Author: Arielle (Page 17 of 35)

BOOK REVIEW: Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2) by Jessica Brody, Joanne Rendell

January 2, 2020 / Arielle / 2 Comments

Between Burning Worlds (System Divine)
by Jessica Brody, Joanne Rendell
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Les Misérables meets The Lunar Chronicles in the out-of-this-world sequel to Sky Without Stars that’s an “explosion of emotion, intrigue, romance, and revolution” (Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series).

A thief.
An officer.
A guardian.
All from different backgrounds, but sharing one same destiny…

The planet Laterre is in turmoil. A new militant revolutionary group has emerged calling themselves “The Red Scar” and claiming responsibility for a spate of recent bombings. The infamous rebels known as the Vangarde believe that in order to bring about a peaceful revolution, their charismatic leader, Citizen Rousseau must be freed from prison right away. Otherwise the bloodshed will only escalate.

Soon Marcellus, Chatine, and Alouette all find themselves pulled into battle with extreme consequences.

Marcellus is determined to uncover his corrupt grandfather’s plan to seize Laterre—even if that means joining the Vangarde.

Aloutte, trying to unearth the truth about her past, becomes a captive of Marcellus’s grandfather, the general.

Chatine, who is serving time on Bastille, hopes to escape the brutal and horrifying reality of the prison moon.

But the failed attempt to break Citizen Rousseau out of prison launches Aloutte, Chatine, and Marecellus into the middle of a dangerous war for control of Laterre. And in the midst of it all is the legend of a secret and dangerous weapon that could mean complete and absolute power to any that wields it.

Review

The beginning of this book started off for me, pretty similarly to the first. There was a lot of information that I had to remember again and people to get to know all over again. I remember at one point thinking “man this is another one of those long books that might not need to be so long. It’ll probably only be a 4.” And like the first book, the last 25%, maybe even 50% delivered enough excitement, intrigue, and emotions that bumped that rating up for me.

The stakes in this book are obviously a lot higher than in the first. Marcellus has agreed to secretly work with the Vanguard, Alouette is trying desperately to find out who her mother was and how her life came to be what it was in the Refuge, and Chatine is initially stuck serving her prison sentence on Bastille.

Things kind of go to shit for all of them at least once during this book but somehow, most of those situations end up working themselves out and they find themselves together, working towards the same cause. We get to see one of the other worlds and meet some great new characters along the way (I HAVE A NEW SHIP THAT BETTER SAIL IN BOOK THREE).

The one thing in this book that bothered me that my mind has been at war with itself on is Marcellus. There were a LOT of instances where his weakness pissed me off. And then I would get pissed off that that pissed me off because since when does every main male character in a young adult book have to be strong/brave/reckless. They don’t! I mean, even though Marcellus has been being groomed to take command by his dickhead grandfather for basically most of his life, it seems like he hesitates a LOT in this book. His grandfather is constantly besting him (but I mean…why wouldn’t he?! He’s old and ruthless and again, is a major dickhead who has been at it for YEARS) and belittling him, and it isn’t until the end of this book that we see Marcellus have a good stick-it-to-him moment. Basically, he’s just a normal, young, REALISTIC guy and I need to learn to let go of him not having some insane hero-complex. On the flip side of that though, was Alouette and Chatine. Holy moly did I like Alouette a million times better in this book. And let’s face it, Chatine was always my favorite anyway. But these ladies kicked major ass here and were so brave and had great character development. I was so genuinely happy and impressed. And the few new bits of new information we learned about their pasts!! AHHHH. Like let’s just say this book leaves us on a major cliffhanger and I don’t know how to deal. Very highly recommend!

Huge thanks to Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions. ♥

BOOK REVIEW: Starsight (Skyward #2) by Brandon Sanderson

December 31, 2019 / Arielle / 2 Comments

Starsight (Skyward #2)
by Brandon Sanderson
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
All her life, Spensa has dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she's a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing.

Spensa is sure there's more to the story. And she's sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars--and it was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie.

But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself--and she'll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.

Review

“You know the worst part about being in charge, Spin?”
“No, sir.”
“Perspective. When you’re young, you can assume that everyone older than you has life figured out. Once you get command yourself, you realize we’re all just the same kids wearing older bodies.”

I’m currently sitting here, drinking my coffee, trying to decide how I want this review to start. Even though this was a perfect second novel in a series to me, I just didn’t fall as hard as I did for book one. And that’s fine. I mean, book one SHOULD be the intense one to get you hooked into the world, into the characters, into the plot. I guess I maybe just wanted a tad bit more and now I’m left sad and a little empty over the thought that we might have to wait a good amount of time for the third book after that cliffhanger!

This book brings us out further into the universe in a way that I wouldn’t have expected. That part to me, was great. While it was a bummer that we weren’t with the Skyward flight much at all, Spensa gained some new friends and perspective that was really important. Honestly, I thought her character development from page one of Skyward to the end of this book was incredible. She used to be so quick to put up a fight about ANYTHING to opening her heart and mind up to the fact that the universe is as much bigger place than she ever could have imagined and that the alien’s that inhabit that space aren’t all going to be either good or bad.

Spensa’s new “squad” was a delight. The concept of Morriumur in general and their *want* to please their family enough to be born with their personality and traits, Vapor (again, in general really), THE KITSEN and Hesho (cries)…omg…even though it said they were like tiny space foxes I honestly envisioned them as little hamsters, lol. And of course the other human, Brade. Like wtf girl. I get that if you’ve spent that much time with the Krell and are basically brainwashed that that mindset isn’t just going to go away but I was really not expecting her betrayal. Damn her. Ummm let’s see. I hope the real Alanik wakes up and I want, NO NEED to know more about her planet and the fact that they may have a human refuge on there. My heart was broken over M-Bot and I need that whole situation fixed. DOOM SLUG(s)?????? Did NOT see that coming. I really thought that Spensa would find out that they were basically using people/ cytonics to hyperjump and that the screams were them dying. Nope. And again, that ending. Wtf man. I haven’t read a book with a cliffhanger in what feels like so long and I can’t handle it. I need to know what’s coming next. Sanderson I don’t want to rush you but…don’t keep a girl waiting for too long!

BOOK REVIEW: To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters

December 18, 2019 / Arielle / 6 Comments

To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
In this fresh and hilarious historical rom-com, an estranged husband and wife in Regency England feign accidents and illness in an attempt to gain attention—and maybe just win each other back in the process.

Five years ago, Lady Violet Grey and Lord James Audley met, fell in love, and got married. Four years ago, they had a fight to end all fights, and have barely spoken since.

Their once-passionate love match has been reduced to one of cold, detached politeness. But when Violet receives a letter that James has been thrown from his horse and rendered unconscious at their country estate, she races to be by his side—only to discover him alive and well at a tavern, and completely unaware of her concern. She’s outraged. He’s confused. And the distance between them has never been more apparent.

Wanting to teach her estranged husband a lesson, Violet decides to feign an illness of her own. James quickly sees through it, but he decides to play along in an ever-escalating game of manipulation, featuring actors masquerading as doctors, threats of Swiss sanitariums, faux mistresses—and a lot of flirtation between a husband and wife who might not hate each other as much as they thought. Will the two be able to overcome four years of hurt or will they continue to deny the spark between them?

With charm, wit, and heart in spades, To Have and To Hoax is a fresh and eminently entertaining romantic comedy—perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Julia Quinn.

Review

And to think I almost didn’t read this book. I have rarely ever had a publisher reach out to me via e-mail with a widget for an ebook galley that I didn’t already request or show interest in. As I was going through my g-mail last night I stumbled across an e-mail from a person in marketing from Atria and saw they were giving me the chance to read this book. I kind of grumbled to myself at first because well, I’m always in way over my head with ARCs to read and don’t particularly need more currently but THANK GOD I decided to read the blurb. This cover is….not my favorite…and I tend to judge books by my cover even though by now I should know better. THE BLURB THO YOU GUYS. I am not a person who reads historical romances. I don’t know why, obviously, since I loved this book but it’s just not been a thing that has interested me in the past. Again, thank God for the blurb. It piqued my interest IMMEDIATELY. I mean like, have you taken a look? How can you not be intrigued???!?! A second chance romance with kind of a love-to-hate-to-love element thrown in??!? Something about it sounded very appealing last night.

We get a prologue of how these two meet…and of course it starts out with possible ~Ruination~, a balcony scene, and quite an unexpected proposal. Immediately sold. If there’s one thing I will NEVER, EVER get enough of, it’s a quality fucking balcony scene with illicit behavior and witty banter. Fast forward five years. Violet and James, after a whirlwind proposal, marriage, and first year madly in love, have become estranged. They barely see each other, speak to each other, or touch for that matter. After receiving a letter than James has been in a riding accident and is possibly in a coma, Violet rushes to go see him. The two pass each other on the road and Violet finds out that James is fine.

What ensues is a pretty messed up, hilarious, and also frustrating war between the two. Violet pretends to have consumption, James pretends to want to take on a mistress (in front of Violet), and the two go round and round. Throughout the book we get snippets of *The Argument* that happened between them to set them on this path of silence and misery. Ugh. There were certainly times that these two pissed me off. They were two of the most STUBBORN characters I’ve ever had the pleasure reading about. All of their friends were constantly telling them to JUST TALK but noooooooooooooooooo. One of them has a breakthrough and the other immediately shut that shit down. It was torment. But. For some reason it didn’t get to me in the slightest. I ate that crap up and hungered for more. Like it just built up and built up and FINALLY…that first kiss. I melted. The tension between the two was so palpable by the end I loved it. And even though it did take them the entire length of the book to work their problems out, I loved how it all finally went down. It took time and effort and they sorted EVERYTHING out before completely reconciling. Honestly I haven’t devoured a book so fast in AGES and I pray there are more coming. If I could voice once complaint it would have to be that the writing took some times getting used to. There’s quite a few (in my English major opinion) run on sentences at the beginning that I felt like I had to re-read a few times to truly understand the gist of but that seemed to get better as time went on!

P.S. I need Diana and Emily stories now, plz thanks.

Huge thanks to Atria books and NetGalley for allowing me to review a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion! ♥

BOOK REVIEW: A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers #2) by Brigid Kemmerer

December 12, 2019 / Arielle / 2 Comments

A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers #2)
by Brigid Kemmerer
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
In the sequel to New York Times bestselling A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Brigid Kemmerer returns to the world of Emberfall in a lush fantasy where friends become foes and love blooms in the darkest of places.

Find the heir, win the crown.
The curse is finally broken, but Prince Rhen of Emberfall faces darker troubles still. Rumors circulate that he is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers.

Win the crown, save the kingdom.
Rumored to be the heir, Grey has been on the run since he destroyed Lilith. He has no desire to challenge Rhen--until Karis Luran once again threatens to take Emberfall by force. Her own daughter Lia Mara sees the flaws in her mother’s violent plan, but can she convince Grey to stand against Rhen, even for the good of Emberfall?

The heart-pounding, compulsively readable saga continues as loyalties are tested and new love blooms in a kingdom on the brink of war.

Review

“Must you men make everything about violence?” I say. “Not every problem can be solved by the edge of a sword.”

This was SO good. Even after reading my review from A Curse So Dark and Lonely, I can’t say that I remember a whole lot about the first book in this series. I remember liking it but not being completely in love. I also remember wanting to focus more on Rhen since he was the actual love interest/ part of the main couple BUT being more drawn to Grey instead. You see, Grey is my exact brand of BBF. He reminded me a lot of Chaol from the Throne of Glass series and anyone who knows me, should know that he is the damaged cinnamon roll of my heart.

As much as I feel bad saying this, too, I didn’t get into the book fully until after we leave Rhen and Harper in Emberfall and fully get to Grey and Lia Mara’s time together. Rhen does….some pretty shitty things in this book. I don’t think that they were really out of character for him for a number of different reasons however, I think there’s a good chance that it’s going to piss some die hard Rhen fans off when they read this…at least until they get to the epilogue.

Anyway, Grey not surprisingly, was a damn treat. Again, he is so like Chaol in the sense that he has this very specific sense of duty and honor and following orders without question because that’s all he’s done all his life. When he’s inevitably found and brought back to the castle, he refuses to tell Rhen that he’s the heir/the one with magic. He thinks he’s keeping Rhen safe and when Rhen does a certain something that I can’t say, his old and steady view of things drastically changes.

It’s then that the real story begins. He ends up on a journey with Lia Mara, eldest daughter (but not heir) of the queen of Syhl Shallow, a boy named Tycho that has become quite attached to Grey, a new magical creature called a scraver that is named Iisak, and Harper’s brother, Jake and boyfriend Noah round out the rag-tag group. Even though Jake annoyed me at first, he actually became a really well rounded character. I mean all of them, really. I felt like I was way connected to them than half the people mentioned in book one. Lia Mara was my favorite, though. She was so smart and kind and STRONG. Like the scene where she and Grey carried that deer to the fire…that was amazing. I loved how he just basically was this cheerleader for her and held her up with kind (but always very truthful) words. He made her see the potential in herself and that she WAS smart, kind, strong, and important. Also, their romantic scenes were so. Damn. Swoony. I want to go back and re-read them all immediately and probably will.

Overall I think this book had a lot more development than the first. Grey’s growth as a character in itself was beyond what I could have imagined. I had already been dying to see how things were going to pan out in book three but even more so after the epilogue.

View Spoiler »

“But you are far more dangerous.”
I can hardly think with his fingers tracing a line down the side of my face.
“Ah, yes, the most dangerous person at the party is always the girl sitting alone with a book.”

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

BOOK REVIEW: Meet Me on Love Lane (Hopeless Romantics #2) by Nina Bocci

December 10, 2019 / Arielle / 4 Comments

Meet Me on Love Lane (Hopeless Romantics #2)
by Nina Bocci
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
From the USA TODAY bestselling author of On the Corner of Love and Hate comes a romantic comedy about a woman who grudgingly returns home to small-town Pennsylvania, only to find herself falling in love—not only with the town, but with two of its citizens.

Charlotte Bishop is out of options in New York City. Fired, broke, and blacklisted by her former boss, she’s forced to return to her hometown of Hope Lake, PA to lick her wounds. Although she’s expecting to find a miserable place with nothing to do, she is pleasantly surprised to discover it is bustling and thriving.

She’s only supposed to be in Hope Lake temporarily until she can earn enough money to move back to New York. She’s not supposed to reconnect with her childhood friends or her beloved grandmother. She’s not supposed to find her dream job running the local florist shop. And she’s definitely not supposed to fall for not one but two of Hope Lake’s golden boys: one the beloved high school English teacher, the other the charming town doctor.

With a heart torn between two men and two cities, what’s a girl to do?

A perfect blend of humor and heart, Meet Me on Love Lane is the second in a new series from USA TODAY bestselling author Nina Bocci that is sure to charm fans of Josie Silver and Sally Thorne.

Review:

While I truly did enjoy On the Corner of Love and Hate, the first book in this series pales in comparison to this. After I read the summary I was a tiny bit leery about the possibility of a love triangle and then the person that I liked better NOT being chosen, you don’t have to worry about any of that. I knew it from the prologue and was so excited to see how things were going to pan out. You see, I am constantly changing what romance trope I love best. Is it friends to lovers? Is it hate to love? It really depends on the exact situation and the specific writing and characters. While hate to love always seems to be more steamy and explosive once the couple FINALLY gets together, there is something about friends to lovers that ALWAYS takes my breath away and has my heart pounding deep within my chest. And what could make that situation even better? Um, obviously those friends having been childhood best friends, that’s what.

In the beginning of this book we see Charlotte coming back to Hope Lake after a series of very unfortunate events back in NYC. She moved away when she was really young after her mom and dad’s tumultuous divorce and hasn’t been back since so in her mind, this homecoming is going to be short-lived and last only throughout the summer while she can get back on her feet. She ends up staying with her Gigi (who, is obviously one of my favorite characters because she’s so darn sassy and scandalous and made me miss my grandma something fierce) and immediately falls back into a fast friendship with Emma. One of the most interesting parts about this book was Charlotte’s memory. When she gets back to Hope Lake, she basically remembers NOTHING about her childhood there because being forced to leave had been so traumatic on her. That includes Henry. Sweet Henry. Fuck, characters like him are what keep me going back to romance time and time again. He’s an ENGLISH TEACHER, sweet, caring, wears tight shirts, and does nice things for Gigi (like gets her secret binge-purchases sent to his house so she won’t get in trouble with Charlotte’s dad, lol).

Every interaction that they had together had me on the edge of my seat and had my heart in my throat. He was so tentative at first and basically heartbroken at the thought of her not remembering him or leaving him again. *sobs* And then I lost it at the end when Charlotte finds a certain something and realizes stuff because of that certain something. Seriously, tears just ah-streaming down my face the entire time. Basically all you need to know is that this book is really good and will grab you by the heart and not let go. I am so glad I got my hands on it and I can’t wait for Parker and Nick’s book!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the eARC! ♥

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Arielle	Cassie

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Author: Arielle (Page 17 of 35)

BOOK REVIEW: Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2) by Jessica Brody, Joanne Rendell

Synopsis:

BOOK REVIEW: Starsight (Skyward #2) by Brandon Sanderson

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BOOK REVIEW: To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters

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BOOK REVIEW: A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers #2) by Brigid Kemmerer

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BOOK REVIEW: Meet Me on Love Lane (Hopeless Romantics #2) by Nina Bocci

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BOOK REVIEW: Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2) by Jessica Brody, Joanne Rendell

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BOOK REVIEW: A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers #2) by Brigid Kemmerer

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