The Review Chain: Level Up (Fandom Hearts #1) by Cathy Yardley + GIVEAWAY! (CLOSED)

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Rating: PG-13

Score: ❤❤❤1/2

Genre: Romance, Contemporary

Page Count: 151

Book #1 of the Fandom Hearts series

Publisher: Cathy Yardley

Published: December 30th, 2015

Geeky introvert Tessa Rodriguez will do whatever it takes to get promoted to video game engineer– including create a fandom-based video game in just three weeks. The only problem is, she can't do it alone. Now, she needs to strong-arm, cajole, and otherwise socialize with her video game coworkers, especially her roommate, Adam, who’s always been strictly business with her. The more they work together, though, the closer they get…

Adam London has always thought of his roomie Tessa as “one of the guys” until he agreed to help her with this crazy project. Now, he’s thinking of her all the time… and certainly as something more than just a roommate! But his last girlfriend broke up with him to follow her ambitions, and he knows that Tessa is obsessed with getting ahead in the video game world.

Going from friends to something more is one hell of a challenge. Can Tessa and Adam level up their relationship to love?

Review:

PROS:

1. Upon first reading about this book, I thought it sounded super cute and would be a breeze for me to read since I adore any book that has to do with video games, graphic art and anything nerdy. This book was a combination of all three and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy and read it. I was really excited for this book going in and I'm so happy I got that chance to read it and review it for you all! Let's get on into the review! 

2. Special thanks to the author for sending me an e-copy of the book in exchange for an honest review! To start off, I really loved Tessa's character! Not only was she an introverted young woman working in a heavily male-dominated line of work, she was also an ambitious and determined Latina woman working hard to be recognized for her skills in coding. She wanted to work hard and earn respect for what she did and by continuously pursuing her career, she challenged herself in many ways that were at first hard for her such as being social with people, making friends and getting out of the house and out of her comfort zone.

3. I also liked that the relationship evolved quite nicely in my opinion between Tessa and her roommate Adam. At first, they're nothing more than roommates, not even friends. As they both continue to search for their place in their line of work and hone in on their coding skills, they go from roommates to good friends and eventually, a sweet romance blossoms between them. It was entertaining and swoon-worthy to watch their relationship evolve and made for an easy and fun read throughout the book. The characters were also very fun and lively, showing their support for each other in many parts of the book that I really enjoyed.

CONS:

1. I did have a few problems with this short chick-lit read, however. My first issue was that the initial first kiss in the novel was a bit random. It felt a little out of place, like it was kind of just thrown in and never mentioned afterward. It felt too quick and easy especially since Tessa was very shy and introverted and it felt like too sudden of a move for her character to make at the time it happens. 

2. I also would have loved a bit more fleshing out of the supporting characters as I really enjoyed seeing them pop into the story and wanted a bigger presence from them. They added a lot to the book and I wanted to see more of them as I read. I also would have liked a bit more romantic development. I know I said earlier that their relationship developed nicely, which it did, but the romantic FEELINGS on both their parts felt a little out of left-field, too quick, almost over night. There wasn't that slow simmering build-up of romantic feelings that I personally love seeing in romantic reads. If I had seen more of that, I think I would have absolutely LOVED this book. 

Overall, it was a quick and easy read, perfect to relax with. I think if you're a reader who loves a good geeky romance story, then definitely pick this one up and see what you think! I do plan on reading the sequel to this book, which I will be posting a review of later in the month so stay tuned for that. I did enjoy "Level Up" and I hope more readers out there can enjoy the book either as much or more than I did.

Please Note: I would recommend this book to OLDER readers as it does contain mature content.

You Can Purchase The Book Here:

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About The Author:

Cathy Yardley needs to get out more. When not writing, she's usually lurking on social media, playing Fallout 4, or watching D-list movies and adding to her unnatural mental store of character-actor trivia. She's a fangirl of Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherock, LOTR,  and too many others to name.  She lives with her family in Seattle.  They are considering performing an intervention for her addiction to pop culture.

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The Review Chain: Article Three (Systemet #1) by Anna Jakobsson Lund + GIVEAWAY! (CLOSED)

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Rating: PG-13

Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction

Score: ❤❤❤1/2

Page Count: 349

Book #1 of the Systemet Trilogy

Publisher: Annorlunda förlag

Published: March 3rd, 2015

Trust will get you killed – and trust will keep you alive

In a world where the System governs everything, Ava’s a rebel – one who can control other people’s thoughts with her mind. As part of a resistance movement preparing for war, this is a useful skill. 

Levi stopped believing in the struggle for freedom when it snatched his parents from him. Now he’s just trying to live a quiet life and control the voices that threaten his sanity. 

One night Levi’s sister is arrested. To free her, he has to break old promises and get involved with people he swore he’d never associate with. Ava’s ordered to help him and, together, they leave on a rescue mission. She says he has to trust the rebels. But should they?

Review:

PROS:

1. Special thank you to the very talented author herself for sending a physical copy of the book my way in order for me to review it! As part of The Review Chain, I was sent a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Before I can ramble on too much about how interesting the synopsis sounded and how the sound of it had me interested in the novel when I first read it, let's just get right into the review, shall we? But can we appreciate that cover though?

2. Right off the bat, I was getting some CITY OF EMBER vibes from this novel which I was totally digging as the book played out. It's not necessarily a post-apocalyptic book, but it does take place in a time of uprising as it is an espionage action novel with an underlying dystopia tone that really intrigued me as I read the book. The main characters of this novel are working undercover to save one of their own who have been arrested by The System and have to go a long and potentially dangerous journey in order to save their friend. There were quite a few elements of this novel that I appreciated and made the story interesting and enjoyable as it plays out.

3. One thing I really loved about the novel was the world building. It was detailed yet simplified with the descriptions which made for a beautifully smooth and uncomplicated way of explaining the world of the book to the reader. The author used a simple and straightforward writing style which went very well with one of the POVs in this book as that particular character saw the world in a very straightforward, black-and-white way. At first, it was a little hard to get the hang of what the world looked and felt like since the beginning of the book wastes no time in getting right into the story but after a few pages, you're able to visualize this almost futuristic system with ease. 

4. Another thing I liked about this novel was the air of mistrust throughout the book. The characters can trust literally no one, not even each other as the rebellion takes shape and action on bringing down The System. With a lot to lose at stake for the character, the atmosphere of mistrust really adds that little extra magic to the story that kept me as a reader entertained and wanting to know who was really worthy of trusting and wondering just what each characters' motives really were. The paranoia that characters were feeling makes the reader feel as if they are on the mission with them, making it somewhat interactive in that sense.

CONS:

Originally Published in Swedish March 3rd, 2015

1. While I enjoyed this novel for the most part, I was a little let down by the choice of it being written in third-person for the POVs of the characters. This novel would have been killer to read in first-person for each of the POVs as it would have allowed me personally to really connect with the characters and get to know them and how they think, feel, and act, which was something I wasn't able to do while reading. I'm not sure if the third-person writing kept me from attaching myself to the characters as it distanced them from me, or if it just didn't work for me because of the kind of fast-paced story it was but I was disappointed that none of the characters really clicked for me. I wanted to love them but I wasn't really able to connect with any of them for some reason.

2. There is a lot happening throughout the book and a lot of information coming at you about The System and the rebellion and while it is paced nicely, it's still a lot of info. I found myself kind of feeling like I was drowning in all the information at some points, it just wasn't sinking in fast enough. However, if you're the kind of reader who doesn't mind a lot of information about this kind of dystopia world, you might enjoy the book just fine.

Overall, I did really like the book and the crazy plot twist did catch me by surprise, almost blowing my mind as I read. I don't know if I'll reread this one in the future but I would definitely recommend it to all dystopian book lovers. Article Three is totally a game-changer to the dystopian genre as it includes different elements that make it a unique read in the ocean of cookie-cutter dystopian novels out there. 

You Can Purchase The Book Here:

Amazon

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About The Author:

I’ve always been a daydreamer. As a kid I wasn’t that interested in other children, I wanted to be left alone with my mind and let it tell me stories. Distant worlds and time travel were frequently reoccurring topics. I was usually the hero, with the occasional side-kick. Writing came naturally to me, as a way to try to catch the stories, and later on, to share those with the friends I did manage to get, despite being somewhat strange.

Adulthood didn’t stop the daydreaming, but it made me use less of it in my writing. Instead I wrote poetry and more conventional stories. Boring stories.

When I was pregnant with my second child I’d enough of them. I’d self-published one novel; a neat piece of relationship drama where nothing happened. I loved the characters but the plot was too slow. Writing, publishing and marketing were hard work, and if I was going to do it again it would not be with a boring story.

My brain rescued me by playing me a scene I’d first come up with as a teen. I knew that the street depicted was from the future, and that the boy getting beat up was on a quest to save his sister. I also had the idea that the girl saving him (who had been me in the original story, of course) was part of a resistance movement.

I ran with that, started writing and discovered the kind of writer’s high I hadn’t experienced since I was a kid. As I finished that first book (Article Three) more ideas kept entering my daydreams. Not just about the two other parts of what would be The System trilogy, but ideas that could be turned into short stories and new novels. My mind is as creative now that it has ever been, which is no small blessing for a mum of small children.

The wonderful thing about sci-fi and fantasy is that you don’t have to be tied down by norms and rules of the ordinary world.  You’re still able to address modern day issues, though. I try to use this in my writing by exploring themes that make the reader question his or her own views as well as society’s. I use characters that are not often depicted in main-stream literature. People I find interesting, who stretch our notion about what parts people usually play in literature. In my writing there’re no alpha-dogs and no damsels in distress. I’ve even declared my books love-triangle free. It sounds like a joke, but I want other things for my readers than the question about which hot guy the main character is going to choose at the end.

I’m an indie-publisher, which is equal parts funny and exhausting, and I have four novels published in Swedish. The idea to get my novels translated professionally and try to reach a larger audience is more than a little crazy, but as I started discussing it with fellow writers I couldn’t quite shake it. As I grow older I get increasingly less afraid, and also crazier, and I feel like I would be stupid not to follow my dreams when I have the chance.

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The Review Chain: The Deepest Black by Rainy Kaye

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Rating: PG-13

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal

Score: ❤❤❤

Page Count: 208

Stand Alone

Publisher: Kindle

Published: May 27th, 2016

Ember has a little problem...Fairies want her dead. 

Ember spends her Friday nights lurking in the bad parts of town, killing fairies. It’s either that, or become a victim of their flesh-eating hunger. 

Then she meets Remy, a fae who, despite getting on her nerves, isn’t evil. He tells her that a shadow has been consuming his world, changing its inhabitants and letting destructive beasts into his city. He is searching for his brother who went missing during the catastrophe. 

When mercenaries come for Ember, she has little choice but to join Remy in his quest. Together, they decide to bait a trap. What they find reveals the destruction of the fae world means the end of the human world, too–and it’s Ember’s fault.

Rating:

PROS:

1. When I first heard of this book through The Review Chain, I was actually really interested in reading it even though I'm not a fan of urban fantasy and I try my hardest to avoid the genre since I haven't had good experiences with it in the past. It's always good to get out of your comfort zone, however, and since this book had me feeling curious about the story, I decided to give it a go and was surprised to find I liked the book more than a lot of urban fantasy books I've read in the past. Here's the review:

2. I liked our main character Ember since she was a bit of a hard head and didn't like answering to people. She was very much her own person as well and while that can come across as an annoying character trait, it made me interested in her character from the get-go. She was a tough cookie who was ready for any fight that came her way and throughout the book, we follow her as she tries to unravel the mystery of why she has the ability to see Fae, only knowing that it is killed or be killed. She runs into a character named Remy who only reveals enough of himself to get Ember to trust him but not much more than that. He has an air of mystery surrounding him and they team up to figure out what's really going on with the world of the Fae, uncover and stop a curse from destroying all the Fae and the human world, and find an elixir to keep the dark Fae at bay while also trying to find Remy's brother whom he believes was kidnapped by the evil Fae. They interacted well together even though sometimes they didn't see eye to eye but overall, they knew their goals and were willing to help each other out.

Source

3. The book has a few different fantasy elements that mix well together as the story progresses and I loved the aspect of two worlds colliding. The book had witches, Fae, beasties, magic, a mysterious darkness taking over the world, changelings, curses and a few more things that were fun to read about and kept me interested. While the mystery wasn't amazing and the pace a bit awkward, the action scenes were intense and there were plenty of twists and turns in the story. The writing was great as well and I think Rainy Kaye is definitely a great writer in the words she uses and the descriptions that came across nicely which made the world easy for me to imagine as a reader. 

CONS:

1. While I liked the book and it was a great way to get out of my comfort zone, I did have a few problems with the storyline. For one, it was a little hard to follow and had me scratching my head a few times as I tried to figure out how certain events fit in with the rest of the story. It felt a little awkward and sometimes felt like it came out of left field, leaving me confused and the book scattered. It seemed like the story was wanting to go in different directions and it had a hard time choosing which path to take. 

2. I also felt like the 'hook' at the beginning of the book was great but it kind of lost that energy as the story played out. Not only because the storyline felt scattered but also because there was a constant trust/distrust of Remy that really distracted me from the story, not to mention the romance between Ember and Remy felt like more of an afterthought and wasn't built upon the initial first meeting of the characters. The mystery also wasn't engaging enough and felt too jarring and moved too fast for me to keep up with. By the end of the book, I had way too many questions about things that happened in the book and caught a few plot holes, loose ends that were left dangling, and overall felt unsatisfied with how the book wrapped up. By the end, I was confused about a lot of things and I really think this book could have used at least a hundred more pages to really flesh everything out and bring it all together. 

You Can Purchase The Book Here: 

Amazon

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About The Author:

Rainy Kaye is an aspiring overlord. In the mean time, she blogs at RainyoftheDark and writes paranormal novels from her lair somewhere in Phoenix, Arizona.

She is represented by Rossano Trentin of TZLA. Someone told her she's a USA Today Bestselling author. She thought there would be cake. 

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The Review Chain: The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant

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Rating: PG

Genre: Historical Fiction

Score: ❤❤❤❤

Page Count: 336

Stand Alone

Publisher: Scribner

Published: December 9th, 2014

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Red Tent and Day After Night, comes an unforgettable coming-of-age novel about family ties and values, friendship and feminism told through the eyes of a young Jewish woman growing up in Boston in the early twentieth century.

Addie Baum is The Boston Girl, born in 1900 to immigrant parents who were unprepared for and suspicious of America and its effect on their three daughters. Growing up in the North End, then a teeming multicultural neighborhood, Addie's intelligence and curiosity take her to a world her parents can't imagine - a world of short skirts, movies, celebrity culture and new opportunities for women. Addie wants to finish high school and dreams of going to college. She wants a career and to find true love.

Eighty-five-year-old Addie tells the story of her life to her twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, who has asked her "How did you get to be the woman you are today?" She begins in 1915, the year she found her voice and made friends who would help shape the course of her life. From the one-room tenement apartment she shared with her parents and two sisters, to the library group for girls she joins at a neighborhood settlement house, to her first, disastrous love affair, Addie recalls her adventures with compassion for the naïve girl she was and a wicked sense of humor.

Written with the same attention to historical detail and emotional resonance that made Anita Diamant's previous novels bestsellers, The Boston Girl is a moving portrait of one woman’s complicated life in twentieth-century America, and a fascinating look at a generation of women finding their places in a changing world.

Rating:

PROS: 

1. I've been wanting to read this book ever since it was first released! When I had the chance to review it, I was so eager to get my hands on the book. Special thanks to Simon & Schuster as well as The Review Chain for the paperback review copy! I love books that are set in the fifties on back and since this book follows a young woman trying to find her way in the world in a time when things were so unsure in the United States, I just had to pick it up. Here's the review:

2. I adored Addie, our main character, as she tells her granddaughter about her life as a young woman growing up during WWI and The Great Depression as well as the Flu Breakout. They were very difficult times for millions of people and Addie saw and experienced it all while also trying to figure out who she was, make a good life for herself, falling in love, and learning that life comes with its fair share of trials. She was a very smart girl and strong-willed as well as independent. I thought she was a strong female lead that didn't pretend things were perfectly fine when they obviously weren't. She went through many things that I thought added to her character growth such as grief, self-blame, loss, frustration and even a sense of feeling lost. I thought she was the ideal character to represent a lot of the emotional things a lot of people deal with on a daily basis and was very relatable.

3. This book is very much character driven and I wouldn't recommend it for readers who love a good plot. But if you're a reader who loves a book that's character driven then totally check this one out. It was so nice to see Addie, her friends, and her family go through the years as life changed both for them and the people around them. Family was a very important thing to Addie and the reoccurring theme throughout the book really highlighted that as her story progressed. It also had themes of friendship, how to stand up for yourself even when it's scary and how falling in love isn't easy but that doesn't mean that life isn't worth living.

4. Overall, I just really loved this book. I also loved how Addie struggles with real-life struggles such as staying true to herself and how important her religion and heritage was to her and her family. This book wasn't preachy or anything! It just shows that being a young Jewish woman growing up in America came with its own struggles as her and her family had to adapt to a new way of living while also staying true to where they came from. Addie wanted a different life for herself than what her parents wanted for her and she had to learn how to pave her own way while also wanting to make them proud. This book is just so real in so many ways that I think it's a great book to have on your shelf if you ever need some inspiration.

I didn't give this book a five-star rating because while this book is great for young readers since it's very much a coming of age story, I'm just not sure a lot of older readers would enjoy this one. Addie is an 85-year-old woman who begins telling her story that begins when she was a teenager and I myself would get a little frustrated and even bothered by some of the things she said or did. I really enjoyed this book but would recommend it to younger readers who will appreciate it more.

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About The Author:

Anita is best-known for her first novel, THE RED TENT, which was published in 1997 and won the 2001 Booksense Book of the Year Award. Based on the biblical story of Dinah, THE RED TENT became a word-of-mouth bestseller in the US and overseas, where it has been published in more than 25 countries. 

Three other novels followed: GOOD HARBOR, THE LAST DAYS OF DOGTOWN and, DAY AFTER NIGHT.

Anita has also written six non-fiction guides to contemporary Jewish life, which have become classic reference books: THE NEW JEWISH WEDDING, THE JEWISH BABY BOOK, LIVING A JEWISH LIFE, CHOOSING A JEWISH LIFE, HOW TO RAISE A JEWISH CHILD, and SAYING KADDISH.. 

An award-winning journalist, Diamant's articles have appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine, Real Simple, Parenting Magazine, Hadassah, Reform Judaism, Boston Magazine and Yankee Magazine.PITCHING MY TENT, a collection personal essays, is drawn from twenty years worth of newspaper and magazine columns. 

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The Review Chain: The Rearranged Life by Annika Sharma

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Rating: PG

Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Young Adult

Score: 4.5 stars

Page Count: 270

Stand Alone

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

Published: May 15th, 2015

Nithya, a vivacious, intelligent and driven college senior has always known what she has wanted: a successful career in medicine and the love of her family. She's even come to terms with the idea of an arranged marriage, a tradition her conservative Indian family has held up for thousands of years. 

When a night of partying puts her on a collision course with danger, Nithya's entire life changes. 

Enter James St. Clair, the smart, challenging and heartbreakingly handsome American. 

As Nithya and James fall in love, she questions the future she and her parents have always planned. Now, Nithya has a choice to make: become a doctor and a good Indian bride, or step away from her family and centuries of culture to forge her own path. 

The decision she comes to takes her on a journey that transforms how she sees her future, her relationships with loved ones, and how she learns to put herself back together when even her best-laid plans fall apart.

Rating:

PROS:

1. There's nothing I love more than reading YA novels that are about different cultures, especially ones that I don't know much about myself. I've always thought different cultures and countries were so cool to learn more about so when the opportunity came up to potentially review this book, I needed to jump on it! I just want to give a HUGE thanks to the author for the review copy as well as The Review Chain and all the awesome people involved! Here's my review:

2. I seriously LOVED the characters so much! I thought Nithya was such a smart and determined character who always wanted to make her family proud and treasured them and all they've done for her. She's always dreamed of becoming a doctor since she believes it's been programmed into her from birth and she's very driven and doesn't allow herself to get distracted from her goals and her school work. I also thought James was a very nice character since he was equally smart, driven, but also believed that someone's life should be decided for themselves and not what others expect from you. I thought Nithya and James had very good chemistry and both came from good families, had plans and goals for their lives and were logical in their choices. Basically, I loved them like a cute little bunny rabbit. I also loved their families, especially James' brothers who had me laughing out loud with their interactions. Just such a great cast of characters here!

3. I really loved getting insight on Nithya's culture since I don't know much about Indian customs or traditions. I've always been interested in their culture and I think this book is a nice introduction to a new culture without feeling like it's too much information at once. I found myself looking things up online that the book mentioned such as the food, the items, articles of clothing, just to get a better idea and learn more about Nithya's culture and it was really interesting. I appreciated that Nithya's family instilled in her to never forget who she was or where she came from. I think readers who like learning about new cultures from around the world will want to pick this book up.

4. I just loved the writing and the beautiful backdrop this book had set up. The descriptions of things were very beautiful and did a great job describing that the Indian culture is made up of so many colors, Nithya's even saying so herself at one point in the book. I thought the pace was nice as well and it was so easy, fun, and fast to read. I was pretty much hooked from the very beginning of the book, wanting to know what happened next to the characters and ultimately how everything wrapped up. It's been a little while since I've fallen in love with a book and this one had my heart a flutter. Annika has answered the call for diverse romance and I applaud her for doing so!

The reason I didn't give this book a five-star rating is because I would have liked to see a little more of the second love interest. Nithya isn't in a love triangle exactly but there is another boy her family has their eyes on for her. I thought there wasn't enough of Nishanth and felt he kind of just popped up whenever Nithya was with her family and then went back into being non-existant when Nithya went about her life back in her apartment. I would have loved to get to know more about him and his family. Overall, I just adored this book from the very first page and highly recommend it!

You Can Purchase The Book Here:

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About The Author:

Annika Sharma was born in New Delhi and brought up in the United States, where she moved with her parents as a baby. A proud alum, she graduated from Penn State University with dual degrees in Biobehavioral Health and Neuro-Psychology, and minors in Biology and Human Development and Family Studies. She received her Master's degree in Early Childhood Special Education before pursuing her dreams of becoming a writer, landing her agent Stacey Donaghy of Donaghy Literary Group while daylighting as a preschool teacher. The Rearranged Life, her first novel, was written in the month before graduate school.

Annika, a Gryffindor and Scorpio, spends much of her time dreaming of adventure, working on her next book, going on Starbucks runs with family and friends, shopping online and watching superhero movies. 

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I hope you guys enjoyed this review! Read on, bookworms! See you in the next chapter!