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Review: Engn by Simon Kewin
Finn has been raised to fear the notorious Ironclads and their city, Engn. The Ironclads are sent out to the surrounding villages to recruit children to work in the city. When the Ironclads come, there is no choice but to send the children to Engn even though few return to their homes, parents are required to let the Ironclads take what they want. When Finn was younger, his sister was taken to Engn which was supposed to mean that Finn was safe as the Ironclads can only take one child per family. But when the Ironclads come for him, this changes everything. With Finn on his way to Engn and…
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Guest Post: Engn by Simon Kewin
In addition to reviewing the MG/YA book Engn by Simon Kewin, he also agreed to write a guest post about how he created the world and city of Engn. Without further ado please welcome Simon Kewin to The Lit Bitch! Building Engn The world of Engn grew out of a simple, central idea: a city-sized, steam-powered machine that generations of people have lived and worked within. I was drawn to the idea on lots of levels. I liked the thought of all the odd contraptions and mysteries and weirdness I could build into such a vast and ancient machine. In the book, Engn has grown so huge that most…
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Review: Tiger’s Quest (The Tiger Saga #2) by Colleen Houck
Kelsey Hayes has just arrived home in Oregon from her adventure packed and emotional summer abroad in India. Kelsey has been helping two brothers, Ren and Kishan, try and break an ancient curse. She and Ren successfully fought off deadly monkeys to break the first part of the curse, but they still have to complete a series of challenges to break the entire curse. While they have been tracking down the clues that will break the curse, Kelsey and Ren have also fallen in love. Kelsey is scared to death that Ren will break her heart so she does what she thinks is best–she runs like hell back to Oregon…
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Review: Tiger’s Curse (The Tiger Saga #1) by Colleen Houck
For recent high school graduate, Kelsey Hayes, the summer is all about finding a job so she can start community college in the fall. But in a sleepy Oregon town, there are not a lot of job opportunities for high school grads so when she is offered a job at a traveling circus she quickly accepts. The jobs sounds pretty easy: selling tickets, helping clean up after shows, and she gets to live on sight….oh and she has to help care for the circus tiger. She isn’t really sure what to do about the tiger, on one hand he scares her but she finds him oddly intriguing and comforting. Every…
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Review: Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare
The Infernal Devices are without pity. The Infernal Devices are without regret. The Infernal Devices are without number The Infernal Devices will never stop coming. Tessa Grey is preparing for what should be the most joyous day of her life…..her wedding to Jem. Tessa loves Jem without question but there is still part of her that loves Will. Though she tries to shut out her feelings for Will, it is hard to section off a part of your soul that only one other person can touch but somehow Tessa does it. All the Shadowhunters at the London Institute are preparing for the wedding to take place when Gabriel Lightwood shows…
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Review: Fire (Graceling Realm #2) by Kristin Cashore
Before gracelings came monsters. Fire has vibrant, flaming red hair. She is able to influence, control, and read peoples minds. Everyone who comes near her is attracted to her in a savage way. Monsters crave her blood. But she too is a monster….a special human monster….the only one left in the Dells. Outside of the Seven Kingdoms are the Dells, a wild countryside full of monsters. Monsters are variations of a regular animals but their fur, claws, feathers etc, come in a unique pallet of colors (magenta, gold, silver etc). But above all, they are savage creatures motivated by blood and they all posses the ability to control the minds of…
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Review: Graceling (Graceling Realm #1) by Kristin Cashore
Some people are just born with a little something extra. Sometimes that something special is obvious, other times it’s not. But when you are a Graceling, there is no hiding what you are. Special. Different. Dangerous. Katsa’s mismatched eyes mark her as a Graceling. Being a Graceling means you have different powers. Some graces are useless, like predicting the weather, while others have more useful graces like reading minds. For Katsa, her grace is killing. But is being a Graceling the same as being a monster? As soon as her uncle, King Randa, realizes what her grace is, he uses her as a hired thug, punishing other realms for their…
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Review: Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Trilogy #1) by Leigh Bardugo
Sinister monsters lurk in the endless darkness of the Shadow Fold….a condemned fragment within the land of Ravka. On the Fold, Alina Starkov and her army regiment (which includes her best friend, Mal) are attacked by these evil beasts. In the face of certain death and desperation, Alina reveals an ancient power that has been dormant inside her, which saves Mal’s life. But once she reveals what she is, others conspire to steal her power but one intends to foster it–the Darkling. The Darkling takes Alina under his wing, seducing her with promises of power and peace. Alina is captivated by him, like calls to like.
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Review: Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth
A single choice can transform you. One choice can destroy you. On Choosing Day, the people of five different factions make a choice that will change their lives. You can choose to leave your old faction behind in favor of a new one, but you will forever be bound to your new faction so it is not a choice one makes rashly. If you fail to meet the initiation for each faction, you become Factionless. Tris Prior is different. She is Divergent and her choices destroy her. Tris is in a dark place. Shas witnessed unspeakable horrors and is struggling to cope with the destruction and choices she has made.…
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Review: Wentworth Hall by Abby Grahame
All secrets have a way of coming out in the end. Every family has their own secrets that they would rather not become public knowledge….but when your family is rich….the gossip columns love nothing better than a juicy family secret. At Wentworth Hall, while family fortune might be in short supply….juicy secrets are not. Maggie Darlington has just returned from a year abroad in France with her mother and new born baby brother and his French nanny. While abroad Maggie has matured, almost beyond recognition….. she has cast off her girlish styles, activities, and friends. The once spirited, will-full teen has now conformed into a model young woman and with…