Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Storm by Brigid Kemmerer Review and Dream Cast

Storm (Elemental, #1)
Rating: 4/5

Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys - all the ones she doesn't want. Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They're powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.
And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.

Secrets are hard to keep when your life's at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who's hiding the most dangerous truth of all.

The storm is coming.

I definitely loved Storm but I did have some tiny issues with it. 

What I loved:

The plot was amazing. It flowed nicely and it kept me interested. The whole elemental thing was fascinating. The author made sure to explain everything in detail but didn't make it too exhausting for me to read. Sometimes authors explain things with too much details and it just gets boring. This was not the case with Storm. 

Becca was amazing. She was kick-ass, honest and funny. She went through a lot in this book but she never acted like the victim when she was entitle to act like one. I loved, LOVED Hunter and Gabriel. They are my type of guy in YA books. 

The twist and turns this book took had me biting my nails. I could not put it down. And oh God the secrets. I never saw them coming. 

What I didn't love so much:

Chris. He was an ok character. He was supposed to be the main love interest in Storm but to me he was more like a secondary character. He didn't get as much time with Becca as Hunter did. It would've been totally understandable if their story was to continue. Which I don't think it will because the next book is about Gabriel. 

Another character I wanted to see more of was Becca's dad. Whenever Becca and her dad were together, it made for an interesting scene but unfortunately there wasn't enough interaction between the two of them. Hopefully we'll see more of him in the next book.

Even though there were thing I didn't love, Storm still is an excellent read. I can't wait for book 2 where I'll read more about sexy Gabriel. 

Amazon/Goodreads


Dream Cast











Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Pic2Book Wednesday Challenge #67


Guess the Book Title





This is a daily challenge where you guess the book title just by looking at the pictures. This game is inspired by the game Scene it? and it's one of my favorite challenges in it! If you want to participate and don't want any spoilers don't read the comments. I'll post the answer of this challenge in tomorrow's post.

What's this book's title?








Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby
Shooting Stars


Thanks to:  

For participating in last week's challenge!!! 

Monday, September 24, 2012

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter Review and Giveaway!

Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles, #1)Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….


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

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.

I wish... Yeah, I wish.

Why did I have to finish this book so quickly? WHY? Now I'm here thinking I have to wait for the sequel, which comes out in the fall of 2013 *shudders* and I just want to punch something. The sequel should come out like, tomorrow!

Now with the actual review.

I thought Alice in Zombieland was some kind of retelling of Alice in Wonderland. I imagined the characters from Alice in Wonderland in blood covered clothes and wanting to eat Alice's brain. Even though I have only watch the movies I was kind of  excited to read it but felt a little hesitant because I thought I was going to be lost. Oh, how wrong I was! Alice in Zombieland is its own world. Yeah, for what I could tell there were some details similar to the original book/movies (remember I haven't read Alice in Wonderland so, sorry) but other than that I thought it was very authentic.

I just want to say kudos to Showalter for writing such amazing characters. Even the secondary characters had their moment to shine, which to me is rare to find nowadays. I fell in love with every  single one of them. Alice was an amazing heroine and I couldn't help but loving her. She was smart, strong and of course really funny and sarcastic! Her ability to be funny and witty in stressful moments amazed me. And what is an awesome heroine without a kick ass BFF? Kat was a hilarious character to read and I can't wait to read more of her! Last but definitely not least we have Cole AKA Sexy-new-fictional-boyfriend. OMG, this guys was just, WOW. 

The plot moved quickly. From the get-go we know Alice's life is shaken by a tragic event. From then on, the reader goes with Alice on a journey to discover what these "monsters" her dad always talked about are. Because this book is so awesome I couldn't put it down meaning I found myself reading at wee hours of the morning. I was terrified. I didn't go to the bathroom without turning all the lights on and looking everywhere to see if the Zombies had finally come to get me. There's nothing I found wrong with this book. Alice in Zombieland is one of my favorite reads of 2012! 

Amazon/Goodreads


GIVEAWAY

To enter the giveaway just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Sorry, this giveaway is US only and ends 10/8/12. 
Good Luck!! 



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Pic2Book Wednesday Challenge #66


Guess the Book Title





This is a daily challenge where you guess the book title just by looking at the pictures. This game is inspired by the game Scene it? and it's one of my favorite challenges in it! If you want to participate and don't want any spoilers don't read the comments. I'll post the answer of this challenge in tomorrow's post.

What's this book's title?




Last Week's Challenge answer: 
Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

Carnival of Souls

Sunday, September 16, 2012

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

Rating: 3.5/5

This is Not a TestIt’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

I think I rated this book 3.5 because I was expecting more from it. It started out pretty depressing with Sloane thinking about killing herself. I thought that maybe going through an "end of the world" situation would shake her out of that state of mind. Sadly it didn't. Here's the thing, I blame myself for not liking it so much. How can I expect an already depressed person to get better by killing zombies? I'm used to zombie books and movies to be action packed with kick-ass heroes. I was waiting for Sloane to become this Alice form Resident Evil kind of character. Somehow I thought the kids were going to find machine guns hidden in the High School's basement and later they would pimp their school bus by turning it into a Zombie-Proofmobile. Not very original, huh?

Don't get me wrong, there were zombie encounters and plenty of gore. This is Not a Test was a page turner and the writing flows nicely. I really don't know if this is a stand-alone book but I'm hoping for a sequel because the ending was kind of a cliff hanger. If you are looking for a different style of zombie book with average teens trying to survive and people dying, then this book is for you. This is Not a Test was very realistic, with flawed characters and full of raw emotions. 


Amazon/Goodreads






Thursday, September 13, 2012

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore Review

Bitterblue (Graceling Realm, #3)5/5 Stars

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle--disguised and alone--to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.


Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart.


Like many Kristin Cashore fans out there, I waited 3 painful long years for Bitterblue. I didn’t know what to expect from it. I did however hope for some kind of merge between Katsa and Fire’s world. Other than that, I knew that I would love whatever Cashore decided to do with Bitterblue. Did Kristin Cashore grant my one and only wish of uniting Fire, Katsa and Bitterblue? Ha, I won’t tell you, but I have to say that I was very happy with the overall outcome of the book.

Bitterblue’s plot didn’t revolve around romance, unlike Graceling and Fire (the 2 previous books in the series), which were full of swoony moments. Yes, there was a love interest but I didn’t feel an intense connection between the two parties involve. Maybe the connection was there but I’m so used to Katsa and Po’s “larger than life” love for each other that I probably missed it. BUT, whatever Bitterblue was lacking in the love department, it compensated with everything else. 


After finishing Bitterblue I know why it took the author so long to write it. It was amazing the amount of details Cashore has woven into this story to create the epicness that it is now. Full of lies, heartbreaks, Gracelings, adventure and badassness, Bitterblue was a perfect addition to an amazing series.




Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Pic2Book Wednesday Challenge #65


Guess the Book Title





This is a daily challenge where you guess the book title just by looking at the pictures. This game is inspired by the game Scene it? and it's one of my favorite challenges in it! If you want to participate and don't want any spoilers don't read the comments. I'll post the answer of this challenge in tomorrow's post.

What's this book's title?








Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi



Thanks to:  


For participating in last week's challenge!!! 
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