Friday, May 19, 2017

Fractured Memories (Jagged Scars #1) by Jo Schneider & $20 Amazon GIVEAWAY

Fractured Memories (Jagged Scars, #1)
Sixteen year old Wendy never knew the world before the Starvation. She's learned to put her trust in her knives, and her confidence in her fighting ability. When the Skinnies attach her compound, she's the lone survivor. 
Injured and near death, Wendy is rescued and nursed back to health by mysterious strangers. Her saviors offer her a place among them, but trust has never been one of Wendy's strengths, and suspicion soon leads to evidence that these people might be the group who killed her family.
The decision to get her revenge, and take the settlement down from the inside out is easy. Keeping her distance from those she must befriend in order to make it happen proved to be much more difficult.  

About the Author:


Jo Schneider grew up in Utah and Colorado, and finds mountains helpful in telling which direction she is going. One of Jo's goals is to travel to all seven continents - five down and two to go.

Another goal was to become a Jedi Knight, but when that didn't work out, Jo started studying Shaolin Kempo. She now has a black belt, to go with her shoes, and she keeps going back for more, because hitting things is fun. An intervention may be in order.

Being a geek at heart, Jo has always been drawn to science fiction and fantasy. She writes both and hopes to introduce readers to worlds that wow them and characters that they can cheer for. Post Apocalyptic survivor stories are one of her favorites, as illustrated by her five book JAGGED SCARS series.

Jo lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her adorkable husband, Jon, who is very useful for science and computer information as well as getting items off of top shelves.

Author Links:


Website: http://joannschneider.com/dir/
Facebook: https//www.facebook.com/JoannSchneiderAuthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jschneider.writer/

Review:


I went straight from reading Poisoned Iris to reading this book. I literally jotted down a few notes for my review after finishing it and picked up this book. So, I had to read a few chapters to transition from Irisya's world to Wendy's.

Fun tidbit: When the author describes the marketplace, it reminded me of the same kind of common area described in Divergent. 

This book was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I really can't pick out one thing that I didn't like about it. It was very well written and original and had a great story.

I LOVED Wendy! She is super-strong and super-smart, and even when she tries not to let emotions and human connections influence her actions, she shows her humanity. 

I was SO EXCITED when I got to the end of this book and there was a note, saying that if I signed up for the author's newsletter, I could download the next book in the series for free! Needless to say, I immediately downloaded and started reading Severed Ties. However, at that point, it was already almost 3am (yes, I stayed up that late to finish this book), and even though I did not have to work the next day, I had tons of homework to do and needed to get some sleep. I do admit trying pretty hard to talk myself out of going to bed so that I could continue reading (duh!).

This was my thought that night (and almost every other night, before I go to bed), even though I know it will always turn into "just one more chapter," after that! 
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I must also point out that this book does not have much of a romantic aspect, which is refreshing, and I don't think the author could have successfully thrown in either the clichè love triangle or created the super intense crush/romantic interest with an existing character, without taking away from Wendy's story and character. Thank you, Jo Schneider!

I think the author did a great job with Wendy's character! She is strong and independent and is a badass that can do just about anything, yet is constantly underestimated.

I can't (and won't) wait to see what happens next with Wendy and her new friends!

Right now, I am about 3/4 way through the next book in the Jagged Scars series, Severed Ties, so stay tuned for my review next week! Expect reviews of the next books in the series soon!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 



 Check out my review on GoodReads!

Giveaway:



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Friday, May 12, 2017

Poisoned Iris (The Red Era, #1) by Cindy Mezni

Poisoned Iris (The Red Era, #1)
Athens was once the cradle of civilization. Now, it's slowly but surely becoming the tomb of humanity. 
The Red Plague, a violent virus which had run rampant decades ago, left its imprint on the planet and the flesh of men. All that remains of the modern world is an endless wasteland of ruins - Erebos- and two cities- Elysion, the obscure island of the Non-Infecteds about which no one knows a thing, and, Tartaros, the crumbling town of the Infecteds, where despair, hatred, violence and poverty are the operative words. 
And at the heart of this universe lived Irisya, a sixteen-year-old Non-Infected girl, staying recluse in her home to be safe and relying on her brother, Memphis, for everything. 
But then, one day, he disappears without a trace.
Irisya has no choice. To save him, to survive, she will have to brave all the dangers of the outside world. 

Author Links:


Cindy Mezni, author of The Last Hope series, Poisoned Iris trilogy and Nëphyr trilogy


Review:


I got into this book really quickly. From the first page, the author sucks you into Irisya's dystopian world, and with each chapter, she builds a more complete picture of the chaos and terror that ensued after a plagued engulfed what was modern-day Greece. The Non-Infected fled Athens, gong across the sea to the island of Erobos, leaving the Infected to rule the island. Any Non-Infecteds left in Tartaros are in danger of all kinds, from being killed or sold, or taken from their homes and families to Erebos, of which they know nothing about. 

So, for years, Irisya has stayed inside the apartment she shares with her brother, Memphis, who impersonates an Infected daily, to be able to go out and provide for him and his sister (through means that he does not usually share with Irisya, but at times, she is able to guess).

Irisya's world is turned upside down when her brother disappears one day and does not return home. When she goes outside the apartment to look for him, she is spotted and identified as a Non-Infected almost immediately and must flee the area and the home that she has not left since she was a child, ad word of a Non-Infected in the area spreads rapidly, and Infecteds begin to hunt for her. 

Outside, in a word she had only heard horror stories about, with little knowledge of how to survive, Irisya begins her search for her brother, luckily running into help along the way. 

This book was AWESOME! Throughout the whole book, there are twists and surprises, and Irisya is put into all kinds of crazy situations in her journey to find her brother. 

I will note that the book was a bit long, but I don't think it was too long. I loved the amount of detail the author put into explaining why things are the way they are in the book. 

If you read any of my other book reviews, this may come as a surprise, but I even liked the way the romantic aspects were done in this book. My pet peeve is taking what would otherwise be a perfectly good book and throwing in the clichè love triangle and taking the focus away from the story, or creating a super strong female main character, who turns into a complete idiot over some stupid crush. In this book, the author was excellent at tying the love story in without taking anything away from the story or Irisya's character. 

I've also got to say that the author did an amazing job with the ending! Although I'm super anxious and excited to read the next book and see what happens next, it didn't leave off at a super crazy cliff hanger where you have to check and make sure it is actually the end of the book, and it's not missing the last chapter or something (yes, I've done this, more than I care to mention). The ending definitely left me with plenty of questions, but it essentially close up a big chapter of Irisya's story, leaving questions about how the next chapter will go. 

I ♥ ♥ ♥-ed this book! It took me a little longer than usual to read, but only because the book was a bit longer than I expected. However, that definitely wasn't a bad thing! I was happy to spend that time with Irisya and "her people." (Side note: I loved that she started saying this toward the end of the book.)

I will be waiting (not so patiently) for the next book in The Red Era series to be released so that I can find out what happens next with Irisya and "her people!"

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 Check out my review on GoodReads!

Monday, May 1, 2017

Vivatera by Candace J. Thomas

Vivatera (Vivatera, #1)
Not even Naomi's prophetic dreams prepare her for the mysterious wanderer who appears just in time to snatch her from danger - nor the upheaval he brings in his wake. No knight in shining armor, Reynolds once risked Naomi's life, and that dark secret again threatens it. When Naomi discovers the world of magic and of what she is capable, not even Reynolds can slow the fate barreling down upon them both.  

About the Author:

Candace J Thomas is an award-winner of Young Adult Fantasy and Sci-Fi. She is the author of the Vivatera Series and Hawkweed, published by Xchyler Publishing. Her debut novel, Vivatera, won the LUW Diamond Award for Novel if the Year. Her Paranormal Satire Vampire-ish: A Hypochondriac's Tale was published in July 2016. Candie is known for her extreme fanatical love for Count Chocula and everything pop culture nerdy. She and her husband also run DWEEBISH STUDIOS for voice over and audio book recording. 

Links for the Author:

Twitter: @cjtwrites
Instagram: candacejthomas


Review:

For some reason, it took me a little longer than usual to get into this book. However, thinking back, after finishing the book, I don't know that it was the book's fault or just me having a super-weird (for me at least) lull, where I wanted to be lazy and watch TV before bed, instead of reading until I force myself to put the book down and stop reading (even though I usually convince myself "just one more chapter").

While it did take me a bit to start getting into this book, I definitely did get really into by about half way through. It doesn't really start out slow, but it does take a little time to explain things and start putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together. However, it was suspenseful and surprising throughout the whole book. I definitely couldn't have predicted much of what happened. 

I loved this book!!! Unlike some books in series I've read lately, I think it wraps things up nicely. It wrapped it up nicely enough that I'm eager to see what happens next, but not super pissed that they left it at such a cliff hanger that I cannot stand to wait another second to read the next book. 

I really did think the author did a great job with the ending. It perfectly closed a chapter in Naomi's life, leaving a few loose ends to wonder about, and making it clear that the story would continue. I did not close this book thinking "are you kidding me? then immediately looking to see how long I have to wait to see what happens next." However, I did just look to see how long I have to wait, and the next book in the series is already out! Yay! So, I don't have to wait long at all to see what happens next with Naomi.

The only small issue I had with this book was the way that Naomi's dreams are written. They are kind of hard to understand/decipher. I know they're not supposed to make complete sense, but they seemed kind of odd to me. 

Overall, I really liked this book and am definitely going to pick up the rest of the series! 

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. 

 Check out my review on GoodReads!