Archive for February 2018

Well, look who has, in half a year, become up-to-date with the book world -- enough to write a "10 MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS POST".

I wanted to write another Valentine's themed post but LOL NO my brain didn't cooperate. So instead of a romantic post (haha) you get one more bookish one, and honestly, this is so much more my thing XDD

So, carrying on ...

10. Fallen Leaves

by Tessa Emily Hall

Hi look, this is the sequel for Purple Moon!! I'm hoping Fallen Leaves will do a great job at wrapping up story lines and mysteries from book one. Tessa did an amazing job with Purple Moon; it was about an artistic girl and a lovely lakeside town and a coffee shop job and church kids and teen hardships and the challenge of change and redemption (and a romance was a tad too speedy in my opinion). I'm really looking forward to the sequel.

9. Love Needs No Words

by Faith Potts

"Home from college for the summer, Shay Williams has many plans. Crossing paths with her childhood crush was not on the list. Yet when Daniel Rogers, a young mute man, reappears in her life, the friendship that once blossomed between them is rekindled."

I saw the synopsis for this and I WAS HOOKED. I've always wanted some DISABILITY in a romance, and I have great confidence in Faith, and she writes lovely romance, SO THERE. I'M ALL IN.

8. Fighting Back (or whatever it will be renamed)

by Ivie Brooks

"Their lives change as the government gains power and starts trying to control every detail of life. Underground rebellions come forward and begin to grow. Betrayal makes all things seem lost."

AHHHHHH EEEEHHHH. Ok, let me calm down for a moment here. I'm SO SO SO EXCITED for Ivie's first indie book, which is a contemporary/dystopian mesh, and having read the first couple of chapters I'M SO STOKED TO SEE HOW IT WILL TURN OUT.

7. Thunderhead

by Neal Shusterman

This was actually released already, and I just borrowed it from the library. I'm a huge fan of Scythe. It was about a utopian society governed by a huge computer brain and since death is no longer a threat of any kind, SOME PEOPLE need to be in charge or curbing the ever growing population. The first book was pure genius and I hope this one is too. :D

6. The Lost Continent

by Tui T. Sutherland

The Lost Continent (Wings of Fire, #11)

THE WINGS OF FIRE SERIES, which is all about dragons, is getting a book 11!!! Books 1 to 5 tell one story (following one prophecy) and books 6 to 10 tell another story (following another prophecy) and I'M HOPING THE NEXT FIVE BOOKS LIVE UP TO THE FIRST TEN. You seriously NEED to go get the first ten nooks because they are about prophecies and chosen ones and arena fights and lost heirs and mysterious murders and kidnapping plots and THE END OF THE WORLD pretty much ... so yes XD

5. The 49th Mystic
by Ted Dekker

The 49th Mystic (Beyond the Circle #1)

TED DEKKER! TED DEKKER! My favorite author! and THE CIRCLE SERIEEEEEEES!!!!! *ahem* apologies, everyone. But the Books of History Chronicles is my all time favorite fantasy series and THERE WILL BE ONE MORE BOOK. I cannot believe it!! Other Earth is pretty much my fantasy home and if you haven't read these books before GO DO SO RIGHT NOW.

4. Worlds Beneath

by K. A. Emmons

The Blood Race was a remarkable story about super powers, alternate realities, your true identity, and brokenness... and I NEED BOOK TWO IN MY LIFE. You do too!! The best part of this series is the connection between the past, present, and future -- AND THE DIMENSION. The writing is gorgeous, and LOOK AT THE COVER PLEASE. JUST LOOK.

3. Porch Swing Girl

by Taylor Bennett

EEEP :DD I have already READ this, but it won't be released until May. BUT IT'S STILL A NEW FAVORITE OF MINE!!! The gorgeous cover, the lovely Hawaiian setting, the beautiful characters, and the engaging premise and conflict. YOU NEED THIS AS SOON AS IT COMES OUT. (Don't worry - I'll be reviewing and promoting this later on lol.)

2. A Thousand Perfect Notes

by C. G. Drews

A Thousand Perfect Notes

BY OUR VERY OWN PAPER FURY, CAIT. We've all been waiting for Cait to publish a book for soooo loooong, and NOW IT'S HAPPENING. I'm so going to preorder this as soon as it's closer to the publication date :DD I think it's about an obsessive parent and a pianist and a true love and a Australian setting so ...you should go look it up!!

1. Fawkes

by Nadine Brandes

Fawkes

The plan: use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow up the Igniter King.

The problem: Doing so will destroy the family of the girl Thomas loves. But backing out of the plot will send his father and the other plotters to the gallows. To save one, Thomas will lose the other.

YAY AND HURRAY Nadine Brandes is publishing A HISTORICAL FANTASY STANDALONE ABOUT THE GUN POWDER PLOT!!! This has to everyone's most anticipated of the year - it even won an award for that ;)

Ok, now for a quick announcement: I'M GOING ON HIATUS FOR THE REST OF FEBRUARY. I have a lot of deadlines to catch up on, so I don't want blogging and commenting to get in the way. I'll still be reading your posts, so no worries ;) I won't completely disappear. Until I see you again, go and add these great books to your tbrs!!!

What is your number one anticipated release??

I was tagged for this GENIUS CHALLENGE this week by Savannah and it was very kind of her, considering that I HAD ALMOST STOLEN THIS FROM TRACEY EARLIER! This was invented by Madeline at Short and Snappy, and if Comp Titles sounds strange, I shall explain momentarily.

To quote Madeline herself, a comp (comparison) title is a book that is similar to your story in either content, genre, format, anything of that sort. It’s most often used as a marketing tool to help authors pique the interests of their readers. Just as an example, The Blood Race by K. A. Emmons was marketed as "The Raven Boys meets A Wrinkle in Time meets The Giver". (<< perfect)

So now, the rules:

- pick a few of your WIPs -

- give them some comp titles -

- tag a few people -

- have fun -

This is going to be haaard... and fun XD Let's look on the bright side: YOU ALL GET TO BE INTRODUCED TO MY NEW WIPS!! XD And just like Sav, I'm going to do five stories ...

- deep within her veins -

Red Queen meets The Winner's Curse meets Robin Hood

My brainstorming buddy Karyssa and I took a long time to come up with this title (ok so we were joking and laughing our heads off half the time) but I'm quite delighted with it! Deep Within Her Veins is a fantasy based on this premise, "what if in a fantasy kingdom there are people with superpowers, and what if these people were hunted for a bounty?"

About the comp titles: Red Queen because it's about a people divided by their possession or lack of super powers and there's a villain queen; The Winner's Curse because it's about a general's daughter who doesn't like fighting and makes friends with the enemy; and Robin Hood because the hunted are a group of outlaws living in the woods and stealing from others to survive.

- the first boy tooth fairy -

Rise of the Guardians meets Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes meets Cordelia Funke

This book is dedicated to my sister who came up with the idea of "a first boy tooth fairy". And that's pretty much all I've figured out so far - THE TOOTFAIRIES ADOPT A BOY.

About the comp titles: Rise of the Guardians because of the toothfairies and the mythical/legendary/fairytale mood; Peter Nimble because (even though I haven't finished the book) it's middle grade, and it's magical, and it's has the mood; and Cordelia Funke because even though I haven't finished any of her books I love her style and the half real/half magical worlds of hers are what I'm aiming for.

- the 101st human -

Robinson Crusoe meets The Maze Runner meets A Time to Die meets the story of Moses

This was based on a prompt from Abigayle Claire: what measures must be taken to keep the population of an island at the safest number of exactly 100 people? The 101st Human, as I'm sure you figured, shows that ... things have got a bit against the plan...

About the comp titles: Robinson Crusoe because it's all set on an island; The Maze Runner because our characters are always running and it gets really creepy as things go on; A Time to Die because there's a girl and a boy and younger child and they move around continuously and I hope to bring in something about God like Nadine did; the story of Moses because there's a baby that has to be hidden because it shouldn't be alive.

(oh and I just thought that it might have a similar setting and hopefully relatively similar creep level as the three episode movie And Then There Were None. *shudders*)

- cassandra -

Disney princesses meets Melanie Dickerson meets the Dragon Keeper Chronicles meets Westmark

This one, guys, has been my baby since I was twelve? It began as an "evil queen and two evil stepdaughter take over the kingdom from true-heir-daughter-of-the-king when he dies" and it had a handsome knight (who looks relatively like Caspian in the movie) and a love triangle (!! yes I thought that was very original when I conceived it) :P Now though, it has developed into this idea: usually an ordinary kid finds out she is actually the lost heir. But this time, the soon to be queen finds out, she is not royalty.

About the comp title: Disney princesses because who can ever beat Disney at princesses? Melanie Dickerson because she has the best fairy tale (aka princess) stories set in Medieval Europe and my fantasy land is pretty much like Medieval Europe. Also Dragon Keeper because I hope to have as much color and humor and adventure and the same kinds of CITIES. And Westmark, because the setting and and the characters give me the same vibes and mood.

- made of dust -

Little Women meets Fangirl meets Purple Moon meets What Light

This is my first ever contemporary! And ... it's so hard because I CANNOT CREATE AN EVIL VILLAIN TO BE MY CONFLICT. But it's about a half-Chinese girl and her family who get to know a family with five adopted kids - all the kids are of different nationalities (that might be super unrealistic idk, but hey! It's my novel!)

About the comp titles: Little Women because it's pretty much similar idea but set today and a flip of four boys and one girl instead haha. Fangirl because I want that much intensity in the internal conflicts. Purple Moon because I want that much light and goodness to shine through. And What Light because I want it to be as cute and lovable as that.

Okay what did everyone think?

And now on to the tagging!

Christine @ Musings of an Elf

Angela @ The Peculiar Messenger

Gray @ Writing is Life

Sarah @ The Introverted Extrovert

Julian @ Saver of Memories

Marrok @ Marrok McIntyre

Ivie @ Ivie Writes

so what did you think of my wips?

and my comp titles?

HI LOOK WHO DECIDED TO POST ON A WEDNESDAY.

I realised I had this review already typed up and I'd promised this full series review to someone who asked and HADN'T KEPT MY PROMISE so here it finally is (sorry it took forever).

I remember why I decided to read this series. There was a lot of hype about The Evaporation of Sofi Snow and I was interested, so I went to check if my library had it. #nope Overdrive? Nope. But there was the Storm Siren trilogy, so I decided to test this author out. The idea of a siren and slave really got to me.

Unfortunately the kid was an elemental not a siren, and she only spent some five chapters as a slave so that was a tad disappointing? And I half expected the "Christian author" aspect to shine through more clearly -- I thought the Creator would play a bigger role, but idk ... didn't happen? Otherwise it was good!

Storm Siren

“I raise my chin as the buyers stare. Yes. Look. You don’t want me. Because, eventually, accidentally, I will destroy you.”

In a world at war, a slave girl’s lethal curse could become one kingdom’s weapon of salvation. If the curse—and the girl—can be controlled.

As a slave in the war-weary kingdom of Faelen, seventeen-year-old Nym isn’t merely devoid of rights, her Elemental kind are only born male and always killed at birth — meaning, she shouldn’t even exist.

Standing on the auction block beneath smoke-drenched mountains, Nym faces her fifteenth sell. But when her hood is removed and her storm-summoning killing curse revealed, Nym is snatched up by a court advisor and given a choice: be trained as the weapon Faelen needs to win the war, or be killed.

Choosing the former, Nym is unleashed into a world of politics, bizarre parties, and rumors of an evil more sinister than she’s being prepared to fight . . . not to mention the handsome trainer whose dark secrets lie behind a mysterious ability to calm every lightning strike she summons.

But what if she doesn’t want to be the weapon they’ve all been waiting for?

Set in a beautifully eclectic world of suspicion, super abilities, and monsters, Storm Siren is a story of power. And whoever controls that power will win.

Book one flew by in two days ...

My favorite thing about Nym was that she had white hair!!
Umm ok so maybe not but idk I'm obsessed with white hair!!
Nym was like an infatuating friend -- stubborn and annoyed and determined. Hardcore and strong with those abilities by possessing little self-esteem and confidence
So at first I thought Colin would be the love interest
But lol no it had to be Eogan the trainer himself
whom Nym is always angry with for being so hopelessly attractive
I laughed so hard the entire time they were crushing on each other bc it was so awkwardly funny
Poor guys but honestly I had a hard time putting Eogan in the shoes of the "love interest" for the full book one because HELLO HE IS THE TRAINER CHARACTER (aka mentor)
Setting was kindda average, like I didn't fall in love with it
But it was still a nice fantasy world
I didn't always understand the magic but then, I never do HAHA
It's because I read too fast and have the "attention span of a sparrow" for descriptive/informational scenes
I'm also a professional skim reader!!
Colin was a blast and I loved the poor guy and his sister (*sobs forever bc of certain tragedies)
Adora was downright horrible and I hate her *nods*
Rasha was pretty amazing yes
Cedric was downright awesome whoohoo
DRAEWULF THO >> EPIC VILLAIN if I ever saw one
the action started coming mid-book and I was really really pleased with it!
EPIC BATTLE SCENES THOUGH WOOT MARY WEBER FOREVER WON MY RESPECT WITH THAT CLIMATIC BATTLE (only rivalled by the masters of course)
AHH THAT HORRIBLE TWIST AT THE END HELP (like be proud of me I didn't read it first!!?)
My only problem was that in this one the thing called "lust" in content was rather blatantly staring me in the face -- like WHY SUCH A HUGE FOCUS ON PHYSICAL APPEARANCE? Idk but Nym kept noticing how people touched our ogled or all that so like STOP WILL YOU bc do I need to know this? Not really? Maybe though it was part of her character development ... I'm not all sure

Siren's Fury

I thrust my hand toward the sky as my voice begs the Elemental inside me to waken and rise. But it’s no use. The curse I’ve spent my entire life abhorring—the thing I trained so hard to control—no longer exists.

Nym risked her life to save Faelen, her homeland, from a losing war, only to discover that the shapeshifter Draewulf has stolen everything she holds dear. But when the repulsive monster robs Nym of her storm-summoning abilities as well, the beautiful Elemental realizes herwar is only just beginning.

Now powerless to control the elements that once emboldened her, Nym stows away on an airship traveling to the metallic kingdom of Bron. She must stop Draewulf. But the horrors he’s brought to life and the secrets of Bron are more than Nym bargained for. Then the disturbing Lord Myles tempts her with new powers that could destroy the monster, and Nym must decide whether she can compromise in the name of good even if it costs her very soul.

As she navigates the stark industrial cityscape of Bron, Nym is faced with an impossible choice: change the future with one slice of a blade…or sacrifice the entire kingdom for the one thing her heart just can’t let go.

Now book 2 really kinda dragged out, sorry to say, but WHAT WAS EVEN HAPPENING? I can't remember ...

So there was Myles and idk he's an antihero but I like him more than I should maybe?
There was a lot of Draewulf he plus Eogan had ... err... interesting ... connections (#spoiler info *cough cough*)
Highlight next paragraph for spoilers
So like he and Eogan were in the same body for a while YAY AND HURRAY #conflict (bc killing one would kill the other oh no)
I thought that that was awesome and brilliant and basically redeemed the book somewhat
Also Kell is precious
There's dark powers and bad decisions and torn apart lovers and generally lots of bad and creepy stuff happening
other than that what was the plot about I don't know anymore

Siren's Song

Nym and Draewulf prepare to face off in a battle destined to destroy more lives than it saves.

With the loss of Tulla still fresh in mind, Rasha’s fate unknown, and Lord Myles taken over by the dark ability, Nym and the few Bron soldiers rush to warn Cashlin’s queen. Only to discover it may already be too late for the monarch and her eerie kingdom. As the Luminescents are sifting through Nym’s past memories and the queen is reading into her future, Nym is given a choice of how to defeat Draewulf, but the cost may be more than she can bear. And even then there are no guarantees.

With that reality burrowing into her bones—along with the guilt of the lives she will sacrifice—Nym returns to her homeland of Faelen to raise an army of peasants through promises of freedom. But when the few friends she has left, along with the world and citizens she loves, are staring down the face of a monster and his undead army, will Nym summon every element her blood is capable of controlling . . . or surrender to a different strength—one of sacrifice?

Because in the end, death may be more merciful for them all.

Book three was quite literally AWESOME?

So I didn't expect to love this as much as I did but hello look I did
This was basically battle prep + rally so YES
Nym was finally coming to senses and she's actually developed a huge amount
Probably grew in book 2 while I was bored to death like WHAT DID I MISS THERE?
I also ship Eogan + Nym hurray
Also Myles ... he was ... kinda terrific ...
+ Rasha ^.^
AND THE ENTIRE RESCUE THING WAS LIKE A+ I APPROVE
There was a creepy forest with monsters which was creepy and cool and *nodnod*
ALSO EPIC CLIMATIC BATTLE
GO MARY WEBER
I AM IN LOVE WITH HER CLIMATIC EPIC BATTLES
also slightly cliche dramatic ending but who even cares?
HAPPILY EVER AFTER ... mostly

So in essence this series was made up of ...

cool characters
relatively good fantasy world which I don't really have an inclination to live in
EPIC BATTLES
hugely powerful villain with a deadly ghost army
I appreciate that guy ^^
ACTION ACTION ACTION
awesome twists
character development I don't know how happened
great conflicts (like great in an awesome way and great in a big way)

ALL IN ALL I HAVE TO SAY SPLENDID JOB WITH THIS SERIES MRS. WEBER *applauds*

So unfortunately I found book 2 boring, but I definitely recommend you all to endure that and read the full trilogy, especially if you like magical fantasy!! As a whole the series deserves 4/5 stars from me :D

Oh an extra note here - Nym reminded me so much of Celaena from Throne of Glass (<< is that how you spell her name anyway??)

hard core gal who has killed lots of people - check
slave - check
scarred and tattooed - check
fell in love with trainer guy - check
fought monsters and things from the dead side - check
turned out to be heir or something *coughcough* #spoiler - check

But hey, Throne of Glass is really long and fat and complicated and long winded and has 0000% regard for your feelings or ships so reading Storm Siren would be much simpler *nods*

have you read storm siren?

what are your thoughts?

do you like creepy magical fantasies?

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