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Guest Post + Review: Arrowheart by Rebecca Sky

Title: Arrowheart (The Love Curse #1)
Author: Rebecca Sky
Published: June 14th, 2018
Publisher: Hodder
Rating: ★★★★★
Find the Author: Goodreads 

Disclosure: I received this ARC in exchange for an impartial review. As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.


Kiss the boys and make them cry…
The gods are gone. The people have forgotten them. But sixteen-year-old Rachel Patel can’t forget – the gods control her life, or more specifically, her love life.
Being a Hedoness, one of a strong group of women descended from Greek God Eros, makes true love impossible for Rachel. She wields the power of that magical golden arrow, and with it, the promise to take the will of any boy she kisses. But the last thing Rachel wants is to force someone to love her . . .
When seventeen-year-old Benjamin Blake’s disappearance links back to the Hedonesses, Rachel’s world collides with his, and her biggest fear becomes a terrifying reality. She’s falling for him – a messy, magnetic, arrow-over-feet type of fall.
Rachel distances herself, struggling to resist the growing attraction, but when he gives up his dream to help her evade arrest, distance becomes an insurmountable task. With the police hot on their trail, Rachel soon realizes there are darker forces hunting them – a group of mortals recruited by the gods who will stop at nothing to preserve the power of the Hedonesses – not to mention Eros himself, who is desperate to reverse the curse . . .
Rachel must learn to do what no Hedoness has done before – to resist her gift – or she’ll turn the person she’s grown to love into a shadow of himself … for ever. 

First Thoughts…

I think I’ve always had a thing for mythology. Some of my early scribbles as a wanna-be writer were influenced by the Gods, just like Arrowheart. So when I had the chance to be a part of the tour, (and I mean, c’mon, one look at the cover and the blurb and I was HOOKED) I jumped at the chance. But the story collides mythology with love and being descendant from a God, and that just had me. I couldn’t stop myself from reading – even if it was two a.m. in the morning!

My Review…

Rachel is such a likeable character from the get-go. I love that despite wielding this immense power to make any boy fall head over heels in love with her, she just wants to be your average girl. To fall in love with ease. To not feel like she’s meant for something huge and to live a perfectly normal life. But being a Hedoness, she kinda can’t. Her and Marissa, another Hedoness, have this power that centers around the book’s first mystery. Boys are going missing and then turning up again, not knowing what happened the entire time. But the girls know all too well what’s happening. Rachel doesn’t want to make anyone love her – not forcibly, anyway – and when Benjamin, a missing boy, comes into the picture and his absence links back to the Hedonesses, it’s a fight or flight reaction.
Forced to try and ignore her feelings for him and focus on the growing suspicion around her, she can’t help but fall deeper in love with the boy she can never have love her. But then, the Police get involved and she’s thrown into a dilemma. She has to leave, and when Benjamin gives up what he loves to go on the run with her and not get arrested, they’re not only being hunted by the Police, but by something much more sinister.
I just…this book BROKE ME and HEALED ME again. I haven’t read a book this fast-paced and funny and interesting in such a long time! Not only was the Greek Mythology history and factual spin on YA unique and incredible with the world-building, but the characters were just so normal. So believable. Even though most were descendant from Gods or unlike me at all, I connected with Rachel so much on so many levels (even though we couldn’t be lightyears away from each other).
Overall, Arrowheart has struck it’s golden arrow right into my heart. I am blown away by this epic-YA that has woven it’s way into my favourites. Getting to the ending and that cliffhanger was just so nail-biting! I can’t wait for the next book in the series. I NEED IT! Rebecca (name twin!), this is clearly one of my favourite books I’ve read in such a long time. Five stars isn’t enough!

After graduating high-school, Rebecca Sky set out on a five-year, 24 Country exploration to find herself. She slept in a hammock in the Amazon Jungle, skinny-dipped off the West African Coast, ate balut and climbed the chocolate hills in the Philippines, and fell in love in Cuba (then again in Brazil, and a final time to a Rocker from Canada). Rebecca returned home to the West Coast captivated by the world and ready for another adventure. 
So she did what every wanderer does when standing still—began writing. Her work has since garnered over 20 million reads on Wattpad, and she’s had the opportunity to partner with some really great brands. She was featured in The New York Times and The Boston Globe, (check out those articleshere). Her debut Arrowheart, book one in THE LOVE CURSE series will be published by Hodder Children a division of Hachette Book Group. Look for that in stores June 14th, 2018!

Rebecca Sky, on Greek mythology:
I grew up in a very religious home, and because of that I spent the majority of my childhood weekends in some form of Church activity like Sunday School. I was never very good at sitting still and was bored most of the time, which meant I’d find ways to self-entertain, ways that resulted in my being sent to time-out more often than I’d like to admit. I made a game of it though, throwing out one-liners that made the entire class burst into giggles and the teachers mumble prayers of serenity under breath.
Eventually they realized that time-out wasn’t helping any of us, (I mean, if I couldn’t sit still on the pew, why would the corner change things?). We came to the compromise that I could read my bible during lectures, which really meant I’d slip a comic book behind the cover and read that instead. I thought I’d found the key to surviving Sunday School until they caught me and told me that I was only allowed to read books from the church library. I begrudgingly searched through and pulled out a Greek/English bible thinking the writing on the spine looked kinda magical.
That was my first introduction to the Greek language and I was fascinated. I tried to teach myself by memorizing the Greek version of familiar passages. I couldn’t get enough and eventually took every book about Greece out of my local library, one of which was a book on mythology. I spent my days reading about the Gods and their wild adventures, and thought it was unfair that the Greeks got the cool Gods and my family’s God was boring (please, don’t tell my Nana I said that).

It is taught that humans were born with 2 heads, 4 arms and 4 legs, and only one soul, but Zeus feared our power and cut us apart. Now we spend our lives searching for the other half of our soul. 

I’d often imagine the Greek Gods in my Sunday School stories – Samson the strong became Heracles the son of Zeus, etc.. So when I stumbled upon the bible verse Genesis 6:4, “when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them,” it wasn’t far-fetched for me to imagine that the sons of gods were the Gods of Olympus and that the offspring they had with human women where the Greek legends like Achilles and Hedone. The more my mind wandered the more The Love Curse series formed.
And everyone knows, or should know, that you can’t write a story based on Greek Mythology and not have it centred on romance. I’d argue that mythology reflects the spirit of its people, and there is no mythology more romantic than Greek.
It is taught that humans were born with 2 heads, 4 arms and 4 legs, and only one soul, but Zeus feared our power and cut us apart. Now we spend our lives searching for the other half of our soul. There’s something really beautiful about this concept, and for a hopeless romantic like myself, the idea of soul mates and a love that has the power to unite two individuals so perfectly is something I can get behind. And I did, you’ll see in Arrowheart (The Love Curse #1) that my character Rachel feels this way too, which makes it suck extra that she can never have it, because if she so much as kisses a guy her power will take his will away. But that’s a story for another time…


Have you heard about Arrowheart?


Are you going to read it?


Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @LittleMemoirs with the tag #ARROWHEART! 


happy reading!

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Book Review: “The Here And Now” by Ann Brashares


*NO SPOILERS REVIEW*


Title: The Here And Now

Author: Ann Brashares

Published: Janurary 1st, 2015

Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books

Find the Author: Goodreads


I received this for review from Hodder for review. As always, my reviews are fair and un-bias.

TIME TRAVEL AND FORBIDDEN ROMANCE FROM THE BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELLING PANTS

Thrilling, exhilarating, haunting and heartbreaking, The Here and Now is a twenty-first-century take of an impossible romance.
There are rules.
Never reveal where you’re from. Never be intimate with anyone outside the community. And never interfere with history.
Seventeen-year-old Prenna James emigrated to New York when she was twelve. But Prenna didn’t come from a different country, she came from a different time – a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.
Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth and take the lives of her younger brothers. But everything changes when she falls for Ethan.
She might be able to save the world … if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.


The Sisterhood of The Travelling Pants series are some of my favourite literary gems from before I started blogging and the movies (including a third in the making!) are some of my most favourite ones to watch with my friends when we marathon fun, girly films. So taking all this into account, I was so excited to start what Ann Brashares had written next – and considering it was a time-travelling novel – it looked like it was exactly perfect for what I love to read. 

Prenna, the narrator and our main character, is a seventeen-year-old normal girl. Except when she was twelve, she emigrated to New York . . . from the future. In her future, Prenna’s time had become deadly. A mosquito-borne illness had become extremely deadly, spreading like wildfire, killing millions of people, leaving her time in great danger. Not everyone could escape from the future, but those who did into the present day banded together, following a set list of rules not to be broken, including never revealing where they are from and they can never interfere with history, let alone be involved intimately with anyone outside their community. This gave an intense, dramatic feel to the book and even though I hadn’t really connected with Prenna at this point, I still loved the uniqueness of the futuristic world Ann had created. 

As the novel grows, we start to see the romantic connection between Prenna and Ethan who have a sort of prior history to their actual first meeting. Still, Prenna does as she’s told by the community believing she can make a difference to the world. But with Ethan, it complicates things for her and the choices she thought she had already made to save the world she loves. It’s a tragic love between them and was very much a wrong place, wrong time and forbidden type of romance that’s as exciting as it was moving and saddening. I didn’t connect with Prenna until near the end where I could see many sides of her and completely understand her character, but when I did, I really saw how much her character had developed and that’s a thing I love about novels like this. 

Equal parts drama, romance and time-travel, The Here And Now was an absorbing, Sci-Fi novel that even though it was short at under 300 pages, was engaging and fateful simultaneously. For anyone who has read Ann’s previous writing and loves the way she creates memorable characters and plots, this is definitely for you. 

   


 Fans of Ann’s Sisterhood series and for Sci-Fi fans looking for a sweet and memorable quick read. 

 What did you think of The Here And Now? 

Did you think it lived up her Sisterhood series?

Let me know in the comments!

happy reading!
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Book Review: “Day 21 (The 100 #2)” by Kass Morgan

Title: Day 21 (The 100 #2)

Author: Kass Morgan
Genre: Young Adult – Science Fiction / Dystopia
Release Date: September 25th, 2014
Published by: Hodder Paperbacks


I received this from Hodder in exchange for an honest review. As always, my reviews are fair and non-bias. 
                                                                       

In this pulse-pounding sequel to Kass Morgan’s The 100, secrets are revealed, beliefs are challenged, and relationships are tested. And the hundred will struggle to survive the only way they can – together.

Now a major TV series on E4. In this pulse-pounding sequel to Kass Morgan’s The 100, secrets are revealed, beliefs are challenged, and relationships are tested. And the hundred will struggle to survive the only way they can – together.


It’s been 21 days since The 100 landed on Earth. They’re the only humans to set foot on the planet in centuries… or so they thought. Facing an unknown enemy, Wells attempts to keep the group together. Clarke strikes out for Mount Weather, in search of other Colonists, while Bellamy is determined to rescue his sister, no matter the cost. And back on the ship, Glass faces an unthinkable choice between the love of her life and life itself.

Kass Morgan’s name is on my favourite YA Authors list and I don’t see it moving anytime soon. I was won over by the amazing The 100 when I read it in August last year and it quickly crept up as being one of my favourite TV show adaptions, too! I was enthralled by everything The 100 and with the arrival of Day 21, it was a happy day for a girl who loves to read. 


I thought The 100 couldn’t be beaten in this series – but Day 21 went and did it, knocking it right off the shelf (pun intended). In The 100, it set the scene for the second book to swiftly pick back up on all the chaos and heart-racing action.
It’s been Day 21 days (like the book title) since the Hundred stepped onto the unknown surfaces of Earth. But the drama doesn’t just happen on Earth, there’s still a ton of anarchic things happening on the ship. We get the story through the eyes of the narrators from the last novel; Clarke (my favourite), Bellamy, Wells and Glass, and it’s actually refreshing to get to see everything in a panoramic style, so that none of the action with each different character goes missed. Even when the POV’s changed, I was still gripped to the increasingly action packed storyline that became hard to put down. 
The plot picks up right from where The 100 ended, but before long, wars with a new unfamiliar enemy stir up and the Hundred are faced with more dilemmas and commotion than previously. Their loyalties are tested, Bellamy for his sister’s safety, Glass for the love of her life; Luke, whereas Wells is the foundation of keeping the group stable and Clarke is the determined and courageous girl she has been from the first book, trying to find Mount Weather at what ever the cost. 
Overall, Day 21 is an addition to The 100 series that is unmissable, breathtaking and out of this world. The rollercoaster of the ship, the newfound land of Earth and characters that burst out of the pages with lively and electrifying personalities, make this series a 5 star one by far. If you haven’t started The 100 series, you’re missing out on something heart-stopping and thrilling on your bookshelf. Kass Morgan has written yet another stunning dystopian novel that’s sure to be on everyone’s shelf this year. 5 stars and more. 
And with that ending – I can’t wait for book three! 



Clarke’s POV moments have always stolen the book for me, but I loved getting to see the action on the ship in Day 21, and the incredible POV of Glass really crept up on me as a new favourite.


YA Dystopia and Science Fiction fans! And of course, for fans of the show!


Have you read Day 21?


What did you think?


Tell me in the comments, on twitter or by using the hashtag #Day21 or #the100



happy reading!

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The 100: Giveaway!

If you’ve been watching TV recently (particularly E4) then you might have come across an amazing, spectacular new show based on the phenomenal book that fueled the series, called “The 100”. 



Seen as I just reached 400 followers on Bloglovin’ and 1.2K on Twitter, I thought I’d do a little giveaway and give a copy of The 100 away! 

I adored The 100 back last year when I read it, saying:

 “As soon as I started reading…me and this book hit it off straight away. The plot was addictive, especially toward the end…because that ending! I was literally reading this for a few hours and when I saw how far I’d gotten through the book, and how long I’d been reading for, I realised that The 100 was the perfect transition between what I was reading in the pages, to what I saw in a sort of 3D vision in my mind. The TV Show is going to be out of this world, quite literally. I rely on a novel to completely hold my attention throughout, and The 100 lived up to it with ease.”

So, if you live in the UK and want to get a chance to read The 100 for yourselves before the release of the second in the series; Day 21 this September, then get entering!


*If you’re tweeting every day for the extra points, please remember to include the link to the giveaway, otherwise it doesn’t count as an entry!*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck! 


Don’t forget, you can catch The 100 on E4, Mondays at 9pm! 


happy reading!

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Book Review: “The 100 Society” by Carla Spradbery

Title: The 100 Society

Author: Carla Spradbery
Genre: Young Adult – Mystery/Thriller
Release Date: September 4th, 2014
Published by: Hodder Children’s Books


I received this from Hachette Children’s Books in exchange for an honest review. As always, my reviews are fair and non-bias. 
For sixth-form student Grace Becker, The 100 Society is more than just a game; it’s an obsession. 


Having convinced her five friends at Clifton Academy to see it through to the end, Grace will stop at nothing to carry out the rules of the game: tagging 100 locations around the city. With each step closer to the 100-mark they get, the higher the stakes become. But when the group catches the attention of a menacing stalker – the Reaper – he seems intent on exposing their illegal game, tormenting Grace with anonymous threats and branding their dormitory doors with his ominous tag.


As the once tight-knit group slowly unravels, torn apart by doubt and the death of a student, they no longer know who to trust.


With time running out, Grace must unmask the Reaper before he destroys everything she cares about for ever…

 I’m not usually the type of girl to watch a lot of thrillers in TV, mostly because scary movies scare me easily, but when it comes to literature, it’s practically the most engrossing thing I can read. So I was super happy to get to read The 100 Society (thank you, Hachette!) because it played right into everything I like in a mystery; a group of friends, a game and… a killer.

Grace knows the stakes are high when it comes to The 100 Society. But she wants it more than anything, so it doesn’t stop her. But The 100 Society is a coveted thing, and not all that enter make it to the full 100, so roping her friends in wouldn’t just be for Grace’s benefit. It would help them too, getting them recognition.
But when someone is watching them on one of their latest tags, not too shy of 100, the scare factor is amped up when they notice that the person wasn’t just watching. They were stalking. Grace tells her group of friends, who are pretty much all Art fanatics working on their latest projects for a showcase, that they can make it to 100 despite everything, that no group has ever done the full 100 easily. Her brother couldn’t even make it.
But she didn’t expect things to get even worse. Now their stalker has a name; the Reaper. And he’s determined to crush Grace’s dreams of being in the 100 Society, even if it means taking the group down too – and when the stalker seems too close to home, the group find that it might even be one of their own. Or someone just close enough.
When a member of the group gets seriously hurt, and a classmate dies, it seems like things are only just beginning. Grace can’t turn a corner without thinking the Reaper is close, with the encounters, texts and calls becoming more disturbing by the minute. All she could do was try to unmask the Reaper, but when it’s showcase day at the Academy, it seems she’s running on little time to save the ones she loves the most. For some, it was too late – but Grace was determined not to let anyone else die. If she could stay alive herself.
The biggest reveal ever came with the Reaper’s unveiling. I never would have guessed – I changed my mind who the Reaper could be more than once during the novel – but this person never even crossed my mind. 
The 100 Society was enthralling, electrifying and exceptional (all E’s!). It’s one of the best YA Thrillers I’ve ever read and I was glued to the pages for hours, gripped by the compelling need to find out the identity of the Reaper. I literally took the book everywhere with me, reading when I could. You do not want to miss this book – it’s a psychological thriller like none other.   

 Grace and Trick moments! And of course, when we finally find out who the Reaper is.

Anyone who likes Young Adult thriller/mysteries, with a twist. Even if it’s not your usual genre, The 100 Society will surprise you.


Have you read The 100 Society?

What did you think? 

Tell me in the comments or at @LittleMemoirs on twitter!

happy reading!
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Book Review: “Shut Out” by Kody Keplinger

Title: Shut Out

Author: Kody Keplinger
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary 
Release Date: June, 2014
Published by: Hodder Children’s Books


I received this from Hodder Children’s Books in exchange for an honest review. As always, my reviews are fair and non-bias. 

The girls of Hamilton High School are going on strike.

 Sick of the rivalry between their boyfriends’ American football and soccer teams, Lissa and her friends are determined that the boys won’t see any action from them until they put an end to their immature pranks.

 But Lissa hasn’t counted on a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first …

I heard about Kody’s books way back when she wrote The Duff, but as of today, it’s still unread on my shelf. I have no idea why I haven’t picked it up because CLEARLY, Kody’s novels are extremely popular. The Duff is getting made into a movie. And as soon as I saw the synopsis for Shut Out, it pulled me right in and looked far from your ordinary high-school book.
Lissa likes things in order and most importantly, to be in control of things, ever since her Mom died. She’s dating Randy, who’s on the football team. Sure, he’s not perfect, but Lissa loves him and he loves her. Except she get’s pretty annoyed with him when he takes the rivalry between Hamilton High’s football and soccer teams more seriously than her. So when he chases after someone who eggs Randy’s car when they’re both inside, leaving her alone and neglected, she pretty much decides enough is enough. 
She ropes together the girlfriends of the both teams, including her best friend Chloe and ex-best friend Ellen. They kind of broke apart when their boyfriends were on different teams and slowly grew apart, but Lissa was hoping this might bring them together a little. Lissa brings up the subject of a sex-strike to the girlfriends of the teams, to get control over the situation and try to end this once and for all. They are unsure to start with that the plan would work and things like; what if the boyfriends just get new girlfriends? But when they start to see results, Lissa feels like she might just have changed things for good. 
But it’s never quite that easy, and things start to go awry when Lissa starts to stray from Randy and give into Cash’s advances. Cash is on the soccer team, and when he starts to work at the Library after school like Lissa, she starts to see a different side to him other than the one she thought she knew from a past she wanted to never have existed.
But when the boys try to get even, and the girl’s can’t resist, things start to get bad fast. Not only does Randy turn out to be a jerk, but Lissa is finding maybe her way wasn’t the best and that the advice Cash was giving turns out to be what she was looking for all along. 
Full of hilarious one-liners (Chloe, definitely!), drama and wisdom, Shut Out is a high-school rom-com you don’t want to miss. You’ll root for Lissa, cheer for the girls and get hooked to the excitement and dramatics. Kody hit the mark on this one, and the inventiveness of Shut Out blows the book competition out of the water. Five star ++! 


I always say the endings of books are my favourite and although Shut Out’s ending was perfect, I think my favourite would be a quote from the book. One that should inspire all of us, and that I personally believe is very true. 

“It’s never too late.” 

For fans of Katie McGarry, Miranda Kenneally and Jennifer Echols! And if you’ve read The Duff, then Shut Out has to be your next read! 

Have you read Shut Out?


Tell me in the comments or on twitter!


happy reading!

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Book Review: “Deep Blue” by Jennifer Donnelly


Title: Deep Blue

Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Genre: Young Adult – Fantasy
Release Date: May 6th, 2014 
Also by the Author: The Tea Rose, A Northern Light
Published by: Hodder (UK) 


Thanks to Hachette for the ARC of this book! As always, my reviews are fair and non-bias. I received this from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.




 The first in a series of four epic tales set in the depths of the ocean, where six mermaids seek to protect and save their hidden world.
Deep in the ocean, in a world not so different from our own, live the merpeople. Their communities are spread throughout the oceans, seas, and freshwaters all over the globe.
When Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, awakens on the morning of her betrothal, her biggest worry should be winning the love of handsome Prince Mahdi. And yet Sera finds herself haunted by strange dreams that foretell the return of an ancient evil. Her dark premonitions are confirmed when an assassin’s arrow poisons Sera’s mother. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin’s master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Led only by her shadowy dreams, Sera searches for five other mermaid heroines who are scattered across the six seas. Together, they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood and uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world’s very existence.


 As soon as I heard that Deep Blue was a book about Mermaids, I was instantly catapulted back to my favourite Disney character; Ariel. I haven’t ever read a book about Mermaids, and seeing how the folklore has changed and adapted into more and more mythical creatures coming to life in YA fiction, I was happy to add Mermaid to the list!

 Deep Blue is all about recreating our image of Mermaids. There wasn’t a moment where I thought; oh, that’s been done before, because it was quite a unique reading experience. When I did a character profile list back in early May, we met the characters; Serafina, Neela, Ling, Becca (name-twin!), Ava and Astrid. In the book, they play very different roles from each other in the history of the book and for the majority of the beginning of Deep Blue, there’s a lot of back story and world-building that goes on to show us more into the world of the characters. Our main character, Serafina – who though very headstrong and tough, is frightful and scared for her home underneath it all, unveiling a whole new layer to her character that slowly shows itself over the course of the book. 
There were great uses of puns for the Mermaid’s, with witty, playful and clever takes on their world, like Currensea as money. But it also uses some girl-power type themes being very female-driven, which was one of my favourite things about the book. It’s going to set a great example for younger YA readers with that friendship aspect. I was constantly trying to remind myself that Deep Blue is set…under the sea. I kept forgetting that all this was underwater, so it was definitely a new and diverse way of envisioning the world in the eyes of the characters. 
Although it’s not my usual genre choice, I really enjoyed Deep Blue. It was a fresh idea that surprised me, made me laugh and learn tons about a deep, enchanting history and all that would come with the sequel. I felt that book one has set a good jump into book two, getting all the things we as readers needed to know in our minds and leaving us with the anticipation for more. If you’re looking for something exciting and a modern take on what lurks in the ocean, Deep Blue is going to be the book for you. Plus being a major franchise for Disney, I can easily see myself watching and loving Deep Blue as a film. 

 I usually say that there’s a “scene” that was my favourite, but I actually liked the parts where we learnt what things like what money was called (currensea) and that Dolphins speak Dolpheen. They were little parts that made it unique, but amusing nevertheless.

For younger-to-mid YA readers, this will be something you’ll enjoy the most. For older YA readers and Adults, I’m going to say it’s subject to if their open-minded and creative with the novels they read and have an understanding of Fantasy. Whereas I’m older YA, and I really liked Deep Blue. So it’s really down to individuals. 



Have you read Deep Blue?


Tell me what you think in the comments or on twitter!

happy reading!

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Book Blast: “Deep Blue” by Jennifer Donnelly

Title: Deep Blue (Waterfire Saga #1)

Genre: Young Adult – Fantasy
Release Date: May 6th, 2014 
Published by: Hodder (UK)

The first in a series of four epic tales set in the depths of the ocean, where six mermaids seek to protect and save their hidden world.

 Deep in the ocean, in a world not so different from our own, live the merpeople. Their communities are spread throughout the oceans, seas, and freshwaters all over the globe.

 When Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, awakens on the morning of her betrothal, her biggest worry should be winning the love of handsome Prince Mahdi. And yet Sera finds herself haunted by strange dreams that foretell the return of an ancient evil. Her dark premonitions are confirmed when an assassin’s arrow poisons Sera’s mother. 

 Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin’s master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Led only by her shadowy dreams, Sera searches for five other mermaid heroines who are scattered across the six seas. Together, they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood and uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world’s very existence.

Deep Blue Character Profiles
MEET THE CHARACTERS
Four thousand years ago, six wise rulers with mystical powers oversaw the golden realm of Atlantis. When an evil force overtook the mythical island, sinking it into the sea, Merrow, the leader of the ancients, beseeched the gods to grant her drowning people the power to breathe underwater. Those who survived, their legs magically fused into tail fins, formed an undersea civilization called The Mer.
From their Mediterranean realm, five others grew to form six undersea nations, led for generations by descendants of the ancient Circle of Six. Now, the evil forces that consumed Atlantis threaten destruction once again. The Mer nations’ only hope lies with six teenagers, descended from the ancient rulers, who’ve inherited their magical powers. Together, they form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood to save their worlds.
Serafina
Loyal, brave, just, and strong—with copper brown hair, bright green eyes, and a nascent gift more powerful than all the others—Serafina is descended from the ancient ruler Merrow. Heir to the original civilization of Merfolk, Sera has been raised with the expectation that one day, she’ll be their ruler. When the undersea nations come under threat and Sera’s mother, Queen Isabella, is poisoned, Sera’s destiny leaps to meet her. She must embark on a journey to find and vanquish the evil forces at work. Her powerful magic—the gift of a love so powerful she would sacrifice herself for those around her—will guide her as she leads the mermaids in their quest. By her side is her best friend Neela…
Neela
Sassy and daring, with a non-stop sweet-tooth, jet-black hair to her tail fin, and a bioluminescent body that emanates a bright blue light, Neela is descended from Navi, ancient ruler of the waters of India,
a kind and good-hearted leader who used her riches to build hospitals, orphanages, and homes for the poor. It was said Navi could hold light in her hands as well as her heart, pulling down beams from the sun and moon and stars and bending them to her will. She gave her people hope in their darkest hours. Neela, able to create and throw powerful formations of light, is the intrepid inheritor of these gifts.
Ling
With a gentle but powerful nature and a keen intellect she’s not afraid to show, Ling—with almond-shaped eyes, high cheekbones, and a sword in a scabbard slung over her back—is descended from Sycorax, who ruled from the shores of the Qin in China. An omnivorax, Sycorax spoke the languages of all creatures—people, animals, birds, flowers and trees. She was Atlantis’ supreme justice, a peace- keeper and negotiator of treaties between realms. Ling is the able and ready inheritor of these gifts.
Becca
Fierce and quick—with curly red hair, blue eyes, and a smattering of freckles—Becca is descended from Pyrrha, who ruled the shores of Atlantica, the ancient realm between South America and Africa. Pyrrha was a brilliant and strategic military commander, but she was also an artisan—a blacksmith who could bid fire. She had a forge on Atlantis where she transformed farm tools into weapons; when her people came under attack, Pyrrha saved her people with her quick thinking. Becca, her descendant, will do the same.
Ava
Wise, witty, frank and prescient—with glossy black braids, deep brown scales, sunglasses, and a guide-pet piranha she keeps on a leash—Ava is descended from Nyx who ruled the fresh waters that flowed from the Mississippi River. Nyx was blind, but he could feel things he could not see. He never flinched from what he felt, or from speaking his visions truthfully. The magic bestowed him by the gods strengthened his gift and transformed it into prophecy. Ava is the knowing inheritor of this gift of prescience and foresight.
Astrid
Headstrong, bold, and possessed of a deep well of magical power, Astrid—with cascades and braids of white-blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and the black and white markings of an orca—is descended from Orfeo, who ruled the arctic waters around Greenland. A musician who played the lyre to soothe the sick and suffering, he was a healer whose people loved him. Of the six who ruled Atlantis, his powers were unsurpassed. But it was Orfeo who mysteriously defected from the Circle of Six, unleashing a monster of his own creation whose wrath destroyed Atlantis. Like her father, Astrid turns away from the group. Unlike her father, she will rejoin them…but not until she tests them first.

This giveaway excludes US & Canada, sorry! I’ll be hosting many more for other countries in the coming weeks, but for now this one is just for the UK! 
I’m giving away all this…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

After you’ve entered that amazing giveaway, take a look at the Deep Blue trailer! It’s seriously incredible.



Don’t forget to enter the giveaway, spread the word and add Deep Blue to your Goodreads to-read!

happy reading!

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Book Review “Darkest Fear” (Birthright #1) by Cate Tiernan



Title: Darkest Fear  (Birthright #1)

Author: Cate Tiernan
Genre: Young Adult – Paranormal
Release Date: January 9th, 2014

Other Books by Author: Immortal Beloved (#1), Book of Shadows, (Sweep #1)

Published by: Hodder 




With thanks to Hodder for the copy of this novel! As always, my reviews are non-bias and fair.



What is your birthright? 

The first book in a new series by Cate Tiernan, written in her signature tone of dark, mesmerising, and intriguing…

What is your birthright? 
Since she discovered the truth when she turned 13, Vivi Neves has rejected everything her parents hold dear – their heritage, culture, traditions, and especially their dark family secret. They are haguari – cat people, shapeshifters who turn into jaguars, as their ancestors have done for thousands of years. 
Then, tragically, her parents are killed. Vivi can cling to her own beliefs and live her life the way she wants – or she can embrace her heritage and avenge her parents’ deaths.

With danger closing in on her, her decision is forced… and she’s pulled deeper into a mystery that gets darker and more dangerous. Finally, she must face her heritage… or die.
– Goodreads description

 I had heard about The Immortal Beloved series before through some blogger friends, but hadn’t read anything from Cate before, so I was so happy to get a copy of Darkest Fear from Hodder because it gave me a chance to see what I’d been missing out on!

I must admit, the plot of Darkest Fear had me baffled; characters (including the main character; Vivi) that can turn into Jaguars! In all the paranormal fantasy-worlds I’ve read about, that was a first. 
I was pretty much already used to a character being able to be a sort of cat, being a past-fan of the show and book series; Nine Lives of Chloe King. But these Jaguars, or Haguari, as they are descended from, are very different from your usual shapeshifters. So it was very intriguing to get delved into the story.

Darkest Fear is the first novel in the “Birthright” series by Cate Tiernan, focusing on Vivi Neves, a girl who neglects her heritage and traditional family secret that details that she and her family, can turn into Jaguars because of their ancestors culture that makes them Haguari; shapeshifters. 
Among it’s fast-paced plot and twists, I had to stop a few times to catch myself up, because there’s this whole backstory about Vivi’s ancestors and then the element of her Parent’s death that piece by piece comes to light as the story goes on. So it’s one of those books that makes you think deeper into the world and not shallowly on the surface. 

Vivi was quite an unusual character for me. I’m used to the ones (in Fantasy books) that are so positive and influenced deeply by their heritage, but at the start Vivi is very against who she is by nature and doesn’t want to accept that being a shapeshifter is her birthright. She’s a very headstrong person with an innocent side that comes out toward the middle when there’s a spark of romance in her life when Rafe comes into the mix, although we’re not given too much away by his character, so I’m looking forward to seeing more about their developing relationship in the series. 
The other smaller-part characters that were a hit for me  and stood out the most were Matéo and Aly, definitely. They gave the book the right “balance” and were very strong on their own and at times, even gave Vivi a run for her money, not to mention they were entertaining and interesting in the plot itself. 

If you’re a fan of Cate’s Immortal Beloved series and Paranormal elements, you’ll love this on your shelf. Appealing and dark, Vivi’s world is unlike any other. It’s definitely got the enthralling factor and a huge back-story with a well developed heritage and culture, that’s pieced out as the book goes on. When it picks up by the middle, you won’t want to stop until the end.

 Have you read “Darkest Fear“?


What did you think? 

Tell me in the comments or at @LittleMemoirs on twitter!
happy reading!
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Review: “The 100” by Kass Morgan

 
 
 
 
 
Title: The 100
Author: Kass Morgan
Genre: Young Adult – Dystopian/Sci-Fi
Release Date: August 29, 2013
Published by: Hodder (UK) Little Brown (USA)
Format: Paperback ARC
 

 

Many
thanks to Hodder for the copy
of this novel! My opinions are all non-bias and I received this from
the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 In the future, humans
live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth’s toxic
atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet
will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a
growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their
homeland… before it’s too late.

Now, one hundred juvenile
delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth.
After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful
planet they’ve only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this
rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But
they’re haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To
survive, they must learn to trust – and even love – again.

 

 

I first heard about The 100 by some friends of mine who said it was an upcoming book that was already being picked up as a TV show by The CW (USA Channel). I knew straight away that I had to see what this incredibly raved about dystopian up-and-coming novel had that was so amazing! Luckily, the lovely people at Hodder sent me a copy for review, which I was so happy about; that I got to read early, YAY!

 

 The 100 has A LOT to rave about; believe me. From the startlingly eerie and striking cover, to the weaving conversation of the changing point-of-view’s, and not to mention the incomparable and thrilling plot.

There’s Clarke; who lost her parents, was arrested for treason and was betrayed by someone she loved a lot and wrongly convicted. Then there’s Wells; the chancellor’s son, who was the boy who Clarke was betrayed by, though he is still desperately in love with her and would do anything to make her forgive him, (think; limitless love, someone who would do anything for the person they loved, and you’ve got how Wells feels for Clarke). Bellamy started out as quite the rule breaker, but he was one half of the only pair of siblings left…in the universe. He fights his way onto the transport pod to Earth for his sister, and would do anything to help her and had to be there with her for the flight to Earth if it meant breaking all the rules. Glass was put on the transport pod for the exact same reason she got off it at the last possible minute she could. But what she didn’t expect, was that the ship above is just as dangerous as it would’ve been on Earth.

They are just FOUR of the hundred juvenile delinquents put on the transport pod to Earth where no one has stepped foot on for centuries. 

As soon as I started reading…me and this book hit it off straight away. The plot was addictive, especially toward the end…because that ending! I was literally reading this for a few hours and when I saw how far I’d gotten through the book, and how long I’d been reading for, I realised that The 100 was the perfect transition between what I was reading in the pages, to what I saw in a sort of 3D vision in my mind. The TV Show is going to be out of this world, quite literally. I rely on a novel to completely hold my attention throughout, and The 100 lived up to it with ease. 

The corners of his mouth twitched into a smirk. “You’re going to Earth.”

Even with the changing POV’s, I still felt like I connected with the characters, though some more than others. I felt more of a connection to Clarke, maybe because her personality was the most striking to me as a reader, or because she was introduced first, maybe? Anyhow, she was probably my favourite character, if I had one. There was drama, action, a little romance…I felt like the dystopian-esque scenes were my favourite to read about. Those scenes where it’s so futuristic and unlike I’d read before, that it just became un-put-down-able.

Kass recently told me on Twitter that she’s starting work on Book 2! Seriously excited for another dose of The 100, because if you read just one sci-fi/dystopian book this year…pick this one. It’s incomparable to any other book alike, but for fans of Divergent and the classic The Hunger Games, you will adore this.

 

Don’t let the changing POV’s put you off this novel, because if anything, that added to the depth I could read into The 100. I had more than one character’s world that the story could revolve around, which gave me added bonus time with all the characters and a more widespread outlook on the plot itself. Seriously loved this one, and although I’m more of a Paranormal type of girl, this book was the perfect change up.


I would love it if you could  Follow on Bloglovin  on bloglovin’! I love getting new followers and I promise there will always be a book here that you love.

 

Happy reading!

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