November New Releases/Anticipated Reads

Posted on October 23, 2015 by readingbytorchlight

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Hi everyone! Sorry for my lack of activity on the site. I have had quite a busy October, and so have had little time to blog. I have also tried to create some graphic designs for the site header, and for various blog posts, so they might not be amazing but I hope you like them – warning, I am not great at graphic design! I have some new book releases to show you all! Usually I do this post at the beginning of each month, but I though I would give you all some time to prepare, or pre-order the exciting new books released next month!

I would also like to add that I have now become an Amazon Associate and would really appreciate if you buy the books through my links! It would enable for me to have give-aways for all you lovely people!

So without further ado…

Winter (Lunar Chronicles Book 4) – by Marissa Meyer

Title: Winter

Author: Marissa Meyer

Release Date: 12th November 2015

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Number of Pages: 832

ISBN: 9780312642983

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?

BUY THE BOOK HERE

Ice like Fire (Snow like Ashes Book 2) – By Sara Raasch

Title: Ice like Fire

Author: Sara Raasch

Release Date: 19th November 2015

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Number of Pages: 479

ISBN: 9780062286956

It’s been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring’s king, Angra, disappeared—thanks largely to the help of Cordell.

Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria’s lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity—with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses—the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders the two on a mission across the kingdoms of Primoria to discover the chasm’s secrets, Meira plans to use the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe—even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?

Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Januari—leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell’s growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter’s security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken kingdom and protect them from new threats?

As the web of power and deception weaves tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom—and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter, but for the world.

BUY THE BOOK HERE

Just Visiting – by Dahlia Adler

Title: Just Visiting

Author: Dahlia Alder

Release Date: 17th November 2015

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Number of Pages: 348

ISBN: 9781633920538

Reagan Forrester wants out—out of her trailer park, out of reach of her freeloading mother, and out of the shadow of the relationship that made her the pariah of Charytan, Kansas.

Victoria Reyes wants in—in to a fashion design program, in to the arms of a cute guy who doesn’t go to Charytan High, and in to a city where she won’t stand out for being Mexican.

One thing the polar-opposite best friends do agree on is that wherever they go, they’re staying together. But when they set off on a series of college visits at the start of their senior year, they quickly see that the future doesn’t look quite like they expected. After two years of near-solitude following the betrayal of the ex-boyfriend who broke her heart, Reagan falls hard and fast for a Battlestar Galactica-loving, brilliant smile-sporting pre-med prospective… only to learn she’s set herself up for heartbreak all over again. Meanwhile, Victoria runs full-speed toward all the things she thinks she wants… only to realize everything she’s looking for might be in the very place they’ve sworn to leave.

As both Reagan and Victoria struggle to learn who they are and what they want in the present, they discover just how much they don’t know about each other’s pasts. And when each learns what the other’s been hiding, they’ll have to decide whether their friendship has a future.

BUY THE BOOK HERE

Hotel Ruby – by Suzanne Young

Title: Hotel Ruby

Author: Suzanne Young

Release Date: 1st November 2015

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult Mystery/ Fantasy/ Horror/ Contemporary (really just a mix of everything I think)

Number of Pages: 288

ISBN: 9781481423007

Stay Tonight. Stay Forever.

When Audrey Casella arrives for an unplanned stay at the grand Hotel Ruby, she’s grateful for the detour. Just months after their mother’s death, Audrey and her brother, Daniel, are on their way to live with their grandmother, dumped on the doorstep of a DNA-matched stranger because their father is drowning in his grief.

Audrey and her family only plan to stay the night, but life in the Ruby can be intoxicating, extending their stay as it provides endless distractions—including handsome guest Elias Lange, who sends Audrey’s pulse racing. However, the hotel proves to be as strange as it is beautiful. Nightly fancy affairs in the ballroom are invitation only, and Audrey seems to be the one guest who doesn’t have an invite. Instead, she joins the hotel staff on the rooftop, catching whispers about the hotel’s dark past.

The more Audrey learns about the new people she’s met, the more her curiosity grows. She’s torn in different directions—the pull of her past with its overwhelming loss, the promise of a future that holds little joy, and an in-between life in a place that is so much more than it seems…

Welcome to the Ruby.

BUY THE BOOK HERE

Dangerous Lies – by Becca Fitzpatrick

Title: Dangerous Lies

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick

Release Date: 10th November 2015

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult Thriller/Contemporary/Romance

Number of Pages: 400

ISBN: 9781471125089

A teen is forced to make a fresh start after witnessing a violent crime—but love and danger find her anyway in this novel from Becca Fitzpatrick, the New York Times bestselling author of the Hush, Hush saga.

Stella Gordon is not her real name. Thunder Basin, Nebraska, is not her real home. This is not her real life.

After witnessing a lethal crime, Stella Gordon is sent to the middle of nowhere for her own safety before she testifies against the man she saw kill her mother’s drug dealer.

But Stella was about to start her senior year with the boyfriend she loves. How can she be pulled away from the only life she knows and expected to start a new one in Nebraska? Stella chafes at her protection and is rude to everyone she meets. She’s not planning on staying long, so why be friendly? Then she meets Chet Falconer and it becomes harder to keep her guard up, even as her guilt about having to lie to him grows.

As Stella starts to feel safer, the real threat to her life increases—because her enemies are actually closer than she thinks…

BUY THE BOOK HERE

The Lies About Truth – by Courtney C. Stevens

Title: The Lies About Truth

Author: Courtney C. Stevens

Release Date: 3rd November 2015

Publisher: Harper Teen

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult Contemporary/Romance

Number of Pages: 336

ISBN: 9780062245410

Sadie Kingston, is a girl living in the aftermath. A year after surviving a car accident that killed her friend Trent and left her body and face scarred, she can’t move forward. The only person who seems to understand her is Trent’s brother, Max.

As Sadie begins to fall for Max, she’s unsure if she is truly healed enough to be with him — even if Max is able to look at her scars and not shy away. But when the truth about the accident and subsequent events comes to light, Sadie has to decide if she can embrace the future or if she’ll always be trapped in the past.

BUY THE BOOK HERE

So these are just a few new books coming out in November. All of the release dates and information is for the UK editions of the books.

Happy Reading xxx

The Orphan Queen – By Jodi Meadows Review

Posted on September 28, 2015 by readingbytorchlight

Title: The Orphan Queen

Author: Jodi Meadows

Release Date: 10th March 2015

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Number of Pages: 391

ISBN: 9780062317384

Rating:✭✭✭✭

Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.

She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.

She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.

She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others.

Jodi Meadows introduces a vivid new fantasy full of intrigue, romance, dangerous magic, and one girl’s battle to reclaim her place in the world.

RATING: 4 Stars

MY THOUGHTS

The Orphan Queen was a fantastic, intriguing and chilling read filled with action and mystery! However, I also feel that there could be some improvements. I have to say though, overall I really enjoyed the book!

To begin with I loved all the characters within the book! Wil (Wilhelmina) was brilliant; she is a strong willed, loyal, and an independent protagonist who can also be quite humorous. The character development was one of the best aspects of the book for me, and while the characters were detailed, and had individual personalities, there was an air of mystery around Wil, and of course Black Knife ;). I don’t want to spoil the book, but the plot twists concerning the characters was executed really well. While the character plot twist was not a complete surprise to me, it was still great to read. I am very interested to see where the characters develop in future book(s). Another one of my favourite characters from the book is Melanie. Being the best friend of Will, she also takes part in some action and is masterful in deception within the novel. Her friendship with Wil is vital, and while they may argue with each other the relationship is strong. Melanie is a strong female character, and is headstrong in many of the things she does.
Black Knife is another brilliant character. While most of the other characters have detailed backgrounds, Black Knife remains somewhat of a mystery throughout the novel. I was hesitant on whether this would work as I thought we would be unable as readers to connect with him, however I was very wrong! His character while mysterious, is brave and intelligent, and the relationship between himself and Wil in the novel grows, refining and developing Black Knife’s personality. The relationship between both Black Knife and Wil develops into a romance towards the end of the novel, although this does not takes over the plot.
Moreover, Patrick, another character in the novel – a mentor for Wil, has an interesting and twisted character. The power play between Wil and Patrick adds the plot line, and the end of The Orphan Queen has left me in great suspense!

The world building is sufficiently developed within the book. In areas I felt that the world building was a little rushed, and could have been depicted in more detail, however this did not ruin the book for me as in other sections of the book the world is fantastically vivid. When Wil travels to the ‘Wraith Land’ the descriptions of the mirror lake, and the village around it are brilliant! I actually got shivers when Wil is traveling through it. The fantastical and backwards world within the ‘wraith’ was intriguing, and was one of my favourite parts of the book. The Indigo City is similarly described in great detail, and so these ares of the plot were great to read.
Additionally, the magic and fantasy within the novel were a unique idea. Magic is banned as it creates ‘wraith’, deadly energy that is spreading from the West to the East. While the different types and uses of magic is not delved into deeply, it is skimmed across, hinting at further development in later book(s).

In addition, the plot of the story grabbed my attention from the start. It is action packed, and full of twists that kept my interest peaked throughout the novel. The interweaving problems which Wil and the Ospreys face are well written. I particularly found the ending of The Orphan Queen fantastic – this is the best part of the book in my opinion. Particularly towards the end of the novel I found my heart pounding, and the cliff hanger with which the story ends is brilliant!

While I enjoyed The Orphan Queen there are some aspects of the novel which I thought could be improved. As I have mentioned, the world building in some areas could have been developed on, particularly the journeys to and from the Wraith Land, and some of the action which Black Knife and Wil get into during the night, in the city. Some of the smaller details I felt were missed out; which would have made a good contribution to the story, such as the traveling around the city, as Wil often does. However, this was not a major problem for me, and would not bother most readers in my opinion.

Overall I enjoyed The Orphan Queen and would recommend the book to any lovers of fantasy, action, and romance! While I had some problems with the world building, this did not ruin reading the book (which is why I have rated it 4 lovely stars!), and the character development within the book is brilliant. I look forward to reading the second book in the series The Mirror King!

Favourite Quote:
“I know very well how pain could last, and fester, and shape a person in unnameable ways”

Books in the series:

The Orphan Queen (Released 10th March 2015)
The Mirror King (To be released 5th April 2016)

Happy Reading xxx

The Heart of Betrayal – By Mary E. Pearson Review

Posted on September 12, 2015 by readingbytorchlight

After reading and enjoying The Kiss of Deception, the first book in The Remnant Chronicles, I quickly decided to read the second! I completely loved the first book, and the The Heart of Betrayal did not disappoint me. I was ripped apart and put back together again by The Heart of Betrayal.
The Heart of Betrayal was a vastly different read for me, than The Kiss of Deception as I feel we really get a feel for both Kaden and Rafe in this book. Continue reading →

The Kiss of Deception – By Mary E. Pearson Review

Posted on August 23, 2015 by readingbytorchlight

Title: The Kiss of Deception

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Release Date: July 8th 2014

Publisher: Square Fish

Age Range/ Genre: Young Adult

Number of Pages: 489

ISBN: 9781250063151

Rating:✭✭✭✭✭

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight–but she doesn’t–and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom–to a prince she has never met.
On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive–and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets–even as she finds herself falling in love.
The Kiss of Deception is the first book in Mary E. Pearson’s Remnant Chronicles.

RATING: 5 Stars

MY THOUGHTS:

Fantastic. I absolutely loved The Kiss of Deception! As an avid reader of fantasy, romance, and action, this book was wonderful. I may be slightly overexcited about the book, but the story line caught me from the beginning. Before I read it I had heard a lot of good things about the story plot and world building, and I have to agree, you should read this book!

The Kiss of Deception is the first book from The Remnant Chronicles and focuses on 3 main characters, Lia, a prince and an assassin. The book is mainly focused on Lia’s POV, however there is also the POV’s from both the prince and the assassin. Lia is Princess Arabella Celestine Idris Jezelia, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan, she is very headstrong and at the beginning of the novel runs away from her home to escape her arranged marriage.

First off the writing in the book is incredibly clever. I don’t want to give too much away, but through most of the novel you are not sure which boy is the assassin and which is the prince. It is difficult to describe unless you have read the book, but I hope that makes sense. Lia meets both boys and we know one is called Rafe and the other is called Kaden, however it remains a mystery which of them is the assassin and which is the prince. This is difficult to pull off but I though that Mary E. Pearson did this brilliantly. As the story moved on I made a guess on which boy was which, but I won’t tell you any spoilers 😉
Additionally, unless you had guessed from the beginning of the book, during the end there is a massive plot twist. While I was not completely surprised, I was still shocked.

The characters in The Kiss of Deception were all well developed. I really liked Lia’s character, as she was strong and often sarcastic and funny throughout the novel. Even when she is put into difficult situations she pulls through. Overall I thought she was a brilliant character. Similarly I enjoyed both Rafe and Kaden’s characters. Both characters were mysterious, and we only get to know them towards the end of the book. Out of the two I am not sure I have a favourite. I tended to swing between both of them, however after finishing the novel I am team Rafe 🙂
Another character in the book was Pauline. She has a vastly different personality from Lia, however she was also an enjoyable character. The friendship between both of the girls was funny, and heartwarming.

As I am sure you have deduced, there is somewhat a love triangle in The Kiss of Deception. The romance is more between Lia and Rafe, however there is competition between both Rafe and Kaden. The romance between Rafe and Lia slowly progresses and is incredibly sweet. While I would say the romance is a main contributor to the story, it is not the only drive and so, in my opinion, did not take over the story, even though it is a main drive.

The world building throughout the book was vivid, and descriptive. I love the world which Lia lives in. The map at the beginning of the book was a nice guide on how the world is set out. The world was fantastical and richly described.

Overall I loved The Kiss of Deception, and so rate it 5/5 stars. The story was captivating, describing a world full of magic, with romance, betrayal, and mystery woven in. If you enjoy fantasy, romance and magic I would defiantly read this book!

Favourite Quote:
It can take years to mold a dream. It takes only a fraction of a second for it to be shattered”
page 279 (Paperback Edition)

Books in The Remnant Chronicles:

The Kiss of Deception (Released July 8th 2014)
The Heart of Betrayal (Hardback Released July 7th 2015)
The Beauty of Darkness (Expected to be released during 2016)

I will be ordering the next book and can’t wait for the finial book in the series! 😀

Happy Reading xxx

Birthmarked – By Caragh O’Brien Review

Posted on August 10, 2015 by readingbytorchlight

Title: Birthmarked

Author: Caragh O’Brien

Release Date: March 30th 2010

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK Ltd

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult

Number of Pages: 361

ISBN: 9780857071392

Rating:

In the future, in a world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the walled Enclave and those, like sixteen-year-old Gaia Stone, who live outside. Following in her mother’s footsteps Gaia has become a midwife, delivering babies in the world outside the wall and handing a quota over to be “advanced” into the privileged society of the Enclave. Gaia has always believed this is her duty, until the night her mother and father are arrested by the very people they so loyally serve. Now Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught, but her choice is simple: enter the world of the Enclave to rescue her parents, or die trying.

RATING: 3.5 Stars

MY THOUGHTS

Birthmarked was a thought provoking and vivid read. The novel, which is set in the future, is set around a girl called Gaia, and her attempt to rescue her parents, while discovering the true reason and use of the babies which are taken from her village and given to ‘The Enclave’.

Birthmarked was an interesting and fascinating read. The world building in the book was vivid, and so it is easy to picture the world Gaia is living in. The difference in society between ‘The Enclave’ and ‘Wharfton’ are clearly shown. I particularly loved the descriptions of the markets and sellers which are bright and particularly realistic. Similarly the houses, and streets create a detailed picture of the world. Even though the book is set in the future, there is relatively little technology, which I thought was less realistic, but apart from that it I enjoyed the world which Caragh O’Brien creates in the novel!

While the book was about Gaia finding her parents, there is also some mystery around the code which her parents created, and the reason behind The Enclave needing babies. I particularly enjoyed the mystery around the code, however, I was unsure on the idea of the parents of the babies being kept secret. I have to say I was unsure through most of the novel what the problem was with revealing the names of the children’s true parents, it would help the children themselves and ensure no future children were born with deficiencies or diseases. I only completely understood at the end of the novel the reason the parents names were truly needed, and so kept from the Enclave.

In addition to the mystery surrounding the parents of the children which were ‘advanced’, there was the scientific part of the story which I thought was clever. The initial need for the ‘advanced’ babies was because of the reduced population, and so reduced gene pool, which I thought was realistic. This lead to the specific gene that The Enclave wanted to find. Again how they have the technology to find and define specific genes and strands of DNA, yet they publicly kill people through the method of hanging contradicted, in my opinion, the time period which the story is set in.

The characters themselves in the story were good, and I really like Gaia’s character, and her morals. Gaia’s characters was bold, and decisive which I liked about her. She was strong, and held a solid belief in what she believed what was right and wrong. Although, the other characters could have been more developed.
Other main characters were not very detailed or developed, only Gaia’s character was very deep, and she is the main protagonist of the story. While we get to know other characters throughout the novel, none of them have very developed personalities. This was however balanced out somewhat by the vivid world building.
Additionally there is a small romance between Gaia and Leon, which is mysterious! 😀 The romance is not not the main drive in the story, but still plays a part, and develops slowly.

Overall I liked Birthmarked, and I thought the world which Caragh O’Brien was intriguing and brilliant! The story kept me reading on. I have rated it at 3.5 stars due to the lack in character development outside the main character Gaia. However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!

Favourite Quote:
“There are some things, once they are done, that we can never question, because if we did, we wouldn’t be able to go on. And we have to go on, every single day”
pg 112 (UK Paperback Edition)

If you enjoyed reading Birthmarked, and would like to read books which are similar, here are my recommendations:

All the books above are similar to Birthmarked in at least one way, and are all good reads!

Happy Reading xxx

Matched – By Ally Condie Review

Posted on August 8, 2015 by readingbytorchlight

Title: Matched

Author: Ally Condie

Release Date: November 30th 2010

Publisher: Penguin Group

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult

Number of Pages: 366

ISBN: 9780142419779

Rating:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander’s face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate… until she sees Ky Markham’s face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it’s a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she’s destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can’t stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society’s infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

RATING: 3.5 Stars

MY THOUGHTS

Matched is a book which I have had quite a while. I will admit this was not the first time that I attempted to read the book. A couple of years ago I attempted the book, and out of dislike for the main character, and out of boredom I stopped reading early on in the story. However, I decided that I would have another go, as I know a couple of people who liked the book, and I did get through the book this time, and enjoyed it!

After reading through the whole of the book, I enjoyed the story and the romance between Cassia and Ky. The idea of a future society where everything is controlled is very similar to The Giver by Lois Lowry, however the romance between the main characters, Cassia, Ky and Xander features more prominently. Similarly, through the novel it shows how peoples love for each other mean that they bend the rules.

The criticisms that I had with the novel was that I found the story could slow at times. While Cassia is breaking rules of the society she lives in, there is not much action in the novel, and neither is the novel very fast paced. The book for me took a while to get into, however further into the story I found it became more interesting.

What I enjoyed about Matched was the romance between Cassia and Ky. It was not an ‘insta-love’ and throughout the book more is revealed about Ky so you feel as if you are beginning to understand him. Their relationship was sweet, and you can see Cassia slowly falling for Ky :). I also enjoyed the futuristic world, which was easy to imagine as the world building was good. Similarly, throughout the novel certain privileges and objects are taken away from Cassia and her family showing more clearly how every aspect of their lives is controlled by the government.

While the romance between Cassia, and Ky is the main story line, their relationship also opens up onto showing what is wrong with the society. I was left questioning at the end who put Ky into the matching ceremony, and why? Also I was left intrigued at who they were at war with.

Additionally Ally Condie’s writing style is enjoyable and beautiful to read. Towards the end of Matched I really got into the book; as more is revealed it left me questioning what was happening, and wanting to read the next book in the trilogy – Crossed!

Overall I rate Matched 3.5 stars. While I did enjoy the novel, I found the beginning slow. However if you enjoy a futuristic world and romance I would not let this put you off reading it, and I recommend the book!

If you enjoyed Matched and would like to read books which are similar, here are my recommendations:

I thoroughly enjoyed each of these books, and highly recommend them!

Happy Reading xxx

August New Releases/Anticipated Books

Posted on August 6, 2015 by readingbytorchlight

These are the new book releases this August. If you need some inspiration or ideas for reading have a look at these books! The release dates on each of the books are for the UK, these might not be the same as the US or International release dates.

Am I Normal Yet? – By Holly Bourne

Title: Am I normal Yet?

Author: Holly Bourne

Release Date: August 1st 2015

Publisher: Usborne

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult

Number of Pages: 434

ISBN: 9781409590309

All Evie wants is to be normal. She’s almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the girl-who-went-crazy. She’s even going to parties and making friends. There’s only one thing left to tick off her list… But relationships are messy – especially relationships with teenage guys. They can make any girl feel like they’re going mad. And if Evie can’t even tell her new friends Amber and Lottie the truth about herself, how will she cope when she falls in love?

Legacy of Kings – By Eleanor Herman

Title: Legacy of Kings

Author: Eleanor Herman

Release Date: August 18th 2015

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult

Number of Pages: 384

ISBN: 9780373211722

Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise. Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters. Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known: Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

Until Friday Night – by Abbi Glines

Title: Until Friday Night

Author: Abbi Glines

Release Date: August 25th 2015

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Age Range/Genre: Young Adult

Number of Pages: 352

ISBN: 9781481438865

To everyone who knows him, West Ashby has always been that guy: the cocky, popular, way-too-handsome-for-his-own-good football god who led Lawton High to the state championships. But while West may be Big Man on Campus on the outside, on the inside he’s battling the grief that comes with watching his father slowly die of cancer. Two years ago, Maggie Carleton’s life fell apart when her father murdered her mother. And after she told the police what happened, she stopped speaking and hasn’t spoken since. Even the move to Lawton, Alabama, couldn’t draw Maggie back out. So she stayed quiet, keeping her sorrow and her fractured heart hidden away. As West’s pain becomes too much to handle, he knows he needs to talk to someone about his father—so in the dark shadows of a post-game party, he opens up to the one girl who he knows won’t tell anyone else. West expected that talking about his dad would bring some relief, or at least a flood of emotions he couldn’t control. But he never expected the quiet new girl to reply, to reveal a pain even deeper than his own—or for them to form a connection so strong that he couldn’t ever let her go…

Happy Reading xxx

Thinking of Reading Thursday

Posted on July 30, 2015 by readingbytorchlight

So I am going to be doing a Thinking of Reading Thursday – so original, I know 🙂

These are some of the books which I have recently bought or taken out from the library and so I plan to read through them. I am not sure which one I will start with but I thought I would share them all with you!

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - By Michelle Hodkin
Birthmarked - By Caragh M. O'Brien
Across the Universe - By Beth Revis
A Thousand Pieces of You - By Claudia Gray
All the Light We Cannot See - By Anthony Doerr

All of these books have beautiful covers, and sound interesting! I have heard a lot about each book and am very excited about reading them. If you have read any of them comment down below telling me what you thought! If you also think I should start with a particular book don’t hesitate to tell me 🙂

If you would like to know more about each of these books click on the covers:

Happy Reading xxx

The Archived – By Victoria Schwab Review

Posted on July 29, 2015 by readingbytorchlight

Release Date: January 22nd 2013

Publisher: Hyperion

Reader Age: 13 +

ISBN: 978-142315731-1

Number of Pages: 328

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was: a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn’t just dangerous—it’s a constant reminder of those Mac has lost, Da’s death was hard enough, but now that her little brother is gone too, Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself may crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

The Archived is a masterful novel, and is a clever and haunting read. The story is about a teenage girl, Mackenzie Bishop, and how she tries to solve the mystery around a string of deaths which happened years ago in the building which she has recently moved into. The story also looks at how people deal with grief after a loved one has died, and goes into the idea that after someone had died they are catalogued in shelves in the ‘Archive’.

The Archived was a intriguing read, and I found the idea that after you die you are kept as a ‘History’ interesting. The book is beautifully written, and has detailed and vivd descriptions of the ‘Narrows’ and the ‘Archive’. After I first read the blurb I was slightly hesitant at the idea of people being kept as ‘Histories’ on shelves, and was unsure how Victoria Schwab would carry this out in the novel. However the idea grew on me after I started reading.

All the characters in the novel are conveyed across cleverly. Mackenzie’s character is intriguing, and interesting, yet I think that she is also realistic and so easily relatable. She is a closed off character, and she feels all of her emotions very strongly, and so is often driven by her ‘gut’. I also loved the relationship which she has with Wesley in the novel! Wesley’s character is more light-harted that Mackenzie’s, and he is also very supportive of Mackenzie. He enables for Mackenzie to open up and relate to someone else, even though this takes time. I have to say I loved Welsey character, and he definitely made me laugh at times during the novel!

“What we have here?” he asks.

“Required reading,” I say, starting to scrub the counter.

“It’s a shame they do that,” he says, thumbing through the pages.”Requirement ruins even the best of books”

“Have you read it?”

“A few times”. My eyebrows arch, and he laughs. “Again with the skepticism. Looks can be deceiving, Mac. I’m not all beauty and charm”

“Mom looks caught off guard by the smile, the open, easy way he does it. I know I am. He doesn’t even flinch when she takes his hand.

“I can see why my daughter likes you”

Wesley’s smile widens as his hand slips back to his side. “Do you think she’s falling for my dashing good looks, my charm, or the fact that I supply her with pastries?”

Owen’s character confused me when he was first introduced. I kept on fluctuating between thinking that he was the reason all of the Histories were being let out, to thinking that he was a victim of all of the unrest which was taking place in the Archive. When his whole involvement in the plot of the story is revealed (which I won’t talk about!) I was not surprised, but could finally understand the mystery around all the deaths.

I enjoyed that the story delves into and looks and many different ideas. The different ways that people deal with death in the book show how these emotions can affect people in drastically different ways. As well as the idea that people do some things to escape is very realistic. I also thought that the Archive and Narrows is a fantastic idea which is built upon well in the novel. The use of showing the past with small excerpts of Mackenzie talking about Da I also thought cleverly helped the world take shape, and shows how Mackenzie developed into the person she is currently during the book.

However, I didn’t rate The Archived 5 stars because I also think that the novel is boring at parts. I found it difficult to get into the story at the beginning, and found the beginning of the book quite slow. However, as the story begins to reveal itself it becomes much more interesting, and I advise you read through the beginning because the story is brilliant once you get into it!

The Archived is a beautiful and dark novel, which I throughly enjoyed reading and would recommend!

Rating: 4.5 stars

Powerless – By Tera Lynn Childs and Tracy Deebs Review

Posted on July 23, 2015 by readingbytorchlight

Release Date: June 2nd 2015

Publisher: Dial Books

Reader Age: 13+

ISBN: 978-1492616573

Kenna is tired of being “normal”. The only thing special about her is that she isn’t special at all. Which is frustrating in a world of absolutes. Villains, like the one who killed her father, are bad. Heroes, like her mother and best friend, are good. And Kenna, unlike everyone else around her, is completely ordinary— which she hates.

She’s secretly working on an experiment that will land her a place among the Heroes, but when a Villain saves her life during a break-in at her lab, Kenna discovers there’s a whole lot of gray area when it comes to good and evil and who she can trust.. After all…not all strength comes from superpowers.

Rating: 3/5

Having never previously read any of Tera Lynn Child’s books, or Tracy Deeb’s books I was interested in Powerless. The idea of a world of superheroes, and villains really intrigued me, and what can I say, I do enjoy a good superhero 😉

The book begins with us believing that the main protagonist, Kenna Swift, is an ‘ordinary’ who works with her mother in a top secret lab. Her father was a top superhero, who died when she was young, and we see that she has some problems with how he died, leaving it a mystery of what happened throughout the novel. Her life is turned upside down when she discovers some secrets about the superheroes she works with, and her mother, leaving her to question everything that she believes about the superheroes and the villains.

Overall I did enjoy the book, the story is action packed, and moves at a quick and exciting pace which I enjoyed. Similarly, the characters are funny, and in my opinion the story can be quite comical and light hearted in parts. The characters are conveyed well, and you can understand their thinking process as their personalities are developed in great depth. However, there were certain aspects that annoyed me, and I think can be improved in Powerless.

The main character, Kenna Swift is a strong female lead; who takes charge and does not back down, even though due to her ‘ordinary’ status she is often treated as a child and ignored or spoken to condescendingly. I do, however, feel that many of my questions about her during the book were left unanswered, and so I couldn’t completely understand or connect with her character. Similarly I found that the other characters in the book didn’t have much background/context, and the idea and story itself didn’t have a very strong base (I was not 100% sure where the story is set). While the story was detailed, I couldn’t understand where everyone else (who are outside the main group of characters) is in the book – for example, does Jeremy have any family? Doesn’t the general public have a reaction when houses are ransacked or burned down? Also, where are the rest of the villain community? Even though the story clearly shows there is a division between the heroes and villains, where do the villains live and why do they have safe houses in superhero ‘territory’? While I enjoyed the book, I think there could be more context and background, as well as more world building. I also had a problem with understanding the relationship between Draven/ Dante and Anton, as well as why and how was Deacon taken by the superheroes, especially if he is the son of the villain leader. However, this is the first book of a series so these questions might be answered in further book(s), which I am waiting for in anticipation!

While there is not much world building, the relationships between the different main characters are written well and in depth. There are hints that there is a strong romantic relationship between Kenna and Draven, as they slowly begin to know each other. I thoroughly enjoyed the constant action and fast pace, leaving little space for boredom. Out of the characters in the novel, I enjoyed Rebel as she was a fun and lively character. I also enjoyed Jeremy’s character, which was quirky and often light hearted.

The book is well written, with easy and well paced dialogue, making the book nice to read. The writing style is blunt at times during the story, however I think this worked in favour with the storyline and the fast pace of the story, emphasising the action taking place.

The ending left me asking many questions, and wanting to read the next book! What we know about Kenna is questioned, and we are left wondering what has happened to Rebel, and what her father has done to her.

Powerless is action packed, funny, and swiftly moves through a complex and dynamic story idea. While it may be underdeveloped in certain areas of world building and context, the characters are brought across strongly, and the story reads nicely. The writing is strong, and easy to read, which makes the book a good read!

Overall I rate it 3/5 stars

Happy Reading xxx

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