The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

INITIAL THOUGHTS:
After reading this book and learning what I did about these characters, especially Juliette it was easy to see how incomplete the series truly was. So many of my questions that I’ve had all these years about The Reestablishment were mostly answered, and I am sure we will learn more through out the next few books. I’m not going to say forget what you learned previously, but hold on tight because I don’t think Shatter Me fans were expecting this!

ACTUAL REVIEW:
I can tell you with complete confidence that the wait for Restore Me, though several years was worth it. A few weeks ago when I finished my reread of Ignite Me I realized I still had more questions then answers on a lot of things. Yes, I was thrilled that everything had worked out for Juliette, that Anderson was dead and Juliette was now in control of Sector 45 and North America. But it still left the questions: What exactly is the Reestablishment? What caused the supernatural powers that some characters had possessed? What happens moving forward now?

Restore Me takes place 16 days after the events of Ignite Me, so even though readers waited several years for this book for these characters it was only a matter of days. Through out the book we see how Juliette is very ill prepared to be a Supreme Commander of North America. It was an easy forgotten fact that she is still a child, and being locked up for a good majority of her life doesn't know many things.

On March 6th, Jessica, Emily and I attended the book signing for Restore Me Before the signing Tahereh spoke about the newest addition to the series and someone asked if Restore Me in both Warner's and Juliette's POV because someone was going to die. After Tahereh consoled us on the fact that she didn't bring her characters back to kill them she explained that Juliette knows so little of the world and the Reestablishment. Where Warner is the commander of Sector 45. His whole life is the Reestablishment. A big part of his POV is shed light on information that Juliette doesn't know.

I enjoyed both Juliette and Warner's POV. From the beginning of the series until the end of Restore Me Juliette has done nothing but grown as a character. Getting to see the world through Warner's eyes sheds light on so many things, his past, the Reestablishment, his own feelings since he had a very hard time disclosing those to Juliette. I especially love the differences in Warner's and Juliette's voices. He is very matter of fact and straight forward with things where Juliette is very fluid and metaphorical.

Through out the story we meet several new characters (But I will keep quiet on who not to spoil it for anyone!) but there is a return of the old favorites. I love Kenji, maybe not as much as I love Warner but close. Kenji continues to be the lovable goofball that readers have grown to love. I truly believe he has some of the best lines in the book, and lightened some of the darkest parts of Restore Me. Besides Kenji there are many more appearances from past characters. I had a strong dislike of Adam based on the past books in the series, which is understandable. He was an asshole. But I really believe he has a chance at redemption in the coming novels.

Restore Me will not be anything of what you are expecting. Don't forget everything you know about Shatter Me so far, but not everything is as it seems. Restore Me is fast paced with something new in almost every page. The book take a dark turn pretty quickly. But I will tell you one thing for sure. None of this was to be predicted!

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

When I finished Warcross last night, I was kicking myself because when I first tried to read Warcross in December I DNFed it. I have no idea what I was thinking or why I had done that, but Marie Lu is a to-go-to author for me so I knew I had to give her novel another try. I am so glad I did! When news broke about this book I was still on my blogging/reading hiatus so I didn't get the proper opportunity to fan girl and talk about it with the rest of our blogger friends. I am also extremely behind on new releases and I'm eagerly trying to catch up. But can we please talk about that cover?! The colors and the design. It's beautiful and eye catching.

I loved Emika's character. She felt extremely real to me. I don't picture this book taking place to far in the future, but far enough to have the technological advances that it did. To be completely blunt: Emika had the shitty end of the stick before Hideo hired her to be a bounty hunter for him (More on this further in my review!) With that being said though, she didn't have the "poor me. Look at how hard my life is. Feel bad for me" attitude and persona that some characters in other YA novels have had. Emika works hard to have a better life, her reputation is stained because she tried getting justice for someone who was deeply wronged, she works hard for her money to pay her rent and the last of her father's bills from before he died. Never once in all of that did she cry wolf about how hard and sucky her life it. Yes, she talked about her father and how she missed him. But she also a young girl who is basically an orphan.

Emika is a skilled hacker, and in an attempt to get enough money to pay her rent for the month accidentally glitches herself into the Warcross championship game. Where Emika thinks she is going to be arrested for hacking into the game, the reverse actually happens. Hideo Tanaka, the creator of the Neruolink glasses that are used for Warcross and all the virtual benefits they have, contacts Emika with an interesting offer. There has been a security breach in Warcross and he needs help tracking down the hacker that is going to jeopardize the game.

I fell in love with Hideo, there was just something about him that I completely adore. At first he is very closed off towards Emika but eventually we see him open up in ways he hasn't to other people. I loved the budding romance between Emika and Hideo, it wasn't too much to take over the plot. Meaning it wasn't the sole focus of the novel. But it was enough to keep me grinning. They are adorable. I can't help it. I want more. I hope there is more in the next book. I'm basically begging at this point.

Warcross was heavy on the world building, which was necessary considering the virtual reality aspect and explaining the futuristic world. After you got past the first chunk of it in the beginning it was smooth sailing. I think that's where is ended up stopping the first time that I read Warcross, I am not a fan of heavy world building even though I love Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. Those worlds have to be built. It just comes with the genres. The world was interesting though, especially the fields they used for the Warcross games, futuristic Tokyo and New York.

All in all I really enjoyed Warcross and I can't wait for the continuation of the series! (Last I checked there wasn't a date or summary on Goodreads yet, so I am going to try and patiently wait but I NEED MORE HIDEO!)

Holy shit. What an emotional roller coaster. Review to come!!!!

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

Why did it take me this long to finally read Illuminae?! I need to stop DNFing books because this is what ends up happening. I found a gem and my goodness it was amazing. I received an ARC of Illuminae at BookCon in 2015, which the advanced copy was beautifully put together and breathtaking. I first started Illuminae shortly after I received the copy but later put it down. I've picked it up a couple of more times since then but I always ended up loosing interest. It is almost four years later and I finally read it and OMG I can tell I been really missing out! Upside: I can now binge all three books with out having to wait!

Illuminae is told through a dossier of hacked documents (IMs, medical records, surveillance footage, interviews, AI reports and so much more!) which left me a little skeptical. I've read books with similar layouts before and sometimes that are hard to follow or get a grip on what is going on. I never struggled with following Illuminae. I loved the whole concept and idea and everything this book had going for it. It literally starts out with a interview and bother characters are discussing their breakup! The world is basically ending and they are rehashing their failed relationship. It's hysterical and so relatable at the same time.

Illuminae is a book that will have you guessing until the very last page. Every time I thought I had something figured out, a new twist was thrown in and the plot moved in a whole new direction. I am so excited to see where Gemina is going to take the readers!

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz


*A review copy was provided to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

If there is one thing that anybody should know about me is that the country, country music, small towns and country boys are among some of my favorite things and right now Gunnar Willis is at the top of the country boy list. Though contemporary romance novels aren't much of my thing the synopsis of this book drew me in. In a Jam is one of those hidden gems of a book and I am so glad I had an opportunity to read and review this book. In a Jam is a pretty short read, that I finished about three hours into a six hour car ride upstate to take my sister to visit her dream college and it was a story that was stuck in my head for the reminder of my care ride there, and the six hour car ride back.

Though I can't relate to Andie on many things I can relate to her from the fact that she is a city girl. Andie spent a good chunk of her life living in Boston and away from the small town that she had come from. After her Grandmother's death Andie is faced with a choice, abide by her Grandmother's wishes and inherit her millions of dollars in lottery winnings or stay in the dark hole she is spiraling down. Granny's conditions seem pretty simple: Sober up, run her coffee shop and enter the jam contest at the county fair. Andie thinks this is all simple enough until she meets Gunnar and discovers that maybe living small town life won't be as bad as it seems.

There were so many moments in this book that I laughed or giggled at. Andie is sassy and has a quick sense of humor and then Gunnar just says things that make you want to melt and be envious of Andie (.... Not me of course...) In a Jam is told in dual prospective. I was fun being in both characters head, I liked that we get to see the reasons why they are hesitant to peruse anything with each other, and then the switch on when they decide what the decision is going to be. Getting Gunnar's POV gives the reader the opportunity to learn more about his past and things that he wasn't open with Andie about additionally. Cindy included a wide cast of characters in this book and the character development and chemistry between all the characters give this novel not only a small town feel but a feel of family as well.

With summer coming up and people looking for books to read while lounging by the pool or on the beach I am going to be pushing this one hard. It was so sweet (pun intended) and fun and something quick. It will leave you grinning from ear to ear long after you read the last page.

Thank you Cindy for the review copy and the chance to read In a Jam!

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

Rating: 3.5 Stars
I have extremely mixed feelings on this book. On one hand I really enjoyed it and loved the idea and the characters and on the other hand I felt like the story was underdeveloped and awkwardly put together at some points. It isn't that the idea for Whisper was horrible, it was quite opposite actually but it felt very rushed and underdeveloped in certain spots.

Jane Doe or subject 684 has been silent and locked up in an underground government facility, Lengard, for the past two and a half years. With her time running out and all other attempts with other Lengard personal having failed the Director of the facility sends in his nephew, Landon Ward in to get Jane Doe to respond. What surprises Jane the most is the fact that Ward treats her like a human rather then an animal like the other personnel at Lengard do. After a freak accident Jane reveals her Speaking ability and is thrown into a whole other side of Lengard that she didn't even know existed.

The idea for Speaking was really cool. After failed drug trails in the past subjects who had taken the drug started to develop Speaking powers, which are is when ever they speak something with intent and it happens. Years after when these subjects began to have children of their own those children also developed Speaking abilities which brings us to our current set of characters. Though Speakers can create objects, influence people or heal them they are only confined to Speak in their category. For example Cami can heal people, Crew can injure, ect. My only confusion is how these abilities developed, I feel like they are more fantasy based rather then science fiction. Its only a small detail but it was something I thought about often enough through out the entirety of the novel.

I liked Jane Doe (We do learn her real name in the novel. But I don't want to spoil anything.) There is definitely character growth through out the novel, even if its all mostly towards the end. For the secondary characters in Whisper I found them to be underdeveloped. I liked them, don't get me wrong on that part but I feel like they could have been expanded on. Ward is one of the main character and as the reader I feel like all I know is his Speaking ability and that is it. I like having a feel for the characters and Whisper fell a little short on that aspect.

I also loved that this book was not focused on Jane Doe having a love interest. I can see that happening later on in the series and for there to be a possible love triangle. But it was nice seeing a YA novel that wasn't focused on the relationship of the characters rather then the actual story.

Here is where my review is going to get a little more negative. Some of the plot points I found where awkwardly thrown together, and that could have just been the way the book was formatted meaning: there were a few time gaps, a couple of days, a few weeks, a few hours. I felt like the story was a little fragmented in that part. Also, nothing really interesting happens until about half way through the book. I kept on reading because I was curious about what made this book a sci-fi (Plus, I love sci-fi) but it did move slow and then after the half way point more picked up.

Overall I didn't hate Whisper. I did enjoy it, (despite my previously stated issues) and I do plan on continuing on in the series when the next books are published. The book has a lot of potential to grow from the point it is at right now. This was a quick read, so for those of you who are looking for something that isn't crazy long this is definitely a good option!