Review: The Madman's Daughter

Title: The Madman's Daughter
Author: Megan Shephard
Publisher: Balzar & Bray
Source: Library/Purchased

In the darkest places, even love is deadly.

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

My thoughts: 

Now I don't normally say how much I loved a book right off the bat but let me tell you guys!!! I LOVED The Madman's Daughter!!!! I was hooked from the very first page.  It's almost as if I could feel the dark atmosphere emanating off the pages as soon as I opened the book! It blew my mind! 

I'm a big fan of anything horror and dark and gruesome and The Madman's Daughter serves it ten fold. Set in London in the 19th century already creates a sense of foreboding and a sense that something is creeping around the corner.  I was absolutely fascinated by this very elusive rumor that is swirling around about the main character's, Juliet, father.  He's some sort of freak of a doctor that was trying to make his own creatures by surgically biding two or three other animals together.  Believe me, it's a gruesome as it sounds! But I couldn't put the book down! I was constantly surprised by each new discovery that Juliet made and that ending!!! OMG it is so shocking!!! I'm pretty much dying for the next book!

I still can't even begin to tell you how much I loved this book! There is romance, mystery, horror, literally scary scenes and so much more that will have you on the edge of your seat!! I know a lot of young adult readers don't really enjoy horror but if you do, then this is a must read!!

Waiting on Wednesday (95)

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: Horde
Author: Anne Aguirre
Series: Razorland #3
Hitting the Shelves: October 29, 2013

The horde is coming.

Salvation is surrounded, monsters at the gates, and this time, they're not going away. When Deuce, Fade, Stalker and Tegan set out, the odds are against them. But the odds have been stacked against Deuce from the moment she was born. She might not be a Huntress anymore, but she doesn't run. With her knives in hand and her companions at her side, she will not falter, whether fighting for her life or Fade's love.

Ahead, the battle of a lifetime awaits. Freaks are everywhere, attacking settlements, setting up scouts, perimeters, and patrols. There hasn't been a war like this in centuries, and humans have forgotten how to stand and fight. Unless Deuce can lead them.

This time, however, more than the fate of a single enclave or outpost hangs in the balance. This time, Deuce carries the banner for the survival of all humanity.

Why I want this: I love this series! And from what early reviews are saying, its pretty EPIC!!!! So excited! 

TBR Jar- July!

I have discovered this new meme that a few booktubers are doing now called the TBR Jar! They basically put their never ending TBR list in a jar on little folded pieces of paper and then they draw one or two out to read for the month. "What a great idea" I said to myself. Except I'm gonna have to change this up a little bit to work for me!

Since I have my regular TBR list and my ARC TBR list, I need two jars to pull books from. So I made two!

First let's talk about the books I'm already planning on reading this month. So I have Game by Barry Lyga which I will most likely finish today.  I also have The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross and Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry and I chose those just because I felt like it haha! Then I am in a book club and this month, by my choice, we are reading The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman.

Then from the TBR Jar I drew Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel! OMG you guys, I bought this book as soon as it came out and I still haven't read it yet! Definitely glad I drew this book!

From the ARC TBR Jar I drew What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang! This was one of my most coveted ARCs from ALA last year and I've just let it sit in my ALA pile. What is wrong with me?! I'm so glad I drew both of these books! I'm so excited!!

Since I already had a somewhat established list of books I wanted to read for this month I only drew one book out of each jar. If I like how this turns out for July, I think I might start drawing 2 books out of each jar and have those be my TBR for the month plus the book club book! 

So fun! Happy reading guys!!

Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Title: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Source: Borrowed

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

My thoughts: 

Pretty much everyone in the blogosphere and the booktube world has been absolutely raving about this book so when the opportunity to read The 5th Wave presented itself I knew I had to read it.  I have also read The Monstrumologist which is pretty good so I had to give The 5th Wave a chance. 

It started out really good and just grabbed my attention.  I was so interested in just learning about what had happened during the first few waves. Yancey did a great job of creating a whole bunch of build up to what I thought would be some huge massive 5th way that was about to hit.  But then when we actually discover what the 5th wave actually is I was kind of let down a little bit.  I was also thrown off a little bit by the changing perspective because I didn't realize that the perspective had change and I was a little confused.  To me, changing perspective is really hard to pull off and Yancey did a pretty great job.  

There was so much hype around this book that I really expected it to blow my socks off! I still thought it was pretty good I just didn't think it was absolutely this best book that I've read this year. 

Waiting on Wednesday (94)

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: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Hitting the Shelves: September 03, 2013

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

Why I want this:  I have been told for years that Holly Black is an excellent writer and that I should just read her books already!! But alas, I have not so I'm going to pick up her new book and hopefully love it!

ARC Clean Sweep: Mini Challenge!

How have you guys been doing with the ARC Challenge? I hope you're all doing really well and getting through all those ARCs and meeting your goals! It's time for my mini challenge and it's really self explanatory. All you have to do is make a sentence out of book titles! You can omit the small words like "the", "or" and "and" but the main words of the title must be in the sentence and you can't leave out any of the main words either. Divide book titles with slashes. Leave your answer in the comments and the winner will win a mystery box full of books! The winner will be the one that I think is the most creative. 

Rules:

• US residents only!
• No cheating I will figure it out!
• One sentence per person
• Contest ends May 17 at 11:59pm EST!!!

Good Luck!!!!

The Clean Sweep ARC Challenge Begins Today!

It's time to get out those dusty ARC's that are sitting on your shelves that you promised yourself you would read as soon as you finished your current read because the Clean Sweep ARC Challenge is finally here! I'm so excited to be a part of this awesome month long adventure because I have so many ARCs to read. There is going to be so many fun challenges to participate in and a whole lot of giveaways! Below you can find the schedule of ALL the happenings!

Clean Sweep ARC Challenge

Saturday May 4th

• 9am (EST) Barbara @ Basia's Bookshelf
• 4pm (EST) Thuy @ Nite Lite

Saturday May 11th 

• 9am (EST) Kristen @ My ParaHangover
• 4pm (EST) Crystal @ Elegantly Bound Books

Saturday May 18th 

• 9am (EST)  Ali @ My Guilty Obsession
• 4pm (EST) Nicole @ The Reader's Antidote

Saturday May 25th 

• 9am (EST) Lola @ Lola's Reviews
• 4pm (EST) Jenn & Mary @ YA Book Twins

So don't forget to come back here, Elegantly Bound Books, on May 11 for my mini-challenge where you will get a change to win some awesome books!