Falling Kingdoms, by Morgan Rhodes

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Author: Morgan Rhodes [F] [T] [W]
Publisher: Razorbill [W]
Release Date: December 11, 2012
Format: Hardcover; 412 pages
Series: Falling Kingdoms (Book 1)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Magic
Avg. Rating: ★★★★✩

Goodreads | Book Depository

In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power--brutally transforming their subjects' lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined:

Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct.

Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished--and finds himself the leader of a people's revolution centuries in the making.

Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past--and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.

Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword...

The only outcome that's certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?

War and politics in a book? Fantasy is sometimes very hit or miss for me - especially when these two themes are prevalent. War? Well, I have to admit that I like a good war story every now and then. Politics? Yeah, not so much. Thankfully, this book has both - so any qualms that I may have about politics is somewhat muted out by the war in the book. Add to this a few minor elements that may have rubbed me the wrong way, and I'll admit that I wasn't sure about this novel as I was reading. However, once I was finished, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the ample amounts of intrigue that I had with this book. 

Let's start with the not-so-good. As I said before, I'm not too keen on politics. Even with series that I absolutely adore like The Hunger Games, the politics sometimes makes me roll my eyes and wish for a little more of anything BUT politics. There is also the matter of dialogue. This book is categorized as historical fiction and definitely has the feel of something that happened in a different time. However, the dialogue sometimes contradicted that as it felt a little too.. modern. There was just some use of words and phrases uttered that didn't feel as if they were part of the same time period as the setting of the story. 

Aside from those two things, any issues that I may have had with the story were resolved as I was actually reading. The narrative switching perspectives for several characters was a little confusing but got easier as the story progressed. As a matter of fact, I don't think the story would have been as good without the switch of characters. Speaking of characters, I have to say that the four main characters really grated my best, most patient nerves at the very beginning - especially Cleo. However, like the switching around with the points of view, this annoyance disappeared as I delved deeper into the story. These characters actually grew on me quite a bit - all of them, including Cleo. 

The plot of this story was a little unoriginal as I have seen the premise taken on by other authors. HOWEVER, this story can definitely stand on its own two feet (or ends, as it is) quite well. The ending of this story was a bit of a cliffhanger, but in a very good way that keeps the appeal to find out more at an all-time high for me. Overall, this turned out to be a very interesting start to a series that I plan on staying with until the end. 

Rating: ★★★★✩
Source: Gift

New Year's Giveaway!

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! Since it's about to be a new year and a fresh start for me after a very chaotic two years, I thought I would start the year out right. And how is that? With a giveaway, of course!

I'll be randomly setting up giveaways on Missy's Reads & Reviews every once in a while through 2013, just as a thank you to my wonderful followers/readers/subscribers. And while I normally go through Book Depository for everything, I thought I would switch things up and check out Powells. I've bought a few books through them but not as many as I should. So, let's remedy this now! 

For this giveaway, you can choose any book valued up to $10.00. If you're selected as the winner, I will contact you via e-mail and ask your book selection then - so no pressure to find something right now! 

For this giveaway, it will be US only (sorry!) since that is where Powells ships. However, I promise US only giveaways will be RARE this year!

Giveaway ends THIS coming Saturday, January 5th so ENTER NOW!

Good luck!!

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New This Week!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

The Dead And Buried, by Kim Harrington

Empty, by K.M. Walton

The Essence, by Kimberly Derting

Falling For You, by Lisa Schroeder

The Fire Horse Girl, by Kay Honeyman

Teeth, by Hannah Moskowitz

 Victoria Rebels, by Carolyn Meyer

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A Dance With Darkness, by Courtney Allison Moulton

Ali's Pretty Little Lies, by Sara Shepard

Catherine, by April Lindner

These are just some of the books available this week. For more information on each book, please click the image to be redirected to the book's Goodreads page. If you're interested in purchasing the book, click on the title to be taken to the book's purchase page on Book Depository.

Alice in Zombieland, by Gena Showalter

Author: Gena Showalter [F] [T] [W]
Publisher: Harlequin Teen [W]
Release Date: September 25, 2012
Format: Hardcover; 404 pages
Series: The White Rabbit Chronicles (Book 1)
Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance, Zombies
Avg. Rating: ★★★★✩

Goodreads | Book Depository

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

With the exception of Warm Bodies and a few others, I'm really not the biggest fan of zombie books. I can read them.. I just don't enjoy them all that much, and I really don't go out of the way to read them completely voluntarily. And I definitely don't go out of the way to contact a publisher for a zombie book. HOWEVER, this IS Gena Showalter we're talking about. Everyone has their exceptions.

For me, the best part of picking up a Gena Showalter novel is knowing before I even hold the book in my hands that I will enjoy it. Is that biased? Maybe, but it's completely true. There's something very genuine and unique about Showalter's writing that stays completely true to her style to let you know the book is definitely hers, yet she still manages to keep every story's tone its own and every character has their own individual voice. It's something rare that you may not always see in an author's work, especially when they have so many books under their literary belt. 

Having said that, it shouldn't be a total shocker that I really loved this book. I know that I read about people being disappointed with the fact that the title of this novel is very similar to Alice in Wonderland, so it was assumed that it was a highly-imaginative retelling when it really didn't have much to do with the classic tale at all. I can say that wasn't the case for me - as a matter of fact, that little bit didn't bother me one single bit. There's also a twist on the actual zombies in this book that some people didn't like much. Again, didn't bother me. Just the opposite actually.. I really LOVED the twist on the zombie lore of this book. It's something that I have never EVER in my life come across in a book, and that made it just that much more special of a read for me.

Alice was a great female lead. Very independent, strong and need I say hard-headed? Especially when it came to a certain boy. Cole was the sexy bad boy in the novel and I thought he was a great opposite for Alice - and I definitely mean opposite. Their ways always seemed to clash (which I'll admit at times got a little tedious for me), but the chemistry was off the charts for these two. I also enjoyed Alice's quirky best friend, Kat. She brought that special magic to the story that only some characters can pull off and managed to keep an aura of mystery to her that kept me intrigued.

The setting to this story was perfect and helped to really set the tone for the book. I loved the pace and the plot, which isn't short of amazing - but I expect no less from Gena Showalter. This is definitely a great read that I think all of my paranormal readers would enjoy. And if you're a Showalter fan, I think this is really a given that you MUST read this book. ;)

My Rating: ★★★★★

Book Source: Publisher

 

Ripped, by Shelly Dickson Carr

Author: Shelly Dickson Carr [T] [W]
Publisher: New Book Partners [W]
Release Date: December 1, 2012
Format: Paperback; 520 pages
Series: N/A
Genre: YA, Indie, Thriller, Time-Travel
Avg. Rating: ★★★★★ (via Amazon.com)

Goodreads | Book Depository

Katie Lennox wishes her parents were still alive. Having to leave Boston to live with Grandma Cleaves in London was hard, but she's making new friends, working on her British accent and even learning some Cockney rhyming slang. London's cool and actually feels like home in some ways, like she's been here before, belongs here. When a museum visit with her cousin and his cute friend turns funky, Katie finds herself in a long, uncomfortable dress, wearing a ridiculous hat, wondering what happened to her jeans and high-top sneakers? And where's her iPhone?... It's London, 1888. Smart and gutsy, Katie knows she's here to stop Jack the Ripper. The serial killer didn't just slash his victims' throats; he butchered the women. Katie has read about the Ripper, knows the names of his victims and where and when they were killed. She's watched her fair share of CSI. Can Katie save their lives?

Ripped was one of those random finds that I discovered while browsing around for new books to read. Loving all things Jack The Ripper related I knew that, fiction or not, I had to check this book out. I ordered, waited and read as soon as I received it in the mail.I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but for some reason I wasn't expecting it to be so good that I devoured this book in very little time. 

This book is told from the point of view of a fifteen-year-old girl (Katie) that goes back in time to try to stop Jack The Ripper from butchering women - one being an ancestor of Katie, whom her rock star sister looks a lot like. I loved Katie's voice in this book and, between her dialogue and references to modern-day pop culture, I think she really made this story very easy to read - even the gory and violent parts.

This story is very detailed and historically accurate when it comes to the facts about Jack The Ripper - someone definitely did their research and stayed true to history where it mattered. Seeing a book that is 500+ pages long about history and time travel may seem daunting but the intrigue in the mystery of this book definitely sets the pace and you'll be through it before you know it. 

If you're a fan of Jack the Ripper, time travel or just a good mystery then I would definitely recommend this book. 

My Rating: ★★★★★

Book Source: Purchase