Posts Tagged: Young Adult

Monday, February 20, 2017

Giveaway: Frostblood by Elly Blake

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Today we are partnering with the lovely people over at Little, Brown to bring you a fabulous giveaway for FROSTBLOOD by Elly Blake. It has a cover that is hella gorgeous and a blurb that got me glued. I am so excited to dive into this book and hope you guys are too! 🙂

About the Book



Giveaway: Frostblood by Elly BlakeFrostblood by Elly Blake
Series: Frostblood Saga #1
Published by Brown Books for Young Readers on January 10th, 2017
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

The frost king will burn.

Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a Fireblood who has concealed her powers of heat and flame from the cruel Frostblood ruling class her entire life. But when her mother is killed trying to protect her, and rebel Frostbloods demand her help to overthrow their bloodthirsty king, she agrees to come out of hiding, desperate to have her revenge.

Despite her unpredictable abilities, Ruby trains with the rebels and the infuriating—yet irresistible—Arcus, who seems to think of her as nothing more than a weapon. But before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to compete in the king’s tournaments that pit Fireblood prisoners against Frostblood champions. Now she has only one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who has taken everything from her—and from the icy young man she has come to love.



About the Author



Elly Blake loves fairy tales, old houses, and owls. After earning a degree in English literature, she held a series of seemingly random jobs, including project manager, customs clerk, graphic designer, and reporter for a local business magazine before finally landing on her current job as a library assistant. She lives in Southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids, and a Siberian Husky mix that definitely shows frostblood tendencies.



Frostblood or Fireblood? Take the Quiz!



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Giveaway!

One (1) winner receives:
A Copy of Frostblood
Branded Nail Polish Duo in Shades of Fire and Frost

Giveaway Rules!

  • Open to US residents
  • Xpresso Reads will not be responsible for any lost/damaged items
  • You must be 13+ or have parental permission to participate
  • No Cheating Allowed
  • A new winner will be picked if the initial winner does not respond within 48 hours.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Fun Mystery: To Catch a Killer by Sheryl Scarborough

Posted by on 02/17/2017 • 6 Comments

This book has an unfortunate cover given that its insides are so different. To Catch a Killer as pitched as being great for fans of Veronica Mars yet this cover screams cheesy mystery. Luckily, To Catch a Killer is a well-written mystery that is fun to follow along and hella engaging. It is one of those books you are going to stay up reading saying just ONE MORE CHAPTER (spoiler alert, its never one more chapter, its usually the entire fucking book.)

Sometimes I’ll read mysteries and wonder how the MCs have the resources and ability to solve the big case just based on educated guesses but To Catch A Killer throws in forensics into the mix and everything is GREAT. EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE. I totally guessed the murderer a couple pages in but…

The Holiday Novel I Didn’t Know I Needed: We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Posted by on 02/15/2017 • 2 Comments

I have no idea how to start this review because I just want to throw We Are Okay in everyone’s faces and get them to read it. What drew me to the book was Nina LaCour and the pretty cover. While I haven’t read anything solely written by her, I had read You Know Me Well by her last year which she co-authored with David Levithan and fell in love with her writing.

LaCour’s writing just makes me wish I was buried under a ton of blankets with a book and a nice, warm cup of hot cocoa. We Are Okay is everything I didn’t even know I wanted from a holiday-themed book. It is complex, cozy and gut wrenching. It uses the tropes from common holiday novels but…

10 Non-Het Romance Books to Read on Valentine’s Day (or any other day of the year)

Posted by on 02/14/2017 • 9 Comments

Tired of all the het romances in the spotlight come Valentine’s day? Here is a list of 10 non-het romances to read instead + a bonus movie to watch! This list is by no means cumulative but the books have strong romance elements and HEAs (unless I seriously screwed up while researching.)

1. Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan

Interracial romance, QPOC, #ownvoices.

2. Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst

A fantasy world where society isn’t homophobic. #ownvoices.

3. When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

Interracial romance, QPOC, #ownvoices.

4. Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

oreos.

5. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire SĂĄenz

Latinx main characters. #ownvoices.

6. Ash by Malinda Lo

Cinderella…

Q&A With S. Jae Jones

Posted by on 02/13/2017 • 2 Comments

Hello and welcome to Xpresso Reads’ tour stop for Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones. Today we have a Q&A with the author and hopefully they’ll make you feel even more excited about reading the book!

Please give a round of applause for S. Jae-Jones!

Q&A With S. Jae-Jones

What was your favorite part about writing this book? What was your favorite scene to write?

I loved that I was able to draw on so many things that inspired or influenced me aesthetically as I wrote this book. I love goth stories, Death and the Maiden tropes, Jacques Cocteau movies, Phantom of the Opera, glitter, David Bowie, Mozart, and all of that made it into my book in some form or another. I don’t have a favorite scene,…

10 Books About Immigrant/1st Gen Experiences

Posted by on 02/08/2017 • 8 Comments

TBH, I don’t even know how to start this post off. I wish the world was a better place and I wish everyone could just agree that we all deserve to be treated as humans and equals instead of shitting on the existence of entire groups of people. I am trying to use this space to promote books that we should all be reading right now and to get people to support more diverse (& #ownvoices) content. So here is a list of 10 Books about Immigrant/1st Gen Experiences.

1. Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

MC is a first gen Pakistani-American and the book is #ownvoices. Also deals with arranged marriage and has a jaw-dropping gorgeous cover.

2. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

I think people who…

Playlist for The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman + Giveaway

Posted by on 02/02/2017 • 6 Comments

Hello and welcome to Xpresso Reads’ tour stop for The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman AKA the book I created my goodreads OTP OF PAIN shelf for. I thoroughly enjoyed The Dark Days Club last year but fell head over heels for The Dark Days Pact. In this book, Goodman really upped the stakes and basically put me through hell :’) It was great. Basically, you need this series on your TBR and to help you do that, I put together a playlist that ~I~ think describes the book/series.

THE PLAYLIST

Feat angsty music + some songs that might not be the best fit BUT SINCE I AM MAKING THE PLAYLIST, you’re stuck with them 😉 Also making playlists is H.A.R.D. If you click on the little thing on…

(Some of) My Most Anticipated Books of 2017

Posted by on 01/04/2017 • 16 Comments

I was planning on doing this post at the end of last year (I cannot fucking believe 2016 was ‘last’ year) but a lot of things came up so HERE I AM with my most anticipated! I also have a giveaway on Twitter for some of my most anticipated books if you are interested (it includes some books not mentioned here but also I am limiting myself to 15 here SO I CANNOT INCLUDE EVERYTHING.) This list is not even the top of the iceberg because there are SO MANY GOOD books coming out this year and IDEK how to handle it. I am going to stick to the first half of 2017 in this list.

 

1. Here We Are… edited by Kelly Jensen

I am SO FUCKING EXCITED FOR…