Happy Book Birthdays! – June 4, 2019

Happy Tuesday everyone! I’m going to try and do a book birthdays post every Tuesday to showcase the new books being published.

Image via Giphy

There are so many book birthdays today! Some of these books I can’t wait to get my hands on and some I already read through NetGalley. So 🥳Happy Book Birthday🥳 to all these books:

Breakout by. A.M. Rose

Published: June 3rd, 2019

My Review: Click HERE

Links: Goodreads * Amazon

That’s the amount of time until Lezah’s execution. 

She’ll die never knowing what got her locked up in this godforsaken prison in the first place. Her only chance of survival is to escape. Except the monitoring bracelet that digs into her wrist, the roaming AI, and the implant in her neck make freedom close to impossible. 

Her best chance is to team up with the four other inmates who are determined to break out, even if one of them is beyond (gorgeous) annoying—oh, and in for murder. But he has a secret of his own. One that could break Lezah if she finds out, but could also set him free. 

Figuring out how to work with him and the rest of this mismatched group of criminals is the only way Lezah will survive to see the outside world again. 

But nothing in this prison is as it seems. And no one.

Cinder & the Prince of Midnight by. Susan Ee

Published: June 3, 2019

Links: Goodreads * Amazon

An orphan girl. A dark and twisted kingdom. An ongoing shadow war resulting in enslaved fairies.

This is the world of Cinder. A world where a girl like her can be sold to be human prey for a ritualistic hunt.

But on this night, even the predators might have something to fear. On this night, even a royal prince might find himself trapped by the expectations of the Dark King…and a girl like no other.

Rebel Born by. Amy A. Bartol

Published: June 4, 2019

My Review: Click HERE

Links: Goodreads * Amazon

Roselle faces a mind-reeling showdown with the deep state agent controlling her psyche in the conclusion to the Wall Street Journal bestselling Secondborn series.

Roselle St. Sismode is many things: victim of a conspiracy, unwilling host of an ever-evolving mind algorithm, spy for a rebel army, and heir to the Fate of Swords. As a warrior, she’s also the anticipated main event at the Secondborn Trials. When the opening ceremonies erupt in chaos, Roselle is abducted by a sadistic agent with a diabolical plan: transform Roselle into a mind-controlled assassin to topple society. But a rogue scientist has implanted Roselle with a genius technology that is far more powerful. It renders her untouchable. Faster. Stronger. And maybe immortal.

With her enhanced abilities come the highest stakes yet, as Roselle confronts shifting realities at every turn as well as her own mother’s stunning betrayal. Racing against time with a determined resistance group, can Roselle overthrow the forces of destruction and reclaim the most valuable of commodities—her humanity?

The Rest of the Story by. Sarah Dessen

Published: June 4, 2019

Links: Goodreads * Amazon

Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when she was ten. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges.

Now it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable…until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family—her grandmother and cousins she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl.

When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is divided into two people as well. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her.

Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake—and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well.

For Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it’s time to go back home, which side of her will win out?

Sorcery of Thorns by. Margaret Rogerson

Published: June 4, 2019

Links: Goodreads * Amazon

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

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Book Review: Breakout

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Author: A.M. Rose

Format: E-book

Pages: 400

Publication Date: June 3, 2019

Categories: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, A.I., Technology, Dystopia

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Book Blurb:

Six days. 

That’s the amount of time until Lezah’s execution. 

She’ll die never knowing what got her locked up in this godforsaken prison in the first place. Her only chance of survival is to escape. Except the monitoring bracelet that digs into her wrist, the roaming AI, and the implant in her neck make freedom close to impossible. 

Her best chance is to team up with the four other inmates who are determined to break out, even if one of them is beyond (gorgeous) annoying—oh, and in for murder. But he has a secret of his own. One that could break Lezah if she finds out, but could also set him free. 

Figuring out how to work with him and the rest of this mismatched group of criminals is the only way Lezah will survive to see the outside world again. 

But nothing in this prison is as it seems. And no one.

MY REVIEW

Thank you to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for this opportunity to read this free e-arc for an honest review.

First off, I was attracted to this cover. It looks menacing with that huge spider and the book blurb sounded mysterious so I was curious enough to request this book.

Lezah is in prison but she can’t remember why she’s in there. In this prison there are A.I. robots: WALTERs (WALKing compuTERs) that resemble humans and AIRS which are security guard robots. And everyone has a SOUL – it’s a device that is a phone, computer, appearance alternator, and money. Hmmm…how does all that work?! 😮 Seriously an appearance alternator would benefit me daily. 😂 Well I can’t say everyone has one, Lezah and the other kids in prison do not have a SOUL, it’s taken away from them. All prisoners have a bracelet attached to their wrist that zaps them and basically it’s a horrible place to be. With Lezah’s execution coming up, she needs to breakout.

The story is told in first person through Lezah. There is a lot of action and it is non-stop. This whole book is full of tension and it is fast-paced. It’s some parts creepy, but plenty parts exciting. It kept me guessing and left me with a few questions.

The world building is different and fascinating. It is set in a futuristic dystopian United States where climate change damaged coastlines and left them with fewer resources than before. A.I. is everywhere and the technology aspects were very detailed. So much detail that some of the explanations went over my head.

Lezah’s meets different companions on her way out of this prison and they add to the story in different ways. For one, it’s hard to know who to trust and everyone she encounters has a story tied to Lezah. There is a tiny bit of a romance, but nothing that takes over the story. Everything starts to piece together in the end but there are still loose ends to tie up by the time the story is over.

This was an interesting, fast-paced, young adult sci-fi novel with lots of twists and turns. I think sci-fi lovers would enjoy this better than I did but overall it was a fascinating story.