Two Minute Review: Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson

Title: Like a River Glorious
Author: Rae Carson
Genre: western, magical realism, historical fiction
Series: The Gold Seer Trilogy #2
Pages: 416
Published: September 2016
Source: publishers via edelweiss
Rating: 3/5

After a harrowing journey across the country, Leah Westfall and her friends have finally arrived in California and are ready to make their fortunes in the Gold Rush. Lee has a special advantage over the other new arrivals in California—she has the ability to sense gold, a secret known only by her handsome best friend Jefferson and her murdering uncle Hiram.

Lee and her friends have the chance to be the most prosperous settlers in California, but Hiram hasn’t given up trying to control Lee and her power. Sabotage and kidnapping are the least of what he’ll do to make sure Lee is his own. His mine is the deepest and darkest in the territory, and there Lee learns the full extent of her magical gift, the worst of her uncle, and the true strength of her friendships. To save everyone, she vows to destroy her uncle and the empire he is building—even at the cost of her own freedom.

The second epic historical fantasy in the Gold Seer trilogy by Rae Carson, the acclaimed author of The Girl of Fire and Thorns.

This is unfortunately another case of the faint praise award or even second-book-syndrome kicking in. This was... mehh, not bad. It was just okay; I didn't hate it and I didn't love it... but I did keep reading and finish all 400+ pages. Second in a trilogy that blends magical realism with westernish historical fiction, Like a River Glorious mainly suffers from being the bridge book and feels just kind of unnecessary filler before the ending to come. 

The book's plot (Lee vs Evil Uncle Hiram yet again makes up the bulk of the story) moves in fits and spurts. The pacing is all over the place and the story suffers for it -- like Lee's time in Glory vs the extended stay at her uncle's. Some sections are drawn out for chapters and others take place in pages; it's an uneven read. It is a novel that tries to do too much and with too little result. It's obvious the author is trying to be sensitive and aware in her portrayal of both Native Americans and of Chinese immigrants. Like a River Glorious makes pains to try to show other sides of history besides the dominant white influence and narrative but that doesn't mean there aren't problematic elements to how she chooses to show other cultures and people.

Overall, this was not too bad and still compelling enough to keep me interested in the final outcome tbd in the last of the trilogy. I do hope Lee's new adventure in the next book is more evenly paced and with less misrepresentation for Jefferson and others. 

DNF Review: Nameless by Lili St. Crow

Title: Nameless
Author: Lili St. Crow
Genre: Fantasy, Retelling, Paranormal
Series: Tales of Beauty & Madness #1
Pages: 304
Published: April 4th, 2013
Source: Borrowed Library
Rating: DNF 27%

When Camille was six years old, she was discovered alone in the snow by Enrico Vultusino, godfather of the Seven—the powerful Families that rule magic-ridden New Haven. Papa Vultusino adopted the mute, scarred child, naming her after his dead wife and raising her in luxury on Haven Hill alongside his own son, Nico.

Now Cami is turning sixteen. She’s no longer mute, though she keeps her faded scars hidden under her school uniform, and though she opens up only to her two best friends, Ruby and Ellie, and to Nico, who has become more than a brother to her. But even though Cami is a pampered Vultusino heiress, she knows that she is not really Family. Unlike them, she is a mortal with a past that lies buried in trauma. And it’s not until she meets the mysterious Tor, who reveals scars of his own, that Cami begins to uncover the secrets of her birth... to find out where she comes from and why her past is threatening her now.

Coverlust betrays me again. You know how in reviews, we recommend authors "show, don't tell"? St. Crow has forgotten to do either in Nameless.

Ostensibly a Snow White retelling, Nameless takes place in an exceptionally complicated world that I can't begin to parse, much less correlate to the original story. Taking place in a post-apocolyptic future where a few cities remain, surrounded by Wastes, (which are bad for reasons,), Cami embarks on such interesting future activities as, "attending prep-school in traditional prep-school uniform", and "watching her brother hustle in a billiard hall". Occasionally there is "taking daddy's limo to the mall". Thrilling. Except daddy is a vampire, I'm sorry, member of the Family, who is dying his mortal death to arise as an immortal representative of the Seven Families. Still drinks blood though, although it took me entirely too long to realize that "whiskey and calf" meant calf blood. In addition to the sci-fi and vampire mythoses, every person in the city has Potential, an undefined magical power. But people with Potential and a lot of anger can Twist into...something. And then occasionally Twist even further into minotaurs? Then there are Jacks, who I thought were Twisted, but apparently they're an entirely separate entity that doesn't have enough Potential to Twist, though they all appear to have some sort of physical marking like gray skin? I never did figure out what the kin were. It's a lot you guys.

Oh, and Cinderella and Red Riding Hood are here too.

But I can handle weird world building and shoehorned references to the source material. (Cami is confronted by a strange jack who appears to be made of wood just so later in the story she can be told, "Don't be afraid of the woodman" and readers can go, "OH! Like woodsman from the original!") What I can't handle is the romance. Cami is adopted, yes. But she has no recollection of her life before he adoption. That means, for all intents and purposes, she and Nico have been siblings for her entire life. They talk about playing together, snuggling in a chair during storms, Nico creeping into Cami's bed when she has nightmares. To emphasize their sibling nature and then turn it around, "oh since he went to boarding school, Cami thinks he's hot as fuck and doesn't want to be his little sister anymore, so it's ok." Nope. It's not ok. Not at all. The relationship is creepy and imbalanced even before we consider Cami's human nature and Nico's immortal one.

What's more, the story gives no reason why the characters should have romantic feelings. Cami has zero character traits outside of her stutter. She's not brave or kind or independent. She's not passionate or political or charitable or anything that might make an infinitely older vampire interested in her. She has no hobbies or interests. I can't picture any scene that isn't implicitly on page, because the character doesn't actually exist. Nico is the same. He's rebelling against his place in the family, but there's no suggestion of what he'd rather do or what he studies. He's protective of Cami, but shockingly blasé about the lives of other humans. But this appears to be one of those YAs where people fall in deep, ever-lasting love, because they're both attractive and in the same location. (Caveat of course, I only read 82 pages and I suppose previously unexplored depths could be revealed in the later sections. I mean I doubt it, but it could have happened.)

It's a shame, Nameless has a completely different feel than other Snow White retellings and I wish its gothic promise had been revealed. Instead I felt I'd been dropped in the middle of a series and missed several hundred pages of background and nothing ever got out of first gear.

Guest Review: Feedback by Mira Grant

OK muffins, gather around. On your best behavior, please. Stand up straight. Are your hands clean? Good. We have a very special guest today on APR, our dear friend Ysabet MacFarlane. Ysa and I go way back on twitter where she is one of the monsters that keeps making me read Mira Grant books. You know how much I love Mira and her Newsflesh world, so when Ysa got an advanced copy and asked if anyone would like her to guest post it? You'd better believe I fell at her feet. So be good, leave comments, and don't scare her off. Without further ado: 

Title: Feedback
Author: Mira Grant
Genre: sci-fi
Series: Newsflesh #4/standalone
Pages: 489 (printed ARC)
Published: October 4, 2016
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

A new beginning for Mira Grant's New York Times bestselling NEWSFLESH series!

There are two sides to every story...

We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we unleashed something horrifying and unstoppable. The infection spread leaving those afflicted with a single uncontrollable impulse: FEED.

Now, twenty years after the Rising, a team of scrappy underdog reporters relentlessly pursue the facts while competing against the brother-and-sister blog superstars, the Masons.

Surrounded by the infected, and facing more insidious forces working in the shadows, they must hit the presidential campaign trail and uncover dangerous truths. Or die trying.

Feedback is a full-length Newsflesh novel that overlaps the events of the acclaimed first novel in the series, Feed, and offers a new entry point to this thrilling and treacherous world.

I am, to put it mildly, a hardcore fan of Mira Grant's original Newsflesh trilogy, and a fan of her work overall, so I was 100% prepped and ready to love Feedback; on the flip side, I was scared of it not living up to my hopes, which is always a risk no matter how much you love an author's work. But I came away from it delighted, and I hope other readers will too.

Let me say up front that, despite the cover copy's description of Feedback offering "a new entry point" to the series, it should be approached with a bit of caution by anyone who hasn't read the original books. Does it stand on its own? Yes, I would say so. And if you haven't delved into the Newsflesh world before and want to check it out without committing to a trilogy, then go for it, because this is a great book. My qualm is that Feedback, for good reason, gives away a major plot development from near the end of Feed (the first book in the original trilogy). If you're totally blase about spoilers, by all means, proceed.* (And there are tons of things in the trilogy that Feedback doesn't touch on, so it certainly won't spoil the whole plot for you!) But if not, my strong advice is to pick up both Feedback and the trilogy (which is available in a convenient box set) and read the original books first.

The main cast of Feedback is an entirely new group of characters. Our narrator, Aislinn "Ash" North, is an Irish expatriate and new American citizen working as an action news reporter--an Irwin--in a close-knit team of four internet journalists. Like plenty of other blogging teams, Ash's team applied for a job as the official reporters for one of the potential Republican candidates in an upcoming presidential election, and they came close to getting it, but lost out to Georgia and Shaun Mason, siblings whose family is already a household name thanks to their parents' fame in the first wave of post-Rising reporters. Another chance comes knocking when one of the aspiring Democrat candidates decides to hire a reporting team of her own and offers the job to Ash and her coworkers, who seize the opportunity.

Feedback spends less time focusing on the details of the political campaign than you might expect, even before the plot thickens and the team starts to realize what they're up against. As an Irwin, Ash's job has little to do with writing exposes and in-depth articles; instead, her role involves going looking for trouble with zombies and broadcasting her thrilling escapes. But in this post-zombie apocalypse world, an eye for danger and a gift for getting out alive are priceless when anyone can become a threat once the virus in their system wakes up...and equally valuable in the face of other types of danger.

The writing in Feedback is engaging and the book flows by quickly despite clocking in at nearly 500 pages. The plot is solid and offers a fresh take on a situation we saw through a very different lens in Feed, as well as on a few characters who readers of the trilogy and novellas have met in other circumstances. (To those who've read Feed: as Grant indicated when Feedback was announced, no, the Masons are not involved in this novel at all. We do get some insight into how they're seen by other members of the blogging community, though, which I'd been hoping for and was glad to see.) The basic starting premise of "bloggers get hired to report on a political campaign/candidate" is fairly similar to Feed's, but Feedback's twists and turns make this a very different story.

But while all of that is great, it's the characters who make Feedback shine. I loved getting to know Ash and spending some time in her head. She's smart, quick-witted, and practical, and has complex relationships with her team--and not just because the team includes both her husband (a dear friend who married Ash to get her into the United States, rather than because they were in love) and her girlfriend. The friendship and camaraderie are intense and real, down to the strains and frustrations that come with any long-term personal or professional relationship. The main cast is also very diverse, with nary a straight-white-cisgender dude in sight.

There are some small but significant ways in which Feedback is in conversation with its predecessors, especially Feed. After Feed, the impression given of a minor character was a source of some criticism from readers, which Grant seems to have born in mind here--in Feedback, that individual is given added nuance and a bit of explicit (but not jarring) commentary on how she's often perceived. And some of the assumptions the Masons make in their trilogy about how the world works are influenced by an upper middle class upbringing, and those views aren't necessarily challenged; Ash, as an immigrant with fewer resources and a very different living situation (and the benefit of being in her late 20s compared to the Masons at age 22-23), has different insights into how ordinary people go about their lives after the Rising.

All in all, I'm thrilled with this full-length return to the Newsflesh world, and I hope everyone else will be too.

And finally, thanks to Danielle for letting me borrow a corner of Ageless Pages. ^_^ ( Anytime! - D)

*I'd be quite interested to know what reading Feedback is like for someone with no prior knowledge of the series, and if such a person were to then go read the original trilogy, I'd also be very interested to know how experiencing Feedback first affected their take on Feed and its characters.

TTT: Top Ten Best/Most Compelling Villains

Hello hello hello, today is Halloween fourth and thanks to our friends at The Broke and the Bookish, we are here to tell you about villains. Villains are awesome. A good baddie can rescue a mediocre book and a bad one can ruin a good. They can be more iconic than their protagonists, particularly if they get a really great Villain Song. (The number of times I listen to Poor Unfortunate Souls is not weird, ok?) Maybe it's why I love anti-heroes so much, but the bad guy just has more fun. So without further ado, here are ten of the best and most compelling villains in fiction.

1. The Lord Ruler - Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

The most compelling thing about the Lord Ruler, Mistborn's GodEmperor, is who he actually is. His story is told through a series of journal entries at the beginning of each chapter. The first line of the book, "Sometimes, I worry I'm not the hero everyone thinks I am." is actually spoken not by our protagonist, but by a man named Alendi, the Hero of Ages destined to become the Lord Ruler. The duality of reading the hero's journal while confronting the legend's horrors is impeccable. And as this is a Sanderson, prepare for a twist.

2. AIDEN - Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

One of the most compelling tropes is a villain who thinks he's a hero, as is the case with The Illuminae Files' AI, AIDEN. See, AIDEN is programmed to protect his ship and fleet, but when a one two punch of the computer being damaged and an environmental issue crop up, AIDEN goes a little...extreme. The computer narrates its own destructive prowess while justifying its every move as for the good of the fleet. Compelling? Absolutely.

Am I not merciful?

3. Zombie Viruses - Feed by Mira Grant/The Girl with All the Gifts by MR Carey

I love an environmental villain. One where the only thing you can blame is nature and maybe a crazy scientist or two. That's why I only like zombie stories that focus on the virus and how it came to be. Both Mira Grant and MR Carey  do this spectacularly, giving you a villain you can't reason with or directly fight, just its poor victims as the protagonists search for a cure. Add in questions of natural selection, predators, and next steps in evolution? Oh gimme that science baby.

4. Carcer - Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

Pratchett's villains tend towards the bumbling and humorous, as is his satire. There is nothing satirical about this smiling, giggling, psychopath. The shivers one of his "ha ha"s induces secures him a place on this list, even before his rise through military ranks.

5. Emperor Ozorne - Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce

Pierce spends the first two Immortals books painting Ozorne Taskhe, emperor of Carthak, as a cardboard bad guy. So when our heroine Daine finally meets him and discovers he's charismatic, intelligent, and loves animals? Hey there conflict in my young young adult. So much of this book is a reminder that Ozorne is a person. One who used to go to school with Numair and has family and pets and hobbies, none of which excuse his treatment of his subjects, but make Daine's final choice a lot less clear.

6. von Linden - Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Fuck SS-Hauptsturmführe von Linden. Let's get that right out of the way. This isn't a "sympathize with the poor Nazi who doesn't know any better" entry. Von Linden knows precisely what he's doing to captured British intelligence agent, Verity. What makes him compelling to me is his complete two-faced nature - brutal torturer off screen and calm government official on. Von Linden's mask compared to Verity's is a compelling narrative. And no one has deserved their ending more. 

7. The Darkling - Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

"Fine, make me your villain."

Leigh Bardugo revealed she based The Darkling on David Bowie's Goblin King and suddenly my whole world made sense. The character's balance between ambitious despot and charismatic prince keeps Alina and the reader simultaneously in love with and loathing the character.

8. Cersei Lannister - Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

Oh Cersei. The morality of Martin's ASoIaF is decidedly grey and the Lannister queen is no exception. Driven by societal expectations in a patriarchal society as well as her own greed, Cersei's hunt for power is the catalyst for every bad thing in the series. And yet, her POV chapters make it clear that beyond herself, Cersei is desperate to protect and set up her children. She's being driven mad by a prophecy that she's misinterpreted and sees knives coming from everyone but the person who's destined to bring her down. When a debased Cersei, trapped in a web of her own machinations walks into the keep and thinks, "And hair grows back," let's just say I don't want to be the one who reminds the Tyrell's a Lannister pays her debts.

9. Smaug - The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

Justice for Smaug 2k16

A dragon who took over a dwarven kingdom, spent centuries guarding his treasure, who was described as having "quite an overwhelming personality" deserved better than to be shot by a minor character as an after thought. No. Smaug is alive, he just flew back to the Withered Heath, susceptible to flattery and riddles and rolling around on a even bigger pile of jewels.

10. Leland Gaunt - Needful Things by Stephen King

The last Castle Rock story is the best. Sorry 'bout it.

Castle Rock has attracted a lot of villains. Rabid dogs, murderous presidential candidates, evil twins, aliens, but none so fearsome nor as capable of wanton destruction as the devil. Selling the towns citizens first their hearts' desires and then guns and ammo to "protect" those desires, Leland Gaunt's machinations bring about full scale destruction at the cost of the soul. Whether Gaunt is Satan himself or and avatar of Nyarlathotep, his careful and insidious chaos is compelling before the throat-punch epilogue.


There we go loves, ten of my favorite villains from literature. Who did I so obviously forget? And what do you think makes a memorable villain? Let me know in the comments.

Review: DC Comics Bombshells Vol. 1: Enlisted by Marguerite Bennett

Title: DC Comics Bombshells Vol. 1: Enlisted
Author: Marguerite Bennett, Marguerite Sauvage
Genre: Graphic Novel
Series: DC Comics Bombshells #1-6
Pages: 144
Published: March 2nd, 2016
Source: Borrowed Library
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The incredibly popular DC Collectibles line is brought to life in these stories that reimagine the course of history!

As Word War II rages across Europe, the Allied forces issue a call to arms for the greatest heroines the world has ever known: THE BOMBSHELLS!

KATE KANE, the all-American Batwoman; DIANA OF THEMYSCIRA, warrior Princess of the Amazons; KARA STARIKOV and KORTNI DUGINOVNA, defenders of Mother Russia; and MERA, royal daughter of the legendary Atlantis! With aid from their allies at home and abroad, these mighty women will turn the tide of war and defend those inviolable rights of Truth, Justice and Freedom.

From writer Marguerite Bennett (BATGIRL, EARTH 2: WORLD’S END) and featuring artists including Marguerite Sauvage (HINTERKIND), Laura Braga (Witchblade), Bilquis Evely (Doc Savage), Mirka Andolfo (Chaos) and Ming Doyle (CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER) comes DC COMICS: BOMBSHELLS VOL. 1: ENLISTED. Collects DC COMICS: BOMBSHELLS #1-6.

Bombshells tells the story of an AU/alt history where Amanda Waller puts together an all-female team of superheroes to bring down Nazis in 1940. It's a good premise and naturally lends itself to the pin-up style it was inspired by. Mostly, the women are gorgeous. I'm currently painting Diana of Themyscira on the side of my bomber and then running away with Batgirl. Sauvage's work as a colorist is phenomenal, particularly in issue 1. The generally muted palette gives the story a gloriously retro vibe while letting the heroine's bold costumes pop off the page. I have some quibbles with her art, (Kara and Kortni are one hundred percent identical,) but I generally feel the pages she's involved in are the best.

I cannot say the same for whoever drew issue four. Supergirl and Stargirl are an absolute mess. Block faces, weird poses, and disembodied torsos aside, I am appalled at how stiff and lacking in movement their flight is. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is one of the ugliest panels I have seen in a modern comic. 

The rest of the artists fall somewhere in the middle with Kate's later scenes drawn in a very gritty, 90s style that doesn't particularly jibe with the pin-up concept and Harley and Ivy's being overly cartoony. I'm also going to call out Kate's artist on continuity errors as her dress switches from red to black back to red.

So the art is generally good, but what about the plot? Well...well.

This trade would have been so much better with a tighter focus on Amanda finding and recruiting her bombshells. Harley and Ivy are always fun to see, yes, but they added nothing to the over all plot. Likewise Zatanna, Constantine, the Joker's Daughter, and the zombies probably should have been held off until book 2. I wanted a chance to see and understand the core cast, but I couldn't. Too much of the book was made up of names and cameos. "Oh, in the main timeline, she's Bluebird!" "Oh my gosh, of course Lex Luthor would show up." Sure it was cool, but everything needed to slow way down. Take some time for Kara and Kortni to be in the Night Witches before revealing Kara as Supergirl. And did Kortni have the staff to make her Stargirl already? Or did the soviets give it to her? A huge chunk of their story is missing from #1 to #4, and then again when they defect and join the Bombshells in #6. The only storyline I felt anything from was Wonder Woman.

I like Bombshells a lot, but I don't think it has its feet under it just yet. This is a book that passes the Bechdel test with flying colors. With strong female characters and great (implicit) LGBT rep. With (mostly) beautiful art and fun action scenes. I just wish it had a beefier plot.

Early October Book Haul

It's only October 2nd, but I've already had quite a bit of good luck with the ARC-fairy. Both NetGalley and edelweiss have been kind to me, so I have a couple of very exciting  new reads loaded up on my ereader.

Like..

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers #2)

Lovelace was once merely a ship's artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who's determined to help her learn and grow.

Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet introduced readers to the incredible world of Rosemary Harper, a young woman with a restless soul and secrets to keep. When she joined the crew of the Wayfarer, an intergalactic ship, she got more than she bargained for - and learned to live with, and love, her rag-tag collection of crewmates.

A Closed and Common Orbit is the stand-alone sequel to Becky Chambers' beloved debut novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and is perfect for fans of Firefly, Joss Whedon, Mass Effect and Star Wars.

I read and loved Chambers' first book and cannot wait to see how Lovelace's story continues here. 

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

“I don’t entirely understand how anyone gets a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. It just seems like the most impossible odds. You have to have a crush on the exact right person at the exact right moment. And they have to like you back.”

What does a sixteen-year-old girl have to do to kiss a boy? Molly Peskin-Suso wishes she knew. She’s crushed on twenty-six guys…but has kissed exactly none. Her twin sister Cassie’s advice to “just go for it” and “take a risk” isn’t that helpful. It’s easy for her to say: she’s had flings with lots of girls. She’s fearless and effortlessly svelte, while Molly is introverted and what their grandma calls zaftig.

Then Cassie meets Mina, and for the first time ever, Cassie is falling in love. While Molly is happy for her twin, she can’t help but feel lonelier than ever. But Cassie and Mina are determined to end Molly’s string of unrequited crushes once and for all. They decide to set her up with Mina’s friend Will, who is ridiculously good-looking, flirty, and seems to be into Molly. Perfect, right? But as Molly spends more time with Reid, her cute, nerdy co-worker, her feelings get all kinds of complicated. Now she has to decide whether to follow everyone’s advice…or follow her own heart.

Simon Vs. was such a fun, sweet YA with great characters who were more than just their sexual identification and orientation. I am really excited to see her tackle a plus size teenager with her second book.

Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer

 Spindle Fire is an enthralling, wholly original re-imagining of a classic faerie story.

Half-sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king’s headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.

And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora’s blood, a Faerie Queen who is preparing for war, a strange and enchanting dream realm—and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.

Spindle Fire is a tour de force fantasy set in the dwindling, deliciously corrupt world of the fae, and featuring two truly unforgettable heroines.

That cover is just gorgeous and I am really keen for this fantasyish retelling to be good. It sounds fantastic and I probably won't wait long to dive into it. 

Hunted by Meagan Spooner (Hunted #1)

Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.

So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.

Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?

Another YA fantasy/fairy tale retelling. I've been burned before with these kind of books by this publisher, but this is an author I am willing to trust enough to try. Plus it's Beauty and the Beast and how can I resist?

Gilded Cage by Vic James (Dark Gifts #1)

For readers of Victoria Aveyard and George RR Martin comes a darkly fantastical debut set in a modern England where magically gifted aristocrats rule and commoners are doomed to serve.

NOT ALL ARE FREE.
NOT ALL ARE EQUAL.
NOT ALL WILL BE SAVED.

Our world belongs to the Equals—aristocrats with magical gifts—and all commoners must serve them for ten years. But behind the gates of England's grandest estate lies a power that could break the world.

A girl thirsts for love and knowledge.

Abi is a servant to England's most powerful family, but her spirit is free. So when she falls for one of the noble-born sons, Abi faces a terrible choice. Uncovering the family's secrets might win her liberty, but will her heart pay the price?

A boy dreams of revolution.

Abi's brother, Luke, is enslaved in a brutal factory town. Far from his family and cruelly oppressed, he makes friends whose ideals could cost him everything. Now Luke has discovered there may be a power even greater than magic: revolution.

And an aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts.

He is a shadow in the glittering world of the Equals, with mysterious powers no one else understands. But will he liberate—or destroy?

This sounds pretty awesome and like something that would be right up my alley (if it's more GRRM than Aveyard, as I am hoping...) I love a dark fantasy series and this has a lot of potential to be exactly that.

TBR: October

Woohoo! Tenth month of the year already and it's just going quicker and quicker. I have a little less on my plate this month -- less books out in October! I'm looking forward to cooler weather, esp. cause Phoenix is the worst. 

For my last weeks chilling poolside, here are a few books coming up in the TBR:

A Song of War by Kate Quinn, Stephanie Thornton, Christian Cameron, Libbie Hawker, Vicky Alvear Shecter, SJA Turney, and Russell Whitfield

Troy: city of gold, gatekeeper of the east, haven of the god-born and the lucky, a city destined to last a thousand years. But the Fates have other plans—the Fates, and a woman named Helen. In the shadow of Troy's gates, all must be reborn in the greatest war of the ancient world: slaves and queens, heroes and cowards, seers and kings . . . and these are their stories.

A young princess and an embittered prince join forces to prevent a fatal elopement.

A tormented seeress challenges the gods themselves to save her city from the impending disaster.

A tragedy-haunted king battles private demons and envious rivals as the siege grinds on.

A captured slave girl seizes the reins of her future as two mighty heroes meet in an epic duel.

A grizzled archer and a desperate Amazon risk their lives to avenge their dead.

A trickster conceives the greatest trick of all.

A goddess' son battles to save the spirit of Troy even as the walls are breached in fire and blood.

Seven authors bring to life the epic tale of the Trojan War: its heroes, its villains, its survivors, its dead. Who will lie forgotten in the embers, and who will rise to shape the bloody dawn of a new age?

I am lucky enough to be a part of this blog tour. I've been making myself wait since I received my ARC to start this -- so I am pretty excited to see how some of my favorite authors depict one of my favorite legends.


The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid --- the comp titles are making me a bit leery, but the cover and synopsis sound so good I can't wait to get to this BEA ARC.
A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith - another "premise is perfection" novel! This sounds so dark and intense and appealing. It also sounds diverse and fresh, so it will be a highly anticipated read for me this month.
Heartless by Marissa Meyer -- it's finally time to crack the covers on one of the years hottest novels! I've been trying to keep from any hype about this because I want to go into it completely knowign nothing. So far, so good.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Debut author Sally Thorne bursts on the scene with a hilarious and sexy workplace comedy all about that thin, fine line between hate and love.

Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.
2) A person’s undoing
3) Joshua Templeman

Lucy Hutton has always been certain that the nice girl can get the corner office. She’s charming and accommodating and prides herself on being loved by everyone at Bexley & Gamin. Everyone except for coldly efficient, impeccably attired, physically intimidating Joshua Templeman. And the feeling is mutual.

Trapped in a shared office together 40 (OK, 50 or 60) hours a week, they’ve become entrenched in an addictive, ridiculous never-ending game of one-upmanship. There’s the Staring Game. The Mirror Game. The HR Game. Lucy can’t let Joshua beat her at anything—especially when a huge new promotion goes up for the taking.

If Lucy wins this game, she’ll be Joshua’s boss. If she loses, she’ll resign. So why is she suddenly having steamy dreams about Joshua, and dressing for work like she’s got a hot date? After a perfectly innocent elevator ride ends with an earth shattering kiss, Lucy starts to wonder whether she’s got Joshua Templeman all wrong.

Maybe Lucy Hutton doesn’t hate Joshua Templeman. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

This sounds like it is made of shippy goodness. I haven't been reading much besides review books so it will be nice to sneak a "me" read in there. This is def the pick -- I've seen a lot of friends reading and loving this over the last few weeks.