Book Nerd Rambles

Title: Never Never

Series: Never Never

Author: Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Rating: 5/5 ★★★★★

Release Date: January 7th, 2015

Type: eBook - NOOK

Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery, Suspense, YA, NA

Pages: 140

Synopsis:

Best friends since they could walk. In love since the age of fourteen.
Complete strangers since this morning.
He'll do anything to remember. She'll do anything to forget. [From Goodreads (x)]

My Thoughts:

I am definitely biased when it comes to Colleen Hoover because she's one of my all time favorites. Her writing always has the ability to grab me and haul me into her books and not let go until the very last page. This lovely book was no different. However it was quite interesting reading a collaboration between her and an author who I've never read a book from before. I could tell what parts were Colleen's and what parts were Tarryn's because of that but I could always tell what Tarryn added to the story. It's was like their writing added to each others to make something even more amazing. I don't think I've ever read such a solid collaboration before. 

Now for what I loved about the book itself; two words, the mystery. I'm usually one of those impatient readers that spends the whole book watching for any bits of foreshadowing she can get her hands on so that she can figure out what's going to happen ahead of time and while I was looking for foreshadowing with this too I enjoyed the mystery of it more than I ever have any other book. I mean a boy and a girl are in the middle of a class and suddenly they have no memory of anything. No clue whats happened to them. No clue who they are, where they are. They don't know a single thing, not even their own names. It was intriguing from line one. The more you find out about the both of them the more questions you have because the answers never give you the actual answers you want. You have vague moments of realization where you think you might know what's going on but they're never confirmed. And I absolutely loved the romance because it wasn't thrown in your face. It was more subtle. Different from past Colleen Hoover books I've read since romance is a major factor in most of her books. It's definitely for someone who is into a neat little wrapped package of suspense, mystery, the hint of something supernatural, and a tad bit of romance.   

Also be warned, you're in for a shocking ending if you pick this up. I was on the edge of my seat by the time I got close to the ending. You'll either want to throw the book and or e-reader or you'll want to fast forward to May 17th and have part two right that second. I for one can't wait for part two and I'm counting down the days.

Another book from Colleen Hoover that I absolutely loved and a great introduction to Tarryn Fisher's writing for me.

About The Author(s):

Colleen Hoover:

COLLEEN HOOVER is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Slammed, Point of Retreat, This Girl, Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cinderella, and Maybe Someday. She lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys. You can visit her at https://colleenhoover.com/ [Used from the back of my copy of Ugly Love]

Tarryn Fisher:

TARRYN FISHER is a New York Times and USA Today best selling author. She was born in South Africa, drinks a sick amount of Starbucks and currently resides in Seattle. You can visit her at http://www.tarrynfisher.com/ [From her lovely website (x)]

Note: I cross-post on my goodreads so when I post a review here it shows up on there as well. [And then I slightly edit it because all the extra info I add on here isn't needed on there.]. 

Title: Seeker

Series: Seeker

Author: Arwen Elys Dayton

Rating: 3/5 ★★★☆☆

Release Date: February 10th, 2015

Type: ARC from NetGalley

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Pages: 448

Synopsis:

The night Quin Kincaid takes her Oath, she will become what she has trained to be her entire life. She will become a Seeker. This is her legacy, and it is an honor. As a Seeker, Quin will fight beside her two closest companions, Shinobu and John, to protect the weak and the wronged. Together they will stand for light in a shadowy world. And she'll be with the boy she loves--who's also her best friend.

But the night Quin takes her Oath, everything changes. Being a Seeker is not what she thought. Her family is not what she thought. Even the boy she loves is not who she thought.

And now it's too late to walk away. [From Goodreads (x)]

My Thoughts:

I, sadly, don't think this book was for me. The synopsis thoroughly intrigued me and the author starts it off so well but I wasn't able to bring myself to finish it. One of the rare times where I have DNF'ed a book because I always try to finish a book no matter what.

I couldn't connect with the characters and when the story was able to pull me in it was progressing so slowly that my thoughts would wander off to something else and then I wasn't in the story anymore. I couldn't figure out the setting which confused me greatly because half the time it felt like it was futuristic and the other half it felt like you were in the middle ages. The first chapter had a strong hook and immediately pulled me in with this feeling like I was going into something that reminded me of the whole middle ages knights and dragons or hero type things but it went downhill for me after that. The author throws so many mysteries at you that you want answers to but instead of answers she just throws more mysteries and it was frustrating for me as well as confusing. I just wasn't able to get into it like I had hoped I would be able too. 

However, the reason I'm giving this book 3 stars instead of a lower rating even though I didn't finish it is because Arwen Elys Dayton's writing is spectacular. She paints very vivid images in her descriptions and that's not overshadowed by what I didn't like or the fact that I couldn't connect with the story. I felt at times that it may have been written to be geared toward readers younger than myself and that that's why I wasn't as into it but all of that aside I can't deny that for the right readers this book could be incredible. It's a story of mystery, villains, heros, heros who become villains, death, a bit of heartbreak, somewhat of a love triangle, and can be quite shocking at moments. And even though I didn't connect with it I think someone else might so if you're into any of the above then give it a try. You might love it. 

About The Author:

Arwen began her career as a teenage staff writer at a foundation that produced Peabody Award-winning educational shows for PBS. Soon afterward, she began writing screenplays and novels, including Sovereign’s Hold and Resurrection, the #1 Amazon bestseller in Sci-Fi in both the US and the UK.

She spends months doing research for her stories. Her explorations have taken her around the world to places like the Great Pyramid (which she explored by flashlight when researching Resurrection), Hong Kong and its many islands, and lots of ruined castles in Scotland. She enjoys creating complete worlds inhabited by characters who charm, frustrate or inspire.

Arwen lives with her husband and their three children on the West Coast of the United States. You can visit her at arwendayton.com and follow @arwenelysdayton on Twitter and Instagram, or reach her by email at arwenelysdayton@gmail.com. [From Goodreads (x)]

Note: I cross-post on my goodreads so when I post a review here it shows up on there as well. [And then I slightly edit it because all the extra info I add on here isn't needed on there.]. 

Title: Opposition

Series: Lux

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Rating: 5/5 ★★★★★

Release Date: August 5th, 2014

Type: eBook - NOOK

Genre: SciFi, Fantasy, Romance, Suspense, YA

Pages: 267 (500+ in the physical copy)

Synopsis:

Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came.

She can't believe Daemon welcomed his race or stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred, and love has become an emotion that could destroy her—could destroy them all.

Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal.

They must team with an unlikely enemy if there is any chance of surviving the invasion. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything— even what they cherish most—to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.

War has come to Earth. And no matter the outcome, the future will never be the same for those left standing. [From Goodreads (x)]

My Thoughts:

I'm probably a tad bit biased simply because Jennifer L. Armentrout is one of my absolute favorite authors but she honestly knows how to end a series. I don't have a single bad thing to say about this book. It was everything I had hoped for and expected and even more. She wrapped up each and every plot so nicely and while I usually feel that certain things are lost in a series ending book because a lot has to happen in them there wasn't anything lost in this one for me.

For those that have read the other books in the Lux series you know that the previous book ended in a cliffhanger with the Luxen invading. Well this one starts just a bit after that, with Daemon, Dee, and Dawson gone because they've run off with the invading Luxen. It starts a bit confusing because you're trying to find out why they ran off with them but you find out pretty early on why and then the action starts. A lot happens in this book, so much so that I was awed by the amount of things the author had going on. It had me worrying pretty early on that there was no way everything was going to wrap up in a nice little package by the time it ended and that I was going to be left with questions, plot holes, and overall a sense of disappointment and wanting more. However, I felt none of that. But then again I should have expected nothing less from JLA since I've read many of her other books and have always been left with that conclusiveness at the end of each one, including this one now. 

If you haven't gotten to the last book in the Lux series I can honestly say you're going to love how it ends. This series took me on one wild ride full of action, suspense, mystery, romance, and even heartbreak. Everything I love in a book and series. And while it was very heavily focused on romance in the beginning that's definitely not the complete focus in this book or even as the series progressed up to this book. However if you're someone who doesn't like something with a very romance heavy plot they might not be for you because it's always there even if it's not the complete focus. If you are though then that is the icing on the cake for these books, you'll love them. 

I'm having a bit of trouble gathering my thoughts having just finished the book twenty or so minutes ago so this review is a bit shorter than normal and probably a bit lacking because I don't want to spoil a single bit of it for anyone who hasn't read it. I will say this though, it was an amazing end to an amazing series and once again Jennifer L. Armentrout has left me speechless with her writing and her ability to go out with a bang, wrap up everything nicely for her readers, and leave them with a bittersweetness over it having ended but satisfied and how it did.

About The Author:

#1 New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Jennifer L. Armentrout lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. When she's not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell, Loki,

Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult and new adult romance under the name J. Lynn.

You can visit her online at http://www.jenniferarmentrout.com/

Note: I cross-post on my goodreads so when I post a review here it shows up on there as well. [And then I slightly edit it because all the extra info I add on here isn't needed on there.]. 

I've been putting off reading this lovely since it was released because I didn't want the series to end. Although by now I've already spoiled a good 65% of the book because I'm a horrible spoiler addicted person. Anyway, reading The Taking actually made me think about it and so I'm finally reading it! 

Title: The Taking

Series: The Taking

Author: Kimberly Derting

Rating: 4.5/5 ★★★★☆

Release Date: April 29th, 2014

Type: Library Loan

Genre: SciFi, Fantasy, Romance, Suspense, Mystery, YA

Pages: 357

Synopsis:

A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.

When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.

Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own? [From Goodreads (x)]

My Thoughts:

Kimberly Derting starts off the book with a bang! Or more like a bright flash of light. From the very first line the book pulled me in. I mean one day you're living your life, worrying about college, parents, a boyfriend, and then suddenly you wake up and it's five years later except for you it doesn't feel like it's been five years. For you it feels like it was just yesterday but then you find out you've actually been missing for five years. The mystery, confusion, and suspense of that automatically grabbed my attention as well as Kimberly Derting's writing. She paints the picture perfectly to the point where I could actually feel the main characters confusion and anxiety from not understanding whats happened to her. I mean it's five years later her parents are divorced, she has a step father and a little brother, her boyfriends off at college dating her best friend, and she's not changed one bit. Literally, well as far as she knows at that point. Her whole life has changed around her. That's a lot to take in. 

I loved the mystery and suspense of the book. It managed to grab my attention and take me on an adventure. It was to the point where I actually didn't want to finish the book because I didn't want it to end and just the thought of having to wait for the sequel made me feel impatient. I also loved the tad bit of romance she introduced between the main character and her (ex) boyfriends little brother. I know what you're thinking; that's gross. At first I was a bit deterred at the thought of that too but it's actually not as bad as you're thinking. And while the romance is a part of the story it doesn't overshadow everything else going on. Because a lot is going on. Just picture government agents, conspiracy theories, memory gaps, a group of people who are younger than their age, and the belief in life outside earth. Kimberly Derting takes something that could be completely cliche and cringe worthy and makes it interesting and new.

Although there are a few things that caused an eye roll from me here and there. I didn't like how self centered the main character could be at times. It made moments where she turned into another cliche whiny main character. I understood how her whole life had changed while she was gone but it was like she expected everyone to put their lives on hold without her there. Which just isn't realistic. I also felt it could do without the constant reminder that Tyler was her ex boyfriends little brother. I wanted to love the romance and I did but those moments when that was mentioned was kind of like a bucket of ice thrown over it all. I also felt that the whole mother, step father, and little brother plot should have been explored more. It was lacking for me in that department. The same goes for her best friend. I didn't mind the whole dropping of the ex boyfriend thing but I wanted more of her best friend. I hope that those thing's are explored more as the series goes on. Especially where her mother is concerned. 

Overall the book was incredible and ends leaving you wanting more. So now I'm impatiently waiting for the release of the second book. I can't wait to see how Kimberly Derting builds and changes this world throughout the series!

Note: The second book to The Taking series The Replaced is to be released on April 28th , 2015.

About The Author:

Kimberly Derting is the author of The Body Finder, Desires of the Dead, The Last Echo, and Dead Silence, which are as much coming-of-age romances as they are paranormal thrillers, as well as the dystopic fantasies The Pledge and The Essence. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where the gloomy weather is ideal for writing anything dark and creepy. Her three beautiful (and often mouthy) children serve as an endless source of inspiration and frequently find things they say buried in the pages of their mother's books. You can visit her online at www.kimberlyderting.com [From the back of the book]

Note: I cross-post on my goodreads so when I post a review here it shows up on there as well. [And then I slightly edit it because all the extra info I add on here isn't needed on there.]. 

Title: A Thousand Pieces of You

Series: Firebird

Author: Claudia Gray

Rating: 4/5 ★★★★☆

Release Date: November 4th, 2014

Type: Library Loan

Genre: SciFi, Fantasy, Romance, YA

Pages: 357

Synopsis:

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure. [From Goodreads]

Quote that I felt summed up the book for me:

""In other words," I said, "you're trying to prove the existence of fate.""

My Thoughts:

I have to admit I went into this book with absolutely no idea what it was about only that I had seen the cover on my instagram feed so many times that I had become increasingly curious about the book. So, when I saw the book at my library I grabbed it automatically and I must say I'm surprised at how much I ended up loving it.

Claudia Gray has built this amazingly complex world where you can travel to different dimension yet there's a catch; the main character is out to kill someone she think's murdered her father and dimension travel requires taking over that dimension's version of yous body. Which of course means that that dimension's you takes the backseat and has someone else controlling their body. Or is it really someone else since it's just a different version of you? Throw in a bit of romance, misunderstanding, and secrets and you have the makings of a wild adventure that can pull a reader in and make them want to not stop reading. 

I found the world and the characters in all their flaws absolutely beautiful and I loved how she made the plot complex because it's not just about how messed up and dangerous the world has become for the main character and everyone she cares about because of dimension travel but it's also a story about fate. It's like it's several different stories in one. On one hand you have the danger but then you have this theory that one of the characters believes in about how no matter what universe the same people are always meant to find each other. In other words the character wants to scientifically prove the existence of fate and destiny. I found that beautiful. 

So if you're looking for an action pact story with all it's dangers and suspense but at the same time want a bit of romance then this book is perfect for you. So run to your local library or bookstore because you won't regret it. 

I for one can't wait for the next book so I can continue the journey with the characters!

About The Author:

Claudia Gray is the pseudonym of New Orleans-based writer Amy Vincent, the author of the New York Times bestselling Evernight series. She has worked as a lawyer, a journalist, a disc jockey, and an extremely poor waitress. Her grandparents' copy of Mysteries of the Unexplained is probably the genesis of her fascination with most things mysterious and/ or inexplicable.

Visit her online at www.claudiagray.com [From the back of the book]