Masque of the Red Death Review

TITLE: Masque of the Red Death

AUTHOR: Bethany Griffin

PUBLISHER: Greenwillow Books

PUBLICATION DATE: 4/24/2012

PAGES: 319

MY RATING:

SUMMARY (From Goodreads): Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population, and those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery makeup...and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club--in the depths of her own despair--Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club, and Elliot, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find not just something to live for, but something to fight for--no matter what it costs her.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I haven't read the original Masque of the Red Death by Poe, but I did read the plot on Wikiepedia so I'm a little familiar with the story. I can definitely see how this book by Griffin was inspired from Poe's version and I would like to read the original one day soon.

I would say this is a solid book the whole way through. I enjoyed reading it. I felt like I was in the world as everything was unfolding, so much so that I wondering if I should be wearing a mask while I was reading. The ending was intense and exciting and I cannot wait to see what is going to happen in the next book. 

CHARACTERS: Let's start off by saying that I am team Will. I felt a little creeped out by Elliot, and I think Araby and Will would make a better couple. 

I'm a little bit uneasy about the relationships between all of the characters at the end of the book. I want to see how the relationships will unfold in the next book and see what will happen between certain people.

COVER: I love the cover. It's haunting and creepy and just awesome.

*I won an ARC copy of this book from Angie @ Libby Blog

Card Share #5

Here's a couple of cards I've made in the last two days:

Exposure Review

Amazon

TITLE: Exposure

AUTHOR: Kim Askew & Amy Helmes

PUBLISHER: Merit Press

PUBLICATION DATE: 1/18/2013

PAGES: 233

MY RATING:

MEMORABLE QUOTE: "When I develop pictures in a darkroom, it's almost like painting with light." (p. 21)

INSIDE COVER SUMMARY: Double, double, toil, and trouble! The quest for high-school royalty can turn deadly when teen ambition outstrips reason. Skye Kingston is a shy shutterbug who prefers observing life from behind her camera lens. She doesn't know she's stunning, and comes off the sidelines only when she's forced to by the terrifying events of one treacherous school year in Alaska. A boy named Duncan is dead, and his death may or may not be an accident. Skye's three new best friends are eerily able to foretell the future, and cheerleader Beth might be more than a social climber--she is quite probably a sociopath. Then there's Skye's growing attraction to the school hottie, Craig, The Boy Who Would Be Prom King. But their time is crossed by fate. There's already been one death, and who can say if it's only the first? As Skye falls for Craig, she also slowly realizes that he is caught in the crosshairs of a deadly plot. Can she save Craig and herself from a murderous fate? Exposure is not only a modern take on the classic Macbeth, it's proof that nothing has changed since Shakespeare riffed on the subject nearly half a millennium ago: The quest for power can lead to bloodstained hands.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: Unfortunately, I have never read Macbeth, so I cannot compare this story to that at all. I was looking forward to reading this as I enjoyed Askew and Helmes' first book, Tempestuous. This one sort of similar, but I didn't like it as much. The last third or so of the book is definitely the best part. I feel like the beginning could have used a little bit more involvement, maybe Skye could have done more to try and find out what had happened on that night at the party, but it was very slow moving.

CHARACTERS: I had a hard time connecting with the characters. I feel like Skye, the main character, didn't really do much except for whine to herself inside her head. I just feel like she is very naive, and she doesn't change very much throughout the course of the book. 

COVER: The cover is okay, there's not really much to it. I like the crown, it's cute.

*I received a finished copy of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.

Cat Thursday #4

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! 

Here's a few pictures of my girls:

MILA 2.0 Review

Amazon

TITLE: MILA 2.0

AUTHOR: Debra Drizer

PUBLISHER: Katherine Tegen Books

PUBLICATION DATE: 3/12/2013

PAGES: 480

MY RATING:

BOOK SUMMARY (From Goodreads): Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence. 

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past--that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run--from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila's becoming is beyond anyone's imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This was a really fun and exciting book to read. There were so many action packed scenes that kept me riveted. There were no dull moments in this book and I can't wait for the next book in the series to find out what happens next.

I have heard that this book is going to be made into a t.v. series and I am really excited about that. I think that with a t.v. series they could actually expand upon the idea of this book and run with it.

CHARACTERS: There were a lot of characters in this story that I want to know more about and I'm hoping that we will find out some more information on them as the series progresses. One person I want to know more about is Nicole, Mila's "mom". What made her get into her profession and what really happened that led up to her leaving. I also want to know more about Lucas. I'm really interested in his back story and I wonder if there will be more of him in the next book. I'm also really excited that we get to see more of Hunter going forward. I really enjoyed his character and his chemistry with Mila.

COVER: I love it. I really like the way the image pulls off of the page and has a very robotic look to it.

**I received an ARC of this book from Amazon Vine for my honest review.

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Cat Thursday #3

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! 

Today's pictures are dedicated to my third cat that you haven't seen any photos of yet. Her name is Luna and she has quite the quirky personality.

Here she is rifling through my purse looking for hair ties.

Sleeping after a hard day's work.

And for whatever reason, here she is licking our lamp.

I can't wait to see everyone else's pictures for this week!