Saturday, 9 June 2012

Book Review (94).

Fallen in Love (Fallen #3.5)

by Lauren Kate

Publication: 24th January 2012

Publisher: Random House

Pages: 201

Genre: Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

**Warning May Contain Spoilers From Previous Books In The Series**

Unexpected. Unrequited. Forbidden. Eternal. Everyone has their own love story.

And in a twist of fate, four extraordinary love stories combine over the course of a romantic Valentine's Day in Medieval England. Miles and Shelby find love where they
least expect it. Roland learns a painful lesson about finding-and losing love. Arianne pays the price for a love so fierce it burns. And for the first -and last- time, Daniel and Luce
will spend a night together like none other.

Lauren Kate's FALLEN IN LOVE is filled with love stories . . . the ones everyone has been waiting for.

True love never says goodbye. . .

My Thoughts.

I've been a huge fan of the Fallen series ever since the first book was released, so being asked a couple of weeks ago by a publisher to be a part of an upcoming Rapture blog tour was pretty exciting and I jumped at the chance, so while I've been sitting here waiting for my review copy of said book to come (it still hasn't arrived and since the tour is on the 15th June plus it's now the weekend and Monday is a public holiday, well I'm getting pretty worried that I won't be able to read and review it in time) I realised that I still hadn't read this book , and while I enjoyed it it's been sooo long since I read the last book I honestly can't remember what happened in the previous book nor most of the characters (obviously I remember Daniel and Luce but the rest, not so much).

Luckily the stories four in all were enjoyable I just might have to skim through the last book to familiarise myself with the world and the characters again before I get to reading Rapture, so I write a small review of each short story.

The first story featured Shelby and Miles who are Luce's friends at Shoreline and if I remember correctly both Nephilim who accidently while traveling through an announcer finds themselves not back in their own time but in the medieval era, of course while they are there they find that time's reincarnation of Luce who is all upset that Daniel in that time wants nothing to do with her because she's a peasants daughter, but we all know it's because he thinks if he leaves her he's delaying her inevitable death, and Miles and Shelby realise that they both have feelings for each other and their story ends with a kiss.

The second story features Roland who reminisces about a mortal woman Rosaline whom he fell in love with and ultimately broke up with because of the fact she would age he never would and he felt that she deserved a better life, so he went to revisit her and found she was married with a child and another on the way.

Third story was Arriane's and her relationship with Tess (I don't remember her being gay or whether we just found out in this story) she belongs to the Lucifer camp and Tess tries to convince her to join her side, Arriane refuses and a fight ensues and later on Arriane finds Tess trying to cut her wings off, it never really explains whether Tess dies but I assume so and we find out how Arriane got her scars.

And last but certainly not least is the one and only Valentine's Day that Daniel and Luce ever shared (all these stories take part on the same day in the same time) the Luce from our time inhabits the body of Luce in the medieval times so she can get her to go to a dance in hopes that Daniel will be there.

I really enjoyed all the stories in this book and it makes a nice companion novel to the series as well as having another gorgeous cover.

I give this 4/5.

Friday, 8 June 2012

In My Mailbox (31).

In My Mailbox Is A Weekly Meme Hosted By Kristi The Story Siren.

Brought.

Dreamless (Starcrossed #2) - Josephine Angelini
Devine Intervention - Martha Brockenbrough
Blue-Blooded Vamp (Sabina Kane #5) - Jaye Wells
Transcendence - C.J Omololu
Shadow Bound (Unbound #2) - Rachel Vincent
Grim - Anna Waggener
Stunning (Pretty Little Liars #11) - Sara Shepard
Tempest Unleashed (Tempest #2) - Tracy Deebs

Blood Lite 3: Aftertaste Anthology

Kiss The Dead (Anita Blake,Vampire Hunter #21) - Laurell K. Hamilton

Juliet Immortal (Juliet Immortal #1) - Stacey Jay

The Peculiars - Maureen Doyle McQuerry

Awakened (The Guardian Legacy #1) - Ednah Walters

Kiss Of Frost (Mythos Academy #2) - Jennifer Estep

Dark Frost (Mythos Academy #3) - Jennifer Estep

Upcoming Books That Don't Yet Have A Cover.

I'm always finding new books on Goodreads that don't have covers and some of them sound so good I thought I'd put them here on my blog to give people some new books they might want to add to their tbr piles/wishlist.

My Sister's Reaper

by Dorothy Dreyer

A seventeen-year-old somehow brings her sister back to life, and by doing so, inadvertently angers her sister's reaper, now intent on claiming both girls.

29th May 2013

The Holders (Holders #1)

by Julianna Scott

17-year-old Becca spent her whole life protecting her brother from, well, everything. The abandonment of their father, the so called 'experts' who insist that voices in his head are unnatural and must be dealt with, and the constant threat of being taken away to some hospital and studied like an animal. When two representatives appear claiming to have the answers to Ryland's perceived problem, Becca doesn't buy it for one second. That is until they seem to know things about Ryland and about Becca and Ryland's family, that forces Becca to concede that there may be more to these people than meets the eye. Though still highly skeptical, Becca agrees to do what's best for Ryland.

What they find at St. Brigid's is a world beyond their imagination. Little by little they piece together the information of their family's heritage, their estranged Father, and the legend of the Holder race that decrees Ryland is the one they've been waiting for. However, they are all--especially Becca--in for a surprise that will change what they thought they knew about themselves and their kind.

She meets Alex, a Holder who is fiercely loyal to their race, and for some reason, Becca and Ryland. There's an attraction between Becca and Alex that can't be denied, but her true nature seems destined to keep them apart. However, certain destinies may not be as clear cut as everyone has always believed them to be.

Becca is lost, but found at the same time. Can she bring herself to leave Ryland now that he's settled and can clearly see his future? Will she be able to put the the feelings she has for Alex aside and head back to the US? And can Becca and Ryland ever forgive their father for what he's done?

April 2013 By Strange Chemistry.

Stung

by Bethany Wiggins

Government attempts to save endangered bees by genetic modification causes their sting to induce deadly, flu-like symptoms in humans. A vaccine created in response changes children into ferocious, killer beasts. The uninfected have built a wall to keep the beasts out, & a girl has awakened on the wrong side.

2nd April 2013 By Walker Books

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

by April Genevieve Tucholke

Violet's grandmother had warned her about the Devil, had talked about him often, as though he were a best friend, or an old lover. But she never told Violet that the Devil could be real. She never told Violet that the Devil could be a dark-haired boy in vintage clothes who takes naps in the sun and likes old movies and vigilante justice.

River West is the seventeen-year old stranger renting the guesthouse behind the rotting mansion on the sea, where Violet lives. And as eerie, grim things start happening in Violet's town, she begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling, coffee-loving liar with rascally eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something else? Something...evil?

Violet's already so knee-deep in love she can't see straight.

And that's just how River likes it.

15th August 2013 By Dial/Penguin

Ink (The Paper Gods #1)

by Amanda Sun

I looked down at the paper, still touching the tip of my shoe. I reached for it, flipping the page over to look.

Scrawls of ink outlined a drawing of girl lying on a bench.

A sick feeling started to twist in my stomach, like motion sickness.

And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine.

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive

February 2013 By Harlequin Teen

Antigoddess (Antigoddess #1)

by Kendare Blake

Kendare Blake's ANTIGODDESS series, where the ancient, perpetually teenaged Greek gods Athena and Hermes cling to life in the contemporary world, seeking the causes of their mysterious, slow deaths and gathering their allies in reincarnated form: Cassandra, an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess; Odysseus, the handsome trickster; and other fickle characters with their own secret motives; they must all band together against Hera and Poseidon who have become horrific caricatures of their former glory in their desperation to survive, again to Melissa Frain at Tor, in a very nice deal, in a three-book deal, by Adriann Ranta at Wolf Literary Services (World).

2013 By Tor Teen

Flood and Stone

by Kiersten White

Isadora, the teenage daughter of ancient Egyptian Gods, wants to escape her crazy family forever. But can you run away from fate?

2013 By HarperTeen

The Madman's Daughter

by Megan Shepherd

London, 1894. Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father’s gruesome experiments. But when she learns her father is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations were true.

Juliet is accompanied by the doctor’s handsome young assistant and an enigmatic castaway, who both attract Juliet for very different reasons. They travel to the island only to discover the depths of her father’s madness: he has created animals that have been vivisected to resemble, speak, and behave as humans. Worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island’s inhabitants. Juliet knows she must end her father’s dangerous experiments and escape the island, even though her horror is mixed with her own scientific curiosity. As the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father’s genius—and madness—in her own blood.

January 2013 By Balzar + Bray

Transparent

by Natalie Whipple

X-Men meets The Godfather; in which an invisible girl has to stop her dad—an infamous crime lord—from ruining her life.

On the run from her mind-controlling father, the infamously invisible Fiona McClean hides in a small town, hoping to finally rid herself of the crime world she has always known. But playing at “normal life” with a mother she hates, a brother she can't trust, and a boy she can't stand proves more difficult than she ever imagined. Soon her father is hot on her heels, and it’s up to Fiona to protect not only her family, but the friends who’ve taught her that life doesn’t have to be as lonely and cruel as she thought.

2013 By HarperTeen

After You

by Jessica Corra

Eighteen-year-old Camilla Jay has the power of second chances. She can rewind to any day and relive it, and she remembers everything. A tragedy like the death of her twin sister Madelyn shouldn’t be possible. Camilla rewinds to the same day over and over, but Madelyn dies each time – by her own hand. Madelyn doesn’t want saving.

Madelyn’s death allows Cam to finally connect with her long-time crush Wall. As they grow closer, Camilla uncovers a series of writings Madelyn did about her own ability to forward in time. Madelyn believed killing herself was the only way to save Camilla from a horrible fate. Cam’s not convinced.

Cam tries to find a way to save Madelyn without bringing about the things her sister saw. Madelyn didn’t think it was possible, and that by trying to save her, Camilla will destroy herself. Camilla doesn’t know what to believe, but one thing becomes clear: if she saves Madelyn, she’ll lose Wall. Is she willing to gamble everything?

2013 By Dial

Thursday, 7 June 2012

Book Review (93).

Kill Me Softly

by Sarah Cross

Publication: 20th April 2012

Publisher: EgmontUSA

Pages: 336

Genre: Fantasy

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Mirabelle's past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents' tragic deaths to her guardians' half-truths about why she can't return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday—and discovers a world she never could have imagined.

In Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems—the strangely pale girl with a morbid interest in apples, the obnoxious playboy who's a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for damsels in distress. Here, fairy tales come to life, curses are awakened, and ancient stories are played out again and again.

But fairy tales aren't pretty things, and they don't always end in happily ever after. Mira has a role to play, a fairy tale destiny to embrace or resist. As she struggles to take control of her fate, Mira is drawn into the lives of two brothers with fairy tale curses of their own . . . brothers who share a dark secret. And she'll find that love, just like fairy tales, can have sharp edges and hidden thorns.

My Thoughts.

To say that I loved this book is an understatement, I was entranced from the very first page, I loved the concept of this world and the fairy tale elements made this a magical and wondrous read.

I loved how it had a similar theme to the tv show Once Upon A Time which I also love, the idea that fairy tale characters are real and all living in a town called Beau Rivage is a fantastic idea.

Mirabelle 'Mira' is about to turn sixteen in a week's time, at her christening when she was three months her parents were killed when the building they were in caught fire, so ever since then she's raised by her tw0 godmothers far away from her birthplace.

Mira has been restricted from being allowed to do a lot of things among them touching anything sharp, she has also been told that she's not allowed back to her birthplace, intrigued and wanting to visit her parents graves she runs away one night eager to see the place she was born.

Once there she takes shelter in a casino and it's there while trying to stay inconspicious that she is accosted by a boy around her age Blue who tells her to get out of his hotel after running away and hiding she is found by Blue's older brother Felix who is a whole lot nicer than Blue and offers her a room for free to stay in and after listening to her story agrees to healing her find her parent's graves since she's had no luck of her own.

But Mira comes to find that not everybody is who they appear to be and that she's in the middle of a town full of fairy tale characters and that also includes Blue and Felix.

She becomes friends with: Viv (Snow White), Henley (The Huntsman), Felix (Prince Charming), Layla (Beauty) and Rafe (Beast) among others and discovers that she is Sleeping Beauty and that all those years of her godmothers not allowing her to touch sharp things had a purpose.

But not everybody is happy with their 'curse' as they call it, and happily ever afters aren't all they're cracked up to be, you see there is not just one Sleeping Beauty or Snow White but a whole lot of the same fairy tale characters who all have the same fate and some aren't happy with their happy ever afters.

So while Mira continues her relationship with Felix all the while Blue is trying to warn her off she discovers that the two brothers share the same curse and neither will tell her what that is but for them with their curse's they don't get a happily ever after.

I loved Mira and Blue's scenes together they had me laughing and you were just hoping that they'd end up together.

All the characters in this story were interesting to read about and there was never a dull minute, my only wish is that somehow this could be made into a series perhaps with some of the different characters that are still awaiting their stories to carry out.

This is definitely going on the re-read pile.

I give this 5/5.

Wednesday, 6 June 2012

Waiting On Wednesday.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine where you can spotlight an upcoming release that you're eagerly anticipating.

This week I'm waiting on....

Let the Sky Fall (Untitled YA Series #1)

by Shannon Messenger

March 2013 By Simon Pulse

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston is the only survivor of the category five tornado that killed his parents. Every night since the storm, a beautiful, dark-haired girl has swept through his dreams. She's the only clue to his past, and he clings to the hope that she's real.

Audra is real, but she's also a sylph. An air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even twist it into a weapon. She's also a guardian--Vane's guardian--and has sworn an oath to protect him at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra must help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim--the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock a memory Audra wishes could be erased. And as the storm bears down on them she starts to realize the greatest danger might not be the warriors coming to destroy them, but the forbidden romance that's grown between them.

Set amongst the desert airstreams of Coachella Valley in California, and alive with wonderful wind-swept prose, LET THE SKY FALL is about two teenagers broken by their pasts, divided by their futures, and bound by love.

The Collector (Dante Walker #1)

by Victoria Scott

March 2013 By Entangled Teen

He makes good girls...bad.

Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence has made him one of hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple, weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.

Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal opportunity collector and doesn’t want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:

Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within 10 days.

Dante doesn’t know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of hell. But after Dante meets the quirky, Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect—he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector, and uncover emotions deeply buried.

The Falconer (The Falconer #1)

by Elizabeth May

2013 By Gollancz

Humans will be the hunted. Love will be tested. Vengeance will be had.

Edinburgh, Scotland, 1844

18-year-old Lady Aileana Kameron was destined to a life carefully planned around Edinburgh’s society events — until a faery killed her mother.

Now, between the seeming endless parties and boring dances, Aileana has a new hobby: she secretly slaughters the fae who prey on humans in the city’s dark alleyways.

Determined to find the faery who murdered her mother, vengeance has become Aileana's life. . . so she never anticipated her growing attraction to the magnetic Kiaran MacKay, the faery who trained her to kill his own kind. Or that there was a world beyond hers, filled with secrets that affect her past and have the potential to destroy her present.

But when her own world is about revenge, and when she holds Kiaran’s fate in her hands, how far is Aileana prepared to go for retribution?

The Archived (The Archived #1)

by Victoria Schwab

January 2013 By Hyperion

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous—it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da's death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

Level 2 (The Memory Chronicles #1)

by Lenore Appelhans

15th January 2013 By Simon And Schuster

Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow prisoners, Felicia passes the endless hours downloading memories and mourning what she’s lost—family, friends, and the boy she loved, Neil.

Then a girl in a neighboring chamber disappears, and nobody but Felicia seems to recall she existed in the first place. Something is obviously very wrong. When Julian—a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life—comes to offer Felicia a way out, she learns the truth: a rebellion is brewing to overthrow the Morati, the guardians of Level 2.

Felicia is reluctant to trust Julian, but then he promises what she wants the most—to be with Neil again—if only she’ll join the rebels. Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself in the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind.

Monday, 4 June 2012

Book Review (92).

A Beautiful Dark (A Beautiful Dark #1)

by Jocelyn Davies

Publication: 1st October 2011

Publisher: Harper Collins Australia

Pages: 390

Genre: Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

On the night of Skye's seventeenth birthday, she meets two enigmatic strangers. Complete opposites—like fire and ice—Asher is dark and wild, while Devin is fair and aloof. Their sudden appearance sends Skye's life into a tailspin. She has no idea what they want, or why they seem to follow her every move—only that their presence coincides with a flurry of strange events. Soon she begins to doubt not just the identity of the two boys, but also the truth about her own past.

In the dead of a bitingly cold Colorado winter, Skye finds herself coming to terms with the impossible secret that threatens to shatter her world. Torn between Asher, who she can’t help falling for, and Devin, who she can’t stay away from, the consequences of Skye’s choice will reach further than the three of them could ever imagine.

A Beautiful Dark is the first book in a captivating trilogy by debut author Jocelyn Davies.

My Thoughts.

I absolutely adored this book, it kept me on the edge of my seat especially towards the end and that cliffhanger, of course now I have to wait till September for the next book and the aftermath of the previous one.

Skye's friends have thrown her a surprise party for her seventeenth birthday, where she meets a boy Asher whom she is attracted to, and after a brief conversation thinks nothing more of it until he gets into a fight at her party with a boy he arrived with, and in the middle of it the boiler beneath the cafe explodes ending the party.

School starts and she runs into Asher and the boy he was fighting with his cousin Devin, as well as being in a lot of her classes they also appear to be everywhere Skye is and she starts to think that they are following her, not only that but out of school she has the feeling that someone is watching her and every morning she wakes to find her bedroom window open after closing and locking it before bed.

All the while that she's developing feelings towards them, especially Asher what she doesn't know is that they have been sent to watch her, because of the actions of her deceased parents who died on her sixth birthday she's been closely watched unbeknown to her all her life.

While it did take a while to find out just who and what Asher and Devin are, the book was that interesting and exciting that it didn't matter, the storyline was intriguing enough to keep my mind away from wondering what they were.

I found the history of her parents really interesting and I would have loved a bit more of their back story.

I loved the interaction between Skye and Asher I liked them as a couple and they were both hilarious together.

Skye's friends Cassie, Dan and Ian made a great group and made for interesting friends and a nice diversion throughout the book.

This has been one of my favourite books that I've read this year and if I had of known how good it was going to be I would have tried to get to it a bit sooner.

Highly reccommended.

I give this 5/5.

A Big Thanks To Harper Collins Australia.