Waiting on Wed: The Eternal City by Paula Morris

Waiting on Wed is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

It's something that she does every Wed where we pick a book that hasn't been released yet.

Author: Paula Morris

Expected publication: May 26th 2015 by Point / Scholastic, Inc.

Laura Martin is visiting Rome on a class trip, and she's entranced by the majestic Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon. . . . Everything in this city seems magical.

That is, until the magic seems to turn very dark.

Suddenly, statues of Cupid and ancient works of art come to life before her eyes. Earthquakes rumble and a cloud of ash forms in the sky. A dark-eyed boy with wings on his heels appears and gives her a message. Laura soon realizes she is at the center of a brewing battle -- a battle between the gods and goddesses, one that will shake modern-day Rome to its core.

Only she and her group of friends can truly unravel the mystery behind what is happening. As tensions mount and secret identities are revealed, Laura must rely on her own inner strength to face up to what may be a fight for her life.

Why I'm waiting on this?

Gods and Goddesses always intrigue me. It has the feel of Percy Jackson in it, and I enjoyed those. :)

Does this sound like something you would enjoy? What did you pick this week?

Novella Review: Elixir by Jennifer L. Armentrout

AUTHOR: Jennifer L.Armentrout
PUBLISHER: Spencer Hill Press

SERIES/STANDALONE: Series (Novella)
PAGES: 74

SOURCE: Bought

Outline:

Aiden St. Delphi will do anything to save Alex. 

Even if it means doing the one thing he will never forgive himself for. 
Even if it means making war against the gods.

Quick Thought (or not)

I've read the first book in the Covenant Series which is Half-Blood, and my rating/liking for that book was straight in the middle with 3 stars. Check out the full review to see why. Even though I had that kind of relationship with the book I wanted to give it another try. I wanted to be one of those people who loved it. I like a lot of Jennifer's other series. I wanted to enjoy this one as well. I figured what better way to try and get back into it with a novella. Yes, I realize what happens in this one is after the 3rd book which I haven't read. I thought is necessary though to see if I wanted to go further into the story and invest my time with these characters. 

Was reading this novella worth it? Will I continue on with The Covenant series? Yes! The story line itself seemed like it took a turn away from where I initially saw it going, which is a good thing because no book stands a chance against what I was holding its first book against. 

Pacing

It's a novella so it was fine. It took place over a few days and it didn't drag out anything. It was straight to the point.

Characters

This Novella is basically Aidans mini story. We get to take a gander inside his mind to see how he feels about Alex, and what the gods think they should do with her. I was really surprised that I could grow to like his character in a short time, but I did. He knew what would happen to her if he didn't try the elixir, but would he lose the girl he loved also by giving her the elixir. It really looked like it was a lose/lose situation for Aidan, but he handle it.

Apollo, was one god I couldn't like he was an ass,and if all else failed with the elixir he'd have no problem getting rid of the "problem"

It was just nice all around to see Aidan's friends stick up for him and Alex,

Ending 

It's not really an ending per se because it's between books 3 and 4. I was content with it because I knew once I actually started reading the series I would learn more. :)

Quotes

-You're kind of gross. Might want to think about shaving,too, unless you're going for the homeless look with no chance of getting laid." Deacon to Aiden

"She's going to be okay, right? I mean, someone will find a way to break the connection and she'll be snarky-but-no-homicidal Alex in no time?" Deacon

"Aiden has gone rambo on us."

Book Review: Deep End of the Sea by Heather Lyons

AUTHOR: Heather Lyons
PUBLISHER: E-book
PAGES: 332
STAND ALONE/SERIES: ?
SOURCE: From publisher
OUTLINE:
What if all the legends you’ve learned were wrong?

Brutally attacked by one god and unfairly cursed by another she faithfully served, Medusa has spent the last two thousand years living out her punishment on an enchanted isle in the Aegean Sea. A far cry from the monster legends depict, she’s spent her time educating herself, gardening, and desperately trying to frighten away adventure seekers who occasionally end up, much to her dismay, as statues when they manage to catch her off guard. As time marches on without her, Medusa wishes for nothing more than to be given a second chance at a life stolen away at far too young an age.

But then comes a day when Hermes, one of the few friends she still has and the only deity she trusts, petitions the rest of the gods and goddesses to reverse the curse. Thus begins a journey toward healing and redemption, of reclaiming a life after tragedy, and of just how powerful friendship and love can be—because sometimes, you have to sink in the deep end of the sea before you can rise back up again.

MY THOUGHTS

I was suppose to do this review awhile ago, and couldn't make myself do it. This lack of reviewing is not because the books are bad. I've loved a lot of them. Sometimes I think I just sound repetitive. #bookbloggerfail and to be honest that's the last thing I want to sound like. So without trying to sound like myself, but being myself here goes...(Yeah that's how I roll)

The more I read books with mythology especially Greek (I think) the more I become interested in it. Maybe though it's just because I finished a book that makes it sound awesome. Ever had those feelings where once you read a really good book that has a theme around it you wanna find out more about it, go do it, go to it. Yes? No? Just me? Anyways, I do (I do this with movies too.) The few books on greek gods/goddesses that I've read in my opinion were good like the goddess test series and others.

The ones I've read and the ones I have sitting on my shelf (where I only read the synopsis) always tend to be about the major ones though. Hades, Persephone, Athena, you see where I'm going with this. I don't think I've come across one that tells the story of Medusa (I take that back I think Sweet Venom is about the ancestors of her or something. Hey I read it awhile back and can't remember) but even so The Deep End of the Sea shows a completely different side to Medusa or Dusa as Hermes calls her. :) A side of her that shows how compassionate she is. How she doesn't like being this "monster". How she cares for the people she turned to stone. 

Being stuck on the island that hardly nobody can find Medusa has only two friends an older blind gentleman and Hermes who believes Medusa was wronged by his ancestors so when he is able to get the gods to overthrow the curse Medusa goes to live with Hades and his wife. Here is another aspect I like about the book things I've read in the past have Persephone as being this prisoner in the under world and having these hateful feeling towards Hades for making her live there. In The Deep End of the Sea the love between these two is sweet and I didn't see any resentment there.

This is definitely a unique and heart-warming story about loving yourself and believing that there is good in people.

 Amazon $3.99