Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Blog Tour: You are the Everything by Karen Rivers

Title: You Are the Everything
Author: Karen Rivers
Genre: Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
Pages: 272 (Hardcover)
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Publication date: October 30th, 2018

Synopsis from You Are the Everything's Goodreads page

Can you want something—or someone—so badly that it changes your destiny?
Elyse Schmidt never would have thought so, until it happened to her. When Elyse and her not-so-secret crush, Josh Harris, are the sole survivors of a plane crash, tragedy binds them together. It’s as if their love story is meant to be. Everything is perfect, as perfect as it can be when you’ve literally fallen out of the sky and landed hard on the side of a mountain—until suddenly it isn’t.

When the pieces of Elyse’s life stop fitting together, what’s left?

You Are the Everything is a story about the fates we yearn for, the fates we choose, and the fates that are chosen for us.
THOUGHTS

I received a free copy from Thomas Allen & Son in exchange for an honest review - thank you!

Going into this book, I was prepared for a super cute, super sweet love story, mingled with a fair amount of sadness, and I got exactly what I was expecting!
This book is about two teenagers, who are the (un)fortunate survivors of a plane crash where everyone else they are with are killed. It is about suffering, survival, pain, and most importantly, love.
This book had a good amount of super cute elements, which I was very much a fan of. I loved how much Elyse is crushing on Josh (it brought back a lot of memories from when I was in high school and felt that way about someone) and I really loved how much she loved him.
I also really enjoyed how the author was able to continually remind the reader that these two, who did survive, are struggling with it. It's not easy to survive such a traumatic experience, and it for sure is not easy to survive an experience with one other person when everyone else doesn't. I liked how the author had these two struggle with survivor's guilt, how she had them struggling with their own and each other's injuries, and how she had them trying to figure out their lives not only as teenagers, but also as people who had been through something so difficult that it changed every single thing about them as individuals, and as a team.
And the ending. OH MY GOSH the ending. No spoilers, but all I can say is that I DID NOT EXPECT THAT ENDING.
Overall - ★★★☆☆.5

About the author:
Karen Rivers' books have been nominated for a wide range of literacy awards and have been published in multiple languages. When she's not writing, reading, or visiting schools, she can usually be found hiking in the forest that flourishes behind her tiny old house in Victoria, British Columbia,, where she lives with her two kids, two dogs, and two birds. Find her online at karenrivers.com and on Twitter: @karenrivers and Goodreads

Q&A with Karen Rivers!
  1. What is your favourite place to write?
I have four place in my house where I technically write: In bed, at my desk, at the dining room table, and on the couch. But most of my "writing" takes place when I walk in the woods behind my house. That's where my ideas are untangled and smooth out and become fully formed. The rest is just typing.
  1. How many books do you read in a year?
Between 100 and 150. More in the summer (in vacation) and in the winter (cozy, in front of the fire!) I read every day. Best part of the day!
  1. What do you hope readers will take away from You are the Everything?
I hope they know that love is always the point, in whatever form: friends, family, romantic partners. Love is the reason. <3

TOUR-WIDE GIVEAWAY
The winner will receive 1 copy of You Are the Everything (Hardcover) by Karen Rivers.
Giveaway details:
  • Canada Only (full rules found in the T&C on Rafflecopter)
  • Giveaway ends on Wednesday, November 28th @ 11:59 pm EST
  • Winner will be drawn randomly through Rafflecopter, contacted via email and will have 48 hours to claim their prize

Get your copy today!


Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Review: Vengeful (Villains #2) by V. E. Schwab

Image result for vengefulTitle: Vengeful (Villains #2)
Author: V.E. Schwab
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 480 (Hardcover)
Publisher: Tor
Publication date: September 25th, 2018

Synopsis from Vengeful's Goodreads page

Eli Ever and Victor Vale were only medical students when their mutual discovery that near-death experiences can, under the right conditions, manifest extraordinary abilities.

They were best friends, and rivals, and then enemies. They were dead, then alive, and then---Eli killed Victor, once and for all.

Or so he thought---but Sydney Clarke felt otherwise, and used her own superpower to tip the scales. Now, a trio hides in the shadows, while another takes advantages of post-death life to take over the city of Merit.

If there can be life after death—will there be calm after vengeance, or will chaos rule?


THOUGHTS

 Victoria Schwab has always been, and always will be, one of my all time favourite authors. That has unquestionably been cemented with this book.
I really enjoyed every single thing about this book, which isn't something I say often.
Her characters, new and old, are absolutely perfect. I loved being able to see the growth from her older characters, and being able to have new characters come in and still be able to grow as heroes and villains in such a fast-paced book.
I loved how evil her characters have become - in the first book we see two university students that unquestionably have evil in them, but they still have some good at heart. I loved seeing how them, and other characters, grew into more evil, more dark characters, and that made them feel even more real (even though, well, they're evil).
I also loved how this story jumped between time periods. I normally hate it when a novel does that, but honestly there is not other way that this could have worked as well as it did had that not been a part of the story. I loved being able to see so much more about these characters through looking at their backstories, and that allowed me to see them as more real (well, as real as people with ExtraOrdinary abilities can be).
I also loved the feeling of this story. It was so dark and twisted, and it was the perfect read for this time of the year. I loved the spookiness of it and the darkness that was hidden around every corner.
Another thing that V.E. Schwab does so well is pull you into a story. You can pick up one of her huge books and start reading it, and the next thing you know you've devoured the whole book and still want more (I know I BEGGED for a second book but I need a third one NOW).
Her books are so amazing, from her characters, to her settings, plot, and just everything in between. Even the words she chooses, and the way she writes, and just the feeling you get while you read her books, is absolutely amazing. Please read anything and everything by her that you can get your hands on.
Overall - ★ 
Find my review of Vicious (Villains #1) here!

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Review: Vicious (Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab


Image result for vicious book
Title: Vicious (Villains #1)
Author: V.E. Schwab
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 368 (Hardcover)
Publisher: Tor
Publication date: September 24th, 2013

Synopsis from Vicious' Goodreads page

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. 

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?



Image result for vicious book
THOUGHTS

This book is one of my all time favourite books. Ever. I thought that the first time I read this book four years ago, and I still feel that it will be one of the best books I will ever read in my life.
The entire book is so well done, there is not one single thing that I would change if I had the opportunity.
Firstly, the characters. Victor Vale is so dark, evil, and malicious, but not in an evil way - if that makes sense. He doesn't want to kill people for no reason, but the viciousness (see what I did there?) does come out when they hurt him.
Victor is the type of person that when his roommate comes up with a theoretical idea that if they kill themselves in specific ways and then save themselves, they will get powers, and become ExtraOrdinary, he does it, no questions asked. He is not afraid of death, if he can get what he wants. He is so malicious and evil, but he doesn't see himself that way, and that's the thing that I love most about him. He does evil things, but he does them for the right reasons. He gets out of jail and wants to kill his old roommate - but it's not only because he has a vendetta against him - it's because that roommate is killing people and Victor knows he needs to stop that.
The other characters in this book are also so amazing, so creepy and strange, that it's impossible to not love them. They are all messed up, they all have something wrong with them, and they have all been through such horrible, awful things, that the people they've become seem reasonable when faced with their pasts. They are all amazing, and I love every single one of them.
The setting as well is perfect. There is not a lot of descriptions of places, because there are really only a few main places that this book takes place in, but they are all perfect for what is happening during that chapter, that they are all perfect.
The entire plot itself is also absolutely amazing. Everything about it is dark and vicious, and it all runs together so seamlessly. I usually am not one to like it when a book jumps back and forth between a few times, but this book could not work without it. The way this book jumps the way it does is absolutely perfect, because you find out something about the character in the present, and then we get to see the backstory and see why they are the way they are, and what made them that way.
I have nothing but praise for this book, and V.E. Schwab is honestly one of my heroes because of how much I love this book and how perfect every single thing in this book is.
Overall - ★ (the easiest 5 stars I have ever given)