Scarlet by Marissa Meyer a review

Now I will admit. I didn't know that this one was going to be a Red Riding Hood story. So I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it as I started reading. I love the entertwining stories of Red's search for her Grandmother and Cinder's escape from Prison.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver a review

Now I devoured Delirium and Pandemonium as quickly as I got them. So when this book hit the bookshelves I knew I had to have it. I read it in under 3 hours. I really like the way Lauren Oliver writes. She brings the characters to life. This book is again about Lena and her trials in the Wilds. The other side of the book is all about Hana and her trials since Lena has left the civilized world.

Now I really liked the way she interwove both of our main characters to each be on one side of a different world.

I don't want to say too much because the ending of Pandemonium is unexpected and if I say much about the new book it gives away the other book. So all I will say is the story is well written. The only thing I didn't really like was the ending of the third book. It just wasn't to my taste. I liked the rest of the book though.

Stacking the Shelves #5

So yesterday I picked up Requiem by Lauren Oliver. I finished it in 2 hours.. Today I grabbed Scarlet by Marissa Meyer and I devoured it in a little less then 2 hours.. So there will be new posts on the blog tomorrow Yay. :)

This is a meme from Tynga's Reviews

Wake by Amanda Hocking a review

So a friend of mine said that she loved this author and has multiple times talked about another series by her. But the other day I saw that this book was on sale on Amazon. I knew I had to pick it up and try it, especially since it's about Sirens. Love Sirens. Evil beautiful creatures to the sea.

The story is about a girl who feels a call to the water, and the 4 sirens that are looking to make her one of there own. It's an interesting story and I like the mythology that she added in to give them a backstory. It's well written. I just picked up the next in the series today and I can't wait to read it.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver a review

Now I just dove right in and read Delirium and couldn't get enough. So I had to rush out and pick up the next in the series and now that Requiem is out I can't wait to get my hands on it. I have to know what happens next. I think Lauren Oliver is a really great story teller. You just want to know what is happening next, you get sucked into her stories.

This series is being made into a tv show and I am ecstatic. It focuses on our main character Lena who has escaped the civilized world and made it into the wilds, where life is hard but we are free to love. This follows her struggles after losing her lover in the escape.

I really liked the story, the twists and turns, the character development and the way that she seamlessly weaves a story of love, loss and hope.

Dark Summer

Lizzy Ford announced the rerelease of "Dark Summer" (#1, Witchling Series), her groundbreaking debut young adult paranormal romance, now available from Amazon, Amazon UK and Barnes and Noble. Originally released in August 2012, "Dark Summer" soared to the top of the Amazon charts this winter. Evatopia Entertainment recently optioned the publishing and TV/multimedia rights and worked with Lizzy to revise and add depth to the first two books in the series. The revised version includes the integrated novelette ("Summer Night") in addition to new scenes that add deeper insight into the boarding school and characters. Lizzy estimates about 40% was added to the book to provide depth to the fascinating world of the Witchlings. Lizzy has extended an offer of providing free review copies to anyone who is able to leave a review on Amazon. If interested, please fill out the form at this URL with your email address! [URL: http://eepurl.com/v7xUL]

Dark Summer (#1, Witchling Series)

A school for Witchlings... The ultimate choice between Light and Dark... Where the price of a mistake...is your soul. Sixteen-year-old Summer doesn’t expect her new boarding school to be any different than the rest: a temporary stay, until her uncontrollable magic gets her thrown out again. In her mind, there’s no point in getting too friendly with anyone. That is, until she notices Decker, the boy who will become the Master of Night and Fire on his eighteenth birthday. When she learns that this special school has attracted others with magic in their blood, she is hopeful that this time around, things may be different. Besides, she can’t deny her interest in Decker, and when he rescues her one night from the dark forests of the Rocky Mountains, their connection is instant. Yet a relationship with Decker may prove to be Summer’s downfall, forcing her to choose between Light and Dark, life and death, love – and their souls. One choice. One soul. One price. Available from Amazon, Amazon UK and Barnes and Noble

About Lizzy

Popular by Gareth Russel Blog Tour

EXCERPT

Since Religion exams were not sat in alphabetical order but according to house, Cameron’s desk was across the aisle from Kerry’s, and as the papers were being handed out the two of them fell into conversation about how criminally gross the three boys in the bathroom were. ‘He sneezed right next to me,’ Cameron said. ‘It was so loud that it was like an elephant had taken a really bad line of cocaine.’

‘Tiberius.’

‘What gospel does the angel come to Mary in?’

‘St Luke’s.’

‘Super. And who replaced Judas?’

‘What?’

‘Who replaced Judas? You know . . . when he died, kicked the bucket, said sayonara, etc.?’

‘St Matthias.’

‘Hello all,’ said a nasal voice behind them.

‘Hello, Geoffrey,’ murmured Kerry, who watched as he warily took the desk on the other side of her. ‘What if he sneezes again?’ she hissed at Cameron.

‘No one’s asking you to look in his tissue,’ he answered.

‘Good! Because I’d die. The sound is bad enough.’

‘Greetings, delinquents!’ boomed the voice of the same PE teacher who had covered their Physics exam a week earlier. ‘In front of you are the Religious Studies examinations. I assume you all know the rules of the school’s examinations by now. You may begin!’

As they turned over the first page, Cameron understood why Imogen’s head had been so close to the table for five minutes and why she had asked those ‘last minute’ questions.

The first four questions in the exam were:

1. Who was the Roman Emperor at the time of Jesus’s birth (c. 4 BC)?

2. Who was the Roman Emperor at the time of Jesus’s crucifixion (c. AD 33)?

3. In which of the four Gospels is the visit of the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary recorded?

4. According to the Book of Acts, who replaced Judas Iscariot as an apostle after his death?

Imogen was busy scribbling furiously, before stuttering to a halt at question 5. Kerry had got off to a wobbly start after answering ‘Julius Caesar’ for question 1 and ‘All of them’ for question 3. About twenty minutes in, she was distracted from her incorrectness by the constant sniffing of Geoffrey at the next table. She was in the business of shooting him her best dirty look when, quite without warning, Geoffrey’s head shot back as he let fly the most energetic sneeze in human history. Before Kerry’s traumatized eyes, a straight projectile of snot shot from Geoffrey’s nostrils and on to his desk.

And there it stayed – connecting Geoffrey’s nose to the table.

For a split second, nothing happened. The aqueduct of snot remained and Kerry looked as if she was developing the first signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Now for a few words from our author.

Writing romances

Gareth Russell

There are quite a few couples in both my books - “Popular” and its sequel, “The Immaculate Deception,” and there’ll be even more in the next instalment in the series, “The Age of Vengeance,” which is out later this year. However, there are two main couples in the series who readers react the most strongly to – Mark and Meredith, who seem to despise each other at first, and Cameron and Blake. In both cases, the course of true love doesn’t exactly run smoothly!

Writing romantic storylines can create all kinds of challenges for a writer and when I began drafting “Popular,” I didn’t necessarily expect to enjoy them as much as I did. In the first place, everyone behaves ridiculously when they’re in love; that’s part of the secret fun of it, I think. Couples behave excruciatingly embarrassingly when in private, which is fine because it’s in private, but then you realize that characters in a book are never really in private, because the reader is always watching them. What’s cute between couples is often vomit- inducing for outsiders, so how do you write realistic scenes between fictional couples without leaving your readers wanting to reach for the nausea bucket? I tried to tackle that problem by having the character of Imogen (a blonde bombshell party girl who’s never without a boyfriend) invent a ranking system of the difference between PDAs (Public Displays of Affection) and PrADAs (Private Appropriate Displays of Affection.) Hopefully, if the characters are behaving realistically enough and not like one of those couples who seem to think they’ll die if they ever let go of each others’ hands, then the readers will respond positively to them.

More importantly, there’s always a risk with a love story that you’ll write something that seems like a fantasy or, even worse, an ‘if only that would happen to me’ fantasy. There is nothing more cringe-tastic than reading a book which you think is the author’s own personal fantasy. While it’s always a good idea for an author to draw on their own life, or the lives of those around them, in order to find some kind of truth, it’s far better to use that truth as a loose inspiration rather than to directly copy from it. The great theatre practitioner, Constantine Stanislavski, once said that when an actor starts to believe he is his character, then you should fire him. In the same way, if an author starts to believe their own story, then they’ve lost the plot. (If you’ll pardon the pun.) In “Popular,” a lot of the little anecdotes – like the teacher walking into a doorway or the epic projectile sneeze in the Maths exam – are directly inspired by things that really happened. The mannerisms and social values of my characters are also based on things I’ve observed in people around me. However, I was very careful to make sure that the storyline had its own voice and that it wasn’t based too closely on real life.

This is something I also made sure to stick to when it came to writing the romances. Every romance and every couple are unique. Every one of them has something which makes them special, whether it’s in a good or bad way. For me, finding out what that something is for a fictional couple is one of the most engaging challenges of being a writer. I sit down with the fact file of information I’ve created about the two characters (where they live in Belfast, what kind of music they like, books they enjoy, favourite colours, classes they’re taking in school, clothes they wear, articles I think they’d enjoy reading), I put together a play list of music that I associate with them and then I sit down and think what it is these two people will have, or should have, that makes their romance believable. It’s a strange process, but one that is so worthwhile once you finally figure it out. Once you’ve established the “feel” of your on-page couple, you find that writing them becomes instinctive, rather than cerebral. Once, when I was doing an author’s visit to my old school’s prep, a ten-year-old kid asked me what my favourite scenes to write were. I told him, “Actually, sometimes, to be honest, the lovey-dovey stuff. The romances.” He looked at me and grimaced, “Seriously? Yuck!” At ten, I’d have had the same reaction, but writing the romantic storylines of “Popular” and its sequels has been one of my favourite parts of the creative process. The final chapter of book two, “The Immaculate Deception,” remains one of my favourites and I hope that it has people cheering for the characters, rather than glancing at the page and thinking, “Seriously? Yuck!”

The Last Witch by Debbie Dee blog tour

Author Debbie Dee has stopped by today with an excerpt from her book The Last Witch (Incenaga Trilogy).

Stay here,” he ordered.

Emmeline nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. This was it. This was how all the other witches lived out the end of their days. Cold, alone, and chained to a relentless master.

“Pace yourself as you near the soldiers, Emmeline. When they recognize you many will try to run. Kill them.”

Emmeline gasped. “Please, don’t make me do this.” But she was already stepping toward the soldiers.

“Wait,” her master said. “Only kill those who run. My men are in need of sport. Detain the remainder until we come to you. You may go.”

Emmeline fought every step, but the need to obey was stronger. Her movements were jilted like a wooden puppet on a string. There was nothing she could do to stop. With the torch still in her hand, her face shone like a beacon. The soldiers narrowed their eyes as she neared. A few drew their heads back, their eyes wide.

“An Incenaga!” one of them shouted. “Run for your lives!”

“No!” Emmeline called out, her voice a strangled cry. “Don’t run!” But they couldn’t hear her and her arms were already lifting in obedience.

  Title: The Last Witch

Author: Debbie Dee

Publisher: Dolce Books

Pages: 248

Book Description:

 

For generations the Incenaga Witches have been forced to use their power to fulfill the wishes of others until they are drained of their magic and left to die. Desperate to protect his infant daughter - the last surviving witch - Emmeline's father escapes with her to the forests where he vows to keep her hidden from the world and from the truth.

Sixteen years later, Emmeline is discovered and finds herself in the grip of a traitor who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if it means abusing her power until she dies. She is taken to a distant country and told she must marry the Crown Prince or her own country will be overtaken, its people slaughtered. But what sort of prince would marry a witch? And why would she be the difference between war and peace?

As she fights to regain her freedom, she is faced with a choice between a prince who offers a lifetime of security and a common gamekeeper who has no idea of her power, but offers his heart.

But who can she trust when her power can be used against her?

About Debbie Dee

Debbie Dee recently moved to southern Idaho with her husband and three children where she is learning how to be a country girl in her favorite pair of blue heels. She adores fairy tales and happy endings, but secretly crushes on the bad guy now and then. As a dedicated musician who practices way too much, she never expected writing would sweep her off her feet until she jotted down a scene from a daydream, which turned into two scenes, which turned into a messy house and her first novel. Since then she hasn't been able to let a day go by without writing. Her website is www.debbiedee.com   Author’s Links

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Purchase on Amazon

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Stacking the shelves 2/16/13 #4

So today I did pick up a book because it was on sale

This is a meme on Tynga's Reviews You can see all the other book bloggers taking part in this right here. You just post about the books you have picked up this week and plan to read.

Beautiful Creatures from Amazon for my kindle for $2.99

and I got from my library

Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement Moore

Hopefully I will be reading more.. soon

I Hunt Killers By Barry Lyga a review

I saw this and picked it up but it sat in my too read pile for quite a while.

Taken from Amazon.com :

It was a beautiful day. It was a beautiful field.

Except for the body.

Jazz is a likable teenager. A charmer, some might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, "Take Your Son to Work Day" was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could--from the criminals' point of view.

And now, even though Dad has been in jail for years, bodies are piling up in the sleepy town of Lobo's Nod. Again.

In an effort to prove murder doesn't run in the family, Jazz joins the police in the hunt for this new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret--could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

From acclaimed author Barry Lyga comes a riveting thriller about a teenager trying to control his own destiny in the face of overwhelming odds. "

My Thoughts :

I really enjoyed this book. The mash of characters and the plot came together very wonderfully. The main character Jazz is the son of a serial killer stuck in his head, worried of becoming a serial killer himself. Then his small town has a girl show up dead and he takes it upon himself to help the police find out who the killer is. He follows the clues the way his serial killer father taught him how to track victims.

I really loved Jazz's internal monologue, and his fight over his choices that could change his life. I love the way that he wants to change the way that he thinks. The way that there is a chance to be something greater then he is.

Faery Tales and Nightmares by Melissa Marr a review

So after reading Carnival of Souls I picked up this book from the library because it looked good and I liked the author.

The book has 11 short stories, most of them relating to her Wicked Lovely series. I have not read those books but I enjoyed reading this book.

Each story has something to do with fairy's and supernatural beings. I think she really weaves a good story. I enjoy the characters she creates and the worlds she places them in.

My favorite story was Transition the story of a newly created vampire and the sire that created her because he didn't want his old partner. Its an interesting take on vampires.

If you like faery's or supernatural stuff pick up this book. I give it a 4 out of 5. Quite Enjoyable.

Stacking the Shelves #3 2/9/13

This week I didn't read anything.. other then

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

is the only book I picked up this week

Mercy by Rebecca Lim a review

I picked this up at the library because the cover looked interesting and the book sounded like something I might like.

The book is about an angel who is stuck living inside Human's until she has earned her way back into heaven. I didn't know this was part of a large number of books about this character and now Im going to look for the rest of them. The book was interesting and well written. I didn't even guess the ending and I do that a lot.

Our character Mercy in this book is in the body of a high school student doing a opera concert on the road and is left to stay with a family who's daughter has been abducted. She meets the girl's brother and spends time trying to help him solve the case because he believes the sister is still alive.

The book leaves you with a lot of questions, mostly because a lot of things about the angels are not explained at all in the book. I guess that it might be explained more throughout the other books.

Other all the book is entertaining, the characters believable, the plot twisty and interesting. I enjoyed it. I give it a 3 out of 5

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Now I really enjoyed Before I Fall, so when I saw this go for a steal on the kindle I had to pick it up.

Amazons blurb about this book :

They say that the cure for Love will make me happy and safe forever. And I’ve always believed them. Until now. Now everything has changed. Now, I’d rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.

Can you imagine a world where there is no Love. Everyone is cured of it at 18 and you are matched with someone based on an evaluation to spend out your days and to populate the world. I couldn't imagine being with someone I didn't love, nor could I imagine being without love. The giddy feelings, the happiness to be stripped of that. I could not do it. You'd see me be a invalid or jump to the wilds before they could even get near me with talk of a cure.

Our main character is the daughter of a woman who chose to love rather then live without it. She is struggling with the desire to be cured. Then ends up meeting a boy and falling in love.

I really enjoyed the entire story and all the twists and the way we got to the end of the book. I have Pandemonium and I can not wait to get to read it.

5 out of 5 stars. Loved it.

Stacking the Shelves #2

So here I am doing this again.. I was planning on getting it up on Saturday and then I have been working like crazy the last couple days. So here I am.. getting it up now. This is put on by Tynga's Reviews I am happily participating. Hopefully at some point soon I will participate in more blog hops and meme type fun.

So I picked up from the library

Mercy by Rebecca Lim

Pretty Dead by Francis Lia Block

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

That's it.. my slow but steady week. I work almost everyday this week so I decided it should be a slower week.

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter a Review

I had to pick this up because of the Alice in Wonderland content. Even though it is less Alice more Zombies.. but still I couldn't resist. I had heard so much about how great the book was and I wanted to check it out. So to the library I went. I got the only copy my whole system had.

Amazon's blurb on the book:

She won't rest until she's sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever. Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that's all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real.

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn't careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.

I wasn't sure what to expect since it was a zombie book with Alice, I will say if the reason you are picking it up is because you are a Alice in Wonderland fan, then I will say this may not be the book for you if you aren't a paranormal or zombie fan. But if you are a paranormal fan then this just might be the kind of book you really enjoy.

The book starts up about Alice living with her father, mother and sister in a home where they never go out at night because her father believes in zombies, more so that young Alice has no friends. She ends up begging to see her sister perform in a night time concert, at the request of her very charismatic little sister. After the performance the family ends up in a car accident. Leaving Alice alive while the rest of her family is dead.

Alice moves in with her grandparents and starts high school, she runs into some "bad labeled" kids and is drawn to the alpha.

Gena Showalter has written quite a few other books, she is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the Lords of the Underworld series and more than thirty other books. And yet sadly this is the first one of hers I have ever picked up. I can tell you I will be looking for more of her books.

I enjoyed the story and give it a 4 out of 5. Definitely give it a chance.

Before by Jessie Harrel Review

This is a short story, prequel to Destined. I really enjoyed Destined so I had to pick up this short story. I love character development.

This story is about Eros, the god of Love. He falls for a human. Its a quick read, and if you enjoy it. You should pick up Destined.

Eros falls for a human girl and the effect it has on him. This is just a taste to give us a peek at the god before he met Psyche.

Real short but great.

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor Review

I have been reading recently lots of books and this one caught my eye at Comic Con back in 2010. I never had the time to pick it up so when I got the chance this week to do just that I did.

Amazon's Blurb :

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

The book is colorful with a cast of monsters, angels, wishes and war. Lots of fun hearing about all the characters brought together and the different types of things our author has dreamed up.

Our main character Karou is a blue haired young girl who grew up in a supernatural setting with a monstrous father sending her on errands to gain teeth. She is spunky. You grow to love her. When her world is threatened and she is taken away from the family she knows, she has to fight. We meet Akiva a tortured angel who is closing portals to the other world helping end a war. He meets Karou and is instantly attracted to her. The story unfolds between the two of them.

I am glad I finally picked up the book, I really enjoyed it.

4.5/5 stars.

Swapping Bookmarks

I would love to make some handmade bookmarks and swap them with other book readers who want to have some handmade bookmarks.

If you are interested let me know. I think it could be lots of fun.

GIVEAWAY - Poster for Safe Haven

Poster looks different.. but they are rolled up right now.. So yesterday I went and saw Silver Linings Playbook.. AMAZING. Go see it if you like dramas and haven't seen it. But while I was there I got a poster for Safe Haven, a new Nicholas Sparks movie that is coming out on Valentine's Day. (I saw it as a screener a few months ago and really enjoyed it.)

I really enjoyed the book for Safe Haven so I thought, this works with my book theme .. since the movie was a book first and thought I'd give away a poster.

Entering is easy.. Just leave a post on this giveaway post.

You don't have to join my blog if you don't want. But there will be more giveaways coming up.

I'm also giving away some bath and bodyworks stuff on my makeup blog.

Kitten Reviews Makeup so if that's your sort of thing. Hop on over there and join that giveaway too.

Both contests end 1/27/13

Glitches a short by Melissa Meyer

This is a fun short story that is a before the book of Cinder. I really enjoyed Cinder so when I saw this I had to pick it up.

I adore Melissa Meyer and I can't wait to read Scarlet. You can read my Cinder review on this blog. Its a great story. She really has a way of telling stories that is captivating.

Here is amazons blurb on it:

Cyborg Cinder has always been alone in the world. When she learns that she’s going to be adopted, her whole life changes – she gets an all-new family, complete with a mostly-absent father, two step-sisters and an unwelcoming stepmother. How will she cope with being the only cyborg in the family? This story is a prequel to the futuristic fairytale Cinder, by Marissa Meyer.

This story focuses on Iko. The adorable human like robot that Cinder fixes and who also becomes her friend. I really enjoyed the short story. If you liked Cinder pick this up. Or pick up the new paperback copy that comes with this story.

Stacking the Shelves #1

Decided to take a part in this meme... I'm gonna try to do more things like this.. more so that I can get more in the habit of having posts up.

This is from Tynga's Reviews on her blog she started it. It's so we can show off the things we got this week to read, review and enjoy.

I didn't get much I picked up Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter at the library.

I also picked up Delirium by Lauren Oliver for my kindle.

So it will be a good week.. hopefully soon I will get more ARC's that I can review. :)

Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

I got this for my kindle the other day, because I had heard good things about Melissa Marr and it was on sale. So I thought why not? (Even though I had 12 library books and had just 25 books.. but still lol.)

Amazons blurb :

In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures—if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.

This book is about fighting for what you want. Our story is 2 sided about a girl in hiding that doesn't know the truth being raised by a witch. And about a fighting game that the victor comes out to get a say in government, where you can be a nobody with nothing, or someone from a good family. So our characters are all types.

We have Mallory a young girl living with a witch constantly training for the day the daimons will come to kill her. She doesn't know that the daimons are after her and not her witch father Adam. She starts to fall for a boy she meets and has no idea that he has been sent there to find her.

I really liked the story. If had twists, some I didn't even see coming. It was very enjoyable.

4/5 for sure a book to pick up.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

This book made me smile. I really love that most of the zombie books I am picking up are about the hope for humanity after a catastrophic event. If you grew up never seeing anything but the small town you live in, would you hunger for more? That's the question this book asks. If you lived and only saw a life enclosed in gates, would you want to venture out, even if that meant a chance at death or worse.

I thought the author did a great job of portraying the differences in personalities and the fact that some people are happy just accepting what is happening in their life, while other people need something more, whatever that may be.

Our main character, Mary is at the age where she has to marry, but she doesn't want that. Well she does, but the person she wants she doesn't think wants her. So she takes on his brother who has always loved her. They live in a town surrounded by a gate to keep out the unconsecrated. Mary ends up in the sisterhood and meets a girl from another town, which is unheard of. People don't pass the gates. This girl ends up infected and the town falls. So Mary, her betrothed and his brother, her friend, her brother and his wife, and a small child all pass through the gate in search of others and a new town. The story goes from there. Where you get to see each personality and the fears they have.

I really enjoyed the story, I would like to think if I was in that situation I'd want to see the ocean as well.

Calling all Bloggers

Calling all bloggers! Calling all bloggers! Entangled needs you! *points at you* Be part of The List. Here's what you need to know: One of my awesome publicists at Entangled is compiling a list of bloggers. Here are the requirements: Do you have a blog?

Do you love to review books?

Do you want access to books before they release?

If your answers to these questions is a resounding "YES" then you're the right blogger for the job.

We want you! Now's a great time to join The List.

If you want to be a part of The List, here's what you have to do:

1. Add Til Death to your Goodreads TBR pile: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16129271-til-death

and

2. Leave the following in the comments section: Here

a. Your Name

b. Your Blog URL

c. Your Goodreads Name

d. Your Email Address

Additional Option: URL to your blog post about this call for bloggers.

Priority will be given to those who help spread the word by creating a post on this call for bloggers on their blog. *smiles*

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments section and I'll reply right away.

Don't miss this exciting opportunity.

Be part of The List today.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

I really wanted to read this right off the bat because of the awesomely beautiful book cover. I guess I do judge books by the cover, but let me tell you. I really enjoyed this one. So I guess all in all it was a good choice for me.

The book is about Cas our main ghost hunter, a ghost hunter now that his father the original in the trade is deceased murdered by a ghost. The boy is bent on following in his fathers footsteps.

I got into reading this and quickly was caught in the writers web. You want to learn more about the character he is tough and ready for things, but a kid and struggling with trying to be grown up and with wanting the normalcy of life. I liked that about the main character. Writers don't always remember that even when pushed into being a grown up it doesn't mean the person might not long for the things other kids his age might have.

I enjoyed the plot and the development of the characters. I love that you get to see the kids grow up a bit while facing down a foe. People learning to work together, lives changing forever after learning new knowledge. I wasn't expecting the ending. So I was pleasantly surprised. I love writers that can keep a book interesting throughout without making things too complex or adding too much unnecessary things to keep you guessing.

I give this book a 5/5 stars. Really good quick read.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I had been wanting to read this book forever, but I have had about 300 books sitting around my room waiting to be read, so I kept putting it off since I wanted to be fair to other books I had wanted to read before it.

So I am in love with fairy tales and I love the story of Cinderella. Fairy tales have always held a special place in my heart. I love the idea of love and fantasy, that odds can be beaten, that somewhere out there a prince charming is waiting.

The book takes place in the future. Not only is the planet different from disease, and many other things but we now have the technology to create cyborgs and robots. We are not the only people in this universe and we know it. The backdrop is New Beijing, a time when life is different there is death and there is fear. The book focuses on Cinder a half human half android girl living with her step mother, who ends up helping out the prince and the whole world changes because of it. It has everything you need, romance, intrigue, robots, monsters and excitement.

I really like the character Cinder, I like the strength she has, the way her character wants things and the sadness and love she feels. I love her android it has its own personality and character.

I really enjoyed this story and am anxiously awaiting Scarlet the sequel. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was well written, enjoyable, the story had twists and turns, the characters were likable and developed.

Go pick up this 5/5 star book and then preorder Scarlet.

Rape Girl by Alina Klien a Review

I know what you think when you see the title, and I think not everyone would pick it up based on the title. I saw this available for review on Netgalley and I just had to review it. It's a cord that really strikes deep with me. I have a past that haunts me and I know a lot of people do. We can't control the things that happen. We can only learn from them and move on and try to pick up the pieces that are falling apart.

This book leans on the world of what can happen when you report a rape. The sad fact that the act itself is not always as horrifying as the events and the reactions after the fact. This book deals with the strength it takes to come forward. I never did. There was too much going on in my world and I shut down. So the book rings for me a truth that I would have liked to taken part in. Even if it meant all the different ways my life could have changed.

The characters are well written, understandable. You care about them, you are angry at them. You feel sorrow and loss for our main character. Its a tough read with a touchy subject but a good read.

Its available for purchase right now on amazon.

Reading right now. Sunday edition

I am reading Melissa Marr's Carnival of Souls. I am enjoying it. Picked it up for cheap in one of those one day amazon deals on ebooks. Like it so far. Can't wait to finish it.

Rot and Ruin by Johnathan Mayberry

I picked this book up because I saw it listed on a bunch of different book blogs and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I think that is why I picked up more then half of the books I am reading right now.

First things first, I have never had a zombie book made me cry until now. This book is the first in a series of 3. I can not wait to get my hands on the next books. It tells the story of young Benny Imura, who has come to the age where he must either start work or starve in a post zombie society. His brother asks him to come work with him as a zombie bountyhunter. I really enjoyed the plot of this book. It makes you think that if we came to a point where humanity was doomed, would we lose our humanity? That's the big question in the book. I like the way he handles it.

Each character is brought to life with a past, history, with emotion and purpose. You love them, you hate them, you want them to succeed or fail. You fear for them. He does so well in making you hope for the characters. And not only for the characters but for humanity itself.

I can't imagine having my family and friends become zombies nor can I imagine living boxed in a world where you can't leave because of the zombies, where the internet is no more, tv is a thing of the past and I can't microwave anything. Not my ideal world at all.

This is definitely a 5 star in my book. Great read for sure. Definitely a pick me up.

My new year goals

So I will maybe get buttons or the counters.. not really sure how to do them, or how to put stuff on the blog.. still new to all this, not that I haven't been at it for quite a while.. usually just get to annoyed to put them on.

But I plan to read 65 YA Novels this year.. mostly in the paranormal/horror/dystopian genre.. but I might throw in a few fiction for good measure.

First book of the year Texas Gothic. Then onto finishing Daughter of Smoke and Bone.