[Book Review] Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath

by Brodi Ashton

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned-to her old life, her family, her boyfriend-before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance-and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

 GOODREADS

“Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with.”

Nikki has been gone for 6 months but in reality she was in the Feed for a century, hidden away in the Everneath. But she had to see Jack one more time and she has 6 months before the underworld comes to claim her and forces her into the Tunnels. There she will be fed on by producing energy for eternity. But she has a chance to change all that and become Cole's companion so they can take over the Underworld and rule. The only problem with that is she will have to feed on energy of other people to survive. 

“Who loses hope first? And who never gives up? Because it’s not the supernatural abilities that set mythical characters apart. It’s the decisions the human characters make, in impossible situations, that have us still talking about them centuries later. Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they are graced with.”

At first I wasn't really sold on the story. There have been so many books that I made mistake of following the buzz around but I actually really enjoyed Everneath. It had everything from love-triangle to an excellent aspect of mythology. I absolutely loved Jack and the twist that ended the story almost broke my heart. Either to say that I have to have this book in Paperback because I want to hug it and cherish it forever ;)

[Release Day Party] The Alliance by Aubrie Dionne

Presenting Alliance by talented Aubrie Dionne! All of her books are incredibly twisted and have the perfect unique Dystopia and Sci-Fi elements. And my favorite part? Gorgeous covers that made you want to hug the book and never let go. But read the blurb, enter the giveaway and don't forget to add it to your TBR piles :)

ALLIANCE

by Aubrie Dionne 

Lyra Bryan has been saving people her whole life from a chick in the ventilation pipes to her mentally ill brother when his mind drifts back to Old Earth. She meets her match when she finds a gorgeous alien man aboard the arachnid ship. Captured after a failed attempt to save his people, his spirit is broken, craving only vengeance. To save her colony, Lyra must save his body and soul.

Lyra’s lifemate, Tauren, is jealous of her obsession with the alien man and will do anything in his power to break them apart. While they travel to the arachnid’s home world to defeat the mother brain once and for all, they must set aside their differences and work as a team. 

 GOODREADS

CHECK OUT previous books in this series! 

 

About the Author

Aubrie Dionne is an author and flutist in New England. Her books have received the highest ratings from Romance Times Magazine, as well as Night Owl Reviews and Two Lips Reviews. She has guest blogged on the USA Today Happily Ever After Blog and the Dear Teen Me blog and signed books at the Boston Book Festival, Barnes and Noble, and the Romance Writers of America conference. Her writings have appeared in numerous publications including Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Hazard Cat, Moon Drenched Fables, A Fly in Amber, and Aurora Wolf. Her books are published by Inkspell Publishing, Astraea Press, Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Publishing, Lyrical Press, and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. When she’s not writing, Aubrie teaches flute and plays in orchestras.

Website | Twitter

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[Book Review] Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Madman's Daughter 

by Megan Shepherd

In the darkest places, even love is deadly.

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.

 GOODREADS

Madman's Daughter is the kind of story that makes you want to stop reading it but you can't because you just have to know how it ends. And it ends.. wow. Won't spoil it for you.. 

Story takes us to old London where women were married off based on their social status that seems to follow them everywhere they went. Juliet Moreau used to be one of those girls but after then scandal with her father and her mother dying, she had to find a job and survive on her own. After finding her father's notes, she tracks down her childhood servant that tells her that her father is still alive and lives on an island. 

When she gets to the island, she sees a man scientist that will do anything just to discover something new. Like making animals into humans and throwing away his "failures" that got a taste for blood and want revenge. 

“We're going to die, aren't we?" I asked bitterly. 

He held me so tight I could hardly breathe. But I wanted tighter still. "Not here. I swear it.”

First things first - I hate her father. He was selfish, arrogant, mad, and had no respect for women. I'm not a feminist but he was seriously a pig. Juliet's character really surprised me and I did not expect her to be so clever. There were a hint of love triangle but when you mix that with a hint of adventure and monsters - that's when it gets interesting. Great read, a little slow but I'm planning on reading the second book in this series

[Book Blitz + Giveaway] The Eve by Keary Taylor

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I am actually trying to stay away from Book Blitz but I HAD to share this with you guys!! The Eden Trilogy is the kind of Dystopian story that's unique, twisted, and absolutely insane!!! I read the first book The Eden and was fascinated by how amazing it was. So read the excerpt, enter the giveaway and make sure to add this amazingness to your TBR piles :)

THE EVE
by Keary Taylor

A plan was laid out as the Evolution crushed mankind, a plan that was right under Eden’s nose all along. And Eve is the key to everything. New Eden—mankind—they have a small chance at fixing their dismembered planet. 

But it will be a reckless sprint against time and the coming Bane to retrieve the final piece to the plot. New Eden’s worst fears have become reality. The Bane are back in the city and they’re smarter and more aggressive than ever. They know where the humans are and they’re coming to finish what they’ve nearly completed.

Eve has been content with the family she’s found—Avian, West, Gabriel, Royce. But she’s about to discover she may have the one family Eve never thought she would: blood. With every odd stacked against her, all the lies and all the secrets of her origins will be exposed.

The past and the future are about to come full circle.

 GOODREADS

Excerpt

“Start checking vehicles,” I said, racing across the street to a parking lot. “Maybe we’ll find something with keys.”

“Eve,” West said as we started yanking car doors open. “You know if that kid was infected that it’s too late for Avian. He’ll get infected.”

I shook my head, my jaw set hard. “No,” I said as I checked another car. No keys.

“There’s a chance the boy wasn’t infected. And if it just barely happened, he won’t be able to spread the infection for a few hours.”

But even as I made my argument, I knew it wasn’t true. Those bodies had been dead for days, maybe even over a week. If the kid was infected, TorBane would be fully saturated into his system.”

“Got it!” West shouted. He held up a pair of keys as a floor mat came tumbling out of the truck. “Get in!”

I hopped into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. I tossed our supplies in the back seat. “You don’t know how to drive,” I said, my voice breathy.

“Today seems like a good day to learn,” West said, shoving the key in the ignition.

The truck clicked and sputtered. It had been a sitting, rusting dinosaur for six years. We’d been stupid to think any of these vehicles might start.

“Come on!” West shouted, pounding the steering wheel. He slammed one of the pedals with his foot and suddenly it roared to life. “Yes!”

“That there puts it into drive, I think,” I said, pointing to the stick on the side of the driving column.

West yanked on it and the truck jerked backwards and slammed into the vehicle behind us.

“Okay,” West said, shifting the stick again. “R stands for reverse. So D for drive?”

“Let’s assume,” I said, my blood racing and pounding in my ears. “Let’s go!”

D was indeed for drive and we rocketed forward, clipping another vehicle as we swung wildly out of the parking lot and onto the street.

“That woman was touched,” I said, bracing myself as we swerved madly. “She had probably gone out to look for food or something when a Hunter must have found her. West, this means they’re starting to come back into the city.”

The speedometer crept up to eighty miles an hour as we peeled back onto the onramp. Just as we pulled onto the freeway, there was a figure ahead of us. There was no time to stop and the truck plowed right into it.

The mechanical body broke right in half, completely cybernetic by this time. The upper half of the body crashed into the windshield, shattering it.

We both screamed as the glass burst into tiny glittering pieces and an arm dangled between the two of us.

“Holy…” West bellowed as the truck swerved violently back and forth and we ran over the lower half of the body.

“Keep driving!” I shouted. I was about to reach for the shoulders of the body, when its hand suddenly flung out at me, and wrapped around my throat.

West swore loudly. “It’s still alive?!”

“Keep…” I gasped for air as West swerved in an attempt to put distance between himself and the Bane that was somehow still attacking. “Driving!”

About the Author

Keary Taylor grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now resides on a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their two young children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night. She is the author of THE EDEN TRILOGY, the FALL OF ANGELS trilogy, and WHAT I DIDN'T SAY.

www.kearytaylor.com | twitter.com/kearytaylor

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[Top Ten Tuesday] (18)

This is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where each week bloggers share a list of books for the prompt given.

worlds i would not want to live in

1. Delirium. - love is a disease.
2. Hunger Games. - the tribute.
3. Prison Nation. - whole county is a prison.
4. The Bane. - invested with cybernetic humans.
5. Parasite. - having worm living inside of you.

 What is on your list today? Comment & I will return the favor ;)

[Book Review] Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

Side Effects May Vary

by Julie Murphy

What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you? 

When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission.

Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most? 

Julie Murphy’s SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY is a fearless and moving tour de force about love, life, and facing your own mortality.

 GOODREADS

I am so confused! After an ending like this, I don't even know what to rate it...

Alice and Harvey's story was beautiful and even though I really didn't like their characters at times, this made me cry so much... The ending that is. Story was involved with Alice getting leukemia and her struggle through going the sickness while trying to do everything before she dies with her childhood best friend, Harvey. 

"Suddenly, life was at my doorstep, waiting to be answered, but all I had were questions. It's a hard thing to explain unless you'd ever gone through something so life altering as toeing the line between life and death.."

At first I thought this story was going to be more like movie The Bucket List since it sounded like she wanted to get everything done before she was gone. But the list was mentioned only once and it was more about Alice trying to find herself as a person and Harvey being obsessed with her. Don't get me wrong, I thought Harvey was sweet but he reminded me too much of one of my friends who was as obsessive as he was. And there was constant going back and forth them not wanting to express their feelings for each other which always ends up the same. 

"I felt like I was at war with myself. I wanted nothing more than to feel something, but I didn't know how to deal with what came after the feeling..."

Alice's character really was a big B-word! While dealing with cancer might be tough, the hurt people around her constantly and acted immature and selfish. Maybe that's why the ending made me so emotional.. Either way I know that this book gets asolid 4 stars but is on my all-time-favorites bookshelf.

[Book Review] Grim by Christine Johnson

Grim

by See below:

Inspired by classic fairy tales, but with a dark and sinister twist, Grim contains short stories from some of the best voices in young adult literature today: 

Ellen Hopkins | Amanda Hocking | Julie Kagawa 

Claudia Gray | Rachel Hawkins | Kimberly Derting 

Myra McEntire | Malinda Lo | Sarah Rees-Brennan 

Jackson Pearce | Christine Johnson | Jeri Smith Ready 

Shaun David Hutchinson | Saundra Mitchell 

Sonia Gensler | Tessa Gratton  | Jon Skrovan

Two things: 

New bleed setting so you need to add more to the top and bottom. 

 GOODREADS

Dark, creepy, mysterious retellings of favorite retellings that are beyond our understand of what amazing really is..

Collection of short stories from famous authors, Grim is the exactly unique read that brings every single bookworm into 2014. It's new, fresh, and even though it's fairytales - it brings a whole new meaning of stories that we heard many times and all love. 

I would say many of them are my favorites but one that really captured my eye was Light It Up. An alternative version of Hansen & Greta story set in modern days. In only 20 short pages you get familiar with their badass personalities, relationship with their "B*tch* step-mother, and experence the action. 

Grim is the perfect Anthology that's written by geniuses - best of the best! 5 Stars

[Stacking The Shelves] #11

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews featuring the books we got this week.

Are you guys sick? Because something really weird is going around and I"m pretty sure that I got sick.. But at least I got all of these gorgeous books this week to keep me company! hehe Hope you enjoy this post and thanks so much for stopping by! You guys seriously always make my day :)

RECEIVED FOR REVIEW:

• Bellagrand by Paullina Simons is a prequel to all famous "Bronze Horseman" that had everyone excited for about 14 years now. I just found a copy of it in my local Thrift Shop and can't wait to read this both. This copy was received as a part of Blog Tour so don't miss out the review and a chance to win this copy! 

• Break It Up by E.M. Tippetts. She is a genius when it comes to book covers! Last summer I got email from her seeing if anyone from the bloggers would like to review her book and totally forgot about it! I ended up getting this few days ago and at first couldn't figure out where it came from lol HUGE thanks to the author! Don't miss out the review, I will be giving this copy away (giveaway or trade)

Trades:

• If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch was a trade with my amazing Goodreads friend - Skye from Skye's Scribblings. I had ARC copy of an older book that I couldn't do anything with so we decided to trade. I"m so freakishly excited for this, you guys have no idea!!  

• The Luxe by Anna Godbersen - part of  PaperBackSwap program. I'm not sure who posted this there but I got it for one credit when I traded in one of my old books. Love love love this website. I have couple more books that I ordered from there so don't forget to stop by next week and check it out! 

Have an amazing weekend! xoxo