Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios Review

Posted by The YA Book Traveler , Wednesday, January 28, 2015 10:14 PM




Exquisite Captive (Dark Caravan Cycle #1) - Heather Demetrios

Hardcover480 pages
Published October 7th 2014 by Balzer+Bray

Goodreads Summary:

Forced to obey her master.
Compelled to help her enemy.
Determined to free herself. 

Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Stuffed into a bottle and sold by a slave trader, she’s now in hiding on the dark caravan, the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters’ every command. She’d give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her handsome, cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.

Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna’s revolution and Nalia’s sworn enemy. He promises to free Nalia from her master so that she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother—all for an unbearably high price. Nalia’s not sure she can trust him, but Raif’s her only hope of escape. With her enemies on the hunt, Earth has become more perilous than ever for Nalia. There’s just one catch: for Raif’s unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle…and convince the dangerously persuasive Malek that she truly loves him. Battling a dark past and harboring a terrible secret, Nalia soon realizes her freedom may come at a price too terrible to pay: but how far is she willing to go for it?

My Review
3 Stars
Sadly, for me, this book didn't live up to my expectations.  I gave it 3 stars because even though there were things I found interesting about Exquisite Captive,  I also had many problems with it.


Problems:
Probably the toughest thing to work through was the explanations of the different kinds of jinni and the world building in general.  They each have different colored eyes and smoke when they use magic (chiaan). I understand that when someone introduces new worlds to the reader things need to be explained. However, I thought the constant "Ghan Asouri jinni" this, and "Djan jinni" that so repetitive that I actually felt insulted.  And something that really got on my nerves was the constant reference to "human" things. How they loved the 

"human food" or they didn't understand the "human jokes". 
Okay okay we get it.

Also I found the lack of explanation on how the jinni got from Arjinna to earth in the first place unsatisifying. There was a portal that they came through but this came with no deeper explanation beyond that.  I didn't really like that there wasn't more to how traveling became possible, who discovered it, how they traveled through it was something I found lacking.

The characters:
Nalia - Nalia is the only surviving Ghan Asouri jinni, which is the highest ranking kind. She gets sold into the Dark Caravan in which humans buy jinnis to grant them 3 wishes. The Ghan Asouri jinni were power hungry and almost evil, but Nalia is different. I found her character ok.  There was some growth along the way.
Malek - Malek I found confusing. But the story does help explain why he's evil one moment, nice the other.  
Raif - I liked Raif. He was likable and the chemistry between him and Nalia was good.


Overall the book was  slow. I actually contemplated DNFing a few times but I was determined to finish. The last 20% of the book got really action packed and exciting. But the rest leading up to it was interesting but slow. 

Will I read the next book? I may. I hope that it will be more satisfying then book 1. 



I do LOVE the cover because it's great to see a POC on the cover of a YA book. It's actually hard to come by.

Did you read it, what are your thoughts?


Lissa Price STARTERS and ENDERS Contest Win plus GIVEAWAY!

Posted by The YA Book Traveler , Saturday, January 24, 2015 12:02 PM

I had an amazing thing happen this year. I won the most exciting and interesting giveaway contest ever of a huge lot of Starters and Enders book. Most of them are foreign editions and they're beautiful. In order to win, I had to pre-order the Enders paperback that released on January 7, 2015. I did, and I won!

In the box:  24 Books, 1 Audio Book, Bookmarks, Book Plate, Samplers and a note from Lissa Price.

Add these to your Goodreads Shelf
STARTERS
ENDERS


Please watch my video!


Here are the editions: 

PortuguesePortuguese


Chinese

Slavok and Czech

Hungarian and Italian
Italian

French

Dutch
Romanian

Korean and German
UK
Japanese
Audiobook CDs

WIN THIS AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF STARTERS with matching paperback of ENDERS (not signed)!
INTERNATIONAL!
One entry per person (no repeats with different emails)
I will be checking and you will be disqualified if you don't follow the rules of the entry.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Male Characters

Posted by The YA Book Traveler , Tuesday, January 20, 2015 6:08 AM


Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish


I decided for my FREEBIE top ten I would name my 10 Ten Favorite Male Characters!

1. Roar  from Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. Roar is Perry's best friend, who also becomes Aria's best friend. Roar is funny and very charming. These books would not be the same if he wasn't in them. I love that his character truly is just a friend of the main character, not a love interest.

2. Tarver from These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. In TBS, I found Tarver's character to be refreshing. He seemed like a guy, a real guy. Sometimes books make male characters out to be more of the idealized man seen through a woman's eye. I actually liked his character better than Lilac.

3. Robin from Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen. Oh Robin...he's so swoony in this book. Just READ IT! That's all I really need to say.

4. Thorne from Cress by Marissa Meyer. Thorne is another funny character that always fills the room with his presence. He's bold, egotistical, and very likable.

5. Perry (Peregrine) from Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. There are many things I love about Perry. I love that he's described as having a deep voice, a tattoo of peregrine falcon on his back, a Scire (enhanced sense of smell) and seer (ability to see in the dark).

6. Dimitri from Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - Dimitri....he's a dhampir and he is super swoony. He's Russian and fights bad vampires for a living.

7. Magnus from Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes. Magnus was a character that for me one moment I liked him, then I didn't, then I loved him! He's more than what he tries to make other think about him. He has a scar on his face, is sarcastic, and is such a great character.

8. Hector from The Girl of Fire and Thorns series by Rae Carson. He has a great heart, is super smart and very brave. He sees people for who they are on the inside.

9. Sam (Dossam) from Incarnate by Jodi Meadows. HE'S A COMPOSER! Yes, he writes music and plays practically every instrument. Sam is very romantic, a great friend, and has a noble heart.

10. Rowan from Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. Rowan is fey. His trust has to be earned. He loves hard and fights hard.

Honorable Mentions:
Four from Divergent 
Peeta from The Hunger Games
Haymitch from The Hunger Games
Logan from Defiance

Who are your favorites?

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon - Review

Posted by The YA Book Traveler , Monday, January 19, 2015 6:46 PM


The Bone Season (The Bone Season #1)

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.

Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

My Thoughts


I first read The Bone Season back in November of 2013. I borrowed it from the library because it sounded interesting and it had an amazing cover! I bought the paperback last year because it came with a sneak peek (VERY SMALL SNEAK PEEK) of The Mime Order.

I loved this book. It really kept me guessing the whole way through.  I LOVED all the new vocabulary that was introduced and I found it easy to catch onto. The Bone Season is a dytopian with fantasy elements that involve clairvoyance. The main character, Paige Mahoney is a dreamwalker which is in the highest order of clairvoyants which enables her to enter others dreamscapes. Paige's character is likable. She is tough but has a good heart and is a loyal friend.

My only criticism is that I found that my reread wasn't as exciting or interesting as it was the first time through. I think because I knew what was going to happen I didn't enjoy it as much. This was a disappointment because I thought I'd reread this book many times. 

The book ends in such an exciting way that demands the sequel immediately. This was tough because I've been waiting for The Mime Order for over a year!  

I would highly recommend this book unless you prefer to read books when series are close to being done or done. This will be a six book series and only the second book will be out on January 27th. So, needless to say, it'll be a long wait before this series is over.




Rites of Passage by Joy H. Hensley

Posted by The YA Book Traveler , Wednesday, January 14, 2015 7:37 PM



Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley
Hardcover416 pages
Published September 9th 2014 by Harper Teen


Goodreads Synopsis 
Sam McKenna’s never turned down a dare. And she's not going to start with the last one her brother gave her before he died.

So Sam joins the first-ever class of girls at the prestigious Denmark Military Academy. She’s expecting push-ups and long runs, rope climbing and mud-crawling. As a military brat, she can handle an obstacle course just as well as the boys. She's even expecting the hostility she gets from some of the cadets who don’t think girls belong there. What she’s not expecting is her fiery attraction to her drill sergeant. But dating is strictly forbidden and Sam won't risk her future, or the dare, on something so petty...no matter how much she wants him.

As Sam struggles to prove herself, she discovers that some of the boys don’t just want her gone—they will stop at nothing to drive her out. When their petty threats turn to brutal hazing, bleeding into every corner of her life, she realizes they are not acting alone. A decades-old secret society is alive and active… and determined to force her out.
At any cost.

Now time's running short. Sam must decide who she can trust...and choosing the wrong person could have deadly consequences.

My Review

Rites of Passage was my first read of 2015. I really enjoyed it. It was action packed, which I love, and I wasn't quite sure where everything was going. The main character Sam  was likable and I admired her determination never to quit.

My only criticism is that Drill Sergeant Stamm was pretty much the same character as Four from Divergent. Now...that's not REALLY a criticism because I LOVE Four. So, I liked the character but he felt completely the same as Four.  This book reminded me a lot of Divergent so if you liked Divergent but want a story set in modern real life contemporary then this book is for you! 

As of now this book is a standalone but it leaves it open for a sequel. 

About the Author



Joy N. Hensley is a former middle school teacher. She used to spend her twenty-minute lunch breaks hosting author Skype chats for her students. Once upon a time she went to a military school on a dare. She lives in Virginia with her husband and two children, finding as many ways as she can to never do another push-up again.

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Scarlet & The Lady Thief Review - A.C. Gaughen

Posted by The YA Book Traveler , Saturday, January 10, 2015 2:15 PM

THE FEELS!!!!! 



This is how I would sum up the first two books in the Scarlet series LOTS OF FEELS!

On Twitter, I was introduced to the book Scarlet by other fellow book bloggers and their excitement drove me to knock this up to the top of my priorities.  I must say I was not lead astray!

These books are a Robin Hood retelling where we find out Will Scarlet is actually a girl.

When I first started the book I will say I struggled.  The way everyone spoke, especially Scarlet drove me crazy! It was very "uneducated" kind of way. And I was HOPING that I could get used to it because everyone said these books were incredible. Needless to say, I DID get used to it and as the books progressed the way of speaking changed and became much easier to read.

I'm glad I won't have to wait long for book 3, Lionheart, because it releases in May!

It's full of fun, surprises and many feels. I LOVE romance and that is in there too!
If you have not read this series yet you need to move it up on your TBR!

Add these to your Goodreads shelf! Pretty much immediately!