Review-Struck

When I saw on Jenn's twitter that her book was coming out soon, and when I saw her awesome book trailer, I realized I had to get my butt in gear and read the  ARC I got.  Jenn is also coming to my city with a group of other authors for the Fierce Reads tour, and I really want to have read all of the books featured in the tour.  I read Struck in three days and was very pleased with the book.  Mia is such a strong character and her abilities are unlike anything I've ever read about (yes, I do realize she isn't actually a real person).  I've read some reviews of this book on goodreads, and they didn't like the religious aspect of the book, but I think that it was a very important part of the book.  I myself am not religious, and there were times I wanted to punch Prophet and his followers in the face (just ask Jenn, she knows) I still think it was a really important part of the book that couldn't have been left out.  The action was really well played out, and I loved the way that she talked about the lightning scars and what it felt like to be struck.  I assume that Jennifer has never actually been struck by lightning but when she described it I could almost feel it.  I also feel that underneath the whole plot there's a great message about learning to embrace who you are, and how even if you're just one person you can change things.  Jenn left it open so that she could write a sequel, and I would really like to see where she went if she ended up going ahead with writing one.  This debut isn't like anything else out there at the moment, and I think that it's a really good edition to the YA world.  I can't wait to see what Jenn comes up with next, and I myself would love to see a little more of Jeremy (finally, a YA guy who's sexy AND smart, and not an ass).

Out May 8, 2012

4/5

Secret Snowflake Book Swap

I'm still in high school, which means that I'm really fond of the holiday season because, hey, we get two weeks off, TWO WEEKS to do homework, eat good food, open presents (or just enjoy the weather, depending on your life style) and...READ BOOKS!  I know there are some of you out there who don't celebrate holidays but I'm sure you all are familiar with the idea that winter comes with snow (well, in most of the world) and here in good old Seattle it's beginning to look at lot like winter.  Years ago in 7th grade (yeah, okay, it was only 4 years ago) we did something along the same lines, and again in 9th grade, but because we need to respect all of the different religions out there we called it Secret Squirrel (7th grade) and Secret Snowflake (9th) and even though I love squirrels there aren't that many out in the winter, so we'll go with snowflakes.  So the way this is gonna work is easy, first, you have to sign up.  You have until November 21st to sign up.  That's two weeks.  After that I'll work a little magic and give everyone one person to get a book for and in return everyone will get a book from a different person.  If you sign up you will get a book and you will give a book!  If you won't be able to get a book to swap don't sign up because it's not fair to all of the people out there who did buy their people books but then didn't get one back in return.  Make sure to get your book out by January 1st, 2012.  There is going to be a $20.00 spending limit (that way if you buy the book in store it's still viable if it's a HB) so that people don't go overboard or feel that they aren't as good as someone who has money, because I love you all, and you all are amazing.  The one thing that might be a problem is that in the form you will have to give your address and someone else will get it so they can send you the book.  If you are under the age of 16 make sure you have your parents permission, but I promise not to share your address with anyone but the person who is going to be sending you a book, and if you want you can specify that you want me to pair you with someone who lives a good distance from you, but if you think about it this is really no different then when you input your address to enter a contest on a blog.  It's international but do let me know on the form if you are willing to do international or not.  If you're wondering you can send books from the book depository to a number of foreign countries for free.  You're going to pick five books that you want and someone will pick one to give to you (No books that come out in 2012 please).  You can order the book off of a website, get it signed if you want, buy it from a used bookstore (but if you do that make sure it's in good condition!), or just go to a regular old bookstore and pick it up off the shelf. Please don't deviate from the list your person gave you, and that way we won't have people ending up with duplicate copies of a book they already have.  If you're all set with the rules just fill out the form here to be part of the festivities!

Please note that if you buy the book from a bookstore you are responsible for paying the shipping to mail the package.