Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen

Beautiful Days (Bright Young Things #2) by Anna Godbersen
Release Date: September 20, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Library

Summary:

For the bright young things of 1929, the beautiful days seem endless, filled with romance and heartbreak, adventure and intrigue, friendship and rivalry.

After a month in New York, Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur are small-town girls no longer. They spend their afternoons with Astrid Donal at the Greys' lush Long Island estate and their nights in Manhattan's bustling metropolis. But Letty's not content to be a mere socialite. She is ready at last to chase her Broadway dreams - no matter the cost.

Cordelia is still reeling from the death of her father at the hands of Thom Hale, the man she thought she loved. Now she is set to honor Darius Grey's legacy... and take her revenge.

Promised to Cordelia's half brother, Astrid is caught up in a world of dazzling jewels and glittering nights - and the sparkle is blinding. Charlie Grey is a gangster playing a dangerous game; and for Astrid, Cordelia, and Letty, the stakes could be deadly...

The roaring twenties is one of my favorite eras in the 1900's-- seriously I was born in the wrong decade. I love reading about the 20s. The glamorous dresses, the parties, the prohibition, everything.

I picked up Bright Young Things about a year ago, and I loved that first book. It had everything-- murder, romance, secrets, revenge, all the thrilling things necessary in a good book, it had it. This book (Beautiful Days) was not exactly a disappointment, but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting from what I have read on the first book. It was much slower paced, there was a lot of opportunity to bring up the unresolved matters of the first book that needed to be solved. I don't know if the author is planning on addressing those matters on the third book, but that is my prediction.


What this book did bring was new characters, and the characters that were introduced on the first book, were developed in this one. Particularly Max, the handsome pilot that Cordelia saved from a plan crash in the first book. But I expected more of Cordelia as a character, she is my favorite character, and I expected her to really take revenge on the death of her father, but as I recall she did almost nothing.  I hope she can do something in the next book.


Again, it all comes back to the first book or the third book. To me, this book was just a book to explain everything and to increase the suspense, but it fell a little bit short. However, I will definitely be reading the third book, I cannot wait to find out what happens to the bright young things. Anna Godbersen's hypnotic historical writing will keep on amazing me, how vivid the historical scenes come to life with her animated writing. You  can visualize the feathery headbands, hear the music, and immerse yourself in the glamorous world she has created.


Review:

Sequel: 

*All links and summary from Goodreads.com 

WINNER!

THE WINNER OF THE FRACTURE ARC IS...

brookea_2006

Congrats!

I already contacted them, so they have 48 hours before I pick another winner!

Stay tuned for my next giveaway coming up soon.

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If you are a reader, blogger, author, and you also have school, children, and work to deal with outside of bookish demands, this blog post is for you!*

I want to do a feature where I interview different bloggers with different responsibilities outside of blogging. If you have a hectic school life (like me) and have a lot of homework, I want to interview you, and see how you make time to read, review, and keep a book blog running! If you are a blogger and a mom, I would also love to interview you! You do not need to be a blogger to be featured, if you read or you are an author, I want to know how you make time to read and write between jobs, classes, children or other responsibilities.

I want to see how many people would be interested in signing up, then I will start e-mailing interviews after that.

Here is the form:




Thank-you so much for singing up!

*image source

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #1) by Jessica Spotswood
Release Date: February 7, 2012
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Souce: LibraryThing Early reviewers!
Age Rec: I would recommend this book for ages 12 and over.
Reader Rec: Recommended for fans of Michelle Zink's Prophecy of the Sisters series.

Summary*:
Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship--or an early grave.

Review:  Read this book. Read it right now, read it in ten years, read it tomorrow, I don't care when, just read it! 

The message above is for people who I know won't read the entire review, its alright,  just read the sentence above!

For those of you who like to read the whole review (thank-you),  prepare yourself for some major gushing. I started Born Wicked with no major expectations, I really love it when  fantasy and historical fiction mix, so I was intrigued.

From the beginning, it was all secrets and magic. I was flipping the pages madly, trying to find out what happened next. This book was action, mystery, fantasy and forbidden romance. It was just that good.

Cate Cahill was such an amazing and strong character, she has two sisters to look over after her mother's death. She puts them first, she would give anything for them. She is really an awesome character, Jessica Spotswood does such a good job at writing up lovable characters that you just cannot help yourself and fall in love with Cate and wish she was your best friend.

Finn, he is more than just the love interest and dream boy, he is brave and humble. I just love everything about this boy. I need more of him on the next book, please!

The plot of this story was amazing, the twist and turns were just making this but IMPOSSIBLE to put down, just when you think things cannot get any worse, they do, and the ending just about broke my heart

I started the year off really good,  I am glad I chose this book to be my first read of the year, because this book will probably in my top books of 2012. That is just how good Born Wicked was.

Also, I will be posting the book trailer too, because I just LOVE it so much! Great book trailer for a great book!

Rating:

Trailer:

368 Pages of Heartbreak

Why We Broke Up written by Daniel Handler and art by Maira Kalaman
Publish Date: December 27, 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Publisher
Age Rec.: There are a couple of love scenes so I would recommend it for teens 15 and older.

Summary*:
Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.

My Review: 


Why We Broke Up brought me back to the time when I was smaller, and I read those books with smooth pages and colorful pictures every other page. But this book was not about colorful caterpillars or fish with shiny fins, this book was about first love and that first heartbreak everyone experiences eventually.

Not only was the book in such a unique format, but the way it was written, so unique and detailed, it just kept me turning page after page until I had gotten to the last of it. 

While I enjoyed the millions of references, I felt a little out of the loop. I sometimes had NO idea what Min was talking about, but I was amused nevertheless by her quirky attitude and funny dialogue, so I didn't feel that clueless.

The development of this relationship is not like any I have read in other books. It wasn't rushed, and it had so many special moments that I mourned for their relationship as if it were mine.

To sum it up, I loved this relationship, their story and I felt Min's anger and tears as she wrote Ed the letter of why they broke up.

So if you get a chance, pick up Why We Broke Up, you won't regret it!



Rating:

*Summary from Goodreads.com