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OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS

19/11/2018

52 Comments

 
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Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can't-eat-can't-sleep kind of love that he's been hoping for just hasn't been in the cards for him—at least not yet. Instead, he's been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything's about to change.
 
Grace isn't who Henry pictured as his dream girl—she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys' clothes, and rarely seems to shower. But when Grace and Henry are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly finds himself falling for her. It's obvious there's something broken about Grace, but it seems to make her even more beautiful to Henry, and he wants nothing more than to help her put the pieces back together again. And yet, this isn't your average story of boy meets girl. Krystal Sutherland's brilliant debut is equal parts wit and heartbreak, a potent reminder of the bittersweet bliss that is first love.


Our Chemical Hearts encloses a moving story about love, grief, loss, and even guilt, displayed in a new light within its enclosed pages, waiting to be discovered. – Abooktopia
Our Chemical Hearts is a gorgeous quick read that takes a few unexpected turns as our main protagonist Henry Page tries to undercover the mystery of Grace Town, a girl with a tragic past. But what Henry doesn’t realise is how greatly her past has impacted her present lifestyle.  With Grace as Henry’s main forefront of his thoughts and the slow detriment of his priorities as dream school editor, he soon learns a lot about himself, his family and his friends’ and that love isn’t always how you expect it to be.
 
I adored the characters contained within the pages of Our Chemical Hearts and the contrast among each character and their family members. It was great having them present throughout the story so that the plot wasn’t wholly based upon love but also about friendship, family and growing up. I enjoyed the interactions between Henry and Grace when they were together and the little quirky conversations they had throughout their texts and in person.  The characters felt realistic and honest which caused me to become thoroughly invested into Krystal’s book and ended up completing the book in one sitting. My favourite thing about this contemporary read was the moral of the story about how one should love someone for who they really are and not just the idea of them.
 
Henry Page had a fun and refreshing personality that mirrored the kind of personality you look for in a friend, as he was humble, yet witty with his own little quirks. As for Grace Town, she was mystery that was hard to understand at times, yet you could apprehend some of her infuriating actions for you can’t fault someone for trying to cope with their own inner pain. Overall, I was content with the ending of this story as it was quite realistic and honest; displaying a new angle of loss and the dealings of guilt and sadness and how everyone can express it differently for grief occurs differently for everyone. 
***I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest and unbiased review***
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I am Krystal Sutherland, writer of books. Or, more specifically, I am the writer of one lonely book, OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS, which is being published in September 2016 by Penguin in the US and ANZ, and Hot Key in the UK.

I was born and raised in Townsville, in the far north of Australia. Since escaping to Sydney in 2011, I've also lived in Amsterdam, which was awesome but cold, and Hong Kong, where I currently reside (though I speak neither Dutch nor Cantonese).

Growing up, I never dreamed of being a writer. I wanted to be a) a florist, then b) a volcanologist, then c) an actress. It wasn't until shortly after my 18th birthday that I sat down to write my first (terrible) novel.

OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS, thankfully, is slightly better than that hot mess. Nonetheless, I am notoriously bad at explaining what it's about, except to say that it involves the terribly tragic and awful experience of falling in love for the first time.

I have no pets and no children, but in Amsterdam I owned a bicycle called Kim Kardashian. It was somewhat difficult to get along with. I was fond of it regardless.



Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
52 Comments

TRUST ME I'M LYING BY MARY ELIZABETH SUMMER

21/10/2018

49 Comments

 
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Staying out of trouble isn’t possible for Julep Dupree. She has managed not to get kicked out of her private school, even though everyone knows she’s responsible for taking down a human-trafficking mob boss—and getting St. Agatha’s golden-boy Tyler killed in the process. Running cons holds her guilty conscience at bay, but unfortunately, someone wants Julep to pay for her mistakes…with her life.

Against her better judgment, Julep takes a shady case that requires her to infiltrate a secretive organization, one that may be connected to her long-gone mother and the enigmatic figure called the blue fairy. Her best friend, Sam, isn’t around to stop her, and Dani, her one true confidante, happens to be a nineteen-year-old mob enforcer whose moral compass is as questionable as Julep’s. But there’s not much time to worry about right and wrong—or to save your falling heart—when there’s a contract on your head.

Murders, heists, secrets and lies, hit men and hidden identities…If Julep doesn’t watch her back, it’s her funeral. No lie.


Trust Me, I’m Trouble is an incredibly engaging, sassy, intense and wonderfully written entertaining mystery filled with adventure and the perfect blend of bittersweet romance. – Abooktopia
This book was a riveting sequel that I loved with its sassy and incredibly entertaining characters. Trust Me, I’m Trouble, is a beautiful young adult suspense series that continues to follow our main protagonist, Julep, as she continues to go about her seemingly ‘normal’ life whilst being a grifter, or better known, con artist. After following her father’s footsteps in running schemes after her mother had abandoned her and her father, Julep has a new case to solve where she must infiltrate a secret cult organisation that may be connected to her mother and the famed Blue Fairy. However, there are new dangers lurking in the shadows, including the fact that her head is now a target on a hit contract.
 
One of the many great things I love about Julep’s character is how she is an anti-hero for she is not only a con artist and a criminal, but she solves important worthwhile cases. The story is told through her perspective throughout the entire book, which is a perfect way to introduce the story as I quite enjoy the conversational tone of a first person perspective as it allows one to easily slip straight into the story. This book kept me on my toes with its fast pace and twists as you watch Julep grow and learn from her mistakes as she came to realise that ignoring your problems doesn’t make them go away, and that just because you wish to believe that someone still has good within them, does not always mean that they will change who they are.
 
The bittersweet romance was of the perfect blend in this sequel as the author gave us something we didn’t know that we needed. I adored how Julep has a potential romance with Dani, where her bisexuality is bought to the surface, as Dani understands some of the things Julep has been through. I love how she won’t dare push Julep into opening up until she is ready to leave her comfort zone, willingly. It was also incredibly entertaining to watch the two characters skirt around each other and to see that Dani was just as closed off as Julep. I enjoyed how the book ended with the strong ending with each chapter getting better than the last.
***I received a copy of this book in return for an honest and unbiased review***
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Mary Elizabeth Summer contributes to the delinquency of minors by writing books about unruly teenagers with criminal leanings. She has a BA in creative writing from Wells College, and her philosophy on life is “you can never go wrong with sriracha sauce.” She lives in Portland, Oregon with her wife, their daughter, their scaredy-lab/pitbull, and their evil overlor—er, cat. She's the author of the TRUST ME series, of which TRUST ME, I'M LYING and TRUST ME, I'M TROUBLE are out now, and a third is in the works.


Trust Me by Mary Elizabeth Summer:
BOOK 1: Trust Me, I'm Lying
BOOK 2: Trust Me, I'm Trouble
49 Comments

THE BONE SEASON BY SAMANTHA SHANNON

15/2/2017

69 Comments

 
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The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.


The Bone Season contains one of the most richly built worlds that you will ever come across, filled with concrete detail – Abooktopia
How do I even express my deep and burning love for this book? Samantha Shannon has truly created a masterpiece filled with such elaborate world building. I will admit it does take one a while to adjust to the world setting, but once you do, you will assimilate perfectly into the world of Scion.
 
It is the year 2059, in London, England. The world is a place where gifted humans known as clairvoyants can connect with the æther, allowing them to manipulate ghosts and objects with the sheer power of their minds. Paige Mahoney is a clairvoyant known as a dreamwalker who is able to move in and out of minds, touching their dreamscapes. She commits high treason just by existing for all clairvoyance is prohibited and downright sin in Scion. Being out-casted by society, clairvoyants are forced to join the criminal underworld of Scion London known as the Seven Seals. As a part of the syndicate, Paige works for the notorious mime-lord known as Jaxon Hall and scouts for information as his mollisher and Underlord heir. She is his most prized possession for her voyant abilities are of the highest order. Paige has managed to stay undetected her entire life under Scion’s radar but it isn’t until she fatally unleashes her abilities in a life-threatening situation against two officers, does her abilities become discovered by the government. Hunted down and thrown into Sheol 1, a secret prison colony run by a race of beings known as the Rephaim who survive on the auras of humans, Paige is determined to escape and expose the truth behind the government.
 
As part of the sentence to all clairvoyants captured and sent to Sheol 1, they must abide by strict rules of the Rephaim and be assigned to a keeper who determines your every action and when you may eat and sleep. Paige’s Raphaite master is Arcturus Mesarthim, known as Warden for he is the Blood-Consort to the Blood-Sovereign, Nashira Sargas. Though the Rephaim are cruel and malicious towards their voyants and show no mercy to those who do not abide by their command, Paige’s keeper, Warden, however values her mental health and encourages her to develop her dreamwalking abilities beyond what she believed she could ever have achieved.  Warden merely wishes to be a teacher who can broaden her skills, rather than a keeper that is to be fear. Despite Warden’s signs of redemption, Paige is reluctant to trust the Rephaim that keeps her captive.
 
The amount of imagination and detail that is expressed all across the pages throughout the book is mind-blowing and stunning as the world building is intensely nuts, yet perfect. The characters were loveable and each had their own unique personality and background. In fact, you couldn’t help but also admire the cunningness of some of the more villainous characters and kind of care for them, yet hate them for all that they have caused.  The Bone Season is one of the most richly crafted worlds I have ever come across for it is richly detailed orientated.
***I received a copy of this book in return for an honest and unbiased review**
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Samantha Shannon was born and raised in West London. She started writing in abundance when she was twelve, started her first novel when she was fifteen, and studied English Language and Literature at St Anne's College, Oxford, from 2010 – 2013, graduating with a 2:1.

In 2013, she published The Bone Season, the internationally bestselling first installment in a seven-book series of fantasy novels. Its first sequel, The Mime Order, was published in 2015, and she's currently editing the third book in the series, The Song Rising. She is also working on a high fantasy novel. Film rights to the Bone Season are held by the Imaginarium Studios, Chernin Entertainment and 20th Century Fox.


The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon:
BOOK 1: The Bone Season
BOOK 2: The Mime Order
BOOK 3: The Song Rising
BOOK 4: Untitled
BOOK 5: Untitled
BOOK 6: Untitled
BOOK 7: Untitled
69 Comments

THE BONE SEASON BY SAMANTHA SHANNON

30/8/2016

36 Comments

 
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The hotly anticipated third book in the bestselling Bone Season series – a ground-breaking, dystopian fantasy of extraordinary imagination

Following a bloody battle against foes on every side, Paige Mahoney has risen to the dangerous position of Underqueen, ruling over London's criminal population.

But, having turned her back on Jaxon Hall and with vengeful enemies still at large, the task of stabilising the fractured underworld has never seemed so challenging.

Little does Paige know that her reign may be cut short by the introduction of Senshield, a deadly technology that spells doom for the clairvoyant community and the world as they know...


I am super excited and blessed to announce that Samantha Shannon has chosen me as one of the many great advocates of the compelling Bone Season series. For those of you who do not know, I have bee a huge fan of series since I first laid eyes upon the book trailer. It was love at first sight, and read. The Bone Season is honestly one of the most original and compelling series I have come across. I’ve been dying to read The Song Rising after The Mine Order ended on such a crazy cliffhanger that made me yearn to find out if what I had suspected were to be true. It is an honour to present to you new updates of exclusive content of the upcoming novel in the series, The Song Rising, which is due out in March 2017.
 
So without further adieu, I present to you *drum roll* the prelude of The Song Rising! But be WARNED, there will be SPOILERS. Hence why I shall HEAVILY recommend NOT READING the prologue if you have NOT READ The Mine Order.
 
YOU. HAVE. BEEN. WARNED. Enjoy!
 

CLICK HERE to enjoy an exclusive sneak peak of The Song Rising:

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon:
BOOK 1: The Bone Season
BOOK 2: The Mime Order
BOOK 3: The Song Rising
BOOK 4: Untitled
BOOK 5: Untitled
BOOK 6: Untitled
BOOK 7: Untitled

Read More
36 Comments

TRUST ME BY MARY ELIZABETH SUMMER

15/7/2016

37 Comments

 
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Julep Dupree tells lies. A lot of them. She’s a con artist, a master of disguise, and a sophomore at Chicago’s swanky St. Agatha High, where her father, an old-school grifter with a weakness for the ponies, sends her to so she can learn to mingle with the upper crust. For extra spending money Julep doesn’t rely on her dad—she runs petty scams for her classmates while dodging the dean of students and maintaining an A+ (okay, A-) average.

But when she comes home one day to a ransacked apartment and her father gone, Julep’s carefully laid plans for an expenses-paid golden ticket to Yale start to unravel. Even with help from St. Agatha’s resident Prince Charming, Tyler Richland, and her loyal hacker sidekick, Sam, Julep struggles to trace her dad’s trail of clues through a maze of creepy stalkers, hit attempts, family secrets, and worse, the threat of foster care. With everything she has at stake, Julep’s in way over her head . . . but that’s not going to stop her from using every trick in the book to find her dad before his mark finds her. Because that would be criminal.


With every turn, the plot thickens and develops as the author hits the fan with more intriguing twists and plots that can’t help but keep you hooked until the very end. – Abooktopia
Julep is a con artist. A grifter of sorts. And like all con artists, Julep Dupree is not her name. She’s good at what she does. It’s her job. After all, she learned from the best of the best: her father. That is until he went missing…
 
This book came off with a great start that immediately immersed the reader’s attention. It was such a thrill to be in the mind of a con artist as you could tell that the author had really researched and crafted her character well with a hint of reality to make everything plausible, which I adored. Despite being the master of deception, there is still a vulnerability to her character that truly balances her character well, and works with her age. In fact all of the characters were fascinating and complex as they kept you seconded guessing their inner motives. The romance in this novel didn’t allow Julep to stray away from her main goal of finding her father, but in fact added a nice sparkle to the plot.
 
Throughout the novel with the help of her best friend and loyal companion, Sam, and Tyler the gorgeous big-time-man on campus, Julep is left to uncover the hidden clues left behind by her father in order to locate his whereabouts. But the fate of her father is only a small part of the complexity that is about to unravel. With every page turn, the plot kept thickening, that you couldn’t help but become engrossed to see what happened next.
 
The ending was sentimental and emotional, making you desperate for the next book. It truly delivers well, as it will shock you with it’s surprising and heart wrenching twists. Trust Me, I’m Lying is great for fans of Veronica Mars and Ally Carter’s Heist Society series.
***I received a copy of this book in return for an honest and unbiased review***
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Mary Elizabeth Summer is an instructional designer, a mom, a champion of the serial comma, and a pie junkie. Oh, and she sometimes writes books about teenage delinquents saving the day. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her daughter, her partner, and her evil overlor–er, cat. TRUST ME, I'M LYING, a YA mystery, will be released by Delacorte in Fall 2014.


Trust Me by Mary Elizabeth Summer:
BOOK 1: Trust Me, I'm Lying
BOOK 2: Trust Me, I'm Trouble
37 Comments

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