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Who That , Who That

Reading . Writing . Eating .

Yup that pretty much sums up my life. 

Hello readers, my name is Martika.
Tika is preferred thank you.
I'm a 24 year old stay at home mom, and a future student at UMUC, with a passion for all things literature.

I've been an avid reader since a small child. My mother read to my brother and I throughout our childhood, and thankfully it continued well into my adulthood. When I was younger, I remember my first "dream job" was to be a journalist, which stemmed my hobby of writing. I use to write novels, short stories, poetry, and kept many journals. But unlike reading, the fire I obtained for writing sizzled, (just a little) once I reached a certain age.

But don't you fret readers, this is why I'm here.

For the past couple of years, I've been debating about becoming a book blogger and tuber. It wasn't until recently that I made up my stubborn mind actually. With the encouragement from my dear mother, a group of friends, and a final push from an author I reviewed a book for, my blog is finally up and running.

I hope to bring a fresh take on book blogging by not just posting about books. I love food, so why not blog about the meal I made for dinner? I love interior design as well. Why not post some DIY ideas I've been interested in lately?

Here is our chance to come together with a passion we all share . . . books. We have the opportunity to connect with other readers, authors, and even publishers. We have the opportunity to meet people from across the world, to maybe have the chance to make lasting friendships, possibly even more. Who would past up on that? Not I.

Until next time,

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    Hey Readers,  every couple of weeks on my blog and other social media sites, I'll be posting the above question, "What's My Next Read?" The post will consist of 5 books that I haven't read yet. Some will be titles that I've been anticipating , and others will be books that I would never pick up myself.

The Birth Of a Phoenix | Review

I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or content of my review.


The Birth of a Phoenix | By Candice Snow
Series: Phoenix Chronicles #1
Genres: Dystopian
Pages: 298
Published: April.23,2013 | By Createspace
Format: E-Book
Source: Author


Get It Here | Goodreads

Florence Nightingale lived the perfect life. She had loyal friends, loving parents, and comfortable living conditions in one of Brooklyn's better apartment complexes. Then the Half War—a violent fight between races—broke out and her life was changed forever.

Forced to leave her home in New York, Florence flees to North Carolina where she is reluctantly taken in by a mysterious rural community called the Colony. Ruled by a self-appointed King and Queen, the Colony is divided from within. Women are raffled off at the age of sixteen, breaking the law means certain death, and under no circumstances are races to be mixed. 

But Florence has never been one to follow rules. It isn’t long before she has secured a home for herself in the Cabin where servants are raised. Secluded just outside the confinements of the Colony, the Cabin allows Florence to mature in a peaceful environment. Here she establishes lasting friendships, bitter rivalries, and her first love. 

When her father is publicly executed for a crime he didn’t commit, Florence focuses her attention on rebelling against the monarchy and uprooting the truth behind the Colony's darkest secrets. The only problem is that her marriage raffle is looming near, and the more Florence uncovers about the Colony—including the death of her father—the more it endangers both her safety and her sanity.

Dystopian Establishment . Romance . Kick ass protagonist . 
These are all the ingredients needed to create a great dystopian book, yes? Correct! Yet, Candice Snow has taken The Birth of a Phoenix to a whole new level in YA literature.

One of my favorite things about reading a book that isn't well known, is that you don't have to worry about hype. With all the buzz, comes what I call "bandwagon opinions" and spoilers, which can sometimes ruin a reading experience for you. So when I picked up The Birth of a Phoenix, I had no expectations at all, but boy did the author deliver. First and foremost, our main character, Florence, would have to be one of my favorite female protagonists to date. She's a 16 year old who has witnessed more death and despair than anyone my own age could endure, but yet she remained strong. There were moments where she broke down completely, showing us a side of vulnerability and raw emotion, but that is what made her character so realistic! The relationships with other characters that Florence obtained, was another aspect of the story that I enjoyed. The backstory of how some of these characters met, the dialogue, which was often sharp-tongued, witty, and deep, to the romance that sparked with a childhood friend, were all truly genuine. No "insta love" here people!

As I was reading, I had no problem imagining myself within the world that the author created. I could picture everything so vividly. The dusty roads, the small-cramped cabins, the tall evergreens and wild grass in the forests, even the grand estate of the royal family. I absolutely love a book that pulls you into the surroundings, giving us an illusion that we were there as well.

With dystopian novels, us readers tend to notice a bit of repetitiveness, which is what I thought would be the case here. Again, I was proven wrong. Candice Snow has created a world, a society rather, built completely around oppression. Racism plays a big role within this fictional community as people are separated according to their race, wealthiness, and IQ levels. Alongside racism, this book also touched basis on a subject that I rarely see within YA fiction . . . sexism. Women have no voice within this community. They live under laws that forbid them to work, or even educate themselves, making their purpose only to marry at 16 and bear children for their husbands.

With all the wonderful things about this book that I praise, they're also a few minor things that I disliked as well. For instance, I felt many of the situations in the book were created as an afterthought. Many of them came out of left field, leaving me a bit confused at times. Other situations weren't elaborated until the last few chapters of the book, which caused the storyline to drag out a bit longer than needed. I also noticed that there was a bit of repetitiveness involving certain scenes. Something would occur in chapter 3, and I would see the exact same narrative repeated later on in chapter 5. But again, they were completely minor, (to me atleast) and didn't alter my opinion on the book as a whole.

The Birth of a Phoenix is a refreshing, yet gory read that I think all dystopian lovers will devour. The plot is completely original and covers heavy topics that we don't always encounter in YA. The characters have depth and meaning, and the narrative completely sucks you in through every twist and turn, down to the very last page. I definitely enjoyed this book, and will be anticipating the next upcoming books within the series!

 

So it's decided, The Kiss of Deception will be my first read for the month of August! My birthday is on the 17th, so I plan on doing alot of reading, and hopefully a book haul will be in the near future!

Add me on Goodreads and Twitter to keep up with my updates for this book. Have a great day guys!

The Kiss of Deception | By Mary E. Pearson 

 Series: The Remnant Chronicles #1

Pages: 492
Genre: YA, Fantasy

Publisher: July 18, 2014 | By Henry Holt

Format: E-Book

Source:Purchased  

Get It Here | Goodreads

A princess must find her place in a reborn world.

 
She flees on her wedding day.

She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection.

She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.

She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.

The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.

Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.

First of all, I want to start out by saying, that this book was everything I could have wanted PLUS more. It exceeded my expectations, and was the perfect material to help transition myself back into the Fantasy genre. 

The Kiss of Deception follows Lia, a princess fed up with her overbearing mother, her distant father, and an arranged marriage to a prince she hasn't met. In an act of rebellion, Lia grabs Pauline, her bestfriend and royal maid, and off they flee to a small village by name of Terravin. Determined to blend in and settle into a new life, Lia shreds her royal image by becoming a waitress at the inn where they've found shelter . . .

 Can we please just take a moment and admire this quote from the story? The writing in this novel is impeccable. The metaphors weren't shoved down your throat as " different" or "unique". It was simplicity at best, describing feelings, thoughts, people, places, as they should be . . . realistically.

To my surprise, this wasn't the type of fantasy novel I was expecting. When I think about this genre, I imagine three headed dragons, ogres, and flying pigs maybe, but what I received was the pace and emotion of a well written contemporary. When reading contemp, we often come across some books that have what I call "Insta Love,"and maybe some love triangles here and there right? Well, in The Kiss of Deception, these two common themes are done extremely well. 

First of all, one of the things I really enjoyed was that the relationships between Lia and the two other boys Didn't. Just. Happen. I will admit their was a spark between the three from the moment they met, sort of like an instant attraction, but the connections made actually happened over a course of time. No "Insta Love" here folks! Also, the love triangle isn't exactly what you'd expect either. It was far from the typical: "Girl meets boy, then meets another, ends up falling for both, breaks their hearts, or gets her heart broken trying to make a decision." Nope, not even close to what happens here. Lia had indeed found them both attractive, but only pursued one . . .Which one is the question. While reading this book, about half of your time will be spent trying to figure out which of the two boys is actually,

A.) The prince she was supposed to marry.

B.) The assassin sent to kill her. 

This twist was a complete game changer for me. I can't tell you how many times I switched my perspective on who the boys were, and to make matters worst . . . I was wrong ! After the mystery was finally solved, I found myself kind of disappointed in a way. With such an original concept, I thought that the big reveal was a bit mediocre. Not in the way everything came to light, but rather their identities. Seemed like such a typical choice for her to fall for . . .


Ha! You really thought you were going to get the tea from me huh? Not!

Being that I don't want to spoil your reading experience for this book, I won't go into great detail about the characters. Well, I won't go into very much detail at all. Just know that our main protagonist Lia, is fierce honey! She's a smart girl, with a sharp-tongue to match. She was far from the snooty, uppity princess I assumed her to be. Instead she was down to earth, a bit frustrating at times, but I was definitely impressed with her character progression towards the end of the book. Oh, and the boys are definitely swoon worthy ladies don't fret!

With all that said, I truly enjoyed this book. It took me 4 days to complete because I didn't want to devour it. This is one of those books where you read extremely slow just to savor the chapters, to take everything in. With the story being a bit slow paced, it was easy to let all the details simmer. I was able to see the world building unfold before my eyes, able to grow to love the main characters because they all had a chance to tell their stories. The alternating POV's gave us a glimpse of what they were thinking and feeling at certain moments. It even gave us a bit of a backstory between the main characters, allowing us access to a few secrets they've hidden away. 

The Kiss of Deception is a gripping tale that will have you on edge to the very end. With it's slow but intense pace, loveable characters, creative plot, and descriptive world building, how can I not put this on my list of favs for 2014!

 

This fan art found over at www.leafette.tumblr.com, has me super excited for the Throne of Glass read-a-long I put together with Mal at Mallorybooks, and Jen at Jennieelouisee.  For this entire week, (August.12th - August 16th,) we'll finally be starting this series to see what all the hype is about!

 I know bloggers use guidelines or reading schedules to create structure for the read-a-longs and discussions they host, so I decided to come up with some of my own. Nothing too major, I just want to make sure everyone can keep the same pace. No-one shall be left behind! I will also have "Segment Discussions" where at the end of each group of chapters read, there will be simple questions asked to determine your thoughts and feelings on TOG as we're reading. This way participants will feel welcome to spark conversation during the read-a-long. The responses will be included in my review and posted here at fANGIRLconfessions. Happy Reading everyone!