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!
Book info:
Title: The Burning Shadow
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Origin #2
Genre: NA paranormal romance
Release Date: October 8th, 2019
Publisher: Tor Teen
Source: ARC received through books for trade on Twitter
My rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
#1 New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout returns to the world of the Lux with The Burning Shadow, the steamy, shocking second installment of the Origin series that will leave readers reeling.
When
Evelyn Dasher crossed paths with Luc, she was thrown headfirst into the
world of the Lux―only to discover that she was already far more
involved in their world than she ever suspected.
Because the
Luxen aren’t the only ones with a hidden past. There’s a gap in Evie’s
memory, lost months of her life and a lingering sense that something
happened, something she can’t remember and nobody is willing to tell
her. She needs to find out the truth about who she is―and who she was.
But every answer she finds only brings up more questions.
Her
search for the truth brings her ever closer to Luc, the Origin at the
center of it all. He’s powerful, arrogant, inhumanly beautiful,
extremely dangerous…and possibly in love with her. But even as Evie
falls for him, she can’t help but wonder if his attraction is to her, or
to the memory of a girl who no longer exists.
And all the while,
a new threat looms: reports of a flu-like, fatal virus that the
government insists is being spread by Luxen. A horrifying illness that
changes whoever it touches, spreading panic across a country already at
its breaking point.
My Review:
I hate that I got so behind on reading once school started back because I was so excited to read this one! Of course once I did pick this one up, it was so hard to put down, well, other than how big the book is, so it was hard to hold for too long either! LOL!! There were so many new obstacles and things with the Luxen and Arum and Origins and even some new people/creatures/beings/secret organizations thrown in. And yeah, all four of those things, not me just trying to be random. I was also so excited when there was something that happened in the book that took place in my city of Kansas City, and I knew exactly where it was supposed to be happening! So much back story learned during this one, but also so many more questions and things we need to know! And that ending! Wow! Total cliffhanger. I still adore Luc of course, but maybe still Daemon more though. But now we need to know exactly what is happening to Evie. I will say I got a little annoyed with her whole wondering if he only loved the girl he remembered and that his feeling weren't really for her now. Hopefully she'll move on from that in the next book. Which, do I have to wait a whole year? Because I don't know if I can wait! Well, my arms can, they did get a little tired holding this one in bed at night. Honestly, this size of book is exactly why e-books are sometimes better! Oh yeah, and I loved seeing the name of a former book blogger that I know is friends with the author for one of the characters.
Book info:
Title: No Judgments
Author: Meg Cabot
Series: Little Bridge Island #1
Genre: Adult contemporary romance
Release Date: September 24th, 2019
Publisher: William Morrow Books
Source: ARC acquired from Barnes and Noble where I work
My rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
The storm of the
century is about to hit Little Bridge Island, Florida—and it’s sending
waves crashing through Sabrina “Bree” Beckham’s love life…
When
a massive hurricane severs all power and cell service to Little Bridge
Island—as well as its connection to the mainland—twenty-five-year-old
Bree Beckham isn’t worried . . . at first. She’s already escaped one
storm—her emotionally abusive ex—so a hurricane seems like it will be a
piece of cake.
But animal-loving Bree does become alarmed when
she realizes how many islanders have been cut off from their beloved
pets. Now it’s up to her to save as many of Little Bridge’s cats and
dogs as she can . . . but to do so, she’s going to need help—help she
has no choice but to accept from her boss’s sexy nephew, Drew Hartwell,
the Mermaid Café’s most notorious heartbreaker.
But when Bree
starts falling for Drew, just as Little Bridge’s power is restored and
her penitent ex shows up, she has to ask herself if her island fling was
only a result of the stormy weather, or if it could last during clear
skies too.
My Review:
I feel like it's been a long time since I've read Meg Cabot, because really I've mostly read her adult contemporary romance as opposed to her YA books. This book was exactly what I loved about her books back in the day when I first fell in love with her writing. I loved the romance between Bree and Drew. It was a perfect rom-com/chick flick type of story. It was also fun to read this, well, not sure if fun is exactly the right word, but it seems as if it is the perfect time to read a love story set in a hurricane since it is right in the middle of hurricane season. There was a lot of fun stuff about the little island preparing to either evacuate or hunkering down to ride out the storm. All the quirky small town characters made for a great story as well. There was definitely the sexy scenes, if not quite as many as some of the other authors I read today, definitely still enough steam and chemistry to make it a perfect fit for my favorite type of read. Obviously it was a short time period that it took place since it was from a day or two before the hurricane until a day or two after, leading into an epilogue of several months after. I also loved the whole bit about how the main character felt about something called the "Mean-World Syndrome". Made a lot of sense to me.Highly recommend this one, and hope to see more of this type of read again from Meg Cabot in the future.
Book info:
Title: A Dress for the Wicked
Author: Autumn Krause
Genre: YA fantasy
Release Date: August 6th, 2019
Publisher: Harper Teen
Source: ARC received through a Twitter Trade
My rating: 4 stars
Synopsis:
Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Shy in Avon-upon-Kynt. And for eighteen years, Emmaline Watkins has feared that her future held just that: nothing.
But when the head of the most admired fashion house in the country opens her prestigious design competition to girls from outside the stylish capital city, Emmy’s dreams seem closer than they ever have before.
As the first “country girl” to compete, Emmy knows she’ll encounter extra hurdles on her way to the top. But as she navigates the twisted world of high fashion she starts to wonder: will she be able to tailor herself to fit into this dark, corrupted race? And at what cost?
My Review:
While the idea behind the story wasn't that original and unique, it was a really good story despite that. I really liked the characters and the world that the story took place in. It was also a lot of fun to try to imagine these beautiful dresses described in my head as I was reading. This is one that would be so much fun to see the story and fashions themselves come to life in some sort of movie or something. I liked how the author separated the story into three separate parts, each was perfect in its own way, and each was a change, but a fitting change and made the story flow and develop in a good way. I also thought the author's note at the end was neat to read to see that what she'd envisioned for her setting was kind of how I'd pictured it as I read. A great debut novel, and I look forward to more by this author in the future.
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. So, it's been since July that I actually did a Sunday post, mostly I've used them for end of the month posts when I've done them. But I had a bunch of posts I "unscheduled" this week as they were either ones I set for myself for ARCs I had, or tours I didn't get picked for. I thought I'd do a Sunday post today then, since I almost had a 3 day weekend without having to work at my part time job. Although they did call me in yesterday, so didn't quite make it.
Last week was the usual week of my birthday, or in this case, the week before, in that we had parent-teacher conferences at school. Hence the Friday off. My birthday isn't until tomorrow, Monday. I won't actually be celebrating with family this weekend like I usually would, because of so family members out of town. For a change I will be actually celebrating on my birthday, tomorrow night. Dinner with my mom, step-dad, brother, sister-in-law, and my niece and nephew, Mexican food is my choice! Then next weekend I'll celebrate with my dad, step-mom, and one of my sisters.
I feel like I'm doing so horrible with all the ARCs I got at ALA this summer, not getting them read like I planned. Those are a lot of the posts I've had to cancel on my blog because I haven't finished the books in time. The sad thing is that so many of those ARCs are ones I wanted so bad, and still want to read so bad! Gah!
Last week, I'll go clear back to last weekend even, was pretty busy! Last Saturday I got to see Ed Sheeran in concert! He is amazing! He performs completely by himself and there is no doubt how great he is! In fact his voice was never off, nothing. Only complaint I had, is one that I have a lot at concerts. See, I live in Kansas City, Missouri. But people think the city name, Kansas City, means we're in Kansas. I get it, it's confusing, but it's annoying to those of us here. Just say Kansas City and you're covered. Here's a picture from the concert:
Then, my birthday gift to myself was a new tattoo! I really wanted to get a dachshund wrapped around my ankle, but I couldn't find one I liked. So instead I found a cute cartoon I liked. It looks the most like my first dog I had on my own, but is meant to represent all the dachshunds I will have in my life. Maybe at some point I'll go back and add a heart around it for each one I've loved and lost. Here is a picture of my new tattoo! It's my first non-book related one. It is still on my ankle.
Okay, enough personal stuff, how about what you missed on the blog this past week:
Now, what is coming up this week on the blog? Well, some of that is in the air, see my comment about reviews above, I'm so far behind as well!
- Promos: Love, Cutter by Michelle Jester (giveaway), Complete Me by Khardine Gray, and Eight Steps to Alpha by Taylor Sullivan
- Review: Not for Me by Kat de Falla
- Can't Wait Wednesday
- Possible Promos: My American Nightmare: Women in Horror Anthology
- Possible Audiobook Reviews: RoomHate by Penelope Ward, The Upside to Being Single by Emma Hart, Four Letter Word by J. Daniels, End Game by Amy Daws, Screwmates by Kayti McGee, Listen to Me by Kristen Proby
- Possible E-galley/ARC reviews: Kiss and Makeup Series by Sara Ney, The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout
- Other possible reviews: King of Code by CD Reiss, Royally Endowed by Emma Chase, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (maybe along with a movie review), Studly Period by Sarina Bowen
Actually, while I was writing this post, I came up with an idea for a discussion post! Yay!
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.
It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected. I'm sure I have many more to share. But here are the few I have pictures of.
I got these two ARCs through the #booksfortrade on Twitter. So excited for both, especially the Courting Darkness, since it's based on one of my favorite series!
Everyone who participated in this tour got a copy of this book. I'll be sharing it in my school library?
I won this awesome book from the author, Fonda Lee, as part of the YA Scavenger Hunt! It's another I was not only excited to read, but can't wait to share with my students!
We had this at the bookstore where I work, and I put a post-it note on it saying I'd love it if no one else wanted it, so guess what!
I have loved this series forever, and I know there was some kind of deal if you purchased it through the author's website, so I did that, back in June, and it finally arrived! Can't wait to read.
I am such a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and so had to have these books, even if they are obviously younger than I'd read. I had to own them!
All summer long I was looking for The Lost Boys figures. I finally gave up and went to ebay. Turns out they cancelled the one I really wanted, the David one, but I did need to buy a doll representative of Corey Haim. So went ahead and bought this.
So, lots of stuff over the last couple weeks. How about you? What have you added to your collection this week?
