What I Got! (11)

What I Got is a weekly meme hosted by Monica over at Cover Analysis :) where we tell y'all about the wonderful brag-worthy bookish things we got this week!

 

As we can all see, I am a shameless library-go-er, so of course I have to start with what I got this week from the...

 

LIBRARY:

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

I've been dying for this book for a while, so I am currently reading it! Yeah, not a really big story for this one, sadly. I wanted to read it, I put it on reserve, waited for it to get in, picked it up, and now I'm reading it. Maybe I should just make up a more interesting story for this... Something to think about.

 

The Sweetest Spell by Suzanne Selfors

This one DOES have a nice little story to go with it. Well, kind of. It's just that I was talking to my mom LITERALLY right before I left to go to the library about this book. I was all like, "I hope the new book by Suzanne Slefors is there; she's awesome!" And then I got there and saw it on the new arrivals shelf and I think I'm seriously psycic now. Only problem is I can't spell it...because I spelled that wrong, didn't I? Anyways, I love Suzanne, I've read all her YA books so far, and I'm excited for this one.

 

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young 

I've been looking at this book for a while but kept passing it up for some reason. I finally gave in this time and actually checked it out. And now I want to read it so bad! Goodness, I want to finish my current read to get to this one. Wait, that sounds bad. My current read is a good book, I just mean...oh, you know what I mean. I'm rambling for no reason, aren't I. I tend to do that.

 

A Want So Wicked by Suzanne Young

This book is what prompted me to grab A Need So Beautiful. I saw it on the new arrivals shelf and thought I should grab it while it was there. And of course I need to read the first book before this one because...because...just because. That's usually how things go. So I'm excited about this one, too!

 

BOUGHT:

Weeeeell, y'all know how I went to the Austin Teen Book festival yesterday, right? I posted about it yesterday. If you didn't see it, all you gotta do is click HERE and BOOM! You can read the post.

Anyways, when I was there, I bought a book. A super-duper cool book that I cannot wait to dive into.

 

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone 

EEEEK! I am so glad to have this book! And the author was so friendly! I'll most likely read this, like, after A Want So Wicked.

Thank you to my brother Billy for buying me this book because he is an awesome person.

 

All right, that's What I Got this week. What'd you get? Links and whatnot in the comments, please! (as if there were anywhere else for you to put them...)

 

♥Jessica(:

Austin Teen Book Festival 2012♥

I spent today at the Austin Teen Book Festival! It was my first BIG bookish thing. There were so many authors there. Seriously, If you were to ask me to tell you all of them from off the top of my head, it would just not happen. My brain would probably explode.

 

But the point here is that I had an AMAZING time. Yes, amazing.

 

It's funny, because whenever I go to any book signing, I'm so nervous and stuff. But I've been learning something about authors--they're actually really, really cool. They're nice and friendly and funny. Just like anyone else in this world. Wonder of wonders, right? ;)

 

Soooooo, technically, I met every. Single. Author there. Yeah, every one. How? Well, my brother and I got our fun little schedule sheet signed by every. Single. Author there. Seriously, we did. I don't have a picture of it. Sorry, brain fart. I'll take one sometime, though, and post it so y'all can see. It's very...crowded. But it was so much fun! I got a bunch of little goodies, too. I'll probably be giving away a thing or two sometime, so keep an eye out for that sometime in the future.

 

Now, for the pictures! Yes, there are some pictures! My first time taking pictures at a signing. Today was just so full of firsts for me. Not pictures with EVERY author, though. There was not enough time for THAT. [insert sad face]

 

Me and Jennifer Lynn Barnes

 

Eliot Schrefer, me, and Marissa Meyer

 

Me and Tara Hudson

DUDE, I MET TARA HUSDON. This is a big deal to me.

 

Me and Libba Bray

Thanks to this wonderful lady, Total Eclipse of the Heart is still stuck in my head. I am currently listening to Mr. Jones by Counting Crows to get it out. Yeah, sadly, it's not working yet. Oh, and..."Testing is bullshit." And, "Farts are always funny." So, so true. Hehe.

 

Scott Speer and me

I'm the best friend ever. And he is so tall. So incredibly tall. Well, there's that and then the fact that I'm, you know, short. He had to stoop...a lot...for this picture. It was practically a crouch. He was super nice, though.

 

Jessica Shirvington and me

We share names! And I say this again--her accent was so cute! Such a friendly author. I can't wait to read Entice that much more now.

 

Sarah Rees Brennan, me, and Martha Brockenbrough

I'm sorry to skip right over Martha, because she was nice and her book looks super cool and all, but...SARAH REES BRENNAN. The author of The Demon's Lexicon Trilogy. The first review I ever wrote. The reason I started my blog. Yeah, I met her. And she's super amazing! I could go on all day about this. I'm so, unbelievably sad that Unspoken was sold out so I couldn't get it signed. On the bright side, I got a cool neclace because of it. And I promised her I'd buy Unspoken somewhere else. Which means I HAVE to meet her again sometime to get it signed. See, the bright side makes everything better... I seriously have more to day about her, but I don't want this to be TOO too long. So I'll leave it there...

 

Me and Anna Banks

ANNA IS AWESOME. I love this lady, seriously. This is us kind of having a stare down... You cannot see my stare really, but Anna said that I have the World's Best Stank Eye. Signed it in my copy of Of Poseidon and everything. And gave me a trophy. Well, sort of. I'll take a picture of this sometime, too. Anna was so much fun! After this, whenever we saw each other we had a stare down. Which never failed to make me laugh real hard. Good times, good times.

 

 

All right, those are the pictures I took! It was an awesome day, and...I don't know. I'm not sure I have anything to follow this "and"... I am tired. I had to wake up early for this, so...yeah. If you have any comments, then you should...you know...comment below. I am very uncreative right now. My bad. Either way, I had a great day, got to meet some amazing authors, and found some new great books I want to read.

 

Oh, and I want to thank my brother Billy for taking me to this! Otherwise, I would have had to stalk Twitter and be jealous of everyone there. And I never would have found out about my stank eye skill. So, thank you, Billy! Best big brother EVER.

 

Okay, that is all. Adios.

♥Jessica(:

Review: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 373 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR
Series: Struck #1
Source: Library

Description from Goodreads:
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. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.

Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn’t who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything.

WARNING: I may use some puns that the world would do better without. Sorry, I just can't help myself. ;)

Struck is a book I've heard really, really flattering things about. So I decided it was about time I actually read it. I checked it out from the library and BOOM. Read it. It did take me somewhat longer than I usually spend on books, but I blame that mostly on school. In the end, I finished a particularly...striking book by Jennifer Bosworth.

All right, so the book begins. I was so intrigued by how this began. There was a "Nightmare Boy" and everything. But then the story moved on and I got very bored. I'm being completely honest, I considered not even finishing this book for a bit. I was that bored. Because a lot of time was spent getting the reader caught up to where we needed be to understand the events that would actually take place in the story. I didn't know that until at least 100ish pages in, though.

Still, I kept reading because I despise not finishing books. Whether I like them or not, I always wonder about them. Finally, after I passed the 100ish page mark, the story sucked me in and it became very good. The truth is that this story is shockingly unique in content. It's based around lightning, which was seriously interesting and a huge part of what drew me in in the first place. That said, I must admit that there was a lot that was claimed to be connected to lightning in this book that made no sense to me. Then again, that may be the point--we can't really predict what effect lightning will have. Our main character, Mia, was living evidence of that.

Character Rundown: Mia. I felt very...meh about Mia. I don't think I liked her. Jennifer did do a wonderful job of creating a voice for her, though. Great storytelling from Mia's POV. I have to give Jennifer credit for that. But I wasn't particularly fond of Mia. I did feel like she was very selfish. I understand why, but she could have handled things a little better. And here I go, being hard on the female charaters again. I can't help it, I expect a little more from them. Otherwise they're all the same. I DID like Mia's attitude in the end of the book, however. So I may actually like her a little in the next book. There's still hope yet.
And Jeremy. Ah, little Jeremy. Something very rare for me happened with this book: I DIDN'T fall head over heels for any male character. Well, I have a soft spot for Parker (Mia's brother), but that's it. Jeremy just wasn't characterized very well at all. He had virtually no development and was very unoriginal. All I got was that he was gorgeous. Which is very nice, but lots of boys are pretty. I need more to swoon over than that. I did feel for him a bit with the vision thing, but not nearly enough to make up for the lack of...everything else.

Romance. Sweetness. Whatever you wish to call it. This is usually what makes or breaks a story for me. In this book, it was very cookie-cutter. There is seriously NO development of a relationship whatsoever. This was insta-love in the most irritating form. We have a stalker boy and a lonely girl who just so happen to--BAM--fall in love. Shocking. Suffice it to say that I was not impressed or compelled in any way by Jeremy and Mia's relationship. Which was very disappointing.

Lucky for this book, the sweetness was not needed. I was completely into every other aspect of the story. It was so completely interesting! After that 100ish-page slump I told you about, I was entranced by what was possibly going to happen.

Then there was the ending. For the most part, this was very good. It was a very...electrifying way to end the story. (This is before the epilogue.) But the big secret-thing with Jeremy was not all that surprising to me. I called it the moment he said he wasn't a Follower OR a Seeker. Aside from that, the ending was big and fun and just great. And then the epilogue was...an epilogue. That's pretty much it. It left me with a teeny bit of sympathy for Jeremy, but that's all.

Overall, this was a really, really good story by Jennifer Bosworth and I can't wait to see how this series continues. I would certainly recommend it, along with advice to stick it out past the first 100ish pages. It'll be worth it.

♥Jessica(:

Review: Onyx by Jennifer L Armentrout

Onyx by Jennifer L Armentrout
Release Date: August 14, 2012
Format: Papberback, 366 pages
Publisher: Emtangled Teen
Series: Lux #2
Source: BOUGHT! (like I'd do anything else with this book)

Description from Goodreads:
Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town…

The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…

It is no secret that I am quite literally obsessed with this series. OBSESSED may even be too feeble a word, but I can't think of anything better right now. If we remember my review of Obsidian, we will recall that I pretty much just gushed my way through telling y'all to read the book. I will try not to do that this time, but let me tell you...ONYX WAS EVEN BETTER THAN OBSIDIAN!

It's true. Onyx starts off right where Obsidian left us hanging--with some of Daemon's usual hotness. That boy never fails to make me laugh. Anyway, we jump into the plot right away, and then the story gets started. And when I say "gets started," I mean GETS STARTED. We have Daemon still trying to convince Katy to stop being a stubborn, stubborn girl and believe that he cares about stuff. Well, by "stuff" I mean Katy, but we got that, right? But this book is not soley devoted to Daemon and Katy angst. No, no, no, my friends. This book also has some seriously interesting alien revelations. And a new guy character, who I'll get into in my character rundown.

Which is happening NOW. Character rundown: Katy--same old kick-butt girl. My favorite female character...ever. Which is as big of a compliment I can give any female book character, because I'm hard on the females in books. They just have a tendency to be so dim-witted. But not Katy. She makes bad decisions, but she does them with good intentions at heart, and that's what counts for me. Now we're going to go to the new guy, Blake. I'm saving you-know-who for his own paragraph after I finish introducing Blake. Blake is the new kid. Blake is incrediby hot, in a California-boy way. Blake is completely charming. Blake has SECRETS. And that's all I'll say about him. Read the book to find out more...

DAEMON. OH, DAEMON. How can one not love this guy? I don't even know. He's just so awesome, I can't even tell you how much. He's still his own badass-self in this book, which I was glad about. He did not turn into a doormat or anything while trying to convince Katy that he truly does like her. Because that would honestly be a tragedy. He's so charismatic the way he is, I hope that never ever changes. EVER. And he's still as stunning as before. Heck, maybe even more so, now that he's not being a TOTAL jerk all the time. But I'll move on now, because otherwise I'd linger on this boy forever, happily...

SWEETNESS. This book is stuffed with it. There's so much more Daemon in this one, it's perfect. And NO. No just no. There is NOT a love triangle. How could there possibly be a love triangle when there is Daemon Black involved? That just doesn't happen. No, Blake is not the third point of a triangle of love. He does make Daemon jealous and spend some time with Katy, though. There are good reasons for this. Reasons that will be revealed in the book, and not by me because I refuse to spoil this awesomeness.Anyway, back to the sweetness--it's there. It will always be there. Never forget that. Oh, and I also loved watching Daemon and Katy's relationship grow. No insta-love here, no, sir! And they're both so stubborn and just plain perfect for each other and...I could go on about this forever, too so, we'll move on...again...

The plot of this book was not really predictable. Which is so amazing. I'm usually a very good guesser, which is kind of a let-down most of the time. I got surprised a bunch of times, though. And this book is so emotional. Not in an excessive way, but in a honest-to-goodness...EMOTIONAL way. This book is just...words cannot describe.

The ending. BIG ending. Seriously, HUGE. I am in desperate need of Opal, like, right this second. And I read Onyx way back in August, over a month ago. Which means my yearning for Opal has not ceased in that time. That's a big deal. The Lux series always has me on my toes, and this book just added to it. The ending of this book had an important cliffhanger, and, honestly, if it were to be written by anyone but Jennifer L Armentrout, I'd be ranting about it. But I have so much respect for this woman...and this book was so good it truly made up for it...I can do nothing but rave.

Overall, if you haven't gotten off your booty to get and read this book, DO IT NOW. Seriously, stop reading this and go. Just go. I will forgive you for ditching the rest of this post if you just READ this...this...yeah, I'm speechless. This piece of wonderful story-telling. Okay, that sounds good. Bye. Now, if you haven't even read Obsidian yet, I think you are certifiably crazy. But that's okay. Just go read these two books, and we'll pretend like nothing happened. Now, where was I? Overall, this book is my favorite book ever. Ever, ever. It has my favorite story line, and my favorite characters, my favorite author, my favorite covers, everything. The whole she-bang. In all seriousness, I urge you to not miss out on this compelling series. This is one of those things people just cannot miss!

♥Jessica(:

Waiting on Wednesday! (9)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we tell y'all about the books we cannot wait to get our hands on!

 

This week, I found a little something that looks so. Good.

 

Nameless by Lili St. Crow

Expected Publication Date: April 4, 2013

Publisher: Razorbill

 

Description from Goodreads:

A dark and eerie retelling of Snow White from Lili St. Crow,
New York Times bestselling author of the Strange Angels
series.

Sixteen-year-old Camille doesn’t remember her life before she was adopted by the powerful Vultusino family—the missing childhood years that left her scarred and silent. Now she lives a life
of luxury, protected by the supernatural Mafia Vultusinos, specially Nico, her adopted brother.

But Cami knows that she is not really Family. She is a mortal with a past that lies buried in trauma. And it’s not until a mysterious boy approaches her and reveals scars of his own that Cami begins
to uncover the secrets of her past . . . to find out where she comes from and what danger she now finds herself in.

Why I'm waiting on this--there are a bunch of reasons why this book makes me feel all tingly inside. One being that Lili wrote the Strange Angels series, which is one of my top ten (maybe even top five) favorite series ever. Though the ending was...you know. TEAM CHRISTOPHE FOREVER. Two is that the whole "protected by the supernatural Mafia Vultusinos, specially Nica, her adopted brother" thing looks cool. Then, it REALLY started to look like my kind of book when the description said "a mysterious boy approaches her." Yeah, a boy. And he's mysterious. I just seriously cannot wait to get my hands on this!

 

What are you waiting on this week, friends? Let me know!

 

♥Jessica(:

Teaser Tuesday! (14)

 

Do you want to participate in Teaser Tuesdays? It's simple and hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading. All you have to do is:

-Grab your current read

-Open to a random page

-Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page

-BE CAREFUL NOT T INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)

-Share the title & author, too, so that the other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

Today, my teaser is from...

 

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

 

"I tried to think clearly but found it impossible with his hands on me. Encircled in an electric current, I looked up at him, and a thousand unspoken words passed between us. The longer he held my hands, the more intense the connection." ~pg.154

I'd love to see your teasers! Leave links in the comments, please. :)

 

♥Jessica(:

Review: Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
Release Date: January 31, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 362 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen
Series: Article 5 #1
Source: Library

Description from Goodreads:
New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved.

I originally grabbed this book for two reasons: one, because the spine looked cool, and two, because I had remembered seeing this book at B&N and it looked like it'd be fun to read. So I had something like zero expectations going into this book. I mean, yes, I was really excited to read it, but that was based off of the ten seconds I took to read the inside flap of the dust cover. This said, I am kicking my own little booty right now for not having been more excited about this book and reading it sooner.

Let's suffice it to say that I LOVED IT.

I will admit that the beginning did feel a little boring to me, but that was only because I was waiting for Chase Jennings to get his butt into the story. Still, the pages where Chase WASN'T around held my full attention. The story moved at a perfect pace and plunged forward to get to where I wanted it to be--with Chase Jennings.

After the first hundred pages (give or take), this story REALLY grabbed me. Seriously. Like, up until somewhere-around-four-AM-while-I'm-supposed-to-be-sleeping reading happened because of this book. It was THAT hard to put down. And that's a lot to say, considering I am a sleep addict. There was suspense, there was angst, there was a whole lot of on-the-move events that kept me riveted through and through.

Character Rundown: Ember. Oh, Ember. I'm not going to say I loved Ember, but she was okay. I liked her more than a lot of other main characters, so that's something. I just didn't agree with a lot of her way of thinking. Mostly where it regarded Chase. And especially around the end. She did some things I wanted to slap her for. But she was okay, because she dealt with it and we're all moving on now. And Chase. Chase. Flipping. Jennings. OH, CHASE. I have a thing for love interests who are soldiers. Or, at least, the good ones. Not the boring ones. I adored Chase. He has a big, kind heart. The sad part is that he won't let himself believe that. But it's true. I know it is. This boy...he's one of the good ones.

Ah, the sweetness. A majority of this book is Ember and Chase not being together as a couple. Still, there are those sweet moments that always come up when pairing up just cannot be avoided. It was nowhere near cheesy in this book, so I was all right with it. They had a history, so it wasn't insta-love. It was just...I want to say "heart-breakingly sweet," but that's not right. More like heart-fixingly sweet. Either way, if I were Ember, I'd hold on to that Jennings boy. (See, my obsession with soldiers...Daemon's still my #1, though!)

The ending. As I said, Ember made some horrible choices. Well, it was actually one bad choice which led to a terrible situation, but I'm being judgmental of her right now and making it sound worse than it really was. And I have to admit, Chase didn't handle his situation all that well, either. I forgave him, though, because his little situation was such a complete mess, I'm not even sure how I would have handled it. He did his best. But Ember...that girl simply did something stupid. I must give her credit for fighting her way out. Anyway, the ending was good. Makes me want the next book so bad, but it wasn't a heavy-duty cliffhanger, so I'm not going to rant about that.

Overall, you should read Article 5. Right now. Go do it. It's an exciting book that is so completely sweet and upbeat at the same time. Okay, go read Article 5 now. Have fun!

♥Jessica(:

What I Got! (10)

What I Got is a weekly meme hosted by Monica over at Cover Analysis :) where we tell y'all about the wonderful brag-worthy bookish things we got this week!

 

LIBRARY:

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

I've been hearing bog things about this, so when I saw it, I snatched it off that shelf. I'l have my review posted...Friday...? I think on Friday. :)

 

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

I keep seeing a lot about Sky Chasers, so I thought it'd be nice to actually, you know, KNOW what people are talking about. So I got this one.

 

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

This is one I've been wanting to read for ages. Lucky for me, I saw it at the library. Made a nice little scene about it, unintentionally. I just get REALLY excited about books. I mean, pfft, who doesn't? ;)

 

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

I love the title of this book. So much. And I don't know...I just have a feeling about this book. So read it, I will.

 

Touched by Cyn Balog

Cyn. Flipping. Balog. I've read two books by her--Fairytale and Sleepless--and I loved them. Which is why I now plan on reading Touched sometime in the near future.

 

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

I love this title, too. Plus, witches. And I've heard great things. Yeah, usually when I hear great things, I like to know what those great things are talking about. Naturally. And this is such a pretty book!

 

Okay, so that's What I Got this week. What'd you get? Let me know so I can be jealous! :)

 

♥Jessica(:

Review: Abandon by Meg Cabot

Abandon by Meg Cabot
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
Publisher: Point
Series: Abandon Trilogy #1
Source: Library

Description from Goodreads:
New from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a dark, fantastical story about this world . . . and the underworld.

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

This is the first book I have ever read by Meg Cabot. So I'm jumping on this band wagon WAAAAAY late, I know. Nevertheless, I read Abandon. Before I get into the whole "review" thing, I think it's time to share a little Jessica fun fact for y'all. Ready? I. Love. Greek. Mythology. So much. Apollo, the Greek God of the sun? One of my heroes. So now I can go on with this review...

This is the first book in a trilogy that reimagines the myth of Persephone/Hades. This has always been a myth that caught my interest, so I was truly excited to jump into this. I am literally ecstatic to say that I was not let down by this book.

The book begins in a way that wasn't overly exciting, but was certainly interesting. This book is woven between events that happened before, that Pierce is remembering, and what is happening currently in Pierce's life. I have to admit, I liked the jumps back. They were 100% necessary to catch the reader up on what had happened between Pierce and John, but I still enjoyed them.

I will admit, though, that this book was so clearly a FIRST book in a series. It is clearly setting the rest of the trilogy. Sometimes, this would bother me, but in this case, I was okay with it. Because, again, it was definitely necessary, and all the information was interesting. All this information being given throughout this book did not weigh it down, though. It added  to the story and moved it along efficiently. I didn't get bored at all.

Character rundown: Pierce. I loved Pierce! She is so completely kind and polite and I liked that. She is nowhere near perfect, not by a long shot, but she is absolutely lovable and I had a great time reading from her point of view. John. OH, JOHN. I adore this guy. Adore, adore, adore. I look forward to learning more about him. He's so mysterious and dark, but has a sweet side that seems to be reserved especially for our dear Pierce. Still, he's not a flat love interest, even though we haven't learned much about him yet.

The romance. As I just said, John is a sweetheart. He's so vulnerable but doesn't let it show. He and Pierce make such a cute couple and I hope for the best for them. I do hope there is more of them together in the next book, though. Or at least, more of them together where Pierce isn't...oh, I don't know...throwing tea in his face or something.

The ending. Hello, cliffhanger! But I knew this was a first in a trilogy, so it wasn't completely unexpected. This ending left me seriously wanting for the next book! I'm waiting for it to be in at my library at the moment, and the second I get it, I'll totally devour it ASAP.

Overall, this book was so good! This beginning of the Persephone/Hades myth retelling has certainly not disappointed. I may even give some other books by Meg Cabot a try. I suggest you pick this one up and get in on this trilogy as soon as you can!

♥Jessica(:

Cover Reveal: OPAL by Jennifer L Armentrout!!!!!!!!!!

Oh. My. Gosh. I don't know about you, but I have been waiting for this for a LOOOONG time. I am so excited that I even get to participate in this. If I say I'm honored to help share this with you, will that make me a huge geek? ... oh, well. Geek or no, I am so flipping honored to do this.

Now, since I know we've all been waiting and are probably skipping over this part to see the cover anyway, I'll just show you the Opal goodies now...

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So, are you ready?!
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I'm telling you right now, it's amazing. Pepe and Sztella are, like, perfect human beings. Or, at least, perfect Daemon and Katys. It's true.
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All right, I'll stop stalling. Hehe.
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HERE's the super amazingly awesome gorgeous cover...

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Follow this link to an ~~~ EPIC CONTEST ~~~ Announcement. You will want to bookmark this page!

http://jenniferarmentrout.blogspot.com/p/october-1-2012.html

USA TODAY Bestselling author, Jennifer L. Armentrout, lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell, Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance under the name J. Lynn.

Find Jennifer on: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website | Blog

 

 

I, for one, CANNOT wait to hold this book in my hands! Oh, it's so perfect! What do you think?

 

♥Jessica(:

Stuck in a Good Book Giveaway Hop!

 

I love giveaway hops. So, oh very much. So I'm seriously glad to be participating in this one!

 

I will be giving away one copy of Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi!

You have no idea how hard it was for me to pick one good book for this hop. But Shatter Me is AMAZING, so I'm excited that one of you lucky followers are going to get a copy.

 

Guidlines:

-Fill out the Rafflecopter to enter

-Check out my giveaway policy for all of my giveaway rules

-This giveaway will run from September 20-September 25

-This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hop on, awesome people!

Waiting on Wednesday! (8)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we tell y'all about the books we cannot wait to get our hands on!

 

This week, I'm waiting on . . .

 

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Expected Publication Date: April 2, 2013

Publisher: Poppy

 

Description from Goodreads:

In This is What Happy Looks Like, Jennifer E. Smith's new YA novel, perfect strangers Graham Larkin and Ellie O'Neill meet—albeit virtually—when Graham accidentally sends Ellie an email about his pet pig, Wilbur. In the tradition of romantic movies like "You've Got Mail" and "Sleepless in Seattle," the two 17-year-olds strike up an email relationship, even though they live on opposite sides of the country and don't even know each other's first names.

Through a series of funny and poignant messages, Graham and Ellie make a true connection, sharing intimate details about their lives, hopes and fears. But they don't tell each other everything; Graham doesn't know the major secret hidden in Ellie's family tree, and Ellie is innocently unaware that Graham is actually a world-famous teen actor living in Los Angeles.

When the location for the shoot of Graham's new film falls through, he sees an opportunity to take their relationship from online to in-person, managing to get the production relocated to picturesque Henley, Maine, where Ellie lives. But can a star as famous as Graham have a real relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie's mom want her to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

Just as they did in The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, the hands of fate intervene in wondrous ways in this YA novel that delivers on high concept romance in lush and thoughtful prose.

 

Why I'm waiting on this: I read The Statistical Probablility of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, and that book was so completely sweet! So I'm excited to see what comes next from Jennifer. Plus, that description is just something I cannot resist. My kind of book all the way. I can't wait to get my hands on this!

 

What are you waiting on? Please, tell me in the comments!

 

♥Jessica(:



Teaser Tuesday! (13)

Do you want to participate in Teaser Tuesdays? It's simple and hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading. All you have to do is:

-Grab your current read

-Open to a random page

-Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page

-BE CAREFUL NOT T INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)

-Share the title & author, too, so that the other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
"Chase eased off the pavement onto the bumpy soil and steered around a broken dining room table. Most of the dull yellow stalks immediately off the road had been trampled by scavengers or vehicles too impatient to wait in line during the evacuation. But beyond those there was heavy cover, enough to hide me when I disappeared." ~pg. 155

I'm still seriously excited about reading this book. Just sayin'.

Feel free to share your teasers/links in the comments!

♥Jessica(:
 

Review: Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis

Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis
Release Date: April 17, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Library

Description from Goodreads:
When Marshall King and Elyse Alton suddenly wake up tangled in each other's arms with zero memory of how they got there or even who they are, it's the start of a long journey through their separate pasts and shared future.

Terrified by their amnesia, Marshall and Elyse make a pact to work together to find the answers that could restore their missing memories. As they piece together clues about their lives, they discover that they're in the idyllic mountain resort town of Summer Falls. Everyone seems happy there, but as Marshall and Elyse quickly learn, darkness lurks beneath the town's perfect facade. Not only is the town haunted by sinister ghosts, but none of its living inhabitants retain bad memories of anything--not the death of Marshall's mom, not the hidden violence in Elyse's family, not even the day-to-day anguish of being a high schooler.

Lonely in this world of happy zombies, Marshall and Elyse fall into an intense relationship founded on their mutual quest for truth. But the secrets they're trying to uncover could be the death of this budding love affair--and of everyone, and everything, they love in Summer Falls.

I picked this book up from the library because it was gorgeous in everyway. The cover, the description, all thay jazz. My hopes were actually super high for this book. So now I'm sad to say that this book let me down.

This book began really well. It's seriously intriguing. Honestly, what could be better than two people waking up naked in a bed together with no recollection as to who they are or how they got there? Their brains are completely blank--they don't even know their own names. So there was a good, strong start.

But as the story goes on, my interest was lost. What was once strength in this story became boring. Their amnesia got sadly irritating as the story went on. I felt almost like I did when I was reading As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott, but with a smidge less confusion. I'm not a fan of mysteries that are tried to be solved when both of the main characters have no clue whatsoever as to what is going on. It just confuses me and slows down my progress in the story. Before I knew it, I was skimming and flipping ahead to see where I might possibly find a more interesting event in the story.

Character Rundown: Marshall. He was a nice guy. I have to give him credit for that. But I feel like he wasn't as interesting as he was intended to be. Especially with the amnesia. For a good chunk of the story he's only there to "make certain that Elyse is safe." I'm a sucker for that kind of thing, but I like more depth to go with it. His character did get a little better once we learned more about him, though by that point I was already bored. Elyse. Oh, I did not like her at all. She was so whiny. So, so whiny. I am very critical on female characters, I know, but this critiscism is well deserved. She dwelled much too much on her past. I understand that bad things happened, and she should most definitely acknowlege this, but she should move on, too. She had Marshall right there to help. Still, I must admit that I liked her honesty.

The romance. Insta-love. That's all I have to say for it. I'm not the type of person who dislikes books or fictional relationnships simply because of insta-love, but it just didn't work for me in this book. They had amnesia--I would have liked to see more of feelings emerging as they got to know each other again than a big WHAM of "ooo, I like him."

The ending. Cheeeeeeesy. Again, I'm not one to dislike a whole book for this small reason, but since I hadn't really been enjoying this book to begin with, the ending just disappointed me even more.

All in all, this book just was not my cup of tea. I'm not saying other people won't like it. It has a really great premise, and is a stand alone. Which is so sadly rare these days. Still, I didn't much enjoy it, so I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone. Feel free to give it a shot, though. I hope you enjoy it more than I did!

♥Jessica(:

What I Got! (9)

What I Got is a weekly meme hosted by Monica over at Cover Analysis :) where we tell y'all about the wonderful brag-worthy bookish things we got this week!

 

All right, so this is pretty much what is in my to-read pile at the moment...

 

FROM LIBRARY (because goodness knows I love that place):

 Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

I just started this book last night, and I must say that I am seriously excited about this. Yay!

 

 Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

This book is HUGE. Seriously. So I hope it is an amazing piece of literature. Otherwise, this one will lose my attention and be a total flop. I figured I'd give it a chance, though. Plus, the series is called "His Fair Assassin," which I flippin' love.

 

 Abandon by Meg Cabot

I already read this book, and my review will be posted this week. Honestly, this is the first book I've ever read by Meg Cabot. Which is certainly not a bad thing because this book...

 

 The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe

This book has been staring me in the face for some reason. So I decided to grab it. I hope I like!

 

 Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

I've been meaning to read the sequel to Angelfire for a while now, so...yeah.

 

That's all the note-worthy bookish stuff I got this week! Did you get anything I'm totally going to be jealous of? (You probably did). Tell me/leave a link in the comments!

Update (Yes. Another update.)

Hey all you awesome bloggy people! I've pretty much disappeared as of late. Why? Because my oh so wonderful computer has officially died. Mhm. It's gone. Forever. Never coming back. Therefore, I do not have a computer to update this peeerrtty little blog with.

Now, that does not mean I'm giving up and will never ever post again. Not a chance. No, instead it means that I'll have to post when I can. Like now--from the library. I'll make as many posts as I can and schedule them so you'll get posts in a somewhat regular manner. I'll try my very best. But please have patience. Please.

Happy topic time? Yeah, I think it's happy topic time.
1. Y'all are awesome. That's something happy, yes? YES.

2. The Austin Teen Book Festival. Have you heard of it? Well, since I live close to Austin, it interests me. I've been doing some research on it, but I don't know much. So. If you know something helpful about this wonderful bookish event, I would much appreciate it if you e-mailed me about it. Seriously. I'd love you forever. (makesmeworse12 at gmail dot com, if you don't feel like going to the "Contact Me" tab. I getcha, I'm a lazy person.)

3. It's Thursday! Which means that tomorrow is Friday, and who doesn't love Fridays? Exactly. Nobody. Plus, there's a House marathon on Oxygen. I am addicted to House.

All right, so again--thank you (thank you thank you thank you) for being the incredible people you are and sticking around. I apologize for my odd method of disappearing and will do my very best to . . . not.

Have a wonderful day, Friends!

Jessica(:

Review: She Belongs to Me by Carmen DeSousa

She Belongs to Me by Carmen DeSousa
Release Date: December 23, 2011
Format: Paperback, 452 pages
Publisher: 5 Prince Publishing
Source: Carmen DeSousa(:

Description from Goodreads:

When wealthy construction company owner and Charlotte detective, Jordan Monroe, meets Jaynee for the first time he is awestruck and determines to make her his wife. Jaynee, however, has a history she cannot easily overcome and is fearful to submit to love. Jordan succeeds in making her his wife, but five years into their marriage he realizes she is keeping secrets. Before he can decipher her duplicity, he discovers her unconscious in their home from a gunshot wound only hours after giving her an ultimatum concerning their relationship.

With Jaynee’s life hanging in the balance, the mystery of her past drives Jordan to investigate. But what appears to be an attempted suicide turns out to be something far darker. Is someone from her past stalking her? Or worse, is someone close to Jordan trying to kill them both? As Jordan edges closer to the truth, it may be deadlier than he could ever have imagined.

She Belongs to Me. The title alone is something I love. It just sounds like a book I'd read. Well, I did. And I seriously enjoyed it. 

The book began and I was instantly drawn in. The book begins with a nice, solid BANG. Literally. Once I was only a few pages in, I couldn't put the book down. Seriously, this book hit the ground running and it didn't stop until the end.

The content of this book. The meat of the story. It was very nice to go back and learn about our main characters to see how they had gotten to the point at which the story begins. Plus, their story was 100% sweet. And goodness knows I love sweetness. 

Character rundown: Jordan. A southern gentleman, drawl and all. I instantly loved him from the moment we met him. He's a truly lovable character and is just so completely amazing. Jaynee. I'm very picky about my female MCs, but I did like Jaynee. She was strong, honest, and not melodramatic. Together, Jordan and Jaynee made a couple that was easy to love and practically impossible to dislike. 

The mystery of this story was fun. Honestly--fun. I kept guessing, and just when I thought I was sure of something my prediction was blown to bits. In a good way, not a confusing way. I also liked that the mystery was not over the top. It was somewhat realistic. Easy to get lost in, that's for sure.

The ending. A very nice ending. Kind of picture-perfect, but whose to say that's not a good thing? Better than a horrible cliff-hanger when I am LEAST EXPECTING IT. I could rant about those kind of books all the time, but I'll save my breath since it doesn't apply to this book.

Overall, I loved this book. It's one of those books that makes me smile whenever I think about it. Ah, I adored this book. I would definitely recommend it to you. Yes, whoever you are--I'm telling you to read this book. Because I loved it. ;)