Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. With this amazing meme, you can check out which books I've gotten.

From Netgalley

The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind by Barbara K. Lipska 
Neuroscientist Lipska was diagnosed early in 2015 with metastatic melanoma in her brain's frontal lobe. As the cancer progressed and was treated, the author experienced behavioral and cognitive symptoms connected to a range of mental disorders, including her professional specialty, schizophrenia. Lipska's family and associates were alarmed by the changes in her behavior, which she failed to acknowledge herself. Gradually, after a course of immunotherapy, Lipska returned to normal functioning, recalled her experience and, through her knowledge of neuroscience, identified the ways in which her brain changed during treatment. Lipska admits her condition was unusual; after recovery she was able to return to her research and resume her athletic training and compete in a triathalon. Most patients with similar brain cancers rarely survive to describe their ordeal. Lipska's memoir, coauthored with journalist McArdle, shows that strength and courage but also a encouraging support network are vital to recovery 

Once a King by Erin Summerill
A young king searches for a way to save his kingdom in this romantic fantasy from Erin Summerill, who was called “absolutely marvelous” by New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas.

Aodren: A lonely, young king, searching for a way to dismantle his father’s dark legacy.
Lirra: A girl with the power to control the wind, torn between duty and following her dreams

For twenty years, Channelers—women with a magical ability—have been persecuted in Malam by those without magic. Now King Aodren wants to end the bloody divide and unite his kingdom. But decades of hatred can’t be overcome by issuing decrees, and rumors of a deadly Channeler-made substance are only fueling people’s fears. Lirra has every reason to distrust Aodren. Yet when he asks for help to discover the truth behind the rumors, she can’t say no. With Lirra by his side, Aodren sees a way forward for his people. But can he rewrite the mistakes of the past before his enemies destroy the world he’s working so hard to rebuild? Erin Summerill returns with a high-stakes fantasy full of romance, magic, and revenge perfect for fans of Susan Dennard and C. J. Redwine.


As you are reading this, I am headed to my second final exam. Assuming I make it out alive, I cannot wait to start reading these books. I read an excerpt of the Neuroscientist's book and I was already hooked from chapter one. I requested it from Netgalley, but part of me hoped that I would get denied because I kind of want to buy a physical copy of the book anyways... we'll see. As for Once a King, I HAD NO CLUE THE SERIES WAS CONTINUING. I am so excited to keep reading and see Aodren and Lira's story. 
Have a lovely weekend, and let me know which books you got this week.

DNF Review: Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

Series: The Shadow Game #1
Publication Date: April 10th 2018
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Genre: YA, Fantasy 
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: Welcome to the City of Sin, where casino families reign, gangs infest the streets…
and secrets hide in every shadow.

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted.

Frightened and alone, her only lead is a name: Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected—he’s a street lord and a con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unraveling investment scam, so he doesn't have time to investigate a woman leading a dangerous double life. Enne's offer of compensation, however, could be the solution to all his problems.

Their search for clues leads them through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets and into the clutches of a ruthless mafia donna. As Enne unearths an impossible secret about her past, Levi's enemies catch up to them, ensnaring him in a vicious execution game where the players always lose. To save him, Enne will need to surrender herself to the city…

And she’ll need to play. 

My Rating

DNF

My Review

DNF at 25% in.

The hype about this book was crazy, and I've even tons of amazing reviews from fellow bloggers that were raving about this release, but sadly it just wasn't for me.

I told myself I would stop reading if I didn't like the book by 30%, but at 25% I just gave up.

As I started the book, I thought I was totally going to fall in love with it. The story starts with Enne coming off a boat, and into the City of Sin looking for her missing mother. When Enne tries to ask the local police for help, they start acting very weird at the mention of her mother's name. Enne ends up running away from the police with a boy who leads her to Levi, one of the local street gang lords. Since Levi is in desperate need for cash, he decides to help Enne find her mother, and the two start off on their adventure together. 

Like I said, the first chapter or so was actually pretty interesting, but soon after that the book became very dry. The most action in the novel at the 25% was the running away from the police scene, everything else after that was just walking and talking, and talking to other people. There just wasn't enough excitement to keep me interested in the book.

While I didn't necessarily like the characters, I also didn't hate them either. Enne was fairly boring, she was very proper and mostly kept to herself. I'm sure she goes through some character development and gets out of her comfort zone throughout the novel, but even then I wasn't sure if she would become a strong female character, there just wasn't anything about her that stood out or made me love her. Levi was definitely an interesting character at first, but reading in his perspective turned out to be very boring. I find him to be very selfish and honestly not that smart for what he claims. 

The weirdest thing about this book, and probably the biggest reason why I had to put this book down, was because Enne was carrying a book on her that told her everything about the City of Sin, right down to the people in the city.... like what? Sure I understand tourist books with landmarks and festivals, but this book actually had like character descriptions and went into so much detail about the city, including some of it's illegal activities. I'm not sure why, but I just found this so strange and weird.

Maybe in the future I will give this book another try, and actually get past 25% in. But for right now, this was definitely not the book for me.

Happy Reading,
Aneta

Waiting on Wednesday: Rage by Cora Carmack

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Series: Stormheart #2
Publication Date: June 5th 2018
Publisher: Tor Teen
Genre: YA, Fantasy 
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD 

Synopsis: New York Times bestselling author Cora Carmack's young adult debut series: the second in a captivating new YA fantasy/romance series perfect for fans of Victoria Aveyard

Princess or adventurer.

Duty or freedom.

Her Kingdom or the Stormhunter she loves.

If Aurora knows anything, it's that choices have consequences. To set things right, she joins a growing revolution on the streets of Pavan. 

In disguise as the rebel Roar, she puts her knowledge of the palace to use to aid the rebellion. But the Rage season is at its peak and not a day passes without the skies raining down destruction. Yet these storms are different—they churn with darkness, and attack with a will that’s desperate and violent. 

This feels like more than rage. 

It feels like war.

Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. With this amazing meme, you can check out which books I've gotten.

From Netgalley

Over Raging Tides by Jennifer Ellision
The pirate crew of the Lady Luck lives by many rules, but chief among them is this: they do not allow men on board. 

That’s a rule that quartermaster Grace Porter is willing to break when a shipwrecked young nobleman offers her information of an omniscient map, stolen from his warship by an enemy vessel. Until now, the map was only the stuff of legend… but with its help, Grace may finally be able to hunt down the Mordgris, the sea monsters who stole her mother away from her.

Unfortunately, some members of her crew have other plans...

To find the map and face the Mordgris, Grace will have to confront her past, put the Luck between warring nations, and uncover treachery aboard the ship. And ultimately, her revenge and the destruction of the Mordgris will come at a hefty price: the betrayal of her crew.

Grace promised them they wouldn’t regret this.

She just isn’t sure that she won’t.

Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean
In a palace of illusions, nothing is what it seems.


Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace’s enchanted seasonal rooms. Conquer Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Marry the prince. All are eligible to compete—all except y?kai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy. Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren't hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a y?kai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life will be forfeit. As she struggles to keep her true identity hidden, Mari’s fate collides with that of Taro, the prince who has no desire to inherit the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human, half-y?kai outcast. Torn between duty and love, loyalty and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness, the choices of Mari, Taro, and Akira will decide the fate of Honoku in this beautifully written, edge-of-your-seat YA fantasy.
Taro, Mari, and Akira come face to face in the Palace of Illusions where their true destinies are revealed. Torn between duty and love, loyalty and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness, their choices will decide the fate of Honoku itself.

I've been in a huge pirate book mood after finishing Daughter of the Siren Queen, so I went ahead and requested Over Raging Tides, to read after I finish up my exams in two weeks. I also requested Empress of All Seasons, now it doesn't have a cover yet, but that synopsis already has me dying to read it. That's all I got this week, what did you guys get?

Waiting on Wednesday: Nightblood by Elly Blake

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Series: Frostblood Saga #3
Publication Date: June 5th 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: Ruby's world has changed more than she ever could have imagined. She's in love with a powerful Frost King. She's the heir to the Fire Throne. And she may be a Nightblood--the spawn of a vengeful deity hellbent on releasing his wraithlike Minax from their prison. Once freed, these beasts will roam the earth, devouring every last person until he or she is nothing but an empty husk. But Ruby is able to control the Minax to a degree, and now she, her beloved Arcus, and her friend Kai must find a way to bring Frostbloods and Firebloods--sworn enemies--together to make a stand against a foe more deadly than any they've faced.

In this heart-pounding finale of Elly Blake's gorgeously written and action-packed Frostblood Saga, the fate of Frostbloods, Firebloods, and all of humanity is at stake.

Review: Zombie Abbey by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Publication Date: April 2018
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Genre: YA, Horror, Historical Fiction
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: 1920, England

And the three teenage Clarke sisters thought what they’d wear to dinner was their biggest problem…

Lady Kate, the entitled eldest.
Lady Grace, lost in the middle and wishing she were braver.
Lady Lizzy, so endlessly sunny, it’s easy to underestimate her.

Then there’s Will Harvey, the proud, to-die-for—and possibly die with!—stable boy; Daniel Murray, the resourceful second footman with a secret; Raymond Allen, the unfortunate-looking young duke; and Fanny Rogers, the unsinkable kitchen maid.

Upstairs! Downstairs! Toss in some farmers and villagers!

None of them ever expected to work together for any reason.

But none of them had ever seen anything like this.

My Rating

4/5 stars

My Review

Zombie Abbey is a short and hilarious read, perfect for fans of zombies and 1920's England.

When Will Harvey's aunt shoots her husband, no one believes her when she tells people that he was most definitely dead, before rising back to life and trying to kill her. When the zombies reach the Clarke estate, everyone must set aside their differences and work together, or they just might end up dead.

After reading the synopsis of this book I knew that I had to read it. I love the time period that this is set in, and who doesn't love a good zombie story. Although this book is placed in the horror genera, I didn't really think it was that scary. I actually found it to be more funny than scary.

This book is told in the perspectives of many people at the Clarke estate, including the sisters, Will Harvey and the maid. While there was lots of characters I loved, like the youngest sister Lizzy, there was also a lot of characters that I didn't particularly care about. So when I was reading from the point of view from the characters I liked I really enjoyed the story, but when I was reading in the point of view of the characters I didn't care about, the story sometimes seemed to just drag on. I really would have enjoyed the story if it was told in one or two points of view rather than this many.

The plot of the story was good. This book definitely has a slow start, but eventually picks up around half way into the book. But once the action started the book definitely got a lot better and I found myself wanting to continue reading.

While I really enjoyed the story, I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. I think there were a little too many open ended questions about the characters and what happens next to the characters, for me to enjoy the ending. It almost seems like there should be a sequel to this novel, but I don't think there is one.

Overall, I enjoyed most of the characters and the action in this story made me want to keep reading, and not put the book down. I definitely recommend this book if you love Zombies or Jane Austen novels, although if you want action from beginning to end or a sold ending, this might not be the book for you.

Happy Reading,
Aneta 

Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. With this amazing meme, you can check out which books I've gotten.

From Simon & Schuster 

From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon
Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy—a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.

When mystery man “N” begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she’s fallen madly in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil.

Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she’s got is not the one she’s scripted. But will it be enough?

Told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, with Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you.

Sanctuary by Caryn Lix
Alien meets Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds in this thrilling debut novel about prison-guard-in-training, Kenzie, who is taken hostage by the superpowered criminal teens of the Sanctuary space station—only to have to band together with them when the station is attacked by mysterious creatures.

Kenzie holds one truth above all: the company is everything.

As a citizen of Omnistellar Concepts, the most powerful corporation in the solar system, Kenzie has trained her entire life for one goal: to become an elite guard on Sanctuary, Omnistellar’s space prison for superpowered teens too dangerous for Earth. As a junior guard, she’s excited to prove herself to her company—and that means sacrificing anything that won’t propel her forward.

But then a routine drill goes sideways and Kenzie is taken hostage by rioting prisoners.

At first, she’s confident her commanding officer—who also happens to be her mother—will stop at nothing to secure her freedom. Yet it soon becomes clear that her mother is more concerned with sticking to Omnistellar protocol than she is with getting Kenzie out safely.

As Kenzie forms her own plan to escape, she doesn’t realize there’s a more sinister threat looming, something ancient and evil that has clawed its way into Sanctuary from the vacuum of space. And Kenzie might have to team up with her captors to survive—all while beginning to suspect there’s a darker side to the Omnistellar she knows.

Thats all for this week. What did you guys get?
Happy Easter everyone!

Waiting on Wednesday: Legendary by Stephanie Garber

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Series: Caraval #2
Publication Date: May 29th 2018
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: The sequel to the New York Times bestselling and #1 IndieNext Pick Caraval, following Scarlett’s younger sister, Tella, on a journey to the empire’s capital to fulfill a dangerous bargain.

Stephanie Garber’s limitless imagination takes flight once more in the colorful, mesmerizing, and immersive sequel to her New York Times bestselling debut novel Caraval. 

This year’s Caraval has concluded. Tella is alive—and safe, to her older sister’s relief. But Tella has secrets she has been keeping from Scarlett. Secrets like what Tella promised in exchange for the sisters’ invitations to Caraval in the first place. Secrets about the person to whom these promises were made. And secrets about Julian, the Caraval player who won Scarlett’s heart. 

Afraid of revealing the truth to the person who loves her most, Tella runs away to Valenda, the capital of the Empire, to find the mysterious correspondent whom Tella owes. But in the nights leading up to Elantine’s Day, a cross between a masquerade ball, a jubilee, and Caraval, no one is to be trusted . . .

Book Tour: Cold Hard Truth by Anne Greenwood Brown

Publication Date: April 3rd 2018
Publisher: Albert Whitman Company 
Genre: YA, Contemporary 
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD ~ B&N ~ iBooks

Synopsis: Emmie O’Brien is a former good girl now on the fringe. She spent a crazy year involved with Nick, her mom’s drug dealer; after her arrest she was lucky to go back to her old life. But she’s haunted by the choices she made—first, to be with Nick, and then later, to testify against him. Max Shepherd is a senior varsity hockey player with serious anger issues. His grief over the death of his girlfriend causes him to see injustice wherever he looks. When they meet in community service, Max is drawn to Emmie’s calm energy, but Emmie knows better than to get too close to anyone. When friends of Nick show up seeking revenge, Emmie is forced to come to terms with her past, while Max has to control his protective instincts. They must trust one another, especially when Emmie’s situation takes a dangerous turn.

Excerpt

“Emmie,” Marissa said. “Your car.”
“What?” Emmie asked, redirecting her focus. She barely even noticed when Max’s hand clamped around her arm, and that was because her windshield was smashed in. Like, completely. Not just a spiderweb of cracks but crumpled into the car like the whole thing was made of tissue paper.
Emmie ran the rest of the way to her parking spot, practically dragging Max along with her because he wouldn’t let go of her arm. She circled her car and groaned when she discovered all four tires were slashed. The word Pigeon was spray-painted over her back left fender— misspelled, which somehow made it worse—but what hurt the most were the five letters written across her trunk: W-H-O-R-E.
Max let go of Emmie’s arm as her body went rigid. Her brain couldn’t process what she was seeing. She knew who did it. She knew why. But she couldn’t believe they’d come to her school and done this in broad daylight. The words were like scalpels, carving holes in her heart and stomach. Her limbs went numb.
Max’s fist slammed down on the trunk of the car. The sudden noise made Emmie jump, as did her car on its shocks. Max’s eyes were wide. Emmie thought he might have actually growled.
“Who did this?” he asked, whispering through his teeth. “I’ll kill them!”
“Oh noooo,” Marissa said from the front of the car, unaware of the worst of it, not to mention Max’s barely controlled outrage. She leaned into the broken driver-side window. “Emmie, they took your hula girl.”
Emmie rolled her eyes, and Max grabbed her shoulders. “Was it that guy from Saturday morning?” His eyes glanced to the damning word painted on the trunk, his voice raw.
The way he looked and sounded scared her. It reminded her of the way he’d looked on the ice that first time she’d seen him play. Like he was a boulder
rolling downhill, crushing everything in his path. It reminded her of junkies hungry for a fix. And it reminded her of Nick.

Max must have seen the flicker of fear in her eyes because his grip relaxed and he took a step back. That simple, tender act was all Max. It reminded her of no one else.


About the Author

Anne Greenwood Brown lives in Minnesota with her patient husband and three hilarious children.
She is the author of the following Young Adult novels:
COLD HARD TRUTH (contemporary/romance); GIRL LAST SEEN (contemporary/suspense); and the paranormal mermaid trilogy: LIES BENEATH, DEEP BETRAYAL, PROMISE BOUND.
She also writes adult romance under the name A.S. Green.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads

Giveaway

3 winners will receive an ARC of COLD HARD TRUTH, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule: 
Week One:
3/26/2018- Angelic Book Reviews- Excerpt
3/27/2018- Portrait of a Book- Review
3/28/2018- BookHounds YA- Interview
3/29/2018- The Desert Bibliophile- Review
3/30/2018- Here's to Happy Endings- Review


Week Two:
4/2/2018- Wonder Struck- Review
4/3/2018- Adventures Thru Wonderland- Review
4/4/2018- Falling For YA- Review
4/5/2018- Literary Meanderings - Interview
4/6/2018- Eli to the nth- Review

Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. With this amazing meme, you can check out which books I've gotten.

Won from Giveaway

American Street by Ibi Zoboi
The rock in the water does not know the pain of the rock in the sun.

On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—a good life.

But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own.

Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream?

That's all for this week. What did you guys get?

Waiting on Wednesday: Furyborn by Claire Legrand

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Series: The Empirium Trilogy #1
Publication Date: May 22nd 2018
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: YA, Fantasy 
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: The stunningly original, must-read fantasy of 2018 follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.

Review: The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco

Series: The Bone Witch #2
Publication Date: March 20th 2018
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: In The Bone Witch, Tea mastered resurrection—now she's after revenge...

No one knows death like Tea. A bone witch who can resurrect the dead, she has the power to take life...and return it. And she is done with her self-imposed exile. Her heart is set on vengeance, and she now possesses all she needs to command the mighty daeva. With the help of these terrifying beasts, she can finally enact revenge against the royals who wronged her—and took the life of her one true love. 

But there are those who plot against her, those who would use Tea's dark power for their own nefarious ends. Because you can't kill someone who can never die... 

War is brewing among the kingdoms, and when dark magic is at play, no one is safe.

My Rating

5/5 stars

My Review

I adored The Bone Witch, but I absolutely fell in love with The Heart Forger. This book was everything I wanted and more. I can't even describe how perfect it was.

Tea has finally completed her army of the dead and daeva, and with Kalen and the Bard with her, she is finally read to star her war. As Tea and her army march towards Daanoris to begin her revenge, Tea continues explaining her story to the Bard starting from the time when Prince Kance fell ill with the sleeping sickness, and Tea was blamed for it.

I have always loved Tea, right from the beginning of this series, but in this book she just became so much more. We see a lot more of present Tea taking action and explaining why she is currently doing the things she is doing, and we also get to see past Tea come into her magic, protect the ones she loves and start on the path that eventually leads her to where present Tea is (If you haven't read the first book, it is told in the perspective of Tea presently, and as she tells the story of her past). There is so much character development, not only from the past Tea but also with the present Tea as well. And finally in this book the two Teas somewhat start to become one, as past Tea has to make difficult choices and face dangerous creatures that require a huge amount of magic, enough to drive any Asha mad.

The one thing I didn't like about the first book, was that present Tea's story was a bit dry and boring and I found myself skipping parts of it. However, in this book that is not the case at all. There was action in both past and present tense, and I couldn't get enough of both. It was action packed, it wasn't confusing to the reader, and I loved every moment of it.

If you've read the first book a while back, and are just picking this one up now, I would definitely recommend just looking at online spoilers of the book just to familiarize yourself with the characters, who's who and who did what. I was definitely able to remember the main characters very well even without help, but there are a lot of secondary characters that play an important role where I sort of forgot who they were, until about a half way into the book when it finally clicked on what they did in the first book and who they were exactly.

Overall, I loved the characters, the action and the world that Rin Chupeco created. I think this series may go down as one of my favourites. I am already dying, just waiting for the third book to come out. I definitely recommend this series to all YA fantasy fans.

Happy Reading,
Aneta