Lunar Love Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Lunar Love Giveaway hop hosted by by I am a Reader Not a Writer and Bookworm Lisa. Thanks to everyone who is participating!

For this giveaway I will giving copies of the following books to one lucky winner.  Midnight Blue-Light Special is an ARC. 

  

Please fill out the below form to enter this giveaway.  Also make sure to check the linky list below for other great blogs participating in this hop.

Audiobook Review - The Drowned Cities (Ship Breaker, Book 2) by Paolo Bacgalupi (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post Apocalyptic
Size: 448 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0316056243
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Ship Breaker series
Source: Audiobook through Audible.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

This is the sequel to Ship Breaker, it’s set in the same world as Ship Breaker but with different main characters. I didn’t like this book quite as much as Ship Breaker...it was just too bleak and I had trouble engaging with the characters.

Mahlia and Mouse have fled the war torn Drowned Cities and live in a small town in the outskirts of a jungle. Mahlia works in the town helping the doctor there and does well, despite her lack of a hand. Mahlia dreams of a day when she will be able to escape these outskirts of the Drowned Cities and head North. When a dog man draws soldiers near their small town their lives change forever.

This book is set in an extremely bleak post-apocalyptic setting on the East Coast of the US. There are little hints throughout that eventually let the reader figure out what portion of the US this book is set in.

The is an incredibly violent and incredibly depressing read. So if you are offended by graphic torture and violence I recommend steering clear. It is even more violent and depressing than Ship Beaker was.

That being said it does a pretty darn good job of portraying the suffering of people living within a long and constant war. As to whether or not this is appropriate for young adults...I think it is okay but beware that the graphic violence in this book makes The Hunger Games look like a Disney Fairy Tale.

I had trouble relating to any of the characters. None of them are good and all of them make a large series of poor decisions. They are very human, but I mostly despised them. All of them kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. Mahlia comes off as incredibly selfish throughout. Mouse and others are incredibly naive despite their violent upbringing.

The most intriguing of the bunch is Tool, the dog-faced man. Tool is complex and simple at the same time; he is a tool of war yet he follows simple philosophies that make a surprising amount of sense. He was pretty much the only part of this book I found intriguing and enjoyable.

The world-building is absolutely fantastic. If you have read The Windup Girl or Ship Breaker, you know that this world is absolutely incredibly creative. The number one strength of this book is this fantastic, dreary world that Bacigalupi has created. The book is fast-paced and fairly engaging.

Overall this is a decent story. I just had trouble maintaining a lot of interest in these brutalized characters and I found the level of violence and bleak outlook depressing. Bacigalupi always has to take things just a bit too far for me, and it takes away a lot of the enjoyment of reading the story for me. I guess I would tentatively recommend to those who are interested in absolutely brutal post-apocalyptic reads of war torn lands.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Audio Book Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Waiting on Wednesday - 3/6/13

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week my Waiting on Wednesday book is

If I Should Die (Revenants, Book 3) by Amy Plum.

Click on the image to go to Amazon and read more about this book.

If I Should Die (Revenants, Book 3) by Amy Plum
Release Date: May 7th,  2013

Publisher: HarperTeen
Length: 320 pages
ISBN: 978-0062004031

Synopsis from Goodreads.com:

I will not lose another person I love. I will not let history repeat itself.

Vincent waited lifetimes to find me, but in an instant our future together was shattered. He was betrayed by someone we both called a friend, and I lost him. Now our enemy is determined to rule over France’s immortals, and willing to wage a war to get what they want.

It shouldn’t be possible, none of it should be, but this is my reality. I know Vincent is somewhere out there, I know he’s not completely gone, and I will do anything to save him.

After what we’ve already fought to achieve, a life without Vincent is unimaginable. He once swore to avoid dying—to go against his nature and forsake sacrificing himself for others—so that we could be together. How can I not risk everything to bring my love back to me?
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Early Review - Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid, Book 2) by Seanan McGuire (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 368 pages
Publisher: DAW
Release Date: March 5, 2013
ISBN: 978-0756407926
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the InCryptid series
Source: ARC through Goodreads First Reads
Rating: 5/5 stars


I have read all of Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series (which I adore) and her Newsflesh series written as Mira Grant (which I also loved). This is the second book in the Incryptid series and it was even better than the first! I got a copy of this book to review through Goodreads First Reads program. This was a fun read, that was action packed and very well put together. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Verity is recovering from the deadly snake-cult mystery in the first book when she gets some dreadful news from Dominic...the Covenant is coming to the city to clear out all of the InCryptids. Now Verity has to find a way to protect both the InCryptids and herself from the Covenant. She also has to figure out if Dominic is with or against her. Part of the story is also told from Sarah’s POV (Sarah is Verity’s cousin who is a cuckoo).

The book is told from both Sarah and Verity's POVs. Cleverly you can tell which chapter is told from which POV by the little pictures up top. Verity's chapters are headed with bloody dance steps, while Sarah's are headed with math equations.

This was a very well done book. It's full of wonderfully creative characters and is a lot of fun to read. You never know what new type of beastie is going to be around the corner. The plot keeps you guessing, the pace is fast, and the book is action packed.

Verity grow a lot in this book. She is finally learning how to trust her friends and depend on them for some backup in this book. She also begins to come to terms with her life and her...destiny. She starts to have to truly decide what form her life will take; that of a professional ballroom dancer or that of a cryptozoologist.

We get a lot of insight into both Dominic and Sarah’s characters in this book as well. Sarah tells some of the story from her POV and she is a very interesting and complex character with an interesting background. We also learn quite a bit about Domonic’s background as well.

As with the past books there are many quirky characters in here. The mice are here in force and as strangely entertaining as they were in the last book. You never know what strange type of mythological beastie you will run into next. They are all interesting and engaging.

Parts of the book are laugh out loud funny, others are touching. All in all a very entertaining and well balanced book. There is a lot of action. As well as a lot of mystery solving.

Overall I absolutely loved this book. It is a perfect balance of everything that makes urban fantasy wonderful. You have creative characters that are fun and easy to engage with and a complex action-packed plot that is fast-paced plot. This book is intelligently written, super fun to read, and absolutely engrossing. It was so hard to put down. Those who love urban fantasy should definitely pick up this whole series, it’s been wonderful to read so far. I also recommend her October Daye series, which is less action packed but also exceedingly well written.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- DRAGONS: Paranormal Reading Challenge
- BLUE: Color Coded Reading Challenge

Review - The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopia
Size: 320 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Release Date: December 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-1423157373
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Darkest Minds series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

I loved Bracken’s book Woven Brightly and was excited to read her version of a YA dystopian novel. This is a very well written book. It gets a bit long at points but it is very creative and very well written. The second book in the series, Never Fade, is scheduled for a November 2013 release.

Children start dying around the age of 10 years old from a mysterious disease. Shortly after this starts happening, humanity learns not to fear the disease itself...but the children who survive it. The survivors have developed crazy mind powers of different types. For their own safety and rehabilitation the kids are moved into camps. As you can imagine nothing good happens in these camps.

The story follows Ruby, a young girl admitted to the camps at the age of 10 years old. We hear about her life in these camps and then what happens when she goes back out into a world stricken with poverty and almost no children. We also know that Ruby has a dark secret about why she was taken to the camps to begin with.

The book is excellently written, engaging, easy to read and very creative. I enjoyed the world and the kids in it a lot. The idea of kids developing mental powers they can’t control is incredibly interesting. The kids are all rated by color. For example Greens are super smart, Blues are telekinetic, and Yellows can control electricity. Ruby isn’t any of these...she is an Orange.

Ruby is a very caring and passive girl who's developed a very dangerous mind ability. She is an excellent character to read about. She comes across as a bit naive at times, but that is totally understandable given how she lived the majority of her young adult life in a camp. She is tough when she has to be, but a bit too trusting at times.

We never really get a good understanding of the why behind these diseases and the situation. Ruby is too busy trying to figure who to trust and who not to trust. We know that the United States is in poverty and bankrupt. We don’t really know why. I am hoping that part of future books in this series will be getting answers to these questions.

The plot gets more and more complex as the book progresses. There are different government factions, private gangs, and other groups...all of them want to use these kids with special powers for their own means. Despite all the complexity things never get too complicated to follow.

Overall this is a very well done young adult dystopian novel, I enjoyed it alot. It is very well written and the characterization is very well done. All of the characters are interesting and have a lot of depth to them. The world is interesting and mysterious and I can’t wait to read more about it. Definitely recommended to fans of YA dystopia. I will be picking up Never Fade when it comes out for sure.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Showcase Sunday and Mailbox Monday - 3/4/13

Hello and welcome to Showcase Sunday. Inspired by Pop Culture Junkie and the Story Siren, the aim of Showcase Sunday is to highlight our newest books or book related swag and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops and downloaded onto eReaders each week. For more information about how this feature works and how to join in, click here.

Mailbox Monday can be found at: The Printed Page

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I got a lot of wonderful books this week!  You can see them pictured below, or watch the video to hear more about them.

Hope you all got a lot of great books and have a great week of reading ahead of you!

For Review:

Won:

   

Swapped:

 

Library:

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