Mundie Moms

Friday, February 27, 2015

Salt & Stone by Victoria Scott; Blog Tour: Book Review & Giveaway!


Welcome to the last stop in the SALT & STONE blog tour, hosted by Rockstar blog tours. I'm so thrilled to share my review for Victoria Scott's Salt & Stone, her newest release. You can read my review for Fire & Blood, her debut, and the first book in the series here. Trust me, if you enjoyed the first book, wait until you pick up this book!

About the Book 




By: Victoria Scott
Published by: Scholastic Press
Released on: February24th, 2015
Series: Fire & Flood #2
Rating: 5 stars - I Loved It
Source: arc from publisher to review
Purchase from: AmazonBarnes & Noble
Add it to: Goodreads
What would you do to save someone you love?
In Fire & Flood, Tella Holloway faced a dangerous trek through the jungle and 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 quit--she has to win the race, save Cody, and then fight to make sure the race stops before it can claim any more lives. In the next legs of the race, across the ocean and over mountains, Tella will face frostbite, sharks, avalanche, and 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'd 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 start of the race there were one hundred twenty-two Contenders. As Tella and her remaining friends start the final part of the race, just forty-one are left--and only one can win. 

Salt and Stone is an awesome sequel! This is an action packed read. It's suspenseful, and full of dangerously and deadly twists. This book kept me on edge and had me holding my breathe till the very end. Even then, I still wanted more. There's no predicting the outcome of this book. With Fire & Flood, Victoria Scott gave her readers a taste of what's to come with Salt & Stone. 

In Fire & Flood readers were introduced to The Brimstone Bleed. A challenge that tests it's contenders with it's four eco-systems, and it's deadly challenges. Only the toughest will survive. We journeyed with Tella and the other contenders through the jungle and desert in Fire & Flood, and now readers will see how Tella and her friends are tested in the deadly ocean and, and brutal cold of the mountains. Who will survive? Not everyone will make it out of these two challenges alive. 

I swear the people running The Brimstone Bleed are insane. Just as I think they can't unleash any more crazy, they prove me wrong. They test the Contenders, the relationships with their Pandoras to the brink of pushing them over the edge. One of the things I have loved about the series, is the relationships between the Contenders and their Pandoras. Like in Fire & Flood, in this sequel we see the Pandoras in action, and what abilities they have, and how they can help their Contenders. Unlike the first book, in this book there are some twisted plot twists that will put Contender and Pandora at odds, and the outcome of some of the challenges will forever change the unwilling participants. 

I thought Tella was great in Fire & Flood, but she proved just how incredibly strong, and resistant she is in Salt & Stone. Every time I think a challenge or something that happens will break Tella, she proves me wrong. Tella is a character who takes what's going to break her, and fuels that into her drive to survive. She allows it to drive her to save those around her, even though this is a game about survival of the fittest. Even the characters learn the twisted costs of this game are much higher than they first thought. Tella is a leader, and she's someone that learns to rely on herself and her instincts. I like how that changed her relationship with Guy.

The romance in this book is great. I loved what conspired between Guy and Tella in the first book, and how it changed and grew in this book. While these two have two stolen moments together that I loved, the romance part is not as great as it was in Fire & Flood, though it's still every much apart of this story. Like any relationship, when characters are growing, and evolving, so does their feelings for each other. I won't spoil anything, but I liked what is happening with these two, and how Tella is forcing Guy to get out of his comfort zone so to speak. I liked that I didn't need the romantic scenes to know the romance is very much alive in this story. With the way it's written, it's obvious that it is something that gives Tella and Guy both hope. While Guy has very much been a leader previously, it's Tella who's the driving force to keep them all going.

The secondary characters in this book are so well written. I love that I got to see how much they have all grown, and evolved as characters since I first met them. I like that they're not just one dimensional characters who need to fill up space on a page. They're characters who have stories, and personalities. They all have a purpose for being in Tella's story. They're all characters I've come to care for, well for the most part at least. There are a couple new characters, who bring to the story new pandoras, and I liked finding out what their abilities are. The new characters are interesting. There's a fabulous plot twist with one of them that I didn't see coming! I should say, I didn't predict what / who was at all. That was so awesome! I'm eager to see what he does next. 

Reading Salt & Stone is like watching a crazy action packed movie, with incredible and deadly plot twists that you didn't see coming. Even though you know something bad is about to happen, you can't stop watching it. Once I started reading Salt & Stone, there was no stopping. There is so much that happens in this book. I don't think I have ever held my breath as often as I did while reading Salt & Stone. I loved Fire & Flood, and I wasn't sure I would love this book as much. Victoria Scott proved me wrong yet again. This book is just as awesome! 

I NEED the next book already! If you love Fire & Flood, go pick up this book!! Trust me, you'll want to read it. 

About Victoria

Victoria Scott is a teen fiction writer represented by Sara Crowe of the Harvey-Klinger Literary Agency. She’s the author of the FIRE & FLOOD series published by Scholastic, and the DANTE WALKER trilogy published by Entangled Teen. Her books have been bought and translated in eleven foreign markets including the UK, Turkey, China, Poland, Israel, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.
Victoria lives in Dallas with her husband and hearts cotton candy something fierce.
Find Victoria via: Website/Blog/Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads

Giveaway Details:
5 finished copies of FIRE & FLOOD US Only

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