Cover Copy Reveal--Shadow Kiss: The Graphic Novel

It's here! It's here!! The release date info is FINALLY here! And guess what?! It comes out THIS YEAR!!
 

The third book in the series of New York Times best-selling adaptations of Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy.

It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy, and Rose is close to graduation, but since making her first Strigoi kills, things haven't felt quite right. She's having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all ...might be seeing ghosts. Consumed by her forbidden love with her tutor Dimitri and protecting her best friend, the Moroi princess Lissa, Rose is in no state to see the deadly threat that will change her entire world - and make her choose between the two people she loves most.

I have to say I LOOOOOVE this cover!! Better yet, I sooo love how these graphic novels have the background color matching the book cover's color as well! Of course, I remember this one had a doozie of an ending! The wait between graphic novels is as painful as the wait between the books were!


Shadow Kiss: A Graphic Novel releases December 31, 2013

The last day of the year, but it's still 2013! Although with my luck, I still won't get to read it til January 2014 since I will likely preorder it! ;)

Review--Thornhill by Kathleen Peacock

Mac can’t lose another friend. Even if he doesn’t want to be found.

The ripple effect caused by Mac’s best friend Amy’s murder has driven Mac’s new love, Kyle, to leave Hemlock and disappear from her life forever. But Mac knows that Kyle plans to enroll in a rehabilitation camp, where he can live with other werewolves. She refuses to accept his decision, especially since the camps are rumored to be tortuous. So she sets out in search of Kyle with a barely sober Jason—and Amy’s all-seeing ghost—in tow.

Clues lead Mac to find Kyle in a werewolf den in Colorado—but their reunion is cut short by a Tracker raid. Now Mac and Kyle are trapped inside the electric fences of Thornhill, a camp for young werewolves. As she devises an escape plan, Mac uncovers dangerous secrets buried within the walls of Thornhill—and realizes that the risk to the people she loves is greater than ever before.

EDIT: Based on my first comment, I realized I summed it up too much. Might still have summed it up pretty well, but I am leaving out crazy details. I know when I read a review, I kind of want to know more about what goes on then what the description says, so I try to add more to the storyline than what we're told. But I think I just expand a bit more on some of the characters and their personalities, I pretty much just tel you what the description says but add a little detail here and there.


Love, love, love this series!!! And I struggle to explain why, it's just that I do! I love it naturally!! Thornhill is the second book in Kathleen Peacock's Hemlock series? trilogy? Not sure which is meant to be, likely trilogy as that seems the way of things in YA! But regardless, I'll be sticking with it til its very end!

Now I love my vampires, my reading obsession began with a vampire novel, but there's just something about werewolves that I oh so love!! They are freaking incredible! And depending on what author, they can live forever too, being pretty much locked in a prime age, or they age incredibly slow and are near eternal. Werewolves seem to have it all!

Now moving on...it's been freaking forever since I read Hemlock as an ARC in 2012 and then had to wait nearly a month to receive Thornhill in the mail, but luckily I kind of remembered a teeny bit of the story. And Mac recaps enough that I was able to follow along fairly well! The story begins with Mac and Jason going out to Colorado to find Kyle and bring him home. They are soon joined by Serena in their quest, much to Jason's disappointment.

When they find Kyle, he is amongst a werewolf pack. The reunion is a bit chaotic. Now the pack leader of this group of ragtag weres is someone that kind of comes as a shock to us readers. I won't say who, even though it's revealed fairly early on and I did read a review where it had been revealed, but I'd rather leave it as a surprise. It was pretty surprising to me...but then again I haven't read Hemlock since I got it at RT 2012 as an ARC, so it's been a looooong time!

After the reunion, the chaos really begins as a group of Trackers crash the place and take all the weres to one of the retention camps. Thornhill is a camp for teens, the young weres who are more likely to be "reformed" and placed back into society once they have control of their shifting and all that jazz. Mac is taken among them as well despite being human and it's only by chance and a little work on her part that she's able to convince them she's a were. She doesn't want to leave Serena and Kyle to these people's hands.

Of course sticking together isn't possible either when Serena is taken away from them. Mac is driven with crazy grief over what might be happening to her friend at these people's hands. The Warden isn't of the best of sound mind, not that she's uber crazy, but let's just say she has a few unorthodox methods of rehabilitation at her camp. I think that's what makes the scariest of villains! Not the ones that look scary in appearance and can do irreparable damage, although those are scary too, but the ones who look so normal, yet are freaking messed up in their heads and yet think they are totally normal and sane! When obviously they are not.

Mac, along with another were from her father's pack, Eve, with Kyle plan on escaping but Mac won't go without Serena. But there are too many ways for their escape attempts to go wrong. And if the Warden and the guards were to figure out that Mac isn't a were, things might turn to crap pretty quickly! 

One teeny tiny thing that kind of bugs me about this book is the cover. Now don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVE the covers of this series so far, but they always show Mac--at least I feel it's a safe bet to call the girl Mac--with brown hair when in the book it says she has blond. But yeah, small grievance in the grand scheme of things!

I think what drives me to love this series so much, so far is the characters. The characters are absolutely incredible! They are so real, so defined and relatable. They aren't totally out there characters, they are quite realistic teens...despite a few of them being weres. I feel compelled to care about them. To root for them and cry with them at their downfalls. Generally when reading I do love the characters and enjoy their adventures and all that, but sometimes there's just a particular book or series where the characters really grab at your heart and hold on til that last page, and the Hemlock series is definitely one of those!

There was lots of action in this one! Lots of planning and suspenseful situations. Quite particularly where Mac is locked in a cage with a bunch of weres on the verge of shifting. Luckily she has Kyle with her...sigh...Kyle. And of course we have a nice big fight scene towards the end! It was definitely one you could see coming and I looooved the end results! There wasn't much of romance for the two since they are constantly in danger of some kind, but there are a few stolen kisses throughout! It's clear to see that they love one another, despite their always trying to protect the other by putting themselves into danger.

Of course, the actual ending of the book, was a bit more heart-stopping. Kathleen isn't letting us sigh with relief yet. She's allowed us to catch our breaths for the moment, but danger is still near and on the rise! I am not sure what we can expect of the next novel, but I definitely know it will be epic!

There's not quite as strong of a mystery going on this time, since that was pretty much wrapped up in Hemlock. But there were still a few things that made you wonder what was going on. Particularly with the camp Thornhill. Luckily, there's enough action and suspense to make up for that. Amy is still there as well, which I was kind of glad for. She visits Mac in her dreams and their encounters are always pretty cryptic. Amy always seems to know what's going on and sometimes I feel like she might know what will happen next. It seems like she's not always with it, mentally, but I think it's an interesting way of showing her since she is a ghost of sorts. She makes for a fascinating character!

Without a doubt, Thornhill definitely makes the GREATEST reads list this year! I would definitely recommend this series in a heartbeat if you're looking for a most incredible werewolf read!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars

Follow Friday

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: What book (or TV show or movie) have you not read that seemingly everyone else has?

 

 

MY ANSWER: Oh that's an easy one! There are quite a few books I can think of. Maybe not movies and TV shows.

 

The first that popped in my head was The Hunger Games. That can be said of both book and movies.

 

For some reason the premise just didn't appeal to me. Didn't grab my attention when I read what it was about. So I moved on. Now it seems like everyone's read and loved it!

 

Other books would be a slew of popular contemporaries. Mostly YA ones that I seem to see everywhere! Contemps just aren't my kind of read. I need my paranormal fix when reading in some variation! I can't even think of titles in this category, but Katie Gerry seems to be a popular one!

 

 

 

Cover Blurb Reveal--Final Dante Walker Book!

Okay, so there's no title, yet. 

There's no cover, yet.

There's no release date, yet.

But we have a cover description as to what the final Dante Walker book will be about!! I still have to read the second one so I will be waiting until then to read what the description is! Hoping to get around to it the week of the 21st as I got some review books coming into queue next week!

And now, behold, the description to the final Dante Walker book:

War between heaven and hell is coming, but Dante Walker makes it look damn good.

Dante’s girlfriend, Charlie, is fated to save the world. And Aspen, the girl who feels like a sister, is an ordained soldier. In order to help both fulfill their destiny and win the war, Dante must complete liberator training at the Hive, rescue Aspen from hell, and uncover a message hidden on an ancient scroll.

Dante is built for battle, but even he can’t handle the nightmares where spiders crawl from Aspen’s eyes, or the look on Charlie’s face that foretells of devastation. To make matters worse, the enemy seizes every opportunity to break inside the Hive and cripple the liberators. But the day of reckoning is fast approaching, and to stand victorious, Dante will have to embrace something inside himself he never has before—faith. 

And because for some reason I cannot get the Rafflecopter code to cooperate with me, here's a link to go the Rafflecopter page to enter a contest to win an e-book of The Collector and a SIGNED copy of The Liberator!

 

 

Review--The Wicked Within by Kelly Keaton

Her fate is not set in stone.

Having temporarily defeated Athena, Ari races to break the gorgon curse that has plagued the women in her family for centuries. Her one lead sends her on a quest for the Hands of Zeus, an ancient relic last seen in the charge of New 2’s ruling elite, the Novem. But if there is one thing that Athena desires as much as revenge, it’s the Hands of Zeus—and Athena always gets what she wants.

Before either can locate the Hands, the statue goes missing, and a trail of blood follows those who once protected the relic’s secrets. Ari knows that her city, her friends, Sebastian—her life—depend upon her finding the statue before Athena. And with rumors an ancient power is on the rise, that may not be her only concern…

The Wicked Within is the final book in the Gods and Monsters trilogy by Kelly Keaton aka Kelly Gay, and it was absolutely superb!! Granted my memory of this series has been spotty! I read the first book as an ARC before its February 2011 release and only read the second book in this series earlier this year...so yeah, we're talking really bad memory going on!

But for the most part I was able to keep up with the story. I knew who was who and what was going on in their lives as it's told. I wasn't really lost. Guess because I read the second on and this one in the same year! So moving on...

As the trilogy winds down, we know that Ari is going to have to do something to appease Athena and that is in fact reversing her baby's curse. The baby has been turned to stone many, many years ago and Athena wants Ari to change him back like she did for Sebastian. Athena, of course is still hellbent and a more than a little scary. She knows if she can't get Ari to do the job, someone else will...and that's moreso of finding the baby that's still in Zeus's stoned hands. It's been missing from the library for some time and Athena has offered up her own powers to anyone who brings her the baby.

Ari has a lot to deal with this time around. Not to mention the whole issue with Athena. But there's a new terror wreaking havoc in New 2 and it's possessing people wanting someone to "free" it. It becomes clear that this is a powerful force and it leads Ari to wonder if this is perhaps Athena's lover whom she had the baby with.

Then there's also issues going on with Sebastian. He's a newly awakened vampire and is struggling to get use to the new him. Which means he's keeping Ari at arm's length, just when things between them were going somewhere positive. He starts pushing her away.

It was kind of upsetting to see the newly turned love crumble so quickly. True, it came up fast, a fact Ari recognizes. But as she had said, during her storytelling, she and Sebastian have gone through so much so fast, things most people would likely never go through in life, and the feelings just sort of grew and blossomed between them fast. Of course, she didn't use the "blossoming" part, I just threw that one in there!

The action in this one was pretty intense, it was fast moving. It seemed like the whole events took place in less than a week. Can't be sure exactly of the day count, but things were moving quick. And the city of New 2 is practically in chaos for the last chunk of the book.

The series ended nicely I thought. Most everything was wrapped up and answered. There are still some questions that popped up with a few of those answers, but it doesn't seem likely we'll get answers to those questions. They weren't burning ones, so perhaps that's why things are left open-ended. Like the upcoming Blood Wars that are approaching. All we ever know is that they are coming, we don't know when or how and likely will never know. Unless Kelly decides to do another trilogy series that depicts them! Who knows!

The ending was pretty freaking awesome too! A new plot twist came in at the end that totally blew me away! Which I might have noticed hints of it coming had I read the books all closer together, but still, I enjoy surprises so maybe my waiting to read books in a series with others in between has that kind of benefit at least!

This trilogy has been a fave of mine since it's beginning! I loved the idea of mixing Greek mythology with our modern day supernatural lore of vampires, magic and all things creepy! I'd say this was the first I read of that kind based on its initial release date in 2011 and having read it in 2010. Combining by two of my favorite things the supernatural and Greek mythology. It would be interesting to see how the characters move on from this ending point in a novella or a sequel series of a different kind, yet based in the same world. But I'm, still left with the feeling that they're all okay for now. Things have settled down and maybe they'll get a nicely deserved break before the next crisis hits!


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars

 

Random Thursday

Hey all! I forgot when it was, but I was looking something up on IMDB and I somehow stumbled across this tiny bit of info:

That's right!! There is in fact going to be a sequel to Finding Nemo and it's called Finding Dory!! Already looking forward to this one because I loved Nemo, it was a cute movie and of course Dory was my fave character next to Crush and Squirt!!

Finding Dory is set to be released in theaters on November 25, 2015 and is set to be my Thanksgiving movie pending any other issues! ;)

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Review--Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.

Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.

Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin.

Kendare Blake's Antigoddess has been a hit amongst the blogging world! After her bloody awesome Anna books, I was beyond excited for Antigoddess! As a fan of Greek mythology, I was up for a new twist. And we that's exactly what we get in this first installment of Kendare's new series.

Told in third person point of view from both Athena and Cassandra we get glimpses of what each girl is going through. The gods are dying, Athena has been coughing up feathers for awhile now and Hermes, her companion has been getting ill. Cassandra is psychic and can see the future, always has. She's turned it into a game of sorts and pretty much always wins at betting. Her friend and boyfriend, Aidan has always believed in her and her gift and always has her back.

Then Athena learns that she needs Cassandra on her side if she wants to survive the war. The war between the gods and goddess. Hera, Aphrodite and Poseidon have taken to killing their godly sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews...however the familial connection goes. Athena and Hermes do not want to die either, but their family has other notions they don't support either, like the killing of humans.

Odysseus eventually walks into the picture, he's definitely team Athena in this war. But that's also because he's kind of in love with her. Athena knows this and she might even have feelings for him too, but she's still a goddess and he's still a mortal...who happens to be Odysseus several years later.

I think what I struggled with the most is one inconsequential detail and that is wondering why all these gods and goddess are in the forms of teenagers. True, Athena and Hermes have IDs that say they're twenty-one, but can still easily pass as teens. Cassandra, Aidan, Henry--Cassandra's brother, and Andie--Cassandra's best friend are all teenagers in high school So, it was just a bit weird that they chose or destiny, Fate, whatever led them to be in the bodies of teens. Of course, this is a YA book, as I told myself, so I just rolled with it!

For awhile, I didn't exactly grasp what was going on, besides the obvious, the gods are dying, must find Cassandra...basically the details from the book description. Then things become a little more clear as we learn a little more about what's going on in this war. Things like what Odysseus can bring to the war. Why Hera and her "crew" want Cassandra. All those lovely details! That's when things really get interesting. The action--the hardcore, oh-my-god-we're-gonna-die action doesn't really take place until the last 1/4 or so of the book when the characters are on the run from pretty much all the gods and goddesses and not knowing who to trust.

The ending was a whopper of a shock! I wasn't expecting this at all and I guess in a sense I should have since Kendare is known to have fabulously, shocking endings! Ones you can love or hate until the next book comes out!

I have to admit that I LOVED a lot of the 90s or perhaps earlier and some later references that popped up throughout the book! As you might have noticed from my tweets yesterday, from The Neverending Story to Garfield and of course the movie Troy, Kendare really knows how to get the laughs without necessarily trying to!

Definitely can't wait to see where this series goes, I was almost thinking it was a standalone until I remembered Odysseus' role didn't take a part in the story yet and what he knows...what he can bring to this war is definitely something that has to be seen! Cannot wait for book 2! It was overall a fabulous and yet different kind of Greek mythology read and it's one series that I will definitely be keeping up with!


Overall Rating 4/5 stars

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.

Condemned by society and her werewolf husband due to a pregnancy she cannot explain, Alexia Maccon-preternatural, tea aficionado-seeks an explanation for this "infant inconvenience" so as to cleanse her sullied reputation and prove her fool of a husband wrong. Preternaturals are a rare breed and the only history of their kind lies in Italy with the Templars, a group that once partnered with preternaturals to hunt down werewolves and vampires. Will Alexia find an explanation for her impossible offspring? Or do the Templars have other plans for the curious "Soulless One"?

Looooved this series and the manga editions are enjoyable as well!! Looking forward to this one too!

TITLE: Soulless: The Manga, Vol 3
AUTHOR: Gail Carriger
ILLUSTRATOR: Rem
PUBLISHER: Yen Press
GENRE: Manga; Paranormal Steampunk
RELEASE DATE: November 19, 2013

YOU CAN BE A VII. IF YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING.

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed …and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.

Looking forward to Aimee's newest series as well! Put a request in at Netgalley for an ARC, still waiting for a reply!


TITLE: Pawn
AUTHOR: Aimee Carter
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Teen
GENRE: Dystopian YA
RELEASE DATE: November 26, 2013

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.

Just couldn't choose one teaser today!! Loving this book and 2 teasers seemed highly necessary!! But hey, I followed the rules in both teasers! :O 

"But we all knew it was too late. Flea had been monkeyfied." Kindle location 1941/4734*

"He tipped my head back and kissed me with such passion that I forgot about the mission and all the world's problems in that moment of utter bliss." Kindle location 2131/4734* 

*Quotes come from my ARC copy, therefore they and their locations are not final


TITLE: Taste of Darkness
AUTHOR: Maria V. Snyder
PUBLISHER: Harlequin MIRA
GENRE: Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: December 31, 2013

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 Book Turn-Offs

*in no particular order

Funny, this was my Top 5 Sundays theme! 

1. UNFAITHFUL CHARACTERS

2. LOVE TRIANGLES

3. INSTA-LOVE

4. ARROGANT HEROES

5. TSTL HEROINES

6. MISLEADING COVERS

7. ABSENT PARENTS

Especially in YA books. It's like seriously, where are you when your teen is doing all this stuff?!

8. TOO MANY POV'S

I don't mind some multiple POV's, but when there's a LOT, it gets hard to keep track of who's actually speaking!

9. COINCIDENCES

You know what I mean, when a character really needs to know how to translate Egyptian runes or something weird like that and it just so happens that their best friend is an expert in that. I know that's usually needed, but I guess when there's no buildup to that knowledge it gets annoying. But if we knew that the heroine's BFF was an expert in all things Egyptian prior to needing said translation, then I'm not easily annoyed. 

There has to be a prior knowledge to the "it just so happens..."

10. OVER USE OF REPETITION

When a particular word or phrase gets used over and over and over and over and over within pages of one another, it gets really annoying. I can't recall the book it was, but the heroine was constantly saying this one word--not even sure what it was, just an expression...like hmm or something! One time I swear she said it 3 times on one page!