Mini Review : Hold Me Like a Breath by Tiffany Schmidt & Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Hold Me Like a Breath (Once Upon a Crime Family #1)
Author : Tiffany Schmidt
Publication Date : May 19th 2015
Publisher : Bloomsbury
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Penelope Landlow has grown up with the knowledge that almost anything can be bought or sold—including body parts. She’s the daughter of one of the three crime families that control the black market for organ transplants.

Penelope’s surrounded by all the suffocating privilege and protection her family can provide, but they can't protect her from the autoimmune disorder that causes her to bruise so easily.

And in her family's line of work no one can be safe forever.

All Penelope has ever wanted is freedom and independence. But when she’s caught in the crossfire as rival families scramble for prominence, she learns that her wishes come with casualties, that betrayal hurts worse than bruises, that love is a risk worth taking . . . and maybe she’s not as fragile as everyone thinks.  

Personal Thoughts

Hold Me Like a Breath sounded like such an interesting story and I was quite impatient to get to it. While the book started off strongly for me, ultimately it wound up being a disappointing read because the execution was flawed in many ways. One thing I really liked about Hold Me Like a Breath was Penelope's character. I felt for her because she had always been this sheltered girl throughout her entire life because of her disease and all she wanted to do was be able to do things that normal girls do. Everything that she had to face in this book was so heartbreaking and it really pained me to watch her go through it all. However, there were many times when I felt like Penny's emotional reactions to the issues she faced wasn't realistic enough. Additionally, I found the fast pace at which the romance developed in this book to be quite frustrating. The thing is, Penny did not meet her real love interest until about 50% of the book, so things were really rushed when it came to relationship between her and Char. I could have rooted for them, but because their relationship felt like insta-love, I didn't particularly care for it. As far as the plot goes, the author definitely had some interesting and thought-provoking ideas, but ultimately the book failed to deliver what it promised. I wanted more action, more danger and more suspense. I did like some of the twists that were in this book because they were unexpected. Hold Me Like a Breath was a book with lots of potential, but unfortunately, it didn't impress me as much as I wanted it to.

Rating 

Cover : 3/5
Plot : 2/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 2/5

**Overall Rating : 2.5/5**

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the e-ARC of Hold Me Like a Breath.

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Magonia
Author : Maria Dahvana Headley
Publication Date : April 28th 2015
Publisher : Harper Teen
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Neil Gaiman’s Stardust meets John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars in this fantasy about a girl caught between two worlds... two races…and two destinies.

Aza Ray is drowning in thin air.

Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live.

So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn't think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia.

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

Personal Thoughts

YA fantasy is one of my favorite sub-genres and when I heard about Magonia, I was so intrigued by the unique ideas the author seemed to be playing with in the book. I couldn't wait to read the book. Magonia was definitely an interesting read, but it was also quite strange. Aza, the protagonist, was quirky. She's also battling with a health condition and has trouble breathing. No one is sure what is going on with her. Aza was quite the interesting heroines. I don't think I've ever come across a heroine as unique as her. The book was also told in the POV of Jason, her best friend and future love interest. I liked that we were privy to both his and her thoughts because Jason was also an interesting character for me and I liked being inside his head. I thought his devotion and loyalty to Aza was super sweet. It also helped that we got both their POVs because for the majority of the book, the two of them are in different locations, Jason on Earth and Aza on Magonia. While the concepts in this book were all original, I was left a bit confused by certain parts of it. I had many questions that were left mostly unanswered and I did feel like the book lagged in certain areas. However, overall, Magonia was a decent read and if ever there's going to be a sequel, I'll be checking it out.

Rating 

Cover : 3/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 3/5

  

Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper Teen for the e-ARC of Magonia.