Review: Rook by Sharon Cameron

Book info:
Title:  Rook
Author:  Sharon Cameron
Genre:  YA post-apocalyptic/dystopian
Published:  April 28th, 2015
Source:  Book purchased from Scholastic Warehouse sale
My rating:  4 stars

I had been really interested to read this book, and so when I found it for a good price at the Scholastic Warehouse sale, I scooped it up.  It was a very interesting story, and nice to have a stand-alone for a change.  Instead of giving my summary as usual, I'm going to share the Goodreads' summary, then give my thoughts.  So here is the blurb:

History has a way of repeating itself. In the Sunken City that was once Paris, all who oppose the new revolution are being put to the blade. Except for those who disappear from their prison cells, a red-tipped rook feather left in their place. Is the mysterious Red Rook a savior of the innocent or a criminal?

Meanwhile, across the sea in the Commonwealth, Sophia Bellamy’s arranged marriage to the wealthy René Hasard is the last chance to save her family from ruin. But when the search for the Red Rook comes straight to her doorstep, Sophia discovers that her fiancé is not all he seems. Which is only fair, because neither is she.

As the Red Rook grows bolder and the stakes grow higher, Sophia and René find themselves locked in a tantalizing game of cat and mouse.  

I really liked how this future world had really gone back to the "old days" before technology, living in houses/manors, kings, and all the other bits.  The fact that technology itself was forbidden was a great storyline, because it is so plausible to see how they could think that was the cause of the world going downhill.  The picture on the cover is so good to show that.  I loved the characters as well, and that is something that really sells a story to me.  The main character was Sophia Bellamy, and she is in between dealing with an arranged marriage to the cousin of one of the enemies of the Red Rook, who is out to save those who are being beheaded for many things, most often because the king just wants their property or land.  And Sophia is the Red Rook.  But it is suspected that it must be her brother, because of course a woman could not possibly do something like that.  Sophia will come to learn that her betrothed, Rene, may not be exactly who she thinks he is.  And there are others that have always been close to her in her life that also are not exactly who she thinks they are.  There is betrayal in this world, and also people that will be help and that she can trust where she least expects it.  And the romance, well I liked it.  I wanted her to be with who she ended up with, and so did not trust the one that ended up being bad for her.  Although in the end, he did come to regret what he'd done, and try to do what he could to make up for it.  

A great standalone, although I would definitely enjoy more from this world.  This is my first book by this author, and makes me even more intrigued to read The Forgetting as well.

 

Review: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Book info:
Title:  Scarlet  
Author:  Marissa Meyer
Series:  The Lunar Chronicles #2  
Genre:  YA Fairy Tale Retelling, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Published:  February 5th, 2013
Source:  I purchased the book at a Scholastic Warehouse Sale

I have to say that I had trouble getting through this one.  If you remember my review of book one, Cinder, you'll know that I haven't quite loved this series as much as everyone else, unfortunately.  It took me over a month to read.  At the end of the story, it did pick up and grab my interest again.  Now since I already own copies of the next three books, Cress, Fairest, and Winter, I will probably go on and see where the story goes.  In fact I've heard from many people that Cress is their favorite in the series, so I'm looking forward to starting that one, and hopefully picking up.  If you haven't read the first one, you may not want to read on for any spoilers.  

This story is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood for the most part.  Although we still have the main characters from book one, Cinder and Prince Kai, and Queen Levana.  Cinder is in prison, but after talking to her doctor, she finds that she must escape.  When she does, she is off to try to find answers to who she really is, and she takes along a fun new character, Thorne. Thorne describes himself as a ladies' man.  And he helps Cinder somewhat reluctantly, but he is also glad for the prison break.  And then they are on the run. At the same time we have Scarlet, who is working on her grandmother's farm, even though her grandmother has disappeared.  At the same time a new guy is in town, named Wolf.  Wolf is a fighter, and he also doesn't seem to know much about fresh food, and life as Scarlet knows.  Soon Scarlet finds out that there are other people like Wolf, men who can change into wolves.  And Wolf is trying to protect her, and he agrees to try to help her find her grandmother, who she has found out has been kidnapped.  

It's hard to explain a lot about the story.  It kind of went around and around.  Wolf definitely had something sneaky about him. Something that Scarlet would have to decide if it was worth trusting in the end.  And of course, this retelling would mean a romance might develop between them. But with all the things going on in the world, it's unsure if they can be together.  And there are definitely secrets that Wolf is keeping from Scarlet, even as he is keeping her safe.

Cinder is trying to stay hidden as the number one fugitive. She is a fugitive as Prince Kai was supposed to give her to Queen Levana.  And when Cinder disappears, the Queen plans to attack Earth.  It is then that we find out about the army she has been building on the Moon.  An army of soldiers very similar to Wolf and his kin, but much worse.  To save Earth, Prince Kai gives in to Queen Levana's wish to marry him.  And that is kind of where we end up.  

That's not all, as I said, I can't explain it all.  It's a very convoluted story.  That's probably part of what made me have trouble getting into it. But the end all came together, in a way that makes me want to go on to the next book.

Sunday Post #46 and Stacking the Shelves December 20th, 2015

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.  I had a busy week last week!

Last week on the blog:

• Blog tours:  The Concealed by Sarah Kleck (Giveaway),  Ascendancy by Karri Thompson (Giveaway),  Half in Love with Death by Emily Ross (Giveaway)
• Reviews:  Until Beth by Lisa Amowitz, Evertrue by Brodi Ashton
• Cover Characteristic:  Snakes
• Waiting on Wednesday:  Wax by Gina Damico

Last week was really busy with it being the last week of school before our winter break.  Not only that, we got our huge delivery of the books our library ordered to refresh and update our collection.  Over two thousand books, in 99 boxes.  Yeah, all week I was singing:  "99 boxes of new books in the library, 99 boxes of books, open one up, shelve all the books, 98 boxes of new books in the library."  Try to get that out of your  head now.  I've still got sign ups for my "It's New to Me" Challenge going, as well as the giveaways for even just promoting it for me.  I'm thinking of maybe even changing the rules of the challenge so that it's not just new series, but maybe it could be new authors as well.  For new, I mean authors that you keep hearing about, and keep meaning to read, but have yet to start.  Just an idea.  Here are the links to the challenge and other giveaways I've got going till the end of the month.

• It's New to Me Challenge
• Debut author:  Lance Rubin
• Debut author:  Holly Bodger

This week on the blog:

• Waiting on Wednesday
• Top 10 of 2015 Challenge:   Best books read, best covers, Best -------of 2015(haven't decided, maybe bad boys), Best book boyfriends, Top 10 I'm looking forward to in 2016
• Reviews:  HEAR by Robin Epstein, The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige (audiobook)
• Possible Review:  Every Last Breath by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Possible Challenge Sign-ups:  2016 Bookish Resolutions,  2016 TBR Reading Pile Challenge, 
• Possible Christmas GIF post

Looking forward to doing the fun top 10 lists.  A couple reviews, although one book I'm reading right now I probably won't be reviewing till it comes out later as part of a blog tour.  No school this week, although I'll still be working at the bookstore Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.  I don't really want to work so much, but I'm happy for the money.  Plus, most of the time the hours are night, or if they are day, it's not till like 10 am, so definitely sleeping in, which is nice for staying up late and reading.  I actually don't have any tours I signed up to be a part of this week for a change.  Of course with the holiday this week, Thursday I'll be celebrating Christmas with my mom, stepdad, brother, sister-in-law, and my sweet 3 year old niece.  Then on Christmas day I'll celebrate with my dad, stepmom, and two sisters. 

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected.  Once again I had a major book haul this week.  And some awesome ones at that!Physical books:

These four books came from the Scholastic Warehouse sale.  All were half price.  I now, or as soon as one more trade comes through, will have all the Lunar Chronicles books ready to sit down and just read all the way through!

The first book you see is a book that was self-published by the Young Writers group at the high school where I am a librarian last year.  It contains poems and short stories that they wrote.  I finally got a copy for myself, as well as a copy for my library.  The second book is the final book in the Rot and Ruin series by Jonathan Maberry.  I would like to read it before the end of the year to add to my Series Ender Challenge goal.   

These two books I won.  The first one was through the Titans Thursday giveaway that Author Victoria Scott held.  I got to pick any book I wanted from the Book Depository.  The 2nd one I won from Britt at Please Feed the Bookworm.  However I now have two copies of this ARC, so one of them will probably be going up for trade on either Twitter or the Facebook group I've been trading in lately.

These two I got through trades.  I hadn't heard of Newt's Emerald until I saw it on a list the person had for trade.  I'm interested to see how it is!  Ice Kissed I've already read, and loved.  But I read the whole series as e-galleys, so I now need to own them, especially with those beautiful covers.  I still need the first and last books.

And the most exciting of all the books I got this week:

The box showed up and said "Ready to Ride".  I knew right away what was inside, an ARC for Victoria Scott's upcoming book Titans.  I can't wait to pick it up and get started!  The ARC itself had a plain white cover, so there was a poster in the box with it.

Netgalley:

Edelweiss:

Now I know I said I was going to try to calm down on egalleys.  But what I've done, is write them down in my calendar, and then if I get time to get to them, I will go download them.  They are all ones that I was auto-approved for, so don't have to request them.  They'll be there until a certain date for me to download if I want to.  

So that is all I added to my bookshelves this week.  And also what I've got coming up.  I'm hoping to do another holiday post on Christmas with lots of Supernatural and other awesome gifs.  What did you add to your shelves this weekend, and what are you looking forward to this week?