Review: Because I Love You - Tori Rigby

Hi!

I got a copy of this book via Netgalley for free in an exchange for an honest review, so here's my review of this book!

Thank you Blaze Publishing!

P.S. I'm sorry to all of my Portuguese viewers, but I will talk about this book in my August Wrap-up.

Title: Because I Love You

Writer: Tori Rigby

Published by: Blaze Publishing

Pages: 330

Summary: Eight weeks after sixteen-year-old Andie Hamilton gives her virginity to her best friend, “the stick” says she’s pregnant.
Her friends treat her like she’s carrying the plague, her classmates torture and ridicule her, and the boy she thought loved her doesn’t even care. Afraid to experience the next seven months alone, she turns to her ex-boyfriend, Neil Donaghue, a dark-haired, blue-eyed player. With him, she finds comfort and the support she desperately needs to make the hardest decision of her life: whether or not to keep the baby.
Then a tragic accident leads Andie to discover Neil’s keeping a secret that could dramatically alter their lives, and she's forced to make a choice. But after hearing her son’s heartbeat for the first time, she doesn’t know how she’ll ever be able to let go.

Buy the book here! 

P.S. This review contains spoilers!

Because I Love You was a book that caught my eyes because of the storyline: a sixteen-years-old girl that gets pregnant. I've never read something similar to this, but since I want to start reading more diverse books I decided to give it a try! And I can say that I really enjoyed it!

I decided to start this book in the beginning of August out of curiosity, nothing more, but after a few pages, I was hooked into the story and the characters. I couldn't put it down, and in two days time I finished it! 

Review: Monstress Volume 1: Awakening - Marjorie Liu

Hi!

I got a copy of this graphic novel via Netgalley for free in an exchange for an honest review, so here's my review!

Thank you Diamond Book Distributors!

P.S. I'm sorry to all of my Portuguese viewers, but I will talk about this graphic novel in my July Wrap-up.


Title: Monstress Volume 1: Awakening
Story By: Marjorie Liu
Art By: Sana Takeda
Published by: Diamond Book Distributors
Pages: 192
MONSTRESS #1-6

Summary: Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.




I was provided with the six single issues of this graphic novel because the collected edition came out on July 13th. If you want to buy the collected edition, buy it here.


Monstress Volume 1: Awakening caught my eyes because of the sentence "Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia", and also because of the astonishing artwork that Sana Takeda did.
Sadly I didn't see a lot of historical references but I should had expected since it clearly says "alternate". Despite that, the artwork was beautiful and I couldn't love it more!

I am not the biggest fan of graphic novels because, in my opinion, they usually lack in the world building department and I never truly relate with the characters.
With that said, Monstress Vol.1 was a bit of a disappointment but also a good surprise.

Review: Glass Sword - Victoria Aveyard

Hi!

I got a copy of this book via Netgalley for free in an exchange for an honest review, so here's my review of this book!

Thank you Orion Publishing Group!

P.S. I'm sorry to all of my portuguese viewers, but I will talk about this book in my July Wrap-up.

Title: Glass Sword

Writer: Victoria Aveyard

Published by: Orion Publishing Group

Pages: 464

Red Queen #2

Summary: From the NEW YORK TIMES number one bestselling author of RED QUEEN.

If there's one thing Mare Barrow knows, it's that she's different.

Mare's blood is red - the colour of common folk - but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court wants to control.

Pursued by the vengeful Silver king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join the rebellion.

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?

Red Queen Series:

Book 1 - Red Queen

Book 2 - Glass Sword

Book 3 - King's Cage

Book 4 - Untitled

Buy the book here! 

P.S. This review contains spoilers!

I read 'Red Queen' in the beginning of this year, and even though it wasn't the best book I've ever read, I did liked it, and the ending made me really excited for 'Glass Sword'. Well, let's just say what a disappointment...

Don't get me wrong, 'Glass Sword' had good moments and there were some parts when I was really enjoying it, but overall I don't think it was as good as the first one. Actually I can summarize this book with one simple sentence: Mare, Mare and Mare.

Review: This Is Where It Ends - Marieke Nijkamp

Hi!

I got a copy of this book via Netgalley for free in an exchange for an honest review, so here's my review of this book!

Thank you Sourcebooks Fire!

P.S. I'm sorry to all of my portuguese viewers, but I will talk about this book in my December Wrap-up.

Title: This Is Where It Ends

Writer: Marieke Nijkamp

Published by: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 292

Summary: 10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03 The auditorium doors won't open.
10:05 Someone starts shooting.
Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

This book comes out on January 5th! You can pre-order here.

‘This Is Where It Ends’ is a book about a huge and critical problem (that takes place frequently in the U.S.) which is school shootings. I’ll be honest, I had no expectations going into this book and I think that worked out really well for me because I adored it!

Sure I have one or two things that I would’ve liked to had seen in the book but besides that I can say that I totally loved it!

Review: Passenger - Alexandra Bracken

Hi!

I got a copy of this book via Netgalley for free in an exchange for an honest review, so here's my review of this book!

Thank you Disney-Hyperion!

P.S. I'm sorry to all of my portuguese viewers, but I will talk about this book in my December Wrap-up.

Title: Passenger
Writer: Alexandra Bracken
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 464

Summary: In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.
Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever

Passenger Series:

Book 1 - Passenger

Book 2 - Passenger #2

Book 3 - Passenger #3

This book comes out on January 5th! You can pre-order here.

As I said before, I requested this e-ARC from Netgalley and I was sure I wasn't going to get it... but I did, and I was so happy about it that I had to immediately start this book!

Alexandra Bracken is well known in the BookTube and BookBlog community for her previous series, ‘The Darkest Minds’ series, and while I haven’t read that series I always wanted to read something written by Bracken and this was my chance! And a great one, I might add because the concept of this book is about time travelling which I love! And with all of this, I can honestly say that I had high expectations for ‘Passenger’.

But I was disappointed…

There were a lot of things that I didn't like about this book, and I think I will start with those since this list is bigger than the list of things I actually did like.

First of all, I didn't enjoy Alexandra Bracken’s writing. In the beginning, I was struggling with it because, as a non-native English speaker, there were words and expressions that I couldn’t understand even though I’ve read a lot of books written in English.

Bracken’s writing is really meticulous and she tries to make it as beautiful as possible which doesn’t make it any easier to understand. And you can say that is not the author’s problem, that it is my problem because I am the one who wasn't born in any English speaking country, and I agree with you!

The thing is, in the beginning, the writing was difficult to understand but after a while it got better and I could follow it completely, but then it got boring…

There were a lot of parts that I think it could had been cut out such as internal thoughts that did not lead to anywhere.

Review: World After - Susan Ee

Hi!
I got a copy of this book via Netgalley for free in an exchange for an honest review, so here's my review of this book!
Thank you Amazon Children's Publishing (Skyscape)!
P.S. Sorry to all of my portuguese viewers, but once I finish this series I will record a video talking about the books!

Title: World After
Writer: Susan Ee
Published by: Skyscape
Pages: 314

Summary: In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.
When a group of people capture Penryn's sister, Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.
Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.
Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

Penryn & the End of Days Series:

Book 1 - Angelfall

Book 2 - World After

Book 3 - End of Days

Buy the book here! 
P.S. This review contains a lot of spoilers!

After reading the first book of this trilogy I wanted to jump right into this next one because 'Angelfall' was amazing!
And I was really excited to see what would happen to Penryn and Raffe in this book, but I'm sorry to say that even though I enjoyed it, 'World After' didn't amazed me as much as 'Angelfall'.

The first thing that I have to point out is the fact that the first half of this book was so slow paced and not that interesting. Maybe it was because Raffe wasn't there to make me laugh and maybe that was Susan Ee's point: make us realize how Penryn would interact without Raffe.
In any case, I didn't like it.
And when Raffe and Penryn met again, the book took a completely different speed and it was so rushed, like everything was happening so much faster until the book ended!
I didn't like the contrast between the first half of the book and the second half of the book, and I think it would been better if it was in the contrary: the first half faster and the second half slower.

With that being said, I really liked this book!
It was so much darker and intense than the first one and that's not a bad thing at all.
The things that we discover were so different from what I was expecting! It seems like Susan Ee's imagination doesn't know how to stop or when to stop creating a plot that's completely bizarre but also open-mouthed!

Review: MANGA CLASSICS: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen, Po Tse, Stacy King

Hi!!
I got a copy of this book via Netgalley for free in an exchange for an honest review, so here's my review on this manga!
Thank you Udon Entertainment!
P.S. Sorry to all of my portuguese viewers, but I will talk about this book on my May Wrap-Up video.



Title: MANGA CLASSICS: Pride and Prejudice
Writer: Jane Austen, Po Tse, Stacy King
Published by: Udon Entertainment
Pages: 377

Summary: Beloved by millions the world over, Pride & Prejudice is delightfully transformed in this bold, new manga adaptation. All of the joy, heartache, and romance of Jane Austen's original, perfectly illuminated by the sumptuous art of manga-ka Po Tse, and faithfully adapted by Stacy E. King.

Buy the book here!

This was my first attempt to read a manga and I enjoyed it. In the beginning, reading from the end to the beginning and from the right to the left was hard but after a couple of minutes, it wasn't a big deal.

I've read the actual 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen and I love that book, so it wasn't surprising that this year I was wanting to read it again. When I saw this manga on Netgalley, I though it was a great way to reread the story but in a much  faster way.

I really liked Po Tse's illustrations! They were elegant and sophisticated which gave a nice touch to the book and to the story. But I would have preferred if they had colors, because I think the black and white illustrations didn't helped readers understand and enjoy this manga at its full potential.

Review: Angelfall - Susan Ee

Hi!!
I got a copy of this book via Netgalley for free in an exchange for an honest review, so here's my review of this perfect book!
Thank you Amazon Children's Publishing (Skyscape)!
P.S. Sorry to all of my portuguese viewers, but once I finish this series I will record a video talking about the books!


Title: Angelfall
Writer: Susan Ee
Published by: Skyscape
Pages: 288

Summary: It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.
When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back. Anything, including making a deal with Raffe, an injured enemy angel.
Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco, where Penryn will risk everything to rescue her sister and Raffe will put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Penryn & the End of Days Series:

Book 1 - Angelfall

Book 2 - World After

Book 3 - End of Days

Buy the book here! 

This book will possibly be the best book I have read this month! I have heard so much about Susan Ee's books but I never decided to pick it up until I received the copy from Netgalley.

'Angelfall' was such a delightful read, and I enjoyed every single word in it!
The best way I can describe this book is that it was like eating a cake and an ice cream, at the same time because it had nice and fluffy parts like a cake but it also had frosty parts that could actually frozen your brain, like ice cream does sometimes.

This book is about one girl named Penryn, who is trying to survive with her family after the apocalypse. The world is really cruel and dark, and she's trying to keep everyone safe, including her. But one day, an angel flies away with her younger sister, and she does the only thing possible: negotiate with another angel to get her back.

And as I said, the world is really dark and cruel, since it has suffer with tsunamis and fires because of the angels and besides that, everyone is trying to survive so it's basically every man for himself.
But this didn't stop me from loving the book! Susan Ee wrote a frightening version of the Earth, but it also wrote the most fantastic characters and the most fantastic story line, so that you couldn't literally take your eyes off this book!

Review: Finding Audrey - Sophie Kinsella

Hi!!
I got a copy of this book via Netgalley for free in an exchange for an honest review, so here's my review on this amazing book! Thank you Penguin Random House UK Children's.
P.S. Sorry to all of my portuguese viewers, if you want I can also make a portuguese review of this book ok?


Title: Finding Audrey
Writer: Sophie Kinsella
Published by: Delacorte Books
Pages: 288

Summary: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Shopaholic series comes a terrific blend of comedy, romance, and psychological recovery in a contemporary YA novel sure to inspire and entertain.
An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.

This book comes out on June 4th! You can pre-order here.

I really enjoyed this book! Sophie Kinsella proved with 'Finding Audrey' that she can write the most horrible topics, and still have a humor and delight story.
And that was one of the million things I really enjoyed about it!

This book deals with a fourteen-year-old that suffers from anxiety and depression. And we get to see how it is to deal with those problems.