantasy book that is very well-paced and honestly should be a series….hint hint….Paul, make another book like this!
Disclaimer: I was given this book as a gift and I read it because I wanted to. I was in no way compensated to give it an honest review.
It is finally September and I completed my NEWTS TBR but until I make that video, here is my September TBR where I talk about the books I will be reading this month and announce my giveaway winner!
I am kicking the NEWTS in the ass! I recently finished this book for my “outstanding” for Defense Against the Dark Arts prompt. This one was called The Savages by Matt Whyman.
Synopsis: They’d love to have you for dinner . . .
Sasha Savage is in love with Jack – a handsome, charming … vegetarian. Which wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that Sasha’s family are very much ‘carnivorous’. Behind the family facade, all is not as it seems. Sasha’s father rules his clan with an iron fist and her mother’s culinary skills are getting more adventurous by the day. When a too-curious private detective starts to dig for truths, the tight-knit family starts to unravel – as does their sinister taste in human beings . . .
So this book hooked me from the subtitle “They’d love to have you for dinner…”! I saw this in the bookstore and immediately put it in my cart. It was also on sale so that helped make my decision for me.
I read this as a prompt for the magical readathon since it was to read a book by an English author and I am glad I picked up this book. It was such a cool premise with a family of “meat” eaters, one of the children wanting to try being vegetarian and how the family reacts to this.
I found the characters were all well developed. I especially liked Ivan (the middle child) because he was a mischievous prankster with just the right amount of sinister.
The way that the family’s heritage was explained and the reasoning behind why they are the way that they are was really fun to discover. I would say that this is definitely a young adult book as I believe it may be a little too much for younger readers in some of the scenes.
Overall, it was a pretty good book that had a lot of underlying humor and punny wit.
I’m thrilled to share with you all today, Station Fosaan (Book #1 of the Torch World series) by Dee Garretson. This exciting book is best described as Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan meets Jules Verne’s The Lost World. I have an excerpt for you to read and a chance to win all sorts of book swag AND a paperback copy of the book!
Station Fosaan
Publication Date: February 14th, 2017
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/ Space Opera/ Post-Apocalypse
Scientists and their families stationed on the remote planet of Fosaan were promised a tropical vacation-like experience. But Fosaan, devastated from an apocalyptic event nearly 300 years ago, is full of lethal predators and dangerous terrain. Earthers are forbidden to go beyond the safety zone of their settlement and must not engage the remaining reclusive Fosaanians, native to the planet. 16-year-old Quinn Neen is about to do both of those things.
During an unsanctioned exploration of the planet, Quinn discovers a Fosaanian girl named Mira stealing food from his family’s living unit. But before he can convince her to show him around, scientists are taken captive, leaving Quinn and the other young Earthers at the mercy of space raiders.
Quinn must go from renegade to leader and convince Mira to become an ally in a fight against an enemy whose very existence threatens their lives and the future of Earthers stuck on Fosaan and at home.
I turned to go back when a flash of white caught my eye. Startled, I dropped the stick and then tripped over it. A girl, a Fosaanian girl, stood clutching a wafer loaf to her chest, a cloud of long shimmery white hair quivering. In fact, all of her was shivering. She was soaked, water dripping off her. I could see her wet footprints all over the kitchen. Her silvery eyes held mine and I couldn’t think of a thing to say. I wasn’t usually so speechless around girls with incredible eyes, but I’d never encountered one I didn’t know in my own quarters.
“What are you doing?” I finally managed to croak, even though it was obvious she was taking the loaf, or more accurately, stealing the loaf. Fosaanians never came out onto the Earthers’ floating compound.
“I’m sorry,” the girl said, putting the loaf back on counter and edging to the door.
“No, wait!” I didn’t mean to shout, but my words came out too loud. The girl froze like I had issued an order, though I could tell she was ready to bolt. “It’s okay,” I said. “I mean, if you’re hungry, take it.” Picking the loaf up, I held it out to her, hoping it would convince her to stay for a little while. She would be the first Fosaanian I had talked to, if I could get her to talk. The small population of Fosaanians, the descendants of the few who had survived the planetary apocalypse, kept away from all of us Earthers, except for the ones who worked at the supply depot or who delivered the iridium sulfide. None of those could be called the least bit friendly.
She didn’t take the loaf, but she didn’t run either. Instead, she stood there looking around the room, clearly curious.
“I have an even better idea,” I said, trying to come up with one. “How about I fix us both something to eat? I’m hungry too.”
I write, and read, and then write some more. I live in Ohio with my husband, two children and two cats in a cluttered house surrounded by semi-wild gardens.
I grew up in Mt. Pleasant, a small town in Iowa, spending my time outside playing in the woods, or helping my father build his offbeat inventions, and writing stories. When it came time to decide on a college, I thought I would try out city life for a change, and so I moved to Massachusetts to attend Tufts University, where I obtained a degree in International Relations.
Degree in hand, I quickly realized I was not meant to work inside in an office, and because I had become obsessed with plants, I decided to get a degree in Landscape Horticulture, as a way to get back outside. I worked as a landscape designer and taught landscape horticulture classes for several years before returning to writing.
August has arrived and with it the Magical Readathon!! It is time to take my N.E.W.T.S! Watch this video to see which books I will be reading for my exams!
Welcome to the Bloodlust tour, book #2 in Pixie Britton’s YA Science Fiction series, Kill or Cure. I have loads of fun stuff for you today! An exclusive excerpt, book trailer, a FREE book, and a chance to win a signed copy of Bloodlust! Wait, rewind…did I say FREE BOOK? I sure did! Read on!
Bloodlust (Kill or Cure #2)
Publication Date: February 21st, 2019
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/ Dystopian/ Zombies
Publisher: Matador
He could save the world, or destroy it…
The virus that has swept the Earth hasn’t consumed Tommy, yet, but as his hunger for human flesh takes hold, his humanity vanishes behind the bloodlust of an infected. It’s up to seventeen year old Alyx and her friends to find answers. But saving her little brother isn’t their only problem. Lurking in the shadows of Alhena is the formidable General Sinter, hell-bent on capturing the boy with unrivalled superhuman strength for his own personal gains. With limited options, Alyx has no choice but to risk everything to protect him. A choice that she could live to regret
Kill or Cure: Bloodlust is the second book in the Kill or Cure series. Brimming with suspense, romance and heart pumping action!
“A look of intrigue flickers across Tyron’s face as he tries to take measure of this wild girl standing in the centre of his cage. To the untrained eye, Winter looks like an odd wild girl from the forest, and you wouldn’t necessarily know how deadly she is from first impressions. She’s slight in stature yet athletic and nimble, and it’s not until you’ve spent significant time with her that you can fully appreciate how skilful she is. Every single movement is deliberate and focussed, like she could switch into warrior-mode at the flick of a switch.
I can’t help but grin internally when I realise that this monster-man has just met his match and he has absolutely no idea.”
Excerpt From: Pixie Britton. “Kill or Cure: Bloodlust.” iBooks.
Kill or Cure is a YA romance-infused sci-fi novel.
It focuses on human relationships in an undead, apocalyptic world.
A girl who will stop at nothing to protect her brother.
In a dystopian world ravaged by infection, society as we know it has fallen to the mouths of the dead. The remaining fragments of civilisation survive in walled compounds, scattered in the depths of the countryside. When her little brother becomes sick with a suspected flu virus, Alyx Silverthorne will do anything to keep Tommy alive.
With limited medical supplies and only herbal alternatives, his prospects of surviving this mystery illness are bleak. But saving Tommy is just the beginning. The infected are not the only monsters that exist in this new world, and human nature can be more destructive than the dead.
In a race against time, Alyx and her best friend Will stop at nothing to protect him, even from the same people that swore to protect them all.
Kill or Cure is a dynamic, multifaceted story of teenage love and gut wrenching loss in a dystopian world.
Download your FREE copy of the Last Sacrifice: A Kill or Cure story today…
A world infected. A man’s quest to save his family. One impossible choice.
The mission was supposed to be simple; to find survivors and kill the infected. But when Lieutenant, Joe Hudson, discovers that the home of his family has been destroyed by the infected, he’s left with an impossible decision. A choice that could change his life forever.
With limited ammunition and morale hitting an all-time low, the survival of the squad rests on a knife edge. Joe has no choice but to turn to his girlfriend, Suzie, a fellow soldier and secret lover for support. Together they have to cross a line to save his family, but even in this new world where the dead roam the earth, there are some lines that should never be crossed. Joe’s loyalty to his squad will be tested and the ultimate sacrifice will be made.
Set in the same world as the thrilling YA series Kill or Cure, follow Victory Squad in this fast paced prequel. Filled with love, heartbreaking loss and zombie guts.
Pixie Britton is a British indie author and Wattpad extraordinaire. Her debut YA novel Kill or Cure, gained international success online with over 100k reads within five months of initial publication.
Shes lives in Essex, England with her husband and adorable furbaby. One day she dreams of leaving her job as a Treasury Analyst in the city, to become a full time author and creative entrepreneur.
Check out her websitehttps://pixiebritton.com/ and sign up to her mailing list to receive the latest book release information.
If you get a chance, check out my July TBR video where I talk about the books I will be reading in July and the giveaway that I am hosting on my Youtube channel!
Oh My God! Guys, I read this book and it was absolutely fantastic. It gave me The Fault In Our Stars vibes and it was so cute. It’s called Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott.
Synopsis:Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.
The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn’t care less about his treatments or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.
Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn’t feel like safety. It feels like punishment.
What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too?
So first off I want to say that the cover of this book is absolutely stunning! I adore how they made the lungs into flowers. The colors compliment it really well and it is a very eye-catching design.
It is a dual perspective narrative which I have been very into lately. I noticed that a lot of YA books have been doing this and I like it because you get to see more than one side to the story. It also helped that both characters were likable in this one.
I mean, in the beginning, Will was a little frustrating but I can see why he felt the way he did. His character development was incredible and he definitely grew on me.
There is just something about a sick teenager’s love story that just pulls me right in and makes me feel so many emotions. I actually teared up while reading this book (not once but twice) and it is very rare that I cry about anything.
This book made me learn a lot about CF (Cystic Fibrosis) because I wanted to better understand what the characters were going through. I can’t imagine having to live with that disease and applaud these main characters for being as driven as they are (even though they are purely fictional).
I would 100% recommend this book to anyone and everyone! It was so good and it is a quick read to at only around 260 ish pages! It is a great YA Contemporary read that you should add to your bookshelf.
Bring out your contemporary’s! This month I am reading a lot of different books and decided to start it off with The Sun Is Also A Starby Nicola Yoon.
Synopsis
Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?
The main reason I picked up this book was because the movie came out recently and I wanted to read it before I watched the movie to see if the movie could do the book justice. I am really glad I picked this book up!
It was told from multiple perspectives and the entirety of the book was spanned over just one day. It explores the life of Natasha whose family is getting deported and her struggle trying to do everything in her power to stay in America. It also follows Daniel as he is on his way to his interview to get into a prestigious school to become a doctor. Their paths cross by complete luck (or was it fate) and you see them get to know each other.
I love when books play off of the “everything happens for a reason” bit and it shows how everything is connected and how it all played out because of certain events. This and books involving time always get me.
I don’t necessarily believe in the whole Insta love thing but I could see how it was kind of essential for this book.
The ending was absolutely amazing! I can’t say anything because I refuse to spoil this book but if you do pick it up, go all the way to the end because it is worth it.
There were a lot of side characters in the book and my favorite character actually was one of these side characters. Daniel and Natasha would annoy me at times but in their own little ways.
Honestly, this was a fun, easy contemporary read and is great to pick up for the summer and read at the beach or on the patio.
Hey bookworms! Sara has been busy reading lots of books and she has another review ready for us! She recently read Windsworn: Gryphon Riders – Book One by Derek Alan Siddoway.
Synopsis:Eva has never swung a sword. She’s never flown through the open sky on a gryphon or dreamed of being a hero. She’s content with a quiet life — two feet firmly on the ground, working in her foster-father’s forge. But that’s all about to change.
When Eva discovers a young thief hiding in her woodshed with a stolen gryphon egg, the shy, timid girl is forced to leave everything she’s ever known to become Windsworn — elite warriors who ride fierce gryphons into battle. As she struggles to learn the ways of the Windsworn, Eva finds herself caught in a plot to destroy the gryphon riders and plunge the kingdom into war, a plot that somehow involves her deceased parents.
In the face of growing danger, can Eva conquer her fears and unravel the secrets of her past in time to save the Windsworn?
This book is about a young blacksmith’s daughter named Eva. Through a strange series of events, she finds herself in possession of a Gryphon egg, which hatches only for her. She is then swept off into an adventure to learn about her new life, as a trained Gryphon Rider, protectors of the kingdom.
This book was a really fun read. I was engaged and staying up too late to read JUST ONE MORE CHAPTER for the whole book. I really enjoyed Eva as our main character and her struggles with what should have been a dream, but really felt like a chore. All the main characters in this book were unique and well developed.
I enjoyed that the plot never felt predictable. I never knew exactly where it was going next, or what was coming around the corner. The world that the author created feels cozy and believable. I’m eager to learn more about it in the sequel, as well as the implications of Eva’s special Gryphon.
My only complaints about the book would be the fact that the author seems to have leaned too heavily into their other favorite series for their inspiration. The beginning feels a lot like Eragon, and the final chapters felt a lot like the final chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. I think the author has created their own world here with unique characters and needs to be more careful with pulling elements from others in the genre, as it felt very familiar.
Overall, I really enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to the sequel. Where this world goes and how Eva develops after the ending of this book can only get more intense and engaging. Great book! Wonderful for junior readers too.
Disclaimer: This book was sent to us by the author in ebook format in exchange for an honest review.
I made my latest TBR video where I talk about all the books I will be reading in June and the buddy reads I will be taking part in. The new TBR jar also commences its journey with me.
Silo Boys
Station Fosaan
