{Audiobook} Review: Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini

Title: Trial by Fire
Author: Josephine Angelini
Narrator(s): Emma Galvin
Series:  The Worldwalker Trilogy, book #1
Length: 12 hrs 23 mins
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: September 2, 2014
Source: ARC received from publisher, purchased audio
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying experiences that others in her hometown of Salem take for granted, which is why she is determined to enjoy her first high school party with her best friend and longtime crush, Tristan. But after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class, Lily wishes she could just disappear.

Suddenly, Lily is in a different Salem—one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruelest of them all is Lillian . . . Lily's other self in this alternate universe.

What makes Lily weak at home is what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. In this confusing world, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone and a love she never expected.

When I started seeing all of the mixed reviews for Trial by Fire, I almost passed on it, even though I'd requested a copy for review. Actually, I did kind of pass on it. April had it for review, as well, and she was still keen to read it, so I told her she should review it for the blog. She actually ended up DNFing it, not because it was bad but because she just didn't have the concentration for it right now. I like a good, complex world, so obviously my curiosity was piqued once again at that.

And now that I think about it, I should have remembered that there were a lot of mixed reviews for the author's mythology-based series, while I was over here writing up my fangirl review for it. I really like Angelini's writing style, the way she weaves a story, giving some answers while leaving you with even more questions. And, yes, the complexity of the world(s) in this story is an added bonus. The magical aspect was impressive, and I love a good multiverse story, though that element of the story wasn't explored all that much in this novel.

After the events that transpire in this installment, though, I expect the multiple universes to be a much bigger focus in future books, so I'm not worried in that respect. What we did see in this book was a sickly Lily being swept from her own world -- our present-day world -- to one where witchcraft and magic survived the Salem Witch Trials. In fact, it's a world in which the witches are trying to vanquish true science and medicine in favor of their own powerful magic. And Lily has been pulled from her world in hopes that she can save this one.

In this New Salem, Lily meets her doppleganger Lillian, the most powerful witch of her world. Like Lily was in her world, this Lillian is very ill, and although she is labeled as the villain from the start, I sensed there was some underlying motivation to her actions that might be less sinister than the residents of her city would have Lily believe. That doesn't mean I trusted her or thought what she was doing was right, but I think there's more to her story, and I'm intrigued to find out what it is.

I was also very interested in the magical system in New Salem. Harnessing a witch's power in a stone is not a new concept, but the way in which it is wielded, how susceptible it is to others and how other mages can be put under it's control...those are new notions to me. And I loved the way in which the magical elements were explored as Lily learns how to manifest her own dormant powers. Seeing others grow to trust her and believe in her and then allow her to claim them so that they might all benefit from her powers made this book downright unputdownable.

The slow-burning romance helped to keep me listening, too. From what I'd heard about the book prior to picking it up, and from what I gathered from that synopsis, I thought a love triangle was imminent. I'm not ruling out the possibility in the future because of REASONS, but for now, I consider it very unlikely. Lily's short-lived romance with Tristan in her world is all but over when she's whisked away to New Salem. And when she meets Rowan -- sigh, will there ever be a character with this name that I don't instantly swoon over? -- they don't exactly hit it off, her sharing the face of the woman he despises most, but that changes over time. There's a Tristan in this world, too, but he's similar in a lot of ways to the one Lily left behind, and nothing ever really develops there. You'd think that this would probably be the most awkward aspect of the romance, but no. Just as Lily had a thing with the Tristan of her world, Rowan had more than a thing with the Lily (Lillian) of his world. Yeah. But it never devolves into an embarrassing, uncomfortable situation for them because it's Lily and Rowan all the way. You can see it. They can see it. But they're going to deny it for as long as they can hold out. It was worth the wait, though.

This book was totally worth me creating extra chores and making excuses so that I could keep listening, too. I finished it in a day, even though Emma Galvin is one of my least favorite narrators. I used to really enjoy her narration. But that was before I listened to her narrate the first two books in the Arcana Chronicles series by Kresley Cole. That series is compulsively readable, highly addictive, and I hate it, but I'll probably still end up reading the third book when it releases because I can't help myself. Anyway, I don't know if it was a combination of the terrible accents Galvin used for those books plus the annoying characters in them that made me start disliking her narration style and voice, but I know it started with those books. And yet, I didn't find her narration of this book so terrible. I did hear some of the things that bother me about her narration style, like the fact that it sounds like she's speaking with a giant piece of candy or something attached to the inside of her cheek, but it was less noticeable to me than usual. I was so compelled by the story and characters in Trial by Fire that I was able to completely overlook those facets that might otherwise annoy me to the point of giving up on a book. I wish I'd had the time to sit down and read this novel myself, but I would still recommend this audiobook.

Trial by Fire really surprised me, even though is shouldn't have. And it ended on the perfect note...right on the precipice of something BIG but not something killer that's going to leave you aching to know what happens next. I mean, yeah, you're going to wonder because the story is that intriguing, and you're going to be excited to see where the characters go from here, especially because of the point at which the story ends. But it's not a stressful ending, nor a devastating one. It's just right. :) This whole novel was just right -- just enough action, just enough magic, just enough romance -- to entice you to keep coming back to it. Or never put it down, as the case may be...it's a compelling read, to be sure.

GIF it to me straight:

Yay, witches! Everybody dance now!

About the author:

Josephine Angelini is a Massachusetts native and the youngest of eight siblings. She graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in theater, with a focus on the classics. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

Find Josephine:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Labels: audiobooks, beautiful covers, book trailers, josephine angelini, macmillan, magic, multiverse, reviews, The worldwalker trilogy, witches

{Cover Reveal} Of Dreams and Rust by Sarah Fine + Giveaway

So, remember when I had a special announcement to help author Sarah Fine share awhile back? Yep, there's a sequel to the stunning Of Metal and Wishes...and as of today, it has a cover!!! And. It. Is. Gorgeous. And it so beautifully matches the first book in this duology. I can't wait for it to grace the shelves with the rest of my Sarah Fine collection. =)

Without further ado, I give you the cover for the forthcoming sequel to Sarah Fine's phenomenal Of Metal and Wishes:

OF DREAMS AND RUST

By Sarah Fine

In stores August 4, 2015

Purchase Of Metal and Wishes while you wait for this sequel: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | The Book Depository
Here's the blurb for Of Dreams and Rust, but beware...there are major spoilers for Of Metal and Wishes in this summary for the second installment:

War erupts in this bittersweet sequel to Of Metal and Wishes, inspired by The Phantom of the Opera and called “relentlessly engrossing” by The Romantic Times.

In the year since the collapse of the slaughterhouse where Wen worked as her father’s medical assistant, she’s held all her secrets close. She works in the clinic at the weapons factory and sneaks away to nurse Bo, once the Ghost, now a boy determined to transform himself into a living machine. Their strange, fragile friendship soothes some of the ache of missing Melik, the strong-willed Noor who walked away from Wen all those months ago—but it can’t quell her fears for him.

The Noor are waging a rebellion in the west. When she overhears plans to crush Melik’s people with the powerful war machines created at the factory, Wen makes the painful decision to leave behind all she has known—including Bo—to warn them. But the farther she journeys into the warzone, the more confusing things become. A year of brutality seems to have changed Melik, and Wen has a decision to make about him and his people: How much is she willing to sacrifice to save them from complete annihilation?

About the author:

Sarah Fine was born on the West Coast, raised in the Midwest, and is now firmly entrenched on the East Coast, where she lives with her husband and two children. When she’s not writing, she’s working as a child psychologist. She is the author of the young adult novels Sanctum, Fractured, Chaos, Of Metal and Wishes, and Scan. Her first adult fantasy novel, Marked, releases on January 1st, 2015, from 47North.

Find Sarah:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Tumblr

Isn't it gorgeous?!? I just dare you to tell me it's not. I mean, I'm more than a little nervous about the book after reading that synopsis, but that beautiful cover goes a long way toward assuaging my fears. *bites nails*

Because Sarah is the beautiful, generous author she is, to celebrate the cover reveal, she's offering up the following prizes to one VERY lucky winner:

Prize includes:

a hardcover for Of Metal and Wishes

an ARC for Of Dreams and Rust

bookmarks

spider necklace

Rules:

• This giveaway is US only. The author is providing the prizes for the giveaway.
• One entry per household. 
• Entries will be verified. Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
• Please note that if you use your Twitter account solely for giveaway entries and you enter using the Tweet about the Giveaway entry, that entry will be disqualified. Please remember that this entry method is to spread the word about the cover reveal and giveaway, not simply increase your chances of winning.
• Winner will be notified via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. Please check your SPAM folder!!! 
• We are not responsible for lost packages. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


So, what do you think of the cover? Have you read the first book yet? If not, what are you waiting for?!? If my excitement over the cover isn't enough to pique your interest, maybe my Review in a GIFfy will be? Or maybe my full review? ;0)

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Labels: alternate history, beautiful covers, fantasy, favorite authors, favorites, giveaways, of metal and wishes, official cover reveals, retellings, sarah fine, simon schuster

Judging a Book By Its Cover: The Young Elites by Marie Lu

We so borrowed this idea from Sara at Forever 17 Books, who got the idea from an article on Babble called Judging a Book by Its Cover: A 6-year-old Guesses What Classic Novels Are All About. Basically, it's about getting a child's perspective on the story inside the book based on just the cover art. It can be hilarious, but it can also be enlightening.

Okay, I totally missed doing these posts with Katie, and it looks like it's been right at a year since our last one. While cleaning recently, I found the folder that I kept her previous iterations in -- all 33 of them! -- so I begged April to see if Aubrey would be up to contributing, too. Lucky for me, she was! =)






This week, the girls are working on the following book:

Title: The Young Elites
Author: Marie Lu
Series: The Young Elites, book #1
Publisher: Putnam BFYR
Publication Date: October 7, 2014
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

Behold, the girls' attempts at recreating The Young Elites by Marie Lu...

Aubrey's masterpiece & guess:

Aubrey says:

"I think it's about people getting stuck in a thunderstorm. They get really wet and cold and need umbrellas."

I haven't read this one yet, so I'm not sure if she's right or not. In fact, I haven't read any of her books yet. For shame, but I did buy her last trilogy in kindle version, so someday I'll get to them. I met Marie Lu a few years ago at the Breathless Reads tour and she was lovely. :)


Katie's artwork & thoughts:

Katie says:

"I think someone gets killed and goes to Heaven because there's a sword and there are clouds."

Haha...out of the mouths of babes, right? Actually, she's not all that far off, though. ;0) And don't you just love her dagger?!? I've read this newest book from Marie Lu already, and I was really impressed with the dark turn it took. I can't wait to read the rest of the series! And I get to meet the author later this month at the Texas Teen Book Festival in Austin, along with some other amazing authors. I AM SO EXCITE!



Have you read this book or do you plan to? What do you think of the girls' artwork and their thoughts on the story's premise?

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Labels: aubrey, cover art, fantasy, judging a book by its cover, katiebug, marie lu, penguin, the young elites

{Blog Tour} Into the Spooky Swamp Setting of Mary: The Summoning with Hillary Monahan

I just love this time of year: the turning of the leaves, the smells, the chill in the air, but most of all, the thrill of Halloween! The ladies over at The Midnight Garden must feel the same way because they're celebrating by hosting this awesome Halloween Thrills and Chills Event. This promotion features intriguing guest posts and interviews from three Disney-Hyperion authors releasing some very spooky tales this year: Hillary Monahan, author of Mary: The Summoning; Jonathan Stroud, author of the Lockwood & Co. series; and Laurie Stolarz, author of Welcome to the Dark House.

I just love all of the scary reads at our disposal these days. I don't enjoy being scared out of my mind as much as I used to, but there's just something so exhilarating about things that go bump in the night...something that keeps me reading into the wee hours of the night, with the blanket tucked up under my chin and all the lights on, lol. And in that vein, author Hillary Monahan is providing a deeper look into the setting of her eerie YA debut for us today. Check out a little about the book and then read further for the author's guest post and a giveaway featuring all four books from these authors!

MARY: THE SUMMONING

By Hillary Monahan

In stores now!!! 

Order Mary: The Summoning: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | The Book Depository
Here's the blurb:

There is a right way and a wrong way to summon her.

Jess had done the research. Success requires precision: a dark room, a mirror, a candle, salt, and four teenage girls. Each of them--Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna--must link hands, follow the rules . . . and never let go.

A thrilling fear spins around the room the first time Jess calls her name: "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. BLOODY MARY." A ripple of terror follows when a shadowy silhouette emerges through the fog, a specter trapped behind the mirror.

Once is not enough, though--at least not for Jess. Mary is called again. And again. But when their summoning circle is broken, Bloody Mary slips through the glass with a taste for revenge on her lips. As the girls struggle to escape Mary's wrath, loyalties are questioned, friendships are torn apart, and lives are forever altered.

A haunting trail of clues leads Shauna on a desperate search to uncover the legacy of Mary Worth. What she finds will change everything, but will it be enough to stop Mary--and Jess--before it's too late?

Into the Spooky Swamp Setting of MARY: THE SUMMONING
By Hillary Monahan

Let's talk swamp. Hockomock Swamp to be exact, because that's where I put Bloody Mary Worth's hometown of Solomon's Folly. In Wampanoag, Hockomock means "where spirits dwell." It's appropriate considering how much ghost activity is attributed to these 17,000 acres of wetlands in Southeastern Massachusetts. Women in white, phantom fogs, unexplained lights—if you're from the area, you've heard a tale or two about the Hockomock.

Its lurid reputation makes it perfect story fodder.

The terrain is miserable—dense undergrowth, brambles galore, and lots and lots of bog land. This is no place for adventuring unless you're good with that pesky nature thing, especially considering one of the swamp's most charming features is quick sand. But no one around here calls it that. To the locals, it's Black Betty. People have drowned in it before. People will probably drown in it again. And, if you don't succumb to the pits of sinking mud, there's always the wild dogs to contend with. They roam in packs, more coyote than not, and are more than eager to meet anyone stupid enough to go into the swamp unprepared.

Putting Solomon's Folly in the Hockomock made sense, not only because of the oppressive nature of the flora, but because of the history. The Hockomock swamp was King Philip's primary base of operations during the earliest parts of King Philips War. The Wampanoags knew how to hunt and move through the swamp. As such, the raiding parties had a period of open season on ill-prepared colonists, staging attacks across a two hundred square mile area.

Though Providence, Rhode Island had burned to the ground and the Massachusetts colonists were driven back to their major settlements, the war all but ended a year later when King Philip—AKA King Metacomet—was shot and killed. His corpse was beheaded, his body drawn and quartered as per English tradition at the time. For twenty years his skull was displayed in Plymouth as a warning against any further Native American insurgence.

Thirty-six hundred people died during King Philip's War, a good bulk of them in or near the swamp. Legend was bound to pop up with that much concentrated death and destruction. Along with the aforementioned ghost claims, there are rumors of Native American curses involving Thunder Birds—eagle-like birds of vengeance that wreak havoc on any foolish enough to cross them. Messy deaths in spectral talons doesn't sound like a fun way to go.

Of course, there's also that whole bit about the marauding Sasquatch population living in the swamp, but I'm not going to go into that too much, if for no other reason than it evokes images of this, and that sort of ruins the mood:

About the author:

Hillary Monahan is Eva Darrows is also an international woman of mystery. Holed up in Massachusetts with three smelly basset hounds, she writes funny, creepy things for fun and profit.

Find Hillary:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Photographs are courtesy of the author. Review and giveaway copies courtesy of Disney-Hyperion.

Ooooooh, creepy! This is definitely one to read with the lights ON, folks. :) Thunder Birds and Sasquatches? As if the swamp wasn't scary enough on its own! And yet...I kind of want to visit it for myself.

Win a Thrills and Chills box of horror! Includes copies of the following new releases:

Mary: The Summoning

The Screaming Staircase

The Whispering Skull

Welcome to the Dark House

The box will be delivered just in time for spooky Halloween reading. Open to US and Canadian residents, see complete rules on entry form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out the rest of the blog tour, featuring guest posts, interviews, giveaways, and more!

Thrills and Chills: Halloween Event Tour with Jonathan Stroud, Hillary Monahan, and Laurie Stolarz

Wednesday, October 1   The Midnight Garden        5 Questions with Jonathan Stroud 
Thursday, October 2       The Starry-Eyed Revue    Into the Spooky Swamp Setting of Mary: The Summoning
Friday, October 3            Supernatural Snark           Rules for Surviving a House of Horrors (guest post by Laurie Stolarz)

Monday, October 6          Xpresso Reads                Deleted Scene from Mary: The Summoning
Tuesday, October 7         Love is Not a Triangle      5 Questions with Laurie Stolarz
Wednesday, October 8    For the Love of Words     10 Great Horror Films with Jonathan Stroud
Thursday, October 9        Winterhaven Books         How I Became a Horror Fan (guest post with Hillary Monahan) 
Friday, October 10           YA Romantics                  Quiz: What Dark House Character Are You? 

Monday, October 13         My Friends Are Fiction   Fashion Accessories for Ghosthunters (guest post by Jonathan Stroud)
Tuesday, October 14        The Flyleaf Review         5 Questions with Hillary Monahan 
Wednesday, October 15   Books with Bite               Top 10 Items to Survive The Dark House Amusement Park
Thursday, October 16       The Social Potato           A Tour of Jonathan Stroud's Writing Space

Thanks for checking out this spooky post from author Hillary Monahan! I hope your interest in Mary:The Summoning has been piqued and that you're ready to give all of these creepy tales a try!

Thanks to Wendy at The Midnight Garden for putting together this tour!

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Labels: blog tour, disney hyperion, giveaways, guest post, halloween, hillary monahan, mary: the summoning, scary reads, thrills and chills

Waiting on Wednesday: Charisma & The Winner's Crime

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selections are...








's Pick:

Title: Charisma
Author: Jeanne Ryan
Series: n/a
Publisher: Dial
Publication Date: March 3rd, 2015

A chance at the ultimate makeover means deadly consequences in this Sarah Dessen-meets-Robin Cook thriller

Aislyn suffers from crippling shyness—that is, until she’s offered a dose of Charisma, an underground gene therapy drug guaranteed to make her shine. The effects are instant. She’s charming, vivacious, and popular. But strangely, so are some other kids she knows. The media goes into a frenzy when the disease turns contagious, and then deadly, and the doctor who gave it to them disappears. Aislyn must find a way to stop it, before it's too late.

Part medical thriller, part social justice commentary, Charisma will have readers on the edge of their seats.

The description to this book sound really interesting to me. I tend to love medical thrillers. Also, the fact that there are bunnies on the cover and it comes out approx a month before Easter is a total plus.





's Pick:





Title: The Winner's Crime
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner's Trilogy, book #2
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Publication Date: March 3, 2015

Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

The Winner's Trilogy is far and above one of my favorite new series...and I've only read the first book. But the quick wit, the moral dilemmas, the depths of the characters...not to mention the most gorgeous "girl in a dress" covers...these are all things I value in a good fantasy series and The Winner's Trilogy has them in spades. After the high stakes and that ending in The Winner's Curse, I'm salivating to know what's to come.

What are you desperately waiting for this Wednesday? Let us know in the comments or share a link to your own WoW post!

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Labels: alternate history, beautiful covers, bunnies, Charisma, fantasy, favorites, Jeanne Ryan, macmillan, marie rutkoski, Medical thriller, the winner's trilogy, waiting on wednesday (wow)