tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13686999993769786682024-03-13T00:34:45.387-05:00Live To ReadA blog celebrating books and the wonderful authors who create them.Krystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.comBlogger3431125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-28275857900787071682023-09-29T13:26:00.003-05:002023-09-29T13:26:32.637-05:00Once A Queen by Sarah Arthur: Q&A and GIVEAWAY!<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658170645i/61103062.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="800" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658170645i/61103062.jpg" width="533" /></a></div><br /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600;">An American teenager discovers that her estranged English grandmother was once a queen in another world in the debut novel from bestselling author and speaker Sarah Arthur.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px;">When fourteen-year-old Eva Joyce unexpectedly finds herself spending the summer at the mysterious manor house of the English grandmother she's never met, troubling questions arise. Why the estrangement? What's with the house's employees and their guarded secrets? Why must Eva never mention trains, her father, or her favorite childhood fairy tales?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px;">After strange things start happening in the gardens at night, Eva turns to the elderly housekeeper, gardener, and the gardener's great-grandson, Frankie, for answers. Astonishingly, they all seem to believe the fairy tales are true--that portals to other worlds still exist, though hidden and steadily disappearing. They suspect that Eva's grandmother was once a queen in one of those worlds.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px;">But Eva's grandmother denies it all. After a horrific family tragedy when she was young, her heart is closed to the beauty and pain of her past. It's up to Eva, with Frankie's help, to discover what really happened, whether family relationships can be restored, and if the portals are closed forever. As she unravels generational secrets, Eva wrestles with the grief of a vanishing childhood--and the fear that growing up means giving up fairy tales forever.</span></div><div><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Author
Q&A with Sarah Arthur<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">What’s
the story behind the story of this book?<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">About
twenty years ago, I stumbled across an obscure article about the British rail
crash of October 8, 1952, which killed 112 people and wounded 340— to this day,
the worst peacetime rail accident in British history. I began to think about
the victims. Where were they going? Who did they leave behind? How did the
survivors feel, knowing they’d lived through World War II only to suffer
tremendous loss in peacetime?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">As
often happens with me, a story began to take shape in my head. Let’s suppose a
young woman experienced a series of tragedies, including losing someone in that
crash. What would it do to her as a survivor? It became clear that this kind of
trauma likely would have a profound effect on her mental health, on her trust
in a good and just universe, and on her relationships with family and friends—
including her children and grandchildren— for the rest of her life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I
began writing. And along the way I realized that the story was partly about my
own grandmother, who died of cancer when I was fourteen. Born in 1913, she had
a tough childhood. She lost her father to the flu epidemic of 1918. Her
stepfather wasn’t a good man (my great- grandmother divorced him, which, at the
time, was un-heard of). My grandmother’s family lost everything in a fire. So
they relocated to land in northern Michigan that the government promised was
good for farming— but it wasn’t. Later, my grandmother’s husband died of a
heart attack when my mom was seventeen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">My
grandmother carried those wounds, including a refusal to believe in a good God,
into my own childhood, when she went into rehab for alcohol addiction and
suicidal ideation. Then, after her cancer diagnosis, she came to live with us during
the last weeks of her life. Her morphine- induced psychic breaks gave us a
window into even more pain, which was both scary and heartbreaking. But in the
end, there was a moment when she seemed to turn back to faith in a very
childlike way, which gave me hope that the trauma she’d experienced wouldn’t
have the last word in her story— or ours.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">In
<i>Once a Queen</i>, the fallout of generational trauma continues into the
summer of 1995, when my story begins and the survivor’s only granddaughter—
American teenager Eva Joyce— travels to England to meet her grandmother for the
first time. But generational trauma doesn’t get the last word in this story
either. We can trust that the Author is ultimately good and just.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Tell
us about the influences on your writing.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I grew up
reading authors like Frances Hodgson Burnett (<i>The Secret Garden</i>), George
MacDonald (<i>At the Back of the North Wind</i>), C. S. Lewis (<i>The
Chronicles of Narnia</i>), Elizabeth Goudge (<i>The Little White Horse</i>),
and Madeleine L’Engle (<i>A Wrinkle in Time</i>), among others. I suppose all
my fiction echoes these stories in some way. Once a Queen, in particular,
echoes classic fairy tales, so I decided to invent my own fictional world with
its own origin story.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The key
metaphor in my tales is that of weaving: There’s a World- Weaver, who creates
worlds on a cosmic loom, and the storytellers of those worlds are known as
Loomkeepers, who weave the stories into tapestries with images that sometimes
come to life. For the weaving imagery and terminology, I’ve relied on the
incredible artistry of my sister, Abigail Deloria, who is a master weaver based
in northern Michigan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">What’s
your purpose in writing this book?<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I once
heard Newbery- winning author Katherine Paterson deliver a keynote in which she
said, “I want to be a spy for hope.” That’s the purpose of all my writing: to
inspire young people like my main character, Eva, to hold on to the hopes,
dreams, stories, creative play, and imaginative worlds they inhabited as
children, even as they turn their faces toward adulthood with all its pain.
What if those childhood things actually are glimpses of the true joy, the true
hope, that holds up the world?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I
want to show how joy is a living thread that runs through the warp and weft of
the universe. That’s the hope I’ve built into this book.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>
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This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READ</div>Krystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-56973015103829350712023-03-08T12:37:00.020-06:002023-05-23T12:55:50.187-05:00Going Dark by Melissa de la Cruz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1665839080i/62098446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="524" height="800" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1665839080i/62098446.jpg" width="524" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">“An intense rollercoaster of a thriller and a searing indictment of which victims get our attention and sympathy.”</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">– # 1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">In this ripped-from-the-headlines Gone Girl meets A Good Girl's Guide to Murder , #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz weaves a white-knuckle YA thriller about a beautiful young influencer who vanishes after going on vacation with her boyfriend.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">#WhereisAmeliaAshley</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Influencer</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Amelia Ashley shares everything with her followers – her favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants, her best fashion tips, and her European trip-of-a-lifetime with her hot boyfriend.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Boyfriend</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Josh has no choice but to return home without Amelia after she abandons him in Rome. He has no clue where she went or how her blood got in his suitcase. Why won’t anyone believe him?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Hacker</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">To Harper Delgado, Amelia Ashley is just another missing white girl whipping up a media frenzy. But with each digital knot she untangles about the influencer, Harper who is Amelia Ashley?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Other Girl</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Two years ago, another girl went missing, one who never made headlines or had a trending hashtag.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Truth</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Amelia’s disappearance has captured the world’s attention. What comes next? Watch this space…</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Told through a mixture of social media posts, diary entries, and firsthand accounts, Going Dark is a gripping, suspenseful thriller about all the missing girls who fall off the radar, perfect for true crime fans and readers of One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The sheer creativity of the book's compilation of media utilized to tell the story was enjoyable and different. In a weird way, the book reminded me of the missing flight in the past years: there was lots of speculation from online sources, people coming up with theories, and someone close to the missing girl as the main suspect. Amelia felt more like a faraway social media figure, which I suppose made sense given her status as an influencer, than a real character. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Even after reading the book I don't feel like I really know her well. Amelia led a secretive life and a life that could lead her into danger; when the police identified her boyfriend as a person of interest I was once again reminded of another recent event in the news regarding a woman murdered by her boyfriend. As the book wore on, I wasn't entirely convinced that the boyfriend, in this case, had anything to do with the events leading up to Amelia's disappearance. I think the author kept the disappearance just vague enough to allow for many different guesses. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Strangely, one of my favorite parts of the book revolved around the environment. I loved reading about Rome and unique history wrapped around the city. It was fun to see Rome through someone else's eyes. I would have enjoyed it if more of the book had focused on the city and its restaurants, culture, and historical landmarks. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">4 Stars</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-54404400898937192242023-01-25T21:54:00.003-06:002023-01-25T21:54:12.667-06:00The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond by Amanda Glaze<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1647534248i/60597201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="800" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1647534248i/60597201.jpg" width="533" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Deliciously chilling and edge-of-your-seat suspenseful.”</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">—Nina LaCour, Printz Award–winning author of </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">We Are Okay</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Sacramento, 1885 </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Edie and Violet Bond know the truth about death. The seventeen-year-old twins are powerful mediums, just like their mother—Violet can open the veil between life and death, and Edie can cross into the spirit world. But their abilities couldn’t save them when their mother died and their father threatened to commit them to a notorious asylum. </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Now runaways, Edie and Violet are part of a traveling Spiritualist show, a tight-knit group of young women who demonstrate their real talents under the guise of communing with spirits. Each night, actresses, poets, musicians, and orators all make contact with spirits who happen to have something to say. . . notions that young ladies could never openly express. But when Violet’s act goes terribly wrong one night, Edie learns that the dark spirit responsible for their mother’s death has crossed into the land of the living. As they investigate the identity of her mysterious final client, they realize that someone is hunting mediums…and they may be next.Only by trusting in one another can the twins uncover a killer who will stop at nothing to cheat death.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This book reminded me of the <i>Insidious</i> movies in the best way. These two sisters have special abilites that compliment each other's and lead to many spiritual adventures. When one of their shows goes horribly, Edie must trust potentially unreliable resources to help her sister and other mediums. I really enjoyed the relationship between the two sisters and could palpably feel them grow closer over the course of the book. They live in a society where women aren't the most valued citizens and they must act accordingly. I could tell that the author spent a good deal of time researching for this book; the scenes were easy to visualize and detailed to perfection. I thought the pacing over the book was pretty good; there were some portions that were a little slower than others. The ending was both satisfying and enjoyable; I didn't realize the authors' intimiate connection to the story until the end. Any young adult or adult readers who enjoy the paranormal, horror, or even the dark fantasy side of fiction will enjoy this book!</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">4 Stars</span></span></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-20392075722140050982023-01-25T18:32:00.004-06:002023-01-25T18:32:16.273-06:00Bookshelf Books: Edition 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwDBCzyf0X-8XB7ZAhmXtwEYMUpt7TN79zA87fId78yW-XI2eZaxOlfYcryIrnsLRpWNXZa0VDL_pdxickzKhG2zS8JrRK4EMoSzhwpyFScX5rAattbfxxtR1En1kqXdgBO2fpsDrZr-AL_eYO7dZuWUVdeujSvOBCndeN5UIc3771eC_oLRdD2npnbQ/s2496/20230125_151955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1935" data-original-width="2496" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwDBCzyf0X-8XB7ZAhmXtwEYMUpt7TN79zA87fId78yW-XI2eZaxOlfYcryIrnsLRpWNXZa0VDL_pdxickzKhG2zS8JrRK4EMoSzhwpyFScX5rAattbfxxtR1En1kqXdgBO2fpsDrZr-AL_eYO7dZuWUVdeujSvOBCndeN5UIc3771eC_oLRdD2npnbQ/s320/20230125_151955.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">When Cameron Post's parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they'll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">But that relief doesn't last, and Cam is soon forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone (as her grandmother might say), and Cam becomes an expert at both.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Then Coley Taylor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship--one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, ultrareligious Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to "fix" her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self--even if she's not exactly sure who that is.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">The Miseducation of Cameron Post</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"> is a stunning and unforgettable literary debut about discovering who you are and finding the courage to live life according to your own rules.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">The Girl With Borrowed Wings by Rinsai Rossetti</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary:</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">A stunningly written tale of an isolated girl and the shape-shifting boy who shows her what freedom could be--if only she has the courage to take it</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Controlled by her father and bound by desert, Frenenqer Paje’s life is tediously the same, until a small act of rebellion explodes her world and she meets a boy, but not just a boy--a Free person, a winged person, a shape-shifter. He has everything Frenenqer doesn’t. No family, no attachments, no rules. At night, he flies them to the far-flung places of their childhoods to retrace their pasts. But when the delicate balance of their friendship threatens to rupture into something more, Frenenqer must confront her isolation, her father, and her very sense of identity, breaking all the rules of her life to become free.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Pure by Julianna Baggott</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary:</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Surrender by Elana Johnson</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; text-align: start;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The thrilling and seductive sequel to <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Possession </i>puts love on the line in a dystopian struggle for independent thought.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Forbidden love, intoxicating power, and the terror of control…<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" /> </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"> All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"> Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque…. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Invisible World by Suzanne Weyn</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Suzanne Weyn brings her trademark mix of history, romance, and the supernatural to the Salem Witch Trials.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Elsabeth James has powers she doesn't fully understand. She is descended from midwives, mind readers, and a fortune-teller who was put to death because she foresaw the death of Mary, Queen of Scots. She can hear people's thoughts and sometimes see what they see. She has supernatural gifts, but not evil ones.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">When Elsabeth sails with her sister, father, and governess to America, however, she does not foresee that their ship will be wrecked in a storm. Alone for the first time in her life, she washes up on a South Carolina plantation, where she falls in love with a boy she meets there and learns magic and healing from an unexpected source.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">As her powers grow, her stay is cut short, and she is sent as a servant to Salem, Massachusetts. There she accidentally allows an evil spirit to enter the village. When a group of girls start to say they're bewitched and accuse villagers of witchcraft, Elsabeth must find some way to save herself and the boy she loves.</span></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvIToG-D8EihqdjekaEqE2JePwA80QR8WKPmEsffDjiQ916UWn_MC-H21emGnkvwA3_o5sKXBsDBWAR8l118ZWl7xA3Q7OT8vfG-J6fwP1OIW9dV_CariL4M0qD9hJ2qsHSJqFqF_XoCgzEwQ1jsAHGncvtrg_h977R0BvCCRyuD05ehHMqjM7xD8KA/s2637/20230125_152208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1978" data-original-width="2637" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvIToG-D8EihqdjekaEqE2JePwA80QR8WKPmEsffDjiQ916UWn_MC-H21emGnkvwA3_o5sKXBsDBWAR8l118ZWl7xA3Q7OT8vfG-J6fwP1OIW9dV_CariL4M0qD9hJ2qsHSJqFqF_XoCgzEwQ1jsAHGncvtrg_h977R0BvCCRyuD05ehHMqjM7xD8KA/s320/20230125_152208.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Johnson</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Goodreads Summary:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair...</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">From the New York Times bestselling author of Peaches comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>Shifting by Bethany Wiggins</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">After bouncing from foster home to foster home, Magdalene Mae is transferred to what should be her last foster home in the tiny town of Silver City, New Mexico. Now that she's eighteen and has only a year left in high school, she's determined to stay out of trouble and just be normal.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Agreeing to go to the prom with Bridger O'Connell is a good first step. Fitting in has never been her strong suit, but it's not for the reasons most people would expect-it all has to do with the deep secret that she is a shape shifter. But even in her new home danger lurks, waiting in the shadows to pounce. They are the Skinwalkers of Navajo legend, who have traded their souls to become the animal whose skin they wear-and Maggie is their next target.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Full of romance, mysticism, and intrigue, this dark take on Navajo legend will haunt readers to the final page.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><s style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">I have a curse</s><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">I have a gift</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><s style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">I am a monster</s><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">I'm more than human</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><s style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">My touch is lethal</s><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">My touch is power</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><s style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">I am their weapon</s><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">I will fight back</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war—and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; text-align: left;">It can.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; text-align: left;">There is.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; text-align: left;">She's wrong.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"><b>Wither by Lauren DeStefano</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" />When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can't bring herself to hate him as much as she'd like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband's strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out?<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" />Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?</span></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Do you have a favorite book from these?</span></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-11689454754296151402023-01-24T17:32:00.012-06:002023-01-24T17:34:51.567-06:00Bookshelf Books: Edition 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2OWZDaf6zvk6QwxBPfq4yZbJznyJ1iyDLmkoxtNimD_XLPNbx8B12S7hFAVngR4VPoIUhpWpNoWweRPRsjfaiJhnigtO--PdVRVDHMyQkDkCAvxIbT4AT308UvVqo4b5RqqFcXVvgtst9sx_0YfRJ8aSPaBy9iIJTaYr1ZhSgVqIKRPwcVHX4Bh90aQ/s2137/20230124_120133.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1603" data-original-width="2137" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2OWZDaf6zvk6QwxBPfq4yZbJznyJ1iyDLmkoxtNimD_XLPNbx8B12S7hFAVngR4VPoIUhpWpNoWweRPRsjfaiJhnigtO--PdVRVDHMyQkDkCAvxIbT4AT308UvVqo4b5RqqFcXVvgtst9sx_0YfRJ8aSPaBy9iIJTaYr1ZhSgVqIKRPwcVHX4Bh90aQ/s320/20230124_120133.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Chosen by Kiersten White</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">“Will get Buffy fans up in their feels.” —Entertainment Weekly on Slayer</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Nina continues to learn how to use her slayer powers against enemies old and new in this second novel in the New York Times bestselling series from Kiersten White, set in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Now that Nina has turned the Watcher’s Castle into a utopia for hurt and lonely demons, she’s still waiting for the utopia part to kick in. With her sister Artemis gone and only a few people remaining at the castle—including her still-distant mother—Nina has her hands full. Plus, though she gained back her Slayer powers from Leo, they’re not feeling quite right after being held by the seriously evil succubus Eve, a.k.a. fake Watcher’s Council member and Leo’s mom.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">And while Nina is dealing with the darkness inside, there’s also a new threat on the outside, portended by an odd triangle symbol that seems to be popping up everywhere, in connection with Sean’s demon drug ring as well as someone a bit closer to home. Because one near-apocalypse just isn’t enough, right?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">The darkness always finds you. And once again, it’s coming for the Slayer.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>The Cerulean by Amy Ewing</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Sera has always felt as if she didn’t belong among her people, the Cerulean. She is curious about everything and can’t stop questioning her three mothers, her best friend, Leela, and even the High Priestess. Sera has longed for the day when the tether that connects her City Above the Sky to the earthly world below finally severs and sends the Cerulean to a new planet.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">But when Sera is chosen as the sacrifice to break the tether, she doesn’t know what to feel. To save her City, Sera must throw herself from its edge and end her own life. But something goes wrong and she survives the fall, landing in a place called Kaolin. She has heard tales about the humans there, and soon learns that the dangers her mothers warned her of are real. If Sera has any hope to return to her City, she’ll have to find the magic within herself to survive.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Adaptation by Malinda Lo</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Reese can’t remember anything from the time between the accident and the day she woke up almost a month later. She only knows one thing: She’s different now.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Across North America, flocks of birds hurl themselves into airplanes, causing at least a dozen to crash. Thousands of people die. Fearing terrorism, the United States government grounds all flights, and millions of travelers are stranded.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Reese and her debate team partner and longtime crush David are in Arizona when it happens. Everyone knows the world will never be the same. On their drive home to San Francisco, along a stretch of empty highway at night in the middle of Nevada, a bird flies into their headlights. The car flips over. When they wake up in a military hospital, the doctor won’t tell them what happened, where they are—or how they’ve been miraculously healed.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Things become even stranger when Reese returns home. San Francisco feels like a different place with police enforcing curfew, hazmat teams collecting dead birds, and a strange presence that seems to be following her. When Reese unexpectedly collides with the beautiful Amber Gray, her search for the truth is forced in an entirely new direction—and threatens to expose a vast global conspiracy that the government has worked for decades to keep secret.</span></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoK8YPxZ-MPI3luPnsPsL2CaqXyLTVHuQyQwNUocqFQ1lPihTPjyePSJPDVVJ5Wk65gF66qlKfcQwJSIWgnBOXLStHdsuaCZBHErbf33ioIUnylbuDoMLKg2DVJoA0LsoTk-rB_XHeY8aVU1BtVVcuwFFomT78T9aNDBabFHKCQQBw4fBIVVChP5IpVg/s1979/20230124_120404.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1484" data-original-width="1979" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoK8YPxZ-MPI3luPnsPsL2CaqXyLTVHuQyQwNUocqFQ1lPihTPjyePSJPDVVJ5Wk65gF66qlKfcQwJSIWgnBOXLStHdsuaCZBHErbf33ioIUnylbuDoMLKg2DVJoA0LsoTk-rB_XHeY8aVU1BtVVcuwFFomT78T9aNDBabFHKCQQBw4fBIVVChP5IpVg/s320/20230124_120404.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Fates by Lanie Bross</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">One moment. One foolish desire. One mistake. And Corinthe lost everything.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">She fell from her tranquil life in Pyralis Terra and found herself exiled to the human world. Her punishment? To make sure people's fates unfold according to plan. Now, years later, Corinthe has one last assignment: kill Lucas Kaller. His death will be her ticket home.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">But for the first time, Corinthe feels a tingle of doubt. It begins as a lump in her throat, then grows toward her heart, and suddenly she feels like she is falling all over again--this time for a boy she knows she can never have. Because it is written: one of them must live, and one of them must die. In a universe where every moment, every second, every fate has already been decided, where does love fit in?</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>The Queen of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">I thought I had nothing left to give.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">I thought wrong.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">They started the war.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Now I will end it.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Alice "Ali" Bell thinks the worst is behind her. She's ready to take the next step with boyfriend Cole Holland, the leader of the zombie slayers…until Anima Industries, the agency controlling the zombies, launches a sneak attack, killing four of her friends. It's then she realizes that humans can be more dangerous than monsters…and the worst has only begun.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">As secrets that may tear Ali and Cole apart come to light, and more slayers are taken or killed, Ali will fight harder than ever to bring down Anima—even sacrificing her own life for those she loves.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>Rebel of the Sand by Alwyn Hamilton</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic. For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Amani Al’Hiza is all three. She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Rebel of the Sands</i><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"> reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes—in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally, at long last, embracing her power.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">A bewitching, dark and beautiful debut novel about a girl living in the shadow of a mysterious curse.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">It's the accident season, the same time every year. Bones break, skin tears, bruises bloom.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free?</span></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-AX_Jx7skVfe9h7vvmkZJtPN33RSpyTlX6X4frMzLXIp2sz7rWnAm9IitUrUpjNt93S8ugJ2T-3FW3TbUJ-lJ3vtiVEIEiWT3_CV0ZVfp0UBPhlPJ3Y4R04oUnfv1PZJU9Cz8dDYMB7yqnWgHDbzne_wn3flqcwOUPaZXQqwNw0U4S0LD8HmBi8bnkQ/s2131/20230124_120527.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1551" data-original-width="2131" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-AX_Jx7skVfe9h7vvmkZJtPN33RSpyTlX6X4frMzLXIp2sz7rWnAm9IitUrUpjNt93S8ugJ2T-3FW3TbUJ-lJ3vtiVEIEiWT3_CV0ZVfp0UBPhlPJ3Y4R04oUnfv1PZJU9Cz8dDYMB7yqnWgHDbzne_wn3flqcwOUPaZXQqwNw0U4S0LD8HmBi8bnkQ/s320/20230124_120527.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Cress by Marissa Meyer</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Dear Reader,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">If you are looking for a story about cheerful youngsters spending a jolly time at boarding school, look elsewhere. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are intelligent and resourceful children, and you might expect that they would do very well at school. Don't. For the Baudelaires, school turns out to be another miserable episode in their unlucky lives.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Truth be told, within the chapters that make up this dreadful story, the children will face snapping crabs, strict punishments, dripping fungus, comprehensive exams, violin recitals, S.O.R.E., and the metric system.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">It is my solemn duty to stay up all night researching and writing the history of these three hapless youngsters, but you may be more comfortable getting a good night's sleep. In that case, you should probably choose some other book.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">With all due respect,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Lemony Snicket</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>The Rose Society by Marie Lu</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she flees Kenettra with her sister to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good when her very existence depends on darkness?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Bestselling author Marie Lu delivers another heart-pounding adventure in this exhilarating sequel to </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">The Young Elites</i><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">All Etta Spencer wanted was to make her violin debut when she was thrust into a treacherous world where the struggle for power could alter history. After losing the one thing that would have allowed her to protect the Timeline, and the one person worth fighting for, Etta awakens alone in an unknown place and time, exposed to the threat of the two groups who would rather see her dead than succeed. When help arrives, it comes from the last person Etta ever expected—Julian Ironwood, the Grand Master’s heir who has long been presumed dead, and whose dangerous alliance with a man from Etta’s past could put them both at risk.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Meanwhile, Nicholas and Sophia are racing through time in order to locate Etta and the missing astrolabe with Ironwood travelers hot on their trail. They cross paths with a mercenary-for-hire, a cheeky girl named Li Min who quickly develops a flirtation with Sophia. But as the three of them attempt to evade their pursuers, Nicholas soon realizes that one of his companions may have ulterior motives.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">As Etta and Nicholas fight to make their way back to one another, from Imperial Russia to the Vatican catacombs, time is rapidly shifting and changing into something unrecognizable… and might just run out on both of them.</span></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZVMhw495MgRAOLq7OMrKLZeuWBC4I8U0mi-LSshZmtJeX-1dsh3nWV4ADN_HuvucFBwhOoDHqOgkTn4kkRAJlj5IrX4jlW6TuaUmtk5ip_7zZQTA7wF2lYTlx7QAd_mFTVc9LZeHnRTUpQpWttmIlYYO0LhmXdOlX6vTzphQK_4teS1qf64WpZUnwQ/s2241/20230124_120921.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1548" data-original-width="2241" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZVMhw495MgRAOLq7OMrKLZeuWBC4I8U0mi-LSshZmtJeX-1dsh3nWV4ADN_HuvucFBwhOoDHqOgkTn4kkRAJlj5IrX4jlW6TuaUmtk5ip_7zZQTA7wF2lYTlx7QAd_mFTVc9LZeHnRTUpQpWttmIlYYO0LhmXdOlX6vTzphQK_4teS1qf64WpZUnwQ/s320/20230124_120921.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stief Larsson</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px;">For weeks, seventeen-year-old Mariko pretended to be a boy to infiltrate the notorious Black Clan and bring her would-be murderer to justice. She didn't expect to find a place for herself among the group of fighters—a life of usefulness—and she certainly didn't expect to fall in love. Now she heads to the imperial castle to resume a life she never wanted to save the boy she loves.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px;"><div style="text-align: center;">Ōkami has been captured, and his execution is a certainty. Mariko will do what she must to ensure his survival—even marry the sovereign's brother, saying goodbye to a life with Ōkami forever.</div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px;"><div style="text-align: center;">As Mariko settles into her days at court—making both friends and enemies—and attempting Ōkami's rescue at night, the secrets of the royal court begin to unravel as competing agendas collide. One arrow sets into motion a series of deadly events even the most powerful magic cannot contain. Mariko and Ōkami risk everything to right past wrongs and restore the honor of a kingdom thrown into chaos by a sudden war, hoping against hope that when the dust settles, they will find a way to be together.</div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Set against the backdrop of feudal Japan, <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Smoke in the Sun</i> is the breathless, romantic, not-to-be-missed fiery conclusion to a spell-binding adventure.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Delirium by Lauren Oliver</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="text-align: start;">In an alternate United States, love has been declared a dangerous disease, and the government forces everyone who reaches eighteen to have a procedure called the Cure. Living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in Portland, Maine, Lena Haloway is very much looking forward to being cured and living a safe, predictable life. She watched love destroy her mother and isn't about to make the same mistake.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena meets enigmatic Alex, a boy from the "Wilds" who lives under the government's radar. What will happen if they do the unthinkable and fall in love?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; text-align: start;"><b>Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: start;">Love can never die.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: start;">and</i><span style="text-align: start;"> the dead - or rather, the </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: start;">undead</i><span style="text-align: start;">? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria - a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible - until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead - and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">In </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: start;">Dearly, Departed</i><span style="text-align: start;">, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; text-align: start;"><b>Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: start;">Sparks are igniting.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" />Flames are spreading.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" />And the Capitol wants revenge.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span style="text-align: start;">In </span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: start;">Catching Fire</i><span style="text-align: start;">, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><br /></span></div></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNl0UjcjqCk1aTTmCEOSdylGEEknbLqiCrOB4MDsjZ6x_NvhQvLPUD_IA99_e3He4FoSKXN72lrZ_w5IB1J0btU7gjtzexUnWEB9ipwYJNdItdc0NHsXvVhwX2Ada3SKmosKyMazvKE-L0AZBnFrYMl_u_u68wg0H_ndAnVmnGqsBgjVmtadXcT0pQg/s2012/20230124_121132.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1509" data-original-width="2012" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNl0UjcjqCk1aTTmCEOSdylGEEknbLqiCrOB4MDsjZ6x_NvhQvLPUD_IA99_e3He4FoSKXN72lrZ_w5IB1J0btU7gjtzexUnWEB9ipwYJNdItdc0NHsXvVhwX2Ada3SKmosKyMazvKE-L0AZBnFrYMl_u_u68wg0H_ndAnVmnGqsBgjVmtadXcT0pQg/s320/20230124_121132.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">A kingdom burns. A princess sleeps. This is no fairy tale.</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">It all started with the burning of the spindles.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">No.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">It all started with a curse…</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king’s headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora’s blood—and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls; and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape…or the reason for her to stay.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">When her seventeenth summer solstice arrives, Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Growing up in the southern kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her. While some are born with a talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she chose knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true: she is left without a patron.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, she reluctantly accepts. But there is much more to his story, for there is a dangerous plot to overthrow the king of Maevana—the rival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved, some closer to Brienna than she realizes.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">With war brewing, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. Who will be that queen?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">With gorgeous description and detailed rendering of a world where not everything is what it seems, debut author Rebecca Ross weaves an intricate tale of revenge, loyalty, and, ultimately, self-discovery.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">All The Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; text-align: start;">From bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater, a gripping tale of darkness, miracles, and family. Saints. Miracles. Family. Romance. Death. Redemption.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Here is a thing everyone wants: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600;">A miracle</span>.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" />Here is a thing everyone fears: What it takes to get one.</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Any visitor to Bicho Raro, Colorado is likely to find a landscape of dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owls, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts; Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Burn by Julianna Baggott</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Inside the Dome, Patridge has taken his father's place as leader of the Pures. His struggle has led him here, intent upon bringing down the Dome from the inside, with the help of a secret resistance force. But things are not as simple from his new position of power and he finds himself tempted by his father's words: perhaps if the world is to survive it needs the Dome - and Partridge - to rule it...</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">As Partridge's resolve weakens, Pressia and Bradwell continue piecing together the clues left to them from the time before the Detonations. It is their hope that they will be able to heal the Wretches, and free them from their monstrous fusings and the Dome's oppression once and for all. But everything depends, too, on Partridge. Separated by distance and history, can they still trust their friend and ally? Or is the world doomed to an eternity of war and hardship?</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><b>Zero Repeat Forever by Gabrielle S. Prendergast</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: times; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Goodreads Summary:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">He has no voice, or name, only a rank, Eighth. He doesn’t know the details of the mission, only the directives that hum in his mind.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Dart the humans. Leave them where they fall.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">His job is to protect his Offside. Let her do the shooting.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Until a human kills her…</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Sixteen year-old Raven is at summer camp when the terrifying armored Nahx invade, annihilating entire cities, taking control of the Earth. Isolated in the wilderness, Raven and her friends have only a fragment of instruction from the human resistance.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Shelter in place.</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Which seems like good advice at first. Stay put. Await rescue. Raven doesn’t like feeling helpless but what choice does she have?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Then a Nahx kills her boyfriend.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; text-align: start;" /><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Thrown together in a violent, unfamiliar world, Eighth and Raven should feel only hate and fear. But when Raven is injured, and Eighth deserts his unit, their survival depends on trusting each other…</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><br /><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe;">These are some of my favorite arcs I've saved over the years from conventions, working at the library, and receiving review copies. Which is your favorite?</span></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-83170160058858843412023-01-23T01:07:00.002-06:002023-01-23T01:07:39.892-06:00Blight by Alexandra Duncan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479763560i/29543106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="530" height="800" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479763560i/29543106.jpg" width="530" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">When an agribusiness facility producing genetically engineered food releases a deadly toxin into the environment, seventeen-year-old Tempest Torres races to deliver the cure before time runs out.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">From the author of the acclaimed American Booksellers Association’s Indies Introduce pick </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Salvage</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">, which was called “Brilliant, feminist science fiction” by Stephanie Perkins, the internationally bestselling author of </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Anna and the French Kiss</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">. This stand-alone action-adventure story is perfect for fans of </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Oryx and Crake</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> and </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The House of the Scorpion</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Seventeen-year-old Tempest Torres has lived on the AgraStar farm north of Atlanta, Georgia, since she was found outside its gates at the age of five. Now she’s part of the security force guarding the fence and watching for scavengers—people who would rather steal genetically engineered food from the Company than work for it. When a group of such rebels accidentally sets off an explosion in the research compound, it releases into the air a blight that kills every living thing in its path—including humans. With blight-resistant seeds in her pocket, Tempest teams up with a scavenger boy named Alder and runs for help. But when they finally arrive at AgraStar headquarters, they discover that there’s an even bigger plot behind the blight—and it’s up to them to stop it from happening again.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Inspired by current environmental issues, specifically the genetic adjustment of seeds to resist blight and the risks of not allowing natural seed diversity, this is an action-adventure story that is Margaret Atwood’s </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Oryx and Crake</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> meets Nancy Farmer’s </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">House of the Scorpion</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This book's dystopian plot was very enjoyable and a very different take on the topic that didn't involve a virus or biowarfare. The main character, Tempest, could have used more expansion on her character. I was rooting for her, but there were more than a few situations where I felt like she was too stupid to live. The author slowly builds up to the big reveal. I did like the thoughtful exploration of the setting and minor characters. The novel was a fun read in that it made me go back to google and look into seed diversity and the manipulation of crops. I like discovering books that make me think and read into a subject that I otherwise wouldn't have bothered to look into. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The book itself was fast-paced and somewhat scary, at times. The ending was both confusing and satisfying. I had many more questions than answers, but I appreciated that the author seemed to focus on the most meaningful plot holes to the reader. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #1e1915; font-family: Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">4 Stars</span></span></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-73592854021013605092023-01-22T11:00:00.018-06:002023-01-23T01:18:23.354-06:00Once and For All by Sarah Dessen<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1494152180i/32078787.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="463" height="700" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1494152180i/32078787.jpg" width="463" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600;">As bubbly as champagne and delectable as wedding cake, <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Once and for All</i>, Sarah Dessen's thirteenth novel, is set in the world of wedding planning, where crises are routine.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Louna, daughter of famed wedding planner Natalie Barrett, has seen every sort of wedding: on the beach, at historic mansions, in fancy hotels and clubs. Perhaps that's why she's cynical about happily-ever-after endings, especially since her own first love ended tragically. When Louna meets charming, happy-go-lucky serial dater Ambrose, she holds him at arm's length. But Ambrose isn't about to be discouraged, now that he's met the one girl he really wants.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Sarah Dessen’s many, many fans will adore her latest, a richly satisfying, enormously entertaining story that has everything—humor, romance, and an ending both happy and imperfect, just like life itself.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div>This book came at the perfect time for me. I feel like I'm constantly receiving wedding invites this past year and delving into wedding planning and the excitement that that job entails is fun to read about. I liked the light-hearted romance between Louana and Ambrose and the author's care to develop their relationship instead of devoting it to an "insta-romance." I will say that the initialy start to their relationship felt sudden and forced; Louana's decision on the beach seemed both dangerous and that she needs to speak to her primary care physician afterwards. She incorporated flashbacks that read nicely with the rest of the book's contents and added to the context of the plot.</div><div><br /></div><div>Louana seemed like a hasty decision-maker, at times. Ambrose could be aggravating with his devil-may-care attitude. However, I grew to like both characters over the course of the novel and felt like they both grew and developed as the story continued. The plot itself seemed to be missing here and there or it felt "lost." I kept expecting Louana to examine her last boyfriend's death and its impact on her and I never really felt that she came to the resolution that she needed. I am still looking forward to more books from Sarah Dessen in the future!</div><div><br /></div><div>3 Stars</div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-6846040353906901672023-01-21T01:22:00.001-06:002023-01-23T01:28:56.798-06:00Being Mortal by Atul Gawande<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408324949i/20696006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="475" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408324949i/20696006.jpg" width="314" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600;">In <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Being Mortal</i>, author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming birth, injury, and infectious disease from harrowing to manageable. But in the inevitable condition of aging and death, the goals of medicine seem too frequently to run counter to the interest of the human spirit. Nursing homes, preoccupied with safety, pin patients into railed beds and wheelchairs. Hospitals isolate the dying, checking for vital signs long after the goals of cure have become moot. Doctors, committed to extending life, continue to carry out devastating procedures that in the end extend suffering.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Gawande, a practicing surgeon, addresses his profession's ultimate limitation, arguing that quality of life is the desired goal for patients and families. Gawande offers examples of freer, more socially fulfilling models for assisting the infirm and dependent elderly, and he explores the varieties of hospice care to demonstrate that a person's last weeks or months may be rich and dignified.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Too many times the question is often "how long do I have" instead of "how can I make the time I have left better?" As someone who would invariably ask the former, this book was refreshing in its focus on how to improve the inevitable deaths that are described. The author is passionate about his subject and clearly well-versed in hospice and palliative care. There is an art to talking to a terminal patient and the book describes several cases when that discussion is done well and several where, for various reasons, the patient persists long past where they should have chosen comfort over short-lived longevity. I appreciated the personal aspect of this book when the author discusses his own father, his decision-making process, and the outcomes of those decisions. I love the intention behind this book and would recommend it to healthcare professionals, families of patients with terminal illnesses, and terminal patients. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div> product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-47297600794277573112023-01-08T21:24:00.001-06:002023-01-08T21:24:17.518-06:00The Daughter of Auschwitz by Tova Friedman and Malcom Brabant<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1654481413l/60481659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="266" height="400" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1654481413l/60481659.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span id="freeText857688813102676446" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A powerful memoir by one of the youngest ever survivors of Auschwitz, Tova Friedman, following her childhood growing up during the Holocaust and surviving a string of near-death experiences in a Jewish ghetto, a Nazi labor camp, and Auschwitz.<br /><br />Tova Friedman was only four years old when she was sent to a Nazi labor camp at the start of World War II. While friends and family were murdered in front of her eyes, the only weapon that Tova and her parents possessed was the primal instinct to survive at all costs. Fate intervened when, at the age of six, Tova was sent to a gas chamber, but walked out alive, saved by German bureaucracy. Not long afterwards, she cuddled a warm corpse to hide from Nazis rounding up prisoners for the Death March to Germany.<br /><br />In this heartrending, lyrical account of a young girl's survival during the Holocaust, Tova Friedman, together with Malcolm Brabant, chronicles the atrocities she witnessed while at Auschwitz, a family secret that sheds light on the unpalatable choices Jews were forced to make to survive, and ultimately, the sources of hope and courage she and her family found to persist against all odds.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><div><br /></div><div>Goodreads Summary</div><div><br /></div><div>I really enjoyed this memoir and finished it in one sitting. Viewing the Holocaust through a young child's eyes is horrible, but informative. Tova's mother's bravery was admirable; the events that occured to Tova and her family were horrifying yet sadly expected given the time period. I enjoyed the focus on Tova and her family and the care taken to delve into each family members' characteristics and Tova's memories surrounding them. It's hard to imagine that a little girl was subjected to that level of abuse, but the memoir serves as a grim reminder of what can occur when power goes unchecked. The content is disturbing, but the book is an important read. </div><div><br /></div><div>5 Stars</div><div><br /></div><div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READ</div>Krystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-74226427298990711532023-01-08T21:16:00.003-06:002023-01-08T21:16:29.762-06:00The Sacrific by Rin Chupeco<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1645396405l/60190092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="400" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1645396405l/60190092.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">An island oasis turns deadly when a terrifying legend threatens to kill off visitors one by one in this haunting novel from the highly acclaimed author of The Girl from the Well and the Bone Witch trilogy.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Pristine beaches, lush greenery, and perfect weather, the island of Kisapmata would be the vacation destination...if not for the curse. The Philippine locals speak of it in hushed voices and refuse to step foot on the island. They know the lives it has claimed. They won't be next.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A Hollywood film crew won't be dissuaded. Legend claims a Dreamer god sleeps, waiting to grant unimaginable powers in exchange for eight sacrifices. The producers are determined to document the evidence. And they convince Alon, a local teen, to be their guide.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Within minutes of their arrival, a giant sinkhole appears, revealing a giant balete tree with a mummified corpse entwined in its gnarled branches. And the crew start seeing strange visions. Alon knows they are falling victim to the island's curse. If Alon can't convince them to leave, there is no telling who will survive. Or how much the Dreamer god will destroy...</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Creepy and suspenseful, The Sacrifice is perfect for readers looking for:<br />* Spooky, scary books for young adults<br />* Horror novels<br />* Ghost story books for teens<br />* East Asian folklore</i></div><div><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></i></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></i></div><div><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></i></div><div>I was surprised I enjoyed this book as much as I did. It was a bit of a disturbing read with more than deaths that I expected. The plot is as succinct as stated on Goodreads and the book doesn't deviate from that summary, but somehow it felt like the book took longer to read than it did. I finished the novel in one night, but there was so much depth to the plot and the characters that when I looked up I expected it to be closer to mid-morning. </div><div><br /></div><div>Alon is an interesting cahracter. There are some hints of a romance with a boy who comes along with the producers, but it isn't really developed. The plot itself takes up the entire novel without giving too much room for the growth of the characters (which was unfortunate because even the minor characters had tragic and sympathetic backstories). Every time I expected the mystery to calm down it tended to ramp up. The author did manage to keep the suspension high throughout the novel. I truly enjoy horror novels so I think I am a little harsher in my reviews of them than, say, a fantasy novel, but I thought this was a good book that had the potential to be great had the mystery been a little more well-developed. </div><div><br /></div><div>3 1/2 Stars</div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-47511112599959294682022-11-12T13:40:00.004-06:002022-11-12T13:40:48.471-06:00Don't Let in the Cold by Keely Parrack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638542078l/58568509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="800" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638542078l/58568509.jpg" width="533" /></a></div><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The storm isn't the only thing they'll have to survive.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It was supposed to be just one night in the cabin: one night for Lottie and her brand new stepsister, Jade, to try to get along. When a solar flare causes a massive blackout―no power or cell signal―Lottie knows they've got a long night ahead of them.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Then, in the dark, someone else shows up at the cabin―a stranger named Alex, claiming to be lost and needing shelter from the coming snowstorm. But later that night, Lottie spies him in the driveway talking to two mysterious men in a pickup truck, and she's sure he's lying about why he's here.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Before Lottie can find out more, a fire forces her, Jade, and Alex out into the blizzard, where they must rely on one another to get to safety―wherever that is. In the remote, freezing Tahoe wilderness, they have to survive more than just the elements. Soon it becomes clear that Alex's accomplices are hunting for all three of them, in a scheme that's gone too far and taken a chilling, deadly turn.</span><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I think in order to enjoy this book it would help if the reader kept an open mind to practically everything that can happen to the two most unlucky people in the world during a blizzard with a solar flare. With this perspective, I ended up liking the book in a generic way. It's a little difficult for me to truly become engrossed in a novel with unlikable characters. I wasn't a fan of Lottie, the main character. However, her stepsister Jade was a little redemptive. The entire plot seemed a little goofy: their parents threw them together in Jade's dad's Tahoe cabin while they went on a very quick honeymoon. From the beginning the reader should be thinking: this is just a bad idea. Well, it gets worse. Alex, another unlikable character, quickly becomes a thorn in their side and the source of some of the problems. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I'm a little unique in reading others' reviews - I didn't hate the romance. I figured that if the author threw every problem under the sun that could occur to these two unfortunate teens then why not throw in a little romance. Overall, I didn't hate this book and I'm glad I finished it, but I would have preferred a book that isn't almost comically survivalist focused. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">3 Stars<br /></span></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READ</div>Krystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-54361873875782843582022-11-12T13:30:00.001-06:002022-11-12T13:30:11.267-06:00I'm the Girl by Courtney Summers<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1643652787l/59808305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="518" height="800" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1643652787l/59808305.jpg" width="518" /></a></div><br /><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The new groundbreaking queer thriller from <i>New York Times</i> bestselling and Edgar-award Winning author Courtney Summers.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When sixteen-year-old Georgia Avis discovers the dead body of thirteen-year-old Ashley James, she teams up with Ashley's older sister, Nora, to find and bring the killer to justice before he strikes again. But their investigation throws Georgia into a world of unimaginable privilege and wealth, without conscience or consequence, and as Ashley’s killer closes in, Georgia will discover when money, power and beauty rule, it might not be a matter of who is guilty—but who is guiltiest.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A spiritual successor to the 2018 breakout hit, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Sadie</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I'm the Girl</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> is a masterfully written, bold, and unflinching account of how one young woman feels in her body as she struggles to navigate a deadly and predatory power structure while asking readers one question: if this is the way the world is, do you accept it?</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div>I love this author and was more than excited to pick up this book right around Halloween. It didn't disappoint. I quickly became engaged in the mystery behind who killed Ashley James. Georgia is introduced as a young sleuth who the world views as beautiful. Unfortunately, she's economically disadvantaged and hopes to utilize her beauty to break out of the poverty cycle she's trapped in. The world the author introduces us to is seedy and, at times, just gross. It was hard to read some of the more sexually charged scenes. I was happy that the author included a semblance of female friendship in Nora's character. I felt that Nora and Georgia worked very well together to tackle a world that neither is accustomed to. </div><div><br /></div><div>Georgia's character took some adjusting for me to get used to. I definitely didn't always like her and sometimes I regretted rooting for her, but I liked that the author was able to pull off writing about a character I didn't even really like and I still wanted to finish the book. <i>I'm the Girl </i>focused on character development and revealed possible struggles that young girls in Ashley's situation may go through. The ending, I will warn future readers, killed me. I was hoping for a different ending and the final scene that I read was not even one that I was anticipating. </div><div><br /></div><div>3 Stars</div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-40174440946417329002022-11-03T10:18:00.001-05:002022-11-03T10:18:40.806-05:00The Depths by Nicole Lesperance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1642618227l/57608914._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="475" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1642618227l/57608914._SY475_.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A tropical island full of secrets. Two Victorian ghosts, trapped for eternity. And a seventeen-year-old girl determined not to be next.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Eulalie Island should be a paradise, but to Addie Spencer, it's more like a prison.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Forced to tag along to the remote island on her mother's honeymoon, Addie isn't thrilled about being trapped there for two weeks. The island is stunning, with its secluded beaches and forests full of white flowers. But there's something eerie and unsettling about the place.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">After Addie meets an enigmatic boy on the beach, all the flowers start turning pink. The island loves you, he tells her. But she can't stop sleepwalking at night, the birds keep calling her name, and there's a strange little girl in the woods who wants to play hide-and-seek. When Addie learns about two sisters who died on the island centuries ago, she wonders if there's more to this place, things only she can see.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Beneath its gorgeous surface, Eulalie Island is hiding dark, tangled secrets. And if Addie doesn't unravel them soon, the island might never let her go</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I loved Addie's character. The plot of <i>The Depths </i>was unique in many ways, but what truly enticed me to finish the book in one sitting was Addie's character and wanting the best for her. The beginning of the novel started off with a bang: a video of Addie drowning and being resuscitated. Unfortunately, the video acts as a symbol of foreshadowing for Addie's upcoming adventures.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When Addie meets an unusual love interest on the sunny, wet, tropical island vacation for her mother's honeymoon she probably isn't aware that she's setting off a string of unusual events. As she delves more into the island's idyllic love for her and the two spooky corpselike beings that inhabit it she will find she has more than she bargained for. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The story slowly unravels like a slow burn in a horror film. I found myself hoping for the best for Addie and Violet and kind of sick of Addie's mom, stepdad, and other useless adults that populated the book. I was a bit surprised by the ending and the "secret" behind the island. I loved how the author wove human anatomy into the island itself and somehow made it work. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">4 Stars</span></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-84316000608224094282022-10-30T22:14:00.001-05:002022-10-30T22:14:09.322-05:00Papillon by Miwa Ueda<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320423208l/3349749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="297" height="450" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320423208l/3349749.jpg" width="297" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It’s no fun being a high school outcast. It’s even harder when your twin sister is the most popular girl in school! The ultra-glam Hana is the ultimate teen queen, but her sister, Ageha, is just a shy tomboy. Hana loves being the center of attention so much that she’ll do anything to keep her sister in her shadow. But Ageha has a plan that will change her life. Because no one, not even Hana, can hold Ageha back forever. . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I love Miwa Ueda's stories and this one is no different. The story develops with Ageha feeling "othered" in her own home; she grew up with her granda while Hana was raised by their parents. Although Ageha and Hana were twins they were very different in both personality and focus with Ageha working hard on her studies and Hana focusing more on fashion and boys. The author takes care to develop Ageha while leaving Hana's character less developed until later in the series. Right away, the reader is drawn to Ageha and her gentle, empathic nature. <br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Within the first half the story, the reader meets two potential love interests of Ageha's. The story continues with Hana plotting to give Ageha's happily ever after trouble at every turn. I loved the romance and relationship development between Ageha and her "sensei." It was a relationship that the reader could only dream of having in reality. The romantic scenes were more than just physical, but also emotional. I found myself hoping that Ageha would achieve her happily ever after with her Sensei after the first book in the series. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">5 Stars</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-83409063116498262102022-10-30T21:38:00.004-05:002022-10-30T21:38:42.657-05:00Mere Mortals by Erin Jade Lange<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1645216021l/60011125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="530" height="800" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1645216021l/60011125.jpg" width="530" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">"Two teenage vampires are turned mortal and must face the greatest nightmare of all--high school"--</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This hilarious, fresh take on a classic vampire tale follows a pair of hundred-year-old teenage vampires who are turned mortal and must face the greatest nightmare of all—high school.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Charlie and her brother, Reg, have been vampires for…a very long time. For a century, they enjoyed the glitz and glamour of life as members of the wealthiest vampire clan. But now, after one careless mistake, they’ve been expelled from the vampire community and dumped in the middle of Nowhere, Iowa, to live as mortals.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Suddenly Charlie has to deal with zits, tears, and—worst of all—high school. But things start to change when she and Reg find a group of friends, including the deliciously good-looking Dexter. And though Charlie would give anything to be vampire again, she begins to appreciate some of the new experiences that humanity brings too.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But nothing could make them forget the life they’ve left behind. When they’re offered a second shot at immortality, Charlie is desperate to seize it. It’ll just mean a total betrayal of all her new friends, who will have their minds wiped of their memories of her. She can handle that if it means she can live forever…right?</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I was enjoying this book up until the end. It will be difficult to give a solid review on <i>Mere Mortals</i> without alluding to the ending. When I first met Charlie and Reg, they had been changed from vampires to humans by an Elder council as punishment for their transgressions. Charlie was ardently against being human while Reg appeared to be adapting better. As the plot continued, the reader observed Charlie repeatedly attempting to contact vampire clans to gain backup for her attempt to transition back into a vampire by appealing to the Elder council. When Charlie meets Lina, her attempts appear to have finally found a sympathetic ear. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I enjoyed the story. For whatever reason, I wasn't overly attached to the supporting characters and the love interest of Lena's, Dexter, wasn't very "romantic." Reg's love interest, Poe, was a little more interesting and true-to-life due final events of that relationship, but I didn't feel a strong attachment to that duo, either. The premise was well-developed and enjoyable, but the ending, for me, felt a bit like a waste. Althought I know there was supposed to be some kind of moral lesson behind the ending it felt more to me like a disappointment of one's own convictions. I do hope to read more from the author in the future; her ideas are innovative. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">2 1/2 Stars</span></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-37368634258219245252022-10-30T21:31:00.002-05:002022-10-30T21:31:49.402-05:00Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1635781954l/55923578._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="475" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1635781954l/55923578._SY475_.jpg" width="314" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span id="freeText11755250663542581427" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>A darkly enchanting fantasy debut about a morally gray witch, a cursed prince, and a prophecy that ignites their fate-twisted destinies—perfect for fans of <i>The Cruel Prince</i> and <i>Serpent & Dove</i>.</b><br /><br />Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-<i>not</i> charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer—unless Violet does something about it.<br /><br />But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom—all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus.<br /><br />Violet’s wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can’t change her fate. And as the boundary between hatred and love grows ever thinner with the prince, Violet must untangle a wicked web of deceit in order to save herself and the kingdom—or doom them all.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I loved this book. I read it in a day, it was a perfect blend of romance and fantasy, and I loved it. The romance that bloomed (pun intended) between Violet and Cyrus was genuine and easy to get wrapped up in. I would have preferred more romantic scenes between the two of them, but the scenes provided by the author felt very realistic. The romance was easily the best part of the story. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The fantasy portion was very well-developed. I could picture the scenes as they flew by from the ball to the arrival of Cyrus's potential bride to the true evil behind the mystery. The author's ability to lay out the prophecy and fulfill it so neatly was fun to read. The red herring she wove into the story's plot was both intentional and hard to look away from. The supporting characters were funny and fleshed out despite being more secondary. When it came time to turn the last page I found myself hoping for this to be a series even though it seemed unlikely from the ending. The ending itself was not very predictable; I was a little surprised by it. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">4 1/2 Stars</span></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-2037402254240487102022-10-19T21:46:00.004-05:002022-10-19T21:46:56.824-05:00The World Deserves My Children by Natasha Leggero<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1666198293l/59366125._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="475" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1666198293l/59366125._SY475_.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A laugh-out-loud funny collection of insightful and razor-sharp essays on motherhood in our post-apocalyptic world from comedian Natasha Leggero.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When Natasha Leggero got pregnant at forty-two after embarking on the grueling IVF process, she was over the moon. But once her feelings of bliss dissipated, she couldn’t help but shake the lingering question: </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Am I doing this right?</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> And then, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Should I be doing this if the world is about to end?</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The World Deserves My Children</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">, Natasha explores themes like “geriatric” motherhood, parenting in an environmental panic, fear and love, discipline (and conflicting schools of thought on how not to raise a brat), and more. Ultimately, Natasha determines that motherhood is worth it. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">After all,</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">where do you think the next five generations of humans will be if the only people who are having kids don’t believe in science? The world deserves my children.</i></div><div><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></i></div><div><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</i></div><div><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></i></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This book contains everything from the midnight rantings of a sleep-deprived new mom to gallows humor. One thing the title won't do is fail to make the reader laugh. Readers who have children are likely to nod along with the author's observations of motherhood while readers without children will do...well, the same! This book is very relatable and easy to finish in a few days. I didn't know much about Natasha prior to reading this book, but now I feel as if I could pat her shoulder consolingly on the street as her child does something embarrassing. Although the author uses humor to express her frustrations at new motherhood and everything (joys and evils) that accompany it, I could also feel how much she loved her daughter through the pages of the book. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I enjoyed the author's portrayal of her experience with IVF, finding "The One," and dealing with him after the wedding. I can appreciate almost every example the author cites. I was excited to pick this book up because it is difficult to find novels that touch on "geriatric motherhood" in any way other than negatively. It was refreshing to read a positive take on late maternity and a different perspective into biology's rat race. I hope to read more from Natasha in the future. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">5 Stars</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-29134894638303681552022-10-18T21:53:00.001-05:002022-10-19T22:02:13.069-05:00Lore Olympus: Volume One by Rachel Smythe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1614887007l/57282218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="622" height="800" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1614887007l/57282218.jpg" width="622" /></a></div><br /><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Experience the propulsive love story of two Greek gods—Hades and Persephone—brought to life with lavish artwork and an irresistible contemporary voice.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love—witness what the gods do after dark in this stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of mythology’s most well-known stories from creator Rachel Smythe. Featuring a brand-new, exclusive short story, Smythe’s original Eisner-nominated web-comic Lore Olympus brings the Greek Pantheon into the modern age with this sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This volume collects episodes 1-25 of the #1 WEBTOON comic, Lore Olympus.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I was very skeptical when my sister brought this volume home from Barnes and Noble. However, I soon fell in love with the character of Persephone. The pictures, though crudely drawn, are enticing and help make the book difficult to put down. I soon associated certain characteristics and mannerisms with each character. The author's rendering of ancient Greek gods is a fun, fresh new take on ancient beliefs. Although the reader probably has a good idea of where the story is going and what might occur along the way, the author has new ideas and manages to insert humor and evoke emotional reactions within the reader. I found myself quickly turning the pages to find out what would happen next despite knowing the myth of Persephone and Hades. There were moments when I wished the author fleshed out the characters a little more as it was sometimes difficult to feel connected to them; however, I tried to appreciate the flawed characters for what they were. I was surprised, but happy to learn that there were more books in this series and can't wait to read more from this author! </span></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-56367898088203179102022-09-28T20:45:00.002-05:002022-09-28T20:45:38.473-05:00Poison Princess by Kresley Cole<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400268065l/20759393.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="475" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400268065l/20759393.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">#1 <i>New York Times </i>bestselling author Kresley Cole introduces The Arcana Chronicles, post-apocalyptic tales filled with riveting action, the dark mysticism of Tarot cards, and breathtaking romance.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">She could save the world--or destroy it.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Sixteen year old Evangeline"Evie" Greene leads a charmed life--until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, killing everyone she loves, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future--and they're still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But she can't do either alone.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can't totally trust Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Who can Evie trust?</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it's not always clear who is on which side...</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Poison Princess</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">New York Times</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> bestselling author Kresley Cole introduces a dark and intriguing world, full of unspeakable danger and irresistible romance.</span><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I don't think I've read a more creative author than Kresley Cole in the young adult genre. I love the idea of characters represented by tarot cards interacting in a barren world recently devastated by an apocalyptic event. The author did not shy away from gruesome scenes and the more bitter aspects of humanity during an apocalypse. Some of it was hard to read, but it gave the book a level of realism when you're reading about human tarot cards. She introduced Evie in the best possible way and slowly developed her character to the point where I was able to look past some of her more annoying traits. I grew invested in her and rooted for her to have a nice outcome in this nasty world. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Evie's "friends" and fellow players varied in levels of development. Some perished immediately in the fight while others befriended Evie. Jack left me unsure of his motives though for Evie's sake I hoped they were pure. The slight love triangle between Jack, Selena, and Evie felt manufactured and fake. I wish this has been left out of the book. The plot was fast-paced and intricately developed. I felt as if Evie was a character the reader could really slip into and feel the scenes of the book with. I plan on reading this series until the end. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">4 Stars<br /></span></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READ</div>Krystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-4779015006412268932022-09-28T20:25:00.000-05:002022-09-28T20:25:42.261-05:00Crown of Crimson by Karina Halle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1650046038l/60190782._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="475" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1650046038l/60190782._SY475_.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><br /><div><span id="freeText14295073334424019272" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">All Hanna Heikkinen wants is to be reunited with her father again. After all, that's why she ventured into the dark and dangerous fantasy world of Tuonela, the Land of the Dead, in order to save his life. But this time her devotion to her father comes at a cost---her growing relationship with Tuoni, the God of Death himself, who held Hanna captive in exchange for her father's life. The last thing she expects is to feel remorse at how she left things with Death, yet the dark and sexy God is all she can think about.<br /><br />Death has always prided himself on never trusting the living, but Hanna's apparent betrayal has left a scar fathom's deep. Vowing revenge on his future bride, and making sure she upholds her end of the bargain, Death sets out across his realm to steal Hanna back, which only fans the flames between them. But Death and Hanna aren't just fighting each other---malevolent Old Gods are rising to power within the realm, magic is being poisoned, and buried secrets are brought to light, secrets that may cause Hanna to lose everyone she loves dear once again.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I am dying to read more from this author. The second book in the Underworld Gods series made me regret reading this book before the third in the series was released. The book picked up right after the first. Hanna and Death remain a swoon worthy couple with an incredible chemistry between them. The author's style of writing is easy to slip into; I enjoy her descriptions and can actually imagine the scene unfolding in front of me. The author's timing in the introduction of Death's ex-wife was perfect. She didn't introduce her too early in the first book, which would have hurt the reader's investment in Death and Hanna's relationship, but she didn't wait too long to introduce little Ms. Drama. Fortunately for the reader, Death's ex-wife was not written to be part of a love triangle. She's just another antagonistic character in Tuonela who is part of a larger scheme to rid Death of his throne. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The characters are developed beyond even that of the first book in the series. Hanna and Death become closer as a couple while still maintaining both humorous and agitating banter. The intimate scenes are out-of-this-world and will make the reader wish they had a personal Death as a partner. The side characters also received more action and development. I loved the author's approach to prophecy and little hints to the reader about what is likely to occur in the next novel. Unfortunately, it's nothing but teasing until we can get our hands on the next in the series!</span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">5 Stars</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-45434339086618550942022-09-18T19:47:00.001-05:002022-09-18T19:47:21.206-05:00River of Shadows by Karina Halle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639747080l/59531495._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="475" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639747080l/59531495._SY475_.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span id="freeText15286725252410256168" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>River of Shadows is an adult dark fantasy romance based on Finnish mythology and the underworld of Tuonela.</b><br /><br />When 24-year old Hanna Heikkinen's estranged father dies, she reluctantly makes the trip to Northern Finland for his funeral. Being in the enchanting land of ice and snow feels miles away from Hanna's busy life back in Los Angeles, especially under the complicated circumstances.<br /><br />But when Hanna discovers that her father's body is missing, that's when things really get weird. A mysterious man, Rasmus, tells Hanna the truth: her father was a powerful shaman who went into Tuonela, the Realm of the Dead, in order to barter for more life, and has been held captive by Tuoni, the God of Death. The only way her father can be freed is if she travels with Rasmus into the mythical underworld to rescue him.<br /><br />Willing to do anything to have a second-chance with her father, Hanna accompanies Rasmus into the dark and bloody realm, traveling via the River of Shadows, stalked by dangerous creatures, monsters, and the living dead, until they finally come into the haunted kingdom ruled by Death and his family.<br /><br />Only for her to be captured and held prisoner by the God of Death himself.<br /><br />Turns out Death is intrigued by Hanna's beauty and fierceness and makes a bargain with her. If she marries him, and spends an eternity in the Realm of the Dead as his wife, he'll set her father free.<br /><br />But even the most noble sacrifices come with hidden costs, and Hanna's might involve the most unexpected of all things: her heart.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This must be one of my favorite finds of the year. I was so surprised with the delicate intertwining of romance, fantasy, intrigue, and comedy. The book starts out with a bang; Hanna, our main character, discovers that her father has passed away and comes for the funeral. After what can only be referred to as "not really a funeral," she ends up in Tuonela (more or less The Underworld). In Tuonela she meets interesting creatures and secondary characters that really help move the story along and add to the already magical plot and storyline. This book has mermaids, monsters, and mushrooms. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The romance was shockingly steamy. I don't think I expected such elaborate depictions of what reminds me of <i>50 Shades of Gray</i>. Tuoni, death, wants to take a second wife and fulfill a peculiar prophecy and Hanna may fit the bill. The scenes went on for several pages and built on each other. They had a bit of a modern feel; I could picture Hanna in "her typical life" worrying about the same issues with online dating guys. I liked how the author meshed old world themes with modern day worries and topics. The ending absolutely killed me and I immediately ran to the library to get a copy of the second in the series. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">5 Stars</span></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-56773601525105466252022-09-15T06:34:00.004-05:002022-09-15T06:34:33.778-05:00The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1645642179l/59808071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="526" height="800" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1645642179l/59808071.jpg" width="526" /></a></div><br /><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The fiercely-anticipated sequel to the #1 <i>New York Times</i> bestseller <i>Once Upon a Broken Heart</i>, starring Evangeline Fox and the Prince of Hearts on a new journey of magic, mystery, and heartbreak.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Not every love is meant to be.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">After Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, betrays her, Evangeline Fox swears she'll never trust him again. Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can. . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This book was absolutely swoon-worthy. My only complaint is that it ended too soon and with too many unanswered questions. Evangeline, "Eva," and Jacks picked up their little flirtatious banter and continued it through most of the book leaving my hanging on each page hoping to see more of a romance blossom. However, Apollo is not "out of the scene" and Eva still tries to maintain a semblance of loyalty to him. Without giving too much away, this book contains a bit of a love triangle without over-emphasizing it. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The scenery and storyline are rich and easy to imagine as the reader is quickly running through the book. I consistently found myself meaning to only read a few chapters, but when I was finished I would have gone through at least fifty pages. If possible, I would recommend that you try to enjoy the book over at least a few days. Enjoying the book will make the heart ache over Eva a little more palatable, too. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The author continues to illustrate fun and memorable supporting characters while giving the reader hints of Jacks' past life and how his past may have shaped him. I loved picking up on some of the backstory and guessing at how the characters will react based on their experiences. The ending, without giving too much away, felt a bit cliché and I am hoping for another in the series so both the reader, Eva, and Jacks aren't left with what occurred the last few chapters. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">5 Stars</span></span></span></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-61634271832983685162022-04-19T02:29:00.001-05:002022-04-19T02:29:45.575-05:00Good Morning, Love by Ashley M. Coleman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1648408734l/59366188.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="525" height="800" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1648408734l/59366188.jpg" width="525" /></a></div><br /><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>For fans of <i>My (Not So) Perfect Life</i> and Jasmine Guillory’s <i>While We Were Dating</i>, a disarmingly fun debut novel follows Carlisa Henton as her life comes undone after a chance meeting with a rising pop star</b>.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Carlisa “Carli” Henton is a musician and songwriter hoping to follow in her father’s musical footsteps. But, biding her time until she makes it big in the music industry, she works as a junior account manager at a big-name media company to cover her New York City rent. Carli meticulously balances her work with her musical endeavors as a songwriter—until a chance meeting with rising star Tau Anderson sends her calculated world into a frenzy. Their worlds collide and quickly blur the strict lines Carli has drawn between her business and her personal life, throwing Carli’s reputation—and her burgeoning songwriting career—into question.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A smart, timely, energizing romance, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Good Morning, Love</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> shows us what the glamorous New York’s music scene is really like and takes us into the lives of a rising but somewhat troubled R&B star and a promising protégé who knows her job better than she knows herself.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">With fresh and honest prose, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Good Morning, Love</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> examines the uncertainty of being a new professional looking to chase a dream while also trying to survive in a world that’s not always kind to ambitious women.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">I can still remember when I learned the difference between a driven, confident woman vs a man. This novel has so many layers to it, but one of the subjects that I feel it touches on very well is how a woman like Carli can be viewed in a world where being a professional woman means that any misstep is heavily penalized. I liked Carli as a person. She has goals and values her achievements. When the author chose to throw a love interest in the mix I was a little disappointed that the book didn't focus solely on Carlie; however, I grew to like the somewhat antagonist feel of the relationship between Carlie and Tau. Their relationship is not one that I'm used to reading about in this genre. I felt like it was a bit like You Tarzan, Me Jane and it was unexpected for me. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">The plot itself didn't have a particularly fast pace, but I enjoyed reading this book over the course of a few days. The scenes were well-thought out and there wasn't too much fluff in the novel despite having a love story at its center. I suppose I would have liked to see a little further development with their relationship and I had a bit of trouble connecting with Tau initially. The ending surprised me; I thought that the reader would get to learn a little more about what ended up happening to Carlie than they did. Overall, this is a lovely book to take with on an airplane or on the way to the beach. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">3 1/2 Stars</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-87178977777122214942022-04-19T02:18:00.003-05:002022-04-19T02:18:37.218-05:00Bad Things Happen Here by Rebecca Barrow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1649384425l/59365293.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="529" height="800" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1649384425l/59365293.jpg" width="529" /></a></div><br /><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>I Killed Zoe Spanos</i> meets <i>The Cheerleaders</i> in this haunting mystery about an island town with a history of unsolved deaths—and a girl desperate to uncover the mystery behind it all.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Luca Laine Thomas lives on a cursed island. To the outside world, Parris is an exclusive, idyllic escape accessible only to the one percent. There’s nothing idyllic about its history, though, scattered with the unsolved deaths of young women—deaths Parris society happily ignores to maintain its polished veneer. But Luca can’t ignore them. Not when the curse that took them killed her best friend, Polly, three years ago. Not when she feels the curse lingering nearby, ready to take her next.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When Luca comes home to police cars outside her house, she knows the curse has visited once again. Except this time, it came for Whitney, her sister. Luca decides to take the investigation of Whitney’s death into her own hands. But as a shocking betrayal rocks Luca’s world, the identity Whitney’s killer isn’t the only truth Luca seeks. And by the time she finds what she’s looking for, Luca will come face to face with the curse she’s been running from her whole life.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I was surprised by how much I liked this story. Parris, a decadent island only available to the elites of the world, was really fun to think about. I thought the world-building was really in-depth and detailed; I could practically visualize the setting in my mind and picture the characters walking around this idyllic little world. Unfortunately, this world is far from perfect. Every once in a while an unexplained death or disappearance takes place and the victim is always a young female. Luca's life has been touched twice by this "curse." First, she lost her best friend to an unusual drowning and then her sister is the victim of a sad murder. Luca resolves to discover the true cause behind these deaths even as she feels the curse coming for her. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Luca's character was intricately written. She was flawed in her own way, but I found her one of the few "heroines" that I truly enjoyed consistently reading about. I admired her dedication to her family and friends and her determination to try to make things right for them. She has some trouble with her anxiety, depression, and self-harm/doubt thoughts, but the book doesn't fixate on her mental issues. Instead, Luca's mental health struggles are depicted more realistically and the character has developed coping mechanisms. She also enjoys a romance with the girl who moves into her best friend's old house. The romance is the light-hearted, sweet, and innocent part of the story. It felt almost untouchable even amongst the mystery and murders. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">The author managed to make the intrigue behind the so-called curse a slow reveal. There were portions that I still think about and definitely didn't guess ahead of time. I really liked the thought process that went into the plot and I'm looking forward to reading more from Rebecca Barrow in the future!</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">4 Stars</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1368699999376978668.post-65140568798263974532022-04-19T02:07:00.000-05:002022-04-19T02:07:01.784-05:00We Made It All Up by Margot Harrison<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1633548644l/58363606._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="475" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1633548644l/58363606._SY475_.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Celeste is the talk of the town when she moves to Montana from Montreal, but the only friend she makes is Vivvy, the heir to the town’s name and a social pariah. Inspired by a passion-fueled school incident, they begin writing a love-story fan fic between the popular guy and the school stoner, one that gradually reveals Celeste’s past. While their bond makes Celeste feel safe and alive again, Vivvy keeps prodding Celeste to turn fantasy into reality. When they finally try, one drunken night on a dark mountainside, Celeste is the one who ends up kissing golden boy Joss. And Joss ends up dead.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Celeste doesn’t remember the end of that night and can’t be sure she didn’t deliver the killing blow. Could she still be that scared of getting close to a boy? Secrets are hard to keep in a small town, and even Vivvy seems to suspect her. Exploring the winding passages of the cave where Joss died, Celeste learns he had his own dark secrets, as does Vivvy. The town isn’t as innocent as it appears.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Summary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This book seemed more October-ish than an April read to me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm not used to reading "fan fiction," much less fan fiction written about people around me. In this novel, Celeste and Vivvy write fan fiction about their classmates that quickly blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. The world-building in this book is superb. The author uses a "now/then" format with time stamps to ensure the reader can follow along with the plot and build anticipation up before that fateful day when their classmate dies. I found myself actually nervous for the eventual recounting of that day as the time stamps drew nearer. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">I love books that focus on female friendship. Admittedly, this friendship is a little different, but Celest and Vivvy have a strong and intriguing friendship that grows deeper as the book progresses. It's nice to take a break from books that focus on teen romance. I was very surprised by the ending. Some of the ending is probably more predictable than I was able to guess at; however, the bulk of the rationale and detail behind what really happened is like a slow unspooling of a really long mystery. I felt like the author had put a good deal of thought into the plot and ending and resolved a lot of loose threads for me at the end - so much so that I forgot about some of the loose threads that didn't feel entirely resolved or resolved all too quickly. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">4 Stars</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READKrystal Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13486103244732116679noreply@blogger.com0