Review; Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Synopsis: Time is slipping away.... 

Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything.

Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

My Thoughts; 

I enjoyed this book a hell of a lot more than I thought I would! It definitely took me by surprise! I'm still not entirely sure what this book is classified as in genre... it's kind of sci-fi I would say. Regardless, it was fast-paced and had my attention hooked the entire the time!

Talla Holloway was an awesome main character. She was very headstrong and also witty and I loved the humour she and some of the other side characters added to the book! When she was given the opportunity to enter the Brimstone Bleed and possibly win a Cure of any illness for her sick brother, she immediately jumps at the chance to save him. I loved how even when Talla got to the Brimstone Bleed and realizes she has no idea what exactly she signed up for, she stills is determined to win the Cure for her brother. 

I don't want to say too much more about Fire & Flood because I feel like you shouldn't go into this knowing too much. You definitely want to be surprised at some of the things that happen and I don't want to give too much away!

Overall, I really really enjoyed this book, it took me completely by surprise! It was fast-paced, had my attention hooked the entire time, seriously I stayed up until 3am reading this and still woke up wanting to read more. I would definitely recommend to fans of The Hunger Games, but keep in mind while it's the same basic idea as THG, it is pretty different! It's got great characters, an intriguing plotline and tons of surprises with a hint of swoony romance! I loved!

Rating; 4.5/5

Review: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Goodreads Synopsis; The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

My Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I was a bit skeptical because it's an adult SciFi/Fantasy and I've never really read any adult Science Fiction or Fantasy, but I really loved it! The world was so complex but so fresh, I was totally enthralled by it.

I had planned to take my time with this book, read it slowly so I could fully immerse into the story and the world, because I'd heard the beginning was quite slow but I ended up finishing this book in just 2 days... It was so good and I was so hooked, I just couldn't stop reading it! 

I absolutely loved the world building in this book. I agree with everyone else that the beginning was quite slow, but it does pick up around 70-100 pages in. There's a lot of world building in this book, I feel like it was definitely a first book for setting up the world, but even though it had it's slow points it kept me intrigued and kept me turning the pages quickly, needing to know what was going to happen next! Although I thought the focus of clairvoyance was extremely cool, it was a bit confusing at times and I found myself a bit lost at points, but I'm hoping more will be explained about it in the sequel!

I loved the main character Paige. She was a badass, but also such a honest and real character. I really connected to her and loved her. I found Warden to be mysterious and I'm very interested to learn more about him in the books to come, because we didn't learn too much about him. 

This world is so unique and complex, and I absolutely loved it! It was very refreshing to me, I'm totally hooked on it and I can't wait to read the sequel and continue with this series! 

Alienated by Melissa Landers

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them. 

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class. 

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.


My Thoughts:

I loved this book so much that I stayed up until 2am to finish reading it. That rarely every happens anymore because I never stay up late nowadays, but this book just got me so hooked and so in love, I couldn't put it down! 

I fell in love with the characters in this book. Cara did annoy me sometimes, but most of the time I really loved her and her loyalty to Aelyx. She just grew on me and I loved her as a heroine. She was always trying to make Aelyx comfortable and trying to help him adjust to living on Earth. Aelyx also grew on me, I didn't know how I felt about him at the beginning because he was robotic, distant and seemed kind of standoffish, but eventually he started to become less robotic and show more feelings. 

This book was a little predictable. There were some things I was able to predict right from the second page. There weren't really any surprises for me, nothing that happened was a huge surprise for me.  Aside from the predictability, I did really enjoy this book and the characters! 

Overall, I fell for this book and it's characters. I'm loving Sci-Fi at the moment and this book was perfect for me! I hope you'll read this and fall for it as much as I did!


Rating: 5/5 Stars