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

Check out my review of LIFEL1K3 here and give it a like!

*This review contains spoilers of LIFEL1K3*

After the end of LIFEL1K3 I was desperate to read DEV1AT3! The shocking ending to LIFEL1K3 had me reeling and questioning everything I knew about this world and these characters. This installment of the series reveals revelations and events that are going to change all of the characters in one way another.

*This paragraph is going to contain a bulk of the spoilers, if you would like to skip ahead*

There is a lot to talk about but I don't want to spoil it for anyone. So, at the end of LIFEL1K3 we learn that Eve is actually the Lifelike of Ana, Nicholas Monrova's daughter. Nicholas who is the head of Gnosis laboratories is the master mind behind the Lifelikes, and couldn't accept the fact that his "children" were flawed. Nicholas couldn't deal with the fact that after the attack on his family that killed Grace (The Lifelike that Gabriel is desperate to recreate) Ana was left brain dead. With the help of Silas, who we learned isn't Eve's grandfather, they were able to transfer her personality profile into the newest Lifelike. Eve's memories are false, all implanted by the mem drive that attached to her skull and after her mem drive was damaged by Faith, another Lifelike, she begins to see memories that don't belong to her. In the climax of the story we learn several important things that lead us to where we are in DEV1AT3. The body of Ana Monrova is still alive but brain dead and being held in an known Gnosis facility, Ezekiel shot Ana two years earlier when her family was executed, Lemonfresh is actually the anomaly who has powers and Eve has send both of them away.

Which brings us to DEV1AT3! In this novel we don't get much of Eve's point of view, there is only a handful of chapters and they don't give us much to work with. A majority of this novel is told from Lemonfresh, Ezekiel, and Cricket's perspective. But I like the fact that there wasn't a lot of Eve chapters. We get to see her downfall and the monster she is becoming from the perspective of the people who love her the most and how they deal and comprehend it. Which I enjoyed a lot more then I initially anticipated that I would.

In DEV1AT3 the search for Ana's body begins. With Ana's blood Gabriel will be able to unlock Myraid, the super computer in Gnosis labs that contains information on how to create Lifelikes and the virus that destroys the three laws in robots. But Ezekiel is going to do everything in his power to stop this, but first he has to find and rescue Lemonfresh who disappears in the beginning of the novel. Ezekiel struggles with the promise he made to Lemonfresh about never leaving her behind and his desperate search for the girl he loves. We see a lot of back and forth on his actions and what he does through out the entirety of DEV1AT3. We see more of Ezekiel's emotionally maturity in this novel. How he has this attachment to Eve, but he fell in love with Ana and he can acknowledge that but there is also something about Eve he can't get out of his head. He rushes head first into danger before thinking things through and he trusts super easily. We see a progression of his emotional growth through this novel, but I am hoping Ezekiel continues to grow in the next book.

A lot happens in DEV1AT3 that changes the whole course of the plot. We are introduced to new essential characters, new settings and shocking secrets that are uncovered through out the novel. I still stand by the fact that I love Jay's world building and I love the new settings he introduced in this novel to expand on this world. I'll leave it with this: We learn more about the mysterious Brotherhood and a resistance group.

Overall I really enjoyed DEV1AT3 and I can't wait to see what is going to happen in TRUEL1F3 considering the painful cliff hanger that we are left with. I'm writing this review after completing the whole series and I'll say this: We've seen nothing yet.

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

*Thank you so much HMH and Netgalley for letting me read and review BLOODLEAF!*

Hi, hello and happy what ever day it is at this point. I’ve lost track since I’ve stayed up late into the nights to finish books. My story with Bloodleaf begins in fall of 2018 when I was first approved for a copy of it. I devoured this magical and beautiful novel in a matter of hours. My boyfriend, who wasn’t yet my boyfriend asked me what I was reading and I recounted this story to him with so much love and fascination that I’m sure I created the world for him without him even reading it. I never wrote my review, I got distracted and then I simply didn’t feel I could write the review months later. Fast forward to February 2019, a month before publication I decided to dive into this world for the second time and adored it even more then the first. As life gets hectic and busy, I was working full time, going to school full time and managing to find to spend with the boy who asked me about this book several months prior, who was now my boyfriend. I never got around the writing that review the second time. Now we are in April of 2020 and I’ve read Bloodleaf for the third time to prepare for Greythorne which I received a copy of. My love for this book hasn’t changed and I’m finally to share that love with all of you.

Crystal created an intricate world of magic, deception and sacrifice that will stay with you long after you read the last line. I don’t even know where to start with my thoughts and feelings. For length purposes and because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone I’m not going to recount the story in my own words like I typically do. The actually summary does it quite well.

Aurelia’s story is told in a single point of view, which is hers. I think the story benefited from hearing this journey from her perspective, especially since the journey was one of her own. Learning to hone and understand her magic, learning the history of a foreign country that was bent and twisted in her home country of Renalt, learning the deception she and her country has faced and the unexpected alliances she made along the way.

Aurelia’s character is one I admire because of her strength and resilience. There was so many times she could have bent to those who were out to get her and she put up a fight every single time. She walked into a country she barley knew, with a name that wasn’t hers but a memorial to the girl who sacrificed her life for her. She made an uneasy alliance at first that blossomed into something so much more and honed her magic. Aurelia finally learned to true secrets of her past, the ghost that has followed her her entire life and the significance of that. But never in all that wrongness did Aurelia loose her compassion or empathy for people and those she loves.

Though the romance wasn’t my favorite, I did still enjoy it. It happens at an important time in the book and plays into the climax of the story. I’m excited to see what it’s going to blossom into in Greythorne, especially on the foot the novel ended on the actions leading up to the ending.

As I said earlier that Crystal’s world building is magnificent. She built two countries, both that have deep histories, a magic system and complex characters to add to this world. Though there is a lot of information to learn about this world, it isn’t hard to understand it in the least. Crystal did an amazing job of spreading out the details and not giving the reader the dreaded info dump. I can’t wait to see more of this world and what Crystal is going to have for readers next. Bloodleaf is a retelling of The Goose Girl and though I’ve never read it, the research I’ve done and the information I’ve dug up, there are so many nods to this stories inspiration.

This review ended up being a lot longer then I anticipated. But as I said I love this book and it has a special place in my heart, plus I’ve read it three times. It just shows my love and how I keep falling in love with the story over and over again. If you have made it this far thank you for reading it and I hope you get an opportunity to read Bloodleaf at some point or another.

This book definitely was a little creepy but I wish some much more was explained and expanded on it. This easily had the potential the be a five star read

RTC!

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

*Thank you so much Imprint and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review WHITE FOX*

Content Warnings: Talks of suicide, talks of murder, suggested murder, on page panic attacks, underage drinking.

When I read The Tenth Girl last May and I immediately fell in love with Sara's story telling. The Tenth Girl kept me on the edge of my seat with dark imagery, intriguing mystery and a science fiction twist that I didn't see coming. When Sara announced the news of White Fox I was thrilled, I couldn't wait to see what twists she has for her readers this time around. I did enjoy White Fox, but I didn't love it as much as I hoped it would.

What I didn't like:

-White Fox felt really slow, it wasn't until about 55% that the pace picked up and things actually began to happen. There were a couple of instances where I did debate on putting this book to the side.

- When the plot did pick up things became rushed and the events that happened, happened quickly and felt like they were forced into the story line. They didn't feel like they flowed nicely.

- I had a hard time differentiating the difference between Manon and Thais's point of views. Their voices were nearly identical. They both want to know what happened to their mother and the mystery surrounding it, but I feel as if they had no plan, acted impulsively on things and jumped to conclusions before gathering the facts.

- Where I loved being able to read the White Fox script, the cryptic notes at the end broke the illusion of the screen play. You are wrapped up in this vivid imagery that was created and suddenly thrown into cryptic notes. It was also no implied who these notes were for, I assumed it was to the girls mother but...

- There are characters introduced, but very little is explained about them. A few also don't even play an essential role in the plot. The scenes that included them felt more like filler then anything else.

- Hero Pharmaceuticals and Clouded Cage played such a huge role in White Fox but they aren't really dived into. It is established early on that Hero Pharmaceuticals made its name by developing Ladyx, a miracle drug. But other then that, there is no further explanation of what Hero Pharmaceuticals is doing, their past or what they are working on until the end of White Fox and even then its super minimal. Clouded Cage is Teddy (Manon and Thais's uncle) company where he invented the Pocket Girlfriend, Pocket Friend and a few other technologies that are mentioned through out the novel. White Fox just touches the surface of these technologies, especially for the role it plays within the novel.

What I did like:

-Regardless of the issues above Sara does have a very lyrical way to her writing and it is full of imagery.

- *slight spoiler, please skip if you want to be surprised*

Spoiler

The Tenth Girl Easter eggs! I literally almost fell off my chair at a certain part when Teddy is talking to the girls, it makes me wonder about time lines and settings now. Like, technically it could work.

- The White Fox screen play. It is dark and mystical and plays homage to so much of the mother's life and the things she has been through and the things she wishes she could escape.

- The last 10% of the book when things began to be revealed. I expected some of the stuff that came to light, I had figured it out about half way through. Manon says in the first chapter that they do find their mother, but what she didn't specify was if their mother was alive or dead. The first chapter makes you assume one thing throughout the whole story, but then in the climax it was quite the opposite. I'll leave it at this: It's a bitter sweet feeling.

- A story hasn't evoked deep emotions within me in a very long time, the fact the White Fox did that says enough. Despite the issues I had above, nothing can take away the fact that this novel is so much deeper then just this mystery.

- I loved watching Manon and Thais's relationship throughout the entirety of the story and where they ended up by the end of it. The story opens to the sisters living in two separate worlds with very little communication.

Overall White Fox had its good and bad things about it. As much as I loved certain parts of it I wished other parts were different. Everyone is going to take something different away from this novel and I think that's what I love about it the most. If you enjoy mystery, thrillers and books with a technological sci-fi edge I do encourage you to give this book a try.

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

*Thank you so much Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review FIVE TOTAL STRANGERS*

Content Warnings: Death, stalking, talks about drug use, drugs, car accidents, near death experience

I want to take a moment to appreciate the cover of this book. It is quite simple, but at the same time the contrast of the red font against the snowy background makes it stand out. The cover matches the vibe of Five Total Strangers perfectly. I know if I passed it in the bookstore, I would be inclined to pick it up.

What happens when you are stranded at an airport on Christmas Eve, desperate to get home in time to spend the holiday with your grieving mother? Mira is desperate to get home, the kind of desperate that she takes up an offer from her seatmate Harper and her "friends" to travel home by car in a snowstorm with them. But not everyone is who they seem to be and soon Mira is in a fight for her life.

I really want to call Mira stupid for accepting the ride with people she barley knew, but desperate times call for desperate measures. A year ago her aunt Phoebe passed away, who happened to be her mother's twin. Mira's mom hasn't handled her death well and with the anniversary approaching and their favorite holiday happening Mira is desperate to be there. I understood Mira's desperation, Harper had given her a sense of security and she felt as if she took this ride it would get her to her mother quicker. She never expected to storm to thicken and for the events that would unfold to happen. I enjoyed that the story takes place in such a super short time frame.

Five Total Strangers was a quick read, it flowed nicely and it had enough surprises and thrills to keep you wanting more. As a thriller lover, the story didn't stand out as different, but it was entertaining nonetheless.