Marie Lu

I had the opportunity to get an early copy of the new paperback edition of Stars and Smoke, which includes new artwork and a bonus scene. Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and BookishFirst; all opinions in my review are solely my own.

I really enjoyed reading Stars and Smoke. I thought both of the main characters were interesting and felt relatable in their own ways, with complicated pasts. The banter between Winter and Sydney was fun and I enjoyed the development of their relationship along the way. The "pop star turned spy" concept was interesting and done well. There was a lot of action, and parts of the story even had a cinematic feel to them. I was expecting some kind of twist along the way and thought I had it all figured out, but it turns out the book was still able to provide surprises. This was one of those books where, once I started getting close to the end, I couldn't put it down. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series and reading more by this author!… (more)

Icon and Inferno had a similar feel to the first book, with action, mystery, romance and thrills. I read the books together, but enough background information is given catch you up if it's been a bit. Once again, I enjoyed the complicated relationship between Winter and Sydney, and the addition of their exes added extra tension. There are surprises along the way, though I'll admit to having my suspicions about some of the things that happened beforehand. There's a lot of action, and while sometimes it feels a little unrealistic, it gives it the kind of excitement you feel while watching a movie. It was definitely a quick read that was hard to put down. I'm not sure if there will be another book in this series, but I'd love to read more by the author, Marie Lu.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Roaring Brook Press and NetGalley for the advance review copy of Icon and Inferno! All opinions in my review are completely my own.… (more)

It's been more than a year since superstar Winter Young was recruited into the Panacea Group - an elite covert ops group - to bring down a major crime boss.

Winter has gone back to his superstar status, but with the threatening release of a new tell-all book about him by some unknown person - although undoubtedly someone close to him - Winter longs for the excitement of being an agent. Longs for something slightly dangerous, yet also helpful and, in a way, something that's just his.

As fate would have it, the group needs Winter's help once again. One of their agents has gone missing in the middle of a mission and Sydney has been tapped to find him and bring him home. This includes travelling to Singapore and attending an exclusive gala. Who better to gain entry than the most famous pop singer in the world?

As Winter and Sydney team up again, the mission soon turns from a straight-forward extraction to thwarting a hit on the President.

I was not ready to be finished with Winter and Sydney from the first book, and was super excited that we get this second one. I low-key loved how Marie Lu ended the first one with them being separated because I knew the meetup again would be **chef's kiss**. Coupled with the fact that the agent they're sent to extract has a history with Sydney and Winter has become entangled again with an ex-girlfriend in the interim, and there's plenty of lovely angst. Now, normally I don't have time for the angst, but I felt like Marie Lu built these two up so well in the first book and built their tentative partnership up that I didn't really feel like there could be a true divide between them in this sense, but it made for some really great tension and also brought up contrasts and comparisons between those others relationships and the one they have with each other. This book felt a lot more emotionally involved than the first one, which makes sense because we are more familiar with the characters and the setup. That was dealt with in the first book, so it makes sense we would delve more into the emotional side of things.

I felt like this time around there's a lot of slow winding build-up until we get to the pulse-pounding intense mission. I didn't mind the slow build, at a certain point when things turn I just did not want to put down the book. Unfortunately, there are also some revelations that come about after the halfway mark that felt too rushed.

Regardless of these, I adore how Marie Lu handled Sydney and Winter.

I don't know what the future holds for this series, but I feel like there's plenty of possibilities for continuation and more ways to explore the characters.… (more)