Teaser Tuesday (July 31)

What is teaser tuesday?
It's a meme hosted by Should Be Reading and here are the rules:
Grab your current read...
Open to a random page
Share two teaser sentences from somewhere on the page
Don't include spoilers.

"His voice is so pure, so enthralling that my instinct is to believe whatever he says. "Tonight the Morgans called you over because Mrs. Morgan collapsed and was rendered unconscious." 

-Whispers in Autumn, Page 151 (uncorrected ARC), by Trisha Leigh

I'm writing a huge paper (I totally procrastinated) this week, so I'm a bit behind on my reading. I'm really enjoying this one so far, though!

Stacking the Shelves (July 29)

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews! It's a way to highlight the books that everyone got throughout the week.
Received for Review: 

Whispers in Autumn by Trisha Leigh
In 2015, a race of alien Others conquered Earth. They enslaved humanity not by force, but through an aggressive mind control that turned people into contented, unquestioning robots. 

Except sixteen-year-old Althea isn’t content at all, and she doesn’t need the mysterious note inside her locket to tell her she’s Something Else. It also warns her to trust no one, so she hides the pieces that make her different, even though it means being alone. 

The autumn she meets Lucas, everything changes. 

Althea and Lucas are immune to the alien mind control, and together they search for the reason why. What they uncover is a stunning truth the Others never anticipated, one with the potential to free the brainwashed human race. 

It’s not who they are that makes them special, but what.

And what they are is a threat. One the Others are determined to eliminate for good. (From Goodreads)

I also wrote a post for the Love My Indie feature hosted by Joli at Actin' Up With Books! You can check that out here

Review: Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

When Alex falls for the charming new boy at school, Cole -- a handsome, funny, sports star who adores her -- she can't believe she's finally found her soul mate . . . someone who truly loves and understands her.

At first, Alex is blissfully happy. Sure, Cole seems a little jealous of her relationship with her close friend Zack, but what guy would want his girlfriend spending all her time with another boy? As the months pass, though, Alex can no longer ignore Cole's small put-downs, pinches, or increasingly violent threats.

As Alex struggles to come to terms with the sweet boyfriend she fell in love with and the boyfriend whose "love" she no longer recognizes, she is forced to choose -- between her "true love" and herself. (From Goodreads)

Best Bits: Once again Jennifer Brown has written a gut-wrenching story about teens. I'd say that it's pretty accurate in terms of what an abusive relationship can be like. It certainly wasn't easy to read. It's not easy to see a character going through an abusive relationship when all you want to do is point out everything that the abuser is doing to hurt them. I don't think that this topic is often talked about with teens (or even in adults). Education about the cycle of violence is extremely important. I don't want to seem preachy here, but consider the fact that one in four women in the United States will experience domestic violence at some point in her life. That's not an acceptable statistic to me. The more education about the problem, the more work we can do to end it. 

Nit Picks: I don't really have any for this one. I was so involved in the story that I honestly didn't notice any major flaws. I know that some people have mentioned that the plot is a bit predictable. I can see where they're coming from, you do know what's going to happen to Alex from the start. I don't think that detracts from the story, however. It just filled me with an impending sense of dread. I know that a couple other reviews mentioned that they were unhappy about Alex's friends. Again, I understand what they meant...but Cole was trying to isolate her. As a teen you're not really well-equipped to handle something like your best friend being abused. I'm not sure that all teens would know what to do in that situation. So, I thought that reactions of Bethany and Zack to Cole were well-written. 

Bitter End 
By Jennifer Brown
Published by Little, Brown
359 Pages
Rating: A

Waiting on Wednesday (July 25)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.

WARNING: The synopsis does contain spoilers to book one!

Ashen Winter (Ashfall 2) by Mike Mullin

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

Published by Tanglewood Press

Release Date: October 16, 2012

Teaser Tuesday (July 24)

What is teaser tuesday?
It's a meme hosted by Should Be Reading and here are the rules:
Grab your current read...
Open to a random page
Share two teaser sentences from somewhere on the page
Don't include spoilers.

"Animals. Evil creatures, beings that would maim, rip, and kill humans without a second thought."

-Whispers in Autumn, Page 27 (uncorrected proof), by Trisha Leigh

Stacking the Shelves (July 22)

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews! It's a way to highlight the books that everyone got throughout the week.

After my shameful book splurge last week I did really well. I received one book for review, and I can't wait to get started!

Stormdancer (The Lotus War Book 1)

A DYING LAND 
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever. 

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST 
The hunters of Shima's imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death. 

A HIDDEN GIFT 
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her. 

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire. (From Goodreads)

Published by Thomas Dunne Books

Release Date: September 18, 2012

*Happy dance! 

Note: It's possible that Jay Kristoff might be Dave Ghohl's twin. I had to do a double-take when looking at his author photo. 

Note 2: His blog is hilarious. 

Review: Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget. (From Goodreads) 

Best Bits: This book was a wild ride. The story is based in fact, there is a supervolcano under Yellowstone. Will it erupt again, yes. Will it erupt during our lifetime...not so much. Mullin crafted the story in a way that made it completely believable that this could happen, and point out how unprepared we really are for a disaster on this scale. This is a disaster novel, and the thing that Mullin does extremely well (which often fails in disaster movies) is build his characters. I think that he could have easily focused more on the horror and devastation of the eruption, but it's really all about the people. He highlights those that stick together, and the depravity of those fighting to survive on their own. There is some violence, but it seems like everything that happened was necessary to further the growth of the characters. 

Nit Picks: My nit pick for this one is the way that the story ends. This section will be rather vague because I can't give away spoilers (seriously, this one is so suspenseful!). I understand that the purpose was to set everything up for the upcoming book, Ashen Winter, but something about the ending didn't quite work for me. I can't help but feel that everything might have been fleshed out a bit more had it been saved for the second book. 

Ashfall
By Mike Mullin
Published by Tanglewood Press
466 Pages
From the Library
Rating: B

Dirty Little Secrets and Transcendence Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered for a chance to win a copy of Dirty Little Secrets and Transcendence by C.J. Omololu. Without further ado, the winner is:

Michelle!

Congratulations! I've emailed you and you have 72 hours to respond.

Waiting on Wednesday (July 18)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.

Stormdancer (The Lotus War Book 1) by Jay Kristoff

A DYING LAND 
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever. 

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST 
The hunters of Shima's imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death. 

A HIDDEN GIFT 
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her. 

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire. (From Goodreads)

Published by Thomas Dunne Books

Release Date: September 18, 2012

Teaser Tuesday (July 17)

What is teaser tuesday?
It's a meme hosted by Should Be Reading and here are the rules:
Grab your current read...
Open to a random page
Share two teaser sentences from somewhere on the page
Don't include spoilers.

"There is a slight frost on the window. On the inside. When I rubbed it away I could see that even the sheep are huddling together for warmth. And they are practically walking jumpers." 
-A Midsummer Tight's Dream, Page 33, by Louise Rennison

In My Mailbox (July 15)

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren. Here's what I got this week:



All links go to Goodreads

Books Mentioned:
Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
Hush by Donna Jo Napoli
Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot
7 Clues to Winning You by Kristin Walker
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin
Won from Epic Reads: A Midsummer Tights Dream by Lousie Rennison

Book Review: From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas

KYLIE: MEXICO WHAT? I should be putting the finishing touches on my valedictorian speech. Graduation is TODAY, and is this a wedding band on my finger.

MAX: It all started with Kylie's laptop and a truck full of stolen electronics. Okay, it was kind of hot, the way she broke us out like some chick in an action movie. But now we're stranded in Tijuana. With less than twenty-four hours before graduation. Awesome. 

WILL: Saving Kylie Flores from herself is kind of a full-time occupation. Luckily, I, Will Bixby, was born for the job. And when I found out she was stuck in Mexico with dreamy Max Langston, sure, I agreed to bring their passports across the border -- but there's no reason to rush back home right away. This party is just getting started. 

LILY: I just walked in on my boyfriend, Max Langston, canoodling with Kylie Flores, freak of the century. Still, I can't completely hold it against him. He NEEDS me. It's even clearer now. And I'm not giving him up without a fight. (From Goodreads)

Best Bits: I think that a lot of people are going to be surprised by this one. Even though I have loved every book I've read by Hyperion I think I still sometimes associate them with Disney films as opposed to being part of Disney publishing. That was basically blown out of the water because this book is fairly edgy, and deals with quite a few things that Ariel never did. Two of the characters are social outcasts (Kylie and Will) while the other two are at the top of the popularity pyramid (Max and Lily). It was nice to see that each of these characters was dealing with something beyond the typical YA tropes. The book deals very frankly with topics like sexual orientation, money, living with a disability, cancer, family expectations...phew that's a lot. The authors do a good job of streamlining all of this into one story (see my one nit pick below), and it's fairly accurate of the teen experience. I mean, we all have/had more than one issue to deal with. 

Nit Picks: While I really enjoyed getting to see the most from Kylie, I wish that the other characters could have been explored just a bit more. The reader is really able to experience the difficulties that Kylie is faced with. Her parents leave her in charge of her young brother who has autism (you get to see from his perspective, too!), and her father is distant. The other characters have similar issues (one of the best bits), but they don't get explored the way that they do with Kylie. Am I a bad person? Why do I want to see characters suffer?!

From What I Remember
By Stacy Kramer & Valerie Thomas
Published by Hyperion
462 Pages

Received for Review

Rating: B+

Feature and Follow Friday

Feature & Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Allison Can Read and gives bloggers a topic to discuss each week while discovering new blogs! 

This week's question: What drove you to start book blogging in the first place? 

When I started this blog three years ago I was working at a local video rental store (which has since gone out of business). I had just started my senior year of college and I really wanted to do something for myself. I love books, and I just wanted to spread that love to a community of people who appreciate YA books! 

C.J. Omololu Contest Reminder

Just wanted to remind everyone that my contest for Dirty Little Secrets and Transcendence by C.J. Omololu ends in 5 days! As long as The Book Depository ships to your country you can sign up below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday (July 11)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.

The Waiting Sky by Lara Zielin

One summer chasing tornadoes could finally change Jane's life for the betterSeventeen-year-old Jane McAllister can't quite admit her mother's alcoholism is spiraling dangerously out of control until she drives drunk, nearly killing them and Jane's best friend.

Jane has only one place to turn: her older brother Ethan, who left the problems at home years ago for college. A summer with him and his tornado-chasing buddies may just provide the time and space Jane needs to figure out her life and whether it still includes her mother. But she struggles with her anger at Ethan for leaving home and feels guilty--is she also abandoning her mom just when she needs Jane most? The carefree trip turned journey of self-discovery quickly becomes more than Jane bargained for, especially when the devilishly handsome Max steps into the picture. (From Goodreads)

Published by Putnam Juvenile

Release Date: August 7, 2012

Teaser Tuesday (July 10)

What is teaser tuesday?
It's a meme hosted by Should Be Reading and here are the rules:
Grab your current read...
Open to a random page
Share two teaser sentences from somewhere on the page
Don't include spoilers.

"It looked like a giant fist had descended from the heavens, punching a round hole in the roof above my sister's room and collapsing the front of the house. Flames shot into the sky above the hole and licked up the roof."

-Ashfall, Page 14, by Mike Mullin

*I've actually already finished this one and the review will be posted soon!

In My Mailbox (July 8)

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren. Here's what I got this week: 

From the library: 

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Under the bubbling hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone National Park is a supervolcano. Most people don't know it's there. The caldera is so large that it can only be seen from a plane or satellite. It just could be overdue for an eruption, which would change the landscape and climate of our planet.

Ashfall is the story of Alex, a teenage boy left alone for the weekend while his parents visit relatives. When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts unexpectedly, Alex is determined to reach his parents. He must travel over a hundred miles in a landscape transformed by a foot of ash and the destruction of every modern convenience that he has ever known, and through a new world in which disaster has brought out both the best and worst in people desperate for food, water, and warmth. With a combination of nonstop action, a little romance, and very real science, this is a story that is difficult to stop reading and even more difficult to forget. (From Goodreads) 

What did you get this week?

Waiting on Wednesday (July 4)

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This weekly meme shares the upcoming books that I'm most excited about.

Gravity by Melissa West

Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed—arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die.
Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she’s been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she’s falling for him. But Ari isn’t just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She’s a military legacy who’s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know—especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war. 

Published by Entangled
Release Date: October 16, 2012


Happy 4th of July to all of those celebrating in the US!

Book Review: Transcendence by C.J. Omololu (an author interview and giveaway, too!)

When a visit to the Tower of London triggers an overwhelmingly real vision of a beheading that occurred centuries before, Cole Ryan fears she is losing her mind. A mysterious boy, Griffon Hall, comes to her aid, but the intensity of their immediate connection seems to open the floodgate of memories even wider.

As their feelings grow, Griffon reveals their common bond as members of the Akhet—an elite group of people who can remember past lives and use their collected wisdom for the good of the world. But not all Akhet are altruistic, and a rogue is after Cole to avenge their shared past. Now in extreme danger, Cole must piece together clues from many lifetimes. What she finds could ruin her chance at a future with Griffon, but risking his love may be the only way to save them both.

Full of danger, romance, and intrigue, Transcendence breathes new life into a perpetually fascinating question: What would you do with another life to live? (From Goodreads)

Genre: Contemporary with a bit of fantasy/mystery/adventure thrown in 

The Best Bits: Plot and characters, for sure. I think that the idea of Akhet, those who can recall their past lives, is an intriguing one. They have access to lifetimes of knowledge, they don't repeat past mistakes, and they have the opportunity to improve the world around them. Of course, not all are good people, some are using their ability to right past wrongs. The way that Omololu began to explore this power was extremely rich, and I'm looking forward to learning more about them in future books. There was also a great contrast between Cole and Griffon. Cole is a typical teen in that she's a bit unsure of herself, and doesn't quite believe in her gift (who wouldn't start to wonder if they were hallucinating?). Griffon has a much deeper understanding of their ability and it played out nicely over the course of the book. 

Nit Picks: I really only have one, and in a way it's one that was probably intentional. I felt like the flashbacks that were relevant to this particular portion of Cole's story were fleshed out, but we only get glimpse's into other past lives. In the interview below, Omololu has written another book in this series. So, I'm looking at it almost like a television series. We get flashbacks that are probably going to come into play in later books and Cole is growing to grow throughout the series. I think it's important for readers to know that, otherwise they are likely to question why only one lifetime was explored while others were shown (but hey, I loved all the flashbacks, just wanted to give everyone the heads up). 

Transcendence
By C.J. Omololu
Published by Walker & Company

336 Pages

Received for Review

Rating: A-

Author Interview

A huge thanks to Cynthia for stopping by and answering a couple of questions!

1. Can you tell us a little bit about your new book, Transcendence?

Transcendence is about a group of people, the Akhet, who remember all of their past lives and a girl named Cole who is becoming one of them. She meets Griffon, a very old Akhet, right as she begins to transition and he helps her along the way. As their relationship deepens, Cole discovers there is a rogue Akhet who is out to avenge a wrong that they feel has been done to them in a past lifetime and Cole quickly learns that she may not be able to trust anyone. A little bit of mystery and a little bit of romance - it was a lot of fun to write.

2. What inspired the Akhet, those who can recall their past lives?

The idea of reincarnation came to me after a friend's teenaged son died suddenly. I couldn't understand why this wonderful boy was gone, and started to think that the only way it would be okay is if he could someday come back again. This led me to do a lot of research on different theories of reincarnation in various cultures - I took what I liked and left the rest. The idea to call them Akhet and associate them with Ancient Egypt happened when I took one of my kids on a field trip to the King Tut exhibit at a local museum. I saw an ankh mirror in one of the displays and remembered the ankh necklace that I wore for years when I was in my teens - it all just seemed to fit beautifully. All of the words - Akhet, Sekhem, Iawi, etc. have roots in Egyptian words that have meaning that makes sense to the plot. For example, Akhet means the place on the horizon where the sun rises and sets, which to me was the perfect metaphor for reincarnation.

3.The reader gets to see a number of different flashbacks for Cole. Have you considered writing another book where she might explore these past lives?

I loved writing the flashback scenes, but there is so much research involved in writing a true historical that it's a bit daunting. We just wrapped up the second book in the series and there is a deeper exploration of some of her past lives in that story.

 4.Your first book for teens, Dirty Little Secrets, was realistic fiction. How did your writing process change for Transcendence, a book which included some fantasy elements?

It's funny, but even though there is a focus on reincarnation, I almost consider Transcendence a contemporary book. As long as you can suspend disbelief in the Akhet, there is no other magic in the book - everything they can do is physiologically possible. Both Transcendence and Dirty Little Secrets required a lot of research on their subjects, but luckily, nobody can come back and tell me that I got the details of reincarnation wrong.

5. Do you have any new projects in the works?

There are always new projects. As I said, we've just finished the second Transcendence book (title still to come) and I really love how it turned out - a continuation of some threads, but a new and exciting story in that world. I'm also working on a few standalone projects on the side - hopefully you'll get to hear about them someday soon.

Giveaway

Alright, I've decided to host a little giveaway. Everyone knows that I loved Dirty Little Secrets, so I thought I'd give that one away as well as her newest release Transcendence! I'll be shipping them through The Book Depository so make sure that they ship to your country (I could also send e-book version, so the winner could potentially choose to go that route). The contest ends in two weeks on July 17, at 11:59 pm EST. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In My Mailbox (July 1)

Happy July! I only got one book this week, although I shouldn't have gotten one anyway (I'm on a self-imposed book buying ban). 

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi of The Story Siren...

Ripple by Mandy Hubbard

Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. The water calls to her, draws her in, forces her to sing her deadly song to unsuspecting victims. If she succumbs, she kills. If she doesn't, the pain is unbearable. To keep herself and those she cares about safe, she shuts herself off, refusing to make friends or fall in love-again. Because the last time she fell in love with a boy, he ended up dead.
Then Lexi finds herself torn. Against her better judgement, she's opening up again, falling in love with someone new when she knows she shouldn't. But when she's offered the chance to finally live a normal life, she learns that the price she must pay to be free of her curse is giving him up.