Winner of ARC of The Chaos of Stars!

As you all may or may not know, I hosted a giveaway for the past week and a half for an ARC of The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White. The time has come for me to share it with one lucky individual.

Patrice!

Yay!!! I hope she enjoys it as much as I did!

Congratulations, Patrice!

Don't get discouraged folks. I will have many more ARCs to give away in the future.

Until next time...

3 Book Reviews, 1 Giveaway: THE CHAOS OF STARS, REBOOT, and SIEGE AND STORM

This blog post is going to be a three-in-one sort of deal, but to reward anyone for reading three reviews (which I hope y’all do because these books are great), I am also giving away an ARC of The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White. And without further ado, let the reviewing begin!


The Chaos of Stars
Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen (imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)
Publication Date: September 9, 2013
Pages: 228

I believe in magic. A childhood growing up reading Harry Potter and waving sticks like wands has not been cancelled out by age and the real world. Experience continues to press me further into the embrace of the otherworldly, and perhaps that is why I found The Chaos of Stars to be a breath of fresh air in the realm of mythical books written for teens.

(Full disclosure: I haven’t read the Percy Jackson series. So no judgies.)

However, The Chaos of Stars doesn’t feel like those books. It isn’t a series. The danger isn’t some evil figure out to destroy the world. It’s a book about family and the bonds between loved ones (and not so loved ones).

Isadora may be the daughter of gods but she isn’t powerful; in fact, she’s mortal. This book is less a retelling of myth and more a natural exploration of how myths have adapted to change and now live quiet lives among unsuspecting humans. And it’s fascinating.

I believed every second of it and that, I think, is the highest praise I can give any book. Just like I believe that my house is hidden by some kind of strange magic from the owls carrying my Hogwarts letter, I believe in the mythology that White has used so well in weaving Isadora’s story.



Reboot
Author: Amy Tintera
Publisher: HarperTeen
Available Now
Pages: 365

I did a semi-review a few posts ago, so if I repeat anything, I don’t care. That said, Reboot is everything the author blurbs on the covers say it is.

“Fast-paced and thrilling—I devoured this book!” –Veronica Rossi (Under the Never Sky)

“A bone-breaking heroine fights for her life, her love, and what remains of her humanity in this fresh take on a world gone wrong.” –Lissa Price (Starters)

Wren 178 is a no nonsense character. As a child, she contracted the deadly KDH virus (kind of like a modified zombie virus) and during a supposed break-in was shot three times in the chest and killed along with her parents. Once dead, she rose 178 minutes later as a Reboot. Her role in the world after that became much simpler: follow orders.

She exists as a tool for the Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation (HARC) to hunt down criminals and rogue Reboots. Because it took 178 minutes for her to “wake up,” Wren is super fast and super strong. The longer a Reboot is “dead” equals the strength of a Reboot once he or she awakens. I must admit, I find this semi-zombie virus style epidemic and resulting super humans to be a fascinating concept.

Part of Wren’s job is to train new Reboots, and the narrative really picks up once Wren gets her new trainee: Callum 22. He’s the lowest number she’s ever trained and it is her decision to train him that thrusts her into new territory and propels the Bourne-paced action of the story. I flinched a few times to be honest. Wren 178 really is a “bone-breaking heroine.”

My only niggling qualm about Reboot is about the pacing near the end. Everything seems to happen all at once, things falling into place miraculously (or so it appeared to me) one after the other. Click, click, click into neat stacks. It’s not a bad ending, but it isn’t a “Wow, would you look at that!” ending either. It’s…adequate, particularly since there will be more to follow.

Despite that, I can confidently say that I do recommend Reboot and I hope you all read it at some point or another because I have a feeling it might be made into a movie, a la The Hunger Games. Or at the least a TV show. Like I said, the KDH virus premise is just too appealing to pass up. If I were a producer (*cough* Joss Whedon *cough*), I’d snap it up in a heartbeat.

(*eyes Hollywood*)



And finally…


Siege and Storm
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Available Now
Pages: 432

It doesn’t happen often but I’m at a loss for words. How shall I begin to talk about this second installment in The Grisha Trilogy? Ummm, well, I read it today in about three hours and once I finished I had to wait 30 minutes before I was able to tweet anything comprehensible.

Sometimes books affect me that way. I squeak when I try to summarize them to people, stumble over the plot points, and wave my hands to try to gesture-describe what my mouth can’t. It’s a strange state, I give you that, but it’s part of who I am.

Siege and Storm is one of those books, along with any Harry Potter, The Night Circus, and any Shannon Hale novel. There are a few others, but y’all don’t need a comprehensive list of topics that make me tongue-tied.

If you’re a Shadow and Bone fan but haven’t read Siege and Storm, then let me say this: buy it but don’t read it until the last book, Ruin and Rising, is released because it’s TORTURE having to wait. My brain is leaving claw marks on the inside of my skull because I have to wait until June 5, 2014 to find out what happens next. Just look at the first few “reviews” on Goodreads and all the GIF sets that I want to use are there.

Now that I’ve rambled, for, like, ever, I suppose I can actually provide somewhat of a summary/review. Ahem.

After Alina Starkov escapes the sexy clutches of The Darkling with equally sexy Mal, she tries to put her life back together while on the run. Of course, this can’t last and Alina is forced to assume her role as the Sun Summoner and as the only person in the world who is capable of standing up to the malicious (and handsome) force of The Darkling. There are new perils in this continuation of The Grisha Trilogy and Alina must make some difficult decisions, about power, about love, and about herself. The hunt is on for powerful artifacts and for a resolution to the power struggle in Ravka and the mysterious Fold. Darkness is gaining ground, but can Alina, the conflicted Sun Summoner with a growing cult following, hold back its sway over the land?

Whew. What a summary.


I feel like I need to give something away now. Just fill out the Rafflecopter survey below to earn entries and you might just win an ARC of The Chaos of Stars! Yay! It goes without saying that the contest is only viable in the continental U.S. and Canada. Remember, college student=no money. Best of luck guys!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

What's Up Wednesday: The Chaos of Stars, an orangutan, and Radioactive

This will be the first time I've participated in What's Up Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk, and I'm delighted to join. Lovely ladies both.

What I've Been Reading: 

Well, most recently I just finished an ARC of The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White. (I'll be giving it away in August.) I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked it up other than my initial infatuation with the simple yet beautiful cover, but the first line grabbed me right away and off I zoomed to a world of mythical beings and ancient gods.

The Chaos of Stars is not like other mythological based YA lit I've read. It's not a retelling in any sense, but rather a continuation, and it makes sense to me that these characters and the events that unfold could happen if those myths were real and the gods still roamed the earth, hidden in plain sight.

The MC, Isadora, is the daughter of the Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris--but there's a catch: she's human. Because of that, Isadora has all kinds of typical teenage daughter issues with her parents, but on a scale that is quite beyond that of the "typical teenager."

To me, the book read as a testament to the trials inherent in any family and the ultimate love that parents have for their children despite their differences. Although I'm happy to report that my family doesn't have any of the murder or betrayal that Isadora's immortal family does.

At the moment I am reading Reboot by Amy Tintera and enjoying it. It's too early for me to tell what will happen but I have a sneaking suspicion there will be romance and some butt-kicking action. The blurb on the back of the cover reminds me of Divergent and the ARC I recently gave away and reviewed, The Brokenhearted.

Now that I'm a Reboot: I am faster. I am stronger. I heal quickly. I don't cry. I follow orders. Until now.  

Intriguing, no? I thought so. I have a cache of other books (YA or otherwise) just waiting to be read and reviewed or given away, and to be honest, it is quite overwhelming. I've taken to splitting them up and putting them on separate shelves so I don't get the figurative stink-eye from more than a few at time, depending on which direction I'm looking. Is it bad that I give my books personification? Because sometimes I think they really do have personalities.

What I'm Writing:

Not to bore y'all, but I haven't been writing anything fictional this summer. I've actually been doing more research (Yuck! Help! Research!) into the characterization of animals and their "uses" in fictional works as either vehicles for ideas or balances for the bad qualities of a main character. I am doing this research in hopes of writing a more detailed paper on the relationship of Forrest Gump to the orangutan Sue, in the novel.

When I wrote my thesis, I focused on this relationship for about ten pages but all of my committee members (who are doctors of English, so I have to believe them, don't I?) said that that section was their favorite and suggested I develop it further. In all honesty, I, too, thought I made good points and considered it my favorite area as well, but since I was trying my hardest to sell them on the awesomeness of my entire thesis, I brushed the idea under the rug. I wanted to pass, after all.

Now that it's summer and graduate school is looming ever closer, I have decided to take the idea off of the back burner. So there you have it. What I've been writing. Or in this case, pre-writing, since I'm mostly doing research.

And as I type this I have a document open to one of my old WIPs, re-reading it and cringing at some of my descriptions. Goodness, it could use some TLC.

What Else I've Been Up To: 

Working. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I work (worked, now) at the Education department of my university and I was basically a lab fixture for two years. This summer was my last semester in that lab assistant position for one of my favorite classes ever (EDM310, check it out, Dr. Strange is awesome). Now that it's over, I'm a little depressed. I'm going to miss that job.

Starting in August I will be working in the Writing Center as part of my GA position, but a part of my heart will always be in EDM310.

Let's see...what else. I've moved into a new apartment and this time I have a roommate. I love her though so I don't foresee any issues. We met in EDM310 as coworkers and she jokes that since because I and the a few others have graduated and she is still working there that she might pay me to read some of her assignments because she'll have so many to do. Ha!

What Inspires Me Right Now:

I've been on a YouTube kick for the past two weeks. If you haven't seen Lindsey Stirling and Pentatonix's new video cover of Radioactive by Imagine Dragons, then please watch it right now. I'll wait. I've even embedded it for your viewing ease.



Now, go watch all of the videos related to this one and you'll see what I've been inspired by lately. Oh this song makes my skin tingle and soul squirm. I can feel it inside me, oozing out of my pores to the soaring violin and beats.

Until next time...