Books Via Ashley

Artemis by Andy Weir * I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * Synopsis (from Goodreads) Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first. Review I always feel a little sorry for an author when their debut becomes such a runaway hit. The Martian was amazing, and I mean, MATT DAMON starred in th...

The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A Flynn Synposis ( from Goodreads ) "England, 1815: Two travelers—Rachel Katzman and Liam Finucane—arrive in a field, disheveled and weighed down with hidden money. They are not what they seem, but colleagues from a technologically advanced future, posing as a doctor and his spinster sister. While Rachel and Liam aren’t the first team of time travelers, their mission is the most audacious yet: meet, befriend, and steal from Jane Austen." Review Time travel and Jane Austen. I mean, what's not  to like? I was swept up in this story from page one. The writing is great, plot is pretty straightforward: They need to infiltrate Jane Austen's circle, first by befriending her brother, then steal a manuscript and some letters between her and her sister, Cassandra. But of course things don't go as planned.  The story is told from Rachel's point of view. She's a doctor, an independent woman, and in her early thirt...

Nyxia by Scott Reintgen * I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review * Synposis ( from Goodreads ) "Emmett Atwater isn't just leaving Detroit; he's leaving Earth. Why the Babel Corporation recruited him is a mystery, but the number of zeroes on their contract has him boarding their lightship and hoping to return to Earth with enough money to take care of his family. Forever. Before long, Emmett discovers that he is one of ten recruits, all of whom have troubled pasts and are a long way from home. Now each recruit must earn the right to travel down to the planet of Eden--a planet that Babel has kept hidden--where they will mine a substance called Nyxia that has quietly become the most valuable material in the universe. But Babel's ship is full of secrets. And Emmett will face the ultimate choice: win the fortune at any cost, or find a way to fight that won't forever compromise what it means to be human." Re...

Defy The Stars - Claudia Gray Synopsis  ( from Goodreads ) "She's a soldier. He's a machine. Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true." Review This was my first Claudia Gray book and now I have to go read everything she's ever written. But seriously, this was some great sci-fi fun. I loved every minute of this book! The book is told from two viewpoints: Noemi and Abel. They start off as enemies, learn to trust each other, become friends, and fall in love. Both characters start off one way and through each other grow and become better and realize important things about themselves. This is what I love to...

Ensnared by Rita Stradling I received a free ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis ( from Goodreads ) "Alainn’s father is not a bad man. He’s a genius and an inventor. When he’s hired to create the robot Rose, Alainn knows taking the money is a mistake. Rose acts like a human. She looks exactly like Alainn. But, something in her comes out wrong. To save her father from a five year prison sentence, Alainn takes Rose’s place. She says goodbye to the sun and goes to live in a tower no human is allowed to enter. She becomes the prisoner of a man no human is allowed to see. Believing that a life of servitude lies ahead, Alainn finds a very different fate awaits her in the company of the strange, scarred recluse." Review The premise sounded very interesting: Beauty and the Beast retelling in the near-future with robots and AI. But it really really fell flat. I read the first few chapters, then put it down for a couple of  months . ...

Empress of a Thousand Skies - Rhoda Belleza Synopsis ( from Goodreads ) "Rhee is the only surviving heir to an ancient Kalusian dynasty. Alyosha is a Wraetan who has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. Their paths collide with one brutal act of violence: Rhee is attacked, barely escaping with her life. Aly is blamed for her presumed murder. The princess and her accused killer are forced to go into hiding - even as a war between planets is waged in Rhee's name. But soon, Rhee and Aly discover that the assassination attempt is just one part of a sinister plot. Bound together by an evil that only they can stop, the two fugitives must join forces to save the galaxy." Review This was our March 2017 Book Club pick! This book received a lot of hype. I actually got the physical paperback, and the cover is gorgeous, plus there's a great map. I think the biggest thing that bugged me about this book was the blurb...

Behind The Throne  - K. B. Wagers Synopsis ( From Goodreads ) "Quick, sarcastic, and lethal, Hailimi Bristol doesn't suffer fools gladly. She has made a name for herself in the galaxy for everything except what she was born to do: rule the Indranan Empire. That is, until two Trackers drag her back to her home planet to take her rightful place as the only remaining heir. But trading her ship for a palace has more dangers than Hail could have anticipated. Caught in a web of plots and assassination attempts, Hail can't do the one thing she did twenty years ago: run away. She'll have to figure out who murdered her sisters if she wants to survive." Review What. A. Book. As an avid Star Wars and Science Fiction lover, I was enthralled from page one. The plot is a tense political drama--someone wants to overthrow the Empire and they have to find out who before they get killed. To be honest, it's a simple plot, but it was very well paced and definitely ...

Carve The Mark - Veronica Roth Synopsis ( From Goodreads ) "Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s currentgift gives her pain and power — something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows. Akos is the son of a farmer and an oracle from the frozen nation-planet of Thuvhe. Protected by his unusual currentgift, Akos is generous in spirit, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get his brother out alive — no matter what the cost. Then Akos is thrust into Cyra's world, and the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. Will they help each other to survive, or will they destroy one another?" Review Good new sci-fi. I didn't really know what to expect from the premise, but t...

The Forgetting  - Sharon Cameron Synposis The city of Canaan is a peaceful place, but every twelve years, it delves into chaos during the Forgetting, where everyone forgets everything: who they are, who everyone else is, what they've done. The only way to remember is to write everything down in their Books. Except Nadia remembers. As the next Forgetting nears, can she solve the secrets of the Forgetting, and protect the ones she loves? Review Cameron creates a very interesting and believable world with such a fascinating question: What if society restarted every twelve years? People don't know anything besides what is written in their books. It doesn't delve too deep into a discussion, but definitely promoted thoughts for me about why we do things the way we do in society. In Canaan, because it's the way things are they assume it's the way it's always been, since no one can remember otherwise. But do we see the same patterns in society today? What wou...

The Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer Time for Series Saturday ! This is one of the new features I'm going to start including on my blog, where I review a series as a whole, rather than just the individual books within it. The Lunar Chronicles is a series that I’ve been hearing about for years . I knew it was a retelling of various fairytales and for some reason, it just really didn’t catch my interest. However, the first book, " Cinder ", was on sale one day for Kindle and I bought it on the fly. It then sat in my "To Read" folder for over a year and a half. One day, I was in a book funk where none of the current books I had out from the library were really satisying the mood and feel I was angling for (I think avid book readers know what I’m talking about). As I scrolled through my "To Read" folder, I saw "Cinder" and thought, "Well, might as well see how this is." Instantly hooked. Set in a somewhat distant future...

Partials - Dan Wells This is Book 1 in the Partials Sequence trilogy Synopsis In the near future, scientist have created super-humans, called Partials, which they used as soldiers in a great war against China. Then, denied rights as human beings, the Partials fight against their human creators. The war ends when a huge virus has wipes out 99.9% of the human population. The people left (in the US at least) have formed a society on Long Island, while the remaining Partials occupy Manhattan and other cities. Unfortunately, all new human babies being born die within a day from the virus. This means extinction for humans is on the horizon. The Partials face a similar dilemma: They were built with an expiration date and are also beginning to die out. Kira is a teen who works in the hospital and is studying the virus, determined to find a cure. While out on a mission, she and her friends capture a Partial, Samm, who helps lead to a discovery about the virus and the origins of the ...

The Martian by Andy Weir Synopsis The Ares 3 Mars mission is forced to abandon their 31-day mission on day six due to a huge sandstorm. Unfortunately, a flying piece of debris hits Mark Watney as the crew makes their way to the ship. He's lost in the storm, and the five other members leave him behind, thinking he's dead. Well, he's not. Instead, he's stuck on Mars. By himself. With only thirty days of food and limited supplies and no way to communicate to back home. And the next Mars mission won't be there for four years. Plus, if anything breaks down, he's dead. So he'd better get to work on figuring out how to survive. Review I first heard about this book about six months ago, saw the thousands of five-star ratings on Amazon, and bought it. It joined my "To Read" queue, but was repeatedly pushed back by library books with more immediate due dates. Finally, with the movie release coming up soon, I moved it to the top of my list a...

Redshirts by John Scalzi Winner of the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novel Synopsis Andy Dahl has just arrived the galactic ship  Intrepid . But things aren't... quite normal. For one thing, people seem to die a lot, especially on away missions, and especially newer people who come on board. People act weird too, suddenly saying things or having knowledge and skills they never mentioned before, along with incredible technology that has no explanation. And it all seems to center around the Captain and four of his closest crew members, who manage to survive every away mission. So Dahl and his friends decide to do some investigating to figure out what's going on, and potentially save their own lives. What he discovers isn't at all what he was expecting. Review This is one of the more clever and humorous books I've read. It's great satire on the tropes and stereotypes of science fiction shows *cough*Star Trek*cough* (before anyone gets on my case, I was raised ...

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie Synopsis The Radch Empire stretches across the galaxy, expanding over the last two thousand years. They consider themselves superior to all other humans, and conquer other planets by "annexation", where people can either submit to rule, or die and have their bodies used as ancillaries, which are essentially corpses with an artificial intelligence downloaded into them. Justice of Toren is a starship with a self-aware AI system, thousands of years old. Justice is also manifest as an ancillary named  One Esk , sometimes other ancillaries. There is a division within the highest ranks of the Empire, and treason and betrayal rip everything away, leaving Justice of Toren  with only one human body/ancillary. Going by the name of Breq, she seeks revenge for what was done to her and those she cares about. While she is tracking down a person necessary to her plan, she comes across someone from her past, Seivarden, a captain who she supre...