Rogue

Rogue: A Valkyrie Tale by Tonya Coffey (2016)
-eARC Review-

Rogue

NA Fiction | Fantasy | Romance
3 Stars
Blurb:

“Clytie, a Valkyrie, finds herself questioning Odin’s orders when Psyche comes for a shape-shifting panther, Storm. He rescues Clytie from a giant and something inside of her changes. A spark ignites, triggering an emotion Valkyries are forbidden to experience. Following her new feelings, she turns her back on all she knows to be with Storm. However, she knows it’s only a matter of time before Odin puts a price on their heads. Odin furious with his Valkyrie for disobeying him, and proving the Well right, accepts the War is coming and Clytie will be the goddess who dethrones him, unless her sister stops her first.”
Goodreads 

Expected Publication Date: September 27, 2016  Continue reading

Cease & Desist

Cease & Desist by Stephen David Hurley (2016)
-eARC Review-

Cease and Desist

YA/NA Fiction | Contemporary | Thriller | Supernatural
3.5 Stars
Blurb:

“What if the secret to being charismatic were actually a gene you could inherit, and pass along to your children. What if this “X-factor” could make you a star? Welcome to the world of Cease de Menich, a sixteen-year-old actress in New York City who gets cast as Joan-of-Arc in a reality-drama, only to discover her “acting gift” has been passed down through her bloodline for almost six-hundred-years. Cease finds the plot of the drama reveals dark secrets from her past–an abusive mother, a brother who committed suicide–and the reader must decide if she’s a reliable narrator or a terrified girl who’s succumb to the pressure of fame and the abuse of her past.  Continue reading

A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (2011)

A Monster Calls

Everybody Fiction | Contemporary | Paranormal
5 stars
Blurb:

“The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming…

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth.”
Goodreads  Continue reading

The Reader

The Reader by M.K. Harkins (2016)
-NetGalley Review-

The Reader

YA Fiction | Paranormal Romance
3 Stars
Blurb:

“Hunted, shot, and without her memory, eighteen-year-old Ann Baker wakes in shallow water on a deserted Pacific Northwest island. She is soon approached by two young men claiming to be her friends. Something isn’t right, but when gunshots sound, Ann is left with little choice but to allow Devon and Archer to help her escape. Soon she finds herself in their North Bend mountain compound, where the higher evolved humans claim to be mind-readers. While Ann heals, she realizes they believe her to be one of the last and most powerful of all – The Lost One.  Continue reading

Of Beast and Beauty

Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay (2013)

Of Beast and Beauty

YA Fiction | Romance | Fantasy/Sci-Fi4.5 starsBlurb:

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret…

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.  Continue reading

Immortal Writers

Immortal Writers by Jill Bowers (2016)
-eARC Review-

Immortal Writers
YA Fiction | Fantasy
3 Stars
Blurb:

“Young up-and-coming author Liz McKinnen has no idea that her life is about to change forever when she comes home from her first book tour. When she’s kidnapped and told by her captors that she has to kill her fantasy book’s antagonist, she thinks that she’s fallen into the hands of crazy, dangerous fans… until her antagonist sends a real, fire-breathing dragon after her. Liz is quickly initiated into the Immortal Writers, a group of authors from throughout time whose words have given them eternal life, and whose prose is so powerful that it’s brought stories over from the Imagination Field into the Reality Field. As Liz meets authors such as William Shakespeare, JRR Tolkien, Edgar Allan Poe, and Jane Austen, she has to learn how to control magic, fight dragons, and face her own troubled past before her power-hungry villain takes over the world. Will she survive the ultimate battle against the dragon lord whom she created?”
Goodreads

Expected Publication Date: November 7, 2016  Continue reading

The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (1961)

The Phantom Tollbooth

Kids Fiction | Fantasy4 StarsBlurb:

“Hailed as ‘a classic. . . . humorous, full of warmth and real invention’ (The New Yorker), this beloved story–first published more than fifty ago–introduces readers to Milo and his adventures in the Lands Beyond.

For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams. . . . ”
Goodreads  Continue reading

The Casual Vacancy

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (2012)

The Casual Vacancy

Fiction | Contemporary3 StarsBlurb:

“A BIG NOVEL ABOUT A SMALL TOWN…

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.
Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.  Continue reading

Cat’s Cradle

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (1963)

Cat's Cradle

Fiction | Sci-Fi | Classic4 StarsBlurb:

“Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut’s cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it …  Continue reading

The Cure for Dreaming

The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters (2014)

The Cure for Dreaming
YA Fiction | Historical | Paranormal
4 Stars
Blurb:

“Olivia Mead is a headstrong, independent girl—a suffragist—in an age that prefers its girls to be docile. It’s 1900 in Oregon, and Olivia’s father, concerned that she’s headed for trouble, convinces a stage mesmerist to try to hypnotize the rebellion out of her. But the hypnotist, an intriguing young man named Henri Reverie, gives her a terrible gift instead: she’s able to see people’s true natures, manifesting as visions of darkness and goodness, while also unable to speak her true thoughts out loud. These supernatural challenges only make Olivia more determined to speak her mind, and so she’s drawn into a dangerous relationship with the hypnotist and his mysterious motives, all while secretly fighting for the rights of women. Winters breathes new life into history once again with an atmospheric, vividly real story, including archival photos and art from the period throughout.”
Goodreads 

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