Ash Reads Stuff

Okay, look. I have a problem with hyped up books. I have issues with people talking and talking about something and telling me to read it. I've been burned before (Allegiant ring a bell to anyone?) and sometimes I'm just not into the book that everyone else loves. No big deal, it's just me. So I never read The Raven Boys or any of the rest of the series. I didn't really even have an inkling that I might want to read the books. Honestly, I don't even know why I picked it up in the first place two weeks ago. I grabbed an audiobook of   The Raven Boys  on my library app because I like to listen to books on my long ass commute to and from work and when I read. I had to wait about a week for the book, so I read some other stuff during that time, including Maggie's All the Crooked Saints , which I didn't love and therefore was wary of TRB. Okay, I also just remembered that because I read All the Crooked Saints  I wanted to try TRB. Great, now we've come...

Hero at the Fall  by Alwyn Hamilton Publication Date:  March 6th, 2018 Pages: 463 (hardcover) Genre: Young Adult Fantasy My Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: When gunslinging Amani Al'Hiza escaped her dead-end town, she never imagined she'd join a revolution, let alone lead one. But after the bloodthirsty Sultan of Miraji imprisoned the Rebel Prince Ahmed in the mythical city of Eremot, she doesn't have a choice. Armed with only her revolver, her wits, and her untameable Demdji powers, Amani must rally her skeleton crew of rebels for a rescue mission through the unforgiving desert to a place that, according to maps, doesn't exist. As she watches those she loves most lay their lives on the line against ghouls and enemy soldiers, Amani questions whether she can be the leader they need or if she is leading them all to their deaths. My Review:  It's been a hot minute since I've actually had time to sit down and read a book, let alone write...

The Raging Ones  by Krista & Becca Ritchie Publication Date: August 14, 2018 Pages:  400 (kindle) Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction My Goodreads Rating:  4 Stars Synopsis: An edge of your seat sci-fi romance with twists and turns that you will never see coming! In a freezing world, where everyone knows the day they will die, three teens break all odds. Franny Bluecastle, a tough city teen, dreams of dying in opulence, to see wealth she’s never known. Like the entire world, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday. Until the day she does. Court Icecastle knows wealth. He also knows pain. Spending five years in Vorkter Prison, a fortress of ice and suffering, he dreams of life beyond the people that haunt him and the world that imprisoned him. Mykal Kickfall fights for those he loves. The rugged Hinterlander shares a frustrating yet unbreakable connection with Court—which only grows more lawless and chaotic as their senses and emotions ...

The Trials of Apollo: The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan Publication Date: May 2, 2017 Pages:  414 (hardcover) Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy My Goodreads Rating:  3 Stars Goodreads Synopsis: Zeus has punished his son Apollo—god of the sun, music, archery, poetry, and more—by casting him down to earth in the form of a gawky, acne-covered sixteen-year-old mortal named Lester. The only way Apollo can reclaim his rightful place on Mount Olympus is by restoring several Oracles that have gone dark. What is affecting the Oracles, and how can Apollo do anything about them without his powers? After experiencing a series of dangerous—and frankly, humiliating—trials at Camp Half-Blood, Apollo must now leave the relative safety of the demigod training ground and embark on a hair-raising journey across North America. Fortunately, what he lacks in godly graces he's gaining in new friendships—with heroes who will be very familiar to fans of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and ...

The Way We Fall  by Cassia Leo Publication Date:  February 20, 2015 Pages:  309 (kindle) Genre: Romance/Women's Fiction My Goodreads Rating:  2.5 Stars Goodreads Synopsis:  Five pages. A letter holding a secret buried for more than five years. A secret neither of them wanted to know. Five years after their messy breakup, Houston and Rory are forced to work together opening up a new wine bar. Despite their tragic past, they find themselves once again drawn to each other, unable to deny their potent attraction. But the secret of the letter hangs like a guillotine over their heads. And soon, Houston finds himself in the same position he was in five years ago, choosing between the truth and the only woman he’s ever loved. My Review:  I picked this book up as a freebie and was looking for something short and fluffy to read this weekend, just to get my mind off the work week. Well, I chose wrong because this book is anything but fluff...