The Sixth Domicile and Giveaway!!!

The Sixth Domicile (The Domicile Series Book 1) by Courtney Ruggles

Published on January 20th, 2016

Published by Elephantine Publishing

Genre: New Adult Dystopian

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28405871-the-sixth-domicile?ac=1&from_search=true

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sixth-Domicile-Book-ebook/dp/B017O08SDO/192-0301566-9071950?ie=UTF8&redirect=true

In a future ravaged by greed and war, The Domicile has emerged. A new civilization governed by clandestine Elders where citizens are united by white masks and uniform identities. To remove one’s mask, to go outside the Domicile, to show defiance, means being sent to the Meurtre, a horrifying death sentence.

Q437B doesn’t follow the rules. She craves sunlight, dares to love her childhood friend B116A, and–the most forbidden of all–has seen the true face of her beloved beneath his mask.

But when Q becomes an Adulte, The Domicile threatens to take away everything that makes her happy. She is forced to marry an abusive soldier who demands she conform.

Whispers spread about the unconventional lessons she teaches her new students. And when Q openly disobeys the Elders, the people become restless, questioning the truth of the world in the wake of such defiance.

Rumblings of discontent stir as others begin to follow the path toward their freedom. The Revolution has begun, and Q is the spark that ignited the flames.

The Sixth Domicile is book 1 in the Domicile Series, A New Adult dystopian. Fans of Veronica Roth’s Divergent and Ally Condie’s Matched series will love The Sixth Domicile.

My Thoughts:

As a New Adult/Dystopian novel, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  The summary of the novel sounded very intriguing, with a Divergent/Hunger Games appeal to it. As a fan of dystopian I was ready for a New Adult twist on things, something with a little more bang and so I decided that The Sixth Domicile was perfect for me.  And to my delight, my intuition was right.  

Taking place after war has caused complete turmoil, The Sixth Domicile formed and is supposed to be a place of protection and uniformity, keeping everyone in their rightful place in a society of order.  That initial plot is captivating because we all, at one time or another, wonder what a world would be like if war was to completely devastate us and Courtney knows just how to reach our fantasizing minds.  It's easy to imagine ourselves in the primary roles in a book like The Sixth Domicile, imagining we can handle it just like these characters.

Q437B, our protagonist here, holds a strength that even she is unaware of, the perfect world slowly unravels secrets that indeed caught me by surprise, but Q is able to roll with the punches. Even when B116A, her childhood friend and desired love seems to confuse her with his true desires, Q remains concrete, and fights to push on. With the life path chosen for her in this tale, Q teaches her students to question what she has questioned, and therefore unintentionally drawing too much spotlight on herself.  But sometimes that's what it takes, to get truth out there and into peoples minds.  I can totally relate with this character on so many levels. The character arc here was well thought out and organized, leaving Q, an intelligent, charming, and real character on so many levels that myself and I'm sure many other readers out there, can quickly and easily relate to.

I also love the government portrayed here.  The familiar elites, hiding secrets and holding a people back from not only reaching their full potential in life, but simply taking away freedoms to choose even the simplest things in life as well.  A right of who to love.  A right to choose one's own occupation and a right to choose one's own clothes are all examples of what is stripped away here.  When people are hurt and freedoms are taken, whispers begin to form.  Alliances are made and plans are designed to take back what is rightfully theirs.  I loved every aspect of The Sixth Domicile and so I highly recommend this read for all dystopian lovers.  The romance, the adventure, the politics, all of which gave life to this novel, held my attention from beginning to end and I am beyond excited to read The Vrai Domicile and continue with Q's story.

About the Author:

Courtney’s love for writing started pretty much when she learned to read, which her mother would tell you was a feat in itself back when she was in the first grade. Once she aced those flashcards with vocabulary words, Courtney’s writing took off.  And her love with it.  In school, she was always writing short stories on a word processor (What?? Word processor with floppy disks?). Oh yes, she literally had a card filing case full of floppy disks.

Now getting her Doctorate in social work, she’s used this education to help her write some of the gritty issues entwined in her stories. When Courtney isn’t writing her next book while drinking coffee, you can find her doing homework (drag) with chocolate chip flavored coffee, reading series of books (because school books are only so interesting) while drinking pumpkin flavored coffee, playing with her little boy, or daydreaming of future beach houses while drinking some other scrumptious flavor of coffee.

Media Links

Website: www.courtneyruggles.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorCRuggles

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCourtneyRuggles/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Instagram: @courtneyruggles

The Giveaway CLICK THE LINK BELOW!!!
Swag bag with bookmarks, Domicile keychains, an exclusive Domicile poster, and bracelets; open to US residents only.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e6b07541300/

One of the Best Historical Fiction Novels I've Ever Read!

You Will Not Regret Reading This One

Between Shades of Gray

Ruta Sepetys

Goodreads Review: 

It's 1941 and fifteen-year-old artist Lina Vilkas is on Stalin's extermination list. Deported to a prison camp in Siberia, Lina fights for her life, fearless, risking everything to save her family. It's a long and harrowing journey and it is only their incredible strength, love, and hope that pull Lina and her family through each day. But will love be enough to keep them alive?

My Feelings:

Where to begin with this masterpiece?  

This historical fiction based on a tremendous disaster of imprisoning people in Europe and forcing them into slavery to work the lands of Russia, caused by Joseph Stalin was written delicately and expertly.  

Not a moment went by while reading, that I felt anything other than captivated.  I was there with Lina. 17 year old Lithuanian who was forced onto a train car with her family without even a hint of what was happening or where she was being taken.  Sepetys put me in the train cars in that moment.  The descriptive words used really drew me in and held on tight.  I could smell the smells.  I could hear the crying.

  Tears fell down my cheeks as I read through the harsh conditions these innocent people were forced to bare.  Sepetys brilliantly highlights some of the deepest secrets of Stalin’s deadly war path.

It’s hard to imagine that anyone could build friendships or even relationships during such a trying time, but that’s precisely what had happened.  Her characters come to life on the pages and and place you in that time, at those camps, starving with them.  Wishing you could reach your hand through the book and into the past and give them extra water, food and clothes.  All the while, reading that some of these victims still had kept forgiveness in their hearts for their captors and held onto this false hope of ever being released.

What’s most important to me, while reading a historical fiction, is that these fictional characters are based off of real people in real situations that had no outs, no escapes.  If anyone is looking to be completely and fully enveloped by a book, Between Shades of Gray is that book for you.