Thursday, January 15, 2015

Tainted Energy (Book #1) by Lynn Vroman + Giveaway


Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy
Published: October 21, 2014
Publisher: Untold Press, LLC
Pages: 306
Source: YA Bound Book Tours
Synopsis: 
For seventeen-year-old Lena, living in the trailer park with the rest of town's throwaways isn't exactly paradise. Dealing with a drunken father who can't keep his fists to himself doesn't help matters either. The only good thing in her life, other than track, is the mysterious man who visits her dreams, promising to find her. 

When a chair burns her arms, Lena chalks it up to stress-induced crazy. Yet as bizarre incidents escalate, even being crazy can't explain it all away... until one day dream guy does find her. Tarek lost Lena seventeen years ago after she was accused of treason and marked Tainted. He finally discovers her reborn on Earth into a life of suffering as punishment for her crime. 

However, someone else has already found her... and wants her dead. Willing to sacrifice everything, he fights to keep her safe so she can live the only life she's ever known-even if that life doesn't include him.

Buy Links:

About the Author:
Born in Pennsylvania, Lynn spent most of her childhood, especially during math class, daydreaming. Today, she spends an obscene amount of time in her head, only now she writes 
down all the cool stuff.

With a degree in English Literature, Lynn used college as an excuse to read for four years straight. She lives in the Pocono Mountains with her husband, raising the four most incredible human beings on the planet. She writes young adult novels, both fantasy and contemporary.



Author Links:
Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

My Rating:
★★★★☆ 

Review:
I received this book from YA Bound Book Tours for the blog tour, all reviews and opinions are my own.

This was a very interesting read. At first from the blurb I thought this was going to be an angel kind of book where she isn't fallen but is reborn for doing something wrong, but this was very different from what I thought it was going to be. I was surprised and after reading the first few chapters I was hooked in and couldn't put it down. There are other worlds through out this book and I hope when I continue on to book two that we get to see even more of these other worlds other than the ones we come across in the first one.

The world building for these other worlds had a lot of description, and I could easily picture each world. The only thing I wished there was more information on is where Lena is originally from that world is still a bit confusing to me especially the rules that are supposed to be followed and what not. I am guessing though more information will be provided in the next books.

I liked Lena's character though coming from an abusive home I expected her to maybe have some more issues. Though she does run to get away from it all, to kind of free herself so that could be seen as a coping mechanism for her home life. I was so happy that Lena didn't just accept everything that was told to her, even though she has had dreams of Tarek she doesn't instantly fall in love with him. Which was a relief that is one of the main problems with reborn people in books or at least ones that I have read.  I also liked at the beginning where Lena watches a scary movie to kind of scare herself but also to overcome that fear. That reminded me a lot of what I do and why I love scary movies so much. This is definitely a book about overcoming your fears and facing them head on. 

Overall I really enjoyed this book and want to continue one with the series. This first book did leave off on a bit of a cliff hanger and I am wondering what will happen in book two because of it. Lena is a strong character and she is determined to hold on to her current life and live it to the fullest but of course there is Tarek and he isn't going to make that easy for her.

If you would like to pre-order book two in the Energy series, Lost Energy you can go here to order: Amazon. The second book will be coming out in early February. Also if you would like to see some other reviews and fun posts pertaining to this book tour please visit here to see what other bloggers thought.

Have you read Tainted Energy yet? If so how did you like it, let me know?

Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Tour Organized by:

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Broken Skies (Book #1) by Theresa Kay

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian
Published: January 13, 2015
Publisher: Skyscape
Pages: 372

Source: Netgalley
Synopsis:
Thirty years ago, civilization collapsed. Few survived.
Ten years ago, the aliens arrived…and stayed.
One year ago, I killed two men and went a little crazy.
Today, the aliens took my brother and I will do anything to get him back.


In seventeen-year-old Jax Mitchell's world, humans are nearly extinct and alien settlers have arrived.

Until recently, the E’rikon have remained segregated in their city and ignored the few humans who have tried to engage them… but now they have taken Jax’s brother. To rescue him, she forms an uneasy alliance with a teenage E’rikon left stranded in the woods. She agrees to guide him to the city if he sneaks her past the human-proof barrier. Too bad it’s not that simple.

Jax, who cannot stand to be touched, finds that she’s drawn to the alien boy with bright green hair and jewel-like scales down his back. And he’s equally affected by her, the courageous redhead with haunted eyes. But she doesn’t know the alien’s true motives and he has no idea that she is much more than she seems.

In this world where alien and human are at odds, the connection forming between the two has consequences. What started off as a rescue mission sets a chain of events in motion which threatens not only the remaining humans and the growing alien society, but Earth itself.


My Rating:
★★★★★
Review:
I recieved this book from NetGalley for an honest review, all reviews and opinions are my own.

I was hooked into this book from page one all the way up until then end, and now I can't wait for the next one to be out. Jax the main character has been through a lot, and is a little mentally unstable because of it. I personally can really connect to this kind of character since I have been through a similar situation, and I loved that even though she was constantly pushed into uncomfortable situations she would still push through for her brother. Jax's character is very real and believable throughout the story; she has issues with people being close to her and anxiety and it is portrayed very well. But she doesn't use these things as a crutch, she works through it and any person that deals with anxiety or a past problem can tell you sometimes little tricks like the ones Jax uses are needed to get by.The cover also reflects Jax perfectly this is exactly how I pictured her in my mind.

The only downside is that there isn't much known about these aliens that have been here for ten years. One would think that someone would know something. A little is told about the world but still most of the aliens world is up in the air and not explained. I am hoping there is more about the alien's city and maybe even where they come from in the second book. Even with all that information left out it was still a very good read and I understand you can only fit so much information into one book at a time. There was a lot going on in just this one book many surprising twists I didn't see coming. 

I also loved Jax's name as well as Lir's. Talking about Lir, a guy with green/golden hair I could get on board with someone like that. My favorite color is green so I was already hooked and then as I kept reading and learning more about Lir I just fell for him. He is very sweet and caring even when some things go wrong he is always willing to appologize and admit he is wrong. I know a few men who could learn from this character. 

I liked how this has a different feel to it than some of the other science fiction books that I have read. In this book the aliens aren't hiding or blending in with the population and they didn't come to earth to start a war, or most of them didn't not at first. This is a very unique read and I am excited and can't wait for the next book in the series.

If you would like to know more about Theresa Kay and the other books she is working on please visit her site here: http://www.theresakay.com/

Monday, January 12, 2015

2015 Goals

Hey everyone I mentioned a little while back that I would tell you guys what my goals are going to be for this new year. Since I did end up reading 125 books for last year I thought I would try for that again. So that will be my first and main goal. My other goals are year related and I am also doing them for a goodreads group I am in.


2015 Reading Challenge

2015 Reading Challenge
Raquel has read 3 books toward her goal of 125 books.
hide

I also want to read to catch up or finish at least 10 series. I have some here that I plan on reading. The One book to catch up or finish I am not counting towards the 10 series read but that section is just for me to remind me what books I have to buy through out the year, if it is part of a series that I just have to read the one book and then I am finished I will probably count it like The Amber Spyglass I would count as a completed series since that has been on my shelf for a while.

One book to catch up or finish
The Last Olympian - Rick Riordan
Saint Odd - Dean Koontz
Burned - Karen Marie Moning
The Shadows - J.R. Ward
Ensnared - A.G. Howard
Reap the Wind - Karen Chance
✔Firefight - Brandon Sanderson  1/10/15 ★★★★☆
The Ruby Circle - Richelle Mead
In The Afterlight - Alexandra Braken
The Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman
The Last Ever After - Soman Chainani
Salt & Stone - Victoria Scott
Revenant - Larissa Ione
Dragonbane - Sherrilyn Kenyon


Drakon - Shana Abe
The Smoke Thief
The Dream Thief
Queen of Dragons
The Treasure Keeper
The Time Weaver

The Dark Tower - Stephen King
✔ The Gunslinger 1/6/15★★☆☆☆
The Drawing of the Three
The Waste Lands
Wizard and Glass
Wolves of the Calla
Song of Susannah
The Dark Tower

Celestial Blues - Vicki Pettersson
✔ The Taken 1/4/15 ★★★☆☆
The Lost
The Given

The Spellmason Chronicles - Anton Strout
Alchemystic
Stonecast
Incarnate

Alpha & Omega - Patricia Briggs
Cry Wolf
Hunting Ground
Fair Game
Dead Heat
Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson

Riley Jenson Guardian - Keri Arthur
Full Moon Rising
Kissing Sin
Tempting Evil
Dangerous Games
Embraced By Darkness
The Darkest Kiss
Deadly Desire
Bound to Shadows
Moon Sworn

Elemental Assassin - Jennifer Estep
Venom
Tangled Threads
Spider’s Revenge
By a Thread
Widow’s Web
Deadly Sting
Heart of Venom
The Spider
Poison Promise
Black Widow
Spider's Trap

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Jason
Dead Ice

Lux - Jennifer L. Armentrout
Shadows
Opal
Origin
Opposition

Unicorn Chronicles - Bruce Coville
Song of the Wanderer
Dark Whispers
The Last Hunt

The Iron Fey - Julie Kagawa
The Iron Daughter
The Iron Queen
The Iron Knight
The Iron Legends
The Lost Prince
The Iron Traitor
The Forgotten Crown

Mara Dyer- Michelle Hodkin
The Evolution of Mara Dyer
The Retribution of Mara Dyer 

You can also find this list will updated periodically on goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2103988-2015-challenges  
I also have some other challenges on there as well, but mostly its about finishing some series that have been sitting on my shelves for a while. I also am going to finish the two books that I have had sitting on my currently reading list for a while which is Outlander and the Aesop Fables. Also starting February I believe I will be picking out of my TBR bag again and making myself read books off my shelves that I wouldn't necessarily pick. 

And of course my main goal is just to have fun! I have a busy year ahead of me with possibly moving and living in a new state and what not so if I don't complete all my goals that is okay.

Writing goals I plan to finish two books possibly by the end of the year. I also plan on writing more every month instead of just saving it all for Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo. 

Blog goals I plan to write at least three or four reviews a month as well as other posts such as tags, life travels, and other things going on in my life or with writing. I want to do monthly wrap-ups still as well I know I missed December it was sort of a bad month for me but this is a new year and good things for the future hopefully. I also want to leave more comments on friends blogs that I visit a lot and of course keep talking to everyone who stops by here. 

What are your goals for 2015? 

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Bout of Books - Update day 7

Bout of Books


Currently Reading: 

  • Broken Skies by Theresa Kay

Books Completed:

  • The Gunslinger by Stephen King
  • Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
Pages read today: 128

Total pages read: 860

Books to read:

  • A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
  • Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - Read 125 pages
  • Aesop's Fables by Aesop- Read 50 pages

Toughts:

Okay so I didn't get all the way through Broken Skies but I am almost done and it is pretty good. I didn't get through all my goals of things I wanted to read this week but for being sick I think it turned out pretty well and I enjoyed everything I did read which is a win since that is what read-a-thons are all about!

I hope everyone had a great read-a-thon and hope to see you again in the next bout of books! Let me know what you ended up all reading? How many books did you get through?

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Bout of Books - Update day 6

Bout of Books


Currently Reading: 

  • Broken Skies by Theresa Kay

Books Completed:

  • The Gunslinger by Stephen King
  • Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
Pages read today: 242

Total pages read: 732

Books to read:

  • A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
  • Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - Read 125 pages
  • Aesop's Fables by Aesop- Read 50 pages

Toughts:

I feel a lot better today getting all that reading in. I can see I won't be getting through all the books I wanted to read but that is okay I always have a great time reading regardless and that is what this is all about in the end. I am hoping on this last day to maybe either come close to finishing Broken Skies or finishing it completely.

How are you guys doing this close to the end of the read-a-thon?

Friday, January 9, 2015

Bout of Books - Update day 4 & 5

Bout of Books


Currently Reading: 

  • Broken Skies by Theresa Kay
  • Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

Books Completed:

  • The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Pages read today: 110

Total pages read: 490

Books to read:

  • A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
  • Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - Read 125 pages
  • Aesop's Fables by Aesop- Read 50 pages

Toughts:

So I put day four and five together since I didn't get much reading done especially on day five. But I am still trudging along. Hopefully I can make up some reading we will see this cold sure is kicking my butt. So I am just going to keep this short and sweet so that I can get back to reading.

Hope everyone else is doing great. Is this read-a-thon going as you planned? I know it isn't for me but that is okay.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Bout of Books 12 - Update Day 3

Bout of Books


Currently Reading: 

  • Broken Skies by Theresa Kay
  • Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

Books Completed:

  • The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Pages read today: 70

Total pages read: 380

Books to read:

  • A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
  • Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - Read 125 pages
  • Aesop's Fables by Aesop- Read 50 pages

Toughts:

Okay I took a turn for the worse and I had to sleep a lot so that I could work the overnight tonight so good news is I woke up and could breathe some what! Don't you hate it when you can't breathe through your nose or is it just me? Anyway I feel a lot better just a horrible cough and some what congested is left, the fever I had earlier is gone now. Yippie! Okay and now time to read the majority if not all of Firefight!

How is everyone doing still? Have you hit a wall or are you trudging on through?