The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

January 15, 2018 by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Kristen Ciccarelli’s debut fantasy explores an intricately woven world of deception, inner darkness, and dragons that fantasy fans won’t be able to resist.

In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be darkness—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death-bringer.

These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up learning in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari—a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl.

Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no kill can free her from the shackles that await at home: her betrothal to the cruel commandant, a man who holds the truth about her nature in his palm. When she’s offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard, she finds that there may be more truth to the ancient stories than she ever could have expected. With the help of a secret friend—a slave boy from her betrothed’s household—Asha must shed the layers of her Iskari bondage and open her heart to love, light, and a truth that has been kept from her.

Book Overview:

Author: Kristen Ciccarelli | Series: Iskari Series | Format: Audiobook | Narrated by: Pearl Mackie | Length: 11 hours, 17 minutes | Publish Date: October 3, 2017 | Genre: YA Fantasy | Rated: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ | Recommend: HECK YES

“Once there was a girl who was drawn to wicked things.Things like forbidden, ancient stories.It didn’t matter that the old stories killed her mother. It didn’t matter that they’d killed many before her. The girl let the old stories in. She let them in eat away at her heart and turn her wicked.”

I am so glad that I found this book. I don’t know why I never read this earlier. I think I have a tendency to be late for such amazing books.

So this was definitely something that I hadn’t come across before. Not only am I so intrigued by this world that our characters are in, but just the kind of characters that are involved in this book. My absolute favorite character has to be Asha, but Torin is definitely a close second. Asha is pretty much the deadliest woman in this world, because she is the only one that can destroy a dragon and survive. She has been hunting them since the moment she could, and the only one that has ever bested her was the oldest dragon Kozu when she was a little girl. She almost died then, and from that point on she learned her lesson. The dragons were the enemy, and she would kill every single one.

“The old heroes were called Namsara after a beloved god, he said. So she would be called Iskari, after a deadly one.”

She got her title, Iskari, from the old gods, one that was deadly and corrupt. Everyone that knew who she was feared her, and her reputation preceded her everywhere she went. And yet, her abusive and evil fiance Jarek has the potential to take everything she has away – most importantly, her freedom. Asha’s father, the Dragon King, tells her that she can get out of this hell of a marriage if she kills the oldest dragon, the dreaded Kozu that almost killed her all those years ago. She jumps at the chance to take him on, anything to gain her freedom. So what does she do when she finds out that, not everything is as it seems?

Everything that she knew about the dragons was a lie, and even though she used to hear the old stories, she still has so much to learn about her world. With the help of Torin, the slave of her betrothed, her world opens into one that is actually worth fighting for. She grows into a person that doesn’t just refer to slaves as “slaves” but by their given names. She learns that dragons aren’t always the gruesome monsters that she grew up knowing. She becomes so much better than she was before, and it makes her stronger.

I can’t wait for the rest of the series to come out, and I’m so glad that I purchased the hardcover copy from Barnes & Noble so I can reread this again before the second book is out.

Author Spotlight

Courtesy of Goodreads

Born: Canada

Website: http://www.kristenciccarelli.com

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Goodreads Member Since: July 2011

Kristen Ciccarelli hails from Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula where she grew up on her grandfather’s grape farm. She’s made her living as a baker, a bookseller, and a potter, but now writes books about bloodthirsty dragons, girls wielding really cool weapons, and the transformative power of stories.

You can learn more at www.kristenciccarelli.com or by following @kristenciccarelli on Instagram.

Dead Serious: Breaking the Cycle of Teen Sucide by Jane Mersky Leder

January 13, 2018 by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Are you under a lot of stress? Feeling too much pressure to get good grades? Trying to avoid social media because you’re being bullied? Grappling with your sexual/gender identity? Feeling depressed—even suicidal?

What are the reasons why teens decide to take their own lives? What can be done to stop them? Through stories, studies and strategies, Dead Serious helps teens, parents and educators navigate the choppy waters of adolescence and provides tools that can help break the cycle of teen suicide.

Teen suicide is preventable.

Book Overview:

Author: Jane Mersky Leder | Series: None | Format: eBook – ARC | Length: Unknown | Publish Date: January 23, 2018 | Genre: Nonfiction Psychology | Rated: ★ ★ ★ ★ | Recommend: Yes

“Truth is there is never one reason why someone takes his/her own life. And never just one person to blame.”

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an extremely hard book for me to read because it hit home for me. I have known people that have committed suicide, not as teens but as young adults, and I myself have almost gone down this dark path in the past. Reading this book was almost an eye opener for me, bringing this hard topic to light.

There were so many statistics in this book that I had no knowledge of until I read this. There are so many teens out there that either know someone who has committed suicide, have attempted suicide, or still have thoughts of suicide. So many stories in this book show that suicide affects everyone, not just the person who commits it. There is never a clear reason as to why these teens killed themselves, and no matter how much their friends or family try to find answers, there just aren’t any. They now have to figure out how to heal during this dark time, and it doesn’t completely go away.

“If only he had done something then, maybe Brad would be alive now.”

The thought that maybe if these people who were brave enough to tell their story had done something earlier, they could have prevented it. They are so full of guilt, not understanding why their loved one could do such a thing, and beating themselves up for not seeing the signs before. Would they even know what those signs were if they had to go back? Would they be able to stop it? Would their loved one be alive today? All of those thoughts are going through their minds, and their pain and hurt of reliving these moments can’t help but make you feel for them. It hurts, and all we can do hope that their loved ones are in a better place now.

As the cover of this book states, this book is for teens, adults and educators. I would say that this book is for anyone that has ever had to deal with thoughts of suicide, or someone in their life that has committed suicide. Even if they haven’t done it yet, this book helps you to determine what the signs are, and how to get them the proper help before it’s too late. Suicide should not be a taboo topic, and more people need to discuss it to make sure that we can help those suffering by themselves, begging for help before they do something that they can’t take back.

I really do recommend this book. Keep it as a resource, and hopefully you will be able to help someone in your life get the help they need.

Author Spotlight

Courtesy of Goodreads

Twitter: Reflectzen

Goodreads Member Since: June 2014

No biography for this author at this time.

Sweethearts by Gemma Gilmore

January 13, 2018 by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

When seventeen-year-old Ingrid Harper realizes she may not have the talent to pursue a scholarship for the most prestigious art school in Australia, she turns to pink hair dye as a distraction.

Her new hair captures the attention of a fellow art student, Kat, who introduces Ingrid to the LGBT clubbing scene, and although Ingrid enjoys partying with her new friend, she becomes caught up in confusion about her sexuality. Her fear is overwhelming—she can’t think about anything else.

Until her best friend, Summer, reveals that she is pregnant.

As her best friend faces the realities of being pregnant at seventeen, Ingrid is shown the true definition of courage. It motivates her to come out about her sexuality—she likes girls. Only girls. Now she just has to work out what that means for the other areas of her life.

Book Overview:

Author: Gemma Gilmore | Series: None | Format: eBook – ARC | Length: Unknown | Publish Date: January 29, 2018 | Genre: YA Contemporary/LGBTQ+ | Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ | Recommend: Yes

“We question each other’s reality; we make each other look into things just that little bit deeper.”

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This definitely did not go the way I expected it to, but I’m actually okay with it. Almost coming to terms with this.

Long story short, this book is about a girl named Ingrid, a high school senior who refuses to acknowledge that she may actually be a lesbian. It’s something that’s hard for anyone to admit, especially if they have always been hiding their true selves from the rest of the world, so I understand that. It’s the way she lashes out that confused me though. The object of her obsession – yes, an actual obsession if we read it correctly – is a girl at her school named Amber, who just so happens to be a really amazing singer. It’s at the point where Ingrid knows Amber’s YouTube upload schedule and will be the first person to watch her video and leave a rude ass comment for Amber to see. That part didn’t make sense to me, but Ingrid ends up explaining it later on. Why is she so rude to Amber when she can’t get enough of her? Ingrid’s two best friends, Summer and Jackson, even try to call her out on it, and try to get her to accept that she may very well be into girls.

But she constantly punishes herself for having such thoughts. She refuses to identify as a lesbian, even when she finds herself at a gay club full of beautiful women that she is so clearly attracted to. The thing that makes her finally admit it is seeing her best friend Summer be brave in finding out that she’s pregnant, and her actions to make sure that she keeps her unborn baby healthy and safe. Seeing her friend show strength made her want to do the same, and Ingrid’s life starts to change.

I think the main character flaw that Ingrid possessed was her using alcohol to deal with her problems. It was like she was an addict, and maybe she really was. Anytime that she would start to battle against herself, she would resort to getting wasted, going to Cloud Nine to drink her problems away and dance to lose herself in the music. The dancing I get. I sometimes do the same, but the constant drinking wasn’t healthy, and her friends told her that as well.

“I feel like you’re relying on the alcohol.”

It wasn’t good for her, and she needed to come up with some other method of dealing with her problems, her rejections, anything else that she ended up overthinking about that caused her to freak out.

There were also times where I would think that the book would have a happy ending or at least a happy outcome that everyone was waiting to hear about, and then it would be completely different. It was like life. Nothing ever went the way we think it will be, but we have to keep going.

This wasn’t the typical book that I would read, but I appreciated it. I liked that the people in Ingrid’s life didn’t shun her for finally accepting her sexuality, or push her to make a decision when she was struggling with it. They were happy for her no matter what, and they just wanted her to be true to herself. It was good, it was the way I would expect anyone to be if they had a loved one struggling to come to terms with their sexuality. I appreciated it so much, that I feel like it influenced my rating to be what it is. I liked this book, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to read it.

Author Spotlight

Courtesy of Goodreads