Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Covers of 2014

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish

Today is a rewind day, so I decided to make up my own (or is this being done/has been done? I don't know) and go with My favorite covers of 2014.

I think this might be one of my all time favorite covers, ever. It's so different! If you go to a bookstore and ask "what is the book with a tiger and a girl sitting on the beach on the cover?" the clerk could tell you right away it's this one. It's beautiful.

Brenna Yovanoff always gets amazing covers. So creepy yet stunningly beautiful. I adore the font and how it blends in, yet stands out and how the color of it matches perfectly. I love the details of the flowers growing in the roots, and the sagging of the house. It's just breathtaking, in a super creepy way.

I like how this one looks like a painting. Also how the girl is not in a dress.

Ugly Christmas sweater gone wrong! I love that.

Really, what isn't there to love about this one?

I like how you can tell exactly what this book is about just from the cover.

Kiersten gets yet another stunning cover. Now if only the synopsis was out for this book...

Look at that castle!! And the colors! It's so pretty!

It's simple yet awesome. But why aren't the shoes red? That is, unless they are going with the books silver shoes. Then it makes sense.

WE GET TO SEE TRENT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, Happy release day Undead Pool!!!

Review: Insanity by Susan Vaught

Insanity by Susan Vaught

Published by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Genre: YA Paranormal

Format: ebook from Netgalley

$17.99 (US Hardback)

384 pages

 

 

What it's about:



Never, Kentucky is not your average scenic small town. It is a crossways, a place where the dead and the living can find no peace. Not that Forest, an 18-year-old foster kid who works the graveyard shift at Lincoln Hospital, knew this when she applied for the job. Lincoln is a huge state mental institution, a good place for Forest to make some money to pay for college. But along with hundreds of very unstable patients, it also has underground tunnels, bell towers that ring unexpectedly, and a closet that holds more than just donated clothing....When the dead husband of one of Forest's patients makes an appearance late one night, seemingly accompanied by an agent of the Devil, Forest loses all sense of reality and all sense of time. Terrified, she knows she has a part to play, and when she does so, she finds a heritage that she never expected.

With her deep knowledge of mental illness and mental institutions, Susan Vaught brings readers a fascinating and completely creepy new book intertwining the stories of three young people who find themselves haunted beyond imagining in the depths of Lincoln Hospital.

My thoughts:
I feel like I am having the worst luck with YA books lately. I can't seem to find one that keeps my attention all the way through the book.

When I read the synopsis for this book, I knew that something was off. It only talks about Forest and at the end says that four teens stories come together. So lets clear this up right now, Forest is not the MC; she is one of four. One fourth of the book is hers, then switches to someone else and so on. I wish that would have been clear in the synopsis before I started reading. It did throw me off a little because it was sort of a BAM! POV change. And it did that each time. No warning. :/

The next big problem I had with the book was there was a lot of telling and no showing. The character would go "okay, I need to learn how to do this" and then the POV would change and all the sudden we are learning the character did go learn what they needed but we are never privy to the lessons. I would have liked to see what all they learned and how they did it. Grow with the characters so I could stay connected to them. I never fully connected to anyone because you didn't get to stay with them for long enough. I would have liked this book better if it would have been in one, maybe two, characters POVs.

So those are my problems with the book. Besides those, I thought the ideas behind the plot were really interesting and liked the setting. For me, I just couldn't connect to the characters and that was the downfall, it was more personal on my part. If you are into creepy paranormal books, this might be a good one to look into.

My rating: 2.5/5

Review: Fates by Lanie Bross

Fates by Lanie Bross

Series: Fates #1

Published by Delacorte Press

Genre: YA Paranormal?

$17.99 (US Hardback)

336 pages

 

What it's about:



One moment. One foolish desire. One mistake. And Corinthe lost everything.

She fell from her tranquil life in Pyralis Terra and found herself exiled to the human world. Her punishment? To make sure people's fates unfold according to plan. Now, years later, Corinthe has one last assignment: kill Lucas Kaller. His death will be her ticket home.

But for the first time, Corinthe feels a tingle of doubt. It begins as a lump in her throat, then grows toward her heart, and suddenly she feels like she is falling all over again--this time for a boy she knows she can never have. Because it is written: one of them must live, and one of them must die. In a universe where every moment, every second, every fate has already been decided, where does love fit in?

My thoughts:
What I really love about reading on my Kindle is that it will track how fast I read, and then it will tell me how much longer I have till I will finish the book. That's pretty awesome.

The time tracker was a problem with this book though. When I saw that it would only take 5 hours to read the book, I thought that was pretty cool because that is a lot shorter than it normally takes me to read a book. Yet when I was reading, time seemed to have slowed down. Maybe even stopped. I was having a hard time getting into this book. Fates was everywhere in both plot and location. The characters seemed to be jumping realms at an alarming rate. I don't think I have ever said that a book is "everywhere" before, but this story really was. It was a mess.

That was my big problem, that the story was everywhere. And Corinthe herself. I couldn't connect to her in the least. She was just so blah.

I think this could have been a pretty good story with a little more work to it. Fix some of the everywhere-ness.

My rating: 2/5

Top Ten Tuesday- Books that make you swoon

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the girls at The Broke and the Bookish

This weeks topic is books that make us swoon!

Some of the titles go to the links for the "my book boyfriend" posts I have done about the books. Pretty much all of those I did back in 2012 so hopefully all the pictures and everything are still there. And as always, these are in no particular order.

1. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell:
I'm expecting this one to be on everyones lists this week. The second I heard the topic this week, this book popped into my head. How can you not love Levi????

2. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Augustus. Waters. Yum. And because I love this so much, I'm posting the trailer so we can all swoon again.


Does anyone else cry every time they get to the end of that trailer? Or is that just me?

3. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner:
The end! Ack! I was swooning so hard for Tarver.

4. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Oh Peeta. That boy is probably my all time favorite book boyfriend ever. He is just perfect <3 p="">
5. Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
Team Dorian!!! This is one of those rare times that I'm not in the favorite team. But Dorian is dreamy. He's funny, he's hottie mchott hot, he loves to read, and he's a freaking Prince. Come on!

6. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick:
I should really reread this book sometime soon. Jase is just great.

7. Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis
This whole book is so stinking cute! Hott guys and animals. The best combo ever.

8. The Host by Stephenie Meyer:
This is one story of Meyer's that hasn't been ruined for me. Thankfully because I love it. Ian and Jared are such great guys (Ian better than Jared for sure.)

9. Backstage Pass by Olivia Cunning:
All the guys in Sinners are just so yummy. Can't help but swoon.

10. Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead
I love the super nerdy Seth in this series.
 

Review: Written in Red

Written in Red by Anne Bishop

Series: The Others #1

Published by NAL

Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

433 pages

 

What it's about:



As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.


My thoughts:
This book and I are having a love affair.

This is the first book of Anne Bishop's that I have read, and it won't be my last. Now I am regretting that I had not read her books sooner so I could have had her sign some when I was able to meet her a few months ago. Ack!

This happened to be one of those books that I fell in love with right from the first page. I knew immediately that I was going to love it and could hardly put it down. I even considered calling into work the next day so I could stay up all night reading. I decided against that, but the second I could, I would pick this book back up and start reading again.

There is something about this world that is so captivating. It's unique and dangerous. Humans are not on the top of the food chain and the Others don't understand a thing about humans, just that they are stupid and taste good. There are lots of descriptions of the Others eating humans and yet, you end up really loving them. I don't know how, you just do. It's great.

I don't want to say too much about this book. I wouldn't want to ruin anything for anyone. All I can say is I finished this book about two weeks ago, and I'm already seriously considering rereading it. It's just that good.

My rating: 5/5!

Review: The Queen's Choice

The Queen's Choice by Cayla Kluver

Series: Heirs of Chroir #1

Published by Harlequin Teen

Genre: YA Fantasy

$17.99 (US hardback)

512 pages

 

What it's about:

Magic was seeping out of me, black and agonizing. I could see it drifting away. The magic that would let me pass the Road to reach home again.

When sixteen-year-old Anya learns that her aunt, Queen of the Faerie Kingdom of Chrior, will soon die, her grief is equalled only by her despair for the future of the kingdom. Her young cousin, Illumina, is unfit to rule, and Anya is determined not to take up the queen's mantle herself.

Convinced that the only solution is to find Prince Zabriel, who long ago disappeared into the human realm of Warckum, and persuade him to take up his rightful crown, Anya journeys into the Warckum Territory to bring him home. But her journey is doomed to be more harrowing than she ever could have imagined.



My thoughts:
This is the fourth book of Kluver's I have read, and unfortunately it wasn't a favorite of mine.

Kluver's writing is absolutely stunning. It flows beautifully while being descriptive and detailed. That also happens to be part of my problem with this book, it's detailed. Everything is written out which is why the book is over 500 pages long. The book could have been at least 100 pages shorter and still would have been enough.
The length really was what I was having problems with. I'm no stranger to 500 (or even 900+) page books, but they really need to captivate me from the beginning with strong characters. Anya unfortunately wasn't a very exciting narrator. While I did feel for her and wanted to know how her story turned out, I didn't have any problem skimming the second half of the book to find out what goes down.

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this book, or maybe it just wasn't my style. Either way it has to be said that the writing is beautiful, but I'd read the first chapter before buying the book to make sure that it works for you.

My rating: 3/5


*Thanks to Harlequin Teen for sending me an advanced copy*