{Follow Friday} 3

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by ParaJunkee – helping bloggers get out there and meet new bloggers!

Be sure to hit up ParaJunkee’s blog to add your name to the linky if you’re joining in, and to get the button with code below. Simply Click It and you will go right to her blog! Instructions are below for follow Friday fun!

  

Q. What are you doing to prepare for an upcoming zombie apocalypse and/or the return of Mel Gibson to the silver screen? (Both of which could be terrifying.) 

I would grab all of my books and put them in tons of boxes, get my parents to call a spaceship then ditch them and use my spaceship to abduct all the books in the world and then kidnap all my favorite writers ! Ha!

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - backseatreader.net
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. LINKY TOOLS IS BACK! I paid for the subscription - finally so now you can add the links to your own post!!! To add the code to your own post click on GET THE CODE here under the list of names.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday!

 

{Review} Siren by Tricia Rayburn

Release Date: 10 May 2011

Publisher: Egmont USA

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 368

Author: Tricia Rayburn 

Buy the Books: Amazon

Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Sands is afraid of everything—the dark, heights, the ocean—but her fearless older sister, Justine, has always been there to coach her through every challenge. That is, until Justine goes cliff-diving one night near the family’s vacation house in Maine, and her lifeless body washes up on shore the next day.

Though her parents hope that they’ll be able to find closure back in Boston, Vanessa can’t help feeling that her sister’s death wasn’t an accident. After discovering that Justine was keeping a lot of secrets, Vanessa returns to Winter Harbor, hoping that Justine’s boyfriend might know more. But Caleb has been missing since Justine’s death.

Soon, it’s not just Vanessa who’s afraid. All of Winter Harbor is abuzz with anxiety when another body washes ashore, and panic sets in when the small town becomes host to a string of fatal, water-related accidents in which all the victims are found, horrifically, grinning from ear to ear.

Vanessa turns to Caleb’s brother, Simon, for help, and begins to find herself drawn to him. As the pair tries to understand the sudden rash of creepy drownings, Vanessa uncovers a secret that threatens her new romance—and will change her life forever.

My Thoughts:

Well this novel started off with a bang as it had a death that occurred early in the beginning and I really liked that and the fact that we were pushed in to a pool of strong emotions at the very beginning which felt genuine and I don’t know why I have been craving this in books lately but it is something that I will begin to watch out for.

The grieving was not too bad over the death, which I will not tell you who’s it was, but I felt that there could have been more grieving over the death by the main character.

This book was wonderfully written and there was something special about the way that it was written, it was both addictive and wonderful all rolled up in to one. I also loved the fact that it was set near the ocean and that it was about mermaids/ sirens which we do not see often in YA books but there are a few siren YA books that have been released or will be released in the near future and I was also glad to find that this was not just some author taking the little mermaid and twisting it.

The was a very fresh and edge twist to the whole mermaid thing but I wish that there would have been more about the mermaids right from the start as opposed to only reading about them in the last few chapters.

 This book was a bit slow paced for me but I still enjoyed it non-the less. I find that all of the characters were well developed and thought out and we could most likely relate to them in some way or another.

Over all this was an interesting read and I cannot wait to read its sequel; Undercurrent. 

 

 

{Review} Die For Me by Amy Plum

Release Date: 10 May 2011

Publisher: HarperTeen

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 352

Author: Amy Plum
Buy the Book: Amazon

In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.

When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life--and memories--behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.

Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.

My Thoughts: 

I have heard great things about this book and this novel for one did leave me breathless with its impeccable writing and the great drive behind the story line.

Amy Plum uses description which makes things seem even more vivid and imaginable, the description is simply astounding and it did not fail to amaze me. The most shocking fact, and by shocking I mean a good kind of shocking was that the author was able to use description that I had never hear, in all its originality I was still able to easily understand what that description was adding to the story.

Many people have either said that this will be greater than Twilight and many also say that it is too much like Twilight. I am not going to start any controversial arguments over this I will plainly say that this novel will leave you breathless weather it is similar to twilight or not.

What was also astounding was the fact that it was set in Paris which made it even more great and I had actually gotten to travel there for free due to this book so thank you Amy for allowing me to travel to a distant country whilst reading your impeccable novel.

The one thing I did feel that was wrong with this novel was that when Kate’s parents die the feelings were not genuine enough for me, but the rest of the book was absolutely and all the rest of the feelings were great and I was able to experience everything in my mind so that all made up for that, and that is why I have decided to give Die For Me a great rating! 

{Review} City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: 3 August 2010
Publisher: Walker Books

Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 576

Author: Cassandra Clare

Buy the Book: Amazon

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters -- never mind that enter-ing the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadow-hunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadow-hunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City -- whatever the cost?

My Thoughts:

Cassandra Clare knows how to draw a person in to her character’s world and she sure knows how to keep them there!

City of Glass was a great book and I am glad that there will be 3 more books in this series. The books are long but don’t let anything fool you. These books sure are great and you will enjoy all of the romance, humour, action, adventure and fantasy all rolled up in to one book.

Clare’s writing style will have you wanting more once the book ends and you will always be left wanting more with her books. I must admit however that these books are a lot for my mind to process, it is not because of the story line or plot, but rather all of the terminology that baffles me even after the third book.

All of Cassandra Clare’s characters are well thought out and dimensional. One thing that annoyed me though is that in the end Clary and Jace were not related (sorry for the spoiler) I mean I know that this was all part of Valentine’s plan but still I am not sure if the next 3 books will have anything really special between Jace and Clary because there is not that struggle for love that they must fight.

I have read reviews for City of Fallen Angels and everyone seems to think that CoFA is the best book yet in this series. I will have to wait and see...maybe there will be an interesting turn of events in the next set of books. 

{Cover Lover} 1: Cover Reveals

Here are some recently revealed covers, I think that every single one of them is absolutely stunning:

{In My Mailbox} 3

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at: The Story Siren. You can find official information like how to participate, why it was started and other goodies about IMM on the IMM Page

In My Mailbox this week: 

Die For Me by Amy Plum:

Amazon | Goodreads

Daimon by Jennifer Armentrout:

Amazon | Goodreads

Divergent by Veronica Roth:

Amazon | Goodreads

The Strange Case of Finely Jane by Kady Cross:

Amazon | Goodreads

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter:

Amazon | Goodreads

Angel by L. A Weatherly:

Amazon | Goodreads

And then I would like to thank Jennifer L Armentrout for the following:

 I got signed swag that I will be having giveaways for soon so check back soon! 


What did you get in your mailbox this week?

{Review} Divergent by Veronica Roth

Release Date: 3 May 2011
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 496
Author: Veronica Roth
Buy the Book: Amazon

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

My Thoughts:

What can I say this was my first dystopian novel and this was the perfect way to get me to start reading more of them.  This novel was beautifully written and I absolutely loved it, well for the most part.

My only problem with this book that it was intriguing but only really got going towards the end. I felt very interested in the beginning and this novel has a very interesting and the concept was very well thought out and applied, but like I said, I would have preferred to see the book move a bit more in the beginning.

With that being said I would like to mention that in my eyes it was probably best to write it this ways as we get to see Tris’s progress and feelings that are felt, which are written in such a way that the words on the page may actually make you think that you are experiencing the same thing that the characters, which is excellent in a novel.

This was an awesome debut that people will most definitely love, the characters are all wonderful and I am sure that you would fall for at least one of them. This book will most definitely make a good impression on readers and I am sure that they will come back for more of Roth’s interesting and riveting tales.