Review: Salt & Stone (Fire & Flood #2) by Victoria Scott

Book Title: Salt & Stone
Author: Victoria Scott
Published Date: February 24th, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Genre: YA/SciFi
Series: Book Two of Fire & Flood series
Book Link: Goodreads
Synopsis from Goodreads:
What would you do to save someone you love? What about risking…everything?

In Fire & Flood, Tella Holloway faced a dangerous trek through the jungle and a terrifying march across the desert, all to remain a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed for a chance at obtaining the Cure for her brother. She can’t stop—and in Salt & Stone, Tella will have to face the unseen dangers of the ocean, the breathless cold of a mountain, and the twisted new rules in the race.

But what if the danger is deeper than that? How do you know who to trust when everyone’s keeping secrets? What do you do when the person you’ve relied on most suddenly isn’t there for support? How do you weigh one life against another?

The race is coming to an end, and Tella is running out of time, resources, and strength. At the beginning of the race there were 122 Contenders. As Tella and her remaining friends start the fourth and final part of the race, just forty-one are left…and only one can win.

Victoria Scott’s stunning thriller will leave readers’ hearts racing!

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book from Scholastic via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:
It’s been such a long time since I visited this world! I reviewed Fire & Flood here, back in January of 2014. I really should have reread Fire and Flood before I read Salt and Stone. I had forgotten some of the details from the first book.

It took me a really long time to get into this book. I’m not exactly sure why it took me so long to get into it. Maybe it was just my mood, maybe I was bored? I’m just not sure. It finally started picking up at about page 160. When I hit that part, I had a very hard time putting it back down.

I still loved Tella, and in fact her growth in this book was really awesome. She was able to stand on her own two feet even when Guy was not around.  Guy was every bit as swoony as he was in Fire and Flood. He could get a little aggravating, but I loved how things turned out for them in the end.

I also really liked Harper this time around. She was complicated and fascinating. I was glad to see more of her given how things were for her in the first book. Willow, Olivia, Braun and the rest of them were captivating. A new character by the name of Cotton was very interesting and I couldn’t figure out if he was a good person or a bad person. I spent the entire book trying to figure it out.

I’m still madly in love with Pandoras. I wish they were real. Madox and his loyalty to Tella was awesome. It was awesome to see all the different Pandoras. Lions, alligators, bears, iguanas just to mention a few. There was a few stressful moments involving Pandoras that actually got me in the feels.

Because I took so long getting into this book, I have to give it 4 stars. I did enjoy the story a lot once I finally got into it, it just took awhile for me to get into it. I am so excited that I got to read this book and I am going to miss these characters.

Review: Fire & Flood (Fire & Flood #1) by Victoria Scott

Book Title: Fire & Flood (Fire & Flood #1)
Author: Victoria Scott
Release Date: February 25th, 2014
Publisher: Scholastic
Genre: YA/SciFi
Series: Book 1 in Fire & Flood series
Book Link: Goodreads
Pre-Order Links: AmazonBarnes & NobleBook Depository
Synopsis from Goodreads:
A modern day thrill ride, where a teen girl and her animal companion must participate in a breathtaking race to save her brother’s life—and her own. 
Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can’t determine what’s wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She’s lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she’s helpless to change anything.

Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It’s an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother’s illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there’s no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can’t trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

Disclaimer: I received this print ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Review:
What would you do for someone you love, who was suffering? That’s the question that Tella Holloway is forced to face when she receives an anonymous box one night. Her answer is quick, she would do anything for her brother who’s suffering from an unknown illness. Doctor after doctor have tried to help him but no one knows what’s ailing Cody Holloway. 

So when Tella learns that the prize for winning this thing, is The Cure, she knows that she must compete.Even if she’s never even heard of The Brimstone Bleed before.Even if she has no idea what to expect. She knows that Cody would do it for her in a heartbeat. Tella is bright, intelligent and devoted to her family no matter what kinds of things await her. 

There were so many themes in this book, but the one that stuck out to me the most is loyalty.One could also make the argument for family being the main theme, but loyalty was an even bigger one. Not just loyalty among human allies, but loyalty from Pandoras to humans.

I’m obsessed with Pandora’s.First, you find them as eggs in a room, even before you reach the first stage of the competition. You have no clue what these eggs hold or even if they’ll hatch. So you take a gamble and hope that it pays off. I have never wanted anything like this in my life. I WISH Pandora’s were real. That would be so darn awesome. 
I really liked the supporting characters: Harper,Caroline, Olivia and of course Guy. Oh my goodness, Guy was mysterious, intriguing and just SO swoon-worthy. Initially, he kind of gave me the creeps, but I eventually warmed up to him just like he warmed up to Tella.

I am so excited to see what the next book holds for all of these characters.This book will be getting a full five stars and I cannot wait to read the next book in this series.

Stacking the Shelves #23

This feature is hosted by Tynga at Tynga’s Reviews


Hello everyone,hope your week was awesome, and for those who celebrate, full of Christmas prep. This week was a busy week. My sweet kitty Tiffany was spayed on Monday and has had some problems post op. She appears to be on the mend now.Yesterday, we went to a new vet because our usual one didn’t have emergency hours. Tiffany was diagnosed as still being in pain. So she got an injection of pain medication and she seems to be doing a TON better.
Now, moving on to the fun parts of the week. I got two books this week. I got We Were Liars by E. Lockhart from NetGalley. I found out from a fellow blogger that it was up on NetGalley and I immediately requested it. Over the next 24 hours a TON of fellow bloggers did the same and the majority of us got it.
Now months ago I had requested Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott.I had totally forgotten about it until the pictures of the ARC’s came flooding through my Twitter feed. By the second day, I started to feel crappy because it didn’t seem like I was going to get it. Day three came and I got a package from Scholastic. I instantly knew what it was and I was thrilled. So thank you bunches Scholastic.

Bought
Received for Review
-NetGalley-
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

-From Publisher-

Won
Gifted

So, it was a quiet book week for me. I guess that is probably a good thing as I have so many books to read right now.So let me know if you got either of these or if you’ve read them by now.Also, leave the links to your Stacking the Shelves posts/vlogs. For those of you who celebrate it, Merry Christmas!