Icons by Margaret Stohl ~ Book trailer!

It's not long now before Icons, book one in a brand new series by Margaret Stohl hits our shelves! Just in case you're new to this one here's the blurb:

Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol's family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn't know it was fighting.

Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside -- safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can't avoid.

She's different. She survived. Why?

When Dol and her best friend, Ro, are captured and taken to the Embassy, off the coast of the sprawling metropolis once known as the City of Angels, they find only more questions. While Ro and fellow hostage Tima rage against their captors, Dol finds herself drawn to Lucas, the Ambassador's privileged son. But the four teens are more alike than they might think, and the timing of their meeting isn't a coincidence. It's a conspiracy.

Within the Icon's reach, Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas discover that their uncontrollable emotions -- which they've always thought to be their greatest weaknesses -- may actually be their greatest strengths.

Bestselling author Margaret Stohl delivers the first book in a heart-pounding series set in a haunting new world where four teens must piece together the mysteries of their pasts -- in order to save the future.

Exciting no? I'm slap bang in the middle of the book at the moment and I have to say, it's fab!  I'll be adding a full review to the blog in the near future but in the meantime here's something to whet your appetite...It's the trailer!  You can find the trailer for the book here. It really sets the scene and it's well worth a look!

Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.  Let us know what you think!

Happy reading!

Review ~ Awakening ~ Karen Sandler

Title: Awakening

Author: Karen Sandler

Published:  April  2013

By: Lee and Low Books.

First line: Everything hurt.

Last line:  In the next moment, everything turned to black.

Tankborn was one of the first books that I read for review when I started writing for Midnight Reads so I have a soft spot for this series.  It’s probably also why it feels as though I have been waiting forever for the sequel to be released.

In the first book in this series Sandler really focussed on the story of Kayla, how her place in the world changes, her budding relationship with Devak and throughout the story we see her develop to become a stronger independent woman by the time the story draws to its temporary close.  In Awakening the story takes on a much wider viewpoint.  The disease, Scratch, which affects and kills GENS, is spreading wildly and even as those around her are dying a political uprising seems to be taking hold as the phrase Freedom. Humanity. Equality. begins to appear through the sectors that Kayla works in with Risa.   When you look even deeper it would seem that even those individuals who claim to be pursuing equality for GENS like Kayla are actually using them for their own benefits whether they wish to see it or not.

There is an interesting mix of characters in the Tankborn series.  I particularly like reading about Risa and Kayla.  They both portray a strength that I wish more female protagonists had.  I also liked Abran and the little fliratations between him and Kayla, although I found some of the plot surrounding him to be a tad obvious.  For me it was the complexity of his situation and the reasons behind his behaviour that I found intriguing and I kind of hope he pops up again somewhere in the future.  I also liked Junjie, mainly for the loyalty he displays to those he cares about.  The one person who disappointed me was Devak.  At the beginning of the book his budding relationship sours and whilst he argues that he isn’t with Kayla purely because he wants to protect her I can’t help but feel that his behaviour is most triggered by his own fears of the potential repercussions he might face.  I hope he sorts himself out for the next book or I won’t be pleased!

It took me a while to get into this book, mainly because of the gap between the two publications and the unique language that Sandler has developed that does give it an ‘other-wordly’ feel but also means that you might be flipping back to the glossary from time to time to remind yourself of the meaning of certain words phrases etc.

The story winds along at a slow comfortable pace until you get to the final couple of chapters and then everything begins to take off at a lightning pace, indeed I think it’s the final chapters that really up the ante for this sequel.  After the ending, well I can’t wait until the next instalment is published.  Hopefully, we won’t have to wait as long next time around. 

Rating: 3.5/5  If you enjoyed Tankborn you will enjoy this sequel.  Now book three is due out when exactly?

Me, Illness & Reviews

Something about being sick makes you think more

After being away from blogging for sometime I just wanted to offer a quick explanation as to why there have been no reviews up on the blog for the best part of two months.

 

I have often seen people say 'why bother having a review blog if you're not going to review anything for a while or just take part in memes!?' Well if I had to answer that question my answer simply would be you don't know what goes on in a person's life to stop them posting reviews on their blog so what gives you the right to question what they do with their blog? You don't get to judge! And those same people don't get to judge me or my blog!

 

Both my parents have illnesses and I have now become my father's driver after he was diagnosed with seizure epilepsy and told he was unable to drive for two years. And just as we were settling into a routine I became very sick!

 

Two months ago I had a severe reaction to some medication I was prescribed but this led to other things happening with my body and brain. I'm not prepared to go into detail, and would never judge somebody who used their blog to either reach out with their own problems or decided to go into detail about their own illnesses. As if my family doesn't have enough to deal with the last few months have been rather scary because of certain referrals I had and although I am not 100% fit I now seem to have nothing too serious going on.
 

I hope any author, PR person or publishing house who has sent me a book for review, if you ever read this post, understand why I am behind with my reading and reviewing. But I will get to all the books I have waiting. (I'd just like to point out here none of the mentioned have ever questioned why I haven't reviewed books they have sent).

I love reading and reviewing and as much as I know it helps authors and the sale of books I review for me, myself and I. I read and review because it is my hobby, my pleasure and my job. I review the books I read to keep track and to refer back to for work so I know what to recommend to my customers. I have a particular customer who will only buy what I recommend when he buys from my shop and most of those books end up being books I am sent for review. The power of bloggers and booksellers is rather important as far as I'm concerned. That said my family will always come first and if that means I don't get to visit my blog and review for a month or two than so be it.

My love goes to all those who have helped me while I've been ill! Sally has been very supportive with her emails, constantly making me laugh and my friends have been lovely, especially Nix and Rae, who visited me and bought me flowers and strawberries :) They both constantly text me and even diagnosed my symptoms simply as old age! My cousin, Loubie Lou has been fantastic and her 3 beautiful children, two of which I'm Godmother too, have made me cards and sent sweets, baby Thomas who was just 7 months when I first became ill sent me flowers and chocolates.

My boyfriend, when not seeing me, has text constantly and bought me the Pandora fairy-tale book charm which put a smile on my face. My aunty Collette phoned constantly, visited and cancelled plans when I was unable to drive in the event I needed another hospital trip. My brothers partner, Kelly took me to see my first specialist when I was unable to drive. Tom and Laura Clempson sent lots of messages and Tom and I got to have a good chat and he was able to understand just how I felt with being through a few similar things himself. And as if that wasn't enough they even sent me cake!! I t didn't last long :)

And thank you to all those who tweeted, commented and emailed with your well wishes, it really meant a lot!!

And the two most important people, My parents! My dad isn't able to do much these days but he has kept me laughing with old tales and loves when needed :) And my mum has been amazing! She would simply say she was just being a mum but she was up with me in the night, lay with me while I has body tremors and well did everything to be honest! She is more than a mum, she is a gift from God. No daughter could ask for a better mother.

And as I make my recovery I've been able to finally start reading again and have read two books, it may not seem a lot but when your close constantly it's rather hard to read! And I plan to get reviewing again asap.