Vampire, Heart, and Other Dead Things by Margie Fuston

Summary:

In this heart-wrenching debut YA novel that’s The Coldest Girl in Coldtown meets They Both Die at the End, a teen girl takes a trip to New Orleans with her estranged best friend to find a vampire to save her dying father.

Victoria and her dad have shared a love of the undead since the first vampire revealed his existence on live TV. Public fear soon drove the vampires back into hiding, yet Victoria and her father still dream about finding a vampire together. But when her dad is diagnosed with terminal cancer, it’s clear that’s not going to happen. Instead, Victoria vows to find a vampire herself—so that she can become one and then save her father.

Armed with research, speculations, and desperation—and helped by her estranged best friend, Henry—Victoria travels to New Orleans in search of a miracle. There she meets Nicholas, a mysterious young man who might give her what she desires. But first, he needs Victoria to prove she loves life enough to live forever.

She agrees to complete a series of challenges, from scarfing sugar-drenched beignets to singing with a jazz band, all to show she has what it takes to be immortal. But truly living while her father is dying feels like a betrayal. Victoria must figure out how to experience joy and grief at once, trusting all the while that Nicholas will hold up his end of the bargain…because the alternative is too impossible to imagine.

My Review:

Vampires, Heart and Other Dead Things was a rollercoaster of emotions. This book deals with grief in a twisted new way. Really thought this book was a bit different to me. Which has drawn me in big time. Also another pretty awesome cover I love. The setting of the book is New Orleans which was pretty neat.

I likes Victoria in the book, she is a such a huge vampire fan just like her dad. When her father gets cancer, she shuts down her emotion, and focus only taking care of her father. She even lost interest in art, and her friends. When her father cancer can’t be treated no more, she race against time to find a vampire to help out.

This book was such a quick pace read. In New Orleans Victoria does some annoying stuff in the book and hurts her friend a lot. I get she is grieving and really only cares about saving her father. Even it means she looses herself in the process. Nicholas in the book tries to help best he can, making Victoria feel alive again with his challenges.

In the end it’s a race against time, Will Victoria get the answers she seek to save her father?????

{Blog Tour & Giveaway} Dangerous Play by Emma Kress

BOOK INFORMATION

TITLE: Dangerous Play

AUTHOR: Emma Kress
PUBLISHER: Roaring Brook Press
RELEASE DATE: August 3rd, 2021

GENRES: YOUNG ADULT FICTION—Contemporary
BUY LINK: https://bookshop.org/a/11727/9781250750488

SYNOPSIS:

A fierce team of girls takes back the night in this propulsive, electrifying, and high-stakes YA debut from Emma Kress.

Zoe Alamandar has one goal: win the State Field Hockey Championships and earn a scholarship that will get her the hell out of Central New York. She and her co-captain Ava Cervantes have assembled a fierce team of dedicated girls who will work hard and play by the rules.

But after Zoe is sexually assaulted at a party, she finds a new goal: make sure no girl feels unsafe again. Zoe and her teammates decide to stop playing by the rules and take justice into their own hands. Soon, their suburban town has a team of superheroes meting out punishments, but one night of vigilantism may cost Zoe her team, the championship, her scholarship, and her future.

Perfect for fans who loved the female friendships of Jennifer Mathieu’s Moxie and the bite of Courtney Summer’s Sadie.

My Review:

I really did enjoyed Dangerous Play book. I was so happy to be a part of the blog tour. This book may have some trigger warning for readers, since it deals with assault.

I like Zoe in the book, she is a fighter. Zoe life seems prefect, she on the field hockey, has good friends, and about to have a boyfriend. Then one night everything change when she gets attack at a party. With so much going on at home and then at the party, Zoe decides to use her anger to get revenge. She takes it a thing a little far and she might end up loosing everything.

This book was such a fast pace read. It was very detailed and I love the story. Even reading about what happen to Zoe was emotional. The school system in the book is no help and favors the boys. Zoe has no choice, but take matter into her hands. I like the support and the friendships between the girls in the book. Also you can tell by the cover how strong their friendship are.

Looking for a book that deals with women empowerment, then check out Dangerous Play.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Emma Kress is a graduate of Vassar College, Columbia University’s Teachers College, and the Vermont College of Fine Arts’ Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA program. An educator of over 20 years, Emma was a finalist for New York State Teacher of the Year in 2014. Before teaching, Emma worked in social services helping survivors of sexual assault. Now, she lives with her family in Saratoga Springs, NY.

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

Up for grabs, we have ONE (1) finished copy of Dangerous Play by Emma Kress. This giveaway will be open to U.S. residents only and will run from August 22nd to August 30th at 12 AM CST. To enter, click the link below!

Rafflecopter Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1e4a114d47/?

What I’m Reading Monday

For fans of Sorcery of Thorns and Furyborn comes the thrilling sequel to Shielded about a world in a deadly magical war and the newly crowned king and feisty princess who must defeat the deadliest of foes before there’s nothing left to save.

Although King Atháren’s sister, Jennesara, saved Hálendi from the Gray Mage, the reprieve came at a steep price–the life of their father. Now Ren rules over a divided kingdom, with some who want him dead, and a Medallion that warns of worse trouble brewing in the south.

As second born, Princess Chiara is the perfect Turian royal–perfectly invisible. She longs to help restore peace on the Plateau, but with no magic and no fighting skills, she doesn’t stand a chance against a mage. So when a member of the Turian royal family goes missing and Chiara finds a clue about the rumored resting place of the mages’ long-lost artifacts, she decides it’s time to be seen.

As Ren’s and Chiara’s paths cross, they find the depth of the mages’ hold on the Plateau is more powerful than anyone suspected, and that they must learn to trust themselves, and each other, before the mages retrieve their artifacts and become too powerful to ever defeat.

Tess Matheson only wants three things: time to practice her cello, for her sister to be happy, and for everyone else to leave her alone.

Instead, Tess finds herself working all summer at her boarding school library, shelving books and dealing with the intolerable patrons. The worst of them is Eliot Birch: snide, privileged, and constantly requesting forbidden grimoires. After a bargain with Eliot leads to the discovery of an ancient book in the library’s grimoire collection, the pair accidentally unleash a book-bound demon.

The demon will stop at nothing to stay free, manipulating ink to threaten those Tess loves and dismantling Eliot’s strange magic. Tess is plagued by terrible dreams of the devil and haunting memories of a boy who wears Eliot’s face. All she knows is to stay free, the demon needs her… and he’ll have her, dead or alive.

{Blog Tour} Paola Santiago and the Forrest of Nightmares by Tehlor Kay Mejia

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot
on the PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE FOREST OF NIGHTMARES by Tehlor Kay Mejia Blog
Tour hosted by Rockstar
Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About the Book

Title: PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE FOREST OF
NIGHTMARES (Paola Santiago #2)

Author: Tehlor Kay Mejia

Pub. Date: August 3, 2021

Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 336

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible,
B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents the sequel to
Tehlor Kay Mejia’s critically acclaimed own-voices novel about science-obsessed Paola
Santiago.

Six months after Paola Santiago confronted the legendary La
Llorona, life is nothing like she’d expected it to be. She is barely speaking
to her best friends, Dante and Emma, and what’s worse, her mom has a totally
annoying boyfriend. Even with her chupacabra puppy, Bruto, around, Pao can’t
escape the feeling that she’s all alone in the world.

Pao has no one to tell that she’s having nightmares again,
this time set in a terrifying forest. Even more troubling? At their center is
her estranged father, an enigma of a man she barely remembers. And when Dante’s
abuela falls mysteriously ill, it seems that the dad Pao never knew just might
be the key to healing the eccentric old woman.

Pao’s search for her father will send her far from home,
where she will encounter new monsters and ghosts, a devastating betrayal, and
finally, the forest of her nightmares. Will the truths her father has been
hiding save the people Pao loves, or destroy them?

Once again Tehlor Kay Mejia draws on her Mexican heritage to
tell a wild and wondrous story that combines creatures from folklore with
modern-day challenges.

Grab book 1 PAOLA SANTIAGO
AND THE RIVER OF TEARS NOW!

My Review:

Paola Santiago adventures continues in book two. This was such a good read. It was full of adventures, twists and turns. I liked how we got to learn more of Paola background. We see some old friends to help along the way.

This time around Paola life is turn upside down again. Slowly she distance from her close her friends. Her mom is dating someone new. While all this happening she been having dreams of her real father. Feeling restless and trying to help a friend, Paola looks for the answer. Her father might have the answers she seek.

A lot has change since the first book. Dante and her have grown very distance lately. He seems to be upset with Paola a lot in the book. Also she hardly have seen Emma much, but Emma will always be there for her. For these three friends, hopefully they can figure things and path up. This was another quick read and I’m looking forward on how it will all end in book three. I liked everyone has grown since the last book and we learn a lot about Paola abilities this time.

Looking for a fun read, check out Paola Santiago and the Forrest of Nightmares.

About Tehlor Kay Mejia:

Tehlor
Kay Mejia is an
Oregon native in love with the alpine meadows and evergreen forests of her home
state, where she lives with her daughter. When she’s not writing, you can find
her plucking at her guitar, stealing rosemary sprigs from overgrown gardens, or
trying to make the perfect vegan tamale. She is the author of Paola Santiago
and the River of Tears and the YA fantasy novels We Set the Dark on Fire
and We Unleash the Merciless Storm. Follow her on Twitter
@tehlorkay.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

Giveaway Details:

3 winners
will receive a finished copy of PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE FOREST OF NIGHTMARES, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

8/1/2021	Log Cabin Library	Excerpt
8/2/2021	Kait Plus Books	Excerpt
8/3/2021	Mocha Girls Read	Excerpt
8/4/2021	Rajiv’s Reviews	Review
8/5/2021	Feed Your Fiction Addiction	Review
8/6/2021	The Bookwyrm’s Den	Review
8/7/2021	@drewsim12	Review

Week Two:

8/8/2021	Lifestyle of Me	Review
8/9/2021	booksaremagictoo	Review
8/10/2021	Emelie’s Books	Review
8/11/2021	More Books Please blog	Review
8/12/2021	Books a Plenty Book Reviews	Review
8/13/2021	BookHounds YA	Excerpt
8/14/2021	Locks, Hooks and Books	Review

Week Three:

8/15/2021	Fyrekatz Blog	Review
8/16/2021	Adrianna.reads	Review
8/17/2021	Don’t Judge, Read	Review
8/18/2021	A Gingerly Review	Excerpt/IG post
8/19/2021	Midnightbooklover	IG Post
8/20/2021	Discover Elysian	Review
8/21/2021	Abellafairytale	Review

Week Four:

8/22/2021	Little Red Readz	Review
8/23/2021	@pagesofyellow	Review
8/24/2021	popthebutterfly	Review
8/25/2021	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Excerpt
8/26/2021	The Momma Spot	Review
8/27/2021	Addicted to Media	Excerpt
8/28/2021	@fictitious.fox	Review

Week Five:

8/29/2021	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt
8/30/2021	Two Points of Interest	Review
8/31/2021	@lexijava_bookish	Excerpt

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Summary:

Space-obsessed 12-year-old Paola Santiago and her two best friends, Emma and Dante, know the rule: Stay away from the river. It’s all they’ve heard since a schoolmate of theirs drowned a year ago. Pao is embarrassed to admit that she has been told to stay away for even longer than that, because her mother is constantly warning her about La Llorona, the wailing ghost woman who wanders the banks of the Gila at night, looking for young people to drag into its murky depths.

Hating her mother’s humiliating superstitions and knowing that she and her friends would never venture into the water, Pao organizes a meet-up to test out her new telescope near the Gila, since it’s the best stargazing spot. But when Emma never arrives and Pao sees a shadowy figure in the reeds, it seems like maybe her mom was right. . . .

Pao has always relied on hard science to make sense of the world, but to find her friend she will have to enter the world of her nightmares, which includes unnatural mist, mind-bending monsters, and relentless spirits controlled by a terrifying force that defies both logic and legend.

My Review:

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears was such a good read. I so do enjoy Rick Riordan Presents reads so much. It may be middle grade book, but I learn a lot from them. The books are quick and easy to read. Also the cover is spooky with the hand popping out of the water.

Paola never understood what her dreams means with the lady in the water. She never understands her mother fear of it. Then her best friend disappeared. Pao will follow her dreams and bring her back.

You get to learn a little bit of La Llorona story, the weeping woman. She end up drowning her kids and haunts the lake. Since this is a kids book, the story is not as scary as the horror movie verison and real life story. Just beware of water in the horror version of the story.

This was a fun read, full of laughs ago the way. So many Rick Riordan books I need to play catch up on soon.

Also look forward to my blog tour of book two coming soon.

Happy Reading.

The Girl in the Headlines by Hannah Jayne

Summary:

The headlines say she killed her family. The truth? She doesn’t remember.

Andrea McNulty goes to sleep on her eighteenth birthday with a near-perfect life: she’s a high school field hockey star, a doted-upon big sister, the beloved daughter of two happy parents. But when she wakes up in a motel room the next morning, unable to remember what happened the previous night and covered in blood, Andi is a fugitive.

According to the news, Andi’s parents were brutally attacked in the middle of the night. Her father is dead, her mother is in a coma, her little brother Josh is missing–and Andi is the prime suspect. Terrified and on the run from the police, Andi teams up with Nate, the sympathetic boy working the motel’s front desk, to find the real murderer. But while the police are getting further from the killer, the killer is getting closer to Andi–closer than she could ever have imagined.

My Review:

What happen when you wake up in a strange hotel with no memory?

Andrea is in a state of panic in the beginning of the book. When looking on the new she is shock. Her father is dead, mother is in a coma, and brother is missing. Somehow the police thinks she done it. With no memory or what happen. She must trust a complete stranger for help. Did Andrea really hurt her family or someone else is after them?

The Girl in the Headlines was a very tense in the beginning until the end. There was no one who you can trust. Andrea faces the struggle to finding the truth and her brother before it’s to late. With the police and the news against her,she must face this alone. Soon she will face doubt with herself.

The book was suspenseful at times and a huge guessing game on what’s going on. Even you start to wonder if Andrea really done it at times. I did liked this book and would read more mystery/thriller from this author. Her other book I read was Truly, Madly, Deadly which was good also.

In the mood for a quick mystery/thriller then check out The Girl In the Headlines.

When We Were Strangers by Alex Richards

Summary:

Seventeen-year-old Evie Parker is devastated in the wake of her father’s sudden death. But she knows something her mother doesn’t: the day of his heart attack, her dad was planning to move out. After finding his packed bags, an impulsive Evie puts everything away, desperate to spare her mom more heartache.

To make matters worse, Evie soon learns the reason her father was going to leave: he had been dating his twenty-two-year-old receptionist, Bree, who is now six months pregnant. Desperate to distract herself, Evie signs up for a summer photography class where she meets a motley crew of students, including quirky and adorable Declan. Still, Evie can’t stop thinking about her father’s mistress. Armed with a telephoto lens, she caves to her curiosity, and what starts as a little bit of spying on Bree quickly becomes full-blown stalking. And when an emergency forces Evie to help Bree, she learns there’s more to the story than she ever knew…

Alex Richards crafts an addicting and compelling new story about betrayal, complicated family secrets, and getting to the heart of what matters — ultimately asking readers how far they’d be willing to go to unravel the truth.

My Review:

What happens when you lose someone you love? You find out dark secrets from their past.

Evie world is turned upside when your father passed away suddenly. She finds out he was ready to leave the family for another girl. Evie tries hard keeping secrets from her mother to protect, but it becomes to much for her. She ends up following the other woman and understand why it happen. Will Evie be able to find closure after her father’s death.

When we were Strangers was such a realistic read on grief. I really enjoy this book a lot. Also the cover of with Evie on it is a prefect. You can see she love taking pictures and also the pictures are of the other woman. Evie grief drives her kinda mad and obsessed on wanting answers. She even tries taking photography classes to help move on,but it does not work. She keeps to self and distance from her mom to protect her. It a little to much for a kid to handle.

This book was well written and so many feelings also. I also enjoyed did Alex Richards other book Accidental also. Will read more books by this aurthor in the future.

Looking for a new book that deal with grief, then check out When We Were Strangers.

After the Ink Dries by Cassie Gustafson

Summary:

What does it mean when you thought you knew someone? What does it mean when that person is your new boyfriend? This page-turning suspense story asks what it takes to face hard truths about yourself and others, and how to find strength when you need it most.

Sixteen-year-old Erica Walker is a webcomic artist who wants to fit in at her affluent new high school. Seventeen-year-old Thomas VanBrackel is an aspiring songwriter and reluctant lacrosse goalie who wants out from under his father’s thumb. After their electric first kiss at Saturday’s lacrosse match, Erica and Thomas are both elated to see where their new relationship could take them.

The next morning, however, following a drunken house party, Erica wakes up half-clothed, and discovers words and names drawn in Sharpie in intimate places on her body—names belonging to Thomas’s lacrosse friends, including the boyfriend of Erica’s best friend. Devastated, Erica convinces herself Thomas wasn’t involved in this horrific so-called “prank”…until she discovers Thomas’s name on her skin, too.

Told in alternating viewpoints, Erica seeks to uncover what happened while battling to keep evidence of her humiliation from leaking out, as Thomas grapples with his actions and who he thought he was. Woven throughout, illustrated graphic novel interstitials depict Erica’s alter ego superhero, Erica Strange, whose courage just might help Erica come through to the other side.

My Review:

After the Ink Dries was such a emotional read. So heartbreaking on what happen to the main character. The book deals with bullying and assault. May be sensitive for some readers and has trigger warnings. The cover is very breathtaking. It shows the main character and words written on her, like what happen to her in the book.

Erica wakes up up one morning on someone bed. She don’t remember what happen. She has words in sharpie written all over her body and names of people who done it. Not thinking clearly, she hurries home to clean up everything. Soon there pictures and videos starting to resurface around school.

This book deal with the struggle of being assaulted and trying to get help. Erica in the book is in denial at first on what happen. She just wants to move from it, until pictures and videos resurface. You can tell Erica push people away and don’t know who to trust or how to get help.

After the Ink Dries was well written and very realistic. It can happen to anyone in high school. I’m going to repeat again, there are trigger warning for readers with this book.

What I’m Reading Monday

Space-obsessed 12-year-old Paola Santiago and her two best friends, Emma and Dante, know the rule: Stay away from the river. It’s all they’ve heard since a schoolmate of theirs drowned a year ago. Pao is embarrassed to admit that she has been told to stay away for even longer than that, because her mother is constantly warning her about La Llorona, the wailing ghost woman who wanders the banks of the Gila at night, looking for young people to drag into its murky depths.

Hating her mother’s humiliating superstitions and knowing that she and her friends would never venture into the water, Pao organizes a meet-up to test out her new telescope near the Gila, since it’s the best stargazing spot. But when Emma never arrives and Pao sees a shadowy figure in the reeds, it seems like maybe her mom was right. . . .

Pao has always relied on hard science to make sense of the world, but to find her friend she will have to enter the world of her nightmares, which includes unnatural mist, mind-bending monsters, and relentless spirits controlled by a terrifying force that defies both logic and legend.

Students at an elite prep school are forced to confront their secrets when their ex-best friend turns up dead.

Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends–Krystal, Akil, and Alexander–are the prime suspects, thanks to “The Proctor,” someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app.

They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow The Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy’s full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.

Cello prodigy Jenny has one goal: to get into a prestigious music conservatory. When she meets mysterious, handsome Jaewoo in her uncle’s Los Angeles karaoke bar, it’s clear he’s the kind of boy who would uproot her careful plans. But in a moment of spontaneity, she allows him to pull her out of her comfort zone for one unforgettable night of adventure…before he disappears without a word.

Three months later, when Jenny and her mother arrive in South Korea to take care of her ailing grandmother, she’s shocked to discover that Jaewoo is a student at the same elite arts academy where she’s enrolled for the semester. And he’s not just any student. He’s a member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world—and he’s strictly forbidden from dating.

When a relationship means throwing Jenny’s life off the path she’s spent years mapping out, she’ll have to decide once and for all just how much she’s willing to risk for love.