Review- Harbinger

Title: Harbinger
Author: Sara Wilson Etienne
Publisher: Putnam
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC from Putnam

When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn't expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she's going crazy. Fast.

But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she's come home. She's even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.

Faye knows she's the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can't trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her - and the rest of the world too.

Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller.

My thoughts:

Reading Harbinger did not go as well as I had planned. When asked if I would like to review it, I was so excited! I featured as one of my WoW’s because I loved the cover and I thought the synopsis sounded fantastic. I got it pretty early on so I put off reading it closer to the release date. I started it in November and put it down 80 pages into. The release date came and went and I decided to give it another try. Maybe when I tried to read it the first time I was going through some kind of reading slump and I might love it this time around. I hoped for these things, I really did! I so wanted to love this book.

First of all, I want to say that I know there has been some controversy around negative reviews. I personally don’t see anything wrong with them as long as the blogger/review is not personally attacking the author. I believe it’s rude and inappropriate and if someone has something to say to an author, it should be done in private and not on a public forum. With that being said, I’m giving my honest opinion of a book that just didn’t connect for me as it did with others.

I’m going to try and tell you exactly why I didn’t like this book but first just picture me struggling through every last page. Since I got this book for review and I wanted to speak honestly about my thoughts, I knew I had to read the whole thing.

A big part of why the book just fell flat for me was the characters. I wasn’t able to connect to Faye or Kel or any of the other characters for that matter. I felt like we weren’t given a chance to get to know them. All of a sudden they’re thrown into this school without a solid pretext of their lives before. Even after the last page I couldn’t tell you who was good and who was evil or even what had just happened.

I got the sense that Harbinger is set in an America that is not the same as the present America. It seemed to be a poor attempt at building a dystopian world. Nothing was clearing stated about the world outside of the academy.

Even after all my dislikes, this book still had some redeeming qualities. It was creepy and I liked that. It was also so confusing that I read to the end just to know what happened. These are all good elements for a book to keep the audience reading. I also liked that the island and the land that the school was on had a past and a history. I really enjoyed when the sections of the journal was revealed. It really kept me reading.

I’m glad there are readers out there who really enjoyed this book but it just wasn’t for me. Which is why I can’t justify giving it any more than 2 hearts.

Waiting on Wednesday (50)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: Defiance
Author: C.J. Redwine
Hitting the Shelves: September 06, 2012

When Rachel Adam’s father fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, she is assigned a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. With a fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

What are you waiting for?

Top Ten Tuesday- Tips for New Bloggers

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and it's a meme of lists.

This week's list is the Top Ten Tips for New Bloggers:

1.  Blog for the right reasons.  If you're starting a book blog, I hope you're starting it because you love to read and because you want to other people who love to read as well.  Don't start a book blog because you want free books.

2. Make your blog design reader friendly.  The quickest turn off for me when reading any blog is neon pick lettering on a bright yellow background.  I don't want to get a headache just trying to read your blog.  Make sure it's easy for your readers to find your feed buttons such as: RSS, Twitter, Goodreads and GFC.  Don't make us search for them.

3. Memes and Reviews.  Participating in memes is fun but make sure the bulk of your blog is reviews.  Throw in a few discussions and comparison posts or participate in a read-a-long.

4. Be honest.  Don't write a 5 star review just to please the author.  If you didn't like a book, then we want to know! You're not doing anyone any favors if you're not being honest.

5. Negative reviews.  Negative reviews are great and I'm all for them! But this does not mean you can personally attack and/or criticize the author on a public forum.  It's okay to be known as a tough reviewer but no one want to be that rude and inappropriate blogger.

6. Requesting reviews.  I firmly believe that you should be running your blog consistently for at least six to nine months before you start requesting books for review.  When you're reading to start, make sure you do your home and your sending your emails to the right places.  Always be polite.  Don't send an email that sounds like you're entitled to receive books for review.  If they don't respond immediately, don't get upset.  Just be patient and send another email.  The worst they can say is no.

7. ARCs.  NEVER, and I mean NEVER EVER sell your ARC's.  If a publisher finds out that you sold an ARC, you will probably never receive another ARC again.

That's not ten but those are pretty much the basics.  Just remember to stay true to yourself and your reasons for starting your blog in the first place.  It's hard to put yourself out there in the beginning, but before you know it, you're going to have lots of friends and you're going to discover more books than you could have dreamed of!

Review- The Alchemy of Forever

Title: The Alchemy of Forever
Author: Avery Williams
Series: Incarnation #1
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

Seraphina has been alive since the 1300's, made immortal when the boy she was beginning to love back then, Cyrus, saved her from death with a strange liquid - a method of alchemy that lets them swap bodies with any human being. But now, in modern day America, Sera has decided that she can no longer bear the weight of stealing people's lives so she can keep living on. So she decides to run away from Cyrus and end her stolen existence once and for all. Her plan goes awry when she accidentally takes the body of a dying teenager and feels forced to take over her life. When the lines between Sera and Kailey's identity begin to blur, Sera finds a reason to desire to live once more. But she can't shake the guilt of having taken Kailey's life, even if she was dying. And what if Cyrus finds her?

My thoughts: 

When I first picked up The Alchemy of Forever I was super excited but the cover is just gorgeous and the synopsis sounded amazing! I also needed a book by a debut author for January but that's beside the point. But in the end I was a tab bit disappointed because of the direction it went.

When I started the book, I just ate up the beginning. I thought it was an original and unique idea of being able to separate the soul from the body therefore living as long as they desired. Seraphina comes by this existence by accident when she is stabbed. Her good friend Cyrus is the son of the town's alchemist and they believed they had found a way to separate the soul from the body. They had not tried it yet but since she was dying, he felt like he had no choice and her soul is put into the body of a near-by servant girl. Fast forward almost 800 years where Cyrus, Seraphina and a few others that they've picked up along the way are living in New York. Over the years, Cyrus has become controlling and doesn't let Seraphina out of his sight and she is dying to get away from and to finally die. She makes makes this whole elaborate plot to escape and then it kind of becomes a normal story of a girl just trying to be a teenager and fitting in.

I felt like the story went a little bit downhill from there. It became boring because it was just chronicling the life of a girl who was trying to become the girl of the body she stole. She knew that if she ran away from Cyrus that he was going to do everything in his power to find her. I was just annoyed by how easily she let her guard down and just seemed to forget that Cyrus was looking for her. If felt like there could have been more to the story but maybe the author is just saving all the good stuff for the next book! I give The Alchemy of Forever 3 hearts for originality and creativity with the hope that the next book will be more exciting.  

Review- Slide

Title: Slide
Author: Jill Hathaway
Publisher: HarperTeen
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC from HarperTeen

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered.
Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting off lately, more distant, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

My thoughts:

Over the past few months I have really become a huge fan of books that I consider to be mysteries with just a hint of the paranormal. In these books, there's usually no such thing as vampires or werewolves, just someone with a slight ability that makes them unique. For example: Violet from the Body Finder Series can sense the echos of those that have been murdered, Delany from Fracture is drawn to those that are dying and Vee from Slide can fall into a person's body if she is holding one of their personal items. I really love a good mystery, who-done-it type of book.

The main character Vee pulled me in two opposite directions. On the one hand she is very closed off, has about one friend who doesn't even know about her ability and acts like a mother to her younger sister. She seems to be this really closed off person who doesn't really let anyone in but as soon as the new guy in town shows a little bit of interest in her she is all over him! I thought it was kind of a contradiction to her character.

I thought Vee's little sister was a brat and I wanted to slap her so many times! She was always mad at Vee because Vee chose to be best friends with someone who was considered a “loser” and never really wanted to go to the big parties or the social functions at school. Characters like that are just really shallow and very annoying.

Even though I sort of figured out what was going on about two-thirds of the way through the book, I still really enjoyed it and I was still surprised to find out who all was involved in the murders. I thought it was a very good stand alone book and I have just come to realize that it's the first in a series. I don't know how this is going to be a series because I think it's a great book by itself. I give this book 3 hearts because I really thought it was an original idea but I figured out who was master-mind murderer.

Follow Friday (28)

Follow Friday is a really fun way to make new blogger friends and promote your blog in the process! This weekly meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Rachel @ Parajunkee.

Q: What is one book that you would be nervous to see a movie adaption of because you think the movie could never live up to the book?

A: As much as I love seeing my favorite books come to life on the big screen, there are a few that I would rather be left alone.  I believe a movie could never capture the awesomeness that is the Unearthly series by Cynthia Hand or Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.  These were some of my most favorite reads from last year and I would prefer them to continue to live on the page and in my imagination.  I would hate for a poorly made movie and unwise casting ruin some great books!

Thank you guys for following my blog and please subscribe to my reader if you can!

Waiting on Wednesday (49)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. This is one of my favorite memes because not only is my TBR pile so much bigger at the end of the night but also the covers are always amazing!

Title: Such a Rush
Author: Jennifer Echols
Hitting the Shelves: July 10, 2012

A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.

High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever.

But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business — until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers — and the consequences could be deadly.