Girl from Above: Betrayal by Pippa Dacosta

Name: Girl From Above: Betrayal
Author: Pippa Dacosta
Series: The 1000 Revolution
Publisher: Self Published by Pippa Dacosta
Publication Date: April 21, 2015
Number of Pages: 179
Rating: 5 awesome stars!

"My name is #1001, and I am not ready to die." I’d only just begun to live.

When Captain Caleb Shepperd is released from prison, all he wants to do is keep his head down and earn a living smuggling illegal cargo through the nine systems. So when a synth stows away on his ship, and brings with her a crap-ton of problems, including guilt-ridden secrets he thought he’d escaped, he’d prefer to toss her out the airlock. The problem is, she’s priceless tech, and he’s fresh out of credit. 

#1001 is not meant to exist. Created for a single purpose, she has one simple order: to kill. But not everything is as it seems. Buried deep inside, she remembers... Remembers when she was human. And she remembers what Shepperd did to her. She’s not ready to die, but she is ready to kill. 

From the bestselling author of the Veil Series comes an action packed story of love, redemption, and revenge. 

Pippa DaCosta captures the grit and realism of her urban fantasy stories and injects it, along with some down-and-dirty passion, into the sci-fi genre. 

WARNING: 18+ only. Contains graphic adult content, including sex, drug use, violence, and a plethora of curse words. Not for the easily offended.

Review:

"The storm still raged. And nothing had changed, except

there was one less man in the world. "

This book is made of awesome. Really, I was a little skeptic at the beginning but after a few chapters in I knew this was going to be good. 

So naturally, I became alert- I was waiting for the book to screw up, and I knew excatly how it would happen. You see, #1001 is a synthetich human being- she follows orders. Which is why I was sure I would not grow to like her, also, I was sure I would not grow to like the other characters presented- 

a. Caleb - the criminal, the smuggler, the fixer. Dark past, dark soul and a darker future- I wasn't surprised what he was hiding, but damn it! I still don't know what he really feels! I mean, I think he loved someone and I think he's sorry for his deeds but he played with me so well. He is quite smart. 
At first I was sure he was just a jerky jerk. Then he so he had some human decency (Once in a full moon but still), then he told us something about his past and I said- OK you know what? I don't give a fuck. 
But then he let me into his dreams and memories and told me another thing about himself and I was like: "OK, wait a minute, I think I'm feeling something in my chest- it's warm and it hurts a little"
Then he said another thing and I just went like: OH MY *Kaboom*
But of course then he had to go and shatter me to little pieces almost saying, but not actually saying, he played me. 
And. of course he had to finish it with a killer line that left me wondering- So was he? Wasn't he? 

Gosh!!! What will happen next????

"I used to believe stars were wishes, that if we reached 

them, our dreams would come true. But the stars will 

always be out of reach, and no amount of dreaming will 

capture them."

B. Fran- I really don't like her, but I love to not like her, I feel just a little for her but she might get in my way somewhere in the future so we are keeping her on a low burner. Until my heart is safe and the couple I shiped is togethe I am going to be really careful about this one.
But besides this? She really is fantastic- she's talented, smart and just fun to read about (and she has depth). 

C. Bran- Well, he still needs to do some growing and I wonder what's going on with him but he has so much potential! 


D. Hayley- This girl, we don't see a lot of her but I can tell you this she's the stuff of heroes! she seems smart, and sad, and kind, and brave and just a little stupid but I really can't blame her for that stupidity because it really just was bad luck and not her fault.

E. #1001- So yeah, she was going to be my bigger problem. I was sure I'll have one hard time liking and relating to her, but damn, she got me. I'm the head of her fan club right now. I really can't wait to see her grow even more- I love her voice, I love her actions, I love her cold side and I love her human side. God, Girl I fucking Love You!

"He made me crazy, made me stupid, made me happy. "

All I have to say is that this book is AMAZING, yeah, it made me a fan-girl. I mean, sure it is sci-fi but you know what makes a book really good no matter the genre? The human relationships, the characters and their humanity and the human problems and the human fragility. This book has them all- I know it happens somewhere in a galaxy far far away in some far away future I dare not dream about- but the feelings, the problems at their core, the relationship and the people they are already here, they always were. Since the very beginning of the human race. 

Pippa Dacosta thank you so much for providing me a digital copy through NetGalley. I really enjoyed every minute of it and it wasn't easy writing this review trying to be careful not to expose much of the plot. 

So, who do I have to bribe to get my hands on the second book? really I'll do who ever and what ever it takes. LOL. Seriously though. I mean it. 

Else someone will get hurt, #1001 taught me some really cool moves! 

"You were my wish "

Right! I just rememeber something those action scenes were really good, just yum. 

If I did buy you with that did I mention the raw and really good writing? No? so you know now. Go and read it! Now! 

(especially since it's 0.99$ only right here)

A digital copy was provided in echange for an honest review.

This review is also on: GoodReads

Book Review + Blog Tour: Beautiful Girl by Lida James

Author:  Lida James
Number of pages: 251
Publisher: The Studio, A paper Lantern Lit Imprint
Date published: 28 October 2014
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Buy on: Amazon, Amazon UK

Darkness has a way of catching up...

Sophomore year at Dutchess College has just begun, and Nicole is still haunted by memories of her first love, Zach. As the changing leaves fall on the stately Hudson Valley campus, she takes solace in running—pushing herself to go harder, faster, to be the best. With the wind blowing through her hair, she can almost convince herself that she is beautiful, that she will find love again.

So when Nico runs, quite literally, into the maddeningly elusive Justin, she’s convinced she’s found the guy to make her forget her ex—despite the warnings of her friends and her straight-edged running partner, Luke.
But when Nico is attacked in the woods after a wild night of partying, everything changes. Suddenly, Nico begins receiving anonymous threats, and she no longer knows where to turn for help—or whether even her close friends can be trusted.

All she wants is to be one of the beautiful girls—the ones who never have to chase perfection. But in order to uncover the truth, she’ll have to face a past she had hoped to leave behind forever. She thought she could outrun the darkness, but darkness has a way of catching up…and only one boy can save her. 


Review:

So, this was an interesting read. I shall simplify:

Why you should read the book

First of all, the writing. While I would not claim it to be the most beautiful writing I had ever encountered (Not even close), it is beautiful. Every few sentences or paragraphs there will be a description that will cut into me like a sharp knife. Something that had me thinking- "yeah, I know that. That's how I think of that". 

Secondly, this book has many issues from drugs and anorexia to stalking and death threats. Really, this book covers many subjects and it takes them all seriously. Self insecurity in a major level as well. 

Thridly, the characters in this book are somewhat complicated. Some of them are flawed more than the others. Others are simply lost. Some of them are admirable and some are just jerks. However you look at that they are varied and tehre is plenty to love, hate or connect to in one degree or the other.

Fourth, there are all kinds of relationships in this book- from true friendships to healthy romantic relationships to abusive relationships and fake friendships. I really loved how the author showed the various relationships there are in a person's life, and while showing how some of them are wrong  and one should not stay in them she did not once judge them. Rather, she let us watch, she let us know how the character felt and she let us come to our own conclusion. 

Fifth, this is a a story of hope. I'll explain in a bit.

Why you shouldn't read the book

first of all, this seems like a thriller from the cover to the name to the synopsis. When I requested for it I thought I was in for a New-Adult thriller. Something serious and edgy. I did get something serious and edgy, but the thriller aspect of it was not the main one and it wasn't that unpredictable.

Also, as I said there are various characters and they are quite varied. One thing they have in common is that they are very likeable and a little hard to relate. Yes, they have human problems. Yes, I can understand them. However, connecting on a deeper level- for more than just scene or a feeling is a lot harder. 

As I already mentioned this book deals with many issues and while it deals with all of them seriously, I have to admit the book was quite ambitious touching so many subjects. It is like when someone is trying to throw those 10 balls in the air and catch them all at the same time. What I mean is that at the end of the day with so many issues and subjects to cover you are left with nothing. It's like when you can't see the forest because of all the trees.

My thoughts 

This was a nice read, an intriguing one, Fact is some of the issues are grandeur, but some I think most people deal with in their life- like the need to be beautiful, to connect, to belong, to be loved. Those are things that many of us experience at different points in life. 

Nicole also dealt with them and she became stronger, yes, she was far from perfect (in teh start and in the end) and she still has a lot to work on by the end of the book but her story is a hopeful one. She learns. Which says something considering how annoying I found her at first when she tried to act like this "Big Girl" who can handle things and ignored the warning of teh people around her- but aren't we all like that sometimes? Despite the darkness the story keeps on reminding us there is hope- you learn, you keep in going, you grow stronger, There is always hope.

An ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review