TRISTAN DE MONTIGNY TRASH | HIDDEN HUNTRESS REVIEW

Hidden Huntress (The Malediction Trilogy #2)
by Danielle L. Jensen

Angry Robot | June 2, 2015

       Sometimes, one must accomplish the impossible.
       Beneath the mountain, the king’s reign of tyranny is absolute; the one troll with the capacity to challenge him is imprisoned for treason. Cécile has escaped the darkness of Trollus, but she learns all too quickly that she is not beyond the reach of the king’s power. Or his manipulation.
       Recovered from her injuries, she now lives with her mother in Trianon and graces the opera stage every night. But by day she searches for the witch who has eluded the trolls for five hundred years. Whether she succeeds or fails, the costs to those she cares about will be high.
       To find Anushka, she must delve into magic that is both dark and deadly. But the witch is a clever creature. And Cécile might not just be the hunter. She might also be the hunted…

THE LAST OF IT | ALL IS SWELL

1Q84 (1Q84 #1-3)
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage International | January 22, 2013
Status: ALL 1,157 PAGES!

      The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.
      A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 - “Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.
      As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.
      A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s - 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.

THE UNNECESSARY PART II | 1Q84

1Q84 (1Q84 #1-3)
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage International | January 22, 2013
Status: Part 1+2 complete

      The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.
      A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 - “Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.
      As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.
      A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s - 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.

LET'S TALK ABOUT SHELVES, BABY

A bookshelf is the home to your precious little ones: your books. It is of the utmost importance to pick the right home for them. Let's explore your, many, options. (All pictures are from Google and belong to their respective owners, no copyright intended.)

RJ JONES' DEATH 2: THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL

It's a Wonderful Death
by Sarah J. Schmitt
Sky Pony Press | October 6, 2015

        Seventeen-year-old RJ always gets what she wants. So when her soul is accidentally collected by a distracted Grim Reaper, somebody in the afterlife better figure out a way to send her back from the dead or heads will roll. But in her quest for mortality, she becomes a pawn in a power struggle between an overzealous archangel and Death Himself. The tribunal presents her with two options: she can remain in the lobby, where souls wait to be processed, until her original lifeline expires, or she can replay three moments in her life in an effort to make choices that will result in a future deemed worthy of being saved. It sounds like a no-brainer. She’ll take a walk down memory lane. How hard can changing her future be?
        But with each changing moment, RJ’s life begins to unravel, until this self-proclaimed queen bee is a social pariah. She begins to wonder if walking among the living is worth it if she has to spend the next sixty years as an outcast. Too quickly, RJ finds herself back in limbo, her time on Earth once again up for debate.

THAT TOOK A WHILE... | PART I

1Q84 (1Q84 #1-3)
by Haruki Murakami
Vintage International | January 22, 2013
Status: Part 1 complete

      The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.
      A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 - “Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.
      As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.
      A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s - 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.

COVER REVEAL | THE ALCHEMISTS OF LOOM

I'm so excited to help Elise Kova reveal her new book's cover! If you've been following me for a while, you've probably seen my fangirling for Elise Kova/Air Awakens. (I really need to start Fire Falling XD) 

Elise will be publishing a brand new book for us called The Alchemists of Loom, which is part of The Loom Saga. The first book will be out on January 10, 2017. If you have a blog and want to include the countdown timer, you can go here: Alchemists of Loom Timer. If you want an ARC, you can contact Keymaster Press via Publicity@Keymaster.com. Without further ado...

FINALLY FINISHED | AND I DARKEN ARC REVIEW

And I Darken (The Conquerors Saga #1)
by Kiersten White

Delacorte Press | June 28, 2016

ARC courtesy of First in Line

       NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL.
       And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.
       Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who’s expected to rule a nation, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend-and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.
       But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against-and what Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

I was quite surprised to receive this book and I was quite surprised by this book. Two of my favorite reviewers on goodreads loved this book; however, I found this book rather boring, long, and unnecessary.