Beyond The Stars...

Defy the Stars (Constellation #1)

by Claudia Gray

Hardcover, 503 pages

Published April 4th 2017 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

ISBN 9780316394031

Received in April Uppercase Book Box 

About:

She’s a soldier.

Noemi Vidal is seventeen years old and sworn to protect her planet, Genesis. She’s willing to risk anything—including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel.

He’s a machine.

Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel has advanced programming that’s begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he’s an abomination.

Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true. (Goodreads)

Rating: 3 Stars

Review:

I usually enjoy Sci-Fi books. This one really started out with potential. Man vs. Machine. Trying to save the world. But then we started to go into a very generic recipe of enemies working together and becoming friends (maybe even more). Within the first hundred pages of this very thick book the reader can pretty much see where things are going. There are really no surprises. The story is mostly our heroes bouncing from one planet to another, picking up pieces needed to save the planet. Half the time the android/robot offers to do sexual things to try and get the pair what they need. Because of that I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to younger teens. It really could have been shortened a lot and still gotten it’s story across. I only gave this one 3 stars due to all of the above. If you really enjoy Sci Fi, this isn’t a bad read. It follows the generic Sci-Fi story rules and is set up for sequels. The characters aren’t horrible or boring but even at the end I didn’t really care what happened to them. Overall read this one only if you’re looking for a long Sci-Fi story to take up a lot of time. 

May Book Subscription Reviews...

Hey Readers,

This month I received 3 different subscription boxes to try. While I haven’t read the books from them yet (reviews to come soon!), I’m very excited to share the contents of them with you and my reviews of them. 

First up is Owl Crate….

Owlcrate: Comic Explosion  

Received: May 19, 2017  

Contents of Box:

One of 7 Funko Pops (Harley Quinn, Captain America, Batman, Deadpool, Sailor Moon, Wonder Woman, Loki)

Multi Colored Comic Pen

Comic Zipper Pull

Owl Crate Pin

Wonder Woman Candle

Kafe Zing Coffee Candy

AFAR Chapter Sampler

Book: Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia, with a signed book plate and letter from the author, and if that wasn’t enough an art piece was also included. 

Review: Wow! This box came with a lot of stuff! I loved all of the book related items. Eliza and Her Monsters was on my list of books to read so I’m so glad that was their book pick this month. It is awesome that their book came with an exclusive cover… although from what I can tell it’s still pretty close to the original. I was so happy to open my box and find Harley Quinn staring at me. I’ve been meaning to buy that one! Some of the other pops I either didn’t want or already have so if I had gotten one of the others I might have been very disappointed. The pen, pin, and zipper pulls are cool little extras added in. The candle smells great, but they also had a candle in one of their last boxes so it’s kind of a repeat. The coffee candy and chapter sampler are not really my things but I’m sure their are other subscribers out there who enjoy it. I love that they include a card with a preview of next months theme. So cool! For the price, I think that this months box was worth while buying.

Second up is Uppercase….

Uppercase: Doesn’t Really Have A Theme

Received: May 19,2017

Contents of Box/Bag:

Iron on Book Cat and Get Lit patches

Book and Eyeglasses Earrings

A Hand Written Letter From Uppercase (Lisa) To Me

Book: Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith (Signed), A Scratch-Off Card For a Chance to Win A Prize, And A Bookmark That Has Codes To Interact With Others While Reading 

Review: This bag seemed a little light in content. The patches are cute and fun and I do enjoy them. The earrings are also cute but I don’t have my ears pierced so they’re kind of useless to me. The handwritten letter and the interactive codes always makes this subscription stand out above the others. The fact that their books always come signed also puts them above many of the others too. Windfall was also on my list of books to read so I’m so glad that it was their book choice this month. Overall, this subscription was right on par for the price it costs, although I wouldn’t mind getting more goodies. 

My last subscription this month was Lit-Cube…..

Lit-Cube:Princess of Thieves

Received: May 25, 2017

Contents Of Box:

“And Yet She Persisted Tee Shirt

Honey Stinger Organic Energy Chews

Brass And Turquoise Arrow Bracelet

Hunger Games Bookmark

Book: Lady Of Sherwood By Molly Bilinski

Review: With the addition of a T-Shirt instead of a bunch of little stuff this box shines. The arrow bracelet is not adjustable and is a little to big on me which is sad. The shirt is really cool and very comfortable. I’m a big hiker who hates all those energy bars. I’ve seen the energy chews before and I always wondered what they tasted like. Now I’ve got an easy chance to try them out. The book mark is cool, but it’s just a bookmark. No big deal there. The book looks interesting and it’s marked as a “clean” read so I should be able to recommend it to younger teens if it turns out to be good. I think this is the only “clean” read that I’ve come across in the few months that I’ve been trying out subscription boxes, so points to Lit-Cube for that. From what I hear, the owners of this box were having trouble getting their boxes out on time this month. It was a bit annoying not knowing what was going on with my order, but they did apologize eventually on Facebook which was nice of them. Overall, I’m not 100% convinced that this box was worth the price. I might have to give it a try for another month or two before having a real decision. 

Final Thoughts…

This month I’d have to say I liked OwlCrates contents the best. They had so much and really gave you a bang for your buck!Book choice I’d say is a tie between OwlCrate and Uppercase. Both had books on my to be read list. Best thing to wear definitely goes to Lit-Cube. You can’t beat a cool T-Shirt

I can’t wait to read my new 3 books and review them for you guys! And I can’t wait to see what comes in my boxes for next month. 

Look for a review of Owlcrate, Uppercase, Spearcrate, and Lit-Joy Crate next month! 

Happy Reads!