NetGalley

NetGalley

Hey Everyone!

The last couple of books I reviewed were from +NetGalleyNetGalley is a website where "professional readers" (people of influence who review and recommend books) are  able to request books for free. The books are often advance reading copies (ARC) that are yet to be published. Once approved for a book, you can download an ebook copy of the book to read on your favourite device. It is expected that if you are approved for a book, that you will read it and give an honest review.

For more tips on NetGalley, read my popular post Top Ten Tips for Netgalley Newbies.

I joined NetGalley to supplement my freeding. A friend of mine recommended NetGalley to me and told me Australians were being approved for one of the books we were both planning to read. I signed up, started reviewing my recent reads on Goodreads and clicked "request". Nothing happened for days......... I read some more suggestions and realised that publishers prefer you to have a good ratio of approved books to books you've given feedback on. My ratio was zero as I had no books yet. I had another poke around the site and found the "read now" option. This listed all the books I could download immediately without needing approval. I clicked away, stuck my nose in a couple of books (well in front of a small screen) and read away. I stumbled upon:

Trading SecretsTrading Secrets by Melody Carlson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A sweet YA story about friendship, secrets and following your heart. The Christian element isn't preachy and the book makes a good point about how focused on mobile phones people are in today's society. There is a very chaste romantic feel to the story but it is more about coming of age self discovery. I found the characters likable and was drawn into the story.

Purchase links
Amazon |  Kobo icon

and

The Returning TideThe Returning Tide by Julia Sokota
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first part of the story develops characters that I like and can relate too. As the story continues, it is alluded to that the main character is hiding something, that she has a skeleton in her closet. The book slowly reveals more clues and does a good job of explaining what happened and why. The past and the present are covered well, though the future is left up to the reader to decide.

Purchase links
Amazon | Kobo icon

These books may not be listed as "read now" anymore. Many books on NetGalley have an "archive"date. If you haven't downloaded them before that date, then you miss out because they get locked in the archive. You can still add you review feedback though.
I digress.....anyway, I waited some more. The online buddy reading date was looming closer and closer. I decided to put in a request at my local library, initiating NetGalley vs my library - round 1.