Collide by Michelle Madow (WOW #24)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that everyone’s excited about!

I should have died when I was shot at the Halloween dance. 

Instead, I woke up—one week earlier, in a parallel universe where my mom's fatal car accident six months ago never happened. 

A world with my mom still in it was all I ever wanted. But in this timeline, everything is different—my grades, my friends, and even my boyfriend. I'm a stranger in my own body, and I don’t like who I’ve become. 

But one thing is the same—that shooting will still happen at the end of the week. 

I'm the only one who knows. Which means I'm the only one who can stop it. 

But first I need to convince someone—anyone—that I’m telling the truth... and then get them to help me. 

Collide releases on February 9, 2017, from Dreamscape Publishing

Ooooooh, you guys this sounds good. Okay, so Madow's books in the past for me have been kind of hit or miss, granted they were mostly hits, and I am a tad hesitant about this one, but it does sound really interesting and the cover is just visually stunning. Plus I'm a sucker for time-travel/alternate universe fiction!

So, what are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Blog Tour Book Spotlight: Useless Bay

Release Date: October 18, 2016
Author: M.J. Beaufrand
Publisher: Amulet Books
Length: 240

A gritty, psychological thriller about a mythic set of sixteen-year-old quintuplets searching for a young boy.

On Whidbey Island, the Gray quintuplets are the stuff of legend. Pixie and her brothers have always been bigger and blonder than their neighbors, as if they were birthed from the island itself. Together, they serve as an unofficial search-and-rescue team for the island, saving tourists and locals alike from the forces of wind and sea. But, when a young boy goes missing, the mysteries start to pile up. While searching for him, they find his mother’s dead body instead—and realize that something sinister is in their midst. Edgar-nominated author M. J. Beaufrand has crafted another atmospheric thriller with a touch of magical realism that fans of mystery and true crime will devour.

Buy Links:

    

About the Author:

Mary Jane grew up in Gresham, Oregon. She’s a graduate of Wellesley College and has an MFA from the Bennington Writing Program. Currently, she lives in Seattle with her husband, two children, and dogs. In the eighties, she had a bad perm.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads

Giveaway:

Giveaway Details:
3 winners will receive a finished copy of USELESS BAY. US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/10/2017- The Autumn Bookshelf- Interview

10/11/2017- Zach's YA Reviews- Spotlight

10/12/2017- The Alchemy of Ink- Review

10/13/2017- Bean's Bookshelf and Coffee Break- Review

10/14/2017- Curling Up With A Good Book- Interview

Week Two:

10/17/2017- Michelle4Laughs: It's in the Details- Excerpt

10/18/2017- In a bookish world- Excerpt

10/19/2017- The Bookworm Central- Review

10/20/2017- Eli to the nth- Review

10/21/2017- Owl Always Be Reading- Excerpt

Book Review: Been Here All Along

Release Date: August 30. 2016
Author: Sandy Hall
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Length: 240 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

Gideon always has a plan. His plans include running for class president, becoming head of the yearbook committee, and having his choice of colleges. They do NOT include falling head over heels for his best friend and next door neighbor, Kyle. It’s a distraction. It’s pointless, as Kyle is already dating the gorgeous and popular head cheerleader, Ruby. And Gideon doesn’t know what to do.

Kyle finally feels like he has a handle on life. He has a wonderful girlfriend, a best friend willing to debate the finer points of Lord of the Rings, and social acceptance as captain of the basketball team. Then, both Ruby and Gideon start acting really weird, just as his spot on the team is threatened, and Kyle can’t quite figure out what he did wrong…

    

Review:

Characters: Wow there are a lot of characters in this book. Well actually, not a LOT, only four POVs, but since each chapter might switch between two or three POVs, it got a bit too much sometimes, but I'll talk about that in a while, first let me introduce you to the cast. First, we have Gideon, a very organized and highly intelligent individual, who' only claim to nerddom is a love for Lord of the Rings, and sooner or later he realizes that he's starting to have feelings for his best friend. That friend would be Kyle, a bisexual captain of the basketball team who's recently having a bit of trouble in school and if something doesn't change his future athletic career might be in jeopardy, and if that's not enough not long after coming out as bisexual to his girlfriend, she starts acting a bit weird.  The other two POVs are Kyle's girlfriend Ruby, who has some sub-plots of her own, but they're too tied up in the main story for me to talk about here, and Ezra, Gideon's older brother, who comes home after trying and failing to make it big as a surfer and finds a role to play in this story. Okay, I'm going to level with you guys, I wanted to like these characters, and it's not even that I dislike them, but they just didn't seem real to me. They weren't over the top or anything, or really even two-dimensional, it's just that I couldn't find myself caring about them. There were times when I felt something, but it never really lasted, which kind of made it worse since there was so much untapped potential.

Romance: I think it goes without saying that if I couldn't find myself caring about the characters that I couldn't really find myself caring about the romance. Again, it isn't even that the romance is bad, but the situation is a bit weird. With this being such a short book there wasn't a lot of time for things to be drawn out, but the way everything went down just feels a bit weird. This book definitely has pacing issues and the romance is one of them. I will say, though, that there are times in which Gideon and Kyle have some chemistry, and they are, during some parts kind of cute together, but if I compare it to most of the romances I've read, it just doesn't tug at my heartstrings as forcefully as the others.

World Building: This book is weird. Not in terms of plot per se, but in terms of how it's paced and formatted. Like I said before, I feel like there are not only too many narrators but with the POV switching at the very least once per chapter, even though there are prompts letting the reader know when the voice is switching, it can get confusing sometimes. Then there's the plot itself, it's not weird but it does feel very cliche. Minus the LGBT aspects, it almost feels as though this story is pulled out of a cheesy teen romcom movie. Then there's the writing. The writing was very bland. There was nothing about the writing that pulled me into the story. I've read cliche stories before, things that you'd see in cheesy movies, but as long as the writing is good it's easy to see past flaws like that, but everything in this book felt very clinical, I couldn't sense any real emotion behind the words, the author fails to paint a good picture of the scene and instead resort to naming off near useless facts and telling far more than showing.

Predictability: This book didn't really have any twists, I mean, there were things that I supposed were supposed to be twists, but given how cliche this book could be they were easy to see coming. The only time I wasn't really able to predict where this story was going to go wasn't because there was good foreshadowing or the author set it up, but more that it didn't go in line exactly with the cliche. For the most part this book just sort of flowed. It never really had any mysteries or unpredictability hidden in its depths.

Ending: I want to say this ending made up for everything, that it made me change my mind about things for the most part, but it didn't. In fact this ending kind of fits right alongside everything I've said about this book so far. It's cliche, it's easy to see where everything is going to end up and while towards the end there are a couple of moments that lightly pluck at my heartstrings, for the most part, as sad as I am to say it, I was just happy that this book was over.

Rating:

I had such high hopes for this book when I wished for it on NetGalley and actually got it I was so stoked, but it soon became apparent that this story just isn't for me. It's too cliche, the writing doesn't do anything for me, and while the main couple is kind of cute together, there's just too much about this book that feels like a hot mess.

Book Review: Second Star

Release Date: May 13, 2014
Author: Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Length: 248 pages
Source: eGalley from NetGalley

A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers.

Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete's nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she's falling hard for Pete.

A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up--and the troubled beauty trapped between them.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Wendy Darling's brothers have disappeared. Being surfers who constantly chased the next big wave she and her parents believed that's what they had done, until they never came home. Even though the case is closed and her parents believe her brothers are dead she hasn't given up hope. After graduating high school she finds herself looking for them and stumbles upon a group of squatters led by the charismatic Pete. Soon she finds herself even closer to figuring out what happened to her brothers, but soon enough her search leads her to Jas a local drug dealer and Pete's nemesis. I really like Wendy. Ever the optimist she never gives up hope of finding her brothers, even when almost everyone else says that she should. She's a strong and stubborn character who even when she finds herself caught between two guys never loses sight of her goal. I really enjoyed her journey and her development as this story unfolds.

Romance: Here's the thing, there's a love triangle in this book. Now normally I'm not a fan of love triangles since it's usually very easy to tell where the main character's heart lies. As they are sorting out their feelings for two people the reader usually already knows which makes it very aggravating to constantly read their indecision. However, even as the second love interest, Jas, becomes a contender for Wendy's heart, I was never quite sure where the story was going to go. I could see pros and cons with both guys and I love how the author did a fantastic job of making sure that the reader couldn't quite see who she'd choose. Since this is a standalone there is a choice made in this book, it's done in a nice and realistic way, neither of the romances was really rushed and since this is such a short book there wasn't really any agonizing over Wendy's choice. I'm very happy that there was not only a love triangle done right, but one done right in a standalone nonetheless.

World-Building: Going into this book all I knew about it was that it was a contemporary Peter Pan retelling, and I thought that it sounded like a nice summery book. However, I wouldn't call this a retelling. Much like some other "retellings" I've read, such as Gena Showalter's Alice in Zombieland, this is more inspired by the book rather than a straight up retelling. Characters share the same names, some even share similar motivations, but the story is almost completely different. That's not a quality I disliked, as the story was very compelling, but I kind of felt that if the author gave the characters different names I wouldn't have been able to really pick up on a Peter Pan vibe. That being said the author did create a fantastic story filled with surfing, romance, and mystery. The writing is so incredible is nearly made me want to drive out to the nearest beach and go surfing.

Predictability: This book did a pretty bang-up job in terms of predictability. At first I thought I had all the answers about where this story was going to go, but before I knew it I began doubting nearly everything. There was a fair bit of foreshadowing, but not really all that much which gave a sense of unknowing to the story. There are quite a few twists and turns to this story, some that aren't that hard to see coming, and a more that feel more like a wave crashing into you. Overall, it was a very twisted story and I was delighted to see how unpredictable it could be.

Ending: *sighs* This ending wasn't quite what I expected or hoped for. In the final climax of the book, there are quite a few twists, but it's almost over before it really begins. Then we have a fairly long cooldown period where things don't quite get wrapped up. If this wasn't a standalone novel I wouldn't have cared as much, there would still be time to fully wrap things up, and while there was enough wrapped up so that I wouldn't go crazy, it still wasn't enough. This really disappointed me because since this is such a short novel it felt like there was still space to finish the book in a much more complete way, and while I respect the author's right to end it where she did and almost understand why she did, I just can't help this sense that this story isn't quite finished.

Rating:

I feel bad for knocking a star off the rating, but how the story ended really bothers me. If the story up until that point hadn't been so phenomenal I wouldn't have cared so much, but because I loved it so much the disappointment at not getting a completely wrapped up ending was that large. All in all though if you're looking for a great summer read with some classic influence I'd highly recommend adding this one to your list!

Book Review: The Scourge

Release Date: August 30, 2016
Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Length: 368 pages
Source: Gifted ARC

As a lethal plague sweeps through the land, Ani Mells is shocked when she is unexpectedly captured by the governor's wardens and forced to submit to a test for the deadly Scourge. She is even more surprised when the test results come back positive, and she is sent to Attic Island, a former prison turned refuge -- and quarantine colony -- for the ill.

The Scourge's victims, Ani now among them, can only expect to live out short, painful lives there. However, Ani quickly discovers that she doesn't know the whole truth about the Scourge or the Colony. She's been caught in a devious plot, and, with the help of her best friend, Weevil, Ani means to uncover just what is actually going on.

But will she and Weevil survive long enough to do so?

    

Review:

Protagonist: Ani lives in river country with her family and a whole host of others. With no real motivation other than cultural differences she and the other River People are ostracized by the townsfolk and treated as second class citizens. So it's no surprise when Ani finds herself harassed by the governor's wardens, but being captured and tested for the newly resurfaced plague known as the Scourge is a shock she doesn't quite understand. Once she finds out she has it and she and her best friend are shipped off the the quarantined Attic Island the discover more than an island of sick folks. I really like Ani, she has a hard time staying out of trouble and stands up for what she believes regardless of the consequences. She's not perfect, like everyone she has her flaws but works overcome them over the course of this book. She's a strong character and for the amount of injustice flung upon her she's going to need all the strength she can get.

World-Building: Jennifer Nielsen always does a great job with world building, especially for a Middle Grade title it's hard to find the line between too much and not enough. Everything in this book is so well described and even though the majority takes place on an island that used to be a prison, we still learn more about the world outside. There are flashbacks and key pieces of exposition from other characters that let us know more about other countries, small influences of political intrigue, and the country of Keldan itself. Before I get into my oncoming rant/explanation I do want to address that for those who enjoy them, there is a bit of a romance in this book. It's not really a real subplot but it is there. I've seen a growing trend with some books where it seems authors will pick on their main characters in the form of one or multiple seemingly completely evil individuals who take it as their God given responsibility to make the life of our protagonist the worst it can be. This usually results in a game so rigged against our hero that it seems nigh impossible to win. While I don't have a problem with adversity for our hero, I do have to admit, sometimes as is with the case of this book it can seem a bit too cruel at first, but as aggravating as it is watching the deck get stacked against our hero, if they come through to the other side in a realistic way, the rush is totally worth the torture.

Predictability: I don't know how many times I've said it before, but I'll say it again; Jennifer A. Nielsen is the queen of twists. That's not to say that there aren't predictable twists, but for the most part this author always does a fantastic job of having just enough foreshadowing here, a good re herring here, and viola! A twist that's not only hard to see coming, but that looking back makes total sense. As I said before there are fairly big things that were predictable, but never in the way I expected. Most of the time the most expected thing would occur in the most unexpected way.

Ending: As this book headed into it's final chapters I could see that while this book would wrap up all in one book, that if the author wanted there could be more books in this world. This isn't unusual for me to think in a standalone, but in this one I could almost taste a second installment, but at the same time, I knew that not only wouldn't it happen, if things went the way I saw them it wouldn't quite fit with the characters. That being said the end to this book was pretty unbelievably awesome. The final climax was a mix of tension and hilarity, all leading up to a great, if not a tad too idealistic, ending chapter. The final chapter acts as an epilogue and wraps up the story even more, in that way that almost literally puts a final period on the end of this story.

Rating:

As with most of my five star reviews recently, this wasn't really a surprise, though there was a moment in the book where I almost knocked it down half a star, my aggravation was eventually made up for by a thrilling plot, a deep mystery, and the constancy of friendship.

Book Review: The Fire Artist

Release Date: October 14, 2014
Author: Daisy Whitney
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Length: 288 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

A forbidden romance literally heats up in this new fantasy from acclaimed author Daisy Whitney.

Aria is an elemental artist—she creates fire from her hands. But her power is not natural. She steals it from lightning. It’s dangerous and illegal in her world. When she’s recruited to perform, she seizes the chance to get away from her family. But her power is fading too fast to keep stealing from the sky. She has no choice but to turn to a Granter—a modern day genie. She gets one wish at an extremely high price. Aria’s willing to take a chance, but then she falls in love with the Granter . . . and he wants his freedom. Aria must decide what she’s willing to bargain and how much her own heart, body, and soul are worth.

In a world where the sport of elemental powers is the most popular form of entertainment, readers will be swept away by a romance with stakes higher than life and death.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Aria steals fire from the sky. She does this because it's the only way to keep her family together. However the process to take the fire isn't always reliable and after she's transferred to big leagues for her elemental artistry she needs to find a more sustainable and long lasting solution to her problem. The only other way to achieve a fire artist's abilities other than being born with it or taking it from the sky is to find a Granter and wish for the ability. However all Granter's require a price, is Aria willing to pay hers? I actually really liked the character of Aria, she isn't resigned to a single trope or stereotype, instead she comes off as a very realistic character, she cares about her family, her friends, and it's her protectiveness that leads her every move in this book. Over the course of this book Aria gets even stronger becomes a more fully developed character.

Romance: Going into this book, I felt that a large majority of it would focus on the romance, and with this being a fairly short standalone, I didn't find that unreasonable. However, there is very little of this book, comparatively, that focuses on the romance. Another thing I'm going to stick in here, I know that the synopsis is usually written by the publisher and not the author so I won't take any stars off for it, but this isn't a forbidden romance, at least not in the traditional sense. There are aspects to the romance that if you squint hard enough could be called forbidden, but the romance itself isn't. Anyway, my biggest problem is that since this is a standalone, the "L" word is going to inevitably come up, and my deal is; if it feels earned by the time the words come out, sure I'll roll with it and if not then hey they're just kids it's not like it's true love. However by the time it comes up, since there isn't all that much romance beforehand and this book is so short, it doesn't feel earned, I was actually hoping that the author would find a way to not even have to use the word love when describing these characters feelings but alas it just didn't feel right.

World-Building: If you get to the halfway point of this book, you'll probably feel that while there is a decent amount of world-building there isn't a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but hey, it's a standalone so there doesn't need to be an abundance of world-building. The things is though, that in the back half of this book there's a lot more world-building to discover. I'm not necessarily angry at the abundance of world-building, more that with as much as there was, I could have easily seen this book become a series. I felt like with all that we learned in the back half, it wouldn't be very hard at all to extend some things, add some things and develop the world and characters just a bit more and then there would be plenty of content for more book set in this world. Again, I'm not mad that the world is so complex by the end of the story, I'm more just a bit disappointed that there was a missed opportunity.

Predictability: This book was actually really unpredictable. There was a fair amount of foreshadowing, some that it was easy to tell that, while I may not know how that will pop up again, I'm sure it will, and some that I didn't even realize until it was too late that it was important. There was even some misleading foreshadowing that made it seem like something was a big deal or that it would make a larger impact later, only for it to sort of not come to a head. Overall I really enjoyed the unpredictability of this book, of course there were a few times when I was able to catch onto things before they were revealed, but you kind of want that in a book, you don't want to feel like the author totally pulled the wool over your eyes, or at least I don't.

Ending: The ending of this book was really weird. Like I said before with so much world-building introduced toward the end of this book, I could have easily seen it becoming a series, and toward the end there was a perfect place for a crazy cliffhanger ending. However since this is a standalone it moves on past that to tie things up at the end so that there are no loose ends. I did really enjoy the way things turned out, and I didn't necessarily think they were rushed or squeezed together in an awkward way, but at the same time, it just feels off. I can't quite put my finger on what but while it didn't feel rushed it sort of felt a bit too convenient maybe. Regardless, I enjoyed the ending, but there was just something about it that didn't completely sit right with me.

Rating:

On the whole I really enjoyed this story. It is a little bit of a slow start, the romance should have been given more page time and been developed a lot more, and there were a few parts in the book that were a tad confusing, but in the end I really enjoyed the world and the characters and look forward to what's next from this author.

Book Review: Argos

 Release Date: May 10, 2016
Author: Phillip W. Simpson
Publisher: Month9Books
Length: 300 pages
Source: eARC from Publisher

Loyalty has no limits

Raised from a pup by Greek hero, Odysseus, Argos has come to learn the true meaning of love and loyalty. But when Odysseus leaves for the Trojan War, little does Argos know it will be 20
years before he sees his master again. With Odysseus gone his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, are easy prey for neighboring kings and the Gods themselves.

But Argos was tasked to keep them safe until Odysseus returns and that is a promise he is
determined to keep – whatever the cost. Told through his eyes, Argos recounts the story of his life – his pain, his joy, his triumphs and failures; his endurance in the face of hardships almost too great to believe.

Above all else, Argos strives to do what is right – and to remain loyal to his King when all others have given up hope. To live long enough to see his beloved master one more time.

This epic myth of love and loyalty proves that a dog really is man's best friend.

    

Review:

Protagonist:So this is a new one for me. I've never before read a book where the protagonist isn't human, or well isn't humanoid. This book holds the story of Argos, the beloved dog of Odysseus. Argos is unlike other dogs, he has a special awareness that other dogs don't. This awareness makes him feel very much like a typical human/humanoid narrator. He has complex thoughts and emotions, and is nearly loyal to a fault. I really loved the character of Argos, he has such a love for his family, a deep protectiveness over them, and it drives nearly every choice he makes.

World-Building: So confession time, I may have said it in another review already but if not here it goes, I haven't read The Odyssey yet. However that doesn't really matter here. I mean it does a little bit, but from what I do know about Odysseus and the little I researched before writing this review, there is very little of The Odyssey in these pages, instead it tells the life of a minor character, Argos, and by extant some of the key players in The Odyssey. Fear not though, this book is still steeped in Greek Mythology, there are plenty appearances by both Greek gods and Greek monsters.

Predictability: So, there's a lot to this book that's predictable. It's sort of obvious where it's going and how the end comes into play. However, I guess that's not where the twists and unpredictable moments would be. That being said though, I honestly can't think of any unpredictable moments. I mean things happened that I wasn't completely expecting, but they weren't really shocking or surprising. That being said though, this story never quite got boring. Even though I was neither shocked nor surprised, this book still managed to keep a nice steady, for not a bit swift, pace, which I actually enjoyed quite a bit.

Ending: So like I said the ending's, kind of, incredibly predictable, or at least it is for a 22 year old. That being said though the final climax was awesome. For those who have read The Odyssey, you can no doubt guess what the final climax of this tale is. As this book comes to a close, there aren't any loose ends. I mean sure there are things I'm curious about, but they're small. Then comes the epilogue. It's short, sweet, and maybe made me tear up a little bit.

Rating:

Even though this is a Middle Grade story it's extremely compelling and very fun to read. It's a fairly short read and it's just one of those books that warms your heart. If Middle Grade isn't your thing I'd still recommend it for those who enjoy a good Greek Mythology inspired tale.

Book Review: The Star-Touched Queen

Release Date: April 26, 2016
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Length: 352 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

Cursed with a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, sixteen-year-old Maya has only earned the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her world is upheaved when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. But when her wedding takes a fatal turn, Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Yet neither roles are what she expected. As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds friendship and warmth.

But Akaran has its own secrets - thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Beneath Akaran's magic, Maya begins to suspect her life is in danger. When she ignores Amar's plea for patience, her discoveries put more than new love at risk - it threatens the balance of all realms, human and Otherworldly.

Now, Maya must confront a secret that spans reincarnated lives and fight her way through the dangerous underbelly of the Otherworld if she wants to protect the people she loves.

Inspired by Indian mythology.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Maya has lived her whole life under a dark cloud. Because of the horoscope she was assigned at birth, people treat her differently. She's looked down upon by the other women in her father's harem and even by most of her siblings. After a few near fatal series of events she finds herself married to Amar and queen of a country she's never heard of, and has to trust in Amar to tell her things when the time is right. For the most part I really liked the character of Maya, she's strong willed and wise, but she still has flaws. She has trust issues that pretty much are the cause of the main drama in this book. Overall though I really liked her development as a character even if there were times when things seemed to move forward too quickly.

Romance: At first this romance moves fairly slow. Things are handled delicately and I really started to root for Maya and Amar, then pretty much everything went to hell. I don't mind a bit of adversity and hardship in the relationships I read about, in fact I prefer it as it usually makes for a more realistic and enjoyable romance, however the way the adversity of this romance was done really weird. I'll try and explain with as few spoiler as possible, but essentially toward the middle of this book the drama surrounding this romance come to a head before I've definitively decided how I feel one way or another, and then I'm just kind of told what to feel, and it made for a really uneven romance.

World-Building: So I don't know that much about Indian mythology, in fact I'm pretty sure I knew nothing at all before going into this book and I'm not sure how much this is inspired by the mythology or if it actually takes stories and concepts from the mythology itself. Either way though the world building of this book was done really well. The journey Maya goes on, the things she sees, everything just sort of comes together and meshes well. The world is large and vibrant and the mythological spin put on it made this an unforgettable fantasy standalone.

Predictability: So I'd say for about the first half of this book or so I felt like I knew where things wer going, I knew what to expect in terms of twists and turns this book would take. Then things got really cloudy. Much like Maya I had some trust issues with characters, trust issues that weren't completely explained, but I digress. The second part of this book is very different from the first and while it's not hard to predict how basic and vague concepts would go, there were still a lot of smaller things that surprised me going into the end of this book.

Ending: So there's a lot to this ending. First off there's a lot that's explained and questions that have just been festering for a lot of the book finally get answered right before the final climax. The final climax was a bit of let down. Things just happened way too quickly and easily and I would have really loved more of a fight or more a struggle to get there, at least a physical struggle, not an emotional one. Since this is a standalone everything is neatly tied up, though I sort of hope the author returns to this world, there still seems to be much to explore in this world, even if it's not about these specific characters.

Rating:

There's a lot about this book that I loved and if you're looking for a great standalone fantasy novel, look no further than this one. However I wasn't all that jazzed about the uneven romance and there were still a couple of things left a bit unclear by the end.

The Scourge by Jennifer A. Nielsen (WOW #12)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that everyone’s excited about!

As a lethal plague sweeps through the land, Ani Mells is shocked when she is unexpectedly captured by the governor's wardens and forced to submit to a test for the deadly Scourge. She is even more surprised when the test results come back positive, and she is sent to Attic Island, a former prison turned refuge -- and quarantine colony -- for the ill. The Scourge's victims, Ani now among them, can only expect to live out short, painful lives there. However, Ani quickly discovers that she doesn't know the whole truth about the Scourge or the Colony. She's been caught in a devious plot, and, with the help of her best friend, Weevil, Ani means to uncover just what is actually going on. 

But will she and Weevil survive long enough to do so?

The Scourge releases on August 30, 2016 from Scholastic Press

I will read pretty much ANYTHING from Jennifer A. Nielsen, and this book sounds ominous and AWESOME! The way this author writes is utterly captivating and I'm so excited that there will be a new book before the final Mark of the Thief book, because the wait for that would have been just too long!

So, what are you waiting for this Wednesday?