A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas {review}

A Wicked Thing
by Rhiannon Thomas
♦publisher: HarperTeen
♦release date: February 24th, 2015
♦hardcover, 352 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: A Wicked Thing, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

Review: I went into this book knowing it was a Sleeping Beauty story, nothing really beyond that.  I was immediately intrigued with the grim twist on the classic: what if Sleeping Beauty was awoken not months or a year after falling under the curse, but one hundred years?  Aurora wakes to find her family long dead and a whole new world around her. While I loved the idea, I couldn’t help but think this would have been fun to take this even further into the future, where she really would have been immersed in a changed world—the 20s maybe, or the 40s WW2 era?  Still, this was a good story. 

The prince that wakes Aurora belongs to the new royal family of her homeland, and they are not good people:  a cruel king, willing to take desperate measures to keep hold of a kingdom on the verge of rebellion, and his cold and conniving wife.  The prince seemed a bit clueless at first, but you soon find out that he has a good heart, is a loving big brother, but he's a bit spineless when it comes to his parents. 

While at first I feared not a love triangle, but actually a love square (?) with Aurora softening to the Prince, meeting a handsome rebel in the town when she sneaks out, and having some flirtatious tension with a prince from a neighboring land,  there sort of turned out to be not much in the way of romance at all---which, actually I was fine with. After an attack on the castle, she is holed up in her room, and really not a lot happens for a while, leaving the story dragging a bit.  Aurora just seem to be floating along, torn between who she wants to be and what is expected of her as the legendary Sleeping Beauty.  She's powerless to make any change or any decisions, but she doesn't seem to do much to fight for it either. It was hard to know who to root for and I felt a disconnect from the story.  

I pressed on, though, and I’m glad I did!  The ending pulled me back in. We finally see Aurora open her eyes to her own secrets, the kingdom’s secrets, and she grabs the opportunity to make a stand for herself. It’s left on a bit of a cliffhanger, but with a few important and unexpected twists at the end, I’m definitely drawn in enough to pick up the second book! 

Find Rhiannon Thomas online: Website  •  Twitter

Purchase A Wicked Thing:  Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Velvet Undercover 

by Teri Brown

 hitting shelves October 20, 2015

from Balzer & Bray

Samantha Donaldson’s family has always done its duty for the British Crown. In the midst of World War I, seventeen-year-old Sam follows in their footsteps, serving her country from the homefront as a Girl Guide and messenger for the intelligence organization MI5. After her father disappears on a diplomatic mission, she continues their studies of languages, high-level mathematics, and complex puzzles and codes, hoping to make him proud.

When Sam is asked to join the famed women’s spy group La Dame Blanche she’s torn—this could be the adventure she’s dreamed of, but how can she abandon her mother, who has already lost a husband to the war? But when her handlers reveal shocking news, Sam realizes there’s no way she can refuse the exciting and dangerous opportunity.

Her acceptance leads her straight into the heart of enemy territory on a mission to extract the most valuable British spy embedded in Germany, known to the members of LDB only as Velvet. Deep undercover within the court of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Samantha must navigate the labyrinthine palace and its many glamorous—and secretive—residents to complete her assignment. To make matters worse she finds herself forming a forbidden attraction to the enemy-a dangerously handsome German guard. In a place where personal politics are treacherously entangled in wartime policy, can Samantha discover the truth and find Velvet before it’s too late…for them both?

From author Teri Brown comes the thrilling story of one girl’s journey into a deadly world of spycraft and betrayal—with unforgettable consequences.

My thoughts: First off, gorgeous vintage-y cover. LOVE.  Secondly, I loved Teri Brown's YA debut, Born of Illusion, so I am super excited to see her take on another fascinating era of history with a strong and clever heroine. Can't wait!!! 

A Darker Shade of Magic Blog Tour + Giveaway!

As you probably know, hitting shelves TODAY is a book that
many of us have been eagerly anticipating---V.E. Schwab's
A Darker Shade of Magic is out in the world!!! So I am super excited to be today's stop on the blog tour! I've been officially assigned to White London (gasp!! sounds terrifying!) and I'll be featuring a Q & A with Victoria, a video of Victoria exploring London, and lastly an international giveaway for you to win your own copy of this fantastic book!


A little about the book:

Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.

Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London - but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — trickier than they hoped.

For the tour, I got the privilege of asking Victoria a question:

Me: What are your 3 favorite spots in London? 

Victoria: Westminster Abbey, St. James’ park, and the banks of the Thames. Though truthfully, I’m as captivated by the twisting roads and narrow streets that connect all three. There’s one just off the Abbey, beside the Dean’s Yard, with all these little wooden doors set into mossy stone, and another, a few streets away, where it feels like you’ve stepped into another time, if not another world. I’ve always been more a fan of the places they DON’T put on the map.

And here is a fun video of Victoria exploring London & discussing 
A Darker Shade of Magic!

More about the author:

V. E. SCHWAB's first adult novel, Vicious, debuted to critical praise and reader accolades. Schwab is the author of YA novels The Near Witch, The Archived, and The Unbound, and the Everyday Angel series for middle grade readers.

BLOG  •  TWITTER  •  FACEBOOK  •  GOODREADS  •   TUMBLR

Want ADSOM?  Get it here:

Print - IndieBound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Powell’s, Walmart.

E-Book - Kindle, Nook, iBooks, eBooks, Google Play, Kobo

And last but not least, the fabulous folks at Tor are letting me give one finished copy away to anyone in the world!! Whoooop!

•Open internationally

•Ends  March 9, 2015

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {118}

For New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts)

Here's whats new on my shelf this week:

Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Trembly

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

The Golden Specific by S.E. Grove

Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

I am so excited for every single one of these!! :D 

Heaps of thanks to Penguin and Bloomsbury for these goodies! 

The Weekly Nutshell: 
{Tuesday} Waiting on Wednesday - Dreamland
 {Wednesday} Review + Giveaway: Storm Siren by Mary Weber
{Thursday} The Tragic Age Blog Tour Exerpt
{Friday} Witherwood Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway

 Well not much to impart this week---except that Hubs and I are both feeling much better, thank goodness! This week I'm reading Sin Eater's Daughter and loving it so far. Next up is The Walls Around Us and I'm super excited about that. 
In TV-land, another season of Downton is coming to an end (sob!!) but actually a good friend of mine and I had ourselves a fun little tea party viewing of the finale and the Christmas special. It was such an incredible season!! *sigh*
Hubs and I have been watching Warehouse 13 and are sadly coming to the end of that, too.  SUCH a fun show---have you seen it?  Steampunkery, adventures involving historical and literary figures and artifacts (like Poe's notebook and quill, Alice's mirror, HG Wells' time machine, and a fun cast of characters. I love this show. What to watch next, though?? Any suggestions? May be time for a Doctor Who rewatch LOL. 

Have a great week, everyone! :D

 

Witherwood Reform School Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Today I'm taking part in the blog tour for  Witherwood Reform School, a new middle grade series from Obert Skye! Check out my review below and enter win a copy of your own!

Witherwood Reform School

by Obert Skye

♦publisher: Henry Holt & Co

♦release date: March 3rd, 2015

♦hardcover, 240 pages

♦intended audience: Middle Grade

♦series: Witherwood Reform School, book 1

♦source: from publisher for honest review

After a slight misunderstanding involving a horrible governess, oatmeal, and a jar of tadpoles, siblings Tobias and Charlotte Eggars find themselves abandoned by their father at the gates of a creepy reform school. Evil mysteries are afoot at Witherwood, where the grounds are patrolled by vicious creatures after dark and kids are locked in their rooms. Charlotte and Tobias soon realize that they are in terrible danger—especially because the head of Witherwood has perfected the art of mind control.

If only their amnesiac father would recover and remember that he has two missing children. If only Tobias and Charlotte could solve the dark mystery and free the kids at Witherwood—and ultimately save themselves.

Review: Witherwood Reform School kicks off a fun series about two clever and mischievous siblings and a little tough-love punishment that goes horribly awry.  When Tobias and Charlotte’s tricks send their ill-mannered nanny running, their father leaves them at the bottom of a mesa and drives away.  His plan was to leave them long enough to scare them and then return, but when his car skids off the road, his memory is lost and  the two kids find themselves abandoned.  They find their way to Witherwood, and once inside, the sinister reform school refuses to let them go.

While this one read a little younger than I expected (I would say perfect age for this is probably 8-10, and those who enjoyed Spiderwick or Series of Unfortunate Events), I enjoyed the dark twisting plot and the sibling relationship.  Tobias and Charlotte were realistic kids trying to find their way out of a horrible situation, sometimes succeeding, but also sometimes making choices that dig themselves even deeper. They both had their individual strengths and cleverness, though I might have like to know a little more about where some of their skills came from, like Tobias’s  knowledge of how to make a key from a bedspring and Charlotte’s exceptional hearing.  I also really liked the chapter-leading narrators voice, tempting the reader on with funny little quips and hints about what’s about to happen. 

It’s a creative story with lots of ups and downs and daring escapes, though I do wish a little more had been revealed about  the school’s  dark purposes by the end. It was a fun read and a good start to a new series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Obert Skye is the author and illustrator of the Creature from My Closet series: Wonkenstein, Potterwookiee, Pinocula, and Katfish. He has also written the bestselling children’s fantasy adventure series Leven Thumps and Pillage. He currently lives indoors and near a thin, winding road with his family. 

WEBSITE  •  TWITTER  •  GOODREADS


Enter to win a copy of Witherwood Reform School!
•US mailing address only please
•Ends 3/5/15 

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The Tragic Age Blog Tour Excerpt

Hi everyone!  Today I'm happy to be participating in the blog tour excerpt reveal for

 The Tragic Age by Stephen Metcalfe!

 What it's about:

This is the story of Billy Kinsey, heir to a lottery fortune, part genius, part philosopher and social critic, full time insomniac and closeted rock drummer. Billy has decided that the best way to deal with an absurd world is to stay away from it. Do not volunteer. Do not join in. Billy will be the first to tell you it doesn’t always work— not when your twin sister, Dorie, has died, not when your unhappy parents are at war with one another, not when frazzled soccer moms in two ton SUVs are more dangerous than atom bombs, and not when your guidance counselor keeps asking why you haven’t applied to college.
　
Billy’s life changes when two people enter his life. Twom Twomey is a charismatic renegade who believes that truly living means going a little outlaw. Twom and Billy become one another’s mutual benefactor and friend. At the same time, Billy is reintroduced to Gretchen Quinn, an old and adored friend of Dorie’s. It is Gretchen who suggests to Billy that the world can be transformed by　creative acts of the soul.　

With Twom, Billy visits the dark side. And with Gretchen, Billy experiences possibilities.Billy knows that one path is leading him toward disaster and the other toward happiness. The problem is—Billy doesn’t trust happiness. It's the age he's at.  The tragic age. 

Stephen Metcalfe's brilliant, debut coming-of-age novel, The Tragic Age, will teach you to learn to love, trust and truly be alive in an absurd world.

All of us tour participants are giving readers a fun sneek peek into
The Tragic Age!

By following these links, you can happily read your way through the first 50 pages of the book!  Check it out:

Excerpt 1: Tuesday, February 3^rd: KellyVision

Excerpt 2: Saturday, February 7^th: Amaterasu Reads

Excerpt 3: Tuesday, February 10^th: The Young Folks

Excerpt 4: Friday, February 13^th: Unbound Books

Excerpt 5: Sunday, February 15^th: Books and Whimsy

Excerpt 6: Thursday, February 19^th: Stories & Sweeties

Excerpt 7: Monday, February 23^rd: As I Turn the Pages

Excerpt 8: Saturday, February 28^th: Novel Novice

And now, for the excerpt! :D 

 At the end of every day in front of good ol’ High School High, there’s always a line of vehicles clogging the street, waiting to pick up the younger kids who don’t have rides or are too lazy to walk. Most of these vehicles are pricey SUVs, and behind the wheel of each of them there’s usu- ally a distracted, impatient soccer mom while in the backseat are crying babies, barking dogs, pissed-off tod- dlers, and sullen middle schoolers.

Fact.

There are over fifty thousand automobile fatalities in the United States every year.

Fact.

Two hundred thousand died at Hiroshima. Conclusion.

A frazzled soccer mom in a five-thousand-pound sport utility vehicle is more dangerous than an atomic bomb. Really, they can get you anywhere, even in front of your own house. They can even be those who are closest to you.

Example.

Storm Siren by Mary Weber {review + giveaway}

Storm Siren
by Mary Weber
♦publisher: Thomas Nelson Books
♦release date: August 19, 2014
♦hardcover, 320 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: The Storm Siren Trilogy, book 1
♦source: purchased

In a world at war, a slave girl’s lethal curse could become one kingdom’s weapon of salvation. If the curse—and the girl—can be controlled.

As a slave in the war-weary kingdom of Faelen, seventeen-year-old Nym isn’t merely devoid of rights, her Elemental kind are only born male and always killed at birth — meaning, she shouldn’t even exist.

Standing on the auction block beneath smoke-drenched mountains, Nym faces her fifteenth sell. But when her hood is removed and her storm-summoning killing curse revealed, Nym is snatched up by a court advisor and given a choice: be trained as the weapon Faelen needs to win the war, or be killed.

Choosing the former, Nym is unleashed into a world of politics, bizarre parties, and rumors of an evil more sinister than she’s being prepared to fight . . . not to mention the handsome trainer whose dark secrets lie behind a mysterious ability to calm every lightning strike she summons.

But what if she doesn’t want to be the weapon they’ve all been waiting for?

Set in a beautifully eclectic world of suspicion, super abilities, and monsters, Storm Siren is a story of power. And whoever controls that power will win.

Review: This world has mesmerized me. Gorgeous writing, at times raw and edgy and even a bit gory, and at others so lyrical that it reads like poetry.  With emotions that are expressed in wild storms, friendships that will absolutely capture your heart, and a slow simmering and dangerous romance, Storm Siren is irresistible.
 
Nym is an incredible character with a great wit about her; she's courageous but also terrified of her own uncontrollable elemental powers.  We get glimpses into her psyche through the nightmarish flashbacks of the moment when she first began to consider herself a monster.  The people that she's hurt weigh heavily on her conscious and there are sensitive touches on the emotions behind cutting and self-mutilation, as Nym carves memoirs of her victims on her skin.  And while she fears how she might be used to win the war, the thought of finally having control over her own powers and not hurting so many innocent people is too tempting to pass up.

I loved the world-building.  It felt meticulously detailed with castles, creatures, different lands, and also different powers. I easily envisioned man-eating horses, garish colorful ballgowns, looming airships, powers that crack open the earth and heal it just as easily...so much uniqueness and interest to this story.  New intriguing characters were constantly being thrown into the mix, while the main group of characters are given hefty doses of personality and enough background to really get a feel for them.  Breck and Colin are such fun and Eogan is both sharp-tongued enough to match Nym's own wit, and gentle-hearted enough to make their alternating moments of annoyance and tense attraction feel genuine.

The ending is a wild roller coaster of violence and heroism as the story comes to a head, some really horrific revelations are made, and I think my heart may have actually cracked in two on the very last page. It's going to be torture, torture, waiting to see what happens next.

Find Mary Weber online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Storm Siren:  Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon

You shouldn't miss this one!  So I'm giving one copy away :) 

Open internationally!
•must be 13 or older
•ends 3/4/15

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for. 

Dreamland

by Robert L. Anderson

 hitting shelves September 22, 2015 

from HarperTeen

Odea Donahue has been able to travel through people’s dreams since she was six years old. Her mother taught her the three rules of walking: Never interfere. Never be seen. Never walk the same person’s dream more than once. Dea has never questioned her mother, not about the rules, not about the clocks or the mirrors, not about moving from place to place to be one step ahead of the unseen monsters that Dea’s mother is certain are right behind them.
Then a mysterious new boy, Connor, comes to town and Dea finally starts to feel normal. As Connor breaks down the walls that she’s had up for so long, he gets closer to learning her secret. For the first time she wonders if that’s so bad. But when Dea breaks the rules, the boundary between worlds begins to deteriorate. How can she know what’s real and what’s not?
From talented debut author Robert L. Anderson comes a stunning, complex, and imaginative story of the fine line between our dreams and our reality.

My thoughts: Wow, this sounds amazing. Stories involving dreams always catch my eye. And GEEZ could that cover be any more gorgeous??

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {117}

For New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts)

I'm so late posting this---it's been a crazy week. :(  I got some really great stuff this week, though, so I didn't want them to miss their spotlight!

For Review:

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Crimson Bound by Rosamond Hodge

Illusionarium by Heather Dixon

The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige

Dreamfire by Kit Alloway

The World Before Us by Aislinn Hunter

All the Burns by Ryan Graudin

Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor

No Parking at the End Times by Bryan Bliss

Unleashed by Sophie Jordan

Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

For blog tour: 

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

with gorgeous signed poster!!

Many lovely thanks to Harper Collins, Random House, Tor, & St. Martins Griffin for these!

The Weekly Nutshell: 
{Tuesday} Guest Review: Save Me by Jenny Elliott
 {Wednesday} Waiting on Wednesday: The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall
{Friday} Review: Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay

Ugh, this week, guys.  UGH. Hubs had a minor surgery and I had a bladder infection. All around, NOT FUN. But I did get some reading done having to be at home almost all week!  It's a good thing we don't normally pay much attention to Valentines Day because neither one of us even realized what day it was until the evening! LOL
This week, I finished up This Wicked Thing, which actually ended really well, so much so that I do plan on picking up book two!  Also I read When My Heart was Wicked. This one wasn't the book for me. I'll have a full review soon, but it just didn't work for me in many ways.  This week I'm reading Witherwood Reform School for my upcoming blog tour review! It's a fun MG so far!  Next up, I've promised myself to start Sin-Eater's Daughter. It's getting so much love, and after two books that were just okay for me, I need to read a few that I'm really looking forward to before I burn out.  
What are you reading this week? Recommend me something wonderful!! :D 

Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay {review}

Princess of Thorns 
by Stacey Jay
♦publisher: Delacorte Press
♦release date: December 9, 2014
♦hardcover, 400 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦stand-alone
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?

Review: If you’re going into this expecting a Sleeping Beauty retelling, stop right there! :D   This is more of a spin-off of Sleeping Beauty with The Wild Swans mixed in. Sleeping Beauty, to protect her daughter from the pitfalls of her own life, gifts her daughter Aurora with incredible strength and fighting skills, bravery, and mercy---she’s not able to intentionally kill anyone, no matter the reason.  Lastly, any man she kisses will never stray.  While her intent might have been good, that last gift turns out to be quite a curse as the men completely lose their mind and free will to serve her.  

When Aurora was 7, Sleeping Beauty was killed but she planned her children’s escape, and now at 17, Aurora’s mission is to take back her throne.  Her fierce demeanor is apparent the second she takes control of her own rescue. She is devoted to her brother and determined to free him at all costs. We also see how damaged she is when it comes to love, her curse cost her a dear friend among the faeries who raised her. We also get to see how flawed she is when she uses her curse against someone and justifies it as some sort of penance---it gave this character and her emotions a few more facets of interest. 

The story slow for me just a bit in the middle as Ror and Niklass make the journey to the kingdom while dodging the occasional ogres and animals that spy for the queen. It’s a lot of traveling and character insight, and the two of them getting to know more about each other.  They form a strong bond of respect, but it grows into more of a friendly relationship since Niklass believes the entire time that Ror is actually her brother!  Somehow she never slips up, even when she starts to feel more romantic feelings for him, despite her irritation that he seems to only want to get to Aurora so he can make her his wife. Luckily the alternating perspective give us the full story of why he needs to marry her or he might not have been nearly so likable.  He is humorous and puts up a bit of a cocky front, but he's also terrified and determined to break the curse hanging over his 18th birthday. Both their situations made for a slow-brewing romance, which I loved!

Definitely an adventure worth taking, Princess of Thorns is filled with adventure and great fight scenes, and a great friendship that can’t help growing into something else.

Find Stacey Jay online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Princess of Thorns: Indiebound  •  BookDepository  •  Amazon