An Ember in the Ashes by @sabaatahir {Review}

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Publisher: Razorbill; 464 pages
Rating:

I WILL TELL YOU THE SAME THING I TELL EVERY SLAVE.

THE RESISTANCE HAS TRIED TO PENETRATE THIS SCHOOL COUNTLESS TIMES. I HAVE DISCOVERED IT EVERY TIME.

IF YOU ARE WORKING WITH THE RESISTANCE, IF YOU CONTACT THEM, IF YOU THINK OF CONTACTING THEM, I WILL KNOW

AND I WILL DESTROY YOU.

Laia is a slave.

Elias is a soldier.

Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

Blog Tour: Miles from Kara by @MB_West {Review & Giveaway}

Miles from Kara by Melissa West
(Charleston Haven, #2)
Release Date: December 2, 2014
Publisher: Penguin/Intermix; 211 pages
Rating:

Kara Marcus is desperate to forget the past and move on. But she can’t escape her choices—especially when she finds herself falling in love…

Since the first day she stepped into her childhood Southern Baptist church, two truths have been engrained in Kara Marcus’s head: sex before marriage is bad and murder is a sin. And that’s why Kara can never forgive herself for what she did at the age of sixteen.

Now, as second semester of freshman year comes to a close, Kara has stood by her high school boyfriend, Ethan. But as they seem to grow further and further apart every day, Kara realizes that she has feelings for someone else: Ethan’s roommate Colt.

Suddenly, Kara’s clear-cut world shifts out of focus, and she’s torn between what her head tells her is right and what her heart is desperately pushing her to do—even if it means committing another undeniable sin...

Gathering Darkness by @MorganRhodesYA Review

Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes
(Falling Kingdoms #3)
Release Date: December 9, 2014
Publisher: Razorbill; 416 pages
Rating: 

In GATHERING DARKNESS, book three of the New York Times bestselling Falling Kingdoms series, the stakes have never been higher as three teams push forward on a race to find the Kindred, the four elemental crystals possessing ancient all-powerful magic, first:

Prince Magnus has just witnessed torture, death, and miracles during the bloody confrontation that decimated the rebel forces. Now he must choose between family and justice as his father, the cruel King Gaius, sets out to conquer all of Mytica. All Gaius needs now are the Kindred - the four elemental crystals that give godlike powers to their owner. But the King of Blood is not the only one hunting for this ancient, storied magic...

• THE KRAESHIANS join the hunt. Ashur and Amara, the royal siblings from the wealthy kingdom across the Silver Sea, charm and manipulate their way to the Kindred, proving to be more ruthless than perhaps even the King of Blood himself.

• THE REBELS forge ahead. Princess Cleo and vengeful Jonas lead them, slaying with sweetness, skill, and a secret that can control Lucia's overpowering magic - all so they can use the Kindred to win back their fallen kingdoms.

• THE WATCHERS follow Melenia out of the Sanctuary. They ally in the flesh with King Gaius, who vows to use Lucia's powers to unveil the Kindred.

The only certainty in the dark times is that whoever finds the magic first will control the fate of Mytica... but fate can be fickle when magic is involved.

Sweepstakes: Visit the 5th Wave Movie Set!

As some of you may know the sequel to last year's The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, The Infinite Sea finally hit book shelves last week!  Also Sony Pictures is getting ready to go into production for The 5th Wave movie!  To celebrate both of these awesome things, Sony has a great contest going on right now!

Pieces of Olivia by @MB_West Review

Pieces of Olivia by Melissa West
(Charleston Haven, #1)
Release Date: July 15, 2014
Publisher: Intermix/Penguin; 210 pages
Rating:

Olivia Warren used to be a normal girl with a bright future.
But on one fated night, everything changed.

Hiding the scars of her past up her sleeves, Olivia transfers her enrollment from Columbia University to The College of Charleston, determined to pursue her own dreams for the first time in her life.

She intends to allow herself a bit of alone time to heal... that is, until she meets Preston.

Preston is best friends with her roommate, completely hot, and off-limits. But the chemistry between them is instantaneous—and as the pair begins to spend more time with one another, their feelings for each other build into something undeniable, something powerful enough to heal Olivia’s deepest scars.

Olivia tries to put her own past behind her and trust Preston, but she discovers that his past might be more present than she ever bargained for…

Sisters' Fate by @jessica_shea Review + #Giveaway

Sisters' Fate by Jessica Spotswood
(The Cahill Witch Chronicles, #3)
Release Date: August 14, 2014
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile; 368 pages
Rating:

A fever ravages New London, but with the Brotherhood sending suspected witches straight to the gallows, the Sisters are powerless against the disease. They can’t help without revealing their powers—as Cate learns when a potent display of magic turns her into the most wanted witch in all of New England.

To make matters worse, Cate has been erased from the memory of her beloved Finn. While she’s torn between protecting him from further attacks and encouraging him to fall for her all over again, she’s certain she can never forgive Maura’s betrayal. And now that Tess’s visions have taken a deadly turn, the prophecy that one Cahill sister will murder another looms ever closer to its fulfillment.

Jessica's Adventures At BEA

So, sadly I was only at BEA for Friday and Saturday . . . even though Saturday I avoided half the exhibit hall like the plague and we all know why. BOOKCON. But more on that later. Thursday I had to stay home in Maryland as I had to attend a wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for my older brother who was getting married the Sunday following BEA (I know, I'm a little crazy). Even though I missed BEA I can safely say that Thursday was still as equally busy of a day here as it was in NY except I didn't get any cool books or meet any awesome authors or bloggers. But that's okay because I knew it was coming and I was excited.

Waiting on Wednesday #10

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine where we highlight one book that we're eagerly anticipating. Here at our blog, it'll be a book that's to be released in the next three months so we're not shooting too far in to the future (even if we really want to)!

Stacking the Shelves #39

 

Stacking the Shelves is created & hosted by Tynga's Reviews and is a weekly meme sharing the books you've bought, borrowed or received for review.

It's been awhile since I've done a Stacking the Shelves.  I've been busy trying to read and review my books from ALA Midwinter.  So I've been a good girl, and haven't purchased many books.  But over the past month I did pick up some.  Short but sweet this week!

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins Review

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
(Rebel Belle #1)
Release Date: April 8, 2014
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile; 384 pages

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him--and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more.

The Well's End by Seth Fishman Review

The Well's End by Seth Fishman
Release Date: February 25, 2014
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile; 352 pages

A deadly virus and an impossible discovery unite in one enthralling can’t-miss read...

Sixteen-year-old Mia Kish has always been afraid of the dark. After all, she’s baby Mia, the one who fell down a well. That was years ago, though the darkness still haunts her. But when her classmates and teachers at ritzy Westbrook Academy start dying of old age from a bizarre and frightening virus that ages its victims years in a matter of hours, Mia becomes haunted by a lot more than the dark. Their deaths are gruesome and Mia worries she and her friends may be next. In order to survive, Mia and her small crew must break quarantine and outrun armed soldiers in hazmat suits who shoot first and ask questions later.

And there’s only one place to go—the Cave, aka Fenton Electronics. Mia knows it’s somehow connected and hopes her dad, Director of Fenton Electronics, who has always been strangely secretive about his work, has the answers she needs, and more importantly a cure to save everyone before the whole town succumbs to the mysterious virus. Unfortunately, it’s not answers Mia discovers, but something far more treacherous and impossible than even the virus itself.

A high-stakes, fast-paced adventure with imagination and heart.

Vitro by Jessica Khoury Review

Vitro by Jessica Khoury
Release Date: January 14, 2014
Publisher: Razorbill; 384 pages

On Skin Island, even the laws of creation can be broken.

On a remote island in the Pacific, Corpus scientists have taken test tube embryos and given them life. These beings—the Vitros—have knowledge and abilities most humans can only dream of. But they also have one enormous flaw.

Sophie Crue is determined to get to Skin Island and find her mother, a scientist who left Sophie behind years ago. With the help of Jim Julien, a young charter pilot, she arrives--and discovers a terrifying secret she never imagined: she has a Vitro twin, Lux, who is the culmination of Corpus's dangerous research.

Now Sophie is torn between reuniting with the mother who betrayed her and protecting the genetically enhanced twin she never knew existed. But untangling the twisted strands of these relationships will have to wait, for Sophie and Jim are about to find out what happens when science stretches too far beyond its reach.

Control by Lydia Kang Review

Control by Lydia Kang

(Control #1)

Release Date: December 26, 2013

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers; 400 pages

An un-putdownable thriller for fans of Uglies

When a crash kills their father and leaves them orphaned, Zel knows she needs to protect her sister, Dyl. But before Zel has a plan, Dyl is taken by strangers using bizarre sensory weapons, and Zel finds herself in a safe house for teens who aren’t like any she’s ever seen before—teens who shouldn't even exist. Using broken-down technology, her new friends’ peculiar gifts, and her own grit, Zel must find a way to get her sister back from the kidnappers who think a powerful secret is encoded in Dyl’s DNA.

A spiraling, intense, romantic story set in 2150—in a world of automatic cars, nightclubs with auditory ecstasy drugs, and guys with four arms—this is about the human genetic “mistakes” that society wants to forget, and the way that outcasts can turn out to be heroes.

Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike Review

Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike
(Earthbound #1)
Release Date: July 30th, 2013
Publisher: Razorbill; 338 pages

Tavia Michaels is the sole survivor of the plane crash that killed her parents. When she starts to see strange visions of a boy she’s never spoken with in real life, she begins to suspect that there’s much about her past that she isn’t being told.

Tavia immediately searches for answers, desperate to determine why she feels so drawn to a boy she hardly knows. But when Tavia discovers that the aunt and uncle who took her in after her parents' death may have actually been responsible for the plane crash that killed them--and that she may have been the true intended victim--she flees for the safety of Camden, Maine, where the boy she sees in her visions instructs her to go.

Now, Tavia is on the run with no one to trust. No one, that is, except for her best friend and longtime crush, Benson.

Tavia feels torn between the boy who mysteriously comes to her at night and the boy who has been by her side every step of the way. But what Tavia doesn't know is that the world is literally falling apart and that to save it she will have to unite with the boy in her visions. Only problem? To do so would mean rejecting Benson's love. And that's the one thing Tavia Michaels swore she'd never do.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey Review

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
(The 5th Wave #1)
Release Date: May 7th, 2013
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile; 457 pages

The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

Stacking the Shelves #24

 

Stacking the Shelves is created & hosted by Tynga's Reviews and is a weekly meme sharing the books you've bought, borrowed or received for review.

New York Comic Con was last weekend.  I was lucky enough to attend all four days of the convention.  I was able to pick up quite a few books that I can't wait to read!  Also there will be a NYCC giveaway occurring soon on this site featuring a few books listed in this weeks Stacking the Shelves!

Author Spotlight: Elizabeth Richards

Welcome to our new feature here at Step Into Fiction called Author Spotlight. Each month we will feature a new author with either a character interview, author interview or guest post that we hope will be fresh, fun and exciting to read! I think we're starting out this feature with a bang with a fantastic author who Sana has had the pleasure of meeting but also an author who I'm a big fan of!

This month we're featuring Elizabeth Richards who is the author of Black City [2012], Phoenix [2013] & upcoming release, Wings [2014]. We are bringing you a character interview with not just one character but two. That's right. Ash and Beetle. So enjoy and don't forget to scroll to the bottom for a chance to win Black City!