Review: Krimson Surge (Krimson Empire #3) by Julia Huni

Title: Krimson Surge

Series: Krimson Empire #3

Previous books in this series: The Trophany (#0.5) | Krimson Run (#1) | Krimson Spark (#2)

Author: Julia Huni

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, adventure

Publication date: November 2023 (originally published May 2020)

Published by: IPH Media

Source: Backed on Kickstarter

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Synopsis: They won the battle, but victory comes with a price.

After the triumph at Lunesco, Tony spreads plans for the rebellion throughout the Federation, while Quinn helps distribute resources and weapons. But when a mysterious data card connects her to an old enemy, she must gather friends to protect her children then venture out on her own to find answers.

Avoiding Federation officers and bounty hunters is difficult, but staying one step ahead of the Russosken—the Federation’s hired thugs—requires assistance from dubious allies. Quinn helps devise a plan to loosen the death grip on the Federation’s outlying planets. But if she takes down the Russosken, what rise from the ashes?

Freedom comes at a price. The final bill might be more than Quinn is willing to pay.

My rating: ★★★★☆

One revolution down, a couple hundred more to go.

Review- Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases by Lydia Kang & Nate Pedersen

Title: Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases

Author: Lydia Kang & Nate Pedersen

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, science

Publication date: November 2021

Published by: Workman Publishing Company

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: From the masters of storytelling-meets-science and co-authors of Quackery, Patient Zero tells the long and fascinating history of disease outbreaks—how they start, how they spread, the science that lets us understand them, and how we race to destroy them before they destroy us.

Written in the authors’ lively and accessible style, chapters include page-turning medical stories about a particular disease or virus—smallpox, Bubonic plague, polio, HIV—that combine “Patient Zero” narratives, or the human stories behind outbreaks, with historical examinations of missteps, milestones, scientific theories, and more.

Learn the tragic stories of Patient Zeros throughout history, such as Mabalo Lokela, who contracted Ebola while on vacation in 1976, and the Lewis Baby on London’s Broad Street, the first to catch cholera in an 1854 outbreak that led to a major medical breakthrough. Interspersed are origin stories of a different sort—how a rye fungus in 1951 turned a small village in France into a phantasmagoric scene reminiscent of Burning Man. Plus the uneasy history of human autopsy, how the HIV virus has been with us for at least a century, and more.

My rating: ★★★★☆

For many millennia, humans blamed sickness on anything but germs. When boils, lethal amounts of diarrhea, and vomiting blood brought whole cities to their knees, responsibility was cast on comets, eclipses, earthquakes, demons, gods, or witchcraft. Powers far larger than ourselves were forever the reasons behind outbreaks of disease.

As we've learned more about infectious diseases through the years, it's no surprise that our goal has always been to understand them, to control them, and to kill them—before they kill us.

Quackery by these authors was one of my favorite books of 2023 so I was very happy when I saw that they had written another nonfiction book! While I didn’t love Patient Zero as much as Quackery, I still very much enjoyed it!

Review: Krimson Spark (Krimson Empire #2) by Julia Huni

Title: Krimson Spark

Series: Krimson Empire #2

Previous books in this series: The Trophany (#0.5) | Krimson Run (#1)

Author: Julia Huni

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, adventure

Publication date: November 2023 (originally published April 2020)

Published by: IPH Media

Source: Backed on Kickstarter

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Synopsis: She ran, but she couldn’t hide.

When Quinn escaped the Federation, she took her kids into hiding. But a message from Tony brings her back to the stars. She owes him—and his family. And they’ve called in the favor.

Quinn agrees to risk her life to help Tony, as long as the family keeps her kids safe. She must follow the breadcrumbs to find him and hope she doesn’t leave behind a trail for the Feds.

Because the Federation doesn’t forget when a death row inmate escapes. And they never forgive.

My rating: ★★★★☆

Another fun sci-fi read from Julia Huni.

Review: With a Little Luck (Fortuna Beach #2) by Marissa Meyer

Title: With a Little Luck

Series: Fortuna Beach #2

Previous book in this series: Instant Karma

Author: Marissa Meyer

Illustrator: Chuck Gonzales

Genre: YA, contemporary romance

Publication date: February 13th 2024

Published by: Feiwel & Friends

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: After being magically gifted with incredible luck, a boy discovers this gift just may be a curse when it comes to love, in this YA novel by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer.

Jude is determined to fly under the radar. He just wants to draw his comics, host regular D&D night with his friends, work at his parents’ vinyl record store, and escape high school as unscathed as possible. That is, until the night he comes across a mysterious twenty-sided dice and finds himself inexplicably gifted with a bout of supernatural good luck.

Suddenly, everything Jude has ever wanted is within reach. His first art submission is accepted to his favorite fanzine. He helps his friend’s song become a finalist in a songwriting competition. And he’s the 100th caller to a local radio contest, winning him a pair of coveted concert tickets, which he uses to ask out the popular girl he’s been crushing on since elementary school. For a few blissful weeks, he feels invincible.

But when he loses the magic dice at a local music festival, his luck takes a turn for the worse. He struggles to reclaim his good fortune while fighting off long-buried feelings for his best friend―who is definitely not the girl he’s supposed to be in love with. Can Jude risk stepping into the spotlight long enough to win the true girl of his dreams? Or is he doomed to be unlucky in love forever?

My rating: ★★★★★

"These lucky coincidences seem to be happening to you a lot lately," Pru mutters. She studies me a long moment, then gets an odd, faraway look in her eye. She turns away, sighing, "Enjoy it while it lasts.”

Pru knowwws! 😂 After all she went through and Instant Karma, Pru gets it. Lol. I loved Instant Karma, so I was really looking forward to reading this book, and it was as good as I was expecting!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #364: A Little Bit of Everything

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.