2017 – Page 23 – Jill's Book Blog

Blog Tour: My Sophomore Year of Rules (School Dayz Book 3)

Title: My Sophomore Year of Rules (School Dayz Book 3)
Author: Jennifer DiGiovanni
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Source: Enchanted Book Promotions
Release Date: September 5, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Colette Rodriguez hates rules. Just ask her perfect, older, gorgeous, rule-following sister, Jana.

But now that Jana’s away at college and Colette’s a sophomore in high school, things are going to change. She’s gotta find a way to get out from under her sister’s shadow.

The problem is, everyone, including the boys, remembers perfectly-hot-Jana and they constantly compare Colette to her.

With Jana finally out of the house, Colette decides that sophomore year is the best time to make her mark on the world. She vows to follow the rules, although rule-following has never been her strong point. When a teacher asks Colette to lead a STEM Mentoring project, working with middle school kids, Colette sees her chance to stand out, though she doubts her ability to take charge.

Enter Will Gamen, junior football star. Looking for a club to boost his chances of a college scholarship, Will signs up for STEM. From the first meeting, when Will inadvertently takes over, Colette wonders if he should really be the person to run the project. And, in an even more confusing turn of events, Will starts to drop by her house for unplanned study dates. After the two spend one fabulous Saturday night together, he suddenly backs off.

But Colette and Will started out as friends and she’s determined not to let one meaningless kiss come between them. Plus, keeping Will on her team is the best thing for the STEM project. And it also gives her more time to convince him that they work better as a couple.

Review:

This is a cute story.

I really liked the importance of STEM in this story. Collette demonstrates how it is important to teach younger kids about this possible career path. She also represents girls who are not necessarily leaders of STEM programs.

The romances and relationships in the story weren’t predictable, so I enjoyed the story.

I liked that the story was told by Collette. It gave her perspective of events, and developed her character further.

I haven’t read any other books in this series, but I was able to enjoy it. Some things were mentioned in passing that may have happened in past books, but I didn’t feel like I was left out of anything.

This is a great book if you want a light, YA read.

Links:

Buy on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vQphjY

Add on Goodreads

Author Bio:

Jennifer DiGiovanni is a freelance writer and YA author of the School Dayz series. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading, working on home design projects, or trying to meet the daily goals on her Fitbit. She also likes to try new sports and activities, from archery to ballroom dancing, with varying degrees of success.

Swoon Romance on Twitter: @SwoonRomance

Swoon Romance on Facebook

Giveaway

Win an eBook copy of “My Sophomore Year of Rules”.
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First Lines Friday #2

This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.

Here are my first lines:

“Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.
If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.”

Do you recognize these first lines?

…

And the book is… The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.

Here’s the Goodreads synopsis:

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse—Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena—Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

I love this series! Have you read it? I’ll be reviewing this series soon.

Review: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2)

Title: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #3)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Purchased
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Review:

This is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles series. Cinder’s story gets more intense in this instalment. Now Scarlet (who plays the role of Little Red Riding Hood) is added to the mix.

I like the role that Wolf plays in the story. He is a fighter who saves Scarlet. Their relationship is very cute to see unfolding.

When I read this book, I found I kept waiting for Cinder’s story to return. I like Scarlet but Cinder will always be my favourite character.

I love this series so much! My review for Cinder can be found here.

TBR Thursday #2

TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.

My pick this week is Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater.

I just found this book on my to-read list on Goodreads (which is more than 900 books long… I have to clean that up!!). I loved her series The Raven Cycle but I haven’t heard as much about this series.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Book Blitz: Black Bird of the Gallows

Hello Readers! Welcome to the Release Week Blitz for

Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel

presented by Entangled Teen!

Grab your copy today!

Congratulations Meg!

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.

Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: September 5, 2017

His soft voice clashes with the intensity of his gaze. “You’re adorable when you’re trying to be mad at me. You needn’t work so hard at it, though. We aren’t meant to be adversaries.”

“I, um…” My thoughts disband, leaving nothing for communication purposes. I’m adorable? Adorable has many definitions. I think my dog is adorable, for example. “That…wasn’t what I was going to ask you.”

He inclines his head. “Okay, then. Ask.”

But that “adorable” echoes through me, clinking around like a penny down a well. “What are we meant to be, then?”

His lips curls up at the corners. “That wasn’t your question, either.”

Meg Kassel is an author of paranormal and speculative books for young adults. A New Jersey native, Meg graduated from Parson’s School of Design and worked as a graphic designer before becoming a writer. She now lives in Maine with her husband and daughter and is busy at work on her next novel. She is the 2016 RWA Golden Heart© winner in YA.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Review: Demi-Gods

Title: Demi-Gods
Author: Eliza Robertson
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada
Source: Goodreads Giveaway, NetGalley
Release Date: September 5, 2017
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

It is 1950, and nine-year-old Willa’s sheltered childhood is about to come to an end when her two new stepbrothers arrive at her family’s summer home in British Columbia. As Willa’s older sister pairs off with the older of these boys, Willa finds herself alone in the off-kilter company of the younger, Patrick. When, one afternoon, Patrick lures Willa into a dilapidated rowboat, Willa embarks upon an increasingly damaging relationship with Patrick, one that will forever reconfigure her understanding of herself and her place in a menacing, male-dominated world.
Demi-Gods traces the tumultuous years of Willa’s coming-of-age, as she is drawn further into Patrick’s wicked games. Though they see each other only a handful of times, each of their encounters is increasingly charged with sexuality and degradation. When Willa finally realizes the danger of her relationship with Patrick, she desperately tries to reverse their dynamic, with devastating results.
Daring, singular, and provocative, Demi-Gods explores a girl’s attempt to make a life of her own choosing in a world where woman’s independence is suspect, a world that threatens to claim a woman’s body as a mere object for men’s pleasure. A sensitive, playful, and entirely original evocation of the dualities within ourselves and our history, Eliza Robertson’s debut novel announces the arrival of one of the most exciting new voices in contemporary literature.

Review:

This book wasn’t what I expected. The cover is so cute and uplifting, but I don’t think it matched the story.

It was written in a literary style. There weren’t quotation marks around the speaking parts. This always slows down my reading. It did emphasize that the story is being told by Willa, but I find that style frustrating.

I was confused at the beginning because the characters aren’t introduced very well. It took a few chapters before I figured out what everyone’s relationships were to each other.

Some parts of the story made me uncomfortable too. There were some semi-incestuous relationships which were awkward.

Willa reminded me of Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird. She even had a special hole in a tree that she visited. However, Willa grew up much faster in this story than Scout.

Overall, I was disappointed in this story. It just isn’t my type of story.

‘Waiting On’ Wednesday

This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.

The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is Warcross.

I keep hearing about this book! So many book bloggers have been reviewing it over the past month and it sounds so good. I can’t wait till it comes out on September 12 so I can get a copy!

What books are you waiting on this week? Have you read Warcross yet?

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Struggled With

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is Books I Struggled With.

I had to read many of these books for school, from elementary school (Holes) to high school (Heart of Darkness). I have gone back and reread some books I didn’t like in school, and now I love them. But I really struggled with most of these books, so I don’t think I will revisit them anytime soon. Here’s my list:

Heart of Darkness

The Giver

The Outsiders

Murder on The Orient Express

The Kite Runner

Wicked

Holes

Life of Pi

Longbourn

Happy People Read and Drink Coffee

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

(All images taken from Goodreads)

Release Blitz: Just Off The Path

About the Book

Title: Just Off the Path

Author: Weston Sullivan

Genre: Folklore, Fairytales

Hansel never asked to be a hero. He never wanted to fall in love with Rapunzel, Queen of the East. He didn’t ask to be raised by Gothel the Wretch, and he certainly never wanted to be credited for her arrest. But more than any of that, Hansel never wanted to lie: but he did. He lied about everything. He thought that he was done with it all when he and his sister Gretel retreated into the woods to reclaim their land, but he should have known better.

Years later, Rapunzel’s guards knock at his door, and they say the words he hoped that he would never hear: Gothel has escaped. As he and Gretel take refuge inside Rapunzel’s castle in the eastern capitol of Hildebrand, Hansel is thrust back into everything he never wanted in the first place: his lies, his legend, and his lust. In the wake of it all, he knows that Gothel has escaped to finish what she started. She is out to make sure that the Sleeping Beauty never wakes, and that Grimm suffocates under her blanket of thorn and vine. In order to find Gothel and save the kingdom, Hansel and Gretel must look for fact in a land of fairy-tale by following a trail of grisly murders, a girl in a red cape, and a powerful little man who can’t stand the sound of his own name.

As they search for answers, Hansel finds that he isn’t the only liar in Grimm, and that there may be a traitor among them of royal proportion.

Author Bio

After graduating with a BA in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida in 2017, Weston Sullivan moved to New York City to live and write in the heart of the industry. In late 2016, he began working as an intern in the submissions department of BookFish Books. His short story, “On the Hillside” won the Anspaugh Award for Fiction in February of 2017, and his novel, JUST OFF THE PATH, is due for release in early September.

He likes to believe that he is in charge of his own destiny, but at the end of the day, he knows that he was born to serve his two beloved cats.

Links

Amazon

Goodreads

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Release Day Blitz: Cinderella Necromancer

Hello Readers! Welcome to the Release Day Celebration for

Cinderella, Necromancer by F.M. Boughan

presented by Month9Books!

Find out more info about this new release below,
and be sure to enter the giveaway at the end of the post!

Happy Book Birthday, F.M. Boughan!

Darkness can only be controlled by those with the darkest of hearts.

Ellison lost her mother at an early age. Now, sixteen, her father has found love again. He’s happy and doesn’t quite notice that Ellison does not get along with his new wife or her vicious daughters.

When Ellison discovers a necromantic tome while traveling the secret passages of her father’s mansion, she wonders if it could be the key to her eventual freedom.

Until then, she must master her dark new power, even as her stepmother makes her a servant in her own home. And when her younger brother falls incurably ill, Ellison will do anything to ease his pain, including falling prey to her stepmother’s and stepsisters’ every whim and fancy.

Stumbling into a chance meeting with Prince William during a secret visit to her mother’s grave feels like a trick of fate when her stepmother refuses to allow Ellison to attend a palace festival where she might see him once more.

But what if Ellison could see the kind and handsome prince again? What if she could attend the festival? What if she could have everything she’s ever wanted and deserved by conjuring spirits to take revenge on her cruel stepmother? And what if she actually liked watching her stepmother suffer?

As Ellison’s power grows, she loses control over the evil spirits meant to do her bidding. And as they begin to exert their own power over Ellison, it becomes harder to tell whether it is she or her stepmother who is the true monster.

CINDERELLA NECROMANCER is CINDER meets ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD and was inspired by a real medieval grimoire of necromancy from 15th-century Germany

Cinderella, Necromancer by F.M. Boughan
Publication Date: September 5, 2017
Publisher: Month9Books

F.M. Boughan is a bibliophile, a writer, and an unabashed parrot enthusiast. She can often be found writing in local coffee shops, namely because it’s hard to concentrate with a cat lying on the keyboard and a small, colorful parrot screaming into her ear. Her work is somewhat dark, somewhat violent, somewhat hopeful, and always contains a hint of magic.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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