Blabbing Books

2012-06-17T10:09:00.002-07:00

CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION

{Review} Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

2012-06-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 12 June 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Books

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: eGalley

Pages: 303

Rating: 3-Good

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistible good looks and charm on unsuspecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.

My Thoughts:

Lies Beneath was a likeable story about mermaids that was interesting, most of all I found it intriguing to see how debut author; Anne Greenwood Brown, put her own little spin on mermaid folklore.

Anne Greenwood Brown’s mermaid were interesting in the sense that they were dark and vicious and I liked the fact that she did not shy away from these seemingly evil creatures in her writing; it only made the story all the more fun to read.

This was one of the only YA books that I have read from a male perspective which made the book a little more enjoyable and refreshing, especially since YA is mainly filled with female protagonists.

The characters were not all that relatable to me and I found that they fell a little flat, along with the writing style. The writing and characters did not catch my attention right of the bat as I got ready to dive into this new world and immerse myself in the story. This unfortunately made the book a little hard to get through and not as enjoyable from the start as I think it could have been. However, I do believe that because this is a debut novel for 2012; that Anne’s writing will only improve and the characters will develop in the next lot of books.

I will be reading her next books and look forward to supporting her as an author, after reading about this world that was fun to dive into with a pleasingly dark twist to the folklore of mermaids.

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{Review} The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

2012-05-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 8th May 2012

Publisher: St, Martin's Griffin

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: eGalley

Pages: 293

Rating: 5- Wonderful

Don’t Sweat. Don’t Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them. Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood. When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

My Thoughts:

At first I thought this book would be boring and I had put it down, after reading one of my favourite blogger’s reviews, I was instantly hooked and wanted to take another stab at reading The Hunt. I found myself gripped into this world as I tried for the second time!

The world building in this book was incredibly interesting and was extremely well done; I was completely blown away by Fukuda’s writing in this dystopian world. He kept the world consistent and extremely intriguing; which to me was one of the factors that made the book seem as great as it was to me.

This book is about a dystopian society in which vampires run the society. Upon reading The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa, I had thought this was an original idea, but both Julia Kagawa and Andrew Fukuda managed to write different stories that captivated me and kept me on the edge of my seats, despite sounding similar—the books are extremely different and I loved both so much! I do not often like to compare books to one another but I definitely recommend this book to fans of The Hunger Games and the “Heper Hunt” will definitely remind you of the wonderful books by the amazing Suzanne Collins. I am so happy that I read this and it was the perfect book for me!

The Hunt was incredibly interesting. With incredible world building, came an interesting set of characters. All which were unique mainly due to the fact that they were an original take on vampires—I do not want to give away spoilers as things such as even the way that these vampires laugh is different, all of these interesting and awesome characteristics made the world and the characters so addictive. Gene; the main character who I did not initially seem to like, grew immensely throughout the novel which was great and made Fukuda’s writing seem even all the more impressive to me.

The Hunt is a compelling tale that has great action, suspense and romance! It is a fantastic Dystopian-meets-Paranormal book that blew me away!

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{Review} Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

2012-04-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 18 October 2011

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Kindle Edition

Pages: 281

Rating: 5- Wonderful

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

My Thoughts:

I had eagerly anticipated Half-Blood in 2011 and I cannot believe that I waited so long to read it! Half-Blood is something completely and utterly different to anything that I have ever read before and this book demands the reader’s attention and does not let you out of its clutches!

Jennifer did a great job of tying Greek mythology into a modern day story which completely blew me away. I for one find Greek myths to be interesting but not so much so that I will go out of my way to read a book based on such myths, yet I found this book to be so addictive and fun to read, I am sure that this book will appeal to readers who may not like Greek Mythology as it is not dumped on you, it is elegantly woven into the story.

The characters in this book were nothing but awesome! I especially enjoyed the protagonists traits; Alex—the main character is feisty and snarky, which I absolutely loved. The fact that she had a quick tongue and an attitude that you could only absolutely love or loathe.

Jennifer sure knows how to write awesome action scenes and romance scenes that can only make your heart melt. Her writing is fantastic and made for a fast paced and fun novel that I absolutely loved; Half-Blood. I am glad that I read her debut and will read the sequel soon!

Half-Blood is filled with romance, action, adventure and intrigue and I recommend this to all of you who are looking for an awesome paranormal book that will remind you why you loved reading in the first place.

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{Feature & Follow} 1

2012-04-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

Feature and Follow Friday is a blog hop that is designed to connect book bloggers; in turn allowing them to connect with other readers, gain new followers and most of all to be social in order to make some new friends. This meme is hosted byParajunkee & Alison Can Read.

Q: Have you ever had a character that disappointed you? One that you fell in love with and then "broke up" with later on in either the series or a stand-alone book? Tell us about him or her.

A: Nope. I have found that it has been the other way around where I hate a character at first and then grow to love the character later on in the series. That character being-- Alec from The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I did not like him at first due to the fact that he was jealous of Clary and I began to like him once he became Magnus' partner. Maybe Magnus put a spell on me?

Happy Follow Friday!

{Review} Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

2012-04-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 7 February 2012

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 330

Rating: 4- Great

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.
If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.

My Thoughts:

I had very few books about witches before deciding to dive into Born Wicked. What initially drew me in was the fact that the cover was so intense, yet so beautiful and I felt that it set the tone for the book perfectly. Born Wicked was a captivating debut and one that I most certainly enjoyed thoroughly.

Cate was an interesting character that made an incredible perspective to read from and I can only thank Spotswood’s wonderful writing for making Cate such a great character with an addictive voice. Jessica’s writing style was great, but the one thing I found is that sometimes I found some of the scenes to drag on far too long for my liking, however, with that being said; I really do love her writing as it was rich in description that was captivating and beautiful all at once.

Born Wicked takes place in a historical setting, which was evident whilst I read the book, but Spotswood had this great way of making me enjoy the story as if it were a modern tale. I’m not quite sure how to explain it other than: this book, despite the historic setting, will appeal to the modern day audience.

I loved this book and all of its characters and the scenes in which they took part, which made the book as addictive as it was for me. There were some great romance scenes that managed to get my heart racing more than a few times. For some reason I found this book to be filled with suspense and I loved every second of it, eagerly awaiting what plot twist would come next!

Born Wicked is a fantastic debut about witches that were done extremely well and made this book all the more enjoyable! This book is definitely one of my favorites!

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{Waiting on Wednesday} 21: Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout

2012-04-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout

History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well the last time.
Alexandria isn't sure she's going to make it to her eighteenth birthday—to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she’s a goner... and so is Aiden.
If that's not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time "training"—which really is just Seth's code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time—she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome.
But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she’s caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed... and destroyed.
Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate...

I have yet to read Pure; the second book in the Covenant series, but I loved Half-Blood so much that I can't even wait for Deity! Deity is bound to be filled with great action and sizzling romance!

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Leave a link and a I'll be sure to check out your post!

{Review} The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

2012-04-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 24 April 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: eGalley

Pages: 504

Rating: 4- Great

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.
Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.
Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die or become one of the monsters. Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad. Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike. But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

My Thoughts:

This was the first book that I had ever read by Julie Kagawa and I found this book to be absolutely thrilling and extremely interesting. I sure as hell, want to read her other books as this was so addictive and I would love to read more of her work.

This was stunning way to start a new series. The Immortal Rules was an original story that I can only say one negative thing about, and that was the fact that this book was long and it felt like it could have been several book that were joined together. However, it was still extremely addictive and fun to read, despite the length.

Allie was a kick-butt character and I think she is very relatable as she has struggled, basically—since birth, and we all struggle in life and it was easy to admire her as a character, as her struggles only made her stronger and more independent and it was incredibly interesting to see how she handled all the obstacles she had to overcome and the curve-balls she had thrown at her.

Kagawa did a great job with keeping me entertained throughout this book as she knows exactly when to throw curve-balls, throughout this book there were mini climaxes that made the book so enjoyable, especially with her flawless writing style!

This book is about vampire’s and that may throw some people off, but whether you are burned out or not, I suggest you read this because this book was a dystopian in my opinion that was what is was due to the vampires, having over run the city and they now use people for blood. The concept of this book was incredible and so much fun as it added the thrill of the action and adventure.

The character’s were so much fun to read about, I adored Caleb and could imagine him perfectly in my mind, if you love vampires, babies, kick-butt heroines and dystopian societies; I recommend that you read this amazing book!

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{Review} Perception by Kim Harrington

2012-04-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 1 March 2012

Publisher: Scholastic Point

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Kindle Edition

Pages: 288

Rating: 5- Wonderful

When you can see things others can't, what do you do when someone's watching you?
Everybody knows about Clarity "Clare" Fern. She's the psychic girl in school, the one who can place her hands on something and see hidden visions from the past.
Only Clare would rather not be a celebrity. She prefers hanging back, observing. Her gift is not a game to her.
But then someone starts playing with her head . . . and heart. Messages and gifts from a secret admirer crop up everywhere Clare turns. Could they be from Gabriel, the gorgeous boy who gets Clare's pulse racing? Or from Justin, Clare's hopeful ex-boyfriend who'd do anything to win her back?
One thing is certain. Clare needs to solve this mystery, and soon. Because the messages are becoming sinister, and a girl in town has suddenly disappeared.

My Thoughts:

In Clarity, I instantly fell for the characters in the book and found myself addicted to the mystery and intrigue that can be found within Harrington’s writing. I was so excited when I got the chance to immerse myself in her writing, in Perception.

Perception starts off pretty much where Clarity ended and follows a new set of events. The first chapter was short and extremely enticing because it was an exciting little glimpse at what was to come. Another factor that made this book so addictive was the fact that every chapter pretty much has a cliff hanger of some sort and it made the book so entertaining as it meant that there were many suspenseful events that could keep any reader entertained.

Clarity is an interesting character that has developed from the first book in the series—to me that is. I feel like the whole cast of characters is just as fun to read about as they were initially and even more so due to the new circumstances they find themselves in.

Kim Harrington’s writing is simple, effective and addictive. Simple as that. No matter what I believe that her books will always be addictive due to the fact that she is able to weave mystery into her stories that will keep you guessing—I often found that I was guessing who did what and trying to figure out who was suspicious and who wasn’t and I turned out to be wrong sometimes and others, I had been wrong.

Throughout this book, I was on the edge of my seat and wanted more! So am eagerly anticipating Kim Harrington’s next book and hopefully it will be filled with just as much intrigue, mystery and suspense as Clarity and Perception have been!

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{In My Mailbox} 16

2012-04-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at: The Story Siren. You can find official information like how to participate, why it was started and other goodies about IMM on the IMM Page.

In My Mailbox This Week:

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows (read my review here)

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (read my review here)

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Faery Tales & Nightmares by Melissa Marr (read my review here)

Fever by Lauren DeStefano (read my review here)

Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

This IMM was a catch up post from not posting an IMM last week or the week before, I also received more; but will be saving it for next week's IMM post!

What did you receive in your Mailbox this week?

{Review} Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

2012-04-20T06:24:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 31 January 2012

Publisher: Katherine Tegen

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 516

Rating: 5- Wonderful

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.She’s been warned. Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself. She’ll be betrayed.Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.

My Thoughts:

At first I was hesitant to start reading another book about Angels and Demons so to speak as I had begun to think that I was extremely burned out on angel books and was dreading the fact that I may not enjoy this book. I was instantly drawn into this book when I read the first page—I was hooked.

The book starts off with action and made me addicted right from the beginning. Courtney Allison Moulton sure knows how to write action scenes; filled with rich description that demanded my attention and truly made me visualize the scenes extremely vividly. I found myself enjoying the various action sequences, whereas I would usually find them boring. But Moulton sure knows how to write an action scene that is truly entertaining and fantastic.

In other scenes I found myself to be thoroughly entertained too, especially in some of the scenes that one could only swoon over and that seemed too heat up the entire book.

Moulton writing did not disappoint as she kept me entertained throughout the entire book. It’s simple, descriptive where it needed to be and effective. Her action and sizzling scenes were the two aspects where she really shone as an author for me.

The chemistry between Will and Ellie was clearly evident in this book and I loved each and every single character in this book despite the amount (there are many awesome characters in this book). I felt that Ellie was more quirky in this book and I often found myself laughing at some of the things she said in her dialogue.

This book did not disappoint one bit, and I am glad that the sequel lived up to the first book in the series, to me; Wings of the Wicked was even better than Angelfire and I look forward to the final book in the trilogy. This book was sizzling, sexy, action-packed and so much fun to read!

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{Review} The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

2012-04-19T04:57:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 10 January 2012

Publisher: Dutton

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 313

Rating: 5- Wonderful

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.
Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.
Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

My Thoughts:

I had heard so many things about John Green—such amazing things about him and his books. The Fault In Our Stars exploded onto the scene and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to read a book by John Green for the first time.

There was so much hype that I was afraid that as I begun to read it, that it would disappoint me. But instantly I was addicted and drawn into Hazel’s compelling story.

Hazel and Augustus are two quirky characters in my opinion and I loved the odd and romantic relationship they had, they were true and sincere to one another despite the events that take place within the book. Green sure knows how to throw in curve balls that slap you in the face and then keep you on the edge of your seat.

This book was about cancer in a sense—more Hazel’s story and her struggles, but at the same time, this book was humorous and was a bit hard for me to read as it ripped my heart into pieces. When I was twelve or so, I lost my best friend to leukaemia. It was hard and I didn’t really experience the pain and mourning I should have then, that I did whilst reading this book. Losing someone is not easy as many of you may know and dealing with not having that person makes life hard for you.

John Green’s book throws one majore curveball at the end of the book which made me sad, but the last words on the final page left me the most breathless and kept me up thinking because the writing was so beautiful and humorous, but at the same time it tore me up inside—but those final words are what actually made me happy—they gave the story a sincere ending despite what shocking things may have occurred.

By then end of the book I was happy, sad, depressed, joyful and whatever other emotions you can feel. I also happened to fall in love with John Green’s books and plan on definitely reading more of them!

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{Waiting on Wednesday} 20: Masque of Red Death by Bethany Griffin

2012-04-18T03:28:00.000-07:00

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Masque of Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Everything is in ruins.
A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them.
So what does Araby Worth have to live for?
Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.
But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.
And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

This cover is absolutely awesome and oh so intriguing. I have heard so many great things about Maque of Red Death and cannot wait to get my hands on a copy to instantly immerse myself in!

What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?

Leave a link and a I'll be sure to check out your post!

{Giveaway} Springing into Spring Giveaway over on A Cupcake & A Latte

2012-04-17T23:07:00.000-07:00

When the opportunity arises to support one of my favorite blogs and a blogger that I truly idolize comes along, I will do what I can. How much better does it get when a giveaway of some of the freshest upcoming YA titles is included?

Wendy over at A Cupcake and A Latte is an awesome blogger who I look up to and aspire to be like! She is a hard worker and is truly an amazing blogger! Did I mention that she is even generous enough to host this awesome giveaway?

Here's What You Can Win:

1 winner will be randomly selected among valid giveaway entries to win 1 book of their choice from the below fabulous spring YA releases!

So set your sights on one of these awesome titles and enter here:

Springing into Spring Giveaway Celebration

Follow A Cupcake and A Latte:

Go Get Your Entries In & Support!

{Review} Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

2012-04-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 31 January 2012

Publisher: Katherine Tegen

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 384

Rating: 4- Great

New soul
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
No soul
Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
Heart
Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies--human and creature alike--let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

My Thoughts:

Incarnate has a beautiful cover that looks even better on the actual hard cover than it does on the internet. It is intriguing and beautiful and only makes you wonder if the world inside—in the pages of this books—are equally as beautiful.

This book was different and something that I had heard good and bad things about, but luckily I found little to my disliking. Meadows’ writing is something completely different to what I have ever read and I cannot exactly pin point her style but it sure is beautiful. Her description and use of diction left me amazed and kept me wanting to read more as I ravished myself in this world.

The world building was quite good in this book and fitted the cover, for me though, there were so many threads left open and I am hoping that these unanswered questions will be explored and answered within the next book, as I will definitely be reading the next book.

While reading Incarnate; I sometimes found that I did not know where everything was set because I was lost in the beautiful writing—I do not know if this is a good or bad thing, but I often had to reread pages to get a sense of where the scene’s were set. This may have just been me falling in love with the way Jodi Meadows’ writing style.

Ana was an interesting character and it was fun and relatable for me to read from someone’s point of view who is also an outsider in a sense. Ana’s story is compelling and I will be happy to pick up the next book and continue reading her beautifully written story.

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{Review} Faery Tales & Nightmares by Melissa Marr

2012-04-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 19 July 2011

Publisher: HarperCollins

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 418

Rating: 5- Wonderful

An enthralling collection of short stories featuring favorite characters from Melissa Marr's bestselling Wicked Lovely series.

My Thoughts:

Melissa Marr instantly made me one of her biggest fans when it came to the Wicked Lovely series, from then on I have been a loyal follower and have bought just about every book and short story that she has published, she has yet to disappoint me.

Faery Tales and Nightmares is an anthology that is made up of all of Melissa’s published short stories, some of the stories, I had read before buying this anthology, although I did find myself being pulled back into these brief world’s wanting to read the stories again. One of the main reasons why I loved this book was due to the fact that I got to read more stories from the world of Wicked Lovely, a series which I miss all to dearly.

Melissa Marr has this inexplicably fantastic way to combine folklore and modern day tales into beautifully woven stories that never fail to leave me breathless. My favourite story in this book, had to be—by far—Winter’s Kiss as the concept was so intriguing and fun and just a great read as a whole.

I love this book because whenever I find myself wanting more from the world of Wicked Lovely and it’s awesome characters, I know that I can simply select one of the stories that is a short story set in the same world as the Wicked Lovely series and then immerse myself yet again, in this wonderful world which I often find myself craving.

There are other stories in this anthology about creatures, other than fey, such as stories about Selchies and Vampires, all I would like to say is that all of these stories are absolutely marvellous and an absolute thrill to read.

One of the things that makes Marr’s writing so great and the world seem so real, is the fact that she has a unique writing style that is both beautiful and simple, as well as elegant and I will continue to support her, as I know that she will never fail to amaze me. She sure left be breathless with this amazing anthology.

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{Review} Fever by Lauren DeStefano

2012-04-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 21 February 2012

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 341

Rating: 5- Wonderful

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness. The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary. In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.

My Thoughts:

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the sequel to Wither; Fever and when I finally did, I was able to instantly immerse myself in the addictive world that Lauren DeStefano has created, with her poetic and flowing writing style.

After Wither, I had instantly become one of Lauren’s biggest fans, mainly because her writing is so wonderful and artistic and what’s even better is the fact that the books in The Chemical Garden Trilogy have such amazing covers and they really—to me, convey what Lauren’s writing is like—beautiful, elegant and oh so very intriguing.

I waited so long for this title and I was extremely happy when I held it in my hands for the first time as I wanted to see what the next cover would actually look like and have it stand next to my copy of Wither. These books are beautiful, both inside and out. Lauren DeStefabo’s writing style never fails to do more than amaze me. I am not able to explain her writing very clearly as I do believe that it is a style that I fell head over heels for; I guess I would describe it as poetic and brilliant, raw and wondrous.

At first, I was annoyed at the fact that Rhine and Gabriel kept moving from place to place, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. After escaping the mansion in the first book, they needed to get away. As they travel, they meet a whole new cast of characters that is very intriguing; my favourite character in this book, has to be—undoubtedly, Madame!

This book was wonderful and made me only want more from one of my favourite authors; Lauren DeStefano. I ask that you all read these books, and if you have then please leave a link to your review!

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It's My Birthday!

2012-04-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

So today is my 16th Birthday and I would like to wish Liz from Midnight Bloom Reads a Happy Birthday for yesterday! If you don't know her, I suggest you check out her awesome blog and follow her as he blog is amazing and so inspiring to me!
Anyways...so, I turn sixteen today and I am currently away at the coast, reading away! I hope you all have a fantastic day!

{Waiting on Wednesday} 19: Tilt by Ellen Hopkins

2012-04-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Tilt by Ellen Hopkins

TILT is the story of three teens inter-related through their parents' family relationships and friendships. As their parents pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the kids' worlds tilt, through love--good and bad: Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year, and decides to keep the baby? Shane turns sixteen that same summer, and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister's impending death. Can he accept Alex's love, knowing his life, too, will be shortened? Harley is fourteen—a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

This book sounds so good and I'm so excited to read it. I have only read one book by Ellen Hopkins; Perfect and I loved it to bits. I think that reading Tilt, is going to make me fall even harder for novels that are written in verse.
What are you Waiting on this Wednesday?
Leave a link and a I'll be sure to check out your post!

{Top Ten Tuesday} 10

2012-04-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish . It was created because of their love of lists.

This week's topic is:

Top Ten Books To Read in a Day

(in no particular order)

Leave a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post!

{Review} Clean by Amy Reed

2012-04-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 19 July 2011

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: eBook

Pages: 288

Rating: 5- Wonderful

You’re probably wondering how I ended up here. I’m still wondering the same thing.Olivia, Kelly, Christopher, Jason, and Eva have one thing in common: They’re addicts. Addicts who have hit rock bottom and been stuck together in rehab to face their problems, face sobriety, and face themselves. None of them wants to be there. None of them wants to confront the truths about their pasts. And they certainly don’t want to share their darkest secrets and most desperate fears with a room of strangers. But they’ll all have to deal with themselves and one another if they want to learn how to live. Because when you get that high, there’s nowhere to go but down, down, down.

My Thoughts:

Clean is an addictive story that was recommended to me by friend Amy. I cannot imagine my life without this book, as to me, it was something refreshing and awesome considering I don’t read many contemporary novels; although due to Amy Reed’s awesome writing, I do believe I should start reading more contemporary novels.

Clean is one of those believable books that slaps you in the face when you least expect it to and then still makes you love it and manages to leave you absolutely breathless. As soon as I dove into this book; I was hooked and I think it was mainly due to the fact that Reed’s writing is something different to anything I have ever experienced. Experiencing all of the character’s thoughts right from the beginning was extremely cool to me!

Reed’s writing is raw and unexpectedly beautiful. Her writing fitted the story so well and made the book all the more enjoyable, she also managed to jump from character’s head with a great deal of skill and made it easy on me, as the reader.

This story is raw and emotional and overall; extremely beautiful and addictive. The subjects and topic in this book may be horrible, but it makes the book what it is; something so wonderful that I felt compelled to read more from the author.

The characters were all interesting and I loved seeing how the different kinds of characters that were in this book, interacted with one another and I’m thrilled to say that I fell head over heels for Amy Reed’s writing and her wonderful stories! Please read this book, it is truly amazing!

{Review} The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

2012-04-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 14 November 2011

Publisher: Razorbill

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 256

Rating: 3- Good

Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.This second novel by rising star Brenna Yovanoff is a story of identity, discovery, and a troubled love between two people struggling to find their place both in our world and theirs.

My Thoughts:

Brenna Yovanoff did an incredible job with the Replacement and I couldn’t wait to get more from her. The Space Between was one of the titles that I eagerly awaited for a long time!

The world building in The Replacement was fantastic, but in The Space Between, the world is absolutely amazing and brilliantly written. Pandemonium is depicted upon the cover, just as I had imagined it and I absolutely loved the fact that pretty much everything was made of steel, even the flowers. Yovanoff has the amazing ability to truly make the setting become one of the characters and she always manages to make it dark and playfully twisted.

I loved the fact that Yovanoff wrote another book, which I can only describe as darkly-delicious. The world and the characters are dark and oh so much fun to read about.

Brenna Yovanoff has a great writing style that is both addictive and enticing, however; I felt that with this book the writing fell just a little flat for me, mainly in the sense that I found the main character; Daphne to be un-relatable and I didn’t see her as a fully developed character. But other than that all of the characters were great and I especially enjoyed reading about Lilith.

Brenna has an incredible imagination and I loved the stories that she tells, even The Space Between will be a book that I will always remember because of this incredible world and her wonderful writing style. I look forward to reading more from the author who made me fall head over heels for darkly-delicious books; Brenna Yovanoff!

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{In My Mailbox} 15

2012-03-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at: The Story Siren. You can find official information like how to participate, why it was started and other goodies about IMM on the IMM Page.

In My Mailbox this week:

Thank you to HarlequinTEEN for providing me with the following titles!

The Immortal Rules by Juilie Kagawa
Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen
The Girl in The Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross

What did you receive in your Mailbox this week?

{Review} Torn by Cat Clarke

2012-03-30T05:41:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 22 December 2011

Publisher: Quercus

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 378

Rating: 5- Wonderful

Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt. Alice King isn’t expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she’s not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares… Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there’s Tara – queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down. Cass decides it’s time to teach Tara a lesson she’ll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever... A compelling story of guilty secrets, troubled friendship and burgeoning love.

My Thoughts:

Cat stunned me with her debut, Entangled. She has now easily made herself one of my favourite authors because Torn, literally tore me apart and pulled my heart strings into several directions at once leaving me breathless and shocked.

Torn made me experience a whole range of emotions in which I wanted to cry and also wanted to laugh. One of the things about Cat’s books, is that she always manages to deliver an important message by the end of the book and the book or story she writes, always seems to be just as haunting as the beautiful cover and the title.

Torn, was the story about girls who came from different social circles to tackle the queen of mean. When you find yourself in one of these situations one should always think about their actions. We are all judged according to how we look and no one ever really seems to see past what they see and so they have a very narrow view on what a particular person in a certain group is really like. In Torn, I was able to see what it was like from someone else’s perspective and in turn, how they saw others. Which I found to be incredibly cool!

This story was haunting, emotional and beautiful and I couldn’t help but fall for each and every character no matter how much they hurt someone else or how nice they were because in the end, all of the characters were human and all humans make mistakes...

I would like to thank Cat for being the awesome author that she is, she writes amazing books that haunt me and keep me thinking long after I have read the final page! Everyone, read this book!

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{Review} Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

2012-03-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

Release Date: 3 January 2012

Publisher: HarperTeen

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 374

Rating: 3- Good

Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered. This was worse. Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive. A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile - everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

My Thoughts:

Under The Never Sky has a beautiful cover that really makes you want to pick up the book and instantly begin reading it. I can assure you that I found the first few pages extremely interesting and addictive...

That was up until I had no clue as to where the book was going or what all the terminology of this future world, meant. In books, the author can either dump information on us right from the beginning that will explain certain things, yet this may instantly bore the reader, or the author can write the intended story and let the reader figure out what everything in this world is and what exactly it may mean. Rossi decided that she would give the reader a little to think about and I did not think that this what was made the book enjoyable for me.

The concept of this book was incredible and so much for me to immerse myself in. One of the things that made this book extremely enjoyable for me was the fact that Aria, the main character, was a singer! I loved the fact that she was a singer!

This book was extremely hard to get through up until the Death Shop. I don’t know what made me actually continue reading it, it could have been the fact that I wanted to find out exactly what was going on, or maybe it was because I wanted to see if things got a little clearer, but in the end I managed to finish it.

Another interesting thing about this book that instantly got me hooked, was the use of realms! It was interesting to see how the characters reacted, when they all saw a forest for the first time. The names of the characters, as well as the realms, were extremely interesting and made the book enjoyable.

As for Aria—on the cover she appears to be a strong and independent girl who can stand up for what she believes in, and for me; that just did not translate into Aria as a character in the actual text of the book.

Over all, Under The Never Sky was an interesting read that I would recommend to all those readers out there who are fans of Dystopian societies that had a slight sci-fi edge. I look forward to the second book, a Through The Ever Night.

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