Here’s my weekly wrap up!
Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:
I did 7 weekly blogging memes:
How was your week? What did you guys read?
Title: The Adventurers Guild
Author: Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Library
Format: ebook
Release Date: October 3, 2017
Rating: ★★★★
Few ever asked to join the Adventurers Guild. . . . Their members often died young.
In one of the last cities standing after the world fell to monsters, best friends Zed Kagari and Brock Dunderfel have high hopes for the future. Zed desperately wishes to join the ranks of the Mages Guild, where his status as Freestone’s only half elf might finally be an asset. Brock, the roguishly handsome son of merchants, is confident he’ll be welcomed into the ranks of the Merchants Guild.
But just as it seems the boys’ dreams have come true, their lives take a startling turn . . . and they find themselves members of the perilous Adventurers Guild.
Led by the fearsome Alabasel Frond, the guild acts as the last line of defense against the Dangers-hungry, unnatural beasts from otherworldly planes. And when the boys uncover a conspiracy that threatens all of Freestone, Zed, Brock, and their new allies-Liza, a fierce noble, and Jett, a brave dwarf-must prove their worth once and for all.
This start of a thrilling new series is sure to be a hit with readers who like their fantasies clever and action-packed, with tons of humor and heart.
This is a great, fast-paced fantasy story.
It is set in a unique world, where everyone is divided into the guilds where they work. When they are preteens, they are chosen by a guild to work for the rest of their lives. However, the Adventurers guild is a special guild where people can ask to join it and they are automatically accepted. That is because the Adventurers guild embarks on dangerous journeys beyond the walls of the city.
The story was told from the perspectives of Zed and Brock. They are two friends from very different backgrounds. Zed is half elf, which makes him very unique in the town. There are no other elves, so he is the only one with elven blood. Brock is from a wealthier family and he is assumed to join the Merchants guild, but then he becomes a spy for them in the Adventurers guild.
The ending was very fast paced. I liked the conclusion, and it ended on a cliffhanger. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book, which comes out in a couple of weeks.
Have you read The Adventurers Guild? What did you think of it?
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 was approved for one book on NetGalley from Thomas Nelson:
Thank you Thomas Nelson for this book!
What books did you get this week?
Title: The Darkest Star (Origin #1)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Publisher: Tor Teen
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: ebook
Release Date: October 30, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★
When seventeen-year-old Evie Dasher is caught up in a raid at a notorious club known as one of the few places where humans and the surviving Luxen can mingle freely, she meets Luc, an unnaturally beautiful guy she initially assumes is a Luxen…but he is in fact something much more powerful. Her growing attraction for Luc will lead her deeper and deeper into a world she’d only heard about, a world where everything she thought she knew will be turned on its head…
I really enjoyed this story. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books, but I hadn’t read one before. Now I’m going to look for more of her books.
This world was like ours, but there was an alien invasion. The aliens can take the form of humans, so it can be difficult to tell the difference, unless the Luxen (the aliens) wear a bracelet which signals what they are. The main character, Evie, becomes immersed in the Luxen world, after going to a Luxen club called Foretold.
I guessed the twist in the story fairly early on. It was the same twist as another book I read recently, so I was able to figure it out. I won’t tell you which book it was, but if you have read both books, you will know what I’m talking about.
I’m curious to see where this series goes, but I guess I’ll have to wait a while for the next book!
Have you read The Darkest Star? What did you think of it?
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:
“Anne can feel the acid churning in her stomach and creeping up her throat; her head is swimming. She’s had too much to drink. Cynthia has been topping her up all night. Anne had meant to keep herself to a limit, but she’d let things slide – she didn’t know how else she was supposed to get through the evening.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena.
It all started at a dinner party. . .
A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors–a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives. . .
Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all–a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately focuses on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story.
Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they’ve kept for years.
What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family–a chilling tale of deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.
Have you read The Couple Next Door? What did you think of it?
Title: Doctor Who: The Night of the Whisper
Author: Cavan Scott
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Source: Library
Format: Audiobook
Release Date: September 2, 2013
Rating: ★★★
New Vegas, 23rd Century — a sprawling city huddling beneath an artificial atmospheric bubble on a distant moon. Pleasure seekers flock there from every corner of the galaxy, to take in the shows and play the tables in the huge casinos. But beneath the glitz and the glitter, organised crime rules the streets.
Whilst Rose Tyler works as a waitress in the Full Moon nightclub, Jack Harkness poses as a reporter for the Daily Galaxy. Meanwhile, the Doctor is helping the police department with their investigation into the Whisper, a strange vigilante that has been terrorizing the city’s underworld. But the Doctor is also on a mission of his own — to save Police Chief McNeil’s life at all costs.
This audiobook is part of a collection of Doctor Who stories that were written just for audio. It has sound effects and music which were really cool. The story began and ended with the theme song. It was also very short, about 1 hour, so it was almost like listening to an episode of the show.
The narrators were pretty good. The one who did the voice of the Doctor sounded just like him, and the American voice sounded like Jack.
Though I liked the audio parts, didn’t like the story. I found it hard to keep track of everyone. It seemed like there were a lot of “bad guys.” I kept getting distracted while I was listening.
Even though I wasn’t crazy about this story, I’m going to look for more audiobooks from this collection.
Have you listened to Night of the Whisper? What did you think of it?
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 And I Darken (The Conqueror’s Saga #1) by Kiersten White.
No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.
Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.
But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
Title: Blended
Author: Sharon M. Draper
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: October 30, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★
Eleven-year-old Isabella’s parents are divorced, so she has to switch lives every week: One week she’s Isabella with her dad, his girlfriend Anastasia, and her son Darren living in a fancy house where they are one of the only black families in the neighborhood. The next week she’s Izzy with her mom and her boyfriend John-Mark in a small, not-so-fancy house that she loves.
Because of this, Isabella has always felt pulled between two worlds. And now that her parents are divorced, it seems their fights are even worse, and they’re always about HER. Isabella feels even more stuck in the middle, split and divided between them than ever. And she’s is beginning to realize that being split between Mom and Dad is more than switching houses, switching nicknames, switching backpacks: it’s also about switching identities. Her dad is black, her mom is white, and strangers are always commenting: “You’re so exotic!” “You look so unusual.” “But what are you really?” She knows what they’re really saying: “You don’t look like your parents.” “You’re different.” “What race are you really?” And when her parents, who both get engaged at the same time, get in their biggest fight ever, Isabella doesn’t just feel divided, she feels ripped in two. What does it mean to be half white or half black? To belong to half mom and half dad? And if you’re only seen as half of this and half of that, how can you ever feel whole?
It seems like nothing can bring Isabella’s family together again—until the worst happens. Isabella and Darren are stopped by the police. A cell phone is mistaken for a gun. And shots are fired.
This is a great contemporary, middle grade story.
Isabella feels conflicted because of all of the blending in her life. She is mixed race. She has to split her time between her divorced parents too. She often feels like she’s being torn between her parents in their arguments, but it isn’t her fault.
Isabella could escape from the difficult aspects of her life through playing the piano. It is so important to have a positive outlet and hobby. She could become her own person through her music.
There was a very upsetting scene at the end of the book which involved racial profiling. It was devastating to read about. However, this is something that happens often in our society, with unarmed people of colour being profiled just because of the colour of their skin. It was difficult to read, but it reflected an unfortunate part of real life.
This is a powerful story that I highly recommend.
Have you read Blended? What did you think of it?
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 Watching You by Lisa Jewell.
Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you.
As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom’s teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.
One of Tom’s students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she’s not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna’s mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her.
Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam…
What books are you waiting on this week?
Title: Secrets and Sequences (Secret Coders #3)
Author: Gene Luen Yang, Mike Holmes
Genre: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel
Publisher: First Second
Source: Library
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Rating: ★★★★
Stately Academy is no ordinary school: it was once home to an elite institute where teachers, students, and robots worked together to unravel the mysteries of coding. Hopper, Eni, and Josh won’t rest until they’ve learned the whole story, but they aren’t the only ones interested in the school’s past. Principal Dean is hot on their trail, demanding that the coders turn over their most powerful robot. Dean may be a creep, but he’s nothing compared to the guy who’s really in charge: a green-skinned coding genius named Professor One-Zero.
This series is great for kids. It teaches how to do simple coding, which I know a lot of kids are interested in these days. Since they like using technology, it’s great to teach them how to create it.
The plot of this story was very good too. The story is developing more with each book. This story included an evil villain who they had to stop from destroying their town. However, while the bad guy was trapping him in his dungeon, he stopped to teach them some more coding tricks. I know villains in stories often stop to explain things while they should be running away, but I’ve never seen one stop to teach kids, so that was very weird.
One thing that would greatly improve this series is if there was some kind of refresher at the beginning of the story which summarized the previous books. There was a gap between the time I read them, so it would have been nice if there was a page or two to remind me of what happened before. This would be helpful for kids who take the books out of the library and can’t flip through the previous book before moving on.
However, this is a great series for kids!
Here are my reviews for the other books in the series: Secret Coders, Paths and Portals
Have you read Secrets and Sequences? What did you think of it?
Jill's Book Blog 