Ballistic by Aria Michaels

Happy Tuesday everyone! Why is it a happy Tuesday? Because I'm back with the second installment in the Icarus series, Ballistic {here's my review on the first, in case you need a refresher}. And that should make everyone happy. Seriously.

Synopsis

It's been three days since Solar Storm Icarus silenced the world...three days since the GRS virus wiped out most of humanity and started changing the few who remained. Liv and the others made it through the initial wave, but they've lost a lot along the way and the journey to Salvation is far from over. A rogue military organization has taken hold of the area and they possess a weapon that could change everything. 

When Liv finds out her brother and the other refugees are being held captive at Camp Seco, she will risk everything to get him back. As the group embarks upon a dangerous rescue mission, a rival band of survivors threatens their safety and a new storm gathers overhead. The virus has spread and the infected are being drawn together. What's worse, the beast that lurks inside of Liv is growing stronger and more difficult to control. But Liv has a promise to keep--and her little brother is running out of time.

Will Liv be able to harness her strength to save her brother and the hundreds of other innocents beyond the walls of Camp Seco, or will she let the monster out and put them all at risk?

This one went by a lot faster than the first book. I needed to know everything, and there were so many twists and turns as we journeyed with Liv and her friends. My heart absolutely broke at a certain part {no spoilers, but Liiiiiiv, Liiiiiv, whyyyyyy}, and my promise to keep aloof with the new characters went flying out the window {ohhhhh Jazz, how I love thee}. I have to admit, I always love books where the government or those who are tasked with keeping us safe end up being the bad guys, and this book did not disappoint in that capacity. The government has the army wrapped around their little finger and the people of the United States are the ones that suffer. One thing I super appreciated about this book was that while some people got a happy ending {maybe?}, others were left with heartbreak and confusion. I mean, to be honest, one of those people was me, so I may be projecting my feelings on the characters. But this is fast-paced and action-packed, and it left me breathless with anticipation for the next one {which is coming, right? RIGHT?}.

Buy Links:

Ballistic (Icarus Series, Book Two)

Ballistic (Icarus Series, Book Two)

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Ballistic-Icarus-Book-Aria-Michaels-ebook/dp/B01FBI0JNI/

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ballistic-Icarus-Book-Aria-Michaels-ebook/dp/B01FBI0JNI

Author Bio 

Aria Michaels is the author of The Icarus Series, a bestselling young adult dystopian saga as well as a contributor to ATZ Publications' Chronology of the Apocalypse, and Tricks, Treats, and Zombies (releasing in October 2016). Aria is an avid reader, die-hard zombie fan, and enthusiastic lover of bonfires and red wine. When she is not glued to her computer pouring out the voices in her head, this busy single mom can be found playing in the dirt with her boys, painting, or binge-watching The Walking Dead. Aria is currently hard at work on the next installment of the Icarus Series and revelling in her role as instigator of literary mayhem and stealth assassin of fictional characters. 

"You are never more than one chapter away from a different future." --Aria Michaels

Author Links:

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AriaMichaels.Fiction

Amazon Author Central:  http://amzn.to/1O2NYCg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AriaMichaelsYA

or @AriaMichaelsYA

Website: www.ariamichaels.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8573796.Aria_Michaels

Other Books in the Series

Killshot (Icarus Series, Book One)

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Killshot-Icarus-Book-Aria-Michaels-ebook/dp/B00O0B9IOE/

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Killshot-Icarus-Book-Aria-Michaels-ebook/dp/B00O0B9IOE/

Before the Sky Fell (An Icarus Series Novella)

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Before-Sky-Fell-Icarus-Novella-ebook/dp/B00TMWMB90/

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Before-Sky-Fell-Icarus-Novella-ebook/dp/B00TMWMB90/

Also, be sure to click on the link below to win some awesome stuff from the good people at Bare Naked Words!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/95cb0282259/?

For reals, people, I don't know how many more times I can say to check out this series. It's beautiful and harrowing and heartwarming and terrifying and everything else in the entire world. It's one of my new favorites and I'm definitely going to reread these two books obsessively until the next one comes out.

Shielding Lily by Alexa Riley

                             

Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AU

 

It’s Lily Parker’s first day at a new high school. She’s a senior finishing her last semester, and all she wants to do is graduate and get out of town. Her home life is a secret hell, and she’s trying to find a way out. But everything changes when Ren says hello and sees right through to her truth.

Ren Hendrick’s succeed's at everything he touches, including football. But he’s never been passionate about anything. He’s quiet and keeps to himself, which pisses people off. But he can’t find the desire to care. He’s lived a life without color, until Lily walks in and lights up his world. Their story is one of sweet young love and finding your forever before you can even dream of what that is. It’s one of protecting what belongs to you and having the courage to follow your heart, no matter your age. Warning: Call your dentist and schedule an appointment, because you’re going to get nothing but cavities from this sugary book. Ren and Lily start off so innocent, but by the time it’s over, you’re gonna need to hose yourself off. We’re talking two virgins who turn into maniacs. You’re welcome!

Shielding Lily

Chapter 1 *Lily*

  The sounds of banging cabinets startle me awake before my alarm can go off. Rolling over to my side, I see I still have thirty minutes before I need to get up. I’d set my alarm a little earlier than I should have because I’m nervous about my first day. I’m going to a new school and have no idea what this one is going to be like. You never know what you’re going to get. Most of the time I can blend in and let myself get lost in the crowd of other students. No one notices me for the most part, but it doesn’t always work. I should be used to changing schools by now. I think this is the fourth time I’ve moved in the past two years. The schools are starting to run together, but I hope this is the last. Only months separate me from graduation, and only days from my eighteenth birthday. I’ll be able to make my own choices then. A sound of something shattering in the kitchen followed by a string of curses causes me to hold my breath. I can only hope he doesn’t call out my name. Monday mornings are the worst. Dad’s always coming off a weekend bender, because alcohol seems to be my father’s reason for living. It wasn’t always like this, but it is now. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I slowly sit up and listen for his movements. Things have been getting unstable lately, and it’s only getting worse. Dad used to be able to drown his sorrows in the bottom of a bottle and pretend I didn’t exist. But recently his anger has been rising and flying my way. I’m constantly walking around on eggshells, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the look in his eyes, but I can see it. I can feel it deep inside me, like he’s waiting for me to do something wrong so he can strike out. But I always make sure there isn’t a reason. I desperately don’t want that change to come. I’m a skittish rabbit in my own home. When I finally hear the front door slam closed, all my muscles release, and an all-too-familiar tension within me relaxes. I pull myself from the bed and get ready for school. I go with a short button-up blue jean dress with wool leggings underneath. They’re soft and warm and will help with the chill on my mile-long walk to school. It’s early January, and the Minnesota winter is raging. The more layers I can put on, the better. Looking in the mirror, I part my hair a little to the side so more falls to the right, before putting in a small clip to hold it in place. I make sure the scar by my ear is hidden as much as possible, then I look myself over, double-checking everything. The scar is all I ever see when I look in the mirror. It’s the bitter reminder of the day that changed my world. My mom might have died in the car, but she dragged my father with her into the grave. Nothing has been the same since that day. Now when I look into the mirror, the scar isn’t the first thing I see. I see my mother. When I was unpacking boxes last night I pulled out a photo album of my parents when they were younger. I look just like her at my age. From my white-blonde hair, to my too-big blue eyes that take over my face, to my front teeth that are a little bigger than the rest, and my small upturned nose. We almost look like twins in pictures of us at the same age. Reaching out, I touch the mirror, wishing it was my mother. But all the wishing in the world can’t turn back the clock. I spent the first year after she died wishing for so many things. Wishing gets you nowhere. I wipe at the tear that’s somehow escaped. I miss when I looked in the mirror and I only saw the scar. It was easier to deal with. Grabbing my bag, I head downstairs knowing the mess my dad made will still be there. Since my mom died I’ve sort of taken her place when it comes to the household chores. I make sure everything is kept clean, the laundry is done, and dinner is on the table before my dad gets home from whatever job he is doing. Normally it’s some kind of security since he lost his badge after one too many DWIs. I don’t know how he can drink all night and still get up for work, but he does it. I finish cleaning up the shattered coffee mug from the floor and make sure everything else is in its place. I pull a pack of hamburger meat out of the freezer and sit it out on the stove to defrost. I’ll make something with it when I get home. Bundling up the best I can, I pray that the weather won’t be too bad when school finally lets out. I need to see about finding a job on the weekends. Maybe I can fill out most of the applications online during lunch at the school library. I’ve seen a few small places in town that are on my way to school. I can see about popping in and applying on my way home. They’d be the best bet being so close. Maybe I’d get lucky and could even work a few hours after school, making it home before Dad. Dad will never go for me working through the week if it means no dinner on the table, but the weekends he seems okay with. I’ve been pooling every penny I can and saving it away. I feel like time is running out and I need as much money as I can get to try and get a place of my own. I want to be able to afford college next year and to put a roof over my head. I have to get out of here. I can’t watch my father kill himself. I already watched my mother die.                    

Alexa Riley is two sassy friends who got together and wrote some dirty books. They are both married moms of two who love football, donuts, and obsessed book heroes.

They specialize in insta-love, over-the-top, sweet, and cheesy love stories that don’t take all year to read. If you want something SAFE, short, and always with a happily ever after, then Alexa Riley is for you!

Author Links

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The Dead Boyfriend by R.L. Stine

Oh, yes, you saw the title, and you know I'm back with more R.L. Stine. I'm actually pretty mad at myself because I realized that this is number five of the Fear Street relaunch and I missed number four! Thank goodness for my Kindle, because I can have it within second and then I'll finish it in hours.

R.L. Stine's Fear Street series is back, and in The Dead Boyfriend, he tells the frightening tale of teenage love - and how it can do terribly, murderously wrong.

Caitlyn has never had a real boyfriend before. When she starts seeing Blade, she throws herself into the relationship with fervor. She ignores her friends who warn her that Blade may be a phony and that she is taking the whole thing too seriously. Caitlyn is smitten. She doesn't care if she loses her friends. All she wants is Blade. When Caitlyn approaches Blade with another girl, she completely loses it. She snaps. Everything goes red. When she comes back to her senses, she realizes that Blade is dead - and she has killed him.

But if Blade is dead, how is he staring at her across a crowded party?




Okay, that's the synopsis from Goodreads, and I fixed it to include the fact that Blade is Blade and not Colin, and Caitlin is Caitlyn. Also, I love the fact that R.L. Stine was like, yes, I'll name him Colin, oh wait, it's going to presses? Okay, Blade it is!

I'm pretty sure my last post summed up my gushing adoration for R.L. Stine and his Fear Street books, so we can sidestep that this time.

Poor little Caitlyn. All she wants is to spend every waking moment with her new boyfriend Blade, and her friends are telling her silly things like, slow down! or, maybe you should get to know this guy before you jump into a relationship with him. No way, says Caitlyn! I love him and he loves me! We're going grocery shopping together! But when she spots him with another girl, Caitlyn kind of loses it and ends up stabbing him multiple times. When Deena Fear {yes, a FEAR, and an absolutely psycho one at that, and I love her with my whole heart} says that she can get Blade to come to Caitlyn {er...and Deena, too}, Caitlyn doesn't know if she wants that. Blade could come back and start pointing fingers or he could, in Deena's daydream, drop Caitlyn forever and be with Deena, because, you know, she saw him first.

As a former teenager, I connect with this on a deep level. I'm being serious. For me in high school, I thought I was going to marry my boyfriend. We got together and three weeks in, I broke up with him because I honest to god thought to myself, is this someone you could see spending the rest of your life with?

Like, what? Bree, sweetheart, get a grip.

But when you're fifteen and the guy is super cute, you do think things like that. {PS, we stayed together all through high school and then broke up my senior year. It's okay, my boyfriend now is way cuter, which is all that matters, right?} This book just takes it to the extreme. Caitlyn goes a bit nuts when she sees Blade with a new girl and {spoiler alert} most of the stabbing isn't her fault. Wait, is it really a spoiler when that doesn't seem to make any sense? I guess?

I understand a lot of the reviews on Goodreads. The ending is a typical R.L. Stine ending: what the heck just happened, and why can't I find out the rest? But I love that. I love those horror movies where the ending is open, but you know that there won't be another one because the director or writer or whoever doesn't do sequels. It opens up your imagination to the endless possibilities of what could happen, and I think that's the best.

A lot of people also said that they would love this book if they were younger or whatever. I gave this book five stars because it made me remember what it was like reading at a younger age. If this was a book by someone else that I had stumbled across in a bookstore? Yeah, I probably wouldn't have rated it so high. But because it's R.L. Stine and I knew what to expect from one of his stories and I knew that I would recapture that whimsical feeling of reading an "older" book when I was much younger than the characters...yeah, that totally deserves five stars in my book.

Is this book a masterpiece set for the Pulitzer Prize? No. But is it a fun, slightly scary distraction from life? Heck yes, and that is something that I DESPERATELY needed this week. So if you pass one of the Fear Street relaunch books in your library and you remember what it was like to go into the bookstore of your choice {Crown Books for me, where I later ended up getting my first job}, bypass the kids' section because you were ~*too cool*~, and then spend hours in front of the young adult books that you knew your parents would frown at {but buy you one anyway because they're awesome like that}, then grab it. Grab it, read it in a few hours, and remember what it's like to be a kid again.

Every Falling Star by Sungju Lee

Good Monday, everyone! I figured I'd start the week off right by reviewing Every Falling Star, one of the most captivating books I've read in quite some time. And it all started with a mistake.

Every Falling Star, the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is the intense memoir of a North Korean boy named Sungju who is forced at age twelve to live on the streets and fend for himself. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting, begging, and stealing rides on cargo trains. Sungju richly re-creates his scabrous story, depicting what it was like for a boy alone to create a new family with his gang, his “brothers”; to be hungry and to fear arrest, imprisonment, and even execution. This riveting memoir allows young readers to learn about other cultures where freedoms they take for granted do not exist.






When I requested this book from NetGalley, I basically requested the wrong book. I had several tabs open and forgot which ones I wanted, so I just requested the lot of them. When I received my approval, I thought I was going to read a YA fictional love story.

Constantly reminding myself that all the situations written in this book really happened was a mistake. I had to stop multiple times because I was either crying or irrationally angry. How could a government not care about their people like this? How could these boys - literally, boys, they were barely old enough to be called tweens - survive the harsh streets of a country that doesn't look out for their own? They had to fight for everything they wanted, even if it was only a piece of bread. 

Sungju's parents abandoned him at twelve, but not because they wanted to. His father, who we find out is closely tied to the government, moves his family from the fairy tale Pyongyang to Gyeong-Seong, a place of forgotten people. From there, Sungju's father leaves in order to find better work, but doesn't return. His mother heads to her sister's house to find food, but it's quickly learned that she doesn't seem to be coming home, either. Instead of death, Sungju chooses to form a gang with his friend Young-bum. From this point on, Sungju's life becomes one of the streets, a life where he steals what he needs and only watches out for his brothers, the other members of his gang.

I can't even imagine this kind of life, but Sungju seemed to blend seamlessly into it. He continued to make mistakes, but he learned from them and taught others so that they would not suffer the same consequences. At one point, Sungju and his gang are thrown into a type of jail where they witnessed death each morning and heard unspeakable horrors coming from the girls' quarters. 

This was one of those parts I had to take a few minutes for myself.

The good news is that Sungju has a better life now. I don't want to say too much in case people haven't read about him {I actually Googled him halfway through the book because I wanted to make sure that he received everything his heart desires}, but he's doing amazing things with his life now. His is a terrible, sad story, but, like those mistakes he made, he learned from his life and now lives in order to make other lives better. One of the most amazing facts I learned about him, though, is that he's only a year younger than me. Imagine: when I was learning how to do my own laundry and make English muffin pizzas, he was fighting other gangs over food and shelter. It makes you stop and put your life into perspective.

This book choice may have started as a mistake, but it's the best mistake I've made in awhile. I started it on the plane back from Boston, then didn't pick it up again until this week, and I read the last half of it in one night. You want everything to be okay, and you trick yourself into hoping that maybe this is a YA fictional novel, that maybe everyone gets out okay. Warning: not everyone does, and it's heartbreaking. 

Please, read this book. If for nothing else, then this: Sungju was twelve in 1996, only twenty years ago. He only finds a new life in 2001, my high school graduation year These sad stories are still happening in North Korea, and I hope that this book will convince people to rad more about what's happening there. The people there need help, and Sungju is doing what he can do help them. I think that more than anything made a happy ending.

Killshot (Icarus #1) by Aria Michaels

Hey hey everyone! Sorry I've been MIA {haven't we all heard this before?}. I've been searching for a new job and stressing about my current job and dealing with things that seem to just stick around no matter how many times I try to get rid of them, so I haven't really been in the reading mood. But now I've sent out about a thousand and one applications and the current job is still stressful. At least I'm reading!

After the death of their parents, seventeen year old Liv Larson and her younger brother are separated by the foster care system. Her grades slip, her friends drift away, and she gives up on her plans for college. The only thing that matters is keeping the promise to get back to her brother. After months of solitude and anti-social behavior, Liv's best friend Riley drags her to their high school's rooftop solar flare party. Despite the beautiful lights dancing in the sky, Liv finds herself captivated by Zander, a mysterious boy with a crooked smile. For a few hours, she allows herself to feel normal again. 

That is until what should have been a small flare erupts into a massive solar storm. Cut off from the rest of the world with no sign of rescue, fear and paranoia begin to take their toll on the group. Battle lines are drawn and their ranks are divided. Soon, those left behind must embark on a perilous journey to save one of their own…but, something sinister awaits them in the shadows and it’s undeniably connected to Liv. 

Can she keep her promise to reunite with her brother? What are Liv and her friends willing to do to survive? Will their bravery and determination be enough to save them all from a rogue military unit, a terrifying virus, and the things that go bump in the night? 

Or was Icarus really the KILLSHOT?

Okay, this book has been out forever now, but I get the awesome chance to review the second book, so I jumped right on this one.

First off, can we talk about the author's name? Aria. ARIA. How beautiful is that? It also conjures up images of a certain badass Stark, so there's never anything wrong with that name.

Now we can get into the book.

Liv has problems, with a capital P. Her parents died, leaving her younger brother Beans and her to be split up into different foster homes. Liv makes a {temporary} home with the Tate's and her foster sister, Riley. She even meets Zander, an adorable and secretive boy that falls just as hard as her. But all that is shot to hell when solar storm Icarus hits, bringing with it a terrifying disease that burns people from the inside. Those that are "lucky" enough to escape that fate turn into "leeches," a zombie-like creature that only bows to an alpha. Lucky for Liv and her friends, they just happen to be traveling with an alpha.

Right off the bat, I loved this book because it took something only seen in science fiction and made it real. Liv and her friends camp out in the basement of their high school, trying to figure out a plan, and it's there that my favorite thing happens: they split up. Some of them don't believe in Liv and her plan, and they think that the best way to survive is to split up. What about this did I love so much? Ms. Michaels split up a couple, a couple that was deep in love, because one side of the pair believed in something more than Liv. Like, what! People that are in relationships have different beliefs and don't just blindly follow each other?! When did this happen? I loved it. I absolutely loved that they picked sides and then went on with their lives, trying their best o survive.

The relationship between Liv and Zander is hot and, more importantly, equal. After Icarus, the two of them change in ways that they could have never imagined, and yet they make it work. They support each other in all things and collaborate on plans. Even when Zander is all, no way, Liv, you can't do that, she's like, shut your beautiful face, Zander, I'm doing it. And he watches her go. Not only is it romantic, but it's real. I love them. And if I read the second book and something bad happens to one of them, I'm retracting my statements about loving Ms. Michaels' name.

Oh god, I'm just kidding. I'm not like that. Her name will forever be gorgeous. I'll just be really, really, REALLY sad. Was that enough really's to convince you guys that I'm not insane? Good.

Mysteries also pop up while the group makes their way through the neighboring towns in search of their families. The army shows up, to help? Maybe? You would think, right? Yeah, I did, too, until it turns around that our government might just be as corrupt as we think it is. 

Okay, now that I've worked myself into a lather, I'm going to get out of here and start the second book. I'll pop in here again next week, maybe even a couple of times, so I'll give you ample warning before I post about the second book. Promise!