All the Ugly and Wonderful Things - Bryn Greenwood

 A beautiful and provocative love story between two unlikely people and the hard-won relationship that elevates them above the Midwestern meth lab backdrop of their lives.

As the daughter of a drug dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. It's safer to keep her mouth shut and stay out of sight. Struggling to raise her little brother, Donal, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible adult around. Obsessed with the constellations, she finds peace in the starry night sky above the fields behind her house, until one night her star gazing causes an accident. After witnessing his motorcycle wreck, she forms an unusual friendship with one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold.

By the time Wavy is a teenager, her relationship with Kellen is the only tender thing in a brutal world of addicts and debauchery. When tragedy rips Wavy's family apart, a well-meaning aunt steps in, and what is beautiful to Wavy looks ugly under the scrutiny of the outside world. A powerful novel you wont soon forget, Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things challenges all we know and believe about love. 

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

 

Book 3 or five of the Empyrean series.  18 months at the Basigiath War Colloge finds Violet Sorrengail with no more time.  War is upon them and enemies are closing in.  She must solve the mystery of the other dragon race and travel beyond the wards to do so, seeking allies in unfamiliar lands, testing her strength, will and luck.

Well this was...a bit of a slog.  Not sure if it's because I found out after I started reading that this is only book 3 or because it was...a lot of rise and repeat. I mean how long can you drag out the slow demise of a way of life.  Oh right we are slowly living it in real life.  And how many times will people continue to lie and then put their life in each others hands once that trust will be broken.  Or how many times can you repeat a sex scene after two books.  I didn't feel like there was character movement, it felt static and like this was just filling pages.  Sure there were some "surprises" or twists that weren't completely out of character or weren't foreshadowed.

All in all if your already invested and read the first two, well it's up to you if you want to continue on.  I'm most likely going to finish the series at some point. 

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

Peter rescues a kit fox, Pax, after his family is killed.  When war approaches, Peter's father voluntarily enlists, forcing Peter to move in with his grandfather and thus forcing Peter to give Pax up in the wilds again.  But Peter knows his made an error and sets out to reunite with Pax on a journey against all odds for both.

This has got to be one of the most sweetest, well written books I have read in awhile.  The story jumps back and forth between Pax & Peter's viewpoints and their journeys/adventures finding each other and what they go through.  The beginning is heartbreaking and the end is no less so but the love and connection these two have for each other is the best part of the story.  Making this my most recommended book of this year.

Sassinak - Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Moon

 Born on a colony world, Sassinak was no stranger to a life full of discipline and the dangers of the universe.  But learning about it and living through it are very different things.  When she was twelve, the slavers came and her world was completely turned upside down.  But her spirit would not be broken and she would learn what true grit she had in her.

This book spans almost the whole life of the character Sassinak.  From her early childhood and being taken to growing up as a slave, freedom and changing into adulthood and "making it" as a fleet officer.  In true 70's/80's sci-fi style, this book has a little bit of everything, grit, fighting, political intrigue and coming of age in space.

I enjoyed this one.  I have a soft spot for Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon and surprisingly hadn't read this one yet even though it's been collecting dust on my self for decades. It's book one of a trilogy and I look forward to digging into the next ones.

We'd Know By Then - Kirsten Bohling

A monochrome world where everyone sees in black and white until you meet your soulmate.  Brighton Evans however has seen in color since the day she was born, so meeting her soulmate isn't so easy.  Which has led her to live a life of "happy enough".  However meeting Cain Whitaker - handsome, cheeky and a little to colorful in personality has her questioning her life.  

This book hooked me from the premise before I even cracked it open.  As an artistic person, this spoke to me on a different level.  Thrown in tall, dark, handsome AND CHHEEKY...well let's just say that I was done.  This was my Ali Hazelwood before I knew Ali Hazelwood.

100% recommend! 

A Home for Hannah - Amy Lillard

 It's been 15 years since Hannah McLean has left the amish way of life in Pontotoc, Mississippi and she's returning a widow with a 15 yr old son.  Her heart has never forgotten her first love Aaron.  Will she be able to settle again into the community or will she be turned away?  How has 15 yrs changed Aaron?

This was a sweet read.  Life changes so completely sometimes, taking us from our roots that if we were ever left with no other way but to return would we try?  I appreciate the incorporation of teenagers into the story and the no hard core romance aspect of this book.

I would recommend if you want a little lighter romance read.

Faeborne - Jenna Elizabeth Johnson

Brennon was stolen from his family at 16 and forced to use his gifts in service to a malevolent goddess.  For seven years he knew nothing but hardship and pain.  When he finally escaped he returned home to find his sister and parent murdered and his little nephew blind and broken.  He continues to persevere for his nephews sake, worrying that the dark stain on his soul will destroy him one day. Seren is an outcast an ostracized by her people.  Her gifts allow her to transform into a deer like all her people however she was also granted a once in a generation gift - the power to heal grave wounds.  When she reveals this to her peers their hatred forces her to flee far beyond her peoples borders in deer form.  Brennon mistaking her for food, injuries her.  When he finds her she has reverted back to her human form and he realizes his mistake and takes her home to nurse her.  So begins a friendship that will cross races and heal more wounds than physical.

This book was a very light read (only 700 or so pages) but well done.  I didn't feel rushed reading it nor did I feel like I was left feeling there wasn't enough character development. The story alternates between Brennon's pov and Seren's pov.  I didn't find Brennon's nephew annoying which was huge bonus points for me.  I enjoyed watching the development of the relationship between the characters and how they over came obstacles like communication and differences in culture, realizing at the end that they can trust one another if they one talk. 

I would recommend this light read for something a little different.

*Note: I didn't realize that this was #7 in a series of books.  It didn't feel like I missed out on anything as it seems like each novel is standalone-ish?