Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti: Zodiac Academy - The Reckoning

In the next installment of the Zodiac Academy Peckham and Valenti the Reckoning is bearing down on the girls but that is not all they have to worry about:

The Lunar Eclipse holds all the power, all the answers, and most of all The Reckoning will occur. The Vega twins have no idea what is coming for them, even leading up to the Reckoning. But a dark plot is unfolding around them and they have no idea what is coming for them and who they can trust.

As the third book in the series, I knew i would have to make the decision whether i would continue on with this series or not, and i will continue on, as this book was better than the second one. This book is completely a vibes or popcorn read for some. I found myself turning the pages as fast as i could, even though it felt like nothing really happened in this book but at the same time stuff happened.

I'm here for the relationship between Darcy and Orion. I like how their relationship has progressed in each book and some of the scenes of them together in this book were extremely well done. And their relationship will have you routing for the two of them even in hard times.

I'm interested to see how a side character plays out, the Vega twins really cannot rely or trust anyone around them and I hope this continues in the series. I want more suspense of them not know who is actually around them.

I still think that this book and series has too many POV, but some of the men in this book seem to have less than the previous 2 which i am fine with. I don't think that we need that many perspectives of the same things or same even that happen throughout but i feel like i will be criticizing this for each book.

Where was the suspense? I thought it would be more high stakes especially the Reckoning part of the book and with the lack of Nymphs this book was lacking in this avenue. And speaking of The Reckoning, what Reckoning, it was such a small part of the book that I thought I was missing part of the book. It was nothing really extreme or crazy, I cant say much or I'd give it away but i was totally underwhelmed by it. For a 600 page book and one where the Reckoning was supposed to be this crazy test, you'd think more than part of a chapter would be dedicated to it.

This was a good installment into the series and I have decided to continue on with it, but in the recommended way of now switching series to the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac. I would say read this series if you are here for the popcorn/vibes and nothing else.

Enjoy!!!!

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Nisha J. Tuli: Trial of the Sun King

In the start of a new series, Nisha J. Tuli shows what happens when you mix the Bachelor with Deadly Trials:

Lor was sent to prison when she was 12 and she has spent the last 12 years irking out a "life" in prison, content that this is what her life will be. When one more violation ends her up in the hole (again) Lor does not think that she will survive this time. When she is surprisingly rescued and entered into the Trial to compete to be the Sun Queen, Lor knows she does not belong there. But Lor knows that she needs to win not only to stay alive but to get revenge on Aurora King, the one responsible for putting her and her family in prison.

This is the first book that I have read by Tuli and i found i was hooked from the very first sentence. Trial of the Sun Queen is fast paced, it kept me entertained throughout and I would have read it in one sitting if i could have. With that said was this book predictable at time, 100%, was this book groundbreaking in content or story, nope, but that does not mean that I did not enjoy the ride of the book.

I liked Lor as a character for most of the book. She is all hard edges and has to guard everything around her from her body, mind and soul if she has wanted to survive in prison. I appreciate that she is different from the other girls in the Trials (aka Deadly Bachelor) but that is the point of her, she is different and she thrives on it. I like that Lor is willing to protect those who she sees a weaker and her friends.

There is a bit of mystery thrown into this book around Lor and who she really is and what is it capable of. Plus there are some shady things about the Sun King that kept me turning the pages.

I think one of the things that would have made this book better is having another POV. I mean we get the main POV from Lor, with some POV of Nadir throughout the book, but I personally wished that there was a POV from Gabriel. I want to know what he thinks not only of Lor but the whole situation and some of the things that he has been forced to do in the past. I feel like Gabriel is a wealth of knowledge and maybe a main character in his own right.

If you are looking for a book that is like the bachelor but magical and deadly (they are okay if contestants die), then you should pick up this book. I know I'll be continuing on with this series as I found this entertaining, I just hope that the next book in the series is not as predictable.

Enjoy!!!!

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Katherine Faulker: The Break-In

Katherine Faulkner takes readers on a journey that is so much more than a Break-In:

Alice is enjoying a relaxing evening with at home with friends, when the unthinkable happens, someone breaks in to her house and threatens not only he child but a friends as well. In defense of them, Alice ends up killing him. What Alice did not expect was how she was going to feel after it was done, from the online trolls damning her action because of her status or not knowing who the intruder was, Alice cannot help but think that there is more to this. Alice find herself drawn into the mystery of who the intruder was and the deeper she digs, the closer she get, she realizes there is a trail of dark secrets that are closer to her than she expects.

This is the first book that I have read by Faulker but I was aware of her other books that she has published and had though of reading one of the. The premise of this book sounded promising and i was invested at the beginning of the book but then it just fell flat that I found forcing myself to pick up this book with how slow Faulkner progressed the plot through this book. I was also able to figure out the majority of the twists in this book, and while Faulker does a good job at hiding some of them, the other are pretty obvious and predictable.

I like multiple POV books, especially in a premise like this one and, I think Faulker did a good job of distinguishing between them and having each of them have something new to add to the over story. But when doing the multiple POV I don’t love when you are waiting for a character to figure something out as you as the reader know because of another POV. It’s annoying and it makes me want to strangle the character that doesn’t have that info yet, or see the signs that the other character was giving them. I also feel like.

I'm not sure if i was supposed to like any of the characters in the book, but i really didn't find a redeeming one in there. I don't mind if you're supposed to hate all the characters in a book it makes for an interesting read, but you have to have me more invested in the plot then. And while i felt for Alice, especially at the beginning of the book, I began to like her less and less throughout. I wanted to strangle her a few times for the choices that makes.

This book was not for me, I found that I was turning pages to just turn pages as I really didn’t care about what was happening and just wanted to get through this book as quick as possible. I don't know if this is Faulker's usual writing style or how she lays out her plot, but it just wasn't what I was looking for.

Cheers!!!!

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Kristin Cashore: Graceling

In the first in the series, Kristin Cashore takes readers on a journey to save not only a child but a Kingdom:

Katsa has been able to kill a man with just her hand since she was a child. She is a Graceling, blessed with a a special ability, an extreme skill that cannot be matched. Once her Graceling status was known she was given to the King to be his personal hit squad. Katsa accepted her life a long time ago, but then another Graceling who challenges everything she knows and is good at, Po. Katsa begins to question things as Po makes her think more about her Graceling ability and When someone in Po's family needs help, she will do anything to actually do something good with her abilities. But the road ahead is a dangerous one, enemies are made and not all will be the same when this is done.

I have heard nothing about good things about this series and about Katsa as a character. I really enjoyed this story and I was able to read it almost in one sitting. Cashore was able to draw me into the story right away with the idea of Gracelings and Katsa as a character. 

I loved Katsa as a character she knows who she is and what she wants and what she wants to do with her Graceling powers, but that was not how she started in the world. When she first discovers that she has the ability to beat anyone in a fight at eight, there are those that take advantage of her ability for murder and torture. It is as Katsa grows up she become more and more uncomfortable doing what she is told and the acts she is being told to do. She finds her inner strength and a new purpose in life. 

I think one of my favourite things in the book was the relationship between her and Po, it is so sweet and honest and full of emotions especially the farther you read into the story. Po is also a Graceling, so he understands some of things that Katsa has gone through but he had a very different upbringing that her. 

My main critique about the book I wasn't a fan of how the book was written, very paragraph heavy to the point that it felt clunky in the executions. Each new paragraph was almost always a new point in time, a new scene. This also meant that the book had longer chapters due to this fact. I wish that she broke it up a bit more in terms of chapters instead of paragraphs.

Although I enjoyed this book in the sense of Characters and Story how it was written really made it hard to read at times, that I don't think I will continue on in the series, especially as Katsa's story is wrapped up in this book. But i did enjoy this book overall.

Enjoy!!!!

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Liann Zhang: Julie Chan is Dead

In her debut novel Liann Zhang asks the question would you take over your Twin's Life?

Julie Chan has nothing, is nothing, lives a mundane life that is really going no where. This is complete contrast to her twin Sister Chloe, who has become a social media influencer and seems to have everything going for her. Julie and Chloe have not been in contact since they were separated at a young age, other than one video Chloe made using Julie. When Julie receives a call from Chloe out of no where, Julie feels she should go to Chloe. What she finds is Chloe's dead body and everyone thinking that she is Chloe. Does Julie dare to become Chloe, go into the life that has coveted from afar. But once Julie becomes Chloe she realizes that being an influencer is harder than one thinks, and that Chloe's life is not all it seems.

I personally love reading debut novels, to hear the new voices that are coming out in the literary world. The premise of this book had me hitting read extremely fast and even questioning if i had a twin and had the opportunity to take over their life would i? This is a theme that Zhang explores in the first part of the book, can Julie truly becomes Chloe and make those around her believe that she is actually Chloe as they have grown up so differently. There is also the need for Julie to try to find out why Chloe died and what better way to do it than pretend to be her, you can find friends and enemies a lot easer that way. I was in I was invested and then, What the actual F*** happens halfway through this book? 

This book takes a huge left turn that I was not expecting, but was warned something was going to happen but not what it was and I don't think i ever would have predicted that the book would take this turn. This is to the point where the books feel like two different books, that Zhang had two ideas (and I think great ideas) that Zhang decided to meld them together, but didn't quite make it.

Am I upset about this strange turn of events, Yes and No. Yes, because this book became something I was not expecting it to be and seemed so different from the beginning of the book and what i thought I was going to get. But then No at the same time as Zhang took a risk with this and deciding to go this way.

I liked that this book highlights what it takes to be a social media influencer, and I don't think that Zhang is far off in the first half of the book. The amount of content they are making and expected to make, how they feel the need to share everything in their life and that those who portray "healthy lives" are nothing but unhealthy (both physically and mentally).

Julie felt like such a real character to me, her life and her jealousy over Chloe's life and missing the twin that she had before they were separated as children. I cant blame Julie for the choices she makes or what she feels, it felt raw and real.

I was not a fan of the ending of this book either. You can tell Zhang tried to do something a bit different and normally I'm all about that, but it just didn't work here.

I would try another book by Zhang as I think the book was well written and the ideas she presented, just not together in one book. I think once Zhang can focus on just one amazing idea she will have a killer book.

Cheers!!!

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Alison Gaylin: The Collective

In the Collective, Alison Gaylin shows the lengths that grieving parents will go to, to make sure those who hurt their loved ones suffer:

Camille, is angry, grieving, mother, who for the past 5 years has had to watch the person who raped and murdered her daughter go free, have a clean record and have the world act like he was never involved in the crime, all because he had the money to get away with it. Camille has had enough, she is determined to show the world what type of "man" he truly is. Camille's actions bring her to the attention of a secret group on the dark web, one that makes sure those who got away from crimes are punished. Camille feels a sisterhood, a kinship to all those in the collective and if she can help even in small ways to bring justice to other mother's out there, she will do it. But the longer Camille is part of the Collective the more she learns not just about herself but the Collective as well and it will have her questioning everything.

This is the first book that I have read by Gaylin and it will not be the last. I do not know if I am the first one to say this but this book is what I wanted Kill for Me Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh to be (yes that very hyped book from last year), yep I said it. I found that this book had more depth, more emotion and even though it is more of a slow burn thriller at times i just felt connected to Camille that I was reading as fast as I could. Gaylin does such a great job in pulling the reader in. This made me invested in Camille right from the beginning, I wanted to know how far she would go, what limits the Collective would push her to and then thinking what would be my limit? Would I go this far? 

Personally, I cannot blame Camille for what she wants to happen to her daughter’s rapist and murderer. I think any parent would have many of the same feelings that she expresses throughout the book. Gaylin makes Camille feel like a real person and her honesty of what she wants is not sugar coated at all and it is dark at times. I like how Gaylin showed the decline in Camille's mental state throughout the beginning of the book and how helping the Collective seems to help her in some way. Although as you read further into the books there is a secondary plot that unfolds, this book is very much driven by Camille and her story.

That Ending.....now that is an ending. Way to go Gaylin. 

I really enjoyed this book, I like that Gaylin was able to make me feel so connected to Camille and at times takes the story in a way that I did not fully expect. I look forward to reading another book by Gaylin.

Enjoy!!!

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