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Showing posts from April, 2011

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent Author: Veronica Roth Series: Divergent #1 Pages: 487 Date of UK Publications: 3rd May 2011 Source: Bought Synopsis from Goodreads: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen

Book Blogger Hop #26, Follow #21 and TGIF #2

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer from Crazy for Books. Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are most looking forward to?  My answer: Oh, I have no idea, there are a few... I'm really looking forward to Bloodlines by Richelle Mead, that looks awesome, and I can't wait to return to the world of Rose and Dimitri, even though they probably won't be in it much, if at all :(  Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee from Parajunkee's View.  Keeping with the dystopian and apocalypse theme that seems to be running rampant on parajunkee.com, I have one very hard question for you: If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten? My answer: Oh my word, this question is HARD! I would take: Divergent by Veronica Roth The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (all three books) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (all three books) City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare Clock

Book Review: Die For Me by Amy Plum

Title: Die For Me Author: Amy Plum Series: Revenants #1 Pages: 352 Date of UK Publications: 5th May 2011 Source: NetGalley Synopsis from Goodreads: My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything. Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent. Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen. Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind. While I'm fighting to pi

Teaser Tuesday #21: The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading :)    Teaser Tuesday   is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of   Should Be Reading . Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab you current read Open to a random page Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from anywhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!  (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!) Share the  title and author , too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers! JAMM Synopsis from Goodreads: In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one…except the "thing" inside her. When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch…. Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's

Book Review: The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Title: The Sky Is Everywhere Author: Jandy Nelson Series: Standalone Pages: 368 Date of UK Publications: June 7th 2010 Source: Bought Synopsis from Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding. My Thoughts: This book was weird. I don't know why I thought it was so w

In My Mailbox #13

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. :) Bought       The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson This one is so cool, it has pictures! :) Really excited about it, reading it now! Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher This one looks so sad! Sounds amazing though...  Looking for Alaska by John Green Again, this looks awesome :) I can't wait, apparently it's John Green's best book :) What did you get in your mailboxes this week?

Book Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty Author: Jenny Han Series: Summer #1 Pages: 276 Date of UK Publications: June 3rd 2010 Source: Borrowed from school friend. Synopsis from Goodreads: Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along. My Thoughts: I never ever read books like these. 'Girl books' my brother calls them. Proper girly books, beach reads, summer romances. They'd never really appealed to me, but then I came across all th

Book Blogger Hop #25, Follow Friday #20 and TGIF #1

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer from Crazy For Book and Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee from Parajunkee's View. :) If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author? My answer: Usually, but I'll only read them if they are young adult. So, for example, I absolutely adored the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, but all her other series are adult, so I'm not going to read them. I might in the future, but not just yet. But, if they have another YA series, then I'll definitely check it out! :) What is on your current playlist right now? My answer: I don't really have a playlist... I have my 'Starred' list on Spotify, and that is made up of so many different songs... At the moment I'm obsessed with 'The House That Built Me' by Miranda Lambert, 'Say You Don't Want It' by One Night Only and 'Love Song' by Sara Bareilles. But, seeing as I don't have any of those on my iPod, I m

Book Review: Insight by Jamie Magee

Title: Insight Author: Jamie Magee Series: Insight #1 Pages: 314 Date of UK Publications: July 20th 2010 Source: Received free for a blog tour/event Synopsis from Goodreads: Before that fateful summer night, Willow had balanced the insight of emotion, and the vivid images. That night, the figure in her nightmare marked her wrist with a star, giving her father no choice but to tell Willow a family secret that would abruptly change life, as she knew it, forever. Before Willow had time to absorb the shock of her father's secret, her soul mate that had shared every stunning dream with her, found her, and darkness captured her closest friends. In order to save them, she must weave through broken myths and the undeniable power of the Zodiac. In the end, Willow discovers that at the moment of our birth we are all given a divine gift. My Thoughts: Insight was a good book. The plot was well thought out, and the characters were complex and real. It was a strong debut novel,

Book Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Title: Delirium Author: Lauren Oliver Series: Delirium #1 Pages: 393 Date of UK Publication: 18th February 2011 Source: library Synopsis from Goodreads: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love. My Thoughts: By now, I'm sure you've all figured out that I'm a sucker for anything that is described as dystopian. So when I realised that this was dystopian, I needed to read it. I reserved it at my library, and waited for the e

Teaser Tuesday #20: Insight by Jamie Magee

   Teaser Tuesday   is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of   Should Be Reading . Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab you current read Open to a random page Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from anywhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!  (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!) Share the  title and author , too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!  Synopsis from Goodreads:   Before that fateful summer night, Willow had balanced the insight of emotion, and the vivid images. That night, the figure in her nightmare marked her wrist with a star, giving her father no choice but to tell Willow a family secret that would abruptly change life, as she knew it, forever. Before Willow had time to absorb the shock of her father's secret, her soul mate that had shared every stunning dream with her, found her, and da

Book Review: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Gathering Author: Kelley Armstrong Series: Darkness Rising #1 Pages: 359 Date of UK Publication: April 7th 2011 Source: Bought Synopsis from Goodreads: Strange things are happening in Maya's tiny Vancouver Island town. First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, mountain lions are spotted rather frequently around Maya's home—and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. Her best friend, Daniel, has also been experiencing unexplainable premonitions about certain people and situations. It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret, and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy—her paw-print birthmark. My Thoughts: I love Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers series. I annoyed my friends about it for weeks, until one of them finally read it so that I would shut up. She loved it too, and we've been eage

In My Mailbox #12

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren :D Bought             The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide by Stephenie Meyer I was telling myself I didn't want it, because I have moved on from obsessing over Twilight. And I have, but I couldn't stop lying to myself any longer. I REALLY WANTED THIS BOOK :D Pretty Little Liars, Flawless and Unbelievable  by Sara Shepard I got these in a 3 for £5 deal in The Works, and I thought that was pretty good. I really want to watch the TV series, but I never did, so I thought I'd get the books and read them first. They only had books 1, 2, and 4 though, so I need to order book 3 :L Clarity by Kim Harrington I'm super excited to read this one, I've only heard good things about it. Also, that cover is gorgeous, and it looks even better on my bookshelf. ;) Library       The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #1: Origins by LJ Smith I have tried to read The Vampire Diaries more than once,

Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Title: If I Stay Author: Gayle Forman Series: If I Stay #1 Pages: 210 Date of UK Publications: May 7th 2009 Source: Library Synopsis from Goodreads: In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeenyear- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck... A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands. My Thoughts: I have literally just finished this amazing book, and I don't know what to say. Before I read it, I'd heard so much awesome about it, and I decided to try it out for myself. Now, I totally get it. It's an amazing book. It's a very depressing subject. I didn't realise when I started reading, I didn't have a clue that was going to be a car accident. I really had no id

Follow Friday #19

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee from Parajunkee's View . :D This week's question: Do you have anyone that you can discuss books with IRL? Tell us about him/her. My answer: Well, I can 'discuss' books with my parents, but it's not really a discussion, it's more of a me-talking-at-him-because-he's-not-really-listening because he doesn't understand my excitement. He just doesn't understand my obsession with pretty covers... :L But I can discuss books with my friend at school, and we do have proper conversations about books (mainly The Mortal Instruments and The Body Finder), but a lot of the time the conversation revolves around me recommending her books. Our typical conversation: Her: Do you have any recs? Me: Yeah, what do you want? Her: Something good. Me: Helpful. Genre? Her: ... Something paranormal. Me: OK... (Again, not very helpful :L) How about ____ (<--Insert book there) Next day Her: I ordered/downloaded on my Kindl

Book Review: Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

Title: Prophecy of the Sisters Author: Michelle Zink Series: Prophecy of the Sisters #1 Pages: 343 Date of UK Publications: August 1st 2009 Source: Library Synopsis from Goodreads: An ancient prophecy divides two sisters- One good... One evil... Who will prevail? Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents' deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets. Lia and Alice don't know whom they can trust. They just know they can't trust each other. My Thoughts: I've been wanting to read this for a while, but never got around to buying it. I'd heard mixed things about it, and I came to to the conclusion that it's a marmite novel. You either love it, or you hate it. Luckily, I loved it :D The

Book Review: The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Title: The Goddess Test Author: Aimee Carter Series: The Goddess Test #1 Pages: 297 Date of UK Publication: 19th April 2011 Source: NetGalley and Harlequin Teen Synopsis from Goodreads: Every girl who has taken the test has died. Now it's Kate's turn. It's always been just Kate and her mom--and now her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall. Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld--and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests. Kate is sure he's crazy--until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess. My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book. It was completely d

Teaser Tuesday #19: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

  Teaser Tuesday   is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of   Should Be Reading . Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab you current read Open to a random page Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from anywhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!  (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!) Share the  title and author , too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!   Synopsis from Goodreads:   In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen year- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...   A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands. My te

Book Review: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Fallen Angels Author: Cassandra Clare Series: The Mortal Instruments #4 Pages: 424 Date of UK Publications: 7th April 2011 Source: Bought Synopsis from Goodreads: The Mortal War is over, and Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And—most important of all—Clary can finally call Jace her boyfriend. But nothing comes without a price. Someone is murdering the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side—along with the power of the curse that's w

In My Mailbox #11

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. Again, I got a lot of books over the past few weeks, but unlike last time I'm not going to add each synopsis because I looked back over it and realised how long the post was... :L I'll add a link to Goodreads and Amazon so you can look at the synopsis and reviews if you're interested. :D FOR REVIEW                  Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez ( Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US ) I LOVE that cover! It's so pretty, and it sounds pretty good, so can't wait to get started on this one. Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic  ( Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US ) This is another contemporary that I'm trying to read more of, and it sounds pretty good, and it's not released until 2012, so I've got a good long time to read it. The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross  ( Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US ) This one also has an amazing cover; look at that dress! It beautiful, and I've neve