Review: Wake Unto Me

Title: Wake Unto Me
Author: Lisa Cach
Publisher: The Penguin Group
Goodreads | Amazon

Description (from the back of the book):

I see him in my dreams, this mysterious boy. He comes from

a different time,

a different place,

a different reality.

But there is something that connects us. We are supposed to be together -  bound by the heart of another. But that's not possible... or is it?

My Review:

Wow, this story was so different!

I'm surprised that more people haven't yet read this! I'll be honest, I wasn't too sure about it either. I saw that Kristi (The Story Siren) liked it, and they had a signed copy at Powells, so I bought it. I'm so glad I gave it a chance! Perhaps the cover is to blame for it being overlooked? I don't think the cover fits this book well. If they didn't have a signed copy I would have just bought it for my kindle.

Anyways, on to the actual story!

France was such an enchanting location for this love story! A castle set in the French countryside all by itself is romantic, but add Caitlyn's story and it's near perfection.

This story had so much awesomeness! There was a dreamy love interest, aforementioned enchanting location, a mysterious storyline, nightmares, and possible time traveling. Whoa, right?

The mystery aspect was really great. It had a The Da Vinci Code feel to it, without being a blatant replication. I was never one hundred percent sure what was really going on.

I really liked Caitlyn's love interest too! I felt my heart start to race whenever she encountered him. Yummy.

The only thing I really wanted was more! I wish that this story was a good hundred pages longer (it could have been, easily). I felt like the end was wrapped up a little too quickly; I didn't want it to be over!

I'd definitely recommend picking this book up and giving it a try!

Review : White Cat

Title: White Cat
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: McElderberry books (Simon and Schuster)
Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Description from Goodreads:

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love — or death — and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

My Review:

Fantastic!

I really liked Holly Black's books about the Fae (Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside), so I'm not sure why it took me so long to pick up White Cat. Maybe I was afraid that I wouldn't like this book as much since it wasn't about fairies? Well, I was wrong! I liked this book even more than her previous books!

The book starts off right in the middle of action- Cassel wakes up from sleepwalking to find himself on top of his school's roof, stuck. How did he get up there, and why did his dream lead him there? As the story unfolds we are told more about the curse workers and their history, Cassel's ties to them, and why he sleepwalks to his (almost) death. Black does a great job of only giving out little bits of information at a time, and keeps up just enough suspense, that makes the reader keep flipping through the pages. There was never a point where I was bored with the story! I wanted to know more about curse workers, more about his family, more about his dreams and the white cat he keeps seeing.

There were things in the story that I never saw coming. Sure, there were clues that I was satisfyingly able to figure out about little events in the book, but the main plot was still a mystery until it was revealed. The twists in White Cat were awesome!

The curse workers were so interesting! I loved the world that Holly Black created around them. What would it be like if there really were people who could change our feelings, luck, or memories? Black's answer is intriguing.

White Cat is a deliciously dark and mysterious story. I can't wait to dig into Red Glove, the next book in this series!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking The Spine. It showcases new books that are coming out soon that we can't wait to read!

Title: Blood Rights
Author: Kristen Painter
Publication Date: October 2011
Find it on (Goodreads | Amazon)

 That's right, I posted it huge. You can click on it to make it bigger. :)

Teaser fom Orbit Books:

The lacy gold mapped her entire body. A finely-wrought filigree of stars, vines, flowers, butterflies, ancient symbols and words ran from her feet, up her legs, over her narrow waist, spanned her chest and finished down her arms to the tips of her fingers…

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarré—a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world…and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.

Normally I like to pick books that are coming out soon, but I couldn't resist the gorgeousness of this cover! The storyline sounds amazing too. I'd like this one now, please. :)

Visit Orbit Books to see a couple teaser pictures of the next two covers!

Review: Paper Towns

Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Publisher: Speak: An Imprint of Penguin Group
Find it on: Goodreads | Amazon

Description from Goodreads:

 Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life--dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge--he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues--and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

 My Review:

I am a big fan of John and Hank Green's Youtube channel, The Vlogbrothers, so I was nervous about reading John Green's writing; I didn't want anything tarnishing my love for them!

The verdict:

I adored Paper Towns!

It's a clever and quirky story that has a very organic feel to it. The characters and their flaws were so real. And the message in this book? Fantastic.

I thought maybe the ending would leave me unsatisfied, but it didn't. The last paragraph is perfection.

The name Margo Roth Spiegelman will forever be stuck in my brain, like a catchy commercial jingle.

I highly recommend this book. I think that this story is enjoyable on many different levels, and therefor a wide gamut of people could find things to love about this story.

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

For those of you who are unaware of whom the vlogbrothers are, please visit them on youtube:

Vlogbrothers

They sing songs, rant about random things, promote awesomeness, and are just generally fun and nice. Want a book related video? Check out John Green at the American Library Association's Annual Conference, appropriately titled:                

  Book Nerd PARADISE

 DFTBA! :)

In My Mailbox (4)

In My Mailbox is a meme that is hosted by The Story Siren. It's a fun way to share what books we got for the week.

 

I had an exciting week! I actually got something "in my mailbox"! I bought a few books too. I can't resist Powells bookstore. :)

I won a book from Electrifying Reviews and it came this week. Yay! I won a signed copy of Angelfire. I can't wait to read it! I'm pretty excited about having a signed copy of this book. I also got some swag with it -  a signed bookmark for A Touch Mortal, a signed bookmark for Sweet Venom, an Angelfire sticker and a bunch of Angelfire bookmarks. Woo-hoo for free stuff! 

Angelfire | Courtney Allison Moulton (Goodreads | Amazon)

Thanks Alex! Here is Alex's blog (visit it! It's awesome!): Electrifying Reviews 

I got a couple of books for review this week from NetGalley (Yay!):

 Bless This Mouse | Eric Rohmann (Goodreads | Amazon)

This one looks so cute! 

 The Betrayal of Maggie Blair | Elizabeth Laird (Goodreads | Amazon)

I also got Wings for free for my kindle this week (I know lots of you probably did too):

 Wings | Aprilynne Pike (Goodreads | Amazon)

You can find it for free for the kindle HERE

 I have been wanting to read this for a long time. I'm excited it was free! 

I also bought a few books this week:

Shadowspell | Jenna Black (Goodreads | Amazon)

I love the cover! I'm really looking forward to seeing where this story is going to go.

If I Stay | Gayle Forman (Goodreads | Amazon)

Hunger | Jackie Morse Kessler (Goodreads | Amazon)

This one is really pretty in person. It has a foil type look to it.

Dark Lover | J.R. Ward (Goodreads | Amazon)

I hope this one is as good I've heard! I could use a good, steamy book. :)

 

Review: Lost Voices

Title: Lost Voices
Author: Sarah Porter
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Find it on: Amazon | Goodreads
I received an advanced digital copy of this book from NetGalley to review.The publication date for Lost Voices is July 4, 2011.

Description:

Fourteen-year-old Luce has had a tough life, but she reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of her grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid.

A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks. Luce's own remarkable singing talent makes her important to the tribe—she may even have a shot at becoming their queen. However, her struggle to retain her humanity puts her at odds with her new friends. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?

The first book in a trilogy, Lost Voices is a captivating and wildly original tale about finding a voice, the healing power of friendship, and the strength it takes to forgive. 

My Review:

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. Luce has no one. Her parents are both dead and her uncle is an abusive alcoholic. How lonely and depressing that would be! I couldn't wait to see what would happen to her.

After she is left on the cliffs by the ocean, she just gives up. She doesn't want to go back to the only thing she has: a life with her horrible uncle. She falls off the cliff and transforms into a mermaid, leaving her humanity behind.

This is the part I expected her life to change and for things to start looking better for Luce. However, that wasn't really the case. Being a mermaid isn't as wonderful as it would seem. She finds other mermaids, but is still pretty alone.

I don't want to give too much away, but I felt like the story didn't really go anywhere and that there were too many unanswered questions. This is going to be part of a series, so I'm hoping that these questions will be answered. I know that not all stories can be positive, but I really do hope that Luce ends up in a better situation.

Overall, I liked Luce's story, but I'm not sure I loved it. I would definitely give the second book in the series a chance before deciding how I feel about it as a whole. There is a lot built up in this book that could culminate into something great. I hope it does!

In My Mailbox (3)

In My Mailbox is a meme that is hosted by The Story Siren. It's a fun way to share what books we got for the week.

I got quite a few books this week! Exciting! 

Fallen From Grace | M.J. Putney (Amazon | Goodreads)

This book is free on Amazon for the kindle. It's a bonus story to The Dark Mirror. It was Allarde's story before he met Victoria. I read it this week and liked it.

Then, I went to Powells (otherwise known as The City of Books), and bought lots of books. I can usually find used books in great condition or great sale priced books there. This was my first trip to the big Powells in downtown Portland. It was huge! A book lovers paradise.

The Poison Eaters | Holly Black (Amazon | Goodreads)

Holly Black is going to be in town this month for a signing, so I had to pick up a few of her books! I really like this cover. 

 

White Cat | Holly Black (Amazon | Goodreads)

I have been wanting this one for a while! Holly coming to town was the perfect excuse to buy it. 

 The Dead Tossed Waves | Carrie Ryan (Amazon | Goodreads)

This is the only book I payed full price for this week. I LOVED the Forest of Hands and Teeth and can't wait to read this one.

This Lullaby | Sarah Dessen (Amazon | Goodreads)

This was on sale and I've heard good things about Sarah Dessen, so I picked this up. It's on sale for super cheap on amazon right now!

 

The Luxe | Anna Godberson (Amazon | Goodreads)

This is another one that I've heard good things about that I found at a great price and picked up.

Radiance | Alyson Noel (Amazon | Goodreads)

This book is so pretty! I love how the pages have the torn edge look (no idea what that's called).

Then I found a couple books at Borders for only $4 each. Yay! 

 

Hush, Hush | Rebecca Fitzpatrick (Amazon | Goodreads)

I've been wanting to read this one for so long. Yay for $4!

Spells | Aprilynne Pike (Amazon | Goodreads)

She's coming in June, so I need a book for her to sign! Wings (the first book) is actually free for the kindle right now (I still need to read it). I actually like the other cover a lot better, but I haven't seen it anywhere.

Oh! and I got a super cute kids book to review from NetGalley:

I Am Tama, Lucky Cat | Wendy Henrichs (Amazon | Goodreads) 

Anyone on NetGalley can download and review this one. It's really cute! I'll review it later. 

Review: The Vespertine

Title: The Vespertine
Author:  Saundra Mitchell
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Find it on Goodreads
Find it on Amazon

Description: 

It’s the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset—visions that offer glimpses of the future.

Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own—still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him.

When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia’s world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she’s not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.

My Review:

The Vespertine is written so eloquently! An example (and one of my favorite parts of the book):

"Clasping the balcony rail, I lifted my face to the wind again. It carried the cold, stony scent of fresh water. All my life, the ocean had surrounded me, saltily pushing me to the west. This spring's sweetness offered to carry me away, off to cold, clear lands that I had yet begun to imagine. Eyes closed, I pressed forward a bit more, parting my lips to catch a taste of that promise."

 Just lovely. I was hooked on her writing from the very first sentence.

One of my favorite parts about this story was all of the Victorian era details - the parties, the courting rituals, and the dresses. Most of all the dresses! I don't know how an author can manage to write about dresses so well that you want to dress up in one yourself, but Mitchell has managed to do just that!

I really enjoyed the storyline, and it went a bit deeper than I was first expecting. Amelia doesn't exactly conform to society's expectations, but things are going well for her. Then, all of a sudden things become chaotic. The last few chapters had me so tense waiting to see what would happen!

I really like the love connection in this story. I do wish that there would have been more details exchanged between them and more of a build up, but I liked their story nonetheless.

I do have to add that I love the cover of this book. It's so pretty! It's one of the things that first drew me in.

I want more! I want more of Mitchell's writing, more Victorian details, and more Amelia! I am sad that there will be no more novels written from Amelia's point of view, but I'm glad that there will be a companion novel. I will be waiting impatiently for it!

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend The Vespertine!

I received this e-book in trade for an honest review

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by  Breaking The Spine. It showcases new books that are coming out soon that we can't wait to read!

Title: Angel Burn
Author: L.A.Weatherly
Publication Date: May 24, 2011
Find it on Amazon
Find it on Goodreads

Willow knows she’s different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars. Willow has a gift. She can look into the future and know people’s dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them. She has no idea where this power comes from. But the assassin, Alex, does.

Gorgeous, mysterious Alex knows more about Willow than Willow herself. He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces, and that he’s one of the few humans left who can fight them. When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems, least of all good and evil.

In the first book in an action-packed, romantic trilogy, L..A. Weatherly sends readers on a thrill-ride of a road trip - and depicts the human race at the brink of a future as catastrophic as it is deceptively beautiful.

They’re out for your soul . . . and they don’t have heaven in mind.

The cover of this book is so awesome! That alone makes me want to pick it up.  The storyline sounds really good too!

Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Book One)
Author: Carrie Ryan
Publisher: Delacorte Press - Random House
Find it on Goodreads
Find it on Amazon

Description (from goodreads):

In Mary's world there are simple truths.
The Sisterhood always knows best.
The Guardians will protect and serve.
The Unconsecrated will never relent.
And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

My Review:

Whoa.

This book was fascinating! From the very beginning I was sucked in and couldn't put it down. The words flowed effortlessly and I enjoyed every moment.

Mary's world is bleak. Her life falls apart, and yet she still has hope. Is there a life for her? Is there more out there for her, past the Forest of Hands and Teeth? Can she be happy living in her village as others demand her to?

I really enjoy stories that delve into what would happen if a sort of sickness was to take over humankind. The people in this book are taken over by something (a disease? virus?) that makes them zombie like; something that makes them crave human flesh. They were terrifying! There was tension at almost every moment in this book - just enough to keep you wanting more without it being too overbearing.

I just devoured this book and I cannot wait to read the next book, The Dead-Tossed Waves!