Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

Here are the rules:
1. Grab your current read      
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc

"I can't allow a momentary pain to eclipse an eternal decision. Feelings are fleeting, no matter how earth-shattering they seem; they never last, always change. A covenant is forever."*




*This quote comes from the eARC, therefore it and its location are not final. Also, I saved this quote sometime ago and cannot for the life of me find its location in the ARC.

TITLE: Firstlife
AUTHOR: Gena Showalter
PUBLISHER: HarlequinTeen
GENRE: Dystopian
RELEASE DATE: February 23, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

 This week's topic is: Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For The First Half of 2016

*in no particular order

THE FINALES:

1. YELLOW BRICK WAR by Danielle Paige--cannot wait to see how this series wraps up! It's so twisted, but in a good way!

2. THE LAST STAR by Rick Yancey--been waiting for what feels like forever for this one!! A bit of delay in the publishing for whatever reasons, but at least it's finally almost here!

3. THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS by Mary E. Pearson--looooove this series!! It's so good and it continues to reel me in with each book! This one might kill me...or the wait for it will!

4. FOREST OF RUIN by Kelley Armstrong--always looking forward to one of Kelley's books!! This series has been really good so far too! Cannot wait to see how it all ends!

THE SEQUELS:

5. A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas--I ADORED ACOTAR!! It's the SJM book I've been waiting for!! And I loved it oh so completely!

6. INTO THE FIRE by Jeaniene Frost--the final Vlad book!! No cover or description sadly, but now it looks like it won't be coming out until the end of October vs the summer which is what it's "description" currently says. Sigh...

7. THE SWEETEST BURN by Jeaniene Frost--loved The Beautiful Ashes, though I read it as an ARC and I am delaying my getting of this one for reasons, so yeah...the wait is killing me!

8. THE SHADOW HOUR by Melissa Grey--loved her debut of TGAM it was amazing! So I am definitely looking forward to this one!

9. THE MERCILESS II by Danielle Vega--a happy surprise that her first standalone will now have a sequel! This should be creepy and epic!

A NEWB:

10. THE GREAT HUNT by Wendy Higgins--while the author isn't a debut, this is a new read from her! I am unsure just yet if it's a standalone or not, but with a Beauty and the Beast theme towards it, I'm already hooked!

 

It's Monday! What are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

Last Week I Read:

Unleashed by Sophie Jordan (2.5 stars)

Currently Reading:

Firstlife by Gena Showalter (ARC)

What I Hope to Start this Week:

City of Light by Keri Arthur

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays 

Waiting on Wednesday 

Random Thursday 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 

Stacking the Shelves--the Ultra Special Christmas Edition! 

 

Stacking the Shelves--the Ultra Special Christmas Edition!

This weekly meme is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process!


I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I know mine was pretty awesome!! And I still have to wait until hopefully next weekend, to exchange with my bestie! And we always just buy books for one another! :D

Here's what I got:

The 100: Day 21 by Kass Morgan

Barnsie--yes, on Sunday last week, I went to the store, bought a book I needed anyway but still need to start the trilogy, just to buy Barnsie!

For review from the publishers I received:

Firstlife by Gena Showalter (ARC)

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken (ARC)

City of Light by Keri Arthur 

Anna and the Vampire Prince by Jeanne C. Stein (ARC)

THANK YOU Harlequin Teen, HarperTeen, Signet, Netgalley, and Kathyrn!

Then among my Christmas gifts were these bookish items:

 More Barnes and Noble & Amazon gift cards! My family knows me well!!

 This awesome scarf with books all over it!

June's Ruby Necklace (Legend by Marie Lu) from Hebel Design

Some nifty luggage tags!

A KINDLE VOYAGE!!! Sooo excited about this little beauty! I've finally upgraded from my Kindle keyboard!! :D

A few other non-bookish, but awesome gifts:

This awesome necklace with what the moon looked liked on May 1, 2010! This was something I picked out awhile ago, because this was the day I graduated college (and was spending graduation at the RT 2010 Convention!) Plus it GLOWS IN THE DARK! :)

This neat Jim Shore piece that's a book with a Peter Pan scene on it!

Then this was a promo piece I got for pre-ordering The Dirt on the Ninth Grave! I still need to get caught up in that series!

A coffee travel cup with yet another famous quote from Darynda and Charlie!

And that was my amazing Christmas haul!! Hope everyone celebrating had a fabulous Christmas! What did you all get this week in the bookish (or not so bookish) world?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Hope you all have a magical holiday today!!

or just a Magical Day! ;)

Random Thursday

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVERYBODY!! Heehee!!

Just a little oddball randomness today! I've probably talked a bit about Christmas traditions in the past, but I figure why not do them again!

Today, I have to work. Ugh!!! My mom's work is closed and my sister, a teacher is already on winter break, so I'm dragging my feet about this. Hopefully I won't have to work a full day, but as of writing this post, I literally don't know anything! 

One of my most favorite Christmas movies is A Christmas Story! It's just one I've watched like a million times growing up! It's so funny! We even had this original movie cover on our VHS tape. It was a very unflattering picture for the mom. The face looks manish, and I initially thought it was a boy at first when I was kid! LOL!

I am so glad TBS still plays this for 24 hours starting tonight at 7pm (Central)! And I just saw that this year TNT will be playing it too!! 2 channels!! That's insane!!!

My other more recent favorite, but still already 10 years old, is Elf! Because Will Farrell!!!

This movie is just so funny! It's got some heart to it too, but ohhh how I laugh!! When he first gets to the city is when it's hilarious!! And then his Gimbels experience was to die for! 


What are some of your favorite holiday movies? Any you make a point to watch every year?

Waiting on Wednesday

I hate waiting...

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

Nestled deep in the woods, Shadow Falls is a secret camp where teens with supernatural powers learn to harness their abilities and live in the normal world.

Independent and strong-willed Della Tsang did not believe in vampires...until she became one. Chase Tallman is the newest member of Shadow Falls, but what made him into the sexy, mysterious vampire he is today? And what led him to Della Tsang? And for Miranda Kane, magic has always been something she's struggled with, but when an opportunity to test her powers takes her to Paris, she'll have to prove that she's a witch to be reckoned with and belongs at Shadow Falls.

Fans won't want to miss these four remarkable stories of love, magic and friendship.

I am pretty sure I've read most of these, but one might be totally new if I recall what C.C. said awhile ago when announced this anthology! So it's one I definitely will look forward to!

TITLE: Almost Midnight
AUTHOR: C.C. Hunter
PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Griffin
GENRE: Paranormal YA
RELEASE DATE: February 2, 2016 

For eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake, nothing but death can keep him from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.

Recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can't remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen--Conquest, Famine, and Death--are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.

They fail.

Now--bound, bloodied, and drugged--Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he's fallen for--not to mention all of humankind--he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.

But will anyone believe him?

This one sounds soooo cool!! I loved Veronica's first series, so I am looking forward to something new from her!

TITLE: Riders
AUTHOR: Veronica Rossi
PUBLISHER: Tor Teen
GENRE: Dystopian
RELEASE DATE: February 16, 2016  

 

Review--Unleashed by Sophie Jordan

Unleashed, the romantic, high-stakes sequel to New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's Uninvited, is perfect for fans of James Patterson's Confessions of a Murder Suspect.
Davy has spent the last few months trying to come to terms with the fact that she tested positive for the kill gene HTS (also known as Homicidal Tendency Syndrome). She swore she would not let it change her, and that her DNA did not define her . . . but then she killed a man.

Now on the run, Davy must decide whether she'll be ruled by the kill gene or if she'll follow her heart and fight for her right to live free. But with her own potential for violence lying right beneath the surface, Davy doesn't even know if she can trust herself.

It’s been a long time since I read Sophie Jordan’s Uninvited, so I went I finally started Unleashed, it took a bit for me to get into it. Because I really couldn’t remember much at all that had already happened. This duology is one on my only dystopians where there’s not a whole lot of adventure and action, but yet, there was something intriguing about Uninvited in the beginning that led me to read it.

Davy, Sean, Gil, and Sabine have escaped the camp that was training them to be efficient killers. Davy shot another man in cold blood when forced to, in order to save Sean’s life. Now the four friends are on the run and are planning to escape to Mexico because that’s where most carriers go when they want to be safe from the US government.

Davy is being haunted by guilt for what she did. She had to take a life and basically prove to everyone that’s just what they think; a mindless killer. She did it to save Sean’s life, but the guilt eats away at her. There’s a disconnect between her and Sean now. She can barely look at him and not remember what she did for him. She pushes herself away from him from the start. We’re pretty much being set up for heartbreak here, as I liked Sean. I thought he was a great character in Uninvited, but it seems he was never meant to be someone important for Davy…

During their attempt to cross the border, they are shot at by officials intent on bringing them back to their camp. Davy is separated from her friends and is “rescued” of sorts, by a guy named Caden, who just so happens to be a carrier as well. Hello love triangle, I barely knew thee.

The attraction between Caden and Davy is pretty fierce. Much like it was for her and Sean in the beginning. But Davy holds herself back from Caden, because all she wants to do is heal and then go find her friends in Mexico.

Caden is one of the leaders of this fraction group of carriers. They work to make things better for carriers. They are freedom fighters in a way. Caden wants Davy to join them, but she is reluctant, as she wants to find her friends as well.

I guess my second issue is the lack of plot. There doesn’t seem to be much going on in this one except for Caden trying to convince Davy to stay. There’s also a bit of mystery going about, as we eventually learn that there is a traitor among the carrier group. That part did provide a little intrigue, but it ended up being such a small, nonsensical thing. I was a bit upset with that.

There just wasn’t much to this story as the first book. I thought I remembered reading reviews of this one that says the same. And of course, there’s the other ultimate letdown that Davy just seems to connect and move on with a guy in each book. What nagged at me the most was that she was still in some sort of relationship with Sean when she started having feelings for Caden. And yeah, romantic stuff does happen. But since she never spoke with Sean about her misgivings or even officially broke up with him, I felt like she was a cheater. She cheated on her boyfriend, despite there being some kind of disconnect between them. I didn’t like that part at all. I didn’t want to root for Caden, despite liking his character a bit, because Davy was already in a relationship. Had she broken things off with Sean earlier, than I wouldn’t have had any issues with the romance between her and Caden. I’m not a fan of cheaters, even in my reading habits.

We still get the same excerpts of interviews, newscasts, and such that we did in the first book. We see through these working towards resolution. It’s nothing at all from our characters, which again, upset me. I wanted to see Davy and the other carriers perhaps making a stand of some sort or just something from them for carriers’ rights, but nope. Nada.

In the end, this second installment became about Davy and her basically deciding what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Who she really wanted to be with. There just wasn’t much plot development to this one and it really saddened me. I thought the premise of this duology to be intriguing, but this final installment was a bit of a letdown. I’m also still left wondering what happens to the rest of the carriers’ group. As the ending really makes no mentioning of them whatsoever.

In the end, this is just yet another love story, in some ways. It’s tragic really, because the duology started out so strong.

Overall Rating 2.5/5 stars

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read      
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc

"And no matter where I'm going, I know I will always remember him. The dead already haunt me. Now I'll be haunted by the living, too." p 217

TITLE: Unleashed
AUTHOR: Sophie Jordan
PUBLISHER: HarperTeen
GENRE: Sci-Fi YA
RELEASE DATE: February 24, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

This week's topic is: Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year

*in no particular order

*I'm hopefully good for the first 5 as those were ones I gave on my list to my bestie when she asked!

1. THE LEVELLER by Julia Durango

2. ROARING SHADOWS by Colleen Gleason

3. FORBIDDEN by Eve Bunting

4. THE ORPHAN QUEEN by Jodi Meadows

5. DAUGHTERS UNTO DEVILS by Amy Lukavics

6. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas--I already have one book, but I LOVE this edition! So pretty and soft!

7. DRACULA by Bram Stoker--the same publishing house as my previous book!

8. PETER PAN by J.M. Barrie--ditto!

9. WENDY DARLING: STARS by Colleen Oakes

10. THE HOUSE by Christina Lauren