WoW. 39. The golden city.

 Hosted by: Breaking the spine.

J. Kathleen Cheney - The golden city.
November 5th 2013 by Roc Trade

For two years, Oriana Paredes has been a spy among the social elite of the Golden City, reporting back to her people, thesereia, sea folk banned from the city’s shores....

When her employer and only confidante decides to elope, Oriana agrees to accompany her to Paris. But before they can depart, the two women are abducted and left to drown. Trapped beneath the waves, Oriana’s heritage allows her to survive while she is forced to watch her only friend die. Vowing vengeance, Oriana crosses paths with Duilio Ferreira—a police consultant who has been investigating the disappearance of a string of servants from the city’s wealthiest homes. Duilio also has a secret: He is a seer and his gifts have led him to Oriana. Bound by their secrets, not trusting each other completely yet having no choice but to work together, Oriana and Duilio must expose a twisted plot of magic so dark that it could cause the very fabric of history to come undone....

"A twisted plot of magic" and "sea folk" are two sentences that makes me excited to read this one. And such a pretty cover! Leave a link to your WoW.

Review 159. Rae Carson – The crown of Embers.

Title: The crown of Embers.
Author: Rae Carson.
Pages: 410.
Published: September 18th 2012.
Publisher: Greenwillow Books.
ISBN: 0062026518 (ISBN13: 9780062026514)
Sort: Part two of ‘Fire and Thorns.’
Part 1: The girl of fire and thorns.
Part 0.5: The shadow cats.
Challenge(s): Bingo.

Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone's power. That is not all she finds.

Rating: 5+ out 5. Favorite!

There is something magical about Carson’s writing-style. I absolutely loved The girl of fire and thorns and I also liked The shadow cats, so I had high expectations for this book. And boy, did it deliver! From the moment I started to read this book, I was hooked. There is something about Carson’s world-building and characters that works for me. From now on, I will buy everything Rae Carson writes, because I’m in love with her writing-style. This review contains no spoilers for The girl of fire and thorns.

Fairytale News 10. About DNF.

This is a 'new' meme I came up with. I will be talking about everything that has to do with reading. From pretty new covers to discussions about books. I will post them randomly.

This is something new I like to start and it will be part of my Fairytale news. There are many different discussions posts out there and I thought it would be fun to share my opinion now and then. So *drum rolls* I want to introduce to you:

Review 158. Brodi Ashton – Everbound.

Title: Everbound.
Author: Brodi Ashton.
Pages: 358.
Published: January 22nd 2013.
Publisher: Balzer + Bray.
ISBN: 0062071165 (ISBN13: 9780062071163)
Sort: Part two of ‘Everneath.’
Review part 1. Everneath.
Challenge(s): Bingo.

Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity — a debt that should’ve been hers. She’s living a borrowed life, and she doesn’t know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away. Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen — and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about Nikki, and he agrees to assist her in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself. Nikki and Cole descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they’d anticipated — and more deadly. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack — even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The thing is: if I love the first book, I’m excited and scared for the second one at the same time. Most of them suffer from the second-book-is-lame-syndrome and it always spoils the excitement I felt after the first one. That is not the case with Everbound and that is prove for me that Ashton knows how to write a good, interesting story. You can read the summary if you haven’t read Everneath yet. My summary gives about the same information as the blurb.

Review 157. Dan Wells – Fragments.

Title: Fragments.
Author: Dan Wells.
Pages: 564.
Published: February 26th 2013.
Publisher: Balzer + Bray.
ISBN: 0062071076 (ISBN13: 9780062071071)
Sort: Part two of ‘Partials Sequence.’
Review 1: Partials.
Challenge(s): Dystopian & Bingo.

Kira Walker has found the cure for RM, but the battle for the survival of humans and Partials is just beginning. Kira has left East Meadow in a desperate search for clues to who she is. That the Partials themselves hold the cure for RM in their blood cannot be a coincidence--it must be part of a larger plan, a plan that involves Kira, a plan that could save both races. Her companions are Afa Demoux, an unhinged drifter and former employee of ParaGen, and Samm and Heron, the Partials who betrayed her and saved her life, the only ones who know her secret. But can she trust them? Meanwhile, back on Long Island, what's left of humanity is gearing up for war with the Partials, and Marcus knows his only hope is to delay them until Kira returns. But Kira's journey will take her deep into the overgrown wasteland of post apocalyptic America, and Kira and Marcus both will discover that their greatest enemy may be one they didn't even know existed.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

I was excited about this book. I liked Partials a lot, especially the medical background of the RM virus. This book was just.. nothing like that. There are spoilers in the summary part if you haven’t read Partials, but you can read the spoiler-free review where I talk about my likes and dislikes.

Bout of Books.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 7.0information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.

My bloglovin' account is filled with posts about Bout of Books, so I decided to take a look at this read-a-thon. It sounds like fun and I definitely want to read some more books this week. Hence, my very late sign up post. I'm going to set my goal on reading 4/5 books. I'm not sure yet which books I'm going to read, but these are candidates:

If you want to stay updated, you can check my complete read-a-thon page right here: Read-a-thon challenges and I will be editing this post with my progress.

Let's have some fun!

Showcase Sunday 30.

Hosted by: Books, biscuits and tea.

I managed to grab these four books for a bargain at my local bookstore:

Sandy Williams - The shattered dark. Part 2, but I couldn't resist it.
Philippa Ballantine - Geist. I've been eyeing this series for a while, because the covers are gorgeous and it sounds interesting. Part 1.
Kerry Schafer - Between. I like dragons. Part 1.

Gail Carriger - Blameless. Part 3 of the Parasol Protectorate. I'm planning to buy the second book soon, so I can continue. I really liked Soulless.

And Harlequin Teen accepted my request on Netgalley for The eternity cure - Julie Kagawa. I'm so excited! The immortal rules is one of my favorite books from 2012.

Leave a link to your haul!

 

Review 156. Debra Driza – Mila 2.0

Title: Mila 2.0.
Author: Debra Driza.
Pages: 480.
Published: March 12th 2013.
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books.
ISBN: 0062090364 (ISBN13: 9780062090362)
Sort: Part one of “Mila 2.0”
Challenge(s): Dystopian & Bingo.
Source: Netgalley & Publisher.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past—that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do. Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Rating: 2 out of 5, because I feel generous. My first rating was 1 out of 5.

I feel misled. This is what the blurb also says:
”Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence. A bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity-style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human.”I think even Disney gave me more heart-pounding action. This story isn’t a thrilling debut about an android. It’s about a whiny, angsty girl who happens to be a android, but she has more feelings than the average teenager. Hardly anything happens except for running, some fighting and a lot of crying. There were so many situations where I wanted to slam my head against a wall. I’ll walk you through: