I received a copy for my stop on the blog tour at Donnie Darko Girl.

The mix of genres in Amaranthine: The Heart of Decompose is unique and creative. There's fantasy with unicorns, dragons, and fairies, horror with zombies, science fiction with space travel and life on other planets, and a touch of romance. It's amazing how Schluntz had these elements all come together to make a unified story. Santa is even in there!

Amaranthine begins with finding out that several different planets, including Earth, have been infected with a plague that turns the inhabitants into zombies. The plague was created during a war between unicorns and dragons, and Dee also known as Decompose, carries the plague. The cure lies in his friend, Jhon, and the two end up getting separated. Dee must find Jhon in order to cure the inhabitants of the different planets ravaged by the disease.

The action and tension kept me on the edge of my seat. Dee and Jhon had an enormous task ahead of them, not only to find each other but also to cure people and stay a step ahead of those who wish to use the infection to control their people. And Dee straddles the line between life and death - he doesn't really belong to one or the other. I grew to like Dee, but it took me time to get used to Jhon. I wasn't sure about him for a while.

There are a couple of other characters who are as important as Dee and Jhon, but I don't want to say who they are or talk about them because I feel it would give too much away. I will say one character I liked quite a bit, and the other I liked but not quite as much.

Amaranthine is a novel I believe will appeal to fans of any or all of the genres it includes. It gives a fresh take on zombies - they aren't all like the zombies you're used to - and I loved the space travel aspect of the novel. I haven't seen a novel mixing these genres together before, and it's a cleverly written mashup of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi. And there are unicorns! Did I mention unicorns?!

I received a review copy of this book for my stop on the blog tour at Donnie Darko Girl. 

Outshine was such a fun and entertaining story to read with likable characters, a solid plot, and excellent pacing. I love reading about characters with superhuman powers, so when I found out that's what this story was about, I knew I had to read it! There was even a mystery element with Watts's disappearance, what happened with Gabe and Watts's dad years ago, what happened with Jessa's parents years ago, and how and why they came to have their abilities. 

Gabe is a walking lie detector. Every time he hears a lie or even speaks a lie himself, he gets terrible headaches. There's always a bottle of ibuprofen in his pocket. History class is the worst for him - even just the wrong dates can send him into a tailspin. I really felt for him because he has to constantly deal with the negative effects of his ability not to mention the fact that his mom gives all of her attention to his younger brother, Watts. 

Jessa has superhuman strength and healing powers. She decided when she was younger to hide her abilities by becoming the social queen bee of the school, which is a decision I thoroughly enjoyed - not only did it accomplish her mission but also brings a lot of comic relief to the story. I also liked her character quite a bit. She's feisty and strong. No matter what, she wouldn't give up and faced situations she found herself in head on. You gotta admire that in a female character; I know I do! 

Gabe's brother, Watts (short for Watson), has gone missing, and Jessa talks Gabe into teaming up with her to find out what's happened to him. She's convinced Watts didn't run away, and when Gabe comes to the same conclusion, he reluctantly starts working with her to find him. Though it would take a lot for them to admit this, they made a great team. A hilarious and highly effective team. 

Outshine was so easy to get into, and I didn't want it to end. In no time at all I found myself drawn into the story and flew through it in one sitting! I loved the sci-fi aspect as well as the layers of mystery that are uncovered by Jessa and Gabe. I loved reading about superhuman abilities. And most of all, I loved these characters. Outshine is a novel I can definitely see myself reading all over again.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for my stop on the blog tour, which can be found at Donnie Darko Girl.

INVOKING NONNA is a tale of a young girl named Maggie who begins searching for answers regarding her family history and who she is. Told from multiple POV, the story is mostly from Maggie's point-of-view and explores the issues with which she comes face to face - finding out who she really is and her family roots, handling the different reactions to her beliefs, and building the relationship she wants with her mother. 

Maggie and her mom, Laura, have an unusual mother-daughter relationship - they're both witches but don't acknowledge it to each other. In the beginning I had a hard time understanding their relationship. They aren't close though Maggie desperately wants to be and seem to rarely interact. They definitely never talk about family - Maggie knows next to nothing about her roots, but once she's assigned to do a genealogy project for her history class, everything changes. 

Not only does Maggie begin to find out more about her family, but Laura also recognizes her daughter wants to learn the craft and begins practicing openly and teaching her. The more Maggie learns, the more complicated her life becomes. As if being a teenager wasn't already complicated enough! But she handles it better than I would have because she's resilient and unafraid. 

There's a great mix of heavy emotions as well as lightness and fun to balance out the heaviness. Ruby was a character who added humor to the story, and I adored Maggie and Ruby's friendship. They reminded me of my friendships in high school. Everyone needs a Ruby in her/his life! INVOKING NONNA is a story I loved every moment and found myself wishing the story had been a bit longer as I'm anxiously waiting for the next book!