Tag: Must Read Books

Author Spotlight on Victoria Scott

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Very recently, seek I discovered the amazingness that is Victoria Scott. About a month ago, her brand new novel, Fire and Flood, was released in bookstores. To celebrate the release, she and Jessica Brody-whose second Unremembered novel, Unforgotten, released the same day as Fire and Flood-did an online video chat. This is the first time that I had really heard of Victoria and Fire and Flood sounded amazing. I picked it up at the bookstore on my birthday, and busted through the book in a matter of hours! You should check out my review, and then run to the store to pick up a copy.

I knew as soon as I read this book, and immediately fell in love with it, that I had to spotlight her on this very blog. So that’s what I’m doing, so sit back, relax and enjoy learning about a really terrific author.

About Victoria Scott 

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Victoria is a YA author living in Dallas, TX with her husband. According to her website, she’s ridiculously afraid of monkeys, and is obsessed with cotton candy. She has her Dante Walker trilogy through Entangled Teen and of course, Fire and Flood by Scholastic. Another amazing fact about Victoria? She, like me, does not require coffee when writing. Who knew there were others like me out there!

You can find Victoria on these various platforms:

Twitter / Facebook / Good Reads / Website / YouTube

About Her Books: 

And yes, this is taken directly from her website!

The Collector (#1 in the Dante Walker Series)

Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence have made him one of Hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple: weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.

Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal-opportunity collector and doesn’t want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:

Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within ten days.

Dante doesn’t know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of Hell. But after Dante meets the quirky Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect, he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector…and uncover emotions deeply buried.

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About Fire and Flood (#1 in Fire and Flood Trilogy)

Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can’t determine what’s wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She’s lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she’s helpless to change anything.

Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It’s an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother’s illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there’s no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can’t trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

Interview with Victoria

Sara: What are the best parts of being a published author? 

Victoria: Meeting readers, and using “doing research” as an excuse to do new, fun things.

Sara: Where did you get the idea for Pandoras? What kind of Pandora would you have?

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Victoria: I knew I wanted to write a book involving animals, and I think having an animal with a magical ability has always been a dream of mine. I would absolutely have a lion Pandora!

Sara: What advice would you give to an aspiring author? 

Victoria: Read as much as you can in your genre. Read books on the craft, too. And finally, writing something that you would want to read.

Sara: Who are some authors that are inspirational to you? Who are some authors that you purely enjoy reading? Or both!

Victoria: Authors that inspire me, and that I enjoy reading, are Rae Carson, Beth Revis, and Andrea Cremer. Oh, and Rick Yancey! I loved the 5th Wave.

Sara: What can we expect from Tella, Guy and the rest of the gang in the future?

Victoria: More danger, higher stakes, and new Pandoras. That’s about all I can share for now. *wink wink*

Sara: I ask this to everyone, because its SUCH a fun question: who is your fictional crush? 

Victoria: Oooh, good one. Probably Hector from Girl of Fire and Thorns. So crush worthy!

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Thank you VERY much, Victoria, for writing such amazing books and for coming by What A Nerd Girl Says to share!

Now, my dear friends and followers, make sure to go to all the links above and check Victoria and her books out. You will NOT regret it!

Book of the Week-The Ring and the Crown

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In just a few days, drugs Melissa de la Cruz’s brand new novel, cialis 40mg The Ring and the Crown, information pills will be hitting bookstores and I was lucky enough to receive a copy in the mail for review. Check out what I thought below!

The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz 

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GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository

This review is based on an advanced reader’s copy given to me in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my review in the slightest, and everything said here is my honest opinion. Thank you Megan Beatie and Disney-Hyperion for the ARC. 

Genre:

Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy

Part of a Series?:

Not entirely sure. Its listed on GoodReads as The Ring and the Crown #1, but it wraps up like a standalone.

You May Like if You Liked:

The Seven Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima,

Age Recommendation:

13+

Plot Summary:

From GoodReads:

Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the Lily Throne, and Aelwyn Myrddn, bastard daughter of the Mage of England, grew up together. But who will rule, and who will serve? 

Quiet and gentle, Marie has never lived up to the ambitions of her mother, Queen Eleanor the Second, Supreme Ruler of the Franco-British Empire. With the help of her Head Merlin, Emrys, Eleanor has maintained her stranglehold on the world’s only source of magic. She rules the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. 

But even with the aid of Emrys’ magic, Eleanor’s extended lifespan is nearing its end. The princess must marry and produce an heir or the Empire will be vulnerable to its greatest enemy, Prussia. The two kingdoms must unite to end the war, and the only solution is a match between Marie and Prince Leopold VII, heir to the Prussian throne. But Marie has always loved Gill, her childhood friend and soldier of the Queen’s Guard. 

Together, Marie and Aelwyn, a powerful magician in her own right, come up with a plan. Aelwyn will take on Marie’s face, allowing the princess to escape with Gill and live the quiet life she’s always wanted. And Aelwyn will get what she’s always dreamed of–the chance to rule. But the court intrigue and hunger for power in Lenoran England run deeper than anyone could imagine. In the end, there is only rule that matters in Eleanor’s court: trust no one.

My Review: 

Melissa de la Cruz is definitely an author that has been on my radar but I haven’t had much of a chance to explore her books. I read Blue Bloods, and while I think it was incredibly well written, it wasn’t the book for me. I hadn’t even heard of this book, to be completely honest, until it was sent to me in the mail by Disney-Hyperion. I thought it sounded quite interesting so I knew that I had to dive into it.

I’m very glad that I did.

Its obvious from the start that Melissa is a fantastically talented writer. The way she effortlessly moves through her story is incredibly impressive. Its easy to accept the world that she has created because she makes it so believable in her writing. Its confusing at first because she jumps in so fast, and its hard to keep up with this complicated world that she has created. She creates this world of intrigue and gossip and mystery mixed with the politics of nobility and royalty and, just for fun, why not, then throws in magic. It reads like a scandalous gossip novel set in the intriguing world of royalty. Its beautiful.

I did feel like the characters lacked a bit of emotional depth that I usually love about characters. I did not find that I was attached to the characters, but more so the story that was building up. The only character I felt genuinely attached to was Wolf and that was because he felt the most real. True, he was cliche, as most of the characters felt. Marie, the princess, wanted a life of simplicity, away from the pressures of royal life. Aelwyn is the daughter of the Merlin, bred to serve but with a desire for power.

Wolf is the younger prince, not good enough, living under the shadow of his elder brother and rebelling at every turn. Very cliche like. However, I felt a sort of kinship with Wolf. No matter the cliche, those sort of feelings are quite real and familiar. It is not uncommon to feel that sort of desperation of living in someone’s impossible shadow, and yet having a fierce love and loyalty toward them. The way Wolf felt toward his brother, Leo, was so familiar to my own heart that it was incredible to read.

I do feel the story wrapped up quite quickly. I would have taken another book, or even extra fifty to hundred pages to really wrap up that ending.

But the story was addicting. It really read like a bunch of scandal stories. You know when you read Pride and Prejudice and they talk in giggles and whispers of the “scandalous” things that are going on behind closed doors. It kind of felt like that, with a mix of Gossip Girl in there. It’s hard to explain. Oh, like Reign! Have you watched Reign. Reign is basically a TV show that took a bit of history, completely changed it (which, as a former history major, drives me insane haha), and made it scandalous and sexy. That’s exactly how this book reads. Its sort of addicting, to see the dark and winding world of this court.

The Last Word

The Ring and the Crown is a book full of mystery, scandal, sex and lies, and magic and it reads beautifully due to Melissa’s incredible talent. While some of the character’s personalities fell a little flat to me, and I felt the ending wrapped a little too quickly for my taste, all in all, I felt that it was an incredible book. She’s a talented writer, with a gift for story-telling, and this is definitely a book to keep on your radar. It releases in bookstores on April 1st.

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Zac and Mia Book Review

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Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts

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This review is based an advanced reader’s copy given to me by the site, ask Edelweiss, page in exchange for an honest review. This had no influence on the integrity of my review. Thanks to Edelweiss and HMH Kids for this book. 

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Author Website

GoodReads Summary:

The last person Zac expects in the room next door is a girl like Mia, angry and feisty with questionable taste in music. In the real world, he wouldn’t—couldn’t—be friends with her. In hospital different rules apply, and what begins as a knock on the wall leads to a note—then a friendship neither of them sees coming.

You need courage to be in hospital; different courage to be back in the real world. In one of these worlds Zac needs Mia. And in the other Mia needs Zac. Or maybe they both need each other, always.

This book is already available in bookstores in Australia and New Zealand. It will be hitting bookstores in the United States, Canada, Germany, Russia, Italy, Brazil and Turkey throughout this year.

My Review:

It took me awhile to get into this book, and I think that was my one only problem with it. It took awhile for me to really care. I loved the voice of Zac, definitely, but I think I loved the voice of Mia more and so when we reached the point of view of Mia, I was more drawn into the story. I felt like it took awhile for me to care about both of them. When you reach the part where you switch from Zac’s point of view to Mia’s, when you’ve gotten to know both of the characters, that is when I really grew attached to them and the rest of the book flew fast under my fingers.

I must admit that I was a bit reluctant when I received this book to read. Not because I knew A.J. Betts or the synopsis sounded bad, because that wasn’t it at all. It was more like, I really love The Fault in Our Stars but I’m getting kind of tired of it and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to dive into another contemporary romance book about kids with cancer. I wasn’t sure if it would be different or whether I would be impressed or whether this book would just fall into the list of books that I’ve read that haven’t quite made an impression on me.

I was proven definitely wrong. While it took me awhile to become attached the book and the characters, I admired the story that A.J. was building. It wasn’t a romance, not really, and both of the characters felt so real and raw to me, that I couldn’t help but want to know which direction they were going in. There was nothing romantic about the lives either of them were living. They were raw and honest and up front about the lot in life that was handed to them, and I think that’s why Mia stood out to me the most. Mia’s struggle with her cancer and not just the way it attacks her body, but the way it changes her social life, and her standing with her mom, her friends and her boyfriend, just felt so real. In Zac’s point of view, she felt shallow, loud, annoying, I suppose, but in her point of view, she felt vulnerable and emotional and relatable.

What could have been a shallow, been-there-done-that, story of two kids with cancer turned into something much more to me. The characters both change as the story goes in, in ways that you didn’t expect. Both of them have such different ways of approaching what is going in their lives and as their friendship, and yes romantic relationship, deepens, you can see the effect that it has on the other. The book is about hope and hopelessness and fighting and struggling and losing your confidence and will and getting lost on the way to finding yourself. Its a beautiful story of two friends, trying to define themselves outside of what cancer has done to them, and it definitely impressed me. I would definitely recommend picking this book up when it hits your country!

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

Book of the Week: Rebel by Amy Tintera

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Rebel by Amy Tintera 

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GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository

This review is based on an advanced reader’s copy given to me in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my review in the slightest, medical and everything said here is my honest opinion. Thank you Edelweiss and Harper Teen for the ARC. 

Genre:

Young Adult, stomach Science Fiction, find Dystopian

Part of a Series?:

The finale of the Reboot Duology

Please keep in mind that while there will be NO spoilers for Rebel, there WILL be Reboot spoilers. To read the review for Reboot, please click this link. 

You May Like if You Liked:

Divergent by Veronica Roth, Legend by Marie Lu, Unremembered by Jessica Brody

Age Recommendation:

13+

Plot Summary:

From GoodReads:

The sequel to the action-packed Reboot is a can’t-miss thrill ride, perfect for fans of James Patterson, Veronica Roth, and Marie Lu.

After coming back from death as Reboots and being trained by HARC as soldiers, Wren and Callum have finally escaped north, where they hope to find a life of freedom. But when they arrive at the Reboot Reservation, it isn’t what they expected. Under the rule of a bloodthirsty leader, Micah, the Reboots are about to wage an all-out war on the humans. Although Wren’s instincts are telling her to set off into the wilderness on their own and leave the battle far behind, Callum is unwilling to let his human family be murdered. When Micah commits the ultimate betrayal, the choice is made for them. But Micah has also made a fatal mistake . . . he’s underestimated Wren and Callum.

The explosive finale to the Reboot duology is full of riveting action and steamy love scenes as Wren and Callum become rebels against their own kind.

My Review: 

I was so thrilled when I was able to download this from Edelweiss this week. I just read Reboot this weekend, and I was already dying to read Rebel. I went to check on Edelweiss just to see if they had it and I could possibly get my hands on it, and it was an automatic approval download. I pretty much squealed with excitement.

I am really impressed with this series, for many reasons but I’m hugely impressed with the fact that its a duology. There aren’t a lot of authors writing a two-part series-most do trilogies-and I really applaud Amy for doing so. I’m writing a duo, so it makes me feel really good to see a sci-fi/dystopian duo, and a great one at that, because it gives me the confidence boost to do it myself. Plus I think its incredible for an author to make a world like this, and create a complex story like this and start and finish it in two books. It says a lot about their story telling abilities and I think Amy is a fantastic story teller.

When I finished Reboot, I was definitely wanting to read Rebel but I didn’t feel that automatic pull. There wasn’t a HUGE cliffhanger that made me DIE for the book. What really made me want to read the next book was the characters. I really felt attached to Wren and Callum and I wanted to read more about them, and what would happen to them in the future. So while the story itself wasn’t bringing me back, the characters were. All of Amy’s characters are very rich and genuine. Even though Ever is only in the first book, and only part of it, she is a character that really stays with you and I think that definitely continues in Rebel.

The story, however, does grab you very quickly. Callum and Wren land themselves in this Reboot reservation and they think its an escape, that it’ll be better than being under the crushing boot of the HARC, but it doesn’t quite work that way. We meet Micah very early in this book and I knew right away that there was something very wrong about him, and I think our characters knew it too. This is obviously a problem, and its what keeps you stuck in that book, turning the pages, wanting to know what is going to happen next. I needed to know what Micah was up to, what he was capable of and what Wren and Callum and the other Austin Reboots were going to do about it, if anything at all. Micah is a compelling villain and a believable one, because sometimes you can’t figure out whether he has a point or not. He leaves you with some hefty logic but he seems so inherently evil. Its so confusing and addicting.

The Last Word

Basically, here is what you need to know: Amy takes the story that she created in the first book and blows it up in the second book…in the best way possible. She wraps up the first one like it could be the end, but then takes the story further in Rebel and opens up the world and the possibilities. She creates a fantastic, creepy, and compelling villain in Micah and she made me fall in love with Wren, and with Callum even more. The character development, the story development, the love story, the action, all of it equals into a really amazing book. This is one that is a MUST pick up when it comes out in early May. Don’t miss out on this, and if you’ve read this and haven’t read Reboot yet, I’m sorry for the spoilers but get off that butt and go buy it. You definitely won’t regret it.

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