Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Book Trailer- Marquel by Emily W Skinner

The author of Marquel, Emily Skinner, recently contacted me and asked if I'd like to review her debut novel. It sounded awesome so i took her up on the offer. Just check out the trailer, its amazing! And just an FYI, that's her daughter starring, and her other daughter directed the clip. Talented family huh?!

I just started reading it last night and cant wait to read more.




Synopsis from Amazon:
Marquel is an actress who rises to prime-time soap stardom only to suffer a mental breakdown.Zach Manning, her therapist, compromises his professional ethics by falling in love with his beautiful new patient.Mark Collins, a tabloid journalist, tries to reveal Marquel's shocking past before she can recall it -- making it a race against time to see who gets there first.Marquel is a retro 1990's novel that travels from Florida to Hollywood and back again.


Check it out here on Amazon or here on the Book Depository. 





Saturday, October 20, 2012

Friday, October 19, 2012

Feature and Follow Friday #2

Feature and Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read

Q: When you step out of your USUAL genre what do you like to read? Best books in that genre?

I don't really have a usual genre. I suppose more often than not I read paranormal romance, but that is very closely followed by fantasy, sci fi and dystopian. When i need a break from the make believe though, i do tend to pick up a contemporary. Something light and fluffy to cleanse the pallette! My favourite of this year is Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, VERY closely followed by a book I just read last week, called Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill. It comes out in November and i think it will be hugely poplular. Well worth a read if you like contemporary YA.


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Book Haul #3

Here's what i purchased/received for review in September (and the first week of October)

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath (Everneath, #1)Everneath by Brodi Ashton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists. Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen. As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

My Review: 

The short version: This one just wasn't one for me.

The story line sum up: Every 100 years, the Everliving must take a human forfeit to the Everneath, in order to feed on their souls and remain immortal. Nikki Beckett has spent the last 100 years in the Everneath. She should have died there, but after the feed, she remains young and beautiful. Cole, the Everliving that took her to the Everneath wants to make a run for the throne, and wants Nikki as his queen. But Nikki has ties to the surface, in the form of a boy named Jack, whose face kept her going through the dark days in the Everneath. She chooses to return to the surface, knowing her time there is limited, and that the darkness known as "the tunnels" will come for her. Nikki has only 6 months to decide if she will go with Cole and become royalty of the Everneath, or find a way to stay on the surface with her true love.

The bad: Everneath just felt all over the place, which was mostly because of the way it was written. Each chapter jumps back and forth from the time before Nikki went to the Everneath, to the current time, where Nikki is spending her 6 months on the surface. I really didnt enjoy this at all. At the beginning it felt like i was reading a sequel and that i hadnt read the first book. I felt like there was this whole story that i needed to know about, in order to understand completely what was going on. As the story progressed, things did start to make more sense as gaps were filled in. But i just found the whole thing frustrating, and annoying.

Nikki is a complete and utter downer throughout the whole book. Which i guess is understandable, considering what she'd been through, but geese. She just depressed me. And now i just feel Blah.

The story felt slow. The most exciting part of the book happens in the last 20 pages, and even that is pretty anti climatic. Its pretty much a whole lot of nothing up until then. Not really a romance. Not really a mystery. Not really anything.

Bits and pieces seemed to get thrown in here and there, stuff that seemed like an after thought. Or i guess stuff that wasn't really explained well enough for me to understand why the characters were even bothering? I don't want to be too specific and spoil anything for anyone that plans on reading this though, so that's all I'll say about that.

I didn't like the characters. Nikki was too depressed. Jack was boring. Cole was probably my favourite, but even he barely held my interest. I didn't buy the relationship between Jack and Nikki. I definitely didn't buy it enough to believe that Jack would ever do what he did in the end.

The good: Well, I finished it......???But it took me like 3 weeks and i contemplated putting it down multiple times. I do love the cover. Its probably my favourite of all the "girl in a pretty dress" covers.

Just so you know: I'm not sure that Everneath is a Persephone retelling exactly as I'm not overly familiar with that story. It is full of mythology though. I'm beginning to think that i don't really enjoy books based on mythology. Its been a really long time since i disliked a book enough to give it 2 stars, but the last one was also based on mythology.

Recommend it? Unlikely. Unless you were a massive mythology fan. Or if you don't mind a pretty slow read.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Feature and Follow Friday #1

Feature and Follow is  a weekly blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison can Read

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? Is it to one day become an author yourself, just for fun, maybe get some online attention, or maybe something very different?

My entire reason for this blog is for fun. I love reading, I love talking about books, and i love making new friends who share that love! I've written various blogs over the years, mostly just personal, and one for my photography. I dont consider myself a writer by any means though. I enjoy writing reviews and i enjoy writing about the day to day things my kids do and say. But definitely no intentions of ever writing a book myself. 

I'd love it if you'd leave a comment and say hi! And follow me too if you'd like :)

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Double Trailer Reveal from Entangled Publishing!

You guys, I LOVE Entangled Publishing. Their books have starting clogging up my wishlist and I'm so keen to read more and more of their stuff.  Today they are releasing the trailers for two of their newest books-


Gravity by Melissa West

In the future, only one rule will matter:

Don’t. Ever. Peek.

Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed — arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die.

Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she’s been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she’s falling for him. But Ari isn’t just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She’s a military legacy who’s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know — especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Entangled Teen (October 30, 2012)
ISBN: 1620610914




:





About Melissa:
Melissa lives in a tiny suburb of Atlanta, GA with her husband and daughter. She pretends to like yoga, actually likes shoes, and could not live without coffee. Her writing heroes include greats like Jane Austen and Madeleine L'Engle.

She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and an M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University. Yeah, her blood runs orange.

GRAVITY is her first book.
Where you can find Melissa-




AND.................................

Luminosity by Stephanie Thomas 

My name is Beatrice. When I was born, I was blessed with the Sight. I was immediately removed from my parents and enrolled in the Institution. At the age of twelve, I had my first true vision, earning my raven’s wings. And when I turned seventeen, one of my visions came true. Things haven’t been the same since.
The Institution depends on me to keep the City safe from our enemy, the Dreamcatchers, but I’m finding it harder to do while keeping a secret from everyone, including my best friend Gabe. It is a secret that could put us all in danger. A secret that could kill me and everyone close to me.
But the enemy has been coming to me in my dreams, and I think I’m falling in love with him. He says they’re coming. He says they’re angry. And I think I’ve already helped them win.
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Entangled Teen (November 6, 2012)
ISBN: 1620611279









About Stephanie:
Stephanie Thomas has been writing ever since she could put letters together to form words. When she was a small child, she would present her mother and father with self-made newspapers filled up with make believe stories and pictures. Her love for writing followed her all throughout her schooling, where she entered and won writing contests of all sorts. Stephanie decided to become an English teacher and completed her B.A. at The Pennsylvania State University. While teaching, she later went on to get her Master’s in writing from The Johns Hopkins University. She completed her very first manuscript during her graduate studies, and by the end of the program, she had completed two more. Stephanie is quick to tell anyone that she’s a born and raised Philadelphian, and her heart will always belong there. She moved to Baltimore with her husband, and they’ve been living there for the last five years with their doggie, Sailor, and their rabbit, Buns (aka “T Sizzle).

Where you can find Stephanie-


I'm really excited to read these two books especially Gravity!

Entangled Publishing is also giving away 4 eARC's via a joint rafflecopter, that you can enter to win below! Please note, i have nothing to do with these giveaways, they are solely run by Entangled Publishing. Good luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, October 1, 2012

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next DoorLola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit—more sparkly, more fun, more wild—the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. When Cricket—a gifted inventor—steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door

The short version: Argh! After reading Anna and the French Kiss and completely falling in love with it, I sooooooooooo wanted to love Lola and the Boy Next Door in the same, fangirl sort of way. But I didn't. It was enjoyable enough, but nothing exciting.

The story line sum up: Lola is a 17 year old student and budding costume designer. Max is her older, bad boy, rocker boyfriend that her two gay fathers do not approve of, but Lola doesnt care. Max is "the one". Lola's perfect relationship is thrown into a spin by the return of her old next door neighbours, twins, Calliope and Cricket Bell.

Lola and Cricket had been an almost item two years previously, but he'd left her with alot of questions and a broken heart. Now that he's back, he's making no secret of the fact he still wants her. But Lola has already met "the one", right?

The good bits: Stephanie Perkins writes amazing characters. Lola is quirky and fun. Cricket is sweet and the way he loves Lola is heartwarming. But its not just the lead characters. Lola's two gay dad's, her messed up birth mother, her wannabe detective best friend, the bitchy twin sister, the badboy rocker - They're all so unique and its so easy to get a sense of who they are. They felt like real people.It was the characters that kept me from giving up on this book halfway through.

The bad bits:I didn't really connect with the story line. It felt aimed at young YA, which is fine, but not my favourite cup of tea. I didn't find the story line interesting. It felt a bit cheesy and was very predictable. There wasn't any of the romantic suspense of Anna and the French Kiss.

Pet Peeves:
Sorry Stephanie Perkins, but what kind of a stupid name is Cricket?! Its not even a nickname! Stupid character names are high on my pet peeve list!

Overall: A sweet but predictable teen love story.

Recommend it?: If you're a huge Stephanie Perkins fan, or a big fan of younger YA contemporary, then go for it. If not........leave it be at Anna and the French Kiss.