Blog Tour & Excerpt: The Hunt, by Stacey Kade

Hello & welcome to the PROJECT PAPER DOLL: The Hunt blog tour!

By: Stacey Kade
Published by: Disney Hyperion
Publication date: April 22, 2014
Series: Project Paper Dolls #2
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Ariane Tucker has finally escaped GTX, the research facility that created her. While on the run, Zane Bradshaw is the only person she can trust. He knows who-and what-she is and still wants to be part of her life.

But accepting Zane's help means putting him in danger.

Dr. Jacobs, head of GTX, is not the only one hunting for Ariane. Two rival corporations have their sights set on taking down their competition. Permanently. To protect Zane and herself, Ariane needs allies. She needs the other hybrids. The hybrids who are way more alien and a lot less human. Can Ariane win them over before they turn on her? Or will she be forced to choose sides, to decide who lives and who dies?

Excerpt:

He had, however, created through the woods like a herd of drunken deer. Stealth training was not something taught in your average school system. But lucky, lucky me, I'd been enrolled in some "special" extracurriculars during my time with my father.

Review: Scarlet, by Marissa Meyer

Title: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi
Pub. Date: February 5, 2013

The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth...

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

5 Stars!

I know I’ve read a spectacular book when I find myself pacing my room, unable to find anything to read and gravitating towards the book I have just completed. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer is one of those books. I ignored everything, because I was completely immersed in this novel.

Review: World After, by Susan Ee

In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose? -Goodreads

3 Stars

Initially, I truly liked World After. Now, after further contemplation, I found that this book did not exactly live up to my expectations. So, I lowered my rating to 3 stars.

Mini-Reviews: A Northern Light, Perfect Ruin, and A Darkness Strange and Lovely

Title: A Northern Light
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Genre: Historical fiction
Pub. Date: September 1, 2004

Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has a word for everything, and big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. She collects words, stores them up as a way of fending off the hard truths of her life, the truths that she can't write down in stories. The fresh pain of her mother's death. The burden of raising her sisters while her father struggles over his brokeback farm. And the secret dreams that keep her going--visions of finishing high school, going to college in New York City, becoming a writer. Set in 1906 in the Adirondack Mountains, against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, this Printz Honor-winning coming-of-age novel effortlessly weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, and real, and wholly original.

5 stars! I don't know when the last time was that I've given a book the ultimate glory of being

Books I Regret DNF'ing

There are some books that I am glad I did not finish, but others, I painfully regret not finishing them. I feel like I didn't give some of these a fair chance, and even though they had promising storylines, I still ended up giving up on them. Here I some books I wish I had finished:

Etiquette & Espionage
Author: Gail Carriger
Genre: YA steampunk
I've read the synopsis for the upcoming second book, and it really sounds interesting. I remember reading this back in March, and I didn't have a good reason for not finishing this. Maybe I'll try this again one day!

Shades of Earth

Author: Beth Revis

Genre: YA sci-fi

I enjoyed reading the first two books of the Across the Universe series, and I'm not quite sure why I didn't finish this last installment. I feel like I'm a disgrace to this series since I consider myself a fan of it. 

Through the Ever Night
Author: Veronica Rossi
Genre: Sci-fi/dystopia
I gave up on this second book of the Under the Never Sky series due to the fact that the author didn't explain things very well in the first book, so I was a bit confused at the beginning of this one. Based on my friends' reviews, it seems that the author actually explained everything, and it started to make sense. Plus, most of my GR friends gave this book 4 or 5 stars.

What are some books you guys wish you didn't DNF, and you feel like you didn't give it a fair chance?

My Disliking of Divergent

I’m sure everyone who is reading that post title is thinking: Whaaat?! I know I’m in the minority for disliking Divergent, but after a re-read, I stopped liking this book altogether.

My rating: 2 stars

A year or so ago, I picked up a copy of Divergent, due to the huge hype surrounding the novel. I devoured the book in less than two days, enticed by the world Roth had created. Needless to say, I loved Divergent to bits.

Recently, I decided to pick the book up again for a reread, and was astonished to find that I didn't love the book as much as I did before. My opinion of Divergent lowered drastically as I began to notice the flaws in the book.

My theory for why I ceased loving this book is as simple as this; I've read better dystopians, ones which are much more deserving of praise than Divergent. My eyes have opened and I have been exposed to books that represent the dystopian genre more accurately than Divergent.

Divergent is known for its gritty action scenes and just the overall thrill-ride experience. I appreciate this, I really do, but other than that, it doesn't have much going for it. A dystopia has to have more than action, action, and more action. In my opinion, the fact that it was labeled “dystopia” did it more harm than good, as opposed to it being labeled a thriller/action book. It doesn't quite live up to the greatness of this genre, unfortunately. I would even go so far to say that it is a bit shallow in its portrayal of a dystopian society.

My first issue is that there is minimal world-building. We aren't given vivid descriptions of Tris’s world; I don’t know exactly how the dauntless compound looks. How can this be deemed as dystopia when it doesn't contain the basics—otherwise known as world building?

Another issue I had was the lack of a back-story. Roth just told us how things were; she didn’t bother to even allude to how this society came to be.

What probably frustrated me the most was the whole “factions based on personality/skills” deal. Putting it mildly, it didn't make sense. I mean, it would make sense for a society like that to arise if we had a problem like that in our society in the present day, but the fact of the matter is, we don’t. No one goes into conflicts based on their skills; it would actually make more sense if they were divided based on race or religion, which are actual problems presently. The idea of the Divergent society is very far-fetched. Which ties into my previous point; if we had a back-story, it would actually make sense.

As a reader, my standards for a book have become much stricter over time, and I have come to expect a lot more from my books. Divergent disappointed me and didn't have much depth to it, and I really believe this book is over-hyped.   

Review: The Eternity Cure, by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Eternity Cure

Author: Julie Kagawa

Genre: Dystopia/ paranormal

Pub. Date: April 30, 2013

Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.

Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike. -Goodreads

Well. How did I forget to review this book?

*shrugs* I guess laziness does that to you.

Julie Kagawa, I must say, you’ve redeemed yourself. I should never have doubted your brilliance. Ever.

I don’t even know what I loved most about this book.

The action, or the suspense?

Zeke, or Kanin?

I didn’t think it was possible, but I loved Kanin even more in this book. We were just given a glimpse of him in the first book, but no worries, he is present for a majority of the novel.

There was a huge twist that I would never have anticipated during this book. I won’t say anything to ruin it, but let’s just say I got very angry over said revelation.

Do I even need to bring up how well the world-building was pulled off? Don’t worry, folks, this book lives up to the dystopian genre, and does not ignore the importance of world-building.

I liked seeing Zeke’s maturity in this book. In the previous novel, he had a childish personality of sorts; he was innocent and maybe a bit naïve. After the horrible events he witnessed, he has matured a lot, and while I wasn’t a huge fan of his new character, I felt it was fitting given the circumstances.

Jackal was hilarious. You can’t help but grow fond of this irritating character. He was, hands down, my absolute favorite character. His dry humor and sarcasm brings light to this otherwise bleak novel.

Oh, and that last scene? That gave me chills. It was too horrific, too scary to imagine. The villain was vile and evil and… villainous. He’s not lame like other villains I have come across; this guy’s legit.

Because of my fondness and affection for Zeke, the end pretty much ripped my heart apart. Just be prepared when you begin this book to have an overload of feels.

What a gripping novel. I’m surprised I was able to write a review.

4.5 stars

Review: Angelfall, by Susan Ee

Title: Angelfall
Author: Susan Ee
Genre: Paranormal/ Dystopia/ Post-apocalyptic
It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Let Angelfall be an example for us that publishing houses don't always have the perfect choosing ability. This makes me want to read more self-published books; who knows what hidden gems we'll find?

Imagine this scene in which a publisher is arguing with his boss over Angelfall:

Boss: Look at this atrocity! Who is going to want to read this?!

Publisher: But I found it entertaining to read.

Boss: *scoffs*Entertaining to read? This is most certainly not an enjoyable book to read. Where are the vital components of a young adult book? Where is the insta-love? The love triangle? The perfect female lead? Angelfall does not conform to our standards.

Publisher: But, I think—

Boss: You think teens these days want to read a book like this – an imperfect protagonist, a guy who isn't over-protective and there to save the day? No.

Publisher: Isn't it better that this book takes a different approach to this topic, and doesn't severely underestimate the intelligence of our target audience?

Boss: No, it is not. People don’t like change. Look at all the copies of the books that go by our standards have sold. Look at all the copies that Fallen and Hush Hush have sold. People don’t care if it is virtually the same story but with different characters; they just care about the romance.

Boss: Meh. This book is utter rubbish.

*Tosses book in the trash*


This book has EVERYTHING I crave in my paranormal books. Every. Freakin. Thing.

Interesting plot? Check.
Believable heroine? Check.
Slow-developing romance? Check.
Goes in depth on angels, without any info-dumps? Check.
Well-written setting? Check.

I must say, my favorite part was when Penryn pretended to be an angel, by holding wings behind her back to give the illusion that she is an angel, in order to save Raffe. I swear, this had me laughing for at least 5 minutes straight.

And the fact that she slaps Raffe when she first meets him? That just increased my liking of her. This girl's got brains, she's tough, and best of all, she's funny.

The end had me horrified. This is certainly how a post-apocalyptic novel should be written, and it is written perfectly. I am waiting for that next book!

5 stars!

Review: Prodigy, by Marie Lu

Title: Prodigy (Legend, #2)
Author: Marie Lu
Genre: YA dystopia
Pub. date: Jan. 29, 2013

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

In this highly-anticipated sequel, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action. -Goodreads

You find joy in torturing us, don't you, Marie Lu? You couldn't have just spared us from the suffering of a cliffhanger?

Just kidding, we all love you, Ms. Lu. Despite the FEELS that you are making me drown in, I will forgive you since you wrote such an awesome second book that was even better than the first.

Girl, you wrote some ninja-paced action scenes. They were phenomenal, they were amazing, they made me dizzy from how fast-paced they were. We wanted action, and you satisfied us.

I loved how Marie Lu expanded on the dystopian world of Legend. Since setting and world-building are super important for a good dystopian novel, it really made this book stand out of the other dystopia novels crowding bookshelves.

Besides the improvement of the world-building, I loved how much the characters grew between book 1 and book 2. The author made this gradual character growth so believable that I didn't feel, at any time, that they were acting out of character.

Not the biggest fan of Tess, though. I wanted to smack her upside the head whenever she was speaking. Sometimes, she did act out of character.

Put simply, I was truly impressed by the author's talent at switching POV's. She managed to make each character have their own unique, distinct voices that made it easy to identify who was speaking. Not many authors can manage this, so color me dazzled by her talent.

After reading Legend, and going into Prodigy, I thought I already knew what was going to happen. I had the plot all planned out in my head, and knew what to expect. Man, was I wrong. One thing I know for sure: it would be horribly inaccurate to say this book is any way predictable. The plot twists were just too much to endure.

During the last 10 pages or so, I naively believed it was going to be a happy ending. I'll admit, Marie Lu, you had me fooled. One second everything was all good then...

BAM!

I was bombarded with feels. That ending caught me off guard. I found myself furiously re-reading the last few pages, to see if I actually read it correctly. That horrible reveal was, unfortunately, true.

4.5 out of 5 stars!

Waiting On Wednesday #7: Never Fade, by Alexandra Bracken

Title: Never Fade (The Darkest Minds #2)
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Genre: YA sci-fi/dystopia
Pub. Date: October 15, 2013

Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster.

When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her.

As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself? -Goodreads

The first one, The Darkest Minds, was brilliant. Can't wait to get my hands on this one, especially because of that infuriating cliffhanger we were left with.