If I Die by Rachel Vincent

Summary: The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies.

But the next scream might be for Kaylee.

Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either.

But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life.

Anything.

Review: I wanted to punch Nash and Kaylee more in If I Die than any other. I especially wanted to punch Nash at the end. I wanted to punch Tod too, but Tod is still my favorite. The story was fantastic. I enjoyed the part where Kaylee went back to Lakeside. I haven't read My Soul to Lose yet so I don't know anything that happened when Kaylee was there the first time. Something that got on my nerves was how Kaylee was trying to be "meh" about everything going on in this book. With that said, it was a relief to watch her break down because clearly the whole situation was bothering her. I like how quickly this book moved. Everything happened within a week and that kept the story moving very well. I wasn't too surprised by the ending. Maybe it's because I know more books are coming so I figured something similar was going to happen. I wish I had more to say, but I'm trying to stay vague to avoid spoilers. You know what would help with that? If you would just go out and get this series right now. Go. Now. Rachel Vincent really doesn't hold back when she writes her stories. If you want a series that will keep you on your feet, then pick this one up.

5 howls

New in the Den (IMM 27)

From Kristi at The Story Siren

Won:

This is the other book I won from a contest over at Within Pages. For some reason I can't find the blog anymore or else I would have linked it. :/

That's all I got this week.

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Summary: Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle—disguised and alone—to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past. Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

Review: This review is going to have some spoilers from Graceling and from Fire so I wouldn't recommend reading this unless you've read those as well.

I'm not sure where to begin with Bitterblue. My favorite characters in books usually aren't the main characters, but Bitterblue was my favorite from Graceling and she was still one of my favorites in Bitterblue as well. She was strong, but fragile at the same time and it was an interesting combination to read. There are lots of new characters you get introduced too, but 2 of the most important characters are Teddy and Saf. You meet these guys early on and they're decent guys for the most part. Saf was great, but he was a bit of a brat during part of the book. I forgive him though. He's just too dang adorable. Then there's Teddy. He would be my favorite if it wasn't for Bitterblue. He was just...*gushes*. There are more minor characters I'm not going to get into, but this book was ripe with twisted and broken characters. I loved reading every one of them. Even the bad ones.

The story was great as well. It didn't have nearly as much action as Graceling or Fire, but it held its own. Bitterblue was more about how a young queen had to rebuild her empire after her father wrecked it. Some parts were heartbreaking, and some parts were inspiring. There were some great twists and the last 100 pages might have been my favorite parts. Of course there was a lot of sadness in those pages as well. Bitterblue learned a lot about her father throughout this book and my heart broke for her. There was something that I still wonder about by the end of the story, but this was still a fantastic read. I think it definitely stood up to the legacy of Graceling and Fire. And yes, past characters do return. Not just Katsa and Po, but Skye, Helda, Giddon, Raffin, Bann, and even Fire. It was a fantastic cast of returning characters for sure. I would definitely pick this one up if you're a fan of these books.

5 howls

New in the Den (IMM 26)

From Kristi at The Story Siren

Bought:

I already had Graceling, but I suddenly realized I could buy stuff internationally now so I went ahead and bought the UK cover. I <3 these books!

Won:
I won Nevermore from Amelia at The Authoress! I don't have this book in my hands right now, but my mom called me to let me know the book is at the house so I think I'll pick it up when I go visit this weekend.
I won Bitterblue(!!!!) from Jessica Spotswood (author of Born Wicked). There was a lot of squeeing when I won this.

I also won another book, but I like to wait until I actually have books to put them on here. As far as I know, the other book I won hasn't arrived yet. Pretty darn good set of books up there. Mmhmm

Book Blogger Confessions 4

It's time for another Book Blogger Confession hosted by Karen at For What It's Worth and Tiger at All-Consuming Meda.

February 20th: Social networking with authors: Do you interact on Twitter/Facebook/etc with authors? Does it affect how you review their work or do you look at their books differently because you're on friendly terms with them?

I know becoming friends with an author shapes how you view their work. I don't want to promote a book I didn't enjoy simply because I'm friends with an author. Of course I follow them on Twitter and I've talked to a few on there, but I'm far from friends with them. I'm always surprised when they take time out of their day to reply to something I said. I've met a few authors when I went to my first book festival last November and they were all really nice, but I don't want that to affect the way I review their books. This is hard for me to say because one of the authors I met was Ellen Hopkins and she's my favorite author so naturally I want to love all of her books. So far I have enjoyed them all greatly, but there's always the chance that she could write something I don't mesh well with and I don't want to force myself to like a book if it wasn't meant to be. Especially since I've met Ellen and she's very sweet. She deserves more than that from a fan. I'm also a huge smart-ass. I'm very sarcastic and I know it doesn't always come across in my text so I try to leave that sort of thing off my blog because I don't want to have the same issue with authors that other bloggers have had. It would be unfortunate to get into a fight with an author I like simply because of a misunderstanding, or because 1 book didn't fit in my life from their entire collection of works.

I am very good friends with an author. We became friends because I read his book and loved it. We started talking about it and now we talk about all kinds of things. It probably wasn't the smartest thing ever for me to befriend an author after 1 book. Mostly because his book is non-fiction and that isn't my genre at all. I don't regret it though. He just finished working on his second book and it's editing now. He has given me the privilege of reading chapters of it as he finished so I could give my opinion. Even he could write something I'm not particularly fond of, but hopefully that won't happen. He's the only author I'm "friends" with so I don't think it's a big problem.

I don't know if I would become friends with my favorite authors even if I had the chance because there are issues that can come up between people such as what each person believes. I know there are some bloggers that won't read books about angels/fallen angels because of their beliefs. That's fine. I'm a Christian, but I haven't found a book that made me uncomfortable due to what I believe. I've read books with angels/demons, vampires, witches, faeries, homosexuality, and emotional problems. I don't think my belief in God should affect how I read fiction. I am more selective of my non-fiction because of this, but if a fictional book sounds good to me then I'm going to read it. I don't want to become friends with an author, and then say I can't read any more of their books because we have a difference in beliefs. P.S. If I jumped to another topic with this last bit, my bad.

Paper Towns by John Green

Summary: When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night - dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge - he follows her. Margo's always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she's always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they're for Q. Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers.

Review: Yay for finally reading my first John Green book! I had no idea what to expect when I started Paper Towns in all honesty, but I'm very impressed. Unfortunately this is another book I enjoyed in every way except for the characters. Margo was okay. Ben and Radar were okay. Q was okay. None of them stood out for me though. They had their good moments, and they had their moments when I wanted to smack them. I did care for them. Especially when Q started to assume things about Margo. I'm not going to go into more detail because of spoilers, but I was reading Paper Towns and I kept thinking, "No! No! No! That is not going to happen!" I think that says something that you don't have to relate to any certain character, but you still care about what happens to them. I loved the story. It was essentially a scavenger hunt, and it was very well done. I felt the end was rather bittersweet. My favorite part might have been the road trip at the end. I feel like that's where you get the most out of the characters, because that's when Q interacts with them the most. He spends so much of the book trying to figure out Margo and it feels like the minor characters get shoved in the background for most of the book. Other than that, I must say I am very much looking forward to my next John Green book.

4 howls

Safe and Sound video

Here's a link to the music video Safe and Sound from The Hunger Games soundtrack. I'm surprised the blog world hasn't blown up already about this, but here it is. Enjoy. :)

http://www.mtv.com/videos/taylor-swift/732819/safe-sound.jhtml#id=1678910

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Summary: Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

Review: Last year I pretty much heard, "blah blah blah READ ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS!" Well I finally did, and I was pleasantly surprised. I worded it like that because I don't read a lot of comtemps, and I assumed Anna was going to be a lot of some random girl kissing some random French guys. I loved the way Stephanie developed the story. Anna wasn't annoying the way I thought she was going to be. I think the reason why she didn't obsess over Toph the way she probably would have is because she was in Paris, and he wasn't around. I liked that. It gave us the chance to get to know Anna with a minimal amount of male influence. St. Clair was a sweet guy, but some things he did bothered me. I think he needed to grow up a lot during this book, and I was pleased to see him do so. I saw a definite change between the St. Clair at the beginning and the Etienne at the end. I don't know if I have a favorite character or not. All of the characters seemed good, but none of them stood out enough for me.

I think the story was adorable. It wasn't a girl drooling over the first guy she met. It was a girl developing a friendship and then acknowledging her love for this friend. Personally, that is how I like my love stories. There was a moment when I thought Anna was getting a little creepy obsessed, and that's when it looked like things might heat up between Anna and St. Clair. That didn't last very long so I wasn't too bothered by it. Overall, an adorable read that deserves the hype it's getting.

5 howls

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Summary: Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is yet another book I'm kicking myself for not reading sooner. I liked Mara a good bit. Her sense of humor and attitude reminded me of myself. It was literally like reading myself as a character in a book. Mara is the closest I've come to that. It was actually a bit creepy. I don't know how I feel about Noah. He's a decent character for the most part. He isn't my kind of man though. He still seems to be a bit of a player and that's a turn off for me, and he smokes. Ewwwwwwwwwww. Other than that, he's a pretty solid guy. Daniel and Joseph were cute characters. I can't wait to see more if them in future books. Favorite character? Probably Daniel/Joseph. I guess my only complaint about the story is that it read like a very creepy contemporary, but it isn't. That threw me, but the story was still engaging and I highly enjoyed it.

5 howls

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Review: I'm not even sure I know the words to properly review Across the Universe. First off, characters. I liked Amy. I liked Elder. Harley was my favorite. He was one of those characters that made me smile every time he was on a page. He's the kind of friend I would love to have in my life. Amy and Elder were nice too though. I liked being inside Elder's head as he figured things out about the workings of the ship. I loved/hated being in Amy's head when she was...droned? I don't know how to describe it. If you've read the book then you probably know what I'm talking about. I loved it because it was so good. The simple sentences was a great effect, and I really thought I was her in that moment. That's also why I hated it. It was terrifying. I won't say anymore, but that might have been my favorite moment of the book. I think that's the part where Elder shone the most as well. Things started to click in his head, and it was good to see his revelations.

The story was incredible. I'm not very familiar with sci-fi which is why it took so long for me to read Across the Universe. The cover was pretty, and it sounded good, but I wasn't sure if it was my thing. Of course this is an instance where I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. The only thing I'm not sure if I liked was the end. The very end. The last page. Amy seemed...okay...with everything. I hope that it was just a simple gesture and that A Million Suns will be part of her dealing with everything that happened in Across the Universe. Sorry if that sounds super vague, but I don't want to make this a spoiler review. This was a great book. Go read it. Even if you don't do sci-fi.

5 howls

Harper Imprint Challenge (end)

I said I was only going to do the easy set of books, but I ended up doing a little more than that. I read 5 books total.

Ascendent by Diana Peterfreund

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L.J. Smith

The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion by L.J. Smith

Die for Me by Amy Plum

Not too shabby if I do say so myself. I enjoyed this challenge. I finally got around to reading some books that have been in my TBR pile for some time now. Here is a link to all of the reviews that were posted from all the participants.