Tag: Book Blogger

Review: Surving Ice (Burying Water #4) by K.A.Tucker

Surviving Ice (Burying Water #4) by K.A. Tucker

Published by: Atria Books

Date of Publication: October 27th 2015

Genres: New Adult

Pages: 352

Format: e-book

Rating: ★★★★

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

Ivy, a talented tattoo artist who spent the early part of her twenties on the move, is finally looking for a place to call home. She thinks she might have found it in San Francisco, but all that changes when she witnesses a terrible crime. She’s ready to pack up her things yet again, when a random encounter with a stranger keeps her in the city, giving her reason to stay after all.

That is, until Ivy discovers that their encounter wasn’t random. Not at all…

When I first was recommended this series, I fell in love with all of the covers and knew that I could NOT wait until I reached this last book in the series. Surviving Ice screams edgy! & our female protagonist is just that and so much more. Ivy: a half Asian-half Spaniard tattoo artist with a sharp tongue, wanderlust spirit, and a no effs given attitude—can now go into my vault of FAVORITE female characters! there aren’t many & she made the cut. Although this is the 4th book in the Burying Water Series, and there are some Easter eggs from the previous books, the plot itself reads like a stand-alone. We get some of our beloved characters pop into this story but Ivy & Sebastian’s story is their own.
Ivy’s character was refreshing to read about, she has very tall walls built around her and not many people in her circle. She prefers to live life on the edge with nothing holding her back from getting up and moving to another country. I loved that Ivy had no inhibitions holding her back, she is confident in her tattoo artist skills as well as her body. When we meet her, she has just returned from Ireland (setting of book 3) & was once again working at her uncle Ned’s tattoo parlor the Black Rabbit. Uncle Ned who idolized Willie Nelson & therefore embodied his style, became an instant favorite. Ned fully accepted Ivy (unlike her parents) & together they ran the most sought out tattoo parlor. Ivy however, did not know that Uncle Ned had found himself in a bit of a bind due to gambling. The events that take place lead to Ivy meeting Sebastian who has been given a target & an assignment…Ivy.

When we meet Sebastian, we get a bit of his backstory in the Navy Seals & how he came to work for an independent government contractor. Sebastian deals with some PTSD and tends to be a loner who has no care for commitment, instead he pays for easy sex. When his military friend/contractor calls his burner phone, it’s always for a new assignment. Sebastian is the best as what he does, eliminating threats to our government by any means necessary. When he receives the file on Ivy, he is fully prepared to undertake this task….

The only reason I docked a star is because unlike the previous books in this series, the supporting cast were just OK (with the exception of Ned of course lol). I’ve been spoiled by K.A. Tucker’s ability to deliver a stellar supporting cast who I crave to hear more from. I guess with this being the last book in the installment, maybe she wasn’t trying to lead us on by giving us any interesting side characters lol. Overall, I LOVE this series & would recommend it as a starting point for anyone interested in reading New Adult.

Does anyone have any New Adult recommendations? I’m looking for a tried and true author. Plenty have recommended COHO & I will read one of her books soon *I promise* lol but I’d like to have a variety to choose from 😉

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Review: Chasing River by K.A. Tucker

Chasing River.jpg

Chasing River by K.A. Tucker

Published by: Atria Books

Date of Publication: July 7th 2015

Genres: New Adult

Pages: 336

Format: e-book

Rating:★★★★★

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

Armed with two years’ worth of savings and the need to experience life outside the bubble of her Oregon small town, twenty-five-year old Amber Welles is prepared for anything. Except dying in Dublin. Had it not been for the bravery of a stranger, she might have. But he takes off before she has the chance to offer her gratitude.

Twenty-four-year-old River Delaney is rattled. No one was supposed to get hurt. But then that American tourist showed up. He couldn’t let her die, but he also couldn’t risk being identified at the scene—so, he ran. Back to his everyday life of running his family’s pub. Only, everyday life is getting more and more complicated, thanks to his brother, Aengus, and his criminal associations. When the American girl tracks River down, he quickly realizes how much he likes her, how wrong she is for him. And how dangerous it is to have her around. Chasing her off would be the smart move.

Maybe it’s because he saved her life, or maybe it’s because he’s completely different from everything she’s left behind, but Amber finds herself chasing after River Delaney. Amber isn’t the kind of girl to chase after anyone.

And River isn’t the kind of guy she’d want to catch.

 

Having loved the previous two books in this New Adult series, I’m not sure why I went into this one with some sort of skepticism. I thought that I couldn’t love a new couple more than I already do Jesse/Alex & Rain/Luke…Once again K.A. Tucker has managed to suck me in with her deeply layered characters, beautiful settings, and crazy story telling. I ADORE Amber & River to pieces!!!! This time we were transported to beautiful Ireland & given a good amount of historical background on the events that lead to the formation of the IRA. Up until this book, I only knew of the great famine in Ireland but not much more. It’s only a plus when I come away with knowledge of actual historical events from a book that isn’t non-Fiction. We also get to see some of our favorite characters from Burying Water (Burying Water#1)  make an appearance in this book in K.A. Tucker fashion. Rich with Irish history, obstacles to overcome, violence, and amazing characters, this story of 2 lovers from opposite sides of the world was a smash hit in my book!


                                        

                                              ****SPOILERS****

I totally did NOT see myself liking Amber at all in this book since I did NOT enjoy her parts in Burying Water. Amber was very judgmental & was comfortable being a part of the “mean girls” clique during her High School days. As an adult, she never ventured outside of her small town nor did she attempt to look outside the box. There were rules & Amber followed them to the tee. My biggest issue with Amber was how harsh she was on her brother Jesse in Burying Water, it was as if she chucked him off to be a low life because of some mistakes he had made as a teenager (given Jesse was a magnet for shit but still lol). I LOVED seeing Amber step away from her small town in Oregon & travel to Ireland. Her family doubted she would ever leave her comfort zone & it was a major step for her. Amber meeting River may not have been in the most romantic of ways (I won’t give that away), but from the minute he entered her life, all her inhibitions were thrown out the window. Now this is an Amber that I could be friends with. From her unlikely friendship with the tattoo artist Ivy to falling in love with River whose family history was deeply entrenched in the IRA of before & current day…she kept surprising me. I loved the travel bucket list she created with Alex the night they were a bit tipsy on wine & the fact that River managed to get his hands on it & continued to tease her about it. Actually, being that I got to know her as a rule follower, I was a bit embarrassed for her every time I thought about #1 on her list…Have a torrid affair with a foreigner, Country:TBD <—BWAHAHAHA! I would’ve DIED if it were me & the hottie I’m interested in, found my list. Then again I was kind of smirking BECAUSE for a change, she was the one chasing the guy and putting in some work (he really did make her work for it though lol). This book also stirred up so much hope in me for these two, I wanted so badly for everything to work out but it seemed that all odds were against them. There were definitely some casualties along the way…I cried when Rowen’s leg had to be amputated & cursed Aengus all throughout for putting Ma & Da through it. I am currently jumping right into the last book in this series Surviving Ice (Burying Water #4). I’m excited to get Ivy’s story & even more eager to see if there’s a glimpse of Amber & River because it’s K.A. Tucker & I love all of her characters! it always feels like a treat when we hear about one of the couples or characters from the previous books.

Beauty & The Beast Book Tag

GASPPSSSS! I was tagged by the lovely Amanda @Cover2CoverMom for the Beauty & The Beast Book Tag created by Kirsty@Kirsty and the Cat Read.  I ADORE all things Beauty & The Beast, as I’m sure a ton of my fellow book lovers do. Thank you Amanda for tagging me, the questions have my wheels turning lol. You can read the original tag here → Kirsty and the Cat Read: Beauty & The Beast Book Tag.

Rules:

» Thank the person who tagged you

» Mention the creator → Kirsty @Kirsty and the Cat Read

» Match a book to each of the songs/characters below

» Tag as many people as you like

 

“Tale As Old As Time” – A popular theme, trope or setting you will never get bored of reading.

Beauty &amp; The Beast

I’ve been unknowingly attracted to the trope commonly found in YA Fantasy where we get our heroine (it’s usually a female nowadays, move over fellas) who has never fought a day in her life yet by the middle of the book has become a pro at kicking ass & taking names. I LIVE for this trope! Some of my favorites are:

Celeana Sardothien from the Throne Of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

Feyre from the A Court of Thorns & Roses series by Sarah J. Maas

Karou from the Daughter Of Smoke & Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor

Vin from The Final Empire (Mistborn) by Brandon Sanderson

 

Belle – A book you bought for it’s beautiful cover that’s just as beautiful inside too

Belle

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows Of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton, This book is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. Filled with Magical Realism, a story of love & loss through 3  generations of women.

the-strange-and-beautiful-sorrows-of-ava-lavender-leslye-walton

 

Beast – A book you didn’t expect much from but pleasantly surprised you

beast1

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness was not what I expected at all in a very good way! the cover alone on this book scared the beejesus out of me but I’m so happy to have listened to my bestie & picked it up. This book is BEAUTIFUL & tells a story I’m sure we can all relate to.

monster-calls

 

Gaston – A book everyone loves that you don’t

gaston1

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas Although I love this series as a whole, my love for this series didn’t start until Crown Of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2). The reason being that I found Celeana to be extremely naive & overall just immature but only a Queen like SJM can take character development to another level like she did in this series. Very happy I decided to stay with this one.

Throne of glass

Lefou – A loyal sidekick you can’t help but love more than their counter part.

lefou1

This honor can only be bestowed upon Iko the Droid from Cinder (The Lunar Chronciles #1) by Marissa Meyer. I enjoyed Iko way more than Cinder & only grew to love her more as the series progressed. Can’t wait to see her in the upcoming graphic novels 🙂

Cinder-by-Marissa-MeyerIko_character_sketch_by_Douglas_Wolgate

Mrs Potts, Chip, Lumier & Cogsworth – A book that helped you through a difficult time or that taught you something valuable

pottscogslumchip

Every Last Word by Tamera Ireland Stone THIS BOOK!!!! every once in a while you come across a book you never knew you needed, Every Last Word was that book for me. This book tells the story of a girl struggling with the everyday issues of a high-schooler, only she’s doing so with OCD. Samantha McAllister is the popular girl in school with a clique of “Mean Girls” however, none of these girls knows that she battles OCD daily. The author Tamera Ireland Stone extensively researched OCD & it showed in this book. As a person who manages OCD on a lesser scale, this book will always be close to my heart.

everylastword-tamarairelandstone__span

“Something There” – A book or a series that you weren’t into at first but picked up towards the end.

someting-there

The Magicians Trilogy by Lev Grossman This trilogy was VERY slow…I considered DNF’ing it at some point during the first book but my love for all things resembling Narnia really pushed me to stay put. Again, very glad that I did because although slow at first, it did pick up by the end of book one & continued for the remainder of the trilogy. This is a very dark read, the characters are broody & unlovable (lol), the pacing can be slow but the pay off was huge 😉

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“Be Our Guest” – A fictional character you’d love to have over for dinner

be-our-guest

Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling…That would make for an interesting & quirky dinner that I would be all for!

Luna-Lovegood-Wallpaper-luna-lovegood-25518137-1024-768

I’d like to tag the following bloggers to complete this book tag:

Gretchen @Chicnerdreads

Melissa@Booknerdmomo

Demi@Bookstraveller

Amanda@Hangingwithamanda

Morissa@Morissareads

 

 

 

 

 

Review: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay kristoff

Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Date of Publication: October 20th 2015

Genres: Young Adult Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Pages: 599

Format: Hardcover (I own)

Rating: ★★★★★

 So I just realized how descriptive the Goodreads synopsis really is LOL. I never read it until now but it pretty much sums it up all right, so instead I’ll talk about some of the things I loved about Illuminae (GR Synopsis @ the end of review).

* The fact that this book starts off with a break up scene. Could you honestly picture yourself breaking up with your boo one second & the next being caught up in a war between 2 major corporations over your small (yet oh so resourceful) planet? Usually, well at least in my experience, when you break up with someone it’s definitely to put some space & distance between you and said individual. Kady & Ezra however, found themselves running for their lives… Perspective plays a major role in how these two carry on afterwards.

* The fact that Kady is neither a damsel in distress nor a fighter experienced in hand-to-hand combat or even swordplay lol. No, Kady is a computer whiz who is in her element when handling 0’s & 1’s. After the attack on Kerenza (their planet) the people of Kerenza were shuttled to 3 different aircrafts (spaceships): The Alexander, Copernicus, or the Hypathia. Each ship has its strengths, with Alexander basically being their leader. Depending on your skillset, you would be assigned jobs on your designated spaceship. Kady had access to computer systems & she used this to set forth and uncover the truth behind the attack on Kerenza.

* The dialogue. The entire book is formatted in a series of e-mails, Briefs, and chats. Through these quick bursts in communication you get to familiarize yourself with the characters aboard these ships. In a time where nothing is certain, people are being fed lies, and a virus has broken loose, our characters are much in touch with their sense of humor. I had many laugh out loud moments at some of the crudest jokes between Ezra & his boys which we can safely compare to military boys lol. Kady is sarcastic & just an overall kickass female protagonist. The Lisbeth Salander (who I loved, so yay!) Of YA without the whole Emo thing Lisbeth had going on lol.

*AIDAN aka the Artificial Intelligence. I think I hated him for half of the book but then came to like him during the second half. It was definitely interesting reading his thought process, which sometimes came off as ramblings.

*Zhang. I really liked Zhang & his chats (the equivalent of IM’s) with Kady & how well they worked together. Their conversations were very entertaining even when it was strictly hacking that they were doing.

* The representation of different ethnic backgrounds & LGBTQ. I loved the diversity in this book & was thankful because it was a realistic depiction of a ship carrying thousands of human beings.

* Last but never least, the women in command positions. There were a few actually, and I appreciated the presence of women in a military style environment, not being pushed into lesser roles.

I could seriously talk about this book for hours but It turns out I’m not the last human being on this planet to not have read this book lol. I tried to keep all spoilers out for those who plan on reading Illuminae before this fall’s release of Gemina. Now that day, I will make sure to use a sick day on *coughs into the future*

Goodreads Synopsis:

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.