Rainbow-A-Thon TBR

When: June 15-22

Rules: Your TBR must consist of 6 books, with part of the spine a color of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple).

My TBR:

RED: Where She Went | By Gayle Forman (Gayle Forman's name is in red)

ORANGE: A Darker Shade of Magic | By V.E. Schwab (part of the title is in orange)

YELLOW: To Kill a Mockingbird | By Harper Lee (on the hardcover version under the dust jacket the title is in yellow)

GREEN: Since You've Been Gone | By Morgan Matson (the spine is green)

BLUE: Mockingjay | By Suzanne Collins (re-read before Mockingjay P.2 comes out, the spine is blue)

PURPLE: ?!?!

Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic | By V.E. Schwab

Book Title: A Darker Shade of Magic
Author: V.E. Schwab (aka Victoria Schwab)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Read: Currently Reading!
Info about the book:
   Kell is one of the last Travelers-magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes, connected by one magical city. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, and with one mad king-George III. Red London, where life and magic are revered-and where Kell was raised alongside Rhys Maresh, the roguish heir to a flourishing empire. White London-a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London. But no one speaks of that now.
  Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, ambassador of the Maresh empire, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

Review: *Full review to come!

Book Review: An Ember in the Ashes | By Sabaa Tahir

Book Title: An Ember in the Ashes

Author: Sabaa Tahir

Genre: YA Fantasy

Read: May 21-23, 2015

Rating: 5 stars or 92% on my rating scale

Info about the book: Laia is a Scholar living under the brutal rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, she goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy (Blackcliff Academy) in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars (The Resistance) who vow to save her brother from execution. Elias is the academy’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a contest to choose the next Martial emperor. When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are intertwined and that their choices will change the future of the empire.

Review: This book is told from 2 POV's, Laia & Elias. I enjoyed both perspectives, but I enjoyed Elias' POV better because of all the action that was happening in his life & during the trials. This book was very fast paced, and I literally (in Chris Traeger voice) could not put it down. I loved Laia and Elias' relationship in the story, and I enjoyed that the relationship didn't take away from the plot (because a ton of YA novels make the mistake of relationships taking away from the storyline). Elias and Helene's friendship was another part of the book that I really liked. The rebellious aspect of Elias and Laia's character were very interesting to read about. This is the best debut novel I have ever read! Whenever Sabaa plans to publish more work, I will definitely plan on picking it up. I hope we get a second installment, and it would be really cool to have Helene's POV for some of the chapters.

Click to visit Sabaa's website!

Introduction

Hi! My name is Kathleen, but you can call me Kat:) I have passions for reading, writing, drinking coffee, and BookTube (a community on YouTube where people discuss books).