Inherit The Stars by Tessa Elwood Review

Inherit The Stars by Tessa Elwood

To Be Published: December 8th, 2015

Genre: Sci-Fi 

*I’ve received an E-ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Synopsis:

Three royal houses ruling three interplanetary systems are on the brink of collapse, and they must either ally together or tear each other apart in order for their people to survive.

Asa is the youngest daughter of the house of Fane, which has been fighting a devastating food and energy crisis for far too long. She thinks she can save her family’s livelihood by posing as her oldest sister in an arranged marriage with Eagle, the heir to the throne of the house of Westlet. The appearance of her mother, a traitor who defected to the house of Galton, adds fuel to the fire, while Asa also tries to save her sister Wren's life . . . possibly from the hands of their own father.

But as Asa and Eagle forge a genuine bond, will secrets from the past and the urgent needs of their people in the present keep them divided?

Author Tessa Elwood's debut series is an epic romance at heart, set against a mine field of political machinations, space adventure, and deep-seeded family loyalties.

Thoughts:

Inherit the Stars was different from what I thought it would be, but not in a bad way.  I expected this action packed, space adventure.  Instead, I was sucked in the middle of this futuristic world of feuding interplanetary systems.  I felt like this book focused more on the political aspects of what was going on in their world, and I loved that.  We get a glimpse into the different houses –especially Fane- and realize that their world is nowhere near stable. 

I really liked the world in this book.  I feel like it was different from other Sci-Fi books I’d read, and I liked that.  The idea of these different “royal houses” ruling different systems was really cool and gave it a unique twist.  Their system is in the middle of a horrible energy and food crisis, and the people are getting restless.  As the smallest house, Asa and her family are fighting to keep their system afloat.   

I loved her relationship with Eagle and how it changed throughout the book.  Despite the strange circumstances, I think they really made it work.  They’re so cute together and I definitely ship them.  The dynamics between all of the other characters were so complicated and politically influenced and I really liked that.

Once I started Inherit The Stars, I couldn’t put it down.  Something about it just completely drew me in and I ended up reading it in one sitting.  I loved how unpredictable it was.  With this book, I never knew what was going to happen next.  It kept me on my toes and there were so many crazy twists and turns and drama.  I could seriously never guess what was going to happen next.  Every time I thought I knew what was going on, something completely unexpected happened.

I will say that this book wasn’t perfect.  Some things could have been better explained, or fleshed out.  There were times when I was confused and had to read a chapter over again.  I found the writing a little bit strange at times.  I didn’t feel like I knew the characters as much as I’d have liked, and the world definitely could have been more fleshed out. 

But, despite all of that there was something that really made me like this book.   Even with all of its’ imperfections, In Inherit the Stars, I saw the beginning of a series that has great potential.  There is room for improvement in various areas, but through it all I saw a series with the potential to become really great. 

There’s so much potential for more character development and world building in this series and I hope we’ll get to see more of that in the sequel.  I’d love to see this series and these characters reach their full potential.  I’ll definitely be picking the next one up to follow these characters and see what happens next in this crazy world.  

Rating:

In Short:

Tessa Elwood has created great characters, a unique and interesting world and such complicated character dynamics.  All she needs to do is build on those things and develop them more fully.  I was sucked in by the story and plot and she has the ability to create such great twist and turns.  I would definitely recommend picking up Inherit the Stars, and I look forward to this series only getting better.

Olivia

Have you read Inherit The Stars?  What were your thoughts?  Are you planning on picking this one up?  

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I Need To Finish

Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by the wonderful ladies over at The Broke and The Bookish.

This week’s topic is… Ten Finished Series I Have YET to Finish

I’m pretty bad at finishing series.  Everyone seems to have those series that they haven’t finished yet that are just sitting around. 

Series I really need to finish

1.     Splintered Series

By A.G. Howard

I read the first book, Splintered, and adored it.  This is one of the series I’m most excited to finish on this list.  Hopefully, I’ll get to it soon!

2.     Poison Study Series

By Maria V. Snyder

I read the first two books and I’m completely in love with this series.  The original series was three books, and they’ve been out for a while.  Recently, she’s continued it so I look forward to more Poison Study books!

3.     The Selection series

By Kiera Cass

I’ve only read the first one (again) but I did enjoy it.  I didn’t LOVE it and I don’t like the MC, America.  BUT I do want to finish this because I need to see how it ends. (even though I already sort of know) So, I will finish this series sometime whether I buy them or just get them from my Library.

4.     A Series of Unfortunate Events

By Lemony Snicket

After hearing so many things about this series, I decided I had to see what all of the hype was about. So far, I’ve only read the first one but I did really enjoy it.  My library has all of them so I can work my way through them little by little. 

5.      Woodcutter Sister Series

By Althea Kontis

This is a fantasy retelling series that I absolutely LOVE.  Seriously, check it out.  I’ve wanted to pick up the other books in this series since the beginning of time.  It will happen sometime soon.

6.     The Monument 14 Series

By Emmy Laybourne

This is a wonderful series about a group of kids trying to survive during the apocalypse.  I LOVED the first two, so once I get my hands on the last one, I WILL be finishing it. 

7.     Top 8 Series

By Katie Finn (AKA Morgan Matson) (AKA Goddess of YA Contemporary)

I read the first two books in this series but not the last one.   I really liked both of the first books.  Overall, this series is cute and funny and all very quick reads.  I really want to finish this series very soon. 

8.     The Graceling Realm

By Kristin Cashore

I absolutely LOVE Graceling and Fire, the other two books in this companion series.  I have absolutely no excuse NOT to have read Bitterblue because I know I’ll love it.  Next time I’m in the mood for a great YA fantasy, I’ll have to pick it up. 

1.     The Ascendance series

By Jennifer Nielsen

I was absolutely blown away by the first book, The False Prince.  I had every intention of finishing this series very soon after.  Well, it’s been two years now.  Ooops.  But, in all seriousness, I want to read the rest of this series VERY VERY soon. 

10.     The intern Series

By Gabrielle Tozer

I really loved the first book, but I couldn’t find the second one.  Not online. Not in stores.  Does anyone know what the deal with that is?  They’re kind of hard to find in the US, because I think it might be UK YA?  Or maybe Australian?  IDK. 

I didn’t realize how many series I needed to finish until I had to make this list.  BUT now I have them all in one place and  I’m really hoping to finish these soon. Sometimes I just forget that I need to finish them, you know? 

I look forward to seeing what’s on your list!  Hopefully all of you can get around to finishing your unfinished series. 

Olivia 

Review: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Published: 2006

Genre: Fantasy




                                                                                    


Synopsis:
     In a world where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, an evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. The future of the empire rests on the shoulders of a troublemaker and his young apprentice. Together, can they fill the world with colour once more?
In Brandon Sanderson's intriguing tale of love, loss, despair and hope, a new kind of magic enters the stage - Allomancy, a magic of the metals.

Thoughts:

Like any great heist, a crew get assembled, a crazy plan gets made and the crew has to come together to make their intricate scheme work.  But this isn’t a heist.  No.  They’re going to overthrow the Final Empire. 

The Final Empire exceeded my expectations by 1000%. I had heard fantastic things, of course, but nothing compared to how amazing it actually was. I just wasn't expecting to love it this much.  I picked The Final Empire up rather on a whim.  Even though I love fantasy, I wasn't sure what I'd think about this one. But, I absolutely LOVED IT.

The characters and the story drew me right in.  I loved Vin and seeing how much she developed throughout the book was great.  She is thrown into this world that she isn’t familiar with.  She has to learn how to control powers that she didn’t know she had.  Vin is new to all of this and seeing her go through all of these things for the first time was great.  It made her so relatable.  Seeing her interact with the nobles in court life was so interesting because it was so different from the world she grew up in, yet she fit in well. 

And can I just say – Elend is such a sweetheart.  I love that how different he is from everyone else and he cares about important issues and wants to help people and make things better.  He reads pretty much all the time (like during balls) and I love him for that.

Vin is taken under Kelsier’s wing and I loved their relationship.  I loved how Kelsier took the time to train her and teach her all of these things that years ago, someone taught him.  Because of their circumstances, they have this bond that nobody else in the crew has. 

Let’s talk about Kelsier.   I LOVED KELSIER.  His personality was just so great.  He is smart and charismatic and MAN does he know how to scheme.  He brings life to the crew and gives people hope.   He’s such an incredible Mistborn and he’s been through so much.  Kelsier has pretty much been through hell and back, yet he’s still here.  Kelsier is really a survivor and I admire him so much for that.  Even if at times he can get a little dark, and is kind of callous when it comes to killing nobles.  He too goes through a lot of development in this book even if it’s a little hard to realize.  His viewpoints and attitudes on certain things change and it makes him better.  Kelsier is my favorite character in this book and he’s just amazing.  I really can’t explain it.  Especially at the end of the book you realize just how incredible he is. 

 

I loved each and every member of their crew.  Each person had their own purpose and personality and they fit so well.  Each and every person was there for a reason and crucial to the plan.  I liked how at times each of them would take Vin aside and teach her something.  They all trusted and looked out for each other and it really felt like a family. 

But now to the magic.  The magic system was unlike anything I’d ever heard of before.  The idea of ingesting metal and “burning” it is so cool.  Each metal lets you do something different or gives you a different power.  Some people can’t do this at all, and some people specialize in one certain thing.  But the people that can burn all 8 metals, that’s what they call a Mistborn. 

The “Lord Ruler” completely baffled me and yet intrigued me.  Who really is he?  What is he doing?  How is he controlling these people?  The whole government was creepy and I just am still wondering HOW. 

I loved the world in The Final Empire.  I feel like there’s so many aspects of it to explore and learn about.  SO many other lands, stories, and people to discover.  The Terrismen especially shocked me and I think that they’re SO AMAZING.  

But honestly, I’m not even going to try to explain too much more to you because I can’t do it justice.  I think it’s best just to go into this book not knowing a lot about it. 

Rating:

In Short:

I immensely enjoyed each and every second of this book.  The world building and writing was absolutely incredible.  I loved each and every one of the characters.  And even though this book was around 800 pages, it still seemed to short.  I never wanted it to end.  This was by far one of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read.  Reading The Final Empire really reminded me why Fantasy is my favorite genre and made me love it a little more.  I’m so excited about continuing on with this series and reading more Brandon Sanderson books.  

Olivia

Have you read this series?  If you have, what were your thoughts?  What other Brandon Sanderson books would you recommend?

July Wrap-Up and August TBR

Sorry for the delayed wrap up!  It’s been a crazy month. 

What have I been up to?

In the beginning of the month, I was on vacation.  I had a great time, and got to read many amazing books.  So, during that time I didn’t post almost at all. 

July just felt crazy.  I didn’t post as much this month because there were a lot of weekends when I was away and some day trips. 

To be honest, I really slacked off in July.  I kind of hit a reading/blogging slump and it was TERRIBLE.   Reading slumps are bad enough, but I hit a patch where I wasn’t blogging much either.  Which I hated.  I’m back now, however. 

I am going to try to make sure that doesn’t happen again, especially as I start school at the end of the month.  Writing and scheduling posts ahead is crucial. 

And so I also kind of decided to cut back a little.  I’m pretty sure I’m dropping Waiting on Wednesday.  I may start doing it again eventually, but for now I’m stopping.  Also, I dropped the weekly wrap-ups.  I liked them, but it was kind of a lot to do every week.  From now on, I’m just going to be doing the monthly wrap ups. Since the school year is starting up soon, I think this will really help to simplify things.  I feel like these changes will help me to be able to focus my energy on more reviews, discussions, and tags.  Which are what I really love to do. 

*note* just to let you guys know, I’ve been linking the covers to Goodreads in my reviews, so that’s why there’s no button anymore.  

What books did I read?

I read 10 books this month.  It really isn’t too bad, since more than half of them were read within the first week of July and I was kind of slumping the rest of the month. 

Legend by Marie Lu // 4 stars  //  I really liked Legend!  It was different than I thought it would be, but definitely in a good way!

Prodigy by Marie Lu // 4 stars //  More awesomeness.  Also, I LOVE DAY. 

Champion by Marie Lu // 4 stars // Great conclusion!  THAT ENDING THOUGH.

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins // 4 stars // Cute and kick butt all at the same time.  Fantasy mixed with contemporary all in a southern setting makes for awesomeness.

Confess by Coleen Hoover // 4.5 stars // Another great book by Colleen Hoover.  Definitely recommend this!

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour // 5 stars // THE CUTENESS.  MORGAN MATSON IS THE QUEEN OF YA CONTEMPORARY.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson // 5 stars // GUYS.  I FINALLY READ BRANDON SANDERSON.  WHERE HAS THIS SERIES BEEN ALL MY LIFE.  If you couldn’t tell, I adored it.  Those 700 pages just flew by ;)  But seriously.  I’m in love.  If you like fantasy, read this book now please.  Review coming soon.

Alive by Scott Sigler // 3.5 stars //  Alive kept me guessing at every turn.  I will be continuing on because I NEED to know what’s going to happen next.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson // 4 stars // More graphic nolvels!  This one was super cute and action packed.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline // 5 stars // Another book that I’ve heard nothing but FANTASTIC things about.  Reading this book was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I fell in love with it and I can’t wait to read Armada.  I can’t emphasize enough how great this is…so just go read it please.  Review coming soon

I have reviews up for *almost* all of these books.  So, click on the links to go to the reviews to get more of my thoughts on all of these lovely books.  

What else did I post about?

What other posts did I write except for the above reviews?  Well…

I did Waiting on Wednesday #12 and #13.  (which will be my last for a while)

I reviewed Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas, which I read at the end of June.  Heir of Fire was the best ever and it’s the most fun I’ve ever had writing a review. (also the longest, which is kind of fitting considering the size of the book)

I was nominated for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers award.  I always have the best time doing these and answering the questions, so thanks so much Anjie!  (I also nominated some people, so go check it out)

I discussed “Do books get "lost" in your TBR?”  This was super fun and I absolutely love doing discussions.  (although sometimes I’m bad at replying…I’m working on it guys, I promise.  Thanks so much for your wonderful comments! I appreciate it immensely.)

I did the “Find Me” book tag, in which I attempted to take pictures of books and actually make it look good.  How did that turn out?  See for yourself.  (Spoiler: not good.)

August TBR

Am I even still trying to do TBR’s?  Apparently, I am.  Though I’m not sure why I bother. 

But, first an update on my July TBR!  I had set aside 7 books that I wanted to read on vacation and I ended up reading 5.  That’s pretty good.  The only thing is that I changed my TBR pile like 5 times before I actually packed them.  So, the TBR in my June Wrap up isn’t really what I packed.  Oops.

Still, though, in terms of a TBR, I’d say that was a success.  

This month I NEED to read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.  I’ve had at least five people tell me just this week how much I need to read it.  And I agree.  IT WILL HAPPEN.  HOLD ME TO IT, GUYS. 

Ideally, I’d like to read Cress by Marissa Meyer, too.  But we’ll see.  I don’t want to be too over ambitious here.    

And that’s all for this wrap up!  Leave me a link to your wrap up, so I can check out what you were up to this month!  Here’s to a great month of reading in August! 

Olivia

Mini Reviews: Alive and Nimona

Alive by Scott Sigler  

                                                                             

Published: 2015

Genres: Thriller

Thoughts:

I thought the premise of Alive was really interesting.  It begins with a girl waking up in what appears to be a coffin.  In a room full of other people in these “coffin” like things.  She has no idea who she is, where she is, or what she’s supposed to do.  It was kind of Maze Runner-esque in that respect. 

I liked following Em as her and her group tried to figure out what the heck was going on.  Just when you think you’ve got something figured out, hello plot twist!  It kept you as confused as the characters, which was good. 

I liked the main character, Em.  All of the kids in this book were dealing with so many emotions, and it was nice to see that.  When they went to “sleep” they were just kids.  Now, they’re teenagers.  I can’t imagine how difficult and confusing that must be.  So, with that being said, they sometimes did very silly childish things or said stuff that didn’t sound very mature or teenagerish. 

Em has no idea what is going on.  She’s dealing with a bunch of 17 years olds, who mentally are still around 10.  But that’s what I liked about this book.  You can see the characters – especially Em – maturing and starting to act more like an adult.  She becomes a better leader and is more confident. 

This book does have a creepy vibe, but nothing that downright scared me.  Alive was fast paced, engaging, and always kept me guessing.  I didn’t want to put it down, and I ended up reading it in one sitting.  The plot twist and the craziness of this book kept me guessing at every turn.  I liked the turn that this book took at the end.  I am most definitely going to be picking up the sequel to see what happens next. 

Rating:

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson 

                                                                             

Published: 2015

Genre: Graphic Novel

Thoughts:

Nimona was part of my quest to read more graphic novels.  And I’m so glad that I picked it up! 

I liked the art style of Nimona and thought it was super cute and fun.  I really liked the way it was done and the colors.  Graphic novels are just so pretty and I always have such a great time reading them. 

I LOVED the main characters, Nimona, and Ballister Blackheart.  Nimona is so spunky and fierce and I loved her.  She has such an awesome personality.  Ballister, despite being a “villain” really was such a nice guy.  Nicer than Nimona even, in that respect. 

I loved how Nimona comes to join Ballister and pretty much just declares that she’s joining him.  Most of the time, Nimona was coming up with crazy villainous schemes that were too much even for Ballister. As vicious as Nimona can be, she still just acts like a young girl.  Their personalities work so good together and I loved seeing their relationship.  As they grow closer, they begin to develop this father/daughter type bond and it’s adorable. 

I loved how we got to experience this story from the POV of the “villains”.   And the best part is that they don’t feel like villains at all.  You’re rooting for them every step of the way.  This was a great story with loveable characters and I definitely recommend it if you’re a fan of graphic novel.  Or for that matter, even if you aren’t – try it. 

Rating:

Olivia

Have you read either of these books?  Let me know your thoughts.  What was the creepiest book you last read?  How do you feel about books written from the villains POV?