My December

21 Dec

Happy Holidays everyone!

I am heading out for Christmas vacation and won’t be able to post for awhile so I wanted to send some quick love to all my wonderful readers! **HUGS**

Below are some amusing pictures that capture my Thanksgiving-now life. Enjoy and have a wonderful holiday! Shoot me some suggestion on great books you read over the holidays! Muah!

Wootie woot woot!

I reached my goal for book reading this year at the beginning of the month! Woot woot!

I <3 Books

 Some of my November and December reads.

I chose to take some inspiration from my Harry Potter Cook Book and create some sweet treats for Christmas presents!

Pumpkin Pasties

Pumpkin Pasties!

Rock Cakes

 Hagrid’s Rock Cakes – quite tastey and not at all hard as rocks!

Blancmange

Blancmange – pure yumminess. These are my favorite. And they jiggle which is awesome because I shaped them like bugs!

Moi

 Showing off my new footies, Penelope the Pot (my new teapot), and a very delicious bottle of wine!

 

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The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima

19 Dec

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Third Book in the Seven Realms Series

Rating: Five out of Five Stars

I can’t even put into words how much I feel for Cinda Williams Chima.  I am hovering around “obsessive love” and “complete infatuation”.

Be glad you aren’t in the room while I am writing this, otherwise you would hear my awful voice breaking out into heartfelt aria. Much like my previous reviews of the Seven Realms books (The Demon King, Book One and The Exiled Queen, Book 2) this is will be a lovesick gush fest about Chima.

Han – let’s get married and have babies. Raisa – let’s hang out and be BFFs. Please let there be a crack in reality so I can crawl into this world. I adore this book so much. I can’t write a review that can urge you enough to pick it up. If you like high fantasy AT ALL you need, must, are REQUIRED to read this series. Its beautifully written with a world so real that it the scenery has its own story and personality. I am having such a swoonfest over Han it’s embarrassing. He has become my new Mr. Darcy. And much like with Elizabeth, I want Raisa and Han to work out sooo bad my emotions are going haywire. Chima just taunts us and teases us with their relationship and makes it so tantalizing real, I feel like I am part of them.

I can even begin to explain my love for this series. It’s on par with Harry Potter by the infamous JK and the Graceling series by Kristin Cashore. Just amazingly written with characters that are so alive you forget that they are in a book.

Just do yourselves a favor and read it. For real. Read it. Please, for my sake. It will make your life so much better.

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To-Read Tuesday – Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

18 Dec

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Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

Series: Under the Never Sky Book Two

Previous Rating(s): Under the Never Sky, Book One: Four out of Five Stars

Release Date: January 8, 2013

Why I am Excited: I just finished reading Under the Never Sky last week (working on getting my review posted) and I am super pumped by the ending of this book. It was heart achingly lovely the way Rossi decided to finish up book one and made you crave the second book immediately. I’m super pumped I only have to wait a couple weeks for this one to be released, that NEVER happens! The reason why I am looking forward to this release is because by the end of book one, I was attached to both characters. I felt with them, I cried with them, I laughed with them. They are my friends and I miss my friends and want them back. Now.

What I Hope to See: *Contains Spoilers* If you haven’t read the previous books, LOOK AWAY! This is hard for me because like I said, I recently finished this book and haven’t had a whole lot of time to start speculating yet. At the end, Perry and Aria about to be reunited. I really hope is a steamy reunion! I want the passion that they had started to feel in Never Sky to really bloom in Ever Night. But I really hope that Rossi doesn’t make their romance the whole book. She has some really amazing independent characters and an insanely well built world. It’s real and tangible to me and I don’t want mushy love to distract from the basic foundation of the plot. Perry and Aria’s romance should be developed and main plot line of course, I just don’t want it to be the ONLY plot line.

My Predictions: In the final few chapters, there are a lot of twists and a lot plot developments thrown at us. Rossi almost gave us too much information at the end of the book, but I’ll discuss that when I get around to posting my review for Under the Never Sky. So, here we go:

  1. Obvi, Perry and Aria are ooey gooey in love. I think in book two though, they are really going to struggle with balancing their own internal desires and wants with love for each other. They come from extremely different backgrounds and their ultimate goals do not compliment each other. I think that Aria is going to end up leaving Perry and The Tides to fulfill her promise and get revenge for her mother’s death.
  2. That being said, I think Perry will struggle a lot. The synopsis hints at this but I think it will be a main plot line in the book. I think when Aria decides to leave, Perry will have to make the ultimate decision of Tides vs Aria. And I think he will choose Aria right when she doesn’t choose him.
  3. Roar and Liv have their own bridge story. (I can’t wait to read it!) So I think they HAVE to become an important piece in book two. Going off of the synopsis, I think Roar and Liv will be the untrustworthy friends and royally mess up Perry, Aria and the Tides relationship.

 

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Bridge Books and Short Stories

17 Dec

In my last couple of reviews, I have been mentioning bridge books a lot. Bridge books are short stories that are written to enhance the overall series an author is writing. There are many different kinds of bridge books but the ones I read usually are written as an “in between book”, typically given a 1.5 or 2.5 designation, and bring in a different character’s perspective. I personally, loooove bridge books. They can develop and enrich your story in a magnificent way. You can be introduced to a new character, a new way of thinking. You can grasp or understand a concept you couldn’t in the full book. You can live a moment through different set of eyes. It’s an amazing aspect of writing that I wish every author would do. Authors like Cassandra Clare and Lauren Oliver have fully grasped this concept. It also, and this pure selfishness on my part, can help ease the pain of having to wait for the next book to be released. I can’t tell you how many times I am uber bummed I have to wait a year until the next book comes out and then I find out that a bridge book will be released in 6 months and it makes my life so much better.

Below is a collection of a few different categories of bridge books/short stories I’ve read over the last year. Each one gives you an idea of what bridges and shorts can add to a story. You can read my full reviews of each by clicking on the links attached to the titles and it will take you to my Goodreads account. I highly encourage everyone to read the bridge books and short stories associated with series. It can make the books so much more enjoyable!

13013051Tortured by Caragh M. O’Brien,  Birthmarked 1.5

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

This book is the 1.5 book in the Birthmarked Series, a pretty decent dystopia trilogy with a female protag, and is probably my favorite bridge I’ve read thus far. I enjoyed the series with my ratings of each book fluttering between 3 and 4 stars. This bridge, however, added a HUGE piece of insight into the heroine’s love interest, Leon. He is narrating this bridge which is awesome because the entire series is told from Gaia’s point of view. It also connects how Leon ends up where he does in Book 2, Prized and in Book 3, Promised you wouldn’t understand the unique dynamics between Leon, Gaia and the prison cell unless you’ve read this bridge. It’s an amazing add on to the series.

15715106 The Audition by Rachel Hartman, Seraphina 0.5

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

This was a sweet and simply story and very enjoyable. It gave to quick insights into each character but didn’t give anything away, which is hard to do since, unlike most bridge books, it was actually written and PUBLISHED before the actual book, Seraphina, was released. Seraphina was set to be a huge sell this year and this was meant to be a teaser trailer by the author/publisher. It’s a nice little read to add some dynamics before you start Seraphina, even though I actually read it after I had already finished the book (review to come!)PS – it’s available for free online if you click the link on Goodreads!

15362992Endurance by Ann Aguirre, Razorland 1.5

Rating: undecided out of 5 stars

Pulling directly from my review I wrote after reading this, “I don’t think I can thoroughly comprehend my feelings towards this one until I read book two and three.” Well, I’ve read book two, Outpost, (read my review here) but I still don’t know how I feel. What’s makes me shifty about giving a solid rating is that this bridge introduces us to Thimble and Stone whom we barely knew in Encalve. Deuce refers to them constantly but I am hesitant to give my feelings to these two because if I don’t see them in book three, Hoarde, my poor little heart is going to be crushed. After I initially read this, I rated and reviewed it at 2 stars but I think now it’s just because I didn’t want to get attached to them if I wasn’t going to see them later. Ahhh Ann you manipulate my emotions so much in this short 70 page story! I love it!

12663646Hana by Lauren Oliver, Delirium 1.5

Rating: 3 our of 5 stars

Lauren Oliver does a lot of bridges and shorts. She has a o.5, 1.5 and a 2.5 in this series and omg does it add some depth to the plot. In this one, she actually retells the ENTIRE first book through a sub character’s view. It’s crazy intense viewing scenarios through Hana’s eyes, especially when interacting with Lena, who’s the main character throughout the rest of the series. The third book, Requiem is actually told through both their eyes so it was very smart, in my opinion, to introduce readers to Hana (and her questionable morals/actions) in a short. Read my review of Pandemonium, Book Two here and see what I want to see in Requiem here.

“Books are my friends, my companions. They make me laugh and cry and find meaning in life.” Christopher Paolini, Eragon

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Eve by Anna Carey

14 Dec

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Book One in the Eve Series

Rating: Two out of Five Stars (really more like 1.5 but I like to round up)

It has taken me awhile to actually write this review, mainly because I have such a hate-hate relationship with this book. But even though it made me want to stab myself in the eyeball, my addiction to reading and need to give second chances will most likely end up with me reading the rest of the series. Painful, but probable.

In short, I am not a fan. It was half formed ideas smeared together with mediocre writing. It makes me sad to give bad reviews because I hate/loathe/want-to-punch book bashers who write nasty reviews but I cannot say I would recommended this book to anyone. I am going to speak my peace, which is MY opinion, and then suggest things I wish I would have seen.

Here are a few of my main concerns:

1.) I disliked the main character, Eve, which is a recipe for disaster. Especially near the end when she showed how utterly weak and thoughtless she is, I was about to throw my poor baby Kindle through the wall. Eve is inconsistent, selfish, and fickle.I kept hoping for Eve to become self sufficient, I wanted Carey to make us hate Eve for her naivete and then journey with her through self discovery and we would come to love her because we understood the growth she went through, but it never happened. It fell completely flat.

2.) Insta-love has never been so extreme. Eve is TERRIFIED of men and three chapters later she’s hiding and cuddling with tons of dudes? And then BAM! “Omg I love you ever so much random boy! You give me a feeling no one ever has before and I cannot live without you!” Well, considering that you are not a lesbian, no shit the first boy you meet gives you the butterflies you dumb twat! Carey made the progression between the extremes so sudden which equals 100% unbelievable. The good ole quote “If you stand for nothing you’ll fall for everything” works well here. If you refuse to give your character morals and ideas, she becomes sloppy and unrelatable which leads to poorly written plots. It seems as though Carey didn’t spend enough time building her heroine so she needed to toss in a boy to stir things up.

3.) The post-apocalyptic theme was stretched. A lot. Like Stretch Armstrong craziness. I couldn’t grasp the dramatic plague concept. It wasn’t developed enough at the beginning and although it gets cleared up more toward the middle of the book, by then I had already made up my mind about it being too far fetched. Once again, I think Carey had good bones of the world, but didn’t spend enough time creating the world that we could live in. It felt more like a 5th grade clay diagram displayed in a shoe box.

I refuse to give this book One Star purely based on the fact that I can see potential in the next books. Because while I disliked almost everything about this book, I have strange desire to read the second one. And reading other reviews about Eve, most people feel the same way. Crazy huh? I hope Eve stops being a self-centered hoe-face and gets royally slapped by reality. If Carey can build more on her foundation, create a more realistic world and characters, she won’t have to rely on the YA Writing 101 basics. Because if you have a great character and a real world, you won’t need insane love stories to make your book awesome.

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Outpost by Ann Aguirre

13 Dec

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Book Two in the Razorland Series

Rating: Three out of Five Stars

Oh Ann, why do you have to leave off on such cliffhangers?! And now we have to wait and wait and wait until Book 3 comes out. In the words of Stephanie Tanner “How Rude!”

Alright, not really rude. I would much rather be aching for more than have a bad ending and not caring when the next book is released. My feelings about this book are muddled. I truly love the story and characters but the first half was so slow for me. It wasn’t BANG BANG outta the gate like Enclave. I understand the transition needed to be made but there was a lot of thinking and not as much action as I wanted in the beginning. That being said, the second half of Outpost gave me everything I enjoyed about Enclave. It was action packed with the right amount of emotions sprinkled in so you weren’t overwhelmed. And the dynamics between the characters flourished which brought me deeper into the story.

About the characters…I like Deuce, but sometimes I get a titch bit frustrated with her. Give me a badass heroine who is not afraid to be herself and I am in! Unfortunately, Deuce’s guilt annoyed me at times. Part of me wanted to be like “Oh well, get over Stalker already!” But I did reign in some of my antics because Aguirre does a nice job of explaining how Deuce just doesn’t understand emotions the way we do today. As for Stalker and Fade, I plainly don’t understand Fade’s appeal. I am the type of person who usually crushes on the protag’s love interest but I can’t get into Fade. Perhaps because Aguirre makes him a little TOO emotionally distant at times and then a little TOO emotional at others? It could be. Hopefully book three will explain it more.

Overall it was an excellent follow up to Enclave. Nicely done not changing Deuce into a frilly-pants but not keeping her uncivilized either. The internal conflict was amazing to read.

BTW… please please please include Stone and Thimble and Robin in Hoarde! While the first bridge story was very mediocre, Endurance (Razorland 1.5) still makes me want to see them in the next book. The writing was meh but the bonus to the story was bomb! K thanks!

Oh and I am super stoked to read the second bridge book Foundation (Razorland o.5)!

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To-Read Tuesday – Requiem by Lauren Oliver

11 Dec

Yesterday I posted my review of the second book in this series, Pandemonium. I thought it was only right to post my To-Read Tuesday blog about the third book!

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Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Series: Delirium Book Three

Previous Rating: Book One: Delirium Three out of Five and Book Two: Pandemonium (see review here)  Four out of Five Stars

Release Date: March 5, 2013

Why I am Excited: I read the first two books in this series over the summer, they are quick reads with a very different concept. Right now, I am reading all of Lauren Oliver’s short stories and bridge books. She has about a DOZEN of them and I am really liking the extra info I am getting about the different characters in that are sprinkled into book. I am super excited because since she’s done all of these extra short stories, she has about a bagillion different way she can go with plot. And the pure unpredictability makes  my excited meter ramp up about 20 notches. WOOT WOOT!

What I Hope To See: *Contains Spoliers* If you haven’t read the previous books, LOOK AWAY! Oliver left Pandemonium on a HUGE CLIFF HANGER! Alex is alive? He’s found Lena? WTF!?!?!? And then BAM is ends! Holy crapola. I about chucked the damn book across the room after I finished.  I really hope she brings in all the characters she’s written shorts about. Having spent “personal” time with them in their own stories, I do not want them to be left out! I really want Lena to get her head on straight about Alex. Does she still love him? How about boy number two? Where are her feelings at? I want her to go back to Alex. I mean the kid DIED for her and she ran away for him. They are meant for each other. I also am kinda hoping that this isn’t the last book in the series. It kinda of makes me wonder because the synopsis on Goodreads doesn’t say anything about the “conclusion” of the series. Hmm…

My Predictions: I’ve already told you I have no freaking idea what will happen. But here a a few things I have thought about:

  1. Alex shuns Lena. This is pretty obvious since he’s pretty pissed at her at the end of book two. But will he come around? Or will they understand that the past is over and they are both different people now?
  2. Hana is going to be a main character in this book since it’s told from Lena and Hana’s viewpoint. I am right smack dab in the middle of Hana right now, so I will have to update this tomorrow when I finish this 77 pager. UPDATED! Hana’s a bia and I do NOT like her one bit. Boo on you!
  3. Hana and Lena are going to meet up in some way. I have a feeling there is going to be a major girl fight thrown down. It’s gunna be good!
  4. OMG HER MOM IS BACK! This is going to be sooo freaking awesome. About to go start Annabel right meow!

“It’s amazing how words can do that, just shred your insides apart. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me – such bullshit.” – Lauren Oliver, Delirium

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Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

10 Dec

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Book Two of Delirium Series

Rating: Four out of Five Stars

First thought: I enjoyed this much more than Delirium.

Second thought: WICKED ENDING! I love the bitch slap life gives Lena at the end of the book. It’s amazing. Lauren Oliver sure does know how to leave her readers on a cliff hanger. Damn you!

Overall thoughts: This was a fun read for me. I was hooked on the ending of Delirium and could not wait to see what happened. Did he really die? Is she going to go back? WHAT WILL HAPPEN! DUN DUN DUN!!!!!! It was a mediocre book with a bombass ending so I didn’t know what to expect with Pandemonium. Survey says? Your high note kept playing through this book Lauren.

The reason why I loved this book so much is because we get to see a different character. Lena is a typical naive sap of a girl in Delirium but now that she is out in the real world she truly becomes a hardcore woman. I loooove that she went through waves of emotions trying to settle on an outlook that she could cope with. She has a grip of shit to deal with and *sigh* I was so emotionally involved with her this time. Oliver didn’t bring too much of one feeling in but let it linger just enough. Bravo!

The past and future shifts in narration really add a unique twist to the story that is just beautiful and artistically done. As soon as I was fully engulfed in the past, it would switch to the present and suck me in, then switch again! It kept me on my toes.

And the ending, AH.MAZE.ING. I cannot WAIT to read the third book of this series!

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Angelfall by Susan Ee

5 Dec

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Penryn and the End of Days Book One

Rating: A Million Stars out of 5!! (ok ok Five out of Five Stars)

HOLY SWEET BABY JESUS!

I need to catch my breath after this book. I feel like I just got done running a marathon of greatness and wonderfulness and every other positive descriptive words you would like to include. This book.. it’s just so… freaking amazing… I can’t even….

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So I have used this quote before “A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it” – William Styron, Conversations with William Styron but I have never felt it ring so true than with this book. Susan Ee shoots a shot gun in the first chapter and doesn’t slow down the entire book. It’s insanely well written, captivating, fast paced and brilliant.

The main character, Penryn, is so kick ass. Like, Uma Thurman Kill Bill status. But it’s not surreal! Sometimes I see awesome females and go “yeah right so would not happen in real life.” But Ee takes the time to explain WHY Penryn is so f88cking awesome and it makes me relate to her (even though I can’t hurt a fly) in such a personal way. Her tie to her sister and mother are perfectly described and when she becomes brutal and ruthless, I like it because I would do the same thing to save my family. Penryn’s relationship with Raffe is also well founded, no cup of instant love my friends!

This story is unique and different than anything I have read. It takes your typical angel/demon stories and injects it with Hulk juice. It’s a gripping tale that will have you enthralled the moment you open the book until the second you close it. Be prepared to not work or sleep or eat or shower while reading it because you will not want to put Angelfall down.

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To Read Tuesday – up and coming reads!

4 Dec

I want to give a huge thank you to everyone out there who read my first two chapters last week. I received some GREAT feedback and look forward to going back and editing a few things. I was super nervous about going “public” with it but I couldn’t ask for better readers than you guys or more support! Keep emailing me at smcampbell07@hotmail.com!

Ok on to the real post!

As I assume you’ve realized by now, I am a geek. There is a glaring neon arrow that points to me and says “BOOK NERD”. I spend more money on books than I do on clothes and booze, and as a 23 year old I feel that is quite the accomplishment! I am so into all things books I actually have a list of book releases pinned onto my calendar at work. 12

Overkill? HECK NO! I am a proud book nerd and I wear my geekdom like it’s a badge on honor. My work bestie and book soul mate Amy gave me the suggestion to write a once a week blog about those book that are coming out soon that I am super duper stoked for!

Thus, To-Read Tuesdays have commenced! Chea!

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Prodigy by Marie Lu

Series: Legend Book Two

Previous Rating: Legend (book one in the series) 5 out of 5 stars.

Release Date: January 29, 2013

Why I am Excited: I adored Legend. It was a fast paced and thrilling book. I connected with both characters and enjoyed reading the story through both of their preservatives. Lu got dinged on having her characters be to similar by reviewers but I praise her for it. While no, there is not as much diversity between narrations, it did give the readers a better sense of how different life is in this world based on birthrights. The world was created thoroughly and because we experienced two different view points with June and Day, we really got a chance to see and know the dystopian society. Legend left on such a twist in the plot I have been aching for almost a year to read this book.

What I Hope To See: *CONTAINS SPOILERS* If you haven’t read book one, LOOK AWAY! Now that both June and Day are fully developed as characters, I hope Lu starts to create obvious separation between them. June = female Day =male.  You can still have a strong heroine without making her all pigtails and prom dresses! With that being said, I hope June doesn’t become TOO much a girly lovesick teenager. She can have emotions, but they need to rule her the same way they ruled her in Legend. I hope that now that they have busted out of the Republic, they don’t automatically get pampered and pushed into a leadership role with the Patriots purely because they have insider information. Yes, they are both insanely badass, but I would like to see some kind of development where they have to prove themselves worthy to lead type of a thing.

My Predictions: it’s been almost a year since I have read Legend but based purely on what the summary says about book two, here are my thoughts:

  1. June and Day’s relationship: I think it’s going to be one of those awkward relationships where neither one of them fully trust the other and they don’t know exactly how to interact with each other. Issues? Complication? Oh yes please.
  2. June is going to have a thing for the new Elector. If memory serves, June met him in Book One and he wasn’t half bad. I think this will cause a lot of friction between June and Day.
  3. Someone needs to die. Either Day’s brother or someone else important to the main characters but someone needs to die in order for a vengeful attack to be made.

“Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything’s possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time.” Marie Lu, Legend

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