Review: Saga, Volume 8 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Title: Saga, Volume 8

Written by: Brian K. Vaughan

Art by: Fiona Staples

Lettering and Design by: Fonografiks

Coordinator: Eric Stephenson

Published by: Image Comics, Inc.

Released: December 2017

Source: Library

Summary: After the traumatic events of the War for Phang, Hazel, her parents, and their surviving companions embark on a life-changing adventure at the westernmost edge of the universe.

Collecting: Saga 43-48. ( Synopsis From Goodreads )

My Thoughts: There is no comic series more hyped, more talked about then Saga.

I was really excited to get my hands on the newest volume because I do like the series, but I think it's getting a little stale for me. I'm not feeling the hype for it like I used to. It just kind of meanders along for me and I wonder what the overall point of it is. What's the plot? Where's it going? How long is it going to take to get there? I don't hate it, but I'm just feeling kind of meh about it at the moment. It's almost seeming like just a money ploy. Each Volume has the tiniest snippet of a story and always ends in a to-be-continued. And I know you might be thinking, Well, that's what a comic is Ashley, but I'm just over it at the moment. I want to feel like I'm actually going somewhere in the story, that I'll eventually reach the end. That's just my honest opinion.

I really enjoy the artwork and color. That never changes from volume to volume.

I like how this Volume had an Old West vibe, that was fun.

I don't appreciate the weirdness that always pops up, the inappropriateness. It's NSFW to read for sure. I'd enjoy it more without those little shocks thrown in. I could also do without all the political correctness thrown in too. It's never subtle. I just want to read a story.

Sooo I like Saga, but I just don't think I'm as in love with it as I used to be. It's dragging on and on and on, and I want to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Also, I've heard that after Volume 9, the creators are taking a hiatus. Interesting... very interesting. I hope Volume 9 doesn't end on a mean cliff-hanger.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.5/5

I'm not feeling the love for it like I used to tbh

BLOG TOUR: Keeper of the Bees by Meg Kassel

I'm really excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for Keeper of the Bees by Meg Kassel. I read the companion book,  Black Birds of the Gallows, last year and really enjoyed it, so I was pumped to learn there would be another book in this world. I received a free e-copy for honest review. Thanks to Entangled Teen, YA Bound Book Tours, and Meg Kassel for letting me be a part of this fun tour.

Title: Keeper of the Bees

Author: Meg Kassel

Published by: Entangled Teen

Released: September 4, 2018

Goodreads  Entangled Publishing  Amazon 

Summary: KEEPER OF THE BEES is a tale of two teens who are both beautiful and beastly, and whose pasts are entangled in surprising and heartbreaking ways.

Dresden is cursed. His chest houses a hive of bees that he can’t stop from stinging people with psychosis-inducing venom. His face is a shifting montage of all the people who have died because of those stings. And he has been this way for centuries—since he was eighteen and magic flowed through his homeland, corrupting its people.

He follows harbingers of death, so at least his curse only affects those about to die anyway. But when he arrives in a Midwest town marked for death, he encounters Essie, a seventeen-year-old girl who suffers from debilitating delusions and hallucinations. His bees want to sting her on sight. But Essie doesn’t see a monster when she looks at Dresden.

Essie is fascinated and delighted by his changing features. Risking his own life, he holds back his bees and spares her. What starts out as a simple act of mercy ends up unraveling Dresden’s solitary life and Essie’s tormented one. Their impossible romance might even be powerful enough to unravel a centuries-old curse.

My Thoughts: I read Black Birds of the Gallows by Meg Kassel last year and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to learn there was going to be a companion book to it. I was definitely interested in the subject matter of Keeper of the Bees because it was about a memorable creature that controls psychosis inducing bees.  Of course, the bees are just one puzzle piece of this character. 

I also want to give a shout out to the great covers this series has. I love the watercolor vibe it has to it, I love the colors chosen for it. I find watercolor covers very pretty, almost soothing. So props to the cover design team on this one.

I enjoyed Keeper of the Bees just as much as I liked Black Birds of the Gallows. I really enjoy the world portrayed in it, the creatures that are visible just under the radar. I really enjoyed learning about the Beekeepers. They are such a cursed character, much like the harbingers in the first book. Everywhere they go, destruction is not far behind. It's a very original and interesting concept.

I enjoyed reading from the two characters POV's. Their relationship journey was sweet and sad, just like I expected it to be.

I'd definitely recommend this series. It's really interesting, thought provoking, and action-packed. It's just different than other YA books. I know some people won't agree with that last statement, because it's essentially a human and a cursed non-human (kind of) falling in love, but the originality lies with the creatures themselves.

I'm really happy I got to read an early review copy. I can't wait to see what Meg Kassel comes out with next.

About the Author:

Website  Twitter  Instagram  Facebook  Goodreads  Amazon

Meg Kassel is an author of fantasy and speculative books for young adults. A graduate of Parson's School of Design, she’s been creating stories, whether with visuals or words, since childhood. Meg is a New Jersey native who lives in a log house in the Maine woods with her husband and daughter. As a fan of ’80s cartoons, Netflix series, and ancient mythology, she has always been fascinated and inspired by the fantastic, the creepy, and the futuristic. She is the 2016 RWA Golden Heart® winner in YA and a double 2018 RITA® finalist for her debut novel, Black Bird of the Gallows.

Thank you for stopping by my Blog Tour Stop for Keeper of the Bees by Meg Kassel. Thanks so much to Entangled Teen and YA Bound Book Tours for including me on the tour. 

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Review: The Art of Escaping by Erin Callahan

Title: The Art of Escaping

Author: Erin Callahan

Published by: Amberjack Publishing

Released: 2018

Source: ARC Copy won from BookishFirst and Publisher

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Mattie has a hidden obsession: escapology. Emphasis on hidden. If anyone from school finds out, she’ll be abandoned to her haters. Facing a long and lonely summer, Mattie finally seeks out Miyu, the reclusive daughter of a world-renowned escape artist. Following in Houdini’s footsteps, Miyu helps Mattie secretly transform herself into an escapologist and performance artist.

When Will, a popular athlete from school, discovers Mattie’s act at an underground venue, Mattie fears her secret persona will be exposed. Instead of outing her, Will tells Mattie a secret not even his girlfriend knows. Through a blossoming friendship, the two must find a way to express their authentic selves. 

Told through the perspectives of the witty main characters, this funny and fresh debut explores the power of stage personas and secret spaces, and speaks to the uncanny ways in which friendships transform us. ( Synopsis from Goodreads )

My Thoughts: I was very excited when I won a copy of this from the BookishFirst website and Amberjack Publishing for review. Thanks to them for introducing me to a new author and fun book.

I really enjoyed The Art of Escaping. It's not exactly what I expected it to be, it was more surprising. I thought I was just going to get that standard contemporary story, but The Art of Escaping was really fun. I loved the introduction and exploration of the art of Escapology. How Mattie wanted to become an Escapologist and all the steps she had to take, the training. It was really fun reading about Mattie's performances on the stage. I could picture them in my mind. She took something she loved and really made it into a show. I could feel the danger, the intrigue, the spectacle of it all. It was really fun to read.

I liked reading Mattie's road to becoming an escapologist. I liked all the friendships she made and just her journey to become one. I do wish though that Mattie had shared more of her life with her family. At the end of the book, she was still hiding who she really was from most of them.

I also really liked the club she preformed in. It had this eccentric, freak show-esque kind of feel to it that was just really fun to imagine. It's the kind of club that I would love to walk into, if I was brave enough to do that sort of thing.

I'm torn on Will with two L's. I feel like I could have done without his POV sections. I didn't really enjoy his voice. He used slang that just didn't fit with this football jock image he was trying to portray. It felt off, it felt weird. I was also kind of disappointed in his secret life, because it just didn't feel that surprising. It felt like a secret that had been done a million times. Maybe I would have enjoyed his story more if it had been something I hadn't already seen done. It was such an obvious secret, there was no shock to it. I did like his friendship with Mattie though.

I also really enjoyed the sections about Mattie's idol, Akiko Miyako, the famous Escapologist. They were fun. And I also liked how Mattie pressured Akiko's daughter, Miyu, to train her into becoming an escapologist. 

I really enjoyed this book. It was the perfect book to bring with me on my plane trip. I flew through it. It was a ton of fun. It introduced me to the art of Escapology, which was really unique to read about. Mattie's performances were awe-inspiring, while at the same time terrifying. I was biting my nails while she was doing some of her escapes. Mattie is braver than I will ever be. This was a great debut and I'd definitely recommend giving it a read.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.8/5

Just the Reading Escape I was looking for

Reading Right Now! (175)

What I'm Reading Right Now! is...

-- Within These Walls by Ania Ahlborn -- I decided to go for something spooky this week. Must be that feeling of fall coming that is making me crave all things spooky. I've never read anything by Ania Ahlborn before, buuuut I think I see more books by her in my future.

Within These Walls is about a struggling crime writer who needs a successful book because his life is falling apart. His dreams seem to be answered when he gets a letter from Lambert Prison. The notorious Jeff Halcomb wants to be the subject of his next book. Halcomb was involved in the killing of a senator's daughter and baby, while the rest of his followers took their own lives. He's never given an interview before, never said anything about the crime. But this interview comes with conditions for the writer, he must move into the house where the crime occurred. Seems like a small price to pay for such an amazing opportunity right?

I'm really enjoying this. It's a slow build up scare kind of book. It's definitely creepy. I'm very intrigued. I like the writing. 

I'm about halfway through and hope to read more of it, maybe even finish it this weekend.

That's what I'm Reading Right Now! What are you reading?

Review: Sadie by Courtney Summers

Title: Sadie 

Author: Courtney Summers

Published by: Wednesday Books

 Released: September 4, 2018

Source: Review ARC from Publisher/Won from GoodReads FirstReads and Wednesday Books

Goodreads  Amazon

Summary: Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water. 

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meagre clues to find him.

When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late. (Synopsis from Goodreads).

My Thoughts: I was so excited when I won an arc of this through Goodreads FirstReads and Wednesday Books! I want to thank Wednesday Books for letting me read it early for honest review. It's the best feeling to win a book. And thanks to Goodreads FirstReads for being awesome and letting me enter alllll the giveaways.

This is not my first Courtney Summers' book, I've read another by her before and really enjoyed it. Her work always seems to be intense, dark, and dealing with difficult subject matter. I really enjoy her stuff and plan to read more of it. Sadie was an awesome ride of a book. I loved it. I was hooked from page one and was racing to the end to find out what happened.

Sadie is a daaaaaark book. There is definitely trigger warnings in this, so don't say I didn't warn you. If you can be okay reading a dark subject matter, GET THIS! I was mesmerized. There was something so compelling about it, it had that quality where I couldn't look away.

I really enjoyed the format it was told in. It switched from Podcast to Sadie's POV. The Podcast is taking place after the fact, while Sadie's story is going along as it happens. I really think the Podcast format made for really fun reading, it added something, it wasn't just a gimmick. It was so fast too. I'd find myself finishing one of Sadie's chapters and reading as fast as I could so I could see what was happening to her next. It was very dark, very tense, very hopeless, but I was hooked.

I do love myself some true crime. I love watching Dateline, Cold Case Files, Making A Murderer and other shows like that. They are dark and disturbing, but there's something so compelling about them. It just makes you question how can people be so awful? What makes someone commit these crimes? The Podcast element was really fun to immerse myself in. And FYI, if you google Sadie by Courtney Summers Podcast, you're able to listen to the first couple episodes of the podcast straight as it's written in the book. ( Link to First Podcast Episode ) I'm not an audiobook person, so the actual audio podcast didn't really do anything for me, but I know there are people out there who love podcasts. The Sadie Podcast has a full cast, so if you're into those, go check it out.

Sadie was such a tragic character. Her motivation through the whole story was revenge. You could feel that that was all she was living for. She didn't care about herself, her whole goal was to get the person that murdered her sister. She pursued that goal at the cost of everything else. She didn't eat, she didn't sleep, and she genuinely seemed unwell. I was worried for her. Sadie is super interesting to follow and I just couldn't look away.

The ending though, I still have feelings about that ending. The ending is left open, without a definite resolution for the reader. Those endings sometimes mess with me because I like having the answers of what happened. I have my suspicions. After I turned the last page of Sadie, it was like she wouldn't leave me. I thought about her for a while, I thought about her whole journey after that last page was turned. It left an impact.

I'd definitely recommend picking Sadie up and giving it a read. It's not a happy story filled with sunshine and rainbows, but it's very compelling. It's dark, shocking, and I just can't get it out of my head. I'm shook.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4.5/5

I'm still in shock.

BLOG TOUR: Project Prometheus (Assassin Fall #2) by Aden Polydoros

I'm really excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for Project Prometheus (Assassin Fall #2) by Aden Polydoros. I read the first book, Project Pandora, last year and really enjoyed it. I knew I needed to get my hands on the sequel to see what was going to happen next. I received a free advanced electronic copy for honest review. Thanks so much to Entangled Teen, Aden Polydoros, and YA Bound Book Tours for including me in this fun tour!

Title: Project Prometheus (Assassin Fall #2)

Author: Aden Polydoros

Released: August 28, 2018

Published by: Entangled Teen

Goodreads  Entangled Publishing  Amazon

Summary:  The Academy stole everything from Hades, their perfect assassin. Angry and leaving bodies in his wake, he finds two other ex-assassins doing the exact same thing.

Tyler and Shannon once killed for The Academy. Now they’re tracking and hunting down its scientists. So why is The Academy only after Hades?

Shannon will do whatever it takes to protect Tyler, even if it means teaming up with a former rival. While she seeks answers to her past, Tyler wants to learn the truth about the mysterious white room, which no one has ever seen except him.

As for Hades? He simply wants revenge.

They all need answers, even if it means returning to the organization where it all started

.My Thoughts: I read Project Pandora, the first book in the series, last year and really enjoyed it. It was a fun, action filled, secret government project conspiracy tale that kept me on the edge of my seat. I knew that I had to get my hands on the sequel, so I was really glad when I got the opportunity to read Project Prometheus early.

I enjoyed Project Prometheus just as much as I did Project Pandora, I might have even liked it a little more than the first book. I love a good action book, and this one did just what I wanted. It kept me on my toes, turning pages, desperate to know what was going to happen next! And I love a good government conspiracy/secret organization kind of thing. In Project Prometheus more secrets were revealed about projects, and people, and things.

The standout character for me in this series is Hades. He's very messed up, but he's so interesting to follow. I think the other characters tend to pale in comparison to him. I'm interested in what's happening to the other characters, but Hades is always the storyline that captures me the most. 

I enjoyed the different POV's. It made for really fast and engaging reading.

This was a solid sequel and I'm a fan of this series. I want to know what happens next. If you're looking for something fun and full of action, I'd definitely suggest giving the Assassin Fall Series a read.

Thank you to Entangled Teen for letting me review an early copy.

About the Author: Aden Polydoros grew up in Long Grove, Illinois, and now lives in Arizona. He is a writer of young adult fiction. When he isn’t writing, he enjoys reading and going on hikes in the mountains. Aden Polydoros is a 2015 Gold Medalist in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and has published two short stories in Best Arizona Teen Writing of 2015. PROJECT PANDORA (Entangled, 2017) is his debut novel.

Goodreads  Twitter

Start off the Series with Project Pandora!

Thank you for stopping by my Blog Tour Stop for Project Prometheus! I had a lot of fun reading it. Thanks to Entangled Teen and YA Bound Book Tours for including me in this fun tour!

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BLOG TOUR: Passage (Akasha Series #1) by Indie Gantz

I'm really excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for Passage by Indie Gantz. As soon as I read the synopsis, I was interested. I received a free e-copy for honest review. Thank you so much to YA Bound Book Tours and Indie Gantz for letting me be a part of this fun tour!

Title: Passage (Akasha Series #1)

Author: Indie Gantz

Goodreads  Amazon  Barnes and Noble

Summary: Uncover a Lifetime of Lies in this Fantasy Adventure!

On day one, Charlie Damuzi and her mute twin brother Tirigan are blissfully unaware of the dangerous world they live in. They may be aliens living on Earth after the extinction of humans, but to Charlie, life is pretty mundane.

On day two, the Damuzi family is ripped apart by a family secret that forces the twins to flee the only home they’ve ever known.

Determined to find a way to reunite their family, Charlie and Tirigan travel to uncharted territory in search of their salvation.

But that’s just Charlie’s side of the story.

In the future, forty days from when we first meet the Damuzi twins, Tirigan is on the move. His destination is unknown, as are the people he’s surrounded himself with, but his mission is still the same. Keep his sister safe and reunite their family.

However, as Tirigan attempts to navigate the complex bonds he’s formed with his companions, he’s forced to confront the one thing in life he has yet to fully understand.

Himself.

Family. Deception. Power. Destruction.

It all begins on day one.

My Thoughts: I had a lot of fun reading this! It was full of action and adventure. I had to keep turning the pages to see what would happen next. I'm a sucker for alien books, if I see it in the description, I'm 90% more likely to pick it up. I enjoyed the alien storyline in this.

The POV's changed a lot, which also made for exciting reading. It was a very fast-paced book that I had a good time reading.

This is the first book in the Akasha Series, which means the reader is being introduced to a lot of stuff. I never got confused and I never felt bogged down with the details presented. This book also ends on a cliff-hanger, which hurts when you don't have the next book with you. So be prepared to not get resolution at the end.

I also enjoyed the characters I was meeting and the characters' whose points of view I was reading from. They were unique from each other, which I appreciated.

I'd definitely recommend giving this book a read. I really enjoyed it. It was a fun, fast, enjoyable time.

Meet the Author Indie Gantz

Website  Goodreads  Twitter  Facebook

Indie Gantz grew up in Northern Virginia and received her Psychology degree at George Mason University. Despite her passion and curiosity for the human mind, Indie left her chosen field of study to finally give voice to the many imagined minds she has created.

Indie lives with her family in North Carolina. She spends her days drinking tea and clacking keys.

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Thanks for checking out my Blog Tour Stop for Passage by Indie Gantz. If it sounds good to you, I'd definitely recommend giving it a read. Thanks again to YA Bound Book Tours and Indie Gantz for letting me be a part of this fun tour.

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