Giveaways –FREE
1.) Percy Jackson and the Olympians; paperback boxset (@awellwornstory IG giveaway)
2.) The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins; paperback ARC (@EpicReads)
Barnes and Noble – $6.29
3.) Theodore Roosevelt and the Badlands by Roger L. Di Silvestro; hardcover
There you have it! While the list is small, the amount is decent :] Hope you guys got all the books you wanted this month!
Not much to say about my reading month that you haven’t already heard! Going to try something new and that’s keep track of how many pages I’ve read each month to give me a better idea of how I compare to other months ^_^
Total Books = 3 Total Pages = 1012 Average Rating = 3.33
1.) Emotions by Arnulfo Cantarero – 2.5/5
2.) Fiend by Peter Stenson – 3/5
3.) The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins 4.5/5
Hope you guys had a great reading month!
Happy Reading! xo
“Aerity…” Her father paused as if the words he was forming pained him. “I must ask you to sacrifice the promise of love for the sake of our kingdom.”
She could only stare back, frozen.
When a strange beast terrorizes the kingdom of Lochlanach, fear stirs revolt. In an act of desperation, a proclamation is sent to all of Eurona—kill the creature and win the ultimate prize: the daughter of King Lochson’s hand in marriage.
Princess Aerity knows her duty to the kingdom but cannot bear the idea of marrying a stranger…until a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention. There’s no denying the unspoken lure between them…or his mysterious resentment.
Paxton is not the marrying type. Nor does he care much for spoiled royals and their arcane laws. He’s determined to keep his focus on the task at hand—ridding the kingdom of the beast—but the princess continues to surprise him, and the perilous secrets he’s buried begin to surface.
Inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ tale “The Singing Bone,” New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins delivers a dark fantasy filled with rugged hunters, romantic tension, and a princess willing to risk all to save her kingdom.
My Rating: 4.5/5
**I would like to start off by saying that I received The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins for free via Epic Reads in exchange for a review. Although I am super grateful and excited for any opportunity at receiving a book for free, I am also very strict with being honest. That being said, giveaways do not impact my reviews.**
THIS BOOK! I LOVE the old century fantasy kingdom theme going on here! These are my type of books!
Now, I am reviewing this as a person who has NOT read The Singing Bone by The Grimm Brothers for which this story is based off of, so I have nothing to compare (although I think I’d like to read it now eventually…)
I only have one bad thing to say about this book. I really disliked the “flirting” scenes between Princess Aerity and Paxton. It was not only painfully awkward, but besides his good looks, I have no ideawhat Aerity sees in him. Every other part of this book was written well but it seems when it comes to romance, this is not this author’s calling. I had high hopes that Paxton was going to be a new fictional boyfriend for me but between his horrible flirting and his cold demeanor, I was left with nothing to desire.
Other than that, there’s action, there’s adventure and there’s lots to be questioned!
Beside the actual story, I love that this author lives on the eastern shore of VA – cause that’s exactly where I live! Maybe she even stops by my book store… if not she should, I’ll buy her a coffee for writing such a good book ^_^
If you’re into basic fairy tale/old century type stories, you need to grab this one! I am SO stoked that I unexpectedly won this book and very happy with my decision to drop everything and read it. I can NOT wait for book 2!
When Chase Daniels first sees the little girl in umbrella socks tearing open the Rottweiler, he’s not too concerned. As a longtime meth addict, he’s no stranger to horrifying, drug-fueled hallucinations.
But as he and his fellow junkies soon discover, the little girl is no illusion. The end of the world really has arrived.
The funny thing is, Chase’s life was over long before the apocalypse got here, his existence already reduced to a stinking basement apartment and a filthy mattress and an endless grind of buying and selling and using. He’s lied and cheated and stolen and broken his parents’ hearts a thousand times. And he threw away his only shot at sobriety a long time ago, when he chose the embrace of the drug over the woman he still loves.
And if your life’s already shattered beyond any normal hopes of redemption…well, maybe the end of the world is an opportunity. Maybe it’s a last chance for Chase to hit restart and become the man he once dreamed of being. Soon he’s fighting to reconnect with his lost love and dreaming of becoming her hero among civilization’s ruins.
But is salvation just another pipe dream?
Propelled by a blistering first-person voice and featuring a powerfully compelling antihero, Fiend is at once a riveting portrait of addiction, a pitch-black love story, and a meditation on hope, redemption, and delusion—not to mention one hell of a zombie novel.
My Rating: 3/5
I first picked up this book in the bargain section at work (Barnes & Noble shoutout) and it was initially the cover that drew me in (usually the case when I’m browsing for any random book). The pink! The yellow! The skull and cross needles! You’ve got me intrigued Mr. Stenson, bravo! Then, the inside book jacket – that first line, “When Chase Daniels first sees the little girl in umbrella socks tearing open the Rottweiler, he’s not too concerned.” If that doesn’t have you reading more into this, it’s CLEARLYnot the book for you so just go away while I enjoy this interestingly silly book jacket. Then we get into a drug + zombie combo for this book. Sold. What a concept, I think this is going to be a hilarious and VERY entertaining ride ahead of me. I’m also feeling that anyone who goes into this book with a notion that it’s serious is just a complete moron and doesn’t deserve to enjoy it the way it should be. As I’m writing this, I have not yet started this book. I wanted my first impression to be raw and not by any means influenced. Let’s see how wrong I am:
Well, I wasn’t too far off! This book starts off slightly comical and tends to get more serious the deeper in we go. One of my favorite quotes from this book is from pg. 6 where Chase describes a bloodied, undead child: “I turn to see Typewriter at the top of the stairs and then look back to the girl sitting there like a used tampon.” I’m glad I didn’t have any liquids in my mouth at the time because this line had me cracking up XD
One thing I have to complain about though – lack of quotations, arghhh! It drove me nuts, but luckily, it was never confusing knowing who you were reading as so it wasn’t too bad. This really could have made for an annoying read.
Finally, my rating dropped from a 3.5 to a 3 because the ending sucked. It was left open ended and not in a good way. I literally said what the fuck? after I read the last sentence… so his girlfriend KK just leaves him and doesn’t off herself so presumably she’ll eventually do it or rot to death in the prison.. alone. Then Chase is left in the real world. Alone. Will he off himself eventually? Does he continue north like he was planning on doing? Does he sit there high as fuck until the chucks get him? Don’t like this. I would have rather it been told for me.
Overall this was a fun read. If you’re into zombies and cursing like a sailor while reading about people trying to survive off of dope, this is your book!
Jason Ariaz is not your average 22 year old. He has been genetically and cybernatically enhanced but that’s only the beginning. He is an emotionless extraterrestrial born to human parents and living amongst us. Both him and his implanted thinking computer were damaged on landing and must go through life as less than what they really are. The purpose of their mission: to gain permanent emotions from the more primitive society that is Earth. If he is successful, he will be the first of his species to do so in nearly 200,000 years.
Hope lies in the fact that he is capable of emotional episodes and he has been able to forge true friendships. However, he does have the chance of completing his mission if he can truly care for Ariel, the closest human in his life. But he better know his heart soon. Their lives are in danger of ending tonight, unless he can recover what his species has lost.
My Rating: 2.5/5
**I would like to start off by saying that I received Emotions by Arnulfo Cantarero for free via himself in exchange for a review. Although I am super grateful and excited for any opportunity at receiving a book for free, I am also very strict with being honest. That being said, giveaways do not impact my reviews.**
This book…. this book has given me a lot to talk about (nothing I would consider spoilers but I do talk about some scenes I find over the top so I will leave it up to you to decide your fate) and I believe it’s one of the longest reviews I have ever written:
I need to start this one off by being thankful that I’m not the only one bothered by the layout of this book! I read other reviews and was so relieved to not be the only person to notice this. Every 2-3 sentences, there’s a break. That part’s not as bad as the chapters in the middle of a page! Whyyyy?! Please, if there’s anything the author can take away from this review – start the chapters on their own page! I know this may sound anal, maybe even nit picky, but this is just from my point of view as a reader of what I’d like to see from a book I’m reading. I get annoyed when authors try to do something ‘different‘ with their books – such as the writing style, but only rarely does it work.
Now that I got that off my chest, on to the book itself:
For a Sci-Fi book, I think it lacks Sci-Fi. Jason, the main character, is an alien with a built in computer. He’s built to resemble a human, he bleeds their blood, etc. If anything, this kid’s just bionic. I don’t get any alien vibes from him. More Terminator, less Fifth Element and it never goes into much details about himself after that so it really just becomes this silly “special teenage boy” story which was kind of disappointing.
This book for me started off on a higher note the gradually fades as we head towards the end. Normally, I feel a good dedication can make for a promising story:
Then not too long into the book, we run into a pretty funny scene where Jason tries tequila to revive the same icky response he got from peanut butter only to accidentally get super wastey pants.
Again, another promising indication that this book is going to be heading in a great direction! But, my train ride stopped here and I should have gotten off at my stop.
Now, this book tends to be a bit confusing (another thing I seem to share in common with some of my fellow reviewers), so before I clarify this, I’m going to explain a scene I reallllly disliked and then I’ll elaborate on the confusing aspect of this.
The cop scene. Ugh, talk about leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t care what’s been going around the media these days but most cops aren’t naturally that abusive. Yes, some are very intense BUT THEY DO A DANGEROUS JOB and should NOT expect a stranger to not harm them. They need/should be on their guard at all times. People are nutso nowadays. On top of how over the top the cops in this book were written out to be, you have a car full of middle school students driving like the little fucking tards that they are at that age and egging on the cop by being COMPLETELY disrespectful to him! I really can’t stand how cops are being portrayed in this scene! It’s unrealistic and obnoxious. I guess the way the middle school kids reacted was normal, they’re all entitled and sooo cool at that age, so that seemed somewhat accurate, but nonetheless, this was a little tasteless. Yes, it’s a book, but I don’t like over the top reading unless it’s purely made up. For example: authority of another world. I don’t want to all of a sudden feel like the author is preaching their personal views on me, which is exactly what I got from this scene and several others from this book. This isn’t an autobiography so don’t make me feel like I’m reading one.
Now, as I read further into the book, my opinion on the above scene changed a bit. I went from being pretty agitated to maybe having an understanding of it. I keep getting hints throughout this book that it’s not based in the U.S. with such terms being used as “kilometers” but there hasn’t been a clear definition that I recall of where they’re located. I assumed the U.S. without any indication (because being that’s where I’m from that’s obviously my destination of natural choice) as well as the author’s mini bio on the back cover (stating he’s been to Colorado and lives in Cali – CALL ME CRAZY IF THAT’S NOT ANOTHER INDICATION). Therefore, I don’t know how law enforcement is perceived in other locations around the world. I would only continue to be upset with said scene if it represented the law upholders I know in the U.S.
So if you hadn’t figured out I was confused on the location of this book, between the police scene and a little further into the book, there was no indication of past, present or future change and when they were in the vehicle in the police scene, it was mentioned that they were in the 10th grade. Now my question is, why is Jason’s dad letting a bunch of middle schoolers go to a beach house alone and acknowledging and condoning underage drinking? The back says Jason’s 22 but the pages are saying otherwise. Whatdafuq?! I’m so confused! AND YET, THIS IS ANOTHER CONFUSION I SEEM TO SHARE WITH FELLOW REVIEWERS (not all, but some, chill out). If this kid is actually 22 and his sister is going to drink as well, who is younger than he mind you, then how old could SHE possibly be? Also, if they’re of legal drinking age whenever that might be for where they’re located, then why do they need daddy’s permission??
At this point, if you haven’t caught on, I’m getting more and more disinterested and my rating of this book keeps going down. I started speed reading just to get through this.
Let’s move on to the hurricane scene, shall we?
A hurricane rarely comes on as a surprise. That’s one of the benefits of hurricanes (if such a thing from a natural disaster) is it forms and you usually get a few days to decide whether or not you’re gonna pack up your shit and leave town or prepare to hopefully not be blown away or carried on by flooding. The hurricane in this book just shows up out of nowhere and apparently not one person watches the news or checks the weather which I have a hard time believing. This does not happen! Hurricanes are not tornadoes! They don’t just show up and leave in a matter of minutes! Hurricanes last dayssss! I live on the East Coast. I’ve been through several hurricanes. They have to form and this one just basically blinked itself into existence. Now you may be thinking I’m a picky reader but I can’t help it and I won’t help it.
How should I conclude this…. hmmm… this book obviously gave me a lot to talk about. That being said, I might have been harsh but I don’t think this book is awful. I like the concept, I just think this book needs some fine tuning and different paths to follow. I would be willing to pass this book on because not everyone reads the same or has the same opinions and I’d be curious to see other views.
But as another all too harsh opinion I am going to share (which this book has influenced but it wasn’t the majority rules vote on this decision) is I am done with self published books – or at least taking a very long needed break. I think self publishing is the worst thing to happen to books next to ebooks. Anyone can now write a “book” and “publish” it. I do feel bad for the very rare books that are self published and are great (such as Galadria: Peter Huddlestone and The Rites of Passage by Miguel Lopez de Leon) and that I might be avoiding now because I have found some. But they are so few and far between and I’m tired of wasting what little reading time I have on these at the moment. Not saying that all well known published books are automatically fantastic but at least I know the writing will be put together.
Happy Reading! xo
UPDATE:
I wrote this review a little while ago and got caught up in life and wasn’t able to get around to posting it. Upon editing this, I found some photos on my phone of pages that I wanted to quote/point out. Instead of trying to squeeze it into the above words, I’m just going to post them down here and give a quick two cents on each one that will back up conversations I had above:
Pg. 177: Okay – I hate rape scenes. I was not a fan of these TWO scenes, but if you’re going to write one…. can we use the word fuck or any other word but do… I can’t imagine a person as disgusting as a rapist choose to use the term “I’m going to do you….”
Pg. 251: Another example of a personal opinion thrown into a fictional book. I don’t know where this dude’s from, and by dude I’m referring to the author, but he clearly hasn’t lived where I lived aka Chicago or currently in VA. The people I’ve driven around, including myself, are aggressive as shit.
Pg. 64: Another thing I felt was a personal issue that the author threw into the book… it made me laugh and wonder if he’s had any personal issues in this department.
Pg. 29: Alas, not all is negative! This last sentence made me laugh!
– just wanted to provide an update for people who follow my blog or just happen to stumble upon it and notice a time lapse on my regular posts:
As you may or may not know, my husband is in the military (go Navy) which means we live in a state away from all of our family and friends that we grew up with. Because of this, that means we have to go back home to visit or vice versa! At this time, my dad is visiting (who I haven’t seen in about 3 years) and upon his arrival it was unclear how long he’d be staying. Of course this wasn’t as issue. Most people visit for a weekend; 2-3 days. Currently, my dad arrived last Friday the 4th and now plans on leaving Monday the 14th. So being that this was a not so planned visit, I also have to balance keeping him entertained while I still have to honor my work schedule and keep my husband occupied while he’s home from work and I’m out. Needless to say, I’ve been busy.
Even though I don’t have to be entirely responsible for keeping my dad occupied (after all he is a grown man), I do struggle to do my normal things, such as reading or keeping up with my bookstagram. I don’t know about you, but I’m a pretty routine person – a homebody. So when something sets off the dynamics of my house, it’s a chain effect and I pretty much don’t do anything that I’d normally do.
That being said, since he’s been here, I’ve only picked up my book once and have taken sporadic pictures for my bookstagram.
So please, bare with me a few more days! Just a few more days guys!
Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…
She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.
She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.
The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.
My Rating: 5/5
AHHHH! I HATE reading unfinished series! I NEED to know what’s going to happen next!
What’s going on with this war?
How does Aelin handle her new position?
How does Dorian handle his new position?
How does everyone adjust to their new beginnings especially with this war a brewin?!
And the witches! Manon getting…. feelings? I mean, yeah we’ve seen glimpses of it through out but now she almost resembles a human!
This book definitely made me appreciate Heir of Fire a lot more. With everything it built up to, wow, just wow.
I wasn’t sure I liked where the story was turning and how it has changed so much and now I am so glad it did. It’s more action packed, more suspenseful, less childish more adultthrough their experiences. If you want a book with great character development, look no further! Each character changes, grows in ways you don’t expect, it’s amazing.
I need to address some scenes:
Happy scene: I’m so so so so soooo happy Rowan came back. I mean, that bath scene with Aelin and Rowan, meow ;] I wasn’t a huge fan of him in the beginning but now he is complete and utter SWOONworthy. That sexy, sexy man. And if him and Aelin don’t do it within the first half of the next book, I’m going to explode. The sexual frustration is killing meeee!
Pg 525:
Ermergerdddd…. is it getting hot in here or what?…
Sad scene: When Aelin visits Sams grave and confesses her self to him – ughhh, pull on my heart strings why don’t you! So sad but so sweet and heart warming .. and did I mention sad?!
Shocking scene: Aelin helping Manon – I mean they were fighting to the death and Manon is about to die and Aelin saves her – what?! At first I was pissed, I was all, “LET THE BITCH DIE! WASN’T THAT THE POINT?!” but later when Aelin fully reveals her reason behind helping Manon avoid falling to her death, it made sense and dare I say it was quite noble of her!
Brutal scene: Chaol and Aelin walk up to the castle and all of Chaol’s mean are spiked outside the castle, mauled, tortured. INSANE!
I love all of the elements this series brings. From the raw emotions, to the brutality, to the excitement and the giddyness, these books have it all.
Not to make excuses or anything, BUT I have been super busy between everyday life things such as taking care of the household/working to the many, many extras this month such as my husband re-enlisting in the military! Then this past week, I’ve been battling with my neck everyday and today it was mega dick. I woke up and thought, “IS THIS REAL LIFE?!”.. I couldn’t move my neck, argh, so much painnnnn! So needless to say, it’s the first day of March and I haven’t even touched a book yet. STARTING OFF THE MONTH STRONG GAIZ! Hopefully I can read a bit tonight, the pain meds have kicked in and I’ve been trying to be as active as possible around the house to keep my muscle from tensing. Then later, muscle relaxers. I expect much of you my little white, roundy friend.
Maybe I’ll start another book – the one I’m currently reading is boring me. But I also want to just finish it to get it out of the way. The struggle.
I almost forgot my early month thrift going when I first started putting my books together! Somehow, I forgot to add them to my haul list :O *gasp*
Barnes and Noble –$7.50
1.) Doctor Who The Encyclopedia by Gary Russel; paperback
Thrift Store –$6.12
1.) The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan; hardcover
2.) Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling; paperback
3.) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; paperback
4.) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson; paperback
Giveaways –FREE
1.) Emotions by Arnulfo Cantarero; paperback: A special thanks to the author, Arnulfo Cantarero, for sending this my way! Please check him out on Goodreads!
2.) Galadria: Peter Huddleston and the Rites of Passage by Miguel Lopez de Leon; paperback (via Goodreads giveaway)
3.) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling; paperback (special thanks to @thebookelves Instagram giveaway)
4.) Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs; paperback: (special thanks to @thebookelves Instagram giveaway)
5.) Orchards by ; paperback: (special thanks to @thebookelves Instagram giveaway)
6.) Delirium by Lauren Oliver; paperback: (special thanks to @thebookelves Instagram giveaway)
7.) Unwind by ; paperback (special thanks to @thebookelves Instagram giveaway)
8.) Galadria: Peter Huddleston & The Mists of the Three Lakes by Miguel Lopez de Leon; paperback: (A special thanks to the author, Miguel Lopez de Leon, for sending this my way! Please check him out on Goodreads!)
9.) Galadria: Peter Huddleston & The Knights of the Leaf by Miguel Lopez de Leon; paperback: (A special thanks to the author, Miguel Lopez de Leon, for sending this my way! Please check him out on Goodreads!)
10.) Atlantia by Ally Condie; hardcover: (special thanks to @author_jenniferparr Instagram giveaway)
ARCs –FREE
1.) America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie; paperback
Sometimes the risks may not be worth the sacrifice…
Asha St. Claire is a young single mother who was willing to sacrifice whatever it took to secure financial freedom for her and her little boy. She believed those sacrifices finally paid off when she won a full academic scholarship to Natchez State University, a remote Mississippi college hundreds of miles away from her Chicago home-town. What she wasn’t aware of, however, was that in order to accept the scholarship, she would be forced to leave her son behind. Determined on becoming economically secure, Asha sacrifices her immediate wants, accepts the scholarship, and permits temporary custodial rights of her son to her mother in order to pursue her degree.
Still reeling from the separation from her son, Asha is completely caught off guard when she meets Delphi, a man who not only rattles her focused and well laid plans for the future, but also every sensory nerve that makes her a female.
Delphi has everything Asha could ever want; however she finds he often holds back if pressed to reveal his past. Can she trust him enough to move forward and build the secured future she’s dreamed of? Or is his constant hesitation a sign that he is completely wrong for both her and her son?
Delphi Allen is a man who knows what he wants-and what he wants is Asha. In his single-minded pursuit, he chooses to ignore past events in his life that could negatively impact both their futures. Can he convince Asha that her current choices won’t make her happy without revealing secrets he’s tried to forget?
Or will his decision and her sacrifice ultimately cost them both?
My Rating: 0/5
**I would like to start off by saying that I received The Painted Lady by Amanda Moncrefe for free via Goodreads giveaway in exchange for a review. Although I am super grateful and excited for any opportunity at receiving a book for free, I am also very strict with being honest. That being said, giveaways do not impact my reviews.**
The cover is so pretty and intriguing – but this is NOT the book I thought it was going to be. I read up to page 35 and I can’t do it anymore. I just didn’t like the content (and wouldn’t have entered the giveaway for this book if I had known). IT’S VERY DIRTAYYYY! I’m no prude, but I prefer my porn on screen and less “I’m gonna poke your ass all day in class..” type of thing….
Okay, since this is my blog, I’m going full force. I was a little nicer on GR and the like, because I know I wasn’t the right audience for this and I’m not a complete dick. It’s not fair for someone to judge something that they don’t like in the first place. It’s like me saying a song is terrible because I can’t stand the genre of music. Doesn’t make it a terrible song because I don’t like the style, get mah drift? Again, I did not know this going in to the book. BUT – this is my blog. If the author or whoever cares to read a good review on this book and made it this far – wellll – that’s their fault.
One thing that threw me off – this is an urbanish book. Red flag numero uno. The other thing was how disgusting the males treat the females. This dude is really gonna poke some girl in the ass while she’s in class because he likes “making her squirm” and then I get a wonderful description of how wet her pants were getting – again I only read 35 pages and this isn’t the first descriptive content you get to read OH and these people barely know each other. If someone even accidentally touches my ass like that, you guarantee if I’m in class, my pencil’s going straight through their hand. Glad this author writes about self respecting women.
Don’t get me wrong, I can read sex scenes, I’m down with the putang! But there’s a right way of writing it and then there’s a pathetic way. Needless to say, this writer did the latter.
So yeah, unless you want to read a rude, hard nippling, ass poking, disrepectful piggish book – YOU’VE FOUND IT!
Summary: Men are disrespectful pigs and women are eager tramps.
Also, I’m sad this book has a small setting in Chicago. Being I’m from the Chicagoland area, I know we’re better than this…
This book is so stupid, I can’t even turn it into a craft. What a waste of a pretty cover.
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