Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet (ARC)

“Some ends are just a new beginning…”

This book sucked me in from page one and didn’t let go until the end. Right from the start you get a feel for the main character Tess and the dynamic of her family of misfits. It was so well done, and I was already invested in the story from chapter one. The interactions and dialogue reminded me of an urban fantasy and I’m all for an urban fantasy in space.

The characters were layered, and each had their quirks, flaws and good qualities. I was especially intrigued by the main character’s backstory with her family and unfortunate childhood. I don’t want to go into too much detail and spoil things, so you’ll have to read the book to see what I’m talking about.

The worldbuilding was great, with a society and hierarchy that felt very believable (and quite horrifying if I’m honest). The whole situation in that world was bleak with the tyrant Overlord repressing creativity and spontaneity for the sake of so-called peace. A peace that meant constant fear of both the authorities and your neighbors (who could turn you in for so little as a colorful clothing choice). Not a fun existence…

Tess Bailey and her crew have been on the run for years, doing what they can to try to ease the misery of less fortunate areas of the universe. The latest Robin Hood-like heist don’t go as planned though and draws the attention of a vicious military general. In a bid to repair their ship after an ill-fated run-in with said general, they take a chance and lands on a well populated planet. There Tess gets to know Shade Ganavan and as events unfold, she must decide if she can trust him with more than the repairs of their ship.

Even though I felt like one of the twists could have benefitted from being harsher, I still liked it and felt very satisfied when it was revealed. Overall, I loved this story and if you also love reading about kickass rebel heroines and heroes with hearts of gold, this book is for you!

Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca.

Granted through Netgalley.

Release date: 2019-01-01

Rating: 4 stars

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Big thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this treat!

Colliding Skies by Debbie Zaken

It may be unwise to chase a starlight, but I’ll gladly take the risk to continue chasing one with Skye!

4,5 ⭐️

Colliding Skies has all the fun elements of a YA sci-fi romance with coming of age, adventure, advanced technology, invasion by aliens and of course the girl-meets-boy scenario. The getting to know someone and falling in love part is one of my favorite sequences of YA and romance novels, and Debbie Zaken does a very good job of describing that chemistry between her main character Skye and her two suitors. It’s interesting how the characters twist and turn within their perspectives. Each reacting on events in their own way and having to navigate the consequences of their choices.

I thought the overall pacing was good and the storyline believable within its premises with a good balance between light and heavy topics. What happens if an alien race, or any group of people, were to insinuate itself with your government and proclaim only good intentions? Do you welcome them or question their motives?

Read the synopsis here: Goodreads

Get your copy here: Amazon or Bookdepository

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine (ARC)

This wasn’t a book that made me feel highly excitable, where I was left feeling like the story was almost going too fast for me to keep up. This was a steady influx of tense adrenaline in the pit of my stomach. You know the feeling, the feeling of wondering when the other shoe will drop and there’s bound to be trouble afoot. Don’t mistake my description for a dull read, because believe me when I say that there’s plenty of action in this story. It’s the way it’s told that make you feel all anticipatory. There’s a sense of danger through the whole thing and the characters are well cemented to further strengthen it all. They are well thought through and oh so clever. I loved the whole thing from start to finish, though I do warn you of the prologue. It can seem a little dry, but you’ll need that backdrop to get familiar with the world of the Great Library. It’s worth every word of academic style dryness, as it gives you an overall perspective for when you meet the main character Jess and the other players in this story.

This is a different setting than Caine’s other books but her storytelling is as good as her Weather Warden series. It pulls you in and stays with you during the day when not reading. You’ll not be sorry to pick this up!

Jess Brightwell is the son of a black market dealer who specializes in acquiring and selling books in a world where books have been outlawed for the safety of both the humankind and the books themselves.

It’s about a world obsessed with words, with books, with knowledge. It’s a world where these things are strictly controlled by an organization named the Library who believes that the wrong kind of information can corrupt the denizens of the world and that humans thus need to be protected against themselves. Though no one may own a real book, it’s thought of as a sin to deprive the masses of the wisdom of the written word and so when the discovery of alchemy produced the mirrored tablet, the Library enabled everyone, even the lowest of the low, to have access to all the great (approved) works that’s ever been written. It’s a time of enlightenment where everyone can read and write, and to be chosen by the Library to preserve and protect the written word is an honor and a privilege.

For Jess, this means a life of constant danger. As his father’s son he’s meant to spy for the family business of black market dealings and no things are as valuable as original books in a world where they are the rarest item out there. And the best and worst place to acquire these rare books? The Library’s HQ of course, in Alexandria.

I’m really looking forward to read about how Jess and his friends fare in the next installment of the Great Library series, Paper and Fire. 🙂

I received this copy from the publisher (Berkley Publishing Group) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. To see the beautiful cover for this book, check it out on Goodreads or Amazon. It’s amazing!

The Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I had my doubts about this series. I’ve read part of a trilogy by Jennifer L. Armentrout a couple of years ago where I LOVED the first book, was a bit put off by the second and couldn’t stomach the third. Then, at this year’s book sale in February I found the first book in the Lux series in the bargain section. I’m glad I did decide to pick up something by this author again.

The Lux series is delightfully well-balanced with action, romance and moral conundrums. The big plus being the consistency in writing and story through book 1-4 and they’re a solid 4 stars so far. I find that sometimes the first couple of books in a series is usually the best and the rest just kind of…degrades. Rarely to the extent that the books are unreadable, but they’re often not as interesting as the first one(s). For example, the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, the Anita Blake series by Laurell K Hamilton and the Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling. I freaking love these three, but the first books in either series is just genius compared to the ones that came later.

The first book introduces Kat who’s just moved to West Virginia with her mother. Kat’s life so far revolves around books and blogging about them (bonus points, right there). Having lost her father to cancer and with a mother that’s trying to stay afloat, she’s learned to take care of herself in her everyday life. She’s basically do an infusion of tumult, of the infuriating but hot neighbor variety. It’s just her luck the disturbed neighbor and his friendly sister are aliens. With baggage. Suspicious, two-faced government baggage.

There are five books in total and I have the Kindle version of Opposition waiting for me to read. 🙂