March 21, 2014

Review: Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor


Title: Maybe One Day
Author: Melissa Kantor
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: February 18th 2014
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository
Zoe and her best friend, Olivia, have always had big plans for the future, none of which included Olivia getting sick. Still, Zoe is determined to put on a brave face and be positive for her friend.

Even when she isn't sure what to say.

Even when Olivia misses months of school.

Even when Zoe starts falling for Calvin, Olivia's crush.

The one thing that keeps Zoe moving forward is knowing that Olivia will beat this, and everything will go back to the way it was before. It has to. Because the alternative is too terrifying for her to even imagine.

In this incandescent page-turner, which follows in the tradition of The Fault in Our Stars, Melissa Kantor artfully explores the idea that the worst thing to happen to you might not be something that is actually happening to you. Raw, irreverent, and honest, Zoe's unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the last page is turned.

Maybe One Day is compared (at least in the synopsis) with The Fault in Our Stars, a book that I have not read yet, so I can´t say if the comparison is true or not. Actually I think this is the first book I´ve read about a cancer patient (if I remember correctly) and the theme is a little difficult for me because my father died of cancer and although it was a different type of cancer that the one that Olivia had in this story, I could not help to relate with the story.

This is the story of seventeen year-old Zoe and Olivia, they have been best friends for thirteen years, they have always been just the two of them, had never been anyone more between them, they have gone to the same school, belonged to a professional ballet school, so they spend almost all the time together, at school, after school, at sleepovers, etc. (they are together 24/7). So when they learn that Olivia has a rare type of leukemia (at least for teenagers), which is very aggressive and needs immediate treatment, .... their world falls apart, since both are very dependent on each other.

The main idea of ​​the story and most importantly is FRIENDSHIP, because Zoe is always there for Olivia and how Olivia needs Zoe by her side in these difficult times between treatments and remissions. The friendship between them is pure, they never resent or envy the other, they literally know each other completely and they´re like family to each other.

The story is told from Zoe´s POV, and from the two of them, she´s doesn´t know what to do with her life, she doesn´t has the best feelings (because at the time she learns Olivia is sick, she wish that Jake, Olivia 's brother was the one that was sick and not Olivia), she´s a little bitter and snarky with her comments about other classmates ..... so Zoe is totally imperfect and there were times that I didn´t like her. Olivia meanwhile is a good person, she likes to help others, has good feelings and she´s stronger than Zoe. But both are very loyal to each other.

Overall, the most important in the book is the FRIENDSHIP between Olivia and Zoe, the way they complement each other and how they support each other during difficult times. There is a little bit of romance but not the focus of the plot. I really enjoy reading Maybe One Day, is a very emotional book and it made my cry (nothing new to me).

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange of an honest review.

March 19, 2014

Review: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi


Title: Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2)
Author: Veronica Rossi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release date: January 8th 2013

Rating: 5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository
You can read my review of Under the Never Sky - here
It's been months since Aria learned of her mother's death.

Months since Perry became Blood Lord of the Tides, and months since Aria last saw him.

Now Aria and Perry are about to be reunited. It's a moment they've been longing for with countless expectations. And it's a moment that lives up to all of them. At least, at first.

Then it slips away. The Tides don't take kindly to former Dwellers like Aria. And the tribe is swirling out of Perry's control. With the Aether storms worsening every day, the only remaining hope for peace and safety is the Still Blue. But does this haven truly exist? Threatened by false friends and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night?

In this second book in her spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi combines fantasy and sci-fi elements to create a captivating adventure—a love story as perilous as it is unforgettable.

Through the Ever Night is second book in the Under the Never Sky trilogy and it´s even better than its predecessor, I read both back o back because after the end of the previous book I just needed to know what would happen with Aria and Perry, my intention was to just read the first few chapters to find out what was going on because I had planned to read another book that week,  but I just could not stop reading it and before I knew it I already had read at least half the book and decided to continue with it (book for review forgotten).

Actually this book hooked me from the start because is full of action, adventure, betrayal, intrigue and romance (during the whole book I spend it trying to figure out who was going to betray him or her, thanks to the synopsis).

On Through the Night Ever we see all the prejudice that Perry and Aria have to face because of their relationship, and coupled with this Perry is trying to cement his place as Blood Lord of the Tides, so he has many responsibilities and several members of his tribe are not happy with Perry as their leader.

And as I had mentioned before, Roar is a very likable character and my favorite so far, in this book he has a more important role and he spend more time with Aria, but what I liked is that they never feel something more than friendship for one another, their friendship is pure and it that grows more during their journey to find information about the Still Blue. I thank the author that there isn´t love triangle in this story because Roar is so great, funny, he lightens the plot and I really like him a lot I wouldn´t want him to be second best.

Something that I really liked is that I finally got to know Liv (Perry´s sister and Roar´s romantic interest), she definitely was not what I had expected and at first I did not know if I liked her or not. But I really liked her with Roar and that is all I'll say about them.

Overall, I really LOVED this book and I had already mentioned it´s even better than Under the Never Sky, I enjoyed it immensely, I liked the world where Perry and Aria live (although I wouldn´t trade places with them) and in this book I got to know more about it, this book also had lovable characters (loved Perry, Aria and Roar), it was easy to get attached to them and it had a good ending (no cliffhanger...yay!) and I can´t wait to read Into the Still Blue.

Book trailer

Cover Reveal: Boomerang by Noelle August

Image Map
Boomerang (Boomerang #1) by Noelle August

BLURB
Welcome to BOOMERANG, the hottest startup in the coolest city: Los Angeles, CA. Why? Because it’s about no-strings, no-fuss relationships for those on the rebound and those who crave connection without all the baggage of long-term promises. While it’s THE dating site for the millennial gen, their offices are even steamier than the hook-ups the website produces.

But that buzz is fading as Boomerang struggles to grow, the solution? Find two brilliant interns and give them a crack at turning this ship back to shore.

Enter MIA GALLIANO and ETHAN VANCE. These young strangers—Mia an aspiring filmmaker, and Ethan at the end of a collegiate sports career—are both bright and motivated. And for very different reasons, although they’re both hungry and way up for the challenge.

But things go wrong from day one. For one thing, Ethan and Mia aren’t strangers. The night before their stint at Boomerang begins, Ethan and Mia meet at a bar and fall into bed together. Or so they think. They’re both hazy on the details. They just know it’s aaaawkward when they share a post hookup taxi…to the same place.

Will the competition get to them, or do they have a future together?

 

Waiting On Wednesday (115): Trial by Fire

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

The book I´m waiting this week is

Trial by Fire (The Worldwalker Trilogy #1) by Josephine Angelini
Release date: September 2nd 2014 
Love burns. Worlds collide. Magic reigns.

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying many of the experiences that other teenagers take for granted...which is why she is determined to enjoy her first (and perhaps only) high-school party. But Lily's life never goes according to plan, and after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class Lily wishes she could just disappear.

Suddenly Lily is in a different Salem - one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruellest of all the Crucibles is Lillian . . . Lily's identical other self in this alternate universe. This new version of her world is terrifyingly sensual, and Lily is soon overwhelmed by new experiences.

Lily realizes that what makes her weak at home is exactly what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. It also puts her life in danger. Thrown into a world she doesn't understand, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone, and a love she never expected.

But how can Lily be the saviour of this world when she is literally her own worst enemy?

What book are you waiting this week?
Leave your WOW links

Don´t forget to enter my current giveaway:
March New Release Giveaway Hop (INTL) - HERE

March 18, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday (36): Books On My Spring 2014 TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.


Top Ten Books On My Spring 2014 TBR List 
(in no particular order)
On the Fence by Kasie West
The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes
The Taking (The Taking #1) by Kimberly Derting
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart


Sea of Shadows (Age of Legends #1) by Kelley Armstrong 
Rebel (Reboot #2) by Amy Tintera
Far From You by Tess Sharpe 
Sunrise (Ashfall #3) by Mike Mullin

What books are on your spring 2014 TBR list?
Leave me your link in the comments.

Don´t forget to enter my current giveaway:
March New Release Giveaway Hop (INTL) - HERE.

March 17, 2014

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Journey.
Each week we spotlight the books we are reading, planning on reading or just finished reading.

Click on the image to look description in Goodreads.

Finished reading 

Maybe One Day, it´s a book about Olivia and Zoe, who had been best friends for 13 years, and in their junior year they learn that Olivia has leukemia, and this book focuses on the friendship between this two girls and how is important for Olivia to count with the support during these difficult moments of her best friend.

Let the Storm Break it´s the second book in the trilogy Let the Sky Fall, the story is entertaining so far, but I do not like as much as the first book.

Currently reading
I´ve read 10% of the book and I'm on the introduction of the game called Panic, but it looks good so far.


What I´m going to read next?


What are you reading today? 
Leave me your links!

Have a great week!

Don´t forget to enter my current giveaway:
March New Release Giveaway Hop (INTL) - HERE.

March 14, 2014

March New Release Giveaway Hop - INTL

March New Release Giveaway Hop
Hosted by Book Nerd
March 15 - 31, 2014

The giveaway is International.
Win a book of your choice from the new releases below or one March New Release book of your choice up to 20 Dlls from TBD.
Elusion by Claudia Gabel, Cheryl Klam
Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

Panic by Lauren Oliver
Let the Storm Break (Sky Fall #2) by Shannon Messenger

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

Details
  • There will be one winner.
  • Win one March New Release book of your choice up to 20 US Dlls from TBD (must have been published in March 2014).
  • You must be a follower via GFC.
  • You must be 13 or older to enter for the YA books. 
  • You must be 18 or older to enter for the NA or Adult book.
  • International as long as Book Depository delivers to your country, check here.
  • Giveaway ends on March 31.
  • Winner will be announced on April 4th in this post, twitter and facebook.
WINNER: Ashleigh S.
Congratulations!

The winner have been notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

March 12, 2014

Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi


Title: Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1)
Author: Veronica Rossi 
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release date: January 3rd 2012

Rating: 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository
Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered.

This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland — known as The Death Shop — are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent energy storms will. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild — a savage — and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must come together to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

I can not believe that I have not read this book before, especially since it has been on my bookshelf since 2012 and I love the dystopian genre. I must say that the story reminds me a little of Pure and Breathe, mainly because they are the same genre and people live in domes/pods due a catastrophic event and although this book was published before the other two I can not help that while reading this book there are some things that remind me of the others.

Under the Never Sky tells the story of Aria a seventeen year-old girl who has lived all her life in a dome, in a controlled and sterile environment, with a balanced diet and having fun within virtual "realms" to which she can access by a device that attaches to her eye. After an event that changed her life forever, she is expelled from the dome and sent to live in the outside world .... she had heard the stories of the wild people who live outside the dome, they´re cannibals and live constantly under the aether and the constant and powerful aether storms (which was what forced their ancestors to live within domes) that everything outside can kill her because her body can get sick out of the dome.

But once outside she meets Perry, a savage with which she forms an alliance and the two help each other to achieve what they both seek. Perry is a eighteen year-old guy, he lives in the outside world, he´s a hunter, a Seer (has night vision and can see at great distances) and a Scire (he can smell the tempers and emotions of other people) and is one of the few (or only one) that has two heightened senses.

Something I really enjoyed was the dual point of view in third person, Perry´s and Aria´s and I really like how the plot flows.

From the secondary characters my favorite was Perry's best friend Roar; he´s one of the strongest Auds of the tribe,  he can heard at great distances, plus he can hear the thoughts of people with a single touch. When he come on the scene  for a moment I feared that there would be a love triangle, but no! .... because he's in love with with Perry’s sister, Liv.

Overall, this is a very good first book in a trilogy, the story is fast-paced, very entertaining, with plenty of adventure, action, with lovable characters and a little of romance. I really enjoyed this book a lot.

Book trailer

Waiting On Wednesday (114): Stitching Snow

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

The book I´m waiting this week is

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis
Release date: October 14th 2014
Princess Snow is missing.

Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.

Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.

When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.

Why I'm Waiting?
I love retelling, so of course I want to read Snow White story.

What book are you waiting this week?
Leave your WOW links 

March 11, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday (35): All Time Favorite Books in the Dystopian Genre

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.


Top Ten All Time Favorite Books in the Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Genre
(in no particular order)
1. The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins: Every time I think the word dystopian the book that comes to my mind is The Hunger Games, maybe because it was the first one that I read of this genre of because it leave a mark on me (I don´t know).
2. Legend (Legend #1) by Marie Lu : I really enjoy this book, is a good dystopian novel with a lot of action and a conspiracy theory plot and I loved the dual POV.(My Review)
3. Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth : Love the worldbuilding of this book.
4. The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa : The Immortal Rules combines two genres I love, the paranormal and dystopian. (My Review)
5. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer : A dystopian re-telling of Cinderella with sci-fi elements.


6. Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1) by Veronica Rossi : A great book with action, adventure, dystopia and romance.
7. The Program (The Program #1) by Suzanne Young : An unusual plot in a dystopian world... this book is about teen suicide and the things the government do to as a solution to this growing problem. (My Review)
8. Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver : Love is a disease that must be cure, because love  is the origin of all evil. I loved the writing style in this book. (My Review)
9. Pure (Pure #1) by Julianna Baggott : Pure is a dystopian novel about the dark days after the end of the world and the survival of those that are left behind. (My Review)
10. Ashfall (Ashfall #1) by Mike Mullin : A super volcano erupted that ends the civilization of the cities around it; this book is about the struggle of a teenage boy trying to survive and find his family that at the time of the eruption were visiting relatives in another state. 
I loved this quote from Will Durant : "Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice."  (My Review)


What´s your all time favorite dystopian and post-apocalyptic books?
Leave me your link in the comments.