Fangirl

Fangirl

by Rainbow Rowell 

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan.... But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she's really good at it. She and her twin, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.

Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world; a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words...and she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

I love this book so much. It is hilarious. The writing wasn't anything uber extraordinary, but it was solid and funny and Rainbow Rowell did a really good job with the whole book. The plot was pretty good, not too predictable. It was fun to watch the characters grow. I'm not usually into the coming of age thing but Rowell does it well. 

The characters are brilliant, funny, relateable and lovable. I loved Cath, and Reagan, and Levi. Rowell used Cath's Writing Fiction class to express some of her beliefs about writing and teach writers every where things about writing that no one else will tell you. I loved the little ingrained messages and I think they were extremely valuable. I really related to Cath even though her personality was a bit extreme. She was sometimes flawed, but she was still lovable and real. Levi was absolutely amazing, yeah maybe he was a little too perfect, but I still loved him as a character and the part of humanity he represents, as well as what he brings out in the other characters. Reagan was brilliant. I loved her sharp and witty attitude that felt to me like a little bit veneer for some deeper issue. She was sassy and had some serious snark going but also had the perfect amount of sweetness buried inside. One of the only characters I really did not like was Wren. At first I liked her until she kind of completely disowned Cath for no reason at times and at others for just being a good sister. She kind of lost my respect then, but I think she was kind of supposed to be kind of a broken and immature character so that Rowell could delve deeper into the whole growing up thing and make the characters grow. I thought it was great that all of the love relationships weren't perfect, or instant, they got messed up and took a lot of work and still weren't perfect, or permanent necessarily, by the end of the book. They were pretty realistic. 

Over all I loved this book. So maybe it isn't going to be the next classic piece of literature, the great american novel that kids will have force-fed to them in schools for the next 50 years, but it is funny and brilliant and really fun to read. It's beautiful and you should go read it right now. Buy it from Liberty Bay Books by clicking here! I give it a solid four stars out of five, and a must read, especially for young authors, fangirls, sisters, young people, people who are nerds, people who are socially inept, introverts, book worms, teens, college students, people in general, you get my drift just go read it!

General consensus:

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green 

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

I finally read a John Green book guys! I know, I know, I am equally shocked. I have always kind of wanted to read one of his books and this book in particular, but I have been avoiding it for forever. I don't know why, but I tend to avoid reading popular books. I probably would have never even read this one if it weren't for my cousin pretty much forcing it down my throat in front of  witnesses. 

I'm sorry folks, but I was not too impressed. Please don't shoot me! John Green is brilliant. His writing was great and he is a great mind, but I didn't love the book the way all the TFiOS fans do. It was still a really good book, and I sobbed harder than ever before for the last 50 pages of it. I was tempted to pull a Disney princess and throw myself on the nearest object to sob more dramatically. 

Lets talk for a moment about the characters and relationship. I'm just going to tell you all now that I didn't particularly like Hazel. She was ok. I can't quite put my finger on what I didn't like about her. Maybe I saw too much of myself in her or something I don't know. (Not knowing why is frustrating isn't it?) I didn't necessarily dislike her, I just didn't like her that much. She was decent and just kind of there. Sorry I don't have much of a reason for y'all. I promise to tell y'all what it was when/if I ever figure it out. I loved Gus from the very first line that he was in. I don't think you can read this book and not  love him. He is ridiculously sweet and romantic. He is funny, and almost unrealistically deep and profound. Yet I still feel like he was a bit too ideal. I felt like people just aren't like that in life. No one has all of those qualities. Do they? Maybe there are people like that, it's not like I've met every person in the world, so I couldn't possibly know. He seemed to lack flaws or have more strengths than flaws and that seemed to add to the unrealistic-ness of him. I love him still though just because he is pretty darn great/attractive.

 They had a relationship as I'm sure you all know, so I don't think I'm spoiling the book by saying that much, (if you've read the synopsis then you already know. Even if you haven't I'm sure you've figured it out somehow by now.) To get right to the point I'm just going to be blunt (crazy I know, I'm only blunt like 90% of the time.) I didn't like their relationship. Yeah I know I'm heartless. Sure there were big romantic gestures, and small ones...and medium ones, and Gus was obviously into Hazel, and I could infer that Hazel was into him too, but it didn't feel real. It lacked depth and I felt like Hazel didn't even like him that much. I felt like for her it was just kind of this, "Oh well he's cute and sweet and we are besties and he likes me. I guess I like him. He gives me cool things. He is pretty cool." thing and not like a real "I really love this boy for a million and one reasons, or at least I'm starting to..." thing. I felt like the material was there to build there relationship but her side lacked some depth emotion wise and so it felt a little bit fakey. That made me feel bad for Gus because he was trying so hard. 

SPOILERS DISCUSSED HIGHLIGHT TO READ: I kind of felt like Gus manipulated her when the whole sex thing happened, because he was dying/sick and didn't tell her before that. Also, after the fact, I kind of felt like there was a slight possibility that he'd only done it with her to check that off his bucket list. However, I tried to over look this, because I just simply refused to see him in that light. What did you guys think?

This is probably wrong of me, but I was a bit disappointed in John Green when it came to the plot. I had high expectations I guess. Since I know he is downright brilliant, I was expecting the plot to be fantastical, unexpected and jaw dropping. As I said, I was a bit disappointed. It was by no means bad. It was perfectly good, but (this is probably just a personal issue) I saw like every big plot twist or event coming. MORE SPOILERS TO HIGHLIGHT: I saw the whole Gus taking her to meet Van Houten and I totally called the whole Gus has a relapse and dies thing. Maybe that's why I didn't love it to that crazy extent the fans do, I saw all the best parts coming and ruined it for myself? 
The plot was really fine and I'm pretty sure it was all me. 

The writing was pretty swell. There were a lot of big words used, but other than that it didn't really stand out. It wasn't the most descriptive or deepest writing ever. It had descriptions and there were some deep moments, but not any more so than any other book really. The writing wasn't bad, it was quite good. So yay for good writing!

Overall I still liked the book a whole darn lot, and I would definitely recommend it. I'd give it 3.5-4 stars.

Buy it from Liberty Bay Books by clicking here!

General Consensus:

Stacking the Shelves

I'm so sorry that I've been gone for so long guys! I've had a lot of family stuff going on the past few weeks and there has just been too much going on to get a post in. My goal is to get at least three posts up this week. No promises, but I will try really hard. Now for all the good stuff...

Link up with Tynga @ Tynga's Reviews! Don't forget to comment or share with me your haul in the comments below, on Facebook, via email ect!

P.S. I actually took good pictures of the books! The day has come! And yes, yes that is a blanket in the background. Isn't it beautiful and cuddly? Thanks for making it for me Mom!

I borrowed:

I had nothing to read for a few days and I had been wanting to read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell for forever, so I asked Catherine to loan her copy to me, and Catherine, being one of the most awesomesauce best friends ever, complied. So thanks Catherine! I love you! I promise one of my posts in the next week of two will be a review of it.

From the "treasure" boxes at LBB:

See? No icky glare! I haven't heard of any of these books before so it should be an adventure reading them. I'm most excited about Rockoholic and Wickedpedia. Rockoholic sounds like it's going to be a riot and just beautiful and Wickedpedia is another murder mystery book and I always love a good mystery!I don't really know what Loud Awake and Lost is going to be like yet, but the synopsis sounded pretty cool. Comment or contact me with what you've heard about it or if you've read it what you thought about it if you have any thing to share about it. I'd love to hear it. Pointe sounded interesting enough as well, we'll see I guess.

I checked out:

I decided to stop in at my local library today because I haven't been in forever and I am so excited about all of these! 

Me when I saw Grim and Splintered on the shelf:

 
Then Alienated and Control:

It was a beautiful moment for me. These have all been on my TBR for a while and I am so flippin' excited to read them. Diamond over at Dee's Reads just did a review of Grim (see it here) so I am excited to read it and compare notes so to speak. I had wanted to read Splintered before but only a little bit, but then Cait and Mime from the Notebook Sisters read it and constantly gush about it and the rest of the series. We have a similar taste, so their reviews and gushing made me want to read it even more. (Read Mime's original review here and Cait's here.) Cait also read Alienated, as well as Zoe from The Infinite to Read Shelf, and Clarissa from Books Equal Awesomeness they all gave it pretty good ratings on Goodreads and most of my other friends on Goodreads have marked it to read. Plus, it sounds like it has a really interesting story line. 

You might recognize Control from my 2014 post where I listed 14 books that I was looking forward to reading in 2014. 

I want to read the library books first since they actually have due dates, but I want your help picking what one to start next, so what'll it be? Vote!

So what did you guys get this week?

And a little P.S....All the blogs mentioned above are some of my absolute favorite blogs so be sure to check them out and hit that follow button if you haven't already! It's worth it.

Countdown to Summer Giveaway Part Three!

Ahhhh! There are less than 20 school days left in my school year, the summer weather has finally come to my corner of the world and it is finally time for the last part of the giveaway! It has been fun folks, I hope y'all have enjoyed it and I wish you guys the best of luck and a happy summer for the last time (in this giveaway series).

Remember you can enter parts one, two, AND three! Don't be shy! All of them close at 12 AM June 11th! Winners will be announced June 12th!

The only requirement to enter is that you are a US resident! (Sorry to all my international readers! I pinkie promise to do an international giveaway someday! I don't have the funds to do that right now. :( )

"The Supernatural Summer Pack" Includes: 

-One Copy of Clarity by Kim Harrington
-One Handmade Braided Bookmark
- One Bottle of Light Blue, Shimmery, Sinful Color Nail Polish, Called "Cinderella" (Yes it does look like her dress in a bottle.)

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?



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Stacking The Shelves

I finished my haul from last week and took the opportunity to restock my shelves once again, courtesy of Liberty Bay Books! Thanks guys, I love you! 

Here is my stash from them :

Again I apologize for the poor picture quality. One of these days I will take a good picture of my books. Apparently today is not that day. 

I've had Dorothy Must Die and Uninvited  on my TBR list for a while now, but I've been a little bit hesitant to read them. Heart Beat, End Times, Nearly Gone, and Proxy were all wild cards. Heart Beat isn't usually my kind of book, but it sounded interesting, so I wanted to try it. End Times is something else entirely, but hey, who doesn't love a good apocalyptic fiction? The cover and premise sort of reminds me of Not a Drop to Drink. I'm excited to read Nearly Gone, because I never really get to read mystery type books, but I really enjoyed the last one I read. Plus, it is supposedly "Bones meets Fringe" and Bones is one of my all time favorite TV shows. I'm not really sure how I will feel about Proxy. It seems interesting, but I'm just not sure. I'm still excited nonetheless. I had to laugh when I got them, because when I got in the car with my bag of books my exchange sister asked to look through them. That was fine with me so she read the synopsis for each of them and then turned to me with kind of a strange look on her face. "These books are all about death and killing!" she said. I started to deny it, but then I realized in each book some one died and pretty much every single one of the books centered around that death. So yay books about death! Everyone has to have a thing right?

Speaking of death, my cousin loaned me, and forced me, to read the Fault in Our Stars this week as well. I will save everything I have to say about that for a review. Reviews for the rest of the books I read last week will come soon-ish as well.

What should I read next?
	Dorothy Must Die
	Uninvited
	End Times
	Heart Beat
	Nearly Gone
	Proxy
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What does your haul look like?

The Mephisto Covenant: The Redemption of Ajax

The Mephisto Covenant: The Redeption of Ajax

by Trinity Faegen

Sasha is desperate to find out who murdered her father. When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger--she is an Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx's biggest threat.

A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant--God's promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he's finally found the girl he's been searching for: Sasha.

With the threat of Eryx always looming, Jax knows he has to keep Sasha safe and win her over. But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life?

I am a little bit embarrassed to admit this, but for some crazy reason when I picked this up I didn't think it was a romance. Sure I knew that it would play a big role but I thought it would just be a paranormal book with a heaping side of romance. I was greatly mistaken. I am pretty sure my copy even used the phrase "searing romance" or something to that effect.

It's sad I know. Let's move on now from my obliviousness. 

The story is pretty cool. It is based on unique mythology that I hadn't heard before and Trinity was obviously well educated on the subject it showed and she made it very clear so that you could easily understand and follow the reasoning behind everything.  

The plot was pretty good. It wasn't the best plot I've ever read but it wasn't bad at all . It was quite well done.  That's really all I have to say about that but this section looks so pitifully small, and it's bothering me. Oh and that ending....killer. It crushed my soul a tiny bit and I loved every second of it. 

The characters  were stellar! I simply loved everyone! (Even the icky evil ones.) Ajax/Jax was simply adorable he really wanted Sasha to love him. He wanted to do everything right, and he screwed up some times, and was pretty clueless about girls and relationships, but that just made him endearing and more adorable. 

Sasha was just the sweetest little thing, and despite being literally perfect for a lot of the book, you could still relate to her and her feelings, and it wasn't annoying that she was so flawless. (At least to me.)
Her relationship with Jax was probably one of the most well done relationships I've come across in YA. It was really realistic and addressed things like: what really is love/what does it feel like/ how do you know if it's love? and how relationships and love take work. You don't necessarily love someone from the start and it takes a lot sometimes to over come their flaws and learn to accept them. They show this, and they are super supportive of each other, and they don't just know they love each other the whole time, they have doubts and confusion. (Wow that sounds like a real life relationship, and a good one at that!) I loved them. They were brilliant.

The brothers were fabulous and so were all the other characters and that's that.

Long story short, I kinda loved this book. Just a smidge. I absolutely recommend it for people that like books like this. It is fabulous. I give it four stars out of five!

General consensus:

Buy it right here, right now.

Deep Blue

Deep Blue 

by Jennifer Donnelly

Deep in the ocean, in a world not so different from our own, live the merpeople. Their communities are spread throughout the oceans, seas, and freshwaters all over the globe.

When Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, awakens on the morning of her betrothal, her biggest worry should be winning the love of handsome Prince Mahdi. And yet Sera finds herself haunted by strange dreams that foretell the return of an ancient evil. Her dark premonitions are confirmed when an assassin's arrow poisons Sera's mother. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin's master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Led only by her shadowy dreams, Sera searches for five other mermaid heroines who are scattered across the six seas. Together, they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood and uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world's very existence.

Well, I certainly was left feeling blue. The first thing I noticed was the writing. It made me die inside. A lot. It wasn't bad, but it was. I don't know what exactly it was about it that was so obnoxious, but oh my gosh it made it painful to read! I don't usually notice the writing too much or care about it really, unless it's exceptional or funky, but this time I couldn't ignore it. Catherine pointed out that it fallowed a block pattern where the sentence structure was the same every time. It also would follow patterns in things like how it described things, and what the topic of the writing following the description was. The writing actually took away from the story for about 85% of the book. I think it didn't bother me as much at the end, because I had adjusted and was able to ignore it or something. I noticed it in the first page of the first chapter, and simply couldn't stop noticing it. It wasn't just me, I had other people read the first chapter or so to check and see if I was the only one bothered by it. I wasn't. 

The story was pretty original and Jennifer did a great job bringing the world to life. She had a special name for everything. I kind of felt like younger readers might appreciate it a bit more. It felt a little bit childish to me, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for readers younger than pre-teens really, and at the same time there wasn't really anything that wouldn't be ok for readers younger than that, so I don't know.

The characters were...interesting. The characters seemed a little bit two demetional to me. I felt like they were missing something as the story went on. They were decent.

I just need to talk about Neela for a moment. She loved  food and I loved that about her. However, even that got annoying after a while because she, or another character, had to bring up how Neela wanted or needed food because she was stressed out, and what specific foods, every two seconds. That got kind of old fast. We got the idea early on and it needed to stay incorporated but could have been a bit less in your face. 

One general feeling I had throughout the book, and at the end, was this feeling of awkward unfinished-ness. Every problem, whether it be minor or major, remained unresolved when the book ended. NOTHING WAS SOLVED! That is so far from ok with me and I want to scream and smack something around right now just remembering it. 

It's cool too leave a few things, maybe just one thing, unsolved at the end to get readers to read the next book, but you have to solve something! 

The plot got low scores from me because it was poorly done. If nothings finished then you only have part of a complete plot. It was like I got dropped off a few miles from the climax and left in the middle of no where. The plot that was there wasn't anything special either. It wasn't twisty, cunning, or masterfully spun. It was just kinda there. 

Overall I was not very fond of this book. It might be entertaining to some, but it was not for me. I couldn't overlook the glaring issues enough to really love it. I wouldn't really recommend it, but I'm not going to stop you from going for it if you want to try it that's your life choice. It get's one and a half stars from me.

General consensus:

Girl Parts (I promise it's just a review and nothing scandalous...maybe)

Girl Parts

by John M Cusick

What happens when a robot designed to be a boy’s ideal “companion” develops a will of her own? A compulsively readable novel from a new talent.
David and Charlie are opposites. David has a million friends, online and off. Charlie is a soulful outsider, off the grid completely. But neither feels close to anybody. When David’s parents present him with a hot Companion bot designed to encourage healthy bonds and treat his “dissociative disorder,” he can’t get enough of luscious redheaded Rose — and he can’t get it soon. Companions come with strict intimacy protocols, and whenever he tries anything, David gets an electric shock. Parted from the boy she was built to love, Rose turns to Charlie, who finds he can open up, knowing Rose isn’t real. With Charlie’s help, the ideal “companion” is about to become her own best friend. In a stunning and hilarious debut, John Cusick takes rollicking aim at internet culture and our craving for meaningful connection in an uberconnected world.

Oh where even to begin?! I thought this book was going to be flipping hilarious when I read the synopsis, and was ecstatic to get my hands on it! I didn't laugh. This was not a funny book. I'm sure it was intended to be funny, thought provoking, deep, and have grand hidden messages about society, but it just didn't hit any of those marks quite right.

It felt like it was trying really hard, the whole time and it pained me. (Sorry if that didn't make sense. that might have been the crazy talking. That happens a lot...) Honestly, I spent most of the time offended and mildly disgusted. The book didn't have grody stuff in it, but the some of the characters were pretty ew, and I felt like John had awful opinions of teens and society in general. It used stereotypes and only seemed to showcase extremes. The guys were all sleaze ball idiots that just wanted to get in the hottest girls pants and party their lives away, or they were Charlie and had literally not one friend, and pretty much no life. The main girls were all hot party bunnies, or depressed and using drugs and alcohol to cope with life, or Rose the robot. 

Speaking of the girls in the book, it opens with a girl committing suicide. (You never really get to know her.) I really kind of felt like she was just thrown in there and her death was used to tie up like two sort of loose ends. It bothered me a lot I kind of wished that part just hadn't been in there because there was pretty much no point. It added nothing to the story. 

It was hard to like most of the characters and I never really related or connected with the story. I felt like they were all kind of shallow, extreme, and stereotypical, like I said before. So if this is what John thinks teens are like in life I am so beyond offended. 

The story line was original sure, but it also kind of felt like it had no point. There was obviously a plot but it didn't really shake things up until it was almost over and then the ending was just weird and destroyed the only good tings the book had built. It just felt like there was no point once you finished it. 

The writing was bland. That's really all I have to say about the writing. In fact, I think that I've pretty much said everything I have to say about this book. Overall, I would really not recommend it, it's grody and there is no good reason to waste your time. It has no redeeming qualities. It is a ZERO to ONE star book and it can go die in a hole. (I'm sorry I feel so mean. I just can't control my feelings. *Sobs*) 

General consensus:

The Countdown to Summer Giveaway Part Two!

As promised, here is part two of the Countdown to Summer giveaway! Enjoy! You have until the 11th of June to enter and I will announce the winners on the 12th! The last prize pack will be announced next weekend so make sure to check back! Yes, you are allowed to enter all three of the prizes, I will make sure the results are fair.

Part/Prize One

Requirements/Rules:
-This Giveaway is for US residents only! (Sorry to all my international followers, but I'm broke! I will try to do a giveaway that is international sometime in the future.)

"The Summer Love Pack" Includes:
-One ARC Edition of Dying to Know You by Aidan Chambers
-One Handmade Braided Bookmark
-One Bottle of Blue Sinful Color Nail Polish Called "Why Not"

Karl, aged seventeen, is hopelessly in love. But the object of his affections, Firella, demands proof, and poses him a series of questions regarding his attitude to the many sides of love. But Karl is dyslexic, and convinced that if Firella finds out, she will think he is stupid, and unworthy of her, and leave him.

So Karl asks a local writer to help him construct his replies - and an unlikely, but extremely touching, friendship develops between the two men. They both come to learn a great deal about about life from a very different perspective, and when an act of violence shatters their calm, they find their respective appraisal of life shifting in profound ways.








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And on a side note...Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! The world would be lost with out you! Also, a personal thank you to my mom for being so supportive of all my pursuits and being made of awesomesauce. 

Teaser Tuesday!

I am so excited to do one of these again! It has been so long! (I know I've been saying that about everything lately. Sorry! )

"Neela Opened her eyes and Sera saw that fear was gone. It had been replaced by something else: faith." Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly

Buy me!

Don't forget about the giveaway! Enter to win the first prize pack now and check back in next week to get a chance to enter the second prize pack!

*This quote was taken from an uncorrected proof and may be subject to change*

Twinmaker

Twinmaker

by Sean Williams

You can be Improved....

In a near-future world in which technology can transport you anywhere instantly, can a coded note enable you to change your body—to become taller, stronger, more beautiful? Clair is pretty sure the offer is too good to be true. But her best friend, Libby, is determined to give it a try, longing for a new, improved version of herself.

What starts as Libby’s dream turns into Clair’s nightmare when Libby falls foul of a deadly trap. With the help of Jesse, the school freak, and a mysterious—but powerful—stranger called Q, Clair’s attempt to protect Libby leads her to an unimagined world of conspiracies and cover-ups. Soon her own life is at risk, and Clair is chased across the world in a desperate race against time.

That pretty much sums up my feelings about this book. It's really amazing. I was a bit skeptical to start, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into and it was large and had the potential to be horrible. I was judgmental and I am disappointed in myself.

Anyways Twinmaker is pretty darn epic and was totally worth it. This is kind of totally irrelevant to the quality of the book, but I noticed today that  the author's photo on the back was taken by...wait for it...Scott Westerfeld. How awesome is that! Anyways back on track...

The storyline was very original and interesting and the plot was epic. I was hooked from the first page and I don't really know why, but I am totally ok with it. The best part about the story line was that there was enough history and how the setting was set up made it so that it wasn't too futuristic. It was far enough advanced that it fit the time period and it still made sense, it was foreseeable and realistic., which engaged the reader even more it made you care about what was happening to that society. The plot had a tasteful amount of twist and turns and was well paced.

The writing wasn't anything special necessarily, but it was good, solid, and a lot better than some other authors'. The one thing I felt it lacked was description. I was frustrated that I couldn't better visualize characters and some of the setting. Characters throughout the book lacked vivid descriptions and so I had nothing to picture, just vague human things. That was quite frustrating to me but the book was still awesomesauce.

Speaking of characters... I loved the characters. They were very real and had really deep personalities and relationships that reflected real life. They were lovable and relateable and so real. Even though their problem was crazy and that doesn't happen to people today (yet) the deeper issues and motives were exactly what happen in real life. Every reader could relate to everything that was happening, making them become emotionally invested. The character development was pretty swell as well.

Sidenote: I totally ship Jess and Clair. So hard.

Jesair/Claess for life. 

 (Highlight to view) MILD SPOILER: I was disappointed with how their relationship went down but that's ok. Yes it was kind of instant, but at the same time it didn't really happen...I felt it was pretty realistic too so. Eh.

The characters created the opportunity for Williams to challenge beliefs, moral and social issues, and convey messages in a way that didn't really feel like you were being preached at (for the most part). You learned along with the characters, and the whole thing made you think and examine your life and society. I think that's pretty amazing. There aren't a ton of YA books out there that do that. (I'm not saying there aren't others, just the majority of the genre and age group don't. At least not how he does it.) It was brilliant. 

Just read it. That's all I have to tell you. Just go. Right now. Go Read it. 

Buy it right here right now!

I know I should be done by now but I just want to take a moment to point out how awesomesauce Sean Williams is as an author. That depth and realistic-ness, seriously, and get this, THIS IS HIS TEEN DEBUT IN THE US!

It get's four to four and one half stars from me!

Count Down to Summer Fun

As I mentioned in my last post I am very ready for summer and counting down until the last day of school. So to celebrate the winding down of the school year and the coming season I thought I'd do another giveaway! Here is how it's going to work. I have three prizes to give away. I will announce one prize every week for three weeks (counting today) and the entry cutoff will be June 11th and winners will be announced on the 12th. 

Entry Requirements:

-This Giveaway is for US residents only! (Sorry to all my international followers, but I'm broke! I will try to do a giveaway that is international sometime in the future.)

So here is today's prize:

"The Defying Death Pack" Includes:

- One New Copy of Revived by Cat Patrick

- One Handmade Braided Bookmark

- One Bottle of Blue/Green Sinful Color Nail Polish Called "Rise and Shine"

It started with a bus crash.

Daisy Appleby was a little girl when it happened, and she barely remembers the accident or being brought back to life. At that moment, though, she became one of the first subjects in a covert government program that tests a drug called Revive.

Now fifteen, Daisy has died and been Revived five times. Each death means a new name, a new city, a new identity. The only constant in Daisy's life is constant change.

Then Daisy meets Matt and Audrey McKean, charismatic siblings who quickly become her first real friends. But if she's ever to have a normal life, Daisy must escape from an experiment that's much larger--and more sinister--than she ever imagined.

Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Best of luck guys! Thanks for being made of awesomesauce!

Stacking the Shelves!

Oh man is it good to be back! I feel like I've missed so much and I am now eagerly counting down to summer break so that I can spend 24 hours a day, every day reading what ever I want rather than stuck in school. I am so ready to spend my days sprawled out in the sun reading. (Wearing sunscreen of course, I don't want skin cancer.) I kind of went a bit book crazy today, I just couldn't help it, but....

Seriously look at this glorious haul! (Sorry that the pictures aren't better quality and have a nasty glare. :( )

I bought:

I've had this on my TBR list for a while now and when I saw it in Liberty Bay Books I just couldn't help myself. I mean look at that cover and that title and have you read the synopsis! I saw it on my Goodreads feed thanks to the lovely Notebook Sisters  and once I read the synopsis I knew I just had to read it. That day has finally come!

See me on Goodreads or buy me!

I borrowed these ARCs from Liberty Bay Books:

I thought it was kind of funny that I found Deep Blue in the box of ARC copies at Liberty Bay Books, because I just entered a giveaway for it on Supernatural Snark only hours before going into the bookstore. Then I pulled out Girl Parts. I found this quite a while ago on Goodreads and it sounds pretty funny and fresh, I am very excited to read it and I hope it lives up to my hopes and standards. The Mephisto Covenant: The Redemption of Ajax is yet another book that I have had on my TBR radar for quite a while it sounds pretty intriguing. Unlike the other's, Defy was a total wild card. Nevertheless I'm thrilled to get a chance to read it. It sounds really epic and for some reason it reminded me of Graceling even though I'm pretty sure that it won't really be anything like it. Last byt certainly not least is The Dark Shore, I read the first book a while back and simply loved it and have been meaning to read the second one fore quite a well and just haven't gotten around to it. (Notice a theme?)

To order these books from Liberty Bay Books click the links below their respective covers listed below. (Remember I get some of the proceeds from your purchases through any of the links to them on my blog and I use that money to buy books and things for giveaways to make sure it goes right back to you guys!):

Waterfire Saga, Book One: Deep Blue

Girl Parts

The Mephisto Covenant: The Redemption of Ajax

Defy

The Dark Shore

What was your haul like?