Book Review | The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Title: The Sun is Also a Star
Author: Nicola Yoon
Publication: November 1st 2016 by Delacorte Press
Series: Standalone
Pages: 348
Genre: Fantasy
Copy: Hardcover; Bought
Summary: Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.
The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

Book Review (ARC) | The Alchemists of Loom by Elise Kova

Title: The Alchemists of Loom
Author: Elise Kova
Publication: January 10th 2017 by Keymaster Press
Series: Loom Saga #1
Pages: 380
Genre: Fantasy
Copy: ARC provided from publisher in exchange for an honest review
Summary: Her vengeance. His vision.

Ari lost everything she once loved when the Five Guilds’ resistance fell to the Dragon King. Now, she uses her unparalleled gift for clockwork machinery in tandem with notoriously unscrupulous morals to contribute to a thriving underground organ market. There isn’t a place on Loom that is secure from the engineer turned thief, and her magical talents are sold to the highest bidder as long as the job defies their Dragon oppressors.

Cvareh would do anything to see his sister usurp the Dragon King and sit on the throne. His family’s house has endured the shame of being the lowest rung in the Dragons’ society for far too long. The Alchemist Guild, down on Loom, may just hold the key to putting his kin in power, if Cvareh can get to them before the Dragon King’s assassins.

When Ari stumbles upon a wounded Cvareh, she sees an opportunity to slaughter an enemy and make a profit off his corpse. But the Dragon sees an opportunity to navigate Loom with the best person to get him where he wants to go.

He offers her the one thing Ari can’t refuse: A wish of her greatest desire, if she brings him to the Alchemists of Loom.

Book Review | Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Title: Gemina

Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Publication: October 18th 2016 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Series: Illuminae Files #2

Pages: 608

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Copy: Bought

Summary: Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.

The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy's most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station's wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

Book Recommendations | Contemporary YA

I've been reading a lot of contemporary lately, and I've discovered some new favorites!  So I thought I would share with you guys really quickly some Contemporary YA books I've read in the past few weeks that I really enjoyed.

First & Then by Emma Mills

Why I Rec: Super cute characters, especially Ezra and Foster!  I love how awkward Ezra is, too.

P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

Why I Rec: This was my first Kasie West book and I was pleasantly surprised!  Super adorable plot, even if it was a little predictable (I guessed who the penpal was 3 chapters in).  Definitely look forward to read more of her books in the future!

Book Review | A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

Title: A Torch Against the Night

Author: Sabaa Tahir

Publication: August 30th 2016 by Razorbill

Series: An Ember in the Ashes #2

Pages: 452

Genre: YA Fantasy

Copy: Bought

Summary: Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.

Book Review | Water's Wrath by Elise Kova

Title: Water's Wrath
Author: Elise Kova
Publication: April 26th 2016 by Silver Wing Press
Series: Air Awakens #4
Pages: 291
Genre: Fantasy, Elemental
Copy: ARC gifted in exchange for an honest review
Summary: Librarian turned sorcerer. Sorcerer turned hero. Hero turned puppet.

The Solaris Empire found victory in the North and, at the cost of her heart and her innocence, Vhalla Yarl has earned her freedom. But the true fight is only beginning as the secret forces that have been lurking in the shadows, tugging at the strings of Vhalla’s fate, finally come to light. Nowhere is safe, and Vhalla must tread carefully or else she’ll fall into the waiting arms of her greatest foe. Or former lover.

Top Five(?) Tuesday | 5 Of My Most Recent 5 Star Reads

Hi everyone :).  Today I thought I would do Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme created by the lovely The Broke and the Bookish!  This week's top ten are 10 of my most recent 5 star reads, but I decided to only do my most recent 5, because 10 seemed like too much (work lol).

*Disclaimer: I'm a pretty easy-to-please reader, so I give out 5 stars pretty often.  However, I always rate books truthfully, so these recent 5-star reads are all ones that I absolutely love and definitely recommend!!

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (ACOTAR #1)

Synopsis: When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

Why the 5 stars?: Okay so technically I haven't finished this one yet but I'm so in love with it so far that there's no way that this isn't going to be a 5-star.  Beauty and the Beast re-tellings are my weakness...

Series Review | The Starbound Triology

                                  

Hi everyone!  Since I'm too lazy to post individual reviews, I decided to do a series review of all three Starbound Trilogy books.  I already talked about These Broken Stars in a Book Recommendation post (you can read it here), but I decided to include it in this post as well.

I read These Broken Stars September of last year, and I fell in love.  Unfortunately, I was too broke to buy the second book (I found the first one in my local library) and the third hadn't even come out yet.  I thought I would never get around to reading the rest of the series.  Luckily, Christmas came around, and, to my surprise, I got the entire series in hardcover!  I was so happy that I immediately made plans to re-read These Broken Stars, and then read the rest of the series.  I was so excited for This Shattered World and Their Fractured Light, and I'm so glad that I was not disappointed!

Book Recs + Quick Reviews

Here are some of the books I have recently read and enjoyed but have been too lazy to write full reviews on them.

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick My rating: 5 of 5 stars Stayed up all night reading this book. Definitely worth the book-hangover...







  The Young Elites by Marie Lu My rating: 5 of 5 stars Just... Wow. Too many emotions. I don't know whether I want to go cry in a dark corner or punch someone in the face.






  Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout My rating: 5 of 5 stars Still ship Layla with Roth...







  The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is so incredibly messed up in so many ways. I love it.  







  View all my reviews