Tag: YA

Book Reviews

Gemina (Illuminae Files), Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff, Marie Lu

India
Meanwhile, while everything that could possibly go wrong, is going wrong in the Kerenza Sector on the Hypatia. Heimdall Station is going on with life like everything is normal not knowing that they are next in the clean up job being handled by BeiTech Industries. Hanna Donnelly is normal teenage girl who’s hobbies include shopping, being the best in the Dojo, war games with her Dad, the Commander of Heimdall and the occasional “party favor” from our favorite neighborhood drug dealer Niklas “Nik” Malikov. Nik Malikov on the other hand is a part of “The House of Knives” gang, and once you’re in it, you’re in it for life. Heimdall Station is the wormhole jump point that the Hypatia is hoping to make it to in order to survive, but that they don’t know is that they are having a lot of technical difficulties with the wormhole, and that all of their radio transmissions are being filtered by a BeiTech operative on the inside of Heimdall Station With the upcoming holiday of Terra Day a lot of the crew of Heimdall station are either off station with loved ones or they are taking the evening off. They never knew that this would be a Terra Day they would never forget, especially for Hanna and Nik as they try to save their homes and themselves from the BeiTech operatives meant to wipe out the entire station.
 I absolutely loved this book. I don’t know why I don’t read more sci-fi because I have been really enjoying this series. Granted I have been listening to the entire thing on Audible, which is SO MUCH FUN! They use an entire cast on Audible and it just makes it so different than other audiobooks that I have listened to. I love how these books are paced. There’s enough time to know who the major characters are and be able to visualize the surroundings. I also love in this series how the women are not afraid to do what is necessary to save the world, they aren’t waiting for someone to uplift them and make them feel stronger, they know their worth and they kick butt doing it. The men of course are not helpless and do their own things to help, but they never try to put the women down. If at any point they hint that the women are weaker than them, the women are quick to let them know who they are and that they can get this done without them. I definitely recommend this book especially if you’ve already read Illuminae Files. Until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
India
Book Reviews

An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir

India
An Ember in the Ashes follows two characters Laia and Elias on their different journeys and how they end up falling in and out of each others orbits. Laia is from a group of people called the Scholars that have been oppressed by the Martials and the empire. Frequently their friends and family go missing in the middle of the night or are killed by raids conducted by the deadly and unfeeling Masks. When Laia’s world gets turned upside down she tries to seek out the group called the resistance, who her parents used to be apart of. Only thing is when she finds them are they going to be the people who she wants and needs them to be, or without her parents guidance have they warped into something different.
Elias is first in his class and on the right path to be the best Mark in Blackcliff history, but he doesn’t want it. Elias wants to be free of all of the non-feeling, brutal, and brutish ways of the Masks, he wants to desert. Punishment for getting caught deserting is death in front of the whole school, so of course Elias can’t get caught. His best friend in the entire world, Helene, suspects something is going on with him, but she has her own feelings to deal with and is loyal to a fault to Blackcliff and the Masks. Elias believes that there is another way to be and he can’t stuff down his emotions anymore.
The two of them find out that they’re lives are not their own and that they have a higher calling to do more than is expected of them. They discover that within all of the hardships they have already faced there are plenty more in front of them, but now they have the chance to do something good and something that can change the world. They just have to survive first.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It honestly gets straight to the good stuff which is awesome because I hate when books take to long to get to where you need to be just to add some pages.  I thought that there was a good mixture of being true to who you are while fulfilling your obligations, but at the same time pushing back at the people who are doing the wrong things. I believed that Laia’s character was believable because even though we always want the heroine in the book to be brave immediately after something bad happens that’s just not always possible. It takes a while to find that inner courage and for awhile you have to fake it until you make it. Elias on the other hand had to make some true life and death situations and then is placed in a situation that he honestly can’t turn down and I loved that we got to see his background to figure out where these thoughts came from. I loved that this book was fast paced and made me keep wondering what the other person was doing at the time. Until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
      India

 

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Book Reviews

Illuminae Files, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

India
Kady thought that her life could not get any worse. She had just broke up with her boyfriend, Ezra, and she thought that she was going to be able to move on and go off planet somewhere after graduation. Little did she know that going off planet was happening a lot faster than she expected. All of a sudden while sitting in class, all of the warning bells go off alerting the planet to an invasion. It is then that all chaos breaks loose and the everything that Kady knows and loves comes crumbling down around her. Kady is forced to try and find a way off the planet and to stay close to the ones she loves, and who love her. She is forced to flee the home that she knows and grow and learn more than she ever thought imaginable. Kady has to overcome her fears and reservations and become  a leader and warrior in her own right. The system is in the hands of a 16 year old girl and a palm pad.
I absolutely loved this book! I listened to it solely on audible. I did not buy the kindle version or the paper version of the book. They did such an amazing job on the audible version with a full cast and everything that I didn’t feel the need for either of those things.  I heard that if you try and read the actual copy it might be a little difficult to do. I enjoyed the story and the twists and turns that were associated with our main character Kady. I also loved the role that Ezra had to play as kind of her humanity and her voice of reason, and of course her anchor. AIDAN was his own character who also had his own role to play, which turned out to be a giant one. Who knew a computer program system could have so much personality when they are not supposed to. If you haven’t picked up the Illuminae Files by Amie Kauffman and Jay Kristoff I definitely recommend it and do it on Audible! You’ll enjoy it even more, I promise. I can’t wait to read Gemina and Obsidio when I get through some of my TBR. I have a review up on my channel now if you want to listen to it as well. You can check it out here. If you’ve read it what do you think? Any other sci-fi fantasy novels that you can recommend? Until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
India
Bookish, Unboxings

Fairyloot July 2018 Unboxing

India

I know! I’m just trying to catch up on these posts! May I present to you the July Fairyloot “The Power Within” box. It features a lot of items featuring books that forced the characters to find the strength within themselves. I cancelled my monthly subscription a long time ago, but I was really excited for an item featuring Children of Blood and Bone, which is probably my favorite book of 2018. There were a couple more interesting items and you can see all of my reactions to them down below in my unboxing video!

  • Heat changing mug designed by Little Inkling Designs  with a quote from Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Hodesya
  • A lavender and book scented room spray by Geeky Clean, titled Therons Study Room from Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch which I love!
  • A tea towel with a quote from And I Darken by Kiersten White, which was unfortunately printed backwards
  • A “Ond Elder” vinyl sticker by Reverie and Ink that means Breathe Fire from Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
  • A broomstick pen inspired by the Harry Potter system written by J.K. Rowling
  • An art print of Zelie from Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi created by Diana Worak, most anticipated item and biggest disappointment

 

The book from this box was Heart of Thorn by Bree Barton, which sounds really good! ( At this point I have read it and I give it an overall 3 stars)

What did you think of the box? I was disappointed in it because I cancelled my monthly subscription and only got it for the Children of Blood and Bone item and it was just an art print, and I HATE art prints. They are beautiful, but I don’t understand what to do with them. What do you think I should do with them. What did you think of the box? Let me know in the comments! Until next time,

Keep turning the Pages

India

Uncategorized

500 SUBSCRIBER GIVEAWAY!!!

India

I honestly can’t believe that I have reached 500 subscribers on my Youtube Channel!! It’s all thanks to all of you!! Because of that I want to giveaway a signed copy of The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton! It also comes with a The Belles compact mirror. I’m so excited to do this and give this wonderful book away. You can find the link for the giveaway here and the videos for the giveaway and the review of The Belles down below! The give away ends on August 22nd so make sure to enter fast!!

Thank you once again for being a part of this journey with me! I appreciate it so much. Until next time,

Keep turning the Pages

India

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