Title: The Widow
Author: Fiona Barton
Rating: 3.5/5
Release Date: 2/16/2016

I want it to be on record that this is not one of my typical genres. With that being said, I liked this book. It wasn’t exactly what I expected, but it kept me engaged enough that I never really got bored reading it, I just didn’t want to read the whole thing in one sitting.
One negative, I didn’t pay attention to the dates at the beginning of each chapter when I first started reading, so things got thrown off for a little while and I got confused, but after I realized my mistake, it was a lot easier to follow the story.
I didn’t find the main character, Jean Taylor, all that likable. If this was the intended effect, then I applaud it on a job well done. Her character was hard to sympathize with. A wife with a dominant husband that semi-controls what she does. Seems like a big deal, but she doesn’t fight back all that much, almost like she doesn’t mind him taking over. Not to mention, without giving away big plot pieces, she did a few questionable things that made me a little uneasy with trusting her. There wasn’t a single character in the book that I could bring myself to feel sorry for, because, in a way, they all brought a certain degree of torture on themselves.
This book follows the investigation of Bella Elliott, a young girl that was stolen from her front lawn. Bella’s mother, Dawn, is distraught and the police jump on the case. After gathering evidence, they are led to Glen Taylor, a seemly simple man with a simple life, who just so happens to be hiding some rather dark secrets. Luckily for Glen, his wife Jean is dead set on his innocence, but is he really innocent? Or is he behind the disappearance of Bella?
It’s such a great plot for a mystery book, one that I couldn’t instantly guess the ending of in the first hundred pages. I found myself consistently thrown off with new discoveries made as the book progressed until the very last page. If this book had just a little big more action in it, I would been completely sold on it, but I just didn’t love it enough to gush over it. Certainly a great book for a mystery lovers! Can you find out what happened to Bella?

Title: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Rating: 4.5/5

I don’t know exactly how to describe my feelings for this book. I love so many parts of it, but I felt let down in some aspects.

I guess I’ll just start with Cassie’s relationship with Evan. I love this. I want more of this. I feel like I’m going to end up getting less of this in the next book. Without giving anything away, I love the way their relationship develops and how they first met. Which brings me to my next topic. Ben Parish. First of all, I swear I’ve heard this name before and I shipped him with Cassie so hard in the beginning, but then there was Evan and then things happened and I don’t know what to feel anymore. Cassie and Evan click, but I feel like the next book will be all about Cassie and Ben. Oh my feels.

Aliens. I love aliens in every way, shape, and form, because they are almost never viewed the same way. Whether books or TV shows, they are always different, even if they are trying to wipe the human race from the planet. Details. I want to learn more about the aliens. This book, a book that was recommended to me solely on the fact that it was about aliens, almost seemed to focus on the love story and the survival more than anything.  Don’t get me wrong, I love me some of that Falling Skies action (TV show reference. Recommend), but I want aliens!

All in all, this was a great book. Plenty of action, I loved the characters (mostly), and the romance. All things I love in books. Now, to clarify on my rating a little, I gave it a 4.5 instead of a 5, because of the above paragraph about aliens and because of Ringer, because, yes, I get that apparently all we want are badass female leads that can take care of themselves, but she was way too annoying for me.

I’m so glad I got to read this before the movie comes out and I hope the movie does this book justice!

Since December is coming to a close, that means we must say goodbye to 2015 as well. To celebrate the end of the year, I’ve decided to list some of my top 5s from 2015! These are all in my opinion!

Best Books from 2015*

Best Covers from 2015*

Best Plot Ideas from 2015

Top 15 Overall Books of 2015

Debut author, Linda Bloodworth, graciously gave some of her valuable time to take the time to answer some questions I had for her about her experiences in writing and publishing her first novel, A Raven’s Touch, which comes out on December 28th of this year.

—-

What is it like finally having your book published?
It’s a dream come true. I first wrote this story during high school and now many years later I’ve re-written it with an adult perspective. Needless to say the story is dear to my heart and I feel like I’ve finally climbed an impossible mountain.

What was your inspiration for A Raven’s Touch?
Oddly enough, I had a dream, and the story spiraled from there.

What made you want to be an author?
I’ve always felt I had stories inside and this was the only way to get them out. It’s not so much that I decided to be an author, but more so the writing life found me. Writing is akin to breathing; I need it to survive.

Any advice for aspiring writers?
Write every day. Even if you write on a napkin, scrap piece of paper, just do it. Find that one space where you can close yourself off and dream.

Did you run into any problems while you were writing?
I struggled with a few plot holes, and I am thankful that I had beta readers to point them out. I’m fairly certain I was going to throw out my computer a few times, but I just took time off and then came back to the story. No writer will ever submit their first draft, problems are part of the writing process. Other than that, I had a few financial set backs, but I managed to make things happen.

Do you have any plans for future books?
I certainly do. A Raven’s Touch is just the beginning. I am currently writing the sequel. I plan on writing many more books to come.

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The cover reveal for A Raven’s Touch is on December 11th and is going to be released on December 28th. Pre-orders are available on Amazon

It’s my greatest honor to reveal the cover for the third book in the Air Awakens series, Earth’s End. But, before, I thought I would share a little about the first two books, Air Awakens and Fire Falling. 

Goodreads Excerpt for Air Awakens:

A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond…

The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war.

Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books. But after she unknowingly saves the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of them all—the Crown Prince Aldrik—she finds herself enticed into his world. Now she must decide her future: Embrace her sorcery and leave the life she’s known, or eradicate her magic and remain as she’s always been. And with powerful forces lurking in the shadows, Vhalla’s indecision could cost her more than she ever imagined.

Goodreads Excerpt for Fire Falling: 

Soldier… Sorcerer… Savior… Who is Vhalla Yarl?

Vhalla Yarl marches to war as property of the Solaris Empire. The Emperor counts on her to bring victory, the Senate counts on her death, and the only thing Vhalla can count on is the fight of her life. As she grapples with the ghosts of her past, new challenges in the present threaten to shatter the remnants of her fragile sanity. Will she maintain her humanity? Or will she truly become the Empire’s monster?

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I REVEAL THE BEAUTIFUL COVER OF EARTH’S END. 

Just as stunning as the first two covers, no? The cover art is by the lovely Merilliza Chan ( zwxART )

Important Dates:

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Raffle!

Classics. Big, professional-looking books sold by Barnes and Noble in those beautiful leather editions that we all just love to collect and look at on our shelves. Why are they important?

We’ve all been in that situation where we have to read a classic for school. I, myself, had to read Great Expectations, which was something I was not excited for. You could say that I didn’t have great expectations about it. Now that I have that weak pun out of the way, classics are certainly daunting. Not only are the majority massive in size, but more than half of them are hardly in English! So why do we even need to read them? Well, that’s what I hope to tell you!

1.  Classics Help Us in Real Life Situations

Believe it or not, classics are probably applied to your life on a daily basis regardless of you reading them or not. I know everyone that read Lord of the Flies in school is just thinking “yes, I’ve spent a lot of time on a deserted island with only kids and a monster trying to kill us all.” No, that’s not what I meant. Using Lord of the Flies as an example, though, you need to look at the hidden context and not take everything so literal. In this case, you can apply how people can be cruel and turn on each other without a second thought. Maybe you think about this when your friends ditch you or when a significant other cheats on you. Everyone has thought at one time in their life about how cruel people can be. Didn’t this start on such a happy note? Another example would be Fahrenheit 451. In this sense, it could be both literal and have a hidden meaning. Yes, there have been mass burnings of books before, but it could also symbolize how books, documents, etc. have been censored, destroying the original stories.

2. Classics Help Expand Vocabulary

Sort of obvious. You can open the first page of some classics and see those huge words that take up half the line and your mind just goes blank. Nothing makes sense anymore and you have to put down your book to pick up your two inch copy of the Webster (or you can Google it, but that’s too easy). After finding your mystery word, you proudly pick your novel back up and read two more lines before getting stuck again. Oi. However, you now know a whole two words that you never knew before. A tedious practice, but you’re learning and that’s all that matters in the end. Right?

3. Every Time You Read a Classic, It’s Like Reading it for the First Time

Not something you would expect. Classics are complicated. They have a relatively new language and every time you read it, you discover something you never noticed before, so it’s like reading it for the first time! Isn’t that neat? I know that if I could read my favourite book again for the first time, I would do it in a heart beat, just to fall in love with it all over again. There’s something almost poetic about it.

4. The Reason is in the Name

Classics! We use the term ‘classics’ to describe books that have faced the wear and tear of time and are still around today! These books have been read for decades, some even centuries and we are still talking about them and learning from them. There is a small chance that you will see sparkling vampires on the High School reading list in fifty years, but 1984 and To Kill a Mockingbird will still be there. Of course, by that time, Harry Potter might be considered a classic as well. Who knows!

Title: Ten Thousand Skies Above You
Author: Claudia Gray
Pages: 432
Book Series: Firebird
Book #: 2
Release Date: 11/3/2015

Goodreads Excerpt:

Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents’ invention, to cross into alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse—even hurting the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked and his consciousness scattered across multiple dimensions.

Marguerite has no choice but to search for each splinter of Paul’s soul. The hunt sends her racing through a war-torn San Francisco, the criminal underworld of New York City, and a glittering Paris where another Marguerite hides a shocking secret. Each world brings Marguerite one step closer to rescuing Paul. But with each trial she faces, she begins to question the destiny she thought they shared.

The second book in the Firebird trilogy, Ten Thousand Skies Above You features Claudia Gray’s lush, romantic language and smart, exciting action, and will have readers clamoring for the next book.

Title: Illuminae
Authors: Jay Kristoff and Aime Kaufman
Pages: 608
Book Series: The Illuminae Files
Book #: 1
Release Date: 10/20/2015

Goodreads Excerpt:

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.

Title: The Rose Society
Author: Marie Lu
Pages: 416
Book Series: The Young Elites
Book #: 2
Release Date: 10/13/2015

Goodreads Excerpt:

Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.

Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she and her sister flee Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers that murdered her love, the Crown Prince Enzo Valenciano.

But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good, when her very existence depends on darkness?

Similar Titles: Legend, Prodigy, and Champion by Marie Lu and The Young Elites by Marie Lu