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[Waiting on Wednesday] - #10

          Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

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     From one of my favorite strong female characters, Saba comes back this time in Rebel Heart. A book about a fierce girl who fights not only with the people around her and the support of her younger sister, but with her own life and heart on the line. Not many characters in book do you feel that raw need to push themselves to that limit and want more out of their pursuit. I encourage everyone to read Blood Red Road first before looking deeply into this book.



Title: Rebel Heart
Author: Moira Young
Date: October 30th, 2012

     It seemed so simple: Defeat the Tonton, rescue her kidnapped brother, Lugh, and then order would be restored to Saba’s world. Simplicity, however, has proved to be elusive. Now, Saba and her family travel west, headed for a better life and a longed-for reunion with Jack. But the fight for Lugh’s freedom has unleashed a new power in the dust lands, and a formidable new enemy is on the rise.

     What is the truth about Jack? And how far will Saba go to get what she wants? In this much-anticipated follow-up to the riveting Blood Red Road, a fierce heroine finds herself at the crossroads of danger and destiny, betrayal and passion.

     Blood Red Road held true with one of the fiercest and strongest female characters (Saba) since The Hunger Games for me. I loved Saba, and Jack had this mysteriousness about him that allured everyone to him. I am still curious about who Jack is and what Saba wants to do now that her brother is safe, her family is back together.

     From the look of everything there seems to be more to Jack this time around. And if I am correct, Saba goes after and seeks to get him back, which I'm sorry she shouldn't have left him in the first place. If she did care about him as much as she did in the first book, than there is no doubt in my mind what I would have done and what I believe the correct response should have been. On the other hand though, she does have her family to take care of, but couldn't they have came as well?

     Anyways, there is a slight rumor going around of a spoiler, how Saba sleeps with someone other than Jack. I'm not sure how valid that is, and frankly either way, there is just something about how that breaks my heart. There is just something wrong with how authors want to add drama into a book by involving infidelity or the lovely love triangle. Trust me, there is much more to a book and many other differing ways to create invoking and emotionally deep plot twists without involving those two ploys. It really pains me to see authors do that, and that's why I dearly hope that rumor is false.

     Either way, that rumor and that whole idea won't stop me from picking the book up. The cover is rather lame as compared to the last one, and I hope that this isn't the true final cover. I want something more substantial out of Jack. Jack is just too much of a mystery that this paints him too clear for me. GIVE ME MOAR!

[Special] - The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver

Special Posting:

     Well I don't do this often, but I wanted to reach out and thank those at Harper Collins, Lauren Oliver, and whoever else went into the giveaway over on Goodreads. I am a huge Lauren Oliver fan, and why this book (The Sprindlers) is well below my age range in books I would normally read; I just couldn't pass up the chance to pick up a book that was done by her, and open it's cover. I read the first page and it has her flair and finesse, I just can't wait to get into it. As well I would love to introduce this book, and author to any other young reader that hasn't stumbled upon her work yet. I find that Lauren Olivers creativity and her ability to appease not only to a young adult audience, but she also has a younger audience than that as well.


   Author: Lauren Oliver
   Format: ARC
   Release Date: October 2nd, 2012

     One night when Liza went to bed, Patrick was her chubby, stubby, candy-grubbing and pancake-loving younger brother, who irritated and amused her both, and the next morning, when she woke up, he was not. In fact, he was quite, quite different.

     When Liza's brother, Patrick, changes overnight, Liza knows exactly what has happened: The spindlers have gotten to him and stolen his soul.

     She knows, too, that she is the only one who can save him.

     To rescue Patrick, Liza must go Below, armed with little more than her wits and a broom. There, she uncovers a vast world populated with talking rats, music-loving moles, greedy troglods, and overexcitable nids . . . as well as terrible dangers. But she will face her greatest challenge at the spindlers' nests, where she encounters the evil queen and must pass a series of deadly tests--or else her soul, too, will remain Below forever.

     From "New York Times" best-selling author Lauren Oliver comes a bewitching story about the reaches of loyalty, the meaning of love, and the enduring power of hope.

[Flashback Friday] - #10


Flashback Friday is a weekly event, hosted here, that highlights a past released that we're dying to get our hands on...

See something you like here?
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   Author: Maggie Stiefvater
   Release Date: October 11th, 2011

     It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

     At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

     Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.


My Stance:

     The Scorpio Races has this Hunger Games appeal that when I first read it I couldn't think of anything but how much it sounded similar. Even the whole entertainment, or sicking thought of people watching in enjoyment  as people died in the games, both of these books are so similar. I just hope this can live up to the comparison, however at the same time, the author behind this book is none other than Maggie Stiefvater.

     Many of you may know Maggie from the Wolves of Mercy series, which I want to get around to purchasing some time and delve into its pages. As well, I would love to get into this book. Maggie seems to have this eye for a good plot and a good sound story that people can't seem to get enough of. I'm not sure of the following Maggie has, but something tells me these books may make me one of them eventually.

     Enough about the author, lets talk about the book. Sean and Puck, I have this feeling there is going to be some alliance between these two competitors. Maybe even a relationship neither of them expect at the time going into the races, and much like Peeta and Katniss in The Hunger Games will be faced with a life or death situation. It all points to that based on the synopsis so far, and then there is the whole why does Puck go in? I mean she enters, but WHY? There is no reason, it's not like she wakes up and goes hey... I want to risk my life to win a race, just because.

     As well, the water horses sound intriguing. I mean who can come up with horses made of water or reside in water or something of the sort, and pull them into a ravenous race. I want to know more about these animals and what do they have to go through to race. Are these water horses similar to horses that we all think about? There is just so much potential, I just hope the book and the ideas don't weigh it down too much.

[Book Review] - Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

   Author: Ruta Sepetys
   Format: Hardcover
   Release Date: March 22nd, 2011
   My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

     Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

     Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

My Review:

     Between Shades of Gray is one of those books that will not only tear into your heart, but devour it. When I started this book I kind of understood what I was getting into, but there was no preparing for what was coming. Ruta Sepetys, you created a beast with this book, and what I mean by that is there is history and some truth in this book, however, there is enough indulgence and intriguing facts and bemusing twists that keep my eyes wet.

     Lina coming from Lithuania in 1941, is ripped from her home by the SKVD, the Soviet Union army. A world where she never knew would exist, she is forced from her boy chasing life. Into the world of a slavery, she's trucked off to a camp where a world of men and cruelty in ways I could only have imagined happen to her. There is something about this book that tears into the heart, and if there's not a compassionate heart in the reader this may not be the best pick, but it will enlighten.

     Lina's goal of reaching her father, the driving force in every young women's life. It drives her, but not only in her need to reach him, but her desire for art. The work she creates, the need to believe is conveyed through everything she draws. With Ruta's help there's a world conveyed in her words, an art of themselves and I would go so far as to say that Lina lives within her.

     Along the way there is a love that grows between Lina and Andruis. A love that I found myself pulled into, a love that even through all the hard times, you wish would keep going, wish would grow and live on and make it through everything. I found myself yearning for more of these love affairs, wanting to see more. And yet when there seemed to be more on the way, the Soviet had other things to say.

     Between Shades of Gray is a literary work of art. There is an eye opening expanse of history here, a world in which only few of us will ever know, and Ruta brings it to life. I applaud her, I give her far more than what she's given credit for. I wish her the best, and for her work in this book I encourage any History teacher or any English teacher to pick this book up, give if a read, and please pass it along to a classroom. It deserves it.

[Stacking the Shelves] - #10

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your bookshelf, be it the physical one or your digital one!


      I know I am a bit behind on what I've been trying to get done this week, and I apologize. Getting things around, and having other things keeping me busy have kept me away from the book land for a while. I am sincerely sorry for that, and I hope you forgive me. However, I haven't forgotten I am working on releasing all the same things I should have been, within the next twenty-four hours. So here is the first...

Angelfall
Cracked Up to Be
Origin
Entice
Ten

Mailbox Pickup:



Title:Angelfall
   Author: Susan Ee
   Format: Paperback
   Release Date: February 14th, 2012

     It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

     Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

     Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

     Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco where she’ll risk everything to rescue her sister and he’ll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

      Angelfall has been recommended to me time and time again, has been on my wishlist for ages, and when I finally had some spare cash there wasn't a stop. There was something about this book, something that told me the typical idea of Angels saving everyone that went out the window with this book. Angelfall presents Angels as kidnappers, dark and sinister, and possibly far worse. Which for most angel books, is far far different.

      The story doesn't end there. Raffe is a fallen Angel who wants to be made whole again, and then there is Penryn a girl who wants more than anything to get her sister back. Penryn's sister was taken by Angels. My question is why did they take Penryn's sister? There was something there, and when the two Raffe and Penryn meet up, they both are on a mission but to what ends will they go to see it to the end?







   Author: Courtney Summers
   Format: Paperback
   Release Date: December 23rd, 2008

     When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?

     Parker doesn't want to talk about it. She'd just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her counselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there's a nice guy falling in love with her and he's making her feel things again when she'd really rather not be feeling anything at all.

     Nobody would have guessed she'd turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.

     Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.

     Cracked Up to Be has me interested and was part of a monthly read from the book club I am part of. I haven't gotten around to it and just recently picked it up. I am a huge fan of Courtney Summers and after the book This is not a Test there is every reason to. Cracked Up to Be has this high school dilemma, the perfect girl goes through something that changes her forever. Instead of facing it head on, she wants to be ignored wants to fade away into nothingness. However everyone around her seems to have other plans for her.







Title:Origin
   Author: Jessica Khoury
   Format: Hardback
   Release Date: September 4th, 2012

     Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home--and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

     Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia's origin--a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

     Origin is a beautifully told, shocking new way to look at an age-old desire: to live forever, no matter the cost.


     Origin appeared on the shelf of a local Walmart and when I read the inside cover I couldn't help myself. I want to know more about Pia and Eio. Pia coming from a jungle where her hole in laboratory, Eio from a nearby village. My inquiry into this book comes to Eio, where I wonder if he's from like a wild native indian-like tribe, or is it something like a city whose moved to the wild and has a village nearby this laboratory. And Pia, why was she left alone, this will more than likely be answered when I get to read the book.






Title: Entice
   Author: Jessica Shirvington
   Format: Hardback
   Release Date: September 4th, 2012

     Violet Eden is Grigori - part angel, part human. Her destiny is to protect humans from the vengence of exiled angels.

     Knowing who to trust is key but, when Grigori reinforcements arrive, it becomes clear everyone is hiding something. Even Lincoln. The only thing Violet does know: Phoenix's hold over her is more dangerous than ever.

     The race to find the one thing that could tilt the balance of power brings them all to the sacred mountains of Jordan, where Violet's power will be pushed to the extreme. And the ultimate betrayal exposed.

     Entice was a book, that came more or less out of a spur of the moment. I have the first book, Embrace of the series. I was looking for it and was hoping to get around to it. The pull to this book, is it reminds me so much of the Fallen series. I can hope this passes the Fallen series, it's not that I dislike the fallen series at all; it's more of I am always hoping the best for books. The Embrace series pulls in a girl Violet as a Grigori, an angel/human who wants to protect and save humans.






Title: Ten
   Author: Gretchen McNeil
   Format: Hardback
   Release Date: September 18th, 2012

     And their doom comes swiftly.

     It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

     But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

     Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?


     Ten has an appeal like any other, a story about a weekend in which Meg and Minnie are on vacation in hopes of more than just a good time. However, things drastically change. A mystery unravels around the whole boat as Vengeance wrecks havoc everyone. People dying all over the place with the two teens trying to figure out who is killing people, and why. My best inclination is that the book being told from Meg's perspective, there for me is only one possible solution to who the killer is. So here is my guess before opening the book, Minnie.
 
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