[REVIEW] Head in the Sand

Series: DI Nick Dixon #2
Author: Damien Boyd
Genre: adult, mystery, thriller, crime fiction, suspense, contemporary, 
Published: January 20, 2015 (first published October 7, 2013)
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

The discovery of a severed head in a golf course bunker triggers a frantic race to find a serial killer that brings the town of Burnham-on-Sea to a standstill. 

A connection is made with a series of unsolved murders harking back to the 1970s, and Detective Inspector Nick Dixon finds himself caught in a race against time that takes him the length and breadth of the country. 

The brutal killing of an elderly man raises the stakes and, as he closes in, Dixon begins to question whether he is chasing one serial killer or two. 

Head in the Sand is the second novel in the highly acclaimed DI Nick Dixon Crime Series.

[REVIEW] Scarlet

Series: the Lunar Chronicles #2
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: young adult, dystopia, science fiction, fantasy, romance, retelling, adventure
Published: February 4, 2015 (first published January 1, 2013)
Publisher: Square Fish

Even in the future, beware of the big, bad wolf...

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She is 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. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information about 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.

APRIL BOOK HAUL

Half Bad by Sally Green | My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga | True Calling by Siobhan Davis | Jenny Pox by J.L. Bryan | Inhuman Interest  by Eric Turowski

Hello,

Mid-April marked the beginning of my Summer Classes. The good thing: I get allowance which means book money (LOL). The bad thing: I have classes from 8AM to 3PM straight (well except to eat lunch at 12NN I guess). While the schedule is a bit hassling, I'd say that there really isn't much school work although my reading schedule gets a bit ruined because I spend a good amount of time in university.

Anyway, I decided to place myself in a book buying ban. While I admit that it's VERY impossible, I think that I'm pretty much getting through it well. I only bought 2books for the month && the three books bellow are free copies from Amazon and an ebook I won from Tracy @ Cornerfolds's giveaway which I just receive today :)

[WAITING ON WEDNESDAY] Made You Up

Series: N/A
Author: Francesca Zappia
Genre: young adult, contemporary, realistic fiction, mental illness, romance, 
Expected Publication: May 19, 2015

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook, and Liar. 

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal.  

Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up.

[REVIEW] Mary Hades

Series: Mary Hades #1
Author: Sarah Dalton
Genre: young adult, paranormal, ghosts, fantasy, horror, romance, mystery, thriller
Published: May 4, 2014 (first published April 30, 2014)
Publisher: Createspace
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Kobo

Not many seventeen year old girls have a best friend who’s a ghost, but then Mary Hades isn’t your average teenager.  

Scarred physically and mentally from a fire, her parents decide a holiday to an idyllic village in North Yorkshire will help her recover. Nestled in the middle of five moors, Mary expects to have a boring week stuck in a caravan with her parents. Little does she know, evil lurks in the campsite…  

Seth Lockwood—a local fairground worker with a dark secret—might be the key to uncovering the murky history that has blighted Nettleby. But Mary is drawn to him in a way that has her questioning her judgement.  

Helped by her dead best friend and a quirky gay Goth couple, Mary must stop the unusual deaths occurring in Nettleby. But can she prevent her heart from being broken?
The first in a series of dark YA novels, Mary Hades follows on from the bestselling Kindle Single 'My Daylight Monsters'. A spine-tingling tale with romance, readers will be shocked and entertained in equal measure.  

With some scenes of horror and some strong language, this book is best suited for readers aged fifteen and up.

[RELEASE EVENT] Tripp

Series: the Life Series #2
Author: Kristen Kehoe
Genre: young adult, new adult, romance, realistic fiction, 
Published: April 17, 2015
Purchase: Amazon

Because there are two sides to every story… 

I’ve never been the guy who shied away from taking the ball. I’m an athlete; I thrive on the court, and I thrive in life because I don’t shy away from taking chances. 

Except that one time. 

Except with Rachel. 

I fell in love with my best friend when we were ten, and she almost put her fist in my face when I tried to defend her against a fifth grade bully. I didn’t tell her that day that I loved her, or any of the ones following, because she had proved she didn’t need me, and even at a young age, I knew the opposite was true for me. 

I needed Rachel with every breath I took, and it scared the ever-loving crap out of me 

Being the mature young man I am (cough), I tried to ignore it. I dated someone else; I stayed Rachel’s friend and watched her from afar because when you love someone who has the potential to break you into a million unrecoverable pieces, that’s what you do.  You watch from afar and you never reveal your true feelings because it’s safer to hide them than to admit them. 

Until it’s not. Until the day you take a step forward and alter both of your worlds completely, only to discover that you’ll never, ever be over her. 

This is my story – my story of Rachel and everything I did and didn’t do, everything I said and forgot to say, and everything I felt before and after we made our biggest mistake and walked away from each other. 

She told her side – now it’s my turn. I’m including our past, holding nothing back from her ever again, so she better be ready for me. 

Mature Young Adult 

 ***This is the companion novel to LIFE INTERRUPTED (The Life series Book 1) released January 2014. It can be read as a standalone, as it is different from Rachel’s story.

[REVIEW] Golden Son

Series: Red Rising #2
Author: Pierce Brown
Genre: young adult, adult, science fiction, dystopia, war, fantasy, adventure, space
Published: January 6, 2015 
Publisher: Del Rey

As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow's kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds - and their only path to liberation is revolution. And so Darrow sacrifices himself in the name of the greater good for which Eo, his true love and inspiration, laid down her own life. He becomes a Gold, infiltrating their privileged realm so that he can destroy it from within.

A lamb among wolves in a cruel world, Darrow finds friendship, respect, and even love - but also the wrath of powerful rivals. To wage and win the war that will change humankind's destiny, Darrow must confront the treachery arrayed against him, overcome his all-too-human desire for retribution - and strive not for violent revolt but a hopeful rebirth. Though the road ahead is fraught with danger and deceit, Darrow must choose to follow Eo's principles of love and justice to free his people.

He must live for more.

[WAITING ON WEDNESDAY] A Court of Thorns and Roses

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: young adult, new adult, fantasy, retelling, romance,
Expected Publication: May 5, 2015

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore. 

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world. 

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever. 

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

[REVIEW] As the Crow Flies

Series: DI Nick Dixon #1
Author: Damien Boyd
Genre: adult, mystery, crime fiction, thriller, suspense, contemporary
Published: January 20, 2015 (first published April 19, 2013)
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Rock climbers can’t afford to make careless mistakes. But Detective Inspector Nick Dixon’s former climbing partner, Jake Fayter, died doing just that. Or so it seems. Dixon suspects foul play, but his only leads are unreliable accounts of something odd happening in Cheddar Gorge seconds before Jake fell. 

The more Dixon learns about Jake’s life, the more he realises that Jake hadn’t been quite the man he remembered...and a lot of people could have wanted him dead. Once Dixon gets too close to the truth, those people will emerge from the shadows and kill to protect their secrets. 

As the body count rises, Dixon bends the rules to breaking point to lure out a killer and unravel a conspiracy of silence that will rock the sleepy town of Burnham-on-Sea to its core. 

As the Crow Flies is the electrifying first novel in the DI Nick Dixon Crime Series.

czai's Spring 2015 Anime List!

Hello,

It feels good to be back on watching anime. Since my vacation started, I've finished around 3 anime series, two of which already have reviews posted :) I also finished PSYCHO-PASS 2 recently and I'm currently writing my review for it.

I'm pretty late on posting my anime list for Spring but I'm not giving so much deal on it right now since I won't be watching these shows as they air. I'll just wait for them finish THEN I'll marathon everything.

ANYWAY, this season's lineup didn't really capture me. I always LOVE spring anime season (along with fall) but it seems that this year's lineup didn't really lit up a spark in me. But hopefully, by the end of the season, I'll be very interested in many of them (I'll continue to stalk a few anime blogs and see how these anime will hold up).

What I'm only eagerly looking forward to this season are Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatteiru. Zoku (Oregairu) and Ace of Diamond 2. Oregairu is one of those anime series that I really love with because of the characters (well maybe I'm only talking about Hachiman). AND just when Ace of Diamond is about to come to an end, they announced a second season coming up. Best thing about it is that there won't even be a break from the end of season 1 to season 2. I definitely NEED to finish season one already!

Aside from these two, I got interested in  the remake/TV version/adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. I've never seen the original one so I guess this is my chance to finally watch this. Then there's Digimon's 15th year anniversary. I only watched Digimon until the 4th installment, Digimon Frontiers. But finding out that the original characters are returning, I can't stop myself from feeling excited for this. There's also the odd looking shoujo-romance series Ore Monogatari! It kind of feels like a funny rom-com anime right here. With Madhouse handling this funny looking series, I'm quite sure it'll go well :)

[WAITING ON WEDNESDAY] The Secrets We Keep

Series: N/A
Author: Trisha Leaver
Genre: young adult, contemporary, realistic fiction, mystery, suspense, family
Expected Publication: April 28, 2015

A girl takes over her twin sister's identity in this emotionally charged page-turner about the complicated bond between sisters. 

Ella and Maddy Lawton are identical twins. Ella has spent her high school years living in popular Maddy's shadows, but she has never been envious of Maddy. In fact, she's chosen the quiet, safe confines of her sketchbook over the constant battle for attention that has defined Maddy's world. 

When—after a heated argument—Maddy and Ella get into a tragic accident that leaves her sister dead, Ella wakes up in the hospital surrounded by loved ones who believe she is Maddy. Feeling responsible for Maddy's death and everyone's grief, Ella makes a split-second decision to pretend to be Maddy. Soon, Ella realizes that Maddy's life was full of secrets. Caught in a web of lies, Ella is faced with two options—confess her deception or live her sister's life.

[REVIEW] The Blast

full tour schedule can be found at YA Bound Book Tours

Series: N/A
Author: Sarah Perlmutter
Genre: young adult, science fiction, post apocalyptic, survival, romance
Published: December 15, 2014 (first published January 25, 2014)
Purchase: Amazon

After a series of blasts force Beatrice Hicks and her family into their prepper bunker, they emerge to discover they are among the survivors of a nuclear apocalypse. Fighting against rogue groups and coping with deaths are just some of the adjustments Beatrice must make to survive, but how will she maintain her humanity after the blast? 

Praise for THE BLAST:
“This is the most impressive and heartfelt apocalypse story I’ve ever read in my life!”
“A real tour de force... [It’s] refreshing to have a YA book which focuses on the important things in a person’s life – family, love and death.”
“What a beautiful story. A wonderful look at the human ability to survive, rebuild, and grow through survival.”
“One of the best post-apocalypse stories I have read.”
“This book easily stacks up against my favourites and has an originality that many books seem to lack these days. [The] writing style is impeccable and this book is utterly breathtaking!”

[REVIEW] The Fade Out, vol1

Series: The Fade Out #1
Author: Ed Brubaker | Illustrations: Sean Phillips | Colors: Elizabeth Breitweiser
Genre: comics, crime fiction, mystery, historical fiction, noir
Published: March 10, 2015 (first published February 24, 2015)
Publisher: Image Comics

Brubaker and Phillips' newest hit series, The Fade Out, is an epic noir set in the world of noir itself, the backlots and bars of Hollywood at the end of its Golden Era. A movie stuck in endless reshoots, a writer damaged from the war and lost in the bottle, a dead movie star and the lookalike hired to replace her. Nothing is what it seems in the place where only lies are true. The Fade Out is Brubaker and Phillips' most ambitious project yet! 

Collects THE FADE OUT issues #1 to #4

[REVIEW] Barakamon

English Title: N/A
Studio: Kinema Citrus, Square Enix
Genre: comedy, slice of life
Episodes: 12
Anime Director: Tachibana Masaki (.hack// Quantum, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0)
Adaptation: manga

After punching a famous curator in the face for criticizing his work as "textbook and lifeless," Handa Seishuu is sent to Gotō Island to calm his nerves and find new inspiration for his calligraphy. Growing up in the city all his life, though, Handa must adapt to country life while meeting an assortment of quirky people during his tenure.

[WAITING ON WEDNESDAY] HIT

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming can't wait to read.

Series: N/A

Author: Delilah S. Dawson

Genre: young adult, science fiction, dystopia

Expected Publication: April 14, 2015

NO ONE READS THE FINE PRINT. 

The good news is that the USA is finally out of debt. The bad news is that we were bought out by Valor National Bank, and debtors are the new big game, thanks to a tricky little clause hidden deep in the fine print of a credit card application. Now, after a swift and silent takeover that leaves 9-1-1 calls going through to Valor voicemail, they’re unleashing a wave of anarchy across the country. 

Patsy didn’t have much of a choice. When the suits showed up at her house threatening to kill her mother then and there for outstanding debt unless Patsy agreed to be an indentured assassin, what was she supposed to do? Let her own mother die? 

Patsy is forced to take on a five-day mission to complete a hit list of ten names. Each name on Patsy's list has only three choices: pay the debt on the spot, agree to work as a bounty hunter, or die. And Patsy has to kill them personally, or else her mom takes a bullet of her own. 

Since yarn bombing is the only rebellion in Patsy's past, she’s horrified and overwhelmed, especially as she realizes that most of the ten people on her list aren't strangers. Things get even more complicated when a moment of mercy lands her with a sidekick: a hot rich kid named Wyatt whose brother is the last name on Patsy's list. The two share an intense chemistry even as every tick of the clock draws them closer to an impossible choice. 

Delilah S. Dawson offers an absorbing, frightening glimpse at a reality just steps away from ours—a taut, suspenseful thriller that absolutely mesmerizes from start to finish.

MARCH ROUNDUP

Hello,

March was another crazy month but I was really glad that I was able to manage it, somehow. I had a few sleepless nights but I believe that it was all worth it (well for most of the part, really).

{ BOOK REVIEWS }

The Burned Bridges Protocol by Abigail Borders | The Ghost of You by Amanda Burckhard | Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Stacy King, Crystal Chan | Chronicles from Chateau Moines by Evelyne Holingue | Silent Scream by Angela Marsons | My Daylight Monsters by Sarah Dalton | The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma | Delayed Death by Beate Boeker

{ ANIME REVIEW }

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (Dogakobo)

{ PROMOTIONAL POSTS }
+ giveaways

The Burned Bridges Protocol by Abigail Borders | The Ghost of You by Amanda Burckhard | Baxter's Draw by Juliette Harper | The Infinite by Lori M. Lee | Chronicles from Chateau Moines by Evelyne Holingue | A Batter of Life and Death by Ellie Alexander | Delayed Death by Beate Boeker | Bone Dry by Cady Vance