Books As You Know It

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Cover Reveals: United We Spy, Never Fade, and Kinslayer

United We Spy by Ally Carter
Release Date: September 17th, 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion

ADD TO GOODREADS

THIS FINALLY HAS A TITLE AND I WILL NO LONGER BE CALLING IT GG6!!!!!

UNITED WE SPY!!!
It isn't the ideal title compared to the others but it works!

AND IT HAS A COVER!!! *DIES*

IT'S BEAUTIFUL AND WONDERFUL AND SOSOSO PRETTY!!!! *WANTS*

LOVE THE GRADUATION GOWN AND DIPLOMA THAT'S ADDED!!

But I'm going to be in tears by the time I finish this D:

*doesn't want to let the series go* *clings*

Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

Release Date: October 15th, 2013

Published: Disney Hyperion

ADD TO GOODREADS

Omg!!! Can't wait to read this book!! I really like the things surrounding the book which I think might be barbed wire but I will think of it as spider webs because that seems much cooler!

Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff

Release Date: September 17th, 2013

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

ADD TO GOODREADS

I haven't read Stormdaner yet, but it's on my TBR list! I swear!!
Also I'm not sure which is the actual cover but the both look super awesome!!
Especially the different fonts and the setting backgrounds for both :D

What do YOU think about these covers??

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Recap Post: Summer Lovin Tour

Caitlyn and I had the awesome chance to go to the Summer Lovin Tour at Mysterious Galaxy Redondo Beach yesterday and got to meet Suzanne Young author of The Program and more, Kimberly Derting author of the Body Finder series and The Pledge trilogy, Shannon Messenger author of YA debut Let the Sky Fall, Jessi Kirby author of new release Golden, Morgan Matson author of Second Chance Summer, and Sarah Ockler author of her new release The Book of Broken Hearts!!

(Left to Right: Jessi Kirby, Sarah Ockler, Morgan Matson, and Shannon Messenger)

After introducing their books which a lot of them contained abs and dogs which they continued to joke about throughout the event, they decided to play Two Truths and a Lie!!

What I learned? Suzanne's dogs are named after 80's characters.

Shannon sat on the Academy Award nominees awards row.

Morgan was a cheerleader in high school and wrote her first book when she was 26 years old.

Sarah spent her entire senior year going to school in her PJs and skipped prom to see New Kids on the Block. Her first story wasn't able to publish due to copyright issues...

Jessi never ditched a day of high school and got a bag of potato chips from Sarah Dessen which is sitting on her office not opened.

Kimberly went 5 YEARS without chocolate and was at home in a drive by shooting which may I add she said all nonchalantly....

Picture used from Stacee at Adventures of a Book Junkee

They proceeded to throw candy at people who participated!!

They answered some questions then had their signing!

Left Pic: Me and Suzanne Right Pic: Caitlyn and Suzanne

Left Pic: Caitlyn and Shannon Right Pic: Me and Shannon

Group pic with Suzanne!!

Group Pic with Shannon!!

Me and Kimberly Derting!!

The signed stuff:

We also got signed Let the Sky Fall bookmarks, a Pledge passport postcard, and The Book of Broken Hearts bookmarks. Caitlyn also got her nook cover signed by all the authors!!

We had so much fun, thank you Simon Teen for this awesome abs tour :P It was great seeing all the fantastic authors!!!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth
487 Pages
Release Date: February 28th, 2012
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopian
Level: YA
Rating: 5 STARS

Goodreads Summary:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

MY THOUGHTS:
Divergent by Veronica Roth is daring, adventurous, sexy, and thrilling. I was captivated from the first line, "There is one mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair," Okay so that's more than one line BUT I JUST GET SO EXCITED!!! Truly this book is so nail-bitingly intense, I could not even put it down for a second. Not even while rereading it. There is action during every moment and yet it doesn't feel overwhelming if anything it makes you want even more. I feel my heart pounding faster while reading it and having it soar. XD That didn't make sense but its true.

Now! Lets start with the world. This world is so bloody brilliant, I can't even begin to describe it. I'm going to try, but trust me it wont sound nearly as amazing as it actually is. Basically all five factions have their own idea as to what causes corruption and tries to put a stop to it and create a perfect society. I think this is SO cool and want to learn so much about it. Like: How did it start? Who's idea was it? Is this just one country or all of them? How is it that all the stubborn people somehow agreed to 5 factions? These are just some of my pressing questions and, frankly, I usually have almost none so this is kinda impressive...I really like this book...like, a lot..... a lot, a lot. I like, like this book, so much so I've read it at least a dozen times. It's really good. You should go read it before I move on because what I'm going to say next is a little spoilery (not really, but still).

So! In the Divergent world, you live with your parents in whatever faction they have chosen until you are 16. Then you take, I guess you could say a compatibility test, to find out which faction would be best for you. You dont have to choose that faction but its recommended. The main character, Beatrice, has lived in Abnegation her whole life and has found that she doesn't fit in well. Then she takes the test and she find out she is divergent. A divergent is someone who isn't compatible with a single faction but 3. Now this is very dangerous...but no one will tell Beatrice why. She is paired with Erudite, Abnegation, and Dauntless. She immediately rules out Erudite but is faced with a choice and it will take a great act of selflessness to choose Abnegation or a great act of courage to choose Dauntless.

Stop reading this if you havent read the book and go read it. Go. She chooses Dauntless!!!!! YAY!!!!! Now let me tell you: Dauntless are fucking crazy. Like, insane. Right off the bat of Tris joining them someone dies and Tris jumps down a pitch black hole. Oh, and lets not forget Four.

Mmmm... Four. Four, is amazing. He is everything that Dauntless should be sexy, smart, powerful, and (virtually) fearless. I don't know how I lived before knowing Four. He's just. And then. Yeah...I cant describe Four, he's just Four. He's like, his own adjective. He is just this huge force of nature, like a hurricane or a tsunami, you can describe general what it (he) is but it is nothing close to the scale and magnitude of the actual thing. Tris is much the same way. Actually I love the way Four describes her best.

“'You think my first instinct is to protect you. Because you're small, or a girl, or a Stiff. But you're wrong.' He leans his face close to mine and wraps his fingers around my chin. His hand smells like metal. When was the last time he held a gun, or a knife? My skin tingles at the point of contact, like he's transmitting electricity through his skin. "My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press." he says, his fingers squeezing at the word break."

Mhm. Yeah, thats Tris. I also love the POV of this story. It is obvious to us (and Four) that Tris is fearless and amazing but in her head is filled with self doubt and very relate-able. It holds traces of her former Abnegation self and shows how she struggles though things no matter how effortless she males them seem from the outside.

This book is brilliant. If you haven't read it, you haven't lived. I couldn't live without this book. Its one of the best birthday presents I have ever gotten, second only to my laptop. ITS REALLY GOOD! I want to say I'm dying in a puddle of emotions, but I say that a lot so I'm going to stick with this: BE DAUNTLESS.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
338 Pages
Release Date: November 15th, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Dystopian
Level: YA
Rating: 5 STARS

Goodreads Summary:

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

MY THOUGHTS:

“Raindrops are my only reminder that clouds have a heartbeat. That I have one, too.”

One word. Beautiful. That's all you need to describe this book. The one word you need to motivate you to start this book. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!! Tahereh Mafi couldn't have done a better job writing Juliette's story! While, the dystopian genre has been thriving, Shatter Me was unique and special in its own way because of the writing. The wonderful, poetic writing that I can't give justice to describing it. The words just flew across the page and there was so much emotion hidden beneath the words and IT'S TOO MUCH FOR MY HEART TO BEAR!!!

Then there were the strike-throughs....this is the first and only book I've read that have use strike-throughs and I absolutely love it. For some books it just wouldn't work and would be super annoying but in Shatter Me they were Juliette's inner most thoughts and with the whole world and setting, it worked so so well!! Tahereh Mafi did a great job of illustrating the way Earth is and explains how everything came to be.

Juliette is such a different heroine than I've read. She's broken yet not. She's been through so much mentally and physically and not once did she complain. Hope? Of course, who wouldn't in her place, but never whine about her circumstance. She accepted her situation for what it is. The main battle she has against herself is who she is and Shatter Me deals with how people see her and how Juliette takes into account how others think about her into what she should think about herself.

Adam. Wonderful Adam that captured me with his eyes as well as Juliette's. They have this bond and connection that's so hard to break. Loyal and protective, Adam is such a great love interest and they were so adorable together!! There's so much between the two especially since Adam can touch her. ~~Warner I love you so much.~~ THE STRUGGLE with writing a review of book 1 after reading book 2 *le sigh* Warner is one the most despicable man I've ever met (this was how I saw things when I read this book 2 years ago). His want of power and his obsession with her was kind of unnerving and he annoyed me so much and I always had the urge to punch him whenever he spoke. But the thing is that he DOES understand Juliette to some level.

Shatter Me is a MUST READ and for ALL book lovers everywhere!!! Tahereh Mafi's writing will have you enraptured from beginning to end. Don't miss out on Juliette's story, you will DEVOUR it and be full of FEELS!!

“Hope is a pocket of possibility.

I'm holding it in my hand.”

Other reviews for this author:

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday (34)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where you have a chance to let other know what you can’t wait to claim as your own.

Right of Way by Lauren Barnholdt
Release Date: July 9th, 2013
Publisher: Simon Pulse

ADD TO GOODREADS

Goodreads Summary:

Can a road trip repair a romance gone wrong? Find out in this standalone companion to Lauren Barnholdt’s Two-way Street.

Here are Peyton and Jace, meeting on vacation. Click! It’s awesome, it’s easy, it’s romantic. This is the real deal.

Unless it isn’t. Because when you’re in love, you don’t just stop calling one day. And you don’t keep secrets. Or lie. And when your life starts falling apart, you’re supposed to have the other person to lean on.

Here are Peyton and Jace again, broken up but thrown together on a road trip. One of them is lying about the destination. One of them is pretending not to be leaving something behind. And neither of them is prepared for what’s coming on the road ahead…

I recently found out that this book was releasing and DIED!

Two-way Street is one of my fave contemps and I can't wait to read Peyton's story!

And I love all of Lauren's stories :D

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Comment and add your link below!!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

May Releases: 13th-19th

May 14th:

School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins
Golden by Jessi Kirbi
Spirit and Dust by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Tremble by Jus Aardo
Under the Light by Laura Whitcomb
Truth or Dare by Jacqueline Green
The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston
The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan
The Sweet Dead Life by Joy Preble
Parallel by Lauren Miller
Five Summers by Una LaMarche
Towering by Alex Flinn
The Rose Thorn by Mette Ivie Harrison
Kindness for Weakness by Shawn Goodman
The Language Inside by Holly Thompson