#127 The Aether Ones

 Aether Ones By Wendi Coffman-Porter

Publisher: Brown Books Publishing Group

Release date: October 13th 2020

Genre: Scifi/Mystery

Pages: 280

I am excited to be taking part in yet another @TheWriteReads blog tours! Today is is for the wonderful 'Aether Ones'. I was immediatley drawn to this one as the cover reminded me of Ready Player One which is my favourite sci-fi book of all time. I do love the genre but dont tend to read as much of it as i should really. 

Synopsis:

'Leilani Falconi is a top agent for the Imperial Investigative Service, tasked with policing the veil between two realities. Long ago, the Great Sundering tore the universe into two mirrored halves; aether space, which progressed using magical energy or eldrich, and kuldain, which advanced via electromagnetic technology. But now a series of suspicious deaths stretching back more than a decade has the agent trapped directly between secretive bureaucracies and their peoples. If she can’t solve the mysterious crimes in time, existence as she knows it could erupt into chaos.'

The book is a mystery with softer sci-fi elements which ive never really read before, so refreshing! The book was a nice mix of sci-fi, mytsery with just a touch of fantasy. 

One of my biggest struggles with the book was the lack of world building, i wanted to know more and a bit of expansion on the world would have really put the story in context. We are from the first page thrust into the action without much of an introduction which was unusual, I must admit i struggled with the writing at first but i got used to it the more i read and i did end up really enjoying this book. There was so much fast paced action to keep me enthralled throughout. 

Leilani was an interesting protagonist for sure, she was smart, interesting and independent with a little dash of sass for good measure. I enjoyed reading about her and constantly felt myself wanting to know more. 

I read a ton of SFF and have recently been straying more towards adult rather than YA so i do wonder if that has in some way affected my reading experience of this book but none the less i did enjoy it and i was glad the main story was somewhat wrapped up in the first book. Im excited to check out more from this author as this book was packed to the brim with potential. 

Rating: 

#126 Bad Habits

 Bad Habits by Flynn Meaney

Thank you to @TheWriteReads for another amazing blog tour, this time for Bad Habits by Flynn Meaney. I was immediately drawn to this book due to the amazing cover! The synopsis also drew me in, i love feminist stories especially in YA!

Bad Habits follows the story of rebel Alex from San Francisco, when she finds herself in an elite catholic boarding school called St.Marys in Minnesota. Side Note: (I also went to a catholic school called St.Marys! so i immediatley related haha). Alex is spunky, outspoken and a raging feminist in the best way, Alex misses her life in San Fran and her friends so makes it her mission to get expelled from St.Marys by any means necessary but ultimately decides that her best chance of success is by putting on a show of The Vagina Monologues through her feminist society which she hopes will shock the nuns so much that they will have no choice but to kick her out.  

This book is such a quick read, Alex reminded me a lot of myself finding herself in a super catholic school when she really didnt want to be. The writing is funny and moments had me laughing out loud. I enjoyed a few of the side characters mainly Mary-Kate who is Alex's hopeless romantic roommate. Mary-Kate is the absolute polar opposite of Alex, she is a good girl, innocent, a great student and a rule follower but she is so sweet in every way, i couldnt help but root for her even more so that for Alex. 

The book is so fun, its basically one girls exploration of how far she can go to get kicked out of her boarding school. I must admit i did get confused between all the nun and priest characters and couldnt keep up with who was who. I would have liked to have seen more of the ice hockey as that was a really fun element too. I loved the coming together at the end and the new members wanting to join the feminist club, it really felt like Alex had found her tribe and that she had a clear focus going forward. I also would have really liked more from her family as they werent mentioned too much. 

All in all i would say i really enjoyed this book, it was fun, quick and everything i would have wanted to read as a teen!