Maximum Ride: Forever

Maximum Ride: Forever
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!

The world has been destroyed, what's left is unrecognisable. With their new home unsafe, the flock is divided as visions and arguments and the aftermath of events pull them in different directions. The flock is split while they all search for answers. That will be and is their downfall. Max is alone. Things happen to her that shouldn't happen to anyone. Each flock member is being hunted. Loved ones are lost, found and lost again. But everything has to come to an end, and when in Russia...well....you take out the crazy terrorist guy who destroyed the world and is trying to kill you.

I can't even right now. I really can't. I started this series when I was in school and now it's really finished. For some reason I thought Nevermore was the final book and then it turns out this one is and I can't even, I'm feeling so many feels right now and it was really the perfect ending ever. I'm just sad the series is over to be honest, it's been such a fantastic series to read and ugh. So many feels.

This book hooks you from the first page, and it's action packed and fast paced right from the start. We get multi POV's, which is perfectly done, adding to the tension and the mystery and the general "OMG"ness. The narrative was mainly from Max's point of view, and her narrative continues to be engaging and entertaining with an amusing inner monologue that has you chuckling. I've really missed Max and the flock guys!
Each other POV has a distinctive voice, and each adds something to the story, making it dimensional and complex and multi layered, while switching between them smoothly and with perfectly pitched timing.

The setting was vivid, atmospheric and cinematic. You could practically feel the ash choking you and smell the rather....unpleasant...smells. It was quite scary when you consider all the things going on in the world that could lead to a similar thing in the present day. This well crafted setting is part of what sucks you in to the story, and it blocks out the real world. 

Fang and Max....the first ship I ever shipped. These two caused me some major feels this book, and I still love their relationship and how natural it is, and it doesn't half make you go "awww", and this book you saw it naturally progress even more, and while the circumstances where extreme, it seemed natural and the logical next step, as well as the happy ending to a horrible chain of events.

I still got annoyed at Angel once or twice, I haven't liked her much for a couple of books now because ever since the first book I've been firmly on Max's side, and Team Max. But this book, I kind of started to understand Angel a bit more and how things have affected her.

This book was such an emotional journey for me as a reader who's been with this series for so long, yet everything is tied up, everything makes sense, everything fit and everything is resolved, it was a truly perfect ending to a well loved series.

The plot had so many twists and turns and at points it was truly heartbreaking with shocking moments when you had to pause, because you can't believe you read that and it can't really have happened because the author wouldn't really do that to your beloved characters, and then something else would happen and you'd be all happy and then something ELSE would happen and you'd be devastated again. Old characters resurfaced and brought even more feels! 

You could feel the suspense oozing off the page, feel the blood drain from your face whenever something horrible happened to the characters. The plot was a mystery you try to work out, but I was glad I couldn't to be honest, because it meant I was surprised until the end, and when everything clicked in to place you where kicking yourself for not working it out earlier. I couldn't have come up with anything even like what actually happened.

Maximum Ride: Forever was the perfect ending to a fantastic series. Full of action, adventure, and heart stopping fight scenes, it was the perfect continuation. With everything you loved from the other books, all the characters you loved are back and you get one last deeper insight in to them. Forever was beautifully written and as heartbreaking as it was heartwarming. I'm really going to miss having new instalments of this series!

Wishing For Wednesday #40

This week I have two books I'm stupidly excited for!
The first is the final book in a series I've been reading for ages, like since the first book came out! I got it at the library and then ended up buying it myself because I liked it, and I've been eagerly waiting each book!
The next book is the adult spin off from the Lux series, and you all know by now how much of a Jennifer Armentrout fan that I am so it shouldn't be surprising this one has made it on the list!

Night School: Endgame

The spy is gone but the cost has been high - the rebels at Cimmeria Academy have lost their leader and Carter West is missing. Nathaniel can taste victory. But Allie and the other survivors aren't done yet. First they have to get Carter back. Then they plan to make Nathaniel pay.

I know, I know, there's not much information in the synopsis, but that adds to the excitement, don't you think? 

Endgame is out June 4th, pre-order your copy...here!
Add it to your TBR....here!

Obsession

This is a stand alone novel that is an adult spin-off of the Lux Series You do not need to read a Lux book to read Obsession and vice versa.

He’s arrogant, domineering, and... To. Die. For.
Hunter is a ruthless killer. And the Department of Defense has him firmly in their grasp, which usually doesn’t chafe too badly because he gets to kill bad guys. Most of the time he enjoys his job. That is, until he’s saddled with something he’s never had to do before: protect a human from his mortal enemy.

Serena Cross didn’t believe her best friend when she claimed to have seen the son of a powerful senator turn into something... unnatural. Who would? But then she witnesses her friend’s murder at the hands of what can only be an alien, thrusting her into a world that will kill to protect their secret.

Hunter stirs Serena’s temper and her lust despite their differences. Soon he’s doing the unthinkable—breaking the rules he’s lived by, going against the government to keep Serena safe. But are the aliens and the government the biggest threats to Serena’s life… or is it Hunter? 

Obsession is out June 4th, pre-order your copy...here!

Add it to your TBR...here!

Magonia

Magonia

Rating: 4/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy 

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Aza Ray is drowning in thin air. 

Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. 

So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn't think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia. 

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect with this book if I'm honest, and it took a direction I was utterly surprised by, I don't know why, I kind of thought it might be like this Josephine Angelini book I had read a while ago, but Magonia is totally original and colourfully imaginative. 

I have never read anything quite like this before, it's a blend of contemporary, science fiction and fantasy, dashes of magic with heavy doses of imagination that takes you out of this world and deposits you in to the world of the book 100%. 

There where heavy doses of realism in this book, and I loved all the facts woven in to the story about UFO sightings and Magonia and so on, I was discovering these historical events that I had never heard of before, and I'll most likely have a sneaky Google later to find out more. 

I'm always looking out for books that are doing something a little bit different and this one definitely is, rather than the same brand of mythologies, we get an entirely new and original one. The mythology for this book is richly fascinating, and totally original, it really gives your imagination a prod. There was a world that was invisible to us regular people and surrounded by air, there where fantastical and unusual creatures, and at times it reminded me a bit of The Grisha, as well as Stardust but that could just be the fact it's an airship. 

The characters are imaginative and intriguing, and very well written, and I'm hoping they'll make a come back for another book! This was written almost like a fairy tale and I can see the comparisons being made with Neil Gaiman. 

I will admit, I did find it a bit hard to get in to, it was quite slow going in the beginning and then everything suddenly happened and at one or two points things felt a little bit rushed. Reading the first chapter was an adjustment as it felt like listening to someone nervously ramble on, and it was a huge information overload with loads coming at me all at once, but after a while I kind of got used to it and I was intrigued enough to read through it all. 

Aza's narrative, was engaging and humorous, and her character development was huge. At the beginning she really annoyed me, and I didn't much like her, yet her narrative was compelling enough that I carried on reading, intrigued. But over the course of the book, she changes and you grow to like her more and more. The writing itself was atmospheric which helped to suck you in to the story and really made some scenes utterly perfect.

Love triangle alert! I feel I should mention this, but never fear. This is one done right. I don't want to spoil it but let's just say it was well done, it made sense, romance lovers will be quite happy! I loved Aza's relationship with Jason though. I really did, it was so well done and they where so made for each other it must be said.

The highlight of the book for me was the world building though, it was a truly imaginative and fantastical world created from unknown mythology and there where ships in the sky and birds, singing birds, talking birds and everything and it was just such a vividly rich setting you couldn't help being sucked in to the story and kind of feel like you where floating along as you read. 

Magonia is a captivating read and I'm intrigued for the second book where I'm hoping for a few questions to be answered and to learn more about the world created. There where some bits that I didn't like, it was a bit slow to start, but by the end I was enchanted with the world and the characters and unable to put the book down! 

Day Four

Day Four
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of Bookbridgr

Four days into a five day singles cruise on the Gulf of Mexico, the ageing ship Beautiful Dreamer stops dead in the water. With no electricity and no cellular signals, the passengers and crew have no way to call for help. But everyone is certain that rescue teams will come looking for them soon. All they have to do is wait.

That is, until the toilets stop working and the food begins to run out. When the body of a woman is discovered in her cabin the passengers start to panic. There's a murderer on board the Beautiful Dreamer... and maybe something worse.

Okay I used the GoodReads synopsis because I didn't want to give away too much information if I did my own synopsis, but man this was the best possible sequel to The Three. So creepy. So, so creepy. 

This isn't a proper sequel, it's a standalone book with a few little connections to The Three.....anyone remember the Small's? Yep. I thought it was very well done, kind of making it a sequel, but not really but with some mentions of events from The Three that made you flail a bit because you recognised them and then go all "aaaahhh", and you realise it's all set in the same world. 

This is one of those books you might want to read in broad daylight, because while in the beginning it was all good, you know, introducing everyone....and then the ship stops. It was all still fine, someone was murdered, I still wasn't creeped out. I got creeped out when the passengers started seeing....things. Ghosts....possibly. That's what tripped my freak out switch. I'm all good with horror films unless it's to do with ghosts, i didn't sleep properly for weeks after watching Paranormal Activity, and that film wasn't even that good. 

Then the whole thing with Celine, she's a fake showbiz medium, but after the ship shuts off, she went full creepy. Like possessed or something, and she made my skin crawl more than once. I was glued to the page with intrigue just as much as horror/terror/creeped out-ness, it was like an accident..you wanted to look away...but you couldn't bring yourself to. I was like 'okay, i'll give it a rest...but.....wait...'. 

We get multiple views again, which where done very well, everyone saw different things and had different experiences, and some where creepier than others. The view switches where well done, and added a nice creep factor considering one of them was a murderer, and then Xavier added the kind of rational take on everything that made you think about what was really going on instead of just blindly believing everything the other view points said, I had points where I was like "okay he's totally right" but then I'd read another POV and I'd be like 'okay...maybe he's not...because that doesn't even seem plausible and something really weird is going on here'. My opinion changed as I kept reading the different view points, until I was just plain shuddering creeped out and was like okay none of this is okay, something freaky is going on. 

The entire book is set on the ship, and at one point with the lifeboats it reminded me of Titanic, and then at the end it reminded me of the Mary Celeste, and the book actually mentions three cases of ghost ships that I will be googling, because I find it oddly fascinating that so many people can disappear with no explanation, and I find it fascinating right up until I get all annoyed that it's a mystery and there is no answer. This goes some way to offer some sort of explanation as to what actually could have happened to these ships, much like what happened on this one. I think the book being all set on the ship helped to add to the atmosphere as you where reading, it gave a certain sense of claustrophobia, that the passengers must have been feeling, and the atmosphere of the book certainly started to get to you at one point, your really felt the atmosphere. 

The tension grew and you could feel it. Four days with no rescue in this day and age is certainly odd, and what they saw when they got to land was certainly something that made you think, as well as truly freaking you out. I won't be going on a cruise anytime soon. You got the sense of isolation very well, they'd been off on this cruise, floating at sea for days with no rescue, and they had no idea what was going on on land, what's stopping rescue and what they where going back to. It's not hard to start picturing the worst like the characters where. 

Lotz makes everything seem so real with her descriptions and vivid world building, you feel like you're there on the ship when you're really lying in bed or sitting in your favourite chair or whatever. The book is just so gripping you need to be able to read it in one sitting to be honest. 

What I loved most was the last chapter. You end the characters view points with the engines starting to roll, and you're thinking "what!? That's it?! Whaaaaatt" and then you turn the page...and then the freakiness reaches a new level. The entire last chapter was made up of newspaper articles, blog posts, (speaking of blog posts, Xaviers where a nice little creepy touch as well as rather ominous and helped to break up the narrative to keep it fresh) and at the very end the worlds creepiest interview transcripts, leaked interview transcripts. You see when everyone was told there where no survivors....there where actually five. 

I LOVED this mixed media approach in The Three and I loved it even more in Day Four, it seemed like the perfect ending for the book, allowing you to draw your own conclusions about what happened and your own opinion as you read what each person says happened. I loved how you got little bits and pieces about what happened after the ship started moving again, and you're left to decide who you believe. You can decide what happened, who's telling the truth and what really happened to the others, and I just think it's a truly brilliant ending. Normally I'd find this sort of ending annoying, because I hate unsolved mysteries, they really vex me unless there's some sort of answer that's believable, I don't know why, they just do, but it really works for Day Four and I can't imagine the book having any other ending. Especially as, for me, it added some more creepiness. 

Day Four is brilliantly written with an astounding ending and it gives you chills the entire way through, leaving you feeling nice and creeped out and with no particular need to go on a cruise oh..say...EVER. 

The Novice

The Novice
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy won from the publisher!

When blacksmith apprentice Fletcher comes across a special book courtesy of a passing soldier, he doesn't yet realise that his life is about to change. He soon discovers he has the ability to Summon and an after an accident, he and his new demon flee as far from Fletcher's home as they can. Chance has him finding a place at Adept Military Academy. There he finds new friends, and finds himself studying the art of Summoning and everything to do with demons. Fletcher and his fellow commoners not only have to put up with the nobles treatment of them, but also have to undergo the gruelling training to take part in a competition an entire year early, putting them a year closer to being battlemage's fighting in the Hominum Emire's war against Orcs.

Fletcher is surrounded by the power hungry, those seeking alliances and the constant fear of betrayal. Sylva needs to do what's going to be best for her fellow elves, even if it means buddying up with the nobles. Othello and his fellow dwarves are fighting for equality. Fletcher just wants to know who he is. Fletcher and Ignatius need to decide where their loyalties lie, and they need to win. But will his past come back to haunt him?

Oh my god guys! GUYS! This book is SO AWESOME. I can't even. I won a proof of this book in a Twitter competition from the publisher, but this book just came out not too long ago, so I thought I'd review it because I loved it so much to be honest! This is one of those books I'll re-read because it's the start of what's going to be one of my favourite series, and it's the start of an imaginative and original new series.

I was sucked in from the first page, and unable to put the book down, I've honestly been glued to the book the entire time. I devoured this book. Seriously. And then right at the end? The ending of the book? I am one of those people who talks to book and I shouted at it. Right at the end. Shouted. I couldn't help myself because of the freaking ending and then having to wait for the next book that I don't even know when it's out. I was literally just like "SERIOUSLY YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME GOD DAMMIT". Seriously. It's going to be a horrible wait for the next book and I don't know how I'll cope to be honest. I really don't.

While The Novice is easy to read, and I whizzed through it, it has a very complex plot with complex politics going on. I'm not going to get too political in this post, but the equality issue the dwarves are dealing with is one that I feel is echoed in the real world. Anyway, the background, history, peoples, stories, and politics of the world of the Novice are all very rich and complex, and this comes across in the book without smothering you with information, over the course of the book you gain an intense understanding of the world of the book and how it works.

I love all things original and a little bit different so it's no surprise I love this book, sure it has echoes of other books, but the book is original. I loved all the different demons, with the classification at the back. There where so many, and we only met some in this book. The Novice stretches your imagination and gives it a workout, and I loved reading about all the different types of demons and the magic used in the book and the rules for it, I've not read demons or magic quite like this, with the summoning. It felt a bit like Pokemon at one point when they where talking about capturing new demons. It's new and original and different, and I loved it. Especially Fletcher's idea for his tattoo!

The world building was vivid and cinematic, it sucked me in to the world and I felt like I was there with the characters. Everything was described in such a way that you could picture what was going on or picture the setting, without overly done descriptions. And what a world. It's clearly extensive, I'm hoping we get to see some more of it, and it's imaginative, with the elves, and the dwarves and the orcs and the the different types of people, nobles and commoners and so on. It's a world you can get lost in and forget about whatever's going on in your life, and that's the best kind of world really!

Fletcher, my poor, poor Fletcher. I liked Fletcher, he was easy to connect with and understand, and like Fletcher, you want to know who he is, clearly he's not who Arcturus thinks he is, but I can't quite work out the answer. I have a suspicion but I think I'm wrong, because it's too obvious. Fletcher is the kind of character you can root for, and who isn't entirely perfect so seems all the more realistic.

There's an entire cast of rich, likeable characters, and those you like to hate. Tarquin. In particular. I really don't like Tarquin. Anyway. Each secondary character is brought to life with as much as detail and care as Fletcher and the demons. Sylva, I want to know more about, I really liked her, she's a total badass, and another character I connected with, she has her duty but she's also got her friends who she's going to back, and she's a fighter, not a pushover. Othello, I wasn't sure about his character in the beginning but he's awesome, and I'm intrigued to see what's going to happen with him and his brother and his people after the incident in the cave, and after the end of this book as well. Seraph, I felt like we didn't get to know Seraph well enough and I'm hoping the next book will change that! Arcturus, where did he go!? Come back! Lovett, please can she come back in the second book? Although I do love her way of keeping an eye on the gang, can we have her back please!? So many well written characters to get to know and love! Dammit Didric. Ruining everything though.

I just really loved this book guys. The Novice is original, it's fun, it's complex, it's got action and magic and demons and a whole load of characters you can root for, as well as a colourful and imaginative world to get lost in. The Novice perfectly sets up the next book without sacrificing the plot of this book, almost as an after thought, and leaves you with a cliffhanger that's going to have you shouting "NOOOOO". The Novice is an utterly fantastic start to a promising trilogy and I can't wait for the next book!

The Last Bookaneer

The Last Bookaneer
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!

book'a-neer' (bŏŏk'kå-nēr'), n. a literary pirate; an individual capable of doing all that must be done in the universe of books that publishers, authors, and readers must not have a part in

London, 1890—Pen Davenport is the most infamous bookaneer in Europe. A master of disguise, he makes his living stalking harbors, coffeehouses, and print shops for the latest manuscript to steal. But this golden age of publishing is on the verge of collapse. For a hundred years, loose copyright laws and a hungry reading public created a unique opportunity: books could easily be published without an author’s permission. Authors gained fame but suffered financially—Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, to name a few—but publishers reaped enormous profits while readers bought books inexpensively. Yet on the eve of the twentieth century, a new international treaty is signed to grind this literary underground to a sharp halt. The bookaneers are on the verge of extinction.

From the author of The Dante Club, Matthew Pearl, The Last Bookaneer is the astonishing story of these literary thieves’ epic final heist. On the island of Samoa, a dying Robert Louis Stevenson labors over a new novel. The thought of one last book from the great author fires the imaginations of the bookaneers, and soon Davenport sets out for the South Pacific island. As always, Davenport is reluctantly accompanied by his assistant Fergins, who is whisked across the world for one final caper. Fergins soon discovers the supreme thrill of aiding Davenport in his quest to steal Stevenson’s manuscript and make a fortune before the new treaty ends the bookaneers’ trade forever. But Davenport is hardly the only bookaneer with a mind to pirate Stevenson’s last novel. His longtime adversary, the monstrous Belial, appears on the island, and soon Davenport, Fergins, and Belial find themselves embroiled in a conflict larger, perhaps, than literature itself.

Oh my God I LOVED THIS BOOK! I loved the entire idea of Bookaneers and the premise of the book, it's what drew me in, and when it arrived to review, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but it was utterly fantastic! 

The book was fascinating as was the note at the end because I actually had no idea about the publishing laws at the time the book was set, and that there where people who actually published the manuscripts without permission, which is where the author got the idea for the Bookaneers. All this information I gleaned from the book and the author's note at the end, the shadowy agents who acquired the manuscripts really is too tempting to resist! 

As a total book nerd, this book was just right up my street to be honest! I mean....a bookseller....book pirates and then Robert Louis Stevenson himself as a secondary character?! I was literally fangirling and geeking out all over the place as I was reading! 

The setting was vivid, and the book sucked you in right from the first page. I was glued to the book the entire time, fascinated and compelled to keep on reading. There are so many genres in this book it's insane, but it somehow manages to work! My main reason for wanting to read this was how unique it seemed, and it was indeed an original read, and the book was written very cleverly! I was not disappointed at all!

I do think some people are going to struggle with the book though it may seem like a slog with the wording and so on, but for me personally, I didn't find it a problem, in fact it set the voice of the book perfectly, you get a true Victorian perspective, which considering the setting, may make modern readers feel quite uncomfortable. There's loads in the book about the unrest between the natives and slaves and colonisers, with Stevenson himself having many an interaction with the slaves. 

The book is a fantastic read, there's adventure, and books and some fantastic plot twists that you won't see coming a mile off, and will end up being suitably shocked and surprised by! Fact and fiction are expertly woven together to create an engaging and fascinating tale. The characters are interesting and intriguing, the dense narrative might put off some readers, along with the descriptions, which I found beautifully written and vivid, but others might find an issue with. 

I don't think I'll ever get enough of the idea of the Bookaneers to be honest!