Happy Book Birthday! Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

Did you guys know I love Maggie Stiefvater? Well, I totally do. And today marks the release of SINNER. I happened to get the ARC of Sinner at BEA—a total accidental win that I'm completely thrilled about—but I still haven't gotten a chance to read it yet. I'm very excited to though.

If you've been living under a rock and don't know SINNER or the Shiver books, here's a little 411.

SINNER follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling Shiver Trilogy.

found.

Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason: to get back Isabel Culpeper. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn't just want her. He needs her.

lost.

Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It's not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes. But what's the point? What is there to win?

sinner.

Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to love each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go.

Review: Black Abaddon by Sasha Hibbs

Black Abaddon, the second book in Sasha Hibbs' Vulcan Legacies series, follows the tale of Ally Watson whose choices in Black Amaranth may have helped save the world, but are hard to come to terms with. Having lost her soul mate to an act of heroism, Ally ventures into a darker realm and into darker secrets, traveling to the Nosferatu Nation and delving into deeper mysteries, training to defeat the Devourer and coming closer to her terrifying destiny.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Black Abaddon, beyond the epic weight of Ally's role and destiny, and the gravitas of her mission, is the fact that she is the Angel of Death, but remains a relate-able character, sans all the powers that could have made her too distant. The gloom that clings to Ally is only fitting, considering the great loss she has suffered, and the personal failures she struggles to overcome; moreover, it makes her an accessible character. Throughout the book, Ally seems to slowly grow more into herself, coming into her own as the twists and turns in her journey with Marik, of all people, gain more and more force, moving from a winding stream to a churning river.

Dark, engaging, and best enjoyed all at once, Black Abaddon will keep readers of the Vulcan Legacies on the edge of their reading chairs and up well after their reasonable bedtimes. Of course, I recommend catching up with Black Amaranth first, because Black Abaddon isn't a stand alone. 

Happy Reading.

     

Review: The Shadow Soul by Kaitlyn Davis

Once in a while I get foundered on fantasy. One too many monstrous hoards of skeletons have been fought off by a beautiful virgin and her talking horse aided by her rag tag band of outcasts and misfit friends. I'm sure we've all been there. I admit it, I've been overdosing on fantasy. A lot. So when The Shadow Soul opened with dragon wings shadowing the landscape below with altogether human descriptors, I was pretty sure I'd reached my limit.
I was wrong. I was so so so so so wrong.
The Shadow Soul was positively transportive, left me feeling refreshed, and renewed my faith in symbolism, imagery, and the importance of world building and cultural preservation.

If you want to be drawn in quickly and immediately feel a heart bond with a girl whose life is entirely unlike yours, read this. If you want to follow the
story of a young man you'll want to love and throttle at the same time, read this. If you want to set out on a journey, read this.
I am usually a sprint reader. I sit down and devour a book cover to cover as quickly as possible, but this, I enjoyed in tiny little bits and pieces, savoring the word choice, enjoying Davis' prose, drawing it out like a dessert.
Blending elements of espionage, high adventure, magic, and of course, the unending war between good and evil, not just in the spirit war, but also in the realm of men, The Shadow Soul reminds me in many ways of Game of Thrones, but is very much rooted in it's own world and tells it's own story.
Thank you, Kaitlyn Davis. Thank You. I intend to enjoy the rest of this series.


You can read more reviews of The Shadow Soul on Goodreads, or purchase a copy through Amazon.

ARC Contest for SHATTER ME and more

Have you heard the buzz about SHATTER ME yet? I'm dying to get my hands on this book, but it doesn't come out until November. Luckily there are ARC contests. And Tahereh Mafi, the very writer of SHATTER ME, is having one where not only can you win her book, but a choice of others as well.

Check out the contest on her blog!

ARC Contest for SHATTER ME on Tahereh's Blog

Folks, you DO NOT want to miss out on this. And actually, I'm hesitant to tell you all because I so desperately want to win it myself. But Tahereh Mafi is having a contest in which the winner gets an ARC of her upcoming book SHATTER ME. Now, when I say upcoming, I mean November. And that's a long wait. So you're going to want to enter this contest, like now.

Go to her blog and check out the scoop. And then leave me a comment to tell me if you entered so I can use my supernatural math skills to figure out my odds.

And when I say supernatural math skills, I mean my calculator.

And when I say I'm going to use my calculator, I really mean I'm just going to close my eyes and wish.