Slow start but amazing end - Becoming Review

Becoming: The Balance Bringer (The Balance Bringer Chronicles #1)
by Debra Kristi
My rating: 3.5 hearts
Publication date: January, 2018
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Synopsis:

Ana still blames herself for her boyfriend's death two years prior. Now, what she thought were mere dreams are starting to enter her waking life.

As Eerie shadows hunt Ana, strange new abilities develop. Her dream guy becomes reality, and Ana is becoming something...other.

Ana feels like she's becoming something beyond human, or maybe she's just going crazy. But there's no one for her to turn to. Her mother and her best friend are keeping a dark secret about who Ana really is―a secret that could restore the balance between worlds or hurtle them deeper into darkness.

Ana is not only discovering the world is far stranger than she ever expected, but that its survival is dependent on her. But for there to even be a glimmer of a chance at salvation, she must make it alive to the home she's never known.

If you devoured the Mortal Instruments series you'll love this award-winning, action-packed, romance-touched, coming-of-age adventure told from the point-of-view of a confused and unreliable high-school senior.

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Blog Tour + Review: Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen

Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance
by Jennieke Cohen
My rating: 3 hearts
Publication date: December 3, 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult, Historical, Romance

Synopsis:

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue meets Jane Austen in this witty, winking historical romance with a dash of mystery!

Lady Victoria Aston has everything she could want: an older sister happily wed, the future of her family estate secure, and ample opportunity to while her time away in the fields around her home.

But now Vicky must marry—or find herself and her family destitute. Armed only with the wisdom she has gained from her beloved novels by Jane Austen, she enters society’s treacherous season.

Sadly, Miss Austen has little to say about Vicky’s exact circumstances: whether the roguish Mr. Carmichael is indeed a scoundrel, if her former best friend, Tom Sherborne, is out for her dowry or for her heart, or even how to fend off the attentions of the foppish Mr. Silby, he of the unfortunate fashion sensibility.

Most unfortunately of all, Vicky’s books are silent on the topic of the mysterious accidents cropping up around her…ones that could prevent her from surviving until her wedding day.

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Blog Tour + Review: Taming Demons for Beginners

Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex: Demonized #1)
by Annette Marie
My rating: 4 hearts
Publisher: Dark Owl Fantasy Inc.
Publication date: September 11, 2019
Genre: New Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis:

Rule one: Don't look at the demon.

When I arrived at my uncle's house, I expected my relatives to be like me—outcast sorcerers who don't practice magic. I was right about the sorcery, but wrong about everything else.

Rule two: Don't listen to the demon.

My uncle chose a far deadlier power. He calls creatures of darkness into our world, binds them into service contracts, and sells them to the highest bidder. And I'm supposed to act like I don't know how illegal and dangerous it is.

Rule three: Don't talk to the demon.

All I had to do was keep my nose out of it. Pretend I didn't find the summoning circle in the basement. Pretend I didn't notice the shadowy being trapped inside it. Pretend I didn't break the rules.

But I did, and now it's too late.

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Middle Grade Blog Hop + Q&A With Amy Bearce

Hi guys! I'm really excited to participate in the Middle Grade Blog Hop hosted by Snowy Wings Publishing. Today, I'm hosting the author of the World of Aluvia series, Amy Bearce. Keep reading for information about her series, and my interview with her. Welcome to The Reading Faery, Amy!

Amy writes fantasy and light science fiction for young readers and the young at heart. She is the author of the World of Aluvia series (Fairy Keeper, Mer-Charmer, and Dragon Redeemer, 2019) through Snowy Wings Publishing and Shortcuts (CBAY Books, 2019), for grades 4 and up. She is also a former reading teacher and librarian.

As an Army kid, she moved eight times before she was eighteen, so she feels especially fortunate to be married to her high school sweetheart. Together they are raising two daughters in San Antonio.

A perfect day for Amy involves rain pattering on the windows, popcorn, and every member of her family curled up in one cozy room reading a good book.

Backlist Shelf Control: Akarnae by Lynette Noni

Backlist Shelf Control is a weekly feature hosted by The Reading Faery which is dedicated to sharing backlist books that have been on your TBR for too long. Every Friday, you talk about a backlist book (any book published the previous year or earlier) that you're excited to read and why you want to read it. If you participate, please comment on my post so that I can check out your post!

Suspenseful, intense & complex - Hexen's Binding ARC Review

Hexen's Binding (Hexen's Cross #2)
by J. Kowallis
My rating: 5 hearts
Publication date: September 23, 2019
Genre: New Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis:

Bryden changed everything. History that once was, is no longer. And life doesn't exist as it once did. Hellia lurks in the shadows between worlds, but the specter of the once-powerful hexen is the least of Taran Grim's worries. Something happened that day in Bryden. Something Taran failed to see. And Coll might be the one paying the price.

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An intense roller-coaster - The Burning Shadow ARC Review

The Burning Shadow (Origin #2)
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 5 hearts
Publisher: Thor Teen
Publication date: October 8, 2019
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Synopsis:

When Evelyn Dasher crossed paths with Luc, she was thrown headfirst into the world of the Lux—only to discover that she was already far more involved in their world than she ever suspected.

Because the Luxen aren’t the only ones with a hidden past. There’s a gap in Evie’s memory, lost months of her life and a lingering sense that something happened, something she can’t remember and nobody is willing to tell her. She needs to find out the truth about who she is—and who she was. But every answer she finds only brings up more questions.

Her search for the truth brings her ever closer to Luc, the Origin at the center of it all. He’s powerful, arrogant, inhumanly beautiful, extremely dangerous…and possibly in love with her. But even as Evie falls for him, she can’t help but wonder if his attraction is to her, or to the memory of a girl who no longer exists.

And all the while, a new threat looms: reports of a flu-like, fatal virus that the government insists is being spread by Luxen. A horrifying illness that changes whoever it touches, spreading panic across a country already at its breaking point.


#1 New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout returns to the world of the Lux with this steamy, shocking second installment of the Origin series that will leave readers reeling.

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