Waiting on Wednesday #379

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

SOUL OF STARS (Heart of Iron #2) BY ASHLEY POSTON

Goodreads Description:

The highly awaited sequel to Heart of Iron, Soul of Stars is a thrilling sci-fi adventure packed with romance, shocking twists, and witty banter, perfect for fans of Six of Crows and Cinder.

Once, Ana was an orphaned space outlaw. Then she was the Empress of the Iron Kingdom. Now, thought dead by most of the galaxy after she escaped from the dark AI program called the HIVE, Ana is desperate for a way to save Di from the HIVE’s evil clutches and take back her kingdom.

Ana’s only option is to find Starbright, the one person who has hacked into the HIVE and lived to tell the tale. But when Ana’s desperation costs the crew of the Dossier a terrible price, Ana and her friends are sent spiraling through the most perilous reaches of the Iron Kingdom to stop the true arbiter of evil in her world: an ancient world-ending deity called the Great Dark.

Their journey will take the sharp-witted pilot, Jax, to the home he never wanted to return to, and the dangerous fate he left behind. And when Robb finds out who Jax really is, he must contend with his own feelings for the boy he barely knows, and whether he truly belongs with this group of outcasts.

When facing the worst odds, can Ana and her crew of misfits find a way to stop the Great Dark once and for all?

Hardcover, 400 pages

Expected publication: July 23rd 2019 by Balzer + Bray

Pre-Order here and here

Is it July yet? Because I NEED this most precious book, ahh :D It's going to be so very good. I adored Heart of Iron. And this second and final book will be so good. And gosh. The cover is so very pretty too. Eee. I love it so. I couldn't resist adding both the books together below, haha. I need this book in my life. Sigh. A peek at chapter one here, eee. <3 I'm very nervous about this, though, ack. I need my precious Di and Ana together and in love and ahh. Cannot wait to know everything, though, haha :) So very excited.
What are you waiting for on this starry Wednesday?

Review: Come Find Me by Megan Miranda

I will never not read a book by Megan. She is such an awesome person and author and I have loved all of her books so far. Have been so very excited for this newest one, and read it as soon as I was able to. And my gosh. This book was worth the wait. Once I began reading I simply could not stop. It was so good. Five stars.

There is so much going on in this book and I have no idea how to write it all down. Will not include any big spoilers, I will only share my feelings about it all. And gosh. I have a lot of those. This book was such a huge mystery. And I loved every moment of it. It was full of secrets and I loved that I had not guessed a single one, lol.

This book is told from two different point of views. Sixteen year old Kennedy, whom I adored so much. And seventeen year old Nolan. Whom was the cutest. These two characters were just so amazing and I loved them to pieces. Both written very well. And both point of views so good. It takes about a hundred pages for them to finally meet, how rude, haha. But I didn't mind, because those pages were needed to get to know them better. And they did sort of talk together a little before, without knowing who the other one was. But oh. When they finally do meet. Gosh. I shipped them beyond words. And reading about them becoming friends and getting to know each other was the very best. Especially loved their small romance. Not too big, but so very good.

And that is all I will say of the romance. It was small, but it was perfect. No drama. No jealousy. So good. And these two precious characters fits together perfectly. This book is about getting to know them both. Getting to know the tragic things that have happened in their families. They had different stories, but the same heartbreak. And getting to know everything about all of it ruined me. There are new things getting told through the whole book and that was just so well done. So many surprises. Good but also bad ones.

So very much heartbreak. I will not say too much about it, only the things that we get to know right away. Nolan lives with his parents, and he had an older brother. Whom disappeared two years ago, along with their dog, while they were in a park together. There was zero sign of him. And there has not been for two years. His parents grew a bit obsessed about wanting to search for other missing children too. And they sort of forgot about Nolan in the process. This precious boy needed way more love than what he got. Aw.

For Kennedy her family tragedy happened only half a year ago. It is not revealed what really happened for some time, only that is was bad, and she now lives with her uncle and not her mother and brother. It was easy to imagine what could have happened, as there was a murder. But it was also so complicated and full of secrets and I loved getting to know it all. It was beyond heartbreaking and sad, though, and my heart was always aching for Kennedy. I loved how she was able to live life, after everything. I adored her.

This book tells the story of Kennedy and Nolan. How they meet, and why. She is looking into space for her brother, searching for alien life. He is looking for ghosts, searching for his brother. They both end up getting a weird signal on their search things, and they end up speaking about it online. I liked how all of that happened. I liked learning about searching for the signal, trying to figure out what it all meant. A little bit supernatural. And it was awesome. I loved reading how everything fit together. So clever. So so good.

There is much going on in this book. Yet it was also not nearly long enough, and I wish there was more of these most precious characters. Sigh. I haven't mentioned much of the plot at all. But gosh, it was beyond amazing. There are new leads on what happened to Nolan's brother. It was cruel, the whole investigation. Hmph. But so interesting. I loved all the small clues. I loved all the reveals. Although the ending was very heartbreaking. Oh. But so good too, and written very well. This book ruined me. In all the best ways too.

I will not say more about this one. Only that Come Find Me was perfection. Full of mystery and suspense. Filled with surprises and some romance. Getting to read about Kennedy and Nolan spending all the time together was so so good. This book freaked me out. And I loved every moment of it. My heart was always breaking for both the characters. Yet there was hope too. And it was precious. I think you should all read this book. Because you will love it. Heartbreaking, but so very good. And very worth it. Megan is the best.

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Review: The Cerulean by Amy Ewing

I was so completely unsure about this book. I wanted to read it because of that stunning cover. Which I like so very much. And thought the summary seemed kind of interesting too, yet a little weird as well, haha. But I was excited to give this book a chance, hoping that I would love it. I didn't, but I enjoyed it a whole bunch.

Which I was sure I would not do, because I made the mistake of reading a goodreads review before I started. Which was all kinds of negative. I did not find the same issues with the book, though, and I'm thankful for that. Will be writing more about that soon. I'm giving this book three stars. I did not love it but I liked it so much.

This book is told from four different point of views, scattered all through the book. We first get to know Sera a whole lot, which I liked. I did not love this girl, but very much liked her and enjoyed getting to know her. Especially liked getting to know where she lived. Which was a planet above the sky, in the stars. Tethered to another planet below, where all regular humans lived. And Sera was very much not a human. On her planet everyone is female. There are no males, and there has never been any. Yet the women are still able to have children because of some kind of magic they have. And gosh, there is a lot of magic on this planet. And I liked that a whole bunch. I liked getting to know more about how everything worked and all they could do. It was interesting.

But what weirded me out about this planet was the romance. I liked that they fell in love with each other. I did not like that they got married in threes. Yeah. They fell in love as three people. I do suppose this could happen, but to me it was a little awkward and I found it weird to read about. Especially when these three women had a child. They become a purple mother, a green mother, a orange mother. And that's what this child calls them until she leaves home. It was so very weird, haha. I never got used to it. Was not for me.

But even so. I liked this planet. Oh. And I forgot. They all have bright silver skin and blue hair and eyes. I found that to be pretty interesting. Blue blood as well. And they have magic in it. And I liked learning new things about it all. Anyway. Sera. We got to know her a bunch, and I liked her a lot. I loved her best friend, Leela. They had such a special friendship. Until it was announced that Sera will be the one to make their planet finally move on in the stars. She has to jump, die, so that the others may leave. Yeah. What even.

It was all kinds of weird, haha, yet so interesting too. I liked reading about it. It hurt my heart how very heartbroken Sera and her mothers were about it. They were not okay. Neither was Leela. But everyone else did not care all that much. Sera did not want to die. But she listened to her people, to Mother Sun, their god, which was so not my thing, but yeah. And so she jumped. Except she did not die. And is now on the planet below, with the humans that live there. Sera gets captured right away, and put in a cage.

Which is when we meet two other point of views. The twins, Leo and Agnes. I did like them both. Leo the most, I think. Though he was kind of an idiot at first. And also just felt like too little, to be honest. I wanted him to be more amazing. Agnes is gay, in a world where it is not allowed to be, where they sort of live in the past, with women only getting married and not working and things like that. It was pretty depressing. Yet so interesting too. Their father was the very worst, yet he could have been more brutal as well. Sigh.

This book is about Sera trying to survive on the planet below her home. She cannot talk to anyone there. She understands their language, but they do not understand hers. Leo is the one that captures her. But he ends up changing over the book, wanting to stop impressing his father. There is a lot going on. Things with Agnes, which I enjoyed reading about. I found her interesting. I wanted more, sigh, but it was good too. They both want to save Sera, to help her get home. Which will be all kinds of complicated to try to do.

There was one thing that I loved about this book. And that was Leela. She is still on the planet in the stars believing that her best friend is dead. And knowing Sera's sacrifice did not work, their planet isn't leaving. The woman in charge of the people is doing suspicious things, and Leela works to figure it all out. I loved getting to know this girl. And I so wish she had more chapters. I loved getting to know everything she was doing and found it to be so very interesting to read about. There must be more of her in book two. I need.

There is so much going on in this book. And I did not write down most of it, haha. I found the plot to be exciting most of the time. And I always needed to know what would happen next. But it's also a three star for me, because I did not love this. I did not love the characters; I felt like I did not get to know them well enough. There was no romance in this book. And I disliked that. There was also too little action, I think, considering this book was five hundred pages long. I felt like more should have been happening. Hmph.

Did I think this book has some problems? Yes. Did I think it was racist and queer baiting? No. But I also think that everyone that reads books will feel differently about certain things. And that is very much okay. Although I did not think this book had those issues, others might, and that is okay too. Having different opinions on books is great. And this one was difficult. It was painful to read at times. Because of animal cruelty; keeping them locked up and such. It wasn't too horrible, but still a bit painful. But written well too.

My gosh. I have written way too much about this book. Sorry about that. But I had so much that I wanted to share. And I still have so much I want to share. I did not love this book. But I liked it so very much too. And because of that I could not stop writing about it, lol. Took me some time to start writing my review, as I was nervous, but gosh, the words did not stop. I do not think I will forget some parts of this book anytime soon. Though I do wish that it had all been perfect, haha. Wish there had been romance. Needed that so.

Which reminded me of something I had yet to share about this book. And that I need to share. Sera came from a planet of only women, no men. They all fell in love with each other. Yet she never felt attraction to any of the girls her age. And when she arrives on the planet below, she feels it for the first time for a man. Meaning she is not gay like everyone else on her planet. Was a bit weird, but okay. I did ship her and Leo a lot. Feel like it could happen in book two, but also unsure how it would work out. Hmph. I'm so nervous.

Although I did not love The Cerulean, I'm glad that I read it. Because it was a pretty stunning book and it was all kinds of interesting and sort of exciting too. I stayed up late to finish it, as I could not stop reading once I had started. Had to get to the end. But my god. That ending. It was so rude. Felt like the book and adventure was just beginning, haha. So many answers still needed. I will be reading book two. Wishing I could read it right away. This book was not perfect, but you should all read it anyway. It was entertaining.

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In My Mailbox #375

How is it already a new Saturday? Ahh. Rude. Time is moving way too fast, haha. And yet not nearly fast enough, because I need it to be late April, so I can get my spa bath back up again. Hmm. Anyway. This week have been pretty good. Though I am exhausted and feeling pretty much dead. Ugh. But I read two books, so I'm pleased with that. Starting another one tonight, so yay. And I do have lots of other reading planned for this month :) I'm excited. Also got some pretty mail this week, which I love a bunch. Newest Lord of the Rings pop figures are arriving, and they are so pretty, eee. I must do another movie re-watch shortly, haha. Some new blog posts this week too. I shared my review of Last of Her Name :D This week I'm waiting on The Last House Guest. <3 Then I shared my review of The Winter Sister :) I'm still behind on some things, but have managed to do a little catching up too. Hoping to be up for doing more soon :)

The Steel Prince Comics #3. Excited about reading them all soon. But do not have #4 pre-ordered.. sobs.
Come Find Me. Eee! Thank you so much for trading with me Kara :D Thrilled to own this. Reading soon.
Awakenings. Got this gorgeous thing for supporting a Kickstarter over a year ago :D It looks pretty good.
Dinosaur TY Plush. Look at this most adorable thing, haha. I simply had to buy it. It looks so precious :D
Pop Figures. Final Coraline :D Love. First Wreck It Ralph pop. <3 And Legolas! LotR! My most precious.

More Instagram photos here. <3

Review: The Winter Sister by Megan Collins

While this is not usually a book for me, I had to give it a try when I was given the choice to read this on Netgalley by the publisher. Because of how Megan Miranda had loved it. As I have read her adult mystery books, and they were so very good. I had a hope that this one would be the same. It wasn't. Sigh. Not even close.

But it also was not all bad. And I was so unsure if I should give it three stars or two stars. But I'm going with two. As there was not a single part of this book that I loved. It was an interesting story, but I very much could have been without reading it. Which I'm a little depressed about, to be honest, haha. I wanted to love it so.

I was also thinking that this might have been a three star for me, considering I stayed up until past two am to finish it. But though I very much wanted to know the ending, it was never good for me. And that is why this book is a two star for me. Since even though I read it from start to finish, and I was not able to stop reading for hours, it wasn't because I was loving the story. It wasn't because it was exciting and scary and thrilling. Since it was none of those things. And I'm so so upset about that, lol. I was expecting a great mystery book. I did not get that. Well, a little bit, but not nearly enough. And I have so much to share about this book. As I had so many thoughts about it all while reading. The writing was sort of okay, but sadly never connected with the main character.

This book tells the story of thirty year old Sylvie. It begins by sharing what happened when she was only fourteen, when her sister did not come home, and it took three days to find her dead body. I did enjoy the beginning a lot, I liked knowing things that happened in the past. It was interesting. But then the present came. And it ruined the story a little, to be honest. Because I could not find it in me to care about Sylvie at all. She was so beyond boring. And had lived half her life doing things that did not make her happy. Sigh.

She had one friend, her roommate, Lauren. We get to see some weird written texts between them in the book. But I did not get their friendship at all, sadly. Especially not because of how Sylvie had lied to her since the moment she met her, about how and when her sister died. I did not think that she had enough reasons for doing that. So yeah. I never grew to care for Sylvie. Sure, I felt badly for her, for having lost her sister. And that they had never found out who killed her. And I understood her guilt about it. Maybe.

But that sadly did not make me care for Sylvie as a person. She feels guilt because of something she did the night her sister did not come home. And I got that. Sort of. But she never told anyone about it and that I did not get. Because it didn't seem like such a big thing. And the scene where she suddenly realizes she should not feel that way anymore was completely silly, to be honest. She spent half her life feeling guilty. But then one person tells her it was not her fault, and she stops right away? Yeah. It was all a little weird.

But anyway. This book is about Sylvie and her working to figure out more about how her sister died and who killed her. She has to return to her childhood home, as her mother has cancer. And that was a weird relationship. Her mother. She started drinking when Persephone died. And have been all kinds of horrible ever since. We get to learn their past, with how Sylvie worshipped her mom until the death of her sister. It was, well, beyond weird. Didn't get their relationship at all. So bad. And I disliked her mom beyond words.

I did like learning more about her dead sister, though. And who she had been as a teenager. But her life had not been easy, and that wasn't okay. Which made me dislike Sylvie even more, to be honest. Sigh. The dead sister had a boyfriend, Ben. And now with Sylvie being back in town, she runs into him all the time. And she believes he is the one that killed her sister. Yet she spends time with him, and I just found all of their scenes to be so awkward. Especially the small romance part. It was so so very bad. Shudders.

There is so much about this book that I did not like. There was barely any mystery at all. We learn who killed her sister at the very end, and the reveal was so very silly. No danger. No threats. Yeah. I wanted more from this book. I wanted it all to feel dangerous and scary. It never did. Because the whole book is spent inside of Sylvie's head. Being in the past, being with her mother, talking to her all the time. Ugh. It was too much focus on relationships, to be honest. Sure, some of it were interesting, but it was too much.

But I also did not completely hate this book. I disliked most of it, but I enjoyed reading it too. I wanted to know what would happen. But my gosh. It was way too slow. And nothing ever did happen. Ugh. There are some surprises that I had not seen coming, and I liked that. But they were too few and not that very interesting at all. The Winter Sister ended up not being a book for me. I would not read it again, but I'm still kind of glad that I tried reading it. Huge thank you to the publisher for letting me read the eARC early.

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