Blog Tour: Frost Like Night Review

  

Frost Like Night
Author: Sara Raasch
Publication Date: September 22nd 2016
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Angra is alive, his Decay is spreading—and no one is safe.

Meira will do anything to save her world. With Angra trying to break through her mental defenses, she desperately needs to learn to control her own magic—so when the leader of a mysterious Order from Paisly offers to teach her, she jumps at the chance. But the true solution to stopping the Decay lies in a labyrinth deep beneath the Season Kingdoms. To defeat Angra, Meira will have to enter the labyrinth, destroy the very magic she’s learning to control—and make the biggest sacrifice of all.

Mather will do anything to save his queen. He needs to rally the Children of the Thaw, find Meira—and finally tell her how he really feels. But with a plan of attack that leaves no kingdom unscathed and a major betrayal within their ranks, winning the war—and protecting Meira—slips farther and farther out of reach.

Ceridwen will do anything to save her people. Angra had her brother killed, stole her kingdom, and made her a prisoner. But when she’s freed by an unexpected ally who reveals a shocking truth behind Summer’s slave trade, Ceridwen must take action to save her true love and her kingdom, even if it costs her what little she has left.

As Angra unleashes the Decay on the world, Meira, Mather, and Ceridwen must bring the kingdoms of Primoria together…or lose everything

*Spoiler free, though spoilers from the previous two.

That's it, the end of the Snow Like Ashes trilogy, and I'm sad because I'm not quite ready to let go of the characters and their world. 

Continuing on from where Ice Like Fire ended, we're thrown back in to the story and aftermath of Ice Like Fire, Mather and the Thaw and Jesse, Ceridwen being captured, and Meira learning to control and use her magic in a way to defend herself from the Decay - and not feed it.

Ice Like Fire Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

I adored Snow Like Ashes, so I am so excited to be part of the UK Ice Like Fire Tour, thanks @Harper360UK for letting me be a part of it! I'm reviewing Ice Like Fire, and don't forget to check out the awesome giveaway (with signed bookplates) below!

Ice Like Fire
Author: Sara Raasch
Publication Date: November 19th 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins UK
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~ 

 It’s been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring’s king, Angra, disappeared—thanks largely to the help of Cordell.

Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria’s lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity—with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses—the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders the two on a mission across the kingdoms of Primoria to discover the chasm’s secrets, Meira plans to use the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe—even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?

Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Januari—leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell’s growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter’s security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken kingdom and protect them from new threats?

As the web of power and deception weaves tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom—and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter, but for the world.

Let me start by saying that Ice Like Fire is vastly different from Snow Like Ashes. If you're expecting a lot of action, strong, bull-headed- and frankly, badass characters, you'll be sorely disappointed. You see, you'll be frustrated at the characters, especially our main three, they all have their reasons why they act like they do, but they're different from who we met in Snow Like Ashes.
 
But.

Yes, but.

It's a necessary adjustment. Meira finding out who she really is, Mather finding out who he thought he was, and Theron (well, I'm keeping my mouth shut on him), they're going to be different. They're facing the truth and the lies and what it means, fighting and hiding from it at the same time. Of course they're going to be different. Meira's adjustment is realistic. She's just been handed a kingdom on her shoulders and has no idea how to be Queen other than trying to do what's best for Winter. Which is a lot harder when she's fighting being Meira, and trying to be Queen Meira, which ultimately leads to mistakes and stupid decisions as she's struggling to piece those two halves together.
 
Mather...Mather has all of those things taken off his shoulders-officially, but they're still there, and he doesn't have a choice or voice for Winter, he's angry, angry at that and angry at the parents he's suddenly got that don't feel like parents. He has two halves of himself struggling. Prince

Mather and Lord Mather, just like Meira.
 
It's the same for the relationships that leave the love triangle strained on all sides. Meira and Mather. Queen Meira and Prince Theron. The choice between what is wanted and what is best for Winter, and the blurred lines between that and betrayal.
 
Although Ice Like Fire very much feels like the Middle Book syndrome, meaning not a lot happens for most of it because it's reeling from the first and setting up the third, I wasn't bored. And that's down to the writing for me, it's easy to read, flowing and kept me reading.
 
We get to explore different Seasons and Rhythms, and discover more of the world Sara Raasch created, and strengthens the building. Which is also why we have two perspectives this time. We have Meira's perspective in first person present tense and the other (I’m pretty sure you probably know who the second perspective is, but I won’t spoil it in case.) in third person past tense, which I thought would've been my issue, which it was in the beginning, but I got used to it.
 
Ice Like Fire wasn't what I was expecting, but it's a great set up for what feels like a badass conclusion to the trilogy.

Rating: 4/5

       

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Dark Room Blog Tour: Review & Extract

Dark Room
Author: Tom Becker
Publication Date: September 10th 2015
Publisher: Stripes Publishig
 ~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

When Darla and her feckless dad, Hopper, move to Saffron Hills, Darla hopes it'll be a new start for the both of them. But she stands no chance of fitting in with the image-obsessed in-crowd at her new school. Then one of her classmates is brutally killed when taking a photo of herself. A murder Darla herself predicted in a bloody vision. When more teens die in a similar fashion it appears that a serial killer is on the loose - the 'Selfie Slayer'. Darla alone is convinced that the murderer might not be flesh and blood.

Dark Room is the latest instalment in the Red Eye series, and it seems that I’ve been loving every other book in it, and although I have a few little issues with it, it was a damn good one. Dark Room is very standard for YA mystery/crime, it follows the same formula and isn’t anything new, that being said, the added use of technology and a surprising killer made the Dark Room stand out.

Blog Tour: What You Left Behind, Guest Post by Jessica Verdi

What You Left Behind
Author: Jessica Verdi 
Publication Date: August 4th 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

It’s all Ryden’s fault. If he hadn’t gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead, he’s failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it’s not like he’s had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college.

The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She’s fun and energetic—and doesn’t know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg’s journals only stirs up old emotions, and Ryden’s convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can’t let go of the past?

You guys, I am so ecstatic about having Jessica Verdi on the blog today, talking about parents in YA, because let's be honest, we all know how parents in YA usually goes, and fortunately, that is definitely not a problem in What You Left Behind. Which, *cough* coincidence *cough* is out now!

Magonia Blog Tour: Review & Q&A with Maria Dahvana Headley

 

 

Magonia
Author: Maria Dahvana Headley
Publication Date: June 4th 2015
Publisher: Harper Collins
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Neil Gaiman’s Stardust meets John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars in this fantasy about a girl caught between two worlds... two races…and two destinies.

Aza Ray is drowning in thin air.

Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live.

So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn't think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia.

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

How to describe Magonia? I don't know how, so I'll just go with wow. There. I can't say I 100% got it, because I didn't, it got confusing at times, especially when Aza gets to Magonia, but not totally getting it doesn't necessarily mean I didn't like it, in fact, I freaking loved it despite that. You know all those comparisons X meets Y that are rather annoying at times because they are not even close to describing the book? This isn't one of them. I totally get why it was Stardust meets The Fault in Our Stars, but especially The Fault in Our Stars and not for the obvious reasons, the characters weren't the same, and neither was the writing, but it had that same feel to it, in a way characterisation, humour and the lyrical undertone in the writing, but you just have to read it to understand it, because it is unique and original and honestly? I haven't read anything else like it.

Phoenix Rising Blog Tour: Guest Post by Bryony Pearce

Phoenix Rising
Author: Bryony Pearce
Publication Date: June 1st 2015
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
#BansheeCrew

In a future world where fossil fuels have run out and democracy has collapsed, an outlawed pirate crew fight for survival on their ship, the Phoenix, kept afloat by whatever they can salvage or scavenge on the debris-filled seas. Toby has never known anything other than life onboard the Phoenix and he's desperate for adventure. But when trouble comes hunting the Phoenix down, Toby realizes that what you wish for isn't always what you want. He meets beautiful Ayla from the Banshee, a rival pirate ship and sworn enemy of the Phoenix, and his world is thrown into disorder. How can he know who to trust and what to believe? The future rests on him making an impossible choice...A gripping novel, perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz, Eoin Colfer and Suzanne Collins

 Ending the World

For me, one of the most fun things about being a writer is building the world and the characters that live in it.

In the case of Phoenix Rising, it wasn't so much building a world, as ending and then rebuilding it.

So I set out to think about how the world might end.

By the ‘end of the world’ of course I mean the ‘end of civilisation as we know it’. A literal earth shattering event like a meteor strike or the explosion of the sun (which is a favourite suggestion in school visits) would not leave me much scope for developing characters and a world in which to write a story afterwards. So I needed an event that would kill off most of the people and change the world itself, but not so serious that my main characters could not survive and have adventures.

This is something that, as an imaginative individual with a propensity towards the macabre, I have considered many times over the course of my lifetime.

Red Eye Blog Tour: Q&A with Alex Bell

Welcome to my spot on the Red Eye Blog Tour, I have Alex Bell on the blog today with a Q&A, so a great thank you to Alex for answering my questions.

If you guys haven't read or heard of Frozen Charlotte (you can read my review here), it's a  part of the Red Eye Horror series that's being published by Stripes Publishing, the first in the series, Frozen Charlotte along with Sleepless by Lou Morgan were simultaneously published on the 5th January, so they're out now to buy, Frozen Charlotte here, and Sleepless here. You can also check out the trailer here.

 Q&A Time!

1. What was the last book you read? And if you can remember, the first book you read?

The last book I read was The Executioner's Daughter by Jane Hardstaff. A brilliant, magical tale set in London during the time of Henry VIII. Highly recommended.

I don't think I can remember the first book I read. Possibly a Meg and Mog book? 

Blog Tour: Crossing the Ice Guest Post & Giveaway

Welcome to my spot on the Crossing the Ice blog tour! Today, we have author Jennifer Comeaux on the blog, talking about what inspired her to use Figure Skating as the main feature in Crossing the Ice. Firstly, thank you for sharing, Jennifer, and give her a warm welcome guys. :)

 So, over to Jennifer!

 Crossing the Ice
Author: Jennifer Comeaux
Publication Date: August 3rd 2014

Falling hard never felt so good.
Pair skaters Courtney and Mark have one shot left at their Olympic dream. They vow not to let anything get in their way, especially not Josh and Stephanie, the wealthy and talented brother and sister team.

The heart doesn’t always listen to reason, though…

The more time Courtney spends with sweet, shy Josh, the harder she falls for him. But they are on opposite sides of the competition, and their futures are headed in opposite directions. Will their friendship blossom into more or are their paths too different to cross?

This is the first book in the new ICE series.

 

I’d like to thank Kirsty-Marie for having me as a guest on her blog! She asked me to share what inspired me to write about figure skating in my new release, Crossing the Ice.

Only Ever Yours Blog Tour: A Q&A with Louise O'Neill

Firstly, Happy Book Birthday Louise O'Neill, Only Ever Yours is released today and I can honestly say it is one of my favourites of 2014 so far. It's one of those books everyone should read, it's brutally honest and will have you thinking for a while, as it did with me. You can find my review of it here. Thanks to Quercus I also got a chance to do a Q&A with Louise herself, so on with the  show!

 

     Only Ever Yours
Author: Louise O'Neill

      Publication Date: July 3rd 2014        

      Publisher: Quercus  

   In a world in which baby girls are no longer born naturally, women are bred in schools, trained in the arts of pleasing men until they are ready for the outside world. At graduation, the most highly rated girls become “companions”, permitted to live with their husbands and breed sons until they are no longer useful.

For the girls left behind, the future – as a concubine or a teacher – is grim.

Best friends Freida and Isabel are sure they’ll be chosen as companions – they are among the most highly rated girls in their year.

But as the intensity of final year takes hold, Isabel does the unthinkable and starts to put on weight. ..
And then, into this sealed female environment, the boys arrive, eager to choose a bride.

Freida must fight for her future – even if it means betraying the only friend, the only love, she has ever known…   

 Q&A

1)    Did religion have an effect on the way women are perceived in Only Ever Yours?

      That’s interesting, that’s the second time someone has asked me this question this week. I didn’t consciously decide that religion would be a factor in the way women are perceived in Only Ever Yours, I felt that the world in which the novel is set was much more likely to have been created because our patriarchal society posits that men are far more inherently valuable than women. However, I was raised a Catholic, and attended a convent primary and secondary school. I was extremely devout when I was a child, and I guess it was only with hindsight that I began to think there was something rather strange about being indoctrinated in a religion that presents the ‘ideal woman’ as a mother who has never had sex.

Blog Tour: Branded Teaser

I loved Branded as it was, but now it's been revamped with a new gorgeous cover and is longer than the original. Today, we have a teaser to share. :)

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Teaser

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Blog Tour: Rain

 

 

 

 

 

 

      Welcome to my stop on the Rain blog tour. Firstly, thank you to Christie for inviting me along, unfortunately due to my schedule I couldn't review Rain, so we came up with a guest post for today! So, I asked Christie what ten books that she thought everyone should read or have on theirs, and ones that would be on her bucket list.

 

Top Ten Book Bucket List

Top Ten Books on my bucket list:

1.       A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

2.       Stolen by Kelly Armstrong

3.       The Year of Chasing Dreams by Lurlene McDaniel

4.       The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski

5.       Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

6.       Breakable by Tammara Webber

7.       Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

8.       Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts

9.       Opposition by Jennifer Armentrout

10.   Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

 

Now, my question to you guys is...

Q: What would be on yours?

 

 

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Author: Christie Cote
Buy Rain: Amazon

Publication Date:  May 6th 2014 by Christie Cote (first published May 3rd 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Taylor Sullivan took her life for granted until she received news that would change her life forever. In a state of denial she met Kyle, who didn’t end up being what she expected. She wasn’t able to escape her new reality, but with his friendship, just maybe she could survive it.

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About the Author:

 

Christie Cote resides in Vermont with her Husband and their dog. When she isn’t reading, writing, or dreaming up her next story, she can be found shooting targets with her bow, drawing or baking.

Rain is her first book.

 

Christie writes Young Adult Realistic Fiction, Fiction, and New Adult novels.

 

 

 

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 Visit the Author:

 

 

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