31 May, 2017

30 May, 2017

REVIEW: VICIOUS by V. E. Schwab

Title: Vicious
Author: V. E. Schwab
Series: Villains #1
Genres: Adult, Science Fiction
Publisher: Titan Books
Release: January 10th, 2014
Source: Kindle Edition
Pages: 366

Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon // 

BLURB: Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

29 May, 2017

28 May, 2017

REVIEW: MERRICK by Anne Rice


Title: Merrick
Author: Anne Rice
Series: Vampire Chronicles #7
Genres: Paranormal, Classics, Gothic
Publisher: Mass Market Paperback
Release: 2001
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 370

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
When last the vampire Lestat was seen, he was rising from the dead in present-day New Orleans to walk again among Anne Rice's unforgettable undead. Now Lestat lives again, but in a twilight world of music and memory.

His charismatic friend Louis de Pointe du Lac is tortured by the memory of the child vampire, Claudia, whom he loved and lost. He calls on Merrick, young and gorgeous mixed-race by-blow of the rich New Orleans Mayfair clan. To save Louis' sanity, Merrick must use her black witchcraft to call up the ghost of Claudia - however dangerous this may be. There are other Mayfair spirits who will not lie still, and her search takes her close to the edge, through blood and terror, ritual and violence.

Sweeping from New Orleans to the Brazilian jungle and the island of Haiti, this is vampire literature at its most tantalising, sexy and irresistible.


27 May, 2017

BLOGGING 101: Free Books

It is no secret that book bloggers get free review copies also known as ARC (advanced reader copy). Actually, many blogs have been started just to be able to get your hands on the goodies and ours was not an exception. Besides the love for books and wish to share our thoughts with other book lovers Laura and I did talk a lot about getting free books. How? Well that is exactly what I will tell you today!

However, before we get into all the ways to get free books please keep in mind that these books are not really free. When an author/publisher agrees to provide you a free book for a review you are entering a contract to actually read and review this book in a certain time period. I know many bloggers who ask for tons of ARCs just end up not reading most of them. This is not okay! So please, if you are looking for ARCs always first consider if you are really going to read this book and review it, authors and publishers depend on you!

26 May, 2017

REVIEW: ELUSION by Claudia Gabel


Title: Elusion
Author: Claudia Gabel
Series: Elusion #1
Genres: YA, Science fiction, dystopian
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release: 2014
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 382

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
Soon, Elusion® will change the world and life as we know it.

A new technology called Elusion is sweeping the country. An app, visor and wristband will virtually transport you to an exotic destination where adventure can be pursued without the complications—or consequences—of real life.

Regan is an Elusion insider. Or at least she used to be. Her father invented the program, and her best friend, Patrick, heir to the tech giant Orexis, is about to release it nationwide. But ever since her father’s unexpected death, Regan can’t bear to Escape, especially since waking up from the dream means crashing back to her grim reality.

Still, when there are rumors of trouble in Elusion—accusations that it’s addictive and dangerous— Regan is determined to defend it. But the critics of Elusion come from surprising sources, including Josh, the handsome skeptic with his own personal stakes. As Regan investigates the claims, she discovers a disturbing web of secrets. She will soon have to choose between love and loyalty…a decision that will affect the lives of millions.

Suspense, thrills, and romance fuel this near-future story about the seductive nature of a perfect virtual world, and how far one girl will go to uncover the truth behind the illusions.


25 May, 2017

REVIEW: DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor


Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1
Genres: Fantasy, YA, Angels
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release: 2011
Source: Audiobook/Paperback
Pages: 422

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?


24 May, 2017

23 May, 2017

REVIEW: LABYRINTH LOST by Zoraida Córdova

Title: Labyrinth Lost
Author: Zoraida Córdova
Series: Brooklyn Brujas #1
Genres: YA, Fantasy, LGBT+
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release: September 6th, 2016
Source: Kindle Edition
Pages: 336

Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon // 

BLURB: Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.
I fall to my knees. Shattered glass, melted candles and the outline of scorched feathers are all that surround me. Every single person who was in my house – my entire family — is gone.

Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can’t trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange markings on his skin.

The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland…

Beautiful Creatures meets Daughter of Smoke and Bone with an infusion of Latin American tradition in this highly original fantasy adventure.

"A seamless blend of fantasy and Latinx culture, Labyrinth Lost feels both strikingly authentic and badly needed: in the overwhelming white world of YA literature, a cast of characters comprised almost entirely of people of color—combined with a fantasy world both inspired by a non-white culture and written by a member of that culture—is sure to change the lives of many teens who rarely see themselves reflected in the books they read. But there is another layer of importance to the novel, and that is Alex’s bisexuality. Presented matter-of-factly, without any cheesy plot twist attached, her bisexuality becomes visible but not defining, and the mere fact of its healthy portrayal makes it essential to a group of queer people long erased in mainstream media." --Lambda Literary.

22 May, 2017

21 May, 2017

REVIEW: THE VAMPIRE ARMAND by Anne Rice


Title: The Vampire Armand
Author: Anne Rice
Series: Vampire Chronicles #6
Genres: Paranormal, Classics, Gothic
Publisher: Mass Market Paperback
Release: 2000
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 457

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
Armand until now has played a small role in the Vampire Chronicles. Here he assumes center stage, relating his five hundred years of life to fledgling vampire David Talbot, who plays amanuensis to Armand as he did to Lestat ... It's not just the epic plot but Rice's voluptuary worldview that's the main attraction ... Elegant narrative has always been her hallmark ... Rice is equally effective in showing how Armand eventually loses his religion and becomes "the vagabond angel child of Satan," living under Paris cemeteries and foundling the Grand Guignol-ish Theatre des Vampires. In the twentieth century, a rehabilitated Armand regains faith but falls in love with two children who save his life. By the conclusion of Armand, the pupil has become the mentor.


20 May, 2017

Saturday Tag



Welcome dear readers, to yet another Saturday Tag, where the fun never stops!

Today I am joined by   and together we will complete this fun tag:

BOOKS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

19 May, 2017

REVIEW: THE MIST by Stephen King


Title: The Mist
Author: Stephen King
Series: - 
Genres: Horror, Thriller
Publisher: Signet
Release: October, 2nd 2007
Source: Paperback
Pages: 230

// Goodreads /

BLURB:
It's a hot, lazy day, perfect for a cookout, until you see those strange dark clouds. Suddenly a violent storm sweeps across the lake and ends as abruptly and unexpectedly as it had begun. Then comes the mist...creeping slowly, inexorably into town, where it settles and waits, trapping you in the supermarket with dozens of others, cut off from your families and the world. The mist is alive, seething with unearthly sounds and movements. What unleashed this terror? Was it the Arrowhead Project---the top secret government operation that everyone has noticed but no one quite understands? And what happens when the provisions have run out and you're forced to make your escape, edging blindly through the dim light?


18 May, 2017

REVIEW: THE BONE SEASON by Samantha Shannon

Title: The Bone Season
Author: Samantha Shannon
Series: The Bone Season #1
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release: 2013
Source: Kindle Edition
Pages: 481

// Goodreads // BookDepository //

SYNOPSIS: The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

17 May, 2017

15 May, 2017

14 May, 2017

REVIEW: KING'S CAGE by Victoria Aveyard

Title: King's Cage
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen #3
Genres: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release: February 7th, 2017
Source: Ebook
Pages: 528

Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon // 

BLURB: In this breathless third installment to Victoria Aveyard’s bestselling Red Queen series, allegiances are tested on every side. And when the Lightning Girl's spark is gone, who will light the way for the rebellion?

Mare Barrow is a prisoner, powerless without her lightning, tormented by her lethal mistakes. She lives at the mercy of a boy she once loved, a boy made of lies and betrayal. Now a king, Maven Calore continues weaving his dead mother's web in an attempt to maintain control over his country—and his prisoner.

As Mare bears the weight of Silent Stone in the palace, her once-ragtag band of newbloods and Reds continue organizing, training, and expanding. They prepare for war, no longer able to linger in the shadows. And Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim on Mare's heart, will stop at nothing to bring her back.

When blood turns on blood, and ability on ability, there may be no one left to put out the fire—leaving Norta as Mare knows it to burn all the way down.

13 May, 2017

Saturday Tag



Welcome dear readers, to yet another Saturday Tag, where the fun never stops!

Today I am joined by  Laura and together we will complete this fun tag:

WOMEN WRITERS TAG

12 May, 2017

REVIEW: BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver


Title: Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Series: -
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release: October 25th, 2010
Source: Kindle
Pages: 470

// Goodreads /

BLURB:
With this stunning debut novel, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today's foremost authors of young adult fiction. Like Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why and Gayle Forman's If I Stay, Before I Fall raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person's life can affect so many others.

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.

Named to numerous state reading lists, this novel was also recognized as a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, The Daily Beast, NPR, and Publishers Weekly. It has been optioned for film by Fox 2000 Pictures.

Supports the Common Core State Standards


11 May, 2017

10 May, 2017

09 May, 2017

REVIEW: WITCH CHILD by Celia Rees


Title: Witch Child 
Author: Celia Rees
Series: Witch Child #1
Genres: YA, Historical, Witches
Publisher: Candlewick Pres
Release: 2002
Source: Audiobook
Pages:  240

// Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon //

BLURB:
Enter the world of young Mary Newbury, a world where simply being different can cost a person her life. Hidden until now in the pages of her diary, Mary's startling story begins in 1659, the year her beloved grandmother is hanged in the public square as a witch. Mary narrowly escapes a similar fate, only to face intolerance and new danger among the Puritans in the New World. How long can she hide her true identity? Will she ever find a place where her healing powers will not be feared?
Just two weeks after publication, Celia Rees's WITCH CHILD spirited its way onto the Book Sense Children's Only 76 list as one of the Top 10 books that independent booksellers like to handsell. Within a month, this riveting book sold out its first two hardcover printings. Now, Candlewick Press is pleased to announce the publication of WITCH CHILD in paperback.


08 May, 2017

07 May, 2017

06 May, 2017

Saturday Tag




Welcome dear readers, to yet another Saturday Tag, where the fun never stops!

Today I am joined by  HannahCassie and together we will complete this fun tag:

MY DYSTOPIAN/FANTASY WORLD

05 May, 2017

04 May, 2017

REVIEW: FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD by Thomas Hardy


Title: Far From the Madding Crowd
Author: Thomas Hardy
Series: -
Genres: Classics
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Release: 27th February 2003
Source: Audiobook
Pages: 433

// Goodreads /

BLURB:
Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. The first of his works set in Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.


03 May, 2017

02 May, 2017

REVIEW: A CONJURING OF LIGHT by V. E. Schwab

SPOILERS OF PREVIOUS BOOKS
Title: A Conjuring of Light
Author: V. E. Schwab
Series: A Darker Shade of Magic #3
Genres: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: Titan Books
Release: February 21st, 2017
Source: Kindle Edition
Pages: 666

Goodreads // BookDepository // Amazon // 

BLURB: Witness the fate of beloved heroes - and enemies.

THE BALANCE OF POWER HAS FINALLY TIPPED...
The precarious equilibrium among four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise.

WHO WILL CRUMBLE?
Kell - once assumed to be the last surviving Antari - begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. And in the wake of tragedy, can Arnes survive?

WHO WILL RISE?
Lila Bard, once a commonplace - but never common - thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.

WHO WILL TAKE CONTROL?
And an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown while a fallen hero tries to save a world in decay.

01 May, 2017

MONDAY TRAVELS: GREENSLEEVES



Happy Monday friends! Following the last weeks vibe for history, we will go few years ahead to Henry VIII times and check out on of the most famous songs ever composed:

So today we are in ENGLAND and we will explore:

GREENSLEEVES TRADITIONAL ENGLISH SONG