It's been a couple of weeks since I did my last Mini Reviews and Reading Recap post. Life has been busy but I did read some great books and here are my reviews of them.

A Treason of Truths by Ada Harper

This is the second book in the series but works well as standalone too. There is intriguing world-building, lots of description on nanotechnology and bio-engineering. I liked it but felt the focus was more on the action/adventure than the romance. Lyre and Sabine both are interesting characters and there was some angst in their relationship but not enough tension/conflict. 

This story is a curios mix of futuristic world and adherence to all royal/noble traditions. We get a f/f romance set in a world where queer relationships are a part of the world in the same way as heterosexual ones are. The love scenes were tender and low-heat compared to book one.

In short this story gives the readers a fast-paced, cleverly built dystopian world, interesting MCs, some pining, some tender loving and a most glorious declaration of love at the end. 3.5 stars

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Currently reading: A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe, m/f historical set in New York at the Gilded Age, deaf reclusive hero, virgin noble heroine. I'm enjoying it a lot so far. It comes out on Sept 25.

Title: Ivan (Gideon's Riders #3)

Author: Kit Rocha

Genre/Themes: Dystopia, Princess-bodyguard romance

Release Date: 28 March 2018

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

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My rating: 5 Stars

Blurb

As the sheltered princess of Sector One, Maricela’s life is defined by duty: to her people and to her family. Her wealth and influence have allowed her to build a better world, but they come with a price---the responsibility to secure political stability with a practical marriage. Maricela cherishes the idea of marrying for love, but there’s not much romance in the endless line of suitors interested only in prestige and power.

And her handsome, brooding new bodyguard isn’t helping the situation. 

Ivan is the perfect, deadly warrior, a man trained from childhood to be the ultimate protector to the Rios family. His focus on keeping her safe is intense--and a little intoxicating. When the threat of danger cracks his icy control, Maricela realizes she’s not the only one fighting against temptation.

Ivan knows that the blood on his hands makes him unworthy of the pure-hearted princess. But from the first kiss, their forbidden affair feels inevitable. He can give her a glimpse of life outside her gilded cage and a lover who wants the woman instead of the crown. The only thing he can never do is promise her forever.

Because spurning her noble suitors to marry her bodyguard wouldn’t just be a scandal. It could set off a political firestorm that would tear Sector One apart.

I loved this book so much, it's my favourite in the series so far. 

This is very much a typical bodyguard-princess romance and it's beautifully and very engagingly done. I loved the complexity of the main characters and all the pining and their long and stubborn resistance to giving in into their feelings.

Unlike the previous book where I felt there was strong emphasis on the cult/religious apsect of the secovite in Sector One, here the focus was more of the court intrigues and the world of the noble families in the Sector. There was still a lot of talk of (living) saints and martyrs and self-sacrifice but it didn't bother me as much. Either I am getting more used to the world of Sector 1 or it was indeed less present as a theme than in Deacon and Ana's book. The important thing is that it all worked so much better for me.

I loved both Ivan and Maricela and found them to be wonderfully complex characters, both hiding a lot from the world, only showing a deceptively simple facade. Theirs was a slow burn with lots of hidden touches and looks and it all exploded in hot passion. They completed each other perfectly despite the seeming impossibility of a relationship between them.

It's a very character focused story but we also see a lot of the rest of the Riders and noble families which creates a very rich, vibrant world. I loved the sense of camaraderie among the riders and Maricela's female friendships were really precious to me. Ivan and Maricela became the world for each other they could never forget their obligations and responsibilities to those they loved and cared about.

There is tense suspense plot going on which too a surprising turn at the end and I can't wait for the next books to see how it will all play out. The humour and easy interactions among the Riders were a delight to read and much needed comfort from the very intense and emotionally charged relationship of Ivan and Maricela.

I absolutely love how the authors take a familiar trope (in this book and in the previous ones in the series) and explore it from all angles, presenting it as a real, easy to relate to life experience.

In short, Ivan is a bodyguard-princess romance which I loved and can recommend to everyone. It works well enough as a standalone, so if you haven't read the series yet, you can start here.

Title: Deacon (Gideon's Riders #2)

Author: Kit Rocha

Genre/Themes: Dystopia, Romance

Release Date: 29 Aug 2017

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

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My rating: 3.5 Stars

This is the second book in the spinoff of the Beyond series which I haven't read but I did read Ashwin (Gideon's Riders #1) and quite enjoyed it.

Deacon continues where Ashwin left off timewise and gives the reader more details about the life and people in Sector. This is the story of two Riders, Ana and Deacon, coming together and it's passionate, intense, with strong action/suspense elements which made for an exciting and quick read.

While I overall enjoyed it, the story brought into focus some things that I had missed in the first book but which I had hard time with here. 

I admit I loved Ana and thought she is a great heroine - strong, dedicated, a great soldier, committed to the Riders and their mission. Being the only female in the team she is working twice as hard as the the men to prove herself but also putting herself under enormous stress to be perfect, to live as an example for the young girls looking up to her. Following her journey in the story we see her coming to realize that's not possible, she is only human, with human flaws and desires.

Deacon was harder for me to like. He was ready to sacrifice himself for the Riders and the Rios family and he did read as hell-bend on dying at times. I was uncomfortable with this whole living saint/martyr vibe going on through the his arc. I did like the realization that having everyone looking up to you is a double-edged sword and you need room to make mistakes, to be weak, to need comfort and support. 

The story delves deep in the life of the Riders and learn a lot about everyone of them and of their life as team. I liked the sense of camaraderie among all the Riders, their interactions were brilliant, both fun and serious giving the story a rich background and setting up the scene for future books.

What I found troubling was the sense of religious cult/community I got from Sector 1. It's a place where they worship love (and the Rios family) above all and we see multi-partner relationships between people of all genders as the norm. It appears to be all about peace and love and happiness but giving Gideon and his family a God-like status and treating the Riders as martyrs for the safety of their community didn't sit well with me. We do see Gideon trying to bring change and make it all less cult-like, but the blind loyalty to one person/family was still at the core of Sector 1 and it bothered me.

Overall, it's a fast-paced, enjoyable read and I believe fans of the Beyond series will like it, probably more than I did.

Lieutenant Ashwin Malhotra is a Makhai soldier--genetically engineered to be cold, ruthless. Unfeeling. His commanding officers consider him the perfect operative, and they're right. Now, he has a simple mission: to infiltrate Gideon's Riders, the infamous sect of holy warriors that protects the people of Sector One.

He's never failed to execute an objective, but there's one thing he didn't anticipate--running into Dr. Kora Bellamy, the only woman to ever break through his icy exterior.

When Kora fled her life as a military doctor for the Makhai Project, all she wanted was peace--a quiet life where she could heal the sick and injured. The royal Rios family welcomed her like a sister, but she could never forget Ashwin. His sudden reappearance is a second chance--if she can manage to touch his heart.

When the simmering tension between them finally ignites, Kora doesn't realize she's playing with fire. Because she's not just falling in love with a man who may not be able to love her back. Ashwin has too many secrets--and one of them could destroy her.

This is my first book by this author duo, though I have some idea about the Beyond series, since I have read some of the free chapters available on their site. This is a spin-off series which I'm happy to say works rather well on its own. 

The authors build an intriguing dystopian world mixed with religious beliefs and a strong sense of community. We see it mostly through the eyes of Ashwin, a genetically modified soldier, and Kora, a highly skilled doctor/healer. And it's fascinating how they both discovered this unfamiliar world and become part of it.

Ashwin is is the type of hero I love reading about the most - socially awkward, a killing machine which the system tried to dehumanize completely. His awakening to a life of feelings, was a long, painful journey of trial and error. 

And Kora, I have so much love (and deep sympathy) for Kora. She was Ashwin's opposite but as it turns out they are more alike that anyone can suspect. In a way she is also on a journey of discovering her place in Sector One, of discovering and embracing the joy of belonging to a community of people who care about and love each other. I loved how the story explores the complexity of forming and maintaining relationships, especially in times of war, when people are often driven to desperate actions.

The community in Sector One was truly outstanding. There is a strong sense of joy and living your life to the fullest but also providing care and support to those who needed. 

The story presents us with an intriguing set of supporting characters, both the Riders (hello, Zeke!) and the rest of the people in Sector One and I'm excited to read more about them. 

It's a fast-paced story, both introspective at times and full of action at other times. There are quite a few plot twists that kept me turning pages almost feverishly. And the love story at the center of it all was beautiful - very sensual but also emotional and intimate.

Waiting on Wednesday is a book meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and it features books that we are eagerly awaiting to be released.

Title: Claimed (Outlaws #1)

After a devastating war decimated most of the world, Hudson Lane has only known the oppressive life under her own father’s tyranny. She finally escapes, branding herself an outlaw and hunted by the Enforcers. Her best chance at survival is Connor Mackenzie, an aggressively sensual fugitive who opens her eyes to the wicked possibilities of a world without rules.

As the leader of a band of outlaw fighters, Connor can’t resist the beautiful stranger who asks for his protection. Despite his reservations, he agrees to introduce her to a whole new way of life. But when Connor discovers Hudson’s connection to the enemies of liberty, he wonders how far he can trust the woman who has abandoned all inhibitions to challenge every forbidden desire.

*** *** ***

Why am I waiting for this? - I've only read the Off Campus series by Ms Kennedy which is contemporary NA college sports romances but I liked her writing and would like to try more of it. This is book 1 in new dystopian erotic romance series and I haven't read anything like that before and find the blurb rather intriguing. Plus that cover, who can resist a cover like that? :)

Website / Twitter / Goodreads 

My rating: 4 Stars 
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I'm joining another challenge this week. TBR Challenge 2015  hosted by Wendy at Misadventures of Superlibrarian. The topic for March was catching up with series we have neglected. 

Synopsis

He is a Legend.

She is a Prodigy.

Who will be Champion? 

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps-Elect, while Day has been assigned a high-level military position. 

But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them: just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything. 

With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.

Review

I used to read a lot of YA, including Dystopian back in 2011-2012 and Marie Lu's Legend series definitely stood out among the rest. I loved books 1 and 2, they had all the element I enjoy in dystopian stories - great world building, captivating story, character development, complex plot. One of my all-time secondary characters comes from this series, June's brother, Metias, was a formidable presence in this series, even just as a memory.

Gradually, I started reading more romance and less YA, so by the time the final book was released, I got it and kind of left it on my Kindle. I've been meaning to read it for a long, I even have a wonderful board on Pinterest about it which reminds that I don't know what happened with June and Day but other books kept popping up and stealing my attention. Honestly, I don't know how I've avoided reading any major spoilers so far.

Recently, I came across the TBR Challenge on Elisabeth Lane's blog and the topic for March was reading a book in a series we need to catch up and I knew right away that now was my chance to complete this series. 

I'm glad to say that Marie Lu didn't disappointment and this book was the perfect ending to a great series. The story was very dynamic, full of action and plot twists that kept me on the edge till the very end. We have alternating chapters told from dual POV and we get to see the complexity of emotions of both Day and June.
I loved their romance, their getting back together was slow and real, fraught with tension and whispered confessions. It was not overly sappy or melodramatic but just right - first time, once in a lifetime, true soulmates kind of love.

I very much enjoyed all the other characters - Anden, Eden, Tess, Pascao. Even the bad guys had a powerful presence, I particularlt appreciate the complexity of Thomas' storyline.

This was not just a romance but also coming-of-age story where we see June and Day (and Anden) slowly growing up, becoming adults amid war and chaos. I loved the mixture of painful, raw and beautiful. The decisions the characters were forced to make, all the moral dilemmas they faces resonated deeply with me. 

I'm not very happy with a particular episode involving Day's mother but I understand why it was there, yet it felt too sentimental and cliched for me. It's a matter of personal preference rather than a weakness of the story.

The epilogue was brilliant. And the ending was just beautiful! (it's no spoiler that things end on a happy note with the possibility/certainty for HEA to come).

Ms Lu has a great writing style, imaginative, yet real and she manages to give her characters normal human emotions in a bleak dystopian world. It's an engaging story which involves some politics, some action, some sweet romance, overall a recommended series for fans of dystopian YA!

Title: Meatworks 
Author: Jordan Castillo Price
Genre/Themes: Dystopia / MM romance
Release Date: 3 July 2014

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
My rating: 4 Stars

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Desmond Poole is damaged in more ways than one. If he was an underachiever before, he’s entirely useless now that he’s lost his right hand. He spends his time drowning his sorrows in vodka while he deliberately blows off the training that would help him master his new prosthetic. Social Services seems determined to try and stop him from wallowing in his own filth, so he’s forced to attend an amputee support group. He expects nothing more than stale cookies, tepid decaf and a bunch of self-pitying sob stories, so he’s blindsided when a fellow amputee catches his eye.

Corey Steiner is a hot young rudeboy who works his robotic limb like an extension of his own body, and he’s smitten by Desmond’s crusty punk rock charm from the get-go. Unfortunately, Desmond hasn’t quite severed ties with his ex-boyfriend, and Corey isn’t known for his maturity or patience.

Meatworks is set in a bleak near-future where cell phone and personal computer technologies never developed. In their place, robotics flourished. Now robots run everything from cars to coffee pots. Taking the guesswork out of menial tasks was intended to create leisure time, but instead robots have made society dependent and passive.

Desmond loathes robots and goes out of his way to avoid them. But can he survive without the robotic arm strapped to the end of his stump?

Most of my GR friends and people whose opinion on books I value highly raved about this book so I decided to try it. Furthermore, I was intrigued by the dyspotian setting and the character(s) with disabilities.

It's an engaging, thought-provoking read, skillfully written, leaving a very memorable impression. Told from the first-person POV of Desmond is his tale of finding his place in a cruel/emotionless dyspotian world where robots serve the people as much as control them. 

It started rather bleak and gloomy, too depressing for me. The world building was great and the future world portrayed was really distrubing. it's a story about Desmond's life with all his ups and downs, mistakes and the very, very few good things that happened to him. There is romance in the story but it's not the fantasy, all-chamging, saving tupe of love, rather this was raw and real, love-is-messy kind of story. None of the characters has it easy, even Jim, and consequently their feelings for each other were all over the place - love, lust, hatred, distrust, honesty, hope and desperation. 

Desmond is not a nice person, yet the author did manage to make me care deeplty for him, to want him to find his happiness. His journey, his growth didn't erase his past mistakes but they did make him a better person.

Corey and Jim are sort of Desmond's past and his future. I liked the intricacies of the relationships between the three of them, they felt real. There is no magic way to deal with disabilitity, with disillusionment, with life (the good, the bad and all in between).

The story reminded me in a way of Alexis Hall's Glitterland, though the setting couldn't be more different. It's a story of love/life gone compeltely and irreversibly wrong, before finally going right. A trial by error journey for Desmond (and Corey, to some extend).

It's capativating story, not for the faint of heart. It's about the ugly and raw in life, the people who have lost themselves, yet they still have feelings and hopes and dreams and they deserve to be happy as much as anyone else. 

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N / Smashwords / iTunes

This review is of Evenfall: Vol. 1 and 2 Director's Cut  in the LGBT series In the Company of Shadows by Santino Hassell and Ais. It's a dystopian thriller involving secret organizations, assassins and a tender love story. The whole series is self-edited and self-published and it's available for free at http://www.inthecompanyofshadows.com/

I had a friend recommend this book to me more than a year ago but I was intimidated by the size - 4 books with more than 1000 pages each and I felt I jusct couldn't make that committment at the time. As th year went on more and more of my friends read and loved this series. At the end of 2014 I made a promise to myself to start the new year with it and  here I am in the middle of January already done with book 1.

This is more of suspense and action-packed thriller than a romance. There is great world building, enganing story, memorable characters, what more can a reader want.

Website / Twitter / Goodreads / 

My rating: Vol.1 - 4 Stars and Vol.2 - 5 Stars
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Title: The Young Elites 

Author:Marie Lu

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Dystopia

Release Date: 7 October 2014

Synopsis

I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

Why am I waiting for this? - Simply because I loved the Legend Trilogy and the blurb for this new series sounds sooo good :) Can't wait to read what ms Lu has in store for us this time. You can read the first three chapters online here - 
http://www.nerdist.com/2014/05/exclusive-the-first-chapter-of-marie-lus-the-young-elites/ 

Top Ten Worlds I'd Never Want to Live in and 

 Characters I'd Never Want to Trade Places with

I made a mixture of worlds I don't want to live in and characters I don't want to be. My list includes 6 dystopian worlds, 3 boy/girl couples I wouldn't trade places with and 1 lonely namesake, Ellie, whose story I like a lot but wouldn't want it to be mine.

The Divergent series - a world divided in fractions, set against one another - it's not a nice place to live

The Delirium series - I loved the first book, even though I am disappointed with way things ended in the final book. A world where love is considered a dangerous disease and people are cured of it by a form of lobotomy is definitely not the place for me

The Black Dagger Brotherhood series - vampires living among us (they are the good guys), lessers chasing them and people caught in the middle. The brothers are super hot alpha males and I love them but the blood-sucking is too much for me :)

The Hunger Games - no comments needed, I guess. 

The Legend series - another favourite series. A violent world where the individual life means nothings.

Rachel / Isaiah from Crash into You by Katie McGarry. He is a foster care child and she is the replacement child for a daughter that died. They find happiness together but still, I wouldn't to trade places with them.

Adam / Mia from If I Stay series by Gayle Forman - another happy couple in the end but the trauma they had to go through and survive is just too much

Carmine and Haven from the Forever series (Sempre) by J M. Darhower - he is destined to be the Heir in the Chicago mob and she is a slave. None of them has an easy life.

Ellie from The Artist Trilogy by Karina Halle - a con artist, betrayed by her own family, chased by a Mexican drug lord, Ellie has far too many battles to fight for her happiness.

What's on your TTT list today? Leave me a comment with a link and I'll stop by your blog to check it out :)

Here are the new releases that I am looking forward to this week. We start with two books on Monday. First is Necessary Sacrifices which is the sequel of The Torturer's Daughter (my review). I read and reviewed book 1 in the series as Read It and Reap topic of the GR group Shut Up and Read. It is YA dystopia and I enjoyed it so now I am curious how things will continue in book 2.

The other new release on Monday, 15 July is Frigid by J. Lynn. This was a pleasant surprise since the book was initially scheduled to be released on July 30. J. Lynn is the pseudonym of Jennifer Armentrout under which she publishes her New Adult / Adult works. I have read and enjoyed Tempting the Best Man and Tempting the Player (my review), as well as Wait for You, so I expect Frigid to be just as fun. 

The third book release for this week is Left Drowning by Jessica Park. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy of this book and absolutely loved it. It is one of the best reads for me this year so far so I strongly recommend it. 

I was excited to learn this week (better late than never) that The Maze Runner by James Dashner, a favourite YA dystopian series, will be made into a movie. Entertainment Weekly just gave us the first look of the movie adaptation of the series, accompanied with a a brief interview with the movie director, Wes Ball. It looks good to me and I hope that the movie will do justice to these amazing series. The movie will be released on February 14, 2014.

If you have not read the series yet, check is out. It is a great dystopian adventure story, written in great style. I enjoyed every minute of it. Here are the books in the series in chronological order. In reality, you can read the Prequel after the other three books. 

The Kill Order (Prequel)

The Maze Runner

The Scorch Trials 

The Death Cure

One of my favourite YA dystopian series is Legend by Marie Lu. I absolutely loved both Legend and Prodigy and now I can't wait for the final instalment of the series, Champion. The initial information was the the third book will be released some time in 2014 which is really far away for a fan like me. You can imagine how happy and excited was I a few days ago when I learned that Champion is actually coming out on 5 November 2013! 

In a sweet but short interview for Entertainment Weekly Ms Lu revealed not only the release date of Champion but also its cover. I have to say that I personally really like the covers both of Legend and Prodigy, but I think that the cover of Champion is simply amazing. In her interview Ms Lu also shared the basics the plot of the new book, as well as some exciting news about making the series into a movie. I honestly don't know what I am most excited about, the release date, the cover, the story development or the movie news. All of them together make some very, very happy news for the Legend fans!

If you have not yet read this series and you are curious about, you can check my review of Prodigy. 

Goodreads Blurb

When her best friend Heather calls in the middle of the night, Becca assumes it's the usual drama. Wrong. Heather's parents have been arrested as dissidents - and Becca's mother, the dystopian regime's most infamous torturer, has already executed them for their crimes against the state.

To stop Heather from getting herself killed trying to prove her parents' innocence, Becca hunts for proof of their guilt. She doesn't expect to find evidence that leaves her questioning everything she thought she knew about the dissidents... and about her mother.

When she risks her life to save a dissident, she learns her mother isn't the only one with secrets - and the plot she uncovers will threaten the lives of the people she loves most. For Becca, it's no longer just a choice between risking execution and ignoring the regime's crimes; she has to decide whose life to save and whose to sacrifice.

It's easy to be a hero when you can save the world, but what about when all you can do is choose how you live in it? THE TORTURER'S DAUGHTER is a story about ordinary teenage life amidst the realities of living under an oppressive regime... and the extraordinary courage it takes to do what's right in a world gone wrong.

My Review

I received an ARC of this book by the author through the Goodreads group Shut Up and Read in exchange for a review.

This book started rather slow for me. The beginning was too high school gossip and drama. It took me a while to get fully involved in the story. My main difficulty came from the story being told from 3rd person. Sometimes I needed to go back and re-read to be clear whether 'she'it was Becca or Heather. Gradually, though, I got used to the writing style of the author and started enjoying th story much more. 

Initially, I expected there to come a more detailed world building and when it did not happen I realised that this is not what is important in this story. There is not need for detailed descriptions of the world/society. Becca's thoughts and emotions are enough to present the world the characters live in. The focus in this book is on the inner turmoil and changes all the characters undergo and mostly, as the title says, the complexity of Becca being the torturer's daughter. 

I think that all the characters, main and supporting, are very complex and well developed. The author presented very convincingly the reality of a totalitarian society where everybody monitors and reports on the others, where you can be considered a dissident just because someone says so. 

I liked the complex relationships Becca has with the people around her - her mother, her best friend Heather, Jake. 

The book read like a 3-star rating for me up until the last quarter. The test Becca is put to and her ultimate decisions make the book stand out. I really liked the ending and could relate to what happened with all the characters, except for Jake. The fate the author chose for him still puzzles me and makes me sad. I see him fitting well into the story, yet the romantic in me wishes for a more positive development of this line of the plot. 

In short, I would say that this a really moving and emotional dystopian story told from an young adult point of view. Yet the issues and messages in this novel sound rather adult and contemporary (and unfortunately, too realistic) to me.

On her website the author shared that there will be a sequel to this book. I will be checking it, as well.