Review: Lifelike by Jay Kristoff

Lifelike

Author: Jay Kristoff

Narrator: Erin Spencer

Published On: 5/29/18

Page Count: 402

Audio Length: 12hr 27min

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis: (Found on Goodreads)

On a floating junkyard beneath a radiation sky, a deadly secret lies buried in 

the scrap.

Eve isn’t looking for secrets—she’s too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator 

she’s just spent six months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, 

and the only thing keeping her Grandpa from the grave was the fistful of credits 

she just lost to the bookies.

First things first I want a Crickets Funko Pop. I`d also like to note I listened to

the audio version so apologies if I incorrectly spell names.

Jay writes characters that have an emotional connection to almost instantly.

Lemon Fresh, Eve and Cricket are a bunch of misfits now on a mission to

rescue Eve's grandfather back from a bunch of AI creeps.

Ezekiel is one of the original Life Like or AI that should have been destroyed.

Lemon and Eve find him lifeless while on a scavenging job. Once alive or

reawoken he claims to know Eve but calls her by a different name. This is when

the attack happens and Eve`s grandfather is taken away. Ezekiel offers to help

locate the grandfather as a way to keep trying to get Eve to understand he knows her.

Overall the audiobook is intriguing and well paced. I look forward to Book twos

(Deviate) release in May of 2019. The girl have since listened to this one and a friend

of mine has read the physical book at my urging.

TTFN,

Ashley

APOLOGIES

Hello everyone. It has been a month of silence over here. I`d like to take a moment to apologize on behalf of the entire team. As you know we all live together so when an event happens more times than not it effects all three of us.

Here is the official notice:

The Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history to date. It was also the deadliest wildfire in the United States since the Cloquet fire in 1918, and among the list of deadliest wildfires, it was the sixth-deadliest U.S. wildfire overall. 

Now for our version without fancy facts. We lost everything. By everything I mean our house is flattened. We made it out with most of our animals and the clothes on our backs. There was little warning and much devastation. Its been a really hard month and we are not out of the woods yet.

We are working on getting some blog posts set-up and moving forward with our site. It will be mostly audio book reviews since limited on physical books. We are down to posting once a week on Instagram since limited on photos.

From this fire we will rise anew. None of us are giving up and we just ask for your patience through all of this.

TTFN,
Ashley
Michaela
Mackenzie

Review:A Very Large Expanse of Sea

Title: A Very Large Expanse of Sea

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publisher:Harper Teen

Pages:320

Synopsis:(from GoodReads):

It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but

especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of

being stereotyped.

Rating: 4/ 5

This was the first book I’ve read by Tahereh Mafi and it was very enjoyable. As I am

currently studying fire we talk about 9/11 constantly so this book, though not fire

related peaked my interest. In all honesty people these days suck and stereotyping

is something I see constantly and I loved how Tahereh took a part of her life and

made it into a book people can related to no matter their race, religion or what they

wear. I loved how firey Shirin is and Ocean I love that he doesn’t care what others

think about his relationship with Shirin <3  I look forward to the next time I read a

book written by Tahereh Mafi.

Review: Once a King

Title: Once A King

Author: Erin Summerill

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Pages:464

Synopsis:(from GoodReads)

Aodren: A lonely, young king, searching for a way to dismantle his father’s dark legacy.

Lirra: A girl with the power to control the wind, torn between duty and following her dreams.

For twenty years, Channelers—women with a magical ability—have been persecuted in

Malam by those without magic. Now King Aodren wants to end the bloody divide and

unite his kingdom.

5/5

Being able to see a younger King Aodren in a different light is pretty intriguing. I really
liked seeing A odren struggling to move past the darkness caused in Malam by his father.
I loved Lirra, wanting to be more than just her father’s assistant in life  and not trusting
Aodren straight away because of the Purge many years ago. Seeing Leif again in the story
made me smile. I also wish I had secret tunnels to get to places!! The fake Sanguine caught
me off guard though and how our villianst character was basically in plain sight. I look
forward to seeing and reading whatever else may come in regards to King Aodren and
the Kingdom of Malam. Erin Summerill once again wrote a book I didn’t want to put down.

Michaela

Review: Pride

Title: Pride

Author: Ibi Zoboi

Publisher: Balzer + Bray September 18, 2018

Pages: 304

Synopsis: (from Good Reads)

Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her

Afro-Latino roots.

But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood

from becoming unrecognizable.

When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants

nothing to do

with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the

charming Ainsley.

Zuri Benitez is such a strong character in this book. Zuri has a lot on her plate,

she wants to make her parents proud, take care of her younger sisters while her older

sister Janae is away at college; and keep them out from under their mothers feet, and

she has college application deadlines fast approaching. On top of all that going on,

things become even more complicated in Bushwick. Just as Janae gets home for

summer from school; new wealthy neighbors move in across the street, with two

sons. Against Zuri’s wishes, Janae falls for Ainsley, the older of the two and Zuri

despises them both. While trying to keep Bushwick her Bushwick, Zuri has to

juggle her sisters, boys, where she fits into the rapidly changing Bushwick and

her college plans.

Zuri goes through a lot in this books; and she does have to be the girl inside the

girl from Bushwick a few times but that just puts her reality in perspective.  

I can relate to Zuri on the not liking change, and juggling things in life and

I really enjoyed this read. It’s the story of a girl who takes pride in who she is

and where she comes from, no matter what others might think. We need strong

female characters for girls growing up to read and want to be like and Zuri is

one of those, even if she falls a few times along the way. The comeback is always

stronger than the setback.

Review: Rule

Title: Rule

Author: Ellen Goodlett

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on September 11, 2018

Pages: 376

Synopsis:(from GoodReads)

Three girls with three deadly secrets. Only one can wear the crown.

The king is dying, his heir has just been murdered, and rebellion brews in the east. But the kingdom of Kolonya and the outer Reaches has one last option before it descends into leaderless chaos.

Or rather, three unexpected options.

Rating: 4/ 5

When I first picked up this book I was worried it was going to be extremely

similar to Kendare Blake’s Three Dark Crowns series. I was pleasantly surprised

to find it to be very different. Three girls who live in complete opposite parts of

Kolonya and completely different backgrounds. Each of them with a secret that

could get each of them in serious trouble.

The heir to the throne is dead. The king is dying; but there is one last option

before chaos occurs. Zodiac, Akeylah, and Ren are the kings illegitimate daughters,

but still his daughters and heirs to the throne. Each of the girls have a target on their

backs. Someone knows their secrets and they must find who it is before they all are

exposed.

I enjoyed Rule because each of the girls had assets as to what they could do to

uncover who was behind the blackmailing. The learn that they have to work together

and that they may not be so different from each other as they originally thought.

Excited to see where this story goes in the future.

~Mackenzie

Review: Light Years

Title: Light Years

Author: Kass Morgan

Publisher: Little  Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 384

Synopsis:(from GoodReads)

Reeling from the latest attack by a mysterious enemy, the Quatra Fleet Academy is

finally admitting students from every planet in the solar system after centuries of exclusivity.

Hotshot pilot Vesper, an ambitious Tridian citizen, dreams of becoming a captain--but when

she loses her spot to a brilliant, wisecracking boy from the wrong side of the asteroid belt,

it makes her question everything she thought she knew. Growing up on the toxic planet

Deva, Cormak will take any chance he can get to escape his dead-end life and join the

Academy--even if he has to steal someone's identity to do it. Arran was always considered

an outsider on icy Chetire, always dreaming of something more than a life working in

the mines. Now an incoming cadet, Arran is looking for a place to belong.

4/ 5 stars

I really liked this story! I’m starting to get more into Si-Fi type books and they’ve

been wonderful. I loved the different planets and lifestyles portrayed in Light Years.

I also loved the four character point of view too. Vesper and Cormak/ “Rex”  were my

favorite characters because of their banter. I liked Orelia’s change of heart too. Arran

was adorable, a little brainiac :) I also liked the backstories on our main characters

and they fit great together. Kass Morgan’s writing style was great to read, kept you

entertained and wanting to read more. I loved that the four main characters were

from different planets and that their differences actually made them a better team in

the end.

I hope there is a second book at least to continue this story.