Cyn's Workshop
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Review of ‘All Your Twisted Secrets’
Synopsis A thrilling debut, reminiscent of new fan favorites like One of Us Is Lying and the beloved classics by Agatha Christie, that will leave readers guessing until the explosive ending. "Welcome to dinner, and again, congratulations on being selected. Now you must do the selecting." What do the queen bee, star athlete, valedictorian, stoner, loner, and music geek all have in common? They were all invited to a scholarship dinner, only to discover it's a trap. Someone has locked them into a room with a bomb, a syringe filled with poison, and a note saying they have an hour to pick someone to kill...or else everyone dies. Amber Prescott is determined to get her classmates and herself out of the room alive, but that might be easier said than done. No one knows how they're all connected or who would want them dead. As they retrace the events over the past year that might have triggered their captor's ultimatum, it becomes clear that everyone is hiding something. And with the clock ticking down, confusion turns into fear, and fear morphs into panic as they race to answer the biggest question: Who will they choose to die?
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Review of ‘Thorn’ (Dauntless Path #1)
Synopsis Hunted meets The Wrath and the Dawn in this bold fairytale retelling--where court intrigue, false identities, and dark secrets will thrill fans of classic and contemporary fantasy alike. Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life, but when her mother betroths her to a powerful prince in a distant kingdom, she has little hope for a better future. Until Alyrra arrives at her new kingdom, where a mysterious sorceress robs her of both her identity and her role as princess--and Alyrra seizes on the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl. But as Alyrra uncovers dangerous secrets about her new world, including a threat to the prince himself, she knows she can't remain silent forever. With the fate of the kingdom at stake, Alyrra is caught between two worlds, and ultimately must decide who she is and what she stands for. Originally self-published as an ebook and now brought to life in hardcover with a refreshed design and completely revised text, Thorn also features an additional short story set in-world, The Bone Knife.
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Review of ‘Don’t Call the Wolf’
Synopsis Fans of Leigh Bardugo and Holly Black will devour this gorgeously imagined fantasy about a dark forest besieged by monsters--and the wild queen who has sworn to drive them out. A fierce young queen, neither human nor lynx, who fights to protect a forest humans have long abandoned. An exhausted young soldier, last of his name, who searches for the brother who disappeared beneath those trees without a trace. A Golden Dragon, fearsome and vengeful, whose wingbeats haunt their nightmares and their steps. When these three paths cross at the fringes of a war between monsters and men, shapeshifter queen and reluctant hero strike a deal that may finally turn the tide against the rising hordes of darkness. Ren will help Lukasz find his brother...if Lukasz promises to slay the Dragon. But promises are all too easily broken. This Eastern European fantasy debut, inspired by the Polish fairy tale "The Glass Mountain," will take you on a twisting journey full of creeping tension, simmering romance, and haunting folklore--perfect for readers who loved An Enchantment of Ravens and The Hazel Wood.
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'Nemesis and the Swan'
Synopsis From her prison cell in revolutionary Paris, nineteen-year-old aristocrat Hélène d'Aubign recalls the events that led her to choose between following in her parents' unforgivable footsteps or abandoning the man she loves. Despite her world of privilege, Hélène is inspired early on by the radical ideas of her progressive governess. Though her family tries to intervene, the seeds of revolution have already been planted in Hélène's heart, as are the seeds of love from an unlikely friendship with a young jeweler's apprentice. Hélène's determination to find true love is as revolutionary as her attempt to unravel the truth behind a chilling set of eye-shaped brooches and the concealed murder that tore her family apart. As violence erupts in Paris, Hélène is forced into hiding with her estranged family, where the tangled secrets of their past become entwined with her own. When she finally returns to the blood-stained streets of Paris, she finds everything-and everyone-very much changed. In a city where alliances shift overnight, no one knows who to trust. Faced with looming war, the mystery of her family's past, and the man she loves near death, Hélène will soon will find out if doing one wrong thing will make everything right, or if it will simply push her closer to the guillotine.
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Review of ‘Clique Bait’
Synopsis Pretty Little Liars meets Burn for Burn in this thrilling debut from Wattpad star Ann Valett. Chloe Whittaker is out for revenge. Last year her best friend Monica’s life was unceremoniously ruined by the most popular students at their high school, so this year Chloe plans to take each and every one of them down. She’s traded in her jeans and T-shirts for the latest designer clothes, erased anything on social media that would tie her to Monica (and blow her cover), and carefully figured out how she will befriend the members of the clique, find out their deepest and darkest secrets, and reveal them to the world. Chloe has the perfect plan . . . but there’s one thing she didn’t prepare for. And that’s falling for someone she’s determined to destroy. The closer she gets to uncovering the secrets the in-crowd is determined to cover up, the more she realizes that she is going to have to choose between betraying her oldest friend or the boy who’s captured her heart
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Review 'Stitching a Life: An Immigration Story'
Synopsis It's 1900, and sixteen-year-old Helen comes alone in steerage across the Atlantic from a small village in Lithuania, fleeing terrible anti-Semitism and persecution. She arrives at Ellis Island, and finds a place to live in the colorful Lower East Side of New York. She quickly finds a job in the thriving garment industry and, like millions of others who are coming to America during this time, devotes herself to bringing the rest of her family to join her in the New World, refusing to rest until her family is safe in New York. A few at a time, Helen's family members arrive. Each goes to work with the same fervor she has and contributes everything to bringing over their remaining beloved family members in a chain of migration. Helen meanwhile, makes friends and--once the whole family is safe in New York--falls in love with a man who introduces her to a different New York--a New York of wonder, beauty, and possibility.
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Review of ‘A Heart So Fierce and Broken’ (Cursebreakers #2)
Synopsis In the sequel to New York Times bestselling A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Brigid Kemmerer returns to the world of Emberfall in a lush fantasy where friends become foes and love blooms in the darkest of places. Find the heir, win the crown. The curse is finally broken, but Prince Rhen of Emberfall faces darker troubles still. Rumors circulate that he is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers. Win the crown, save the kingdom. Grey may be the heir, but he doesn't want anyone to know his secret. On the run since he destroyed Lilith, he has no desire to challenge Rhen--until Karis Luran once again threatens to take Emberfall by force. Her own daughter Lia Mara sees the flaws in her mother's violent plan, but can she convince Grey to stand against Rhen, even for the good of Emberfall? The heart-pounding, compulsively readable saga continues as loyalties are tested and new love blooms in a kingdom on the brink of war.
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Review of ‘We Were Restless Things’
Synopsis Last summer, Link Miller drowned on dry land in the woods, miles from the nearest body of water. His death was ruled a weird accident, but Noemi Amato knows the truth: Link was killed. He told her so himself, because he's been texting her from beyond the grave, warning her to keep away from the forest. Amberlyn, Link's sister, can't shake the feeling that Noemi is hiding something, and Jonas, Noemi's new housemate, can't get past the walls that she has constructed around herself. Because Noemi has a dangerous secret even bigger than Link's ghost... Link drowned in an impossible lake that only she can find. Now, if the three don't work together to unravel the truth about what is happening in the woods, someone else may wind up dead. Set over the course of one heartbreaking, mystifying, and ultimately hopeful year, this remarkable debut heralds the arrival of an incredible new voice in young adult literature.
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'Watermark' (The Broken Bell Series, #1)
Synopsis The oldest child in a troubled Philadelphia family, Angel Ferente struggles to care for her three sisters while pursuing her goal of attending college on a swimming scholarship. She has a problematic relationship with her mother, Pic, who uses alcohol and drugs to self-medicate and at one point lost custody for a year, and an outright hostile relationship with her stepfather, the only father figure in her life. Angel is the center of stability in the household--making sure the younger girls get to school, ensuring that holidays are observed, doing the family's laundry at her part-time job at a Laundromat, and even taking care of Pic when she is sick or depressed. It's 1993, the midst of the crack epidemic, and Angel and her sisters are witness to the everyday events of life in a community beset by poverty and drugs: dealers on the corner, shoot-outs that kill bystanders, prostitutes on the job, and more. Then Angel goes to a team party on New Year's Eve--and doesn't come home afterward. In the wake of her disappearance, her teammates, her coach's church, and her family search the city for her. The result changes their lives forever.
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Review 'The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher' (The Witcher #0.5)
Synopsis Geralt the Witcher -- revered and hated -- holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity in this collection of adventures in the New York Times bestselling series that inspired the Netflix show and the hit video games. Geralt is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good...and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth. The Last Wish story collection is the perfect introduction to a one of a kind fantasy world.
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Review of ‘The Dark Tide’ (The Dark Tide #1)
Synopsis The Wicked Deep meets A Curse So Dark and Lonely in this gripping, dark fairy-tale fantasy about two girls who must choose between saving themselves, each other, or their sinking island city. Every year on St. Walpurga's Eve, Caldella's Witch Queen lures a boy back to her palace. An innocent life to be sacrificed on the full moon to keep the island city from sinking. Lina Kirk is convinced her brother is going to be taken this year. To save him, she enlists the help of Thomas Lin, the boy she secretly loves, and the only person to ever escape from the palace. But they draw the queen's attention, and Thomas is chosen as the sacrifice. Queen Eva watched her sister die to save the boy she loved. Now as queen, she won't make the same mistake. She's willing to sacrifice anyone if it means saving herself and her city. When Lina offers herself to the queen in exchange for Thomas's freedom, the two girls await the full moon together. But Lina is not at all what Eva expected, and the queen is nothing like Lina envisioned. Against their will, they find themselves falling for each other. As water floods Caldella's streets and the dark tide demands its sacrifice, they must choose who to save: themselves, each other, or the island city relying on them both.
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
Review of ‘Wicked Saints’ (Something Dark and Holy #1)
Synopsis "Prepare for a snow-frosted, blood-drenched fairy tale where the monsters steal your heart and love ends up being the nightmare." - Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Gilded Wolves and The Star-Touched Queen A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself. A prince in danger must decide who to trust. A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings. Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war. In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan's devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy. "This book destroyed me and I adored it."- Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of Caraval
By Cyn's Workshop6 years ago in Geeks
