Feature & Follow #22

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 is your preferred reading format? Hardcover, eBook  paperback, etc?

I would much rather read either paperbacks or hardcovers, and between those two hardcovers preferably. Unfortunately I live in a part of the world were it is pretty much impossible trying to get new releases in either paperback of hardcover, therefore I make do with eBooks. Almost everything I read is in eBook format. I'm thankful that I at least get the chance to read them at all. (If you are thinking I should try book depository, already looked into it and they don't ship here, so yeah..)

What's your preferred format?

Book Tour + Giveaway: 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.

  

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About The Author

Erica Crouch is a twenty-year-old living on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland. She is currently working towards a degree in English and Creative Writing with a specialization in Fiction at Southern New Hampshire University. She spends all of her time writing and reading an overwhelming stack of books. Ignite is her debut novel and she is currently writing its sequel - in addition to two other series!

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook






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Giveaway

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Cover Reveal: A Grimm Legacy by Janna Jennings

A Grimm Legacy

by Janna Jennings

Release Date: October 1, 2013

Genre: YA Paranormal

The woods of Elorium appear ordinary, at least until elves appear and the birds start talking. Four teenagers, whisked out of their own world, find themselves as the reluctant guests of the strange and secretive millionaire, Mr. Jackson—a man who knows the secrets of their families’ histories as well as the way back home. But nothing comes without a price.

Mr. Jackson’s mother is dying and the only cure is in the hands of a giant barricaded on a floating island. Unable to retrieve it himself, Mr. Jackson strikes a deal with the teens: steal the antidote and in return receive the key back to their world.

Caught in Grimm’s fairy tales with characters short on whimsy and bent towards treachery, the teens begin a race against time. Without any other way home, they are forced into fairy tale roles that may not lead to a happily ever after.

 

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About the Author 

Janna is a Colorado based YA author who loves a good fairy tale. She’s married to her own real life Prince Charming, and will usually admit to being mom of three, including her incorrigible middle child, Benny. Besides wrangling her kids she can be found doing some therapeutic baking, dreaming of the ocean, and of course, curling up with a good book.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Book Tour + Giveaway: Ghost Light by E.J. Stevens

Title: Ghost Light

Series: Ivy Granger Psychic Detective Book Two

Author: E.J. Stevens

Publication Date: July 9, 2013

Ivy Granger, psychic detective, thought she'd seen it all...until now.

With a vengeful lamia that only she can see on the city streets, reports of specters walking Harborsmouth cemeteries, and an angry mob of faerie clients at her office door, it's bound to be a long night. Add in an offense against the faerie courts and a few foolish bargains and one thing is clear--Ivy Granger is in some seriously deep trouble.

Ivy Granger is back, gathering clues in the darkest shadows of downtown Harborsmouth. With the lives of multiple clients on the line, she's in a race against time. Ivy finally has a lead to the whereabouts of the one person who can help her control her wisp abilities, but will she put the needs of her clients above her own?

If Ivy doesn't find a solution soon, she could wind up a ghost herself.

On sale July 9, 2013 - $14.99 Trade Paperback $3.99 Ebook (Kindle/NOOK/Epub)

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About the Author

E.J. Stevens writes poetry, urban fantasy, and young adult paranormal novels. E.J. is the author of the haunting collection of dark poetry FROM THE SHADOWS, the chilling collection of paranormal poetry SHADOWS OF MYTH AND LEGEND, the young adult paranormal SPIRIT GUIDE series (SHE SMELLS THE DEAD, SPIRIT STORM, LEGEND OF WITCHTROT ROAD, BRUSH WITH DEATH) and the IVY GRANGER urban fantasy series (SHADOW SIGHT, BLOOD AND MISTLETOE, GHOST LIGHT). 

When E.J. isn't at her writing desk she enjoys dancing along seaside cliffs, singing in graveyards, and sleeping in faerie circles. She currently resides in a magical forest on the coast of Maine where she finds daily inspiration for her writing.

Website | Blog | Goodreads | Amazon | Twitter

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My Thoughts

Being back in Ivy Granger's world was a nice treat. The world-building was what initially made me like the book. With this sequel there are a couple of other aspects that will keep me coming back for more.

While the Ivy Granger series is an urban fantasy this one is much more focused on the Fae than any other creature, and I don't mean the usual Fae and their customs, I mean every kind of creature. Starting with how our main character is actually half wisp, is pretty awesome. There aren't that many books out there were the main focus are all the more obscure Fae. Stevens has done a great job in coming up with this world and all the creatures that go with it as well as their lore and their interactions between each type of Fae. It's always fun finding out the different spins that authors put on Fae lore and this one isn't an exception.

In the first book I had been a bit iffy about Ivy because she came across as a bit weak since A) she couldn't fight and B) how she became a total mess with her visions. I had wanted her to get a grip and get some serious mental fortitude and I'm glad to say that she did advance in this book. She is starting to accept more, bit by bit, her powers and her heritage. Not to mention that she can totally kick ass now thanks to her training. So there was some deifnite growth to Ivy's character and I'm sure there will be more as the series goes on.

For me the highlight of the book was Ivy coming into her powers and Torn. I loved Torn! He is an awesome character! He is a Cat Sidhe who can shift to human form, he can blend with the shadows (think Cheshire cat here) and he is a total badass and has the whole mysterious thing down pat. 

As I mentioned in book 1 I do not like Ceff nor do I like his relationship with Ivy at all. Why? I have no clue I just don't like the man and while their relationship has progressed in a normal pace it just isn't doing anything for me. So when the big battle scene came up and Ceff had to fight, was it wrong of me If I was hoping he would die just to get him out of the picture? Probably, but oh well, I can't help it. I never liked the guy and now that Torn is in the picture he is just in the way xD 
Disclaimer: Even though I'm gushing about Torn there has been no indication of a love triangle nor do I think it's going to come up. I'd love for Ivy to switch her attentions to Torn but as of now I don't see that happening.

The plot was pretty straight forward although I was a bit confused about the involvement of the lamia with the rest of it. It did get addressed and it does make sense now, or as much sense as anything about that chick will ever make anyway. This is another thing I really like about this book. They don't beat around the bush. They get right to it with their investigating and no running around like a headless chicken that tend to make the book drag while in your head you are shouting in frustration about how slow the characters are acting. In this book there were actually 2 plot threads going on at the same time and Stevens did a nice job setting everything up for the third book.

All in all this was a nice addition to the series and I'm looking forward to reading the next book and finding out more about Ivy and her heritage.

Would I Recommend it?

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Giveaway

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Review: The Oathbreaker's Shadow by Amy McCulloch

Title: The Oathbreaker's Shadow

Series: The Knots Sequence Book One

Author: Amy McCulloch

Publication Date: June 6, 2013 (UK/CA)

Fifteen-year-old Raim lives in a world where you tie a knot for every promise that you make. Break that promise and you are scarred for life, and cast out into the desert.

Raim has worn a simple knot around his wrist for as long as he can remember. No one knows where it came from, and which promise of his it symbolises, but he barely thinks about it at all—not since becoming the most promising young fighter ever to train for the elite Yun guard. But on the most important day of his life, when he binds his life to his best friend (and future king) Khareh, the string bursts into flames and sears a dark mark into his skin.

Scarred now as an oath-breaker, Raim has two options: run, or be killed.

A gripping YA action-adventure fantasy, the first part of a planned duology.

  

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My Thoughts

I was so excited to read this book. It has such a unique concept and setting, so I was all pumped to start reading. Not 10 chapters later I was already struggling to keep going...

I don't even know what was really the problem. Yes the pace was really slow at the start (Read 80%) but it's not like nothing at all was happening. The writing was excellent and Raim was alright for the most part. I guess it was just a combination of all the little things that started bothering me.

The slow pacing, some of Raim's actions and his naive take on things, Khareh, Edrene, Wadi. Ok, so I guess the biggest problem was I just didn't like most of the characters. I think the only one I cared about was Dharma and she wasn't in it for that long. Because of my inability to care much about any of them or connect to any of them, I just found the whole book dragged for entirely too long. Even when we got to the good part (After the 80% mark) I couldn't really muster that much enthusiasm. It was more of a FINALLY! Let's get on with it! Which really shouldn't be the kind of feeling you are supposed to get out of it.

The plot while being unique with it's believes of oaths and shadows, was still quite predictable. Nothing was truly a surprise, everything left me with a 'right, that's what I thought' feeling throughout the whole book, even during it's 'big reveal' moment, which honestly wasn't big at all. (view spoiler)

So yeah, if you look at it objectively, there is nothing majorly wrong with the book and it should have been awesome, but once you put all those little things together, well it was a struggle to get through it. Sad, because I really liked the concept of this book. If you go in knowing is going to be a slow steady pace with a nice enough plot, you'll enjoy it much more than I did.

Would I Recommend it?

[ARC] Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton

Title: Some Quiet Place

Series: N/A

Author: Kelsey Sutton

Publication Date: July 8, 2013

I can’t weep. I can’t fear. I’ve grown talented at pretending.

Elizabeth Caldwell doesn’t feel emotions . . . she sees them. Longing, Shame, and Courage materialize around her classmates. Fury and Resentment appear in her dysfunctional home. They’ve all given up on Elizabeth because she doesn’t succumb to their touch. All, that is, save one—Fear. He’s intrigued by her, as desperate to understand the accident that changed Elizabeth’s life as she is herself.

Elizabeth and Fear both sense that the key to her past is hidden in the dream paintings she hides in the family barn. But a shadowy menace has begun to stalk her, and try as she might, Elizabeth can barely avoid the brutality of her life long enough to uncover the truth about herself. When it matters most, will she be able to rely on Fear to save her?

  

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My Thoughts

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

I was excited to read this book, the concept of someone being completely unfeeling and numb was very intriguing. The problem was I was never able to connect to the MC and it wasn't because she was unfeeling, although that obviously didn't help, it was her full on denial that did me in.

This is the story of Elizabeth, a girl who changed and became a person who can't feel any emotions. During the whole course of the book Elizabeth is supposed to be trying to figure out why she is like that and what made her like that. Perfect! We have a mystery and a hot guy who is helping her out. But it turns out that Elizabeth sucks at research, and not because she actually sucks at it, but because she is in denial. She actually doesn't want to find out. Her pretending and always affirming that she wanted to know why she was like that but then not actually doing much about it was incredibly annoying. Therefore the whole book was quite a dud in that sense. (view spoiler)

She was also an idiot. Fear is trying to help her, so what does she do? She antagonizes the man and treats him like an ass. She is specifically told NOT to go somewhere cause she is in danger, so what does she do? She makes damn sure she goes there. I understand her reasoning behind this but it was still stupid, specially because if she hadn't gone there, there would no longer be anymore of a story. She is being bullied in school, and what does she do? She pretends that it affects her...WHYYYY. She for once actually doesn't give a shit what they do to her, but instead of rubbing that in their faces (which would have made them leave her alone, cause then really what's the point?) she pretends it does!! I just don't get it. 

I did however like the whole world-building. How Emotions are actually sentient beings and there are the Elements as well and how they affect people and such. Thought that was actually pretty awesome, too bad the plot wasn't that great. The none mystery didn't do it for me, the big reveals weren't exactly that big and by the time we got to them I just didn't really care anymore. And the whole romance with Fear? It just made me not like Elizabeth that much more. What the hell was that at the end?! It's like she was making problems out of thin air just for the purpose of making more conflict when really there should have been none. The whole foundation of the plot was flimsy at best.

Wow, ok so I realize that was a pretty negative review, but I hadn't recognized how mad I was at Elizabeth and the whole book in general. This book had potential, but the plot was weak and the mc was beyond annoying for me.

Would I Recommend it?

Releases of the Week #30

Here are the releases for the week of June 24 - 30, 2013

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Thursday, June 27, 2013