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Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

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Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha NganGirls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
Series: Girls of Paper and Fire #1
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: 6th November 2018
Publisher: Little Brown Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: three-stars

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for...and the most cruel.

But this year, there's a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.

In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it's Lei they're after--the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king's interest.

Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king's consort. But Lei isn't content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable--she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge.

I wanted to love this one as much as everyone else does, I really did, but it ended up really disappointing me for various reasons. Trigger warnings for rape and assault. Representation wise, there’s a f/f romance and the main character is gay.

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Invictus by Ryan Graudin

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Invictus by Ryan GraudinInvictus by Ryan Graudin
Genre: Science Fiction
Release Date: 26th September 2017
Publisher: Little Brown Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: three-stars

Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD and a gladiator living in Rome in 95 AD, Far's birth defies the laws of nature. Exploring history himself is all he's ever wanted, and after failing his final time-traveling exam, Far takes a position commanding a ship with a crew of his friends as part of a black market operation to steal valuables from the past.

But during a heist on the sinking Titanic, Far meets a mysterious girl who always seems to be one step ahead of him. Armed with knowledge that will bring Far's very existence into question, she will lead Far and his team on a race through time to discover a frightening truth: History is not as steady as it seems.

I was really excited for Invictus because I’m a sucker for time travel in books and shows, plus the book starts off at a gladiator match in Ancient Rome. What more could I ask for? I was, however, left a little disappointed by the world building, which is a shame.

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Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones

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Illusive by Emily Lloyd-JonesIllusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Series: Illusive #1
Genre: Science Fiction
Release Date: July 15, 2014
Publisher: Little Brown Young Readers
Source: Bought
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: three-stars

The X-Men meets Ocean's Eleven in this edge-of-your-seat sci-fi adventure about a band of "super" criminals.

When the MK virus swept across the planet, a vaccine was created to stop the epidemic, but it came with some unexpected side effects. A small percentage of the population developed superhero-like powers. Seventeen-year-old Ciere Giba has the handy ability to change her appearance at will. She's what's known as an illusionist...She's also a thief.

After a robbery goes awry, Ciere must team up with a group of fellow super-powered criminals on another job that most would consider too reckless. The formula for the vaccine that gave them their abilities was supposedly destroyed years ago. But what if it wasn't?

The lines between good and bad, us and them, and freedom and entrapment are blurred as Ciere and the rest of her crew become embroiled in a deadly race against the government that could cost them their lives.

Illusive incorporates two of my favourite things: heists and superpowers. Since Illusive hasn’t been too hyped up, I wasn’t sure what to expect going into it. All I knew was that the book has been pitched as Ocean’s Eleven meets X-Men. And while I feel like the heist part was lacking just a little, it’s a pretty accurate pitch, in my opinion. Continue reading →

The Hundred by Kass Morgan

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The Hundred by Kass MorganThe Hundred by Kass Morgan
Series: The Hundred #1
Release Date: 3rd September 2013
Publisher: Little Brown Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: two-stars

In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.

To be perfectly honest, I only really read this book because Dee and I started watching the CW adaptation (like a month later…I’m still only on episode three…I am so bad at TV.) Also because I have this thing with Bellamy and Clarke in the show where I become possessed by a physical need for them to just MAKE OUT ALREADY WHY ARE YOU UST’ING ALL OVER THE PLACE I HATE YOU CW I HATE YOU SO MUCH and obviously decided the best thing for my sanity would be to experience them in book form. Haha.Hah.Ha.

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Day 21 by Kass Morgan

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Day 21 by Kass MorganDay 21 by Kass Morgan
Series: The Hundred #2
Release Date: 16th September 2014
Publisher: Little Brown Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: two-half-stars

It's been 21 days since the hundred landed on Earth. They're the only humans to set foot on the planet in centuries...or so they thought. Facing an unknown enemy, Wells attempts to keep the group together. Clarke strikes out for Mount Weather, in search of other Colonists, while Bellamy is determined to rescue his sister, no matter the cost. And back on the ship, Glass faces an unthinkable choice between the love of her life and life itself.

In this pulse-pounding sequel to Kass Morgan's The 100, secrets are revealed, beliefs are challenged, and relationships are tested. And the hundred will struggle to survive the only way they can -- together.

 Okay, so the sequel to The Hundred was slightly better although it still suffers from the same shortcomings as the first book. Once again there’s so much potential that literally suffocates under the crushing weight of boring, boring romance. It’s twenty one days since the group landed on Earth, and that number of days is significant to Clarke for additional reasons – we know from the first book that Clarke stumbled upon her parent’s experiments. Twenty one days, to her, is the average time for the subjects to start showing symptoms. This is ~explored a bit more as events progress in the novel. New characters are introduced and it’s revealed that despite everything the space people have been taught, Earth has been inhabited since the Cataclysm by those descendants of the original survivors who weren’t important enough to be ‘saved’.

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