Waiting on Wednesday (64)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

My pick this week:

Antigoddess

Kendare Blake

Release date: September 10th 2013
 by Tor Teen

Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.

Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.

Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin.

Honestly, I don't really care what it's even about, Kendare Blake is a mastermind! You know it, I know it. This will be epic!

What are you waiting on, this week?

Link me up! :)

Review: My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century
Rachel Harris
Series: My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century #1
Publication date: September 11th 2012
by Entangled Publishing

 

On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother-to-be and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits . . . right into Renaissance Firenze.

Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore.

Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever?

*A copy was provided by Entangled Publishing for review purposes*

After a killer ending that produces vast amounts of anticipation for the sequel, I have decided I did not, in fact, hate this book for being over, and finally admitted to myself that I actually secretly love cliffhangers that succeed in making me wildly excited for the sequel. Because boy will it be an entertaining one I am sure! I definitely closed this with much more than I was hoping to get from it. Not being a history buff whatsoever--I shy away from anything historical and so I was on the fence about this one. Then I began to see an influx of positive review after positive review, and, well, you know about "curiosity kills the cat"? I am that cat! And if I do die, at least it won't be from terrible-ism (if I say it's a word, it's a word!).

The main reason that I highly enjoyed this regardless of its historical setting is because of the main character's modernistic charm; moreover, Cat is not from that era! She is from our day, with our iPods and iPhones. You can only imagine the lifestyle change she has to go through when she is suddenly thrown into the 16th century! When I wasn't chuckling at her faux-pas, I was swooning over the wonderful romance that I've come to expect--and relish--from Entangled titles. So if, like me, you're crippled by the idea of reading a historical, this one deserves an exception! And for the history buff, don't be disappointed either, as there are culture and art references to placate you. With that said, it's a perfectly well balanced novel that brings the charm and heart of the 16th century, while keeping a modern style writing and witty, contemporary characters.

So unlike our 21st century for obvious reasons--some more than others--the 16th century is quite intriguing. The lack of technology and wardrobe differences aside, guys were a lot more chivalrous in those days. My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century brings us a romance that is magnificently sweet, endlessly romantic, and your heart will break from the start knowing it can't last forever. He is, literally, centuries older than her after all. However, it doesn't stop this from being a maddening, chemistry filled love story.

With even more odds stacked against my personal taste, this novel, aside from a historical-ish, brings time travel into play. As a reader who is hard to please with plots of time travel, I felt this one was handled in a more fantastical, aloof way which may not work very often, but it does in this case. You aren't meant to think of the complexities behind it; this is a magical adventure, and you roll with it. On a related side note, the explanation we get from the gypsy regarding her motivation is a little weak, I think I would have preferred if it was simple coincidence, but maybe there is more to it that we have yet to discover.

From romance to humor, My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century combines the 21st and 16th century into an exotic read that will not only please fans of historicals, but also those who have an unnatural urge to stab them. However, fair warning that the ending will show you just how funny Rachel thinks she is!! *glares at the fact that there are no more pages*

4 Hot Espressos

Review: Slated by Teri Terry

Slated
Teri Terry
Series: Slated #1
Publication date: May 3rd 2012
 by Orchard Books

 

Kyla’s memory has been erased,
her personality wiped blank,
her memories lost for ever.

She’s been Slated.

The government claims she was a terrorist, and that they are giving her a second chance - as long as she plays by their rules. But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is lying to her, and nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?

From the moment I saw this creeptastic cover I knew I had to read it! Slated also deals with memory loss which has always been a fascinating subject to me in addition to ensuring that the story will be both creepy and mysterious. This novel brings it on both fronts. The mystery vibe is kept immensely high with the regular visions/dreams of her apparent past, leaving me to absolutely devour every page of it!

Unlike any dystopian I have read, Slated introduces a world not very unlike our present, but where teenage criminals are being Slated---wiped of their memories to start over. To punish them further, their mood is monitored and they have to deal with grave consequences if they lash out or become angry/moody. This way of life is fantastically creepy as the reader is aware of just how much control the government can have with this arrangement. You are never any more vulnerable than with a swiped memory! I was kept on my toes with the mystery of it all, becoming almost giddy every time we warped into a vision or dream that might possibly give us another glimpse into her past.

This leads me to the one disappointment of the book: the answers were not nearly enough for me. Or rather, we get no answers. We get quick visions of her pre-slated life that bring up more and more questions, and even though it works to bring the (fantastic) mysteries of the book to extreme altitudes, it simply isn't enough. As a consequence, large parts of the world building is kept just as secret. In the end, I was left feeling that the book was simply dissolved. It fizzles into a "To be continued" rather than an ending; there is no pinnacle of events that unravel to give us, at the very least, a slight crack into the mystery. So although I was kept thoroughly glued to this story, the book failed to give the final whomp that it deserved.

Kept at a minimum, the romance is not worth going into details in this review. It's there, but it's a very minimal part of the story. I can't say I developed a high interest in this sub-plot, but it wasn't an aspect that I would deem negative, either. Though this may change if Terry decides to make the romance a bigger aspect of the sequel.

At least for now, Kyla is the star of the show, and she is kept center stage. Being newly slated, she is a very unique narrator as we don't know anything about her--and neither does she. She also doesn't know a lot about the world, like how to open car doors for instance. It's always a favorite of mine to see reactions of characters who know nothing of our world. I did notice a few discrepancies in her behavior/knowledge, but overall it was highly entertaining.

Recommended for fans of mysteries and thrillers; Slated does require patience in getting some answers, but I guarantee it's not going to change how engaging this plot is!

4 Hot Espressos

Xpresso Weekly: Stacking the Shelves (32)

Xpresso Weekly is my edition of Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews featuring the books I got this week, and I also mention blog news/happenings of the past week.

This week at Xpresso Reads

December! It feels like 2 days ago that I was updating the sidebar for November. What the heck? Well at least my xmas shopping is pretty much done which is quite the feat from a last minute shopper (I went on Christmas eve 2 years in a row O_O). And talking about Christmas, how about winning a Kindle? My fellow Canadians can enter right here! And I also had the Possession blog tour stop by with 3 pretty awesome giveaways you can enter.

Reviews on the blog this week:

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XPRESSO BOOK TOURS - OPEN FOR SIGN UP

-Cover Reveal: Release by Nicole Hadaway
-Cover Reveal: Sworn to Raise by Terah Edun
-Cover Reveal: Timespell by Diana Paz
-Book Blitz: Spellbound Series by Nikki Jefford
-Book Blitz: Fang Girl by Helen Keeble

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New by Xpresso Design (click to view live)  

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Stacking the Shelves

I received for review (Click on cover for Goodreads):

  

*A big thank you to YA Bound and Harlequin UK for these pretties!*


I also bought:
These were both on sale at Chapters and I just couldn't leave em there! All These Things I've Done I wanted because, dude, the book is a CHOCOLATE BAR (picture below)! How wicked is that? And Beautiful Darkness is the 2nd book in the Caster Chronicles series which *gasp* I have not started yet but I do have book 1 already and with the movie coming up they will be read very soon!

-All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
-Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl 

Peace out, chickadees!!
Link me up to your book haul post! :) 

Fresh Batch (December 2nd - 8th)

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

The Farm
Emily McKay
Publication date: December 4th 2012
by Berkley Trade

 

Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are—holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…

And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.

Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…

Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race...

Read an excerpt, here!

Emily's Website / Goodreads / Twitter

Emily McKay has been reading romance novels since she was eleven years old. Her first Harlequin Romance came free in a box of Hefty garbage bags. She immediately fell in love with the genre and has been devouring them ever since. In her spare time, she loves to garden and cook … well, bake. Mostly cookies. Naturally, she still loves to read a good romance. She’s been blissfully married for eleven years. When they can ditch their five pets for a couple of weeks, she and her husband like to travel to exotic and exciting locations like Greece, Costa Rica, and Ignorant Flats, Texas. She has a degree in English from Texas A&M University. After college, she taught middle school for four years. While teaching America’s disenfranchised youth to appreciate fine literature, she learned very little about writing romance but a lot about finding humor in any situation. Eager for a job where she wouldn’t have to dodge spitwads, she fled the teaching profession to write full-time. Though her characters sometimes misbehave, they almost never throw things at her.