"PODs" by Michelle K. Pickett

Release Date: June 4, 2013
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Pages: 312

From Goodreads: "Seventeen-year-old Eva is a chosen one. Chosen to live, while others meet a swift and painful death from an incurable virus so lethal, a person is dead within days of symptoms emerging. In the POD system, a series of underground habitats built by the government, she waits with the other chosen for the deadly virus to claim those above. Separated from family and friends, it's in the PODs she meets David. And while true love might not conquer all, it's a balm for the broken soul. 

After a year, scientists believe the population has died, and without living hosts, so has the virus. That's the theory, anyway. But when the PODs are opened, survivors find the surface holds a vicious secret. The virus mutated, infecting those left top-side and creating... monsters.

Eva and David hide from the infected in the abandoned PODs. Together they try to build a life--a new beginning. But the infected follow and are relentless in their attacks. Leaving Eva and David to fight for survival, and pray for a cure."

When I first heard the premise of "PODs" I was immediately intrigued at it has been a situation that I had given a fair amount of consideration to- having to live underground in a bunker due to some apocalyptic event (blame the National Geographic TV show "Doomsday Preppers"). That being said, when I did start to read the book I did find myself growing increasingly more and more skeptical- finding it to be fairly cheesy (the dialogue, especially). That being said, once the pacing of the story picked up, and I was able to better ground myself within it, I found said cheesiness to be a thing of the past.

I think that the biggest strength of this book was its ability to toy with emotions- admittedly I bawled my eyes out the first 30 pages of the book, something which is quite rare for me to do (while I have been known to tear up while watching TV, I can only count the number of times that I have while reading a book on one hand)- I think that author Michelle K. Pickett was able to accurately portray the feelings that Eva would have experienced in learning that she was one of few chosen to survive, while all of her friends and family members were not to.

Another element of the book that I enjoyed was the romance. While at time, as previously mentioned, it was a fair bit cheesy, I do appreciate that there was actual build-up to it- with Eva and David coming to know one another before forging a relationship, rather than jumping straight into it (as, unfortunately, happens fair too often in YA).

All in all, I highly recommend this book to fans of post-apocalyptic books as I do think that it brings something different to the table than we have seen before in the genre. Furthermore, I think that because it does offer a balance of action/ adventure and romance that it will appeal to a wide audience of readers. I personally can't wait to see what Michelle has in store for us next with the next installment of this series!

Rating: 4/5

I received this book from the publisher to read and honestly review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.

Cover Reveal: "Apollyon" by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Deity (The third book in the Covenant Series)

Available in both print and digital version on Nov. 6, 2012

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Official Deity Book Trailer 

http://youtu.be/RIqKBYMSTU8

Did you read an ARC of Deity and been dying to get your hands on Elixir, the novella told in Aiden’s POV and picks up right after the end of Deity? Well, you don’t have to wait any longer. The free novella is available now. DO NOT read Elixir if you have not read Deity. It will spoil Deity for you and not to mention, you will have no idea what is going on. 

Elixir will be available in print. Kindle, and Nook formats on November 27, 2012. 

Click HERE to read Elixir. 

And we’re super excited to share the cover for the 4th book in the Covenant Series, Apollyon, which is due out April 2013. 

Check out Jennifer L. Armentrout on the following sites:

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Official Website

"Masters of the Veil" by Daniel Cohen

Release Date: March 1, 2012
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Pages: 300

From Goodreads: "Life can't get much better for Sam Lock. Popular, good-looking, and with a future as a professional football player. every guy at Stanton High School wishes he were Sam. That is, until his championship football game, when Sam accidentally links with an ancient source of energy known as the Veil and reveals his potential to become a powerful sorcerer. Sam is whisked off to Atlas Crown, a community of sorcerers who utilize the Veil as a part of everyday life. Once there, he trains beside a mute boy who speaks through music, an eternal sage who's the eyes and ears of the Veil, and a beautiful girl who's pretty sure Sam's an idiot. As it becomes clear Sam's meant for power magic-the most feared and misunderstood form of sorcery-people beyond Atlas Crown learn of his dangerous potential. An exiled group of power sorcerers are eager to recruit Sam, believing that he is destined to help them achieve their long-held goal. If they succeed, they could bring about the downfall of not only Atlas Crown. but all humankind."

I am the sort of person who can finish at least one book a day- once I start a book it is near impossible to tear me away from it, essentially I will neglect EVERYTHING once I start reading a book. Furthermore, it is EXTREMELY uncommon for me to not finish a book (since I started reviewing books, almost two years ago, I have read and reviewed EVERY book which has come my way- in fact, I can't recall the last DNF I had). So how do those little facts relate to this book? This book was BY FAR the biggest struggle I have experienced since I started blogging- with every fiber of my being I wanted to not finish this book but I forced myself to (in all honesty I only finished it because I requested the book from the publisher and I would have felt guilty for not having read and reviewed it). This book took me almost two months to finish as I could only read ten or so pages before I would become overwhelmed and would have to set it down for the day. There were a large accumulation of reasons why I struggled so much with this book which I will elaborate upon below.

I must admit that I never fully understood what people meant when they said that in a book an author "showed rather than told", that is, until I read this book. I found the writing of this book to be too, "He did this and then he did this and then he did this", there to be very little description and depth to the dialogue and little to no emotion to the storyline of the book, nor the characters. I never experienced that heart-pounding feeling you get when one of a book's characters is about to experience something horrific or that "Awwwwwww" moment when two characters you have been rooting for the entire novel FINALLY come together- essentially everything was EXTREMELY flat and one-dimensional. 

Furthermore, I found all of the characters to be quite undeveloped- after reading the book I don't feel like I truly know any of them. What I do know is that the main character, Sam, and the love interest, Daphne, are quite unlikeable- Sam being not only quite close-minded but oblivious and gullible the entire novel and Daphne who, in my opinion, showed very few, if any, redeeming qualities (I am seriously baffled by what Sam saw in her. Oh wait, her looks. But seriously, can looks balance out being a big booger?).

And as for the storyline itself, I found that there was WAY too much stuff going on (someone asked me to describe this book to them and I told them that it was "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" meets "Harry Potter". On acid)- from the zigzag trees, which moved when people walked by them, to the echo flies, which mimicked a person physically and determined their worthiness, to gumptius, a game not unlike arm wrestling, though which magic is used, to baubles which would come out of a fish's mouth to be used as mouth wash, to sheep-like creatures whose wool would be consumed not unlike cotton candy- plus all of the magical stuff going on like the Veil, second-skins, etc.That being said, I do applaud author Daniel Cohen for his originality- as become evident from the aforementioned examples he has one of the most creative minds I have encountered in quite some time.

All in all, while I REALLY wanted to like this book, I was unable to. Furthermore, I unfortunately will not be continuing on with this series (which is uncharacteristic of me as I am the sort of person who NEEDS to finish a series, no matter how much I may dislike myself for doing so *Cough, cough, "House of Night" series and "Morganville Vampires"). That being said, if you are looking for a book that which has amazing world-building then this might be right up your alley!

Rating: 1/5

I received this book from the publisher to read and review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.

In My Mailbox: The Out of This World Edition

In My Mailbox is a weekly post hosted by Kirsti at The Story Siren as a chance to share the books we've bought or received over the past week.
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Bought
"The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
"Daimon" by Jennifer L. Armentrout
"A Million Suns" by Beth Revis

Won
"Haven" by Kristi Cook (Thanks to Rachel over Fiktshun)
"Born at Midnight" by C.C. Hunter (Thanks to Rachel over Fiktshun)
"City of Fallen Angels" by Cassie Clare (Thanks to Rachel over Fiktshun)
"Living Violet" by Jamie Reed (Thanks to author Ann Aguirre) 

For Review
"Jessica Rules the Dark Side" by Beth Fantaskey (Thanks to Thomas Allen and Sons)
"Masters of the Veil" by Daniel A. Cohen (Thanks to Spencer Hill Press)

What did you get in your mailbox?