Book Review: Before I Disappear by Danielle Stinson

I'm not crying...you're crying!

Before I Disappear is marketed as Arrival meets A Wrinkle in Time. I've never Arrival nor have I ever read A Wrinkle in Time, so I went into this novel pretty blind.

Rose Montgomery has had a hard life. After their latest setback, her, her brother Charlie, and her mother find themselves in Fort Glory, Oregon.
Rose's goal is to make a better life for her younger brother and her mother. Before she knows it, everything is flip-turned upside down and Fort Glory seems to be gone. Poof, into thin air. Taking Charlie and her mother along with it.

Rose finds herself trapped in The Fold with four others who have to rely on each other to figure out how to survive. The Fold is a 30 mild wooded area hell-bent on killing them if they're not careful.

The whole time they're separated Charlie is sending Rose signals that help pave the way to save the group and their whole town.

I love the characters. Rose is amazingly grown up for her age due to the circumstance that led Rose and her family to Fort Glory. She's strong and resilient and hard-working. There's no one she cares about more than Charlie. Charlie is a wonder and he's selfless and it's not hard to see why Rose goes through everything she does to get him back.

There's a small relationship that blossoms between Rose and another character and I like the way Stinson wrote it in. It isn't the main plot of the story but it helps the story along. It's subtle and I'm all about subtle. Romance that's too in your face isn't for me so I really appreciated this aspect of the novel!

If sci-fi isn't your thing, take a leap of faith because it's not mine either and I still enjoyed this one quite a bit. Stinson focuses more on the driving forces of life like love and longing instead of making it all about sci-fi.

The Expedition (The Initiation #2) by Chris Babu

The Expedition (The Initiation #2) by Chris Babu

The Good:

- I really like the characters of this book. They're all unique in their own way and they have their strengths and weaknesses as well. In order to survive, they all have to work together. Where one falls short with their weaknesses, another picks up with their strengths. It really creates a bond between the groups that gradually grows on you.

-I read The Initiation and The Expedition back to back so I didn't need much of a recap but it was there for others who may not have read the first book. I'd say it's much easier to make sense of the second one if you know everything that happened in the first, but from Babu's recapping it's not completely necessary. I do recommend the first book, though. It's amazing!

-The group centers around teenagers who are just now getting a feel of the real world. There's love, betrayal, confusion, loss, gains. The story feels fleshed out due to this. The way the characters are exploring their world along with their newfound feelings on love and relationships makes it a great read. You can really connect with the characters because you can look back on when you were just starting out with a relationship and can recognize some of the errors you may have faced as well.

-The scenery! The kids are exploring a brand new world outside of their cut off civilization. The world-building is amazing due to the fact that some 90% of the population has died. Babu writes that the world is lush with greenery and animals you normally wouldn't find in a bustling city roaming around on highways due to Mother Nature's regrowth.

-There's so much humor within the story! Seeing as this is a group of teenagers embarked on a seemingly impossible mission, they rise above and beyond while still maintaining their sanity while they're at it. The bickering and short one liners are what make the story.

-There's a plot twist! I live for those, and I'm excited to see what pans out in the next book! Threw me for the biggest loop.

The Bad:

- I really wanted to yell at Drayden and tell him to stop being so MEHHHH. He aggravated me with all of his internal struggling. I wanted to shake him and tell him who he is and what he's capable of. He went back and forth between who he wants to be and who he really is so bad it started grating on my nerves. I understand that becoming who you are and getting there is a challenge and Babu really showed the internal struggle a lot of people have. So it's not a negative per se, but I needed Drayden to know he doesn't have to be anyone other than himself because he is enough.

The Initiation by Chris Babu

I've been slowly delving into the world of dystopia. I got comfortable reading YA and thrillers I've rarely picked up other genres unless I was super interested in them.
I was approached to review The Initiation as well as its sequel, The Expedition. It seemed sort of like The Hunger Games so I decided to give the books a try!
I enjoyed it.

The Initiation follows a group of teenagers who enter a competition to better the lives of themselves and potentially their families by moving out of the Dorms.
They all have to band together to pass tests any normal person wouldn't be able to pass. In order to advance they use their wit and their strengths.
We encounter brain-teasers and heart-pumping, action-packed bravery challenges that would make even the cockiest person whimper in fear.

It is very The Hunger Games-esque but Babu writes in a way that is a refreshing take on the trope. My only problem was the fact that is was super slow in the beginning but it sped along when the teenagers finally got to start the Initiation. The last 100 pages I sped through because I absolutely had to know what was happening.

Two rather sad things happen within these pages and one event had me fist-pumping the air screaming, "FINALLYYYYYYYY."

The Initiation is guaranteed to get your adrenaline pumping. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

It's Paris in 1899. The Tower of Babel fell long ago and the fragments from it gives some people the ability to Forge.

Where there used to be four houses, only two remain: House Vanth and House Nyx.

Séverin is the rejected heir of House Vanth who's main mission is to restore his inheritance.
Hypnos is the House Nyx patriarch who also happens to be Séverin's childhood rival. He knows what Séverin is after and offers his help under one condition: Séverin recovers an artifact called the Horus Eye. The Horus Eye can locate Babel fragment.

Séverin won't be alone in his mission. Joined by his brother Tristan, Zofia who's an engineer, Enrique, a historian who also happens to be bi-sexual, and Laila, an Asian Indian dancer.

I haven't read any other books by Roshani, but I've seen praise. If her other books are written anything like The Gilded Wolves, I can easily see why.

There's something I enjoy about reading novels set in France. I feel like everything is 10x prettier in description. But Roshani has the ability to forge beauty out of death and you'll find yourself transported to the catacombs of Paris during the group's race to the Horus Eye.

One of the main things I really appreciated about The Gilded Wolves was how intricate it was. There are so many puzzles the group have to pull together to figure out how to advance to the next part of their plan. The way they all use their individual gifts and come together to help one another was beautifully well-written.

A+ for a bi-sexual representation along with a great diverse cast as well! The romance was written in a way that felt natural and not all in your face. I was rooting for the love that was slowly blossoming for sure.

Thanks to BookishFirst for allowing me to review this book! You can pre-order it here.

Charlie's Angels Vol. 1 by John Layman

I have something to confess...I've never watched Charlie's Angels a day in my life. I requested this from Edelweiss because of that reason. I wanted to see what exactly all the hype was about. Now, I know this isn't the original and I can't compare it to it, but the reviews are saying that this comic pays homage to the original. 

I really love the 70s vibe but it's not my favorite art style. Where it lacks in that area for me it makes up with an easy to follow story-line and hilariously bad-ass females who fight for the greater good. Throw in a plan to kill the president with multiple people trying to kill them as well and you have a story that'll make you white-knuckle the pages until you finish.

This one involves a lot of smart wit, a ton of fighting, with more than enough things to keep you enthralled. I'm thoroughly impressed.

I found out one of Charlie's Angels has the same name as me so I thought that was pretty cool as well! 

Man-Eaters #1 by Chelsea Cain

Hey, everyone! I re-joined Edelweiss yesterday and immediately downloaded some comic books! My goal is to read at least 100 books this year so I have to include some shorter formats or I'd never be able to achieve it. Way to hack the system, Sabrina. Lol!

My first comic of the year is Man-Eaters #1 by Chelsea Cain. If you have a cat you probably know about Toxoplasmosis. If not, you can read about it here. Most everyone in the comic book has the mutation, but men are (mostly) immune. The women on the other hand, turn into man-eating panthers and kill or slightly maim whoever they're around.
Our main character is a 12 year old girl who has decided against drinking the water that government officials have dosed with estrogen-blockers.
Due to females turning into lethal killers, women and men are inherently separated from one another. Boys are shown that having testosterone is good but women are scary and terrifying because their periods have the potential to star them in the next horror film if they decide to get too close.

I have to add a few finer points about this book. The colors popped so well and the art style is honestly incredible. It's such a fresh story subject and unlike anything I've ever read before I can't wait for the next issue.

I really enjoyed the light it spread on the stigma of periods while at the same time giving us a hilarious story to read. It's a very unapologetic feminist book that made me laugh more than a few times. Odd, but I'm impressed!

January TBR

Welcome to 2019 everyone!
I love this January because it seems like everyone is a little more upbeat. A new year means new things to look forward to and new goals to set and achieve. My goal is to read at least 100 books this year. In 2018 I managed to get through 104 which made me super proud of myself! Some of the books I read this year will be short books like manga or middle-grade but I still count those anyway! At least I'm reading. ;)

The Gilded Wolves will be my first read of the year. I'm currently reading this and I'm about 90 pages in.
I won it from a BookishFirst raffle in exchange for an honest review. If you haven't signed up for them I highly recommend them. You just have to read the synopsis and the first few pages then write a "first impression" and wait to see if you've been chosen. I've gotten a ton of books from them and I'm always so thankful!
This one is out on the 15th of this month, and I expect I'll finish it within a day or two. Just enough time to prepare a review on it!

Tarot was another review book that I'll be reading after The Gilded Wolves. This one isn't out until February 19th. It honestly seems so unique I got lost in the synopsis when I read it! I've included it below.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Anna was never supposed to exist. Born of a forbidden union between the Queen and the tyrannical King’s archnemesis, Anna is forced to live out her days isolated in the Tower, with only her mentors and friends the Hermit, the Fool, and the Magician to keep her company. To pass the time, Anna imagines unique worlds populated by creatives and dreamers—the exact opposite of the King’s land of fixed fates and rigid rules—and weaves them into four glorious tapestries.
But on the eve of her sixteenth birthday and her promised release from the Tower, Anna discovers her true lineage: She’s the daughter of Marco, a powerful magician, and the King is worried that his magical gifts are starting to surface in Anna. Fearing for her life, Anna flees the Tower and finds herself in Cups, a lush, tropical land full of all the adventure, free-spiritedness, and creativity she imagined while weaving.
Anna thinks she’s found paradise in this world of beachside parties, endless food and drink, and exhilarating romance. But when the fabric of Cups begins to unravel, Anna discovers that her tapestries are more than just decoration. They’re the foundation for a new world that she is destined to create—as long as the terrors from the old world don’t catch up with her first.

Most Wanted will be the third one I pick up this month if I keep my reading streak. Sometimes I get in moods and don't pick up a book for a week or two but in order to hit 100 books I need to stay on task and keep up with books.
I receive all of Lisa's books when they come out for some reason so she's quickly became a favorite of mine. This will be the 4th or 5th one of hers I'll be reading, so it's safe to assume that she has a knack for keeping her readers engaged and coming back for more.

Thanks for reading what's on my TBR for this month! Leave a comment with some of what's on yours if you want. I love engagement and always reciprocate if possible. :)

The Night Before by Wendy Walker

Hello readers! Today I'm going to be talking about THE NIGHT BEFORE by Wendy Walker. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC well before its release date, which is in May of this year. 5 months in advance! I call that a major score in the book blogging world! ;)

Walker has a distinct way of hooking you. I was intrigued within the first 15 pages and finished this in two days. I didn't want to put it down, so reading is how I rung in the New Year's!

The story is told in alternating views between Laura (who's missing) and her sister Rosie. Laura doesn't come home after a date and instantly Rosie is on high alert. What follows is a whirlwind of a search with more than a few twists and turns you won't see coming. When I caught my footing and thought I knew what was going on, Walker managed to sweep them out from underneath me with the next big revelation she had about one of our characters. This is a heck of a ride, and one I'm glad I got on.

Our characters have all been intertwined in each other's lives since they were children. They all thought they knew each other inside and out. What happens when that facade begins to crack and the biggest revelation of all is finally out? All of their lives are inevitably changed. You won't want to miss out on this one.