A Thousand Pieces of You Review

Goodreads

TITLE: A Thousand Pieces of You

AUTHOR: Claudia Gray

PUBLISHER: Harper Teen

PUBLICATION DATE: 11/4/2014

PAGES: 368

FORMAT: ARC

SOURCE: Amazon Vine/Publisher

MY RATING:

BACK COVER SUMMARY: What if the universe is in fact a multiverse? Countless dimensions exist, all layered within one another. Each dimension represents one set of possibilities. Every possibility, every time fate flips a coin, splits the dimensions yet again, creating yet more layers of reality. It goes on forever, to infinity. There are patterns within the dimension. Mathematical parallels. People who have met in one reality will be likely to meet in another. Certain things that happen will happen over and over, in different ways, but more often than you could explain by chance alone. Call it fate.

From New York Times  bestselling author Claudia Gray comes a heart-racing, space-and-time-bending new trilogy that asks whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I'm having a really hard time writing a review for this one. I really love the idea behind the story of there being this infinite amount of parallel dimensions. And I also liked the plot of the story and where that was and continues to go, but for some reason I just wasn't sucked into the book. I found myself relieved when I was done reading because I knew I wouldn't have to pick it up again. That doesn't mean it was bad though, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

CHARACTERS: The characters were okay. I liked Marguerite the most, but I didn't really feel connected to anyone.

COVER: The cover is beautiful. Being totally honest, it's the whole reason I became interested in this book in the first place.

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

Fulcrum Gallery Art Review

I'm going a little bit off of my normal blogging topics today to talk about art. I was approached by a representative of Fulcrum Gallery to review my experience with their site and one of their products.

First off, there are so many choices on the Fulcrum Gallery website--I mean, tons! There are options for any taste and style you can think of. I have a fairly recent obsession with giraffes, and I knew I wanted to incorporate some giraffes into my print, so I started in the animal artwork category.

I chose an adorable giraffe image and I am in love with it! The customization of the piece was extremely easy and also really fun. There are a few basic premade options that you can choose from to order your piece. You can choose from a frame (black, silver, or gold), a canvas print, or an art print. Or, if you prefer you can completely customize your piece. I chose to customize my giraffe print. Once you choose customization, there are a ton of options. You get to choose your frame (there are black, brown, cherry, gold, silver and natural with multiple options per color). You then get to choose your mat(s). You can pick how many you want (1-3) and what colors you want to make each one. And last, you get to choose Plexiglass and glass with sub-options for each of those as well.

In the end, I decided to go with a natural frame (2 1/2" White Weathered Beachwood), no mats and non-glare acrylic Plexiglass.

I was so excited when I received my package in the mail. The packaging was quite a bit larger than I expected it to be, but it was packaged really nice and securely. The finished product is much lighter then I would have thought it was going to be, which could be because of the acrylic Plexiglass as opposed to having glass.

I love the way it looks hanging on my wall. The frame compliments the print so perfectly and the whole thing was put together so nicely. The framed print comes with a hanger already attached on the back as well as a second piece that goes on the wall (plus instructions) to easily hang up your piece.

Eve & Adam Review

Goodreads

TITLE: Eve & Adam

AUTHOR: Michael Grant &Katherine Applegate

PUBLISHER: Feiwel and Friends

PUBLICATION DATE: 10/2/2012

PAGES: 291

FORMAT: Hardcover

SOURCE: Bought (Book Outlet)

MY RATING: 

INSIDE COVER SUMMARY: In the beginning there was an apple. And then there was a car crash, a horrible, debilitating injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker could regain consciousness, there was a strange boy checking her out of the hospital and rushing her to Spiker Biopharmaceuticals, her mother's research facility. Once there, Eve has to heal, and cope with an eerie isolation only interrupted by her overbearing mother, a strange group of doctors, and the mysterious boy who brought her there.

Just when Eve thinks she will die--not from her injuries, but boredom--her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy.

Using an amazingly detailed simulation that is designed to teach human genetics, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up: eyes, hair, muscles, even a brain, and potential personality traits. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect...won't he?

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This book is set in San Francisco. I just moved away from the bay area about a month ago, and San Francisco is my favorite city, so I really enjoyed seeing the references to things in the city (In-N-Out, The Embarcadero).

The pacing of this book could have been a lot better. The main story line doesn't start to progress until about 1/3rd of the way through and it starts getting really good around the halfway point. I could already see where the story was going so I felt like it was just dragged out way too long. The ending was also really rushed and over very quickly. All that being said, I still enjoyed the story.

CHARACTERS: I didn't really have any strong connection with any of the characters. It wasn't that they weren't fully developed, I just didn't feel like I could relate to any of them.

COVER: I really like the cover. It's vibrant and eye catching and I love how the cover itself, under the dust jacket ties into the design as well.

Autumn Falls Review

Goodreads

TITLE: Autumn Falls

AUTHOR: Bella Thorne with Elise Allen

PUBLISHER: Delacorte Press

PUBLICATION DATE: 11/11/2014

PAGES: 224

FORMAT: ARC

SOURCE: Amazon Vine

MY RATING: 

BACK COVER SUMMARY: With her fiery red hair, new-girl outsider status, and tendency to be a total klutz, Autumn Falls definitely isn't flying below the radar at Aventura High. Luckily, she makes some genuine friends--but she also manages to get on the wrong side of the school's queen bee.

When Autumn vents her feelings in a journal that belonged to her late father, suddenly her wildest wishes start coming true. Is it a coincidence? Or can writing in the journal solve all her problems? And if the journal doesn't work that way, is there a bigger purpose for it--and for her?

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I'd seen Bella in her Disney show, as well as in Blended and thought she seemed like a great, well-rounded person, so I was curious when I heard that she had a book coming out. I feel like the story that she wrote was fine, but could have been better. The idea behind the book is a good one, but I think Bella needs to work on her writing skills some more--although, I believe if she keeps at it, she can become a great writer. When I was reading the book, I could definitely tell that it was written by someone of a younger age by the way the words sounded as I was reading them in my mind. 

I enjoyed the resolution of the book. It was predictable, but still cute and fun to read. I hope Bella continues to work on writing as I would love to see what she can accomplish.

CHARACTERS: I really liked the character of J.J. He has a great personality, and I wish I could have seen more of him throughout the book. The main character, Autumn, was great as well. I felt like I really understood her and what she was feeling.

COVER: I have mixed feelings on the cover. I don't usually like covers with faces on them, but this one is only half a face. I really like how they painted the model's nails with the sparkly polish and the heart detail on her left hand.

October Wrap-Up

In October I read a total of 10 books bringing my total books read for the year to 84. Of these books, 9 were "real" books bringing my total books for the "Real" Book Challenge to 66 books.

"Real" Books

Ebooks

The Boy Recession Review

Goodreads

TITLE: The Boy Recession

AUTHOR: Flynn Meaney

PUBLISHER: Poppy

PUBLICATION DATE: 8/7/2012

FORMAT: Hardcover

PAGES: 246

SOURCE: Bought (Book Outlet)

MY RATING: 

INSIDE COVER SUMMARY: The population of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, is shrinking as families move to cities and towns with greener pastures, and the local high school is hurting: Nearly all of the area's most eligible guys have moved or transferred schools.

With little competition, the remaining boys find their stocks on the rise, and even the most unlikely candidates have a good chance of making the team and getting the girl. Guitar-strumming slacker Hunter Fahrenbach has made an art of blending into the background, but now desperate coaches are recruiting him and popular girls are noticing his scruffy good looks. With a little help, Hunter might even be boyfriend material...

Down-to-earth Kelly Robbins has a simple wish for her junior year: "one normal, nice boy to crush on." Kelly and Hunter have always been friends, but is there something more to their platonic relationship? And can Kelly overcome the odds? After all, dating is hard enough without a four-to-one ratio.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: I don't like to read book synopses as I don't want to be spoiled on anything, so I didn't know what this was about when I bought it. I was hoping this was going to have more of a sci-fi spin on it where the boys were actually disappearing, not just moving out of town.

I think a 7th or 8th grader might enjoy this story, but it wasn't for me. It did get better as it went on, but I'm still not that impressed with it.  It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't memorable and it's one of those books that I'll probably never pick up again.

CHARACTERS: I liked both of the main characters, Hunter and Kelly. They were cute together and I enjoyed watching the progression of their relationship.

COVER: I adore the cover, and it's honestly a big reason that I picked this book up in the first place. I love the color scheme and the little boy and girl figures on it.