**Giveaway Alert** Dualed by Elsie Chapman

Summary from Goodreads:

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 You or your Alt? Only one will survive.

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

  

Sounds like an interesting read! I’ve always been interested in clone-related fiction – after all, there are so many unanswered questions! Do the clones have souls? Will they look identical (after all, cloned pets often turn out different from the original, despite being an exact genetic match)? Clones usually grow to adulthood very quickly – will they continue to age at that same rate or do they have the same natural lifespan? And, of course, what is the purpose of clones? Are they spare parts? A way to live forever? A way to create an heir?  I will definitely be adding this to my TBR shelf!

 

****REVIEW & GIVEAWAY****

 

If you like the sound of Dualed, check out Midnight Garden’s awesome review for more information! PLUS, Midnight Garden is giving away a copy!  Make sure you check it out here!

 

 

Anathema by Megg Jensen -- 4.5 Stars!

Forget prophecy. Make your own destiny. 

Sheltered from the outside world with no hope for escape, slave girl Reychel dreads her fifteenth birthday - when her master’s symbol is burned on the back of her bald scalp. Her best friend disappears the night before, leaving her to face the branding ceremony alone. She soon discovers nothing is as it seems when people desperate for freedom beg for Reychel's help.

Can Reychel learn to believe in herself?

 The Idea: 

Reychel has been a slave her entire life, not even realizing that she was "gifted" (a.k.a. has magical abilities). Her escape from her master begins a period of a couple months learning about her abilities, her destiny, and her very identity. Turns out she's the Prophet that her people have been waiting for for seven generations! Her abilities as the Prophet have given her master a LOT of money and power over the years, so after a couple months of desperate searching, he's still unwilling to let her go. He forces Reychel to choose either to turn herself in, or allow him to execute some of the very people she's supposed to save. BUT, it turns out someone else has been pulling Reychel's strings for years and she's even more dangerous...

 Some Particulars: 

Nothing about the world was particularly unusual -- it could have been earth in some medieval culture. The Malborn have enslaved Reychel's people, the Sereniens, and the council of the gifted have been rescuing gifted slaves in their search for the Prophet. Reychel's master lives in a castle, and is referred to as a lord and one of many nobles. 

Reychel was a likable, honest character who wasn't painfully sappy, overly dramatic, painstakingly sweet, or even unrealistically tough. She was a very down-to-earth, NORMAL girl, who turned out to have a really cool power: she can read the future, the present, and maybe even the past on the clouds! 

The other characters also came across well, most not particularly well-developed, but I'm hoping to see more of them in the next book! Mark, the main love interest, is guarded and puzzling, yet there's some kind of connection with Reychel that is enjoyable. Ivy is a cunning character that I loved to hate, Johnna was motherly and wise, and Tania was sisterly and fun. Grey and Ella I'm just dying to know more about because they were just barely there but so cool! They obviously will be coming back into the story, and are both capable characters that I'm hoping will become major players.

 My opinion: 

The concept of the gifted is done well, and the plot, while somewhat predictable, was engaging and very well-paced. Reychel was a refreshing character that could be honestly related to and you wanted her to figure things out. I really enjoyed it, and I think it will be a hit for YA fantasy fans! I can't wait to check out the next book in the trilogy!

Check out Megg Jensen's blog for more info about her other books!

A-Z Reading Challange

I just joined the YA Book Club on Goodreads and will be attempting the 2013 A-Z Reading Challenge!  In 12 months, I will read 26 books (at least 13 have to be YA).  In order to count, either the first word in the title of the books or the author’s name (first or last) should correspond with a letter in the alphabet (omitting “a” and “the” in the titles).  There are 3 exceptions: the letters Q, X and Z can be anywhere in the titles or author names (THANK GOODNESS!!).

So then, I've got my list together, but I haven't started yet and I’m already a month behind!
Some of these books have been on my Kindle for a while – languishing, unread, and neglected – so this is good motivation to get them read!  I tried to chose some fantasy, some paranormal, some historical, some scifi…the only thing I don’t really have is any normal, contemporary fiction, lol!  I like to avoid the real world when I read :-) 

Without further ado, I present my A-Z Reading List:

A) Anathema -- Megg Jensen
B) Betrayal -- Mayandree Michel
C) Cypher, The -- Julian Rosado-Machain
D) Den, The -- Jennifer Abrahams
E) Entangled -- Nikki Jefford
F) Fallen Star, The -- Jessica Sorensen
G) Genesis -- Jason Rowe
H) Hollowland -- Amanda Hocking
I) Ignite -- Kaitlyn Davis
J) Job From Hell, A -- Jayde Scott
K) Kindred -- Erica Stevens
L) Leopard Moon -- Jeanette Battista
M) Medium, The -- C.J. Archer
N) Night Marchers -- Rebecca Gober
O) On Little Wings -- Regina Sirois
P) Poison Princess -- Kresley Cole
Q) Prince of Wolves -- Quinn Loftis
R) Ravenous -- Erica Stevens
S) Soulkeepers, The -- G.P. Ching
T) Tiger Lily -- Jodi Lynn Anderson
U) Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back, The -- Sariah Wilson
V) Verita -- Tracy Rozzlynn
W) Way Life Was Forever, The -- Carey Corp
X) Entanglement -- Dan Rix
Y) Yseult -- Ruth Nestvold
Z) Zomblog -- T.W. Brown 


Do you like my list? What would your list look like if you did this?

Review: The Farm by Emily McKay

Review: The Farm by Emily McKay

Not quite post-apocalyptic, not quite zombies, not quite vampires, and yet, definitely one of my favorite books OF ALL TIME.

Before I was a normal kid, in a normal high school, with normal friends. My twin, Mel, was different in the Before too, she still had autism, but she was... better. But then people began turning into monsters. Bloodthirsty, mindless, and hungry Ticks, whose had developed a nasty case of the munchies for teenagers. Mom didn’t have a choice, the Government said they could keep us safe, quarantine the youth of the nation until things were better under control. She couldn’t have known what this place would really be like.

Ever since we, along with every other kids of the area were quarantined to the Farm, Mel has become almost completely dependent on me. I have to keep her safe, I have to keep us out of trouble and as far away from attention as I can, because I don’t want either one of us to end up like the “troublemakers” that are tied up outside of the Farm’s fences.

 I don’t know what could make someone scream like that, and I definitely don’t want to find out.

I have to get Mel out of here. She only communicates through nursery rhymes now, and have the time I don’t know if she’s trying to tell me something or just mumbling nonsense, plus, if I turn my back for a second she’ll unpack our escape bag that has taken me months to gather supplies for. She’s so innocent. She doesn’t understand the danger that lurks behind every corner here, what the others will do to keep themselves safe. I didn’t know how I was going get us out, but I knew we had to try.

Then came Carter.

I knew him from the before, back in our high school. I may have possibly had a crush on him, and once in a while I though the feeling might be mutual. Then one day he was just gone. Now, after all that’s happened, I’m supposed to believe that he just showed up here out of nowhere, on the eve of our planned escape? I wasn’t the trusting kind in the Before, so I’m downright paranoid now. I don’t trust him, but he might be the only way I’ll ever get Mel out of here.

What I thought ( = 1 word ): WHOA!

What I thought ( >1 word ):

 I didn’t think I would like it.

It just sounded to weird and predicable, and honestly, maybe a little to girly. I mean, c'mon, high school crush pops out of nowhere to save the day, how... feminine and ninny-ish. It's a really good thing that I didn't look up the author before getting the book as well, as she is known for writing harlequin romances (If you can't tell, not my favorite genre). But, being the book-junkie that I am, I went out on a limb and bought the book. 

And then proceeded to read it within 24 hours!

The characters are engaging, you feel their adrenaline rush, the love between sisters, the urgency to escape the evil Farm, the betrayal from trusted friends, the horror of what our society has become.

If you enjoyed the Hunger Games, The Darkest Powers trilogy, or maybe even the Twilight series (hey, it’s a little girly, but the books are still good), then this is THE BOOK to read next.

Now, just to say you’ve been forewarned, the violence is graphically described, and I can honestly say that this book had a few gross scenes that made even my stomach turn a little (and that takes a lot, trust me). But violence aside (which, let’s face it, the violence is necessary for this type of tale), this is one of the best books I’ve read for a long time, and one I’m so glad I bought. I am eagerly anticipating the next book in the series, and you will be too. SO GO GET THE BOOK!!!

 

Overall :

 

4.5/5 stars, graphically violent but excellently written and practically impossible to set down. Definitely one for the home collection.

 You might also like:

 

The Summoning by Kelly Armstrong. 

 

 

 

Review: "The Woodcutter" by Kate Danley

If you like fairy tales, then The Woodcutter by Kate Danley will be a very interesting read for you! 

The Basics:

The Woodcutter is essentially the guardian of the magical forest and the liaison between the mortal Twelve Kingdoms and the magical Realm of Faerie.  The Twelve Kingdoms are populated by mortals, some of whom (mostly rulers) have fairy blood.  Some strange things are afoot in this magical land -- maidens murdered, pixies missing, and a mysterious house that appears and reappears at will.  As the Woodcutter investigates, all the pieces begin to come into place and reveal a sinister plot to overthrow all twelve kingdoms at once! 

My Reactions:

I found this book to be well written with a unique POV -- the Woodcutter is a title, but we never find out his name even though he's telling the story (the only bad thing about that was it made it a little harder to emotionally connect, but this may have been intentional).  While the suspense was mild, the evil plot against the forest was well hidden, and it took a while to figure out HOW the Woodcutter was going to fix it.  The kingdoms/forest was a great backdrop to the story, and I was very pleased with the way other familiar fairy-tale characters were integrated without being typical incarnations of themselves.  

Overall: an easy 4 stars!  If you like fantasy and fairy-tale retellings, definitely check it out!