Teaser Tuesday (29)

Hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. 

 Goddess Interrupted

by Aimee Carter

"You look well, Kate. How was your summer?"
He was bleeding all over the bed, and he wanted to know how my summer had gone. "Compared to how my autumn's going so far? Fantastic. Can't I do something? You're getting blood all over the sheets."

~

"Really? That's all you're going to tell me? You promised you'd never lie to me."
"I am not lying--"
"You said you wouldn't keep secrets from me anymore," I countered. "So which is it? Are you going to treat me like a fragile little girl you need to protect at all costs, or are you going to treat me like your partner? Because in a few hours, I'm going to be queen of this place, and I'm never going to be able to help you rule properly if you always hold everything in. I have a right to know."

Musing Mondays (22) &It's Monday! (18)

 Hosted by Should Be Reading.

 This week’s musing is…

How far along are you in your current read before you start thinking about what you'll read next?


Oh, I usually make a plan of what I'll read that week over the weekend. Like the meme below says, I'll be reading A Million Suns by Beth Revis and The First Part Last by Angela Johnson. The first, because I really really should get to reading it. I loved Across the Universe, and I just need some free time for me, so I'll be reading the sequel then. The second is for a YA Lit class I'm taking so I have to read it! 
Last year my reading schedule was insane. I would have one new book for each day and push myself to finish every single one on time. It was crazy, but I loved doing it. Now with my master's classes and the writing deadlines I can't do that, but I'm always pushing ton sneak in a good read or two into my schedule. lol

Hosted by Book Journey

Just Finished Reading:

 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Brightest Kind of Darkness by P.T. Michelle

Currently Reading:

  Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

The Awakening of Leeowyn Blake by Mary Parker

Planning To Read:

A Million Suns by Beth Revis

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

Review: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Blood Red Road

(Dust Lands 1)

Author: Moira Young

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry, 2011

Genre: YA Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia

Buy: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ TBD

Overview

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she's a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.

On My Wishlist (29)

Hosted by Book Chick City every Saturday. List the books you desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.

The Pledge

Author: Kimberly Derting

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Released: November 15 2011

Genre: YA Dystopia

Summary:

In the violent country of Ludania, the language you speak determines what class you are, and there are harsh punishments if you forget your place—looking a member of a higher class in the eye can result in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina (Charlie for short) can understand all languages, a dangerous ability she’s been hiding her whole life. Her only place of release is the drug-filled underground club scene, where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. There, she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy who speaks a language she’s never heard, and her secret is almost exposed. Through a series of violent upheavals, it becomes clear that Charlie herself is the key to forcing out the oppressive power structure of her kingdom….

Follow Friday (23)

Hosted by Parajunkee.com and Alisoncanread.com

This week question is: 

~Which book genre do you avoid at all costs and why?~

     Those would be Non-Fiction, Contemporary, Historical, and Thriller/Horror/Mysteries. The first is mostly because I grew up reading Fantasy to escape the real world, so contemporaries just don't do it for me. Same with Historical pieces, though if you add in a paranormal element then I'm down with it. Now the Thriller/Horror/Mysteries I can't read. Or watch if we're talking movies. Yep, CAN'T. I scare very easily and they give me nightmares and I do love my sleep.

What genres do you avoid?

Review: Never to Sleep by Rachel Vincent

Never to Sleep

(Soul Screamers 5.5)

Author: Rachel Vincent

Publisher: Harlequin, 2012

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Buy: Amazon ♥ B&N

Overview

Don't Close Your Eyes.

Sophie Cavanaugh is not going to let her freak of a cousin's strange psychiatric condition ruin high school for them both. Not after all the work she's put into cultivating the right look, and friends, and reputation. But then, Sophie sees something so frightening she lets out a blood-curdling scream—and finds herself stuck in a bizarre parallel world where nothing is safe and deadly creatures lurk just out of sight, waiting for her to close her eyes and sleep...forever.

Could this world be real? Or does insanity run in the family...?

My Review:

     Everyone—and by that I mean I—was concerned about this novella. Let's face it, with silly, conceited, and irritating Sophie as the main character in a first person POV the odds were that we (I) would end up throwing our e-readers against the nearest wall. But after reading all the Soul Screamer books, especially If I Die, I trust Rachel implicitly to take me on thrilling story rides and rock my world. So, I gave Sophie a chance… *Bows to Rachel*

     I love Sophie. From a character I barely cared about in the other books and often wanted to slap, I now want more Sophie time! She is super stubborn like Kaylee, incredibly brave, and does it all with fashion flair and a sharp tongue. Seriously! This girl cannot keep her mouth shut to save her life. Mouthing off to the big bad hellion, check! That scene was hilarious. 
 

     The novella focuses on Sophie, her encounter with a mysterious young man, and how they accidentally cross over to the Netherworld. Their meeting starts with a bang, in the very literal sense of the word, as Luca opens a door banging it into Sophie's head. I immediately liked him for his charming way of talking.

"Good. I think you're okay, Sophie, but just to be sure—and this is for purely medical purposes—what's your phone number?"

I laughed out loud. "Does it usually take blunt-force trauma for you to score a phone number?"

"This is a first, but a potential concussion does seem to be an icebreaker."

     They make a great team. As in, Luca won't take silly crap from Sophie and she will actually listen to him! That’s a first for Sophie. I was very impressed to see her grow through this short novella. Her hate of Kaylee is understandable when one realizes that Sophie really has no idea what the crap is going on. Even when her world is turned over, she will fight this preferring to stay blissfully ignorant. In the end Sophie says that there are things she must find out about her family even if they're not to her liking. And she ultimately realizes that she'll have to deal with it, so that was great. 
  

     This novella left me supper excited. I want more of Sophie's snark, more of Luca's wit, and more Sophie and Luca time! I so can't wait for when Sophie finally realizes that Kaylee has been battling the Netherworld for a while now and that  none of it was theatrics or attention seeking gimmicks. My brain has been working overtime trying to figure out what role Luca will play in the upcoming Before I Wake. That book scares the crap out of me because I honestly don't know where this is going to go! *excitement overload*

Favorite Quotes:

"Okay, time out. That's all the crazy I can take for now. I want to go home. What do I have to do? Click my heels together?" My shoes weren't ruby, nor were they slippers, but for what my dad paid for the designer label, they damn well ought to take me wherever I wanted to go.

~

"You want me to walk into a dark hole in the wall, where some horrible Netherworld creature is probably waiting to eat me alive. Obviously you've mistaken me for Lara Croft."

Luca's brows rose, and I couldn't tell whether he was irritated or amused. "Apologies, Your Highness, I meant to mistake you for someone who wants to survive."

~

Luca lifted my chin and kissed me again, and this time instead of pulling away, I pulled him closer. His hand slid around my neck, his fingers curling my hair.

"What was that one for?" I asked, when he finally let me go.

"Just for fun. Because I'm not sure I'll get another chance."

~

I was truly awake, for the first time in my life, and if asleep was what I'd been before, I never wanted to sleep again.

Waiting on Wednesday (29)

Hosted at Breaking the Spine, spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I am eagerly waiting for...

Onyx

(Lux 2)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Release Date: May 2012

Goodreads: 

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies...

Why am I waiting for it?

One word, a name...Daemon.

 If you've read Obsidian (Lux 1) you KNOW why.

Teaser Tuesday (28)

Hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. 

 Brightest Kind of Darkness

by P.T. Michelle

"Through your dreams, I get to see your entire day, and as normal and boring as you might feel they are...you are my peace, a bright light in all that darkness."
~
Ethan's gaze lowered to my mouth. "If you ask me to stop touching you so your dreams will return, I will, Nara." His hand flexed on my neck and tension ebbed through him. "But not touching you would be the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

Musing Mondays (21) &It's Monday! (17)

 Hosted by Should Be Reading.

 This week’s musing is…

~Why do you thing that the Young Adult genre is so popular with even adult readers? Do you read YA books, yourself?~

Most YA books are fairly short compared to adult books, so maybe adults want more quick fun reads. Also, YA can pack a mean punch. What I mean by that is that in that short amount of pages its an emotional roller coaster, full of action, deceit, subplots, etc. Okay, so maybe all books have that, but in my experience it takes more time to build up all that intensity in adult books than in YA.
I love YA because of that intensity. Mainly because of the romance, but I love the action too (like in Dystopias *squee*). While everyone else might hate them, I go ga-ga over love triangles. I live for the thrill of first love with a paranormal creature. Not love at first sight...that actually bothers me. But yeah, I realize I might have made a mess of things trying to explain, but there's just something about YA...a magic ingredient X which I can't pin point but I know it's missing from adult.


PS: Not all adults books are missing it! Nicole Peeler's Jane True series certainly has that magical ingredient!

Hosted by Book Journey

My readings have almost crawled to a stop in favor of finishing my class readings on time. It's a lot of reading, and the how-to books take a while to get through. But not to worry, I have many cool reviews still waiting to be posted, so I'm good for a few weeks. In which time I hope to read and finish two review requests, and start reading The Hunger Games again. Hurray because its both a class reading, and I was planning on reading the series again to review it. As for future reads, I have no idea what new book I'll end up reading next but I do have my eye on Everneath and Incarnate.


Just Finished Reading:

 Destiny's Fire by Trisha Wolfe
  Roderick Blackwood and The Demon Stone by Ralph Rathbone  


Currently Reading:

  Brightest Kind of Darkness by P.T. Michelle

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

Planning To Read:

Making a Scene by Jordan E. Rosenfeld

Dialogue by Gloria Kempton

Disturbing the Universe: Power and Repression in Adolescent Literature by Roberta S. Trites

Review: Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Hourglass

Author: Myra McEntire

Publisher: EgmontUSA, 2011

Genre: YA Paranormal (Time Travel)

Buy: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ TBD

Overview

One hour to rewrite the past . . .

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.
Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

On My Wishlist (28)

Hosted by Book Chick City every Saturday. List the books you desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers

Author: Lynn Weingarten

Publisher: Harper Teen

Released: December 27 2011

Genre: YA Paranormal

Summary:

When her boyfriend breaks up with her on the first day of sophomore year, Lucy has no idea how she’s going to make it through homeroom, let alone the rest of her life. Enter three stunning girls with a magical offer Lucy can’t refuse. All she has to do is get a guy to fall in love with her in the next seven days, and then…break his heart and collect one of his brokenhearted tears. As the girls teach Lucy how to hook a guy (with the help of a little magic), she quickly discovers how far she is willing to go—and who she is willing to cross—to get what she wants.