Under the Never Sky Series: Book 1, 2 and 3 (Young Adult Fiction)

Hello fellow bloggers!

I have been extremely busy during the last month or so and have been kind of neglecting this blog, however! I have read three great books, all in the same series. Took this picture off of https://missdreamymarie.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/under-the-never-sky-by-veronica-rossi-book-review/ where there is a much more detailed review of these books!

I have to say, I wasn’t expecting these books to be so good, I was addicted to them and feel like it was a movie that played in my mind. I am still in love with the story! If you have read my other blogs you’ll know I was on an Adult Crime frenzy by Aline Templeton but I haven’t gone back to those books since I have read this since I am looking for more young adult fiction/adventure. I have always loved this genre and I guess I remembered my love for them after picking up such a good book. I feel like after all the books I’ve read it’s quite hard to find a book with such a high standard.

Anyway, this book at first may sound kind of cheesy and cliche ‘Worlds kept them apart but destiny brough them together’? I looked at that line and thought ‘Oh come on…out of all things why would you even consider that kind of line, where’s your creativity!’. Good thing I didn’t judge the book on that line! I can really see this becoming a movie, if it does it better be done flawlessly because that’s exactly what good books like this deserve.

About the book:

As the book implies, this is based on two people who come from very different backgrounds but are soon joined together, rather accidentally. There seems to be two main societies here that are spoken about since the two main characters are from these two different societies. One is where Aria (the main female character) stays, this is a futuristic world where people can take themselves into ‘realms’ guided by their ‘smarteye’ which is a clear glass that is connected to one of their eyes like a suction, they can use this to transport themselves anywhere they want- virtually. Therefore, it is not really physically occurring, but their senses are intact with where ever they want to be transported. Think of it as sitting somewhere in your room and playing an extremely realistic game where you could fly, drive, eat a sandwich, whatever you want, without feeling any pain or other ‘unneccesary’ things humans go through. They idea is to eliminate those feelings because they are unpleasant.

The other society is where Peregrine (main male character) comes from. They don’t have any realms or any futuristic gizmos, in fact it is the complete opposite. They live in huts and a simple historic way of living, back in the hunting days, whereas Aria lives in a pod protected from the outside. This ‘outside’ is where Perry (Peregrine) comes from as well as the Aether storms. These are live currents of electricity in the sky that can cause beams of electricity to come down and strike randomly, behaving like lightening and thunder. Perry has a clan that is led by his brother who is the blood Lord. Within their clan they have special abilities that seems to be dependent on genes, for example Perry has a rare power of being a Seer (he can see very well in the dark) and the ability of extremely heightened smell, so powerful that he can smell what people are feeling. There are also audits who have the power to hear extremely well. If anybody has a power it is usually one or the other, which is why Perry’s power is so rare. Perry and his clan are known as ‘savages’ by Aria’s people, similar treatment from Perry’s world call them ‘moles’.

One day, Aria and her friends break out of the realm into the dangerous outside world of Perry, thanks to super hacker, arrogant son of Consul Hess the head of the pod- Soren. Things turn ugly very quickly as fun turns into fear…

You can pick up/purchase e-book to find out what happens in this incredible series. I definitely recommend it and I think it is highly likely that this *may* turn into a movie. WOOO!  If they don’t ruin it that is.

But seriously, it really is amazing. Definitely going into my list of favourites, I don’t have many in there!

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The Liebster Award ◕‿◕

Ooo I must say I was quite excited and intrigued when I saw the word ‘award’; it got better once I read what it was about and you will too if you love answering questions about yourself or aspects surrounding you.

Thank you to the beautiful inwhichhelen who allowed me to take part in this! So here goes!

1) Wait, I need to set out the rules first…

Rules

♦ Once you are nominated, make a post thanking and linking the person who nominated you.

♦ Include the Liebster Award sticker in the post too.

♦ Nominate 10 other bloggers who you feel are worthy of this award. Let them know they have been nominated by commenting on one of their posts. You can also nominate the person who nominated you.

♦ Ensure all of these bloggers have less than 200 followers.

♦ Answer the ten questions asked to you by the person who nominated you, and make ten questions of your own for your nominees.

♦ Lastly, COPY these rules in the post.

Okay, now, I will start answering the rather fun questions made by inwhichhelen.

1) How do you feel that blogging has changed you?

Well, I can’t say it changed me much to be honest, I’m still the same person I was before I started blogging but, perhaps that’s because I’m still a newbie and have not yet got to the stage where it can change me. I hope, if it does change me that it’s for the best rather than the worst. 

2) Ok, Fictional Book Character Snog Marry Avoid: Ron Weasley, Hamlet, Heathcliff???

Haha, okay Ron-…I don’t want snog or marry but I don’t want to avoid either! But I’m going to have to go with avoid just because I wouldn’t want to do any of the others. And Hamlet…well I’d like to have a nice chat with him. Heathcliff…he would be the perfect man for most wouldn’t he? But, I’m afraid I’m going to be boring and avoid others just because I’m too loyal to somebody else. Yes, I’m one of those. Sorry for not answering your question properly here, although I haven’t read Hamlet or Wuthering heights but I should. 

3) What is your favourite blog and why?

I was just looking for the link to the blog I found really amazing, it was a competition to take amazing pictures based on a theme given. It sounded like such a fantastic, adventurous challenege but I can’t seem to find it…could have sworn I followed them. Actually I’m sure I did but it’s not showing up on my list for some reason 😦 let me know if anybody knows what it is. 

4) If there was one book you wish you had written what would it be and why?

Probably Romeo and Juliet just because it was so tragically sad and iconic. That and ‘Oblivion’ which is a modern book within the action and fiction genre. I can’t give that book enough compliments.  

5) Would you ever break the law?

Shhh, I’m going to have to say no, I can’t afford to say yes even if I did since I’m hopefully working with the police this summer. (Maybe I’d kill to save those I love). 

6) Is it better to try and fail or to never have tried at all?

Definitely try and fail, I’ve learnt this from experience. I would have much rather tried, I mean what have you got to lose?

7) Try to describe yourself using only song lyrics.

I’m too hot!

Called a police and a fireman

I’m too hot!

Make a dragon wanna retire man

😛 I just love singing this. Everybody should love themselves!

8) If you had one message you could deliver to everyone in the world, what would it say?

Just try and bloody understand, empathise and respect each other, we’re all humans at the end of the day. The differences are what makes you unique and similarities are what joins everybody together, we should be working towards helping each other as if you would want to be helped or spoken to. Of course, it is might be much more complicated than that, but we can at least try and do the simple things.

9) What have you learned from your mistakes?

A lot, but I have no regrets because it has made me the person I am today with the experience of those mistakes. I have come to know that I want to have the freedom to make these mistakes so that even if it was, I would have learnt from it for next time. Although I suppose there are some mistakes I just can’t help making again and again…eating ice cream for example, even though I know I will break out from it if I eat too much! 

10) What is your best piece of blogging advice?

Honesty in who you are. Have fun with it, don’t worry about followers and how many likes you get, do it because you want to do it. I think these days with massive platforms like Facebook and Twitter, people are constantly hooked on how many likes they get and how many followers they can achieve. This isn’t living. In my faith we believe that once you are dead, God is not going to ask you how many followers you had or how many likes you got. Neither will you take these people to the grave with you. But this is from a religious perspective as well as a life perspective. Just have fun! Connect with people who have the same mind. 

Phew! Well Helen, I hope I have done your questions justice, some of them at least! I had fun answering them.

So, here are my 10 questions for those I nominate:

1) If you were to teleport to somewhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?

2) Fondest childhood memory?

3) Which fictional character would you like to meet and what would you do with them?

4) You have one quality that you can decrease in the world and one quality that you can increase in the world, what would you decrease and increase?

5) What is most important in your life? 

6) If you were to have a family, would you have a big one or a small one and why, if you already have a family-what do you love the best about the size of your family?

7) You have the opportunity to add a word to the dictionary, what would it be?

8) First thing that comes to your head when I say these words:

Blue= 

Fast=

Beautiful=

Sloppy=

Fun=

9) Food that you dislike?

10) You have 3 small stars that, when placed, make an awesome grand entry noise when you enter the location of where the star is placed, where would you put these stars?

Lastly, I nominate:

inwhichhelen (sorry I know I nominated you again but you don’t have to re-nominate or do this if you don’t want to!)

glamrs

Aminahshijabdiary

thisgirlsgonethrifty

designjoyblog

hijabfashionation

elenaxtina

myprettycanvas

qqueenta

shadesofbeautyza

prettypoorliving

Have fun!

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Review of ‘Dead in the water’ by Aline Templeton (Crime, Adult)

Another book by Aline Templeton! Be patient with me, I’m addicted to this crime series at the moment so I’ll probably get another book by Templeton if I happen to see it on the shelf. Well, I don’t know if I’d call it much of a hardcore series really because if you pick up one book in 2015 and another that was published in 2010, only the crime changes mainly. (Woops, hope that doesn’t count as a spoiler to anybody). If you want to know what the series is called, the book mentions it as the ‘Fleming series’ referring to the main character, who is Marjory Fleming, a detective working on the cases that are handed to her.

20 years ago, there was a storm raging on that night, the sky clouded with dull grey and blackness, the wind running itself loudly along the water and anything else it happens to crash into; the waves hitting the rocky cliffs violently as it moves back and forth with the tide. And with it, a body of a young girl.

Fleming is asked to re-open an unsolved case that her father once had been in charge of, if that wasn’t enough there are other matters that are taking place within the area- a return of a famous star-Marcus Lindsay who is to visit his also famous legend ‘step mother’. With these things in her hands, she soon finds out things are not as they seem when discoveries lead to an unopened past and evidence forces her to see a connection.

Templeton really does do well in hooking you from the beginning and keep you hooked until the end. You find yourself wanting to read on even if you have other matters to attend do! I know I couldn’t put this down even when I felt sleepy and soldiered on to a more satisfying stop. No doubt I’ll be reading the others by her. It really encourages you to focus on details and think about what could have taken place, making a it a great way to increase your analytical skills.

Happy reading!

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Review of ‘The Third Sin’ by Aline Templeton (Crime, Adult)

This is the kind of book that once you start reading, will be difficult to put down. The genre of the book being crime and thriller might contribute to the difficulty in putting the book down as the first pages start off with the crime itself.

Right, so I believe this is based in North UK where you will be introduced to a huge base of characters: the police authorities that deal with the crime and the suspects themselves. You may be a little overwhelmed at first with all the characters that are brought in but as you move through the chapters each of them are given a specific characteristic that you can attach to them- much easier to remember them by. There seems to be about 6 main police authorities working in a team and about 8 main characters that interlink with being suspects to the crime- two of these being a family- along with other various characters that are included now and then in the story. Trust me! It’s fine you will definitely see each character for their distinctiveness.

So, without any further delays and spoilers, *Ehem*…

Their car is parked alone near a forest whilst they- a group of friends, also known as a gang called the Cyrenaics are taking to their own pleasures in the middle of the night i.e. getting high (They have a belief that pleasure is paramount in life) which leads to the night ending horribly wrong. As this incident fragments the gang, a complicated story unfolds as another incident takes place two years later. The leader of the police team- Marjory Fleming takes this case into her own hands with her team from another detective- Harris, who with open hostility does not want her to succeed even though he can’t seem to get any progress on it either. Old ties are unleashed, deep secrets are revealed, unintended consequences are inevitable and the stories are tossed around in fire and water as progress turns into confusion and evidence refuses to make sense.

This will keep you guessing all the way through, and since there are so many characters and plot lines, the possibilities are absolutely endless. I will admit I didn’t guess the right person! It was fun trying to though. Oh also, this might be part of a trilogy as there are two other books that look similar, saying that, I didn’t find it difficult to understand anything or felt like I was being left in the dark about a serious matter. So I am pretty sure you can read this first and then go back to the other two, which is what I am planning to do. I’ll let you know how the other ones go! Happy reading, if you decide to take this out. Definitely do recommend it if you like the ol’ Cluedo game style of trying to guess who it could be with all the clues that turn up.

Review of ‘Trespass’ by Rose Tremain (Crime, Adult)

Well, second post and I guess I should get straight into it!

I have been trying to pick up more crime books, specifically within the adult’s books section-just simply in the hope to find something darker and violent and perhaps with more twists. ‘Trespass’ was something I randomly picked up (this is my method of reading new books), I had absolutely no clue as to what style it would be written in since I’ve never read from this author before. But, anyway the blurb mentioned that it was set in France, to which my first thought was ‘oh, I don’t know much about France, maybe I’ll learn something new’ therefore, my excuse to get it.

I don’t know what to exactly say about this book if I’m being honest. I’m sure there are individuals out there who would love the book, but it wasn’t what I was looking for, although I have no clue what exactly I’m looking for. Perhaps something like ‘Oblivion’ by Anthony Horowitz or the ‘Chaos Walking Books’ by Patrick Ness (I’ll do a post on those too because they were ah-mazing).

Okay…come on now Zahra, back to Trespass. Right, so, without spoiling anything: it is about a man (Anthony) who, let’s say, is in his wiser years, living in England with a past of admiration and glory of his knowledge about antiques- he was quite clear on his thought about himself in the book. He decides to stay in France with his beloved sister Veronica and her partner (Kitty) where their own story unfolds. At the same time, there is another plot of two other siblings that is interlinked with Anthony’s: a brother called Aramon and a sister called Audrun who live in the quieter parts of France. Although these two plots don’t overlap until the middle of the book.

I found with this book, personally, it had a lot of build up, and now that I think about it, it was still a good read. However, since I was used a lot of action and adventure before this novel, it had not occurred to me that there are books that focus on story build up! No, I mean this is a lot of build up okay, we are talking about getting to the middle of the book and still reading past histories and further build ups. Then, suddenly, you’re plunged into the darkest part of the book and you finally feel satisfied. Well, hopefully, I know I did once I read towards the end.

If you are up for a dark read with violent, adult-themed pasts of the characters with more secrets that bloom throughout the book and did I already mention build up? Then give this one a try, you can always leave it if you don’t like it and come back to me for the ending 😛

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An adventurous newbie to the world of wordpress.

Hell-looo fellow bloggers! Not sure who will or is reading this but as it can be seen from my lack of postings I am quite new and curious about this place. So, following the newbie guidelines I guess I’ll introduce myself:

I’m currently a student at University studying Criminology and Sociology who loves reading. Now, this might already sound boring to employers out there if I were to put it on my CV, I mean so what if I read? Why is that so different? Well, I’m going to make it different by blogging about the books I read. I know there are loads of like minded people out there who, every time they finish a book, would like to discuss it, whether it is in rage, enthusiasm, tragedy or share a laugh or two. And I’d honestly love to join in too! 😀

Given the degree I’m doing it may or may not be obvious that I love reading crime, thriller, mystery and suspense books, among many, many others! Reading isn’t the only thing I do but those aspects will probably come in future posts, otherwise we might be here forever. For now, I’d really just like to focus this blog on book reviews, recommendations and other…bookly things. Although knowing me, I will probably write about random things about myself and life too, it is a blog after all.

Anyway, I think that’s enough for my first newbie post! Thanks for reading (if anybody is :/)

☮:)