Week 40 Review: Tonight the Streets Are Ours

From Goodreads:
From the author of This Song Will Save Your Life comes a funny and relatable book about the hazards of falling for a person you haven't met yet.

Seventeen-year-old Arden Huntley is recklessly loyal. Taking care of her loved ones is what gives Arden purpose in her life and makes her feel like she matters. But she's tired of being loyal to people who don't appreciate her—including her needy best friend and her absent mom. 

Arden finds comfort in a blog she stumbles upon called "Tonight the Streets Are Ours," the musings of a young New York City writer named Peter. When Peter is dumped by the girlfriend he blogs about, Arden decides to take a road trip to see him.

During one crazy night out in NYC filled with parties, dancing, and music—the type of night when anything can happen, and nearly everything does—Arden discovers that Peter isn't exactly who she thought he was. And maybe she isn't exactly who she thought she was, either. 

My Review:
I enjoyed this book a lot! The beginning was a bit of back and forth, telling the relevant bits of their lives, and then consolidating together for the "night" that was the main part of this book. And that was really awesome to read!

Arden had a slightly strange idea of love. To her, it meant giving everything that she had to that person, to help them. So of course that is hard to reciprocate, and why she felt like she did. It wasn't a healthy idea, and she learns that through this book.

This book was about a life, and how a life can change, and what you can learn. It's about seizing the day-or night-but not going totally crazy. It was about Arden finding out about life outside her own, and realizing how she could change her own. And lots of fun and exploring along the way!

I didn't like Peter all that much. Mostly because I'd read the ending, and knew what was coming. That the truth that he only told his side, not the full, actual truth, to the world through his blog. And what the actual truth was, and how different it was from his, and what he did, just made me not like him!

Totally an awesome book, and I just enjoyed reading it a whole ton!

Author: Leila Sales
Read: September 28th, 2015
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2015 Book!
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Published: September 15th 2015

5/5 Hearts

3/5 Books

3/5 Stars

Week 40 Review: The Secret Sister

From Goodreads:
Did she once have a sister? Has her mother lied all these years? Why? 

After a painful divorce, Maisey Lazarow returns to Fairham, the small island off the North Carolina coast where she grew up. She goes there to heal—and to help her brother, Keith, a deeply troubled man who's asked her to come home. But she refuses to stay in the family house. The last person she wants to see is the wealthy, controlling mother she escaped years ago. 

Instead, she finds herself living next door to someone else she'd prefer to avoid—Rafe Romero, the wild, reckless boy to whom she lost her virginity at sixteen. He's back on the island, and to her surprise, he's raising a young daughter alone. Maisey's still attracted to him, but her heart's too broken to risk… 

Then something even more disturbing happens. She discovers a box of photographs that evoke distant memories of a little girl, a child Keith remembers, too. Maisey believes the girl must've been their sister, but their mother claims there was no sister. 

Maisey's convinced that child existed. So where is she now?

My Review:
Oh, this was such a fantastic book! I enjoyed it so much, it was so great! It was more like her earlier series, before Whisky Creek, a book that was just a little bit darker, and that's awesome, because similarity over and over gets boring, and Brenda Novak books are not boring!

I really enjoyed having the POV's that we got, because it let us in to more of the world, to know why characters were reacting the way they were, because we were, or were going to be in their heads. That was really fantastic!

These characters had some wounds! Maisey and Keith had their mother, who was controlling, and was a bit obsessed with being perfect. Keith was the big trouble maker of the family, and turned to drugs. Maisey lost her baby and then lost her husband to infidelity. And then finding out that she had a sister? Yeah. Kinda important!

While the "secret sister" was a bit part of the book, it didn't start until about 100 pages of about 300. But once it got going, with everything else that was happening, it was just utterly fantastic and awesome to read! Really enjoyed all the twists and turns and the end result! So awesome!

Really, really fantastic book by Brenda Novak, and I can't wait for the sequels, and what those sequels will be about!

Author: Brenda Novak
Series: Fairham Island #1
Read: September 27th, 2015
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: I've really enjoyed her other books, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2015 Book, and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Mira
Published: July 28th 2015

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 40 Review: The One Thing

From Goodreads:
Maggie Sanders might be blind, but she won't invite anyone to her pity party. Ever since losing her sight six months ago, Maggie's rebellious streak has taken on a life of its own, culminating with an elaborate school prank. Maggie called it genius. The judge called it illegal.

Now Maggie has a probation officer. But she isn't interested in rehabilitation, not when she's still mourning the loss of her professional-soccer dreams, and furious at her so-called friends, who lost interest in her as soon as she could no longer lead the team to victory.

Then Maggie's whole world is turned upside down. Somehow, incredibly, she can see again. But only one person: Ben, a precocious ten-year-old unlike anyone she's ever met.Ben's life isn't easy, but he doesn't see limits, only possibilities. After awhile, Maggie starts to realize that losing her sight doesn't have to mean losing everything she dreamed of. Even if what she's currently dreaming of is Mason Milton, the infuriatingly attractive lead singer of Maggie's new favorite band, who just happens to be Ben's brother.

But when she learns the real reason she can see Ben, Maggie must find the courage to face a once-unimaginable future... before she loses everything she has grown to love. 

My Review:
This was such a fantastic book! So enjoyable, with characters that I wanted to read about, especially Maggie, because she does have her flaws, and she was all the more readable because of them! So awesome!

She was a bit of a bad friend, pushing them away because she didn't know how to deal with them with serious issues like her becoming blind. And it causes her issues in this book, With Ben, and Mason, and with her old friends.

I have to say, I loved Maggie's prank. Moving a pretty important school statue to the bathroom, and then putting in footprints, and just they way she described it, was just so hilarious! Sure it was a prank, but I don't think it should've been called illegal. But if it hadn't happened, then she wouldn't have met Ben!

That ending was pretty great! It sucked, the reason why she could see Ben, because it would be hard to take in the clues and put the full picture together! So it was a good thing with things figured out and the music! Just so awesome to read!

Yep, this was a really great, fantastic book, and I need to read more by Marci Lyn Curtis!

Author: Marci Lyn Curtis
Read: September 27th, 2015
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded really fantastic, and it's a DAC Book and a SAC 2015 Book!
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Published: September 8th 2015

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 40 Review: Hunter

From Goodreads:
Centuries ago, the barriers between our world and the Otherworld were slashed open allowing hideous fantastical monsters to wreak havoc; destroying entire cities in their wake. Now, people must live in enclosed communities, behind walls that keep them safe from the evil creatures constantly trying to break in. Only the corps of teen Hunters with lightning reflexes and magical abilities can protect the populace from the daily attacks.

Joyeaux Charmand is a mountain girl from a close knit village who comes to the big city to join the Hunters. Joy thinks she is only there to perform her civic duty and protect the capitol Cits, or civilians, but as cameras follow her every move, she soon learns that the more successful she is in her hunts, the more famous she becomes.

With millions of fans watching her on reality TV, Joy begins to realize that Apex is not all it seems. She is forced to question everything she grew up believing about the legendary Hunters and the very world she lives in. Soon she finds that her fame may be part of a deep conspiracy that threatens to upend the protective structure built to keep dark magic out. The monsters are getting in and it is up to Joy to find out why. 

My Review:
This was a really great and fun book to read! I enjoyed it a whole bunch, there were strange things, like how the world worked after the Diseray or Dies Irae and the Otherworld and Hunters and just plain old magic! Just really awesome to read!

Joy's narration, it told a lot about her. Like how and why she was raised the way she was, that she was obviously a teenager, and a bit about the world, and how it's changed, like there's hot chocolike. And other things that are spelled differently, spelled how they sound. It was a lot of fun to read!

This world, well, the Mountains sounded like basically the most perfect life that could be had in this world of Otherworld creatures. And Apex, well, it was kinda like the Capital in Hunger Games, but a different kind of entertainment, and not quite as wild!

For me, as a Christian, a hard part was the Christers. Because when all the bad things were happening, they though that it was the apocalypse, and the Book of Revelation happening, but it wasn't. Then they tried to jump start it by bombing somewhere in the Middle East. Yeah. Not a very glowing future or best representation, but that was in the past, and there was White Knight the Hunter, who was really awesome!

One thing, is that the Hunters must have really incredible memories, what with their 3 colour scheme which identifies them to the camera, though the visuals help, then it's remembering the names! Oh, plus all the training! Their poor brains!

There was something that was a bit strange. Hunters use up a lot of energy between all the fighting and the magic, so they need to eat a lot. But then, Joy mentioned that she'd gone days without eating. So what, she wasn't hunting in that time, or what? Didn't quite make sense!

And oh, that ending, that left us with that mystery, of who was really the bad guy?! And who was the one that was following her, watching her, that wasn't the cams?! Just, mysteries, and so much could happen in the sequel, I can't wait for it!

This was a really long and really enjoyable book! Really enjoyed it, and I really want to and need to read more!

Author: Mercedes Lackey
Series: Hunter #1
Read: September 26th, 2015
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2015 Book!
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Published: September 1st 2015

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 40 Review: Spinning Starlight

From Goodreads:
Sixteen-year-old heiress and paparazzi darling Liddi Jantzen hates the spotlight. But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it's hard to escape it. So when a group of men show up at her house uninvited, she assumes it's just the usual media-grubs. That is, until shots are fired.

Liddi escapes, only to be pulled into an interplanetary conspiracy more complex than she ever could have imagined. Her older brothers have been caught as well, trapped in the conduits between the planets. And when their captor implants a device in Liddi's vocal cords to monitor her speech, their lives are in her hands: One word and her brothers are dead.

Desperate to save her family from a desolate future, Liddi travels to another world, where she meets the one person who might have the skills to help her bring her eight brothers home-a handsome dignitary named Tiav. But without her voice, Liddi must use every bit of her strength and wit to convince Tiav that her mission is true. With the tenuous balance of the planets deeply intertwined with her brothers' survival, just how much is Liddi willing to sacrifice to bring them back?

Haunting and mesmerizing, this retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans strings the heart of the classic with a stunning, imaginative world as a star-crossed family fights for survival in this companion to Stitching Snow.

My Review:
The first thing I want to say, is that while this book has similarities to Stitching Snow-same author, similar covers, retellings set in a futuristic sci fi/fantasy world, and transportation is a plot point, or more in this book, they aren't companion books. They are both stand alones. So now that you know that, on to everything else!

This book was really fantastic! From the characters, to the world, to the plot, everything about this book was fantastic! I loved her inner thoughts, especially her proposed news articles titles to her actions or what was happening to her. So funny!

I must say, that the idea of a society that can't read because they have technology to make it obsolete almost perfectly reasonable, and scary. It's something that I love to do, and that they decided that it wasn't needed for communication...scary, but also sad.

Then again, the writing system of Tiav's world, was so strange and complicated! Like, it started off like ours, but then there were primary and secondary stages, so "T" was primary, then "i" was secondary, then "a" then "v" I think, but maybe not, because when he was doing that, he was enunciating the syllables. Confusing and complicated!

The ending was a bit confusing-I didn't know that they were at that point, I thought they still had a few more to go, and then things were happening, and it was over, and it was bittersweet, but so good to read! But yeah, just a little bit confusing for me, misreading something there!

Really fantastic book, and yeah, R.C. Lewis is a really fantastic author!

Author: R.C. Lewis
Read: September 26th, 2015
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Loved the first book, and it's a 2015 Dystopia Book, 2015 Retelling Reading Challenge, SAC 2015 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Expected Publication: October 6th 2015

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Follow Friday #203, October 2nd

Follow Friday is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers. Follow Friday is hosted by 2 hosts, Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs! For more rules and how to participate, visit one of the hosts. Now for this week's question:

Q: Pick three book characters... Kiss? Marry? Kill?

A: Uh, none for the first two, and for kill, the bad guys that can't be redeemed, that are just bad! They deserve it! What about you guys? Happy reading!







Any or all. I'm not too picky, there's options!

The Reward Challenge Update #211, October 2nd

The Reward Challenge is almost the complete opposite to a book buying ban as you'll end up buying lots of new books throughout the challenge but only after you've completed a certain amount of reading. It was hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly, so thanks to her for starting it!

OK, so I read Spinning Starlight which counts 6 times as a 2015 Dystopia Book, 2015 Retelling Reading Challenge, NetGalley Book, SAC 2015 Book and a WoW Book, Hunter which counts 3 times as a NetGalley Book and a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2015 Book, The One Thing which counts 4 times as a DAC Book, NetGalley Book and a SAC 2015 Book, The Secret Sister which counts 4 times as a NetGalley Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2015 Book, and a WoW Book, Tonight the Streets Are Ours which counts 3 times as a NetGalley Book and a SAC 2015 Book, The Dogs which counts 3 times as a NetGalley Book and a SAC 2015 Book, The Scorpion Rules which counts 4 times as a 2015 Dystopia Book, SAC 2015 Book and a WoW Book, Fans of the Impossible Life which counts 4 times as a DAC Book, Edelweiss Book and a SAC 2015 Book, The Protector Project which counts 5 times as a 2015 Dystopia Book, DAC Book, Tour Review Book and a SAC 2015 Book, On the Edge which counts 3 times as a Edelweiss Book and a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2015 Book, Light of Day which counts 3 times as a Edelweiss Book and a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2015 Book, What We Saw which counts 5 times as a DAC Book, Edelweiss Book, SAC 2015 Book and a WoW Book, The Revenge Playbook which counts 5 times as a Edelweiss Book, SAC 2015 Book, Sophomore Challenge Book, and WoW Book, A Wicked Thing which counts 5 times as a 2015 Retelling Book, DAC Book, Edelweiss Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2015 Book, My Secret to Tell which counts 4 times as a NetGalley Book, SAC 2015 Book and a WoW Book.

So I have 61 counts which translates to $30.50 this week! I'll use it to buy books!

First Lines Friday #220, October 2nd

First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. We encourage all of our fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

-Grab your current read(s)
-Share the first line(s)
-Include the title and author so that other FLF participants can add the book to their TBR Lists!

"'Emmie?' My name lands somewhere between a hiccup and a sob, and my feet stall out on the sidewalk in front of my house. I adjust my grip on the phone, hoping I misheard her tone. This doesn't sound like Chelsea. This voice is breathless. Frightened." -My Secret to Tell by Natalie D. Richards

Yeah, that doesn't sound good! I need to read more! What about you guys? Happy reading!

Dobby's Lump's Story So Far

Dobby had cancer. Maybe he still does, but I'll get to that soon. Dobby used to have two lumps-a fat lump on one side, and another, smaller lump on the other side, near his front leg. But that small lump grew, until it was bigger than the other one.

He had his annual vet visit this summer, and the vet took samples of the growing lump, and told us later that if it grew, then to arrange what became his surgery. And it did grow. So this Tuesday, Dobby didn't get his breakfast, and he had surgery.

Well, it turns out that the lump that had grown, is soft tissue carcinoma. I'm not sure of what kind, since there was a whole bunch listed on a site I looked at, but I was told in a brief conversation with my mom that it's basically a non-harmful one, or as close to non-harmful as a lump that has to be surgically removed can be. If need be, Dobby will just have to have another surgery to remove any leftovers growing back.

The worst thing for me right now, knowing that it's gone, and that he's recovering well, is that I'm not there. I can't see him, pet him, have him give me kisses. I can't cuddle with him, I have to bug my mom for updates. Thankfully, I'm going home tomorrow, so I'll have a night and two days with him. And Winky of course.

Probably the worst bits for him, was the lost breakfast, the cone of shame, and maybe Winky not wanting to be around him because of the cone of shame. They've been running around the backyard of Pope, so the stitches didn't bug him, and while he apparently had a little trouble on the stairs, he learned.

So for Dobby, here's some pictures since I need to see his cuteness to bide me over until I see him in the flesh tomorrow!

Yeah, he-they-are my silly butts!

The Protector Project: Review

From Goodreads:
ENDLESS CARNAGE. ENDLESS QUESTIONS.

Mara is a 16-year-old soldier who's spent years fighting a war that's lasted generations. Wide-eyed children, some just turned thirteen, rarely survive their first fights, despite her best efforts to train and lead them. What she thinks she wants is to uncover the root causes of the war between the Protectors and the masked Gaishan, maybe find a way to end it. But what she really wants is a future—for herself and the others—beyond the battlefield.

Then she's injured in combat, and when an enemy fighter not only heals her wounds but reveals his face, she sees the promise of all she desires. This cunning teen Gaishan has answers to her questions, but first she must commit treason and travel beyond the boundaries of her world. She must brave a place where everything rests on the point of a blade: her loyalties, her friends, her heart.

My Review:
This was a really awesome book! I really enjoyed the world, and the details that were slowly given or gathered, that just grew and grew, and in turn affected so much of this book, it was just fantastic to read all of that!

I really enjoyed reading about Mara, because she's been fighting this war, and she's still around, and even has a leadership position. But she's connected to things that are happening, more than she knows, because there's secrecy surrounding her that she pulls back as the book goes on!

Then there's how everything turned out, with the seeds and the Tree, and territories, and the lies told, seeing as there were no Gaishan, that was just made up for the fight. Which is pretty horrible-a lot of kids died fighting this war. But the good guys won in the end!

With that ending, one of hope, of things happening, well, this could bee a stand alone book. But the bad guys as it turned out, weren't taken off the map, so they're still a threat, so yeah, it could go either way!

Really fantastic book! So enjoyable, and I hope you guys check it out!

Author: Jenna Lincoln
Read: September 30th, 2015
Source: YA Bound Review Copy
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a 2015 Dystopia Book, DAC Book and a SAC 2015 Book!
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Published: July 15th 2015

5/5 Hearts

3.5/5 Books

4/5 Stars

Bio:
Jenna Lincoln loves to read, write, and talk about reading and writing. She spent many happy years as a language arts teacher doing just those things. After dabbling in Firefly and Supernatural fan fiction,
Jenna got serious about building her own imaginary world, big enough to get lost in for a long, long time.

When she comes back to reality, Jenna enjoys her home in beautiful Colorado with her husband and two daughters.

Contact and Buy AKA Links:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Amazon

Random Reads #201, October 1st

Random Reads is a monthly meme (that I'm going to do weekly) hosted by I'm Loving Books to read some books that have been on our TBR piles for a long time. Using Random.org, I got 4895 which turned out to be Twinmaker by Sean Williams! It's been on my TBR pile since June 30th 2014, and I added it because I've gotten some of the series from Edelweiss and they look so good! Happy reading! 

Third Sentence Thursday #216, October 1st

Third Sentence Thursday is a weekly meme which likes to watch fireworks especially while eating a cookie!

1) Take the book you are currently reading and open it to a random page. Share the third full sentence on that page. (If there isn't a third one – like at the end of a chapter or a blank page – you can share the third sentence of the book or just choose another random page.) Feel free to share more than one sentence, if you feel the need to do so.

2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)

3) Post a link to your sentence at Words I Write Crazy (This Blog)

4) Visit one or two of the other blogs to check out their third sentences!

"The bite of the lime." -What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler, page 87.

Sounds a bit yummy!

What are your guy's 3rd lines? Link up below!

Will the Time Come #226, October 1st

Every Thursday I am going to list a book which I really want to read/keep meaning to get to. These are mostly books which have been on my shelf for awhile now but don't have to be, maybe you got it two weeks ago and really want to read it! Thanks to Jodie from Books for Company for this meme!

Want to Join?

-Pick a book you have been meaning to read

-Do a post telling us about the book    

-Link the post up in the linky  

-Visit the other blogs

From Goodreads:

The Fast and the Furious gets a futuristic twist in this action-packed debut!

On corporately controlled Castra, rally racing is a high-stakes game that seventeen-year-old Phoebe Van Zant knows all too well. Phee’s legendary racer father disappeared mysteriously, but that hasn't stopped her from speeding headlong into trouble. When she and her best friend, Bear, attract the attention of Charles Benroyal, they are blackmailed into racing for Benroyal Corp, a company that represents everything Phee detests. Worse, Phee risks losing Bear as she falls for Cash, her charming new teammate. But when she discovers that Benroyal is controlling more than a corporation, Phee realizes she has a much bigger role in Castra’s future than she could ever have imagined. It's up to Phee to take Benroyal down. But even with the help of her team, can a street-rat destroy an empire?

Why the time hasn't come yet...
I don't know! It only came out recently, but yeah, I really want to read it! What about you guys? Happy reading! 

Waiting on Wednesday #229, September 30th

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!

Born of Betrayal by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Expected Publication: November 3rd, 2015
From Goodreads:
Years ago, family loyalty caused Fain Hauk to give up everything he loved: His military career. His planet. His fiancée. Even his name.

Now decades later, everything has changed. He’s built a new life out of the ashes of his old, and he’s vowed to never let anything threaten his loved ones again.

But when old enemies align themselves with new ones, he’s caught in the middle of a brutal war. And when fate throws his former fiancée back into his world and she has her own agenda that includes taking his head for what he did to her years ago, more than just his life is at stake. The fate of the Ichidian universe and that of his brothers-in-arms hangs in the balance. Winner take all.

It’s killed or be killed, and never has the battle been more fierce…

Or more fun. 

All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Expected Publication: November 3rd, 2015
From Goodreads:
Three casinos. Three bodies. Three days.

After a string of brutal murders in Las Vegas, Cassie Hobbes and the Naturals are called in to investigate. But even with the team's unique profiling talents, these murders seem baffling: unlike many serial killers, this one uses different methods every time. All of the victims were killed in public, yet the killer does not show up on any tape. And each victim has a string of numbers tattooed on their wrist. Hidden in the numbers is a code—and the closer the Naturals come to unraveling the mystery, the more perilous the case becomes.

Meanwhile, Cassie is dealing with an equally dangerous and much more painful mystery. For the first time in years, there's been a break in her mother's case. As personal issues and tensions between the team mount, Cassie and the Naturals will be faced with impossible odds—and impossible choices. 

Ten Thousand Skies Above by Claudia Gray
Expected Publication: November 3rd, 2015
From Goodreads:
In this sequel to A Thousand Pieces of You by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray, Marguerite races through various dimensions to save the boy she loves.

Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents' invention, to cross through to alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse—even hurt the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked, and his consciousness is scattered across multiple dimensions.

The hunt for each splinter of Paul's soul sends Marguerite racing through a war-torn San Francisco, the criminal underworld of New York City, and a glittering Paris where another Marguerite hides a shocking secret. Each dimension brings Marguerite one step closer to rescuing Paul. But with every trial she faces, she begins to question the one constant she's found between the worlds: their love for each other.

Oh, the 3rd has a lot of really fantastic books coming out! I can't wait for them! I want to read them, they look so fantastic! Plus, oh man, these authors and series, are so awesome! What about you guys? Happy reading!