One

One.


One book I am currently reading for review.

One book tour that will be stopping here in October.

One book giveaway that I have entered in the past few weeks.

One review that I should have written last month and STILL haven't.

One really bad book blogger.

One demanding job.

One new wife.


That's me!

Guest Bloggers Needed!

I know I am going to be busy during the week leading up to my wedding, not mention that I'll be gone for a week during my honeymoon. Thus, I am looking for guest bloggers for this book blog and for my main blog -Artistically Amy- for the weeks of August 15th and August 29. Please let me know if you are interested!

Book Review: Firelight

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

A hidden truth.
Mortal enemies.
Doomed love.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.. [Source]

Amazing. What else can I say??

I didn't jump in this bandwagon until a couple weeks ago, mainly because I was trying to wait for the paperback version to be released. But then I was offered the chance to review the sequel, AS LONG AS I read and reviewed Firelight first. So I bought it and I read it. And I loved it.

Commence jumping on bandwagon.

Now I am a fan.

I *might* be living under a rock, but I haven't really read very many YA novels about dragons lately, let alone YA novels about draki. That usually makes me want to read something, that little bit of uniqueness. Before reading, I had to turn to my geeky, loves-all-things-sci-fi-and-paranormal fiance to explain what draki are.

I was hooked from page 1! The rising action that occurs right away drew me in and left me breathless. I personally don't like when novels take 3 or 4 chapters to build up and get interesting, so this novel earned points quickly.

Also, I love how the author introduces characters seamlessly and naturally. I didn't feel as though names of characters were being thrown around just for the sake of having them there. Each character, even the secondary ones, served a distinct and unique purpose.

As if I wasn't on the edge of my seat while reading, the author then threw this crazy little twist in, smack dab in the middle of a major conflict. Just when I was expecting some sort of resolution, I was given more questions.

Some of the foreshadowing was a bit obvious, which I don't usually like. However, at times, in this novel, it served to peak my interest even more, therefore keeping me reading.

I love Will and Jacinda as a couple. So wrong for each other, but so connected. I can't really explain how much I love them together.

Holy open ending, Batman! If I had read this novel when it was first published, I honestly would have been seriously angry with the ending. However, now that I have the sequel firmly in my grasp, I'm okay with it... But ONLY because I have that sequel, literally waiting on my coffee table.

Rating:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer hits stores everywhere 9.27.11. Pre-order your copy here. Download the widget here. Enter to win an Advanced Reader’s Copy here.

Book Review: Shatter Me

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

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. [Source]

I was able to read and review an ARC of this novel through OUaT tours (see button below my rating).

Let me preface my review by saying that I have never watched (or been remotely interested in) X-Men. So I came into this novel clueless and not knowing anything about Rogue or her specific powers. Thus, I didn't quite understand Juliette's power until I read further and did some indirectly related research.

Okay, back to the review.

This novel is about Juliette, who has been in jail for 264 days. Before she was lucked up, she was poked, prodded, tested, examined, and questioned extensively. Before that, she was shunned, teased, ignored, and exiled. All because of the mystery of her touch. It causes pain, torture, and death.

The world outside the jail where Juliette is being held is not the world we know now. In Juliette's world, there is no green, and the weather is erratic. Animals and plants have mostly died off. The Reestablishment is trying to regain control over society in order to return the world to the way it used to be, or so Juliette thinks.

When a strange man, Adam, is locked inside Juliette's cell, she learns that the Reestablishment is lying. Rather than return to society to the way it used to be, they are trying to create a new society, a new way of life. Adam and Juliette reforge a bond that had been created long ago. With this new friendship, and as her life dramatically changes, Juliette must look inside herself to become who she was meant to be. She must learn to accept her mysterious condition as a power, not a curse, and she must live freely, rather than locking herself up inside her own self.

I loved this novel from page 1 to page 342, start to finish. I was instantly enthralled in Juliette's world. I couldn't put the book down! Juliette is a likable character; she is smart and strong, even though she doesn't truly realize it yet. Her childhood was sad and lonely; my heart ached for her.

Adam was so lovable, despite the fact that I truly didn't trust him until I met his younger brother. My heart ached for them, too.

Actually, now that I think about it, my heart ached a lot while reading Shatter Me. I think it had to do mostly with the author's writing style. It's not easy to read poetic/lyric narratives, but that style always seem to trigger my emotion more than simple dialogue or descriptions. Tahereh Mafi's comparisons and descriptions were magical and fluid. I saw everything that Juliette saw, and I felt everything she felt.

Warner is that kind of character that you hate to love, and love to hate. He was very well-written, although not developed yet. I am anxious to read more about his motivations, what makes him tick.

The last 7 chapters provide more of a resolution to the conflict, but they do not wrap up the novel in the least. Far from providing closure, I was left with more questions, wanting more, needing more. Castle has gathered together some powerful people, and I need to know his plan. This entire novel was most certainly set up for a sequel, and I am more than ready for it to be written.


Rating: