REVIEW : The Hidden People by Alison Littlewood

The Hidden People - Alison Littlewood
Publisher : Jo Fletcher Books
Release Date : October 6th 2016
Genres : Historical Fiction, Horror
Pages : 384
Rating : DNF

Pretty Lizzie Higgs is gone, burned to death on her own hearth - but was she really a changeling, as her husband insists? Albie Mirralls met his cousin only once, in 1851, within the grand glass arches of the Crystal Palace, but unable to countenance the rumours that surround her murder, he leaves his young wife in London and travels to Halfoak, a village steeped in superstition. 

Albie begins to look into Lizzie's death, but in this place where the old tales hold sway and the 'Hidden People' supposedly roam, answers are slippery and further tragedy is just a step away . . . 

REVIEW : The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

l

The Kiss of Deception - Mary E. Pearson
Publisher : Henry Holt
Release Date : July 8th 2014
Genres : YA, Fantasy
Pages : 492
Rating : DNF

A princess must find her place in a reborn world.

She flees on her wedding day.She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection.

She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.he Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.

Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love

REVIEW : Cryptids by Lauren Evers

 Cryptids - Lauren Evers
 Publisher : Pronoun
 Release Date : September 4th 2016
 Genres : Young Adult, Contemporary
 Pages : 254
 Rating : ★★½☆☆

 Ell Weyanoke, the daughter of a multi-billionaire, does bad things for bad reasons; she doesn’t know why. No one does. Eventually, her schemes get her sent away to a prestigious academy where her father hopes for her to finally settle down.

It’s at this academy that Ell meets Percy, her seemingly perfect dream-boy. With Ell’s judgment clouded by Percy’s kindness, Ell forgets that dreams can be nightmares, too.

In this coming of age story, which analyzes complex social issues, Ell learns what it means to truly suffer. She learns what life is: making friends just to lose them.

REVIEW : Confess by Colleen Hoover

Confess - Colleen Hoover
Publisher : Atria
Release Date : March 10th 2015
Genres : NA, Contemporary
Pages : 306
Rating : ★★★☆☆

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

REVIEW : This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

j

This is Where it Ends - Marieke Nijkamp
Publisher : Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date : January 5th 2016
Genres : YA, Contemporary
Pages : 285
Rating : ★★★☆☆

10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity High School finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03 a.m. The auditorium doors won't open.

10:05 a.m. Someone starts shooting.

Told from four different perspectives over the span of fifty-four harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival

DISCUSSION : Sarah J Maas and Diversity

Warning : Do not read this if you haven't read Queen of Shadows 

REVIEW : Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas

Empire of Storms - Sarah J Maas
Publisher : Bloomsbury
Release Date : September 6th 2016
Genres : YA, Fantasy
Pages : 704
Rating : ★★★★★

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those who don't.

As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

Aelin's journey from assassin to queen has entranced millions across the globe, and this fifth installment will leave fans breathless. Will Aelin succeed in keeping her world from splintering, or will it all come crashing down?

REVIEW : A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

A Torch Against the Night - Sabaa Tahir
Publisher : Razorbill
Release Date : August 30th 2016
Genres : YA, Fantasy
Pages : 452
Rating : ★★★★★

Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both. 

REVIEW : Nerve by Jeanne Ryan

Nerve - Jeanne Ryan
Publisher : Dial Books
Release Date : September 13th 2012
Genres : YA, Thriller
Pages : 304
Rating : ★★★☆☆

A high-stakes online game of dares turns deadly

When Vee is picked to be a player in NERVE, an anonymous game of dares broadcast live online, she discovers that the game knows her. 

They tempt her with prizes taken from her ThisIsMe page and team her up with the perfect boy, sizzling-hot Ian. 

At first it's exhilarating--Vee and Ian's fans cheer them on to riskier dares with higher stakes. But the game takes a twisted turn when they're directed to a secret location with five other players for the Grand Prize round. Suddenly they're playing all or nothing, with their lives on the line. Just how far will Vee go before she loses NERVE?

Debut author Jeanne Ryan delivers an un-putdownable suspense thriller.

REVIEW : Faefever by Karie Marie Moning

Faefever - Karen Marie Moning
Publisher : Delacorte Press
Release Date : September 16th 2008
Genres : Urban Fantasy
Pages : 327 pages
Rating : ★★☆☆☆

He calls me his Queen of the Night. I’d die for him. I’d kill for him, too. When MacKayla Lane receives a torn page from her dead sister’s journal, she is stunned by Alina’s desperate words. And now MacKayla knows that her sister’s killer is close. But evil is closer. And suddenly the sidhe-seer is on the hunt: For answers. For revenge. And for an ancient book of dark magic so evil, it corrupts anyone who touches it.

Mac’s quest for the Sinsar Dubh takes her into the mean, shape-shifting streets of Dublin, with a suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance with V’lane, an insatiable Fae prince of lethally erotic tastes, and Jericho Barrons, a man of primal desires and untold secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul.

As All Hallows’ Eve approaches and the city descends into chaos, as a shocking truth about the Dark Book is uncovered, not even Mac can prevent a deadly race of immortals from shattering the walls between worlds—with devastating consequences.…