Waiting on Wednesday (14): The Raven Boys

Feb 15

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)

by Maggie Stiefvater

Filled with mystery, romance, and the supernatural, The Raven Boys introduces readers to Richard “Dick” Campbell Gansey, III and Blue Sargent. Gansey has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on the hunt to find Glendower, a vanished Welsh king. Legend has it that the first person to find him will be granted a wish—either by seeing him open his eyes, or by cutting out his heart.

Blue Sargent, the daughter of the town psychic in Henrietta, Virginia, has been told for as long as she can remember that if she ever kisses her true love, he will die. But she is too practical to believe in things like true love. Her policy is to stay away from the rich boys at the prestigious Aglionby Academy. The boys there—known as Raven Boys—can only mean trouble. When Gansey and his Raven Boy friends come into her life, Blue realizes how true this is. She never thought her fortune would be a problem. But she was wrong.

So, last week Maggie Stiefvater–one of my FAVORITE authors who is also responsible for one of my favorite books from last year, THE SCORPIO RACES–gave the official 411 on her new book/series, coming out this fall. And you guys? IT SOUNDS AWESOME. Look at that first line! Mystery! Romance! Supernatural! WOOT! If I’m being honest, I’m not crazy about the fact that the main guy’s name is Dick, but I’ll deal because he’s looking for a missing Welsh king and because “Aglionby” sounds A LOT like Albion, and Merlin-watchers know what bells THAT set off in my head: KING ARTHUR. I have no idea if Glendower, this MIA Welsh king, is supposed to be some incarnation of Arthur, but I’m in regardless. Also, Blue sounds like a kick-ass character. The whole book sounds amazing, and if my love for any of Maggie’s previous books is any indication of how much I’m going to love it, then I can’t wait to get my mitts on it. It sounds FANTASTIC!

THE RAVEN BOYS: THE RAVEN CYCLE, #1 is coming out September 18, 2012 from Scholastic Press.

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Top Ten Tuesday (14)

Feb 14

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Broke My Heart

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Feb 14

From Nerd Valentine. Seriously. It exists.

You guys are THE BEST. WAY better than brains, for sure!! ♥

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In My Mailbox (14)

Feb 11

February 12, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees!

SO. MUCH. AWESOME. I’m VERY excited about the books this week, guys. (Seriously, though, when am I NOT?)

FROM NETGALLEY

The Raft, by S.A. Bodeen (August 21, 2012 from Feiwel & Friends). If this book about a young girl who is stranded on a remote, possibly uninhabited island after a plane crash doesn’t sound EXACTLY like YA Lost, I don’t know what does. What are the odds on these kids finding a hatch? Smoke monster? Cave with two ancient skeletons?

Shadow & Bone: The Grisha, #1, by Leigh Bardugo (June 5, 2012 from Holt Books for Young Readers).  Guys, this book sounds like some VERY PROMISING fantasy about a young girl who has magical powers that may help save her war-torn kingdom from annihilation at the hands of flesh-eating beasts and other assorted enemies. YES PLEASE.

Struck, by Jennifer Bosworth (May 8, 2012 from Farrar, Straus & Giroux). Earthquakes, dystopian Los Angeles, CULTS, and doomsday prophecies??? SOUNDS SICK. I am in. 

Of Poseidon: Of Poseidon, #1, by Anna Banks (May 22, 2012 from Feiwel & Friends). Can’t lie, guys: I’m kind of really psyched about all the mermaid/mermen/Kings and Queens of the Sea business that’s coming out soon. OF POSEIDON sounds fun, PLUS–Jersey Shore (not the Snookie kind, but the actual real beach). REPRESENT!

The Treachery of Beautiful Things, by Ruth Frances Long (August 16, 2012 from Penguin Young Readers). Faeries and some enchanted woods and a missing brother and an enigmatic guy all sounds SOLID. Looking forward to this one!

The Garden Intrigue: Pink Carnation, #8, by Lauren Willig (February 16, 2012 from Dutton). You guys know that I LOVE the Pink Carnation books, so to say that I’m JAZZED to read the newest installment is an understatement. Seriously adore these books. 

(Thanks muchly to Macmillan Children’s, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Penguin USA for these FABULOUS books!)

FROM THE LIBRARY

Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, and Spirit Bound: Vampire Academy, #2-5. I’m catching up on this series fast, friends. Now, confidential to the dear patron who checked out LAST SACRIFICE before I did: I’m waiting on you, my dear! 

BOUGHT

Born Wicked: The Cahill Witch Chronicles, #1, by Jessica Spotswood. This is one of my highly anticipated reads, guys, and I got my hot little hands on a copy RIGHT AWAY. I’m going to be diving into this one ASAP. 

Anastasia’s Secret, by Susanne Dunlap. Snatched this one up for Le Kindle and it sounds SO up my alley: it’s about Anastasia Romanov during the last days of her father’s reign as Tsar in which she and her LOVER (!!) attempt to escape her family’s prison in Siberia.

Prisoners in the Palace: How Princess Victoria Became Queen With the Help of Her Maid, by Michaela MacColl. Have I ever told you how excited I get when the Kindle Daily Deals are awesome, guys? No? Well I do. This book–a historical fiction about a young Queen Victoria–sounds fab. 

What kind of fab stuff did you guys get this week?

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Excuse Me While I Fangirl: Arrow

Feb 10

He maybe looks creepy, but I SWEAR, Green Arrow is a good guy. Image Credit: DC Comics

So maybe you guys don’t know that, while I am in NO WAY an expert on comics, I WAS a big fan of the CW show Smallville. (Ahem. TOM WELLING. Ahem.) I jumped on the bandwagon a little late, but once I did, I was completely hooked and 100% invested until the series finale aired last spring. Without question, Smallville was the thing that made me interested in comics. I read up on them, got geek-excited when superhero movies came out, and DROOLED over the aforementioned Mr. Welling and also his TV show bff, Justin Hartley, aka Green Arrow. There’s something really inherently appealing about comic books and superhero canon to me because it’s all about RIDING TIL YOU DIE. Comics are made so that people can get invested in them, absorbed in the stories, the enemies, the alliances, the arcs. They’re a lot like reading series books. At least they are to me.

Aaalll of this is basically to say that I MISS MY SUPERMAN on TV! 🙁 In fact, I was briefly ECSTATIC with glee when there were rumors going around that Tom Welling would be guest starring on my newest obsession, Once Upon A Time, as Gaston in the Beauty and the Beast story. Alas, I don’t think this is happening. But what IS happening is equally awesome, even though it doesn’t involve Tom Welling or Justin Hartley, and I can’t believe I haven’t talked to you guys yet about how excited I am! Because…

THEY’RE MAKING A TV SHOW ABOUT GREEN ARROW!!!!

I know. I KNOW.

The new show is called Arrow, and it sounds like it’s going to be a little LESS comic-y than Smallville was, but I really don’t care. I’m still going to get geeky with it, because Green Arrow is badass in his own way, PLUS he’s basically a superhero Robin Hood, what with the arrows and all, and I LOVE ROBIN HOOD. There’s all kinds of drama with Green Arrow and his lady, Black Canary (hopefully they’ll have some kind of incarnation of her on Arrow). Also, I’ll get to stare at THIS every week, fighting crime and looking FINE:

Stephen Amell = Green Arrow

BRING IT, CW. Bring it. I SO can’t wait for this show!! Are you guys as PSYCHED as I am for MOAR SUPERHEROS on your televisions?!

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Rewind and Review (2) | Vampire Academy | Richelle Mead

Feb 9

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1)

by Richelle Mead

(First published August 16, 2007 by Razorbill)

I think one of the reasons that I hesitated to read VAMPIRE ACADEMY is because the Twilight series managed to burn me out on vampires, and the backlash from those books made me wary of other vampy books. So I kept putting these books off because I felt like it would just be reading Twilight all over again. This turned out to be a great lesson in not making assumptions. YOU WERE SO WRONG, AMY. In my opinion, now that I’ve read books from both series, the Vampire Academy series is better for a lot of reasons, and I’m mad at myself that I waited this long to jump in. Also, NOT becoming addicted to these books is as impossible as, like, time travel. THEY ARE BOOK CRACK AND I LOVE THEM. Ahem. So. Let’s discuss, shall we?

There were a few things that I noticed right away about VAMPIRE ACADEMY that I really appreciated, and one is that the world is sophisticated. There’s no silly, cheesy vampires here. The way the different breeds of vampires exist is complex and dangerous and full of drama. I’m digging the impending political/ideological crisis vibe that’s going on between the various Moroi and their dhampirs, and the Strigoi seem badass and creepy. Also, I love me a good rebellion, y’all, and the seeds of one are being sown.

The characters are also FANTASTIC, and are one of my favorite things about VAMPIRE ACADEMY. Generally speaking, I always love it when teens in books act in a realistic way. The kids at St. Vlad’s curse, have sex, get into trouble, and drink. That always gets a thumbs up from me. And the secondary characters are fleshed out and have great personalities. I loved Lissa and Christian, and Mia is deliciously malicious.

But really, the centerpiece is Rose, and she’s a BAMF. Rose is AWESOME, and I think a kind of rarer character in YA in that she isn’t your typical wallflower kind of girl.  She’s sassy, impulsive, brash, and confident. When it comes to Lissa, her best friend with whom she shares a very rare, almost psychic bond, she’s fiercely loyal and determined to protect her at any cost. But let me just say that it was refreshing to read about a character who was both aware and unashamed of her physicality. She likes hooking up and flirting and flaunting what she’s got, and I LOVED it. Granted, she’s unashamed of her body because it sounds like she’s basically a 10, but the idea still applies. I loved her confidence. She totally jumps off the page with her fieriness, and I felt all of her feelings almost right away. I LOVE THIS.

Obviously another cornerstone of not only this book but the series itself is the relationship between Rose and Dimitri, her mentor and fellow dhampir. Their relationship has the potential to be tricky, but in the end, I thought it was AWESOME.  I recall reading something about how some readers perceived their relationship as weird and inappropriate because Dimitri is 7 years older than Rose and basically, although not technically, her teacher. And those things are true, and they would have bothered me to no end if they had gone unaddressed. But they didn’t. In fact, I think those things are handled pretty well here. Their age difference–both in literal number and in emotional maturity–is a HUGE sticking point in their being together. Don’t mistake me: they have CRAZY chemistry, and a hot little interlude, but their chemistry is something they struggle with, and their interlude has a catch. I’m totally rooting for them.

Guys, I can’t say enough about how glad I am that you all lit a fire under my ass to get me to read these books IMMEDIATELY. Because now that I started them, I literally can’t stop (I’m reading book 3, SHADOW KISS, right now. I literally couldn’t wait long enough to write my review of the first book before I plowed through the second and half of the third). I really can’t think of many negative things about these books: they’re engaging, fun, humorous, fraught with drama and danger, have an interesting mythology, and characters who are unique and fabulous. Are they the most thought-provoking or emotional books I’ve ever read? No, but they’re certainly some of the most flat-out enjoyable. They give vampire books a good name. Now, pardon me, but I must dash. I seriously had to force myself to stop reading these books to write this review. HOLLA!

Rewind & Review is an AMAZING new meme hosted jointly by two fabulous ladies, Ginger from Greads! and Lisa from Lisa Is Busy Nerding. This meme is all about mining your TBR piles and finding some long-lost gems (from 2010 or earlier) that you meant to read and somehow passed over. I KNOW, but it happens. Each month, each participant picks a few oldies but hopefully goodies to read, reviews ’em, and spreads the word. Huzzah!

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Waiting on Wednesday (13): If I Lie

Feb 8

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

If I Lie

by Corrine Jackson

Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. Because Carey’s not just any guy—he’s serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in their small, military town.

Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she’s vowed to keep—secrets that aren’t hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she’ll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise.

YOU GUYS. I have to talk for a quick second about a trend that I’m noticing in YA contemporaries coming out this year: soldiers. War time. Young people in the military. I LOVE THIS SO HARD (Yes. I BOLDFACE CAPSLOCKED). Books like IN HONOR, SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL, and Corrine Jackson’s debut, IF I LIE, all address–in different ways–the affects that serving in the military has on both the people who serve(d) and the family and friends they leave behind at home. It’s such a real part of life for so many people, and I can’t wait to dive into all of these books to see what kind of insightful, thought-provoking stories they tell.

But right now we’re focusing on IF I LIE, which sounds full of heart, drama, scandal, and secrets, not to mention the fact that it seems like we’ve got a heaping pile of the double-standard of cheating. And I’m really looking forward to reading a book from the perspective of the girlfriend at home, especially because it sounds like the relationship between Quinn and Carey is not quite what everyone in their town thinks it is.

GAH! IF I LIE just sounds so full of awesome–emotional, twisty, gray-area awesome–and my hands are ITCHING for it.

IF I LIE is coming out August 28, 2012 from Simon Pulse.

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Top Ten Tuesday (13)

Feb 7

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I’d Give to Non-Readers

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!

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Book Review | Everneath | Brodi Ashton

Feb 6
Book Review | Everneath | Brodi AshtonEverneath by Brodi Ashton
Series: Everneath #1
Published by Balzer + Bray on January 24, 2012
Genres: Fantasy YA, Mythology, Young Adult
Pages: 370
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought it
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld…this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki’s time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she’s forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath with Cole.

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Filed Under: 2012 Reading Challenge, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

In My Mailbox (13)

Feb 5

February 5, 2012

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. It’s awesome. Every week, we all get a chance to tell everyone what new books we’ve gotten so that we can tell you guys and we can all drool and squee together! Huzzah for squees!

This week is my lucky 13th In My Mailbox!! HUZZAH! This week, it’s ALL LIBRARY, ALL THE TIME. That’s right, friends. Only library books this week. WOOT!

FROM THE LIBRARY

Library haul!

Here’s What I Got

Vampire Academy: Vampire Academy, #1, by Richelle Mead. I KNOW. I know.

Bunheads, by Sophie Flack. Ballerinas, cutthroat dancing drama. Reminds me of Center Stage. YES PLEASE.

Dark of the Moon, by Tracy Barrett. More myths, this time a new spin on the Minotaur.

Die for Me: Revenants, #1, by Amy Plum. So, PARIS. Possibly my favorite city on the EARTH. Also, revenants. I’ve heard some good things and some eh things about this one, but I’m giving it a go.

Lips Touch, Three Times, by Laini Taylor. LOVE Laini Taylor, and am in the process of reading ALL OF HER WORDS. REALLY looking forward to this one.

Darkness Becomes Her: Gods & Monsters, #1, by Kelly Keaton. So, I’ve been meaning to read this one for awhile. Because post-apocalyptic paranormal New Orleans? MOS DEF.

Fateful, by Claudia Gray. So, I remember going to see TITANIC on opening night with a bunch of my friends and crying my little teenybopper eyes out. (I also remember that the ticket, for an evening show, was less than FIVE DOLLARS. I know.) I LOVE Titanic stuff. But this? Paranormal Titanic? Well, don’t mind if I do.

Starcrossed: Thief Errant, #1, by Elizabeth C. Bunce. I really enjoyed Elizabeth’s book, A CURSE DARK AS GOLD, and have been REALLY looking forward to getting started on her next series, a fantasy about a young thief who is masquerading as a ladies’ maid and becomes embroiled in magical rebellion shenanigans. HOLLA!

Goddess Boot Camp: Oh. My. Gods, #2, by Tera Lynn Childs. So, this one is a little snafu. I meant to grab the FIRST book instead because I haven’t read anything by Tera Lynn yet! And these sound fun. Obtaining OH. MY. GODS is priority #1!

Do you guys have any library lovin’ in your mailboxes this week?

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