BLOG TOUR: A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

Title: A Torch Against the Night

Author: Sabaa Tahir

Series: An Ember in the Ashes #2

Published August 30th 2016 by Razorbill

ISBN: 1101998873 (ISBN13: 9781101998878)

Synopsis:

Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | National Bookstore

Review:

“But you... are no swift-burning spark. You are a torch against the night — if you dare to let yourself burn.”

After reading A Torch Against the Night, I am inclined to believe that Sabaa Tahir knows no chill, because holy freaking wow! I was on the edge of my seat pretty much from the beginning until the end despite the slow pacing in some parts and even after the book ended, it was still pretty difficult to wrap my head around the fact that all of that happened in just one book. I couldn't even fangirl after THAT happened in the end. I was left completely speechless. Just, holy wow.

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: Dorothy Must Die

Author: Danielle Page

Series: Dorothy Must Die #1

Publication date: April 1st 2014

Published by: HarperCollins

Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Synopsis:

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado - taking you with it - you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a yellow brick road - but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm - and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission.

MIDNIGHT SOUL by Kristen Ashley - A Rock Chick Fairy book review

It's finally here!!! My queen, Kristen Ashley's book is now available!!! ~RockChickF

SYNOPSIS

Against his will, Noctorno Hawthorne, an undercover vice cop, finds himself embroiled in magic, mayhem and parallel universes. Too late, he meets an amazing woman only to find she’s destined for his identical twin in another world. 

And things aren’t going real great there. 

Noc is recruited to help save that world. 

What he doesn’t know is his destined love resides there. 

Franka Drakkar wears a mask. A mask she never takes off to protect herself in a world of malice, intrigue and danger. 

When Franka meets Noc and he discovers her secrets, convinced she carries a midnight soul, having shielded herself from forming bonds with anyone, she struggles with accepting his tenderness and care. 

When Noc meets Franka, over wine and whiskey, her masks slips and Noc knows it’s her—only her—and he has to find a way to get her to come home with him. 

And then make her want to stay.

ADD TO GOODREADS

ITUNES | KINDLE | B & N | GOOGLE PLAY | KOBO

Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: Julia Vanishes

Author: Catherine Egan

Series: Witch's Child

ISBN: 9780553524840

Published on: June 7th 2016

Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Synopsis:

Julia has the unusual ability to be…unseen. Not invisible, exactly. Just beyond most people’s senses.

It’s a dangerous trait in a city that has banned all forms of magic and drowns witches in public Cleansings. But it’s a useful trait for a thief and a spy. And Julia has learned—crime pays.

Her latest job is paying very well indeed. Julia is posing as a housemaid in the grand house of Mrs. Och, where an odd assortment of characters live and work: A disgraced professor who keeps forbidden books and sends her to fetch parcels containing bullets, spiders, and poison. An aristocratic houseguest who is locked in the basement each night. And a mysterious young woman with an infant son who is clearly hiding—though from what or whom?

Worse, Julia has a creeping suspicion that there’s a connection between these people and the killer leaving a trail of bodies across the frozen city.

The more she learns, the more she wants to be done with this unnatural job. To go back to the safety of her friends and fellow thieves. But Julia is entangled in a struggle between forces more powerful than she’d ever imagined. Escape will come at a terrible price.

And even a girl who can vanish can’t walk away from her own worst deeds.

Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Paper Towns by John Green: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: Paper Towns

Author: John Green

Release date: September 22nd 2009

Released by: Speak

ISBN: 9780142414934

Rating: 4.5/5 fairy wings

Synopsis:

Who is the real Margo?

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...

Review:

Paper Towns is quite possibly my most favourite out of the four JG books I’ve read (this, Looking for Alaska, Abundance of Katherines, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson). What I ultimately loved about Paper Towns, however, is that this isn’t your typical YA novel that I’ve always thought it was. This actually closely resembles Looking for Alaska in ways that the female protagonist is a huge influence to the main protagonist. That said, Paper Towns isn’t a love story, but a story about Quentin Jacobsen’s journey to self-discovery.

Black Beast by Nenia Campell: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: Black Beast

Author: Nenia Campbell

Series: Shadow Thane #1

Release date: April 2nd 2014

ISBN:9781310692048

Synopsis:

She walks the line between the hunter and the hunted.

Vampires want her blood.

Witches consider her less-than-human.

Slayers simply want her dead.

As if being in high school wasn't hard enough, Catherine Pierce has to deal with a whole other set of problems that arise from being a shifter that hasn't settled. Because after puberty, shifters are supposed to stop changing--and Catherine, well, hasn't.

Even among her own kind, Catherine is regarded as a freak.

To make matters worse, she'd caught the attention of the witches' Council because they think she's been dabbling in dark magic because of a stupid old book that popped up at her work. And she's been having nightmares about a terrifying man who calls himself the Shadow Thane and plans to end the world in a burst of darkness and dragon fire.

Just in case that wasn't enough, a branch of Slayers are infiltrating Catherine's town, under the guise of a community youth group called Sterling Rep.

Times are changing and that means, for Catherine, it's time to Change.

Amazon

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: Flowers for Algernon

Author: Daniel Keyes

Published: May 1st 2015 (o: 1958)

Synopsis:

With more than five million copies sold, Flowers for Algernon is the beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance--until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?

Buy on: Amazon

Review:

I tend to avoid tear-jerker books so I held off from reading Flowers for Algernon for years. But now that I'm specifically looking for books that will make me cry and because I've just finished reading Nicola Yoon's Everything, Everything which basically was my final trigger, on one hand, this was a disappointment. However, on the other, Flowers for Algernon brings a story that's unlike any other and in that regard, this was anything but a disappointment.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: Everything, Everything

Author: Nicola Yoon

Published on: Published September 1st 2015

Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Synopsis:

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: The Crown's Game

Author: Evelyn Skye

Published on: May 7th 2016

Published by: Balzer + Bray

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?

For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.

And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.

As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository 

Confessions by Kanae Minato: A book review by Poppy Fairy

Title: Confessions

Author: Kanae Minato

Translated by: Stephen Snyder

Published on: August 19th 2014

Published by: Mulholland Books

Purchase link: Amazon

Synopsis:

Her pupils killed her daughter. Now, she will have her revenge.

After an engagement that ended in tragedy, all Yuko Moriguchi had to live for was her four-year-old child, Manami. Now, after a heartbreaking accident on the grounds of the middle school where she teaches, Yuko has given up and tendered her resignation.

But first, she has one last lecture to deliver. She tells a story that will upend everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a maniacal plot for revenge.

Narrated in alternating voices, with twists you'll never see coming, Confessions probes the limits of punishment, despair, and tragic love, culminating in a harrowing confrontation between teacher and student that will place the occupants of an entire school in harm's way. You'll never look at a classroom the same way again.

Review:

Just a heads up that this is going to be spoilery. It’s up to you whether you continue reading or not. I was also spoiled prior to reading this but that never prevented me from being surprised by this book. Spoiler starts after the read more button!

As someone who’s pretty much always updated with anything that has something to do with Japan, I really cannot explain how this book escaped my radar. Confessions by Kanae Minato was originally written in Japanese, published on 2008 in Japan and it even had a movie adaptation (which I’m also not aware of until now.) The book was then adapted into English and was released in 2014.

Confessions is told in an alternating point of views. The first POV was of Ms. Moriguchi, the class adviser, whose 4-year-old girl died from the school grounds because of drowning presumably because of an accident. Her POV focuses on telling the class the real story of how her child died; that it wasn’t an accident but a murder, and that the murderer was a student in her class. The following POVs are then focused on the events that come after the day of Ms. Moriguchi’s confession which was also her last day in teaching at the school.

RELEASE BLITZ: Shameless by Lex Martin + REVIEW by Mauve Fairy +GIVEAWAY

Title: Shameless

Author: Lex Martin

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

 Release Date: April 26, 2016

Blurb

Brady…

What the hell do I know about raising a baby? Nothing. Not a goddamn thing. 

Yet here I am, the sole guardian of my niece. I’d be lost if it weren’t for Katherine, the beautiful girl who seems to have all the answers. Katherine, who’s slowly finding her way into my cynical heart.

I keep reminding myself that I can’t fall for someone when we don’t have a future. But telling myself this lie and believing it are two different things.

Katherine…

When Brady shows up on a Harley, looking like an avenging angel—six feet, three inches of chiseled muscle, eyes the color of wild sage, and sun-kissed skin emblazoned with tattoos—I’m not sure if I should fall at his feet or run like hell. Because if I tell him what happened the night his family died, he might hate me. 

What I don’t count on are the nights we spend together trying to forget the heartache that brought us here. I promise him it won’t mean anything, that I won’t fall in love.

I shouldn’t make promises I can’t keep.

Shameless is an adult contemporary romance/spinoff featuring a character from The Dearest Series, but it can be read as a complete standalone.

ADD TO GOODREADS

Purchase Links

AMAZON US / UK / UNIVERSAL

B&N / KOBO / iBOOKS

GLOBAL BLOG TOUR: Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

Title: Tell Me Three Things

Author: Julie Buxbaum

Publication date: April 5th 2016

Published by: Delacorte Press

Source: ARC from the publisher

ISBN: 9780399552939

Summary:

Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.

In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?

Julie Buxbaum mixes comedy and tragedy, love and loss, pain and elation, in her debut YA novel filled with characters who will come to feel like friends.

Author Links: Twitter | Goodreads | Website

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository 

BOOK REVIEW: A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE (CHARLOTTE HOLMES, #1) BY BRITTANY CAVALLARO

TITLE: A Study in Charlotte

AUTHOR: Brittany Cavallaro

SERIES: Charlotte Holmes #1

RELEASE DATE: March 1st 2016

RELEASED BY: Katherine Tegen Books

SYNOPSIS:

The last thing Jamie Watson wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who has inherited not only Sherlock’s genius but also his volatile temperament. From everything Jamie has heard about Charlotte, it seems safer to admire her from afar.

From the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else. But when a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Jamie and Charlotte are being framed for murder, and only Charlotte can clear their names. But danger is mounting and nowhere is safe—and the only people they can trust are each other.

Equal parts tender, thrilling, and hilarious, A Study in Charlotte is the first in a trilogy brimming with wit and edge-of-the-seat suspense.

BOOK REVIEW: SOUNDLESS BY RICHELLE MEAD

TITLE: Soundless

AUTHOR: Richelle Mead

RELEASE DATE: November 10th 2015

PUBLISHED BY: Razorbill

SYNOPSIS:

In a village without sound…

For as long as Fei can remember, no one in her village has been able to hear. Rocky terrain and frequent avalanches make it impossible to leave the village, so Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink. Many go hungry. Fei and all the people she loves are plunged into crisis, with nothing to look forward to but darkness and starvation.

One girl hears a call to action…

Until one night, Fei is awoken by a searing noise. Sound becomes her weapon.

She sets out to uncover what’s happened to her and to fight the dangers threatening her village. A handsome miner with a revolutionary spirit accompanies Fei on her quest, bringing with him new risks and the possibility of romance. They embark on a majestic journey from the peak of their jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiguo, where a startling truth will change their lives forever…

And unlocks a power that will save her people.

UNWANTED GIRL by M.K. Schiller: A Book Review by Mauve Fairy

Goodreads

Amazon

When a man loves a woman
 
Recovering addict Nick Dorsey finds solace in his regimented life. That is until he meets Shyla Metha.  Something about the shy Indian beauty who delivers take-out to his Greenwich Village loft inspires the reclusive writer. And when Shyla reveals her desire to write a book of her own, he agrees to help her. The tale of a young Indian girl growing up against a landscape of brutal choices isn’t Nick’s usual territory, but something about the story, and the beautiful storyteller, draws him in deep. 
 
Shyla is drawn to Nick, but she never imagines falling for him. Like Nick, Shyla hails from a village, too…a rural village in India. They have nothing in common, yet he makes her feel alive for the first time in her life. She is not ready for their journey to end, but the plans she’s made cannot be broken…not even by him. Can they find a way to rewrite the next chapter?

LEVELED by JAY CROWNOVER: A Rock Chick Fairy Book Review

To start off my posts for this year, I'd like y'all to know how Jay Crownover's book, LEVELED changed my life. :)

This book is about two men who were meant to meet each other.

It's truly awesome as it is hot! ;)

Read on and find out just what I liked about it!

We all need a hero...let the Saints of Denver begin

Orlando Frederick knows what it is to be leveled by pain. Instead of focusing on his own, he’s made it his mission to help others: sports stars, wounded war vets, survivors of all kinds. But when Dom, a rugged, damaged, sinfully attractive cop, makes his way into Lando’s physical therapy practice, he might be the biggest challenge yet. Lando loved one stubborn man before and barely survived the fallout. He’s not sure he can do it again.

Dominic Voss is a protector. The police badge he wears is not only his job, it’s his identity, so when he’s sidelined because of an injury, the only thing he cares about is getting back on the force. He expects Lando to mend his body, he just doesn’t realize the trainer will also have him working toward a hell of a lot more. As attraction simmers and flares, Dom sees that Lando needs repair of his own...if only the man will let him close enough to mend what's broken.

ADD TO GOODREADS

AMAZON | KOBO | B & N

BOOK REVIEW + GIVEAWAY: THESE SHALLOW GRAVES BY JENNIFER DONNELLY

TITLE: These Shallow Graves
AUTHOR: Jennifer Donnelly
RELEASE DATE: October 27th 2015
PUBLISHED BY: Random House Delacorte Press
SOURCE: Publisher for review
PURCHASE: Amazon

SYNOPSIS:

Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon—like all the girls in her class—she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo secretly dreams of becoming a writer—a newspaper reporter like the trailblazing Nellie Bly.

Wild aspirations aside, Jo’s life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. Charles Montfort accidentally shot himself while cleaning his revolver. One of New York City’s wealthiest men, he owned a newspaper and was partner in a massive shipping firm, and Jo knows he was far too smart to clean a loaded gun.

The more Jo uncovers about her father’s death, the more her suspicions grow. There are too many secrets. And they all seem to be buried in plain sight. Then she meets Eddie—a young, brash, infuriatingly handsome reporter at her father’s newspaper—and it becomes all too clear how much she stands to lose if she keeps searching for the truth. Only now it might be too late to stop.

The past never stays buried forever. Life is dirtier than Jo Montfort could ever have imagined, and the truth is the dirtiest part of all.

BOOK REVIEW + GIVEAWAY: THE GAME OF LIVES (THE MORTALITY DOCTRINE #3) BY JAMES DASHNER

TITLE: The Game of Lives
AUTHOR: James Dashner
SERIES: The Mortality Doctrine #3
RELEASE DATE: November 17th 2015
RELEASED BY: Delacorte Press
SOURCE: Publisher for review
PURCHASE: Amazon

SYNOPSIS:

This game might just kill you.

Michael used to live to game. Now the games he was playing have become all too real. Only weeks ago, Sinking into the Sleep was fun. The VirtNet combined the most cutting-edge technology and the most sophisticated gaming for a full mind-body experience. And it was Michael's passion. But now every time Michael Sinks, he risks his life.

The games are over. The VirtNet has become a world of deadly consequences, and Kaine grows stronger by the day. The Mortality Doctrine - Kaine's master plan - has nearly been realized. If Kaine succeeds, it will mean worldwide cyber domination. And it looks like Michael and his friends are the only ones who can put the monster back in the box - if Michael can figure out who his friends really are.

Other books in the series:

The Eye of Minds

The Rule of Thoughts

BOOK REVIEW: THE RULE OF THOUGHTS (THE MORTALITY DOCTRINE #2) BY JAMES DASHNER

TITLE: The Rule of Thoughts
AUTHOR: James Dashner
SERIES: The Mortality Doctrine #2
RELEASE DATE: August 26th 2014
RELEASED BY: Delacorte Press
PURCHASE: Amazon

SYNOPSIS:

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Maze Runner series comes The Rule of Thoughts, the exciting sequel to The Eye of Minds. Fans of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth and The Hunger Games will love the new Mortality Doctrine series.

Michael completed the Path.What he found at the end turned everything he’d ever known about his life—and the world—completely upside down.

He barely survived. But it was the only way VirtNet Security knew to find the cyber-terrorist Kaine—and to make the Sleep safe for gamers once again. And, the truth Michael discovered about Kaine is more complex than they anticipated, and more terrifying than even the worst of their fears.

Kaine is a tangent, a computer program that has become sentient. And Michael’s completing the Path was the first stage in turning Kaine’s master plan, the Mortality Doctrine, into a reality.

The Mortality Doctrine will populate Earth entirely with human bodies harboring tangent minds. Any gamer who sinks into the VirtNet risks coming out with a tangent intelligence in control of their body.

And the takeover has already begun.