Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten 2016 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn't

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week has a different theme & you can find all the details about how to join in HERE.

Today's topic is Top Ten 2016 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn't Get To. There were actually a lot of 2015 books that I was really excited about but never got around to reading but here are the ones I REALLY want to try and get to soon!

Top Ten 2016 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn't Get To:

Young Adult

1. Witch's Pyre - Josephine Angelini 
2. Riders - Veronica Rossi
3. The Raven King - Maggie Stiefvater
4. Arcana Rising - Kresley Cole
5. Torch Against the Night - Sabaa Tahir

Adult:

1. Grave Visions - Kalayna Price
2. Cursed - Sue Tingey
3. A Closed and common orbit - Becky chambers 
4. Alliance - S.K. Dunstall
5. Infernal - Mark de Jager

What books are on your list?

Review: Firewalker - Josephine Angelini

Lily Proctor has made it back to her own universe, and it's finally time for her and Rowan to be happy and relax. True, she almost died in the Pyre that fueled their escape, and they must hide her new magic for the safety of the world, but compared to fighting the monstrous Woven and leading armies in the alternate Salem, life is looking good.

Unfortunately, Lillian, ruthless ruler of the 13 Cities, is not willing to let Lily go that easily. Lily is the closest version of herself she's ever seen in all her worldwalking, and Lillian's running out of time. If she can't persuade Lily and Rowan to return to her world, she'll have to find a way to make them come back.

Worldwalker Trilogy:
Trial by Fire
Rowan (Novella)
Firewalker
Traitor's Pyre (2016)

Visit Josephine Angelini's website for more information

Review:
It's impossible to review Firewalker without including spoilers for previous books in the series so if you haven't read Trial by Fire yet then you need to look away now. I will say that I'm really enjoying this series though so it's definitely one I'd recommend checking out if you enjoy YA fantasy.

Trial by Fire was one of my favourite YA books last year so it's no surprise that I've been desperately waiting for the release of the sequel. I was actually so excited about Firewalker that I was kind of nervous to start reading it because I wasn't sure if it could live up to its predecessor and I have to admit that in some ways I was right - it didn't quite reach the highs of the first book but that doesn't mean it wasn't an excellent story in its own right and it still far surpasses a lot of other books out there.

The story picks up immediately from where we left off, Lily is badly burnt from the time she spent on the pyre but luckily she managed to get both herself and Rowan back to her own reality. She is relieved to have escaped from Lillian but she is now facing a whole new host of problems, not least of which is the FBI investigation into her vanishing act three months ago. It's not like she can explain where she's been all that time and she had no idea how much trouble her disappearance would have caused for the people left behind. Some have just been worried out of their minds, others have been living under suspicion of her murder but all of them have been suffering constant police surveillance and harassment. Lily didn't choose to leave and she came back as quickly as she could but she still has a lot of explaining to do. As if that wasn't bad enough she still has Lillian to deal with, she may have left Lillian's reality but Lillian isn't done with her yet and she is determined to pull her back into the war they started.

I have to admit I found the beginning of the story a little on the slow side, probably because I'm used to this series moving at such a fast pace usually. It was interesting to see Lily reconnect with her friends and family as well as trying to settle back into normal life but it wasn't as interesting as seeing her in Lillian's reality. I also had a few issues with the way Lily was keeping so many secrets from Rowan and the people who were supposed to be closest to her, I could kind of understand why she was holding back but at the same time I always think honesty is the best policy. Rowan started having real trust issues and he actually made me really mad a couple of times but I think a lot of the problems could have been avoided if Lily had been more honest with him in the first place. They were both in the wrong though and it's probably going to take a while for Rowan to work his way back into my good graces, I am still hoping he can manage it though so that's definitely something in his favour.

I actually think my favourite character in this book was Lillian, I found her fascinating in the first book but here we find out a lot more about the things she has been through and why she has made the choices she did. I'm never going to agree with some of her actions, let's face it she has done some pretty evil things, but I did find it much easier to understand how she ended up in that situation and it was interesting to see how Lily started to come to a similar conclusion. Although they are basically the same girl their life experiences have made them very different in a lot of ways but it does make you wonder if Lily wouldn't have done exactly the same things Lillian did if they had switched places at birth.

Anyway, when they returned to Lillian's reality the story really picks up the pace and I loved getting to explore more of that world. We get answers to some of the questions that we had at the end of the previous book but we also get hints that there is so much more going on than meets the eye and I'm dying to see how certain things are going to play out. Lily is in an impossible situation but she is so determined to make things right and find a different way to fix things and I have hope that she can come up with something. There are some beautiful moments in this story, shocking and heartbreaking twists, weird creatures that made me shudder in fear and brilliant friendships that made me smile. I'm definitely excited to see where Josephine Angelini takes things from here and I can't wait to continue reading the series.

Source: Received from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Trial by Fire - Josephine Angelini

New UK Cover

I'm a witch, and witches burn.

Lily Proctor is allergic to virtually everything, and growing up in Salem she's never been able to do the things her friends take for granted . . . which is why she's determined to enjoy her first (and perhaps only) high-school party. But Lily's life never goes according to plan, and after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class when she wishes she could just disappear - she does.

Suddenly Lily is in a different Salem - a terrifying new world where she is overwhelmed by new desires and new experiences, and her weakness is replaced with extraordinary power. She soon discovers that this world is ruled by dark and powerful witches, and that the strongest and cruellest of all is Lilian . . . Lily's identical other self in this alternate universe. Thrown into a war she doesn't understand, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone, and a love she never expected.

How can Lily be the saviour of this world when she is literally her own worst enemy?

Worldwalker Trilogy:
Trial by Fire
Rowan (Novella)
Firewalker
Traitor's Pyre (2016)

Visit Josephine Angelini's website for more information

Review:
I have to confess that I wasn't really too sure what to expect from Trial by Fire, I hadn't heard a great deal about it before I started reading but the shiny foil cover caught my eye and when I realised it was about witches and alternate realities I couldn't resist. I'm so glad I took a chance because this turned out to be one of my favourite YA reads of the year. There is just so much to love about this book and once I'd started reading I didn't want to stop.

Lily is such a fantastic main character. She isn't one of the popular crowd at school, in fact her allergies to pretty much everything have made her a bit of an outcast but no matter how tough things are she just gets on with it. She knows that it won't be long before her increasing allergies leave her housebound and she's determined to make the most of attending school while she still can. I loved her automatically for having so much courage but what tipped me over the edge into complete girl crush mode was the way she reacted when a potential love interest broke her heart. Lily isn't a simpering fool who will forgive a guy any asshat behaviour just because he is hot, no Lily is the kind of heroine who knows exactly how she deserves to be treated and who would rather be alone than let a boy walk all over her. Do you know how rare a heroine like that is in YA these days? It's so hard to find positive female role models and I could have jumped for job at Lily's response to the boy in question!

All that was before we'd made it beyond the first couple of chapters and I could already tell I was going to love this book. Now take this fabulous heroine and drop her unexpectedly into an alternate reality, one where magic is real and where witches rule. Lily suddenly has an explanation for her allergies and finds herself in a place where she isn't an outcast, in fact she is incredibly powerful. She is completely out of her depth and has no idea who she can trust so it's understandable that she quickly bonds with the people she recognises from her own reality but even then she doesn't blindly trust them or expect them to act the way they would in her world. Lily is sensible, she thinks things through and trusts her instincts rather than go along with what other people want her to do, even in an alternate universe Lily is my kind of heroine!

There are two other characters who I really want to talk about and the first is Lillian, Lily's alternate self, who happens to be the witch in charge of the whole of Salem and all of the other covens around the new world. Lillian is a fascinating character, she does some horrific things and you can't help but hate her for them but the more you learn about her the more you start to wonder about her motives. I'm not saying her actions are justifiable but she does have reasons and I think we've only started to uncover them. There is so much more to Lillian than a cardboard cut-out villain and the choices she makes raise some really interesting questions. Can you ever justify doing terrible things? Is it worth losing the life of a few people if you can potentially save thousands? What if the cost is more than a few - how much life are you willing to sacrifice?

The other character who deserves an honourable mention and a round of applause is love interest Rowan. He really is the kind of guy that we all wish we could meet, he's strong, protective, caring, intelligent and brave but best of all he can admit when he's made a mistake and he can actually apologise for it! Imagine that - a guy who will say sorry! It's a rare and beautiful thing indeed, especially in YA. There is no alpha asshat behaviour here, yes he's wary of Lily in the beginning but considering he thinks she is is mortal enemy Lillian (because they do look identical after all!) that was completely understandable. To be fair, considering the things that Lillian has done to him I actually thought he reacted quite reasonably to Lily's arrival. I absolutely loved seeing their relationship develop over time, there is no insta-love here and the couple spend time getting to know each other and learning to trust. Lily isn't afraid to call Rowan out when he is unreasonable and he is equally willing to push her when she needs it which makes them very well matched.

I don't want to say too much about the alternate world that Lily ends up in because I think it is somewhere that you should have fun exploring for yourself by reading the book. What I will say is that I loved the way magic works, the way it is based on scientific principles and has been so cleverly set up that it comes across as completely believable. I don't have much difficulty thinking there is an alternate universe out there somewhere where magic is real! I think it's quite obvious that I loved this book, I could spend hours writing this review trying to give you more reasons to read it but to be honest if I haven't already sold it to you then probably nothing else I could say will either. If you're only going to take one young adult recommendation from me this year then make it Trial by Fire, this book is such a refreshing change, it breaks so many of the current YA trends and is well worth the money it costs.

Source: Received from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Original UK Cover

Old Paperback / New Paperback / Kindle:

Trial by Fire Blog Tour: Josephine Angelini's Top 5 Books about Witches

Today I'm thrilled to be taking part in the blog tour to celebrate the release of Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini. Josephine will be sharing her favourite books about witches but before I hand over to her let me tell you a bit more about her new book!

I'm a witch, and witches burn.

Lily Proctor is allergic to virtually everything, and growing up in Salem she's never been able to do the things her friends take for granted . . . which is why she's determined to enjoy her first (and perhaps only) high-school party. But Lily's life never goes according to plan, and after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class when she wishes she could just disappear - she does.

Suddenly Lily is in a different Salem - a terrifying new world where she is overwhelmed by new desires and new experiences, and her weakness is replaced with extraordinary power. She soon discovers that this world is ruled by dark and powerful witches, and that the strongest and cruellest of all is Lilian . . . Lily's identical other self in this alternate universe. Thrown into a war she doesn't understand, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone, and a love she never expected.

How can Lily be the saviour of this world when she is literally her own worst enemy?

Worldwalker Trilogy:
Trial by Fire
Trail of Tears (2015)

Visit Josephine Angelini's website for more information

What do you think? Doesn't it sound awesome? I've actually been lucky enough to already read the story so I can tell you right now you're going to love it! Look out for my review that will be posted later today but in the meantime let me hand you over to Josephine Angelini so she can recommend some of her favourite books!

Top 5 books about Witches

by Josephine Angelini

I tried to think of my all-time favorite witch books, and I have to admit it was hard. I don’t think I’ve read that many books about witches. Sure, there are plenty of books with witches in them, but my exposure to books where witches are at the heart of the story is slim. In a way that’s good. I didn’t feel like I was copying others while I was writing Trial by Fire. I just did what popped into my head and let other people decide if they’d seen it before.

Here are five good books (and I use the term “book” loosely on some of these entries) about witches.

1. Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I loved this book, but I loved his Confessions of an Evil Step Sister even more, I think. No witches in that one, though.

2. Harry Potter (like, all of them) by J. K. Rowling. I know—technically this series is about a wizard, not a witch, but since Hermione is such a huge character it’s gotta count, right?

3. The Crucible by Arthur Millar. A play, not a book, but one of the cornerstones of my idea for Trial by Fire. Also, it’s just a superior piece of writing. I think everyone should read it, even if you aren’t forced to in school.

4. Grimm Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm. This is pretty much my childhood introduction to witches, and therefore, my innermost understanding of witches in general. The witches in Sleeping Beauty and Snow White have loomed large in my mind for all my life and, strangely, I’ve always loved them. Maybe what I loved was a woman in power. A woman wearing the crown is always nice.

5. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I waited to read this until after I’d finished Trial by Fire just in case there was any overlap and I needed plausible deniability. Our books are so different, which was a relief.

Thanks for a fabulous guest post Josephine! I have to confess that I've only read the Harry Potter ones but I do have several of the others on my to be read mountain just waiting for me to get to them. I think I'll have to bump them up the list now!

What about you? Have you read any of the books on Josephine's list? Which are your favourites? Do you have any recommendations for other witch books you've loved?

Review: Starcrossed - Josephine Angelini

When shy, awkward Helen Hamilton meets Lucas Delos for the first time, she thinks two things: the first, that he is the most ridiculously beautiful boy she has seen in her life; the second, that she wants to kill him with her bare hands.

An ancient curse means Lucas and Helen are destined to loathe one another. But sometimes love is stronger than hate, and not even the gods themselves can prevent what will happen next . . .

Starcrossed Series:
Starcrossed
Dreamless
Goddess (2013)

Visit Josephine Angelini's website for more information

Review:
Helen has always known she was different, she is faster and stronger than her friends but suffers from crippling shyness that cause stomach cramps whenever she finds herself at the centre of attention. She has spent her whole life trying to blend into the background, instinctively she knows she has to keep her abilities a secret but she has never understood why she has them. When the Delos family arrive she finds herself filled with hatred every time they are in the same vicinity. In fact the first time she sees Lucas she actually tries to kill him! Before long Lucas and his family are able to give Helen the explanations she has always wanted, nothing is what she expected and the Fates have some nasty surprises up their sleeves.

I have to admit that I kind of put off reading Starcrossed for a long time, I loved stories based on Greek mythology but was nervous about picking it up because there was so much hype surrounding the book when it was released last year. The only reason that I'm not kicking myself for not reading it sooner is that I don't have to wait a year for the second book Dreamless! Josephine Angelini surpassed all my expectations, I thoroughly enjoyed Starcrossed and am eager to find out what happens with next.

One of the things I loved most was that there isn't a case of insta-love between Helen and Lucas, in fact they have been cursed to hate each other so they don't exactly start out as friends. I felt for Helen from the moment we met her, she was so painfully shy and just wanted to fade into the background and disappear. Throughout the story she becomes much more sure of herself and really starts to grow into her own person which was great to see. Of course Lucas is hot but there is much more to him than that, he is also caring and protective and he stands up for Helen even going against his family for her.

I also really enjoyed the way the author has woven Greek mythology throughout the story, she has done a fantastic job of explaining why Helen and Lucas have such strong reactions to each other and how their family histories have brought them to this point. I found it fascinating to see how each of the characters are connected to each other and trying to figure out which of the Greek gods they represented. The secondary characters are all well drawn and interesting in their own rights, I loved Helen's relationships with her father and her best friend Claire. Claire often added some light relief to the story and I loved her reaction when she found out about Helen's secret. Lucas comes from a large family and they all have different abilities, strengths and weaknesses. His mother is the glue that holds them all together and it was great to see how respected she was by the others even though she was the least powerful amongst them all.

I will be really interested to see where the story takes us next and Dreamless definitely won't be sitting on my to read pile for a year waiting for me to get to it!

Source: Received from Macmillan in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
Read in a Single Sitting
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle: