Friday, October 25, 2013

Stacking the Shelves 10/26/2013

Stacking The Shelves is a fun way to show off the books we received over the past week in the hopes that you will find something that you will be interested in reading. As always, it is in no way, shape, or form to be considered bragging or sticking out our tongues at other bloggers. 

I personally enjoy  reading comments from those that stop by and support Gizmo's Reviews and I make every effort to comment and visit back your blog in return. 

This week, I would like to thank Simon & Schuster, St. Martin's Press, 
Random House & Bell Bridge Books for their approvals to the following titles!

Received via Edelweiss and NetGalley





Borrowed via library
No, you are not seeing things. I really did get Unhinged (last week) before reading this book!


Borrowed via Amazon

Thursday, October 24, 2013

*Review* Open Gates (P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy #3) by D.T. Dyllin

*My Thoughts*

I want to first take this opportunity to thank Ren @ Dragonfairy Press for sharing a copy of Open Gates with me, and for adding me to the Open Gates Blog Tour. Ren, you are awesome to work with and I hope we get a chance to do it again soon!

Now for the excruciating part of being a reviewer/blogger.....the review itself. There are times that I read my friends reviews of the same book that I just read and wonder if there is something horrifically wrong with me. I mean, there is a reason why I am rating this book 3-3.5 stars instead of 5 stars like those who have come before me. Maybe romance novels are getting under my skin and I need to move on from them. Let me explain my reasoning and let you decide if I am off my rocker.

Open Gates is the last installment of the PJ Stone Gates Trilogy. If you have read Broken Gates, you were probably sobbing and rolling around on the floor with your blanket over your head because DT left you shattered to the point of mumbling nonsensically about how a major character, who you loved, was slain by the rancid Riders who have taken over the planet. :sigh: 

Open Gates opens with a very emotional, and very distraught PJ who wonders how she will ever go on. She really doesn't care about the Riders or what they're ultimate plans are for the planet or that Khol has once again insinuated himself fully into her life not understanding that she needs time to grieve. 

I loathe to say this outloud, but I thank DT for showing readers a different side to Lord Khol. Thank you for showing me that I was wrong in my dislike towards him for pushing himself onto PJ and for not just giving readers what they want in having that character return so PJ could have a HEA. Khol is still someone that I would take a baseball bat to had he attempted to force himself onto me. Then again, this is a story about Dragons not humans. In Dragon-land, it is totally fine for a male dragon to claim a Female dragon by forcing the issue at hand, as it were. Just as long as you don't cross the line to pure unadulterated rape, I'll restrain my commentary. 

I regret to inform you that PJ was for the most part, in her Aunt Morag's own words, exasperating and hard to deal with. Can you blame her whining and crying and indecision making and ****s loss on her pregnancy? There will be those who can, and do, but I think it runs so much deeper than that. PJ is a 19 year old Dragon Queen who was raised as a human. She's also a powerful Seer, and probably the only one left in existence. Apparently, as a female dragon, it also makes her quite frisky in needing to have sex every 30 seconds. Since this is PNR, readers will definitely find themselves satiated with the amount of times PJ and Khol do the horizontal mambo. I actually found myself turning the pages a bit quicker to get to the part where PJ finds a way to defeat the Riders part and perhaps learns more about her heritage and what the future will bring for her and Jenna and Jeremy. 

There are quite a few questions that went unanswered for me, and I am maybe hopeful that DT will answer them for me, or perhaps in the future, writes a novella that wraps up this series a bit more tightly. I would have liked to learn about PJ's so called Dragon side as well as read about her flying with Khol. I would have liked to know about PJ's other abilities as a Dragon that weren't explored. It was laid out for readers to grasp, but it never quite took hold. I was pleasantly surprised that the deceased character wasn't fully written out of this series and made some appearances in key situations throughout the book. After reading about a certain other books final ending, I was hopeful that nobody major would lose their lives in Open Gates.

In the end, my overall experience with this series was a positive one and I would recommend it to PNR readers of the adult variety. I liked the variation on Dragons in society and the fact that PJ comes from a long line of powerful women. I did find the 3 way love triangle loathsome, but I am in the minority on this point. I will be looking forward to seeing what DT comes up with in the future and wish her luck in her endeavor.  

Expected publication: November 12th 2013 by Dragonfairy Press 



Book one of the P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy
New Adult Paranormal Romance  
299 pages  
by D.T. Dyllin
For P.J. Stone, being a “Seer” who has never seen anything is less than fun. And P.J. isn’t known for her patience. To make matters worse, she must choose a suitable mate to continue the Seer bloodline. Duty always comes before her heart…at least that’s what her parents taught her. When she finds herself wanting someone who is considered off-limits, P.J. is forced to question everything she believes. As if navigating her love life isn’t complicated enough, P.J. finally receives a vision—of a threat to her world that only she can perceive. But no one will believe a fledgling Seer’s warnings. With nowhere else to turn, she may decide to trust a stranger with her life, her world, and maybe even her heart.
Book two of the P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy
New Adult Paranormal Romance
241 pages
P.J. Stone is a Seer who saw too little, too late. In the past, her biggest worries were boys and school—but war has a way of changing things. Now, the alien Riders are trying to overrun the world. As the last of their kind, P.J. and her friends must find a way to save humanity before there’s nothing left to save. After choosing a mate, P.J. hoped she'd have time to enjoy her love life. But with everything changing so quickly and major secrets revealed, who knows what the future will bring?
 



Book three of the P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy
New Adult Paranormal Romance  

by D.T. Dyllin
Bryn is gone. Jenna isn’t…herself, and the world has been taken over by the alien Riders. The only constant in P.J.’s life is Khol. But even he might not be able to help her pick up the shattered pieces of her life.
P.J. finally gets the answers to all of her questions, but will she be able to handle the truth? And will she be strong enough to face her own destiny when the time comes?

 


About the Author

Cynical-Optimist. Chocolate-holic. Sarcasm Addict. Paranormal Believer. Self-Imposed Insomniac. Sci-Fi Geek. Animal Lover. Writer…are just a few words to describe D.T. Dyllin. She was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two very spoiled GSDs.
 

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

*Review* Antigoddess (Goddess War #1) by Kendare Blake

As a huge fan of Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood, there was no doubt in my mind that I would read Antigoddess as soon as I could be my grabby little hands on it. Took a little bit longer than I anticipated, but, thankfully that is what libraries are for when you don't have the extra dollars to go out and purchase it for yourself! It's also better than pirating a copy from unreputable pissants.

This is the first book in Blake's new series called The Goddess War and it begins with Gods from the Trojan War Era (Athena, Hermes, Demeter, Hera, Aphrodite, and Poseidon) dying from various bizarre ailments which are graphically cataloged down to the owl feather being pulled from Athena's mouth. It is also apparent that Athena and Hermes are up against some very powerful gods/goddesses who will do anything they can to remain prevalent without much, if any, support behind them. They search for that one weapon who can stop Hera's machinations in her tracks as well as a few humans (Odysseus, Hector, and Andromache) they meet along the way who may be able to help. 

Blake then switches gears and focuses on Cassandra Weaver and Aiden Baxter who seem to be nothing more than two human teenagers who are clueless to the Gods ailments and pending war and find themselves caught up in each other. But, after you peel back the layers on Cassandra's past (Cassandra of Troy), you learn that she is a very powerful psychic and you realize that she can more than hold her own. You also learn the secret identity of Aiden (Apollo) which really shouldn't necessarily surprise anyone who has read anything about the Trojan War and those who are said to have been part of it.

As a reader, I love imagining the world that the writers create in order to lure you into their diabolical clutches. In this case, it wasn't really that hard for me to imagine since it was very familiar to me having grown up in the Fingerlakes Region of Upstate New York before transplanting to Florida. Antigoddess is set in a fictional town called Kincade, New York, but it could have actually been Watkins Glen, or Geneva, or a number of other cities along Seneca Lake. I grew up a hop, skip, and jump away from Seneca Lake and have done numerous wine trail tours since I was legally able to drink. Don't judge until you've tried it.

Greek mythology has been used by various authors recently and Blake does an admirable job of linking them back to a world where Gods and Goddesses roamed freely in the world and were either loved or despised by mortals. This new world finds the Gods living among humans since Olympus has fallen and Zeus is nowhere in sight. I would have loved to see more of Artemis who is mentioned. I think united Artemis with Athena, Hermes and Cassandra, would be seriously awesome.

I should warn those that have NOT already read Antigoddess. If you've read Anna Dressed In Blood, you know that she tends to be very graphic and descriptive when telling a story about how her characters live and die. That warning should go out to anyone under 18 so that they understand what they are getting themselves into.

In the end, if you enjoy mythology mixed in a real world setting, this series is for you. 

Published September 10th 2013 by Tor Teen


Author - Kendare Blake
Title - Antigoddess (Goddess War # 1)
Publisher - Tor Teen
Released - September 10, 2013
Genre - Young Adult

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

*Review* Dualed (Dualed #1) by Elsie Chapman

"Be the one, be worthy."


15-year old West Grayer, no relationship to North West, lives in a society where you are expected to kill your Alternate who shares your DNA before they kill you. Kids as young as ten, and as old as twenty, are sent out against each other in a winner take all contest. This is a way for the Board, who runs Kersh, to sort out those who are supposed to be the strongest in order to defend the citizens against those living in the Surround. Successful completion of your assignment means better chances at a higher education, better paying jobs, permission to marry, and have a family.

Sounds intriguing doesn't it? That is what I thought when I found myself strolling along the aisles of my local library looking for something different to read. I am always on the lookout for new authors and different stories that don't revolve around the same tired storylines, especially when it comes to YA Dystopia. In my opinion, Dualed is an interesting story. We do get a brief look into what happened to the country at a whole, but really, I would have loved to get more information about how the cold virus caused infertility and tore apart the country. 

While West is an admirable character, perhaps there is a point where she maybe has too much to deal with. Without spoiling anything in particular, West is in a situation where nothing makes sense any more. She's watched nearly everyone she loved fall by the wayside and therefore, she has a tendency of keeping people at arms length. People who have a lot on their plate tend to lash out, or withdraw into themselves and that is to be expected. For West, she chooses to become a striker after a fateful incident that breaks her spirits. This, on top of the fact that she has to stay alive long enough to kill her ALT, makes her a bit cold and maybe emotionless. 

During my reading, I was making snide comments about Chord Jameson the romantic interest and I guess I should have explained myself better. Chord ISN'T necessarily a bad person when you get to the core of the apple. He just grated on my nerves when he continually tried to force himself into West's business and even went as far as tracking her location. I do realize, however, that the two of them grew up as friends and Chord's ALT was responsible for making West rethink everything she's been taught. I also realize that I am in the minority, as usual, with my concerns toward Chord. In the end, it doesn't really matter what I think or believe because I am not the writer, the editor, or the publisher.

I would have liked to see more of a cat and mouse chase between West and her unnamed Alt. If she was named, I absolutely missed it. If someone does have the name of Wests alternative, by all means, leave me a comment. The ending seemed a bit rushed in my estimation. There was a brief battle and nothing more. None of this will stop me from looking forward to Divided which releases May 27, 2014.

Published February 26th 2013 by Random House


Author - Elsie Chapman
Title - Dualed (Dualed # 1)
Publisher - Random House
Released - February 26, 2013
Genre - YA, Dystopian



Monday, October 21, 2013

*Review* Hereafter (Shadowlands #2) by Kate Brian

"Forever isn't all it's cracked up to be."

After learning that her family actually died in Shadowlands, 16-year old Rory Miller learns yet another secret, she is what's called a Lifer, and it is her job to help people in limbo cross over into either the light, or Shadowlands. Being a Lifer comes with some disadvantages as well as advantages. It basically means that she is stuck on Jupiter Landing for eternity and it is possible that her family will move on without her and there's not much she can do about it. The advantages are that she can never die, or become ill.

Rory is also at the center of a major crap storm which coincided with her arrival on Juniper Landing. The main issue is that those whose time has come to move on, are going into the fog but not ending up where they should be. Is this a mistake, or does one of the Lifer's have his/her own agenda? There is also the fact that the weather, insects, and plant life, are showing a remarkable change for the worst.

Rory's character is a bit on the emotional side at times when she needs to take a step back and look around and see what is actually happening around her. She's also a bit too trusting, especially when it comes to Tristan, when she should be looking out for her family and her future. When Rory starts her own form of investigation, someone close to her is taken away and Rory scrambles around for answers before it is too late to change things. 

Overall, Hereafter was a pretty interesting story for me. There was a dark undertow to the story almost from the very beginning and the mystery of who is really responsible for things going badly on the island isn't all that clear. (Until you read the synopsis for the next book!) I liked the fact that Rory wasn't the only story teller. I like that the mystery villain was also allowed to give a hint at what his intentions really were. I really hope that Endless keeps up the steam and blows me away with the final installment.

There is a entire cast of characters including Tristan, Bea, Kevin, Lauren, Joaquin, Krista, Pete, Fisher, Nadia, Aaron, and Cori, as well as the mayor, and Officer Dorn, who play various roles throughout Hereafter and could have been responsible for sending people into the Shadowlands instead of into the light.

Endless, book # 3 in the trilogy, will release July 22nd 2014 by Disney-Hyperion and apparently the publisher may have rushed to release the synopsis and cover and therefore spoiled who the antagonist ends up being in Hereafter.

An Advanced Reader's Copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
*Recvd 06/14/2013* Expected publication: October 1st 2013 by Hyperion Books


Author - Kate Brian
Title - Hereafter (Shadowlands # 2)
Publisher - Hyperion Books
Released - October 1, 2013
Genre - Young Adult


Saturday, October 19, 2013

*Gizmos Reviews Presents* Cover Loves Saturday!

The light is darker than you think… 


When seventeen-year-old Bobby Pendell begins to have blinding migraines followed by frightening hallucinations, he fears there’s something wrong with him. Then murder rocks his sleepy town and the visions that put him on trail of a killer—also make him the prime suspect.
Expected publication: May 13th 2014 by Spencer Hill Press
Kelsey Sutton’s follow-up to SOME QUIET PLACE (Flux, July, 2013), set in the same world of personified emotions, in which a girl wanting revenge on the man responsible for the death of her family is influenced by both Forgiveness and Revenge and must ultimately choose which path to take, again to Brian Farrey at Flux, for publication in July, 2014, by Beth Miller at Writers House (NA).(less)
Expected publication: July 8th 2014 by Flux
In the conclusion to the trilogy that Publishers Weekly called “a roaring—and addictive—gothic world,” Eleanor Fitt must control her growing power, face her feelings for Daniel, and confront the evil necromancer Marcus...all before it’s too late.


He took her brother, he took her mother, and now, Marcus has taken her good friend Jie. With more determination than ever to bring this sinister man to justice, Eleanor heads to the hot desert streets of nineteenth-century Egypt in hopes of ending this nightmare. But in addition to her increasingly tense relationships with Daniel, Joseph, and her demon, Oliver, Eleanor must also deal with her former friend, Allison, who has curiously entangled herself in Eleanor’s mission.

With the rising dead chomping at her every move and Jie’s life hanging in the balance, Eleanor is convinced that her black magic will see her through to the bitter end. But there will be a price. Though she and the Spirit Hunters have weathered every battle thus far, there will be consequences to suffer this time—the effects of which will be irreversible. And when it’s over, only some will be able to live a strange and ever after.

Susan Dennard will leave readers breathless and forever changed in the concluding pages of this riveting ride.
Expected publication: July 22nd 2014 by HarperTeen
Expected publication: May 13th 2014 by Feiwel and Friends

Sara Jane Rispoli is on the wrong side of the Russian mob, but closer to finding her family than ever. And she's willing to do whatever it takes to finally end this terrible journey even if the price is her own life.


The very cold fury that has seen her through the worst of her troubles is now killing her; she knows the cure, but she can't sacrifice the deadly electricity until she's rescued her family. But when she finally does rescue them, it's not the happy reunion she pictured. And the torment doesn't stop there, not even when she finally discovers Ultimate Power. Only destroying the Outfit completely can end this terrible nightmare.

Old enemies return to seek vengeance, double-crosses abound, and even more mysteries are uncovered as we rocket toward an end no one saw coming.(less)
Expected publication: July 10th 2014 by Putnam Juvenile
Leaving Alaska after graduation is no longer an option for eighteen-year-old Aurora Sky once government agents pull her from the wreckage of a head-on collision. 


In exchange for her life Aurora must serve as a vampire hunter. Basically she’s a glorified chew toy. All thanks to her rare blood type, which sends a vampire into temporary paralysis before she has to finish the job by hand.

Aurora's dark mood is attracting the wrong kind of attention - namely that of Fane Donado's. He's a prince alright. The dark prince of temptation.

It's one thing to swap spit, but if the fangs come out there's no telling who will go down first.

(Mature YA/New Adult series. Contains mild language, violence, sexual situations . . . and blood sucking.)(less)
This cover is actually a redesign.
Published December 9th 2012 by Createspace
Set in a not-too-distant future where dragon wars have shaped society, a seventeen-year-old girl becomes caught in a deadly conflict of loyalty between the dragon resistance and the government forces who are trying to wipe them out.
Expected publication: April 22nd 2014 by Greenwillow / HarperCollins (early 2014)
Girls started vanishing in the fall, and now winter's come to lay a white sheet over the horror. Door County, it seems, is swallowing the young, right into its very dirt. From beneath the house on Water Street, I've watched the danger swell.


The residents know me as the noises in the house at night, the creaking on the stairs. I'm the reflection behind them in the glass, the feeling of fear in the cellar. I'm tied—it seems—to this house, this street, this town.

I'm tied to Maggie and Pauline, though I don't know why. I think it's because death is coming for one of them, or both.

All I know is that the present and the past are piling up, and I am here to dig.I am looking for the things that are buried.

From bestselling author Jodi Lynn Anderson comes a friendship story bound in snow and starlight, a haunting mystery of love, betrayal, redemption, and the moments that we leave behind.(less)
Expected publication: July 1st 2014 by HarperTeen
"Tell me the rules," she says.


I stare at her, not sure why I have to do this here, but I start to recite anyway. “Never reveal that you are an Oracle to anyone except another Oracle.”

“Good. Two?”

“Fight your visions with all your strength. Never surrender. Never give up. Don’t close your eyes.”

“Three?”

“Never, under any circumstances, change the future.” Sierra nods and a single tear shines on her cheek.

Then I understand.

I did this. Daddy is dead because I didn’t follow the rules. I bury my face in my aunt’s shirt and start to sob.

Charlotte Westing is an Oracle. For all the good that does her. These days, instead of using their powers, the Oracles fight them. And Charlotte knows the price of breaking the rules: she sees it every day in her mother's wheelchair and the absence of her father. But when a vision of a classmate's death overcomes her defenses, Charlotte is torn. Follow the rules? Or risk everything--even her sanity--to fight the serial killer who has set up residence in her town.

Minority Report meets Inception in this dark paranormal thriller from #1 New York Times Bestselling author Aprilynne Pike(less)
Expected publication: April 29th 2014 by HarperTeen
What if there was an app that told you what song to listen to, what coffee to order, who to date, even what to do with your life—an app that could ensure your complete and utter happiness? What if you never had to fail or make a wrong choice?


What if you never had to fall?
Expected publication: May 13th 2014 by HarperTeen
In this fast-paced adventure set in Mexico, teen celebrity Vivian Divine goes on the run after receiving a death threat, and discovers that everything she thought she knew about her charmed life—and the boy she loves—is a lie.
Expected publication: June 3rd 2014 by Katherine Tegen Books
Marina thought that she had solved all of the Arclight’s mysteries. She had found her own history—that she was one of the Fade, that she never should have been human. She knows that the Fade who surround the Arclight don’t want to be the humans' enemies at all. She knows that the leader of those inside the Arc, Honoria Whit, never told the whole truth. But there is so much more that Marina is just discovering. There are more survivors out there. Only Marina—and her friends, all of whom have connections to the Fade they'd never known about—can lead her people to them. But there are also darker dangers, things that even the Fade fear. And Marina slowly realizes she may never have been “cured,” after all. The sequel to Arclight, Meridian is an intense, action-packed page-turner about the lines we draw between right and wrong, light and dark . . . and the way nothing is ever that black and white.(less)
Expected publication: April 22nd 2014 by Greenwillow Books
The thrilling conclusion to In the After, the survival story of Amy and Baby, set in a near future where Earth has been overrun by vicious, predatory creatures. 


It’s been three months since Amy escaped New Hope, and she’s been surviving on her own, like she did in the After. Until one day, her former fellow Guardian’s voice rings out in her earpiece. And in a desperate tone, Kay utters the four words Amy had hoped she would never hear: Dr. Reynolds has Baby.

Now it’s a race against time, for Baby is in imminent danger, her life threatened by the malevolent doctor who had helped start the end of the world. In order to save Baby, Amy must make her way to Fort Black, a prison-turned-survivor-colony, where she will need to find Ken, Kay’s brother. He alone holds the key to Baby’s survival.

One small slip-up on this quest could spark a downward spiral that would not only cost Baby and Amy their lives, but threaten the very survival of the people in the After.(less)
Expected publication: June 24th 2014 by HarperTeen
Expected publication: May 6th 2014 by Feiwel & Friends





Friday, October 18, 2013

*Stacking the Shelves* 10/19/2013

Stacking The Shelves is a fun way to show off the books we received over the past week in the hopes that you will find something that you will be interested in reading. As always, it is in no way, shape, or form to be considered bragging or sticking out our tongues at other bloggers. 

I personally enjoy  reading comments from those that stop by and support Gizmo's Reviews and I make every effort to comment and visit back your blog in return. 

Received from Christina @Readers_Fiction!!


Borrowed from the Library
 
 

Received via Edelweiss (Gallery Books)

Received via NetGalley (St. Martin's Griffin, Roc Trade, Abrams Books
Bloomsbury USA Children's Books)
 
  

 
 

Received DragonFairy Press for blog stop 10/24/2013

Purchased via Amazon