Sep 30, 2021

Challenges Monthly Wrap-up: September

CHALLENGE 1: 2021 New Release Challenge


Burden Falls by Kat Ellis (8/24/21)
The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins (8/31/21)
The Righteous by Renee Ahdieh (12/7/21)--Review to come at a later date
Don't Tell a Soul by Kirsten Miller (1/26/21)
White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson (9/14/21)


I'm now at 36 New Releases read! Still have no desire to up my challenge goal, I'd rather just look like I'm overachieving! Lol.



CHALLENGE 2: Beat the Backlist 2021 Reading Challenge

The House by Christina Lauren (10/6/15)
The Suffering Tree by Elle Cosimano (6/13/17)
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard (2/9/16)
King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard (2/7/17)


28/20 done! Definitely making 30 next month! 



CHALLENGE 3: 2021 Series Enders Reading Challenge


Sadly none this month again, but I'll definitely have 1 down for next month!


I just passed my goal in July too with 11/10 series completed...almost at 12!



CHALLENGE 4: 2021 Discussion Challenge


Where Have All the Bloggers Gone?
Back to School Book Tag
Describe Yourself Book Tag
The Personal Library Book Tag
Series That Didn't Deserve Cancellation

 

Doing better with this one! Finally up to 23/25! Only two more left! Looks like TAGS are a thing of the past. I used to love doing these but was never really creative enough to think of one on my own!

 

 

 


 


Once Upon a Broken Heart Contest

Hey all! Time for another contest! Yes, another contest!! In my excited joy for Once Upon a Broken Heart, I went out to B&N and bought another copy! My preorder is currently in transit, so I have two! I know at the time this one had sold out online, but then reappeared Tuesday again, but since it was so limited, I thought I would buy an extra copy to give away to someone who might not have a B&N nearby or missed the sale online!


 

Once again this contest is open to US addresses only and you must be 13 or older or have a parent's permission to enter as, again, I will need to get your address to mail the book to you.

Just enter in the Rafflecopter below and have at it!

 

 


a Rafflecopter giveaway  

 

 

 



Random Thursday

 

Today we've a bit of a mishmash with the pop culture facts in Shane Carley's True Facts That Sound Like Bull$#*t. I am really enjoying this chapter since it mentions movies or TV shows or actors that I know or at least heard of! Lol.


(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, also wrote the screenplay for Battlefield Earth.


And John Travolta starred in it. Interesting.



(image borrowed from Sound Cloud)

If you were to play "Stairway to Heaven" backwards you might hear odd messages. Though the band denies every writing/playing the song to intentionally have these messages, it's also been proven to be impossible.


That's freaky!



(image borrowed from StarWars.com)

Did you know that despite being an iconic character in Star Wars, Darth Vadar only appears onscreen for a total of 12 minutes.


I feel like I heard this once before somewhere.



(image borrowed from Vocal)

Did you know that Sid's carpet in Toy Story was based on the carpet of the hotel in The Shining?


Such similarities...it's frightening! Lol.



(image borrowed from CBS News)

Did you know that (at time of publication of this book, so 2017) only one person has ever guessed the exact price of their showcase on The Price is Right? Many accused him of cheating, but it apparently was legitimate.


I definitely never saw that episode! I always thought it was cool when someone won BOTH showcases! I honestly haven't watched much of this show since Bob retired. I always envisioned going on this show with my grandma and other family members when I was of age as I remember watching this a lot at her house growing up. Sadly that never happened.






Sep 29, 2021

Review--King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard

 

When the Lightning Girl’s spark is gone, who will light the way for the rebellion?

Mare Barrow is a prisoner, powerless without her lightning, tormented by her lethal mistakes. She lives at the mercy of a boy she once loved, a boy made of lies and betrayal. Now a king, Maven Calore continues weaving his dead mother’s web in an attempt to maintain control over his country—and his prisoner.

As Mare bears the weight of Silent Stone in the palace, her once-ragtag band of newbloods and Reds continue organizing, training, and expanding. They prepare for war, no longer able to linger in the shadows. And Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim on Mare’s heart, will stop at nothing to bring her back.

When blood turns on blood, and ability on ability, there may be no one left to put out the fire—leaving Norta as Mare knows it to burn all the way down.

 

 

Another one bites the dust with my continuing a series and trying to get in completed! Lol. I am continuing my binge to finish Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen series and today I just finished King's Cage! This continues the exciting adventure of a world where fantasy and modernity are blended! I forgot that this series sort of borders a fantasy/dystopian kind of world what with flying planes and whatnot in a world that doesn't have modern medicine! Oh the things you learn when you return to a series five plus years after starting it! 

When we last left Mare, she made the ultimate sacrifice for her team, by giving herself over to Maven so that they may escape with their lives. For 200+ pages Mare is a prisoner of Maven, not allowed to do much of anything. Until Maven decides to use her as a speaker for his campaign in getting the Red bloods with magical powers to join his side in an upcoming war. He travels to the different kingdoms to rally support and gain soldiers with empty promises...or are they empty? I got to admit, Maven is a complicated character!

Again, I found myself a bit boggled with the slower pacing to the story. I guess I couldn't really recall what happened in the first book when it came to pacing and other such things. As I said, Mare is a prisoner for over 200 pages and while we watch her attempts at escape and defiance, there's really not much going on to help move the story forward. We do get to see more of Maven in his new kingly role and I can't believe there was a time I was actually rooting for this guy! At least I think I was, I might have been torn between him and Cal when it came to romantic picks. But man, Maven is pretty psychotic in some ways. Like in the twisted serial killer way where you can't tell what he will do next. 

In this book I was surprised to see we got a point of view outside of Mare's. Cameron has a few starring roles in her own chapters, I guess so we can see what's happening with Mare's group of friends as they strategically try to plan a rescue attempt on her behalf.

Now I'm just about to start the final book, so I don't know what kind of point of view situation I'll be walking into, but at this point I'm really wanting to see inside Maven's head, despite the craziness, and Cal's too for that matter as he kept making questionable choices that I desperately wanted to know what that boy was thinking when he made them!

I was a little happier to see more happening on the romance front. Yes, I know, who have I become?! But since Mare and Cal were dancing around each other all the last book, I was dying for something to happen! Naturally as soon as things start, you know they aren't going to last long when it comes to happy times, because there's still another book to read! I feel like that's a trend in most YA books where a couple continually fights to be together that once they finally get their chance, something tears them apart again!

The ending was a bit borderline anticlimactic. I feel like these battle scenes are sometimes taking just a tad too long. Or perhaps because it's just hard to read constant moments of action with nothing really happening other than people trying to kill one another. Once we get passed that battle was where the real drama started. I feel like I did right in waiting to binge the series, though I wish I hadn't waited quite so long, but that's the curse of the avid reader! 

While King's Cage was far better than the last book, I was still somewhat dismayed by the overall pacing. Even once we passed that 200+ mark things were still a little shaky with the slow pace moving forward. The book definitely had its spurts of action and excitement. Which I guess after a run of fast paced reads this kind of just throws me off. Normally, I don't mind so much but going from one extreme to another is never a good thing to do. I am still eager to see how things will end with this series as it's still been a whirlwind of a read!


Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars







Can't Wait Wednesday

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

 

Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl...

Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love--and she's on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja's otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back... by stealing Gisele's life for herself.

The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.

Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja's tail, she'll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.

Margaret Owen, author of The Merciful Crow series, crafts a delightfully irreverent retelling of "The Goose Girl" about stolen lives, thorny truths, and the wicked girls at the heart of both.

 

I still have some of Margaret's other books on my TBR pile to read but I am pretty much always up for a good fairytale-esque story! A retelling of The Goose Girl is just up my alley!


TITLE: Little Thieves
AUTHOR: Margaret Owens

PUBLISHER: Henry Holt & Co
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: October 19, 2021



I just saved the boy I’m falling for from a gruesome death by a demon. And what does he have to say? I’m the key to opening the gates of Hell. I mean, a thank-you would’ve been nice. Or another scorching-hot, forbidden kiss. Either way, destiny will have to find someone else to torment, because I’m so done.

Or I was, until my little sister starts cackling exorcist-style and stares at me with eyes that aren’t hers. They’re Marid’s, the Greater Demon I just kicked back to the dark realm he came from. Possessing Ray whenever he wants is his ultimate revenge.

The only way to break the tether between them includes a road trip through Hell, aka the Ather. I quickly discover nothing is as it seems in this place. Yeah, there are realms of terror, greed, and desire, but there’s also peace, and a beauty I never knew existed...and it’s eerily familiar.

With each obstacle we encounter, I slip a little further into the chaotic energy of my growing dark powers. And when an unexpected betrayal hits me square in the chest, I freefall into them.

Fate painted me as the monster of nightmares, and after this? Destiny is about to learn just how monstrous I can be.


Super excited to continue this story! It's been awhile since I read a good angel vs demon kind of story and the first one was AMAZING! And look at that cover! It is so awesome!


TITLE: Shadow of Light
AUTHOR: Molly E. Lee

PUBLISHER: Entangled Teen
GENRE: YA Paranormal
RELEASE DATE: November 30, 2021






Sep 28, 2021

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays


 Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker


Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.

 

While the book is definitely not one of horror, this teaser is pretty horrific. Be forewarned! 

 

"I tear apart every book on my shelf, rip them to shreds. The bindings snap, the pages tear, and I wish they would bleed. I wish I could bleed. She's dead because I'm not. Because I'm still here, bait in a trap, a lure to draw the Scarlet Guard out of their sanctuaries." p 123


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TITLE: King's Cage
AUTHOR: Victoria Aveyard

PUBLISHER: HarperTeen
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: February 7, 2017

 


Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

 

This week's topic is: FREEBIE: Top Ten Authors I Want Another Book From

 

*in no particular order

 


10. LIA HABEL--I LOOOOVED the Dearly, Departed series. Sadly it was another one that ended without the final book. This was more to do personal issues for the author. She did write another book separate from this world a few years later, but then that too didn't go anywhere else.
9. JEANNIE HOLMES--this was a series that was canceled due to low sales. It was sad as I was a fan of the series! It was the perfect Urban Fantasy read and yet, others felt differently apparently.
8. ALWYN HAMILTON--two years ago, she was promoting a new series, then it got delayed and I thought it was related to Covid, but then it was delayed again, and now it's in limbo as far as I know! Has anyone else heard differently?
 
 
 
 
 
7.  KADY CROSS--I know I still have a ton of her adult books in my TBR pile, but I noticed she hasn't written any more YA books lately under this name. I was sad as I discovered her as a YA author and really enjoyed her books.
6. LAUREN OLIVER--another author who hasn't seemed to written anything in the past few years. I was enjoying Lauren's thriller/mystery-esque reads and was hoping she'd write more like those!
5. KIMBERLY DERTING--I adored her Body Finder series and though I tried her next series it wasn't for me. I did really enjoy The Taking though! But that seems to have been her last series. I know she worked on picture books but I was always hopeful she'd return to YA, or even adult books!



 



4. TARA HUDSON--though it's been a few years since her series ended, I always hoped she'd come back with something new! I'm also reminded of the time I missed her appearance in my city because the signing had been canceled and she announced an impromptu gathering that was happening at an earlier time than the initial event, and I totally missed it. Still cry over it when I see her books on shelf.
3. MARIANNE CURLEY--I still need to read this latest one from 3 years ago, but I always loved her books and would never say no to more!
2. VICTORIA SCOTT--I still need to read this one but was dismayed to find it's the last book she currently has out. I still follow her on social media, but haven't seen her mention anything about writing a new book. 




1. RICHELLE MEAD--I've loved pretty much every book she's ever written! I still need to read the last of her Glittering Court trilogy but was a tad upset to see she has taken a break form writing of sorts. No clue if she'll write another books for us, but I'd never say no to more from Richelle!