Sunday, August 31, 2014

RECENT COVER REVEALS: August 2014 Edition

Not a whole lot this month, but there's a few good ones!

Chaos (Guards of the Shadowlands#3)
Chaos (Guards of the Shadowlands #3) by Sarah Fine
LOVE THE COVER
LOVE THE SERIES
I NEED THIS BOOK!!!
Link to Sanctum (book 1)
Link to Fractured (book 2)
Link to Chaos

The Body Electric by Beth Revis
The Body Electric by Beth Revis
Really simplistic, but I like it.
Link to The Body Electric

Stone in the Sky (Tin Star #2
Stone in the Sky (Tin Star #2) by Cecil Castellucci
Not that impressed and I hate the title font, but it's better than the first book's cover.
Link to Tin Star (book 1)
Link to Stone in the Sky

The Remedy (The Program Companion Book) 
The Remedy (The Program Companion Book) by Suzanne Young
She's staring into my soul...
Link to The Remedy
Link to The Program (book 1)
Link to The Treatment (book 2)

Cold Burn of Magic (Black Blade #1
Cold Burn of Magic (Black Blade #1) by Jennifer Estep
Meh. It's not exactly a cover that I haven't seen before.
Link to Cold Burn of Magic

The Empress Chronicles 
The Empress Chronicles by Suzy Vitello
I like the opposite sides effect. The diary is odlly placed though.
Link to The Empress Chronicles

Betrayed (Altered #1.5) 
Betrayed (Altered Novella ) by Jennifer Rush
I love this series, but seriously? Why do all the books have shirtless guys with pecs on them?
Link to Forged (book 0.5)
Link to Altered (book 1)
Link to Betrayed
Link to Erased (book 2)
Link to Reborn (book 3)

The Selection Stories: The Queen & The Favorite
The Gifted Dead by Jenna Black
Reminds me of the UK cover of Frozen.
Link to The Gifted Dead


Something About Love
Something About Love by Elana Johnson
Pretty simple. Not the hugest fan, but it works.
Link to Something About Love

The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy Must Die, #2)
The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy Must Die, #2) by Danielle Paige
I don't understand why the author's name cropped out. Other than that, this is a meh cover. It's just too simple for me.
Link to No Place Like Oz (book 0.5)
Link to Dorothy Must Die (book 1)
Link to The Witch Must Burn (book 1.5)
Link to The Wicked Will Rise

REDESIGNS
The Treatment (The Program #2)
The Treatment (The Program #2) by Suzanne Young; Paperback
YES! A cover that actually matches the first book!!!
Link to The Program (book 1)
Link to The Treatment

Landry Park (Landry Park #1)
Landry Park (Landry Park #1) by Bethany Hagen; Paperback
It's odd, but it is pretty and it matches the book better than the previous cover (the other cover has too much of a sci-fi vibe). But for some reason it reminds me of the UK cover of The Jewel.
Link to Landry Park

Which one is your favorite?

New Releases in YA! (September 1st-6th)

Every week I list all (or almost all) of the YA books (and the occasional MG) that are coming out within that week!
Here's what you get to look forward to this week:
P.S. Click on the book's cover for the Goodreads page!

               
               
               
               
               
               
               
     

What books, if any, do you plan to buy?

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Short & Simple Reviews: The Eye of Minds & Salvage

This is a place for books that I didn't fully review.
Maybe I listed my likes and dislikes, had a little short paragraph, or a few sentences to convey my feelings on the book, but whatever the "review" is, all of them are short and simple. (hence the clever name)

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner
An all-new, edge-of-your seat adventure from James Dashner, the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, The Eye of Minds is the first book in The Mortality Doctrine, a series set in a world of hyperadvanced technology, cyberterrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares.
 Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?
 But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.
 The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker.
And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team.
But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever.
      Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble




Review
I admit it, I had no idea what this book was about before picking it up, but I loved The Maze Runner so I decided to pick up this book! 
I don't regret it. While I didn't adore this book, I did end up liking it. I oddly like the video game like quality of the book. I also LOVED how it ended! It was shocking, surprising and an overall awesome plot twist!!! Sorry, I love plot twists! 

Though, I did have an issue connecting with the characters. They just felt too flat.

But I will be continuing this series.

I hereby give this book
3 Wheels
Meaning: I liked it




Salvage
Salvage is a thrilling, surprising, and thought-provoking debut novel that will appeal to fans of Across the Universe, by Beth Revis, and The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. This is literary science fiction with a feminist twist, and it explores themes of choice, agency, rebellion, and family.

Ava, a teenage girl living aboard the male-dominated, conservative deep space merchant ship Parastrata, faces betrayal, banishment, and death. Taking her fate into her own hands, she flees to the Gyre, a floating continent of garbage and scrap in the Pacific Ocean.


This is a sweeping and harrowing novel about a girl who can't read or write or even withstand the forces of gravity. What choices will she make? How will she build a future on an earth ravaged by climate change?



Review
This book seems to be either a hit or a miss to most people. For me, it's obviously the former. How much people like this book probably depend on your expectations of this book. If you're looking for a fast-paced sci-fi adventure, this is not the book from you. This is a book that while it takes place in the future and, at least partially, in space, it does not speak like most sci-fi book. This is more of a coming of age story in a sci-fi environment, which is way I loved this book so much.

It was hard to get into this book. This is a very slow-paced book and in the beginning, that really irritated me. I was not a fan of Ava. I saw her as a naive girl prone to stupid decisions. Granted, the way she was raised, it's easy to see why she's that way, but I was still annoyed with her, but by the end of this book I had tears in my eyes.

This is such a beautiful book. Ava grows so much throughout the story and I found it amazing to see it happen. If you like coming of age stories, I strongly recommend this one. It's different than usual ones, but it is such a great book!

I hereby give this book
5 Wheels!
Meaning: A new favorite!

Stacking the Shelves (August 30th 2014)

Hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Stacking the Shelves is where all the book nerds can post about the lovely (or not so lovely) books that they've got this week.

P.S. The covers take you to the book's Goodreads page!


Books I've Read in the Last Week


From the Library

Books I Bought
Ebook Copies:
Ebooks Bought
Freebies


Books I Borrowed
Thanks to Lendle!

For Review
Thanks to Edelweisis, Sky Pony Press, and EgmontUSA!

I actually didn't request these, they're downloadable. I recently got an Edelwesis account and am still too much of a pansy to request books. But I am very happy that I get to read these!!!


Books I Reviewed
(The covers are linked to my review)

Short & Simple



NEW DISCOVERIES
I add books to my TBR pile so often, that I decided to include the new additions to my ever-growing list.
I DID NOT RECEIVE OR BUY THESE BOOKS. I only added them to my TBR list.

My roommate recommended me this. She says that there's a plot twist that will ruin me, which is something that I oddly like in books? I fully believe that this is payback for recommending We Were Liars to her.

Anyway, what books did you haul in this week?