Cornerstone (Cornerstone #1) by Misty Provencher

Cornerstone by Misty Provencher
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Warning: This was suppose to be a review for Cornerstone, yet somehow I ended up reading all books in practically one sitting. It has thrown me off my usual format so you will  have to excuse me.. Actually, scratch that, I'd better not apologise as there is a pretty good chance it will happen again at some stage.. so yeah.. it may be slightly spoilery .

Cornerstone has been on my 'to read' list for at least a couple of years. I came across it as a recommendation based on previously read books and the synopsis sounded original and interesting. It really grabbed me. But then life got in the way, slowly pushing it further down my list and other books got scooted to the top as sequels kept coming out.

Finally, on a Friday I opened it up on my reader as I was sitting in the waiting room preparing to get my wisdom teeth removed. I can not tell you how glad I am that I did. I literally went on a reading binge for the following 4 days and blasted through the entire series (4 in all). Granted I was probably a little high from all the painkillers but I'm fairly sure they didn't impair my judgement to much..

It was simply unique, invigorating, touching and bitter-sweet. The books branch on a range of subjects in any young adults life as well as throw you into a fantastically imaginative world not found anywhere else. Misty Porvincher is most definitely not afraid of letting her readers stretch their imagination and take a bit of risk. It is not chewed out or easy to swallow but certainly refreshing in the current YA genre to have a writer not be afraid to go beyond the line. Though it is not all seriousness and crazy stuff.. it also shows a light and comical side..

The Divide (The Dreamland Series, #2) by E.J. Mellow

The Divide by E.J. Mellow


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Divide has been on my list of most anticipated sequels for 2015. When it finally arrived in my mailbox I was ecstatic and slightly nervous. As the sequel to a smashing debut novel I was truly hoping it would live up to the awesomeness of the first book and that there would be a good chunk more of Devlin (though really the story was a reason enough of course hah!)...

The Divide jumps right into where The Dreamer left off. Molly is on her way to be put under for a few days in order to get her training under way. And ohh do we get thrown straight back into it! We finally get to delve a little deeper into Terra and get introduced to whole heap more interesting gadgets and what not's. There are some truly tension packed scenes right up my ally and I am extremely glad that this is a NA novel and did not have to conform to YA fadeouts. It delivered on all of my TGTBT expectations  (for anyone wondering , it's short for 'To Good To Be True').

Sweep in Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles #2) by Ilona Andrews

Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ahhh I simply adore the Inkeeper Chronicles, you guys have no idea how happy I was when it got announced there will be more books to come!

Ever since I started reading Clean Sweep through the then hosted serial, I have been obsessively checking my email in the hopes another episode would have been posted. I devoured Sweep in Peace as soon as it followed. Luckily anyone that has missed out, the actual polished book form is to be released on the 13th of November pre-order here (awesome or what!).

  

We pick up a little while after Clean Sweep ended. Dina is in a bit of a slum. Sean Evans has left for the wider universe after one awesome kiss, making good on the favor he still owed. Neither is she any closer to finding out what happened to her parents or how she can get some much needed clientele into Gertrude Hunt. Then out of the blue she is proposed an offer she cant refuse when George knocks on her door in hopes of finding a place to host a peace summit (you will George and his team from the The Edge series which is funnily enough the first Ilona Andrews series I read and got me hooked on their work).

The Silence of Six by E.C. Myers

The Silence of Six by E.C. Myers

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
 

I have a bit of a weakness when it comes to tech/hacker stories. I absolutely love Person of Interest and sometimes I wish my computer skills (and my patience level) would be bad ass enough to go underground and pull down sites to make a point or uncovering secure info from a super secret government  

* kidding of course...  well sort off * 

 I had previously been fooled when I picked up Cipher, expecting a hacker heroin only to be faced with nill action and a case of bad instalove romance.

So when I read the summary of The Silence of Six I was immediately intrigued. Could it be? A book which might actually make true on the promise of hacker action, a believable conspiracy, skirting the edge of today's issues faced regarding transparency and privacy as well as deliver on credibility but keeping it interesting enough to not put you to sleep?

I think The Silence of Six  is the perfect mix of all of the above. 

The Collectors' Society (The Collectors' Society #1) by Heather Lyons

The Collectors' Society by Heather Lyons
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Collector's Society is a new adult modern day fairy tail retelling.

Whilst the book has multiple mentions of other literary works and it characters, it focuses mainly around Alice from Alice in wonderland and Finn from 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'.

The story begins with Alice who is institutionalized for reasons we will find out later on in the story. She is about to be released when a man comes to her in dire need of help. Alice reluctantly agrees to assist him in order to save loved ones she thought to have left behind for good. Though helping him means she gets thrown into a world and truth she had never imagined. She gets paired up with Finn, who is second in command in the Collector's Society and who's collective goal it is to ensure other worlds and their timelines are kept safe.

~ A doorway can lead a person into new spaces, and can allow in loved ones, enemies, new acquaintances, or horrible things that we never dare dream about. They can remove us from that we've just left, or present us a firm wall of acceptance we may or may not wish to embrace.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This review may be a tiny bit biased.. 

Sarah J. Maas has been one of my favorite authors ever since I picked up Throne of Glass. I adore her writing style, her unique way with words and of course the fact that she has a knack for coming up with kickass heroines!

A Court of Thorns and Roses ticks all these boxes and delfs into a story involving Fea as well as some 'fairytail' aspects which we are all familiar with. I love books surrounding fae.. No really, I have a very special place for those and if you look through my fave list, you will spot 5 of them already! *insert girly sigh here*

The good part of those is that there are a lot out there. The lesser part, is that this abundance can make these feel regurgitated. ACOTAR is most definitely not one of those...

The story begins with Feyre who manages to get herself in a very tight spot when she kills a wolf in the woods to survive the barren winter with her family. The wolf is not just a wolf, no it's a Faerie wolf.

They Call Me Alexandra Gastone by T.A. Maclagan

They Call Me Alexandra Gastone by T. A. Maclagan
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

After having the book blast on 'They call me Alexandra Gastone' a couple of months back, I was immensely intrigued by the synopsis. In this day and age, the story line is anything but far fetched and it definitely drew a cord watching the unrest in the Middle East that has been brewing for such a long time.

Of course the book is not referring to this conflict specifically (though it may have draw inspiration from it in part). Rather, It sets a very strong portrait of the thoughts and feelings a young woman has, being raised with ideals and saddled with a mission that may not have her (or a much wider populace's) best interests at heart. A reminder, if you will, of the heart ache that vengeance and misguided ideals can bring and that we cant see both sides of the same coin at once.

Treasure, Darkly (Treasure Chronicles, #1) by Jordan Elizabeth

Treasure, Darkly by Jordan Elizabeth Mierek
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
2.5 really

It started out so promising. The author seemed to be on to something, writing a book that crosses Western with Steampunk some Paranomal, Action and some potential Romance. Made even more interesting by the fact that she has chosen a male lead (unusual for a female author). Or so I gathered from the intriguing short that accompanies this book. Unfortunately it fell flat and sunk like a river stone. The best thing about Treasure Darkly is most likely it's cover. Let's be honest, that cover is a gorgeous piece of art.