Tuesday 29 March 2016

Top Ten Tuesday #83: 10 Of My Most Recent 5 Star Reads


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Broke and Bookish. This weeks topic is Ten Of My Most Recent 5 Star Reads

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  1. The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines #6) by Richelle Mead
  2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
  3. Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger
  4. The Diviners (The Diviners #1) by Libba Bray
  5. Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road #1) by Katie McGarry
  6. Flintlock (Cutlass #2) by Ashley Nixon
  7. Fighting for Keeps (A Brookhollow Story #5) by Jennifer Snow
  8. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
  9. Storm Fall (Rebel Wing #2) by Tracy Banghart
  10. Rebel Wing (Rebel Wing #1) by Tracy Banghart


Elien

Friday 25 March 2016

Review: Walk the Edge (Thunder Road #2) by Katie McGarry

Walk the Edge - Tour banner


Walk the Edge - coverTitle: Walk the Edge
Author: Katie McGarry
Series: Thunder Road
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
Publication date: March 29th 2016
Pages: 384 (hardcover)
Source: Publisher, Netgalley
Buy links: Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo  | Indiebound



One moment of recklessness will change their worlds
Smart. Responsible. That's seventeen-year-old Breanna's role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyberbully's line of fire—and brings fellow senior Thomas "Razor" Turner into her life.
Razor lives for the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and good girls like Breanna just don't belong. But when he learns she's being blackmailed over a compromising picture of the two of them—a picture that turns one unexpected and beautiful moment into ugliness—he knows it's time to step outside the rules.
And so they make a pact: he'll help her track down her blackmailer, and in return she'll help him seek answers to the mystery that's haunted him—one that not even his club brothers have been willing to discuss. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings grow. And suddenly they're both walking the edge of discovering who they really are, what they want, and where they're going from here.
 
 
Katie McGarry is one of my favorite YA contemporary authors. I first fell in love with her Pushing the Limits series and her new series has not let me down either.

Razor and Breanna are probably one of my favorite couples that McGarry has created so far. I liked both characters right from the very beginning. They have such different personalities and a complete different background yet they are so alike. They mad each other stronger in so many ways and that is what every couple should do. It was very clear why they fitted so well together and why they were attracted to each other in the first place. Another thing that was great about them was that they took things slowly and didn’t rush into anything even though that there was chemistry between them from the beginning.

Walk the Edge had all the elements that you can find in all McGarry her books. The main characters that are often from different backgrounds, the slowly burning chemistry between them and of course the personal baggage that the main characters bring with them. And it is exactly this combination of things why I love her books so much. In this book Razor and Breanna had some personal issues but they also shared some of them. Breanna never felt like she truly belonged in her family being the middle kid and the one with a freaky brain. Razor on the other hand felt like he belonged in the club but at the same time he does not know if he can really trust them because of the demons that hunt them. It was great to see how they both helped each other find their place in the world. Another thing that I liked about this book was that it talked an issue that is often present in nowadays society, cyberbullying. People need to pay more attention to this problem, so it is great when an author uses it in her books to show what kind of consequences it might have.

The book itself was pretty long, as most of McGarry’s books, but it did not feel long at all. Walk the Edge sucked me right into the MC world again and at the same time it also showed how it is to grow up in a large family. There was so much going on the entire time that I could not spot one dull moment in this book. The book was paced out pretty well and that is probably one of the things that I loved the most about this book. My only remark is that the ending felt a bit rushed to me. Bu if I had had the time I would probably have finished this book in one day; unfortunately I had work and other responsibilities.


Overall I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it, especially if you are a YA contemporary romance fan. This book has it all – romance, kickass heroines, swoon worthy boys and though issues. I cannot wait for the next book in this series to come out!


Excerpt

School starts in a few days and tonight is senior orientation. My parents are currently in a meeting with my guidance counselor while I’m being propositioned.
                Propositioned. My lips tilt up sarcastically.
                My goal for this evening was to be noticed. Guess I succeeded. I was noticed, but not for my new choices in clothing, hair style, or because I dumped my glasses for contacts. Nope, I was hunted for my brain. All exciting and swoon worthy romance novels start off this way, right?
                Kyle misreads my body language and his dark eyes brighten. “So you’ll write my English papers for the year?”
                Fifty dollars per paper-that’s his offer. Standing in my sister’s second generation hand-me-downs of a sleeveless blue blouse, shorter-than-I’ve-ever-worn jean skirt and platform sandals causes me to consider his proposal if only for the course of a heartbeat. I’m the middle of nine children and, I’ll admit, new and shiny gains my attention, but this…this is wrong.
                “Do you know this is the first time you’ve spoken to me?” I say.
                He laughs like I told a joke, but I’m not kidding. Snowflake, Kentucky is a small town and everyone tends to know everyone else, but just because we breathe the same air doesn’t mean we communicate, or act like everyone else exists.
                “That’s not true,” he retorts. “We sat at the same table in fourth grade.”
                I incline my head to the side in a mock why-didn’t-I-remember-that-bonding-moment? “My, how time flies.”
                He chuckles then scratches the back of his head causing his styled hair to curl out to the side. “You’re funny. I didn’t know that. Look, it’s not my fault you’re quiet.”
                Kyle’s right. It isn’t his fault I became socially withdrawn. That blame falls solely on me. It’s a decision I made in seventh grade when I was publicly crucified.
                Blending into paint for the past couple of years has kept me safe, but it creates the sensation of suffocation. Everyone says the same thing: Breanna’s smart, she’s quiet. On the inside, I’m not at all quiet. Most of the time, I’m screaming. “I’m not writing your papers.”
                Kyle’s smile that had suggested he had a done deal morphs into a frown and acid sloshes in my stomach. Denying Kyle isn’t what bothers me as much as it worries me what he’ll mention to his friends. They’re the reason why I went voluntarily mute in seventh grade.
                Heat races up my neck as the repercussions of refusing sets in, but I don’t even consider agreeing. Cheating is not my style.
Walk the Edge - Tour Teaser 1                Kyle surveys the hallway and, it it’s privacy he’s searching for, he’ll be sorely disappointed. He slides closer and a strange edginess causes me to step back, but Kyle follows. “Fine. One hundred dollars per paper.”
                “No.”
                “You don’t understand. My grades have to improve.” Easygoing Kyle disappears and desperation is hardly attractive.
                I steal a peek into the school’s main office, hoping my guidance counselor will beckon me in. Half of me hopes she’ll have life altering news for me, the other half hopes to end this insane conversation. “What you’re asking for is crazy.”
                “No, it’s not.”
                In an answer to the one million prayers being chanted in my head, my guidance counselor opens her door. “Breanna.”
                Kyle leans into me. “This conversation isn’t over.”

And don’t miss the first book in the Thunder Road Series,



About the author


Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.
Katie McGarry - author pic
Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine's 2012 Reviewer's Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.




Giveaway 






InkSlinger-Blogger-New


Elien

Thursday 24 March 2016

Waiting on Wednesday #122: The Way to Game the Walk of Shame by Jenn P. Nguyen


Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. It spotlights books that have not yet been released, but ones that you should pre-order today! This week's book that I am anxiously awaiting is:

The Way to Game the Walk of Shame
by Jenn P. Nguyen

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Taylor Simmons is screwed. 

Things were hard enough when her single-minded dedication to her studies earned her the reputation of being an Ice Queen but after getting drunk at a party and waking up next to bad boy surfer Evan McKinley, the entire school seems intent on tearing Taylor down with mockery and gossip. 

Desperate to salvage her reputation, Taylor persuades Evan to pretend they're in a serious romantic relationship. After all, it's better to be the girl who tames the wild surfer than just another notch on his surfboard.

Goodreads

Publication date: June 7th 2016

Elien

Tuesday 22 March 2016

Top Ten Tuesday #82: Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven't Talked About Enough/In A While


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Broke and Bookish. This weeks topic is Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven't Talked About Enough/In A While 

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  1. Rebel Wing (Rebel Wing #1) by Tracy Banghart: I first read this book last year and it I could not put it down. It was so good and it deserves a lot more recognition than it does now!
  2. Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles: This used to be one of my favorite contemporary novels. If you haven't read it yet than you really should do so soon!!
  3. Poison Study (Study #1) by Maria V. Snyder: These books are so good! This series is one of my favorite fantasy series of all time and I want to reread all of them soon!
  4. Grasping at Eternity (The Kindrily #1) by Karen Amanda Hooper: I haven't talked about this book in so long! It's an amazing fantasy series though and the author certainly deserves more readers!!
  5. The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVaugh: I don't think I have ever talked about this book before but it's one of those books that I can reread over and over again. Definitely worth your time if you like historical fiction.
  6. Cutlass (Cutlass #1) by Ashley Nixon: Pirates guys! This is book is the most amazing book about pirates that I have ever read. Seriously go and order it online now, you won't regret it!
  7. Embers (The Wings of War #1) by Karen Amanda Hooper: I know that by now angel books can be a bit cliché but this one was so different. I loved every minute of it!
  8. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë: This is my favorite book of all times, yet I almost never talk about it.
  9. First Light by Michelle Frost: Seriously guys I know that I have said it a lot in this post but this book is amazing! It blew me away right away, I was sold after just reading one chapter. Yet nobody seems to know about this book. If you like fantasy, even if you don't, go buy it!
  10. The Rosie Project (Don Tilleman #1) by Graeme Simsion: I don't think I ever mentioned this book in any of my posts before and I know that the book is quite famous but I still thought I should mention it since I love it so much. 

Elien

Thursday 17 March 2016

Author Interview: Bob Goddard from Mother Moon


28094622Title: Mother Moon
Author: Bob Goddard
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adult
Publisher: Timbuktu Publishing
Publication date: December 2nd 2015
Pages: 390 (Kindle)







2087 - A colony of scientists is stranded on the Moon as the Earth faces imminent disaster

1504 - A wooden sailing ship is navigating the dangerous waters of religious fundamentalism

Two events separated by space and time, yet destined to collide in a simple twist of fate. 

When a comet changes course and heads for Earth, the finger of blame is pointed at one country. The entire planet is thrown into chaos, while on the Moon a colony of scientists faces the bleak prospect of being stranded... forever. 

Will Cooper and Nadia Sokolova become unlikely allies in their struggle for survival. Can they make Armstrong Base self-sufficient before the food runs out? Will they ever see their families again? Can love conquer fear in one-sixth gravity?

And what does a 16th century sailing ship and its grizzled captain have to do with their plight? Can he stay alive long enough to uncover the origins of all humans on Earth? Is this the end of Man... or the rebirth of Mankind?

Only Mother Moon has the answers...




Interview


Q: Can you tell us a bit more about the storyline?

A: When a comet changes course and heads for Earth, the finger of blame is pointed at one country. The entire planet is thrown into chaos, while on the Moon a colony of scientists faces the bleak prospect of being stranded... forever.
Will Cooper and Nadia Sokolova become unlikely allies in their struggle for survival. Can they make Armstrong Base self-sufficient before the food runs out? Will they ever see their families again? Can love conquer fear in one-sixth gravity?
And what does a 16th century sailing ship and its grizzled sea captain have to do with their plight? Can he stay alive long enough to uncover the origins of all humans on Earth? Is this the end of Man… or the rebirth of Mankind?
Only Mother Moon has the answers...



Q: How did you come up with the idea for your book?

A: I’ve always been interested in space travel, but this was sparked by a UK radio presenter who said: “Perhaps we should all go and live on the Moon!” It was a meant to be a flippant comment in response to global warming predictions, but I thought, “Yeah… why not?”


Q: Whose work inspires you?

A: Many great authors, from Sebastian Faulks (Birdsong was stunning) to Bill Bryson, for his wit and whimsy. But I’m currently on my third David Mitchell book, having been swept away by Cloud Atlas. I love his writing style and imagination.


Q: Which scene in the book was the most fun to write?

A: The suicide scene out on the desolate Moon surface. Will Cooper is in a race against time to save Lian Song as her suit leaks its precious air from a self-inflicted puncture, and save himself too, as his oxygen runs out. I was gasping
for breath while writing it and still get sweaty palms when I think about that scene.


Q: How would you describe Mother Moon in three words?

A: Epic space drama


Q: Could you tell us one silly fact about yourself?

A: I do most of my writing in my dressing gown! Early morning is my most productive time so the world has to wait until my words run dry.


Q: Why should everybody read Mother Moon?

A: Because the future of Mankind depends on it! And because it is a deeply human story about tragic loss, unlikely love and, ultimately, survival.


Q: What are the words you live by?

A: Be yourself, always. Life’s too short to act out a play for the benefit of others.


Q: Do you already have another book you are working on?

A: Yes, a sequel to Mother Moon. Working title is, inevitably, Mother Earth. It features some of the same characters, but with a whole new set of life-threatening challenges for them to overcome.


Q: Is there anything you would like to tell your readers?

A: I spent nine years – part-time, admittedly – on research. Then four years writing and editing. So I’m fairly confident the science is right and the characters’ backgrounds are solid. Once the idea of the twin-timeline story had taken root, I was committed. So I ended up writing this epic story with some important messages for humanity woven in between the lines. I’m delighted that non sci-fi readers are enjoying it, as well as space buffs. I like to think there is something in Mother Moon for everyone.

Thank you so much Bob!




Elien

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Waiting on Wednesday #121: Heir to the Sky by Amanda Sun


Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. It spotlights books that have not yet been released, but ones that you should pre-order today! This week's book that I am anxiously awaiting is:

Heir to the Sky
by Amanda Sun

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As heir to a kingdom of floating continents, Kali has spent her life bound by limits - by her duties as a member of the royal family; by a forced betrothal to the son of a nobleman; and by the edge of the only world she's ever known - a small island hovering above a monster-ridden earth, long since uninhabited by humans. She is the Eternal Flame of Hope for what's left of mankind, the wick and the wax burning in service for her people, and for their revered Phoenix, whose magic keeps them aloft. 

When Kali falls off the edge of her kingdom and miraculously survives, she is shocked to discover there are still humans on the earth. Determined to get home, Kali entrusts a rugged monster-hunter named Griffin to guide her across a world overrun by chimera, storm dragons, basilisks, and other terrifying beasts. But the more time she spends on earth, the more dark truths she begins to uncover about her home in the sky, and the more resolute she is to start burning for herself. 

Goodreads

Why I Can't Wait


I read Amanda's Paper Gods series and I loved it so I cannot wait to find out what she will do with this book. Besides the synopsis sounds pretty promising. A kingdom in the sky? That's just amazing!

Publication date: April 26th 2016

Elien





Tuesday 15 March 2016

Top Ten Tuesday #81: Ten Books On My Spring TBR


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Broke and Bookish. This weeks topic is Ten Books On My Spring TBR

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  1. Flamecaster (Shattered Realms #1) by Cindi Williams Chima
  2. The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Choski
  3. Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
  4. The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court #1) by Richelle Mead
  5. Summerlost by Ally Condie
  6. Heir to the Sky by Amanda Sun
  7. When We Collide by Emery Lord
  8. Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan
  9. The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
  10. Unrivaled (Beautiful Idols #1) by Alyson Noel

Elien