Monday, September 30, 2013

Tandem (Many-Worlds Trilogy #1) by Anna Jarzab [Review + Giveaway]

Genre:
Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Publication.Date  October 8th 2013
Pages:448
Published By:  Delacorte Books For Young Readers
WebsiteAnna Jarzab 

Tandem on Goodreads
My review copy:Advanced review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Where to get:


Everything repeats.
You. Your best friend. Every person you know.
Many worlds. Many lives--infinite possibilities.
Welcome to the multiverse.

Sixteen-year-old Sasha Lawson has only ever known one small, ordinary life. When she was young, she loved her grandfather's stories of parallel worlds inhabited by girls who looked like her but led totally different lives. Sasha never believed such worlds were real--until now, when she finds herself thrust into one against her will.

To prevent imminent war, Sasha must slip into the life of an alternate version of herself, a princess who has vanished on the eve of her arranged marriage. If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone, she will be returned home; if she fails, she'll be trapped in another girl's life forever. As time runs out, Sasha finds herself torn between two worlds, two lives, and two young men vying for her love--one who knows her secret, and one who thinks she's someone she's not.

The first book in the Many-Worlds Trilogy, Tandem is a riveting saga of love and betrayal set in parallel universes in which nothing--and no one--is what it seems.
(Goodreads)


Science tells us that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but also that every action has an equal opposite reaction - all debts are eventually paid in full. I don't remember much from class but that particular idea stuck with me. Kata to chreon. Apparently, the universe won't let you get away with anything, at least not for long.
Grant Davis was, to put it bluntly, the finest human specimen that had ever come into existence.
The weight of him kept me from floating away, atom by atom, into the universe.
In the beginning, all I knew was darkness. Darkness, and silence. 



     Parallel universes, star-crossed lovers, drama, intrigue and treachery - these are just some of the things you'll find in Anna Jarzab's latest YA novel, Tandem. I really enjoyed reading Tandem. It's a well-written, captivating and very entertaining story that will appeal to fans of science fiction and fantasy alike. Personally, I think that even though the premise of it is strictly sci fi (travel between parallel realities), overall the book has a more fantasy (even fairytale) feel to it. At the same time, there's enough scientific trivia to keep all science geeks intrigued. Anna Jarzab managed to strike just the perfect balance between these two worlds - science and fantasy - and create something that is just as intellectually stimulating, as it is charming and visually pleasing

     It's not a very fast-paced book, and some readers will inevitably find it too slow for their taste. That doesn't mean that there is no action - trust me, Tandem has plenty of it to offer. It's just that - and that's not a bad thing at all - Anna Jarzab takes time setting the atmosphere, building the world, and weaving in backgrounds. And she does all those subtle things that result in an intricate, complex and completely mesmerizing world. You can't help but fall in love with it. 

     Both lead characters are interesting, their stories - engaging. I liked Thomas a lot, he made for a great love interest, and he was also a very good friend and bodyguard. Ambitious, dedicated, passionate, hard-working and reliable - he was always there for Sasha, ready to sacrifice his own life to protect her. 
There's this one passage describing/comparing Sasha and Juliana that I really love. 
"If people were houses, Juliana was like the Citadel she'd grown up in - beautiful and well-appointed, but guarded and set apart - while Sasha was her grandfather's Hyde Park Victorian - cheerful and bright, with the windows and doors flung wide open."
I think this is very spot-on. That's exactly how I perceived these two. Sasha, always curious and excited to learn new things, inviting adventures and welcoming challenges. She's a very positive person. Even as a little girl, she always dreamt of big adventures and experiences that would make her stronger and better as a person. Juliana, on the other hand, is very withdrawn and distant, distrustful and cold. A girl with a steel wall around her heart. These two, even though they're each other's analogs, are like night and day. 

     The only thing I could possibly complain about is the lack of insight into Juliana's character. I really wanted to learn more about her and try to understand the motivations behind her actions and decisions, but all we really know about her is that she was unhappy with her life and wanted freedom to make her own decisions, which eventually pushed her to do what she did. Inevitably, that made her come across as a bit spoiled and extremely self-centred - and maybe that was the idea - but I felt like there was more to her character than we got to discover. I hope we'll see her in the next book, and that we'll get to explore her psyche a bit more. 

     The ending was toe-curling. I won't lie, I was left dumb-founded. I couldn't believe what happened! Anna Jarzab finished the first novel in her Many-Worlds Trilogy with a huge bang, and I am now dying to read the next book!




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Sunday, September 29, 2013

Crash & Burn by Michael Hassan (Review & Giveaway)

Genre:
Young Adult, Paranormal, Contemporary Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Mental Illness
Publication Date:  February 19th 2013
Pages:532
Published By:  Balzer + Bray
WebsiteMichael Hassan 

Crash and Burn on Goodreads
My review copy:Review copy provided by publicist in return of an honest review
Where to get:


On April 21, 2008, Steven "Crash" Crashinsky saved more than a thousand people when he stopped his classmate David Burnett from taking their high school hostage armed with assault weapons and high-powered explosives. You likely already know what came after for Crash: the nationwide notoriety, the college recruitment, and, of course, the book deal. What you might not know is what came before: a story of two teens whose lives have been inextricably linked since grade school, who were destined, some say, to meet that day in the teachers' lounge of Meadows High. And what you definitely don't know are the words that Burn whispered to Crash right as the siege was ending, a secret that Crash has never revealed.

Until now.

Michael Hassan's shattering novel is a tale of first love and first hate, the story of two high school seniors and the morning that changed their lives forever. It's a portrait of the modern American teenage male, in all his brash, disillusioned, oversexed, schizophrenic, drunk, nihilistic, hopeful, ADHD-diagnosed glory. And it's a powerful meditation on how normal it is to be screwed up, and how screwed up it is to be normal.
(Goodreads)


I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm not exactly the hero that everyone says I am.
Tell him Roxanne said that you can't make a fox into a dog no matter how hard you try. A fox is always a fox. And in the end, you have to let them go.
No. I do not fucking play soccer. Do you think I'd be this fat if I played fucking soccer?
Everything in the game mirrored exactly how I felt every single day of my life, while teachers and others tried so hard to sit me down and keep me still, even though I was spinning; while they were giving me my ADD medicine to try and stop my constant need to move, and to stop me from trying to break free from my chair and the room and the school. Letters on the chalkboard, words in a book, and all I could think of, all I could keep feeling, was get out.
He was also proving to be the supergenius that everyone said he was, getting perfect scores on standardized tests and acing his courses, breezing through the work and correcting teachers whenever they said something that he considered to be inaccurate, knowing all these minute details about virtually everything, like he was constantly preparing for a test that only he knew he was taking.



What can I say about Crash and Burn? Well, I can definitely understand why it has mixed reviews. It is this epic 500 page book that is raw, unfiltered, and feels so real. It is not your typical young adult novel. Crash and Burn is kind of like an onion, not everyone likes the taste or smell of onions but it's amazing how many layers onions have. That's how Crash and Burn is. It is so layered. So realistic. So epic-ly amazing.

What originally made me accept this book for review was the subject matter: a school shooting. However, it is so much more than that. Steven "Crash" Crashinsky is probably the most vile character I ever liked. I think I like him as a character but if he was a real human being that I knew, I'd declare him a womanizing asshole and dislike him. I definitely would not be his friend in real life. But, his story is really, really good.

This book definitely is not for everyone. There is a lot of swearing even though the swearing fits in really well. There's also a lot of drugs, sex, and mental health issues. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future Crash goes to some high end rehab like Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab or something. That'd be an interesting sequel.

It is brilliant in the way that it hits the nose smack dab on the head on what it is like to grow up in today's society. Our world nowadays is not cookie cut perfect like it was portrayed in the good ole days. Today, it's tough to be a teenager. I remember when I was a teenager and I had a lot of problems. And so does Crash. This story is seriously intense. It's a roller coaster of intense.

I definitely recommend this book to older teens and adults. I think this is one book I might see my brother reading (and that's saying something, because he doesn't read). I can see a lot of a boys reading this, but I think girls will like it too. It's raw and unfiltered and as I stated earlier, epic. It's definitely a book worth reading.
And for the wonderful giveaway! :] Michael Hassan's promoter is letting us giveaway 2 copies of Crash and Burn to 2 of our lucky readers!!
US ONLY & No PO Boxes
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Friday, September 27, 2013

Endless Street Team: Endless by Jessica Shirvington (Review)

Genre:
Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
Publication.Date  October 1st 2013
Pages:480
Published By:  Sourcebooks Fire
Author's GRJessica Shirvington 

Endless on Goodreads
My review copy:Review copy from the publisher via NetGalley
Where to get:
http://www.amazon.com/Endless-Embrace-Jessica-Shirvington/dp/1402289421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380284068&sr=8-1&keywords=endless+jessica+shirvington http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/endless-sourcebooks/1116951002?ean=9781402289439 http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781402289422





LOVE WILL KILL US ALL
Violet Eden thought she was getting things under control. Then all hell breaks loose-literally. In the war between angels and exiles, she's about to face the biggest baddie of all time. Except she's not nearly ready. 

The dark exile Phoenix is still messing with her head-not to mention her heart. And her undeniable attraction to Lincoln has gotten downright dangerous. When Hell unleashes its worst, Violet must embrace every facet of her angel self to save the people she cares about and the world as she knows it. But death is not the worst thing she will face...
(Goodreads)



It's my privilege to love you.
His lips were soft, warm and felt overwhelmingly right against mine. I fell into it, oblivious to anything other than the safety in his touch. One by one, the senses flowed from me as he pulled them away and set them free. It must have hurt him. The senses hurt the hell out of me..
He was my partner, my soulmate. As my body started to weaken, he wrapped his arms around me, supporting me. He kept his focus until the last of the senses had floated from me to him and then, when it was just us, the kiss lingered as we stole a few extra seconds. We both knew it was wrong – but letting go seemed impossible.
Even the greatest bringers of justice will only find salvation in surrender.



     Gosh, this series keeps on getting better! 

     Jessica Shirvington delivers yet another fantastic instalment in the Embrace series, a great YA paranormal fantasy series featuring angels like you've never seen them before. In Endless, things get even more intense, more entertaining and - most of all - more devastatingly heartbreaking. It's a wild ride of violence, intrigue and love. Hands down my favorite book in the series thus far. And let me tell you one thing, if you haven't yet read any of the books in the Embrace series, you are seriously missing out. 

     One of the things I love the most about this series is its awesome readability. I sit down with one of the books and the time stops. I always find myself completely immersed in the story, inhaling every word, and when I arrive at the end of each volume I feel sad and angry at the entire world for making me wait to find out what happens next. And trust me, it's not easy to be patient when faced with Jessica Shirvington's unmatched cliffhanger endings! The suspense is enough to give you a cardiac arrest! 

     Endless, while still filled with brutal confrontations, breathtaking action and love dilemmas (just like all the previous books), explores Violet's family life more in depth. And it's not a happy or pleasant thing for Violet at all. She's struggling to understand things and feels like she's losing control over her own life. Self-doubt, confusion, heartbreak caused by her complicated relationship with her soulmate-partner Linc and her even more complicated feelings for Lilith's son, Phoenix - it all comes crashing down on her and she's about to break down. With Lilith now unleashed and kidnapping the Grigori children, and Violet's mother back from the dead, Violet's world and psyche threatens to crumble down. Will she be able to protect all the people she cares about? 

     Complex, charismatic and relatable characters (including the strong supporting cast!). Solid and well-thought plot line that gets thicker and better with every bite, um, page turned. Moments of overwhelming passion, lust and forbidden love that are oh-so-hawt! Emotionally engaging, heart-wrenching developments. The Embrace series has it all and more. To me, it's the absolute best angel series out there. Shirvington's world and character building skills are superb. The intricate mythology she created - completely mesmerizing and fascinating. I have not a single complaint about this book. Maybe except for: "why do you make me wait so long to find out what happens next?!" 

I seriously can't wait for the next book to be released!





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