Waiting on Wednesday (18)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also because the covers are always amazing!

I feel like I've been waiting for The Unbecoming of Myra Dyer by Michelle Hodkin for like ever now! Just come out already! I read the first chapter online and I can hardly wait to get my hands on a copy. But it won't be released until September 27, 2011! Birthday present? Why, of course, I would love a copy for my birthday since it's only the day before the release date! And how seriously creepy is this synopsis!

Myra Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her best friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

What are you waiting for?

Review- The Poisoned House

Title: The Poisoned House

Author: Michael Ford

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Rating: 3/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Source: ARC via Netgalley

The year is 1856, and orphan Abigail Tamper lives below the stairs in Greave Hall, a crumbling manor house in London. Lord Greave is plagued by madness, and with his son Samuel away fighting in the Crimea, the running of Greave Hall is left to Mrs. Cotton, the tyrannical housekeeper. The only solace for the beleaguered staff is to frighten Mrs. Cotton is by pretending the house is haunted.

So when a real ghost makes an appearance-that of her beloved mother-no one is more surprised than Abi. But the spirit has a revelation that threatens to destroy Abi's already fragile existence: she was murdered, and by someone under their very own roof. With Samuel returned to England badly wounded, it's up to Abi to nurse his back to health, while trying to discover the identity of the killer in their midst. As the chilling truth dawns, Abi's world is turned upside down.

My thoughts:

When it comes to writing historical fiction, I believe it takes a different kind of writing style. An author, often times, needs to have done an extensive amount of research on the time period they're writing about and has to get the language of the time right as well. Micheal Ford satisfied both of those attributes and he did it well. But the story was not what I had excepted at all.

To start off, it was very slow in the beginning and I was having a hard time getting through the first few chapters. Even though it was a good story, I thought it was just boring. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and, honestly, it would not have mattered to me how it ended. Which brings me to my next point: I did not expect the ending at all. I'm not going to say that I was surprised nor did I fall out of my seat with shock, cause I didn't. When it ended, I thought, "hhmm, that was interesting." No more, no less.

When I read the synopsis of the book, I expected it to be some kind of ghost story in a haunted house so I thought it was going to be a horror story and that I would be scared while reading. I mean, even the cover is somewhat horrifying! But I wasn't at all. There was one ghost who made about one appearance. I wanted to be scared out of my pants!

Because it wasn't at all as I expected, I was constantly guessing around every corner, which I really liked. I love being caught off guard and when the author drops bombs that I don't see coming. It puts twits and turns in the story and The Poisoned House is full of them.

Review- Heist Society

Title: Heist Society

Author: Ally Carter

Publisher: Hyperion Books

Rating: 5/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Blurb:

When Katerina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre...to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katerina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria...to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own-scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately leaving "the life" for a normal life proves harder than she expected.

Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster's art collection has been stolen, and he wants it returned. Only a master thief could have pulled this job and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat's dad needs her help.

For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family's (very crooked) history-and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

My thoughts:

I loved this book! I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat wondering how they were going to pull this off! There was so much adventure, planning and scheming. I definitely want this to be a movie so that I can see all the behind the scene on goings because when it comes to books like this, there is only so much that you can accurately imagine in your mind.

I loved the chemistry between Hale and Kat! Although they are flirty and often times trying to out do each other, they understand one another better than mere friends can. They work so well together and are able to anticipate the other while on the job.

Heist Society reminded me a lot of The Italian Job and the Oceans 11 movies. It really made me want to be part of the team, learning about security systems, hacking into networks and crawling through air ducts. It was so exciting. What I really enjoyed most about this book is that it is completely different from most young adult novels out there. It was super fun to read and full of so much adventure! There was always something new around the corner.

In My Mailbox (15)

In My Mailbox is an awesome way to connect with our blogger and reader friends and share which amazing books we received, bought or borrowed during the week! This weekly meme is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Damn you Amazon and all your wonderful bargain book prices. I always spend more money than I should. But hey, I love books so I don't feel all that bad. So here we go!

Bought:

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Paranormalcy by Kristen White

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Possessions by Nancy Holder

Free for my Nook:

Zombies Don't Kiss and Tell

Audio book:

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday (10)

Follow Friday is a really fun way to network your blog and meet some other really cool bloggers in the process! This weekly event is hosted at Parajunkee's View! The featured bloggers is Ninja Girl from Ninja Girl Reads!

Q: Can you tell us FIVE quirky habits or things about you? We all have them...

A: I know I have quirky habits but when it comes down to pinpointing them or naming them, it's really hard to think what they are exactly. I'll try my best:

1. I brush my teeth in the shower. I know it's weird and some people think it's gross but I keep my toothbrush up pretty high, suction cupped to the shower wall so that it doesn't fall into the tub. But if I does fall in the tub, I buy another one. I also keep another toothbrush and tube of toothpaste at the sink to brush my teeth at night.

2. I only use headphones with the soft ear covers. I can't stand the iPod ear buds because they hurt my ears.

3. If I have to put a book down, I have to end it on a chapter. I can't put a book down in the middle of a page.

4. I love wearing crazy socks but they have to match.

5. I never hang my shirts up inside out. I hate it when my friend or my sister go in my close and try on my shirts, take them off and hang them up inside out. It drives me nuts!

The Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love for the written word. This incredibly awesome weekly event is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy for Books!

Q: If you were give the chance to spend one day in a fictional world (from a book), which book would it be from and what would that place be?

A: As much as I love dystopian novels and the idea of a dystopian world, they can be pretty dangerous and I would want to go somewhere fun. So I think I choose the Nevernever in the Iron Fey series; more specifically the Summer Court. I would want to be a summer faery for a day.

Review- The Body Finder

Title: The Body Finder

Author: Kimberly Derting

Publisher: HarperTeen

Rating: 5/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Blurb:

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies-or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world...and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet as never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer-and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer...and becoming his prey herself.

My thoughts:

First of all, I can't believe it has taken me this long to finally read The Body Finder! Second of all, it was one of the best books that I've read all year! And third, I'm quickly becoming Kimberly Derting's very won stalkerazzi! I cannot wait to get Desires of the Dead and November is just way too long for me to wait for The Pledge to be released!!! What ever will I do? On to the good part!

The Body Finder is so creepy, hunting and scary. It literally put me on edge and I was very jumpy while I was reading. What really creeped me out the most were the little snippets from the killers perspective. It really gave the reader a glimpse into what the killer was thinking and, even scarier, how he would choose his victims. After the first snippet which comes by chapter 2 or so, I was absolutely hooked!

I had such a hard time putting this book down! I wanted to turn the lights off, crawl in my bed and under the blankets and use a flashlight to read this book so that no one would bother me. I was just blown away by how intriguing the story was. It's mystery with supernatural and some romance thrown in to make it an amazing young adult novel! Kimberly Derting is proving herself as a writing force to be reckoned with.

Waiting on Wednesday (18)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also because the covers are always amazing!

This week I chose The Pledge by Kimberly Derting. Kimberly Derting is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors! Even though I've only read The Body Finder, I would have to say that it was one of the best Young Adults books that I've ever read! I plan on getting Desires of the Dead very, very soon!

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting Release Date: November 15, 2011

Words are the most dangerous weapon of all...

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member in a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she's spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before...and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can't be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country's only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.

What are you waiting for?

Teaser Tuesday (6)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. It includes two sentences from your current read without any spoilers!

This week's teaser comes from Wings by Aprilynne Pike.

"Why are we doing this again?" David asked after they'd driven around for almost an hour looking for the right part of town. "David, there's something wrong with that guy. I can feel it."

"Yeah, but sneaking to his office and peeking in the windows? That's a little much." --pg. 141

Review- The Iron King

Title: The Iron King

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Rating: 4/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Blurb:

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny-one she could never have imagined...

Something has always felt off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quiet fit in at school...or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth-that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face....and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

My thoughts:

This is the first faery book that I've read and when I start reading a genre that I'm unfamiliar with that deals with fantastical themes such as supernatural creatures, I have a hard time sleeping at night and I even have weird dreams about them. But once I get into the book, my weird dreams soon fade and I really get into the story.

I'm glad I chose the Iron Fey series at my first dive into the land of faery creatures because this book was so good! I'm a little bit sad that I waited so long to get started on this series. After Meghan saw Ash for the second time, I was absolutely hooked! I had to keep reading to find out what happened to him in the past and if anything was going to happen between Meghan and Ash. And boy did Julie Kagawa do an amazing job of writing the character Ash because I imagined him to be so dark, handsome and tortured. Which was probably what she was going for.

The concept of the Iron King reminded me a lot of the really old Peter Pan movie. Kagawa wrote the existence of faeries to come from the imaginations of people and that they exist as long as people continue to believe. It reminded me of Peter Pan because there is a scene where Tinkerbell is dying and Peter Pan says that she will only live if the audience shows that they believe in her by clapping their hands. I used to clap my hands so hard just so that Tinkerbell would live. I also thought her creation of the Iron Fey was very unique and the fact that they only exist because of modern advances in technology.

I really liked this book and I'm glad that I finally picked it up. Everyone says it's a great series and I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

Review- Wither

Title: Wither

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Rating: 4/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Blurb:

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a genetic ticking time bomb-males only live to the age of twenty-five, and females only live to the age of twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape-to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to content with then losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. When the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

My thoughts:

I was so excited to start reading this book! Almost every blog I read was giving it raving reviews and pretty much convincing me that it was one of the best reads of 2011. Not only was this appealing, but the cover is just absolutely gorgeous! I also don't but books in hardcover because I have the worst time keeping taking care of the jackets so that really tells you how amazing I believed this book to be. I'm not saying that the book was bad and that I was completely disappointed. Don't get me wrong here! I liked it.

It is a very unique story about what happens when we think that we can get rid of all the genetic diseases and pretty much genetically engineer a perfect population. An entire disease-free generation is created and now their children are suffering from an unknown virus that starts to effect females at age twenty and males at age twenty five. No one from the new generation has survived this virus and scientists are frantically working for a cure. Rhine is kidnapped and forced to marry Linden so that they can have children and hopefully Linden's father will find the cure to save their lives.

It took me a little while to read it because it was kind of slow in the beginning. It had a few exciting scenes and I started to get interested in what was going on with the story and wanting to find out what is really going on in the basement. Overall, I really liked the book and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy!

In My Mailbox (14)

In My Mailbox is an awesome way to connect with our blogger and reader friends and share which amazing books we received, bought or borrowed during the week! This weekly meme is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren

This week has been really crazy since we drove from California to Virginia. One of my favorite stops on the way was the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead in South Dakota. They had all the original buildings from the 1880's and we got to go in the house that Pa built! There were covered wagon rides and we made corn cob dolls. In the gift shop they had all the books in hardback, the full color collectors edition in paperback and the regular paperback set. And for each set they built a wooden holder to keep them all together. So of course I had to have one and I bought the full color collectors edition in paperback! I love it and I'm super excited to reread the entire series!

Also during one of our stops in a small town to get groceries, we found ourselves in the book section and my mom bought Afterlife by Claudia Gray. This book will be added to the household TBR list for my mom, my sister and me read when we get to it. I'm so glad because I'm ready to finally finish that series and find out how it ends.

That's all I got this week, what's it your mailbox?

New Layout!

As you guys can see, I now have a new blog layout courtesy of Lori from Use Your Imagination Designs and the book blog Pure Imagination! Not only did she do an amazing job, but she is also kind, patient, sweet and very talented and creative! I couldn't have imagined that it would look this fabulous. I'm just so excited and I love it so, so much! I can't stop obsessing over it!

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday (9)

Follow Friday is a really fun way to network your blog and meet some other really cool bloggers in the process! This weekly event is hosted at Parajunkee's View!

Q: The Blogger apocalypse made me a little emotional. What is the most emotional scene in a book that you've read lately?

A: Well, recently I read Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler and the very beginning practically had me in sobs. I couldn't even read that book in public for fear that I would just break down and cry in front of everyone. But I would have to say that the most emotional book that I have ever read was Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. I cried through every single page of that book. Every. Single. Page. But it was really good!

The Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love for the written word. This incredibly awesome weekly event is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy for Books!

Q: Are you going to Book Expo America (BEA) and/or the Book Blogger Convention this year?

A: No. I'm not entirely sure what exactly happens at those gatherings but I've heard they're pretty cool and everyone gets super excited about them. Maybe next year when I've had more time to plan and save for it!

Waiting on Wednesday (18)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also because the covers are always amazing!

Hourglass by Myra McEntire! Release Date: June 14, 2011

For seventeen year old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there: Swooning southern bells; soldiers long forgotten; a hunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that should never have happened?

What are you waiting for?

Teaser Tuesday (5)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. It includes two sentences from your current read without any spoilers!

This weeks teaser comes from Hereafter by Tara Hudson! pg. 63

"A brief memory entered my mind: that of my own voice, screaming at unseeing strangers, just after my death. Something about that remembered anguish, in comparison to this moment, made me inexplicable light-headed and almost giddy."

Review- Last Sacrifice (Audio book)

Title: Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy #6)

Author: Richelle Mead

Publisher: Penguin Group, USA

Rating: 5/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Blurb:

Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules.

She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir's Academy with her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir Princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose-for a crime she didn't even commit. She's in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She's need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose's life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back...and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your life is about saving others, who will save you?

My thoughts:

This book, or accurately, this series, is just absolutely amazing! I was very apprehensive to pick up the first one because I didn't like the cover, and I'm somewhat shallow like that, and the girl on the cover reminded me a lot of Angelina Jolie. Starting the first book has taking me on this amazing journey and it has quickly become one of my favorite series.

This is also the first book that I have listened to instead of read. The narrator is very talented and did the voices of all the characters, male and female alike. Abe's voice was absolutely hilarious and I had a hard time listening to it seriously without laughing. I was very disappointed by Dimitri's voice because he is by far my favorite character. It sounded a little bit too old, like a middle aged man instead of a young man in his mid-twenties.

Nevertheless, this book was a well written close to an amazing series. Although I am sad to see it end and I could literally read 10 more books if they had Rose and Dimirti in it, but I understand the series can't last forever. If you haven't read this series, then you should have bought the first one like yesterday. I also hear that Vampire Academy is being made into a movie and all I can say is, "don't mess it up, pretty, pretty please!"

Review- The Magnolia League

Title: The Magnolia League

Author: Katie Crouch

Publisher: Poppy

Rating: 5/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Blurb:

After the death of her free-spirited mother, sixteen-year-old Alex Lee must leave her home in northern California to live with her wealthy grandmother in Savannah, Georgia. By birth, Alex is a rightful, if unwilling, member of the Magnolia League, Savannah's long standing debutante society. She quickly discovers that the Magnolia's have made a pact with the legendary hoodoo family, the Buzzards. The Magnolia's enjoy youth, beauty and power. But at what price?

My thoughts:

I very much loved this book! I felt that is was a supernatural book in the most simple element. A debutante society that is obsessed with being at the very top of society by being the most beautiful and wealthiest women in town. The hoodoo family, the Buzzards, make them spells that allow them to stay young and thin no matter what; but that catch is that they only work in Savannah. Once they have been officially initiated into the Magnolia League, they are not allowed to leave Savannah at all.

Since this is the first book in the series, Crouch does not go into the most sinister effects of the initiation although she implies that they pretty much sell their souls either to the devil or to this hoodoo family. And there is something strange going on with the Buzzard family that has yet to be revealed.

This book kept my attention the entire time and it is obvious that Crouch has an amazing gift of story telling. I cannot wait until the next one comes out!

Sloppy Firsts Giveaway!

I love the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty so much that I want to give away the first book!

Rules:

1. US residents only

2. Follow me

3. Fill out the form below!

4. Ends May 31, 2011

Good Luck!!!

In My Mailbox (13)

In My Mailbox is an awesome way to connect with our blogger and reader friends and share which amazing books we received, bought or borrowed during the week! This weekly meme is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren!

From Netgalley:

Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon

For review:

Shimmerspell by Kimberly Spencer

Free for my Nook:

The Strange Case of Finley Jayne The Steampunk Chronicles by Kady Cross

Bought:

Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow

Betrayals by Lili St. Crow

Jealousy by Lili St. Crow

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

The Everafter by Amy Huntley

Immortal by Gillian Sheilds

I went a little crazy this week buying books but Amazon had such amazing bargian books that I have wanted to read for so long so I just thought, "Why not?"

What did you get in your mailbox?

Road Trip!

Day 1 of this epic long road trip across the United States (wouldn't be awesome if it was a road trip to meet amazing bloggers?) has been quite successful! Not only did we make it all the way from Long Beach, California to Provo, Utah (just outside Salt Lake City) but I am just plowing my way through my Netgalley reviews on my Nook. I made sure to get it nice and loaded up before we left because what else am I going to do in the backseat by myself for an entire week?

Progress so far:

1. Finished the Poisoned House by Michael Ford

2. More than halfway finished Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

Goals for tomorrow:

1. Finish Spellbound

2. Read most or all of Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson

I hope I'm not setting my goals too high! Stay tuned for tomorrow's update of Road Trip Day 2!

Review- Hearts at Stake

Title: Hearts at Stake

Author: Alyxandra Harvey

Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers

Rating: 4/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Blurb:

On Solange's sixteenth birthday, she is going to wake up dead. As if that's not bad enough, she also has to outwit her seven overprotective brothers, avoid the politics involved with being the only daughter born to an ancient vampire dynasty, and elude Kieran Black-an agent of an anti-vampire league who is searching for his father's killer and is intent on staking Solange and her entire family.

Luckily she has her own secret weapon-her human best friend Lucy-who is willing to defend Solange's right to a normal life, whether she is being smothered by her well-intentioned brothers or abducted by a power hungry queen. Two unlikely alliancecs are formed in a race to save Solange's eternal life-Lucy and Solange's brother Nicholas, and Solange and Kieran Black-in a dual romance that is guaranteed to jump-start any romance-lover's heart.

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this new take on a vampire story. In Alyxandra Harvey's world, vampires are born of a vampire and a human, such as Solange's mom and then on her sixteenth birthday she starts to go through a transformation that not everyone survives.

Solange is apprehensive towards this transformation and tries to lead the normal life as an average teenager for as long as possible. She also does not like all the uproar around her being the last female of her line and the possibility that she could overthrow the queen one day. The story switches back and forth from the perspectives of the various characters in the book.

I would have to say that my favorite character were Nicholas and Lucy. There was such an intense chemistry and tension between the two of them that I didn't want to story to switch to another character. There was constantly some kind of action going on and I could hardly put it down and I'm pretty sure I read it in it's entirety in one plane ride.

It's a great new vampire series that I am excited to continue.

Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday (8)

Follow Friday is a really fun way to network your blog and meet some other really cool bloggers in the process! This weekly event is hosted at Parajunkee's View! The featured bloggers is Magnet 4 Books!

Q: What character in a book would you most like to be, what character in a book would you most like to date?

A: This is such a hard question! Most books I read are so sad or they're so action pack and dangerous I don't know if I would actually want to be any of them. Well since I'm currently reading Heist Society and it's a really fun, I would like to be like Kat. She's from a family of thieves and has been in the family business for as long as she can remember. Now she is planning the heist of a lifetime against her family's wishes.

To whom I would like to date, well that's a no-brainer and I choose Dimirti from the Vampire Academy series. He is honorable, a gentleman and he's pretty much an awesome badass.

The Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love for the written word. This incredibly awesome weekly event is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy for Books!

Q: Which book blogger would you most like to meet in real like?

A: This is also a very hard question because there are so many awesome bloggers out there! If I absolutely had to choose it would be a toss up between Lori from Pure Imagination and Little Miss Becky from Stories & Sweeties. Lori's blog is not only amazing but she is so sweet and she is making a new design for my blog soon! Little Miss Becky is also super sweet and her blog is so cute and fun to read!

Strange Angels Giveaway!

Amazon just messes everything up sometimes! I ordered and paid for the first book in the Strange Angels series and then they told me they were out of stock and that I wouldn't be getting it. So I went to the store the next day and bought it because I couldn't get the 2ond and 3rd books in the mail without the first one, right? Then right after I received the box, I got a smaller package with Strange Angels!

Needless to say, I have two copies and I'm giving one away!

Rules:

1. Must be a follower

2. US residents only

3. Fill out the form

4. Ends May 31, 2011

GOOD LUCK!!!

Review- 13 Little Blue Envelopes

Title: 13 Little Blue Envelopes

Author: Maureen Johnson

Publisher: HarperTeen

Rating: 4/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Blurb:

When Ginny receives thirteen little blue envelopes and instructions to buy a plane ticket to London, she knows something exciting is going to happen. When Ginny doesn't know it that she will have the adventure of her life and it will change her in more ways than one. Life and love are waiting for her across the Atlantic, and the thirteen little blue envelopes are the key to finding them in this funny, romantic, heartbreaking novel.

My thoughts:

Who wouldn't want to go on a super exciting treasure hunt around the world with only letters to guide you?! This would be a dream for me and I would go in a heartbeat. Of course I wouldn't want it to be at the expense of my aunt's death but it would still be so cool.

The writing was so fresh and new that I found myself flying through the book, hardly able to put it down! The character, Ginny, was so shy but by the end she had found a new sense of self-confidence after the journey she had been on.

Of course I wish it had ended differently and that she stayed in London but that's pretty unrealistic. It was still really good and I'm glad I read it!

Waiting on Wednesday (18)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also because the covers are always amazing!

Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs Release Date: May 10, 2011!!!!!

Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home; continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend Mark; take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother. The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kai, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give into the water's temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her-and that an entire ocean's future hangs in the balance.

What are you waiting for?

Review- The Summer I Turned Pretty

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Author: Jenny Han

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Rating: 4/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Blurb:

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer-they have been her brother figures, her crushes and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up the way it should have been all along.

My thoughts:

This book is so cute and so summery it literally made me want to go out and get a tan to get ready for summer. Belly has known Jeremiah and Conrad for as long as she can remember and they are all she talks about when she goes home during the school year. Summers are her favorite time of year because she feels like she belongs at the summer house. But the summer she turns sixteen is the summer that everything changes. Since brother is going off to college he only spends a little time at the summer house and she is left to spend time with only Jeremiah and Conrad, her mom's best friend's sons. Conrad is acting more anti-social than ever and she feels as if Jeremiah is keeping something from her.

The Summer I Turned Pretty not only follows Belly through the current summer but also flashes back to important moments of many of the summers before. We see when she fell in love for the first time, her first kiss and even sometimes, her most embarrassing moments.

This book is heart-warming and sad; I laughed and I cried. It's a great start to a series I am eager to finish.

Teaser Tuesday (4)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. It includes two sentences from your current read without any spoilers!

This week's teaser comes from The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting! pg. 79

"They knew now what Violet had know all along: that the girl in the lake had been murdered before dumped in the water. And despite the fact that the authorities could neither confirm nor deny a connection between the two bodies, locally, no one really doubted it. Two girls abducted, and then subsequently murdered and discarded so close to each other, in such a short period of time, hardly seemed like a coincidence."

I can never do just 2 sentences! I'm so glad that I'm finally reading this book!!

Review- The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Author: Carrie Ryan

Publisher: Gollancz

Rating: 5/5

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Blurb:

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protect the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and it's secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future-between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

My thoughts:

At first I was a little nervous to start reading this book when I heard that it was about zombies. I've never been the biggest fan of zombie movies either. But I am so glad that I gave this book a chance. Carrie Ryan wrote this book so well that she made the world of the small village in the middle of the forest and the zombies seem real. I also loved that even though this is a Young Adult book, the author did not spare on all the gory details of the zombies, the way they killed or what it was like when they were killed. I could almost say that this is a horror book on top of being somewhat dystopian with zombies.

Ryan's word choice was also impeccable. I don't even think that the word zombie was used in this book at all. She used terms like virus when describing the initial breakout and Unconsecrated for those who were already infected.

The Forest of Hands of Teeth is also a coming of age story. Mary is forced to make hard decision and believe her heart and follow her instincts. Everything she ever learned is wrong and she has to leave everything that she has ever known and find her own way in an unknown world.

This book was amazing and I whole heartedly look forward to reading the next two in the series.

In My Mailbox (12)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren. For more information and how to participate, follow the link and hop on over to her amazing blog!

This week I got from Netgalley:

Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Paperback Swap:

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

I read this book about two years ago and I loved it! Then I discovered that the author is finally writing a sequel to be released in about a year! So I just had to get a copy to have it ready to reread right before the next one comes out.

Won from Stories and Sweeties:

Clarity by Kim Harrington

I won this about a month ago but I just moved back to California where it was mailed so I finally had it in my hands!

Bought:

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Changeless by Gail Carriger

Heist Society by Ally Carter

What did you get in your mailbox?