Claimed (Servants of Fate, #2) by Sarah Fine

Buy the book at 

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Author's 

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Rating: 5 stars.

Book summary:

Galena Margolis, a brilliant scientist with a tragic past, is determined to fulfill her destiny and develop the vaccine that could save millions. Yet when Galena’s test subjects meet with foul play, it’s clear that someone is still determined to stop her, and that Galena herself is a target. As the Ferry empire forges a plan to keep her safe, Declan Ferry, the politics-hating black sheep of the family, steps forward to protect her—but the emotional cost may be more than either of them is willing to pay.
As unknown enemies close in, it becomes terrifyingly clear that they threaten to destroy not only Galena’s lifesaving work but also the very fabric of fate. As Galena and Declan race to uncover the traitor, they also forge a special bond that could save both Galena and those she’s sworn to help. Torn apart by the past and hunted by those she trusted, can Galena find room amidst her fears for a passion that could make her stronger than ever? And even if she and Declan can find their way together, will it be enough to keep the future from coming apart at the seams?

You can check out our review for Marked, first book in this series here. 

           Now I see what's this fuss all about. After reading Marked I must admit I was slightly disappointed as I expected more from Sarah. Luckily for me Claimed explained things to me and now I see why our friends love her so much. It had all elements I want in a UF book.

          Well, the thing is that often in books it happens that we get another narrator in the sequel and her/his story told while still connected with the main idea. It happened here in this one and it was a great move. After Marked and some issues I had with Cacy, Galena is all I could ask for. She is that typical girl which is still tormented by the past but standing on her feet and kicking. That's the girl I like to see in books, who yes had to endure some tragic moments in their lives, but at the end found a way to cop with it. Then you just have to add Declan in the mix and you got it.

          It's where I wanted to go with this book. It still kept that great idea and world-building which I liked int he first book, but now with great characters and even more realistic background story which was so easy to connect with. With all that the plot was nicely planned, and it kept me on edge all the time. It was really a page turner where you just had to read and see what happens next.

         My only wish for the next one is to keep in the same pace, as Aislynn really has potential to be a great leading character. But we shall wait till Fated.

Until the next time,

*NOTE: Copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley. Thank you! All opinions are personal.

The Sunday Post (#48)

Hello all. Well, as some of you know Sundays are always reserved for Sunday Post which is a meme created by lovely Kim @Caffeinated Book Reviews!

Hiya! Yeah we're really good at this catching up thing. Seriously. But really we're on kind of hiatus here it seems, not willingly though. It's just Glass is busy with her job and preparing her students for finals, while Tanja's midterms are getting closer and there is a lot to do. So we might be MIA for a week or two more. We shall see. Still we're trying to read as much as we can, which is basically like a couple minutes before bed where we do fall asleep quickly. 

In the meantime we hope that you're enjoying spring weather, which we don't have yet. If you do have it, send some our way. We'll be grateful! :)

• The Minnow by Diana Sweeney (ARC Review)
• Waiting on Wednesday (#139) 
• Seeking Sorrow by Zen DiPietro (Blog Tour)

• Claimed by Sarah Fine (ARC Review) 
• Waiting on Wednesday (#140)
• Fariest by Marissa Meyer 

Thank you: Herlequin Teen

Until the next time, 

Blog Tour: Guardians of Terath: Seeking Sorrow by Zen DiPietro

Buy the book at Amazon 

Book summary:

An earth-like world of high-tech humans faces the reality that their world is not as safe as they thought it was. Five people are thrown together to quietly get to the bottom of an unfathomable mana event that must stay quiet. If the population of Terath becomes aware of the truth, it will spark a civil war. That war would pit the majority of the population against the powerful minority with the ability to harness and manipulate mana. The resulting cataclysm would decimate the population and tear apart the foundation of society.
The five people chosen for this must reconsider everything they thought they knew about mana, even as they learn to trust one another’s abilities. They must embrace everything they never wanted in order to prevent the devastation of their world. One of them will be forever changed. Love will be denied, badassery will be unleashed, and Terath will never be the same.
Even success comes at a price.

        Books with futuristic settings tend to be my favorite. Especially those with technology in them, as they seem the most realistic ones. So whenever I get to read a book set in future where technology is so advanced I tend to imagine it as if it was really. It felt the same with Seeking Sorrow.

       Seeking Sorrow starts of as really unusual book as it took me some time to get into it and feel it properly and also to get used to the narrators. It's a story about five people who set of to resolve mystery about mana event. In this world there are people who have ability to control and use mana, which is not that common. When due to mana cities start to disappear, they know that they must do everything to stop it as if the word spreads it could lead to the war, which could be fatal for all. Even though not that familiar with each other, their journey will take them to remote places of their world where they will meet not only themselves but also each other.

        Besides the setting, which was really interesting to me I really liked how we got to meet characters slowly, at first I had troubles with distinguishing them but later it was easy to follow them. It was also interesting to see how their relationships grow. Another interesting thing to me was how they had to meet themselves first in order to resolve this mystery. It was really nicely build-up.

        But I cannot say that this book was without issues. My biggest one, which is why my rating is not higher is that at times it seemed that this story was dragging. It was too detailed at the start that I really couldn't read for long. I had to make breaks every now and then. It picks up later on, which leaves hope that in the next one there won't be issues of that kind.
     
Rating: 3.5 stars.


About the Author

Zen DiPietro is a lifelong bookworm, a fantasy/sci-fi writer, a dancer, and a mom of two. Also red-haired, left-handed, and a vegetarian geek. Absolutely terrible at conforming. Particular loves include badass heroines, Star Trek, British accents, baba ganoush, and the smell of Band-Aids. Writing reviews, author interviews, and fun stuff at www.womenofbadassery.com. Very active on Facebook, Twitter (@ZenDiPietro), and Pinterest.  

Until the next time,

Waiting on Wednesday (#139)

You know the story. This is a meme created by Breaking the Spine and every week we pick books we're waiting for. Here are our picks for this week.

Glass' pick

Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and best friend Bee has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can return her focus to the important things in life: school, canoodling with David, her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie, and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant.

Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or connect her to David for life.

Expected publication: April 7th, 2015

Tanja's pick

When blacksmith apprentice Fletcher discovers that he has the ability to summon demons from another world, he travels to Adept Military Academy. There the gifted are trained in the art of summoning. Fletcher is put through grueling training as a battlemage to fight in the Hominum Empire’s war against orcs. He must tread carefully while training alongside children of powerful nobles. The power hungry, those seeking alliances, and the fear of betrayal surround him. Fletcher finds himself caught in the middle of powerful forces, with only his demon Ignatius for help.

As the pieces on the board maneuver for supremacy, Fletcher must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of an empire is in his hands. The Novice is the first in a trilogy about Fletcher, his demon Ignatius, and the war against the Orcs.

Expected publication: May 5th, 2015

We'd love to see your picks so feel free to link them up.

Until the next time,

ARC Review: The Minnow by Diana Sweeney

Buy the book at 

Amazon / Barnes & Noble 

Book summary:

Tom survived a devastating flood that claimed the lives of her sister and parents. Now she lives with Bill in his old shed by the lake. But it’s time to move out—Tom is pregnant with Bill’s baby.
Jonah lets her move in with him. Mrs Peck gives her the Fishmaster Super Series tackle box. Nana is full of gentle good advice and useful sayings.
And in her longing for what is lost, Tom talks to fish: Oscar the carp in the pet shop, little Sarah catfish who might be her sister, an unhelpful turtle in a tank at the maternity ward. And the minnow.
The Minnow is a moving and powerful coming of age story with a whimsical element that belies the heartbreaking truth of grief and loss. Tom is a character you will never forget. 

         Is it due to air or food or something else, but Aussie people really know their way with words. I was lucky enough to get to read some really amazing books from that part of the world, and we all know how much I love Melina Marchetta. Luckily I can tell you that The Minnow is not an exception.

         Filled with beautiful words and weird way of storytelling this one was hard to put down. Even though, I was completely lost at moments and even now after finishing it I don't think I understand everything I enjoyed reading it. Somehow I feel like the author herself wanted it to be this unusual and open to interpretation, which I totally approve. Some things seem better in our heads than they really are.

        So, we get to hear Tom's story here. First thing you should know about Tom is that she is pregnant and very young. It's not a combo I usually can get over with easily, but due to some things in this story (which I won't tell you - you won't get any spoilers from me) I really wanted to hug her and I truly hoped that she will find her safe heaven. Jonah on the other hand was that sweet little boy I wish all had as friend. Now from this you might assume some things I must tell you that you're wrong. It's nothing like it seems and it's sadly more realistic and cruel.

       So while reading about teen pregnancies I have that issue with wild girls sleeping all around, but as Tom is nothing like that I didn't have any problems there. I, however, did have problems with the community and their behavior towards it. Firstly her grandmother and the way people behaved. This is a very small community and people tuned blind eye more than they should.

        Still, this book was probably the most realistic I have read that deals with such issue. But it doesn't mean that I wasn't angry and frustrated. I still am and truth to be told the last sentence from the blurb is very true.

        This might be tricky but I would recommend this one to all of you how loved The Lovely Bones, as to me both give off similar vibe.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Until the next time,

*NOTE: Copy of this book was kindly provided by he publisher, Text Publishing. Thank you! All opinions are personal.

The Sunday Post (#47)

Hello all. Well, as some of you know Sundays are always reserved for Sunday Post which is a meme created by lovely Kim @Caffeinated Book Reviews!

Morning all! Happy Spring to all of you. We hope that you've got your sunshine and warm weather. We've been enjoying it. With some awesome books of course. Another week is behind us, and we wonder when did the days melt all together. So for that reason we didn't have time again and plus we both got some cold to deal with (we're totally synced ppl!). But soon we'll get some time off for Easter and honestly we cannot wait. But in the meantime the show goes on..

P.S. Due to illness Glass didn't have time to post The Winner's Crime review, which you can expect next week. 

• Bookish Problems #21 - Memes
• Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas 
• Waiting on Wednesday (#138)
• Blog Tour: Silk by Chris Karlsen 

• The Minnow by Diana Sweeney (ARC Review)
• Waiting on Wednesday (#139) 
• The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski 
• Seeking Sorrow by Zen DiPietro (Blog Tour)

Glass' haul 

Easy by Tammara Webber (Croatian ed)

Until the next time, 

Blog Tour: Silk by Chris Karlsen

Welcome to my tour stop for the historical suspense novel Silk by Chris Karlsen. This is an adult book and is rated NC17. This is a review tour runs March 16-27th. Check out the tour page for more information and the tour schedule.

Buy the book at Amazon

Book summary: 

Silk on the skin—luxurious, luscious..lethal.
London-Fall, 1888
The city is in a panic as Jack the Ripper continues his murderous spree. While the Whitechapel police struggle to find him, Detective Inspector Rudyard Bloodstone and his partner are working feverishly to find their own serial killer. The British Museum's beautiful gardens have become a killing ground for young women strangled as they stroll through.
Their investigation has them brushing up against Viscount Everhard, a powerful member of the House of Lords, and a friend to Queen Victoria. When the circumstantial evidence points to him as a suspect, Rudyard must deal with the political blowback, and knows if they are going to go after the viscount, they'd better be right and have proof.
As the body count grows and the public clamor for the detectives to do more, inter-department rivalries complicate the already difficult case.
 What would you do to stay young: Lie, Manipulate..kill?

Excerpt

Events of the day and the potential satisfaction of giving Napier a bloody nose dwindled. Questions about the murder crept back into Ruddy's thoughts. Morris joined him at his table in the rear of the pub with a Guinness, the popular beer of choice in hand. “You’ve got the look of a man whose thoughts are a long distance from London.”
“No, sadly my thoughts are fixed here in the city. I’m trying to figure out a clue. Ellis’s roommate said she’d sometimes meet with a well-dressed man, a man of means the victim indicated. They’d meet up at the fountain by the British Museum.”
“Don’t know the spot but then the museum isn’t my cup of tea.”
“Not the point. I’m saying it’s odd. What member of the upper class chooses to stroll through a public garden other than Hyde or Regents, where they can see and be seen by one of their own?”
“I agree the wealthy prefer the parks filled with others of their kind but it doesn’t mean a man can’t enjoy someplace different.”
“We interviewed the guard again. The one that discovered the body walks that half of the building. He told us the majority of their male patrons are natty dressers, but he never saw a man like that loitering by the fountain.”
“My guess is: the man is married and can’t afford to run the risk of being seen by a friend of his wife’s. Or, he might live or work in the area and the spot is convenient.”
“Or, he’s a murderer who’s noticed the victim walking through the park on a regular basis, saw it as an opportunity and cozied up to her.”
Ruddy took another swallow of his ale, mentally debating the merit of each theory. “I don’t think he lives in the area. If so, he’d have cut through the park more and been seen by the guards. Not sure about the married man having a tryst idea."
To Ruddy's way of thinking, if the man was married and looking for a tumble, he’d have met her someplace other than the gardens and at a better hour.
Instinct drew him back to his original sense of the culprit and crime. “I feel like this was a crime of opportunity. I’ve thought it all along and can’t shake the sense.”
“If he was just seeking a victim, then why haven’t you had more murders like this?” Morris asked.
Ruddy downed the rest of his beer and put his tankard on the edge of the table where June would refill it. “Everyone has to start somewhere. She might be number one.”

 Book trailer

About the Author:

I was born and raised in Chicago. My father was a history professor and my mother was, and is, a voracious reader. I grew up with a love of history and books.
My parents also love traveling, a passion they passed onto me. I wanted to see the places I read about, see the land and monuments from the time periods that fascinated me. I’ve had the good fortune to travel extensively throughout Europe, the Near East, and North Africa.
I am a retired police detective. I spent twenty-five years in law enforcement with two different agencies. My desire to write came in my early teens. After I retired, I decided to pursue that dream. I write two different series. My paranormal romance series is called, Knights in Time. My romantic thriller series is, Dangerous Waters.
I currently live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband, four rescue dogs and a rescue horse.

Author's 

Website / Facebook / Pinterest

Giveaway

Each tour stop is giving away one kindle copy of SILK, just comment to enter!

In addition, fill out the rafflecopter to enter to win:

Kindle copy of SILK, swag bag & a $10 Amazon gift card (INT)

Ends April 1, 2015

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.

Until the next time, 

Waiting on Wednesday (#138)

You know the story. This is a meme created by Breaking the Spine and every week we pick books we're waiting for. Here are our picks for this week.

We cannot wait to read...

The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything—friends, family, and her community. Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her name or her past there; she can finally be anonymous. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out, Romy must decide whether she wants to fight or carry the burden of knowing more girls could get hurt if she doesn’t speak up. Nobody believed her the first time—and they certainly won’t now — but the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.　

Expected publication: April 14th, 2015

We'd love to see your picks so feel free to link them up.

Until the next time,

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Buy the book at 

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

Author's 

Website / Facebook / Twitter

Book summary:

Consumed by guilt and rage, Celaena can't bring herself to spill blood for the King of Adarlan. She must fight back...
The Immortal Queen will help her destroy the king - for a price. But as Celaena battles with her darkest memories and her heart breaks for a love that could never last, can she fulfil the bargain and head the almighty court of Terrasen? And who will stand with her?

        You know those series that get better with each book you read and after each one you feel like there is no way to top it. Well Throne of Glass is that too me. After reading the first book I knew that it'd be on my fave shelf, but I had no idea that my feelings for it will grow and grow after each book. After reading Heir of Fire, they've reached that point where I cannot find any proper words for it.

        I shall try though. Firstly I truly hope you've meet Celaena, either through the previous three books, or short stories which accompany this series. If you haven't, well you are at such disadvantage. She is someone you'd love to be, or at least to have by your side. She is fierce, strong and witty, but also very loyal and self-doubting which makes her real. Beside her, this series offers you a great spectra of characters which you'll love reading about and somehow connect with each of them. I won't even start about romance, which even though not being focus in this book still feels so strong. For me the relationships here weren't in just that friendship/romance boat, but they are so strong and everlasting.

       Besides characters and emotions, there is world-building which in this book divided into three settings, still offers a picture and connections in this world. With addition of Manon who gives a new dimension into all this and by that spreading this story even further. For me by adding Manon and Rowan into this mix it didn't just help us to see this world better, but it actually helped for character development. But still not letting them to take over the story as Dorian and Chaol who are still base of this story. Honestly, it's all I could ever ask for.

       Another thing which improved here was the writing, which seems better and somehow sharper. Now, we can just wait for the Queen of Shadows which will rock even more if you ask me.

Rating: 5 stars. 

Until the next time,

Bookish Problems #21 - Memes

Hiya again. Tanja here. I know we've been struggling to keep up lately, but currently both of us have a lot to do to. But last night I was writing some posts and I got an idea for Bookish problems! YAY. So let's talk about memes.

You have certainly done and if not then seen memes that a lot of us do. So I just wondered what's your opinion about them. I know there is plenty and even some of my friends here (maybe even you) have created one, and technically speaking bookish problems could be a meme if both Glass and I had time for organizing stuff.

But here is my story. When I joined Glass here at Ja čitam, a ti? I started doing different memes to the point where I didn't have space to post reviews because of them. I knew then that it was time to cut out some and I did that. So today we actually do only two. First one which we've been doing for a really long time is Waiting on Wednesday.

That one is also my favorite as I love seeing these posts and adding new books to my TBR list. It's always interesting to see some books you might have missed and this is a really cool way to catch up with new releases. Making them is quite fun too. Glass and I are always checking each other picks and commenting on them. Making plans for buddy reads and so on.

The second meme we do here is The Sunday Post. This one is something we started doing later on but it helped us a lot. Now it's easier for us to organize everything and by the Saturday night we have posts ready and scheduled for the whole next week. It saves you the trouble and you can freely enjoy and read all week long. It helped me organize my reads too as I usually read arcs and review copies in advance.

So that would be our memes! Tell us about yours! Which ones are your favorite and why??

Until the next time,

The Sunday Post (#46)

Hello all. Well, as some of you know Sundays are always reserved for Sunday Post which is a meme created by lovely Kim @Caffeinated Book Reviews!

Hello. It's another Sunday so it's time for a little update. Nothing noticeable happened last week for either of us, except that time really passes fast. Every day is filled with either job or classes and somehow we are too tired afterwards. Sadly still no time to be around much, but hopefully soon. We'll give our best. But thanks for being patient.

• Marked by Sarah Fine 
• The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
• Waiting on Wednesday (#137)
• Veil of Corrupter by J. L. Tomlison
• #CoverLust: Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

• Bookish Problems #21 - Memes
• Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas 
• Waiting on Wednesday (#138)
• Blog Tour: Silk by Chris Karlsen 
• The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Glass' haul 

Thank you: Entangled

Tanja's haul

Thank you: Angry Robots 

Till the next time,  

#CoverLust: Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Welcome to #CoverLust - where we talk about all those books we picked up because of the beautiful covers. 

This is just another brilliant idea my love Glass had and I had to join all the fun. And I shall start with my biggest cover crush I ever had. 

Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout is the prettiest cover I have ever seen and I hardly doubt anything will top it ever. Luckily for me this book also ended on my favorite list years ago. Maybe I would feel different now, but still it'll always mean a lot for me as it gave me my husband Aiden! 

That guy is just *dies* 

Love, 

Veil of the Corrupter (Ardentia #2) by J.L. Tomlinson

Buy the book at 

Amazon / Barnes & Noble 

Author's 

Website / Facebook / Twitter

Book summary:

King Myole is dead. His Light now awaits the heir who will make Ardentia whole once more. The Pinnacle approaches.
The Narcean half-breed Jahna Mornglow must farewell the west and the life she has known to reveal the secrets of The Empyrean Key. Having to supervise unruly Lilac and prudent Silko was enough of an added chore, but now the companions are joined by Arn, the Maddroff thief whose charm and guile both frustrate and entice her.
In Castle Dubraycon, sinister shadows shift with dark purpose as Selizardra grooms the reluctant Princess Mydra for the coveted throne. The Vessels, led by the elementalist Menon, sense the malice seeping through Kalavar and stand ready to be unleashed upon Ardentia's foes; while the Seer Friziel can only observe as the threads of his deceptions begin to unravel.
Ardentia is vulnerable, with hidden enemies just as dangerous as the Rew'tuur horde that test the defences of the barricade. But soon the veil will be lifted.
Old gods will awaken; dark powers will rise; and the arrival of a mysterious warrior will tip the scales, but in whose favour? 

         When I got a chance to read The Empyrean Key few months ago I had no idea that I would be so curious about it and honestly I couldn't wait for the sequel to come out. Now I guess I'm again in the same position as I need to know what happens next.

         Best thing is that Veil of the Corrupter continues where The Empyrean Key ended, we're back in Ardentia and we continue to follow Jahna and her friends. While they are on their quest some things change in this book. Beside Silko and Liliac who I though were great side characters here we get to meet a couple more. Therefore I believe that Sky was a great addition to the story and I enjoyed having new dimension added to it. Other thing that made me happy is that we still continued to follow both plotlines, Jahna's quest and happenings in the court, which gave a full perspective to the story. Not to mention that I still ship Jahna and Arn a lot and I love how innocent and slow-building their romance is. Hopefully I'll get to see more of it soon.

          But sadly I cannot say that this story is flawless, some of them I knew would occur, like predictability which is something I encounter in almost every MG book (even though I'm not sure we can classify this one as solely MG book). The other problem for me was that some of parts of this sequel were rather slow and somehow they killed the mood a bit. Their adventure is what captivated me from the start and it continued to do so, but it had its ups and downs in this book.

         What I said for the first book in this series can be said for this one too, I'm sure that younger readers will enjoy this one much more as it's all young mind could ask for. But we can say that my young mind enjoyed this too and that I cannot wait to see how this series continue to develop.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Until the next time,