October Wrap-Up

Hello everyone. This year I've decided to update you guys with a monthly wrap-up, where I let you know everything that has been happening on Angelic Book Reviews this past month.

What Happened This Month
October has been a crazy month for me! University has hit me in full force with assignments, lab reports and midterms. So far I've been doing absolutely amazing in my classes, I've been getting A's and A+'s so far, so lets hope that I can keep this up for the next month. Unfortunately, this also means that I've been focusing so much on school I haven't been reading a lot this month. Hopefully this month when school slows down I'll have a little more time to read before December comes around.

Books Reviewed This Month

Thrax by Christina Bauer | Rating 4/5 stars

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han | Rating 4/5 stars

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater | Rating 3/5 stars 

Fire with Fire by Jenny Han | Rating 5/5 stars

Windwitch by Susan Dennard | Rating 4/5 stars

The Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz | 4/5 stars 

Reading Challenge Progress
Goodreads Reading Challenge: 83/80 books read
Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge: 30/25 books read
Audiobook Challenge: 18/10 audiobooks

Did you have a good October?

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Winter's Siren by Krystal Jane Ruin

Winter’s Siren
Krystal Jane Ruin
Publication date: November 1st 2017
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

Synopsis: For the last five years, Fawn has been the star soprano of a secluded opera house, forced to sing for her kidnapper.
His daughter, Devi, waits patiently in the shadows, hiding a face so horrible that no one who’s seen it will look at it again.
As Fawn plots her escape, whispers spread through the shaded corridors of dark sorcery, warning her that she must flee by the next opening night.
But when Fawn draws close to the exit, it’s Devi who’s standing in her way, leading Fawn to suspect that Devi has something to gain if she fails.
(a dark reimagining of Swan Lake)

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

Frosty air nips at my nose. I stand almost knee deep in fresh fallen snow, letting the diffused sunlight hit my face. There is no sound. Peace settles over me. In this moment, I truly feel like I’m in the middle of nowhere.
Something cold and wet explodes on the back of my neck. For a moment, I fear the worst. A boil. Pus. My father’s description of my mother’s face plays out in my mind.
But then I hear Andrew laughing behind me. I touch the rough skin on my neck and bring a shaky and damp glove to my face. Snow. It’s just snow.
It’s the middle of the day, and my face is uncovered. To make everything worse, it’s bright outside. Freezing and overcast, but bright.
My hands fly to my face automatically.
“Are you going to let me get away with that?” Andrew laughs again.
I twist around and peek at him through my fingers.
He stands before me, his arms spread wide. A thick coat covers his arms, and in his gloved hands, he holds another snowball. “You have two seconds to stop me!”
I flip my hood over my head and drop down to gather snow in my hands.
Another snowball bursts against my head. The wetness plasters my hair to my face. I hurl my deformed ball in his direction. It misses him completely.
Another wad of snow lands on my neck while I gather a larger, rounder ball of snow. “Cheating!” I throw my handful at him. It lands weakly by his knees.
“Here, let me help you.” He climbs towards me and gathers a nice, solid ball in his fist. He hands this to me, and then stands back and spreads his arms wide again. “Try again.”
I throw it square at his nose.
“Ow!” He covers his face and cries out dramatically. “It’s in my eyes!”
“Stop it! Are you serious?” I navigate closer to him, and he falls back into the snow. I run to his side and hear laughter bubbling out from behind his hands. “Jerk!” I shovel snow over his body, and he laughs all the while.
Then he goes still. I stop.
“Andrew?” I lean in close. “Andrew?”
He lunges out of his shallow grave and tackles me to the ground.
A panicked scream leaves my body as he lands on top of me, heavy and warm. Then a strange sound comes out of my mouth. Something that’s never come out of it before. Laughter.
His braid hangs down, inches from my sunken cheek. Suddenly aware of how close his head is to mine, the laughter dies in my throat, and I slap my gloves to my cheeks.
“You have such beautiful eyes,” he says.
My breath is trapped in my chest. It hurts. I don’t know how much he can see of my face—my hood is pulled low and my hair and hands cover everything else—but I fear it’s too much.
“Andrew . . .”

Author Bio:
Krystal is the author of supernatural and paranormal fiction, living in the Tennessee Valley with a collection of swords and daggers. When she's not hoarding stuffed pandas, hourglasses, and Hello Kitty replicas, she can be found in YouTube hole or blogging about books, writing, and random things at KrystalSquared.net.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday: Hero at the Fall by Alwyn Hamilton

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

Series: Rebel of the Sands #3
Publication Date: March 6th 2018
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers 
Genre: YA, Fantasy 
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: When gunslinging Amani Al'Hiza escaped her dead-end town, she never imagined she'd join a revolution, let alone lead one. But after the bloodthirsty Sultan of Miraji imprisoned the Rebel Prince Ahmed in the mythical city of Eremot, she doesn't have a choice. Armed with only her revolver, her wits, and her untameable Demdji powers, Amani must rally her skeleton crew of rebels for a rescue mission through the unforgiving desert to a place that, according to maps, doesn't exist. As she watches those she loves most lay their lives on the line against ghouls and enemy soldiers, Amani questions whether she can be the leader they need or if she is leading them all to their deaths.

Review: Fire with Fire by Jenny Had and Siobhan Vivian

Series: Burn for Burn #2
Publication Date: August 13th 20173
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Contemporary 
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: When sweet revenge turns sour… Book two of a trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Lillia, Kat, and Mary had the perfect plan. Work together in secret to take down the people who wronged them. But things didn’t exactly go the way they’d hoped at the Homecoming Dance.

Not even close.

For now, it looks like they got away with it. All they have to do is move on and pick up the pieces, forget there ever was a pact. But it’s not easy, not when Reeve is still a total jerk and Rennie’s meaner than she ever was before.

And then there’s sweet little Mary…she knows there’s something seriously wrong with her. If she can’t control her anger, she’s sure that someone will get hurt even worse than Reeve was. Mary understands now that it’s not just that Reeve bullied her—it’s that he made her love him.

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, burn for a burn. A broken heart for a broken heart. The girls are up to the task. They’ll make Reeve fall in love with Lillia and then they will crush him. It’s the only way he’ll learn.

It seems once a fire is lit, the only thing you can do is let it burn...

My Rating

5/5 stars

My Review

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. a burn for a burn. a life for a life. that's how all this got started. and that's how it's going to end.” 

This book was truly amazing. I was surprised, I fell in love with the characters even more, and this book was so addicting that I couldn't put it down until I finished it.

The girls created a master plan to get revenge, but the outcome wasn't the best. Rennie won't even speak to Lillia anymore, and Reeve is still acting like the big shot of the school. The worst part is, the girls still have to keep their relationship a secret, just incase someone knows about what they did. When the girls come up with an even better revenge plan, one that involves Lillia playing with Reeves heart just like he did with Mary's, everything goes according to plan, until Lillia actually stars falling for Reeve, the one boy whom she could never be with.

This book was so much better than the last. I love the friendship the girls have together, the budding romance between Lillia and Reeve, and most importantly Mary.

Mary's character development in this book is huge. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read the book yet, but by the end of the book Mary is a completely different person, in a good way. She goes from the shy little girl who is afraid of most things and doesn't have control of herself, to a powerful and strong woman, that can be dangerous at times. I loved it. After reading the first book, I never thought I'd be saying those words.

Lillia and Kat were also amazing. I loved seeing Lillia without Rennie, and how she was finally able to become her own person, rather than kind of following whatever Rennie was doing. And Kat is the same badass character I've always loved, and I adore how we get to see the determined smart girl she is in this book. 

The thing that really made me love this book was the intensity and the action of it. After I reached half way into the book, I could not put it down. I seriously stayed up until 4 am reading because I knew that even if I tried to fall asleep, I'd just end up thinking about the book anyways.

The ending was so shocking. I would have never seen it coming in a million years. I even had to put the book down for a moment and use my hand to close my mouth from hanging open because I was so shocked at what happened. The plot was definitely amazing and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Happy Reading,
Aneta

Waiting on Wednesday: The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

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

Series: Untitled Trilogy #1
Publication Date: February 6th 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: YA, Fantasy 
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: When her seventeenth summer solstice arrives, Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron.

Growing up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her for such a life. While some are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she belatedly chose to study knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true—the solstice does not go according to plan and she is left without a patron.

Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, and with no other choices, she accepts. But there is much more to his story, and Brienna soon discovers that he has sought her out for his own vengeful gain. For there is a dangerous plot being planned to overthrow the king of Maevana—the archrival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved—some closer to Brienna than she realizes.

With war brewing between the two lands, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. The ultimate decision Brienna must determine is: Who will be that queen?

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Marked by Fate

Marked by Fate: A Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction Collection
Publication date: October 24th 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Synopsis: Marked by Fate is now enhanced with Augmented Reality! Read, Watch, Listen. The new ultimate reading experience!
Step into adventure with Marked By Fate; the ultimate reading experience. Be immersed in twenty-six fantasy & science fiction worlds with state of the art Augmented Reality technology. Read, listen, and watch bonus content inside to bring the characters and story to life around you.
Enjoy the added features of this special edition, which allow you to enjoy bonus content right from your reading device. See character artwork. Listen to your story’s soundtrack. Watch book trailers and bonus videos. Experience behind the scenes like never before, thanks to Augmented Reality technology. Immersive Fantasy™; bringing fantasy worlds to life.
25 COMPLETE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY NOVELS BY 26 BESTSELLING AUTHORS. PLUS, A SPECIAL BONUS NOVELLA.
Embark on fantastic journeys through magical realms, dystopian lands, and faraway galaxies in this exciting collection of fantasy & science fiction novels brought to you by some of today’s hottest authors. Encounter werewolves, robots, angels, time travelers, shifters, and more in this action-packed box set that will leave you breathless.
Authors:
Kristin D. Van Risseghem
Rhonda Sermon
Kelly St. Clare
Raye Wagner
Ednah Walters
Erin Hayes
Siobhan Davis
Jamie Thornton
Debra Kristi
Sarah K. L. Wilson
Hilary Thompson
Ingrid Seymour
Jeanne Bannon
Melle Amade
Lena Mae Hill
C.J. Anaya
Jackson Dean Chase
D. L. Armillei
Emily Martha Sorensen
Amalie Jahn
Dionne Lister
J.L. Weil
Alisha Klapheke
Angela Fristoe
Meg Cowley
Brandon Barr

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iBooks

99¢ for a limited time only!

—

Welcome to Marked By Fate:
An interactive Immersive Fantasy™reading experience!

The authors of Marked By Fate are thrilled to share this ground-breaking novel with you!
Think Harry Potter and Kindle in Motion. Moving, singing books,and all the excitement of a truly enriched reading experience.
We call it Immersive Fantasy™, because that’s what it does. It draws you into our stories and brings our worlds to life!
The titles in Marked By Fate use this revolutionary technology to bring you the best reading experience of your life.
How does Immersive Fantasy™ work?
Immersive Fantasy™ utilizes what’s known as Augmented Reality (AR). Using a smart phone/device, you can scan secret cues in the stories, and extra AR content will pop up on your device, streamed direct from the cloud (internet connection required).
See amazing, exclusive character artwork. Watch video content.Listen to the soundtrack whilst you read. Discover behind the scenes with the authors in bonus content.
Would you like to try it?
Then keep reading! You have already downloaded the Immersive Fantasy edition of Marked By Fate, and you just need to bring the magic to life.
The simple instructions overleaf will help you easily access this astonishing new world of fantasy that will delight your every sense.
Start your Immersive Fantasy™ adventure today!
Immersive Fantasy™ Instructions
Getting set up
These three steps are crucial to ensure you can access the AR content.
1.On your smart phone or tablet, download the Aurasma app from your app store.
2.Login to the app, and register your account.
3.Search for the user ‘MarkedByFate’, and click follow.
Accessing the Immersive Fantasy™ Augmented Reality content
Follow these steps carefully to access the AR content. Additional help can be found on the Aurasma help desk.
1.Read and enjoy the story, and watch for clues to the AR content. These will appear in the form of images with a symbol next to them, denoting the type of AR content. Content viewable includes images (camera icon), videos (movie clip icon), or music (music icon).
2.You will need one device/format to read on, and a smart device to access the AR content.
3.When you spot an Immersive Fantasy™ clue, open the Aurasma app on your smart device.(Navigate to the viewfinder screen if the app does not automatically do this.)
4.Centre your viewfinder on the trigger image. Make sure to include all of the trigger image in the screen. You can view the content vertically/in portrait or horizontally/in landscape.
5.The app will display the AR content in the form of an image overlay, video overlay,or music overlay, as denoted by the symbol next to the image.
6.Enjoy!You can zoom in and out and tilt your camera to fully explore each piece of content. Make sure you have your sound turned on so you can listen to the video and audio content! You will have to continue focusing on the content to keep listening to music/watching videos/viewing images.
7.It might take a little practice – don’t worry if you struggle on your first try.
Troubleshooting
What to try if it won’t work.
1.No AR content is popping up: have you registered an Aurasma account,and followed ‘MarkedByFate’? You must do this to access the content.
2.No AR content is popping up: have you made sure all of the trigger image is in your viewfinder?
3.No AR content is popping up on my kindle/e-ink device: please adjust your device screen brightness. If the screen is too bright or too dim, the image cannot be recognised by the app.
4.I can’t hear any sound: check the icon. Only video/music AR content has sound.
5.I can’t hear any sound, and it should be playing some: please ensure your volume is not muted,and turned up.
6.The content keeps disappearing: ensure you keep the viewfinder focused on the trigger image so that the AR content will remain overlaid on your screen.If you move too far away from the trigger image, the AR content will disappear.Activate it again by re-scanning the trigger image.
7.Can I access the eBook and the AR content on the same device? No. Aurasma uses your device camera, so you will have to read the book on a difference device to the device you are using Aurasma with.
8.It’s just not working – I’ve tried everything: Please refer to the Aurasma help files,and contact their help desk if you are still having issues. Whilst extensive testing has been performed to ensure maximum device compatibility, regrettably not all devices may be compatible. Best compatibility will be found on pixel based screens with good brightness levels.

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz & Giveaway: The Night Realm by Annette Marie

The Night Realm
Annette Marie
Series: Spell Weaver #1
Published by: Dark Owl Fantasy Inc.
Publication date: October 20th 2017
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Synopsis: Clio would love nothing more than to go home. But as the illegitimate daughter of the nymph king, she’s stuck in the human world, exiled until she can earn a place in the royal family. Then her half-bother offers her a chance to prove herself. All she has to do is acquire some magic … by stealing it from the most dangerous spell weavers in the Underworld.
Lyre prefers to go unnoticed, which is a tricky objective for an incubus. He can’t hide his looks or his coveted spell weaving skills, but he’s learned to mask his true intentions. As an unwilling pawn of the tyrannical Hades family, he stays alive by keeping one step ahead of his masters.
Now he’s been assigned to watch over a visitor from the Overworld—one who’s definitely hiding something. And with her unholy talent for triggering chaos and catastrophe, his job just keeps getting more perilous. Clearly, she’ll never survive this world.
The thing is, he’s no longer sure he can survive it either.

Goodreads / Amazon

This book will be on sale for $0.99 during release week.

—

EXCERPT:

As she stepped up to the last rack of shelves, she realized she hadn’t quite reached the end of the room. Tucked beyond the last shelf was another door—solid steel with no visible handle or lock. A web of magic crisscrossed the metal and complex runes filled four overlapping circles that shifted in a spiraling pattern.
She raised her fingers, keeping a safe several inches between her skin and the steel, and traced a glowing circle. That. She’d never seen anything quite like that before, but she knew it would react to touch. How it would react was another matter.
Intrigued, she leaned in closer, peering intently at the weaving’s underlayers as she tried to work out what it did.
“Don’t touch that.”
Lyre’s voice shattered the silence right behind her. A squeak of fright escaped her as she jerked backward from the door. But, with her sudden movement, her hand went the wrong way. And her fingers, already so close to the door, slapped against the metal.
She cringed in terror, fully expecting the door to explode or her bones to melt or her skull to burst open. Nothing happened—until she tried to pull her hand away.
It was stuck.
She yanked on her hand, but it was fused to the metal as though her skin had been superglued in place.
“I told you not to touch it.”
She shot a glare at Lyre, standing two paces away. “I wouldn’t have touched it if you hadn’t startled me!”
He tucked his binder under his arm and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Why would you touch anything in here without permission?”
“I told you—” She bit off the words. “Unkey the spell.”
“Hmm.” He rocked back on his heels and a downright evil little smirk curved his lips. “Not sure I know how.”
“What?”
“That lovely bit of work predates me. It’s pretty complicated. Since you fancy yourself a spell expert, if you look here, you’ll see—”
He started to point, and she had no idea why, but she flinched back as though he might hit her. Her elbow bumped the door—and got stuck too.
Lyre’s hand paused. “Now look what you did.”
“I didn’t—you—get me off this!”
“As I was saying, you can see here that the weaving amalgamates anything that touches it, so it’s embedded into your skin now—”
“Get me off this door!” She jerked helplessly, her immobilized wrist and elbow twisting awkwardly.
“Well, I could pull you off, but you might lose some skin. Though, since the weaving is spreading into your flesh the longer you stand there, you might leave more than skin behind.”
Her heart kicked up to a full gallop from her growing terror. He, however, seemed perfectly calm. Amused, in fact. Humor danced in his amber eyes, softening the color to something closer to buttery gold.
He was laughing at her.
“Oh.” His eyebrows rose. “That’s quite the scowl.”
She gritted her teeth. “Get. Me. Off.”
Those irresistible lips curved up and her stomach dropped to her feet. The air heated. Why was she suddenly kind of dizzy? Shadows slid through his eyes, dimming the amber to shimmering bronze.
“Get you off?” he repeated, and his tones were all purring honey, warm and deep and sensual. “With pleasure.”
A hot blush swooped through her cheeks as she realized what she’d said. “I—I didn’t mean—I was—”
In a panic, she lurched away from him—right into the spelled door.

Author Bio:
Annette Marie is the author of the Amazon best-selling Steel & Stone series, which includes Goodreads Choice Award nominee Yield the Night, and fantasy trilogy Red Winter. Her first love is fantasy, but fast- paced urban fantasy and tantalizing forbidden romances are her guilty pleasures. She lives in the frozen winter wasteland of Alberta, Canada (okay, it's not quite that bad) with her comparatively sensible husband and their furry minion of darkness—sorry, cat—Caesar. When not writing, she can be found elbow-deep in one art project or another while blissfully ignoring all adult responsibilities.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Amazon

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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 this past week.

From Raincoast

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa De La Cruz
Darcy Fitzwilliam is 29, beautiful, successful, and brilliant. She dates hedge funders and basketball stars and is never without her three cellphones—one for work, one for play, and one to throw at her assistant (just kidding). Darcy’s never fallen in love, never has time for anyone else’s drama, and never goes home for Christmas if she can help it. But when her mother falls ill, she comes home to Pemberley, Ohio, to spend the season with her dad and little brother.

Her parents throw their annual Christmas bash, where she meets one Luke Bennet, the smart, sardonic slacker son of their neighbor. Luke is 32 and has never left home. He’s a carpenter and makes beautiful furniture, and is content with his simple life. He comes from a family of five brothers, each one less ambitious than the other. When Darcy and Luke fall into bed after too many eggnogs, Darcy thinks it’s just another one night stand. But why can’t she stop thinking of Luke? What is it about him? And can she fall in love, or will her pride and his prejudice against big-city girls stand in their way?


From Thomas Allen & Son

Brooding YA Hero by Carrie DiRisio
Have you ever wished you could receive a little guidance from your favorite book boyfriend? Ever dreamed of being the Chosen One in a YA novel? Want to know all the secrets of surviving the dreaded plot twist?

Or maybe you're just really confused about what "opal-tinted, luminous cerulean orbs" actually are?

Well, popular Twitter personality @broodingYAhero is here to help as he tackles the final frontier in his media dominance: writing a book. Join Broody McHottiepants as he attempts to pen Brooding YA Hero: Becoming a Main Character (Almost) as Awesome as Me, a "self-help" guide (with activities--you always need activities) that lovingly pokes fun at the YA tropes that we roll our eyes at, but secretly love. 

As his nefarious ex, Blondie DeMeani, attempts to thwart him at every turn, Broody overcomes to detail, among other topics, how to choose your genre, how to keep your love interest engaged (while maintaining lead character status), his secret formula for guaranteed love triangle success, and how to make sure you secure that sequel, all while keeping his hair perfectly coiffed and never breaking a sweat.

All the Wind in the World by Samantha Mabry
Sarah Jacqueline Crow and James Holt work in the vast maguey fields that span the bone-dry Southwest, a thirsty, infinite land that is both seductive and fearsome. In this rough, transient landscape, Sarah Jac and James have fallen in love. They’re tough and brave, and they have big dreams. Soon they will save up enough money to go east. But until then, they keep their heads down, their muscles tensed, and above all, their love secret.

When a horrible accident forces Sarah Jac and James to start over on a new, possibly cursed ranch called the Real Marvelous, the delicate balance they’ve found begins to give way. And James and Sarah Jac will have to pay a frighteningly high price for their love. 

Spliced by Jon McGoran
In this gripping sci-fi thriller, genetically altered teens fight for survival in a near-future society that is redefining what it means to be human.
Sixteen-year-old Jimi knows people change, but nothing could prepare her for what’s about to happen to her best friend, Del. Del is obsessed with becoming a chimera (ki-mir-a): a person who pays back-alley geneticists, known as ""genies,"" to illegally splice animal genes into their own. The resulting physical changes have scared lawmakers into drafting legislation declaring chimeras officially nonpersons—so when Del goes missing, Jimi is desperate to find him before he alters himself forever.
As she tries to save him, Jimi must face down unscrupulous people and risk her own life—all while knowing that if getting spliced is the choice Del has made, it means he’s leaving her behind forever. 

What did you guys get this week? Let me know in the comments.

Book Tour & Review: The Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz

The Midnight Dance
Nikki Katz
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: October 17th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

Synopsis: When the music stops, the dance begins.
Seventeen-year-old Penny is a lead dancer at the Grande Teatro, a finishing school where she and eleven other young women are training to become the finest ballerinas in Italy. Tucked deep into the woods, the school is overseen by the mysterious and handsome young Master who keeps the girls ensconced in the estate – and in the only life Penny has never known.
But when flashes of memories, memories of a life very different from the one she thinks she’s been leading, start to appear, Penny begins to question the Grand Teatro and the motivations of the Master. With a kind and attractive kitchen boy, Cricket, at her side, Penny vows to escape the confines of her school and the strict rules that dictate every step she takes. But at every turn, the Master finds a way to stop her, and Penny must find a way to escape the school and uncover the secrets of her past before it’s too late.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

My Rating

4/5 stars

My Review

This book definitely needs to be made into a movie.

Penny can't remember who she really is. How strange is it that she can't remember her favourite meal, and all the girls at Grade Teatro have a similar memory of who their mother was and why they ended up there. The only thing that the girls can remember is their dance routine, and that they must never disobey the Master. When Penny's memories start to return, she is desperate to keep them, and find out more about who she really was before she became trapped in this mansion.

I was hooked right from the beginning, the action starts right away and it is very easy to understand the concept of whats going on, which makes the book very pleasurable to read. The writing in this book is so beautiful and I love the way the author wrote descriptions, dialogue and the speed of the plot.

I fell in love with Penny right from the beginning. You can tell how strong of a character she is, when Master can't fully control her mind. Her desperation to find the truth and free the other girls was so wonderful to read about, I definitely love these types of main characters who do things not just for themselves, but to save others. 

Part of the story in this book takes place in the past, as we see how Master became the person that he is today and why. While I thought this was really interesting in the beginning, it kind of fell short for me around the middle and I just got bored with this side of the story. I thought it could have been a bit more interesting, and maybe a tad more explained. I would have loved to see more of the science theory that they had behind the mind control and such.

Overall, this was a really beautiful book. I will definitely be picking up more from this author because I loved her writing style. If you've read the synopsis and you think you'd enjoy it then definitely give it a try.

Happy Reading,
Aneta

Author Bio:
Nikki Katz is an author and editor living in sunny San Diego with her three children. With a BS in aerospace engineering, Nikki first put her writing skills to use publishing four nonfiction books. She moved on to writing young adult fiction, her favorite genre to read as well. The Midnight Dance is her debut novel.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday: Batman: Nightwalker

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

Series: DC Icons #2
Publication Date: January 2nd 2018
Publisher: Random House Book for Young Readers 
Genre: YA, Fantasy 
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne. A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy.

The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list.

One by one, the city's elites are being executed as their mansions' security systems turn against them, trapping them like prey. Meanwhile, Bruce is turning eighteen and about to inherit his family's fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Enterprises and all the tech gadgetry his heart could ever desire. But after a run-in with the police, he's forced to do community service at Arkham Asylum, the infamous prison that holds the city's most brutal criminals.

Madeleine Wallace is a brilliant killer . . . and Bruce's only hope.

In Arkham, Bruce meets Madeleine, a brilliant girl with ties to the Nightwalkers. What is she hiding? And why will she speak only to Bruce? Madeleine is the mystery Bruce must unravel. But is he getting her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees? Bruce will walk the dark line between trust and betrayal as the Nightwalkers circle closer.

Review: Windwitch by Susan Dennard

Series: The Witchlands #2
Publication Date: January 10th 2017
Publisher: Tor Teen
Genre: YA, Fantasy 
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: Sometimes our enemies are also our only allies…

After an explosion destroys his ship, the world believes Prince Merik, Windwitch, is dead. Scarred yet alive, Merik is determined to prove his sister’s treachery. Upon reaching the royal capital, crowded with refugees, he haunts the streets, fighting for the weak—which leads to whispers of a disfigured demigod, the Fury, who brings justice to the oppressed.

When the Bloodwitch Aeduan discovers a bounty on Iseult, he makes sure to be the first to find her—yet in a surprise twist, Iseult offers him a deal. She will return money stolen from him, if he locates Safi. Now they must work together to cross the Witchlands, while constantly wondering, who will betray whom first?

After a surprise attack and shipwreck, Safi and the Empress of Marstok barely escape with their lives. Alone in a land of pirates, every moment balances on a knife’s edge—especially when the pirates’ next move could unleash war upon the Witchlands.

My Rating

4/5 stars

My Review

I love love love this series so much. I forgot how good it was until I picked up this book. The characters, the world, everything is just so wonderful.

Prince Merik should be dead, but he isn't. While he's badly burned to the point where its hard for people who didn't know him to recognize his face, Merik can successfully lead his own mission to determine it was his sister behind the attack on his boat.
Iseult is on the run, and her best way of staying alive is to align herself with the Bloodwitch, who just happens to be hunting her for the bounty on her head. Iseult is able to strike a deal with him, for him to help her get back to Safi.
Safi is a prisoner of the Empress, but when a surprise attack occurs on the Empress's ship, Safi and the Empress are barely able to escape, unfortunately the two escape right into the very people who have been hunting Safi for hiding her truth witchery. 

This book was very different than the first book. While the first book focused a lot on friendship and romance, this book was more focused on character development. I really liked both books equally, but this book just felt like it was missing out on the Safi Iseult friendship, and the first book was missing out on the character development too much. I'm really hoping the next book has both aspects, which will definitely make me love this series even more.

I wasn't too keen on reading Merik's point of view. While it was really different and filled with lots of action and development, I kind of found him to be very stubborn to the point of being annoying and selfish. His part of the ending definitely earned my respect, and made up for the not so good beginning to his side of the story. Hopefully the next part is a bit more interesting in the next book.

I liked Safi's point of view. While it wasn't anything too crazy, Safi has a way of making the reader laugh with her funny one liners and her part of the story was definitely the comedic relief of the story. I did like her by herself, but it would have been so much better if she was with Iseult, I felt like her part of the story would have been even funnier and more entertaining.

I absolutely loved Iseult and Aeduan's story. I wasn't a huge fan of the bloodwitch in the first book, I liked him but I didn't love him. My feelings definitely changed in this book, he easily became on the best characters in this book, and his personality and honour really have me admire him. I thought his and Iseult's story was the most action filled and kept me engaged the most out of all three storylines. I can't wait to read more from these two.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I liked it just as much as Truthwitch, although I think both books could be a lot better with minor tweaking. I can't wait to read the next book.

Happy Reading,
Aneta 

Author Interview: The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

Series: Iskara #1
Publication Date: October 3rd 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: YA, Fantasy 
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be dark—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death bringer. 

These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up hearing in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari—a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl.

Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no kill can free her from the shackles that await at home: her betrothal to the cruel commandant, a man who holds the truth about her nature in his palm. When she’s offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard, she finds that there may be more truth to the ancient stories than she ever could have expected. With the help of a secret friend—a slave boy from her betrothed’s household—Asha must shed the layers of her Iskari bondage and open her heart to love, light, and a truth that has been kept from her.

If you haven't yet, check out my review of this book here.

Interview with Kristen 

Hello Kristen, thank you so much for joining me here on Angelic Book Reviews. I'm so excited to ask you a few questions about The Last Namsara, I've just recently finished it and I absolutely loved it!

My first question for you, is how did you select the names of your characters?

It depends. Sometimes, a name just comes to me. It just feels right. Like Roa. Or Lirabel. Sometimes it hints at something about the character like Dax. And sometimes something has been a name for a character for so long (like Torwin) I can't even remember how or why I chose it.

How did you come up with the idea for The Last Namsara?

I spent a good chunk of my life being ashamed of myself and the things I love most: creativity, imagination, and storytelling. So when I started writing The Last Namsara, I wanted to give that shame to my protagonist. But in order for her to be deeply ashamed of the old stories she tells, I needed here to be a concrete reason for why these stories were dangerous. So I decided that they would lire deadly dragons!

I had no idea this book had such a deep meaning for you, it makes me enjoy it so much more! 
Has the story changed since you started writing?

It's changed quite a lot. I started writing a very early version of this story when I was 17! That version is completely different from what it is now, though. The biggest difference is that while there were dragons in that version, Asha didn't hunt them.

Who was your favourite author, and why?

Patricia McKillip. I grew up in a time where YA wasn't really a category yet, so I read a lot of adult fantasy. Her book, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, is my most read book. I've probably read it more than a dozen times, and every time I love it as much as the first time. Also: she's totally mysterious. She isn't only, nor does she have author photos in the backs of any of her books. I love that.

That sounds amazing. I've never read her work, but I love how she's managed to keep sort of an anonymous profile.
For our last question, can you tell us what we can expect in the upcoming books?

You can expect more Asha, more dragons, but also way more of two supporting characters: Roa and Safire. The Caged Queen comes out next fall and picks up right where The Last Namsara leaves off, only from Roa's point of view. So you get to finally lean who this mysterious character is and why she does what she does in book one.

That description has made me so excited to read book two. I absolutely adore Safire, and I'm really excited to find out more about Roa.
Thank you so much for joining me today Kristen, and answering all of my questions. Congratulations f publishing The Last Namsara, I can't wait to continue reading this series.

About Kristen:

Kristen Ciccarelli hails from Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula where she grew up on her grandfather’s grape farm. She spent her childhood running wild with her cousins, adventuring in the woods, building forts in the barn, and obsessing over books, dragons, and girls wielding really cool weapons. Visit her at kristenciccarelli.com.