Book Review: Inked by Eric Smith

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publication: January 2015 from Bloomsbury Spark
Acquisition: bought

Synopsis:

Tattoos once were an act of rebellion.

Now they decide your destiny the moment the magical Ink settles under your skin.

And in a world where Ink controls your fate, Caenum can't escape soon enough. He is ready to run from his family, and his best friend Dreya, and the home he has known, just to have a chance at a choice.

But when he upsets the very Scribe scheduled to give him his Ink on his eighteenth birthday, he unwittingly sets in motion a series of events that sends the corrupt, magic-fearing government, The Citadel, after him and those he loves.

Now Caenum, Dreya, and their reluctant companion Kenzi must find their way to the Sanctuary, a secret town where those with the gift of magic are safe. Along the way, they learn the truth behind Ink, its dark origins, and why they are the only ones who can stop the Citadel.

Eric Smith takes you on a high-octane fantasy adventure, perfect for anyone who has dreamed of being different… only to discover that fate is more than skin deep.

(from Goodreads)

5 / 5 Stars

I really enjoyed Inked.

I'm a big fan of a this specific type of fantasy story. You know, a small specific story about a tiny piece of a much bigger world. A world with it's own set of rules that folks have to work their way through. A set of characters that are thrown together against a common enemy. Magic! Magic (almost) everywhere!

THAT type of story! That's what this is and it was pretty great.

Reminded me of The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab -- it had the same type of magical, fantasy awesomeness about it.

And, brace yourselves!

IT'S A STANDALONE!

Not that I don't love a good series. But sometimes, I prefer to take a smaller bite. And Inked tasted great!

...yeah...

Any who!

If you like YA fantasy / magic / realistic characters with personality and lives you care about -- read this book!

AND!

While you're at it -- keep an eye on Eric Smith. He has a real passion for (really good) YA fiction and it totally shows in his writing.

Catch a ride on the Tardis the next time it passes through your town (what? that doesn't happen to you?) and add all Eric's future books to your wishlists...in the future...so you won't have to do it later... (don't look at me like that - it totes makes sense!).

Bottom line? -- READ THIS BOOK

Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

Genre: Adult Sci-fi
Publication: February 2014 by Crown
Acquisition: Bought

Synopsis:

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

(from Goodreads)

5 / 5 Stars

One word -- REALISM

Pretend you are an alien visiting Earth and someone hands you a 'historical document' regarding humans and their exploits on Mars and it's The Martian and you read it and you TOTALLY BELIEVE THAT HUMANS HAVE VISITED MARS.

Or if pretending you are an alien is too hard...pretend you are a human...that was...um...stuck in a fall out shelter (like Brendan Fraser in that movie no one ever remembers the name of) and -- 'historical document' and The Martian and reading and YOU TOTALLY BELIEVE THAT HUMANS HAVE VISITED MARS.

OR pretend that you are me and you find The Martian in a bookstore and it says it's a movie and you're like, I don't remember this movie I wonder if it came out a while ago and you read it and you're 100% sure that is IS a movie that came out in the PAST because it's a book from the FUTURE and you KNOW that HUMANS HAVE TOTALLY VISITED THE HELL OUT OF MARS.

Realism. In Science Fiction form.

It's also hilarious.

Read this book.

Wishlist Books added in June

Some of the lovelies that made it onto my wishlist this past month

A Dream of Ice (Earthend Saga #2)
by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin
Not gonna lie - I only ready book 1 because -- Gillian Anderson OMG I love her!!
It wasn't the best but I do want to see where this story goes.
Also - 'Saga' means...4 books? No idea if I'll stick with it to the end but book 2 made the cut.

December 8, 2015 from Simon & Schuster

Burning Kingdoms (The Internment Chronicles #2)
by Lauren DeStefano
I DEVOURERED book 1 (Perfect Ruin). It was a mixture of a lot of things that I love seeing in YA books and I'm pretty sure my next Kindle buy will be book 2.

On shelves now - from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Their Fractured Light (Starbound #3)
by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner
OMG I loved loved loved the first 2 books in this series! I think I bought and read book 2 the day it came out -- so so good!

December 1, 2015 by Disney-Hyperion

Ms. Marvel Vol 3: Crushed
by G. Willow Wilson
I picked up Vol 1 of these graphic novels in preparation of seeing G. Willow Wilson speak at this year's ACRL conference. I was really impressed with her presentation and her story telling.
It's been really hard waiting for the volume sets to come out but I love the way they look on my shelf :)

On shelves on - from Marvel Comics

Saga Vol 5
by Brian K. Vaughan
This comic series is NOT for children and it's pretty perfect. Sex, violence, drugs and a great story to back it all up. The illustrations are fabulous and I've totally fallen in love with everyone (even the bad guys...ESPECIALLY the bad guys ;)
This volume set is issues 25-30 and it's been seriously hard not picking up the single issues as they come out...I can wait a bit longer I guess.

October 14, 2015 from Image Comics

Raging Sea (Undertow #2)
by Michael Buckley
If you follow me on Instagram (@WilowRaven) you may have seen my expressions of love for book 1, Undertow. It was so unlike anything I had read in a while and it's one of those books that stays with you a while.
I seriously can't believe that book 2 isn't out until NEXT YEAR!
Ga! Good things come to those who wait and all that jazz ;)

February 2, 2016 from HMH Books for Young Readers

Killer Within (Killer Instinct #2)
by S.E. Green
So - book 1 actually freaked me out a bit. It was extremely dark - like Dexter dark. I pretty much loved it and the fact that the creepiest character of all was the one you're rooting for was an excellent bonus.
Oh! Oh! And the ending?! Maybe I should have seen it coming but I didn't and it was perfect.
I can see book 1 working as a stand alone but I'm also pretty excited for book 2 - a win win in my opinion.

On shelves now - from Simon Pulse

What made it to your wishlist lately?

I'm back!

Hello crazy lovely internet people!

Guess what I didn't do for almost 2 years and missed so so so much that I just couldn't stand it anymore and decided to start back up again because I have so much fun doing it and I love the community it has introduced me to and I finally decided on what works for ME and what I ACTUALLY want to accomplish and happy sparkle unicorn puppy kisses!

...where you paying attention to all that? ;)

So yes - I am blogging again.

Because...see previous statement above (possibly removing the sparkle unicorn puppy kisses for clarity's sake).

I really do love my little chunk of the interwebs and while I know I've missed out on things and am probably out of touch with some other things I really do have a plan for all of this *points to all places*

I have high hopes but I'm also being very realistic.

I'm going to do my own thing the way I want it and really just seeing what happens.

My goals?

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Happy Reading Everyone!

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