Review - Purenet by H. J. Lawson

Title: Purenet

Author: H. J. Lawson

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:

Purenet is one of six wealthy Sanctions, formed by the Emperor and the Untouchables after a devastating world war.

Only those born in Purenet have the privilege of living under the dome, protecting their bodies from the sun’s deadly UVA rays.

Skylier is desperate to escape her underground confines and save her mother’s life.

On a school visit, she hears something she’s not supposed to, and now she realizes that not only is her whole life a lie, but she is in grave danger… She doesn’t know who to trust, and her enemies are everywhere… even closer than she realizes.

Now she is in a race against time to save not only her life, but her mother’s and those she cares about. And if she fails, she’ll suffer a fate worse than death…”

I received an e-copy of Purenet from the Author in exchange of an honest review.

My thoughts:

I'm glad I'm one of those lucky people who got an ARC copy of Purenet. Wonderful dystopian fiction with fresh ideas and a gripping storyline; that is what it is.

Skylier lives in tunnels under the ground with her community to spare herself from the dangerous UVA rays of the Sun. There is a safe place above ground – Purenet, the city under the dome –, from where she, her family and the ’outsiders’ are locked out for various reasons. There are only two ways to ’win’ a chance to live in Purenet: she can become a Host (give birth to children of the aristocracy and then give them away willingly) or become a bazi (aka a concubine).

All Skylier wants is to stay with her family and take care of her ill mother, but soon after catching a conversation on a school trip to Purenet she becomes entangled in a fight between brother and brother and she realizes her life would never be the same.

It’s been a long time since I’ve read such an action-packed book as this one. There was always something going on and when I thought I knew what was about to happen, a totally different thing happened. Twists, twists, twists – there were a lot of them and they kept surprising me.

I loved the scifi-esque setting, the futuristic world this book introduced. There are cruel conditions outside Purenet, but for admitted outsiders life doesn’t seem to be that much easier under the dome either.

The idea of the Sun turning against the population of Earth is very scary, and sadly, not an unthinkable image of the future. In the beginning of the story our heroine has this harsh environment to live in and on the top of it comes all the trouble she gets into.

There are some lovely characters in Purenet, but I especially liked the villain, Xander, who is a very well-shaped, well-written, nasty evil-doer. He doesn’t budge and is determined to fulfil his plans concerning Skylier even after he gains information that would make any other think the matter over twice before acting on it…

The characters, the world, the twists are all wonderful, yet I gave Purenet four stars, because the fact that it was so fast paced wasn’t only an advantage, but a bit of a disadvantage as well in my opinion. I so wanted it to be longer, I’d like to have read more details and to stay with the characters for another 100 pages or so… Being short as it was, despite how much I enjoyed all the action, the plot seemed rushed sometimes.

Aside from this little ’fault’, I can’t say enough how good Purenet was. Every dystopian and sci-fi fan should read it!

Goodreads | Amazon

Review - The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister

 

Title: The Magician’s Lie

Author: Greer Macallister

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis:

The Amazing Arden is the most famous female illusionist of her day, renowned for her notorious trick of sawing a man in half on stage. One night in Waterloo, Iowa, with young policeman Virgil Holt watching from the audience, she swaps her trademark saw for a fire ax. Is it a new version of the illusion, or an all-too-real murder? When Arden’s husband is found lifeless beneath the stage later that night, the answer seems clear.

But when Virgil happens upon the fleeing magician and takes her into custody, she has a very different story to tell. Even handcuffed and alone, Arden is far from powerless—and what she reveals is as unbelievable as it is spellbinding. Over the course of one eerie night, Virgil must decide whether to turn Arden in or set her free… and it will take all he has to see through the smoke and mirrors.

I received a free ebook copy of this book by the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My thoughts:

What can I say? I’d been very excited to read The Magician’s Lie, but I didn’t exactly get what I thought I signed up for. It doesn’t mean I hated the book. At certain points I loved it very much and then I struggled with it a bit until I reached another interesting part. It was like life – full of ups and downs.

The beginning was very strong. I liked how the night-long interrogation situation was set up. I was often mesmerized by Holt and Arden’s conversation and their every little move in that tiny room. Their short interactions were gems in this story and they, in themselves, would deserve five stars. All questions and statements were masterly placed and they each had an impact on the speaker or the receiver. Reading these parts was an amazing experience.

What I didn’t like that much was the tale the magician told. I found the first half on Arden’s story quite good, up until the point she became a practicing magician. Then, I felt like I was on a tiring road tour just like Arden and her company but, unlike them, I didn’t enjoy it. Quite a few chapters were basically descriptions of new illusions and the plot resembled a pond in windless weather – it was standing still. Maybe it was just me, maybe I should have been more impressed by the list of illusions and by how many places she went to perform… but I just couldn’t care less.

Anyway, the writing was phenomenal, Greer Macallister has talent for sure. The structure of the novel was well-planned, although I would have liked to see more of Holt’s reactions to certain parts of the tale.

The characters were likable, except for Ryan, and I totally adored Officer Holt. There was so much sexual tension between him and Arden – mostly generated by Arden –, which seemed right, but then it didn’t seem right… weird, huh?

About the ending… it wasn’t exactly satisfying, but it was okay. I could have imagined an open ending for this book, it would have fitted so much. The way it is, I could figure out whether Arden was a murderer or not many pages before it actually turned out.

All things considered, I think The Magician's Lie deserves no more and no less than three stars.

Goodreads

Teaser Tuesday #6

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

The rules:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week's teaser is from The Doorknob Society by M. J. Fletcher:

Blurb:

Chloe Masters’s world changed in a heartbeat - and all she did was touch a doorknob.

When she was young Chloe’s mother vanished. Wracked by feelings of abandonment and anger she lost herself traveling with her father's magic act, where illusions were part of her everyday life. Yet everything changes when they are pursued by a mysterious man in black out to kill her father. Touching a doorknob activates abilities she never knew she had and she finds herself thrust into a world of ancient societies and secrets.

When her father disappears it is a race against time to find answers before she loses what is left of her family. Now Chloe must choose who to trust, the man who will do anything for her or the one she can’t stop thinking about.
 

My Teaser

'What each of the groups here at Paladin Academy can do is, in some way, effect space and time, either by travelling through it or being able to manipulate it. We here at the Impossible Engineers are able to create devices that can make such travel easier by bending the laws of nature to suit what we need.'

Today's question: What is your favourite steampunk novel?

Feel free to answer the question and/or share your thoughts about the teaser.
And don't forget to leave a link your your TT post! :)

Book Excerpt - Silk by Chris Karlsen

Mystery / Suspense / Thriller

Date Published: December 14, 2015

Silk on the skin—luxurious, luscious..lethal.

London-Fall, 1888

The city is in a panic as Jack the Ripper continues his murderous spree. While the Whitechapel police struggle to find him, Detective Inspector Rudyard Bloodstone and his partner are working feverishly to find their own serial killer. The British Museum's beautiful gardens have become a killing ground for young women strangled as they stroll through.

Their investigation has them brushing up against Viscount Everhard, a powerful member of the House of Lords, and a friend to Queen Victoria. When the circumstantial evidence  points to him as a suspect, Rudyard must deal with the political blowback, and knows if they are going to go after the viscount, they'd better be right and have proof.

As the body count grows and the public clamor for the detectives to do more, inter-department rivalries complicate the already difficult case.

EXCERPT

He wrapped an end in each hand and pulled. His fingers crept up the silk and he tugged a bit harder still. The material pressed deeper into the flesh of her neck. Bright pink dotted her cheeks and radiated down to her jaw. The veins in her temples popped out and pulsed in time to her heartbeat. She moaned, pushed her hips upward and writhed against him. Her soft pubic hair tickled his testicles. Isabeau’s unsubtle way of letting him know she wanted him inside her. He obliged.

Her hands encircled his wrists. She tugged hard outward, harder than usual. A choked sigh escaped her. He paid no attention. This was standard. Isabeau always insisted he maintain pressure until she signaled for him to release his hold. In the past, when she reached the edge of consciousness, she’d beat along his upper arms. This time she thrashed her head back and forth, something he hadn’t seen before. Her eyes bulged in an unattractive way and she clawed at him. Her nails gouged the skin on his hands, drawing blood.

She hurt him and he wanted to slap her. He almost let go of one end of the scarf to do that. Instead, he pulled tighter. Isabeau tried to insert her fingers into the spot where the material crossed over. Her mouth opened and shut, soundless and fishlike. She swatted at the mattress wildly. Red-faced to the point of being near purple, she bucked beneath him.

She fired his blood with her lack of inhibition. Never had she responded with such intensity. Raw power surged through him, primitive, animalistic. He pumped hard. Ready to climax, William clenched his fists, twisting the scarf one last turn. Odd, feathery touches tapped his biceps, feminine and subtle grazes, and then she went limp. Spent, he released his hold and collapsed on top of her, his heart pounding while he caught his breath.

Isabeau didn’t move and her head stayed turned to the side. She hadn’t cried out the way she normally did when sated. Perhaps she was disappointed with his effort. He gave the thought a mental shrug. At the end of the day, it really didn’t matter. He’d arrange for her departure first thing in the morning.

William rolled over and slung a sweaty arm over his eyes. He tried to decide which was worse, telling her tonight the affair was over or waiting until morning. The idea of doing it after such a rambunctious sexual endeavor seemed bad form, but he wanted to get it over with. He turned onto his side, prepared for histrionics, caterwauling, great tears and verbal abuse.

“Isabeau, look at me. I’ve come to a decision and it will likely distress you.” Nothing. She didn’t stir. “Isabeau?”

He shook her by the arm. Still no response. William let go and her arm dropped listless to the mattress. He raised her arm again and let go. Again, it fell listless. He straddled her and patted her cheeks. Nothing. Her head twisted without resistance first right then left depending on the direction of his pat. He slapped her harder. Nothing. Vacant eyes stared fixed on the ceiling. He bent an ear to her chest. Nothing. William leapt from the bed, snatched a silver mirror from the dressing table, and held it under her nose. Nothing.

“Bitch.” William hurled the mirror against the wall. “Bitch, whore,” he raged and paced along the side of the bed. “I will not allow you to make my life a nightmare. This was your doing. I told you to leave me alone.”

About the Author

I was born and raised in Chicago. My father was a history professor and my mother was, and is, a voracious reader.

I grew up with a love of history and books.

Contact Links

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Teaser Tuesday #5

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

The rules:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week's teaser is from Purenet by H. J. Lawson:

Blurb:

Purenet is one of six wealthy Sanctions, formed by the Emperor and the Untouchables after a devastating world war. Only those born in Purenet have the privilege of living under the dome, protecting their bodies from the sun’s deadly UVA rays.

Skylier is desperate to escape her underground confines and save her mother’s life.

On a school visit, she hears something she’s not supposed to, and now she realizes that not only is her whole life a lie, but she is in grave danger… She doesn’t know who to trust, and her enemies are everywhere… even closer than she realizes.

Now she is in a race against time to save not only her life, but her mother's and those she cares about. And if she fails, she'll suffer a fate worse than death...

My Teaser:

'The dress is a lovely gift from the Chancellor. It's worn so people know we are from the Cueva... so they can look down on us.'

I'd like to see your TT post too, so leave a link below, if you feel like to! 

On my to read list #3

The Thorn of Camorr is said to be an unbeatable swordsman, a master thief, a friend to the poor, a ghost that walks through walls.

Slightly built and barely competent with a sword, Locke Lamora is, much to his annoyance, the fabled Thorn. And while Locke does indeed steal from the rich (who else would be worth stealing from?), the poor never see a penny. All of Locke's gains are strictly for himself and his tight-knit band of thieves. The Gentleman Bastards.

The capricious, colourful underworld of the ancient city of Camorr is the only home they have ever known. But now a clandestine war is threatening to tear it apart. Caught up in a murderous game, Locke and his friends are suddenly struggling just to stay alive... 

The Lies of Locke Lamora is certainly going to be one of the fifteen fantasy books (or at lest fifteen) that I'm going to read this year (in 2015 I'm participating in a challenge called 'Flights of Fantasy'. Read more here). I can't express how excited I am for this book. It is epic fantasy and I have very high expectations that I very much hope the book will meet.   

I read really good reviews about it, everyone praises it and I'd like to praise it too. 

*pleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegood*

The cover is gorgeous! Look at that colouring... And the view of the city reminds me of Venice. I think I'll soon be ready for this adventure.

Welcome 2015

Happy New Year, Sweeties!

May your year be filled with happiness and books! (Oh, wait, aren't they the same thing?)

 You can look forward to even more awesome book reviews in 2015 here, on Paradise Found.

I hope I'll see you around!

Happy Reading!