Warcross by Marie Lu ARC Non-Spoiler Review

Title: Warcross (#1)
Series: Warcross
Author: Marie Lu
Genre: YA SciFi Thriller
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books
Format: ARC Paperback
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu—when a game called Warcross takes the world by storm, one girl hacks her way into its dangerous depths.

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.

Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

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***Thanks to BookCon and Penguin for providing an ARC.

Here you have Virtual Reality, Bounty Hunters, Tokyo, plus tons of Diversity! Warcross, the biggest known virtual reality game across the whole world. Everyone links in to watch, this is one huge phenomena. 10 years ago, Hideo Tanaka who’s Japanese created this virtual reality called NeuroLink through a pair of glasses and since then, the world has changed. Emika Chen, a Chinese American bounty hunter and hacker, struggles in real life to make ends meet and pay her bills. She and her roommate, Keira, are about to get evicted within days. Due to the virtual reality world, gambling has become a serious issue where people buy things off through NueroLink and sell them in the real world, converting notes to money. After Emika loses a bounty and the money that came with it, she gets impatient about how she’s going to survive another day. During the Warcross championships, Emika comes up with an idea to hack the games and take a power-up in order to gamble and make it into money. What she doesn’t know is that when she hacks into the game, the game glitches and she is automatically thrown into the game to be seen by everyone. LITERALLY EVERYONE IN THE WORLD. In an instant, Emika Chen becomes an overnight sensation and her life changes in an instant. Emika Chen is worried about getting another arrest due to her hacking the Warcross Championships but what she doesn’t know is that Hideo has other plans for her, he flies her off to Tokyo and the rest is for you to read.

I am not new to Marie Lu, one of my favorite series happens to be Legend and if you’ve read Legend, then you’re in for a nice surprise with this one. Marie Lu has created such a detailed rich world in Warcross, she transported me from my own life to Warcross. She isn’t complicated with her words, Marie Lu knows how to explain everything smoothly and still have you imagining a vivid world. She draws you in with her plot, characters, and setting. I was addicted to this book and couldn’t stop reading it. Marie Lu is an amazing writing.

I loved every single character. We meet a wide range of characters filled with diversity and I am so happy that Marie Lu made this organic, as it should be. It never felt forced and I wanted to hug ALMOST (some I couldn’t stand) all of these characters lol. We first meet Emika Chen, our Chinese American MC with rainbow hair. Who is this amazing kickass chick from the boogie down ayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!! (aka the bronx for those who don’t understand NYC lingo lol). Emika has been through a lot in life and Marie Lu definitely tells us how she got to where she is, her story was very heartwarming. We also meet Hideo Tanaka, the Japanese billionaire who created Warcross and everything that comes with the NueroLink. I feel like his character was a little trope-y lol (if that’s a word), if you like the “guy who has a shitload of money but has tons of secrets” trope, then you are going to love Hideo.

We also meet TONS of side characters that I really enjoyed and look forward to maybe reading more in the next books to come *fingers crossed*. We have from the Warcross Championships: Asher, Hamilton, Roshami, and Ren. I enjoyed all these characters and how flushed out they were. Marie Lu definitely gave us great insight to them.

I LOVED THIS BOOK AND I NEED THE OTHER BOOK RIGHT NOW BECAUSE HOW IS THAT MARIE LU IS GOING TO DO THIS TO ME WITH THAT ENDING?!?!?!?!? *THROWS A TANTRUM AND DOESN’T CARE WHO’S WATCHING*. This book was just utterly amazing. A lot of people compare this to Ready Player One, I tried reading that book and couldn’t get into it so if you are like me, then I would say to still give this one a shot because it’s amazing and vastly different. I loved the way she gave us enough information on the characters but it never felt like info-dump. Marie Lu always gave a smooth transition (in my opinion).

I really cannot wait to see what Marie Lu does with the rest of the series and how it ties into some of my theories. If you read Legend, then you’ll know what I’m talking about lol. I remember staying up for a few hours researching connections. You can still read Warcross without reading Legend though.

Marie Lu is definitely an auto-fave for me and now I need to marathon The Young Elites trilogy for sure. I definitely recommend Warcross!

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have you read Warcross or anticipate it?? or any Marie Lu book at all? let’s chat in the comments! i would love to know your thoughts!

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Instagram: @chicnerdreads
Twitter: @chicnerdreads

WWW Wednesday

Hi everyone! I thought I would participate in WWW Wednesday today. This meme is hosted by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. You can link your blog post to Sam’s website that way we can interact and find other bloggers =)

The questions are:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

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This is a cheat but I will be starting it today lol. I received Warcross by Marie Lu at BookCon, after almost catching an anxiety attack because of the line and the madness that was behind it. No seriously, I almost did and I never want to go through that madness ever again. Which is why I didn’t even attempt to get Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo the following day because I knew it was going to be even worse! However, I got to meet Marie Lu and she’s a lovely human being! I cannot wait to see what I think of this book.

 

 

 

 

 

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I recently finished Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco and I really liked this book! I rated SJTR a 4 star and I am hoping to have a non spoiler review up sometime this week, fingers crossed. I love the main character and how bad ass she is, especially in an era where misogyny is huge. She loves science and isn’t afraid to admit that she does even when people frown upon her for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Since I am participating in #ARCAugust (click here for TBR post), the next two books will be ARCs that I also received at BookCon.

DO YOU NOTICE THE THEME HERE?!?! I AM LIVING FOR IT!!! YASSSS SLAY MY LIFE!! I cannot wait to read these two. I am really excited for all the reads. I really can’t wait to read Odd & True, a YA Paranormal Historical Fiction, I’ve seen mixed reviews for it which makes me really curious to see how I’ll feel about it. Hunting Prince Dracula is the second installment to Stalking Jack the Ripper and I am hoping for more amazingness!

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any of these books are on your list? what are you currently reading? i would love to chat in the comments! hope you’re all having a great day!

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Instagram: @chicnerdreads
Twitter: @chicnerdreads

July Wrap-Up 2017

Always late to the monthly wrap-up party but heyyyyy I’m here!!! This month was slow in the reading department. I had family from Puerto Rico and we went out a lot plus I was getting ready for my first live reading event (I’ll get into that later in the post)!

Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu ★★★★ 
Genre: Graphic Novel, Adult
Finally picked this graphic novel up after it being out for like a year and OMG it was great!! The detailing, the story, the illustrations, the dialogue, the poet references, yessssss!!!! I have a non-spoiler review here.

 

 

 

 

 

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maroon daydreams by Cheyenne Raine ★★★★★ 
Genre: Poetry
Filled with beautiful vivid imagery, this collection of poetry will have you feeling love and light by the end of it. I have a short review with some of the poems here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab ★★★★★ 
Genre: Fantasy
After a few years, I finally read this fantastical book and it was amazing!!! I have a non-spoiler review here. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series in September! I miss Kell and Lila Bard, plus all the Londons!

 

 

 

 

 

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Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel ★★★ 
Genre: YA Paranormal
This book releases September 5th and I wrote a non-spoiler ARC review here. This one was a disappointment to me, I was really looking forward to it. However, if you miss reading books like LUX and Twilight, then I would definitely recommend this one for you.

 

 

 

 

 

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I HAD MY FIRST POETRY READING EVENT AND IT WENT GREAT!!!! It was at Bluestockings Bookstore located in New York City. This even was hosted by an amazing group called La Pluma Y La Tinta. This organization is all about helping PoC writers/poets. They dedicate their events to PoC and I think that’s so great because our voices should be heard just like any other. I got to read alongside other writers!

Special shout out to my twin Lilly @ LairOfBooks for pulling through and showing her support!!! SHE DA BEST!!!!! Check out her super amazing diverse book blog! Why did i just notice that we were both wearing stripes?! *cries laughing* TWINNING!

 

If you want to check out clips from my reading, I did a full thread on Twitter, click here ❤

 

 

 

 

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Poetry Postings:
– my love poems are ghost stories

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and that is all for today’s post! i am hoping that August will be a better reading month since i have officially joined #ARCAugust! what have you book nerds been up to? let’s chat in the comments!

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Instagram: @chicnerdreads
Twitter: @chicnerdreads

guess who’s joining #ARCAugust?! a chat and ARC TBR!

You guessed it! I will be joining #ARCAugust! This is my very first time committing to something like this but I thought it would be perfect since I already had planned on reading all my September releases this month. On top of that, I get to chat up with other bloggers and we can motivate one another.

ARC August is being hosted by Read.Sleep.Repeat and if you click on their name, the link will take you to the sign up which I love because that way you get to meet other bloggers. On Read.Sleep.Repeat’s post you will find the rules (that are super easy to follow) and other things. They will be hosting two Twitter chats, the first one is on Monday August 7th at 8pm EST. The second chat will take place at the end of the month, Monday August 28, same time. You can use the hashtag #ARCAugust to check in ❤

Now a lot of you might not know this because I never did write a blog post about it but I attended BookCon this year with my twin Lilly @ LairOfBooks (she’s also joining ARC August, check out her linked post). Lilly and I snagged a lot of great books, therefore my ARC TBR for this month will feature some of the books that I obtained at BookCon. I actually don’t ever request ARCs for many reasons but that’s for another time. Let’s get into the ARCs!

*please note that I will not be reading these in chronological order, you can blame my mood reading for that. they are however in order of publishing date. titles lead you to goodreads.

ALL THESE THREE HAVE THE SAME RELEASE DATE!!!! *cries for days* They all release September 12th. Covers shown are:

• Warcross by Marie Lu – YA SciFi
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng – Adult Fiction
• Odd & True by Cat Winters – YA Historical Fiction, Paranormal

Both of these are also released on the same day, September 19th. Covers shown are:

• Hunting Prince Dracula (Stalking Jack the Ripper #2) by Kerri Mansicalco – YA Paranormal
• Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore – YA Fiction

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let me know if you plan on joining #ARCAugust! are any of these books on your TBR? let’s chat in the comments!

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Instagram: @chicnerdreads
Twitter: @chicnerdreads

Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel Non-Spoiler ARC Review

Title: Black Bird of the Gallows
Series: N/A
Author: Meg Kassel
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Format: ARC paperback
Release Date: September 5th 2017
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.

Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece—and he’s not human.

What’s more, she knows something most don’t. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.

 

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*I want to thank BookCon and Entangled Teen for providing me an ARC!*

Angie Dovage is a teenager trying to live a low-key life where people forget her story and what’s happened with her mom. In small town Pennsylvania where nothing much really happens and everyone lives their day to day life, Angie Dovage is going to meet her new next door neighbor who will drastically change her life. Once her next door neighbor moves in, Reece Fernandez, something supernatural tries to attack Angie. Yet, every time Angie goes through an attack, she notices that Reece is there. Angie is dancing with a harbinger of death and when she finds out out why Reece is really there in this small town Pennsylvania, it’s either saving everyone or staying alive.

I thought the writing was okay, easy to read and understandable. Meg Kassel wrote the setting in present times so there wasn’t much world building. The author really focused on the descriptions of what was a Harbinger of Death, Beekeepers, and the crows. I found that to be a problem (in my opinion) because this is a short book of 308 pages and sometimes she would explain over a few times what these three things do rather than focus on the plot. There was a point where I put down the book and asked myself “is this book part of a series? cause if so that would make more sense as to why she’s giving us much detailed descriptions.” Goodreads didn’t give me anything so I went to her website and found that she’s working on a novella and companion novel.

Meg Kassel also wrote a lot of tropes. If you do not like instalove, then you might want to steer away from this book. There’s also the neighbor who happens to be a supernatural trope, the girl who wasn’t doing much with her life till a guy walked in trope, and many other tropes but I won’t mention it because I don’t want to spoil the book.

We get to meet a few characters throughout this book. We meet both main characters Angie and Reece. Angie Dovage lives with her father and she hasn’t had the best life. Losing a mother to drugs, her life in school isn’t the best because everyone knows of her story. Angie is focused on music and the band she’s in with her two friends, Deno and Lacey. Reece is the new mysterious attractive guy that every girl in school is swooning over. Instead of being the quiet bad boy, he instantly gets a long with everyone in school and get’s into the hockey team. We also meet Angie’s father in the story who happens to be really present in her life and I have to say that I really enjoyed that aspect.

I also have to say that these characters weren’t flushed out as I would like. I feel that I’ve read these character arcs repeatedly throughout the years. I didn’t really find them relatable and it would’ve been nice to see them grow naturally but the tropes didn’t really help with the growth because a lot of their (Angie and Reece) decisions were based off emotions.

Overall, I found this book to be very predictable. If you like LUX by Jennifer L. Armentrout and Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, then I would definitely suggest you reading this book because it has ALL the same elements.

For this being a short book, I thought there was a lot more descriptions going on rather than plot. The plot really took place in the last few chapters. I know I mentioned this already but I really wish the author would’ve taken more time focusing on the plot, building the characters, and giving us just more of the world.

Angie asked a lot of questions about what the Harbinger of Deaths do and what Beekeepers are, how the Crows are involved in all of this. Yes, those are very important questions, however, Meg Kassel was explaining this way too much. And yes, it is important to the plot and what happens but there wasn’t a flow with plot and getting to know these paranormal elements. Therefore, sometimes the book felt too jumpy instead of an organic flow of things.

There were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way as well when reading this book which I can’t just let slide over without mentioning.

• There was a part in the book when the author compares Cadence (name of town) to Afghanistan. “Cadence is not Afghanistan. It’s southwestern Pennsylvania.” I thought that was very insensitive of the author to write.
• There is also a scene where Angie is drenched in water, she’s unconscious, and Reece stated that she was freezing and in shock. She wakes up and notices that her clothes is hanging on a chair and she was changed into a t-shirt which was alarming to her. She calls it to his attention, she’s asking questions about what happened, and he gets really defensive which I didn’t like at all. We get a character who’s been really nice and cool throughout the book but then when he get’s questioned on what happened while she’s unconscious, he turns into a dislikable person. “You were freezing and in shock. I had to get you warm and dry. I’m not sorry.” He also didn’t apologize which really pissed me off.
• “what are you, suicidal? leave me and go.” this type of sarcasm is a no from me.
• Reece Fernandez so happens not to be latino at all so there went my hopes and dreams of a latinx character being involved.

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that is all for this review. i would love to chat in the comments about your thoughts! if you have any questions, please feel free to ask ❤

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Instagram: @chicnerdreads
Twitter: @chicnerdreads

Friday Reads and other things

It’s a super weird Friday for me. However, that’s not going to stop me from posting a Friday Reads. I really love this meme because it gives me a chance to catch up with you all and talk about what’s been going on.

I finished A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab and I loved all of it! I should’ve had my review out for today but I had decided to blog hop instead on Wednesday night and yesterday came out of nowhere. Chester Bennington’s death has hit me really hard and therefore the plans to finish the review were off the table. I’m not sure when I will have my review up but I am really aiming for this weekend or latest, Monday.

 

 

 

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I also finished Maroon Daydreams by Cheyenne Raine. It’s a poetry collection and this is another review that I will be tackling sometime in the next coming week. This collection was great and I cannot wait to read more by this author in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

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Let’s talk about my new blog feature coming in August! In June I ran a poll asking about doing this new feature and 90% voted YES!! I am excited to announce that coming the second or third Thursday of August, Conspiracy Theory Thursday will be the name of my new blog feature. Conspiracy Theory Thursday will only happen once a month and if you have not guessed it, it’s all about conspiracy theory’s…yes I love conspiracy theories, I am a firm believer that there is more than what media/gov’t tells us. I am going to dedicate a post to one topic and the different theories surrounding that topic. So far I’ve thought of posting on aliens, mermaids, deja vu, area 51, the bermuda triangle, the lost world of atlantis..among other ones.

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the actual purpose of friday reads:

I am reading Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel who I met during BookCon and she was a super sweetheart! I obtained an ARC of this beautiful book and it releases September 5th. Once I read the synopsis with my twin Lilly@LairOfBooks I knew I was going to like it. And let me tell you, I am loving this book! It definitely has some LUX vibes going on (without the aliens) but it’s set in a small town during winter and there are a bunch of crows everywhere. This is the perfect read for me since I despise summer and would love Autumn and Winter to get here.

synopsis:
A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.

Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece—and he’s not human.

What’s more, she knows something most don’t. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.

 

 

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that is all for today’s post! have you heard of the books mentioned above? i would love to know your thoughts on my conspiracy theory thursday blog feature. any specific theory request you have? i would love to know! let’s chat in the comments!

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Instagram: @chicnerdreads
Twitter: @chicnerdreads

The Bear and The Nightingale Spoiler Free Book Review

Title: The Bear and The Nightingale (Book #1)
Series: according to Goodreads it doesn’t have a name yet
Author: Katherine Arden
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Adult
Publisher: Del Rey
Format: ARC received at NYCC/Bookcon
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

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*Trigger Warning: Rape Culture
**There is a glossary in the back of the book for Russian word meanings/translations

Summary/Plot:

The Bear and The Nightingale is filled with Russian Folklore, Religion, Culture, and Fantastical Elements. We follow the family of the main character Vasilisa first before she is even born and we get to grow up with her also. The book starts off with kids being huddled together to hear the story of Frost, the blue-eyed demon, during a winter storm. While the mother of Vasilisa was carrying her in her belly, she always knew that Vasilisa was special and both her husband and the nurse told her to not have this baby. But she did and the day Vasilisa was born was the day her mother died. While Vasilisa is growing up, her father, Pyotr, decides that it is time to marry again because he feels that his daughter needs a mother in order to be tamed. Little do they know that the new wife wants nothing to do with them, she cannot stand Vasilisa, and she wants them to stop honoring the spirits. Then comes along a new priest, Konstantin, who also forbids the town to honor these spirits and puts the “fear of God” in the people’s hearts. Without the people knowing this starts to cause havoc in the forest, crops aren’t growing like before, evil creatures are coming around, the house spirits are moody. And Vasilisa’s stepmother wants nothing to do with her so it’s either marriage or going to a convent. But what no one knows is that Vasilisa’s gifts are growing and her nurses tale is slowly coming true.

Writing:

The writing was phenomenal. It was atmospheric in the most beautiful way. It had almost  a fairy tale vibe going on. Every time I picked up the book, I was sucked into the world and forgot my surroundings. I will admit that it is a tad bit slow paced which is why I bumped it down to a 4.5 rating. The story did drag a bit at the end. However, it was lyrical and even though it is being told from months before Vasilisa is born, it was a smooth transition from that time to her adolescence. I found myself drawn to each word that was being told.

The story is told in third person and I loved how we get perspectives from all the characters and we know what is going on with everyone as a whole. This worked out really well because all the characters involved in this story play an important part in the story/plot.

Characters:

We get to meet many different characters in this book, therefore I will keep this part short.

Vasilisa the main character who is this ugly girl. I loved how fearless she is and brave. The protector of her family. She’s wild and never cared for what people told her. Someone always told her how to behave and she would rebel against that. She was her own person, unstoppable. We also get to meet the forest and household creatures (spirits) which I COMPLETELY loved because they get their own voice. Alyosha, Vasilisa’s brother was so caring and while he heard the rumors that his sister was a demon and devil like, he ignored them all and still believed in her. Dunya the nurse, I also loved her character because she like Alyosha was filled of love and care. I also loved how she definitely gave us that “grandmother” sort of feel. Frost, the winter demon, I won’t say much about him but that I loved his character.

Thoughts:

This story is one that I will keep recommending to a lot of people. When I read that the author was making this into a trilogy I got excited because I was left with questions after the story ended. And I felt a connection to Vasilisa’s soul that I was just left with wanting more of her character. Although this is a short book, there were many times that I would put it down to just think. I liked how culturally heavy this book is and how the author did not hold back with portraying situations. I also really loved how Katherine Arden didn’t romantically involve Vasilisa with anyone, she was solely her own person.

The setting was great too. This is set in Northern Russia and the majority of the year in this book was filled of winter and snow. This book definitely gives you the “let’s grab a warm blanket and drink some coffee/tea” feel.

And lastly, I have to compare Frost the Winter Demon to the white walkers from Game of Thrones. If you love Game of Thrones, you know those scenes where the white walker is in the middle of the forest full of snow? That’s pretty much what you get in this book.

Grab this book and read it! This book will be released January 10, 2017

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Friend me on Goodreads: Gretchen (ChicNerdReads)

WWW Wednesday

Hi everyone! I thought I would participate in WWW Wednesday today. This meme is hosted by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. You can link your blog post to Sam’s website that way we can interact and find other bloggers =)

The questions are:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

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What are you currently reading?

I am reading Replica (Replica #1) by Lauren Oliver which I am LOVING ALL OF IT!!! And I cannot wait for the next book because it’s amazing. I am almost done with this one and I think it’s something everyone should read because it’s different.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Lyra

From a distance, the Haven Institute, tucked away on a private island off the coast of Florida, looks serene and even beautiful. But up close the locked doors, military guards, and biohazard suits tell a different story. In truth, it is a clandestine research facility where thousands of replicas, or human models, are born, raised, and observed.

But when a surprise attack is launched on Haven, two of its young experimental subjects—Lyra, or 24, and the boy known only as 72—manage to escape. As they make their way through a new and menacing environment, they meet a stranger named Gemma, who has embarked on a perilous quest of her own. And as Lyra tries to understand Haven’s purpose, she uncovers earth-shattering secrets that will change the lives of both girls.

Gemma

Gemma has been in and out of hospitals her whole life. A sickly child, she has grown into a lonely adolescent whose life is circumscribed by home, school, and her best friend, April.

But after she is nearly abducted by a stranger claiming to know her, Gemma starts to investigate her family’s past and discovers her father’s mysterious connection to the secretive Haven research facility. Hungry for answers, she travels to Florida, only to stumble upon two human models, or replicas, 24 and 72—and a completely new set of questions. As Gemma tries to unravel the mysteries of Haven, she learnes terrible truths about herself and her family that will threaten to destroy everything she loves.

Two girls, two stories, one novel.

While the stories of Gemma and Lyra mirror each other, each contains revelations critically important to the other story. Their narratives can be read separately or in alternating chapters.

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What did you recently finish reading?

I recently finished Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4) by C.C. Hunter. I wrote a review for it linked here. I rated this one a 5 out of 5 stars. The series is all about a boarding school full of teenage paranormal creatures going through mysterious things. I would definitely suggest checking out the book that started it all, Born At Midnight (Shadow Falls #1).

 

 

 

 

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What do you think you’ll read next?

Roseblood by A.G. Howard. Thanks to NY Comic Con/BookCon for giving away ARCs!

Synopsis from Goodreads:
In this modern day spin on Leroux’s gothic tale of unrequited love turned to madness, seventeen-year-old Rune Germain has a mysterious affliction linked to her operatic talent, and a horrifying mistake she’s trying to hide. Hoping creative direction will help her, Rune’s mother sends her to a French arts conservatory for her senior year, located in an opera house rumored to have ties to The Phantom of the Opera.

At RoseBlood, Rune secretly befriends the masked Thorn—an elusive violinist who not only guides her musical transformation through dreams that seem more real than reality itself, but somehow knows who she is behind her own masks. As the two discover an otherworldly connection and a soul-deep romance blossoms, Thorn’s dark agenda comes to light and he’s forced to make a deadly choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or face the wrath of the phantom who has haunted the opera house for a century, and is the only father he’s ever known.

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6 Month Blogiversary Winner!

Hello there!!!!!! Exactly one week ago I got to celebrate 6 months here in the blogosphere. If you want to check that post out then click here. I decided to do an ARC giveaway on three books:
Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts #1) by Vic James
The Hidden People by Alison Littlewood
Curious Minds (Knight and Moon #1) by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton

Literally no one entered for Curious Minds which I found kind of sad and funny all at the same time. I think I’ll just do a twitter giveaway for it.

BUT ON TO THE WINNERS!!!! I placed all the names of each title in separate cups and chose from there.

The winner for Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts #1) by Vic James is:

Debby @ alwaysbooking

Definitely check out her blog! She has a wide range of taste in books and she has this feature on her blog called New Friend Friday, where she mentions bloggers. And I love this because I get to check out bloggers I never heard of before.

 

 

 

 

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The winner for  The Hidden People by Alison Littlewood is:

Danielle @ Books, Vertigo, and Tea

I was laughing when her name came out the cup because when I first took a photo of this book last week, I instantly thought to myself “I think Danielle would like this book”..AND WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT?!? Definitely check her out because she also has a wide range in books and her reviews are so neat and precise. Even when she doesn’t like a book!!

 

 

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To the lovely ladies who won, please contact me here or DM me on Twitter =)

Thanks to everyone who entered!!!! In May when I make a year, I plan on doing another international giveaway for all ages. I also want to thank everyone again for following me and checking out my content, I super appreciate the time you take to check me out =)