Friday, January 30, 2015

Flashback Friday #2


Flashback Friday is hosted by Swoony Boys Podcast and Fic Fare.

This Weeks Book Criteria:
1. Must have been published at least two years ago, or
2. Preferably is still in print or available to read

My pick is...

Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1)
"Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1)" by Kendare Blake
Published: August 30, 2011

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.
Yet she spares Cas's life.


I've seen some pretty good reviews for this book and I keep meaning to read it. Whenever I go to the library, I see it, but I always have a bunch of other books so I never grab it. However, I hope to grab it soon!

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Feature and Follow #3

Alison Can Read Feature & Follow

Feature and Follow is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee's View.


This weeks featured blogger is A Writer's Dark Corner!

This Weeks Question:
Hard print (real thing) or Kindle/Nook, which is your favorite?

I like them both, but I think I might like physical copies a bit more. While ebooks are REALLY convenient, it requires me to have my iPod charged, as I do not own a Nook or a Kindle. Ebooks are easier to travel with, but I like the feeling of a real book. I can hold it, smell it, carry it. I like being able to see how much of the book I have left (but ebooks do usually tell you about how long it will take you to finish the book) and flip through the pages. It's a really hard choice. I think it also depends on the mood I'm in really.

Join the blog hop!

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

"Unhinged (Splintered, #2)" by A.G. Howard

Unhinged (Splintered, #2)"Unhinged (Splintered, #2)" by A.G. Howard

Published: January 7, 2014
Publisher: Amulet Books
Pages: 387
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Read October 7 to 14, 2014

GoodReads ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble





Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.
That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.
As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.
If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head.

Monday, January 26, 2015

"Her Dark Curiosity (The Madman's Daughter, #2)" by Megan Shepherd

Her Dark Curiosity (The Madman's Daughter, #2)"Her Dark Curiosity (The Madman's Daughter, #2)" by Megan Shepherd

WebsiteBlog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

Published: January 28, 2014
Publisher: Balzar + Bray
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Romance
Pages: 420
Format: Hardcover
Source: MeL Cat

Read December 6 to 10, 2014

GoodReads ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble




To defeat the darkness, she must first embrace it.
Months have passed since Juliet Moreau returned to civilization after escaping her father's island—and the secrets she left behind. Now, back in London once more, she is rebuilding the life she once knew and trying to forget Dr. Moreau’s horrific legacy—though someone, or something, hasn’t forgotten her.
As people close to Juliet fall victim one by one to a murderer who leaves a macabre calling card of three clawlike slashes, Juliet fears one of her father’s creations may have also escaped the island. She is determined to find the killer before Scotland Yard does, though it means awakening sides of herself she had thought long banished, and facing loves from her past she never expected to see again.
As Juliet strives to stop a killer while searching for a serum to cure her own worsening illness, she finds herself once more in the midst of a world of scandal and danger. Her heart torn in two, past bubbling to the surface, life threatened by an obsessive killer—Juliet will be lucky to escape alive.
With inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is a tantalizing mystery about the hidden natures of those we love and how far we’ll go to save them from themselves.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

"Splintered (Splintered, #1)" by A.G. Howard

Splintered (Splintered, #1)"Splintered (Splintered, #1)" by A.G. Howard


Published: January 1, 2013
Publisher: Amulet Books
Pages: 371
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Read September 29 to October 6, 2014



This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence.
Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Feature and Follow #2

Alison Can Read Feature & Follow

Feature and Follow is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee's View.

This Weeks Question:
Do you post your reviews anywhere besides your blog? Where else do you post reviews?

Other than here, of course, I also post on GoodReads. Here is a link to my GoodReads profile. I prefer putting my reviews on here, as it is easier to add gifs/pictures/etc, but GoodReads is nice because the website is prey well organized and I have to do my own organization on here.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

"Fever (The Chemical Garden, #2)" by Lauren DeStefano

Fever (The Chemical Garden, #2)"Fever (The Chemical Garden, #2)" by Lauren DeStefano


Published: February 21, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Romance
Pages: 341
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

Read January 25 to February 21, 2013




Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.
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.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Flashback Friday #1


Flashback Friday is hosted by Swoony Boys Podcast and Fiction Fare.

This Weeks Book Criteria:
1. Must have been published at least two years ago, or
2. Preferably is still in print or available to read

My pick is...

A Touch Mortal (A Touch Trilogy, #1)
"A Touch Mortal (A Touch Trilogy, #1)" by Leah Clifford
Published: February 22, 2011

Eden didn't expect Az.
Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.
Yeah.
So long happily-ever-after.
Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.
She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.
And that's only the beginning of the end.

I've seen mixed to positive reviews for this book. It sounds like a really interesting idea! It almost reminds me of Shatter Me. I hope to bump this book higher up on my TBR list.

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Book Links


Feature and Follow #1

Increase Blog Followers

Feature and Follow is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee's View.

This Weeks Question:
Do you own any doubles of your books? What led to getting that second... or third or fourth... copy?

Even though I own quite a few books, I don't own any doubles. When I go to a bookstore, I'm always worried that I will accidentally buy a book that I forgot that I own. However, I did own a copy of The Lightning Thief, and my sister, unaware that I owned a copy, bought her own copy.

Do you own multiple copies of a book? If so, what book? And why? Leave a comment and tell your answer!

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

"A Company of Swans" by Eva Ibbotson

A Company of Swans"A Company of Swans" by Eva Ibbotson

Published: July 1, 1985
Publisher: Speak

Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Read Sometime 2012


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For nineteen-year-old Harriet Morton, life in 1912 Cambridge is as dry and dull as a biscuit. Her stuffy father and her oppressive aunt Louisa allow her only one outlet: ballet. When a Russian ballet master comes to class searching for dancers to fill the corps of his ballet company before their South American tour, Harriet's world changes. Defying her father's wishes and narrowly escaping the clutches of the man who wishes to marry her, Harriet sneaks off to join the ballet on their journey to the Amazon. There, in the wild, lush jungle, they perform Swan Lake in grand opera houses for the wealthy and culture-deprived rubber barons, and Harriet meets Rom Verney, the handsome and mysterious British exile who owns the most ornate opera house. Utterly enchanted by both the exotic surroundings and by Rom's affections, Harriet is swept away by her new life, completely unaware that her father and would-be fiancé have begun to track her down...