Sunday, January 29, 2017

BOOKREVIEW: Vinyl by Sophia Elaine Hanson

Hello bookreaders!
Welcome back to my blog!




Today's blog, as you might have gathered from the title, is another bookreview! I'm going to talk to all of you about Vinyl, by Sophia Elaine Hanson! This review containts 0 spoilers, so feel free to read this! It will have references to pages of the book, but again 0 spoilers!


"May your song guide you home", she whispered.

If you don't know anything about the Vinyl Trilogy:

  • It's a YA Dystopian trilogy
  • I'd say there's a small dose of magical realism too (but I'm not sure if anyone else would say so)
  • It's fast-paced and action-packed
  • It has a ton of talk about music and its meaning to humans who have lost it
  • Goodreads:
Legend meets Leviathan in this gritty dystopian fiction by debut author Sophia Elaine Hanson. All citizens within the soaring black walls of Revinia have metal Singers grafted into their skulls at birth. The parasitic machines issue a form of auditory hypnosis called The Music, which keeps their minds malleable and emotions flat. All artistic expression—especially real music—is strictly prohibited.

On the edge of the city, nineteen year old Ronja struggles to support her cousins and disabled mother. A chance meeting leads to her kidnapping by an underground resistance striving to preserve the human spirit. Violently severed from her Singer by the brash young agent Roark, Ronja revels in her newfound freedom until the consequences of her disappearance begin to unfold.




✨ I'd also like to let you know that I hosted a readalong on instagram for Vinyl, and it was super fun! If you'd like to check out the participants' and my posts check this hashtag: #stefansreadalong



"You know they're all dead?"

"The stars?" she prompted.

"Yeah," he confirmed, switching his gaze to her face. "They've been dead for millions of years. Their light is just reaching us now."

Ronja mulled this over for a time, then spoke. "At least they left a mark."

✨First of all: I'd like to thank Ms Sophia for sending me her book for review! I'm glad I had this opportunity! However, the full review and rating are all mine! This does not affect my review.



✨I like the fact that Sophia didn't give away too much from the beginning. For example, she mentioned the word "mutt" and from the text you obviously realiaze that that's something bad, but she still doesn't explain what a mutt is, so you have to keep reading to find out! And that's really cool because the author manages to keep you into the story and also keep you interested.
The book also has humour, because: page 44 middle of the page #sorrynotsorry + page 93 the "liar - kidnapper" line
I also like how Ronja is sassy and sarcastic. The latter doesn't always do her good, but her responses remind me of myself and how mean I can be lol (page 97, "feels like... to me").
 Remember the sassy part I mentioned above? Page 99 " "Family?" "Fractured." " lol.



I love the fact that Ronja's character felt so real. She wasn't just afraid of the people in the Belly, and then the next second she wasn't. I don't know if that makes sense, but for example here: when she broke that pot or clay or whatever it was the man was carrying, you can practically feel the fear and horror radiating off her.
And also, Sophia showed us Ronja's past in a very interesting way. She chose to make us meet Ronja and her past slowly slowly, and added her backstory in, as a part of the plot of the book. She didn't just make Ronja lie down in bed during a random night and just say things like "I'm so not worthy of all this, when I was younger and blah blah blah" which would have been a total (and also annoying) cliché for a YA book.
However, I did not like how quickly she trusted Roark. Like one minute he tortures and cuts your ear, and the next one you're all besties. I mean yes, Ronja did throw the occasional shade towards him, but I still feel like some more time before she completely trusted him would have been better! 
The rest of the characters: Evie, Iris, Henry and Roark were really nice! I was glad that they all had backstories and didn't, just you know, end up being there. All of them, including Ronja have a major improvement. They were also relatable, which made it more fun!
Some things were definitely unpredictable, and I can't mention them as I did with other parts because: spoilers (duhhhh). But once you get to the ending, you'll know what I mean (insert a sad and crying emoji lol).
Another thing that I usually mention in my reviews is my love for short chapters. Sophia's chapters were really short and that was a great thing! First of all it makes the reader feel like he's reading more, since he can be on chapter 10 but still on page 50 or something like that!
I like the fact that during the ending, a lot of things happen. Yes, some or more likely most, you did see coming but that did not stop you from going into a state of shock. Others, you could not have predicted! 
Oh and the book has also got diverse characters (ex. Iris-Evie).
Most of my questions were answered by the end of the book, so I'm really curious about what happens next!
Just know that this book was so worth it! The cover is gorgeous too! 
I can't wait for Radio! Make sure you read Vinyl so that you can join my Radio Readalong which is coming soon on instagram! (Keep an eye on the hashtag: #stefansreadalong).
✨Final Rating: 4.5/5 STARS 
✨Recommend it? HIGHLY!


"....And Ronja... maybe the stars are alive after all."




Radio's release date is set for March 2017!
✨Paperbacks and ebooks are available on bookdepository, amazon, nook, ibooks and kindle unlimited!

P.S: When someone tells you to not ask questions, you shouldn't ask any. Look at what happened to Ronja! Lol

Stay tuned because I have an amazing giveaway coming soon here on my blog!

Extra Credits: The last photo was borrowed from Sophia's own instagram! The rest were taken from my personal IG account: @stefansbooks

Thursday, January 26, 2017

BOOKREVIEW: The Red Sun by Alane Adams


Welcome to my first ever blog book review!

Today I'm gonna talk about my thoughts on Alane Adam's first book of  the "Legends of Orkney" series!


If you don't know anything about this series, then here:

  • It's a middle grade series (like Percy Jackson)
  • It's based on Norse Mythology
  • It belongs to the genre of Fantasy
  • Goodreads:
After meeting a strange dwarf in his garage and finding out his substitute English teacher is a witch, twelve-year-old Sam Baron travels through a stonefire to the magical realm of Orkney where he finally learns the truth about his past: his mother is a witch and his father is a descendant of Norse god Odin.

So hang on tightly 'cause here comes the review: 

✨  "back to their pathetic life of grammar lessons and homework..."
   If even witches from another realm think this, then who are you to disagree? This is the reason why aliens will never visit us! (lol okay, now that that's out of the way, let's continue)
          
✨ General Thoughts: This book was absolutely amazing! It was sassy and hilarious and sad and adventurous with its dose of darkness to balance the funny parts out.


      ✨ First of all, I'd like to thank Ms Adams for sending me her book for review! This, however does not affect the way I reviewed and rated the book!
      ✨At first, everything was happening so quickly I couldn't even understand what was actually happening. I was so confused and also worried because I thought that this was gonna last for the entire book (fortunately, it didn't). 
          Side Note: Fast paced books are amazing, but you know, too fast can also be bad, because it often prevents the reader from getting to know the characters better and so we can not get attached to them easily.

✨ The book got better and better by each passing chapter. As I mentioned at the beginning, it was so fun and full of adventures! 
✨ Another good thing about this book is that the chapters are really short, so it's very convenient for anyone who has a lot of things to do, but would also like to sneak in reading a few pages once in a while!
✨The book was really educational too, because even though the author did mix real mythology (well as real as mythology can get lmao) with her imagination, anyone who hasn't got a clue about Norse Mythology got to learn a ton about it!
✨Even though this book belongs to the Middle Grade category, at some points it felt like a YA book. Now, I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or a good thing, but I personally did not mind!
✨My favourite character was Mavery! All of the characters were likeable, I mean sometimes Sam was too childish and annoying (so I had to remind myself that he's 12).
✨ I found really fascinating the way Odin was portrayed, and how Asgard was pictured!
✨I wanna see more of Sam's mother though, so I hope that we get to see more of her on book 2 (Kalifus Rising, is also out).

✨It did have some plot twists that were unpredictable!
✨Last thought: some parts of the book were sooo good I couldn't even put it down long enough to write my thoughts on my journal (yes, I keep a bookjournal lol).
✨Do I recommend this book? Of course and I do! 

✨Final Rating: 4.25/5 STARS! 

You can get The Red Sun and Kalifus Rising on bookdepository, amazon, B&N, kindle & ibooks!

The Raven God, Book3 in the Legends of Orkney series will be out by September 2017!



Stay tuned for more reviews and blog posts! 
    Hint: There's a giveaway coming soon so watch out!!







Extra Credits: First and 1st to last photos were borrowed from Alane Adam's own website! The rest were taken from my personal IG account: @stefansbooks

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!


Welcome to my blog everyone!

My name's Stefanos and I'm from Cyprus! I love talking about books and so, I decided to start my own bookish blog! Here, you can see and read anything from book hauls, book recommendations to bookreviews! 

You can contact me for bookreviews here: tvdreignto@gmail.com

I also have a bookstagram account so definitely check that out: @stefansbooks 
& a goodreads account!

Now: Some Facts About Me

1. My favourite book colour is blue (well, any hue of blue, I'm not that picky haha).

2. My favourite book genres are: 

  • Fantasy
  • Dystopian 
  • Anything YA (tbh)
  • Action/Adventure
  • Selected Sci-Fi
  • Contemporary (Depends on what kind;) )
3. My favourite book trilogies/series are:

  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (duhhh)
  • Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling (duuuh again) (except book 8 which I refuse to accept as book 8)
  • The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson (which became a series?)
  • The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (idrk what to say about the last book, it was weird okay?)
  • Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas 
  • The Young (FREAKING) Elites by Marie Lu
  • Sphinx Series by Raye Wagner (3rd book was just released, definitely check that out)
  • The Shannara Chronicles by Terry Brooks
  • The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare (ONLY TID, that does NOT include TMI)

4. My favourite stand alones are:

  • A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
  • The Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver
  • No And Me by Delphine de Vigan
  • Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
5. Favourite Social Media: Obviously, Instagram (bookstagram)


6. My favourite tv shows are:
  • The 100
  • The Elfstones of Shannara
  • 12 Monkeys
Well, I don't really know what else to say, so that's it for now! Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know about me? 

Stefanos