Aug 31, 2012

Weirdness...

Sorry for the weirdness everyone, but I need to post this pic of myself online in some way! Since I don't have a Twitter or Facebook account--please don't shame me!--I decided my blog would have to do!

I am entering a contest on Julie Kagawa's blog! The prize? A signed set of her soon to be released set of the Iron Fey Books! It's coming out in a handy dandy combo pack, to enter you must take a picture of yourself with the NEW The Iron Legends!

I got this in the mail earlier this week, and will feature it in my STS. But for now, I just need to post the picture! It wasn't easy to take either since I took it myself of myself!

Didn't come out too horrendous!


Yeah, still a little bad! I hate getting my picture taken, but since I would looooooove to win a signed set of the books, this shows my gumption to win!





ARC Review--Hidden by Sophie Jordan

Jacinda was supposed to bond with Cassian, the "prince" of their pride. But she resisted long before she fell in love with Will—a human and, worse, a hunter. When she ran away with Will, it ended in disaster, with Cassian's sister, Miram, captured. Weighed down by guilt, Jacinda knows she must rescue her to set things right. Yet to do so she will have to venture deep into the heart of enemy territory.

The only way Jacinda can reach Miram is by posing as a prisoner herself, though once she assumes that disguise, things quickly spiral out of her control. As she learns more about her captors, she realizes that even if Will and Cassian can carry out their part of the plan, there's no guarantee they'll all make it out alive. But what Jacinda never could have foreseen is that escaping would be only the beginning....

Loyalties are tested and sacrifices made in the explosive conclusion to Sophie Jordan's Firelight trilogy.


I received this ARC at the Romantic Times Booklover's Convention for review


Hidden is Sophie Jordan's mind-shattering conclusion to the Firelight trilogy! From the first page the story takes off with a bang and it's hard to see where it will go by the end! The action is nearly non-stop and when there are non-actiony moments they are replaced with emotional ones!

Jacinda is going undercover. She is going to pose as herself in darki form and allow herself to be taken in by the Enkros. She's always known that the Enkros were her enemies. And she's about to have that notion reconfirmed once she enters their lair as their prisoner. Jacinda allows herself to be taken in purely to rescue Cassian's sister Miram. But once she hears all the other draki she knows she won't be leaving any of them behind.

I was worried for awhile that the majority of the story was going to be told here in the compound with Jacinda being held prisoner, despite that her friends were going to break her out in 24 hours. And I was pleased that before the one hundred page mark that Jacinda had gotten out. But really her problems are nowhere near over! This is truly just the beginning of Jacinda's hectic ending to her story!

There are some seriously close calls as the group tries to to make it back to home. They even pick up a stray draki, who cannot seem to remember how to shift back into human form. To make matters more complicated, he's taken an interest into Tamra, which nags at Jacinda for some reason.

Hunters are on their trail and they don't know why--right away. Jacinda soon pieces the puzzle together and it had me wondering why it took her so long, but I chalk it up to the situation. They are running for their lives still with danger at every turn, so the notion had to have just slipped her mind.

The mystery behind her father is also broached again. And in a way I found it satisfying to finally know, yet I found it lacking. The answer came too easily and that was the end of it. Jacinda wanted to see that the person, whose actions led to her father's demise, was punished, but the outcome was lacking.

The book was not without its tragedy and that's all I will say on that matter. There were some surprises as well. Pretty much all the loose-ends were tied up, just not all of them neatly. I feel that saying goodbye to these characters won't be as hard, it seems that even though we are leaving them, they will still live on. We just won't know exactly what they're doing.

Hidden was the ultimate read! Despite my teeny tiny hangups about one or two loose-ends, it was an overall satisfying read! Brilliantly written! It had action, romance, tension, drama and heart pounding moments where you are left in shock! 

This is definitely one read you do not want to pass up! Especially if you've already started the trilogy! And if you haven't I highly recommend reading it! In this alluring fantasy novel you get to enter the world of the draki or dragons, and follow the life of a teenage girl longing to choose her own destiny!*

*yes that came off as a little cheesy, but it is true! ;)


Overall rating 4.5/5 stars


Hidden releases September 11, 2012









Friday Hops

This is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.

Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:
1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
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
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 want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If your new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!


This week's question is: Best Cover? What is the best cover of a book that you’ve read and didn’t like?



MY ANSWER: 

I totally loved this cover for Defiance! I know it's been talked about a lot! But when I read the e-ARC I was kind of disappointed in it. It was still an okay read, just not one I fell in love with like I was expecting.

 
TGIF is a weekly feature created and hosted by GReads! that recaps the week's post and has a different question each week.


Sadly this will be the last TGIF for awhile...


This last TGIF question is: Choose Your Next Read: How do you go about choosing what you read next? Do you have a schedule you follow, or do you read whatever makes you happy at the moment?



MY ANSWER: Oooh toughie! This year has definitely been the hardest one me. Normally I read books as they release, while unemployed I did pretty good at staying on top of this. But since I have a part time job now--still looking for a full time one--my reading hours have been cut short.

Now my schedule goes that review books come first! Depending on release dates I'll read whatever sounds the most interesting or whatever I had been dying to read most! If I can't decide I go by release date!

Now that I finished my review books, have a few I'm waiting for responses from, I am doubling back to books that released earlier this year. Such as A Perfect Blood! It's coming in paperback in a little over 3 weeks and I wanted to read the hardcover I bought back in February!

So the answer is complicated now! I read whatever suits my fancy I guess, but I am trying to get caught up on 2012 releases. Don't even want to think of the books I fell behind that released prior to 2012!



Aug 30, 2012

Graphic Novel Review--Frostbite by Richelle Mead, Leigh Dragoon and Emma Vieceli

When love and jealousy collide on the slopes, winter break turns deadly.

A Strigoi attack puts St. Vladimir’s on high alert, and the Academy whisks its students away on a mandatory holiday ski trip. But the glittering winter landscape and posh Idaho resort only provide the illusion of safety. When three students run away to strike back at the Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. Only this time, Rose—and her heart—are in more danger than she could have imagined.


Since I was just about to start another book this afternoon, I decided to read one of the graphic novels I had sitting in its own TBR pile! Richelle Mead's Frostbite was on top, so I decided to go with it! It was also the shortest one!

I love returning to the Vampire Academy world this way! Not only do I get to have color pictures, but the story is condensed. Which can be seen as both good and bad, but since my TBR pile is through the roof, I'm seeing it as good! And I think this might be due to the expertise of Leigh Dragoon since she "adapted" this story! Kudos to you Leigh! And naturally Kudos to Richelle as well since she wrote the novel first! That's a given!

What was also nice was, at the beginning of the novel there was a nice little recap of the first book and basically the ins and outs of the Vampire Academy World.

Frostbite, as you might remember as Rose and her friends trapped in a cabin in the mountains as Strigoi are attacking Royal Moroi and their Guardians. Rose is worried for Lissa's sake since she is her best friend and a Royal Moroi, the last of the Dragomirs.

Of course we get to see Janine Hathaway, Rose's mother for the first time! It was interesting seeing her mom in comic form. She came off a little more aged than I had pictured, but still not horribly so! And oh yeah, ADRIAN! While I was always team Dimitri in this series, I did still love Adrian! Definitely like him more so in the new series! Adrian is seriously HOT as an illustration! Way hotter than I first imagined him. I was too far off base apparently!

What's fun about these graphic novels are the illustrations! They are so colorful and vivid! I love even the contrast of skin of the characters. You know automatically who is human, who is Moroi and who is Strigoi. They are that detailed! Kudos to Ms. Vieceli on that!

Even the graphic novel version of Frostbite had me in tears, as most of you know already how it ends. I think it was even worse that I knew. I felt like I was expecting a different end, but sadly, no.

Cannot wait for the next one though! And the rest of the series! Imagine what Dimitri will be like come the fourth one! Yikes!

If you're a fan of the Vampire Academy series, I HIGHLY recommend reading the graphic novels! They are fun quick reads and you get to see images of your favorite characters and storylines all rolled together! It's quite breathtaking!


Overall rating 5/5 stars






Cover Art Reveal--The Goddess Inheritance

I think it's kind of pretty! Fits in nicely with the other two! I sooooo desperately cannot wait to read this! Really really hope Netgalley will have it up again since I am on auto-approval for this publisher! The last one ended with such a cliffhanger and while I liked The Goddess Legacy, it just didn't satisfy this killer cliffhanger! I'm going bonkers over it with half a dozen other ones!

According to Goodreads, The Goddess Inheritance releases April 1, 2013





Random Thursday

So while watching TV I had to see what has to be one of the biggest wastes of money on a cell phone feature. You've seen those ads right? Where they want to charge you like $10 or so a month for some "super cool" feature that is just for entertainment value?

Well, this is seriously the lamest one ever!


It's called The Love Calculator. You put your name in plus your sweetheart and then it tells you if you are meant to be together. ????????

Seriously? And the commercial is so lame. The bride is left at the altar as her ex-fiance runs out the doors. Then she is in tears. Well, if sooooo many months ago, she texted her name and his name into The Love Calculator, she would've been told they were not a good match.

I seriously can't help but laugh out loud at this. I mean it's just randomizing things! How would the little computer know you are not meant to be with "Jake" or whatever?

But yeah, it makes me laugh because it is sooo stupid and makes me wonder if someone would pay monthly fees to have this "calculator" on their phone.

Anyone else seen this commercial? What are your thoughts?