2012 Debut Author Challenge: Sweet Evil

*This isn't really a review. More like a jumble of thoughts* So it was a good book! The concept was new and refreshing. I did have a problem with Anna's insta-love over Kaiden. I mean they didn't know each other for that long. I wish there were more "heart to heart" moments between them. That could have made the situation a bit better. I think they could have good chemistry between the two if there weren't so many conflicts going on in the novel! The 2nd half of the book was a bit better than the first half. It had more action! It was very sad to read about the Dukes and how awful they could be, and how their children have to "work". It was very repulsive. The ending was wjbsfn@nksosyhandicj. But it was nice too... I think the 2nd book could be really awesome! Hopefully there won't be too much romance drama because that can get annoying to read at at times. More action drama please! 4.5/5

The 2012 Debut Author Challenge is hosted by Kristi @thestorysiren!

IMM (4)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi @thestorysiren!

The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2) by Richelle Mead
The Kill Order (The Maze Runner #0.5) by James Dashner
Onyx (Lux #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Heist Society by Ally Carter

2012 Debut Author Challenge: The Alchemy of Forever

The 2012 Debut Author Challenge is hosted by Kristi @thestorysiren!

The concept for this novel was interesting and unique. Overall it was a pretty good book! 

Cover: I am not a huge fan of the cover. The colors are pretty, but the girl does not represent the main character at all. 

Characters: I thought Seraphina was pretty fleshed out as a character.  Cyrus could have been expanded on though. Also, Kailey's friends could have had more importance, too. 

Plot: The idea of the book was good, but at some parts the author seems to have some events just glazed over. Either it seemed the characters were just going along and not questioning much, or someone just shows up out of the blue. I though the ending was good. I am a bit confused what is happening, but it makes me want to read the next book. Cyrus sorta creeped me out. He is a huge stalker... And the ending.. What???  It isn't a bad debut novel. It has its problems but the second book could be really good. I hope more information is released about the characters' pasts. 

3.75/5 stars

2012 Debut Author Challenge: Cinder

The 2012 Debut Author Challenge is hosted by Kristi @thestorysiren!

Cover: I love, love, LOVE this cover. The font of the title (and the whole book) is really pretty! I wish more books were published with cool fonts!

Characters: I thought Meyer did a good job with fleshing out all of the characters. I really liked Cinder as the main character. She was  relatable and independent. And she was not annoying. She was a strong female protagonist. I also enjoyed Iko, who was adorable and added a nice touch of comic relief. I think it will be interesting to learn more about Queen Levana in the future because she was an interesting character.

Plot: I think Meyer did a wonderful job taking the Cinderella fairy tale and making it something new and interesting. She is great at story- telling! The concept was really well done with cyborgs and androids. It was a bit predictable at times, but not with the fairy tale part of it (mostly). I predicted the twist at the end. The ending of the book was really good, too! I want the next one! I like how Meyer is taking each book in the series and making it about a different fairy tale character. Somehow the plots of all of them are interwoven. I will miss seeing Cinder as the main character though.

Setting: I liked how the setting was in New Beijing. I have not read many books that take place in a foreign country! I do wish though that the setting was explained more and was more detailed. I wanted to get a feeling of what New Beijing is like compared to the U.S.

Pace: I found that the pace was very consistent throughout the novel. The ending was a little faster pace, but that fit what was happening.

Writing: I thought the writing was fine. I think Meyer is a very good story teller!

Last Thoughts: I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this novel! I am excited for the next book in the Lunar Chronicals series!

IMM (3)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi @thestorysiren!

Week of 6/13- 6/20

Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins
Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

IMM (2)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi @thestorysiren!

6/2-6/6

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi by
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Once by Anna Carey

Cover: Like Eve, I think the cover was really well done. I like how it actually is relevant to the book. I really like the colors. One thing that I am still thinking about is the title. I still do not really get it. I don't know if I'm missing some big, obvious reason, but I am not really a fan of it.

Characters: I think most of the characters developed more in this book, especially the King, who is a major character in Once. I did like the introduction of some of the new characters. Clara was fun to read about. Eve and Caleb's relationship was tested a lot throughout the novel, and I think it was more believable in this one. Also, Eve started to stand up for herself and take more risks.

Pace: The beginning of the book, for me, moved really slow. I was a bit bored. Once more of the action and planning started, it was paced pretty well. Sometimes, the pace was a little slow for my liking, though.

Plot: At the beginning, the author does a good job with keeping the readers up to speed with what just happened. What I liked about this plot was the big picture aspect of it. Instead of worrying just about Eve, change could affect a lot of people in the city. Also, there were some twists in Once that were good. I have to say that the ending was good. It does leave you hanging with questions like  "what just happened?" and "what is going to happen?".  I will be reading the next book because of the ending.

Writing: The writing was just ok. It wasn't anything new or special for me.

Last Thoughts: I think I did like this book better than the first one. The pacing was a bit off, but I think Carey could write a very cool last book. I still want to find out what in the world happened in the end!  4/5 stars

 *A big thanks to HarperTeen for the ARC*

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Tiger Lily had a very different plot than anything else I read. I thought it was a very unique idea, and it was executed pretty well!

 POV: The point of view was from Tinker Bell's perspective, which was brilliant! By using Tinker Bell as the narrator, the reader was able to know what was going on outside of Tiger Lily, but at the same time get to know Tiger Lily and what she was feeling. I also liked learning about Tink too! 

 Characters: For the most part the characters developed into their own. I liked how the smaller characters had personalities like Moon Eye or Pine Sap. I liked the development of Tik Tok. He was very interesting to read! Two characters that I wasn't sure about were Wendy and Peter. I did not like Wendy, and I felt she could have been around more to develop as a character. As for Peter, he was there but wasn't. He was developed as a character but wasn't. (If that even makes sense) I wanted to know more about Peter! Peter was broken, but sometimes I didn't know why. The addition of he pirate's personalities (Smee,Hook) was good!

 Pace: For me, this is why I gave the book 3 stars. The beginning was quite slow for me and throughout the book it went up and down. Sometimes it was interesting but sometimes it went too slow. 

 Plot: I thought the storyline was interesting. I have never read anything that was based off of Peter Pan, and it worked. I think Anderson did a good job with the different stories going on at once. I did enjoy the different plot lines going on at once. I wasn't sure how I liked the end though. It just didn't seem to satisfy me.

Writing: I thought the writing was good. There were some really well written and beautiful passages!

 Last thoughts:  I think this book is close to a 4 star, but not quite there. I think some people will really enjoy the book! I really haven't read enough fairy tale spinoff books to know what I like. Thanks again to HarperTeen for the ARC! :) 

IMM (1)

I decided I want to try out In My Mailbox which is hosted by Kristi @ thestorysiren.com
I will post once a week on the weeks that I have new books.

6/16- 6/23

Bought/Recieved
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins
Virals by Kathy Reichs

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Spirit Bound  by Richelle Mead

Social Suicide by Gemma Halliday

The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

 

ARCs from HarperTeen

Thanks HaperTeen!

Once by Anna Carey

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Drain You by Beth M. Bloom

Endlessly by Kiersten White

2012 Debut Author Challenge : Starters

Starters by Lissa Price

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read an ARC!

This book had a potential plot and potential characters, but I do not think it was executed well. At times the story was confusing and too drawn out. The characters could have had so much more depth to them. I think the Old Man was the most interesting character in the story. I thought the idea for the book was interesting and sort of worked. I do not know if I will check out the sequel. If it becomes available to me then sure, but it isn't my top priority. I hope there is more world building too because there really wasn't much except how Prime Destinations and Callie's world collided. The ending did have a slight cliff hanger which was interesting. Overall this is just a "meh" book.  

Debut Author Challenge is hosted by Kristi @TheStorySiren  http://www.thestorysiren.com/

2012 Book Challenges... so far

This year I am participating in two challenges: the100 Book Challange and the 2012 Author Debut Challange. So far the 100 Book Challenge is going really well! On the other hand, the Author Debut challange is not. No worries though because I still have about 7 months to read debut books!

Stats:

2012 Author Debut Challenge

Tempest by Julie Cross

Starters by Lisa Price (currently reading)

100 Book Challenge
http://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/218654

Tempest

Tempest by Julie Cross


I read this novel for the 2012 Debut Author Challenge hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren!

Synopsis from Goodreads: 
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.

My Thoughts:

      I was really intrigued by the time-travel aspect of the book and thought that it could be a really interesting topic to cover. I have not really read any books that deal with time traveling. Overall I thought the author did a pretty good job with it. It was very interesting to read about, but it did become a bit confusing at some points. I am still not entirely sure what happened at some parts of the book and the concept of some of the ideas discussed. I liked how this was a male POV book and Jackson was a pretty good character. Jackson and Holly together sometimes bugged be because it didn't seem like they had good chemistry throughout the entire novel. I did like Adam though!  And it has a "What the heck ending". :P So I guess I will read the next book when it comes out, but it isn't my top priority.
Overall I would rate this book 4/5 stars. If anything it was closer to 3.5.

January Reads

The Battle of the Labyrinth (#4) by Rick Riordan
The Last Olympian (#5) by Rick Riordan
The Lost Hero (#1) by Rick Riordan
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Fade (#2) by Lisa McMann
Gone (#3) by Lisa McMann
Hush,Hush (#1) by Becca Fitzpatrick
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide
A Million Suns (#2) by Beth Revis
Lies (#3) by Michael Grant
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Update

Honestly I do not know how much I will post on this blog anymore. I am more active on Goodreads, but I might post once in a while. Just wanted to write out the truth. Thanks.