Written By Max Barry
Science Fiction, Thriller
Published June 18th 2013
400 Pages
Add to Goodreads
★★★★
At an exclusive school somewhere outside of Arlington, Virginia, students aren’t taught history, geography, or mathematics, at least not in the usual ways. Instead, they are taught to persuade. Here the art of coercion has been raised to a science .Students harness the hidden power of language to manipulate the mind and learn to break down individuals by psycho graphic markers in order to take control of their thoughts. The very best will graduate as 'poets', adept wielders of language who belong to a nameless organization that is as influential as it is secretive.Whip-smart orphan Emily Ruff is making a living running a three-card Monte game on the streets of San Francisco when she attracts the attention of the organization’s recruiters. She is flown across the country for the school’s strange and rigorous entrance exams, where, once admitted, she will be taught the fundamentals of persuasion by Brontë, Eliot, and Lowell, who have adopted the names of famous poets to conceal their true identities. For in the organization, nothing is more dangerous than revealing who you are: Poets must never expose their feelings lest they be manipulated. Emily becomes the school’s most talented prodigy until she makes a catastrophic mistake: She falls in love.Meanwhile, a seemingly innocent man named Wil Jamieson is brutally ambushed by two strange men in an airport bathroom. Although he has no recollection of anything they claim he’s done, it turns out Wil is the key to a secret war between rival factions of poets and is quickly caught in their increasingly deadly crossfire. Pursued relentlessly by people with powers he can barely comprehend and protected by the very man who first attacked him, Wil discovers that everything he thought he knew about his past was fiction. In order to survive, must journey to the toxically decimated town of Broken Hill, Australia, to discover who he is and why an entire town was blown off the map.As the two narratives converge, the shocking work of the poets is fully revealed, the body count rises, and the world crashes toward a Tower of Babel event which would leave all language meaningless. Max Barry’s most spellbinding and ambitious novel yet, Lexicon is a brilliant thriller that explores language, power, identity, and our capacity to love, whatever the cost.
You're bound and gagged in an airport by two men, clearly mistaking you for someone else. You feel a pressure within your eye, as they perform a procedure while you're coherent and awake. They taunt you with ridiculous questions, do kidnappers usually perform questionnaires? Before you know it, your girlfriend is dead, a bloodied girl in a blue dress utters a few words causing self destruction and you're in a car with a man named Eliot, who may or may not be taking you captive only to shoot you when the car finally stops. Wil isn't the quiet handyman from Melbourne, who is he?
Emily is an entertainer. She's a street artist, of sorts. She's homeless and survives on the streets by luring punters into betting on her card game. When she is picked up off the street by a perverted young man, coercing her to perform oral sex as part of a test, and then proposed an offer too good to refuse. She finds herself at The Academy.
The Academy trains potential Poets, those who use a single word to manipulate the minds of the weak and willing. One single word can destroy a civilisation, as apparent in Broken Hill, Australia. A town of over three thousand people, now deceased and decaying in the quarantine zone.
When a death at The Academy sends Emily to Broken Hill, where Wil and Eliot's journey is headed. But Emily arrives to a bustling town, a weekly wage courtesy of a local clothing store, a partner that she's very much in love with, and a settled life in a small town. It isn't until years later when the agency calls, Emily is forced to leave it all behind. Wil and Eliot arrive long after the destruction, with Wil the only person immune to the imposed quarantine. There is something in the town, something the Poets want to protect, and Wil is betting his life on finding exactly what that was that caused the loss if thousands of innocent lives.
When the past finally catches up with present, the conspiracies, the theories, the information they don't want you to know will make one thing abundantly clear... We're screwed.
Kelly's Thoughts
Lexicon was a thrilling, mind altering novel that will leave you wondering what the hell were you thinking? It strangely embeds itself into your subconscious and leaves you feeling tired and on the verge of tears. But it was mind blowing. It honestly gave me a headache and I felt like I had sat through a three day long interrogation. I'm questioning if there were some form of subliminal messaging between the lines that I failed to notice, that could be one way to explain the feeling of mental violation.
Lexicon is an intellectual investment, it nearly drove me insane...
And that's a feeling I could become accustomed to.
Emma leaves Weslyn and everyone in it behind to attend Stanford University, just as she always intended. A shell of her former self, she is not the same girl. She is broken, and the only way that she’ll be whole again is through forgiveness. Emma must find a way to forgive herself and recognize her own worth before she can receive the love she deserves. This final installment will have readers holding their breath until the very last page.
Emma is trapped in a waking nightmare that she can't seem to escape. She still hears whispers from a past life, and she can't drown out the loudest of them all, Evan's voice. Emma's life has never been easy, living through years of cruel and traumatic abuse has numbed her, and after Evan, she never wants to feel again.
Dabbling in binge drinking at college parties, Emma meets Cole. He's undeniably attractive, intelligent... And boring. But Cole is persistent and wants to spend time with the quiet and withdrawn Emma, starting a non dating, sexual relationship. But it isn't enough, the darkness still trails behind Emma, threatening to consume her. A chance meeting brings her back to the only person she's been able to find a connection to, the secrets the two of them share and the only one that truly understands how Emma is feeling... Jonathan. But as quickly as he emerges, he disappears again, with nothing more than a simple cryptic message.
A tragedy brings Emma back to Weslyn, a place that shattered het soul and she is terrified to return. Her anxiety only further tormented when she sees him, the boy who changed her life. She hasn't seen on heard from Evan since he was left battered and broken when she had left with Jonathan. Evan can only see the broken girl who was once Emma, she's struggling with alcohol to numb her pain, in a sexual relationship so she can feel anything other than destroyed.
Ending up at the same coastal destination was not how either if them planned on spending their spring break, but it's past time that Evan and Emma shared a few truths... And Evan needs to hear them, or risk never being able to forget the troubled storm that is Emma Thomas. When Emma reveals the secret that has tormented her for years, the connection she shared with Jonathon, she fears that it's more than enough reason for Evan to walk away... This time, without looking back.
I was taken with the story of Emma and the emotional turmoil that she has never been able to escape from. Her father dying in her birthday, her alcoholic mother blaming her with vicious insults, her aunt physically and mentally abusing her, while Emma quietly continued to allow the abuse to continue. Out Of Breath takes place two years after Emma walked away from Evan, and Emma isn't the same girl anymore... She's worse.
Perhaps it may be harsh, but before I had even begun Out Of Breath, Emma was grating in my nerves. She's a tormented girl who can't save herself, but needs constant reassurance and attention, as she clearly doesn't have the emotional capacity to care for herself. Listen honey, if your that disturbed, a man isn't going to miraculously cure your insanity. The highlight were the remaining few chapters, and I wish I has skipped the rest.
Perhaps I've reached my tolerance for broken, abused girls who wallow in self pity... But seemingly find enough confidence to find a random male for sex. Just lovely.
Out Of Breath
(Breathing: Book Three)
Written By Rebecca Donovan
Published 02 / 07 / 2013
Published 02 / 07 / 2013
420 Pages
She's a sassy, strong female with a weakness for coffee.
She loves to read, watch movies and in her spare time, creates potty mouthed characters, paranormal beings and potential book boyfriends.She's Canadian. She's the fabulous Christina Channelle, and she's this week's Fast Five Friday.
If you could play out a character in any book besides your own, who would you want to be, and why?
I would be Haley from Chasing Forever Down. It’s by Nikki Godwin, an indie author, and I just loved it. The book was so effortless and enjoyable to read and I envied her: the opportunity to just get in a car and drive, meet new people, and explore a whole new side to life chasing her dreams. I would love to chase forever down.
Do you have a writing space set aside, and what would we find on your desk?
I don’t know if this is normal but I tend to write in my bed. I like to be comfortable and I’ll lie on my stomach or sit up against the wall, typing away on my laptop. I prefer it to writing on my desk. Right now on my desk is my desktop computer, an old Blackberry I hardly ever use, my wallet, a purple pen, a green ruler, and a slew of papers I need to go through. Usually my desk is neat but it’s just one of those days.
The soon to be released, Those Four Letter Words, is an emotional read. What or who inspired you to create a sassy, strong and smart character like Jade, the female protagonist?
I specifically remember lying on my bed studying for an upcoming exam. I was definitely not in the mood and was a little annoyed, to be honest. Instead of studying, my mind drifted off, creating this potty-mouth character that was just annoyed at the current situation in her life. And poof, Those Four Letter Words was created. I didn’t know exactly where the story would go; I just let my fingers type away. I have to admit, this was probably the most effortless story I’d written. It just came to me. My protagonist was named Jade after my favourite color, green. I try to implement the colour in most of my stories, just a thing of mine I like to do.
When you’re not writing, what could we find you doing in your spare leisure time?
When I’m not writing and focusing on my books, I am definitely reading, as that’s where my love for writing came from. I am also a lover of movies so I tend to occupy a seat in a movie theatre quite regularly. And I’ll admit to being a reality TV addict; I can’t help it.
As an independent author with success under your belt, what words of advice would you give potential authors that are wanting to self publish?
The fact that I self-published a book is, yes, a great success. It’s an achievement that no one can take away from you. If writing is your passion and something that you love to do, don’t give up. It’s a lot of work with obstacles to overcome and learning curves, but it’s the most enjoyable of feelings. That first book you self-publish is such a triumph because it’s something that you created. So stop thinking about it, and saying that you’re going to “do it eventually,” and just do it period.
Foreign, or rather unfamiliar, would be the word I would use to describe how I felt.
Faintly, I could hear the glimmer of voices surrounding me in this dark haze, caressing my ears like skin against silk. I felt like I was in a cocoon of sorts, protectively enveloped, quietly drifting in some far-off place. I wanted to stay that way forever.
But we all know that what you want never really seems to happen in the real world.
Something’s not right in Mia’s head.
The first thing is that her name isn’t Mia. In fact, she has no clue what her name is—who she is. All that she knows is that she’s not like the ones who found her: Dante with his kind blue eyes, Amy with her child-like demeanor, James with his questioning gaze... And Briggs.
The one she cannot decipher no matter how hard she tries.
As Mia tries to fit in with these people, a strange occurrence is amidst outside. And as she finally remembers who she is …
Well, let’s just say that things get a little more complicated.
Do you know how it feels to open your eyes, and find a room full of strangers staring at you? Not moved to speak, only conversing with a simple nod or shake of your head. When you don't know how you came to be in the strange apartment, and given a name, as no one knows what to call you? The newly named Mia does.
Mia can't seem to speak or write, but at least she has a warm bed and a safe place for her to stay. The streets aren't safe for women, after a string of kidnappings and gruesome deaths. Learning to find her feet within the group of an unlikely family, the kind and warm hearted Dante, the effervescent and infectious Amy, James who is intelligent yet sarcastic, but the most cautious is Briggs. Snide, snappy and secretive, but what is it about him that seems so foreign, yet familiar to Mia.
What if she never remembers?
When Mia starts losing hope, a restless night, dreaming...
She remembers, she remembers everything.
She remembers the broken life, her best friend that would do anything for her, the love, the hatred.
She remembers him.
Reap kept me guessing from start to finish, and I had no idea where the story was heading. I couldn't help but constantly wonder who Mia was and why she had no recollection. The book is told in three parts, Forgetting, Remembering and Knowing. It's a beautiful blend of emotion, mystery and anxiety, not knowing where the story is heading.
Mia is a likeable character, and sets the pace for Reap, the story only moving forward due to how much Mia can remember.
Reap
Written By Christina Channelle
Expected Publication 11 / 10 / 2013
Thank you to Christina for allowing me to annoy her.
And thank you to Xpresso Book Tours.
A dreamer, Christina Channelle holds two degrees in health sciences
but has always had a passion for writing. You will find her reading
other young adult novels, or typing up a new story on her computer. When
not writing, Christina spends her free time at the movies, listening
to music, or eating sushi. She’s a reality TV junkie and has a
close relationship to many characters on TV that have been a topic of
many heated discussions among friends. She resides in Ontario, Canada.
You can find Christina via:
Bethany Griffin continues the journey of Araby Worth in Dance of the Red Death—the sequel to her teen novel Masque of the Red Death.
In Dance of the Red Death,
Araby’s world is in shambles—betrayal, death, disease, and evil forces
surround her. She has no one to trust. But she finds herself and
discovers that she will fight for the people she loves, and for her
city.
Her revenge will take place at the menacing masked ball,
though it could destroy her and everyone she loves…or it could turn her
into a hero.
With a nod to Edgar Allan Poe, Bethany Griffin
concludes her tragic and mysterious Red Death series with a heroine that
young adult readers will never forget
Araby's father is a murderer, incidentally or not. She's on the run, fleeing the city that now sits in ruins, on board Kent's airship, the Red Death plague being unleashed. With both Prospero and Malcontent's men wanting to end Elliott's and Araby's lives, realising that the young, handsome revolutionary can bring hope and change within the city, restoring what the two men have attempted to destroy to ruins.
There is no choice, they need to return to the smoldering city. Araby is determined to find her father, she has unanswered questions. Their dying city surely isn't the work of the gentle man who loved his family more than life itself, who invented the masks that keep the citizens from contracting the deadly disease, Araby is desperately praying that the propaganda isn't true. She needs to know if he found the cure he was working on, after twin brother Finn contracted the plague. It won't help Finn, but April is slowly deteriorating, Araby can't lose the one person she's confided in, relied upon, after Finn died.
Elliot begins to rally his makeshift troops, setting up base camp within the Debauchery district. Will joins them in the mission back to the flaming ruins, for one reason only, Araby. It would be easier for Araby to let go and succumb to Elliot's charm, standing by his side as a measure of support, but it seems that Elliot wants more than the fraudulent relationship he had proposed... But her traitorous heart still cares for Will.
With Malcontent's men ordered to spread the virus intentionally, the worshiped figure is sending those infected out in droves. The city is no longer being cleansed, and plague riddled corpses line the streets. Araby needs to resort to finding Malcontent for the promised cure for April. Her illness is rapidly spreading and she has little time left, she didn't plan on being captured by Prince Prospero himself. Escorted to the castle where a thousand of the finest city citizens have been promised a night to remember, but the prince has plans to make Araby the entertainment for the evening. She may never have this chance to kill the prince and end the citizens suffering again, but when her dashing rescuer is captured, Araby will be forced to choose between the ones she holds dear to her heart.
Dance of the red death is seen through the eyes of Araby yet again, from the frightened girl who watched her brother die, to the brave young woman who has the power to forge forward with a revolution and bring the city back to a safe harbor without death and disease. With it's dramatic and opulent surroundings and costumes, Dance Of The Red Death transports you to a dystopian world, an apocalyptic event, but with the charm and demeanor of a historic era.
Beautifully written and mesmerising, it details the aspects of the new plague, and the dynamics of the characters. Entertaining, and the series seems to have come to an end, with only two books in the series sadly.
Dance Of The Red Death
(Masque of the Red Death: Book Two)
Written By Bethany Griffin
Published 11 / 06 / 2013
(Masque of the Red Death: Book Two)
Written By Bethany Griffin
Published 11 / 06 / 2013
341 Pages
Contains spoilers from Hopeless.
In the
follow-up to Colleen Hoover’s Number One New York Times bestseller Hopeless, the
charming and irresistible Dean Holder tells the passionate story that
has melted thousands of hearts.
In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.
Still
haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his
entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of
the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have
anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would
overwhelm him…
Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we
must first dig deep into our past and make amends. In Losing Hope,
bestselling author Colleen Hoover reveals what was going on inside
Holder’s head during all those hopeless moments, and whether he can gain
the peace he desperately needs
Dean Holder has lost everything now, and he blames himself. Les, Dean's twin sister, has just taken her life, and he's the one who found her. Upon finding a blank diary in Les' bedroom, Dean starts to write a series of letters to his deceased sister, in the form of diary entries. The last time he had felt so destroyed, is when he lost Hope thirteen years ago. Hope, the quiet little girl from next door, was snatched while she cried in her garden. Dean couldn't stop her being taken, any more than he could have prevented Les taking her own life.
Holder, as Dean prefers, has just arrived back in town after an incident and time living with his father, he stumbles across Sky. Sky is beautiful, but more so, she is the image of Sky. It isn't until Holder comes to terms that she cant be the girl next door all those years ago, that he's been searching for her. He can't save Les, but he has never been afforded closure with Hope's disappearance.
But when the pieces start clicking together, Holder realises hoe wrong he was, and wants nothing more than for the girl that he's fallen in love with, to simply be Sky. He can't tell her that she was taken, or how her father looked for her, how the media dubbed him 'The boy who lost hope' and he certainly can't tell her that she's been missing for thirteen years... That he's searched for her for thirteen years.
But when Sky confronts her past, Holder never expected his world to come crashing down again. This time, he's stronger, more resilient, and he isn't hopeless anymore.
Hopeless was easily the most heartbreaking, devastating, yet heartwarming and emotional book that I've read to date, and Losing Hope is no exception. Told from the viewpoint of Dean Holder, conversing in one sided conversations with his twin, who had only just committed suicide. Readers are able to relive the moment Holder meets Sky, and falls I'm love with her all over again, but also the aftermath of the overdose.
Colleen Hoover is simply brilliant. She guides her readers down the path where she lures us onto an emotional roller coaster, then watches us all fall apart. But you know as the ride is slowing down, almost over, she'll take your hand, stroke your hair and whisper the happy ending you so desperately cling to until she lures you onto the next ride.
All in a day's work at Hoover World. But hell, I can't wait to visit again.
Losing Hope
(Hopeless: Book Two)
Written By Colleen Hoover
Expected Publication 08 / 07 / 2013
(Hopeless: Book Two)
Written By Colleen Hoover
Expected Publication 08 / 07 / 2013
336 Pages
When eighteen year old Laurel Harris discovers she’s pregnant four weeks into the start of her freshman year at prestigious Colman College, she has all intentions of telling her father. But being away at school makes it too easy to hide. And while she can’t explain to her friends, or to herself even, the reasons why she doesn’t want the baby’s father to find out about the pregnancy, the rest of her world begins to unravel.
Freshman year is hard enough. Most girls get through by forming close friendships, finding new boys and a phone call from mom or dad on Sunday. Laurel has to navigate all of it while hiding an unplanned pregnancy from a summer fling...
An imperfect heroine plagued by bad choices and haunted by the memory of her deceased mother and grandparents, readers are sure to identify with Laurel as she navigates teen pregnancy, in secret, in a remote college setting
Laurel is a freshman in college. Before leaving to begin her new academic pursuits, escaping her cold, distant father, the memory of her deceased mother and grandparents, Laurel is now pregnant. She's left the baby's father behind, with no relationship to speak of, just casual sex between two friends.
Laurel is conflicted. She knows that emotionally and financially she won't be able to cope with being a single mother at only eighteen years old. But after an antagonising decision, she can't bring herself to abort the pregnancy, or offer the baby up for adoption. She refuses to use her father's insurance for her appointments, and hides her pregnancy from her father, friends and from the charismatic Mike.
As the months fly by, Laurel finds herself immersed in doctor's appointments and a support group for teen mothers. Besides the medical staff, the only people in Laural's life that know are Mike, and her biology professor. When Laurel finally works up the courage to confront her father, he has life changing news of his own, starting with moving Laurel out of his apartment.
As her due date creeps up, Laurel knows that she can't keep the baby a secret any longer, she needs support. But when complications arise before her due date, she'll be forced to share her secret.
Of a baby that will change her life forever.
Freshman Forty is one young woman's emotional pregnancy journey, from the day she finds out she's expecting. The emotions that she experiences are exasperating, but realistic. My only complaint is that I had wished it were longer. I would love to see what becomes of Laurel's character five or even ten years from now.
I'm not a mother yet, but found the delivery chapter very emotional. It was ultimately a beautiful novella about bringing a new life into the world.
Freshman Forty
Written By Christine Duval
Published 21 / 02 / 2013
185 Pages
Thank you to Xpresso book tours
You can purchase Freshman Forty on Amazon
Christine Duval has been writing creatively since the fourth grade when she penned her first short story entitled "London Terror," about the murder of a cat in London. She grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and lived in Italy twice as a teenager: once when she was sixteen in Bologna and in a small town on the Adriatic Sea called Porto San Giorgio; then in Florence when she was nineteen. Her parents wondered if she'd ever come back.
College was spent in the Finger Lakes: the inspiration for Colman, Milton, and Kashong Lake in Freshman Forty. It really is cold, wet and grey there - OFTEN! But when the sun comes out, boy is it pretty.
Life eventually took her to New York's Upper West Side, the place she'll always consider home. Though for now she resides in New Jersey with her family and a very spoiled love bird who can't decide if he's a boy or she's a girl.
185 Pages
Thank you to Xpresso book tours
You can purchase Freshman Forty on Amazon
Christine Duval has been writing creatively since the fourth grade when she penned her first short story entitled "London Terror," about the murder of a cat in London. She grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and lived in Italy twice as a teenager: once when she was sixteen in Bologna and in a small town on the Adriatic Sea called Porto San Giorgio; then in Florence when she was nineteen. Her parents wondered if she'd ever come back.College was spent in the Finger Lakes: the inspiration for Colman, Milton, and Kashong Lake in Freshman Forty. It really is cold, wet and grey there - OFTEN! But when the sun comes out, boy is it pretty.
Life eventually took her to New York's Upper West Side, the place she'll always consider home. Though for now she resides in New Jersey with her family and a very spoiled love bird who can't decide if he's a boy or she's a girl.
You can find Christine via Her Website Goodreads and Twitter
After Daybreak brings J.A. London's romantic dystopian Darkness Before Dawn series to a thrilling conclusion.
Dawn
grew up behind a wall, terrified of the vampires outside who controlled
the lives of humans and demanded their blood. But when she became a
delegate for her city and met Victor, she realized that not all vampires
were the same, that maybe one could be trusted.
Now Day Walker
Sin is infecting his followers with a disease that turns them into
mindless killers. Dawn and Victor will have to convince humans and
vampires to band together to stop him, because alone they will all die
Dawn and Michael, now injured, are fleeing after the brutal altercation at the hands of Sin, the vampire daywalker. After the revelation that Octavian is the last of Dawn's descendants of the Montgomery clan. The full blooded ancient vampire is nothing more than ashes being carried by the wind, now she only has Sin's account, and he has proven himself untrustworthy. Sin claims she's a dhampir, but that isn't possible... Right?
Through her shared blood, Dawn reconnects with Victor, guiding him to Crimson Sands, the small outlawed town where she and Michael have sought refuge. But something isn't right there, the residents are almost too friendly, and seemingly no protection from Sin's daywalkers and the infected.
Upon returning to the walled confines of Denver, Dawn knows there is no other choice, she needs to meet the prestige vampire council, to tell them Sin's vision for domination, over vampires and humans alike. She needs the families to agree to stop Sin, but she'll need to take her rightful place on the council first. Will she be allowed to represent the Montgomery vampire family, only being a Dhampir, or will they simply end her due to the withstanding death warrant?
Sin must be stopped at all costs, now his Army of Daywalkers are bringing death and destruction throughout the cities, including Denver. Sin wants beyond domination and to rule, he plans to become the strongest, most feared vampire the world has ever seen, giving morality a new sense of meaning. The humans and Victor's trusted vampires need to work together, to bring down Sin, to find who in the city is allowing the Daywalkers through the gates, and if their fragile world can be rebuilt, before it's too late.
The Darkness Before Dawn series is set in a dystopian world, where vampires need no longer hide I'm the shadows, they are the dominant species. Dawn, the female heroine isn't as strong as her character peers in other popular paranormal series', she's likeable, but rather annoying. It's a shame, as the series is quite entertaining.
After Daybreak is well written and ends the series on beautiful, almost touching, note. But the showdown with Sin, which is what the series has been building towards, was a letdown sadly. The equivalent would be, telling the kids the family is going to Disneyland... And ending up at the dentist. But I still enjoyed it, despite my disappointment.
After Daybreak
(Darkness Before Dawn: Book Three)
Written By J. A London
Published 25 / 06 / 2013
368 Pages
(Darkness Before Dawn: Book Three)
Written By J. A London
Published 25 / 06 / 2013
368 Pages
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