BLOG TOUR REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Titans

I am so excited to participate in the TITANS tour, organized by Rockstar Book Tours. Thanks for checking out my review and entering the giveaway to win a copy of Titans (5 winners - US only). Don't forget to visit all the stops on the tour for excerpts and other information.

Titans, by Victoria Scott
Publish Date: February 23, 2016
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: ARC, provided by the author
Genre: young adult contemporary/fantasy/sci-fi
To Buy:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

Rating: 5 STARS

(Synopsis) Ever since the Titans first appeared in her Detroit neighborhood, Astrid Sullivan’s world has revolved around the mechanical horses. She and her best friend have spent countless hours watching them and their jockeys practice on the track. It’s not just the thrill of the race. It’s the engineering of the horses and the way they’re programmed to seem so lifelike. The Titans are everything that fascinates Astrid, and nothing she’ll ever touch.

She hates them a little, too. Her dad lost everything betting on the Titans. And the races are a reminder of the gap between the rich jockeys who can afford the expensive machines to ride, and the working class friends and neighbors of Astrid’s who wager on them.

But when Astrid’s offered a chance to enter an early model Titan in this year’s derby, well, she decides to risk it all. Because for a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, it’s more than a chance at fame or money. Betting on herself is the only way she can see to hang on to everyone in the world she cares about.

The wind tears through my hair the way I always imagined, whispering for me to close my eyes, but I won't. I don't want to miss a single second of this. I've never felt so free. So fast. So bold. So beautiful.

Titans isn't my usual fare - there's no kissing, no great romance, no relationship angst. But there IS love - the love a girl has for her family, her friends, and for her horse. Victoria Scott is absolutely at her best when she's writing about the very special bonds that humans have with their animals - if you've read her Fire & Flood series, then you know what I'm talking about. Titans recaptures that magic and lends its own unique fantasy and sci-fi aspect when you consider the fact that Astrid's horse isn't actually... alive.

Astrid is a character that all girls can rally behind. She might only be 17, but she's willing to make hard choices and make big decisions, all to help pull her family out of the crushing debt that is threatening them. Astrid defies her parents in order to ride a mechanical horse in a series of races - races that grown people have died in in the past. This girl is very nearly fearless. 

I say "nearly" because Astrid is most definitely afraid of some things - losing and letting her family down, for one. Trusting her horse, which she names Padlock, is another. Astrid trusts precious few people in this world. She knows it's something that must be earned, and she's convinced that there's no way a hunk of metal can do that. 

But, come on. This is VICTORIA FREAKING SCOTT. Which means, this horse is special with a capital 'S'. Padlock might be an old model, but he has something no other horse on that track has. He has a bond with Astrid that flies in the face of science. And THAT is truly the best part of this whole book. 

"Padlock, I want to tell you something." My voice is barely a whisper, and already my throat is thick with lingering emotion. "I'd never be disappointed in you. No matter what happens this season, I'm proud to call you my Titan."

There are a host of colorful side characters - there's Astrid's artistic BFF Magnolia, her manager Rags and his work partner Barney, her sponsor Lottie, and her biggest competition Hart. I developed an affection for each of these characters as they help Astrid and Padlock in their own unique ways. And then there's the deliciously awful villain Arvin Gambini. I promise, you will burn with the desire to see him pay in the most humiliating way possible. 

The world building in Titans was done beautifully. We're given the picture of this downtrodden Detroit neighborhood, beaten back by layoffs and a sluggish economy. There's a very definitive line drawn between the haves and the have-nots. Astrid is the poster child for the have-nots, and her efforts to beat back the rich people who taunt and oppress her and her family will have you cheering for her along with everyone else in the book. She is most definitely the underdog in this race, so every victory is super special, and every defeat will squeeze your heart. 

"Strength is forgetting everything I've taught you and becoming a machine. It's reaching inside yourself and finding you are not someone to be toyed with. It's taking every doubt you have and crushing it beneath your heel."

Victoria Scott is a teen fiction writer represented by Sara Crowe of the Harvey-Klinger Literary  gency. She’s the author of the FIRE & FLOOD series, and TITANS published by Scholastic, and the DANTE WALKER trilogy published by Entangled Teen. Her books have been bought and translated in eleven foreign markets including the UK, Turkey, China, Poland, Israel, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.

Victoria lives in Dallas with her husband and hearts cotton candy something fierce.

Find Victoria: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook |Instagram | Goodreads

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AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4)

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4), by Marissa Meyer
Publish Date: November 10, 2015
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Format: audiobook, purchased
Genre: young adult fantasy/sci-fi romance
To Buy: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Rating: 5 STARS

(Synopsis) Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

ALL THE STARS. This book gets all the stars. I don't even think I can tell you how much I loved it in this review. What I can tell you is that Winter was the perfect ending to this sweeping epic tale of love and loss and friendships that will last forever. 

It's impossible to recap everything that happened in this 827-page book. Where things left off at the end of Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) was with Cinder and all her friends trying to piece together a plan to get to Luna and reclaim the throne for Selene, effectively putting an end to Levana's tyranny. 

With the first three books in this series taking place on Earth, it was so awesome to finally shift the story to Luna. Marissa Meyer paints the moon with a bright and colorful brush. They way she describes the different sectors and how they're organized into industries and how their domes protect them from the atmosphere - it was wondrous and intriguing and so perfectly described. 

Except for a few chapters that were set on Thorne's Rampian spaceship, the entire story is set on Luna. But, from nearly the beginning, the group is split up into different groups, both by choice and by accident. They each have different roles to play in their revolution as they try and rally the beaten down Lunars to their cause. 

Of course, things do not go smoothly. For any of them. There was a part of the book, about 40% in, where it seemed like nothing was going right for anyone, and I had absolutely no idea how any of them would make it out of their various predicaments alive. To quote Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own, "It's the hard that makes it great." The way all the characters dig deep inside themselves to find those unique characteristics to pull them through their trials was so awesome. 

Winter was big on emotion. There was a TON of it - of all sorts. I laughed a lot - mostly at the things that came out of Carswell Thorne's mouth. I shed a few tears. It wasn't hard to do since there were times when things looked really bleak for our heroes. 

And, of course, I swooned. Oh, there was so much swooning. Each of our four couples - Cinder and Kai, Scarlet and Wolf, Cress and Thorne and Winter and Jacin - have these moments where the events swirling around them stop and they have a chance to profess their love for one another. OMG, I loved those parts so much. 

As you might expect from the title, there is a lot of focus on Princess Winter and how she is dealing with the sickness that is a result of her choosing to not use her mind control powers on other people. Her choice to be a good, honest person when everyone else around her is not comes with serious consequences, and she takes them all on. She was amazing, and her relationship with Jacin is both complicated and sweet. 

But, the big event - THE event - is Cinder's revolution. There is a crazy amount of action in Winter. There are little skirmishes that take place between various groups of people throughout the book, but the big battle at the end for all the marbles was everything it needed to be. It was hard. It was deadly. It was nail biting. And not everyone made it through unscathed. In a word - it. Was. PERFECT.

In Winter, you will love. It's impossible not to with heroic hotties Kai, Wolf, Thorne and Jacin taking center stage. In Winter you will hate. You will hate BIG TIME because Levana is one of the evilest villains I have ever encountered in any book ever. In Winter you will be proud. Because Cinder is the best heroine ever. She doesn't always do the right thing, and she admits she's scared and doesn't know if she can be who she needs to be. But, her heart is ALWAYS in the right place. And her heart is big. I promise you will never regret having read Winter.

About the Audio Version
Rebecca Soler should read all books everywhere forever. Hands down, she is my favorite narrator. I can imagine that Winter was a difficult project for her to undertake. First of all, it's hella long. At just over 24 hours in length, it's the longest audio book I've ever tackled. And, secondly, there are so many characters! Besides the eight main heroes, there was also Levana, her right hand man Amery, Cinder's bestie Iko, Kai's advisor Torin, several Earthen delegates (from Australia, the UK, Texas and Africa), and scores of other minor side characters. And, somehow, Rebecca Soler gave them all a unique voice. How does she do that?!

I never got tired of listening to this book. I was constantly looking for extra opportunities to sneak in a chapter. It was incredibly entertaining and masterfully produced. I do own Winter in hardback. But, I chose to purchase the audio version and listen to that instead, as I have all the other books in this series. I've just enjoyed the audio versions so much - I'm sad to see it all ending. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Rebecca Soler's other narrations, though. 

REVIEW: Opposition (Lux #5)

Opposition (Lux #5), by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published August 5, 2014
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Format: paperback, purchased
Genre: young adult sci-fi romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Rating: 5 STARS

(From Goodreads) Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came.

She can't believe Daemon welcomed his race or stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred, and love has become an emotion that could destroy her—could destroy them all.

Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal.

They must team with an unlikely enemy if there is any chance of surviving the invasion. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything— even what they cherish most—to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.

War has come to Earth. And no matter the outcome, the future will never be the same for those left standing.

First he said he didn't want to have anything to do with her. Later, he said he would burn the world down to save her. The ride has been bumpy and scary and heartbreaking and sweet. Through it all, Daemon and Katy have had this incredible relationship that hasn't always been easy. Hell, sometimes, it's been absolutely deadly. But, their connection and dedication to one another has kept thousands of fans clinging to the edge of their seats, wondering what was going to happen to them next. 

The edge of my seat is where I spent most of my time reading Opposition. The Luxen have come to Earth, and they are pissed. They are ready for a take-over, and they want all hands on deck. That means Daemon, Dawson and Dee, much to Katy's surprise. But, Katy won't let the Luxen destroy all she has built with Daemon. She won't go down without a fight either. And, a fight is what is coming. 

This is it. The Lux series has come to an end with Opposition. This book was a pretty incredible ending to a pretty incredible series. I remember where I was when I first heard about Obsidian. The cover had just been redesigned and was getting ready for re-release. My bestie Jen from At Random met me for lunch and told me about Jennifer Armentrout and a giveaway she was having in honor of the redesign. I was all, "A book about aliens in high school? Yeeeeah. I'll give it a try Jen. Suuuuure." 

A year and a half later, I was waiting on pins and needles for the final book to be released to see how Daemon's and Katy's story ended.  To be honest, I stayed on pins and needles through most of Opposition. It was a stressful book, to be sure. For awhile, you weren't quite sure which side Daemon, Dawson and Dee had landed on. 

I knew, though, that there's no way Daemon and Katy could stay apart. They will always find a way back to each other. 

"Kat... I broke every rule of my kind to heal you and keep you with me...I've killed for you. Did you think I'd forget what you mean to me? That anything in this world - in any world - would be stronger than my love for you?"

Opposition was completely action packed from the very beginning through the very end. Aliens have literally invaded Earth. Everything you think that entails happens. Murder. Mayhem. Anarchy. It's scary and crazy and I LOVE that Jennifer Armentrout pulled no punches with this finale. I also love that we see lots of friends from other Lux books - including her adult companion, Obsession. Yes, Hunter and Serena are in this one, as are Hunter's brothers. It was fun seeing him again and watching he and Daemon interact - you know, seeing as how they're mortal enemies and all. 

Despite the very serious overtone of Opposition, Jennifer's trademark snarky language and witty banter are still there. Daemon and Katy still have those toe-curling moments that make you swoon. It's not all doom and gloom, and thank goodness for that. 

This was the send-off that this amazing series needed. It's all there - action, romance, and an incredible ending that makes everything - EVERYTHING - totally worth it.

REVIEW: The Taking (The Taking #1)

The Taking (The Taking #1), by Kimberly Derting
To Be Published April 29, 2014
Publisher:  HarperTeen
Format:  e-ARC, provided by Edelweiss
Genre:  YA sci-fi/romance
To Buy:  Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Rating: 4.5 STARS

(From Goodreads) A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.

When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.

Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?

Kimberly Derting has been on my list of authors to try for awhile now. I own the first Body Finders book and The Pledge, but haven't gotten around to them yet. As I was deciding what to read next this past week, my gaze kept landing on The Taking, and I decided that it was way past time to give Ms. Derting a go.

I could SMACK myself. Why did I wait so long?

After a fight with her dad alongside a road, Kyra encounters a bright white light, and before she can blink, she's behind the gas station down the road from her house... five. years. later. Everyone has moved on, including her boyfriend, so with the help of her boyfriend's "little" brother Tyler - who is looking mighty fine now - Kyra sets out to try and make sense of where she's been and what happens now.

I don't know what I expected, but for some reason, it wasn't this. The Taking is so much... MORE. More meaningful, more thought-provoking, more emotional, more exciting. Can you imagine even for a second what it would be like to check out of your life for five years, and then come back, not having changed an iota? While you were taking a siesta, the rest of the world kept moving and turning and CHANGING.

I felt so much for Kyra as she came home and discovered that her parents divorced, her mom had a "replacement" family, her dad is almost unrecognizable, her boyfriend and her best friend are in love, and the softball field where she pitched for her team was now named after her as a memorial to the dead. The poor girl doesn't know which end is up, who to trust or where to go from here. Her feelings of loss and of being lost were perfectly captured by Derting. I shed tears and bit my nails and raged at the people in her life who let her down.

And, yet, I was at war with myself, because on the other hand, I couldn't really blame them all for moving on. I think Kyra felt a little of that too, and that had to be confusing for her.

Luckily, she had Tyler. He was her boyfriend's - now ex-boyfriend's - little brother, and is now her age. He's grown up in the best ways and is such an amazing guy. The lengths he goes to to help Kyra feel better and to feel loved are so swoon-worthy. This kid is book boyfriend material of the highest caliber. And for all his efforts, he becomes the only person on Earth that Kyra trusts. Especially when the weird things start happening.

Apparently, wherever Kyra has been for the past five years has changed her in some ways. She comes back the same and yet... different. She's not tired or hungry, like, ever. She's fast and strong. And, there's other things about her, both awesome and terrible. As she slowly discovers these abilities and tries to understand what they mean, they put the people she loves in the worst kind of danger.

The last half of The Taking was exciting and scary and left me breathless. As Kyra and Tyler race to escape the bad guys, find the others like her and fix a deadly mistake, I honestly didn't know how it would all turn out. The ending is a cliffhanger of the most awesome kind. I will be waiting not-very-patiently for the next book in this exciting new series to come out.