REVIEW | The Reaper

Series: Children of Wisdom #2 
Author: Stephanie Erickson
Genre: contemporary, fantasy, mythology
Publish: March 5, 2016
Publisher: Pickles Press
Purchase: Amazon

"The Thread of life is a delicate thing. It is so easily broken..."  

My name is Michaela, and I'm a Reaper. I help the humans transition from their home on Earth after they die. Up until a short time ago, things were going well. But then, one of our best Fates was banished to Earth, people started dying before their time, and things went rapidly downhill from there.  

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I found seven misplaced souls trapped in the depths of hell. It didn't matter to me who had put them there, or even why they had. All I knew was I had to get them out. I couldn't just leave them there to suffer.  

Who knew trying to find out and fix what had gone so horribly wrong would end with me surrounded by misfit Fates while racing through the depths of hell? Trying to save not only the seven trapped souls, but also the entire human race, is not exactly in my job description...  

WEEKEND READS | Walk on Earth a Stranger + Mortom

one of my 2015 most anticipated reads.

Hello,

I talked about how life has been for me during this past month in my book haul post yesterday. It was mixture of good and bad. But I survived it. I'm done with that and I'm going to focus on things to come right now.

This past week I finally picked up Walk on Earth a Stranger which I'm sooooo happy about. I placed In Gallup, Greed on-hold but I'll get back to it after Walk on Earth. I think I'm kind of getting burnt out with all these mystery-thriller. I still like them, really. Mortom which is my other read for this weekend is a mystery-thriller but I think that I need a tiny break from them.

I know I kind of promised a couple of reviews last week but I didn't made it. I have them written out already but haven't formatted them on the blog. I'm generally just procrastinating. haha.

Bullet in the Blue Sky | Bill Larkin
This is a very intriguing book that had me reading fast. There's this search mission then there's this non-stop action. There's always something going on. But that isn't the only thing that had me going on this book. Once Detective Shaw was found, this just started getting even more interesting. So really... check out my review, check out other reviews, and hopefully you decide to read this book :)
The Reaper (the Children of Wisdom #2) | Stephanie Erickson
Middle. Book. Syndrome. Book one, The Fate, was a pretty decent read. I liked it. I liked Penn. I like the writing. I like the progression of the story. But this one? There are questionable things. Really slow progression. Annoying Penn. Unimportant events. I'll have a mini-review soon!!

AUGUST BOOK HAUL (aka the Birthday Month Haul)

birthday haul.

S.  by J.J. Abrahams & Doug Dorst | Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel | The Passage by Jutsin Cronin | Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick | The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson | All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr | In Gallup, Greed by Tower Lowe (not in photo)

Hello,

My birthday month was a mixture of good things and not so good things. First off, these books I got came from my dad who's totally supporting my reading hobby. I was about to get A TON MORE BOOKS but decided not to (had to drop a lot which includes ACOMAF and The Wrath and The Dawn and Dark Matter and a few more). I really don't think it's right to take soooo much -- I mean take advantage of the offer. I don't even know why I'm like that. I'll get those books some other time. I'm sure of it.

Second, I mentioned in my last weekend reads post that things have not been going well with my undergraduate thesis. I'm having some issues with this thesis group mate and friend. It's quite difficult to tell her that she's doing things wrong. My other group mate and I keep on telling her that we don't need this, we have to scrap this, blah-blah-blah. She doesn't listen. I want to save you, friends, all the trouble. So I'd just say that things are not going well for us and we're completely off schedule and I'm trying not to be angry at her.

REVIEW | Into the Dark

Series: Into the Dark #1
Author: Caroline T. Patti
Genre: young adult, fantasy, paranormal, romance
Publish: August 18, 2015
Publisher: Month9Books
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

A “sweet sixteen” party is supposed to be among the most memorable events of a girl’s life. But on the night of her party, Mercy Clare wakes up in the waiting room of a hospital with no memory of how she got there. To make matters worse, she’s wearing something she would never be caught dead in: her best friend Lyla’s clothes. Mercy’s nightmare is just beginning. The doctor tells her, referring to her as Lyla, that Mercy is lying in the hospital bed waiting to die. A trip to the bathroom confirms Mercy’s fears, as Lyla’s face stares back at her and Lyla’s curvy figure pokes through her tight clothes. But finding out what’s really going on won’t be easy. Because if Mercy wants her body back . . . it might just cost her Lyla’s life.

BLOG TOUR | Bullet in the Blue Sky

Series: N/A
Author: Bil Larkin
Genre: adult, thriller, suspense, crime fiction
Publish: August 4, 2016
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

In the chaotic aftermath of a massive earthquake that leveled much of the Los Angeles region, a LAPD deputy chief sends an elite team of detectives on a rescue mission. They are ordered to set aside all law enforcement duties, to ignore the destruction and to focus on one task: Find LAPD Detective Gavin Shaw, who disappeared just before the earthquake. 

Kevin “Schmitty” Schmidt of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department joins five others on the rescue team. With rioting, looting, attacks and homicides rampant in the streets, the six cops have to defend themselves while chasing down leads on the whereabouts of Shaw. The mission takes them through the dizzying war zone and the more they encounter, the more they wonder why they are searching for one man in these extreme circumstances. Why is this man so important to the deputy chief, and why now? 

Schmitty discovers that others with high connections are also after Shaw. The questions pile even higher when they learn of a shadowy history between Shaw and the deputy chief. A history with deadly consequences for the team as they uncover a threat that elevates the mission to a race against time.

WEEKEND READS | Mystery Thriller Reads!!

current read.

Hello,

Life has been stressful and my undergraduate thesis is killing me. I mean not literally of course. I'm just getting into some really unhappy moments with a friend because of what's going on with our schedule. Nothing big (possibly... hopefully...).

ANYWAY, on better things, I think, the weather's finally better. YAY! And I've finally given up on the Epic Reads's #ReadingDecathlon. LOL. It's already Day 8 of my pledge and I've read 4 books. I'll definitely get back to that on some other time. Well that doesn't sound so good. Possibly this week was not really good for me now that I've thought of about -- wrecked schedule, that suck-y workshop I attended yesterday, that uninteresting event we're setting up for a class requirement. Ugh.

There Once Were Stars | Melanie McFarlane
The world is really good.. Reminded me a bit of Sunset Rising but There Once Were Stars has its own thrilling scifi story from the mentioned series. The heroine is also pretty good but the romance wasn't exactly a strong point. Review (+ giveaway) can be found here!!
Thirteen (The Last Thirteen #1) | James Phelan
This book is a complete waste of my time. Review will be up soon!!
Into the Dark (Into the Dark #1) | Caroline T. Patti
I really like the concept of this book -- breaching bodies, a group of people assigned to kill them. Aside from all of these Into the Dark involves family and, of course, romance. There's always something going on. I enjoyed it. Not completely stellar though. Review soon!!

BLOG TOUR | There Once Were Stars

full tour schedule can be found at: Xpresso Book Tours

Series:
Author: Melanie McFarlane
Genre: young adult, science fiction, dystopia
Publish: April 26, 2016
Publisher: Month9Books
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

Peace. Love. Order. Dome. That’s the motto that the Order has given the residents of Dome 1618 to live by. Natalia Greyes is a resident of Dome 1618, a covered city protected from the deadly radiation that has poisoned the world outside for four generations. Nat never questioned the Order, until one day she sees a stranger on the outside of the dome. Now Nat wants answers. Is there life outside the dome and if so, what has the Order been hiding from everyone?

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY | Scythe

Series: N/A (at least for now...)
Author: Neal Shusterman
Genre: young adult, science fiction, dystopia
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BfYR
Expected Publication: November 2016

In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed (“gleaned”) by professional reapers (“scythes”). Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythe’s apprentices, and—despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation—they must learn the art of killing and come to understand the necessity of what they do.  

Only one of them will be chosen as a scythe’s apprentice. And when it becomes clear that the winning apprentice’s first task will be to glean the loser, Citra and Rowan are pitted against one another in a fight for their lives.

WEEKEND READS | Zodiac + Into the Dark

current read.

Hello,

I've been a bit inactive but that's because I've been reading. A bit of school stuff happening but nothing completely major right now. Anyway, the weather has been gloomy this past few days. Classes get suspended. It's raining almost non-stop. I hate it. I mean rain is fine but I really wish it doesn't go for an entire day or two or three. It scares me.

I hope we get a better weather next week!!

ALSO, I'm 10 books away from finishing my Goodreads Reading Challenger 2016 and it's only August. I'm thinking of moving my goal from 70 to 80 or 90. For 2 years, I go for 70 books because that's the most manageable for my reading pace. But this year, I got waaaay ahead of my schedule. So I think an increase in my goal is just right :)

Genesis Girl (Blank Slate #1) | Jennifer Bardsley
I really, really like the world of this book. I had mixed feelings for it though but I still really enjoy it. I like its idea -- a dystopian world where a few children are sent to Tabula Rasa School. They are taught of the evils of technology and are raised to stay away from it. After graduation from Tabula Rasa, they are sold to the highest bidders as models/advertisers of products. The idea is that because Tabula Rasa graduates called Vestals do not have any 'virtual footprint', it makes them the most reliable advertisers. Blanca, unlike her fellow Vestals, became a Geisha -- a Vestal bought not by a company but by a private person for private purposes.
The story really has a lot of interesting turns. I wouldn't say that they are like plot twist or anything. They made me confused a bit -- like at times, I don't even know what's going to happen next, I had no idea where the story is heading. Good thing? Bad thing? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I still ended up enjoying it though. Full review soon!!

Technology was driving people apart and tearing them away from the physical presence of the people they loved. #GenesisGirl

— czai (@czai_) August 7, 2016

REVIEW | Zero

Series: Zero #1
Author: Morgan Dark
Genre: young adult, contemporary, mystery, thriller, fantasy
Publish: June 28, 2016 (first published May 4, 2015)
Publisher: Rubiños 1860
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

A baffling robber. 

A mystery hidden for years. 

And an elite boarding school where no one is who they say they are. 

Kyle Bradford is the envy of Drayton College, but everything takes a turn when a dangerous shadow, hidden in the darkness, starts to stalk him. From then on, his life falls apart. Unjustly accused of being the main suspect behind the robberies terrifying high society, he is forced to prove his innocence. And to do so, he has to find the real culprit: Zero, an infallible criminal who keeps his identity hidden under a silver mask. What Kyle does not know is that his enemy is keeping a secret. A secret he would sacrifice everything for. 

A dizzying, heart-stopping thriller you won’t be able to put down.

WEEKEND READS | Big Little Lies + Genesis Girl

second library read!!

Hello,

SOOOO WEEKEND READS IS BACK!! I've been on-and-off in blogging in the past month or so. But while I'm not making promises, I'm here! I just borrowed my second library reads which is Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. I've been eyeing this one since last semester and now I have it! I'm hoping to finishing it this weekend or early this coming week (because uni library sucks. it only has two days of lending.. ugh.. why?).

Challenger Deep | Neal Shusterman
When I came across this book months before it was released, I got suuuuuper excited. Because why not? It's Neal Shusterman. And every time I come across a Neal Shusterman book in the bookstore, I immediately pick it up (that's how rare Neal Shusterman is in here). ANYWAY, I was suuuuper scared to pick up Challenger Deep. I've read nothing but positive things about it! Reviews like that scare me a bit because what if I fail them and end up being a black sheep? The pressure, friends! BUT good thing is, it worked for me. Here's a brief 'review' because I won't be posting a separate one for this:

Challenger Deep started in a really interesting yet odd way for me. There's an alternating setting in Caden Bosch's mind (like the blurb!!): the actual world (earth to Caden!!) and the ship heading to the Challenger Deep. I really LOVED how it was written -- the anxiety, the description, Caden's own little world. I'm a big admirer of Shusterman's writing and how well he slowly develops his character and how slowly and surely he reveals everything about his world. It was just PERFECT!

I marveled that people could live so close [...] and yet be completely isolated. #ChallengerDeep

— czai (@czai_) July 26, 2016

Why Do I Blog? -- Here goes my blogging journey!

book party!

I was thinking of how I'm going to go around my Birthday Post this year. And I came across this really great post by Emily @ Forever Literary a couple of days back. It's a post that actually made me think about my blogging journey -- how I started; why I continued; why do I even bother posting; and all the experiences I had.

For me, Emily's post is a call to look at one's experiences, enjoyment, and maybe passion in blogging and not his/her blog followers or blog statistics. Yes, of course they are important if you are hoping to grab advance copies of books. But do those statistics/number of followers define us as bloggers?

No.

BUT that's not what I'll talk about here. Emily has definitely done an AMAZING job in sharing her thoughts about the issue (or what she wants everyone to really look at about the matter). What I'll go around here is just some plain personal insights on my blogging journey. She made me think about all of these as I read her post. This is my Birthday Post anyway. So I think it's okay for this to be personal.

So here goes nothing!!

REVIEW | Sunset Rising

Series: Sunset Rising #1
Author: S.M. McEachern
Genre: young adult, science fiction, dystopia, romance
Publish: November 12, 2013
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Desperate to find refuge from the nuclear storm, a group of civilians discover a secret government bio-dome. Greeted by a hail of bullets and told to turn back, the frantic refugees stand their ground. They are grudgingly permitted entry, but the price of admission is high. Two hundred and eighty-three years later…  

Life as a slave in the Pit had never been easy, but for seventeen-year-old Sunny O’Donnell it was quickly falling apart. Her mother had been killed in the annual spring Cull, leaving her alone with a father who was no longer interested in living the short time he had left. Not that she blamed him for mourning. Her own heart was aching with overwhelming grief. But if they didn’t earn enough credits to keep their place inside the Pit, they would be kicked out into a world still teeming with radiation. That left her to earn the credits for both of them, and it didn’t help that her boyfriend, Reyes Crowe, was pressuring her to marry him and abandon her father. 

Sunny didn’t think life could get any worse until a chance encounter with Leisel Holt, the president's daughter, and her fiancé, Jack Kenner, leaves her accused of treason. Slated for execution, she escapes with a man she considers an enemy and discovers she not only has to work with him to survive, but also to lead the revolution. 

Sunset Rising is Book One of a trilogy. The next two books are: Worlds Collide (Book Two) published March 2014; and New World Order (Book Three) published January 2015. 

JULY ROUNDUP (aka AmyandAndreainPH + BookwormsUnite2.0 Month)

books.

Hello,

July was a rather chill-out blogging month for me. I decided to lay low, read, and look at what's ahead of me this semester. Basically, I'll just have my thesis as my biggest worry. So much excitement for that. hahaha. not.

{ BOOK REVIEWS }