[REVIEW] Gyo

title: Gyo

author: Junji Ito, Yuji Oniki (Translator)  
genre: manga, horror
published: April 21st 2015 by VIZ Media LLC (first published 2002)
my copy: hardcover, 397 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

Something is rotten in Okinawa...

The floating smell of death hangs over the island. What is it? A strange, legged fish appears on the scene... So begins Tadashi and Kaori's spiral into the horror and stench of the sea. Here is the creepiest masterpiece of horror manga ever from the creator of Uzumaki, Junji Ito. Hold your breath until all is revealed.

Junji Ito never disappoints!

I read Uzumaki by Junji Ito years and years ago. It was such an old (and maybe even classic already) horror manga and it was haunting. Gyo is honestly on the same boat. It's got that creepy story and haunting atmosphere.

[REVIEW] Waking Gods

title: Waking Gods (Themis Files #2)

author: Sylvain Neuvel 

genre: adult, science fiction
published: April 4th 2017 by Del Rey
my copy: hardcover, 336 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 5 / 5 stars
goodreads

As a child, Rose Franklin made an astonishing discovery: a giant metallic hand, buried deep within the earth. As an adult, she’s dedicated her brilliant scientific career to solving the mystery that began that fateful day: Why was a titanic robot of unknown origin buried in pieces around the world? Years of investigation have produced intriguing answers—and even more perplexing questions. But the truth is closer than ever before when a second robot, more massive than the first, materializes and lashes out with deadly force. 

Now humankind faces a nightmare invasion scenario made real, as more colossal machines touch down across the globe. But Rose and her team at the Earth Defense Corps refuse to surrender. They can turn the tide if they can unlock the last secrets of an advanced alien technology. The greatest weapon humanity wields is knowledge in a do-or-die battle to inherit the Earth . . . and maybe even the stars.

ABSOLUTELY UNPUTDOWNABLE

This is one of those books I really just have to say, WHY DID IT TAKE ME FOREVER TO PICK THIS UP!? 

[REVIEW] Tender Is the Flesh

title: Tender Is the Flesh

author: Agustina Bazterrica, Sarah Moses (Translator)

genre: adult, horror
published: February 6th 2020 by Pushkin Press
my copy: kindle, 166 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4.5 / 5 stars
goodreads

Everyone's eating human meat. Would you? A vivid, shocking dystopian novel from an Argentinian rising star 

'This book will pull you in, take hold, and not let go until you reach the final page – perhaps far longer than that. Without a doubt, my favourite read of this year' Christina Dalcher, author of VOX 

It all happened so quickly. First, animals became infected with the virus and their meat became poisonous. Then governments initiated the Transition. Now, 'special meat' – human meat – is legal. 

Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans – only no one calls them that. He works with numbers, consignments, processing. One day, he's given a gift to seal a deal: a specimen of the finest quality. He leaves her in his barn, tied up, a problem to be disposed of later. 

But the specimen haunts Marcos. Her trembling body, her eyes that watch him, that seem to understand. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost – and what might still be saved…

it's not for everyone but if you're intrigued and you think you can take it, I'd say go for it.

When this book came to my radar, it's easily a must read for me! 

[REVIEW] Unwind

title: Unwind (Unwind Dystology #1)

author: Neal Shusterman
genre: young adult, science fiction, dystopia
published: June 2nd 2009 by Simon & Schuster BfYR (first published November 6th 2007)
my copy: paperback, 335 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 5 / 5 stars
goodreads

Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives. 

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

loved it then. still love it now.

This is a reread. (w o w. I've been rereading so much this year it's w i l d).

[REVIEW] Divergent

title: Divergent (Divergent #1)
author: Veronica Roth
genre: young adult, science fiction, dystopia
published: February 28, 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books (first published April 25, 2011)
my copy: trade paperback, 487 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. 

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

an oldie but goodie.

This is a reread.

I first read this waaaay back in 2014 when dystopian series were a thing and all we think about is this teenage chick who'll get stuck in an eternal love triangle and eventually save the day. And oh how I miss those days. I never went off the dystopian train though even though trends have changed.

I picked this up because I wanted to finally finish the series. I've had Allegiant since 2014 (or 2015. I'm not sure at this point) and haven't touched it and have no interest in it since coming across that major spoiler. But here I am rereading the first two books to finally get through with this series. AND even though it's a reread, even though I still know exactly how this will go, and even though I know that the second book will suck, I read it and enjoyed it 😊

[REVIEW] The Mist

title: The Mist
author: Stephen King
genre: adult, horror
published: June 5, 2018  by Scribner ( first published 1980)
my copy: Trade Paperback, 176 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4.5 / 5 stars
goodreads

In the wake of a summer storm, terror descends...David Drayton, his son Billy, and their neighbor Brent Norton join dozens of others and head to the local grocery store to replenish supplies following a freak storm. Once there, they become trapped by a strange mist that has enveloped the town. As the confinement takes its toll on their nerves, a religious zealot, Mrs. Carmody, begins to play on their fears to convince them that this is God’s vengeance for their sins. She insists a sacrifice must be made and two groups—those for and those against—are aligned. Clearly, staying in the store may prove fatal, and the Draytons, along with store employee Ollie Weeks, Amanda Dumfries, Irene Reppler, and Dan Miller, attempt to make their escape. But what’s out there may be worse than what they left behind. 

This exhilarating novella explores the horror in both the enemy you know—and the one you can only imagine.

great combination of scifi and horror

II saw the movie a few months back and I became extremely curious of the novel as I've also found out that they concluded differently. BUT either way, I will still be reading it because of my interest on how the characters fear are presented in the book. And I have to say that my expectations were well met.

[MINI REVIEWS] the Neal Shusterman Edition

title: Everlost (Skinjacker #1)
author: Neal Shusterman
genre: young adult, paranormal
published: November 6, 2007 by Simon Pulse (first published October 1, 2006)
my copy: massmarket paperback, 384 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

Nick and Allie don't survive the car accident...but their souls don't exactly get where they're supposed to get either. Instead, they're caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It's a magical yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth. 

When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he's found a home. But Allie isn't satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the "Criminal Art" of haunting and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost. 

In this imaginative novel, Neal Shusterman explores questions of life, death, and what just might lie in between.

[REVIEW] All You Need is Kill

title: All You Need is Kill
author: Hiroshi Sakurazaka (story); Takeshi Obata (illustration); Ryosuke Takeuchi (storyboard)
genre: manga, science fiction
published: November 4, 2014 by Viz Media, LLC
format: Paperback, 550 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Fully Booked
rating: 4.5 / 5 stars
goodreads

When the alien Mimics invade, Keiji Kiriya is just one of many recruits shoved into a suit of battle armor called a Jacket and sent out to kill. Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to be reborn each morning to fight and die again and again. On his fifth iteration, he gets a message from a mysterious ally—the female soldier known as the Full Metal Bitch. Is she the key to Keiji's escape or his final death?

Highly recommended even if you don't usually read manga.

I read this NOT because this is the story which the film Edge of Tomorrow is based on but because of TAKESHI OBATA. That artist is my fave! He illustrated both Death Note and my fave manga of all time, Bakuman. However, art isn't the only thing that defines a manga. All You Need is Kill is amazing in its own way.

[REVIEW] Dreamology

title: Dreamology
author: Lucy Keating
genre: young adult, contemporary, science fiction, romance
published: March 14, 2017 by HarperTeen (first published April 12, 2016)
format: paperback, 352 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Fully Booked
rating: 1.5 / 5 stars
goodreads

Love is a dream. Then you wake up. 

For as long as Alice can remember, she dreamed of Max. Max is the boy her dreams--and only her dreams. Until the morning she finds him sitting next to her in class, very much alive. 

As Alice and Max get to know each other all over again, Alice learns that real Max is nothing like Dream max. He's complicated and stubborn and has a whole life Alice isn't part of. 

When their dream life starts interfering with their waking one, Alice and Max have to find a way to make the dreaming stop. But when you fall in love in your dreams, can reality ever be enough?

Flatly disappointed.

I'd really like to say that it's a not-you-it's-me case but I'd be lying. This book has a unique premise which really intrigued me. I was so eager to read it when it was released but after reading it, I was flatly disappointed.

[REVIEW] Sleeping Giants

title: Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1)
author: Sylvain Neuvel
genre: science fiction
publish: April 26, 2016 by Del Rey
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4.5 / 5 stars
goodreads

A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved -- its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected. 

But some can never stop searching for answers. 

Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top secret team to crack the hand's code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the provenance of the relic. What's clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history's most perplexing discover -- and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to b an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction? 

An inventive debut in the tradition of World War Z and The Martian, told in interviews, journal entries, transcripts, and news articles, Sleeping Giants is a thriller fueled by a quest for truth -- and a fight for control of earthshaking power.

this book tells me that Ancient Aliens speculations might actually be real.

I bought this book last year because I've been seeing it A LOT. It's scifi so there're no worries for me. When I found out that it's about giant robots, I'm like: how even? When I read people raving about it, I'm like: I MUST READ IT ASAP! When I finished it, I'm like: WOW, I need more books like this!

[SPOTLIGHT] Station Fosaan

Station Fosaan Tour + Giveaway!!
tour schedule can be found at: Month9Books

title: Station Fosaan (Torch World #1)
author: Dee Garretson
genre: young adult, science fiction
publish: February 14, 2017 by Month9Books
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | IndieBound | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play Books
goodreads

Scientists and their families stationed on the remote planet of Fosaan were promised a tropical vacation-like experience. But Fosaan, devastated from an apocalyptic event nearly three-hundred years ago, is full of lethal predators and dangerous terrain.  

Earthers are forbidden to go beyond the safety zone of their settlement and must not engage the remaining reclusive Fosaanians, native to the planet. Sixteen-year-old Quinn Neen is about to do both of those things.  

During an unsanctioned exploration of the planet, Quinn discovers a beautiful Fosaanian girl named Mira stealing food from his family’s living unit. But before he can convince her to show him around, scientists are taken captive, leaving Quinn and the other young Earthers at the mercy of space raiders.  

Quinn must go from renegade to leader and convince Mira to become an ally in a fight against an enemy whose very existence threatens their lives and the future of Earthers stuck on Fosaan and at home.  

STATION FOSAAN is THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND meets STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF KHAN.

[REVIEW] Damaged Goods

title: Damaged Goods (Blank Slate #2)
author: Jennifer Bardsley
genre: young adult, science fiction
publish: January 17, 2017 by Month9Books
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 3.5 / 5 stars
goodreads

Blanca has everything she ever wanted, a hot boyfriend and the loving support of her foster father. She’s finally escaped the abusive control of her birth father and her tortured childhood at Tabula Rasa School. 

But the scars of Blanca’s Vestal upbringing run deep, especially when the FBI start asking questions. 

Blanca feels abandoned by her boyfriend, who is hunting for Lilith, Blanca’s only blood relative. The Defectos, a support group of Vestal-Rejects, offer Blanca comfort which she readily accepts. 

While the Vestal order crumbles, Chinese rivals, the Guardians, rise to power and wrest control of important Tabula Rasa contacts. As Blanca’s life is thrown into chaos once more, she struggles to recognize friend from foe, and one miscalculation can have devastating consequences.

good follow-up for Genesis Girl.

I read Genesis Girl because of its premise --  a world where gadgets have caused cancer, that gadgets are evil and breaks relationships, and some children are sent to Tabula Rasa, a school where they are raised without connecting to any form of gadget.