Epic Recs Review: Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1)

Feature created by Amber & Judith

Recently I signed up for Epic Recs, a book pushing book club where you get to recommend books for each other to read every month. I was fortunate enough to be paired with Bec @ Ransom Reads which is pretty cool since I have been following her reviews on Readers In Wonderland for quite awhile now. For February, I recommended Bec The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston knowing her passion for historical fictions and high fantasy novels. In turn, she suggested me Graceling by Kristin Cashore since I too am a high fantasy addict. Is it truly an epic rec, you ask? Yes, of course! Read along and you will know exactly what I mean :) 

Author: Kristin Cashore
Series: Graceling Realm, #1
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Release: Sep 7th 2009 (first published in 2008)
Source: Purchased
Pages: 481 (ebook)
( Amazon | Goodreads )

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.

I'm happy to say that I have been making some real progress with my TBR pile lately. *clap*clap* Graceling has been on my radar for quite a long time due to its widespread popularity, though it is only now that I finally stepped into Kristin Cashore's intriguing Medieval world - the realm of the Seven Kingdoms - and got to know these Gracelings who bear different colors in their eyes. With high expectations in mind, I started it off anticipating great things from Ms. Cashore and I'm glad that not one of them was left unfulfilled.

Waiting on Wednesday (8) : The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy, #1) by Marie Rutkoski

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Title: The Winner's Curse

Author: Marie Rutkoski

Series: The Winner's Trilogy, #1

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (Macmillan)

Release: March 4th 2014

Pages: 368 (hardcover)

( Amazon | Goodreads )

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

Recently, as you may have noticed too, there are a lot of promotional posts around The Winner's Curse. Upon first look, I was almost instantly drawn to it by the cover - gorgeous model (look at dat dress!!), elegant font style, intriguing title, etc. Everything is utterly perfect and there is only one voice in my head - MUST GET IT (yep, my head is kind of creepy like that...). Jokes aside, I'm indeed very much anticipating the release of this new trilogy. Although the premise involves some sort of "games" again, I'm hopeful that Marie Rutkoski would be able to bring us readers something new and imaginative to love wholeheartedly. By the way, do you know that the first five chapters are free on kindle right now? *wink*wink*

How are you doing this week? Waiting for anything special?

Review: Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1)

Author: Susan Ee
Series: Penryn & the End of Days, #1
Publisher: Skyscape (self published work)
Release: Aug 28th 2012
Source: Purchased
Pages: 288 (ebook)
( Amazon | Goodreads )

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

I can’t believe how long it took me to uncover Angelfall from my pile of TBR reads, 250 days to be exact. If not for Aneta’s recent review, it would still be buried among my kindle books with a slim chance of being rediscovered on its own. It is hard to imagine now what it would be like to miss this book for real, though I doubt it would be anything other than regretful.

Stacking the Shelves (1)

Stacking the Shelves is a book-haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. It is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

This is my first time participating STS. After seeing all the posts from other blogs, I'm quite eager to share with you all my new acquisitions as well. Get ready for the goodies :D

Bought

Legend (Legend, #1) by Marie Lu

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1) by Stephanie Perkins

I have heard so many good things about these three series,  especially The Raven Boys. Maja @ The Nocturnal Library have always held Maggie Stiefvater in the highest regard. And trust me, when Maja says someone or something is brilliant, you shall expect nothing less. 

Blog Tour Excerpt + Giveaway: After Life Lessons (After Life Lessons, #1)

Welcome to my stop on the release blog tour for After Life Lessons by Laila Blake and L.C. Spoering. This is an Adult Post-Acaplyptic Romance.

This tour runs Feb. 10th - April 30th with reviews, interviews, guest posts, and spotlight posts. It also includes an exciting giveaway. Be sure to check out the tour page for additional info and list of tour stops.

About the Book

Title: After Life Lessons

Author: Laila Blake & L.C. Spoering

Series: After Life Lessons, #1

Publisher: Lilt Literary (self published work)

Release: April 8th 2014

Format: Paperback/ebook

Length: 81,000 words

( Goodreads | Lilt Literary )

Hulking shadows emerge out of the chaotic flurries of the blizzard. Something is dying, and so they come, like vultures.

After months of struggling south to escape the zombie-infested remains of New York, a snowstorm traps 23-year old artist, Emily, and her son in an abandoned gas station. Starving and desperate, they encounter Aaron, an Army medic on a mission of his own, who offers them a ride to ease the journey.

The road is a long and dangerous place to travel, and every day brings a new threat. But fear and adrenaline also drive the two closer together; they find laughter and a budding attraction that starts to thaw at their numb and deadened feelings. And that’s when the pain really starts to hit, when places long thought lost prickle back to life. Eventually, they will have to fight not just for survival, but for a future together, or their broken world will swallow them whole.

Excerpt

Something was dying in the flurries of snow. The wind had piled it into drifts, threw it into icy funnels that danced between the trees. 

Emily couldn’t see five feet of road in front of them, but the desperate howl pierced the wind. A dog maybe, or something altogether wilder. One hand firmly wrapped around Song’s wrist, she dragged the boy along. He grew heavier, slower with each step. Piece by piece, they had let go of their possessions, offered them like sacrifices to the cold, to earth’s gravity and fatigue. Song had long stopped complaining; he’d even stopped coughing, just hung on to her, placing a shaking foot in front of the other.