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Sugar Skulls

Lisa Mantchev,

Glenn Dallas

3.86 · Rating details · 361 ratings · 88 reviews

Welcome to Cyrene, a city where energy is currency and music is the lifeblood of its young citizens. Everyone lives on the grid, and the residents of the world’s largest playground are encouraged to pursue every physical and emotional pleasure imaginable.

Vee is the lead singer of the Sugar Skulls, an all-girl band that is Corporate’s newest pet project. Micah haunts the ci ...more

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Paperback, 333 pages

Published November 10th 2015 by Skyscape

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Average rating 3.86 ·

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· 361 ratings · 88 reviews

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Apr 28, 2015 Heather *Undercover Goth Queen* rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015, net-galley, ya, ebooks, good-cover, sf

3.5 stars, maybe 4.

This is a story about Vee...

"Yeah, I'm well aware she'd stab you in the back, midfuck if it suited her.

and Micah.

Except for the guy leaning against the bar. Separate from the others. Motionless. Gaze latched on me like he's dying and I have the cure in my pocket.

Vee sings in a band controlled by Corporate, the Sugar Skulls (THE coolest corporation-controlled band I ever heard of), and Micah is a runner, dropping off packages and picking others up. These two live in a c ...more

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Oct 14, 2015 Erin Dunn added it

Shelves: dnf

Another book DNF'd. :( I couldn't get into this one it was boring and I could not figure out what exactly was going on. It's super confusing and not for me I suppose. ...more

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Feb 02, 2018 Jules rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, young-adult, kindle-unlimited, audiobooks, dystopian

This book wasn’t for me. Perhaps I’m just getting too old for this kind of storyline.

I didn’t really connect with the characters. On this occasion I don’t think I got on too well with the narration. It’s like the voices of the narrators didn’t really match my idea of how the characters should sound. However, I did reach the end, as I’m a determined little soul when I want to be, so it can’t have been that bad. Also, it may be a dodgy drug, but I’ve discovered I adore the word “applejack”.

I’ve a ...more

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Jan 05, 2016 Dee☾ rated it did not like it

Shelves: dnf

When I saw Sugar Skulls I was immediately drawn in. The cover was beautiful and the synopsis sounded promising. How awesome is an all girl band named Sugar Skulls? I was so excited to read this and was even more thrilled when I won the Goodreads giveaway for a copy. However, this book fell a little short.

It was an okay book and for many people it may be their cup of tea, but it just wasn’t mine. I couldn’t get into the story. It started off rather shaky at the beginning and I had absolutely no ...more

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Oct 14, 2015 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, kindle-unlimited

MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List

I love anything sugar skull related. I was so stoked when I saw the cover of this book and read the blurb about the all girl band, but unfortunately I was confused during a lot of the book. I didn't get a feel for a lot of what was going on.

I loved Vee and Micah as love interests though.

There is a lot going on with these people keeping people drugged up and what not so they can monitor them and make things all nice or bad if they want to... if I understood ...more

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Oct 27, 2015 Trisha rated it it was ok

Although I found the world interesting and unique - it took some getting used to. I wasn't sure what was going on at first. The build up of these energies and soundwaves kind of stuff was odd but interesting. The writing, however, was dense. It was overly descriptive and poetic....it just seemed like too much. The story tried too hard to be deep and edgy and interesting. I love this cover, absolutely love it, but the story - although interesting - wasn't as great as I'd hoped. ...more

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Oct 24, 2015 Karissa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I got a copy of this book to review from NetGalley. I really enjoyed Mantchev’s Theatre Illuminata series and also read her book Ticker, which was okay but not great. I was very curious to read what sounded like a cyberpunk story by her. The story started out a bit slow but once it got going was very engaging and entertaining. This is more of an adult read than a YA read; there is quite a bit of swearing, drug use, sex, and violence.

Cyrene is a city where energy is currency; the more you generat
I got a copy of this book to review from NetGalley. I really enjoyed Mantchev’s Theatre Illuminata series and also read her book Ticker, which was okay but not great. I was very curious to read what sounded like a cyberpunk story by her. The story started out a bit slow but once it got going was very engaging and entertaining. This is more of an adult read than a YA read; there is quite a bit of swearing, drug use, sex, and violence.

Cyrene is a city where energy is currency; the more you generate the better off you are. The rest of the world uses Cyrene as a harvest site for energy. This story follows two main characters. The first is Vee, who is the lead singer of a band named Sugar Skulls that is quickly becoming the next big thing in Cyrene. The second character is Micah, who is off-the-grid and on the run. Micah’s nanotech got knocked offline after a nearly fatal drug overdose and he’s been trying to get revenge on the drug dealers that provided the drug ever since his recovery.

This is very much a cyberpunk type of story in the same vein as books by William Gibson and Neal Stephenson. The world is a bleak place in the midst of an energy crisis and Cyrene is the Corporation’s answer. Young people are allowed into Cyrene and their one mission is to party and party hard. The energy they make with their partying is siphoned away to provide power. Admittance into Cyrene is highly prized and highly sought after.

Vee has a unique voice that generates a lot of emotion from the people she sings to; more emotion equals more energy and so the Corporation really likes having Vee work for them. However, Vee is a girl without a past; she has had her memory wiped and rebuilt numerous times. She doesn’t know why she agreed to this memory wiping; but she did agree to it. I enjoyed Vee’s toughness and her style of fast-living. I also loved her daring and resourcefulness. Despite this toughness, she is still somewhat vulnerable.

Micah also has a dark past. He is off-grid and hiding in the shadows after him and his friends nearly died trying a new drug called Applejack. Micah only wants to hunt down those drug dealers who peddle Applejack, but then he hears Vee sing.

What follows is a story of somewhat star-crossed love; as Vee and Micah try to connect despite the odds. Their paths end up crossing again and again as Vee tries to figure out her dark past and Micah tries to get revenge against the people who caused his darkness.

The story is beautifully written which lots of glitter and beauty throughout the darkness. It’s one of those books where the glittering scenes are all that more bright because of the dank surroundings. Although it’s not completely unique (humans were used as energy source in the Matrix and this story shares themes with a number of other cyberpunk stories); the story is well done and interesting.

The pace starts out a bit slow but then the story proceeds at a breakneck pace. It ended up being very engaging and hard to put down. Everything is resolved and wrapped up nicely and I enjoyed it.

Overall this was a well done cyberpunk read that was fast-paced and engaging. I would recommend to those who enjoy cyberpunk stories. Just keep in mind this is very different from Mantchev’s previous works and is really more meant for adults. ...more

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Oct 06, 2015 Bailey Skye rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015-reads, arc

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As I read through some of the other reviews posted about the book, I realize that I'm not alone on the fact that I'm not completely sure where exactly I stand on this book. I'm really struggling with whether this is a 3 or 4 star rating for me. I guess lets give it a 3.5 and call it a day.

I can honestly say that this incredibly detailed dystopian society was unlike anything I have read before. I really appreciated the originality in I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As I read through some of the other reviews posted about the book, I realize that I'm not alone on the fact that I'm not completely sure where exactly I stand on this book. I'm really struggling with whether this is a 3 or 4 star rating for me. I guess lets give it a 3.5 and call it a day.

I can honestly say that this incredibly detailed dystopian society was unlike anything I have read before. I really appreciated the originality in Cyrene - a society in seclusion from the rest of the world where it's 20 something populace fuels the city with their emotional and physical pleasures endorsed through sex, drugs, and alcohol. The city collects this energy through their thrum-collectors and it is used to power the grid.

"She's fury incarnate, a phoenix midplunge, and she douses us in lyrical kerosene, licks the match alight, and sets us all ablaze."

Enter Vee. She's Corporate's crown jewel. The vocalist of Cyrene's hottest girl band, Sugar Skulls. Vee is like a goddess in Cyrene, trapped in her gilded cage, she has the power to blow the grid with the energy she creates through the masses. From the moment she locks eyes with Micah at the bar during one of her shows, this book becomes a fight to bring the two together and sacrifices are made for love and freedom.

This book had a very strong start and I was hooked and intrigued right from the first page. I've never read anything quite like Cyrene and I needed to know more. Vee's character is enjoyable to read, especially in the beginning when she is such a feisty little thing. I loved her kickass attitude. Michah is also a strong character. Having been knocked off the grid when his own nanotech shut down from a lethal overdose, he's on a mission to find the dealer who supplied the illegal drugs that killed his closest friends.

I personally found the first half of this novel to be more enjoyable than the second half. Though I appreciated the romance between Vee and Micah, it got to be quite mushy at times which felt almost out of character given Vee's demeanor during the first half of the story. I suppose that it's for the best as the two help conquer each others demons, but I missed Vee's pep!

"'You shot straight through me and out the other side like it was nothing at all. You came through an unguarded window and have been padding barefoot through empty rooms ever since, leaving your footprints in the dust. I've been listening to your footfalls for days, and honestly, I wish I could listen to them for eternity.'"

This book felt almost lyrical at times, words strung together beautifully, poetic. It helped to make a strong impression of the environment and the situations they were in. Mantchev and Dallas paint a perfect picture. At first I thought the changes in point of view would irritate me, but they actually worked really well. Though they tended to be shorter and switched back and forth quite a bit through each chapter, it really kept me reading. I kept thinking "oh just one more".

If you're looking for some decent literature that's still all about the sex, drugs, and rock n' roll than this is your book.
...more

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Nov 14, 2015 Albert Riehle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow! What a ride! There are so many things about this book I'm truly high on. I love that it's set in a not-so-distant, but not-at-all dystopian future. It's so easy to follow along with the trends in writing and so difficult to forge new paths but that's exactly what happens here. Kudos to both the writers, Mantchev & Dallas and to the publishers and team they put around themselves for having the bravery to take a different angle.

The bravery doesn't stop there though. These writers also show c Wow! What a ride! There are so many things about this book I'm truly high on. I love that it's set in a not-so-distant, but not-at-all dystopian future. It's so easy to follow along with the trends in writing and so difficult to forge new paths but that's exactly what happens here. Kudos to both the writers, Mantchev & Dallas and to the publishers and team they put around themselves for having the bravery to take a different angle.

The bravery doesn't stop there though. These writers also show courage--and respect--for their audience by never dumbing things down and never faking it, despite what they must have known would be some objection from fools. This is a book likely to have a largely female audience, from YA readers and beyond and it features teens who aren't treated like children. They swear. They lust. The love. They live. And they do all of this unabashedly and without excuse. Again, more hive-mind philosophies in publishing surely would have toned these artists down, but the books vividness and verve come from it's reality and it's rawness and it's truth. The suspension of disbelief is easy because of how gritty and real the characters act.

And thank the Maker for some realistic love scenes. Mantchev & Dallas managed to make things racy and hot without ever crossing over into cheese. They succeed where so many fail. They told a love story that wasn't contrived and sappy. They may be guilty of some love-at-first-sight treatment, but they respect the reader enough to sell it. They don't just gloss over it and ignore what they've done. They take the time to construct the content of the love and make the instant spark it begins with plausible and real.

The pace is fantastic. The point of view switches between the two main characters, Micah and Vee with breakneck pace and expert precision. There was no feeling of a baton being passed between the writers, everything was smooth and careful and the result was a steady Hum that led to a Buzz and ended with all out Thrum.

The characters are excellent and well drawn. One of my many issues with most first-person novels is that the writer(s) don't take the time to properly develop the supporting cast. That mistake is not made here. The supporting cast is excellent, from Treble and Trouble to the book's many antagonists, the time was taken to craft them with care and give them shape and reason and purpose for being who and what they were.

Finally, the plot was spot on. It's an intricately written book with so many seemingly minor plot points and conversation topics coming back to be of absolute importance later in the book. The story is engaging and interesting and fun. And best of all, unless I miss my guess, while this book was complete with a very satisfying ending, there was just enough meat left on the bone for the hint of a sequel. I certainly hope it comes about. I happily recommend this book and would be eager to read a sequel. ...more

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Feb 27, 2016 Leah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: futuristic-techy, netgalley-arc, mindfuck, new-adult, read-2016, love-and-stuff

"What would I give for just one taste of you? What would I trade to fall straight into you?"

Book Title: Sugar Skulls
Author: Lisa Mantchev and Glenn Dallas
Publisher: Skyscape
Source: Netgalley Arc

☆My Pick for Book Theme Song: With Me Now by Blacklight District ( It captures the gritty intensity of this world)

description

Vee and Micah's song. Pretty but Intense…perfectly describes Vee and her lyrics.

Plot: 4/5 --Drugs, sex and rock n roll, I can’t help it, it gets me…I am an 80's child, after all. With a Monst ...more

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Oct 18, 2015 Melanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgallery

This first book I ever read by Lisa was Eyes Like Stars, to say its an amazing piece of work is an understatement (If you have never read it, I recommend you do). I wasn't sure whether I'd like Sugar Skulls namely as I'm not the biggest fan of dystopia books, but wanted to give it a go.

Vee was actually a great character to read about, I loved how she was, her thoughts, there wasn't much I didn't like about Vee just because she was refreshing to read about. Micah was pretty cool too and I had no ...more

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Oct 06, 2015 Artemiz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, 2015

While I was reading this wonderful new book by Lisa Mantchev, I got this image in my mind - imagine that Monsters inc. has branched out into human world and to young people, that they do not collect just scream and laughter energy, but all kind of activity and pleasure energy that young people create while doing sports, compete with each other in games, dance, sing, have sex and all of it is intensified with legal drugs but also with illegal drugs. To keep the young people healthy and alive desp While I was reading this wonderful new book by Lisa Mantchev, I got this image in my mind - imagine that Monsters inc. has branched out into human world and to young people, that they do not collect just scream and laughter energy, but all kind of activity and pleasure energy that young people create while doing sports, compete with each other in games, dance, sing, have sex and all of it is intensified with legal drugs but also with illegal drugs. To keep the young people healthy and alive despite their constant usage of recreational drugs and having unprotected sex, they have nanoparticles in their blood (something like Rachel Caine's Revivalist series, where the nanoparicles revive dead and Arrow series Ray Palmer's particles that healed him from deadly injury) and those same particles also keep the youth connected to the grid so all the energy they produce is collected and the rulers of the city also know always where they are, what they do. This wall surrounded city Cyrene reminds me a lot of the Kit Rocha Beyond series city Eden. You have probably heard older people say, that if we could only harvest the energy that young people create while they do sports or go clubbing or to concerts, well in this book this energy is harvested and turned into electricity.

So after I spent so long painting the picture about Cyrene and how does it work (in my mind), it's time to introduce the protagonists of the story - Vee and Micah.

Vee is a girl with amazing voice that makes her listeners go almost berzek and create so much energy that she is capable to fry the hum collectors. She has been in Cyrene and singer since she was fourteen, but her memories go back only a year, since she has also fried herself couple of times and to her memory has restarted with each reboot. She likes the latest version of herself and she does not want to start again, but since her manager Damon is pushing her to get higher results, she is afraid another reboot, might be on a horizon. That until she sees this strange boy on one of her concert.

Micah is illegally in Cyrene. Six months ago he was just another member of working/living class of Cyrene but then he and his friends experimented with an illegal drug and he was the only one who survived. Now he is back in Cyrene to find the one who manufactures the dangerous applejack drug and also who distributes it. He has kept low profile so far but one evening he goes against his rules and stays in a bar to listen to this band Sugar Skulls ... and the lead singer mesmerizes him. He wants/needs to know who she is. Next evening his job takes him to another bar and there he meets a girl, a most captivating girl he has ever met, but this girl has taken applejack and it triggers Micah's protective instinct and he goes after the dealer. So all of a sudden, besides his wish to bring down the deadly drug dealers and manufacturers, he has two girls he wants to get to know better.

Fate and obsession brings them together several more times and finally Micah is there to save Vee's life and later Vee is the one who saves Micah's life. Even this hedonistic city has villains and rules that may be dangerous to the residents/workers. So if Vee, her band members and Micah had not started the riot ...

It's a wonderful, wonderful story, with interesting characters and fascinating story. Even if the beginning is some what confusing as you are not familiar with the city and the going ons, it does not take long to understand it all and not be able to put the book down.

A really good read. ...more

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Oct 16, 2015 Hannah (jellicoereads) rated it liked it

Shelves: dystopia

This was one of those books where there were specific things I enjoyed, and very specific things I didn't - I suppose at least that makes it easier to review!

The writing is certainly very edgy - and it very much depends on your personal tastes as to whether you'll enjoy it or not - I got some Leah Raeder-ish vibes from this one. While at some points the prose was bordering on pretentious, I think the authors did a great job at at portraying the trippy, hazy, overly-stimulated nature of this utop ...more

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Oct 31, 2015 Lauren Gladding rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Thank you to Netgalley, who sent me an advanced e-book version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm just going to start by saying that when I first started reading this book, I didn't think I was going to like it. It's very technology driven with a lot of vulgar language, which are two things that I typically don't like to read. However, I decided to keep reading and am SO glad I did! This turned out to be one of my favorite reads of the year!

Sugar Skulls is a dual-perspective story Thank you to Netgalley, who sent me an advanced e-book version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm just going to start by saying that when I first started reading this book, I didn't think I was going to like it. It's very technology driven with a lot of vulgar language, which are two things that I typically don't like to read. However, I decided to keep reading and am SO glad I did! This turned out to be one of my favorite reads of the year!

Sugar Skulls is a dual-perspective story about Vee and Micah, two young adults that live in a society that promotes partying, drinking, drugs, and sex and uses the energy (called "thrum") created from these activities to power the world. Vee is a singer in a band called Sugar Skulls and performs at clubs and venues with her bandmates Jax and Sasha in order to rile up partygoers and create "thrum" for the city. Micah is an off-the-grid outlaw on a mission to rid the city of a drug called Applejack that killed several of his friends months ago. Vee and Micah form an instant connection one night at a Sugar Skulls concert and the story continues on from that point, following their journey together as they try to break from the controlling society, go on the run together, and seek to destroy the people that have worked so hard to destroy their lives.

This book had me so engrossed in Vee and Micah's story and I fell in love with them instantly. The character development in this book is incredible and even though there is "insta-love" between Vee and Micah, it didn't bother me because the reason for their instant connection made sense to me. They are seriously the cutest couple and I was rooting for them the entire time I read this book, even to the point of thinking about them when I wasn't reading!

There were a few of my "bookish pet peeves" in this book, including the vulgar language as mentioned before, but the language also made sense to me. Because the society they lived in is so focused on sex, drugs, and alcohol, it seems like cussing and swearing would naturally be a part of their lives as well. I'm also not usually a huge fan of lots of sex in books, but again, it just made sense here. And the sex in this book was very well written. Instead of feeling awkward while reading it, as I sometimes do with YA, it felt normal and I felt like it actually strengthened Vee and Micah's relationship-building. The one pet peeve that I couldn't get past was Vee constantly referring to Micah as "love". It really bothers me when characters use "love" as a pet name for their significant other in books, and Vee called him that A LOT. Very bothersome for me.

Overall, the plot of this book was fantastic. It was action packed, full of suspense and tension, but also containing lots of really enjoyable scenes between Vee and Micah, as well as Vee and her bandmates. It also gave us a good look into the pasts of both Vee and Micah, which I love when reading a book. I can't say this enough, but I LOVED THIS BOOK. I will be doing a full video review of it on my Youtube channel, and will link it when it is uploaded. ...more

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Oct 16, 2015 *MystGrrl Reviews* rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tales-of-humour, tales-of-fantasy, tales-of-romance, tales-of-sci-fi, epic-tales, much-loved-favourites, read-and-want-it, tales-of-dystopia, new-adult

What an intense, fun ride Sugar Skulls is. Though I am previously familiar with the literary concept of a young adults utopia where your main goal in life is just to party and have fun (The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld and Night Creatures Trilogy by Marianne de Pierres), this has a fresh spin to it which I quite enjoyed.

In this dystopian world where regular energy sources are depleting, people are searching for a new sustainable energy. Cyrene is a unique pioneer city which is harnessing th What an intense, fun ride Sugar Skulls is. Though I am previously familiar with the literary concept of a young adults utopia where your main goal in life is just to party and have fun (The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld and Night Creatures Trilogy by Marianne de Pierres), this has a fresh spin to it which I quite enjoyed.

In this dystopian world where regular energy sources are depleting, people are searching for a new sustainable energy. Cyrene is a unique pioneer city which is harnessing the energy created through one's pleasure, both on a physical and emotional level, via thrum-collectors and a grid that keeps track of it's citizens. (Big Brother is totally watching you... right now... just kidding... Or am I?)

Enter stage left is Vee, our scrappy, no bull, punk-rockette leading lady; the Corporate's songbird whose voice has an amazing siren-like power over the masses. Along with her two friends, Sasha of the hot-pink punk style and retro-goth with Victorian flair Jax, they make a band called Sugar Skulls whose fan base is ever growing. In a city where it's power if you can heighten the citizens excitement and adoration, Vee and her friends are pretty close to being a gods, or so it seems.

Beneath the shiny surface of Cyrene there are hidden dangers and with the appearance of Micah, an untraceable ghost to Cyrene's grid, the dark secrets in Vee's forgotten past come to the surface threatening to swallow her whole and take all she loves with her. Does she have the strength to overcome her demons, both in her past and her present, in order to save her future?

This tale is a power ballad of dark and light, glitter and ruin, love and hate. Vee is both tough and fragile, her vulnerabilities making her human and relatable. I would have loved to have read more about her band mates and seen more interactions between them all as their relationship did seem a little disjointed but I guess there can only be so many pages right?

The plot was interesting and seeing the story unfold from the viewpoints of both Vee and Micah made it a fascinating read. The story was relatively fast paced and the climax though exciting, was a little bit underwhelming but didn't detract from the overall tale. The story can stand alone but perhaps, just maybe, there is an opening for a sequel? I just didn't get my fill of Cyrene and the Sugar Skulls.

Overall I devoured this story of song, grit and glitter in one sitting; it was an enjoyable read, the cover is amazing and I am seriously considering getting a hardcopy for my bookshelf.

Please Note: I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Oct 06, 2015 Ramie rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, publisher-provided-free-for-review

Often we feel we need half stars. For me this is one of those weird ones where maybe a half star would help but really I just feel torn between 3 and 4 and believe I’d stand behind either rating… depending on the day you asked me and the reading mood I was in.

This is a sort of but not really dystopian future where there is an evil (or are they?) corporation and they do kind of run things but only in voluntary beta testing kinds of cities. Instead of being evil slave-driving overlords they’re mo ...more

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Jun 10, 2019 ❀ Crystal ✿ - PEACE ☮ LOVE ♥ BOOKS rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-read

THis has got to be one of the most fucked up books I’ve read and I certainly would not recommend this as YA. The amount of drug use is insane. Cyrene, the setting for the book is a city within the real world, thrives off energy. Energy created by the cities inhabitants who are encouraged to basically party and live life to the fullest. There’s no couch potato’s here. Drugs, music, exercise, sex, anything that gets your blood pumping and resonates energy feeds the world, or better yet powers the ...more

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Dec 03, 2017 Shreya rated it liked it

Waffled between a 3 and a 4 for a while, but went with the three because of the setting. I didn't really understand the world, and there wasn't much by way of exposition, but I did like the plot and characters. It's a really fun story, there's a lot of music and technology and parties and drugs, plus a steamy romance. Everything was mildly hardcore, and at times I would have liked it to be more graphic to really make it gritty and real, but overall it was done pretty well. The writing left thing ...more

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Apr 16, 2018 Josh McNown rated it really liked it

This book has a really cool concept

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Jun 26, 2017 SR rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: interpersonal, ya, fem-pov-characters, music-fanclub, sf, collaboration, thriller, medicine

This is so much FUN. Kind of Westerfeld's The Last Days mixed with The Coldest Girl in Coldtown mixed with a novelization of the peerless parkour movie District B13, but with incredible clothes, 2015 raver sensibilities, and a hell of a thriller plot. I loved every second of it.

Bonus points for managerial lesbians and their anxious yet proactively affectionate hacker girlfriends. (It's a subplot, but a lovely one.) ...more

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Dec 04, 2015 Tonyalee rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-dont-even-know, young-adult, audio, audio-for-review, 2015-read

This was a random request - based on the cover and the interesting as all get out premise. I honestly had not seen this one around that much, and it was fun going in completely blind. While it didn't blow me away - it does have its good parts.

Vee is the lead singer of the top band in the city, and Micah is a runner; off the grid and with a past. Both have past really. Told in dual POV, we learn about Vee, Micah, the rest of city and just how far they go to keep their hold on Vee.

What I loved mos ...more

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Nov 08, 2015 Sara G rated it liked it

Shelves: a-book-a-day-keeps-the-boredom-at-b

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book for the A Book A Day Keeps the Boredom at Bay challenge. 21 – Is the legal age for drinking. Read a book where someone has a drinking problem, is an ex-alcoholic or overcome some addiction. 21 can also be Black Jack. Read a book set or where the character goes to Las Vegas, or has a casino or a game of Black Jack or vingt et un is involved.

This book is definitely a hard one for me to review. T I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book for the A Book A Day Keeps the Boredom at Bay challenge. 21 – Is the legal age for drinking. Read a book where someone has a drinking problem, is an ex-alcoholic or overcome some addiction. 21 can also be Black Jack. Read a book set or where the character goes to Las Vegas, or has a casino or a game of Black Jack or vingt et un is involved.

This book is definitely a hard one for me to review. There are aspects I really loved about it, and things I really hated. First of all, the "world" of Cyrene is something interesting, unlike anything else I've read about in a futuristic novel. The problem is, we don't really learn when we are, why we are there, etc. The book is told from alternating POV between the two main characters, which is great if it's done well, but here they sounded too similar. I found myself getting confused as to who was talking, all throughout the book. Love at first sight doesn't do much for me either, unless there is some development between that first sight and the first passion, and there was not.

The storyline itself was pretty interesting, once it got to the point, but it took too long to meander to where it was going. This isn't a long book by any means, but I felt like the first third of the book was somewhat off topic, and the book itself didn't really start until then. The presence of drugs, both illegal and legal throughout the book, was fascinating. I wish we knew "when" this book was supposed to be taking place, because obviously this society's mores are way different than ours in that regard. The idea of powering a city, and perhaps the world, on youth energy is fascinating as well. Although my scientist brain can't wrap around the concept too well, while reading the book it really worked for the story and came alive.

I couldn't decide whether this is a 3 or 4 star book. I am sticking with 3, even though it's more of a 3.5, just because the beginning took so long to get going. I liked this book more than I honestly expected that I would, and I think it just needs more careful editing in the beginning to make it fantastic. ...more

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Oct 30, 2015 Angel rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley, ebooks

Sugar Skulls is an interesting YA novel, to say the least. At first, it appears to be a dystopian story but that's not the case. Cyrene is a city in which you need to fill out an application to get in. If you are accepted, and you help the city collect energy, you are guaranteed a job on the outside once your time is complete.

This city has found a new way to generate electricity. No coal. No windmills. They take the Monsters Inc. approach, gathering energy through the use of thrum collectors. V ...more

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Oct 20, 2015 Kristina Aziz rated it really liked it

I received this e-book from Skyscape Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Let's talk shop, fellow readers. Here we have a book that wins on many levels but falls short on some others.
Cover: Beautiful. Enticing. I love when realistic depictions of characters are put on the cover, front and center. Which brings us to...
Characters: This book had insta-lust on Micah's part but it was easy enough to wave it away to creative license. I'm sure the story would have survived just fin ...more

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Jun 02, 2016 Dave Olsher added it · review of another edition

Cyberpunk faerie tale LOGAN'S RUN

Like everything else that Lisa Mantchev has a hand in, the world of the story draws you in immediately and makes you want to go back and explore all the nooks and crannies. This sci-fi offering blends sweetly all of its various genres like a fine mixed drink in a bass-thumping bar. ...more

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Jan 01, 2016 Rachel rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2015-2016-read

This was a weird fucking book.

Could have been very entertaining, but instead was muddy and clunky.

I don't think Mantchev books are for me. ...more

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Aug 06, 2017 Tiffany Michele (BookAndCoffeeAddict) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Sugar Skulls by Lisa Hantchey and Glenn Dallas is kind of like Jem and The Holograms meets the plot from Monsters Inc. But in a darker, grittier, electronic neon punk way.

In the world of Sugar Skulls, energy is harvested as “thrum” which is produced by young adults engaging in sex, drugs, and rock & roll – all highly managed, monitored, and regulated by “Corporate”. Cyrene is the city where this all takes place, a playground of excess, but the city is also pretty much like a giant power plant an Sugar Skulls by Lisa Hantchey and Glenn Dallas is kind of like Jem and The Holograms meets the plot from Monsters Inc. But in a darker, grittier, electronic neon punk way.

In the world of Sugar Skulls, energy is harvested as “thrum” which is produced by young adults engaging in sex, drugs, and rock & roll – all highly managed, monitored, and regulated by “Corporate”. Cyrene is the city where this all takes place, a playground of excess, but the city is also pretty much like a giant power plant and the inhabitants are treated like living batteries. The Sugar Skulls are a neon punk metal band owned by Corporate and one of their most valuable assets from the amount of thrum their fans produce. Vee is the lead singer of the Sugar Skulls with a voice that regularly causes thrum collectors to blow and can generate city-wide blackouts from overloading the grid. Bored and disillusioned, when Vee locks eyes with a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy, a single seemingly unaffected person in a sea of screaming fans, he somehow manages to sear himself into her thoughts.

Micah is an underground runner of illicit, not Corporate-regulated contraband, who parkours all over the city while trying to stay under the radar. When he hears Vee sing for the first time, her voice hits him deep and lights him up in ways he hasn’t felt since a bad dose of the illegal street drug Applejack almost killed him and kicked him off the grid permanently. From then on, he becomes obsessed with meeting the singing siren.

Even though both are obsessed with each other, between Micah trying to avoid being arrested and Vee’s possessive manager and busy concert schedule, they don’t actually really meet until over halfway through the book. When they do meet, obsession bleeds into instalove of the willing-to-die-for-you variety and they’ll battle anything and everything to stay together. And they really are put to the test – it gets violent, bloody, and down right hopeless before it gets better.

P.s. – their love for each other causes them to spontaneously compose verses and write songs about each other and just overall think lyrically.

The plot was really interesting and the setting was pretty cool, but for some reason, I had trouble staying with the story. I think the problem was flow. We switch back and forth between Vee and Micah’s first person POVs quite frequently, every few pages or so, and the bouncing from one perspective to the other kind of disrupts the flow and made it hard for me to settle into a groove. I also was a bit “meh” about the ending – both Vee and Micah have gritty, dark backstories involving things like fatal drug overdoses and rape, things that are important to the plot and where it leads – and yet the end was a little… bubble gum? Even the antagonists have somewhat happy endings. But then again the antagonists weren’t like evil-for-evil’s-sake villains, they had their own dark backstories and motivations for their actions, which I can appreciate. Bonus points for multi-dimensional characters.

Overall, I really did enjoy the idea behind the book and I liked the characters and the setting was amazing – honestly, this would probably make a pretty kick-ass movie. It was a bit hard for me to stay engaged, but it was worth it to stick around for the world-building, unique premise, and actually pretty likable characters.

*I received a copy of this book to review. You can find this review and others like it at BookAndCoffeeAddict.com, along with recommendations for a fantastic cup of coffee. ...more

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Jan 26, 2019 teacupsandunicorns rated it liked it

Three and a half stars rounded up to four.
I liked this book. It was fun.
This read to me more like a new adult book and not a young adult book. A lot of sex, drugs, excessive cursing, and new-adult-y trauma in the love “triangle” (technically a triangle? The villain loves the main girl). I have read plenty of dark YA with sex and drugs and cursing and trauma. However I found myself trying to remind myself that these were teens and not new adults. It really struck me as a new adult novel. Other ...more

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Nov 28, 2017 Rachel rated it liked it

I spent a good chunk of this book thinking I'd only give it 2 stars because the characters were not very likeable and the casual drug use wasn't very fun to read about.

This is one of the most bazaar books that I have ever read... A goth/rock girl group called the Sugar Skulls who is being used/promoted to fuel the power supply through their fans emotional energy...A society that encourages hedonistic behavior so it can syphon off as much energy as possible to produce power and make $$$. Then an ...more

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Feb 03, 2020 Trinia rated it it was ok

Shelves: netgalley, 300-400-pages, uno20

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley long ago and am just now getting to reading it. Thank you NetGalley for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Not my cup of tea. AT ALL ... And by that I don't mean the YA love story. This book was ridden with drug use that was not only acceptable but also encouraged. I feel like it sends a terrible message to YA's. There was one drug that was deadly , but all the other drugs were ok. So not cool. And the constant sex that the band members were in ...more

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YA Buddy Readers'...: Sugar Skulls by Lisa Mantchev, Glenn Dallas - Starting June 10th 2019	5	21	Jun 10, 2019 09:12AM

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About Lisa Mantchev

Lisa Mantchev

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Lisa Mantchev is a temporally-displaced Capricorn who casts her spells from an ancient tree in the Pacific Northwest. When not scribbling, she is by turns an earth elemental, English professor, actress, artist, and domestic goddess. She shares her abode with her husband, two children, and three hairy miscreant dogs.

She is best known as the author of the young adult fantasy trilogy, The Théâtre Il ...more

Books by Lisa Mantchev

Eyes Like Stars (Théâtre Illuminata, #1)

Perchance to Dream (Théâtre Illuminata, #2)

So Silver Bright (Théâtre Illuminata, #3)

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Quotes from Sugar Skulls

“It’s all just screams and whispers, just prettied-up and dyed. Your fuck-façade all faded, a tarnished future bride . . .” — 1 likes

“They say there's a certain point where your rage plateaus and you can't get any angrier instead everything inside goes cold that you feel very very calm.” — 0 likes

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