Cover Comparison: Fade by Lisa McMann (Part 2)

US (image on top) vs. UK (image on the bottom)

Which do you prefer? And why?

Cover Comparison: Wake by Lisa McMann (Part 1)

COVER COMPARISON: US vs. UK cover

U.S.

U.K.

Which do you prefer?

Daily Dose (1)

Daily Dose is a weekly meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly to showcase inspiring pictures.

In My Mailbox (3)

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

The Mosts by Melissa Senate

June 8, 2010 by Random House

"Madeline finished freshman year at Freeport Academy just as invisible as when she started. But after a summer in Italy with her sophisticated aunt, she returned as a sophomore with cool clothes, European attitude, and a hot new boyfriend, Thom.

Maddie's part of the in crowd . . . the Mosts. Her best friend, Caro? Most Beautiful. Her other friends, Fergie, Annie, and Selena? Most Stylish, Most Hilarious, and Most Hot, respectively. And Madeline? Most Popular. Her life is great.

While it lasted.

Now Thom's moved to California—so Maddie's no longer the girlfriend of a popular guy. The guy Caro likes only has eyes for Madeline—can you say social suicide? And a group of misfits at school are begging Madeline to help make them over.

Madeline knows there's a fine line between being a Most . . . and being a Not. She doesn't want her status to change . . . but what if she doesn't have a choice?"

Review: Birth Marked by Caragh M. O'Brien

Title: Birth Marked
Author: Caragh M. O'Brien
Release Date: March 2010
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Length: 362 pages
Format: ARC

Summary (from Goodreads):

After climate change, on the north shore of Unlake Superior, a dystopian world is divided between those who live inside the wall, and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. It’s Gaia’s job to “advance” a quota of infants from poverty into the walled Enclave, until the night one agonized mother objects, and Gaia’s parents are arrested.

Badly scarred since childhood, Gaia is a strong, resourceful loner who begins to question her society. As Gaia’s efforts to save her parents take her within the wall, she herself is arrested and imprisoned.

Fraught with difficult moral choices and rich with intricate layers of codes, BIRTHMARKED explores a colorful, cruel, eerily familiar world where one girl can make all the difference, and a real hero makes her own moral code.

Review:

I had a lot of trouble with this book in the beginning. I was so bored the first 50 pages. Painfully bored, and I wasn't a fan of the writing either. Technically, nothing was wrong with the writing, but it felt so... thick, for lack of a better word. I felt like I had to trudge through it since it did not flow well for me.

But then.

The story took off for me. The writing improved, the story got going, I fell in love with Gaia, with Capt. Grey, the story line-- everything. I was intrigued by the world, similar yet so different from our own, and how smart the book was. It involved genetic codes, DNA, all this scientific stuff that I hate in real life, but somehow O'Brien made it work for me. Made it interesting and compelling for me. I was flipping through the pages, unable to read fast enough, unable to figure out or guess how the story would end.

Gaia was an extremely strong female character, something that is not common in today's teen market. If she wanted to accomplish something-- like save her parents, deliver a 9 month baby whose mother had just been executed-- she went out and did it. She did not let any one, not even the government manipulate her own beliefs. Gaia had a backbone. She was a hero, not only to the characters in the book, but to me as well.

And I think there might be a sequel, judging by how open the ending of the story was. Any one know??

Grading:

1. Characters: 20/20
2. Writing 18/20
3. Plot 20/20
4. Originality 20/20
5. Cover 9/10
6. Title 10/10

Overall score: 97 or A

Waiting on Wednesday (1): The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Release date: September 7th 2010 by Little Brown/Poppy

(from Goodreads:)

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

I seriously can.not.wait. for this! It sounds FABULOUS and did I mention that Kody Keplinger is a teenager? Woo hoo!

Blog Button

Soooo I finally figured out how to make a blog button. I would love love love it if someone used the code below to post it on the sidebar of their blog (and I'd post your button on my blog) but it's not necessary!

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Teaser Tuesday: 431 Days With a Concussion

Long time no Teaser Tuesday! This is a poem I wrote for English class on May 5th. Enjoy!

"431 Days With a Concussion"

*SNIP*

In My Mailbox (2)

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

I'm a bit behind with my IMM, so this post is going to be from what I've received the past few weeks/since my last IMM.

ARCS for Review:

(cover not final)

Where the Truth Lies by Jessica Warman

(sorry couldn't find a picture of a cover for this one, but here is the authors website: http://jessicawarman.com/)

Store-Bought

Other:

Swag for the Body Finder (autographed)

Swag for the The Tension of Opposites

So what did you get this week?

Trailer for Linger

Superfantabulous trailer for Linger, done by Maggie Stiefvater herself:

Review: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Title: The Body Finder
Author: Kimberly Derting
Release Date: March 2010
Publisher: HarperCollins
Length: 329 pages
Format: ARC

Summary:

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.


Review:

One of my favorite books of the year. Hands down. The mystery was enough to make my stomach curl, the romance enough to make my heart flutter, the characters realistic enough to make me believe they were real, the pacing so perfect that I never was bored for one second. Unbelievable debut on Kimberly Derting's part. Unfreakinbelievable.

Probably my favorite aspect was the occasional chapter from the perspective of the murderer. The thoughts in the murderers head were seriously blood curling and had that spot-on creep factor. Plus, I never knew who the killer was. I bounced back between Violet's uncle, Jay, Grady, the cops, etc. It was crazy and spectacular to read an unpredictable book for once.

And usually hate third person person I feel distant from the characters. Not with The Body Finder. I feel like I know Violet like I know my best friend, even though it was in third person.

Additionallllllyyyyyy the characters were not whiny when it came to hormones. The author was spot on when it came to mastering teenage emotions. Wowzers. That is rare.

Kimberly Derting YOU ROCK.

Grade: A+

Review: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Linger (sequel to Shiver)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: July 20, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Length: 358pages
Format: ARC

Summary:

The Longing.

Once Grace and Sam have found each other, they know they must fight to stay together. For Sam, this means a reckoning with his werewolf past. For Grace, it means facing a future that is less and less certain.

The Loss.

Into their world comes a new wolf named Cole, whose past is full of hurt and danger. He is wrestling with his own demons, embracing the life of a wold while denying the ties of being human.

The Linger.

For Grace, Sam, and Cole, life is a constant struggle between two forces--wolf and human-- with love baring its two sides as well. It is harrowing and euphoric, freeing and entrapping, enticing and alarming. As their world falls apart, love is what lingers. But will it be enough?


Review:

Linger was like reading butter. The writing was silky smooth, fatty, and addicting. A guilty pleasure. But eating too much butter at once gives you a stomach ache, so I read this in pieces at a time, because the writing was so thick and beautiful that I would have become obese with jealousy and awe if I read it in one sitting.

Linger is told in the four alternating viewpoints of Sam, Grace, Isabel, and Cole. I did have a few issues with this, as Sam, Grace, and Isabel's voices so closely mirrored each other I had to keep flipping back to the beginning of the chapter to remind myself who was speaking. Cole's voice, however, was distinct and by far the most interesting and complex character. He opted to become a wolf in an attempt to forget about the complications, pain, and regret in his human life. This created an unbelievable tension between Sam and Cole, a tension that makes your stomach twist with apprehension.

The beginning of the book did linger for me a bit (no pun intended), as it took the time to set the stage for the events to come in the latter pages. I admit, I probably would have put it down if 1. The writing hadn't been so magnificent. 2. I hadn't been so compelled to figure out Cole and 3. The mystery of Grace's illness wasn't so gut-wrenching. You may be in for a surprise for this one, because I definitely was. I also have to admit this: If I had put the book down after the first 30 pages, I would have made a huge mistake. This book is worth reading again and again and again.

And you should be prepared to possibly shed a tear at the end.



Grade: A-