Ohana Reads: Kayla Olson

Showing posts with label Kayla Olson. Show all posts

Friday, June 30, 2017

June Wrap Up 2017

Like most of the months, June was all over the place for me. From graduations, to my sisters finally being done school for the summer, and to getting a new job! So it was busy and hectic as usual, and of course all the days blurred together.

Unfortunately for June, I wasn't able to get out of my book slump, which was my fault. I ended up picking two books that I just could not enjoy, resulting in me not wanting to pick anything else up after them. Hopefully the next thing I pick up ends up being really good and fixes my mistake for June.

Some of you may follow me on Instagram, or maybe just noticed that I changed my Bio on most of my social media platforms, but for those of you who haven't noticed or heard, I got another job! Come the last week of June, I got a call for an interview to one of my favourite places, McNally Robinson. Also known as my local Indie bookstore, one which I occupy more frequently than not. Anyways, shortly after the interview they called me back and I was hired! I've already had my first shift, and I couldn't be happier working there. Having already known most of the people in the department that I'm in, from always stopping by, everything has been so easy to adjust too! You'll probably be hearing much more about the store in the next upcoming months!

Like I mentioned at the beginning of the post, June time brings graduations, and one that I went to this Spring was for my good friend Sabrina, who you all know from the book blog Beyond the Book Reviews. So if you guys have a spare moment, definitely head on over to her blog and congratulate her!

That pretty much sums up my month, so now onto the monthly stats!

Books Read:

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau
The Sandcastle Empire by Kayla Olson

That's it for this month! Come back next month to see what shenanigans I partook in during the month of July!

Monday, June 12, 2017

Book Review: The Sandcastle Empire by Kayla Olson

Release Date: June 6th, 2017
Read: June 2nd-14th, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: N/A
Format: ARC, 464 pages
Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Description from GoodReads:

When all hope is gone, how do you survive?

Before the war, Eden’s life was easy—air conditioning, ice cream, long days at the beach. Then the revolution happened, and everything changed.

Now a powerful group called the Wolfpack controls the earth and its resources. Eden has lost everything to them. They killed her family and her friends, destroyed her home, and imprisoned her. But Eden refuses to die by their hands. She knows the coordinates to the only neutral ground left in the world, a place called Sanctuary Island, and she is desperate to escape to its shores.

Eden finally reaches the island and meets others resistant to the Wolves—but the solace is short-lived when one of Eden’s new friends goes missing. Braving the jungle in search of their lost ally, they quickly discover Sanctuary is filled with lethal traps and an enemy they never expected.

This island might be deadlier than the world Eden left behind, but surviving it is the only thing that stands between her and freedom.

Review:

I've never been good at letting go.
I haven't read a Dystopian YA book in forever, after Divergent and the Hunger Games, the trend ended for a good while. Come 2017, it's slowly making a comeback with The Sandcastle Empire.

The Sandcastle Empire was a disappointment from the moment I started it. It took me way too long just to read 142 pages of the book. The beginning was slow, and it felt like more plot was needed for the book to be more interesting. In the end, I DNF'd the book at 31%.

In a way I wanted The Sandcastle Empire to have had more of an Indiana Jones feel to it. With the wolf pack being similar to the Nazi, and the book taking place in a jungle, some comparisons could be made, but not enough so that my Indiana Jones expectations were met.

What I did like about the book was the odd short chapter where the protagonist would reflect on her backstory before the main story takes place. Eden, the protagonist, would show us her favourite memories, and I just couldn't help but find some of them cute.

I did not enjoy The Sandcastle Empire, and unless I see raving reviews about Olson's next book, I probably won't be picking up that one either. The book was just not for me.

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

"It was our last hope in this broken/ chaotic world. Where is there to go from here?"

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Dystopian, Survival, World Wars, Indiana Jones

Friday, June 2, 2017

June TBR Pile 2017

So I know that the list of books for this month is kind of huge, but it's basically all the current books that I need to review for publishers. I haven't been in the mood for reading lately, so I'm hoping that by making my TBR all my review books then I'll have more chances of getting out of my stump. Anyways, here's hoping to me actually getting through some of these books this month!