Sunday, June 29, 2014

SneakPeek Sunday (6)

June 29- July 5

TBR:

 

 


Rebel Nation by Shaunta Grimes | Will the REAL Prince Charming please STAND UP? by Ella Martin | Behind the Scenes by Dahlia Adler | The Monster Within by Kelly Hashway | Be With Me by J. Lynn
Listening to:

                                   

Reboot by Amy Tintera

Yes, I am STILL listening to this. It's good I swear, I just have the hardest time concentrating when listening to audios! Since I have a hard copy of this I may actually just finish up by reading it. 
    


Coming Up on the Blog:

Monday: Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell 
Tuesday: Review: Will the REAL Prince Charming please STAND UP? by Ella Martin 
Wednesday: Blog Tour Review: Rebel Nation by Shaunta Grimes
Thursday: Discussion Post: Authors and Social Media
Friday: Fourth of July GIVEAWAY - Gayle Forman Books

What are your bloggy/reading plans this week? 





Saturday, June 28, 2014

Stacking the Shelves (9)


Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews. Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books your borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course eBooks.

My lists are over the course of the past 3 weeks! 


Review Books:

 Landline by Rainbow Rowell 


Not Pictured eARCS:

Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper | Winterspell by Claire Legrand | The Fall by Bethany Griffin | Some Boys by Patty Blount | Jackaby by William Ritter | One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington | The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleason | The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard | Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White 






Purchased Books:

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord | Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock | Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo | Vortex by Julie Cross | Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn,, David Levithan | Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson | In the Shadows by Kiersten White, Jim Di Bartolo | The Merciless by Danielle Vega 


Not Pictured 
eBooks:

Crash Into You by Katie McGarry | Angelfall by Susan Ee | World After by Susan Ee | Embrace by Jessica Shirvington | Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson | The YA Readers Little Black Book by 10 YA Authors






Gifted/Won/Borrowed/Trade Books:

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke | The Body in the Woods by April Henry | Reboot by Amy Tintera | The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls | Mirror X by Karri Thompson | Transcender: First Timer by Vicky Savage | Streaming Stars by Vicky Savage | Illuminosity by Vicky Savage | We Were Liars by E. Lockhart | Burning by Elana K. Arnold 

If the books listed above are not pictured that means they are eBooks :) 

Not Pictured Audio Books:

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein | Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson | Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

In case you didn't know SYNC does a program during the summer and offers two audio books each week for free to download! I have gotten all the above over the last 3 weeks! 

What did you get? Excited for any of these yourself? 

Somethings you might have missed this week:



Friday, June 27, 2014

Cover Reveal: Unleashed by Sophie Jordan

I'm super excited to be able to help reveal the cover of Sophie Jordan's upcoming book, UNLEASHED, which is the sequel to UNINVITED. I seriously can not wait for this book since I completely love UNINVITED! If you are new to these titles you can check out my review for UNINVITED here. 


Here’s the summary for UNLEASHED:

What if the worst thing you ever did was unforgivable?

Davy’s world fell apart after she tested positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome. She was expelled from her school, dumped by her boyfriend, abandoned by friends, and shipped off to a camp that turns HTS carriers into soldiers. Davy may have escaped, but the damage has already been done. The unthinkable has happened. Now, even worse than having everyone else see her as a monster is the knowledge that they may have been right about her all along. Because Davy has killed.

On the run from government agents, Davy is rescued by Caden, the charismatic leader of an underground group of rebels. Despite Caden’s assurances that the Resistance is made up of carriers like her, Davy isn’t sure she can trust them. Then again, she doesn’t even know if she can trust herself . . . or her growing feelings for Caden. But if she doesn’t belong with Caden and his followers, is there anywhere she can call home?

UNLEASHED mini-teaser:

I thought being labeled a killer and losing everything—my future, family, boyfriend, friends—was the worst thing that could ever happen to me. It’s not. Finding out they were right. Finding out that’s exactly what I am?

That’s worse.

What I'm thinking:

Who is this Caden character?! What does this new character mean for Davy's life and the people in it???  It sounds like Davy is going to have a lot of self doubt in this book. Which sounds to me it is going to cause me some emotional turmoil over here! 


Now for the Cover:





My Thoughts:

I'm not usually a huge fan of models on covers but I really love this one, I also loved the cover of UNINVITED too! Davy looks fierce and the DNA strands in her hair again are just AWESOME! It also has a very dark feel to it since there is no background, just deep blackness and it looks like hints of purple in there. The little teaser on there also! I can't wait to see how Davy takes on this next part of her life! EEP! So excited! I think it's time for an UNINVITED re-read! 

What are your thoughts on the cover? 

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch

**Thank you Entangled Teen for providing me with an eARC copy**

Perfection comes at a price.

As soon as the government passed legislation allowing humans to be genetically engineered and sold as pets, the rich and powerful rushed to own beautiful girls like Ella. Trained from birth to be graceful, demure, and above all, perfect, these “family companions” enter their masters’ homes prepared to live a life of idle luxury.

Ella is happy with her new role as playmate for a congressman’s bubbly young daughter, but she doesn’t expect Penn, the congressman’s handsome and rebellious son. He’s the only person who sees beyond the perfect exterior to the girl within. Falling for him goes against every rule she knows…and the freedom she finds with him is intoxicating.

But when Ella is kidnapped and thrust into the dark underworld lurking beneath her pampered life, she’s faced with an unthinkable choice. Because the only thing more dangerous than staying with Penn’s family is leaving…and if she’s unsuccessful, she’ll face a fate far worse than death.

For fans of Keira Cass’s Selection series and Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden series, Perfected is a chilling look at what it means to be human, and a stunning celebration of the power of love to set us free, wrapped in a glamorous—and dangerous—bow.


My Thoughts:

PERFECTED is a book that I came across when Kaitlin posted about it on twitter. It has a very interesting synopsis so when I was asked if I would like to read this in consideration for a review I reacted something like this:



I was very taken in by the fact that these girls were bred to be pets to the higher society class. It is a very unique spin that I haven't seen before. While I enjoyed this book overall, I found it disappoint me some.

Ella was a very interesting character's head to be inside of. It was like understanding a child without all the hyperactivity. She was new to the entire world, the only thing she knew was the breeding house she grew up in and all the rules she was told she must follow. Ella was very naive, which was expected, and didn't understand pretty much anything going on around her. While that may sound like it would be annoying, it wasn't. The story did a really good job of making me be sympathetic for Ella and understanding why she was like this. The family Ella moves in with has a variety of members. The congressman gave me the creeps completely. *cringes* His wife was kind of a  mystery, I got a sense of what was going on but one thing with her surprised me in the end. The daughter I found to be so sweet and I really did enjoy her character. Their son, Penn, I guess I liked him okay, he was quite the one dimensional character in my opinion so I didn't really feel much about him. 

While the story line was really intriguing and I was entertained through out the entire book, I had some issues with it that I just couldn't look past. One thing that bothered me is that the whole breeding thing wasn't really explained. There were little snippets here and there about it, but nothing really on exactly how it was done or even why really. I feel that was something that was really needed. There was also not a lot of emotional depth going on with this story. Ella seemed to have the biggest range of emotions compared to everyone else, which just didn't sit right with me. It's like I would be in the story when it was about her but as soon as other characters entered the scenes I was pulled out again because I would FEEL like I was reading a book. (I hope that makes sense.) The book all together was also quite predictable in where it was going and what would happen.

I think  my biggest issue probably though was the ROMANCE. Shocker, right? Imagine me complaining about romance in a book! *gasp* But seriously though, as soon as they introduced their son I knew where it was going, which seriously that's fine, but then it happened....that big no-no for me...INSTA-LOVE. 


*sigh* 

Okay, okay I can see how Ella would have this problem, I mean she's pretty much new to the world and to her emotions so this is definitely a feasible thing for her to feel, but Penn?? NO! It just wasn't believable.. There was no romance build up, in my opinion. I won't go into detail because I don't want to do spoilers but the events that happened in the...eh....probably last 20% in the book just really knocked the rating down for me. 

BUT even though I had these complaints I still really did enjoy the read. It was a really fast read and it was entertaining. I'm curious if there will be another one because the ending does leave a cliffhanger, so I assume there will be. Will I read the next one? Possibly so. I might wait to see how others rate it first, get the feel of it a little bit, but it's definitely not out of the question for me. 

My Rating:
♥♥♥

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Cover Reveal: LIARS, INC by Paula Stokes + Giveaway (INTL)

Paula Stokes asked me to help reveal the cover for her February 2015 release, LIARS, INC. (and of course I squealed in excitement and said a big fat YES!)

Here’s more info about the book from Goodreads:

It all starts with one little lie…
Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell lies to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts a business providing forged permission slips and cover stories for the students of Vista Palisades High. Liars, Inc. they call it. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?
When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.
Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

And now the moment you’ve been waiting for—THE COVER!


Isn't it all kinds of mysterious and epic?!



Here’s a little more info from Paula:

OMG, I’ve been flailing about the awesomeness of this cover since April. I saw it and was basically like HOLY COVER LOTTERY!! :D

I’ve talked about how LIARS, INC. is very different from THE ART OF LAINEY, and this cover really highlights that. LIARS has first-person narration, a bit of romance, and similar fast-paced dialogue to LAINEY, but that’s where the major similarities end. This book is a dark mystery for fans of I HUNT KILLERS, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS (the TV show, because I’ve never read the books), or old-school Christopher Pike novels. I hope you love it, because if it does well I might get to write a companion novel, and I’m seriously not ready to let go of these characters. Max is a little aloof and slackerish so it might take you time to warm up to him, but his girlfriend Parvati is totally badass and fun, and both of them really grow and change over the course of the novel. (You know how I love me some character development!) And no worries, this is a total standalone book, plotted and written as a solo novel.


What do you think? Do you like this cover

Giveaway:

Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a signed, personalized ARC of LIARS, INC.

This is an INTL giveaway provided by the author. 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne + Giveaway

**Thank you Disney Hyperion for providing me with this ARC copy**

Growing up on Forge’s streets has taught Kyra how to stretch a coin. And when that’s not enough, her uncanny ability to scale walls and bypass guards helps her take what she needs.

But when the leader of the Assassins Guild offers Kyra a lucrative job, she hesitates. She knows how to get by on her own, and she’s not sure she wants to play by his rules. But he’s persistent—and darkly attractive—and Kyra can’t quite resist his pull.

Tristam of Brancel is a young Palace knight on a mission. After his best friend is brutally murdered by Demon Riders, a clan of vicious warriors who ride bloodthirsty wildcats, Tristam vows to take them down. But as his investigation deepens, he finds his efforts thwarted by a talented thief, one who sneaks past Palace defenses with uncanny ease.

When a fateful raid throws Kyra and Tristam together, the two enemies realize that their best chance at survival—and vengeance—might be to join forces. And as their loyalties are tested to the breaking point, they learn a startling secret about Kyra’s past that threatens to reshape both their lives.

My Thoughts:


Because this book is OUT OF THIS WORLD FANTASTIC!!!!

MIDNIGHT THIEF is definitely one of my favorite books of the year. It is a fun young adult fantasy full of unexpected twists and turns and it kept me engrossed from start to finish. The world building was very vivid and I felt I could see the streets of Forge in my mind. I adored the characters and became quickly attached to them and their well-being. The plot build up was fantastically done; Blackburne pulled the rug out from under me SEVERAL times! There was definitely one twist that even with all my theories for this particular part of the story I never connected the dots to. I think a lot of people will be surprised where this story goes and the ending will definitely leave you wanting the next book.

Kyra and Tristam are my favorite characters in this book. Kyra had a good bit of character development from the beginning of the book until the end and she came out much stronger than she started, and she was already a pretty tough girl.She also got a good bit smarter, she was quite naive at times and especially when it comes to James and the Assassin's Guild. Tristam really ended up surprising me in this story and I really hope to see more interaction with Kyra and him in the future installments, I have certain things I want to happen between these two and I sure hope they do! James was a very complex character and though at times I wanted to wring his neck I still had a bit of a soft spot for him. 

(I also want to let everyone know that there is a prequel- that is free at this time- about James, called POISON DANCE. I recently read it and I can’t decide if it’s better to read it before or after reading this book. I think it will change your opinion dramatically of James after you read it. It did mine anyways.)


The fantasy creatures in this book, the demon cats, were a really intriguing part of the story. The demon riders have quite an impact on the things happening in Forge and that part of the story was hands down one of my favorite parts. Blackburne did a really good job going into detail about them and even how the Demon Riders originated. I thought it was very well done.

Now I know most people typically enjoy romance in their fantasy novels, while there is *some* in this novel it did not take over the story at all-which I LOVE. It was actually more of an angst fest which I’m overly obsessed with. Seriously, anything that makes me angsty and anxious for things is awesome in my book.

I seriously can't say enough how much I love this book and think any fantasy reader should give it a try. I've been trying to write this review for a month now and I still just can't express how much I loved it. I feel like this review does it no justice what so ever. 

TO Livia Blackburne:


&


My Rating:
♥♥♥♥♥

Giveaway:

*US Only
*Must be 13+
*All entries will be checked,
if caught cheating you will be disqualified

*Ends Midnight July 7

GOOD LUCK!









a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, June 23, 2014

Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz + Giveaway

**Thank you Disney Hyperion for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What’s your worst nightmare?

For Ivy Jensen, it’s the eyes of a killer that haunt her nights. For Parker Bradley, it’s bloodthirsty sea serpents that slither in his dreams.

And for seven essay contestants, it’s their worst nightmares that win them an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at director Justin Blake’s latest, confidential project. Ivy doesn’t even like scary movies, but she’s ready to face her real-world fears. Parker’s sympathetic words and perfect smile help keep her spirits up. . . at least for now.

Not everyone is so charming, though. Horror-film fanatic Garth Vader wants to stir up trouble. It’s bad enough he has to stay in the middle of nowhere with this group—the girl who locks herself in her room; the know-it-all roommate; “Mister Sensitive”; and the one who’s too cheery for her own good. Someone has to make things interesting.

Except, things are already a little weird. The hostess is a serial-killer look-alike, the dream-stealing Nightmare Elf is lurking about, and the seventh member of the group is missing.

By the time Ivy and Parker realize what’s really at stake, it’s too late to wake up and run.


My Thoughts:

Okay maybe it's just me because I don't typically read a ton of horror but good GRIEF this book FREAKED ME OUT!!!! I mean at the point where I literally went to bed the night I finished with the bathroom light on so my bedroom wouldn't be dark like a 5 year old might do! Yes it was that creepy to me, I'm not ashamed! 


I was really concerned how this book would go when I saw that it switched POVs between all seven characters (well really it ends up being 6). I was worried that I would get confused and not be able to remember what was what, but it was done flawlessly. Each chapter is titled and each character really has their own voice so it's easy to know who you are reading about.

Besides this being a horror book it also tapped into some deep issues almost all of the characters have. Garth really creeped me out most of the book, he is just a really weird dude.He also was a bit of a butt at times, but with his back story I can see where it comes from. Ivy is so sweet and her back story made me feel so bad for her. Parker is a great guy who aspires to be a film producer, and he was definitely a charmer. Natalie is strange, strange, strange. I did find out why and I can't blame her for being that way but....STRANGE. Shayla is a bit self-absorbed and she doesn't really get past that, but it's not overly annoying so it's easy to look past. Frankie was a cool guy and the type of person that you could easily be buds with and he was really sweet to Natalie so he got extra cool points in my book. We don't really get to know Taylor too well in this book so I can't really judge much about her.

When everyone shows up for their "fun-filled horror" weekend things really start getting down to business. This is definitely not a slow-paced book and it kept me on my toes. It was really hard to put down and I was biting my nails and hearing random noises in my house that I know are normal but still freaked me out! There were twists and turns at every page and I was kept guessing the entire time on what would happen with everyone. I felt like I was seriously in this world. In one part when everyone goes to their own individualized place I got very nervous and anxious because I wasn't sure what would happen. *nail biter*


So I was left with a ton of unanswered question, some HUGE twists, and a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. I had to immediately tweet Laurie and ask her WILL THERE BE A SEQUEL??? And yes folks there will be!! THANK GOODNESS!! So when it comes out, I'm going to curl up in a ball with all my lights on and pray I don't get too crazy terrified! 

The only con I had was the little bit of romance in the book between two characters seemed kind of fast for me, BUT at the same time in the circumstances I could *kind of* understand it, but I don't' know, still bothered me some! Definitely would recommend this book to horror lovers! Maybe you won't be as big of a baby about it as I was! LOL 

My Rating:
♥♥♥♥1/2

Giveaway:

*US Only
*Must be 13+
*All entries will be checked,
if caught cheating you will be disqualified

*Ends Midnight July 7

GOOD LUCK!





a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, June 19, 2014

(Don't You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

**Thank you Harper Teen for providing me with this eARC via Edelweiss in exchange of a honest review.


Welcome to Gardnerville.

A place where no one gets sick. And no one ever dies.

Except...
There’s a price to pay for paradise. Every fourth year, the strange power that fuels the town exacts its payment by infecting teens with deadly urges. In a normal year in Gardnerville, teens might stop talking to their best friends. In a fourth year, they’d kill them.

Four years ago, Skylar’s sister, Piper, was locked away after leading sixteen of her classmates to a watery grave. Since then, Skylar has lived in a numb haze, struggling to forget her past and dull the pain of losing her sister. But the secrets and memories Piper left behind keep taunting Skylar—whispering that the only way to get her sister back is to stop Gardnerville’s murderous cycle once and for all.



My Thoughts:

Okay so let me show you my Goodread's reading updates to start off with...

06/10
22.0%"I only partially understand what's happening so far O.o"
06/11
55.0%"This is getting more and more interesting on each page!!! I need to know what the heck is going on!!"
06/11
64.0%"What the what?!?! O______o"
06/11
76.0%"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?????"

As you can see I started off HIGHLY confused but then I really started getting more into this book, which got me all sorts of excited because that's exactly what I was looking for. I really love weird books and I had been told Quinn's writing was really quirky plus mystery and magic I was completely sold! But then you see that little 64% mark? That was when I entered "what the heck is this mess because I sure hope I didn't stay confused THAT long for THIS!" 




What I left out on my updates is my last one, that one I saved for twitter. Then one that came at around 1 in the morning, because I stayed up sure that this really EPIC ending was going to happen because almost everyone I know just LOVED the ending, but it DIDN'T! I was left with more of....


Seriously, that was me...I will forever be in a state of confusion and what the hell after that book. It's not that I didn't understand the ending, because I did. I just was at the point that I didn't care too much by then and so when I get this "revelation" it wasn't exactly the epicness I was hoping for. 

The story was interesting enough though, even intriguing at times. I got caught up at times and it was really fast paced. It's definitely something you can sit down and just read the whole thing at once, that is if your brain doesn't hurt like mine did while reading. I will say that I had some theories, some were close, but I never did quite hit the nail on the head. For that Quinn is awesome. She can definitely write a book that confuses the heck out of someone. Some people might like a book that is one gigantic puzzle of confusion, I on the other hand, like to have a good mystery but not this much "mind boggling what the heck is going on around here" type thinking. It literally made my head hurt, and I'm just not for that. There was also a little romance going on that I saw coming and I just couldn't even get on board with that. I could have definitely used more background for everything going on in the book too. There was some just nothing overly in depth so it didn't really help me out too much. 

Recommended for people who like their mind to be messed with....majorly.

My Rating:
♥♥