school

Okay, so my spring term has officially started. I'm taking two english classes and an art class. So far, I can tell they are going to be taking up a lot of my time. I will try and keep up with my blog as best I can, but I will not be posting reviews as often. Well, unless I decide to review the books I'm reading for my classes (haha).

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

published by the Penguin Group
Genre: Adult Paranormal
$7.99 (paperback)

FTC: I will not be receiving compensation for reviewing this book yadda yadda yadda

What it's about from the back of the book:

Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen...

Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places--and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind.

But this new vampire is hardly ordinary--and neither is the demon inside of him...

My thoughts:

Even better than the first book! In this one, we learn a lot more about the vampires and how they work. For the most part, the vampires in this story aren't too much different from what most people think of vampires. They are evil, can't be in the sun, drink blood, and so on. While almost all the vampires are evil, there of course is the one vampire who is better than the rest. Yes, that's right, a vampire who seems almost human. His name is Stefan and I do believe that "team Stefan" should be created for these books as well.

Mercy's love triangle becomes a little more tangled as she is trying to decide between the alpha of the local pack, Adam, or her past love, Samuel. In the end there is a nice little twist to her love life.

Oh Mercy, what have you got yourself into?

My rating: 9/10

Book I want thursday- Keys to the Demon Prison

BOOK I WANT THURSDAY

Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull

$21.99 (hardcover)

What it's about:

After centuries of plotting, the Sphinx—leader of the Society of the Evening Star—is after the final artifacts needed to open the great demon prison, Zzyxx. If the legendary prison is opened, a tide of evil is certain to usurp control of the world.
In an effort to intercept the final artifacts, Kendra, Seth and the Knights of the Dawn race to strange and exotic preserves across the globe. The stakes have never been higher. The risks have never been more deadly.
In this explosive series finale, allegiances will be confirmed and secrets revealed as the forces of light and darkness collide in a desperate, climactic battle to control the keys to the demon prison.

I absolutely love this series! I've been waiting for this book and can't wait to get my hands on it. This is going to be a fantastic ending to the series.

Swoon by Nina Malkin

Swoon by Nina Malkin

published by Simon Pulse

421 pages

$17.99 (hardback)

FTC: I bought this book and will not be receiving compensation for reviewing this book.

What it's about:

Sin is coming, prepare to swoon.

Torn from her native New York City and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to accept her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon, Connecticut... until Dice's perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly dies in a fall from an old tree and her spirit intertwines with that of a ghost. His name? Sinclair Youngblood Powers. His mission? Revenge. And while Pen is oblivious to the possession, Dice is all too aware of Sin. She's intensely drawn to him--but not at all crazy about the havoc he's wreaking.

Determined to exorcise the demon, Dice accidentally sets Sin loose, gives him flesh, makes him formidable. Now she must destroy an even more potent--and irresistible--adversary before the whole town succumbs to sin's will. Only trouble is, she's in love with him.

What do you do when the boy of your dreams is too bad to be true?

My thoughts:

Ughng.

This whole book was about sex and drugs. Candice's character seems to be obsessed with sex. She's always talking about it and it's never far from her mind. This then spreads to the whole town once Sin comes along. There are lots of detailed scenes as well. All the characters also do lots of different drugs, such as pot, cocaine, and Ecstasy.

The writing style was different. It felt like it was trying to be a movie. The scenes would switch fast with no transitions and big chunks of time were missing. Malkin tries to do flashback scenes to make it sound more mysterious but all that really happened was the reader was left confused and missing information.

I did not feel the love between Dice and Sin. I thought everything about Sin was pretty cheesy, especially his name. He was trying to ruin every ones lives and didn't care who he hurt in the process. I couldn't help but wonder what in the world Dice saw in him. She felt bad for him and that made her fall in love? I didn't buy it and never really felt the connection between them.

Overall, I did not enjoy this book. I felt the writing was confusing, the characters were unlikable, and the plot was cheesy. If you want to read this book, I would recommend you read the first chapter before buying the book. See how well the writing style is going to work for you.

my rating: 5/10

Free audiobook site

I love to listen to audiobooks. I have tons and tons of them so my dad found a free audiobook download site for me. Most of the books on there are pretty old, but there are some great ones on it. Things like Alice in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, and Wizard of Oz. So here you go:

http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/Top_100

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

published by Harlequin Teen

363 pages

$9.99 (paperback)

FTC: I bought this book and will not be receiving compensation for reviewing this book.

What it's about:

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny-one she could never have imagined...

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school...or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth-that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face...and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

My thoughts:

This book was different than almost any book I have ever read.

It was a mix between Midsummer Night's Dream, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland. It was very colorful and full of fantastic characters. I was half expecting to see quotes such as "Curiouser and curiouser" or "they'll sweetly drown you" in this book.

For the first part of it, I wasn't sure how I felt about the book. It was interesting and I was curious to what was going on, but it wasn't fantastic. But once I got to the second part of the book, I was starting to love it. I wanted to know which other marviousle characters were going to pop up in the book and how everything was going to be settled.

All the characters are very unique and fun. Meghan is the typical damsil in distress but is very sweet. She sees the best in everyone which is her weak point but also her strongest. The best friend Robbie is supposed to be full of laughs which you can see, but isn't fully explained. And then there's Ash. Ash is the closed off, forbidden love interest. He's dark, mysterious, loyal, and very determined. You couldn't help but fall in love with that character.

There was a few spots in the book that got a little confusing. For example, the whole story plot with Meghan's father. She seems to have three fathers in the book and there was some confusion with that.
There was also not a lot, but more than normal amounts of swearing in this book. It made the characters a lot more releastic. Teens swear and that is something that people try to avoid in books. I was glad this one had it actually just because it made Meghan feel like an actual teen. There was also a few sexual comments in this book. Because of these, I would not recommend this book for anyone under the age of 14.
Unfortunately, this book is going to be a series AND it had a cliff hanger ended. I was upset to see a few main questions not answered in this book and I can't wait for the release of The Iron Daughter in August.
My rating: 8.5/10

Book I want Thursday

I have decided to do something different. I am going to start posting one book every thursday that I hope to buy sometime soon. This week I'm going with Deadly Little Lies by Laurie Faria Sholatz



What it's about:
Last fall, sixteen-year-old Camelia fell for Ben, the mysterious new boy at school who turned out to have a very mysterious gift--pyschometry, the ability to sense the future through touch. But just as Camelia and Ben's romance began to heat up, he abruptly left town. Brokenhearted, Camelia has spent the last few months studying everything she can about psychometry, and experiencing her own strange brushes with premonition. Camelia wonders if Ben's abilities have somehow rubbed off on her. Can the power of psychometry be transferred? Even once Ben returns to school, Camelia can't get close enough to share her secret with him. Despite the romantic tension between them, Ben remains aloof, avoiding contact. Then when an unexpected kiss leads to a frightening argument, Camelia makes the painful decision to let Ben go and move on. Adam, the hot new guy at work, seems good for her in ways Ben wasn't. Adam is easygoing, and seems to really care about her. But when Camelia and Adam start dating, a surprising love triangle results. A chilling sequence of events upturns secrets from Ben's past--and Adam's. Someone is lying, and it's up to Camelia to figure out who-before it's too late.

Clockwork Angels Cover

This is the cover for Cassandra Clare's new spinoff series The infernal Devices. I love Clare's series Mortal Instruments and am seriously stoked for this book. I normally don't like spinoffs, but I think this one is going to be fantastic. She always gets beautiful covers and I would have to say this one is my favorite out of the 4. It is gorgeous!

This book should be out in August 2010 according to Borders.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

published by Little Brown

563 pages

$17.99 (Hardcover)

FTC: I purchased this book and will not be receiving compensation for reviewing this book.

What it's about:

There were no surprises in Gatlin County. At least, that's what I thought. Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong. There was a curse. There was a girl. And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

My thoughts:

I had heard nothing but good things about this book before I started reading it. I'm gonna go with everyone else and say good things about it.

The main character in this book is Ethan. It was interesting to be inside Ethan's head rather than Lena's. To be trying to figure everything out right along with Ethan made the story more interesting and entertaining. Ethan's character was very likable and it was easy to connect to him.

For most of the book, I was trying to figure out what was going on and trying to guess what was going to happen. I never really did guess right. The book always surprised me, which of course, I view as a very good thing.

While I loved the story plot, I did feel there were a few parts of the story that really could have been cut out. It was already a very long book and a few scenes were not necessary for the plot and did not need to be kept.

This is the first book in a planned series of five. I was a little upset about how the book ended and would have liked to see the book as a stand alone book.

My rating: 9/10

If you want to hear the 16moons songs or find out more about the book, they have a pretty cool site for it at http://www.beautifulcreaturesthebook.com/

Book filled day

After a morning spent running around college campuses, trying to get stuff figured out and being all grown up, I treated myself to a book splurge. A friend of mine and myself headed to Portland to go to Powells. For anyone not living in Oregon, Powells is a humongous bookstore that takes up a whole block and is about 4 stories tall. So I limited myself to five books and bought...

Swoon by Nina Malkin

The Espressologist by Kristina Springer

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Later we headed over to Barnes and Noble and went to the Brandon Mull book signing. For anyone who doesn't know who Brandon Mull is, he writes the Fablehaven series and The Candy Shop Wars.

We had a great time, got our books signed and got free posters of the upcoming Fablehaven book cover.

All in all, it was a fun day. I love going to book signings.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

published by Amulet Books

217 pages

$4.99 (paperback)

FTC: I did not receive this book from the publisher and will not be compensated for reviewing this book

What it's about:

Being a kid can really stink. And no one knows this better than Greg Heffley, who finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving.

In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, author and illustrator Jeff Kinney introduces us to an unlikely hero. As Greg says in his diary: Just don't expect me to be all "Dear Diary" this and "Dear Diary" that.

Luckily for us, what Greg Heffley says he won't do and what he actually does are two very different things.

My Thoughts:

oh, the days of middle school. How this book brings back so many memories.

<>

With the movie coming out in a week or so, I thought I'd read the book first before I took my babysitting kids to see the movie.

This was by far one of the easiest books I've ever read (duh), but I'm including that with books such as Hop on Pop and The Stinky Cheeseman. This book was hilarious though and found myself laughing out loud during most of the book. The cartoons were by far the funniest part of the book.

The whole thing was a fast and funny read. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more if I was a lot younger, but I still did enjoy it.

This I am not going to give an actual rating. I'm just going to say that if you know someone in the age range of 7-12, I would recommend this book.

Ruined by Paula Morris

Ruined by Paula Morris

publish by Point
Genre: YA

$16.99 (hardcover)

FTC: I bought this book and am not receiving compensation for reviewing this book

What it's about from the book sleeve:

Welcome to New Orleans: City of VooDoo and beaty. Of Hurricanes and Hauntings.

Rebecca brown couldn't feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to live while her dad is away on business. She's staying in a creepy house with her aunt Claudia, who reads tarot ards for a living. And at the snooty prep school, a pack of filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she's invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he's got a hidden agenda.

Then one night, among the oak tres in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to show Rebecca the nooks and crannies of new Orleans. There's just one catch.

Lisette is a ghost.

A ghost with a deep, dark secret, and a serious score to settle.

As Rebecca learns more from her ghost friend--and as she begins to trust Anton Grey -- she also uncovers startling truths about her own history. Will Rebecca be able to right the wrongs of the past, or has everything been ruined beyond repair?

My Thoughts:

I didn't like it.

There was absolutely no character development in this whole entire book. You never really connect with any characters. They were flat. You don't ever really connect with Rebecca as well.

The whole book was just monotone. Even at the exciting parts there wasn't much excitement in the words. Too many details were left out that really needed to be there. One minute Rebecca's character was excited to go somewhere and do something but it was still two weeks away. Turn to the next page and all the sudden, it's been two weeks and the event Rebecca was excited for was here. While it's good to get to get to the exciting parts, you need all the boring stuff as well to help connect with the characters.

This was a great idea for a book, but it fell through.

My rating: 5/10