Mini Review Round Up!

Happy November! There aren't enough days in a month and I requested to many books yet again (I keep saying this will change, but it never does!) and there was just not enough room to post them. Here are some mini reviews for The Guinevere Deception, Scared Little Rabbits, Day Zero, Anyone and Pax Novis! 

Source: Delacorte Press via NetGalley

Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: November 5th 2019
Summary:

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot. There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl. Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom's borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution--send in Guinevere to be Arthur's wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king's idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere's real name--and her true identity--is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot. To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old--including Arthur's own family--demand things continue as they have been, and the new--those drawn by the dream of Camelot--fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur's knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free. Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

I am actually really sad. I love Kiersten's writing and her previous series, so when I heard that she was going to be publishing a Camelot retelling I was hyped. Anything King Arthur and Merlin related should have my name written on them, because I am here for it. But As much as I wish I could say that I loved this story, I didn't.

My biggest problem is that I felt like the reader is kept in the dark for way to long. I get that not everything is going to be revealed in the beginning and there is going to be a build up, but you do get little answers that help the world building and progression of the story. But I felt like in this case that as the reader I had no idea what was happening. I know that Guinevere isn't the real Guinevere but actually a witch sent to protect King Arthur, but other then that: nothing. 

Overall The Guinevere Deception wasn't for me sadly, but I still say that if you are looking for a King Arthur retelling that is going to put the female character as the hero then this book is one you should check out! 

Source: Source Books Fire via NetGalley
Publisher: Source Books Fire
Publication Date: December 3rd 2019
Summary:

We stand in a tight cluster, high above the lake. One-by-one, we made our way up the narrow trail from the edge of campus. Now, we wait shoulder to shoulder behind the police tape. Nineteen summer students. All but one. When Nora gets accepted into her dream summer program at the prestigious Winthrop Academy, she jumps at the chance to put her coding skills to use. But then a fellow student goes missing—and the tech trail for the crime leads back to Nora. With no one else to trust, Nora must race to uncover the truth and clear her name...or she might be the next to disappear.

I still don't have words to describe my thoughts on this book. I didn't hate it, but I also didn't like it. I am in a weird in between. The concept and idea behind it all is intriguing but other then that there was nothing to it that kept me wanting to keep flipping the pages. The reason I gave it a 2.5 star rating is because I loved the technology and the app that the students had developed. It is something that I can see happening in the real world. It's basically a virtual reality Tinder and I loved it. But that is the only thing I loved about this book. 

Sadly this one wasn't for me and isn't going to be something I recommend. But if it is on your TBR and you are debating on it, I say go ahead. Because you may end up loving it!  

 

(2.5 stars!)

Source: Inkyard Press via NetGalley
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Publication Date: November 12th 2019

Summary:

If you're going through hell...keep going. Seventeen-year-old coder Jinx Marshall grew up spending weekends drilling with her paranoid dad for a doomsday she’s sure will never come. She’s an expert on self-heating meal rations, Krav Maga and extracting water from a barrel cactus. Now that her parents are divorced, she’s ready to relax. Her big plans include making it to level 99 in her favorite MMORPG and spending the weekend with her new hunky stepbrother, Toby. But all that disaster training comes in handy when an explosion traps her in a burning building. Stuck leading her headstrong stepsister, MacKenna, and her precocious little brother, Charles, to safety, Jinx gets them out alive only to discover the explosion is part of a pattern of violence erupting all over the country. Even worse, Jinx’s dad stands accused of triggering the chaos. In a desperate attempt to evade paramilitary forces and vigilantes, Jinx and her siblings find Toby and make a break for Mexico. With seemingly the whole world working against them, they’ve got to get along and search for the truth about the attacks—and about each other. But if they can survive, will there be anything left worth surviving for?

Day Zero started off really strong and had me captivated, but bu the halfway point I found that I dragging myself to the finish line. I like books about drastic changes in societies, the beginnings of apocalypse and thrillers in general so I was really hyped for Day Zero and I am really bummed that I ended up no loving it. 

I think me not liking this book was more of a me issue rather then the actual book. I couldn't relate the main character, which does happen. But for me character connection is one of the biggest things when I read. If I can't relate to the main character then the book isn't going to work out for me. I also wasn't a huge fan of the secondary characters. I thought Kelly's plot was awesome but her characters are what did me in. 

If anyone is debating on this book I said go for it. It did keep me on the edge of my seat in certain aspects and was thrilling. I know this isn't a dystopian/post apocalyptic novel but it gave me those vibes and I loved that. 

Source: Harper Perennial via NetGalley
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: December 3rd 2019
Summary: 

Charles Soule brings his signature knowledge—and wariness--of technology to his sophomore novel set in a realistic future about a brilliant female scientist who creates a technology that allows for the transfer of human consciousness between bodies, and the transformations this process wreaks upon the world. Inside a barn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a scientist searching for an Alzheimer’s cure throws a switch—and finds herself mysteriously transported into her husband’s body. What begins as a botched experiment will change her life—and the world—forever… Over two decades later, all across the planet, “flash” technology allows individuals the ability to transfer their consciousness into other bodies for specified periods, paid, registered and legal. Society has been utterly transformed by the process, from travel to warfare to entertainment; “Be anyone with Anyone” the tagline of the company offering this ultimate out-of-body experience. But beyond the reach of the law and government regulators is a sordid black market called the darkshare, where desperate “vessels” anonymously rent out their bodies, no questions asked for any purpose - sex, drugs, crime... or worse. Anyone masterfully interweaves the present-day story of the discovery and development of the flash with the gritty tale of one woman’s crusade to put an end to the darkness it has brought to the world twenty-five years after its creation. Like Blade Runner crossed with Get Out, Charles Soule’s thought-provoking work of speculative fiction takes us to a world where identity, morality, and technology collide.

I am going to keep this review brief because I feel like readers are either going to love this book or it just isn't going to be for them. Sadly I fall into the later group. I love dystopian novels and the way society works about huge scientific discoveries, but Anyone just fell short. The concept of the story was intriguing but I feel as if the execution could have been done differently. Sadly this one just wasn't for me. 

Source: Entangled Teen via NetGalley
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: November 4th 2019
Summary: 

Cira Antares is deeply loyal to two things: Pax Novis—the cargo ship captained by her mother that transports supplies across war-torn star systems—and her personal mission to save war orphans. But hiding them as stowaways on the ship is illegal, and if any of them were found, not even her mother could protect Cira from the consequences. She has successfully kept her secret…until supplies start to go missing. Food. Clothing. Tools. All signs point to her stowaways, but they wouldn’t do anything to risk exposing themselves—or her. Especially not Riston, the oldest of the group and someone Cira has grown close to. Someone she might even be falling in love with... And petty thefts are only the beginning—whole ships are disappearing now. Not caught in a firefight. Not destroyed by another planet. Vanishing. Without a trace. And Pax Novis is next.

I tried so hard to get into Pax Novis but I had the hardest time. I am trying not to beat myself up over the fact that I didn't love this one. I wanted to so so so bad. I made it about 20% in before I made the decision to put this book down. 

I wasn't enjoying it and I knew that if I forced myself to finish that I wouldn't be rating it above 2 stars. I can already tell that Pax Novis is going to be loved by so many sci-fi fans, it sadly just wasn't for me.

DNF! :(

have you read any of these books!? If so which ones and what did you think?