Teaser Tuesday #30



Teaser Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading. Grab your current read, open to a random page and share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page - remember, no spoilers!

Hey Book Nerds! :D I hope you're all doing well. :) I've just got back from town, where I searched the Charity Shops shelves for books I might want to buy. Unfortunately, there weren't any - which is sad for me, but good for my purse and book collection. xD I haven't got anything interesting to say today, so I'm just going to go get some lunch and sit down and watch Lost. :) I hope you’re all having a great day! ^.^

Teasers





"The problem was that I saw dead people. Or more specifically, I saw visions of how they died. Most lasted only a few seconds, a handful were gruesome, and I swore some of them were visions of how people were going to die."

- Loc 153, 4%. "Lost In Thought (Sententia, #1)"
by Cara Bertrand.





The author was kind enough to send me a kindle copy of this book as a gift for review a few weeks/months back and I can't believe I'm only now getting round to reading it. (BAD TIFFA!) I'm not that far into this book at all, because I started it late last night - but I'm really sure I'm going to love it. :) Also, the cover is GORGEOUS! How can you not love it? The colours and just stunning and it's just so pretty. :3 Have you read Lost In Thought? Let me know! ^.^



What are your teasers for this Tuesday? Leave me a comment or a link to your blog post and I'll be sure to check it out! :D Happy Reading. (:



Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tyngas Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. Including books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Hey book nerds! :D How are you all doing today? ^.^ I hope you're all enjoying your weekend, there's not much of it left now. :P I also hope you've had a great week, mines been pretty good. :) I started reading Clarity by Kim Harrington last night, and it's such a fantastic book! I think I'm about a quarter of the way through it and I already love it. ^.^ I also spent most of yesterday reorganizing my books (after I filmed my video), because I was running out of room. If any of you want an updated Bookshelf Tour then let me know and I'll try and make it happen. :D

Video


Photos And Book Information
Isabella Rockwell's War by Hannah Parry.

The Author; Hannah Perry, sent me this book for review. Hannah even signed it and included a little postcard! :D Thanks, Hannah! I can't wait to read it. :)

Both of these books were sent to me by Mira Ink publishing in exchange for honest reviews. Thanks, Mira Ink! :D I can't wait to read them. ^.^

Both of these books were sent to me by Mira Ink publishing in exchange for honest reviews. Thanks, Mira Ink! :D I'm so excited, I can't wait to read them. :)


The Glass Demon by Helen Grant.
The Death Cure (Maze Runner, #3) by James Dashner.

Geek Girl by Holly Smale.
Carrier Of The Mark (Carrier, #1) by Leigh Fallon.

E-books For Review

Screwed by Laurie Plissner.
The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau.
Impostor (Slide, #2) by Jill Hathaway.
Losing It (Losing It, #1) by Cora Carmack.

All of these are eGalley's sent to me by; Adams Media, Houghton Mifflin Books, Harper Collins UK and Random House UK via Net Galley in exchange for reviews. Thank you! :D

E-books Bought

Requiem for Blood by Alexandra Hope.
Blue Sacrifice (Blue Davison, #1) by Angela Horn.
Mystic Gifts (Super-Natural, #1) by Wenona Victoria.
The Watchers (The Watchers, #1) by Lynnie Purcell & Holly Purcell.

Dark Water by Chynna T. Laird.
Burden of the Soul by Kate Grace.
The Blacker House by Nicole Mulloy.
Meant to Be (The Saving Angels, #1) by Tiffany King.

Catching You by Katie Gallagher.
Enchantment (Channie, #1) by Charlotte Abel.
Taken (Channie, #2) by Charlotte Abel.
Invisible by Cecily Paterson.

Becoming Sarah by Miranda Simon.
Mutiny (M.E.R. Series, #1) by Jacqueline Gardner.
In Your Dreams (In Your Dreams, #1) by Amy Martin.
Emily's House (Akasha Chronicles, #1) by Natalie Wright.


I'm super excited for the all the books I got this week! :3 I can't wait to get started on the Blood of Eden series - I've been meaning to read The Immortal Rules for months now, but I just haven't gotten round to it. Hopefully I will do soon though! :D I'm also really excited about Isabella Rockwell's War; It looks like a great book. :) It's such a shame I have to wait for AGES to read the rest of the books I got this week though. ;_; As for the eBooks, they were all free! :P I'm still going crazy with Amazon freebies, so go check the Amazon website and see if they're still available for free download. :) Have you read any of these books? Let me know! ^.^



What books did you get this week? Leave me a comment or a link to your blog post and I'll be sure to check it out. ^.^ Happy reading! (:

Friday Finds #29



Friday finds is a meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading which showcases the books you've recently ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list.

Hey Book Nerds! :D How are you all doing today? ^.^ It's Friday once again - it's so weird - the days are just flying by! I finished reading Inside Out by Maria V. Synder last night; it was a really fantastic book. :D Maria's writing style is just so amazing that I'm SO glad I picked up the first book in another one of her series, Poison Study! :) I also finished Obsidian White - Shades of Violet early this morning, It was a birthday gift from my mum’s friend (as I've mentioned before), and it was an ok book - not the best I've read, but it was fun to read. :) I hope you've all had a great week; I'll speak to you again in my next post, which will be a Stacking The Shelves book haul. ^.^

Friday Finds

Those That Wake (Those That Wake, #1) by Jesse Karp.
New York City’s spirit has been crushed. People walk the streets with their heads down, withdrawing from one another and into the cold comfort of technology. Teenagers Mal and Laura have grown up in this reality. They’ve never met. Seemingly, they never will. But on the same day Mal learns his brother has disappeared, Laura discovers her parents have forgotten her. Both begin a search for their families that leads them to the same truth: someone or something has wiped the teens from the memories of every person they have ever known. Thrown together, Mal and Laura must find common ground as they attempt to reclaim their pasts.

Also Known As by Robin Benway.
Being a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad. Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time. Having parents with super cool jobs. Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend. But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations.

Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes. She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves.
Love can be a dangerous thing...
Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna’s tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home. But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she’s far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe.

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann.
Kendall loves her life in small town Cryer's Cross, Montana, but she also longs for something more. She knows the chances of going to school in New York are small, but she's not the type to give up easily. Even though it will mean leaving Nico, the world's sweetest boyfriend, behind. But when Cryer's Cross is rocked by unspeakable tragedy, Kendall shoves her dreams aside and focuses on just one goal: help find her missing friends. Even if it means spending time with the one boy she shouldn't get close to... the one boy who makes her question everything she feels for Nico.

Determined to help and to stay true to the boy she's always loved, Kendall keeps up the search--and stumbles upon some frightening local history. She knows she can't stop digging, but Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried....

Summaries from Good Reads. All of these books look so fan-friggin-tastic! I wish I could buy them all now, but I really don't have the money to pay full price for them at the moment. :P Plus, I'm a cheapskate! I think the two I'm most excited about are Also Known As and Bleeding Violet - I think they sound awesome - and right up my street. :) Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on all of them in the near future! ^.^ As for my favourite cover; it HAS to be Bleeding Violet's cover - it's so gorgeous. :3 Have you read any of my finds this week? Let me know! :)



What are your Friday Finds for this week? Leave me a comment or a link to your blog post and I'll be sure to check it out! ^.^ Happy reading! (:






Title: Hidden.
Series: Avena, #1.
Author: Marianne Curley.
Publication Date: March 14th, 2013.
Publisher: Bloomsbury.
Format: Paperback, 325 pages.
Source: ARC Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:



Ebony has always known that she is different. Her violet eyes mark her out, and her protective parents have kept her in a gorgeous valley, home-schooled, safe from everything—almost as if she’s being hidden. But she’s changing: glowing, getting more and more beautiful, and stronger than anyone knows.

Ebony can’t stay hidden for ever, and when she meets complicated, intense Jordan, something explodes inside her—something that can be seen from the heavens; something that changes everything. Ebony is a stolen angel, concealed on Earth. Now the heavens have found her, they want her back.


Ebony has always known she was different; she has violet coloured eyes, can run faster than any boy in her school and heals remarkably quickly. She’s always thought the reason her parents have kept her sheltered from the world is because they didn’t want her to draw attention – but she was wrong. Ebony is an Angel, stolen as an infant, concealed on earth and raised by her adoptive parents. Ebony soon realises she can’t stay hidden forever, and now the heavens have found her – and they want her back.

I enjoyed reading this book, I really did – It had its good points; but unfortunately the bad ones outweighed the good. Whilst reading the first half of Hidden, I was sure I was going to be rating it a 4/5 star book. However, as the action started and the book progressed further into the story, I was quite disappointed with lots of different things that played out. This has nothing to do with Marianne’s writing; I just don’t think Hidden was structured very well at all.

Hidden switches between two of the main characters perspectives; Ebony and Jordan. As I’ve mentioned many times before in my reviews, I love reading multiple perspective books, they’re incredibly interesting and I love knowing what the other characters are actually feeling, rather than what they say they’re feeling. This was no exception and I thought the chapters were cleverly divided between the two characters perspectives.

Ebony is our female protagonist. She’s sixteen years old and has led a very sheltered life by her parents, growing up in the small valley of a town. I know the author has written Ebony’s character to be very relatable and interesting, but, personally; I didn’t like her that much at all. It’s a bit of a rare occasion for me to find a main, female character that I don’t like. Usually, in the novels I’ve read, the female lead has at least two or three characteristics that will warm me to them. Ebony, however, only has one – and that is her violet coloured eyes. What I wouldn’t do to have eyes like that! Her character isn’t a very strong-willed person, nor is she particularly funny, kind or interesting in any way I had hoped. This is not to say that I hated her character, I just thought she was very bland and unexceptional.

Moving onto Jordan’s character – what can I say? I loved him – it’s as simple as that. He’s lived in the system for most of his life since his mother died and left him orphaned, and has been bounced around in foster homes ever since. Jordan is the stark opposite of Ebony; he’s funny, snarky, sarcastic, strong-willed, sweet and kind. His character was just so full of life and seemed the most realistic and interesting of the three main characters. Jordan’s character proves that Marianne can create a relatable and great character – even if I didn’t like her other characters.

Lastly, onto Thane’s character – I really didn’t like him at all. Thane reminded me of the beach hotties you see on TV, with everything down there and nothing in his head. His character was such a typical cliché; strong, muscular, handsome – someone all the girls fall head over hills for. The romance between Thane and Ebony is insta-love, and I hated it. I’m not usually a fan of insta-love, but there are some exceptions – and this was NOT it. Thane and Ebony’s relationship was way over the top, ‘I’ve just met you and this is crazy, but I can’t live without you – so call me baby’. I really disliked how Ebony suddenly disregarded what kindling feelings of romance she had towards Jordan when she met Thane. I understand that they have a ‘connection’ but it was just too much, too soon in my opinion.

Overall, I liked reading this book, but I doubt I’d read it again. Two of the three main characters were flat and disappointing, but I do believe the plotline had great potential if only the characters and world building was developed more. I felt like it was rushed in many places, where I thought more time should have been spent on. It was also very confusing at times, and I found myself lost and wondering what was happening in the story. I’d recommend Hidden to any readers who are fans of Angels; but I’d warn them not to go in with high hopes – it was a pretty good novel – but I doubt it would stand out in a crowd. I will, however, try and read more from Marianne Curley in the future.

A Fun Little Extra
I was lead on my bed reading this book, thinking I was reading Jordan’s POV chapter, until I read this paragraph:
He’s leaving, and my heart trembles. He looks down at me, curled into his chest, and he stroked my hair. His touch sets my pulse racing.
‘Come back to me,’ I whisper. ‘Please come back’.
He inhales a shuddering breath, tilts my face up with his thumb under my chin. His kiss is gentle and greedy, soft and fierce, everything and not enough.
Standing on my toes, I throw my arms around his neck, push my fingers into his hair to let him know how much I want him.

My reaction? “...I’m sorry, what?! Since when did Jordan turn gay?” *starts flipping pages frantically* “Did I miss something?!” I’m blinking at an alarming rate, giggling and very confused, until I realise I’m actually reading Ebony’s chapter. ^^;


Quotes
Nothing shimmers as bright as the connection between a Guardian and their human charge at the time of the human's death, or, as in this situation, his near death. It's what alerts the Guardian to act fast. And so the face with the Death Watchers begins. - Page 44.

The tall guy lifts his head and searches for my eyes. The joining is sudden and powerful and stronger than anything I’ve experienced before. I can’t look elsewhere and have to stop myself from running and jumping into this stranger’s arms. And he’s such a beautiful stranger! Tall, with blond hair and fair skin that appears to glow softly. There’s something about him that’s truly ethereal. - Page 186.

He’s leaving, and my heart trembles. He looks down at me, curled into his chest, and he stroked my hair. His touch sets my pulse racing.
‘Come back to me,’ I whisper. ‘Please come back’.
He inhales a shuddering breath, tilts my face up with his thumb under my chin. His kiss is gentle and greedy, soft and fierce, everything and not enough. Standing on my toes, I throw my arms around his neck, push my fingers into his hair to let him know how much I want him. – Page 298.




"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Hey Book Nerds! ^.^ How are you all doing today? :) I've gotten quite a bit further into Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder and I've been actually pleasantly surprised by it. :3 I also started re-watching the TV show Lost yesterday, I'm borrowing the box set from my elder brother who has it on Blue-Ray. I love the series, it's awesome. ^.^ Have any of you guys seen it? :) Well, that's it for today - I hope you're all having a great week so far! :D And don't forget to keep any eye out for my review of Hidden by Marianne Curley tomorrow. ^.^






Title: Rush.
Series: The Game, #1.
Author: Eve Silver.
Expected Publication: June 11th, 2013.
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books.
Format: Hardback, 352 pages.



So what’s the game now? This, or the life I used to know?

When Miki Jones is pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into some kind of game—her carefully controlled life spirals into chaos. In the game, she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures. There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Miki has only the guidance of secretive but maddeningly attractive team leader Jackson Tate, who says the game isn’t really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival, and the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn’t. And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn.

This book looks absolutely incredible! ‘Rush’ has been featured in a lot of different Waiting On Wednesday posts that I've seen lately, but I thought I'd showcase it in case any of you haven't already heard of it! :) I can't even begin to describe how badly I want to get my hands on this book, it's embarrassing really... :P As for the cover, I think it's really awesome. :D I love how the letters are 3D and the colours are amazing. :3 What do you guys think of the looks of this book, have you heard of it before? :) Let me know! ^.^



What are you "Waiting On" this Wednesday? Leave me a comment or a link to your blog post and I'll be sure to check it out! :D Happy Reading. (: