Book Review: The Dark Beneath the Ice

Title: The Dark Beneath the Ice

Author: Amelinda Berube

Genre: Young Adult | LGBTQIA+ | Paranormal

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: August 7, 2018

Source: ALA

Format: ARC

Something is wrong with Marianne. 
It's not just that her parents have split up, or that life hasn't been the same since she quit dancing. Or even that her mother has checked herself into the hospital. 
She's losing time. Doing things she would never do. And objects around her seem to break whenever she comes close. 
Something is after her. But a first attempt at an exorcism calls down the full force of the thing's rage. It demands Marianne give back what she stole. And Marianne must uncover the truth that lies beneath it all before the nightmare can take what it think it's owed, leaving Marianne trapped in the darkness of the other side (goodreads).

The Dark Beneath the Ice was spooky and addictive!

Book Review: Follow Me Back

Title: Follow Me Back (Follow Me Back #1)
Author: A.V. Geiger
Genre: Young Adult | Mystery | Thriller
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: June 6, 2017
Source: Publisher
Format: Physical

Tessa Hart’s world feels very small. Confined to her bedroom with agoraphobia, her one escape is the online fandom for pop sensation Eric Thorn. When he tweets to his fans, it’s like his speaking directly to her…
Eric Thorn is frightened by his obsessive fans. They take their devotion way too far. It doesn’t help that his PR team keeps posting to encourage their fantasies.
When a fellow pop star is murdered at the hands of a fan, Eric knows he has to do something to shatter his online image fast—like take down one of his top Twitter followers. But Eric’s plan to troll @TessaHeartsEric unexpectedly evolves into an online relationship deeper than either could have imagined. And when the two arrange to meet IRL, what should have made for the world’s best episode of Catfish takes a deadly turn…
Told through tweets, direct messages, and police transcripts (goodreads).

Follow Me Back was suspenseful. 

Book Review: Bruja Born

Title: Bruja Born (Brooklyn Brujas #2)
Author: Zoraida Cordova
Genre: Young Adult | Urban Fantasy | Magic
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: June 5, 2018
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC

Three sisters. One spell. Countless dead.
Lula Mortiz feels like an outsider. Her sister's newfound Encantrix powers have wounded her in ways that Lula's bruja healing powers can't fix, and she longs for the comfort her family once brought her. Thank the Deos for Maks, her sweet, steady boyfriend who sees the beauty within her and brings light to her life.
Then a bus crash turns Lula's world upside down. Her classmates are all dead, including Maks. But Lula was born to heal, to fix. She can bring Maks back, even if it means seeking help from her sisters and defying Death herself. But magic that defies the laws of the deos is dangerous. Unpredictable. And when the dust settles, Maks isn't the only one who's been brought back...(goodreads)

This series needs to be no fewer than 10 books, I never want this to end!

Book Review: Furyborn

Title: Furyborn (The Empirium #1)
Author: Claire Legrand
Genre: New Adult | Fantasy | Magic
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: May 22, 2018
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.
A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.
As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other (goodreads).

Furyborn is for us fantasy lovers!

First Thoughts [#166]

First Thoughts is a feature where I give my initial impression of my current read.

Waiting on Wednesday [#130]

Title: You Will Be Mine
Author: Natasha Preston
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: February 6, 2018

ROSES ARE REDVIOLETS ARE BLUEWATCH YOUR BACKI'M COMING FOR YOU
Lylah and her friends can't wait to spend a night out together. Partying is the perfect way to let loose from the stress of life and school, and Lylah hopes that hitting the dance floor with Chace, her best friend, will bring them closer together. She's been crushing on him since they met. If only he thought of her the same way...
The girls are touching up their makeup and the guys are sliding on their coats when the doorbell rings. No one is there. An envelope sits on the doormat. It's an anonymous note addressed to their friend Sonny. A secret admirer? Maybe. They all laugh it off.
Except Sonny never comes home. And a new note arrives:
YOUR TURN  (goodreads)

Book Review: Alone

Title: Alone
Author: Cyn Balog
Genre: Young Adult | Mystery | Thriller
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: November 7, 2017
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC

When her mom inherits an old, crumbling mansion, Seda’s almost excited to spend the summer there. The grounds are beautiful and it’s fun to explore the sprawling house with its creepy rooms and secret passages. Except now her mom wants to renovate, rather than sell the estate—which means they're not going back to the city…or Seda's friends and school. 
As the days grow shorter, Seda is filled with dread. They’re about to be cut off from the outside world, and she’s not sure she can handle the solitude or the darkness it brings out in her.
Then a group of teens get stranded near the mansion during a blizzard. Seda has no choice but to offer them shelter, even though she knows danger lurks in the dilapidated mansion—and in herself. And as the snow continues to fall, what Seda fears most is about to become her reality… (goodreads)

That escalated quickly. 

Book Review: Mask of Shadows

 Title: Mask of Shadows (Untitled #1)
Author: Linsey Miller
Genre: Young Adult | Fantasy
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: August 29, 2017
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC

Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class and the nobles who destroyed their home. 
When Sal Leon steals a poster announcing open auditions for the Left Hand, a powerful collection of the Queen's personal assassins named for the rings she wears -- Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst, and Opal -- their world changes. They know it's a chance for a new life.
Except the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. But Sal must survive to put their real reason for auditioning into play: revenge (goodreads).

Mask of Shadows had too many loose threads, but I enjoyed the ride. 

First thoughts [#135]

First Thoughts is a feature where I give my initial impression of my current read.

Waiting on Wednesday [#116]

Title: Mask of Shadows

Author: Linsey Miller

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: August 29, 2017

When Sal Leon steals a poster announcing open auditions for the Left Hand, a powerful collection of the Queen's personal assassins named for the rings she wears -- Ruby, Emeral, Amethyst, and Opal -- their world changes. They know it's a chance for a new life.
Except the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. But Sal must survive to put their real reason for auditioning into play: revenge.
Sal is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class―and the nobles who destroyed their home (goodreads). 

Book Review: The Bone Witch

Title: The Bone Witch (The Bone Witch #1)
Author: Rin Chupeco
Genre: Young Adult | Fantasy | Witches
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: March 7, 2017
Source: Library
Format: eBook

The beast raged; it punctured the air with its spite. But the girl was fiercer.
Tea is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy makes her a bone witch, who are feared and ostracized in the kingdom. For theirs is a powerful, elemental magic that can reach beyond the boundaries of the living—and of the human.
Great power comes at a price, forcing Tea to leave her homeland to train under the guidance of an older, wiser bone witch. There, Tea puts all of her energy into becoming an asha, learning to control her elemental magic and those beasts who will submit by no other force. And Tea must be strong—stronger than she even believes possible. Because war is brewing in the eight kingdoms, war that will threaten the sovereignty of her homeland…and threaten the very survival of those she loves (goodreads).

I can't even tell you what the Bone Witch was about. 

[Giveaway and Spotlight] Labyrinth Lost

Labyrinth Lost came out earlier this week, and you may remember that I ADORED IT. I'm thrilled to share with you all the book trailer, excerpt, and a chance to win a copy!

Book Review: Labyrinth Lost

Title: Labyrinth Lost (Brooklyn Brujas #1)
Author: Zoraida Cordova
Genre: Young Adult | Paranormal | Witches
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: September 6, 2016
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher

Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.
Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation...and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can't trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange marks on his skin.
The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland...(goodreads)

 

Labyrinth Lost was a refreshing read with a world you want to know more about and characters that can't help but be endearing. 

Book Review: The Assassin Game

Title: The Assassin Game
Author: Kirsty McKay
Genre: Young Adult | Mystery 
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: August 2, 2016
Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)

Who will be left after lights out?
At Cate's isolated boarding school, Killer is more than a game- it's an elite secret society. Members must avoid being "Killed" during a series of thrilling pranks, and only the Game Master knows who the "Killer" is. When Cate's finally invited to join the Assassins' Guild, she know it's her ticket to finally feeling like she belongs.
But when the game becomes all too real, the school threatens to shut it down. Cate will do anything to keep playing and save the Guild. But can she find the real assassin before she's the next target? 
Originally published in the United Kingdom by Chicken House in 2015 under title: Killer game (goodreads).

Oh boarding schools, you're the best place for creepy cult-like games and murder. While a fun trope, it's been done far too many times.

Book Review: This is Where it Ends

Title: This is Where it Ends
Author: Marieke Nijkamp
Genre: Contemporary | Young Adult
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: January 5, 2016
Source: Purchased
Format: Audiobook

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.
10:03The auditorium doors won't open.
10:05Someone 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 (goodreads). 

This is Where it Ends is an important book for our time, too bad it was missing the emotional connection that I was expecting.