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The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

noreply@blogger.com (lanna-lovely) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:45:00 +0000

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

by Jennifer E. Smith

Summary: Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

I'm kind of torn on this book - I was looking forward to reading it for ages and I did enjoy it... but, not as much as I thought I would.

The book made me cry (although, I admit, that could've been less to do with the book and more about the fact I was in one of those moods where I needed an excuse to cry), but it was the issue with Hadley's dad that got to me, not the romance, and from the title...I dunno, I just expected this book to be more about the romance (I know, I know, I shouldn't judge a book by its title).

The romance was sweet but not all that great and there was no originality to it really except maybe that they were stuck on a plane. I think the title is misleading (although by the end, you do get where the title is from), it makes it sound like it will be a book about love at first sight. I don't believe in love at first sight but I can handle insta-love if done right...the book was more just a typical story of boy meets girl and they like each other and it's maybe the start of something, and it's easy to talk to each other, not because they have a "connection", but because they're strangers and sometimes you can talk to a stranger in a way you couldn't with anyone else, especially a stranger you're probably not expecting to see again.

So yeah...I liked the book, but it just wasn't what I was expecting and I don't think it was about romantic love at all (well, at least not for the main character and her love interest). The family issues are kind of what made the book with the romance just being a subplot - which is fine really, I just read the book when I was in the mood to read a love story, not heavy family issues and the summary/title kind of leads you to believe it'll be a love story when it mostly isn't (and the family issues played out pretty predictably).

The book was really short, so it's a quick read and I'm glad I read it but it's forgettable - it hasn't really crossed my mind since I read it except to remind myself to review it, it's not one that lingers with you for days after reading.

Rating: 3, maybe 3.5 stars out of 5. Good but not amazing.

Later.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Complicated Love Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

More books!

Embrace

Jessica Shirvington

Sourcebooks Fire

[March 1, 2012]

I slowly opened my eyes. The sun speared its first bright rays of golden orange into the sky and I leapt from the cliff, with the sorrowful knowledge that no matter what the outcome, at least part of me would die that day...

Violet Eden is dreading her seventeenth birthday dinner. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. The one bright spot is that Lincoln will be there. Sexy, mature and aloof, he is Violet’s idea of perfection. But why does he seem so reluctant to be anything more than a friend?

After he gives her the world’s most incredible kiss – and then abandons her on her front doorstep – Violet is determined to get some answers. But nothing could have prepared her for Lincoln’s explanation: he is Grigori – part angel and part human – and Violet is his eternal partner.

Without warning, Violet’s world is turned upside down. She never believed in God, let alone angels. But there’s no denying the strange changes in her body ... and her feelings for Lincoln. Suddenly, she can’t stand to be around him. Luckily, Phoenix, an exiled angel, has come into her life. He’s intense and enigmatic, but at least he never lied to her.

As Violet gets caught up in an ancient battle between dark and light, she must choose her path. The wrong choice could cost not only her life, but her eternity...

First Comes Love
Katie Kacvinsky
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
[May 8, 2012]

Like his name, Gray is dark and stormy. Dylan, a girl always searching for what's next, seemingly unable to settle down, is the exact opposite: full of light and life. On the outside, they seem like an unlikely couple. But looks can be deceiving and besides, opposites attract.

What starts as friendship, turns into admiration, respect and caring, until finally these two lone souls find they are truly in love with each other.

But staying in love is not as easy as falling in love. If Dylan and Gray want their love to last, they're going to have to work at it. And learn that sometimes love means having to say you're sorry.

Sound good to you?

--Julie

This Is Shyness by Leanne Hall

noreply@blogger.com (lanna-lovely) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

This is Shyness

by Leanne Hall

Summary: A guy who howls. A girl on a mission to forget.

In the suburb of Shyness, where the sun doesn’t rise and the border crackles with a strange energy, Wolfboy meets a stranger at the Diabetic Hotel. She tells him her name is Wildgirl, and she dares him to be her guide through the endless night.

But then they are mugged by the sugar-crazed Kidds. And what plays out is moving, reckless...dangerous. There are things that can only be said in the dark. And one long night is time enough to change your life.

This is quite possibly the most wonderfully weird book that I've ever read (or maybe a close second after Bleeding Violet).

I don't think I was in the right mood to read a book like this, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could've/would've/should've, but I still finished it with the overall opinion that the book is awesome.

The plot...I don't know why, but I was just expecting a quirky contemporary story and instead got this - odd story that had me going, "What the French toast?" every so often because it was just so weird. The setting is brilliant in all its weirdness.

The characters were strange in a really awesome way and when you finish the book, you're still left with a lot of unanswered questions about the story and the characters but it's in a way that works while in any other book, it would probably frustrate me.

The romance between Wolfboy and Wildgirl was pretty mild. I was expecting this to be a book with romance as a big thing but it felt more like they were building a friendship than anything else (although there was romance in it)...it was sweet.

I don't even know what else to say about this book. I think it's another Aussie YA book and just like 90% of Aussie YA books, this one somehow stands out as being unique and different and awesome in comparison to all other YA books.

Rating: probably 4 stars out of 5 (if I had been in a better mood while reading, maybe a 4.5)

Later.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Everneath

Brodi Ashton

Balzer+Bray

[January 24, 2012]

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

This book. My emotions. I cannot.

First of all, because it's been a while since I've said it, the Persephone and Hades myth is probably my favorite Greek myth of all time. I've read a couple of retellings in the past year, but this one? This one's on a whole new level. It blends this myth with another myth that I'm not going to say because it might be a bit of a spoiler. It was so well blended, it didn't feel like a retelling, it just felt like it's own story. A fascinating, heartbreaking story.

Nikki was a pretty incredible protagonist. She was constantly in this conflicted state and she was never truly sure of herself and what she had to do, and all things considered, I don't blame her. It was realistic. But she was also brave and when she made a decision, she made a freaking decision. She did waste time, but she had her reasons. When she finally realized what she was doing, she made quick work of figuring out what she needed to do.

Jack and Cole...these two. This story is a legit love triangle. I actually really liked Cole for a long time in this story. He was misguided, but he seemed to love Nikki, even though he could never admit it. He was selfish, but in a really sweet way. Meanwhile, Jack is one you come to love slowly due to reasons. Reasons you will understand when you read this book. HOWEVER, the ending? The ending changes all the rules. Cole needs to be kicked in the nuts and Jack needs to be hugged for eternity.

Let's talk about the ending a bit, shall we? The ending was something that part of me saw coming, and the other part was in denial of. As we got to know the characters, the ending started to become clear. However, there were two ways it would work out and EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING wanted one ending. That ending didn't happen and now I'm left, confused and pouting because I have to wait a year to read book two. It's possible I'll go even more insane waiting.

I read this book in a day, possibly in two sittings. It's addicting and wonderful but it also rips out your heart and stomps on it repeatedly. In a good way...kind of. So, clearly you should read it and suffer with me, yes? Yes.

--Julie

In My Mailbox 102

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Julie:

Not too much this week, but I'm really excited about these books!

There was a vlog. But sometime after youtube finished processing it and before I click publish, it was eaten. So, you know...yay youtube.

Won:

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

From Lanna:

Torn by Cat Clarke

Tomorrow When the War Began by James Marsden

RandomBuzzers:

The Other Countess by Eve Edwards

For Review:

Vesper by Jeff Sampson

Havoc by Jeff Sampson

Ebooks I Bought:

Sins of a Wicked Duke by Sophie Jordan

Night Swimming by Niki Burnham

Clockwise by Elle Strauss

So, there you go. My week in books. Thoughts? What's in your mailbox?

--Julie

Lanna:

I just got some review books this week.

For Review:

The Broken Road by B. R. Collins - Not sure if that's my kind of thing. I might give it to someone else.
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendara Blake - I think that's out in the US but that's the UK ARC and I've been wanting to read it for ages.
Heaven by Christoph Marzi - This one sounds awesome, can't wait to read it.
The Dragon Slippers trilogy by Jessica Day George - Never actually heard of these before but the books sound cute.

So...yeah, that's all I got this week. What'd you guys get? Have you read any of the books I got/were they good?

Later.

Historic Saturday (2): The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The Merchant's Daughter

Melanie Dickerson

Zondervan

[November 29, 2011]

An unthinkable danger. An unexpected choice.

Annabel, once the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is trapped in indentured servitude to Lord Ranulf, a recluse who is rumored to be both terrifying and beastly. Her circumstances are made even worse by the proximity of Lord Ranulf's bailiff---a revolting man who has made unwelcome advances on Annabel in the past.

Believing that life in a nunnery is the best way to escape the escalation of the bailiff's vile behavior and to preserve the faith that sustains her, Annabel is surprised to discover a sense of security and joy in her encounters with Lord Ranulf. As Annabel struggles to confront her feelings, she is involved in a situation that could place Ranulf in grave danger. Ranulf's future, and possibly his heart, may rest in her hands, and Annabel must decide whether to follow the plans she has cherished or the calling God has placed on her heart.

I had high hopes for this book and they weren't quite met.

The story is well written. I like how Melanie tells the story and it just flows very easily. I wasn't crazy about the amount of times Christianity was brought up, though. This is technically a Christian YA book, but it seemed a little too excessive. We got it, Annabel's religious and wants to be a nun, it didn't need to be repeated over and over.

I liked Annabel and Lord Ranulf enough. They weren't stand out characters to me, but they were interested and they fit their roles well. I enjoyed the bailiff (our Gaston, if you will) being more twisted than you would normally see him. I also liked how Ranulf was portrayed as the beast and how the villagers saw him. It was definitely an interesting, more unique take.

This just wasn't a remarkable read for me. It was enjoyable and fast paced and a really well done retelling. Beyond my slight annoyance at the frequent references to the Bible and God, I really had no problems with this book. But for me, it just didn't have that special something.

If you like fairytale retellings and don't mind it being religious, this is a really good book to try. If you're hesitant, I was able to get it from Netgalley a month after it's release, so it might still be up, or you could always try and go through your library. I just didn't click with this book the way I had hoped to.

--Julie

Joint Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

noreply@blogger.com (lanna-lovely) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:30:00 +0000

We figured we'd do a joint review for this book instead of posting them seperately.

The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green

Summary: Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

Lanna:

Quick pre-review visual summary:

At first I was like:

And then I was all:

With a lot of this in between:

And by the end, the book looked like this:

Every scrap of paper marks a page with at least one quote that I loved (and that's not even including funny quotes, I didn't mark the ones that made me laugh or there would've been way more).

There are certain kinds of books that I avoid, like books about people with heart conditions because they scare me and remind me of how my dad died, for example. And books about people with cancer are in the catagory of books that I avoid - probably in the top five of books that I avoid actually.

It's not because they're bad, I've read a few in the past, it's just that they can often come across as a bit - Lifetime movie-ish in the way they're told. Like they're trying to inspire the reader and romanticise the characters, like having cancer makes them more than a person, wiser or smarter or whatever when really, it makes them human because death is a part of life. I don't like the way "Cancer Books" make me feel and I'd need to be in a very specific kind of mood to pick up a book like that.

This book? If it wasn't written by John Green, who could probably write the phonebook and have me want it on my book shelves, then I may not have read it purely because of the subject matter.

This book was not Lifetime movie-ish. It made me cry, but it also made me laugh and I loved the way it made me feel. John Green writes amazing characters that I can't help but adore, he has a way with words that I love to read but hate that I can't write as well he can, and his stories...he just tells them in a very real and honest way.

It didn't feel like I was reading a book about cancer, it felt like I was reading a book about life and a part of that was that, for the characters, cancer was a part of their reality. Which may not make much sense, but I can't think of any other way to explain it. The cancer was a big part of the story because it was a big part of Hazels life and how she lived but the book was more than that, it showed more than that.

It's 5:43am right now and I just finished reading. I cried for the duration of like the last 70-100 pages and now I'm all headachey and heartachey and sore eyed from all the crying but I regret nothing because the book made me feel. The good stuff and the bad stuff and just - real stuff, and books that can do that? They're the very best kind.

The book wasn't perfect and there were some things I didn't like (mainly the stuff with the author character within the book or the fact that most of the characters could get a bit Dawson's Creek-ish with their dialogue at times and be overly philosophical/smart...which I don't mind, it just makes them less convincing as individuals - one or two characters being like that is fine, but not most of the characters being that way) but no book is entirely perfect and the flaws in this one...while I know they were there, they don't even really register on the radar of my overall opinion of the book because the thing I mentioned above about how the book made me feel - that's the most important thing to me.

I really hope Julie can do the book justice in her review in the way that I can't seem to, my thoughts are all muddled.

Later.

Julie:

I’ve had a few days to digest my thoughts on this book. I finished at three in the morning on Friday, tears still streaking down my face. I told myself to wait to post the review because damn it all, I was in no state to be thinking coherently.

So, in those days of rumination where I’ve only finished one other book and started a reread of an equally devastating book, what have I come up with?

This is not a Cancer Book. This is a book about Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters, two teenagers who deal with cancer on a daily basis in some form or another.

This is a book about two incredibly, almost unbelievably at times, intelligent teenagers who love books and feel passionately. They’re sarcastic and witty and if they were real, I’d want them to be my best friends.

This is a book about love and grief and handling every emotion you could have. It’s a book about how families deal with loss and about how those with seemingly no hope find hope and laughter. It’s a book about survival.

This is not a Cancer Book, this is not a book about death; this is a book about life.

I laughed, I cried through most of the last 50 pages, even making myself stop and clean my cat’s litterbox at one point so I could calm down enough to continue, I thought about life, I whipped out the little yellow bookmarks and used all of them to finish bookmarking this book. I loved and I lost and I became a member of two little families, one biological and one hand chosen.

Though I’ve never been in love personally, I was in love while I read this book. I’ve never battled cancer, but my lungs seemed to limp along like Hazel’s (it didn’t help I had this horrendous cough at the time that physically hurt my lungs). I’ve never been to Amsterdam, but that’s where I was while I read part of this book.

This is not a Cancer Book, it’s an experience. One I wish I could forget and live over and over again.

If you haven’t read this book, you’re missing out. Fantastic, descriptive writing, witty, charming characters, and the story of life, The Fault in Our Stars is everything I could ask for. And honestly? This is the best review I can give you guys.

--Julie

Waiting on Wednesday: Contemporary For All!

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

This was a total coincidence, but there's two awesome sounding contemp books!

In Honor

Jessi Kirby

Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing

[May 8, 2012]

Honor receives her brother’s last letter from Iraq three days after learning that he died, and opens it the day his fellow Marines lay the flag over his casket. Its contents are a complete shock: concert tickets to see Kyra Kelly, her favorite pop star and Finn's celebrity crush. In his letter, he jokingly charged Honor with the task of telling Kyra Kelly that he was in love with her.

Grief-stricken and determined to grant Finn's last request, she rushes to leave immediately. But she only gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn's best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn't seen him in ages, thanks to a falling out between the two guys, but Rusty is much the same as Honor remembers him: arrogant, stubborn. . . and ruggedly good looking. Neither one is what the other would ever look for in a road trip partner, but the two of them set off together, on a voyage that makes sense only because it doesn’t. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn—but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?

The Story of Us

Deb Caletti

Simon Pulse

[April 24, 2012]

Cricket’s on a self-imposed break from her longtime boyfriend—but she’s picked a bad week to sort out her love life. For one thing, her mother’s romance is taking center stage: After jilting two previous fiancés, her mom is finally marrying Dan Jax, whom Cricket loves. But as wedding attendees arrive for a week of festivities at a guesthouse whose hippie owners have a sweet, sexy son—Ash—complications arise:

Cricket’s future stepsisters make it clear they’re not happy about the marriage. An old friend decides this is the week to declare his love for Cricket. Grandpa chooses to reveal a big secret at a family gathering. Dan’s ex-wife shows up. And even the dogs—Cricket’s old, ill Jupiter and Dan’s young, lively Cruiser—seem to be declaring war.

While Cricket fears that Dan is in danger of becoming ditched husband-to-be number three, she’s also alarmed by her own desires. Because even though her boyfriend looms large in her mind, Ash is right in front of her....

I'm so excited for these two. What are you looking forward to this week?

--Julie

Fracture by Megan Miranda

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

*Some spoilers be here. Please be wary of the spoilers*

Fracture

Megan Miranda

Walker and Company

[January 17, 2012]

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine-despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

For fans of best-sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.

This book wasn't what I expected in the slightest.

I'll be totally honest, I expected some really romantic, sweet book about how this girl comes to grips with death and dying and her new powers related to that and maybe there's a love triangle. Instead, I got a book where the characters and the story don't stand out so much as the message behind it.

Delaney was just a character to me. Nothing special or extraordinary. The relationship she had with Troy were interesting, kind of creepy. It was one of the very intriguing parts of the book for me. The relationship between Delaney and Decker was also interesting, though at times annoying. It was a very back and forth relationship that left me frustrated yet happy, depending on where they were.

For me the best part was the thoughts it gave me. Troy and Delaney's new powers lead to arguments between the two, arguments that made me think. Both can tell if a person's going to die in the near future. Troy tends to help the process along, while Delaney wants to stop it. For me it raised the question on if we have the right to help someone die. Do humans have the right to decide somebody else is ready to leave earth? It was even more interesting that this discussion came up in my English class the day after I finished it.

The ending was really good. Very interesting, different, and unexpected. I was pleasantly surprised by most of it, though some of it was semi-obvious. I was glad to see it happen, though.

Overall, this could've just been any other book. But the relationships, the questions it raises, and the ending made it something else all together. If you want something a little darker, and thought provoking, this is definitely one to pick up.

--Julie

The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:50:00 +0000

The Lonely Hearts Club

Elizabeth Eulberg

Scholastic, Inc.

[December 29, 2009]

Love is all you need... or is it? Penny's about to find out in this wonderful debut.

Penny is sick of boys and sick of dating. So she vows: no more. It's a personal choice. . .and, of course, soon everyone wants to know about it. And a few other girls are inspired. A movement is born: The Lonely Hearts Club (named after the band from Sgt. Pepper). Penny is suddenly known for her nondating ways . . . which is too bad, because there's this certain boy she can't help but like. . . .

This was a really cute, really fast read.

Penny and her friends were a little naive, but I loved the idea of this club. Penny wasn't a pushover, but she also wasn't going to refuse to change. She and the club had a good balance. They were open to change, but not to people who would be totally negative all the time.

At times, the girls were a bit annoying, but for the most part, I liked the message that went with this book. It was all about girl power and not getting pushed around and I think that's something teenage girls, any girls really, need to be reminded of from time to time.

I also loved the Beatles theme. It was a fun little addition. I wasn't named after any Beatles songs, but my mom loves them and has all the CDs and some posters.

This is just a fun, quick, light read that you should pick up when you need some girl power. Adorable!

--Julie

In My Mailbox 101

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Julie:

So...I had another big week. Oops?

Bought:

Fire by Kristen Cashore

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

She Went All the Way by Meg Cabot

Exile by Anne Osterlund

Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Knocked Out by My Nunga-Nungas by Louise Rennison

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jen E. Smith

Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

The Traitor's Smile by Patricia Elliott

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Ebooks:

Withering Tights by Louise Rennison

Tortured by Caragh M. O'Brien

For Review:

The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Last Rite by Lisa Desrochers

Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin

Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne

Ebooks for Review:

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Wanderlove by Kristen Hubbard

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould

Won:

The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

...Yeah. Any thoughts on these?

--Julie

Lanna:

Yeah, I have a lot of books this week too (23 books) - because it's actually a few weeks worth of books. I was going to do a vlog but I think I have a bit too many books.

Shelfari print screen:

For review:

Supernaturally by Kiersten White (I've already read and reviewed this one)
The Dead of the Night by John Marsden (which I've already read and reviewed too. I was sent another copy of the first book, Tomorrow When the War Began, as well but I sent it to Julie)
Kiss, Date, Love, Hate by Luisa Plaja
Poison Heart by S.B. Hayes
Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer (can't wait to read this one)

Bought:

Legacy by Cayla Kluver
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce (which I got purely because the main character is a redheaded girl named Alanna, like me)
Mercury's War by Lora Leigh (immature confession: I bought this because I thought it would make me laugh after seeing a review of it)
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Courage to Love by Robert Ellis
The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
The Symposium by Plato
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
Colourbook by Rosalyn Chissick
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala

...Um. Yeah. A lot of them are ones I searched out because I was in the mood to read certain types of stories - like love stories set in Iran and things like that or stories set in different places than the usual American/UK settings that I tend to read. Have you read any of the books mentioned? If yes, what'd you think of them?

Later.

Historic Saturday (1): The Lost Crown by Sarah Miller

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Some of you may remember Historic Saturday from 2010. I've decided that I'm going to make an effort to read more and therefore, I can post more historical fiction reviews, SO I can bring back Historic Saturday.

Historic Saturday is just a little feature/meme I created that allows me to specifically highlight historical fiction that I've been reading. I LOVE the genre and want other lovers to be able to find them easily. It may not always be strict historical fiction. It may be historical fantasy, a classic, may even fantasy set in a world that resembles historical fiction. But I'm determined to do this at least twice a month. If you want to join, feel free to post your Historic Saturday review in the comments!

The Lost Crown

Sarah Miller

Atheneum

[June 14, 2011]

Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. Like the fingers on a hand--first headstrong Olga; then Tatiana, the tallest; Maria the most hopeful for a ring; and Anastasia, the smallest. These are the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II, grand duchesses living a life steeped in tradition and privilege. They are each on the brink of starting their own lives, at the mercy of royal matchmakers. The summer of 1914 is that precious last wink of time when they can still be sisters together--sisters that link arms and laugh, sisters that share their dreams and worries, and flirt with the officers of their imperial yacht.

But in a gunshot the future changes for these sisters and for Russia.

As World War I ignites across Europe, political unrest sweeps Russia. First dissent, then disorder, mutiny, and revolution. For Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, the end of their girlhood together is colliding with the end of more than they ever imagined.

At the same time hopeful and hopeless, naive and wise, the voices of these sisters become a chorus singing the final song of Imperial Russia. Impeccably researched and utterly fascinating, this novel by acclaimed author Sarah Miller recounts the final days of Imperial Russia with lyricism, criticism and true compassion.

This was different. Not really what I was expecting.

The story is told in the perspective of all four daughters, which could've been amazing, but the voices of the four sisters weren't really different. By time the book was almost over, I'd caught on to some subtle differences, but otherwise I had to remember the beginning of the chapter or I had to look at how it was written when people were talking to the narrator to figure out who it was. There was a lot of telling how the characters were different and not much showing. If this had been done better, the book could've been incredible.

The story itself was interesting. The events were all true, though the personalities of the characters are created as best as the author could. The story was told over a long period of time, but didn't cover every detail. At times, it could be kind of dull, but for the most part, it was fascinating to read.

I think this was also part of my own expectations. Often in these books, there's some kind of romance thrown in for our interest, even though it's not true to what happened and I'd hoped there'd be some in this book with at least one of the sisters. There was some flirting, but never any real romance.

This is an enjoyable book, but the lack of romance and the same voice for all four perspectives made it not meet my expectations. But I think if you go in expecting it, you'll enjoy it a lot more than I did.

--Julie

Supernaturally by Kiersten White

noreply@blogger.com (lanna-lovely) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:40:00 +0000

Note: This is the sequel to Paranormalcy, so the summary will have spoilers of the first book but the review is spoiler-free if you want to read it.

Supernaturally

by Kiersten White

Summary: Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be . . . kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal.

This review will probably be pretty short (compared to my usual annoying rambling) because I can't think of much to say about this book. Except that, basically, I really loved it.

The thing about this series is that they don't actually have a plot that appeals to me - I'm not too into books where fearies play a big role and they do in this. The story is interesting enough (although not quite as good as Paranormalcy was), but it's not one that I would normally be drawn to or love but something about this series sets it apart from the rest.

That something? The characters.

Evie is just so fun and quirky and entertaining and she makes me laugh and I just love the way the books are written (not in an "OMG! That's so poetic and lovely!" kind of way but in a "That's unique and entertaining and the characters voice is really distinctive!" kind of way). I like the side characters a lot too - Lend is a bit too...Perfect Guy, to the point where sometimes his character seems a bit bland, but I can't dislike him, he's too lovely.

So yeah - the reason I love this book series is because of the characters, particularly Evie. The story itself is enough to keep me entertained and the characters push my opinion from, "It's entertaining." to, "I love it.". The first book was really cute and fun and this book was more of the same (although they do have their serious moments too).

If you haven't read this series yet, you should check it out.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Later.

Discussion: Books You Want to See As Movies

noreply@blogger.com (lanna-lovely) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:45:00 +0000

I can't remember if I've done a discussion on this before but I was just thinking about it and wanted to do a post on it (and we wanted to post a discussion post now that we have threaded comments so we actually can discuss it with you).

The thing about movie adaptions is that they can rarely ever stay completely true to the book - the most the book fans can hope for is that they'll still capture the heart of the story and characters and that the thing that we love about the book won't get lost in translation. There are good book-to-movie adaptions, awful ones, mediocre ones and ones that, while they're good movies in their own right, are so different that they probably shouldn't be considered adaptions of books.

There's so many books that I wish would be made into movies, so I'm going to list some and the reason why I'd like to see them as movies. So, assuming they could be made with a great script, perfect cast and capturing the heart of the book, these are some I'd like to see as movies:

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

This is a brilliant book and it's a story that deserves to be told. It has the potential to be such a heartbreaking, amazing movie if it was done well and if they got actors that could pull off the things these characters go through... It'd be one of those movies that makes me cry and yet I'd love it anyway. It'd be awesome if they cast actual people from the Baltic states in the movie instead of having Hollywood actors fake accents.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

This one already has a movie but I don't like the movie version. It was pretty poorly made and I didn't like the casting and it could be done so much better. So I'd like a better adaption of that book - I'm usually not into the idea of Hollywood doing American remakes of non-English speaking movies but in this case, I'd be cool with it purely because it provides an oppertunity to do another adaption and try and get it right in the way the original movie didn't.

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

There's a lot of art involved in this book and it'd be great to actually SEE the art in a movie - it'd be one of those fun movies but not...mindless entertainment because there's something deeper in the story and the characters and if a movie version didn't lose that in translation then it'd be great.

And the characters? I love the characters in this one, they were just so real and awesome and loveable and realistically annoying at times and brilliant.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

I'm not sure why I want to see this one as a movie, I just do. I'm not sure how it would work as a movie, but if they made it work then it could just be this really amazing and original and brilliant movie.

Melina Marchetta books - really, I'd like to see all her books as movies (there already is one for Looking for Alibrandi which is a decent movie) but I'm going to choose two for this list and it's only two because the genres of the books are so different:

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

This could be such an awesome high fantasy movie - I haven't seen many of those that are really good but this one... it's definitely one I'd like to see on the big screen. I don't have much to say on why I'd like to see it as a movie, I just think it'd be awesome because the book is awesome and there's lots of stuff that would just be great to see visually instead of having to imagine it and the characters are fantastic and complex and just - I'll stop before I fangirl.

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

This book is amazing and it'd probably be difficult to translate it into a movie because the plot is kind of confusing to begin with and there's a past and present storyline in the book that is all intertwined in ways you gradually find out throughout the book. But if they managed to get the script right and got an amazing cast for it, the movie could be...wow. Melina Marchetta has actually written a script for it, so maybe it will happen.

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Again, he's an author that I'd like to see all of his books as movies and this one could have happened but didn't - I wish it would (I think this is the one that John said he had read the script for and that it was amazing).

I mostly want to see the characters brought to life, see actual people being these characters and I want them to make me bawl like a baby or laugh when certain things in the plot happen. It'd just be awesome.

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

This is a total taboo subject: consensual incest between a brother and a sister and the story is one of the most hearbreaking ones I've ever read. It wouldn't be the first time sibling consensual incest was portrayed in a movie, but it'd be different from all the others. It'd take an amazing script, director and cast to pull it off and do the story tastefully that makes people sympathize with the characters instead of being against them, but if they did it right... it could just be really brilliant. And hopefully it'd make people be a bit more open minded or question their beliefs on the issue (or at least the legality of it).

The Demon Trappers series by Jana Oliver

One of the things I love about this series is the world - it reminded me a little of the world in the TV show, Dark Angel...not that they're the same, but the feeling it gave me.
The world was just so raw and real and broken but in this way that was just kind of fascinating to read about and I'd just love to see that instead of picturing it. Plus, the characters and the story would be fun to watch.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

This one has an IMDb page so I think maybe it might happen. Again, this is more about the characters - I want to see them brought to life and I really liked the movie adaption of The Kite Runner so this one could be great too.

There are others that I'd really love to see but a lot of them are already in the process of becoming movies or have had the rights sold so they could actually be movies within the next few years (like Hourglass by Myra McEntire and Divergent by Veronica Roth) and ones I just forgot to mention and then the list got so long (like Nevermore by Kelly Creagh and The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson). So yeah, I'll stop there.

Questions:

1. What books would you like to see as movies (if it was done right with a great cast, script, director etc.)?
2. Thoughts on the books mentioned in this post?
3. What upcoming book-to-movie adaptions (that are actually in the works/definitely happening) are you looking forward to?

Later.

Julie:

I have to agree with Lanna on Between Shades of Gray, as well as Hourglass and Divergent. Plus a few others.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

I loved this book yes, but I'd love to see how they would handle it. Would they include the commercials and voice overs? Who would they cast as the villains? What about our pirates and beauty queens, especially Taylor? Libba built a world I would love to see on film if done right.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

This is sci-fi light, so I'd mostly love to see how they handle the spaceship and the new culture and how they'd cast everyone since they're supposed to look very similar. It'd be interesting to me.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Most of the reason I loved this book was the beautiful writing which can't really be transferred to screen well, but the characters and relationships were a close second, the world building the third. I would love to see Juliette's transformation and the world and the fighting and just..everything. It could be epic.

Two-way Street by Lauren Barnholdt OR Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

These are both road trip books I love and I love different aspects of them, so I can't really pick which I'd rather see (but I don't think we need both.) Both books have a fantastic dynamic between the two main characters. Two-way Street has a tense road trip that would be awesome to see and Amy and Roger's Epic Detour has a lot of music tie ins and stops that would be entertaining. I'd be happy with either one.

So, that's my much shorter list. Now, feel free to answer Lanna's questions from above.

--Julie

HARBINGER Book Trailer!

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:39:00 +0000

Evening, all!

I was asked to share the book trailer for HARBINGER by Sara Wilson Etienne. It's pretty freaking epic, honestly.

How cool is that? I'm not big on trailers, but that's one of the best I've ever seen.

Here's a direct link to the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EPLHl1Urjnk

And a link to the official HARBINGER website: http://www.holbrookacademy.com/

If you guys are interested, this book comes out on February 2!

--Julie

Waiting on Wednesday: The Second Week of January

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

What am I lusting after this week?

Something Like Normal

Trish Doller

Bloomsbury

[June 19, 2012]

A powerful debut novel about a young Marine's return home from Afghanistan and the new life and love he finds while fending off the ghosts of war.

When Travis Stephenson returns home from Afghanistan, his parents are on the brink of divorce, his brother has stolen his girlfriend and his car, and nightmares of his best friend getting killed keep him completely spooked. But when he runs into Harper Gray, a girl who despises him for trashing her reputation with a middle school lie, life actually starts looking up. As Travis and Harper see more of each other, he starts falling for her and a way through the family meltdown, the post-traumatic stress, and the possibility of an interesting future begins to emerge.

His sense of humor, sense of his own strength, and incredible sense of honor make Travis an irresistible and eminently lovable hero in this fantastic and timely debut novel.

The Selection

Kiera Cass

HarperTeen

[April 24, 2012]

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Don't these two sound fabulous? What do you think?

--Julie

Top Ten Tuesday: Dearest Author, Tell Me Another Story?

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:58:00 +0000

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fab girls at The Broke and the Bookish. Most people post before..8 o'clock but, you know, I'm being different.

1. Eva Ibbotson

So...Eva Ibbotson's kind of dead. But I've been on a historical fiction kick and her books are pretty much the best historical out there. There are other ones but...y'all know what I mean. I mourn the fact books like her YA stuff is hard to find and she won't be sharing more with us.

2. Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray ripped my heart to shreds, stomped on it, set it on fire, and then give me a flower. I need Ruta to do this again. As it is, I need to reread Between Shades of Gray. I'm pretty sure she has another book coming out this year, but I need it now so...there you go.

3. Suzanne Collins

I know she has another book series besides The Hunger Games, but quite honestly, I'm not sure I have the time to pick up ANOTHER already completed series. But if she publishes a book a year? That I can manage. Please, Suzanne, give us new stuff?

4. J.K. Rowling

I think this is pretty self explanatory. She keeps teasing us about new stuff and coming out and it's just a matter of who from and when. But Jo, WHY YOU PLAYING GAMES WITH MY HEARTS? Please, just give us a date and a publisher. I'll even settle for a year.

5. Roald Dahl

Another deceased author. I've been slowly working on the book that just released, which is probably the last one. But his books always make me laugh, they're a connection to my sister, and I know they'll be something I pass on to my kids someday. I just wish they could understand the excitement of getting one of his books when it releases.

6. Libba Bray

Yeah, yeah she put out a book last spring and OKAY FINE she has another book series starting to launch in November. BUT THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME, OKAY? I need a 6 month fix from Libba.

7. Morgan Matson

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour is quite simply EPIC. It was fantastic and wonderful and full of musical references and it just made my soul happy. I'm dying for more soul happy.

8. Sarah MacLean

Okay, YES she has adult books coming out regularly and I love them dearly but...they're just not YA. I need more cutesy, fun, mysterious historical YA because Sarah's another girl that can do it well.

9.Stephanie Perkins

It was recently announced that Isla and the Happily Ever After isn't coming out until 2013. I get that Stephanie needs time to be creative without a burn out and I respect it. But...I was just so excited. I feel like Isla could be my favorite of her books. But I'll be patient. I'll be good.

10. Gayle Forman

If I Stay was good, but Where She Went BLEW ME AWAY. So, yeah I need her next book, which is coming out later this year or in 2013, I can't remember. Either way, I think Gayle's just going to get better and better with every book.

So, that's my list. What about you guys?

--Julie

Revealing Eden by Victoria Foyt

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Revealing Eden

Victoria Foyt

Sand Dollar Press Inc.

[January 10, 2012]

Eden Newman must mate before her 18th birthday in six months or she'll be left outside to die in a burning world. But who will pick up her mate-option when she's cursed with white skin and a tragically low mate-rate of 15%? In a post-apocalyptic, totalitarian, underground world where class and beauty are defined by resistance to an overheated environment, Eden's coloring brands her as a member of the lowest class, a weak and ugly Pearl. If only she can mate with a dark-skinned Coal from the ruling class, she'll be safe. Just maybe one Coal sees the Real Eden and will be her salvation her co-worker Jamal has begun secretly dating her. But when Eden unwittingly compromises her father's secret biological experiment, she finds herself in the eye of a storm and thrown into the last area of rainforest, a strange and dangerous land. Eden must fight to save her father, who may be humanity's last hope, while standing up to a powerful beast-man she believes is her enemy, despite her overwhelming attraction. Eden must change to survive but only if she can redefine her ideas of beauty and of love, along with a little help from her "adopted aunt" Emily Dickinson.

So, I liked this book. It was fairly entertaining but...I definitely had some issues.

Eden and Bramford are pretty much the two main characters. On their own? Pretty decent characters. Both had their annoying moments, but still, not bad. However, together? Highly annoying. These two were very much at each other's throats at times, and then they were lovey-dovey-cuddly. It really bothered me to see these two have such extreme back and forths within a chapter. It wasn't realistic and it made me not want the two characters to be together. Eden's father also irks me, but I can't fully explain that. But the other characters? Well crafted, interesting, relatable. I really liked the other characters.

The world building was pretty good. Where Eden and Bramford and her father had lived wasn't described as much as I'd like and I never fully understood how it got so bad on Earth besides a vague "humans took advantage of the earth," but in the rain forest, things were highly descriptive and things made sense there. It was very interesting to see. But mostly, I was curious as to how the world got that way.

The story itself was kind of overshadowed by the Eden/Bramford relationship, for me. What I did catch was interesting, but also slightly vague. I did like that it was somewhat of a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but I wasn't as interested in it as I wanted to be. Maybe it's because the Eden and Bramford relationship bothered me so much and it was such a big part of the story, but I just wasn't captured by this. By time I was almost done reading, I kind of dreaded going to pick it up because I just wanted to move on.

This was very much just an okay book for me. It wasn't special, really kind of annoying at times. If I had to rate it, it'd probably be a 2 and a half stars out of 5. Some of you may like this book, but it just wasn't for me. If the summary interests you, though, definitely give it a try.

--Julie

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

noreply@blogger.com (lanna-lovely) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:40:00 +0000

All These Things I've Done

by Gabrielle Zevin

Summary: In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.

This book was good, but at the same time it wasn't...which is kind of contrary, I know. I'll explain the "wasn't" part first before I get to the good stuff. But before I get to that, just to be clear, this is more just an explanation of why the book didn't work for me - I've seen plenty of 5 star reviews from people who adored the book.

I had high expectations for this book. For some reason it was one of those ones that I really wanted to read ever since I first heard of it and it sounded like it would be awesome (I think it was the Mafia-ish aspect and forbidden romance thing that appealed to me). It didn't live up to those expectations but at the same time, that may be why my opinion of the book was a little lower than it would've been had I read it expecting nothing.

With dystopians, they tend to fall into three catagories for me:

1. Ones where I read them and think, "Yeah, I can totally see how the world could end up that way. I do believe that could happen."

2. Ones where, while I think the world created is kind of far fetched, it's written so well that I believe it within the context of the story.

3. Ones that I am just totally not convinced by the world at all.

All These Things I've Done fell into the third catagory. I just found the world in the story ridiculous - something was just lacking there and so it made it harder to enjoy the book properly. The concept was interesting and I do give the author credit for the originality there, but the execution was just...could've been better.

Also, the whole "mafia" aspect - I was just not even remotely convinced by that at all...I just didn't buy her family as this big crime family because all that was really mentioned about them was illegally selling chocolate and coffee which is just - it's silly...when I think of the word mafia, I think real crime, major stuff but this was like a bunch of kittens treated like lions. It was like they made chocolate illegal so they could have the family be criminals without actually having the reader think of the family as criminals and thinking less of them for it.

Or maybe if the world building was done better and made me believe that illegally selling chocolate was this bad ass crime then that would've changed things but it was just lacking in believability.

I wasn't fond of the way the book was written - I won't get into all the reasons for that because this review is getting a bit long, but yeah; the writing was something I had high expectations for because I had read and adored quotes from the authors other books that made her seem like one of those writers whose writing would wow me and this didn't. It's wasn't bad, it just wasn't one of those books where the writing is one of the things I liked about it and I didn't actually have any emotional connection to the characters...I read the book, I enjoyed it, but it never made me laugh or cry or feel even an echo of what the characters were feeling, it didn't feel like there was much emotion on the pages and so it didn't really trigger any in me.

Now, onto the good stuff. Once I got over the fact that the book wasn't going to be what I expected it to be or exceed those expectations, and once I managed to suspend disbelief with the world in the book, I really enjoyed it. It was entertaining to read.

I liked the characters, especially the side characters (I wanted to hug Leo so much, he was lovely and the sibling relationships in the book made me smile). The main character, Anya, did have moments where she annoyed me but in general, she was okay (except for her religion - I had no problem with her being Catholic but I don't think her Catholicism was handled well in the book, it didn't seem genuine and it made her seem hypocritical...maybe it was intentionally meant as a character flaw, I don't know, I just didn't like it). The plot was enjoyable enough - not sure what I can really say about it without spoiling things so I'll leave it at that.

The romance was... okay. It wasn't swoon-worthy or anything but it was sweet and I liked Win, he was nice enough (with silly exceptions, like when he started calling Anya "lass" - that was just ridiculous, it wasn't cute...but that may be my Scottishness that disapproves of that because I associate it with Scottish/British stereotypes that bug me and I've only ever heard old men and women use that term).

I think the romance may have actually been one of the let downs as far as my expectations went - the summary made it sound like it would be this epic, Romeo and Juliet, forbidden type romance and it wasn't, any conflict with the romance was usually resolved like a chapter later (actually, most of the conflict in the book was handled like that but I can't talk about it without spoilers - I guess that was one of the negatives too).

I don't think I'm doing the book justice in this review, my attempts at getting to the positive stuff keeps turning negative. I just have difficulty explaining what I liked about it because to be honest, I don't know what I liked exactly. I know what I didn't like and I also know that I was entertained by it and did enjoy it, I just can't pin point exactly what it was I enjoyed about it - maybe with a book sometimes it really does just come down to the fact that it keeps you entertained and there doesn't need to be a reason beyond that.

I'd rate it maybe 3 stars out of 5. It was fun to read, just didn't live up to expectations and was kind of lacking in the world building and believability. From other reviews that I've seen, it seems to be mostly a love it or hate it kind of book with most of the reviews either being 4 or 5 stars or 1 or 2 stars so it might work out better for you than it did for me.

Later.

In My Mailbox (100)

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Hello lovelies!

No vlog this week because I have a hacking cough and therefore, don't sound all that great. Even when I do, talking for too long will mess me up.

For Review:

Shot Through the Heart by Niki Burnham (signed)

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Forbidden by Syrie and Ryan M. James

Bought:

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles

Birthmarked by Caragh M O'Brien

E-books:
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Heir by Grace Burrowes
The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross
Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski
The Seeds of Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Angelfall by Susan Ee (sample)

Any thoughts on these books? Anybody read Angelfall and think I should go ahead and buy it? What did you get this week?

--Julie

Around the World in 80 Days: The International Kissing Club Blog Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Hi guys! Today we have the three authors that make up Ivy Adams on the blog to celebrate The International Kissing Club's release! I asked what it was like collaborating on a book:

“Even the lamest page can be saved by collaboration” Philip Greenspun

Ivy Adams is, not so secretly, a pseudonym for three writers: Emily McKay, Tracy Deebs and me, Shellee Roberts. We wrote a book, The International Kissing Club, together. The number one question we get asked is “How did you do that?” which really translates to “How did you do that and not kill each other?”

We always laugh at this question because surprisingly, not killing each was the easy part--actually getting the book finished was the harder part. Or maybe that’s not such a surprise to others as it was to us.

Our book, The International Kissing Club, is the story of four best friends from Paris, Texas, who escape the bullying of their high school mean girl and other problems by becoming foreign exchange students for a semester. We thought the premise lent itself perfectly to multiple writers, so each of us would write the chapters for one girl and we’d split the fourth between us. We figured since we were each only writing one-third of the book (roughly 30,000 words each, a novella really) this would be a breeze compared to the grind of completing an entire novel by ourselves. Right?

Well...sort of.

After we fleshed out the girls and the basic storyline, we each set out to write a few chapters and very quickly realized this was not going to be as easy as we first thought. A scene doesn’t occur in isolation because what happens in it depends on what happened before and what’s going to happen next. And I’m not talking about just the big things, like actions and beginnings and endings, which are easier to plot out before hand, but the smaller things such as character emotions and nuances had to be in sync as well, not to mention the voice. Your voice as a writer is so vital to how a story is told and we were three writers from different backgrounds with radically different voices and writing styles. If this book was going to work--and we were determined it was--we had to completely change up our writing processes, trust each other implicitly with each other’s words and drop any ego we had (which, thankfully, wasn’t much) at the door.

First, we had to plot, really plot, and we’re not plotters. In our individual writing, all three of us do a little character work, some scene sketching of scenes, a basic outline, and then dive in. But this was plotting on a whole other level. Color coded index cards were brought in and we figured out scenes down to key dialogue, feelings, and time of day in each time zone the girls were in around the globe so concurrent scenes were accurate (not always sure we got this 100% right, but we really tried!).

Then we read. Out loud. Once or twice a week we met to read our written work aloud to each other. This is where we had to be brave. Since we were usually working on a tight deadline, squeezing this book in among other writing deadlines, families and day jobs we often had to bring totally unpolished first drafts to the table for a reading. And, y’all, my first drafts suck! Not just a little. But we found that doing this was the best way to check that each of the character’s voices were true and that overall the book sounded cohesive. This took hours, and hours, and hours. Especially because when we got together we wanted to talk about anything other than the book. Oh, and eat. I recall a lot of eating during this time.

In the end, we made our deadline on time (even if it was at 11:59 pm on the date and the ink was still wet on the page, so to speak), we learned a ton from each other and grew as writers (at least I did), and we’re extremely proud of our book.

Thank you for hosting us today!

Now I want to know if you’d read your first book of 2012 yet and what it was. Did you love it? Tell me in the comments (leave your email so we can contact you) to be entered to win the Around the World In 80 Kisses daily and weekly prize and also become eligible to win the Grand Prize, a Kindle Fire. For a list of all our Smooch Posts you can visit and earn more entries to win, visit us here.

The International Kissing Club by Ivy Adams is the story of four best friends: Piper, Cassidy, Mei, and Izzy--the misfits of Paris, Texas. Their whole lives, they’ve dreamed of escaping small-town life and seeing the world. So when Piper is the victim of an embarrassing prank that goes viral online, she gets the idea that the girls should escape via the school’s international exchange program, in search of fun, love and internet redemption.

Emily McKay, Shellee Roberts and Tracy Deebs write under the pseudonym Ivy Adams. They shop, gossip and watch movies in Austin, Texas.

The International Kissing Club is out now, if you're interested!

And thanks so much for stopping by today, girls. This was fascinating!

--Julie

The Dead of the Night by James Marsden

noreply@blogger.com (lanna-lovely) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

This is the second book in a series (first book: Tomorrow When the War Began). My review will be spoiler-free but the summary probably won't be - actually, I'm glad I didn't read the summary before reading because it actually spoils some things from the book - not far in the book, but still, stuff that had more of an impact when they were a surprise.

The Dead of the Night

by James Marsden

Summary: When their country is invaded and their families are taken, eight high school teenagers band together to fight.

Seventeen-year-old Ellie and her friends have survived the invasion, but two of their band are captured: Kevin is imprisoned and Corrie is alive, but in a coma.

Homer and Ellie are determined to get them back and to continue their campaign against the enemy. They discover that there are other rebels out there, fighting the invaders - but who are they and can they be trusted? As the pressure grows, can Ellie work out her conflicted feelings for the brilliant, arrogant Homer and the strong, gentle Lee?

As war rages, and the enemy closes in, Ellie and her friends must once again fight for their lives... but how many of their band will be left?

I lovelovelove this series.

The concept of the story is pretty terrifying (in a way that is exciting to read about) - I don't mean that in a things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, horror movie kind of way. I mean it in a more real, oh-my-god imagine that actually happened sort of way. I found myself feeling lost and helpless and angry and restless along with the characters; you wanted them to make a difference, to fight, but you know that the situation is so much bigger than them but you can't help but root for them to not back down.

The characters are awesome. They're easy to love because they're so raw and real and they screw up, they argue, they lose their tempers and have immature and weak moments but then they have moments of brilliance and bravery too... and in a situation like they're in, that's how I imagine real teenagers would be; changed but the same, strong and weak, the best and the worst versions of themselves. And the book shows all of that.

I think that's why I love this series so much. Of all the invasion/dystopian/post-apocalyptic/war type stories that I've read where something goes horribly wrong with the world/a country, this is the one that feels the most real and the least far fetched in almost every way, from the characters to idea to the execution of it.

I love the writing too. I'm not usually a fan of those almost journal-ish books where the character is writing down what happened and the reader is aware of that, but it's done really well here and Ellie is brutally honest in her writing, she doesn't sugarcoat the bad things whether they're about herself or her friends and when I finished reading, there was loads of little pieces of paper to mark pages with quotes I like in the book.

I don't know what it is about Australian YA, but of all the YA books I've read, the Australian ones always stand out somehow as being unique and awesome and John Marsden is no exception.

If you haven't read this series yet, you should check it out. :)

Later.

Waiting on Wednesday: And We Continue

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

And we're on to our next edition! Woo!

The Right and the Real

Joelle Anthony

Putnam Juvenile

[April 26, 2012]

Kicked out for refusing to join a cult, seventeen-year-old Jamie must find a way to survive on her own

Jamie should have known something was off about the church of the Right and the Real from the start, especially when the Teacher claimed he wasn’t just an ordinary spiritual leader, but Jesus Christ, himself. But she was too taken by Josh, the eldest son of one of the church’s disciples, and his all-American good looks. Josh is the most popular boy at school too, and the first boy outside the drama geeks to give Jamie a second look. But getting her Dad involved in a cult was not part of the plan when she started dating Josh. Neither was her dad’s marriage to the fanatic Mira, or getting kicked out, or seeing Josh in secret because the church has deemed her persona non grata.

Jamie’s life has completely fallen apart. Finding her way back won’t be easy, but when her Dad gets himself into serious trouble, will Jamie be ready to rescue him, and maybe even forgive him?

Second Chance Summer

Morgan Matson

Simon and Schuster's Children Publishing

[May 8, 2012]

Taylor's family might not be the closest-knit – everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled – but for the most part, they get along fine. Then Taylor's dad gets devastating news that changes everything. Her parents decide that the family will spend the summer together at their old vacation home in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former summer best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend. . . and he's much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses, the Edwards become more of a family, and closer than they’ve ever been before. But all of them are very aware that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance – with family, with friends, and with love.

I'm going to leave it at just two because I want to put less books per post so it's easier to make this last longer. So there you go! What are you waiting on?

--Julie

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Under the Never Sky

Veronica Rossi

HarperCollins

[January 3, 2012]

Aria is a teenager in the enclosed city of Reverie. Like all Dwellers, she spends her time with friends in virtual environments, called Realms, accessed through an eyepiece called a Smarteye. Aria enjoys the Realms and the easy life in Reverie. When she is forced out of the pod for a crime she did not commit, she believes her death is imminent. The outside world is known as The Death Shop, with danger in every direction.

As an Outsider, Perry has always known hunger, vicious predators, and violent energy storms from the swirling electrified atmosphere called the Aether. A bit of an outcast even among his hunting tribe, Perry withstands these daily tests with his exceptional abilities, as he is gifted with powerful senses that enable him to scent danger, food and even human emotions.

They come together reluctantly, for Aria must depend on Perry, whom she considers a barbarian, to help her get back to Reverie, while Perry needs Aria to help unravel the mystery of his beloved nephew’s abduction by the Dwellers. Together they embark on a journey challenged as much by their prejudices as by encounters with cannibals and wolves. But to their surprise, Aria and Perry forge an unlikely love - one that will forever change the fate of all who live UNDER THE NEVER SKY.

Yet another wonderful, wonderful debut novel!

Aria and Perry were wonderful protagonists. They grew so much as characters. At first, they were both kind of unlikable, but they changed and developed together into two characters I adored. They were strong and independent and they learned to accept each other, despite all the differences they thought they had. They both had their own concerns that they were passionate about. These two were caring and love their families, so much. And they were together and I just love them, guys. I do. Especially when they're together, together.

The story itself never dragged. They're traveling a lot, but that's never the only thing going on. There was always more to it, always something else to beware of. New characters and new dangers one wouldn't expect. Then they get places and there's more traveling and every thing was interesting. There was a lot going on through out the book, but they were either entwined or separate, starting and ending before the climax.

The ending was also unexpected. So unexpected. I both loved it and hated it. I hated the position the characters were left in and I hated the fact I'd have to wait more than a year to know what happens next, but I loved the tension. I loved that it wasn't what was expected. I loved that Veronica Rossi made me feel all these things.

Veronica's an incredible writer. There's a lot of emotion, a lot of tension. Everything was so well described I could paint it all in my head. My heart was with the characters, it broke with them, it loved with them, it feared with them. At the beginning, I wasn't sure I'd like this one so much, but as it went on, I loved it more and more.

I just loved this book so hard by the time I finished. The beginning might be kind of tough, but just stick with it. It all works out well and becomes wonderful.

--Julie

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Incarnate

Jodi Meadows

HarperCollins Children's Books

[January 31, 2012]

NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

This book, guys. This. Freaking. Book.

So, Ana is one of my favorite heroines. I feel like maybe I say that a lot, but hear me out on this one. Ana's got one of the worst parents ever and she has very little education. She has no reason to trust people and every right to not care. But she doesn't. She learns how to do dozens of things. She learns how to make friends and she cares about others. Ana is this well rounded, clever girl with a big heart. I wanted to hug this girl, I wanted her to be one of my best friends. Ana is just incredible.

Sam is this mystery, but he's also very open. It's hard to explain without giving things away for you. He's a constant support for Ana and he stands by her. Sam doesn't give up. He lets Ana do what she needs to do, but in the end, he's always going to do what he thinks is best for her.

The other characters are all important, as well. Each plays a role in Ana's life, even if it may seem small. I highly suspect that Jodi will make their roles more important in the next book. They were each unique, well created. They had their own personalities, instead of just being cardboard cutouts or copies of the others. Jodi created a wonderful, diverse cast of characters, ones to hate and ones to love.

Two of the big recurring things in this book are music and butterflies. I'm a music junkie, I'll admit it. I'm always looking for new music and I can obsess over certain songs/CDs/artists. I'm also a semi-musician, having played piano and sang for a number of years. Basically, I love finding music in books. Seeing the two worlds cross is fun, and when it's done right, it's like finding a unicorn. Not many books can do it really well. I also loved how Jodi uses butterflies in this book as a symbol. It's beautiful and true and I just...it was so well executed. I loved the whole butterfly theme so much, I had to point it out so you guys would pay attention to it.

Jodi's writing is fantastic. I've read this book twice already, but it's just as enthralling the second time. Addictive and rich and descriptive. I could see Heart in my head; the people, the buildings, creatures that come up were all well painted in my imagination. The story is beautiful and full of wonderful descriptions.

If you guys haven't figured it out yet, I freaking loved this book. The way I love Hourglass, the way I love Shatter Me...that's the way I love this book. Incarnate is simply magical. Fantastically created characters, rich description, and some incredible symbols and themes blend together to create an experience that is not to be missed this year.

--Julie