Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Series That I'd Like To Start But Haven't Yet

 
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

Wow.. There are so many series I want to start but haven't yet!!
My Top Ten:


The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)
1. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
This series looks so cool. A lot of people love it, and the dystopian theme sounds like something I would like. I should really start it soon!









Delirium (Delirium, #1)
2. Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I've accidentally read a terrible spoiler from the second book of this series, and now I'm not sure if I should read it. This week I read two great reviews  and I've heard that it's going to be adapted to the small screen... Now I'm not sure what to do. XP







Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1)
3. The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
City of Bones is one of my favorite series ever!! Cassandra Clare is an AMAZING author. I'm sure I would love anything by her. One of my friends told my that this prequel series is even better.









Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1)
4. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
I always like reading about and magic and witchcraft  I must read it before I watch the movie!! I've already got myself a copy. Hope I'll like it (:










Obsidian (Lux, #1)5. Lux by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I really like the combination of aliens and urban fantasy.











The next 5:
The Iron King (The Iron Fey, #1)    Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1) 

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, #1)    Catching Jordan (Hundred Oaks, #1)    Breathe (Sea Breeze, #1)

That's all!! Hope I will read everything this year (:
What the your top ten series you want to read?

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Sunday Post :D:D



Hi everybody!! (:
This is my first Sunday post...
I wanted to say thank you to all of my readers and followers. I really appreciate it <3


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Here are all the books I got this week (:

For review:

A Corner of White (The Colours of Madeleine #1)
A Corner of White (The Colors of Madeleine #1) by Jaclyn Moriarty - Goodreads
Received from Netgalley. Thank you Scholastic!! :D


Kindle eBooks:

 Of Poseidon (Of Poseidon, #1) Zom-B (Zom-B, #1)
 A Certain Slant of Light (Light, #1) Wait for You


Hard Copies:

Borrowed from a friend. I must read it before I watch the movie. :P



Reading plans for the week:
Finish Strength by Carrie Butler (I'm already 50% through)

I really can't wait to read this one. It sounds so great!!


What books did you get this week? What are your reading plans?
Have a fantastic week!!! <3




Friday, March 1, 2013

Book Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman


Where She Went (If I Stay, #2)Where She Went (If I Stay #2)

Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: November 4th 2010
Source: Bought for my Kindle

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future-and each other.

 Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

*There might be spoilers for If I Stay!!*

Let  me start by saying I totally loved If I Stay. It was such a beautiful, moving story. I've readit  a while ago, but I still think about it a lot. Many people told me that the sequel is even better. I had my hopes very high, but I was a little disappointed.

This book is told from Adam's point of view.Three years have passed since the terrible accident. Adam has now everything he has ever wanted - his band is super-successful, he is now rich, famous and is dating a hot, famous girl. But he is still depressed. He can't stop thinking about Mia - Mia who has decided to cut off their relationship when she went to study in Julliard.
Accidentally, the two of them meet in New York, only one day before each one of them is going to a long tour around the world. Can they fix their relationship? Can they open their hearts for each other?

My favorite thing about the book was that it was focused about music. Both Mia and Adam were musicians. They lived and breathed music. Even though the two of them played a different type of music - classic and rock, they still enjoyed each other's playing. I also loved reading about the music world and about the lives of talented young musicians - the opportunities they were taking, the life around tours, what's it like to be famous, how they deal with success/failure...

The book's writing style was very unique. I think that Gayle Forman is a very talented author. I just love how she combines the past in the plot - revealing small details each time until we get the whole picture. At the end of the book, I felt like the characters are old friends of mine - like we've shared our childhood together.

What I didn't like about the book were the two main characters. In If I Stay, I liked them pretty well, but in this book, both Adam and Mia were annoying! Adam was deep in his own sorrow and didn't care about anyone else. Not his girlfriend, not the other band members, not his manager, not his fans.. He was all selfish and whiny.
Mia, from her side, wasn't so good either... She has dumped Adam without saying a word, without caring about his feelings. I know she was going through a really hard time after the accident, but Adam was so sweet and was ready to do anything for her. How could she hurt him like that?!?! It really frustrated me....

From the moment the two of them met, the story became very predictable. There was nothing surprising at the end. Everything was too good about it... too happily-ever-after. It was really disappointing.

Overall, this book was very good, but it didn't blew me away the way If I Stay did. I'm not even sure if it was a necessary sequel. I recommend it only to fans of the first book who need to know how the story ended.


Rating:


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Monday, February 18, 2013

Review: Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook

Nobody But Us
Nobody But Us
Author: Kristin Halbrook
Genre: YA contemporary romance, road trip
Format read: Kindle version


Bonnie and Clyde meets IF I STAY in this addictively heart-wrenching story of two desperate teenagers on the run from their pasts.

They’re young. They’re in love. They’re on the run.

Zoe wants to save Will as much as Will wants to save Zoe. When Will turns eighteen, they decide to run away together. But they never expected their escape to be so fraught with danger....

 When the whole world is after you, sometimes it seems like you can’t run fast enough.

Nobody But Us, told in alternating perspectives from Will and Zoe, is an unflinching novel, in turns heartbreaking and hopeful, about survival, choices, and love...and how having love doesn't always mean that you get a happy ending. Described as “beautiful, heartbreaking, and exhilarating” by Kody Keplinger, author of The DUFF, Nobody But Us will prove irresistible to fans of Nina Lacour, Jenny Han, and Sara Zarr.


This book was absolutely amazing. When I first picked it up, I wasn't expecting such a heart-breaking, emotional and beautifully told story.

Zoe and Will both have hard lives. Since Will's mother has abandoned him when he was a baby, he's been moving from one foster-home to another, never finding his place. He never felt loved or cared for. All he wanted to do when he turned 18 was to run far, find himself a better future and never come back.
15-year-old Zoe has always lived in fear because she could never know what will irritate her abusive father and cause him to hit her. She always walked around with bruises on her face and just tried to ignore them and continue her life.
Will and Zoe decide to leave their state - North Dakota, and make all the long way to Vegas to start a new life together there. This book describes their trip, a trip that will change everything. Can they run away from their pasts?

The relationship between Will and Zoe was very unusual - it was like nothing I've ever seen before in a YA book. The two of them were very different from each other and it looked like they can't make a good match. Despite that, they became a very strong couple, and I think it was because each one has managed to fill the needs of the other.
Zoe was sensitive and couldn't stand up for herself. All she needed was someone to love her and to protect her like the father she never had. I could see how Will became like a father to a her - he did anything a could to keep her safe and always thought about her first.
Will, from the other side, needed someone to keep him steady. He had a tendency to outburst and to go into violent fights without thinking. Zoe, who was more careful, balanced him.
Overall, their relationship was very sweet and positive. But there were some times when I felt like something is off about the way they treat each other, and especially Will. He was a little possessive and over-protective, and sometimes his influence on Zoe wasn't good. [SPOILER: That is why I agreed with the decision she made at the end]
I loved reading about their complicated relationship and it was my favorite part of the book.

This book was very well written - it was fluent and easy-to-read. The story was told from two POVs - Zoe's and Will's. The switch between the two POVs was done very well, and it made me like the book even more. It was very interesting to read how both the main characters felt and how they reacted differently to situations.

When the book started, I had no idea in which direction the plot would go. There were many problems mixed together, and I thought that the author is going to choose one of them to focus on. But somehow, the author took the story to somewhere else entirely and made the plot very creative and original.
The end was stunning! It broke my heart!! I really can't believe the author could think of such an ending to this book. I can't say much because I don't want to spoil the book for you, but be sure it turned this book into an absolute tearjerker.

This book was excellent and I highly recommend it to people who are looking for a deep, emotional read.

Rating:


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Friday, February 15, 2013

Blog Tour: Lucifer (Sons Of Old Trilogy 1#) by Annabell Cadiz - Review


Lucifer (Sons of Old Trilogy, #1)Lucifer
Author: Annabell Cadiz
Publication Date: January 31st 2013

Blurb:
Have you ever wondered what could be hiding in the shadows?

Well, for eighteen-year-old Zahara Faraday, she doesn’t have to wonder. You see she comes from a lineage of Light Witches, those who have chosen to help protect and serve between the supernatural world and the human world. The only problem is Zahara, like her father Solomon, is as human as a human being can be whereas her mother, Mia, and her Aunt Catalina, were born as Light Witches. As a family they hunt down rogue supernaturals—creatures who harm humans or who have committed an act against their kingdom. 

Zahara’s hunting skills are usually kept dormant since her parents would prefer she live life as a normal human girl without knowledge of the supernatural world. She plans on doing just that—except when she finds a couple being attacked by fairies, she has no choice but to step in. Before she can return to pretending to be blissfully ignorant, Zahara encounters a problem she isn’t the least equip to handle: Bryan Hamilton, the good looking new co-worker she has to help train. In a heartbeat, her best friend, Becca King, has set her up on a double date with herself and her new crush, Rekesh Saint-Louis, who happens to be the most powerful leader of the biggest Imago Coven in South Florida –supernatural creatures with the ability to control water . . . and suck out human souls. 

Zahara has no time to focus on how she’s going to explain her double date with her best friend and the enemy they have a tentative truce with to her parents because soon one of the members of Mia and Catalina’s coven is found murdered with a strange tattoo of a snake with wings carved into his arm.

Zahara is then thrown into a whirlwind battle with an angel determined to have revenge against God, an Imago coven she doesn’t think they should trust, and slew of dream-eating fairies and powerful Nephilims, hybrid children of angels and humans, more than happy to rip her to shreds.

Normal just got a deadlier definition


My Thoughts:

This book was very enjoyable! It reminded me a little of City of Bones - one of my favorite books ever.
The idea was very original and kept me interested during the book. I really liked the fighting scenes - they were actually my favorite part! I like action in books, and this one was packed with it (:
I also liked Zahara, the book's main character. I really like reading books about characters I can relate to, and the fact the Zahara was a bookworm, just like me, really made me like her! What I loved about Zahara was that she she wasn't flawless - sometimes she acted without thinking and was too impulsive , but she always proved how brave she is by finding her way out of deadly situations.
The only thing that annoyed me about the book was the descriptions, which were unnecessary at times. For example - every time a character switched clothes, there were 10 lines describing everything she/he wore to the smallest detail. It made me a little tired...

Overall, this book was very nice and readable. I'm sure many people would love it, and especially Urban Fantasy fans.



3 STARS

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Book Review: The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington

The Dead and Buried
The Dead and Buried

Author: Kim Harrington
Genre: YA paranormal romance and horror
Publication date: January 1st 2013
Source: eARC provided by Scholastic Press. Thank you very much!!

Book Description:
When Jade moves with her father, stepmother and 5-year-old half brother to one of the nicer towns near Boston, everything about their new house seems perfect.
But when people at school look at her weirdly when she mentions her address, Jade understands that something is wrong.
Soon she finds out that Kayla, the most popular girl in school, died in this house last year.
Kayla is still in the house - haunting it. She wants Jade to find her murderer, and if Jade won't do it, she will kill her brother.

Jade starts to look for Kayla's murderer, but finding him is not easy. Apparently  almost everyone in this school has a motive to kill Kayla. Can Jade find the killer? Can she save her brother?

My thoughts:
This book was one of the best books I've ever read!! It's hard to describe how much I LOVED it. 

This books is a combination of horror, mystery and high school drama. I like all three of them and together, they make a FANTASTIC combination!  I'm not even sure which part of the book I liked best since everything was so good!!

I loved it when Jade communicated or felt the ghost's presence. These were the creepiest parts... and they were really, truly creepy!!! There were moments when I was thinking that this book can't get any creepier, but it did.  I think I haven't slept for a couple of nights because of that XP
Another good thing was that this book was very hard to guess. I really hate it when I guess the ending right on the first few pages... In this book, I understood who the murderer was only at the ending. This is a world record, because I'm a very good book-guesser! lol

Jade was a great character. She always acted like her true self and was very open to other people. She befriended only people she liked without caring about their popularity.
Jade and her brother had a very special relationship. Even though he was only her half-brother, Jade loved him very much and would do anything to keep him safe. I loved how Jade cared for her family more than anything. 

The ending of the book was very satisfying. It was a closed ending that didn't leave me with unanswered questions, which I really appreciate.

Recommended for: people who like creepy ghost stories and contemporary romance lovers (:


Five Shining Stars :D