Want Want Want Wednesday (20)

Brother/Sister By Sean Olin

"Will and Asheley have a troubled past. Their father left them when they were little, and their mother has just been carted off to an alcohol treatment center. Now, they have the house to themselves, and an endless California summer stretching out before them. Through alternating perspectives, they tell the story of how and why their lives spun violently out of control - right up to the impossibly shocking conclusion you'll have to read for yourself to believe."

I read about this book a while ago on someone's blog (I wish I could remember whose) and was very interested in the book.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone By Laini Taylor 

"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?"

EVERYONE is saying how awesome this book is and the more and more I hear about the book, the more I MUST have it, I am so jealous of everyone who has already been able to read it.

The Surgeon By Tess Gerristen

One of my favorite shows on TV right now is Rizzoli and Isles and what I didn't know is that before it was a TV show they were a series of books! This is one of the 1st books in the series and I am very interested in seeing if I will like them as much as I like the show and if there is any correlation between the two.

Top Ten Tuesday : Books on My TBR for Fall

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

1.

Masquerade By Melissa De La Cruz - 

I have taken this book as well as the next two with me up North in hopes that I could finish reading them by the time I go back home on Thursday... I also need to finish reading this book and Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by then cause that is when they are due back at the library! Overall, I have been more then stoked to begin reading this book. 

2.

Cross My Heart and Hope To Spy By Ally Carter -

Like I said above this is due this Thursday, so I really hope I can get to this book by then, I am interested in reading this book and seeing if the series gets better.

3.

The Arranger By L.J.Sellers-

Since this book is for review it is the next on my TBR after Library books and before bought books. =) 

4.

Heart of The Matter By Emily Giffin-

Uhm, I have wanted this book for OVER a year now and bought this book about 3 months ago, unfortunately  it is on my TBR list as a bought book, which takes last priority of when it gets to be read, but finally its time is getting closer and closer to be read and I am SO SO SO happy about this. 

5.

My Zoo Family By Helen Martini-

My Grandma mailed me this book and like the previous book and the book after this one it has the awful pleasure of being a book that wasn't a immediate need to read. But since I like to read my bought/gifted books in the order I have received them , I will be reading this soon. 

6. 

A Place of Yes By Bethenny Frankel -

I recommended this book to my Mom, who in turned loved it so much she got me the book! Which I am excited since I absolutely ADORE her!

7. 

Bright Young Things By Anna Godbersen  - 

I was thrilled when this came in the mail and then ultimately sad when I had t put it at the bottom of my TBR, but I am finally getting closer to having it read. I really hope this book and series does not disappoint me, as the Luxe Series did.

8.

Devoted By Hilary Duff - 

OK, SO technically I don't have this book yet and since it doesn't arrive until Oct. 10th, I probably will have other books on my TBR. BUT as of now this is the next one. I LOVED Elixir SO much, that I cannot wait to get to read Devoted. My only downside to this book is I am not a fan of the cover. Mainly, cause it doesn't match the original cover, which is beautiful and then one I have. 

In My Mailbox (15)

For Review

The Arranger By L.J. Sellers 

also came signed and with an AWESOME bookmark!

So Thank You L.J. Sellers VERY MUCH!

Sorry Guys!!!

Sorry Guys, I have been sick since last week, which has put a holt on my blogging and slowed down my reading! Don't Worry Though, I have not stopped blogging and will be back in full force hopefully soon!

Splendor

** THIS IS THE FINAL BOOK OF THE LUXE NOVELS, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**

I am going to write this book in my old format, mainly cause I just don't feel my new review format works for what I have to say about this book. Being the final book in the series, I was excited to see how this series was going to end. Originally, when I started the series, I was not impressed but the 2nd and 3rd books of the series had me hooked, with all its twists and turns. I wanted to know how Diana and Henry would get together, if Penelope would get a taste of her own medicine, I wasn't a fan of Carolina Broad at first and thought she would be found out and ridiculed but I soon got excited for her and wanted her to fall in love with Leland and well Elizabeth, I really didn't care.

Unfortunately, this book disappointed me GREATLY! and The Series in general did not live up to the hype in my opinion. I mean I got really sick of Diana and Henry's we love each other, here is our secret plan, but oh wait! something happens that makes this not realistic. This isn't a TV series! So, I was CLEARLY upset when they didn't end up together at all! Then Yes, I happy that Penelope got a taste of her medicine, but then her and Henry make up and stay friends. PLEASE, she was a crazy BIOTCH! I would have LOVED her to be publicly humiliated FOREVER! Carolina and Leland were amazing and I felt he genuinely loved her enough to not care that she had hidden her past, but no, this did not happen and frustrated me more. I was happy that Elizabeth and Teddy ended up getting together, but I would have enjoyed the Mr. Cairns story line to have been left out. In fact, there was a lot of filler drama in my opinion. As if Godbersen almost didn't have any idea what the plot was, so she just kept adding drama and then quickly tying ends. True, I can see why the story ended the way it did, but I was SO SO SO disappointed. I felt my time was wasted reading this series.

Want Want Want Wednesday (19)

Ruby Red By Kerstin Gier

"Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!
Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust."

Being that I am a history nerd this definitely strikes me as a book that is right up my ally, with the whole time traveling thing and then it brings in a mystery element to it with the question of why her mom hid her birth date. Tons of Potential. 

 Juliet Immortal By Stacey Jay

"The most tragic love story in history . . .

Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love."

 Uhm, I absolutely adore when authors take classic stories and give them a twist. But I am pretty sure this is one of the biggest twists/re-tellings of this story I have heard of and it sounds kick-ass! I want this book immediately!

Some Girls: My Life in a Harem By Jillian Lauren

"At eighteen, Jillian Lauren was an NYU theater school dropout with a tip about an upcoming audition. The "casting director" told her that a rich businessman in Singapore would pay pretty American girls $20,000 if they stayed for two weeks to spice up his parties. Soon, Jillian was on a plane to Borneo, where she would spend the next eighteen months in the harem of Prince Jefri Bolkiah, youngest brother of the Sultan of Brunei, leaving behind her gritty East Village apartment for a palace with rugs laced with gold and trading her band of artist friends for a coterie of backstabbing beauties."

This sounds like it will be a unique, raw and gritty story that I am so so so interested in reading,

Envy

Summary:

"Jealous whispers. Old rivalries. New betrayals.
Two months after Elizabeth Holland's dramatic homecoming, Manhattan eagerly awaits her return to the pinnacle of society. However, when she refuses to rejoin her sister Diana's side, those watching New York's favorite family begin to whisper that all is not as it seems behind the stately doors of No. 17 Gramercy Park.
In this thrilling installment of Anna Godbersen's bestselling Luxe series, Manhattan's most envied residents appear to have everything they desire: Wealth. Beauty. Happiness. But sometimes the most practiced smiles hide the most scandalous secrets. . . ."

Plot: I love the plots of these novels more and more! Godbersen keeps the plots and twists period appropriate while being surprising and daring.

Characters: The characters are pretty much the same which I like. I like that her characters don't forget what has happened to the them in the past books, they remember and act appropriately.

Pros: Historical accurate, exciting plot twists

Cons: There is something missing in the writing, that gives it that wow factor.

Final Thoughts: The more I read the series, the more I am interested in it and the more invested I become in the characters. My biggest things is that the issues the characters face is Era and Class appropriate issues. I also, love that the second you think you know what is going to happen, Godbersen adds an unforeseen twist that keeps you wondering how is this situation going to play out, where is it going, etc. The series is a great young adult series for girls and I am more then excited to read Splendor the fourth and final(?) book in the series.

In My Mailbox (14)

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

What you do in, In My Mailbox is share the books you received that week, it can be as gifts,for review,bought, from the library, etc. 

and this week is my 1st week not doing In My Mailbox is VLog form.

From The Library:

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy By Ally Carter - This is the 2nd book in the Gallagher Girl series. I enjoyed the 1st one and am stoked to see the story continue. I also loved Heist Society by Ally Carter.

Masquerade By Melissa De La Cruz - Also, the 2nd book in the Blue Bloods Novels. I was really intrigued by the different take on Vampires in this series and am dying to know more!

Blue Bloods

Summary:

"De la Cruz has revamped traditional vampire lore in this story featuring a group of attractive, privileged Manhattan teens who attend a prestigious private school. Schuyler Van Alen, 15, the last of the line in a distinguished family, is being raised by her distant and forbidding grandmother. Schuyler, her friend Oliver, and their new friend Dylan are treated like outsiders by the clique of popular, athletic, and beautiful teens made up of Mimi Force, her twin brother, and her best friend. What they have in common is the fact that they are all Blue Bloods, or vampires. They don't realize that they aren't normal until they reach age 15. Then the symptoms manifest themselves and they begin to crave raw meat, have nightmares about events in history, and get prominent blue veins in their arms. Their immortality and way of life are threatened after Blue Blood teens start getting murdered by a splinter group called the Silver Bloods. This novel constantly name-drops and is full of product placements, drinking, drugs, nonexplicit sex, and superficial characterizations, but the intriguing plot will keep teens reading. De la Cruz's explanation for the disappearance of the Colony of Roanoke is unique and the idea that models don't gain weight because they are Blue Bloods rather than anorexic is unusual."

Plot: The plot is another new take on modern day Vampires, with a historical twist on it. I found the plot very intriguing and amusing. Nicely written and creative.

Characters: The characters are pretty much the basics, The Outsider who is actually kind of cute and special, The Outsiders best friend, The Rebel, The Heart Throb, The Beautiful Mean Girl, The Mean Girls Best Friend..who is actually nice. In that sense, the characters are pretty typical, yet well written enough to make them interesting.

Pros: Different approach, Intriguing

Cons: It was rushed when it came to the whole love thing, and it was hard to tell of what day it was, it seemed all rushed together.

Final Thoughts: Although I am getting tired of Vampires and stuff, I was really sucked into this book. I think it was the whole Reincarnation, flashback through history thing. I am a sucker for that kind of stuff. Then I found it hilarious how the idea that most of the beautiful, rich people in New York and around were Vampires. I am really excited to read the 2nd book in the series. 

Top Ten Tuesday : Underrated Books

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

1. Elixir By Hilary Duff

2. Mick Harte Was Here By Barbara Parker

3. Asylum By Patrick McGrath

4. A Scattered Life By Karen McQuestion

5. America By Heart By Sarah Palin

 

6. Something Borrowed By Emily Giffin

7. There's No Place Like Here By Cecelia Ahern

8. I Do, Now What? By Giuliana and Bill Rancic

This is All I can Think of right now = /

Vixen

Summary:

"Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination. Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they? Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .  Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . . "

Plot: At first it was hard for me to get into this book, mainly cause I find similarities between the Luxe Series and this one. And although I have yet to read Bright Young Things (also, by the author of The Luxe Series) It also has 20's premise. But when you take the book for what it is, it has a nice intriguing story line, that is intriguing enough, but not unique.

Character: The three girls I enjoyed, you can't really dislike any of them too much. They each are there own person and Larkin distinguishes that pretty well, but telling each chapter in a different view point. She also, develops strong male characters and well as other supporting characters.

Pros: Fun, enticing and rip roaring 20's 

Cons: The insta- love, not enough build up between the characters. Also, on the page I was appalled to see a character using the phrase "Oh My Gawd..." Not my idea of proper 20's language. This instantly made me even more skeptical 

Final Thoughts: I feel the story line has already been done and it was pretty similar to Anna Godbersen's the Luxe Series. However, like i said when I read the book at face value and understood that it is hard to be completely original and you just need to add your own touch to it. Once, I did that I began to really enjoy the book. I fell in love with Jerome and Marcus (future MBBF's?) I felt I was reading a dirty love novel when they were each together with their leading ladies. Although kept quite G-Rated. I could feel their passion. The only thing was I wanted more build up. In general I wanted a little more build up. I didn't feel as if the book had enough description. It was set in the 20's but didn't feel like it was in the 20's much at all. Larkin did take her characters to interesting conclusions and the end of this book though and since I do like the girls, I am interested in seeing where these paths will lead them. 

In My Mailbox (13)

Hosted By The Story Siren

For Review:

Star Struck By Jane Lovering 

(Thank You Liz From ChocLit UK)

Where She Went

Summary:

"In the three years since the tragic accident Mia barely survived in If I Stay, she and high school ex-boyfriend Adam have lived separate lives on opposite coasts. But then Adam, now the dissatisfied front man of popular LA-based band Collateral Damage, stops over in New York City for one night before kicking off the European leg of his tour. It happens to be the same evening that Mia, now well on her way to becoming a renowned cellist, is performing at Carnegie Hall. Adam buys a ticket, planning to slip in and out, but Mia spots him and for the first time in years they’re face-to-face with each other and their shared past. Over the course of one evening, as Adam and Mia traverse the city’s streets, they relive the four days Mia spent in the intensive care unit as well as her departure to Juilliard and from the life she knew. Emotionally raw and incredibly moving, Gayle Forman again showcases her considerable talent for drawing complex characters who face impossible decisions and then bear the consequences."

Plot: I did not expect this plot, but I truly fell in love with it, because although Ideally we would want Adam and Mia to be together and be the Hollywood fairytale romance, reality is going through an accident like Mia had, changes a relationship, growing up changes a relationship, different ambitions changes a relationship. So I enjoyed how the story played out and how heart wrenching it was. I also liked that the story is told through Adam's POV. So major kudos to Forman! Also, while being realistic, Forman somehow brings in the "Hollywood" element into the book, sucking you in and wishing you were  Mia and living that night through New York.

Character: Three years can change people a lot, so I love how much growth Forman's characters had, how much matured they sounded while being true to who they are in the core of things. Plus, even though he smoked and became a "guy" as Mia says. I really fell in love with Adam in this book. Something about the edgy bad boy, with a good heart, that makes a girl melt.

Pros: Emotionally Compelling, Well Written, Cohesive with the 1st book..while being its own book, realistic.

Cons: I can't think of any.. and I have only said that about one other book. Maybe, I would have liked the touring process to go on more and extend the story; instead of being wrapped up nicely.

Final Thoughts: I died when I began reading this! I was sucked into and could not put it down, I just had to know where Mia and Adam were going, had gone, etc. I love the couples who make my heart start beating faster, put butterflies in my tummy and basically essentially make me envious of them. Not even always couples, but the connection between two people. I haven't felt this strong off a connection for a couple in a long time and the way  it was set up and written was just amazing. I mean really can this be turned into a movie?  This book is more the worth your time to read.

Paranormalcy

Summary:

"Sixteen-year-old Evie learns that she is not quite the person she thought she was in this creature-feature mash-up. Possessing the unique ability to recognize paranormals beneath their glamour, Evie has lived most of her life under the protection of the International Paranormal Containment Agreement (IPCA), an organization dedicated to the cataloging and neutralizing of paranormal creatures. After a mysterious entity begins killing paranormals around the world, Evie discovers some startling truths about her own identity. This is a fast-paced, entertaining debut, reminiscent of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series in its story of a seemingly normal girl coerced to work for a supernatural agenda that she doesn’t always understand. White creates compelling tension as Evie longs for a normal teenhood while trying to preserve the humanity she has always believed to be her birthright; a love triangle adds further conflict, as Evie must choose between not only two different interests but two starkly different destinies."

Plot: Although the plot was original in some ways, I also found it reminding me of many other paranormal books. Especially Hex Hall and Demon Glass.

Characters: I had stated in my Top Ten Tuesday, that I would like characters that are better written and don't seem to be like every other character. Unfortunately, Evie was too common of a character and although I grew to like her relationship with Lend. I didn't feel the connection and the whole transparency was hard for my brain to comprehend. In general the characters weren't as interesting as I had hoped.

Pros: Not the typical paranormal book.

Cons: Anti Climatic, It's a series.

Final Thoughts: OK, not that being a series is a bad thing, it is I just feel this book really ended well and doesn't really need a second book, nor am I crazy interested in reading it. I can see why there is one though. This book wasn't bad or anything. I read it rather quickly and enjoyed it and I always like seeing authors adaptions to paranormal creatures powers,weaknesses, etc. but I was not WOWed by this book.

Want Want Want Wedneday (18)

American Heiress By Daisy Goodwin

"Be careful what you wish for. Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts’, suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. Nothing is quite as it seems, however: Ivo is withdrawn and secretive, and the English social scene is full of traps and betrayals. Money, Cora soon learns, cannot buy everything, as she must decide what is truly worth the price in her life and her marriage"

I am a thing for anything Historical.. whether fiction or non-fiction and as of lately I have become quite interested in the East Coast Royalty. Vanderbilts, DuPonts,  Rockafellars..etc. Probably cause my wedding is kind of themed with that kind of ere to it.

Ripple By Mandy Hubbard

"Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. Each day she goes to school like a normal teenager, and each night she must swim, or the pain will be unbearable. She is a siren - a deadly mermaid destined to lure men to their watery deaths. After a terrible tragedy, Lexi shut herself off from the world, vowing to protect the ones she loves. But she soon finds herself caught between a new boy at school who may have the power to melt her icy exterior, and a handsome water spirit who says he can break Lexi's curse if she gives up everything else. Lexi is faced with the hardest decision she's ever had to make: the life she's always longed for - or the love she can't live without?"

Mermaids/Sirens? New Paranormal Genre, I am in! Plus, I have heard more then enough awesome buzz about this book, which sold me on it.


Dearly, Departed By Lia Habel

"Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire."

 Does this not sound epic and quite original? I am pretty stoked for the whole zombie thing. Especially, since my fiance is obsessed with zombies.

Top Ten Tuesday: What I Want to See Less and More Of..

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

1. More Mermaids - I am over Vampires and Werewolves for now. I want new paranormal and I like the idea of mermaids.

2. More Creative Unique Plot Lines

3. More Authentic YA Mystery/Crime

4. LESS Extremely Sarcastic Characters- I feel I read so many books with the main character being a witty, sarcastic female and you know what, after awhile I feel I am reading different books with the same character.

5. Less Buys Ebooks and More Buying REAL books. - I know this is an odd one, but although technically there isn't anything wrong with an ereader. I feel nothing beats a real book and if we want the book industry to stay afloat and less book stores closing.. then you have to actually get the books!

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You

Summary:

"Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school—that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class.  The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it’s really a school for spies. 

Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she’s an ordinary girl.  Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real “pavement artist”—but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her? Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she’s on her most dangerous mission—falling in love."

Plot: The plot is pretty straight forward and simple. Cleverly written and a nice innocent YA plot. I would have actually preferred it to be a little longer though, so that it could build a little more story around the whole plot. Cause I did feel like the end was speedily wrapped up.

Characters: I found Cammie to be a cute, funny and an age appropriate character. The other characters though were not as well written as Cammie, which kind of makes sense since Cammie is the main character, but at the same time doesn't cause they are kind of key roles to the story.

Pros: Easy, Fun, Cute and FUNNY. I enjoyed Cammie's sarcasm and I like how the book was written like it was a spy report.

Cons: Ended too quickly.

Final Thoughts: I sped through reading this book and the whole time I was smiling and laughing to myself. The whole idea of a Gallagher Girl being behind almost all the famous world events or stopping many was pretty cool and the realism in the fact of how teenage girl react and over analyze boys is historical.. even more when you have girls who are spies. I will most definitely read the whole series and recommend you do too!