August 2018 – Page 5 – Jill's Book Blog

Sundays in Bed With… The Raging Ones

The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.

This Sunday I reading The Raging Ones by Krista and Becca Ritchie.

Goodreads Synopsis:

From New York Times bestselling authors Krista and Becca Ritchie, comes The Raging Ones, an edge of your seat sci-fi romance with twists and turns that you will never see coming!

In a freezing world, where everyone knows the day they will die, three teens break all odds.

Franny Bluecastle, a tough city teen, dreams of dying in opulence, to see wealth she’s never known. Like the entire world, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday.

Until the day she does.

Court Icecastle knows wealth. He also knows pain. Spending five years in Vorkter Prison, a fortress of ice and suffering, he dreams of life beyond the people that haunt him and the world that imprisoned him.

Mykal Kickfall fights for those he loves. The rugged Hinterlander shares a frustrating yet unbreakable connection with Court—which only grows more lawless and chaotic as their senses and emotions connect with Franny.

With the threat of people learning they’ve dodged their deathdays, they must flee their planet to survive. But to do so, all three will have to hide their shared bond as they vie for a highly sought after spot in the newest mission to space. Against thousands of people far smarter, who’ll live longer, and never fear death the way that they do.

What book are you in bed with today?

Review: Pashmina

Title: Pashmina
Author: Nidhi Chanani
Genre: Graphic Novel, Young Adult
Publisher: First Second
Source: Library
Release Date: October 3, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Priyanka Das has so many unanswered questions: Why did her mother abandon her home in India years ago? What was it like there? And most importantly, who is her father, and why did her mom leave him behind? But Pri’s mom avoids these questions–the topic of India is permanently closed.

For Pri, her mother’s homeland can only exist in her imagination. That is, until she find a mysterious pashmina tucked away in a forgotten suitcase. When she wraps herself in it, she is transported to a place more vivid and colorful than any guidebook or Bollywood film. But is this the real India? And what is that shadow lurking in the background? To learn the truth, Pri must travel farther than she’s ever dared and find the family she never knew.

In this heartwarming graphic novel debut, Nidhi Chanani weaves a tale about the hardship and self-discovery that is born from juggling two cultures and two worlds.

Review:

Last year, I saw this book everywhere, so I was curious to read it myself. It was great!

I liked the way that Priyanka discovered her history throughout the book. She had a lot of questions about her life, including who her father was, but her mother didn’t give her any answers. She felt much more comfortable with herself and her relationship with her mother once she finally got all of her answers.

The pashmina was a magical item. It gave Pri a taste of what India would be like, which made her want to go there. However, the pashmina only shows one side of things. Not all of India looks the way it did in the fantasy. There is also a lot of poverty that Pri wasn’t expecting.

I really enjoyed this story. It showed how Pri learned to combine her two cultures, American and Indian.

Stacking the Shelves – August 11

This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

I purchased some books from Indigo this week:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Paperback Ravenclaw Edition) by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Paperback Ravenclaw Edition) by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Hardcover Ravenclaw Edition) by J.K. Rowling
The Black Witch by Laurie Forest

What books did you get this week?

Review: The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1)

Title: The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1)
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Library
Release Date: October 6, 2015
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Magnus Chase has seen his share of trouble. Ever since that terrible night two years ago when his mother told him to run, he has lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, staying one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.

One day, Magnus learns that someone else is trying to track him down—his uncle Randolph, a man his mother had always warned him about. When Magnus tries to outmaneuver his uncle, he falls right into his clutches. Randolph starts rambling about Norse history and Magnus’s birthright: a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.

The more Randolph talks, the more puzzle pieces fall into place. Stories about the gods of Asgard, wolves, and Doomsday bubble up from Magnus’s memory. But he doesn’t have time to consider it all before a fire giant attacks the city, forcing him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents. . . .

Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die.

Review:

I didn’t know much about Norse Mythology before reading this book, but I learned a lot.

This book was very fast paced. The chapters were short so they were easy to read. Magnus had to go on many small missions in this story, which were each like a mini plot by themselves.

I have read the first two books in the Percy Jackson series, and this book reminded me of the first Percy Jackson book. Magnus and Percy have a lot in common. They both have gods as fathers. Their mothers are also supposedly dead early in the story. They also both have protectors from the mythological world who were watching over them in the human world. I was disappointed when I saw these similarities at first, but once Magnus entered into the world of the Norse gods, his story took a different path from Percy’s story.

Another interesting thing about this book is that the main character dies at the beginning. It actually works in this story! You’ll just have to read it to find out how!

First Lines Friday – August 10

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:

“In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr. Justice Wargrave, lately retired from the bench, puffed at a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news in The Times. ”

Do you recognize these first lines?

…

And the book is… And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.

Goodreads synopsis:

First, there were ten—a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal—and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.

This is one of my favourite books of all time!

Have you read And Then There Were None? What did you think of it?

Review: Josie and the Pussycats Vol. 1

Title: Josie and the Pussycats Vol. 1
Author: Marguerite Bennett, Cameron DeOrdio, Adurey Mok
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Archie Comics
Source: Library
Release Date: June 13, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

READ THE LATEST, SUREFIRE TOP-OF-THE-CHARTS NEW RIVERDALE SERIES!
JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS VOL. 1 is the first collection of an all-new take onthe world’s biggest comic book band. Marguerite Bennett (DC Comics’ Bombshells, Marvel’s A-Force) and co-writer Cameron DeOrdio team with Audrey Mok (Heroine Chic) to retell the origin and story behind the music for Josie, Valerie, and Melody.
Friends, countrymen, lend me your long tails and ears for hats–the Pussycats are back! In this series kick-off, Josie’s getting the band together to help achieve her dreams of musical stardom. But for the group to last, it needs a strong foundation of friendship and trust. Can the girls get going, or will Alexandra Cabot’s plotting put a stop to the whole thing? Don’t miss comics’ supreme songstresses’ return to the limelight in this exciting first volume!

Review:

I loved the Josie and the Pussycats movie when I was a kid, but I think this is the first Josie and the Pussycats comic that I’ve read!

This story tells the origin of the group. Josie McCoy is a twenty-four year old girl who lives in Riverdale. Her love of animals leads her to a charity concert, where she forms a band with her roommate Melody and their new friend Valerie. Though these characters come from Riverdale, like Archie and the gang, these girls are adults so it isn’t the same scenario as the kids at Riverdale high.

I really enjoyed this book. There was good tension between Josie and her former friend and arch nemesis Alexandra. There were loads of puns and references. At first they were funny, but then there ended up being at least two puns or references to pop culture on every page. It got a little annoying by the end. I think there should have been less puns and more conflict.

Overall, this was a great book. I can’t wait to read the next volume.

TBR Thursday – August 9

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 This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.

That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.

When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.

Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself?

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

Review: With You Always

Title: With You Always
Author: Rena Olsen
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada
Source: Publisher
Release Date: August 7, 2018
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From the author of The Girl Before comes a tense and incisive work of psychological suspense that examines how easy it is to fall into the wrong relationship…and how impossible it can be to leave.

In the wake of a painful breakup and struggling to prove herself at work, Julia feels adrift. When Bryce blows into her life, he seems like the perfect anchor. Handsome, charming, secure, and confident, Bryce brings out the best in Julia, sweeping her off her feet with attention and affection while grounding her with his certainty and faith. Together they embark on a path guided by the principles of his family and their church, each step a paving stone leading to happily ever after.

But this is no fairy tale.

Step by step, one small concession leading to another, Julia is slowly isolated from her job, her friends, and her family, until she comes to find that her dream come true is a cage. Then one day everything changes…and Julia is faced with no choice but to find a way out.

Review:

This book disappointed me a little, because it is marketed as a psychological thriller but it takes a long time for the thriller to begin.The thrilling parts of it only began in the last third of the book.

The thriller aspects of the story only began in the last third of the book. The beginning of the book laid the groundwork for the rest of it, but it took too long for the exciting part to start.

It is clear pretty early on that Bryce is controlling. He was very creepy, and I don’t know why Julia couldn’t see it. He was way too perfect. Since he was obviously creepy, the long story of their relationship leading up to the climax could have been shorter than the 200 pages it took up.

This book wasn’t for me, because I like fast paced thrillers. If you like a book that has a slower pace, this is for you.

‘Waiting on’ Wednesday – August 8

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 The Raging Ones by Krista and Becca Ritchie.

Goodreads Synopsis:

From New York Times bestselling authors Krista and Becca Ritchie, comes The Raging Ones, an edge of your seat sci-fi romance with twists and turns that you will never see coming!

In a freezing world, where everyone knows the day they will die, three teens break all odds.

Franny Bluecastle, a tough city teen, dreams of dying in opulence, to see wealth she’s never known. Like the entire world, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday.

Until the day she does.

Court Icecastle knows wealth. He also knows pain. Spending five years in Vorkter Prison, a fortress of ice and suffering, he dreams of life beyond the people that haunt him and the world that imprisoned him.

Mykal Kickfall fights for those he loves. The rugged Hinterlander shares a frustrating yet unbreakable connection with Court—which only grows more lawless and chaotic as their senses and emotions connect with Franny.

With the threat of people learning they’ve dodged their deathdays, they must flee their planet to survive. But to do so, all three will have to hide their shared bond as they vie for a highly sought after spot in the newest mission to space. Against thousands of people far smarter, who’ll live longer, and never fear death the way that they do.

I can’t wait to read this book in a couple of weeks! What books are you waiting on this week?

Review: Target Practice (Cleopatra in Space #1)

Title: Target Practice (Cleopatra in Space #1)
Author: Mike Maihack
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Scholastic
Source: Library
Release Date: April 29, 2014
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A funny, action-packed graphic novel featuring a young Cleopatra — yes, THAT Cleopatra — who’s transported to the future and learns it’s up to her to save the galaxy!

When a young Cleopatra (yes, THAT Cleopatra) finds a mysterious tablet that zaps her to the far, REALLY far future, she learns of an ancient prophecy that says she is destined to save the galaxy from the tyrannical rule of the evil Xaius Octavian. She enrolls in Yasiro Academy, a high-tech school with classes like algebra, biology, and alien languages (which Cleo could do without), and combat training (which is more Cleo’s style). With help from her teacher Khensu, Cleo learns what it takes to be a great leader, all while trying to figure out how she’s going to get her homework done, make friends, and avoid detention!

Review:

This book is a really cool combination of ancient Egypt and science fiction.

Cleopatra travels in time from ancient Egypt into the future. She is a teenager, and struggles with her studies and the fact that she will become queen, and she is shocked when she lands thousands of years in the future. Her surprise at time travel wasn’t too dramatic but I think if it really happened to her, she would have been freaking out rather than adjusting to her new life just fine.

I flew through this book. It was really funny at times. There were lots of talking cats in charge of the school! Cleopatra was quite the fighter, which made for some exciting scenes. I also never imagined that space in the future would look so similar to ancient Egypt.

This story was very fast paced, with lots of stuff packed in! I’ll definitely be continuing this series!

Goodreads Synopsis:

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol

Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Paperback Ravenclaw Edition) by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Paperback Ravenclaw Edition) by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Hardcover Ravenclaw Edition) by J.K. Rowling

The Black Witch by Laurie Forest

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #2)

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)

Goodreads synopsis:

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Josie and the Pussycats Vol. 2

The Archies & Josie and the Pussycats

Goodreads Synopsis:

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The Girl Before by Rena Olsen

Goodreads Synopsis:

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

The Thief and the Sword (Cleopatra in Space #2)

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)