Book Review | Everneath | Brodi Ashton

Book Review | Everneath | Brodi AshtonEverneath by Brodi Ashton
Series: Everneath #1
Published by Balzer + Bray on January 24, 2012
Genres: Fantasy YA, Mythology, Young Adult
Pages: 370
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought it
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four-stars

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld…this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki’s time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she’s forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath with Cole.

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Book Review | Tempest | Julie Cross

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Tempest | Julie CrossTempest by Julie Cross
Series: Tempest #1
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on January 17, 2012
Genres: Contemporary YA, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: the publisher
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four-stars

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.
That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.
Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.
But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.
Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

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Book Review | The Survival Kit | Donna Freitas

Book Review | The Survival Kit | Donna FreitasThe Survival Kit by Donna Freitas
Published by Farrar Straus & Giroux on October 11, 2011
Genres: Contemporary YA, Death/Dying/Grief, Relationships, Romance
Pages: 351
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
five-stars

When Rose’s mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose’s Survival Kit. Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a  paper kite, for letting go.

As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will is her family’s gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she’s going through. Can loss lead to love?

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Book Review | The Gathering Storm | Robin Bridges

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | The Gathering Storm | Robin BridgesThe Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges
Series: Katerina #1
Published by Delacorte on January 10, 2012
Genres: Fantasy YA, Historical Fiction, Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Also by this author: The Unfailing Light
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
three-stars

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe’s royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina’s strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar’s standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina’s help to safeguard Russia, even if he’s repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

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Book Review | Ditched: A Love Story | Robin Mellom

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Ditched: A Love Story | Robin MellomDitched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom
Published by Disney Hyperion on January 10, 2012
Genres: Contemporary YA, Relationships
Pages: 277
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
four-stars

High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat handle first.

Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.

Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.

And then ditched her.

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together — stain by stain on her thrift-store dress — exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag’s moving car…

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

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Book Review | Fracture | Megan Miranda

I received this book for free from BookExpo in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Fracture | Megan MirandaFracture by Megan Miranda
Series: Fracture #1
Published by Walker Children's on January 17, 2012
Genres: Contemporary YA
Pages: 262
Format: ARC
Source: BookExpo
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
three-stars

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine–despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she’s far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can’t control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she’s reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy’s motives aren’t quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

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Book Review | Cinder | Marissa Meyer

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Cinder | Marissa MeyerCinder by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Published by Feiwel & Friends on January 3, 2012
Genres: Dystopian YA, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 390
Format: eARC
Also in this series: Scarlet, Cinder, Cress, Fairest
Also by this author: Scarlet, Cinder, Cress, Fairest
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
five-stars

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

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2012 Challenge: Amy’s Pile of SHAME

Amy’s Pile of SHAME Challenge

I know that I already posted the details of the actual, official challenges I’m taking part in next year. (Check out the Challenges tab up there on the menu for updates, my dears!) BUT because I’m crazy and also a slacker I have decided to create a personal challenge just for me to complete and YOU GUYS? I’m going to DO IT (she says with her fingers crossed).

Some quick background on what caused this masochistic insanity: a couple of weeks ago, I posted a Top Ten Tuesday about the 10 most embarrassing books STILL on my TBR pile. I had some doozies on there. Appropriately, and with some affection I have to say, I called it my “pile of shame.” But because shame is NO FUN, I’ve decided to go after my PoS like I’m cutting through jungle underbrush with a machete. IT’S GOING DOWN. (Hopefully.) I’m not really making any rules for myself, although I can tell you right now that this is probably the worst idea. That might change. Until then, though, here’s my list as it stands right now. Some of the books on there are EGREGIOUS and others are just books that I’ve had for awhile and want to read. Basically, this challenge is an excuse to read books that are slightly past their prime in terms of currency.

I would ask you, friends, to PLEASE try and refrain from the hurling of rotten fruits and veg at me because I really need ENCOURAGEMENT. Ok? Thanks guys. LOVES YOU SO MUCH.

Without further ado, in no particular order…*hears JAWS theme*…

Amy’s PILE OF SHAME

*gasps from the crowd* *babies crying* *women screaming* *civilians running for their lives*

1. Across the Universe

2. Demon’s Lexicon

3. Need

4. Nightshade

5. Revoution

6. Rampant

7. Hunger

8. Beauty

9. Beast

10. An Echo in the Bone

11. Jellicoe Road

12. The Book Thief

13. The Golden Compass

14. The Hobbit

Wish me luck!!

Get Your Game Face On: 2012 Reading Challenges

I’m not really that competitive, you guys. But I AM excited about doing these reading challenges this coming year! I’ve never done reading challenges, so I think I’m giving myself a solid but not overwhelming start just to get my feet wet. I REALLY can’t wait because there isn’t ONE book for any of these challenges that I’m not looking forward to reading. BIG THANK YOU in advance to all of the FANTABULOUS bloggers who are hosting the challenges I’m participating in. You guys are the best!

So, without further ado, here’s my challenges for this coming year! For future reference, visit the Challenges page up top there.

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