A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan

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A pirating adventure full of dynamic characters!
Thanks to NetGalley and Blink for the opportunity to read and review A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan.
This story introduces the daughter of King Midas, Princess Kora, who has seen the bad end of “the curse of the golden touch” which was given to her father by Dionysus. Her skin is the color of gold and she’s been kept hidden for her protection since the curse. Someone steals the king’s gold, the gold that gives him strength. Kora can sense where the gold is, so she sets off on a mission with Duke Aris to retrieve the gold and help her father gain his strength back. Kora’s cousin Hettie sneaks on board for the trip only to be disheartened when she discovers how the ship’s living conditions are unlike the palace’s. Aris has gotten the crew that he’s sailed with for years but things seem to be changing and the crew might not be trustworthy anymore. As their search for the gold continues, Kora and Hettie adapt to life on the ship, while training for sword fighting and gaining friendships. The two of them soon discover who they can and can’t trust. The crew also sees the true horror that Captain Skulls encompasses, with dire circumstances. Touch of Gold is a pirating adventure with originality and dynamic characters, 5 stars!

The Darkest Legacy by Alexandra Bracken

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Action-packed dystopian!
Thanks to Bookish First and Disney Hyperion for the opportunity to read, review and win a copy of The Darkest Legacy by Alexandra Bracken! Suzume is the main character of this Darkest Minds book and she acts as a Psi representative, speaking on the behalf of all Psi. Suzume is expected to mend relations between Psi and non-Psi people. As she’s ending one of her speeches, she receives a message on the teleprompter telling her that someone is there to kill her. Everything turns violent quickly and two teens help Suzume get away only for the three of them to be captured, tied up and drugged. She’s not sure if the two teens are trustworthy and she takes them to Haven to get help from her friends only to discover that Ruby and Liam left two weeks before and haven’t been heard from since. While Suzume catches up with everyone and discusses the teens she showed up with, someone cuts Haven’s power. Haven is under attack and something or someone is blocking their powers. After Suzume escapes with the Haven residents, they discover that she’s being framed for an airplane explosion. Suzume looks for Ruby with Priyanka and Roman, the two teens she’s been with since the attack during her speech. While on their search they come across human trafficking, among other awful discoveries. The ending leaves me pondering Ruby and the future of all Psi. 4 stars for this dystopian action-packed adventure!

If There’s No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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If There’s No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Harlequin teen. The book opens with Lena disoriented and barely waking up while hearing a voice say she’s a fighter and that will make her mother happy. She soon falls asleep after a nurse administers more medication to her. The story backs up to when Leah is looking forward to senior year and spending time with her crush, her best friend and her neighbor, Sebastian. Sebastian and Lena have a comfortable, relaxed relationship and always have until the day she gives him a quick kiss and that’s when things turn awkward. A few days later, Sebastian is back to treating Lena as a friend, as he normally does. They go to a party and he throws Lena into the pool, clothes and all. She gets angry at Sebastian and sits and talks to her friends. That’s the last thing she remembers when she wakes up in ICU after the accident. Her mom and sister Lori tell her that Cody was driving and Megan, Phillip and Chris were in the SUV also. Lena is the only survivor. Now Lena is reeling from the aftermath of the accident, her injuries, knowing she should have been driving because she was the only one sober and survivor’s guilt. With the help of a loving family, loyal and caring friends and a very capable therapist, Lena starts to face the realization of her choices and the fatalities of the accident. If There’s No Tomorrowtells a powerful story and sends a strong message to all of us, 5 stars for this deep thinking realistic fiction novel!

Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith

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A down to Earth story with lovable characters!
Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read and review Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith!
Alice has lived with her cousin Leo since she was nine, after her parents died. She’s content and treated well. Leo, Alice and Teddy are three best friends and Alice has had a long-standing crush on Teddy for years. Alice purchases a lottery ticket for Teddy’s birthday and it ends up being a winner! Life gets more complicated after that, plus the fact that the three friends are trying to make plans for the future. They’re each trying to decide what college to attend or whether college is an option at all. Teddy finds out the hard way how people use you after they discover you’re rich, including his own father. Windfall shows a lot of character growth and insights that we can all use and learn from. I love the little added extra about the lottery overseer and how winners and their actions have been observed over time. Windfall is a romance above all and even though it’s about winning the lottery, it’s a down to Earth story, 5 stars for the lovable characters!

Seventh Born by Monica Sanz

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Fantasy with a touch of romance!
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Seventh Born by Monica Sanz!
Seraphina lives in a society that’s prejudice against her because she’s a seventh born. She’s not allowed to have any friends, not even other seventh borns, and she’s forced to grovel to authority. Sera does have one forbidden friend that’s helpful and kind to her, Mary. As Mary and Sera are gathering books to give themselves a chance to talk to each other, a teen boy “accidentally” knocks books down on top of them. Sera is so angry that she causes his clothes to smolder without using a wand, so he can’t prove her fault without calling her powerful and without getting himself in trouble for dropping the books. A professor gets her out of the situation and later invites her to see him privately. Sera cautiously visits Professor Barrington and is relieved and surprised when he offers her a referral letter if she’ll help him investigate murders and be his investigative assistant. A new world is opened up to Sera as she learns spells, the history and reality of the seventh born persecution and her own abilities. A fantasy with a touch of romance and some twists, 5 stars!

Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

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Pirate adventure with a touch of sci-fi!
Thanks to Edelweiss, NetGalley and Razorbill for the opportunity to read and review Seafire by Natalie C. Parker!
Caledonia sails with her mother, brother and close comrades until they are attacked. Caledonia and Pisces, her shipmate, are the only ones that are left behind. Caledonia blames herself for the fatal attack and kidnappings because an enemy Bullet, one of Aric’s men, distracted her by pretending to be kind, then he stabbed her. The rest of the crew are either dead or enslaved. The story moves four years ahead and Caledonia and Pisces have gathered a new crew for her mother’s rebuilt ship. They still thirst for vengeance. An enemy, Oran, is captured after saving Pisces’ life and he states that he knows where Caledonia’s and Pisces’ brothers are and that they’re still alive. He’s giving them help and information for the brothers’ rescue. The crew gets out of some close calls because of how they help each other and Oran begins to wear down the crew’s distrust. The suspense grows to intense levels while Caledonia searches for her brother and the ending…All I can say is that I need the sequel now! 5 stars for a pirating adventure with a touch of sci-fi!

Nemesis by Brendan Reichs

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Twisted sci-fi!
Part One, the story opens as, Melinda (Min), the narrator awakens to the sound of footsteps in her house, announcing her approaching killer. The same man that kills her on her birthday every two years. She eventually comes back to life unharmed and with no crime scene in sight. As if that’s not doom and gloom enough, there’s an asteroid that has a 50/50 chance of hitting Earth. Min and her friend Tack break into her psychiatrist’s office to search for any information he might have on Min. What they find just brings confusion and more questions. Part Two tells Noah’s story through his perspective. Noah sleepwalks on his birthday, every two years, and dreams of a man in a black suit killing him. Noah sees Dr. Lowell, just like Min. Dr. Lowell told Min that she suffers from dissociative disorder and he convinced Noah that he sleepwalks. Part Three brings Noah, Tack and Min together, divulging their secrets and desperately trying to help figure out what is going on with the man in the black suit and Dr. Lowell and how it’s all connected to Project Nemesis. The mystery keeps growing even as it’s unraveling and the adults reach the ends of their ropes as some are shot by soldiers and others shoot themselves. Eventually the sixty-four sophomores are all the people that are left in the town and no one can figure out what happened to everyone else. A twisted sci-fi that kept me glued to its pages, 5 stars!

Letting Go of Gravity by Meg Leder

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Touching realistic fiction!
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for the opportunity to read and review Letting Go of Gravity by Meg Leder! Parker and Charlie are twins. One of them is giving the Valedictorian speech at high school graduation and the other watches from the audience, not graduating because of being held back a year in school, due to a second bout with leukemia. Parker has her future set out for her and Charlie is tired of dealing with leukemia. At the same time, Charlie seems much more confident about what he’s feeling and what he wants compared to Parker, who has uncertainties about everything. Parker crosses paths with Finn, a friend from elementary school that she lost track of. Charlie acts like he has a death wish and it’s upsetting his family and friends so much that his parents send him to a cancer therapy support group. Parker thinks that Charlie hates her and she seems to keep making the same mistakes, over and over, that make him angry. Through the turmoil of figuring out their lives and futures, Parker and Charlie surprise each other with how similar they are but different at the same time. A touching realistic fiction story with Ruby and Finn, dynamic side characters that bring an extra level of maturity to the plot and story line. 5 stars!

The Year of Living Awkwardly by Emma Chastain

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Charming and funny!
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for the opportunity to read and review The Year of Living Awkwardly: Sophomore Year by Emma Chastain!
Chloe shares her daily experiences through diary entries. She lives with her single father after her mother left them. Chloe’s mother went to Mexico with her much younger boyfriend. Needless to say, Chloe is angry at her mother. Chloe and her co-worker Grady have an entertaining relationship. Once school starts, so does the worrying and the drama of high school life. Friendships, dating, the musical and family spin Chloe out of control and she learns about herself in the process. Charming and funny, this realistic fiction is a blast to read with dynamic characters, drama and humor, 5 stars

 

In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

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Fast moving and action-packed!
In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken intensifies as the danger amps up in this third book of the Darkest Minds series. Liam’s memories are clear once again and his brother Cole continues to hide the fact that he himself is a Red. Cole doesn’t want everyone to be afraid of his powers, shun him and refuse to follow his lead. Liam, Ruby, Chubs and Zu are actually back together but their little group isn’t alone and they have to figure out how to work with the dynamics of a bigger group. The intense plot continues and more characters are introduced and brought into the action. Fast moving and action packed describe this book, 5 stars!