Wednesday 25 April 2012

Waiting On Wednesday (2)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to share the books that you are highly anticipating! 


This week I am waiting on is Rapture by Lauren Kate! I love this series and can't wait to see how it ends! 

From Goodreads:
The sky is dark with wings . . . .

Like sand in an hourglass, time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past they must find the place where the angels fell to earth. Dark forces are after them, and Daniel doesn’t know if he can do this—live only to lose Luce again and again.
Yet together they will face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies . . . and angel dust. Great sacrifices are made. Hearts are destroyed. And suddenly Luce knows what must happen.
For she was meant to be with someone other than Daniel. The curse they’ve borne has always and only been about her—and the love she cast aside. The choice she makes now will be the only one that truly matters.
In the fight for Luce, who will win?



432 pages

Expected publication: June 12th 2012


Tuesday 24 April 2012

Cover: The Evolution of Mara Dyer

So yesterday the cover for the second book in the Mara Dyer series was released! *squeels* I sorta loved the first book so I am beyond excited that the cover for the second book has been released. The book keeps with the theme of the  first one, it looks so cool!


What do you think of the new cover?


From Goodreads:
Two days after Mara walks into a police station in Miami at the close of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, she is committed for psychiatric treatment for what her parents believe is a mental breakdown. But what seems like a hallucination to everyone else is a chilling reality for Mara. Someone from her past has discovered her strange, disturbing secret and that someone wants her to pay. But she's about to discover that the price is more than she can bear.

Dark and
 thrilling, suspenseful and passionate, The Evolution of Mara Dyer will have readers breathlessly turning pages to find out what will become of Mara Dyer next.



EEP!!

Teaser Tuesday (1)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at Should Be Reading where you grab a book, open at two random pages and share something that isn't going to ruin the book! My book this week is Cinder!

''You would withhold this? When so many are dying?'' It was a stupid question. Page 212


The precarious fantasy crashed down around her as quickly as it had begun. It was impossible. Not worth thinking about. Page 33




My review of Cinder will be coming any day now! Be ready! :)

Monday 23 April 2012

Review: The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Summary from Goodreads:
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.


So on the first page of the book we are told that Mara Dyer is not her real name, but its a cool day and it adds to the mystery of 'Mara'. So much happens to Mara in the first few pages of the book! We were really thrown straight into the action in this book and after that suspenseful beginning we can get a bit more relaxed with the rest. Until we get a little further on (when I say little I mean little!). There was always something happening to Mara and it kept me reading! Mara is an awesome character! She's witty and awesome! I loved reading her story!

I loved Jamie, he was the first friend that Mara made at her new school and he was there to help her whenever he could! 

Noah, *sigh* How do I describe Noah? He's mysterious, arrogant, a little annoying in all the right ways and wonderfully sarcastic! How can you not love him when he is a closet what you may call romantic (slightly). At the beginning I was slightly wary of him but later on I began to love him!


Michelle Hodkin has a way of writing that makes you want to read on! She described things in detail but not to the point of overkill!

Overall it is an AWESOME book that MUST be read!


Wednesday 18 April 2012

Video Time: Taylor Swift-Ours

So I kinda have an obsession with Taylor Swift and I can't stop singing this song! When the video was released I stayed up until the early hours of the morning to watch it! Its such a cute video and Taylor Swift is adorable! Enjoy!



Waiting On Wednesday (1)



Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to share the books that you are highly anticipating! 

This week I am waiting on is Underworld by Meg Cabot! I really loved the first book and I can't wait to see what happens next! 
From Goodreads:                                                         Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back. Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn’t dead. Not this time. But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey. Her captor, John Hayden, claims it’s for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they’ve come back as Furies, intent on vengeance…on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves. But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there…and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies. And unless Pierce is careful, this time there’ll be no escape.

Expected publication: May 8th 2012 by Point

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Review: Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie

When River auditions for a part in an interschool performance of Romeo and Juliet, she finds herself smitten by Flynn, the boy playing Romeo. But Flynn comes from a damaged family—is he even capable of giving River what she wants? The path of true love never did run smooth . . . 

This is real life, not a rehearsal...



I have to say that I'm glad that I didn't get my hopes up about this book. 

River is a bit annoying and I don't like her. She asks too many questions for my liking and she is too obsessed with Flynn as the book carries on. I sometimes wonder if she actually loves fun or if she just wants to think that she is in love? Thats for you to decide if you read this book.

Flynn. Grrrr. Thats sums him up and I don't mean grrr in a good way. I really disliked him and thought he was WAY too agressive and that he had an alterior motive behind his reasons for being with River. He is a complete jerk and gets angry over the smallest things. At points I thought he was going to get violent! I couldn't understand why River wanted to be with him! I began to like him a bit more towards the end of book!

The only character I remotely liked was Emmi but it was a limited likeness. 

Overall it was an okay book but I wouldn't re-read it. I was quite glad that it was a short enough book!


Sunday 15 April 2012

Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth


In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.


I really get all the hype about this book now! It is really good! I don't know why I didn't start this book before!

The cover is so eye catching and different from most popular book covers! I can even see Four and Tris! 

Tris is an awesome character but at points she slightly annoyed me but I have to admit  I enjoy being annoyed by main characters! I think that she is very out-going and she is a strong character. I think that she did what she needed to do to be happy even if that meant leaving the people she loved. I understand her reasoning for doing what she did and I admire her for it. Tris has to be one of my favourite characters. She's about 7th in my list which is pretty impressive!

Four. Well I could write and write and write about Four but you would probably get bored of it! He is the kind of character that I love in books! He is the kind of guy that acts 'bad' at the beginning but has a soft side underneath. Mmmmmmmm Four.

I really wondered why the book was called Divergent but it was discovered early on in the book. I kept reading so that I could find out why being Divergent was bad.....The story kept me reading until 4.30 am! I would like to blame thank Veronica Roth for writing a book that kept me reading until the early hours in the morning!

Overall the book was awesome and I'm looking forward to the next one! 




Cover battle: Wither vs. Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Fever

Wither

Which do you prefer? I prefer Wither as I think it is more eye catching! Comment below and tell me you thoughts!

Saturday 14 April 2012

Author choice video

I asked Megan Miranda: If you had to choose one song to listen to for the rest of your life what would it be?
Megan answered: Hahaha, for the rest of my life? Guess it better stand the test of time.... er, something by U2.
So I have picked my favourite U2 song! Its ONE! Enjoy!

Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out?Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?

Wow oh wow! Why did I not read this book sooner?


DeStefano brings Rhine's story to life! I cannot get over the world in which they live in and its interesting to see what has happened to the world. Rhine is a believable character and she is very focused on her goal. Her relationship with Gabriel is one that I loved! I think that the writing style is very mature and it really gives us an insight in to Rhine's character. 


I was a bit confused on her feelings for Linden but that was one of the main things that kept me reading! At first I hated Linden but as the book progresses I began to like him more and more. The fact that Linden was completely oblivious to what was going on annoyed me, but the thing that annoyed me more was the fact that Rhine thought that she shouldn't tell him! I mean I like Linden but I would be the first person to tell him everything to make him suffer!


My favourite character was Jenna because I felt like she was the one that showed her real emotions all the time!


I love the cover! I think it is one of the nicest covers I have seen!


I really wish that we could have learnt more about Gabriel! I hope we learn more about him in the next book!


Friday 6 April 2012

Barney McKenna

The Dubliners is an Irish folk band. The last original member of The Dubliners passed away on the 5th of April. Barney McKenna was 72. This year marks the Dubliners 50th year anniversary!

R.I.P Barney!

Thursday 5 April 2012

Author Interview: Megan Miranda

Today I have the wonderful Megan Miranda, author of Fracture!

What made you want to become a writer?

I don’t think there was ever a moment when I thought “I want to become a writer.” I wanted to write, but being a writer seemed like such a dream. So I wrote, but mostly as a hobby. And then I had this “why not?” moment, and I think I became a writer right then. It’s when I started treating it like a job, writing every night, in the hopes it would eventually become my job. I wanted to write simply because I love to do it.

Where did you get the idea for Fracture?
It mostly stemmed from questions I had about the brain—especially from the stories I’d hear about people who had a tumor, or had a tumor removed, and their personalities would change. I wondered how much of us is the product of our DNA, and how much of us is something more. I wondered how others would treat a person who had changed. The plot, and Delaney’s “change,” all originated from these questions.

How long did it take you to write Fracture and did you do much editing with it?
It took me 3 months to write the first version, very little of which made it into the finished product. I had to rewrite it—twice—from scratch before it was “ready.” That took another 6 months. And then of course there were more edits after it was picked up by the publisher, trying to make it the best book it could be. I really enjoy the editing process… once I know what I’m doing. Now, I rarely show anyone my writing until I’ve done a fair amount of editing.

Tell us about your publishing journey with Fracture.
I ended up signing with my agent after that first version of Fracture – and then spent 6 months rewriting. After that, though, it sold pretty quickly to Walker/Bloomsbury in a 2-book deal. It’s been such a pleasure to work with them.

Did you have a favourite book or author when you were younger?
My very first favorite book was Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. Once I reached middle school, I started reading a lot of Michael Crichton and Dean Koontz. And I loved the darker classics that we read in high school (Heart of Darkness, The Stranger, etc).

What is your favourite book at the minute? Why?
It changes frequently, but at the moment it would have to be The Fault in our Stars by John Green. How could it not be? Gah. So good.

If you could change one thing about your book what would it be?
I changed the book a whole lot through revisions, and I’m really happy with how the story turned out in the finished product. There’s nothing I’d really choose to change at this point. There are some things I would’ve liked to explore more (certain characters’ back stories), but Fracture was Delaney's story.

Do you have any advice to aspiring writers?
Read a lot. Write a lot. Rewrite a lot :)

What are you currently working on now? Can you tell us anything about it?
I have a standalone YA psychological thriller set to come out in early 2013. It's about friendship, memories, and the fine line between the real and the imagined. I'm also working on 2 other projects that I'm pretty excited about.




Thanks for having me!

Pleasure was all mine Megan!

You can find out more about Megan and her books here.
My review of Fracture is here.