Amy won ANOTHER prize pack!

Let January 2016 go down in history as Amy's winning-est month ever!  You may recall that I won another book prize pack just a couple of weeks ago! 

I just received a fabulous prize pack from MacMillan Children's Publishing Group and Fierce Reads.  This one includes:
- a bound manuscript of Stars Above: A Lunar Chronicles Collection by Marissa Meyer
- a Heartless/Six of Crows sampler
- a Lunar Chronicles zipper hoodie sweatshirt
- a Lunar Chronicles tattoo sheet
- a pair of Winter gloves
- a Fierce Reads pen

YIPEE!!!!  Thank you MacMillan and Fierce Reads!  I can't wait to dive in to the 6 short stories I've not yet read from Stars Above as well as the Heartless sampler (which I'll likely read while wearing my awesome sweatshirt and tattoo.)  :)  And, hey, who doesn't love pens?

I recommend entering any book giveaways that interest you because you never know when you'll win.  I won a few other books in 2015 via Goodreads and The Reading Room.  These latest two big prize packs were from contests I entered after discovering them via Facebook and Twitter.


#LunarChronicles #FierceReads #MarissaMeyer

Until the Beginning (After the End #2) by Amy Plum

Amy    

Lynnie   

young adult, action/suspense, fantasy

Until the Beginning by Amy Plum is the second half of the book which began with After the End.  It fits perfectly with the story of the first novel, continuing where the first abruptly ended.  Juneau and Miles are still attempting to rescue Juneau's family and friends while hiding from Miles' father and Juneau's mentor.

Amy's Review

It was an entertaining adventure with fun characters and more than one bad guy, which is unusual.  But, overall, I don't have any more to say about than I did about the first book.  The ending was very satisfactory although it was tied up in a nice little bow.  As you probably know, I enjoy happy endings so that was fine with me.  If you like adventure and good vs. evil with a little Earth power and Frankenstein thrown in, you'll enjoy this series.

Lynnie's Review

This was a solid end to the story that started in After the End.  I think I enjoyed this finish a bit less than the first book because I was less surprised by what happened.  I don't know what sort of shocker I was hoping for, but this sequel plays out exactly the way you'd expect it to.

Still, the characters were enjoyable if awkward at times (I still don't really buy Miles and Juneau together, but they were entertaining).  Getting to know the clan a bit better was a bonus.

Overall, a fun couple of books which I'd recommend to fans of YA fantasy.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Amy        

 Lynnie  

young adult, adventure, science fiction

In the year 2575, an illegal mining town on an ice planet is destroyed by a rival corporation's military. Illuminae is the story what happens to the town's people after evacuation aboard a variety of space vessels while being pursued by the warship that forced them to flee in the first place.  Written jointly by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, the book's main focus is on two teenagers, Kady and Ezra, who were a couple before their planet's attack and are now caught up in events beyond their control. 


Amy's Review

I won a copy of an Advanced Reader Copy from First in Line, for which I am very grateful! (Although, it was odd that it wasn’t delivered until the book was officially released.) This book was an experience! It was also a visual delight. Instead of being written in the traditional form of a novel, it is a collection of reports from multiple sources (emails, schematics, military files, instant messages, medical reports, interviews, etc.) that tells the story of several spaceships involved in a series of aggressive attacks. If I hadn’t won the book, I probably would have gotten the e-book version and I’m not sure if the translation to e-book would work as well as the hardcopy book in this case.

The main characters are two teenagers and the Artificial Intelligence system of one of the spaceships. Not only did Illuminae hold my attention, but it tugged at my heartstrings a couple times. It was compelling, creative, and interesting. It had action, suspense, danger, humor, romance, and science. It was a satisfying story and I look forward to the sequel.


Lynnie's Review

First of all I have to get this out of the way DO NOT READ THIS ON A KINDLE! It was okay on the Kindle app on an iPad (where everything was bigger), but on a traditional Kindle, this is a no go because of the way it's presented- the text is so small you have to have super-vision to appreciate it. Mark my words though, this is a book that should be appreciated. It's really beautiful & the way the story is presented is fascinating.

The story unfolds through a series of reports, chat logs, even some thought art (for lack of a better description), which were fascinating. It was easy to follow along and get lost in the events of the story's space vessels (space ships?), personnel, and their intense battles for survival. It has everything you want from a novel- action, adventure, interesting characters and even some (awkward) romance. A very enjoyable experience over all, so I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Amy won a prize pack!

 


I would like to thank First In Line for sending me all these fabulous goodies...four author-signed books (none of which I've read yet), a cool tote bag with fun buttons, and an extremely timely umbrella!

(Truth be told, the main reason I entered the contest was for Everything Everything.  It'll be read once I get through all these book club and library books.  And, of course, I've added We Were Liars, Steelheart, and Another Day (and its prequel) to my To Read list.  When it rains books, it pours books!)

Thank you!
Amy

#FirstInLine #AmyLovesToRead #AmyLovesToWin

(Don't You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

Lynnie  

young adult, fantasy


(Don't You) Forget About Me was an oddly satisfying book (emphasis on the odd). Katy Karyus Quinn has written an imaginative & gripping tale about the mysteries of the town of Gardnerville which unfold through a series of current events and flashbacks.

Gardnerville functions in cycles of four years. The town has a magical energy, which usually makes sick people well, allows the older citizens to avoid aging, and gives many the power to manipulate others or the environment around them. In a fourth year however, all the pent up energy of the town's magic affects its teenagers, making some of them cause impressive amounts of harm and mayhem in the community, as a form of payment for the everday magic in the town. When the troubled teens are captured they get sent to the town reformatory where they eventually become shadows of their former selves. 

Most of the book takes place in a fourth year, so that all of the characters are on edge and you're never quite sure what will be around the next corner. There were a few mysteries that I had figured out long before the book revealed them, but several that surprised me entirely.

The creativity of the story truly held my interest throughout the book. I was always eager to find out what was going to happen on the next page. A fun read which does NOT seem to be a trilogy- hurray!

After the End by Amy Plum

Amy       
Lynnie    

young adult, contemporary fiction, fantasy, action/suspense
  
Juneau has grown up in an isolated community in Alaska believing that the rest of the Earth was devastated during WWIII.  When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that her entire clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she is horrified to find that WWIII never happened.  The world is intact and everything she was taught to believe is a lie.  Now Juneau must adjust in a modern world she's never experienced and try to find a way to rescue her family and friends while also hiding from whomever took her clan away in the first place.


Amy's Review

What fun! I never would have read this book if it weren't for the strong recommendation from my sister.  (Thank you, Lynnie!) She's absolutely right that you have to be willing to accept the storyline and not get bogged down with the events that don't seem to be realistic because they were a bit too easy for the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the adventure, the intrigue, the characters (and the animals), the scenery, the pacing, the magic, and the story.

I did not love the abrupt ending at a point that did not provide some sort of closure in any conceivable way. It should have been one novel instead of two. I realize I am a broken record but will continue to point out that the trend for sequels in the YA genre needs to stop. This novel's point of ending made absolutely no sense. Please, publishers and writers of the world, stop the sequel madness! A saga that truly cannot be told in one novel should be split into sensible pieces--each with their own story arc (and, at least, partial resolution) within the larger story arc. Otherwise, write a really good standalone book and be done with it!  Just say "no" to forced sequels!


Lynnie's Review

After the End was exciting, interesting, a bit mysterious and generally fun to read.

If you're going to enjoy this book however, you have to accept its premise- that a girl who might have mysterious powers or abilities, was raised in an isolated community and yet is not terrified of the modern world- wholly & completely, without letting that little nag of "this doesn't really make sense" get in the way. There's a lot about this book that pushes the boundary of common sense, but if you agree to jump on for the ride & just accept some goofy ideas and implausible actions, Amy Plum has written a very compelling story.

I might have even given it 5 stars if not for the ending. Or rather, the lack of ending. As with all modern YA there must be a sequel (fortunately there's only 1 sequel to this book and it's already been released as well). The book just sort of stops mid-story. As you near the end you realize there aren't enough pages left for any sort of resolution, and the story loses a lot of steam, very quickly. It feels like someone took a complete book and decided to rip it in half to create two books. It's tremendously annoying.

I will read the sequel- hopefully soon as I'm next in line for it at the library. I'm eager to find out what happens to Juneau, Miles, Whit, and the clan in the next half of the adventure.

My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins

Lynnie  

short story collection, holiday fiction, contemporary fiction

This is a fun collection of holiday-themed stories by some popular current authors. Like any short story collection, some are better than others & in this case the book ends stronger than it started. My favorite stories all appeared in the second half of the collection- Krampuslauf by Holly Black, What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman, Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White & The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. There wasn't a single story in the collection that I stopped reading after a few pages, which means that overall it was entirely enjoyable.

This is a wonderful collection to get you into the holiday spirit.