Aurora Burning - by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Title: Aurora Burning

Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Published: 5 May 2020

Series: The Aurora Cycle #2

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis:

Our heroes are back… kind of. From the bestselling co-authors of the Illuminae Files comes the second book in the epic series about a squad of misfits, losers, and discipline cases who just might be the galaxy’s best hope for survival.
First, the bad news: an ancient evil—you know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy deal—is about to be unleashed. The good news? Squad 312 is standing by to save the day. They’ve just got to take care of a few small distractions first.
Like the clan of gremps who’d like to rearrange their favorite faces.
And the cadre of illegit GIA agents with creepy flowers where their eyes used to be, who’ll stop at nothing to get their hands on Auri.
Then there’s Kal’s long-lost sister, who’s not exactly happy to see her baby brother, and has a Syldrathi army at her back. With half the known galaxy on their tails, Squad 312 has never felt so wanted.
When they learn the Hadfield has been found, it’s time to come out of hiding. Two centuries ago, the colony ship vanished, leaving Auri as its sole survivor. Now, its black box might be what saves them. But time is short, and if Auri can’t learn to master her powers as a Trigger, the squad and all their admirers are going to be deader than the Great Ultrasaur of Abraaxis IV.
Shocking revelations, bank heists, mysterious gifts, inappropriately tight bodysuits, and an epic firefight will determine the fate of the Aurora Legion’s most unforgettable heroes—and maybe the rest of the galaxy as well.

I listened to this as an audiobook.

So... I'm wiring this only minutes after I've finished the audiobook and my hand is currently hurting a little from where I banged my fist on the table in frustration. The book ends like that?! There were tears, there were cute moments and funny lines; comebacks and explosions and shocking news.

And I loved all of it.

I still loved that there were different narrators for the different character points of view. Having different narrators for the different characters helps when there's quite a few characters to keep track of (at least with me it does) as I was easily able to tell whose chapter was whose and it helped my mind keep track of where everyone was in space and what they were all up to.

My favourite moment was probably the moments just before the end of the book. I'm not sure whether it was because we got to hear from every character about how they were feeling or whether that's the last and most prominent moment to me right now, but I loved it.

When we found out about Saedii and who her family is, I was shocked. However, I'd also somehow called it before that about who her family was, so I think that took a little of my shock factor away and just made it more of an "Aha! I knew it!" kind of moment.

I'm also glad that we finally got to hear about what happened to Zila when she was younger as I was dying to know thanks to the passing moment in Aurora Rising when she referenced the time when she was six.

I will definitely be purchasing the next book in the series when it comes out as I can't believe that Jay and Amie would leave the book on that note! Actually, knowing their writing styles I sort of can believe it... But still! How was I supposed to prepare my heart for that?!

Spoilers!

I'm guessing that Zila is on the autism spectrum somewhere based on her severely analytical thinking, her difficulty with social skills and how she doesn't seem to make eye contact with anyone. I may be wrong and that may just be how she is as a person, but it's just my guess.

I'm really hoping that Fin and Scarlett get together or at least kiss once because I'm pretty sure they'd make a cute couple and they way they interact with each other is funny when they're using sarcasm and wit, and also uplifting when they're making each other feel better and taking care of one another.

Oddly enough, I'm also hoping that Ty and Saedii get to know each other a little better (or maybe a lot better? Depends if they both still want to kill each other, I suppose).

Those final couple of times when Tyler spoke to "Kat" were the parts that made me cry though.

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | Aurora Rising
    2 | Aurora Burning

Aurora Rising - by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff [Read 2]

Title: Aurora Rising

Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Published: 6 May 2019

Series: The Aurora Cycle #1

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis:

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering
And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.
Nobody panic.

While I may not have reviewed this book that long ago (almost a year and a half ago now), I also have a memory like a sieve. Having a memory like a sieve and also having the next book in my possession, I decided to re-read Aurora Rising. Plus it's always nice to see how your thoughts and views of books changes over the years.

So... On to the good stuff!

This time, I listened to this as an audiobook.

I loved that different characters were narrated by different people. I adore Kal's voice though - a voice like honey! The only, very minor, downside to the narration is that when the chapter is in Scarlett's point of view and Kal says something to her, it isn't said b the Kal narrator but the Scarlett narrator trying to do the different voice. It doesn't detract from the story too much, but it's just something that I noticed.

If your squad was hard to find, or you're still looking, then this one is for you.

Character-wise, I still love Scarlett's sass, humour and sarcasm plus Fin's sarcasm too! Maybe it's just me relating to them because of how sarcastic I can be sometimes though, but I'm not entirely sure.

I adore the word be'shmai and what it means... Makes my heart melt a little every time Kal says it. (Once again, if you want to find out what I'm on about with this part, then read the book. You won't regret it!)

I also like how there's info pages between every few chapters at the beginning of the book though as it breaks it up a little and gives you a touch more info, plus the different font that they use for the texting they did with one another. I still think it's Magellan giving us some information to help our brains keep up with the story and to add some fun into it too.

I sort of hope that we find out in Aurora Burning (the next book) what happened to Zila when she was 6 as I'm curious, but also worried about her. I just wish I could protect every one of my precious Squad members. I don't think I trust the with Jay and Amie after what they do to my heart during every book I read from them!

...but will I continue reading every single thing they publish? 100% yes.

Thoughts that I still have after re-reading this book:

- "Insulting their mothers. Just don't."  I still want to know the story behind that! Who insulted who's mother to make that a thing?! What happened afterwards?

- Why would you rub your hands against the moss to clean them?! (Another reason to read Aurora Rising if you haven't yet: to find out what the hells I'm talking about here.)

Hold onto your undies, kids.

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All books in this series:

    1 | Aurora Rising
    2 | Aurora Burning

The Flatshare - by Beth O'Leary

Title: The Flatshare

Author: Beth O'Leary

Published: 23 April 2019

Series: -

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis:

Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met…
Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time. 
But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…

Trigger Warning: emotional abuse

I listened to this as an audiobook. These two narrators did a fantastic job reading this! I loved this book.

It did take me a bit to get into the swing of the story with Leon's chapters as I did wonder why he was speaking that way. It did make a little more sense after it was explained he tried to use the least amount of words possible.

I was definitely hoping Tiffy and Leon would get together though! The way that Tiffy knew things about Leon without ever having met him was great too - things like the way that he liked his coffee and how she knew when he had overslept his alarm by where he placed his coffee cup in the apartment.

Richie was also a great brother in my opinion as even thought it was difficult to see him and talk to him because of reasons (read the book to find out what I'm talking about!), Richie still tried to protect and take care of Leon. I'm also glad that Leon never stopped fighting for Richie!

One of my favourite parts would have to be all the Post-Its. Part of me was hoping that they would write all the little notes in a notebook or something so there'd be no having to clean up Post-Its and also so they'd be able to keep all the notes for later.

Another of my favourite parts would definitely have to be how they met! It was fun, cute and awkward all in one but well worth the wait to see them meet!

I did feel bad for Tiffy, but I'm glad that she was able to overcome all the obstacles in her way - I'm especially glad that her friends and the people she cares about were able to help her overcome them. The way that Beth O'Leary talked about the topic of Tiffy's emotional abuse was fantastic though.

Those final lines were my undoing! I'm not crying, you're crying!

Also it's cool that there's a bit of an interview between Carrie and Beth at the end of the audiobook after the final chapter.

I would definitely recommend this book to people who love a cutesy story!

Kingdom of Ash - by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Kingdom of Ash

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Published: 23 Oct 2018

Series: Throne of Glass #7

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis:

Years in the making, Sarah J. Maas’s #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series draws to an epic, unforgettable conclusion. Aelin Galathynius’s journey from slave to king’s assassin to the queen of a once-great kingdom reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world. . .
Aelin has risked everything to save her people―but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day…
With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they’ve gathered to battle Erawan’s hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation―and a better world.
And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen―before she is lost to him forever.
As the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever in the explosive final chapter of the Throne of Glass series.

I listened to this as an audiobook.

This book was so gods damned good! However, there will also probably be a lot of spoiler-y content at the end of this review because of that.

I love that women getting their cycle is actually mentioned occasionally in this series and it's the first time I've read about women getting their cycles in a book. It's refreshing to read about, oddly enough. 

Women are sometimes the ones to get pushed down - to stand and look pretty and not fight back. but sometimes they're also the ones that are the strongest fighters - that will fight you to their last breath and protect what they love. This entire series has been mainly about of Aelin and Manon and Lysandra and Irene and Kaltain. The ones who held the world together when it was falling apart around them. The ones who were able to overcome their problems and protect what they loved and build a better future together.

I was sobbing my little heart out when Aelin was panicking and clawing at the mask and when all she was doing was sobbing and screaming "take it off, take it off, take it off"! I felt that in my heart - right down to the core. I'm sure we've all had at least one day within the span of our lives when we just want to curl up and be done with the world. To forget about what's happening in our lives and you just need a good cry to get all the pent up emotions out...

All in all, a very thick book - but definitely worth it. This entire series was one of the best series I've read!

Spoilers!

Aelin Whitethorn-Ashryver-Galathinius. Prince Rowan Whitethorn-Galathinius, consort, mate and husband of the queen of Terrasen. I love that their string of names and titles is mentioned.

I did guess that Irene was pregnant the second that her hand drifting across her abdomen was mentioned! I absolutely love this idea!

I'm pretty sure that I was in tears when Fenrys was fighting back against the blood bond and managed to get to his feet.

The fact that Fenrys and Aelin were able to create their own unspoken language while she was trapped and being tortured and that she was able to communicate with him too when he was so badly hurt when no one else could. Not even the cadre. Gods, my heart...

It was beautiful that Aelin finally managed to reclaim her throne and that Fleetfoot was able to join them in the kingdom.

That ending with the King's Flame flowers though. That was amazing. I think we almost need some of those flowers in the real world too.

After that mammoth of a book, I have important questions! Do Manon and Dorian get together? What is the name that Irene and Chaol gave to their child? Was it a girl or boy? Do Aedion and Lysandra have children? Who proposed to who? What was the wedding like? Do Aelin and Rowan manage to have a family together like in Rowan's hallucination?

End Spoilers!

__________________________________________________

All books in this series:

0.1 | The Assassin's Blade (The Assassin and the Pirate)

0.2 | The Assassin's Blade (The Assassin and the Healer)

0.3 | The Assassin's Blade (The Assassin and the Desert)

0.4 | The Assassin's Blade (The Assassin and the Underworld)

0.5 | The Assassin's Blade (The Assassin and the Empire)

    1 | Throne of Glass

    2 | Crown of Midnight

    3 | Heir of Fire

    4 | Queen of Shadows

    5 | Empire of Storms

    6 | Tower of Dawn

    7 | Kingdom of Ash

Everything, Everything - by Nicola Yoon

Title: Everything, Everything

Author: Nicola Yoon

Published: 1 Sep 2015

Series: -

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis:

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

Wanting just leads to more wanting. There's no end to desire.

I received this book as an ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

It was interesting reading about 'bubble baby disease' as I hadn't heard much about it before. The name of the disease is fairly self-explanatory, but it was still interesting to hear about the bits I hadn't known before.

Something I've noticed in many TV shows, movies and books I've watched and read seems to be that most people say "Welcome to our new home!" when they get to a new house. I still have no idea why people do that.

It's nice how Madeleine is half-Japanese and half-African American but it's not a big deal. But I think that my favourite character in the book was probably Olly, followed by Carla as they both cared for Madeleine and both had a sense of humour.

I'd like to know more about her dad and her brother - what her mum remembered them being like, the little things her brother would do for his younger sister, the jokes her dad would tell...

Spoilers!

Why is there usually a "breath/tension they didn't realise they'd been holding" variation in YA? Beginning to get sick of seeing that.

I did love that Olly was good to her and that he cared for her, but I also feel like there was a sort of insta-love too.

Zach being gay was great as Olly and Madeleine didn't make a big deal about it - it's just part of who Zach is as a person.

Why yes, I did indeed cry at the ending.

End Spoilers!

On the Other Side - by Carrie Hope Fletcher

Title: On the Other Side

Author: Carrie Hope Fletcher

Published: 14 July 2016

Series: -

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis:
A love story like no other, this is the debut novel from Carrie Hope Fletcher, author of the Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller All I Know Now.
Evie Snow is eighty-two when she quietly passes away in her sleep, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. It's the way most people wish to leave the world but when Evie reaches the door of her own private heaven, she finds that she's become her twenty-seven-year-old self and the door won't open.
Evie's soul must be light enough to pass through so she needs to get rid of whatever is making her soul heavy. For Evie, this means unburdening herself of the three secrets that have weighed her down for over fifty years, so she must find a way to reveal them before it's too late. As Evie begins the journey of a lifetime, she learns more about life and love than she ever thought possible, and somehow , some way, she may also find her way back to her long lost love . . .
On the Other Side will transport you to a world that is impossible to forget. Powerful, magical and utterly romantic, this is a love story like no other from everyone's favourite 'big sister', Carrie Hope Fletcher.

Your soul is too heavy to pass through this door
Leave the weight of the world in the world from before.
Once it is lighter, your key shall then turn
And you will be able to have what you yearn.

I listened to this as an audiobook and finished it in one sitting.

This book is a magical realism sort of book - a reality/magic cross over sort of genre. I think this is the first book (that I can think of) that I've read in that genre.

I love that Evie isn't a small, thin person - that she has big hips and thighs from bread and cheese. 

There are a few parts of this book that are my favourite. Mainly, that getting a husband isn't at the top of Evie's priority list! She shows that you can be independent and do what you want to in life without needing a man. Another is that Vincent isn't perfect but Evie still loves Vincent for exactly how he is. 

I may not normally be able to pick up on themes in books, but I definitely think I've figured this one out - the stop and smell the roses theme vibe, seeing people/things rather than just looking, and that happiness has nothing to do with money.

The bridge wrestling was also quite cute and amusing. It kinda sucked that it was insta-love, but I adored the pair other than that.

Carrie singing the song in the audiobook that Evie does to her son, August, was lovely to hear. But I may be biased on that as I love Carrie's voice in general.

In the audiobook, Sunny to me sounded a bit like Ron Weasley. I can also imagine Carrie as Evie because of how happy and bubbly etc we normally see her in her YouTube videos.

Great adventures can start small. Even as small as a sweet. Help yourself to an adventure.

Spoilers!

Foreshadowing was included in the book as by the time you reach the third secret, you remember that the tree was mentioned early on in the book with Evie's son, August.

I cried at a few places in the book. When we heard the ambulance and found out Vincent left at the same time, Jim's speech, Evie's speech to sleeping Vincent, and especially Vincent dying.

Evie, you were my single greatest adventure.

There seemed to be quite a bit of  representation of different people/things in general which was great too. Vincent being bisexual, Isla the staff member being pansexual, Eddie being gay. Curvy girls were represented by Evie, and marriage problems were even represented by August and Daphne.

I did notice that all the main surnames were to do with weather and seasons - not sure if that was on purpose or not though. Summer, Winters, Snow, Frost, and Sunny Shine.

I'm also curious about a couple of things: Who's CB and PF in the initials on the lift doors when Evie's daughter, Isla, goes to fetch the shoebox? Plus Leafy said there's ways without the wall if someone passes and you need to tell them things - what are the ways?

End Spoilers!

Their Fractured Light - by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Title: Their Fractured Light
Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Published: 1 Dec 2015
Series: Starbound #3
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
A year ago, Flynn Cormac and Jubilee Chase made the now infamous Avon Broadcast, calling on the galaxy to witness for their planet, and protect them from destruction. Some say Flynn’s a madman, others whisper about conspiracies. Nobody knows the truth. A year before that, Tarver Merendsen and Lilac LaRoux were rescued from a terrible shipwreck—now, they live a public life in front of the cameras, and a secret life away from the world’s gaze.
Now, in the center of the universe on the planet of Corinth, all four are about to collide with two new players, who will bring the fight against LaRoux Industries to a head. Gideon Marchant is an eighteen-year-old computer hacker—a whiz kid and an urban warrior. He’ll climb, abseil and worm his way past the best security measures to pull off onsite hacks that others don’t dare touch.
Sofia Quinn has a killer smile, and by the time you’re done noticing it, she’s got you offering up your wallet, your car, and anything else she desires. She holds LaRoux Industries responsible for the mysterious death of her father and is out for revenge at any cost.
When a LaRoux Industries security breach interrupts Gideon and Sofia’s separate attempts to infiltrate their headquarters, they’re forced to work together to escape. Each of them has their own reason for wanting to take down LaRoux Industries, and neither trusts the other. But working together might be the best chance they have to expose the secrets LRI is so desperate to hide.

I listened to this as an audiobook and followed along in my physical book. In the physical book, the words of the whispers are sometimes on opposite sides of the one page as if it was two of them speaking and you can see the whispers and Lilac have a conversation. But in the audiobook, the whispers' voices are quite creepy along with the background sounds of it, and at the end you get to hear the Butterfly Waltz.

"I probably could have stripped naked and laid down on his desk and he would've just moved his monitor so he could see over me."

The cover of this book is beautiful too. I absolutely love her dress on the front cover of this. And if you look closely on the front cover, you can see he has a tattoo just above his elbow.

The interaction between Sofia and Gideon was quite good. I like how their partnership changed as the book went on too - from enemies, to co-conspirators, back to enemies, before reaching friendship and (hopefully one day) a relationship.

Six lives, six threads. We shall see what fabric they weave.

Spoilers!

My guess that Sofia was Towers was sightly off, but I think I'd still call that a win.

I cried when the Daedalus ship crashed to Corinth and Tarver was crying as it fell with Lilac on board - in denial of what was happening in front of him.

Her hands slide up inside my T-shirt, finding skin, and my brain starts to shut down higher function so I can concentrate on getting her shirt off without breaking the kiss for more than a couple of seconds.

When Lilac tells Tarver that she held on so that she could come back to him I also ended up crying. I can be such a sap when it comes to books sometimes.

Another moment I started to cry? When Sofia was with Gideon at the end and she was thinking about what story she should tell the Collective and she thinks about the Butterfly Waltz.

Gideon: I still like yours better. The one with the lights and fringe.
Sofia: The one that got shredded and full of holes because I was wearing it during a spaceship crash? I think there's more dress missing than there.
Gideon: Why do you think I like it? 

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | These Broken Stars
 1.5 | This Night So Dark
    2 | This Shattered World
    3 | Their Fractured Light

LIFEL1K3 - by Jay Kristoff

Title: LIFEL1K3
Author: Jay Kristoff
Published: 29 May 2018
Series: Lifelike #1
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
On a floating junkyard beneath a radiation sky, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap.
Eve isn’t looking for secrets—she’s too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she’s just spent six months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, and the only thing keeping her Grandpa from the grave was the fistful of credits she just lost to the bookies. To top it off, she’s discovered she can destroy electronics with the power of her mind, and the puritanical Brotherhood are building a coffin her size. If she’s ever had a worse day, Eve can’t remember it.
But when Eve discovers the ruins of an android boy named Ezekiel in the scrap pile she calls home, her entire world comes crashing down. With her best friend Lemon Fresh and her robotic conscience, Cricket, in tow, she and Ezekiel will trek across deserts of irradiated glass, infiltrate towering megacities and scour the graveyard of humanity’s greatest folly to save the ones Eve loves, and learn the dark secrets of her past.
Even if those secrets were better off staying buried.

"Hey, you. Yes, you. Put this grimy, beautiful, devastating, hilarious, screaming, writhing, all-out post-apocalyptic girl-buddy-road-warrior-lost-princess-techno-thriller in your face and read it right now. It is every kind of badass." - Laini Taylor (blurb from the back cover of the book)

Oh. My. Goodness. Laini Taylor's quote about this basically sums up how I'm feeling right about now. I really don't want to wait until May 2019 for the next book in the trilogy, that's how good it is. The picture also doesn't show it but the coppery colour on the edges of the front and back cover are metallic and shiny and oh-so-cool!

I like that we see action within the first chapter so it doesn't take too long to get into it.

There were so many awesome points to this book.

It's easier to base something from something else than it is to create something from nothing, so the lifelikes were modeled off the Monrova family. Grace from Eve's mother Alexis, Gabriel from her father Nicholas, Raphael from the eldest sister Olivia, Hope from the second youngest sister Marie, and Faith from Eve herself.

I liked that the twelve lifelikes were named after angels and virtues. Gabriel, Ezekiel, Uriel, Raphael, Michael, Daniel, Hope, Faith, Patience, Verity, Grace, and Mercy. It was also good that they had the same emotional capacity as an adult, but without the knowledge or experience of how to deal with them.

There is insta-love in this book, but it's not your usual kind. This is the kind that rips out your heart and stomps on it until it is nothing but mush. The kind that shows you what horror and pain it can cause to people and their emotions. The kind that shows you that love and lust are two completely different things.

It was good to see that when restarting Myriad, four things were needed (voice ident, retinal scan, blood sample, brainwave imprint) and it took at least twenty minutes too boot up - not simply an instant restart and away you go...

The flashbacks were interesting to watch unfold. Also the layout of the pages towards the end where a character's mind spirals a bit was really nice to see. It reminded me a bit of the layout of the Illuminae Files trilogy.

The language was a bit to take in a first, but I managed to wade my way through it. Some of the language I had to figure out, like 'sprogs' and 'fugazi'. And some was pretty self explanatory, like 'bestest', 'brainmeats', 'fizzy' and 'recyc'.

One theory that I had was that the area was called Dregs because it's what remains once everything good has left, such as humanity. Kind of like how the few tea leaves and the little half-sip of tea at the bottom of the mug are called dregs.

There was only one point when I was confused about what was happening, but it's sort of self explanatory as to why that was when you get up to that part in the book. It also made my mind spin out of control with theories...

Definitely recommend this book! Also, I need the next book ASAP please, Mr Kristoff!

Stronger together, together forever.

Spoilers!

When I'd only hit page 84, I already had to try not to cry because of poor Kaiser.

Why did I cry overall? Kaiser went boom, Cricket was crushed, Silas and Ana were shot. Enough said.

Now for the part where I got confused. How was it Ana's voice and retinal scan, but not her blood? Was there a complete blood transfusion? Was it because the blood sample may have been a mix of blood and saliva? Or was it possible that Nicholas used Lemon's blood, but still Ana's eye scan and voice? And here's my craziest theory yet. One that's probably so far off the planet that it's created it's own gravitational pull: Is Lemon the Monrova's true daughter, but was given up so that she would be saved?

Finding out that Eve was a lifelike was so shocking that I actually had to put the book down and yell and swear at nothing in particular while in my car, waiting for my own 'bestest' to finish work. Plus finding out that Lemon Fresh was the one with the electrical crushing power was another big shock.

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | LIFEL1K3
    2 | DEV1AT3
    3 | TRUEL1F3

Before the Devil Breaks You - by Libba Bray

Title: Before the Devil Breaks You
Author: Libba Bray
Published: 3 Oct 2017
Series: The Diviners #3
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
New York City.
1927.
Lights are bright.
Jazz is king.
Parties are wild.
And the dead are coming...
After battling a supernatural sleeping sickness that early claimed two of their own, the Diviners have had enough of lies. They're more determined than ever to uncover the mystery behind their extraordinary powers, even as they face off against an all-new terror. Out on Ward's Island, far from the city's bustle, sits a mental hospital haunted by the lost souls of people long forgotten--ghosts who have unusual and dangerous ties to the man in the stovepipe hat, also known as the King of Crows.
With terrible accounts of murder and possession flooding in from all over, and New York City on the verge of panic, the Diviners must band together and brave the sinister ghosts invading the asylum, a fight that will bring them fact-to-face with the King of Crows. But as the explosive secrets of the past come to light, loyalties and friendships will be tested, love will hang in the balance, and the Diviners will question all that they've ever known. All the while, malevolent forces gather from every corner in a battle for the very soul of a nation--a fight that could claim the Diviners themselves.

We are a country built by immigrants, dreams, daring, and opportunity.
We are a country built by the horrors of slavery and genocide, the injustice of racism and exclusion. These realities exists side by side. It is out past and our present. The future is unwritten.
This is a book about ghosts.
For we live in a haunted house.

I listened to this as an audiobook.

Theta and Memphis are my adorable mixed couple, Sam and Evie are my sweethearts, David and Henry are my passionate pair, and Ling and Alma are my cuties. I also loved Conor and Mabel and Isaiah. However, Roy can go die in a hole please and thank you.

I still absolutely adore January's voice in the narration of this series too, plus all of the voices she can do for them. In this one, she was even able to do a young Sister Walker voice and a robot voice. Her singing voice is pos-i-tutely divine and when the argument in the library happens, there's no "said so-and-so" but you can still tell exactly who's who because of how well January does their voices. I'd also like to think that the character Alma LaVoy, has the same surname as January as a sort of thank you. 

The sex scenes seemed pretty meh to me, possibly because they all happened at the same place in the book. It was good that Ling wasn't thrust into those scenes though as that is definitely not the way her character would behave.

Henry looked from Ling to Alma and back again. His mouth slid into a sly smile. "Oh my."

I do have a theory though. Maybe Theta and Sam are related in some way? I could be completely wrong though, but I'm probably going to think that until the next book comes out and I can find out.


Henry's fake songs are also quite nice to listen to, even though they're made up on the spot at random times. Also, at one stage we'd barely hear from or about Jericho which I noticed, but it didn't phase me too much as I was more invested in the other characters at the time.

I seem to see new sayings in each book in this series that I have yet to hear too but sticks with the 1920s feel. "She's a real tomato", "then you're all wet", "something left-handed about him".

Libba Bray read the author's note at the end which was a nice touch.

He put a hand to the cool, painted stones bearing witness to so many names, so many histories. In the mural, there were painted lines for the Underground, like scars stretched across the skin of the infected nation. There were wounds and then there were wounds. Some were so great Memphis had no idea how they could ever be healed.

Spoilers!

Yes, I did indeed cry when Mabel and Conor died.


I also guessed that Blind Bill was Geome Johnson.

The part about making more Diviners was an interesting twist though. I also noticed the foreshadowing we'd seen, after we'd found out that the Fitter Families tents were the ones finding the Diviners.

End Spoilers!

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All books in this series:

    1 | The Diviners
    2 | Lair of Dreams
    3 | Before the Devil Breaks You

    4 | The King of Crows

The Last Academy - by Anne Applegate

Title: The Last Academy
Author: Anne Applegate
Published: 30 April 2013
Series: -
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
What is this prep school preparing them for?
Camden Fisher arrives at boarding school haunted by a falling-out with her best friend back home. But the manicured grounds of Lethe Academy are like nothing Cam has ever known. There are gorgeous, preppy boys wielding tennis rackets, and circles of girls with secrets to spare. Only . . . something is not quite right. One of Cam's new friends mysteriously disappears, but the teachers don't seem too concerned. Cam wakes up to strangers in her room, who then melt into the night. She is suddenly plagued by odd memories, and senses there might be something dark and terrible brewing. But what? The answer will leave Cam—and readers—stunned and breathless, in this thrilling debut novel.

I listened to this as an audiobook.

There is nothing worse than someone knowing you like somebody.

I hadn't heard about this book before but the synopsis sounded interesting so I decided that I would give it a try.

I wanted to die. I continued to want to die all the way across the soccer field, and the baseball diamond, past the pool and the tennis courts, along the theatre, and down to Kelser House.

The picture that appeared in my head when Cam talked about the milk dispenser at the boarding school was quite amusing. Or should I say, a-moo-sing!

The flashes that Camden occasionally sees - like the duct tape over someone's mouth or stitches along someone's collar bone - was quite an interesting twist and I was wondering where it was going to lead to. It was all explained in the end though.

Trying to figure out the location of any given teenager on campus over the weekend, might as well get yourself a cowboy hat and take up cat herding. I mean, you'd be less frustrated.

When Camden asked Barnaby Charon That Question? Wow. That put a shock through my system. I wasn't expecting that. I was maybe thinking something similar, but not that.

Spoilers!

I cried when we found out that Mark died as a baby from SIDS. I thought the baby clothes had been from a baby brother his Mum lost or something, but I think my heart would have preferred that over the reality.

I had the same reaction when Camden went through the scrapbook of her friends deaths too. Along with Tammy's not-so death.

End Spoilers!