Lauren's Boookshelf: BLOG TOUR: "Incendiary" by Zoraida Córdova + GIVEAWAY

Hey all! Today I am super excited to be bringing you on my blog tour stop for Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova! I loved reading this book and am so excited that it's out in the world for everyone to enjoy. This tour stop has a bunch of fun things such as my review, an excerpt, and an exclusive playlist!

SYNOPSIS

I am Renata Convida.

I have lived a hundred stolen lives.

Now I live my own.

Renata Convida was only a child when she was kidnapped by the King's Justice and brought to the luxurious palace of Andalucia. As a Robari, the rarest and most feared of the magical Moria, Renata's ability to steal memories from royal enemies enabled the King's Wrath, a siege that resulted in the deaths of thousands of her own people.

Now Renata is one of the Whispers, rebel spies working against the crown and helping the remaining Moria escape the kingdom bent on their destruction. The Whispers may have rescued Renata from the palace years ago, but she cannot escape their mistrust and hatred--or the overpowering memories of the hundreds of souls she turned "hollow" during her time in the palace.

When Dez, the commander of her unit, is taken captive by the notorious Sangrado Prince, Renata will do anything to save the boy whose love makes her place among the Whispers bearable. But a disastrous rescue attempt means Renata must return to the palace under cover and complete Dez's top secret mission. Can Renata convince her former captors that she remains loyal, even as she burns for vengeance against the brutal, enigmatic prince? Her life and the fate of the Moria depend on it.

But returning to the palace stirs childhood memories long locked away. As Renata grows more deeply embedded in the politics of the royal court, she uncovers a secret in her past that could change the entire fate of the kingdom--and end the war that has cost her everything.

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Release Date: April 28th 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Goodreads

MY REVIEW

4.5 // 5 stars

I would first like to start by saying a big thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book and letting me participate in the blog tour. I was excited about this release prior to it so when I saw that there was going to be a tour, I jumped straight on signing up!

The book picks up from page one with action. We're thrown right into an intense scene and I thought it was the perfect beginning. It sucked me in right away and I was very engrossed throughout the entire book. Some parts did drag at times in the middle, but I feel like, for the most part, the book was paced pretty well. The way the plot moved was so unexpected for me--so many things happened that I wasn't expecting going in. It was very intriguing and, even when the action was less, the tension and high stakes kept the story moving. I will say the ending seemed a bit rushed and confusing, but maybe that's because I stayed up until 1 am finishing this because I could not put it down!

The world itself was very interesting but the magic is really what I want to focus on. The magic! I've never actually read a book with magic like Ren's before. She can steal people's memories from them and even take their entire minds so that they're a empty inside. I thought it was really interesting, especially because of her struggles with guilt for using it but it being a necessity.

I really loved the characters. I loved Ren from page one and I knew that she was going to be a character I loved reading from. However, all of the side characters were all so well-developed that I loved each of them as well. Plus, there were betrayals and twists and big reveals that I didn't see coming all in regards to the characters and I loved every moment. I'm so excited to see what happens to all the characters in the next book.

I think what speaks the most highly for this book to me is the fact that every time I think about it, I like it even more. Sometimes I'll really enjoy a book in the moment but whenever I look back on it I don't like it as much, but I look back on this book and love it slightly more each time.

Overall, I loved this book more than I expected and I'm so excited to get my hands on a finished copy and to read the sequel when it comes out next year. These characters truly have my heart and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book to them since there were so many twists at the end of this book. I highly recommend it to all fantasy lovers!

PLAYLIST

YouTube

Ashes - Celine Dion
Let You Down - NF
Don't Give Up on Me - Andy Grammer
I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
Legendary - Welshly Arms
Alive - Sia

MEET ZORAIDA CÓRDOVA

Zoraida Córdova is the author of many fantasy novels including Star Wars: A Crash of Fate, the Brooklyn Brujas series, and The Vicious Deep trilogy. Her novel Labyrinth Lost won the International Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel in 2017. Her short fiction has appeared in the New York Times bestselling anthology Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, and Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women and Witchcraft. Her upcoming books include Incendiary, book one in the Hollow Crown duology (Hyperion 2020) and she's the co-editor of Vampires Never Get Old (Imprint 2020). Zoraida was born in Ecuador and raised in Queens, New York. When she isn’t working on her next novel, she’s planning her next adventure.

WEBSITE | GOODREADS | TWITTER

INSTAGRAM | TUMBLR

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | ITUNES | KOBO
BOOK DEPOSITORY | GOOGLE BOOKS

EXCERPT

You can read an amazing exclusive excerpt for the Prologue & Chapter 1 here!