Big Water: A Review

Big Water by Andrea Curtis

My Rating: 4/5 Stars!

Cover Rating: 10/10! I love this cover!!! I am such a sucker for illustrative design and this design fits the book itself perfectly! When you look closer you can see the debris coming off from the sinking ship and having the two characters in the life boat on opposite ends for balance just like in the book itself you realize just how much attention to detail there is. It’s a chaotically gorgeous cover!

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers

Publish Date: March 6th, 2018

Number of Pages: 192

Received: Netgalley provided an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Christina McBurney, grieving the loss of her twin brother, Jonathan, to consumption, has run away from her Parkdale home. She believes her mother wishes she had been the one to die, and she plans to find work far away as a nursemaid or teacher. Christina’s cousin Peter is the first mate on the Asia, a steamship that transports passengers and freight throughout the Great Lakes, so she seeks him out to secure passage to Sault Ste. Marie.

But when a violent storm suddenly rises, the overloaded and top-heavy steamship begins to sink. Christina, heeding the warnings from her cousin, somehow makes her way to the hurricane deck. A large wave tosses her overboard, but just before she loses consciousness, she is pulled to safety.

Hours later, adrift on the wide-open water of Georgian Bay, in a lifeboat full of corpses, Christina is nervous about being alone with Daniel, a brooding young man with a likely criminal past and the only other passenger left alive. But they both know that working together is the only way they will find the strength to make it to safety.

Big Water is a fictional account of the real-life story of the only two survivors of the sinking of the SS Asia in 1882.

Opening Sentence: “The wind blasts my face.”

Musings:

Big Water is a survivalist story through and through. It’s that mixture of harsh reality mixed with emotional turmoil that keeps you holding on as desperately to each moment as the characters hold on to the small strands keeping them alive.

What I Loved:

Christina is battling her memories as much as she battles the sea. Christina came to be on the ship after loosing her twin brother who was seen in her family to be the better twin. She’s there to prove something of herself and to get over her guilt and wish that she had been the twin to die instead.

Christina’s uncle. Her uncle is with her on the boat and struggles along with her for survival. The little things she does like singing to him to keep him awake as people in the boat begin dying were lovely touches.

Daniel’s backstory. I loved reading about Daniel and his uncle. Especially when there was a lot of mystery surrounding why they had an argument the night before the ship went down. It made Daniel layered as a character in a really great way.

Based in history. I really like that this is a fictional story inspired by real events. It’s something that causes a reader to really think about what they would have done in that situation. It adds a grounded reality to the fiction.

It’s ugly. Survival is never pretty. It’s awful and ugly and sad. It’s ultimately you vs. your demons vs. nature and you have to have the mental strength and will to do what it is necessary to come out of everything alive. The rules when it comes to straight survival are totally different from any other situation. It’s gritty and I loved that this book showcases all of that.

Final thoughts:

Big Water is emotional, edge of your seat, fast paced read based in history. It’s beautifully written and will make you wonder if you would have the grit to survive.

About the Author

Andrea Curtis is an award-winning writer in Toronto. She writes for both adults and children.

Her next book for kids is Eat This! How Fast Food Marketing Gets You to Buy Junk (and How to Fight Back). It will be published in early 2017. It is a followup to her first award-winning children’s book, What’s for Lunch? How Schoolchildren Eat Around the World, published by Red Deer Press.

She is also working on a YA novel called Big Water. It’s based on the true story of a shipwreck on Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, and the harrowing experience of the two teenaged survivors.

Her most recent adult book, written with Nick Saul, is the National Bestseller, The Stop: How the Fight for Good Food Transformed a Community and Inspired a Movement. It is published by Random House Canada and Melville House Press in the US and UK. It was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award and won the Taste Canada Award for Culinary Narratives.

Andrea’s critically acclaimed creative nonfiction book Into the Blue: Family Secrets and the Search for a Great Lakes Shipwreck (Random House) won the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction.

Andrea’s writing has also appeared in Toronto Life, Cottage Life, Chatelaine, Canadian Geographic, Explore, This Magazine, Utne Reader, The Globe & Mail, The National Post and Today’s Parent, among other periodicals.

She lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband and two children.

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below.

-Till next time!

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Shadowsong: A Review

Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones

My Rating: 5 Stars!

Cover Rating: 6 out of 10 Stars I really do like this cover I just have a few design things about it that don’t quite settle right with me. I really like the colors and how they fit really well with the cover of the first book.

Publisher: St. Martins Press

Publish Date: Febuary 6th, 2018

Number of Pages: 379 pages

Received: Netgalley provided an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

The conclusion to the gorgeous and lush Wintersong duology, Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones.

Six months after the end of Wintersong, Liesl is working toward furthering both her brother’s and her own musical careers. Although she is determined to look forward and not behind, life in the world above is not as easy as Liesl had hoped. Her younger brother Josef is cold, distant, and withdrawn, while Liesl can’t forget the austere young man she left beneath the earth, and the music he inspired in her.

When troubling signs arise that the barrier between worlds is crumbling, Liesl must return to the Underground to unravel the mystery of life, death, and the Goblin King—who he was, who he is, and who he will be. What will it take to break the old laws once and for all? What is the true meaning of sacrifice when the fate of the world—or the ones Liesl loves—is in her hands?

“A maze of beauty and darkness, of music and magic and glittering things, all tied together with exquisite writing. This is a world you will want to stay lost in.”—Marie Lu, #1 New York Timesbestselling author

Opening Sentence: “Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land; When you can no more hold me by the hand, Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.”

Musings:

This slower darker counterpart to Wintersong broke my heart. I ached for Liesl and how lost she ended up being. The poetic and musical soul that is the beating heart of this novel had been broken and trying to get back to herself was a journey I that filled me with emotion.

What I Loved:

Liesl is a character with bipolar disorder in a time where people didn’t know what that was. When I read the authors note before beginning to read and was told that Liesl had Bipolar disorder everything made so much more sense. The way Liesl threw herself into her music in the first book, the self-destruction, the apathy, and the anger. Seeing someone going through the full weight of a mental disorder with no one to understand what they are going through being labeled as mad and having no available medication or therapy or anything to help stable themselves and feeling lost because you don’t even know that your thoughts and moods are not something that come from you being an awful person, but have something very real affecting your brain was both unsettling and heartbreaking.

Music as a muse. For Liesl, music is everything. I love that music is what inspires her and even if she isn’t a performer she gets lost in composition. Her fear and loss makes her loose her music in this book and some of the most achingly beautiful scenes are her trying to make music during a time of pain.

Under-lands leaking into the over-world. The unique magic of this book is much more subtle then the last. Yet the remembrances and subtle additions reminds the reader that that world is still out there. It made the “normal” world feel a bit more otherworldly in a really nice way.

Real relationships. The family relationships were grinding and changing in an authentic way. Liesl’s state of mind changing the way she related with her brother and sister and caused tension. A lot of times authors are too afraid to create that disconnect in a family and when it happens it’s disjointed, but in Shadowsong it is done really well. It’s ego against ego and pain from people’s individual wants and needs in such a fantastic way.

The Slow Burn. The pacing takes the story and lets it settle in your mind. It builds up the emotion and makes you care more then you ever did before. I could feel how much heart the author put into creating this story and I appreciated how everything came together.

Final Thoughts:

I have so much respect for what this story tried and did accomplish. I appreciate a fantasy that reads with the aura of authenticity. The poetic touch to the words and the energy this book holds affected me. I just desperately wish there was more to read of this story. However I am satisfied with the ending. It’s a beautifully written story.

About the Author:

My name is S. Jae-Jones, called JJ. I’m an artist, adrenaline junkie, and author of the New York Times bestselling Wintersong. The sequel, Shadowsong, is available now!

I am a voracious and indiscriminate reader, a cuddler of baby harp seals, avid traveller, and not-so-secret goth.

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, or Instagram for nonsense and non sequiturs, wisdom and whimsy, and opinions about the best romanceable characters in Dragon Age.

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

-Till next time!

Before I Let Go: A Review

Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

My Rating: 4/5 Stars!

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publish Date: January 2nd, 2018

Received: Netgalley provided an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends comes an intense story of loss and the quest for truth

Corey and her best friend, Kyra, are inseparable. Corey is the only person who understands Kyra’s high-highs and low-lows. So when Corey’s family moves away from their Alaskan town, she makes Kyra promise to stay strong during the long, dark winters and wait for her return.  Except Kyra doesn’t.

Two days before Corey is to visit, Kyra is found floating underneath the ice.

While everyone in Lost Creek deems Kyra’s death a suicide, Corey knows something is wrong. With every hour, her suspicion grows. The town is keeping secrets—chilling secrets. But piecing together the truth about what happened to Kyra may prove as difficult as lighting the sky in an Alaskan winter…

Opening Sentence: “The airplane’s engines rumble.”

Musings:

Before I Fall is a mixture of magical, strange, cult, and a feeling of wrongness. From the moment Corey steps back into her old town to the moment the ending occurred things felt simply wrong.

Honestly when I was first reading this book I was almost put off by the strangeness of it all. Every relationship in this book, every person that appeared said and did things that simply felt off and so wrong to me. So much so that when I first put down this book I only had it at a three star rating. However, now after it has been over a month since I read Before I Fall or really even thought of it much I can appreciate the story so much better.

Yes Before I Fall is strange and causes a stirring of uncomfortable feeling when you first read it, but that’s what makes it so good. Your not really meant to truly like anyone in this novel. The slow descent into madness that this story goes into is meant to make you feel like you have your skin crawling in a weird way.

Before I Fall is an eclectic novel that blurs reality and magic and becomes something almost akin to an abstract painting. There are o many questions left unanswered (as far as the community and the magic and overall strangeness not about plot), so many things that make you think back later about the story in a similar way you would a dream.

Before I Fall is far from perfect, but i find myself having warmed up to it after distancing myself from it. It is uncomfortable and eccentric, but in those ways I have found myself appreciating it for what it is.

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

-till next time!

Wintersong: A Book Filled With Magic

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

My Rating: 5 Stars!

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin’s Griffin

Publish Date: February 7th, 2017

Received: Christmas Present 2017!

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

The last night of the year. Now the days of winter begin and the Goblin King rides abroad, searching for his bride.

All her life, Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, dangerous Goblin King. They’ve enraptured her mind and spirit and inspired her musical compositions. Now eighteen and helping to run her family’s inn, Liesl can’t help but feel that her musical dreams and childhood fantasies are slipping away.

But when her own sister is taken by the Goblin King, Liesl has no choice but to journey to the Underground to save her. Drawn to the strange, captivating world she finds — and the mysterious man who rules it — she soon faces an impossible decision. With time and the old laws working against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her fate is sealed.

Dark, romantic, and powerful, Wintersong will sweep you away into a world you won’t soon forget.

Opening Sentence: “Once there was a little girl who played her music for a little boy in the wood.”

Musings:

Wintersong is full of lush fantasy, romance, and mischievous heart. Inspired by The Labyrinth, Wintersong is a tale spun with string filled with nostalgia using old and new ideas to create something wholly original and unique. Filled with some spindly characters and sung with the soul of beautiful music Wintersong is one of my favorite books of 2017.

I have seen many describe this novel as slow paced and burdened by its heavy musical influence. However for me this book was just rightly paced for me to fall in love with its characters and all of its contents. I felt like the music added another layer of passion. Especially as it lead us to understand the characters at their soul level instead of just at the surface. It was in a way the way each character communicated to the other and in the end it made the story feel all the more alive in my hands.

The Goblin King is a sensuous and magical being that took me back to year ago when I first watched the magic that was the Labyrinth. To be able to read an actual romance with the Goblin King was so amazing and magical to me. It is something that I had always been craving for years. To have this gorgeous sinewy creature a companion to match him with their wits and fiery passion. Seeing Liesl and The Goblin King grow together was something out of my very dreams and it made me incredibly happy.

There is so much to love about this fabulous book and I could go on and on about it for ages on end, but truly I want everyone to experience its magic for themselves.

Thank for reading! What are your thoughts on Wintersong? Are you ready for the sequel?

-Till next time!

Amber Sky: A Review

Amber Sky by Claire Warner

My Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Raven Press

Publish Date: October 8th, 2017

Received: Netgalley provided an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

““You thought I did this out of the goodness of my heart?” He gave a short mirthless laugh. “Not a bit of it, this is going to be dangerous for me. What are you offering for my help?”

Beneath the Amber Sky, the nobility control the food, education, and the mysterious C.O.I.L.S of Copper and Brass. To Tay, struggling to keep her siblings alive, the ideas of rebellion and freedom are distant and unreachable.

But when her father is arrested, she begs Darius James, the son of the Overseer, to save his life. Darius agrees, but his help costs her a favour, one he can call in at any time.

Darius’ favour will bring her to the Palace, and the perfect position to help the growing rebellion. But the court has games beyond anything she has seen before, and Darius’ secrets will add to the danger.

Tay is now able to make a difference, to join the rebellion, find the C.O.I.L.S and discover the secrets of the Amber Sky. All she has to do is survive.”

Opening Sentence: “It was November, and soot-laden fog obscured her progress as Taya strode along the busy street.”

Musings:

Every time I had a Goodreads vote on what to read next this book won. I didn’t understand why until after I finished reading when I realized that this book had one of the most intriguing concepts I have ever read and it was executed very well.

What I found to be most interesting was the unique class systems based around ratings even among the wealthy. This made for some interesting social dynamics where no matter who you are your rank is never safe and it is possible for you to loose all your status.

I also loved the imagery of the Amber Sky in this book and the fact that the sky ever having been blue was almost one thing of myths for them. It was almost difficult to grasp in my head because all my life I have thought of the sky being blue and to think of it being any other color was a bit strange. What I liked mot about the Amber sky however was that it is almost a representation of the secretive and oppressed state of the people in this story.

Our heroine in this story is also a bit of an unusual one because she does not seem to even want to be a heroine. She was mostly coerced into it because she did not want any more of her family getting hurt for the resistance cause anymore.

This book for me was a mix of political and octal intrigue, mixed with a rebel cause and a little bit of romance to make for one of the most unique storylines I have ever read. Amber Sky has a lot to offer and I am so excited to see what happens next in book two!

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below.

-Till next time!

We Can’t Be Friends by Cyndy Etler: A Review

We Can’t Be Friends by Cyndy Etler

My Rating: 5 Stars!

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publish Date: October 3rd

Received: Netgalley provided an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

In the follow-up to Cyndy Etler’s chilling memoir, The Dead Inside, Etler details her turbulent readjustment to life at home and high school after spending sixteen months in Straight, Inc. Advertised as a rehab program for troubled teens, in reality, Straight subjected Cyndy and her fellow Straightlings to cultlike brainwashing and bizarre “treatment” methods. There was no privacy, no freedom, and no room for error. But when Cyndy is finally released, she discovers she’s living by an entirely different set of rules than her peers. What new extremes will she go to in order to fit in?

Musings:

Horrifically truthful, this book tells the true story of Cyndy Etler after her experience in a Rehab Center called Straight Inc.. After Cyndy’s release her life remains turbulent and the amount of times Cyndy mentioned she wished to return to the horror that was Straight left me sick inside.

The effect this book had on me was mostly psychological. I kept wanting to reach out to this girl that kept rushing into bad situation after bad situation and to just be there for her. To be one of the few people in her life that didn’t have some sort of ulterior motive. Gosh there are a couple of people I wanted to strangle for treating Cyndy the way they did. But I especially wanted to reach out when she called herself a druggie or when she felt like she wanted to go back to the hellhole that was Straight. That’s when I got really frustrated. Maybe even more then that though was when it felt like she had to do certain things to fit in or to be liked and that that hurt a lot to see.

My favorite parts of this book were the little lights of hope that came when she talked about those people who lead her into writing. Those parts made it so I couldn’t help but smile. It made me feel that now finally she is at the place where she is meant to be.

This book is inspiring because it is one where you know that despite her many struggle Cyndy made it out of Straight and eventually does start to heal and then goes on to write her story. This is hard book to read, but it is an important one and I am happy to have read it. What Cyndy went through was only one story out of the many Straightlings that entered through Straights halls and that’s the scary part, it was all real and it affected more kids then it ever should have.

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below!

-Till next time!

Trell by Dick Lehr: A Review

Trell by Dick Lehr

My Rating: 5 Stars!

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Publish Date: September 12th, 2017

Received: Netgalley provided an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

From the co-author of Black Mass comes a gripping YA novel inspired by the true story of a young man’s false imprisonment for murder—and those who fought to free him.

On a hot summer night in the late 1980s, in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury, a twelve-year-old African-American girl was sitting on a mailbox talking with her friends when she became the innocent victim of gang-related gunfire. Amid public outcry, an immediate manhunt was on to catch the murderer, and a young African-American man was quickly apprehended, charged, and—wrongly—convicted of the crime. Dick Lehr, a former reporter for the Boston Globe’s famous Spotlight Team who worked on this story, brings the case to light once more with Trell, a page-turning novel about the daughter of an imprisoned man who persuades a reporter and a lawyer to help her prove her father’s innocence. What pieces of evidence might have been overlooked? Can they manage to get to the truth before a dangerous character from the neighborhood gets to them?

Musings:

Trell is a little girl full of zest and a ferocity that allows her to get things done. I had so much fun reading her story and watching at she takes a journey to prove her father’s innocence and find some true justice.

When I finished this book and I realized that the writer of this book was a journalist and had written about a case that truly happened, but then decided to write from the perspective of the little girl, it made me pause in utter respect. So many of the details and the hard work that went along with chasing a story felt so real to me. I loved how the dots all came together in the end and that every piece of information mattered (whether I knew that at the time or not).

Most of all I enjoyed the story of Trell bringing in new life to Globe Reporter Clemens Bittner and helping him to realize that he could finally do some good again (and really, just live a full life again). They felt very much like true family by the end and all along the way they did everything they could to be there for each other. Then, by bringing Clemens out of his bitterness Trell began to give her mom and her daddy’s lawyer something to truly fight for and when they all banded together that was something to really fight for.

Trell is the beautiful story of a family broken apart by the murder of a little girl on a blue mailbox. Her fight to free her father from his false accusations and convoluted framing creates this beautiful story that I could not put down. An important story to read in light of today’s current events. This book will inspire hearts and make them feel while again.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of this book down in the comments!

-Till next time!

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman: A Review

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

My Rating: All the Stars in the universe!

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Publish Date: September 26th, 2017

Received: Netgalley provided an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

A gorgeous and emotionally resonant debut novel about a half-Japanese teen who grapples with social anxiety and her narcissist mother in the wake of a crushing rejection from art school.

Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what she’s thinking. With a mother who makes her feel unremarkable and a half-Japanese heritage she doesn’t quite understand, Kiko prefers to keep her head down, certain that once she makes it into her dream art school, Prism, her real life will begin.

But then Kiko doesn’t get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. So when she receives an invitation from her childhood friend to leave her small town and tour art schools on the west coast, Kiko jumps at the opportunity in spite of the anxieties and fears that attempt to hold her back. And now that she is finally free to be her own person outside the constricting walls of her home life, Kiko learns life-changing truths about herself, her past, and how to be brave.

From debut author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes a luminous, heartbreaking story of identity, family, and the beauty that emerges when we embrace our true selves.

Musings:

This novel means so much to me. I had heard about it on social media, but at the same time I avoided all information on what this was about somehow thinking this was a fantasy novel along the way, but when I started reading and I got this heartfelt, emotional, and personal read I was floored. This book felt like it was speaking to me. Like it was written for me to open my eyes and to start to feel just that little bit more whole. Starfish is an absolutely gorgeous novel that is now my favorite read of 2017!

Kiko is an artist with social anxiety. However she is so much more then that. Within these pages she took steps forward and then some steps back and she lived and she breathed and thought deeply about life and what she wants for herself, and how she wants to see life. Kiko was so achingly human and she was so real you almost felt like you could touch her soul.

What hit me most was Kiko’s mother. A mother like my Grandmother who had adopted me when I was a baby. It is uncanny how much the words that Kiko’s mother said mirrored the words my own grandmother has told me so many times before. It is insane to think that the author could have captured the essence of the woman who had caused me so much pain in the pages of this story without even knowing it. It made me feel this story in my bones in a way that I have never felt a story before. It filled me with anger when the mother in this book said certain things and it filled me with my own brewing of things I always wanted to say to my own grandmother that were truths never gone to light. However, I have never felt such peace at the end of a story as this one and I never felt such healing, because this is a story for those who know what it is like to live with a starfish and who know that emotional abuse can cause just as many scars though they may always go unseen.

This book is like poetry to me, especially the descriptions of paintings Kiko creates at the end of each chapter. Those descriptions often gave me goosebumps. They showed most of all how Kiko felt on the inside and I don’t know how she made every emotion good or bad turn into something beautiful.

This book is about family and it is about discovering that beauty has more then one definition. It is about dreaming and chasing those dreams and being who you are unapologetically no matter what. This book is so many amazing things and by the end as Kiko is transformed so are you.

Thanks for reading! PLEASE READ THIS BOOK! It is such an important read and there is something to take away from it for every person that reads it. Reading this book is a truly personal journey and I hope that this book is accepted into the world with open arms.

-Till next time!

Protected by Claire Zorn: A Review

Protected by Claire Zorn

My Rating: 4 stars!

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publish Date: October 1st

Received: Netgalley provided me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

I have three months left to call Katie my older sister. Then the gap will close and I will pass her. I will get older. But Katie will always be fifteen, eleven months and twenty-one days old. 

Hannah has survived high school by putting up walls. At first, they were meant to protect her from the relentless bullying that no one would defend her from, not even her popular older sister, Katie. Then Katie died, and, in a cruel twist of fate, Hannah’s daily torment abruptly stopped. Now the walls try to shut it all out—the grief, the loneliness, and the harsh truth that Katie’s death has somehow improved Hannah’s life.

Then something happens that Hannah couldn’t have predicted—friendship comes knocking in the form of new student Josh Chamberlain. Hannah has never been so desperate for connection. But if this isn’t for real, if it’s just another joke, Hannah’s not sure she can take it…

An inspiring and achingly honest story of a girl with the courage to endure, hope, and even heal in the face of unimaginable tragedy.

Musings:

This is story about acceptance. It is a story of growth and healing and finding out who you could truly be if you only let yourself. But most of all this is a story of a young girl named Hannah and her sister Katie and how their connection together defies Katie’s death even though they never had a good relationship in life and how Hannah must move on to become who she was meant to be.

My favorite parts of this novel were the flashbacks and the lists. Hannah makes a lot of lists, some of them a bit morbid others seemingly random and it was a part of her character that really added to the story overall. As for the flashbacks, they helped me to understand Hannah and Katie and how different they were and how being sisters always seemed to be tough for them. Katie was always everything Hannah was not, she knew how to act and how to attract attention and she knew how to be a part of the crowd. However, being there caused her to be miserable to her sister because Hannah was never the kind of girl who fit in at all.

That’s the other thing about this book though, Hannah and Katie were so much so their own characters that there was no way for them to stop from clashing. I think that’s what made this book so rich for me. Even with Katie gone in Hannah’s memory she was very much alive and somehow her sisters opinions still stood over her and it made it feel so real.

In the end you never know when the clock will stop for you or how that will affect those you love. But you also don’t know how loosing someone you love will effect you until it happens. I couldn’t imagine ever being in Hannah’s position. I couldn’t imagine that after being bullied for so many years the bullying just stops. I don’t ever want to know what it is like to loose my sister.

This book was thoughtful, hopeful, and beautifully written. Sometimes you just have to stop and listen and let go in order to finally spread your wings and fly.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of Protected down in the comments!

-Till next time!

Illuminae: A Review

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

My Rating: 5/5 burning stars! 

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Published: October 20, 2015

Recieved: I purchased this at target a long time ago…

Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Nobel / Book Depository 

Synopsis: 

Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the worst thing she’d ever been through. That was before her planet was invaded. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating craft, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
 

But the warship could be the least of their problems. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their biggest threat; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady plunges into a web of data hacking to get to the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: Ezra.

Musings: 

This book is 100% awesome! I laughed while I read and I cried a bit too. The way this book all came together had me floored. 

For full disclosure I was afraid to read this book. The popularity it has rightfully garnered since its release scared me. Especially when I had read a few mixed reviews from those that found this formatting not for them. However, Once I got into this book and found little areas of humor mixed with some very dark and sad truths I fell in love. 

Kady, Ezra, and Aidan were truly the Stars of this book. Kady being our hack pro heroine sporting pink hair and a spicy attitude. We never do find out why Kady and Ezra break up in the beginning of this book and that is the one curiosity that plagues me now. Ezra himself is charismatic in the way that even though he sometimes says the weirdest things, you can’t really hate him. I dub him Adorkable and I really enjoy Kady and his relationship. 

Then we get to AIDAN. Mister Am I Not Merciful? himself. I think reading his (is he truly a he?) files were the most fascinating and truly thought provoking of all. I have so many conflicting emotions about this AI because even though he may be insane and quite possibly murderous, he has some emotional things he thinks about that tears my heart to pieces. I truly do not know how to feel. 

All I want is to spend my next couple of days or so reading Gemina and then once Obsidio comes out reading that as well, but I sadly do not own Gemina yet and right now I’m super tempted to purchase it.. even though I can’t yet… 

Anyway, if you are one of the people out there who has been on the fence about Illumnae.. or just haven’t gotten to it yet, please bump it up on your tbr. You won’t regret it. 

Thanks for reading! If you have read Illuminae already let’s talk about how awesome it is down in the comments, and if you haven’t read it yet, let me know if you do plan to read it eventually. 

-Till next time!