Teaser Tuesday! May 31, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser:

 

The best thing about crying is that it always knocks me out. I slept really well last night, even with the stupid dogs howling around midnight or so. 

(Need by Carrie Jones, page 18)

Book Review - "Across the Universe" by Beth Revis

Publisher - Razorbill

Release Date - January 11, 2011

Number of Pages - 398

Series - Across the Universe #1

Source - Library

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.


Well, I'm changing my review format again. I want my reviews to be a little more detailed, which is the reason why. 

Anyways, let's get on with the review. This book takes place in space. Cool, right? The main setting is the spaceship Godspeed. The setting was created and described really well, I could almost feel like I was there.

The concept of this book is really unique. There's a mix of sci-fi, dystopian, mystery  and romance. There's just no other  book like it. The storyline is really interesting!

Characters...just amazing.

This book deals with a lot of social issues, which I loved. Seriously, I have no idea how Beth Revis could plan such an amazing story! She's a genius!

Overall, this book was amazing! One of the best this year!

5/5

In My Mailbox #6

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

Only two!

"Hex Hall" by Rachel Hawkins (Bought)
"Beautiful Darkness" by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Library)

So excited!

Book Review - "The Iron King" by Julie Kagawa

Publisher - Harlequin Teen
Release Date - February 1, 2010
Number of Pages - 363
Series - Iron Fey #1

The blurb from the back:
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Pros
- So unique! Seriously... was not expecting it to be like that.
- It had some very likeable characters (Puck, Grimalkin)
- Beautiful cover

Cons
- At a particular moment I felt that there were too many battles.
- Meghan really annoyed me
- Overall, just didn't enjoy it.

Overall, okay
2.5/5

Teaser Tuesday! May 24 2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser:

 

He paused expectantly.

"Yeah?" I prodded, having no idea where he was going with this.

 (Haven by Kristi Cook, page 239)

 

Teaser Tuesdays! May 17, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser:

 

A branch snapped in the trees, closer this time. I shifted uncomfortably, determined not to turn around for some stupid squirrel or raccoon. ("The Iron King" by Julie Kagawa, Page 17) 

 

Book Review - "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman

Publisher - Speak
Release Date - January 1, 2009
Number of Pages - 259
Series - If I Stay #1

 THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING!

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

Pros
- Everything about this book is amazing!


Cons
- It is impossible for this masterpiece to have any cons

I love this book! 
5/5

In My Mailbox #5

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

Only two this week :

Library
"City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare
"The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" by Stephenie Meyer (audiobook)

I will not participate in In My Mailbox next week. Just saying.

Book Review - "The Body Finder" by Kimberly Derting

Publisher - HarperTeen
Release Date - March 16, 2010
Number of Pages- 336
Series - The Body Finder #1

The blurb :
Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself.

Pros
- Paranormal, romance and mystery all in one!
- Amazingly written! Even though it was written from 3rd person, I could still know what the characters were feeling and thinking, it was great! 
- Very realistic characters. I could relate a lot.
- Unique concept
- Pretty shade of blue on the cover.


Cons
- It was a great book, but it just wasn't perfect. There was this thing that made me not give this book 5 stars. It just wasn't...captivating. It didn't suck me in like, let's say, Princess Diaries series.


A really good book overall. I want to read the next one.
4.5/5

Book Review - "The Luxe" by Anna Godbersen

Publisher - Harper Collins
Release Date - November 20, 2007
Number of Pages - 433

Haven't posted a review in a while, so here you go!
The summary:
In the self-contained world of young Gilded Age Manhattan socialites, Elizabeth and Diana Holland reign supreme. Or so it seems. Scratch the surface, though, and you can detect festering jealousies that threaten to topple them. Elizabeth suffers a more literal fall when her carriage overturns and she is carried away by the swift East River current.


Pros
- Scandals, secrets, drama! So intense!
- THE COVER!
- Each chapter started with either an invitation, newspaper article or something like that. That was really cool.
- The setting ( New York in 1899) is very believable.
- Well-written

Cons
- Well, if you think about it...I've got nothing

Amazing book!
5/5

In My Mailbox #4

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi from the Story Siren.

I got some awesome books this week!


"Stay" by Deb Calletti (Pulse It)
"Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide" by Stephenie Meyer (Bought)
"Across the Universe" by Beth Revis (Library)
"Secrets of My Hollywood Life" by Jen Calonita (Library)

Book Review - "Jinx" by Meg Cabot

Publisher - HarperTeen
Release Date - August 1, 2007
Number of Pages - 272

Synopsis:
It's not easy being Jinx.

Jean Honeychurch hates her boring name (not Jean Marie, or Jeanette, just . . . Jean). What's worse? Her all-too-appropriate nickname, Jinx. Misfortune seems to follow her everywhere she goes even to New York City, where Jinx has moved to get away from the huge mess she caused in her small hometown. Her aunt and uncle welcome her to their Manhattan town house, but her beautiful cousin Tory isn't so thrilled. . . .

In fact, Tory is hiding a dangerous secret one that could put them all in danger. Soon Jinx realizes it isn't just bad luck she's been running from . . . and that the curse she has lived under since the day she was born may be the only thing that can save her life.


Pros
- I read it in a day. Of course it's good!
- Writing style is amazing! It's so informal yet formal but... I can't explain it.
- Very likeable (and unlikable) characters.
- The story is just so unique... don't I say that for almost every book I read?
- Interesting twists at every corner!
- Pretty cover
- Meg Cabot is not able to write a bad book

Cons
-I chose to do this book for my English project... but I still liked the book!

5/5

The Little Me Tag

1. The most randomest moment of 2011 so far?
Seeing a teacher running randomly in the hallway turning around with a frightened look on his face. ( Seriously, I have no idea what was going on.)
2. Do you own a e-reader of any type?
No.
3. What is you most scariest childhood memory?
Going to cemetery and seeing a snake.
4. What is your favourite type of gaming console?
Nintendo Wii.
5. What is your current obsession?
Blogging!
6. Do you still have toys/clothes from when you were little?
No.
7. Do you think any movie/drama spoiled the book?
Probably.
8. Your favourite cinema treat?
Popcorn.
9. What are you like when you are hyper?
I sing random songs, say random stuff and I act crazy.
10. What are you three favourite possessions?
My ice skates, my Virgin Mary necklace and my books of course!
11. What is the worst gift you ever got?
A toy gun from my grandpa, when I was 6 (I'm a girl, for crying out loud!)
12. Would you fly a plane or ride a motor bike?
Ride a motor bike.
13. What is the worst song you ever heard?
"Friday" by Rebecca Black
14. What is your favourite board game?
Guess Who?
15. Have you ever tried pocky and if so what did you think of it?
What's pocky?
16. Have you ever taken part in a talent show and if so what do you do and how did you feel?
I auditioned for talent show with my friends in grade 6, but we didn't make it. We sang "Rockstar" by Hannah Montana.

This tag was created by Lolchan from YouTube. I tag everyone who feels like doing this tag!

Book Review - "Beautiful Creatures" by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Publisher - Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date-December 1, 2009 
Number of Pages- 563
Series- Caster Chronicles #1

The synopsis:
There were no surprises in Gatlin County. We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere. At least, that's what I thought. Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.There was a curse. There was a girl. And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Pros
- The characters were really, truly well-done! I grew to care about them and I was close to crying when they were in danger.
- Such an interesting story! Kept me interested the entire time.
- Beautiful writing style
- Pretty cover


Cons
- Even if I wanted to nitpick, I wouldn't be able to find anything I disliked.


AMAZINGNESS!
5/5

Book Review - "Pretty Little Liars" by Sara Shepard

Publisher - Harper Teen
Release Date - October 1, 2006
Number of Pages - 286

The synopsis of this book :
Three years ago, Alison disappeared after a slumber party, not to be seen since. Her friends at the elite Pennsylvania school mourned her, but they also breathed secret sighs of relief. Each of them guarded a secret that only Alison had known. Now they have other dirty little secrets, secrets that could sink them in their gossip-hungry world. When each of them begins receiving anonymous emails and text messages, panic, sets in. Are they being betrayed by some one in their circle? Worse yet: Is Alison back?

Why is there a Barbie doll on the cover?

Pros
- Where should I begin? The plot of course! The things those girls did... forbidden, sexy and dangerous! The author created amazing plot full of crazy stuff!
- Loved all the back story on all the characters! 
- This book is mysterious and creepy. Gave me shivers.
- The concept is so unique!
- Well-written

Cons
- I expected it to be a little more intense.
- It seems unrealistic to me, but I might be wrong
- Once again, WHY IS THERE A BARBIE DOLL ON THE COVER?

Overall a good read! I definitely recommend it! I also recommend the TV show.
4/5     

PS. Can someone tell me why there is a doll on the cover?