ARC August Recap

I'm going to consider ARC August a small success for me. I had originally planned to read 5 physical ARCs, but I only managed to get through two. However, I did make it through 3 eARCs, so I guess that amounts to the 5 I had originally planned. And I did read Truth or Dare, which is one of the physical ARCs I was behind with. So some catch-up has occurred. Here's the list of what I made it through:

1. Truth or Dare by Jacqueline Green
2. The Woken Gods by Gwenda Bond
3. Florence by Ciye Cho
4. Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett (review to come in September)
5. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (review to come on Monday)

So I just barely met my goal of 5 ARCs, so it's a success, although next year I hope I can get through even more!

Event Recap: Kelley Armstrong Signing

I absolutely love signed books. Knowing that the author touched that exact copy and took the time to sign it is amazing. But having the author sign and personalize a book while you are standing right there borders on mind-blowing!

Tuesday night Kelley Armstrong was in Calgary to do a signing. Unfortunately for me, I miscalculated the amount of seats available, so when I arrived 45 minutes early, they were already all taken! Since I was in the line-up further down the store, I missed most of the Q & A session, but it was still really great to meet Kelley and get a few books signed, plus pick up some sweet book swag. Here's a picture of the event and my signed books. Apparently I was too buying being nervous and awkward to look at the camera.

Don't forget to check out the two giveaways going on right now, SIGNED copy of Exposure by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes (US only) and an ARC of The Woken Gods by Gwenda Bond (US/CAN).

Review: The Woken Gods + GIVEAWAY

Info:

Title: The Woken Gods
Author: Gwenda Bond
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

The more things change…

Five years ago, the gods of ancient mythology awoke all around the world.

The more things stay the same…

This morning, Kyra Locke is late for school because of an argument with her father.

Seventeen-year-old Kyra lives in a transformed Washington, D.C., dominated by the embassies of divine pantheons and watched over by the mysterious Society of the Sun that governs mankind’s relations with the gods. But when rebellious Kyra encounters two trickster gods on her way home, one offering a threat and the other a warning, it turns out her life isn't what it seems. She escapes with the aid of Osborne "Oz" Spencer, a young Society field operative, only to discover that her scholar father has disappeared with a dangerous Egyptian relic. The Society needs the item back, and they aren’t interested in her protests that she knows nothing about it or her father's secrets.

Now Kyra must depend on her wits and the suspect help of scary Sumerian gods, her estranged oracle mother, and, of course, Oz--whose first allegiance is to the Society. She has no choice if she’s going to recover the missing relic and save her father. And if she doesn't? Well, that may just mean the end of the world as she knows it. From the author of Blackwood comes a fresh, thrilling urban fantasy that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman, Cassandra Clare, and Rick Riordan.

Review:

Enki - source

The Woken Gods is a fun, action-packed and surprisingly scary ride through a mismash of mythical pantheons. I'm a big fan of mythology, but this book definitely made me want to brush up on my knowledge. I enjoyed that it didn't focus on the more well-known gods, such as Loki or Hermes, but instead incorporated some lesser-known pantheons. I liked the inclusion of so many different gods from different cultures, from the more well-known Greek and Norse gods to the lesser-seen gods such as Coyote and Legba.

Kyra is the kind of girl who likes to act tough and badass, but I think a huge part of that comes down to her fairly broken family. But, despite her issues with her father, I appreciate how loyal she ended up being to him. It illustrates that, no matter how much you may fight and argue and not get along, when the shit hits the fan, you're there for your family.

I love how friendship ended up being a big theme in this one. Kyra's best friend Bree was feisty and fun and Tam, her friend/ex, ended up being pretty cool as well. But let's talk about boys for a second. Oz definitely fell in the swoon-worthy YA boy category for me. And I'm not even usually that into guys in uniform. But I loved Oz's good heart mixed with sense of humour and his bad boy grin. And I even ended up being a fan of Oz's best friend Justin, who is bookish and probably the character most like me.

Anzu - source

Because there are so many gods that could have been included in this one, clearly Gwenda Bond needed to choose some to focus on, some to gloss over and some to not include entirely (sorry Thor and/or Loki fangirls). However, the nice thing is that, because this book borrows all deities from actual mythology, if you want more about a certain god, you can easily find it on the internet.

My only complaint with this one is that things felt like they got a touch messy and I didn't always know 100% what was going on. Maybe if I had been more familiar with the gods Bond focused on most (Legba, Enki, Set, Anzu - who I loved, by the way), I would have had a better idea of what was going on.


The Woken Gods is a great book for any mythology buffs or fans of race-against-the-clock action stories. Or cute boys who know how the make the decision between following orders and following the truth.

Find the Book:

Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

Find the Author:

Goodreads | Web | Facebook | Twitter

Giveaway:

But guess what else? Strange Chemistry was awesome enough to give me an extra ARC copy of The Woken Gods, which I'm now excited to pass on to one of you! Sorry, this one is open only to US/Canada because I have to ship it myself and shipping is expensive here! Sorry international friends! :( 
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