The Lantern’s Ember, by Colleen Houck ~ 3.0 Stars

Tags

Fantasy, Paranormal, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now 

416 Pages

Synopsis: Welcome to a world where nightmarish creatures reign supreme.

Five hundred years ago, Jack made a deal with the devil. It’s difficult for him to remember much about his mortal days. So, he focuses on fulfilling his sentence as a Lantern—one of the watchmen who guard the portals to the Otherworld, a realm crawling with every nightmarish creature imaginable. Jack has spent centuries jumping from town to town, ensuring that nary a mortal—or not-so-mortal—soul slips past him. That is, until he meets beautiful Ember O’Dare.

Seventeen, stubborn, and a natural-born witch, Ember feels a strong pull to the Otherworld. Undeterred by Jack’s warnings, she crosses into the forbidden plane with the help of a mysterious and debonair vampire—and the chase through a dazzling, dangerous world is on. Jack must do everything in his power to get Ember back where she belongs before the earthly and unearthly worlds descend into chaos.

I was so excited to read this retelling of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, especially as it’s written by Colleen Houck who wrote the imaginative Tiger’s Curse series. I’m sorry to say that while it wasn’t a complete wash, I was left disappointed.

This is set sometime after the Salem witch trials, but you don’t really get a sense of where Ember lives. Most of the story focuses on the “otherworld” which is much more developed in terms of technology. It’s a little steampunkish which thrilled me to no end, and as usual the author does a beautiful job with world building. What did let me down though, was the lack of thrills and chills. I was expecting so much more spookiness given the story this was based on.

My main issue however was with the characters. First, there’s a love square, and you guys know how much I love those. (Yes that was sarcasm.) And, this was one of those rare stories where I actually liked the secondary characters more than the main one. I didn’t have strong feelings about Ember and Jack either way. They were just sort of  “meh” for me. I loved the others though, especially Deila who’s a kickass pirate captain with a metal tooth. She’s all kinds of awesome and deserves her own story.

And finally, the way The Lantern’s Ember is written, it feels more middle-schoolish even with the annoying romantic entanglements. Ultimately this latest book by Houck just didn’t live up to my expectations. I’m still a fan of the author though so hopefully this is a one off.

 

 

 

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I Do Not Trust You, by Laura J Burns & Melinda Metz ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Egyptian Mythology, Mystery, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

320 Pages

Synopsis: Memphis “M” Engle is stubborn to a fault, graced with an almost absurd knowledge of long lost languages and cultures, and a heck of an opponent in a fight. In short: she’s awesome.

Ashwin Sood is a little too posh for her tastes, a member of an ancient cult (which she’s pretty sure counts for more than one strike against him), and has just informed Memphis that her father who she thought was dead isn’t and needs her help. 

From the catacombs of Paris to lost temples in the sacred forests, together they crisscross the globe, searching for the one thing that might save her father. But the closer they come to saving him—and the more they fall for one another—the closer they get to destroying the world.

I Do Not Trust You is the second book I’ve read by these two authors and while I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as their previous book, Sanctuary Bay, it was still an interesting read.

One of the strengths of the book are its characters. I loved both M and Ash and even though they spend a good chunk of the story not trusting each other, they actually wind up making a pretty fantastic team. As you get further along it becomes obvious that the two are reluctantly getting closer, but having to jump from country to country and trying to keep ahead of the villains, doesn’t leave much time for romance. Which is perfectly fine. I thought the lack of romance made their relationship more believable.

The different cultures depicted are beautifully written  as are the mythologies. The trouble I ran into was the pacing of the story. The first few chapters had plenty of action, but after that it seemed to subside until the last third of the book. Because of their quest and the globetrotting they were doing I expected more adventure, conflict, and excitement but there just seemed to be something missing. Still, despite me wanting more thrills, overall I did think this was a fun read and I would recommend it to fans of authors like Rick Riordan and movies like Indiana Jones.

The Brink of Darkness (The Edge of Everything #2), by Jeff Giles ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Mystery, Paranormal, Romance, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Childrens for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

400 Pages

Synopsis: Things have changed for seventeen-year-old Zoe since the otherworldly events that brought her together with the mysterious bounty hunter she calls X. In order to save Zoe and her family, X has done the unthinkable—he’s given up his freedom and returned to captivity in the Lowlands.

X is determined to break the lords’ hold on him once and for all, but being stripped of his power pushes him toward a darkness he’s never experienced and a past he’s never known. The secrets that surface could be the key to reuniting X and Zoe…or they could mean the destruction of everything they’ve been fighting for.

Gripping and full of heart, this epic continuation of Jeff Giles’ series—which already has rave reviews from the New York Times bestselling authors Kami Garcia, Melissa de la Cruz and Cassandra Clare, among others—will bring readers right to the edge of everything.

When I reviewed the first book of this duology last year, The Edge of Everything, I gave it 4 1/2 stars with my only issue being the insta-love between Zoe and X. In The Brink of Darkness, their relationship  is firmly established even though they spend a good part of the book separated, so I was able to completely buy into their romance. 

The story picks up immediately from the end of the previous book and even though it’s been a year, I was immediately sucked right back in. While X is in the underworld on a quest to find his mother and reunite with Zoe, she’s is back with her family and friends and worrying about X. I absolutely loved this couple and their devotion to one another. Neither lets anything or anyone stand in their way of protecting the other. And just like in the first book, the secondary characters are equally well written. The world building is amazing and readers get to see much more of the underworld, its inhabitants, and how it works. The story unfolds at a fast pace and the ending ties everything perfectly. My only disappointment is that this is the end. I find myself already missing the characters. I highly recommend this duology for teens and adult fans of YA paranormal. It’s original and creative and you won’t be able to prevent yourself from becoming attached to the characters.

 

 

The Sacrifice Box, by Martin Stewart (Blog Tour) ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Coming-of-age stories, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Thriller, YA Fiction

Thanks to a NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Release Date: August 28th, 2018

368 Pages

Synopsis: A horror story about friendship, growing up, and finding a place in the world: Gremlins meets The Breakfast Club by way of Stephen King and Stranger Things.

1982, the summer before seventh grade. Five kids with nothing in common—Sep, Arkle, Hadley, Lamb, and Mack—become instant friends. On the last day of summer, they find a stone box buried in the forest, and each places an object inside to seal their friendship. And they make rules:

Never come to the box alone.

Never open it after dark.

Never take back your sacrifice.

1986, the summer before eleventh grade. The five haven’t spoken since that day in 1982. Sep has gone through the past four years alone and plans to escape to boarding school. But strange things are happening—mirrors are breaking unexpectedly, electricity is flickering in and out, and people are coming down with inexplicable physical ailments. 

Someone has broken the rules. And it seems the five committed more than objects to the box’s ancient stone—they gave it their deepest secrets and darkest fears, and now these are being returned in a flood of shambling corpses, murderous toys, and undead pets. The gang must reunite in an attempt to discover the secrets of the sacrifice box—and Sep might be the only one who can stem its tide of evil before it’s too late.

Before I give you my review of The Sacrifice Box, I have to give animal lovers fair warning: A LOT of them die in this book, and in some pretty gruesome ways. Humans do as well, but let’s be honest, it’s our fuzzy four-legged friends that we really hate seeing perish. What? I’m just saying what we’re all thinking! Anyway, if you have a problem with books like Stephen King’s Pet Semetary, then this twisted tale may not be for you.

 

Okay, now for the nitty gritty. As the premise states, The Sacrifice Box is part Stranger Things, part Breakfast Club, part Gremlins, and definitely has a mix of Stephen King—specifically Stand By Me, It, and Pet Semetary. This could have been a red hot derivative mess, but Martin Stewart takes all these elements and skillfully blends them into a nightmarish concoction that captured my attention so thoroughly I finished it in one sitting.

 

There were two issues I had which prevented me from giving this 5 stars. While I loved the main character September “Sep” Hope, I didn’t find the other characters quite as well rounded. There’s a lot of action going on in this story and it flips between different timelines, and I think that because there was so much happening, the characters’ development suffered a bit. My other problem was with the ending which I felt was too rushed and left a few loose ends. Because I’m a reader who likes her books to be neatly tied up, especially when they’re standalones, I was a little frustrated by this.

Despite these issues, I absolutely loved The Sacrifice Box and I think fans of hardcore horror will really enjoy this. The book is marketed as YA, but I would strongly recommend it for 16 year-olds and up due to all the blood, gore, and overall scariness of it. It’s an entertaining mix of terrifying horror and a poignant coming-of-age story that looks at love, friendship, and the secrets we all keep hidden deep within ourselves.

 

You’re probably wondering “Kim! What’s up with the creepy gifs?” Well, if you choose to read this let’s just say you might want to lock up any stuffed animals and dolls in the house. And you might want to keep an eye on your pets. Um, and be wary of birds, squirrels, deer, and…Just don’t go outside until you’ve recovered from reading this book!

About the Author:

Martin Stewart has previously worked as an English teacher, university lecturer, barman, recycling technician, and golf caddy. A native of Glasgow, he now lives on Scotland’s west coast with his wife, baby daughter, and a very big dog. He enjoys cooking with eggs, running on the beach, re-watching his favorite films, and buying books to feed his to-be-read pile. 

You can also find him here:

Twitter – https://mobile.twitter.com/martinjstewart

Goodreads – https://goodreads.com/author/show/238277.Martin_Stewart

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/martin_j_stewart/

 

 

The Raging Ones (The Raging Ones #1), by Krista Ritchie and Becca Ritchie ~ 3.0 Stars

Tags

Fantasy, LGBTQ, Romance, Science Fiction, YA Fiction

Thanks to  NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

352 Pages

Synopsis: In a freezing world, where everyone knows the day they will die, three teens break all the odds.

Franny Bluecastle, a tough city teen, dreams of dying in opulence, to see wealth she’s never known. Like the entire world, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday.

Until the day she does. 

Court Icecastle knows wealth. He also knows pain. Spending five years in Vorkter Prison, a fortress of ice and suffering, he dreams of life beyond the people that haunt him and the world that imprisoned him.

Mykal Kickfall fights for those he loves. The rugged Hinterlander shares a frustrating yet unbreakable connection with Court—which only grows more lawless and chaotic as their senses and emotions connect with Franny.

With the threat of people learning they’ve dodged their deathdays, they must flee their planet to survive. But to do so, all three will have to hide their shared bond as they vie for a highly sought after spot in the newest mission to space. Against thousands of people far smarter, who’ll live longer, and never fear death the way that they do.

 I’ve read a few books centered around the deathday premise and I’m always interested in how an author is going to deal with the topic of people knowing when they’re going to die. I liked the way The Raging Ones inserted this into the story, but there were some other things that prevented this from being a perfect read for me.

The biggest issue I had was with the three main characters: Franny, Mykal, and Court. The chapters alternate between their povs, and I was frustrated, because I liked them, but their voices sounded much too similar. I also thought they could have been developed more, but the authors spend so much detailing on the world building, that there’s no time for anything else. That said, there’s no love triangle and I really enjoyed the relationship between the three and LOVED the bond shared by Mykal and Court.

Which brings me to my other issue. This first book is basically a huge info dump. On the one hand, I found it interesting, original, and creative. On the other, I felt like there was a ton of information being thrown at me, and between this and all the twists thrown in, it was too much at times. The ending is a huge cliffhanger which is fine, but there were a couple of things I wished had been answered that weren’t. For example, by the end of the book it was still a mystery to me how people’s deathdays are decided.

Despite my issues with The Raging Ones, I do think this series has loads of potential and I will definitely be picking up the sequel next year.

 

 

Lifel1k3 (Lifelike #1), By Jay Kristoff ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Books for Young Readers for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: May 29th, 2018

416 Pages

Synopsis: On a floating junkyard beneath a radiation sky, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap.

Eve isn’t looking for secrets—-she’s too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she’s just spent six months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, and the only thing keeping her Grandpa from the grave was the fistful of credits she just lost to the bookies. To top it off, she’s discovered she can destroy electronics with the power of her mind, and the puritanical Brotherhood are building a coffin her size. If she’s ever had a worse day, Eve can’t remember it.

But when Eve discovers the ruins of an android boy named Ezekiel in the scrap pile she calls home, her entire world comes crashing down. With her best friend Lemon Fresh and her robot conscience, Cricket, in tow, she and Ezekiel will trek across deserts of irradiated glass, infiltrating towering megacities and scour the graveyard of humanity’s greatest folly to save the ones Eve loves, and learn the dark secrets of her past.

Even if those secrets were better off staying buried.

I’ve read almost all of Jay Kristoff’s books and I’m happy to say that Lifel1k3 is his best yet! It’s original, creative, exciting, and is definitely going on my top ten list of favorite books of 2018.

The first few chapters are a little slow, but it doesn’t take long for the action to kick in. The characters are absolutely fantastic! While Eve is definitely the star as a badass fighter who’s suffering from PTSD due to a traumatic past, the others are equally interesting, especially her loyal BFF, Lemon Fresh, and Ezekiel who despite not being human, is head-over-heels in love with Eve. 

The world building is phenomenal and the plot has elements of Romeo and Juliet, Mad Max, and Terminator. I found it impossible to tear myself away and finished this in one day. The ending completely knocked my socks off and I can’t wait until the sequel comes out.

 

Slave Day, by Rob Thomas ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Contemporary Fiction, Racism, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now 

246 Pages

Synopsis: At Robert E. Lee High School, “Slave Day” is an annual event considered to be harmless fun by most of the students and staff—until this year. One student, Keene Davenport, has always been offended by the racist premise of this cherished school tradition, and this year he calls for a boycott. Told from eight different perspectives, this is the story of one conflict-filled day at an American high school.

Slave Day, by Rob Thomas (the writer behind Veronica Mars), was first published in 1997, so I was quite curious to see how the story would hold up over twenty years later. I’m pleased to say that for the most part it does a great job with the subject matter. The time difference is discernible through the dated technology, but overall this sadly feels like a story that could easily take place today.

The story is told from the perspective of seven students and one teacher. That’s a lot of viewpoints for a relatively short book and while their voices are all distinct from one another, I did have a difficult time forming a connection with any of them. 

The story itself is a little slow at the beginning, but picks up speed, and I did find it interesting. Despite these issues I recommend Slave Day for high school students to be used along with books, such as: The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas, and Dear Martin, by Nic Stone. 

The Cheerleaders, by Kara Thomas ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Abortion, Coming-of-age stories, Murder, Mystery, Statutory Rape, Suicide, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 31st, 2018

384 Pages

Synopsis: There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.

First there was the car accident—two girls hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know why he did it. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they lost.

That was five years ago. Now the faculty and students at Sunnybrook High want to remember the lost cheerleaders. But for Monica, it’s not that easy. She just wants to forget. Only, Monica’s world is starting to unravel. There are the letters in her stepdad’s desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school…Whatever happened five years ago isn’t over. Some people in town know more than they’re saying. And somehow Monica is at the center of it all. 

There are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook, but that doesn’t mean anyone else is safe.

Before I begin I want to list a few trigger warnings: Statutory Rape, Suicide, Teen Pregnancy, Abortion, Murder, and Drug Abuse.

Phew. So, you might have surmised that The Cheerleaders is a pretty grim read, and you’d be right. It’s dark and gritty, and surprisingly realistic. I would have given it 5 stars except for one thing that kept bothering me through the book. Before I tell you you need to know this verges on spoiler territory, so if you haven’t read the book but are planning to, skip the next paragraph.

***As the book opens, sixteen-year-old Monica has just had an abortion after having a short relationship with a guy ten years her senior. It’s kind of dropped in there and then doesn’t go anywhere until the man shows up as a new coach at her high school. The big problem I had which caused me to to mark the book down a full point, was that instead of acknowledging directly that their sleeping together was statutory rape, there’s more victim shaming, especially from Monica herself, which really annoyed me. I kept hoping that by the end of the book Monica would realize that this creep took advantage of her at a time when she was especially vulnerable, but nope, that never happened. I don’t understand why Kaza Thomas decided to go this route, especially with the current social climate and the Me Too movement. It’s too bad because otherwise I loved everything else about the book. ***End of spoiler***

Monica is someone I think most teens will relate to. She’s not perfect and she tends to act impulsively, but her heart is in the right place. While she didn’t have a close friendship with her older sister, she’s determined to discover the truth. The relationship between family members is realistic as are the ones Monica has with her friends. There are also chapters that are interspersed from Monica’s sister Jen which looks back at the events of five years ago and what led up to the deaths of five teenage girls in such a short amount of time. The mystery kept me guessing for much of the book and there were quite a few twists that caught me by surprise. 

Overall, The Cheerleaders is an intriguing whodunnit that does a good job of avoiding the usual suspension of disbelief issues that are prevalent in many similar amateur teen sleuth stories. It doesn’t have a happily-ever-after ending, but it provides closure for the characters and leaves the reader hopeful for Monica and her family. 

 

 

Grace and Fury, by Tracy Banghart ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Fantasy, Social Issues, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Children for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 31st, 2018

320 Pages

Synopsis: In a world where woman have no rights, sisters Serina and Nomi Tessaro face two very different fates: one in the palace, the other in prison.

Serina has been groomed her whole life to become a Grace—someone to stand by the heir to the throne a a shining, subjugated example of the perfect woman. But when her headstrong and rebellious younger sister, Nomi, catches the heir’s eye, it’s Serina who takes the fall for the dangerous secret that Nomi has been hiding.

Now trapped in a life she never wanted, Nomi has only one way to save Serina: surrender to her role as a Grace until she can use her position to free her sister. This is easier said than done. A traitor walks the halls of the palace, and deception lurks in every corner. But Serina is running out of time, imprisoned on an island where she must fight to the death to survive and one wrong move could cost her everything.

Before I begin my review of Grace and Fury, I want to warn readers that there are some triggers that may make some uncomfortable. These include: Hints of past rape, implied attempted rape and sexual assaults, graphic violence, and animal abuse. Given the serious nature of the story none of these are written gratuitously, but they’re still there.

I loved the two dominant themes in this book, the bonds of sisterhood and women fighting back against oppression. The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Serina and Nomi, and while I definitely had a favorite (I’m not telling you which one), I was invested in both. I have to be honest though and say that the two of them make some god awful decisions that not only impact them, but others as well. They didn’t really make sense to me and ultimately took away from the story. There is also a love triangle which I found annoying, and I thought the romance as a whole was overblown. The world building though is phenomenal and I was sucked in from the first page. It’s a fast read and the cliffhanger ending left me with plenty of questions so I’m looking forward to the next book.

Overall, while it definitely has some issues that will hopefully be worked out in the sequel, I think Grace and Fury is a promising beginning to this new untitled series. Because of the aforementioned themes, I’d recommend this to readers age 16 and up.

 

The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker, Kerry Wilkinson ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 26th, 2018

315 Pages

Synopsis: “I will never forget the night I drowned…”

Seventeen-year-old Eleanor Parker wakes up cold and alone in the river that twists through her quiet village. She remembers a hand on her chest, another on her head, water in her throat, those final gasps for air…

Her brother’s girlfriend was drowned in the same river the summer before, held under the water by an unknown killer.

Determined to unlock the mystery of what really happened that night, Eleanor can’t escape the feeling that something terrible happened links her to the previous summer’s murder. But will she discover the shocking truth, before it’s too late?

This is going to sound strange, but I’m actually surprised by how much I loved The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker. I’ve read and enjoyed several of Kerry Wilkinson’s previous books, so I’m a fan of his writing style, which is why I immediately requested it as soon as I saw it on NetGalley. 

My favorite part of this book is the first person voice of Eleanor/Ellie herself. Although I’m not sure I would have been quite as calm if I found myself rising from a watery grave, I admired Ellie’s self possession and determination to discover not only who killed her, but also her brother’s girlfriend one year previously. And I absolutely loved her dry sense of humor as she investigates, while dealing with the physical effects of being dead, like being freezing cold in the middle of summer, not being able to eat, and so on. All this while keeping her new physical state secret from her family and friends. 

The secondary characters are well-rounded, and relatable. I especially liked the loving yet occasionally combative relationship between Ellie and her mother. As far as the mystery goes, although Ellie is a likable girl, due to something that happens the night she dies, there are a few suspects that could be the villain. I was kept guessing until just before the end. There’s also a twist that took me completely by surprise and it fit in with the storyline perfectly.

The only reason why I’m not giving giving this 5 stars is that there’s something about Ellie’s death that for me, isn’t explained. It’s not a major plot hole but it bothered me nonetheless. Overall though, I loved this book and highly recommend it to YA and adult fans of shows like Twin Peaks and Riverdale.