BEA'S BOOK NOOK "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once." C. S. Lewis “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

Showing posts with label dystopian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dystopian. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Steph Reviews Theirs to Pleasure: A Reverse Harem Romance By Stasia Black

Steph, Review, Theirs to Pleasure, Reverse Harem Romance, Stasia Black, Bea's Book NookPublisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Series: Marriage Raffle Series #2
Format Read: E-Book
Source: Purchased From Amazon
Release Date: May 31, 2018
Buying Links: Amazon* * affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

In the New Republic, every woman must marry five men. It’s the law. Welcome to the apocalypse.

Shay came into the township knowing she’d be a lottery bride. So she’d have to marry five men. She wasn’t the naïve girl she’d been eight years ago. She’d learned the lessons that had been beaten into her and she’d learned them well. So yes, so she’d share her body with her new husbands. But her secrets were still her own.

The men are different than she expected, though. They each had their own reasons for entering the lottery. There’s Charlie, who’s so sweet and kind. Rafe, who’s a light-hearted jokester during the day but dark and demanding in bed. Then Jonas and Henry and Gabriel, each bringing their own damage and beauty to the clan until, day by day, they begin to feel like a real family.

There’s just one little problem with the happy new family clan.

One of them isn’t who he appears to be. He is a spy for the enemy. Will Shay and the township be doomed before she and her husbands have a chance at lasting happiness?

Please note that this book contains some dark elements and covers sensitive topics. Any reader that feels they shouldn't venture into this apocalyptic world of sometimes harsh realities should please consider before reading.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Bea Reviews Chimera by Mira Grant

Bea's Book Nook, Review, Chimera by Mira Grant, science fiction
Series: Parasitology #3
Publisher: Orbit
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 24, 2015
Challenges: Finishing the Series
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

The final book in Mira Grant's terrifying Parasitology trilogy.

The outbreak has spread, tearing apart the foundations of society, as implanted tapeworms have turned their human hosts into a seemingly mindless mob.

Sal and her family are trapped between bad and worse, and must find a way to compromise between the two sides of their nature before the battle becomes large enough to destroy humanity, and everything that humanity has built...including the chimera.

The broken doors are closing. Can Sal make it home?

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Jax Reviews Snatched by Katherine McIntyre

Publisher: Jupiter Gardens Fiction
Format Read: ebook
Source: from author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 11, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon*OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

When Kara was ten, the shifters took her parents.

A year ago, they took her best friend Hunter.

And now, the night before her first military strike against those monsters on the surface, the shifters take the only person she has left: her little sister Lizzy.

The snatched don’t come back. That’s what Kara’s believed her entire life, but the first person she finds above ground is the best friend she thought lost forever. Turns out, the higher ups lied. Other colonies are out there, hell even folks who toughed it up above. If anyone knows how to get her sister back, these people would. However, unless she can rally these surfacers into an army, one girl with a shotgun won’t survive long against the very creatures that overturned her world.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Bea Reviews Symbiont by Mira Grant

Publisher: Orbit
Series:Parasitology #2
Format Read: hardcover
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 25, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit*' | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

THE SECOND BOOK IN MIRA GRANT'S TERRIFYING PARASITOLOGY SERIES.


THE ENEMY IS INSIDE US.

The SymboGen designed tapeworms were created to relieve humanity of disease and sickness. But the implants in the majority of the world's population began attacking their hosts turning them into a ravenous horde.

Now those who do not appear to be afflicted are being gathered for quarantine as panic spreads, but Sal and her companions must discover how the tapeworms are taking over their hosts, what their eventual goal is, and how they can be stopped.

Friday, November 14, 2014

The Friday 56 Symbiont by Mira Grant

This is a fun meme to do hosted by Freda's Voice. If you'd like to join in the fun go to The Friday 56.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

After the glut of Christmas romances that I read for the Ho Ho Ho Read-A-Thon, I needed something with some meat to it. I decided the newest Parasitology book, Symbiont by the ever fabulous Mira Grant, fit the bill. It's a science fiction dystopian, set 13 years in the future. The quote is from page 56  in the hard cover.




The man standing on the other side was almost an anti-climax. He was barefoot, and his pants were unfastened, like he had been in the process of getting undressed when his thoughts became scrambled and unclear. 

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

ARC Review of The Last Town by Blake Crouch

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Series: Wayward Pines #3
Format Read: Kindle book
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: July 15, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Welcome to Wayward Pines, the last town.

Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrived in Wayward Pines, Idaho, three weeks ago. In this town, people are told who to marry, where to live, where to work. Their children are taught that David Pilcher, the town's creator, is god. No one is allowed to leave; even asking questions can get you killed.

But Ethan has discovered the astonishing secret of what lies beyond the electrified fence that surrounds Wayward Pines and protects it from the terrifying world beyond. It is a secret that has the entire population completely under the control of a madman and his army of followers, a secret that is about to come storming through the fence to wipe out this last, fragile remnant of humanity.

Blake Crouch's electrifying conclusion to the Wayward Pines Series?now a Major Television Event Series debuting Summer 2014 on FOX? will have you glued to the page right down to the very last word.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Trilogy Giveaway & Blog Tour Review of Sunrise by Mike Mullin

 
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Series: Ashfall #3 
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: March 17, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* B&N Book Depository* | IndieBound
* affiliate links; purchases made through these links result in a small commission for the blog.

The Yellowstone supervolcano nearly wiped out the human race. Now, almost a year after the eruption, the survivors seem determined to finish the job. Communities wage war on each other, gangs of cannibals roam the countryside, and what little government survived the eruption has collapsed completely. The ham radio has gone silent. Sickness, cold, and starvation are the survivors’ constant companions.

When it becomes apparent that their home is no longer safe and adults are not facing the stark realities, Alex and Darla must create a community that can survive the ongoing disaster, an almost impossible task requiring even more guts and more smarts than ever—and unthinkable sacrifice. If they fail . . . they, their loved ones, and the few remaining survivors will perish.

This epic finale has the heart of Ashfall, the action of Ashen Winter, and a depth all its own, examining questions of responsibility and bravery, civilization and society, illuminated by the story of an unshakable love that transcends a post-apocalyptic world and even life itself.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Release Day Review of Parasite by Mira Grant

Publisher: Orbit
Series: Parasitology Volume 1
Format Read: both egalley & hardcover
Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 29, 2013
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate link; the blog receives a small commission for purchases made through this link.

Blurb from goodreads:

A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease.

We owe our good health to a humble parasite - a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the tapeworm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system - even secretes designer drugs. It's been successful beyond the scientists' wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them.

But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives...and will do anything to get them.  

Friday, October 25, 2013

The Friday 56 #4



This is a fun meme to do hosted by Freda's Voice. If you'd like to join on the fun go to The Friday 56.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

I'm reading "Parasite" by Mira Grant, who is a favorite author of mine. It's sci fi dystopian horror. My review will be up next week. Click on the cover to go to it's goodreads page.




"There were these people at the mall, I think they were sick." I lifted my head to see Joyce grabbing the remote off the coffee table. She clicked the TV on, flipping channels until she landed on CNN. They were airing a story about reality-star salaries. She snarled. "Why aren't they saying anything? I'm going to my room. Maybe the Internet will have a clue." She whirled and went stomping out of the room. Her bedroom door slammed a few seconds later. 

I pulled away from Mom. "So what was that you were saying last week, about how I used to be the dramatic one? Can we have a re-vote on that title?"


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Friday, July 19, 2013

Jax Reviews The Lost Code and The Dark Shore: Books One & Two of the Atlanteans by Kevin Emerson



Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Format Read: Nook book
Source: Free Friday read from Barnes & Noble
Release Date: May 22, 2012
Purchasing links: The Lost Code: Amazon* Barnes and Noble Omnilit
The Dark Shore: Amazon* Barnes and Noble Omnilit

*affiliate link; clicking & making a purchase will result in a small commission for the blog.

Book Blurb: (taken from goodreads)
The Lost Code: In the year 2086, Camp Eden promises summer “the way things used to be,” back before the oceans rose, the sun became a daily enemy, and modern civilization sank into chaos. Located inside the EdenWest BioDome, the camp is an oasis of pine trees, cool water, and rustic charm.
But all at Camp Eden is not what it seems.
No one will know this better than 15-year-old Owen Parker. A strange underwater vision, even stranger wounds on Owen’s neck, and a cryptic warning from the enchanting lifeguard Lilly hint at a mystery that will take Owen deep beneath Lake Eden and even deeper into the past. What he discovers could give him the chance to save the tattered planet. But first, Owen will have to escape Camp Eden alive…


WHAT IS OLDEST WILL BE NEW,
WHAT WAS LOST SHALL BE FOUND

The Dark Shore: Owen and Lilly have escaped Camp Eden, but the next step on their journey to find Atlantis and protect it from Paul and Project Elysium involves crossing the perilous wastelands of a wrecked planet. And unlike in EdenWest, where bloody truths were kept hidden beneath the surface, out here the horrors live bright beneath the poisonous sun.
With treachery at every turn, Owen has no choice but to bring his wounded clan to the dark shores of Desenna, a city built from the ashes of EdenSouth. Desenna's blood-soaked walls may hold the key to Owen's journey in the form of the third Atlantean as well as a deeper understanding of the true purpose of the Three, but there are also secrets lurking in the shadows, waiting to be unleashed, and once they rise, there may be no escape.



Thursday, November 8, 2012

Spotlight: The Breeders by Matthew J. Beier





Matthew J. Beier’s new novel "The Breeders", set in a dystopian future where homosexuals run the world and heterosexuals are being set on a path to extinction, is available now from Epicality Books. Beier, an openly gay Minnesota native, hopes the political satire will add fuel to the nation’s debate over gay marriage, coming just in time to dovetail with Minnesota’s proposed amendment to ban it.

 Beier knows something most heterosexual people don’t: what it’s like to be perceived as a threat—or even hated—due to his sexual orientation. In a unique reflection of his own life experience, "The Breeders" flips social norms upside down and imagines a future where homosexuals have figured out how to reproduce via genetic engineering, and heterosexuals are the disdained minority—kept around only as a backup plan for human survival. Inspiration for the novel came from the National Organization for Marriage, whose 2008 ad campaign equating gay marriage to “a coming storm” was both humorous and frustrating for the author.

“Despite the fact that I’ve been very fortunate in avoiding any life-altering instances of prejudice, I’m often on the outside, looking in,” he says of his experience living on the homosexual fringe. “When I see political agendas, news stories, or online news comments conveying fear or disgust over the GLBT community, I can’t help but think that most of the people behind them haven’t even bothered to put themselves in the place of those they are speaking out against. In developing The Breeders, I asked myself, ‘What would happen if I imagined it for them?’” 

What drew Beier’s attention was the idea of two heterosexuals conceiving a child in a future where reckless, unplanned reproduction is the most hated of human flaws. The book draws on current political, media, and scientific trends to make the dystopian future feel as realistic as possible.

“The Breeders takes this scenario to the extreme, but at its core is a story about two human beings trying to find their own worth in a society that drags them down,” Beier says. “I think the book is hitting at just the right time due to the public attention focused on gay marriage issues, bullying, and anti-gay prejudice. I’m often surprised to see just how diverse people’s beliefs and feelings are on these subjects, especially when hatred and violence are involved. One of the key problems is that there are so few conversation starters out there that encourage the differing camps to understand each other.” 

While Beier hopes "The Breeders" will be entertaining for people of all political persuasions, he also hopes it will foster dialogue between people of differing opinions on human rights and social progress. “My dream,” he says, “is to help people to see that humanity is—to quote Albus Dumbledore—only as strong as it is united and as weak as it is divided. But if this novel simply makes anybody’s list of top books to read, that would be a thrill, too.”

I like the cover of this book, though why it has icebergs I have no idea. I guess I'll have to read it to find out. It's an intriguing premise with a dynamite plot. If you read it before I do, let me know what you think.


Author: Matthew Beier 
ISBN: 978-0983859406 
Publisher: Epicality Books 
Genre: Fiction, Dystopian, Speculative
Release Date: January 2012 
Formats: paperback, ebook
Length: 426 pages, 708 KB
Price: $14.99US 
Buying Links:  The Book Depository   Amazon   Barnes & Noble

Interested? Check out the book trailer.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

ARC Review of Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin

Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Series: Ashfall #2
Release Date: October 16, 2012
Buying Links:  Amazon   Barnes & Noble   The Book Depository   Tanglewood Press


Book Blurb (from goodreads):

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

Reviewed By: Bea

*May contain spoilers for Ashfall*


Bea's Thoughts:


Last fall I read and enjoyed the first book in this series, Ashfall. It was a compelling story that kept me up until 3AM. I knew I had to read Ashen Winter and it was worth the wait. I worried that it wouldn't be as good the first book, that Mullin wouldn't be able to sustain the story and keep it interesting and well-told. I didn't give him enough credit. *bashes self on head*

I started the book early in the day which was a good thing because it is long, 576 pages. A few times it dragged, some scenes could have been shortened in my opinion, but overall I wouldn't change a thing about this book. It starts shortly after Ashfall ended; Alex is determined to go look for his parents while Darla thinks they should stay where they are but insists on accompanying him. Naturally, the search doesn't go as planned, there are many things that go wrong, a few that go right and even a reunion or two along the way. At times I had to remind myself that Alex was only sixteen; he was impulsive, emotional and reactive. But that's part of the beauty of Mullin's writing; I got so caught up in the story telling and what was happening that I'd be getting upset with Alex and mentally fussing at him not to do this or to please do that just as if he were a real person. Although Alex has matured a great deal during the months since the eruption, he's still young and still sometimes reckless.  

The story grips you and makes you feel what it must be like to be in Alex and Darla's circumstances. Mullin did a lot of research and it shows but he doesn't hit you over the head with it, it's part of the story. It's amazing, detailed, realistic world building. I particularly appreciated his depiction of someone with autism; it was honest, respectful, and realistic. That character is a good addition to the story and I hope to see more of him in the next book. In addition to all of the technical details that contribute to the reader feeling like they are there, Mullin doesn't forget about the emotional aspects. You feel the cold and hunger, the desperation to survive, and ultimately, the costs of the choices we make. Every choice has a consequence, some positive, some negative, some neutral, but there is always a reaction and sometimes there are no good choices or answers. Alex learned that in Ashfall, but it gets brutally reinforced in this book. It's not a happy, easy, or comfortable book. But is is, I believe, an honest look at survival and the choices we make. There's currently one more book left in the series but the world Mullin has created could easily support an entire multi-book series, with or without Alex and Darla.

If you want a compelling, engaging, well-told story that makes you both think and feel, then you want to read Ashen Winter.



I received an eARC from the publisher.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Cover for Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin


Very eye-catching, no? That red really stands out. Ashen Winter is book 2 in Mike Mullin's Ashfall trilogy, due out in October of this year. Ashfall was a wonderful book, and I have high hopes for Ashen Winter. I stayed up very, very late reading Ashfall (I think it was 3 in the morning or something ridiculous like that). I'll be sure to start Ashen Winter earlier, maybe on the weekend.

Click on the cover to link to the goodreads description. You want this book, you really do.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Review of "Ashfall" by Mike Mullin

Publisher: Tanglewood Press

Release Date: October 11, 2011

Series: #1 in Ashfall series

Buying Links:  Amazon     The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):

Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget.

Teaser: "Yeah...no." My sorrow dissolved in a wave of pure fury. What kind of place was this, where tens of thousands of people were herded together without adequate shelter, without decent latrines? A cattle pen, not fit for humans. And the guards, Captain Jameson, they were people just like me. For the first time ever, I felt ashamed of my species. The volcano had taken our homes, our food, our automobiles, and our airplanes, but it hadn't taken our humanity. No, we'd given that up on our own.



My Thoughts: Mike Mullin, as you can see from the teaser above, pulls no punches. This is a dystopian novel and he really makes you feel it. At the beginning of the book, Alex lives a quiet life - he lives in a house in a small town in Iowa with his parents and sister, he attends public school, and enjoys computer games. The most exciting thing he does is take taekwondo classes. He's taken them for years and enjoys them, and at not quite sixteen he's earned a black belt. Then a volcano in Yellowstone Park blows and everything changes (BTW, the volcano is real, click here for more info). 

When the book starts, Alex is home alone. His parents and sister are away for the weekend, visiting his uncle Paul and his family in Illinois. Alex fought with his mother about going and was successful in his quest to stay home. That decision proves fateful. Alex is in his bedroom when there's an earthquake type rumble and the power goes out. That event is immediately followed by a cracking noise, the house falling, and his bedroom catching on fire. He manages to escape and takes refuge with some neighbors after his house burns down. He stays with them for several days and they learn that the supervolcano at Yellowstone blew and the affects are being felt all the way to the west coast in California and Oregon (click for a US map if you need a refresher or are unfamiliar with US geography).

For several days, the falling ash blocks the sun and the world is in near total darkness. The ash falls continually for about a week then falls more erratically after that. It's a rare day that goes by without ashfall. The fall has dumped from six inches to two feet, depending on location, topography, etc.The result is that crops have been buried, many killed off, the water supply in many areas is contaminated, power is out, phones are out, and there's little to no communication with the outside world. 

After a violent incident at the neighbor's house, Alex decides to find his family. He returns to the remains of his house, scrounges up supplies, and sets off to Illinois to find his family. Thus begins his trek. It's challenging, physically, mentally, and emotionally. The roads are covered, cars are buried in ash, many houses and buildings were destroyed in the eruption and people are terrified. Alex encounters people whose first reaction is to pull a shotgun and people who willingly share their home, water, and food. He also encounters people who, understandably, are inclined not to share but to hoard what they have for themselves. Alex himself discovers how far he is willing to go to save his supplies in an encounter with a little girl at shelter. Later, he redeems himself in a heartwrenching encounter with a mother and her young children. His companion, Darla, is more pragmatic and thinks his compassion will be the death of them. 


I rummaged through our pack. "What are you doing?" Darla whispered. "Making some dinner." "Alex, we should move on. Find another camp for tonight. We've helped them enough." ....."They don't have any food or water bottles. Who knows how long it's been since they've eaten." "And who knows how long 'til we'll eat again if you give away all our food." "I won't give it all away." "Where are we going to get more when we run out?" "I don't know.".....If all we did was what we should to survive, how were we any better than Target? I took out three water bottles and the frying pan....."She's right, you know. You don't owe us anything. You should keep your supplies."....."We might die because of all the stuff my stupid, softhearted boyfriend is leaving you. So don't you die, too.You take this stuff, and you keep yourself and your kids alive. You hear?" "I hear."
 Darla is not without compassion but she's eminently practical and a bit of a Darwinist. Alex is practical, resourceful and compassionate. He's willing to give people a chance but he's also capable and willing to defend both himself and what's his. Those taekwondo lessons he took come in very handy throughout the book.

 I loved this book and I don't love dystopian stories. I do like some forms of sci fi and I think this clearly falls in that category. Mullin did his research and it shows but at no time are we subjected to info dumps or long expository scenes that don't really quite fit into what's going on. He weaves it in so that we learn it as Alex learns it. The story is told in first person narrative and it works very well. We see through Alex's eyes and are in his head as he deals with surviving and finding his family. It happens to us, just as it happens to Alex. You feel like you're there.

Alex and Darla, a girl he meets on his trek who becomes his traveling companion, are very believable, and likable, teenagers. The adults are not all evil or nincompoops or incompetent but complex and detailed. We meet a wide range of characters and get a realistic look at how people react in a catastrophe. Mullin writes plainly and clearly, it's not fancy but it is very, very effective and he has a real knack for imagery. 

I remember a lot of those arguments. That Friday they only fueled my rage. Now they're little jewels of memory I hoard, hard and sharp under my skin. Now I'd sell my right arm to a cannibal to argue with Mom again,
 Long tendrils of flame licked into the attic above my sister's collapsed bedroom, cat tongues washing the rafters and underside of the roof decking with fire.
But unlike thunder, this didn't stop. It went on and on, machine-gun style, as if Zeus had loaded his bolts into an M60 with an inexhaustible ammo crate.
 "Ashfall" is powerful, emotional, thrilling, and it hooks you from the opening line. This book is pretty close to perfect - the pacing, the action, the characterization, the story line, the language, almost everything. The only thing I question is the depiction of the government and the military, it's pretty stereotypical. I'm curious to see what happens in the next book and how events play out about it, not just with the government and the military, but everything. If you like a strong, emotional story that will keep you reading until 3AM (I was so tired the next day but it was so worth it), go buy "Ashfall".

I received an eARC from NetGalley.