ARC Review: Our Chemical Hearts

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
Release Date: September 6th, 2016
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Book Format: Physical ARC from the publisher
Rating: 4 stars

Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can't-eat-can't-sleep kind of love that he's been hoping for just hasn't been in the cards for him - at least not yet. Instead, he's been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything's about to change.

Grace isn't who Henry pictured as his dream girl; she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys' clothes, and rarely seems to shower. But when Grace and Henry are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly finds himself falling for her. It's obvious there's something broken about Grace, but it seems to make her even more beautiful to Henry, and he wants nothing more than to help her put the pieces back together again. And yet, this isn't your average story of boy meets girl.

First Impression:

To be quite honest, I kind of did think of this as a typical romance story. I just always feel worried when, in the actual synopsis, it blatantly talks about how it's not like the usual 'boy meets girl' story cause more than not... it is. I can understand trying to let the book separate itself from other romance stories but I don't know. I think all descriptions for romance stories are starting to blend in more in my head now.

The Aftermath:

I discovered my initial thoughts were actually incorrect - and I'm quite happy that it was the case for this book. This book is about a simple love story that's, really, not so simple at all. It's about an all-too normal boy falling in love in such spectacular form that it consumes him. Blinds him. You're left wondering, at the end of the story, what really happened between the both of them and where their relationship stands. 

 "It's a story about struggling to move forward without guilt, without regrets, in poetic form. Simple, but raw."

Ironic how one of the main characters, Grace, has a massive desire to write, listen, and read with no filters, and no editing. After all, I'm reading the uncorrected proof of this book so, in a way, it's exactly how Grace would've liked it to be. Somehow, it makes it all that much more special.

Who knew chemistry could be so interesting?

There wasn't really going much for Henry. Honestly, he just wanted to be done with high school and move onto better things. Not before he earns his way as an editor in the school newspaper, of course, but if he could manage to keep his grades up and go into a fairly decent college, it would be nice. Typical, normal, stuff high school students worry about.

But Grace... Grace was never a part of his plans. It would have been one thing had she only really caught his eye during one of his classes. He had never expected to find her in a position where she would be offered a place as an editor in the paper as well. Though, at first reluctant, Grace decides to accept the offer - which meant that now both Grace and Henry were going to spend a lot of time with each other.

There was one point when one of Henry's friends talked about how Grace sounds like a 'MPDG' (or a manic pixie dream girl' in short) with how Henry talks about her. I think was meant to be a sort of stab at the cliche but, if anything, I found it a bit insulting. She may seem odd but, in the end, it was still pitched as a joke and, in result, so is Grace. Definitely disrespectful, in my opinion.

She's still very respected, though. But her secretive-ness is what made some of her friends hesitant to let Henry keep sticking around with Grace.

Their relationship isn't really all that normal either. In fact, it would be a bit of a stretch to even call them a couple. They do spend a lot of time with each other in this book, as evasive Grace is, and there are some scenes that would be considered very much like they were pointing down that path. But, due to Grace's past (excluded in this review due to spoilers), she's been hesitant to even consider it.

To be vague as possible, it's incredibly confusing. You can tell just how bumpy a relationship between them would be like if they had one. Definitely an unconventional love, for sure, but it's probably not a healthy one either. I liked how vague the ending was in this story, for once, because it does encourage you to lead to your own decisions.

But, whatever they might be, there's still that feeling of hope lingering in this story. I wouldn't mind if they never really considered each other a couple - in fact, I'm more for platonic relationships if I'm honest. But there is a hint of courage between them - going past their personal boundaries and discovering what's really worth going through in life.

There's not much that can be taken into much details without oversharing any spoilers. This is only a little of what you can expect from Our Chemical Hearts. If you find any of this eye-catching, please consider pre-ordering this book ASAP.

Keep an eye out 'cause its coming out in the US this September!

Dual Review Post: Blood Rights and Flesh and Blood by Kristen Painter

Blood Rights (House of Comarre #1) by Kristen Painter
Publication Date: September 1st, 2011
Format: Library Book

Rebellion has a price.

The lacy gold mapped her entire body. A finely wrought filigree of stars, vines, flowers, butterflies, ancient symbols and words ran from her feet, up her legs, over her narrow waist, spanned her chest and finished down her arms to the tips of her fingers.

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle's body bears the telltale marks of a comarré—a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world...and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now, Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.

Funny how things work out sometimes. Especially when it comes to books that you end up loving but you would have never found out about them had it not been for social media. The same happened with me for Jennifer Murgia's Forest of Whispers and, now, for Kristen Painter's Crescent City trilogy and, in extension, the House of Comarre series.

Chrysabelle's patron has died. Well, yes, as a vampire they were already technically dead... but now they're no longer part of this plane. The problem is that now she's the main suspect in her patron's murder. It wouldn't be too farfetched of a thought, sadly, due to much of her training that involves taking down vampires even if it's only meant as protection for the thing she serves. But, despite that, she's determined to prove just how innocent she really is. By running away and disguising herself back as a human once more...

Which led her to run into Malkolm - another vampire who, almost ironically enough, is that much dangerous for her as his curse is incredibly dangerous. As a Comarre, Chrysabelle must get rid of some of her blood at a certain point due to the fact that she is what she is. Had Malkolm actually attempted to take even one bite from her, her life could easily be forfeited due to said curse. In fact, Malkolm would've been more than happy to make her leave... if it wasn't for the fact that she was more than willing to uplift the curse that's been upon him for years.

If anyone ask me what my favorite urban fantasy book or author is, at this point of time, I'll definitely point out Kristen Painter. I mean, yeah, books involving vampires are fairly common in the young adult community... but none like this. After all, one of the other characters we get to meet is a ghost called Fiona- who's attached to Malkolm due to his curse- who ends up falling in love with another character named Doc. I ended up falling in love with their... well, romance, because it felt oddly realistic and heartbreaking.

This story is told in multiple characters' point of views. I feel like this adds more depth to the story and gives information that the reader would otherwise be ignorant to. We know that both Chrysabelle and Malkolm have their own problems but I thought it was a good way to see how the world around them is slowly changing.

I'll always recommend this series. Always! Can't wait to read more.

Flesh and Blood (House of Comarre #2) by Kristen Painter

Publication Date: October 1st, 2011

Format: Library Book

With the Ring of Sorrows still missing, and the covenant between othernaturals and mortals broken, Chrysabelle's life outside the realm of vampire nobility is about to take another downhill slide. She's vowed to help the outcast Malkolm find a way to lift his curse, but that means returning to the home city of the vampire who's trying to kill her. The breaking of the covenant has also activated an ancient organization designed to protect mankind — the Kubai Mata.

And when Kubai Mata Thomas Creek comes to Paradise City, Chrysabelle finds herself torn between the need to save Malkolm and the desire to stay on the path of light. Finally fulfilling her vow to Malkolm proves devastating for Chrysabelle. If she survives, what's left of her life will never be the same.

Things are still changing for Chrysabelle. One of the toughest things she has to deal with is going against what she's been taught as a Comarre with revealing secrets no other vampire knows and dressing as anything but as a Comarre. That's just a little bit of her knowledge though. But she's determined to keep her promise with helping Malkolm with his curse.

This is the first time reading this series that I truly disliked a character, ignoring Tatiana of course. Tatiana is meant to be the sort of antagonist through the story and, despite being a pain in the bum, she's still very well rounded of a character to where she feels like she has purpose. But Creek? A human involved in the paranormal by being a part of the Kubai Mata. I guess it wouldn't be that much of a big deal but I feel like he's only there to become a third wheel in whatever relationship is between Chrysabelle's and Malkolm. I'm all for polyamory but I just... never really felt like it would work out between the three of them. Having a person from Kubai Mata could've been more effective had they focused more on their job rather than their attraction to Chrys.

Again, I fell in love with the relationship between Doc and Fiona. In fact, this time, it broke my heart into another million pieces. I don't know if I'll ever recover from the pain this time around. In fact, there's no shipping Chrys and Mal - I'd rather ship Doc and Fiona. Their love for each other is incredibly raw and adorably cute.

This is urban fantasy at its finest and I highly recommend reading this. Then pick up the Crescent City trilogy because that's awesome too!
 Yay!

Book Review: The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4) by Cinda Williams Chima
Published Date: October 23rd, 2012
Format: Library Copy

A thousand years ago, two young lovers were betrayed-Alger Waterlow to his death, and Hanalea, Queen of the Fells, to a life without love.

Now, once again, the Queendom of the Fells seems likely to shatter apart. For young queen Raisa ana'Marianna, maintaining peace even within her own castle walls is nearly impossible; tension between wizards and Clan has reached a fevered pitch. With surrounding kingdoms seeking to prey on the Fells' inner turmoil, Raisa's best hope is to unite her people against a common enemy. But that enemy might be the person with whom she's falling in love.

Through a complicated web of lies and unholy alliances, former streetlord Han Alister has become a member of the Wizard Council of the Fells. Navigating the cut-throat world of blue blood politics has never been more dangerous, and Han seems to inspire hostility among Clan and wizards alike. His only ally is the queen, and despite the perils involved, Han finds it impossible to ignore his feelings for Raisa. Before long, Han finds himself in possession of a secret believed to be lost to history, a discovery powerful enough to unite the people of the Fells. But will the secret die with him before he can use it?

A simple, devastating truth concealed by a thousand-year-old lie at last comes to light in this stunning conclusion to the Seven Realms series.

 

Oh wow. Wow.

Those words are a pretty accurate example on how I felt about this book. I loved the previous books in the series but definitely no where as much as I loved this book. That's a first for me I think.  I guess the only complaint is that... where was this sort of atmosphere in the previous three books?

Alright, so Raisa is finally queen... and her life still refuses to slow down. Despite her determination to make her kingdom better than before, it seems like there's plenty of forces that are more than happy to drag her down even further - including a conflict that resides inside her own castle. Meanwhile, Han finally made it on the Wizard Council as a spokesperson for the Queen herself. Despite the Queen choosing him herself, the danger still lurks as the Bayers try their best to destroy him. It certainly helps that there are now new crimes linked to Han - and due to his past, there's no doubt in anyone's mind: once a streetlord, always a street lord. 

There's no one to trust and the kingdom is slowly falling apart. Can Han and Raisa manage to restore peace without starting a full out war?

There are many things stacked against the both of them. You would think that Raisa would be protected from death threats but even the Bayer family wants to take the throne back and rule rather than just being a part of the Wizard Council. Micah still struggles to become Raisa's husband and king. The alternative, however, is Fiona Bayer to become Queen... and that's certainly the bloodier option. Han is seen only as trouble and the only way to resolve of him is to kill him.

On top of that, you'll finally get to learn much more about the story of Hanalea and Alger Waterlow - and it's not like the ones Han read through the history books. There's magic, politics, romance, and mystery... and it is wonderful.

To truly take in what's going on in this book, you should really read it. Sometimes it's just better to let the actual writing to talk for itself... in a metaphorical sense. If you've been on the fence about reading this... I'd do it.

Speaking of... there's a new book coming out that I've heard, is set a little bit after The Crimson Crown. I think it's twenty years in the future. There was an earlier date - about Fall 2015 - but now its anticipated release date is March 2016.

A burning vengeance

Adrian sul'Han, known as Ash, is a trained healer with a powerful gift of magic—and a thirst for revenge. The son of the queen of the Fells, Ash is forced into hiding after a series of murders throws the queendom into chaos. Now Ash is closer than he's ever been to killing the man responsible, the cruel king of Arden. As a healer, can Ash use his powers not to save a life, but to take it?

A blood-based curse

Abandoned at birth, Jenna Bandelow was told the mysterious magemark on the back of her neck would one day make her a target. But when the King's Guard launches a relentless search for a girl with a mark like hers, Jenna assumes that it has more to do with her role as a saboteur than any curse. Though Jenna doesn't know why she's being hunted, she knows that she can't get caught.

Destiny's fiery hand

Thrown together by chance and joined by their hatred of the ruthless king, Ash and Jenna will come to rescue each other in ways they cannot yet imagine.

Sounds like your thing? Add it on Goodreads right now and keep a watch on when it'll be released. I'm certainly excited for it!

Book Review: The Dreamer by E.J. Mellow

The Dreamer (Dreamland #1) by E.J. Mellow
Publication Date: May 15th, 2015
Format: eARC

It’s night. Always night. Dreams guard against the evil forged by nightmares. Infinite shooting stars illuminate a moonless sky. A city stands alone, surrounded by a darkened field. On its fringes, a man watches one star separate from the masses and fall. What survives the crash will unveil a secret centuries long hidden.

Molly hasn’t slept well since the night of her twenty-fourth birthday. Being struck by lightning might have something to do with it, but then again, her chicken did look a little undercooked at dinner. Whatever the culprit, her life quickly catapults from mundane to insane as, night after night, Molly is transported through her once dreamless sleep to a mysterious land illuminated by shooting stars.

There she meets the captivating but frustrating Dev, and together they discover Molly possesses a power coveted by his people—the ability to conjure almost anything she desires into existence. Seduced by the possibilities of this gift, Molly shifts her attention from waking life toward the man, the magic, and the world found in her dreams.

But Molly must ask herself—does something truly exist if you only see it when you close your eyes?

Faced with the threat of losing everything—her job, best friend, boyfriend, and most importantly, that little thing called her sanity—Molly will learn just how far she’ll go to uncover what is real and what is merely a figment of her imagination.

Huge thanks to Xpresso Book Tours for giving me a copy of this book in an exchange for an honest review! <3

Dreeeeeeams! Yeah, I used to be one of those people who enjoyed analyzing her dreams. When I actually recalled them, that is, and when I actually have them. I don't know if they truly have any sort of significant impact on my life whether I research them or not. Kind of like horoscopes in a sense. I still constantly look mine up (btw I'm a Capricorn Sun and an Aquarius Moon) though many people call BS... bleh.

It's not all that unusual for others to not remember their dreams though. Even when you have them you typically have to write down all the memorable parts of it or you can pretty much kiss the memory goodbye. But, for Molly, she finds herself unable to dream - or, at the least, she could never recall them even if she did. Nonetheless, though, they never held much of an effect on her before she found herself stuck on lightning on her birthday. Now she's having strange dreams about a world she doesn't recognize and of people who rarely ever give her straight answers and she doesn't know what to think of it... and it's slowly interfering with her personal life as she struggles to figure out what the hell is going on.

I found this quite enjoyable and, in the end, found myself wishing it never actually ended. In all honesty I feel like that the book I read was only just the beginning and I got myself so excited for what was to come that, once I reached the end, I was just like... what? I want more. MOOOORE!

We get to see another world that we, as humans, don't get to see. This is mostly because this world is a sort of alternative world to our own - I won't say too much more because of potential spoilers but, well, I'll just say that there are reasons why that is. So for two people in this world, Aveline and Dev, to come across a human called Molly who can actually hear them... it's a bit concerning. This is most likely the reason they decide to keep Molly in the dark, at first, but once Dev gets to interact with this young adult a bit more (mostly because she finds herself returning every night) he gives her a bit of a taste of his own world. But it doesn't take long before he realizes his mistake. Mostly because of Molly's power.

I think most of the readers will end up falling in love with this 'alternative world'. Even though most people who live in this world cannot just make things 'appear', like Molly can, it still has this sort of magical atmosphere that I love. (I guess I can thank that to the fact that Molly can only visit via dreaming) The only thing is that we don't really get to see much of the danger of this world until close to the end. I hope I'll get to know more about it in the sequel - especially Molly's role in this world.

I didn't care much about the hinted 'love triangle' between Molly, Dev, and Jared. I'm not against it, though, it's just that in teen fiction (okay, I know this is New Adult technically... but still...) it's usually just a cliche at this point. You know what would be awesome, though? Polyamory. I would love to see more poly relationships in a positive light. There's nothing wrong with three or more people being in a relationship, in my opinion, as long as it's all consented of course.

I love Becca - Molly's best friend. I love her so much. I kind of wouldn't mind having someone like her as a best friend, to be honest. She's straight forward and honest but, come on, I'd rather have someone like her than someone who kept secrets from me all the time. : |

Overall - I want the second book right now. Please send it over to me right now. Pleeeeeease! ;v;

Dual Book Review: House of the Rising Sun and City of Eternal Night by Kristen Painter

House of the Rising Sun (Crescent City #1) by Kristen Painter
Publication Date: May 13th, 2014
Format: Library book.

Augustine lives the perfect life in the Haven city of New Orleans. He rarely works a real job, spends most of his nights with a different human woman, and resides in a spectacular Garden District mansion paid for by retired movie star Olivia Goodwin, who has come to think of him as an adopted son, providing him room and board and whatever else he needs.

But when Augustine returns home to find Olivia's been attacked by vampires, he knows his idyllic life has comes to an end. It's time for revenge—and to take up the mantle of the city's Guardian.

 I'm thankful for Netgalley existing. But, then again, what book lover wouldn't like a website where it's centered around free eARCs (advanced reading copies) for review. I'm sure a lot of people would agree with me. It's even better, though, when you discovered a new series that you immensely love and suddenly you're enraptured in this new world and you're just like 'I want to read more!' so you frantically search for the authors' previous books and finally break down and request it as an inter library loan and are willing to pay $2 if the book has to be sent from another library out of state and--

Wow. This is probably the worst run-on sentence that I've ever created. Imagine if I actually had a paid editor to take a look at my book reviews. Well... for one, I imagine they would be much more well versed and they would probably have a headache. I would at least get a lot of messages with a lot of deep sighs.

Harlow spent her life thinking she was no where close to being a fae. In fact, she truly only knew about her mother who was as much human as anyone else: Olivia Goodwin. They don't talk that often and, in fact, one of the biggest reasons why she decided to approach her mother in the first place is because she owes money to get out of jail. She was caught trying to hack a computer program, which happens to be her special talent: manipulating electronics just by touching it. Without the money, though, she's stuck in jail for a long while.

She only managed to get in contact with her mother once before she was killed by an unknown person. Suddenly, she finds herself owning a piece of her mother's estate alongside a stranger that she never met. The hope to sell it off to save herself from jail suddenly disappears in one moment. But even this starts a series of events that forces her to face her own heritage and her past.

Meanwhile, Augustine spent his life relaxing and living with Olivia. He's not her true son but he certainly thinks of her as his mother. At least she treated him like a person more than his actual mother did. But when she dies, he decides not to just sit aside and let the 'police' work on the problem. He decides to take the matter in his own hands... and now a young girl, Harlow, became part of a thorn he never expected to find.

Ahhhhh!! I'm a huge fanatic for urban fantasy books like this. I would be lying if I said that I didn't fall for the book cover for the third book which also led me to do more research on the series. I'm glad that I decided to request it in the first place because it led me to checking out the first two books at the library and reading it just changed my outlook on urban fantasy.

In other words, I'm saying everyone should read more Kristen Painter books because the writing is beautiful. I didn't even remotely care about the multiple point of views in it because it added in that much more depth in this story. So much love, passion, and time has been placed in this book and you can definitely tell. In fact, I can confidently say that Kristen Painter is on my automatic to-buy author list. I love it.

What are you doing? Buy her books. BUY THEM NOW!!!

City of Eternal Night (Crescent City #2) by Kristen Painter

Publication Date: December 2nd, 2014

Format: Library book

Magic and mystery collide in this second installment of the new urban fantasy series by House of Comarre author Kristen Painter.

Still coming to terms with their unexpected partnership, Augustine and Harlow have a tentative truce. With Harlow slowly working to accept being fae, Augustine still learning how to be Guardian, and feelings growing on both sides though, they do not have an easy road ahead.

But when a young girl is stolen from the Mardi Gras Exemplar Ball -- the biggest far event of the year -- Harlow and Augustine must put all their issues aside to bring her home alive. Harlow's father, Braziano, is of course their number one suspect, but evil lurks in every corner of the city and time is running out. Their only choices: Either find a way to rescue the girl, or Augustine must die.

Fae magic is a wonderful thing. It can be dangerous as well but, hey, if it can create an outfit that looks just as lovely as the one Harlow wears, it can't be all that bad... right? Riiiiiight??

Harlow recently learned that she is of fae heritage and that her father is an asshole. Man, you can tell just how awesome family's in this series... (note the sarcasm if it doesn't translate properly through this text). She's spending her time learning how to control her powers as well as learning how her powers can be used. Other than Harlow's and Augustine's slow descent with falling in love with each other, things are... sort of coming together in the end...

That is until after the Mardi Gras Exemplar Ball. There's always a sort of play where the daughter of an important figure gets kidnapped but nothing truly happens to her. It's all part of the entertainment. But when the kidnapping suddenly becomes all too real, Augustine finds himself deep in spending all of his time as a Guardian trying to find her and take her home safely. But it's a difficult task... and the girl's father is becoming incredibly impatient and with the kidnapper randomly sending parts of this young girl... the deadline is tight. 

There are only two answers: find the girl or kill Augustine for her freedom.

Another wonderful adventure written by a wonderful author. I'm so enamored with this world that I'm not even sure how to accurately portray how I feel about this book. Wonderful world building. I mean, it connected with the former series, House of Commare, especially since it brought back older characters. I didn't know that til after I finished reading the second book. (Speaking of, look forward to the future review of Blood Rights and Flesh and Blood, hint hint...) In my opinion, if I ever managed to publish a series of book that I'm passionate about, I want it to be just like this. Clearly not exactly like this but I want it to show that there was a lot of passion put into my work. I want to be able to make it clear that I spent lots of time developing this world and my characters. That's one of my dreams.

I hope this, at least, gives even a tiny bit of an idea on how much I love this series. It gives a fresh breath of air in the urban fantasy genre and I love it. Give me more. Give meeeeeeee!!! Asdfghjkl--

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