Waiting On Wednesday (47)

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 Unquiet
Author: Jeannine Garsee
Hitting the Shelves: July 17, 2012

Sixteen-year-old Rinn Jacobs has secrets: One, she’s bipolar. Two, she killed her grandmother.

After a suicide attempt, and now her parents' separation, Rinn and her mom move from California to the rural Ohio town where her mother grew up. Back on her medications (again!) and hoping to stay well, Rinn settles into her new home and school. She refuses to be daunted by the fact that the previous owner hanged herself in Rinn's bedroom, or that her classmates believe the school pool is haunted by Annaliese, a girl who drowned there. But when a reckless séance goes awry, and terrible things start happening to her new friends—yet not to her—Rinn is determined to find out why she can’t be "touched" by Annaliese...or if Annaliese even exists.

With the help of Nate Brenner, the hunky “farmer boy” she’s rapidly falling for, Rinn devises a dangerous plan to uncover the truth. Soon reality and fantasy meld into one, till Rinn finds it nearly impossible to tell the difference. When a malevolent force threatens the lives of everyone she cares about--not to mention her own--she can't help wondering: who should she really be afraid of?

Annaliese? Or herself?

This book sounds good and creepy! And the cover is crazy!

What are you waiting for? 

Top Ten Tuesday (1)

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature of lists that varies every week created by The Broke and the Bookish!

Top ten books I think would make great book club picks:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter would make a great pick because all of the books in the series are great and it would really help sustain a book club if they run out of books to read.

2. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead:  If the book club was a group of girls then the Vampire Academy series would be great.  There's action, love, betrayal and the paranormal aspect!

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth:  Even though it's long, it's a quick read.  There's a lot that can be discussed in Divergent and come on, even my mom loved it.

4. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor:  It's a great novel.  There's no other reason.

5. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: It would be a good book to discuss after everyone stops crying.

6. The Lying Game by Sara Shepard:  There is so much going on, so much mystery and so many secrets that it's easy for people to interpret the scenes different.  People are going to pick different suspects and tell the group why.

7. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin:  Because no knows what's going on at all. Lot's to talk about.

8. Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz:  Again, it's a really long series and there's a lot of mystery and secrets.

9.  Possessions by Nancy Holder:  I had to throw in a horror book because I LOVE horror!

10. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi:  Because it's awesome!

Review- The Dark and Hollow Places

Title: The Dark and Hollow Places
Author: Carrie Ryan
Series: The Forest of Hands and Teeth #3
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: Purchased

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.

Annah's world stopped that day, and she's been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn't feel much different than the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again.

But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah: can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

My take: 

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is the first zombie book that I ever read and I loved it.  After I finished it, I couldn't wait to find out more about the Sisterhood and how Mary was going to make it on her own.  I loved whole vibe I got from the book, almost like that movie The Village.  I wanted to know more about the fast one, the girl that the Sisterhood turned into a zombie and all about the secrets the Sisterhood had.  But when you read the second book, it starts sixteen years in the future with Mary's daughter.  I'm usually not a big fan of series that follow a different character every book, but I knew I had to finish this series because I wanted to know what was going to happen.

This trilogy is still really good even though all the questions I had after the first book went unanswered.  The Dark and Hollow Places is more graphic and gruesome that the first two.  We also see the depravity of mankind and the evil that some people will become just to survive.  But the four teenagers show that there is hope in a dying world.

I love the way the relationship between Cather and Annah developed.  They are two very broken people who think that they can never be loved by anyone.  Cather has the virus alive inside of him and Annah has extensive scarring on the left side of her body.  These two flaws are what they hate about themselves but make them unique to each other.  Throughout the book, they're both trying to tell the other one not to worry about the flaw because they love it but they're having a hard time loving themselves.  

Overall, I really enjoyed the ending of a great trilogy that I've come to love.  The ending is so open that it allows the reader to fill in the blank.  

In My Mailbox (33)

In My Mailbox is an awesome way to connect with our blogger and reader friends and share which amazing books we received, bought or borrowed during the week! This weekly meme is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

This week's In My Mailbox is a compilation of two weeks worth of books.  I ended up buying some and I got a few really awesome books for review!

For review:

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Social Suicide by Gemma Halliday

Thumped by Megan McCafferty

Bought:

Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

The Naughty List by Suzanne Young

Secret Society by Tom Dolby

The Trust by Tom Dolby

Special thanks to the publishers of HarperTeen!

Review- Born Wicked

Title: Born Wicked
Author: Jessica Spotswood
Publisher: Putnam
Find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
Source: ARC compliments of Putnam Publishing

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.

My thoughts: 

I read Born Wicked way back in December and I have literally been mulling over writing this review for two weeks now. Not because I didn’t like it, but because I really loved it. When I first started reading YA, I would say without a doubt, hands down, no hesitation that books about vampires were my absolute favorite (I’m sure Twilight contributed to my vampire adoration). But of course the lack luster has worn off and I realized that many vampire stories are very cookie cutter.

Witches have really grown on me and they have become some of my favorite stories in YA right now. As a history major in undergrad, I was always fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials and I would have taken that class in an instant if it had been offered. But sadly it was not and it was just a subject I dabbled in on my free time.

I loved the history of this story and that it is set in the past. It is set in a little town where at any indication that someone may be a witch, their sent off to an institution or hanged! In this world that Spotswood created, the witches used to be in charge and they openly practiced their magic. But they were overthrown by the Brotherhood who now impose their religious beliefs on the townspeople and rule with a strict hand. And all the witches are female.

The subplots were reall great as well! We have the whole story with Cate and her decision of whether or not she is going to marry or join the sisterhood. I'm kept on the edge of my seat just hoping that her or her sisters are not going to get caught doing magic. And then there's the whole intermingling of the Brotherhood and the Sisterhood and their roles in the community and the impact they have on the sister's lives. Then when Cate finds her mom's diary, so much more is revealed and the story just comes together with what is really going on and what could possibly go down in the next books!

Cate is such a great character. She is strong, protective of her family and is determined to help raise her sisters as her mother would have wanted. Finn, one of her possible love interests, is so cute and awkward but he is willing to accept her for who she is. Maura was one of my least favorite characters only because she was so annoying. There were times when I wanted to just slap her! But then after finding out about the prophesy, it seems like things played out they way they were supposed to.

I really loved this book! There are very few books that keep me up into the wee hours of the early morning because I just have to finish it and this one definitely did that to me! I was crying, it left on a cliffhanger and I just have to know what happens next and this first book hasn’t even been released yet! A great debut from a fantastic writer!

Follow Friday (25)

Follow Friday is hosted by Alison Can Read and this week's featured blogger is Fiction Fervor!

Q: Which book genre do you avoid at all costs and why?

A: I generally enjoy most genres within YA and Adult fiction.  I read almost everything from contemporary, dystopia, paranormal, sci-fi, historical fiction, horror and chick-lit.  But I have never read any non-fiction books.  They're just not my style.  When I was in college, I had to read a couple of self-help type books and I also try to stay away from those as well.  They're boring and I have a hard time relating to them.  

Thanks to all those who are following by blog; old and new!  Please subscribe to my RSS feed if you can!

Waiting on Wednesday (46)

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: Monstrous Beauty
Author: Elizabeth Fama
Hitting the Shelves: August 21, 2012

Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences. Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect . . . or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean—but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.