Tag: science fiction

Book Trailer Reveal: “Anomaly” by Tonya Kuper + Giveaway!

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I’m very excited to share today’s book trailer reveal! I met Tonya very very briefly at ALA back in June. She was at the Entangled booth and I had completely missed getting her signature and my hands on her book, approved but she handed me a bunch of bookmarks and pens and encouraged me to keep an eye out on it. She was incredibly genuine and excited about her book so I decided, sickness why yes, click I will keep an eye out.

We are not friends on IG and FB and all that and she is just plain awesome :) Her book is FANTASTIC and she’s been very encouraging on my own journey to become a published author. I’m very excited to share the trailer today. A review will be coming in December, when it is my turn on the blog tour but for now, let’s learn more about Tonya and her debut novel, Anomaly!

About Tonya Kuper

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Tonya Kuper is the author of ANOMALY, the first in the Schrodinger’s Consortium Series, a young adult science fiction trilogy, releasing November 4, 2014 by Entangled Teen. She fell for Young Adult lit while earning her Master’s degree in Reading Education. She’s a mom to two awesome boys, an alt music junkie, a Star Wars nerd, and in love with Sherlock.

You Can Find Her At:

Website / Twitter / Instagram / GoodReads / Facebook

About Anomaly 

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Reality is only an illusion. Except for those who can control it… Worst. Birthday. Ever. My first boyfriend dumped me—happy birthday, Josie!—my dad is who knows where, I have some weird virus that makes me want to hurl, and now my ex is licking another girl’s tonsils. Oh, and I’m officially the same age as my brother was when he died. Yeah, today is about as fun-filled as the swamps of Dagobah. But then weird things start happening… Like I make something materialize just by thinking about it. When hottily-hot badass Reid Wentworth shows up on a motorcycle, everything changes. Like, everything. Who I am. My family. What really happened to my brother. Existence. I am Oculi, and I have the ability to change reality with my thoughts. Now Reid, in all his hotness, is charged with guiding and protecting me as I begin learning how to bend reality. And he’s the only thing standing between me and the secret organization that wants me dead…

PreOrder Anomaly At Your Local Bookstore Or:

Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Book Depository

The Giveaway

GoodReads is giving away three copies of Anomaly until November 15th!

Follow this link to enter!

The Book Trailer!

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What do you guys think? I hope you guys liked the trailer and I hope to see copies of Anomaly in your hands in just THREE weeks! SO exciting. And look out for my review of Anomaly, coming December 2nd!

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Photo Credit to Tonya Kuper. I just couldn’t resist sharing it…

Book Review: Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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13644055Genre: 

Science Fiction, pills Young Adult, Romance

Pages: 

350

Part of a Series?:

The final, fifth novel of the Lux series

Release Date: 

August 5th, 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came.

She can’t believe Daemon welcomed his race or stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred, and love has become an emotion that could destroy her—could destroy them all.

Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal.

They must team with an unlikely enemy if there is any chance of surviving the invasion. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything— even what they cherish most—to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.

War has come to Earth. And no matter the outcome, the future will never be the same for those left standing.

My Review:

While there will be no spoilers for Opposition in this review, there will be spoilers for Obsidian, Onyx, Opal and Origin. 

When I discovered the Lux series a little over a year ago, I had no idea that it would literally climb into my heart and stay there. Katy, Daemon, Dee, all of the characters would make such an impression on me and the story would make me laugh and swoon and cry. I was eagerly awaiting the end of the series to figure out how this crazy, fun, romantic, out of control story would end.

And for the most part, I felt okay with the ending. I have become accustomed to reading books by JLA and feeling overwhelmed by emotions: happiness, giddiness, excitement, swooning, terror, panic, and more. While there were definitely parts in this book that made me feel this way, I felt, overall, just massively underwhelmed by this book.

And this is not to say it was a bad book! Because I honestly don’t think that. It definitely wasn’t. The story was good, the characters were as lovable as ever, but it felt…rushed to me. Anti-climatic. It just didn’t feel like the finale book to this incredible series. The journey to get to the end seemed way too long for the actual end. It felt almost like things had been wrapped up too quickly and I was very disappointed in that.

Something that annoyed me a lot too was the relationship between Katy and Daemon. Now I adore the both of them SO much. Katy is the awkward, book obsessed book blogger with a sassy streak. What is not to like about that? And Daemon…can we even begin to start on how sexy he is? And I shipped them together from the first moment that they met each other. Easily. But in this book…it just got old. It got old fast. I was like “okay, we get it, you love each other, yes, these scenes are steamy, but let’s have some action or something…” It was like…I lost count how many times they told each other they loved each other, or admired how beautiful the other one was or something like that. I get that this book is a heavy romance science fiction but I missed the playfulness between them that wasn’t always lovey dovey. Plus the Luxen have basically invaded the earth and humanity is on the brink of extinction and let’s focus on that, yeah?

One thing that I did really like is that JLA knows how to make a sacrifice. She has killed Adam and Ash and Andrew, and in this book, she continues to do that, and I admire her for that. I hate finale books that don’t make the sacrifices necessary, especially when there is war involved. (cough cough Cassie Clare). Luxen have invaded, humans are dying, and JLA makes sacrifices. She understands that people need to die and its heartbreaking. There is a particular death in the book that I had…not quite expected and it was very heartbreaking to me, and I think that’s a mark of a good writer, when they can make you fall in love with a character so much that the death of that character just hurts so badly.

Basically, in the end, this is what I felt: underwhelmed. It wasn’t a bad book. In fact, it was fairly good. But as far as a finale book to a series, I just felt disappointed. I didn’t feel the need to speed through the book. I felt like I was slowly reading it and I read it in three hours. I probably could have read it in about 2 if I had really wanted to but I just didn’t. I loved seeing all the characters, I loved the story idea but I just thought it maybe needed to be fleshed out more, have more action, maybe be a slightly longer book. I honestly felt like Sentinel, the finale book to JLA’s Covenant series was much better and this book just disappointed me. I look forward to more books from her in the future, and having read “The Return”, her Covenant spin off, I know she’ll produce great books again and again.

Rating:

3.5 out of 5 stars

Book Review: Invaded (ARC) by Melissa Landers

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The romantic sequel to Alienated takes long-distance relationships to a new level as Cara and Aelyx long for each other from opposite ends of the universe…until a threat to both their worlds reunites them. 

This review is based on an advanced reader’s copy of the novel obtained through Disney-Hyperion at the American Library Association Conference for free. This is in no way had an effect on the integrity of my review. Please note that published novel will differ from this ARC.

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Book Review: Trial by Fire (ARC) by Josephine Angelini

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This review is based on an advanced reader’s copy of the novel obtained through Macmillan Publishers at the American Library Association Conference for free. This is in no way had an effect on the integrity of my review. Please note that published novel will differ from this ARC.

Genre: 

Young Adult, generic  Fantasy, this Science Fiction, Romance, Contemporary…this book has it all

Pages: 

384

Part of a Series?:

Yes. This is the first novel in a planned trilogy

Release Date: 

September 2nd, 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

Love burns. Worlds collide. Magic reigns.

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying many of the experiences that other teenagers take for granted…which is why she is determined to enjoy her first (and perhaps only) high-school party. But Lily’s life never goes according to plan, and after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class Lily wishes she could just disappear.

Suddenly Lily is in a different Salem – one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruelest of all the Crucibles is Lillian . . . Lily’s identical other self in this alternate universe. This new version of her world is terrifyingly sensual, and Lily is soon overwhelmed by new experiences.

Lily realizes that what makes her weak at home is exactly what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. It also puts her life in danger. Thrown into a world she doesn’t understand, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can’t hope to shoulder alone, and a love she never expected.

But how can Lily be the savior of this world when she is literally her own worst enemy?

My Review:

This is proof, once again, that you never ever give up on an author, even if you’re not 100% satisfied with their previous works.

Let me be clear: I think Josie Angelini is a fantastic writer. Her writing is just beautiful, and she’s SUCH a fun person. Seriously. It blows my mind how fun she is. I would love to hang out with her. She’s about to have a baby and her baby is going to be the coolest kid ever. Okay, I’m getting off topic. I remembered Josie talking a bit about this book when I met her back in October at the LA Teen Book Fest and it sounded fantastic. Hearing her talk about it again at ALA, and the Viva la Fierce Reads event, made me want to read it even more. I had to get my hands on it. Long story short, I got my hands on it and proceeded to speed right through it in my hotel room in Vegas.

Josie Angelini is a beautiful writer. Seriously. Every word on the page feels like its been chosen with care to create such a perfectly woven story. I don’t write like that. I write like I write on this blog: casual, as if talking to a friend. So when I read books that are just written so fluidly and tell a story that you can’t help but turn the pages to find out the end…I am just blown away. She captures everything in the story from beginning to end. She is so able to capture love, and jealousy, power and fear, sickness, battle, whatever, without having to say “she was jealous”. She is just literally so brilliant at weaving her words and I am so incredibly impressed by it.

I think what really gets me about this story that never grabbed me about Starcrossed (even though I adore Greek mythology) was the main character. From the very first page, I knew me and Lily were going to get along just fine. Her allergies, her struggle to fit in, even her struggle to figure out what to do with her best friend turned kind of boyfriend, Tristan, was just so familiar. This is the kind of thing any outsider would have felt in high school and trust me, I was an outsider. Lily immediately jumps into your heart from page one and you follow her easily into this alternate world of Salem.

And this is where things get addicting. This new world seems like something I could be a part of: the Salem witches never burned, instead they took over. Women rule the world. Its everything a girl could want right? Girls, in charge, in power. Except…its not. This world has its own problems as well and Lily is dragged there by her counterpart for a purpose she can’t quite figure out. This alternate Salem is so dark and mysterious and sexy and intriguing. Even though Lily wants to go home, she’s drawn to it, and to the power that she’s capable of, and I don’t blame her. I was drawn to the world as well. Power, in the hands of women, even in this messed up society is just so tempting and I think that’s a huge problem in the book. But watching Lily struggle to find her way home, while also coming to terms with these new powers and get attached to people in this world (read: Rowan).

But I think the thing that Josie really accomplishes in this novel is that she manages to weave so many stories in one. There’s so many themes going on. Power. Family. Love. Politics. There’s science fiction of parallel worlds and the fantasy of magical powers. You have contemporary with the problems of Lily’s original world and you have the romance that builds between her and a character in this different Salem. But it all works. It makes for a completely addicting novel. You have no idea what is going to happen next. There’s just SO much going on. Everyone wants a piece of Lily, and Lily wants to go home, and she wants to learn her powers and she misses the people in her old life but she grows attached to those in this new life and agh. Its confusing and it jumps all over the place but that’s what makes it so good. You honestly have no idea what direction its going in. You start to think, oh, maybe they’re going to…and you’re yanked in a completely different direction. Its a complete thrill ride.

Basically, what I’ve been telling people is…I am so glad that I managed to get my hands on the ARC and I can’t wait until the actual release so I can get my hands on a pretty copy of the book with this beautiful cover. Plus I got some Thai food stains on my ARC, I’m not going to lie. I’m a messy reader. But I loved this book. I loved the romance and the intrigue. I loved the magic and the mystery. I can’t wait to get my actual copy of this book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

Because, seriously, Josie? That cliffhanger? SO NOT FAIR! ;)

Rating:

4.5 out of 5 Stars

Book Review: Parallel by Lauren Miller

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16065551Genre: 

Young Adult, cost  Contemporary, Science Fiction (I know, its weird)

Pages: 

448

Part of a Series?:

No

Release Date: 

May 14th, 2013

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Author Website

GoodReads Summary:

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She’d go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she’s in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it’s as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby’s life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby’s senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby’s never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn’t choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that’s finally within reach.

My Review:

As soon as I finished Lauren Miller’s Free to Fall, I knew I had to get my hands on Parallel. I had no idea what it was about but that doesn’t even matter. Free to Fall was creepy and futuristic and incredible and I didn’t have to be worried about being attached to multiple books. I like that. I had to wait until the Girls Gone Sci-Fi event in Redondo though, so I could support the bookstore and all that.

A couple days ago, I was stuck in bed, and usually when that happens, I read. I read Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo because it was its release day and I was dying to find out what happened next in Leigh’s epic fantasy monstrosity of a great trilogy. I finished that fairly quickly (more on that later) and decided to pick up Parallel.

I fully intended to read some of it and then go to sleep like a completely normal person but I didn’t. I broke that intention so quickly because I literally could not put down this book. I finished it at 3 a.m.

Abby is living her life, making a movie in Los Angeles, and she’s wondering how on earth she got to this point, when two parallel worlds collide, and she’s in an alternate reality of her life. There was an earthquake a year previously, the collision, which caused her parallel self to take over her life. Each day that Abby wakes up could be a completely different story because of the decisions and paths that her parallel self takes in the path. It sounds a little confusing and it was for me at first, but you quickly understand as you watch it unfold. It reminded me a bit of Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall, where one decision could change the course of events in the future.

And that’s what gets you so tied into it. You honestly have no idea what is going to happen next. Younger, parallel Abby is making such different decisions from the ones that Abby originally made and its putting her into very confusing situations. She’s both happy and unhappy with the different life that she’s living. Its addicting. Each move that her parallel self makes could create a completely different reality the next day. You literally cannot guess where the future is going. You literally cannot predict how the story is going to go and that is incredibly addicting.

I want Abby to be with this guy, but parallel Abby is with another guy and I love him too, and Abby misses cross country and acting but parallel Abby has become part of a crew team and its just crazy. You’re so torn between these two characters, and they are the same person. You want them to work toward the same goal and its not happening. Its so frustrating and I thought about closing the book, and finishing it the next day. But I could not stop it. I had to keep reading.

And the ending! It was beautiful and crazy and I wanted to throw the book across the room and I tweeted that to Lauren because I couldn’t believe she could end the book that way, and then she tweeted me, made me feel better about it. Now that I’ve thought about what Lauren said, and reread the last chapter, I am very happy with the ending. Its one of those ones that are utterly frustrating but absolutely beautiful at the same time. It reminded me of the sort of ending that Gayle Forman’s Just One Year. Hopeful, sad, cliffhanger, but so many good things. You come crashing to the end and you hope for more but I love that she leaves me waiting. I will always sort of wonder what is going to happen next and I love that.

Its a nice blend of science fiction (which makes my head spin at times) and contemporary. Its a story about trying to figure out what you want in your life, and how sometimes life just unfolds the way its supposed to and sometimes even the best plans don’t work. Abby has her Plan and it doesn’t go as planned, and she gets a second chance to see another way it could and I love that at the end, she knows she’s going the right way and that she’ll end up where she’s supposed to. I love it. Great job once again, Lauren, for making my head spin and leaving me wanting more once again. New book soon?

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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