Release Date: April 12, 2011
Genre:  Post-apocalyptic, dystopian, romance
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 272
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:

WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE

In Deuce's world, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed 'brat' has trained into one of three groups-Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms.

Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember. As a Huntress, her purpose is clear--to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She's worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing's going to stop her, not even a beautiful, brooding Hunter named Fade.

When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce's troubles are just beginning. Down below, deviation from the rules is punished swiftly and harshly, and Fade doesn't like following orders. At first she thinks he's crazy, but as death stalks their sanctuary, and it becomes clear the elders don't always know best, Deuce wonders if Fade might be telling the truth.

Her partner confuses her; she's never known a boy like him before, as prone to touching her gently as using his knives with feral grace. As Deuce's perception shifts, so does the balance in the constant battle for survival. The mindless Freaks, once considered a threat only due to their sheer numbers, show signs of cunning and strategy... but the elders refuse to heed any warnings. Despite imminent disaster, the enclave puts their faith in strictures and sacrifice instead. No matter how she tries, Deuce cannot stem the dark tide that carries her far from the only world she's ever known

Review: Brace yourselves This is going to be a bad review. And I don't mean I thought the book was bad. The review itself is going to be bad.

Ready?

Meh.

Yup. That's about it. I felt that this book was... unremarkable. I finished it, and then when I sat down to write this review a few days later I couldn't remember anything specific about it. Nothing left an impression.

It's not that it was bad. The story is fine. The characters were believable, the world was interesting, the battles were intense. But I didn't find it very original. It's your standard dystopia/post-apocalyptic book.

My final word of advice: read before you buy. I know a lot of people who have just RAVED about this book, but it was nothing special to me.

Sorry for the apathetic review. But I think it accurately reflects my apathetic view on this book.


*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

Here's my latest IMM vlog! According to my survey most of you like these. And those of you that don't... well... don't watch it. *wink*

Enjoy!

I'm planning on posting an IMM vlog later today, but in the meantime I'd like some more opinions.

I've had a lot of people say they LOVE the layout, and a lot of people say it's cluttered. So I'm searching for a happy medium.

I've been working on a possible new layout this morning and I want some opinions. It isn't finished (obviously) but I'd like to know if you hate it. Because if you do, then I'll stop and save myself some time. *wink*

Just let me know which you prefer, the current layout or the new one.

Do y'all remember how I mentioned that there were some freaking awesome authors coming to my area? Well of course this is a perfect opportunity to give away some books. I was having a hard time thinking of how to do it until I saw [awesome] Emily of Emily's Reading Room post a survey on her blog. This entire giveaway/survey was inspired by her.

I've been blogging for almost 4 years and I've NEVER done one of these. I think it's about time. Basically, you fill out the survey about my blog, and (if you want to) you will be entered to win your choice of one of the following five books:

• Across the Universe, by Beth Revis
• Nightshade, by Andrea Cremer
• Matched, by Ally Condie
• Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, by Kirsten Miller
• Kiki Strike: The Empress' Tomb, by Kirsten Miller

 Not only will you get a copy of the book, I will get it SIGNED AND PERSONALIZED to you! Or, if you're going to be at the event, then you can just get a free book! Exciting, eh? All you have to do is fill out the survey.

Please be honest, guys. I swear I won't be mad if you don't like something. I really, truly want your opinions. If you don't want to win the book then you don't have to put your name.

RECAP:

• I'm asking you to fill out a survey about my blog, please be honest
• Fill out the last section of the form to be entered to win your choice of the five books listed
• The book will be signed and personalized to your specifications
• Open to US only (But international peeps are WELCOME to fill out the survey)
• Giveaway Ends 2/4 11:59pm MST
• Winner announced 2/5

Release Date: March 29th, 2011
GoodReads Page | Amazon
Summary:

Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

Why I want it: This book is really beautiful. I love fairy-tale retellings. Wonderful.

Do you want to read Entwined
Take a second to answer in the poll!
The book with the highest votes will be given away!
(Those of you viewing in feed readers may not be able to see the poll)

Release Date: September 1st, 2010
Genre:  Fantasy
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine
Pages: 314
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:

Plain Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. As the wood-carver's daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden talismans are so fine that some even call her “witch-blade”: a dangerous nickname in a country where witches are hunted and burned in the square.

For Kate and her village have fallen on hard times. Kate’s father has died, leaving her alone in the world. And a mysterious fog now covers the countryside, ruining crops and spreading fear of hunger and sickness. The townspeople are looking for someone to blame, and their eyes have fallen on Kate.

Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: In exchange for her shadow, he’ll give Kate the means to escape the angry town, and what’s more, he’ll grant her heart’s wish. It’s a chance for her to start over, to find a home, a family, a place to belong. But Kate soon realizes she can't live shadowless forever -- and that Linay's designs are darker than she ever dreamed.

Review: If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be darling.

Plain Kate was a breath of fresh air. It has been so long since I've read a book that was just so... magnificent. It's light, and airy, but is by NO means froth. Each page made my heart wrench! Kate's life is just so sad. And yet there is always a glimmer of hope.

There's a whole world contained in these 300-odd pages. One with twists and turns and unexpected surprises. Full of magic, and love, and hate, and suspicion. And the ending was both satisfying, and a tear-jerker (seriously, I teared up).

Erin bow has a fantastic ability to carve out characters that live and breath, and a story powerful enough to contain them. She has resurrected the lost art of the stand-alone novel.

Plain Kate, you are plain wonderful.



*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

Release Date: March 22nd, 2011
GoodReads Page | Amazon
Summary:

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

Why I want it: I’ve actually already had a chance to read this book and I LOVED it. I’ll be posting my review in March.

Do you want to read Wither?
Take a second to answer in the poll!
The book with the highest votes will be given away!
(Those of you viewing in feed readers may not be able to see the poll)

I have created a page for the directory. Before you submit an author, would you please make sure I don't already have them on the list? The Utah section has already EXPLODED!

• Cick here to see the directory
• Click here to submit authors

I forgot to mention one of my other Bloggiesta goals, which is to create a directory that organizes YA authors by the state that they live in. I don't know of any such directory (do you?) and I think it would be fun!

However, I can't do it all on my own. If know where some YA authors live, PLEASE share by filling out the form. The form only has space for you to do one state at a time, but feel free to fill it out more than once. And if more than one author lives in a state, then you can do all of them at the same time. Does that make sense? I hope so.

Please help! I'm really excited to make this list.

Release Date: July 18th, 2008
Genre:  Sci-fi, mystery, romance
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 349
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:

Tane and Rebecca aren’t sure what to make of it—a sequence of 1s and 0s, the message looks like nothing more than a random collection of alternating digits. Working to decode it, however, they discover that the message contains lottery numbers . . . lottery numbers that win the next random draw! More messages follow, and slowly it becomes clear—the messages are being sent from Tane and Rebecca’s future. Something there has gone horribly wrong, and it’s up to them to prevent it from happening. The very survival of the human race may be at stake!

Review: I recently reviewed Falkner's latest book Brain Jack and I've come to the conclusion that if you want a mind-bending thriller about really smart kids, Falkner is your guy.

The Tomorrow Code was quite a bit easier to follow than Brain Jack because not all of the characters were smart and so things were toned down a bit. I mean... not that I'm dumb... but... it was confusing. Yeah.

But that isn't to say there wasn't a lot of "smart" talk. Lots of paradoxes and mobius strips and binary code, all culminating into an action packed thriller! The characters were lovable, the story was awesomely original and freaky, and the writing was really good. It was also interesting to have the story set in New Zealand.

I'm a little torn about the ending. It's a pretty big twist and I'm still trying to figure out whether I think it's brilliant, or a cop-out.

I think this book would be great to read with a kid 10+. They'd really enjoy it, and probably learn from it too. I felt smarter after reading it, even though most of the stuff in it isn't entirely feasible.

Great book! Read it all in one day.


*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

Today, tomorrow and Sunday is Bloggiesta! What is Bloggiesta?

In short, it’s a blogging marathon.  A opportunity to cross those nagging items off of your to-do list and improve your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing.

Here are my bloggiesta goals:

• Write reviews for next week
• Get the "upcoming release" posts scheduled for February
• Write a post on my personal standards in reviewing
• Contact at least 10 authors for interviews/guest posts
• Respond to all guest post requests
• Clean up tags
• Plan some future contests
• Make my bookmarks
• Talk with other bloggers about co-hosting something (anyone interested?)
• Plan read-a-thon
• Go through my Reader and delete blogs I never read.

Are you participating in bloggiesta? What are you doing?

Release Date: January 1st, 2011
Genre:  Dystopia, Action
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 240
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:

Welcome to a future where water is more precious than gold or oil-and worth killing for

Vera and her brother, Will, live in the shadow of the Great Panic, in a country that has collapsed from environmental catastrophe. Water is hoarded by governments, rivers are dammed, and clouds are sucked from the sky. But then Vera befriends Kai, who seems to have limitless access to fresh water. When Kai suddenly disappears, Vera and Will set off on a dangerous journey in search of him-pursued by pirates, a paramilitary group, and greedy corporations.

Review: I was so excited about this book. Y'all know I'm a sucker for dystopia. However, this one really let me down.

For one, it was WAY too short. I usually don't like books under 300 pages (Clarity was a nice exception). But that was the least of its problems.

The biggest problem was that this book was very episodic. (meaning that it read like a bunch of TV episodes) Each chapter/episode had its own story and it made the book very jerky, and it also detracted from the overall plot. A book that is only 240 pages long really can't contain so many little episodes.

I also felt like the author was trying to fool me. I felt like he was going out of his way to trick me into liking the characters. He tried to make the romance very compelling by making it kind of cutesy and cheesy. But the truth was, I didn't know Kai long enough to care that he was missing (which is supposedly what drove the plot).

Also, nearly EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER ended with some kind of dramatic cliffhanger-- i.e. "He raised the gun to my head and the world went black." end chapter. "There was a flash of white and the world disappeared" end chapter. "I didn't have time to scream before they were upon me" end chapter. It just got SO OLD! I kept thinking "really? You doubt your story's ability to keep me engaged SO MUCH that you're going to try to FORCE me to read the next chapter? Do you really think I'm going to get bored that quickly?" Have some confidence in your story!

And there was quite a lot of the "humans are bad for killing the earth." Which I respect, but gets on my nerve.

Wasn't a whole lot of redeeming stuff for me. I think I only finished it because it was so short. I'd skip this one.

UNLESS, this might be good for a middle-grade reader. The action would definitely keep them interested, if the convoluted story didn't get them lost. And I think this would make a good kids cartoon.



*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

Release Date: March 22nd, 2011
GoodReads Page | Amazon
Summary:

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister’s face when she and Elias left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the horde as they found their way to 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 him to come home ever since. Without him, her life doesn’t feel much different from that of the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Then she meets Catcher and everything feels alive again.

Except, Catcher has his own secrets -- dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah’s 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 drenched in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return’s destruction?

Why I want it: I ADORE THIS SERIES!!! This is what started my love of zombies. Carrie Ryan is a freaking GENIUS!

Do you want to read The Dark and Hollow Places?
Take a second to answer in the poll!
The book with the highest votes will be given away!
(Those of you viewing in feed readers may not be able to see the poll)

Hey y'all! Just wanted to spread some FAB news! You can get a $20 gift card on Amazon for only $10! That's 50% off! There's only 15 hours left, so hurry! I just did it, and you don't have to sign up or anything. Just pay for it.

Release Date: March 1st, 2011
Genre:  Mystery, Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Scholastic Point
Pages: 256
Rating:  
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:

When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?

This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats.

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.

And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

Review: This was a really enjoyable read. I wasn't expecting how mysterious would be. It reads very much like a good Nancy Drew or a "grown up" Scooby Doo (I just watched this with my little bros. It's on my brain) except with a very interesting paranormal twist.

You're told the ending at the beginning, but no names are used so you don't know who is who. This was really cool because I spent the whole book wondering: "is it him? Oooh! Or maybe her. Yeah. It's totally her. No wait! It could be him!" It made the ready experience very interactive and fun.

I also really liked Clare herself. I thought her ideas were interesting, and her family dynamic was really cool. They whole "psychic" thing wasn't overplayed, it was just part of her life.

My only complaint was the mild swearing and the sexuality. Clare's brother is very sexually active. And though the details are extremely vague, it was still mentioned a few times.

All in all, I really liked this book. I read it all in one day. A good, short read.


*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.