To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Publication Date: March 6th, 2018

Pages: 384

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

What books are you looking forward to this week?

Eighteen Anticipated Books of 2018

          

1. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

2. The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

3. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

          

4. Pacifica by Kristen Simmons

5. Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

6. The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton

          

7. These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch

8. Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

9. Rage by Cora Carmack

          

10. The Defiant by Lesley Livingston

11. Furyborn by Claire Legrand

12. Beneath the Haunting Sea by Joanna Ruth Meyer

          

13. Dark of the West by Joanna Hathaway

14. The Unbinding of Mary Reade by Miriam McNamara

15. Whisper of the Tide by Sarah Tolcser

          

16. The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

17. The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell

18. Daughters of the Storm by Kim Wilkins

These are just a few of the books that I am looking forward to this year! There are so many more that sound absolutely amazing. At the moment, I especially can't wait for Whisper of the Tide to come out! I loved Song of the Current!

What books are you most excited for in 2018? Are any of them listed here?

Waiting on Wednesday // The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

Untitled Trilogy #1

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: February 6th, 2018

Pages: 464

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Summary (from Goodreads):

When her seventeenth summer solstice arrives, Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron.

Growing up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her for such a life. While some are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she belatedly chose to study knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true—the solstice does not go according to plan and she is left without a patron.

Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, and with no other choices, she accepts. But there is much more to his story, and Brienna soon discovers that he has sought her out for his own vengeful gain. For there is a dangerous plot being planned to overthrow the king of Maevana—the archrival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved—some closer to Brienna than she realizes.

With war brewing between the two lands, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. The ultimate decision Brienna must determine is: Who will be that queen?

What books are you looking forward to this week?

Biggest Disappointments of 2017

As much as we wish that we could love every book we pick up, that isn't always the case. I definitely read some books in 2017 that just weren't for me. But this is a post for books that REALLY let me down.

I was super excited for the books on this list. They sounded amazing. They have beautiful covers. But they were just raging disappointments for me.

1. The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

This book sounded dark and creepy and generally fantastic. But I didn't really love the characters and the book as a whole was mostly unmemorable for me.

2. An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

I think that this book would have been so amazing if there had been explanations or explorations of

----->A N Y T H I N G<-----

in it. Anything at all. I had like 9,000 questions when I finished this book.

3. The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle

I requested this one because it was NA and I wanted some smut in my life. There was a lot of sex.

...

...

...

But it was all off the page.

4. Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

How beautiful is this purple cover? Why couldn't I love the insides as much as the outside?

I felt like a lot of the action in this book that would have been interesting to read about happened off the page.

5. Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

Now for the book that disappointed me the most last year...

Why, Wintersong? You were so promising. 

I absolutely hated Liesel. I hated the romance. I hated the way sex was used in this book as a way to make the protagonist feel like she has worth.

Why did I request Shadowsong? And why did they approve me?

I'm probably going to end up hate reading it, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Did you have any major disappointments last year? Did you dislike any of the same books as me?

Waiting on Wednesday // The Defiant by Lesley Livingston

The Defiant by Lesley Livingston

The Valiant #2

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: January 23rd, 2018

Pages: 336

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Summary (from Goodreads):

The darling of the Roman Empire is in for the fight of her life.

Be brave, gladiatrix… And be wary. Once you win Caesar’s love, you’ll earn his enemies’ hate.

Fallon was warned.

Now she is about to pay the price for winning the love of the Roman people as Caesar’s victorious gladiatrix.

In this highly anticipated sequel to THE VALIANT, Fallon and her warrior sisters find themselves thrust into a vicious conflict with a rival gladiator academy, one that will threaten not only Fallon’s heart – and her love for Roman soldier Cai – but the very heart of the ancient Roman Empire.

When dark treachery and vicious power struggles threaten her hard-won freedom, the only thing that might help the girl known as Victrix save herself and her sisters is a tribe of long-forgotten mythic Amazon warriors.

The only trouble is, they might just kill her themselves first.

What books are you looking forward to this week?

Review // Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

DC Icons #1

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Publication Date: August 28th, 2017

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Purchase

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 376

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Daughter of immortals.

Princess Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law—risking exile—to save a mortal. Diana will soon learn that she has rescued no ordinary girl, and that with this single brave act, she may have doomed the world.

Daughter of death.

Alia Keralis just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted by people who think her very existence could spark a world war. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer—a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery.

Together.

Two girls will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. Tested beyond the bounds of their abilities, Diana and Alia must find a way to unleash hidden strengths and forge an unlikely alliance. Because if they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.

So Wonder Woman: Warbringer was a book that I only bought because:

1. I like the author and I want all of her books.
2. I went to a tour stop and wanted to bring all the books.

Like, since I bought it, I figured I would read it eventually. But I have never been super into DC or Marvel or superheroes in general so it definitely wasn't a priority. But I needed a book for the superhero prompt for #ReadersCrossing and I bumped it way to the top of my TBR.

And I am actually glad that I did. I quite liked this book.

Also, I just recently bought and watched the movie Wonder Woman and I was pretty impressed with it. I figured I would be because Wonder WOMAN, but like I said, never been a fan of superheroes.

Wonder Woman: Warbringer starts off on the island of Themyscira with Diana saving a mortal from the World of Man and bringing her to safety. It is against the rules and there are fairly prompt consequences. It turns out that the girl that Diana saved is a Warbringer, if she is allowed to live past seventeen, war will surely come. The oracle's suggestion is to let her die, but Diana can't do it, so she sets off on a journey to cleanse her of this curse.

So, this is one of those books that takes place partially in a fantasy-esque setting and partially in a modern day setting. I don't generally like things like that. Fantasy settings are infinitely more interesting to me than anything modern day. This was no exception. I really liked the parts on Themyscira or in Greece (not that Greece is a fantasy location) better than in NYC.

I love love love Diana. She was brought up on an island full of immortal women, only reading about modern day things and people. I loved when Diana interacted with literally anyone outside of Themyscira. She is so bold and sassy and hilarious.

I don't know exactly how I felt about Alia. I didn't dislike her, but I didn't like.. love her. I don't know, maybe it was just because I liked Diana so much and no one in this book was as cool as her. I was totally rooting for Alia and was invested in her journey and all that, but I don't know, I didn't actively like her that much.

I feel like none of the characters are super duper memorable when compared to Diana. I don't know, I just really really loved Diana. I thought Jason was mostly boring. I liked Theo. And if I was going to pick a next favorite character, it would definitely be Nim.

I think all of the mortal characters were just so meh for me because the fantastical elements of this book were so much more interesting and the immortal women were so much more interesting and memorable to me and I feel like I wanted more of that. But I definitely gravitate more towards fantasy elements than real life ones.

This book isn't heavily focused on romance. The main focus of this story is ridding the world of the Warbringer curse, but there is a little bit of romance here and there. I liked Alia's romance a lot more so than Diana's.

The plot twist at the end where you find out who the villain actually is really surprised me. I wasn't expecting that to come about and I really thought someone else was going to be the shady one.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. If you are a fan of DC, Wonder Woman, or super heroes in general, you may enjoy this book as well. If you're looking for a book low on romance and high on action, you should read this one.

Have you read this book yet? What are your thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments!

Seventeen 2017 Releases That I Haven't Gotten to Read Yet

We, as bookworms, know that there simply aren't enough hours in the day to get around to reading all of the amazing sounding books that come out every year. I'm pretty sure with my massive reading slump in 2017, I didn't even make a dent in my 2017 TBR. It's a shame because so many wonderful sounding books came out last year!

Here are a few of the books that I still need to get around to reading!

          

1. This Darkness Mine by Mindy McGinnis

2. All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

3. Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi

          

4. Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

5. The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke

6. Blacksouls by Nicole Castroman

          

7. Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

8. After the Fall by Kate Hart

9. Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis

          

10. The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

11. The Rattled Bones by S.M. Parker

12. The Hollow Girl by Hillary Monahan

          

13. The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

14. Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody

15. The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein

     

16. The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

17. Remember Me Always by Renee Collins

What are some 2017 releases that you meant to get to, but just couldn't? Did we miss any of the same books?

Waiting on Wednesday // Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra

Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra

Asiana #1

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Publication Date: January 23rd, 2018

Pages: 384

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Kyra is the youngest Markswoman in the Order of Kali, a highly trained sisterhood of elite warriors armed with telepathic blades. Guided by a strict code of conduct, Kyra and the other Orders are sworn to protect the people of Asiana. But to be a Markswoman, an acolyte must repudiate her former life completely. Kyra has pledged to do so, yet she secretly harbors a fierce desire to avenge her dead family.

When Kyra’s beloved mentor dies in mysterious circumstances, and Tamsyn, the powerful, dangerous Mistress of Mental Arts, assumes control of the Order, Kyra is forced on the run. Using one of the strange Transport Hubs that are remnants of Asiana’s long-lost past, she finds herself in the unforgiving wilderness of desert that is home to the Order of Khur, the only Order composed of men. Among them is Rustan, a young, disillusioned Marksman whom she soon befriends.

Kyra is certain that Tamsyn committed murder in a twisted bid for power, but she has no proof. And if she fails to find it, fails in her quest to keep her beloved Order from following Tamsyn down a dark path, it could spell the beginning of the end for Kyra--and for Asiana.

But what she doesn’t realize is that the line between justice and vengeance is razor thin . . . thin as the blade of a knife.

What book are you looking forward to this week?

Seventeen Favorite Books of 2017

2017 really wasn't the best reading year for me. I feel like I was in a reading slump for a LOT of the year. A good chunk of that was probably thanks to Breath of the Wild coming out, but also I just couldn't bring myself to want to read a lot of the time.

But I guess what I did read must have been fairly good because I was able to come up with seventeen books that I liked enough to include in this list! I really didn't think that I was going to be able to do it so I'm kind of proud of myself, not gonna lie.

Without further ado, here are seventeen books that I read and really enjoyed in 2017.

1. Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser

2. Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

3. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

4. When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

5. Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller

6. The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

7. Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

8. Geekerella by Ashley Poston

9. FrostBlood by Elly Blake

10. Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham

11. Among the Red Stars by Gwen C. Katz

11. Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

12. The Valiant by Lesley Livingston

13. The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

14. Wait For Me by Caroline Leech

15. The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis

16. Dear Martin by Nic Stone

17. Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

What are some of the best books you read in 2017? Did you read and love any of the same ones as me?