ISBN 10/13: 0373210671 | 9780373210671
Category: Young Adult Fantasy
Keywords: Myths, Retellings, Series, Gods and Goddesses
Format: ebook, Hardcover
Source: NetGalley
Kimberly's Review:
Last year, I finally got around to reading
The Goddess Test, book one. Which I LOVED, and immediately grabbed for book two. Then I had wait, like
forever, to get my hands on book three, the final book. And I'm still not sure what I think about it.
This review will contain some spoilers from the first two books so if you haven't read books one and two, maybe you should stop reading now and grab a cup of tea.
 |
| Spoilers below |
Without giving too much away, Kate has been captured by Calliope and held for nine months, waiting to give birth. Henry doesn't know anything is wrong and no one is searching for her. That is, until all hell breaks loose. Cronos is ready to blast through, starting a war he intends no one to survive. Not his children, not humanity. Calliope at his side has one goal, to make Kate miserable, and she plans on doing that by stealing Kate and Henry's baby.
There are some really wonderful things about
The Goddess Inheritance. This book is a fast paced thrill ride. So much happens, I can't even begin to go into everything. Action packed. Calliope morphs into an even more sinister version of herself, and she is pretty terrifying and gross. We see Cronos a little differently in this book and get a closer look at his motivations. Together, these two are bent on destroying the world, and for most of the book, I really thought they would do it. No one is safe and it's hard to see who is on whose side and why.
There's also a lot of open questions at the end of the book and this makes me... happy! (See, you thought I was going to say something else, didn't you?) I hope this opens the road for spin off books.
Now some not so great things. I liked Kate in books one and two, but that didn't hold true for me in book three. Kate whines a lot, complains, feels helpless and whines some more. A lot of the conversations between her and Henry are about sacrifice, who is willing to give up what. I love Kate's compassion and love, but halfway through the middle of the book, she becomes this wet mop. Where is the Kate from the beginning? Who passed the tests? Who fought for Henry's love? She's in there somewhere, but it takes a while for her to get back to herself so most of the book I kinda wanted to slap her across the face.
Another thing I loved in the series was Henry and Kate together. Their trials and victories as a couple, as a unit, facing real relationship problems and lack of communication. Their fights and struggles nearly killed me in the first two books. Killed. Me. That wasn't really evident in this book. Their problems were more circumstantial and the heat and love I felt between them earlier wasn't as strong. Don't get me wrong, I love Henry and Kate. But I was expecting more from them as a couple, and was disappointed by the course of their relationship.
Here's a non-spoiler for those who have read it already:Yeah, that whole thing that happens on the island? and then there's little-to_no discussion about it afterwards? None? NONE? What?! One line? We get one line about not talking about it? (slaps forehead) I call foul!
Overall though,
The Goddess Inheritance is a solid end to a captivating trilogy. I'm sad it's over, I still want more and while I'm disappointed by some of the events that happened in book three, I still think it's one of my favorite series out there and would totally read it again.
For more about the author, visit
aimeecarter.com and tweet @
aimee_carter.
You can find more reviews by Kimberly at
The Windy Pages and tweet her @
thewindypages.
ISBN 10/13: 0373210493 | 9780373210497
Category: Young Adult Realistic Fiction
Keywords: Therapy, amnesia, romance, family
Format: Hardcover, eBook
Source: Review copy, also purchased for Kindle
Synopsis:No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.
Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.
Alethea's review:
I'll be frank. I didn't like this book. I didn't like the bad attitudes of the main characters or the dramarama from their lunchroom "friends". I didn't like the requisite romance between Echo and Noah, which bordered on insta-love. Except for Mrs. Collins, their special therapist/guidance counselor, I didn't like most of the adults in the story, who I felt contributed so much to the problems that the teenagers faced, instead of helping them. However, Katie McGarry managed to push all the right emotional buttons to make me feel engaged in their story despite all that dislike.
The cast of characters is very well-drawn and diverse. It's helpful that the author is able to differentiate everyone so well, as there are a lot of characters. Getting to know Echo and Noah through their interactions with family, friends, and virtual strangers is where McGarry excels, as the reader learns about the main characters' personalities organically. At times though, I felt like the author was hedging her bets by providing so many characters that any reader is bound to like someone in the ensemble. And when I really look at it, the romance between Noah and Echo does develop over some time; however, I still really felt like the beginnings were awkward and unbelievable. Perhaps love is just like that sometimes.
The story is told by Echo and Noah in alternating POVs. It was a bit exhausting, but in the end I think it was the clearest way to tell the story--there was so much going on between Echo's traumatic memory loss and grief over her brother's death, and Noah working himself to the bone to get his little brothers back from their foster parents... McGarry deals in details, lots and lots of details, sometimes to the point of confusion. There were times I felt like that friend who's not quite close enough to tell all your secrets to, but you do anyway because you need to tell someone.
There's language and some steamy, but not too graphic love scenes, for those of you that care about that kind of thing. I'd probably recommend it for juniors/seniors in high school (the main characters are just a few months from graduation at the start of the novel). I would have rated this one star less, but I read the whole thing in just a few hours--couldn't put it down--so I reckon I liked it more than I am willing to admit.
If you're going to read this, bring tissues. It's definitely a tear-jerker.
Find out more about the author at
www.katielmcgarry.com and follow @
KatieMcGarry on Twitter.
One lucky duck gets to win my copy of
Pushing the Limits.
Giveaway Rules:- Open to US/Can only.
- We are not responsible for items lost in the mail.
- One set of entries per household, please.
- If you are under 13, please get a parent or guardian's permission to enter, as you will be sharing personal info such as an email address.
- Winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter widget a day or two after the contest ends.
- Winner will have 48 hours to respond to to the email, otherwise we will pick a new winner.
- If you have any questions, feel free to email us. You can review our full contest policy here.
- PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ANY PERSONAL INFO IN THE COMMENTS. Sorry for the caps but we always get people leaving their email in the comments. Rafflecopter will collect all that without having personal info in the comments for all the world (and spambots) to find.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
.jpg)
|  | | Maria V. Snyder |
|
|
We are so thrilled to welcome
Maria V. Snyder back for another interview! If you missed last year's, check out the
Touch of Power blog tour post.
While you're listening, check out the Rafflecopter widgets below. You could win...
 |
Due out December 18 in the US/Canada, Jan 4 elsewhere
|
Thanks to Maria, there will be 5 International winners on the tour, one of whom will be picked from our Rafflecopter. There are also 5 US only giveaways, so make sure you visit all the tour stops linked above for more exclusive content and chances to win!
 | | A Scentsy starter pack (winner's choice) |
|
 | | Up to $35 worth |
|
I don't have a photo of the Harlequin Teen Prize Pack that is the grand prize for the blog tour, but it sounds uh-may-zing. It's a pile of Harlequin Teen and Mira titles! Squee! (US/Canada only - 2nd Rafflecopter widget)Giveaway Rules:- The Scent of Magic book prize is open Internationally. Maria will send the prize directly to the winner. The Grand Prize pack from Harlequin Teen is open to US/Canada only. The Scentsy Starter pack (up to $35 worth of items from Scentsy) is open to US only. (So on the first widget, anyone can enter, the second one is for US/Canada only).
- We are not responsible for items lost in the mail.
- One set of entries per household, please.
- If you are under 13, please get a parent or guardian's permission to enter, as you will be sharing personal info such as an email address.
- Winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter widget a day or two after the contest ends.
- Winner will have 48 hours to respond to to the email, otherwise we will pick a new winner.
- If you have any questions, feel free to email us. You can review our full contest policy here.
- PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ANY PERSONAL INFO IN THE COMMENTS. Sorry for the caps but we always get people leaving their email in the comments. Rafflecopter will collect all that without having personal info in the comments for all the world (and spambots) to find.
Thanks, and good luck!
Publication date: 24 April 2012 by Harlequin Teen
ISBN 10/13: 0373210515 | 9780373210510
Category: Young Adult Dystopian Fantasy
Format: Hardcover, ebook
Keywords: Series, Dystopian, Vampires, Zombies
Source: Netgalley
From the jacket copy:
Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of "them." The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked--and given the ultimate choice. Die...or become one of the monsters.
Alethea's Review:
I can't tell if it's partially that I'm burned out on vampires, but I did not enjoy reading The Immortal Rules as much as I did the Iron Fey series. Part of me really wanted to like it. I'm a sucker for dystopians after all--few of my friends shed as many tears as I did over Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I love the sting of tears as I read about puny humans forced to be brave, driven by a desire to protect whatever humanity they have left to them. Sadly, Allison Sekemoto, while at times admirable for her determination and strength in the face of disappointments and setbacks that ring all too real, doesn't quite grab me as other heroines have. It was almost as if she was the plot device in her own story--she's just there, and I am just turning the pages.
Is it inventive? Sure. Kagawa cooks up some mythology about vampires and zombies that isn't too transparent; she answers just enough questions as the story progresses to keep you just short of the point where you get so frustrated that you put this book down, and go re-read one of her other, better-paced books. I kept trying to discern thematic meaning from the various rules that Allison has to then choose to obey or disobey according to her fast-fading conscience, the least of which is her lust for human
Click the player below to hear Alethea's interview with Maria V. Snyder.
Scroll down to enter the giveaway!
Publication date: 20 Dec 2011 / 1 Jan 2012 by
Harlequin
ISBN 10/13: 0778313077 | 9780778313076
Find Maria
This podcast will be available on RNSL at iTunes within the next 24 hours.
Maria V. Snyder switched careers from meteorologist to novelist when she began writing the New York Times best-selling Study Series (
POISON STUDY,
MAGIC STUDY and
FIRE STUDY) about a young woman who becomes a poison taster. When she’s not traveling, Maria lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, son, and daughter.
Touch of Power Laying hands
By: Casey (The Bookish Type),
on 11/20/2011
Blog:
The Bookish Type
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
bestselling author,
HarlequinTeen,
2011 Debut Author Challenge,
New Release Roundup,
Young Adult,
Feature,
contemporary,
Razorbill,
debut author,
new release,
Add a tag
A weekly feature I started to showcase the exciting new releases hitting shelves this week.
November 21
The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
RazorbillIt's 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet.
Emma just got her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM.
Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future.
Everybody wonders what their Destiny will be. Josh and Emma are about to find out.
November 22
Saving June by Hannah Harrington
HarlequinTeenMy Review‘If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn�
By: Casey (The Bookish Type),
on 11/15/2011
Blog:
The Bookish Type
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Romance,
blog tour,
suicide,
death,
contemporary,
debut author,
HarlequinTeen,
2011 Debut Author Challenge,
upcoming release,
early review,
Four and a Half Stars,
Hannah Harrington,
Saving June,
Review,
Add a tag
Release Date: November 22, 2011
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harlequin
Preorder: Amazon |
Barnes & Noble
June was always the golden girl, with the perfect grades, perfect friends, perfect boyfriend, perfect life. Or so it seemed. Harper has always lived in her perfect sister's looming shadow -- until, suddenly, she wasn't there. When Harper finds June's lifeless body and the empty bottle of pills, all the truths she thought she knew come crashing down around her. With nothing left to lose, she sets out in search of answers, travelling cross country with June's ashes to fulfill her sister's lifelong wish -- to see California. But Harper may not like the answers that she finds. June wasn't the only one with demons, and the secrets of Harper's unlikely companions, her best friend Laney and an evasive boy with a mysterious connection to June, threaten to tear her world apart.
Saving June by
Hannah Harrington is a bittersweet but surprisingly hopeful look at loss and living. Perhaps more accurately titled "Saving Harper," readers are shown Harper's growth into her own life, forced into the spotlight by the loss of her sister's overwhelming glow. Harper is dark, edgy and cynical, a facade built to be her sister's opposite in every way, but which has grown into a second skin. Her snark is surprisingly endearing, especially after seeing the neglect of her parents and holier-than-thou criticism from her aunt that torment her at home. It's clear that Harper's brashness and rashness are a defensive mechanism, and it's easy to see the pain she tries to hide. Though she and June had the same quibbles that plague most sibling rivalries, they were still sisters and shared a bond that even their parents couldn't completely understand -- and that loss echoes to the very last page.
The road trip to California is a fun and effective, if a little unbelievable (a teenage girl taking off across the country with a guy she doesn't know -- and her parents are only mildly concerned?) method of showing Harper's lesson in living. The places they visit range from the bizarre to the beautiful, the wild to the wistful, and Harper grows as a person with each leg of their journey. Readers will find themselves itching to hit the road with each new adventure, whether it be camping at Fridgehenge and swing dancing in an underground Jazz club or throwing punches in a bar brawl before befriending an indie band.
Saving June is vicarious living at its finest.
Giving voice to the things the characters themselves can't quite express, Jake's expansive music collection sets the ever-changing tone of the novel. The music takes meaning from each experience and ties together the vast and various episodes of their journey. Jake is the perfect counterpart to Harper. He's just as damaged and abrasive, and their cons
By: Casey (The Bookish Type),
on 11/1/2011
Blog:
The Bookish Type
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
New Girl,
Meme,
Young Adult,
retelling,
Rebecca,
Waiting on Wednesday,
HarlequinTeen,
Paige Harbison,
Daphne du Maurier,
2012 release,
Add a tag
Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by
Breaking the Spine to highlight upcoming releases we're anxiously awaiting!
January 31, 2012
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
WHY DID A SPOT OPEN UP AT MANDERLEY ACADEMY?
I hadn't wanted to go, but my parents were so excited…. So here I am, the new girl at Manderley, a true fish out of water. But mine's not the name on everyone's lips. Oh, no.
It's Becca Normandy they can't stop talking about. Perfect, beautiful Becca. She went missing at the end of last year, leaving a spot open at Manderley-the spot that I got. And everyone acts like it's my fault that infallible, beloved Becca is gone and has been replaced by not perfect, completely fallible, unknown Me.
Then, there's the name on my lips-Max Holloway. Becca's ex. The one boy I should avoid, but can't. Thing is, it seems like he wants me, too. But the memory of Becca is always between us. And as much I'm starting to like it at Manderley, I can't help but think she's out there, somewhere, wat
Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by
Breaking the Spine to highlight upcoming releases we're anxiously awaiting!
February 28, 2012
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Preorder: Amazon
|
Barnes & Noble
The day I turned 16, my boyfriend-to-be died. I brought him back to life. Then things got a little weird...
Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper-and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath.
Within days, she's shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath. Who seems to hate her guts.
Rath will be watching closely to be sure she completes her first assignment-reaping Rick, the boy who should have died. The boy she still wants to be with.
To make matters worse, students at the academy start turning up catatonic, and accusations fly-against Molly. The only way o
.jpeg?picon=3655)
| 
I was also one who didn't really enjoy the drama, tending to prefer more comedic stories but I sure found this book engaging. I also adored Mrs. Collins-great supporting character!
interesting and honest review, a. i have been meaning to read this one for awhile now. it does say something when you don't really like a book but can't put it down. i have a feeling that i am going to like this one. we should compare notes when i am finished reading it.
Really liked your review, and appreciated that you explained what you didn't like about the story. Interesting that even though you didn't really like it, you couldn't put it down. Sounds like the author must be very talented to pull that off! Hope your next read is awesome!
Thanks, Alexia! I'm reading an advanced copy of Ilsa J. Bick's The Sin-Eater's Confession--it's really really good.
She was my favorite too!
Yeah, I recognize why a lot of people like it. That's part of why my rating is so high despite my dislike. Same thing with Scarlet by Marissa Meyer--it's not for me but I still gave it 5 stars.