ARC Review: Chosen (Slayer #2) by Kiersten White

Book info:

Title: Chosen
Author:  Kiersten White
Series:  Slayer #2
Genre: YA paranormal
Release Date:  January 7th, 2020
Publisher:  Simon Pulse
Source:  ARC traded for from Twitter's Books for Trade hashtag
My rating:  5 stars


Synopsis: 
“Will get Buffy fans up in their feels.” —Entertainment Weekly on Slayer

Nina continues to learn how to use her slayer powers against enemies old and new in this second novel in the New York Times bestselling series from Kiersten White, set in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Now that Nina has turned the Watcher’s Castle into a utopia for hurt and lonely demons, she’s still waiting for the utopia part to kick in. With her sister Artemis gone and only a few people remaining at the castle—including her still-distant mother—Nina has her hands full. Plus, though she gained back her Slayer powers from Leo, they’re not feeling quite right after being held by the seriously evil succubus Eve, a.k.a. fake Watcher’s Council member and Leo’s mom.

And while Nina is dealing with the darkness inside, there’s also a new threat on the outside, portended by an odd triangle symbol that seems to be popping up everywhere, in connection with Sean’s demon drug ring as well as someone a bit closer to home. Because one near-apocalypse just isn’t enough, right? 

The darkness always finds you. And once again, it’s coming for the Slayer.


My Review:
 It was so easy to jump right back into this series with page one of the book.  I also adored all the little cameos of characters from the original BTVS tv series, Clem, Oz, Harmony, just to name a few.   The author does a great job with hitting just the right sense of humor and snark with the characters in a way that reminds me of the original tv series.  For instance, when they misheard a name, and called him Ian Von Assface.  But I also loved the newer pop culture additions, like Harry Potter references, fist pump for all my fellow Hufflepuffs, like Nina.  Then there were twists and turns, where I just knew something was going to happen, but what did happen in the end was totally not what I'd been expecting.  There were the betrayals of those I thought you could trust, as well as ones I suspected throughout.   I loved that the author even brought in the Tales of the Slayer stories in a way, when she referenced the history of slayers, and of course loved Buffy always being referred back to.  Because even though this is a new series with new characters, Buffy will always be "THAT" slayer.  Probably more well known than even the First Slayer, to all current slayers.  I loved it so much.  I just hope that the author can continue to write more in this world and that I will have a third book to look forward to next year!

ARC Review: Slay by Brittney Morris

Book info:

Title:  Slay
Author:  Brittney Morris
Genre:  YA contemporary?
Release Date:  September 24th, 2019
Publisher:  Simon Pulse
Source:  ARC from publisher which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  5 stars

Synopsis:
By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the "downfall of the Black man."

But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, and SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals. Even worse, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game, threatening to sue Kiera for "anti-white discrimination."

Driven to save the only world in which she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically Black in a world intimidated by Blackness. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?


My Review:
This was such an amazing #ownvoices story!  The author was able to pull in so many issues that teens, as well as even adults in this day and age are thinking or feeling or dealing with.  And she touched on all of them in what I felt was probably a pretty realistic way.  This video game wasn't one that had a bunch of killings and senseless violence, it was a card duel type of game, one that used so many different "Black" customs and history in ways that were definitely tongue-in-cheek for those familiar with the terms or even just very, what's the word, something like complimentary, but that's not really what I'm trying to say.  I don't feel that in any way these things were done in an offensive or insulting way, it was like loving all the parts of yourself, as well as those who are alike and different.  The book touched on many hot-topics or sensitive subjects that seem to remain no matter what.  Like cultural appropriation, is it "okay" for white people to get dred-locks?  Or is it even right to ask one person of a culture if it is okay, because should they be the ones to have to speak for everyone?  There was the bit about having a game "just" for the black people.  So many times you hear people talk about this with things like colleges and clubs.  Mixed race couples.  On the one hand, why shouldn't someone be able to love whoever they want?  But is it okay for a black man to think black women and men should only be together, that it is diluting their race to mix with white or other people?  

The number of controversial topics and hot button issues touched upon in this story is amazing, but also so ideal for the current political and cultural climate.  This book was not just really deep, it had great characters and action going along all the way through.  I could barely put it down when I had to do things like eat or sleep or work.  I can't wait to purchase a couple copies of this for my school library where I work. And I will get more than one copy, because I can see this being one several students will want to read at the same time once word gets around.  

Oh, one thing though, I think the word "ain't" had been around long before ebonics or the AAVE are considered to be started.  But I could be wrong!  Makes me want to do my research! 

Late Review: Hungry Hearts Anthology

Book info:

Title:  Hungry Hearts
Author:   Elsie Chaptman - Editor
Genre:  YA anthology
Release Date:  June 18th, 2019
Publisher:  Simon Pulse
Source: E-galley from Netgalley/Publisher which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  5 stars

Synopsis:
From some of your favorite bestselling and critically acclaimed authors—including Sandhya Menon, Anna-Marie McLemore, and Rin Chupeco—comes a collection of interconnected short stories that explore the intersection of family, culture, and food in the lives of thirteen teens.

A shy teenager attempts to express how she really feels through the confections she makes at her family’s pasteleria. A tourist from Montenegro desperately seeks a magic soup dumpling that could cure his fear of death. An aspiring chef realizes that butter and soul are the key ingredients to win a cooking competition that could win him the money to save his mother’s life.

Welcome to Hungry Hearts Row, where the answers to most of life’s hard questions are kneaded, rolled, baked. Where a typical greeting is, “Have you had anything to eat?” Where magic and food and love are sometimes one and the same.

Told in interconnected short stories, Hungry Hearts explores the many meanings food can take on beyond mere nourishment. It can symbolize love and despair, family and culture, belonging and home.

My Review:
So, I haven't completely read all the stories in this book, but I know that I'll probably not get back to it. So I'm going to count it as finished, and go ahead and post a review.  I have to say that I really enjoyed this a lot, and will definitely recommend for teens to read it. Basically from what I read, the first story was short and sweet. I also decided after reading it that I had to actually Google some of the different food types to get an idea what they were. The second story was really dark, but in a good way! The third story was a bit predictable, but still very sweet and enjoyable. The fourth story was dark again, but this time the food wasn't anything I thought I'd want to try, but it fit perfectly into the story. Add Alsaid's story was really good, and made me wish that the setting in the book was real, because I wanted to go to that place! The Slender One story made me do a lot of googling to find out more about food, that one about some Asian foods. One story talked about deep fried foods, like I've always wanted to try deep fried butter ever since a story on the summer fairs that had that kind of thing. That story made me really want again to try it, and try it dipped in both chocolate sauce and melted peanut butter. Yummy! There was a story about fried chicken, as well as a story about a recipe needing more heart. All the stories I got through were great, and I hope to have time some day to go back and finish. But I doubt there is anything that is disappointing in this wonderful anthology, just more stories to make your mouth water!  

Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: Sky Without Stars (System Divine #1) by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell

Book info:

Title:  Sky Without Stars
Author:  Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell
Series:  System Divine #1
Genre:  Retellings, YA Science Fiction
Release Date:  March 26th, 2019
Publisher:  Simon Pulse
Source:  E-galley from publisher which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  4 stars

Synopsis: 
A thief. An officer. A guardian.   

Three strangers, one shared destiny . . .  

When the Last Days came, the planet of Laterre promised hope. A new life for a wealthy French family and their descendants. But five hundred years later, it’s now a place where an extravagant elite class reigns supreme; where the clouds hide the stars and the poor starve in the streets; where a rebel group, long thought dead, is resurfacing. 

Whispers of revolution have begun—a revolution that hinges on three unlikely heroes… 

Chatine is a street-savvy thief who will do anything to escape the brutal Regime, including spy on Marcellus, the grandson of the most powerful man on the planet. 

Marcellus is an officer—and the son of a renowned traitor. In training to take command of the military, Marcellus begins to doubt the government he’s vowed to serve when his father dies and leaves behind a cryptic message that only one person can read: a girl named Alouette. 

Alouette is living in an underground refuge, where she guards and protects the last surviving library on the planet. But a shocking murder will bring Alouette to the surface for the first time in twelve years…and plunge Laterre into chaos. 

All three have a role to play in a dangerous game of revolution—and together they will shape the future of a planet. 

Power, romance, and destiny collide in this sweeping reimagining of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, Les Misérables.

Book Links:
Goodreads
Amazon
The Book Depository
Barnes and Noble
Apple Books
Google Play
Kobo

My Review:
If you've followed me for awhile, you know that I'm always up for a retelling, especially when it is one like this, a major classic story, Les Miserables.  This book did not disappoint in that aspect.  Sky Without Stars is definitely a sweeping epic of a story. Even set in space on another planet, in another solar system, it has the operatic feel of Les Miserables.  As I read I definitely tried to match up characters with what I knew of that classic, since I'd only seen the movie and never read the book. This world was one that had a lot of things going on that seemed kind of counter-intuitive to a future society.  Because while they had screens built into their arms, no one knew how to actually read words anymore.  It was all pictures and people actually speaking.  That in itself hurt my heart so much!  But it helped to make the poor third class people really appear to be down below everyone.  I loved that they had brought their French customs and names of things like the Bastille along with them.  

It did end on a cliffhanger, and at such a long book, almost 600 pages, I can only imagine how much we have left to this story when the next book comes out.  A great story for both science fiction readers, as well as deep classic types of storytelling lovers.

About the Authors:

Jessica Brody

Jessica Brody is the author of more than 15 books for teens, tweens, and adults

including Addie Bell’s

Shortcut to Growing Up, A Week of Mondays, Boys of

Summer, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, and the three books in the sci

-

fi

Unremembered trilogy. She’s also the author of the Descendants: School of Secrets

series, based on the hit Disney Channel original mo

vie, Descendants. Her books

have been translated and published in over 23 countries and Unremembered and 52

Reasons to Hate My Father are currently in development as major motion pictures.

She lives with her husband and four dogs and splits her time betwee

n California and

Colorado.

Visit her online at JessicaBrody.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram

Jessica Brody 

Jessica Brody is the author of more than 15 books for teens, tweens, and adults including Addie Bell’s Shortcut to Growing Up, A Week of Mondays, Boys of Summer, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, and the three books in the sci-fi Unremembered trilogy. She’s also the author of the Descendants: School of Secrets series, based on the hit Disney Channel original movie, Descendants. Her books have been translated and published in over 23 countries and Unremembered and 52 Reasons to Hate My Father are currently in development as major motion pictures. She lives with her husband and four dogs and splits her time between California and Colorado.   

Visit her online at JessicaBrody.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram @JessicaBrody

Jessica Brody

Jessica Brody is the author of more than 15 books for teens, tweens, and adults

including Addie Bell’s

Shortcut to Growing Up, A Week of Mondays, Boys of

Summer, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, and the three books in the sci

-

fi

Unremembered trilogy. She’s also the author of the Descendants: School of Secrets

series, based on the hit Disney Channel original mo

vie, Descendants. Her books

have been translated and published in over 23 countries and Unremembered and 52

Reasons to Hate My Father are currently in development as major motion pictures.

She lives with her husband and four dogs and splits her time betwee

n California and

Colorado.

Visit her online at JessicaBrody.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram

@JessicaBrody

Goodreads
Facebook 
YouTube
Tumblr 

Joanne Rendell 

Joanne Rendell is the author of three novels and holds a PhD in English literature. She teaches fiction writing to teens and kids and is a board member for the youth Shakespeare company, New Genesis Productions. With her husband and son, Joanne divides her time between New York City, and New Paltz, New York. Visit Joanne at JoanneRendell.com.

Goodreads

Twitter

Instagram

 

Pre-order Campaign 

Pre-order a hardcover of SKY WITHOUT STARS by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell from a participating indie bookstore* before March 26, 2019 and you’ll receive an exclusive Sky Without Stars Gift Pack, including the following: 

  

• A limited edition two-sided 12”x16” poster featuring the ONLY available colored version of the book’s world map 
• A Sky Without Stars bookplate, signed by both authors 
• A Sky Without Stars postcard 

• A Sky Without Stars bookmark 

  

The gift pack will be included with your book when it is shipped or picked up in store. 

  

*Click here for participating stores.

Tour Schedule:

http://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2019/02/tour-schedule-sky-without-stars-system.html 

Giveaway:

Prize: Win a copy of SKY WITHOUT STARS by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell (US Only) 

Stars: 20th March 2019 

Ends: 2nd April 2019  
 

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