Books That Make Me Go Oooooh (56) Everbound By Brodi Ashton

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

Everbound By Brodi Ashton
Published In The UK By Simon And Schuster
Due For Release February 2013
Amazon LINK
Goodreads LINK

"It's been two months since the dark tunnels of the underworld came for Nikki Beckett. That night, Nikki's boyfriend, Jack, made the ultimate sacrifice and took her place in the Everneath for eternity - a debt that should have been hers. Every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused, and wasting away. All Nikki wants is to save him before it's too late, but no matter how hard she tries to reach for his hand, she can never find it.
Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his Queen - and the one person least likely to help. But it seems Nikki has touched his heart, and surprisingly, Cole agrees to help in the only way he can - by taking Nikki to the Everneath himself.
As they descend into the heart of the Everneath Nikki and Cole discover that their journey will be more difficult than they'd anticipated, and more deadly. Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack - even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own…" taken from Goodreads

Ever since I read Everneath this year, I've been obsessing over when I would get to read the next part to this epic story.  I found it completely impossible to put down and read the book in just two sittings.  Just reading the blurb for book 2 and looking at the cover has me anxious for its arrival, could it go any slower???!

Review - Pantomime By Laura Lam

"R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada." taken from Goodreads

I'd been seeing the cover image for this popping up in the blogging world quite a bit and was understandably very drawn to it straight away.  I guess I did a fair bit of judging a book by its cover, as I knew I wanted to read it before I knew anything much about it.  Luckily for me the cover wasn't deceptive!!

The cover is gorgeous.  I love the vintage style image of the girl, with just the touches of colour in the background showing the circus.  I guess I hadn't thought of circus' being places filled with secrets before and the fact that the cover girl seems to be going 'Ssssh' is a fantastic little touch.

The story kicks off with two characters in two seasons (spring & summer) Its two totally different environments that I really couldn't see much to connect them, but that made the reading all the more enjoyable as I was fascinated with both landscapes.  I couldn't decide which one I wanted to read about more.

The alternating chapters / Characters are so well written and flow so well.  It kept the reading exciting.

It takes quite some time to learn what links the characters and to say I was shocked is a huge understatement.  I just didn't see it coming but also didn't expect this type of occurrence in an olde worlde setting (I love trying to be cryptic)  This also goes to prove my extreme naivety once again!!

After the link reveal I have to say that I started to feel hugely conflicted by the actions of individuals in the book.  I could totally understand why they took the actions that they did but it just didn't feel right and by this time I was so involved in the story that I felt somewhat conspiritory in what was happening.  I felt guilty and that's something I've never felt before from reading - its pretty genius!!

The conclusion to the story left my head spinning.  I actually stayed up to the early hours of the morning because I just needed to know what was going to happen.  I was shocked by some of the events and then just questioning what was happening here or what did this mean or why did this happen?  I'm just praying that a book 2 is in the works as I NEED some things filled in pronto!!!

Pantomime is a fascinating, exciting, thought provoking, colourful read that kept me intrigued for hours (especially some really boring hours at the hospital - this book was my Savior then)  Its left me dying to know more about the circus!!!

Rating 4 Out Of 5

Published In The UK By Strange Chemistry

This Can Be Purchased HERE and From good book retailers

Letterbox Love (15)

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

 

 

 There has been no blogging this week as I had my wisdom teeth out last Monday and have been a bit under the weather since.  Fighting fit again and ready to blog away.

I got just the one book this week, but I think its a good'un!!

BOUGHT

Frostbite: Vampire Academy Graphic Novel By Richelle Mead, Emma Vieceli and Leigh Dragoon

Hopefully going to get this signed by the artist Emma this weekend!!

Letterbox Love (14)

  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

I was away last weekend so missed out a LL - Whoops!  But back this week with lots of fab goodies!

Received

From Strange Chemistry

Pantomime By Laura Lam

From Simon & Schuster

Infinite Sky By C.J. Flood

Through To You By Emily Hainsworth

Signed Sticker From Karen Mahoney, via the wonderful Jenny at Wondrous Reads

Bought

 Grisha Posters For The Gathering Dark / Shadow & Bone By Leigh Bardugo

Made By Goodnight Kittens

Thank you SO much to everyone that sent me books and stuff - you ROCK!!

Review - The Dark Heroine By Abigail Gibbs

"One moment can change your life forever…

For Violet Lee, a chance encounter on a darkened street draws her into a world beyond her wildest imaginings, a timeless place of vast elegance and immeasurable wealth – of beautiful mansions and lavish parties – where a decadent group of friends live for pleasure alone. A place from which there is no escape… no matter how hard Violet tries.

Yet all the riches in the world can’t mask the darkness that lies beneath the gilded surface, embodied in the charismatic but dangerous Kaspar Varn.

Violet and Kaspar surrender to a passion that transcends their separate worlds – but it’s a passion that comes at a price…" taken from Goodreads

The first I actually saw of this book was in a tweet from DarkReaders, saying they had been sent a copy and were loving it.  A few days later I got an email telling me about the release and wondering if I would like to review it.  After a very brief conversation with Casey over at DR I was advised to say a HELL YES!!

The cover is very cool.  Understated, but effective.  I love the key details like the bite marks.  I think maybe more elegant writing would have been better for the title though.

This has to have one of the most exhilarating starts to a book ever.  Seriously so much happens and not at all pretty I have to say.  I was pulled in straight away and was desperate to know more.  The writing is so incredibly descriptive and vivid that it was so easy to paint the picture of what was happening.  This could be helped slightly by the use of very local locations for me, being used in the book.  I read Rochester and had a little excited dance (I don't get out often obviously)

The story shifts incredibly quickly that kept me on my toes.  In just a few pages I read Creepy stuff, sexy stuff and down right sinister stuff.  It was done in a way that flowed well though, so didn't feel out of place or anything.

I found some of the wording to be very 'Americanised' which I found strange seeing as it was a London / Kent set book.  I can't say I hear people saying words like 'Jerk' or 'News Anchor' very often.

The thing that surprises me so much with this book is the fact that the author was just 15 when she started to write this book.  There are things that happen in this story that I barely know now let alone back in my teens.  Its a real eye opener!

Although Kaspar is the lead male character, I found him particularly annoying and not all that appealing.  His constant nickname for Violet was a HUGE turn off too.  I really wouldn't find it attractive to be called that all the time.  His character does mellow somewhat, but I don't know if the damage had already been done for me as a reader?  I guess I will know more in the next book.

This book takes some really intriguing twists that makes it very absorbing.  Its so addictive that it had me constantly saying just one more chapter.

Rating 4 Out Of 5

Published In The UK By Harper Voyager

This Can Be Purchased HERE and from good book retailers

Books That Make Me Go Oooooh (55) Infinite Sky By C.J. Flood

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

Infinite Sky By C.J. Flood
Published In The UK By Simon And Schuster
Due For Release February 2013
Amazon LINK
Goodreads LINK

"Iris Dancy’s free-spirited mum has left for Tunisia, her dad’s rarely sober and her brother’s determined to fight anyone with a pair of fists.

When a family of travellers move into the overgrown paddock overnight, her dad looks set to finally lose it. Gypsies are parasites he says, but Iris is intrigued. As her dad plans to evict the travelling family, Iris makes friends with their teenage son. Trick Deran is a bare knuckle boxer who says he’s done with fighting, but is he telling the truth?

When tools go missing from the shed, the travellers are the first suspects. Iris’s brother, Sam, warns her to stay away from Trick; he’s dangerous, but Iris can no longer blindly follow her brother’s advice. He’s got secrets of his own, and she’s not sure he can be trusted himself.

Infinite Sky is a family story about betrayal and loyalty, and love." taken from Goodreads

I have to say this is not one of my usual reads that I'm drawn to, but this one just has that something about it.  This totally has a Romeo & Juliet sound to me, but with a completely contemporary twist to it.  I'm really interested to see how it pans out!!

Books That Make Me Go Oooooh (54) Half Lives By Sara Grant

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

Half Lives By Sara Grant
Published In The UK By Indigo Books
Due For Release May 2013
Amazon LINK
Goodreads LINK

"Present day: Icie is a typical high school teenager - until disaster strikes and her parents send her to find shelter inside a mountain near Las Vegas.

The future: Beckett lives on The Mountain - a sacred place devoted to the Great I AM. He must soon become the leader of his people. But Beckett is forced to break one of the sacred laws, and when the Great I AM does not strike him down, Beckett finds himself starting to question his beliefs.

As Beckett investigates The Mountain's history, Icie's story is revealed - along with the terrifying truth of what lies at the heart of The Mountain.

A gripping tale of two people separated by time but connected by a story - and by the dark secret the story was meant to protect." taken from Amazon



How awesome does this sound??  I love a good bit of dystopia and anyone that has read Dark Parties, knows that Sara can write some kick ass dystopia.  I can't wait to see what she does with this new exciting tale!

Review - Poltergeeks By Sean Cummings

"15-year-old Julie Richardson is about to learn that being the daughter of a witch isn't all it's cracked up to be. When she and her best friend, Marcus, witness an elderly lady jettisoned out the front door of her home, it's pretty obvious to Julie there's a supernatural connection.

In fact, there's a whisper of menace behind increasing levels of poltergeist activity all over town. After a large-scale paranormal assault on Julie's high school, her mother falls victim to the spell Endless Night. Now it's a race against time to find out who is responsible or Julie won't just lose her mother's soul, she'll lose her mother's life." taken from goodreads

The first thing that definitely drew me to this book was the cover.  Its just the coolest imagery, to me it has a very comic book look, which blends well with the characters in the book both being into everything geektastic.  It also tells you a whole lot about the story, which is always handy for picking a read suited to you!!

From the get go, you really get that Julie the lead character is a hell of a sassy teen.  The narration is totally contemporary, but then you have a supernatural twist on it.  It really makes it for teens of today, so in that case I'm not sure of the long term reader appeal on this.

I have to say quite often I felt really frustrated with Julie.  Now this could partly be down to me getting older and not being as youthful but I just wanted Julie to listen to the advice her Mum would give her or actually speak to an elder.  I couldn't read a reason for her to be so rebellious and so came my annoyance.  I do also understand that the story wouldn't have gone very far if she hadn't of been a tad naughty, so in that end it was needed.

For me this did feel like a very fictional world - of course it is fictional but when reading I love to be able to think about how things would work if this was real life.  This just didn't have anything that I could see actually being real.  For this it had a kind of Charmed / Sabrina the Teenage witch feel - both shows that I really enjoyed, so it didn't make the book a bad experience, just a different experience.

Something that I really loved about the book was the setting of Calgary in Canada.  I've never actually been there but my best friend moved there when we were teenagers, so it was fun reading of places that she had mentioned to me.  I now want to go to Tim Hortons even more!

There is definite room for expansion on the story.  There are quite a few loose ends that would be great to see built on or sorted once and for all!

A fun, sassy read for teens of today, that like a hint of magic!!

Rating 3 Out Of 5

Published In The UK By Strange Chemistry

This Can Be Purchased HERE and from all good book retailers

Letterbox Love (13)

  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

Definitely not as epic as week, this week but it would be hard to top meeting Leigh Bardugo & J K Rowling.  I did still get some great new reads though!!

RECEIVED

I got both of these from the Fantastic Guys At ATOM - very excited to read both of them!!!

The Crash By Krystyna Kuhn

The Diviners By Libba Bray

Books That Make Me Go Oooooh (53) Clockwork Princess By Cassandra Clare

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

Clockwork Princess By Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices 3)
Due For Release March 2013
Published In The UK By Walker Books
Amazon LINK
Goodreads LINK


"If the only way to save the world was to destroy what you loved most, would you do it? The clock is ticking. Everyone must choose. Passion. Power. Secrets. Enchantment. Danger closes in around the Shadowhunters in the third and final instalment of the bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy." taken from Amazon.co.uk





I've been a fan of Cassandra Clare for many years now, but the release of the first of The Infernal Devices books multiplied my fanship, basically making me a MEGA fangirl.  Although part of me can't wait to read the conclusion to this series, I will be devastated to lose this world and everyone in it.

Leigh Bardugo London Event

A couple of months ago during my reading and blogging slump I was offered the opportunity to go and meet Leigh Bardugo at her only London event.  At that time I hadn't even read her book (The Gathering Dark - Soon to be Shadow And Bone)  I was hearing amazing things about it though and so said a yes please to the event.  Obviously I wanted to read the book before meeting Leigh and I was more gutted that I hadn't read it sooner (my Review)  It totally cured my reading slump, as well as making me fall in love with the world of the Grisha.

I was told that I could bring a plus one along, this was fantastic.  Not only could I get my Mum to read and love the book, but I'd also have someone to tag along to the event with me.  Of course my Mum adored the book!

Tuesday 25th September came along as so arrived the day I'd get to meet Leigh, the creator of this new world I've fallen in love with.  I warned everyone on twitter, that some fangirling was possible!!

The event was held at Waterstones Piccadilly Circus.  We arrived to an already pretty full event.  So many bloggers that I know and love were there, so double win - I got to meet Leigh and see them!!

The Arrival of Leigh

It all started with the lovely Nina from Indigo / Orion books introducing Leigh, not that she needed any introducing at all.

Leigh's Chocked Reaction to the Video

We were shown an incredible video that was made by fellow UK blogger Darkreaders.  The video actually made Leigh CRY!!  Seriously she was so thrilled by it, you could see the emotion pouring away.  All the lovely ladies involved got gorgeous leather Grisha wristbands.

Next Leigh did a brilliant read from the book.  Possibly one of the best scenes from the beginning of the book, we were all hooked once again.

Leigh Reading from the book

After this we did a Q&A session, where we found out all sorts of things about the book, the writing process, what Leigh's hopes are for the future.  It really did feel like a catch up with a lot of friends though.  Leigh is so friendly and engaging you just feel you have known her forever.



We all had a geek out session over the news that Dreamworks have bought the rights to the book and a movie will be made.  For me it is so exciting to know I'll get to see characters I have connected with come to life, so to see Leigh and her reaction to that same news but about a world she has created was just wonderful.

Now was our opportunity to get our books signed and have 1 to 1 chats with Leigh.  I played it cool for a while and eventually went up and made a complete fool of myself by totally fangirling out.  Seriously I could barely find the words to say I loved the book and the world and Thank you.  I think Leigh could see my serious lack of words because she stood up and gave me the biggest hug.  I then got to have a photo with her - look at how happy I look!!!

Leigh & Me

Leigh and Nina then held a round of trivia questions with the winners getting some seriously cool Grisha style gifts.  With a little help I got a question right and was the very lucky winner of a gorgeous handmade bookmark.  This night just got better and better for me!!

The event concluded with lots of chatting and general mingling.  All in all one hell of an event that I will never forget.  Thank you so much to Nina, everyone at Orion &Waterstones and most of all HUGE Thanks to Leigh - you made this fangirl real happy!!

My souvenirs of the day

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