Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker. 

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.

 

"'It's crazy,yes. But the world is full of things that are crazy and wild and unbelievable.'" p 55

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TITLE: The House
AUTHOR: Christina Lauren
PUBLISHER: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
GENRE: YA Paranormal
RELEASE DATE: October 6, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

 

This week's topic is: Top Ten Books Guaranteed to Put a Smile on My Face

 

*in no particular order
**when I read the "your" I thought mostly of my own self, but I'd still recommend these to others as well!

10. FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT by Darynda Jones--Charley cracked me up! From the quotes before every chapter, this series had me in stitches from start to finish!
9. THE IRON DAUGHTER by Julie Kagawa--I chose the second one because I felt like the dynamics between Puck, Ash, and Grimalkin were a bit more established and the jokes and snarky remarks just kept coming!
8. KILL THE FARM BOY by Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne--this one had me from the title! It was quite the parody of high fantasies and Mel Brooks films, in my opinion. I still need to read the last two books of the trilogy though!

7. POISON STUDY by Maria V. Snyder--meet Janco had me in stitches! I love that guy! The story itself brought a smile to my face as Yelena is such a strong character and I just loved her!
6. STALKING JACK THE RIPPER by Kerri Maniscalco--another book that just had me laughing so much that the memory of it brings a smile back to my face! Cresswell was a riot! I love that snarky flirty kind of guy!
5. OBSIDIAN by Jennifer L. Armentrout--speaking of snarky! Granted I didn't like Daemon right away, but I loved how Katy handled him and how though she did find herself attracted to him, she wanted nothing to do with him. I will forever love the spaghetti scene most! Lol.

4. OLD MAGIC by Marianne Curley--this one just brings back happy memories of my younger self who was looking for a YA Paranormal title and I found this beauty! I found myself relating to Kate in her awkward, unpopular status. Sadly, I wasn't a gifted witch.
3. DEMON IN MY VIEW by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes--naturally this one will forever bring a smile to my face!
2. OBLIVION by Jennifer L. Armentrout--omg, a mega-sized book that is 100% Daemon's point of view? Yes please! I loved getting inside his head and knowing why he did the things he did in the beginning. And of course his constant pestering of Katy was just a riot since he was doing it just to get a rise out of her! Lol.

1. LEGENDARY by Stephanie Garber--did I surprise you? I bet you narrowed it down to three books though! Lol. I LOVED Caraval, but I think I might have loved Legendary just a tiny bit more because of Tella! I loved this girl and her fierceness. She was never afraid to tell it like it was. I just loved her sass and spunk!

Review--The House by Christina Lauren

 

Delilah and Gavin’s new love is threatened by a force uncomfortably close to home in this haunting novel from New York Times bestselling duo Christina Lauren, authors of Beautiful Bastard.

His shirt is black, jeans are black, and shaggy black hair falls into his eyes. And when Gavin looks up at Delilah, the dark eyes shadowed with bluish circles seem to flicker to life.

He lives in that house, the one at the edge of town. Spooky and maybe haunted. Something worse than haunted. And Gavin is trapped by its secrets.

Delilah and Gavin can’t resist each other. But staying together will exact a price beyond their imagining.

 

 

 

I decided it was time to pick up a very old TBR book and came up with Christina Lauren's The House! It had a creepy themed story that gave me total Monster House vibes--anyone else remember this animated movie? Anyway, the story was a bit different than what I anticipated but was still chilling and amazing!

Delilah has returned home to her old school after years of being at a private school. Her grandmother who she stayed with on occasional breaks has dementia and had to go into a nursing home, her father lost his job, money was tight, so Delilah is forced to come back home. When she returns to school, she sees him, the boy she fought for and basically got sent away for defending long ago. When she was younger Delilah had a crush on Gavin and when he was being teased, she got into a fight with the boys pestering him and not long after she was sent to private school. Now that she's back, her fascination with Gavin picks up again and she wants to get to know him more. 

Gavin was always the quite guy. The ones kids whispered about when they say him. But what everyone doesn't know is that Gavin lives in...a special house. For as long as Gavin can remember, House has taken care of him. He can't remember his parents, but he remembers growing up and House always provided for him. There was food in the fridge, clothes in his dresser, everything he could ever want, House provided for him. It's what he's always known, so he never questioned things as he got older.

Until he started hanging out with Delilah more. And he decides he wants Delilah to meet House. Only, it would seem House isn't too fond of Delilah. Anyone or anything that would take Gavin away from it, House has a problem with.

This book was straight up eerie! The fact that House (and I keep referring to the house as such because that's what Gavin calls it) was sentient was just freaky. Everything inside House was sentient as well and had its own personality. It wasn't just one combined sentient being, Blanket came to life, Coffee Table and Piano had their own personalities and Diningroom Table straight up loathed Delilah. It was seriously freaky! I mean, you'd think it would be freaky enough that everything was coming to life, but I found the distinct personalities just a bit more frightening.

Yet House only ever seemed to want to take care of Gavin. It thought of Gavin as its own. So there was a nurturing sense to it, just a very scary, over-protecting kind of nurturing.

The dynamics between Gavin and Delilah were just kind of meh. I mean, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't swoonworthy either. I did like that they had a friendship of sorts developing before things became more romantic between them. There was a previous connection there as well from their childhood, but it wasn't as strong.

The mystery of House itself was the thing that boggled my mind the most! Did someone die and their spirit somehow possessed the house? What made House the way it was? We get some explanation of this towards the end, but I found I wasn't quite satisfied with the answer. It just wasn't as detailed as I hoped for. It seemed like it was merely, "oh, the house is this way because X happened." And I was like what?! But that was the end of the conversation for the most part.

Other things that tended to throw me were oddly placed flashbacks. I mean, sometimes it was just hard for me to grasp the transition from present to flashback to present again. The moments weren't always clear. And though the chapters tended to alternate between Delilah and Gavin, at times I felt like the opposite of the "chapter" narrator took more center staged. It was a third person point of view, so that made things a bit more twisted in trying to distinguish who was "speaking."

The ending itself was borderline anti-climatic. I mean, things are resolved nicely, but I guess the manner in how they were resolved just left me with a feeling of wanting. I liked that it was wrapped up neatly, but at the same time, I guess I just expected maybe a little more insight to what just happened to make a house sentient, but there was no such thing.

The House was definitely an eerie and creepy read that is perfect for this time of year as we all get into the spooky season! It's a read that was slightly chilling because you never really knew what House would do, when it was watching you (nearly always), when it was listening (nearly always), and just when it was safe to do things (nearly never)! That House was so sentient and so very much against the idea of Delilah being involved with Gavin made this a most chilling read indeed. This is a book that kept me turning the pages, eager to see how everything would end.

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. 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:

Burden Falls by Kat Ellis (5 stars)

 

 

Reviews That Were Posted:

What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell (ARC) (4 stars)
Mary, Will I Die? by Shawn Sarles (ARC) (4 stars)

Currently Reading:

The House by Christina Lauren

What I Plan to Read Next:

The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Challenges Wrap-up: August
Can't Wait Wednesday
Random Thursday
Book Blogger Hop
Let's Discuss: Where Have All the Bloggers Gone?
Stacking the Shelves

 

 

 

 

 

Stacking the Shelves

 

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, and of course ebooks! The meme is now hosted by Reading Reality.

 

I survived another week. Somehow. It wasn't pleasant. I had one job interview Friday, but the more I heard about the job, the less enthused I found myself. Honestly, when I heard they'd have me "run errands," I pretty much checked out. I'm doing that now and I do not like it at all. A post office run I don't mind. It's the playing mailman, playing Door Dash that I have a problem with. I've another interview on Wednesday morning before work, so hopefully that one will go well...and that I can make it to my job on time. Other than that, there's really not much to report. I plan to enjoy the last of my three day weekend, with maybe some picture taking today and hopefully a lot of reading tomorrow!

I picked up a nice little stack for myself this week. It started slow, but then I went to B&N on Saturday to do an in-store pick up and then impulse bought 2 books that were in the book haul sale, so it wasn't a total loss!

Here's what I bought:

 

 Coached in the Act by Victoria Laurie--I still need to read the first book, for that matter, I need to get caught up in the Psychic Eye series so I'm ready for this next spinoff!
Escape from the Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz--I read the first Descendants book and liked it! It was cute and I've bought the rest of the series as I saw them down the road, hadn't bought this one but when it was 50% off at B&N I thought why not?
The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith--sadly the copy they picked out for me has a tear in the spine dust jacket. Didn't notice until I got home and was taking off all the annoying stickers and just thought it wasn't worth going back to complain about.
Conceal, Don't Feel by Jen Calonita--I have this one on my Kindle, but I never pass up the opportunity to own the real book when it's cheap! So the Kindle copy gets booted! Lol!
The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins--I got this one FREE with my Penguin Rewards! I plan on reading this one as soon as I finish my current read!!

Then for review from the publisher I received:

The Righteous by Renee Ahdieh (ARC)

THANK YOU Penguin Teen!!

And that was it! I did hit up Target's $1 section when I saw they put THAT Halloween stuff out, but not the rest of the good stuff yet. So I picked up a few items for my giveaway next month and then a plethora of little jars that have Halloween like names and confetti or glitter inside! Hello Halloween Bookstagram props!

What all did you get this week?

Let's Discuss--Where Have All the Bloggers Gone?

 

Times are changing. I'm well aware of this. Although, what is making me sadder and harder to function as a reader is the lack of reviews lately. I've been seeing different platforms that bloggers have shifted to these days and finding new ways to promote books.

Where Have All the Bloggers Gone?

I use to always turn to the blogosphere to find reviews on books I was curious about but didn't want to outright buy without getting some insight. So I could easily find a review or two or five in the blogosphere from fellow bloggers who either got an ARC or just can read super quick and have the review up a week or so after the book's release. It was a happier time.

Nowadays I am not seeing that. Blogs I use to visit daily have gone quiet or disappeared altogether. I get there are times when a blogger decides they no longer want to blog anymore, and I'm not talking about that kind of disappearing. There are now more platforms where people can have share their voice, be it Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, and probably other ones too that I'm not aware of as I just stick to Instagram and Twitter myself.

But the times I see a book on Instagram and think, "oh that looks interesting!" I find there's nothing to know about the book other than what I could look up on Goodreads. I don't know. Maybe I'm not following the right Bookstagrammers. The ones I tend to see a lot with 1000+ likes on a picture from an hour ago just show a pretty book in a pretty setting. They might include the book description. But that's usually it. There's nothing to really know about the book and I almost wonder, are they even reading it? Or you get the two sentence review that basically says they loved it. Well...why did you love it?

I guess I'm showing my old soul age here when I just want reviews in the classic format. I always ignored movie critics back in the day, and still do because they only ever rave about the 3+ hour movie that put me to sleep with the preview and bash the hilarious comedies. I mean, come on dude. Be real. 

But anyway, I just liked being able to read a review about a book I was hesitant about and find out what it was all about. What was the pacing like? Were the characters relatable? Was there romance? A slow burn, a hate-to-love, or the dreaded insta-love? What other tropes did the book have? All these things are things I try to touch on when I write my review. I've always written the kind of review I want to read about in trying to make a decision, give a little taste of the plot to jump start things, touch on pacing, action, romance, characters...that kind of thing. If any one kind of moment stood out to me or caused a good laugh or possibly cry I'd share that too--maybe not so much the cry moment other than a forewarning to have tissues handy for emotions! Lol.

I guess I chalk the lack of bloggers mostly due to the blogger needing to move on with life as blogging became too much of a job for them. And I get that. I guess my blog never really took off as much as others who constantly get packages from publishers. If I get one or two a month, it makes my day! The newer platforms for book promoting also take part in the lack of blogging, but I find I just can't get into those as I don't see much of a review and I don't have the patience to sit through a video that takes X amount of minutes as I feel I can read a review faster than in the time it takes for someone to tell it all to me.

What about you? What are your thoughts on blogging and the ever changing platforms for promotions? 

Book Blogger Hop

 

 

This meme is hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict!

 

 

This week's question is: What do you use for a bookmark? A real one or something else? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews) 

 

MY ANSWER: A real bookmark all the way! I've been collecting them--you could say--since my elementary school days when I could get one at the book fair for like a quarter! Lol. I've always used real bookmarks. I've used a slip of paper if I somehow forgot to stick one in a new book before leaving the house...which used to happen on occasion back in my school days!

Review--Burden Falls by Kat Ellis

 

Riverdale meets Stephen King in the terrifying new thriller from the author of Harrow Lake.

The town of Burden Falls drips with superstition, from rumors of its cursed waterfall to Dead-Eyed Sadie, the disturbing specter who haunts it. Ava Thorn grew up right beside the falls, and since a horrific accident killed her parents a year ago, she's been plagued by nightmares in which Sadie comes calling—nightmares so chilling, Ava feels as if she’ll never wake up. But when someone close to Ava is brutally murdered and she’s the primary suspect, she begins to wonder if the stories might be more than legends—and if the ghost haunting her dreams might be terrifyingly real. Whatever secrets Burden Falls is hiding, there's a killer on the loose . . . with a vendetta against the Thorns.

 

 

 

 

Kat Ellis’ latest novel, Burden Falls, is a chilling tale of ghosts, murder, and mystery! This was a read that kept me guessing at every turn, jumping at every shadow, and a burning need to turn the pages faster to see what the epic outcome would be! Needless to say this was a book that had me hooked!

It’s been one year since Ava’s parents died and she lived with her aunt and uncle. We open to the day where they are moving out of their ancestral manor after economical issues and moving into a smaller house nearby. But when Ava learns that the Miller family was the ones to purchase her house, she’s a bit enraged. There has been bad blood between her family and the Millers for longer than she knows, but it was the Millers’ care who crashed into her parents and killed them one year ago.

Ava especially doesn’t get along well with the children either, Freya and Dominic go to her school now and things have never been very good between them, even before the accident. Freya and Dominic run their own ghosthunters show online and when Ava belatedly realizes she left a mural on the walls of her property, she feels the need to cover it up.

A quick backstory about the town is that there’s a ghost story called Dead-Eye Saide. Sadie was a girl who was reportedly murdered hundreds of years ago, near Ava’s home if you believe the stories. Stories claim that her eyes were carved out of her. They say if you see Sadie, it means you’re going to die…soon! The ghost story plays a large part in the story and I was all for it!

Anyway, Ava is determined to cover up her mural before it appears on the Millers’ ghosthunter show and she is ridiculed for her artwork, when on the way to it, she finds a dead body…with the eyes carved out!

I was very much hooked from the get-go with this book! It was super creepy and chilling as Ava starts to see things. Quick glimpses of shadowy figures who aren’t there at a second glance. Times where she swears she’s seeing a girl with dark hollows in place of her eyes. Is it Sadie? Or is Ava just seeing things? I absolutely love when this happens in a book! Why, I don’t know. It’s positively terrifying, but I guess because I’m reading it I can enjoy it more than if it were a movie. I’d be downright terrified to see this as a movie without it having been a book first! Lol.

This book was so spine-tingling horrifying in some ways! Not only do we have a murder mystery, one that looks like a ghost is the murderer—which you can never really say is far-fetched in books today—but there are possible leads to a true haunting too.

What drew me in even more was the romance, because yes folks, there was a romance. Ava and Dominic Miller. Yup, a Miller! I won’t get into how they were drawn together that first time, but when Ava is needing help on her final art project, Dominic is somehow the one to give her some advice. I wouldn’t call them downright enemies, but with the bad blood between their families and the fact that Ava and his sister, Freya were archrivals for the art competition just spun up loads of tension and hostility between the two. And yet, they have these moments where they find they have common interests and things just kind of take off from there, ever so slowly. I love a good slow-burn romance and these two had that in spades!

The mystery element was done exceedingly well. I can honestly say, I did not see this one coming! I thought I had my whodunit and it was a good suspect, a very good one and I had motive and opportunity, but then that theory was blown out of the water when the real killer was revealed. My jaw dropped! And then it dropped further as the story wove into its epic conclusion, because this conclusion was Epic, with a capital E!

Kat Ellis has blown things out of the water with her latest horror novel, Burden Falls! It’s an edgy, eerie mystery read that is perfect for this time of year! If you love a good chilling ghost story with suspense and a mystery to keep you guessing until the very end, this is the book for you!

 

Overall Rating 5/5 stars

 

 

 

 

 

Random Thursday

 

Time to learn totally bizarre and totally true facts from the world of pop culture in True Facts That Sound Like Bull$#*t by Shane Carley!

(image borrowed from GameSpot)

Gene Roddenberry originally wanted Patrick Stewart to wear a wig in his role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek. Later on, a reporter noted that there would have to be a cure for baldness by the 24th century, Roddenberry replied that no one would care about baldness in the 24th century!

Honestly, Patrick would not have looked the same with a piece! Glad they didn't go with one!

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

Elvis Presley didn't write any of his own songs.

I mean, I guess it doesn't surprise me. Did singers write their own songs back then? I know not every singer does this now even.

(image borrowed from History of Sorts)

The famous painting, "Wilhelm Scream" has been used in hundreds of movies and TV shows over the years. This painting has become an in-joke among moviemakers. It was originally in the 1951 Distant Drum and has been used in other films such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Toy Story, and Lethal Weapon.

It's funny how it's probably the most used painting in cinematology! 

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

The biggest bomb in cinema history (as of 2017 when this book was published) was John Carter. It lost an estimated $200 million dollars for Disney.

(image borrowed from Biography and The Biography)

Sean Connery turned down the role of Gandalf for The Lord of the Rings because he didn't understand the script! When the franchise took off, he reevaluated his thinking and accepted the role in yet another bomb movie, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

I didn't think that movie was THAT bad! It was entertaining at least! Apparently I liked most of the movies critics didn't. Guess they had poor taste because I hate the films they raved about! lol

Can't Wait Wednesday

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

 

The devastatingly romantic fifth novella in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Shatter Me series, chronicling the events after Imagine Me, the explosive sixth novel.

Juliette and Warner fought hard to take down the Reestablishment once and for all. Life in the aftermath isn’t easy, as they and their friends at the Sanctuary work with their limited resources to stabilize the world.

Warner has his sights set on more than just politics. Since he proposed to Juliette two weeks ago, he’s been eager to finally marry her, the person he loves more than anything and has endured so much to be with. But with so much chaos around them, it’s been nearly impossible for them to have a wedding. And even Juliette has been distracted by everything they need to do.

At long last, Warner and Juliette’s future together is within reach, but the world continues to try to pull them apart. Will they finally be able to be happily, officially, together?

Celebrate the tenth anniversary of Tahereh Mafi's bestselling Shatter Me series with Believe Me!

 

Though I am excited for this novella, I wish it could've been announced sooner, so I'd kept my notes on the last book! Now my brain is going to struggle through trying to recall everything! Lol.

 

TITLE: Believe Me
AUTHOR: Tahereh Mafi
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins
GENRE: YA Dystopian
RELEASE DATE: November 16, 2021