Author: jilljemmett

Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book.

Review: Infinity Son (Infinity Cycle #1)

Title: Infinity Son (Infinity Cycle #1)
Author: Adam Silvera
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: January 14, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

goodreads-badge-add-plus-71eae69ca0307d077df66a58ec068898

Goodreads Synopsis:

Growing up in New York, brothers Emil and Brighton always idolized the Spell Walkers—a vigilante group sworn to rid the world of specters. While the Spell Walkers and other celestials are born with powers, specters take them, violently stealing the essence of endangered magical creatures.

Brighton wishes he had a power so he could join the fray. Emil just wants the fighting to stop. The cycle of violence has taken a toll, making it harder for anyone with a power to live peacefully and openly. In this climate of fear, a gang of specters has been growing bolder by the day.

Then, in a brawl after a protest, Emil manifests a power of his own—one that puts him right at the heart of the conflict and sets him up to be the heroic Spell Walker Brighton always wanted to be.

Brotherhood, love, and loyalty will be put to the test, and no one will escape the fight unscathed.

Balancing epic and intensely personal stakes, bestselling author Adam Silvera’s Infinity Son is a gritty, fast-paced adventure about two brothers caught up in a magical war generations in the making.

Review:

This story had all the elements of a great fantasy: a “chosen one” prophecy, twins, orphans, mythical creatures, and unexpected twists. This is a great start to a new series!

The world took a little work to get into. This book is set in an alternate New York where there are magical creatures called celestials and specters. Most people come into their powers naturally, if they will get any power at all. However, people can also use potions made of the blood of mythical creatures like phoenixes and hydras. The potions give people unexpected and dangerous powers.

This story had lots of drama and twists that I didn’t expect. It ended on quite a cliffhanger. I don’t know what will happen next but I’m excited for the next book!

What to read next:

Reverie by Ryan La Sala

Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard

Have you read Infinity Son? What did you think of it?

Top Ten Tuesday – Best Book Covers of 2020 (so far)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme a Book Cover Freebie, so I decided to post the Best Book Covers of 2020 (so far). Here’s my list:

1. Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

2. The Sound of Stars Alechia Dow

3. Heart of Flames (Crown of Feathers #1)

4. The Raven and the Dove by Kaitlyn Davis

5. Ember Queen (Ash Princess Trilogy #3) by Laura Sebastian

6. Unravel the Dusk (The Blood of Stars #2) by Elizabeth Lim

7. The Wrong Mr. Darcy by Evelyn Lozada with Holly Lorincz

8. Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

9. Rogue Princess by B.R. Myers

10. The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

(All photos taken from Goodreads)

What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?

Blog Tour Review: Don’t Read the Comments

Title: Don’t Read the Comments
Author: Eric Smith
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 28, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

goodreads-badge-add-plus-71eae69ca0307d077df66a58ec068898

Goodreads Synopsis:

Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.

Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.

At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…

And she isn’t going down without a fight.

Review:

This is a great story about gaming and the dangers that can come along with it.

Divya is a famous gamer, who streams her game play with her friend Rebekah. She meets Aaron in the game and they become friends online. At the same time, Divya begins to be harassed by a group of guys who start attacking her in the game. It escalates to real life, with them attacking her and her mother at their home.

Many parts of this story were realistic. It can be dangerous to put your personal information online. Divya thought she was hiding her identity, but some other players still found her. Even when Aaron wanted to meet her in real life, she was careful about not giving away any real information.

The sexism and racism in this story was unfortunately realistic too. The guys were attacking her just because she is a woman of colour who likes to play video games. That should have nothing to do with her ability to play what she likes. I don’t understand how people can think the way they do, but it does happen in the gaming community.

I really loved this story!

Thank you Inkyard Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Fan the Fame by Anna Priemaza

Queen of Geek by Jen Wilde

Author Info:

Eric Smith is an author, prolific book blogger, and literary agent from New Jersey, currently living in Philadelphia. Smith cohosts Book Riot’s newest podcast, HEY YA, with non-fiction YA author Kelly Jensen. He can regularly be found writing for Book Riot’s blog, as well as Barnes & Noble’s Teen Reads blog, Paste Magazine, and Publishing Crawl. Smith also has a growing Twitter platform of over 40,000 followers (@ericsmithrocks).

Have you read Don’t Read the Comments? What did you think of it?

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – January 27

This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!

What I just finished:

This weekend I finished Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith.

What I’m currently reading:

I’m currently reading Infinity Son (Infinity Cycle #1) by Adam Silvera.

What I’m reading next:

Next I will be reading Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – January 26

Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:

I did 8 weekly blogging memes:

How was your week? What did you guys read?

Sundays in Bed With… Don’t Read the Comments

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’m reading Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is goodreads-badge-add-plus-71eae69ca0307d077df66a58ec068898.png

Goodreads Synopsis:

Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.

Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.

At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…

And she isn’t going down without a fight.

What book are you in bed with today?

Six for Sunday – Bookish Habits

This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.

This week’s prompt is Bookish Habits. These are both good and bad habits I have with my books. Here’s my list:

1. Reading on my phone

2. Sharing my reviews on Goodreads, NetGalley, My Book Pledge, and shopping sites

3. Planning my reading a week ahead of time

4. Using various pieces of paper as bookmarks

5. Reading for hours everyday

6. Ordering more books when my TBR is too long

(All book cover images from Goodreads)

Did you write a #SixforSunday post? What was your list of Bookish Habits?

Review: The Wives

Title: The Wives
Author: Tarryn Fisher
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Graydon House
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: December 30, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

goodreads-badge-add-plus-71eae69ca0307d077df66a58ec068898

Goodreads Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Tarryn Fisher delivers a pulse-pounding, fast-paced suspense novel that will leave you breathless. A thriller you won’t be able to put down!

Thursday’s husband, Seth, has two other wives. She’s never met them, and she doesn’t know anything about them. She agreed to this unusual arrangement because she’s so crazy about him.

But one day, she finds something. Something that tells a very different—and horrifying—story about the man she married. 

What follows is one of the most twisted, shocking thrillers you’ll ever read. 

You’ll have to grab a copy to find out why.

Review:

This book was a twisted, wild ride, but I loved it.

Thursday’s husband has two other wives. Her life spirals out of control when she decides to find out who the other wives are. I can’t really say much about this book without giving away any spoilers, but it was very suspenseful and creepy.

Thursday was an unreliable narrator, but the pieces of her life fit together, so I couldn’t help but believe her at times.

There were some mental health issues in this story. There were also some miscarriages that were described. These could be triggers, because they were intense parts of the story.

This was a great psychological thriller!

Thank you Graydon House Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

I Can Be a Better You by Tarryn Fisher

Have you read The Wives? What did you think of it?

Stacking the Shelves – January 25

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 received a book from Pajama Press:

Music for Tigers by Michelle Kadarusman

Thank you Pajama Press for this book!

What books did you get this week?

Review: Jane Anonymous

Title: Jane Anonymous
Author: Laurie Faria Stolarz
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

goodreads-badge-add-plus-71eae69ca0307d077df66a58ec068898

Goodreads Synopsis:

Bestselling author Laurie Faria Stolarz returns with Jane Anonymous, a gripping tale of a seventeen-year-old girl’s kidnapping and her struggle to fit back into her life after she escapes.

Then, “Jane” was just your typical 17-year-old in a typical New England suburb getting ready to start her senior year. She had a part-time job she enjoyed, an awesome best friend, overbearing but loving parents, and a crush on a boy who was taking her to see her favorite band. She never would’ve imagined that in her town where nothing ever happens, a series of small coincidences would lead to a devastating turn of events that would forever change her life.

Now, it’s been three months since “Jane” escaped captivity and returned home. Three months of being that girl who was kidnapped, the girl who was held by a “monster.” Three months of writing down everything she remembered from those seven months locked up in that stark white room. But, what if everything you thought you knew―everything you thought you experienced―turned out to be a lie?

Review:

This story was suspenseful and creepy!

The narrative alternated between “then,” when Jane was kidnapped and “now,” 10 months after she was kidnapped. Even though we know that she gets out, because she tells part of the story from her present perspective, it was still suspenseful. There were a lot of missing pieces that were revealed slowly throughout the book to keep up the mystery.

I figured out the mystery behind what was happening in the “warehouse” where Jane was being kept pretty quickly. It was creepy the way that she became brainwashed in a short amount of time. She took on a lot of behaviors that she learned while in captivity.

Even though the story was slowly revealed, I still had a lot of questions at the end. There were a couple of mysteries that weren’t fully solved, but perhaps that just reflects the reality of a situation like that.

I really enjoyed this suspenseful book!

Thank you Wednesday Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

The Dark Beneath the Ice by Amelinda Bérubé

Have you read Jane Anonymous? What did you think of it?