ARC Review | Beyond the Red by Ava Jae

Beyond the Red 
By Ava Jae
Publication Date: March 1, 2016
352 pages

This book was provided to me from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. I swear on my bookshelf that this has not affected my opinion of the book.

An alien queen, Kora, and a half-breed slave, Eros, have more in common than anyone would want to believe. Both are shunned and hated. Both just want to do what is right for their people. Both of their lives collide when they are forced to work together to save those that they love. 
They live on a planet on the verge of revolution from the plots to kick Kora from the throne in favor of her war-hungry brother and the threats of rebellious humans. The only way to hinder the constant criticism of her rule is to quickly find a mate to share the throne. But finding love in a revolution is harder than Kora thought.
Eros and his human people are constantly being hunted and killed for invading the alien planets. Only a few nomads are left, despite the alien army's efforts to eradicate the human species. Unfortunately, those few survivors might not stay survivors much longer.
The key to keeping their separate people alive is to bring them together, in defiance of the years of hatred and fear between their species. 

Top Ten Tuesday | Songs that Have Been Stuck in My Head All Week

This is a weekly list meme hosted by the wonderful bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish. 

This week is a freebie post, so I got to pick whatever topic came to my mind first (after about 15 minutes of brainstorming, but I am not bitter or anything). Since I have been listening to a lot of music lately, I decided to talk about the songs that have been stuck in my head lately. Just to warn you, I am still a music newbie and I am by no means a music expert (I cannot even play an instrument). 

In case you are wondering, I mostly listen to pop, pop-punk (I am a little bit behind on the times) and even some alternative music. But, I am pretty much open to trying any kind of music (except for rap). 

So, I made you guys a playlist of the top ten (ish) songs that have been circling in my head for the past couple of weeks.

Mini-Reviews | Breaking hearts, demons, and thoughts on how we treat people

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Since I do not have a Time-Turner, a TARDIS, or a cloning machine, I just do not have time to write a full review for all of the books that I read. So, I have decided to write mini-reviews to discuss the books that I do not have as much to say about. That does not mean that I did not like these books, but sometimes, as creative and amazing as my brain is, I just cannot think of that much to write about a book. 

Today, I am discussing how Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between broke my heart, how The Demon King gave me hope for books with multiple perspectives, and how You are Mine's unique premise was not enough to make me love the story.

Top Ten Tuesday | Books I have recently piled on to my towering to-read list

This is a weekly list meme hosted by the wonderful bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish. 

Today's topic is the top ten books most recently added to your to-be-read list. My TBR list is constantly fluctuating, with additions practically every day and even some removals. I try to keep my TBR down to a minimum by periodically going through my Goodreads lists and purging books that I do not have any interest in anymore. 

With the help of Goodreads, I am going to list the 10 books that I have added to my to-be-read list most recently. 

Review | An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

An Ember in the Ashes

By Sabaa Tahir
An Ember in the Ashes #1
Published April 28, 2015
446 pages
Fantasy, Young Adult

Freedom is in short supply in the Empire.

Laia watched her family be mercilessly murdered as her defiant brother was dragged to prison. No one escapes Martial prisons, but Laia is willing to do anything for the only family she has left. Apparently, everything includes accepting the dangerous, and doomed-to-fail, mission from the elusive Resistance. The only way to get her in is to sell her as a slave to the most brutal woman in the Empire in the most dangerous place in The Empire.
Elias is a good soldier. But that does not make him a good person. He lived his years at Blackcliff in a constant cycle of training, obeying, and killing. He is a slave to the expectations of the Empire. Graduation is coming up, along with a chance to break that soul-crushing cycle. While Elias wants to escape with his soul intact, it seems like destiny will do everything to rip the life from him. 

These two desperate slaves to the Empire meet when the world is in the midst of chaos, which quickly includes them in its madness.