I had the pleasure of reading a book by a local author in Sudbury, Ontario. I met her through my fellow coworkers and found out that she was an independent author so naturally I had to review her book. It was called Runaway by Sabine Wilder.
Synopsis:Susan Wolfe is your average high school senior, concerned with boys, grades and her favorite sport, cross-country running. However, her world gets flipped on its head when she discovers she is a werewolf. Tragedy strikes, but before Susan can deal with it, her best friend Anna’s life is put in danger. Susan has to put her own burdens aside to save her friend. Together the two girls have to find a way to survive, all the while putting their bond of friendship to the test.
I have not really forayed into the paranormal young adult genre that much because I usually stick to fantasy or sci-fi but this book was a pretty interesting depiction of this genre. Susan is a strong female main character that has to face what is thrown at her head on and deal with it. She is very protective of her family and friends and will do anything to ensure their safety.
I liked that the book gave me Hogwarts vibes and that it was told in multiple perspectives to diversify the point of view. It gave you a well-rounded perspective of how each person is dealing with everything that is happening to them.
The book did get a little bit jumpy at parts which I think could have been developed more with a little more being added to the book (it was only 200 pages).
Overall, it was a good book with lots of paranormal elements to it and I would love to see more books set in this world.
Book Rating: 3/5
I talked about this book in my November Wrap Up video too.
Disclaimer: I bought a physical copy of the book from the author to read and give my honest review.
It’s a new year and a new me! This is the year I will crush my TBR jar….hopefully. Check out what I am reading this month and let me know what you are reading 😋
Need an intense, diverse fantasy full of magic and betrayal? Then look no further because I have just the book for you. I read Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barren and it fits all of these things.
Synopsis:Arrah is a young woman from a long line of the most powerful witch doctors in the land. But she fails at magic, fails to call upon the ancestors and can’t even cast the simplest curse.
Shame and disappointment dog her.
When strange premonitions befall her family and children in the kingdom begin to disappear, Arrah undergoes the dangerous and scorned process of selling years of her life for magic. This borrowed power reveals a nightmarish betrayal and a danger beyond what she could have imagined. Now Arrah must find a way to master magic, or at least buy it, in order to save herself and everything she holds dear.
An explosive fantasy set in a world of magic and legend with a twist you will never see coming.
This book had a refreshing cast of all diverse characters. I think there were actually no white characters at all and that was a first for me.
I would call this a slow burn fantasy at first because there was a little bit of information dumping at the beginning as the world is being built for the readers. But it builds into a huge crescendo by the end and had me glued to the pages wanting to know how it all came to an end (at least for this one since it is the start of a series).
Arrah was a likeable character and her personal growth throughout the book was developed in such a way that you wouldn’t consider her to be the same person by the end. She puts the “strong” in a strong female character.
There were a bunch of tribes that all had unique names and they represented different parts of the nation. I found them to be a little hard to keep track of but that was only a minor detail.
I would recommend this book to anyone that wants a great, diverse fantasy full of plot twists and sacrifice.
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in physical format by Harper Collins to read and give an honest review.
I did my first ever reading vlog! It was a lot of fun to make and it was kind of like a review as I read the book. It was also my first ever Brandon Sanderson book!
One of my authors that I follow regularly, Lucia Mann, has put out another book called Endless Incarceration Sorrows. It will be releasing in January 2020 so keep an eye out for it!
Jo Tregiarri just keeps coming with these great novels! I am continually impressed with the imagination she shows in the stories she creates and the worlds she builds. This on was called Ashes, Ashes and it was great!
Synopsis: Epidemics, floods, droughts – for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she’s rescued from a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can’t continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her: the Sweepers are looking for her. There’s something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her.
This book was a really fun dystopian to dive into. Lucy was a likable main character that was just trying to survive after mass plagues, earthquakes, tsunamis, and storms hit the Earth and wiped out a lot of the population. The survivalist in me was loving all the realistic ways that Lucy would live her day to day life and how she accustomed herself to a new way of living after everything she has known changed.
There were parts that built suspense so well that I found myself starting to sweat while reading because I was worried about what was going to happen next. The relationships built were very real and the plot felt like it flowed very smoothly.
I am a big fan of dystopian books or things to do with either the world ending or post-apocalyptic worlds where people have to learn to adapt to a new way of survival.
If I could sum this up, I would say that it was a mixture of Divergent (the social aspect) and The 5th Wave (dystopian world aspect) with a little bit of Maze Runner thrown in (villain aspect).
I would recommend this read for anyone that wants a fun dystopian adventure with a lot of stakes at hand.
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!
Silo Boys
Station Fosaan
