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Falling Kingdoms Series by Morgan Rhodes - Review

“Princess Cleo of Mytica confronts violence for the first time in her life when a shocking murder sets her kingdom on a path to collapse. Once a privileged royal, Cleo must now summon the strength to fight for her rightful place as Queen. The King of Limeros’s son, Magnus, must plan each footstep with shrewd, sharp guile if he is to earn his powerful father’s trust, while his sister, Lucia, discovers a terrifying secret about her heritage that will change everything. Rebellious Jonas lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making. A vicious power struggle quickly escalates to war, and these four young people collide against each other and the rise of element, the magic that can topple kingdoms and crown a ruler in the same day.

War brought them together. Love will tear them apart.”

Don’t get your hopes up, the bodies fall faster than the kingdoms.

Very rarely will I find a series that I get so into that I finish it in five days but this was one of those glorious exceptions (would have finished sooner if it hadn’t been for school and work, yay adulting). I know I jumped on this fandom train a little late, but holy crap I’m glad Alex pushed me into it. 

If you haven’t read this series, I highly suggest you start. It’s basically a New Adult, Game of Thrones type series that’s easier to follow and has more magic. Throughout the first four books, I would text Alex and basically scream-tell her everything that was going on, my theories, and the large string of cuss words that would put a sailor to shame. 

Like all my other posts, I have to say something about the romance aspect (obviously). My feelings basically turned into an empty port because of all the freaking ships that set sail throughout this series. Every time I turn around, the author had me falling in love with the thought of two characters, just to either break my heart or keep me waiting. 

However, I will forever ship Cleo and Jonas, but over time I started to hardcore ship Cleo and Magnus. These are my top ships for this series with about a million others trailing closely behind.

Like GoT, don’t get to attached to characters (which is advice I should have followed from the get-go) because I promise you, your heart will be ripped out of your chest and set on fire. Either they die, or they get so emotionally destroyed they aren’t the character you fell in love with in the first place. Fair warning, I don’t want you to go through any unnecessary suffering. 

Then, there are the string of villains. Thankfully, some of them get the ending they deserve, others not so much. The jackholes that come out of this series is far and wide, some of who I actually liked in the very beginning. The farther I got into the series, the larger my hate flame grew.

One down side I found (which I know people will disagree with me on) was that the King isn’t a very in-depth character. I didn’t find any personable/redeemable traits to him that could redeem him or make him seem more human. If I did, I probably would have hated him even more. So on a scale of 0 to Professor Umbridge, the King would probably fall at about a 5.5 for me. Despite this, I love the tension in the series and the ever expanding plot line.

Seriously, every time I think the plot line is going to be tied into a nice little bow, another portion of the story is weaved into it and takes me on another whirlwind of feelings. 

Final note: there were a few times where I wish I could have reached into the book and smack some sense into the characters. Like I told Alex, they all seem to love to skip into traps and bad ideas. 

Overall, I am extremely excited for the next book to come out, but I wish i didn’t have to wait until December.

Reality Rating: 8/10 (docked points because of the villain aspect)

-Casey

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Glass Sword (Red Queen #2) by Victoria Aveyard - Review

WARNING: DESCRIPTION HAS SPOILERS FROM FIRST BOOK. IF YOU HAVEN’T READ RED QUEEN, DO THAT AND THEN COME BACK.

“Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.

The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.

But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.

Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?”

Hey lovelies, it’s been awhile.

Well, I know Alex went ahead and posted her review of this, but I’m going to give you mine as well!

So, holy crap I love this series. If you haven’t read the first book, what are you doing with your life? Didn’t you see my warning? 

If you did see the warning and then immediately read Red Queen before proceeding: I’m so proud! Welcome to the fandom you won’t ever want to leave. 

If you did see the warning, ignored it, and kept reading any way: Thanks for wanting to read my review so badly, but please...for the love of plot twists don’t do it again.

With that being said, let’s begin!

I was lucky enough to read the first couple of chapters before the book actually came out (thank you, Aveyard, for putting those in the Cruel Crown novella set). 

Personally, I love the first books of series more than the rest. Same goes for this one. As I’ve mentioned before, I love to fall in love with the characters, which is exactly what Red Queen gave me. Glass Sword is where the characters are thrown into action and it makes me wish I could push the characters to move quicker. Overall, this book deals with some real depressing subjects and shows how Mare tries to get through being the lightning girl. 

If I were in Mare’s shoes, I would have already quit and never got out of bed any more.

Somewhat of a spoiler: There is one particular part (you will know exactly what I’m talking about if you’ve read it, or when you read it...you’ll just know) where I want someone to rip Maven’s eyes out. Or better yet, I want a Singer to make him to rip them out himself. This doesn’t even full represents how much I loathe him at this point. 

On a happier note, can we just talk about all the feels? I have loved Shade since the beginning of the series and knew he couldn’t have died in the war. [Side bar: Cruel Crown tells how Shade got into the Scarlet Guard]. I actually started shipping Shade/Farley hardcore. 

Now, when it comes to Mare and Cal, I adore them together and get excited when they even just look at each other. Victoria Aveyard, you are killing me with this “no distractions” rule. Swear to all things holy, if she makes it to where they end up with other people, I will riot. 

I was disappointed how quickly one of the characters I strongly disliked (that I won’t name) gets killed. I was expecting something that would be drawn out and well worth it. But nope, it was over before I was able to fully revel in it. Bright side: THEY DIED AND WON’T EVER RETURN.

No spoilers, I was texting Alex periodically updating her where I was in the book. I was insanely happy about how things were working out (even though they’re in the midst of war and might die, nbd). And then all of a sudden

I slowly started recovering my sanity (as I obsess over fictional characters), then the end of the freaking book comes. Huge cliffhanger. Elevates my hate flame for Maven to new levels that I didn’t even know existed (On a scale of 1 to Umbridge, he has now surpassed Umbridge). All I have to say is someone *cough* Maven *cough* needs to get stabbed in the last book.

Last note: I know this review is all over the place and not very in depth...but ask Alex, it’s hard as crap to not spill all the spoilers on this book. But please read it so we can all fangirl together about said spoilers.

As always, read the book.

-Casey

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“The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.”  - The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

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The Glass Sword

“Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control. 

The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind. Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors. But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat. Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?”

So if you haven’t read the FABULOUSNESS that is The Red Queen. Well you have to do that first. And if you’ve read the description of book 1 and thought to yourself “Wow this sounds a lot like Hunger Games” and fear it’ll be like a ripoff other dystopian novels. Well I had the EXACT same thoughts for the first like 20 pages of book 1, and was quickly shot down by the brilliance of Victoria’s writing and the new spin on the genre. 

Quick synopsis: Basically it follows our heroine Mare Barrow, who is a “Red”, the human class of people who are generally poor and mistreated by the “Silvers”; the people with special powers who actually bleed silver. (Sounds like District 12 and the Capitol right??) Anywho, by weird circumstances Mare finds herself in the royal castle and turns out she has powers, just like the Silvers. Although she is a Red. This questions the hierarchical “system” of their way of life and the royal silver family decides to hide her as a silver in the court and betroth her to the younger Prince, Maven. The story from here unfolds with politics, romance, treachery, and deceit. I don’t want to spoil things because I had a genuine “WHAT THE FUCK” moment reading this, which really has never happened to this extent in my reading life. I was shocked. Needless to say, because of this and the turn of events to spawn from this, I needed book 2. Immediately. 

So imagine my excitement when I FINALLY got my hands on the sequel and read it in 24 hours. (I had school so it was a wee hard just to marathon read). 

So the sequel follows Mare on her journey to reconnect with the Red Guard, and her family. It leads her to an island of all the rebels under this new-to-her commander. With her arrival, it puts many revelations in perspective. She begins to understand the depth of the rebellion, Cal’s very complicated role within the new community, and she begins to define with whom he allegiances actually are with. 

This beginning part of the novel was very intriguing and was one of my favorite portions of this novel. The fact that Mare couldn’t seem to actually trust anyone was very prevalent and I definitely couldn’t always see what was about to happen. For a novel these days, that is something that is not always the case and I appreciate when an author can continuously pull that off. 

(Minor spoilers to follow, I promise nothing big.) But Mare leaves the island and goes off to save as many as other gifted Reds as she can. This takes her, Cal and Kilorn all over the country tracking down everyone. They were pretty much Professor X searching for mutants. 

I was really intrigued on them finding new people and learning about all of their different powers, but even still, it seemed way less interesting to me than say the new dynamic between Maven and Mare. (Because it is creepy as hell and super fucked up.) 

The entire last third of the novel gets super intense. You will be reading it, freaking out, not completely understanding what exactly is happening. You will have moments when Mare does things that are honestly kinda “out of character” a little bit. Not gonna lie I was a little wigged out for her. She seemed like she lost it completely a little bit.

We also get to see some major characters die. Which is always really really awesome, happy dory times I tell you. Happy dory. Some deserved to die, some didn’t. These things happen in war. It doesn’t help it feel less shitty, but alas. 

Mare ends up returning to the island, and making some pretty tough decisions. Resulting with her going off somewhere on a very important mission. Of course, now it being near the finale SHIT GOES TERRIBLY WRONG. 

Now I think Aveyard is fantastic with endings, and literally the epilogue of this book is no exception. My goodreads review just says “Holy shit.” and honest to God that is pretty much all I could really say once it was done. I of course don’t want to spoil how it ends, because it is perfection, but let’s just say the tagline on the front cover is a damn good indication. 

Now, the finish the review off I would really like to address my ship. Cal and Mare have it rocky this novel. There is no denying it. Not because they care any less for each other, but because they are dealing with things that have to put a hindrance into a relationship. And I think that is what I love most about it. Cal is one of those characters that is neither completely good nor completely bad. You want him to be good, but how he was raised and in what mindset leans him a little morally grey. And then Mare, started off so morally sound has started to lean a little darker. It creates such a complexity to their characters and ultimately their relationship. I have no doubt though that Cal is going to truly realize how much he loves and needs her in the next book. For reasons I cannot explain without you reading it. You’ll understand in time. 

Reality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. 

I would highly recommend reading this. HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY. 

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A room without books is like a body without a soul. ― Marcus Tullius Cicero

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Slated by Teri Terry - Review

“Kyla’s memory has been erased, her personality wiped blank, her memories lost for ever.

She’s been Slated.

The government claims she was a terrorist and that they are giving her a second chance - as long as she plays by their rules. But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is lying to her, and nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?”

Review!

Happy Tuesday! 

So, over the weekend I read Slated. What drew me to this book was the description. Could you imagine waking up one day, in a hospital, and being told all your memories were wiped because you were a criminal? I can already tell you, my anxiety would not react well to that. 

After the slating process, everyone has to relearn everything. Literally. Even walking, talking, social rules, etc. After the doctors think they’re ready to rejoin society, they are basically adopted by new families who take them in and help them readjust to their new lives. All the while, they have to watch their Levos, which are things that monitor their emotional levels. If they get too angry/upset/scared/etc. the Levo knocks them out to keep themselves from harming themselves or others. 

Throughout the book, Kyla starts to readjust to life outside of the hospital, she makes some friends, learns that not everyone is friendly or accepting of the Slating process. The book also introduces the fact that there are terrorist who want to abolish the slating program, but it doesn’t exactly expand much on them. I kept expecting something huge to happen with the terrorists, but it didn’t.

I think my favorite part about this book was the budding relationship between Kyla and Ben (a fellow Slated). Their interactions don’t seem forced like in some books I’ve read and their relationship builds up over time instead of just instantly happening. One thing that I did notice was that Kyla and Ben reminded me of Tris and Four from Divergent. Kyla is “different” from all the other Slated, Ben seems different, but it turns out he isn’t really. So, like Tris and Four, I obviously ship them.

I would have liked to see a little more action in the plot, most of it was backstory/setting up the world/establishing characters and their histories. It didn’t feel as if there was anything major driving Kyla to action. Take for example the famous Harry Potter series (aka my all time favorite). Harry and friends are driven in each book to solve some larger issue and have side plots that help them uncover who they are. 

The plot did redeem itself a little towards the end. As you might be aware by now, I’m not a huge fan of spoilers. I will leave you with this: something big happens that basically shoves Kyla into action. If it wasn’t for that, I might not have been interested in continuing the series, but I will continue it just because I’m curious to see how this plays out.

But, in the meantime...

Reality Rating: 3/5

-Casey (TCO)

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Excerpt out of the greatest Peter Pan prequel I have ever read. #quoteoftheday #peterandthestarcatchers #davebarry #ridleypearson #peterpan

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My new review is up on our blog! Just wanna say thank you to @owlcrate for introducing me to this epic read! I fell in love with it 😍 -Casey Link is in the bio! #qcobookreview #owlcrate #books #bookreview

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Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley - Review

“Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. The Brontë siblings have always been inseparable. After all, nothing can bond four siblings quite like life in an isolated parsonage out on the moors. Their vivid imaginations lend them escape from their strict upbringing, actually transporting them into their created worlds: the glittering Verdopolis and the romantic and melancholy Gondal. But at what price? As Branwell begins to slip into madness and the sisters feel their real lives slipping away, they must weigh the cost of their powerful imaginations, even as their characters—the brooding Rogue and dashing Duke of Zamorna—refuse to let them go.”

For those of you who don’t know, this was the book that was included in my first-ever OwlCrate box (you should totally check them out because it was better than I imagined) which the theme for the month was magic. Not going to lie to you guys, I wasn’t too enthusiastic when I saw the book or read the summary.

At first I was afraid (I was petrified - no? okay, I digress) that there wouldn’t be a strong enough plot to keep me wanting to read. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how anyone could incorporate magical elements into a book about historical characters without royally messing it up. 

Coakley definitely proved me wrong within the first 30 or so pages. I swear, I have never been so captured by a book and had my first opinions do a complete 180 so quickly. I was beyond impressed.

Coakley did years of research on this family and their writings in order to get things right, and she did it justice. She used the four siblings and the stories/characters/worlds that they actually created in their lives and made them come to life. Literally. Branwell and Charlotte were granted special access to a door that would take them inside Verdopolis, the fictional world that they both created, and be able to interact with their characters. Charlotte wrote of the dashing hero, Zamorna, and all his love affairs. Branwell wrote of Zamorna’s rival, Rogue, and how he was always scheming and plotting to take down his nemesis. They originally took Emily and Anne with them, but eventually banned them from crossing over with them without telling them why.

While Charlotte and Branwell are in Verdopolis, they each play a character of their own making, using their words to influence the plot. Charlotte always chooses to stay close to the shadows, but keep a tight reign on her characters and control the story how she wants it to go. Branwell befriends Rogue and rarely interferes, letting his characters decide how things should play out. They basically live my dreams: playing around in a world you create and being able to do anything you want. 

Apparently, there are downsides to this awesome gift that they have...

Whenever Charlotte and Branwell stop crossing over to their stories, their characters come to haunt them and torment them until they eventually return to visit Verdopolis. I don’t blame them, I would crap myself if my characters creepily haunted me.

Any who, strangely enough, the characters start to become self aware. They begin to realize that their gods (*cough cough* the Brontë siblings) have been interfering with their lives and controlling what goes on around them. 

There are some love triangles in the story, but not the cheesy crappy kind. They’re oddly placed within the world of Verdopolis and are kind of comical. Overall, this book didn’t focus much on romance, even though romance drove the plot forward...if that makes sense. I was still able to ship some of the couples in the book. 

I don’t want to give away any spoilers or give away the plot reveal! I could tell you so much about this book and why I fell in love with it, but I really want you to read it for yourself and find out :)

Reality Rating: 4/5

Seriously, go read this book.

-TCO

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A quote from my all-time favorite novel! If you haven't picked up a book by Gail Carson Levine, I would strongly encourage you to do so. She never disappoints. ~ Alex #quoteoftheday #qcobookreview #thetwoprincessesofbamarre #gailcarsonlevine #reading #books

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Inheritance (Eragon #4) by Christopher Paolini *SPOILERS*

I started my Inheritance journey back in 2006, when I was randomly roaming around my middle school library and a book with a dragon on the cover caught my eye. (I've always adored fantasy, so this was right up my ally). I pulled both Eragon and Eldest off the shelf, and began reading almost immediately. It only took me about two weeks to read both books, even at my young age, and it was no surprise that by the end of the duration I was absolutely in love with Eragon, Brom, Saphira and Arya.

 At the time, I knew that I had awhile to go until Brisingr came out so kept the story alive in me by being excited for the 2007 film adaptation and by naming my new-pet mouse Arya. Unfortunately, the film was made and released during the writer strike so it was no where near what it could have been. But I honestly really enjoyed the movie, changes and all. It’s always something special to see your favorite characters come to life.

Brisigr came out in Fall 2009, and I was EXTREMELY excited for it. But when I finally got my hands on it, I could not get into it at all. I tried like three times over the course of a few weeks to get past the first like 30 pages and it simply wasn't possible. I'm not sure if this was because of the slow pace, the huge gap between me reading the first few books and book 3. Who knows.... but I lost interest in the series after that, discouraged by what I couldn't seem to get into. It wasn't until Fall 2012 when Inheritance was released that I got back into the series.

When Inheritance came out, I still wasn't feeling the series. But I have this HORRIBLE tendency to spoil things for myself, so I made the terrible mistake to read the last page of the book in Target. And my god was that once of the worst things I have ever done. I literally almost started crying in the middle of the store. (For reasons that I will explain and elaborate my feelings on later.)

I decided that the best way for me to get back into Eragon's world would be to re-read all the books before I read Inheritance. Given that I had not read Brisingr, I figured that would probably be a good idea. So I gathered my copies of the books and gave them a retry. I finished Eragon with great speed, it's in my opinion the best written one especially regarding the pace. From there I re-read Eldest, then started my third attempt at reading Brisingr. And it was a struggle. It took me a lot longer to get through that book than I initially planned on it taking. There is just something SO deterring about that book. But alas, I struggled through it and finished.

Once I picked up the fourth book, I was extremely curious as to how it was going to play out, especially since I knew how it ended... I actually really liked Inheritance for the majority of the book. I loved all the conflict in it, especially when Nasuada was captured and tortured. I was enthralled with how she brought out the good in Murtagh and how he came to love her. (I shipped it SO hard). 

Now the problems started coming towards the end of the book. As a reader, I was perfectly content with what was going on. It was perfect in my opinion, everything was turnout out to be good and okay... until the very end. My sanity downfall started with Murtagh leaving Nasuada cause he believed that he could never be with her and thought her being away from him would be better. AFTER ALL THEY HAD BEEN THROUGH!!! So that made me angry. But then Paolini had to go and make Saphire be buddies with Arya's dragon, so I started shipping that friendship. And of course Eragon and Arya were going swimmingly. But. He. Couldn't. Even. Give. Me. That.

Let me just stop for a second to explain something before I get to my biggest complaint about this damn novel. Ever since I was in 6th grade, I have loved Eragon and Arya together and wished it to happen EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR SIX YEARS!! That is a LONG time to ship a pair of people you knew it your gut should be together. And this may seem extremely petty that I got so upset about this, but seriously having everything beutiful and unexpected TORN AWAY from you after six years is freaking heart wrenching. 

I digress, back to the story. So everything was going peachy, Arya told Eragon that maybe after this was all over they could be together, which made me literally tear with happiness. 

Then Eragon, that little idiot says NO. AFTER ALL THOSE YEARS OF PINING AFTER HER HE SAYS NO?!?! He wants to go and raise dragons away from everyone else.... that made me extremely angry. And then it just ends with him sailing down a river away from everything he has known and loved. Like what??? (Funnily this was foreshadowed in the first book on page like 86.) So I was freaking pissed and cried myself to sleep.

* I finished this book November of 2011 and am now writing this review cause it made me so angry even till this day *

Fortunately, I also texted my one of my best book buddies my raw reaction so I'll type out what that said. And that was recorded like RIGHT after I finished, so I was basically feeling like this: 

"So I finished. And I honestly can say that I haven't cried at the ending of a series since Hunger Games... till now. I was depressed from 735 onward, I cried at 800 for like 5 minutes then was even more depressed till the end of the book, of which I sobbed (like ugly crying) at the last page. My fav pages were 490-496. They revolve around Nasuada and Murtagh of coarse <3. But u know Paolini couldn't even give me that! Oh no romance would just be TOO much for him! No Murtagh just kinda dissaperars and Nasuada just keeps reigning. So another big heartache. But it's NOTHING compared to the Arya/Ergaon thing. That, to be, is absolutly HEARTBREAKING. How dare Paolini do this to me?!? 6 YEARS OF WAITING, 6 YEARS!! And they don't get together?? No. Eragon has to go off and train the new dragons. Does he decide to do this in Agalasia? No he goes off into no mans land where he is never to return. Nbd, just leave behind everyone that you love. Whatever. Even after Saphira and Mr. Green Dragon start hanging out... They don't get to be together either. So no relationships work besides Ronan. And don't even get me started on the whole Hero thing. Does every hero that has a great burden thrust upon him have to be "damaged" and go off on their own?? In LOTR, Frodo goes into the West, in HG Katniss goes off to D12 to live and raise her family. In Eragon, he goes out of the realm. And that may be all symbolic and shit but WHAT THE FUCK. Do NOT make me go through 6 years of Eragon and expect me to be okay with him just leaving EVERYONE behind. I am NOT okay with that, at all. It is not bittersweet, it is bullshit. If Paolini knew he was going to end it that way, (and I know he did) then he should have never ever hinted and hinted at their relationship and gotten readers hopes up. That is NOT fair, at all. Actually it is cruel. and then to go make Murtagh fall in love, then wisk that away too? What is he trying to do?? I'm only one person! I don't like to go to bed depressed, tear streaked, and heartbroken. It's not a good thing for me! Why can't he just have a good freaking happily ever after?? It really wouldn't have downgraded the series at all."

Reality Rating: 4/5 stars!!! 

I hated this book, but the series itself is really rewarding as a fantasy get-away. So I really don’t want to completely deter people from reading it, the story is still great. It just really pissed me off. 

Cheers,

Alex aka Queen 

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Glow (Sky Chasers #1) by Amy Kathleen Ryan

So I’m going to start off this review with a shout-out thank you to Sarah on Goodreads who listed this book in a Giveaway and I was fortunate enough to win this novel. 

Next, the moment you all have been waiting for!!! THE BOOK SUMMARY: 

“What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue? Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them... Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth. But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.”

Okay, now that you’re done reading the blurb about the book let’s get into the fun stuff... My thoughts on it. 

Disclaimer: So I read this book in July of 2011 so it has been around 5 years but I actually really remember this book which is why I thought it would be good to share it with yall. PLUS it is a series so there are sequels to read as well. Which is always the best. Back to business. 

“Glow takes place sometime in the future and is told in the point of view of two young heroes: Kieran and Waverly. They are aboard this spaceship/space station called the Empyrean. The Empyrean and another ship called the New Horizon were sent from Earth many years prior due to a problem with the livability of Earth. 

Now the mission of the Empyrean is to find the "New Earth" and start a new civilization there. On their journey to their future destination a situation arises that involves the fates of both the Empyrean and New Horizon, as well as the fates of Kieran and Waverly and their blossoming love for one another. Glow, from the very first chapter hooks you in. The concept of civilizations living as separate colonies in Outer Space isn't one that is entirely different, but it really reminded me of Battlestar Galactica. (But without Cylons and the awesomeness that is Starbuck) Interesting nevertheless though!! I’m also a huge sucker for sci-fi spaceyness so I really was intrigued as soon as I started reading. 

I don't want to give any more information about the book's plot because I don't want to spoil this book for anyone. I’m just going to say that this is one of those that really has a TON of twists and turns. You truly don’t know what is going to happen next, which is really hard to pull off these days. So even if you aren’t a huge fan of sci-fi but you do like an element of surprise then perhaps change it up a bit and try this one out! 

Now, if your wondering if there is a love triangle... I personally LOATHE love-triangles in novels. Absolutely loathe them. So I'm not entirely sure if this series will in the future but as of right now another love interest really is not that apparent. I am totally a fan of Kieran, and am typically loyal to the first male in a series so I would remain loyal to him. But seriously, boo to love triangles.

Also, the ending of the book is a HUGE cliffhanger so if u don't like waiting (like me) have fun. Keep in mind though darlings the rest of the series is out so you won’t have to wait, unlike me who has never followed up with this series and actually can know everything now. Why I haven’t followed up is BEYOND me, but I guess college puts a rut into reading sometimes. So overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves romance, adventure, and strong female heroins.  Of course, if you are already a fan of Amy Kathleen Ryan, then she truly does not disappoint.” 

Now for my “Reality Rating” (for those who do not know what that is with QCO quite yet, we rate all of our books on their “escapism”. Since we read mostly fantasy, sci-fi, paranormal etc novels it is because the world is a scary place and we want to get away from it. Novels, specifically ones with other worlds and such really do their job the best with that. So our reality ratings just gauge how much we loved the book like a normal rating; but we also put thought into how much it can really take a reader into another place and time. 

Reality Rating: 3 out of 5 stars!! 

Happy Reading, Alex aka the Queen 

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Probably one of my favorite quotes so far from #WorldsofInkandShadow by #LenaCoakley! Can't wait to finish reading this book 😍 #books #quote #qcobookreview #basicallyhowifeelaboutfictionalcharacters

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I obviously didn't waste any time opening my first-ever #OwlCrate 🙃 included was an Albus Dumbledore POP! Vinyl Figure, patronus lip balm (to keep the dementors away), some lovely pieces by #EvieBookish, and "Worlds of Ink and Shadow" by #LenaCoakley (which included a paper doll kit and an exclusive letter from the author herself!). Thank you @owlcrate for the awesome stuff! 😍 keep an eye out for a review on this book! #books #qcobookreview

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Just got my #OwlCrate in the mail! Check back for the reveal! 😍 @owlcrate

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The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter - Review

Disclaimer: I will try my absolute best not to include spoilers! Despite my reviews of books, I still encourage you to read something and decide for yourself whether you enjoyed it or not :)

"Every girl who has taken the test has died. Now it's Kate's turn.

It's always been just Kate and her mom - and now her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear that her mother won't live past the fall. 

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld - and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests. 

Kate is sure he's crazy - until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

If she fails...”

Review time!

Let me start off by saying that I appreciate Carter’s take on the tradition Greek mythology. I am a huge fan of the legends and nerd out for any book that incorporates mythology. Being introduced to a “humanized” version of the legendary gods and goddesses was an experience.

However, my favorite part of a book is being able to fall in love with the characters. That’s what throws me into a story and makes me really forget that I’m reading a book. That being said, I felt like I didn’t have proper time to form attachments to the characters. 

You would see a small glimpse of who they were, and then you would read a brief snippet of how months have passed and not have any interactions with anyone. Where are the building relationships? The development of characters?

The plot line was also a little stagnant. Normally, books have me busting with anticipation to find out what happens next. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that with this The Goddess Test. I felt that most of what I read was Kate’s resentment to having to go through with the tests, then her fear of failing the tests, and finally her constant whining about Henry not spending time with her. The book says Kate has never had a relationship before, but she very quickly falls in love with Henry...despite the fact that he rarely tells her anything about himself. Makes perfect sense.

As far as love affairs go, you could see that the author was trying to introduce the idea of two possible love interests, which it didn’t need. I felt that the second love interest had no possible passion between them...not that Henry had much going for him either. All together, the novel lacked the flame needed for true romance to capture my interest. 

Hopefully the rest of the series captures my attention.

Reality Rating: 2.5/5

***UPDATE*** I tried so incredibly hard to get through the next book in this series. Unfortunately, it has not been able to redeem itself and I can’t continue with it. Again, I really admire Carter’s idea of bringing the Greek Gods and Goddesses into the modern age, I just wish I came to love the characters and plot line :(

- Casey (The Chosen One)