May Wrap Up

Hey everyone! I really shouldn't be doing my wrap up right now since I am supposed to be writing a 3000 word essay due tomorrow, but I can't find the sources I want so I am taking a break! This month I didn't get too many books, I've borrowed a lot which won't be below but some new review copies are! Next month's wrap up will be exciting with PTA Live Sydney in the middle of the month which I will be attending again!

Review Copies (ARC & E-ARC)

• Flirty Dancing by Jenny McLachlan
• Searching for Sky by Jillian Cantor
• Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas (OMFG THIS BOOK KILLED ME)

Thanks 100x Bloomsbury Australia for all three of these books!

Bought- Physical:

• The Selection Stories by Kiera Cass
• The One by Kiera Cass (which has only just been sent -.-)
• Breakable by Tammara Webber

Bought- E-books:

• All Lined Up by Cora Cormack
• Read, Write, Love by Melissa Foster
• Slope of Love by Melissa Foster
• Crazy Love by Melanie Shawn
• It Happened One Wedding by Julie James
• Chasing Olivia & Tempting Rowan by Micalea Smeltzer
• Camp Payback by J.K Rock

So that is pretty much it for the books that I have bought, I have read more but I borrowed them & you can see those books in my Goodreads challenge which I have had to change to 300 because I am sitting of 250 books already this year! So soon it will be up to 350 books... I don't know how this has happened.

Keely xx

Review Time #59

The Immortal Crown by Richelle Mead

Gameboard of the Gods introduced religious investigator Justin March and Mae Koskinen, the beautiful supersoldier assigned to protect him. Together they have been charged with investigating reports of the supernatural and the return of the gods, both inside the Republic of United North America and out. With this highly classified knowledge comes a shocking revelation: Not only are the gods vying for human control, but the elect—special humans marked by the divine—are turning against one another in bloody fashion.

Their mission takes a new twist when they are assigned to a diplomatic delegation headed by Lucian Darling, Justin’s old friend and rival, going into Arcadia, the RUNA’s dangerous neighboring country. Here, in a society where women are commodities and religion is intertwined with government, Justin discovers powerful forces at work, even as he struggles to come to terms with his own reluctantly acquired deity.

Meanwhile, Mae—grudgingly posing as Justin’s concubine—has a secret mission of her own: finding the illegitimate niece her family smuggled away years ago. But with Justin and Mae resisting the resurgence of the gods in Arcadia, a reporter’s connection with someone close to Justin back home threatens to expose their mission—and with it the divine forces the government is determined to keep secret.

Firstly before I get into this review I have some news! At the start of The Immortal Crown a bit of my review of Gameboard of the Gods appears at the start! Now I don't know how this happened but I can't believe it and I never thought something I wrote would ever end up in a book, especially a Richelle Mead book!

Now the review! What a fantastic squeal to Gameboard of the Gods! As soon as I was approved for this book I was reading it and being amazed, shocked and jumping up and down all in one from Mead's writing. The Immortal Crown just added to everything that we have already learnt from Gameboard of the Gods and just turned everything upside down and inside out. 

Last book we were taken into the provinces of RUNA, this time around we get the world building of Arcadia, a place where women are treated horribly and pretty much only used for cleaning, cooking, sex and providing children. Just to even get Mae into this country she has to pretend that she is Justin's "concubine" which is what they call these women. I just loved how much their relationship has changed since the start of the first book to now the end of the second book.

Mae: Mae's mission in Arcadia has a dual purpose since she found out that her niece is more than likely where she is going and Mae being Mae wants her back. You get to see a lot of Mae's interaction with her new god as she tries to find out where her niece is. The interactions between them is showing us that Mae is now slightly accepting that her god can help her in ways that she needs the god to do.

Justin: We learnt of his predicament in Gameboard of the Gods and now it is even more than before because it's Mae. His god is on his back to finally accept him & for him to give in to the agreement that they have for him to be bonded. Justin's powers develop a lot which is great because he is slowly accepting his fate & the fact that also like Mae he can help others with these powers. 

Tessa: After changing into a new school Tessa is trying to find her calling, and she thinks that it could be journalism. The journalist that Tessa is with will do anything for a story and I am not a fan of her. After recent events Tessa has a bodyguard whilst Mae and Justin are out of town and I really liked him because he was helping Tessa understand not everyone has good intentions like she believes them to have. 

Overall The Immortal Crown is just the beginning of what is to come in this world of Gods & Goddess playing chess with the Elect with Mead's writing anything can happen between the characters and the world that they are apart of. The cliffhanging ending is a sure way to be desperate for the next instalment of the Age of X series because what happens will make your head spin.

Thanks Penguin Australia for the E-ARC on Netgalley!

Rating: 4.5/5

Keely xxx

Review Time #58

Covert Cover Cracked by Missy Marciassa

When 23-year-old Elle can’t explain why her job as an Information Scientist at the Library of Congress keeps her so busy (because she’s actually a CIA operative who just became field rated), her boyfriend dumps her, so she decides to focus on her career and enjoy a fling.

Navy SEAL Reese Beckwith seems like the perfect fling material except the more he sees Elle, the more he wants to know about her, and she can’t resist him. Things get complicated when Reese spots her with her CIA partner, a known womanizer. His questions for Elle get more pointed: he sees the potential for more than a fling, and once he sets an objective, failure is not an option.

Yet Elle tries to keep Reese in the “fling” category as her first major assignment heats up, becoming more personal with each development. When her personal and professional lives collide, Elle is put to the test. Does she have what it takes to be a covert operative? Will she have to choose between love and her career?

This is the third book in the Covert series and it would have to be my favourite beating the first one. It has been a year since Elle went into basic training to become field rated and her first assignment after being field rated has put her in dangerous situations again. 

Preston is back and he is partners with Elle on this mission and well as to be expected Elle isn't too happy to partnered up with him. Lyle well I was never a fan of him and well I'm glad he was out of the picture after chapter 2. Elle decided that she needed a fling to get over Lyle and put what Preston told her about a fling to use. After what should have been a one night stand with Reese, a Navy SEAL who is set to be deployed in a weeks on a 6 month assignment, she never expected to run into him again.

I really liked how her relationship with Reese progressed during the book, while she was lying a lot about what she does and how she knows what she does they still managed to get along. However, Preston making appearances when she is at "work" didn't help her case that they weren't sleeping together. The mission once again hits home with Elle with someone she knows being taken hostage to keep hacking into the NSA, CIA, FBI etc. for these terrorists.

The fast past action really showed you how much Elle has changed from the first book when she didn't even know she was working for the CIA. The final few chapters when the rescue mission took place showed us that they she can do anything and that she is no longer just an analyst for the CIA but an agent. The epilogue really set it up for the next two books and the danger that Elle is going to be facing from now on and I'm excited to read more!

Rating: 5/5

Keely xx

April Wrap Up

Hey everyone! I know that I have been very MIA this month but uni has decided to drown me in assignments & I have exams to prepare for so I haven't been writing many reviews. Hopefully that is about to change but sport has also kicked up with Hockey starting and Waterpolo getting ready for the finals coming up (fairly sure my team is 1st because we have won every game by a good 10 goals). Plus with my college sport duties taking up a lot of my spare time as well, but it won't be as bad this term.

Review Books (E-ARC & ARC):

• Getting By by Claudia Y. Burgoa

Thanks to the publisher for this copy!

Bought- Physical:

• Easy by Tammara Webber
• Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

Bought- E-books:

• Tempting love by Melanie Shawn
• The Pride series #4-6 by Jill Sanders
• Taming Alex by Jill Sanders
• Out of the Shallows by Samantha Young
• Lengths #1-5 by Steph Campbell
• FBI/US Attorney #1-4 by Julie James
• Play by Play #1-7 by Jaci Burton
• The distance between us by Kasie West
• This Girl by Colleen Hoover
• Painless by Devon Hartford
• Recklessly Royal by Nichole Chase
• Infinity by Layne Harper
• Love and sports #1-2 by Meghan Quinn
• Covert Cover Cracked by Missy Marciassa
• How We Lived by Erin Butler

So that is it for my April wrap up! Let me know below what you got this month/week!

Keely xx

Review Time #57

Hey everyone, sorry about the MIA lately it is because uni decided that I would have all my assignments due on the day that I had to travel home, so I had to get all my assignments done before I could leave! Then I also just watched a lot of TV shows and read a lot of books over break...

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Contains all five novellas.

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.

Now if you have seen previously my reviews for books 1 and 2 in this series you would know how much I love the series! Thanks to the fantastic people at Bloomsbury I received a review copy of The Assassin's Blade which is all five prequel novellas which admittedly I hadn't read before I started the series because I won an ARC of Throne of Glass. 

The novellas were fantastic as we could see how Celaena ended up Endovier and who Sam exactly was. I loved Sam and he was a greater partner/lover for Celaena as he challenged her and seeing him in the novellas and knowing how she reacted in Throne of Glass when asked questions about Sam was great to see this partnership.

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
In this first novella we got to meet Sam and Arobynn (who I might add I hated and don't have some very internet/blog friendly words to say about him but you get the drift) and see the very hate and sometimes love relationship between all three of them. Now since I had read books 1 & 2 before this and had already seen some of Celaena's human side and not the I am going to kill you side, but in this novella we got inside her mind as to why she did what she did when Arobynn orders weren't something she liked. Sam while wanting to follow orders stayed beside Celaena's side *sigh*.

The Assassin and  the Healer
This was a short novella we saw more into Celaena's mind and how she reacted when someone she doesn't know got into danger and then help her out by giving her some self defence tips. Only Celaena in this novella so no Sam to love.

The Assassin and the Desert
After defying Arobynn's orders in the first novella Celaena is sent to the silent assassin's in the red desert and boy was this the best out of the lot. We got Celaena the assassin like in CoM and the silent assassin's were brilliant, especially for Celaena. 

The Assassin and the Underworld
I hated Arobynn so much more in this novella than the previous three because he just doesn't care about anything but what he has created. We got Sam and Celaena together at last and now after what Arboynn has done they want out. But of course as we have come to know with Celaena nothing is ever that simple.

The Assassin and the Empire
This novella will destroy you and if you haven't already read ToG and CoM you won't know what happens. For those of you that have we knew it was coming but we didn't know how horrible you were going to feel about it. 

"My name is Celaena Sardothien. I will not be afraid." 

That quote was the death of me after all these novellas, so I went and re-read ToG and CoM.

Overall rating: 5/5
Thanks again Bloomsbury for the review copy!

Keely xx

March Wrap Up

Hey everyone! Sorry I am a bit late on the post but I had a hectic week a uni last week involving three assignments all due on one day and the same day I had to be home before dinner! That was a long week and then I spent the weekend reading having my heart broken and sewn together thanks to maybe someday that book was brilliant and killed me!

I also saw Divergent last night and oh my god I loved it! Four and Tris <3 I cried once and for those of you who have read Allegiant I have one word for you: zipline. I am also now obsessed with the soundtrack to Divergent because it is simple amazing, especially beating heart.

Now onto the books I have gotten this month!

Review books (physical & ebook):

• Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor
• Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon
• On The Fence by Kasie West
• Winning the Player by Lessa Bow
• The Immortal Crown by Richelle Mead

Thanks to Penguin Teen Australia, Harper Collins Australia and A&U Australia!

Bought- Physical:

• Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover
• Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker
• Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott
• Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray
• What Happens Next by Colleen Clayton
• Pure Red by Danielle Joseph 
• Surviving High School by M. Doty

Bought-ebooks:

• Playing Pretend by Juliana Haygert
• The Proposition (1-3) by Katie Ashley
• The Baker Triplets (1-3) by Juliana Stone
• Legal Affairs (1-6) by Sawyer Bennett 
• Breathe Again by Rachel Brooks
• Stroke of Love by Melissa Foster
• The Hope Falls Series (1-8) by Melanie Shawn
• Crossroads (1-4) by Melanie Shawn
• Tied With Me by Kristen Proby
• Room For More by Beth Ehemann
• Bad for You by Abbi Glines
• Loving Lauren by Jill Sanders 
• Broken Dreams by Kelly Elliot
• Loving Cara by Kristen Proby
• Red At Night by Katie McGarry
• You Are Her by Liz Fichera
• Pride Series (1-3) by Jill Sanders

So that is my haul for the month of March! Lots of good books in there! As you can see I get addicted to romance series way to easily! I am currently sitting at 145/200 books for the year... Do not ask me how I have read 54 books in the last time I did my haul because I have no idea with uni and I have actually been doing my uni readings too...

Keely xx

Review Time #56

Surviving High School by M. Doty

What's the secret to surviving your freshman year of high school?

Emily Kessler thinks she has it all figured out. She eats, sleeps and trains for competitive swimming. All she has to do is keep her grades high and swim times short -- short enough to live up to her sister Sara's. But walking the crowded maze of unfamiliar high school hallways is like diving headfirst into shark-infested waters. Shark #1: Dominique, her biggest competition on the swim team and all-around mean girl. Shark #2: The adorable and popular Ben Kale... Emily can't resist his smile no matter how hard she tries. When the pressure builds to the point where Emily isn't sure she can stay afloat, she begins to question the strict path her life has always followed.
Maybe there is more to life than studying and swimming. Maybe the secret to surviving high school is just to have a little fun.The hit mobile game Surviving High School comes to life in an original novel about perfection, failure, and following your dreams.

Emily has just started her freshman year and all she wants to do is survive it. After her sister dies tragically in a car accident all of her father's pressures about making it to nationals for swimming double onto Emily. While her father wants her to do nothing but swim, study and swim, Emily wants to have normality in her life. She wants to have a boyfriend, go to parties, dances and do everything that normal teenagers do in High School.

Emily's way to figuring out what she really wanted was what a lot of high school students go through. Even without sport everyone wants to do well, go to university or what ever else they want to that needs good marks from school. Emily and her best friend Kimi going to a high school party is a big thing for them, they want a boyfriend, to be popular like most high school students. While hiding from the one person who was with her sister when she died, Nick, she runs into the school's very popular guys Ben Kale  who can't seem to not look for Emily. Nick and Emily were great influences on each, Emily getting Nick to actually attend class and do well and Nick who helps Emily decide what she really wants to do and that she doesn't always have to follow her fathers plan.

I could really connect with Emily and her story since I went through something similar to Emily. High School in Australia starts at year 7 and I was 11 when I started, from year 5 to year 8 I was competitor in Surf Life Saving and I went to state a few times to represent my club while I did it for fun and wanted to do well, I had a lot of pressure put on me to do so. With this I trained twice a week in the pool straight after school for an hour and a half to two hours. Also at this time I was in high grades for soccer competing in the second highest grade when I played with the boys and the highest when I played girls. It is a lot of pressure to do great, to train hard twice a week, play once a week and stay on top of school work. Since I also had pressure put on me academically I started to burn out when everything starting piling up on me. Like Emily when I started to do them all for fun and not competitively I became better, less stressed and more focused on school.

A great YA novel about coming of age, making the tough decisions and that sometimes high school can be fun. 

Rating: 4.5/5

Keely xx