Nightmare Dilemma by Mindee Arnett

Pages: 384

Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy

Series: Arkwell Academy #2 

Publisher: Tor Teen

Release Date: Mar 4, 2014

Dusty Everhart might be able to predict the future through the dreams of her crush, Eli Booker, but that doesn’t make her life even remotely easy. When one of her mermaid friends is viciously assaulted and left for dead, and the school’s jokester, Lance Rathbone, is accused of the crime, Dusty’s as shocked as everybody else. Lance needs Dusty to prove his innocence by finding the real attacker, but that’s easier asked than done. Eli’s dreams are no help, more nightmares than prophecies. 
To make matters worse, Dusty’s ex-boyfriend has just been acquitted of conspiracy and is now back at school, reminding Dusty of why she fell for him in the first place. The Magi Senate needs Dusty to get close to him, to discover his real motives. But this order infuriates Eli, who has started his own campaign for Dusty’s heart.
As Dusty takes on both cases, she begins to suspect they’re connected to something bigger. And there’s something very wrong with Eli’s dreams, signs that point to a darker plot than they could have ever imagined.

I have to admit, I loved The Nightmare Dilemma a lot more than The Nightmare Affair and I was absolutely thrilled to get an early copy!
Writing a review of this is actually going to be pretty hard, so expect this review to be short guys! All you really need to know, though, is that I absolutely loved it.

Dusty is a fun character and there was absolutely no limit to her snark and she's just as smart alack-y as in The Nightmare Affair. She's a lovable character who brings some comic relief to the story and I absolutely adored her loyalty to her friends and how determined she was to protect the people she loved.
All the side characters were just as amazing and all their personalities were developed more. Selene, while I felt like she didn't get much face time, still had her awesome siren rebellion going on and Lance, while he was still a bit of a jerk, was a bit less hostile and I liked him a lot more. (Also? Him with Selene would be absolutely adorable.)

The romance again took a back seat to the plot and I really loved it this time, though there were romantic moments that made me absolutely squeal. Paul is back and while I was a bit worried about a love triangle, it's clear that's not really a problem. The surprise complication between Eli and Dusty, however, was a bit shocking, though I felt like it was a bit cliche, though it definitely made for some intriguing romantic tension!

And speaking of intrigue, that's what this book was filled with. The mystery had me on my toes and, unlike in book one, I was at a complete loss as to what was going to happen. There were twists I didn't expect and everything from powerful, corrupt people, to betrayals, to sinister cults were mixed in with the mystery and I was completely hooked in.

The Arkwell Academy series is a cute paranormal series with dark twists and The Nightmare Dilemma, thankfully, doesn't suffer from Sequel Syndrome at all! It was a magnificent read that grabbed my attention and made me fall in love with the characters all over!

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Copperhead by Tina Connolly

Goodreads Blurb

Helen Huntingdon is beautiful—so beautiful she has to wear an iron mask.

Six months ago her sister Jane uncovered a fey plot to take over the city. Too late for Helen, who opted for fey beauty in her face—and now has to cover her face with iron so she won’t be taken over, her personality erased by the bodiless fey.

Not that Helen would mind that some days. Stuck in a marriage with the wealthy and controlling Alistair, she lives at the edges of her life, secretly helping Jane remove the dangerous fey beauty from the wealthy society women who paid for it. But when the chancy procedure turns deadly, Jane goes missing—and is implicated in a murder.

Meanwhile, Alistair’s influential clique Copperhead—whose emblem is the poisonous copperhead hydra—is out to restore humans to their “rightful” place, even to the point of destroying the dwarvven who have always been allies.

Helen is determined to find her missing sister, as well as continue the good fight against the fey. But when that pits her against her own husband—and when she meets an enigmatic young revolutionary—she’s pushed to discover how far she’ll bend society’s rules to do what’s right. It may be more than her beauty at stake. It may be her honor...and her heart.

I loved reading Ironskin last year, so I was pretty excited to start in on Copperhead. But, while it was a pretty good read, I just didn't feel it and it fell flat.
The concept of Copperhead, while fascinating, was disappointing, although I can't pinpoint the exact reason why. I'm not exactly the biggest fan of steampunk and, with more tech than Ironskin, it's possible that that's the reason. But it could also be that there were so many little things that just made me feel...awkward.

While Helen was a fierce character (and I loved that she knew where her loyalties lay) it just irritated me that there didn't seem to be much difference otherwise between Jane's POV and Helen's, as far as I could remember. Jane was also written out as a bit of a boor compared to her own novel, and that was another little thing that went up against the book.
Then again, Helen was a pretty badass character, so I'm trying to figure out if it balanced out or not.

The romance in the story was...hmm. There was honestly no need for it whatsoever and it was completely rushed. They only met each other a handful of times and yet, nearing the end, they were young and in love. Very very rushed, especially considering the fact that they don't really talk/meet until halfway through the book.
Besides driving the plot on, but I really really felt like the story would've gone on a lot smoother without the romance (So honestly, it didn't even drive the plot on that much, so I'm not quite sure...why it was there? Except perhaps, to make the story more YA.)

I really do love the worldbuilding and all the secrets behind Copperhead was absolutely fascinating. The plot was completely unpredictable and I was shocked more than a few times. I have to hand it to Connolly for writing a thrilling plot that had me at the edge of my seat in the second half. It was a bit hard to get into at first, but after a while, I started to love it more! (Although some of the stuff I highlighted before did still irritate me.)
My last complaint is that the ending seemed too rushed, but it was creative nonetheless!


Pages: 304

Genre: Steampunk/Fantasy

Series: Ironskin #2

Publisher: Tor Teen

Release Date: Oct 1, 2013
Rating: 2 Stars

Revelations by J.A. Souders

Goodreads Blurb

Six weeks ago, Evelyn Winters was locked away in Elysium, a city hidden miles beneath the sea, brainwashed into submission. With the help of Gavin, she fought free of her captors and the fog in her own mind. He took her back with him to the Surface, a world she's never known. Now she will begin a new life. 
But her past is closer than she thinks...

Revelations was one of my more anticipated books of 2013, since I loved Renegade so much! And with the ending of Renegade? Hell yes I wanted to get my hands on this.

Diving right into the review, I found that while I did miss the world of Elysium, Mother always chasing at our characters' heels, Revelations was intriguing and chilling in it's own way--just in a different way than Renegade's. We're introduced to the Surface which we now know for sure is a futuristic world and seeing Souders perform her worldbuilding magic here too was stunning. There are certain bits of Renegade and Revelations you can see sort of reflect each other and it was unbelievably fun figuring it out as you went along.

The number one thing I loved about Revelations was how bits and pieces of Renegade, of Elysium, would sneak into Evie's brain. She would say something that we could recognize immediately or she would do something that she'd done before. I always did love amnesia stories--but knowing everything our character's forgotten? I never realized how much the anticipation can kill you! You just keep hoping, waiting, for her to remember everything. And does she?

Evie is a rather fascinating character, even with her memories gone. In some ways, she's more innocent before, without her memories of bloodshed and escape, but we can clearly see the wear on tear on her with not remembering anything. (At times, I just wanted to shove Renegade in her hands and tell her to read anything--but of course I couldn't do that.) Evie is still a fabulous character though. While she could be called a damsel in distress character, her personality just drew her as a strong and independent character--not quite the DID after all.

We are introduced to a new character--Asher. I'll admit, I was completely worried about a love triangle at first. After all, two hot guys? And Evie's traveling with both of them while having a ton of alone time with Asher? Oh yes, I was wary. But REST ASSURED. There's no love triangle here--instead we get a brother like figure who would do anything for Evie--just not quite the same way as Gavin.
Speaking of Gavin, we would get little bits and pieces from his POV and it was rather fascinating putting it all together. His relationship with Evie was absolutely adorable and you could see how fiercely they loved each other, and how desperate Gavin was to keep Evie safe.

The plot was absolutely thrilling. I was always anxious to find out what would happen next and there are some undeniably creepy things that go on. It turns out the world of Elysium hasn't changed much--and Mother? She's still as psychotic as ever, and still the perfect villain. We learn more about Evie's past, and just a bit more about Mother. And the ending? Oh God.
J.A. Souders writes a heart pounding plot in Revelations, making it almost as action packed as Renegade while also introducing us to the new addition to Evie and Gavin's little duo.

Not suffering from Sequel Syndrome at all, Revelations is a brilliant book to continue the series! I'm dying to read the third one and anxious to find out what's next for our characters in their world. A seriously amazing series, I can't stop recommending this to everyone!

Pages: 352

Genre: Sci-fi

Series: Renegade #2

Publisher: Tor Teen

Release Date: Nov 5, 2013
Rating: 4.5 stars

Blog Tour: Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Hey guys! Super excited to be on this tour! I loved it so much! After my review, I have a mini interview for you! (And a giveaway of course!)

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Review
Can we just say right off the bat that Kendare Blake is a literary goddess? She has a way with words that just makes you fall in love with her novels, and Antigoddess is no exception.

Usually, as y'all know, I'm not a fan of multiple POV's, especially when it's third person, but Blake manages to pull it off with two kickbutt characters--both not (quite) human and both in dangerous situations. Athena and Cassandra are such different characters, but you can't help but fall in love with them, even as they opposed each other for a short time.

And the fun thing about dual POVs?

Dual romances.

We all know this author can write swoony romances and she does it again in Antigoddess! While Athena's story doesn't focus much on the romance, you can't deny that Odysseus (yes, that Odysseus) and Athena's dynamic isn't brilliant. Athena seems to melt whenever her hero (literally, since she's his patron goddess) is near and Odysseus is so absolutely loyal and sweet around Athena. Plus, I always did like those kind of snarky love interests! He seemed to love Athena for a while too, and it broke my heart whenever she pulled away.

As for Cassandra, well, I can't really say anything about that (spoilers, m'dears!), but let's just say that their relationship made me squeal, smile, giggle, and cry. Emphasis on cry.

Blake did a brilliant job bringing the gods and goddesses of legend to YA form and it was always amazing seeing our weary characters slip into their more powerful personas. And, as sadistic as it sounds, I did love the irony in how each god was dying...as much as it hurt my heart.

While there wasn't as much worldbuilding as I'd hoped, what was there was absolutely enchanting and her penchant for horror definitely played a role in some of the creepy crawly bumps in the night. Like most Greek mythology based books, things seem to revolve around the Trojan War and seeing the characters' flashbacks was exciting since I always did love new takes on it!

The plot was thrilling and I, honestly, got chills at times. There wasn't a slow moment and it was a never ending battle of trying to be a step ahead of someone who's already winning the game. Seeing it from Athena and Cassandra's perspective only made things all the more exciting and I couldn't help but be sucked into the story! If I have to say only one thing about this book, it's that it never let's you down!

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Kendare Blake is a genius with her words, weaving them into an un-putdown-able novel that'll keep you anxious for ages. She raised expectations with her name alone and delivered it all in one pretty package! It's amazing how brilliant this story is and I honestly can't stop recommending it!

Recommended for fans of Anna Dress in Blood (because Kendare Blake, y'all) and Starcrossed!

Pages: 333 

Genre: Fantasy/Mythology

Series: Goddess Wars #1

Publisher: Tor Teen

Release Date: Sep 10, 2013

Rating: 5 stars

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Fiction Freak: If you were to die in some ironic, morbid way, how would it be?

Kendare Blake: Ironic? Electrocuted by my keyboard? Or perhaps if I was murdered and came back as a murderous ghost, and then Cas murdered me. Or maybe if I died by getting a feather stabbed through my eye.

FF: Suppose you were a Greek goddess--what would you be the goddess of/what existing goddess would you be?

KB: I would be Athena. Or at least I would be friends with her. She’s always seemed the coolest. But if I could invent a goddess of dairy products and hamburgers, I would be that.

FF: How was writing Antigoddess different from writing Anna Dressed in Blood--and whose situation would you rather be stuck in?

KB: I would rather live through ANTIGODDESS, I think. It’s more on the road, and big, big strong hero types. No wait. I would rather go on the road with Cas. No wait. Don’t make me choose.

Antigoddess was definitely harder to write until I figured out how to tell the story and what the story was.

FF: What did you like better--writing about ghosts and exorcism or Greek gods that died in morbid ways?

KB: I don’t know which I liked better…I love them both!

FF: If you would pick one place where the world would end, where would it be?

KB: Well, it should start inside the checkout line at WalMart. That should definitely end first.

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Antigoddess Blurb
The Goddess War begins in Antigoddess, the first installment of the new series by acclaimed author of Anna Dressed in Blood, Kendare Blake.
Old Gods never die…
Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.
Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god. 
These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning. 
Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out. 
Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.
The Goddess War is about to begin.

Author Bio

Kendare Blake is an import from South Korea who was raised in the United States by caucasian parents. You know, that old chestnut. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Ithaca College and a Master’s degree in Writing from Middlesex University in London. She brakes for animals, the largest of which was a deer, which sadly didn’t make it, and the smallest of which was a mouse, which did, but it took forever. Amongst her likes are Greek Mythology, rare red meat and veganism. She also enjoys girls who can think with the boys like Ayn Rand, and boys who scare the morality into people, like Bret Easton Ellis.

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