Goddess Legacy by Aimee Carter

Goodreads Blurb

For millennia we've caught only glimpses of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses on Olympus. Now Aime e Carter pulls back the curtain on how they became the powerful, petty, loving and dangerous immortals that Kate Winters knows.
Calliope/Hera represented constancy and yet had a husband who never matched her faithfulness....
Ava/Aphrodite was the goddess of love and yet commitment was a totally different deal....
Persephone was urged to marry one man, yet longed for another....
James/Hermes loved to make trouble for others-but never knew true loss before....
Henry/Hades's solitary existence had grown too wearisome to continue. But meeting Kate Winters gave him a new hope....
Five original novellas of love, loss and longing and the will to survive throughout the ages.

Goddess legacy is possibly my favorite book in the Goddess Test series! And this is my first short story collection so…this will be very vague and a short!

The thing about Goddess Legacy is that I ended up loving characters I thought I hated and hating characters I originally loved. It shows us new sides of these characters and I loved that! James (Hermes) was originally one of my least-favorite characters, but after reading what happened to him made me realized and understand why he kept giving Kate the option to run. Goddess Legacy isn’t so much as fun-reading as it is to help you understand a character’s actions. I even softened toward Hera but…

I think the writing in this one was a bit smoother and flowed better than in the others, honestly. Aimee Carter wrote the Greek Gods of old perfectly so that with all those relationships between them, it didn’t seem too awkward, just something that was bound to happen.  Aimee definitely has a talent for re-writing legends into detailed stories, and while Goddess legacy did satisfy me somewhat while I wait for Book #3, I still can’t wait for it! I’ll probably reread the other books with new eyes (I was serious when I said that this book made you relook at everything!)

But Hera! I know I said I softened towards her, but just a bit. Even if we were supposed to be understanding her, I found that she just seemed a more selfish than before, though we could understand a bit of her pain. And Aphrodite just seemed more childish like…UGH

Pages: 395

Series: Goddess Test Series #2.5

Genre: Greek Mytholygy/Novella

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Released Date: July 31

Rating: 4 stars

 

“’I’ve been alone for a long time, and I’m sick of it. I won’t take advantage of you or rob you blind or ditch you, I promise. I help you, and in return, the lot of you won’t give me the cold shoulder whenever I do something wrong. Which will be as infrequent as I can manage,’ I added. ‘That’s all I want. Friends. A family. Somewhere to belong.’” –Hermes (James)

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Goodreads Blurb

Inhale. Exhale. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe . . .
The world is dead.
The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen-rich air.
ALINA
has been stealing for a long time. She’s a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she’s never been caught before. If she’s careful, it’ll be easy. If she’s careful.
QUINN
should be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it’s also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn’t every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her.
BEA
wants to tell him that none of this is fair; they’d planned a trip together, the two of them, and she’d hoped he’d discover her out here, not another girl.
And as they walk into the Outlands with two days’ worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

Breathe is an incredibly ironic title. Throughout this entire book, I couldn’t breathe! It was incredibly depressing and touching, reading Breathe! I’m starting to feel like all the dystopians this year are going to have the same effect on me: stunned, on the edge of tears, and knowing it’s an amazing book. 2012 really does have some of the best books ever. And especially Breathe. I had no idea what to expect! I knew Breathe would be original. I mean, an air shortage? Having to buy oxygen? It just caught my interest immediately. And…it may have something to do with the stunning cover.

Plot

Like I said! This was definitely one original plot and world. It was full of twists that made me cringe or stare and after a while, I just quit trying to guess what was going on. It was just too hard! With tyrannical leaders, a shortage of air supply, the spark of a rebellion, and the start of a civil war, there’s no wonder you never get bored! It was fast paced, but I honestly wanted to punch someone. So. Many people. DIED. Agh. But I have to admit (grudgingly) that not everyone can do that. So props!

Romance

Heads up, there wasn’t a love triangle at all! Thank goodness! The romance was slow, sweat, and steady! It was so…lovey-dovey and thankfully not insta-romance! (Finally, authors are seeing how much we hate it!). Sarah Crossan basically crossed out all the romance-type stuff we hate like love triangles and insta-love and turned it into one that we’d enjoy!

Characters

Bea:

Bea was definitely my favorite character out of all three. She was empathetic  and she was incredibly loyal. She saw the best in people and instead of making her weak, that trait made her seem stronger and more defiant than Alina could be. Bea was one of those quiet, shy good girls who always accepts and follows the rules until she meets Alina, who she warms up to even if the guy she loved liked her. Like I said, Bea could see the best in people. Bea is one of the smartest characters ever and she was brave enough to take a stand against the people she’s feared and listened to her entire life.

Alina:

At first, I really didn’t like Alina, but she did grow on me. She just seemed insanely cruel and cold to Bea and Quinn, but after a few chapters from her POV, I realized that she wasn’t as cold as she seemed to be from someone else’s view. She lost the guy she loved because she liked him and wanted to be with him and that tends to turn someone cold. She had all these complexities in her life being a Rebel member and I realized that Alina didn’t want to be the bitch excuse the language!) of the story either. She just couldn’t let anyone else in.

Quinn:

I definitely thought Quinn was the bravest character. He’s grown up in a luxurious life with as much air as possible and has trusted the government his entire life. But the things he discovers with Alina and Bea contradict all that and new sides of everything he’s known are revealed. And he’s still enough to face them with lies, not flinching. Now that takes guts. He was caring, but he did annoy me when he agreed with Alina because she was a pretty face even when he really disagreed with her. And that fact that (ROMANCE SPOILER) it took him almost dying to realize Bea was the right one for him did annoy me as well. Just a tad.

Pages: 400

Series: Breahe #1

Genre: Dystopian/Romance

Publisher: Greenwillow

Released Date: October 2

Rating: 5 stars

"I pull off my face mask to breathe in again, fighting for whatever oxygen remains in the atmosphere. Flames lick at my throat and in my lungs there's an explosion of fire.

Waiting on Wednesday

AGH. This one has both a beautiful cover AND a it sounds amazing!

Renegade by J.A. Souders

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

Have I mentioned it sounds AWESOME!?

Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Goodreads Blurb

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war. In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable--they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash's long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they're caught, they'll be executed--but their feelings are too strong. When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

One wall, two races, and a war that could destroy everyone.

First, take a look at the cover. Isn’t it just GORGEUOS?! I love it! It’s a new change from the usual girl-on-cover ones and it definitely caught my eye!

Let’s start this review with the world of Black City. It was dark and it was feral and it’s what I’d call a true dystopian. The setting was incredibly morbid and I mean that in the best way possible! It fit the story well and added a certain…danger to it. But I guess that’s why it’s been dubbed “Breathless Danger” then, huh? The world Liz Richards created made me shudder, especially with the *torture*experiments. Everywhere Natalie and Ash looked, lies and danger lurked in shadows and I found myself *coughs* skipping to the end to find out what happens. Just a peek! I couldn’t resist. It was too tempting! The anxiety just builds up and I couldn’t help it.

CHARACTERS! Wow, they had to be the best part of Black City! Each of them, supporting or main, had their own complexities, their own personality, and they all were needed to make the storyline even more twisted and dangerous. Natalie was so…headstrong? In the way that she would always do something reckless without knowing the full story. But that’s what made her so fun and made the plot all the more exciting! She was loyal to the end when she decided to trust someone, and she was definitely smart. Smart enough to figure out what exactly happened in the laboratory and why the tyrant Purian Rose wanted her to go to a (what was basically) Workboot school. Which was, to say the least, incredibly shocking. She was incredibly determined to do anything she believes in.

Ash…there are no words that can fully describe Ash. (P.S. Why is it that two of my YA crushes are named Ash? …Weird) Anyways, Ash was just so…tormented I guess is the right word. All his life he’s been bullied because of his bloodline and not only that, but he has to keep his mother in chains and a secret because of the disease she has called the Wrath that basically makes a Darkling go mad and decays the skin. He’s never trusted a human, let alone one of the upper-class citizens, a Sentry! And the Emissary’s daughter at that! But they were both so much alike, stubborn, loyal, willing to do the right thing no matter the cost…but also opposites in so many ways. Ash is…let’s just say the bad boy: dark, brooding, hiding so, so many secrets! He’s one character you just have to love!

Time to plot! The plot was so. Full, Of danger! But I guess that’s why it was dubbed “Breathless Danger” right? Well Black City definitely deserves that title! I went along with the story and I nearly screamed at some parts! Things could spin out of control and then the pages would just stare at you like nothing was wrong. And of course, I had to read till the end to find out what happens! Black City is definitely a page-turner that will keep you at the edge of your seat!

The romance was…not as great as I hoped. Sure it was incredibly sweet/dangerous, but it seemed to go along fine…then it sped up. Think of it this way: They were in love 10% to 20% to 30% then skipped to 100% at one of the major plot twists. But the romance was incredibly endearing and tender and the emotions were just spilling all over the place!

This definitely reminded me of Darkness Before Dawn. A lot. But the thing is…no offense, but Black City seemed to capture the emotion better and was just way more dark and had likeable characters. That’s my opinion, of course!

Pages: 373

Series: Black City Chronicles #1

Genre: Vampires/Dystopian/Romance

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons BYR

Release: November 13

Rating: 5/5

"His eyes burn with dark fire, his lips parting slightly as he leans closer, his breath cool against my cheeks. It's like I'm on the top of a roller coaster, ready to tip over at any second, the anticipation building. Almost...almost..."

eBook Giveaway!

Giveaway Time!

Author Meradeth Houston generously offered an eCopy of her book, Colors Like Memories, which sounds absoltuely awesome and has beautiful cover! But don't take my word for it, make your own opinion!

Julia has a secret: she killed the guy she loved. It was an accident—sort of.

Julia is a Sary, the soul of a child who died before taking her first breath. Without this 'breath of life' she and others like her must help those on the verge of suicide. It's a job Julia used to enjoy, until the accident that claimed her boyfriend’s life—an accident she knows was her fault. If living with the guilt weren't enough, she's now assigned to help a girl dealing with the loss of her mother, something Julia's not exactly the best role model for. If she can't figure out a way to help her, Julia's going to lose her position in the Sary, something she swore to her boyfriend would never happen.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Showcase Sunday

INCREDIBLY slow week! So what did I do? I went to NetGalley and requested a TON of eGalleys! hopefully I got SOME!

Props to Books, Biscuits, and Tea for coming up with the meme!

For Review

          

 

Given/Publisher

    

 

Sorry I haven't been reviewing much! ACK! I'm getting worried about when school starts.;/Apparently more work than last year which should NOT be possible, but we'll see. Worst thing: if my grades slip I have to take a break from blogging. *siighs* But anywyay, I WILL review Black City and I WILL review ALL three of those books! If I don't, just call the blog cops on me.

Valkyrie Rising is only because of the blog tour! YAY! But I won't read it just because if I do read it, I won't buy the finished copy. Which I'll want. But won't buy because I can get other books. Yeah, I'm just weird. Innocent Darkness? Blog tour! I only got blog tour books this week lol.