Review - Lifer by Beck Nicholas

Lifer by Beck Nicholas
Published: December 2014 by Month9Books, LLC
Source: eARC
Rating: 5+ Stars

Asher is a Lifer, a slave aboard the spaceship Pelican. A member of the lowest rung of society, she must serve the ship’s Officials and Astronauts as punishment for her grandparents' crimes back on Earth. The one thing that made life bearable was her illicit relationship with Samuai, a Fishie boy, but he died alongside her brother in a freak training accident. 

Still grieving for the loss of her loved ones, Asher is summoned to the upper levels to wait on Lady, the head Official’s wife and Samuai’s mother. It is the perfect opportunity to gather intel for the Lifer’s brewing rebellion. There’s just one problem - the last girl who went to the upper levels never came back.

On the other side of the universe, an alien attack has left Earth in shambles and a group called The Company has taken control. Blank wakes up in a pond completely naked and with no memory, not even his real name. So when a hot girl named Megs invites him to a black-market gaming warehouse where winning means information, he doesn’t think twice about playing. 

But sometimes the past is better left buried. As Asher and Blank’s worlds collide, the truth comes out - everyone has been lied to...

This was a novel that crushed the depths of my soul and I'm still trying to glue it back together. Asher is our main character, a strong young woman who is in a forbidden love affair with Samuai, a boy born of a higher social class. Samuai loves Asher despite her social status and even wants to help bring down the walls of oppression that the Lifers have lived behind for many years. Everything changes when Asher's brother and Samuai are pronounced dead. Asher is quickly summoned to be the Lady's servant. Lady is the equivalent of say... the first lady of the United States, power-wise anyway. Lady also just happens to be Samuai's mother. While trying her best to do as she's told without sarcasm (which still slips every once in a while), Asher mentally maps out every detail she can remember to relay back to her mother, who is in charge of an upcoming rebellion against the upper class, AKA the Fishies. 

Then there's Blank. He's named Blank because he woke up on a planet and has no recollection of who he is. He quickly learns about The Company, an organization who recruits and brainwashes people to join their cause. Blank may be well... literally blank when it comes to the details of his past, but he still knows the difference between good and evil. He rather quickly sides with the people who are against The Company and does whatever he can to help the cause. 

Asher and Blank's worlds collide in way that leaves you dizzy. I truly cannot wait to read the next novel in this series. 

Review - Brother by Ania Ahlborn

Brother by Ania Ahlborn
Published: September 2015 by Gallery Books
Source: eARC
Rating: 5+ Stars

Deep in the heart of Appalachia stands a crooked farmhouse miles from any road. The Morrows keep to themselves, and it’s served them well so far. When girls go missing off the side of the highway, the cops don’t knock on their door. Which is a good thing, seeing as to what’s buried in the Morrows’ backyard.

But nineteen-year-old Michael Morrow isn’t like the rest of his family. He doesn’t take pleasure in the screams that echo through the trees. Michael pines for normalcy, and he’s sure that someday he’ll see the world beyond West Virginia. When he meets Alice, a pretty girl working at a record shop in the small nearby town of Dahlia, he’s immediately smitten. For a moment, he nearly forgets about the monster he’s become. But his brother, Rebel, is all too eager to remind Michael of his place...

It comes as no surprise that I'm a die hard Ahlborn fan, but REALLY?!? She did it again. She has written another relentlessly appalling, yet magnetic book that I adored. 

The Morrow family is the stuff of an old school horror family - all the sadistic tendencies included. One day the baby boy of the family, Rebel, decided he wanted something... kind of like when a kid wants a pet. Except Rebel saw a boy outside. Michael was taken from his front yard at a young age and was raised as a Morrow.

The inner dynamics of the Morrow family are soul-crushing. I'm not talking about Lifetime movie qualities here - more like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre family or one of those messed up stories you glanced at on your social media feed and you thought, "Wow. These things really happen?" That's how this book sucks you in. Just like reading that one sentence news line that catches your eye so you'll click on the link to read the full article. If this book had links, I'd have arthritis from so much clicking. 

This book has a story to tell and I  promise it is one you'll want to hear.

Review - Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Published: April 2011 by Dutton
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5 Stars

"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you... "

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke. When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories. By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself. What would he say?

Poor, poor Lincoln. In love with a woman who doesn't even know he exists... or does she? :) Lincoln lands a (what I'd call cushy) job as an internet security officer in a news building on night shift. He spends a few hours a night checking a folder that collects emails that contain flagged (or work inappropriate) words/phrases and then send those employees warnings. It takes him about two hours of his eight hour shift to actually do his job. So naturally, he gets bored. 

Two people keep getting their emails flagged: Beth and Jennifer. Instead of just sending them warnings, Lincoln reads their emails... all of them. Every night he tries to keep himself from reading them, but he can't. He becomes completely engrossed in these ladies' personal lives. He knows he should stop. He eventually confessed to a female friend, who also advises him to stop. But... its a little too late. Lincoln falls hard for Beth, a movie reviewer from the newsroom. 

I was so curious as to what Lincoln would do. Would he run up the stairs and confess his undying love to a virtual (pun-intended) stranger? Would he stalk her outside of just reading her emails and it end up creeping me out? Or maybe Beth will run into him and that FATE thing would happen. 
There's no way I'm spilling the beans on this one, but trust me... you are going to want to pick up this book just to find out what happens next. Rowell has written yet another show-stopping book and I just can't help but be truly impressed.

Review - A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
Published: October 2015 by Disney Hyperion
Source: eARC
Rating: 5 Stars

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.

And so she is taken in her sister's place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin's court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time.But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.

Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air. Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.

At first, I got the... "I volunteer as tribute!" vibe when the girl swapped places with her sister. She was sacrificing her life so her sister could live. So... that's basically the same thing, right? This still did not deter me from the book by any means. 

The main character is one brave girl. Not only did she decide to die so her sister could live, but she decided if she was going to go die - she'd go out with a bang. She wanted to kill Lo-Melkhin. I mean, who wouldn't? Lo-Melkhin had killed over 300 girls - all of them his brides to be. But this time would be different. The girl tried something none of the other had... to peak Lo-Melkhin's interest. The first night, when almost every bride died, the girl told Lo-Melkhin a story. Soon dawn arrived and Lo-Melkhin agreed to let her live another day so he could hear the rest of the story. 

Throughout the book, the girl seemingly challenges Lo-Melkhin with her words, which of course of made him more curious. It soon become apparent that Lo-Melkhin isn't really himself and he has some sort of power. The girl starts to see this mysterious power during their long nights full of story-telling. Even Lo-Melkhin's mother can sense her son is different... changed somehow. 

All the while, the girl's sister and the people from the girl's village have been praying to the girl as if she was already dead and considered a smallgod for sacrificing herself. Now the girl starts to sense a sort of power within herself. Maybe now the girl can finally face Lo-Melkhin and prevent more deaths. 

This book was a wonderful reboot of Arabian Nights... or at least it had a few similarities. I loved the main character and the snide comments she made to Lo-Melkhin all the while knowing she could be breathing her last breath. I recommend this book to everyone... seriously. Even if you don't care for the YA or fantasy genres, I still think you'll love it. 

Review - Minotaur by Phillip W. Simpson

Minotaur by Phillip W. Simpson
Published: September 2015 by Month9Books
Source: eARC
Rating: 5 Stars

“Where shall I start?” asked Minotaur.
Ovid made an expansive gesture with both hands. “Where else but the beginning of course.”
Minotaur nodded his huge head. “Yes,” he said. “Yes,” his eyes already glazing over with the weight of thousand year old memories. And then he began.

So begins the story of Asterion, later known as Minotaur, the supposed half bull creature of Greek legend. Recorded by the famous Roman poet, Ovid, Asterion tells of his boyhood in Crete under the cruel hand of his stepfather Minos, his adventures with his friend, Theseus, and his growing love for the beautiful Phaedra. And of course what really happened in the labyrinth. 


This is the true story of the minotaur. Ovid, a scholar who has written a huge volume of myths/legends, travels to the site of the minotaur's labyrinth. His tour guide Asterion, who is known as the minotaur, leads Ovid up the mountain and to the crumbling labyrinth.

Eventually Asterion decides to tell Ovid that he is the infamous minotaur, still alive and living close to the labyrinth. At first Ovid is just humoring Asterion, allowing Asterion to tell his story... this is when the book really starts for me. Asterion weaves the threads that bind story of his life together simply, yet with a heavy heart. The hardships he faced during his childhood... how he was ridiculed and looked down upon because of his appearance, how his father despised him because he was the bastard son of a god. The love of his life and how she was stolen from him. And then the most impressive twist of the story... the minotaur's time in the labyrinth. We all know the story. Asterion tells the true version, which of course is much less gory and extremely compelling. I felt so many emotions during Asterion's life story. But it was Asterion's perseverance that really resonated with me. I don't think I could have kept my own and not turned into the monster everyone thought I was if I was treated as he was.

This was a very thought-provoking read and I absolutely adore mythology, so basically the author wrote this for me. :) So thanks, Phillip.

Review - Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Published: September 2015 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: eARC
Rating: 5+ Stars

This innovative, heartfelt debut novel tells the story of a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she’s ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla. But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster. 

This book. This book... just... this book. This book is everything. There are few books I've read that I can relate to on a level that is borderline perfect. This is one of them. Before I get into that, I have to tell you how much I love the book in general. I felt this book had just the right amount of detail when it comes to the main character's environment, what she could see from her window.. even down to the medical terminology used to describe Maddy's disorder. Then add the cutest sketches and little handwritten workbook pages. I read this on a Kindle and STILL the sketches were just a plus for me.

Back to the 'this is book is EVERYTHING' part of my review.. well, this book is almost me. Maddy is a teenager who is allergic to everything. Her mom has had her sequestered in a sealed house since Maddy was a toddler. Think of John Travolta in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble except this girl had a house and couldn't leave it. This part resonates with me a on few different levels. I am allergic to so my friggin' things. Febreeze, dryer sheets, strong fragrances, cigarette smoke, dogs, cats, pollens, grass.. THE AIR. Now my problems are in no way as extreme as Maddy's medical issues, but I do have an immune disorder as well. Which basically means I tend to get whatever sickness that is going around. Maddy can walk outside and potentially die. I felt so many of the same feelings as Maddy, except she is almost ALWAYS optimistic. Me.. not so much. Sometimes it gets me down that I have at least 3 doctor appointments a month. Maddy takes everything in stride and reminded me to chip up and be grateful. 

Maddy watches a new family move in next door from her window and she ultimately strikes up a friendship with a boy her age named Olly. He's into parkour and fights with his dad a lot. They start chatting by her miming words from behind her window and Olly writing on poster boards. (How cute is that?) Then they start emailing and chatting online. Olly makes Maddy want more. More than being stuck in her bubble for the rest of her life. Maybe having a short, full-filling life is better than having a long, un-lived life. 

This book touched me because I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder. My disorder keeps me from doing so many things in life that I want to do. Maddy is a fictional character who is an inspiration for me. She stops seeing herself and an ill person and starts to see herself as the witty, funny, smart person she is who just happens to have a medical condition. This book will forever hold a place is my heart. 

Review - A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Published: January 2011 by Penguin Books
Source: Finished Copy Provided by the Publisher
Rating: 5+ Stars

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together. 

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. Her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. She has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. 

I honestly don't know where to start. Harkness took my soul, wrapped it around her pinky finger, and watched as her words made it glow in the darkness. Not only could I escape reality every moment I picked this novel up, but I felt the main characters' feelings. When they were heartbroken, my heart bled. When they were eloped in passion, i had naughty thoughts (and may have told the boyfriend). When they were scared, but brave... well you understand. 

Back to the basics.. we have Diana Bishop, a witch who has chosen to refuse her own powers and instead has focused her life on being a professional academic. She calls up a mysterious manuscript from Oxford's library, realizes it has been spelled, and promptly sends it back. The problem is all of the creatures have perked up. Witches, vampires, and daemons alike are all vying for the manuscript that may hold the answer to how each creature was created.  In steps Matthew Clairmont, a gentlemen/scientist/vampire whom we all start to swoon over. Which is the only proper response.

"He held me while I spoke, and when I couldn't speak, and when I cried."

Matthew wants the manuscript just like anyone else, but then he takes an interest in Diana. In her professional and personal life. He starts to see her as more than just another witch. Diana has always ignored her heritage as a witch. She has focused her entire life on her education and her professional and has earned all of her merits the good old fashioned way. Matthew tests Diana to be who she is. A man pushing a woman to be herself? 

Can we love this man anymore? NO. The answer is no. I've decided to stop here. I don't want to ruin for you the AMAZINGNESS that happens with Diana and Matthew, but I'm sure you can imagine the storm the is a brewing. All I can say is if you enjoy some fantasy, some adult love, and amazing writing... just go buy this book. And then the sequel. And then the third book in the trilogy. 

Top Ten Books I've Read So Far in 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at my other blog - The Broke & the Bookish!

This Week's Topic...

 Top Ten Books I've Read So Far in 2015

What are your favorite reads so far this year?

For the Love of Everything Dystopian

Last month I posted of my first love, historical fiction. Now I have to show my affection for my second love, everything dystopian/post-apocalyptic. I still remember years ago, slowing filling my bookshelves with stories of survival, bleak skies.. characters enduring hardships that make me feel brave by just reading about them. Here are a few dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels that stole my soul.

Wool by Hugh Howey

An epic story of life, love and survival at all odds and one of the most-talked and anticipated books of the year. In a ruined and hostile landscape, in a future few have been unlucky enough to survive, a community exists in a giant underground silo. Inside, men and women live an enclosed life full of rules and regulations, of secrets and lies. To live, you must follow the rules. But some don't. These are the dangerous ones; these are the people who dare to hope and dream, and who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple and deadly. They are allowed outside. Jules is one of these people. She may well be the last.

I cannot express how much I loved this entire series. Wool is the first installment that kept me awake many nights. The world-building aspect of the novel is absolutely amazing. There are many characters to keep up with, but damn it was worth it. This is a lengthy novel, and so are the other two installments.. but I loved all the detail. It just made everything more realistic and believable. I urge EVERYONE to at least check out Wool, but I know if you do, you'll have to read the entire series!

The Passage by Justin Cronin

An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy - abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl - and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape - but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

This was another lengthly novel that I admit was a bit sluggish at times, but was once again worth it. I love how one of the main character completely changes his course halfway through the book.. and it felt completely genuine. A man decides to stake his entire life for one little girl. She may be the most special girl in the world, but to him, she was just a little girl in need of an adult. This story will always stay with me.

Into the Forest by Jean Hegland

Set in the near-future, Into the Forest is a powerfully imagined novel that focuses on the relationship between two teenage sisters living alone in their Northern California forest home. Over 30 miles from the nearest town, and several miles away from their nearest neighbor, Nell and Eva struggle to survive as society begins to decay and collapse around them. No single event precedes society's fall. There is talk of a war overseas and upheaval in Congress, but it still comes as a shock when the electricity runs out and gas is nowhere to be found. The sisters consume the resources left in the house, waiting for the power to return. Their arrival into adulthood, however, forces them to reexamine their place in the world and their relationship to the land and each other.

I remember reading this book years ago. Two sisters stay in the same house hoping and waiting for the power to come back on, for people to show up alive and well.. for anything normal really. Years and years pass and the sisters learn to live off their small garden and stock of dwindling supplies. The world is bleak and honestly, this book is as well. I think the realism and how the author didn't force a happy ending or any kind of "coincidences" of good fortunes for the sisters on us.