Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor Blog Tour: Review and Favorite Quotes

**** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review as part of the blog tour. This fact has not changed my opinion. ****

Title: Tarnished Are the Stars Written by: Rosiee Thor Published: October 15, 2019 by Scholastic Press (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: The Lunar Chronicles meets Rook in this queer #OwnVoices science-fantasy novel, perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer and Sharon Cameron.  A secret beats inside Anna Thatcher's chest: an illegal clockwork heart. Anna works cog by cog -- donning the moniker Technician -- to supply black market medical technology to the sick and injured, against the Commissioner's tyrannical laws.  Nathaniel Fremont, the Commissioner's son, has never had to fear the law. Determined to earn his father's respect, Nathaniel sets out to capture the Technician. But the more he learns about the outlaw, the more he questions whether his father's elusive affection is worth chasing at all.  Their game of cat and mouse takes an abrupt turn when Eliza, a skilled assassin and spy, arrives. Her mission is to learn the Commissioner's secrets at any cost -- even if it means betraying her own heart.   When these uneasy allies discover the most dangerous secret of all, they must work together despite their differences and put an end to a deadly epidemic -- before the Commissioner ends them first.

There needs to be more standalone science fiction novels and I was really excited to read this one. It seemed like it was totally up my alley so I was glad to be a part of the blog tour for it. It was an engaging story with great characters and an interesting world.

My favorite thing about this book was the characters and character development. This is one of those books which alternates perspectives. Those can be incredibly tricky because often I like one character more than others, and feel like the multiple narrators make things complex. But that was not the case with Tarnished Are The Stars. Each character added to the story and offered a unique perspective. I never felt like a section was unnecessary or that I wanted to go back to someone else. However, I did have a favorite character. While I liked Anna and Nathaniel, it was Eliza who I loved. She was a kickass female who is trying and often succeeding at being the smartest person in the room. I found myself rooting for her and loved her development throughout the book as she discovered who she wanted to be and then became that person. But that was the case for each of the characters. They were all easy to root for and had great development.

One of the other things I liked about these characters was the LGBTQIA representation. Because seriously, this book is super queer. Not only is there a good f/f relationship that develops throughout the book but we also had asexual and aromantic representation. I firmly believe there needs to be more ark and ace rep in books. I’m constantly feeling like a romance is unnecessary and having a character who states on the page that they are not only not interested in a relationship but not even attracted to anyone was so amazing. Having Nathaniel come to terms with his own identity was part of what I liked about him and the book.

I also liked the world of this book. It is one of those books that reminds you that dystopia is a subgenre of science fiction. It had subtle sci-if vibes with the use of technology to impact the lives of the people, but it also had dystopia feels with a new planet being colonized because of the fact that earth was negatively affected years ago. There was also that ever present shady government adding to the drama and a disease impacting the you people like our main characters. However, as interesting as the world was, I did feel like we weren’t given a lot of information about it. I felt like some of the big reveals were not as impactful as they could have been because there was so much going on and the pacing was so fast. If it had scaled back a little bit and given more information I think I would have liked the world even more.

But my biggest frustration with this book was with the fact that it was so fast paced. I usually like a quick read that moves quickly from element to elements but here it was just jarring. I had no sense of how much time had passed and things just moved on with or without me. Instead of what I assumed was the desired effect of keeping me connected to the story, it actually pulled me out. I kept wondering to myself how much time had passed and whether they had actually spent time making this plan or if they were just winging it. And it even affected the character development at times because I was asking myself how they had gone from enemies to friends so quickly. This is about average length for a YA novel but I honestly wish it had been a little bit longer and was fleshed out a bit more. It was a very engaging story with tons of twists and turns but that was negatively impacted by the breakneck speed.

On the whole, Tarnished Are the Stars was an interesting read and a good debut novel. It had great characters, an interesting world, a fat-paced plot. But I wish the story had been fleshed out a little more.

I give Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor 7 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. If you are looking for a standalone dystopia with queer characters and a fast-paced plot then I would suggest checking this one out.

Have you read Tarnished Are the Stars?  What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stooping by and HAPPY READING!

FAVORITE QUOTES

"A good weapon, she found, needn't draw blood to be effective. A controlled target was better than a dead one."

"Murder comes in many shapes... You don't always have to look someone in the eye and watch them die to be their killer."

"But that was the thing about loss: Death could rip love from life, but those memories stayed behind, burning a hole through the heart."

"I don't give much credence to regret. I can't go back and change what's done. All I can do is take what I learned and do better next time."

"It matters because this is who you are - but it is not all you are. It does not make you weak, nor does it make you strong. You make yourself one or the other through the choices that you make."

"Power is not the same as strength... Some days strength is control, and some days strength is release. Perhaps today strength is understanding that being like your father isn't inherently bad, and two men can be alike and still make different choices."

BOOK LINKS 

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Books

AUTHOR INFORMATION 

Rosiee Thor began her career as a storyteller by demanding that her mother listen as Rosiee told bedtime stories instead of the other way around. She lives in Oregon with a dog, two cats, and four complete sets of Harry Potter, which she loves so much, she once moved her mattress into the closet and slept there until she came out as queer.

Goodreads / Website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

TOUR SCHEDULE:

https://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2019/08/tour-schedule-tarnished-are-stars-by.html 

GIVEAWAY Prize: Win a signed hardcopy of TARNISHED ARE THE STARS by Rosiee Thor (US Only) Stars: 15th October 2019 Ends: 29th October 2019

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Amber and Dusk by Lyra Selene Blog Tour: Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Amber & Dusk
Author: Lyra Selene
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: November 27, 2018
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis: Sylvie has always known she deserves more. Out in the permanent twilight of the Dusklands, her guardians called her power to create illusions a curse. But Sylvie knows it gives her a place in Coeur d'Or, the palais of the Amber Empress and her highborn legacies.

So Sylvie sets off toward the Amber City, a glittering jewel under a sun that never sets, to take what is hers.

But her hope for a better life is quickly dimmed. The empress invites her in only as part of a wicked wager among her powerful courtiers. Sylvie must assume a new name, Mirage, and begin to navigate secretive social circles and deadly games of intrigue in order to claim her spot. Soon it becomes apparent that nothing is as it appears and no one, including her cruel yet captivating sponsor, Sunder, will answer her questions. As Mirage strives to assume what should be her rightful place, she'll have to consider whether itis worth the price she must pay.

MY REVIEW

**** I received an advance copy of this book from the published in exchange for an honest review as a part of the blog tour. This fact has not changed my opinion. ****

I am usually looking for a new and different YA fantasy so when I read the synopsis for this book and saw the opportunity to take part in the blog tour for this one I jumped at the chance. And while I do think that this felt like a classic fantasy, and while it had a lot of promise it didn't quite deliver on that.

The thing that I think best expresses this for me is the characters.. This is a book full of odious and interesting characters. I usually prefer my fantasies to have characters who are on the darker side. People who have allegiances that are hidden and plenty of secrets. These were those kinds of characters. It made for interesting characters who I was curious to learn more about, but I feel a little bit like we didn't get that payoff. Some of the characters got good reveals towards the end of the book but for the most part they didn't strike an emotional chord for me. I think honestly because most of them weren't really very big surprises. The main character of Sylvie felt like a classic YA fantasy protagonist. She was tough and brash which I liked but she was also incredibly dense which I found a little frustrating. To be honest, that was one of the things that added to the classic feel of this book for me. It was the find of book where I preferred the secondary characters.

What I enjoyed most about Amber and Dusk was the world. For one thing, the magical system is one of those where each character has their own power and they feel almost like superpowers, which is a magical system I always enjoy. Plus the author was great about how the magic had clear rules and before the main character was able to use her powers in a significant way she had to learn how to control them, which is something I prefer in my magic. But the world also had a ton of political intrigue. I love when fantasies deal with court politics and the secrets surrounding the court and this book definitely handled that well.

I do think however that this book had too much world building and that's at the expense of the plot. New fantasy books always have a lot of exposition. I expect at least 100 pages of set up and world building. But this book kind of took things way too far. The most interesting part of the story for me didn't really kick in until about the last 80 pages and then it was over way too soon even though it sent into motion so much of the book's final act. There was one section that was only 20 pages long that I really wanted more from and I felt like this portion of the plot could have been expanded on. I need a very plot-centered story though so maybe most people won't mind about this too much.

All in all, I think this was an okay read. It had a lot going for it like odious characters and an interesting world full of political intrigue, plus it definitely read like a classic YA fantasy but it didn't quite blow me away.

I give Amber and Dusk by Lyra Selene 7.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. If you are looking for a YA fantastic that is heavy on the world and political intrigue and light on the plot development then check this out. It has classic fantasy vibes that I think fans of the genre will enjoy.

BOOK LINKS

฀Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37825423-amber-dusk
฀Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Amber-Dusk-Lyra-Selene/dp/1338210033
฀Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/amber-dusk-lyra-selene/1127731151
฀Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Amber-Dusk-Lyra-Selene/9781338210033?ref=grid-view&qid=1539641765675&sr=1-1
฀Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/amber-dusk
฀IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781338210033
฀iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/author/lyra-selene/id1332300728?mt=11

TOUR SCHEDULE

http://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2018/10/tour-schedule-amber-dusk-by-lyra-selen.html 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lyra Selene was born under a full moon and has never quite managed to wipe the moonlight out of her eyes. When she isn’t dreaming up fantastical cities and brood-ing landscapes, Lyra enjoys hiking, rainstorms, autumn, and pretending she’s any good at painting.

She lives in New England with her husband, in an antique farmhouse that’s probably not haunted. AMBER & DUSK is her debut novel.

 GIVEAWAY 

 •AMBER & DUSK by Lyra Selene
 •US Only
 •Starts: 11/12
 •Ends: 11/30

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco Blog Tour: Review and Favorite Quotes

About the Book

Title: Escaping from Houdini Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper #3 Written by: Kerri Maniscalco Published: June 6, 2018 by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: In this third installment in the #1 bestselling Stalking Jack the Ripper series, a luxurious ocean liner becomes a floating prison of scandal, madness, and horror when passengers are murdered one by one…with nowhere to run from the killer. .   Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a traveling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.  But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The strange and disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea. It’s up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer’s horrifying finale?

My Review

*** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher at ALA in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***

I am a huge fan of this series. When I read the first book two years ago I fell completely in love witht he characters, the setting, the mystery, everything. I was so excited to see Kerri again at ALA and pick up a copy of this book. So excited in fact that I didn't wait to read it, something I almost never do. Yes, friends, I read this book three months ago and I waited to share my review.

My favorite part of this book and the series in general is the character. I absolutely adore Audrey Rose. She is such a fantastic protagonist and my favorite kind of female heroine. She's not perfect and while she is completely badass she is still feminine and vulnerable sometimes. But the best part of Audrey Rose is that she is entirely herself and who she wants to be despite what society might expect from her. This book is so much about trying to figure out exactly what she wants with her future. I loved seeing Audrey Rose figure that out even if I didn't totally agree with all the decisions that she made throughout the book.

But my favorite characters are probably the secondary characters. It seems strange to call Thomas a secondary character but I guess that's what he is. Who cares what he is, because Thomas is amazing and my absolute favorite. Thomas is in rare form in this book and is a hilarious and fantastic snark machine. He always makes me laugh especially at the magic shows. Some of my favorite quotes come from Thomas interacting with others. One of those people I love him interacting with is the ringmaster. I don't want to give too much away about him but he is the sort of over the top charming sort of person that I think a lot of people are going to like. I however am hardcore Team Thomas and was a annoyed at him for trying to come between my ship. But I will say, he was a complex and interesting character like a lot of the members of the circus.

Speaking of the circus, this setting was completely amazing. I am not usually a big fan of books set during circuses. I know so many people love fantasies in circuses but for me they always seem too over the top magical and not at all realistic. This however felt realistic. It was grounded in reality of actual circuses at the turn of the 20th Century. I felt the wonder and mystery that characters were feeling and I was just as fascinated with everything that was going on. But I think the characters in the circus also made it all the more interesting. I wanted to know about them and about the circus.

The only thing that I didn't love as much about this book was the mystery. I'll be honest, the mysteries in this book are not at all complicated. I have solved every single one of them and usually I solve them with a throw away comment that leads me directly to the killer who is only revealed. Their motivation is then revealed as the book develops. I am perfectly okay with that. I like solvable mysteries. The only problem however is that there needs to be a good explanation as to why they are doing what they are doing and how it is all connected. Here I didn't quite get that. Even when everything was all said and done there really wasn't much of that cohesion to the mystery. Plus there really was no connection to the overall narrative of the series. I know this series was only going to be three books but then it ended up being four. I think maybe this one just kind of felt like a companion that is connected to the series but indirectly. I wish it had added more to the larger story but maybe it will in the end.

Overall this was a really great read. I loved being able to reconnect with Audrey Rose and Thomas, and to go with them on another great adventure to a fascinating historical circus setting. I wish the mystery was a little more cohesive but I still really enjoyed it.

I give Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalso 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy. If you liked the first two books in the series then you have to read the next book in then series. On the whole this is a truly brilliant historical mystery series and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction or crime novels.

About the Author

Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too much tea while discussing life’s finer points with her cats. Her first novel in this series, Stalking Jack the Ripper, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It incorporates her love of forensic science and unsolved history.

Website: http://www.kerrimaniscalco.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/KerriManiscalco
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/KerriManiscalco/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/KerriManiscalco/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KerriManiscalcoAuthor

Favorite Quotes

And now as part of the blog tour for this book I want to share some of my favorite quotes. I don't usually make a note of quotes while I am reading but when it came to this book I did do that. There are some overall amazing quotes that just resonated with me. Then there are some hilarious Thomas quotes that made me so happy.

Follow the Tour

http://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2018/08/tour-schedule-escaping-from-houdini-by.html

http://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2018/08/tour

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http://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2018/08/tour

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Giveaway

Prize: One ARC of Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco (USA only)
 Starts: 9/12/18
 Ends: 9/26/18

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you read Escaping from Houdini? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Mirage by Somaiya Daud Blog Tour: ARC Review

**** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher as part of the blog tour in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ****

Title: Mirage Series: Mirage #1 Written by: Somaiya Daud Published: August 28, 2018 by Flatiron Books (Macmillan) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated moon.  But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place.  As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection...because one wrong move could lead to her death.

MY REVIEW

I wanted to get a copy of this book at ALA but I did not get one for some reason. But I had seen some really good really good reviews of this one so I was really glad to be a part of the blog tour through Fantastic Flying Book Club. This definitely sounded like a good and interesting science fiction read and while I enjoyed some aspects of the book, it didn't completely blow me away.

Lately I have been reading so many books with very cool and creative worlds, and Mirage was no exception. Probably one of the most unique things about this book is that it is a science fiction book with a Middle Eastern inspiration. Desert landscapes are common in science fiction but one that was so grounded in the setting and culture of the people of the desert and Middle East is not something I think I have read before. It was definitely cool and I really enjoyed being able to experience the culture. Especially because it's a book which has it's own history and mythology and you know I love that. And the author did a really good job of showing the reader the world instead of telling them. In fact, she may have done too good a job. I felt like I wanted to learn so much more about the science fiction aspect of the book and we didn't get that.

The other thing that I liked about this book was the characters, especially the female characters. Amani was a really good main character. She is the kind of female character that I love in that she is not your typical kickass femme fatale. She's vulnerable and a reluctant hero who is forced into a terrible position and has to show a lot of inner strength to make it through. She's easy to get behind in that way because you are in her head and can completely sympathize. But there were other really interesting and complex characters. One of the ones I liked best was Maram, the princess who Amani becomes the body double for. Maram could have easily become a total cliche bad girl, but she was super complex and had really great development throughout the book. I wish her father Mathias had a little more development and screen time because he was really interesting and could have gone very dark but he wasn't around much.

If you read this book then you may have noticed that I didn't mention Idris as a character that I liked, and believe me there is a reason for that. It's not that I didn't like Idris, who by the way is the love interest. He was a fine character. I just really hated the romance here. This is probably no surprise to most of you, I don't like a lot of romance. But here it was really tough because the romance was so much a part of this book and I really wish it wasn't. This had all the hallmarks of romances I don't enjoy. The character fell hard and fell fast after what was definitely insta-love. And she made so many of her decisions based on her feelings for this guy. I felt like the romance kind of took over the plot of the book in portions, which is something a lot of people love but I am not one of those people.

Which, brings me to the portion of the book I wish was different, the plot. There was a lot of promise to this book when it came to the plot but it just didn't deliver for me. There was a good amount of political intrigue here. I love books that combine fish out of water stories along with court politics and that's what this book had. For me, it was at it's best when it was focusing on the rebellion and the relationship between the rulers and the people they ruler. There were some really good scenes where it explored these aspects of the story. But I wish there were more of them. It got there in the end and I think the next book in the series is going in a really great direction, but in this one it just felt like it had a little bit of first book syndrome. 

I liked this book but I feel like I'm a bit of a black sheep here. Maybe it was the hype monster, maybe it was first book syndrome, or maybe this just wasn't my kind of read. However, it did have some great things like a really good world and complex characters.

I give Mirage by Somaiya Daud 7.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. I don't know that I would recommend this book to fans of hard science fiction, but if you like romances especially fantasy and sci-fi with a strong romance plot. And I am intrigued to see where this series goes.

BOOK LINKS

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32768520-mirage
 Amazon: https://amzn.to/2NJ4rMT
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mirage-somaiya-daud/1124880923#/
Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Mirage-Somaiya-Daud/9781250126429
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mirage-80
IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250126429
 iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mirage/id1339181554?mt=11

TOUR SCHEDULE 

https://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2018/08/tour-schedule-mirage-by-somaiya-daud.html

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Somaiya Daud was born in a Midwestern city, and spent a large part of her childhood and adolescence moving around. Like most writers, she started when she was young and never really stopped. Her love of all things books propelled her to get a degree in English literature (specializing in the medieval and early modern), and while she worked on her Master’s de-gree she doubled as a bookseller at Politics and Prose in their children’s department. De-termined to remain in school for as long as possible, she packed her bags in 2014 and moved the west coast to pursue a doctoral degree in English literature. Now she’s preparing to write a dissertation on Victorians, rocks, race, and the environment. Mirage is her debut, and is due from Flatiron Books in 8/28/2018.

Website: http://www.somaiyabooks.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/somaiyadaud
Tumblr: http://somaiyaonline.tumblr.com/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/theravendesk/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/somaiiiya
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/somaiyadaudauthor/

GIVEAWAY 

Prize: One finished copy of Mirage by Somaiya Daud (USA only) 

 Starts: 8/22/18 

 Ends: 8/30/18 

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

These Rebel Waves Blog Tour: Guest Post with Sara Raasch

About the Book:

Title: These Rebel Waves
Series: Stream Riders #1
Author: Sara Raasch
Amazon / Goodreads

Synopsis:Adeluna is a soldier. Five years ago, she helped the magic-rich island of Grace Loray overthrow its oppressor, Argrid, a country ruled by religion. But adjusting to postwar life has not been easy. When an Argridian delegate vanishes during peace talks with Grace Loray’s new Council, Argrid demands brutal justice—but Lu suspects something more dangerous is at work.

Devereux is a pirate. As one of the outlaws called stream raiders who run rampant on Grace Loray, he pirates the island’s magic plants and sells them on the black market. But after Argrid accuses raiders of the diplomat’s abduction, Vex becomes a target. An expert navigator, he agrees to help Lu find the Argridian—but the truth they uncover could be deadlier than any war.

Benat is a heretic. The crown prince of Argrid, he harbors a secret obsession with Grace Loray’s forbidden magic. When Ben’s father, the king, gives him the shocking task of reversing Argrid’s fear of magic, Ben has to decide if one prince can change a devout country—or if he’s building his own pyre.

As conspiracies arise, Lu, Vex, and Ben will have to decide who they really are . . . and what they are willing to become for peace.

Guest Post:

I asked Sara how real life pirates inspired These Rebel Waves. Here are her answers.

One book in particular ignited the pirate-inspired raiders that wreak havoc in THESE REBEL WAVES: Colin Woodard’s THE REPUBLIC OF PIRATES. It details the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean and the various players that made it such a sordid time—namely, one deliciously enticing pirate named Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy.

His career as a pirate captain lasted less than a year (and he died at the age of 28), but in that time, he captured/raided more than 50 ships. He was way nicer than most of his fellows and deigned to show *gasp* mercy to the crews of ships he captured. His own crew loved him; he earned a reputation for being the Robin Hood of the Sea. There’s way more to his life and death, of course, but reading about Black Sam stuck him firmly in my brain. What sort of person must he have been, to be successful and merciful in an industry that required ruthlessness?

Black Sam stayed in the back of my head as I worked out the characters in THESE REBEL WAVES, particularly with my pirate POV character, Devereux “Vex” Bell. His name is even a homage to Black Sam Bellamy, a tribute to the real life pirate who was such an appetizingly enticing figure.

About the Author

Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then — her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Her NYTimes bestselling SNOW LIKE ASHES trilogy is available now and her upcoming pirate fantasy, THESE REBEL WAVES, releases August 7, 2018. None of those feature her hand-drawn pictures.

Buy the SNOW LIKE ASHES trilogy now and preorder THESE REBEL WAVES! http://sararaasch.tumblr.com/books

Website: http://sararaasch.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/seesarawrite
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Snow-Like-Ashes/463392000376989
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/seesarawrite/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6947727.Sara_Raasch
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/sararaasch

Alright everyone, I hope you enjoyed that little peak into some of the inspiration for These Rebel Waves. Definitely check out the book. I've been reading it all week and I'm really enjoying it. Come back on Monday for more of my thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

In Her Skin Blog Tour: Author Guest Post and Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

In Her Skin by Kim Savage
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Release Date: April 17, 2018
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Synopsis: A dark, suspenseful young adult novel about crime, identity, and two girls with ever y- thing to lose.

Fifteen-year-old con artist Jo Chastain takes on her biggest heist yet — impersonating a missing girl. Life on the streets of Boston these past few years hasn’t been easy, and s he hopes to cash in on a little safety, some security. She finds her opportunity with the Lovecrafts, a wealthy family tied to the unsolved disappearance of Vivienne Weir, who vanished when she was nine.

When Jo takes on Vivi ’ s identity and stages the girl ’ s miraculous return, the Love-crafts welcome her with open arms. They give her everything she could want: love, money, and proximity to their intoxicating and unpredictable daughter, Temple. But nothing is as it seems in the Lovecraft household — and some secrets refuse to stay buried. When hidden crimes come to the surface and lines of deception begin to blur, Jo must choose to either hold on to an illusion of safety or escape the danger around her before it ’ s too late. In Her Skin is Kim Savage at her most suspenseful yet.

GUEST POST / MINI INTERVIEW

I asked the author Kim Savage to talk more about her writing process for a mystery/heist novel. Here are her answers to my questions/

What are the steps to writing a heist novel?

1. Create a character who is savvy but vulnerable. The reader needs to care!
2. Give her skills that can only get her so far.
3. Give her a formidable opponent to create conflict. Dear reader, meet Temple Lovecraft.

How do you start?

With In Her Skin, I started with the motivation of the Lovecrafts. How could they be fooled by an obvious con? Jo’s eyes are a different color than Vivi’s, she doesn’t recall the same memories, and her kidnapping story has holes. I realized the question wasn’t how they could be fooled, but why would they choose to be.

Do you have to plot it out or can you pants it?

I write chapters with bullets, then lay down the bones of a story in a messy first draft. You really can't pants suspense, or you'd end up with logic problems. At least I can’t!

I hope that has interested you in reading the book. Having finished it myself I can definitely say she achieved that goal in writing a book about why someone would want to be tricked. If you want more info on my thoughts on the book, come back tomorrow for my full review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KIM SAVAGE is the author of three critically acclaimed young adult novels, After the Woods, Beautiful Broken Girls (named by Kirkus as one of the 10 Best YA of 2017), and In Her Skin (releasing March 27, 2018), all with Farrar, Straus, Giroux/Macmillan. He r novels have been published in Spain, Brazil, and Turkey, and have been optioned for TV. Kim presents at conferences and book festivals natio n- wide; has been featured on NPR, Herald Radio, and on local cable stations; and she reads from her novels at bookstores across the country. A former reporter with a Master degree in Journalism from Northeastern University, Kim's stories are based in and around Boston. She lives with her family near Boston, not far from the real Middlesex Fells Reservation of After the Woods. Kim and her husband have three children, each of whom beg to appear in her books. They shouldn't.

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ARC Review: This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada Blog Tour and Giveaway

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

This Mortal Coil
by Emily Suvada
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: November 7th 2017
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fiction



Links: Goodreads - Amazon -  B&N -  Book Depository -  iBooks -  Kobo -  IndieBound -

Synopsis:

In this gripping debut novel, seventeen-year-old Cat must use her gene-hac king skills to decode her late father ’ s message concealing a vaccine to a horrifying plague.

Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.

That’s no surprise, since Cat ’ s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.

When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been ki lled, Cat ’ s instincts tell her it ’ s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat ’ s help to release it and save the human race.

Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much ca n she even trust herself?

I really wanted to love this book. It had so much promise and I was so excited to read it. But unfortunately it never quite delivered on that promise. It was an okay read but I just didn’t love it.

The one really good thing about this book was the world. It was a fantastic science fiction world. You can absolutely tell that the author is a scientist. And if she’s not she sure did her research. If she is, she sure did her research. There are some really elaborate and intricate parts of this world that give it a heavy science fiction feel to it. But there are also some really good dystopian parts of this world. It’s one of those books where society is basically in chaos because of a virus. I love when my dystopia keeps the sci-do feel and I appreciated that about this book. It was an interesting and engaging world.

That being said, I didn’t totally love the world building. There was a lot to this world. A lot of different concepts and technology. Whole that’s a good thing it did make for a world building that kind had to tell you instead of show you what was going on. It definitely had a bad case of the info dumps. Especially in the beginning of the book. I like a complex world but if you’re going to have to explain everything it is going to take me out of the book and impact my enjoyment. Unfortunately that is what happened here.

I think the complexity problem all extended into the plot as well. I never thought there would come a day that I thought a plot was too complex but that day is today. Because there was seriously just too going on here. At times it felt like it was just manufactured conflict to make things intense. While at other times it felt like the big moments weren’t given the amount of time needed for it to sink in. It just moved from point to point so quickly that nothing was really hitting in the way I wanted it. Like even when huge reveals and surprises came around. I was surprised and invested, but then we just moved on to the next thing. By the end of the book I kind of stopped caring a little bit because I just couldn’t devote any more attention to the plot I knew was just going to move on in a few pages anyway.

But I do think a lot of the book was redeemed by the characters. There were some very interesting and complex characters here. Most of you probably know I like my characters dark and odious. That is exactly what I found here. Like most good dystopia there are shady pseudo-government agencies, splinter groups branded as terrorists, and plenty of people whose true allegiance you don’t really know. It made for some fun reveals and character twists. But thankfully the one character who I was rooting for was the main character of Catarina. She was a good main character in that she was determined and smart but still vulnerable. Bad things kept happening to her and you didn’t want them to. She was really likable and made me keep reading. All the characters is what made me keep reading. I wanted to know where they stood in the end.

All in all this was an okay read. I honestly think it was just entirely too complex. If the world was toned down a little bit, the plot was given enough time to percolate, and the characters were given time to develop it would have been great.

I give This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada 7.5 out of 10 stars

 

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow/Bypass. I would recommend this to fans of YA dystopia with a heavy science fiction element. It’s not the best of the genre that I’ve read but I think fans looking for one more book like that will like it.

Have you read This Mortal Coil? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Favorite Quotes

 

"A breeze dances through the knee-high grass, sweeping in across the water, carrying the cries of the pigeon, the chill of the evening, and the rich deep scent of the forest." (e-ARC p.7)

 

"Like, despite the apocalypse, I'm somehow supposed to be pretty. It feels stupid even thinking about it, but I still find myself tilting my head back and forth in the light from the naked bulb overhead, searching for an angle that makes me look good." (e-ARC p. 64)

 

"Most people are afraid of the guy with the gun, but the person they should be afraid of is the one with the genkit cable. It's software that runs the show in this world, not hardware. People like you are always in control." (e-ARC p.81)

 

"We live in evil times, Catarina. Sometimes we need to embrace that to survive." (e-ARC p. 242)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

Emily Suvada was born and raised in Australia, where she went on to study mathematics and astrophysics. She previously worked as a data scientist, and still spends hours writing algorithms to perform tasks which would only take minutes to complete on her own. When not writing, she can be found hiking, cycling, and conducting chemistry experiments in her kitchen. She currently lives in Portland, OR, with her husband.

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