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.

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened?
Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

BRING. IT. ON! I soooooo cannot wait to read this one! So publishers, feel free to send me a review copy!! ;)

TITLE: Dorothy Must Die
AUTHOR: Danielle Paige
PUBLISHER: Harper Teen
GENRE: Fairy Tale Re-telling YA--? not sure what to classify it as!
RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him--and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more.

Looooooved Rachel's Hex Hall and spinoff series--that sadly looks like it might not be going anywhere for awhile--but am still curious to see what this new world will be like that she created!

TITLE: Rebel Belle
AUTHOR: Rachel Hawkins
PUBLISHER: Putnam Juvenile
GENRE: Paranormal YA
RELEASE DATE: April 8, 2014

Cover Art Reveal--Devon Monk

Devon Monk has revealed the cover to her newest series! So far, there's no series name or any info on Goodreads. But we do get a TITLE and a COVER!!

I think it looks pretty exciting! Here's what Devon says about it on her blog & Deadline Dames (for it was the same post):

She calls it "urban fantasy, near-future, Frankenstein farm girl, gently dystopic, steampunk-light, save-the-world story."

I soooo cannot wait to read it! If Devon writes it, I want to read it!

 

Review--Poison Princess by Kresely Cole

She could save the world—or destroy it.

Sixteen-year-old Evangeline "Evie" Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they're still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.

But she can't do either alone.

With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can't totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?

Who can Evie trust?

As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it's not always clear who is on which side.

After reading it, I'm not sure how I feel about Kresley Cole's Poison Princess. Not I'm not saying I disliked it, not at all. But yet, I can't say I totally loved it either. It's one of those reads that kind of falls in between.

Granted, some of my struggles might of had to do with this being the first book in the series. There's so much to learn and so much that's unknown. That unknown is what really causes problems for me, because I feel like on some level our characters know something that we don't. Evy might not know exactly what's going on with herself, but she has some vague ideas, but to me, I'm not sure where her ideas came from.

The gist of the story is that the world has had a sort of apocalyptic attack. There are survivors and one of our first unknowns is what the heck just happened?! There was a flash and thousands of people died, turned to ash. Evy is among the survivors and so is Jackson Deveaux, the new boy at school who creeps her out by always staring at her. But Jackson is tough stuff, he's going to survive this mess the world finds itself in and when circumstances leave Evy with no other choice, she joins him on his quest to Texas to find other military type survivors--for there is a bad group of militants who are wreaking havoc on anyone and everything. And since this is the end of the world, females are sparse and Jackson knows that they will have "special" plans for Evy.

Evy and Jack don't quite get along at first. Or for awhile. Evy sort of comes off as stuck up at first. I just felt like she did think she was better than Jackson and his Cajun friends. Jackson isn't a hick or anything, he's one of those guys that comes off that way with his accent but is really smart. Plus he can kick serious ass. Evy isn't really quite normal herself, so that also bugged me that she thought sort of low towards Jackson and his friends. She has quite a few "hallucinations" and she hears voices in her head, multiple ones, and then there's the weird thing that happens to her with plants. They seem attracted to her and will do her "bidding". So yeah, Evy isn't too normal herself.

And therein lies my trouble with the book. It seems Evy's grandmother knew what Evy was meant to become. But there's a lot of dancing around the topic it seemed. True, we get these hints and visions of another person with another life and there are more people like that, and like Evy as well. It kind of delves into the major Arcana from the Tarot cards, hence the series name. But I guess I was still confused as to what that all meant. But like I said, it is a first in the series, so maybe we are meant to know what's going on.

There was a bit of budding romance between Evy and Jackson, naturally. Although I was wondering how things would turn out since Evy does start the novel with a boyfriend. I have to say, I enjoyed Jackson's character. Evy could speak Cajun French, which he and his friends tend to use at school, so I loved that she had one up on him, but she never told him otherwise. But as I said, Jack's a smart guy and he figures things out on his own. They didn't have the insta romance connection which I loved! Romance that builds is always better than the "Hello, I love you!" kind of thing. But even still, they had a lot of struggles and obstacles between them before any romance could actually start and then still there are more obstacles keeping them apart.

The pacing was...moderate. I felt like for the story it told, this was a good thing, but of course, here I am finished and left with so many questions of what just happened at the end. The story goes on as Evy telling everything that just happened to a stranger, who we learn right away is a bad guy of sorts. So when we finally get back to the present moment after Evy's story is done, I can't figure out how she ended up there and how she knew the things that she knew. We get some minimal explanation but I still feel like I grasping at straws here trying to figure it all out.

But still, I have to say that it was definitely an intriguing read! I found myself wanting to read it to learn more--even though I kind of didn't--but also because I loved the dynamics between Evy and Jackson. And now I might have to get the second book as well, just to find out what happens between them! Also upon reading the description on Goodreads and seeing the new guy, I am definitely eager to see what spawns from that!

Despite my minimal confusion with a few things, I do have to say that this was quite the story! It's a pretty unique storytelling matter as well. So I might just have to make yet another trip to the bookstore this weekend! Oh my poor, poor wallet!


Overall Rating 3.75/5 stars--yes, the awkward rating. I did find myself struggling at times to comprehend what was going on--mainly with the visions and what not Evie kept having and trying to puzzle out what it all means. Other than that I would've given it four stars for sure!

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.

 

A rare treat, I only have 1 line this time!! Within the rule, yet still breaking it since it's not 2! ;)

 

 

"I gazed heavenward with irritation, then turned back to my journal, finishing another detail on my sketch--the man's other eyeball succumbing to the pressure, dangling besides the first." Kindle p 32

TITLE: Poison Princess
AUTHOR: Kresley Cole
PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster

GENRE: Dystopian YA--kinda sorta--maybe apocalyptic?
RELEASE DATE: October 2, 2012

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 That Will Make Made You Me Cry

 

 

*in no particular order

 

 

 

 1. Undead to the World by DD Barant

2. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

3. Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

4. Elegy by Tara Hudson

5. For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison

6. Prey by Rachel Vincent--was a big blubbery mess over this one!

7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

8. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling--yeah, pretty much the last 3 made me bawl like a baby!

10. Black Howl by Christina Henry--omg, the tears I had! I was howling! ;)

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:

 

Cursed by Destiny by Cecy Robson (5 stars)

Shimmer by Darynda Jones (5 stars)

Glow by Darynda Jones (5 stars)

Up from the Grave by Jeaniene Frost (5 stars)

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (3 stars)

Review That Was Posted:

Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine (ARC) (4 stars)

Currently Reading:

Poison Princess by Kresely Cole

What I Plan to Read this Week:

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

Cover Copy Reveal--Enslaved by the Others

Waiting on Wednesday

Happy Blogoversary to Me! (+Giveaway!)

Random Thursday

Follow Friday

TBR Challenge Wrap-Up: January

Top 5 Sundays

Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves

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 had an amazing haul this week! Shattering for my TBR pile, but there were oh so many must haves this week! And then a deal I couldn't pass up!

So here's what I bought:

Up from the Grave by Jeaniene Frost--already read and loved, see my review here

Wicked After Midnight by Delilah S. Dawson

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi--a $4 dollar bargain deal at BAM for the hardcover! I decided I had to give it a try for that kind of price!

And that's what I got this week! Not bad really when I look at it, only 4 books get added to the TBR mountain! What did you get?!

Top 5 Sundays

Top 5 Sundays is a weekly blog meme created by Larissa at Larissa's Bookish Life.

Every Sunday I will post a TOP 5 list on the blog. It can be about anything and every week I'll have a new theme {You can vote on next week’s theme on my left sidebar!} and I will ad the Mr.Linky bellow the post so you can do a list with the theme and add you link to it.

Rules:

1 - Write a post listing your TOP 5 choices within the theme I chose (or was chosen on a poll) for the week.

2 - Mention this Blog on the post and link back to it.

3 - Feel free to use the Feature's image (there is a smaller size version of it bellow)

4 - After you've finished your post, add you link (of the post, not your blog's main page) to the Mr.Linky at the end of that week's post.

5 – If you don’t have a blog to post, just leave your list in the comments =)

This week's topic is: Books I'm Dying For in 2014!

*in no particular order

OPPOSITION

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Yup, the coverless book takes the first spot! Dying to see how this series ends, yet sad that its ending.

TRAITOR SON

by Julie Kagawa

Okay, another coverless one! But yay! The 3rd Call of the Forgotten has a title now!! After that evil, evil cliffhanger, I am DYING to read this one! 

THE FOREVER SONG

by Julie Kagawa

Julie was just evil with her cliffhangers last year! So yet again, dying to read this one! At least we have a pretty cover to go with the title! And there's a release date! Let's hope Netgalley gets it and I get approved quickly for it! ;)

TALON

by Julie Kagawa

It's the year of Julie! Dying to read her newest series that's already been optioned for a movie!! I mean how awesome is that that Universal did that before we readers even get the book?!

DOROTHY MUST DIE

by Danielle Paige

This story just sounds so awesome! I mean, never in a hundred years would I have thought to turn Dorothy into a villain! Cannot wait to read this one!

Okay, going to be a bad little girl and choose 5 adult titles too! It may be "cheating" but when you read both adult and YA and some select NA, it's hard to pick 5 books overall! Luckily there's not enough Paranormal NA yet for me to have to have 3 categories of Top 5 Sundays! 

SIXTH GRAVE ON THE EDGE

by Darynda Jones

Always ready for more Charley and Reyes!!

EVERNIGHT

by Kristen Callihan

Soooo ready to read this one as we got to meet these two in Shadowdance, and let's just say there meeting wasn't a happy one!! Anxious to see how they turn into a couple, because it's obvious that they will be one!

VISIONS

by Kelley Armstrong

Sooo ready for more in Kelley's new series! It's freaking awesome!!

THE BEAUTIFUL ASHES

by Jeaniene Frost

I do believe Jeaniene has called this her Paranormal NA series so I am anxious to read this new world of hers too!

ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG

by Chris Marie Green

Sooo excited for Chris's new paranormal series! And the MC is a ghost! How cool is that?! Cannot wait to read this one!