From Goodreads: "In the war against the Forces of Darkness, the Royals are losing. Princess Ivy is determined to end this centuries-long conflict once and for all, so her new battle partner must succeed where the others failed. Prince Zach’s unparalleled skill with a sword, enhanced by Ivy’s magic Kiss, should make them an unstoppable pair—but try convincing Zach of that. Prince Zach has spent his life preparing for battle, but he would rather be branded a heretic than use his lips as nothing more than a way to transfer magic. A kiss is a symbol of love, and love is the most powerful weapon they have—but try convincing Ivy of that. With the fate of their world on the line, the battlefield has become a testing ground, and only one of them can be right. Falling for each other wasn’t part of the plan—but try convincing their hearts of that."

From Goodreads: "Lucy’s twin sister, Margot, may be safely back with her—but all is not well in Plague-ravaged Dominion City. The Watchers have come out of hiding, spreading chaos and death throughout the city, and suddenly Lucy finds herself under pressure to choose her future: does it lie with her handsome new friend, Alastair; her guardian, the enigmatic True Born leader Nolan Storm; or the man who makes her heart trip, her savage True Born bodyguard Jared Price? But while Lucy ponders her path, fate has other plans. Betrayal is a cruel lesson, and the Fox sisters can hardly believe who is behind the plot against them. To survive this deadly game of politics, Lucy is forced to agree to a marriage of convenience. But is the DNA of her will stronger than the forces opposing her? Can she turn the tide against the oncoming storm? As they say in Dominion, rogue genes can never have a happy ending."

From Goodreads: "Le Grand’s Carnival Fantastic isn’t like other traveling circuses. It’s bound by a charm, held together by a centuries-old curse, that protects its members from ever growing older or getting hurt. Emmaline King is drawn to the circus like a moth to a flame…and unwittingly recruited into its folds by a mysterious teen boy whose kiss is as cold as ice. Forced to travel through Texas as the new Girl in the Box, Emmaline is completely trapped. Breaking the curse seems like her only chance at freedom, but with no curse, there’s no charm, either—dooming everyone who calls the Carnival Fantastic home. Including the boy she’s afraid she’s falling for. Everything—including his life—could end with just one kiss."

About True Storm:

If you can't beat them, change them...

Want to read more? Pre-order your copy of True Storm (True Born Trilogy, #3) by L.E. Sterling today!

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Entangled Publishing

Earlier Books in the True Born Trilogy:

From Goodreads: "Zera is a Heartless—the immortal, unaging soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger ever since she saved her from the bandits who murdered her family, Zera longs for freedom from the woods they hide in. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly. Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a prince’s heart in exchange for her own, with one addendum: if she’s discovered infiltrating the court, Nightsinger will destroy Zera’s heart rather than see her tortured by the witch-hating nobles. Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane hates the royal court as much as it loves him—every tutor too afraid to correct him and every girl jockeying for a place at his darkly handsome side. No one can challenge him—until the arrival of Lady Zera. She’s inelegant, smart-mouthed, carefree, and out for his blood. The prince’s honor has him quickly aiming for her throat. So begins a game of cat and mouse between a girl with nothing to lose and a boy who has it all. Winner takes the loser’s heart. Literally."

About the Author:

Thank you to Entangled Teen for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

So I have to admit, I'm pretty much addicted to all things Entangled Teen at this point. That, along with the fact that this cover is one of my favorites of 2017, had me racing to request this book to read. And I am so glad I did.

Plot:
If you were to ask me what the bare bones of this book were, I'd have to tell you that it's a YA book about a girl who falls for a mysterious boy with some supernatural elements thrown in there. Sounds kind of similar to a lot of other young adult books out there, right? Black Bird of the Gallows is anything but the same old young adult book. Angie Dovage is not your typical female main character, and Reece is not your typical dark, brooding male secondary character. The plot is creepy, unique, fun, and is perfect for the Fall reading season. I loved how things unfolded throughout the book. It doesn't have the typical insta-love that I tend to dread going into some YA books but rather a slow build of their relationship. Angie obviously immediately notices that Reece is attractive, sure, but what teenage girl wouldn't immediately notice a cute new neighbor? She's wary of him as she starts to experience the sudden appearance of a large murder of crows and strange things happening around her but she's also curious about him and his family. There's tension between the two, some seriously creepy characters that are introduced, and a pretty stinkin cute romance that blossoms between Angie and Reece. Everything from start to finish unfolded and flowed so well and I never felt like any part of the book was dragging on or moving too fast. I thoroughly enjoyed the constant creepy vibe that this book gave off and how things were "slowly" revealed. I say "slowly" not to mean that the book moved slow, but rather things weren't explained all at once. Information was given at just the right time at various parts and I really appreciated that the author didn't decide to do a huge info dump but rather draw it out and build up suspense. This was just such a fun and unique book and I think that anyone who is a fan of paranormal YA books will definitely enjoy it!

Characters:
I actually really liked Angie. As I said above, she's not the typical YA female main character. She's been through a lot of tough things in her life and it's very apparent in the way that she carries herself. Her anxiety and insecurities are very believable and I felt like her Sparo persona was something that she used to try and escape from being herself, if only for a few hours. But despite the things that she had been through, Angie never took crap from anyone, even when she was being bullied at school. She refused to let Reece play the mysterious new boy card that he kept trying to throw at her and I really respected her strength and determination to not only find out what Reece was hiding but also find out what was happening around her town. She's strong, smart, sassy, and incredibly brave and she really was just an all around great character to follow. I'd be happy to see more strong female main characters in YA like Angie in the future!

Reece was obviously the dark, mysterious new boy in town that had a bunch of secrets. While I was expecting him to be a harbinger of death (that's pointed out in the synopsis and is not a spoiler!) I certainly wasn't expecting another part of him that he revealed. It was actually really cool when he explained it all out and I found myself very intrigued with him and his past. He did pull the "typical" YA male character "I like you but we can't be together because of my dark secrets" thing but honestly, I had no problem with it since Angie basically calls him out and refuses to let him play her that way. The two of them had such an enjoyable character dynamic and they really played to each others strengths and supported them through their weaknesses. Their romance wasn't instant but rather a slow build up of trust and honesty, but I definitely found myself hoping that they would end up together! I did get the feeling that things kind of sped up a bit towards the middle part of the book, but when it was all explained, oh my goodness I could not stop smiling. Yes, even I enjoy a cute, cheesy romance every so often. Especially when it involves spoopy elements! All in all, I certainly enjoyed both characters in their own ways, but really enjoyed them together as well.

Also, quick shout out to Meg Kassel for creating the Beekeeper. That was one of the creepiest villain characters I've ever read about and I will never look at bees the same way again!

Writing:
Black Bird of the Gallows is the perfect book to pick up for some creepy Fall reading! The writing was superb and really delivered on the spooky vibes that reading the synopsis gave me. While reading this book, I imagined that Angie's town was under a permanent cloud cover and it was always chilly, and the cold would get more intense when the murder of crows would appear. I swear I wouldn't be surprised if Angie had to walk through fog to get to Reece's house! The atmosphere was exactly what I was hoping it would be and it really just allowed me to dive further into the world that Meg Kassel has created. Which, speaking of the world building, oh my goodness. The author has created such a beautifully dark and fantastic world of harbingers, Beekeepers, and something else called the Strawmen that appears to be more powerful than both of those beings. It's very clear that there was a lot of thought put into this world and the mythology in it and I would really love to see more about it in another book or novella!

Black Bird of the Gallows is an eerie and bewitching story with a world that begs to be expanded upon and characters that you want to follow well after the final page. If you're looking for an exciting new paranormal YA book to read, then you definitely don't want to miss this book!


About the Author:


Meg Kassel is an author of paranormal and speculative books for young adults. A New Jersey native, Meg graduated from Parson’s School of Design and worked as a graphic designer before becoming a writer. She now lives in Maine with her husband and daughter and is busy at work on her next novel. She is the 2016 RWA Golden Heart© winner in YA.

From Goodreads: "Escaping with Reid Wentworth should have been fun, but how can I enjoy it when I just (accidentally) killed someone, my mom and brother are in danger, and the Consortium is trying to enslave humanity? (Yeah, they aren’t fooling around.) So feeling something for Reid Wentworth was not part of the plan. Trying to help unite the Resistance against the Consortium means I can’t be distracted by hot boys. The Resistance secret hideout isn’t exactly the rebel base of my dreams. A traitor there wants me dead, but we have no idea who it is. And with both the Resistance and the Consortium trying to control me, the only one I can trust is Reid. If we’re going to have any chance of protecting my family, controlling my unstable powers, and surviving the clash between the Oculi factions, I’m going to have to catch this traitor. By using myself as bait."

Thank you to Entangled Teen, Tonya Kuper, and Chapter by Chapter Tours for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

Get Enigma Here!

Tonya Kuper is the author of ANOMALY, the first in the Schrodinger's Consortium Series, a young adult science fiction trilogy, released November 4, 2014 by Entangled Teen. She fell for Young Adult lit while earning her Masters degree in Reading Education. She's a mom to two awesome boys, an alt music junkie, a Star Wars nerd, and in love with Sherlock.

From Goodreads: "My first boyfriend dumped me—happy birthday, Josie!—my dad is who knows where, I have some weird virus that makes me want to hurl, and now my ex is licking another girl’s tonsils. Oh, and I’m officially the same age as my brother was when he died. Yeah, today is about as fun-filled as the swamps of Dagobah. But then weird things start happening. Like I make something materialize just by thinking about it. When hottily-hot badass Reid Wentworth shows up on a motorcycle, everything changes. Like, everything. Who I am. My family. What really happened to my brother. Existence. I am Oculi, and I have the ability to change reality with my thoughts. Now Reid, in all his hotness, is charged with guiding and protecting me as I begin learning how to bend reality. And he’s the only thing standing between me and the secret organization that wants me dead.

Thank you to MaryAnn from Chapter by Chapter and Entangled Teen for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

Anomaly was a book I did a reveal for when it first came out in 2014 but I never got around to reading it. I couldn't help but feel like it was one I would enjoy but always just kind of slipped through the TBR crack, so to speak. But I've finally gotten a chance to read it and while it wasn't the A+ most perfect book I've ever read, I definitely enjoyed it and am already reading the sequel, Enigma!

Plot:
Josie Harper just got dumped on her birthday. To make things even better, her dad is missing, she's sick, and she watched her now-ex making out with some other girl. Oh, and she's also the same age as her brother when he died. Best. Birthday. Ever. But now, she's experiencing...weird things. Like being able to make something materialize just by thinking about it. When Reid Wentworth shows up on a motorcycle, Josie's life completely changes. Everything she thought she knew is turned upside down. She discovers she's an Oculi, with the ability to change reality with her thoughts and Reid is there to guide and protect her as she learns to control her new powers. He's also the only thing standing between Josie and the secret organization that wants her dead.

This was certainly a unique premise for a book. I was all about a female main character that was both into science and a huge nerd, just like me! Plus, the ability to basically create things out of thin air sounded really cool. Anomaly felt like a very...typical YA science fiction book to me. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it just meant that I knew what to expect while reading. "Ordinary" girl meets new dark, mysterious boy in school, boy turns out to be not human (or has some form of powers but still appears human), girl finds out that she, too, has powers (or is not human), bad guys come after girl, boy protects girl, the two fall for each other and team up to fight the bad guys.

I did enjoy the Oculi powers and thought it was really funny that super nerdy Josie who loves the idea of superheroes and the like found it hard to believe that she, herself, was essentially a superhero. Her internal banter was funny, as was the constant back and forth between her and Reid. I did feel that many (if not all) of the nerdy/pop culture references were made just to be made. They were definitely not lacking in the reference department, with at very least one on every page, and while it was clever at first, I ended up getting tired of it by the end. It just felt too forced after a while and I feel that maybe one every so often would have served the same purpose. That being said, it didn't ruin the book for me entirely. The plot kept me fairly engaged for the first half, and I found myself kind of reading kind of skimming the second half, but still enjoying the overall story. Everything unfolded at a relatively decent pace and it never really felt like things were dragging on or moving too slowly.

The relationship between Josie and Reid was kind of hard to get into, probably due to the fact that Reid constantly made comments about how he knew Josie from a very long time ago but he couldn't let her know who he really was but he definitely had feelings for her and definitely couldn't let her know. It was just...not something I enjoyed. I get that the "thing" is for the bad boy to like the girl but it's "too dangerous" to be with her, but I guess I've just grown out of that whole trope. I'm hoping in the sequel that there's more to their relationship than just them constantly thinking about how hot the other one is but never actually doing anything except make snarky comments towards each other.

Characters:
I briefly mentioned this above but I liked Josie and the fact that she was into science and a huge nerd. It was really cool to read about a character that had the same interests as I did! Her nerdy/pop culture references were funny at first, but again, they eventually felt like they were just being made to kind of hammer in the fact that Josie was a nerd. She was fun and sassy, and watching her come into her powers at such an accelerated rate (I mean, of course she's basically mastered her powers after a week!) was kind of cool. Who wouldn't want to have the ability to just poof things into existence?! All in all, Josie was a good main character who I'm definitely looking forward to reading more about in the next book.

Reid was your typical dark and mysterious YA male character but with superpowers. He drove me absolutely insane with his constant internal battle regarding Josie and whether or not he should tell her who he really was because he liked her but couldn't tell her because it would put her in danger. Again, I'm just tired of that trope. The Oculi powers were cool, as they were with Josie, and the twist with his past and Josie's brother made for an interesting ending, but Reid just wasn't anything fantastic for me. I was bothered by something that was addressed towards the end that seemed to just get kind of grazed over involving Josie and Reid, and hopefully that gets brought up in the sequel because I felt like it was a bigger deal than Josie acted like. I don't care how hot you think this boy is, something like that just does not get glossed over because you can't stop thinking about running your hands through his hair!

I would definitely like to read more about Josie's mother and father. Without giving away anything about them both, there's definitely more to them than you initially think, and I'd be interested in learning more about them! The rest of the characters were well-written, but none of them were really ones that I'd be excited to see in the next book. They're not bad, but just not as memorable as Josie and Reid were.

Writing:
Anomaly was definitely an easy book to read. It never felt complicated or too overly descriptive, just very easy to sit down and read and get through the story at a relatively quick pace. I enjoyed the way that the Oculi powers were described and also the way that Josie reacted to having those powers. Seriously, it cracked me up that super nerdy Josie was having trouble grasping the fact that she basically had superpowers. Also, I thought it was hilarious that one of the first things she asked Reid to Push was ice cream. If I had those powers, I'd Push all of the food, no shame. But I really enjoyed Tonya Kuper's writing and I was definitely immediately picking up Enigma right after I finished Anomaly!

If you're looking for an easy to read, funny, science-y YA book to get into, then Anomaly is the book for you. It has a nerdy main character that readers are sure to be able to relate to (at least a little bit), easy writing that's fun to get lost in, and a unique plot that you'll definitely enjoy.