The Testing - A Review

The Testing - Joelle Charbonneau (NetGalley)

Overview

It’s graduation day for sixteen-year-old Malencia Vale, and the entire Five Lakes Colony (the former Great Lakes) is celebrating. All Cia can think about—hope for—is whether she’ll be chosen for The Testing, a United Commonwealth program that selects the best and brightest new graduates to become possible leaders of the slowly revitalizing post-war civilization. When Cia is chosen, her father finally tells her about his own nightmarish half-memories of The Testing. Armed with his dire warnings (”Cia, trust no one”), she bravely heads off to Tosu City, far away from friends and family, perhaps forever. Danger, romance—and sheer terror—await.

My Thoughts: 

I wasn't  sure at first how this book was going to go for me. I found it easy to read and the characters flowed well, it just took a bit to figure out where the writer was heading with the story. Once it did though, I admit It got my attention and reeled me in.

Cia is a strong character who may be a tad too trusting at times, but I found myself connecting with her. I mean who wants to see the bad in people. Don't we all want to believe that everyone is a good, honest person? Thomas I don't know I can't quite put my finger on it but the character makes me wary and I'm not sure I trust him. The testing folks are just plain creepy. Always there, always watching and knowing. It's like big brother peering over your shoulder constantly.

In the end, I found I really enjoyed the book. I'm sure I'm not the first reviewer to say it's very reminiscent to Hunger Games and I'm sure I won't be the last. That aside, the story itself is interesting and I'm keen to find out what happens next. 

Author's website: Joelle Charbonneau

Series Website: Testing Trilogy

The Eternity Cure - A Review

The Eternity Cure - Julie Kagawa (NetGalley)

Summary:
Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.

Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.


My Thoughts:


I was so glad to get the opportunity to read and review this book. I love this author and can't seem to get enough of her books. This one did not disappoint!

What I like most about this series is simply, Vampires are vampires. They are not all goody goody and they have no qualm about killing. Most of them don't. Some like Allison have consciences but even she kills when she has too.  Julie didn't create this plain boring world. Her world is dark and dank and full of monsters. 

I liked that she brought Jackel back and Zeke. She introduced us to some new enemies this time around and boy are they evil. I thought she was going to leave a very big cliffhanger but in the end I think she had second thoughts and while it's obvious there will be another book, I almost wish she had left the cliffhanger. 

Solid book 2 and I would like to read book 3 now. 

Author's Website: Julie Kagawa

Reboot - A Review

Reboot - Amy Tintera (publisher)

synopsis:
Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

My Thoughts:

This book has an interesting premise. You get a virus, you die, if you're young, you might reboot and come back as this stronger, less kill able version of yourself. Depending on how many minutes you were dead also plays a factor in your strength, attachments, once you come back.

The main character is one of the rarer reboots. She was dead over 178 minutes and is the HRAC best reboots. She fast, merciless, never gives them any trouble. That is until she takes on a new reboot trainee Callum. Emotions that were never a problem come into play and she  finds her self doing things so unlike herself.

You of course have the typical good guy/bad guy scenario. Fighting, running, trying to stay alive. This is definitely a dystopian book and I found I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'm curious to see where book 2 leads too. I also hope at some point we get to learn a little bit more about the virus that started it all.

Author Website: Amy Tintera

Massive Book Giveaway!

Alma Katsu has teamed up with 15 authors of cross-genre books to offer this great contest!!

It's for the Ides of March and runs 1-15 March. Lucky winners will get 16 books--one from each of the participating authors--and we're giving away one set per 500 entries. The contest is open to US/UK and Canada.

Here's the link to the website where people can enter:

http://idesofmarchbookgiveaway.blogspot.com/2013/02/win-16-books-by-16-fantastic-authors.html

The deal is that all entrants agreed to be added to authors' mailing lists (they can always unsubscribe later, naturally.)

Here are the books/authors:

THE LANTERN by Deborah Lawrenson

NY Times bestseller modern gothic novel of love, secrets, and murder—set against the lush backdrop of Provence
THE FIREBIRD (ARC) by Susanna Kearsley
A twin-stranded story that blends modern romance with 18th-century Jacobite intrigue, traveling from Scotland to Russia, from the NY Times bestselling author of The Winter Sea
THE TWELFTH ENCHANTMENT by David Liss
In Regency England, at the dawn of the industrial era, magic and technology clash and the fate of the nation rests in the hands of a penniless young woman 

COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott
An epic adventure fantasy with a decidedly steampunk edge where magic - and the power of the Cold Mages - hold sway 
THE MAPMAKER'S WAR by Ronlyn Domingue
A mesmerizing, utterly original adventure about love and loss and the redemptive power of the human spirit--releases March 5th!
DRACULA IN LOVE by Karen Essex
"If you read only one more vampire novel, let it be this one!" -C.W. Gortner, author of The Last Queen & The Confessions of Catherine de Medici

RED, WHITE AND BLOOD by Chris Farnsworth

High-octane supernatural thriller, a sequel to The President's Vampire

THE HOUSE OF VELVET AND GLASS by Katherine Howe

The House of Velvet and Glass weaves together meticulous period detail, intoxicating romance, and a final shocking twist in a breathtaking novel that will thrill readers

from the author of bestseller The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL (ARC) by Carolyn Turgeon

The Fairest of Them All is an inventive, magical fairy-tale mash-up about Rapunzel growing up to be Snow White's stepmother, out in August 2013 from the author of Godmother and Mermaid 

THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES by M.J. Rose

A sweeping and suspenseful tale of secrets, intrigue, and lovers separated by time, all connected through the mystical qualities of a perfume created in the days of Cleopatra--and lost for 2,000 years by bestselling novelist M.J. Rose
THIEFTAKER by DB Jackson
Combining elements of traditional fantasy, urban fantasy, mystery and historical fiction, Thieftaker will appeal to readers who enjoy intelligent fantasy and history with an attitude

GLAMOUR IN GLASS by Mary Robinette Kowal
Glamour in Glass follows the lives of the main characters from Shades of Milk and Honey, a loving tribute to the works of Jane Austen in a world where magic is an everyday occurrence 
DEVIL'S GATE by FJ Lennon
Devil’s Gate is exhilarating urban fantasy, with first class writing and characters that are unforgettable beyond the last page
THE CROOKED BRANCH by Jeanine Cummins
“Wonderfully written, with strong, compelling characters, it is a deeply satisfying combination of sweeping historical saga and modern family drama, a gentle reminder of the ever-reaching influence of family”--Booklist
A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS by Marie Brennan
The story of Isabella, Lady Trent, the world's preeminent dragon naturalist, and her thrilling expedition to Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever
THE RECKONING by Alma Katsu

In the tradition of early Anne Rice, a gorgeously written sequel to The Taker that takes readers on a harrowing, passion-fueled chase that transcends the boundaries of time