Thursday, January 31, 2019

Song for a Whale Blog Tour: Spotlight + Giveaway

Excited to be taking part in the blog tour for Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly today :D Huge thank you to the publisher, Random House Kids, for inviting me to take part in this tour and for sending me a free ARC to read and review. Though the book was not really for me, I find it to be gorgeous. And I think you should all read this stunning looking book. I'm positive a whole lot of kids will adore it. My review of the book can be found here. Today I'm sharing a spotlight post about the book and an international giveaway at the end of it :D Sponsored by the publisher, and shipped by me. You should all definitely enter to win. Good luck :)



"Fascinating, brave, and tender...a triumph." --Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award-winning author of The One and Only Ivan

"Beautifully written and such an important story for kids with big struggles in their lives. I fell into Iris's world from the first chapter. Lynne Kelly does an amazing job telling the story from Iris's perspective." --Millicent Simmonds, actress, Wonderstruck and A Quiet Place

"Quick-moving, suspenseful...this remains a satisfying, energetic read. Iris' adventures will engross readers." --Kirkus Reviews

"This finely crafted novel affectingly illuminates issues of loneliness, belonging, and the power of communication." --Publishers Weekly


In the spirit of modern-day classics like Fish in a Tree and Counting by 7s comes the story of a deaf girl's connection to a whale whose song can't be heard by his species, and the journey she takes to help him.

From fixing the class computer to repairing old radios, twelve-year-old Iris is a tech genius. But she's the only deaf person in her school, so people often treat her like she's not very smart. If you've ever felt like no one was listening to you, then you know how hard that can be.

When she learns about Blue 55, a real whale who is unable to speak to other whales, Iris understands how he must feel. Then she has an idea: she should invent a way to "sing" to him! But he's three thousand miles away. How will she play her song for him?

Full of heart and poignancy, this affecting story by sign language interpreter Lynne Kelly shows how a little determination can make big waves.



Lynne Kelly writes contemporary middle grade and young adult fiction. She was born in Galesburg, Illinois, grew up in Houston, lived in some much colder places, then found her way back to the Houston area, where she works as a sign language interpreter. For a few years she also taught special education, a good career for someone with excellent organizational and planning skills. Lacking those skills, she quit teaching in 2006 and thankfully has more time to write. But it was during those teaching years that she worked with some great kids and became interested in writing, so that all worked out.

Her debut novel, CHAINED, is out now from Macmillan/FSG. SONG FOR A WHALE is coming in February 2019 from Random House/Delacorte.


Where to find Lynne Kelly:


GIVEAWAY! Enter to win an ARC of Song for a Whale :D

Rules.
International.
There will be one winner.
Must reply to email within 48 hours.
ARC sponsored by publisher, shipped by me.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Waiting on Wednesday #381

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

FOUR DEAD QUEENS BY ASTRID SCHOLTE

Goodreads Description:

Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but she's, in fact, one of Quadara's most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara's most enlightened region, Eonia. He runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie both find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara's queens dead.

With no other choices and on the run from Keralie's former employer, the two decide to join forces, endeavoring to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives in the process. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together that seemed impossible just days before. But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation's four dead queens.

An enthralling fast-paced murder mystery where competing agendas collide with deadly consequences, Four Dead Queens heralds the arrival of an exciting new YA talent.


Hardcover, 432 pages
Expected publication: February 26th 2019 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Pre-Order here and here

I traded for a stunning ARC of this book, and I really must read it as soon as possible. Because, my gosh, it sounds awesome. I must be honest and say that I don't think I read the summary until just now? What even. I was expecting this book to be about four different people, hahaha. And it seems like it might just be one point of view? Max two? Gosh, I hope so :D I just got way more excited about this book, lol. And so I will hopefully be reading it very shortly. So excited about it now. And excited about the romance too.
What are you waiting for on this skilled Wednesday?

Monday, January 28, 2019

Reign of the Fallen & Song of the Dead Blog Tour: Review

Today I am taking part in the awesome international blog tour for Reign of the Fallen & Song of the Dead by Sarah Glenn Marsh :D I was so excited to get invited by PRH International to take part in this tour. As I have had the first one for a year and had gotten a free ARC of Song of the Dead from them last year. The covers are so gorgeous. Love them. And so I was so excited about reading both books for this tour. Sadly they weren't really for me, and I'm sharing my very very honest reviews below. They are also longer than usual, because I could not bring myself to stop writing. But I also know that negative reviews have made me want to read certain books, so maybe this will be the same for a lot of you too. Have any of you read these books yet? Thoughts about them? If not, you really should give them a try. I do know that a lot will love both of them. Huge thank you to Penguin Random House International for letting me take part in the amazing international blog tour :D I did my best with my post, and took some outdoor pictures I love. <3



Review of Reign of the Fallen.

I am completely unsure about how I felt about this book. Unsure how to write my feelings down. Because this world was all kinds of thrilling and exciting. And the writing was so stunning. But the romance made me so very angry that I can't stop thinking about it. But I'm still giving this book three stars. Since I mostly liked it.

The book started out very good. We get to know the world and the characters. I so loved learning about how this world worked what magic was in it. It was interesting. I enjoyed it tons. There were different kinds of magic, and the kind this main character has made her able to raise the dead. In a way. It was awesome.

Odessa was able to go into a different realm of sorts, to get back the spirits of the recent dead and return them to their bodies so that they could live longer. Except they aren't living in the normal way. They have all of their memories but they can never be seen by a living person. So they must always stay covered. And it was fascinating to learn about and I liked that a lot. Will not write that much about it, just that it was awesome, and I loved her magic. I liked that the dead did not have to stay dead. Though their life when they returned from the dead was not the same. Which was a little creepy, to be honest, haha. But it was all still pretty amazing. And I also just enjoyed reading about Odessa going into this other place where the dead spirits were. It was interesting.

The whole book is from the point of view of Odessa. Although she is mostly called the Sparrow, by pretty much everyone, because of her way with her magic. Wish that had been explained better, though. For the most part I liked this girl. I loved her in the beginning. But my love for her went away very soon, because of how she dealt with grief. I did not approve. Not one bit. And so I did stop loving her a little. Sigh. But I still enjoyed getting to know her. She was pretty fierce and mostly kind too. I did like her, for the most part.

This book tells the story of her and her friends. They are four together, with the powers to raise the dead. And they are great friends. I did like that a whole bunch. Though I will be honest and say that my favorite character in the whole book was Evander. He was so precious and I loved him to pieces. He and Odessa have been a couple for about three years, been best friends and partners for seven. They are everything to each other. And their romance for the first hundred pages was the very best thing. I loved it very much.

But then that changed. Sigh. And now I will already start sharing my spoilery thoughts, because I cannot help myself, and I have to share my thoughts about the romance. I must. Because it is killing me inside. Evander and Odessa had the most beautiful romance. They were so cute together. They wanted to get married. And always be together. But then at a hundred pages in he dies. Of course. Sigh. And I was so not okay with that. Odessa is grieving for him. At first I loved her grief so very much. It was so raw, real.

But then that changed too. Sigh. She started taking calming potions all day long, which messed with her head and all of her. I did not think very well of her because of this. I loved her grief for Evander. Except. She kisses his best friend. She spends every night wrapped in his arms, seeking comfort. They almost sleep together for real. It was beyond gross. You don't do that less than a week after the love of your life dies. That is not romance. That is not grief. Sure, others may be okay with this, but I am not. Not one bit.

And then she meets a girl. And sure, I'm okay with people being attracted to both boys and girls. Though I prefer boy and girl romance, I don't mind reading whatever as long as the story is good. I knew this would be girl and girl romance, and I thought I would be fine with it. Hahaha. I was not. As the girl she suddenly starts crushing on, just a couple of weeks after Evander died, is his little sister. Hahaha. Yeah. Even more gross. And she also just lost her girlfriend, at the same time. Double gross. Simply bothered me the most.

It was not for me. I disliked it beyond words. How can Odessa claim that she loved Evander, for so many years, and then betray him like that just days after he died? It makes zero sense to me. First with his best friend. Then with his sister. It disturbed me beyond words. And so there is no way I will be shipping these two girls. No way at all. But I will still be reading book two, because I loved this plot, and just. Yeah. I am beyond disappointed in this romance. I had hoped it would be epic and cute. I was wrong. So very wrong.

Okay, spoilers over. I know that many will love this romance. And that is okay too. But it was not for me. Not at all. The first hundred pages were perfection. Then it went downhill. And I am a little bitter about it, which upsets me. Because this book was good. The story was exciting and interesting and I enjoyed it a whole lot. I liked learning everything. I enjoyed reading about this world. But the romance ruined me. And that is why this book was a three star for me. I wanted to love it so badly, but it was impossible. Oh, well.

I did like it, though. And although I haven't shared too much about the plot, know that it was pretty great. And I think so many of you will enjoy it too. I just feel sad that I couldn't love all of it. But also happy that I gave this book a chance. Glad that I read it. Huge thank you to PRH International for inviting me to take part in this blog tour. And thank you to a lovely friend for trading the ARC of this book to me. So precious. Reign of the Fallen was not perfect, but it was incredibly good even so. I enjoyed it a lot. You must read it.


Buy Reign of the Fallen: Amazon - B&N - The Book Depository - Indiebound - Kobo 
Norwegian places to buy Reign of the Fallen: Tanum - Akademia - Adlibris
Reign of the Fallen is published by Razorbill. ISBN: 9780448494401 

Review of Song of the Dead.

I truly did try my hardest to enjoy this second book. But it was so impossible. And I have no idea where to begin with this review of mine. I have so many thoughts to share. Pretty much all of them will not be positive. Which I'm so sad about, but also cannot help since I really did not like this book. It bothered me so very much.

I will do my very best not to be too harsh in my review. Will never speak badly about the author, because I don't know her and she seems like an amazing person. I also do not mind that others will love this book. Everyone has different taste. But for me, this was a two star. Not a very positive one. Tried so very hard to like this.

I failed. But will begin by sharing what I did like about this book, before I start sharing all the things I did not. Which I may not be able to stop writing about. Oops. All my the words are stopping. Because I honestly cannot think of anything that I did like about this book. In the first book I enjoyed the writing a lot, and I loved the world, I loved the dead. Nothing was the same in this second book. The writing bothered me from start to finish. It felt different. The world was completely different too, somewhat. And the dead wasn't even there. Sigh. And I honestly do not know what I liked about this sequel. Still. It is a two star. Because I could have hated it more than I did. I could have hated every page of it. I almost did, but it wasn't fully that bad. I still managed to finish it.

I still enjoyed reading about this world. I still wanted to know more about the people living there and of all the places they lived in. I wanted to know more about all the magic in this world and all the creatures too. I did not get nearly enough of any of it, though. There are dragons. Except they are the size of dogs. And they bark like dogs. And behaves like cats. And are not one percent scary, sadly. And yeah. The dragons disappointed me. And that makes me sad too, haha. I thought that would be something I would love. Aw.

I have so much to share about this book. And most of it is not good. There will be some spoilers. Mostly about how I felt about certain things. Like the romance I did not ship for even a second. I also did not like that every single character had to fall in love with each other. Every one of the side characters. What. It was weird. Most of them are gay. I did like that, but it also got to be too much, with how every person in the book was in a relationship with someone. It just seemed so very weird to me. It did not make sense.

What I missed most about this second book was the dead. Getting to see how Odessa's magic worked. We do not get that in this book. And I missed it, because I liked it a lot in book one. Hmph. And there is barely any violence at all in this one. It was so disappointing. The characters are always going on and on about how they wish to kill certain people. Yet no one ever does that. No hurting. No nothing. Only death by others. And even that was boring. There was a plot, but it was beyond slow and so very boring. Sigh.

There were things about this book that I could have loved. But I did not. I really truly did not. I wanted to enjoy this one so very badly, but it truly was impossible. Everything just felt wrong to me. And it was sort of torture to finish reading it. But I did it. And I'm so glad to be finished with them both, haha. I wish I could say they were amazing. But they were not. Sigh. I know others will love everything that I hated about this book. And that is so okay. Different opinions are always good. But yes. I did not like this book at all. Sigh.

I have this whole list over things that annoyed me about how this book was written. And though it feels a little rude of me to write it all down, I also cannot not do it. I need to let all my thoughts and feelings about this book out, so that I may forget about it as soon as possible. In both books all the characters are pretty much always growling when they speak. It drove me insane. Odessa is always going on about feeling the breath of others spilling over their lips and whatever. And watching sweat. Was truly gross to read about.

I also tried my hardest to get used to the names in these books, but I never managed. Though they were all cute, almost every single one was just a small variation of a more used named, switched into a name I have never heard before. Was a little weird. And every character that was important was young. The best captain, nineteen. The young queen's guard, nineteen. He being a guard made no sense whatsoever. He was a healer. Not a soldier. They were all too young and it simply seemed weird. Old people existed too.

It was also weird how they all had nicknames for each other. I don't mind nicknames, but having everyone have one was weird. They were all always crying. For weirdest reasons. Always tears on their faces. Ugh. What bothered me a lot, though, was how Odessa met the queen again, her friend, and saw she had two girls close to her, and she kept calling them replacement friends. What even. As those two girls had been with her longer than Odessa had even known her. It was rude and childish and I truly hated her behavior.

But what bothered me more than anything in this book, was how Odessa had suddenly changed so. She never really thought about Evander. Her love of years that just died. She didn't grieve at all like she had in book one. She was suddenly just over it and laughing all the time and being more normal than ever. Was odd. She also buys a crystal that says she can talk to Evander again. She tries once. Hears his voice for a moment, then Meredy shows up, and instead she sleeps with her, and forgets all about Evander. Again.

That whole romance was a mess. And I will never get over it. She was with Evander for years. They were meant to be together. They were going to get married. They were in love. Then he died. It was mentioned that they had slept together often, but it was never on page. Never more than the quickest kiss. Yet with her romance with his sister, there are so many details about their nude scenes together. It bothered me beyond words. I could not stand them together. No spark, not for me. It was a mess. I didn't like it one bit.

It was not that the romance was girl and girl. I did not mind that at all. But I minded these two characters being together. They had no reason to be. None at all. Yet they are suddenly so much in love with each other and cannot live without the other and yuck. It was gross, to be honest. I guess many will love it. But I never saw their connection. Not for one second. And that hurts my heart. I wanted to love this romance. But I did not. It was too much in focus as well. And too much drama too, all of it beyond silly. Did not like.

I have shared too much about this book. Yet not nearly all of my thoughts. And yet I shared way too much as well. But I simply could not stop writing. This book bothered me beyond words. More than what I have shared. I tried so hard to like things about it. But I couldn't. There wasn't even the dead that I liked in book one. There was not any danger. Oh, except how they all are always one second away from death, yet are always healed right away, and none of them dies. Only all of the unimportant characters. How convenient.

I am forever thankful to PRH International for letting me take part in this blog tour, and for sending me a free ARC of Song of the Dead to read and review. I wish I could say I loved this one. But I really truly did not. However, I very much love the cover. It is so cute. Although this book was so not for me, not even a little bit, I do think you should all give it a try. To test this series for yourself, to see if it is for you. Because I do know many have loved these books. But I did not. I am sad about it, but yeah. They were not for me.


Buy Song of the Dead: Amazon - B&N - The Book Depository - Indiebound - Kobo 
Norwegian places to buy Song of the Dead: Tanum - Akademia - Adlibris
Song of the Dead is published by Razorbill. ISBN: 9781984836397 


Sarah Glenn Marsh writes young adult novels and children’s picture books. An avid fantasy reader from the day her dad handed her a copy of The Hobbit and promised it would change her life, she’s been making up words and worlds ever since.

When she’s not writing, Sarah enjoys watercolor painting, ghost hunting, and pursuits of the nerd variety, from video games to tabletop adventures. She’s never met an animal or a doughnut she didn’t like.

Sarah lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and their tiny zoo of four rescued sighthounds, two birds, and many fish. She is the author of Fear the Drowning Deep, the Reign of the Fallen series, and several picture books.

Where to find Sarah Glenn Marsh:

Blog Tour Schedule.

1/22/2019 - Nada @ Early Bookish Birds
1/22/2019 - Beatrice @ Beatrice in Bookland
1/23/2019 - Kai @ fantasticbooksandwheretofindem
1/24/2019 - Melissa @ YA Books Central
1/25/2019 - Francesca @ psiedoll
1/28/2019 - Carina @ Carina's Books
1/28/2019 - Noha @ The Bookish Word
1/29/2019 - Georgi @ Niffler Reads
1/29/2019 - Lauren @ laureads
1/30/2019 - Valeria @ Valery & her Books
1/30/2019 - Josefine @ rebella_reads
1/31/2019 - Rimsha @ Rimsha's Corner
1/31/2019 - Fay @ Bibliophile Soprano





Saturday, January 26, 2019

In My Mailbox #377

This week I have struggled to read two books. I managed to finish them both, but they were so not good, and they made me so goddamn angry. Ahh. I am sharing both my reviews for the blog tour on Monday :) But yeah. It has messed with my head all week long, haha. And so I have not had any time at all to catch up even a little bit. What. But I am starting catching up today. And tomorrow. And hoping to have enough energy to get a lot of things done. This week have been very busy with family too, so barely any time left between family and reading. And must put together some blog tour posts too. <3 Also working on getting some tv things done, and it's driving me insane, because it is not working. Ugh. And also so upset about not having Kingsbane in my life. I need a perfect, unread, stunning, undamaged, ARC of it for my biggest collection. <3 To read and to love and to treasure forever. I worry I may never get one. Ahh. But I hope. I hope so badly. So anyway. A few new posts this week :) I shared the cover for Bid My Soul Farewell, eee. <3 This week I'm waiting on The Priory of the Orange Tree :) And then I also took part in the blog tour for Sleepover at the Museum, sharing my review. <3 Though this week have been busy and a bit annoying at times, I'm still doing good. So behind, but hoping to catch up very shortly :) Also got some gorgeous mail, eee, and waiting on some more awesome :D Taking forever to arrive, though, and my BookDepo orders are so weird. Ever since November it takes three or four weeks to get my books. Yet I got those first two below after one week, while I'm still waiting on books shipped at the beginning of January. So weird. And so annoying. Hmph. But yeah. I still got a bunch of mail, eee. And it is all so very perfect. <3 Love all of it.



Undying. I adored this final book :D And the US hardcover is all kinds of huge and stunning and I love it.
Reign the Earth. Eee, stunning new US paperback edition :D I must have all the editions, haha. So pretty.
Blanca & Roja + The Afterward + What We Buried + King of Scars swag. EEEE! Huge thank you to Caro for trading all of this with me :D I am in love with all the books and all of the swag. Ahh. It is all so perfect.
The Ice Monster. Bought this as it looks so cute. I also thought a plush was included, hahaha. It was not.
How To Train Your Dragon. Had to buy this one because of the stunning movie three cover, eee :D Love.
Fragments of the Lost. Eee. Huge thank you to M for trading this stunning UK ARC with me :D I love it so.
Figures. Bowtruckle was too adorable not to get, haha. And love my new pop figures too :D Just so cute.
Plush. I had to get this adorable little thing, haha :D So cute. I wanted the fox.. impossible to find. Hmph.


More Instagram photos here. <3

Friday, January 25, 2019

Sleepover at the Museum Blog Tour: Review

Today I am taking part in the blog tour for Sleepover at the Museum by Karen LeFrak and David Bucs :D Huge thank you to the publisher, Random House Children's Books, for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and letting me read and review this book for free. It was a pretty adorable book and I'm glad I had the chance to read it. Today I'm sharing my four star review of the book below and details about the book too. I think so many kids are going to love this book. You should all read it. Have you ever been to a museum?





When I had the chance to take part in the blog tour for this book, I knew I had to. Since it looks all kinds of adorable and fun. Feeling very thankful that I was able to take part in the tour and get an early copy of the book in the mail. I'm so glad I decided to read this book, because it was pretty great. Not perfect, but very adorable. Giving it four stars, as I liked it a whole lot, yet it was also not completely for me. My review will not be very long, since this picture book was so short, but will be sharing all my thoughts about it even so.

This book tells the story of Mason and his two best friends. It's his birthday and they are spending it at the museum. They are having an awesome scavenger hunt through a museum, filled with clues to lead them to the correct exhibit. I liked the clues a bunch and liked the story too. It was quick but pretty cute. Mason and his friends seemed adorable. And the illustrations in this story was so stunning. I loved the drawings so much. They were done well. Not too much writing in this book, but that was done well too. I enjoyed it.

There is not that much to say about this book. It was short, yet good too. I wouldn't have minded if it had been longer as well. It's a small adventure book filled with great things inside of a museum. I really liked learning about the different exhibits there. I wanted there to be a bit more of all of it, but still. This story was fast and cute. I liked that the children were not alone in this museum, that a guide was with them, though not always in the pictures. It made it feel safer and more real too. Mostly enjoyed this book a lot.

I must admit to having never visited a museum before. As I live in a smallish town and our museum is not very big and it is mostly about the history of our town. I must go one day, though. Because I do not know much about museums, I did not know it was possible to have a sleepover at some. Which happens in this book, and it was all kinds of awesome. At the end of the book it is shared where you can do sleepovers at museums. I loved that the information was included in the book. All kids should get a museum sleepover.

And now I'm wishing I could have a sleepover at a museum too. As this book made it sound like so much fun. I'm glad I gave this book a try. Because it was pretty sweet and such a fast and fun read too. I loved the illustrations so very much, especially the ones of the museum animals. Sleepover at the Museum was a fun and quick read. A treasure hunt through the museum full of clues. I think that many kids will adore this book. Huge thank you to the publisher for letting me read this book early for free. I adored it a bunch.



Imagine spending your birthday at the museum! Join Mason and his friends on their scavenger hunt through all the exhibits that make any natural history museum so special. The perfect birthday gift for museum lovers and adventure-seekers alike!

Mason couldn't wait to celebrate his birthday with a sleepover at the museum of natural history--his favorite place to visit.

Armed with headlamps for the dark hallways, a map, and a list of clues, Mason and his two best friends take off on a scavenger hunt through each hall of the museum. But they aren't just trying to solve the clues. They're scouting for the best place to spend the night.

Sleeping next to a T. rex in the Hall of Dinosaurs felt too scary. And sleeping with the monarch butterflies would probably tickle. This decision isn't as easy as Mason thought it would be....

Wherever they end up, the museum at night is the best place for a birthday adventure!



KAREN LEFRAK is the author of Jake the Philharmonic Dog, Jake the Ballet Dog, and Best in Show. She is an avid dog lover and breeder of champion poodles, as well as a composer of music for ballets and instrumental works around the world. Karen and her husband divide their time between Manhattan, Southampton, and Miami, where they live with their two poodles. For more information visit karenlefrak.com.

DAVID BUCS began his career at KlaskyCsupo, the studio famous for Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys, and has art directed television series for Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, TLC, PBS, and Disney. David loves to create characters and bring them to life using watercolors, colored pencils, and digital media. Sleepover at the Museum is his first children's book. He lives with his wife and young son in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where life is sweet. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter, or visit him at davidbucs.com.

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Waiting on Wednesday #380

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

THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE 
BY SAMANTHA SHANNON

Goodreads Description:

From the internationally bestselling author of The Bone Season, a trailblazing, epic high fantasy about a world on the brink of war with dragons--and the women who must lead the fight to save it.

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction--but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.


Hardcover, 848 pages
Expected publication: February 26th 2019 by Bloomsbury Publishing
Pre-Order here and here

I have been so unsure for months now if I wanted to read this book or not. As I have not read any of the books by Shannon yet. Well, I DNFed her first book, aaack. But everyone has been wanting this one. And I love the cover. And I kind of love the idea of holding this very very huge book, haha. And when I had to order from Waterstones, and saw the signed hardcover, I couldn't resist ordering it. Oops. And so now I will be reading this book too, haha. I hope it will end up being amazing. That I will love the romance too.
What are you waiting for on this divided Wednesday?

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Cover Reveal: Bid My Soul Farewell by Beth Revis

Eeee. Is it September yet? Because, my god, I need this most precious book in my life already. I so loved Give the Dark My Love so very much. And Bid My Soul Farewell is going to be so so so good :D Ahh. I'm beyond nervous, though, haha. So unsure about my happy ending. But so hopeful. And fully excited. Beth is also the most awesome and I adore her so and love all of her books. <3 But now. The cover. Oh my. It is perfection. I'm dying a little just looking at it. The girl! She looks so so fierce and stunning. The creepy island in the back. Ahhh. My heart. The title! It is all so very pretty. Sigh. I love it. So much. Such a great cover. I love how pretty they both look together. I simply can't wait to read this book. To read more about Nedra and Grey. To, hopefully, get more of the romance, eee. So nervous so excited. What do you think?


The stunning finale of the epic fantasy duology from New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis.

Alchemy student turned necromancer Nedra Brysstain has made a life-changing decision to embrace the darkness--but can the boy who loves her bring her back to the light before she pays the ultimate price?

Lunar Island is trying to heal. The necromantic plague that ravaged the land has been eradicated, and Emperor Auguste, the young and charming leader of the Allyrian Empire, has a plan: rid the island of necromancy once and for all. Though Greggori "Grey" Astor wants what's best for his people, he knows that allying himself with Auguste threatens the one person he loves most: necromancer Nedra Brysstain. Feeling like he already failed to save Nedra once, Grey becomes determined to help the Emperor rebuild Lunar Island while still keeping Nedra safe from harm.

Back at the quarantine hospital, Nedra's army of revenants are growing increasingly inhuman by the day. Wracked with guilt for imprisoning their souls, Nedra vows to discover a way to free the dead while still keeping her sister by her side.

But, still reeling from the trauma of the plague, the people of Lunar Island are looking for someone to blame, and Grey can only protect Nedra for so long. And when Nedra and Grey are thrust into a battle with an even more terrifying adversary, Nedra will be pushed to the darkest depths of her necromantic powers. But can Grey let her go that far?




Saturday, January 19, 2019

In My Mailbox #376

This week have gone by way too fast. And I have barely gotten anything done. Ack. Also just exhausted and don't really feel like doing anything. Rude. But I did read a book last Saturday evening, and another book this week, so I have read a little bit. And have much more that I need to read. But I also need to put together a whole bunch of blog tour posts and I have no energy for it. Sigh. I also need to take instagram pictures. No inspiration. Plus side, it is starting to get lighter outside, finally, eee. So almost done with the dark and depressing photos, haha. Just. Yeah. I need the will to do things to come back, please. Blogged a little, but not much. I shared my review of The Cerulean :) And review of Come Find Me. <3 This week I'm waiting on Soul of Stars :D I'm trying my best to get things done, but it isn't easy. This week my baby niece turned one. Busy with that. <3 I had my usual hospital visit, which was exhausting. And I'm tired. All the time. And upset too, because of certain books that I do not have. Makes me so sad. Sad too, because of how my laptop is being an ass, and I have to send it in to service for a second time. Not happy about it. And my iPhone X is having issues too, and I'm unsure how to fix some of those issues, and it's annoying me to death. Have spent so many hours this week trying to fix problems. Nothing works. Yeah. It's driving me insane. And all I want to do is be able to read Kingsbane early. To have my own print ARC to look at and pet and love and ugh. I'm jealous of everyone that has one. I'm trying to be patient. It is not working. So anyway. I'm doing okay. Probably. Just wishing I was able to do more. I'm trying. It is just going slow.



How To Train Your Dragon 3. Eee, some of the books I have ordered arrived a while back, haha :D They are so precious looking. Movie arrived in Norway on the 11. But no English in my town. Much heartbreak.
Shadow Weaver. The pretty paperback edition :D Isn't it just gorgeous? I love it. And so adored this book.
Nintendo Classic Mini. Eee, I had to get this one, finally. It looks pretty fun and awesome. Excited to play.
Pop Figures. More new ones, yay. Love them. But gosh, missing many of the newest Harry Potter ones.


More Instagram photos here. <3

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

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?

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

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.


Sunday, January 13, 2019

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.


Saturday, January 12, 2019

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

Thursday, January 10, 2019

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.