Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials Book 2) by Shannon Mayer & K.F. Breene

Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials Book 2)

by Shannon Mayer & K.F. Breene
May 14, 2019
Pages: 242
You Don’t Choose The Academy. The Academy Chooses You.

Being accepted into an elite school of magic, monsters, and assassins was not my idea of higher education. But here I am, fighting my way through the Culling Trials to claim my right to be taught.

As if the gauntlet-type physical and mental tests aren’t enough, people are going missing.

People that are my friends.

In a dangerous world where no one is as they seem, the golden rule is simple: Trust no one. They think we should just look out for ourselves. That we should leave the fallen behind and ask no questions.

They clearly think we’re idiots. I got this far by trusting my instincts, and I’m not going to back down now.

Those kids won’t be left to die.

Not on my watch.

Shadowspell Academy Book 1 and Shadowspell Academy Book 2 end with a cliffhanger

Wild has stepped into the place of her brother at the Culling Trials and is doing whatever is necessary to hide the truth that she isn’t Billy. The trouble with secrets is that they are hard to keep and the kids at these trials will use whatever they can to find a way to win. When kids start to go missing, Wild is determined to find out why, but she is unsure who she can trust but she wants to save them no matter what.

This is series is enticing which makes it a quick read. Full of magic, treachery and greed it has all the components of a great series. There are five trials in all each seemingly deadlier than the last but Wild team of ragtag misfits are bound and determined to work together to get through them in one piece, even Ethan who has no choice at this point.

Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials book 1)
Book Review: Shadowspell Academy (The Culling Trials book 3)

Getting 5 sheep

Denise B

About the author:
website-FB-Twitter
Amazon Author Page
Instagram
Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, son, and numerous animals. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats) and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her.

She is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the The Rylee Adamson Novels, The Elemental Series, The Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series and the Venom Trilogy. Please visit her website for more information on her novels. 

About the Author:

website-FB-twitter
Instagram
K.F. Breene is a USA Today Bestselling and Top 10 Kindle All-Star author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy and fantasy novels. With two million books sold, when she's not penning stories about magic and what goes bump in the night, she's sipping wine and planning shenanigans. She lives in Northern California with her husband, two children and out of work treadmill.

Selah's Manga Mania Review: In This Corner of the World by Fumiyo Kouno

In This Corner of the World

by Fumiyo Kouno
October 31, 2017

Genre: Seinen, YA, historical fiction, manga

Original run 2007 – 2009

Paperback: 450 pages

Volumes 3

THE MANGA THAT INSPIRED THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED FILM--NOW ON NETFLIX!

1940’s Hiroshima Prefecture. Suzu, a young woman from the countryside, joins her new husband and his family in the shipbuilding city of Kure. As her beautiful home collapses around her, Suzu must confront the challenges of a new life while coming to grips with a world in turmoil. Unwilling to give up hope, Suzu struggles against the horrors of war to create her own happiness.

One of the great things about any art form is to look at something from a different culture or lens. Today, we're going to look at a title that takes us through the late part of WWII from a Japanese perspective. Unlike my usual, I'm going to refrain from flippant remarks and not break it down in terms of pros/cons/squicky stuff because not only is this a serious and heartfelt title, but it deals with a time in history that I think many westerners have a limited point of view on.

Let's take a look at In This Corner of the World.

Suzu is a young woman who lives in the countryside of Hiroshima with her family. She helps with their seaweed business, has an ogre of a brother, and loves to draw. We see her travel to her grandmother's, escape a goblin (the only real nod to the paranormal in this), and generally live her day to day life until her marriage is arranged. She soon joins her husband and his family in Kure, a shipbuilding city. Her sister-in-law is unimpressed with her scatterbrained ways and she struggles to fit in with her new family and get to know her husband. She deals with tensions when an old school friend she had feelings for shows up, and struggles to deal with the fact that a friend she has made is also likely a sex worker that her husband used to visit.

Through it all, there is the war. Rations, neighborhood initiatives, hard times that only get harder, her sister-in-law struggling with sending her own children away, air raids and bombings, and difficult living conditions are a way of life.

Throughout the actual story are asides about different methods of extending food or what different programs were in Japan. Suzu struggles to adapt and keep up her optimism, both in her new environment and with everything else. And then a bombing changes everything for her and her relations with her in-laws. And then she gets word of what happened in Hiroshima to her own family.

This isn't as heavy as it sounds since there is a lot of day to day life scattered throughout, but it does deal with serious subjects, both in Suzu's personal life and with the historical aspect. It's incredibly well-researched and sourced, and I felt like I learned a ton while my emotions were being shredded. I wish the footnotes and some of the main text weren't so tiny because it does take a little effort to catch everything.

It's also as much historical information as it is an actual story, so if you're looking for a fast-paced drama, be aware that you'd probably prefer the movie version. There is a lot of story, but things often pause for explanations, which could seem a little disjointed, but overall I think it works very well. It's impressive that for not being a biography, the story seems very possible.

Emotionally, I felt for all the characters. Suzu grows considerably, and by the end fourth, some of what she deals with is gut-wrenching. Her emotional reactions aren't overlooked or rushed through, which I think is important.

The art is nice and accessible, things can get a little cramped and at times the size and scale of the story felt overwhelming. Still, this is one I absolutely recommend. I think we don't really talk about Hiroshima much except for textbook entries, and on the whole, don't like to stop and think about how it affected people. It's so easy to paint people as the enemy from a past time, but these characters are living their lives the same as anyone else. There's also a wealth of information here, so it has importance both as an educational tool and as an empathy-building one.

This would probably be easier for high school age on up, just for the size of it and some of the themes. I could see it complementing any history course, but it definitely is great as regular reading, too. It will move your heart and give you a ton to think about.

Five sheep

About the Author:
website-FB-twitter

Selah Janel is a writer who is trying to start doing that again instead of reading manga all the time.

Excerpt: The King: A Wicked Novella by Jennifer L. Armentrout

We are beyond excited to be sharing this release from Jennifer L. Armentrout with you today! THE KING is part of the Wicked series and it is releasing as part of 1001 Dark Nights. It just went live! Check out an excerpt below
.

Purchase your copy of THE KING today!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU

The King: A Wicked Novella

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

July 23, 2019

198 pages

From #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes the next installment in her Wicked series. As Caden and Brighton's attraction grows despite the odds stacked against a happily ever after, they must work together to stop an Ancient fae from releasing the Queen, who wants nothing more than to see Caden become the evil Prince once feared by fae and mortals alike. **Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.

“Jennifer L. Armentrout’s intoxicating new fantasy is her best yet!” New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter on Storm and Fury

“Dark, mysterious, and yet often hilarious, this riveting page-turner sparkles with innuendo and delivers a breathtaking romance; a stunning conclusion to the trilogy. “ Library Journal on Moonlight Scandals

“With this first title in her new Dark Elements series, powerhouse author Armentrout delivers another action-packed, believably narrated ride through a paranormal world as seen by a teen.”Booklist on White Hot Kiss

 

Excerpt:
The rapid thump of music from the overhead speakers matched my mood as I swayed in the shadows of Flux’s dance floor, a club that catered to the fae. This was where I’d found and killed Tobias, one of the fae who’d joined Aric in the attack against my mother and me.

I wasn’t worried about being recognized in the mass of twisting human flesh that churned alongside and against the fae in the place. Most of those that frequented Flux were of the Winter Court—the bad Court that actively hunted humans to feed on so the fae did not age. The very same Court that belonged to Queen Morgana. Every so often a Summer fae was spotted, but those sightings were few and far between.

I saw no fae at all tonight.

Questing hands slipped from my waist and slid down to my hips again. Frustration made me grab What’s His Name’s wrists harder than I intended. I’d honestly rather be scrubbing my lady bits with a brillo pad than dancing with an obvious first-timer to New Orleans, one who wore so much cologne, he could star in an Axe body spray commercial. However, lurking alone in a club like this was suspicious. Not when everyone came here to hook up.

“Damn, girl, you got a hell of a grip on you,” he murmured into my ear. “That’s hot.”

I rolled my eyes as I placed his hands back on my waist.

“So, you come here a lot?” He squeezed my hipbones.

“No,” I said, focusing on the dance floor near the stairs that led to the private second level, where the fae normally chilled in-between glamouring humans and feeding on them.

“Then I guess it’s my lucky night, isn’t it?”

I opened my mouth to tell him to not only talk less but also wear less cologne, when I felt a tight shiver of awareness. The kind of feeling you got when it felt as if someone were—

The man behind me shouted in surprise. His hands left my hips as I spun around. The dark-haired tourist stumbled, catching his balance on a nearby table. He shoved off it, puffing out his chest, but drew up short a second before broad shoulders and a tapered waist clad in a black shirt blocked my view. The guy’s blond hair was secured in a short ponytail, and the scent of summer rain replaced the overpowering musk of cologne.

I sucked in a sharp breath of disbelief as I saw What’s His Name dart to my left, intelligently wanting nothing to do with what stood in front of me.

I could not believe it.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I waited. I didn’t have to wait long. He decided to grace me with a full-frontal of what had to be—unfortunately—the most beautiful male face I’d ever seen.

The King was here.

About the Author:

Website-FB-Twitter

Bookbub-Instagram-Goodreads

# 1 New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins. 

New Movie Releases for August 2019

There are a lot of movies coming out in August. I'm interested in Hobbs & Shaw, Scary Stories, Dora the Explorer, Ready or Not, and Angel has Fallen.

What's your poison this month?

Aug 2

limited release

Aug 9

 

limited release

Aug 14

Aug 16

 

 

limited release

Aug 21

Aug 23

Aug 30

limited release

Release Day: Kingdom of Mirrors & Roses: A Limited Edition of Beauty and the Beast Retellings + giveaway

Kingdom of Mirrors & Roses: A Limited Edition of Beauty and the Beast Retellings
by A.W. Cross, Anna Santos, Anne Stryker, Clara Winter, D.L. Pitchford Jacque Stevens, Kelly. N. Jane, R. Castro, Angelique S Anderson

August 1st 2019
Genres: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, New Adult
Beauty and the Beast, but not how you remember it

Deep in the forest, a castle hides. No one knows who lives there, but rumors of a beast keep people away.

Cloaked in shadows, hidden from view, a prince destroyed by a curse shuts himself away from the world, ashamed of the beast he’s become.

And in the village, a beautiful girl with her nose in a book, yearns for something more.

True love is the only thing that can break his curse. True love is the one thing she’s looking for, but how can they find true love when neither knows the other exists?

Find out if love really can defy all odds in this set of thirteen captivating retellings of the classic fairytale, filled with love, hope and the strength of two people willing to do whatever it takes…

One click now for your happily ever after.

Other books in the Kingdom of series…

Kingdom of Glass and Ashes (Cinderella retellings)

Kingdom of Salt and Sirens (Little Mermaid retellings)

Kingdom of Sand and Wishes (Aladdin retellings)

Kingdom of Mirrors and Roses (Beauty and the Beast retellings)

Kingdom of Thorns and Dreams (Sleeping Beauty retellings) coming soon

Goodreads-Amazon

GIVEAWAY

Blitz-wide giveaway (INTL)
Beauty and the Beast prize pack

a Rafflecopter giveaway