Fiction Freak

Friday, March 22, 2013

Blog Tour: Poison by Bridget Zinn

I'm thrilled to be part of the blog tour for POISON by Bridget Zinn. I found out about her parting a few months ago and I definitely cried some. She never got to experience the full author experience or meet her fans. So we're going to help her dream come true by telling you about the epicness of POISON.

Review

Goodreads Blurb

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.
But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart . . . misses.
Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

This book was amazing and definitely different. Even before deciding I wanted to read it, I was told that it was a lighter read and more innocent, even with the potions and witchery and assassination attempts! Of course, I didn't quite believe them. But then, there was a pig. But then, it still wasn't quite enough to convince me. I'm sorry!

Because now, I totally get what they meant. This may be the genre where most books are bloody and deadly, but that definitely wasn't the case with Poison. It was more...deception than war, I guess. Does that make sense? Of course not. It's me we're talking about.

But all you need to know was that this was seriously adorable and amazing. And if that put you off (like it did a bit for me--I'm more of a suspicion and evil kind of girl...that sounded a bit sinister), take a chance! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I just adored this! It's sweet and innocent and SO REFRESHING. No matter how many times I say that, I think that's the most true it's ever been. I've been reading so many dark books, it's a bit of a relief to read something that's just fun!

The characters were wonderfully written as well! I loved Kyra who was such an...interesting character to read about. She was feisty and she was actually pretty indifferent and cold in the beginning story. She was willing to kill her best friend for her kingdom and that was pretty...sacrificial. Fred was seriously my favorite character in this book! He was the fun one who I'd associate with the pig, actually, not the wolf we meet him with. Also, I love their first meeting! Talk about hilarity!

I love the way this story was told! We start after the assassination attempt and as we go on, we read about Kyra's memories, so it was like reading two storylines at once--the time leading up to the assassination attempt, and the escape afterwards. Surprisingly, it wasn't choppy either, like I'd usually expect. The two stories fit together seamlessly and created an immensely enjoyable read!

The only thing that I didn't love was that there were some random things that popped up. Why did Arlo do what he did? What did he get out of it? It's like he had 2 plans and they really just cancelled each other out...but I can't explain this without ruining it! And the Gypsy caravan just popping out of nowhere was a bit startling too, and a bit too convenient really.

Pages: 288
Genre: High Fantasy
Series: Stand alone
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: March 12, 2013
Rating: 4 stars

First

SO. I HAVE DECIDED TO TALK ABOUT MY FIRST AUTHOR SIGNING/EVENT. Also known as possibly the most embarrassing thing EVER.

I was in NYC (WHY didn't I meet my bloggy friends before this? NOOOO. I HAD TO FRIEND THEM AFTER) and I'd heard about a Teen Author Carnival in a library that was hosting the authors of some of my most anticipated titles. OF COURSE I WENT.

It was so incredibly embarrassing.

I was late to the first talk because of subway troubles (they're so incredibly,incredibly confusing) and the second one was SO FUN. I GOT BOOKS. But after...well. So I'm pretty sure I embarrassed myself in front of a few authors (Fiona Paul, Gennifer Albin, Tiffany Schmidt, K.M. Walton, Lauren Morrill) and thank God they don't remember the awkward girl who just stood in the corner, making shifty eyes. Well maybe they do. I wanted the OH SO PRETTY SWAG. But I wasn't sure if we could just...you know, TAKE it. So I asked. It was awkward. You had to be there. I then went up to Fiona and asked when ARCs would be sent to bloggers. SO SHE GAVE ME HER ARC. I SQUEALED SO MUCH. And thus embarrassed myself. *cough* Im going red from typing this.

Author

Bridget grew up in Wisconsin. She went to the county fair where she met the love of her life, Barrett Dowell. They got married right before she went in for exploratory surgery which revealed she had colon cancer. They christened that summer the "summer of love" and the two celebrated with several
more weddings. Bridget continued to read and write until the day she died. Her last tweet was "Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect."

Bridget wanted to make people laugh and hoped readers would enjoy spending time with the characters she created. As a librarian/writer she loved books with strong young women with aspirations. She also felt teens needed more humorous reads. She really wanted to write a book with pockets of warmth and happiness and hoped that her readers' copies would show the watermarks of many bath time reads.

Other stops

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Slated by Teri Terry

Goodreads Blurb

Kyla has been Slated—her memory and personality erased as punishment for committing a crime she can’t remember. The government has taught her how to walk and talk again, given her a new identity and a new family, and told her to be grateful for this second chance that she doesn’t deserve. It’s also her last chance—because they’ll be watching to make sure she plays by their rules.

As Kyla adjusts to her new life, she’s plagued by fear. Who is she, really? And if only criminals are slated, why are so many innocent people disappearing? Kyla is torn between the need to know more and her instinct for self-preservation. She knows a dangerous game is being played with her life, and she can’t let anyone see her make the wrong move . . . but who can she trust when everyone is a stranger?

I have to say, as much as I liked Slated, I was definitely a bit disappointed too. With all the great reviews out there, I feel like the black sheep in all honesty! But as much as I tried to love it, it just face-planted a few feet from my expectations.

While I was instantly captured at first, I found that Slated was a bit too slow for me and I quickly lost interest. I enjoyed learning about this world, of course, but it was just...how do I explain. It dealt more along the lines of how Kyla adjusted to the world (and being different than different) rather than having a captivating action packed plot which is honestly what I'd expected. It was a bit boring seeing a girl adjust to school and while there were many moments of excitement, they were brief (about one or two pages). I felt like you could condense all the exciting parts of this book from a 300+ book to a barely 250 and still gain as much...thrill, I guess.

The romance was super cheesy and I didn't really like Ben, our love interest. He was somehow perfect, even if he didn't really have his own mind. He didn't seem to have any depth to him whatsoever and their relationship in general didn't seem to be well written. They run together, they're both Slated--so they both fall in love? I honestly couldn't believe it, no matter how much I was hoping I'd end up liking Ben.

I did love how a reader could have absolutely no idea who to trust. One moment I'd think we could trust Amy, then I feel like she'd betray Kyla like that, then back to thinking we can trust her. Then the same to her "Mum", her "Dad", Ben, Aiden, Jazz, all of them. Who to trust, who to trust? If you could forget everything/die just for trusting the wrong person...well, that's a lot of pressure! I was nervous throughout most of the book, wondering who we could trust and who would betray Kyla in a second.

Pages: 352

Genre: Dystopian

Series: Slated #1

Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books

Release Date: January 24, 2013

Rating 2.5-->3 stars

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Your mind is not your own...

20-year-old Lindsay Cummings' debut novel, THE MURDER COMPLEX, is described as an action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birth rate, and follows Meadow Woodson, a 15-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, kill, and to survive in any situation, and Zephyr James, the orphaned boy she falls in love with, whose sole purpose is to keep her from discovering the haunting truth about her family, even if it puts them both in mortal danger.

How long have I been eyeing this? Oh, you know...not that long. Also, I'm just saying, since I preposted this in December, if there's a cover now...whoops! But I thought to go safe and chose a 2014!!! I LOVE the premise of this! It does sound a bit cliche...but come on. A 15 year old murderer? Trained by her FATHER? Who else is desperate? *looks around* ANYONE?

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Art of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar

Goodreads Blurb

He can grant her wishes, but only she can save his life.
Margo McKenna has a plan for just about everything, from landing the lead in her high school play to getting into a good college. So when she finds herself in possession of a genie's ring and the chance to make three wishes, she doesn't know what to do. Why should she put her life into someone else's hands?
But Oliver is more than just a genie -- he's also a sophomore at Margo's high school, and he's on the run from a murderer. As he and Margo grow closer, she discovers that it will take more than three wishes to save him.
A whole lot more.

Going into this, I had a lot of iffy feelings. I mean, genies? It sounded very...fluff like. And the cover didn't exactly make me scream want. Yeah, I'm a horrible person, judging a book by its cover. I'M SORRY. But I did end up loving it! Maybe not as much as I'd hoped, but it was still pretty good.

While adorable, the romance felt a bit...quick. Okay, not a bit. Margo kisses Oliver maybe after their fifth conversation, and was really only spurred on by the fact that he granted her wish. Not to mention Margo knew almost nothing about this guy except that he was a genie, and fell so quickly. Also, Oliver literally fell in love at first sight. After getting that initial bump, though, I loved the romance, which was so sweet (though it did have some quirks, and a few uncommon love quarrels!)

The plot was less exciting than I was hoping for. Oliver keeps hinting that the assassin will show up soon, but he stays just one day, just two days, just five days more, before he hides from this killer. I have no words for the stupidity of that. When we do meet the killer, the plot wasn't really as exciting as I'd hoped. Sure, there were a few thrilling scenes, but they were few. There were no plot twists that really shocked me and the ending was fairly predictable, and it was...easy. There was almost no hesitation and that was...like I said, too easy.

I adored the originality of this book though. Ribar creates her own unique lore that I loved reading about and it was definitely one of the most fascinating kind of world building (fiction building?) I've seen! It was definitely different from djinn books I've read. Totally different from genies by the way. At least, the lore was.
But it was well built so that (good) genies could grant the wish that people MEANT instead of loopholing like the fey we know so well. If you read those.

I loved Oliver. He may have molded himself to Margo's image, but still. He was sweet and endearing, a little cocky at times, and an all around perfect love interest! Though there is this one part where we find out he's bi and Margo seems totally at ease. Go Margo! Though its sort of unlikely.
Margo was a bit petty at first, but slowly became a relatable character that was fun to read about! Her snark gave a humorous touch to the book, which I loved. She seemed a little flat to me, but it wasn't really that big a deal as it usually is, which was weird...

Pages: 314
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Series: Art of Wishing #1
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 21, 2013
Rating: 3.5--->4 stars

Monday, March 18, 2013

Taken by Erin Bowman

Goodreads Blurb

There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.
They call it the Heist.
Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.
Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

I was so scared going into this book since some of my bloggy friends rated it less than 3 stars or just DNF'd it (I'm looking at you Eileen). On the other hand it sounded SO good and there were still a number of good reviews! And...me? I'm in the latter section!

I absolutely loved Taken! It was...well. I don't know how to explain it really! This book flew by and when I realized I was more than halfway through, I couldn't believe it! I thought I was maybe a quarter in at most...I have absolutely no idea how she did it, but Erin Bowman wrote a book that made me desperately dread the ending that was coming all to quickly.

My absolute favorite part of the book though, was definitely the first half of the book before *minor spoiler* Gray climbs over the wall. It was fascinating seeing how this society worked out--which, it turns out, was pretty surprising...(whatever am I saying?). What I do want to warn you about is that there's more to the story than what the synopsis above hints at. That's only half the story! The rest really does sound like your typical dystopian (lies fed by the government, rebellion, deaths...whoops! did I just spoil that? Nah...but now you know what to look out for!), but it was still different in a way I can't really...get. It was an aspect that I enjoyed, but it's actually really hard to pinpoint why!

Romance...hmmm, I honestly felt it could do a little better without the, you know, love triangle, but it honestly isn't that big an issue since the "other" seems to be there just as revenge and we don't really go in depth with it, but it could also be simply annoying since there's absolutely no development whatsoever. One of the girls doesn't seem interested, then all of a sudden loves Gray, then the second seems to be just...there.

My only other complaint for this was the worldbuilding--the biggest question, for me, was how did the Heists work? And how did Gray not realized something was up when he found out that all the Hesited boys....well. I can't spoil that.

This book was a fast paced book that, while I wouldn't call it "Action packed", had enough action to keep readers satisfied and reading! I could not put this down and read it in 2 sittings (i.e. 1 sitting with a half hour break to eat.), flipping page after page of amazing writing! While it was actually a bit predictable in some cases (I could guess at a few!) I could still find myself surprised by a sudden turn of events!

While I wouldn't really recommend this for people already getting tired of YA dystopia, I will say that it's definitely a great book if you're in a reading slump or if you're searching for another amazing dystopian!

Pages: 352

Genre: Dystopia

Series: Taken #1

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: April 16, 2013

Rating: 4.5--->4 stars