ARC Review: Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

Pub. Date: May 5th 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 448
Readership: Young adult
Genres: fantasy

When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.  

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?  

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

Let me start out by getting my initial reaction off my chest: yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!!!!! Ok. Now that that is over with, let me get into my actual feelings regarding Crimson Bound.

I had high expectations going in because Cruel Beauty was definitely in my top five reads of 2014 and those expectations were definitely met. Crimson had the same beautiful prose that Cruel Beauty had, the same plot twists and the same intricate characters.

Rachelle is our lead, and our morally-grey protagonist. She had to make a tough choice at a young age and she choose to stay alive. Now she fights for people while she thinks - knows - her soul is doomed for hell. She does it because maybe she can try to be a little less of the monster she thinks she is. Maybe some of the blood on her hands can be for the good of the people she protects.

I also loved the world of Crimson Bound. It was a high fantasy but with a light touch. We had all the makings of one with it's out of this world creatures, royalty, monsters, powers, the forest and the Forestborn of that very forest but it wasn't such a world that was hard to immerse yourself in like some of the worlds of high and epic fantasies are. It was easy to follow what was happening in that world and not have to stop and remind yourself of all the intricacies of it. Rosamund did a fantastic job of creating a wholly original world that was beautifully built and easy to follow.

I'll admit I wasn't a big fan of Armand at first and it took me a while to warm up to him. I just didn't get him, you know? I had a "I know this guy is going to be a big hit but I'm just not feeling it" kind of feeling but I realized about a hundred pages into his introduction, I liked him. I also loved Erec from the start, and through to the end amidst all the plot twists that came about. Erec my beautifully malicious little [bleep]. I really like it when you can love even the villains of a book. The best villains to me are the ones you can love right beside the protagonists.

Crimson Bound was packed to the rafters with action as well as the superb characters and character development. If you like a book with both, then this is definitely a great one to pick up. If you love beautifully written prose, this is definitely your book.
★★★★★ I LOVED IT *Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* PURCHASE (amazon) (amazon kindle) (the book depository) (chapters/indigo)

★★★★.5

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! 

Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* 

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ARC Review: The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Pub. Date: February 10th 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 400
Readership: Young adult
Genres: contemporary

There's death all around us. We just don't pay attention. Until we do.  

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.  

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.  

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.  

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Heartbreaking. Authentic. These worlds immediately sprung to mind the second I finished The Last Time We Say Goodbye. I absolutely loved Cynthia’s Unearthly series so I had a feeling that I would love this book too. And yeah, I did. More than I loved Unearthly, even.

Lex’s brother died. He committed suicide and it turned Lex’s world upside down as it would anyone. Before she had her family together, a boyfriend, and like the synopsis said, friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment. 

First, let me start with the writing. It was beautiful, absolutely. I loved that we were able to see Lex’s present but also what lead up to Ty’s death. We got to know Ty - through Lex’s journal that her therapist told her to write in - to see him and what he went through and what led to his suicide. While I don’t personally know anyone who has committed suicide, I know people with mental health issues and who have attempted. I know what it’s like to have depression and I know how hard it is to get through it sometimes. Cynthia captured it perfectly: the turmoil of the person that committed suicide themselves and the lives of those left behind. 

Lex’s pain and grief jumped out of the page at me, it felt so raw and so real. She blamed herself. She couldn’t cry, she couldn’t let it out, because no one knew just how deep her pain and blame went. She feels like she’s going crazy because she keeps seeing Ty everywhere, what she thinks is his ghost, and she begins to fracture even more. That is such a real thing, such a normal thing, but she can’t believe that and thinks she’s losing it.

I loved seeing Lex’s friends. All of their reactions are so normal to a death by suicide. They see their friend fragile too, like at any moment Lex could break so they treat her with a tender touch but Lex doesn’t see it that way. This is so normal, for anyone who knows someone that died. They don’t know how to react and all of Lex’s friends reactions in the book are so normal.

The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a book that is going to stay with me. It’s one of those reads that I’ll carry around with me and think about from time to time. It’s as much haunting as it is beautiful. It is about grief and loss and learning to accept it. It is about moving on as much as it is about mental illness and suicide. It was so, so good. 

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* 

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ARC REVIEW: Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Pub. Date: October 14th 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 432
Readership: Young adult
Genres: high fantasy

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.  

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.  

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, and serving her kingdom just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

Snow Like Ashes is a lot like the books I've been reading lately: high fantasy, filled with magic and a war beyond the protagonists power. Basically, I had to read this book. I was thrilled when I received an ARC through HCCFrenzy but I put off reading it for just a little bit because I was so inundated with other books.

I picked it up one night after a long day of classes and got through the first 50 pages easily. But I wasn't sure how I liked it just yet. Meira felt a little flat and puppety in the sense that I really wasn't sure why she was doing what she doing. She felt like a two dimensional damsel that's trying to be a soldier but falling short and just kind of flopping around on the pages with no real zeal, doing things that the others wanted her to do. I felt like this for the next 50 pages as well. Usually if I'm not sure about a book one hundred pages in, I call it a day and throw in the towel. However, I was fascinated with the magic of the world and the eight different kingdoms. Eight! Each were unique unto themselves, not just the fact that four of them had the same season all year round. So I kept going and wow, I am glad I did.

I don't know what it was exactly, but after about the first hundred pages, things really turned around. New characters were being introduced that I immediately liked and the ball was really rolling for the band of refugees. I suddenly went from being indifferent to the novel to not being able to put it down, so much so that I... didn't sleep much until I finished the book. Again, this has never happened before. Like, ever.

I think part of what had me initially weary on the book was the "romance" between Mather and Meira. It just felt like nothing. It felt stale and forced and I wanted nothing to do with it but then, since I got through those first hundred pages, everything turned around and it all became clear.

That said, I loved all of the characters. Even evil as all heck Angra was someone I enjoyed reading. Theron though, was by far my favourite. I fell for him the moment he appeared and wished he was in it way more. I wish we got to see the rest of the Winter refugees more and got to know them outside of Meira, Mather and Sir. I hope we get to in the next book.

Overall, I really enjoyed Snow Like Ashes and I am excited to see how the story progresses in the next book!

★★★★ 

I REALLY LIKED IT 

*Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!*

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ARC REVIEW: The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Pub. Date: June 10th 2014
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Pages: 400
Readership: Young adult
Genres: dystopia

An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.  

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.  

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?  

Action-packed, blood-soaked, and chilling, this is a dark and compelling debut novel by Lindsay Cummings.

It's not often these days that a book has me up into the wee hours turning page after page to find out what happens next and just exactly what the heck is going on. The Murder Complex was one that did. The book had been on my to-read, must have wishlist for a while. It was one of my most anticipated reads of 2014 so I was a little worried it wasn't going to meet up to my expectations. I'm happy to say that I was wrong. From the get-go I was intrigued by Meadow and who this little girl was she was trying to usher out of the water. Why was Meadow so worried? What was going on? Immediately I was hooked.

I'm always a fan of dual POVs but it's especially thrilling when they are done right. The dual POVs really helped shaped the world of The Murder Complex. You had the perspective of Meadow, who grew up in the Shallows with her family and people to take care of and then Zephyr, a Ward, a no one. Or so we think. It helps the reader see the nooks and crannies of the closed in dystopian world that these poor people live in. You see the differences in their lives and the similarities, one of which is how they are all struggling to survive.

Things move fast in this book but not at a ridiculous rate. It is a thriller, so things have to go at a fast pace. Cummings times it all perfectly, weaving rich prose fast action and dialogue. Things get so gripping and fast that I was up till the sun started to shine one night because I had to know what happened next. There are many twists and turns that happen along the way. Some were fairly easy to spot but others were shocking. That is what makes a good thriller: you think the turns and the twists are easy to spot and yes, you spot some, but there are the others that come out of nowhere and hit you like a bus. The ones you never see coming.

I also loved the characters and the way they were developed. There were ones you loved, ones you hated, ones you rooted for and ones you wanted to see fall off of a train. A character doesn't have to be liked to be a good character and there were plenty of those in The Murder Complex. Meadow was such a bad-ass protagonist I wanted more and more of her, even though she was one half of the POVs. It was just great to see such a badass, ruthless character set out to do absolutely anything to protect the ones she loves. Zephyr was great too, even if it took me a few more chapters to warm up to him. By the end I was rooting for him as much as I was rooting for Meadow.

Overall, The Murder Complex is a must-read. It is absolutely gripping from start to finish, with an ending that will leave you pulling your hair out for the next book in the series.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! 

Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!*

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ARC Review: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Pub. Date: March 4th 2014
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Pages: 355
Readership: Young adult
Genres: fantasy, historical

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love 

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. 

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. 

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined. 

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

Wow. I had heard about The Winner's Curse a while ago but for whatever reason, it wasn't on my radar until I kept seeing everyone talking about it. And I mean everyone. I couldn't ignore it anymore: I read up on the synopsis and read a couple early reviews. I was intrigued. When I got the chance to have my own ARC of it, I jumped.

From all the great reviews I had read, I was really going in with high expectations. Usually, that's not a very good thing but with The Winner's Curse it didn't matter. The book was every bit of amazing as the reviews said, and then some.

Marie created absolutely wonderful characters in this book. Some were easily loved, easily related to and easily hated. Some I was unsure of their motives but liked them anyway and some I just wanted to fall on their sword. Regardless of the type of character they were, there was no one character in this book that was just there. They all had a reason, a place in the story.

I adored Kestrel to bits. At first I was a little unsure of her but that was easily squashed in the first twenty or so pages. She is a girl who knows who she is and what she wants in life and she is such a badass. SUCH a badass. She is cunning, brilliant, clever and not afraid to do what she feels is right. She is also stubborn which is another thing I adored about her. And a little bit blind of her feelings for Arin until the very and and even then... Oh man, I just really loved Kestrel.

I absolutely adored Arin as well. It was hard not to, to be honest. He, like Kestrel, knows who is is and what he wants and will do anything to obtain it. Even through his feelings for Kestrel, he did what he did because he knew he would lose himself had he not. Arin is courageous and has pin-prick focus but he also has a good heart and doesn't like to hurt people just for the sake of it. He is an amazing leader.

The romance! It was so different from the kind of romances one usually sees in these types of fantasies. It had the whole forbidden, star-crossed feel to it but it wasn't overwhelming. Even though, by the end, Kestrel and Arin loved each other very much, they didn't say to hell with everyone else and ran for the hills. In fact, it is the opposite. While they were still trying to look out for each other and love each other, they knew there were bigger things happening and dealt with those things first and foremost. I have to say, this pair is one of my favourites of the year.

All in all, The Winner's Curse was a brilliantly fantastic awesomesauce read. The ending alone made me want to jump in a little blue box and fly off to next year so I can read book two immediately. The plot was fantastic, the pacing was great and the characters were beyond. Even the minor and secondary characters were great. Ronan! Oh boy, I loved me some Ronan. Cheat was the devil. General Trajan is a good father and a great military man. And those are only a few of the minors that were great. Honestly, if I didn't already have a gigantic to-be-read pile, I would be re-reading The Winner's Curse already. Everyone needs to read this brilliantly woven masterpiece.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to Raincoast Books for providing an ARC for review!!!

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ARC REVIEW: Cress by Marissa Meyer

Pub. Date: February 4th 2014
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 560
Readership: Young adult
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.  

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.  

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.  

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

Ok guys. Cress. It is finally here. The question I have is how the heck am I going to do this review without a) fangirling my butt off and b) not spoiling. That being said this review is either going to be really short or really long depending on how much I try to NOT spoil and to NOT flail.

I'm going to start off simple: Cress is a thrill ride. Seriously. There was not one moment of down time. There was not one moment where there was something amazeballs happening that had to do with the plot. Everything was fastpaced but not so much so that it was a whirlwind and you couldn't get a grasp at what was going on.

All of the old favorites are back. Cinder, Scarlet, Wolf, Throne, Prince Kai, Iko and Queen Levana just to name a handful. The favourites honestly remained favourites for me throughout but I will say, as much as I loved Throne in Scarlet, I think he shot to my number one by the end of Cress. Honestly, I think he's close to number one in my all time favourite YA dudes list. He's smooth, he's charming, he's clever, he's gorgeous and above all, he is fantastically written. The journey he goes on through the book is one that I want to applaud Marissa for. He has his flaws but hell, he is just so damn good. Scarlet's journey is a tough one to sit through. Not because it's so bad it's cringeworthy, but because it's so damn sad. The girl has been through so much already but Marissa really put her through the ringer in this one. Levana remains as evil as ever, Cinder as badass as ever and Wolf as.... well... as Wolfy as ever. I can't even get started on how great Iko is because then I won't stop and that will spoil the whole thing!

Cress as a character is everything I hoped she'd be and more. She is shy, brave, a little awkward but by the end she really finds her ground. I was also overjoyed with the references and easter eggs to the original fairytale. Cress was so well written that she felt real. I saw so many of myself in her and so many bits of people I know. That is the amazing thing about Marissa's writing: even though it's such a futuristing, sci-fi tale, she makes it all seem so possible. She makes it feel as if these are people you know or people you could run into on the street.

Cress is an intricately woven thrill ride that will make the reader want to flip right back to page one and start all over again once they're finished. Fans of the series will be thrilled with the third instalment. Personally, it is my favourite so far. There is just so much that I want to re-read it and then re-read it again to fall in love with everything for second and third times. Cress did not disappoint.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to Raincoast Books for providing an ARC for review!!!

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ARC REVIEW: Avalon by Mindee Arnett

Pub. Date: January 21st 2014
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Pages: 432
Readership: Young adult
Genres: science-fiction

A ragtag group of teenage mercenaries who crew the spaceship Avalon stumble upon a conspiracy that could threaten the entire galaxy in this fascinating and fast-paced sci-fi adventure from author Mindee Arnett.  

Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth-and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.  

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.

Sci-fi!! I love the genre but I don't read nearly enough of it. I heard of Avalon a while ago and immediately put it on my wishlist. I was lucky enough to receive and ARC and I tore right through it.

I'm going to start with what I like. Everything!! Okay, that's a bit of a fib. There are a couple of things I was iffy on but I really, thoroughly enjoyed the plot. I loved the beginning where we were getting to know everyone and immediately we see them in a job. It was light, it was fun and it was exactly how I thought things were going to start. The pacing took off after that, weaving wonderfully together. There were twists along the way that made me go "hey, whoa!" which I enjoyed because I love being taken by surprise in books. Most of the time I can guess what a twist will be and that's no fun. I'm glad to say that was not the case with Avalon. 

Then there's the crew. I can honestly say I liked them all. I was a little bit unsure of Jeth in the beginning because I thought he was a bit of an obnoxious ass, but I really grew to like him. I have to say by the end I really felt for Jeth and all that he's been through currently in the book and in his past. The rest of the crew was also fantastic. I loved their dynamic.

Now let's get to the things I wasn't quite sold on. First of all, the world building wasn't on par with what I thought it should be for a sci-fi of its nature. Avalon is a super sci-fi novel set in space on all sorts of planets in all sorts of spacey-goodness. You'd think there'd be all sorts of intricate planets and aliens and very non-humans but I felt that we really didn't get that feel. That's not to say it wasn't good, I just thought it could be done a little better. I'd also would have like to known a little bit more about "First-Earth" and how they came to finally travel in space and colonize even if the book is set hundreds of years in the future.

There was also use of a certain word that really bothered me. I also know a lot of other folks who are bothered by it. Now, I won't say the word is in hopes that it has since edited out since I read an ARC. All I know was that the times it was used I cringed and had to put down the book for a bit. I just can't see why anyone, even if it is fiction, would need to use the word. It's not even used today much anymore due to the obvious stigma and offence.

All in all I really enjoyed Avalon and I would recommend it to any sci-fi fan! Especially if they're a fan of the television show Firefly. All I know is the entire time I was reading Avalon, all I wanted to do was rewatch Firefly for the 10000000th time!

★★★.5

I LIKED IT 

An ARC was provided by HarperCollins Canada for review - thank you!!! 

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ARC REVIEW: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Pub. Date: October 1st 2013
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pages: 356
Readership: Young adult
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia

On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 16-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan's older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.  

Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.

A perfect city in the sky. No crime. No hardship. Nothing. Everyone lives happy lives and dies happy deaths. Until one day that doesn't hold true anymore. It seemed like a pretty interesting concept to me so I had had it on my want list for a while. I mean come on, it's a city floating on clouds right above Earth. Just a big floating rock. But there's people on it. That are alive. That is crazy. 

Everything about Internment is a mystery. Sure, there are the things that we're told, the things that Morgan know: that Internment is perfect. That everything is laid out before you. That everyone is good and whole. That if you go to the edge, you'll go mad. Crazy. Bonkers. But nothing is ever as it seems, is it? Because people start to die. They are murdered, actually, which is arguably worse. Fear is a cancerous thing, eating away at you until you can't sleep. You can't eat. And you surely can't think of the only place you've known as home your entire life the same way again.

Every chapter ended with some sort of little tidbit of mystery that made me want to keep going. The overwhelming mystery of the entire thing is definitely what kept me going especially since I wasn't really a fan of Morgan up until the last quarter of the book. There was something about her to me that just seemed a little dull. But that might be because of her circumstances. She never had to question her surroundings and her mind until the murders started to happen and things began to unravel. The fact that the prisoner the government claimed to have locked up was actually running around, free, trying to hide. The fact that there was a massive conspiracy going on in the force. So many mysteries. So little answers. Even right up until the end. I'm not going to lie, that bit bothered me to.

The secondary characters were strong and what kept me very interested in continuing. I absolutely loved Judas and all the mystery surrounding him. Did he do it? Was he falsely accused? Was he a scape goat? What was his story? I loved Amy and I loved Morgan's brother. I wouldn't mind a book from his POV. Basil, however, was a little lacklustre for me. He was too perfect. Too much I'll follow you till the end! I'll jump off a cliff for you! He was a bit too much.

Overall, I liked it. There would be things that I could have done without but there were also things that I thoroughly enjoyed. I'll definitely be reading the second. I will say that if you want to read something that is so original with an intriguing plot, pick this book up!

★★★ 

I LIKED IT 

An ARC was provided by Simon & Schuster Canada for review - thank you!!!

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ARC Review: Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Pub. Date: August 20th 2013
Publisher: Harper Children's
Pages: 320
Readership: Young adult
Genres: horror

For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, New Hampshire College Prep is more than a summer program—it's a lifeline. An outcast at his high school, Dan is excited to finally make some friends in his last summer before college. But when he arrives at the program, Dan learns that his dorm for the summer used to be a sanatorium, more commonly known as an asylum. And not just any asylum—a last resort for the criminally insane. 

As Dan and his new friends, Abby and Jordan, explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home, they soon discover it's no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. Because the asylum holds the key to a terrifying past. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried. 

Featuring found photos of unsettling history and real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux's teen debut, Asylum, is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity. (harpercollins)

I really loved Madeleine's first novel Allison Hewitt is Trapped so when I heard about Asylum I knew I had to read it. Plus it had two of my favourite things: abandoned asylums and a boarding school/dorm setting. It was basically a must-read.

I enjoyed the photographs that were peppered throughout the book. Some were clearly found while others were made or photoshopped to compliment the story which I thought was pretty clever. It gave me goosebumps once or twice. I'm really curious to pick up a final copy to see what photos made it into the book and if any changed from the ARC. That said, I wish the photoshopped ones were less obviously photoshopped. I hope they were tweaked for the final version.

I enjoyed the characters as well. They were well developed from beginning to end even if a few of them got on my nerves once or twice. Dan was a good main character but sometimes I found him a little too whiny and in need of a good sit-down talking to but it was just who he was. I found it endearing that he had anxiety issues, which so many of us do and it isn't really talked about. I thought it was refreshing to see. I liked Abby but my feelings for her didn't go much farther than that. I thought she was a good character but I didn't really see how Dan and her meshed. I thought they would be better off as great friends than anything else. Jordan was my favorite of them all. He was realistic rock telling them that it wasn't the best idea to go rummaging around in an abandoned wing of a place that used to be an asylum.

The plot was intricate and well thought out. I liked how Roux kept me on the edge of my seat with twists and turns at every corner. There were definitely parts that I found super creepy and made me wish I wasn't reading it in the middle of the night. There were some horror movie cliches peppered throughout from time to time but sometimes cliches work and in Asylum's case, they did. As endings go, I guessed it early on but it was still a very good reveal that I enjoyed.

Asylum is definitely a book you need to read if you like easy, creepy reads. If you're a fan of old-school horror movies you should definitely check it out!

★★★.5 

I LIKED IT

*Thank you so much Harper Collins Canada for providing an ARC!! Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook! 

PURCHASE 

(amazon) (amazon canada) (the book depository) (chapters/indigo)

ARC REVIEW: The Rules by Stacey Kade

Pub. Date: April 23rd 2013
Publisher: DisneyHyperion
Pages: 416
Readership: Young adult
Genres: sci-fi

1. Never trust anyone.
2. Remember they are always searching.
3. Don’t get involved.
4. Keep your head down.
5. Don’t fall in love.  

Five simple rules. Ariane Tucker has followed them since the night she escaped from the genetics lab where she was created, the result of combining human and extraterrestrial DNA. Ariane’s survival—and that of her adoptive father—depends on her ability to blend in among the full-blooded humans in a small Wisconsin town, to hide in plain sight at her high school from those who seek to recover their lost (and expensive) “project.”  

But when a cruel prank at school goes awry, it puts her in the path of Zane Bradshaw, the police chief’s son and someone who sees too much. Someone who really sees her. After years of trying to be invisible, Ariane finds the attention frightening—and utterly intoxicating. Suddenly, nothing is simple anymore, especially not the rules…

Well, that was intense! I wasn't quite sure what to expect from The Rules. All I knew was that I loved the cover and the concept. I don't read many alien-y novels so I thought why not!?

There were two main characters and we got to see both of their POVs; Ariane and Zane. Ariane is the alien/human hybrid in hiding from the government and Zane is just a human boy going about his life. Sort of. Ariane, though having been in the Outside as she calls it for years, is still very much like a fish out of water. She follows the Rules to a T but when the school bully, Rachel, starts targeting her best friend, she takes offense and slowly begins to break the rules and once there's a crack in them, it was so easy for the rest to shatter. Zane is, on the outside, a hot guy in the in crowd. But he is so much more than that. He has problems at home, harbours a great disdain for all the things his little group of friends does. I enjoyed seeing both his and Ariane's journey throughout the novel. They were both characters I was rooting for from the very beginning.

Like I said, the plot was intense. It was such a page turner I had a hard time putting it down every night so I could go to sleep and not be a member of the walking dead in the morning. There was always something going on from Ariane and Zane scheming, to GTX drama, to Rachel drama, to legitimate action scenes. It was fantastic.

In a genre saturated with fantasy and dystopian novels, it was nice to see that there was a great science-fiction book coming out that hit all the right notes. I'm so excited to see where the series goes. The ending was such an open ended thing that there are so many possibilities and I'm chomping at the bit to see where it goes.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

PURCHASE 

(amazon hardcover) (amazon kindle) (the book depository)

ARC REVIEW: Shadowlands by Kate Brian

Pub. Date: January 8th 2013
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 336
Readership: Young adult
Genres: mystery, thriller, suspense

Rory Miller had one chance to fight back and she took it. Rory survived… and the serial killer who attacked her escaped. Now that the infamous Steven Nell is on the loose, Rory must enter the witness protection with her father and sister, Darcy, leaving their friends and family without so much as a goodbye. 

Starting over in a new town with only each other is unimaginable for Rory and Darcy. They were inseparable as children, but now they can barely stand each other. As the sisters settle in to Juniper Landing, a picturesque vacation island, it seems like their new home may be just the fresh start they need. They fall in with a group of beautiful, carefree teens and spend their days surfing, partying on the beach, and hiking into endless sunsets. But just as they’re starting to feel safe again, one of their new friends goes missing. Is it a coincidence? Or is the nightmare beginning all over again?

I'm not going to lie... the gorgeous cover is what originally drew me in. The font, the crows, the placement of the girl and the negative space... it is just a simply gorgeous cover. After reading the synopsis  I was interested, but I wasn't sure if I would love, enjoy, or even like the book at all. I was pleasantly surprised. I had heard of Kate's other novels but I have never read them because they didn't sound like my cup of tea. I wasn't sure what to expect of Shadowlands. I thought that maybe it would be your cut and dry crime/suspense novel but I was blown away. There is the crime and there is the suspense but there is so much more to it than that.

Right out of the gate, I was creeped out. The first chapter is told from the point of view of Steven Nell and it is not a good point of view. It made my stomach turn and my skin crawl. It makes you root for Rory all the more even though we haven't even met her yet. I've never read a YA thriller that has been so intense right away and it keeps it up throughout the whole novel. There are short chapters from Steven's perspective peppered throughout the book that give a startling feel to the reality of Rory's situation. Not to mention it makes you squirm all over again. The man is vile. He is a killer and will stop at nothing to finish what he started.

The town reminded me of a mix of the town from the TV show Haven and the TV show Harper's Island. It's a vacation town set on a picture perfect island but something is... off. Rory and her family are sent there after she is attacked because the FBI put them in the Witness Protection Program. The town is picturesque with perfectly mowed lawns, a General Store, white picket fences and everything you would want to see in a cozy island town in South Carolina. But the locals are strange. Some wear leather bracelets like they are in some sort of secret club or society. There is a creepy fog that rolls in out of the blue all the time and blankets absolutely everything.

Things are not right and Rory catches on right away. Sometimes she thinks it's just her situation messing with her but things are off. Tristan, a local, is spying on her and she has no idea why. Krista and Joaquin - Tristan's sister and his best friend - are also acting very strangely around her and she can't figure out why. So Rory is plagued with not only her attack and attacker - she is haunted by him - but by the things that keep happening in town. It is a mystery that had me guessing the entire way through. I'm very good at figuring out what is going to happen but I was shocked - shocked! - by the ending. It was absolutely brilliant. There was suspense the entire way through and after knowing the ending, you could pinpoint the little clues Kate left but at the time I had absolutely no idea. It was such a brilliant thing that I never saw coming and that made me love the book all the more. The revelation! I mean, wow. Kate was absolutely brilliant about giving nothing away of the massive reveal. I am still baffled and blown away by it. I put the book down and just repeated "What!? WHAT?!" over and over again to myself for minutes after.

I'm curious to see where Kate is going to take the revelation since Shadowlands is the start of a triolgy. I hope to learn more about the town. The how and the why for one. And the locals. Ah! I already can't wait for the sequel and who knows when it will be released! Shadowlands was gripping and will literally leave you guessing right until the very last page.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT

Thank you to Hachette Book Group Canada for providing a copy for review! 

PURCHASE 

(amazon hardcover) (amazon kindle)