Jan 28, 2012

Challenges

I have decided on two challenges to do this year besides the normal "number of books" challenge that I get from goodreads.



The first challenge is hosted by The Story Siren and is the Debut Author Challenge.  This challenge is as follows:
  • To read & review a minimum of twelve young adult or middle grade debut novels between the dates of January 1, 2012 – January 31, 2013.*
*The 2013 extension is so that December Debuts can be read and count toward the challenge.


Blue Button


The second challenge is hosted by Icey Books and I Like These Books and is called the Standalone Reading Challenge.  This challenge is:
  • To read 15 standalone YA books in 2012! 

I am excited about these challenges and to see if I can complete them?  What challenges are you doing for 2012?



Within Blog Tour

Publisher: Faery Ink Press
Publish Date: November 13, 2011
Version: e-book from author
Series: unknown
Trinity Hartell’s life changed after the accident. Left with irreversible brain damage, she becomes a burden to her mother, a cause for heartbreak for her boyfriend Zack, and a flattened obstacle for her best friend, Ellie.

But then she starts writing. Perhaps it’s a coincidence that the psychotic, murdering protagonist of her novel bears a striking similarity to the charming Wiley Dalton, a mayoral candidate in the upcoming election.

Or, perhaps not...


January 30 – The Violet Hour



This books starts with two different stories, the first one being that of Trinity, Zack and Ellie.  They are working on an English project together at Ellie’s mom’s house.  After they are finished, Ellie drives Trinity and Zack, who are boyfriend/girlfriend, home.  On the way to drop them off, they are in a terrible accident, one that they aren’t sure that Trinity will survive. 

She does survive, but has severe brain damage.  She reverts to adolescence.  Trinity’s parents, Stephanie and George, are having disagreements on how to take care of Trinity.  Stephanie works for Wiley Dalton, who is running for mayor.  George wants her to ask for time off of the campaign to stay home and take care of Trinity.  Stephanie doesn’t really want to ask for time off, but she does half-heartedly.  Wiley encourages her to stay on as the elections are nearing.  This is putting a strain on Stephanie’s and George’s relationship.

Trinity starts having these episodes where she is writing non-stop.  It is amazing, that someone with her level of brain function can write such intricate stories.  Zack visits Trinity nearly every day.  Sometimes he brings Ellie along.  It isn’t long before they start to get intrigued by Trinity’s stories as well.

Then there is Edmund and how he created the Order of Purus who worship the God, Omnus.  The Order of Purus believe that they are the superior race and they need to “redeem” the “impure.”  It tells of how Edmund recruited men to the Order and how they go about redeeming.


At first, I found this story hard to get into.  The two different parts of the story weave in and out and I had a hard time connecting the two.  After I got about ⅓ to ½ ways through the book, I began to understand the stories a little better and things started to make sense.  Between was full of surprises, though.  As soon as you thought that you understood things and that you knew what was going to happen next, something would happen that would change the direction of your thinking.  Overall, this was a good book.  I love the mystery element to it and that fact that it wasn’t predictable.
Trinity.  I even like her at the beginning of the book before the accident.  She was not only a good friend to Ellie; she was also a good girlfriend to Zack.  After her accident, she reverted and didn’t remember either of them.

Zack.  He is very loyal to Trinity, both before and after her accident.  He always has hope that Trinity will get better and that she will remember him and love him like she used to.

Ellie.  She is Trinity’s best friend and consequently hangs out with Zack a lot because of it.  She tries her best to do right by Trinity and she feels guilty for what happens because she was driving when the accident happened.

George.  Trinity’s father.  He doesn’t get mentioned much in the book, but he truly has Trinity’s best interest at heart.


Stephanie.  Trinity’s mom.  When she was first presented with the problem of someone needing to stay home with Trinity after the accident, she didn’t want to take time off of work to do that. 

Wiley Dalton.  At first he seems really good…too good.  He ruined it for me when he talked Stephanie out of staying home with Trinity because he needed her for his campaign.

Edmund.  He has issues.

The Order of Purus.  This society, cult, whatever you want to call them, is just sick and wrong.  Killing people, redeeming the impure…

On the cover is Trinity.  I really like the way she looks on this cover.  It looks like she is simple minded and not paying attention to anything which fits the description of her after the accident.  I’m not exactly sure what the leaves have to do with the story, but they add a nice touch to the cover.




Jan 22, 2012

Shatter Me


Publisher: Harper Collins
Publish Date: November 15, 2011
Version: hardcover print
Pages: 338
Series: Shatter Me
Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. 

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. 

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. 

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. 
Juliette Ferrars has been locked up in an asylum for 264 days by the Reestablishment.  They locked her up because her touch is fatal.  She spends her day looking out the one window in her cell.  She wonders about rain drops and birds.  It has been awhile since she has seen a bird in the skies.

She has been alone all that time.  Now she is getting a roommate.  At first, she is excited to see another human being, but has mixed feelings once she finds out her roommate is male.  Adam, that is his name.  Juliette has been alone for so long, that it is difficult for her to open up and talk to anyone.  At first, she ignores him, but then she helps him out with the things that they do daily in the cell.  Juliette cannot help the feeling that she knows Adam from somewhere.  She knows his eyes.

After a while, soldiers come in and take Juliette and Adam out of the cell.  They take Juliette to another place and there she meets Warner.  She also learns that Adam’s name is Adam Kent, that he is a soldier and can finally place where she knows him.  Warner tells her that he wants her on his side in the war.  At first, she doesn’t understand what he is talking about.  When she figures out that he wants her to torture people to get information for his side, she instantly refuses.  Warner then shows her the things that she is missing.  One of those things is that she gets to go outside, which is exhilarating to Juliette because it is not a dream.

Juliette has choices to make and questions to answer.   Will she side with Warner and do what he wants her to do?  Will she forgive Adam for deceiving her when he first came into the cell?  How will she get out of this current predicament and where will she go?


This book was very well thought out.  There were points in the book that I didn’t know what would happen.  Not because Juliette was wavering, but the circumstances prevented you from predicting it.  I found that I could understand the feelings that Juliette had and the actions she took because of them.  There are a few surprises in this book and I won’t spoil them for you, but they make the read worth it.

«Juliette.  She is the main character in this book.  Her touch is fatal and so she thinks that she is a monster.  It takes a lot of persuasion to get to start thinking otherwise.  When she is forced to kill a soldier so Warner can see what she can do, she feels awful about it.  She never wants to feel that again.  She has been ostracized her whole life because of this strange power that she has.  Throughout the book, she learns what it means to have such power and what people will do for it.

«Adam Kent.  He is the boy who is put in the cell with Juliette at the beginning of the book.  At first, he is mean to her, but then he softens up.  When Juliette finds out that he is a soldier, she believes that she was just a “job.”  Throughout the book, Adam has to keep up appearances and he does it so well sometimes that Juliette doesn’t even know which side he is on.

«James, Adam’s brother.  You don’t meet James until the later part of the story, but he is a neat kid.

«The strikethrough print.  It was interesting to read what Juliette was thinking in contrast to what she said.  It was like she was debating on whether to say something or not.


«Warner.  He wants Juliette on his team to torture people that he captures in the war.  He puts her in situations where she will have to use her power even though she is dead set against.  He doesn’t want to let Juliette go.  He uses fear as a tool and kills people for trivial things.

«The Reestablishment.  You don’t hear a whole lot about them in this book, but you do get a sense that they are not the good guys.  They were supposed to come in and make things better, but instead they take over and try to rule.

On the cover, there is Juliette dressed in a white gown with her hair down.  There are lines coming out of her like she is wielding a secret power.  She has her hands on her hips which is symbolic of defiance.  The cover reads: My touch is lethal.  My touch is power.  I like how the cover is shiny.  It really makes Juliette stand out on the cover.  This fits the description of Juliette well.









Jan 21, 2012

In My Mailbox

I got some really cool books and swag this week.  All links will take you to the Goodreads description of the book.

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien - I borrowed this book from my sister.
Fracture by Megan Miranda - Bought

I received these neat bookmarks from Jennifer Estep.  They are from The Mythos Academy books - Touch of Frost, Kiss of Frost and Dark Frost.  As you guessed it, these will be used in a future giveaway.  There is also a "0.5" book in the Mythos Academy series.  It is called First Frost.


I received The Hunger Games collector's edition and this swag from Scholastic Books for an upcoming giveaway.  (Stay tuned!!)

Jan 17, 2012

New Design

I've been working with Hafsah from Icey Designs on a new design for my blog.  I am very pleased with the way things turned out.  I loved working with Hafsah.  I initially chose her because I really liked the designs that were in her portfolio.  When we first had contact, I told her that I didn't know what I wanted, but I wanted it to be classy and I liked the colors blue and purple.  We must've e-mailed back and forth about 20 time or more getting everything right.  Hafsah was so patient with me.  I admit that I am a little bit OCD about things and she fixed what I had issues with without complaint. I love, love, love it!!  It gets even better though.  Not only did she design my blog, she designed social network icons that I can use in my post and a twitter background.  (check it out!)  I highly recommend her!




Jan 14, 2012

Cinder

Publisher: Fiewel and Friends (Macmillan)
Publish Date: 03 January 2012
Version: print ARC from Macmillan (Thank you!)
Series: Lunar Chronicles
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.


This story starts out with Cinder’s booth in the New Beijing market.  She is taking off her foot, while Iko retrieves another one for her.  Iko is another android who lives with Cinder in their household with her step-mother, Adri and her step-sisters Peony and Pearl.  While she is waiting, Prince Kaito comes up to her booth and asks for Linh Cinder.  At first he doesn’t believe that they are the same person as Linh Cinder is supposedly the best mechanic in New Beijing.  He then relays to her that he has an android that is in need of servicing.   Cinder is mesmerized by the prince and agrees to work on his android.

New Beijing is fighting against a disease that is widespread and highly contagious.  They have yet to find a cure for this plague known as letumosis.   There was an outbreak at the market when Cinder and Iko were there which caused the market to close and them to go home early.    When they take Peony to the junkyard to retrieve a magbelt for their hover, Peony starts showing symptoms of the plague.  She is quarantined immediately.  Cinder and Iko are checked over to make sure that they don’t have letumosis and they are sent on their way.  Cinder doesn’t know how she is going to explain this to Adri, but when she arrives at her house, she finds out that she already knows and blames Cinder for her daughter catching letumosis.  This doesn’t bode well for Cinder as she is then forced to “volunteer” for scientific research to help find a cure for the plague.  It is during that time that Cinder finds out what she must do.  The question is does she have the courage to do it or is she going to follow her dreams and run away so Iko and her will be free?  Then there are the Lunars.  The Lunar Queen Levana comes for a visit and everything turns chaotic for Cinder and Prince Kai.

I cannot say how much I loved this book.  From beginning to end, it had me in a spell and I could not put it down until I finished it.  I am so looking forward to more books from Meyer.  The way that the fairy tale of Cinderella was weaved into this story, makes it all the more magical.  It was if you knew what was going to happen based on the fairy tale, but then again, you didn’t because this was a totally separate story.  One of the points that I really liked in the book was that of letumosis.  It affected anyone and wasn't a disease that was specific to the poor.
  • Cinder.  She is the main character.  She has a lot of guts and does things that she knows to be right.   Even though she is “just an android,” she has a lot of heart and took care of those people that she loved.  She has some tough choices to make in this book, and it made the book even better to see the reasons behind those choices.

  • Iko.  The other android living in the household.  Adri has previously mentioned how she wanted to get rid of Iko.   This was said in some kind of punishment and caused Cinder to want to protect her even more.  Iko has a fun personality.  She was quirky. 

  • Prince Kaito, Crown Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth.  He seems a little naïve in this book, although I don’t think he was as all.  He doesn’t seem to understand that Cinder is an android.  Or at least, he isn’t giving it away in his actions.  He also appears to be shy in some of the interactions with Cinder.  He doesn't act like his title as Prince should make him better than anyone else and that is the main reason why I like him.

  • Peony.  Cinder’s sister.  She is the only one out of the family that treated Cinder like she was a family member.   Out of all the people in the household, the fact that Peony got letumosis is integral to this story.  If it were Adri or Pearl, Cinder probably wouldn't care as much.
  • Dr. Erland.  He is the doctor that Cinder is working with on research to cure letumosis.  At times, I didn’t like him because of the way he acted and the things he put importance in, but overall, he is on the like list.
  • Adri.  Cinder’s step-mother.  She makes Cinder work in the market so she can live the lifestyle that she is used to.  After Peony is diagnosed with leitmosis, she signs the consent for Cinder to be used as a test subject (or volunteer) to discover a cure for letumosis.

  •  Queen Levana.  She is the Lunar queen who is taking advantage of the terrible misfortunes of others.  She controls people by using her mind.  As with other Lunars, she can project an image that she wants people to see.  She wants people to see her as beautiful.

The cover is of a leg and a red, high heeled shoe.  You can also see inside the leg and see the machinations of an Android.  I love this cover.  It really fits the fairy tale of Cinderella because it was all about the shoe left at the ball.  Only in Cinder’s case, she is part Android, so not all her parts are human.    I like the font that they used for the title, Cinder.  It is elegant and again, makes you think of the fairy tale.



Find Marissa



Buy Cinder

Lola and the Boy Next Door

Publisher: Penguin Group
Publish Date: already out
Version: e-book
Series: none
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.

Dolores Nolan aka Lola lives with her two dads, Nathan and Andy.  She has a boyfriend, Max, who is 22 and is in a rock band.  She believes that he is “the one.”  She is eccentric and loves to dress up.  It is rare that anyone ever sees the true Lola.  Every Sunday, Lola and Max endure brunch with her fathers, who dislike Max.  Then Lola’s world gets turned upside down when the Bell family moves back into the house next door.  They lived there before and things didn’t end well between Lola and Cricket, one of the twins.  Now, Cricket and his twin sister, Calliope, are back and this worries Lola.  Lola had a hard time forgetting Cricket and how he broke her heart and she is trying to not let that interfere with her relationship with Max.

Lola has a difficult time dealing with the fact that Cricket is back.  She has mixed feelings about this.  This boy was her first love.  Now he’s here, next door, with his bedroom window right next to hers.  Cricket is different now.  It had always been Calliope who had been in the spotlight with her ice skating and now he is doing things for himself.  This causes Lola to make difficult and questionable decisions, when she is forced to choose between Max and Cricket.

I had a hard time putting this book down.  It is not usually the type of book I like to read.  I loved the way that Perkins pulled you into this story.   I mean, the teen with the older boyfriend who was pining for the neighbor boy is not a new idea, but the way that it is told in Lola, is extraordinary.

  • Cricket.  Even his name is charming.  He is a genuinely nice person.  I found that throughout the story, I was liking him even more.  I liked everything about him.  The way he dresses, how he writes notes on his hands.  Yes, he had some bad moments, but don't we all?
  • Lola’s two fathers, Nathan and Andy.  I like how Perkins differentiates between the two personalities in this book.  They care about Lola and her well-being.  It is nice to see how they fit into Lola's world along with her birth mother.
  • Lindsey.  Lola’s best friend.  She looks out for Lola when things aren’t going so well.  Anyone who says “shove it, fartbreath” is worth knowing.
  • Étienne St. Clair or St. Clair, for short.  I like the way that he is devoted to Anna.  He follows her everywhere, but not in the annoying stalker-boyfriend kind of way.  In this book, he is a good friend to Lola and gives her good advice.
  • Calliope Bell.  At first you get this horrible picture of the things that she used to do to Lola.  Calliope does change some in the book, but I still put her on my did not like list.  She is training for figure skating in the Olympics.  I like how Cricket described it as the "Calliope Show."
  • Max.  He was 22, but he acted like he was 12.   Granted, he did go through everything that Lola’s fathers asked him to in regards to the Sunday brunches and other things, but his attitude toward everything was horrible.  He is in a rock band and that is how he met Lola. 

In this cover, you see a girl (Lola) and a boy (Cricket) sitting on a windowsill.  Lola is dressed in costume.  This is how she is described in the book.  Cricket is also dressed as he is described, with his dress pants.  In the background you can see a neighborhood of houses.  (This reminds me of the opening scenes from Full House.)  I think that this cover is appropriate for the book.  The only criticism that I have on the cover is the look on Lola’s face.  With her eyes open wide like that, it reminds me of a mannequin doll that you would see at the store or a robot.


Find Stephanie





Buy Lola and the Boy Next Door