Follow Friday (32)

Follow Friday is a really fun way to make new blogger friends and promote your blog in the process! This weekly meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Rachel @Parajunkee.

Q: You are a matchmaker -- your goal, hook up two characters from two of your favorite books. Who would it be? How do you think it would go?

A: I would like to put Patch from Hush, Hush is the same room with Clara from Unearthly and just be a fly on the wall.  I don't expect anything romantic to happen between the two of them but I would really like to hear the kind of conversations they would have.  Either Clara would absolutely hate him and she would want to help him get his his wing back.  She might think it's her purpose!

I don't know what my obsession with Patch is today but I think things between Patch and Karou from Daughter of Smoke and Bone could get pretty hot and heavy.  I think he's the type of bad boy she would definitely go for! 

Thanks for reading and following my blog! Leave me a comment so I can read some of your match ups! 

Review- Tiger's Curse

Title: Tiger's Curse
Author: Colleen Houck
Series: Tiger's Curse #1
Publisher: Sterling
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Review copy provided by publisher

Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.

My thoughts: 

Tiger’s Curse was really a remarkable read for me. Within the YA genre, I find that books can tend to blend together because they’re so similar. But Tiger’s Curse has definitely stuck out in my mind. It was like a breath of fresh air and just packed full of action, adventure and romance. I think it’s definitely a must read!

Not only did I read this book I also listened to the audio book. The readers are by far the best I’ve ever heard! They do the accents of the Indian princes so well. I would be driving in my car and I would literally forget where I was going because I became so immersed in the story. It was just so vivid in my imagination!

Ren, my favorite character by far, is definitely one of my new book boyfriends! There is just so much I love about him because he reminds me of someone I know in real life. Ren is so sweet, kind, loyal, compassionate, funny and charming! Mixed with his good look and his to-die for accent, he is smoking hot in my book! This guy I know in real life is Indian (born and raised in America though) and he’s all those wonderful qualities and he’s hot and I’ve known him my entire life! Sigh, I might be in love!! But he’s not cursed be to a tiger. Ren is just a great character and everything I could hope for in a man!

I liked Kelsey through most of the book. She was patient and willing to travel to a foreign to try and lift this curse that has been plaguing the Indian princes for centuries. She’s getting along with Ren and it’s obvious that she’s falling in love with him. But then towards the end she does a total 180 with her feelings and lets her doubts get in the way. Which, I can understand because a lot of girls don’t think they’re pretty enough to be with a really gorgeous guy. But she wouldn’t give in and by the end I wanted to punch her in the face! I guess that’s what is going to get me to read the next book and the fact that they only broke part of the curse. There better be some really good Ren and Kelsey action going on in the next book!!

Tiger’s Curse is really great and I would recommend it to any YA fantasy lover! I give Tiger’s Curse 5 hearts because Ren is wonderful and makes me giddy and it is also one of the best books I’ve read this year!

Waiting on Wednesday (56)

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 the covers are always amazing!

Title: Burn For Burn
Author: Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Hitting the Shelves: September 18, 2012

BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY...
THEY GET EVEN.

Lillia has never had any problems dealing with boys who like her. Not until this summer, when one went too far. No way will she let the same thing happen to her little sister.

Kat is tired of the rumours, the insults, the cruel jokes. It all goes back to one person– her ex-best friend– and she's ready to make her pay.

Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she's not the same girl anymore. And she's ready to prove it to him.

Three very different girls who want the same thing: sweet, sweet revenge. And they won't stop until they each had a taste.

Why I want this:  I've been looking forward to reading a really good, nitty gritty, mean girl book for a long time now.  And this book sounds AWESOME!!! Jenny Han is one of my favorite contemporary authors and she speaks very highly of Siobhan Vivian! I can't wait to get my hands on it!!

What are you waiting for?

Review- The Girls of No Return

Title: The Girls of No Return
Author: Erin Saldin
Publisher: Scholastic
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

Erin Saldin's The Girls of No Return is a lacerating young adult debut about girls, knives, and redemption. The Alice Marshall School, set within a glorious 2-million acre wilderness area, is a place where teenage girls are sent to escape their histories and themselves. Lida Wallace has tried to negate herself in every way possible. At Alice Marshall, she meets Elsa Boone, Jules, and Gia Longchamps, whose glamour entrances the entire camp. As the girls prepare for a wilderness trek, Lida is both thrilled and terrified to be chosen as Gia's friend. Everyone has their secrets – the “Things” they try to protect; and when those come out, the knives do as well.

My thoughts:

It’s been almost a month since I’ve read this book and I still don’t know how I feel about it. I guess it just threw me completely off guard and not in a good way. When I first saw the cover and the title, I thought that the book would be a little bit scary. I was actually hoping that it would be. Here is what I thought it would be about in one sentence: A bunch of girls who are at a camp or boarding school, row off together but something so terrible happens that only one of them returns. That was not what The Girls of No Return was about.

I crack open the book, so excited to get started on this super crazy, creepy mystery, that I could hardly contain my excitement when the book starts off with these really cryptic journal entries about something that happened that the main character can’t talk about. My excitement continues until about half way through the book when I realize that my assumptions are probably wrong. As it turns out, it’s about a girl who is sent to an all girl boarding school in the middle of nowhere because she’s rebellious.

Lida is a pretty cool character who really discovers who she is and what she’s good at while she attends the Alice Marshall School. I felt so bad for her after another girl cut off her hair while she slept during her first night there. Which made me think there was going to be some kind of mean-girl action going on which would have been awesome, by the way.

As far as the story goes, I really liked it. I’m always up for a good boarding school book and even though it was an all girls’ school, it still kept me interested. It was paced really well and I didn’t find myself getting bored. The ending was crazy and I definitely didn’t expect it. I give the Girls of No Return 3 hearts because the back and forth flash back action was done really well.

Waiting on Wednesday (55)

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 the covers are always amazing!

Title: Earth Girl
Author: Janet Edwards
Hitting the Shelves: August 15, 2012

2788. Only the handicapped live on Earth. While everyone else portals between worlds, 18-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at birth to save her life, she has been abandoned by her parents. She can’t travel to other worlds, but she can watch their vids, and she knows all the jokes they make. She’s an ‘ape’, a ‘throwback’, but this is one ape girl who won’t give in.

Jarra invents a fake background for herself – as a normal child of Military parents – and joins a class of norms that is on Earth to excavate the ruins of the old cities. When an ancient skyscraper collapses, burying another research team, Jarra’s role in their rescue puts her in the spotlight. No hiding at back of class now. To make life more complicated, she finds herself falling in love with one of her classmates – a norm from another planet. Somehow, she has to keep the deception going.

A freak solar storm strikes the atmosphere, and the class is ordered to portal off-world for safety – no problem for a real child of military parents, but fatal for Jarra. The storm is so bad that the crews of the orbiting solar arrays have to escape to planet below: the first landing from space in 600 years. And one is on collision course with their shelter.

Why I want this: This book really excites me! By the synopsis I feel like it has a lot of potential.  There can be a lot of world building, great characters and I'm really interested to see how it plays out to the end. 

What are you waiting for?

Top Ten Tuesday: Non-bookish Websites/Blogs

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and it's a meme of lists.

This week's topic is top ten websites or blogs that aren't book related.

So before I get into my list I should say that most of these websites I read while I'm at work and the Disney network is extremely limited and we are not allowed to read any kind of blog while working.  These are some websites that I've come across:

1. E! New online.  I feel kind of vain and shallow that I read this website almost everyday.  But it's very entertaining and it makes the slow hours at work fly by faster.  And it's pretty much the only kind of websites that aren't blocked. 

2. Cracked.  This website in completely inappropriate and totally not acceptable for work but it's so hilarious that I can't help it.  It has nothing to do with anything that's going on in the world but the articles always have me laughing off my work chair! The photoplasty pictures are the best!

3. The Huffington Post.  I read this website occasionally and it has a little bit of everything.  Relevant news, entertainment, comedy and culture.  I first came across this website when I discovered they featured all the finalists for the Peep Show competition where people make scenes with Peeps.  It's a cool website if you're bored.

4. The Onion.  I've been reading this hilarious news network for years now. It's a news website that makes fun of the news! I love it!

5. Consequence of Sound.  This website has all the latest and greatest breaking news when it comes to indie and rock music.  

6.  Wish Wish Wish.  I wish I saw fashion the way this girl does.  Everything she wears is fashion forward and looks fabulous! Just an ounce of her fashion sense would go a long way for me.  

7.  NPR.  I visit this website because I really like the stories they play on the Saturday morning show "This American Life". Some of them are so mysterious but they're all true stories.  My favorite one they ever played was a real life story about two girls who were switched at birth and didn't discover it until they were adults.  It was crazy.  

Stacking the Shelves (2)

Hey there! Welcome to this week's Stacking the Shelves! This awesome meme is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and we get to show each other the books we acquired this week whether bought, from the library or for review!

For review:

Envy by Gregg Olsen

Betrayal by Gregg Olsen

Last year I received a finished copy of Envy for review and I absolutely loved it! I really love murder mystery books! So when I realized that Betrayal (the second book in the Empty Coffin Series) would be coming out this fall I had to request a copy! Along with the ARC of Betrayal, they send me a paperback copy of Envy! Thank you so much Splinter Publishing! 

Purchased:

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

I pre-ordered Insurgent and I got in on time and everything but I was always forgetting to put it in my post becaue my mom was reading it! She loves this series and she started reading it as soon as I got it in the mail!

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

I bought Unwind last week and completely forgot to include it.  I've already read it and it was excellent! I was sure that I was going to have nightmares about being unwound!

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

I also got this when it first came out and for some reason I forgot to include it, as well.  It sounds really good and I'm super excited to read it this summer!

Posted this week:

Review-Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Review-Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker

Waiting on Wednesday- The Turning

Unbreak My Heart Blog Tour- Guest Vlog by Melissa Walker

What's stacking your shelves this week?

Unbreak My Heart Blog Tour- Guest Vlog by Melissa Walker

I am so excited to have Melissa Walker on the blog today! Her newest novel Unbreak My Heart hits the shelves May 22 and is definitely a great summer read! To read my review, click here!

Melissa Walker is a writer who has worked as ELLEgirl Features Editor and Seventeen Prom Editor. All in the name of journalism, she has spent 24 hours with male models and attended an elite finishing school for girls in New Zealand, among other hardships.

She co-founded I Heart Daily with fellow ex-ELLEgirl Anne Ichikawa in 2009. It’s a daily newsletter about likable stuff.

Melissa lives in Brooklyn and has a BA in English from Vassar College. She would tell you her SAT scores too, but, you know, the math part was hard.

Melissa's other books:

Violet on the Runway, Violet by Design and Violet in Private (Penguin), are the books in a trilogy about a small-town girl who is scouted to become a model and finds herself in the middle of the crazy fashion world. Lovestruck Summer (HarperTeen) is a beach read full of indie rock and cowboys. Small Town Sinners (Bloomsbury) is the story of a girl who wants to star in her Evangelical community’s Hell House production.

Melissa's bio, picture and other information is provided by Melissa's author website.

For this very special guest post, Melissa made a vlog, telling about her experience of spending a summer on a sail boat!

Find Unbreak My Heart by Melissa walker here:

Amazon

Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday (54)

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 the covers are always amazing!

Title: The Turning
Author: Francine Prose
Hitting the Shelves: September 25, 2012

Jack is babysitting for the summer on an isolated island with no Wi-Fi, no cell service, and no one else around but a housekeeper and two very peculiar children. He immediately senses something sinister-and it's not just the creepy black house he's living in. Soon he is feeling terribly isolated and alone, but then he discovers there are others. The problem is, he's the only who can see them. As secrets are revealed and darker truths surface, Jack desperately struggles to maintain a grip on reality. He knows what he sees, and he isn't crazy…Or is he?

Where does reality end and insanity begin? The Turn of the Screw reinvented for modern-day teens, by National Book Award finalist Francine Prose.

Why I want this:  Oh my, this book looks scary and creepy! Lord knows I'm in need of a good horror book! And it's release is right around the corner from Halloween and fall is my favorite season! I must have it!!!

What are you waiting for?

Review-Unbreak My Heart

Title: Unbreak My Heart
Author: Melissa Walker
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of Bloomsbury and NetGalley

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life. Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now. Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart? Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.

My thoughts: 

As soon as I read the synopsis for Unbreak My Heart I knew I had to get my hands on an ARC no matter what. And it was just my luck that it was on NetGalley and the publisher asked me to participate in the blog tour. When I first started blogging I never read contemporary. I thought they were boring and that a story just couldn’t be interesting if it didn’t have some kind of paranormal creature or witchcraft in it. Then dystopia came along and even though I was hesitant, I fell in love. After expanding my horizons to dystopia, I decided to try contemporary sometime last year and it was definitely the right decision! After reading Stephanie Perkins, Jenny Han, Jessi Kirby and John Green, I cannot get enough of cotemporary. This is my year for contemporary, especially summer romances.

After only the first few chapters of Unbreak My Heart, I knew I was going to love it and most likely finish it in one sitting. And I did, love it and finish it in one sitting. The characters are so great and the story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

I really felt for Clementine. Right before the summer started, her friends had pretty much turned their back on her and her best friend wouldn’t speak to her. She was carrying around a lot of guilt and believed that she didn’t deserve to have a happy summer. She believed herself to be a terrible person. I’ve been in her place before and some of the scenes stirred up some old emotions which caused me to become quite attached to this book. I also really liked James. He was so sweet and so cute! She deserves someone who wasn’t going to try to spit his time between two girls. She deserved an honest to goodness, real life boyfriend of her own!

I must say that Clementine had some pretty awesome parents. Of course, teenagers normally hate it when family time is forced upon them but they also gave her space when she needed it. They understood that she was going through a situation that was most likely going to change her life when she got home. Unbreak My Heart had a great example of good parents trying to be a part of their children’s lives.

Unbreak My Heart was definitely a wonderful read and one of my favorites so far of 2012. I give this book 5 hearts summer fun, nights under the stars and a really fun, flirty summer romance!

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the Unbreak My Heart blog tour!! Melissa Walker will be stopping by with her a vlog telling us her experience of spending the summer on a sail boat! It's going to be a lot of fun!!

Review- Obsidian

Title: Obsidian
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux #1
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

Starting over sucks.When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.And then he opened his mouth.Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens. The hot alien living next door marks me.You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. If I don't kill him first, that is.

My thoughts: 

Obsidian is my first Jennifer L. Armentrout experience and it was quite the enjoyable ride. I became interested in reading this when one of my Twitter friend put out that she was looking for bloggers to be on her team for Daemon Invasion. Thinking Daemon Invasion had something to do with Vampire Diaries I was very interested and asked her what it was about. She then informed me it had to do with Obsidian and if I would like to be on her team even though I had not read the book. I said “why not” and promptly ordered the book and dug right in as soon as it came in the mail. And WOW!!! It was sssoooo good!!

First of all, I love that Katy is a book blogger! I think it really makes the book. She’s always talking about updating her blog, playing with the layout, doing her Waiting on Wednesday post and always keeping a look out for books coming in her mailbox! Totally the life of a book blogger! I really loved Dee as well! She was so sweet, caring and genuinely wanted to be friends with Katy even though Katy is human.

There really aren’t that many alien books out there in YA right now. Which makes the Lux series unique. It’s also super fun to read because as a reader we are learning about a new race of characters that have all sorts of different powers. It’s not like reading your average vampire or werewolf novel which is one of the reasons why I loved it so much!

Daemon and I have this intense love/hate relationship (I talk about him like I know him). Most of the time he’s this arrogant jerk who wants to make Katy think that he doesn’t care what happens to her; but then there are these quick moments where you can tell that he really does care and that he really does like her. Daemon just knows first-hand what can happen if he lets his guard down and falls for a human. Katy and Daemon’s sexual tension is so intense and it really makes for a good read.

I’m so interested to see where the story goes from here and what happens in Onyx! After Obsidian, I definitely need to check out her other books like the Covenant series and I’ve wanted to read her book Cursed for a really long time now! I give Obsidian 5 hearts because Daemon is the perfect tall, dark and handsome.

Stacking the Shelves (1)

Hey guys! Welcome to my very first edition of Stacking the Shelves! I'm so excited to be a part of this great weekly meme where we get to showcase the books that we got throughout the week! Stacking the Shelves is hosted at Tynga's Reviews.

Announcement: Author Melissa Walker will be stopping by the blog on Wednesday, May 16 for a guest video post as part of the Unbreak My Heart blog tour! I'm super excited and I can't wait for you guys to see the video too!

For review: 

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

For some reason I received two copies of this in the mail this week so I definitely smell a giveaway coming up!

Bought: 

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Maston

In Honor by Jessi Kirby

I got the chance to attend the Summer Lovin' Book Tour this past week and was able to get these three books signed along with Jenny Han's Summer series! I've been wanting to read a road trip book for a while now and I think it's going to be a perfect summer read.

Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs

I honestly don't know why I haven't read this book yet! It seems really great and I love mermaid books.  When Walker Children's publishing approached me about participating in the Tempest Unleashed blog tour, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to finally read Tempest Rising!

Reviewed this week:

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Spellcaster by Cara Lynn Shultz

One Moment by Kristina McBride

Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

New Girl by Paige Harbison

Review- Moonglass

Title: Moonglass
Author: Jessi Kirby
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased (Hardcover)

I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now, I've thought maybe my mother drowned in both.

Anna's life is upended when her father accepts a job transfer the summer before her junior year. It's bad enough that she has to leave her friends and her life behind, but her dad is moving them to the beach where her parents first met and fell in love- a place awash in memories that Anna would just as soon leave under the surface.

While life on the beach is pretty great, with ocean views and one adorable lifeguard in particular, there are also family secrets that were buried along the shore years ago. And the ebb and flow of the ocean's tide means that nothing- not the sea glass that she collects on the sand and not the truths behind Anna's mother's death- stays buried forever.

My thoughts: 

Moonglass is one of those books that makes you want to jump start your summer. After reading this, I wanted to put my bathing suit on, slather myself in sunscreen (I am really white), get my beach hat and hit the surf! These books are so fun to read and just give me the warm and fuzzies!

Moonglass is about a girl and her dad who pack their home in Pismo Beach, CA and move south to Crystal Cove, California. Anna doesn't want to move away from her friends and the place that she grew up in. Ever since her mother's death, there has been an emotional distance between Anna and her father. They don't talk about her mother or anything about her mother's past. Anna soon finds out that Crystal Cove holds a lot of who her mother is and it may be more than Anna can handle.

Before reading Moonglass, I really thought it was going to be more of a romance, but the romance was really only a small part of the book. Kirby focuses the story on Anna discovering how her mother and father met, how her mother grew up and the drastic decisions her mother made so that she could live the life she wanted. Even though Anna starts off as a somewhat bratty and angst-ridden teenager but by the end she she understands why it was so important for her father to move back to Crystal Cove. Moonglass is one of those perfect books to read to start you off with your summer reading! I give Moonglass 4 hearts because it made me want to dig my toes in the sand! Jessi Kirby is definitely one of my new favorite contemporary authors!

Follow Friday (31)

Follow Friday is a really fun way to make new blogger friends and promote your blog in the process! This weekly meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Rachel @Parajunkee.

Q: This Sunday in the U.S. is Mother's Day. In celebration, what are some of your favorite books with strong mother/child relationships?

A: When I actually sit down and think about it, I'm having a really hard time finding a YA book that has a strong mother/child relationship.  I've noticed a lot of books have absent parents or the main characters are off to boarding school.  The only book that I can think of off the top of my head is Divergent by Veronica Roth.  I really enjoyed the relationship between Tris and her mother.  

Of course, I can't do a post about mother/child relationships and not talk about Little House on the Prairie. It was one of my favorite series growing up and they're such good, wholesome books for younger kids!

Review- One Moment

Title: One Moment
Author: Kristina McBride
Publisher: Egmont USA
Release Date: June 26, 2012
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of Egmont and NetGalley

This was supposed to be the best summer of Maggie’s life. Now it’s the one she’d do anything to forget.

Maggie Reynolds remembers hanging out at the gorge with her closest friends after a blowout party the night before. She remembers climbing the trail hand in hand with her perfect boyfriend, Joey. She remembers that last kiss, soft, lingering, and meant to reassure her. So why can’t she remember what happened in the moment before they were supposed to dive? Why was she left cowering at the top of the cliff, while Joey floated in the water below—dead?

As Maggie’s memories return in snatches, nothing seems to make sense. Why was Joey acting so strangely at the party? Where did he go after taking her home? And if Joey was keeping these secrets, what else was he hiding?

My thoughts: 

One Moment is about a girl going into the summer between her junior and senior years of high school and realizes just how much her life and her world can change in One Moment. As the truth unravels, she begins to understand that what she knew and what was really going on are completely different.

I was so excited when One Moment popped up on NetGalley and “read now” title at that! No permission required. I’ve been looking forward to all the great contemporary summer romance books coming out this summer and this one was near the top of my list! Even though I knew it wasn’t going to be a traditional romance but I was looking forward to unraveling all the secrets surrounding this close-knit group of friends.

Unfortunately, it was slightly disappointing and the most of the secrets were painfully obvious; obvious to everyone but the main character. Maggie loses her memory from the one moment where everything changes and spends the rest of the book trying to remember why she didn’t jump off the cliff with her boyfriend. I wouldn’t go to the extreme of saying the Maggie was annoying but she was definitely very naive. I was even getting frustrated with her when she still couldn’t recall the memory.

I am a grudge holder by nature so there is no way that I could have been a good person like Maggie and try to be friends with Shannon after everything that happened. Hats off to Maggie for being the bigger person. The ending was good and I was glad that she was able to discern the difference between the Joey (her dead boyfriend) that she build up in her head and the true Joey after all the secrets came out. And she was able to forgive him and let him go. That’s a lot to accomplish before starting your senior year of high school. I give One Moment 3 hearts for an interesting story and juicy, juicy secrets.

Waiting on Wednesday (53)

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 the covers are always amazing!

Title: What's Left of Me
Author: Kat Zhang
Series: They Hybrid Chronicles #1
Hitting the Shelves: September 18, 2012

Eva and Addie live in a world where everyone is born with two souls, but where only the dominant one is allowed to survive childhood. Fifteen years old, and closer even than twins, the girls are keeping Eva, the ‘second soul’, a secret. They know that it’s forbidden to be hybrid, but how could they ever be apart?

When a dramatic event reveals what really happens to hybrids if they are discovered, Eva and Addie face a dangerous fight for survival, neither wanting to be the one left behind…

Review- Breaking Beautiful

Title: Breaking Beautiful
Author: Jennifer Shaw Wolf
Publisher: Walker Children's
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of the publisher

Allie lost everything the night her boyfriend, Trip, died in a horrible car accident—including her memory of the event. As their small town mourns his death, Allie is afraid to remember because doing so means delving into what she’s kept hidden for so long: the horrible reality of their abusive relationship.

When the police reopen the investigation, it casts suspicion on Allie and her best friend, Blake, especially as their budding romance raises eyebrows around town. Allie knows she must tell the truth. Can she reach deep enough to remember that night so she can finally break free? Debut writer Jennifer Shaw Wolf takes readers on an emotional ride through the murky waters of love, shame, and, ultimately, forgiveness.

My thoughts: 

Breaking Beautiful is about a girl dealing with the after math of a very serious car accident that ended her boyfriend’s life and coming to terms with their abusive relationship after his death. Most of the crash is missing from her memory because of her head injury but it turns out there is a lot more surrounding the accident than she first believed.

I really wanted to absolutely love this book. I really did. I mean, look at that gorgeous cover! I’ve been pinning for this book ever since I read the synopsis almost a year ago. But to be honest, because I must always be honest, it was slow and hard to get into. It’s evident after the first two chapters that her boyfriend was abusing her for most of their two year relationship. There are a few flashbacks but I really would have liked more.

I have a really hard time reading books about abusive relationships because they really get my blood boiling. Personally I can never understand what it’s like to love someone and have that same someone hurt you over and over again. If it had been me, I would have kicked him to the curb the first time he laid a hand on me. The part that really pissed me off was when he hit her in front of his friends and they pretended like they didn’t see it. What a bunch of pussies for not standing up to their friend.

I didn’t like that everything happened so suddenly at the end. I think I would have liked it better if it had been more progressive. A whole lot of shit when down at the end, almost all at the same time. Maybe the book wouldn’t have been so slow if it happened intermittently instead of all at once. I was feeling overwhelmed while I was reading it. I give Breaking Beautiful 3 hearts because even though it was heartbreaking it was slow going.

Review- New Girl

Title: New Girl
Author: Page Harbison
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of Harlequin and NetGalley

A contemporary young-adult retelling inspired by the classic 1938 romantic suspense bestseller Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

They call me 'New Girl'...

Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her.

Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.

Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend…but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.

And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back.

My thoughts: 

New Girl was definitely an interesting book to read. Half the story is told from Becca’s point of view before she goes missing and the other half is told from “new girl’s” point of view who essentially replaces Becca at the private boarding school. As soon a “new girl” arrives, most of the student body snubs her because they’re upset that the school was so quick to replace Becca’s spot. Now, I didn’t go to a boarding school nor did I got to public school so I find it very hard to believe that all the students break curfew, drink, do drugs, have casual sex and break the rules all willy nilly. I guess I was a really good teenager.

The author does not reveal the main character’s first name and she is referred to, throughout the whole book, as “new girl”. It’s supposed to be this big to-do where her name is finally revealed in one of the last pages. So when her name is finally revealed I think to myself, “wait, that’s not her name, I thought her name was something else”, not realizing that she had been referred to as “new girl” the whole book. So that point was lost on me.

Even though I liked the book and I thought the story was interesting, I felt like the mystery lessened towards the end. I really love books that completely catch me off guard and blow me away with the “who done it” at the end. But I had pretty much guessed what had happened by the end. I’m giving New Girl 2 hearts because I thought the characters were unrealistic and I pretty much guessed the mystery.

Review- Goddess Interrupted

Title: Goddess Interrupted
Author: Aimee Carter
Series: Goddess Test #2
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of Harlequin and NetGalley

Kate Winters has won immortality. But if she wants a life with Henry in the Underworld, 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 whom she would really rather not meet. Henry's first wife, Persephone.

My thoughts: 

I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with this series. I thought The Goddess Test was just okay so I wasn’t anxiously awaiting the release of Goddess Interrupted. I knew that if it was available on NetGalley then I would probably read and of course, it was, so I did.

My attitude towards this book while reading it was annoyance. I was annoyed at Kate because she was too passive sometimes. I was annoyed at Henry because he was just a complete douche bag throughout most of the book and wouldn’t even touch her or look at her. It was like a flashback from the first book. And I was annoyed at the rest of the gods and goddesses because they wouldn’t tell her anything. They would just brush her off and she would sit in her room by herself. She’s a goddess now! NO MORE KEEPING SECRETS!! Don’t even get me started on Persephone. She was a bitch. Calliope is a bitch too!

I believe that most of my annoyance with the characters stems from their complete lack of communication. No one was telling Kate what was going on, not even her mother. Henry and Kate barley spoke to each other. Henry just assumed things about Kate because he wouldn’t tell her how he was feeling. When they finally did speak, everything got a lot better. Funny how sitting down and talking can fix a lot.

The only thing that really kept me reading was the action and the journey through the Underworld. Even though I liked the action, it was kind of confusing. Most of the fighting happened away from Kate and with Henry so it wasn’t something we always got to see. And then her visions confused me too. I thought they were visions of the future. So when they happened I didn’t realize that what she saw was going on in real time. I also think it’s interesting that Kate is finally realizing that she’s going to have to navigate through learning how to be fair and just when sentencing people in the Underworld.

All the confusion, annoyance and lack of communication was completely made up for in the end. OMG what a cliffhanger!!!! WOW…just wow! Now I really, really, really want to read the next one. But there better not be a three-peat of Henry and Kate’s relationship. I would have given this book 2 hearts but that ending was so out of the blue that I had to throw in another one! 3 hearts to Goddess Interrupted!!

Follow Friday (30)

Follow Friday is a really fun way to make new blogger friends and promote your blog in the process! This weekly meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Rachel @Parajunkee.

Q: What is one thing you wish you could tell your favorite author?

A: Even though I don't consider Stephen King to be my favorite author, he definitely plays a pivotal role in my reading history.  I read Carrie in the seventh grade and ever since then I knew that I absolutely loved to read horror.  I was enraptured.  My love of horror and supernatural then led me to read Twilight many years later which naturally brought me into YA.  So I would say to Stephen King, thank you so much for writing incredibly creepy books that I stumbled upon during my horror movie phase. Carrie was the start of something big in my life, a love that has lasted for many, many years.

Thank you so much you guys for reading and following my blog!! Please subscribe to my reader if you can!!

Review- Lies Beneath

Title: Lies Beneath

Author: Anne Greenwood Brown

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Release Date: June 12, 2012

Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Source: ARC compliments of NetGalley and Delacorte

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough — especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistible good looks and charm on unsuspecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily — just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.

My thoughts: 

I have always been a firm believer in the fact that there is not enough mermaids in YA fiction. Mermaids have always been my favorite form of paranormal characters and sadly the YA mermaid books are few and far between. Ever since I saw The Little Mermaid in theaters with my grandma when I was four years old, I knew I was hooked (pun intended, haha)! I don't care if the mermaids lure men to their deaths with their beautiful songs or if their only joy in life is collecting forks and other human objects, we need more of it in YA!

I really enjoyed Lies Beneath. I came into it completely objective and I actually thought it was the story of a mermaid because of the cover and not a merman. I really liked the creativity that Brown had with the story. It's not your typical story of merpeople living in colonies under the sea. Calder lives with his sisters and they murder humans for their life force. It's very intoxicating for them which is why they are drawn to humans in the first place. They live on land (even though they move around) but they can't be out of the water for more than twenty-four hours at a time. Every winter they are drawn back to Lake Superior where they were born. But this particular winter, they go back to murder a man who unknowingly owes them a life debt.

What I loved most was the perspective of the guy. From the beginning we really don't know a lot about him, but throughout the story his life is revealed and how he came to be a merman. I definitely don't picture Calder as the person on the cover of the book but more of a surfer build, tan with shoulder length blond hair. Absolutely swoon worthy! Lies Beneath is also a story about romance. He's definitely falling in love with Lily when him and his sisters are trying to lure her dad to his death.

I loved the whole mystery surrounding the reason for the life debt. I always enjoy a good mystery especially if I can't guess the ending!  There's a lot of family history that they uncover and it had me anxiously reading until the last page! Lies Beneath is an excellent YA mer story that I will be continuing to read in the future. I give Lies Beneath 4 hearts because I finally have a book boyfriend that is a merman!  

Waiting on Wednesday (52)

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 the covers are always amazing!

Title: The Evolution of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Hitting the Shelves: October 23, 2012

Two days after Mara walks into a police station in Miami at the close of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, she is committed for psychiatric treatment for what her parents believe is a mental breakdown. But what seems like a hallucination to everyone else is a chilling reality for Mara. Someone from her past has discovered her strange, disturbing secret and that someone wants her to pay. But she's about to discover that the price is more than she can bear.

Dark and thrilling, suspenseful and passionate, The Evolution of Mara Dyer will have readers breathlessly turning pages to find out what will become of Mara Dyer next.

Why I want this: OMG, who doesn't want this book! After the ending of the Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, I just can't wait to for it to come out! The cover is awesome and will look so gorgeous next to the first one! Check it out on Goodreads because Simon & Shuster is giving away 30 ARCs in just a few days!

What are you waiting for?