100 Hours (100 Hours #1) by Rachel Vincent

100 Hours (100 Hours #1) 
by Rachel Vincent 

Source: eARC provided for review.

My rating: 2.5 stars

GoodReads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

In this sexy, pulse-pounding new duology by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent, a decadent spring break beach getaway becomes a terrifying survival story when six Miami teens are kidnapped.Maddie is beyond done with her cousin Genesis’s entitled and shallow entourage. Genesis is so over Miami’s predictable social scene with its velvet ropes, petty power plays, and backstabbing boyfriends. While Maddie craves family time for spring break, Genesis seeks novelty—like a last-minute getaway to an untouched beach in Colombia. And when Genesis wants something, it happens. But paradise has its price. Dragged from their tents under the cover of dark, Genesis, Maddie, and their friends are kidnapped and held for ransom deep inside the jungle—with no diva left behind. It all feels so random to everyone except Genesis. She knows they were targeted for a reason. And that reason is her.Now, as the hours count down, only one thing’s for certain: If the Miami hostages can’t thwart their captors’ plan, no one will make it out alive.

***

I’ve always been a huge fan of Rachel Vincent, but I was hesitant to read 100 hours because I’m latina and I wasn’t sure if the Latinx rep was well done, especially because this book touches a very sensitive topic, being the plot about a kidnap in a country with violent history.

I haven’t read any thoughts or reviews by Colombian reviewers, but personally, if this book were set in my country, I’d be angry. Because my country is violent. My country is dangerous. There are many gangs here and people fear for their lives every day. And you know what? My country is beautiful, too. It has beautiful places and beautiful people, but nobody knows this because people read online only the bad things about this place. So, I am not happy this book was set in Colombia.

That being said, 100 Hours by Rachel Vincent is a well written book, but I was expecting something more. For starters, I disliked almost every character.

Maddie, one of the two narrators, and her brother Ryan were the only characters I actually liked. The rest of them were shallow and frivolous. I get that it was supposed to be this way, I enjoy reading about rich and shallow kids sometimes (like The Thousandth Floor and Unrivaled), but I couldn’t connect with any of these characters, not even with the ones I liked.

And then there was the “thrilling and suspenseful” countdown. 100 Hours was a fast paced read and there were moments when it got me on the edge of my seat. The problem is that one of my favorite duologies ever is Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris and it has the same countdown format. And while 100 Hours was fast paced and intriguing, it wasn’t that thrilling or captivating or action packed.

Overall, I didn’t love or hate 100 Hours. I liked that the Spanish was good, and I don’t remember any mistake. My biggest problem was my lack of connection with the characters, and while I enjoyed some parts of this book, those parts weren’t enough to make me love it. 

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What's New? Brave New Girl by Rachel Vincent

 

Hey there! Happy Valentine's Day!!! 

Today in my country we celebrate the Day of Love and Friendship. Everyone in school do this thing called Secret Friend (like the Secret Santa in the US) and lovers buy themselves a lot of roses and chocolate... I kind of wish I had a lover... for the chocolates, obviously.
So, Happy Friendship Day from this side of the world. I'm very thankful to all my bookish friends, and if you're reading this. Thank you so much, you mean the most to me! <3


Now, for my What's New? post, I want to share my new bookish found: Brave New Girl by Rachel Vincent! I had no idea about this book, and it makes me so excited because I LOVE stories about clones (not sure if clon is the right word, sorry).
Anyway, you must add it to your TBR list, asap!
Check it out!

Expected publication: May 9th 2017 by Delacorte Press

 

 

We have brown hair. Brown eyes. Fair skin.
We are healthy and strong and smart.
But only one of us has ever had a secret.

Dahlia 16 sees her face in every crowd. She's nothing special—just one of five thousand girls created from a single genome to work for the greater good of the city.
Meeting Trigger 17 changes everything. He thinks she’s interesting. Beautiful. Unique. Which means he must be flawed. When Dahlia can't stop thinking about him—when she can't resist looking for him, even though that means breaking the rules—she realizes she's flawed, too. But if she’s flawed, then so are all her identicals. And any genome found to be flawed will be recalled.
Destroyed.
Getting caught with Trigger would seal not only Dahlia's fate, but that of all five thousand girls who share her face. But what if Trigger is right? What if Dahlia is different?
Suddenly the girl who always follows the rules is breaking them, one by one by one. . . .

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Waiting on Wednesday: 100 Hours (100 Hours #1) by Rachel Vincent

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine

 What I'm waiting for...

 

GoodReads

In this pulse-pounding new trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent, a decadent spring break getaway on an exotic beach becomes a terrifying survival story when six Miami teens are kidnapped and ransomed.

Maddie is beyond done with her cousin Genesis’s entitled and shallow entourage. Genesis is so over Miami’s predictable social scene with its velvet ropes, petty power plays, and backstabbing boyfriends.

While Maddie craves family time for spring break, Genesis seeks novelty—like a last-minute getaway to an untouched beach in Colombia. And when Genesis wants something, it happens.

But paradise has its price. Dragged from their tents under the cover of dark, Genesis, Maddie, and their friends are kidnapped and held for ransom deep inside the jungle—with no diva left behind. It all feels so random to everyone except Genesis. She knows they were targeted for a reason. And that reason is her.

Now, as the hours count down, only one thing’s for certain: If the Miami hostages can’t set aside their personal problems, no one will make it out alive.

****

Why am I waiting on this book? I'm not sure if this book is my kind of read, but it's Rachel Vincent! I've loved everything I've read by her so far. So, I hope I love this new trilogy.

What are you waiting on today?

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What's new? The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

 

I'm a huge fan of Rachel Vincent since I read her Soul Screamers Series, so when I heard about her new YA book, I couldn't help but get all excited. 
 I heard about this book a long time ago, on Rachel's blog. Yesterday, I saw the cover, but I found it weird because the author hasn't revealed it yet. 
Today, I got the email in which she officially revealed the cover of The Stars Never Rise.
It's so pretty! I can't wait to read it!

Expected publication: June 9th 2015 by Delacorte Press 

 

 

Sixteen-year-old Nina Kane should be worrying about her immortal soul, but she's too busy trying to actually survive. Her town's population has been decimated by soul-consuming demons, and souls are in short supply. Watching over her younger sister, Mellie, and scraping together food and money are all that matters. The two of them are a family. They gave up on their deadbeat mom a long time ago.

When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their very existence, she'll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance, sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal Church and its army of black-robed exorcists. And Mellie's sin has put her in serious trouble.

To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a fugitive with deep green eyes who has already saved her life once and who might just be an exorcist. But what kind of exorcist wears a hoodie?

Wanted by the Church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she can't survive on her own. She needs Finn and his group of rogue friends just as much as they need her...

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Book review: With all my soul by Rachel Vincent

With all my soul

Series: Soul Screamers #7

Author: Rachel Vincent

Pages: 377

Goodreads AVG Rating: 4.40

Summary:

What does it mean when your school is voted the most dangerous in America? It's time to kick some hellion butt... 

After not really surviving her junior year (does "undead" count as survival?), Kaylee Cavanaugh has vowed to take back her school from the hellions causing all the trouble. She's going to find a way to turn the incarnations of Avarice, Envy and Vanity against one another in order to protect her friends and finish this war, once and forever.
But then she meets Wrath and understands that she's closer to the edge than she's ever been. And when one more person close to her is taken, Kaylee realizes she can't save everyone she loves without risking everything she has....

 

With all my soul is the last book in the Soul Screamers series, and personally, my favorite of all seven books.

I don’t think I am able to write a great review or something like that. Ending series is always hard, especially with those long series with more than five books, but even harder when that series is one you really loved since the beginning.

Personally I think that WITH ALL MY SOUL is the best book in the series. For starters I thought that Before I die will be always my favorite, even when I started reading the last installment, I don’t know what I was thinking, but I was sure this book will be amazing, but not that amazing. As always I was wrong when it’s about Rachel Vincent. The last half of WITH ALL MY SOUL was pure adrenaline and torture. The plot was so very well created that that unexpected turn put me on the edge of my seat, on the border of my tears.

This book was about true friendship, love and sacrifice. This shows us that even though Kaylee was the main character, the others in the gang were as important as she was. Everyone of them did an amazing last play. We laugh with them, we love with them and we cry with them.

But just like the author wrote in her note, this book was for Kaylee. I never forgot that she is one of the best and strongest heroines I ever met. WITH ALL MY SOUL was the last prove to Kaylee, to save her friends, to find the peace she deserves. And Kaylee did better than that, she was selfless and passionate, strong and lovely, fierce and brave. Her loyalty for the people she loves made her unforgettable and despite everything that happened, Kaylee shows us the strength of love.

The new character added to the book was really welcomed, necessary to finally ends this cycle and as well created as the others (I couldn’t help but picturing him as a shinigami!). It seemed impossible that one can love a character added until the end, but this one was the clave to develop the ending we were pining for. 

And talking about characters, once again I have to say that I LOVED with all my soul Kaylee’s gang. Each one of them: Uncle Brendon, Aiden, Harmony, Em, Sophie (yes! Sophie!), Luca, Nash, Tod, but specially Sabine. Even I found this weird, because I didn’t like Sabine the first time she was presented. But Sabine, just like Kaylee is different, and hardly to forget.

And finally, the ending.

WITH ALL MY SOUL has the best ending ever, seriously, it worth the waiting, it worth reading the other six books and novellas, it worth your time and all your tears.

The last four chapters were pure heartbreak, an emotionally draining rollercoaster. I couldn’t stop crying even when my head was about to explode in pain.

It was as unexpected as everything else. It was fitting, and needed, and magnificently thoughtful.

The last chapter was the best “epilogue” we could have wait for.

Sure thing you will cry, and then laugh and then cry again. This is going to be a madness of perfection.

WITH ALL MY SOUL is the ending every reader deserves.

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Fantasy & Reality: The Banshees

 

The banshee, from the Irish bean sí  ("woman of the síde" or "woman of the fairy mounds") is a feminine spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld.

In legend, a banshee is a fairy woman who begins to wail if someone is about to die. In Scottish mythology the creature is called the bean sìth or bean-nighe and is seen washing the blood stained clothes or armour of those who are about to die.

Traditionally, when a person died a woman would sing a lament at the funeral.

Banshees are frequently described as dressed in white or grey, often having long, pale hair which they brush with a silver comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion with local mermaid myths.

The banshee can appear in a variety of guises. Most often she appears as an ugly, frightening hag, but she can also appear as a stunningly beautiful woman of any age that suits her. In some tales, the figure who first appears to be a "banshee" is later revealed to be the Irish battle goddess, the Morrígan.

Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die and usually around woods.

Banshees In books

 

The myth of the banshess is not that popular in books. Even though the more famous of this creatures are described in the Soul Screamer Series, by Rachel Vincent.

This books are about a normal schoolgirl. She possesses a strange power. She doesn't see dead people, but she can sense when somebody nearby is about to die: when that happens she is compelled to "scream bloody murder".

This series also show us the male side of the banshess. Boys with the power of reassure the banshees girls.

If you  haven't try them. What are you waiting? These books are fully recommended!

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