Books By Their Cover

Breathless (Reads) Blog Tour! Will I See You There?

2012-01-25T15:51:00.000-05:00

Hi all!

Many of you probably know that the Breathless Reads authors will be going on a national tour this February. The Breathless authors are Marie Lu (author of Legend), Beth Revis (author of Across the Universe and A Million Sun), Andrea Cremer (author of the Nightshade series) and Jessica Spotswood (author of Born Wicked).

The stops:
Feb 15 - Naperville, IL
Feb 16 - Bethesda, MD
Feb 17 - New York, NY
Feb 18 - Collegville, PA
Feb 19 - Dolyestown, PA*
Feb 21 - Decatur, GA
Feb 22 - Houston, TX
Feb 23 - Frisco, TX
Feb 24 - Montrose, CA
Feb 25 - Long Beach, CA

I will be attending the Doylestown, PA stop! (Really hope I can make it.) It's on a Sunday afternoon/night. I have a 9 AM class the next day. I have two exams that week; I should probably spend that day studying, but this is an authors' event I can't pass up.

I know a couple of other PA/Philly area bloggers will be there so if you're coming, say hi! I don't bite! (I'm too sleep deprived for that lol). I'll be the girl studying from flashcards and powerpoint slides printouts.

Bittersweet

2012-01-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler
Grade: 3.5 stars out of 5
Published: January 3, 2012 Buy from Amazon
Source: unsolicited ARC from Simon Pulse

I freaking love cupcakes. I’m one of those cupcake eaters that eat the cake first then make my way to the top because I save the best for last—the frosting. Hudson Avery is the Queen of Cupcakes; she’s a gal that I’ll love to be an assistant to. Just pay me in cupcakes and I’ll be happy.

But Hudson’s life right now isn’t so great. Her skating dreams are over; her mom’s dream of owning a diner will tank unless a new review will put Hurley’s Homestyle Diner back on the map; her dad is living a new life that doesn’t include his daughter or son; and Hudson is trapped in little Watonka, New York.

Until, that is, Hudson gets the chance to compete in a skating competition for a $50,000 scholarship.

I’ve been following Sarah Ockler ever since her debut novel, Twenty Boy Summer, and I eagerly wait for what she has for the readers. Bittersweet, formally titled the language of impossible dreams, is what you would expect from Sarah Ockler: good read with characters you wouldn’t expect and a storyline that touches the heart. Yet, for me, there’s always something missing about her books that don’t make me hold the book to my chest, carry it around and shove it in other people’s faces yelling “Read this!”

Maybe it was the characters that I liked, but thought could have been stronger. It’s easy to be empathic to Hudson, but it’s harder to like her. Maybe it’s because you can see a lot of yourself in her and that stuff isn’t so good. Hudson would a difficult friend to have; she locks herself in and is prone to live her own little world. Bittersweet is Hudson’s journey to finding her happiness in life and that journey isn’t smooth.

Will and Josh, co-captains to the Watonka hockey team, are more likeable than Hudson. But Josh, the boy that the reader will definitely pine for is less developed than Will. Since Josh is the main love interest I was disappointed seeing him fade to the back whenever Will comes to the scene. Will is much more dynamic than Josh with a stronger background story and a multifaceted personality.

Then I wished the readers knew more about Dani and Kara. They seemed interesting, but I knew them as Hudon’s friend and former best friend than Dani and Kara.

But I absolutely adore—love!—Bug (Hudson’s baby brother). He’s part mad-scientist, part explorer, part adorable brother who helps around the house, part son-whose-never-really-known-his-father. Bug is the comic relief to Bittersweet and yet he’s fragile enough that you want to protect him from everything that’s bad.

Bittersweet is topsy turvy: I like parts of it so much and other parts I wished were stronger. One thing that I did forget to mention was the cupcake concoctions underneath each chapter heading. Brilliant and delicious.

Bittersweet is just that, bittersweet. The sweetest of the cupcakes and the tingly feelings from young love versus the bitterness of divorce and its crumbling effects.

Cover C+

I much prefer the old cover to the new one because a) Hudson bakes cupcakes, not cookies and b) hot chocolate is part of the story. Well there's also c) that doesn't look like a really good cookie I would eat.

Manga Monday: Houou Gakuen Misoragumi

2012-01-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

Alternative Title: The Beautiful Skies of Houou High
Genre: Comedy, Shoujo, School Life

Art: 4.5 stars
Characters: 3 stars
Plot: 2.5 stars

Rating: Teen
Released By: DMP

Houou High is a famous and incredibly prestigious all-boys school. It's also the stomping grounds for the sons of the most well-renowned families from all walks of life, which gives rise to rumors that it holds a monopoly on money and power. Our protagonist, Kei Saeba, ends up enrolling in this veritable garden of blooming amateurs due to her mother's guile. Now she must pretend she's a boy for three years or she "will be erased"!

The person with the purple hair? That's Kei and she's a girl. She's scared of guys and earns the nickname "Barfing Prince" because she throws up when she's around too many.

Rant: FanFiction

2012-01-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

I'm first and foremost a reader.

Sometimes I'm a blogger (who writes poorly constructive sentences).

But never an author. Unless it's a 2-20 page essay on some random topic that teachers have assigned, my "creative" writing skills stops there.

So when my favorite show, book, movie, anime, or manga ends and I desperately want more, I turn to FanFiction (Unleash Your Imagination!!). Or I turn to FF when I love the characters or plot, but am not a big fan of what the original creators did with it. The MC dies in the end or the love interest goes away? Pffft. Not in FF land. In FF land anything goes...and goes and goes to places where they should not have gone.

I admit that I wrote a fanfic or two. It was horrible; I took it down like 2 days later.

Now FF is a dangerous landfill. You mostly have to sort through a lot of okay, blah, and what-the-hell reads. Basically a lot of shitty reads. I'm not being mean. Frankly the stuff I find there boggles my mind.

I'm not discouraging anyone from writing. If you're passionate and really enjoy writing, then be my guess. Just don't expect me to fall in love with your works. I commend the people who take the effort and publicly post their works. There are just some FFs that I question if they are serious and if I should take them seriously.

I hate trollers and I hate people who just bash, but if the writers don't care, then why should I?

Some fics are TYP3D LKE DIS and the characters go like OMG WTF HRYFBFASDINA!!!!!111! LOLMAFO. Please, please for the sake of the English language, stop writing like you're texting. Even then, if I can't read it there's no point in texting/writing. They need serious editing. Just like how novels need editors to catch the small mistake or point out some better ideas, FF writers need beta readers who can proofread. Your and you're are two different words. OMG WTF AFSAIFNASKDAD!!!11!! is not English.

Some fics blatantly plagiarize other works of fictions: FFs or published novels. For example I read a Twilight FF that copied from Thirteen Reasons Why: exact storyline and from what I've heard, exact passages from the book too.

Some fics, the writers take to the extreme. There are regular pairings like for example Edward and Bella from Twilight. Then there are "crack" pairings like Jane and Seth that doesn't even make sense. And I can't tell if the writer is trying to be different and new and challenging themselves or if they just don't realize how much of their fanfic doesn't work. At that point, it's no longer a fanfiction, but your own work with the same appearance and name.

Some fics are abandoned. Suddenly and without warning. It could be a fanfic that you actually really enjoyed and looked forward to its updates. But the writers have a life outside of FF and FF doesn't pay the bills. I get sad.

So once you cleaned away from the muck, there are a couple of gems in there. They're far and few, but they make the search so worth it. Great writing that immediately pulls you in, a set of characters that you love, and a fantastic storyline that is utterly thrilling and makes the heart race. These great FF gems are better than some of the published novels I read based on character development, storyline, and ending. Then I wonder why aren't they published.

And you know what? Some do publish their works. The great feedback from the readers can give a boost of confidence for the writer to consider publishing their work: indie pub, self-pub, or seek traditional pub.

Cassandra Clare, author of the Moral Instrument series and the Infernal Devices series, did fanfiction. Of course there's some scandel there. There's also RJ Anderson, author of Faery Rebel series and Ultraviolet who still has an active FF account. There's probably some more hidden YA and FF writers out there ;)

Before starting your adventure in fanfiction, here's a nice glossary with the terminology in the FF world to help along. There's enough abbreviations to make a whole new language.

The Thorn and the Blossom

2012-01-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

The Thorn and the Blossom: A Two-Sided Love Story by Theodora Goss
Grade: 3.8 stars out of 5
Published: January 17, 2012 Buy from Amazon
Source: Quirk Books

When Evelyn Morgan walked into the village bookstore, she didn’t know she would meet the love of her life. When Brendan Thorne handed her a medieval romance, he didn’t know it would change the course of his future. It was almost as if they were the cursed lovers in the old book itself . . .

The Thorn and the Blossom is a very short love story so my review won’t be as long as it normally would be (close to 600 words).

The first thing you’ll notice about The Thorn and the Blossom is the way the book is printed. Like an accordion. Like a really cool accordion that doesn’t make music, but rather gives you a nice story to read. I freaked out a bit when I first got it and played with the book for 5 minutes or so. Warning: don’t read book while moving or in a moving vehicle. The book kept falling out my books and the pages were falling everywhere unless I had a death grip connecting the ends together.

taken from author's blog

With the story itself I was a bit let down. It was a bit rushed for my liking and the ending felt…unfinished. If Goss had shown us rather than told us the emotions that went through Evelyn and Brendan, I could have connected better to The Thorn and the Blossom. Then again I wonder how the increase in size will impact the binding of the story. Who knows, it might just collapse or fall apart when the reader opens the first page.

The Thorn and the Blossom packs quite a lot in very little. I read Brendan’s story first followed by Evelyn. I have to admit that the experience, which I feared would be tiring and redundant, was quite charming, new, and fascinating the second time you read it from a different POV. Those subtle nuances that were dismissed earlier or assumed to be something else, becomes more important than you first believed.

The tale of Green Knight (or Man) and the Queen was hinted just enough for the reader to keep it in the back of their thoughts while still letting the characters be themselves. Rather than Brendan being the Green Knight, Brendan is Brendan. The comparison between the two cursed lovers was laced throughout the rest the novel almost seamlessly.

Evelyn’s story is magical (mixed with an odd psychoanalysis/mental illness explanation) while Brendan’s story is saddening (he has really back luck with girls and people close to him). Together it’s a beautiful haunting tragedy that just may have that happily ever after in the end. The two characters show how to move past a love if it doesn’t work out, but there’s still the possibility of coming back.

Cover B+

P.S. Apparently if you remove the sticker/book synopsis from the back of the slip, there's a picture of the Green Man. So I carefully removed the sticker and it was not worth it. It's just his face and it's about the size of my thumb nail.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer Giveaway!

2012-01-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

Marissa Meyer's first book in the The Lunar Chronicles, Cinder, just came out and word on the street is that it's really good.

"Even in the future, the story begins with Once Upon a Time…. Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future."

And thanks to Zeitghost Media I have 1 copy to give away to you lovely readers! Just fill out the rafflecopter form below with the appropriate information.

Also the "leave a comment" entry asks (just in case the form is being wonky) "What's your favorite fairy tale or retelling of a fairy tale."

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Manga Monday: Trigun

2012-01-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-fi, Shounen, Comedy
Art: 5 stars for the anime / 4 stars for the manga
Plot: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Rated: Teens+ or 15+ for violence and alcohol

Vash the Stampede is a wanted man with the habit of turning entire towns into rubble. The price on his head is a fortune, and his path of destruction reaches across the arid wastelands of a desert planet. Unfortunately, most encounters with the spiky-haired gunslinger don't end well for the bounty hunters who catch up with him; someone always gets hurt - and it's never Vash. Oddly enough, for such an infamous fugitive, there's no proof that he's ever taken a life. In fact, he's a pacifist with a doughnut obsession who's more doofus than desperado. There's a whole lot more to him than his reputation lets on - Vash the Stampede definitely ain't your typical outlaw.

Trigun discusses religion, morality, pacifism. It's full of irony. And please please watch the subbed version, not dubbed, if planning to watch the anime.

Rant: Paranormal Teen Books

2012-01-13T15:00:00.000-05:00

My favorite genre was paranormal fantasies. Now I'm not so sure. Do you know why?

First I'm going to point to this review on GoodReads. And yes, I do know about the drama and the hoopla surrounding the review and the author. I do have the book, got it before the drama, and am I tempted to the read the book even now? Yes because the review is hilarious and no because I'm not a huge fan of the author.

Now that you read the review, let me ask you this question. Has the last PNR book you've read or saw reminded you of another PNR book? Because it happens to me all the time. All the freaking time.

So I'm going to tell a short little story that sparked this post.

A few days ago, some friends and I went to Barnes and Noble because we were near the general area and they know about my love for books. A friend wanted to know my opinion about this book so I asked for more details since she couldn't remember the title:

"What was it about?"
"Something to do with the paranormal."
"What did the cover look like?" (because I'm addicted to covers.)
"It had a girl on it. She was wearing a dress."
"Anything else?"
"I know it's by a female author and the book is a series*. Trilogy maybe?"
"That about narrows it down to every paranormal teen book I can think of."

And because I love book covers (hence the name of my blog), I ALWAYS judge a book by its cover. It's what initially draws me to the book. I know my YA book covers (at least the ones published after 2009) so I thought if my friend could tell me about the cover, I'd get it immediately. Nowadays, 90%** of the PNR covers are the same. Pretty girl in really pretty dress***:

What do they have to do with the actual book? 95%** of the time, NOTHING. Out of the 9 books, I read 3: After Obsession, Fury, and Always a Witch. The cover for Fury relates to the actual novel. But After Obsession and Always a Witch? If you squint really hard and tilt your head a bit and skim through the book, you might find a connection.

In Everneath, does the girl wear a frilly red dress while walking on smoke? In Endlessly, does she wear a purple dress and is in a scene where she overlooks a sea of purple flowers? In A Beautiful Dark...I don't even know what she's doing. Sacrificing herself? Chances are the answers to the questions are no. Are they gorgeous covers? Definitely, but they're irreverent to the story so why is it even there.

Without reading the synopsis I would have no clue what the book is about. Before the onslaught of pretty girls in pretty dress covers, I would have stopped and picked the book up. Now, I don't have the urge.

Sometimes it's not even the author's fault that their book becomes not THEIR book, but as part of a mass of books within a genre. They hardly have any say in the cover. Sometimes it's the way their book is pitched:

collectively with a bunch of other PNR books such as Breathless Reads or Dark Days campaign
compared to other popular PNR books coughTwilightcough
at a really bad time when I'm overloaded with other PNR books

Tell me it's the next big thing ever since "INSERT A NYT BESTSELLING SERIES" and it's automatically off my want-now list. Tell me the basic skeleton of the book--general plot line with no names and no details--and I wouldn't have a clue as to what makes your book so great compared to everyone else's. Maybe I know which book you're talking about or more likely, I'll give you a list of books I think you're talking about and maybe it's one of the them.

What I hoped to read in PNR books is like Emma Watson: differences that are easily detectable. What I find is Kristin Stewart: the same thing over and over again.

I used to believe the hype and FALL HARD for the covers. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me a third time, fuck it. I'm abandoning my PNR books for contemporary books until the reviews start coming in then maybe I have a better understanding if it's as good as the pitches say they are.

*I'll do a rant post on series later.
**These statistics are completely made up. It's probably highly exaggerated.
***I initiated raided HarperTeens's catalog then I realize my post got too long.

And in a rare chance, there's a book I loved that has a pretty girl cover, is compared to a big series, with tons of hype backing it up. I fall in love with the paranormal genre all over again.

Then I dig around and devour paranormal books left and right trying to find another one of the amazing, spectacular, jaw-dropping, I-am-in-love, books.

But I can't and I get disappointed again. Then I curse myself for falling prey to the hype and the pretty covers.

Lather, rinse, and repeat.

Eyes Like Stars: more fantasy than actual PNR I really did enjoy this book with its pretty cover, which is incorporates many of the elements of the books. Love this artist's work.
Unearthly: though short of jaw-dropping, spectacular, I-am-in-love book, I liked Unearthly. Enough to give it 4 stars :) Also pretty girl with a pretty dress on the cover (which, by the way, is kind of irreverent to the story so aside from the purple, I'm eh on the cover).

Books that I recommend with a different kind of cover (there's a couple of more books, but they fall under thriller or action and adventure better, plus I ran out of room):

P.S. I have a couple more rant post scheduled every Friday heh

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

2012-01-13T10:40:00.000-05:00

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

Carmen Bianchi is a 17 year old accomplished violinist who’s dream is to win the Guarneri competition. There are only two main obstacles in her way—her nerves and her male British counterpart Jeremy King. The first obstacle is easily taken care since she takes Inderal to calm herself before performances. But Jeremy is an entirely different story. He’s just as competitive as Carmen, and extremely attractive. When he starts to flirt with her, Carmen is entirely caught off guard. In this novel of teenage rebellion, Carmen begins to question her own skills, her potential love’s motives, and even her mother’s intentions in an attempt to make sense of what it means to love music.

Let me take this opportunity to mention that I’ve been playing piano for 15 years. The first ten or so, I played classical music almost exclusively, and I did a couple concerts. I also played for my high school’s talent show one year. But there’s a reason why I play in public so little; I get incredibly nervous. Even with one person in the room with me, my fingers and rhythm fall apart. So I believe I understand PERFECTLY how Carmen feels when she plays for audiences without Inderal.

Carmen is a brilliant violinist but it’s rather hard to hear the music Carmen plays in the novel, and because music should be a big part of her life, she’s hard to understand. But I did appreciate the growing that Carmen did that shows she is more than just a violinist:

She decided not to take pills even though her mother insisted.
She made her own choices instead of just listening to her mother.
She snuck out with her pseudo-boyfriend.
She made quasi-educated conclusions about God and religion.

It justifies the ending, so even though I didn’t exactly like the ending, it wasn’t completely out of the blue.

However, her fights with her mother were hard to believe; she never fought with her mother before, and then when her mother says something reasonable that Carmen doesn’t like, Carmen takes that opportunity to start ignoring her mother for the first time in 17 years. Distrust almost overnight? It just feels too sudden.

I also didn’t like the romantic plot. This homeschooled, romantically-naïve girl meets Jeremy King for the first time, he’s rude to her, and then she agrees to go out to dinner with him. Does that make sense? Does anyone else stay out until 1am with a foreigner without telling anyone where your whereabouts? It sounds dangerous to me, but maybe it’s because I’ve never been the adventurous type. Jeremy’s just a tad bit too perfect too. He’s tall, blonde, blue eyed, etc. He’s one of those love interests that automatically falls in love with the main character and when his true side comes out he says standard lines like “I didn’t say anything I didn’t feel.” I wanted a bit more aggression instead of this sappy apologetic guy. It was incredibly human of him to want to win the competition for his disabled brother, and I didn’t want him to almost immediately renege on it. It was one of those statements that blur the lines between right and wrong. It was an exciting complication, but then it just dissolves. *sadface*

I was wavering between 3 and 4 stars, so I just decided to give it 3 and a half. The writing style didn’t make me cringe and it’s a quick read (took me 2 days and I’m a turtle), but the novel is missing something, and it has something to do with the characters personalities.

The cover is gorgeous, even though it’s missing a violin. Heheh

Don't Expect Magic

2012-01-12T14:00:00.000-05:00

Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McMullough
Grade: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publication: November 8, 2011 Buy from Amazon
Source: unsolicited review copy from Delacorte Press
Follow Kathy of Twitter @kathymccullough

According the law of conversation of mass, matter cannot be created or destroyed. So how would you transform your ratty PJs for a slinky red dress? Through physics and chemistry…and you know, a handy fairy godmother to make it all happen. What if you don’t what to be a fairy godmother? Tough cookies, you really have no choice.

That’s where Delany is right now. Apparently her no-good dad, Dr. Hank, is a fairy godmother (who ever said f.g. has to girls?) and the gene is hereditary.

Delany is far from what you would expect from stereotypical fairy godmothers. First off, she’s not really a people person. Her homemade kick-ass boot garners praise, but her attitude isn’t the most inviting. A bit rude, a little pretentious and definitely not bubblegum pink nice, Delany has trouble fitting in to her new school and her life ever since her mom passed away and she’s shipped off to her dad. She’s not well liked by her peers, teachers, and me, the reader. Her actions and personality gives off a bad vibe like she’s better than everybody. If a person is genuinely nice to you on the first day of class and she’s pretty popular, be on your toes because that person is obviously ought to get you. Should my hair stand up and the claws start jutting out if someone smiles at me or says hi?

Since Don’t Expect Magic incorporates some science facts to help explain the supernatural, which by the way was a very nice touch and was well-thought out and something I definitely appreciate in a fantasy book, I’m going to bring in Darwin—survival of the fittest yadda yadda yadda. If I was Delany’s guardian spirit, I’d slap her and tell her to adapt and deal with it. Why make an enemy out of everyone? Assess the new environment, adapt to the new environment, and survive in the new environment. Or else you’re going to die. Or fail high school.

Things are touch and go for most of the book. I admit that it was hard to read through it, but once Delany’s personality approved, Don’t Expect Magic became a lot better for me. We start to get more of the fairy godmother business (again, something that I really appreciate in this type of story), further development of the father-daughter relationship, more humor and fun, and a stronger multidimensional main character.

The character of Dr. Hank, I felt, was ironic. Here was a man doing motivational books and speeches telling people how they should live their lives when he could barely live his own life. I quite enjoyed his character because of the way it changes throughout the whole book. He’s much nicer than Delany and you can feel the charisma from the pages making him more approachable. The connection he has with Delany as a parent was a great emotional aspect to the book.

While the romantic interest in the novel seems more like a good friend, I could see potential. I wished, however, I knew more about him and that Delany and he had more dynamic conversations. I’m not entirely comfortable with where they came from and how they end up, but I can see it happening.

Don’t Expect Magic has a good moral: to never hide yourself in fear of what others think. It’s a debut that definitely shows promise of what Kathy McCullough is capable. Don’t Expect Magic has a unique story plot, a solid foundation, and a budding group of characters that just needs a few tweaks.

Cover B

I wished we could see more of the boots. The beach, while it may seem strange on the cover, does play a role in the story.

P.S. I now have threaded comments! :D

Triangles by Ellen Hopkins (Audiobook Review)

2012-01-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

Triangles: A Novel by Ellen Hopkins

Narrated by: January LaVoy, Jan Maxwell, Janel Moloney, Michele Pawk

Grade: 2.5 stars out of 5

Length of Production (Unabridged): 8 hours and 14 minutes

Published: Simon and Schuster Audio in 2011
Source: Simon and Schuster Audio

This (audio)book is for mature readers! I will try to keep this PG-13, but things that I do think might offend somebody will be hidden(ish).

A triangle is a three-sided polygon. There’s obtuse, acute, and, ever so perfect, equilateral triangle. My geometry teacher would be so proud knowing that I remember that. Triangles, however, is a novel about 3 women dealing with life’s hiccups (or in this case, backhanded slaps). All 3 women are connected by blood and by friendship.

Holly: tied down in her own home; she wants to escape.
Andrea: looking for a relationship like what Holly has with her husband, Jace.
Marissa: dealing a terminally ill daughter, a rebellious gay son, and a husband that’s never home (and continuously hitting up that alcohol).

Having never read any of Hopkins work, but heard the great praise I was eager to start Triangles. As I hit midway through the story I realize maybe it wasn’t for the best that Triangles was my first Hopkins novel.

First off with the audiobook you lose her style of writing. Her verse prose comes across as regular paragraph writing. I’ve read sections of Triangles (from the physical book) and when it’s laid out it has more life. There are mini-breaks in-between chapters, which has two poems in one: one where you can read left to right from up to down; and there’s this single phrase from the title straight down on the left-hand side that is beautiful. With the audiobook you can’t experience the different ways how Hopkins chose to write Triangles you can’t see the creativity and the work that was put in. You can only listen.

Secondly, with the voice narration I had trouble finding a definite distinction between Marissa and Holly. I went by context as to who was who rather than just listening and immediately knowing. With Andrea’s narrator, she didn’t change her tone often enough for me. She sounded indifferent and slightly exasperated (with a whiny pitch) throughout most of the CDs and by the words coming out her mouth, I expected something else. The narration for the inbetween sections that try to connect the different character chapters (but it’s not really needed) I thought was the best. It gave me the right tone with a loud voice.

Overall I didn’t have much trouble with the audiobook. Every word came out crystal clear, no static, no murmuring.

My third problem with Triangles was the characters. Will you find these girls and guys in real life? Probably. Will you want to immediately punch most of them in the face once they tell you their story? I would.

Holly is my least favorite character out of all 3. In fact she’s the only character whom I really hated. Let’s play pretend:

If you and your partner were having issues in the bed since nothing is doing it for you, would you:

communicate and try to spice things up
you know what you like so just finish it off by yourself, hint hint
start writing erotica, join a critique group, have sex with 2 of the 4 (5?) people in your critique group. Eventually end up having a foursome with your NOT husband in public. <--small spoiler so highlight to read.

If you say 3, congratulations you are a Holly and you officially suck. (And by suck I mean that in the most nonsexual connotation.)

But seriously it’s like me doing badly on an exam. Instead of getting a tutor or talking to the teacher for help, I run away from home and join a circus for the rest of my life. Jumping the gun aren’t we?

Holly’s sections are the most sexually explicit scenes. She has sexapades and experimentations that are not made from public reading (or listening), which is why I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone under the age of 18. (Even then I wonder how young are the kids when they are mature to read about sex. It seems as though there’s plenty of teenage pregnancies.) Here’s a snippet of what I’m talking about: (sexual, so highlight to read)

‘“Now that you’re wet, I’m going to do something I’ve always wanted to.” He slips one finger inside me. Two. Three. At four, the pressure becomes terrific. But when I squirm, he gives my arms a warning tug. “No. Hold still.”

I do and he works his entire hand into that narrow place. And, over the flashing silver pain, I shudder orgasm. “That’s my girl.”’

Holly was the most difficult to like because quite frankly I just wanted to hit her. Did she try to communicate to anyone? No. Hardly anyone in Triangles tried to talk to other people to help with their problems and eventually it became this giant ball of yarn: entangled and never-ending. Victims do not have to stay as victims. Am I encouraging people to who have been cheated on to have revenge sex with someone else? Of course not, but there other ways to get your point across.

I found Holly to be one-dimensional. She is this 'itch whose actions reflect that. Sure there are one and two scenes with her children, but it's far and few with nothing fleshed out as if it's a passerby comment.

Andrea and Marissa are not the strongest characters I’ve come across. Andrea has an unfortunate string of bad luck with men, but her life isn’t disastrously horrible. For me, it was Marissa’s story that stole the limelight. It was powerful, raw, and something you worry about in the future. Shelby is the angel in her eye, but at age 4 she doesn’t have much longer to live. It’s tragic. Your emotions cannot help but pour out. On top of that, she’s dealing with a teenage gay son whose father isn’t the most accepting of his sexual preference. And he’s doing drugs.

And a character was raped. And someone is HIV positive. And there’s a teenage pregnancy. And there are abandonment issues. And cheating. There are lots and lots of cheating with emotional and physical acts of adultery. (Revenge cheating definitely makes everything so much better.)

My fourth reason why I wasn’t a huge fan of the book: Ellen Hopkins shoves too many problems in a not-so-tiny book. Really, let’s stick a son/daughter who’s a solider in the war against Afghanistan then we’ll have everything. Eventually you wonder if this is the most ill-fortuned group of people you’ve ever read in a book. (Answer: It’s pretty darn close.) I understand that Hopkins is leading the charge of writing books outside of the comfort zone, but there is a limit. No need to hit the reader with a mallet to get your point across—life sucks, deal with it. I get it. A girl can get lost and frustrated with a book like this.

Jerry! Jerry!

The ending did nothing for me. Three of the couples needed marriage counseling or just break up. But they most likely won’t. Because no one really talks in this book. The person who Andrea ends up with came from nowhere.

Let’s end this review in a positive note. Triangles is filled with flawed characters who would make a dynamic episode of Jerry Springer. There’s enough heart wrenching scenes to make me think about my own life and what is means and what could happen. It’s a powerful tale, just not one I will be reading again.

Trailers Galore

2012-01-07T11:00:00.000-05:00

Marissa Meyer's first book in the The Lunar Chronicles, Cinder, just came out and word on the street is that it's really good.

Even in the future, the story begins with Once Upon a Time…. Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

Tour Stops! Do you live near one of these cities?

January 9: Twitter and Facebook!!
Virtual Cinder Launch Party, being hosted with Figment Fiction
Facebook/ Twitter party at 7:00 EST

January 11: Salt Lake City, UT
The King's English Bookshop
7:00 p.m.

January 12: Provo, UT
Provo City Library
7:00 p.m.

January 23: Naperville, IL
Anderson's Bookshop
7:00 p.m.
Note: Megan Miranda, author of FRACTURE, will also be at this event!

January 24: Petaluma, CA
Copperfield's Books
3:00 p.m

January 26: San Francisco, CA
Books Inc. “Not Your Mother’s Book Club” at Opera Plaza
7:00 p.m.
Note: Megan Miranda (FRACTURE) and Daisy Whitney (THE RIVALS) will also be at this event!

January 27: Portland, OR
Powell's Books
7:00 p.m.
Note: Megan Miranda, author of FRACTURE, will also be at this event!

February 10-14: Vancouver and Victoria, BC, Canada
Details TBD

February 25: Long Beach, CA
Passion and Prose Convention

April 14: Houston, TX
TeenBookCon

Then we have Megan Crewe's The Way We Fall! The Way We Fall is coming out this month, January, on the 24th so get those preorders in! Or you can stop by Megan's blog to win a copy.

When sixteen-year-old Kaelyn lets her best friend leave for school without saying goodbye, she never dreams that she might not see him again. But then a strange virus begins to sweep through her small island community, infecting young and old alike. As the dead pile up, the government quarantines the island: no one can leave, and no one can come back.

Those still healthy must fight for the island's dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.

Because how will she go on if there isn't?

2011 in a Nutshell with Books

2012-01-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

The Best:

Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder
Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

The Ones that I REALLY Liked:

Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony
Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
From Bad to Cursed (Bad Girls Don't Die #2) by Katie Alender
Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

Legend by Marie Lu

Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Disappointed:

After Obsession by Carrie Jones and Steven E. Wedel
The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
Fury (Fury #1) by Elizabeth Miles
All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney
Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs
Royally Jacked (Royally Crushed #1) by Niki Burnham
Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

no covers, just a frowny face

The What the Eff Did I Just Read:

The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley

Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud

Fallen Angels by Heather Terrell

Future Imperfect by K. Ryer Breese

Daodejing by Laozi

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

New Year, New(ish) Changes

2012-01-05T13:47:00.000-05:00

Hello all! It's rather late now since it's already been a few days into the new year, but better late than never.

2011 marked the year where real life started to conflict with blogging. Books by Their Cover, for much more than I had hoped, was inactive. Reviews were hazardously posted, and there were long periods of dead silence. I fear that it is only getting to get as the months go by. How can you tell?

2009: 509 posts and 262 books read
2010: 319 posts and 207 books read
2011: 130 posts and 132 books read

A definite decline.

So much time and work was invested in this blog that I refuse to call it quits just yet. In an effect to maintain this blog, I enlisted the help of Fallon. You've probably been noticing a couple of her reviews popping. But expect more changes. What kind of changes?

Well for starters I decided to clean up the layout a bit. I was tired of the dull tan so I decided to it more red/orange.

If someone has trouble reading the new posts and box quotes fonts, let me know please.

Expect more audiobook reviews. I spend a great amount of time just traveling in and out of school, walking across campus, to and fro work, etc. Since walking and reading isn't exactly the safest and most efficient way to travel, I'm opting to listen to books.
Expect a monthly contest. I used to do this little feature called Books by its Cover every month where I post a little poem about a cover and I ask readers to try to guess what I'm talking about it. Each correct answer will put your name in a virtual hat for that month's prize. Well, it's going to something like that, but not. Instead Books by its Cover will be a monthly contest (still) where readers try to guess a book cover (just like before). Here's where it's going to change: rather than poems (because frankly I suck at them) I will post a little portion of the actual cover/page and you readers will guess the book from the little portion. I'll mix it up with passages, symbols, key phrases from the book (which was inspired by Audrey). More on that later in a separate post
Expect RANDOM giveaways for those who leave comments and people who follow my blog.
My reviews will be a bit different this year. I used to be spunky and snarky when I first started reviewing. Then I decided to be more "professional". Yeah, that's going to be gone. I'm going to try to be more me meaning there will be more cuss words (nothing excessive, but if I feel like there's a need for it), and more sarcasm (hopefully it'll come across the screen).
And whatever else I feel needs to be changed. These changes will not come nowhere I promise you that.
Carol (from Booklover-Carol) will be joining Books by Their Cover too :)

Prize List

2012-01-05T13:46:00.005-05:00

Books Read in 2012

2012-01-05T13:46:00.003-05:00

The Ex Games by Jennifer Echols
The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Catherine Hapka

Wildefire

2012-01-04T10:35:00.003-05:00

Wildefire by Karsten Knight

Grade: 5 stars out of 5

"Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm."

WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE COMING OUT?

I am SO excited to review this book, I couldn’t spend my entire time trying to write a fair summary, so instead I borrowed from Goodreads. SORRY!

Anyway, yes, as soon as I was finished with the last words on the last page, I REALLY NEEDED TO READ THE NEXT ONE. I’m sad I have to wait now.

So I give this a 5 for a variety of reasons. I really liked the style writing. It was in third person, which I believe is hard to do. One has to reflect on not just the main character, but everyone else, and still keep all the characters separate. Ash was important, but so were the others, and you get a taste of what each one is feeling, from Lily’s heartbreak to Eve’s feeling of loneliness. I thought the Interludes were clever elements in the plot, where you could see the world from others’ eyes, not just Ashline’s. I liked the names (love Ade Saint-Cyr), characteristics, and flaws of the characters. All the gods show their teenaged side; Rolfe could be a dick at times, and Lily takes rejection about as well as I do.

Bonus points were given for the multicultural characters (Polynesian Jews, Haitians, and Hopi Indians in one story?! Mind-blown!), mentioning Philadelphia, and not having a completely happy ending. I like a good resolution, but not in the first book of a trilogy. Definitely gives me something to look forward to.

This novel is a great example of an original read. Ash might have quick wit, but she wasn’t the strongest of all the gods in the pantheon, as one might expect. Ash’s and Eve’s relationship was complicated to the extreme. There’s a lack of traditional love triangles. This would remind me of Vampire Academy or Poison Study, but it doesn’t. Not completely. Wildefire is in a class all its own and if Knight keeps doing his thing, I’m sure it’s going to be one of my favorite series.

Interview + Giveaway with Wendy Wunder (Probability of Miracles)

2011-12-28T12:00:00.000-05:00

1. Your name fits perfectly with the meaning of The Probability of Miracles, but let's pretend it doesn't. Create an alias for yourself or what are some other titles did you consider for POM?

I try to stay away from aliases because I had a bad experience once. One night in college we decided to use aliases and I was supposed to be “Phoebe,” until some guy asked me to spell it, and then my cover was blown. So remember… Words of wisdom you can only get here at Books By Their Cover… If you decide to use an alias, choose one that’s easy to spell!

As for other titles, the one I remember batting around was One Hundred Words for Blue. It was a pretty phrase from the book and it summed up how Cam was feeling in the beginning. But I think there are a lot of similar titles to that one out there.

2. There's a lot of craziness in POM. How do you manage incorporating humor and random animal scenes without losing the underlining tragedy?

My family has always used humor, often self-deprecating humor, (and random animal scenes) to help them wade through difficult times, so the balance between humor and tragedy is sort of a natural state of being for me. My life has always been tragically funny. Or comically tragic. (go ahead... ask around :) So that's the balance I can naturally strike. If I had a "world view," I guess it would be tragicomic. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, humor and sadness are often two sides of the same proverbial coin. They are just different ways to express and release deep feelings about something. The animal scenes you speak of acted as comic relief. You can’t have a story that is continual non-stop tragedy. And life is not like that either. When a family is experiencing terrible times, there are moments of lightness in it all. There have to be or we wouldn’t survive.

3. When I first saw the cover for POM, I thought "wow is it pink". What was your immediate reaction? Did it seem that POM was finally on its way to becoming a real physical book found in stores?

Yes seeing the cover was a big moment. Before they even started designing the cover my main question was, “Does it have to have a girl on it?’” I was hoping it could be just text design or something abstract. And I probably would have added, “Does it have to be pink?” if I knew they were even considering pink. I’m not really a pink person. In fact, the grocery store manager across the street calls my daughter “Violetta” because I often dressed her in purple as a baby to avoid being inundated in the Pink. But. When I saw that cover. I LOVED it. The pink is appropriate. (and it stands out) The girl is Beautiful. The feather is cool . And the FONT is PERFECT. Don’t you think?

Yan: Yes! The cover is growing on me as I look at more. Plus, after finishing POM, I can't imagine anything different.

4. What is your favorite part about Disney World?

When we went with my daughter who was then four, we made it on the first day to Opening Ceremonies, and I had Goosebumps! And it was just 8:30 in the morning. Unlike Cam, I definitely feel the magic of the Magic Kingdom. I have a lot of favorite parts. I love the idea of “Character Dining”. How cool is it for kids to sit down to dinner with Cinderella or Winnie the Pooh? That’s cool for them. (They should have that for adults. I want to go to a huge restaurant and eat chicken nuggets while Asthon Kutcher and Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon walk around visiting all the tables and stop by to take pictures with you and kiss you on the cheek.)

5. What's your favorite animal?

Tigers. I just wish they didn’t have the tendency to eat people and I’d have one for a pet. They’re just beautiful. We just went to a little girls’ birthday party where she asked for donations to save the tigers in lieu of presents. So Thank You, Hailey, for saving the Tigers!!!

6. When you first told Cam's story, did you already envisioned her to be snarky or was she the one to tell you? Did you find it difficult at times to write her story?

She was always snarky. She had to be in a place where she could protect herself emotionally and the snarkiness was her armor. And she had to start off in a low place spiritually in order for her to grow. As for the second part… writing is Always hard no matter what story you’re trying to tell. Once I had created all the characters though the story unfolded. Slowly. Sometimes tortuously. As if I were watching a movie in my head.

7. What are some books you're looking forward to in the upcoming months or year?

Right now I’m reading The Marriage Plot. Then on to: The Art of Fielding, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (before the movie comes out), Swamplandia, The Tigers Wife, IQ84,and more. I tend to shy away from reading a ton of YA, because I don’t want to be derivative. I want to stay fresh. Does that make sense? Plus, I’m a little old for it. Honestly. I’m pretty old.

Yan: You can never to be too old for YA! But I understand the worry about staying fresh.

8. I have to know if you have anything else you're working on. I read POM back in July, but it's one of those books that lingered in my head these past 8 months.

Among other things, I’m working on a Thelma and Louise story for teens about the power of friendship and the mysteries of the universe. For now, it’s called The Museum of Intangible Things.

Read my REVIEW and check out some extras! The book and the author sound amazing right? Then enter to win a SIGNED copy of POM!

Again this is done using rafflecopter so view this exact post to see the form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Probability of Miracles

2011-12-28T10:20:00.000-05:00

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

Grade: 5 stars out of 5

This is a very early review (about 6 months too early) but I have to gush about this book. It was bittersweet, beautiful, and aspiring. It hits you so hard. (The book hasn’t even been released yet and I’m already hoping for more books from Wendy Wunder.) The Probability of Miracles surprised just as I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan did last year. Both novels give the reader the chance to believe in coincidence and miracles and the need to live for what is perfect now.

Snarky Cam is hard on the outside but soft on the inside. Cam has a rare cancer that's slowly destroying her body that is if the treatments and trials don't kill her first. On a last ditch effort to live her life, Cam and her mother and sister move to Promise, Maine where rumor has it the place is full of miracles. After living and working in Disney World Cam is far from being a full believer. But from purple dandelions to flocks of flamingos to a unicorn in her back yard*, Cam may have to reevaluate her opinion.

With a mix of 13 Little Blue Envelopes and I'll Be There and something all its own, The Probability of Miracles will break your heart, glue it back together, and shatter it all over again.

Hi Buddy!

Cam was the perfect heroine for me. She was a genuine sister and daughter who fights with her younger sister and mother, but ultimately loves and cares deeply about them. Cam wasn't a romantic or a dreamer. She was sarcastic, she was real. Can breathed life with all of its ups and downs into the novel.

Life isn't prefect, but it can be pretty darn good sometimes when you let people in and the negativity out. That was what Cam learned and we as readers learned with her. Promise was just one more hoax that Cam scoffed at, but the small town with its motley crew of people melted the ice around Cam. She became a softer version of herself and started to be the giver of miracles.

The Probability of Miracles had an array of characters, which gave the book an explosion of voices and personalities. And yet it remained harmonious because at its center was Cam. She brought them in together from the perky sister, to the ever-fighting mother, to the sassy Nana, to the boy who taught Cam how to love, to the best friend who gave Cam a purpose when she felt like giving it all up. They were a perfect cast of supporters to the perfect heroine of an amazing and profound book.

It was slow in the beginning, but worth it in the end. Oh, the end. The last line literally made me fall in love with the book all over again and again. There’s wickedness to the humor, but lightness to the romance.

Savor this book.

*The Probability of Miracles is a contemporary novel and not a fantasy one. So the unicorn was my attempt to throw a little curve ball to you, but it is in the novel, just not what you might expect.

Cover A-

Initially the pink made me flinch but after reading the book, I love the pink. And the feather. And the long luscious hair, which is a big symbol in the book.

Source: ARC from Razorbill

Published: 2011, December 8

Amazon: order

Read the first 5 chapters!
The Probability of Miracles - Chapters 1 - 5

FREE Kate Daniels Novella

2011-12-24T18:02:00.002-05:00

Ilona Andrews is offering readers a FREE novella titled Magic Gifts for 2 weeks! So exciting! This series is AWE-SOME.

"This novella takes place at the same time as Andrea’s book, right after MAGIC SLAYS, and the two stories intersect."

Synopsis:

A dinner date after a hard day at work sounds heavenly. Of course, when that date is between the Beast Lord and Kate Daniels, things don’t go as planned. Before you know it, undead are running amok, heads are being chopped off, lawyers are deployed and used with extereme prejudice, and drunk vikings are calling people out.

You can download the novella to your Kindle, in ePub (for the Nook and Sony eReader) and in PDF (for us fans readers who don't own an eReader).

Happy holidays!

The Catastrophic History of You & Me

2011-12-23T15:02:00.000-05:00

The Catastrophic History of You & Me by Jess Rothenberg

Grade: 2 stars out of 5

Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning.... Welcome to forever.

BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally.

But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after.

With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

Who else thought how awesome The Catastrophic History of You & Me sounded when they read the summary? Dying because of heartbreak? Wow. That’s different.

When I read the book, however, I had thought that Rothenberg would bring more details. Scientific and biological evidence of how and why Brie’s heart broke in half. Perhaps it’ll be something like from The Sky is Everywhere—a hidden heart problem that no one seemed to catch—or maybe a heart problem that has always been there, but the stress of heartbreak was the final straw. What happened was that Rothenberg introduced a new illness: BHS, Broken Heart Syndrome. Really? Really. Desk, meet head; head, prepare for pain. There are biological anomalies everywhere and I get that this is a work of fiction, but I felt robbed almost. Since I’m already amped up, let’s talk cheese.

What do you do when the MC is a girl that you do like not? Loathed at times even. Well you keep reading and hoping that you will grow to like her. There might be a string of sympathy, or empathy, that sets off a domino effect with a final hit of ‘wow, I wish I knew that girl’. But no, The Catastrophic History of You & Me left me thankful that I didn’t know Brie. (I didn’t get the cheese nicknames until a third way in because I’m not a big fan of cheese so I have very limited knowledge of cheese names.)

While her best friends and her boyfriend(s) and family loved Brie, I could barely tolerate her. She was selfish: selfish actions with selfish motives that did no one any good. It was all about her, her, and oh yeah, her. Brie didn’t care that she might have ruined someone’s life: college plans, friendships, public lives, etc. Brie’s mind only seemed to consider the immediate results from an action. Any long-term effects or consequences never popped into her mind until it hit her face on. Even then I felt like she couldn’t have figured out how it all came to be.

Would I call Brie psychotic? At times, yes. Her actions were extreme: breaking car windows, pushing an oncoming bike down, tripping someone where it breaks their leg, and so forth. Heartaches hurt. It sucks to be dumped and it sucks even more when you are lied to. But to assume only makes an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me’. And Brie did was assume the worst. I think being dramatic makes life more fun, but I would not to be her friend just in case she might stab me in the back (literally and figuratively).

While we’re talking bad things let’s continue on about the big reveal in the end. Everyone gets a HEA (happy ever after), but the build up to the HEA was clunky. A little foreshadowing here and there (but it’s pretty much the same scene each time) then BANG. I had a little trouble swallowing it—just a little—especially with the great emotion upheaval that makes me want to puke. We’re soul mates even though just a couple chapters ago I professed that my greatest love broke my heart and killed me so I should now try to kill him because “If I couldn’t have him, nobody could” (ARC 173). L-O-L. Freaking LOL. You’re 15 going on 16 going to jail if you were still alive. This was her first boyfriend.

I couldn’t connect to the love interests. They seemed more like good friends.

I didn’t understand her father’s infidelity. Maybe it’s because The Catastrophic History of You & Me is told through 1st POV and Brie is not the most astute character.

I couldn’t wrap my head around the mechanics of Heaven and being dead. (If there are extras to the novel, I hope they would include a couple of chapters from the D&G handbook.)

I did, however, like the dog. He rocked.

I liked the other characters that were dead. They had personalities.

Brie was not the only thing about The Catastrophic History of You & Me that has a connection to cheese; the entire novel was cheesy in the end.

Cover B-

Source: LibraryThing ER

Published: 2012, February 21; hardcover

Personalized Keychains Giveaway

2011-12-21T13:14:00.003-05:00

Good news readers! I'm teaming up with Gopromos, the promotional items website the promotional items website, to give away 50 Brightwell Personalized Keychains, worth over $100, absolutely free.

Some product details:

Key Tag Color: Burgundy, Forest Green, Graphite or Blue
Imprint Color: Laser-Engraved in Silver
Imprint Options: Up to 5 Lines (20 Characters per Line) or Up to 3 Lines and a Logo
Fully-functional LED flashlight in your choice of color

Here’s how to enter our Personalized Keychains Giveaway:

In the comments form below, tell me how you will use your personalized keychains for your business, organization, or personal use. OR let me know what message you're considering on engraving onto the keychain!

Be sure to post some form of contact info so that I can contact you if you’re the winner.

~~I will close the contest by 23rd of December (so get in those entries quickly!). U.S. residents only are eligible for the Giveaway due to legal restrictions. Good luck!~~

Congrats Michele! Please get back to me ASAP.

Catching Jordan Review & Catching Up with Miranda

2011-12-20T22:00:00.000-05:00

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Grade: 3.5 stars out of 5

“What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate.”

Who says girls aren’t athletic? This book says that girls can and are just as athletic as boys in a male-dominated sport. Jordan is an athlete that many can aspire to be: focus, determined, with a good head on her shoulder. And just as some women athletes are concerned about appealing to the opposite sex, Jordan goes through the same thing. Sometimes it’s easy to be one of the guys and harder to be a “girl”. When hot stuff comes up and messes with Jordan’s mojo, you can’t help but experience the same fluttering anxiety that she does. Because many of us have gone through that.

Catching Jordan extends its reaches from just sports fans, but to everyone who has experienced crushes…sometimes all consuming ones.

That’s not to say that football doesn’t play a big role. Expect detailed games and rules on how to play from Catching Jordan.

Characters I liked: Jordan’s dad. He may seem like a jerk but he has good intentions. Sports are dangerous; I understand his reluctance to let Jordan play football. Jordan is his “little girl” in a heavily dominated male sport that will treat her differently even if she is better than most guys.

Jordan’s mom: really encouraging and a great solid parent figure.

Characters I’m iffy on: Jordan and JJ. JJ is very crash and much like a stereotypical male who’s looking to get laid. He’s very protective of Jordan and does crossword puzzles.

Jordan, separate from what she stands her, I found very frustrating. Like most YA books it seems that as soon as hot new guy comes along, they lose most of their brain cells and common sense. She’s very ambitious and head-strong that fails to see what’s right in front of her. Instead she likes to live her own little world at times.

Characters I can learn to like: Tyler and Henry and Carter. Scratch the surfaces and these characters can offer so much more.

Catching Jordan’s potential far exceeds than what the novel offered. I could have loved the book so much more.

Cover B

Source: Sourcebooks Fire

Published: 2011 December 1; paperback

And an interview with the lovely author!:

can totally see them in Superbowl

Do you think sports promote a healthy lifestyle or can it become an unhealthy obsession?

I think anything in life can become an unhealthy obsession - from video games to spending too much money to working out too hard. Any activity in life should be done in moderation. But overall - yes, sports and being active are very important to healthy living.

Do sports promote teamwork and companionship or does it promote aggression and competition?

I think it all goes back to the coach and/or captain. If the leader promotes teamwork and companionship, then the team is more likely to pick up those qualities as a whole. Likewise, the same goes for aggression and competition. But if a person ever feels like his or her coach or captain isn't doing right by the team, then it's that person's responsibility to step up and act in a responsible manner.

Curling = exciting!

What is fantasy football and how do you play?

Fantasy football is when you choose a team, using players from all of the different teams in the NFL. I am pretty lazy, so in the past when I've done fantasy football leagues, I usually just use an online site to manage the team and players, etc. But you can plan using regular ole paper and pen too.

Which teams do you think will make it to the Super Bowl? Who will win?

Green Bay will play either the Patriots or Baltimore. But I bet Green Bay will win.

What other male dominated sports do you think would benefit from a little female competition?

I'd love to see a female pitcher or outfielder in Major League Baseball.

What is the most obscure sport you can think of?

Curling! Oh how I want to be on the U.S. Olympic Curling Team. Literary Agent Michelle Wolfson would be my curling partner.

What is your favorite sport and why?

Softball. It's my favorite because it's the only sport I'm truly good at!

Favorite mascot?

Wally, the Red Sox mascot, who is named after the Green Monster outfield wall in Boston. He's so green and cute.

What are some foods you enjoy after a good game/workout?

Whole wheat bagels with peanut butter or creme cheese. And pizza!

The Kid Table by Andrea Seigel

2011-12-20T11:48:00.003-05:00

The Kid Table by Andrea Seigel

Grade: 4.5 stars out of 5

Ingrid and her cousins have been stuck at the Kid Table for every family function. At every event, the teenagers have been sitting at a small aluminum card table with a toddler. However, Ingrid cannot believe her eyes when she sees her eldest cousin Brianne sitting at the adult table. Even more disconcerting is how hard Ingrid falls for Brianne’s boyfriend Trevor. Over the course of a year, Ingrid reevaluates herself, her cousins, and the relationships she has with those around her.

I’ll read almost anything. I will only actually like about half of what I read. And even less will I actually say I love. It has to have quality writing, original characters with flaws, a different variation of standard plotlines, etc. Something different, you know? The Kid Table is one of those rare books.

I loved it. I loved how it was written in the course of five family events, and only those events, but that Ingrid narrates what happens in between those events, so you know she has a life outside her cousins. It didn’t feel like there were holes in between chapters, and it was just so REFRESHING.

I love that Ingrid is such a complex woven web of WISDOM and LUST. It just makes her seem so much more real. In real life, people aren’t perfect, so characters in fiction books shouldn’t be either. Ingrid’s cousins Cricket, Dom, Micah, and Brianne are no different (though I wouldn’t say the same about Autumn). Seigel had a way of making sure everyone was heard, but without their issues taking over.

I’m a sucker for super romantic chick lit. What I like even more is unconventional love stories. Ingrid’s love for Trevor was palpable; she saw him across the room and their eyes locked. So was her disappointment when she found out he was Brianne’s boyfriend. I felt her confusion when he sent her mixed signals, her excitement when he kissed her, her devastation at the pool party. I’m a fierce believer in true love, and this was a heart-wrenching example of it.

I’m sorry I’m babbling. I’m trying to express how much I liked this book without giving too much away. No summary will be fair enough, so you’ll just have to read it for yourself. It’s one of the only books I would actually want to see a movie be based on it and I wouldn’t be mad if they changed a few things, namely the ending, which is probably my only complaint (and why I can’t give it a 5). It feels abrupt, even though there was some evidence that led to it.

If I didn’t get the point across yet, I loved it. I would recommend it to everyone that’s a tad bit tired of the same old cliché romances.

Winging It (Dragon Diaries 2)

2011-12-19T15:00:00.000-05:00

Winging It (Dragon Diaries #2) by Deborah Cooke

Grade: 4 stars out of 5

"Zoë Sorensson yearns to come into her powers as the only female dragon shifter. But being part of two worlds is more complicated than she expected. It’s bad enough that she’s the target of the Mages’ plan to eliminate all shifters—she also has to hide her true nature from her best friend Megan, a human. For her sixteenth birthday, all Zoë wants is one normal day, including a tattoo and a chance to see hot rocker Jared.

Instead, the Pyr throw her a birthday party but ban Megan from attendance, putting Zoë in a tight spot. Things get even worse when Zoe is invited to the popular kids’ Halloween party and Megan’s left out. Zoë knows the party is a trap laid by the host, an apprentice Mage. When Megan gets a last-minute invite, Zoë must save the day—and her best friend—without revealing her fire-breathing secrets . . ."--from Amazon

Picking up from Flying Blind, Zoë and her crew of extremely hot boys never seem to be able to catch a break. Cooke engages the readers in the world of dragons and shifters that is every bit as fantastical as the first. Not a big fan of dragons? Well, these boys might change your mind from a cool, dark and handsome to a cutie pie, there’s enough personality to please everyone. Don’t forget Zoë, our strong heroine who kicks major booty and still manages to find time worrying about her best friend.

Then there’s Jared, the elusive musician who seems to have all the answers, but likes to tease Zoë with riddles and come-hither looks. (Okay so I might be making the second part up, but he’s really sexy.) What I didn’t really appreciate was the progression the two made in Winging It. There’s a trend where the male characters has to stay away from the heroine because he’s dangerous to her safety, but it causes emotional drama between the two and he has trouble staying away. Yadda yadda yadda. Personally, I was not fond of the recent development as I’ve come to notice that by staying away, it benefits no one. The girl is still in danger; they both become really really sad and angsty. I do, however, like the last scene for the pair: sweet, charmed the boots off me, (and in my head, sensual, though many people won’t see that).

And what’s a sequel without the introduction of some new faces (with a love triangle!). Winging It has plenty of new faces, but it never gets overwhelming. I love how Cooke expanded the Shifting world (I believe that is what you call it). Forget thunderbirds and dragons, you can never go wrong with the classic werewolf. Or you know some new creatures like shifting cats (leopards, lions, alley cats….) Tons of fun to be had! Did I immediately fall in love with the all of the characters? Not really. There are tons of potential and more books to come so we’ll see. I’m not one to put all my eggs in one basket.

Now let’s talk about some old familiar faces. Meagan for one plays a much BIGGER role in Winging It. And if you’ve read the guest post by Meagan *hint hint nudge nudge* you know that she gets a special power. Let’s just say she won’t a damsel in distress anymore andddddd she might even get a cute guy in the end. You just have to read Winging It to find out. However, I found Meagan slightly frustrating to read especially from Zoë’s perspective. As readers, we know why Zoë is keeping secrets but keeping in mind that Meagan doesn’t know escapes me at times.

I love how Cooke also brought in Zoë’s parents. Even dragon shifters have marriage problems. It added just another dimension to this solid sequel.

Winging It was an action-packed sequel. Plenty of fresh new faces and many old ones that never gets boring. It had a clear direction of where it’s heading, some place where I surely would like to find out. With new questions left to be unanswered and relationships really heating up, you can surely bet that I will be reading Blazing the Trails.

Cover B-

Source: review copy from NAL (publishers)

Published: 2011, December 6

Amazon

BFF With a Dragon Girl -- Deborah Cooke

2011-12-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

Hi readers! You're in for a special trick. Meagan Jameson from Flying Blind aka the first book in the Dragon Diaries series has been awesome enough to give us the low-down on what's it like being best friends with a teenage dragon girl.

Read my review on Flying Blind.

Read an excerpt of Flying Blind / Winging It / Blazing the Trail.

slightly filled with spoilers from Flying Blind. so get to reading Flying Blind so you can read this inside scoop! ;)

BFF With a Dragon Girl
By Meagan Jameson
with some assistance from Deborah Cooke http://www.thedragondiaries.com

Hi. I'm Meagan and I'm best friends with Zoë Sorensson.

I've know Zoë forever – we met in kindergarten – but things got weird this year between us. I couldn't figure it out. It was like Zoë suddenly had secrets from me. She insisted otherwise, but I just knew it. When you've known someone your whole life, you know when something's wrong.

Zoë is totally different from me. Zoë can draw, which I think is awesome, and she's always reading stories with dragons in them. (I guess that should have been my big clue.) She's funny and she's smart and she likes making lists. She's good at solving puzzles and riddles, and I think that's because she thinks kind of sideways. Me, I think in logical order. I ace math every year. It's easy for me but not for Zoë (She aces art, which I don't even take). And I take piano lessons. In a way, music is math too.

We both completely suck at sports and gym. That's our common ground. And we're not very popular, unless somebody wants something from us – help with math from me or a dragon drawing from Zoë.

What I really like about Zoë is that she says what she thinks, pretty much all the time. So when she wouldn't tell me what she was thinking, I knew it had to be bad. I had to figure it out, because she is my best friend, and if I was going to help anybody, I was going to help Zoë.

When I found out that her parents were fighting and maybe splitting up, I thought that might be it.

When Jessica moved to our school, Jessica and I really got along. We could talk about math homework in a way that Zoë and I can't. I thought maybe Zoë was jealous of Jessica.

When I found out that Zoë knew all these incredibly hot guys whose fathers were friends with her father, I thought maybe one of them was messing her up.

When I met Jared, and saw him play in his band, I knew those other hot guys had no chance. Zoë was and is crazy for Jared, but he's kind of avoiding her. I thought that might be it.

But it was when she didn't want to talk about the dragon that turned up at our school, the dragon that saved me from Suzanne's bullying, the dragon who had to be one of those Pyr dragon shape shifter guys – and he'd helped ME! – I knew I'd found the problem. Zoë is crazy for dragons. Why wouldn't she be interested in one that was at our school? It made no sense.

Until I figured it out. Zoë said I had my Einstein look, the one that means the mysteries of the universe have no chance of remaining mysteries for long. I also figured out why Jared calls her "dragon girl". I should have known when the dragon stood up for me against a bully – the Pyr defend the treasures of the earth, which includes humans. Plus Zoë is my friend – if anyone stood up for me, it would be her.

By now you've probably guessed, too – yup, my best friend is a dragon shape shifter. She wasn't allowed to tell me, because dragon shape shifters have this code called the Covenant which means they keep their powers secret, but when she saved me the second time – actually it was the third time – I saw the truth with my own eyes. And all those hot guys she knows? They're all dragon shifters too!

You have to know that it was a huge relief to learn the truth. There was nothing really wrong between us, just this secret she had to keep and she didn't have a choice. I wouldn't want to be in trouble with a whole council of dragons either. Plus now that I know her secret, it's easy to understand a lot of other things about her, and to help her out, too.

The amazing thing is that we discovered that I have a special power, too. Zoë figured it out. I can't tell you about it – you have to read WINGING IT to find out – but we're even better BFF now.

Trust me on that. Tune in to BLAZING THE TRAIL to find out how we make it all count.

Hiding in a Treasure Box (Wayfair Product Intro)

2011-12-18T17:11:00.002-05:00

Officially finished with my fall '11 semester! I will know my final grades come Tuesday, but the stress is over. The anxiety still lingers though. One good thing that finishing school is the fact that I can blog again! I have boxes full of books to dig into and reviews to post and contests to announce.

Speaking of boxes full of books, is anyone else having trouble finding a place for their books? I am. I can barely see the floor anymore with the amount of books I'm stacking. Know a different way to store books for someone else to discover? Toy Boxes:

rediscover treasures!

or something more neutral

I store a couple of my older books away for future uses. The books that I loved when I was a child? I still have it; maybe some time in the future someone else will love it too. Plus it isn't always books that need to be stored away.

Wayfair, formally known as a CSN, has graciously offered a product for me to review. And while I won't be reviewing a toy box it doesn't mean you shouldn't check it out! They're really adorable.

Glow (Sky Chasers 1)

2011-12-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

Glow (Sky Chasers #1) by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Narrated by Matthew Brown and Ilyana Kadushin

Grade: 4 stars out of 5

As someone who has heard of Amy Kathleen Ryan before and read one of her novels, Zen and Xander Undone, I was surprised to see this dystopian, science fiction novel by her. Also not being the hugest fan of her work—found Zen and Xander Undone to be eh/okay—I was very much hesitant about Glow. But the reviews were generally positive when I first heard of it so I dove straight in. Glow was everything that I did not expect.

There are so many different synopses to Glow and many of which doesn’t seem to capture that essence of the book. Here is the synopsis I first read when the news about Glow started buzzing:

"The Empyrean is the only home 15-year-old Waverly has ever known. Part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space, she and her boyfriend Kieran will be pioneers of New Earth. Waverly knows she must marry young in order to have children who can carry on the mission, and Kieran, the handsome captain-to-be, has everything Waverly could want in a husband. Everyone is sure he’s the best choice. Still, there’s a part of Waverly that wants more from life than marriage, and she is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

Suddenly, Waverly’s dreams are interrupted by the inconceivable – a violent betrayal by the Empyrean's sister ship, the New Horizon. The New Horizon’s leaders are desperate to populate the new planet first, and will do anything to get what they need: young girls. In one pivotal moment, Waverly and Kieran are separated, and find themselves at the helm of dangerous missions, where every move has potentially devastating consequences, and decisions of the heart may lead to disaster."--from Amazon

My initial thought: So it’s a love triangle in space. Okayyy. And the first couple of discs seemed to point at what I thought, but then…then the New Horizon came. Dun dun dun. Continuing and finishing Glow was like an obsession that had taken over.

You might have noticed that I said discs. Yes, I listened to Glow as an audiobook while I was doing biology slide drawings* and preparing for my practical. I’m nothing if not a multitasker who doesn’t know when multitasking isn’t exactly the best thing to do. Glow is distracting! I barely remembered what I drew and annotated and am pretty sure I spelled a couple of things wrong. But it was worth it. (Managed to get a perfect score on the drawings so it’s a win-win situation.)

Let’s talk about the specifics on the narration because Glow is my first full audiobook. I’ve sampled bits and pieces of other audiobooks before so I’m not a true “noob”, but it was very exciting. The first thing I noticed was the voicing. Matthew Brown voiced Kieran and Ilyana Kadushin voiced Waverly**. My preference flip-flops between the two over the course of the 8 discs, but I do think they both spoke very clearly and depicted the right emotions. I struggled for a bit on the speed of the audiobooks. I can read about 250 pages in about 3-4 hours so for a 300 page book (of course the fonts are smaller than most YA novels) to take 8 hours had me itching to read the book myself. Another thing that I struggled with was when the characters were screaming, but it was through with whispering(ish) on the audiobooks. Some of the voicing for secondary characters took time to get used to.There were some nasally voices that were not pleasant to the ear. (3.5 out of 5 stars).

Now onward to the storyline!

Glow goes beyond love triangles in space. It’s about inner strength, defying against the norm, and finding the truth for yourself. It’s about religious cults, government propaganda, gender oppression, abuse, and the ever escalating fear of the Earth’s environment. It’s about a lot of things that the synopsis doesn’t seem to hint at. Ryan put everything together so effortlessly.

That’s why I was so pleasantly surprised when I hit the midpoint of the story because it went against my initial judgment. The tension was at its peak. The chance of survival was slim. (And finally a set of characters who manages to show rather than tell their emotions and their actions followed what they say.) The emotions were raw; the desperation could be felt in the air. The actions were sickening. Each character was like an apple: some ripe, some bruised, some tart, but each with its own texture. The antagonists seemed like good guys from one perspective and the perfect villains in the other perspective. The protagonists were just the same—with both good and bad traits.

From the middle of the novel I just couldn’t stop listening. I needed to know what happened next. It’s as what Lauren Myracle said; Glow is “Utterly engrossing.” It is electric. It is all-consuming. It is shocking.

I found the resolution to be impeccably done. None of that happier ever after crap because, really, they hardly happen in real life. There are still questions to answered and people to be rescued (literally and symbolically), but the focal conflict was resolved. The last scene just hit the ball out of the park*** for me. My lips are sealed, but I expect some backstabbing in the next installment.

My qualms about Glow were mostly with Waverly and her relationship with Seth. I was iffy about the whole thing. It had its purposes, but there was nothing fleshed out about it. After Waverly is taken away, she doesn’t really mention him at all. Waverly, herself, I couldn’t connect to. She was all over the place emotionally. What she represented I thought was amazing and powerful.

Look into Glow. The synopsis doesn’t do it justice. Glow is so much more than teens hooking up. Far from a quick and breezy read, Glow is thought provoking and heartbreaking and captivating.

Hey, since the holidays are right around the corner you know what make an awesome present for readers...hint hint.

*they are so tedious to do and it feels like a waste of time

**Glow is broken into two POVs. To recreate this Brown would voice one CD and Kadunshin voiced another. They don’t narrator the same discs.

***I can’t seem to stop my cheesy metaphors. Really got into baseball this season.

Cover B+

I love the simplicity of the cover. It hints to a spaceship with the porthole, but not as much as I would have liked. I do wish that there was male on the cover, but perhaps Kieran will be on the sequel and Seth on the last book.

Published: 2011, September 13; ebook, hardcover, audiobook.

Source: audiobook from Macmillan

Amazon / IndieBound

A Day in the Life of Marie Lu with a Contest

2011-12-08T11:00:00.000-05:00

Before becoming a full-time writer, Marie Lu was the art director at a video game company. She also owns the children’s brand Fuzz Academy. She was first inspired to write Legend while watching Les Miserables one afternoon, and wondered how the relationship between a famous criminal vs. a prodigious detective might translate into a more modern story. She graduated from the University of Southern California in 2006 and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Visit Marie at www.marielu.org
Join the Legend experience!

A Day in the Life

My writing days can be all over the place, honestly. Some days, I have little to do (i.e. waiting for feedback on drafts/edits, no phone calls, plain old procrastinating, etc)...other days, I'm lucky enough to attend conferences and conventions and meet readers and all sorts of other exciting things. But one of my average days is detailed below, for anyone who's curious:

6:30 AM - Wake up, then head off with Boyfriend to the gym to battle the treadmill and/or precor machines. Sometimes I'll even attempt crunches.

7:30 AM - Time to walk and feed the dogs. (We have three. Two are Pembroke Welsh Corgis, and the third is our "accident"--a brown and tan chihuahua mix who absolutely rules the house.)

8:15 AM - Writing time! Okay--I am absolutely, and will forever be, a morning person. My childhood friends still remember how I'd wake them up during slumber parties with my annoying typing at 6 in the morning. (Yes, I wrote in the mornings after sleepovers. What? That's not normal behavior?) I do my best writing before noon. Often I'm forced to write later than that, but it's all downhill--and anything I attempt to write after 8 PM is almost guaranteed to be completely worthless. (I also answer some emails and tweets during this time, although for emails I usually only answer the emergency ones.)

1:00 PM - Break for lunch. This is when I try to get out of the house; I'll usually eat at a local cafe so I can get some exposure to outside life and not become a half-insane hermit. This is very, very important for full-time writers. One cannot stay in one's house all day. One will lose one's mind.

2:00 PM - I might still do sporadic writing, although anything written during this time is kind of second-rate. Instead, I'll usually do a combo of answering non-emergency emails, tweets, Facebook messages, deviantArt stuff, post the occasional blog entry, update and maintain my web presences, and other tasks that are part of a writer's job but do not really involve novel-writing. Believe it or not, this stuff takes up quite a few hours out of each day. (Not that I'm complaining--I enjoy it all very much.)

Sometimes I'll sketch things too, things that are often related directly to Legend. This is a creative exercise that comes in particularly handy when I'm experiencing writer's block. I've noticed that immersing myself in other creative activities will get my imagination flowing again for my writing. Lately, I've also started using my afternoon time to make notes about a new, non-Legend story idea. I have a feeling that, come 2012, I'll start using my afternoons to do some first-draft writing of this story. And that's all I can say for now. :)

Finally, late afternoon is when I indulge in some of my favorite Facebook, iPhone, and console games. (As of this writing, I'm playing Mario Kart 7 (3DS), Sonic Generations (PS3), Serf Wars (Facebook), and Ravenskye City (Facebook).)

5:30 PM - Dog walking/feeding time again.

6:30 PM - Dinner out with the Boyfriend. (This is as good a time as any to mention that I CANNOT COOK TO SAVE MY LIFE. I destroyed a pot once when I tried to boil eggs. I even ruined rice--IN A RICE COOKER. WHICH IS AUTOMATED. Don't ask. So, in short, we eat out quite a lot. :) Occasionally I will cook the one thing I *can* make, which is vegetarian dumplings.) [Yan: I've actually undercooked rice and burned rice in the automated rice cooker before so I totally understand.]

8:00 PM - The day's pretty much over for me here. I spend time with the Boyfriend, watch some shows, read, and play with the dogs.

Sprinkled in random intervals across the above schedule are additional things like: work-related phone calls and interviews, online writing-related chats, Skype school talks, outlining plot points to prepare for the next day's round of writing, post office runs (which have somehow become more and more frequent these days), and other odds and ends.

Of course, when I'm on deadline, the above schedule pretty much gets thrown out the window and I'll write on and off for the entire day. :)

Now that you know what Marie does in a day, how would you like to spend your day reading Legend!? Well lucky for you, I have this awesome prize pack, which will go to 1 lucky winner! Not sure what's Legend about quite yet? Then...

Read my REVIEW. Trust me, I liked it. A lot.

Read a CHAPTER SAMPLE and be dazzled by the cover!

Watch the trailer:

Sounds awesome right? Well get to entering yourself for a copy then!

P.S. I'm using rafflecopter so you might have to view this exact post to see the form. Also only the "easy peasy entry" is mandatory. Everything else is optional and are for extra points.

EDIT to add: I've deleted many entries from this contest because they were invalid. I do check entries so don't assume you'll get away with it. It only makes me weary of you.

Excerpt + Q&A with Julie Kagawa

2011-11-20T12:00:00.001-05:00

Stop by Julie's website for more information!

1. Do you try to incorporate what you learned in your kung-fu classes into your novels?

Lol, actually, I take Kali as well as Kung Fu, which is a Filipino martial art using sticks, swords, and knives. And yes, it has been tremendously helpful in staging fight scenes. Totally worth the "badges of courage" I bring home every so often.

2. Your new series is a post-apocalyptic vampire series. That sounds really different from the Iron Fey series! Did you find it harder to write about vampires than feys?

It was very different. I think the hardest thing to deal with was the fact that the vampire story takes place in the real (though post-apocalyptic) world, and I have to have things make sense. I can't just explain things with: "they got there through faery magic," lol.

3. Had you already started Blood of Eden series before the Iron Fey series, or did the idea come from nowhere and wouldn't disappear?

I'd been toying with a post-apocalyptic world as I was finishing up The Iron Knight, but the idea to add vampires didn't come until my agent and I were discussing ideas for my next series. She mentioned that HarlequinTEEN was on the lookout for vampire books, and the idea to mesh the two together just sort of clicked.

4. What are some of your favorite martial arts movies? Classics, animated, or modernized.

Too many to list, lol! But here are a few: Yojimbo, The Seven Samurai (anything by Kurosawa, actually), Ip Man, The Forbidden Kingdom, Zatto Ichi, Lone Wolf and Cub, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (hush), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero, and the list goes on. (Don't even get me started with anime, we'd be here all night.)

Alright, you're probably curious so here's a little excerpt from The Iron Knight:

“I see,” said the witch, though her face and voice remained expressionless.

“Well, I admire your tenacity, young prince. Grimalkin is not easy to find in the best of times. You must have come very far to seek him out.” She peered closely at me, narrowing her eyes. “And this is not the first place you have searched. I can see it on your face. Why, I wonder? Why does he come so far? What is it that he desires so badly, to risk the ire of the Bone Witch? What is it you want, Ash of the Winter Court?”

Stop by In My Hammock next for the continuation of the blog tour!

Between the Sea and the Sky

2011-11-11T12:00:00.001-05:00

Between the Sea and the Sky by Jaclyn Dolamore

Grade: 2 stars out of 5

"For as long as Esmerine can remember, she has longed to join her older sister, Dosinia, as a siren--the highest calling a mermaid can have. When Dosinia runs away to the mainland, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her. Using magic to transform her tail into legs, she makes her way unsteadily to the capital city. There she comes upon a friend she hasn't seen since childhood--a dashing young man named Alandare, who belongs to a winged race of people. As Esmerine and Alandare band together to search for Dosinia, they rekindle a friendship...and ignite the emotions for a love so great, it cannot be bound by sea, land, or air." [from Amazon]

I had hoped that story would be just like the cover: breathtaking. But it wasn't.

Let me go off tangent a bit and hopefully bring this back to Between the Sea and the Sky. For class I read Free to Choose by Milton Friedman and Utopia by Thomas More and currently reading The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. On paper it sounds terrific, but idealistic. The world has too many variables for many of their ideas to be true. What they had on paper could not and did not translate into the real world. That was how I felt about Between the Sea and the Sky.

Between the Sea and the Sky had wonderful elements that should have transformed the book from being OK to being WOW. Perhaps Dolamore should have pulled back some elements and just focused on one or two aspect of the novel: saving Dosinia and rekindling the friendship between Alandare and Esmerine.

Instead Dolamore decided to incorporate racial discrimination and the rippling effects of stereotypes into the novel. It might have added an additional layer to the novel, but it took away the character development and story development. I felt disconnected to everything.

I thought the secondary characters (such as the younger sisters, all 5 of them) were empty fillers. They brought nothing substantial to the novel and quite frankly I had to edit to number (5) three times before I managed to count them all. I only enjoyed two secondary characters: the bookstore owner who was once a mermaid and Alandare's father. She, the bookstore owner, was quirky with a fascinating history. The same with the father. He was not the most well likable character, but he was fascinating and interesting with so many nuances.

I didn't care for the relationship development between Alandare and Esmerine. I thought their childhood friendship was the best part to read having a soft affection for their shared of books, but the tension ridden sexual relationship was too quick. The leap from friends to something more to {SPOILER} marriage {END SPOILER} blew my mind. Between the Sea and the Sky clocked in at 240 pages. There was not enough pages for me to believe the transition AND the final decision that changed Esmerine's life forever AND saving Dosinia. The characters themselves were good. They had good history, solid internal conflict, and intriguing personalities.

Another aspect that I had trouble connecting to was the cause of the entire novel: Dosinia. I did not like Dosinia. I found her actions very selfish. I know that we should do what makes us happy, but we should also consider how our actions affect others. For me, I was not unhappy about her motives, but rather her inconsideration to not tell anyone. She is a daughter, a sister, and a great sister. It affects a lot of people.

All in all, I love the world Dolamore created. I love it to bits. It was imaginative, vivid, and dark at times. I'm trying to figure out if there was a moral to the story because if there were this would be a great fairy tale story. But the fatal flaw was the shortness. I couldn't connect to characters or the general story.

Cover B+/A-

Source: ARC from Bloomsbury for blog tour

Published: October 25, 2011

Order on Amazon

Andy Marino on Technology + Unison Spark Contest

2011-11-09T12:00:00.001-05:00

"Andy Marino was born and raised in upstate New York. He spent his childhood orchestrating Lego pirate battles, drawing detailed maps of imaginary video games, and cheating death in Choose Your Own Adventure books. Profoundly influenced by the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and the movie Bloodsport, he started writing his first novel at the age of eleven. Tragically, THE RUNES OF ILLIARM was never completed."

Unison Spark in his first book. It was just recently released!

You can visit Andy at his website or you can follow him through his twitter account!

social stratification at one point, but
how much of it has changed

"With new technology becoming available every year and changing living conditions, do you foresee a growing gap between lower, middle, and upper classes in society? Or do you believe that the price of technology will continue to decrease until the population majority can afford it such as PCs. Or, in the worse-case scenario, will the lower class will be wiped out because they were unable to adapt?"

I love this question because I’m used to thinking about the ever-widening gap between rich and poor in terms of good old buying power and basic household economics—being able to get the things you need to live without going broke. But the breakneck speed of technological advancements has really shaken things up.

information at your fingertips
...if you have the technology

Your question made me think about what it really means to be information-rich. Right now, a homeless person can walk into a public library in most places and explore the internet for free. It’s theoretically possible for a human being who has no possessions, no source of income, no credit, and no home to have a thriving Facebook account, a lively Twitter feed, an active blog, and an email address. The Facebook login page proudly proclaims: It’s free and always will be.

The democratization of the internet (the idea that everyone can contribute) is really cool and important, but what really counts—and what rich and middle-class Americans almost never have to worry about—is access. If you are a rich American in 2011, with the latest gadgets and digital efficiencies at your fingertips, you are automatically information-rich. Everything floating around in cyberspace is yours for the taking, the viewing, the listening. If you are a middle-class American in 2011 your mileage may vary, but chances are you’d have to make a conscious decision to disconnect if you want to make yourself less information-rich. You probably never even think about access problems, except for those times when you forget to charge your battery.

the ripple effects of libraries closing;
not just an inaccessibility of the internet

But consider what it’s like to have to scrounge for access. Libraries and schools close, internet cafes and copy centers charge by the minute. Public wi-fi is everywhere, but it’s useless without a laptop or mobile device.

UNISON SPARK is set in Eastern Seaboard City, the connected sprawl of several present-day cities divided into upper and lower sections by a vast canopy. Residents of the subcanopy slums where Mistletoe (one of the main characters) lives are literally denied access to the signal that allows people to go online and experience Unison, the fabulous and all-encompassing social network. Pirate signals and hand-me-down technology have allowed some people to adapt, but the technology gap is just as wide as the economic gap. Subcanopy residents are information-poor.

the blue-haired Mistletoe

The city in the book might seem like an extreme reflection of our society, but think about what things are like in 2011. The wealth of online information doesn’t mean much if you can’t keep your power on. And hot new gadgets always seem to become more affordable, but that doesn’t matter if you’re going to bed hungry.

Thank you so much Andy! I wasn't expecting such a well-thought out guest post, but it's given me tons to think about.

Now for the fun(er) part, the giveaway! Again, it's rafflecopter so you need to be viewing this specific post to be able to view the form.

Be on the lookout for my review on Unison Spark, which hopefully will be up before the end of today!

Interview + Contest with Anna Carey, Author of Eve

2011-11-04T11:30:00.000-04:00

The producers of The Vampire Diaries find Eve by Anna Carey so compelling that they’re in the process of producing it as a TV show pilot! To celebrate I have an exclusive interview with the author and the chance for you lovely readers to win a copy!

Follow @AnnaCareyBooks on Twitter
Visit Anna Carey’s blog
Like Eve on Facebook

1. Where is the furthest place you have ever traveled? Was it scary?

I went to China for a month when I was eighteen. Even the Chinese food is different there (no sesame chicken, who knew?). It was a little scary to be somewhere so foreign and not speak the language, but that trip was one of the best I've been on.

Yan: Authentic Chinese food is definitely much different from the take-out restaurants. The dishes I typically eat consist of vegetables, fishes, and soup. I've never had sesame chicken until I stopped by a Chinese take-out and it's so good.

2. If news of a deadly virus starts to spread, what would you do/say to your followers on twitter?

I recently saw Contagion, so I feel I'm adequately prepared (you can believe everything you see in the movies, right?). I'd tweet: NOW IS THE TIME FOR GOOD HYGIENE. HAND SANITIZER AND SOAP ARE UR FRIENDS. AND, FOR THE LOVE: DO NOT TAKE OFF UR FACE MASK. #APOCALYPSE

Yan: I've heard great things about the movie, but never watched it in fear of being extremely paranoid and germaphobic afterwards.

3. Are cockroaches still alive in Eve's world? They can survive almost anything.

There are definitely cockroaches in the New America. Millions of them. Maybe I'll give some a cameo in the third book...

4. I've read something where Eve has been compared to The Handmaid's Tale? Have you read The Handmaid's Tale? If so, did it influence you when you wrote Eve? If not, do you plan to read it?

There's actually a quote from The Handmaid's Tale in the beginning of the book as a I-bow-down-before-you-Margaret-Atwood nod. I hadn't read it originally, but I sought it out after I finished my first draft. I loved it, and understand why someone would link the two books conceptually, but they're very different reads.

Yan: I haven't read The Handmaid's Tale so I'm curious! A friend read the book in high school (while I was reading The red Badge of Courage) and enjoyed it.

5. In general, do you think secrets are good or bad?

This is a tricky riddle! There are good secrets (surprise parties) and very bad secrets (dead bodies under the floorboards). But, in general, I lean towards the "secrets are bad" side. I like to keep everything out in the open, and own everything I've done--even the more cringe-worthy stuff. I'm known for my embarrassing stories.

Yan: Love embarrassing stories (just not ones about me of course).

Thanks to AlloyEntertainment I have 1 SIGNED copy of Eve for one of you lovely readers! Eve is currently out right now!

~~(Testing about Rafflecopter *crossing fingers*)~~ Spoke too soon. I'm having some issues with rafflecopter so if you can't see, look at this specific post only. If that doesn't work, leave your name and email address and I will automatically enter for you. I will also email you to let you know.

Waiting on Wednesday (55)

2011-11-02T11:47:00.001-04:00

The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin (August 2nd, 2012--Putnam)

Seventeen-year-old Jane McAllister, fleeing a troubled relationship with her alcoholic mom, spends a summer in the plains chasing — of all things — tornados. Somehow the chaos of tornados seems a lot more manageable than her very messy life back home. But, whether Jane returns home to a life of caring for her mother, or whether she strikes out in a different direction becomes the big question. And everyone — her brother, her best friend, and especially the handsome Max — has an opinion on what Jane should do.

But when her mother shows up in Tornado Alley drunk, insisting she come home, Jane fears she may have run out of options. The thought of a new life feels very far away, but not as far away as the last tornado Jane may ever chase, putting not only her life in danger, but the lives of the very people who may care about her most.

I've been following Lara since her debut book, Donut Days. I have her latest book The Implosion of Aggie Winchester in my TBR pile right now, but school is getting in my way.

Plus that cover is STUNNING. There's a freaking TORNADO IN A JAR!

WoW is hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine!

Mini Rant: Goodreads Spam

2011-10-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

Stop:

1) ~~Spamming~~ Inviting me to events like giveaways, author interviews, groups, swaps, new reviews, "liking" your facebook page, etc.

1a) I won't attend your event. They're starting to get annoying because it's always the same people. That's the reason why I defriend you. And why I'm not going to accept when you try to friend me again.

2) Requesting me as friend if your ratio of books to friends is less than 1. When you have 10 books in your bookshelf and have 200+ friends, I won't accept your friend request. I'm not being egotistically and self-mighty. I have learned from the past that when I did accept these friend requests, they end up spamming me with invites. I use Goodreads to share books and reviews. If I wanted to read your blog, I'll read your blog so stop sending me links every day when a new post pops up.

2a) In the past, I get about about ~10 requests per month. Now it's gone up to ~10 per week. I ignore about 70% of these requests because a) your ratio (see above) and b) we don't read the same books. The majority of my books are YA novels with some fictions and paranormal romances. Goodreads has a nifty little tool that let's me compare how many books we have in common in raw scores and percentages.

2b) You're just wasting your time and energy as well as mine.

3) Please, please if you're an author don't friend request me then spam me to read your book. I can find your book through your profile. I automatically look at your book when I friend an author. When the synopsis interests me, I'll mark it as to-read. Please don't try to "pitch" me your book through Goodreads.

4) Linking all your updates through twitter, facebook, every social networking site you're part of. When you're marking 20+ books as to-read, they ALL show on my twitter homepage. It gets annoying fast. I don't mind the status updates or when you post a review because I find them more relevant.

That being said, I still continue using Goodreads. It's a great way of keeping track of you're reading, what you've read, and what you want to read. It's a great site to read many reviews of books. Personally, I don't like Amazon's rating and their "was this review helpful" voting. I don't understand why some reviews are marked as unhelpful. Their score is also a little high for me. I don't see 4 stars as a "it's okay".

I love the new updates Goodreads has done like the 2011 Reading Challenge. I think it builds a good community for bibliophiles even if I don't have the time to participate. Also, I'm just really curious as to what other people are reading.

I just needed to get this off my chest and kill some time before my next class.

Legend

2011-10-20T12:00:00.000-04:00

Legend by Marie Lu

Grade: 4.5 stars out of 5

Legend by Marie Lu has gotten huge advance buzz way before its release date. It was the hottest YA book for a week or two, but then the buzz died off. After finishing the book, I’m happy and sad at the same time. Happy because Legend deserves the buzz (and the film deal). Sad because most of that buzz has faded away right before its release date.

The first thing I noticed about Legend was its presentation. The novel alternates between two narrators; the chapters alternate between two different fonts and colors. (Gold for Day and black for June.) It is awesome-sauce with a side of stunning! Kudos to whoever came up with the idea because it pops out immediately with its creativeness.

UK/Aussie cover--it is
kickass!

After finishing Isle of Night, I picked up Legend. I was apparently bloodthirsty that week. Legend while not as gory as Isle of Night, is no stranger to death and violence.

"What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets." [from Amazon]

June and Day as drawn by Marie Lu;
more artwork

Legend, for me at least, reminded me a bit of Robin Hood and some of Aladdin. While Day doesn’t steal from the rich to give to the poor, he became a legend to the citizens as the one who stands up against corrupt government and military. He never kills; not even the enemies who want to kill him. He’s skilled, resourceful, and intelligent. And a big flirt. There is one question that lingers in my mind. When June read a profile on Day, his main ethnicity was Mongolian. So why does he then have blond hair and blue eyes? As far as I know, the darker phenotypes are more dominant than the lighter ones. I could be wrong and maybe it didn't say that at all about him being Mongolian.

On the opposite hand, there’s June. In terms of socioeconomic status, she’s far ahead of Day. She’s a legend of her own, being the only person known to have gotten a perfect score on her exam.

Separated, they’re both dangerous. Together, they’re a deadly combination.

Lu has created this perfect balance of the rich and the poor, of two misfortune teens struggling to keep their own worlds together while exploring this new world they just discovered. And with them is this group of characters who play key roles in the novel. While many are not the most likeable, there’s something memorable about them. Isn’t that the best thing an author can write? A character that’s sturdy even in the time of the YA boom.

Marie Lu’s writing style in particular made me fall head over heels. I love that she writes details to appearances, to fight scenes, to the scenario, and so forth without creating this massive block of words. It’s subtle. If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine how Day, June, their companions and families, the villains, all look like. Lu’s words gravitate out of the pages, into my mind, then twirl and dance and shape until this picture forms.

What weren’t subtle were the punches of surprises that Legend had. I know that there have been reviews where they felt it was predictable, and I have to agree…just not completely. There is one scene in the Legend that I’m sure they wanted to make readers gasp, but it’s been done before and expected. But there were still scenes with plot twist that I was not expecting. Lu manages to pull in external problems—corrupt governments and officials—and internal problems—greed and selfishness. There’s a lot packed in Legend, but it never becomes overburdened.

Legend by Maria Lu was the perfect balance of romance, action, with something dark in the shadow. Exhilarating! Addicting! Just gorgeous!

On a completely irrelevant note, I think someone can write a paper about nature vs. nurture with Day. Gah, too many psychology classes for me.

Source: unsolicited ARC from Putnam

Cover B+

it stands out because it's different and simplistic

Published: 29, November 2011; hardcover

Preorder on Amazon

Isle of Night

2011-10-18T12:00:00.000-04:00

Isle of Night by Veronica Wolff

Grade: 3.8 / 4 stars out of 5

When people releases make comparisons for new books with old books that had great success, I scoff. So-and-so is the new Hunger Games, Twilight, Vampire Academy, Harry Potter, etc. Right…and my unborn child from the future will be the next Michelle Kwan because I’m Chinese and small.

But sometimes they’re spot on.

Isle of Night infused both elements similar to the Hunger Games and Vampire Academy to make for one gory, violent, and addicting novel. Survival of the fittest and this book is plenty fit to survive in the sea of YA novels.

Annelise “Drew” has drawn the interest of an old creature.

With her abusive father back home, and college no longer possible, the temptation to leave is great. When a mystery man with a Proust tattoo offers Drew an escape, she seems unable to say no. But the island where the mystery Ronan takes her threatens her life. For on that island, human girls are trained to become Watchers: partners to vampires.

And the only way off the island is to fight. To lose means death.

Midterms apparently make me violent as I devoured this book. Forget sleeping and studying, I wanted blood. I admit that the beginning was very slow. I admit that I read the first couple of chapters then decided to set it aside because I wasn’t feeling it. A couple of weeks later I craved into my imaginary pressures, and turned the next page. Let’s just say that I might have missed my bus as I left late all because of a certain book. Once I got over the initial drag of the beginning, Isle of Night became what Chloe Neill says, “A compulsive page-turner”.

It was exciting, thrilling and blood racing. But let’s go back to the beginning.

When we’re first introduced to Drew, we know that she is brilliant—a genius on paper. What I’ve read in several reviews was the question of how could a self-proclaimed genius follow a random stranger into a car to an island. And I felt myself nodding right along with that because it was also my initial thought. But then I decided to play the devil’s advocate with myself (I know, I’m such a dork). Drew didn’t grow up in the most stable home: her mother died when she was young, her father abuses her, and her stepmother just sucks. She can’t trust the male figure in her life that society says to trust. Why shouldn’t she trust this guy who she feels an instant connection to? Who is safer than her own father? There’s also the possibility of Drew being book smart, but lacking in the common sense department. Of course, I’m pretty much making stuff up that makes sense in my mind.

Drew is a multifaceted character with an array of emotions. She can be snarky, the new B in town, an awesome friend, timid, afraid, and happy. She’s human who happens to drink vampire blood to become stronger, faster, and totally kickass. Her closest companions are obviously equally kickass.

Yasuo is a vampire in training. There’s not much divulged about this part in the island. Hopefully there will be more explanation and details about this in the following sequels. He and Drew hit it off immediately which provides some of the comic relief.

Then there’s Emma from the neck of the woods. She’s very quiet, but you want to be best friends when trapped in an unknown environment with monsters. It’s always the quiet ones in the back….

And what’s a good cast of good guys without villains. And boy, do you want to punch them in the face and run away screaming for your life at the same time. Lilac, the leader of the pack of hunger teenage wolves, is a ruthless being who physically and verbally bullies Drew. And just won’t die! Luckily, Drew can dish it right back to Lilac even with 99% of the girls out to kill Drew.

And there’s the seductive stranger turned mentor who pulled Drew from the old world. There’s not enough information or contact with Ronan for me to form a full opinion. For now, he’s tall, handsome, with a wicked accent, and broody.

Isle of Night ended with an explosion. With detail fight scenes, Drew’s cunningness in full light, and an end to a character that had me cheering, Isle of Night finished with an exciting cliffhanger. This, my friends, was not a bad ending at all. Isle of Night is the perfect example of an exponential line graph. (Have I mentioned how I’m a dork?) Started off slow, but immediately took once it hit its stride. My love for Isle of Night also grew exponentially.

Cannot wait for the next book.

Read an excerpt of Isle of Night!

Cover C-

Not feeling it at all. This one is a "Don't Judge a Book by its Cover".

Source: NAL publisher

Amazon

Waiting on Wednesday (54)

2011-10-12T09:30:00.000-04:00

The Agency 3: The Traitor in the Tunnel by Y.S. Lee (February 28, 2012--Candlewick)

Queen Victoria has a little problem: there’s a petty thief at work in Buckingham Palace. Mary Quinn takes the simple case, going undercover as a domestic servant. But before long, a scandal threatens to tear apart the Royal Family.

One of the Prince of Wales’s irresponsible young friends is killed in disgraceful circumstances. Should the Queen hush things up or allow justice to take its course? Mary’s interest in this private matter soon becomes deeply personal: the killer, a drug-addicted Chinese sailor, shares a name with her long-lost father.

Meanwhile, James Easton’s engineering firm is repairing the sewers beneath Buckingham Palace. Trouble is, there’s a tunnel that’s not on the plans. Its purpose is unclear. But it seems to be very much in use.

These overlapping puzzles offer a perfect opportunity for Mary and James to work together again… if they can still trust one another. This is Mary’s most personal case yet and she has everything to lose.

Preorder on Amazon / Add to Goodreads

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter (March 20, 2010--Hyperion)

The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family from the Circle of Cavan--an ancient terrorist organization that has been hunting her for over a year. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed, she must face the fact that her memory is now a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie’s summer vacation are the bruises on her body and the dirt under her nails, and all she wants is to go home.

Once she returns to school, however, Cammie realizes that even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers. Cammie, her friends, and mysterious spy-guy Zach must face their most difficult challenge yet as they travel to the other side of the world, hoping to piece together the clues that Cammie left behind. It’s a race against time. The Circle is hot on their trail and willing stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer.

Preorder on Amazon / Add to Goodreads

Both sequels to really amazing series!

Personalized Pen Giveaway

2011-10-11T17:45:00.000-04:00

I'm almost done with my mid-terms and celebrating the end of week long stress with a really fun giveaway: Promotional Pens!

I'm teaming up with Amsterdam Print to give away 50 Inpsire pens, worth $149.95, absolutely free.

Contest is closed. Congrats ASHLEY!

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Here are some more details of the pen:

Barrel color: Sapphire, Sky, Black, Graphite, Emerald, Cranberry, Champagne, Pink
Ink Color: Blue or Black (Pink Pen only available with Black Ink)
Maximum imprint length for text (up to 5 lines):

Line1: 22 chars
Line2: 32 chars
Line3: 36 chars
Line4: 32 chars
Line5: 22 chars

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore Cover!

2011-10-06T16:50:00.004-04:00

Publishers Weekly just released the cover for Bitterblue, the long awaited third book in the Graceling series, with an interview with Kristin Cashore.

Can we say "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

I am.

I love how they're sticking with objects on the forefront with a semi-face in the background. Can you see the eye through the ring? And the nose next to the right-most key? And just the hint of hair that helps give various shades of blue on the cover? I want to hug the cover...with the book attached, because this means that it's finally happening. Bitterblue is being released.

I loved, loved Graceling (one of the few books I gave 5 stars). It seems like forever since Fire came out, 3 years, but I read the ARC so it feels like 4, and I've been waiting and waiting for Bitterblue. I'M REALLY EXCITED FOR THIS BOOK! Can you tell!?

It's available for pre-order too! YAY!

If I Tell

2011-10-05T16:07:00.005-04:00

If I Tell by Janet Gurtler

Grade: 3 / 5

Jasmine “Jaz” Evans is witness to something that could be the title of a Jerry Springer Show—her best friend Lacey making out with her mom’s boyfriend, Simon. Jaz wants to tell her mother, but finds out that she’s pregnant with Simon’s child. Keeping this secret inside her, Jaz goes about her life trying to deal with school, work, and trying to fit in as a biracial teenage girl. Even when hot Jackson Morgan insists she open up, Jaz doesn’t quite know how to let her barriers down.

As I was reading, I put little notes, a little less than 40. 3 of them were actually bookmarks. 4 more were typographical errors that my inner grammar freak found in the text (it’s an eBook, so it’s forgiven). All the others were me criticizing the characters or mentioning how creepy the love interest is or just asking myself why I thought this would be good. Good news: the majority of these notes were written during the first hundred pages of the book. More good news: they were “replied” to in the last half of the book. When I went back through to check my notes for the review, I realized I judged prematurely, which for me was an appreciated slap in the face.

Things I liked: the writing style (Jaz sounded like a seventeen year old), the plotline (no dull moments), some of the characters (favorite: Ashley the lesbian swimmer with dyed hair), and the characters’ hobbies (swimming, guitar playing, volunteering, etc).

Things I loved: the biracial-girl-trying-to-fit-in concept and the almost-rape scene. [Commence attempt to not spoil too much.] First, I think it’s important to know how a biracial person like Jaz feels about herself. When she argues with Tina, when she accidently explodes at Jackson, when she talks back to the nurse, even though she’s not necessarily doing the right thing, she is honest with herself for the first time. And maybe people like Tina and the nurse will read this novel and learn something and say “I really shouldn’t judge too quickly”. The second point I want to make is there’s a scene in this book that’s really important for teenage girls to understand. A boy can tell you he loves you, that you’re special and beautiful and the one for him, but that doesn’t mean you must open your legs. And if you don’t open your legs, and the boy gets mad and calls you a tease or whatever, do NOT blame yourself. It’s a piece of self-respect everyone should have.

Things I didn’t like: the main character, the love interest, the best friend and the believe-ablity. Jaz can’t handle her problems in a healthy way. The way Jaz avoided Lacey made me think she never liked her in the first place. Lacey, the BFF, just seems flat. When she tells Jaz her secret, I really think she could have mentioned that earlier. When Jaz asks Lacey why she didn’t tell her sooner, she says something like “I don’t talk about details” which is complete crap. I’m pretty sure if I had that secret, I’d tell someone like my best friend. But because Jaz doesn’t actually love her, they don’t have a true best friend relationship and the credibility of the story goes down the drain. I also dislike Jackson with a passion. Within days of meeting he’s super nice to Jaz, rescues her, pays attention only to her, gives her money for her guitar playing, drives her everywhere, and asks her to talk about feelings with him. He’s perfect. You know which other love interests are perfect? Twilight’s Edward, Fallen’s Daniel, and Hush Hush’s Patch. Perfect and not interesting. Also, like Lacey, Jackson has a secret that when he shares with Jaz and she asks him why he didn’t say something sooner, he says “I never got a chance to” or something. I went back to the beginning of the novel, pointed, and said “Here is where you mention it.”

The first half of the book bothered me, such that I wanted to give it 2 stars, but the second half was adventurous! So it gets a little extra overall. However, I won’t be recommending it to any one any time soon, and I’m probably not going to read anything else of Gurtler's.

Source: NetGalley, Sourcebooks eBook

Dark Companion (Early Review)

2011-09-30T12:00:00.004-04:00

Yan: *waves* Well this is strange since I haven't reviewed anything in a long time, but hopefully the following review is coherent. It's a very VERY early review so I will be posting this again closer to a release date, but I wanted to get this out while it's still semi-fresh in my mind.

Dark Companion by Marta Acosta (website/twitter)

Grade: 4 stars out of 5

When foster teen Jane Williams is invited to attend elite Birch Grove Academy for Girls and escape her violent urban neighborhood, she thinks the offer is too good to be true. She's even offered her own living quarters, the groundskeeper's cottage in the center of the birch grove.

Something's not quite right about the school -- or is it Jane? She thinks she sees things in the birch grove at night. She's also beginning to suspect that the elegant headmistress and her sons are hiding secrets. Lucky is the gorgeous, golden son who is especially attentive to Jane, and Jack is the sardonic puzzling brother.

The school with its talented teachers and bright students is a dream for a science and math geek like Jane. She also loves her new friends, including hilarious poetry-spouting rich girl, Mary Violet. But the longer Jane stays at Birch Grove, the more questions she has about the disappearance of another scholarship girl and a missing faculty member.

Jane discovers one secret about Birch Grove, which only leads to more mysteries. What is she willing to sacrifice in order to stay at this school...and be bound to Birch Grove forever?

Note Dark Companion is *not* a paranormal romance novel. Marta Acosta calls it dark gothic.

Dark Companion is a great title because it gives a sense of the plot and just how “dark” this novel can actually get.

When the manuscript for Dark Companion first arrived in my hands, I admit that I was a little scared. It was daunting stack of 200+ pages that would later be printed, bound, and shipped off as a book. While 200 pages might not so scary on screen, when you have it your hands and feel its weight, you worry if you can ever finish it. So I set a goal for myself, a chapter per day while eating breakfast/lunch. (The convenience of a lightweight single paper as opposed to a huge book makes that possible.) But for some reason I couldn’t stop at one chapter per day.

Dark Companion is addicting. It immediately drew me in from the very first page and wouldn’t let go until the last. With its combination of sinister secrets and equal parts light and dark romances, Marta Acosta’s debut YA novel will surly captivate new readers. (And have some fans asking for their own Jake; I know I want my own Jack.) With strong, but conflicted heroine Jane Williams leading the charge of a delightful motley crew, Dark Companion really asks what the true worth of free will really is to a person.

The prologue leaves readers wanting to know what happens next, what happened before. Rather than forcing the readers to continue on just to make any sense of the scene, Marta Acosta dangles a carrot to entice the reader.

It was a great hook for what I hoped to be a great book.The characters alone seemed to seal the deal for me. When I say a motley crew, I meant it. From Jack, the epitome of an organic, healthy, silly boy to the melodramatic and amusing Mary Violet, every character is different. However it was Lucian (Lucky) that I suspect will leave readers torn down the middle. He is rather childish, selfish, arrogant and hard to emphasize with. I spent a good 10 minutes ranting to someone how much I disliked him and why Jane liked/pitied him. This is not necessarily a bad thing since polarization creates discussions between readers and what better way to spread a book than through talking.

Jane Williams was a surprising character. On one hand she is constantly praised for her intelligence. She’s book smart, but she’s also street smart. And yet I felt that because she’s never known physical and emotional security she latches onto Lucky (whom you might recall isn’t the most giving and kind boyfriend). He comes from a well-do-to family and definitely shows some sort of attraction towards her, which would later prove dark. He can provide physical security, but emotionally he’s much more immature than her. I could empathize with Jane while at the same time I wanted to shake her. Her development over the course of the novel showed Jane transforming from the little Mousie and just Jane and her taking roots. Her old lifestyle was all that she knew and can’t forget (that results in a charity that made me proud), but this new lifestyle was one she grew accustomed to.

Dark Companion delves into the issue of security that separates the major characters into two separate groups. There is the survival of a population and there is the individual survival. Which is worth more depends on the character’s personality which comes through the dialogue and action. Their actions are far from the norm which makes it hard for me, particularly, to comprehend and swallow. I understood why—for the sake of survival of course—but the motives were evil and dark.

Dark Companion will shock readers with its many twists and turns. While readers might have an inkling of what might come, the finer details will be a complete surprise. Marta Acosta has begun to what I hope will be a long continuation of YA novels.

Cover B: after finishing the novel I'm less in love with it*

Source: accepted manuscript from author

Publication Date: June 2012 from Tor/Macmillan

Add this on Goodreads

(not available on Amazon yet)

*this was my initial reaction that I expressed to the author:

I think the cover is pretty. Really pretty. It's simple and catches a reader's eye immediately because there's a great contrast of colors. And all the you really need is the chance to catch the reader's attention before convincing them with the synopsis. I mean after looking at it, I'm a little bit more eager to read it!

It fits nicely with the other YA fantasy novels now. Following the trend, however, can be bad at times. The cover is less "wow" than some of the other covers for example, The Girl in the Steel Corset.

The leaf border on the bottom, I feel, is not needed. Most YA book covers do not have any type of bordering. The font of the title I'm iffy about. It gives off a playful air which is different from the sober environment/coloring.

I will say that the designer did a great job with the setting. In your synopsis, you mentioned birch trees, which thankfully was incorporated into the cover. Too many times I see covers that have absolutely nothing to do with the book. So while the cover is following the trend of 'girls in dresses', it's one of the better ones. Especially for a stock image.

You described Jane Williams as a plain girl and what this cover is showing is a plain girl with a simple dress. The background is what gives the book a light fantasy element that you mentioned.

Zombies vs. Unicorns

2011-09-26T16:08:00.003-04:00

Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Grade: 4 stars out of 5

This is a collection of stories about unicorns or zombies from today’s contemporary young adult writers.

First off, I’m Team Unicorn before I read the book (look to the side to see my avatar). I noticed this book before, but I didn’t really want to pick it up until I received a poster for it. Because I needed to buy some college textbooks/food, I borrowed this copy from the Philadelphia Free Library. (The library has been one of my best friends for the last 5 years. I support it fully!)

Anyway, this anthology is Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black arguing over whether zombies beat unicorns. Black isn’t as militant as Larbaletier, and I pretty much skipped their conversations before every story. They were all the same (Larbalestier: ZOMBIES WIN! Black: Unicorns are cool too!).

Now, since this post would be too long, I have a selected a few stories and shared my feelings on each one:

“The Highest Justice” by Garth Nix—I love Garth Nix’s stories. I think he has an amazing imagination and I would love to live in his worlds. I read Sabriel and Lirael and I hope I get to finish Abhorsen soon because it’s so good. I also read a story he did for another anthology (Teeth: Vampire Tales) so I was pumped that his was the first story and about unicorns too! All of Garth Nix’s stories have a hint of adult themes to them, which I love, and this one was so… realistic (is the best word I can come up with). I really liked the inter-family struggles and the magic and the dealing-of-the-justice and thought “Hey this is off to a good start”. YAY!

“Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Alaya Dawn Johnson—My favorite zombie story. The beginning was just awesome and gave me a craving for mac n cheese for a week. The middle where everything is explained and Grayson doesn’t eat the girl made me want to eat the book it was so good. I even loved the random hipster bands mentioned. Also, I must add Johnson to my list of authors to read things by. YAY!

“Bougainvillea” by Carrie Ryan—Didn’t even finish it. I tried, I really did. It was 40 pages long, and I was like a quarter of the way through and nothing was happening other than people casually mentioning there were zombies (mudo). I read “The Forest of Hands and Teeth” and it took me a really long time to actually finish the damn thing. I don’t like Ryan’s zombies. YUCK!

“The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” by Diana Peterfreund—Favorite unicorn story because it had unique unicorns in it! I love the concept of the “evil” unicorn (*ahem* see avatar). I loved the names (Yves, Wen, Aidan, etc.) because I like original naming of characters. I could do without the God-aspect, but the struggle was REAL. “Do I want to spit on my family by taking care of this monster, or do I want to kill this monster in cold blood?” It was so touching, and I want to read more! YAY!

“Inoculata” by Scott Westerfeld—I learned that Larbalestier is married to Westerfeld, so it makes sense that he’d be on her side. I liked the Zombie safe-zone idea, and the endless practices with the dessert points, but the zombies (zees) were weird. I wasn’t aware that there could be a mild form to zombie-ism. It was well-written, but not exactly exciting. MEH!

“Cold Hands” by Cassandra Clare—OMG! So I know Holly Black and Cassie Clare are like BFF’s (I saw them at a Philly Free Library talk), but I was surprised to see Clare go with the zombies. Oh well. Reminds me of Generation Dead by Daniel Waters: acceptance of the dead rather than trying to survive. I liked the romance especially. It was warm, rather than cold. *wink* YAY!

I’m loathe to admit it, but zombies won. I think as soon as I get my paycheck I’m going to go on an Amazon.com shopping spree (Peterfreund, Johnson, etc.) TOTALLY PUMPED!

Also, I realize Yan kinda did a post already, but she didn't talk about the anthology much. :P

Copy: From the Philadelphia Free Library

Winner of Isle of Night

2011-09-13T18:43:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all the amazing people who entered! The lucky winner is...

Casey (A Passion for Books)!

Congrats again Casey!

Be sure to stop by Figment's website to read 4 chapters (4!!!) of Isle of Night! Also, follow IsleofNight on twitter to partake in an epic literary battle this Thursday (the 15th)!

Remember, you can purchase Isle of Night right now! Be sure to check back again for a review of Isle of Night by moi!

The Taker by Alma Katsu

2011-09-12T12:16:00.005-04:00

The Taker (Book 1) by Alma Katsu

Grade: 4.5 stars out of 5

Surgeon Luke Findley is working the night shift at the hospital in a small town in Maine when a young woman accused of murder is brought in for an evaluation. The girl, Lanny, admits her guilt to Luke but also begs him to help her escape. However, he doesn’t give it a second thought until Lanny cuts herself and heals miraculously. Suddenly, play-it-safe Luke turns to his subconscious to let his impulses out in order to help Lanny escape across the border, all the while telling her story of love, beauty, sex, and immortality.

Yan gave me this book to read. “Start with it first,” she said. I never heard of it and it’s not even young adult (what I usually read). The Taker would never appeal to me, especially with the synopsis that is given. The Taker is close to a “bosom-heaving romance” (Yan’s words) [ETA by Yan: LOL, I was implying "bosom-heaving romances" to another book which I stuck in the bag for you], but without the descriptiveness, which I was grateful for. And it is well-written, with an even flow and classic 19th century air of politeness (similar to Jane Austen). I found that I really enjoyed it. The plot only dragged on in a few places, but everything Lanny told Luke was important. Even the things she omitted only enhanced the magic (I admit it; I stayed up for an extra ten minutes wondering what terrible thing happened to Lanny that she didn’t tell Luke). I really like the whole story-telling bit. I even liked the story-within-a-story, how it was Lanny telling Adair’s background. It just seemed more real, or at least as real as you can get with a character that’s immortal.

On the point of immortality, I loved that magical realism element: we don’t know why, but we are, and we’re just doing to live with it. How very Kafka (^_~). One of my favorite things about high school English class was reading magical realism, and The Metamorphosis was one of the few stories I completely finished in high school. (Spoiler alert?)The best part of this immortality business was at the very end where Luke sorta-kinda wants it, and Lanny just wants to be done with it. Honestly, while I didn’t like the ending compared to the rest of the novel, it was the only way to finish it.

Most of the book was about Lanny, but Katsu didn’t write about Lanny; she wrote about Lanny and Luke. So this was as much Luke’s journey as Lanny’s which moved me. Lanny helped Luke break out of his shell, his daily routine of *blah blah I-need-to-leave-but-I-won’t-blah*. Luke was the first person Lanny met after her arrest that Lanny felt she could trust, which was why she told him the truth, which would be the first step to breaking the spell, and everything just comes together.

I didn’t like the ending. I wanted ACTION. But like I said, it was appropriate. I also didn’t like the fact that the story didn’t return to Luke’s mother’s death. I thought it would somehow be important to the plot, but it wasn’t (though as I’m writing this I think I understand why she died that way *cough cough* more magical realism).

One last comment, my late grandfather once told me that it’s a mitzvah (~human kindness) to “die on your own”. My grandfather said this in Russian, so I’m roughly translating. What he meant, I think, is that it’s a mitzvah to not expire on someone else’s command, whether it’s a doctor or someone else. I thought about this a lot, since my grandfather died ~2 months ago on his own, and I just thought that this fit rather well with the theme of the novel. Once you read The Taker, I think you’ll understand. *wink*

All in all, The Taker was a great read, and it decidedly answers the question "Who Wants to Live Forever?".

Source: I borrowed this book from Yan. And she didn’t give me the cover, though I would LOVE to see it.

Q&A + Contest with Cate Lord: Makeup, London, Oh My!

2011-09-08T12:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to part of Cate Lord's LUCKY GIRL tour! You can connect with Cate: Facebook / Goodreads / CateLord.com!

Get your copy of Lucky Girl at: Amazon | Amazon UK & Books On Board.

Jessica Devlin isn't looking for love. Heartbroken after being dumped by her unfaithful ex-fiancé, she's determined to have a fabulous time during her vacation in England where she ll be maid-of-honor at her cousin s wedding. After working overtime as beauty editor of Orlando's O Tart magazine, avoiding dating, and putting on ten pounds, Jess is ready to toss her past like an empty lipstick tube and party like a single gal.

But when she steps into the church on her cousin s wedding day, she sees the one man who could sabotage her plan James-Bond-gorgeous Nick Mondinello. She s never forgotten the London marketing exec who held her in his arms after her beloved grandfather s funeral two years ago. Ambitious, and lusted after by women everywhere, Nick is completely wrong for guarded, Plain Jane Jess.

Could Spy Man Nick ever fall for her? Nope. Not unless Jess is one lucky girl.

Read an excerpt! This one or this one

1. What is your and Jessica's must have makeup?

Lip color! Lip gloss, lipstick, tinted lip balm... We love them all, because they can transform us from a Plain Jane to a Sultry Siren in less than ten seconds. I had a lot of fun inventing names for the lipsticks Jess wears in Lucky Girl, including Butt Naked Beige, Good Girl Pink, and Vixen.

2. What is the reasoning behind writing under another name when penning Lucky Girl?

I decided to write Lucky Girl using the pseudonym Cate Lord because the book is very different in style and tone to my medieval historical romances. Readers buying a Cate Lord novel are going to get a light-hearted, funny, sexy romantic comedy, whereas a Catherine Kean book is dramatic, emotional, and enriched with historical detail.

3. Do you incorporate your old job as an antique and fine art appraiser into your novels?

Not in my books that are available to purchase now. However, one of my works-in-progress is a contemporary paranormal about an antiques dealer.

4. Your time abroad in England sounds like a fabulous year! What was your favorite thing about London and have you ever been back?

Yes, my year abroad was incredible. Lots of good memories. My favorite thing was all of the cultural sites to be discovered just by walking the London streets: museums, galleries, important historical buildings. Since my husband is British, I’ve been back to London several times on vacations, and have loved each visit.

5. Was your time in England the inspiration for Lucky Girl since you met your husband there?

Yes! While Lucky Girl is entirely a work of fiction, I very loosely based Jess’s story on my time in England when I was single, recovering from a breakup, and eager to enjoy my year overseas. One of the highlights of that year was meeting a tall, dark-haired, charming Brit at a Christmas party. He later became my husband. We recently celebrated our nineteenth anniversary and have a teenage daughter, and our love is still going strong. I consider myself to be a lucky girl.

6. Do you ever look back at your old manuscripts and rework them?

Sometimes. It depends on the story. Usually, I pull out the elements of the book that I think are the strongest and then start afresh, because it’s easier in the end.

7. Do you write your novels with a pen and paper or do you type them on computers?

I do both. I love writing longhand on paper. The words seem to flow more easily, for some reason—maybe because this is how I wrote as a teenager and there’s a sense of freedom to crafting a story this way? I carry a lined notebook in my purse at all times, and if I’m waiting for my daughter at an appointment or find I have a few minutes to spare, I will take out my mechanical pencil and write. Later, I type what I’ve written into my manuscript file on my computer.

When I work at home, I set my netbook up on my dining room table and work on that. My kitty usually snoozes in his bed beside me. I try to write 2-3 solid pages per day, if my muse cooperates.

8. Do you feel that you were born in the wrong time period? If so, what time period would you have wished to be born? And what old fads do you want to bring back?

Great question! I’d love to have been born into aristocracy in the Victorian era. That was a time of tremendous change and invention, and I love Victorian antiques. Old fads I’d want to bring back? Daily afternoon tea with scones, clotted cream, jam, cakes, biscuits, and other delicious treats. Yum!

Ready? Entangled Publishing has offered to give away one e-book of Lucky Girl! It's open internationally to really anyone who has an email address! We're going to keep this short and simple guys so comment below with your email address.

Extra entries: connect with Cate through one of those links above. Give me a link or your name so I can identify you.

Contest ends: September 10th!

Bloodlines (Bloodlines #1) by Richelle Mead

2011-09-07T23:01:00.005-04:00

ETA by Yan: Pst, this was written by Fallon. Who will be blogging with me. Proper introductions will be made soon. :D

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

When Rose Hathaway was accused of killing the Morio Queen, Tatiana, Alchemist Sydney Sage was the one that put her into hiding. Now, Sydney’s Alchemist superiors distrust her, simply for the reason of seeming “too comfortable” with vampires. She is given a second chance; a job to accompany Queen Vasilisa’s sister and tie to the throne, Jill Dragomir, to a human school in Palm Springs and pose as her sister. With tension in the Moroi kingdom, Jill’s life is in danger, and Sydney has to keep the young girl under the radar of the vampires that want to hurt her. But things aren’t as quiet as the Alchemists promise. There is a nearby threat of Strigoi killings, metallic tattoos humans are getting that are eerily similar to the Alchemist’s own tattoos, and, of course, some romantic turmoil.

First off, I am a huge fan of Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy. Bloodlines is set in the same universe with the same characters including royal Moroi Adrian Ivashkov, dhampir Eddie Castile, and even Abe “Zmey” Mazur. I was excited to see that it was almost a clean continuation of the last book of the Vampire Academy series. Many questions were partly answered (Rose + Dmitri = ?, Adrian = ?, What was the deal Sydney and Abe made?, etc.) and I can only assume that they will be fully explained in the coming books. I was glad to see Rose make an appearance, and that she had a small part in the novel. It is, after all, Sydney’s story, and even thought I love Rose, I don’t want to hear any more about her. I heard Mead in an interview that she wanted to write Sydney as a character who was trying to become more impulsive (opposite of Rose who sought control of her impulsive actions). Indeed, Sydney spends half a page talking about how much she wants to be like Rose, and spends the rest of the book finding herself. She picks up on some of Rose’s habits, but is mostly calculating, so I thought this transition between narrators was well done.

Similarly, the characters were also consistent. Jill was always timid/in awe of Adrian, and she still is, but she also did some growing up. Eddie is still the stone faced guardian. Adrian is still carefree, but harbors a pain in his heart after what happened with Rose, but one could see that he is slowly healing…

…which brings me to the romantic portion of the novel. This is the part that I had the most trouble believing. I lost track of who is most likely to end up with whom. I don’t want to get too into it, but I didn’t like the romance. I thought there were three guys going after Jill and two going after Sydney, and the pairings I liked best didn’t turn out. It was so confusing and only cleared up, rather abruptly, at the end. I hope it gets better in the upcoming novels.

Other than the romance, I really like the novel. There were twists and turns characteristic of Richelle Mead’s novels, so it makes it a fun read, even if you didn’t read the Vampire Academy series at all. I actually read this thing in a day, and I’m a slow reader. A day is lightning speed for me, and I can only do it with novels I really enjoy. I highly recommend Bloodlines.

This is my real first review, so thanks for reading! If anybody has constructive criticism, I'd love to hear it! :)

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

2011-09-07T15:58:00.001-04:00

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Grade: 3.8 stars out of 5

As I type this review out all I can think about was how I should I posted this review before my review for The Fox Inheritance. Oh well; what's done is done.

Seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox has just awoken from a year-long coma—so she’s been told—and she is still recovering from the terrible accident that caused it. But what happened before that? She’s been given home movies chronicling her entire life, which spark memories to surface. But are the memories really hers? And why won’t anyone in her family talk about the accident? Jenna is becoming more curious. But she is also afraid of what she might find out if she ever gets up the courage to ask her questions. What happened to Jenna Fox? And who is she really?

The Adoration of Jenna Fox, like I said in my previous review, was very much a character driven plot. It's the world-building that makes The Adoration of Jenna Fox such a great novel to read. The philosophical and moral stance Pearson takes combined with the technological advances is light-years from where we are today. Yet it could be the future. Decades, centuries, millenniums away, but there is still a chance of whatever Pearson writes to be true.

I absolutely love the family structure for The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Jenna, obviously, is no longer the same since she came out of her coma. The family members' attitude all differ because of who she is now. Some overcompensate by overprotecting Jenna from a guilt, I presume, that came from not being able to prevent Jenna's accident. Some remain hostile towards Jenna because this is not the real Jenna. The real Jenna was someone they already said goodbye to. It's the shift when the new Jenna starts to take action, begins to live her life once again, that readers see a change in the family dynamic. Feelings are being understood rather than a hearing-but-not-listening demeanor.

I found the other characters, Allys, Ethan, and Dane, sort gave a different perspective to how to live life. You take life as it comes or you block out what life can give. I particularly enjoyed Allys and Ethan because of their opinion on just how much a human body can be changed before it's no longer a human , but an android or machine.

Again to reiterate: The Adoration of Jenna Fox had less action than The Fox Inheritance. Instead it delve deeper in the moral ethnics of society. Those who aren't really interested in general world-building and lack of a real plot may not enjoy The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Still, this is a sound novel that I plan to reread when I'm in the mood to be intrigued and challenged.

Cover B+

I much prefer this cover over the hardcover. This has an abstract feel rather than the symbolic meaning.

Source: personal copy

Publication: 2009, September 1

Order the paperback edition from Amazon

The Fox Inheritance Winners!

2011-09-06T17:58:00.002-04:00

The audiobook goes to...

Sarah R. from DC!

who said her favorite narrator is "Davinia Porter (narrates the Outlander series)"

The personalized copy of The Fox Inheritance goes to...

Shannan B. from IA!
who said: "I am thankful for computers. This makes it an option for me to go to college and work full-time."-- Can't agree more Shannan! My boss is looking into doing some online courses as well.

Remember, you can purchase both the hardcover and the audiobook RIGHT NOW.

Don't forget to read my interview and enter for a chance to win Isle of Night by Veronica Wolff

Bargain Books (32)

2011-09-03T21:46:00.001-04:00

I am one broke student. Just spent $101.20 for this online program just so I can do my homework for 1 class! Plus textbooks, English novels, dissection kits and whatnot. But the temptation!!

Anna and the French Kiss (!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Hunger (Riders of the Apocalypse)

Dreaming Anastasia: A Novel of Love, Magic, and the Power of Dreams

The Candidates (Delcroix Academy, Book 1)

-follow the label, bargain, to find more of these posts-

Q&A + Contest with Veronica Wolff: Vampires, Sequels, & YA Novels!

2011-09-01T11:30:00.001-04:00

Veronica Wolff’s ISLE OF NIGHT is the first book in a new Young Adult series that is a perfect blend of Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy novels and Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games. Told from the point of view of a smart and edgy teenage girl, Wolff weaves a story will have both teens and adults hooked from the very first page.

Visit Veronica at her website! and twitter!

1. Was there a big difference between writing YA and writing historical romances?

A huge difference! I do a lot of research for my historicals and have even traveled to Scotland a couple times to tour the castles and the landscape I’ve written about. But now, with this particular YA series, instead of poring over seventeenth-century maps and learning the ins and outs of things like sheep farming, I get to Make It All Up instead. It’s a blast.

Moreover, with my romances, readers know they’re guaranteed a happily ever after. There’s nothing so neat with my YA series. Although I have a long-term vision for The Watchers, and the plot of each book is resolved, Annelise’s story doesn’t end on the last page.

2. What made you decide to branch into YA novels?

Honestly, I can’t read enough of them. It’s blown my mind just how many gifted authors, amazing stories, and vividly drawn, complicated characters there are in the genre. As for the writing, I’m enjoying every minute. Speaking as someone with one foot in romance (which I still completely adore), it’s exhilarating that, in YA, there are no rules. I want The Watchers to be a series in the true sense of the word, with a serial feel, like episodes in an action-packed television show. The approach has been freeing.

Another thing I love about writing YA is immersing myself in that first person voice, steeping myself in Annelise’s roiling emotions, delving into things like friendships, crushes, betrayals, and the total unease of adolescence. Hey, who knows, maybe I still have some stuff to work out from my own teen years.

3. Is there any plans for a character from your other novels to have a small cameo in this new series?

Wow, I hadn’t even considered that! My knee-jerk reaction was an instant nah, but now that you’ve put it in my head, it sure seems like something that’d be fun to write. When it comes to writing, I say never say never.

[Edited to Add: sorry Veronica, but when you said "never say never" I just had to put a picture of Justin Bieber!]

4. In Isle of Night, are the vampires the good guys or the bad guys? Or perhaps a mixture of both?

Aw, I can’t go telling you things like that! What I will say is, in my world, vampires were once people, and like people, some are good and some are evil. Similarly, things and people aren’t always as they seem.

Otherwise, good or bad, so much has yet to be revealed about my world and those in it—book one just scratches the surface.

5. Can you describe Isle of Night in a couple of keywords?

Fast. Fraught. Violent. Longing.

6. What are some of your favorite things about Scotland? Will the setting play a major part in Isle of Night?

My favorite places in the world are the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The isles take my breath away—some have lovely sandy beaches, others are bleak and craggy, with gray skies and winds so violent, you need to link arms to stay upright. There, you’ll find land so isolated, there are few people and nothing like power lines overhead to mar the scenery. It’s a place where anything could happen. Where you’d believe anything. You could be in the past, or among fairies, or druids. Or vampires.

Ancient standing stones, a looming castle, and the total, eerie isolation of life on a rock in the middle of the North Sea—these things all play a part in Isle of Night.

7. Can you tell us a little bit about the sequel to Isle of Night?

Annelise’s training intensifies as she prepares for her first mission, and her relationships intensify, too. Friends can be lost, the hazing is cruel, and one of the vampires is just too frighteningly seductive for her own good.

And, I don’t want to give it away, but the book is called Vampire’s Kiss…so, you know, there might just be a kiss in there somewhere.

Interested yet? Read an excerpt of Isle of Night!

Are you really interested now? Then enter to win a copy for yourself! Or buy a copy right away: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Indie Bound.

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Between

2011-08-31T12:00:00.002-04:00

Between by Jessica Warman

Grade: 3.8 / 4 stars out of 5

Between by Jessica Warman was a read unlike many others.

When a constant thumping noise wakes Elizabeth Valchar up during the evening after her birthday party, she goes out to explore. By the side of the boat, Liz finds her biggest surprise of the birthday. Her own body.

Beautiful, rich, popular Liz is stuck in the limbo until she discovers what’s keeping her. With the unexpected help of Alex Berg—a former classmate who was killed by a hit-and-run driver—Liz explores the life as a ghost. Life with and without Liz isn’t as beautiful as it seems on the outside.

Between by Jessica Warman will keep readers wondering who the murder really is. With an unexpected curveball throw at the very end, Warman does not disappoint with this highly publicized novel. Well paced with timely flashbacks, Warman keeps the book moving. Between brings up modern topics such as drugs, eating disorders, driving while drunk, and this overwhelming need to be better than someone else. The pressure to be the best forces people to do crazy things and Between takes that to the extreme.

While the concept and ending of Between were amazing, I found the characters to be unrealistic. It was just hard to swallow. Perhaps there truly are evil girls out there, boys with single-minded thoughts, and the cliché concept where popular always means rich, pretty, and mean. There were two characters that strayed from the pack, not completely, but enough to make a difference. I absolutely love those two characters because they had a bad side and a good side.

Then there’s Alex. He was a peculiar character.

But it is Liz that’s the most dynamic of her group. Her mother was anorexic. Her father had an affair. Her stepmom seemed to just swoop in right after her mother dies. And she’s keeping the biggest secret of all that’s eating her alive. This all comes together in the most interesting of ways especially when the mental stress transforms the physical body. Liz is nervous bundle of energy that just projects itself off the pages. I love the passion she has for running. I love the raw, intense, confused emotions that surrounded her in every chapter.

Cover B

Published: 2011 August 2; hardcover

Source: ARC from Walker for blog tour

Amazon

The Fox Inheritance Audiobook Giveaway

2011-08-29T16:17:00.005-04:00

CLICK THIS LINK FOR A SAMPLE AUDIO!

If you're like me, you probably spend more hours commuting to school or work than you like. Rather than reading your way to your destination, how about listening? It keeps your hands free for you know, driving or holding onto poles on buses/subways. An awesome person from Macmillain Audio has graciously offered the audiobook of The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson for one lucky winner!

Read my review HERE or read an interview with Mary for a chance to win a hardcover copy of THE FOX INHERITANCE!

Pro & Con of Technology with Mary Pearson + Contest!

2011-08-29T11:30:00.004-04:00

To read my review for The Fox Inheritance, scroll down!

Yan asked me if I would talk about technology and some of its pros and cons, so I’m conducting a little interview with myself (maybe the other Biogel me?)

Mary1!

Mary1: Are you an expert on technology?

Mary2: Not by a long shot. Sometimes I seriously can’t even get my TV set turned on. But I do pay attention when I hear about technology in the news, especially new medical technology.

Mary1: But there’s all kinds of new technology in The Fox Inheritance. Where did that come from?

Mary2!

Mary2: I went to the library and read magazines and journals on some of the newest technology and what scientists were hoping to come up with and then I kicked it up several notches. For instance, I read about paint, fabrics, and “smart clothing” that are imbedded with computer chips and those are already being developed. It wasn’t a stretch for Locke to have shoes that change color and shape on command. Wouldn’t it be great to have one pair of comfy shoes that changes color to match whatever you’re wearing? Women’s closets around the country would cheer at the extra space.

Another technology area I knew I would have to address in the story was transportation. I don’t think cars and freeways will ever go away (alas, no flying cars) but I read about improvements in transportation that engineers are working on, and to a small extent, some cities already have in place, and voila! Transgrids are born in The Fox Inheritance that can get someone across the country in just a few hours and the car does all the driving.

Mary1: But that’s not as glamorous as being instantly teleported in a million little bubbles.

Mary2: No, it isn’t, but it’s way more realistic. Every piece of modern technology I have in The Fox Inheritance I think could be possible in 260 years.

Mary1: What about that little tattooey think you gave to Locke?

Mary2: The iScroll? Yes! Absolutely. One of my biggest peeves is I’m always misplacing my cell phone. Sometimes I can’t even find it in my own purse! They are making microchips as small as dust now—what if they could imbed them in something as thin as a liquid tattoo that could fit right in the palm of your hand? You’d never miss a call again. And 3D holographic projection already exists, so it’s just a matter of time before it’s included on phone apps—probably sooner than we think.

The iScroll!

Mary1: Of course the con of that tattoo technology is that you have something attached to you that could be tracked.

Mary2: I knew you would get to the cons. Yeah. I won’t say when or how, but Locke’s little tattoo does get him into some trouble. I think most technology can be abused. But it’s not really the technology that’s the problem—it’s the people who misuse it.

Mary1: Is there any kind of technology that you wish had never been invented?

Mary2: YES!@#!!%! Automated calling systems! If a real person doesn’t have the time to call me, then the real me doesn’t have time to listen. Whoever invented that piece of technology should be whipped with a thousand curly telephone cords.

Mary1: Do those still exist?

Mary2: At the Smithsonian. I’m sure they would let us use them for a good cause.

Mary1 and Mary2: Thank you Yan, for having both of us as a guest on your blog!

Tomorrow The Fox Inheritance blog tour will take Mary to the Story Siren blog for ~*Publication Day*~ and Mary will answer some tough questions about bioethics.

For previous blog stops and the full tour schedule, go to Mac Teen Books

Thank you Mary(s) for a great interview/guest post! I would love to get a pair of shoe that changes color and shape! Imagine all the money I'll save the pain I'll never have to experience trying to break in a new pair.

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The Fox Inheritance

2011-08-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

The Fox Inheritance (The Jenna Fox Chronicles #2) by Mary E. Pearson

Grade: 3.8 / 4 stars out of 5

Locke, Jenna, and Kara were best friends before their accident. Jenna was set free from their prison 260 years before Locke and Kara. Those 260 years allowed for resentment, guilt, and confusion to grow. The Fox Inheritance, like The Adoration of Jenna Fox, was the exploration of self. Who am I? What am I? These questions bounce continually in the mind of Locke when his mind is finally downloaded into a body created by a madman. But surviving in a dark hell by yourself changes a person. Their minds may be intact and their bodies may be better now, but they’re completely new people now.

While The Jenna Fox Chronicles may be centered on the mentality versus the physicality of a being, The Fox Inheritance brings more political unbalance, action, and the advancement of technology. Mary E. Pearson continues to raise interesting concerns on legal and moral consequences of dealing God’s hand: death. Pearson tells the struggle of living a new life through a new POV, Locke’s.

Pearson effortlessly blends the past and the present together when Locke relapses. I struggled to pinpoint Locke: Do I like him? Is he good? Is he weak? Is he worthily enough to be given a second-chance? My answers swayed back and forth and I appreciated the chance Pearson gave me as I thought longer and deeper about my impression of Locke. He was physically strong, weak mentality and filled with this anguish. One question that repeatedly came up was who he loved more? Kara or Jenna? Its answer wasn’t clear-dry as love typically isn’t. Even in the depth of vast technological improvements and ever-changing worlds, Pearson still captured the realism of human emotions. She brought pieces of contemporary elements in a fantasy realm.

With the continuation of a series, there is an addition of new characters. Several struck out to me. One in particular isn’t human or even part human. Dot (Dot Jefferson) is a Bot who is programmed to drive a cab. The purpose of her existence is just that: drive. She doesn’t need legs, the sense of smell, taste, or touch for her purpose. But she, like other Bots, dream. They dream to escape their caged world and long to live their lives their way. With Dot, readers experience the excitement of looking at a brand new world. Taking simple pleasures and being thankful for just that. She was full of life…of bubbly energy that was infectious.

I found the plot to be simple but the details complex. Pearson built a world in The Adoration of Jenna Fox and sustained it in The Fox Inheritance. There is some drag to the novel where things slow down and Locke gets lost in his mind; a frustration with Locke when his indecision halts the entire novel and forces me to chug right on through. The climax leaves more questions than answers.

I urge readers who more interested in philosophical novels to read The Fox Inheritance and its prequel, The Adoration of Jenna Fox.

Cover A-

Normally I'm not a fan of faces stuck in the middle of covers but I love in this case, the face is made up of pieces of a puzzle.

Source: ARC from Henry Holt for blog tour

Published: 2012, August 30; hardcover

Amazon: preorder now

A&L Do Summer

2011-08-19T13:00:00.000-04:00

A&L Do Summer by Jan Blazanin

Grade: 4 stars out of 5

Aspen and Laurel are practical nobodies in their small town of Cottonwood Creek, Iowa. In their attempts to make this summer the best summer ever, Aspen and Laurel will talk dirty to customers, take a skunk for a stroll, puke their guts out, steal a chicken, and you know, save a neighbor’s life. All in the name of summer. And maybe by the end of the summer everyone will know their names.

While I know that A&L Do Summer is far from being the most realistic contemporary read, there’s outlandishly fun about this read that made this a great end of summer. My summer was far from exciting with school starting in a little over week from now, but I was able to experience a wild vicariously from A&L. A&L Do Summer was a hilarious read with an ending that vindicated Aspen and Laurel rightfully. With a happily ever after, A&L Do Summer would be a great way to end the summer.

Aspen is the more level-headed person in the relationship where as Laurel is always out looking for something to do. I wished Aspen had more of a back-bone and I wished Laurel would think things through, but together they make one heck of a pair. The yin to the yang.

With every good-feel book, however, there is a lack of development. The side-characters were one-dimensional and the villains were flat. I wasn’t able to pick up an array of emotions from them as I did from Aspen. Even Laurel seemed to be one noted.

Despite this I would recommend A&L Do Summer to readers looking for something quick, fun, and comedic.

Cover B-

Source: ARC from media firm

Published: 2011, May 3; paperback

Amazon: part of 4 for 3 promotion

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

2011-08-17T13:00:00.001-04:00

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Grade: 4.5 stars out of 5

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was just wow. Pick up it and embrace it.

That doesn’t convince you? Well let’s keep going….

But first, the beginning. When word first came out about Laini Taylor’s new book, I immediately dismissed it. I was trapped under piles of books and didn’t have the time to start a new paranormal romance series (because they’re really starting to annoy me). Then the reviews started to pour in. And pour in. They were positive, glowing, and urging other readers to pick this book up! (Well here’s another one I guess.) When an offer was given to me to read an early copy, I caved in.

"Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?" [from Amazon]

Daughter of Smoke and Bone captivated me from the very first page. Taylor was able to capture emotions, bottle it up, and share them with the readers. I felt the anxiety, anguish, and confusion with Kaoru rather than reading about it. Whether it may be rooting for the angels to win or the demons to win, Taylor makes it impossible to truly hate someone. The print may be in black and white, but the characters are all shades of grey. Taylor drew the evil from the beauty of the angels and the kindness from the demons. It was effortlessly done that I didn’t read the book as good versus evil, but simply a story of rebellions looking for peace.

I felt most connected to Kaoru and Zuzana from the start of their adventures until the end. Their friendship was ruffled a bit, but it continued to hold strong. This is an example of a good and stable friendship that is so believable; good friends bicker and fight every so often, but when push comes to shove, they’ll remain true to each other.

I absolutely love the side-characters. Point-blank they’re such amazing characters that I can read several chapters solely on them.

Akiva and Kaoru relationship was one of Romeo and Juliet’s, but it didn’t feel contrive or forced onto the readers. It was a fragile relationship that seemed to teeter: fight for their relationship or destroy it to save each other. I loved how the mystery came together as well as how the memory was restored. Taylor was able to build up the tension and mystery before unveiling in a big way.

In general the book was truly magnificent. It merged the past and the present flawlessly. It struck a balance between good and evil. From deadly fight scenes and tender moments of love almost too sweet to look, Daughter of Smoke and Bone can be aimed at many readers. With its fantastic elements and human emotion blended thoroughly readers who are sick of vampires can have another option. Taylor left little hints everywhere without the reader even knowing it; and gave the readers just enough information to explain concepts without dulling the experience.

Just try it okay? Don’t make me come over there and smack the book in your face now….

Cover C

Source: ARC from HipScout

Published: 2011, September 27; hardcover

Preorder on Amazon

Winner of FURY!

2011-08-16T11:37:00.002-04:00

*drumroll*

Congratulations are in order for...

JAYME! I've tweeted you :)

P.S. I have some exciting news to share to you all, but I need to work out a few more details first.

Fury by Elizabeth Miles Giveaway!

2011-08-12T14:53:00.004-04:00

Read my review for Fury here

Visit Elizabeth at her blog, her twitter, or her Facebook account!

Excited about Fury!? It's coming out on August 30th so order your copy soon...or, you can win one here! Just fill the form out and I'll announce the winner on Sunday!

FURY ARC TOUR:

JUL 16- Lush budget production

JUL 18- La Femme Readers

JUL 20- Zoe’s Book Reviews

JUL 22- Books with Bite

JUL 24- Good Choice Reading

JUL 26- Chick Loves Lit

JUL 28- Pure Imagination

JUL 30- Books Complete Me

AUG 1- The Story Siren

AUG 3- Galley Smith

AUG 5- Books by their Cover (ME!)

AUG 7- Books, Sweets, and Other Treats

AUG 9- Debbie’s World of Books

AUG 11- Bloggers Heart Books

AUG 13- Bookalicious

AUG 15- The Reading Date

AUG 17- I Eat Words

AUG 19- Overflowing Bookshelf

AUG 21- Laurens Crammed Bookshelf

AUG 23- Emily's Reading Room

AUG 25- Makeshift Bookmark

AUG 27- A Life Bound by Books

AUG 29- The Book Scout

AUG 30- sometimessorryisntenough.com

Fury

2011-08-05T12:00:00.008-04:00

*stay tune for a giveaway and other tour stops*

Fury by Elizabeth Miles

Grade: 3 stars out of 5

"Sometimes sorry isn't enough....

It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But not all is as it seems...

Between cozy traditions and parties with her friends, Emily loves the holidays. And this year’s even better--the guy [Zach] she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But Em knows if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend.

On the other side of town, Chase is having problems of his own. The stress of his home life is starting to take its toll, and his social life is unraveling. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel...something the perfect guy he pretends to be would never do. And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed.

In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. And three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—are here to choose who will pay.

Em and Chase have been chosen."

After rating Fury on Goodreads, I skimmed through several reviews. Things seemed to be split down the middle: half of the ratings were glowing, the other half, however, was than ecstatic about this new series. I could see both sides to the argument.

Fury was a new take on karma hitting hard. The bad guys never win and the Furies made sure of that. Elizabeth Miles took an old myth and weaved it into a modern high school. Miles wrote an angry novel with raw emotions that tugged the readers’ heart this way and that. She took a small detail like the lack of proper parental guidance for young teens (striving to be accepted in a world all about money) and molded that into the actions of the characters. The lack of love and attention was a recurring trait in the families that wormed its way to the core of Em, Chase, Zach; violence and blatant disregard for others being the strongest traits.

On the negative side, Fury lacks a clear direction. It focused on Chase and Em with some scenes together, but in some ways they could have stood alone in separate novels. It was only towards the end that something stronger than blackmail tied the two together for a more cohesive plotline. Another reason why Fury didn’t live up to par with the hype was the characters. A unique plotline is definitely good, but the weak characters took Fury down several notches.

I found many of the characters despicable. I couldn’t have it in me to feel sorry for their troubles they created it. I found it hard to like the characters. Chase and Em didn’t seem able to sort realistic thoughts from idealistic ones. They were dreamers who followed their hearts and not their brains. But brains are very important for common sense and seeing as how some actions and motives by those two were idiotic, they needed to think with their brains more. They were obsessive, not listening to good advice, and saying useless words. Sometimes sorry doesn’t carry much worth, but actions speak so loudly. SPOILER: I wished Em had help take down some of the photos of Chase instead of just pitying him for those who have read it.

The side characters—except for Em’s best friends—were also less than awesome in terms of being likeable. Chase and Em were able, however, to redeem themselves for several chapters before the climax exploded. In those brief moments, they shone. The guilt, anger, and relief descended upon them and it was a magnificent display of emotions.

Slower in the beginning that required the readers to grit their teeth and carry on through the mindless drama, Fury does pick up its pace in the end. The ending exploded with action and karma coming around full force. If Miles had written with the same intensity as she had in the beginning, I would have greatly enjoyed Fury a lot more.

One final thing about Fury was its open-endedness. How does this one character know so much about Furies? What are her ties to them? Why does a girl who kisses her best friend’s boyfriend gets targeted by the Furies when clearly there are eviler and crueler people in the world? How do the Furies target people? I ultimately wanted to know about the Furies than any other character.

Fury is Gossip Girls with a mythological twist that will have readers who enjoy drama salivating for the next book.

Cover B

Source: ARC from Simon Pulse for tour

Published: 2011 August 30, hardcover

Amazon: preorder

The Probability of Miracles

2011-08-02T15:30:00.003-04:00

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

Grade: ~~4.8~~ 5 (because oh gosh I can't stop thinking about that last line) stars out of 5

This is a very early review (about 6 months too early) but I have to gush about this book. It was bittersweet, beautiful, and aspiring. It hits you so hard. (The book hasn’t even been released yet and I’m already hoping for more books from Wendy Wunder.) The Probability of Miracles surprised just as I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan did last year. Both novels give the reader the chance to believe in coincidence and miracles and the need to live for what is perfect now.

Snarky Cam is hard on the outside but soft on the inside. Cam has a rare cancer that's slowly destroying her body that is if the treatments and trials don't kill her first. On a last ditch effort to live her life, Cam and her mother and sister move to Promise, Maine where rumor has it the place is full of miracles. After living and working in Disney World Cam is far from being a full believer. But from purple dandelions to flocks of flamingos to a unicorn in her back yard*, Cam may have to reevaluate her opinion.

With a mix of 13 Little Blue Envelopes and I'll Be There and something all its own, The Probability of Miracles will break your heart, glue it back together, and shatter it all over again.

Hi Buddy!

Savor this book.

Cover A-

Initially the pink made me flinch but after reading the book, I love the pink. And the feather. And the long luscious hair, which is a big symbol in the book.

Source: ARC from Razorbill

Published: 2011, December 8

Amazon: preorder

Black Night

2011-07-26T12:00:00.001-04:00

Black Night (Black Wings 2) by Christina Henry

Grade: 4 stars out of 5

If obstinate dead people were all that Maddy had to worry about, life would be much easier. But the best-laid plans of Agents and fallen angels often go awry. Deaths are occurring contrary to the natural order, Maddy's being stalked by foes inside and outside of her family, and her two loves-her bodyguard, Gabriel, and her doughnut-loving gargoyle, Beezle-have disappeared. But because Maddy is Lucifer's granddaughter, things are expected of her, things like delicate diplomatic missions to other realms.

Black Night is as hot and action-packed as its prequel, Black Wings. From the very first chapter, Christina Henry will take readers from the ground to the sky, from angels to werewolves to vampires to faeries. It’s almost impossible to settle down before being rocketed off to the next fight-for-your-life adventure that Maddy Black seems to be dealing more of.

The beginning lagged in my opinion that took a while for the plot to finally pick up. Throughout the entire novel, there was one question on everyone minds: who is killing the werewolves? That answer is ignored until the very end, which puts it in an awkward position. There was already a climax that proved to be a showstopper and yet Christina Henry went as far as to create another climax at the end shocked me. I had wanted Henry to weave the two problem, Gabriel’s disappearance and the murders, together and yet they were as a separate as can be. It proved to be a clunky read.

A problem that I originally had with Black Wings reappears yet again: the onslaught of names and paternal/maternal linage. At one point in the book I threw my hands up and thought to myself that everyone must be related to one another by some distant relative. They could be cousins (second twice removed blah blah), uncles, sisters, or something. Halfway through I resigned myself to not caring and ignored whether or not if a new character was related to Maddy.

Maddy for the matter remains to be the strong heroine who can deftly kick butt. With a sword that can do almost anything by her side and magic powers that rival many, Maddy tries to protect her life and her loved ones. As her power grows, as do the number of enemies she accumulates. Yet despite that, Maddy is still that rock-headed girl readers know from before. For all her flaws, Maddy continues be one my favorite heroine because she’s soft and hard at the same time. She doesn’t pretend to know everything and is unafraid to ask for help or shed a little tear. Even then, she’s hard when she doesn’t show her fear, tears, and sadness in front of the enemies.

The cast of Black Night develop in a way that I would have never imagined. Strangers become familiar, and ones that we thought we knew suddenly casts a shell around them. Gabriel is first and foremost the male lead I liked from Black Wings. In Black Night, Gabriel does not appear much. When he is rescued, his relationship to Maddy is altered completely. For better or for worst is to be determined in the sequel.

J.B. and Nathaniel’s personalities are finally unleashed in Black Night. I was able to understand them better and connect them to a level further than another-guy-that-might-like-Maddy. Their lives do not revolve around Maddy, but undeniable it is affected by her actions. I may have felt a bit bad for Nathaniel after Black Night (surprisingly since I did not like him in Black Wings).

The humor takes the constant pressure and stress of fight scenes off the novel whenever Beezle, the animated comic-relief character, talks.

With added characters, Black Night becomes a political battleground with fists and magic instead of pens and heated words. Black Wings series starts to shape itself as the chapters go by and hopefully by the third book, readers will find themselves with the full cast and the climax as a high. I am counting down and preparing myself for whatever next Christina Henry will throw at readers.

Cover B

Source: unsolicited ARC from Ace

Published: 2011 July 26
Amazon

Royally Jacked

2011-07-25T14:00:00.001-04:00

Royally Jacked by Niki Burnham

Grade: 1.5 star out of 5

Do you hate those books where the girl claims that she's Plain Jane while her friends are the most beautiful, smartest, confident girls in the school? And somehow, some way or another, this girl manages to catch the attention of the hottest guy in the book with her stellar personality! Though, between you and me, her personality stinks. Say hello to Valerie.

Valerie's parents got divorced. It turns out her mother is actually gay. Her dad works for the government so to avoid a big scandal, Valerie and her dad moves a small town called Schwerinborg in Europe. In this tiny town, Valerie and her dad stay with the royal family. Of course, plain Valerie who doesn't have the most redeeming qualities a girl needs to snatch a guy manages to catch the eye of the Prince. That's right. A PRINCE. He's freaking hot and nice and smart and the perfect guy even if the title isn't attached.

The prince's name is Georg. It's pronounced gay-org.

And somehow Valerie is still upset. She's afraid of what her friends think about her gay mother. (Because OMG her "butch" haircut is the one thing that Valerie keeps mentioning about her mother now.) She's worried if the hot guy from her old school likes her because she's been pining away at him since forever (and still pining even with Georg). Cry me a freaking river Valerie. Cry me a freaking river. Your mother still loves you. Your father still rocks. You have an awesome boyfriend.Yet she still somehow finds a way to whine about something.

Okay enough ranting. Royally Jacked wasn't all that bad (but it was very much testing my patience). There were some great scenes, funny even, with a fun group of friends and a sweet boyfriend. I found almost everyone to be likeable except Valerie.

Will I read the sequel? I'm not so sure. I finished Royally Jacked in March. It's now late July. I have the bind-up edition with all three books in one (because hello, for $7 I had to buy it!). Now I'm regretting that decision. Hopefully if and when I do continue with Valerie's story, it gets better.

Cover B+

for the bindup cover

Source: purchased

Published: 2011 March 22

Also check out the companion to Royally Crushed with Royally Check:

Jules edition! [free download]

Sirenz Blog Tour (Review and Interview)

2011-07-13T12:00:00.006-04:00

Sirenz by Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman

Grade: 3 stars out of 5

Authors Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman take the saying "those shoes are to die for" to a whole new level in their debut novel, Sirenz.

Meg and Shar are forced to live together meaning they must find a way to set aside their differences and be on friendly terms. It’ll be hard when they run into a melt-your-pants-off hot guy and an irresistible pair of red heels. Those claws will surely come out. Tragedy hits when said hot guy gets killed (mostly due to Meg and Shar’s fault) yet opportunity strikes when Hades offers the two girls the chance to redo what they’ve just done for the same price of their service. They’re stuck between the devil and the deep blue.

In this dual POV novel, Sirenz takes an interesting adaption on Greek gods and goddesses. It defied what my original thought on such myths and personalities with its almost reality television like humor. Don’t think of Hades as a disgusting bastard, but a hot badass. Don’t think of Persephone as a victim, but a sexy cunning mastermind. And don’t think Shar and Meg will go willy-nilly with whatever Hades wants. They’re going to fight back, however crazy they may act.

With surprising twists and sensitive humor, Sirenz will hold the readers’ attention. Focusing on actions and consequences, Bennardo and Zaman tell a delectable, sometimes over the top, story. However, choppy at times and shallow in the other, Sirenz keeps me torn from loving it. I had difficulty relating to both Meg and Shar because they become too focus at the task at hand. Of course, if I was fighting for my life I would react the same way. The progression of Meg and Shar’s friendship was realistic and well done as the pacing was not too quick. I did find both girls strong on their own but can see how if the novel focused on just one, it would be tiresome and annoying in the end. Together they compliment each other.

Sirenz, while slow at times definitely picks up the fast for one of the most unique ending.

Cover B+

Source: authors for blog tour

Published: 2011, June 8

Amazon

Interview with the authors:

Give any past experiences, was co-writing a book harder or easier than writing solo?

Char: Both! It was harder because I work in manic bursts and I had to compromise on conflicts. It was easier because I have a built-in cheerleader, muse and nudge, and I only had to write half the book!

Nat: Writing is hard no matter how you slice it. Co-writing is different, and has its own challenges. Compromise and communication is key: you have to be able to see the other person's perspective on things, and you have to be able to work things out.

Was it planned ahead that one person would write one character and the other person would write another character? Or did the earlier drafts just have one continuous POV

Char/Nat: Sirenz started out with the two POVs, it just seemed to be a given. We tried a single POV for an agent who requested it, but it lost a lot of its humor and sparkle.

In your opinion, who is the "hottest" Greek/Roman god?

Char/Nat: Hades! Well, at least the way we portray him. As Lord of the Underworld, how could he be tempting and conniving if he wasn’t alluring? It’s a given that most of the gods in the two pantheons are physically beautiful so why should Hades be an exception, especially since he’s brother to Zeus and Poseidon (and the oldest!)?

Do you think a reality TV show starring Greek gods and goddess will be popular?

Char/Nat: Why not? If vampires, werewolves, monsters, aliens and zombies can do it, why not the gods? There’s not a single show with either Greek or Roman deities on air, and they’re a very popular theme in books right now. The last time we saw them was in the Xena and Hercules series. It's time to bring 'em back! Hollywood? We’re home, waiting by the phone…

Which punishment would you prefer: feathers all over your body or claws replacing your feet? I have to ask since you are giving up on one or the other when facing the punishments: little black dress or patent red heels as a must have item in the closet?

Char: Spare me the feathers! Not only am I too vain to give up sexy little black dresses, but I’m really allergic to feathers! I’d find some way to disguise my claw-footed feet…

Nat: I'd take the claw feet. I could do summertime boots and make them work. For me it would be little black dress(ES). I do multiples when it comes to black, much to Char's chagrin.

Are you guilty of buying an expensive piece of clothing for a special event and then returning it the following day?

Char: NEVER! If I buy something, I keep it! (Unless damaged.) I hate when people do that, like we can’t see the deodorant tracks, smell the sweat, or brush off the crumbs! Besides, it gives me an excuse to schedule another upscale outing…

Nat: I tend to be cheap with the clothes ($5 Vintage dress—yes!) and splurge on shoes and bags which I abuse the second I use them. FINAL SALE.

Since both Meg and Shar share a pair of lucky cat charms, I wanted to know if you guys own a pair as well?

Char/Nat: That particular scene from the book used to have a different lucky charm for the girls, but we had to change it because of copyright issues. Since we both have cats, Maneki Neko kitties seemed a natural fit—and they were easy to find. We both carry pink and black kitty charms—and we gave them out as swag too!

Have you ever worked as an intern and just hated it?

Char: No, never even thought about working as an intern (too stupid?) although I worked as a reporter/photographer for a small paper and made so little money I had to decide gas in the car or food for me. It was like being an unpaid intern.

Nat: Never had the pleasure. But I did have some “real” jobs that were less than stellar.

I was reading the acknowledgments page and wanted to ask Charlotte what she meant when she called Natalie a "straight man".

Char: I’m the jokester, prankster, tease. It’s a personal goal to make Nat blush, laugh, gasp, pee her pants or faint. Managed most of them.

Nat: Um, no. Maybe the blushing, I'll give her that. For the record, in a comedy team, the “straight man” delivers the more droll, serious lines, expressions, etc. This would make Char my “funny man.” I actually looked this up to make sure I got the definition right—and read that if a woman is the “funny man” she's called a “comic foil.” So many labels—go figure!

And finally the last question: what was the last book you finished? Would you recommend it?

Char: Frankenstein’s Monster by Susan Heyboer O’Keefe. It’s an adult book, so there are some moments that aren’t appropriate (imho) for YA readers. Susan has crafted a story from the monster’s perspective, staying true to Mary Shelley’s original style. It’s literary yet not stuffy and a reader can go seamlessly from Shelley to O’Keefe. I’d recommend it.

Nat: I'm reading and rereading Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I was lucky to snag an ARC when we were at BEA in May. Wowzers is it good. Sorry you have to wait till end September to get it though...

Bargain Books (30)

2011-07-08T17:00:00.002-04:00

Demonglass (A Hex Hall Novel)

The Body Finder

The Candidates (Delcroix Academy, Book 1)

Dead Beautiful

The Demon Trapper's Daughter

If I Stay

Fat Cat
Exiled Queen, The (A Seven Realms Novel)

PrettyTOUGH

Stealing Heaven
Finnikin of the Rock
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

for more bargains, follow the label: bargains

Queen of the Dead

2011-07-05T12:00:00.001-04:00

Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

Grade: 3 out of 5 stars

The Ghost, Alona, had agreed to be the “assistant” for The Goth, Will. Except now there’s another ghost-seer in town and Will is more than curious about the girl and her connections to his now dead father.

It’s been ages since I finished the prequel to The Queen of the Dead, and for whatever reason I recall it being a fun, flirty, and new take on forbidden romance. Or perhaps it was a fun book and I’m not losing my mind. I’m rambling. The Queen of the Dead was much more action packed than I first anticipated. Some of the humor is lost, which was what made the first book so great. The Queen of the Dead held a more serious note revolving around the consequences of death and the affects it could have to a family.

As readers are acquainted to the society of nowadays ghost busters, Will’s life becomes better known. His father was another ghost seer and had been part of a bigger picture. A picture that seemed to not include Will. When Will becomes involved with the same society, it brings more questions than answers as much as it frustrates me. It also brings forth more drama between him and Alona. The course that the book takes definitely surprised me. I became the audience and didn’t voice any opinions with the new change in pace. I just sat and thought about it; the book was very different than I hoped, but not in a completely bad way.

The romance seemed to sway in The Queen of the Dead, which was another reason why the book wasn’t as fun as the first. I found Alona to be hard headed and childish and the temptation to hit her grew. As with any road, there are a few bumps and this time, expect some bruises.

With any continuation to a series, smaller details are explored and the death of Will’s father, Will’s best friend, and Alona’s death are put on the spotlight. Hopefully the third book will continue on and delve deeper into the tragedy.

The ending is one big shocker. There is no way I could have predicted the outcome. Kade keeps the readers on their toes in anticipation for the next installment.

Cover C+/B-

the mood of the cover was different than the one in the book

Published: 2011 May 31

Source: review copy from Hyperion

Amazon