Waiting on The Dark Between by Sonia Gensler

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that I can't wait for.

This week I'm waiting on:

The Dark Between

by Sonia Gensler

From Goodreads:

At the turn of the twentieth century, Spiritualism and séances are all the rage—even in the scholarly town of Cambridge, England. While mediums dupe the grief-stricken, a group of local fringe scientists seeks to bridge the gap to the spirit world by investigating the dark corners of the human mind.

Each running from a shadowed past, Kate, Asher, and Elsie take refuge within the walls of Summerfield College. But their peace is soon shattered by the discovery of a dead body nearby. Is this the work of a flesh-and-blood villain, or is something otherworldly at play? This unlikely trio must illuminate what the scientists have not, and open a window to secrets taken to the grave—or risk joining the spirit world themselves.

Top Ten Tuesdays - The Beginning of the End

I've finally decided to join up and start participating in this wonderful meme, Top Ten Tuesdays hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 

This week the topic is Beginnings and Endings.

Beginnings

1. The Weight of Souls - Bryony Pearce: "Dead men take me to the nicest places." Caught my attention immediately.
2. The Awakening of Ren Crown - Anne Zoelle: "I would do anything for my brother". And oh boy, she wasn't lying!
3. Eona - Alison Goodman: "A wise man once wrote: "In war, truth is the first causality." It was one hell of a war. The world building in this duology is amazing.
4. The Fury - Alexander Gordon Smith: "Thump-thump...Thump-thump...Thump-thump..." And that was just the prologue. This book was intense!

Endings

1. Dreamfever - K. M. M: "Now I'd lost everything." I think everyone who has read this series knows what I'm talking about. The last two books were brutal!
2. Deep in the Count - Madison Parker: This was a really short story, but it ends with an encoded message, which obviously meant I just had to take another 10mins to figure out what it said xD
3. Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson: This whole trilogy kept having such poignant endings. I loved them all.
4. Fade - Sonny & Ais: This was the best appropriate ending to this series. The open ending fit perfectly.
5. And All The Stars - Andrea K. Host: "Beneath the name, three words: ONE FOR ALL." This whole book was amazing, but the ending was specially bittersweet.
6. Stormdancer - Jay Kristoff: "And into the poisoned air, she raised her fist."Gotta love a solid start to a revolution.

Releases of the Week #35

Here are the releases for the week of July 29 - August 4, 2013

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Unraveling Sundays

I'll be posting about what happened last week and what you might expect this week and anything else that has caught my attention. I'm linking up to the Sunday Post, a meme by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

What happened last week on Unraveling Words...

Reviewed

• [ARC] Ignite (Ignite #1) by Erica Crouch
• [ARC] The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce

Memes

• Releases of the Week #34
• Feature and Follow #25

Featured Posts

• Book Blitz + Giveaway for Epiphany by Christina Jean Michaels
• Sizziling Summer Event featuring Dawna Ravers!

What you can expect this week...

Reviews:

• All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
• Sky's End by Lesley Young
• Fighting Destiny by Amelia Hutchins
• Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne

Memes

• Releases of the Week #35
• Feature & Follow #26

Featured Posts

• Blog Tour for Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne

Ramblings

First week of internship and wow, I am exhausted! Fun, but so tiring. I have a few ideas for new features that I want to try running around in my head. Need to really think them through then I'll need your feed back to see if it's viable :)

Have a great week everyone!

*Don't forget to check out the giveaways!*

[ARC] Review: Ignite by Erica Crouch

Title: Ignite

Series: Ignite Book One

Author: Erica Crouch

Publication Date: June 5, 2013

Penemuel (Pen) fell from grace over a millennium ago, yet there are still times she questions her decision to follow her twin brother, Azael, to Hell. Now that the archangel Michael has returned, threatening Lucifer’s vie for the throne, she begins questioning everything she has always believed. 

As Hell prepares for war - spreading a demonic virus and pilfering innocent souls to build an army - the lines separating the worlds blur. Fates erase and the future is left unwritten. Azael is determined that he and his sister will continue to serve as demons together, but for the first time in her life, Pen is not ruled by destiny. She has the freedom of choice. 

With choice comes sacrifice, and Pen must decide which side she’s willing to risk everything fighting for: the light, or the dark.

 

***

My Thoughts

A copy was provided through NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review

I really wanted to like this book, but there were just too many things that didn't go with me. While the concept itself is definitely a bit different from the usual take on angels and demons the execution of the whole thing was just not to my liking.

First there are the characters. I actually didn't mind Pen and Michael till they started getting all mushy with their declarations of love. Thought it was all a too cheesy not to mention in came on entirely too fast. But my problem was when the Pen's assignment finally came to light. That's were they both lost any kind of respect I had for them. Their reactions were ridiculous to me. Not only how easily Michael could sweep away every little cheesy thing they had said to each other but Pen's reaction to Michael's rejection. I was expecting her to get all depressed and what not at first, of course, but then to realize that she could do it by herself, that she was strong enough in her convictions to stay in the path she had finally begun to walk on, one that she picked herself. But noooo, instead she gets all desperate and ends up being a very weak character. She turns her back on all her supposed revelations about herself and just decides to go back to with Azael. Really?! It wasn't even a decision based on anger or revenge, that I would have actually been fine with. It was a decision based on her own lack of any kind of backbone. She can't stick with a damn decision for herself. That was the last straw for me.

As I mentioned before the romance wasn't exactly insta-love but close enough for me to not like it at all. It just didn't feel quite real to me. Not with the kind of fervor they were declaring their love to each other with. It was all just too much in too short of a time.

Then there is the story-line itself. While the plot was definitely something I hadn't read about before. Angels turning back on their beloved Archangel Michael? Michael himself being so ambivalent toward the fight between Heaven and Hell. It was interesting to read. Unfortunately, the plot took a major step back and gave the limelight to the romance and seeing as the romance wasn't that great, it didn't do the book any favors. To be honest if it weren't for Azael's sarcasm, and constant mocking I would have stopped reading a long time ago. The brief and sporadic conversations between the siblings were really the highlight of the book for me. Azael may be a bad guy, but he at least owns up to it and it secure in what he believes and knows what he wants, something that can't be said for Pen.

So in short, this book had potential with it's original, at least to me, spin in the overdone battle between Heaven and Hell, but between the characters flimsiness and the turns the story took I just couldn't like it.

Would I Recommend it?

Feature & Follow #25

This is a meme hosted every Friday by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, where book bloggers answer a question each week and check out how others answered it. It's a cool way for bloggers and viewers to connect and learn more about each other!

Follow by Email, RSS or Bloglovin' is preferred :)

Q: What do you do with your books after you are done reading them?

If they are physical, they go to the closet bookshelf, since I haven't had the chance to buy a nice one, where they'll gather a nice amount of dust xD. Since I mostly read e-books I just delete them off the kindle, if the book turns out to be a re-read worthy one, which doesn't happen often at all, I put them in a separate folder on the kindle. I like keeping those in hand :)

What do you do with your books?

Book Blitz + Giveaway: Epiphany by Christina Jean Michaels

Epiphany
by Christina Jean Michaels

Genre: New Adult 17+, Romantic Suspense
Publication Date: July 15, 2013

“I had my first psychic dream when I was nine. Psychic implied power, and powerful wasn’t a word I’d use to describe myself. I couldn’t foretell the future or conjure visions at will, but I couldn’t think of a more fitting word to describe what I sometimes saw in my dreams.” 

For 23-year-old Mackenzie Hill, tossing her life down the garbage disposal is easy after a painful incident shatters her life. Her heart is bleeding, and moving to Watcher’s Point is a chance to start anew, only she isn’t prepared for the guy who walks out of her dreams and into the flesh. Literally . . . because she’s been dreaming about this sexy stranger for years. 

Mackenzie is even less prepared to face the dark nature of her dreams. They’ve turned disturbingly gruesome, full of blood and murder, and when they begin to coincide with the media’s headlines, she and Aidan realize her visions might be the key to stopping a madman from killing again.

Only Aidan has painful secrets of his own, and perhaps the biggest danger of all is falling for him.

***

About the Author

Christina Jean Michaels was born in Paradise, California, but she has found the true home of her heart in Eugene, Oregon where she finds plenty of inspiration for storytelling. 

When she was young, her mother said she hated words. Now she can't imagine not writing. She became an avid reader when she was thirteen and discovered the world of Sweet Valley High. About a year later she realized she could play God and write about her own characters. She has been writing in some form ever since.

She lives with her husband and their four children—three rambunctious UFC/wrestling-loving boys and one girl who steals everyone’s attention.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads



***

***

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

[ARC] Review: The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce

Title: The Weight of Souls

Series: The Weight of Souls Book One

Author: Bryony Pearce

Publication Date: August 6, 2013

Sixteen year old Taylor Oh is cursed: if she is touched by the ghost of a murder victim then they pass a mark beneath her skin. She has three weeks to find their murderer and pass the mark to them – letting justice take place and sending them into the Darkness. And if she doesn’t make it in time? The Darkness will come for her…

She spends her life trying to avoid ghosts, make it through school where she’s bullied by popular Justin and his cronies, keep her one remaining friend, and persuade her father that this is real and that she’s not going crazy.

But then Justin is murdered and everything gets a whole lot worse. Justin doesn’t know who killed him, so there’s no obvious person for Taylor to go after. The clues she has lead her to the V Club, a vicious secret society at her school where no one is allowed to leave… and where Justin was dared to do the stunt which led to his death.

Can she find out who was responsible for his murder before the Darkness comes for her? Can she put aside her hatred for her former bully to truly help him? 

And what happens if she starts to fall for him?

  

***

My Thoughts

A copy was provided through NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review

I hadn't been expecting to enjoy this book quite as much as I did. I thought the romance would be trite because of the who she was falling for, but this book has so much actually going for it.

First let's talk about the curse. The blurb doesn't really say much except the bare facts. I thought the explanation about the curse would be something along the lines of every other paranormal out there. But then almost right away you find out that the curse is quite literally a curse, put on my freaking Anubis! Yes, this book deals with Egyptian mythology, and I was NOT expecting that at all (and now looking at the cover more closely, I really should have lol). I liked how the book was written, with excerpts of the story about how the curse came about in between the present day problems that Taylor was dealing with. I was also pleasantly surprised that the curse was even more complicated than you first think, and there are still quite a few unanswered questions about it once you reach the end.

This book deals with a lot of difficult subjects. We have bullying because Taylor is half Chinese. We have a secret society that is actually quite far reaching and very dangerous, and we have the usual teenage problems, friends, romance and family. At first I really didn't like her dad. I knew he was trying to help but the way he was doing it was incredibly counter productive. Taylor also had friend issues, as in she only had the one friend and because of her curse it was hard to keep that friendship, but this was mostly Taylor's fault through out the story.

Lastly we have the romance. As I mentioned before I hadn't been expecting much from it, but I found it to be really sweet. Taylor and Justin start confiding with each other and helping each other out and he finally realizes why Taylor is the way she is, but not only does he accept her, but actually starts protecting her as well. 

As for the plot itself, it was great. The pacing was just right. There was something always going on, whether it was her personal issues or her actual investigation about Justin's death. It was a great mix between a mysterious, deadly curse, a dangerous secret society and life's problems.

I didn't have high expectations for this one going in, but it managed to surprise me with it's depth on multiple accounts, and I'm glad I got the chance to review it. 

So...

Would I Recommend it?

Sizzling Summer Event + Giveaway: Colour Wielders by Dawna Raver

Check out all 50 authors participating in this awesome event HERE!

Colour Wielders (Heirs of the Magykal Realm Book One)
by Dawna Raver

Genre: New Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Publication Date: April 18, 2013

Behind the Faerying Mysts, hidden from Mortal eyes, is a land where gods and creatures of myth and legend dwell. And in the Mortal Realm, their Princess is hidden away.

Quinn Sinclair lives an ordinary life with her less-than-loving mother in Conifer, Colorado, clueless of her true nature. On the night of her birthday, a staggering betrayal sends her life spinning out-of-control. As she struggles to pick up the pieces, a vision of a man with haunting tourmaline-blue eyes begs her for help, and she is transported into a Magykal battle-forever changing her life.

Arik Morgaine-Demigod bad boy and outcast of the Magykal Realm-tried to avoid contact with Princess Quinn for eighteen years, not wanting to make good on an old threat. But the fates have other plans. Arik can no longer deny his growing desire for Quinn, or the need to protect her from those wanting to control her burgeoning powers. Can the two of them come together and save the Magykal Realm from being destroyed by the Darkest of Magyks?

  

***

About the Author

Dawna Raver is an the author of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Colour Wielders, book one of the Heirs of the Magykal Realm series, is her first novel. When she's not spending time in her fantasy world, Dawna loves football, reading, and pretending she's a top chef in the kitchen. Oh, and worshiping her dogs and husband.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads



***

Excerpt

Gentle fingertips grazed the edge of her jaw, trailing down her neck to her collarbone. His vitrine gaze stared deeply into her eyes, and her body heated at his tender touch.

“You’re okay, yeah?” Thaene asked, his voice hoarse from their lovemaking.

Am I okay? She hardly knew. Though she had nothing to compare it to, this feeling was more than giving her virginity to him. Quinn felt like something bigger inside stirred to life, wanting to escape.

“You know I love you. I’m sorry if it hurt.” He kissed her again, his lips caressing hers as if he could take the ache away. “Say something, Quinn. Please.”

“I love you, Thaene.” She pressed herself into him, passionately returning his affection. As their kiss continued, Quinn wondered if he wanted more. She also wondered if she had more to give.

“I want us together always. Do you want that, Quinn?” Thaene’s eyes danced with a mixture of emotions—love, passion, possessiveness, and something else she couldn’t name.

“We can have forever. You want that, don’t you?” Thaene asked.

“Yes,” Quinn answered breathlessly before realizing what she’d agreed to. She smiled, finding his need for her exciting. “Forever is a long time. But I could do it with you.”

Thaene smiled back. Happiness lit his face. He looked like he’d just won a major prize—he looked triumphant.

“Being with you on your birthday was very special to me. You’ve given me such a precious gift.”

“I love you. I can’t imagine my first time with anyone else.”

Besides, my gift of Sight showed you to me, over and over. How could I not give myself to you?

Her gift had shown her something else as well. Since she didn’t understand it, Quinn ignored it. She’d followed her heart where Thaene was concerned. Not even her mother’s dislike—or in spite of it— changed her mind. Following your heart always led you down the right path.

Thaene lightly brushed her hair from her face, then he rested his forehead on hers.

“There’s something else I’d like you to give me. Will you do that? Give me what I desire the most?”

The longing in his voice made Quinn squirm underneath him. Right now, she’d give him anything.

“It’s the most precious gift of all. One I’ll cherish forever.”

Oh my God. He wants to marry me.

“Yes,” Quinn said, drawing in a breath. “I’ll give you anything.”

“Good.” Thaene nuzzled her neck. “I want you to show me your Magyk.”

***

Giveaway

1 - Kindle Fire HD with NA/Adult e-book prize pack (shown)

1 - Kindle Fire HD with YA e-book prize pack (shown)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Releases of the Week #34

Here are the releases for the week of July 22 - 28, 2013

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Thursday, July 26, 2013