Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Book Review: The Taming by Eric Walters & Teresa Toten

Publish Date: January 24 2012
Publisher: DoubleDay Canada
Pages: 229
ISBN: 978-0-385-67658-8
Series: None
Source: Online book club

RandomHouse Synopsis: (because Goodreads in down!)

It is the power of love, or a love of power?

Katie likes to believe she’s invisible. It seems so much safer than being exposed as who she is: shy, poor, and vulnerable. So getting up in front of audience as the lead in her school’s production of The Taming of the Shrew should be complete torture. But as Katie tells it, something totally unexpected happened when she stepped on stage: “My head exploded. I loved it. Acting hit me like a sucker punch and I loved, loved, loved it! Invisible Katie became visible Katherina.”
Evan is, as they say, another story. He knows just what it takes to get noticed, and he uses every one of the skills he’s perfected from years of being the new kid at yet another new school. Rich, smart, and ridiculously charming, he’s like nothing and no one Katie has ever encountered. How then could someone like him possibly be interested in someone like her? But before she knows it they are inseparable. Over the dizzying course of their relationship, Katie must confront the fact that the power of love can conceal darker truths.

My Review:
Starting The Taming, I thought I was in for some teenage high school love story. The cover, and the synopsis set me up with those expectations. Katie, is a young girl who has done so much to become invisible in high school, to NOT become one of those "popular" girls. To her, she is as invisible as you can get. Until she becomes the lead in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and she sees that she loves the stage, she was meant for it. People start noticing her. No longer is Katie invisible.
Evan, the new guy from a prep school, who let me be honest here sounded like a great guy! He has the clothes, the car, the money and along with that, the nonchalant attitude; I mean he throws his car keys to the first kid he meets in school, saying "hey, take it! It's got a full tank!". Everybody notices Evan, he has that for him. But there is so much more to Evan than we're lead to believe.
Evan meets Katie, and things spark between them, and now more than ever, Katie is as noticeable. For Katie, this is all new. The lead in the play, the noticing and more importantly, the boyfriend. She has spent so much time with just herself and her two odd, quirky but very good friends and now all of a sudden she has this guy who can't get enough of her, is willing to take her on dates (and pay himself). He's buying her clothes that he thinks will suit her, telling her what her favourite flowers are and so on. Katie is in heaven. Then things start happening, and without giving too much away, from past situations, Katie blames herself for these events. This is where the book took the turn I was not expecting. Secrets are revealed and more secrets are kept and The Taming becomes a haunting story. So many times I wanted to yell through the pages at Katie or Evan (or their parents!) and try to help them. I felt so bad for Katie, and honestly, as the book went on I felt for Evan too. The things they had / have to endure separately with their family was heart breaking.
Walters and Toten collaborated with this book. Walters writing the POV of Evan and Toten writing the POV of Katie. I think it was really well done, their story tied really well with The Taming of the Shrew and flowed nicely. I have never read a book from either of these authors, but have heard wonderful things about Eric Walters. And after reading his writing in this, it may not be the last. The emotion and thought put behind each character was obvious. The character development was clearly there and the plot moved along smoothly with the said unexpected twist. My overall thoughts on the book? Well, apart from throwing me completely for a loop, it was addicting. I felt that if I kept reading, I could help them and because of that, I read it without hesitation. I enjoyed The Taming, and the way Katie changed drastically and became aware made it that much better.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Book Review: Destined by P.C Cast & Kristin Cast

Publish Date: October 25, 2011
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 325
Series: House of Night, Book #9
ISBN: 978-0-312-65025-4
Source: Bought

Goodread Synopsis:
Breathing hard, Aurox stood there over the bodies of his vanquished enemies. He turned to Neferet.

"Very good," she said in her emotionless voice. "Let us leave this place before the authorities descend."

Aurox followed her. He walked heavily, his hooves gouging furrows in the dirty alley.

Weak. He felt weak. And more. There was something else.

"What is it?" She snapped at him when he hesitated before entering the car again.

"I do not know. I feel--"

She laughed. "You don't feel at all. You're obviously overthinking this."

"Yes, Priestess." Aurox got in the car and let the world speed past him.
I do not think. I do not feel. I am a weapon.
Zoey is finally home where she belongs, safe with her Guardian Warrior, Stark, by her side, and preparing to face off against Neferet -- which would be a whole lot easier if the High Council saw the ex-High Priestess for what she really is. Kalona has released his hold on Rephaim, and, through Nyx's gift of a human form, Rephaim and Stevie Rae are finally able to be together -- if he can truly walk the path of the Goddess and stay free of his father's shadow.
But there are new forces at work at the House of Night. An influx of humans, including Lenobia's handsome horse whisperer, threatens their precarious stability. And then there's the mysterious Aurox, a jaw-droppingly gorgeous teen boy who is actually more -- or possibly less -- than human. Only Neferet knows he was created to be her greatest weapon. But Zoey can sense the part of his soul that remains human, the compassion that wars with his Dark calling. And there's something strangely familiar about him . . .
Will Neferet's true nature be revealed before she succeeds at extinguishing Light? And will Zoey be able to touch Aurox's humanity in time to protect them all? Find out what's destined in the next thrilling chapter of the House of Night series.

My Review:
Dear oh dear, where do I start with this book? It's book nine in the House of Night series. NINE!
I do like these books, the story is good, the writing it decent and the characters are fun. But I think the series should have been wrapped up in the 3rd book. It seems the authors are just trying to drag it on and on, like they don't want to give up. But seriously, what more can you write? If you haven't read all the books up to Destined, then maybe you shouldn't read my review, I dont want to spoil anything for you.

Here we go, first off, the fact that they are bringing Heath back into the mix is proof that they are running out of original ideas. I mean, he died, let him be dead and move on. And this "I used to be bad, and now I'm good" characteristic that half of the characters have, needs to be done. Neferet is back and still be head hancho of the House of Night, the nerd herd is living in the depot with Rephiam who is now human half the time, and lo and behold, Kalona is rethinking his badassness. *sigh*
I'm having a hard time writing this review, because it's a love / hate relationship. I want to be done with this series, but the darn cliffhangers that they have at the end of EACH (of the NINE books) is too much! I think they are the only thing that brings me back each time. I seriously curse myself while reading these books up until the last chapters, because I just can't stop. Good for you P.C. and Kristin for being able to get us hooked each and every time.
Zoey and her friends haven't changed much. They're still on each others case, Aprodite still the smart-ass, Stevie-Rae still the country girl and so on. Characters are being killed off and Zoey is trying to defeat Neferet, nothing new.
Honestly, I didn't find this book kept me interested as much as the previous others. But once again, I've been pulled in, and I am (not without reluctance) anticipating the book that will put this series up into the whooping double digits, Hidden, #10.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Spotted: Cover of Embers & Echoes by Karsten Knight

Look what I saw the other day?


Embers & Echoes (Wildefire #2) by Karsten Knight is set to be released on August 28th, 2012 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

I said back when I read and reviewed Wildefire that I was looking forward to book two in the series and here it is! The cover is great and follows the theme of it's predecessor nicely. Needless to say, August can't come soon enough.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday

The Broke and The Bookish get credit for this fun weekly meme!

This weeks top 10 - Top 10 books I'd quickly save if my house was being abducted by aliens


1. First edition of HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban *
2. First edition of HP and the Goblet of Fire *
3. First edition of HP and the Sorcerer's Stone *
4. First edition of HP and the Goblet of Fire *
*For OBVIOUS reasons!
5. Donalds Day In The Kitchen - my absolute favourite book growing up as a child
6. The Outsiders - my favourite book as a teenager (This particular copy is from my grandparents!)
7. Signed copy of Freefall **
8. Signed copy of Losing Faith **
9. Signed copy of Haunted **
10. Signed copy of Echoes From The Other Land **
**Signed copies are harder to replace, so that's why I chose these ones

Once I save these books, I'd had to replace certain ones right away. Books such as all the other HP's, Twilight Series, Across the Universe and A Millions Suns, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Tell No One, and The Pact would be among the first to be added to my new collection! I couldn't live without any of these.

Tell me whats on your list!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Book Review: Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Publish Date: February 21, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pages: 352
Series: The Chemical Garden Trilogy, Book #2
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0907-1
Source: From publisher for honest review

Goodreads Synopsis:
Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.
The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.
In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.

My Review:

Gorgeous cover! I really like it and have liked it since it's reveal. I've heard some people say it looks "fan-made"... a) what's wrong with it being fan-made? b) even if it was, kudos to the fan because it's eye catching for sure! And everything, right down to the last detail plays a crucial part in the book.
For starters, if you haven't read Wither yet, stop reading this and read that instead! Seriously, it's a great book. You can read my review here (when you've finished Wither, of course). Right where Wither's awesomeness ends, Fever's begins! It picks up with Rhine and Gabriel and their journey to "freedom". I quote freedom because to Rhine that's what it is, but to Gabriel, it's something completely new and different. For Rhine, her escape is freedom from her husband, her sister wives and more importantly, freedom from her father in law, Vaughn. But for Gabriel, the escape is something he believed he wanted with Rhine. Though as the story goes on, we can see how things and feelings change.
As Fever progresses, we expreience the thrill of running away. And for Rhine and Gabriel it's not just thrilling. It's a never ending journey of escape...run...hide...escape...run...hide. So for them, it's not easy. Unfortunately, on their escape to Manhattan, they run into a circus of prositutes run by a mad women. The two of them have to endure things that are unimaginable all while trying to escape yet again. During this time, enemies are made, but more importantly, friends are made. One friend made among them is Maddie, a young malformed mute (DeStefano's character description - not mine) ,who is more than just that. Maddie is such a great character, and it was nice to see another character with such importance be introduced. Rhine, the main character has changed since Wither. Not changed so much I guess, as grown. With all that she has gone through, and the moping she did at "home" with her husband, she has had to grow up, and toughen up and be the fearless girl Gabriel pictured. Gabriel has changed since Wither too, he used to be the quiet, respectable house worker. Now on the run with Rhine, he's seen things he's never seen and had to toughen up too. He heard Rhine talking about Manhattan, New York and how wonderful it was there. Rhine also always talked about Rowan and how things would be once she was home with him, so Gabriel has this preconcieved notion and boy, is he wrong. You can definitely see the toll it's taken on Gabriel, all of this escaping and troubles they encounter.
DeStefano's dystopian world is not one that I would ever want to live in. The world she writes about it crazy, really. Women and men only living to 20 and 25, the women being "Gathered" and sold into polygamus relationships, and everything else in this world is a little unbelievable, but the way DeStefano writes is enough to make it a good story. The ideas are so far-strecthed, but the actual writing isn't. Plot lines, characters, and the fast pace make Fever a great installment to The Chemical Gardens series, and I cannot wait for book #3.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Book Review: Dead To You by Lisa McMann

Publish Date: February 7, 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 243
Series: None
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0388-8
Source: From publisher for review

Goodread Synopsis:
Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just seven years old. Now, at sixteen, he has returned to his family.
It's a miracle... at first.
Then the tensions start to build. His reintroduction to his old life isn't going smoothly, and his family is tearing apart all over again. If only Ethan could remember something, anything, about his life before, he'd be able to put the pieces back together. But there's something that's keeping his memory blocked.
Something unspeakable...

My Review:
What a great book this was! Right away, the synopsis makes the book out to be phenomenal and it truly is, from the first page to the last.
Years ago, a young 7 year old boy Ethan was abducted from his front yard. Years later (9 years to be precise), he returned to his family who have grown up and have had to move on. Ethan has to try to fit into a life of love, friendship and normalcy now. All these years, Ethan has been trying to figure his life out, and he has finally come home. McMann is able to write this story with so much ease it seems. With a book that deals with such serious and difficult situations, it seems written so perfectly. McMann has to portray these characters that have been without each other for years, a son without his parents and brother, and a mother and father without the son they once had - this would be difficult to write I would imagine, but the author does a wonderful job capturing the feelings and emotions of each character. Ethan is the character that you'll feel bad for, he has lived the most part of his life with his abductor, and he can't remember anything that people throw out to him. Blake, the younger brother is having a hard time adjusting to life with his brother back home, but Grace, oh little Grace, the sister born 1 year after the abduction is such a cute little girl. She'll melt your heart with the things she says and does. All of these characters, plus more are so well written and believable. They just add to the overall greatness of Dead To You.
This isn't just the happy ending book we think it should be. No way, this is so much more than that. It's an intense, pyscological puzzle that is just so worth it.
I recommend that you read Dead To You. The ending will leave you speechless!

Thank you so much for sending me this ARC, Simon and Schuster.


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