Sunday Street Team Blog Tour: Gray Wolf Island by Tracey Neithercott - Review + Giveaway

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my stop on the Gray Wolf Island Sunday Street Team Blog Tour! I have the pleasure of being a co-host for the Sunday Street Team and it is my absolute pleasure to be a part of this tour as well!

I just finished reading the MARVEL that is Tracey Neithercott's debut novel, Gray Wolf Island and I hope all of y'all enjoy my review (AND the International giveaway that comes along with it)

If you're interested in signing up for the Sunday Street Team, please do check out this form on Nori's (the Sunday Street Team founder and all around awesome person) blog ~ Read Write Love 28

The very first thing I heard about this book was that it gave off a Raven Boys vibe.

All it took was those three words, and I was IMMEDIATELY sold on Tracey Neithercott’s upcoming debut novel, Gray Wolf Island. A bunch of slightly mystical teenagers on a quest to find treasure coupled with that spooky book cover and for fans of The Raven Boys? I NEEDED TO READ THIS BOOK.

I got through the entirety of this 330-ish paged book in a little less than a day and I can honestly say that while Gray Wolf Island isn’t the BEST book I’ve read in 2017, it comes pretty close. There were a few drawbacks, however, so let’s go more into detail:

THINGS I LOVED:

1.       THE CHARACTERS: What’s a story without good characters, really? It took me all of three chapters to get used to Ruby, Anne, Gabe, Elliot and Charlie and slip into their mystical world, and within the next five I felt like I knew them as well as I knew anyone I’ve known for years. I loved the playfulness, the banter and the camaraderie between all five treasure hunters. I LOVED that Elliot was a know it all and I ADORED the chemistry between Ruby and Elliot. Tracey Neithercott’s characters were some of the best characters I’ve read in terms of the way they jumped out of the page and connected with me and I can’t wait for more from her.  

2.       ALL THINGS TREASURE RELATED: This isn’t much of a spoiler since you find it in Chapter two or Three but Ruby finds a treasure map in the back of Treasure Island which coincidentally is one of my favourite treasure hunting books of ALL TIME. I read it back when I was eleven and I’ve loved it since. This only boosted the fact for me that this book was ALL ABOUT HUNTING FOR TREASURE. The clues, the riddles, the mistakes, the suspense was all really well done and I loved it.

THINGS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:

   1.       THE MYSTICISM: For all its talk of a mystical island that housed an unimaginable treasure and characters with such mystical backgrounds (A boy born to a virgin and a boy who has seen visions of his own death?!) I DIDN’T REALLY FEEL THE MYSTICISM? I loved the concept, and the book had me believing it too, but for some reason, the mysticism like I felt with The Raven Boys or even Spellbook Of The Lost And Found just didn’t hit me and I SO WISH IT HAD.

   2.       THE ENDING: I honestly believe that endings should be the best part of a book. Even though my heart breaks, cliff-hanger endings are GOOD endings to books. Closed endings are the good but the ones with a little grief and a lot of happiness are the BEST. I feel like after doing everything so BRILLIANTLY the ending to Gray Wolf Island was very rushed, and I didn’t like it. The big reveal in the end wasn’t properly explained and I WISH IT WAS. Maybe even a few more pages and I could have gotten that ending I so desperately need.

At the end of the day, if you’re a fan of magical realism, treasure hunting and BRILLIANT sassy, know it all characters with gorgeous backstories, Gray Wolf Island should be on your TBR piles!

Title: Gray Wolf Island
Author: Tracey Neithercott
Publication Date: October 10th 2017
Publisher: Knopf Books For Young Readers
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: eARC via NetGalley for the SST Tour
Buy Links: Amazon US || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Right before Sadie died, she begged her sister, Ruby, to do the one thing she could never do herself: Find the treasure on Gray Wolf Island.
With just a mysterious treasure map as a guide, Ruby reluctantly allows some friends to join her on the hunt, each of whom is touched by magic: a boy allegedly born to a virgin, a girl who never sleeps, a boy who can foresee his own death, and a boy with deep ties to the island. Each of them is also keeping a secret—something they’ll have to reveal in order to reach the treasure.
As the secrets come to light, Ruby will have to decide: Can she make peace with her friends’ troubled pasts and continue to trust them? Can she forgive herself for doing the unspeakable? Deep in the wilderness of Gray Wolf Island, Ruby’s choices will determine if they make it out with the treasure—or merely with their lives.
From debut author Tracey Neithercott comes a darkly compelling tale of profound friendship, adventure, and finding the strength to tell the truth.

 Tracey Neithercott’s first book was written by hand and illustrated with some really fancy coloredpencils. It was highly acclaimed by her mother. Now, she writes YA stories of friendship, love, murder, and magic. (None of which she illustrates—you’re welcome.) She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, who suggests improving her novels by adding Star Wars characters.

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Sunday Street Team Blog Tour: Mask Of Shadows by Linsey Miller - Review + Giveaway

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to my Tour Stop on the Mask Of Shadows by Linsey Milley Blog Tour organised by the Sunday Street Team! I first heard about this book on NetGalley and I fell in love with the description. A gender fluid thief in a tournament to become an assassin for the queen? SO SO COOL.

I found out in August that I would be receiving a physical ARC and I FREAKED OUT! I was so excited that I actually won a giveaway and I waited for it to get here before I started reading. It got here last weekend and I JUST finished reading it for the tour. Don't forget to enter the giveaway too!

Long Story Short: This was a good book, fast paced and filled with its fair share of action scenes but there was something missing, specifically the lack of deeper story or explanation to the gender fluidity and some world building plot holes.

Let’s talk more in detail:

I first saw Mask Of Shadows on NetGalley. A gender fluid YA protagonist? I hadn’t read a fantasy book with someone who identified as gender fluid much less a contemporary novel and so this fact, and the BEAUTIFUL cover, were these unique selling points in my head that made me go: NEED. TO. READ.

Sure, I liked the Assassins plot, and the competition to become an assassin but we’ve seen it before. The gender fluidity was supposed to make the book stand out, but it was BARELY TOUCHED UPON.

Post Reading THOUGHTS:

1.       The world building was SO SUB PAR. It started off throwing a few facts at you, when a common thief magically decides to audition to serve the Queen who he/ she/ they “HAS ALWAYS LIKED.” These random facts keep hitting you. Later we find out that Sal’s country was destroyed by “Shadows” (WHAT. HOW. THESE ARE NOT EXPLAINED AT ALL) and Sal lost “his/her WHOLE WORLD” but WHO IS THIS WORLD? From where I sat, Sal had some motivation to do the things he/she/they was doing BUT I WAS NOT EMOTIONALLY INVESTED AT ALL BECAUSE I WAS GIVEN NO DETAILS TO FIND ANY EMOTION.

2.       I like that this book was fast paced, all stab stab stab, and not slow like the last book I read (which nearly put me to sleep) and that kept me entertained. The last test, specifically was interesting and it had me hooked.

3.       THERE WERE TWO DEATHS THAT WERE SO RIDICULOUS IN THIS BOOK THAT THEY MADE ME CRINGE. Honestly, they were some of my two favourite secondary characters and the manner of death, the way it was described and just WHY annoyed me to no extent.

4.       Since this book name drops Sarah Maas in the beginning, I think it’s only fair to compare Sallot Leon to Celaena Sardothien (If that’s even her spelling. I can never get this right. WHY ARE FANTASY NAMES SO COMPLICATED?) When I was reading Throne Of Glass, I felt like Celaena was a GOOD ASSASSIN. She was dangerous, ruthless and well, GOOD. I didn’t feel that with Sallot. It seemed that Sal got by on luck and instinct which I wouldn’t have minded, considering where he/she/they came from BUT SAL DIDN’T IMPROVE OR GROW DURING THIS COMPETITION WHERE NOBODY LEARNT ANYTHING, which brings me to:

5.       WHY WAS THE COMPETITION SO FAST PACED? If we were going to have Trials AND Classes, don’t these classes have to at least be long enough for the Auditioners to learn and master things, and not for two DAYS each?

6.       I felt like the Gender Fluidity could have been handled better. Or actually, handled MORE. It’s an important topic to talk about that I haven’t seen before in books but other than it being mentioned with Sal’s dressing sense THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE about the WHY SAL FELT LIKE THAT or anything.

I had some high hoped for this book, I will admit. I give it stars for the fast pace, the fact that there was a lot of killing and that some parts of the plot were very unpredictable, but I WISH IT WAS BETTER and now I want to SOB because it COULD HAVE BEEN. 3 stars. 

Title: Mask Of Shadows
Author: Linsey Miller
Publication Date: August 29th 2017
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Part of a Series?: Yes, Book 1/2 of an Untitled Duology
I Got A Copy Through: ARC from Sourcebooks Fire
Buy Links: Amazon US || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: I Needed to Win.They Needed to Die.
Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class—and the nobles who destroyed their home. 
When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand—the Queen’s personal assassins, named after the rings she wears—Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge. 
But the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. And as Sal succeeds in the competition, and wins the heart of Elise, an intriguing scribe at court, they start to dream of a new life and a different future, but one that Sal can have only if they survive.

A wayward biology student from Arkansas, Linsey has previously worked as a crime lab intern, lab assistant, and pharmacy technician. Her debut novel MASK OF SHADOWS is the first in a fantasy duology coming in August 2017 from Sourcebooks Fire. She can be found writing about science and magic anywhere there is coffee.

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9/3 Tour Stops

Interview - Emily Reads Everything

Unique Post  - Roecker Reviews

Review - Bayy In Wonderland

Review - Bookishly Thinking

9/10  Tour Stops

Interview - Tween 2 Teen Books

Review -Charmingly Simple

Review - Pondering The Prose

Interview  - When Curiosity Killed The Cat

9/17  Tour Stops

Interview - YA and Wine

Style Boards - Here's To Happy Endings

Review - Areli Reads

Review - The Hermit Librarian

Interview - Sarcasm and Lemons

9/24 Tour Stops

Interview - Flyleaf Chronicles

Review -  Books N Calm

Review - A Thousand Words A Million Books

Guest Post - Written Infinities

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BLOG TOUR: Cinderella, Necromancer by F.M.Boughan - Interview + Giveaway

Hi Everyone, and welcome to my stop on the Sunday Street Team Blog Tour for Cinderella, Necromancer! This book sounds absolutely amazing and I'm so excited that I'm able to share this interview I had with the author, F.M.Boughan, today as a part of the SST tour. 

I hope this medieval Cinderella Retelling with magic catches your attention and that you add this book to your TBRs!

We’d Love To Get To Know More About You:

1. If you had to travel the world, which five fictional characters would you choose to take with you?

Hermione Granger to keep everyone on track, Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel because she seems incredibly cool and could help get us out of any trouble, Flynn Rider so that he could haggle at markets for us (the smolder! THE SMOLDER!), C-3PO because he could speak all the languages to help us get around and make sure we follow the right customs, and… hmm, let’s say... Caro from Song of the Current, because if we’re traveling the world, it might be helpful to have someone in our group who can sail. A river cruise here and there sounds nice!

2. Would you rather be locked in a library or in a bookstore?

I’m going to say library, simply because I think the chairs would be more comfortable, there’d be better places to sleep, and there’d definitely be a washroom. And I wouldn’t have to worry as much about dropping a book on my face and accidentally bending the cover when I get tired… thanks, library binding!

That is, unless we’re talking a chain bookstore with a coffee shop inside, in which case I’ll take the bookstore. Food takes precedence, people.

3. What are your top two ice cream flavours?

The company So Delicious makes an incredible cashew milk ice cream called “Salted Caramel Cluster.” It’s so good, it should be illegal, I’m telling you. (Not sponsored! I wish…) Also, anything with peanut butter. I am weak for salty-sweet flavor combinations!

And now, moving onto your masterpiece:

4. For those readers who haven’t heard about Cinderella, Necromancer yet, could you tell them a little of what the book is about?

Let’s face it. The title isn’t exactly subtle. Haha! It’s a fairy-tale retelling of the Cinderella story, but this time, there’s no fairy godmother coming to save her. Cinderella gains the power to fight back… but this power has a cost beyond anything she could have imagined.  

5. What does your everyday writing routine look like? What’s the most you’ve ever written in a day?

A couple of years ago during NaNoWriMo, I wrote just over 11K in one day. It was terrible. I don’t recommend it. My wrists ached like they were going to fall off and my eyes felt like they were bleeding. Also I have no idea if what I wrote made any sense. Do not attempt!

Typically, I do promo work in the morning or other less-brain-heavy tasks, then do my actual writing in the afternoon. Preferably at a coffee shop (fewer distractions than at home), but it doesn’t always work out that way.

I call it quits after I’ve made word count (usually the target is between 1.5K-5K, depending on what I’m working on and how much time I have to complete it) and then set it aside until the next day. I do more promo/marketing tasks & email answering in the evening.

6. If you could give one piece of advice to your main characters, what would it be?

Would it be cliche to say “have courage and be kind?” I know that’s a quotation from the live-action Cinderella movie that Disney made a few years ago, but when I was watching it, I realized that the saying would also apply perfectly to my main character, Ellison. (For comparison purposes: I first drafted Cinderella, Necromancer back in 2012!)

7. If you could pick one favourite quote from Cinderella, Necromancer, what would it be?

It would be something with spoilers!!!!!!! I can’t give you that! Hahaha. But I am, to be quite honest, particularly fond of my opening chapter. This line...

The blood of my enemies drips down my forearms, fleeing the confines of the spaces between my fingers, traveling toward freedom on the cold, stone floor.

...didn’t change from the very first time I hand wrote it in my notebook, and as it took shape, so did the entire rest of the story. The first chapter is called “The Ending,” after all...

F.M. Boughan is a bibliophile, a writer, and an unabashed parrot enthusiast. She can often be found writing in local coffee shops, namely because it’s hard to concentrate with a cat lying on the keyboard and a small, colorful parrot screaming into her ear. Her work is somewhat dark, somewhat violent, somewhat hopeful, and always contains a hint of magic. Her debut YA fantasy, CINDERELLA NECROMANCER, publishes Sept. 5th, 2017 from Month9Books.

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Title: Cinderella, Necromancer
Author: F.M. Boughan
Publication Date: September 5th 2017
Publisher: Moth 9 Books
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
Buy Links: Amazon US || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository ||  Chapters Indigo ||

Description: Cinderella, Necromancer is Chime meets Anna Dressed in Blood and was inspired by a real medieval grimoire of necromancy from 15th-century Germany.
Ellison lost her mother at an early age. But since then, her father has found love again. He's happy and doesn't quite notice that Ellison does not get along with his new wife or her mean daughters. When Ellison discovers a necromantic tome while traveling the secret passages of her father's mansion, she wonders if it could be the key to her freedom. Until then, she must master her dark new power, even as her stepmother makes her a servant in her own home. And when her younger brother falls incurably ill, Ellison will do anything to ease his pain, including falling prey to her stepmother and stepsisters' every whim and fancy.
Stumbling into a chance meeting of Prince William during a secret visit to her mother's grave feels like a trick of fate when her stepmother refuses to allow Ellison to attend a palace festival. But what if Ellison could see the kind and handsome prince once more? What if she could attend the festival? What if she could have everything she ever wanted and deserved by conjuring spirits to take revenge on her cruel stepmother?
As Ellison's power grows, she loses control over the evil spirits meant to do her bidding. And as they begin to exert their own power over Ellison, she will have to decide whether it is she or her stepmother who is the true monster. 

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Tour Schedule:

9/10 Tour Stops

Excerpt - OMG Books and More

Review  - The Kindred Reader

Interview - A Thousand Words A Million Books

9/17  Tour Stops

Guest Post - Read Write Love

Interview -A Backwards Story

Unique Post - Books Boys and Blogs

9/24  Tour Stops

Interview - YA and Wine

Review -Haunted by Books

Review - Wonderland Novels

Sunday Street Team Blog Tour: Girl Out Of Water by Laura Silverman - Review + Giveaway

Welcome Fellow BookDragons to my stop on the Sunday Street Team Blog Tour for Laura Silverman's Girl Out Of Water! 

I don't think I've mentioned it here before (WHAT?) but I'm a CO-HOST for the Sunday Street Team along with the lovely Helena, blogger at Book Nerd Addict. The BRILLIANT Nori from Read Love Write 28 picked us because school has gotten to be a LOT of work and it has been brilliant chatting with both of these AMAZING bloggers!
***

Title: Girl Out Of Water
Author: Laura Silverman
Publication Date: May 2nd 2017
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: eARC from Sourcebooks (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || The Book Despository || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Anise Sawyer plans to spend every minute of summer with her friends: surfing, chowing down on fish tacos drizzled with wasabi balsamic vinegar, and throwing bonfires that blaze until dawn. But when a serious car wreck leaves her aunt, a single mother of three, with two broken legs, it forces Anise to say goodbye for the first time to Santa Cruz, the waves, her friends, and even a kindling romance, and fly with her dad to Nebraska for the entire summer. Living in Nebraska isn’t easy. Anise spends her days caring for her three younger cousins in the childhood home of her runaway mom, a wild figure who’s been flickering in and out of her life since birth, appearing for weeks at a time and then disappearing again for months, or even years, without a word. 
Complicating matters is Lincoln, a one-armed, charismatic skater who pushes Anise to trade her surfboard for a skateboard. As Anise draws closer to Lincoln and takes on the full burden and joy of her cousins, she loses touch with her friends back home – leading her to one terrifying question: will she turn out just like her mom and spend her life leaving behind the ones she loves

Family + Surfing + Skateboarding + Romance + Summer = The PERFECT Recipe for a GREAT BOOK.

I was SO excited to read Girl Out Of Water because a) IT’S SUMMER AND WHO DOESN’T LOVE A GREAT SUMMER-Y READ? And also b) IT’S A SUMMER-Y READ.

In a nutshell, Girl Out Of Water is one of the best contemporary books I’ve read all year because it focuses on MORE than just a romance but all things family, surfing and life.

My thoughts:

·         I LOVED ANISE. It did take me a little while to understand her, and a little while to deal with her HUGE Fear of Missing Out, but I ended up loving her. She’s competitive, headstrong, secure in who she is and determined to be the best at what she tries. It was so refreshing to see someone like her on paper (a complete contrast of me)

·         THIS WAS ALL ABOUT FAMILY. I’m always upset when families don’t have a strong enough role in YA Contemporaries (HELLO. They’re LIVING with their parents – how are they never around/ given permission for everything?) but Girl Out Of Water was nothing like that. I loved EVERYONE is Anise’s family (except her mom) but especially her dad. He gave Anise her own space, was there when she needed him to be (WITH FOOD SO BONUS POINTS) but most importantly, he treated her like an adult. SO REFRESHING AND I LOVED IT.

·         Another thing I LOVED about this was how this book really got into Surfing and Skateboarding. I could never do either (even though the water feels like I second home to me – I’m a swimmer) but I LOVED THE FACT THAT IT WAS THERE AND SUCH A BIG PART OF THE PLOT.

·         This book wasn’t PREDICTABLE (YAY!). I thought Anise’s mom would come back – she didn’t. I thought she would get in trouble for leaving with Lincoln on a day trip but it wasn’t blown out of proportion. I was JUST SO GLAD it didn’t follow the norms books usually do.

A MUST READ book for this summer. It has all the things you need – cute boys, diversity, beaches, family, surfing and most importantly FOOD. GO READ IT!

Laura received her MFA in writing for children from the New School. She loves books and dogs—okay, and quite a few people too. She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. You can say hello on Twitter at @LJSilverman1.

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Are you into sports? If you had to be a surfer of a skateboarder, which would you pick?

What do you think about Girl Out Of Water? 

A Sunday Street Team Tour