Unearthed

Unearthed

Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner

Unearthed, Book 1

Book Depository Link

I received a copy of this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

This is my first Kaufman/Spooner book that I've read, which seems a bit like a sin considering how long I've had their other series sitting on my shelf. I've heard tons of good things and I also loved Illuminae, which Kaufman had a hand in. This book, though, was a bit of a let down. I think a lot of early info was praising it as Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider in space, which it essentially is, and which is actually a great idea, but just didn't do much for me. A side note before the proper review: even though I had an egalley of this, I actually listened to it on audiobook, which I can strongly recommend because I thought the two voice actors were pretty fantastic.

Can't Wait Wednesday: Ice Wolves

I'm switching over from Waiting on Wednesday's to Can't Wait Wednesday, a meme hosted by Wishful Endings. The idea is basically the same, but it looks like the official hosts of Breaking the Spine have shut down the meme so it's time to move on. Description and cover image taken from Goodreads.

Everyone in Vallen knows that ice wolves and scorch dragons are sworn enemies who live deeply separate lives.
So when twelve-year-old orphan Anders takes one elemental form and his twin sister, Rayna, takes another, he has to question whether they are even related. Still, whether or not they’re family, Anders knows that Rayna is his best and only true friend. She’s nothing like the brutal, cruel dragons who claimed her as one of their own and stole her away.
To learn what he needs to rescue her, Anders will have to enlist at the foreboding Ulfar Academy, a school for young wolves that values loyalty to the pack above all else. But for Anders, loyalty is more complicated than blind obedience, and friendship is the most powerful shape-shifting force of all.
New York Times bestselling author Amie Kaufman delivers heart-pounding adventure and breathtaking magical inventions in this unforgettable story about finding one’s place in a sharply divided world.

Why I'm Waiting

For one, it's Amie Kaufman, and for another, this is the type of book I adored reading when I was younger. I'm also always in the market for good Middle Grade (I'm rather bad at just stumbling across it) and this promises to be so much fun. 

Ice Wolves releases March 27, 2018.

CWW: Unearthed

I'm switching over from Waiting on Wednesday's to Can't Wait Wednesday, a meme hosted by Wishful Endings. The idea is basically the same, but it looks like the official hosts of Breaking the Spine have shut down the meme so it's time to move on.

When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying's advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered.
For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study... as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don't loot everything first. Mia and Jules' different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance.
In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race's secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race...

Why I'm Waiting

Even though These Broken Stars has been sitting on my bookshelf for a while I have yet to actually pick it up. Hopefully very soon. Regardless, I've been in a Sci-fi mood and, while this doesn't sound exactly like the type of science fiction I'm looking for I trust Amie Kaufman to deliver and I'm always interested in trying something new.

Unearthed will release January 9th, 2018.

Can't Wait Wednesday: Obsidio

I'm switching over from Waiting on Wednesday's to Can't Wait Wednesday, a meme hosted by Wishful Endings. The idea is basically the same, but it looks like the official hosts of Breaking the Spine have shut down the meme so it's time to move on.

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion? Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha's past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heros will fall, and hearts will be broken.

Why I'm Waiting

I may not have finished the second book in this series yet, but the first book blew me completely away, and the format of these are just so cool, that I absolutely can't wait for this one. Also, not quite sure if this is the final cover or not, but I'd be cool with it if it were.

Obsidio releases March 13th, 2018.

Waiting on Wednesday: Gemina

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.
Hanna Donnelly is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik Malikov the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy's most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station's wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own surivival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.
But relax. They've totally got this. They hope.

Why I'm Waiting

I loved Illuminae more than I thought I would and returning to this storytelling technique has me all kinds of excited!  It's one of the best YA sci-fi novels out there and everyone should pick it up.

Gemina comes out October 18th, 2016

5 Star Book Review: Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1)

Authors: Amie Kaufman
Website, Facebook, Twitter
Jay Kristoff
Website, Facebook, Twitter
Edition: Hardcover
Buy Links: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository
Goodreads Link
Rating: 5 Stars

THIS BOOK GUYS THIS BOOK!  This review won't have spoilers, but I'm more than willing to do a spoilery review because I have so many things to say about it!  I actually buddy read this book with the lovely Maryam Dinzly and you should definitely go follow her and check out her blog!  This was my first buddy read and I think it went really well!

Illuminae is about Ezra and Kady, who start the novel having broken up only a few hours earlier.  Well, as Ezra put it "You picked one hell of a day to dump me, Kades" since the novel begins with their home planet being invaded by a nefarious corporation and follows their journey/struggle to get to safety over the course of about one year.  As you may have heard/noticed, this isn't any regular sort of novel.  In fact, it's rather unconventional in a beautiful way.  The best way I can describe it is like reading a "found footage" film.

Because of this strange format I was worried I wouldn't connect to well with either the story or the characters.  But, I had absolutely no problem with this!  In fact, I would argue that this book actually made it easier to connect with both the characters and story since it felt so much more real than a regular novel.  Even getting only a small peek into Kady's mind, it didn't feel like an un-personal novel.  And, yes, there are a bunch of characters, but they're not all swimming around in your head.  They're easy to remember, perhaps because of all the unique situations they're in and the roles that they play.

Setting is a really big factor in this book, and while it wasn't cut and dry, I did almost feel like I was living aboard either the Alexander or the Hypatia.  It's not exactly vivid, but it's not a far reach from the sort of world we live in now.  Which, perhaps, makes the story even more unsettling.  I do think one could draw parallels between this book and the refugees from Syria if one was so inclined.

The biggest thing about this book was the sheer amount of twists I was unprepared for.  You go into the book expecting one page, then the next page has the world turning upside down, and the page after that suddenly everything's inverted.  It's such a pleasant ride!  And while there's a huge amount of heartbreak, there's also a huge amount of hope in this book.  

My recommendation: enjoy the ride and savor every moment, because an experience like this book comes around maybe once every few years.

Waiting on Wednesday: Illuminae

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.  Click here to join in on the fun.