For Review:
What did you get this week?
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
Alice in Zombieland Review
TITLE: Alice in Zombieland
AUTHOR: Gena Showalter
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Teen
PUBLICATION DATE: 9/25/2012
PAGES: 404
MY RATING:
INSIDE COVER SUMMARY: Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that's all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.
Her father was right. The monsters are real.
To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn't careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: This is one of the very very few books that I have given 5 stars, meaning it is one of my all time favorites. Alice in Wonderland is my favorite story and I love any and all remakes or stories based on the original. This doesn't follow the story of the original Alice, but it was inspired by it and has a few elements thrown in that reminded me of it.
I love the way the story unfolded. we learned new information little by little, but the story was not slow placed at all. I flew through this book and loved every second of it. I cannot wait for the next one to come out and I will be reading it as soon as I possibly can.
CHARACTERS: My favorite character was Kat. She and Alice meet in the hospital and from the beginning she is very feisty and high spirited. Alice, the main character, was easy to relate to. I could feel her emotions throughout the story. And Cole, we'll just say I liked him at lot.
COVER: The cover is so pretty. The dress is amazing and I love the boarder around the picture with all the skulls. The book cover itself (underneath the jacket) is very cool too. I like the color and I love the spine. There's also a really cool skull print on the inside of the front and back covers.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Mind Games Review
TITLE: Mind Games
AUTHOR: Kiersten White
PUBLISHER: Harper Teen
PUBLICATION DATE: 2/19/2013
PAGES: 256
MY RATING:
Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways...or risk each other's lives by refusing to obey.
In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other -- no matter the cost.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Confused. That's pretty much how I felt while reading most of this book. The timeline of the story jumps around a lot -- so does the perspective > neither of which helped with my confusion. I felt like I didn't care what happened because I didn't know what was supposed to happen. I feel like I didn't ever get closure. I still don't know what the goal of the antagonist was, so I'm not quite sure what the main characters are supposed to be fighting against.
CHARACTERS: I didn't feel any connection to any of the characters. I didn't feel attachment towards any of them and if something were to happen to one of them, I wouldn't care. This makes the suspense/danger of the story go way down for me.
COVER: I like it a lot. The shade of the girl's eyes is really pretty.
**I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
To Love Or Die Book Blast + Giveaway
10 Tales of Steampunk Silliness and Spookery
In the cozy seaside village of Steamville, New Hampshire, an unfaithful zombie, out of control werebots, succubi in corsets, and more wreak havoc in this short story collection from the author of Elemental.
Purchase
Just .99 cents
Praise
"Well written and very fast paced. You won’t get bored or find your mind wandering. I’d love to see a sequel to this collection and see what happens next. I give this book five out of five donuts."
"This book starts off dipping its toe right into the heart of the story, not unlike Ms. White's YA novel Elemental, and the story never really slows down to a lazy pace; making it a very easy and fast read."
"Ms. White wonderfully succeeded in instilling humor into ten short stories about vampires, zombies, ghosts, and one mad scientist. Each story is brilliantly linked. The Victorian era setting delightfully adds to the humor."
"This is a wonderful mix of Steampunk and Horror written in Emily White's unmistakable brilliance and style. Does it get any better than that?"
Emily White lives in NY, wedged between two of the Great Lakes and a few feet of snow and ice. She's spent most of her life running away from the cold, and even spent a year in Iraq, but now contents herself with writing her characters into warm, exotic places in faraway galaxies. When not tapping away at her computer keys, she can be found reading, reading, and reading some more. And when she's not doing that, she's usually playing video games with her husband, peek-a-boo with her kids, or walking through her garden, wondering why the bugs insist on eating all her vegetables.
Also by Emily White
Book Blast Giveaway
$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 3/24/13
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Pretty Girl-13 Review (Spoilers)
TITLE: Pretty Girl-13
AUTHOR: Liz Coley
PUBLISHER: Katherine Tegen Books (Harper Collins)
PUBLICATION DATE: 3/19/2013
PAGES: 352
MY RATING:
SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS: Reminiscent of the Elizabeth Smart case, Pretty Girl-13 is a disturbing and powerful psychological mystery about a girl who must piece together the story of her kidnapping and captivity.
Angie Chapman was thirteen years old when she ventured into the woods along on a Girl Scouts camping trip. Now she's returned home...only to find that it's three years later and she's sixteen-or at least that's what everyone tells her.
What happened to the past three years of her life?
Angie doesn't know.
But there are people who do--people who could tell Angie every detail of her forgotten time, if only they weren't locked inside her mind. With a tremendous amount of courage, Angie embarks on a journey to discover the fragments of her personality, otherwise known as her "alters." As she unearths more and more about her past, she discovers a terrifying secret and must decide: When you remember things you wish you could forget, do you destroy the parts of yourself that are responsible?
Liz Coley's alarming and fascinating psychological mystery is a disturbing and ultimately empowering page turner about accepting out whole selves, and the healing power of courage, hope, and love.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: This is such a hard review for me to write. The story itself was captivating and intense, but I have trouble actually saying that it was "good" because the subject matter of the story is so terrible. The book sucked me in from the moment I picked it up and I refused to put it down once I got into the story. My heart was pounding the whole way through.
CHARACTERS: This is the part that gets a little spoiler-y. The main character, Angie, was a pretty like-able character. She was a confused and frustrated girl just trying to figure things out. I really liked all of the different alters and I came to think of them as their own characters. I feel like I wanted to learn a little bit more about them, specifically Angel. Girl Scout was my favorite alter. She was very straight forward and had the biggest personality of them all.
COVER: The cover is okay. It symbolizes the story well, but I feel like they could have done it a little differently.
*I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Entwined Book Review
TITLE: Entwined
AUTHOR: Heather Dixon
PUBLISHER: Greenwillow Books
PUBLICATION DATE: 3/29/2011
PAGES: 472
MY RATING:
INSIDE COVER SUMMARY: Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her...beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing...it's taken away. All of it.
The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.
Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.
But there is a cost.
The Keeper likes to keep things.
Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: This was a cute story. I have seen in other reviews that it is based on a fairy tale called "Twelve Dancing Princesses" but I have never read or even heard of it before so I cannot compare this story to that. The story was a little slow for my tastes, but towards the end it did pick up a little and got exciting.
CHARACTERS: It was hard to keep track of all of the sisters, but it wasn't really vital to the story to remember all of them. The main character, Azalea, was an all around great person. She was very kind and very protective of her sisters.
COVER: The cover of this book is gorgeous. It is honestly the main reason that I picked this book up in the first place. I could stare at it for hours.
Kindle Fire Giveaway March 2013
Kindle Fire HD Giveaway!
The winner will have the option of receiving a 7" Kindle Fire HD (US Only)
Or $199 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)
Or $199 in Paypal Cash (International)
Sponsoring Authors
The Stone Guardian by Theresa McClinton
Giveaway Details
1 winner will receive their choice of a Kindle Fire HD (US Only), $199 Amazon Gift Card or $199 in Paypal Cash (International).
Ends: 3/31/13
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)