Omega Beginnings Miniseries by Lizzy Ford

Series: Omega Beginnings Miniseries, #1-8

Publication date: September 12, 2015

Publisher: Selfpublished

Genres: YA, Fantasy, Greek mythology

Format: Paperback, review copy

Source: The author in exchange for an honest review

Pages: 293
Rating: ★★★★/5

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A five-year-old child with an unusual gift starts a chain reaction when she reanimates a gargoyle, setting the stage for her rise to power a dozen years later as the Oracle of Delphi. Alessandra awakens the grotesque prince from slumber ...
Mismatch warns the child who will be queen of a family curse
Phoibe turns to her shadow friend for protection
Lantos delivers a message and mission to a priestess
Theodocia chooses serving her goddess over her gladiator boyfriend
Niko wins an audience with a member of the elite
Cleon grants a final favor to his betrayer
Herakles takes an oath to protect a special child with an unusual gift
The fate of the world rests in the hands of a child and the seven strangers who will become her allies and enemies. It's the beginning of the end - and not even the gods can stop what comes.

I read Omega in July of last year and I loved it! (Read my review here.) It's so intriguing, fast-paced and actionpacked - and very unlike all the other YA books with Greek mythology out there. When I found out about this series, which is a novella series which takes place before Omega, I knew I had to read it! I love novellas which give more knowledge about the story and/or characters and this one does both!

Omega Beginnings Miniseries contains the complete novella series of 8 novellas by Lizzy Ford! A thing I especially loved was the fact that they 'lead' the way to each other. For example; in Alessandra Mismatch is awoken - so the next story is Mismatch. Then in Mismatch we come across Phoibe so the next story is of course; Phoibe. It's a small detail but a detail which made the reading experience so much better!

A thing I usually trouble with is multiple perspectives, and since each of the stories are told from a different character, I feared that it would be a problem while reading Omega Beginnings Miniseries - but it wasn't! It was so easy to follow each character and I'm not sure why - maybe Lizzy is just that good? I really feel like she did an amazing job portraying each of the characters.

I'm not sure which story was my favorite, because all of them are great, but I loved Phoibe since we don't get that much information about why she doesn't talk in Omega (at least I don't remember if that is the case).
I was a bit shocked in Theodocia because it's a bit sexy and definitely in the New Adult section - even though Omega is classified as YA, a YA with older characters that is. I didn't expect them to tear each others clothes of and have sex - but that is what happens and it shocked me!

My biggest problem is that I feel like this series can't stand on it's own. Having read the 'original' book I knew how it connected with each other, but some of the stuff that happened in Omega Beginnings Miniseries I didn't quite follow - maybe it's because I just forgot some of the things that happened in Omega, but it definitely implies that you probably should read Omega before going into this one. I really don't know which one to read first..

Nonetheless, I devoured these 8 short stories/novellas and I definitely recommend reading them! This bind up of the series are also quite beautiful!
All of the stories are free on amazon if you're interested! They're quite short but enjoyable!

Land by Alex Campbell

Series: Standalone

Publication date: September 4, 2014

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Genres: YA Dystopia

Format: Paperback

Source: Received from Hot Key Books in exchange for an honest review

Pages: 370

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The sea rose. Civilisation was wiped out, countries drowned. Out of the ashes of a desperate refugee camp, a new society was born, with a new place to call home: Land. Trapped by an aggressive sea, its citizens were bound to rules that saw the weak removed, marriage and children by approval only, and designated work for all. All for the greater good......

Decades later, and seventeen year-old Christy's life is on the cusp of irrevocable change. She has become eligible for the Pairing, a carefully selected marriage of political and social convenience where romance is out of the question. Her grandmother, Cons, has also reached a significant age - sixty-six: soon the Selection Truck will arrive to take her away forever.

Christy’s only hope for protection lies with her missing rebel father…..but nothing goes as it's supposed to. As Christy finds a Pair who might offer a new opportunity for love and security she also uncovers a destiny that has been hidden from her; truths that have been disguised as childhood lies. With Cons’ life under threat, Christy is forced to face a whole new world, one where she must choose between those she cares about and the greater good….a new life where she must play the reluctant rebel, the revolutionary, the lover.....the assassin.

I really enjoyed this! It feels like a mash-up of a bunch of my favorite dystopias!

Let's start with talking about the world. The place where they live is called Land - hence the title - and it's only a small part of the world - not the entire world. They can't leave since there's water all around. I think Land is, hands down, horrible and this is why;
Land decides everything, whom you get to marry, who get's to have children - and when, which job you get, when you die and so on. Something that really scared me was probably that women who got pregnant without being allowed to either dies or gets sent to the brothels
There is a lot of rules and not that much freedom - if any. I hate Land because it is too controlled I mean, you even have to wear certain colors so people know which part of the hierarchy you belong to.
I think the world is leaning towards our more typical dystopian world since it has all the rules, but I also think it stands out because it's sitting in the midst of water without any options for leaving - I don't think I've read a dystopian novel with the world surrounded entirely by water.

I also loved how this book starts out - naturally - explaining the world, how it is as it is and why. I loved that the world building comes in the form of a story about Cons life. We are therefore naturally plunged in and we get to know all the important things about Land before we actually start reading Christy's story.

In the beginning I really liked Cons, Christy's grandmother, then that totally changed when all the plot twists came along. Now I'm left not knowing whether I like her or not since I understand a bit why she did as she did, but I also hate her for doing it.
Chrisy I like - except for her inability to make choices, she just let others pull her along and letting them choose for her. She missed a bit of back-bone but it came through in the end!  I loved the fact that she is an assassin - I've actually never read a book with assassins, so it was totally new for me and I liked it! I think it makes you sit on the edge of your seat or "makes you hold your breath without knowing". Nonetheless I think it was quite intriguing and I liked that she wasn't this stone cold assassin. Christy had feelings, she was nervous when killing a human being.

I really enjoyed reading about Christy and Land - and I enjoyed having this big of a story in a standalone instead of a trilogy, it made it much more fast-paced and enjoyable.

And before we end this I have to say that I really love the cover, I think it captures the story wonderfully and I absolutely love that the main character, Christy, has red hair, like me. I also love that it's so colorful opposed to just being black with a few colors thrown in. 

I little extra: I talked to the author, Alex, and got her to describe this book in three words and she came up with so many great descriptions! Here's some of my favorites: 

Death becomes destiny

Control is power

Pain that I am

Lies hide choices

The Memory Keepers by Natasha Ngan

Series: Standalone

Publication date: September 4, 2014

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Genres: YA Dystopia

Format: Paperback

Source: Received from Hot Key Books in exchange for an honest review

Pages: 410

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"No one can take your memories from you... can they?"

Seven is a thief with a difference - he steals downloadable memories from banks and memoriums to sell onto London's black market, trading secrets and hidden pasts for a chance at a future of his own. He makes sure he keeps some special stuff back to 'surf' himself though - it's the only real form of entertainment he can afford. But one night, as Seven is breaking into a private memorium in a wealthy part of London, he is caught in the act by one of its residents; Alba, the teenage daughter of London's most famous criminal prosecutor. Instead of giving him away, Alba promises to keep Seven's secret - as long as he allows her to go memory-surfing herself. In doing so, they discover a hidden memory about Seven's past, revealing a shocking secret about Seven's childhood, the government and a mysterious experiment known as The Memory Keepers...

Now Seven and Alba will have to race against time to unlock the maze of The Memory Keepers - but can they keep themselves out of harm's way before the London Guard - and Alba's father - catches up with them?

This was my first Natasha Ngan book and I have to say, I have a feeling she's going to be one of those authors where you just buy her books without knowing anything about them.

Need to know

- The memories aren't erased, they're basically just 'recorded', and you can actually trade them.
- The book takes place in 2144
- We are dealing with a bunch of characters in this book; We have our two main characters Alba and Seven. Seven's friends Loe and a little girl called Mika. Alba's handmaid Dolly and Alba's parents; Alastair and Oxana White.

My thoughts

I think the world building and plot was absolutely fantastic. When I started reading this I had no idea it was set this far in the future, but I quite liked it anyway. I love the concept of memory-surfing, where you basically experience the memory again - you feel everything and hear everything that was originally recorded, it's not exactly the same as just thinking back. I was also quite intrigued by the whole memory-thieving and selling the memory's illegally, everything was just so imaginative and mind-blowing.
I think Natasha has an amazing imagination and I can't wait to read her next book.

Throughout the entire book I felt sorry for both Alba and Seven, they have both had quite a rough time growing up and I really sympathized with them. Alba, the Norther who is deeply neglected by her parents and only has her handmaid Dolly. Seven, the Souther who has lost his parents and doesn't really have anyone besides Loe and Mika. I really enjoyed getting to know both of them and watch the two of them evolve and begin to get out of their comfort zones and let love take hold of them.
I immediately loved the relationship between Alba and Dolly, I love that they have this special bond and how they treat and take care of each other. Their relationship was probably one of my favorite parts of the whole book.

I really enjoyed the whole story, I liked how we were introduced to the characters and we learned everything about 'memories' so naturally and gradually instead of learning everything at once and not remembering anything. I think this story is one of the best I've read this year so far, and I've read a lot. This story has everything, it has wonderful world building and lovely characters. There's love, hate, family - all with and edge of the futuristic.

I could not, for the life of me, put this book down. If I had had the time I would probably have devoured the whole book in a single sitting - that's how good this book is. In a way I'm sad that this book has ended, we don't get to see more of Alba and Seven, but on the other hand everything was wrapped up so nicely that it would almost be a sin to continue the story.

If you hadn't guessed it already, I absolutely loved this book and devoured it quite quickly. I enjoyed both the characters, the plot, the world and the story. Natasha Ngan has touched my very soul and I felt like her heart is all over those pages. I definitely recommend this book to everyone who likes 'different' books and like the futuristic.