Early Review: Redux by A.L. Davroe

Redux

Author: A.L. Davroe

Release Date: March 21, 2017

Publisher: Entangled: Teen

Tricksters Book #2

ISBN:   163375507X

ISBN13:  9781633755079

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

Review Copy Source: NetGalley

The domed city of Evanescence is in ruins. With nowhere to go, prodigy hacker Ellani “Ella” Drexel and a small band of survivors flee to the Undertunnel below their city.

To escape the wasteland she unknowingly created.

But sanctuary is hard to find. With malfunctioning androids and angry rebels at their backs, the group hopes to press on for the neighboring city of Cadence. But Ella’s chosen path is challenging…life-threatening, even. Worse, the boy she loves is acting distant, and not at all like the person she first met in Nexis.

But then Ella learns a secret…and it changes everything.

Ella knows she needs to turn back and make a stand to reclaim her home. She’s determined to bring a new—and better—life to all who’ve suffered.

Or die trying.

There are a lot of surprises in REDUX and when I wasn't being shocked, I was busy being intrigued by the great world that A.L. Davroe created. Be sure to read book one, NEXIS, before diving into REDUX.

REDUX picks up exactly where NEXIS left us. Ellani and her 'friends' are hiding out from all the attacking bots and outsiders that have flooded the domed city when everything went to crap. Most of NEXIS took place in virtual reality, but REDUX takes place in the real world and I really enjoyed learning about it.

I had some pretty big suspicions about the romance and I don't want to spoil anything so I won't share them, but wow. It was pretty intense and the truth was pretty crazy.

I really enjoyed this series. The flow of the storyline made it easy to read and connect with events. Everything seemed to be wrapped up at the end of REDUX, so I don't feel like I need to read anymore, but I would if Davroe decides it's not over.

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Week in Review: 3/12-3/18

Books Received for Review

Birthright by Jessica Ruddick
Destroyer by Shannon Mayer

Books I've Read

Lynchpin by Shannon Mayer
Shadow Reaper by Christine Feehan
Charcoal Tears by Jane Washington
Watercolour Smile by Jane Washington
Lead Heart by Jane Washington
Beauty of the Beast by Rachel L. Demeter

Reviews Posted

Lifeblood by Gena Showalter
Hunted by Meagan Spooner
Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire

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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Wednesday- Interview + Giveaway for Shadow Run by AdriAnne Strickland + Michael Miller

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Review: Lifeblood by Gena Showalter

Lifeblood

Author: Gena Showalter

Release Date: February 28, 2017

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Everlife Book #2

ISBN:   0373212194

ISBN13: 9780373212194

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Review Copy Source: NetGalley

My Firstlife is over, but my Everlife is only now beginning.

With her last living breath, Tenley "Ten" Lockwood made her choice and picked her realm in the Everlife. Now, as the war between Troika and Myriad rages, she must face the consequences.

Because Ten possesses a rare supernatural ability to absorb and share light, the Powers That Be have the highest expectations for her future—and the enemy wants her neutralized. Fighting to save her Secondlife, she must learn about her realm from the ground up while launching her first mission: convincing a select group of humans to join her side before they die. No pressure, right?

But Ten's competition is Killian, the boy she can't forget—the one who gave up everything for her happiness. He has only one shot at redemption: beating Ten at a game she's never even played. As their throw-downs heat up, so do their undeniable feelings, and soon, Ten will have to make another choice. Love…or victory.

Ten's Firstlife is over and Everlife starts with a bang.

LIFEBLOOD starts exactly where FIRSTLIFE left off. There is a lot of confusion on the battlefield and in Ten's mind. The consequences of her choice hits pretty quickly when she finds herself torn between protecting Killian—the boy she loves— and helping Troika—the side of the Everlife she chose— win the fight. I didn't find Ten to be as independent and strong as she was in FIRSTLIFE which kinda bummed me out. She got stronger throughout the story, but I wanted her to kick ass and take names from the get-go.

The romance in LIFEBLOOD was all over the place just like it was supposed to be. Ten lives in a totally different Everlife than Killian and the push and pull they feel towards each other is hard to ignore and even harder to act on. Showalter did a great job in keeping us on our toes in regards to figuring out if Killian's feelings were real or just part of the job his superiors set him on. In the end you know, but it was hard to figure out and the suspense just about killed me.

LIFEBLOOD had a nice quick pace to it, but I felt that it could have been slowed down at some points. It was hard to really connect to some of the scenes. I enjoyed learning about Troika and thought the world building was nicely done. I'm excited to see what the last book, EVERLIFE, will give us. 

I gave it 3.5/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Hunted

Author: Meagan Spooner

Release Date: March 14, 2017

Publisher: HarperTeen

ISBN:   0062422286

ISBN13: 9780062422286

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Edelweiss

Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.

So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.

Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?

HUNTED was a very unique spin on Beauty and the Beast, but it didn't quite pull me in like I wanted it to.

In HUNTED, Beauty is the vengeful huntress looking for her missing father only to find herself a captive of the beast. I liked Yeva. She was fierce when she needed to be and I liked how she took care of her family. She had a lot of struggles to work through and it was easy to connect to them. I never really connected to the Beast, but I did enjoy the lore that was involved in telling his story.

The romance—if you can really call it that— was very slow. It was one of those things were Yeva despised the beast until she was free of him and then she realized that she loved him in the end.

I found the story very interesting, but the pace at times was extremely slow. The ending events felt weird. The writing felt different from the rest of the story and my interest kind of withered at that point.

I gave it 3/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Interview + Giveaway: Shadow Run by AdriAnne Strickland + Michael Miller

UFI welcomes Authors AdriAnne Strickland + Michael Miller. Thanks for Joining us!!

What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?

AdriAnne: I love to play video games, if I don’t always have much time. My current favorites are the Witcher III and Final Fantasy XV, and my forever-favorite is Skyrim.

Michael:  I grew up on horseback, so I ended up really loving horses. One of my many potential alternate careers would involve them somehow. I haven’t figured out how to work spaceicorns into the series yet, but mark my words, if I could, I would.

What do you enjoy doing on your down time?

AdriAnne: Gaming (see above), reading, hiking, figure drawing, dancing, and the occasional TV show binge-watching.

Michael: Whenever I have actual downtime, it takes the form of either a lot of time spent outdoors being as active as possible, or time indoors being as inactive as possible. My wife and I love to hike and canoe, and if I’m indoors I’ll be playing Starcraft with friends or attempting to catch up on Dr. Who. Reading is on the list, of course, and if you start playing music, I’ll dance. It’s an unfortunate compulsion.

What is your Favorite part of writing?

AdriAnne: Creating worlds. There’s nothing more thrilling and fulfilling than playing god!

Michael: The moment you hit your stride, the floodgates open, and you’re no longer fighting yourself. It’s a struggle for me to get there, but it’s almost physical relief afterwards.

Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?

AdriAnne: Wake up, work out, dink around on social media for an hour or so in an attempt to get focused, and then write all day in a quiet spot in my house with many tea/coffee refills.

Michael: It seems that after work, and everyone has gone to sleep, I’ll sit and stare at the screen, planning to pound out a few pages by a reasonable hour. At 1 am, I’ll have written a page. Then somewhere around 2 am my brain finally kicks into gear. I don’t know if it’s being tired or the length of time staring at a page, but it’s fairly predictable.

What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?

AdriAnne: Neil Gaiman, particularly his AMERICAN GODS, and the LUCIFER graphic novels, both the original and the reboot, by Mike Carey, Holly Black, and Richard Kadrey.

Michael: Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Robin McKinley’s SUNSHINE, absolutely. I’m excited to dig into the EVERYTHING BOX by Richard Kadrey next.

How would you pitch SHADOW RUN to someone who has not heard of it before?

Firefly meets DUNE with a pinch of Star Wars on top!

Can you tell us a little bit about the world that SHADOW RUN is set in?

It’s set so far in the future that the technology to reach other galaxies has been lost and civilization has collapsed into what amounts as another Dark Age—though it’s still one far more technologically advanced than we are now! There are royal families that control different planetary systems, unfairly colonized worlds, mining drones that no one knows how to control anymore, and the ruins of great portals that once connected this galaxy to others long gone. Oh, and there are swords in space.

Do you have a favorite scene in SHADOW RUN?

We share the same one. With minimal spoilers, it’s when Qole, our seventeen year old starship captain, finds herself very out of her element on a world very different from her own. It’s really fun making incredibly confident characters into fish out of water.

Which one character out of all your books was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?

AdriAnne: Basra was my favorite, our genderfluid accountant. I haven’t had a character I’ve loved more. S/he was also the hardest to get right!

Michael:  Telu, because HACKER. It was also just nice to write someone who perpetually refuses to be appropriate.

What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?

Book 2 in this series (Kaitan Chronicles) will be out in a year. We’re working on copy edits right now, and also starting Book 3!

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ADRIANNE STRICKLAND and MICHAEL MILLER met in their hometown of Palmer, Alaska, where they agreed on 99% of book taste and thus decided to write together. Adri spends her summers as a commercial fisherwoman in Bristol Bay, Alaska, and the rest of the year writing. Michael grew up off the grid in a homestead in Alaska and now works in IT and tech. This is their first book together. Visit them on Twitter, AdriAnne at @AdriAnneMS and Michael at @begemotike.

______________________________

Shadow Run
Kaitan Chronicles #1

"Firefly" meets DUNE in this action-packed sci-fi adventure about a close-knit, found family of a crew navigating a galaxy of political intrigue and resource-driven  power games.

Nev has just joined the crew of the starship Kaitan Heritage as the cargo loader. His captain, Qole, is the youngest-ever person to command her own ship, but she brooks no argument from her crew of orphans, fugitives, and con men. Nev can’t resist her, even if her ship is an antique.

As for Nev, he’s a prince, in hiding on the ship. He believes Qole holds the key to changing galactic civilization, and when her cooperation proves difficult to obtain, Nev resolves to get her to his home planet by any means necessary.

But before they know it, a rival royal family is after Qole too, and they’re more interested in stealing her abilities than in keeping her alive.

Nev’s mission to manipulate Qole becomes one to save her, and to survive, she’ll have to trust her would-be kidnapper. He may be royalty, but Qole is discovering a deep reservoir of power—and stars have mercy on whoever tries to hurt her ship or her crew.

__________________________________

US only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Releases: 3/12-3/18

Tue. March 14th

 Bad Blood by Demitria Lunetta
 Brother’s Ruin (Industrial Magic #1) by Emma Newman

 The End of Oz (Dorothy Must Die #4) by Danielle Paige
 Hunted by Meagan Spooner
 New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson 
 Pilot X by Tom Merritt
 These Ruthless Deeds (These Vicious Masks #2) by Tarun Shanker, Kelly Zekas
 The White Road of The Moon by Rachel Neumeier

Happy Reading!!

Review: Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire

Magic for Nothing

Author: Seanan McGuire

Release Date: March 7, 2017

Publisher: DAW

Incryptid Book #6

ISBN:  0756410398

ISBN13:  9780756410391

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Review Copy Source: NetGalley

Improbable, adjective:
1. Not very likely to happen; not probable.
2. Probably not a very good idea anyway.
3. See also “bad plan.”

As the youngest of the three Price children, Antimony is used to people not expecting much from her. She’s been happy playing roller derby and hanging out with her cousins, leaving the globe-trotting to her older siblings while she stays at home and tries to decide what she wants to do with her life. She always knew that one day, things would have to change. She didn’t think they’d change so fast.

Annie’s expectations keep getting shattered. She didn’t expect Verity to declare war on the Covenant of St. George on live television. She didn’t expect the Covenant to take her sister’s threat seriously. And she definitely didn’t expect to be packed off to London to infiltrate the Covenant from the inside…but as the only Price in her generation without a strong resemblance to the rest of the family, she’s the perfect choice to play spy. They need to know what’s coming. Their lives may depend on it.

But Annie has some secrets of her own, like the fact that she’s started setting things on fire when she touches them, and has no idea how to control it. Now she’s headed halfway around the world, into the den of the enemy, where blowing her cover could get her killed. She’s pretty sure things can’t get much worse.

Antimony Price is about to learn just how wrong it’s possible for one cryptozoologist to be.

Another Price sibling, another great installment of the Incryptid series!

I wasn't really looking forward to reading MAGIC FOR NOTHING, but once I started reading I didn't want to put it down. Antimony never really stuck out to me as someone that would be interesting to read about, but my first impressions were wrong. Although I found it hard to really like Annie in the beginning of MAGIC FOR NOTHING—especially when she was being such a biatch to Verity, I love Verity—she grew on me and I found out that she has reasons to feel the way she does. She ended up being the perfect family member to infiltrate the Covenant and proved she was just as bad-ass as the rest of the family.

The romance aspect of the story was a little weird and a bit hard to really get into, but overlooking the awkward facts was easier as the story progressed. Not sure if things will continue into the future, but it will be interesting to find out.

Annie had to make some really hard decisions at the end of MAGIC FOR NOTHING that put her even farther out of the reach of her family. I really hate them for putting her in the situation in the first place, but I understand it and hope they are have something on the back burner to help her out. Either way, the Incryptid series continues to draw me in.

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.