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ausfangirlreads's Reviews (523)
I was sent an advance copy of The Genesi Code by the author, Tristen Willis, in exchange for an honest review. Please note that this review will be my honest thoughts and feelings towards the book.
I also was part of a buddy read with an amazing group of girls from Bookstagram.
The Genesi Code follows Luka, an eighteen year old girl who has spent the last 10 years of her life training alongside her best friend, Harvey, to be accepted in the Delta Force, a military task force, in the hopes of finding the truth surrounding her father’s murder. Before her father’s death he had been working on a cure for the Genesi Code, a genetic enhancement that the government had created to enhance their armies that tragically went wrong.
When I received this book I was so excited to read it, the synopsis sounded interesting and from what I read it was a dystopian styled novel, and as I generally don’t read dystopian novels I was ready to give it a go and see what I thought.
The synopsis did not give this book the justice it deserved, the plot sucked me in and once I got into the story I had to keep reading just to find out what would happen next.
I enjoyed the writing style, it was very descriptive meaning that it didn’t take me long to picture the locations or any surrounding that were given, the conversations between characters were realistic and because of the flow of the writing I found myself sucked into the story after a number of chapters. That being said it took me around 5 chapters to get into the story and it was only after those chapters that I became obsessed and pretty much read the whole book in one sitting.
The characters were all amazing, each one was well written and added an essential spark into the story, from the beginning it was easy to tell which characters to hate, which ones to love and which ones to keep an eye on.
For me the characters make the story, if I don’t like the lead character I will struggle to read the book no matter how well it is written, so it was so great to have such a wide array of characters and to have Luka as the lead bad-ass.
It took me a bit of time to really like Luka, she is a strong and smart female character, one I would love to have more of in books, but because of this she seemed emotionally distant from others at the beginning of the book. It took a little time but by the middle of the book I was calling her my strong ass-kicking baby and loving her.
Speaking of loving characters I want to talk about Harvey as he has officially become one of my book babes! (Welcome to the club darling just take a seat next to Cassian)
Harvey didn’t take long to fall in love with, he is a strong, caring and smart boy who would anything to help and protect Luka as well as anyone he cares about. I think Harvey was well written and essential to have from the beginning of the book, as he gives that caring character that we don’t get from Luka right away.
At times while reading I did find the time jumping factor (of days and weeks) to be a bit annoying, as I love knowing what’s happening, but I understood that it was essential to keep the story flow going and not drag it out with unnecessary details and as this is going to be a series I’m sure I will get my fill of information as the books are released.
Rating 4 Stars- Really good, I would recommend reading it
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an enjoyable dystopian read filled with interesting characters, secrets and a lot of ass-kicking. As soon as I finished it I was pushing it into my best friend’s hands telling her to read just so I had someone to talk about the story with.
The official release date for The Genesi Code is September 1st which is only a few days away so you can still pre-order it from Bookdepository, Booktopia and Amazon.
Now if you will excuse me I am going to stare out the window and wait for the next books release date to be announced because I need it now.... please?
Happy reading everyone!
Jess
I also was part of a buddy read with an amazing group of girls from Bookstagram.
The Genesi Code follows Luka, an eighteen year old girl who has spent the last 10 years of her life training alongside her best friend, Harvey, to be accepted in the Delta Force, a military task force, in the hopes of finding the truth surrounding her father’s murder. Before her father’s death he had been working on a cure for the Genesi Code, a genetic enhancement that the government had created to enhance their armies that tragically went wrong.
When I received this book I was so excited to read it, the synopsis sounded interesting and from what I read it was a dystopian styled novel, and as I generally don’t read dystopian novels I was ready to give it a go and see what I thought.
The synopsis did not give this book the justice it deserved, the plot sucked me in and once I got into the story I had to keep reading just to find out what would happen next.
I enjoyed the writing style, it was very descriptive meaning that it didn’t take me long to picture the locations or any surrounding that were given, the conversations between characters were realistic and because of the flow of the writing I found myself sucked into the story after a number of chapters. That being said it took me around 5 chapters to get into the story and it was only after those chapters that I became obsessed and pretty much read the whole book in one sitting.
The characters were all amazing, each one was well written and added an essential spark into the story, from the beginning it was easy to tell which characters to hate, which ones to love and which ones to keep an eye on.
For me the characters make the story, if I don’t like the lead character I will struggle to read the book no matter how well it is written, so it was so great to have such a wide array of characters and to have Luka as the lead bad-ass.
It took me a bit of time to really like Luka, she is a strong and smart female character, one I would love to have more of in books, but because of this she seemed emotionally distant from others at the beginning of the book. It took a little time but by the middle of the book I was calling her my strong ass-kicking baby and loving her.
Speaking of loving characters I want to talk about Harvey as he has officially become one of my book babes! (Welcome to the club darling just take a seat next to Cassian)
Harvey didn’t take long to fall in love with, he is a strong, caring and smart boy who would anything to help and protect Luka as well as anyone he cares about. I think Harvey was well written and essential to have from the beginning of the book, as he gives that caring character that we don’t get from Luka right away.
At times while reading I did find the time jumping factor (of days and weeks) to be a bit annoying, as I love knowing what’s happening, but I understood that it was essential to keep the story flow going and not drag it out with unnecessary details and as this is going to be a series I’m sure I will get my fill of information as the books are released.
Rating 4 Stars- Really good, I would recommend reading it
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an enjoyable dystopian read filled with interesting characters, secrets and a lot of ass-kicking. As soon as I finished it I was pushing it into my best friend’s hands telling her to read just so I had someone to talk about the story with.
The official release date for The Genesi Code is September 1st which is only a few days away so you can still pre-order it from Bookdepository, Booktopia and Amazon.
Now if you will excuse me I am going to stare out the window and wait for the next books release date to be announced because I need it now.... please?
Happy reading everyone!
Jess
“The winter had touched her, left its mark upon her, and made her its own.”
I had heard great things about George R. R. Martin’s books, but as I have never read any myself I thought this might be a good way to get a feeling for how he wrote, and if I’m being honest I love dragons so any excuse to get a book with a dragon on the cover is a win.
The Ice Dragon was a short read that only took me an hour or so to get through, and if I’m being honest that I was enough, the story was a perfect length and didn’t drag on with useless information.
The story itself was heart warming, full of magic and left me with my love for dragons revived. Now all I want to do is read about dragons, which is not very productive to my actually reading but I will do it anyway.
The illustrations by Luis Royo were beautiful, each illustration was a great addition to the story, I loved the use of minimal colours, as well as the amazing detail that went into each image. After going to his website, I realised that this art was far different from the art he normally does, but even still I adore these illustrations, it really added and rounded off the story.
Rating- 3 Stars- I liked it
I would recommend this book to both older and younger readers who love fantasy, I will add that with the younger readers it might be good for a parent or guardians to read it first, as some of the details might be a bit too much for sensitive readers.
Happy ready everyone!
Jess
I had heard great things about George R. R. Martin’s books, but as I have never read any myself I thought this might be a good way to get a feeling for how he wrote, and if I’m being honest I love dragons so any excuse to get a book with a dragon on the cover is a win.
The Ice Dragon was a short read that only took me an hour or so to get through, and if I’m being honest that I was enough, the story was a perfect length and didn’t drag on with useless information.
The story itself was heart warming, full of magic and left me with my love for dragons revived. Now all I want to do is read about dragons, which is not very productive to my actually reading but I will do it anyway.
The illustrations by Luis Royo were beautiful, each illustration was a great addition to the story, I loved the use of minimal colours, as well as the amazing detail that went into each image. After going to his website, I realised that this art was far different from the art he normally does, but even still I adore these illustrations, it really added and rounded off the story.
Rating- 3 Stars- I liked it
I would recommend this book to both older and younger readers who love fantasy, I will add that with the younger readers it might be good for a parent or guardians to read it first, as some of the details might be a bit too much for sensitive readers.
Happy ready everyone!
Jess
“Darkness is patient, always waiting for its chance, and swift to take it.”
Have you ever experienced this? You are looking through the books you own (or in this case going through the books I had on my Kindle app) and are drawn to one in particular, you start reading it and no matter what you are currently reading this new book takes property and you can’t stop reading it.
Well that was me with Road Brothers.
Road Brothers is a collection of 10 short stories based around the world of The Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence.
These stories include...
A Rescue, Sleeping Beauty, Bad Seed, The Nature of the Beast, Select Mode, Mercy, A Good Name, Choices, The Secret and Know Thyself.
All these stories included a brief footnote by Mark, where he talks about the thoughts that went into the story and any other comments he wanted to add. I loved these footnotes. They gave another depth to the story and really gave you something to think about after, some even change my entire look on characters from the trilogy.
I have always loved Mark’s writing style and this stays true to these short stories. They were full of wit, action and sometimes made you think about your own stand on things. I mean if you’re rooting for a character to kill someone that actually seems nice, something isn’t normal there.
It was so great to be reunited with all these character and learning more about the back stories on a couple, the world, although rather deadly at times, is a place I will return to many times in my life.
Rating: 4 Stars- Really good, I would recommend reading it.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has read The Broken Empire Trilogy and wants more of the story from a few different angles.
I have been going back and reading a few of the quotes that I highlighted when I read it and I will leave you all with this.
“Dwell too long and we become prisoner of our dreams, or someone else’s. Move too fast, live without pause, and you’ll miss it all, your whole life a blur of doing. Good lives are built of moments –of times when we step back and truly see. The dream and the dreamer. There’s the rub. Does the dream ever let go? Aren’t we all only sleepwalking into old age, just waiting, waiting, waiting for that kiss?” – Sleeping Beauty by Mark Lawrence
Happy reading everyone!
Jess
Have you ever experienced this? You are looking through the books you own (or in this case going through the books I had on my Kindle app) and are drawn to one in particular, you start reading it and no matter what you are currently reading this new book takes property and you can’t stop reading it.
Well that was me with Road Brothers.
Road Brothers is a collection of 10 short stories based around the world of The Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence.
These stories include...
A Rescue, Sleeping Beauty, Bad Seed, The Nature of the Beast, Select Mode, Mercy, A Good Name, Choices, The Secret and Know Thyself.
All these stories included a brief footnote by Mark, where he talks about the thoughts that went into the story and any other comments he wanted to add. I loved these footnotes. They gave another depth to the story and really gave you something to think about after, some even change my entire look on characters from the trilogy.
I have always loved Mark’s writing style and this stays true to these short stories. They were full of wit, action and sometimes made you think about your own stand on things. I mean if you’re rooting for a character to kill someone that actually seems nice, something isn’t normal there.
It was so great to be reunited with all these character and learning more about the back stories on a couple, the world, although rather deadly at times, is a place I will return to many times in my life.
Rating: 4 Stars- Really good, I would recommend reading it.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has read The Broken Empire Trilogy and wants more of the story from a few different angles.
I have been going back and reading a few of the quotes that I highlighted when I read it and I will leave you all with this.
“Dwell too long and we become prisoner of our dreams, or someone else’s. Move too fast, live without pause, and you’ll miss it all, your whole life a blur of doing. Good lives are built of moments –of times when we step back and truly see. The dream and the dreamer. There’s the rub. Does the dream ever let go? Aren’t we all only sleepwalking into old age, just waiting, waiting, waiting for that kiss?” – Sleeping Beauty by Mark Lawrence
Happy reading everyone!
Jess
“Because while hatred is a fire only man feels, he does not hate the beast that comes in the night. Mankind fears it, fights it, drives it off, but he does not hate it. No one hates the bear, the wolf. They don't hate the wind or the snow. They don't hate death.
They hate each other.”
When it comes to Beauty and the Beast retellings I will always be excited to read them. I grew up with Beauty and the Beast as my favourite Disney movie and to this day I know all the words to every single song. (Test me I dare you!)
So is it a surprise that I picked Hunted up as soon as it was released? Well it shouldn’t be.
This was the first book by Meagan Spooner I have read so I was looking forward to looking at her writing style and how she develops her characters, as well as how she paces her stories.
The first thing I wasn’t to talk about is the dedication.
“To the girl
who reads by flashlight
who sees dragons in the clouds
who feels most alive in worlds that never were
who knows magic is real
who dreams
This is for you.”
I don’t normally talk about the dedications in a book but this one just took my breath away, I have never had one hit me as much as this one did, it was such a beautiful dedication and I think this will make many readers smile even if this book isn’t one they enjoy.
I loved Meagan’s writing style, it was creative, magical and it only took me a chapter to get into. It’s very rare for me to get into a book so fast, but after the first chapter I was already in the story and loving the main character Yeva.
During the story we alternate chapters between Yeva and Beast. This was a great element to the story and I found myself wanting a chapter to end just so I could get Beast’s point of view. The pacing of the story was really well done, and as it is a standalone novel it is really important not to dwell on anything too long, Meagan did an amazing job at making the story run smooth and not get dull.
I did find myself a little confused towards the end of the book and this required a bit of rereading to make sure I didn’t miss anything, this could be off putting to some readers, but by the end I had gotten my bearings and knew exactly what was happening.
The characters were well developed and I loved the relationships between Yeva and her sisters, Asenka and Lena. Their relationship just had my heart swelling and made me feel so happy.
I loved Yeva, she was such a smart, strong character and even though she struggled to decide what she wanted, I found it really relatable, which is probably why I liked her so much.
Beast I found really interesting, I had no idea what to expect from him and it took me a little to actually look at him as anything else but the Beast of the story, but once I actually got to know him I got really attached to him and this left me open for crying at any moments during his chapters.
I will admit when I first started reading I did laugh to myself at the fact that Beast reminded me of Smeagol from Lord of the Rings. (It was the whole talking to himself, I’m sorry it just made me laugh!)
The whole story was such a magical read and so different from other retellings I have read, Meagan has done an amazing job and has gotten me so excited to read more of her work.
Rating: 4 Stars- Really good, I would recommend reading it
Even though this book wasn’t a 5 star read for me I still loved it. The emotions I felt while reading were striking, it stole my heart and had me in tears at times but I loved it.
This is a book I would pick up again, maybe not for a while, but I will always want it on my shelf to go back to, even if it is just to read certain lines or chapters.
I would recommend this book to any fantasy lovers, or even anyone who loves a good fairytale retelling.
Happy reading everyone!
Jess
They hate each other.”
When it comes to Beauty and the Beast retellings I will always be excited to read them. I grew up with Beauty and the Beast as my favourite Disney movie and to this day I know all the words to every single song. (Test me I dare you!)
So is it a surprise that I picked Hunted up as soon as it was released? Well it shouldn’t be.
This was the first book by Meagan Spooner I have read so I was looking forward to looking at her writing style and how she develops her characters, as well as how she paces her stories.
The first thing I wasn’t to talk about is the dedication.
“To the girl
who reads by flashlight
who sees dragons in the clouds
who feels most alive in worlds that never were
who knows magic is real
who dreams
This is for you.”
I don’t normally talk about the dedications in a book but this one just took my breath away, I have never had one hit me as much as this one did, it was such a beautiful dedication and I think this will make many readers smile even if this book isn’t one they enjoy.
I loved Meagan’s writing style, it was creative, magical and it only took me a chapter to get into. It’s very rare for me to get into a book so fast, but after the first chapter I was already in the story and loving the main character Yeva.
During the story we alternate chapters between Yeva and Beast. This was a great element to the story and I found myself wanting a chapter to end just so I could get Beast’s point of view. The pacing of the story was really well done, and as it is a standalone novel it is really important not to dwell on anything too long, Meagan did an amazing job at making the story run smooth and not get dull.
I did find myself a little confused towards the end of the book and this required a bit of rereading to make sure I didn’t miss anything, this could be off putting to some readers, but by the end I had gotten my bearings and knew exactly what was happening.
The characters were well developed and I loved the relationships between Yeva and her sisters, Asenka and Lena. Their relationship just had my heart swelling and made me feel so happy.
I loved Yeva, she was such a smart, strong character and even though she struggled to decide what she wanted, I found it really relatable, which is probably why I liked her so much.
Beast I found really interesting, I had no idea what to expect from him and it took me a little to actually look at him as anything else but the Beast of the story, but once I actually got to know him I got really attached to him and this left me open for crying at any moments during his chapters.
I will admit when I first started reading I did laugh to myself at the fact that Beast reminded me of Smeagol from Lord of the Rings. (It was the whole talking to himself, I’m sorry it just made me laugh!)
The whole story was such a magical read and so different from other retellings I have read, Meagan has done an amazing job and has gotten me so excited to read more of her work.
Rating: 4 Stars- Really good, I would recommend reading it
Even though this book wasn’t a 5 star read for me I still loved it. The emotions I felt while reading were striking, it stole my heart and had me in tears at times but I loved it.
This is a book I would pick up again, maybe not for a while, but I will always want it on my shelf to go back to, even if it is just to read certain lines or chapters.
I would recommend this book to any fantasy lovers, or even anyone who loves a good fairytale retelling.
Happy reading everyone!
Jess
“The freezers have been out for days! All the pizzas have gone bad! Not t’mention the cocktail fanks an’ ice cream! Oh the Humanity!!”
Back in 1969 there was an amazing Saturday morning cartoon show created by Hanna-Barbera called Scooby-Doo, Where are you? This cartoon followed 4 teenagers and an adorable great dane as they went about solving supernatural mysteries (Hint: it was always the grounds keeper or butler).
Although the original show only lasted until October 1970 that didn’t stop its popularity and in 1978 the show was revived, from that point on there was a steady stream of revivals to the series as well an avalanche of movies. Jump forward to around 2000 when a sweet 8 year old Jess is sitting on the couch watching re-runs of this amazing show on cartoon network and complaining when it’s over.
That is when my love for the Scooby-Doo franchise started and to this day if I stumble across it showing on TV I will stop, sit down and watch. So when I was on the DC website looking at comic books and noticed that they were releasing a Scooby-Doo comic taking place in an apocalyptic world it was an obviously must have for me.
So let’s talk about the comic itself now.
When I started out reading I was shocked by how much text there was, I understand that as it’s the first volume of the series they needed to get all the main information and the plot out of the way but it just kept going and if I’m being honest at points I found some of the information really repetitive. Apart from that I enjoyed the story line, it was creative and gave a nice twist to the personalities of the characters I have grown up with.
The characters themselves have changed as I was expecting, they have gone from a group of teenagers with a great dane, to a group of adult with a genetically altered great dane, and just like when I was a kid Scooby and Shaggy are my favourite characters.
They are both just so pure! They are my babies and I love them both to death, I don’t really mind what happens to the others, just as long as Shaggy and Scooby are together and well.
I loved the art style and found the redesign of the characters was very creative, I also loved the designs for the monsters and even the colouring of the comic was very fitting. They managed to make the world colourful while at the same time keeping it looking like the world was going to hell around them.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
I would recommend this comic to any lovers of the old Scooby-Doo TV show or for someone looking for a comic with a deep back story and creative look on an apocalypse.
I enjoyed the first volume and am looking forward to seeing where this story is heading and what will happen to the gang.
Happy reading everyone!
Jess
Back in 1969 there was an amazing Saturday morning cartoon show created by Hanna-Barbera called Scooby-Doo, Where are you? This cartoon followed 4 teenagers and an adorable great dane as they went about solving supernatural mysteries (Hint: it was always the grounds keeper or butler).
Although the original show only lasted until October 1970 that didn’t stop its popularity and in 1978 the show was revived, from that point on there was a steady stream of revivals to the series as well an avalanche of movies. Jump forward to around 2000 when a sweet 8 year old Jess is sitting on the couch watching re-runs of this amazing show on cartoon network and complaining when it’s over.
That is when my love for the Scooby-Doo franchise started and to this day if I stumble across it showing on TV I will stop, sit down and watch. So when I was on the DC website looking at comic books and noticed that they were releasing a Scooby-Doo comic taking place in an apocalyptic world it was an obviously must have for me.
So let’s talk about the comic itself now.
When I started out reading I was shocked by how much text there was, I understand that as it’s the first volume of the series they needed to get all the main information and the plot out of the way but it just kept going and if I’m being honest at points I found some of the information really repetitive. Apart from that I enjoyed the story line, it was creative and gave a nice twist to the personalities of the characters I have grown up with.
The characters themselves have changed as I was expecting, they have gone from a group of teenagers with a great dane, to a group of adult with a genetically altered great dane, and just like when I was a kid Scooby and Shaggy are my favourite characters.
They are both just so pure! They are my babies and I love them both to death, I don’t really mind what happens to the others, just as long as Shaggy and Scooby are together and well.
I loved the art style and found the redesign of the characters was very creative, I also loved the designs for the monsters and even the colouring of the comic was very fitting. They managed to make the world colourful while at the same time keeping it looking like the world was going to hell around them.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
I would recommend this comic to any lovers of the old Scooby-Doo TV show or for someone looking for a comic with a deep back story and creative look on an apocalypse.
I enjoyed the first volume and am looking forward to seeing where this story is heading and what will happen to the gang.
Happy reading everyone!
Jess
“When a man carries an instrument of violence, he'll always find the justification to use it. If we really want to escape this war, we have to stop bringing it with us.”
I had seen a lot of people reading and loving the Saga series and with pressure from one of my best friends I decided to give the series ago. So when I was at Supanova in April and saw they had a copy of volume 1 & 2 left I decided now was the time and finally got them.
After reading the first volume all I wanted to do was pick up the second one and continue with the story because I AM LOVING IT!
It’s hard to judge what a series will be and what will happen from just the first volume but from the plot I have gotten so far and the characters I have been introduced to I am eager to get into the next volume and all the ones after that to see where this story is heading.
Brian has done a phenomenal job with the characters. They are all so different and have such different personalities that I found myself immediately attached to certain characters and wanted nothing but the best for them.
With this being a fantasy/ science fiction comic you expect the art to be creative with unique designs, and that is exactly what you get. The characters designs are well done with none looking exactly alike. The colour schemes for each scene are perfect giving you the mood as well as adding to the effect of the story plot.
A small warning that this comic does contain small amounts of gore, nudity, as well as some colourful language, so I would not recommend this comic for younger readers, but otherwise I would recommend any fantasy lover to give the first volume a try and see how they enjoy it.
If you are like me you will want nothing more than to pick up the next volume and continue with the story as soon as you finish volume 1.
Rating: 4 Stars- Really good, I would recommend reading it.
Like I said I really enjoyed the first volume and am looking forward to catching up on the rest ASAP to see what will happen next.
Happy reading everyone!
Jess
I had seen a lot of people reading and loving the Saga series and with pressure from one of my best friends I decided to give the series ago. So when I was at Supanova in April and saw they had a copy of volume 1 & 2 left I decided now was the time and finally got them.
After reading the first volume all I wanted to do was pick up the second one and continue with the story because I AM LOVING IT!
It’s hard to judge what a series will be and what will happen from just the first volume but from the plot I have gotten so far and the characters I have been introduced to I am eager to get into the next volume and all the ones after that to see where this story is heading.
Brian has done a phenomenal job with the characters. They are all so different and have such different personalities that I found myself immediately attached to certain characters and wanted nothing but the best for them.
With this being a fantasy/ science fiction comic you expect the art to be creative with unique designs, and that is exactly what you get. The characters designs are well done with none looking exactly alike. The colour schemes for each scene are perfect giving you the mood as well as adding to the effect of the story plot.
A small warning that this comic does contain small amounts of gore, nudity, as well as some colourful language, so I would not recommend this comic for younger readers, but otherwise I would recommend any fantasy lover to give the first volume a try and see how they enjoy it.
If you are like me you will want nothing more than to pick up the next volume and continue with the story as soon as you finish volume 1.
Rating: 4 Stars- Really good, I would recommend reading it.
Like I said I really enjoyed the first volume and am looking forward to catching up on the rest ASAP to see what will happen next.
Happy reading everyone!
Jess
Ever since I read my first Spider-man/Deadpool cross over I have been a fan. The humor and violence of Deadpool mixed with the humor and good willed Spider-Man has always been a perfect mix for me.
I loved this issue, so much so that after I finished it I cursed myself for reading it when next issue isnt released yet. I need more information now!
I can't wait for the next issue but until then I might need to re-read why whole Deadpool comic stash.
I loved this issue, so much so that after I finished it I cursed myself for reading it when next issue isnt released yet. I need more information now!
I can't wait for the next issue but until then I might need to re-read why whole Deadpool comic stash.
Woah! What a way to end this volume! I'm sad I have to wait for the next volume but it will be so worth it!
I love this series and am looking forward to looking for more of Kurtis's work.
I love this series and am looking forward to looking for more of Kurtis's work.