Tuesday, January 31, 2012
A-Z Book Challenge Mini Challenge Book #1
Netgalley Month January Wrap Up
Teaser Tuesday #43, January 31st
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Today's teaser comes from The Screaming Season by Nancy Holder, page 13.
"Nine, I thought. And then I heard Celia screaming."
Sounds scary, but what with the title, and it being the 3rd book in the Possessions series, well, it's no wonder! Can't wait to read more!
And from my own book, Phantom in My Soul, page 2.
"She, who was ruining my life as I’d ended hers. Slowly, painfully."
What about you guys? Happy reading!
Monday, January 30, 2012
It's Monday! What Are You Reading #34, January 30th
It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week...and anything in between! This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well...you never know where that next "must read" book will come from!
What happened in the past week:
Weekly Memes:
It's Monday! What Are You Reading #33
Teaser Tuesday #42
WWW Wednesday #42
WOW #38
Will the Time Come #34
Third Sentence Thursday #25
Random Reads #9
First Lines Friday #30
Follow that Blurb Reading Challenge Update 31
A-Z Book Challenge Update 4
The Reward Challenge Round 24 and 25
Follow Friday #12
YA Historical Fiction Challenge Update 4
2012 Dystopian Reading Challenge Update 4
In My Mailbox #33
I Have An Update #32
Week 4 Reviews:
After Obsession
Legacy
Allegiance
Thirteen Reasons Why
All Fall Down
Replication
Enduring Light
Crusade
Alienation
Stolen Away
The Darlings in Love
Daughter of the Centaurs
The Sky is Everywhere
Someone Else's Life
The Guardian Duke
The Lonely Girls Club
Tour:
Embrace; Review
Random:
If Your Name Was Called for Being Tribute for Your District in the Hunger Games...
So for this week, I had 33 posts in 7 days, which I'm really happy with! Now to read and write those reviews, because boy, am I behind! That's why I'm only wanting to read 14 new books this week instead of a huge number like last weeks 21!
Ok, So this week, I want to read The Guardian, Goddess Interrupted, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Crater Lake, Caller ID, Dead Beautiful, Life Eternal, Deadly Cool, The Screaming Season, The Unseen, Forgotten, Candlewax, Perfect Chemistry, and Spellcaster.
Currently Listening To: Man! I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain
Currently Reading: Caller ID by Rachelle Christensen
Currently Watching: Person of Interest
Seth’s time is running out. If he can’t hand over the entrance to Olympus, his own life and those of his people will be forfeit. No matter the torture, Seth hasn’t been able to break the god in his custody. Then there’s the beautiful Dream-Hunter Lydia: She isn’t just guarding the gates of Olympus—she’s holding back one of the world’s darkest powers. If she fails, an ancient curse will haunt the earth once more and no one will be safe. But evil is always seductive...
But if she wants a life in the Underworld with Henry, she’ll have to fight for it.
Becoming immortal wasn’t supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she’s as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he’s becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate’s coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.
As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.
Henry’s first wife, Persephone.
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
After the funeral Renée’s wealthy grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy, a remote and mysterious boarding school in Maine, where she finds herself studying subjects like Philosophy, Latin, and the “Crude Sciences.”
It’s there that she meets Dante Berlin, a handsome and elusive boy to whom she feels inexplicably drawn. As they grow closer, unexplainable things begin to happen, but Renée can’t stop herself from falling in love. It’s only when she discovers a dark tragedy in Gottfried’s past that she begins to wonder if the Academy is everything it seems.
Little does she know, Dante is the one hiding a dangerous secret, one that has him fearing for her life.
Now, her separation from Dante becomes almost unbearable. His second life is close to an end, and each passing day means one less that she will spend with the boy who shares her soul.
Just when Renée has almost given up hope, she learns of the Nine Sisters—brilliant scholars who, according to legend, found a way to cheat death. She can’t shake the feeling that they are somehow connected to her dreams, strange visions that hint at a discovery so powerful, and so dangerous, that some will stop at nothing to protect it.
Renée thought she knew the truth about life and death. But there is a secret woven through history that holds the only hope for Dante and Renée. Unless they find answers soon, their time together is doomed to be cut short.
But as much as Hartley wouldn't mind seeing him squirm, she knows he's innocent, and she's the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school's resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer's next victim.
The gutsy heroine of Possessions and The Evil Within returns for another year of boarding school at the haunted Marlwood Academy. Lindsay wakes to find herself strapped down in the infirmary. She had a breakdown and might have tried to kill her nemesis Mandy or Mandy's boyfriend, Troy—or both. The details are hazy, but one thing is certain: she is possessed by a spirit she cannot trust.
Lindsay soon realizes that nowhere on campus is safe. Then, she finds a surprising ally in her former rival. Together, Lindsay and Mandy must figure out who can be trusted—and who wants them dead. But when Lindsay's ex-boyfriend shows up at Marlwood, she is given a chance to get away and be free of the curse. Will she take Riley's hand and run, or team up with a new love to save Marlwood from the evil spirits forever?
1800s. San Antonio, Texas: In room 207 at the Longhorn Saloon, in the long shadow of the Alamo itself, a woman renowned for her beauty was brutally murdered. Her killer was never found.
One year ago: In that same historic room, another woman vanished without a trace. Her blood was everywhere...but her body was never recovered.
Now: In the last month, San Antonio has become a dumping ground for battered bodies. All young women, many of them long missing, almost all forgotten. Until now.
Texas Ranger Logan Raintree cannot sit by and let his city’s most vulnerable citizens be slain. So when he is approached to lead a brand-new group of elite paranormal investigators working the case, he has no choice but to accept the challenge. And with it, his powerful ability to commune with the dead.
Among Logan’s new team is Kelsey O’Brien, a U.S. marshal known for her razor-sharp intuition and a toughness that belies her delicate exterior. Kelsey has been waiting all her life to work with someone who can understand her ability to “see” the past unfolding in the present. Now she has her chance.
Together, Kelsey and Logan follow their instincts to the Alamo and to the newly reopened Longhorn, which once tempted heroes with drink, cards and women. If the spirits of those long-dead Texans are really appearing to the victims before their deaths, only Kelsey and Logan have the skills to fi nd out why. And if something more earthly is menacing the city’s oldest, darkest corners, only they can stop it—before more innocent women join the company of San Antonio’s restless ghosts....
When London starts experiencing disturbing flashbacks, or flash-forwards, as the case may be, she realizes it's time to learn about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.
An Ancient Prophecy. A Powerful Relic. An Insatiable Evil. When all three converge, the fate of every living thing will be in peril.
All her life Catherine had hoped to see a fairrier cat. No book, no scroll provided to her by her tutors had ever mentioned this legend, much to her frustration, and now-at the worse possible time-she was getting her wish. Only, in her wish the cat wasn't about to kill her.
A 732-year-old fairrier cat the size of a horse has killed his fair share of hunters. Driven to the brink of extinction for the supernatural powers of his coat, is he indeed the last of his kind?
Sheltered, 16-year-old Catherine is about to find out. Unwitting heir to the Ancient Onyxes, she flees an arranged marriage only to stumble upon the cat's secrets, the force of the ancient relic she wears, and the dangerous mission they must undertake.
Hidden under a desert that was once a fertile land, millions of predators are waiting to feast again. Catherine must discover the secret of the Ancient Onyxes and stop the creatures known as trodliks before they consume everything in their path. A whispered prophecy becomes her only guide and a rejected suitor just might be the one warrior she desperately needs.
A fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers.
When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more. In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.
Finding your eternal soulmate - easy.
Stopping a true-love-hungry evil - not so much…
After breaking a centuries-old romantic curse, Emma Connor is (almost) glad to get back to normal problems. Although...it's not easy dealing with the jealous cliques and gossip that rule her exclusive Upper East Side prep, even for a sixteen-year-old newbie witch. Having the most-wanted boy in school as her eternal soul mate sure helps ease the pain-especially since wealthy, rocker-hot Brendan Salinger is very good at staying irresistibly close....
But something dark and hungry is using Emma and Brendan's deepest fears to reveal damaging secrets and destroy their trust in each other. And Emma's crash course in über-spells may not be enough to keep them safe…or to stop an inhuman force bent on making their unsuspected power its own.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
I Have an Update! #32, January 29th
New Plots: Ditto.
Monthly Word Count: 0. Still not writing! Bad me!
In My Mailbox #33, January 29th-January Week 4
In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren to talk about the books we got in the mailbox or inbox as the case may be!
Library:
The Guardian
Deadly Cool
Tiger's Quest
The Screaming Season
The Unspoken
I Am J
The Fortunes of Indigo Skye
The City of Ember
The People of Sparks
The Prophet of Yonwood
The Diamond of Darkhold
NetGalley:
Goddess Interrupted
Spellcaster
The Unseen
The Forgiven Duke
Blue Monday
Much Ado About Rogues
The Legacy of Eden
Deadly Is the Kiss
Against the Night
The Dispatcher
Bloodland
Catch Me
The Replacement Wife
Erebos
Bleed for Me
For Review:
Library:
The Guardian
Deadly Cool
Tiger's Quest
The Screaming Season
The Unspoken
I Am J
The Fortunes of Indigo Skye
The City of Ember
The People of Sparks
The Prophet of Yonwood
The Diamond of Darkhold
NetGalley:
Goddess Interrupted
Spellcaster
The Unseen
The Forgiven Duke
Blue Monday
Much Ado About Rogues
The Legacy of Eden
Deadly Is the Kiss
Against the Night
The Dispatcher
Bloodland
Catch Me
The Replacement Wife
Erebos
Bleed for Me
If Your Name Was Called for Being Tribute for Your District in the Hunger Games...
Hi, today's the day for reading the first chapter of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for the read-a-thon hosted by Larrissa, @ Howling Turtle.
And I want to know is, what would you do if your name was called to represent your district in the Hunger Games?
Well, first I'd want to know how many times has your name been entered. How old are you, young at 12, or being entered for the last time at 18? Do you live in the seam and therefore enter more times for tesserae for each member of your family? Is your name in only once, or is it in 28+ times? Does this make you scared to death, nervous that it's your first time at a possibility, more like a most-likely death, or maybe a relief that this is your last year of the hell of waiting to know if your name was pulled?
Now that we've established a background, how you feel emotionally, your heart pounding, and the Peacekeepers making sure whoever is called doesn't run away, and you wait...
...pound...
...pound...
And they call your name.
You react. You try and run away. And get dragged to the stage be put on show like an animal in the zoos that maybe you've heard about before Panem was created. Or you stand stalk still, frozen, and they have to drag you to the stage for a punishment for the districts trying to rebel. Or are you proud to be chosen, and strut up there like a peacock?
So, how would it be for you?
For me, I'd have 5 entries, I'm 17, and my family's pretty well off so I don't need to collect tesserae. So I would be a little worried, but the odds are in my favour for not being chosen. And when they call my name? Well, let's just say that I wouldn't bolt away, nor would I be proud of it. I'd be firmly in the frozen group, to be dragged up. After all, all I can think of is, I'm going to be the first one killed because I have absolutely no skills that might impress the judges come a few chapters. And the training? No way. I'd so die in the first day. My poor district!
So what about you guys? Well off, or severally poor, a runner, a terror statue, or a proud mascot?
And I want to know is, what would you do if your name was called to represent your district in the Hunger Games?
Well, first I'd want to know how many times has your name been entered. How old are you, young at 12, or being entered for the last time at 18? Do you live in the seam and therefore enter more times for tesserae for each member of your family? Is your name in only once, or is it in 28+ times? Does this make you scared to death, nervous that it's your first time at a possibility, more like a most-likely death, or maybe a relief that this is your last year of the hell of waiting to know if your name was pulled?
Now that we've established a background, how you feel emotionally, your heart pounding, and the Peacekeepers making sure whoever is called doesn't run away, and you wait...
...pound...
...pound...
And they call your name.
You react. You try and run away. And get dragged to the stage be put on show like an animal in the zoos that maybe you've heard about before Panem was created. Or you stand stalk still, frozen, and they have to drag you to the stage for a punishment for the districts trying to rebel. Or are you proud to be chosen, and strut up there like a peacock?
So, how would it be for you?
For me, I'd have 5 entries, I'm 17, and my family's pretty well off so I don't need to collect tesserae. So I would be a little worried, but the odds are in my favour for not being chosen. And when they call my name? Well, let's just say that I wouldn't bolt away, nor would I be proud of it. I'd be firmly in the frozen group, to be dragged up. After all, all I can think of is, I'm going to be the first one killed because I have absolutely no skills that might impress the judges come a few chapters. And the training? No way. I'd so die in the first day. My poor district!
So what about you guys? Well off, or severally poor, a runner, a terror statue, or a proud mascot?
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Week 4 Review: The Lonely Girls Club
At an exclusive California prep school, four young girls form a bond that will endure over two decades -- a bond built on secrets, scandal and murder . . . a bond about to be broken.
Mattie, a federal judge . . . Breeze, a wealthy entrepreneur . . . and Jane, the first lady of the United States, have all enjoyed a meteoric rise to success since their days at the Rowe Academy for Girls. But now the truth behind the suicide of their friend Ivy and the murder of their headmistress twenty years ago is no longer safely hidden.
The man imprisoned for the murder has been exonerated, and a true crime reporter is relentlessly pursuing a loose thread in the decades-old cover-up, one that threatens to unravel the women's pact of silence. But none of them anticipated the twisted depths of the secrets about to be exposed -- or how the truth could shatter all their lives.
My Review:
I really enjoyed this book, from the mystery of Ivy's death, the headmistress, and yeah, how the one guy was framed. And I really enjoyed the characters, because there were 3 that we got POV's on, because Ivy was dead. Yeah. Well, actually we got 4, because of Jameson Cross, the reporter. We got his POV, too!
First off, the whole idea of the Lonely Girls Club, a bit heartbreaking. A group of girls, by some means or another, whether by being a charity case at the school, or having angered the headmistress, roped into performing sexual acts on men. And those girls becoming a club? That's just sad, that they were put in that situation!
I really enjoyed reading the present, and the bits of the past that led up to the whole murder, the first one. And yeah, while I wish that we could've had more details of Ivy's death, what we got was pretty good! And yeah, it was just a good ending!
I really enjoyed this book, and I hope she writes more like this, beyond the other 2 that I know about!
Author: Suzanne Forster
Read: January 27th, 2012
Source: Library
Reason Why: I wanted to, and because it's a FtBRC book!
Publisher: Mira
Published: August 1st 2005
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| 4/5 Hearts |
 |
| 4/5 Books |
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| 4/5 Stars |
Week 4 Review: The Guardian Duke
The Guardian Duke is award-winning novelist Jamie Carie’s most exciting story yet, a uniquely arranged Regency-era romantic adventure where hero and heroine know each other through written letters but have yet to meet.
Gabriel, the Duke of St. Easton, is ordered by the King to take guardianship over Lady Alexandria Featherstone whose parents are presumed dead after failing to return from a high profile treasure hunt. But Alexandria ignores this royal reassignment, believing her parents are still alive and duly following clues that may lead to their whereabouts. Gabriel, pressured by what are actually the King's ulterior motives, pursues her across windswept England and the rolling green hills of Ireland but is always one step behind.
When they do meet, the search for earthly treasure will pale in comparison to what God has planned for both of them.
My Review:
This was a fantastic book! It was cute, with a romance that was mostly in Gabriel's head, because they don't meet-they just write each other letters. And it has mystery, the mystery of her parent's disappearance, because they've been gone for a year, which is why she is now Gabriel's ward.
This book, it was a lot like a game of cat and mouse, hide and seek, with Alex being the cat, or the hider, and Gabriel the cat or the seeker, because she goes off investigating, and then Gabriel, once he realizes that she's gone, follows her, and yeah, he gets close, but he wasn't quite fast enough!
I really enjoyed all these characters Alex was a bit head strong and impulsive, and had some ideas that you'd think wouldn't work, and was a bit trusting, but it worked out well for her. Gabriel, well, things aren't good for him, he losses his hearing, and Alex is about the only bright spot in his life. So yeah, that was fun and entertaining, to watch them grow closer in letters, but not in geographical distance!
Yeah, this was a really good book, and I can't wait to read more, because I want to know what's going to happen next!
Author: Janie Carie
Series: A Forgotten Castles #1
Read: January 27th-28th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded interesting! And a YA Historical Fiction novel!
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Expected Publication: February 1st 2012
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| 5/5 Hearts |
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| 5/5 Books |
|
| 5/5 Stars |
Week 4 Review: Someone Else's Life
When seventeen-year-old Rosie's mother, Trudie, dies from Huntington's Disease, her pain is intensified by the knowledge that she has a fifty-per-cent chance of inheriting the crippling disease herself. Only when she tells her mum's best friend, 'Aunt Sarah' that she is going to test for the disease does Sarah, a midwife, reveal that Trudie was not her biological mother after all... Devastated, Rosie decides to trace her real mother, hitching along on her ex-boyfriend's GAP year to follow her to Los Angeles. But all does not go to plan, and as Rosie discovers yet more of her family's deeply-buried secrets and lies, she is left with an agonising decision of her own - one which will be the most heart-breaking and far-reaching of all...
My Review:
What can I say about this book? That I loved it? Check. That it was incredible? Check. That I wish that I could read it again for the first time? Check. Oh, what else? That pretty anybody who reads and likes YA should read this book? Double check!
So the book starts off with Rosie, who's mom just died of Huntington's Disesase, after she dropped out of school to take care of her mom. But there's a secret-Rosie was switched at birth with another girl, and thus starts Rosie's journey to Los Angeles, to find her birth parents, and tell the other girl that she has a 50% chance of having Huntington's Disease herself.
And yeah, what an incredible journey, we learn a lot about Huntington's, about both girl's lives, and I loved the back and forth things, and the "almost happened" stuff, where two important people in the story almost meet, and yeah, that was just awesome, and I really loved it!
This was such a great book, and I just enjoyed it so much!
Author: Katie Dale
Read: January 27th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded interesting, so I wanted to read it! And it's a DAC book!
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's Books
Expected Publication: February 2nd 2012
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| 5/5 Hearts |
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| 5/5 Books |
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| 5/5 Stars |
Week 4 Review: The Sky is Everywhere
Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life - and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding.
I identified a lot with Lennie. I'm a bookworm, and I played clarinet in band, though there weren't first and second clarinets and sets, really. So yeah, we have a few things in common. Things that we don't, are that I'm the older sibling, and I have a younger brother. Yeah. I think I would prefer and older sister!
This was a really cute book, and while it was sometimes hard to read, dealing with the pain and loss of her sister, and then the emotional complications that comes with dealing with said sister's boyfriend, and then the new boy who she shares a lot of non-sister related stuff, both of whom, she could easily fall in love with.
I think that it ended rather nicely, on a good note, things are better, stable, and not hurting as much, and life continues without pretty much being hated, because yeah, things are better, and getting better all the time. And it's good!
This really was a nice, sweet book, and one that I enjoyed a lot!
Author: Jandy Nelson
Read: January 25th-27th, 2012
Source: Library
Reason Why: I wanted to, and it's a RR book!
Publisher: Dial
Published: March 9th 2010
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| 4/5 Hearts |
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| 3.5/5 Books |
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| 4/5 Stars |
Week 4 Review: Daughter of the Centaurs
Malora knows what she was born to be: a horse wrangler and a hunter, just like her father. But when her people are massacred by batlike monsters called Leatherwings, Malora will need her horse skills just to survive. The last living human, Malora roams the wilderness at the head of a band of magnificent horses, relying only on her own wits, strength, and courage. When she is captured by a group of centaurs and taken to their city, Malora must decide whether the comforts of her new home and family are worth the parts of herself she must sacrifice to keep them.
My Review:
This was a pretty amazing book! I wouldn't want to live in that world, but it's pretty cool, with her being the last human and all, being surrounded by centaurs, and the threat of Leatherwings. IT was pretty cool!
Malora thinks that centaurs are "perfect beings." And since she, as a young girl, has always wanted something to do with horses, well, the centaurs, who have the upper body of a human, and the lower body of a horse, well, yeah, that makes perfect sense!
I was pretty sad when she lost Sky, the stallion, because he'd been with her through some pretty hard times, and then he was gone, so yeah, I hope that is dealt with in the sequel, because I would really, really enjoy that, like, so much!
This was a pretty fantastic book, and there a lot of threads that hopefully will be dealt with in the next book, and yeah, my hopes are high!
Author: Kate Klimo
Series: Centauriad #1
Read: January 26th-27th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded good! And it counts for 2012 Dystopian, too, since it's set in the far future, where she's the last human left!
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Expected Publication: January 24th 2012
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| 4/5 Hearts |
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| 4/5 Books |
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| 4/5 Stars |
Week 4 Review: The Darlings in Love
The Darlings have just begun their second semester of ninth grade, and love is in the air. Victoria can hardly believe how perfect life is now that Jack is her boyfriend. Every moment they spend together seems to be better than the last. Meanwhile, Natalya is thrilled and a little nervous when her old crush, Colin, challenges her to a rematch of an unfinished chess game. Could he still like her too?
Jane can't help but feel a tad jealous of her two best friends' exciting romantic prospects—even if she has sworn off love. Performing in a production of famous love scenes is just about the last thing she wants to do. But when Jane meets her acting partner—sweet, gorgeous Simon—she may just have to give love another chance.
Still, nothing about love is as simple as it seems. Victoria's plan to surprise Jack with a romantic night out on Valentine’s Day goes disastrously wrong, and just when things start heating up between Natalya and Colin, Natalya discovers that Colin has been hiding something important from her. Even as Jane falls hard for Simon, she has to wonder: what if he's too good to be true?
In the face of both joy and heartbreak, the Darlings know that they'll always have each other. Boys come and go, but the Darlings are still forever.
My Review:
Well, first off, I'll have to say that I haven't read the first book in the series. And while this book would have been better with it, it was pretty good on it's own. The one big complaint about it, however, is that the girls, they seem to be more in grade 7 from the way that they were acting, than grade 9, and this is speaking as someone who's in grade 12.
So there's the 3 girls, Victoria who's in a steady relationship with her boyfriend, Jack. Natalya who has her ex, Colin, and things might be heating up there. And then there's Jane, who likes Simon, an actor, and sometimes with actors, well, they're pretty good at pretending, so you can't always know when they're lying.
There's a lot of high school drama in this book, which leads to the thing that this book was written for a younger audience, and there were personal things going on each girl's life. And since we got to be in each girl's head, we got to see this.
This was a good book, it's just a bit young for me, though I did enjoy it a fair bit!
Author: Melissa Kantor
Series: The Darlings Are Forever #2
Read: January 26th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded interesting. Yep.
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Published: January 10th 2012
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| 3/5 Hearts |
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| 2/5 Books |
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| 2/5 Stars |
Week 4 Review: Stolen Away
For seventeen years, Eloise Hart had no idea the world of Faery even existed. Now she has been abducted and trapped in the Rath of Lord Strahan, King of Faery. Strahan was only meant to rule for seven years, as Faery tradition dictates, and then give up his crown to another. But he won't comply, and now chaos threatens both worlds.
The only one who can break his stranglehold on the Faery court is his wife. . . Eloise's aunt Antonia. Using Eloise to lure Antonia, Strahan captures his wife, desperate to end the only threat to his reign. Now Eloise must become the rescuer. Together with her best friends Jo and Devin, she must forge alliances with other Fae, including a gorgeous protector named Lucas, and Strahan's mysterious son, Eldric-who may or may not betray them.
My Review:
This was a fantastic book! And I'd really love it if it became a series, because it was a really intriguing world, one that I'd love to spend some more time in! It was kinda really addicting, and interesting, and entertaining!
First off, the premise is awesome, Fae and Faery, and it's traditions, and the whole kidnap one person to get another, and then the original kidnap victim working to save the second? That's just plain awesome, if kinda stupid on the part of the kidnapper, though I guess he didn't really have a choice in letting Eloise go.
I enjoyed the various POV's, so we know more then what's going on Eloise's head, we were in her friend's heads, because they helped, and things were weird and crazy, and there was love growing in a few places, which just added more and making things more complicated and amazing!
Yeah, this was a pretty fantastic book, and again, I'd love for it to be a series, because I want more! Especially since we didn't get much Eloise in the end!
Author: Alyxandra Harvey
Read: January 26th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded interesting!
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Published: January 17th 2012
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| 5/5 Hearts |
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| 5/5 Books |
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| 5/5 Stars |
Week 4 Review: Alienation
The invasion was only the beginning . . .
After his parents were killed in a car accident, Colt McAllister was drawn into a world he thought only existed in comic books-one where mind control, jet packs, and flying motorcycles don't even scratch the surface.
Along with his best friends Oz and Danielle, Colt is now training at the secret Central Headquarters Against the Occult and Supernatural academy. But strange accidents seem to follow him. . . even with the security of the school grounds. What first seems random soon turns deadly. But who is targeting Colt?
As the alien invasions increase in frequency and force, C.H.A.O.S resources are taxed to the limit they're forced to utilize the new recruits. In the midst of battle, Colt will discover some startling revelations . . . about himself, his friendship with Oz, and why he has been chosen to defeat this alien attack against earth.
My Review:
I loved this book, so much! It picks up pretty quickly after Invasion, and yeah, right into action, which pretty much never lets up, it's like, bam bam bam, and only a few breaks between that! And it was just awesome!
We learn more about Cole, why he's important, why they think that he's the one that's going to save the world, and all the while Cole's being his smart ass, witty, pretty kick ass self, which is entertaining to see!
We also get stuff about Danielle and Oz, and yeah, not all of it is good, especially Oz, that almost broke my heart, but yeah, it's important, and while I didn't want it to happen, it was enjoyable to read about! What with Oz's dad and all!
Yeah, it started and ended with action, and I have high hopes for the 3rd (and I think last) book in the series!
Author: Jon S. Lewis
Series: C.H.A.O.S. #2
Read: January 23rd-26th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: I really enjoyed Invasion, so I requested this one! And it's a A-Z book.
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishings
Published: January 1st 2012
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| 5/5 Hearts |
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| 5/5 Books |
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| 5/5 Stars |