Inexcusable by Chris Lynch

Keir Sarafian knows many things about himself. He's okay with being just above average. He is a talented football player, a loyal friend, a devoted son and brother.  He is just overall a good guy. Yet the love of his life thinks otherwise. Gigi says Keir has done something awful. She accuses him of raping her. Keir doesn't understand. He loves Gigi and would never do anything to hurt her.

Inexcusable is a the store of Keir recounting the events leading up to that one fateful night, in order to uncover the truth. Did he or did he not rape Gigi?! This book had me confused on so many levels. I didn't know how to feel. One moment I as so convinced that he didn't do it, then the next I was determined to uncover that he did do it. This isn't a fasted paced loved story, it's more of a who'd-done it. If that makes sense. This review wont be long and it wont be detailed because I feel like this book is one you need to go into with no preconceived notions.

The main character is (obviously) Keir, all other characters are just sub. Keir is such a puzzle. I have no idea if I loved him or hated him... Even after I finished it. This book took me down a path I had never been down. The way Lynch presents this novel too us by showing us both the light and darkness too each side of a story, is what will have you feeling something you haven't before. Inexcusable is a novel I think I can't decide how to feel about. I don't know if I loved it or hated it. The riddler way it's written had me falling hard for it, but at the same time I felt that there was something else I needed to give this a higher rating. 

How Chris Lynch could write such a short novel, say so little words, and yet leave you so bone chilled is beyond me... This book will have you wondering if you sometimes see yourself as something other than what you really are.

 A book that will have you guessing till the VERY end. I have no idea how I feel about this book, so pretty sure Lynch did what he set out to achieve. Inexcusable  left me wondering what just happened to me and what the hell did I just read.  

If the middle of this book was as strong as the end this would have been a ten star book...

8.5/10 Stars 
-Angela

Broken Skies by Theresa Kay

"Thirty years ago, civilization collapsed. Few survived.
Ten years ago, the aliens arrived…and stayed.
One year ago, I killed two men and went a little crazy.
Today, the aliens took my brother and I will do anything to get him back." 

Until recently, the E’rikon have remained segregated in their city and ignored the few humans who have tried to engage them, that was until now... They have taken Jax’s brother. After the aliens have taken him she finds that she wasn't the only one left behind. One of the aliens was also left.  Coming to some sort of an agreement, they decide to work together to get her into the alien's city. That seems like it would be the hardest part of their journey... it's not. In this world where alien and human are at odds, the connection forming between the two could have major consequences. What started off as a rescue mission sets a chain of events in motion which threatens everyone one earth. 

We were fortunate to be asked by Theresa Kay to give this book a try in exchange for an honest review. Below we are going to post both of our views on Broken Skies. 

Angela's Review

All I knew about Broken Skies was that it was being compared to The Lux Series a lot... If you know anything at all about me you know that The Lux Series is my favorite series. And yeah it is very comparable, but too me it was more like The Lux Series, The Dustlands Trilogy, Taken, Alienated, and The 5th Wave had some kind of crazy sex party and during which a baby was formed and that baby turned out to be Broken Skies. Yeah it's that insane. On top of all of that I am a known Alien obsessed freak so I have very high standards when it comes to alien books... All that being said... I LOVED THIS BOOK! I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.

Starting off with the characters. Jax is this fiery strong willed sassy redhead that you will love. Her loyalty and determination are absolutely amazing. Her character growth is off the charts! She is strong; yet weak at the beginning, but by the ends transforms into the leading lady that you wanted and you'll be standing behind. Her attitude is much like mine aka very sarcastic, and made it very easy for me to connect with her. Lir... OH LIR... I loved him. The second he appeared and was described I knew I was in love. Normally it's the characters I have to worry about falling in insta-love, nope this time it was me. whoosh, SWOON. Even when I hated  him I loved him. The relationship between the two is what really makes this story, and I have no complaints about that. Their relationship is an emotional roller-coaster that I want to ride on another 50 times. They don't have insta-love just insta-like and it was to cute for words. I like how their relationship builds, what it becomes, and how it is left at the end. At one point when they are in the Alien city and things happen with Lir (can't say what because spoils) that I seriously screamed....

It's just so good. The sub characters like her twin brother Jace, her family friend Flint, and Lir's cousin Rym were all strong and well rounded. I especially liked Rym. Pretty sure if some kind of side story or novella was written from his point of view I would eat that junk right up. The next thing I loved about Broken Skies was the world building. It wasn't anything over the top. It was just enough to get it's point across and then left it so you could fill in the rest yourself, and I loved that. Their journey never feels forced or rushed, another plus side too this story. With strong characters, and a strong story you think that is all I would really have to say about this book but its not... My favorite thing about Broken Skies is that Theresa has given us something new to the alien genre!!! AND THANK YOU!!! She gave us a new spin on what aliens look like. Their hair color was brillz, their eyes amaze, but the fact that they have these scales on their backs leading into their hair line was something that I thought at first hear was going to be odd... NO LOVED IT!!!!! Never thought a man with scales could sound sexy, but I loved being wrong about that.... And I know I've said this before as well but I don't care Imma say it again... I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE IF ALIENS DO COME HUMANS AND ALIENS COULDN'T BE TOGETHER!!!!! I seriously love them that much. And who are we kidding I know we all hope aliens come and that they look like Lir, Daemon Black, and Evan Walker. BEAM ME UP HOTTIES!!!! AM I RIGHT?!?!

The plot is fast paced and constant, leaving you with a "never a dull moment" feeling. The story starts small and just keeps building up and up until the ending leaves you breathless. No it didn't per say leave on a cliffhanger but just about as close as you can get too one. Action packed, no emotion left un-felt, and super suspenseful... Too me the ending was left at the perfect moment.

 I can not wait to read book two in this series, and hope that Theresa will bless us with more chances to read her work... Theresa Kay was born to write. She might be an "under known" author right now, but I have no doubt that that will end soon. 

10/10 Stars 
-Angela

Leah's Review

I'm not as big of an alien fanatic as Angela, but I do love some romantic action packed alien stories. When Theresa contacted us and described this as a post-apocalyptic scifi novel that is like Lux.... Well, SOLD.

I was sucked into the book as soon as I started reading. You find out early on that Jax is pretty damaged as far as emotions and people skills go. Something really awful happened to her which pretty much changed her life and now she relies on her brother to keep her together. Once her bro is taken away by some aliens, she kicks it into high gear and sets out to find him. Problem is that one of the aliens got left behind and is now with her. He also just happens to be a super handsome, sarcastic, and charming alien named Lir (seriously, who knew a dude with a line of scales on his back could be hot... don't knock it until you read it!!).  The thing that I love about Jax is that she knows she is broken. She knows that what happened to her really screwed her up, but it doesn't stop her at any point in the book from being a complete BA. She reminds me of Katniss from The Hunger Games where she channels her hurt and pain into doing what she has to do for her loved ones. I think she is a killer leading lady.

The majority of the book follows Lir and Jax on their misadventures through the woods trying to make it back to the alien city where Jax's brother is supposedly being kept. A lot of stuff happens along the way that brings them together... then apart... then together... You get the picture. Basically they spend two weeks together hiking through the woods and almost dying several times and accidentally fall in love with each other. They have to learn to depend on each other and trust each other, but EVERY TIME things seem to be going good for them, something else happens. It was so frustrating!! It was also sort of awesome at the same time because there isn't a whole lot of insta-love going on and you have to stay on your toes to keep up with all the action. But when it happens, BAM YOU LOVE IT. Oh, and I just love Lir. I love how he could be Daemon Black's handsome witty cousin. They could get together and be sarcastic and makes girls drop their underwear all over Earth.

There are some pretty major plot twists that happen. Like, I had NO idea and was completely thrown off my game because I had no idea where the book was going to go. In short, this book was amaze-balls. I was on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole time because I had no clue where Theresa was going to take the ending. My favorite part of the book is when Lir and Jax actually get to the alien city and the time they spend inside of it. My only complaint with the book is that I wish that there would have been a little less time in their woodsy adventure and more time focused on them once they got in the city. THAT ENDING THO. Holy bananas. Talk about a cliffhanger. I seriously need book two NOW because everything ended right when you are on the edge of your seat and have NO idea where your allegiances lie.

If you are an alien lover or just a fan of scifi in general, this is definitely a book you want to pick up. It reminded me a lot of Lux, The 5th Wave, and Alienated, which btw all happen to be my favorite alien books.

5/5 stars
-Leah

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Libby Day was just seven years old when her evidence put her fifteen-year-old brother in jail.
Since then, she had been off. Barely making ends meet or even getting out of bed. But when she is contacted by a group who are convinced that Ben's innocence, Libby starts to ask questions she never dared to before. Was the voice she heard that night Ben's? Was Ben even capable of murder? As she uncovers the truth she's been avoiding her whole life she begins to realize that everyone in her family had something to hide that day... especially Ben. But that being said...

Who did massacre the Day family?

Holy Balls! This book had my emotions all over the place. Dark Places is just that... Dark. And much like Gone Girl this book had so much mystery in it. Gillian Flynn has this creepy amazing way of writing creepy and amazing stories. Dark Places had me hooked from page one. The way she had the main character Libby talk was in itself something worth reading. Gillian basically tortures readers for 350 pages just a FYI! 

 

Dark Places is one of those books that is so hard to write a review on without giving anything away... I think the best way to describe this book is by comparing it to Clue the board game... You know all the players involved, you know all the settings, and you know all the weapons. You are given little clues here and there and you have your little card to check off what you think... The Who, What, When, Where, and even the Why. Gillian give you pieces of a whole, much like the game. Sometimes she reveals that it was the candlestick, and sometimes your shown its professor plum. But you still have no idea what the real answer is until you're so close to the end of the game that you finally are begging to open that little envelope and see what the final answer is.... That's exactly how Dark Places was. I spent 99% of the time coming up with all these crazy theories... 

All I can say is that every single one of my theories were both right and wrong at the same time. Gillian plays out the novel in such an amazing way. Bouncing from the present to the past, and never letting on more than she needed too. I hate when books do this too, not in the case of Dark Places. I was craving the flashbacks I needed them. I wanted to know more about their mother, and father, and Ben. God did I want to know what was up with him! And like I said above, Libby was AMAZING! Such a well written and confusingly like-able character. You really don't want to like her but at the same time you're kind of cheering her on. But Libby isn't just a victim, she has plenty of dark secrets and mystery to her as the next person in her family.

“There are few phrases that annoy me more than I won't bite. The only line that pisses me off faster is when some drunk, ham-faced dude in a bar sees me trying to get past him and barks: Smile, it can't be that bad! Yeah, actually, it can, jackwad.” 

The only thing that kept this book from being a perfect ten star book for me was some of the ending. It got a little jumbled to the end, but that being said was still completely mind blowing. When the big reveal happens you'll more than likely have your jaw dragging on the floor like I did. Dark Places was amazing.

I can't wait to see this movie in theaters! If you haven't had a chance to read this book please do so before the movie comes out! I know Leah and I will be there opening day clinging to the edge of our seats!

9.5/10 Stars 

-Angela

Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

Beautiful Bastard by: Christina Lauren

Hardworking, smart, sassy, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He's exacting, rude, blunt, inconsiderate, and completely irresistible. Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family's massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who'd been helping him from abroad and has worked for his family for awhile now to be gorgeous and completely infuriating. Despite what people say around the water cooler, he's never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe's so tempting he might be willing to smash all the rules if it means he can smash her all over the office. As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they're willing to lose in order to win each other.

If you read or follow our blog at all then you know that once or twice a month I like to break out my norm and read something a little more.... more... I'm sure you get what I mean. Well this month I read Beautiful Bastard. It was mmmm interesting. This probably wont be the longest review ever but I will give you some kind of sum up of everything.  

Chloe is a witty, silver tongued leading lady who can dish it out as well as take it in. As far as character development goes she doesn't really have any. She was funny but as the story went along I liked her less. At the start of the novel I really liked her bluntness and how up front she was about everything. As it went on though I started to care less and less for her. Everyone keeps saying how smart she is but yet she never really gets to display her intelligence. As for Mr. Bennett he was the complete opposite. As the story went on I liked him more and more. He went from this un-realistic to good to be true man to an actual person. He made the book interesting, and had the character development that we didn't get from Chloe.... Plus he sounds Smokin' Hawt!

As far as the plot goes, well, there really isn't to much of one. This story is based almost 100% on steamy scenes, and sometimes I was like:

 










Goodness gracious this is hot....

and sometimes I was like:

This is just a little too much, and not in a good way.  

Overall though this book is a quick, fun, and hot read with a few moments of ehh mixed in. I really liked how the story played out and the ending was actually pretty cute.

It was a really good book to read in between series, but I don't think I'll be reading book two. I just don't think there's really anywhere for it to go. 

7.5/10 Stars 

-Angela