GIVEAWAY OF Stolen Nights by Rebecca Maizel

GIVEAWAY TIME!

I know you guys don't want me babbling about, so I won't. This time. I know this book comes out in a couple of days but I wanted to give it to one of my followers (new or old) to show how much I love you guys for putting up with my lack of reviews and stuff.

Up for grabs:

ARC of Stolen Nights ( Vampire Queen #2)

Plus swag (that's a given) and maybe a surprise (already released ARC) that I got at ALA last year. 

Don't know which one for now but I might give the winner a list to chose from. 

Rules are: 

*I will pick a winner using Random.Org.

*You must be 13 years or older to enter.

*You do not have to be a follower but I would really appreciate it.

*You have 48 hours to respond to e-mail if you are the winner.

*Giveaway NOT international (sorry guys).

If you have someone that lives in the US that lives in the US that is okay too

That's it guys, no commenting or tweeting. One entry per person! I mean you can comment but it won't be an entry . FORM HERE. ***EDIT*** NOW I HAVE LINKED THE ACTUAL FORM NOT THE SPREADSHEET LINK OOPS. 

Winner announced February 10th.

Books that have changed my life (in a remarkable way) ever since I last talked to you (Part # 1)

I AM ALIVE! I have no excuse for not posting anymore reviews other than college applications have been driving me nuts. I am a senior in high school now, and people who told Senior year in high school was going to be easy THEY LIED. It is the hardest year yet, but I will get through it.


I missed blogging so much, but I had to stop otherwise I would have never gotten anything done. But I was able to read some amazing books these past few months. I had my fair share of books I didn't even finish, but there were three remarkable books that I will always remember because WOW, they have changed my life.

This book, ladies and gentlemen, if you have not yet read it, (it is only my very humble yet honest opinion that) OH MY GOD YOU GO READ IT RIGHT NOW PLEASE. I will not summarize if for you, because honestly you can read the synopsis on your own. If you must know, there is no way that a summary, even written by John Green himself, will wholly epitomize the awesomeness that is The Fault in Our Stars.
It is probably the book that has brought me right here to this place at this moment, desperate and excited, to tell those people who keep putting it off to just read it now, go to the bookstore or borrow it from a friend and read it.

Or even those who don't read and by some rare chance stumble upon my blog and haven't fallen in love with reading yet, this is the book. This is the book that will allow you to feel every emotion know to human, which might be a very slight exaggeration, but to me, it definitely brought both tears of laughter and pure dismay in a matter of chapters.

I was going through a long time reading funk, I had stopped blogging and became a Netflix addict during my free time. It seemed I had no time for reading anymore, and honestly, it did not bother me a bit. I was sad for my lost interest, scared my love for reading would be forever gone.
Eventually, over a three day weekend, I had this book that I had borrowed from the library. I had read one other John Green books: Looking for Alaska . I loved it, and from then on I went on a John Green craze. By far this was my favorite book of them all, each holds a special place in my heart but this one will forever be in my top favorites.

How did it change my life? I am going trough a medical condition, not life-threatening or as grave as Hazel or Augusts or any of the lovable characters in TFiOS, but it will require hospitalization and surgery. I am so scared and this book is a great reference to the good that can come out of an awful situation. Anytime I feel the least bit nervous or I am in pain, I always pick up my trusty copy (signed! In Purple!) and read my favorite parts!

It will make you laugh it will make you cry, The Fault in Our Stars by the brilliant John Green is going to be one of those books that I will remember and keep with me even in my old age.

BOOK #2 TO BE POSTED SOON!

Thanks for sticking with my followers, after my LONG HIATUS.

I will make up for it PROMISE.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Release Date: April 3rd 2013

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Age Rec: There are some terms not suitable for all ages, and there was also an attempted rape scene at the beginning, not very graphic. 
Summary: 

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

My thoughts:

For those of us who read more light-weight books, this book might seem a little bit intimidating. It is a very thick 500 or so page book. I found it at the NEW BOOK shelves, I had my eye on it for a little while so I was so excited when I saw it.

I have read a few thirteen-century set books, but nothing of this caliber. Robin LaFevers introduces the main character, Ismae, with a very secretive past. Some sort of mysterious birthmark and a curse. The story captivated you to turn the next page and the next, until you have no choice but to finish. With such authentic plot and dialogue that you will enjoy every single page.

When she is taken away from her abusive husband, she is introduced to a world that she could have never imagined. After a couple years of training she becomes a seductive deadly assassin, she must do the will of the God of Death. She must do Mortain's will and kill those with his mark. She must do anything and everything in her power to fulfill his will. 

There is where all of her adventures begin, she meets different characters, some remarkable some not and she must decide who she trusts. The characters, I admit, were a little hard to keep track of. There were a couple of times I was a little confused. But that was my mistake, I would recommend a little notebook to keep track of characters. 


The action and suspense were ultimate during this whole book, but there was a romance sub-plot through the story. The sort of romance that slowly builds up. 


Ismae will definitely be added to my list of kick ass heroines that I admire and love. 

I will most definitely be looking forward to what Mrs.LaFevers releases in the future. 


Thanks for reading! =)

IDENTICAL by Ellen Hopkins REPOST

Well I found this review of mind that I though I HAD lost in my old laptop, but I checked on Goodreads and there it was. So I want to re-post it here as a library homage post since I had gotten it from my school library.

Release Date: August 26, 2008
Source: School Library
Age recs: Definitely for more older teens. Drugs, sex, some rape scenes included.
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Summary from Goodreads.com: 

Do twins begin in the womb?Or in a better place? Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district-court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family -- on the surface. Behind the facade each sister has her own dark secret, and that's where their differences begin. For Kaeleigh, she's the misplaced focus of Daddy's love, intended for a mother whose presence on the campaign trail means absence at home. All that Raeanne sees is Daddy playing a game of favorites -- and she is losing. If she has to lose, she will do it on her own terms, so she chooses drugs, alcohol, and sex. Secrets like the ones the twins are harboring are not meant to be kept -- from each other or anyone else. Pretty soon it's obvious that neither sister can handle it alone, and one sister must step up to save the other, but the question is -- who?

My review: 


I knew what I was signing up for when I started reading Identical, since there was some strong content on CRANK, well that was an understatement. This book is real, raw, disturbing, and everything else in between. It had me squirming in discomfort on some scenes, being the squirmy type, but I knew that even though this was not based on a true story, it was based on the million of stories just like that. In fact, I had just watched a episode on Oprah where two twin sisters talked about being raped and molested by their father and two brothers with their mother completely knowing everything.

So I read on, and through this single book I went through a roller coaster of emotions. Disgust (and exclamation for Justice) at the seriously disturbed father, frustration because Kaeleight and her twin sister wouldn't report the abuse (as I would imagine I would in their situation). But thought those emotions I began to understand the fear of both sisters if they ever told on their father. I mean, even I was afraid of that monster. Their mother was also a big part of my frustration, only caring about appearances not the welfare of her children. I wanted to pop right into that book and slap that lady silly and make her realize what she was taking part of.

The impact this book had on me, and I imagine the rest of the people who have already read it, was very great. The turn of events was like nothing I have even experienced when reading books, and I have to admit I has to read some parts multiple times to understand (mostly at the end of the story). Mrs. Hopkins is not the type to censor feelings or events and she isn't afraid of being bold. She created two very alive characters, whose interpretation of love was so twisted and wrong that they wouldn't let anybody that truly cared about them in.

And the ending, wow, the ending is something I never expected. I love those kind of hard-to-predict books that have me guessing at the last second.
I want to keep this review as spoiler free as possible so I will leave you with those few words of many that I can use to express the serious awesomeness this book is. I would like to repeat that this book is among on of the strongest (content wise) books I have read. It requires a very high amount of matureness and understanding.
If you are comfortable with reading books with strong content, it is a must read!

IMMORTAL RULES by Julie Kagawa

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Release Date: April 24th 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Age Rec: Older teens, for bloody and violent scenes
Source: Publisher

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.
Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.
Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.
Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.
Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.
But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for

My thoughts on The Immortal Rules:

When I saw Julia Kagawa's name on that book cover, I knew this book was going to be a winner. Though I still have not finished the Iron Fey series (I need the last two!) I loved Iron King and Iron Daughter. Though I was a bit skeptical when I picked the first book up. Fairies really? I though. But Julie Kagawa did a flawless job with the fairies, bringing then to life in a way that no one has ever done before.

And she does just the same with the vampires in The Immortal Rules. I thought that the vampire thing was already too overdone but fortunately I was so wrong. This book isn't about a pretty sparkling vampire, this is about a girl who becomes something she lived her whole life hating and has to live with her decision. There were times in this book when I had to close it and breathe in and out because when you think the worst has happened, Julie Kagawa seems to want to prove you wrong. In fact, she does, multiple times, in many heartbreaking ways.

Allie is such a great character, she is not a sweet little doe eyed girl. She has lived a hard life, she is tough and courageous.  She loses her humanity and she tries so hard to keep the small bit of it that she has a hold on. She is the monster the everyone fears, she is the creature not the one running away. It is definitely something different and refreshing.

The futuristic  world that Julie Kagawa created is so detailed and three dimensional, just as she created the faery world that Meghan Chase was introduced to. The relationship between Zeke and Allison is confusing and heartbreaking for both the characters and the readers. I think it might have been the relationship that saved Allison from turning into a completely unattached monster. This is not a sappy romance novel, they are both struggling inwardly, they are complete opposites. Allison is the monster that Zeke was warned about as a child, and Allison is trying hard to keep hold of her humanity even though it is not there. I am excited to read more about their developing relationship.

I wish I could go through all of the things I loved about this book (i.e. brilliant plot, dialogue and character development) but it is a 500 page book, it would take a while. The Immortal Rules is a great first installment to a now very anticipated series.


RATING: