Cress (The Lunar Chronicles )

The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series!

In this third book in Marissa Meyer's bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she's just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she'd ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

REVIEW 

Cress is probably the character in the Lunar Chronicles I feel I can personally relate to the most. She truly is an endearing and sweet character. 

The adventures they take on in this third installment kept me at the edge of my seat, turning the pages faster than I thought possible.  My heart and hope dwindled time after time trying to figure out how such hopeless situations could find resolution.  I think I've fallen in love with this series.  They books are creative, the plots in them are well thought out, and the characters are witty and loveable outcasts. I've become addicted to reading about them. 5 stars!

Cloak of Echoes (A Netherwalker Short Story Book 2) by CK DAWN

Monsters haunt her dreams, but humans are her worst nightmare...

Just as Emma Kincaid came into some disturbing empathic powers, she lost her mother in a car crash. She is also pretty certain she's being followed, maybe even hunted. But, is it the shadowy creatures that haunt her nightmares or the mysterious guy, shrouded in darkness, who just enrolled at Jefferson High?

Cloak of Echoes is my favorite book by CK Dawn thus far. It was well written and I could easily relate to the characters.  I'm a stickler for first love so that had me hook, line, and sinker. I can't wait to read more from The Netherwalker Series.  It's an amazing addition to the YA Fantasy genre!

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The Scribbler Guardian: Arks of Octava by Lucian Bane

Jeremiah Poe isn’t just any character in the Realm of Fiction.; he is The Muse Rider, written with special powers. Able to tap into the minds of other Scribblers, Poe can change the outcome of people's lives on Octava. 

But when Poe learns that ancient codes are being broken in his realm and that his Scribbler may be in danger, he reverses the 8-fold way and goes to Earth to find him. 

But when he arrives, he's astonished to learn that his Scribbler knows nothing of his actual existence, or his entire fictional world, Octava. To further complicate his confoundment, he learns that his Scribbler is not a he, but a she. 

As they team up to find what's destroying their realms, Poe's powers on Earth grow stronger. But it's his growing feelings for his Scribbler that become the greatest threat of all. With his character being designed to never fall in love, he can't exist in either realm. And his Scribbler is forced to pen the impossible into his world.

Lucian Bane is a creative mastermind.  The Scribbler Guardian is one of the most unique stories I've ever read. It ensnared  my from the first page. Though the story began with a comical and intriguing atmosphere it unexpectedly morphed into one with a darker tone. I found myself fascinated to no end by the well developed and well written storyline.  The characters are on point and I actually found myself in reader's limbo at the end of the book. I rarely recommend books personally to my friends, but this easily falls into the "must-read" category.  I am very much looking forward to the second installment.  

5 Stars

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Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles 2)

Scarlet is filled with an endless array of heart pounding twists. Even the plot twists are plot twists!I love it!

Until the next book, I am officially blissed out. This series is going into my personal top ten favorites. The futuristic tones and the Lunar DNA sets a tone reminiscent of Star Wars. The changing of the character point of views is flawless. Actually, it's the first book I've read with multiple point of views that didn't trigger any ocd anxiety or direct my train of thought from the storyline.  The synopsis stating the book started with a different character and that  it would be multiple point of views was the cause of my hesitation to read it, but I devoured every word and I'm eager for more!

If you read Cinder and enjoyed it there's a great possibility you will love Scarlet just as much, if not more. It has both of them in it so either way it's a win. 

5 Stars 

Synergy by S. Reynolds

I had a few complications at the very beginning of the book. I have a hard time focusing if there is more than two character point if views. That's more of a personal issue than there actually being something wrong with the story. 

After the story started using mainly the primary protagonists of the story it was smooth sailing and a lot of fun to read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery surrounding Synergy's powers. I loved the struggles she faced along the way as the story unfolded. This part of the storyline and of her family's heritage is unique. That's a huge perk for me. It also has an "Originals" vibe to it, which is another perk. 

I'm typically bored with sex scenes anymore, but Reynolds captured the scenes perfectly and I felt just as much as the emotional aspects of a story when two protagonists have a swoon worthy chemistry.  The chemistry between Syn and Kenai made me down right giddy! I rarely find a couple I fall in love with these days so I'm over the moon to have read this book.

The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars is my issue with the beginning.  The multiple point of views toward the end were flawless. And the ending shined a light on several mysteries from those point of views. It's just that it made it hard for me to get into it. When I did find myself emersed in the story I loved it. 

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series!
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.
Marissa Meyer on Cinder, writing, and leading men
Which of your characters is most like you?
I wish I could say that I'm clever and mechanically-minded like Cinder, but no—I can't fix anything. I'm much more like Cress, who makes a brief cameo in Cinder and then takes a more starring role in the third book. She's a romantic and a daydreamer and maybe a little on the naïve side—things that could be said about me too—although she does find courage when it's needed most. I think we'd all like to believe we'd have that same inner strength if we ever needed it.
Where do you write?
I have a home office that I've decorated with vintage fairy tale treasures that I've collected (my favorite is a Cinderella cookie jar from the forties) and NaNoWriMo posters, but sometimes writing there starts to feel too much like work. On those days I'll write in bed or take my laptop out for coffee or lunch.
If you were stranded on a desert island, which character from Cinder would you want with you?
Cinder, definitely! She has an internet connection in her brain, complete with the ability to send and receive comms (which are similar to e-mails). We'd just have enough time to enjoy some fresh coconut before we were rescued.
The next book in the Lunar Chronicles is called Scarlet, and is about Little Red Riding Hood. What is appealing to you most about this character as you work on the book?
Scarlet is awesome—she's very independent, a bit temperamental, and has an outspokenness that tends to get her in trouble sometimes. She was raised by her grandmother, an ex-military pilot who now owns a small farm in southern France, who not only taught Scarlet how to fly a spaceship and shoot a gun, but also to have a healthy respect and appreciation for nature. I guess that's a lot of things that appeal to me about her, but she's been a really fun character to write! (The two leading men in Scarlet, Wolf and Captain Thorne, aren't half bad either.)

REVIEW 

I'm not a huge science fiction fan, in books anyway, which was enough to give me a pause and wonder of if I'd enjoy Cinder. I ended up reading it through in one sitting. The characters are well developed, the descriptions are on point, and the story line is pleasantly unique.  I love both Kai and Cinder in this story. The author did a wonderful job at creating an emotional atmosphere and putting a new spin on the beloved fairy tale. The secondary characters are well placed and and just alluring as the primary without creating a jumbled mess.  The main plot twist is pretty evident from the beginning, but the build up is nice. I am very much looking forward to reading the second installment in The Lunar Chronicles.
5 Stars!

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No Place Like Home (Tallenmere Series #4) -Stand Alone- by Mysti Parker

In Port Valor, it’s dangerous to be different. Especially for sixteen-year-old Mirabelle Hearton, whose psychic abilities could put her entire family in danger. To protect them, she left the city and her childhood sweetheart, Lysander Devlin, behind to live a life of servitude in Leogard’s Temple. Ten years later, someone discovered her mind-bending talents and forced her to send an innocent woman into exile.

As punishment for her crimes, she must return to Port Valor to seek out a dangerous mercenary called The Tyger. He's already threatened the lives of her family and is rumored to have killed countless others for the right price.

Mirabelle’s time is running out. She has two months to bring the Tyger to justice or succumb to an excruciating death from an irreversible curse. As frightening as her mission is, facing Lysander again may be the greatest challenge of her life.

Despite their difficult reunion, she and Lysander must band together to face an evil force that could sap the very souls from everyone they love. Mirabelle must also make a choice—catch The Tyger and redeem her sins, or give into feelings long buried and risk losing everything.

This book may be the fourth book in a series but it's a stand alone novel so it's not necessary to read the other books beforehand. However, as someone who has read the Tallenmere series, I'd recommend it to any adult fantasy lovers.

No Place Like Home is enticing.  It will excite you, speed up your heart rate, then rip it out and piece it back together. It's story line is unique and enthralling. For readers it's an adult romantic fantasy world that one can easily lose reality to, but for a critic it's pure seduction.

 Mysti Parker is extremely talented with her innate ability to imagine and create worlds relinquishing us readers of the continuous cliché titles that now clutter the Indie Author Realm. One of the most important appeals of a book for me personally is that is also well written. As a book blogger I've started refusing to read titles for this reason alone. When I come across a book that eludes to a 5 star rating early in the storyline and doesn't distract me with literary issues, as such is presented in this particular novel, I am over the moon. Writers like Parker are the reason I'm a book junkie.

Anyway, I literally fell in love with this novel from the first page. I wouldn't say the plot twists are enough to shock the senses, though I'm beyond picky about those, but they are pleasantly unpredictable and surprising.

The male protagonist is a swoon worthy, tortured soul who has endured repeatedly having his heart mutilated. The female protagonist happens to be one of the people to do the mutilating. Her reasons, however, are honorable. But her choices to protect those she loves causes her endless misery and her life is used as a bargaining chip to so-called noble characters with nightmarish intentions.

If you love fantasy, adventure, mythical beings, and a complicated love story this should be your next read.

This book is deserving of every single 5 star rating it receives. I really hope there will be more books in the Tallenmere series.

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