Random Reads #735, December 18th

Random Reads is a monthly meme (that I'm going to do weekly) hosted by I'm Loving Books to read some books that have been on our TBR piles for a long time. Using Random.org, I got 5540 which turned out to be Just One Year by Gayle Forman! It's been on my TBR pile since November 20th, 2011, and I added it because I love her writing! What about you guys? Happy reading!

Week 6 Review: My True Love Gave to Me

From Goodreads:
If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you're going to fall in love with My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins. 

Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or New Year's there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.

My Review:
This anthology was just so stinking cute! From the first story of a series of New Year's Eve parties, to the last story of December courtship in a strange world, this book had a lot! And it was diverse, too, with various races and some LGBT characters!

My favourites from this story? In order that there were in the story, Midnights, It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown, Welcome to Christmas, CA, and The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer. I enjoyed all of them, but these were my favourites, they were sweet, funny, creative, and interesting!

I was confused with Polaris is Where You'll Find Me, because it ended weirdly, it's hard for me to find the words. She's in love with him, but he gives her the address of the guy she met. And then it ends. Bah!

For Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus, I wouldn't be surprised if A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks wasn't an inspiration, because hey, troublesome boy and preacher's daughter with a single dad? And a play to put on? Yeah. That was pretty great!

Yeah, this book was just so stinking cute, I just loved it!

Authors: Stephanie Perkins, Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de la Pena, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White
Read: February 8th, 2018
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Love their books! And it's a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: October 14th 2014

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Gayle Forman Author Page

The Story: I found If I Stay at the library, and since I wanted to read it, I got it, and yeah, it was just so good, and I just really enjoyed that duology! And I can't wait to read more!

Website

Series: If I Stay, Just One Day.

If I Stay: If I Stay and her site, my review, my reread, Where She Went and her site, my review, my reread.

Just One Day: Just One Day and her site, my review, Just One Year and her site, my review, Just One Night and her site, my review,

Stand Alone's: Sisters in Sanity and her site, my review, I Was Here and her site, my review, I Have Lost My Way and her site.

Anthologies: My True Love Gave to Me and my review.

Waiting on Wednesday #190, December 24th

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!

Viper Game by Christine Feehan
Expected Publication: January 27th, 2015
From Goodreads:
Hailed as "the queen of paranormal romance" by J.R. Ward, #1 New York Times bestselling author “Christine Feehan continues to amaze readers” (The Eternal Night) with her phenomenal novels. Now, from the author of the Dark Carpathian series, comes the newest in Christine Feehan's explosive GhostWalker series…

GhostWalker Wyatt Fontenot knows the price he paid for the secret military experiments that gave him his special catlike abilities. After all, he left his bayou home a healer and came back a killer. While Wyatt and his GhostWalker brother Gator may have known exactly the sort of game they were getting into, Wyatt never anticipated where it would lead—or to whom.

The swamps hold many mysteries, but few are as sinuously seductive as Le Poivre de Cayenne. The woman the locals call Pepper is every bit as enigmatic as the three little girls she’s desperately trying to protect. From what, Wyatt is soon to discover. Right now Pepper needs a man like Wyatt. Passionately. But her secrets are about to take them both deeper into the bayou than either imagined—where desire is the deadliest poison of all.

Bound by Flames by Jeaniene Frost
Expected Publication: January 27th, 2015
From Goodreads:
Play with fire, pay the price.

Leila’s years on the carnie circuit were certainly an education. What she didn’t learn: how to be a vampire, or how to be married to the most famous vampire of them all. Adjusting to both has Leila teetering on a knife edge between passion and peril, and now the real danger is about to begin…

Vlad must battle with a centuries-old enemy whose reach stretches across continents and whose strength equals his own. It isn’t like Vlad to feel fear, but he does…for Leila, because his enemy knows she is Vlad’s greatest weakness. As friend and foe alike align against him—and his overprotectiveness drives Leila away—Vlad’s love for his new bride could be the very thing that dooms them both…

Beautiful Redemption by Jamie McGuire
Expected Publication: January 27th, 2015
From Goodreads:
The second of four novels chronicling the exciting, romantic, and sometimes volatile road to love for the Maddox brothers. The loves and loss of Thomas Maddox, the eldest Maddox brother, is told from the point-of-view of Liis Lindy, a no-nonsense agent of the FBI.

Fairest by Marissa Meyer
Expected Publication: January 27th, 2015
From Goodreads:
In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now. 

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross
Expected Publication: January 27th, 2015
From Goodreads:
An edgy fairy tale retelling of "Snow White" set in the world of Kill Me Softly for fans of Once Upon a Time and Grimm.

Faced with a possible loophole to her "Snow White" curse, Viv goes underground, literally, to find the prince who's fated to rescue her. But is life safe in the Underworld worth the price of sacrficing the love that might kill her?

Ignite by Sara B. Larson
Expected Publication: January 27th, 2015
From Goodreads:
Murder, abductions, and forbidden romance abound in this thrilling sequel to Sara B. Larson's acclaimed YA debut, DEFY.

Alexa remains by the newly crowned King Damian’s side as his guard, ever committed to helping him rebuild Antion and reclaim the hope of Antion's people, despite continuing to harbor a secret love for him. However, when another threat to Damian and his kingdom emerges, and blame is cast on their newly forged allies from Blevon, Alexa knows things are not what they seem. With the fate of her nation hanging in the balance once again, will Alexa be able to protect her king and uncover the true enemy -- before it's too late?

I Was Here by Gayle Forman
Expected Publication: January 27th, 2015
From Goodreads:
Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.

A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd
Expected Publication: January 27th, 2015
From Goodreads:
After killing the men who tried to steal her father’s research, Juliet—along with Montgomery, Lucy, Balthazar, and a deathly ill Edward—has escaped to a remote estate on the Scottish moors. Owned by the enigmatic Elizabeth von Stein, the mansion is full of mysteries and unexplained oddities: dead bodies in the basement, secret passages, and fortune-tellers who seem to know Juliet’s secrets. Though it appears to be a safe haven, Juliet fears new dangers may be present within the manor’s own walls.

Then Juliet uncovers the truth about the manor’s long history of scientific experimentation—and her own intended role in it—forcing her to determine where the line falls between right and wrong, life and death, magic and science, and promises and secrets. And she must decide if she’ll follow her father’s dark footsteps or her mother’s tragic ones, or whether she’ll make her own.

With inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this breathless conclusion to the Madman’s Daughter trilogy is about the things we’ll sacrifice to save those we love—even our own humanity.

Chaos by Lanie Bross
Expected Publication: January 27th, 2015
From Goodreads:
Can they change their destiny?

They kissed only once—and it was electric, like the air before a storm. But Corinthe and Luc broke the rules of the universe, and learned too late that their love would have consequences. In the dizzying aftermath, Luc refuses to accept his destiny—not if it means a life without Corinthe. As a fire rages through the Crossroads that connect worlds, Luc must find a way to turn back time and save Corinthe once and for all.

Meanwhile, Luc's 15-year-old sister Jasmine starts to realize things are not as they seem when time begins stuttering, sending her everyday life in San Francisco spinning into chaos. She’s thrown into the path of Ford, a troubled soul with a secret past, who helps her unravel the mysterious threads that connect them all.

Two breathtaking romances interweave across time in this story of what lies on the other side of Fate, as both Jas and Luc discover the incredible lengths they will go for love.

Oh, I want to read these books! They look so good! Though I have Tear You Apart, I can't wait to read it! What about you guys? Happy reading!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading #25, November 28th

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 #24
Teaser Tuesday #33
WWW Wednesday #33
WOW #29
Will the Time Come #25
Third Sentence Thursday #16
First Lines Friday #21
A-Z Reading Challenge Update #21
Follow that Blurb Reading Challenge Update #22
The Reward Challenge Round 12 and 13
In My Mailbox #25
I Have An Update #23

Week 47 Reviews:
Touch of Power
Alpha
Moonglass
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Between Sea and Sky
Passion
Raven
You Belong to Me
Hades
Ruby Red
Wildefire
Where She Went

Well, 25 posts in 7 days isn't too shabby. And I'm happy with how much I got read this week! And some excellent books at that! Absolutely loved Touch of Power! So amazing!

Ok, so this week, I want to read The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, Blood Red Road, Soulstice, Fearscape, Incarceron, The Dark Divine, and The Lost Saint. Yep. Hopefully more!

Currently Listening To: Hot Mess by Ashley Tisdale
Currently Reading: Blood Red Road
Currently Watching: True Blood

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.
Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she's a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.

Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, violent action, and an epic love story. Moira Young is one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction.

The terrifying, nail-biting, and grossly intriguing sequel toThe Devouring.

It's been six months since Reggie first discovered and fought against the Vours, malicious and demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on the eve of the Winter Solstice.

The Vours still haunt Reggie, but only in her dreams-until one night, when an unexpected visitor turns her nightmares into reality.

The Vours: evil, demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on Sorry Night, the darkest hours of the Winter Solstice.

It's been a year since Reggie first discovered the Vours, and the Winter Solstice is approaching once again. It will be another night of unspeakable horror for those unlucky enough to be taken by the Vours, because this time, she won't be able to stop them. The Vours have imprisoned Reggie in a psychiatric hospital, where she is subjected to a daily routine of unfathomably sadistic experiments. Her life is a living Hell, but she won't give up. They attacked her brother. They killed her friend. And Reggie will never stop fighting back.

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ...

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared--the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood--but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude's high school. Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy's dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it--her soul.

A family destroyed. A love threatened. An enemy returns.

Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She was infected with the werewolf curse while trying to save him, and lost her beloved brother in the process.

Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot, a newcomer to town. But as the two grow closer, Grace's relationship with Daniel is put in danger - in more ways than one.

Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace begins to give into the wolf inside of her - not realizing that an enemy has returned and a deadly trap is about to be sprung.

Week 47 Review: Where She Went

From Goodreads:
It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.


My Review:
Really enjoyed this book. It was another quick read like If I Stay, and it was different from If I Stay because it was from Adam's perspective, not Mia's. But it's the same where it was back and forth between past events, and how they relate to the present, in a way that I really love, that was just awesome!

This was a quick read, though not very summery. More fall-ish, to winter, to spring, with new hope, beginnings, and all that from a pretty dark place at the beginning.

Loved all the little stories, they were fun, deep, emotional, and painful at times, but they helped the story grow, and make sense, and made it work.

I really loved the way we got to see Mia from outside, how others see her, and not how she sees herself, because that just added to the book, added something that it needed, a fulfilment of understanding, so we had more depth in the characters, because we'd already seen Adam from Mia's perspective, and now Mia through Adam. And I loved that!

This was an excellent book, one I hope everyone will check out!

Author: Gale Forman
Series: If I Stay #2
Read: November 27th, 2011
Source: Library
Reason Why: Loved If I Stay, wanted to see what was going to happen next to them!
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Published: May 5th 2011

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

In My Mailbox #20, October 30th-October Week 5

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!

So this week I got (a lot):

For Review:
Image

Library:
Before I Fall
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
The Dead Tossed Waves
The Dark and Hollow Places
Glow
Where She Went
Quinn
The Scorch Trials
Enclave

NetGalley:
Seraphina

It's Monday! What Are You Reading #8, August 1st

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 #7
Teaser Tuesday #16
WWW Wednesday #16
WOW #11
Will the Time Come #9
First Line Friday #3
A-Z Reading Challenge Update #5
Follow that Blurb Reading Challenge Update #4
In My Mailbox #8
I Have an Update #6

Week 30 Reviews:
Kiss of Death
Ruby and the Mix Games
Seduced by a Rogue
Always a Scoundrel
If I Stay
Fade
Gone
Night Star
12.21.12
The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Magic Study
Beg For Mercy

Tours:
Shades of Blood; Giveaway
Forgotten April; Guest Post and Review

Well, I really read a lot of books this week! And that doesn't even include the 2 nano books, that together, had over 1000 word pages at Times New Roman 12 font. So a total of 15 books read! And 23 posts in 7 days. So yeah, I'm happy. And I just need to read a lot more netGalley books!!!

So this week I want to read The Time of the Eagle, Destruction from Twins, The Textile Planet, Rooms, Exchange, Flame of Surrender, and Dragon Aster. And the rest of my library books, and print copy books, and other PDF's and netaglley books, and of course nano books!

Currently Listening To: Sleeping!!!!
Currently Reading: The Textile Planet
Curentlly Watching: Torchwood

 Avala's father, Gabriel (the hero of Secret Sacrament), was the great Deliverer, the giver of freedom, the hero who began the prophesied Time of the Eagle. However, this freedom has not been easy, and the Shinali tribe have found the nomadic way of life very hard. Many times they have accidentally trespassed on the lands of the Igaal or the Hena, their former enemies, and have been driven violently away, making unification seem a long way off. Avala's relationship with a wonded Igaal hunter leads to her acceptance within the Igaal tribe, where her healing gifts and visions make her indispensable. But simply helping one injured Igaal hunter is not enough to meld the two peoples. And in her absence from her own people, a rival priest has arisen, claiming that the Time of the Eagle has come and that they must fight rather than unify with the Igaal. Can Avala reverse her tribe's decision, and finally make peace between the nations?

Part I (Destruction From Twins)

When a selfish enchantress seeks to steal mystical powers from her twin sister, she sentences the world of Lor Mandela and its inhabitants to death. In an effort to preserve itself, the soul of the planet appoints a Child of Balance named Audril Borloc who must solve a prophetic riddle known as the Advantiere. All hope seems lost, however, when shortly after her fourth birthday, Audril disappears without a trace.

Desperate to save their world, Lor Mandelan spies travel to Earth in search of the little girl with black hair and bright blue eyes-traits that on Lor Mandela are exclusive to the ruling family, Borloc. Instead, they find seventeen-year-old Maggie. While the age difference between the girls is obvious, Maggie has the Borloc traits-evidence enough for the eager spies. They devise a plan to get Maggie to Lor Mandela, but will their scheme be successful? And what if they have the wrong girl? Who will save Lor Mandela then?

Part II (And So It Must End)

Maggie Baker has always wished for a more eventful life. Unfortunately, she is about to get it. Following an earthquake that no one seems to have felt but her, her mundane existence is thrown into a roller-coaster ride of twists and turns as she suddenly finds herself bouncing back and forth between her hometown of Glenhill, Iowa and the distant world of Lor Mandela. On this strange planet, Maggie must learn who to trust, and who to fear. More importantly, she must find a way to convince the Lor Mandelans that she is not the Child of Balance, and her family and friends in Iowa (and herself for that matter) that she is not going insane.

Amid fighting a two-headed creature, being captured by a lawless band of Shadow Dwellers, and falling head-over-heels for the enchanting son of an evil warlord, Maggie sees the lines of the Advantiere unfold around her. It isn't long before she discovers that her blasé reality could be the real fantasy, and that the fate of an entire world may actually depend on her.

Humorous story of insanity in the high-energy high fashion world of the future. Marla Gershe is going nuts and she's taking the Textile Planet with her.

 On a rainy spring day in Seattle, young software tycoon Micah Taylor receives a cryptic, twenty-five-year-old letter from a great uncle he never knew. It claims a home awaits him on the Oregon coast that will turn his world inside out. Suspecting a prank, Micah arrives at Cannon Beach to discover a stunning brand new nine-thousand square foot house. And after meeting Sarah Sabin at a nearby ice cream shop, he has two reasons to visit the beach every weekend.

When bizarre things start happening in the rooms of the home, Micah suspects they have some connection to his enigmatic new friend, Rick, the town mechanic. But Rick will only say the house is spiritual. This unnerves Micah because his faith slipped away like the tide years ago, and he wants to keep it that way. But as he slowly discovers, the home isn't just spiritual, it’s a physical manifestation of his soul, which God uses to heal Micah’s darkest wounds and lead him into an astonishing new destiny.

 When part of our world is exchanged with an alternate earth...Sharon Mack is trapped and must confront many dangers to find her daughter.

The boy who follows death meets the girl who could cause the apocalypse.

Krishani thinks he’s doomed until he meets Kaliel, the one girl on the island of Avristar who isn’t afraid of him. She’s unlike the other girls, she swims with merfolk, talks to trees and blooms flowers with her touch. What he doesn’t know is that she’s a flame, one of nine individually hand crafted weapons, hidden in the body of a seemingly harmless girl.

Nobody has fallen in love with a flame until now. She becomes Krishani’s refuge from the dreams of death and the weather abilities he can’t control. Striking down thousand year old trees with lightning isn’t something he tries to do, it just happens. When the Ferryman dies, Krishani knows that he’s the next and that a lifetime of following death is his destiny.

And Kaliel can’t come with him. The Valtanyana are hunting the flames, the safest place for her is Avristar. Krishani can’t bear to leave her, and one innocent mistake grants the Valtanyana access to their mystical island. They’re coming for Kaliel, and they won’t stop until every last living creature on Avristar is dead. She has to choose, hide, face them, or awaken the flame and potentially destroy herself.

Sybl has endured the first years of being a teenager both unloved and forgotten. When an Awl takes her from Earth to the realm of Aster, she will discover a place where fantasy is the reality. A world of dragons. But that will not be all that she finds.

Still distraught from having lost his best friend, Cirrus has tried to move on with his life. His world is falling apart, and it is a fight the High Guard cannot win. All that remains is a Prophecy from the ghostly memories of those he loved. A Prophecy that a Fay would return to Aster, restoring the balance of life and death. For without her, his kind will side with the forces of war. An onslaught of destruction would follow, and he is a dragon tired of death.

When he finds Sybl, he takes it on himself to become her protector. Within her memories, she holds one from the friend he lost. She may be the last hope that the Prophecy has yet to come about. But he will have to outfly the shadows from his past first, for the demon who is after them does not fear a death it can weave.

Wake to a world tangled in the Threads of Fate.

Dream back the memories that can save it.

In My Mailbox #8, July 31st-July Week 5

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme started and hosted by The Story Siren.

This week I got:

Library:
Fade
Gone
If I Stay
Time of the Eagle
The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Reign or Shine
Reign Check
Night Star
The Light
The Dark
Shift
The Vampire's Promise
The Giver
Magic Study
Flashpoint
 
NetGalley:
Death in the City of Light
The Night Strangers
Light From a Distant Star
Angel and Faith #1
Suite Nighteen
Playback: Light and Shadow

Week 30 Review: If I Stay

From Goodreads:
In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces - to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heart-wrenchingly beautiful, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.

My Review:
This book was honestly amazing. I can really see why I've seen such positive reviews of it in the blog-o-sphere.

The thought that we might just be able to choose if we stay, or if we go, if given the "right" circumstances, is intriguing, to say the least. It was emotional, too, because of the accident, and it was thoughtful, and it was just really good!

I liked the inner struggles, the flashbacks that weren't/didn't feel like real flashbacks, just what we needed to know, and how they added depth to the story, explaining what we needed to know, and it was just really good!

I also liked the characters relationships, they were good, and real, and I could easily believe that they were real flesh and blood people not ink on a page and imagination.

This was a really good book, and you guys should really check it out!

Author: Gayle Forman
Series: If I Stay #1
Read: July 27th, 2011
Source: Library
Reason Why: Sounded like a really fantastic book!
Publisher: Speak
Published: April 6th 2010

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars