Ever since I first read The Pioneer last June, I’ve been itching to read the sequel. It just came out around two weeks ago, and I bought it on my Kindle last week. Needless to say, The Survivor was worth every single penny. 🪐
WARNING: This review contains some major spoilers for the end of The Pioneer, so PROCEED WITH CAUTION if you haven’t read book one, and want to!
If you want to read my review of The Pioneer, click here!
Enjoy this week’s review!
The Survivor (The Pioneer, #2)
After the tumultuous events on Tau Ceti E, the planet where humans planned to settle, Jo and her family and crew have set a course back to Earth. But a haunting message stands in their way, delivering the news that Earth is now uninhabitable, and most of human life was wiped out in an extinction-level event.
Left with no choice, Jo and the others return to Tau. But Jo knows that in doing so, they are violating the peace agreements they barely struck with the Sorrow, the indigenous, sentient species of Tau. A war is brewing, and betrayals wait for her on every corner of her crew…
SO MANY FEELS, PEOPLE, SO MANY FEELS.
I was so glad to re-immerse myself into Tyler’s masterful writing. She has such a way with words, and understands the intricacies of human nature like no other author I’ve read. The major plot twist that WRECKED ME at the end of book 1 was still fresh in my mind, so I had a decent-ish jumping off point going into The Survivor.
Even though I didn’t feel as attached to many of the characters in book 1, most of them grew on me in book 2. And even if that attachment didn’t quite grow, there’s no denying that they have excellent chemistry, and that they’re masterfully written.
And, as always, we need to give a raucous round of applause to Ms. Tyler for ACTUALLY GIVING US WELL-DESIGNED ALIENS THAT AREN’T JUST HUMANS WITH WEIRD EYES! Not gonna lie, I was SO excited to explore the world of the Sorrow once more, and her lush writing made it all the better. We also get to explore a few more critters that weren’t mentioned in book 1, so that was fascinating, as always.
Though I’m heartbroken that this was the end of the duology, I am over-the-moon glad that I was able to discover these novels. They will always hold a special place in my heart. After a week of mulling it over, I think The Pioneer and The Survivor are equal in rating to me, which is to say that I give The Survivor 5, massive stars.
As I said before, The Pioneer series is a duology, ending with The Survivor. [single tear slides down cheek]
Today’s song:
That’s it for this week’s Book Review Tuesday! Have a wonderful day, and please take care of yourselves!
I was looking for tags to do the other day, and I came across this one, and immediately wanted to do it! I mean, who doesn’t love some form of cookie or another? Also, I figured it would be fitting for today, since my mom and I baked chocolate chip cookies in a skillet. (I don’t have any pictures, but they were delicious.) 🍪
leave it to me to slip in yet another Radiohead reference
CHOCOLATE CHIP: A Classic Book That You Love or Really Enjoyed
Frankensteinis easily one of my favorite books, if not my favorite of all time.
THIN MINTS: A Fandom That You Really Want to ‘Join’ and/or a Hyped-Up Book You Want To Read
I’m not sure if I’m necessarily plagued by the desire to join another fandom, but The Newsoul trilogy appears to be a classic YA dystopia, and one that actually looks decent, at that.
SHORTBREAD: An Author You Can’t Get Enough Of
Though I’ve only read two of her novels (at the moment, I hope to read the others very soon), I am such a sucker for Anna-Marie McLemore’s luscious writing. There’s no prose quite like hers.
SAMOAS: An Emotional Rollercoaster
Even though I finally know the resolution, the entirety of Thunderhead, ESPECIALLY the ending, had my mind reeling in shock.
OREOS: A Book Whose Cover Was Better than Its Story
(Wait, what do you have against Oreos? Oreos are CLEARLY the superior cookie…)
(Okay, fine, I’ll answer the question…)
Unpopular opinion time…
Though it had a few moments of being funny, I ultimately DNF’d An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. Between the weird pacing, the unrealistic dialogue (Does ANYBODY actually say “LOL” in real life? That’s right, NOPE), almost everything about April May’s character (at least she admits that she treats her girlfriend like an object), and the gross misrepresentation of bisexuality, this one was kind of a recipe for disaster for me. No pun intended.
[heavy sigh] Whew, had to get that out…
TAGALONGS/PEANUT BUTTER PATTIES: A Book That Wasn’t What You Expected
In this case, not in a good way.
Putting aside the fact that I thought that Crown of Coral and Pearlwould feature mermaids [repeatedly slaps self in the face], I also thought this would be a fantasy novel. In reality, the only thing that might get it labeled as fantasy would be the fact that there’s a magical creature or two hidden in there towards the end of the novel.
SNICKERDOODLES: A Book You May Never Stop Rereading / Loving
Aurora Rising. ‘Nuff said. Just re-read it a few days ago, actually. I’ve been thinking about this one a lot, lately (partly because I preordered Aurora Burning…EEEEE)
If you want to listen to today’s song, just head over to today’s Goodreads Monday, as I already posted today. 😉
I tag anyone who wants to participate!
That’s it for this tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme created by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do to participate is pick a book from your Goodreads TBR, and explain why you want to read it.
I’ve had a small taste of James’s work (The Loneliest Girl in the Universe), and I have a few other novels of hers on my TBR (The Quiet at the End of the World, The Next Together), and this one sounds like it has an absolutely fascinating premise.
Let’s begin, shall we?
GOODREADS MONDAY (3/30/20)–THE STARLIGHT WATCHMAKER by Lauren James
Wealthy students from across the galaxy come to learn at the prestigious academy where Hugo toils as a watchmaker. But he is one of the lucky ones. Many androids like him are jobless and homeless. Someone like Dorian could never understand their struggle – or so Hugo thinks when the pompous duke comes banging at his door. But when Dorian’s broken time-travel watch leads them to discover a sinister scheme, the pair must reconcile their differences if they are to find the culprit in time.
So why do I want to read this?
Man, I wish that this book was published a few years earlier…I remember being in a bookstore with my mom at some point, and I said something about wishing that there was a subgenre (not my exact wording) that was in between middle grade and YA. The Starlight Watchmaker seems to hit that sweet spot, just where I wanted it. Not that I don’t want to read it now, or anything, I’m all in on this one.
Also, robots! I haven’t seen too much YA/MG from the perspective of robots (save for LIFEL1K3, parts of Heart of Iron and The Illuminae Files), so I’m excited to see how the POV of Hugo is fleshed out. That, along with a dash of time travel and classic sci-fi, seems like the recipe of a novel I’m sure to enjoy. Plus, props to Ms. James for making the format of this book ideal for dyslexic people, especially dyslexic youth! I’m not sure of the details, but James said that “it’s designed to be really readable for struggling readers” and part of the blurb describes it as “particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 13+”. Good for her! 💗
ROBOTS!
Today’s song:
I woke up with this one stuck in my head yesterday morning…
That just about wraps up this week’s Goodreads Monday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
As always, I hope you are all safe, comfortable, and well during these crazy times. We had our “spring break” this week, which mostly consisted of me sprawled out on the couch reading, but it was quite relaxing, all things considered. Our state now has an official stay at home order, and I have online school almost through the end of April, so next month should be…interesting, to say the least.
I read a LOT this week, and I’m happy to say that I loved most of what I read! Libby (online library) has now become my savior, and I’m now stocked up on library books that I can check out on my kindle. I re-read one of my favorite books, watched The Grand Budapest Hotel and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (LOVED both of those), started learning “No Surprises” (Radiohead) on guitar, and I created an original book tag! Online school starts back up next week, so we’ll see how that works out…but overall, I’ve actually had a weirdly good week!
all of us cooped up at home trying to amuse ourselves
Sorry for being semi-ominous about the creation of this tag for the past; I had a few kinks to work out, and I wanted to make sure that nobody else had come up with the tag before I did. (Book tag plagiarism? That’s probably a thing, but I don’t know…)
Anyway…
Since I got into them about a year ago [cut to me last year, crouched in the entrance to the lunchroom reading Tennyson whilst blasting OK Computer through my headphones], Radiohead has quickly become one of my favorite bands. Their musical and lyrical prowess is almost unrivalled, and has managed to become instantly timeless. So, naturally, I decided to make a book tag about them. As one does. I hope you like it!
Answer all of the questions to the best of your ability
Tag as many people as you want
Have fun!
Here we go…
PABLO HONEY: The debut novel of an author you admire
Half Bad, though not nearly as masterful as Green’s Smoke Thievesseries, was certainly a brave debut, to say the least.
THE BENDS: A book that brought you to tears
Not only did A Monster Callsgive me a MAJOR book hangover, there were buckets of tears shed…veritable BUCKETS…
OK COMPUTER: A book that changed your life
I know I keep going back to The Search for WondLa a lot, but this novel/series will always hold a special place in my heart–not only for introducing me to the wide world of sci-fi literature, but for inspiring me to be an author someday as well.
KID A: A book that’s a different genre from the author’s previous works
(on an unrelated note, this album’s my current desktop wallpaper…so pretty…)
Before Carry On, Rainbow Rowell mostly stuck to realistic and historical fiction. I’m glad to say that she’s equally adept in both genres. 💗
AMNESIAC: A book with grim or dark imagery
(I mean…okay, most of Radiohead’s stuff is pretty dark, but I’m just trying to make these questions make sense…)
All of B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earthwould fit the bill to a T. Y’know, just your garden-variety apocalypse, plus the added Fun™️ of frightening creatures laying waste to the Earth. Good times.
HAIL TO THE THIEF: A book with a clever title
(I just…really like this album title? I really don’t know why, but it’s really cool to me…)
Though I’m not sure if this is *completely* true (I think it’s been tested, and Bradbury was probably wrong about it), Ray Bradbury named the novel Fahrenheit 451because it was (supposedly) the temperature at which paper burned. Right or wrong, I find it quite clever.
THE KING OF LIMBS: A book you found to be strange, but loved all the same
The Order of Odd-Fishwas an absolutely wild, Monty Python-esque ride that got weirder and weirder with every passing page…in the best way possible.
A MOON-SHAPED POOL: A dystopian novel that you adore
I just finished The Scorpion Rulesup a few days ago, and though my expectations were fairly average, I was blown away at how well-done it was!
Let’s stay on topic for today’s song…
I still can’t quite decide if this is my favorite Radiohead song, but it’s up there with “Fake Plastic Trees,” “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”, and “Airbag” for me. 🙂
For now, I can only think of one other fellow book blogger who likes Radiohead, so I tag Emer @ A Little Haze Book Blog to take part, if you want! Otherwise, anyone who would like to participate, feel free! Have fun!
That’s it for my first original book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
Thus continues my ongoing “spring” (it’s really just year-round, who am I kidding?)…
Now that I’m scouring the online library for books to read, I’ve been digging further into my TBR to find books to read, and with that, lots more books that I need to remove from the list or that I’ve forgotten about. Here we go again…
The Rules
1. Go to your Goodreads To-Read shelf
2. Order on ascending date added.
3. Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books.
The biggest lie of all is the story you think you already know.
The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals, Blanca as obedient and graceful as Roja is vicious and manipulative. They know that, because of a generations-old spell, their family is bound to a bevy of swans deep in the woods. They know that, one day, the swans will pull them into a dangerous game that will leave one of them a girl, and trap the other in the body of a swan.
But when two local boys become drawn into the game, the swans’ spell intertwines with the strange and unpredictable magic lacing the woods, and all four of their fates depend on facing truths that could either save or destroy them. Blanca & Roja is the captivating story of sisters, friendship, love, hatred, and the price we pay to protect our hearts.
It’s Anna-Marie McLemore. Of course I’m going to keep this one!
Since she was seven years old, Yvonne has had her trusted violin to keep her company, especially in those lonely days after her mother walked out on their family. But with graduation just around the corner, she is forced to face the hard truth that she just might not be good enough to attend a conservatory after high school.
Full of doubt about her future, and increasingly frustrated by her strained relationship with her successful but emotionally closed-off father, Yvonne meets a street musician and fellow violinist who understands her struggle. He’s mysterious, charming, and different from Warren, the familiar and reliable boy who has her heart. But when Yvonne becomes unexpectedly pregnant, she has to make the most difficult decision yet about her future.
This one sounds like it tackles a lot of important issues, as well as weaving a complex story. Still in 🙂
A girl with a telepathic gift finds a boy clinging to his last hope during the war-torn climate of Europe, 1940.
At fifteen, Kit Cavendish is one the oldest evacuees to escape London at the start of the Second World War due to a long term illness that sees her stuck in a wheelchair most of the time. But Kit has an extraordinary psychic power: she can put herself into the minds of others, see through their eyes, feel their emotions, even talk to them – though she dares not speak out for fear of her secret ability being exposed.
As Kit settles into her new life in the North Wales village of Bryn Eira Bach, solitude and curiosity encourage her to gain better control of her gift. Until one day her search for information on the developing war leads her to the mind of Henri, a seventeen-year-old Norwegian boy witnessing the German occupation of his beloved city, Oslo. As Henri discovers more about the English girl occupying his mind, the psychic and emotional bonds between them strengthen and Kit guides him through an oppressive and dangerous time.
There are secrets to be uncovered, both at home and abroad, and it’s up to Kit and Henri to come together and fight their own battles in the depths of the world’s greatest war.
Oooh, this one looks fascinating! Jean Grey, anyone?
One year ago, Kitty’s boyfriend Nikki Bramley visited a psychic who told him he had no future. Now, he’s dead.
With the Bramley family grieving in separate corners of their home, Kitty sets out to find the psychic who read Nikki his fate. Instead she finds Roan, an enigmatic boy posing as a medium who belongs to the Life and Death Parade–a group of supposed charlatans that explore, and exploit, the thin veil between this world and the next. A group whose members include the psychic… and Kitty’s late mother.
Desperate to learn more about the group and their connection to Nikki, Kitty convinces Roan to return to the Bramley house with her and secures a position for him within the household. Roan quickly ingratiates himself with the Bramleys, and soon enough it seems like everyone is ready to move on. Kitty, however, increasingly suspects Roan knows more about Nikki than he’s letting on. And when they finally locate the Life and Death Parade, and the psychic who made that fateful prophecy to Nikki, Kitty uncovers a secret about Roan that changes everything.
Tiny is homeless. Nola has everything she could ask for. They meet when Nola is forced into volunteer work for the writers’ group at the homeless shelter where Tiny is staying, and at first it seems impossible that two people who are so different could ever be friends. But despite her initial prejudice, Nola quickly learns that there isn’t much separating her from the people who live on the streets. And Tiny begins to see that falling down doesn’t mean you never get back up. Because of You is a story about homelessness, prejudice and the power of words to provide a little hope.
This one looks rough, but it still sounds wonderful.
I wish I was away in Ingo, Far across the sea, Sailing over the deepest waters, Where love nor care can trouble me…
Sapphire’s father mysteriously vanishes into the waves off the Cornwall coast where her family has always lived. She misses him terribly, and she longs to hear his spellbinding tales about the Mer, who live in the underwater kingdom of Ingo. Perhaps that is why she imagines herself being pulled like a magnet toward the sea. But when her brother, Conor, starts disappearing for hours on end, Sapphy starts to believe she might not be the only one who hears the call of the ocean.
I’m all for mermaids, but there really doesn’t seem to be much plot here…at all…
Melly only joined the school band because her best friend, Olivia, begged her to. But to her surprise, quiet Melly loves playing the drums. It’s the only time she doesn’t feel like a mouse.
Now, she and Olivia are about to spend the next two weeks at Camp Rockaway, jamming under the stars in the Michigan woods.
But this summer brings big changes for Melly: her parents split up, her best friend ditches her, and Melly finds herself falling for a girl at camp named Adeline. To top it off, Melly’s not sure she has what it takes to be a real rock ‘n’ roll drummer. Will she be able to make music from all the noise in her heart?
Aah, this sounds so cute! And it’s shelved as LGBTQ+…YES!
VERDICT: KEEP
8. The Rising Storm (Paradigm Trilogy, #1), Ceri A. Lowe
What if the end of the world was just the beginning?
15-year-old Alice Davenport was a loner and an outcast before the Storms swept away everything she knew. Saved from the ravaged remains of London by the mysterious and all-powerful Paradigm Industries, her fierce independence and unique skills soon gain her recognition from the highest levels of command. But their plans to rebuild civilisation from scratch mean destroying all remnants of the past – no matter what, or who, gets left behind.
Alice must decide if she will fight for the old world, or the new…
Decades later, 15-year-old Carter Warren is woken from the Catacombs after years of cryonic sleep. He’s determined to do whatever it takes to climb the ranks to Controller General – until he realises the Industry’s control methods have become harsher than ever. The Barricades make sure nothing from the Deadlands can get in to the Community – and no one can get out. And a shocking discovery about his own family causes Carter to question everything he’s ever known…
As Alice becomes entangled in the Industry’s plan for the future, and Carter delves into the secrets of his past, they must make sacrifices which threaten to tear them apart. And both of them are forced to confront an impossible question…
Would you dare to risk it all for the perfect world?
…aaaaaaaand it’s another cliche-ridden dystopia. Oops.
An exciting new adventure filled with diverse characters, strong heroes and heroines and wild creatures from the bestselling author of White Tiger.
Corporal Jian Choumaliis on the mission of a lifetime – security officer on one of Earth’s huge generation ships, fleeing Earth’s failing ecosystem to colonise a distant planet.
The ship encounters a technologically and culturally advanced alien empire, led by a royal family of dragons. The empire’s dragon emissary offers her aid to the people of Earth, bringing greater health, longer life, and faster-than-light travel to nearby stars.
But what price will the people of Earth have to pay for the generous alien assistance?
Okay, listen. I love space. I love dragons. But I’m not sure if I’m on board with dragons in space.
VERDICT: LET GO
10. Lotus and Thorn, Sara Wilson Etienne
Ravaged by a plague known as Red Death, the planet Gabriel, a former colony of Earth, is a barren wasteland. Since being abandoned by Earth 500 years ago, resources are scarce and life is cheap. To stay alive, the survivors, the Citizens, scavenge the remains of a now dead city, trading for food with the resource-rich Curadores, the only other survivors on Gabriel. Every old computer, every piece of wire, every scrap of metal counts. To steal is the ultimate sin. So when tough-as-nails seventeen-year-old Leica is caught doing just that, she’s exiled and left to the mercy of Gabriel’s unforgiving desert for the rest of her life.
While in exile, Leica discovers a mysterious shuttle, which may not only lead her home, but even more impossible—reestablish contact with Earth. Then Red Death rears its head again, killing her entire work crew, leaving Leica all alone until a handsome Curador offers her refuge in the Dome—the only place on Gabriel untouched by Red Death, where a decadent and sultry life awaits. But there’s a catch: Leica can only enter the Dome as his concubine—his Kisaeng. When a rogue group of Citizens see their chance for revolution in Leica’s good fortune, she finds herself unraveling a deadly mystery with chilling answers to the true origin of Red Death and the reason Earth really abandoned them so long ago.
THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM THE DYSTOPIA RIPOFFS…
VERDICT: LET GO
RESULTS:
KEPT: 5
LET GO: 5
Another successful cleaning, and another 50-50 split! Glad I cleaned out some dystopian cliches from my TBR, and I discovered some that I’ll have to read soon!
Today’s song:
I discovered Oppenheimer Analysis via a Snail Mail interview, and I liked most of this album!
That just about wraps up this post! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
Now that I’ve got more time on my hands thanks to this whole COVID-19 deal, I decided to look up a few more book tags to do. I’m thinking of creating my own soon, as I said, but I’m still working out the details there, so stay tuned. 😉
In the meantime, I found this tag on Madame Writer, and the tag was originally created by Emmmabooks.
RULE:
Choose one genre/category of books that you frequently talk about in tags and don’t use ANY books from that genre for answers.
[gulps] goodbye, sci-fi…
1. A book that is an exception when it comes to genres or elements in books that you don’t typically like.
Normally, I have quite a lot of trouble with the use of the 2nd person. In most instances, it takes me out of the story, and it leaves me feeling confused or disconnected. But Other Words for Smokemanages to utilize it masterfully, putting the reader in the headspace of Bevan just as seamlessly as if it were in the 1st or 3rd person.
2. A book you enjoyed from a genre you previously held some stigma about.
Technically, Descendant of the Crane could be categorized as fantasy, mystery, or fiction, but the mystery element hooked me more than any other element (sort of a murder mystery?), which is something that doesn’t often happen to me with novels.
3. A book you didn’t know was actually out of your comfort zone until you started reading it.
I knew going into it that I Am Still Alivewas waaaaaay out of my comfort zone (survival fiction/adventure), but all of the different elements woven into it surprised me at every turn–ones that usually turn me off to a book, but were so well-executed that they worked for me. Whew, this one’s a rough ride.
4. Pick a friend that motivates you to pick up books you might not normally be interested in. What is one book out of your norm that they convinced you to give a try?
One of my dear friends from school (and one of the few people who I’ve managed to convince to join my school’s book club) recommended The Poet X to me around two years ago. Our taste in books tends to be similar, but this one was most definitely out of my norm, mostly because of the aspect of a novel in verse, which I’ve found to be rather hit-or-miss. To my pleasant surprise, this one was a MASTERPIECE.
5. A book that is out of your comfort zone that you would like to read.
This one’s been talked about a lot for the past few years, and though I’ve found the reviews to be INCREDIBLY polarizing, I definitely want to at least give The Night Circus a try. I don’t usually read historical fiction, but the melding of that and a dash of fantasy seems like it would be entertaining, at best.
6. A book or genre so out of what you normally read that you’ll probably never give it a(nother) chance.
I’m probably never going to touch any sort of bodice rippers. That’s just completely out of the question. I mean, I’m all for romance, but…nope. Not today, nor ever, likely.
