Bookaholic – Page 24

ARCstravaganza #13

#ARCstravaganza is a weekly meme hosted by the wonderful Flavia over @Flavia the Bibliophile where book bloggers/bookstagrammers have a chance to show off their ARCs/eARCs/Galleys!

Hello Readers! This is my 13th week participating in #ARCstravaganza Monday & this week I’ve chosen Defy the Worlds (Constellation #2) by Claudia Gray & it legit makes me happy every time I walk past my shelf. Earlier this year I had the awesome opportunity of reading & reviewing Defy the Stars (my review) & ahhhhh! Bookworms! if you’re a fan of Illuminae & Gemina then please treat yo selves to this new series & thank me later HAHA! A++ world building & amazing characters have me looking into Gray’s other books that I’ve also heard great things about. One thing’s for certain, whoever Gray has as a cover artist deserves EPIC praise! they’re all so eye catching & vibrant that it makes walking past them damn near impossible.

Funny story on how I came to actually owning this arc copy…while walking past The NOVL/Little Brown booth at NYCCC my peripherals caught a flash of pink, purple, and orange hidden behind a curtain. Now, it was clear they were hidden for a surprise ARC drop later that day but I’m a sucker for vibrant book covers & so I knew I had to ask The NOVL people if it was what I thought It was (jumble of nerves be damned). Yea, like many of you out there I love a good cover reveal & so I knew Defy the Worlds fit the description lol. Well, they were more than gracious to confirm my suspicions & told me when to come back for the drop. I nearly fainted a million faints right on the showroom floor as I set my alarm on my phone. Of all the arcs I acquired that day, Defy the Worlds really got me the most excited 🙂

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*Since this is a sequel, I won’t include the Goodreads synopsis for fear of spoilers.

What are some ARCS/eGalleys you’re excited to have Bookworms? Have you read Defy The Stars? I’m thinking of reading Gray’s Firebird trilogy, has anyone else read them? I’d also like to get into her Starwars books but feel as if they may go over my head since I’m not a die hard SW fan lol…sound off in the comments below

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October Wrap-Up & Book Haul

Hello Bookworms & Happy November!!! I’m back to being epically late with my wrap-up/haul & I’d like to think it’s because I’ve been so wrapped up in my reading…well at least this is what I’ve convinced myself to be the reason lol. October was a good reading month both in quality & quantity, seems that I’ve managed to break my 5 book per mth cap. Earlier in the month I attended NYC Comic Con & actually enjoyed this event more than I did Bookcon. Much more chill & I got to see many more authors this time around, even got a chance to meet Julie C. Dao author of Forest of a Thousand Laterns. Julie was very sweet & signed a copy for me that I was sending to my giveaway winner Beth over at Reading Every Night as a surprise bonus. Fedex totally lost the package & ruined that but I quickly replaced the copy & sent it on it’s way to Beth sans to signature…who knows Beth, the package may still one day mysteriously show up at your door lol.

October was also slow in flicks I actually wanted to see in the theater & I really thought for a moment there that I wasn’t going to watch anything. Then my co-worker reminded me that Jigsaw was being released Halloween weekend & the stars aligned for me to get my tickets (more on the movie towards end of post). I’ve been thinking of including the arcs/galleys I’ve been approved for in the month in these wrap-ups…yay or nay? or do you prefer a separate post? please let me know in the comments if this is something you’d like to see <3’s!

With the exception of The Dark Intercept (to come this week) I’ve posted reviews for all of my October reads & will link them down below. Both Nyxia & Moxie are my stand-out reads & I have GUSH reviews for these new found favorites, both pulse pounding in their own way. You Bring the Distant Near is also a new found favorite & I encourage anyone in search of #ownvoices reads on the immigrant experience & Indian culture to pick this one up. Invictus was so much fun & appealed to the Historical Fantasy lover in me, the time travel was on point & not confusing like many others who’ve had a go at it. The Glass Spare gave me a King Midas inspired fantasy with a female MC & gahhhh! I LOVED IT! Berserker was bloody & I described it in my review as Norse Mythology meets the American Frontier with hints of the classic novel Of Mice and Men. I’m still working on my thoughts/review for The Dark Intercept which was a cold & frightening dystopian that had me thinking….what if this were to really happen? I mean, is it really so far fetched? lol smh. It was a really good month quality wise with mostly 5 star reads which doesn’t ever happen & so I am a very happy bookworm 🙂

The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller (3.5 stars/review to come)

The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano ★★★★★

Berseker by Emmy Laybourne ★★★.75

Invictus by Ryan Graudin ★★★★★

Moxie by jennifer Mathieu ★★★★★

You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins ★★★★★ (Mitali Perkins read & loved my review, when she re-tweeted it I got all teary eyed smh)

Nyxia by Scott Reintgen ★★★★★ (I also won a signed copy from the author himself which legit made my mth!)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (gift from hubby, he’s turned it into his things where he gets me all HP related items, he knows how to make my heart happy lol)

Monstress Volume 2 by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda (artist)

Ringer by Lauren Oliver (Replica #2)

The Alchemists of Loom (Loom Saga #1) by Elise Kova

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress #1) by Julie C. Dao

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Garcia-Moreno (Won this from a Twitter giveaway)

Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo (gift from my twin Gretchen over at ChicNerdReads, love her sooooo much! but this was a September gift & I mistakenly threw it in this haul so yea we’re rollin’ with it lol)

October Owlcrate

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore

October Book of the Month

Beasts Of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang (my pick for the mth, also have the eGalley that I will be reading in November)

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King & Owen King

Some of you who have been around the blog for a while now might be raising a brow at both Sleeping Beauties & Jigsaw since I’m a self proclaimed scaredy cat *no shame* baha! Sleeping Beauties I do believe was me getting in the spirit of Halloween however, Jigsaw was not lol. Many years ago my bestie of 18 years wanted me to go with him to watch Saw IV in theaters only I hadn’t watched any of them for the previously mentioned reasons (i’m a wussss lol). He decided to sit me down & have me binge watch the first 3 movies til I walked away numb & ready for IV smh. I honestly think I can tolerate psychological horror but not whatever IT falls into cuz no damnit! I’ve banned all red balloons from my home, sorry tiny humans. Anyways, Jigsaw wasn’t anything new new lol, it followed the same ol’ formula & delivered with the shock factor in regards to the games themselves. However, I saw the ending coming within the first 30 minutes & I’m not THAT person….you know? the one that ALWAYS predicts the ending making you feel clueless? yea, I’m not this person so when I figured it out, the jig was up (jeje see what I did there?) smh. I doubt I’ll continue watching any future movies in this franchise.

Happy reading in November Bookworms!!! Hope you all had a wonderful October & an even better start to this month. What are some books you’re looking forward to reading in November? planning on watching anything innneresting? Sound off in the comments down below 🙂

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Review: You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins

Title: You Bring the Distant Near

Author: Mitali Perkins

Pub. Date: October 31st, 2017

Genre: YA Contemporary, #Ownvoices

Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Publishing

Pages: 320

Format: eGalley/Netgalley

Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture–for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve Bengal tigers and her Bengali identity–award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.

You Bring the Distant Near truly felt like a gift I was unwrapping Christmas morning. It’s not often that we get stories based on Indian culture yet here we have a multi-generational book spanning the lives of 5 women in the Das family. We first meet Ranee & Rajeev Das, the parents of Tara & Sonia Das as they move from Bangladesh to London & finally Queens, New York. Rajeev Das is a hard worker & provider for his family, his wife Ranee wants them to own a beautiful home in a safe neighborhood. The Das family has very humble beginnings in a apartment in Queens that is located in a predominantly black neighborhood. We see Ranee struggle with her own prejudices & how her fear leads her to restrict Tara & Sonia. We also get an inside look on her marriage & the disconnect that often leads to arguments in the Das home. Underneath it all however, is a whole lot of love. This book truly has it all! the immigrant experience, marital woes, intersectional issues, colorism, feminism, Islamophobia, complex characters and so much more. I couldn’t put this book down other than to shed some tears every now & again. Seeing three generations of women try to retain some of their culture while also trying to fit in to their new lives was rewarding for me as a reader. Having had some of my own family immigrate from Salvador to the United States, I knew assimilating would be difficult but never really thought about how difficult it must be to try & retain some of their own culture. I found myself rooting for these characters to win their battles & stand up for what they believe is right. This isn’t by any means a fast paced book, it is however a heart warming read that gives you a inside look to a culture & people not often seen in YA books.

The author kindly included a family tree at the very beginning of the book but I found I didn’t really need it since the characters were very well fleshed out. 5 women’s stories spanning over 3 generations, all so very different from each other but the one thing they have in common is their wish to hold onto some if not all of their roots. I LOVED all of these characters, they’re the type to stick with you way after you’ve read the last page.

Rajeev & Ranee Das- mother & father to Tara & Sonia are struggling to meet eye to eye when it comes to settling down on a place to live. Rajeev is sweet & the definition of a proud & doting father. He has a ton of love for his daughters & I found myself crying the most whenever he interacted with Tara & Sonia because this is the closest a character has come to resembling my own father & how he cared for my sister & I. Rajeev is incredibly supportive of his daughters & encourages them to follow their dreams. Our matriarch Ranee Das on the other hand is the law in her home & perhaps has the most character growth in this book. She has a ton of prejudices to sort through & we get to see her struggle with her marriage, daughters, grand daughters and her own internal struggle to both let go & hold on to some cultural beliefs. I loved seeing how realistic this marriage was portrayed & the underlying love that shines through.

Tara & Sonia Das- Since the majority of this book is told in alternating POV’s between these two sisters, I felt that I really got to know them. Tara aka Star is in love with acting, drama, entertaining, and fashion. She loves studying different icons on tv & imitating their style. This is something she sees as a useful tool whenever she has moved to a new country & started a new school. Tara is also the sister everyone considers the beauty who is sure to find a suitable husband. Sonia aka Sunny is a reader & writer, she loves retreating into her own world where she can journal & read non-fiction. The move to NYC places her on course to becoming a feminist & activist. I enjoyed seeing the contrast between Sunny, Star, and Ranee. Sunny is very vocal in squashing any prejudices coming from her mother which is why they clash the most. Sunny is also of darker complexion & we see the affects of colorism both in her home & with other Indian neighbors.

Chantal & Anna- the daughters of Sunny & Star, the latter part of YBTDN is told in alternating POV chapters with these cousins. We still get to see their parents but the focus shifts to their high school lives. Chantal is Sunny’s daughter & she is trying to find peace between her two grandmothers. Chantal is bi-racial & we get to see the very realistic familial battles that take place when two very different cultures come together through marriage. Anna is Star’s daughter & she for the most part has been raised in Mumbai. Her parents do travel with her to & from NYC to Mumbai but she has no interest in American life. We see her get uprooted & the difficulties she faces when trying to hold on to her roots.

Grandma Rose- doesn’t come into the picture til’ we meet Chantal later in the book but I seriously LOVED seeing her duke it out with Ranee for title of best grandma. Grandma Rose is black & is very involved in Chantal’s life. I loved seeing her pride & confidence in Chantal, she really is her #1 fan. Some of my favorite scenes were those between Rose & Ranee, these two had me smiling & shaking my head.

Rich in culture & family dynamics, You Bring the Distant Near is easily a top contender for my top 10 favorite books of this year. For any bookworms looking for #ownvoices reads, I highly recommend picking this book up. In just 320 pages we get wonderful character development & a ton of tough topics thrown in the mix making this one hell of a journey. I felt a range of emotions seeing this family try to set down new roots in a strange land while also learning to adapt when life throws you a curve-ball. I also found myself wanting more story once I finished reading & perhaps that’s due to how well it was structured. The alternating POV chapters between Sunny & Star and later their daughters Chantal & Anna really allow you to form attachments. This bookworm would love to see more of the Das family & their growing pains. I am so happy to have read YBTDN & wish only to see more from this author in the very near future *fingers crossed*

*HUGE thanks to Macmillan Children’s Publishing, Netgalley, and Mitali Perkins for the eGalley copy of You Bring the Distant Near in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Monday Bookworms! hope you all had a wonderful weekend & managed to squeeze in some good books. You Bring the Distant Near is hands down a highlight in my October reading. Have any of you lovely bookworms had the chance to read YBTDN? or plan on adding it to your TBR? Sound off in the comments down below 😉

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Review: Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi

Title: Beasts Made of Night

Author: Tochi Onyebuchi

Pub. Date: October 31st, 2017

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publisher: Razorbill

Pages: 304

Format: eGalley

Rating: 3.75

In the walled city of Kos, corrupt mages can magically call forth sin from a sinner in the form of sin-beasts – lethal creatures spawned from feelings of guilt.

Taj is the most talented of the aki, young sin-eaters indentured by the mages to slay the sin-beasts. But Taj’s livelihood comes at a terrible cost. When he kills a sin-beast, a tattoo of the beast appears on his skin while the guilt of committing the sin appears on his mind. Most aki are driven mad by the process, but 17-year-old Taj is cocky and desperate to provide for his family.

When Taj is called to eat a sin of a royal, he’s suddenly thrust into the center of a dark conspiracy to destroy Kos. Now Taj must fight to save the princess that he loves – and his own life.

A gritty Nigerian-influenced fantasy.

Beasts Made of Night is a rich new YA Fantasy centered around Taj and his group of Aki friends who all have one thing in common…they are outcasts of the same society that needs them to ward off evil. The Aki are sought out by Mages to eat the sins of others for which they are in turn paid. Once a Aki eats a sin beast, a tattoo appears on their skin. The severity of the sin determines the size of the animal. With time, the tattoos fade from the Aki’s skin however, this is not the case with Taj. A powerful Aki, Taj is the Crown’s personal sin-eater often called to the castle to eat the sins of royalty. Taj’s tattoos do not fade, his skin is covered with them & the sins of others often invade his mind. For the Aki, eating souls is how they earn their living & for Taj it’s how he provides for the family he was forced to leave behind. The Aki are feared by the same people they take on the burden of eating sins for. Their skin covered in tattoos are a reflection of the amount of sins they’ve eaten & also the very same reason for which they’ve been ostracized.

The world Onyebuchi has created in Beasts Made of Night is rich with Nigerian-inspired influences. Details of life in the city of Kos such as the singing & dancing, food, and traditions that commemorate rites of passage for young women excel in transporting the reader into the world of the Aki. The magic system is also well fleshed out, there’s a fee system in place which determines how much a Aki will be paid for eating a sin. Mages also exist in this world & are responsible for seeking out the Aki’s services. The Mages also need to be present for the sin-eating since they utilize their magic to call forth the beast living inside of the “inflicted” human which the Aki ingests. We meet mages in training along the way as well as other groups of characters that further develop this world.

There were a few things I would’ve liked to get more of with regards to character development. Although Taj does live with other Aki who are his close friends, these characters were not deeply fleshed out. There is also the princess who is presented as a love interest at the very end which felt rushed & can definitely be seen as “insta-love.” There is another character in the book that I much preferred as a love interest which is a first for me since I typically ship whoever the author intended 😂

The overall plot also could’ve used more development along the way & I do believe my enjoyment with regards to the world building compensated for some of the plot holes. Pacing typically isn’t a issue with me since I enjoy slower paced reads every now & again however, the last few chapters did feel rushed & open ended. If Onyebuchi were to write a sequel, would I read it? Absolutely! I really enjoyed this new fantasy & the unique magic it brought to the page and will be keeping an eye out for more from this author. When thinking of my rating for this book I took my overall enjoyment of this story into account. I’m a lover of world building, diverse reads, and complex magic systems which all can be found in Beasts Made of Night. I haven’t seen mention of a sequel even though the plot truly piques in the last chapter leaving readers wondering what’s next?!?! This is one story I’d say has the potential for growth and hope to see the author delve deeper into the characters he’s created in this lush world.

HUGE thanks to Razorbill, Penguins First To Read, and Tochi Onyebuchi for the eGalley copy of Beasts Made Of Night in exchange for an honest review.

Hello Bookworms! Beasts Made of Night hits shelves tomorrow! 🎉 will you be picking up your copy? has it made its way onto your TBR? Sound off in the comments down below 💜

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#ARCstravaganza #12

#ARCstravaganza is a weekly meme hosted by the wonderful Flavia over @Flavia the Bibliophile where book bloggers/bookstagrammers have a chance to show off their ARCs/eARCs/Galleys!

Hello Readers! This is my 12th week participating in #ARCstravaganza Monday & this week I’ve chosen Children Of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (The Orïsha Legacy #1)!!! 😱😱😱 I’m still amazed that I actually got a arc copy at Bookcon. Legit one of the TOP books of 2018 & for me, one that I’ve had my eye on since the beginning of this year. I had even featured COBAB on a Waiting On Wednesdays & the Universe granted my wish 🙌🏼 the cover is STUNNING but the synopsis stopped me in my tracks. A diverse young adult fantasy filled with a complex magic system, a Reaper who summons souls, a matriarchy and so much more! gahhh! 🤗🤗🤗 luckily it is close to 500pgs long which means plenty of time to live in this world. Also, if the book isn’t enough to hold me over while I wait for the sequel, maybe the movie will (Dateline article) 😆 COBAB will be out in the Wild March 6th 2018 & I will definitely be reading & reviewing in time for publication date 💜

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Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now, Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers–and her growing feelings for the enemy.

What are some ARCS/eGalleys you’re excited to have Bookworms? are you also looking forward to Children of Blood and Bone? sound off in the comments below 🙂

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Review: Berserker by Emmy Laybourne

Title: Berserker (Berserker #1)

Author: Emmy Laybourne

Pub. Date: October 10th, 2017

Genre: YA Fantasy/Historical Fiction

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Pages: 352

Formats: eGalley/Netgalley & physical arc won from a Goodreads Giveaway

Rating: 3.75 Stars

Are Hanne’s powers a gift from the old Norse gods, or a curse?

Her brother Stieg swears their powers are a gift from the old gods, but Hanne Hemstad knows she is truly cursed. It’s not Stieg’s fault that their father is dead, their mother has left, and their brother Knut has been accused of a crime he didn’t commit.

No, the fault lies with Hanne and her inability to control her murderous “gift”–she is a Berserker. When someone she loves is threatened, she flies into a killing state. The siblings must leave Norway for the American frontier or risk being brought to justice.

Aided by a young cowboy who agrees to be their guide, Hanne and her siblings use their powers to survive the perilous trail, where blizzards, wild animals, and vicious bounty hunters await.

Will they be able to reach their uncle, the one man Hanne believes may be able to teach her how to control her drive to kill? With Berserker, Emmy Laybourne, the author of Monument 14, presents her vision of an American west studded with Viking glory.

Berserker wasn’t at all what I was expecting & for a minute there I wondered aloud what exactly I was reading? the answer took me by surprise & intrigued the hell out of me enough for this frightful bookworm to read through the bloody scenes. I can only describe Berserker as Norse Mythology meets the American Frontier with hints of the classic novel Of Mice and Men & guess what bookworms?!?! IT WORKS!!! part of the reason I think that it did is because Laybourne has created her own lore in this world instead of using everything we know about Norse Mythology. The opening scene really sets the tone for this short read, bloody and raw. Our MC Hanne & her siblings (with the exception of the youngest) all have been gifted/cursed with special abilities from the Viking Gods. It is believed that the Viking God Odin gifted three of his favorite Kings with special abilities known as The Nytte. This gift/curse doesn’t come without its consequences, there is a big price to pay as a result of using their ability. The odds of inheriting The Nytte are greater if both parents are descended from these kings & such is the case for our MC & her siblings. They don’t know the names of each ability or even if they quite believe in the origin of these abilities but they’ve learned to use them to make a living. Hanne is a Berserker which is the only gift that is focused on taking life whenever someone she loves in danger. While in Norway, her father has her using her “gift” to slaughter pigs for local farmers (detailed in the book) because her technique leads to better quality meat. A incident on the farm triggers Hanne’s Berserker abilities ending in tragedy & the need to go on the run. While on the run they manage to catch the interest of a man who has made it his mission to find Nyttes daughters & sons with a keen interest in their abilities. Although this mans intentions are not readily made known, Hanne doesn’t trust him & will keep her siblings running to put as much distance as possible between the law & this stranger.

*In order not to spoil anything, i won’t be including each characters Norse gift/curse…besides it’s more fun finding out for yourself along the way 😉

Hanne- The MC aka the Berserker & sort of the matriarch of the family. She loves her family fiercely & her abilities have sharpened her senses to the point where if any danger is even headed their way she is ON IT! Hanne doesn’t see The Nytte as a gift but rather a curse she can’t control & when it strikes it leaves her mortified at the end results. When I picture Hanne there is only one Goddess that comes to mind…Lagertha!

Stieg- not sure if he’s the oldest or second oldest to Hanne but either way he is more of the patriarch of this family. Stieg is a intellectual with a passion for knowledge & conversation. He knows more than one language & will never pass up the opportunity to teach. Stieg also has a ability that he uses sparingly whenever in dire straights. What I liked about Stieg is that he wasn’t made out to be the stereotypical bookworm, he’s just as much down to have fun as he is to hit the books. Also, his ability is pretty bad a** 😉

Knut- Knut reminded me most of Lennie from Of Mice and Men which meant that I was already on Over protective mode upon meeting him. Tender hearted standing at 6’2, Knut also carries The Nytte & it is tied to his physical strength. There’s no way you won’t love him when you meet him 🙂

Sissel- my least favorite of the siblings, she is the youngest and most spoiled. Sissel is all about comfort and finding a good match for marriage, in other words being taken care of. Sissel is described as frail in physical appearance & very likely to have had The Nytte skipped her. This being book 1 in the series, I can’t help but wonder if Laybourne has special plans with this sibling…

Owen- The cowboy the siblings pay to safely guide them to a uncle who could possibly help Hanne control her Berserker abilities. He is actually one of my favorite characters in this book, its just him and his dog Daisy until he meets the siblings. Owen loves Daisy to pieces & has trained her to help herd cattle with dreams of one day training pups on a farm to do the same. He minds his business & lives a simple life until chaos is introduced and he has a decision to make…

I managed to fly through my reading of Berseker because of my general interest in Norse Mythology & the ease with which Laybourne used the well known mythos as a jumping board. This is a VERY bloody read & had some cringe worthy passages that surprisingly engrossed me. Why the 3.75 rating? well for starters, this is still a good rating in my book & translates into a 4 star rating on Goodreads. The siblings were for the most part traveling in this book trying to reach their uncle to help Hanne & I enjoyed that adventure very much. However, my only complaint is how neatly the ending was presented compared to how bloody, chaotic, and raw Berserker was for the most part. Berserker could also easily be viewed as a stand-alone which really left me thinking where the series would take Hanne and her siblings. I’m still curious & have every intention on continuing on to read the next book. It may very well be that in the sequel the siblings find a way to reverse or at least stop the consequences of their abilities…So, I do have questions bookworms which means I’ll be returning to this world when the next book is released 😉

HUGE thanks to Feiwell & Friends, Netgalley, Goodreads, and Emmy Laybourne for the ARC copy of Berserker.

Hello Bookworms! Happy FriYAY! have any of you read Berserker? has it made its way onto your radar? If you’re a fan of Norse Mythology, Berserker will probably intrigue you & Laybourne will surprise you with her twist on Viking lore. It’s a bloody gripping read! 😉

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WWW Wednesday 10/25/2017

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On a World of Words and to participate all you have to do is answer the three W’s listed below. Once you’ve posted your WWW, drop a link to your post in Sam’s comments <3’s!

The questions are:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

The Dark Intercept (The Dark Intercept #1) by Julia Keller

I requested this book from Tor back in June & had totally forgotten about it since I hadn’t heard from them. I was very happy to have received it in the mail last week but since its publication date is 10/31 this means I had to squeeze it in this weeks reading schedule. There aren’t many reviews as of yet since I believe I read somewhere that the Publisher asked reviews to be posted first week of November. Of the reviews/ratings that are up on Goodreads, not many are good but I’m not letting this deter me from reading this one. I started it this morning so I’m only 25 pages in but I will be reading throughout the day & updating my Goodreads as I ago along. Blurbed by Melissa Landers author of the Alienated series & Emmy Laybourne author of Berserker, I have hope for this read *fingers crossed*

YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR by MITALI PERKINS

This is the eGalley that I was supposed to be reading together with Nyxia last week lol. Well…Nyxia kind of snuffed out everything in sight & I could only focus on what was going on in NYXIA! smh so reading 2 books was a #epicfail last week. I have hope this week since I am reading The Dark Intercept in physical format on my commute to/from work & this will be the eGalley I read while at work during down time. I’ll aslo be updating my progress & thoughts on Goodreads 😉

Berserker (Berserker #1) by Emmy Laybourne

I finished Berserker yesterday & settled on a 3.5 rating, it certainly had many elements I enjoyed however, I expected a less than neat conclusion to what really was a bloody read. Many thoughts I’m still sorting through but my review will be posted this week.

Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1) by Scott Reintgen

I recently read, loved, & wrote a GUSH review for Nyxia by Scott Reintgen (my review)…I’m still not over that ending!!! *sobs* this book was a burst of adrenaline each & every time I picked it up. I enjoyed the cast of diverse characters immensely & can’t wait for the sequel next year! Also, on Friday my luck was on a roll & I won a signed copy of this book from a giveaway the author himself was running. He was very nice & promised that book 2 amps up the fun even further which gives me something to look forward to. Last but not least, I came across NerdNarration who also reviewed Nyxia & BOOKWORMS she nailed it! I loved her enthusiasm & style of reviewing so much 🙂

Renegades (Renegades #1) by Marissa Meyer

Secret Identities.
Extraordinary Powers.
She wants vengeance. He wants justice.

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies—humans with extraordinary abilities—who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone…except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice—and in Nova. But Nova’s allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.

Yes! Yes I am reading Renegades next & Yes! I am over the top excited & have tired of stroking the spine every day when I walk past my shelf haha! This is 576 pages I am SO READY for & because it’s a hefty one, it will be my last read for the month. Hoping to close October with a bang! 🙂

What are you wonderful bookworms currently reading? planning to read next? any good ones? & if you’re reading any of the ones I mentioned, sound off in the comments down below! ❤ ❤ ❤

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Gush Review: Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1) by Scott Reintgen

Title: Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1)

Author: Scott Reintgen

Pub. Date: September 12th, 2017

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 384

Formats: eGalley

Emmett Atwater isn’t just leaving Detroit; he’s leaving Earth. Why the Babel Corporation recruited him is a mystery, but the number of zeroes on their contract has him boarding their lightship and hoping to return to Earth with enough money to take care of his family.

Forever.

Before long, Emmett discovers that he is one of ten recruits, all of whom have troubled pasts and are a long way from home. Now each recruit must earn the right to travel down to the planet of Eden—a planet that Babel has kept hidden—where they will mine a substance called Nyxia that has quietly become the most valuable material in the universe.

But Babel’s ship is full of secrets. And Emmett will face the ultimate choice: win the fortune at any cost, or find a way to fight that won’t forever compromise what it means to be human.

Fast paced non-stop action from the minute you start the EPIC ride that is Nyxia! This is one will leave you with a bad case of “just one more chapter & then I’ll stop”

We get introduced to this diverse set of characters who have all basically signed on the dotted line & joined Babel as recruits. The Mission: to board the ship departing Earth & headed for Eden aka a newly discovered habitable planet with alien life. In Eden the recruits will mine a substance called Nyxia. This substance has been heavily researched & found to be invaluable. The major corporation Babel has recruits from all parts of the world on the ship headed for Eden after having them sign contracts promising huge pay-outs for their families back on Earth as well as themselves upon their return to Earth. For these specific recruits the money is worth leaving all they love behind, they are all poor & many have terminally ill parents. Our MC Emmett Atwater has signed but his gut feeling is telling him that something just isn’t right & that there’s more than meets the eye with Babel. Alliances & enemies will be made once the specifics are laid out & what once appeared to be a lucrative deal turns into survival of the fittest.

“We’re poor,” Roathy says without a trace of shame. “They picked us because we’re poor. We can be kings and queens, sure, but only if we bow first”

Nyxia’s cast of characters come from all over the world & the author Scott Reintgen came up with an ingenious way to overcome the language barrier. Each of the recruits are given high tech suits & small quantities of Nyxia that can be molded into literally just about anything. Inclusively, they’ve given them mouth pieces which function as translators. This being science fiction, I was very happy to see all of the different equipment & functions that facilitated communication between these characters. Our MC Emmett Atwater is a young black male from Chicago who considers himself a Southpaw. Emmett is very guarded, intelligent, and has his eye on the prize. With two very loving parents at home, one of which has Cancer, Emmett is driven by their need for better medical coverage. I have read a TON of YA books across many sub-genres but it wasn’t until I picked up Nyxia & discovered Emmett that I could say I had a favorite male MC. I can list teh reasons I love him but the truth is that parts of the fun is seeing him discover parts of himself he never knew he had in him 😉

In total there are 10 recruits to board the light ship & although I enjoyed them all so much there are a couple of stand outs.

Kaya ends up being sort of roomates with Emmett & if there’s one thing that will instantly make me fall for a character is finding out they are a fellow bookworm.When she pulled out a copy of my favorite childhood book I gasped haha! Kaya is Japanese and through the translating mouth piece is able to talk to Emmett with no barrier. Their scenes reading together were some of my FAVORITE! Kaya is also a strategist & Emmett’s first alliance, LOVE this character! Then there’s Bilal who comes from a small village in Palestine where he & his family are very poor. Bilal is always smiling & an overall positive presence, he is the type of person we could use more of in real life. Bilal befriended Emmett through perseverance, never taking Emmett’s stand offish attitude as a deterrent. Azima is from Kenya & emanates strength, beauty, and intelligence she is silent when we meet her but soon realize she is a force to be reckoned with. Jasmine aka Jazzy is from Texas & she carries with her that southern charm. It be best not to sleep on Jazzy though now that she’s far from the world of beauty pageants & focused on the same goal as the rest of the recruits (to remain vague cuz spoilers). Katsu…many might not like his boisterous personality but I found him funny at times, he is also Japanese & enjoys making others laugh through random outbursts & jokes.

Last but not least Emmett’s father who imparts such valuable pieces of wisdom to his son, stole my heart from the moment I met him. His confidence in Emmett to do the right thing & the history he keeps alive to strengthen his son brought me to tears a few times. Many of my highlighted passages in my galley were of conversations between Emmett & his dad. These characters are all amazing but they are also very flawed & hurting inside, but they were also very relatable & I am so glad to have met them even if it was within the pages of this book.

So of course after I finished reading Nyxia & finding myself in a EPIC book hangover, I did what I always do hehe. I went looking for the authors note & bio to meet the person behind the book. Scott Reintgen is a teacher of English & creative writing and when he set out to create the characters in Nyxia, he aimed to give his students characters they can relate to & see themselves in. Scott also had some of his students beta read for him which I found to be brilliant! In his author bio is written “The hardest lesson he learned was that inspiration isn’t equally accessible for everyone. So he set out to write a novel for the front-row sleepers and back-row dreamers of his classrooms”…I’d say he accomplished what he set out to do, this AMAZING diverse set of characters are relatable. Combined with the fast paced non-stop adrenaline inducing plot, Nyxia is hands-down my favorite YA Sci-Fi book of 2017! ❤ ❤ ❤

*HUGE Thanks to Crown Books for Young Readers, Netgalley, and Scott Reintgen for the eGalley copy of Nyxia in exchange for an honest review.

Hello Bookworms! I was so excited to write this review since I couldn’t stop raving about it & Twitter/Goodreads wasn’t enough to spread the word hehe. Have any of you read Nyxia? or possibly plan to? what are some of your favorite YA Sci-Fi books? Sound off in the comments <3’s!

Hocus Pocus Book Tag

It really isn’t October if my favorite Halloween movie of all time isn’t on TV, Hocus Pocus will forever be THE movie I associate with this month. Thank you Flavia The Bibliophile for tagging me to participate in this very witchy tag…now I know what you meant when you said this brought out the bad witch in you 😂😂😂

THE RULES 📝

There are no rules. It’s YOUR blog. But it would be nice if you linked back to Never Not Reading (tag creator), and maybe the person who tagged you too. Share the love folks.

Feel free to use the GIFs used by Never Not Reading, the graphics made by Flavia the Bibliophile if you would like, both, or make and use your own visuals!

I have started a TON of new trilogies & series this past year alone, not all have I completed though lol. One trilogy I can credit with getting me into YA Fantasy is Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy. Laini’s writing is easily some of my favorite in this genre. Book 2 in the trilogy is a bit on the slower side but the pay off is worth it all! This trilogy also includes The Night of Cake and Puppets novella which Laini Taylor & her husband Jim Di Bartolo re-released recently with illustrations. I recommend this trilogy to those who love strange & beautifully written worlds/characters.

Truly written without a chance for redemption, Levana takes the cake in my book as the most vile of all villains. Once I read Fairest: Levana’s Story, I knew this character didn’t have an ounce of good in her. Fairest is a novella published after the Lunar Chronicles trilogy ended however this is very much Levana’s story before the events of the trilogy took place. Meyer gives us a look at the villain & how she came to be but never once did I feel sympathy for Levana. Not sure if it’s just me but she is DARRRRK! 🙈

Two series came to mind for this prompt since I’ve found that many bookworms I’ve come across have either read one or the other. The first for me will always be Harry Potter by JK Rowling & the other is Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. Both filled with their own kind of magic that whisks you away into lands unknown. Although I’m a die hard fan of Harry Potter, Rick Riordan continues to give his young readers more adventures in this world making sure kids keep going back 😉

Flavia & I share the same opinion for silly books, My Lady Jane & The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue immediately came to mind. However, My Lady Jane definitely takes the cake for silliest in my book. I have not laughed as hard as I did reading My Lady Jane & because of that suffered many long stares on the crowded New York City trains. The mix of humor & twist on historical fiction is so effortlessly done, I couldn’t tell you which one of the 3 awesome authors wrote which parts. I am so ready for the sequel! have you seen the cover to My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies #2)?!?! isn’t it STUNNING?!?!? 😍😍😍

I hate to put this book here because I REALLY enjoyed it! but I’m very much aware that I fall in the minority with this one 😂 The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich (my review) is a satire on all the well known YA tropes we all have a love/hate relationship with. It reminded me a ton of one of my fave modern rom-coms This Means War with Reese Witherspoon. Many bookworms felt that there was no depth to the characters which I thought was purposefully done by the author. This book didn’t take itself seriously & provided me with many bursts of laughter 😂😂😂

Julia in You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner is unapologetically honest & for this alone has secured a safe place in my ❤️ This character is confident even when she may not feel that way on the inside. Most of the time she is speaking her mind through sign language & won’t shy away from giving her two cents when asked. I appreciated Julia’s raw & straight forward personality because we don’t see a lot of that in YA contemporaries.

I didn’t think I had a series for this prompt but a quick trip to Goodreads brought back all of the memories I had with The House of Night series by P.C. Cast 😩I had to DNF the series 5 books in because of the writing. I read 5 books which says I enjoyed it enough to continue but I struggled with the massive amount of grammatical errors. I am no member of the grammar police, I’m far from perfect but when it becomes a task to get through a sentence I’d say that it’s a problem. I believe the series currently has 12 books out & I just hope the editing improved for the sake of the loyal fanbase.

I’ve got NOTHING folks! 😂 So I cheated a bit…since I couldn’t think of a bookish character I’m going with one from the Marvel Netflix series Iron Fist…Danny Rand really worked my last nerve with his role as a dumb naive superhero. Not sure if this was intentional but it persisted throughout the rest of the show with ZERO character growth. I’ve heard from friends who’ve read the comics that this is just how he’s always been portrayed & that sucks cuz I loved all of the other characters in this show.

It may be too soon to wish for this but a part of me just doesn’t want to accept that this is over 😩 but as a fan of this du-ology, how could I not? Specifically for the group of hackers introduced that serve as kind of “Over watch” for Kate & who go by the name of The Wardens. I NEED more of these characters, I still think of them & what crime they’ve been fighting since last I saw them 💭

I almost went with The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich again but another more recent read came to mind & it HURTS my soul to put it in here! 😩I recently had the opportunity to read & review Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi which I really enjoyed. That being said, early reviews put me once again in the minority but this time I’m not sure why. My review will go live later this week in time for its October 31st release date & so I’ll save my thoughts for that post. All I will say is that this was a 4 star read for me & I’m very interested in seeing more from this author 😄

Another prompt that had me scratching my head (these questions weren’t easy bookworms! 😂) but similar to Flavia, Mr. Kristoff came through. For me however it’s The Illuminae Files by Jay Kristoff since I have not yet read Nevernight. Illuminae as many of you have probably heard or seen, isn’t written in the traditional style. Told via chatroom scripts & Files, this book feels very much ahead of its time which I guess is the point since it takes place in the future aboard a space ship 😂 Now that I know Nevernight also has a similar feel I am even more eager to get to it 🙌🏼

Although I haven’t read Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, I did get to meet Simon briefly when he walked right into the middle of The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli & it most definitely accomplished what it set out to do, I am still thinking Who is this Simon guy? no worries, I will be reading Simon Vs. the Homo sapiens Agenda before the movie release March 2018 😉

I had a ton of fun with this tag, those who’ve been around my blog for a while know by now that I’m not the type of bookworm to hate on a book harshly but rather give it a fair trial 😂 I’m a very honest reviewer & can also be very selective with the books I request to read so I don’t have too many disappointments. That being said, it’s always good to go back & see why certain books/authors didn’t work for you💜

If I didn’t tag you down below but you’d like to take a go at it, please do & share your links down below. If I did tag you but you’re not up for it that’s ok too 😉

I Tag 🙋🏻

Shanah @Bionic Book Worm

Beth @ ReadingEveryNight

Gretchen @ChicNerdReads

Darque Dreamer Reads

Kristin @KristinKravesBooks

Avalinah @AvalinahsBooks

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#ARCstravaganza #10

#ARCstravaganza is a weekly meme hosted by the wonderful Flavia over @Flavia the Bibliophile where book bloggers/bookstagrammers have a chance to show off their ARCs/eARCs/Galleys!

Hello Readers! This is my 10th week participating in #ARCstravaganza Monday & this week I’ve chosen Renegades (Renegades #1) by Marissa Meyer which is one of my highly anticipated books of 2017! Meyer is a auto-buy author for me at this point, I enjoyed her writing & fresh take in the Lunar Chronicles & have high hopes for the next chapter in this authors journey. Renegades will follow a new story line, set of characters, and world. I’ve tried my hardest to stay away from early reviews on Goodreads but I did see mention of the main character being half Filipino which is automatically a plus in my book & on this blog. I guess what I’m also very excited to see is the villain Meyer has conjured up this time. Levana is still top 5 evil for me & I’m curious to see if there will be a new villain in town to dethrone her. Also, superhero powers are my Achilles Heel & no I can’t resist these stories, truth be told they take up the majority of my shelves.