Gyre (The Atlas Link #1) by Jessica Gunn

This is the first book in a fantasy series aimed at young adults.

Archaeology is one of Chelsea's passions in life; the other music. One night after leaving a gig she is mugged, and when a stranger comes to her aid, Chelsea's life takes a dramatic turn for the crazier. She discovers she can teleport and lands up on SeaSat5, a military ship working on a classified quest about Atlantis and mysterious artifacts connected with it. On board she meets the stranger (Trevor) who saved her, and so begins an adventure of war between Lemuria and Atlantis, betrayals, new friendships, discovery of powers, and of course, love.

The story is well written, a little slow to get going but with an action-packed finish. I enjoyed the dual POV between chapters as it gave you a good insight into different characters' motivations. The violence and romance scenes have been written with a young adult in mind and are age appropriate. The ship itself was a fantastic piece of technology with an amazing description. I liked the idea of the warring factions as you never really hear of any other underwater worlds in fiction other than Atlantis. It was also good to see a character like Trevor, who was thrown into the middle of the war, take a stand against the beliefs his parents wanted to enforce. Chelsea was a good strong character and I can't wait to hear more of Valerie's story.

I got a little annoyed at the continual references to the Lemurians and Atlantians being at war; it was just repeated far too often and the reader doesn't need to be constantly reminded. I felt that Trevor needed to grow a bit more of a backbone so I'm hoping in later books he finds himself. Not too many editing mistakes but one that really did irritate me was the continuous use of "could of" instead of "could have", and finding silly things like "road up her arm" instead of "rode up her arm".

All in all a fun story, written in an easy to read and comfortable style. I'm looking forward to seeing in which direction the story goes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Curiosity Quills Press for the chance to review the book.  

Chickpea Flour does it all by Lindsey L. Love

This recipe book has gluten-free, dairy-free and vegetarian recipes for many different occasions.

The book is divided into the months of the year to showcase seasonal ingredients. The diversity of the recipes is amazing : from chickpea waffle avocado toast, to almond butter brownies to ratatouille tartlets. The author introduces the book and explains how her journey led her to using chickpea flour, and also includes different ways it can be utilised. I personally didn't realise that a flour could be so versatile. The most beautiful colour photos accompany the recipes and the layout of each recipe is easy to read and follow. A list of recipes in the beginning of the book as well as an index at the end allows you to find your recipe or ingredient choice with ease.

An absolutely indispensable book and highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to review the book.

The Twisted Souls Series by Cege Smith

This is a unified collection of 4 books in the fantasy/dystopian genre and is suitable for mature young adults and up.

The world of Before must not be spoken of. All info pertaining to the events that led to the world After is kept by the Office of Souls on a strictly confidential basis. In the Territory of Malm children are born soulless, only receiving souls if won in a lottery or sometimes never at all. These soulless are disfigured and speechless; useless to society. Malcolm and Eve are ecstatic to have won a soul placement in the lottery and duly study the rituals and rights necessary in order for baby Cameron to receive her new soul from the Head Master at the fountain. What they didn't bargain for was a plot hatched by the evil Chim set to culminate on the important soul day which will have devastating consequences for not just those involved, but all others in the Territory.

The first book grabbed my attention immediately, with the idea of a civilisation changed so much from the Before, that not even procreation, unless authorised, was allowed. What could have been so shocking in the Before that in essence reset the world? Things move on at a good pace and the gist of good and evil as the main idea comes through. But then again both terms are very subjective. The second book starts lagging a bit with some YA romance thrown in that creates a bit of a diversion to the main story. Book 3 really slowed down and it felt like some pages were just there to take up space. Book 4 then comes and beautifully rounds off the series with twists and turns, action, heartache, camaraderie, love, loyalty and sacrifice, and it seems worth all the reading. Well almost worth it. I understand that these are 4 books put together and the reader has to be caught up on previous events, but if sold in one tome like this perhaps some editing could take place where one book leads directly into the next story and a whole horde of info is not repeated?

I did enjoy the story though. A good play on power corrupting morals and authority becoming unquestionable. I liked the different viewpoints in different chapters-it gave the reader a bigger perspective. A good climactic finale explains most of the questions a reader will have throughout the series. Well written with an easy to read pace and good use of editing.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to review the book.