YA Review: Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee

Title: Gates of Thread and Stone
Author: Lori M. Lee
Series: Gates of Thread and Stone
Book #: 1
Pages: 335
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.84
Published: August 5th, 2014

In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe.

In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her.

Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power.

Taschima's POV:

The first thing to note about Gates of Thread and Stone was the writing. It captured my attention instantly

"But what if she has someone waiting for her? A brother. A sister. A baby hungry for dinner. What would happen to her family if she didn't get up again? Stupid conscience."

Kai tries so hard to be untouchable, to not let the little things about her shit world to get to her. But ultimately she is a good person which means when someone attacks HER and the attacker accidentaly gets stabbed she has to help them not die alone on the street... even if it is begrudingly. I liked her character a lot! She is fierce and unstopabble. She cares for her brother inmmensly. Saving her brother from the clutches of their military is her number one priority in the book, and she doesn't let anyone, specially a teenage boy, derail her.

Yes there is some romance in Gates of Thread and Stone but it is not the main focus of the story so it doesn't take over and make you feel like it is a nuissance. You know these two friends have a connection,and you know they care for each other, but they have their priorities straight. Real romance can wait until after they save Kai's brother, which makes the few scenes that Kai and Avan have together that much more meaningful. Strenght of characters is so hot.

Avan is Kai's childhood "friend". They don't hang out really, Avan is a year older than Kai and stuck in his father's shop all the time helping the family business, but they always look out for each other. Or, more like Avan looks out for Kai. Their tentative friendship strenghtes when Avan offers to help Kai rescue her brother, which I think it would have been the only way for Avan to get past kai's defenses. Avan is strong and reliable, you just know he will go to the ends of the world for Kai.

The magic that Kai wields in the book is super under developed. Which is to be expected since she has always been told to hide her magic, and she doesn't have anyone with similar powers that can help her hone them. I liked the idea of threads of time ("Threads of Time actually sounds like a pretty kick ass title) that you can manipulate. So far Kai has only been able to slightly slow time down (for very short periods of time) but I can see where with a bit more training she could become an unstoppable machine. I am hoping in the next book she gets to hone her abilities, and that she gets to kick some serious ass.

Good world building. The state of the world was explained, no letting the reader wonder aimlessly. I liked the idea of mahjos (descendent's of the Infinites who possess some sort of magical ability), and the Infinites (which are like gods in a way). In the book it is said there are more than 50 Infinites in the world, and so far we have only met a few. Maybe we will get to meet more in the next book. Infinites are god-like entities that personify certain infinite concepts of the world (Time, Famine, etc). I liked how this an original, fresh take on all powerful beings. I give points for trying new things!

I felt like we were a little disconnected from the rest of the world though. There HAS to be more cities, other towns, if not where are all the Infinites making camp? This ONE city can't be all that is left of the world. So where are all the people?

The only things that slightly annoyed me about this book was that the author replaced cuss words with "original" words. It was ONLY the cuss words, which is why I was so annoyed. It is one of my pet peeves. If the author wants to create her own language, sayings, phrases, etc., then that's fine by me! I just don't think it is necessary to replace only cuss words. It breaks you from the flow of the read, and it is quite frankly unneccessary.

The ending was both equally sad and happy. Bittersweet. It doesn't leave at a cliff hanger, but still leaves the door open for a lot of things to maybe develop. I really am looking forward to the sequel, the possibilities are endless!

YA Review: Unborn by Amber Lynn Natusch

Title: Unborn
Author: Amber Lynn Natusch
Series: Unborn
Book #: 1
Pages: 256
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.89
Published: August 26th, 2014

Born into mystery. Shackled to darkness…

Khara has spent centuries discovering everything about the Underworld―except her place in it. But when she’s ripped from her home, solving the riddle of her origins becomes more important than ever. With evil stalking her through the dark alleys of Detroit, she finds salvation from an unlikely source: a group of immortal warriors sworn to protect the city. Khara needs their help to unravel the tangled secrets of who and what she is—secrets many seem willing to kill for. But time is running out, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer necessity binds her to an arrogant fallen angel.

Can their shaky alliance withstand that which threatens her, or will her soul fall victim to the unholy forces that hunt her―those that seek the Unborn?

Taschima's POV:

"To Survive in the Underworld, one would show no vulnerability. I had mastered the art of indifference centuries ago."

Karah is the adoptive daughter of Hades and Demeter. Her whole purpose in life is to switch places with Persephone six months out of the year in order for Persephone to spend Spring topside with her mother Demeter. One day put of the blue Karah is plucked from her underworld into the world of the living and put in the path of her real non-adoptive brothers so they can find her and spend the rest of their lives regretting the decision to bring her home.

Karah has supposedly lived for centuries, so you would think she would have all this history and past experiences right? Wrong. Karah has no personality to speak of, no emotion, no passion. She is just an empty vessel of a character really. I did not connect with her in the slightest. She has lived for CENTURIES yet she has no valuable information, no skills, and no talents. What DID she spent doing all those centuries?

*DANGER WHORE SHAMING AHEAD* Also she is such a hypocrite. At one point she is at a club and she needs to go to the bathroom and when she goes inside she finds Oz (I'll get to him later) fucking some girl against the sink. I am not in support of fucking in the club, but to each their own right? What bothers me is not this but Karah's reaction:

"I have seen where your hands have been this evening Oz. I would prefer not to wear your whore, if it is all the same to you."

Yet, moments earlier she had said...

"Expressionless and brutal, Oz embodied his very essence even in his sexual encounters. It made something in the pit of my stomach seize. H e belonged in the Underworld with the rest of the depraved souls that served my father; such brazen acts were rampant there. I knew much about them, having looked upon those activities from a very young age. At times, I found myself involved in them."

Karah, the pot calling the kettle black. No woman in the story is to be better than Karah, all the ladies when they look at her show aggression because of course Karah must the the ONLY female in the story, and the BEST. She is extremely off putting. It is like the author can't decide if to make her a Mary Sue or a part time vixen with experience. She wants her to be the BEST of both worlds. Inexperienced with life but with experience in the dark arts of having sex. As a character she fails miserably. And just about every aspect of her life was either only hinted at (like her "miserable" time spent in the Underworld) or extremely glossed over. She has spent half of her entire life on the surface, but she doesn't know what a cell phone is, but she does know what a car engine is.

 

A lot of things in this world were just glossed over really. The world development was poor to say the least. It is greek mythology mixed with angels/demons, mixed with a ton of other supernaturals. Which isn't too bad IF YOU DO IT RIGHT. An example of someone who mixes all these mythologies right: Supernatural, the show. It does a fantastic job of bringing everything together. But then again, it took time. In Unborn you are just told that there are a bunch of Supernaturals out there and that the sons of Ares are tasked with keeping the balance between supernaturals beings and humans. Why is this again? Do the other gods have children? What kind of supernaturals are out there?

They have this specific supernatural they fight, The Stealers/Soul Breathers. At one point the children of Ares struck a deal with the Stealers/breathers relegating them to a single city and a strict diet that kept the supernatural population in line. Only, their deal makes no fucking sense. Why would the Stealers, who are able to reproduce like rabbits, struck this deal with their enemy? I do not know why the bad guys would have struck this deal at all! They could have easily win against the Ares children it seemed to me. In a realistic setting the Stealers would have said "screw you very much" and just taken over not only the city of Detroit but the world.

Speaking of the children of Ares, they are probably the sole reason I gave this title 2 stars instead of 1. Even though it is stated that Areas has hundreds of children we are only introduced to five. Drew, Kierston/Pierson (they are twins), Casey, and Sean. Drew is basically the leader of the "children" in Detroit, he is level headed and is just looking to keep everyone alive and in order. Kierston...

"While Kierston behaved like a sex-driven juvenile, Pierson was positively serious in nature, his eyes analyzing everything around him."

This is how WOMEN react to Kierston:

"How's it going, Special K?" She was intoxicated by him, his mere presence alone enough for her to nearly fall to her knees in service of him. When he winked ar her in response, she bit her lip and inhaled deeply."

He is like catnip to women. Seriously, didn't that woman just act like a cat on catnip? He is compared to a drug. He is like "Special K" which I think is a reference to Ketamine. *sigh* Kierston doesn't deserve the reference really, he was actually one of the only reasons the story is readable.

So Kierston is the man whore and Pierson is the analytical twin who is more than a little cold. Kierston though is a sweetie, the one with the most heart. I really disliked how often and frequently the issue of incest was touched upon the novel, like Kierston couldn't control himself around his sister. Which was so not the case, I thought the incest reference was unnecessary and awkward. Despite this I seemed to like Kierston the most, as well as Casey. If you have read The Black Dagger Brotherhood then you might find Casey is like the PG version of Zhadist. I mean, it is UNCANNY:

"They looked wary of him, and, upon further inspection, I understood why. His nearly black eyes were sunk deep in his face, the rest of his features dominating. His head was smooth, with only a trace of hair shadowing the surface. His skin was lighter than the twins', which served to highlight the darkness in his eyes."

Is he inspired by Z? I do not know, but the resemblance is there. Nevertheless Casey turned out to be one of the few instances of amusement you get from Unborn so I am glad to have him around. Kierston's twin, Pierson, was mostly just an intelligent ass. He likes to read a lot (SCORE) but then he is not very approachable so who cares. Sean, the real fearless leader, spends little time in the story so I don't feel like I know him very well. All I know is that you want him on your side in a fight. I feel like the author did a mostly good job with the side characters, if only such attention had been spent on the MAIN character.

Now, for the romantic mess. OZ is a fallen angel that spends his time hanging out with the Ares brothers. He is a self proclaimed man whore (see above paragraph for reference of his activities). This is how OZ described himself:

"I'm irresistible. You've seen the way women fall at my feet. Why would you be any different?"

But of course, as soon as Khara enters the picture his behavior starts to change. Because he LIKES her. WHY? She is bland, emotionless, she doesn't even try to make connections with her brothers or those around her. Empty vessel. There is no real reason why OZ would like Khara, only that she is the main character and so the tortured angel MUST fall for her. Oz is also a clear dick with no redeeming qualities so I don't feel any attachments to him. Maybe they deserve each other after all.

"Oz has proven to be selfish, arrogant, abrasive, and even vile at times, but one thing he has never proven himself to be is a liar. I do not suspect he will do so today."

Since I already spoke of how one of the brothers remind me of Z from the Black Dagger Brotherhood I will tell you that OZ is Lassiter. Inspired by or not the connections are there for the taking. If I were to take it further Pierson would be V, Kierston would be Rhage, and Sean would be... Wrath? The fearless leader? Drew would so be Thorment, no question.

YA? NA? Romance/fantasy? I believe this book was going for the NA territory, but with YA tendencies. I thought it was YA, until I saw the references to sex, drugs, and rock and roll. So, NOT YA even though the cover looks extremely YA. It is New Adult surely, even though all the characters really just act like teenagers (and they are CENTURIES old! Twilight syndrome for sure).

Final Verdict: Better luck next time! I do not know if I will pick up the sequel quite honestly, even though I really would like to go back and see the PG-13 version of the brotherhood. I guess for them I might, but certainly not for Karah. Or OZ.

YA Review: The Aftermath by Jen Alexander

Title: The Aftermath
Author: Jen Alexander
Series: The Aftermath
Book #: 1
Pages: 288
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.86
Published: August 26th, 2014

Sometimes, I dream that I'm someone else.

A girl with dark hair who doesn't worry about hunger

or thirst or running from flesh-eaters.

In her world, those sorts of things don't exist.

Since the spring of 2036, when the world changed forever, Claudia and a small clan of survivors have roamed the streets of a very altered Nashville: polluted and desolate, except for the ever-present threat of cannibal Hoarders. Together they must undergo punishing tests of endurance and psychological challenge sometimes with devastating consequences all just to live another day.

With food and water in dwindling supply, and with danger lurking around every corner, no one can be trusted. And as her world starts to make less and less sense, Claudia begins to realize something terrifying: she is just a pawn in some sort of game, and all of her actions are being controlled from afar by a mysterious gamer. So when she meets a maddening and fascinating outsider named Declan, who claims to be a game moderator, she must decide whether to join him in exchange for protection and access to the border.

If they play the game right, they are each other's best hope for survival and a life beyond the only world Claudia's ever known: the terrifying live-action game known as The Aftermath.

Taschima's POV:

"There was no end of the world. There's only a game called The Aftermath, and I feel stupid for just realizing this."

The Aftermath was quite honestly a really cool idea that wasn't executed as well as I hoped it would be. There wasn't enough action for my taste (the whole idea being a video game-esque scenario), and for the most part the novel went by very slowly. I never felt like the main character was in any real danger, the sense of urgency was just not there for me. Still, the novel is full of fascinating ideas. What if the character you play in your RPG game were real? What if the game you are playing is their reality?

The beginning is confusing as hell, because you don't really know what is going on with this reality. Is the MC a character in a game, or is she a real human being? What is she? What is this place? And who is the girl who seems to be controlling her? I had a lot of questions, tons, and for the most part a lot of these were answered. The world of the Aftermath was well developed (as well as a devastated waste land CAN be developed anyhow) but the world outside The Aftermath is still mostly just a mystery. I don't exactly want to give any of the story away but I still have questions that were not answered about the country's history, questions that could have been easily answered here.

"I am not just some virtual person stuck in a reality that was created by computers. I am something else. Something called a character. A human trapped inside an intentional hell that's been created by designers--other humans."

The character of Claudia was okay. It felt kind of weird she had supposedly been sentient for years but then she just ignored all the weird stuff coming out of her mouth? And the weird shit she would do? She just brushed it off... Yeah, if I felt like my body was doing things without my consent I would FREAK OUT. It would have made more sense for her to have had the mentality of a prisoner inside her own mind, but this is not the case. One day she is just... fully sentient, realizing all the weird shit she has done or said through the years wasn't her. Again, interesting concept, little sketchy execution.

Also the "gamer" that was in charge of Claudia, Olivia, was a complete and total bitch. I absolutely hated her, and I hope to god that was the point. I couldn't sympathize with her at all, not even with her forbidden love scenario because of how ridiculously bad she treated her "boyfriend". Claudia on the other hand was more relatable, and after being under the thumb of Olivia you just wanted her to escape and be free.

Romance between Olivia and her boyfriend is just, blah. I couldn't exactly believe how he could stick by her, or why. She didn't make anything easy. As for Claudia and her romantic interests I thought it was rushed. I am not in awe of the boy she feels the butterflies for. I don't feel butterflies for him at all so... Also the objective of the boy in the game was very unsurprising.

I don't know what is on hold for the future of the series, but I think I would pick up the sequel if only to see what exactly comes next for Claudia. She was the only character I really liked in this book, I also kind of want to see Olivia burn (or at least seriously explain her behavior). Overall not a bad novel, it was just slow and it lacked some much needed action (specially for being in the video game genre).

PS; If you liked The Aftermath then you must try RUSH as well. Much more action, and better romance overall.