Rockstar Book Tours presents... THE LIBRARY OF BROKEN WORLDS by Alaya Dawn Johnson - REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!

Today, I'm hosting a spot on the THE LIBRARY OF BROKEN WORLDS by Alaya Dawn Johnson Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my mini review, snag your chance to enter the giveaway, then swing by the other sites participating!

 

Title: THE LIBRARY OF BROKEN WORLDS

Author: Alaya Dawn Johnson

Pub. Date: June 6, 2023

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 448

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/THE-LIBRARY-OF-BROKEN-WORLDS

A girl matches wits with a war god in this kaleidoscopic, thought-provoking tale of oppression and the cost of peace, where stories hide within other stories, and narrative has the power to heal -- or to burn everything in its path -- from World Fantasy Award–winning author Alaya Dawn Johnson.

A girl and a god, alone in communion ...

In the winding underground tunnels of the Library, the great peacekeeper of the three systems, a heinous secret lies buried -- and Freida is the only one who can uncover it. As the daughter of a Library god, Freida has spent her whole life exploring the Library's ever-changing tunnels and communing with the gods. Her unparalleled access makes her unique -- and dangerous.

When Freida meets Joshua, a Tierran boy desperate to save his people, and Nergüi, a disciple from a persecuted religious minority, Freida is compelled to help them. But in order to do so, she will have to venture deeper into the Library than she has ever known. There she will discover the atrocities of the past, the truth of her origins, and the impossibility of her future.

With the world at the brink of war, Freida embarks on a journey to fulfill her destiny, one that pits her against an ancient war god. Her mission is straightforward: Destroy the god before he can rain hellfire upon thousands of innocent lives -- if he doesn't destroy her first.

 

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I'm not gonna lie, this book is pretty intense! It's rated for the Young Adult crowd and beyond, but, it's total high Science Fiction. Is that a thing? If not,  it should be. Normally I hear high Fantasy as a sub genre, but this has all the earmarks but with the scientific twist. The world being built seems unimaginable. The beings we encounter seem just beyond reachable, and their humanity is certainly in question. The tasks set before them register as impossible. The environment they inhabit seems to breath and alter, yet has no true pulse. It's a Library but not like any you or I have ever seen, or probably will see, though from some of the things that occur, I can't say I'm sorry about that. However, although much seems beyond reach, the class struggles, personal battles, and all out wars to gain things lost, and protect things not their own... yeah; those sound familiar. 

It's a story within a story within a story that reminds us we can only move forward if we embrace the past, learn from it, and built on it. We can do anything we set our minds to, but set them we must. Nothing ever truly dies if there is but one being that still holds the memory of it. Along with a very curious and intertwined tale, we also have an inclusive cast that readers can find themselves in at some point or another, inviting everyone to get lost between the pages, and see just how much power a story can hold. 

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About the author...

Alaya Dawn Johnson is an award-winning short story writer and the author of seven novels for adults and young adults. Her most recent novel for adults, Trouble the Saints, won the 2021 World Fantasy Award for best novel. Her debut short story collection, Reconstruction, was an Ignyte Award and a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award finalist. Her debut YA novel The Summer Prince was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, and the follow-up Love Is the Drug was awarded the Andre Norton Nebula Award. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, most notably the title story in The Memory Librarian, in collaboration with Janelle Monáe. She lives in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Find Alaya- https://linktr.ee/alayadawnjohnson | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

 

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Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of THE LIBRARY OF BROKEN WORLDS, US Only.

Ends June 20th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Special thanks to the Rockstar Book Tours team for the chance to bring this tour to you and to the publisher for the copy for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, the publisher, this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now via Scholastic Press, so click on over to your favorite online retailer or plan a trip to your local brick and mortar store!

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

5/22/2023	yabookscentral.com	Interview
5/23/2023	The Reading Life	Excerpt/IG Post
5/24/2023	@katherinebichler	TikTok Post
5/25/2023	@jlreadstoperpetuity	Review/IG Post
5/26/2023	@enjoyingbooksagain	IG Review
5/27/2023	onemused	IG Post

Week Two:

5/28/2023	celiamcmaahonreads	IG Review
5/29/2023	thealylifestyle	Review/IG Post
5/30/2023	travelersguidetobooks	IG Review
5/31/2023	Jaime_of_gryffindor	Review/IG Post
6/1/2023	@get.outside.and.read	IG Post
6/2/2023	Book-Keeping	Review/IG Post
6/3/2023	More Books Please blog	Review/IG Post

Week Three:

6/4/2023	Author Z. Knight’s Guild	Review/IG Post
6/5/2023	A Backwards Story	Review/IG Post
6/6/2023	Confessions of the Perfect Mom	Review/IG Post
6/7/2023	A Dream Within A Dream	Review/IG Post
6/8/2023	The Momma Spot	Review/IG Post
6/9/2023	@froggyreadteach	IG Review
6/10/2023	Fall Between the Pages	IG Review/TikTok Post

Week Four:

6/11/2023	OneMoreExclamation	Review/IG Post
6/12/2023	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post
6/13/2023	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post
6/14/2023	@get.outside.and.read	IG Review
6/15/2023	Books with Brandie Shanae	YouTube Review/IG Post
6/16/2023	Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers	Review/IG Post

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

Rockstar Book Tours presents... TIGER HONOR by Yoon Ha Lee - REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers...and HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Today, we welcome 2022 with open arms and a double dose of bookish fun with not one but two blog tours gracing the site.  They are both remarkably different, but equally remarkable are the stories within.  For this tour, I am thrilled to be hosting a spot featuring TIGER HONOR by Yoon Ha Lee, currently making the blogosphere rounds with Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my REVIEW post and make sure to enter the giveaway before you go! 

Title: TIGER HONOR (Thousand Worlds #2)

Author: Yoon Ha Lee

Pub. Date: January 4, 2022

Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Pages: 256

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle,  Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Yoon Ha Lee's companion to the best-selling and award-winning DRAGON PEARL, another space opera inspired by Korean mythology, this time told from the point of view of a nonbinary tiger spirit.

"A zesty mix of Korean folklore, magic, and science fiction that will leave you longing for more adventures in the Thousand Worlds!"--Rick Riordan, intro to DRAGON PEARL

"With crisp dialogue, a winning protagonist and a propulsive plot, this tale is enormously entertaining."--New York Times Book Review of DRAGON PEARL

Sebin, a young tiger spirit from the Juhwang Clan, wants nothing more than to join the Thousand World Space Forces and, like their Uncle Hwan, captain a battle cruiser someday. But when Sebin's acceptance letter finally arrives, it's accompanied by the shocking news that Hwan has been declared a traitor. Apparently the captain abandoned his duty to steal a magical artifact, the Dragon Pearl, and his whereabouts are still unknown. Sebin hopes to help clear their hero's name and restore honor to the clan.

Nothing goes according to plan, however. As soon as Sebin arrives for orientation, they are met by a special investigator named Yi and Yi's assistant, a girl named Min. Yi informs Sebin that they must immediately report to the ship Haetae and await further instructions. Sebin finds this highly unusual, but soon all protocol is forgotten when there's an explosion on the ship, the crew is knocked out, and the communication system goes down. It's up to Sebin, three other cadets, and Yi and Min to determine who is sabotaging the battle cruiser. When Sebin is suddenly accused of collaborating with the enemy, the cadet realizes that Min is the most dangerous foe of all...

Yoon Ha Lee brilliantly turns the tables on DRAGON PEARL in another unputdownable sci-fi adventure about what honor really means.

Grab book 1, DRAGON PEARL NOW!

 

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To say this story was out of this world sounds totally cliché...

...and yet...

...that's the BEST way to describe it!

Just as in the previous book, Dragon Pearl, we find ourselves amongst the Thousand Worlds, seeking adventure, duty, and honor, but what we uncover is so much more than we could have imagined.  Sebin has some mighty big paw prints to fill once he enters his cadet training...unfortunately doe to recent  events, those he is stepping behind and into are tainted.  It seems his Uncle Hwan, Captain and beloved member of the Juhwang Clan, is sought for treason, among other things, and has yet to be brought to justice.  As things begin, it seems that Sebin worried needlessly about those deeds being held against him, but that's not to say that the tides can't turn at the speed of light.  He has a funny feeling, and more often than not...those shouldn't be ignored.  When an unexpected opportunity arises, followed by an unexpected encounter, it cements certain things that we know to be true...

First...the Space Forces really have no idea what they are dealing with, but they're about the find out.

Second...the family we choose is just as important, if not more so, than the one we are born into.

Third...one should never underestimate the little guy, nor base a known truth on preconceived prejudices.

Space is about to get a whole lot more interesting, AND dangerous, but if Sebin holds true to himself, and applies his training for the greater good...the Thousand Worlds may just "live" to see another day.

So that's the story, and as for the writing, it really put you right there on the spacecraft with Sebin and his friends.  I appreciated the diversity in both the characters and their family histories.  I enjoyed meeting up with Min once again, even if it wasn't initially the best of circumstances.  I loved the hard choices the characters were faced with, the dilemmas they had to sort out between obligations and morals, and the mythology aspect of the story; it gave the book a greater depth than at first could be perceived.  Overall, it was a great addition to the series, and I can't wait for more! (There will be more...right?)

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About Yoon Ha Lee:

Yoon Ha Lee (yoonhalee.com) is the New York Times best-selling author of Dragon Pearl, a companion to this book and winner of the Locus Award and the Mythopoeic Award. He has also published several books for adults, including a standalone fantasy entitled Phoenix Extravagant, and the Machineries of Empire space opera trilogy: Ninefox Gambit, Raven Strategem, and Revenant Gun. Yoon draws inspiration from a variety of sources, e.g. Korean history and mythology, fairy tales, higher mathematics, classic moral dilemmas, and genre fiction. His website can be found at yoonhalee.com and his Twitter handle is @deuceofgears.

 

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

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YOUR CHANCE TO WIN...

1 of 3 finished copy of TIGER HONOR, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Special thank to Rockstar Book Tours team for the chance to bring this tour to you and to Rick Riordan presents for the copy for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this tour, or those forthcoming, feel free to click through the links provided above.  Be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more bookish fun!

Tour Schedule

Week One:

1/1/2022 - BookHounds YA - Excerpt 

Week Two: 

1/2/2022 - YA Books Central - Excerpt 

1/3/2022  - Kait Plus Books - Excerpt 

1/4/2022 - Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers  - Review 

1/5/2022 - Celia's Reads-blog - Review 

1/6/2022  - The Momma Spot - Review 

1/7/2022 - Nerdophiles  - Review 

1/8/2022  - Lifestyle of Me - Review 

Week Three: 

1/9/2022 - Nonbinary Knight Reads - Review 

1/10/2022 - Wilted Pages - Review 

1/11/2022 - Okie Dreams - Review 

1/12/2022 - Bri's Book Nook - Review 

1/13/2022 - Books Are Magic Too  - Review 

1/14/2022  - The Bookwyrm's Den -Review 

1/15/2022 - The Book Review Crew - Review 

Week Four: 

1/16/2022 - Eye-Rolling Demigod's Book Blog - Review 

1/17/2022 - onemused - Review 

1/18/2022 -  bookbriefs - Review 

1/19/2022 - A Backwards Story - Review 

1/20/2022 - Feed Your Fiction Addiction - Review 

1/21/2022 - Utopia State of Mind - Review 

1/22/2022 - Rajiv's Reviews - Review 

Week Five: 

1/23/2022 - Lexijava_Bookish - Review 

1/24/2022 -  Two Points of Interest - Review 

1/25/2022 -  Bookwyrming Thoughts - Review 

1/26/2022 -  More Books Please blog  - Review 

1/27/2022  - popthebutterfly - Review 

1/28/2022 - @drewsim12 - Review 

1/29/2022 - @thebookishfoxwitch - Review 

Week Six: 

1/30/2022  - Reading Wordsmith - Review 

1/31/2022 -  Everyone’s Librarian - Review 

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

There's no place like home... Meridien by S.H. Jucha

Hi guys and gals!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.



So, yesterday...no post.  I know, I know.  I beat myself up enough about it already but you know what, I'm through with that.  Would I love to have something up EVERY SINGLE DAY...yes, of course!  Do I more often than not?  That's an affirmative.  Will it always happen?  Nope...and I'm okay with this.  So long as I'm not reneging on a promised post date/tour/etc, every now and then a break may occur.  It's good to de-stress once in a while...even if I wasn't actually DE-stressing, but rather STRESSing...and I hope you're good with that too.  Moving on...

The post I intended to bring yesterday is ready today, not for lack of being read but a lack of time to put the words to virtual paper/space.  It's the final book that I've read (for now) in The Silver Ships series that I was reviewing last week; for a quick reminder of what we've covered so far, check out my reviews for book 1 and book 2.  Now, I know we've been talking about series here recently and while yes, this can be read as a stand alone, I highly suggest you DO NOT because so much transpires in the first two books, you're enjoyment level will be diminished more than need be....and we're all about the bookish enjoyment, are we not? ^-^  So, without further ado, allow me to introduce today's ebook of choice...

Meridien
The Silver Ships series, Book 3
by
S.H. Jucha


About the book...
The Méridiens are fleeing to their far colonies—and they have reason to run. Over the course of decades, they have lost hundreds of ships, billions of people, and seven Confederation colonies to an alien enemy: an advancing swarm of silver ships transported in the bowels of a gigantic, spherical vessel.

Alex Racine, who once enjoyed the solitary life of an explorer-tug Captain, is now an Admiral and responsible for the lives of a quarter million Librans. Further complicating his life, Alex’s Librans have made it clear they don’t want to settle on his home world. They want a new home, and he must secure them one.

The silver ships await Alex’s makeshift flotilla at Libre, the last colony they consumed. Thus far, Alex’s people have succeeded in skirmishes against the enemy’s fighters. Now, though, they’re preparing to attack the entire alien fleet and halt the devastation of the colonies.

To the surprise and chagrin of his officers and crew alike, Alex concocts a new plan, because he believes humanity faces not one but two alien species, and one may be enslaved to the other. If so, Alex believes slaves should be liberated, not obliterated.

To test Alex’s theory, his people must capture a wholly intact silver ship—a feat never before accomplished. The crew remains doubtful, but their Admiral is determined to communicate with the aliens before he’s forced to destroy them, and his wish is their command. 





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Here we are once again, but this time Captain Alex Racine is no longer Captain but ADMIRAL and the portion of his title that is shared with the word ADMIRation still falls short of the love his people, New Terran and Meridien alike, have for him.

He has proven himself to be a fair, gracious, and brave leader, even if unwilling to claim the fame and glory befitting his positions.  The gentle hand he's shown to those in need, the firm show of force displayed when necessary to protect those he holds in high esteem, and the depth to which he understands things that many have not even thought to contemplate as of yet, all go into building the legend the man is becoming...with good reason too!  He has two peoples to call his "own" at the moment and he's aiming to make it three.  How so?  Well, if you recall the silver ships of infamy were fought in the first story, and destroyed in the second, and even if it might have seemed like a resolved course of action to follow when it came to the other enemy vessels, Alex begs to differ.  It seems that between his brains (and TWO implants!) and those of the 3 SADEs he is friendly with, there has been a pattern determined that suggests those piloting the silver ships may not be the enemy after all but an unwilling participate in a bigger enemies ultimate plan to own the universe.




*DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN*

Just what happens next is rather astounding and far be it from me to ruin the BIG SURPRISE but let's just say that in the end, moves are made in rapid succession to enable all those oppressed the chance to be FREE.  Well done Admiral...well done indeed.

Overall, a grand addition to the growing series that will leave you satisfied for the duration of this voyage but itching to find out just what's on the horizon.  The only down side of this particular story for me was the alien language of the Swei Swee.  I admit, I was overwhelmed...plays into the part of me that doesn't really get into the BIG Sci-Fi/Fantasy reads where an entire world, history, language, etc, are created and needed to understand the read...but thankfully the SADEs handle much of the decoding so I just played dumb and kept reading.  It was fascinating indeed, but I would say it's safe to presume I won't be communicating one-on-one of them anytime soon.  So, grab your space boots and strap in for take off, because this is one space adventure you won't want to miss.  Can't wait to see what's in store for the crew that's now family next come the next release.




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About author S.H. Jucha...

Born in Anchorage, Alaska, I currently reside with my wife in San Diego, California.

I've spent years overseas, earned two college degrees, held many jobs, and found a wonderful marriage partner. My writing and my marriage life started together. My first attempt at a novel, entitled "The Lure", was a crime drama centered around the surfacing of a 110-carat yellow diamond lost during the French Revolution.

In 1980, in preparation for the book, I spent two wonderful weeks researching the Brazilian people, their language, and the religious customs of Candomblé. The day I returned from Rio, I had my first date with my wife-to-be, Peggy Giels.

Over the next thirty-four years, I outlined dozens of novels, but a busy career limited my efforts to complete a single one. Now, the time has come, and I've thoroughly enjoyed planning, researching, and writing my first novel—in fact, the entire series.

I discovered the joy of reading when I was thirteen. Today, I hope I’m sharing that joy with my readers through my stories.

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Special thanks to Mallory at Smith Publicity Inc for the copies for review.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this series, this title, the author, or those promotions on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is available now in tree and ebook formats, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.  Be sure to tune in all week as we explore the rest of this three some (my review of book one can be found here) as it draws towards what I'm hoping will be a stunning conclusion....for now (it's slated to be a FIVE book series with a possible spin off!).

Until next time...happy reading!