Review-The Spindlers

Recently I've decided that I needed to read more middle grade fiction, because it is part of young adult literature, and it can be just as fun as teen fiction.  Last year when Liesl & Po came out Lauren came to my city for a tour and I bought it because, well, she's LAUREN OLIVER! I just adored it, it was magical, and beautiful and heartfelt, so when I saw she was writing another middle grade book I was going to pick it up too.  I really do have to say that Lauren Oliver has done it again, only this time she's managed to make her book even a little creepy, because Spindlers are spider people and spiders are creepy.  Liza was a really great main character, because despite the fact that she's young, in middle school I believe, she was brave.  But she wasn't the kind of brave that got on my nerves, like "for the love of god how can you NOT be afraid of that". She was the kind of brave where she stood up to things she was afraid of because someone she loved was in trouble.  The other thing I literally just realized was that there was no romance in the book at all, but that I was totally okay with that.  The cast of characters was so much fun and all of the magical creatures you meet along the way were very inventive, they weren't your average hum-drum things you meet when you go Below (or at least nothing I would think of as average).  The end of the novel was really my favorite, but then again I feel like Lauren always packs a punch in the last few chapters of her books, so there was no surprise there.  It was an overall great book with adventure and magic and creatures of all shapes and sizes.  I really wish I could just live in Lauren's mind, because I'm sure I would never be bored.  If you're a fan of Lauren's books or you're looking for a good middle grade novel I would highly recommend you check this book out.  I look forward to reading her next middle grade novel, as well as her next novel in general.

Out October 2, 2012

4.5/5 dust spirits

Abandon (Possession #3) Cover Reveal

Today I have the pleasure to help reveal the cover for Elena Johnson's third book, Abandon, which also happens to be the third book in her Possessions series.  First let's take a look at the first two covers (and good news it DOES match the new covers!).

Now I loved the original covers but I also love these covers, and the really great thing was the only huge change was the fact that there is now color in the background instead of just having it a shimmery white, which I'm totally okay with.  I have NOT yet read Surrender, but I do have it on my list of books I need to read, and now that there will be a third book I have more incentive to get on that.  And now, without any more babbling here is the synopsis for the third book;

seduced by power,

broken by control,

and consumed by love...

Vi has made her choice between Jag and Zenn, and the Resistance may have suffered for it. But with the Thinkers as strong as ever, the rebels still have a job to do. Vi knows better than anyone that there's more at stake than a few broken hearts. 

But there is a traitor among them...and the choices he makes could lead to the total destruction of everything Vi has fought for.

Vi, Jag, and Zenn must set their problems aside for the Resistance to have any hope of ending the Thinkers' reign. Their success means everything...and their failure means death.

It has a tentative release date of June 2013, although this is subject to change, and is published by Simon Pulse as well.  NOW, here's what you've all been waiting for, and I'm sure not many of you are actually reading this, you've just scrolled all the way down to see the BEAUTIFUL new cover, and if you're still with me thank you so much!  So, HERE is the brand new cover for Elana's BRAND NEW book!  

So, what do you think?  I love it and I can't wait to dig into it! (I'm also very pleased that Vi is back in the spotlight more this time!

And if you're still with me Elana is running a Pinterest contest for the cover. She wants to get 500 pins (or repins) over the next  two days. If we can get that many, she'll pick someone who pinned the cover to win a $50 Amazon gift card. It's so easy to do this. All you have to do is click over to Elana’s blog for details. 

Review-Ten

When I heard about this book I was SO excited.  Why? Well, if you know me at all you know I love to (try to) get the bajeezes scared out of me, and reading about this book I went "it's Harper's Island but with teenagers!"  I love murder mysteries and I'm fascinated by the motives people have that would make them take another person's life (self defense excluded).  That being said I had HUGE expectations for this book, and  thankfully I was NOT disappointed.  There were so many things I loved about this book, and first and foremost was the fact that I was in the dark almost the WHOLE time.  Yes, I admit, I did put it all together before Meg did, but you know what? I wasn't sure until the very last minute, she made me change my mind SO many times (which under any other circumstances would be bad, but not when you're trying to figure out who the killer is in a book).  I also thoroughly enjoyed the fact that she didn't kill all of the dead people (I'm not telling you who ends up dead) in the same way.  Yeah, if it was something like Scream you would want everyone to be stabbed, cause that's Ghost Face's M.O., but not in this book.  The other thing I just adored was the fact that it was set in MY state! And by that I mean the state that I live in (Washington) and what's even cooler, I go to one of the schools that is mentioned in the book! (Now, I know it's a murder mystery, but come on guys, that's pretty darn cool.)  In the end I was just SO pleased with how the whole book was put together, and although I liked her debut novel Possess this one I just loved.  If you read Gretchen's previous novel or if you like books that give you goosebumps then go check this book out, either from your library or your local bookstore.  Bravo Gretchen, and I can't wait to see what you come up with for your next book because I need my next scare sooner rather than later.

*Note, Barnes and Noble decided NOT to carry this book because of the not-so-great sales of Possess so if you want to get it from an actual bookstore go to an indie or just bug the crap out of your local B&N to get it in!

5/5 dust spirits

And although I don't normally do this I had to share the trailer, because one, HOW AWESOME IS IT!?  And two, it's the video the kids watch in the book, so now you can see it in your mind as you read it on the page!

Review- What's Left of Me

With all of the debut books floating around I've been careful about which I buy, and even more careful about the ones that I pick up and read, seeing as the time I have left to read is very small.  But when I saw that What's Left of Me was going to expire on my nook (it was an e-galley) I decided that I should read it at home.  I'm really glad I decided to do this, because unfortunately when books come out I generally don't read them ASAP, and it could sit on my shelf for a VERY long time.  That being said I was very pleased with how this debut novel came out because of a few things.  One, the plot. The plot was really fresh and new, I've read nothing like it in all of the books that I've read (although I wouldn't say there is NO book like it as I'm sure that wouldn't be true).  The second thing I liked was the fact that it was told from the POV of the twin soul who COULDN'T move.  The only thing  she could really do was think, and of course, talk about how her "sister's" soul was using their body, but that didn't make it boring like it could have been.  The third thing that I liked was that throughout the whole book there was almost this undercurrent of something wicked that ran along with the main character.  You learn things just about at the same rate as Addie and Eva, which was nice, because I it did catch me off guard.  As a whole the book was really great, it was fresh and new.  I can't wait to see what happens in the next book, because as good as this book was it seemed to be setting everything up for book two, so I'm sure book two will be even better.

Out September 18, 2012

4.5/5 dust spirits

Review-Onyx

When I finished Obsidian I already had Onyx on order, so it was dropped off at my door a few days after I finished book one.  Due to books I had to review before they came out it got pushed out of the way a little bit, but then I started it.  From the back of the book I knew a little bit of what I was getting into, and before I go on I do want to let you all know that I did enjoy the book.  That being said it took me a longer time to finish this book because Daemon (despite being very sexy) was also being, as Katy would call him a "douche canoe".  I'm all for guys protecting their girlfriends when the girls are helpless, but when the girl can actually help herself and the guy just won't let her I get really angry.  It's things like this that really make me  ballistic.  Yes, I'm sure most of us want a strong, hot guy to sweep us off our feet and protect us from evil, but I for one don't want to be helpless. In this book Katy isn't helpless, but even though Daemon knows that he's still hell bent on letting her NOT help.  Although even with all of that, and the fact that I was not surprised by the plot or the way things developed I was still relatively pleased with the book, and enjoyed the snark of the characters along with the hotness of Daemon and Katy's bravery.  This isn't the kind of novel that I would say is life-changing in any way, it doesn't exactly make you re-think your life, it is still a nice novel to read because despite the fact that it can be heavy at times it's a FUN book.  And to me one of the most important parts of a book is that, even though it may be very dark it still manages to make you laugh every once and a while.  I look forward to reading the third book and beyond in this series, because Armentrout is really a creative author with great ideas and dialogue that kicks ass.

4.5/5 dust spirits

In Which I Talk About School + A random giveaway

SCHOOL STARTS ON THE 5TH
   What this means is that starting on the 5th I might not be able to read as much/post as much.  It's my senior year, and once I get my schedule straightened out I should have an extra period to do homework or read or whatnot, but I have one AP class and one class with a teacher that might as well be teaching us the AP course. I do plan on making time to read, but on there is always a chance homework will be crazy.  That being said I will try my best to continue on with regular reviews/reading/posting and whatnot, and even if school does get in the way there WILL still be contests, reviews, and what not, they just might not be near as frequent as they are now.
That's all for now, but I will let you know if anything else comes up.  I will also update you all later on in the month with how I think the rest of the school year will go in terms of reading time.

Now, speaking of giveaways I got a copy of DEFIANCE in the mail on Saturday from Harper but I bought one already, so instead of taking back my copy I've decided to give one of YOU my extra copy!  Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below and cross your fingers!  International entries welcome!

a Rafflecopter giveaway