Bookshelvers Anonymous

Cover Love #29

2013-05-23T02:00:00.001-04:00

A SHATTERED EMPIRE
The mad Shōgun Yoritomo has been assassinated by the Stormdancer Yukiko, and the threat of civil war looms over the Shima Imperium. The Lotus Guild conspires to renew the nation’s broken dynasty and crush the growing rebellion simultaneously – by endorsing a new Shōgun who desires nothing more than to see Yukiko dead.

A DARK LEGACY
Yukiko and the mighty thunder tiger Buruu have been cast in the role of heroes by the Kagé
rebellion. But Yukiko herself is blinded by rage over her father’s death, and her ability to hear the thoughts of beasts is swelling beyond her power to control. Along with Buruu, Yukiko’s anchor is Kin, the rebel Guildsman who helped her escape from Yoritomo’s clutches. But Kin has his own secrets, and is haunted by visions of a future he’d rather die than see realized.

A GATHERING STORM
Kagé assassins lurk within the Shōgun’s palace, plotting to end the new dynasty before it begins.
A waif from Kigen’s gutters begins a friendship that could undo the entire empire. A new enemy gathers its strength, readying to push the fracturing Shima imperium into a war it cannot hope to survive. And across raging oceans, amongst islands of black glass, Yukiko and Buruu will face foes no katana or talon can defeat.

The ghosts of a blood-stained past.

Look at that cover, you guys. LOOK AT IT! I didn't know if the designers could top Stormdancer, BUT THEY HAVE.

First of all, can we talk about the colors? Whereas Stormdancer was really playing up the blood-red motif, Kinslayer is dark and sinister, but it keeps the creepy splashes of red in Yukiko's clothing. And wowza, Yukiko! That girl looks ready to wreak some serious havoc. I love it when a cover model is rough and tumble, rather than sleek and shiny.

But the best part, in my opinion, is that background. WOW. WOW WOW WOW. Buruu looks positively vicious, and guys, he's fighting a sea monster! A SEA MONSTER! I have a feeling that particular beastie will haunt me in my sleep. As scared as I am to face the inevitable trauma awaiting me in Kinslayer, I am super-excited as well. What a cover. WHAT A COVER!

What do you think of the Kinslayer cover? And what cover are you loving this week?

Top 10 Tuesday - Fave Book Covers Of Books I've Read

2013-05-21T00:00:00.000-04:00

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Today's TTT topic is favorite book covers. Thankfully, the gals at TB&tB narrow it down to favorite book covers of books I've actually read, or we'd all be in big trouble. Even still, this was a hard week for me. So many choices! Below are the ten books I've chosen. I've tried to keep explanations to a minimum. Also, if you like this sort of thing, be sure to check out my bi-weekly meme, Cover Love!

Even prettier in person, my lands!

Technically not a good fit for the story itself, but still gorgeous

Captures the tone perfectly, and Will is so hot.

!!!!

All the covers in this series could have been chosen, but this one's best

Perfection

The weight, the solemnity, the threat... It's all perfect

Sinister and intriguing

She's coming to EAT ME!!

Breathtaking and exotic

Well, that's all for me. What do you think of these covers, and what covers would you add?

Review: WILD AWAKE by Hilary T. Smith

2013-05-20T02:00:00.000-04:00

Things you earnestly believe will happen while your parents are away:

1. You will remember to water the azaleas.
2. You will take detailed, accurate messages.
3. You will call your older brother, Denny, if even the slightest thing goes wrong.
4. You and your best friend/bandmate Lukas will win Battle of the Bands.
5. Amid the thrill of victory, Lukas will finally realize you are the girl of his dreams.

Things that actually happen:

1. A stranger calls who says he knew your sister.
2. He says he has her stuff.
3. What stuff? Her stuff.
4. You tell him your parents won’t be able to—
5. Sukey died five years ago; can’t he—
6. You pick up a pen.
7. You scribble down the address.
8. You get on your bike and go.
9. Things . . . get a little crazy after that.*
*also, you fall in love, but not with Lukas.

Both exhilarating and wrenching, Hilary T. Smith’s debut novel captures the messy glory of being alive, as seventeen-year-old Kiri Byrd discovers love, loss, chaos, and murder woven into a summer of music, madness, piercing heartbreak, and intoxicating joy.

Once again, I find myself not being entirely sure what to say about a book. As such, this will probably be a short review, though not entirely in a bad way, as is sometimes the case.

I thought about splitting this review into a list that mimics the synopsis. It's a format that I would normally enjoy. It would start off something like this:

Things that I thought I would find in Wild Awake:

1. A contemporary story about a girl who "finds herself"
2. Some guy named Lukas who will probably end up being a jerk
3. A flimsy mystery surrounding the dead sister
4. Typical summer hijinks
5. A boy with whom Kiri falls in love
6. Kisses

Things that I actually found in Wild Awake:

1.

And this is where I have to stop, because I'm not sure how to finish the second list. I'm not exactly sure what actually happened in this book, and I'm not sure how to talk about the things that I'm sure about, due to spoilery reasons.

Let's start back at the beginning. There's a girl named Kiri Byrd. She's seventeen, a classical pianist, and also plays in a band with her crush Lukas. Nothing has happened with Lukas, because he doesn't want to mess up the dynamics of the band (which has two different names, depending on who you talk to). She is left home alone for the summer, because her older brother Denny is at Princeton and her parents are on a second honeymoon of sorts.

Then she gets a call from a drunk named Doug who claims to have the belongings of her elder sister Sukey. Sukey, the sister no one talks about; Sukey, the one who died in an "accident," presumably a car accident, though Kiri never asked; Sukey, the wild child; Sukey, the painter; Sukey, the free spirit, the exact opposite of quiet and responsible Kiri; Sukey, Kiri's hero.

It could be a scam. It could be a trap. But Kiri goes anyways, because maybe the drunk knows what happened to Sukey. Maybe he has some of Sukey's paintings, the ones she promised to give to Kiri. So Kiri goes, and she comes home with a bag of Sukey's things. She also comes home with new friendships (Doug the drunk, Snoogie the crippled cat, and Skunk the tattooed bicycle repair boy), knowledge of how Sukey really died, and an entirely altered outlook on life.

And that's when the story really jumps the rails to frolic in the meadow.

There are two very important sides to Wild Awake, two aspects that kept me balanced between delight and horror. The first aspect is the writing. If you enjoy gorgeous imagery, imaginative metaphors, and lilac prose (not so purple as to be nauseatingly purple prose, but not, say, taupe prose either), then you'll adore Wild Awake. Though I tend to remember funny lines and scenes, I found myself taking notes on the more lyrical passages in this book.

Even when parts in the first half of the book left me with raised eyebrows (drugs in the first freaking paragraph? really?), I kept reading for the sake of the words. Ms. Smith can string together a dazzling image like nobody's business, and I kept reading far past when I would have set down most books. Technically, not a lot happens in Wild Awake, at least not the sort of happenings I'm used to. Externally, there's not a lot going on. Kiri learns about her sister's life and death, she learns about herself, she falls in love. It's all internal growth things, which doesn't always make for a compelling read. In fact, there's so much sumptuous wordplay and so little to mark in way of events that I didn't recognize the second aspect until I was in the middle of it.

Holy cow, Kiri is messed up. In this book, Kiri moves from perfectly responsible if somewhat repressed to a manic pixie dream girl type to so far down the rabbit hole that I was genuinely concerned. I don't know how this story was supposed to read, and I don't know how others read it. (I try to avoid other reviews until after I've written my own.) I just know that while Wild Awake was pretty and full of the wonder of kisses and painting and music and midnight bike rides, it also displays a life that is very, very unhealthy. It's one thing to bask in a delightfully positioned metaphor about towels in a washing machine looking like bedraggled beavers. It's another to stop and worry that this is what the protagonist actually sees when she looks at those towels.

In the abstract, Kiri appears to be the hippie dream girl. She sheds the overbearing expectations of her straight-laced parents and stick-in-the-mud drummer boyfriend and forges her own path with the help of a tattooed, Tao-quoting, radio-collecting zen boy. She does marijuana and drinks and plays piano and lives, because we all should live free like the birds and gambol among the stars, etc. etc. etc. It's pretty. It's magical. But it's also very dysfunctional. Finding Kiri's new life waiting for me amid all the lovely words and images was like draining a glass of cool, refreshing pink lemonade to find a dead roach at the bottom of my cup.

And maybe that was the point. Maybe we were supposed to see how unhealthy certain things can be when taken too far, but I never really felt that. Kiri is the narrator. She's unreliable, but we're only allowed to see things through her eyes. So when friends and family worry, they're dismissed as narrow-minded, unenlightened, etc. They're seen as mean and unkind. And by the end, I don't know if Kiri gets help. I don't know if we're supposed to want her to get help, though I do. I'm not the author. I don't know the intent behind this awakening-of-a-flower-child story. I don't feel comfortable ascribing motivation to a person I've never met.

I do know that I'm concerned. I do know that I'm still very puzzled. I do know that Wild Awake was not my cup of tea at all. However, I also know that should Ms. Smith venture to write a more... shall we say, grounded tale with more plot and less woah, I will certainly check it out. Anyone who nicknames her love interest "brontosaurus of love" and "love-bison" earns my attention.

Favorite (Non-Spoilery) Quote(s):

I can't help it. I am an Eyebrow Person from a tribe of Eyebrow People; I raise my eyebrows.

Every time Skunk moves, I catch that scent again, peeling paint and citrus. He smells like an old ladder left out in the sun.

Points Added For: Gorgeous writing, the phrase "brontosaurus of love."

Points Subtracted For: Not making much of anything happen, a character that goes completely off the rails with no clear sign that she ever gets back on them, making me feel queasy.

Good For Fans Of: Wildly inventive imagery, manic pixie dream girls, literary contemporaries, a focus on character instead of plot.

Notes For Parents: Language, making out, sex, underage drinking, drug use, possible romanticization/glamorization of mental illness/drug use/drinking.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Rewind & Review (9)

2013-05-19T02:00:00.000-04:00

Here we are at the second weekly Rewind & Review EVER. I hope you all are liking this new timing better. It's certainly a lot easier on me. So yes, check out the stuff that happened over the last week. I went a little review-wild (for me, anyways), and my discussion post at the end of the week got some GREAT comments, so be sure to chime in.

Blog Posts You Might Have Missed

Review: Insomnia by J.R. Johansson
Wishlist Wednesday #28 (Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick)
2-for-1 Review of Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder and Furious by Jill Wolfson
Author Behavior

I had a GREAT stuff week this week. My very first Better World Books package arrived this week and brought with it two Ally Carter hardcovers and two highly recommended books - all for $20! Also, Disney and MacMillan tag-teamed to make my review stack nice and sparkly this week. Preeeetty.

Stuff I Bought

Sabriel by Garth Nix
The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein
Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

Stuff I Received

Alienated by Melissa Landers (from the publisher)
An exclusive nine-chapter excerpt of United We Spy by Ally Carter (from the publisher)
Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts (Edelweiss)

A big thanks to Better World Books, Disney Hyperion, and MacMillan for my pretties!

This week, I tried to be more cognizant of interesting things floating about on the interwebs. This is by no means a conclusive list, but rather a collection of little things that caught my attention, as well as a few personal notes. Enjoy!

Miscellaneous Happenings

Mother's Day! It was cool. We had pizza.
Sarah J. Maas, author of the Throne of Glass series, just announced another series, and it sounds amazing.
Ally Carter released the cover and title of the final Gallagher Girls book. I just have a speck of dust in my eye; don't mind me.
A guy wrote in to advice columnist Carolyn Hax to complain about his wife who - gasp! - enjoyed reading YA lit. Ms. Hax then proceeded to rain down fire upon the snob.
The fam and I watched Iron Man 3. It rocked my socks.
The movie poster for Catching Fire was released.
Jay Kristoff released the new cover and synopsis for the sequel to Stormdancer, Kinslayer. He also has a blog hop going on with a chance to win great prizes!
Apparently, New Adult is a category on Amazon now? (hat tip to BEA roomie Hannah)
Laini Taylor announced the title of the third book in her Daughter of Smoke & Bone series (and it's pretty cool)
One of my store coworkers is pregnant!
Star Trek 2 came out! Still haven't seen it yet, but SOON.
The season finale of Doctor Who aired. (I haven't seen it yet. Shhhh.)
Yahoo! may or may not being buying Tumblr. Ugh.

Well, that's my week! If you all have any wrap-up posts of your own, be sure to link up at the top of the page. Also, I'd love to hear all about your week in the comment, so say hello. :)

Author Behavior

2013-05-17T02:00:00.000-04:00

A lot has been made about proper and improper author behavior. A lot is being said, and I'm sure the talk will continue for as long as there are authors to talk about. It seems like every week, some author is getting himself or herself in a jam.

Given my area of the universe, I most often hear about authors behaving badly when it comes to negative reviews. There is story after story after story of authors flipping out when their "baby" (their book, not their actual child) is received negatively by reviewers and bloggers.

Posts after post has been written about this subject. Advice has been given by people much wiser than I. Yet authors continue to make dumb choices, and to be honest, I understand why. They're people. They're people with feelings and egos just like the rest of us, and some of them simply don't consider the fact that when they send their books off to be published it is no longer merely their "baby."

But I don't want to rehash all that. Anyone wishing to know how to deal with negative criticism need merely conduct a simple Google search. The advice is out there. Instead, I want to talk about good author behavior and how it has affected me.

I am very fortunate in that I have yet to meet a bad author. I know many of my blogger friends are not so lucky, which makes me all the more grateful. Every author I have interacted with has been, at the very least, professional and polite, while many go above and beyond that simple benchmark.

I was thinking extra-hard about this topic last week as I drove home from the library. With BEA coming up and review copies eyeing me balefully from every corner of my room, I don't really have time to go requesting extra books from the library, but for these two books I made an exception.

Many of my favorite authors will attend BEA at the end of May, and I sincerely long to meet them all. Also attending are Claire LeGrand and Susan Dennard. Ms. LeGrand is responsible for The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, a delightfully squeamish MG, and Ms. Dennard is responsible for Something Strange & Deadly, a historical YA zombie tale. If you fail to see how this ties into author behavior, just hang on for a minute.

I shouldn't have time to read an MG. I am primarily a YA blogger. I also shouldn't have time to read a zombie YA, as this particular book is one I tried to read over a year ago and stopped, as I was in a funk and couldn't click with the book. But for over a year now, I have followed and interacted with both Ms. LeGrand and Ms. Dennard on Twitter. Though I am just a floating pair of glasses and had not read either of their books, they are both unfailingly polite, personable, and accessible. I have watched, and both have handled their criticisms (both good and bad) with aplomb. No blow-ups, no freak-outs, no tirades.

Good author behavior barely makes a blip on anyone's radar, as it is not nearly as sensational as bad author behavior. Good author behavior is also what is expected. It's like applauding someone for washing their hands before dinner. Washing your hands before eating isn't something out of the ordinary.You just do it. And yet when a person is conscientious, professional, and polite, people notice. I notice. Good author behavior has gained both Ms. Dennard and Ms. LeGrand a personal fan, and I hope to soon upgrade my status to a rabid, book-buying fan. In fact, this last weekend I read Cavendish specifically because I like Ms. LeGrand, and I ADORED the book.

In the same way, I interact with both Jessica Khoury and Amy Tintera. Both are debut authors. Both have written books that I've read and reviewed (Origin and Reboot, respectively). Unfortunately, I disliked/failed to connect with both books. They weren't awful books, but I didn't enjoy myself and don't really plan to read either book again. However, when Ms. Khoury and Ms. Tintera inevitably come out with other books, I will at least feel a spark of interest. Why? Good author behavior. Both ladies are - again - polite, personable, and accessible. To my knowledge, neither are drama queens nor prone to tirades or pity parties (at least not in public). I associate only good things with both their names, and as authors, their names are their brands. As such, I will be more likely to pay attention to their books and talk up their work to my customers, my followers, and my friends.

Good author behavior impacts the bottom line. I'm not saying an author has to be my bestie for me to check out his or her books. However, authors who put themselves out there and unfailingly show their best side to the world will gain a larger following as a result. It doesn't matter how good a book is. If I hear that an author is pulling shenanigans, I won't waste my time or money supporting their endeavors.

So authors, treat people as you would like to be treated, both in person and online. And fellow readers, be sure to celebrate good author behavior. Like well-behaved children, our well-behaved authors plug away and watch as the spotlight passes by to shine (however harshly) on their more diabolical counterparts. If you know an author deserving of a friendly pat on the back, perhaps this is the week to do so. In fact, you can start right here.

If you know of an author that has influenced your reading/buying/following habits with their behavior, tell me in the comments!

2-for-1 Review: POISON STUDY and FURIOUS

2013-05-16T02:00:00.000-04:00

Furious by Jill Wolfson

Three high school girls become the avenging Furies of Greek legend.

We were only three angry girls, to begin with. Alix, the hot-tempered surfer chick; Stephanie, the tree-hugging activist; and me, Meg, the quiet foster kid, the one who never quite fit in. We hardly knew each other, but each of us nurtured a burning anger: at the jerks in our class, at our disappointing parents, at the whole flawed, unjust world.

We were only three angry girls, simmering uselessly in our ocean-side California town, until one day a mysterious, beautiful classmate named Ambrosia taught us what else we could be: Powerful. Deadly. Furious.

With its unnecessary prologue and stereotypical evil foster mom, Furious almost lost me in the very beginning. Fortunately, I did stick around and finish the book. Objectively, what I found was an interesting philosophical study. Subjectively... well, I'll get to that in a second.

What is true justice? Is it the eye-for-an-eye practice of ancient times? Is it the more benevolent justice refined by acts of forgiveness and mercy? How is justice enacted? Who enacts it? It's an interesting puzzle, if a bit muddled in the climax. Ms. Wolfson does a fabulous job of showing the seductive nature of vengeance. At first, vengeance feels right. It might even create something good. Attractive and addictive, the desire for revenge makes the justice-seeker feel powerful and in control. But instead, those who hunger for revenge are no more in charge than a junkie seeking her next fix.

So yes, from a philosophical standpoint, Furious was interesting. However, despite Ms. Wolfson's best efforts, I found I didn't care about the fates of the girls or their victims. I never connected with Meg, and I certainly had nothing in common with vindictive tree-hugger Stephanie or pugilistic surfer Alix. It is for this reason that I have very little to say in this review. However, I urge you all to try it for yourself, for I suspect the story and the characters will connect with you much better than they did with me.

Note: I received a physical ARC of Furious from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

Another short review, this time for a story with wasted potential that made me so very angry. The synopsis sounded incredibly promising, and I know many people across the blogosphere who adore Yelena's story. I was not one of them.

It's so sad. I wanted to join in the magic with everyone else, and at the beginning, I thought I would be able to. The opening of Poison Study was very reminiscent of that of The Thief, one of my favorite books. I also thought the world presented was fascinating. Though a fantasy kingdom, Ixia reads more like a dystopian regime. It is split into numbered military districts and ruled by the all-powerful Commander. However, unlike most dystopian realms, the Commander instills values that we as readers know we should applaud. In Ixia, laws are unbending no matter the circumstances involved, but that also means that bribes and nepotism are unheard of. Gender equality is also strongly encouraged.

My issues, I think, boil down to three main problems. First, I did not connect with Yelena as well as I would have liked. I found her to be inconsistent and almost colorless in places. I also found myself unmoved by the romance presented (though, to be honest, I'm hoping a reread very far in the future may help with that.)

Second, while there were unique aspects within the story, they did not combine to form a story that was unique overall. I was bored. I knew where everything was headed. And even when something did surprise me (hello, Commander tidbit), the surprise lasted only a moment before I was bored again. The stilted dialogue peppered throughout certainly didn't help matters.

Third, and this is the biggie, I was shocked and bothered by the amount of sexual violence present. While I understand that sexual violence must sometimes be tolerated in a book, especially when used as social commentary, that was not the case in Poison Study. It felt like Yelena was being cornered, attacked, assaulted, or otherwise threatened at every turn, past the point of usefulness and well into gratuitousness. I was disgusted and bored.

Once again, many readers disagree with me, so go ahead and check it out for yourself. However, I doubt this one will ever worm its way into my heart.

Wishlist Wednesday #28

2013-05-15T02:00:00.000-04:00

Hosted by Pen to Paper

In addition to the P-38, there are four gifts, one for each of my friends. I want to say good-bye to them properly. I want to give them each something to remember me by. To let them know I really cared about them and I'm sorry I couldn't be more than I was—that I couldn't stick around—and that what's going to happen today isn't their fault.

Today is Leonard Peacock's birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather's P-38 pistol.

But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school's class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

In this riveting book, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made—and the light in us all that never goes out.

Not gonna lie, this one makes me very, very nervous. It's one thing to follow the story of a boy who ultimately commits suicide. That's sad, but somehow bearable. Following the story of a boy planning a murder-suicide, however, is a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

And yet, I'm still interested. I want to know what happens. I want to know what the secrets are. I want to know why the title addresses Leonard despite the book being from Leonard's point of view. I wanna know! And I want to see how Mr. Quick portrays Lauren, the Christian homeschooler. As a Christian who was homeschooled, I'm a stickler about that sort of thing.

What do you think about this book? And what are you wishing for this week?

Review: INSOMNIA by J.R. Johansson

2013-05-13T03:00:00.000-04:00

It’s been four years since I slept, and I suspect it is killing me.

Instead of sleeping, Parker Chipp enters the dream of the last person he’s had eye contact with. He spends his nights crushed by other people’s fear and pain, by their disturbing secrets—and Parker can never have dreams of his own. The severe exhaustion is crippling him. If nothing changes, Parker could soon be facing psychosis and even death.

Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that is utterly addictive. Parker starts going to bizarre lengths to catch Mia’s eye every day. Everyone at school thinks he’s gone over the edge, even his best friend. And when Mia is threatened by a true stalker, everyone thinks it’s Parker.

Suffering blackouts, Parker begins to wonder if he is turning into someone dangerous. What if the monster stalking Mia is him after all?

I finished this book over twenty-four hours before writing this review, and I'm still flailing. I've been stuck in a DNF rut over my past few reads. Nothing was grabbing me. The books I was reading weren't bad, but I was bored. But from the moment I picked up Insomnia, I was stuck to the page. The voice was authentic and natural, the writing flowed smoothly, and I was interested in the setup from the first paragraph.

Parker is one messed-up dude. He doesn't sleep - hasn't slept, in fact, for four years. While he is physically asleep, his mind enters the dream of the last person he made eye contact with the day before. Though such powers might, in theory, seem like an awesome trick, Parker is dying. Literally. His mind is unable to rest. It's breaking down, hurried along by the horrors he witnesses when he closes his eyes.

Parker's dream world is nuts. From what he can tell, dreams are made up of multiple layers of the subconscious. Different thoughts, feelings, emotions, desires, scenes, and memories stack on top of each other to create the dreams we remember (and some of the ones we don't). The things Parker learns about how people really are in their dreams versus how they portray themselves to others is fascinating! When Parker enters a dream, he enters the ones closest to reality, but the other layers seethe just beneath the surface, battering him and making it impossible for him to rest. The worst dreams are the ones built out of memories. Those have the sharpest emotions, the most vivid scenes. They're also the dreams where Parker sees the worst things, such as the murder at the beginning of the book.

When the book opens, Parker is at the end of his resources. He is literally dying. Unable to rest and form connections, his brain has begun to break down. There's no way to warn his mom (who thinks he's on drugs) or his best friends, Finn and Finn's little sister Addie. As someone who greatly values her sleep, I ached for Parker. Being sleep deprived is no joke. My heart broke every time he mentioned not making it to graduation or fretting over what his mother would do once he was gone.

I was so invested in this boy from the beginning. I felt for him and his mom, who was still reeling from her husband's disappearance four years prior. I also adored his friends. Finn is a complete joy. He's funny and supportive, reminding me a lot of Howie from I Hunt Killer. The main difference between Finn and Howie, however, is that Finn never once annoyed me. His little sister Addie also had me on her side from her first appearance. She's pretty, funny, independent, and clearly crushing on Parker, though not in a cloying way. I have never before taken to a female love interest as quickly as I took to Addie.

However, even if Parker were willing to date his best friend's sister (and, you know, not currently dying), his attention is irretrievably captured by the new girl in school, Mia. Mia's dreams are unlike any other. They're simple, peaceful, and contain only one layer, allowing Parker to truly sleep for the first time in years. But he can only enter her dreams if she is the last person he looks in the eye before falling asleep, so he goes to noticeable lengths to ensure his own pleasant dreams at her expense.

May I pause here and say that while I wasn't completely sold on Mia as a character (more on that in a minute), I LOVED her anti-Bella stance when it came to Parker. Rather than be intrigued by him, she found his hovering ways to be creepy and told him that his attentions were unwelcome multiple times. You go, girl! Hovering, possessive creepiness is not okay!

Unfortunately, Parker doesn't listen. Mia begins acting strangely, avoiding Parker and even dissolving into hysterics when he appears outside her work after closing one night. Through Addie, Parker learns that Mia has attracted a particularly vicious stalker... and she thinks that that stalker is Parker. Worse, Parker can't say that she's wrong. He wakes to find his window open, items are moved in his sleep, and he begins to see people who may not - cannot - be real.

Shivers, you guys, shivers. I haven't been this tense over a book in a long time. The psychological aspect was simultaneously fascinating and terrifying. I truly couldn't tell whether Parker and his "Darkness" were responsible for Mia's terror or not. The story is told through Parker, and his tenuous grasp on reality makes him a most unreliable narrator.

I only have two gripes with this story. First, several characters make truly nonsensical choices. For instance, when Mia receives intimate, possessive death threats from her stalker, does she tell the police? No. Though she's pretty sure she knows who's sending them does she offer up this information to an authority figure or request a restraining order? No! Or when Parker notices a creepy and possibly imaginary dude he nicknames Blind Skull following him around, does he use his gift/curse to get inside the guy's head? No! It never even comes up!

Second, I'm still fuming over the raw deal Mia receives. That poor girl just can't catch a break. She's betrayed one way or another by pretty much every character in the book. And though things end with the close of the book, I never felt like Mia received any justice. Baaaad things happen, but there was very little closure and very little healing made available for her. In the end, she felt more like a plot device than anything, which is not okay.

All in all, though, I still come down on the side of fangirling. Make no mistake, Insomnia falls firmly in the category of Mature YA. It is a DARK book. (Word to the wise: When a book is titled Insomnia, involves dreams, and has a creepy shattered face on the cover, reading it before sleeping is not the best idea.) But it is also a well-written, thrilling, utterly suspenseful chillfest that I gobbled down in less than twenty-four hours. Go forth and gobble!

Favorite (Non-Spoilery) Quote:

"I had a nightmare a few times last year. I thought about telling you but I never did. It started out on an island, tell me what happened."

"I know I saw that one." I closed my eyes and tried hard to remember the details. "The island was deserted. I don't know how you got there, but there was this cruise ship that picked you up and it was haunted. A bunch of undead freaks turned you into one of them and made you entertain them."

I stopped there because I didn't want to embarrass him. It had been the creepiest rendition of "Copa Cabana" I'd ever seen.

Points Added For: The psychological suspense, the fascinating premise, a short but powerful moment illustrating the timely subject of rape and how a lack of a "no" doesn't mean "yes," FINN, wrapping things up nicely but still leaving me excited for a sequel, Parker's mom. (I just liked her, okay?)

Points Subtracted For: Brilliant flashes of stupidity, Mia's treatment.

Good For Fans Of: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga, psychological thrillers.

Notes For Parents: Murder, molestation, light language, talk/impending threat of rape (no actual rape), violence, domestic abuse.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Rewind & Review (8)

2013-05-12T02:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome one and all to the very first weekly Rewind & Review! Per your votes last month, I've decided to post Rewind & Review more frequently to avoid those snarly bought-books lists that have been weighing me down the past few months. What can I say, I love thrift stores! Of course, anyone who wants to keep their recaps to once a month may do so. Just join in for the last R&R of the month rather than every week.

Some people might wonder, if I'm moving to a weekly meme, why I don't just join an already established meme like Stacking the Shelves or one of the others that cover a similar function as Rewind & Review. Simply, I like my button. I like my style. I like my format. Perhaps I miss out on some of the "exposure" my blog could get my joining others in an established meme, but that's okay. This is for me.

Let's dive straight into it, shall we? To cover what's happened since that last monthly R&R, I have to highlight the last week and a half, but I'm sure it won't be too overwhelming. ;-)

Blog Posts You May Have Missed

Wishlist Wednesday #27 (Game by Barry Lyga)
I Listen To Audiobooks Now!
Happy Star Wars Day!
Review: Transparent by Natalie Whipple
American Girl Nostalgia
Top 10 Tuesday - Light/Fun Books
BEA Goals
Cover Love #28 (Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts)

I've gotten better at discussion posts, which has been a great relief. I don't want to be a meme-heavy blog. Hopefully, the discussions have been ones that you all have enjoyed. If there's a topic you'd like me to cover, let me know!

Stuff I Received

Two Lies and a Spy by Cat Carlton
Earthfall by Mark Walden
The Year of Shadows by Claire LeGrand
Backwards by Todd Mitchell
Not a Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis
The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

Click to enlarge

Stuff I Bought

Journey Under the Sea (Choose Your Own Adventure #2) by R.A. Montgomery
The Crooked House by Agatha Christie
The Under Dog and Other Stories by Agatha Christie
Kaiulani: The People's Princess (Royal Diaries)
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Diary of Hattie Campbell (Dear America)
My Heart Is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl (Dear America)
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Anne of the Island (Anne of Green Gables #3) by L.M. Montgomery
Rainbow Valley (Anne of Green Gables #7) by L.M. Montgomery
Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon
Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2) by Diana Gabaldon
Voyager (Outlander #3) by Diana Gabaldon
The Akhenaten Adventure (Children of the Lamp #1) by P.B. Kerr
A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle #1) by Libba Bray
Dogsong by Gary Paulsen
Amelia's 6th-Grade Notebook by Marissa Moss
The Borrowers Afloat (Borrowers #3) by Mary Norton
Aliens Don't Wear Braces (Bailey School Kids #7) by Debbie Dadey
Sea Monsters Don't Ride Motorcycles (Bailey School Kids #40) by Debbie Dadey
Angels Don't Know Karate (Bailey School Kids #23) by Debbie Dadey
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Stuff I Won

Numbers by Rachel Ward (from Jenn @ JennReneeRead)

A big thanks to Jenn, Ashley and Sunny (for going thrift store hunting with me), Candlewick, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster for all my pretties this week!

I'm going to do better at the following section last week, since I just came up with it last night, but here are some of the miscellaneous happenings from the past week, both for me personally and the book world in general.

Miscellaneous Happenings

Started listening to the Hunger Games audiobook and it's ah-maaaazing!
Started a new Other Job (a promotion of sorts)
Took a bookish friend thrift store shopping with me and Sunny
The FTC announced new rules concerning review copies, and everyone flipped out
Saw Iron Man 3 with the fam and it was AWESOME
Elizabeth Wein and Disney released the cover for Rose Under Fire, the companion to Code Name Verity
Tried to prioritize my sightseeing plans during BEA (my head exploded)
Veroina Roth released the cover for Allegiant (I didn't care)
My baby brother graduated from college (and I felt old)
John Green announced the casting choice for the movie version of Augustus

So there you have it. That's my week! Now it's your turn. How was your week? Anything awesome or awful? Did you get pretty things? Did you conquer a class or embark on something new? I want to hear all about it. :)

Cover Love #28

2013-05-09T03:00:00.000-04:00

A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings

The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that's left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.

Alexandra Coutts's TUMBLE & FALL is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.

If you'd asked me, I would have said that this cover went to a slow-paced, probably angsty contemporary. Modern clothing, a boy nuzzling a girl's neck. Contemporary! And yet I would have been entranced despite myself. I love their outfits, their expressions, the colors, the falling yellow glitter things, the FONT! I love it all.

And then I read that it's about the end of life on Earth (thanks to a rogue asteroid), which I wouldn't have guessed at all from the cover, and yet it fits. The falling sparkles, the way she's staring up, everything fits somehow. And yet the focus always goes back to him and to her, because while the asteroid might be the catalyst, the heart of the story is the relationships.

What do you think of this cover? And what cover are YOU loving this week?

BEA Goals

2013-05-08T03:00:00.000-04:00

If you all know me at all, you know that I like to organize things. I NEED to organize. Lists help me think and function, which is really helpful when it comes to planning for events in my life that incite high levels of emotion. And nothing is currently inciting high levels of emotion in me like BEA 2013.

BEA carries a lot of firsts for me. It will be my first time at a professional conference, first time in NYC, first time rooming with an Australian, first time meeting other people as a blogger, first time interacting face-to-face with publishing professionals, first time out of state on my own. (I've been out of the country all by myself, but never out of the state. It's scarier, somehow.)

I've been reading like a madwoman on different blogs to gather together the best tips and tricks for packing, what to expect when at BEA, what to see in NYC, etc. I've even put together an itinerary of the autograph signings I want to attend and programmed it into my phone, complete with times, locations, and pre-set alarms.

One thing I really need to get on top of, though, are the things that I have to do before I leave (as opposed to once I'm there), so I was super-excited when I came across a BEA Goals post on Hobbitsies. The point of a BEA Goals post is to list all the things that need to be done before leaving for BEA so that they'll be in one place and public, thereby keeping the goal-maker accountable. The biggest point of the post seems to be listing books that the blogger wants to read before going to BEA so that they'll be fresh and ready to dig into whatever books they receive in NYC.

Tara, the creator of Hobbitsies, borrowed the idea from April of Good Books and Good Wine, and I in turn am borrowing it from her.

Books I'd Like to Have Read Before BEA:

Furious by Jill Wolfson
The Rules For Disappearing by Ashley Elston
Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith
You Look Different in Real Life by Jennifer Castle
Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross
In the After by Demitria Lunetta
Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard
The Cavendish Home For Boys & Girls by Claire LeGrand

It's not a huge list, but I only read 1-2 books a week, so I'll be pushing it right down to the wire. The first six are review books that release either the month before or the month after BEA. I'd like to have them at least read before I go so that they get their fair shake before I come home with an armload of new review books. The last two are books by authors that I'll hopefully meet at BEA. I've interacted with both authors on Twitter, and they're both ridiculously nice. I've also heard great things about their books, so I want to have them read and firmly cemented in my head so I can gush when I meet the authors in NYC!

Other Things I Need To Do:

~~Create a way to identify myself~~
~~Design and order business cards~~
~~Buy more business casual clothes~~
Buy a business card holder
Buy a straightener
Preschedule posts
Print out some resumes (because you just never know!)
Make a packing list
Make a sightseeing list

As you can see, I've already gotten a head start on this part of my planning. I was worried that it would be hard to find and connect with fellow bloggers at BEA since it's not like anyone knows what I look like, so I ordered a big lapel button with my Twitter avatar on it. Between the familiar picture and my badge (which lists me as "Shelver M."), I figure I have my bases covered. After much whining, complaining, and general anguished flailing, I also designed and ordered business cards.

~~I need to buy some clothes for the trip, as the unspoken dress code is "business casual" and my wardrobe needs a revamping anyways.~~ [Completed this one in the time between scheduling this post and actually posting it!] I also need a cheap straightener, as I doubt Sunny will let me take hers with me, and my bangs take on a life of their own without proper handling. Prescheduling posts is a must, because while I'll let the blog take a little break while I'm out of town, I'll have to start back up again when I get back, and there's no WAY I'll want to write a week's worth when I get back in town. And I need to have some crisp resumes ready to go, because I do want to make connections while at BEA, and if one of them gets me started in the right direction career-wise, so be it!

And lastly, surprise surprise, I need to make more lists. :)

Top 10 Tuesday: Light/Fun Books

2013-05-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Normally when I create a list for TTT, I'll write down an answer, then explain myself before moving on to the next answer. This week, I think it's necessary to switch it up. So don't worry, I'm not one of those people who just slaps ten things on a page and calls it a day. Just keep scrolling, my friends.

- Gallagher Girls series* by Ally Carter

- Heist Society series by Ally Carter

- Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot

- Croak by Gina Damico

- The Ghost and the Goth series by Stacey Kade

- The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

- Leviathan series by Scott Westerfield

- The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

- The Princess Academy** by Shannon Hale

- Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

The above ten items are ones that were written down as they popped into my head or were culled form my reviews or physical bookshelf. In putting together this list, I made several interesting observations.

1. Though I enjoy humor and happy things, I tend toward more intense reading materials. My books tend to be dark, intense, harrowing, angsty, scary, or just otherwise not light and happy-go-lucky. I'm okay with that. I like books that deal with deep things and/or keep me glued to the edge of my seat.

2. Apparently, if I do bother to read a light/fun book, it's probably going to be contemporary. Though nearly all have some other bent (paranormal, steampunk, hijinks, whatever), only three books on my list are NOT set in the present day. Of those three, two are set in an alternate version of our past (Leviathan and Etiquette & Espionage) and only one is truly in another world (The Princess Academy).

3. Many of my "happy reads" are either MGs or MG in feel. For instance, Leviathan, The Princess Academy, and Etiquette & Espionage are shelved in YA, but all three felt distinctly MG to me.

4. I really, really like Ally Carter. She makes me happy.

*Note: Though The Gallagher Girls definitely starts out light and fun, the books become progressively darker and more intense.

**Note: The Princess Academy isn't "light," per se, but rather soft and comfortable, like a beautiful fairy tale.

What about you? What are your light and happy reads?

American Girl Nostalgia

2013-05-06T03:00:00.000-04:00

There are some days when the English vocabulary seems endless, as if there couldn't be one more word created. Then on other days, it's like there aren't nearly enough words in the world. For instance, what's the word for when you remember a piece of your past that you completely forgot and then it all comes rushing over you in this crashing wave of nostalgia?

Is there a word for that, because I need it. That particular sensation happens to me often. One week it's triggered by old Disney Channel movies like Johnny Tsunami and Smart House. The next, I'm floating in a pool of feelings over the old Nickelodeon Magazines. (Did anyone else enjoy finding Zelda the dog in each issue, or was that just me?)

Two weeks ago, my trigger was the American Girl dolls. There was a big stink about the company shelving the historical dolls in favor of more modern stories like Lainie the gymnast and Saige the organic gardener. Ick. Turns out the article in question was more than a bit sensationalist, but that didn't save me from my trip down memory lane.

For those of you who did not grow up with the company, American Girl is known for two things, their absurdly priced dolls and the accompanying books that tell those dolls' stories. Back in the day, there were five dolls:

Felicity Merriman (1774) - Felicity's adventure is set during the Revolutionary War. She must balance loyalty to her family (Patriots) with her loyalty to her friend Elizabeth, who is a Loyalist. She also learns that sometimes standing up for what's right can be hard, such as when she frees her beloved horse Penny from the abusive Mr. Nye. American Girl characterized her as "independent," "loyal," and "spirited."
Kirsten Larson (1854) - A Swedish immigrant to Minnesota, Kirsten teaches that home is not where you live, but where your family is. She also learns how to gain the trust of others, such as when she befriends Singing Bird. American Girl characterized her as "steadfast" and "brave."
Aduke "Addy" Walker (1864) - When Addy's father and brother are sold, Addy and her mother run away to New York to live new lives away from the oppression of the plantation. Addy teaches hard work, perseverance, and the importance of equality as she and her mother strive to unite their family in the sometimes bigoted world of the North. American Girl characterized her as "courageous" and "strong."
Samantha Parkington (1904) - Samantha is an orphan living with her wealthy grandmother, Grandmary, in Edwardian America. Samantha teaches charity through her steadfast friendship with child laborer Nelly, and also gives a peek at changing times through her interactions with her adventurous Uncle Gardner and Aunt Cornelia. American Girl characterized her as "compassionate" and "kind."
Molly McIntire (1944) - Molly is our window into World War II. With a father off to war and an English war refugee living in her room, Molly struggles to make sense of her ever-changing world. She teaches patriotism and vigor by starting a can drive and starring in a war relief tap dance. American Girl describes her as "lively" and "patriotic."

A few years later, other dolls were added while I was still part of the target audience:

Kaya'aton'my "Kaya" (1764) - Kaya is the first (and thusfar only) Native American doll in the line. A headstrong Nez Perce girl, Kaya teaches bravery and loyalty as she helps save her blind sister from drowning and later runs for help when both girls are kidnapped by a rival tribe. American Girl characterized her as "adventurous" and "daring."
Maria Josefina "Josefina" Montoya (1824) - A Mexican girl living just outside Santa Fe, Josefina is one of the shyer American Girls. She teaches how to be brave in spite of one's fears, such as when she helps save her family's garden from the summer storms, despite being afraid of lightning. American Girl characterized her as "caring" and "hopeful."
Kit Kittredge (1934) - Named for one of her father's favorite songs, "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag," Kit must do exactly that when her father loses his job during the Great Depression. Kit teaches resourceful and compassion as she and her friends learn to make do with less and help out a young hobo named Will. American Girl characterized her as "resourceful" and "clever."

I was just edging out of American Girl by the time Kit came along, so I missed later historical girls such as Caroline (1812), Cecile and Marie-Grace (1853), Rebecca (1914), and Julie (1974).

I loved the American Girl books as a kid. We owned all of them, six books for each character. They're still on the shelf in our schoolroom. Though the stories were formulaic (there was a "Meet" book, a school book, a Christmas book, a springtime book, a summer book, and a winter book), I loved them because I learned so much. Of course, each book taught me about that particular period in time, but I learned so many little things, too.

Felicity taught me that witch hazel could be used on injuries (a fact that I later put to great use while playing Oregon Trail). Kirsten taught me the barter system. Josefina taught me Spanish pronunciation! These little bits and pieces weren't major lessons, but they're still things I remember over a decade later.

We didn't just get to know the girls. We learned about their families and friends as well. I usually dive straight into a book without worrying about the nonsense (table of contents, dedication, acknowledgements, introduction, etc.) at the beginning, but I loved studying the wall of portraits at the beginning of each book. Before the story even started, I knew who was going to be in it, what their names were, what they looked like, and how they related to the main character. I remember scowling at Eddie, smiling at Singing Bird, and wondering (even at age eight) if Felicity and Ben were EVER going to get together.

Like any savvy company, American Girl was right there to capitalize on my love of the stories. Who else could charge elementary-schoolers almost a hundred bucks for a doll in the '90s and get away with it? And of course, if you got the dolls, you had to get the accessorize. Those dolls had more clothing options than I did! I remember how exciting it was to receive one of the American Girl catalogues in the mail. I didn't buy much (one doll, one outfit, and a bed), but I loved looking through the pages and spotting little purchasable details from the stories, such as Kirsten's trunk or Addy's doll or Molly's dog.

Really, my American Girl doll was my first big purchase as a kid, coming long before my laptop or iPad. When I was about eight, I saved up all my money and purchased a Samantha doll. Now, you have to understand what this meant to me. When I was eight, I received a weekly allowance of $4. Of that $4, 40 cents went to missions, 40 cents went to tithe, and $1.60 went to savings, leaving me with $1.60 a week that I could spend on whatever I wanted. Woot. Outside of that $1.60 a week and whatever I received for birthdays and Christmas, I had no other income. I wasn't paid for chores. The "tooth fairy" had a going rate of a measly 50 cents per tooth. And nobody in my family was going to generously spring for a $90 doll "just because."

Even though I wasn't a doll person, I wanted my own American Girl doll. They were important to me. More importantly, I wanted a Samantha, because she had light skin like me and brown hair like me and she was smart and adventurous and she didn't have glasses like Molly. (My eyes were blessedly unblighted at that age.) So I saved up my measly $1.60 a week, plus my checks from relatives for birthdays and Christmases and whatever little offerings I received from my mom when I lost teeth and finally - FINALLY- bought myself a Samantha doll. Me. Eight-year-old little me with nothing but allowance and birthday money bought a $90 doll.

I didn't do much with her. She just sat in a corner, and every once in a while I dressed her up in the soccer uniform I bought for her once I got into the sport, but that was all. But it didn't matter. She was something I had worked hard for. She was my doll in a way that not even a doll made to look exactly like me could be. She taught me things.

That's why everyone was so upset to hear that American Girl was changing their focus, or at least that we thought they were. As "timely" as an organic gardener or a gymnast might be, they really can't compete with their historical counterparts. For while young (white, upper-middle-class) girls may be able to more easily relate on a superficial level to Lainie or Saige, they will be more engaged by Addie and her fight for equality or Samantha and her arguments on behalf of child laborers or Felicity and her love for animals.

Or at least that's what I tell myself. Nostalgia can be a pretty heady drug. At least it coordinates well with the Molly red shoulder-bag purse with snap closure and accompanying steel penny replica.

Review: TRANSPARENT by Natalie Whipple

2013-05-05T03:00:00.000-04:00

Plenty of teenagers feel invisible. Fiona McClean actually is.

An invisible girl is a priceless weapon. Fiona’s own father has been forcing her to do his dirty work for years—everything from spying on people to stealing cars to breaking into bank vaults.

After sixteen years, Fiona’s had enough. She and her mother flee to a small town, and for the first time in her life, Fiona feels like a normal life is within reach. But Fiona’s father isn’t giving up that easily.

Of course, he should know better than anyone: never underestimate an invisible girl.

I don't know if I've said this before, but I have a thing for invisible protagonists. I don't know why. Maybe because it's one of the rare superhuman abilities authors choose, or maybe it's just because I feel like there is more opportunity for sneakytimes with an invisible main character. I do love sneakytimes.

As the daughter of the head of a feared crime syndicate, Fiona has experienced her share of sneakytimes. In this alternate history of the world, scientists in the '50s created a pill called Radiasure to combat radiation poisoning from the inevitable nuclear fallout from the Cold War. The nuclear holocaust never occurred, but Radiasure created its own set of problems. The chemical compounds present caused mutations first in the generation directly exposed and then in their children and their children's children. Each generation became progressively more mutated or superpowered, so that while the first generation might have oddly pigmented hair, by the time Fiona's generation came to be, abilities like super-strength and flight were popping up around the nation.

Fiona's invisibility makes her the perfect tool for her Leck-like father. Daddy dearest controls the Radiasure market in the United States, which became a desired and highly illegal commodity after the mutations became more severe. Able to control any woman around him with a whiff of his intoxicating scent, Fiona's father keeps his territory under tight rein with the help of his super-powered women, including Fiona's mother, an incredibly talented telekinetic, and Fiona herself. Of course, there always has to be that one order that the faithful lackey can't follow, and when Fiona receives her, she and her mother run away to a tiny desert town.

I blame myself for not paying more attention to the synopsis. I expected a gritty and tense story about an invisible girl that focused on her Mafia-esque ties. I guess I expected more of an inner-city story, if that makes sense. It was my own fault for glossing over the part about the small town.

I had so many issues with this book. What's really bad is that they weren't major issues. With major issues, I feel like I can work myself up into a justifiable rage and bang out a sparking review. But, for me, Transparent's issues weren't major. They were just there and in such a quantity that they hindered my enjoyment of the story.

For instance, I had the hardest time connecting with any of the characters. I don't know how to explain it. It's like the psychology behind their motives were off. They didn't feel internally consistent. I wish I could give specific examples, but it's more one of those things that I can feel rather than explain. (I know, bad reviewer!) While I allowed myself to be (mostly) charmed by the characters who were supposed to charm me (like The Pack), I can't say that I felt any particular emotion when any of them were put in danger.

Even the two boys Fiona found herself interested in failed to really grab me. One was so nice as to be suspicious, so I never let myself trust him. The other one I think was going for a Mr. Darcy-type chemistry with his "misunderstood" attitude, but I just found him to be abrasive and jerky. Look, buddy, if you think a girl has a learning disability, ask her nicely. Asking her if she was dropped on her head as an infant and then trying to excuse yourself by saying you really meant your question is not okay. NOT OKAY.

Also, I expect some quality world-building in my books, so I was sadly disappointed by Transparent. Again, it wasn't that the world-building was bad. It just... wasn't there. Outside of the bare bones structure concerning Radiasure, I had no clue what Fiona's world was like. We're kept in her tiny desert bubble. I have no idea how what the social or class structure is like, how mutant abilities have changed the day-to-day goings on of life in America or anything.

Speaking of the mutant abilities, is it too much to ask that they make sense? I mean, not scientifically. Not having a detailed description of how the mutations work didn't bother me (even though a genetic mutation that lets someone know all known languages is impossible). What bothered me is the work-arounds that weren't accounted for. Take, for instance, Fiona's dad. As far as I can tell, his powers come from his pheromone-y scent. So couldn't you just plug your nose? And what about Fiona? She makes a big deal out of how she can't run from her dad or brother, but HELLO! YOU'RE INVISIBLE, WOMAN! Their reach only stretches so far. You and your mom didn't even leave the stinkin' state. Ugh.

Do you all understand why I'm grumpy? I don't think relatable characters, a small dose of world-building, some logic, and some internal consistency would be too much to ask for. I do think other readers will like this book. It's fun in its own way, and I don't think the things that bother me will bother everyone else. However, for me, this book was fun, lightweight, and ultimately forgettable.

Points Added For: The Pack as a whole, an interesting premise, superpowers, Miles.

Points Subtracted For: Paper-thin plot, a jerk of a love interest, scant world-building, plot holes.

Good For Fans Of: Superpowers, silliness.

Notes For Parents: Language, some kissing, some nudity (but she's invisible, so...)

Note: I received a digital ARC of this title from the publisher for review.

Happy Star Wars Day!

2013-05-04T08:52:00.001-04:00

It's not completely Star Wars-related, but you can't celebrate Star Wars without celebrating the man who gave us such icon music (as opposed to George Lucas, who gave us Jar-Jar). Hope this tribute put you in the right mood for the day.

Happy Star Wars Day, and May the Fourth be with you!

I Listen To Audiobooks Now!

2013-05-02T03:00:00.000-04:00

I listen to audiobooks now. Had you told me even six months ago that I would write that sentence with a straight face, I would have scoffed, but it's true.

For the first 22 years of my life, I could not understand the appeal of audiobooks. At all. I tried a few, but I was never able to finish any. The narration just killed me.

First of all, the narrators for first-person narrations rarely sounded like how I had imagined. They were too old, too young, too snarky, too flip, too whatever. And even if the voice itself was acceptable, I find myself shouting at the poor person when they fail to speak the lines exactly as I heard them in my head.

"No, you FOOL! Softly in that part, then quick to cover up your slip, then accent the now. Gosh. That's the only way that sentence can carry the impact intended."

And heaven help them if they mispronounce a word or - dear heavens - a name.

I tried to listen to the audiobook of The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie once and literally gave myself a headache from trying to realign the narration in my head. You all can see why audiobooks have been such a hard sell for me.

However, I currently have a nearly one-hour commute to and from work every day. I tried listening to the radio for a while, but one can only listen to so much radio before one's brain starts dripping out of one's ear. In case you were wondering, that limit is well below the nearly ten hours of driving I was doing per week.

I had previously listed to the first Princess Diaries book post-eye surgery and hadn't been horrified. So I picked up the audiobook of the second from the library and started to listen. Let me say first that Anne Hathaway is a freaking genius and I will gladly listen to anything she narrates forevermore. But those few weeks in the car with the second and third Princess books have revolutionized my time.

So far, I have listened to the first eight (out of ten) Princess Diaries books, as well as The Thief. There were some rough spots along the way. (PD changed hands from Anne Hathaway to Clea Lewis, and I scowled at the Thief narrator through the first half of the book.) However, I find myself growing more and more excited every time I think of another audiobook I can put on hold at the library. My drives are fun again. I don't even mind traffic jams anymore, because it all just counts as reading time now!

My list of potential holds thus far is as follows:

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot, books 9 and 10 (9 is on my end table right now, and I'll pick up 10 when I'm finished)
The Queen's Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, books 2 and 3 (book 4, A Conspiracy of Kings, isn't on audio at my library)
How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (because it's narrated by DAVID TENNANT!)
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (it just won an award)
Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama (ditto)

With the exceptions of The Princess Diaries and How To Train Your Dragon (both of which I saw in theaters), I'll be sticking with books I've already read. Given the hit-or-miss nature of audiobooks with me, I don't think it's fair to hinge my liking of a book on the narration of an actor.

Now I open the floor to you all. What do you think about audiobooks? And do you have any recommendations for me?

April Rewind & Review

2013-05-01T03:00:00.001-04:00

~~*~~

Happy May, everyone! Ah, May. May's going to be a great month. But April was pretty awesome in its own right. I read some amazing books, we talked about important bloggy things, and excitement over BEA hit an all-time high with the release of the autographing schedule. Read on to catch up on what you might have missed in the month of April.

My Reviews

Arclight by Josin McQuein (a freaking fantastic post-apocalyptic sci-fi that I LOVED)
Life After Theft by Aprilynne Pike (a decent story about a boy and his kleptomaniac ghost partner)
Reboot by Amy Tintera (a dystopic sci-fi that had its strengths and weaknesses)
The Loop by Shandy Lawson (snoresville teen Groundhog Day with more guns)
Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi (sequel to Shatter Me - loved parts, hated parts)

My Meme Posts

Top 10 Tuesday - Favorite Pre-Blogging Books
Cover Love #26 - Not a Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis
Top 10 Tuesday - REWIND (My Book Boyfriends)
Wishlist Wednesday #26 - Proxy by Alex London
Top 10 Tuesday - Books I Thought I'd Like More/Less Than I Did
Cover Love #27 - Marie Antoinette Serial Killer by Katie Alender
Blogger Spotlight - Emily's Reading Room
Top 10 Tuesday - My Automatic Hooks

My Other Fun Posts

The votes regarding the ReReadathon and a possible R&R rescheduling are in. Support solidly landed on the side of delaying the ReReadathon a bit, so we'll pass over it for May and reopen discussions later in the summer. People didn't really seem to care about R&R, so, for my own peace of mind, I'm going to make R&R a weekly event instead of monthly. Hopefully, that will cut down on lists like the ones you're about to read. [Also, no pictures again this time, because I accidentally deleted them. Sorry!]

Stuff I Bought

Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Case (Encyclopedia Brown #10) by Donald Sobol
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Stuart Little by E.B. White
From the Mixed-Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Heat by Mike Lupica
Catch Me If You Can by Fran W. Abagnale
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
The People of Sparks (Book of Ember #2) by Jeanne DuPrau
The Prophet of Yonwood (Book of Ember #3) by Jeanne DuPrau
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The Lost Jewels of Nabooth (Choose Your Own Adventure #4) by R.A. Montgomery
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
The Boy Next Door by Meggin (Meg) Cabot
Defiance by C.J. Redwine (ebook)
Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers (which Rachel @ Beauty and the Bookshelf got signed for me!)
Rowan Hood Returns (Rowan Hood #5) by Nancy Springer
The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen
Books 1-6 of the Samantha American Girl books
Catching Fire (Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

Stuff I Won

Amelia Bedelia (50th Anniversary Edition) from Greenwillow
Signed ARC of Blackout by Robison Wells (from the author)

Stuff I Received

A Stormdancer bookplate and signed bookmark from Jay Kristoff
Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson (from publisher via Edelweiss)
ARC of City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster (traded via YA Book Exchange)
Project Cain by Geoffrey Girard (from the publisher via Edelweiss)

I promise, I'm not the profligate spender I'm made out to be. I buy cheap, thrift store and bargain books. In the entire month of April, I bought only one new, non-bargain book, and that's because it was Dark Triumph. I gotta have Dark Triumph. Still, Sunny and I have decided to cut back our thrift store outings to once every other week. Our parents are undoubtedly grateful.

Now for the last list, the best list.

A Few Of My Favorite April Blog Moments

Squealing over BEA plans(!!)
Reading not just one but TWO stellar books (Arclight and Insomnia)
Getting to give away more goodies to followers
Being able to interview Sarah Skilton, because I ADORED Bruised
Watching others get excited over books thanks to my reviews, which is pretty stinkin' awesome
Swooning over amazing book boys with all of you :)
Learning that Graceling has been optioned (which means a possible Graceling movie!!)
Discovering Better World Books (more on that next month)

~~*~~

Much love and thanks to my local thrift store, Greenwillow, Jay Kristoff, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Allie, YA Book Exchange, Rachel, and Edelweiss for a rockin' month.

Then take all that love and gratitude and add an extra armful for all of you who read, visited, commented, tweeted, RT'd, and otherwise made me smile this past month. Are you ready for May?

Wishlist Wednesday #27

2013-05-01T03:00:00.000-04:00

Hosted by Pen to Paper

Billy grinned. “Oh, New York,” he whispered. “We’re gonna have so much fun.”

I Hunt Killers introduced the world to Jazz, the son of history’s most infamous serial killer, Billy Dent.

In an effort to prove murder didn’t run in the family, Jazz teamed with the police in the small town of Lobo’s Nod to solve a deadly case. And now, when a determined New York City detective comes knocking on Jazz’s door asking for help, he can’t say no. The Hat-Dog Killer has the Big Apple–and its police force–running scared. So Jazz and his girlfriend, Connie, hop on a plane to the big city and get swept up in a killer’s murderous game.

I'm practically dancing with impatience to get my hands on this book. Game, the sequel to I Hunt Killers, released earlier this month, and I've yet to get a copy. But I want it. Oh, how I want it!

I Hunt Killers was my favorite thriller from 2012 and was the only book all year that seriously terrified me. I loved the heady mixture of humor, psychology, and suspense. Now Jazz has to stop another psycho, and with Dear Old Dad on the loose, I expect to be frozen in fear for the entirety of the book.

Have any of you read I Hunt Killers or Game? What did you think? And what are you wishing for this week?

Top 10 Tuesday: My Automatic Hooks

2013-04-30T03:00:00.000-04:00

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Oooooh, this week was so hard for me. I feel like I have a million words and topics that will snag my interest in a book synopsis, which makes narrowing them down to ten difficult. However, I've realized in making this list that many of my hooks are very interconnected.

Attribution

Orphans
Examples: Oliver Twist, The False Prince, Shadow and Bone
Much is made of the inclination in YA and MG to kill off parents. While I'm not a fan of this trend in general (I think it's lazy), I do enjoy a story with an honest-to-goodness orphan a la Oliver Twist. Give me fantasy orphanages! Give me angst! Give me life on the streets! I like the hard scrabble journeys of an orphan kid carving out their niche in the world around them. And also, orphans often interact with...

Attribution

Thieves
Examples: The Thief, The False Prince, Scarlet, Thief's Covenant
I love thieves! Love them! I'd blame Megan Whalen Turner, but the title of The Thief is what attracted me to the book in the first place. I love thieves and their sneakiness and cleverness and potential moral crises. Unlike other criminals, thieves often have their own fascinating moral codes. Just look at Tamora Pierce's various thieves. Love 'em!

Attribution

Disguises
Examples: Rowan Hood, Alanna, Seven Daughter and Seven Sons
Why don't we have more books with disguises?! There are two subsets here that I adore. First, I love it when a girl disguises herself as a boy for various reasons. She'll struggle through secrecy issues and relationship issues on top of whatever else is going on in the story, because you know at some point she'll fall in love with someone who doesn't know her true identity. It's all so Mulan! The second subset is the Master of Disguise. Male or female, I love any character who can slip around unnoticed due to their sneaky ways with a makeup kit.

Attribution

Interplanetary travel
Examples: These Broken Stars, Across the Universe, Starglass
I don't want Earthbound sci-fi. I want sci-fi IN SPAAAAAAAACE! I want to visit other planets and meet interesting species and be chased by critters! Tell me that we're going to a new world, and I'm so there.

Attribution

Serial killers
Examples: I Hunt Killers, Project Cain, I Am Not A Serial Killer, Velveteen, The Name of the Star
Yes. Just... yes. Serial killers. They're not awesome in real life, but in fiction they're amazing.

Attribution

Fairy tale retellings
Examples: Beauty, Cinder, Entwined
I love fairy tales. I love retellings in general. Fairy tale retellings are the best. They take a tale nearly everyone is familiar with and turns it on its head. It could be that the tale is told from a different point of view, or is twisted to make the hero the villain and vice-versa, or is set in a different time or country.

Attribution

Assassins
Examples: Throne of Glass, Grave Mercy, Dark Triumph, Graceling
Even more than thieves, assassins make for AMAZING stories. By necessity, they must be even faster, stronger, sneakier, and deal with even more potent moral conundrums! Bonus points if poisons are strongly featured.

Spies/Con artists
Examples: Heist Society, Out of Sight, Out of Time, Also Known As
I stuck spies and con artists together because 1) I can't go over 10, and 2) they're often intertwined. Spies by nature of their work are often con artists, and con artists often spy on others as a way to learn more about their marks. I love the twistiness, the lies, the psychology, and the danger.

Attribution

Unreliable narrators
Examples: The Thief, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Code Name Verity, 17 & Gone
Okay, this one is totally on Megan Whalen Turner. Often, having an unreliable narrator is the only way for a book to truly surprise me with a twist. I'm too quick to guess what's going on otherwise. Of course, a book won't actually mention an unreliable narrator in the synopsis, but if I hear about one existing in a review, you better believe I'm going to go hunting for a copy of the book ASAP.

Attribution

Shapeshifter
Examples: Eragon, Tiger's Curse, Sisters Red
Since I'm not a fan of the typical paranormal story, I haven't read too many shapeshifter stories, but I like the idea in theory. Perhaps it's because shapeshifters can be the most epic mish-mash of Master of Disguise and spy ever invented?

I can't wait to read everyone's lists, and I'm sure I'll come across hooks that I'll kick myself for not including on my own list. But I'd like to know, do any of my picks resonate with you?

Review: UNRAVEL ME by Tahereh Mafi

2013-04-28T03:00:00.000-04:00

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

STOP. Below are spoilers for Shatter Me and Destroy Me. If you haven't read either of these books, DO NOT CONTINUE. Go back, read the books, then read this review. Okay, now you may continue.

Wait, I lied. Before you continue, you need to know this as well. There are many glowing reviews of Unravel Me floating around in the blogosphere. This is not one of them. I had some major issues with this book, and I may be snarky in my explanations. If your blood pressure can't handle it, walk away. However, if you can handle it, and you'd like to know of the many things I did like about this book, keep reading.

Unravel Me does several things very, very right, and it also does (in my opinion) several things very, very wrong.

RIGHT: Juliette's regression.

I found Juliette's regression in the beginning of the book to be completely fascinating. Though safe at Omega Point, the underground bunker's constricting spaces remind her too much of the asylum. With her movements watched and restricted, she begins to feel claustrophobic and falls back on her old behaviors. Being free of one's captors doesn't mean immediate emotional and psychological release, as sufferers of PTSD can attest. I thought the fact that Juliette didn't immediately turn into Wonder Woman after the close of Shatter Me was spot on.

WRONG: Juliette is a special snowflake.

But oh my gosh, did she have to be so emo!? Juliette whines constantly. She whines, she freaks out when people confront her, she apologizes what feels like every other page, and she stutters (often while apologizing!). Oh, and several times she declares that she should be dead or she should die or it's her destiny to die. Kenji (we'll get to him in a bit) does an excellent job of giving her a verbal slap to the face a couple times, but then she reverts back to her old ways.

Blow your nose, stop crying, stop running whenever you feel "overwhelmed," stop assuming everyone hates you (how self-centered is that!), and stop. freaking. stuttering. I stopped counting how many times I read some variation of "I-I'm s-so sorry! I'm so s-sorry! Oh my gosh, I'm so..."

It's funny, because Juliette displayed all of these behaviors (minus the stuttering) in Shatter Me, and it didn't bother me. I guess I was expecting some kind of progress after however many hundreds of pages. I got so annoyed that I even made a list.

Juliette is only good for:

1. Being emo

2. Apologizing

3. Flushing/crying

4. Keeping secrets (that blow up in her face)

5. Causing trouble

Sigh.

RIGHT: Twists!

Holy guacamole. Ms. Mafi KILLS IT with the twists. I couldn't stop reading. On every page, it felt like we were learning some new vital piece of information. Just when I thought I knew everything, THERE'S MORE! This right here is the reason most reviews won't talk about the actual plot of Unravel Me. Too many twists! Well, not too many. There's no such thing.

Look! I made you another list, this time of things we learn in Unravel Me. However, I only listed some of them. There are far, far more.

Things we learn:

Why Adam can touch Juliette

Why Warner can touch Juliette

How the special people's powers work

How Juliette got her notebook

How Kenji met Castle and joined Omega Point

Warner's first name(!)

Again, this is maybe only half the list. Be prepared to hyperventilate at least once during this book.

WRONG: Purple prose, so purple like the purple-y purple of the underside of a bruise...

Like Juliette's behaviors, the purple prose in Unravel Me was just as present in Shatter Me, but it didn't bother me there. In Unravel Me, I found myself skipping entire paragraphs of purple prose. I skimmed pages! I never skim pages in review books, but I did here. I just didn't care. There were plot twists to unravel and new information to discover. I didn't have time to listen to Juliette describe the sun five different ways.

That said, the purple pose does hit the sweet spot a few times, as it does in this passage:

So I have to remember that Warner and I are 2 different words.

We are synonyms but not the same.

Synonyms know each other like old colleagues, like a set of friends who have seen the world together. They swap stories, reminisce about their origins and forget that though they are similar, they are entirely different, and though they share a certain set of attributes, one can never be the other. Because a quiet night is not the same as a silent one, a firm man is not the same as a steady one, and a bright light is not the same as a brilliant one because they wedge themselves into a sentence changes everything.

RIGHT: Kenji

Squee, Kenji! Like Roar in Through the Ever Night, Kenji went from being a (for me) forgettable character in the first book to a beloved friend in the second. Kenji is awesome. He puts Juliette in her place and snaps her out of her funk when no one else can or will. He's funny and relaxed, but he's also very responsible and incredibly smart. I went from thinking he was annoying to freaking out whenever anyone tried to harm a hair on his precious head. (But Kenji, if you could cool it with the profanities, I would appreciate it. Much love, bro.)

WRONG: Adam

Ugh, Adam. I was never a big fan of yours. I know you're supposed to be this sensitive, kind, protective hunk of perfection, but I always found you pretty bland. I think the lack of James in this book hurt you, because that's when you were the most interesting. You followed Juliette down the mopey emo path, and it was not pretty.

Clearly, not everyone will agree with me, but that's how I feel. Also, I can't say how without dipping my toe into spoilery waters, but at one point in my reading I stopped and wrote in my notes: ADAM = BELLA. And I laughed uproariously.

RIGHT: Warner

Okay, that's so a lie.

Warneeeeeer! I know, I know, I'm biased, but I adored seeing more of my guy in this book. After reading Destroy Me, I wanted every page to be saturated with Warner. I didn't get my wish, but you can bet I enjoyed every moment he had "on screen."

I don't remember who said it, but I was talking with Twitter friends and someone said that while Warner might not have atoned for his sins in Unravel Me, he certainly made strides toward redemption. [Whoever you are, I'm sorry I forgot! Wave your hand and I'll give you credit.] We learn so much more about Warner, and I love him to pieces. To quote Molli Moran (@CourageousGrace), in Unravel Me, Warner and Juliette have proven to be much healthier and balanced together than clingy Adam and Juliette.

Also, HE HAS DIMPLES!

WRONG: Chapter Sixty-Two (and other similar passages).

Blasphemy, I know. 99% of you will adore the infamous Chapter Sixty-Two. I, however, found that chapter and similar "sexy" passages to be a little much. I felt voyeuristic! It made me uncomfortable. I prefer emotional connection, longing looks, and deep, heartfelt talks to romps in underwear. So maybe it's not wrong and just... wrong for me.

RIGHT: That ending!

Yep, the ending is awesome. First of all, there's quality Warner time that made me sigh and swoon. Forget Chapter Sixty-Two. I want his point of view for Chapters Sixty-Nine through Seventy-Three. Also, Juliette shows real strides toward ditching her fragile special snowflake persona. And lastly, the ending sets up some major drama in the next book. Like, I-don't-think-Juliette-can-talk-her-way-out-of-this-one drama.

~~*~~

So here's my heart in all this. I want you all to be prepared. I want you to take the wrongs and tuck them in your pocket or throw them away as you feel like it, but I want you to know they exist. That way when you read Unravel Me, you'll be prepared. If you're prepared, you'll be able to enjoy the rights to their fullest potential.

Points Added For: Read the post.

Points Subtracted For: Read the post.

Good For Fans Of: Shatter Me, lots and lots of twists, whiny MCs, love triangles.

Notes For Parents: Language, death, heavy making out (but no actual sex)

Blogger Spotlight - Emily's Reading Room

2013-04-26T03:00:00.000-04:00

Good Friday to you all! It's time for another Blogger Spotlight, where I introduce you to a blog that I adore in hopes that you will adore it as well. Today, our guest is Emily of Emily's Reading Room.

Fast Facts!

Name: Emily's Reading Room

Creator: Emily Ellsworth

Start Date: June 1, 2009

Number of GFC Followers: 1,351 (as of 4/20)

Post(s) That I Enjoyed: Her reviews are always excellent, but I also like her Blogger Confidential posts and her gorgeous Book Quote Printables.

~~*~~

Shelver: Hello! Would you please introduce yourself and your blog?

Emily: Hi! I'm Emily, the primary blogger behind Emily's Reading Room (with the name, I guess it makes sense). I'm a 20-something, I love to read, and I enjoy talking about my reading. Emily's Reading Room has been around since June 2009. I review primarily YA fiction, though I have recently got into a little bit of picture book spotlighting, and Kylie does quite a few middle grade reviews. So, we really try to cover the gambit of children's fiction.

Shelver: Why did you decide to start a blog, and how did you find each of your contributors?

Emily: I started the blog in 2009 primarily as a way of keeping track of what I was reading. At the time I naively thought that I was the only one who had ever thought of doing a book blog. Silly, I know. But, after a few months I connected with a few other bloggers and really got into the community.

As far as contributors, Kylie and Anna Rose are college friends of mine. We kept in touch via Facebook and they expressed interest in doing some reviews for me. Anna Rose has a blog of her own that she does crafty and home decor stuff on. Kylie has a family blog that is hilarious. Both of them had similar writing styles as I do, and I really love when they do reviews. Andy is also a college friend, oddly enough, and an aspiring writer. I really need to get on him to do some more reviews though. He's been slacking.

Shelver: Get on it, Andy!

What are your favorite genres?

Emily: If it's YA, I'm open to it. Though I definitely have an affinity for high fantasy series. Fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction are my favorites.

Shelver: High-five!

What are your least favorite genres?

Emily: I really don't read anything paranormal anymore. I never got on the paranormal train, and I'm pretty much over it by now. I also used to say that contemporary stuff was a non starter. But, lately a few titles have surprised and impressed me, so it might be time to take it off the list.

Shelver: I adore your Blogger Confidential feature. I can't tell you the number of times I've read answers to one of the topics and been overwhelmed with relief that it's not just me! How did you come up with the feature, and has there been a particular topic discussed that has helped you?

Emily: So, the feature is a kind of spin-off of Susan from Wastepaper Prose's Author Insight series. I loved the idea of having a lot of bloggers all answer the same question. Especially since not everyone agrees all the time. But, I'm happy with the success that the feature has had. There have been a couple questions (like the one on plagiarism or blogger envy) that have helped me get a little perspective. There are so many different ways to blog, and it's nice to have a diversity of opinion.

Shelver: Picture this: The world powers have convened and declared books in all forms to be illegal. You have fifteen seconds to hide your three favorite books. The rest will be seized and burned. Which three novels (books, not series) do you choose?

Emily:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

Shelver: Haha, I think you're the first person to give me a concise list with no grumbling about how sadistic I am!

Anything else you'd like us to know about you or your blog?

Emily: I always love visitors! Come stop by!

Shelver: Yes, everyone! Please do! Thanks, Emily. :)

~~*~~

Fly! Fly, my pretties! Spread out across the interwebs and converge upon Emily's Reading Room. It's a very homey, comfortable place, and I think each of you will find something you enjoy, especially if your tastes are like mine.

In addition to her blog, you can follow Emily on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

Cover Love #27

2013-04-25T03:00:00.000-04:00

Colette Iselin is excited to go to Paris on a class trip. She’ll get to soak up the beauty and culture, and maybe even learn something about her family’s French roots.

But a series of gruesome murders are taking place across the city, putting everyone on edge. And as she tours museums and palaces, Colette keeps seeing a strange vision: a pale woman in a ball gown and powdered wig, who looks suspiciously like Marie Antoinette.

Colette knows her popular, status-obsessed friends won’t believe her, so she seeks out the help of a charming French boy. Together, they uncover a shocking secret involving a dark, hidden history. When Colette realizes she herself may hold the key to the mystery, her own life is suddenly in danger . . .

Acclaimed author Katie Alender brings heart-stopping suspense to this story of revenge, betrayal, intrigue — and one killer queen.

Yet again, a cover completely wins me over. Yet again, a cover found via Cover Snark. Holla!

I know the cover is pretty gruesome, but look at all the pretty colors! It's so bright and peppy, despite the subject matter. The pinks and blues and yellows are lovely, and her eyes pop magnificently. Also, the tagline makes me giggle.

I found the cover to be so enchanting that I saved it as to-read, though I was convinced for some reason that it was an adult book. (The synopsis wasn't released yet.) Imagine my delight when I learned it was YA! Hooray! While the story sounds too Name of the Star for my taste, there's no way I can pass up a book with such a cover.

What do you think of this cover? And what cover do you love this week?

Review: THE LOOP By Shandy Lawson

2013-04-24T03:00:00.000-04:00

Ben and Maggie have met, fallen in love, and died together countless times. Over the course of two pivotal days—both the best and worst of their lives—they struggle again and again to resist the pull of fate and the force of time itself. With each failure, they return to the beginning of their end, a wild road trip that brings them to the scene of their own murders and into the hands of the man destined to kill them.

As time circles back on itself, events become more deeply ingrained, more inescapable for the two kids trapped inside the loop. The closer they come to breaking out, the tighter fate’s clutches seem to grip them. They devise a desperate plan to break free and survive the days ahead, but what if Ben and Maggie’s only shot at not dying is surviving apart?

I loved the concept of this story when I first stumbled across the synopsis. Two star-crossed lovers are stuck in a time loop that ends with them dying each time. It's like a teenage Groundhog Day meets, I don't know, a sanitized Bonnie and Clyde.

Sadly, I was not destined to love this book.

It wasn't a bad book. In fact, I could conceivably see people thoroughly enjoying this book. The premise is certainly an intriguing one. Ben and Maggie are stuck in a time loop, one that lasts only a couple days and sends them through those same two days again and again. It starts when they meet and ends when they die, shot down by a homicidal thief. The loop has to be explained to Ben every time it starts over, since he loses his memory every time the loop resets, leaving him only with a strong sense of deja vu. Maggie, on the other hand, can remember some of the details, though not all. This is her fourth loop.

My main problem was I couldn't make myself care. Seriously of the eight notes I made on this book, HALF of them were me repeating in some form how very little I cared:

No connection

Cool concept but just don't care

DO. NOT. CARE.

Very forgettable

I never felt close to either Ben or Maggie. For all Ben spoke of his connection to Maggie, she was nothing more than an untouchable reflection to me. Ben himself also felt flat. There was little depth to either of them, as their entire state of being was confined to the loop. I didn't care about Ben getting back to his life, because I didn't know his life. I had no feel for what he had lost, so what did I care if he got it back? Even their leap into insta-love failed to get a rise out of me, despite Ben's feeble insistence that it wasn't insta-love because he had known Maggie for a bajillion loops. (Phooey, I say, since he couldn't remember those loops.) Both characters felt like stick figures created to serve a plot that tickled the author's fancy. Billy Murray they ain't.

Part of the problem, I think, is how short the novel is. At 198 pages, it's wafer-thin, at least compared to what I normally read. Through the course of the novel, Ben and Maggie make it through their loop a grand total of two times. Two, apparently, is few enough times that I don't learn to care but enough times that I still feel bored. Not optimal, that.

I really have nothing else to say. The only other notes I have had to do with minor criticisms, such as Ben's propensity to use text lingo in an email and his commenting on the swoosh sound a sent email makes as if it's something new. Both incidents were unnecessary and annoying, but hardly a deal-breaker.

I'm hoping some of you will pick up the book in spite on my lackluster review and find elements that enchant and delight you. That's the marvel of reading. My favorite book can be another's least favorite and vice-versa. So check it out on your own and good luck. I, for one, will not be revisiting this particular loop in my life.

Points Added For: An interesting premise.

Points Subtracted For: Failing to make me care even slightly.

Good For Fans Of: Groundhog Day, short novels, star-crossed lovers.

Notes For Parents: Language, murder.

Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Top 10 Tuesday: Books I Thought I'd Like More/Less Than I Did

2013-04-23T03:00:00.000-04:00

Hi all! Today's Top 10 Tuesday topic are books that either disappointed us or thrilled us by failing to meet our expectations or riding high right over them. I have books that fit either way, so I split the difference and gathered up five of each.

Books that I enjoyed less than I anticipated:

Scorch by Gina Damico. I'm holding onto my review until later for this one, but I adored Croak, the first book in the series. Sadly, Scorch hit many of my peeve buttons, so much so that I doubt I'll be finishing the series. Sad.

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne. Mehhhh. This was one of the first books I read as a blogger that genuinely disappointed me. It wasn't bad, but I didn't enjoy myself at all.

Origin by Jessica Khoury. Again, not a bad book, but I so badly wanted to enjoy this book. I follow the author on Twitter, and she's an absolute delight. Sadly, liking the author doesn't always translate to the book.

Poison by Bridget Zinn. I get grumpy just thinking about this one.

This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers. This one makes me grumpy, too. It was the first requested ARC that I ever received. I danced around the living room when I received it. But Ms. Summer's style didn't match my taste as a reader at all, so I passed it on to a friend who adored it.

Books that I enjoyed more than I anticipated:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. THIS BOOK. Oh my gosh. I read it because I had seen it on summer reading lists and expected another boring school book. Instead, I found a gorgeously written, heart-wrending tale that became one of my favorites of all time.

Bruised by Sarah Skilton. It's a contemporary book. It's an issue book. I loved it.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You by Ally Carter. I thought this book was fluffy and ridiculous when my sister suggested I read it. Instead, its fun adventure and characters enchanted me, and I have become an ardent fan of the series and the author.

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett. I didn't have high hopes for this book when I started it, but the fun plot and inventive take on mythology turned me right around!

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. Oh my gosh. I avoided this book because I didn't like the cover. It's now one of my favorites EVER.

Your turn! Tell me which books have made you sigh/squeal.

Review: REBOOT by Amy Tintera

2013-04-21T03:00:00.000-04:00

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

Oh guys, we have another pokeable book on our hands. I can't settle on my final feelings for this book.

When I first started, I was excited and confused. The beginning is fantastic. How can I not like a book with the first line "They always screamed"? We're immediately tossed into Wren's world, a world where a virus causes humans (mostly children) to rise from the dead as Reboots, humanoid beings with extraordinary senses and ranges of emotions that depend on how long they were dead. As someone who had Rebooted after 178 minutes - a record - Wren is considered to be the least human and most perfect Reboot in existence.

However, much of the information comes out in jumbled pieces, hence my confusion. I couldn't get a handle on Wren's world at first. Reboots are clearly used as enforcers and foot soldiers, both the might and the fear the HARC (rulers of the United Cities of Texas) use to keep the populace in check. But it wasn't until well into the book until I could clearly grasp whether the Reboots are viewed as prized specimens or as useful freaks. (It's the latter, if you're wondering.)

As the story went on, I managed to cobble together what I needed to know and quickly became interested in Wren's story, especially as I realized what Ms. Tintera was trying to accomplish. Reboot, at its core, is a very exciting twist on a world that has been reordered after a zombie apocalypse, and its story is told by one of those zombies.

The structure of Reboots, both physically and socially, is fascinating. Any human that is infected by KDH (named after Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, where the virus originated) and dies will Reboot. Some infected die as a direct result of KDH, while others die in other ways (Wren was shot in the slums) and Reboot regardless. As someone who remained dead over 120 minutes, Wren is one of the elites and is used as both super-soldier and Reboot trainer, while her roommate Ever is an Under-60 and only good for manual labor and general soldiering. Even more interesting is how Ms. Tintera manages to work in the more rabid aspects of standard zombie lore, but I'll leave that be for the sake of avoiding spoilers.

Opposite of Wren on the spectrum is Callum, a new recruit whom Wren decides to train. Awkward, gangly, overly friendly, and totally cute, Callum is a mere 22 - human bait in the eyes of other Reboots. At first I found Callum almost annoying in his stubborn insistence to remain upbeat. He refuses to fear Wren or any of the other Reboots and seems completely oblivious to the severity of his situation. However, as the story progressed, that dang boy grew on me to the point that I jokingly threatened to hunt down Ms. Tintera should anything happen to him. (He also made my Book Boyfriends list last week.)

A good deal of the ticking clock mechanism Ms. Tintera uses to fuel the intensity of the plot centers around Callum, so I found myself engaged and invested. Unfortunately, I never connected to the book. I suspect this failing is tied to three factors. First, I never connected to Wren. While I appreciated the visual of a teeny blonde girl being the most feared individual in a warehouse of super-soldiers, I never got the swagger from her that I wanted. Also, Wren never connected with herself, so, as my narrator, how could she hope to connect with me?

Second, I didn't buy in to the key difficulty of the Reboots at all. The big sticking point with Reboots is supposed to be their lack of emotion. Supposedly, Reboots are cold, empty, subhuman creatures. Given that this is a dystopian tale, we may eye this "truth" suspiciously from the very beginning. However, there should be some element of truth to explain why all the humans so readily believed it even during the initial outbreak of the virus.

From what I could tell, Wren supposes herself to be without emotion because she doesn't outwardly express emotion. As a 22, Callum smiles, laughs, tells jokes, frowns, etc.; therefore, he feels emotion. Wren does not exhibit these behaviors; therefore, she feels nothing. And yet, from the very beginning, Wren describes the emotions she's feeling. She is irritated by humans when they scream; she sometimes feels guilt when dispatching a criminal; she is confused by Callum; she is embarrassed by his attentions. Though not smiles and giggles, these are nevertheless feelings.

Look. He's not smiling. He must be an emotionless Reboot.

I felt as though I were reading an extrovert's guide to introverts. The world is set up where those who display overt emotions - extroverts - are the default, the most human. Those who are more inhibited - introverts - are at first viewed as cold, robotic subhumans. Then, over the course of time, the good humans are slowly shown that the poor, quiet freaks are not bad, just different. Perhaps this is oversimplifying the book or portraying it in a false light, but that's how it felt to me. While a naturally gregarious person might have be snookered in to Wren's growth, I found myself crying foul from the very beginning. If I'm to realistically believe that what the characters believe, even if only for a moment, then the setup has to be credulous. Had Reboot actually shown Wren's change and growth from emotionless Reboot to a nearly human, emotional being (a la Warm Bodies), I would have been interested. But nothing in Wren supported the premise I had been promised (or thought I had been promised).

Lastly, there were just some beyond stupid moments in this book. For instance, at one point Wren learns of a super-secret Reboot camp that the HARC have been trying to destroy. She doesn't learn of this super-secret place through spying or any such thing. No, a captured rebel talks about it with his fellow (undercover) rebel right in front of her. Maybe it's just me, but if I were a rebel, I wouldn't be divulging my side's secrets right in front of the most prized, supposedly least human Reboot in the entire world. But hey, that's just me.

You know what's also just me? If I were faced with a ticking clock that demands a sense of urgency and haste, I probably wouldn't pick the middle of my desperate dash for freedom to engage in sexytimes with my love interest. I was talking about this particular point with two other bloggers (Gillian and Molli), and we all agreed that ill-timed makeout sessions are extremely annoying. If every second counts and even the smallest delay could result in death, why would it be okay to stop for no good reason and start kissing? If you have energy to kiss, you have energy to run! Also, and this is the big thing, it completely ruins both the pacing and the mood for the reader. As a reader, I can't be in the middle of RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIIVES mode and then switch to ha-cha-cha mode and believably still hold onto the sense of tension.

I'm all...

And they're all...

So I'm all...

The last big stupid moment was the ending. I was beyond disappointed with the ending. The story was set up for Ms. Tintera to do something totally cool and even tragic at the end. Instead of a metaphorical explosion, everything fizzled. The big action scene was over and done within a few pages. The ticking clock stopped with little-to-no to-do. La-la, skip and a jump, and we're set up with a small scene that leads into the sequel. Rather than leave me gasping for breath and begging for more, the ending left me shrugging.

Do you all see my difficulty? I wanted to love this book. I've lusted after it for months. It has a great premise, and I adore the romantic interest. On the other hand, I didn't connect with the protagonist, the premise ended up not being super-convincing, and I rolled my eyes on several occasions. It's bad to make me roll my eyes.

While I would like to shout my love to the heavens, I must instead settle with a half-shrug and a nod of my head. I will most likely check out the inevitable sequel, and I do think Reboot will appeal to certain readers. I encourage you all to check it out and decide for yourselves.

Favorite (Non-Spoilery) Quote:

"Forgive me?" he asked as he put his fists in position. His eyes were big and round, like a puppy begging for a treat.

Yes," I said with a laugh.

"Do it again," he said, bouncing up and down in happiness.

"Do what?"

"Laugh."

"Make you a deal. If you're able to punch me, I'll laugh.

"You're so weird."

Points Added For: Callum, Ever (oh, how I love you Ever), a great take on zombies.

Points Subtracted For: Not living up to potential, bobbling the premise concerning emotions, a dud of an ending.

Good For Fans Of: Non-traditional zombies, kick-butt chicks, viruses.

Notes For Parents: Language, violence, making out.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.