Friday, December 30, 2011

Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver site
Format: Audiobook
Voice Actress: Sarah Drew site
Published: 2/01/2011
Publisher: Listening Library
Source: eMedia Library

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. 

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.
Characters:
I really liked that Lena isn’t your typical dystopian heroine. She’s clumsy, awkward, shy, naïve, and always follows the rules. Many of her reactions and emotions throughout the book were very well conveyed and believable. She’s also described as a plain Jane. (But actually described, unlike a certain “book that shall not be named”) Lauren Oliver did a great job at creating a very authentic and human character. Though I wasn’t surprised, having read her debut Before I Fall, which also has a great main character.

Plot:
I liked the flow of Delirium’s plot. It was very well paced, without many time gaps.  And it has plenty of different twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat, and your eyes glued to the pages. And the ending is just mind-blowing!

Writing Style:
Delirium’s your basic first person POV from the point of view of Lena.

Overall:
When I first read Delirium early this year, I was a little skeptical seeing as I am not a fan of romance, and this book is all about forbidden love. This review is based on my recent rereading with the audiobook (sequel coming out soon, so I needed a refresher), and I’m happy to say that I enjoyed it a lot more the second time around. I give Delirium 4 stars. It is one of the best dystopians to come out of 2011. 


Thursday, December 22, 2011

Holiday Break Reading Challenge Day 7 - Your Favorite Book Character of 2011 in Pictures


Today's challenge activity was to write a post about your favorite character you read about in 2011. Hands down (or hand and "whiphand"), that would have to be Drake Merwin from the Gone series by Michael Grant. Anyone who has ever met me or read my posts has probably had the pleasure of hearing me gush about the Gone series, which I discovered earlier this year. Out of the many lovable characters in the series, of course, my favorite would have to be the psychopathic, immortal, and whiphanded killer. Here's a collage of some my favorite Drake fan art found through deviantart.com.


Fan art artists from collage, left to right: "Mr. Whiphand" by kangel, "Drake Merwin Fanart" by FallsApart, "Gone -- Drake Merwin" by Zexionluver4ever, "Beware the Whiphand -- Drake Merwin" by Malsavaidity, and "Drake Marker Sketch -Gone-" by TheIronyIsPalpable.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Where's Waldo?


I know some of you are wondering, "What happened to Emma B., my favorite YA blogger?". Well, lots of holiday busyness paired with a family emergency and generally being tired. But rest assured, more reviews and the like are on their way shortly. Including reviews of My Beating Teenage Heart by C.K. Kelly Martin, and Delirium by Lauren Oliver. And if you don't hear from me sooner, here's wishing you a Happy Holiday!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

E-Book & Self-Published Reading Challenge


I decided to join the 2012 Ebook Challenge and the 2012 Self-Published Reading Challenge, both hosted by Workday Reads. I have an ereader, but I don't use it as often as I should. And of course I'm always looking for ways to support self-published authors. I'm going with the "DVD level", 25 books, for the ebook challenge. And the "Paragraph level", 10 books, for the self-published challenge. Here's a list of some ebooks (some self-published, some not) that I've already committed to reading.

-Quest of the Demon by M.J. Sawyer
-Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe
-Notes to Self by Avery Sawyer
-Unearthed by Rebecca Bloomer
-Ugly to Start With by John M. Cummings

If you're participating with either challenge, feel free to link-up in the comments section. Clicking on the challenge image will take you to the challenge sign-up page.



Zombie Reading Challenge


I decided to join Book Chick City's Zombie Reading Challenge. I decided to start off with the lowest level, "One Chomp", for reading six zombie themed books.  I love books about zombies, and hopefully this challenge will motivate me to read more zombie fiction. Here are some zombie themed book from my "to-read" list I might read for the challenge. (I fly by the seat of my pants in choosing books. No committing for me.)

-Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel
-Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry
-My Life As a White Trash Zombie by Dianna Rowland
-Bad Taste In Boys by Carrie Harris
-Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
-Married With Zombies by Jesse Peterson
-Feed by Mira Grant

If you're participating in the challenge, link up your post page in the comments section so I can check it out. Click on the image at the top of this post to go to the challenges sign-up page.


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Top Ten Tuesday (#6)

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Top Ten is...
Top Ten Childhood Favorites

One of my absolute favorite books of all time. When I first read the audio book, I reread it at least 3 times after. It was also the first book that moved me to tears. 

I loved this series when I was in the first and second grade. My favorites were Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus, Junie B. Jones and the Yucky Blucky Fruitcake, and Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth.

I always thought these books were so cool. They were written as though they really were some girls journal. Full of hand drawn illustrations, and lots of funny stories.

4) Magic Tree House series by Mary Osborne Pope When I was in elementary school, I'd had a fascination with ancient Egypt and mummies.  So, of course, the first one I'd ever read was Mummies in the Morning. I also really liked Night of the Ninjas.

I probably read almost all of the Sweet Valley Kids books in about 3rd or 4th grade. The ones I read again and again were A Curse on Elizabeth and Trapped in Toyland

These were pretty short chapter books about a kid detective in San Francisco, solving mysteries in his neighborhood. My favorite was The Case of the Fleeing Fang

I loved The Boxcar Children. The whole idea of kids surviving on their own in the wilderness really appealed to me. I didn't even read any other books in the series because it wasn't about survival, they were solving mysteries. (Didn't make sense then, doesn't make sense now.) 

I read every Goosebumps book my library had. The only one that ever gave me nightmares though, was Night of the Living Dummy. Some of my Favorites were One Day at Horrorland, The Cuckoo Clock of Doom, How I Got My Shrunken Head, It Came From Beneath the Sink, and Welcome to Camp Nightmare

The classic stories of the house keeper that takes instructions too literally and bakes a mean pie. Anyone who said they didn't laugh reading Amelia Bedelia stories are lying to you. 

The, also, classic stories of two best friends that may not always get along but always have lots of fun. 

Here are some other favorites that didn't fit on the list. 


What was in your Top Ten this week? Don't forget to link-up in the comments section. 

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Future Release Review: Fracture by Megan Miranda

Title: Fracture
Author: Megan Miranda site
Format: ARC, 262 pages
Release Date: 1/03/12
Publisher: Walker & Company
Source: Pre-publication buzz tour


“Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine
-despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?
Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?”
How it starts:
Delaney and her best friend Decker (17) go to some play kind of game in the snow with their friends in the small town of Falcon Lake, Maine. They decide to take a shortcut over the lake and end up regretting it. After Decker runs ahead, Delaney trips and falls, creating a fracture in the ice and falls through.

She then wakes up after being in a coma for 6 days. She was not expected to make it; she’d been under the freezing cold water for eleven minutes.  It’s almost unheard of to make it after seven. The doctors say it’s nothing less than a miracle.
Though Delaney can still walk and talk fine (strangely without even needing rehab), her damaged brain seems to have rewired itself in strange ways. She feels an unexplainable “tugging” and “itch” in her brain while in the hospital.  What does this mean?

Characters:
I have mixed feelings about Delaney (protagonist). I definitely liked her, and pretty much everyone, for the first 50-75 pages or so; but then it seemed like her character development just came to a standstill, leaving her feeling kind of 2D.  And then she does something incredibly stupid (mentioned in Troy description). I will say kudos to Miranda for not making her character the normal short, skinny heroine girl. Delaney doesn’t really play the hero. I believe she even said at one point “I’m not that kind of girl”.

I hated that Decker (best friend/romantic interest) was so hot and cold so much of the time. There is kind of an explanation for it, but still. It made him really hard to like. During the beginning of the book I was yelling at the characters to just get together already. But then Decker’s character is kind of a jerk half the time. I personally wasn’t really rooting for either of them. Neither one really seemed that desirable.

 And then there’s Troy (other romantic interest. Yep, it’s a love triangle. Ugh). Honestly I didn’t really like Troy either.  He was really kind of creepy, even in the beginning. Until Delaney’s character finds out more about him, I don’t see his appeal. I mean, Delaney gets in his car, and later in his apartment, after only knowing him for all of 5 minutes. I couldn’t help yelling “stranger danger” in my head.

Of the three main characters, there really wasn’t one I was rooting for, which sucks. As a reader, I want to want the book’s characters to succeed. But I just didn’t get that in Fracture.

Plot:
The plot wasn’t half bad.  The whole mysterious “tugging” to others and Delaney wondering whether she’s crazy or not kept me entertained. There was a problem with the pacing though. As it got toward the end, it felt kind of rushed. Like there was so much going on, and not enough space in 250 pages to say everything.

The ending lacked any closure or answers. And without a cliffhanger (there isn’t any sequel planned), it just seemed like Fracture ended so abruptly. Delaney’s family is kind of falling apart, and then she has her special ability to deal with and nothing gets resolved. Basically in the end, there’s a death, a kiss, THE END. It was like the author was writing and all of the sudden was incapacitated on page 262 (last page) and the publisher just published what they had without an ending. This feeling is probably due to the lack of “hope for the future” that usually ends stand alone books.

Overall:
Fracture didn’t do it for me. At the beginning, I thought I had a real hit on my hands but it was not meant to be. This book may make a splash for others, but from me, Fracture gets a thumbs down. I give it 2.5 stars for at least having a very intriguing beginning. 



Friday, December 2, 2011

Future Release Review: Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Before I go any further, this book's title put a song in my head throughout my reading it. Just listen as far as the chorus to see what I mean. (1:10 minutes in) 

Title: Every Other Day
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes site
Format: Ebook
Release Date: 12/27/2011
Publisher: Egmont
Source: Netgalley

“Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human.

And then every day in between . . . She’s something else entirely.

Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.

When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she'll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive . . . and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.”

Every Other Day is set in a world very similar to ours. The big difference is that instead of Darwin discovering evolution when he set out on the Beagle, he discovered preternatural creatures (hellhounds, zombies, basilisks, ect.). And so the hunting Kali is compelled to do is very illegal, what with hellhounds being an endangered species and all. Through the whole book, Kali is wondering who she is; not her personality, but what species. As far as she knows she’s one of a kind.

Characters:
There weren’t any characters in this book I had problems with. I didn’t find anything about Kali I disliked; I just had a hard time relating to her for whatever reason. She has the whole “kick ass heroine” thing going on, and she’s easy to root for. She was just a little 2D personality wise.

Again, nothing liked or disliked with Zev. Although he’s the romantic interest, he doesn’t play a major role in this book. Perhaps we’ll see more of him in the sequel.

The real money is in the supporting characters. All the banter between Skylar and Bethany was so funny I almost peed my pants. (I always seem to like the funny characters the best. Never noticed this before.)

Plot:
This book has a great plot. Every Other Day is action packed, with a few tear-jerking moments and plenty of twists and turns. Some that even I didn’t see coming. (This, unfortunately, doesn’t happen very often.) And a cliff hanger ending completes the package that, hopefully, promises a sequel.

Overall:
I really enjoyed this book and found the concept (especially what species she turns out to be) very unique. It was well paced and I was never bored. I really hope there will be a sequel. Every Other Day gets 3.5/5 stars from me. I can see this book being a big hit! 


Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Giveaway of Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Novel Minded is holding it's first ever giveaway!


The awesome publishers at Feiwel & Friends sent me an extra ARC by accident, so I've decided to give it away to one lucky reader! There are lots of ways to enter. Let's go over the rules, shall we?
  • You must be 13 or over to enter
  • You must live in the U.S. or have an address in the U.S. for shipping. (Sorry, but I'm the one paying for shipping)
  • The winner will have 48 hours to respond before drawing another winner.
  • Entries will be accepted from Dec.1st through Dec. 17th.
  • Following is not mandatory, but will get you extra entries and is immensely appreciated.
  • You do not need to leave your full name for entry, an alias or first name and initial is fine.
  • Only Rafflecopter entries will be counted. Do not leave entry information in the comments section.
  • All entries and information are deleted after the winner has been contacted, and will not be used for evil.
Cinder Giveaway

(If viewing from home page, go this post's page by clicking title to view Rafflecopter)

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn

Title: Beastly
Author: Alex Flinn site
Voice Actor: Chris Patton
Format: Audiobook, 6 parts
Published: 6/30/2010 (Originally published 10/01/2007)
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Source: eMedia Library

I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature who walks upright – a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster. 

You think I’m talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It’s no deformity, no disease. And I’ll stay this way forever – ruined – unless I can break the spell. 

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly beastly.
Characters:
I wasn’t really impressed with Arian. There just wasn’t anything I could connect to. And he was too much of a martyr. Most of the book is just him saying “I’ll never get anyone/her to love me. It’s hopeless, I’m doomed, oh, woe is me, ect.”

Lindy is suffering from some serious PCD, Perfect Character Disorder. She isn’t described as breathtakingly beautiful, but she’s basically a saint. She loves to read the classics (of course), lives in a bad neighborhood, and has a heart of gold, and is willingly imprisoned to keep her father out of jail. Other than having crooked teeth and a little low self esteem, she’s perfect. Now it’s arguable that this is a fairy tale that isn’t a fairy tale, but it’s just too over the top for belief.

The character that really saved this book from being put down (or rather, turned off as it’s an audiobook) was Kendra, a time traveling, curse put-uponing, witty, witch. We see some but not nearly enough of her throughout the story. The author must think so too as she’s writing a spin-off series telling Kendra’s story.

Plot:
As far as fairy tale retellings go, this isn’t the worst. But it isn’t the best either. I wasn’t bored, but the retelling wasn’t new enough for me to actually wonder what happens. There aren’t a whole lot of surprises. It’s just like the Disney classic if it were set in New York, minus the singing and talking silverware.

Writing Style:
It’s pretty much your normal first person POV, except for a few parts written as transcript from an instant messaging chat room.

Overall:
In the end, this book wasn’t for me. Though I was curious, I read it mostly because I have an ARC of Bewitching, the first in a new spin off series about Kendra. Though it might seem so from the review, it wasn’t all that bad. I was entertained for the duration of the book. I just wasn’t wowed. I’m giving it 3 stars.  


Monday, November 28, 2011

Review: A Plague Year by Edward Bloor

Title: A Plague Year
Author: Edward Bloor site
Format: Hardcover, 305 pages
Published: 9/13/2011
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Source: Book Divas

A Plague Year is meant to be a modern day retelling of Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year, comparing meth’s destructive tendencies on a community to those of an infectious plague. Soon after September 11th, methamphetamine begins to take over the small mining town of Blackwater, PA. Turning others whom have taken the drug into “meth zombies” in it’s wake. Tom, writer of the journal, experiences the effects of meth first hand as his friends and neighbors become afflicted with the “meth plague”. The Blackwater morgues are fuller than ever. Will Blackwater survive? Or will the zombies take over?!

Characters:
There wasn’t anything wrong with Tom, he had some likable qualities, but I was bored with him too by the end. And I didn’t like that from the beginning, his goal is to get good grades so he can get a scholarship to “get the hell out of Dodge”, but at the end he basically gives up.

Plot:
This book isn’t really memorable in my mind. And even though there are instances of action throughout the book, it left me feeling bored. One of the biggest reasons I didn’t like the book was the constant repetition of “Don’t do drugs or you’ll turn into a zombie”. I’m all about being drug free, but this got really old, really fast. It would have been more interesting if the meth epidemic took people by surprise, but it almost seems as if everyone else knew it was going to happen. Tom himself is told by multiple adults about meth before he ever sees anyone affected. I had the same problem with A Plague Year that I did with The Bell Jar, the character really didn’t have a big goal. It’s mostly just reflections of what’s happening in Tom’s town.

Writing Style:
Unlike the title suggests A Plague Year doesn’t actually span over a year’s time. Beginning in September 2001, we read a few, about three, of Tom’s journal entries from each month until 2002.

Overall:
A Plague Year just doesn’t stick out as a book I’d reread. I’m giving it 2.5 stars for being tiresome.



Saturday, November 26, 2011

In My Mailbox (#7)

In My Mailbox is a bookish meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren.
Follow the provided link to find out more information.


Some of you may have noticed I didn't get an IMM post out last week. I ended up being really busy and wasn't even at home to post. Therefore, there will be double the books, and double the fun for this week!




I had the opportunity to go to a joint author book signing to meet M.T. Anderson and Chris Van Allsburg. I love M.T. Anderson's books, especially my favorite Feed. I also got two of his other great YA novels signed, Thirsty and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Pox PartyAnd I was equally excited to meet Chris Van Allsburg who's written the extremely popular The Polar Express, and my personal favorite Two Bad Ants

I was also very luck to meet David Levithan, Jeff Hirsch, and 8 other YA authors at another book signing. I got Will Grayson, Will Grayson and The Eleventh Plague signed, both awesome books for those looking for recommendations. 

Last week I checked out copies of Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan, Unison Spark by Andy Marino, Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster, Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King, And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky, and Pearl by Jo Knowles.

And this week I checked out Vesper by Jeff Sampson, Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake, This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel, Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien, and The Pledge by Kimberly Derting.

As you can see, I have a lot of reading ahead of me. Be sure to leave a comment with your IMM post, or just your thoughts on these reads. Happy Reading!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

2012 Stand Alone Reading Challenge

Red Button

I'm participating in the 2012 Standalone Reading Challenge hosted by Icey Books and I Like These Books. I'm joining lots of other bloggers and challenging myself to read at least 15 standalone YA novels. Perhaps like many of you, it gets tiring having so many YA novels out there being part of a series or trilogy. Let's help spread the word about some great standalones coming soon! Here's a list featuring some standalones' coming out in 2012. Some I'll probably read for the challenge! Each title will take you to the book's Goodreads page.
  1. Above by Leah Bobet (released  April 1st 2012 by Arthur A. Levine Books)
  2. Struck by Jennifer Bosworth (released May 8th 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
  3. Trafficked by Kim Purcell (released February 16th 2012 by Viking Juvenile)
  4. When the Sea is Rising Red by Cat Hellison (released February 28th 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
  5. The Other Life by Susan Winnacker (released February 1st 2012 by Usborne)
  6. Partials by Dan Wells (released February 28th 2012 by HarperCollins)
  7. Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick (released January 28th 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group)
  8. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (released January 10th 2012 by Dutton Juvenile)
  9. Purity by Jackson Pearce (released April 24th 2012 by Little, Brown)
  10. Double by Jenny Valentine (released February 27th 2012 by Hyperion Books)
  11. Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter (released October 2012 by Harlequin Teen)
  12. Altered by Jennifer Rush (released unknown, 2012 by Little, Brown)
  13. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (released unknown, 2012 by Little, Brown)
  14. Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz (released April 17th 2012 by Simon Pulse)
  15. After the Snow by S.D. Crockett (released March 27th 2012 by Feiwel & Friends)
I hope that some of you out there will join in the fun, and participate as well. Happy Reading!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Dusty Reads (#2)

Dusty Reads is a meme hosted by Giselle @ Xpresso Reads
A "dusty read" is a book that you've had sitting on your shelf for a long time, but you haven't read yet.

This week's "dusty read" is...


Triangles by Ellen Hopkins

"In this first adult novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the unforgettable Crank trilogy, three female friends face midlife crises in a no holds-barred exploration of sex, marriage, and the fragility of life.
Ellen Hopkins has made her mark as the wildly popular author of several novels for young adults—every one of them a New York Timesbestseller, and every one a hard-hitting exploration of tough-to-tackle topics. Now, in Triangles, Hopkins brings her storytelling mastery and fearlessness to take on the challenges of adult dramas."
I'd won this one as an ARC from a Goodreads giveaways, and I obviously didn't look closely at the description. I just thought it was another Ellen Hopkins YA in verse. I would still like to read it, but I'm a little wary because of all this talk of "no holds barred sex". I hope that isn't all it's about, but it'll most likely be awhile until I read this one.