Review: Warm Bodies By Isaac Marion

"'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead. Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins. This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight..." taken from goodreads

I've been intrigued by this book for ages, but with the amount of amazing books out there its one that I hadn't gotten round to reading.  When I found out the book was being adapted into a movie, I found it the push I needed to actually read it.

I can't say I've read many zombie themed books, making my reading experience fairly fresh and new.  Obviously I expected dead, flesh eating creatures but other than that I wasn't sure how the book would pan out. 

I loved the idea of this kind of being a Romeo and Juliet reworking in a totally new setting.  R somehow decides he doesn't like his zombie life anymore and wants to live.  With the help of living girl Julie, they try to make it work.  Its a brilliant concept but I have to say I just didn't get how this would come about.  I didn't see that a living person would find any attraction to or understanding of a living dead person, especially knowing and seeing what these people are capable of.  Actually writing that makes me feel somewhat racist against the zombies and I actually feel guilty.  I think that is one of the things that make this book great - it makes you think.  It definitely made me think of a post apocalyptic world and how we would cope.  It made me think of inbuilt prejudice that came quite easily to me, which I do regret.

The more you learn of R and Julie, the more you are drawn to both of their characters and their relationship.  I felt I judged them way to early and although it seemed impossible to me, they actually built an incredible relationship that was not only clever, but kind of beautiful too.

The conclusion was more than I could have hoped for.  I can't say I 100% know how things happened in the way they did, but I can say that I did enjoy it.  I think it would be quite interesting to read a companion story that maybe went into what happened some time after, on a more wide spread scale.

Rating 3 1/2 Out Of 5

Published In The UK By Vintage Books

This Can Be Purchased HERE and from good book sellers

Review - The Reckoning By Alma Katsu

"I turned to Luke and reached for him. My blood felt as though it had seized up in my veins.
"Lanny, what is it?" Luke asked.
I clutched his lapel desperately
"It's Adair. He's free."

FOR 200 YEARS SHE'S BEEN HIDING

He gave her immortality.
She tried to destroy him.
Now he is searching for her.
They must not meet.
Or there will be a RECKONING" taken from Goodreads

Last year the only 'adult' fiction I read was The Taker.  I was utterly enthralled by it.  At times it was so brutal that I had to put the book down, but that just made me more eager to pick it up again.  I was so eager to read the sequel, so imagine my excitement when it finally arrived.

The cover although utterly beautiful, I kind of don't get the relevance of it to the book.  I don't even think Lanny is a brunette?  I loved the original tattoo style of the first cover and was hoping to see something in that design again.  I kind of missed the black edged pages too.

My initial reaction to starting this was that I didn't feel as anxious as I did with The Taker.  Generally I am more scared of the unknown, so you would assume that this booking being set in real time as opposed to flash backs would be a hell of a lot more scary.  Somehow I had a completely different reaction to what I expected.

I did love the use of different narrators for this instalment.  I didn't expect some characters to have the thoughts they did, so this gave me a great new insight.

Some of the story was a little repetitive for me.  Especially the thoughts of Adair.  I felt he just kept thinking and saying the same things and by repeating them it didn't change or accomplish anything.

I didn't feel any great connection to any of the characters.  For me they were weak, twisted, unpleasant in some cases all of the above.  I didn't feel I was routing for anyone in particular, but it enabled me to read it in an unemotional way.

All that said the conclusion was brilliant, I am so excited to see where the next book will go.  I actually have no idea what will happen next!

Overall I didn't enjoy this as much as The Taker, but I know understand why its necessary to bridge to the conclusion which I have very HIGH hopes for!!

Rating 3 1/2 Out Of 5

Published In The UK By Century Books

This Can Be Purchased HERE and from Good book retailers

Letterbox Love (12)

   Letterbox Love Is Hosted By The Fabulous Lynsey over at Narratively Speaking.  Its a fun way for us to showcase our weeks new books here in the UK

Book links will take you to Amazon UK

Not gonna lie, I have had a spectacular week.  Got to meet two amazing authors, that I did fangirl over just a bit!!  Check back this week for full reports, but in the mean time here are the bookish lovelies that I got...

RECEIVED

 From BLOOMSBURY

Dance Of Shadows By Yelena Black

I am loving the sound of this, quite a different book for me to read really, but I'm really excited for it

From RANDOMHOUSE / CORGI

Mystic City By Theo Lawrence

I showcased this as one of my books That Make Me Go Oooooh the other week, so I really am eager for this one.  I love the idea of it and am hearing great reports already!

 I got to go to an event for the amazing The Gathering Dark (Shadow & Bone) By Leigh Bardugo And INDIGO book - such a fantastic event and I got some awesome swag bits!!

 BOUGHT

 The Casual Vacancy By J.K.Rowling

So the other event I got to go to was the launch of the Casual Vacancy, where I got to meet the LEGEND that is J.K.Rowling.  Pretty immense moment!!

Thank you to everyone that sent me bits this week - Love you all!!!

Books That Make Me Go Oooooh (51) Mystic City By Theo Lawrence

Waiting On Wednesday is a brilliant book blog feature hosted by Breaking The Spine    

Mystic City By Theo Lawrence
Due For Release October 2012
Published In The UK By Corgi Books
Goodreads LINK
Amazon LINK

"Aria Rose, youngest scion of one of Mystic City's two ruling rival families, finds herself betrothed to Thomas Foster, the son of her parents' sworn enemies. The union of the two will end the generations-long political feud—and unite all those living in the Aeries, the privileged upper reaches of the city, against the banished mystics who dwell below in the Depths. But Aria doesn't remember falling in love with Thomas; in fact, she wakes one day with huge gaps in her memory. And she can't conceive why her parents would have agreed to unite with the Fosters in the first place. Only when Aria meets Hunter, a gorgeous rebel mystic from the Depths, does she start to have glimmers of recollection—and to understand that he holds the key to unlocking her past. The choices she makes can save or doom the city—including herself." taken from Goodreads

I first heard about this book on Monday in a press release from RandomHouse Books.  On reading the press release I believe I Oooed and Ahhhed so much that my Mum actually asked me what I was looking at.  This is so up my street, its like its been made just for me.  Cannot wait to read this as soon as possible.  Also what a STUNNING Cover!

Letterbox Love (8&9)

Letterbox Love Is Hosted By The Fabulous Lynsey over at Narratively Speaking.  Its a fun way for us to showcase our weeks new books here in the UK

Book links will take you to Amazon UK

So I honestly meant to post last week but kinda went to a Vampire Diaries convention and didn't leave myself enough time to write up my post - Ooops!  That does mean time for a double bill this week.  I got some amazing surprises - HUGE THANKS to the lovely publishers that sent them my way!!

RECIEVED

 I got these Awesome sweets from Rosi At Harper Collins for taking part in their Insurgent reviewing.  Not only was the book a joy to read, but the sweets were a joy to eat too!

 I got two packages from Scholastic, the first was this nifty pen, that I got through their Twitter group - its a fab pen!

 I also got this incredible package from Scholastic.  I am a HUGE Maggie Stiefvater fan, so you can imagine my joy on recieveing a SIGNED sampler of The Raven Boys and a Wicked Keyring!!

 I was very fortunate to be invited to the Random House bloggers brunch in June, but sadly I wasn't able to attend.  The lovely people did send me this brilliant goodie bag containing - 

Time Between Us By Tamara Ireland Stone

Now Is Good By Jenny Downham

Muddle And Win By John Dickinson

Alices Adventures In Wonderland By Lewis Carroll

Never Fall Down By Patricia McCormick

From Orbit

 God Save The Queen By Kate Locke

From Century

The Reckoning By Alma Katsu

 I got these from the wonderful people at Quercus books. I was lucky enough to attend a little gathering that was amazing

Shadows By Ilsa J. Bick

Summertime Of The Dead By Gregory Hughes

GIFTED / BOUGHT

 The Fabulous Laura over at SisterSpooky and I had a post for her & pre for me Birthday celebration this week, which meant early presents for me :D  The star that she is gave me a £10 Waterstones voucher, which would have been rude to not spend so I bought these goodies

Someone Elses Life By Katie Dale

Eve By Anna Carey

Letterbox Love (3 to 6)

Letterbox Love Is Hosted By The Fabulous Lynsey over at Narratively Speaking.  Its a fun way for us to showcase our weeks new books here in the UK

Book links will take you to Amazon UK

 Not going to lie I've not been around for quite some time.  Life just got in the way for a while and for some reason I couldn't handle the thought of trying to fit in blogging.  I'm now going to make a real effort to sort myself out and get back to some normality.

FOR REVIEW

From Harper Collins

The Selection By Kiera Cass

From Strange Chemistry

Shift By Kim Curran

 Blackwood By Gwenda Bond

From Simon And Schuster

 The Age Of Miracles By Karen Thompson Walker

 Wentworth Hall By Abby Grahame

From Macmillan

Dark Inside By Jeyn  Roberts

From Quercus

Shattered Dreams By Ellie James

Taken By Storm By Jennifer Lynn Barnes

From Atom

Hades By Alexandra Adornetto

From Andersen Press

Grave Mercy By Robin LaFevers

From Indigo / Orion

The Gathering Dark By Leigh Bardugo

The Masque Of The Red Death By Bethany Griffin

From Randomhouse

Seraphina By Rachel Hartman

BOUGHT

Harry Potter - Film Wizardry

.....Phew that's the lot!!  I just need to get some more hours to read them all!!!

What did you get?? x

Review - The Demon's Watch By Conrad Mason

"Half-goblin boy Joseph Grubb lives in Fayt, a bustling trading port where elves, trolls, fairies and humans live side by side. Fed up of working at the Legless Mermaid tavern, Grubb dreams of escape - until a whirlwind encounter with a smuggler plunges him into Fayt's criminal underworld. There he meets the Demon's Watch and learns of their mission to save the port from a mysterious and deadly threat. Can Grubb and his new allies uncover the dark plot in time, or will they end up as fish food in Harry's Shark Pit?"

I have to admit reading this was a completely new, unique experience for me.  I know it may be hard to believe, but some how I have never really had the opportunity to get lost in a world like this.

The cover is just incredible.  I absolutely adore it, it tells you so much about the characters and the theme of the book.  I did find myself reading about the characters and checking the cover to see if they were how I pictured them.  I just can't speak highly enough of it.
Another great little touch is the placing of a map in the first page.  Once again this is so handy in placing where the characters are and how the land lies.

The book starts with the adorable character of Grubb.  He is half-goblin and really living a hard life of not being appreciated and being made to feel insignificant.  Despite all this he somehow carries this glimmer of hope in himself, that things may get better.  I loved this fact, its so encouraging to all that even though he is in a disadvantaged position he is trying and not giving up.

The story moves on to other characters and shows how they will fit in to the tale.  This gives a insight in to all aspects of the land and how they live.  All told with extremely thorough descriptions that paints a very vivid picture in your mind.

In between some chapters you even get little interludes, which were fantastic.  They were all like little short stories of the land.  These additions were possibly my favourite parts.  Some were comical, some were quite dark but it showed different views that were lovely to read of.

At times I did have trouble connecting with the story and the characters, but that is purely down to this being a whole new medium for me to read about.  By the end I was so involved and very intrigued to know where the story will go next.

This can only be described as a rip roaring adventure - you get sad moments, followed by laughs, mixed in with fighting and gore.  This book really does offer something for everyone and should be enjoyed by all!!!

If you are a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean or the works of Terry Pratchett, I think this book is made for YOU!!!

Rating 3 1/2 Out Of 5

Published In The UK By David Fickling Books

This Can Be Purchased HERE and from good book retailers

In My Mailbox (50)

In My Mailbox Is An Awesome Blog Post Idea Hosted By The Story Siren

All links will take you to Amazon

 This week I got to go to a book launch in London.  It was so amazing, and I shall be doing a full report on it soon.

Here are the bookish goodies I got this week....

Bought

 The Way We Fall By Megan Crewe

This is sounds pretty awesome.  Do love me some dystopia

The Poison Diaries: Nightshade By Maryrose Wood

I found this is a charity shop, so snapped it up.

Received

 The Demon's Watch By Conrad Mason

I got this from the Great People at Random House.  This is aimed at slightly younger age group than YA, but those tend to be even more adventuresome.  Plus how cool is that cover??

Lenobia's Vow By P.C & Kristin Cast

I got this from the lovely ladies at ATOM.  Sadly I am really behind on this series, so fear I would be a bit lost reading this

 These Bits were from the book launch of

The Other Life By Susanne Winnacker .

We got a few goodies, plus a copy of

Mockingbird By Kathryn Erskine

For the release of CINDER By Marissa Meyer, there was a party on twitter where we had to tweet pictures of ourselves wearing red shoes, I of course took part and won this lovely bits

Hoping that your book week treated you well?

Books That Make Me Go Oooooh (25) Struck By Jennifer Bosworth

Waiting On Wednesday is a brilliant book blog feature hosted by Breaking The Spine   

US COVER

Struck By Jennifer Bosworth
Published In The UK By Doubleday Books
Due For Release 1st March 2012
Amazon LINK
Goodreads LINK

"Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.

Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities, populated by millions of homeless. Downtown is a wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the attendees drawn to the destruction by a magnetic force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power in the wake of the disaster, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing prophecies. They know she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the worse storm that is yet to come.

Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but he’s hiding a more sinister truth. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must unleash the full horror of her strength to save them all."

I've had quite an obsession with freak weather and apocolyptic scenarios for sometime now (I'm still 50 / 50 on whats going to happen in 2012 - Just saying!!)  So this really fits the bill.  Also throw in a guy with a sinister secret - sounds AWESOME!!!  
The UK Cover Hasn't Been Released Yet, So For Now Here Is The US Art Work