TOUR / REVIEW: This Cruel Design by Emily Suvada

**I received an ARC for this tour. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

This Cruel Design by Emily Suvada

Release Date: October 30, 2018

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Summary: Cat  thought  the  Hydra  epidemic  was  over,  but  when  new  cases  pop  up,  Cat  must  team  up  with  an  enemy  to  fix  the  vaccine  before  the  virus  spirals  out  of  control  in  this  thrilling  sequel  to  This  Mortal  Coil,  which  New  York  Times  bestselling  author  Amie  Kaufman  says  “redefines  ‘unputdownable.’”

The  nightmare  of  the  outbreak  is  finally  over,  but  Cat’s  fight  has  only  just  begun.

Exhausted,  wounded,  and  reeling  from  revelations  that  have  shaken  her  to  her  core,  Cat  is  at  a  breaking  point.  Camped  in  the  woods  with  Cole  and  Leoben,  she’s  working  day  and  night,  desperate  to  find  a  way  to  stop  Lachlan’s  plan  to  reprogram  humanity.  But  she’s  failing—Cat  can’t  even  control  her  newly  regrown  panel,  and  try  as  she  might  to  ignore  them,  she  keeps  seeing  glitching  visions  from  her  past  everywhere  she  turns.

When  news  arrives  that  the  Hydra  virus  might  not  be  as  dead  as  they’d  thought,  the  group  is  pushed  into  an  uneasy  alliance  with  Cartaxus  to  hunt  down  Lachlan  and  fix  the  vaccine.  Their  search  takes  them  to  Entropia,  a  city  of  genehackers  hidden  deep  in  the  desert  that  could  also  hold  the  answers  about  Cat’s  past  that  she’s  been  searching  for.

But  when  confronted  with  lies  and  betrayals,  Cat  is  forced  to  question  everything  she  knows  and  everyone  she  trusts.  And  while  Lachlan  is  always  two  steps  ahead,  the  biggest  threat  to  Cat  may  be  the  secrets  buried  in  her  own  mind.

#waitingonwednesday: girls of paper and fire

This week's #waitingonwednesday book is Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan! I'm fortunate to have already read it (check out my review here), but I'm still so, so excited for this beautiful masterpiece of a book to be released into the world. It comes out in a little less than 2 weeks: November 6, 2018, and there are some cool preorder prizes!

REVIEW: The Wicked King by Holly Black

**I received an ARC from a trade. In no way was I compensated for my review, and these are my honest opinions.**

The Wicked King by Holly Black

Release Date: January 8, 2019

My Rating: 5 stars

Summary: The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince.

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

TOUR: The Geography of Lost Things by Jessica Brody

 

The Geography of Lost Things by Jessica Brody

Release Date: October 2, 2018

Summary: In  this  romantic  road  trip  story  perfect  for  fans  of  Sarah  Dessen  and  Morgan  Matson, a  teen  girl  discovers  the  value  of  ordinary  objects  while  learning  to  forgive  her  absent  father.

After  Ali’s  father  passes  away,  he  leaves  his  one  and  only  prized  possession—a  1968  Fire-bird  convertible—to  his  daughter.  But  Ali  doesn’t  plan  on  keeping  it.  Not  when  it  reminds  her  too  much  of  all  her  father’s  unfulfilled  promises.  So  when  she  finds  a  buyer  three  hundred  miles  up  the  Pacific  coast  willing  to  pay  enough  money  for  the  car  to  save  her  childhood  home,  Ali  can’t  wait  to  get  going.  Except  Ali  has  no  idea  how  to  drive  a  stick  shift.  But  guess  who  does?

Ali’s  ex-boyfriend,  Nico.  And  Nico  has  other  plans.

He  persuades  Ali  that  instead  of  selling  the  car,  they  should  “trade  up”  the  items  they  collect  on  their  trip  to  eventually  reach  the  monetary  amount  Ali  needs.  Agreeing  with  Nico’s  crazy  plan,  Ali  sets  off  on  a  unique  adventure  that  is  unlike  anything  she  ever  could  have  ex-pected.

And  it’s  through  Ali’s  travels,  through  the  strangers  she  meets  and  the  things  that  they  val-ue—and  why  they  value  them—that  Ali  eventually  comes  to  understand  her  father  and  how  his  life  may  not  have  been  as  easy  and  carefree  as  she  previously  thought.  Because  just  like  the  seemingly  insignificant  objects  Ali  collects,  not  everything  is  exactly  as  it  appears.

TOUR: A Spark of White Fire by Sandanna Mangu

A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna

Release Date: September 11, 2018

Summary: In  a  universe  of  capricious  gods,  dark  moons,  and  kingdoms  built  on  the  backs  of spaceships,  a  cursed  queen  sends  her  infant  daughter  away,  a  jealous  uncle  steals  the  throne  of  Kali  from  his  nephew,  and an  exiled  prince  vows  to  take  his  crown  back.

Raised  alone  and  far  away  from  her  home  on  Kali,  Esmae  longs  to  return  to her family.  When  the  King  of  Wychstar  offers  to  gift  the  unbeatable,  sentient  warship  Titania  to  a  warrior  that  can  win  his  competition,  she  sees  her  way  home:  she’ll  enter  the  competition,  reveal  her  true  identity  to  the  world,  and  help  her  famous  brother  win  back  the  crown  of  Kali.

It’s  a  great  plan.  Until  it  falls  apart.

Inspired  by  the  Mahabharata  and  other  ancient  Indian  stories,  A  Spark  of  White  Fire  is  a  lush,  sweeping  space  opera  about  family,  curses,  and  the  endless  battle  be-tween  jealousy  and  love.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo | Indiebound | iBooks

LIST: if you like antiheroes...

I know that a lot of people (including me) enjoy reading books with antihero/morally gray protagonists, so here's a list of recommendations!!

if you like antiheroes/morally gray protagonists . . .

REVIEW: For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig

**I received an ARC through a third party giveaway. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig

Release Date: September 25, 2018

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Summary: A young woman with a dangerous power she barely understands. A smuggler with secrets of his own. A country torn between a merciless colonial army, a terrifying tyrant, and a feared rebel leader. The first book in a new trilogy from the acclaimed Heidi Heilig blends traditional storytelling with ephemera for a lush, page-turning tale of escape and rebellion. For a Muse of Fire will captivate fans of Sabaa Tahir, Leigh Bardugo, and Renée Ahdieh.

Jetta’s family is famed as the most talented troupe of shadow players in the land. With Jetta behind the scrim, their puppets seem to move without string or stick—a trade secret, they say. In truth, Jetta can see the souls of the recently departed and bind them to the puppets with her blood. But the old ways are forbidden ever since the colonial army conquered their country, so Jetta must never show, never tell. Her skill and fame are her family’s way to earn a spot aboard the royal ship to Aquitan, where shadow plays are the latest rage, and where rumor has it the Mad King has a spring that cures his ills. Because seeing spirits is not the only thing that plagues Jetta. But as rebellion seethes and as Jetta meets a young smuggler, she will face truths and decisions that she never imagined—and safety will never seem so far away.

Heidi Heilig creates a vivid, rich world inspired by Asian cultures and French colonialism. Her characters are equally complex and nuanced, including the bipolar heroine. Told from Jetta’s first-person point-of-view, as well as chapters written as play scripts and ephemera such as telegrams and letters, For a Muse of Fire is an engrossing journey that weaves magic, simmering romance, and the deep bonds of family with the high stakes of epic adventure.