Owl Review A Book

The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen

2012-02-24T17:30:00.002-08:00

Ella Marino knows three things to be true. One: Edward Willing, a skillful painter, is meant to be her everlasting soul mate. Two: Edward Willing has been dead for almost a century—and not in the sexy vampire way. Nope, he’s dead dead. Three: Ella Marino has more chance of getting a date with the late Edward Willing than she has of being noticed by the living, popular, and possibly nice, Alex Bainbridge.

Unless Ella happens to be taking French . . . and failing it, which she is. Apparently, being an Italian-American does not give Ella mad French skills as her French teacher wishes to believe. And unless Alex just happens to tutor French, which he does (must be all those summers abroad). Then maybe they have a chance.

The Fine Art of Truth or Dare has so much worthwhile humor. Ella’s thought process, family stories, and seemingly useless knowledge make the book. After reading The Fine Art of Truth or Dare, I am convinced that everyone deserves a crazy Uncle Ricky to continually audition for Top Chef. Uncle Ricky doesn’t play a big role, but his mentions in The Fine Art of Truth or Dare make the reader feel at home in the incredible Marino family. Ohh that Ricky . . . life just wouldn’t be the same without him.

But the humor is also one of the reasons why I give this book four stars instead of five. As the official opposite of a pop culture junkie, The Sopranos, “Freddie Krueger,” and other pop culture references make no sense to me. (But, seriously, who is this . . . “Freddie Krueger?”) Pop culture junkies, rejoice: your vast understanding of vague television and movie references will finally be put to good use. The references aren’t enough to make the book unreadable to non-pop culture fans, but by the sixth random television reference I was starting to feel a little annoyed.

Ella Marino is not a normal character, but she’s odd in a good way. How many YA main characters are there with a love for fine art and an aptitude for truth or dare? NONE. I love reading about a main character who is still pretty normal, but has his or her own unique hobbies and loves. I was happily surprised by Ella’s amazing family—no overused absentee parents here. All members are present and loving. Also over-the-top funny. Ella’s superstitious grandma’s speeches are probably my favorite parts in the book. I love her family’s differentness from other families I read about.

I grant The Fine Art of Truth or Dare four figstars.

This review may also be found on Figment.com

Book titles

2012-02-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

I judge books based on their titles. When people ask me what I’m reading (that rarely happens, but in this case I’m going to pretend I’m inquired about that daily), I want to say, “Oh, yes, I am currently reading Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow by Daniel Nayeri (I bought the book after lovingly memorizing the title. I couldn’t manage to finish the first chapter, but reading the title aloud still fills me with unspeakable joy. Bad books shouldn’t be allowed to tease people with good book names).” I do not want to say, “yup, girrlzz, I’m totes in the middle of The Death of Dark Blood’s Kiss by Made-up StupidName.” There isn’t a book with that exact embarrassing-to-be-seen-reading name, but after much random Google searching I have discovered a book by the name of Born of Blood and Retribution, the third book in The Dark Kiss Trilogy by Liz Strange. Born of Blood and Retribution may be a positively lovely tale of birthing, blood, and the retribution against the birthing of the blood; in fact, in Goodreads averages it four stars. Because of the name, I will never know.

I’ve made two lists, one for my top five favorite types of book titles and top four most dreaded types of book titles. My lists are in order of the worst of the best book titles to the best of the best. I wish more list makers would do that; it adds wonderful suspense. (“Ohhh if THAT was his/her worst best favorite title then what is his/her SECOND worst best favorite title?!” Please do not tell me I am alone on loving that.)

5. Books with random words that don’t normally go together.

Examples: Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma or The Twin’s Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

The words “imaginary girls” isn’t something anyone hears or thinks too often... unless you happen to possess multiple imaginary girlfriends. Then those words may enter your consciousness quite often. If you are not a proud owner of multiple imaginary girlfriends or the happy daughter of a twin, the words are new and interesting. I think I made up and memorized a song to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” where the only lyrics were, “The imaginary girls are the twin’s daughters.”

4. The “of” books.

Examples: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

I don’t have a reason for liking “of” books except I like the fancy ring to it. “Salutations, uneducated one. You may refer to me as the Duke of Awesome”

3. Good name books

Examples: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin or The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

This can also be considered a category of “of” books, but since I am also going to have another category of bad name books later, I thought this was appropriate. Right off a character and the characters defining thing is clear. I immediately know from the start that, hey, this chick’s name is Mara Dyer and this book is about her intriguing process of unbecoming.

2. Known phrases of cool on books

Examples: Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst or She’s So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott

Hmmm... Drink, Slay, Love. Wonder where I’ve heard that before... Eat, Pray, Love. OHHHH. THE CLEVER IS OVERCOMING MEE. It just feels good to see something familiar once in a while.

1. Dependant clauses or phrases as titles

Examples: If I Stay by Gayle Forman, or Between the Sea and the Sky by Jaclyn Dolamore

This is where I go all ninja and use my ninth-grade grammar skills on y’all. (Side note: Isn’t it pathetic that I’ve only started learning the most basic grammatical things in 9th grade? And only the most basic skills. I’m sure my posts are still ridden with vague grammatical crimes against nature.) It’s fun to ask “what” sometimes. What does happen if she stays? Does she turn into a butterfly? Eat brown guacamole? What is between the sky and the sea? Dirt? Hand sanitizer? I may never know. Unless, of course, I read the book.

Top three of my most annoying types of book names (from least-most annoying to most-most annoying). By the way, my title-hate of the book does not mean I didn’t like the book. Some books in the title-hate list are books I dearly love.

3. Books of bloody darkness

Examples: Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen, Dark Companion by Marta Acosta, Dark Storm by Sarah Singleton, or Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

I’m okay with these kinds of names as long as they actually have meaning to them. No, a book having vampires in it is not enough reason to dub it bloody bananas. Just because a book has a depressingly dark cover featuring a forlorn, willowy model with excessive eye makeup does not merit the use of the adjective “dark” before the real title. Maybe “dark” titles wouldn’t annoy me so much if they weren’t used so much for so little reason. I was getting to be a little depressed that the fifth book in the Gone series by Michael Grant was going to be named Darkness. Thankfully it was renamed Fear, the more awesome name.

2. Yes, my name is... books. (Aka bad name books)

Examples: Willow by Julia Hoban or Flip by Martyn Bedford

It’s sort of like tattooing your own name on your forehead. If a person sticks around long enough, he or she will know your name without the help. Yes. The character’s name is Willow. Good for Willow. So... what's the book about? Even if the character's name looks good on the cover, it does not help me decide if I should buy the book.

1. Books with boys, kissing, and perfect chemistry

Examples: Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, or Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkins.

This one is kind of obvious. I hope. One of my favorite books (Anna and the French Kiss) is in this category, so I’m not just hating. The kissy, boyish book titles make me really not want to say the title in public. It’s not nice if people think I spend my time reading books with covers that have the shirtless guys and the swooning girls. Those are my grandma’s books, not mine.

P.S. Woah, that was like a super-post. Maybe because I haven't written on here for almost a month. But. I will write more. Solemn pinkie swear.

The Boy Project by Kami Kinard

2012-01-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

Kara McAllister has a problem. Already in the eighth grade, and she’s never had a boyfriend. Most other girls in Kara’s school have boyfriends–why shouldn’t Kara? How can Kara snag herself a boyfriend? She launches an ingenious research project—The Boy Project–to answer all her burning guy-related questions.

Using her middle school science fair as a cover, Kara puts together a notebook full of notes, graphs, and observations on the opposite sex. But after all that scientific research, one question still remains: will Kara ever get boyfriend?

Reading The Boy Project is like reading a run-on text from a bubbly best friend. Not in the, “hi, I lik 2 tpe lik dis” sense. More in the uplifting and easy to get caught up in sense. Kara’s humor and hyper thoughts make her an easily likeable character, as does her clueless naivety. At one point, Kara decides her soul mate is an Abercrombie employee because he smiles at her. Poor little Kara. So much to learn.

The only thing that bothers me about The Boy Project is . . . err . . . the subject of The Boy Project: eighth grade boyfriends. I don’t want to be like one of those people who say Twilight makes feeble-minded and impressionable thirteen-year-old girls everywhere go out and get into relationships with sparkly, possibly psychopathic boyfriends. But—sorry about this—isn’t the middle grade audience intended (around sixth grade) going to feel a bit boy-pressured? A year ago, when I was in middle school, almost no one had a boyfriend. Only a few Maybellines (“popular” children) and Vines (clingy, eyeliner-wearing children) bothered to. Middle school feels way too early to start obsessing over boys. I know that it’s probably a non-issue. Middle grade readers should be smart enough to tell a fun, light-hearted read from something to actually take seriously—but it did give me a moment’s pause.

The Boy Project gets four and a half stars!

This review is also posted on the amazing figment.com.

First book club meeting

2011-12-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

School book club. My first time going to a book club -- ever. I had expectations of meeting people as awkward an book obsessed as I. The book we planned to discuss was Everlost. I envisioned sitting at a circular table, rolling around in a professional-looking rolley-chair, and having a spirited debate on Mary's creepiness factor.

But no.

Our chairs were stationary and our tables square.

We started the meeting by eating gummy snacks. Not just any gummy snacks, but organic fruit gummy snacks with no artificial colors. I highly recommend them. They tasted kinda like fruit juice but harder to swallow.

The first topic of discussion was pondering of what would happen if quicksand became a deadspot. Then we, meaning the three out of six people there who actually read Everlost, came up with a scenario about someone who would love quicksand enough for it to come back as a deadspot.

Five minutes pass.

Next topic of discussion: the goodness doughnut sandwiches. Result: decent enough if no mayonnaise is added.

Twenty minutes pass.

Random person while looking at watch:

"Well, I have to leave now. Bye"

Other person:

"Yeah, me too."

Me:

"Yeah..."

Success!

Err... somewhat. The food was good. The people who came-- although shining examples of typical introverted bookworms-- managed to keep up conversations that were easy and fun to jump into. I only felt confused as to the lack of book topics. I don't know how the others felt about that; I know I wanted to keep the book conversations going, but being the one to initiate and keep the book-talk going could turn embarrassing fast if the other self-proclaimed bookwormies aren't as bookwormie as to want to really talk about every aspect of a book. Anyways, whatever we talked about, I liked. Are all book clubs like that? Minimal book-speak?

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

2011-11-30T18:49:00.000-08:00

Summary- Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Review-

First I have to say, as many reviewers have said before me, the summary does not explain ANYTHING. If I hadn't read reviewer-made summaries, I would have never read Daughter of Smoke and Bone. So, here is me returning the favor:
      Karou is just a girl. Just a girl who speaks over twenty languages, is a master of martial arts, has blue hair growing naturally from her head, and was brought up by mysterious, half-human half-animal demons. She doesn't know much about the demons, or about the use of teeth she is tasked to bring them, but she does know she loves them and would to anything they ask of her. Except stop trying to find out the truth about the demons and her past.
    When another being, looking curiously angel-like, starts burning hand prints into doorways, her tidy little world of friendly demons and coins of wish-granting capabilities falls into chaos.

   I hope my summery helps clear up some of the weird, vagueness I felt when first reading the book jacket! Or maybe I added to your confusion. No worries. All the book jacket summery needs is two obnoxious, all-caps words. READ IT. Maybe repeated twice.

     The writing is the best part of Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Laini Taylor knew the best times to be mysterious and the best times to be hilarious. My "laugh" consists of breathing out short, choppy breaths. It's awkward, but it's mine. (Huhuhe <--- my laugh)
     "She felt his appraisal, as if he were mentally reviewing every wish she had ever made. Blue hair: frivolous. Erasing pimples: vain. Wishing off the light switch so she didn't have to get out of bed: lazy... Making ex-boyfriends cranny itch: vindictive."

(Huhuhe...)

     There's no slang sticking out that would keep the book from becoming too unreadable in the future. I could sit here and quote every other sentence, but I won't. Just the beautiful one already placed on the back, "She had been innocent once, a little girl playing with feathers on the floor of a devil's lair.... She wasn't innocent now." Ack! Awesome, da?

     Karou, as seen from the boyfriend butt-itch situation, is not shy. She has blue hair, an unimaginable amount of kick-butt tatoos, and is not afraid to make and learn from her own mistakes. And that's okay because she is a ninja. Not just a physical ninja who fights and wins battles against fiery angels, but also a mental ninja who knows how to balence her (sometimes scary) otherworldly determination and physical ninja prowess with her human relatability. Unlike Katniss from The Hunger Games or Katsa from Graceling, I can picture sitting with Karou in a restarant having a friendly chat and eating some gulash. Katniss and Katsa both have physical ninja skills to envy, but little mental ninja in them. In my imaginary visit to the two still amazing characters, I would make a knock-knock joke (for some reason), but Katniss and Katsa would either stare blankly at me, break my neck, or something equally embarrasing of that fasion.

    Woah. Long review. Anyway. Daughter of Smoke and Bone gets five stars.

Thankful for... Mammoth

2011-11-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

At first the contest had me confused. Thankful? There wasn't a particular book that immediately came to mind. Nothing had an impact earth-shattering enough for me to remember instantly. And, just sayin', I'm not a fan of anything Narnia although Turkish Delights sound heavenly. The Narnia book series has always sounded like it would be better read aloud to a gaggle of poor stuffed geese by an aloof, elderly English man. Not that I discriminate against aloof, elderly English men who pass lonely, lonely days reading aloud to a gaggle of stuffed geese. Much. The movie was surprisingly good, but I ending up falling asleep during the hour-long fight scene.

I had to dig through my bookshelf to find a book I had almost but not quite forgotten about. Mammoth by John Varley was my Narnia. It was a just-because present from my college broke sister. I was ten, and I knew Mammoth was probably going to be a face-palmer. The tip-offs?

The only books my sister ever reads are Serious Books. One bored weekend in her apartment, I found myself learning all about the joys of feminism in a concise work of literature topping a thousand pages. My sister had read over and highlighted the most important bits. Fun stuff.
The book in question was purchased new for a dollar.
I was ten. Mammoth was meant to be read by adults.

     Oh, yeah. Ten-year-old me had major skills of deductive reasoning. But my skills had failed me. Mammoth was good. While I was right about some scenes being too old for me (what did Matt and Susan mean when they said making love? Why did they lay down together? So. Many. Questions.), the parts that made sense opened my mind up to the possibilities of the good in bigger, more complex books. Mammoth helped me to branch out and find worth while middle-grade books leading me to become my obviously awesome bibliophile self. : D

Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

2011-10-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

That's some crazy drink right there...

When Pearl, a bloodthirsty, teenage vampire, unexpectedly gets stabbed by a rainbow-tooting wereunicorn, she develops the ability to be out in the sunlight. It's a helpful ability when trying to lure in humans to be oh, I don't know, feasted on in an age-old king's coming of age ceremony. Lucky for Pearl's vampire family, the honored host of this event, Pearl has gained her Daywalker status in time to be of some use. There is one problem the Family did not anticipate getting in the way. The problem being Pearl starting to think maybe, just maybe she would much rather be with her forbidden human crush than become a mass murderess. Gaining a conscience can be a bitch.
I didn't know whether to place Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst on the top of my reading list or the bottom. So, to work through this little dilemma of mine, I made a pros and cons list:

CONS

Vampire. The only vampire for me is a academy vampire. None others can possibly compare. If I find a vampire that can even halfway measure up to Rose's tendency to be kick-butt amazing, I'll eat one of these.

As awesome as I think the cover is, the general population of my school would think it's creepy-looking and inevitably ask me what Drink, Slay, Love is about. It's an example if a deplorable situation for all ya'll PSAT takers. I will use the phrase "stabbed by a wereunicorn" in my summary, and either the person will think "wereunicorn" is as awesome a word as I do, or said person will blink very slowly then leave me. Alone. Forever. Not fun.

PROS

Drink, Slay, Love is by SARAH BETH DURST. SARAH BETH DURST. I am love with Enchanted Ivy's blend of supernatural and sarcasm.
Wereunicorn. Even as a young child, I had always known that my goal in life was to be one-third unicorn, one-third human, and one-third owl. A wereunicorn is, like, two-thirds closer to my goal.

         The choice finally got made for me when I got sent a review copy. (Thanks, Sarah Beth Durst!)

The characters of Drink, Slay, Love all have the personality and spunk I love, even the villains. Matt, wannabe vampire hunter, video-game lover, my favorite, has a quirky make-ya-wanna-smile response for everything and so do the others. It was impossible to discreetly read Drink, Slay, Love-- I had a perpetual smile going on the entire book.

          And Pearl... (I do not wish to eat a bug...) passes the Rose test. Although she keeps her sarcastic attitude the whole way through, it made me happy and somewhat giggly to spot the subtle changes in Pearl's thoughts and actions that signified her new found conscience.

   I give Drink, Slay, Love five stars. THIS is a book I can read over again.

Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

2011-10-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

All Megan wants when she moves to Ireland is to fit in. But this seems unlikely when she catches the attention of the famously anti-social, famously hot Adam DeRis. Megan knows she has a connection with Adam from first glance. But what Megan doesn’t know is that Adam is one of the four rare Carriers of the Mark—and so is she. Able to control one of the four elements, she and the other three Carriers are in constant danger from those who wish to control them. The fear of being captured and exploited might be bearable if Megan had Adam to comfort her, but an ancient prophecy foretells great destruction if two Carriers ever get together.

The relationship between Adam and Megan is, in my opinion, unbelievable and slightly clichéd. Adam has perfected his Edward Cullen stalker gaze, and he shares Edward’s propensity for confessions of deep and undying love in the early stages of casual dating. Although, technically, Adam and Megan are secretly spying stalking keeping tabs on one another for a while before that first date, so I guess he knows her well enough.

Although the madly-in-love-at-first-sight type of romance is overdone and flinch-worthy, the ultimate let down is the star-crossed lover aspect. Here’s the thing: If Adam and Megan have a baby, then the world will implode. Great twist, right? Who cares that they’re still in high school? Who cares that they’ve only been dating for a few months? Their relationship will undoubtedly lead to babies. Multiple babies. Yep, this is the type of paranormal YA novel where talking about baby making and the earth’s ultimate demise as one in the same is a major plot point.
The Carrier if the Mark reminds me in plot and characters of Hourglass, Hush, Hush, and The Seven Rays. If you like those books, I would recommend trying The Carrier of the Mark. But if you’re not a die-hard paranormal romance fan, there’s nothing spectacular about the formulaic romance to make The Carrier of the Mark stand out in the vast genre of YA paranormal fiction.
Two Stars
This review can also be found at Figment.com

Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

2011-09-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

Summary:

Braden was born with witch eyes: the ability to see the world as it truly is: a blinding explosion of memories, darkness, and magic. The power enables Braden to see through spells and lies, but at the cost of horrible pain.

After a terrifying vision reveals imminent danger for the uncle who raised and instructed him, Braden retreats to Belle Dam, an old city divided by two feuding witch dynasties. As rival family heads Catherine Lansing and Jason Thorpe desperately try to use Braden's powers to unlock Belle Dam's secrets, Braden vows never to become their sacrificial pawn. But everything changes when Braden learns that Jason is his father--and Trey, the enigmatic guy he's falling for, is Catherine's son.
To stop an insidious dark magic from consuming the town, Braden must master his gift—and risk losing the one he loves.

Review:

The summary alone forced me to move Witch Eyes to the top of my reading list. Bradon's power (or curse) to see past memories and the seemingly invisible spells cast on him is something I have always wanted to see in YA but rarely have. In my mind, it isn't the type of power that makes a person extraordinarily strong, but it does make a person valuable. Valuable people equal action. Action, if done right, equals a good book. All this depended in the Witch Eyes.

    Sadly, even to the end of the book, I could not fully define a witch, the powers that come with the Witch Eyes, or what is in the supernatural universe of Witch Eyes. At the supernatural bits I would try to reread the explanations on how the supernatural works, but the explanations muddled and explained little or nothing about what I needed to know. I gave up on trying to understand the confusing world of the witches in about halfway through the book, that is when it started getting really confusing.

      Bradon's thoughts could sometimes be funny but also erratic. A thought on hot Abercrombie dude becomes pages on explaining Brandon's gayness. The falling-in-love-with-the-enemy's-son thingy looks hard to mess up on, but the romantic side of the plot got old fast. The OMG, a guy this hot has to be straight phase to the OMG, a gay guy this hot can't be my family's century old rival's son did not do much to make me like or connect with Trey. And because the supernatural was a huge part of the romance I barely understood half of who Trey is. It was confusing about how much of the supernatural world he was actually a part of and why.

      It wasn't for me, but the the sarcastic voice of Bandon made me have to read the book through. Although I wont probably pick up the sequel, I could see why die-hard fans of paranormal romance would.

Three stars

Vanish by Sophie Jordan

2011-09-12T16:18:00.000-07:00

In Vanish, the second book in the Firelight trilogy, Jacinda returns home to the enclave. But home isn’t home anymore. Kept in a constant lockdown, Jacinda is forced to completely reevaluate the relationships with the people she loves. Seeing Will has become just a fantasy, never to happen, and Cassian isn’t as coldhearted as he used to seem… but when Jacinda is given the impossible chance to meet with Will again, how can she refuse?

Lately all the second books in the trilogies I read have been disappointing. Since Firelight is one of my favorite paranormal romance books ever, I hoped that Vanish could beat the Second Book Slump. Maybe. At first I could almost believe that Vanish had the Slump beaten. In the first chapter, everything is what I expected: fast-paced with crazy awesome twists.

But then Vanish slows down. Nothing, well, Firelight worthy happens. Mostly, Jacinda spends her time mending old relationships and starting new ones—like with Cassian (eww!). The thing about Vanish is that singular events are taken out of proportion and made overly dramatic. Too many chapters are wasted on Jacinda’s thoughts about what she needs to do and grievances over the slights of her community. I wanted something to wow me, but nothing especially pops out.

I’m Team Will. I LOVE the whole hunter-falling-in-love-with-the-hunted thingy. There is so much potential in those kinds of relationships. But Cassian? Who needs him? Though some parts of Vanish really did make me want to go to the dark side (after all, they have cookies), Jacinda and Cassian simply don’t have enough chemistry to convince me that they could be happy together.

So, Vanish doesn’t quite compare to Firelight’s impossibly awesome standards. But I haven’t abandoned the series; based on how Vanish ends, the final book in the Firelight trilogy looks like it’s going to be the best of them all.

You can also view this review on Figment

Fury by Elizabeth Miles

2011-08-31T18:27:00.000-07:00

Emily Winters is crushing hard on the deep, soulful Zach McCord, and she is positive that he has feelings for her, too. Em feels awful about the fact that Gabby, her best friend, is already dating Zach, but she knows that he deserves better. Em is better.

Chase Singer wants nothing more than to forget his past. When he meets the gorgeous and mysterious Ty, he leaps at a chance to forget it all. He never expects to fall in love. But instead of helping him forget, Ty makes him remember his horrible past even more. Chase is sorry about what happened, and Em wishes Gabby could forgive her.

But sometimes sorry and begging for forgiveness isn’t good enough. The Furies live to make them pay.

I was sucked into Fury from the first page. I loved the detail-oriented writing. You know the “oh-just-one-more-page” books? Well, Fury is an “oh-just-one-more-sentence” book. I tried to stop, but every sentence begged me to keep on reading. The writing allowed me to feel closer to the characters then I do in most third-person narratives.

Em-the-boyfriend-stealer and Chase-the-player are two characters that don’t seem to be likable, but I ended up loving them both. They (obviously) have their flaws, and at times I loved to hate them (Hello, Em? Does the phrase, “Once a cheater, always a cheater,” ring any bells? Of course not, you… you ninny). Other times I wanted to forgive them because I could see that, despite everything, they didn’t deserve what was happening to them. No one does.

The only reason why I can’t give Fury the full five stars is because of the paranormal aspect. Fury is kinda, sorta supposed to be paranormal, I guess, but for the beginning and middle of the book I would’ve classified it as a mysterious drama with slight paranormal undertones. In the last quarter, I felt that Fury plays a rushed game of catch-up on the paranormalacy part of the novel. It partway succeeds.

Fans of Pretty Little Liars will love Fury’s thickly suspenseful drama. I will definitely be looking out for the next book in the trilogy, Envy. Four and a half figmentstars.

You can also see this review on Figment.

P.S.
Sorry for being absent on this whole month. A reasonable excuse would be that I just started high school, and my thoughts are now constantly swinging between, "this isn't so hard compared to middle school, why did everyone make a big deal out of this?" And, also, "why in the world did I take an AP and a seminar as a FRESHMAN? If I was really smart enough to pass those classes, I wouldn't have taken them." That is my impressive fake excuse.

My real reason: I got addicted to Lost. Any other Lost fans here? On that last episode I bawled... So really, I have no excuse.

But no worries!

I'm baaack!

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

2011-07-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

Super-smart Kate Grable has an okay life playing doctor to her high school’s football team. I mean, managing football players looks good on college apps, right? No way is she “doctoring” the losing football team just so she can breathe the same air as her unattainable quarterback crush, Aaron. No way. Kate is too smart for that.

But Kate’s insider status means she’s the first to find out that the football coach has been giving the players a creepy steroid that turns them into mindless, flesh-eating, football-playing zombies. Kate knows she needs to find a cure, preferably before the zombies kill everyone.

Ehem…I have a confession to make. I discriminate against short books. There, I said it. To put it in simple terms: I like big books and I cannot lie. At first I was wary of the length (or lack thereof) of Bad Taste in Boys. But it was about zombies. Football playing zombies. Alas, I was too weak to resist. Not all short books have “short book issues,” but Bad Taste in Boys, sadly, has some. I think that the novel could have been better if it had more room to develop. The beginning and the ending both needed some fleshing (sorry, couldn’t resist) out.

Although it took some time getting into the story, I managed to fall in love with Kate’s character. She knew when to break out her lab kit and when to use her plastic sword to show the zombies who’s boss. The sarcastic voice of the novel had me smiling all the way through while the creepy gore kept me “ewwing.” There was a dismembered foot in the underwear drawer. Nuff spoken.

But can you guess my absolute favorite part of Bad Taste in Boys? My absolute favorite? NO STEREOTYPICAL CHEERLEADERS! There was actually a nice cheerleader. I get really annoyed when a book has a stereotypical slutty, popular cheerleading team in it. Because guys, cheerleaders are people too. With personalities and stuff. Sorry, I can get really worked up over that.

So, if you are looking for a funny, light zombie read with plenty of creepiness involved, Bad Taste in Boys is your book. Four Figmentstars.

This review is also posted on Figment, the awesome teen-centered writing site.

Forgotten by Cat Patrick

2011-07-13T06:04:00.000-07:00

Stars: 3.5

Summary:

Each night when 16 year-old London Lane goes to sleep, her whole world disappears. In the morning, all that's left is a note telling her about a day she can't remember. The whole scenario doesn't exactly make high school or dating that hot guy whose name she can't seem to recall any easier. But when London starts experiencing disturbing visions she can't make sense of, she realizes it's time to learn a little more about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.
Part psychological drama, part romance, and part mystery, this thought-provoking novel will inspire readers to consider the what-if's in their own lives and recognize the power they have to control their destinies

Review:

At first, Forgotten was purely "meh." London was too apathetic to my liking. She could see the future, but she just seemed resigned to it. Strike one for annoying main character. And Forgotten had stereotypical cheerleaders whose only job is to stare menacingly/ vapidly at London to make her very uncomfortable. They didn't even do anything cool. So, strike two for useless stereotypical cheerleaders.

What kept me reading was Luke. It wasn't like Luke was that special or memorable of a character. It was the fact that London got up every day and discovered Luke all over again. Every day was a new beginning and that is what made the romance of Forgotten so memorable. I even got to know and like London better. How London and Luke were together made up most of the middle part of Forgotten and I was totally okay with that.

But then the ending came. And it just ended. The ending left me wanting more information. There (sadly) isn't going to be a sequel so I don't know what exactly to think about end.

Despite Forgotten's faults, I think this book will appeal to people looking for a unique romance/ paranormaly/ mystery.

In My Mailbox vlog (3)

2011-06-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

IMM is hosted by The Story Siren.

I've had a VERY, VERY good week:

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris (I'm reviewing this one for Figment)

Hourglass by by Myra McEntire

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma (I've already reviewed this one, you can read my five star review here)

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stievater

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber

The Earth, my Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Caroyn Mackler

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar

Yay! Leave the link to your IMM so I can check it out.

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

2011-06-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

Summary-

Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.
With palpable drama and delicious craft, Nova Ren Suma bursts onto the YA scene with the story that everyone will be talking about.

Review-

I feel that there have been so many other reviews of Imaginary Girls that express my own opinions of the novel. Haunting writing, unforgettable characters, dream-like.
A wondrously strange book.

The writing set this book apart from the rest. It isn’t like all other books. With every paragraph, with every elongated sentence, a picture was planted inside my head. Suma’s writing style added in an eerie dream-like quality to Imaginary Girls. I didn’t quite know what was real, or what was happening. I would love to quote the whole book on here, but, you know, I can’t.

I wasn’t sure whether to like Ruby or not. Her relationship with Chloe was beautiful. It was so carefree and weightless. I remember having kind of the same relationship with my sister. (But with less cussing and more fighting. Ten year age difference is a lot to come across.) But then Chloe would go out into the town and see Ruby’s influence. Chloe would see Ruby’s evil, egotistical side. Whatever else Ruby might be, she is a character to remember. Five stars.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

2011-06-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Stars: 5/5

Summary from Goodreads:

From bestselling, Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray, the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island.

Teen beauty queens. A "Lost"-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to email. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count.

Review:
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray was good. It was more then good. It was Great. I’ve read A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine by Libba Bray, but although I loved Cameron’s unique voice in Going Bovine, the books didn’t click with me. Beauty Queens clicked. It had all the amazing voice and charm of Going Bovine, but without the confusing plot.

I was hesitant to read the book at first because of how many characters there were. In the first chapter I was overwhelmed by all the people I had to memorize. Thirteen girls to memorize? *Brain explosion.* But by the end of the book I knew all the characters and their personalities. It was ridiculously cool. Bray was great at making sure every character was unique and relatable. I liked how Beauty Queens chose a new character to focus on every few chapters. It was so much easier to get to know them. I think my favorite character would have to be Sosie. She does back handsprings, I want to do back handsprings= instant favorite character. Of course I like her for more then that, but you can read about her yourself!

I can’t not (ohh… double negative…crap) talk about Beauty Queens with out mentioning the funky commercials. Bodacious Pirates IX: now more Badder and Bodaciouser? Maxi Pets? Mygosh. Craziness. Read Beauty Queens just for that. Except don’t. Read it just for that, I mean, because the entire book is Great.

IMM vlog (2)

2011-06-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

Yo. Dis is my second vlog. Don't be a hater.

IMM is hosted by The Story Siren.

Bought

Possession by Elana Johnson

Library
Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen

Virals by Kathy Reichs

Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

*Blushes* *Fiddles thumbs* So I was on Figment a few days ago (and the day before... and the day before), when I found out there was a writing contest.

I tried to write a good fable. But then I got into one of those funks where I say that the world sucks and I'm a horrible writer. Yeah... happens every few weeks. No prob.

But today I climbed out of that hole. No way was I a crappy writer! I'm downright spiffy! I'm the spiff-master! One problem: The contest is ending tomorrow. So after I hyperventilated, I posted the fable I did on Figment. I did a basic run-through of grammar and general okay-ness, but I want it to be better. (I'm invested in it now : P)

Would any closet bloggy figmenters mind looking at it? I dubbed it The Man Who Dared Smile, which right off the bat says it's for Kool-Kidz. So, read only if you're Kool enough for it. (If you don't have a Figment account you can still comment under this post with suggestions you might have.)

Thanks =)
Also:
Leave your IMM link in a comment and I'll be sure to come and check it out!

Dead Rules by Randy Russell

2011-06-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

Release date: June 21 2011

In Dead Rules, Jana Webster (of Webster and Haynes) innocently dies in a bowling accident. Which Jana actually would have handled pretty well if her boyfriend, Michael Haynes (also of Webster and Haynes), would’ve died with her. Instead, he is still among the living, leaving Jana to navigate though her new home at the Dead School. Yup, school for the dead.

Everyone in Dead School can be separated into two groups, the Risers and the Sliders. A Riser is what Jana is, on the fast track to the greater good. Sliders are the deadlies who did awful stuff in life. Sliders have stolen and killed before.

Jana is warned to stay away from the Sliders. Nothing good can come out of them…or so the rule-following Risers say. Than Jana meets Mars Dreamcote, the hot, sweet, sensitive Slider with whom she is not going to fall in love. Really. No love. Her true love is Michael.

And Jana will make him join her.

I love how all the characters twist and turn throughout the novel. I thought I understood them, but they all had their own inside motivations and secrets. For instance, Jana’s bud Wyatt started out as a freaky, mutilated Slider. Further into the book he was revealed to be loyal, sarcastic, a kick-ass friend… and my favorite character.

In the beginning of Dead Rules, Jana sounds like a crazy, lovesick ghost. Before death, Michael was her sweetheart Romeo and only friend. Jana loves him, and she is sure he shares her feelings. (It’s obvious Jana never read Dateable: Are You? Are They? : P) Sheesh, I felt super sorry for her. In life her best friend (except for Michael) was a literal Ken doll. Ironically, it is on her quest to bring Michael back to her that Jana starts coming out of her shell. I liked her determined attitude. Jana knows what she wants accomplished and gets it done.

Farts, fudge, and popcorn! Dead Rules deserves four figgystars.

You can also view this review on Figment.

summer reading list

2011-06-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

Summer.

I. Can. Read. A. Lot.

And. I. Will.
Trust. Me. I. Will.

Here are some of the books I'm planning to read that comes out this summer:

Twisted by Sara Shepard

Wildfire by Karsten Knight

Starstruck by Cyn Balog

The Babysitter Murders by Janet Ruth Young

Fury by Elizabeth Miles

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Anything I should add?

Giveaway winner

2011-06-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

The winner is...

posspublish

Congrats!

Non-winners:

The Forts novels are available for 2.99 in the Nook and Kindle!

Forts: Liars and Thieves by Steven Novak

2011-06-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

Stars: 5/5

Summary:

Having survived their initial excursion into the land of Fillagrou, Tommy Jarvis and the children of the prophecy find themselves drawn into the war once more in a desperate attempt to rescue their old friends. This time however the stakes have been raised - this time there will be no coming back.

Review:

      Forts: Liars and Thieves is up there with Forts: Fathers and sons on the likability factor. But better. Read my five star review of the first book here. Enter the giveaway for the signed copy of Forts: Fathers and Sons here.

      In Forts: Liars and Thieves I could see a definite increase in the writing skills in the novel. I love when I can see an author improve writing prowess from book to book. Since Forts: Fathers and Sons was AH-mazing, I guess I'm saying Liars and Thieves is more then AH-mazing.

    I was eager to see how all the relationships that were left off in book one would progress. Especially the one between the Jarvis brothers and their dad. I was glad when the daddy-son issue got put more in the front of the book. I liked the way Tommy and Staci's crushes on each other got more fleshed out on the second book. Tommy and Staci are both young and I although I was afraid of them acting to old with the crush; they never took it too far. Plus, the chrush (thankfully) never interfered with the action.

   The third book in the Forts trilogy better come out soon. Or I am going to kick a baby. Not kidding.

Guest post by Steven Novak on being a jerk. Err.... character developement.

2011-06-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

BE A JERK AND YOUR CHARACTERS WILL THANK YOU FOR IT

Bethany asked me to write a little something about character development, so here I am attempting to write a little something about character development. There’s one major problem. I honestly don’t know anything about character development.

Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating just a little bit for the sake of comedy.

The truth is that I don’t know anything that I’m supposed to know about character development. Plus, I’ve always found it a bit weird for me when someone asks me to write about the “craft” of anything.

The only real “craft” I have any right lecturing on is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese – which happens to be the only food in existence with a taste wholly dependant on your mood. If you’re depressed it’s awesome. If you’re happy, it’ll make you depressed.

That should be their slogan.

The only real bit of advice I can offer up when it comes to your characters is this: Be a jerk.

As a writer you’re in control of every aspect of your character’s lives and it’s pretty safe to assume that you feel a certain love for them. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s great actually. You should love them. If you don’t love them, the fact that you’re going to spend endless hours and upwards of a 100,000 words writing about them would just be silly.

A problem arises when you love them so much that you start treating them the way you want them to be treated, rather than the way they need to be treated.

If it makes sense for them to get hurt, be prepared to hurt them. If they have to die to get across your point, I suggest you find yourself a sturdy tree and pull out the hangman’s noose.

Remember that great story where everything always worked out for everyone and everything was fantastic all of the time?

No? That’s because it doesn’t exist.

You can’t be a good friend to your characters. You have to be a terrible friend. It’s a necessity of the relationship. At some point you’re going to make them hurt. You’re going to drag them through the mud and make them cry. You’re going to take them to the lowest of lows and just when they think you’re done hurting them, you’ll slap on some more.
It’s for their own good. It has to be done and you’re the heartless jerk that has to do it.

In my opinion the love you feel for the characters you create has be a tough love. Anything else is a detriment to your story. It does them an injustice, it does you an injustice, and it does the term injustice, injustice.

Wait…That last part didn’t make any sense. Ignore the fact that I typed it.
Love your characters and love your story enough to be the jerk they need you to be.

Wow, that almost sounded like I knew what I was talking about – a little bit anyway. And I wasn’t even ruminating on the pros and cons of Velveeta Shells and Cheese as opposed to Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

Don’t even get me started on that battle of the unhealthy titans.

We’d be here for hours.
**************************************************************************************
I'm sorry I didn't get my review of Forts: Thieves and Liars up yesterday. I will put it up on Saturday instead. sorry guyz :D

I'm hosting an amazing giveaway for a signed, with illustration copy of Forts: Fathers and Sons! Check it out because it's ending soon.

Interview with Steven Novak

2011-06-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

What was your favorite scene to write in Forts: Fathers and Sons?

That’s actually a pretty tough question. There are moments that I like a lot because they’re so personal and I’m really close to them. There are also moments I really enjoy because something really cool happens and writing stuff that’s “cool” is, well – pretty cool.

It would be tough to nail down a single one, and it would be even tougher to do it without giving away any spoilers.

Stop trying to trick me into spoilers, Bethany.

What is your favorite book of all times, why?

It might sound a bit silly, but my absolute favorite book of all time is still, Harold and the Purple Crayon. Before I was even confident about the spelling of the word crayon, that book stuck with me. I have a copy here at the house and if I were to crack it open tomorrow I think it would affect me the exact same way it did so many years ago.

It’s an incredibly simple idea pulled off remarkably well, and that’s the sort of thing that lasts a lifetime.

If you weren’t an author/ illustrator, what would be a cool job to you?

Unfortunately I’m terribly unqualified to do anything else at all. Seriously, beyond the arts I really have no skills of which to speak.

I’m not all that personable. I’m terrible with money. I’m a bit of a lumbering oaf physically, and I’m not entirely sure I even know how to change a tire.

It’s sad, really. That being said, in a world where anything is possible and tire changing is as simple as digging into a pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving morning, I think it might be kind of cool to be an astronaut - or something - maybe. Of all the things a human being can do, blasting into space and floating around is beyond a doubt one of the most interesting.

When I was growing up all I wanted to do was write and direct movies.That would have been fun too.

I really like the characters within Forts: Fathers and Sons, how did you come up with all of them?

Thanks! I appreciate that. My main goal was to make sure the characters in book were more than your initial impressions of them. I wanted them to grow and change, and learn from the situations they found themselves in. I also wanted to make sure that the good guys weren’t always good and the bad guys weren’t always bad. I think it’s just more real. A lot of them are pulled from people I know today, or I knew growing up. I actually have a brother that’s two years younger than me, and his name is, Nick. I know it’s not exactly “new” advice, but I personally think that writers need to write what they know. The stories I’ve always been drawn to are the ones where you can really hear the author in the words. There are things in this book (and series) that I experienced first and hopefully that comes across.

What does every young writer need to know?

Write for yourself.

It really is as simple as that.
Write for yourself, write to have fun, and if you love doing it don’t let anything stop you.

If you’re writing simply because you think you’re going to become the next J.K. Rowling, and someone is going open up a theme park based on your characters, you’re in for an awfully rude awakening.

You’re more likely to make a decent living as a plumber.At the end of the day, when all is said and done, it’s important that you’re able to look at what you’ve created and be proud of it. If you can do that, none of the other nonsense really matters and if you can’t a theme park will never make up for it.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit. A theme park would be pretty sweet.

*********************************************************************************

Thanks for doing this interview, Steven Novak!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a signed copy of Forts: Fathers and Sons.

Win a SIGNED, with a CHAPTER ILLUSTRATION copy of Forts: Fathers and Sons

2011-06-05T05:46:00.000-07:00

~~Click~~ ~~here~~ ~~to read my review.~~

~~•deadline: June 12, 2011~~

~~•entrants must be 13 years of age or older~~

~~•contest open to residents of the US only~~

~~•ONE ENTRY PER PERSON~~

Go ~~here~~ ~~to enter the giveaway.~~

~~If the giveaway link doesn't work, copy and paste this into your browser:~~ ~~https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHNwaDNfaVAybExMUkVlbmw5OXhzekE6MQ~~

Forts: Fathers and Sons Review. Plus Author Week with Steven Novak!

2011-06-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

Forts: Fathers and Sons takes place in Fillagrou, a once peaceful land now in the power of a war-loving dictator. Tommy Jarvis is human. He knows nothing about Fillagrou and its problems. Tommy has enough problems of his own, a dead mother, an abusive dad; he doesn’t need any more problems.

When Tommy and four other kids stumble across an entrance to Fillagrou, they discover they are a part of a prophecy. A prophecy to save everyone. But how can five children have that kind of power?

I’m surprised with this book. Really surprised. I expected to like it, but what I didn’t expect was staying up till twelve PM to franticly finish the book. I thought “just one more chapter” about 66 times.

All characters of Forts were extremely likeable. Even the villains... okay, maybe not. But they were still interesting to read about! The chapters often alternated between different characters. Instead of being annoyingly confusing like I thought it would be, the alternative chapters gave me greater insight on each of the characters. Like Tommy’s abusive dad. It helped me to understand each of the characters stories. I wanted every one of the characters to accomplish their goals. (It caused quite a problem between heroes/villains :P)

I would recommend this (although it would work for just about any reader) to reluctant younger YA reader. I don’t know why, but (maybe because of its sheer awesomeness, but that’s just a guess) about four people asked to borrow the book after me. I really liked the imaginative plot and characters. Forts reminded me of the Narnia series except I actually enjoyed Forts. A lot. Five stars.

Thanks to Steven Novak for providing me with a review copy! It in no way influenced my opinion of the novel.

****************************************************************************************

Steven Novak, author of Forts, has awesomely agreed to do an author week on Owl Review a Book. Here is how this week will go:

Saturday- Forts: Fathers and Sons review.

Sunday- Giveaway of a SIGNED, with a CHAPTER ILLUSTRATION copy of Forts: Fathers and Sons.

Tuesday- Interview with Steven Novak.

Wednesday- Review of Forts: Liars and Thieves (the second installment).

Friday- Guest post by Steven Novak on making characters interesting to read about.

Sunday- Announce giveaway winner. (If not enough people enter, I will extend the deadline by a week.)

Have a great weekend!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

2011-06-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

Summary:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here—one of whom was his own grandfather—were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

Review:

The first this I have to do about Miss. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is gush over the amazing photography. *gush gush* ... *gush* The people who took those photos are AMAZING! All of the photos added to the creepy, vintage feel of the book. I could amuse myself for hours by flipping through the photos.

At fist I felt disappointed by the book. I expected Miss. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children to be super-creepy. Instead it was mostly fantasy. I think it’s important to know that Miss. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children isn’t a horror/thriller novel before starting. Once I got past that, I was sucked into the story.

I liked discovering all the kid’s powers. One girl had a “back mouth”... nuff said. It was good to see how they changed from innocent little kids into something more knowledgeable when Jacob came into the home.

Jacob’s, the main character’s, journey was finding out about his grandpa’s twisted past. (It was a very twisted past, it had lotsa weirdoes in it as well.) And Jacob’s own uncertain future. Jacob’s sweet love with Emma made a great subplot. Emma is so sheltered and Jacob is her like to the outside place she cant go. Great job on making it as star-crossed as possible. ;) Four and a half stars.

Also check out this awesome book trailer:

Awesome right? And the book is going to be made into a movie! I'm pretty psyched for that :)

Love/hating on my Kindle

2011-06-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

I’m having a love/hate relationship. I hate love/hate relationships. The way I see it: You either love something or hate it. There is a fine line between love and hate (its called sanity).

Yes, I’m love/hating on my Kindle.

THE LOVE

I’ll start out with a believable scenario for this one: The AZAZINGISTAWESOMIST book just came out for the tenth time this year. If I don’t get the book RIGHT THIS SECOND something bad will happen. Preferably something dramatic like CHOKING ON A PIECE OF COOKIE DOUGH FROM A BEN AND JERRY ICE CREAM TUB I was eating to console myself because I didn’t get the AZAZINGISTAWESOMIST book RIGHT THIS SECOND.

All this tragedy could have been averted if I just would have used my Kindle. Amazon has something called a “Whispernet.” This “Whispernet” delivers the AZAZINGISTAWESOMIST book in a blink of an eye (less than sixty seconds). (I imagine Whispernet as an overgrown Collie, “Lassie” if you will. Lassie sees me suffering from book deprivation and brings me a book in its non-slobbery, blunt-toothed mouth. Yay Lassie! Er... yay Whispernet!)

THE LOVE/HATE

This is the part where everything turns into a large complicated vat of ooze. Namely: book samples. *Gasp* DUN DUN DUU. My love for samples comes from being on the borderline with a book. The book sounds good, but not good enough to buy on a whim. I need to hear more about it. If I don’t like the writing, good. Saven’ me some maja mullah! (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) If I do... (This is where the hate starts) I have a dilemma on my hands. Do I download the book immediately? Or wait till I go to a store? Is it cost effective to get the book on the Kindle? Does it have a drop-dead amazing cover?

If I really like the book, the petty voice of Logic isn’t going to help much. Usually the books I check out have breath-taking covers. This brings us to the hate...

THE HATE

Grr... *punches hole through Kindle* *pauses* *spits* *steps back to admire work* *cries* *stops using asterisks* *fools readers* *laughs evilly*

Going back to my first example in THE LOVE section, the happy (or not so much) ending would be me buying the book and Lassie bringing it to me in her loving, capable jaws. I will celebrate by reading my prize within an hour. Back to THE LOVE/HATE example, the cover would be really boring. The next time I go to a bookstore, I will longingly pet the glossy, beautiful cover of the AZAZINGISTAWESOMIST book. Then I will look at the price tag and be annoyed. Turns out, the lovely, new, glossy covered hardback book would have, with a coupon, cost less then the boring, black and white Kindle copy. Than I go through a period where I don’t use my Kindle and imagine myself throwing Lassie out of the house and telling Lassie to never come back. It would’ve been very tearful.

Again and again the cycle goes....

Now you know all my woes....

(OMFG i rhymed.)

P.S. Sorry for the crappy posting this week. School is trying to murder me before I leave. Does anyone have some tips for starting in high school?

In My Mailbox (vlog)

2011-05-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hosted by the Story Siren.

Eep! My first vlog!

Please note that this is not me, but instead a very realistic robot. Like all realistic robots, this one is incredibly awkward. Also shy. And they cannot mimic voices properly, so they sound a bit odd and cannot pronounce words properly. Also: their teeth are made of metal. Don't tease; my robot is doing it's best.

Forts: Fathers and Sons by Steven Novak

The Gathering by Kelly Armstrong

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Miss. Peregine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Leave a link so I can see your In My Mailbox!

do you see the change?

2011-05-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

review from me starting out:

At the beginning of the book it's slightly confusing but that only last a chapter or two. When you get into the strange story it's an upbeat (haha!!! get it? upbeat, cause they're dead...) entertaining book with many twists that kept me guessing till the end.

The main characters, for me where enjoyable. The plot of Everworld unique, I've never heard of a book about what happens after you die ( Zombies don't count) and it's awesome to see how history came into this book.

I would recommend this lively ( haha couldn't resist. So cheesy:) book for anyone especially people who love fantasy but is tired of the same theme ( don't get me wrong I love Twilight, Vampire Diaries and Nightworld but I'm getting bored of the same old same old vamp love books)

Newer reviews:

In the futuristic setting of Bumped, being sixteen- or hopefully even younger- and pregnant is the subject of every girl’s fantasy. Because of a virus making everyone over eighteen infertile, it’s kind of a necessity. Hey, no one’s complaining.
The narrators are two genetically gifted twins, Melody and Harmony. The twins have been separated their whole lives until they recently met up. Melody is all super-hyped about getting lavishly paid to “bump” (if you don’t know what the title is hinting at, don’t read this book… please!). Harmony is all super-religious, and her sister pregging for profit goes against her beliefs. All Melody wants to do is convince her sister to return to the secluded religious settlement she came from and leave her alone. And when Melody is hired to bump with world-famous Jondoe, life couldn’t get any better. But then a Parent Trap-worthy moment comes along to complicate everything…

I couldn’t find a character that I liked long enough to dub “My Favorite Character”. As soon as I found something that might qualify the character as Favorite, they did something to counter that. Parts of Bumped that are supposed to be dramatic are made ineffective because of a character’s inexplicable thoughts or actions. Like when Harmony meets with Jondoe, he first comes across as a shallow, self-absorbed idiot whose goal in life is to party his hardest. At the end, he magically (because magical is the only way to describe his transformation) turns into a Good Family Guy with Outstanding Christian Morals. Bumped, to me starts in the middle and spends the rest of the book in catch-up mode. It doesn’t leave much room for the characters’ present, the part where the characters could really develop into something deep.

Bumped had me feeling confused. On the first page I was “rilly” overwhelmed. All the futuristic slang of Bumped-land is mostly left for the reader to interpret, or explained way later in the book. For the first half of the book, I found myself having to ponder over the meaning of a random made-up word every few sentences. But maybe that’s just me. I can be pretty thick sometimes.

I have to say, though, this book makes you think. I look at Bumped’s society, and it is something I could see happening in a situation where adults are infertile. You know, teens pregging. There is one part of me thinking, “Hellooo? Thirteen year olds pregnant? EWWW!” Another is thinking, “Oh well, what other options do they have?” Then I start arguing to myself. In case you’re wondering, yes, it is possible to have an exhausting mental battle with yourself. It is the unique plot that makes Bumped worthwhile.

0_0

Whoa. I've changed visibly from where I first started out. When I first made the blog at eleven years old, I didn’t think it would help me become a better writer. I thought that my writing would never improve from the point I was at then. (Oh, what horror!) I knew my writing was bad, but I had no idea of how to improve it. I blogged because I wanted to squeal about books, I didn’t think anyone would follow me.

Now, I am thirteen and much, much wiser ;). When I looked back to my first post I was in shock. I was THAT bad!?! I’m still not as good as I want to be, but I now know that I’m improvable. That fact makes me very happy.

It is possible to improve even when you think you’re not going to.
Also, I deleted most of my starting posts except the first few. I’m embarrassed by me eleven year old self! Tsk, tsk, tsk...

Have a happy hump day tomorrow! (Yeah right...)

Winner of Happy Birthday to Me.

2011-05-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

The winner of Happy Birthday to Me is...

Lisa Richards

Congrats! Expect an e-mail from me confirming your win.

For all you *ehem* non-winners, Happy Birthday to Me is available for only .99 cents on the Kindle.

Pretty Little Liars book 9: Twisted cover.

2011-05-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

Isn't that cover just da bomb? I just saw what it looked like yesterday. Twisted is going to rock. (Hopefully.)

The release date is July 5.

Summary from Goodreads:

It’s been a year since the torturous notes from A stopped and the mystery of Alison DiLaurentis’s disappearance was finally put to rest. Now seniors in high school, Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily are older, but they’re not any wiser. The Pretty Little Liars have more secrets than ever - twisted secrets that could destroy the perfect lives they’ve worked so hard to rebuild.
Aria’s jealous of her boyfriend’s new exchange student. Spencer’s getting a little too cozy with her soon-to-be-stepbrother. Hanna’s one scandalous photo away from ruining her dad’s Senate campaign. And Emily will do anything to get a swim scholarship.
Worst of all: Last spring break in Jamaica, they did something unforgivable. The girls are desperate to forget that fateful night, but they should know better than anyone that all secrets wash ashore … eventually

Eep! Did everyone already know about this? This is so epic... I wonder what happened in Jamaica. Is there going to be a new A? I don't know how Sara Shepard will make this work, but I will totally buy the next four books!

Also the next book is going to be titled Ruthless . Sounds fan-girl worthly.

Here is the Goodreads summary for Ruthless:

The #1 New York Times bestselling Pretty Little Liars are back with more scandals, secrets, and drama.

Everyone’s favorite pretty little liars are back with a fresh story arc filled with dark new secrets and deadly plot twists.
Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Aria are trying to move on and forget about their old friend Alison DiLaurentis and all the torture she put them through. They thought she was gone from their lives for good, but someone is keeping her spirit alive. Now A wants to ruin their pretty little lives—or does A want to end them?
The hit ABC Family TV show continues to bring new readers to the bestselling series, and the Pretty Little Liars fanbase keeps growing! Legions of readers will clamor for Sara Shepard’s new pack of lies....

So there IS a new A? How do you think that's going to work out?

P.S. Don't forget to enter my Happy Birthday to Me giveaway! It ends tomorrow. : D

P.P.S. It's 6:00. Still not raptured.

P.P.P.S. It's 7:00. Still not raptured.

P.P.P.P.S. It's 8:00. Still not raptured.

P.P.P.P.P.S. It's 8:02. Giving up hope.

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves

2011-05-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

Stars: 4

Summary from Goodreads:

Kit and Fancy Cordelle are sisters of the best kind: best friends, best confidantes, and best accomplices. The daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, Kit and Fancy are used to feeling like outsiders, and that’s just the way they like it. But in Portero, where the weird and wild run rampant, the Cordelle sisters are hardly the oddest or most dangerous creatures around.

It’s no surprise when Kit and Fancy start to give in to their deepest desire—the desire to kill. What starts as a fascination with slicing open and stitching up quickly spirals into a gratifying murder spree. Of course, the sisters aren’t killing just anyone, only the people who truly deserve it. But the girls have learned from the mistakes of their father, and know that a shred of evidence could get them caught. So when Fancy stumbles upon a mysterious and invisible doorway to another world, she opens a door to endless possibilities….

Review:

Slice of Cherry is the companion novel to Bleeding Violet, although I was fine without reading the first book. (I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY want to read Bleeding Violet now. Really.)

A conversation between Fancy and Kit:
Kit- Hey, Fancy? Feel like killing anyone today? I'm in that mood again. I'll let you cut the body open this time.

Fancy- Good morning most awesome sister in da world!!!! That is a very tempting offer, but alas... how shall we hide the bodies?

Kit- Sigh... Can we hide them in our shed like daddy use to do? I know he got caught and now he's in jail and all, but I have a need to squish a human heart.

Fancy- Me too, sister dearest. Me too. If only we had somewhere to hide all those pesky dead bodies... *HINT HINT*

End of conversation.

The reason I liked it is because... it’s odd. I can read a hundred more books, and none of them would have the same creepy/awesomeness factor that Slice of Cherry’s got going on. (Except maybe Bleeding Violet.) I would compare it to Coraline.

This book is a great break from the serious paranormal genre. All the characters in the quirky town of Portero are like, "Yeah, there's a magical portal door in front of me. Whatevs. Who wants some pizza?" That attitude made the book for me.

The way the book shouldn't make sense in normally (but in a weird way does) makes Slice of Cherry a awesome, kooky read.

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

2011-05-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

In the futuristic setting of Bumped, being sixteen- or hopefully even younger- and pregnant is the subject of every girl’s fantasy. Because of a virus making everyone over eighteen infertile, it’s kind of a necessity. Hey, no one’s complaining.

The narrators are two genetically gifted twins, Melody and Harmony. The twins have been separated their whole lives until they recently met up. Melody is all super-hyped about getting lavishly paid to “bump” (if you don’t know what the title is hinting at, don’t read this book… please!). Harmony is all super-religious, and her sister pregging for profit goes against her beliefs. All Melody wants to do is convince her sister to return to the secluded religious settlement she came from and leave her alone. And when Melody is hired to bump with world-famous Jondoe, life couldn’t get any better. But then a Parent Trap-worthy moment comes along to complicate everything…

I couldn’t find a character that I liked long enough to dub “My Favorite Character”. As soon as I found something that might qualify the character as Favorite, they did something to counter that. Parts of Bumped that are supposed to be dramatic are made ineffective because of a character’s inexplicable thoughts or actions. Like when Harmony meets with Jondoe, he first comes across as a shallow, self-absorbed idiot whose goal in life is to party his hardest. At the end, he magically (because magical is the only way to describe his transformation) turns into a Good Family Guy with Outstanding Christian Morals. Bumped, to me starts in the middle and spends the rest of the book in catch-up mode. It doesn’t leave much room for the characters’ present, the part where the characters could really develop into something deep.

Bumped had me feeling confused. On the first page I was “rilly” overwhelmed. All the futuristic slang of Bumped-land is mostly left for the reader to interpret, or explained way later in the book. For the first half of the book, I found myself having to ponder over the meaning of a random made-up word every few sentences. But maybe that’s just me. I can be pretty thick sometimes.

I have to say, though, this book makes you think. I look at Bumped’s society, and it is something I could see happening in a situation where adults are infertile. You know, teens pregging. There is one part of me thinking, “Hellooo? Thirteen year olds pregnant? EWWW!” Another is thinking, “Oh well, what other options do they have?” Then I start arguing to myself. In case you’re wondering, yes, it is possible to have an exhausting mental battle with yourself. It is the unique plot that makes Bumped worthwhile.

Three stars.
You can also view this review on Figment.

Giveaway of Happy Birthday to Me extended.

2011-05-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I'm extending the Happy Birthday to Me giveaway by a week, it'll end on May 22. This book is a really cute summer read, so don't forget to enter.
:~ )

Author guest post: Brian Rowe on writing a novel.

2011-05-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

I'm holding a giveaway of Happy Birthday to Me. Dont forget to check it out! Thanks to Brian Rowe for writing this. 2,000 words a day?! Haha, that's awesome. I struggle with five hundred :P

On Writing A Novel.

I view writing a lot like how others view exercise—if I turn the practice into a daily ritual, after a while, it will feel as typical as eating breakfast and doing laundry. I don’t want to view writing as a chore in any sense; after all, it’s supposed to be fun. But facing that blank page every day is certainly daunting, and many wannabe writers feel too threatened by it to face the task of writing his or her first novel.

I was that way for a long time. I tried to write a novel once in high school, but felt too unsure of myself after five or six chapters, and I abandoned the project. I wrote short stories and screenplays over many more years but always felt too intimidated by the task of writing a novel to attempt it. Finally, after becoming inspired by an idea that I knew would work best not as a short story or feature script but as a book, I knew it was time to write my first novel. I was certainly scared, but one great man prepared me with some excellent advice, and that man was Stephen King.

For any aspiring writers out there, I recommend wholeheartedly Stephen King’s fantastic nonfiction book about writing, titled simply On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. In it the bestselling horror novelist not only discusses how he got his start writing and selling his books, but also discusses concise, important writing tips for budding novelists everywhere. I’ve read this book probably ten times over in the last few years, and I’ve tried to take most, if not all, of King’s advice in regards to sentence and story structure, grammar, dialogue, and, most of all, daily writing tasks.

What kept me for many years from tackling the seemingly enormous task of writing a novel was that it seemed next to impossible. It’s hard enough to write a short story. How in the world could I write a 70,000-word-plus novel? King spelled it out clear: write 2,000 words a day, every day, until you finish your first draft. A lot of writers, including myself, will work on a project for months and months, picking out hours at a time to do some writing, and then wait a week or longer to continue. It doesn’t matter what you want a write—a literary novel, chick lit title, YA paranormal romance, or horror rollercoaster ride—you can do it if you stop looking at the big picture and start looking at the small pieces.

I started writing my first novel Slate, influenced by the two years I spent working in feature film casting in Los Angeles, in early 2010, and looked at the task with both anticipation and trepidation. I had a brief outline of the plot, knew the first few chapters, the last few chapters, and some meat of the story in between, but I definitely didn’t know exactly how every storyline and character arc would play out. But I decided that I would start writing at least 2,000 words a day, every day, until I either finished the book, or died trying. The writing of my first book was difficult at times, yes, but it also turned out to be the most freeing and joyful experience of my creative life. When I finished the first draft, which stood at 108,000 words, I knew I had accomplished something special. But little did I know then, that the work of writing the book had only just begun.

That leads me to the important of revisions. Writing a novel is a process, a long one that takes months and months, and for some, years. If the hardest part about writing a book was completing that first draft, a lot more people would be doing it. But finishing the first draft is the first of many, many steps that will lead writing to a polished novel. I didn’t know it at the celebratory time I finished the first draft of Slate, but I ended up revising the novel in full over ten times in the course of the following year until I finally published it in March. My rewriting process begins like this: finish the first draft, print it out, put it in a binder, and don’t look at it for at least four to six weeks. I love to finish a project, put it away, and then work on something else for a while. Then, when I pull that first draft out of the drawer, it’s almost like reading something I didn’t write! It’s a great thrill, and it allows me to look at the words on the pages with a fresh eye.

I’ll spend a few weeks working on the second draft, and then put the manuscript away again. I’ll do this time and time again for six months to a year until I feel the material is ready to show to my closest friends and any fellow writers who’ll agree to review my work. After taking and using much of the feedback I receive, I’ll do one final polish, and finally prepare the work for eBook and print publishing (a whole other beast of a process!).

Happy Birthday to Me is my debut Young Adult novel, and it was something that I’d wanted to write for a long time. After my joy in writing my first book Slate, I knew I wanted to continue writing novels, and Happy Birthday to Me felt like the perfect second project. I spent nearly nine months working on this book, finally publishing it in April. It’s a funny, romantic supernatural tale that is truly for readers of all ages, and I’m so dedicated to this story and these characters that I am currently writing a sequel!

Eighteen months ago I wasn’t sure if I could even finish a novel. Today I’ve written three novels, I’m working on my fourth, and I’ve outlined nearly fifteen projects to be written in the next three to four years. I’ve become a writing fiend, and I’ve never been happier. I have Stephen King to thank for his inspiring wisdom, and all the readers and writers out there like me who love a great story.

Interview: Brian Rowe, author of Happy Birthday to Me

2011-05-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here is my first ever interview with Brian Rowe. Don't forget to enter the giveaway of Happy Birthday to Me!

When and why did you start writing?

I’ve loved reading books ever since I can remember and always imagined myself, even from a young age, as being a writer. In my third grade class at Oakhills Elementary School in Granite Bay, California, a children’s author came to speak about writing, and she gave us all an assignment for the week, to write one chapter of a novel. I ended up writing a chapter about the ghost of a librarian that haunts the school. I loved writing this assignment and ended up writing dozens more short stories over the next few years, culminating into the fifth grade, where our teacher Linda Frodahl gave us story assignments all year round. On the last day of school that year she pulled me aside and said to me, “Brian, one day I want to see your name on the front of a novel. Don’t let me down.” Fifteen years later her wish finally came true, and I decided to dedicate Happy Birthday to Me to Mrs. Frodahl.

What book(s) are you currently reading?

I’ve got a big pile of books on my nightstand. I’m currently reading the last 150 pages of The Girl Who Played with Fire, and up next are The Drawing of the Three, More Tales of the City, and Catching Fire. Huh. You know, I just realized all four of these books are the second installment in a series. And I’m currently writing the second installment in my Happy Birthday to Me trilogy. Coincidence?

What do you think makes a good book?

A dynamic plot is great in a book, but what makes a truly outstanding novel is complex, memorable characters. You as an author can come up with the most original, fascinating concept, but it won’t mean diddly-squat if there aren’t characters to care about on the page. The plot and pacing of your story is important, of course, but attention to character is probably the most important aspect in writing fiction. When I think about all the books I love, the characters immediately come to mind, not the plot. Take the time to come up with a killer concept, and then spend a few weeks getting to know and flesh out your characters, before you jump right into to your writing.

Liesel Maupin is going to a gathering of literary characters. Who would she sit with and why?

Now that’s an interesting question. Liesel is a strong, focused female character, a good-hearted wallflower with love for her soul mate, Cameron Martin. I would love to see Liesel go out for a Friday night dinner with Katniss Everdeen and Hermione Granger. Hermione would probably one-up the other girls on intelligence, Katniss would one-up with sheer physical strength, and Liesel would one-up with her otherworldly magical powers, ones even more impressive than Hermione’s. They could all talk about their boy toys—Ron, Peeta, and Cameron. And Katniss and Hermione could take time out of District 12 and Hogwarts, respectively, to join Liesel for a more laid-back meal at one of Reno’s delicious sushi restaurants!

What character in Happy Birthday to Me would you like to hang out with for a day? Why?

That’s tough to decide. It’d be fun to hang out with Liesel, pick her brain, and watch her perform some magic. It’d also be interesting to spend some time at Caughlin Ranch High School and see just how vicious Mrs. Gordon can be. We find out later in the book that she is way more of a free spirit than she lets on, so I’d try to peel off the layers to the strict librarian to try to find the more human side underneath. And Wesley’s a lot like me in many ways, so he’d be easy to spend time with. But if I had to choose one of these characters to hang out with for a day, I would choose Kimber. She seems like a cool, easy to talk to thirteen-year-old girl who would be fun to chat with and toss ideas off of. I also love the violin, and I’d love a front row seat at one of her applause-worthy string recitals!

What is your writing process like?

When I’m writing the first draft of a novel, I write at least 2,000 words a day, every day, until the book is finished. Sometimes I’ll write many more than 2,000 words in a day—for instance, my third book Townhouse, coming out this summer, I wrote much faster than anticipated. I allotted myself five to six weeks to write the first draft, but it ended up only taking me about four and a half weeks. I will then spend a few weeks on each subsequent draft the heaviest work being done on the pivotal second draft. The amount of re-writing becomes less and less by the fourth and fifth draft, until I finally get the manuscript to a point where I feel it’s ready to be published.

What advice would you give to young writers?

My advice to young writers would be to stop thinking, stop worrying, and start writing! For many years I didn’t think I had what it took to write a novel, and in the last year and a half, I’ve written three. Don’t worry so much about a year from now or six months from now. There will be lots of time to worry about agents, editors, traditional publishers, self-publishing, and more, down the road. Believe in yourself, believe in your story, and believe in your characters, and focus on writing the best novel you can, every single time. As Conan O’Brien recently said, “if you work really hard, and are kind, amazing things will happen.” And I believe that with every sense of my being. I’m living the dream! So should you.

Is there anything else you would like to say?

Thank you for your time, and for featuring me on your awesome blog. I hope all of your readers take a chance on my YA debut, Happy Birthday to Me!

Giveaway: Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe

2011-05-08T07:18:00.000-07:00

~~It's finally time for my first givaway! I loved~~ ~~Happy Birthday to Me (4.5 stars)~~ ~~and I'm giving it away for Brian Rowe's author week!~~

~~To enter, please fill out the form below~~
~~Entrants must be 13 years of age or older~~
~~Contest deadline is May 22, 2011~~
~~Contest open to US only~~
~~One entry per person~~
~~Must follow Owl Review a Book~~

Giveaway has ended.

Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe

2011-05-07T06:04:00.000-07:00

Stars: 4.5

Summary from Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Cameron Martin has a huge problem: he’s aging a whole year of his life with each passing day!
High school is hard enough; imagine rapidly aging from seventeen to seventy in a matter of weeks, with no logical explanation, and with prom, graduation, and the state championship basketball game all on the horizon. That’s what happens to Cameron, a popular pretty boy who's never had to face a day looking anything but perfect.
All Cameron wants to do is go back to normal, but no one, not even the best doctors, can diagnose his condition. When he finds love with a mysterious young woman, however, he realizes his only hope for survival might be with the one person who started his condition in the first place...

Review:

Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe was shockingly awesome. Rowe's cute, whimsical way of writing reminded me of You Wish by Mandy Hubbard.

I went into the book disliking Cameron (giggling). He was so full of himself. He’s the kind of person who would love to stare at himself in a mirror all day and do superman poses. But more then that, I felt incredibly embarrassed for him. I literally had to put the book down for a few minutes because he was making an idiot out of himself by being the total drama queen that he was, and he didn’t even notice.

That resulted in me being incredibly embarrassed for him. I also kind of felt sorry for him, because his super busy dad only seemed to show up when he was pressuring Cameron to follow in his footsteps and be a plastic surgeon or nagging him to be a better basketball player. So basically this means in the beginning of the book I was caught in the constant cycle of being sorry for him/ wanting to slap him. Hard.

What I really enjoyed about Happy Birthday to me was that when Cameron started aging he found out who his real friends were and how his family could genuinely act. Before he started aging, I could’ve (but I didn’t want to) put down the book, but after I was hooked. Everything started getting interesting, and I found myself wanting to see where all the character relationships went. The cycle of sorry/ slapping was broken. By that point I actually started to like Cameron.

Liesel is still mysterious by the end of the book. I hope that’ll change when the second book, Happy Birthday to me Again, comes out. I will defiantly be buying the sequel!

Thank you to Brain Rowe for providing me a review copy!

Next week is an author week with Brian Rowe.

2011-05-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

Just a heads up for next week:

Next week. Will be. An author week.

This will be my first time doing

1. A giveaway

2. An author interview

3. Epic author doing a guest post for me.

Here is how next week will go:

Saturday- Happy Birthday to Me review

Sunday- A giveaway of Happy birthday to Me.

Wednesday- Interview

Friday - Guest post

Sunday- Announcing winner of giveaway.

I'm spazzing out right now because of the Brain Rowe author week. The book and the author are both amazing, I hope you'll check this out!

Whoa. Rewind back to March 19.

2011-05-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

(I'm going to pretend it's March 19 in this post to avoid the mind-numbing guilt of forgetting one's own blogoversary.)

This is it. It has been (a little more than) one whole year since I started this book bloggy. Thanks to all of you who had inevitably became this blog's awesome stalker minion. To celebrate this blog's (belated) birthday here are the top five things I've learned from this blog:

1. No. It is not okay to use 394,439,345,302 exclamation points in a row. Unless I really, really like a book. In that case, it is okay to use up to 983,723 exclamation points.

2. No. Authors are not magical awesome fairies who ride unicorns to work every day and who's signature, when applied to a book, could quite possibly cause me to spontaneously cumbust. They are just regular people (but way awesomer).

3. No. It is NOT okay to forget my own blogoversary. That would be like forgetting to feed my cat. Unacceptable.

4. No. I am not alone in my bookish love. Their are plenty other awesome book bloggers that share my obssesion. Whom I love reading and commenting on their blog. Book bloggers rock.

5. No. Saying how awesome the book is isn't a review. I mean it is, but you have to be cleaver in your word choice. Some other good phrases to use are: dandy, bang-up, groovy, and if all else fails, nifty.

Happy Monday! I'm sad. For some strange reason, I thought it was Friday at school today. When the bell rang, I was so happy I yelled "Happy Friday!" I didn't understand why everyone was either giving me a murderous look, or a look of great confusion.

Follow Friday/Book Blogger Hop

2011-04-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

Hosted by Parajunkee.

This weeks question:

Q. 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?

This question frightens me. I would bring:

The Gone series (4)

Anna and the French Kiss (1)

Nightshade (1)

The Hunger Games (3)

Five Flavors of Dumb (1)

Hosted by Crazy For Books.

Question of the week:
"Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?"

Summary from Amazon:
Everyone has weird thoughts sometimes. But for seventeen-year-old Dani Solomon, strange thoughts have taken over her life. She loves Alex, the little boy she babysits, more than anything. But one day, she has a vision of murdering him that's so gruesome, she can't get it out of her mind. In fact, Dani's convinced that she really will kill Alex. She confesses the thoughts to keep him safe, setting off a media frenzy that makes "Dani Death" the target of an extremist vigilante group.

Through the help of a brave therapist, Dani begins to heal her broken mind. But will it be too late? The people of her community want justice . . . and Dani's learning that some thoughts are better left unsaid.

Haha, unique summary...

Leave the link to your hop/follow so I can follow back!

Jude by Kate Morgenroth

2011-04-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

Stars: 5

Summary From Goodreads:

"Listen, you're young. We don't send kids to jail. If you had something to do with this, it's better to tell us. Then we can help you. Maybe it was a friend of yours come to take care of things for you. You've got a nasty bruise there, and your neighbors told us that you tend to get a lot of bruises. We take those things into account, you know. We understand about things like that."

"You don't understand anything," Jude said.

After Jude watches his drug-dealer father get gunned down at the kitchen table, he's taken from their dangerous neighborhood to a comfortable home, an elite private school, and a mother he doesn't remember. Only fifteen, Jude is under suspicion for his father's murder, but to save his own life, he can't tell the police what he knows.

To make things worse, Jude's mother is the district attorney. She can protect him from the police — but when Jude's classmate overdoses on heroin, Jude is implicated, and his mother decides to prosecute. Jude is determined to clear his name, though he doesn't know that mysteries from his past have yet to be revealed — secrets that will forever alter the course of his life.

Jude's gripping story is at once moving and horrifying as it traces a young man's quest for acceptance and his incredible capacity for hope and resilience. Kate Morgenroth, whose adult novels have been called "nearly impossible to put down" by Time Out New York and "compulsively readable" by Entertainment Weekly, here shows more of her considerable talent.

Review:

Wowowowowow. I literally finished the book a few minutes ago.

I knew I was going to love Jude by Kate Morgenroth by the end of the first paragraph. And I did. At the beginning of the book Jude's world was black and white. His father beat him. What was he supposed to do about it? Jude sucked at school. Not like actually studying would help. Jude makes a promise to his father's killer that he would never tell. Jude never breaks a promise. That was the promise that changed his life.

The plot was so woven. Whenever I thought the twists were good and twisted as they could ever be, some thing else came. Something bigger, worthy of a "hung open jaw"(or what you wish to call a reaction to a completely stunning curveball). I thought I knew many characters well in this book, but more then once I ended up being proved wrong again and again.

I would recommend it to EVERYONE. Although especially reluctant guy readers. The book is like a freaking flycatcher for guys. Just in school, like five guy asked to look at the back. Okay... maybe it was because of the handcuffs on the cover. They seemed interested even after they read the synopsis. I’m going to take that as a good sign.

Run to your bookstores, my pretties. Run. With great speed.

Three Black Swans by Caroline B. Cooney

2011-04-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

Stars: 4

Summary from Amazon:

When her teacher challenges her students to research and fabricate a scientific fake of some kind, Missy calls her cousin and best friend, Claire, for help to do the trick assignment. The plan: bring Claire, who looks startlingly like Missy, to appear on the school's live morning news broadcast as a newly found twin. As it turns out, the Connecticut sophomore perpetrates a hoax that turns out not to be a hoax at all but instead a revelation of the past that her family and two others must try to deal with and accept. Claire's sobs at the moment of revelation on the news show help answer Missy's very real question–yes, the two are identical twins, somehow. That's what everyone who sees the interview at the school and soon on YouTube believes, and with the speed of the Internet, texting, and email forwarding, a third girl on Long Island soon finds herself with a question of her own: How can I look just like these two girls I've never met? Playing on the interest of teens in identity drama, this story will draw willing readers through the suspenseful days that follow. Three sets of parents and three daughters take some time for readers to separate into recognizably different characters, but their experiences delve into the nature of love, family, parenting, and the bond of siblings.

Review:

Firstly, I want to mention this book is by the author that wrote Face on the Milk Carton. I've never heard of it, but after I witnessed two girls going fan girl over it, I thought I should say something. ; )

The triplets Missy, Claire, and Genevieve are identical. Caroline B. Cooney (thankfully) manages to make their lives completely different. Missy is hyper, Claire is laidback, and Genevieve is use to taking charge. Giving the characters their own point of view was a great way to figure out all the characters motivations and feelings, but it also made it hard to remember which secondary characters go with whom.

The backbone of the book was made up of the family matters. It was the family drama that had me gasp-oh-no-you-didn’t-ing all over the place. There were some touching moments in this book. There were also moments that made me want to rip someones head off. A must-read for any mystery lover.

Photos that remind me of books.

2011-04-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures I took that remind me of something/ an idea from a book:

This one reminds me of a fantasy book. You know, with the elves and stuff. I can't think of a specific book (anyone? Help?) but it would sound cool described in the oldish language in fantasy books. "Thy waterfall is infested with dryads in the summer months. Occasionally they can be found preening on the lower steps of the waterfall. Vain creachers, they are." : P

This sort of reminds me of the first arena in The Hunger Games. (P.S. I just found out that the movie is going to be shot in Asheville, NC. This excites me because I can tell my grand kids that I lived in the same state that the Hunger Games movie was shot. Then they will totally be in awe of me and use me for all those "whose your hero" essays.)

This isn't quite accurate, but this reminds me of Bridge to Terabithia.

You know Paranormalacy? The photo reminds me of where Lend's mom lives. If it wasn't a river.

Werewolf books.

This photo just looked book-worthy.

Teens and reading

2011-04-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

Or more appropriately labeled, their lack of it.

http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/sabino/library/ALA.gif

Just yesterday, when I was at a friend’s house, her mom presented her with two books she randomly bought for her. Her mom thinks she should read more.

I am insanely jealous.

If my mother thought I needed to read more, I would explode with literary happiness. But no, my mother thinks I need clothes. When I mention that I have plenty, she reminds me that three fourths of my closet is composed of my sister’s hand-me-downs. I have no problem with this. Picture a stereotypical (brunette), fashion-loving cheerleader. This is my big sister. Yeah, my sister knows her fashion.

http://blogs.davenportlibrary.com/pr/wp-content/2010/01/Teen-Reading-Challenge-Poster.png

My intense jealousy isn’t the main point. The main point is that my friend doesn’t like reading. These are the books she got:

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (I previously showed it to her, she didn’t like it)

• A random MG (for someone who doesn’t read much, this is very bad.)

I think her mom rules for going to a bookstore and getting books. My friend would never have. At the same time, she would not have picked those books.

(I’m talking from experience here) I know Tom Sawyer is a classic. My language arts class had to read it. Most of them hated it. I know teachers want to “expand our vocabulary”/ “give us literary wisdom”. To be honest, I don’t know how reading Tom Sawyer can accomplish that.

I think I’ve posted about this before, but this gets under my skin. Teachers complain about us kids not reading. Why not assign us to read the Hunger Games or something? I know we are required to read some stuff, but there are opportunities to read other books.

Waiting on Wednesday

2011-04-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Pretend You Love Me by Julie Anne Peters

Summary from Amazon:

In this fresh, poignant novel, Mike is struggling to come to terms with her father's suicide and her mother's detachment from the family. Mike (real name: Mary Elizabeth) is gay and likes to pump iron, play softball, and fix plumbing. When a glamorous new girl, Xanadu, arrives in Mike's small Kansas town, Mike falls in love at first sight. Xanadu is everything Mike is not -- cool, confident, feminine, sexy.... straight.

From the two books I read by Julie Anne Peters, as far as I can tell, she rocks. The only thing I'm confused about: Is this book the same as Far From Xanadu?
It sounds like it, but it says it's new....

Live your WOW link so I can visit you back!

:)

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

2011-04-09T14:56:00.000-07:00

Stars: 4

Summary:
(from amazon.com)

Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn’t remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers?

This fascinating novel represents a stunning new direction for acclaimed author Mary Pearson. Set in a near future America, it takes readers on an unforgettable journey through questions of bio-medical ethics and the nature of humanity. Mary Pearson’s vividly drawn characters and masterful writing soar to a new level of sophistication.

Review:

Jenna wakes up not knowing who she is.

How cool is that? Way freaking cool.

In Who Am I stories, the possibilities are endless. The character is so fresh. Jenna started off docile. She was willing to let her mother take care of everything. Jenna was afraid to ask the questions that mattered. Like, why her grandmother, Lily, seems to hate her. Thankfully, as Jenna starts figuring more about herself, she becomes more assertive. She makes her own decisions, gets her own consequences.

I would compare this book to The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman, and Skinned by Robin Wasserman. The Other Side of the Island because they have a similar narrative, plus, gooey dystopian goodness. Skinned, because of subject matter.

The narrative felt so slow, and unhurried. The mystery kept me into the book, but the sleepy voice made me need to take brakes. Also, Jenna’s relationship with Ethan had no spark; their relationship was only a subplot, so I wasn’t too bothered.

The ending tied up all the loose ends and answered all the questions, it made the book feel more worth while. Overall, if you can get past the slow narrative, The Adoration of Jenna Fox is a great read!

Contest

2011-04-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

Favorite season, and why?

Would it be a cop-out to say I love all of them for different reasons? Winter, for the snow. Fall, for the breezy weather (and my b-day!). I don't like spring that much. Summer, for my swim team.

How would you describe your personal style?

I don't think I have a style. I go though any random store and what ever sticks out to me, I get.

What's one weird thing you can do? (The stranger the better!)

I am super flexible. I don't think it's weird, but a my friends act like the are going to throw up when I do all my splits, scorpion, etc.

Rain or shine?

I love rain. Most of the time. I don't like it in school because (annoyingly) all the girls moan about their hair messing up.

Confession time... what's a flaw of yours?

Shyness. I first realized this was a problem when in the middle of the year when this random person in my class started a conversation with me, he was genuinely surprised that I talked : P

I think it's totally fine to have a few close friends. So what?

Favorite music?

I don't listen to music. I guess anything on the radio at the time.

Have you ever made a decision you instantly regretted? What was it?

Yes. I was at the World of Coca-Cola and I tried every flavor in the taste testing room. It makes me nauseous thinking about it.

Who do you admire/look up to?

Michael Grant. Best. Author. Ever. (Plague came out today!!!)

You've just won an unlimited lifetime supply of... what?

Money. The rest will come soon ; )

If you were an animal, what would you be?

An owl. Partly because my elementary school obsession with Guardians of Ga'Hoole. Also a night-time silent hunter sounds sort of sexy.

If you knew you were going to die in a year, what would you do with your time?

Eat. All food will end up in my mouth.

You're now a gazillionaire... where do you go to spend your money?

This question makes me hyperventilate. I'll pass.

Classical music: love it or hate it?

As mentioned above, I don't listen to music in general.

Phobias?

BUGS! When I hear those little wings...

Hop on a plane and go live somewhere for a year... where is it, and why?

Los Angeles. I would like to see what school there is like.

Are you an extrovert or an introvert?

Introvert. DAMN MY SHYNESS.

Would you/do you perform on stage?

I do. Once a few months ago. After going on stage covered with a mustache and unibrow (don't ask), I think I'm ready for anything!

I'm a new Figment reviewer!

2011-04-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Remember Figment? The teen writing website I frequently mention? Because it is so awesome? Should I stop talking in question marks? Because it is so annoying?

I think I should.

Figment Reviewer, it is what it sounds like. I will review books on figment. Here is the links to the reviews. There are many fabulous reviews, so check it out if you have time : D
It seems that I am very put together about this. I am not.

I am freaking out from happiness!\It's like I just saw a flying pig, and now all my dreams are coming true...
I didn't think I would be picked. IT'S A GOOD THING I'M ALMOST ALWAYS WRONG (this time). After I got the e-mail I sat there and stroked the computer screen... it is now covered in little greasy finger marks.

So, click this link to go to Figment Reviews.
EEEEPPPP!!!!!

Waiting on Wednesday

2011-03-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Putting Makeup on Dead People by Jen Violi

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Summary:

It's been four years since Donna Parisi's father passed away, but it might as well have been four days. Donna makes conversation and goes through the motion, but she hasn't really gotten on with life. She's not close with anyone, she doesn't have a boyfriend and she's going to college at the local university with a major that her mother picked. But one day Donna has an epiphany. She wants to work with dead people. She wants to help people say goodbye and she wants to learn to love a whole person--body and soul. She wants to live her life and be exceptional...at loving, at grieving and at embalming and cremating,too. Even as she makes the decision, things start to change. Donna makes friends with the charismatic new student, Liz. She notices the boy, Charlie, at her table and realizes that maybe he's been noticing her, too. And she begins to forgive the rest of her family for living their lives while she's been busy moping.

Jennifer Violi's gentle, moving story of a girl who finds a life in the midst of death will appeal to any reader who's felt stuck and found inspiration in an unexpected place.

Well.... if you can't say anything else, at least you can say it's unique!
If you visit please leave the link to your WOW so I can return the visit :)

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

2011-03-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

Summary:
When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie's soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives - including truths that may be too frightening to remember.

Review:
This is one of those books that can be summed up by its cover: Strong. The cover is fierce. You know who I think Ellie would get along with? Rose from the Vampire Academy. Hate to say it, but if a battle ever came in between Rose and Ellie, Ellie would win. She is in the running to be my favorite butt-kicking girl right in between Katniss Everdeen, and Katsa.

She wins on sarcasm. I loved the sarcastic banter going on between Will and Ellie. I also liked the other things going on between them...
Will is just about the perfect love interest for Ellie. Dark and moody IS hot. Will proves that. It was fun seeing Ellie try to force him out of his shell. And in turn, Will trying to make Ellie every reaper's nightmare.

I would recommend Angelfire to fans of the Vampire Academy, Hunger Games, Graceling, and Nightshade.

Artichokes Heart by Suzanne Supplee

2011-03-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

Stars: 3.5

Summary from Goodreads:

When she is almost sixteen years old, Rosemary decides she is sick of being overweight, mocked at school and at Heavenly Hair--her mother's beauty salon--and feeling out of control, and as she slowly loses weight, she realizes that she is able to cope with her mother's cancer, having a boyfriend for the first time, and discovering that other people's lives are not as perfect as they seem from the outside.

Review:
I was left with mixed feelings on the book. I wanted to love it. I did feel touched by it, but...
Some things were unbelievable. Like, Rosie's and Kyle's relationship. All Rosie seemed to be thinking was: Why would Kyle pick me? I'm so fat and ugly. I bet if I sat on a whale it would sink.... must try out this theory.... OMG I LOVE KYLE!!!
And Kyle says: You're so beautiful, and so smart. I will do ANYTHING for you.
I didn't feel a spark. I don't care if your attraction is that you both love to frolic among meadows or whatever. AT LEAST IT'S A SPARK. It feels their relationship was based on Rosie insecurities.
The good points:
I think Rosie's battle to lose weight is realistically portrayed. Before the book, I had no idea what some one with weight problems actually thought about that. The issue about weight never stuck out to me. I have friends struggling with weight, but except for the occasional comment about bathing suit season, they don't talk about it. I assumed they don't care that much.
If you can get past the flaky relationships and the slow writing, I would recommend this book.

Waiting on Wednesday

2011-03-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

WOW is hosted at Breaking the Spine.

http://www.gaiaphage.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=38 is an inteview with the author.

I may have used this book before, but... I DON'T CARE! I am in love with these series. LOVE.
So, I've heard some one's having a baby. And the waters running out. And (more obviously) THIS BOOK HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH A PLAGUE!
I'm drooling over the cover right now, in case you want to know....
TWO MORE WEEKS.
APRIL 5.
FOREVER.

I donated to Priness Bookie's contest!

2011-03-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to the best contest ever.
This is my first time "donating" to any contest of sorts/ having to do with any contest at all. (I must admit I'm slightly giddy about the fact.)

The book is Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick!

You have to be a follower of Owl Review a Book to enter, so followers... you're in good shape : D

RUN TO YOUR DOOM MY CHILDREN, RUNNNNN.

Say no to CAPTCHA

2011-03-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, word verification.
(This paragraph was taken from Holes In My Brain because I am being lazy today)

You might not even know your blog has it turned on! But if you wanna turn it off and you use Blogspot, go to your "Dashboard". Click "Settings". Click "Comments". Under "Show word verification for comments?" click NO.

The typey wordy thingie annoys me SO MUCH. Believe it or not, I do not want to wait while the page loads again just so I can type in some wimsical word of no meaning. I make a point to not comment on blogs that have that.

Word verification was made to stop spammers, so if you have a spammer problem then OK. I have never had that problem, and never in my life have I used the word thingy.

Link up here.

:D

Win Breathless

2011-03-12T13:22:00.001-08:00

Nuff said. That is one amazing contest there. I've only read Matched, Nightshade, and Across the Universe so far.
: )

Pincess Diaries by Meg Cabot

2011-03-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Stars: 4

Summary from Amazon:

Mia Thermopolis is your average urban ninth grader. Even though she lives in Greenwich Village with a single mom who is a semifamous painter, Mia still puts on her Doc Martens one at a time, and the most exciting things she ever dreams about are smacking lips with sexy senior Josh Richter, "six feet of unadulterated hotness," and passing Algebra I. Then Mia's dad comes to town, and drops a major bomb. Turns out he's not just a European politician as he's always lead her to believe, but actually the prince of a small country! And Mia, his only heir, is now considered the crown princess of Genovia! She doesn't even know how to begin to cope: "I am so NOT a princess.... You never saw anyone who looked less like a princess than I do. I mean, I have really bad hair... and... a really big mouth and no breasts and feet that look like skis." And if this news wasn't bad enough, Mia's mom has started dating her algebra teacher, the paparazzi is showing up at school, and she's in a huge fight with her best friend, Lilly. How much more can this reluctant Cinderella handle?

Review:

This is the sixth book I have read by Meg Cabot. I have found that all her books tend to be a cute and funny read. The Princess Diaries are no different!

The writing style of the book felt like I was exchanging casual e-mails with a friend. I haven't read any diary format books (except Anne Frank, but she's real) and this blew me away. I was giddy with happiness the first time the book overused exclamation points. That made my day.

Mia doesn't think very highly of herself. In her mind she's a total LOSER. While that made me feel way better about myself, I was annoyed at her friend choice. Lilly is so critical of Mia, no wonder Mia thinks she's dirt! In the future books I want to see Mia get better friends.

Toward the end, the book started getting a little repetitive. I would, firstly, recommend it to younger teens, and secondly, to chic-lit lovers.

I'm back permanently now!

The Duff by Kody Keplinger

2011-03-06T10:15:00.000-08:00

Stars: 5

Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.
But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.
Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

Review:
   This cast of kick-butt characters made the book unputdownable. Bianca's pessimistic, worrying voice was funny and easy to understand. Bianca is literally me, but older. I think (however cheesy this may sound) that we all have a little Bianca in us. Well... her teen-ness anyways. At some point and time most people worry (if you don't, you're a vampire) that they aren't good enough. That they are weird, and no one is ever going to like them. If you ever thought that, read the book.

       WESTLEY! I knew from the beginning, despite his sluttish tendencies... and his tendency to act like a total bitch.... that he was sweet. His high, sarcastic attitude made a perfect match to Bianca's cynical, take-no-bullcrap-attitude.

     What semi-bothered me was the sex. I kept waiting for Bianca to get pregnant or something. If that will bother you, you do not want to read this book.
Dude, middle school sex ed. is intense. I have images in my head that will never go away. I cringed every time a sex scene came up... that slide show... *shudders*

Enough of that depressing topic. Great book, read it.

(I'm taking a break from my break now. I'll be perminently back next week.)

Short blogger break.

2011-03-01T16:10:00.000-08:00

Hey,
I may be gone from blogger for a week or two. I have a school play that is happening this week, which is awesome, but somewhat stressful. AND I also have a school trip that will last three days...
But you blogger people are awesome, and I'll come back soon!

IMM (In My Mailbox)

2011-02-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

This is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

I got a few buckets of awesomefulness this week:

I've seen lots of good review on this one!

I was in need of a interesting paranormal.

You know Figment? The teen writing website I'm absolutely addicted to? Well, author of The Freak Observer came to Figment and was the judge of a forum game! It was an epic battle of creativity, and in the end I won second. Here are the bookishawesome goodies I won:

The troika of old witches hunched down to preform their myomany for the newly made
Vybran, as they have been doing for thousands of years, and will be doing till the end of
days.
(Now that's a winner.) ; D

Book Blog Hop/ Follow Friday.

2011-02-25T13:36:00.000-08:00

This is from Crazy for Books.

"Do you ever wish you would have named your blog something different?"

Nope, Even though it IS a mouthful!

This is hosted by Parajunkie. Q. Share your current fav television show! Tell us a bit about it...

It's a tie between Pretty Little Liars and Glee. I loved the PLL series and the show is so much more drama filled awesome.....
Glee... have you watched that show? So amazing! My favorite character is Brittany. The way she says stuff is hilarious.

Waiting on Wendsday.

2011-02-23T12:36:00.000-08:00

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that book bloggers are eagerly anticipating.

Here is the amazingtastic first chapter of plague.
Here is the awesometastic book trailer.

The summary from Goodreads:
This is a blood-pumping, white-knuckle sci-fi thriller of epic proportions. The FAYZ goes from bad to worse...The darkness has been foiled once again and the resurrected Drake has been contained. But the streets of Perdido Beach are far from safe, with a growing army of mutants fighting against the humans for power in the town. In a small room of a house near the edge of town, Little Pete lies ill on a bed. In his fevered dreams, he continues his battle with the hidden evil that seeks to use his power to bring about anarchy and destruction

This book needs to hurry up and get published.
April? *Counts on fingers* that's, like, three months from now! A.k.a. FOREVER!

Dan Brown awesomeness.

2011-02-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

His website is awesome if you want to know more about the books. Really interesting if you want to get more info on his topics.

I've only read the Da Vinci Code so far:

And right now I'm in the middle of Angels and Demons (I'm liking this one a liitle bit more):

Both these books have rocked my imaginary socks off.

I know... this isn't YA. If you're only iffy about that, try it! This is the best mystery/suspence book I've read so far.

Random stuff (for people who have read the books):

... This struck me as weird: Why does the book alway begin with a dead body?
Does his other books begin with dead bodies? (Yes, this is the detail I choose to remember. : P )

Are there any other awesome books like these? Because, if there are, I need to read them!

Release date of the second I am Number Four

2011-02-19T16:48:00.000-08:00

It's called The Power of Six. Hmmm.... foreshadowing? : P

Here is the Goodreads page.

Summary:

They caught Number One in Malaysia.

Number Two in England.

And Number Three in Kenya.

They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio and failed.

I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.

And I'm ready to fight.

Sweet!

This was on the official fan website:

“I can feel it in my bones that he is one of us. And I know somehow, that I must find him.”

Sweet-er!

I read this book months ago. I liked it, but then I put it on my shelf and forgot about it.
Today I saw the movie, which was pretty good by the way, and it inspired me to go sequel-hunting.
Tada!

Hello, my name is Bethany.

2011-02-16T16:39:00.000-08:00

Bethany (another one :) from Joyfull Girl Creations, the fabulous maker of my bloggy layout, is hosting this challenge.

(Yes, I stole her post title... I can't help that we have the same name!)

Behold! My twenty-first try at a decent self portrait. Decent being the operative word. It wouldn't be discriptive of me unless it included books, of course!

I like landscapes photography WAY better:

(no photoshop was used, it came out this way!)

Or photos of persons other then muah..:

(Rachael Flatt was my favorite, totally the best <3 <3)

The "about me part"... *ehem*

When you ask people what they think of me I always imagined people would say something like this:

"Bethany? Uhhh, she's okay. I don't really know her, so I guess." (Random people at the school would say that.)

"The girl that reads a freaking book a day? Yeah, she's cool, I guess." (Less random people.)

"OMG, SHE IS SO FREAKING AWESOME!" (At least, how I hope my friends would react. ; )

I am involved with gymnastics, dance, and I'm a black belt in Taekwondo. Do not underestimate my ability to kick some serious butt.
At school I'm the caterpillar (literally, on crack) in a twisted play of Alice in Wonderland, and I'm thinking of trying out for track.
Although I love being active and whatnot, I dislike team sports. I'm not the team player type; if I do a team sport I'm always afraid of letting people down.

Something I think defines me is my choice of food in EVERY restaurant.

The only thing I see on the menu is a kids grilled cheese sandwich, and pink lemonade. Yuumy.

I know, I know. Thirteen is a little too old for the kiddy menu. But if there was ever an upside to being short, that is it. I'm going to use it to my advantage ; ).

This is me...

In my eyes.

(Cheesey poeticness.)

Everfound news!

2011-02-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

A few months back I mentioned my undying love for Everlost. Now new things are being revealed.
*Poof!*

From Neal Shusterman's website:
"So everyone wants to know what to expect in Everfound. Well, I only just finished the first draft so there will still be changes from my editor but I’m hoping those changes will be finessing what’s there, and not reinventing it. I hope that the story is mostly in place. I can’t tell you too much without giving you too many spoilers, so I’ll tell you a few important things.

The largest Everlost city has yet to be discovered. It will be discovered in EVERFOUND.

Mary Hightower, already a danger, becomes even more so in this concluding book.

There’s a new character who has the power to “extinguish” afterlights. That is basically worse than killing someone, because if you’re extinguished, you cease to exist entirely. At least one major character will be extinguished in Everfound.

The Hindenburg will not stay adrift forever.

There will be some interesting and unexpected relationships between characters, both new and existing.

And some characters who you really don’t like, you’re going to change your mind about… And some character’s who you hate, you’re going to hate even more.

Skinjackers do some pretty cool, and pretty scary things with their powers –including being able to skinjack more than one person at a time…

And you’re going to love how it all ends….

Look for Everfound in June 2011…"

*Fangirl moment*
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
So sad that the release date got moved : (
Any Skinjacker fans out there?
I feel lonely...

Movie recommendations? Plus, happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T11:34:00.000-08:00

OK, so we got this awesome online movie rental thingy and it has, like, EVERY movie invented.
*confession* ....I am not very "movie educated"....
The only things I've watched so far on the thingy is:
She's The Man
Ever After

They were both blogger recommended and I loved them!
Movie recommendations would be awesome. Keep it PG-13 : D
Thanks!

Plus happy Valentine's Day! It's also my dad's birthday, so happy B-day to him!

Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst

2011-02-13T07:36:00.000-08:00

Stars: 5

Summary from Goodreads:

What Lily Carter wants most in the world is to attend Princeton University just like her grandfather. When she finally visits the campus, Grandpa surprises her: She has been selected to take the top-secret Legacy Test. Passing means automatic acceptance to Princeton. Sweet!

Lily's test is to find the Ivy Key. But what is she looking for? Where does she start? As she searches, Lily is joined by Tye, a cute college boy with orange and black hair who says he's her guard. That's weird. But things get seriously strange when a gargoyle talks to her. He tells her that there are two Princetons—the ordinary one and a magical one—and the Key opens the gate between them. But there are more secrets that surround Lily. Worse secrets.

When Lily enters the magical Princeton, she uncovers old betrayals and new dangers, and a chance at her dream becomes a fight for her life. Soon Lily is caught in a power struggle between two worlds, with her family at its center. In a place where Knights slay monsters, boys are were-tigers, and dragons might be out for blood, Lily will need all of her ingenuity and courage—and a little magic—to unite the worlds and unlock the secrets of her past and her future.

Review:
Three words to describe is book is:
Enchanting, cute, fun.
If I could use more words I would say:
A cute read that will make you smile during a bad day. (Or a good one)

I connected with Lilly surprisingly well. I often find that in third-person books that I don't really care what happens to the characters. Enchanted Ivy read like a first-person book would, but with all the perks of third-person.

I can't say enough about the discription. It's REAL! *dies*

Here is a photo of the Literate Ape, who plays a part in the book. Reading and then putting a picture to everything Princeton made the book so much better. I really want to take a tour of Princeton now. (And walk through the gate! Graduating? Meh, too overrated.)

Tye and Jake are both the perfect combo of sweet n' funny. The perfect guys... Enchanted Ivy needs a sequel! Were-tigers dominate vampires and were-wolves!

If you won't buy the book for the awesome story, buy it for the cover. It's a freaking work of art. It would rock if they made a poster out of it.
Judge this book by it's cover (unless you think it's ugly, then don't), I did, and I don't regret it!

Favorite book quotes

2011-02-10T15:17:00.000-08:00

Here are some book quotes that have stuck with me through out the ending.

"The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit."
- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
It's so unexpected! I had to take another look when I first read it.

"The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't"
- Delirium by Lauren Oliver
(It's talking about love) That is just so poetic...

"The only French word I know is oui, which means "yes," and only recently did I learn it's spelled o-u-i and not w-e-e."
-Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
I wish I could quote this whole book, but since I can't, I'll settle for this.

"Oh my God. Did she look malnourished?

Her hair was kind of frizzy..."
-She's So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott
Ha! Nuff said.

So these are some of the awesome quotes that I remember long after finishing the book :)
What are some that stuck to you?

The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

2011-02-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

Stars: 4

*Debut author challenge*

Summary from Amazon:
Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court. But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection. Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known.
Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks. But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.

Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.

Review:
I have been looking for a good fairy tale ever since reading the Goose Girl. I fouuuund it!

Sinda had been training to be a queen since she was a baby. She knows everything to be known about how to rule a kingdom, and that was all she would ever need. Until, on her sixteenth birthday, she learns she's a stand-in, a fake princess put there so if anyone ever tried to kill the princess they would only get, Sinda, the fake. What. A. Relief.

The king and queen send her off to live with an aunt that doesn't know Sinda was even alive. Sinda wants to help her aunt, but knowing about politics can't help with dying the cloth. So begins her journey though all things magical.

Sometimes, I wanted to punch those royals in the face. They had no idea how mean they were being, UHHH!
I dislike all the princessey aspects of princess books, which is weird since I enjoy everything else. The whole, "it's your destiny, and no one else can become the queen" spiel that's used in all the princess tales, annoys me. Am I the only one?

There were so many twist in this book. I tried to guess them all, but failed miserably.
I cried at the end of the book , : ( so it must be good! I rarely get attached enough to the book to cry when something bad happens.

For fans of fairy tale books, the False Princess is a definite add to your TBR pile!

Blog Hop/ Follow Friday

2011-02-04T11:34:00.000-08:00

This awesome meme is hosted by Crazy For Books.

This week's question is...:
"What are you reading now and why are you reading it?"

I'm reading the False Princess by Eilis O'neal. I've saw lots of great reviews for it, so I'm checking it out! It is pretty good so far : )

This (also) awesome meme is hosted by Parajunkie.

The question for this is...:

What is the book you are currently 'pushing'? (Pushing mean trying to get people to read it)

Anna and the French Kiss. I've started to run out of girl friends to recommend it to, so I've began "pushing" it onto my guy friends : P They aren't that happy about it.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

2011-02-01T15:42:00.000-08:00

Stars: 4.5

*Debut author challenge*

Summary: A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Review: This book is frexing good. Nuff said.

Elder was a character to remember. His decisions, his fears, his confusion, makes him feel real. He has been fed lies his whole life, yet he still has opinions of his own. Following Elder around the ship as he makes discoveries, was probably the best part of the book. I think Harley was the best secondary character I've ever read. He had this quirkiness that made it hard not to like him. Amy, at first, was a boring character. But, when she got out of the cryo tank and got added some deph to her, she was relatable. I wanted to have her as a friend. Strong and determined to do whats right, but she also had her weak moments. A good blend.

The plot made the book hard to put down. Always another twist that had to be read through. My jaw, literally, dropped open at some parts. Every time the book thew something new at me I was like, no way.

The setting was so believable, I could see it in my minds eye. The people and their society didn't feel forced, it was something that made sense. The creepy (awesome) cows (I want one as a pet), and the creepy people were easy to picture. The language was normal except a few words, I think I have to start talking in AtU speak, because those words were just so catchy!
Sometimes a book tends to overdescribe/underdescribe. Across the Universe was more of overdescribing, but it was used the right way. The overdescribing was in the right places, so it helped.

This book was like sci-fi for paranormal lovers. I even think guys could read this book, and like it. I mean, it does have a little romance, but it mostly focused on the mystery.
I recommend it! Across the Universe is way brilly. =)

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

2011-02-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

Stars: 4

Summary from Goodreads:

Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You're in a bizarre place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out. Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids -- the Runners -- venture into the labyrinth, trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit from this hellish place. So far, no one has figured it out. And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions, victims of the maniacal Grievers, part animal, part mechanical killing machines.

Thomas is the newest arrival to the Glade in this Truman-meets-Lord of the Flies tale. A motley crew of half a dozen kids is all he has to guide him in this strange world. As soon as he arrives, unusual things begin to happen, and the others grow suspicious of him. Though the Maze seems somehow familiar to Thomas, he's unable to make sense of the place, despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. What is this place, and does Thomas hold the key to finding a way out?

Review:

This book reminded me kind of the T.V. show, Persons Unknown. If you haven't herd of it, check out the trailer. I promise! The show is WAY better (and less creepy) then the trailer suggests. If you have a chance to watch it, take it! People are comparing it to Lost ( I've never watched Lost so I can't say of that's a good thing).

OMG THAT WAS OFF-TOPIC.

So... the Maze Runner. Thomas woke up in an unfamiliar place with no memory, except for his name. Interesting, right?
The reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because with Thomas trying to learn about the Glade the whole first half, the info dump was pretty annoying. Although I can't think of a better way to have done that. And at the time (before I got the second book) I thought the ending was kinda off-topic. Just like mentioning Persons Unknown, but more. I'm glad about the ending now because the second book was epic. If you can, I would defiantly recommend buying the two books at the same time to avoid throwing the first book into a wall.

I liked... the suspense. I stopped in the middle of a very suspenseful scene. That was all I could think of in school the next day. I was all like, "Who needs monomials?! (What IS a monomial anyway? That concept went in one ear and out the other = P) Not me! I need to FINISH THAT BOOK!"

Waiting on Wendsday

2011-02-01T05:24:00.000-08:00

This is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. : )

This doesn't have a cover yet, and the summary is not revealing much. : (
The book is Twisted by Sara Shepard!

The summary:
You thought Wanted was the last book? Well, you were wrong.

It's expected to be published July 2011.

I wonder what else could possibly be squeezed out of the series.
Any guesses?

Love/Hate Reletionships? Hate 'em

2011-01-30T07:11:00.000-08:00

I've never really liked love/hates. It confuses me. I mean, one second she's calling him a jerkwad, and the next they're... making out?

No sense.
At all.

Here is what I envision when I hear of a true love/hate book:

The boy and girl are at a romantic place. Let’s say, for today, it's a dock overlooking the sea. Storm clouds are gathering and the waves are beating at the beach.
" I hate you!" The girl screams dramatically.
" I can't stand you!" The boy says in a deep, sexy tone of voice (also dramatic).
The girl wraps her hands into the boy's perfectly tousled hair, and mashes her mouth into his. The boy freezes for a second, but then he kisses her back.
A huge wave splashes in the background.
*please stand by while this Kodak moment is taking place*

"Mua! Muah!" They kissed, perfectly in sync with one another.
They pull away for just enough time for these words:
"I love you!" The girl cries dramatically.
"I love you, too!" The boy says in a deep, sexy tone of voice (also dramatic, in fact, more dramatic then the first time even).

They mash lips together once more. They would have stayed that way forever... if that pesky rain hadn’t started.
They run, hand in hand, to a sexy, secluded spot (yes, cars count) to finish their make-out session.

They live happily ever after.

Wow.... that was funner then I expected! NOW I know why people love to write love/hates! I'M going to write a love/hate!
But back to the subject at hand.... (omg that was fun) there has to be some attraction before-hand for me. No, an obsession with his finely chiseled abs don't count.
As long as the book doesn't have the cliche scene portrayed above (which, sadly, a lot of books have) the love is okay.
The love/haters have to have a bonding moment. A place where they say, "Huh, he/she isn't so bad. In fact, he/she is awesome."
Is this the same for you? Or have you had a book you really liked that had a love/hate?

Blog Hop/ Follow Friday

2011-01-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

This weekly meme is hosted by http://www.parajunkee.com/ What is your favorite subject in school?
Uhh, do I have to pick one? School is mandatory after all ; )
It's science. We are currently relerning the whole evolotion thing and how the earth came to be. That kind of stuff is interesting to me. I know, NERD!

This weekly meme is hosted by http://www.crazy-for-books.com/ "What book are you most looking forward to seeing published in 2011? Why are you anticipating that book?"Divergent by Veronica Roth. I need a good dystopian read after the Hunger Games : )

To Reread, or not to Reread?

2011-01-27T04:35:00.000-08:00

"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all." — Oscar Wilde
This post is inspired by this quote. (I'm trying to disprove it ; )

I'm usually good at rereading books. Whenever I run out of new books, I take out an old favorite that I haven't read in a while. Most of the books I reread are just as good, or better, then the first time around. I know whats going to happen, so I don't feel like I have to rush to figure out whats going to happen. I pay more attention to little details that, before, I missed. Most of the time rereading makes the book more complete to me.

Or I reread a book that I use to love; and end up hating it. Maybe as I get older, my interests change. Maybe, the first time around, I tended to ignore the annoying parts and focus on the storyline; because I already know the whole plot, when I reread I look to the details.

OR the book is amazing, but I read it too many times already/ the whole reason it was so amazing was because of the mystery/action, like Pretty Little Liars. I really wanted to love those books when I reread them, but not so simple if you plain old get tired of them. They were worth reading.

Like Harry Potter. My BFF has read the series about seventeen times (she's on her eighteenth) I got bored after the third time I read it. It's not like it's bad or anything, but I felt as if I pretty much memorized it.

So? Did I prove him wrong, huh? Huh?

Waiting on Wendsday

2011-01-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

WOW is by Jill at Breaking the Spine. A pretty morbid name if you ask me! ; )

Here is my WOW:

Summary:
Braden Michaels wears his sunglasses at night. And at the movies. And in the shower. Raised by his warlock uncle and taught to use magic, he suffers from a deadly curse: the witch eyes. He sees everything that normal eyes filter out: history and memory; love and pain; magic and darkness. The mind was not meant to process so much information, though, and the power is killing him slowly. The only thing saving his sanity are the sunglasses he always wears.

Then the visions reveal a dark threat on the horizon. Braden runs away to Belle Dam, the city where the threat originated, and is immediately swept up into the town’s mysterious feud. Two rival magical families have divided the town into a personal chessboard of scheming and machinations, and Braden is their latest pawn. As he tries to avoid their manipulations, and see the truth behind his return to Belle Dam, he has a choice to make. One side, or the other. Ignite the feud, or end it. Sacrifice himself, or someone else. Live, or die

That is an amazing superpower! Except for the dying part, of course.

Me, But On Twitter.

2011-01-23T16:33:00.000-08:00

Here is my Twitter.

I'm finding it semi-hard to navigate, but yay anyways! I have to get to to accept my picture, then I'll be all set.
Who will be my first Twitter buddy?

The end of my Twitter-esque post.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

2011-01-23T16:05:00.000-08:00

Stars: 5

Summary from Goodreads: Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

Review:
I finished the book a few minutes ago. And I am still in shock of its awesomeness. I am considering buying twenty copies to hand to my closest friends. I believe, that even my friends who are more likely to burn a book then read it, will fall in love with Anna and the French Kiss.

Oh my god. This book is so hawt. I'm going to die. But first I'm moving to Paris. To go to boarding school. Where hot short guys with English accents wander around and talk to people for fun.

              =  > )    ( My impression of an amazing French/English/American/ Etienne St. Clair emote.
Oui,oui. Or, the Americanized version, wee wee.)

The writing was so easy, it didn't sound forced at all. It felt like I was talking to a friend instead of reading a book. Anna and the French Kiss was never dull. Romance, it has to have some slow parts, right? WRONG. I never felt the need to take a break from this pure amazingness. I was smiling the whole book. My mouth is numb from smiling so much. ( And it hurts I swear I've never smiled for so long is my life.)

Even the supporting characters were so real, the I memorized there names. Margaret/Mar, Rashmi/Rash, Josh. I tend to forget about the supporting characters most of the time : P When I think of Anna's Dad, I think of Nicolas Sparks. (Haha....)
I think Anna's love of movies was a great thing to put in. She even had a movie review website! It reminds me of my book love. Anna feels so relatable to me.  = >)

This book is officially going on one of the best-romance-books-I've-ever-read list. I never find myself liking romance books so much. If I had to pick between romance and paranormal, paranormal would win. I have to rethink my answer after this book.

I am so sorry..... I can't pick love triangle teams anymore. All I can think of is that, if Etienne St. Clair was transported into another book he would KICK EVERY LOVE-TRIANGLED GUYS BUTT. OH YEAH!
LOVE TRIANGE GIRLS, BEWARE.

=  > )              = > )                  = > )                        =  > )                           =  > )                  = >)

Guess Who Hit a Hundred Followers? (Me!)

2011-01-22T17:12:00.000-08:00

I hit one hundred followers today. *sniffle* Wow.... I never thought thought the blog would go so far.

I really want to thank each and every one of my followers for clicking on the "follow" button. For future refrence, the button is at the top left of the blog. Ohhh it's so shiny, and clicky, you shoud try it! In fact, I might just do that myself, it's so fun... *ehem*

And thanks, also, to the readers of the blog who forgot where the shiny, clickly thingie is. You're awesome just for reading. *cough* shiny, clicky *cough*

BOOKWORMS ROCK!

Book Hop/Follow Friday

2011-01-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

This is hosted by parajunkeeHere is the question for this week:
If you mean sports teams, I have no idea. Love triangle teams.... team Ash, team Gale, team Shay. They ROCK! Whose Peeta ? Some random dude, psh. Puck? He's a even MORE random dude. Ren? To be truthful, I didn't even think there was a team Ren : P

This is hosted by crazy-for-books

Here is this weeks question:
"Why do you read the genre that you do? What draws you to it?"

I read YA paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, and contep.
I read it because, first, I am YA. Second, I find the book I read to be interesting for myself. You could also say I have no idea why. Haha...

ON TO THE HOPPING!

Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements

2011-01-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

Stars: 4

Summary from goodreads:

Fifteen-year-old Bobby thinks he knows what it's like to be invisible-he's used to being ignored by the popular kids at school (especially the girls). Even his parents hardly seem to notice whether he's home or not. Then one morning, Bobby wakes up to find that he IS invisible. For real. He can't stop wondering if he'll ever reappear-especially when his parents wreck their car and wind up in the hospital. Now Bobby is all alone. How can he survive in a world where he can't be seen? One thing's for sure: Bobby's not going to just wait around to see if his body will decide to show up again on its own. He's got to take action. Fast.

Review: Bobby wakes up one day, invisible. It turns out, invisibility sucks. What will he do?
He ventures out into the library. He's on his merry way, when he bumps into a blind girl. Her name is Alicia. Since she can't see, she has no idea that Bobby is invisible. Bobby starts hanging out with her, and they become good friends.
Although Bobby/Alicia is a major plot line, The big one is how did Bobby become
invisible? Both Bobby (ack! I keep, accidentally, writing booby : P ) and Alicia's try frantically to find that out.
I read this book in a day. There were so many questions.
1. Why is Bobby invisible?
2. How to make Bobby visible again.
3. Don't Bobby and Alicia make a cute couple?
Overall it is a fast, fun read that I would recommend to any one.

Getting to know Alicia was a great part of the story.
I was looking for a great book with MC's that have disabilities after Girl, Stolen, and Five Flavors of Dumb.
Anyone read any good books with MC's that have disabilities?

Three Cheers For Middle Grade

2011-01-18T14:21:00.000-08:00

Up until a few years ago, my book diet included all MG. Today I was feeling sad for the good old days, before sparkly vampires and the all the things that YA's YA's do, so...

5. This got me interested in blogging. Yes, before I was a book blogger, I was a proud member of Stormclan, a great Warrior Clan of the Blog World. *hangs head in shame*

4. I love Found! I've reread this book sooo many times, it's not even funny.

Add caption

3. *Sniffle* I want to be a djinn. There needs to be a plaque for this book. Maybe I should make one...

2. At the Hop last week I said I wanted to see the movie. I rented it from redbox, and I was all happy. Then I tried to watch it. THEY MESSED IT UP. UGG, I AM SCARED FOR LIFE BECAUSE OF THE WRONGNESS OF THAT MOVIE. I kept yelling that at the screen, but apparently, it didn't hear me. I had to turn it of halfway through, to avoid throwing my nail polish at the screen and ruining my manicure.

1. This ranks higher then Harry Potter. Hate to leave on a down (or up, depending on your perspective) note, but... THEY ARE COMING OUT WITH A MOVIE FOR FABLEHAVEN. After the Gardians of Ga'hoole movie, I have completely lost faith in the movie industry to portray the book in its full awesomeness.

What's your fav middle grade?

Across the Universe Book Launch

2011-01-14T15:09:00.000-08:00

I tried telling my friends how awesome this event was, but they just gave me blank looks. I figured you booky people would realise how awesome it was. Anyways, it was awesome!

When I got there I was nervous. It was my first booky event, so I guess it was justified. The event started at five and I got there at four thirty, I just browsed around the store. It was cute and more homey then the big 'ol Borders I'm use to.

Beth Revis was really nice, and it was interesting getting to know how she made her book.

And.... the moment you've all been waiting for. Drum roll please......

Me! I promise I don't walk around like this in public! I tend to be unphotogenic. : P

I also met Stephanie Perkins, author of Anna and the French Kiss.

I managed to look a little bit more photogenic here. : D (Not by much) Sadly, I didn't have the opportunity to read her book before I met her. I *have* to get it now!
There were some other book bloggers, it was fun to talk about books to someone whose eyes weren't glazing over with boredom.

When I finished Across the Universe a few hours ago, I said frex because the book was so awesome, and I was in school. People stared at me weird.

It's a frexing awesome book! You would be loons not to read it!

Bye for now! : )

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones (review in verse)

2011-01-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

Stars: 5

Summary:My name is Ruby.

This book is about me.

It tells the deeply hideous story

of what happens when my mother dies

and I'm dragged three thousand miles away

from my gorgeous boyfriend, Ray,

to live in L.A. with my father,

who I've never even met

because he's such a scumbag that he

divorced my mom before I was born.

The only way I've ever even seen him

is in the movies,

since he's this mega-famous actor

who's been way too busy

trying to win Oscars

to even visit me once in fifteen years.

Everyone loves my father.
Everyone but me.

Review:

This review

is going to be in verse.

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

is the first book I read in verse

it, was a success.

Ruby

is sad, mad, confused, and most of all

lonely.

LA is

lonely.

Ruby Dooby wants to

go home.

She is

instead

stuck with the father that

in her eyes

abandoned her.

At first

I was worried that

a book in verse, would be hard to read.

That I wouldn't relate to the characters.

I was wrong.

I read the

whole book in one

sitting.

I loved reading about

Ruby in LA.

What happens

to her.

Huh,

writing verse is fun.

(OMG

try to write

a comment in verse!

Yup, I am

a total nerd.

And loving it.)

IMM (In My Mailbox)

2011-01-09T11:07:00.000-08:00

IMM is hosted by The Story Siren. To participate go here.

These books are all from the library. I usually go to the library very rarely, so when I do they have a lot of new books. I call it my "library binge" ; ). I would have gotten more, but the library was closing in ten minutes...

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

I read Hands and Teeth and I can't wait to read this.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

After my non-bookish friend hyperventilated over Beautiful Creatures, I knew I had to read it.

Being by Kevin Brooks

The summary sounded interesting. The summary, annoyingly, said almost nothing. : P

Amazing Grace by Megan Shull

First I liked the name, then I liked the cover, then I liked the summary. I hope the book is just as good as it sounds/looks!

One of those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones

Longest book name ever. Plus I've never read a book in verse before.....

Book Blog Hop

2011-01-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

To participate go to Crazy For Books.

Here is the question of the week!:
"What book influenced or changed your life? How did it influence/change you?"

I can't think of anything that changed me in a really big way, maybe a little bit ; ). I am going to sound like a total freak but... Guardians Of Ga'hoole.
I was obsessed with these books fourth/fifth grade. Me and my (also obsessed) besties would always talk about the book on the playground. We would debate what would happen next; I literally memorized the first few pages of the book : P. I have never before, and currently after, had a serious book discussion.
It influenced me. My, now and forever, favorite animal will always be an owl. I never would have met my best friend if I hadn't gotten her interested in the books.
I was so mad when they came out with a movie. I was like, HELLO? YOU COULDN'T HAVE DONE THIS, LIKE, FOUR YEARS AGO?! Sigh... I would have literally spazzed out if they made the movie when I was in elementary school : (

In Deph Look At My Rating System

2011-01-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

6 Stars: Recently I have given out one of those. I don't expect to give out many, so I don't even have it on my sidebar. It means it put all my five star books TO SHAME.

5 Stars: If you are a long time reader if my blog, you know I give this out often. It's because I really do like most of the books I get (I only get a book if I think I will like it a lot. I guess I'm just a good picker : ). It means I would recommend it to anybody, with girlish fangirl squeals.

4 Stars: Pretty good. It's missing something a five star book has. I would maybe recommend it, but without the girlish fangirl squeals.

3 Stars: It was okay. It didn't really stick out. I could have gone without reading it. I most likely would not recommend it, except to a select group of people who like that genre, or something like that.

2 Stars: At least I could finish it. No, or little good things to say about it. I would recommend it to my worst enemy.

1 Star: DNF, this is like a 6 star for bad books. I wouldn't wish this book upon anybody.

Tada! Pretty cool, right?

Debute Auther Challenge

2011-01-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

Phew... first post of 2011.

2011 Debut Author Challenge participant information:

The objective of the DAC is to read at least twelve novels from Young Adult or Middle Grade Authors. While twelve is the minimum there is no maximum limit! I encourage readers who can read more than twelve to do so!
Anyone can join. You don't have to be a blogger, and you don't have to live in the United States.

You do not have to have an blog written in English to participate.

You can join at anytime. Deadline to join is November 20, 2011. (not 2010 you still have PLENTY of time to sign up!) The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011.

Qualifying books:

Books must be a Young Adult or Middle Grade novel.

DO NOTE: Just because a book has a teen character or is about a teen, does not mean that it is necessarily a Young Adult novel.

This must be the authors debut with a release date in 2011.

If an author has a previous novel published under adult fiction/nonfiction or children's fiction/nonfiction, they can still qualify for the challenge if they are releasing their YA or MG debut.

This is my first time doing the challenge, so I'm exited! Anyone else doing the Debute Auther Challenge?
To enter go here.

New Year, New Design.

2010-12-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

Like it?
I am so greatful to Bethany from Joyfull Girl Creations for designing all this!

Ya'll have a happy, happy New Year.

I will not be posting anything, until next year. Haha, see ya!

Favorite Books Read In 2010!

2010-12-30T15:39:00.000-08:00

I probably should have put this below the looking-forward-to books, lol.

My Favorite Paranormal Romance.

Unexpectedly Really Awesome Book.

Favorite Book Without A Sparkly Vampire (Realistic Fiction)

Book That Made Me Cry A River.

Favorite Main Character. Katsa, she is sooo kick-but. Literally!

Great LGBT Book.

Kept Me Up All Night Reading.

Favorite Cover.

A LOL Book.

ThenextbookinthisseriesbettercomeoutsoonorIamgoingtokillsomeonebook.

HAPPY ALMOST NEW YEAR!!!!

Top ten books I'm looking forward to in 2011!

2010-12-29T07:39:00.000-08:00

(From Goodreads) That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth. Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.
But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?
The first book was cute, and ARCHER!!!

This didn't have a summary. Just like the fist book, I would get this one for the cover (even though the fist book was pure steamy hotness!).

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone--one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship--tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
Just after the first chapter, I would lick my own elbow to get this book. (: P)

What if you knew exactly when you would die?
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.
... Strange, but in a good way.

The same questions whirl round and round in my head:

What does he want from me?
How could I have let this happen?
AM I GOING TO DIE?
17-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with a table, pens and paper - and no clue how she got here.
As Grace pours her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she's tried to forget. There's falling hopelessly in love with the gorgeous Nat, and the unravelling of her relationship with her best friend Sal. But there's something missing. As hard as she's trying to remember, is there something she just can't see?
Grace must face the most important question of all. Why is she here?
A story of dark secrets, intense friendship and electrifying attraction
Another strange book, but the cover is amazing.

Until now, high school junior, John Keats, has only tiptoed near the edges of the vortex that is schoolmate and literary prodigy, Gordon Byron. That is, until their mutual friend, Shelly, drowns in a sailing accident.

After stealing Shelly's ashes from her wake at Trinity Catholic High School, the boys set a course for the small Lake Erie island where Shelly's body had washed ashore and to where she wished to be returned. It would be one last "so Shelly" romantic quest. At least that's what they think. As they navigate around the obstacles and resist temptations during their odyssey, Keats and Gordon glue together the shattered pieces of Shelly's and their own pasts while attempting to make sense of her tragic and premature end
It's not what I'm ussualy interested in, but I'll give it a try :D

When Jill finds a rusty sword tip on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued—and little expects it will transport her through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Will a dark enchantment, salty kisses, and a duel with an evil pirate captain leave her stranded in the eighteenth century forever?

Drawing on piratical lore and historical fact, Carrie Vaughn creates a vivid world of swaying masts and swelling seas, where blood magic overrules the laws of nature, romance is in the air, and death can come at the single slip of a sword
Never read a pirate book before ...

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister’s face when she and Elias left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the horde as they found their way to the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.

Annah’s world stopped that day and she’s been waiting for him to come home ever since. Without him, her life doesn’t feel much different from that of the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Then she meets Catcher and everything feels alive again.
Except, Catcher has his own secrets -- dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah’s longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it’s up to Annah -- can she continue to live in a world drenched in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return’s destruction
I haven't read Dead tossed waves yet, but Hands and Teeth was a perfect mix between awesome and creepy.

One choice

One choice decides your friends, defines your beliefs, and determines your loyalties . . . forever.
Or, one choice can transform you.
In Veronica Roth's debut novel, Divergent, a perfect society unfolds into a dystopian world of electrifying decisions, stunning consequences, heartbreaking betrayals, and unexpected romance.
It's like the Hunger Games? It's, like, awesome!

What if your worst enemy turned out to be the best friend you ever had?
Meet Brooke: Popular, powerful and hating every minute of it, she’s the “It” girl at Douglas High in Lake Champion, Minnesota. Her real ambition? Using her operatic mezzo as a ticket back to NYC, where her family lived before her dad ran off with an up and coming male movie star.
Now meet Kathryn: An overachieving soprano with an underachieving savings account, she’s been a leper ever since Brooke punched her at a party junior year. For Kath, music is the key to a much-needed college scholarship.
The stage is set for a high-stakes duet between the two seniors as they prepare for the prestigious Blackmore competition. Brooke and Kathryn work toward the Blackmore with eyes not just on first prize but on one another, each still stinging from a past that started with friendship and ended in betrayal. With competition day nearing, Brooke dreams of escaping the in-crowd for life as a professional singer, but her scheming BFF Chloe has other plans. And when Kathryn gets an unlikely invitation to Homecoming, she suspects Brooke of trying to sabotage her with one last public humiliation.
As pressures mount, Brooke starts to sense that the person she hates most might just be the best friend she ever had. But Kathryn has a decision to make. Can she forgive? Or are some rivalries for life
Sounds like a good mean girl book.

Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card

2010-12-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

Stars: 6 (Yup, it was so good I had to make up a new number : P)

Summary:
Rigg is well trained at keeping secrets. Only his father knows the truth about Rigg's strange talent for seeing the paths of people's pasts. But when his father dies, Rigg is stunned to learn just how many secrets Father had kept from him -- secrets about Rigg's own past, his identity, and his destiny. And when Rigg discovers that he has the power not only to see the past, but also to change it, his future suddenly becomes anything but certain.

Rigg's birthright sets him on a path that leaves him caught between two factions, one that wants him crowned and one that wants him dead. He will be forced to question everything he thinks he knows, choose who to trust, and push the limits of his talent . . . or forfeit control of his destiny

Review: My six star rating should already tell you a lot, lol. I gave it six because all the other books I rated five stars got blown away by this.
This is like a Harry Potter on crack for sci-fi lovers. Or book-lovers in general : P. I have been wanting to read a good book about time travel. I read the whole book in one sitting. There was always another plot twist that had me saying "Oh, I'll just read this till the next chapter..." and the next, and the next, until there was nothing more left to read.
The book also had me laughing out loud, in various bursts of giggles. The random consequences of their time travel was too cute.
My one and only complaint isn't even book related. When I first looked at the book, I thought its title was "Orson Scott Card" then I realised it was the authors name. The title is the the very bottom, in tiny writing. I hate when covers have the authors name really big and the title small.

Figment

2010-12-20T16:33:00.000-08:00

Click here to go to my page.

Figment.com is my new favorite writing related website.
Some of the writing is really amazing! ( If you don't belive me read this.)

A lot of the members are willing to critique. I found it very helpful with knowing what I need to improve on. : )

Come by, drop a comment. I'll drop by yours, also. = D

She's So Dead To Us Sequel!

2010-12-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

After reading She's So Dead To Us for, like, the fifth time I decided this is my favorite romance novel. Ever (Currently!). I wanted to know when there would be a sequel.

I freaked out when I saw this on Kieran Scott's website Read this:

SHE'S SO DEAD TO US is the first book in a planned trilogy. The second book, HE'S SO NOT WORTH IT is coming to a bookstore near you in Summer 2011!
I love the title!

Summery from Goodreads: Ally Ryan, come on down to the Jersey Shore and forget your troubles!

Have you recently been humiliated in front of your friends and family at your former best friend's birthday party? Was your almost boyfriend partly responsible for that humiliation by withholding some vital information about where your estranged father is? Did you come home to find said estranged father sitting on your stoop?

If so, then it sounds like you could use a vacation! The Jersey Shore is the place to be. Your mother may be living with her boyfriend of only a few months, but at least the stunt Shannen pulled has put some of your friends back in your court. Even so, you're still angry and what better way to get over Jake than to blow off some steam with local guy, Cooper? People will hardly recognize your new attitude, but the old one wasn't getting you anywhere, so who cares!

Jake Graydon, an exciting opportunity is waiting for you in the service industry!

Are your grades so low your parents have grounded you for the summer? Did you the girl you really like unceremoniously leave you behind? Would you rather eat dirt than see your friends again? Then a job at the local coffee shop is just the ticket! Surprisingly, Ally's father is the new manager so you get to be reminded of her nearly every day. Maybe it's time to start flirting with your best friend's ex or even taking school a bit more seriously. Especially when you finally see Ally and she's hanging around with some loser and it's couldn't be more clear that she is over you.

Have a great summer!

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

2010-12-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

Stars: 4

Summary from amazon:
I had a life anyone would kill for.

Then someone did.
The worst part of being dead is that there’s nothing left to live for. No more kisses. No more secrets. No more gossip. It’s enough to kill a girl all over again. But I’m about to get something no one else does—an encore performance, thanks to Emma, the long-lost twin sister I never even got to meet.
Now Emma’s desperate to know what happened to me. And the only way to figure it out is to be me—to slip into my old life and piece it all together. But can she laugh at inside jokes with my best friends? Convince my boyfriend she’s the girl he fell in love with? Pretend to be a happy, carefree daughter when she hugs my parents good night? And can she keep up the charade, even after she realizes my murderer is watching her every move?
Let the lying game begin

Review: I LOVED Pretty Little Liars, and this book was just as suspenseful.

The narrative was from Sutton's ghost wasn't much first person. It was more like third person for Emma, with sporadic comments from Sutton. The plot for this one is Sutton is dead, and no one knows who killed her. Not even Sutton herself.

While the book is mostly mystery, there was a cute romance thrown in. Ethan was a someone Sutton would have never hung out with, but it's not Sutton, now is it? Emma and Ethan are so cute together! Too bad that Sutton's boyfriend is Garret, and if this book's mystery is anything like PLL, Ethan will be a crazy axe murderer in the next book. : P Oh, well it was cute while it lasted ; )

This book's plot turns kept me guessing. At one time I was like: She's the murderer!...Nevermind! He's the murderer!
Yeah... If this seires is as long as the PLL I'll be broke by the end of it.

PS The comment box for this post isn't working. Does anyone know how to fix it? (Comment on the post below : P )

Blog Hop

2010-12-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

Go to http://www.crazy-for-books.com/ to join in!

This week question is (Drum roll please)....

"What is the thing you like most about reading book blogs? Is it the reviews, author guest posts, articles, giveaways, or something else entirely?"

All of the above? I love discovering new (and good) books because of positive reviews, and to know which books to avoid with negative ones. The author interviews and all are fun to read, I love seeing how they write. Articals... I may like them most of all. It's interesting reading bloggers tips, and stories. I only recently started entering giveaways and I haven't won anything yet, but I still like the idea that I could win something.

Happy Friday Hopping!

Epic Across The Universe Contest

2010-12-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

Go to http://bethrevis.blogspot.com/2010/12/epic-contest-of-epic.html to participate

So, yesterday I read the first chapter and completely spazzed out. The first chapter was amazing. I googled her website today, and found out she's having a contest! 33 days, 18 hours, 41 minutes, and... *Goes to check website* 52 seconds is a billion years too long to wait. Now she is having a contest and there is a HUNDRED(100) winners. *crosses fingers and hopes to win*

Waiting on Wensday(1)

2010-12-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

This is my first WOW! You can participate at: http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/

Summary:
When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

Just look at that summary! Does that not sound interesting?