Audiobook Tour: Anomalies by Sadie Turner and Colette Freedman - Review + Giveaway

Hi Everyone, and welcome to my stop on the Anomalies Audio book Blog Tour. I'm absolutely in love with this audio book, and I can't wait to share more about it with you

Title: Anomalies
Authors: Sadie Turner and Colette Freedman
Publication Date: December 10th 2016
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: An Audible Book from YA Bound Book Tours and the Authors
Buy Links: Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Books A Million│Select Books | Audible

Blurb Description: In the future there is no disease. There is no war. There is no discontent. All citizens are complacent members of the Global Governance. But one summer is about to change everything.
Keeva Tee just turned fifteen. All of her dreams are about to come true. She’s about to make the trip to Monarch Camp to be imprinted with her intended life partner. One day they’ll have perfect kids and a perfect life. But in her happy, carefree life in the Ocean Community, something weighs on her mind. She hears whispers about “anomalies”—citizens who can’t be imprinted. No one knows what happens to them, but they never seem to come back.
When Keeva arrives at Monarch Camp, her worst nightmare becomes a reality—she is an anomaly. After they are imprinted, the people she loves begin to change, and she starts to doubt everything she’s ever believed. What if freedom and individuality have been sacrificed for security? And what if the man who solves all the problems is the very man who’s created them—and what if he isn't a man at all?
When Keeva finds a warning carved under a bunk bed she begins to understand: Nonconformity will be punished, dissent is not an option, insurgents will be destroyed.

This review is of the Audio book Version of the book.

I ADORE Audio books. I don't get the chance to listen to them very often because they are just SO damn expensive, but when I saw the audio book tour for Anomalies, I was super excited. I quickly read up the blurb description and signed myself up for the tour, and when I got chosen I SQUEALED in excitement.

I saw on a friend's review on Goodreads that this was a book for fans of Matched by Allie Condie. I haven't read the series yet, but I've seen it around and I thought something as intriguing as Matched could only be a good thing.

One of the first thing I realized as I started with the audio book was that I loved the voice of the narrator. It was British (?)(I'm terrible with figuring out accents) and so SO well done. It instantly made me believe the things she was saying, even though the it opens from the point of view of a six year old.

Set in a futuristic world where a Great War has wiped out a large part of the human population, people live in five different sects (Like in Divergent?) The Main Character, Keeva lives in the Ocean community. In this post war world, when a child turns fifteen, they must go to Monarch Camp to meet the person they've been paired with since they were five years old.

Keeva is excited, until the whole event turns into a nightmare - she's an anomaly, someone without a partner to imprint with. And you know how the story goes from here.

I'm not spoiling anything, but I will say the Keeva is a GOOD protagonist, one that will keep you on your toes, that this book and the plot are well thought out and executed and that if you're a fan of Divergent or Matched, this book SHOULD be your next read.

SADIE TURNER is a Los Angeles-based producer and writer originally from Brighton, England, who works in business development with several Hollywood entrepreneurs. She has various projects in development, and also teaches yoga. 

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Instagram

COLETTE FREEDMAN- An internationally produced playwright with over 25 produced plays, Colette was voted “One of 50 to Watch” by The Dramatist’s Guild. Her hit musicalSerial Killer Barbie can be heard here. In collaboration with The New York Times best selling author Michael Scott,  she wrote the thriller The Thirteen Hallows  (Tor/Macmillan). Her novel The Affair (Kensington) came out January 29, 2013. Her sequel novel The Consequences(Kensington) came out January 28, 2014. Her YA novel Anomalies (Select Books) came out February 9, 2016. She also co-wrote the film And Then There Was Eve which is currently in pre-production and begins principal photography May 2016.

Website│Goodreads│Twitter

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Audiobook Review: The Crown's Game (The Crown's Game #1) by Evelyn Skye

Title: The Crown's Game

Author: Evelyn Skye

Publication Date: May 17th 2016

Publisher:  Blazer + Bray (Harper Collins)

Part of a Series?: Yes, Book One in a planned Duology

I Got A Copy Through: I bought it via Audible

Buy Links: Amazon US

Blurb Description: Vika Andreyev can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.
And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love . . . or be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear . . . the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

Long story short? This book was over hyped, not nearly ruthless enough, it had a love triangle based entirely on insta-love and cool magic that wasn't capitalised on.

I should go into the long story, but, first, what is The Crown’s Game you might ask?

Long ago, in Russia, magic was rampant. The people believed and you could find magic under every rock. There were fairies and nymphs and all sorts of magical creatures, but now nobody believes. If magic hit them in the face, they'd probably write it off as somethings their rational brains could comprehend.

Basically, Russia’s magic pool has depleted and only a very few amount of people ever get magic anymore.

Vika Andreyev is one of these people with magical abilities - an enchanter, for use of a better word. And her father, Sergei, is training her to be the imperial enchanter, to help the Tsar and all of Russia. She can summon storms from the sky, she can freeze people, but what Avika doesn't know is that there's another enchanter. Another enchanter, with the other half of Russia’s magic pool. And for her to live, he needs to die.

These rules are dictated by an ancient game called The Crown’s Game. The rules are simple: each enchanter has five turns, and at the end, if the Tsar hasn't decided who his Imperial Enchanter will be, the Game itself will decide, obliterating one so that other can achieve their true potential.

Which is all you need to know. Now, what I didn't like about this audiobook:

1.    The Insta-Love: Yes, love triangles are tedious and overdone, but most of the time, if the rest of the story is intriguing enough, they don't affect me. What did affect me, though, was the RIDICULOUS Instant Love. All it took for Nikolai (the other enchanter) was the fact that his MAGIC called to her MAGIC (Hello? Vika is not her magic) and Pasha to fall in love with her was a couple of glances. I hated it. WHERE’s THE CHEMISTRY, PEOPLE?

2.    The Anti Ruthless Policy: I swear, through half of the book, I felt like I could be more ruthless than these CHILDREN playing games with magic and thrones. Russia seems like a cutthroat world, and these three were in the middle of its future with no ruthlessness or regard for anything except their own whiny feelings!

3.    The Predictability: I FUCKING CALLED EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK. Well, except for one plot twist that I'm being accommodating and giving it a star for, but other than that, I predicted everything and I HATE it when that happens.

What I liked?

The enchantments in the game were very cool, and I love magic with almost no limits. But while there was an awesome amount of imagination out into these tricks, I didn't see how these tricks were showing the Tsar how his Imperial Enchanter could give him advice - POLITICAL ADVICE - that would help him rule Russia.

I also ADORED the Narration! Steve West has brilliant oratory skills, and an even better Russian accent and I felt like I was getting the whole deal!

Overall, a 3 star book that was just overhyped.

Which was the last over-hyped book you read? Which book, in your opinion, has the coolest magic? Have you read The Crown's Game? What did you think?

I can't wait to talk magic with y'all!

Blogaversary Day 21: Janet B Taylor- Guest Post + Giveaway

AAAAH! I have with me the absolutely amazing Janet B Taylor, who published her FANTASTIC debut novel, Into The Dim just this year!

Anyway, Janet is with us talking about Audiobooks, and is giving away TWO BEAUTIFUL Audible audiobooks. So Have fun, and mey the odds be ever in your favour.

Hello!

I’m Janet B. Taylor, author of INTO THE DIM.

  

Today, thanks to the wonderful Aditi Nichani, I’m taking over A Thousand Words A Million Books! No, it’s not a hostile takeover. At least I hope not! Aditi was kind enough to invite me to share some of my thoughts for her AWESOME Blogaversary!! WOOHOO!!

We all talk a lot about books, and (obvi) I am a total and utter book MONSTER! There’s nothing in the world as beautiful as the smell of a library, or the scent of a brand-new book, hot off the shelves. But for several years now…

Well, I’m just going to admit it:

Hi, I’m Janet, and I’m an AudioBook addict.

See, my hubby and I commute to work together every day, and let me tell you that we don’t even open the car door unless we have an audiobook queued up.

So, when I learned that Into The Dim was going to be an audiobook, I have to admit, I went bat-crap-crazy!!

Aaaand…I was fortunate enough to be involved in selecting the narrator. They actually picked my VERY favorite, Amanda Ronconi! Amanda had done a lot of the fantastic Molly Harper’s adult novels, but only a few YA. The day she called me, excited about narrating ITD, and gave me a sample of some of the accents and voices…I was blown away, ya’ll. BLOWN.

One thing about reading is that we sometimes tend to skim certain parts. We don’t mean to, but we’re so hungry to find out what happens, that we miss beautiful sentences or incredible hints or a lovely description. That doesn’t happen with audiobooks. They are comprehensive and intimate and when you get the right narrator paired with the right book it can propel you into another world faster than anything else.

So today, instead of a hardback copy, I thought I would give away a download of the Audible Audiobook version of Into The Dim.

If you’ve never tried an audiobook before, I hope this changes your mind. I hope the incredibly-talented narrators who work so hard to bring our characters to life are granted a lifetime supply of daily cupcake deliveries!

Hope you guys enjoy! And please keep on reading (and listening), because as we all know…

Books are air.

Books are water and food.

Books…are everything!! 

Janet B. Taylor lives in such a small town in Arkansas that if you happen to sneeze when you pass by, you'll totally miss it. (Cause, you know, you can't sneeze with your eyes open. For real-try it-it's impossible.) She lives with her Prince Charming, their two hilarious sons, and Dorda the diabetic dog who won't win any beauty contests, but has a "really nice personality".

Janet's debut, INTO THE DIM (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is a YA Adventure/Time Travel out now, with the sequel to arrive Spring 2017.

"Instantly engaging, constantly suspenseful, ultimately poignant and satisfying. Loved it!"--Diana Gabaldon, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Outlander series
When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. And she's alive, though currently trapped in the twelfth century, during the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Passing through the Dim, Hope enters a brutal medieval world of political intrigue, danger, and violence. A place where any serious interference could alter the very course of history. And when she meets a boy whose face is impossibly familiar, she must decide between her mission and her heart—both of which could leave Hope trapped in the past forever.

Addictive, romantic, and rich with historical detail, Into the Dim is an Outlander for teens.

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Just in case you're hesitant, and haven't tried an audiobooks before, click on the links below to see what AMAZINGNESS you're getting into!

Into The Dim Clip 1 || Into The Dim Clip 2 || Into The Dim Clip 3 || Into The Dim Clip 4 || Into The Dim Clip 5 ||