Mini-Reviews: The Secret of Ella and Micha and Crossed

Title: The Secret of Ella and Micha
Author: Jessica Sorensen
Series: The Secret, #1
Format: Paperback, bought
My rating: 4 / 5

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A rule-breaker with a fiery attitude, Ella always wore her heart on her sleeve. Then she left everything behind to go to college, where she transformed into someone who follows the rules, keeps everything together, and hides all her problems. Now it's summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home. But once there, Ella fears that everything she's worked so hard to bury might resurface-especially with Micha living right next door.

Smart, sexy, and confident, Micha can get under Ella's skin like no one else. He knows everything about her, including her darkest secrets. If he tries to tempt the old Ella to return, he will be impossible to resist. But what Ella doesn't realize is that when she left, she took a piece of Micha's heart with her. Now he's determined to win back the girl he lost, no matter what it takes.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

What a pleasant surprise! It’s been a really long time since I’ve read a contemporary romance and I’ve had The Secret of Ella and Micha sitting on my shelves for well over two years, and on a whim I decided to pick it up and give it a go a few weeks ago. I enjoyed it so much more than I initially expected to. Is it a bit predictable? Yep. Is it a unique story amongst the thousands of other contemporary romances out there? Ehh, probably not. But you know what, I don’t care. It ticks the boxes you expect to find within the genre and did it well. I got caught up in the story, I liked the characters, and overall I enjoyed reading it. All of that is exactly what I look for when I take a break from my more usual Fantasy/Sci-fi reads, so no complaints from me!

Title: Crossed
Author: Ally Condie
Series: Matched, #2
Format: Paperback, bought
My rating: DNF

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The Society chooses everything.

The books you read.
The music you listen to.
The person you love.


Yet for Cassia the rules have changed. Ky has been taken and she will sacrifice everything to find him.

And when Cassia discovers Ky has escaped to the wild frontiers beyond the Society there is hope.

But on the edge of society nothing is as it seems...

A rebellion is rising.

And a tangled web of lies and double-crosses could destroy everything.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

DNF @ page 118

I read Matched in mid-2014 and I’ve been mildly curious about the sequel ever since. Fast forward two years, and I really wish I stomped that curiosity into oblivion. Two years isn’t that long ago and usually when I pick up a sequel the general gist of the story will come back to me after the first few chapters. Well, I don’t know what went wrong here, but I hadn’t a clue what was happening. Either Matched wasn’t as memorable as I thought it would be, or my memory is in need of a serious upgrade. The main character, Cassia, was a complete stranger. I did remember Ky, though vaguely. I don’t think the first book had multiple POVs, so I was a bit surprised to see both Cassia and Ky with their own separate viewpoints. The portion I read was way too mopey, too nauseatingly lovey-dovey and I just couldn’t stomach it any longer. Maybe it eases out later in the book, but I wasn’t interested in sticking around to find out. I was warned that this book was where the series began to go downhill, and I should have heeded the signs that were there from other readers I trust.

Mini-Reviews: Wandering Wild and Spell Bound

Title: Wandering Wild
Author: Jessica Taylor
Series: Standalone
Expected Publication: 3rd May 2016
Format: eARC, kindly provided by the
publishers via Netgalley for
review. (Thank you!!)
My rating: 2 / 5

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Raised by Wanderers, sixteen-year-old Tal travels the roads of the southern wild in her Chevy by day and camps in her tent trailer at night. Hustling, conning, and grifting her way into just enough cash to save her fifteen-year-old brother, Wen, from bare-knuckle fighting was once enough to keep her dreams of traveling the whole world at bay. Everything changes when the Wanderers set up camp in a little town called Cedar Falls.

There, Spencer Sway, a boy Tal tried to hustle at a game of billiards, keeps popping up into her life—and worst of all—into her scams. Buttoned-up, starched-and-ironed Spencer talks of places where Tal’s truck can’t take her. His promises of traveling across oceans are almost enough to shatter her love of the Wanderer life.

When a boy shows up at camp, ready to make good on a nearly-forgotten arranged marriage to Tal, Tal and Wen make a pact: No matter the cost, they will use their limitless skills of grift to earn the bride price and buy back her future—even if Spencer Sway gets used along the way.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

*I received an eARC from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.*

I absolutely love the concept of Wandering Wild, and the synopsis had me hooked from the first time I read it. In practice, though, I didn’t click with the book as much as I had hoped I would. While I was reading, yes, I did care and feel sorry for Tal and what she was going through, but it wasn’t a lasting sympathy. I didn’t have a deep enough overall connection with the characters, and by the time I was nearing the end of the story, I just wanted it to be over. The final kiss of death for me was feeling bored while I was reading – I mean, it took me a month to read the book, and that’s a fairly big clue that I haven’t connected with story. Take my opinions with a pinch of salt: I do have a bit of a hit or miss history with contemporary books in general, so don’t let me put you off reading Wandering Wild if you love the sound of it. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.

Title: Spell Bound
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Series: Hex Hall, #3
Format: Paperback, bought.
My rating: 4 / 5

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Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed Spell Bound, and thought it was a really good conclusion to the Hex Hall trilogy. I went into this one a little fuzzy on the finer details as it had been a while since I read the previous books in the series. I did get back up to speed really quickly once I began reading, and it’s always lovely to see a little recapping in the first couple of chapters! I had forgotten how much I liked Sophia – she’s awesome. She’s a little snarky, witty and can be a tad impulsive, but she’s a great character to read about. However! There were a couple of things that bothered me, namely the love triangle with Archer and Cal flaring up. Personally, I felt the endgame was fairly obvious and dragging the final decisions out for so long was a bit disappointing and unnecessary. Also, the ending felt a little… rushed? Maybe it was just me, but I was hoping for a little ... more, you know? Overall, I thought Spell Bound was a really enjoyable conclusion to the Hex Hall trilogy, and I’d definitely recommend these books to anyone who wants a laugh-out-loud and light-hearted fantasy series.

Review: The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian

Title: The Guest Room
Author: Chris Bohjalian
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Doubleday
Format: eARC, kindly provided
by the publishers for review.
(Thank you!!)
My rating: 2.5 - 3 / 5

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From the New York Times bestselling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls comes the spellbinding tale of a party gone horribly wrong: two men lie dead in a suburban living room, two women are on the run from police, and a marriage is ripping apart at the seams.

When Kristin Chapman agrees to let her husband, Richard, host his brother’s bachelor party, she expects a certain amount of debauchery. She brings their young daughter to Manhattan for the evening, leaving her Westchester home to the men and their hired entertainment. What she does not expect is this: bacchanalian drunkenness, her husband sharing a dangerously intimate moment in the guest room, and two women stabbing and killing their Russian bodyguards before driving off into the night.

In the aftermath, Kristin and Richard’s life rapidly spirals into nightmare. The police throw them out of their home, now a crime scene, Richard’s investment banking firm puts him on indefinite leave, and Kristin is unsure if she can forgive her husband for the moment he shared with a dark-haired girl in the guest room. But the dark-haired girl, Alexandra, faces a much graver danger. In one breathless, violent night, she is free, running to escape the police who will arrest her and the gangsters who will kill her in a heartbeat. A captivating, chilling story about shame and scandal, The Guest Room is a riveting novel from one of our greatest storytellers.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

*I received a copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.*

The Guest Room has all the ingredients for a fabulous fast-paced mystery/thriller while shedding light on sex slavery and the devastation it causes to those unfortunate enough to be caught up in its web. Instead of feeling like I read something enlightening and enthralling, I feel a bit underwhelmed and disappointed. It sucks that I feel this way, as in theory, I should love this book! It took me a lot longer than I expected to get my thoughts in order to write this review properly, and it’s mainly due to being very conflicted about how I feel about the book overall. (Just for clarity sake, this is the first book I’ve read by Chris Bohjalian, and I have next to no knowledge about any of his previous works.)

I’m not going into specifics of what happens in the story – I think the synopsis covers it perfectly. The book begins with a bang, and the first 25-30ish% was completely awesome. It was vibrant, action packed and fast paced, and I had started to think I’d found a new favourite read. Shortly after the 30% mark, though, the pacing took a severe nosedive, and my interest and connection to the story went along with it. Actually, all the issues I had stem from the middle of the book, up to about the 92% mark. Honestly, I found it dull, boring, and repetitive with the story dragging on for far too long. I understand the slower pace is needed to help build up some tension and suspense, but for me, it only caused my attention span to completely wither, and I found myself wishing for the story to hurry up and get on with the action.

The narration shifts mainly between two characters: Richard, and one of the sex slaves, Alexandra. If we were reading the book entirely from Alexandra’s POV, I could see myself rating this book a lot higher. However, the majority of the story revolves around Richard and his family woes. See, I have a problem with this. I thought this was supposed to be a thriller. Aren’t thrillers supposed to be, well, thrilling? I don’t suppose it helped that I’d branded Richard an idiot from very early on in the book, did it? I mean, he brought all of this on himself. He knew his brother was an unreliable sexist twat and that Phillip’s friends were even worse, yet he still thinks it’s a great idea to host a bachelor party in his own home. Yep, only rainbows, kittens and unicorns can come from that decision. Also, some of my disappointment could stem from my expectations going into the book. Like, you tell me a book has Russian human traffickers, and two of the sex slaves manage to escape by attacking their captors and hacking one of them to bits, right? Just based on this, my expectations are on a different level. Exploring family issues being the dominating focus of the book doesn’t really come anywhere near my thought process! For my tastes, the focus was on the wrong characters. I had zero sympathy toward Richard, so personally I wouldn’t have minded him disappearing into the background and the focus of the story being solely on Alexandra, Sonja and Crystal – the real victims in this tale.

I have to address the elephant in the room, and that’s human trafficking and sex slavery. While Alexandra’s POV helped to create a lot of sympathy within me for her cause, I feel these very important issues were brushed aside far too flippantly in favour of Richard’s family problems. While I’m sure he’s suffering for causing his marital issues, he had a choice. He made the wrong choice. Alexandra and every other girl in the story that was beaten, raped, sold, used and discarded never have one single choice. Their voices were not fully heard. And that doesn’t sit very well with me.

I’ve been hovering back and forth between a 2.5 or 3 star rating, and I really think my true feelings lie somewhere in the middle. I’m going with the full 3 stars, as I did genuinely like the first chunk of the book, and it was those moments that kept me going right to the end. Overall, yes, I did like The Guest Room, but I do feel it missed quite a few vital opportunities that left me frustrated and disappointed.

Sanctuary Bay Blog Tour: Excerpt and Review

Welcome to my stop on the Sanctuary Bay Blog tour, hosted by St. Martin’s Griffin! Sanctuary Bay was co-written by Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz, and it is one heck of an awesome and crazy journey to read! I have lots of information to share about Sanctuary Bay, including an excerpt from the book, and further on down the post is my review. I hope you enjoy!

Title: Sanctuary Bay
Authors: Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Genres: Thriller; Mystery; Sci-Fi; Young Adult
Publication Date: January 19, 2016
Pages: 320

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Buy on Amazon // B&N // iBooks // IndieBound

Authors Website // Facebook // Twitter

About the Book

When Sarah Merson receives the opportunity of a lifetime to attend the most elite prep school in the country — Sanctuary Bay Academy — it seems almost too good to be true. But, after years of bouncing from foster home to foster home and struggling with the memory of her parent’s murder, escaping to the school’s tranquil setting, nestled deep in Swans Island, couldn't sound more appealing. Swiftly thrown into a world of privilege and secrets, Sarah quickly realizes finding herself noticed by class charmer, Nate, as well as her roommate's dangerously attentive boyfriend, Ethan, are the least of her worries. When her roommate suddenly goes missing, she finds herself in a race against time, not only to find her, but to save herself and discover the dark truth behind Sanctuary Bay's glossy reputation.

About the Authors

Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz have written many books for teens and middle-grade readers, including the Edgar-nominated mystery series Wright and Wong and the YA novels Crave and Sacrifice. They have also written for the TV shows Roswell, 1-800-Missing, and The Dead Zone. Laura lives in New York and Melinda lives in North Carolina, but really they mostly live on email, where they do most of their work together.

Excerpt from Sanctuary Bay

Daddy pressed his finger to his lips, shushing Sarah quiet as he slid the door to the tunnel back on. She wrapped her arms tightly around her knees and pressed her cheek against her arm, trying to pretend she was back in her own room. But it didn’t smell like her room. Even the spicy smell of Daddy’s cologne had faded now that the tunnel was closed. And grayness was all around her. She was almost four, and that was too old to be scared of the dark. But it wasn’t all dark. It was just gray dark.

She tried not to think of monsters crawling toward her. Daddy said there were no monsters. But monsters liked tunnels. They liked little girls.

Sometimes when she was scared she liked to sing the Maggie song. But that was against the rules. She had to be quiet. She had to be still. She had to wait until Daddy or Mommy opened the door and got her.

Thinking about the rules helped. She could almost hear Daddy saying them, as if he was hiding in the tunnel with her. Even though he was way too big. If something bad happens, wait until the room is safe. If you leave the tunnel, put the funny slit- ted door back on. Run fast. Find a lady with kids. Tell her your name is Sarah Merson. Merson. Merson. Merson. Merson. Ask for help.

Her nose started twitching, itching from the thick air. Making her want to sneeze. But she had to be quiet.

Then she heard Mommy screaming. Mommy never screamed. Were the monsters out there and not in the tunnel

On hands and knees she started creeping toward the slits of light, heart pounding.

“Kt85L is our property,” a man said. “You had no right!”

Out there. Mommy on her knees facing the hotel room wall. Someone’s legs. A hand reaching down. A silver bird stared at Sarah from a ring on the finger. Stared with a horrible little black eye. The finger pulled the trigger of a gun. A bang. Her ears filling with bees. Mommy collapsing on the floor. Red spilling out.

Sarah shoved her fingers into her mouth. Quiet. The rule was be quiet.

Shouting. Daddy’s legs running by, out of the room. The bird man chasing. The door banging closed.

Something bad happening.

The room was safe. The bird man was gone. So she had to get out. Mommy was on the floor. Daddy was gone.

She shoved the door and it fell out onto the floor. Near Mommy. Near the red. But the rule was to put the funny door back on. She picked it up and shoved it over the tunnel like Daddy had shown her.

Sarah didn’t want to look at Mommy. She looked out the window instead. The window was always open and there was never a screen. Daddy’s voice came from the hallway, yelling. Screaming.

Another bang.

Sarah pressing her hands over her eyes. Not looking. Not look- ing. Something bad happening.

Daddy was quiet now. Something bad. She had to run fast.

Sarah climbed on the chair under the window. The chair al- ways went under the window. She stuck her legs through the window and jumped down. Now run fast.

She ran fast, looking for a lady with a stroller or a kid her age. A mommy would help her. She would say she was Sarah Merson.

Sarah Merson, and something bad happened.

My Review

What a rollercoaster! Sanctuary Bay was everything I hoped it would be, yet completely different to what I originally expected. When genre-bending was mentioned in the synopsis, I was curious as to how this would be pulled off. I’ve got to say, I completely loved it! It’s a perfect blend of mystery, thriller and science-fiction with a dusting of romance and suspense thrown in to mix things up. It might sound like an awful lot going on, but it was blended seamlessly and each element worked so well together.

I will be honest, though: I was a little worried initially that I wouldn’t like the book. The first 20-ish% has a fairly strong contemporary vibe, and everything seemed to be dragging on a bit too long. Looking back now, everything we learned in these early chapters and all of the build-up that was created is vital to the overall story, but while I was reading, I just wanted things to hurry up and for the action that was promised on the first couple of pages to really kick off! And boy did things kick off! Once two glorious words were casually mentioned in a conversation – secret society – the pacing of the book took off, and it didn’t let up until the very last sentence on the last page. I really wish I could tell you about each and every little detail that occurs from that point on as it was completely mind-blowing, horrific and insane, but I really can’t say anymore without entering spoiler territory.

There’s a large cast of diverse characters, (which is awesome!) and the story is told from Sarah’s perspective throughout. It did take me a while to warm up to some of them, but to Sarah in particular. She witnessed her parents murder when she was four years old, and was frequently moved around the foster system until she was presented with the opportunity to attend Sanctuary Bay Academy. Going back to my slight issues with the first 20-ish% of the book for a second, most of them stemmed from the huge chip Sarah had on her shoulder. I can completely understand why she feels let down by the system and for the sucky things she’s been put through… but it was the way she immediately cast judgement on other characters that didn’t sit well with me. Thankfully, as the book progressed she does have her eyes opened and changes quite a bit. By the end of the book, I loved her character, and I was really rooting for her to come through unscathed. I also loved Ethan and Dr. Diaz, and how the three ended up banding together to figure out what was really going on.

That ending, though! It was amazing! I did pick up on a few clues here and there and had figured out what might happen at the end, but I absolutely love the way it unfolded. We did get the classic bad-guy-speech, and I guess that’s the only slight taint on an otherwise epic conclusion. I really liked that we got the answers we were looking for, and it sets up perfectly for a potential sequel. Overall, I loved Sanctuary Bay and if there’s a sequel, I can’t wait to see what craziness will happen next!

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Reading!

Review: Romancing the Dark in the City of Light by Ann Jacobus

Title: Romancing the Dark in the City of Light
Author: Ann Jacobus
Series: Standalone
Format: eARC, kindly provided
by St. Martin's Press for
review (Thank you!!)
My rating: 4.5/ 5

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A troubled teen, living in Paris, is torn between two boys, one of whom encourages her to embrace life, while the other—dark, dangerous, and attractive—urges her to embrace her fatal flaws.

Haunting and beautifully written, with a sharp and distinctive voice that could belong only to this character, Romancing the Dark in the City of Light is an unforgettable young adult novel.

Summer Barnes just moved to Paris to repeat her senior year of high school. After being kicked out of four boarding schools, she has to get on the right track or she risks losing her hefty inheritance. Summer is convinced that meeting the right guy will solve everything. She meets two. Moony, a classmate, is recovering against all odds from a serious car accident, and he encourages Summer to embrace life despite how hard it can be to make it through even one day. But when Summer meets Kurt, a hot, mysterious older man who she just can't shake, he leads her through the creepy underbelly of the city-and way out of her depth.

When Summer's behavior manage to alienate everyone, even Moony, she's forced to decide if a life so difficult is worth living. With an ending that'll surprise even the most seasoned reader, Romancing the Dark in the City of Light is an unputdownable and utterly compelling novel.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

Wow, this book was completely different to what I was expecting. On the surface, it seems to be a fluffy, contemporary romance – and the title and cover certainly lulled me into that belief. But, this false impression does a complete disservice and injustice to just how powerful and amazing Romancing the Dark in the City of Light actually is. It packs one heck of a powerful message that took me completely by surprise, and it’s simply fabulous.

This is the story of an eighteen year old girl, Summer, who, to those looking in, has the world at her feet. She comes from a successful family, and is set to inherit a small fortune from her recently deceased Grandfather if she can complete High School and a four year college course by the time she turns twenty-two. But the Summer we meet is at a very low point in her young life. She’s battling depression and is dependent on alcohol to numb the loneliness and desperation that’s become her one constant companion. She’s desperate to find a reason, something to cling onto, and she’s convinced that the answer to her problems is to find love.

Summer is a very frustrating character, and she isn’t the most likeable protagonist I’ve ever read about – nor is she meant to be. The self-destructing cycle she’s on can’t be broken easily, and to be that low with virtually no self-esteem and self-worth… it isn’t a happy place for anyone to be in. This is one of the rawest and most sincere depictions of depression I’ve ever read about, and I’ll lavish all the praise and admiration I possibly can on this book for it. No holds were barred, and it created a fabulous blend of so many topics and issues millions of people battle with every day. It’s heart-breaking, moving, and completely captivating. Initially, I was a little confused as to why the book was written in the third person. I did find it difficult to click with Summer early on, but by the mid-way point I was completely captured. Honestly, if this was written in the first, it would have been utterly devastating and almost too difficult and painful to read.

Two guys come into Summer’s life, one constructive and one very destructive. Summer meets Munir Al Shukr (Moony) at school, and he becomes the one good person in Summer’s life. He’s overcome some huge obstacles in his own life that I won’t go into detail on, but she is drawn to his hope, determination and motivation – basically, what she wishes she had, but hasn’t a clue how to find them. Kurt is almost like addiction in human form, and he pushes the creep button VERY hard, and it only gets stronger as the book progresses. I could see why Summer was drawn to him – he had all the right words to comfort her when very few people were there for her, even if it only provided a hollow comfort. You might instantly think love-triangle, and while there are three people involved, the choice is more life or death, not who Summer should end up with.

I really need to comment on how fabulously well Paris is described. In the past, some of the books I’ve read that are set in Paris bombarded me with Parisian reinforcements on every other page, and it became far, far too much. This book, on the other hand, handled it perfectly. We were in Paris. No bells, no whistles, we were there. The setting just… was. It was effortless. And I LOVED it. Any landmarks that were mentioned served a purpose and needed to be included to move the story forward, rather than providing a cheap reinforcement. Completely perfect!

I’m not going to go into detail about the ending, or more specifically, the final third of the book. I think it is vital have as little prior knowledge as possible to get the full impact – and what an impact it is. Wow. This is one book I’m extremely glad I got the chance to read, and it will stay with me for a very long time to come. The title might be a mouthful and first impressions can be deceiving, but this is one book I really urge you to not dismiss at face value. It’s not for the faint of heart, but the message it sends is powerful and harrowing, yet uplifting, and definitely one that needs to be shared with as many people as possible.

Mini-Reviews: We Were Liars, Ticker and How I Live Now

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Series: Standalone
Format: Kindle, owned
My rating: 3 / 5

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A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.


We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

This is a tough review to write. Anything I could discuss would edge into unintentional spoiler territory, so I’m going to refrain from saying too much. The advice that’s been floating around is 1000% correct: go into this book with as little prior knowledge as possible, it’ll be a huge benefit. I had HUGE expectations for We Were Liars, but I think I was bitten by the dreaded hype bug. I enjoyed the book, but not nearly as much as I had expected to. The story itself is fascinating, and I was hooked very quickly and flew through the pages. While I love fast paced books, I think a lot of necessary detail was skimmed over here, making things seem a little more simplistic than they should have been. My biggest issue was the book lacked any sort of feeling. I wasn’t attached to the characters, and any hiccups along the way didn’t cause much of a reaction in me. I did enjoy We Were Liars overall, and I’d definitely recommend reading it, but when I consider the hype surrounding it, I was expecting so much more.

Ticker by Lisa Mantchev

Title: Ticker
Author: Lisa Mantchev
Series: Standalone
Format: eARC, kindly
provided by the publisher
via Netgalley (Thank you!!)
My rating: DNF

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A girl with a clockwork heart must make every second count.

When Penny Farthing nearly dies, brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick manages to implant a brass “Ticker” in her chest, transforming her into the first of the Augmented. But soon it’s discovered that Warwick killed dozens of people as he strove to perfect another improved Ticker for Penny, and he’s put on trial for mass murder.

On the last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthings’ factory is bombed, Penny’s parents disappear, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom note demanding all of their Augmentation research if they want to see their parents again. Is someone trying to destroy the Farthings...or is the motive more sinister?

Desperate to reunite their family and rescue their research, Penny and her brother recruit fiery baker Violet Nesselrode, gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling, and Marcus Kingsley, a young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

*I received an eARC from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.*

DNF @ 32%

I had started reading Ticker a couple of times since I downloaded it from Netgalley a while back, and I struggled to get into the story after the first few percent and I kept setting it aside, thinking it was just my mood not matching the story. So, I finally got in a steampunkish kind of mood recently, and I decided to just sit down and plough through. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t do it. The characters felt very distant and sort of… unapproachable, if that makes sense. Also, I thought the steampunk elements were a little over the top. The continual mentions of machines and other gadgets didn’t really set the atmosphere enough – it’s one thing to be told something, it’s a complete different thing to actually feel something and to believe it. I really like the concept of Ticker, but sadly I just couldn’t get into the story.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Title: How I Live Now
Author: Meg Rosoff
Series: Standalone
Format: Paperback, owned
My rating: 4 / 5

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“Every war has turning points and every person too.”

Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.

As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary.

But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

I bought How I Live Now quite a while ago on a whim, and it’s been sitting gathering dust on my to-read shelves ever since. It has been probably two years since I read the synopsis, and when I picked it up recently I was under the impression it would be a quick contemporary YA read. Well, I was right about the quick read part, but it was such a pleasant surprise to find it was a Dystopian. I swear, it was like a gift from the Gods!

The narrative and writing style did take a little getting used to, but once I settled in after a chapter or two, I really enjoyed it. With the way the story is written, it’s very hard to feel anything toward all the other characters beyond Elizabeth (Daisy), the narrator. Daisy isn’t the most likeable character in the world, but I couldn’t help rooting for her and I ended up with a weird sort of grudging respect for her as the story unfolded. Right, I have to mention the cousin-on-cousin action. If you’re not comfortable with underage-sex or even discussing incest/cousins-falling-in-love, then this book is probably best avoided. Personally, I’ve read other books that I thought handled the topic of incest better and in a more thought-provoking way. Having said that, I didn’t have any real problems with the way Daisy and Edmund’s relationship progressed (apart from it being a tad insta-lovey.) The survival portions of the book were by far my favourite themes. I loved how brutal, honest and compelling it was during this chunk of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed How I Live Now, and I’d highly recommend giving it a chance. It looks at a very stark, dark and brutal battle for survival when your country is invaded and occupied by the enemy, and how the scars never leave. Brilliant.

Review: Rome In Love by Anita Hughes

Title: Rome In Love
Author: Anita Hughes
Series: Standalone
Format: eARC, kindly provided by
St Martin's Griffin (Thank you!!)
My rating: 1 / 5

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When Amelia Tate is cast to play the Audrey Hepburn role in a remake of Roman Holiday, she feels as if all her dreams have come true. She has a handsome boyfriend, is portraying her idol in a major motion picture, and gets to live in beautiful Rome for the next two months.

Once there, she befriends a young woman named Sophie with whom she begins to explore the city. Together, they discover all the amazing riches that Rome has to offer. But when Amelia's boyfriend breaks up with her over her acting career, her perfect world begins to crumble.

While moping in her hotel suite, Amelia discovers a stack of letters written by Audrey Hepburn that start to put her own life into perspective. Then, she meets Philip, a handsome journalist who is under the impression that she is a hotel maid, and it appears as if things are finally looking up. The problem is she can never find the right time to tell Philip her true identity. Not to mention that Philip has a few secrets of his own. Can Amelia finally have both the career and love that she's always wanted, or will she be forced to choose again?

With her sensory descriptions of the beautiful sites, decadent food, and high fashion of Rome, Hughes draws readers into this fast-paced and superbly written novel. Rome in Love will capture the hearts of readers everywhere.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

Oh, boy. Rome in Love and I didn’t get along very well. Essentially, the book is a retelling of the movie Roman Holiday. I love retellings in general and fairy-tale retellings in particular, and I thought this would be a really nice change of pace and a chance to see how a contemporary version would work for me. And it’s set in Italy! Who doesn’t love Italy?! Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped.

I really wish I could sugar coat this, but there isn’t a nice way to say it: I absolutely hated the writing style. The only way I can describe it is formulistic and emotionless. I need to feel some sort of connection to the story, and I felt nothing throughout the entire book. I’m a foodie and the descriptions of food in the first chapter or so was awesome! But… then I began noticing a repetitive trend: every single scene and everything the characters do is described in the same way. She saw blah, blah, blah. She smelled blah, blah, blah. She ate blah, blah, blah. She studied ... She felt ... She heard ... She climbed ... She walked ... Just remove the blah, blah, blah, and ellipses and insert any descriptive words you like and it’s annoyingly repetitive. And this isn’t just one or two sentences dispersed throughout the chapter, it is actually whole blocks of text used like this to describe what’s going on. I think the intention is to create an immersive atmosphere, but for me, it didn’t work. It was so unappealing and it detracted from the story and the characters completely.

The characters are usually my main focus when I read, and if I love the characters I can forgive a whole load of things I dislike. Sadly, the characters didn’t work for me either. This goes back to the writing style again, but there was far too much attention put on unnecessary details. I don’t care about bicycles going by, or crossing guards, or what clothes people are wearing or what they smell like, or what every random character is eating, just please, please, please, make me FEEL something toward the main characters! With the way the book is written, there is so much focus on the outside world that the characters don’t get the chance to progress and develop from mere names on a page.

Amelia’s character felt a little bit hypocritical at times. We’re constantly told how much she wants to be a successful actress, yet her actions in the book suggest she’s not very committed at all. We don’t get to see much of the actual filming of the movie – which sucks – just a random sentence or paragraph here or there. She’s in Rome for two months and they’re shooting on location, yet she gets to spend a lot of time exploring the city and doing her own thing. This didn’t really gel with what I would imagine the environment of a Warner Brothers blockbuster movie being filming on location would be like. Especially since they invested a hundred million dollars into the movie! I don’t know… it just didn’t feel right to me.

I was hoping to love this book, but alas, Rome in Love was not for me. While the concept is fabulous, the writing style put me off very early on and it definitely influenced my feelings for the entire book. A lot of people really enjoyed this book, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, you can’t love ‘em all.

Review: The Hit by Allen Zadoff

Title: The Hit
Previously published as
Boy Nobody, and I Am The Weapon
Author: Allen Zadoff
Series: The Unknown Assassin, #1
Format: eGalley, kindly provided
by the publishers via Netgalley for
review. (Thank you!!)
Publisher: The Hit by Allen Zadoff
My rating: 2.5 / 5

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Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school, in a new town, under a new name, makes few friends and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die -- of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, and moves on to the next target.

When his own parents died of not-so-natural causes at the age of eleven, Boy Nobody found himself under the control of The Program, a shadowy government organization that uses brainwashed kids as counter-espionage operatives. But somewhere, deep inside Boy Nobody, is somebody: the boy he once was, the boy who wants normal things (like a real home, his parents back), a boy who wants out. And he just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's next mission.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

This is one of those ‘it’s not the book, it’s me’ occasions. While I think the concept is fabulous, and I can see why so many people love The Hit, overall it didn’t really work for me. I was completely wrapped up in the story when I began reading, and I had really high hopes that I’d end up loving it. But, a pesky little thing called sleep had to happen so I had to put the book down. I don’t know why, but when I began reading again the following day, I couldn’t get back into the story. I didn’t grip my attention anymore, and the characters started to feel flat and one-dimensional. I’m intentionally keeping things quite vague in my review – I think it’s best to go into this book knowing very little about it. If at all possible, read it in one sitting! This is my biggest regret, and I’m pretty sure I would have completely fallen in love with it if I had.

The main character is the perfect representation of how I imagine a cold-hearted emotionless assassin would be. We don’t get to know his real name, but he takes the name ‘Benjamin’ for this particular assignment. I loved how cold and detached he was, but here in also lies my problem. The entire book is emotionless. I didn’t have anything to root for, my emotions weren’t engaged at any stage, and the characters felt a little too remote and distant. I’m a character focused reader, and I thrive on connecting and empathising with the characters in the books I read. Sadly, all of this was missing here and I had very little to root for. Add in a touch of insta-love… and you’ve lost me. The romance portion of the book didn’t feel real or believable and things progressed a little too quickly for my tastes.

Initially, I was a big fan of the writing style. It’s crisp, clinical, blunt and straight to the point and I felt it added a lot to ‘Ben’s’ character overall. Unfortunately, the more I read the less I enjoyed the style. It became tedious and took a great effort to remain focused on reading. I really wish I could have loved The Hit more. The concept intrigues me so much, but without connecting with the characters and a writing style that doesn’t really suit my reading tastes, I ended up feeling a bit disappointed.

Review: Endgame by C.J. Daugherty

Title: Endgame
Author: C.J. Daugherty
Series: Night School, #5
Format: eARC, kindly provided
by Bookouture via Netgalley
for review. (Thank you!!)
My rating: 3.5 - 4 / 5
Releases: June 4th 2015

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Broken. Scattered. But not defeated.

The spy is gone but the cost has been high - the rebels at Cimmeria Academy have lost their leader and Carter West is missing. Nathaniel can taste victory. But Allie and the other survivors aren't done yet. First they have to get Carter back. Then they plan to make Nathaniel pay.

One way or another - the game must end.

Endgame is the thrilling fifth and final book in the internationally bestselling Night School series.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

Oh that bitter-sweet feeling when a favourite series ends. I really don’t want to say goodbye! I love each and every one of the characters, and I’ll miss dropping in and finding out what’s happening at Cimmeria Academy when a new book is published. I wasn’t expecting to get approved for an Endgame ARC, and I was so surprised and excited when I saw the acceptance email and I just had to start reading as soon as I possibly could.

Thankfully, Endgame continues on immediately after one of the biggest unexpected twists and cruellest cliff-hanger endings I’ve ever read. Just like the beginning of every book in the series, we’re thrown straight into the action. I’m not going into specific detail about what happens – spoilers and all that jazz – but I absolutely love how much these scenes add to the sense of urgency and atmosphere. The tone is set right from the first sentence, and I had really high hopes it would continue for the rest of the book. With how insanely awesome Resistance was Endgame had HUGE shoes to fill. While I really enjoyed everything that happened, it’s nowhere near as awesome as its immediate predecessor. Yes, we have moments of high tension and some action scenes sprinkled throughout, but the atmosphere and tension that Resistance excelled at maintaining on every page did not occur here. It really hurts to have to write this, but for me, plot and atmosphere wise, Endgame was the weakest book in the series. I love Carter to bits, but I felt there was too much emphasis on him, and not enough on Nathaniel and the grander scheme of things to come.

The characterisation, on the other hand, was fabulous. The bond that developed over the course of the series between Allie, Rachel, Zoe, Nicole, Sylvain, Carter, Katie and Lucas is incredible. We’ve been with them through the teething stages of their friendships and we saw all the squabbles and fights, but also the support, loyalty and respect they have for each other. Allie has matured and grown up so much. She could be incredibly obtuse at times and not notice the obvious right in front of her face, so I’m glad to see she finally realised her errors, and did the best she could to apologise for her mistakes. I also loved seeing leader-Allie emerge, and to see how far she’s come over the five books is amazing. But, one character completely surprised me: Katie Gilmore. Holy crap, she’s AWESOME! She’s become the voice of honesty and reason, and isn’t afraid to say the things nobody wants to hear. Allie can be quite dogmatic and determined, and Katie’s personality is the perfect antidote. I was cheering her on, particularly during one scene, when she was saying everything I wanted to scream at Allie!

Technically, this series has a love-triangle. Now, before you balk at the dreaded words, hear me out! It never felt like a typical YA love-triangle. I absolutely adore both Sylvain and Carter equally, and this is very unlike me – I’m usually a loyal shipper, and I ship my ship to the bitter end! I loved that both lads are adorable and pretty much on a level playing field. I will admit that I didn’t really like Sylvain in the first book. At. ALL. I was fully behind Team Carter, and I didn’t think anything could change my mind. Then book two happened, and it DID change my mind in a big way. Ever since, I’ve been back and forth, back and forth. BOTH guys are awesome characters. Each has a long list of great qualities, but they also have realistic flaws and I love how well-rounded they are. I went into this book knowing the decision was made. But, there is a consequence to every decision, and well, the consequences are felt in Endgame and I wasn’t expecting to be as devastated as I am. I knew the resolution wouldn’t be pretty, but I didn’t expect to feel so gutted about how it happened.

I have mixed feelings about the ending. Part of me really liked it, and feels that it’s a really fitting end to the series. Then I think about one particular character, and I’m left feeling disappointed. I feel this particular characters departure was rushed, those threads of the storyline weren’t properly tied up, and I’m completely gutted about it. This person deserved some sort of happy ending, or at the very least, a bright future that we know something about. It completely took the shine off an otherwise enjoyable conclusion.

I’ve been debating what rating to give Endgame for the past week and a half. I want to give it all the stars under the sun… but, I don’t feel I can. The series overall will always get a full 5 from me, but for this book alone, I think 3.5 or 4 is more fitting to my feelings. Overall, Endgame was a solid conclusion to one of my favourite series, and it’ll always have a very special place in my heart. Toujours.

Review: Melt by Selene Castrovilla

Title: Melt
Author: Selene Castrovilla
Series: Rough Romance, #1
Format: eARC, provided by
publishers via Netgalley.
My rating: 4.5 / 5

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Based on true events, MELT is both a chilling tale of abuse, and a timeless romance. MELT will hit you like a punch in the face, and also seep through the cracks in your soul.

MELT is a brutal love story set against the metaphorical backdrop of The Wizard of Oz (not a retelling). When sixteen year old Dorothy moves to the small town of Highland Park, she meets, and falls for Joey – a “bad boy” who tells no one about the catastrophic domestic violence he witnesses at home. Can these two lovers survive peer pressure, Joey’s reputation, and his alcoholism?

Told in dual first person, Joey’s words are scattered on the page – reflecting his broken state. Dorothy is the voice of reason – until something so shattering happens that she, too, may lose her grip. Can their love endure, or will it melt away?

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

Melt took me by completely by surprise! I love out of the box books like this – it becomes a reading experience rather than just a story. The first chapter throws you right into things, and really shows that it’s not going to be a light and fluffy read. Just to avoid confusion, this book is NOT a Wizard of Oz retelling. The only similarity I could see was the name of the main character (Dorothy), some quotes within the book, and a yellow brick road on the cover.

The story, and much of the plot, revolves around our two main characters, Dorothy and Joey. They meet by chance right at the beginning of the book in a diner, and personally, I don’t class this as an insta-love story. There was lots of insta-attraction (which is completely natural), but the progressing into love comes much, much later on. People are drawn to each other in real life without any apparent explanation, and I think this was captured really well here. I don’t want to say much about the story, as I think it’s best to go in without knowing a whole lot about it and just experience it first-hand.

The book is written in the first person, alternating between the main characters point-of-views. I loved the way the book was written, but in particular, I LOVED how Joey’s POV was handled. I thought it captured his fear, anxiety, intensity, worry and pain so well, and you could feel the tension radiating from the pages. I loved how so much was captured with so few words, and the verse-style formatting adds so much to the atmosphere. It did take me a couple of chapters to get used to the flow of the story, but once I did, I was completely hooked for the rest of the book.

In general, I liked all the characters, but Joey was by far my favourite. He’s had one hell of a rough life, and seeing his story unfold throughout the book was both heart-wrenching and breath-taking. I loved how his narration style added an entirely different layer to his personality. I loved being able to see his emotions shift just by watching the length of each line on the screen. I’ve never read anything like it before, and I LOVED it.

In complete contrast, I absolutely HATED Joey’s father’s guts! Oh my goodness, he is one vile person! He really is the epitome of a house devil and a street angel. While I absolutely hate his guts, he’s a very well portrayed character. He evoked so many different emotions from me, and most of them ranged from pure loathing to extreme rage.

I wasn’t expecting to become as invested with the outcome as I did. The ending was incredible, and I felt every single emotion the characters were going through. Once the book ended, I was left reeling and I still don’t know how to fully process it. I’m so glad to see that there is a sequel on the way, and I can’t wait to find out what happened after the final chapter!

*I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.*

DNF: Unwritten by Chelsea M. Cameron

Title: Unwritten
Author: Chelsea M. Cameron
Series: Standalone
Format: eARC from
publishers, via NetGalley
My rating: DNF

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Children's librarian by day. Romance novelist by night.
British single father.
Someone else is writing this love story...


Blair Walton isn't your average curvaceous tattooed children's librarian. She's also one half of bestselling romance author, Scarlet Rose. Along with her BFF Raine, she spends her nights writing books so steamy, she's afraid they would shock her Southern conservative grandmother to death . . . if she knew about them. That's why she and Raine write in secret.

On deadline for their latest book and out of ideas, Raine suggests (demands) that Blair find a guy and "do some research". Declan Bennet has all the qualifications: He's British, looks fabulous in a suit, has glorious blue eyes and gets bonus points for being an amazing single dad to his adorable son, Drake. But what starts out as a research project quickly turns into something much more. And Blair's not the only one with secrets.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

DNF @ 23%

I love the concept of Unwritten: it sounded like a light, fun read and I had really high hopes that I’d love it. While I think the concept is awesome, Unwritten didn’t work for me. I made the decision at the beginning of 2015, if I haven’t found something in a book to hold my attention around the 20% mark, I walk away. I tried to continue on for as long as I could… but I was BORED.

In the past, I know I’ve had some issues with books having too much unnecessary drama… well, I don’t think I’ve ever said a book had too little drama before! I expected something to have happened early on into the book or at the very least a hint of something awesome to come. Sadly, I didn’t see any indications of anything to come that would convince me to continue on reading.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find the characters appealing. The characters are in their early 20’s, and I really struggled to believe they were the ages they are. If you added a decade, then I would have found it much easier to believe their back stories. I’m a bit neutral toward Declan - I didn’t feel anything toward him one way or the other. He has the air of a character being a bit too perfect to be true, though. I couldn’t relate to the main character, Blair, either. She quickly gave me the impression she was rather snooty, and for me, it was off-putting. Also, I find it annoying when characters go goo-goo over accents… It’s one cliché too far for my tastes. She describes herself as ‘big boned’ and I thought, awesome, maybe I’ll be able to relate to her! Alas, no. The only author I’ve read who managed to pull off both ‘curvy’ and tattooed female characters that I fully connected with is Karina Halle.

I had such high hopes for Unwritten, and I’m really disappointed that I didn’t connect with either the plot of the characters. I really hope that this is just me! Please don’t let my thoughts put you off trying the book – just because I didn’t like it, doesn’t mean it won’t be the perfect read for you. :)