Showing posts with label month feature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label month feature. Show all posts

10 Sept 2018

We Can(ada) Read: Sam @ Spines in a Line - #Review: PAST TENSE by Star Spider

10 September 0 Comments
We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors! It is a highlight of Canadian Literature and those of us who promote it as much as possible.

For a full schedule of events, please check out the Kick-Off post!
Thank you to Moonbeam Books for sponsoring the amazing giveaway! Scroll to the bottom!
Sam is a twenty-something Master’s student from Canada, currently in the final year of her program before she finally leaves school for good and has to face the real world. Blogging for a little over two years but tracking her reading since grade school, she loves to read all genres but has a special fondness for mysteries and thrillers. Sam posts reviews, author interviews, and other bookish things over on her blog, as well as her Music Monday features, which are fun book/music mash-ups! Feel free to drop by to chat, offer book recs, or share your own Music Monday posts!

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PAST TENSE

Author: Star Spider
Series: N/A
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: April 10, 2018
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

 Summary:
How do you live after death?

 Julie Nolan is a pretty average girl with pretty average problems. She’s been in love with her best friend, Lorelei, ever since they met in grade three. Only Lorelei doesn’t know about it — she’s too busy trying to set Julie up with Henry, her ex, who Julie finds, in a word, vapid.

 But life gets more complicated when Julie comes home to find her mother insisting that her heart is gone. Pretty soon it becomes clear: Julie’s mom believes that she has died.
How is Julie supposed to navigate her first year of high school now, while she’s making midnight trips to the graveyard to cover her mother with dirt, lay flowers and make up eulogies? And why is Henry the only person Julie feels comfortable turning to? If she wants to get through this, Julie’s going to have to find the strength she never knew she had, and to learn how to listen to both her mom’s heart and her own.
Purchase:
I’m going to start my review with a quick blurb about the story because when I first heard it, I was stunned and then immediately added it to my TBR, so I want to bring you all on the same page.

Ninth-grader Julie is dealing with pretty average teenage problems (in love with her best friend, you know how it is) but one day she finds her mom standing stock-still by the sink, hands resting in freezing dishwater, saying that her heart is gone. As Julie reels from this admission and her mom’s strange detachment in the coming weeks, she struggles to find a way to get her mom back to normal while keeping her condition secret from everyone else. But high school brings more drama, and Julie’s secrets are threatening to overwhelm her.

So weird and cool, right?
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9 Sept 2018

We Can(ada) Read: Indigo @ Adventures in YA Fiction - #Review: PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE by Kevin Craig

09 September 0 Comments
We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors! It is a highlight of Canadian Literature and those of us who promote it as much as possible.

For a full schedule of events, please check out the Kick-Off post!
Thank you to Moonbeam Books for sponsoring the amazing giveaway! Scroll to the bottom!

 In addition, Kevin Craig is giving away two copies of PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE! One for a Canadian reader and one for a US based reader!
Indigo is an MA student, studying modern literature in Toronto. She’s a YA book blogger, a tarot reader, a tea enthusiast, and a dog lover. When she’s not shouting at literally anyone who will listen to her about musical theatre, she is attempting to blog, and usually getting distracted. She has far too many opinions on The Great Gatsby, and is a Taylor Swift Stan. She started Adventures in YA Fiction in April of 2012, and has been active in the blogging community whenever she can remember to post. And, of course, Indigo is not her real name.

 You can find her on Twitter or Instagram @IndigoWayworth

 Connect with the Blogger:
Blog | Twitter | Instagram

PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE

Author: Kevin Craig
Series: N/A
Publisher: Museitup Publishing
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Summary:
Ezra Caine is gay. He’s sort of out at school but not at home, where he fears the wrath of his father’s bigotry. When Ezra's flamboyantly out friend Alex Mills takes one too many beatings from homophobic bully Will Severe, Ezra finally snaps. Fed up with the situation at school, he decides to do something about it.

With the help of his BFF, Nettie, and some unlikely allies, Ezra rallies to create their small-town school’s first gay-straight alliance. The Rainbow Alliance Club is formed. But the changes don't come without hiccups, one of which being a messy scandal involving Alex and a gay hook-up app.

As Ezra and his friends attempt to sway their school into an alliance of tolerance and acceptance, Ezra experiences a few surprises of his own on the home-front. He also learns the hard way that friendships out of convenience aren't always a good idea, just as some enemies might not be as bad as he originally imagined them to be.
Purchase:
Pride Must Be a Place really took me by surprise, in all aspects of the saying. The plot twists were totally unexpected, and I found myself really taken by the story. I had also not read much Canadian contemporary, so it was nice to dive into something new!
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8 Sept 2018

We Can(ada) Read: Hannah @ The Book Thief Without Words - #Review: A POSSIBILITY OF WHALES by Karen Rivers // #Giveaway

08 September 1 Comments
We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors! It is a highlight of Canadian Literature and those of us who promote it as much as possible.

For a full schedule of events, please check out the Kick-Off post!
Thank you to Moonbeam Books for sponsoring the amazing giveaway! Scroll to the bottom!
Hannah is an 18 year old aspiring author who grew up in the country with stories as her sole companions. She is a lover of all things fictional and one day hopes to have a book on the same shelves that she has spent hours perusing.

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A POSSIBILITY OF WHALES

Author: Karen Rivers
Series: N/A
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Publication Date: March 13, 2018
Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary:
The story of a girl who—thanks to her friends, her famous single dad, and an unexpected encounter with a whale—learns the true meaning of family.

Twelve-year-old Natalia Rose Baleine Gallagher loves possibilities: the possibility that she’ll see whales on the beach near her new home, the possibility that the trans­gender boy she just met will become her new best friend, the possibility that the paparazzi hounding her celebrity father won’t force them to move again. Most of all, Nat dreams of the possibility that her faraway mother misses her, loves her, and is just waiting for Nat to find her.

But how can Nat find her mother if she doesn’t even know who she is? She abandoned Nat as a baby, and Nat’s dad refuses to talk about it. Nat knows she shouldn’t need a mom, but she still feels like something is missing, and her questions lead her on a journey of self-discovery that will change her life forever.
Purchase:
There's something magical about middle grade books that just can't be found in any other book.  Maybe because it reminds me of simpler times or maybe it's just because there's something incredibly unique about a book told from  a child's perspective but whatever the reason is, I love Middle grade books. Especially middle grade contemporary. Though I don't frequently seek them out, whenever I do  it's like coming home.
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7 Sept 2018

We Can(ada) Read: Erin @ Bluestocking Bookworm - #Review: MERCURY RISES by Scarlett Kol + #Interview & #Giveaway

07 September 2 Comments
We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors! It is a highlight of Canadian Literature and those of us who promote it as much as possible.

For a full schedule of events, please check out the Kick-Off post!

 Scarlett Kol is sponsoring a giveaway for a $20 Amazon Gift Card at the bottom of this post so be sure to scroll to enter!
Bluestocking Bookworm is run by Erin, but you can call her Blue if you want to. She writes books under the pen name C.M. Nelson, but they are all still in the manuscript stage.

 Erin is from Canada, where she lives with her wonderful and supportive husband of five years and our cutest-ever furbaby Cricket (a small breed mix we rescued in 2015). She owns approximately 3000 books (not counting my ebooks). When she is not reading, she likes to play video games, bake yummy sweet treats, and play with Cricket.

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MERCURY RISES

Author: Scarlett Kol
Series: N/A
Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
Publication Date: February 13, 2018
Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary:
A girl looking for a way out.
Being the daughter of New America’s leader, Mercury Masters has everything a girl could want. A glamorous life full of beautiful people, and the power to have anything she wants, except for one thing—to escape. Because Mercury’s perfect life comes with secrets to keep. Dangerous secrets that if made public would destroy her, her family, and her father’s reign. Then she meets Hawk.

A boy looking to be a hero.
Hawk, a handsome prep school dropout turned vigilante, has his own family secrets. Deadly secrets that have haunted him since he was fifteen. But instead of fighting the ghosts of his past, Hawk has assembled a group of misfit hackers and thieves to save the future from the corrupt government of New America and the mysterious virus that is killing off its citizens. But trying to do the right thing is tough when the person you really want to save is your enemy’s daughter.

A love that could kill them both. 
Powerful forces keep them apart, but coming together could be the key to saving New America from destruction—even though it may cost both their lives, in this retelling of the legend of Robin Hood.
Purchase:
Trigger warnings: Abuse (physical - parental and spousal), medical stuff, blood, sickness, mind control, poverty, controlling relationship, unchecked privilege, rich versus poor

Diversity rating: 0 - To read, all characters are white, able-bodied and cishet.

I am generally very wary of books that are self-published, or published by houses that are so small they may as well be self-published. I tend to find the writing is lacking, the editing is atrocious, and the cover design does nothing to draw me in. When I was assigned Mercury Rises by Scarlett Kol for We Can(ada) Read 2018, I was hesitant. What if I hated it?

I was pleasantly surprised.
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5 Sept 2018

We Can(ada) Read: Jay @ The Awkward Bookworm - SciFi Novels + THE CROSSOVER by Heather Horst

05 September 0 Comments
We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors! It is a highlight of Canadian Literature and those of us who promote it as much as possible. 

For a full schedule of events, please check out the Kick-Off post!

Thank you to Moonbeam Books for sponsoring the amazing giveaway! Scroll to the bottom!
Jay is your average 22 year old bookworm who is slighty more awkward than normal people. She loves making youtube videos for her channel, Jay G (The Awkward Bookworm). Follow her on twitter (@theawkwardbookw) for friendship and a good laugh!

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5 Novels Set in Space to Check Out

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

This is one of my favourite series by one of my favourite authors! This is another series that I find just gets better with each book. I absolutely love these fairy tale retellings and how each book tells the story of a different character but still effortlessly blends the other characters in.  It’s such a diverse cast of loveable characters with such amazing dynamics between them. 

The Fifth Wave Series by Rick Yancey

This book has had very mixed reviews since the movie came out a few years ago. Personally, I adored this entire series. Although it can be cheesy at times, it was extremely entertaining right from the beginning. The books are told in alternating perspectives between a cast of colourful characters from a 5-year-old boy, to various soldiers fighting the alien invasions, to an alien himself!  
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4 Sept 2018

We Can(ada) Read: Jay @ The Awkward Bookworm - Favourite Vampire Novels + MERCY BROWN by Tiki Kos

04 September 0 Comments
We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors! It is a highlight of Canadian Literature and those of us who promote it as much as possible. 

 For a full schedule of events, please check out the Kick-Off post!


Thank you to Moonbeam Books for sponsoring the amazing giveaway! Scroll to the bottom!
Jay is your average 22 year old bookworm who is slighty more awkward than normal people. She loves making youtube videos for her channel, Jay G (The Awkward Bookworm). Follow her on twitter (@theawkwardbookw) for friendship and a good laugh!

 Connect with the Blogger:
YouTube | Twitter | Instagram

Five Vampire Novels You Should Check Out + MERCY BROWN by Tiki Kos

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead


Vampire Academy is one series that I can say honestly gets better as it progresses. Each character grows through out the story and its great to see them develop into stronger and more capable people. I also love the female friendships in this series! I will say that if you don’t like cliffhangers than go into these books with caution because EVERY SINGLE ONE will tear your heart out until you can get your hands on the next. 

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer


How could I make a vampire novel list without the staple Twilight?! This was the series that really got me into reading, as I’m sure many other people can say the same. The major teenage angst and ridiculous tropes were actually very well done and entertaining. I’m definitely team Jacob though, can’t have Edward out sparkling me. 
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