Friday, September 20, 2013

Review: Origin (LUX #4)- Jennifer L Armentrout

Eeeeeee!!!! I'm back!! After a break that seemed aeons long!! And I have a review....for one of the most anticipated YA books of 2013! Yeah...the one with hot aliens and oodles of extraterrestrial conspiracy coupled with a badass female protagonist and nail chewing suspense.


Goodreads Synopsis

Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything. 

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? 

And will they even be together?

My Review

“A certain bone-deep understanding occurred and my hand tightened around the smaller one I held. It weren't stars we were staring at. The sky was falling.” 

It took me several tries to get this review right, primarily because I had no idea how to do it without too much fangirling and partly because it seemed impossible to review it without  giving out major spoilers. But I guess fourth time's the charm...

After Opal's cliffhanger of epic proportions the wait for Origin was a torturous one to say the least and after hearing about the introduction of dual POVs in this one....well, I might have attempted a celebratory cartwheel!


The book starts off with Katy's POV, with her describing the 'hospitality' dished out by Daedalus' creepy crew and it gave an insight into the organisation's inner workings. As the book switches POVs we get to see Daemon's anguish at losing Katy and his family's attempts to sabotage all his insane plans to rescue her. But Daemon being Daemon ends up doing what he wants after all and after several pages of painful separation the two are reunited in the most unlikeliest places. Blake and Luc make a reappearance and a jaw dropping secret is revealed.

Daedalus' master plan had me gaping at my computer screen for several seconds like a stupefied idiot. But boy....does Armentrout have a flair for introducing unexpected twists! The whole idea was ingeniously handled and resulted in the thickening of the plot 50 times over.

The book was also full of cute Daemon/Katy moments and it was fun to see their relationship mature. The ending was pure awesomeness, though it was difficult to say goodbye to some characters I had come to love over the course of the series. The end was a cliffhanger of sorts...again! I could barely restrain myself from going berserk with frustration!


Origin was probably the most important book in the series in terms of plot( which gained some serious momentum and became amazingly fast paced) and character development. Though Daemon is still a cocky smartass and Katy's stubbornness still puts a dumb mule's to shame, we also get to see different sides of their personalities- Daemon's softer and more romantic side...

“So I was thinking, there're eighty-six thousand, four hundred seconds in a day, right? There're one thousand, four hundred and forty minutes in a day...There're one hundred and sixty-eight hours in a week. Around eighty-seven hundred and then some hours in a year, and you know what?...I want to spend every second, every minute, every hour with you...I want a year's worth of seconds and minutes with you. I want a decade's worth of hours, so many that I can't add them up.” 

....And Katy's more reasonable one.

Overall, a highly recommended heart palpitatingly awesome read!

Rating: 5/5 stars!!





Saturday, July 27, 2013

Urgent Notice: Temporary Hiatus From Blogging

Hey folks! I'm not going to be within reach of my laptop for the next couple of months and consequently A Cliffhanger Crisis would be out of commission for a while. But I would try my bestestest best to get my hands on a computer and post new reviews, al-bight a little infrequently. 

Yeah, this totally sucks big time....


Being deprived of laptop and books? I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.



Friday, July 26, 2013

Cover Reveal: Searching For Tomorrow- Katie Mac






Blurb:

What happens when you find the one person who completes you, and then life conspires against you? How do you set your grief and anguish aside? How do you pick up the shattered pieces, put those pieces back together again, and try to move on?

Katie and Tripp met on the playground the first day of third grade when Tripp tried to rescue Katie from Zack, her twin brother. A lifelong friendship that later blossomed into love began that day.

Broken beyond her own ability to repair, Katie boxes her grief up and attempts to raise her three girls the best she can on her own. As time slowly passes, Katie relives her times with Tripp while struggling most days to even get out of bed. She is reminded of him at every turn.

Zack is Katie's twin brother and was Tripp's best friend. Having lost his own love, he dedicates himself to helping Katie put her life back together. Throw in a mother-in-law who torments at every turn and poor Katie can't even find a chance to breathe, much less a desire to somehow search for tomorrow. 




Author Interview:

Tell us 5 surprising things about yourself.

1.     I am a PK. If you know what that means, then you know what that means
2.     I have always wanted to be a red head with long, beautiful corkscrew curls.
3.     No matter what I’m doing, I would rather be outside, day or night, hot or cold, rain or shine.
4.     I was awarded two separate scholarships when I graduated high school. One was a teaching fellowship and the other was for writing.
5.     I love to cook, almost as much as I like to eat. I spent a couple of years as a private cook for a local family and loved every minute of it

What is your writing environment?

At the moment, I have a makeshift office in my pantry! If need be, I can shut the door and cut off part of the noise. I hope to have a more permanent space soon.

One of your favorite quotes.

                  To whom much is given, much is required.          

Random things about my novel.

Just a bit of nonsense. I am Kathryn Anne, and my two sisters are Rebekah Elizabeth and Sarah Margaret. My husband is Channing, and my son is Zachary. One of my daughters is Elizabeth, and I still have to work my daughter Brittany into the book. Highlands is my most favorite place in the world to go when my soul need refreshing. Last, but not least, I actually had a great-grandma Tiddy!

What does love feel like? 

Warm, fuzzy, secure, safe, sheltered

How did you meet your significant other? 

In the lobby of the bank that I worked in. I was on all fours under a Christmas tree tightening the screws in the base. What can I say? Baby got back!

If you could take a romantic trip, where would it be? 

Any trip I take with Hubs is romantic. One of his favorite things to do is to whisk me away to wine and dine me.

Do you believe in love at first sight? 

Absolutely! Ask me how I feel about my grandson Grayson!



Author Links

Bio:

About this author If you are reading this, I think you should know that "About me" sounds so very pretentious to me. I guess that is what I am supposed to write about, so here it goes!

Katie Mac is a simple country girl who likes to spend time with her hubba, hunka hubby, her three kids and her friends. She loves to cook and really loves to eat! During the spring and summer, you will more than likely find her outside puttering around in her garden. When the veggies start coming in, she will probably be sweating over a hot canner in the kitchen, canning all the goodies she is blessed with. Katie likes to hike and go camping, and as a Girl Scout leader, she gets to do this pretty often! On cold winter nights, you will probably find her wrapped in a warm blanket, lost in a good book, while sitting in her rocking chair on the front porch!

Katie was born and raised in North Carolina, and while she loves to travel, she can't imagine ever leaving the mountains that she has come to call home. Not a day goes by that Katie doesn't thank God for abundantly blessing her. He has been so good to her, and she is very grateful. She holds Jeremiah 29:11 very close to her heart and believes it with every fiber of her being. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Katie loves flip flops, chocolate, sweet tea and dirt between her toes. As far back as she can remember, she's had a book in her hand. Reading has carried her to places she will never go. It has introduced her to people that she will never meet. When life is great and when it is rough, she's always been able to find a book to carry her through. She finally decided to write down some of the stories in her head (yes, be scared) and heart after dawdling around and wasting years dreaming. She hopes you enjoy reading those stories as much as she loves writing them!

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