A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz

                     Arc provided by Chronicle Books through Netgalley

                                  Release Date: August 18 th

Trigger Warnings

Two very strange, painful and boring stars, because despite my wish to dnf this e-galley at the very beginning, there was just something about this story, something strangely compelling that kept me from doing it!

Turns out it was not that much to begin with, :/ because this ended up being a new adult story with lots of feelings and people sleeping around with each other.
In a supposed fantasy setting.

A very drab _ where is my world-building? _ fantasy setting, with no rules and explanations for anything.
Things are the way they are, and that's the end of it:
 
A cannibalistic race? Who cares?

People being sexually assaulted because they're prostitutes? Normal.

A race _represented by four people _ prostituting themselves...because who cares about alternatives?
Normal.

Another race that spills ropes out of their mouths and who live up in the air... and I don't know why, apparently come to the fairies help?! wth...

Soap opera for teens (old ones because of all the sex work talks), with some gorgeous prose thrown around once in awhile to grab idiots such as myself.

There's this big mystery around the narrator which was actually well done... some sort of journal inside a story, and I am going to leave it as it is, so I don't spoil anything...

Positives: the occasional beautiful phrasing and the whole "bang" surrounding the narrator's identity.
Look, maybe some people will read this book and will appreciate it as the work of a genius: It definitely has some twisted qualities to it.
As for me, I like my stories with a little more of mental health...*cough*... in them.

Myself after reading the whole thing:
That was it? o_O
Can someone please give me back the hours I wasted with this?
Because I am not getting younger :/

                                
 Author's Official Site

Bookdepository.com

A Rogue by Any Other Name (The Rules of Scoundrels #1) by Sarah MacLean

The summary for this book is so exciting! 

A rake trying to protect his virtuous wife from his life of sin!

Too bad that, though that is in the story, how we get there and how it's handled leaves quite a bit to be desired...

Michael, the marquess of Bourne, lost his entire fortune and properties on the gambling table to his late father's best friend.

Feeling betrayed, he swears vengeance and lives his life completely obsessed with gaining back his lands and destroying his enemy.

Cue Penelope, his childhood best friend. Once they were inseparable but, when Michael lost everything, he left society and Penelope behind. 

Nothing would make him go back... that is, until Penelope's father, now in possession of Michael's lands which he won from Michael's enemy, attaches said lands to Penelope's dowry.

I must say I absolutely LOVED Penelope. 

She was so sensible, so practical. All her actions and thoughts made sense, everything she did felt real. 

Which makes everything all the more jarring when Michael turns out to be totally crazy.

This dude was 21 when he gambled all his possessions and lost. 

What does he do? Admit the error of his ways, realise this was his fault?

No!

He keeps on believing that he was an innocent ~child~ when this happened.

In what world is a 21 year old man a child?

I wouldn't have gambled my entire worldly possessions at 12, let alone at 21!

How irredeemably stupid do you have to be not only to do that but to go on believing it wasn't your fault.

It could be rightfully argued that a gambling addiction excuses his bet.

But it certainly doesn't excuse his dogged belief that the fault lies in the man who won the bet and not in himself.

Not only that but he acted like a creep. 

I thought he'd approach Penelope and, building on the friendship they had, try to court her.

Nope! 

He kidnaps her and compromises her. Manipulates her by threatening her sisters.

WTF?!

Then, when they could have moved on and been happily married he was all, "Woe is me!" and "I'm not fit to love her!", and "I must send her away!"

This dude acted like losing his stuff and becoming a self made man was the equivalent of sucking dick for coke, in terms of shame.

This turned what could have been a satisfactory, if problematic, book of about 200 pages into a boring drama of about 400 pages.

Still, I am curious and will probably read the second book with Pippa and Cross. 

The author does know how to write, even if her male protagonist was a complete waste.

Sarah MacLean's official site

Buy A Rogue by Any Other Name

@ The Book Depository (with free worldwide delivery!)

In the Arms of the Heiress ( Ladies Unlaced #1) by Maggie Robinson

You know those books that you start to read and you love the beginning so much that you think you are going to devour them in no time at all...but then you get "hit" by a crazy amount of silliness and you just feel like crying, because you spent your money on that??
Yup, this one was one of those.
Lucky me. -_-

Once upon a time _ more like in the beginning of the twentieth century _ there was an heiress _ well, I guess there were lots of them, but... you know what I mean _ called Louisa Stratton who was in desperate need of a husband.
A fake husband, after all she is rich, why would she need a husband after all?
So... why the need for a fake husband?

Well, poor Louisa has a family from Hell.

Her parents drowned when she was a small child, leaving her at the "care" of an aunt who basically kept her imprisoned until the girl came into the possession of her inheritance, at the age of twenty five years old.
Besides the aunt, there's a cousin _ The evil aunt's son! _who apparently spent a lot of his time trying to compromise or even rape the girl!
For crying out loud.

Now a year later, and having tasted freedom for the first time, she finds herself being summoned home, because she may (yes, she did that) have written that she had married a handsome devil _ aren't they all? _ rich _obviously _ and intelligent guy.
When your family already thinks that you aren't the smartest person in the world, telling them that you married an idiot, wouldn't probably be wise...

Now the family wants to meet such paragon, which leaves Louisa in a bit of a situation.

Luckily for Louisa, Mary Eversong the proprietor of the Evensong agency has just the right candidate for the job...

Enter's War hero Charles Cooper...

Okay, I am going to stop right now with the book description.

This story had everything to work, but unfortunately around chapter twelve/ thirteen things started to fall apart.

The whole romance or attraction ends up being developed full speed ahead which was really disconcerting considering that it involved two individuals that were in the presence of one another for about a day. Two days maximum.

Also, apparently suffering a head trauma may be considered as a prelude for having sex, which was also -_- weird to read...

And after that, it just went downhill with all the soap opera silly moments that ends up taking place.

It goes from, "oh, after this night of debauchery that we had, we'll keep our hands to one another"...five minutes later they're in bed.

Every single day the guy is the target of some sort of attack: with all the hits to his head, I'm surprised he didn't go into a coma -_-

Then there's the "marry me" _ says he, two days after they've met _ that will be followed by "no, I am not good enough for you...
Make up your mind and stick to it, for crying out loud!

They're a boring lot of characters. All of them.

Louisa as the main character is one of the most boring heroines I've ever read about.

She's supposed to be wild and reckless with her shocking modern way of thinking, but I never "bought it". I wanted to see some character development because the girl starts with no backbone whatsoever... unfortunately she ends up in the same way she started as.

As for Charles, he has a sort of wtf back-story that was supposed to make us see him as a hero, but which was in truth appalling to read about. He was a capt in the Boer war, and during a time responsible for a women's concentration camp.

SPOILER:
And we are told that there was this girl who didn't want to die as a virgin, so Charles _heroic and noble Charles _ went through the trouble of depriving her of such condition....*deep breath*, but since the girl was in such an unhealthy state _ I just can't _ she dies immediately after of a heart attack....of course being a gentleman he blames himself for having killed her... with his dick..


Why am I not giving one star to this? o_O

Bottom line: this story has one of the weirdest combination of themes.

Yes, through most of it it manages to be idiotic as hell (with all the failed attempts to Charles' life), but then the author manages to show us what it was like to live in such a time especially for a woman that didn't want to comply with her family wishes. The fear of psychiatric internment was still very much alive back then.

For me the story's setting was better developed than the actual story, or even its characters.

Author's Official site

Buy it:
Bookdepository.com

Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell

E-galley Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company through Edelweiss

Release Date: August 4 th

First of all, let me start by reiterating something that all the other reviewers have been saying ad infinitum...

This has nothing to do with Cinder, people!
More than a mechanic, Nicolette is actually an inventor.
Also, she has all her limbs...

Yes, in this story our main character lives a very Cinderella type of life... as usual in all the Cinderella fairy tales or retellings tropes.
She lives in her family home, being exploited by her evil and puritan stepmother and stepsisters.
But besides that, she doesn't possess any of the... let's say "normal traits" associated with the character. And that is great!
Unfortunately almost all of the other aspects aren't all that great... to say the least.

The stepmother and stepsisters are the usual clichés with cardboard personalities;
The story's pace is painfully slow and boring;
Although the author tried to establish a solid world building with connections to the Fey _ "mythology"  _ I could never grasp how magic would work in Nicollette's world.
Also, I kind of missed her thinking process while creating new things: It seemed that all she needed in order to create something was to put her goggles on and voilá, one steampunk object coming right up.

To "compensate" that, there's a lot  a lot I tell you of inner monologues.
_ Also there is a character to which Nicollete will grow very attached to, and I honestly couldn't feel it.

The positives
The worst thing about me giving this tale only two and a half stars, is that this story actually has a great message!
In fact it has pretty much almost everything I would want _ okay, it has the fundamental: the skeleton _ in any type of story.

It has a strong leading character, who is fiercely motivated in following her goals.
Nick is determined in not letting anything not even some boy she may fancy get in the way of her dreams.
More than anything in the world, Nick wants her freedom.
She wants to work in what makes her happy and she wants her independence.

The strongest relationship in this book is one of friendship, and I loved the girls interaction. I loved that their friendship took precedence over the supposed romance.

Despite all of this, strangely, I loved the last part of the story. -_-

We got to see the characters being faithful to whom they were and I loved that.
Also, there were some pretty beautiful prose going around in that last part that I would love to quote here... but can't. :/

Too bad that the beginning and the middle of the story ended up being quite dull.
Truth is, I couldn't' care less about the sewing machines  that Nick ends up creating _ amongst many other things _and all the mechanical "animals" that would end up helping her.
Thing is, I wanted adventure!

As such recommended with caution to jaded bookworms.

Author's Official Site

Buy " Mechanica"
@bookdepository.com

Essence by Lisa Ann O'Kane

arc provided by Strange Chemistry through Netgalley

I... don't even know what to write about this book.

This is really weird, because I tend to love Strange Chemistry's books, I don't understand how they decided to publish this... but other people seem to have liked it, so...

This book has one of the most annoying and tstl heroines I've come across recently. Honestly, I spent my time going, "Girl, don't do it! Oh my God."

Add to that a nonsensical plot, no character development, no worldbuilding, AND A LOVE TRIANGLE that felt so forced I was just frowning at the screen the whole time, and I was just done with this. 

I was drawn to this book because Autumn escapes a cult. As it turns out she escapes from one cult to another.

The insta-love was dreadful, the way she used Javi to make Ryder jealous was despicable...

And Ryder, the ~hot love interest~, is so disgusting! Drugging her, showing off his bits in what amounted to real live unwanted (as if they're ever wanted...) dick pics, lying to her, being a horrible influence urging her to risk her life for the thrill of it... Pushing her to sex, alcohol and drugs for the adrenaline, instead of treating these things in a responsible way...

How was this even published to a young adult audience?!

Frog and Toad Are Friends (Frog and Toad #1) by Arnold Lobel

Such a pity I didn't get to read this book as a child.

Every time Toad would speak I'd just go, "I feel you" and "This dude really gets me".

Buy Frog and Toad Are Friends
@ The Book Depository (paperback for only €3,86/$4.19!!!)

The Betrayal of Renegade X (Renegade X #3) by Chelsea M. Campbell

YASSSSSS ANOTHER RENEGADE X BOOK!!!

This is seriously one of my absolutely favourite series, so this review will feature a lot of fangirling!

In the last book we see Damien finally make a choice regarding his future. Now we see him trying to see that choice through. 

I honestly loved seeing him fight the establishment, loudly disagreeing with the misinformation and propaganda taught in school. Being vocal about the dehumanization of the "enemy" they are being fed.

Of course that doesn't turn out well for him, academically speaking. 

One thing I find very realistic in this series is how his father says he'll try to do better and accept Damien as he is, but then he'll get disappointed about it and try to change him. He's always like, "Son, just watch, I will show you how proud I am of you for being true to yourself!" And then we're like, "Okay, let's see this." BUT it always ends up like:

Damien struggles with the need to be accepted while constantly suffering micro-aggressions for being who he is. When he gets the courage to do it, he points it out and the people surrounding him promise they'll do better... then a few pages later they're back to the usual crap.

It's disheartening, and painfully familiar to me. I can empathise with how tired, frustrated, and depressed Damien gets in the middle of all this.

This aimlessness strikes him hard. He doesn't feel accepted anywhere. 

So when his villain grandfather offers him the chance to make a difference in the world by being the voice for villain's whose human rights are openly broken, Damien feels as if he finally has a purpose, a future, just the way he is. 

The best part about this book is how Damien starts to accept that he is who he is, regardless of what other people expect of him, regardless of what other people project his personality to be. 

Sadly he still fights for approval, but let's be real, that's what all of us do. Still it's a really powerful message.

So, let me summarise my thoughts on this book: 

• Great plot
• Great character development
• Believable family struggles
• Quest for self discovery
• Social issues properly addressed
• HILARIOUS

One thing I love in this series, and that's been slow building, is Damien's relationship with his sister Amelia. They outwardly hate each other, but when the going gets tough they're there for each other. That's so beautiful! I hope we'll see more of it in future books!

There is one thing I must be very critical about: this series deals with many social issues pertaining to minorities - violations of human rights, "fantastical racism", micro-aggressions, etcetera. 

But where are the actual minorities?!

Granted, not every character is extensively described, but is there anyone who is not white? 

This lack of diversity saddens me, it seems appropriative to address these issues with such a white cast of characters.

I hope I'm wrong and that I missed a few POC in the books, but even so I'm pretty sure none of them are main characters...

Still, as I said, this is one of my favourite series, and whenever I'm down I'll just read it and it cheers me up! So I highly recommend it!

Oh, and when will the hardback be available at the Book Depository? :(

Chelsea M. Campbell's official site

Buy The Betrayal of Renegade X

- amazon

- barnes and noble

- kobo

- itunes

Dark Skye (Immortals After Dark #14) by Kresley Cole

      

This is a difficult book to rate.

On the one hand I really loved the plot! I loved the characters! I loved the world building! I loved how feminist it was! I even, dare I say it, loved the angst.

But that dialogue? Wtf.

It was the most absurd, unbelievable dialogue I've read recently.

No one talks like that, no one. And I don't mean how old-timey it was, that's completely expected considering the characters' ages.

I mean how robotic everyone sounded. How much exposition there was every time someone opened their mouth. How everything was explained to the reader, as if we can't discern the plot for ourselves.

How no one would shut up, even while having sex! Really, they'd be hard at it and a constant stream of dialogue would accompany it...

So... I don't even know. Everything else is worth at least 4.5 stars... but it's all disconcertingly bogged down with that... thing that passed for dialogue.

Anyway, I still recommend it. It was a fun read, and I really felt for the characters and their story, they had depth, they were believable, and what's most important, I liked them. 

Kresley Cole's official site

Buy Dark Skye
@ The Book Depository (with free worldwide delivery!)

The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell

4.5 stars... that will turn into a five star rating, once I have the sequel in my hands...

That is not to say that this ends with a cliffhanger. No, the story in this book is mostly properly resolved, especially the part about "The twelve dancing Princesses" retelling.
As for "Beauty and the Beast"?
We only get about two thirds of it, and having loved this story _ and its characters _ of course I want something more.

There's not much I can say without spoiling the story, so I'll just say this:
I loved the fact that the setting in which the plot takes place feels real. Very middle age, and as such the reality isn't sugared. This was a time of wars and famine.

The fact that Reveka_ despite being thirteen years old _ acts as someone much more mature than someone in our time would, because times were different. She goes about her chores without complaints or woes.

I loved the characters characterization: From Reveka, to her father _ not forgetting Dragos of which I want to know so much more _ it all felt realistic enough.

And last, I loved the writing!
Maybe because even though this tries to be middle grade it has an undeniable darker tone, that wouldn't be misplaced in an adult story.

For me the only thing that needs improving is the cover, which for me is just too juvenile. 

 

Author's Official Site 

 

Buy "The Princess Curse"

@Bookdepository.com 

The Deep End of The Sea by Heather Lyons

TW. Rape, Attempted Rape...

There are stories that you know hope you are going to love: this was one of them.
From the synopsis to the first pages of this book, I knew I was going to devour this!

"It’s a beautiful sight, which only saddens me, because all of that talk about death and beauty being intertwined is one of the biggest loads of crap I’ve ever heard. Death isn’t beautiful. Too often than not, it’s messy and brutal; even when done in sleep, there’s still that theft of breath, that failure of a heart. Death is an act of violence.
I should know. I am one of the most prolific murderers in history. And I think about death constantly."

And I definitely would have loved this, if all of a sudden the story hadn't changed to a YA/ new adult (with traces of cheesy) romance.

"All I can think is, stars above, I am so incredibly blessed to have this man in my life."

Don't get me wrong. I like to read romance just like everyone else, but when a story is supposed to be about a character's growth, a character who has been raped and mistreated by almost every one else who has come into contact with her, you bet I am going to get angry if I only get people telling that girl (I don't care about the two thousand years old she has in her, she reads as a sixteen year old)what to do!
And that is what happens in this story: Not for once do I see Medusa acting like an assertive woman.
Not for once does she feel grow-up to me. Something that ends up being even more problematic when she starts being sexual active with... you know who.

For me this book suffers from something I like to call "multiple personality book disorder" (I really should create a shelf for these books).
This is supposed to be a mythology retelling. Instead all I got from it was a teen soap opera. When you have Gods and Goddesses behaving as fluffy kittens out of some Regency novel, things are bound to get strange.
And boring...

Zeus in flip flops and shorts?
Aphrodite acting like some sort of romantic saint?
Hades consulting his Ipad while throwing amused glances to his wife, the lovely Persephone?
Athena acting like someone who needs a straitjacket?
Poseidon, the crazy obsessed rapist?
Could all of these characters be more one dimensional?
I don't think so.

I swear that I never thought I would encounter such an amount of giggling, eye rolling, blushing and snorting amongst these Greek divinities.
It got embarrassing to read... and boring :/
So, for the mythology part? This gets a zero.

This story was supposed to be about Medusa, and it was, up until the moment the curse is removed.
Way to soon in my opinion. When she loses her "monster body" and "her girls"( the snakes) she also loses her identity. From that moment on, until the very last page, we get treated to how sweet and kind Medusa (Dusa) flourishes among her friends' care.
Everyone decides every single thing for her! From what she should do to what she should wear. o_O
I just wanted to scream at the girl: Get a Backbone!

Much has been talked about the romance, and I agree, Hermes is a great guy( he would have been greater, if he had kept himself ensconced in the story's background).
And we get treated to that... a lot. I lost count to the amount of times Medusa tells us about his current eye colour: more green... more blue... more green again...
Like I said, her mental processes read as those of a young teen falling in love for the first time.
Which she does.
I guess this being a New Adult story explains all of that.

Towards the end, the drama and angst level got to such proportions that I really had to force myself to keep reading this!

Too long and filled with unnecessary details, this ended being a chore to finish.

______________


And to see what I had to go through I will leave you with some of my annotations while reading it

I've read 75%
_ Someone has just told Medusa that she isn't in condition to think properly all by herself...
o_o
Once again the character fails to show a hint of backbone.

_Medusa is now writing love letters to Hermes in her journal...
Ye, Gods :/
I just can't deal with this story's level of immaturity -_-

I've read 95%
Oh great, more incest. :/

Also... Greek Gods science  has no logic in it. -_-

Author's Official Site