The Gold Seer Trilogy #2 Like A River Glorious

Presenting The Gold Seer Trilogy #2 Like A River Glorious by Rae Carson.

Here is the summary of the book:

After a harrowing journey across the country, Leah Westfall and her friends have finally arrived in California and are ready to make their fortunes in the Gold Rush. Lee has a special advantage over the other new arrivals in California—she has the ability to sense gold, a secret known only by her handsome best friend Jefferson and her murdering uncle Hiram.

Lee and her friends have the chance to be the most prosperous settlers in California, but Hiram hasn’t given up trying to control Lee and her power. Sabotage and kidnapping are the least of what he’ll do to make sure Lee is his own. His mine is the deepest and darkest in the territory, and there Lee learns the full extent of her magical gift, the worst of her uncle, and the true strength of her friendships. To save everyone, she vows to destroy her uncle and the empire he is building—even at the cost of her own freedom.

The second epic historical fantasy in the Gold Seer trilogy by Rae Carson, the acclaimed author of The Girl of Fire and Thorns.

REVIEW ==

Begins where 'Walk On Earth A Stranger' ended. The group is now in California but the journey had not been a bed of roses. Losses were had and grievances were dealt with. Consequently bringing the group closer than before, looking to finally put down roots and stake their claims before they began to mine for gold.... Of course not everyone remained, some leaving to return the way they came fearing for their safety and the pull of gold that may not necessarily be a good thing.

But for those that remained the Gold Rush promises much prosperity as settlers in California. Leah Westfall has her own secret ability to consider, her relationship with best friend Jefferson and finally doing something about her murderous Uncle Hiram is just one of her many problems. The best aspect of this series throughout these two books would definitely be how Carson developed all the characters throughout their many ordeals and how they came together as a tight-knit family as they settle down and start building their new future.

I'd be truthful I had actually forgotten some of what happened in the first book. But it didn't seem like an issue once I began reading this book. The author does a great job of reminding us of the details as she buildup from where the first one ended. As a protagonist Leah/Lee has been a consistently strong throughout the story. More so in this book, as she slowly gets more stronger with her abilities and has to finally deal with her Uncle Hiram and hopefully save everyone from the his clutches..... And maybe finally be able to give an answer to Jefferson and her own happiness.

'Like A River Glorious' had everything we missed out on in the first book. The characters are much stronger, the plot develops and branches out more. We finally get to see more of Leah's powers and that epic showdown was just brilliant....... And the book cover is just too gorgeous to be left alone.

"A Golden Sequel. Effectively stronger generously developed."

Genre :     Young Adult, Historical fiction, Romance

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Release Date: 27th September, 2016

My Copy: publisher & edelweiss

Rate:             4/5 (Really Liked It)

Other Books by the Author(review links):
         #1 Walk On Earth A Stranger

Buy:         Amazon | Book Depository 

The Female of Our Species

Presenting The Female of Our Species by Mindy McGinnis.

Here is the summary of the book:

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.

While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.

But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.

So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.

Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.

REVIEW ==

Flawed characters. Crime gone unpunished. The horrors of rape culture and pretty much the only language that seems to work against it.... Violence. They say the female of the species, any species are more vicious than their male counterparts. And they are not wrong. A fact proven in stark details by Mindy McGinnis's haunting and realistic words throughout this book.

Sincerely I didn't know what I would find going into this book. I also wasn't expecting it to be so difficult to process as well. Alex, Jack and Peekay were some of the best characters I had ever come across. None of them are perfect. None of them are blameless. But all three of them are flawed in their ways.... I feel truly incapable of enunciating just what I really felt about this book. 

But I will say that this book is painfully realistic. It's honest and gritty and should definitely be a required reading to all. With how much rape and murder cases make the news these days. So I would definitely applaud McGinnis for presenting to us with this amazing book with such dynamic characters. 

This book is for sure not a feel good story, a wish-fulfillment, feminist or your run of the mill happy ever after. So you are warned before you begin this book..... That said you should give this book a chance because I absolutely guarantee it that Alex's brutally honest persona, her friendship with the preacher's kid (Peekay) and her budding romance with the popular Jock (Jack) ..... Is a glimpse of real life, you don't see too often in any form of literature.

"A too real and compound look to reality. McGinnis's words are a lesson for all ages"

Genre :     Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic, Romance, Mystery

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Release Date: 20th September, 2016

My Copy: publisher & edelweiss

Rate:             4/5 (Really Liked It)

Buy:         Amazon | Book Depository 

Passenger #1 Passenger

Presenting Passenger #1 Passenger by Alexandra Bracken.

Here is the summary of the book:

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them—whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home... forever.

REVIEW ==

I was equally excited for this book and i am equally dreading reviewing this too now that I have finished it, I was lucky enough to be contacted by Hachette India for a review because this book is clothed in such a gorgeous cover, its Alexandra Bracken (of course I still haven't read her Darkest Minds series, yet) and because the story has time travel .... and i'm a sucker for anything Time travel. This one also has been hyped across the social media a lot too. So those can be a hit and miss thing in a lot of instances ..... In the case of Passenger, it somehow felt in between.

Etta is a budding violinist and Nicholas is a content sea traveler, who dreams of owing his own boat. Etta is just about to have her big debut in modern day America but before that could happen, enters the illusive Ironwood family who whisk her away back in time to search for something they say her mother stole, in return for the release of her mother who had been taken away by the said Ironwoods. And Nicholas must help her, if he wants to get away from the clutches of his family (Ironwood) and be free of its web.

I liked Etta and Nicholas as protagonists. Etta's world has been turned upside down and its understandable that she is suspicious of this secret world and at a loss to do anything about it other than what they want her to do. She is headstrong, and with a good head on her shoulder. Nicholas was a sweetheart. He is chivalrous, protective, loyal to a fault and a well mannered eighteenth century guy, who knows how to treat a girl right. He falls for Etta at first glance but knows not to expect anything because of the restrictions that differentiate them in more ways than one.

This book also has another major point to recommend it. They did time travel but in a different style. Usually people travel trough time because of a rare gene, artifacts or machines but Bracken employs the use of corridors where people walk through to travel in time, not something you usually see in time travel story. And also this story has a colored character in this historical setting, good choice there.... Definitely not something you usually see.

Its just the one thing that made me rate it less was that the story felt too long and dragging. Also the explanations where too long winded, that the pacing got distracted sometimes because of that..... And I got bored because of that. But i definitely liked the development of the romance between Etta and Nicholas..... I'm definitely coming back to this series because the cliffhanger was just heartbreaking and i want to know what happens next.

"New and slightly different but a time travel never seen before"

Genre :     Young Adult, Sci-fi, Romance, Historical fiction

Publisher: Quercus

Release Date: 7th April, 2016

My Copy: courtesy of the publisher

Rate:             3/5 (Liked It)

Buy:         Amazon | Book Depository