Month: September 2017

REVIEW – INVICTUS by Ryan Graudin

Posted September 25, 2017 by Emma in 2017 Books, Book Review, Favourites, Hatchette Children's Group, Historical, Romance, Ryan Graudin, Science Fiction, Time-Travel, YA / 1 Comment

Invictus
by Ryan Graudin
Publisher – Orion Children’s Books
Release Date – September 21st 2017
Buy – Amazon | Book Depository

Time flies when you’re plundering history.

Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD and a gladiator living in Rome in 95 AD, Far’s birth defies the laws of nature. Exploring history himself is all he’s ever wanted, and after failing his final time-traveling exam, Far takes a position commanding a ship with a crew of his friends as part of a black market operation to steal valuables from the past.

But during a heist on the sinking Titanic, Far meets a mysterious girl who always seems to be one step ahead of him. Armed with knowledge that will bring Far’s very existence into question, she will lead Far and his team on a race through time to discover a frightening truth: History is not as steady as it seems.

My Review
Oh…my…hazes…god! 
I’ve read some books this year but nothing like this, not in a loooong time. This book needs to have the television or film rights to it, because this should be seen in all media. It’s absolutely truly mesmerising and totally addictive. I couldn’t put it down! 
In 95 AD, Recorder Empra McCarthy fell in love with a gladiator, she’s been a part of this time for over 9 months, she is about to give birth to his child. Leaving her love was the hardest thing to do but right now the baby inside of her is coming out… born out of time on the ship Ab Aeterno lives a boy, a soon-to-be cadet and future Recorder Faraway McCarthy. In present time (at the moment), 2354, Far wants to travel, explore time, record history first hand, but when a Maria Antoinette, winks at him, he fails his right to even graduate as a Recorder and be captain on an Academy vessel. He gets a second chance and becomes captain of his ship, the Invictus, with his cousin historian, chai tea extraordinaire, Tetris nerd he couldn’t be more at home in the stars. But his story both begins and ends with him. Time as we know it is about to be erased, Far’s existence has defied the laws of nature, and now he needs to fix it against the Fade. 
This book people, it blows your mind! I completely at the mercy of Ryan writing, it’s pure genius and it won’t be the last compliment I will be giving her. What I loved about it is that Invictus is a journey, a journey of characters, of time, of history, and more importantly of self discovery. I was enthralled and fascinated by the world of this novel with the imagination, accuracy and history. How although primarily Faraway and his crew record time, it’s like your part of that time with them and they were recording you with Maria Antoinette or next to the band on the Titanic, or in tunic in 95 AD. It’s totally surreal but that’s just how amazing Ryan is in her writing style, the imagination and creation of that within the book. I adored it!

Told is alternate characters of the crew, you really have a bag of different characters. My favourite being Faraway’s cousin, Imogen, she chalks the ends of her hair everyday, she bright, wonderful and always full of happiness and optimism. Her persona is just totally infectious, sweet and just makes me laugh. There was also some very untold chemistry upon the vessel too, I loved the romantic aspect between Faraway and Priya and also the sweetness of Gram and Imogen, that relationship was particularly adorable and frustrating. You just wanted them to bang each others heads together. Although I admit, I would have loved to have seen more of a development of the their relationships from the beginning. But I’m totally nit picking. At the end of the day, they have each other’s backs throughout time and whatever happens, these characters are a family and you completely fall in love with them all.  

This is my first venture into Ryan’s novels, and her writing is golden, powerful and completely addictive. As soon as you start the book it’s action from the word go, it’s fast-paced, full of adventure you really can’t put it down. The MatrixDoctor Who and Star Trek, it combines the greatness of the time-travelling genre in one book. A sci-fi time travel novel in YA is very hard to come by these days, the last one I read was probably a good couple of years ago. But I have to say that Invictus really hits the sci-fi nerd in me.

Rating – 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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SPECIAL GUEST POST: INVICTUS by Ryan Graudin

SPECIAL GUEST POST: INVICTUS by Ryan Graudin

Today is the release day of this very stunning book and I have to say that this is on my favourite books of 2017, it’s just hazes brilliant and I’m so excited that this book is out in the world today! I have also got a Twitter Giveaway for 3 signed copies so make sure you head over to my Twitter @nverjudgeabook ASAP! But before I share my post with you, here is a little more about INVICTUS. Time flies when you’re plundering history. Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD […]

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BLOG TOUR: DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY by Amanda Foody

Posted September 10, 2017 by Emma in 2017 Books, Blog Tour, Debut Author, Extract, Fantasy / 1 Comment
BLOG TOUR: DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY by Amanda Foody

Hi Everyone, I’m super excited to be part of this blog tour for Amanda’s Foody’s debut, Daughter of the Burning City. The book sounds incredible, as soon as I saw circus it reminded me of the elements to Lisa Heathfield’s book Flight of a Starling, which I loved obviously. I got this book ready at the beginning of my week, eager to read this but sadly with being back to school and work, I read only 12 pages because I was shattered so instead of my review which I will have for you in the coming weeks, I have been a […]

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