Justin's Book Blog

This Weeks New YA Releases (9/15/15)

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 03:36:00 +0000

Here are the new releases for this week! (9/15/15) There are definitely some great ones!! Be sure to let me know which ones you're looking forward to buying.

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore

The Appearance of Annie Van Sinderen by Katherine Howe

Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas

Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales

Mirrored by Alex Flinn

Maid of Wonder by Jennifer McGowan

Imposter by Antony John

Let me know what you plan to buy this week!!

Book Review: Edgewater by Courtney Sheinmel

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 02:31:00 +0000

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication Date: September 8th, 2015

Pages: 336

Published By: Amulet Books

Author: Courtney Sheinmel

My review copy: Provided By Publisher

Lorrie Hollander used to be a rich girl, but now she’s lost everything because of the secrets and lies of the people around her. It’s been 12 years since Lorrie’s mother skipped town and left Lorrie in the care of her unstable aunt Gigi. Together they live in a neglected, decrepit mansion called Edgewater, the eyesore in a town of extraordinary wealth and privilege.

When Charlie, the son of an esteemed senator, takes an interest in Lorrie, her shame for her family and lifestyle runs deep. But what she doesn’t know is that Charlie’s family is hiding something, too, and that their secrets are inextricably tied. Now Lorrie must confront the truth about her family—and everything she ever thought she knew about herself.

(Goodreads)

I was completely captivated by Edgewater. Courtney isn’t new to writing books, but she is new to YA with Edgewater marking her debut. It’s always great to see a debut YA author come out of the gates strongly. Edgewater is a fantastic debut for a wide variety of different reasons, some of which I will discuss in this review. Others, you will have to read the book to experience.

First off I want to quickly discuss the story.. It’s a contemporary, which naturally leads many people to expect certain things out of a book. It’s the mystery aspect of the book that really thrives, at least for me as a reader. It was an interesting story, with some pretty weird and unique situations. It’s hard to wrap my head around Lorrie’s family. I could have an insanely long discussion around Lorrie and her family, but I want to leave that for you to experience when you get a chance to dive into the book.

I already started talking a little about the characters, but there is so much to talk about. I love the fact that there is so much detail put into the characters. At times, the development could be a little slow. But once you put everything together, it’s easy to see how well written the characters are. Especially Lorrie and her family, like I had mentioned above. You can’t forget about all of the side characters either. They definitely play important roles and I think you will be surprised with just how memorable they can be.

When you start working your way through Edgewater, I will be incredibly surprised if you can piece things together quickly. Courtney does an amazing job throwing in twists throughout the book to help the story fresh and interesting. It also assists in making the book a lot of fun to read. My advice, would to go into with an open mind. Don’t set out to answer everything early on. Read the book, and let things slowly come to you as you get further and further into the book. I can promise it will make the experience a lot more fun.

Edgewater is one of the better books I have read this year, and I honestly wouldn’t consider it being something that was really over the top in any way. As far as story goes, I would say it’s a pretty average book. But the phenomenal writing behind the story is what makes the book shine, and hopefully you will get the same great experience out of it that I did.

Book Review: Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 01:58:00 +0000

Genre:
Young Adult, Historical Fiction

Publication Date: September 1st, 2015

Pages: 336

Published By: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Author: Erin Bowman

My review copy: Provided By Publisher

When Kate Thompson’s father is killed by the notorious Rose Riders for a mysterious journal that reveals the secret location of a gold mine, the eighteen-year-old disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers and justice. What she finds are devious strangers, dust storms, and a pair of brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, she gets closer to the truth about herself and must decide if there's room for love in a heart so full of hate.

In the spirit of True Grit, the cutthroat days of the Wild West come to life for a new generation.

(Goodreads)

Vengeance Road completely blew me away. You really don’t see many YA books that have a “Wild West” setting, so straight away, that helps to make Vengeance Road unique and different. When you pair the setting with an incredibly skilled writer such as Erin, the possibilities are endless as proven by what we see in Vengeance Road.

Erin took an idea, and ran with it. Was she successful in creating something unique and fresh? Absolutely. If there is one thing I love about this book, and can’t mention enough, it is that it is a very unique book. Not just due to the setting, which I mentioned at the start of my review but you’re also dealing with a cast of characters that are equally unique and I can guarantee you that when you read this book, these characters are easily going to stand out in your mind for quite awhile after finishing the book.

The mail plot line wasn’t overly surprising for me. In this case, that isn’t a bad thing! I got swept up in the atmosphere of the story, which in my opinion really drives the book. The story is fairly easy to follow, and it’s definitely interesting, but I felt like the atmosphere was a huge focal point. I mentioned at the start about the book being set in the “Wild West” and that is huge in creating the atmosphere. Erin didn’t hold back with what she throws at you throughout the book, and I was really happy for that. It feels like a genuine experience that the characters are going through, and the overall experience you get while reading this feels historically correct in many ways.

Honestly, I can’t get over the fact that Erin didn’t hold back. If she had held back, I feel as though it could have completely diminished so many of the things that make this book great. I love the grit, I love the fact that Kate isn’t afraid to get dirty and simply be a total badass in order to make sure she is able to achieve what she wants to. Kate is incredibly vicious at times, and you find out why exactly she feels the need to be that way throughout the story. It’s not only surrounding her father. It was just surprising to me how intense things got when Kate set out on her journey throughout the book.

Even with this book being very intense, it’s surprisingly easy to read. It’s just very unique, and quite honestly, it’s a hell of a lot of fun to see a character that is so determined to get what she wants that she doesn’t hold back. Sure, she is quite vicious at time but there is a lot of reasoning behind it, and I feel like it really stays true to the time period as far as how she decided to go about things. That is just my opinion though, and I don’t claim to be a historical expert. I just loved the setting, and found it really interesting to see how things played out for Kate.

Should you read this book? Absolutely! This is a book I would highly recommend to anyone. It’s historical fiction, which I know often scares some people away, but it truly is an incredible book. Erin does an amazing job with everything, and my only wish is that I had the time to have sat down and read it in one sitting. That would have made the book so much more enjoyable, considering how much fun I had reading it over the span of several days. So please, don’t let the historical fiction factor scare you away. This book is awesome, and well worth picking up!

Book Review: A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 22:00:00 +0000

Genre:
Middle Grade, Historical Fiction

Publication Date: August 25th, 2015

Pages: 320

Published By: Scholastic

Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen

My review copy: Provided By Publisher

From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen comes a stunning thriller about a girl who must escape to freedom after the Berlin Wall divides her family between east and west.

With the rise of the Berlin Wall, twelve-year-old Gerta finds her family divided overnight. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can't help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city.

But one day, while on her way to school, Gerta spots her father on a viewing platform on the western side, pantomiming a peculiar dance. Then, when she receives a mysterious drawing, Gerta puts two and two together and concludes that her father wants Gerta and Fritz to tunnel beneath the wall, out of East Berlin. However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. No one can be trusted. Will Gerta and her family find their way to freedom?

(Goodreads)

A Night Divided gives readers a new look into the mind of Jennifer. Many of us have become familiar with her fantasy writing, so it’s really interesting to see what she can accomplish in a different genre. It’s always nice to see when authors want to change things up, and try something new. Jennifer took a chance, and I feel like it paid off for her. The writing was good (not exactly up to par with her fantasy) but for her first attempt at historical fiction, it was pretty decent.

The story itself is very engaging. Historical fiction can always be tricky because there are so many things authors have to do right in order for the book come together. The author has to be able to cleverly blend fact and fiction, without taking too much away from one or the other. A lot of this comes down to the research the author does, and what they decide to include in the book.

There haven’t been a ton of children’s book about the Berlin Wall, (at least that I have seen..) so this was an interesting moment in history to see translated into a children’s book. It was interesting to see how Jennifer decided to portray everything.

The characters are average. With this book leaning more towards children than YA, I wasn’t expecting incredibly deep characters, but in ways, I was pleasantly surprised. There is some pretty deep character development going on in A Night Divided, and watching how the choices the characters make play out is very engaging for the reader, considering the dire consequences if something was to go wrong.

All in all, this book was pretty great. If you enjoy historical fiction, you definitely should pick this book up. It’s different, as it takes a look at something from history that is often overlooked in children’s/YA historical fiction. I am impressed with Jennifer’s first swing at historical fiction, and I feel that A Night Divided is a great sign that historical fiction might just become a new niche for her.

Book Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 10:00:00 +0000

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication Date: September 1st, 2015

Pages: 320

Published By: Random House

Author: Nicola Yoon

My review copy: Provided By Publisher

This innovative, heartfelt debut novel tells the story of a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she’s ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

(Goodreads)

It took me quite awhile to make it through Everything, Everything. Not only due to the fact that I have been incredibly busy, but also because it really slowed down for me towards the end. It’s hard to wrap my head around this book, in order to give a coherent review, but I’m going to try my best.

The story doesn’t start off in a spectacular way, but it is a decent start. We are introduced to the characters, and are given the chance to try and understand what Madeleine is going through. While her condition is an important part of the book, it is clear early on that there is a lot more going on than just that. And once you get deeper into the book, there are some pretty huge revelations that I found to be quite shocking, to say the least.

It’s not that I didn’t like the direction of Everything, Everything. There is a lot about it that I did enjoy. I just don’t know if it was enough to make the book stand out amongst a lot of the similar books out there. It has it’s own voice, sure.. And it has some pretty intense plot lines and twists, but it wasn’t something I found to be incredibly gripping after the first half of the book.

The first half of the book was much more engaging than the second, and I flew through it. But once I hit the second half, I felt like I was starting to hit a wall. I was still interested in the story and what was going on but I never felt an urgency to actually finish the book.

As I have mentioned above, you will find that the book takes some surprising turns. That is one thing that does help to keep the story interesting, but I just felt as though it was somewhat disconnected. I really can’t go into detail, but when you read the book you will find out what I am referring too. I can understand the reasoning behind it to an extent, but it’s just difficult to wrap my head around.

If you’re looking to get this book, then I would say to go ahead and pick it up. If it’s something you’re looking forward to, I can see it being enjoyable for you. If you have been hesitant about reading it then I would say hold off. I was really excited for it, and that is part of the reason I feel I enjoyed some aspects of it, but it really didn’t hold my interest through the end.

This Weeks New YA Releases (9/1/15)

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 02:20:00 +0000

Here are the new releases for this week! (9/1/15) There are definitely some great ones!! Be sure to let me know which ones you're looking forward to buying.

Catacomb by Madeleine Roux

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between by Jennifer E. Smith

Hunter by Mercedes Lackey

Firewalker by Josephine Angelini

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

Infinite In Between by Carolyn Mackler

Cut Both Ways by Carrie Mesrobian

The Shadow Behind The Stars by Rebecca Hahn

Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Be sure to let me know what ones you plan to pick up!

Where Are They Now? (3)

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 03:34:00 +0000

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication.Date August 26th, 2014

Pages: 560

Published By: Simon and Schuster

Author: Ellen Hopkins

My review copy:

Ellen Hopkins:

Is Ellen Hopkins ever not busy writing? It seems as though she is always releasing new books, or at least having new books in the works. While Rumble is her most recent YA book (she has dabbled in adult books) she has been working on a few new YA books, one of which comes out later this year.

November 3rd, 2015 will mark the release of Ellen's next book titled Traffick. This book is a companion to Tricks. Traffick will be published by Simon and Schuster (Margaret K. McElderry Books).

Ellen also has a YA title slated for release sometime in 2016 which is titled Chameleon. There is currently not a publisher listed for this title, but I am sure we will know who picked it up soon.

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date August 26th, 2014

Pages: 224

Published By: HarperCollins

Author: C.J. Redwine

My review copy:

C.J. Redwine:

Deliverance marked the end of the Defiance trilogy, but C.J. definitely isn't done writing!

C.J. has a new book coming out on 2/23/16 titled The Shadow Queen. This is book one in a new series called Ravenspire. And is labeled as a Young Adult Fantasy series. The Shadow Queen will be published by HaperCollins (Balzer + Bray).

Genre:
Young Adult, Horror

Publication.Date August 26th, 2014

Pages: 343

Published By: HarperCollins

Author: Maeleine Roux

My review copy:

Madeleine Roux:

Sanctum is the second book in the Asylum trilogy. The third and final book in the series titled Catacomb will be released on 9/1/15 from HarperCollins. This series is coming to a close in a matter of days, but there is something new around the corner!

In 2016, Madeline will be releasing a book titled The Warden which will be published by Epic Reads Impulse which is part of HarperCollins. Knowing the publisher can lead to speculation on what it might be, but there is currently no information listed about the book. I suspect we will see something soon though!

Genre:
Young Adult, Science Fiction

Publication.Date August 26th, 2014

Pages: 325

Published By: Delacorte Press

Author: James Dashner

My review copy:

James Dashner:

James Dashner is an incredibly well known author. I am sure many of you have read at least one of his books at some point. The Rules of Thought was the second book in his series called The Mortality Doctrine.

On 11/17/15 the third and final book in The Mortality Doctrine series will be released. It will be titled The Game of Lives, and is being published by Delacorte Press.

Sometime in 2016 there will be a prequel to The Maze Runner released. This book will be titled The Fever Code. There is little information about the book as of now, other than that it will also be published by Random House.

This Weeks New YA Releases (8/25/15)

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 10:00:00 +0000

I moved back to college this week so I had to scramble to get this post together! I apologize if I missed any that are releasing, but I tried my best to catch them all!

Which one are you most looking forward to? I'd love to know! There are some great ones this week!

A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

Another Day by David Levithan

Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell

Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines

Stranded by Melinda Braun

Keepers of the Labyrinth by Erin E. Moulton

A Little In Love by Susan E. Fletcher

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender

Be sure to let me know what ones you plan to pick up!

Stacking the Shelves (29)

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Sun, 23 Aug 2015 17:41:00 +0000

Hey everyone! I didn't know if I would be able to get a post up this weekend because I just moved back to college, and I am trying to get everything organized before classes start back up on Monday. I found a little free time today, so I figured I would go ahead and do my Stacking the Shelves post.

How has everyone's week been? Did you move back to college? Going to college for the first time? Or just going back to school? Whatever the case might be, I hope it goes well for you! I also hope you all got some awesome books over the last week! I will try my best to go around commenting on some posts later tonight if I have time!

Along with my StS post, I am going to go ahead and schedule a post for Monday featuring all of the new YA books that are coming out on Tuesday (there are a lot of them!) and I will go ahead and start working on the next installment of my new blog feature, as I know that will take a lot of time to put together.

Anyway, here are the books! I have a lot this week, so this post will be quite a bit longer than normal! Yay for some 2016 titles coming into the mix!

Books For Review:

Genre:
Middle Grade, Fantasy

Publication Date: February 2nd, 2016

Pages: 352

Published By: Simon and Schuster

Author: Kate O'Hearn

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Historical Fiction

Publication Date: February 9th, 2016

Pages: 320

Published By: Simon and Schuster

Author: Nicole Castroman

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication Date: March 29th, 2016

Pages: 320

Published By: Simon and Schuster

Author: Emma Harrison

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication Date: September 1st, 2015

Pages: 304

Published By: Simon and Schuster

Author: Dawn Ius

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication Date September 22nd, 2015

Pages: 336

Published By: Little Brown

Author: A.S. King

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Historical Fiction

Publication Date: October 20th, 2015

Pages: 400

Published By: Little Brown

Author: Ryan Graudin

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Horror

Publication Date: September 15th, 2015

Pages: 432

Published By: Little Brown

Author: Dawn Kurtagich

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication Date: December 29th, 2015

Pages: 241

Published By: HarperCollins

Author: Alexis Bass

My review copy: From the publisher

Books I bought:

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication Date: December 11th, 2012

Pages: 412

Published By: Penguin

Author: Morgan Rhodes

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication Date: March 4th, 2014

Pages: 435

Published By: Bloomsbury USA

Author: Sarah J. Maas

My review copy: From the publisher

Book Review: The Creeping by Alexandra Sirowy

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 01:21:00 +0000

Genre:
Young Adult, Mystery

Publication Date: August 18th, 2015

Pages: 400

Published By: Simon and Schuster

Author: Alexandra Sirowy

My review copy: Provided By Publisher

Eleven years ago, Stella and Jeanie disappeared. Stella came back. Jeanie never did.

Now all she wants is a summer full of cove days, friends, and her gorgeous crush—until a fresh corpse leads Stella down a path of ancient evil and secrets.

Stella believes remembering what happened to Jeanie will save her. It won’t.

She used to know better than to believe in what slinks through the shadows. Not anymore.

(Goodreads)

The title of this book, and the cover should give you a good idea of what you are getting yourself into. The Creeping is more of a thriller than a horror story, but Alexandra expertly intertwines horror and mystery into the story to make it truly a creepy read.

To say this book is dark is an understatement. I was expecting certain aspects of the book to be toned down, especially once I started to figure out what could possibly be going on. That isn’t the case though. Alexandra wrote this book covering some really dark themes, and she doesn’t tone it down just because it is a YA book. In a way, I think this was a smart move. It might be tough for some people to read, but I feel like it provides the incredibly eerie atmosphere that Alexandra was hoping to create.

Needless to say, there are so many things within the book that you will struggle to wrap your head around. The main plot line takes on so many plot twists that you feel like you are never going to know what happened the day that Stella and Jeanie were in the woods, and only Stella returned. We know from the start that Jeanie died, but it’s the reason for her death that remains a mystery.

Alexandra does an amazing job steering the reader through a maze of plot twists. I will admit at first I was getting somewhat tired of the story changing around so much, and just wanted to know exactly what happened that day when Jeanie died. I can assure you that there is an order to the madness though. It’s going to take you some time to piece things together, but it will gradually happen. The story itself will do the rest for you, you just have to stick with it and see how things play out.

I was genuinely surprised by the outcome. There is definitely quite a bit of foreshadowing in regards to what the outcome will be, but it’s very hard to pick up on as you’re reading the book. For me, it wasn’t until after I had finished the book knowing what happened, that I was able to pick up on the little hints that had been scattered throughout the book.

The Creeping overall was a great book. It’s dark, and it really plays with your head as you are trying to cycle through everything that is going on and figure out what exactly happened to Jeanie. It’s not a light book by any means, and I have warned you that it can get quite dark. I didn’t feel as though it was ever over the top, but it’s definitely dark. It’s a very interesting book though, and once you get into it, you will find yourself hooked. If you enjoy creepy mystery/thriller books I think you will find that this book fits perfectly into that category.

Where Are They Now? (2)

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 05:03:00 +0000

Where Are They Now? Is a weekly post where I take a look back at books that came out a year ago today (or that week) and discuss where the authors are since the release of that book. You will see any new projects they are working on, and I will also provide you with links to buy the books or add them to Goodreads if you might have missed out on them when they were new!

There weren't many books that came out on the 8/19/14 but from what I am seeing, next week is going to be loaded with a lot of great information for you all! So bear with me through these shorter release weeks. For now, I am planning to stick with the major publishing houses. If I start running into issues where I am having a lot of weeks like this, I will start pulling in some smaller publishers.

I'm still testing the format of these posts. This week will look different than the last one. I will provide you with a link to the first one (here) if you could check it out and let me know which format you like best between these first two posts, I will greatly appreciate it!

Dan Krokos:

False Future is the last book that Dan wrote and had published. It is the third book and final book in his "False Memory" trilogy. False Future was published by Disney-Hyperion.

After the release of False Future, things fell silent surrounding any future books. There is currently no news hinting towards a release of a new book in 2015 or 2016.

Susan Waggoner:

Starlight's Edge is Susan's most recent YA book (In October of 2014, she released a crafting book.) It is the second book in the Timedance series. Starlight's Edge was published by Henry Holt and Co. (Macmillan).

As of right now, there are no new YA books in the works for Susan.

Mary Weber:

Mary has been quite busy since the release of Storm Siren a year ago! Storm Siren is the first book in the Storm Siren series and is published by Thomas Nelson (HarperCollins).

Since the release of Storm Siren, Mary has been hard at work on the rest of the series! The second book in the series titled "Siren's Fury" was published on 6/5/15. The third book in the series, is slated for a release date of 3/6/16 and is titled "Siren's Song" both of which are published by Thomas Nelson (HarperCollins).

Aside from the third book in the Storm Siren series, Mary has also been working on another title called The Evaporation of Sofi Snow which is labeled as a Science Fiction novel. This book is slated for a release date sometime in 2017. This book will also be published by Thomas Nelson (HarperCollins).

Please be sure to let me know which format you like better between this and the first post (here)! I am still trying to figure out exactly how I want to set these posts up, so I appreciate any and all feedback! I hope you enjoyed this weeks post! Next week is going to be crazy.

Book Review: Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 22:34:00 +0000

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication Date: August 18th, 2015

Pages: 384

Published By: Halequin Teen

Author: Eleanor Herman

My review copy: Provided By Publisher

Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known: Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

(Goodreads)

Alexander the Great is easily one of the most notable figures in our world’s history. Eleanor takes a new look at Alexander (Alex) and reimagining him as a teen, and attempts to tell the story of his upbringing and climb to power. The description for the book explains it best, when it states that it is a mix of fantasy and real history.

There was a lot about this book that I loved. But there are also a few major things that didn’t go over well for me. I want to discuss those first. When you’re dealing with books involving real history, it’s often important to pull in key people as characters, to help the progression of the story. This was done in Legacy of Kings, but I can’t help but feel it was overdone.

I love books with a lot of characters, because you always have something new to look forward to with each of them as they make their way through a story. This can be overdone though, and weigh down the story to the point where it becomes a challenge to keep up with everything. I completely understand why Eleanor did this, and to be honest with you, she handled it quite well considering how much she had to juggle and keep up with. For readers though, I can see this being something that might make some shy away from the book.

When you’re dealing with so many POV’s you are left trying to make sure you have everything worked out and that you aren’t missing out on anything. This isn’t a bad thing mind you, as it makes sure you are paying attention to the story. While I wasn’t overly impressed with it all as I mentioned above, I can understand why it was broken up the way it was. I just wished I was able to connect with a few of the characters better than I did.

My favorite character of the book had to be Cyn. There was one scene where she had to prove to her brother that she was ready to fight, and that scene just really stuck with me because it showed how strong and determined she is to not live in her brothers shadow.

That’s not to say that the other characters aren’t good, because they are. While you don’t really get to know some of them as well as others (due to the jumping around of POV’s) you can see the impact they have on the story.

This series is going to be very interesting. Eleanor has already shown her ability to capture readers, and her ability to successfully take a notable figure in history, and write a very intriguing story about his early life. While fictional, she makes a lot of it seem very believable (with the occasional real history elements thrown into the story) which helps to make the book that much more enjoyable. I am curious to see where she takes the series in the next book, “Empire of Dust” as there is a lot that needs to be answered and built upon after the completion of the first book, and where we as the readers are left at the end.

This Weeks New YA Releases (8/18/15)

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 10:00:00 +0000

This week features some titles that have been discussed a lot over the past few months! Are you planning to pick any of these up? If so, let me know which ones you will be getting in the comments!

All of these titles come out on Tuesday, and I have included links for you to easily access the major online bookstores, or you can use Indiebound to find a local indie bookstore that will have it! Or if you don't plan to order them right now, you can just add them to your Goodreads using the links I have provided you!

Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman

Court of Fives by Kate Elliott

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys (Stories selected by April Genevieve Tucholke)

The Creeping by Alexandra Sirowy

A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz

The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Shackled by Tom Leveen

Stacking the Shelves (28)

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 22:02:00 +0000

Got quite a few books this week that I can't wait to read! Next Friday, I will be heading back to college so I might not have a StS post next week. At least this one is pretty exciting though, so that should make up for it.

What did you get this week? Are you heading back to school/college soon? If so are you excited to be going back? I'm actually really looking forward to it, especially since I am taking a YA Lit class. How could that not be incredibly fun, considering all I have done in the past 6 years? (Counting Booktube, and my blog.)

For review:

Thank you HarperCollins for these books!!

What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler (Releases on 9/22/15)

Mirrored by Alex Flinn (Releases on 9/15/15)

Infinite In Between by Carolyn Mackler (Releases on 9/1/15)

Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas (Releases on 9/15/15)

A Step Toward Falling by Cammie McGovern (Releases on 10/6/15)

Future Perfect by Jen Larsen (Releases on 10/6/15)

Thank you Amulet Books for the review copy!

Edgewater by Courtney Sheinmel (Releases on 9/8/15)

Let me know what you got this week!

Book Review: Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 03:51:00 +0000

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication Date: September 1st, 2015

Pages: 256

Published By: Little Brown

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

My review copy: Provided by publisher

On the night before they leave for college, Clare and Aidan only have one thing left to do: figure out whether they should stay together or break up. Over the course of twelve hours, they'll retrace the steps of their relationship, trying to find something in their past that might help them decide what their future should be. The night will lead them to friends and family, familiar landmarks and unexpected places, hard truths and surprising revelations. But as the clock winds down and morning approaches, so does their inevitable goodbye. The question is, will it be goodbye for now or goodbye forever?

This new must-read novel from Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, explores the difficult choices that must be made when life and love lead in different directions.

(Goodreads)

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how adorable this book is? Seriously, Jennifer has wrote some amazing books in the past but she truly upped her game with Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between. This is easily my favorite book of hers to date, for many reasons that I will discuss in the review.

First off, Jennifer executes the whole idea of the story playing out over the course of only twelve hours perfectly. I was really impressed by this. It’s a shorter book, sure. But I still feel like it can be very difficult to play out the way that Jennifer was able to. There isn’t a lot of filler in the book, you are constantly reminded what the story is about and how the characters are handling it, you really don’t get hit with any major gaps that would leave you disconnected from what is going on.

Clare and Aidan have an amazing relationship. This is one of those relationships that feels so real and genuine, which as a reader, leads you to really feel for the characters as they traverse through their story and try to figure out what is going to happen. I love that the characters really seem to have a level head about everything, which makes the story much more believable. They can grasp the idea that the majority of high school relationships will never last past high school and that you can’t go off to college (especially on separate sides of the country and expect things to stay the way they were.)

The fact that the characters understand that, and really take the time to comprehend it all, and work things out is what helps to make this story feel so real. It’s not a clear-cut situation. Sure, they understand certain things need to be done to ensure they are both happy, but there are still very real feelings involved that takes time for them to evaluate and process, after having been together for so long.

I love how the synopsis of the book asks the question “Will it be goodbye for now, or goodbye forever?” because when you’re dealing with something like this, that is a very legitimate question and it’s something you will definitely see the characters face the dilemma of answering as they make the twelve hour journey they have together before they both head off to college and start what is essentially the rest of their lives.

This is a beautiful and heartfelt book, as is the case with all of Jennifer’s books. But as I mentioned at the start, this one is definitely my favorite of the bunch. It’s a touching story, and the fact that it is such a real and gripping story makes it such an emotional experience for the reader. I am sure that many of you will love this book, and I hope you take the time to read it whenever you get the opportunity to.

Where Are They Now?

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 07:06:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered about the progress an author could make in a year, or just where they currently are in their progress of writing books? This new feature on my blog will take a look back at books that released a year ago this week and highlight where the authors are now, and when you can expect to see new books from them!

It's important to note that in these posts I might not catch all the books that were released during that week a year ago. I am going to try my best, but it is a lot of research and I am only human. I do plan to try and do these on a weekly basis, just because I feel like it's a good way for you all to keep up with any new information regarding different authors.

I hope you all will like these posts. Please let me know any feedback you have, or things you would like me to possibly include in future posts!

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication.Date August 14th, 2014

Pages: 339

Published By: Penguin

Author: Stephanie Perkins

My review copy:

Stephanie Perkins:

After releasing Isla and the Happily Ever After (see my review) Stephanie went on to work on a book that was part of a collection of works by many authors entitled My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories which released in October of 2014.

Since 2014, Stephanie has not released any new titles. She is currently working on a new standalone title which is pitched as a YA horror story (Goodreads Link) and has yet to receive a title. This standalone is on track to be published sometime in 2016 by Penguin.

Stephanie is also working on another book which is titled Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love stories which is a collection of works from multiple well known YA authors that currently has an expected publishing date of sometime in 2016. (Goodreads Link)

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication.Date August 12th, 2014

Pages: 224

Published By: Simon and Schuster

Author: Tom Leveen

My review copy:

Tom Leveen:

Tom has yet to release a new book since the release of Random. That won't be the case for long though, as he has an upcoming book titled Shackled which will be releasing on 8/18/15 from Simon and Schuster.

Later in 2015, Tom has an anthology coming out which will be released on 10/1/15 from Half Life Publishing and is titled Z-Ressurection.

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date August 14th, 2014

Pages: 320

Published By: Penguin

Author: April Genevieve Tucholke

My review copy:

April Genevieve Tucholke:

April has yet to release a new book since the release of Between the Spark and the Burn. On 8/18/15 she has an anthology releasing from Penguin titled Slasher Girls & Monster Boys.

In January of 2016, April is set to have a book releasing from Penguin titled Wink Poppy Midnight which is labeled as a young adult contemporary.

Genre:
Young Adult, Mystery

Publication.Date August 12th, 2014

Pages: 256

Published By: Soho Teen

Author: Adele Griffin

My review copy:

Adele Griffin:

The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone (my review) is Adele's most recent release. She has several titles slated for release in 2016.

In January of 2016, Adele (along with Mike Wu) has a book coming out titled The Oodlethunks (children's book) which is being published by Scholastic Press.

In April of 2016, Adele (along with Courtney Sheinmel & Sarah Palacios) has a book coming out titled Agnes and Clarabelle (children's book) which is being published by Bloomsbury USA Childrens.

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date August 14th, 2014

Pages: 341

Published By: Penguin

Author: Brenna Yovanoff

My review copy:

Brenna Yovanoff:

Fiendish is Brenna's most recent release. She has a title coming out later this year and also a title releasing in 2016.

On 10/1/15 Brenna (along with Maggie Stiefvater, & Tessa Gratton) has a book being published by Carlolrhoda Books which is titled The Anatomy of Curiosity.

In 2016, Brenna has a title coming out titled Places No One Knows which is being published by Random House.

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date August 14th, 2014

Pages: 368

Published By: Penguin

Author: Jessica Sportswood

My review copy:

Jessica Sportswood:

Sisters' Fate is Jessica's most recent release. She has two titles coming out in 2016.

On April 1st, 2016 Jessica has a title releasing titled Wild Swans. It is being published by Sourcebooks.

On April 12th, 2016 Jessica has an anthology she is part of coming out which is titled A Tyranny of Petticoats. This title is being published by Candlewick Press.

Please keep in mind that this is the first post of my new feature. It will be refined as time goes on as I work out exactly how I want to do things, and also based on feedback you all provide!

This Weeks New YA Releases (8/11/15)

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 05:01:00 +0000

I feel like I picked a bad week to start doing these posts. I want to start doing weekly post to feature YA titles coming out, and this week there really aren't that many. I am only going to focus on new releases, not paperback versions of older books.

While this week is pretty slow, there are a TON of titles coming out the week of the 18th. Are you looking forward to any of the titles coming out this week? Let me know in the comments.

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date August 11th, 2015

Pages: 400

Published By: Random House

Author: Colleen Houck

My review copy:

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication.Date August 11th, 2015

Pages: 304

Published By: Little Brown

Author: Fiona Wood

My review copy:

Genre:
Young Adult, Graphic Novel

Publication.Date August 11th, 2015

Pages: 384

Published By: Roaring Brook Press

Author: Stephen Emond

My review copy:

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication.Date August 11th, 2015

Pages: 267

Published By: Entangled Teen

Author: Chris Cannon

My review copy:

Genre:
Young Adult, Sci-Fi

Publication.Date August 11th, 2015

Pages: 400

Published By: Penguin

Author: Bethany Hagen

My review copy:

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date August 11th, 2015

Pages: 368

Published By: HarperCollins

Author: Cat Winters

My review copy:

Are you planning to pick up any of these titles on Tuesday?

Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 01:34:00 +0000

Genre:
Adult, Sci-fi

Publication Date: February 11th, 2014

Pages: 369

Published By: Crown Publishing

Author: Andy Weir

My review copy: Bought (Audible)

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—& even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—& a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

(Goodreads)

“Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.”

“Maybe I’ll post a consumer review. “Brought product to surface of Mars. It stopped working. 0/10.”

“I started the day with some nothin’ tea. Nothin’ tea is easy to make. First, get some hot water, then add nothin’.”

“I can't wait till I have grandchildren. When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In an EVA suit! On Mars, ya little shit! Ya hear me? Mars!”

It’s not very often that you find adult novels that can very easily be loved and enjoyed by people that mainly enjoy YA books. For the most part, they are often very different types of books. The Martian is one of those exceptions that while being an adult book can easily appeal to YA readers. Throughout the review I will discuss a lot of the reasons behind this.

First of all, I tend to find that when it comes to adult novels they are often much slower reads. I don’t feel like that is often intentional, I am just use to the quick and exciting pace that most YA books have. The Martian is packed full of fast paced and exciting moments. This is one of the biggest reasons that I feel it can easily appeal to YA readers.

There is really nothing about The Martian that blatantly shows signs of it being an adult novel. There is swearing, and parts of it can be highly technical, but it is nothing that we haven’t seen in YA books. Aside from the characters being older, it reads pretty much like any YA Sci-Fi book.

One thing that made this book such a nice change of pace was that there is no romance. It’s a book about survival, and the work that goes into rescuing a crew- mate that was stranded. There is absolutely no need for a romance, as it would make no sense once you get into the story and really see what it is about.

If you enjoy laughing, this book is definitely for you. I can’t get over how many amazing quotes there are in this book, and the humor is incredible. You wouldn’t picture a book about a guy stranded on Mars and having to survive to have a lot of humor, but I think you will be surprised by just how hilarious this book can be.

The mix of seriousness and humor helped to steer this book towards perfection. You get a taste of the seriousness from the scientists at home trying to figure out ways to rescue Mark, and you get the amazing humor from Mark as he tries to survive on Mars hoping that he will eventually be rescued.

Don’t pass up a chance to read this book. I promise you that even if you only read YA, you will love this book, especially if you enjoy sci-fi books. I can’t say enough great things about the humor you will experience when you read this book, because it really does pull that much weight. It’s one of the things that helps Mark as he attempts to survive, and it is just part of who he is. Everything feels so genuine and real.

I am really excited to see this as a movie in October. If they are able to capture the humor well, the movie is going to be just as amazing as the book. But again, I highly suggest that you take the time to read this book. I don’t often read adult novels, but I had heard so many great things about this book from other YA bloggers that I just couldn’t pass it up. I hope you will do the same, and get the opportunity to enjoy The Martian just as much as I did.

Stacking the Shelves (27)

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Sun, 09 Aug 2015 01:12:00 +0000

Just have a few books to share from the past week! I am really looking forward to reading them though. What books did you get this week? I'd love to see your posts!

As always, be sure to enter the current giveaway I have going! Just click the link below, and it will take you to the Tweet where you can enter!

Twitter Giveaway: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas (International)

Genre:
Young Adult, Horror

Publication.Date September 29th, 2015

Pages: 400

Published By: St. Matins Griffin

Author: R.L. Stine

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date September 22nd, 2015

Pages: 416

Published By: Disney Book Group

Author: Wendy Toliver

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication.Date June 10th, 2014

Pages: 400

Published By: Simon and Schuster

Author: Non Pratt

My review copy: From the publisher

Book Review: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 23:34:00 +0000

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication Date: April 28th, 2015

Pages: 446

Published By: Penguin

Author: Sabaa Tahir

My review copy: Bought (Audible)

Laia is a slave.

Elias is a soldier.

Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

(Goodreads)

Why couldn’t An Ember in the Ashes have been everything I had hoped for it to be? This was one of those times where letting the hype get to you can have a negative impact on the book. I went into this book expecting so much out of it because I had allowed myself to get invested in the hype surrounding it. I do feel like hype is a very important thing, and in the majority of cases it is rightfully earned. But after reading An Ember in the Ashes, I am left questioning the reasoning around the incredible amount of hype behind the book.

The only reason I was able to actually finish the book is because I was listening to the audio version. The narration for the book was incredible, and that paired with the very few moments in the book I truly found interesting is what kept me reading. If I had to list the few moments in the book that I loved, it would have to surround a few details throughout character development. There is one scene in particular where one of the characters (won’t say who) is walking through an area of land covered with the people they have killed. Hearing the audio for that created this incredibly eerie feeling. There are quite a few moments like that, as you get to know the characters but they are far apart and that just didn’t sit well with me. I wanted more depth to the characters.

The world building wasn’t horrible, but I felt like it could use some improvement. Much like with the characters, the world that Sabaa created could be very eerie and engaging at times, but it never felt very consistent which put me in situations where I just wanted to put the book down. I would get past some great and engaging scenes, and then I would be left with what felt like a lot of unneeded filler in-between. I understand some of it from a plot development standpoint, but there was a lot that just felt out of place in the story as a whole.

I’m not positive at this point if I will continue with this series. Does it have potential? Yes, but I feel like there would have to be huge improvements made in book two for me to invest the time in the series. I’ve mentioned many times before when reviewing fantasy that I am very picky. I am not afraid to completely dissect a fantasy book and list the things I don’t like. Fantasy is my favorite genre, and I want to see books that encompass everything I love about the genre.

I don’t feel as though I can recommend this book to anyone. I have no doubt in my mind that people could love this book, as I have seen many of my friends read it and love it. But for me, it is just lacking in so many areas and I wish it could have lived up to what I was hoping to get out of it. This is one of those few times that they hype has failed me, and I am really disappointed that it did because I was really looking forward to experiencing this story.

Book Review: Another Day by David Levithan

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 05:01:00 +0000

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication Date: August 25th, 2015

Pages: 300

Published By: Random House

Author: David Levithan

My review copy: Provided By Publisher

The eagerly anticipated companion to David Levithan’s New York Times bestseller Every Day

In this enthralling companion to his New York Times bestseller Every Day, David Levithan (co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green) tells Rhiannon’s side of the story as she seeks to discover the truth about love and how it can change you.

Every day is the same for Rhiannon. She has accepted her life, convinced herself that she deserves her distant, temperamental boyfriend, Justin, even established guidelines by which to live: Don’t be too needy. Avoid upsetting him. Never get your hopes up.

Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person . . . wasn’t Justin at all.

(Goodreads)

Before I get into the review I want to get something out of the way for those of you that might be curious. You DO NOT have to read Every Day in order to read Another Day. Another Day is a companion. Not having read Every Day myself, I was slightly worried about this when I started reading it but everyone I have talked to that has read both stated that you absolutely do not need to read Every Day in order to read Another Day.

Another Day is told from a different perspective than Every Day, which helps to turn it into a completely different story for those of you that have read Every Day. Part of me is glad that I haven’t read Every Day, because as is the case with a lot of companion novels I find myself trying to compare them to each other especially when they are very similar.

Having the book told from a different perspective allows you to gain a deeper understanding for the characters, which is nice. I am sure those that have read Every Day will greatly appreciate that. But as I have mentioned, even if you are like me and haven’t read Every Day, you are easily able to connect with the characters. I feel like the book was written in a way that makes it not feel like a direct sequel. I know that might seem silly to say but I feel sometimes readers might try to peg a companion as a sequel and I rarely find that to ever be the case.

Now, with that said I do want to say that there might be minor details in the story that you can only find in one book ort the other. That is totally fine, and it has no major impact on what order you read the books in. I doubt I will get around to reading Every Day any time soon, but I don’t feel as though there is a ton of information I can gain from doing so right away.

Another Day is an incredibly deep (and heartbreaking!!) book. It deals with some big topics, and it’s really a book that you need to be able to devote a lot of time and effort into to really get the full benefits of reading it. As to how it compares to Every Day, I can’t say. I have heard from friends that Another Day explains the story much better than Every Day did, but I can’t personally attest to that.

The characters are amazing. They are written in an incredibly rich way, and I feel like the development that went into the characters during the early stages of writing these books was incredibly detailed. You will quickly become connected to these characters, and will be left wanting so much more from the book when it ends. Not in the sense that it ends on a cliffhanger, but just that the characters are so beautifully written that you will find yourself not wanting their story to end.

Will I eventually go back and read Every Day? Absolutely, but as I mentioned above I don’t feel like it is something that needs to be done immediately. I highly recommend that you all read Another Day, but don’t feel stressed out about not having read Every Day if you haven’t, because David does an incredible job really making this book stand on it’s own.

I am looking forward to reading more of David’s work. This was my first glimpse into his writing, and I am glad I started with this book instead of Every Day. Based on my experience and everything I have heard from those that read both, this book might be the better of the two. I will have to read Every Day at some point and see for myself. But until then I am very happy with Another Day, and I really hope all of you will be too!

Top Ten Tuesday: YA Fairytale Retellings

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 05:01:00 +0000

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

It's been so long since I have done one of these! I have been planning to come back to them the past few weeks, but I decided to wait until this one came up!

I've read a lot of YA fairytale retellings over the years, but there are so many that I haven't read yet! I want to take the opportunity to focus on some of those, and maybe it will help to motivate me to read them!

Ten YA Fairytale Retellings (I Still Need to Read)

Cinderella:

1. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (I know... I am horrible for not having read this series yet! I do have Cinder sitting on my shelf though!)

2. Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Beauty and the Beast:

3. Beastly by Alex Flinn

4. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Rapunzel:

5. Towering by Alex Flinn

6. Cress by Marissa Meyer

Snow White:

7. Mirrored by Alex Flinn (Not yet out, but I really want to read it!!)

8. Fairest by Marissa Meyer

The Little Mermaid:

9. Mermaid: A Twist of a Classic Tale by Carolyn Turgeon

10. Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama

Leave me links to your Top Ten Tuesday posts!

Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 11:00:00 +0000

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication Date: August 7th, 2012

Pages: 404

Published By: Bloomsbury

Author: Sarah J. Maas

My review copy: Bought

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

(Goodreads)

Overall, I loved the Throne of Glass. There is a lot of action, and the characters are very lively and can really jump out of the pages at you as you are reading them. I love when authors put so much life into their characters.

It makes books so much more enjoyable to read. While I loved all the action and the depth of the characters, I did feel like there were slight pacing issues. I can usually overlook them, but with a book that is focused on a lot of action oriented scenarios, I found it hard to just ignore the pacing issues.

Celaena has become one of my new favorite heroines. She is truly an incredible character in every aspect. She is strong willed and very open about when it comes to expressing her thoughts to people she has encounters with throughout the book. I felt as though this was a very important part of her personality, and it really helped to make her a character you can easily become attached to.

I will never like love triangles. I’m sorry. I will not argue that sometimes they are written very well, but I will never like them beyond appreciating the ones that are well written. Throne of Glass is no exception.

Regardless of how much I love the characters on an individual level, I despise the love triangle. I just never understand the need for these. I always feel like the books that have them can be so much better if the authors don’t focus on something so silly, and put that focus into other aspects of the book while allowing just one prominent relationship to play out without all of the added drama that comes with a love triangle.

It really aggravates me when we can have such a fantastic book such as Throne of Glass but whenever you see people talk about the book a lot of it is just about what “team” the person is on which is essentially just them saying which boy they wish Celaena would pick. While that is fine, I find it highly annoying when there is so much you can focus on instead.

I honestly don’t care about the relationship between Celaena and Chaol OR Dorian. It’s not an important part of the book for me, and quite frankly I don’t feel as though any of it is truly important to the success of the story. Celaena on her own is such a strong and amazing character that I feel the idea of this love triangle between all of the characters just really diminishes some of that spotlight on her, and I wish that didn’t happen.

I am never opposed to romance in books, but I am when I feel is damages the integrity of a character that is already so strong on their own. A lot of the romance in Throne of Glass feels like it was just thrown in there to make the story appeal to more people than it would if it wasn’t there.

I am really glad that I finally got around to starting this series. I think that overall Sarah did an amazing job with this book. Aside from the minor issues with pacing, I am looking forward to continuing the series, and seeing how things might improve as the series goes on.

2015 ARC August Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 05:01:00 +0000

ARC August is a fun event hosted by Octavia and Shelly over at Read, Sleep, Repeat! The purpose of the event is just as the title suggests. Read ARC's you need to read during the month of august, and see if you can meet the goal by the end of the month.

There are also some other fun little things they do (I will not be posting update posts, so I am not taking part in that section of it!) but if you'd like to you can click the link to their blog above and it will take you to the ARC August page where you can see their posts about it and find that information!

I am just going to be doing this one post showing my goals for the month and I will do a wrap up post at the end. Any small updates I do will be made through my Twitter or Instagram! (Both are @Justin_941) so be sure to follow me!

With that out of the way, lets get into the ARC's I am planning to read in August! Hopefully I will be able to get through them all.

Genre:
Young Adult, Mystery

Publication.Date August 18th, 2015

Pages: 400

Published By: Simon and Schuster

Author: Alexandra Sirowy

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date August 25th, 2015

Pages: 384

Published By: Harlequin Teen

Author: Elanor Herman

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date September 1st, 2015

Pages: 256

Published By: Simon and Schuster

Author: Rebecca Hahn

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date September 1st, 2015

Pages: 336

Published By: Disney Hyperion

Author: Liz Braswell

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Historical Fiction

Publication.Date September 1st, 2015

Pages: 336

Published By: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Author: Erin Bowman

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication.Date September 1st, 2015

Pages: 352

Published By: HarperCollins

Author: Carrie Mesrobain

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication.Date September 1st, 2015

Pages: 256

Published By: Little Brown

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Contemporary

Publication.Date September 8th, 2015

Pages: 368

Published By: HarperCollins (Balzer & Bray)

Author: Kate Scelsa

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date September 15th, 2015

Pages: 464

Published By: HarperTeen

Author: Sarah Prineas

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Middle Grade, Fantasy

Publication.Date September 22nd, 2015

Pages: 384

Published By: HarperCollins

Author: Lindsay Cummings

My review copy: From the publisher

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication.Date   September 22nd, 2015

Pages: 432

Published By:   HarperCollins (Greenwillow Books)

Author: Rae Carson

My review copy: From the publisher

Alright! So along with the 11 listed above, I also plan to review the ones in the pictures below!

This will put me at 16 ARC's (As of right now) that I am hoping to be able to get through by the end of August! I currently have over 50 ARC's that I need to review between now and January and August and September are usually the two months that have a ton of titles. So if I can make it through this month knocking out AUGUST and SEPTEMBER ARC's, I will be be quite happy!

Please share you goals post with me, so I can check them out! I will be going through the list of people that signed up, and commenting on posts too! Good luck to everyone taking part! Hope you all are able to meet your goals.

Stacking the Shelves (26) + Funko Pops!

noreply@blogger.com (Justin941) — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 00:28:00 +0000

CURRENT GIVEAWAY: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas (Twitter giveaway!)

I only have two books to show this week, but I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about my new addiction which are Funko Pops! I know many people in the book blogging community are starting to collect them, so I wanted to show some of the ones I have got since I started collecting a little over a week ago!

I'd love to hear what books you got this week, and if you are collecting Funko Pops, let me know what ones you have so far! Or send me pictures of them on Twitter (@Justin_941) of the ones you have so far! Also, let me know of some ones I should look out for!

Books for review:

Hunter by Mercedes Lackey (Releases on 9/1/15 from Disney Hyperion)

A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston (Releases on 11/6/15 from Disney Hyperion)

Funko Pops:

As I mentioned at the start, I just recently started to collect these and I absolutely love them! They are so much fun to collect, and I plan to use them a lot as props in Instagram pictures since there are SO MANY of them that can be paired well with YA books!

This is my current collection so far! I would love to hear about what ones you have so far, or you can send me pictures of ones you have on Twitter! (@Justin_941)

Also, let me know which ones I should look out for and pick up!

Harry Potter Funko Pops

I completed this collection yesterday! I still need the two exclusive Harry pops, but I am happy to have the full base set completed! I really hope Funko is planning to introduce more Harry Potter characters/creatures to the lineup! I would definitely buy all of them!

Game of Thrones Funko Pops

These are all of the ones I have so far, I still have many I need to get from the GoT set! The Daenerys in the blue dress and Drogon are special edition exclusive pops which come together in the same box! Other than those two, the rest are normal common ones!

Disney Funko Pops

There are SO MANY Disney Funko Pops! I have a very tiny portion of all the Disney pops that are out there. I have a big soft spot for Disney though, so I am sure this part of my collection will be growing a lot! I already know of a lot of Disney ones that I want to get soon!

Random Funko Pops

These are just random ones I currently have, and plan to build on their respective collections! Oliver Queen, Skyrim Guard (GameStop Exclusive), Maggie (The Walking Dead) and a GameStop exclusive Murloc (World of Warcraft)

Genre:	Young Adult, Contemporary
Publication Date:	September 8th, 2015
Pages:	336
Published By:	Amulet Books
Author:	Courtney Sheinmel

My review copy:	Provided By Publisher

Genre:	Young Adult, Historical Fiction
Publication Date:	September 1st, 2015
Pages:	336
Published By:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Author:	Erin Bowman

My review copy:	Provided By Publisher

Genre:	Middle Grade, Historical Fiction
Publication Date:	August 25th, 2015
Pages:	320
Published By:	Scholastic
Author:	Jennifer A. Nielsen

My review copy:	Provided By Publisher

Genre:	Young Adult, Contemporary
Publication.Date	August 26th, 2014
Pages:	560
Published By:	Simon and Schuster
Author:	Ellen Hopkins

My review copy:

Genre:	Young Adult, Fantasy
Publication.Date	August 26th, 2014
Pages:	224
Published By:	HarperCollins
Author:	C.J. Redwine

My review copy:

Genre:	Young Adult, Horror
Publication.Date	August 26th, 2014
Pages:	343
Published By:	HarperCollins
Author:	Maeleine Roux

My review copy:

Genre:	Young Adult, Science Fiction
Publication.Date	August 26th, 2014
Pages:	325
Published By:	Delacorte Press
Author:	James Dashner

My review copy:

Genre:	Middle Grade, Fantasy
Publication Date:	February 2nd, 2016
Pages:	352
Published By:	Simon and Schuster
Author:	Kate O'Hearn

My review copy:	From the publisher

Genre:	Young Adult, Contemporary
Publication Date	September 22nd, 2015
Pages:	336
Published By:	Little Brown
Author:	A.S. King

My review copy:	From the publisher

Genre:	Young Adult, Mystery
Publication Date:	August 18th, 2015
Pages:	400
Published By:	Simon and Schuster
Author:	Alexandra Sirowy

My review copy:	Provided By Publisher

Genre:	Young Adult, Graphic Novel
Publication.Date	August 11th, 2015
Pages:	384
Published By:	Roaring Brook Press
Author:	Stephen Emond

My review copy:

Genre:	Young Adult, Sci-Fi
Publication.Date	August 11th, 2015
Pages:	400
Published By:	Penguin
Author:	Bethany Hagen

My review copy:

Genre:	Adult, Sci-fi
Publication Date:	February 11th, 2014
Pages:	369
Published By:	Crown Publishing
Author:	Andy Weir

My review copy:	Bought (Audible)