Happy Halloween and NaNoWriMo Eve!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

If you're planning on doing National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year then use the candy you got today as your fuel for the rest of the month. Trust me, you're going to need it. ;)

I've only decided to take part just last week. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with the word count goal because of the overload of schoolwork (and the pressure of Junior year) but I'm optimistic that this year's NaNo will go as well as last year did for me. So is anyone planning on doing NaNo this year? Have you won in previous years? Would you like me to add you as a buddy? Please leave a link to your profile in the comments.

Happy Halloween and NaNoWriMo Eve!

In My Mailbox (5)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Wanderlove by Kristin Hubbard

Pages: 335 pages

Release Date: March 13th 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry into this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story.

Eve by Anna Carey

Pages: 336 pages

Release Date: October 4th 2011

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Pages: 316

Release Date: August 30^th 2011

Publisher: Tor Teen

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

What are YOU reading this week?

In My Mailbox (5)

In My Mailbox (4)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

This week I recieved two ARCs from HarperTeen. One of them, Vanish, is second in the Firelight Series. Firelight is about a girl who can transform into a dragon. I really liked the first book so I'm hoping the second will be just as good.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns #1)
by Rae Carson
Release Date: September 20, 2011
Source: NetGalley
Status: Currently Reading

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

Vanish (Firelight # 2)
by Sophie Jordan
Release Date: Spetember 6th, 2011
Source: NetGalley
Status: To-read

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

In bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever.

So what books are YOU reading this week?

In My Mailbox (4)

April Releases in YA

Here are some of the books I’m looking forward to reading this April. Some of these are new series and others are continuous.

Title: Through Her Eyes

Author: Jennifer Archer

Release Date: April 5th 2011

Title: Eona: The Last Dragoneye

Author: Allison Goodman

Release Date: April 19th 2011

Title: Bumped

Author: Megan McCafferty

Release Date: April 26th 2011

Title: Dark Descendant

Author: Jenna Black

Release Date: April 26th 2011



April Releases in YA

Die For Me Review

Release Date: May 10th, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Author: Amy Plum

My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything. Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal...

The story starts off with Kate and her sister who moved to Paris after the death of her parents. Kate deals with the pain of loosing her parents by keeping to herself while her sister, Georgia, does the opposite. Her sister’s only way of dealing with her parent’s death is by surrounding herself with people and going to parties all the time. Kate becomes a regular at a café where she goes to read and distract herself. There she meets Vincent, a deathly handsome guy who captures her interest almost immediately. As Kate becomes more involved with Vincent and his eerily beautiful family she starts to notice strange things about them.

All in all I really enjoyed reading Die For Me. The first thought I had while reading this was “Finally something new!” I completely loved the whole concept of revenants a.k.a the undead. As for the characters I have to say that I am a big fan of Vincent. His feelings for Kate felt very sincere to me. Kate’s sister Georgia added a less serious tone to the story so I liked her a lot for that. Vincent’s ‘family’ was also pretty cool. I especially liked his brother Ambrose who really lightened up the atmosphere. I liked Kate a lot even though sometimes I couldn’t quite connect with her in the beginning of the book. The plot was paced nicely so I ended up finishing this in one sitting. I highly recommend you read Die For Me. It’s a must read this May!


Buy from: [ Amazon ]

Die For Me Review

✩Teaser Tuesday✩- Die For Me

DIE FOR ME is the first of three books about Kate, a sixteen-year-old American who moves to Paris after the death of her parents. She finds herself falling for Vincent, who she discovers is not the typical French teenager he appears: he is something else entirely. DIE FOR ME presents a new supernatural mythology presented in a city where dreams are sometimes the same as reality.

Teaser:
I studied the one who had first caught my attention. Although he was probably a couple of years older than me, I guessed he wasn’t yet twenty. He leaned back in his chair in that suave French man manner. But some thing slightly cold and hard about the set of his face suggested that the easy going pose was only a facade. It wasn’t that he looked cruel. It was more that he seemed. . . dangerous.

Release date:
May 5th, 2011

✩Teaser Tuesday✩- Die For Me

The Goddess Test ARC Review

Release Date: April 19th, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Author: Aimee Carter

It's always been just Kate and her mom--and now her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld--and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy--until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess. If she fails...

Debut novelist Aimee Carter wrote an enticing novel that revolves around the Greek myth of Persephone. For those of you who don’t know about Persephone the story goes that Hades, the God of the Underworld, abducts Persephone and makes her Queen of the Underworld. But then she eats some seeds so that half the year (during the spring and summer) she stays with her mother, and the other half the year (during the fall and winter) she goes back to the underworld with Hades.

I loved how Kate was always so concerned about her mother, making sure that her last days alive were spent in the best way possible. I loved the tortured soul of Henry, and his grief over Persephone. I also really enjoyed reading about the way Kate and Henry’s romance grew throughout the book. The twists are hard to see coming, so I was surprised at every turn.My only complaint about The Goddess Test was in the character development. I felt like there was something missing in the characters, particularly Henry. Maybe the ‘something’ that was missing will be revealed in the next book in the series.

I really loved the ending of this book. It was shocking and leaves you wanting more. The Goddess Test was the most un-put-downable book I’ve read in awhile so I would definitely recommend that you head to the bookstore when it comes out this April.

The Goddess Test ARC Review

Teaser Tuesday: The Goddess Test

Title: The Goddess Test
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: April 26, 2011
Author: Aimee Carter

I’m currently reading an ARC of The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter and it has one of the most fascinating hooks I’ve read so far this year. I haven’t gotten very far but I have a feeling that this book will turn out to be one of my favorites!

 

It’s always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate’s going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won’t live past the fall.
 Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he’ll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.
 Kate is sure he’s crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she’ll become Henry’s future bride, and a goddess.
 If she fails...
 
-Teaser-

“The prize is immortality,” Henry said. “It’s not something we give out lightly, and we need to make sure it is something you can handle.”

I felt a cold block of ice form in the pit of my stomach. So my choices now were to live forever or die trying. Somehow it didn’t seem fair.

“You will do well,” Henry said. “I can feel it. And afterward, you will help me do something that no one else is capable of doing. You will have power beyond imagining, and you will never fear death again. You will never grow old and you will always be beautiful. You will have eternal life to spend as you wish.” But would I have my mother?

Note: If you have a goodreads account feel free to add me as a friend here.

Teaser Tuesday: The Goddess Test

Across The Universe Review

Release Date: January 11, 2011
Publisher: Razorbill
Author: Beth Revis

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules. Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next. Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

My thoughts:

Across the Universe manages to blend sci-fi and dystopian together beautifully. The first chapter of Across the Universe was one of the strongest I’ve read this year. I admit that after the first chapter of the story it bacame a  bit slow and I had to put it down for awhile, but when the story started to pick up in pace I couldn’t put it down a second time.

The setting of ATU is in a spaceship called Godspeed where there are people who have been traveling for hundreds of years, there desination being a  new planet NASA identifies as habitable. Everyone on the ship is mono-ethnic. Most of the people on the ship lack any real emotions, and the few that do have emotions are labeled as crazy.

For the most part I really enjoyed Across the Universe. The premise was interesting and the plot unfolded pretty nicely. I mean, how awful would it be to end up stuck on a ship your whole entire life stuck on a ship where you know you'll never see the sun or the moon or the ocean ever again. I loved the characters! I liked how the book swtiched from Amy's perspective to Elder's. The only setback I had was that I felt like the book wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be after reading the amazing first chapter. Not to say that the rest of the book wasn’t good, just that it didn’t live up to my expectations.

Overall:

 If you haven't already you can order Across the Universe here on Amazon.

Across The Universe Review

★February YA Releases✩

These are the YA releases in February that I’m looking forward to the most. If anyone has any other recommendations for February 2011 let me know so I can add them to my TBR list. :)

Delirium by Lauren Oliver - February 1st

Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann – February 8th

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins - February 15th

Haven by Kristi Cook – February 22nd 

Darkest Mercy – February 22nd

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting –February 15th



★February YA Releases✩

★ 2011 Debut Author Challenge✩

I’ve decided to take part in the 2011 Debut Author Challenge. It was actually part of my 2011 New Year’s Rev to read more from debut authors so this challenge came to my attention at the right time. :)

Here are the books I’ll be reading:

1. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (Done!)

2. XVI by Julia Karr

3. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

4. A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

5. Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton (Done!)

6. Haven by Kristi Cook

7. The Demon Trapper’s Daughter by Jana Oliver (Done!)

8. The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

9. Fallen Under by Gwen Hayes

10. Clarity by Kim Harrington

11. Die For Me by Amy Plum

12. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

13. Luminous by Dawn Metcalf

14. Wither by Lauren DeStefano

15. Entangled by Cat Clare

Click image to view info about the books listed above:

Ezmirelda's favorite books »

★ 2011 Debut Author Challenge✩

Delirium Review

Release date: February 1st, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Author: Lauren Oliver

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love - the deliria - blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

I would have given these book 4 stars if the ending didn’t leave me so utterly confused. There’s usually at least one small thread of hope left after you read a dystopian novel but for this book I saw none at all. It may be just me but I think that defeats the purpose of a dystopian novel.

But overall the book was amazing! This is the type of dystopian novel where the person living in the dystopian world begins to see the corruption of their seemingly perfect society when an outsider points it out to them. The romance between Lenah and Alex was believable and well developed. I also really liked her best friend, Hana, even though she wasn’t really what I thought she was like in the beginning of the book.

The world-building was great! I found it really hard to try to imagine a world without love, and if that did ever happen Delirium is a life-like portrayal of it. Hopefully the abrupt ending actually means that there will be a sequel because I’m definitely looking forward to finding out more. I have some theories about there being a rebellion. I’ll just have to wait and see. Would I recommend Delirium? Yes—to all the dystopian fans out there you should definitely give this a shot.

Overall: 

Delirium Review

Unearthly Review

Realease date: January 4th 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Author: Cynthia Hand

Unearthly follows Clara, a girl who’s part angel and part human. She keeps having a vision of saving a boy, Christian, from a forest fire. That vision is her “purpose”. Clara moves from sunny California to wintery Wyoming to fulfill her vision. But then things start to go awry when she realizes that she’s falling in love with Tucker.

Unearthly was a lot different from the other angel books I’ve read. And by different, I mean different in a good way.

Clara is a great protagonist! She interesting, funny and quirky. In the beginning of the book I didn’t really like the male lead. He was…too perfect, but when another male lead came along I fell head over heels for him instead. My only real complaint was that the ending left me really confused. I didn’t really get any closure from it. For the most part the plot was fast paced and each page made it impossible for me not to turn the next—not to mention the really good writing, and awesome dialogue. I highly recommend that you check out Unearthly.



Plot: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Characters: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Writing: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Dialogue: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Overall: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Unearthly Review