NEW US Giveaway for Shards and Ashes edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong + MEGA Swag pack

Goodreads Book Description: Gripping original stories of dystopian worlds from nine New York Times bestselling authors, edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong.

The world is gone, destroyed by human, ecological, or supernatural causes. Survivors dodge chemical warfare and cruel gods; they travel the reaches of space and inhabit underground caverns. Their enemies are disease, corrupt corporations, and one another; their resources are few, and their courage is tested.

Powerful original dystopian tales from nine bestselling authors offer bleak insight, prophetic visions, and precious glimmers of light among the shards and ashes of a ruined world.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 

My Review:
Shards and Ashes is a collection of dystopian YA short stories, edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong. It's an interesting set of stories-- both from the perspective of just their content, and also, from the perspective of how authors who normally write full length novels try their hand at a shorter form.

There is varying success. All of the stories have interesting slants on the dystopian world, but some struggle at a backstory in such little space like Veronica Roth in the first story Hearken. It's beautifully written, but the dystopian world is explained away as a place where random people drop bombs for no apparent reason. Branded by Kelley Armstrong, is a unique take on a paranormal type of dystopian, and probably does the best at a complete story with twists in a small space. Dogsbody by Rachel Caine may have been my favorite-- both in scope, story, and characterization. Beth Revis told a story in her Across the Universe world, which I enjoyed because I love her trilogy, but I feel that those who have not read them may not appreciate it as much. The rest of the stories are entertaining, but also not particularly memorable.

Overall, I think this was definitely a worthwhile read with some terrific stories from great authors.

And now... for my loyal blog followers, you guys get to enter this great giveaway early!!!  
For this giveaway, I'm going to give away a different sort of prize that I've never done before. It's going to be a huge mega swag pack with various swag from different indie authors but also including: The Host: the movie buttons, Swag from J. Armentrout, signed bookmark from Fiona Paul, signed bookmark from J. Meyers, and a copy of the above Shards and Ashes from my shelves. Because of shipping costs, this prize will be available US only. Sorry INT friends! No worries, more INT giveaways coming up soon!!!

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