Blood Witch (Sweep, #3), by Cate Tiernan

Blood Witch (Sweep, #3), by Cate Tiernan on Goodreads

Release Date: March 22nd, 2007 (1st published on 2001)
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Puffin

Overall: 5 Monkeys
Interest: Series
Categories: Paranormal, Witchcraft, Religions, Wicca, Family Issues

Other Titles Reviewed in TCM: Book of Shadows (Sweep, #1), The Coven (Sweep, #2)
Challenge: 100 Books in a Year
Read in April 2011

Summary from Goodreads:

Morgan knows that witchcraft can be dangerous and that her birth parents died because of their involvement. But witchcraft is a part of Morgan in a way she can't ignore, and now that she's practicing Wicca, her powers are increasing. Her boyfriend Cal is a witch, too. He believes that they are muirn beatha dans, witches who are meant to be together, to love one another. But the sudden appearance of Hunter, a stranger who claims to be Cal's brother, threatens to ruin everything. Hunter says that Cal is practicing dark magic. And Morgan feels unsure. Could it be true?

My Opinion:

I have to say, this series is becoming one of my favourites. It just gets better and better. Cate really knows her Wicca.

This review will be very short, because this is a short book. And since this is the third book, and the new bind-ups contain three books each, from now on I'll just review those bind-ups, because these books are so short, it'd be so much easier if I just did that, writing a review for three books at once.

What I have to say about Blood Witch:

• I don't like Selene Belltower. I started disliking her at the end of book two, and now it's getting pretty obvious where she's going, and that makes me dislike her even more. 
• I don't like Cal either. But that's because I kinda read a little spoiler, which made me change the way I see him. 
• I'm liking Hunter more and more, and I can't wait to see what happens with him.
• I'm dying to see what's going on with Bree and Raven and their coven! It feels like Bree and Morgan are both stubborn, and they both miss each other, but neither wants to be the one that apologises first.
• And although it sometimes felt like Morgan couldn't do anything without Cal's approval, I definitely see where that is going, and I'm sure -or I hope- that she'll be her own woman soon. There are fifteen of these books, so the third one is just like scratching the surface. 

The writing's magical, like in the first two books, and although Cate weaves a lot of made-up facts (of course she would, this is her fictional world!), her Wicca facts are very accurate.

I can't wait to see how this unravels! So many secrets and lies and drama!!! You should definitely start reading this series, if you already haven't.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part Two: Official Trailer!!!

How awesome is that? I watched it last night, and I was sure I'd get a heart attack! I squealed and awww'ed and sobbed, and my roommates were baffled. They can't understand why I love Harry (the series) so much. I've tried to explain to them everything it's taught me, but they just can't see why someone my age is crazy about "magic". They're not mean about it! They just don't get it.

Do you love the books as much as I do? Because I'd like to be your friend if you do. 

xo,
Ella

I'm featured on In Between Reading and Writing!

The lovely Jude Henderson is featuring me on her beautiful blog, In Between Reading and Writing, today!

You can learn more stuff about me there, so hop on over! Go to her blog post here. 

Jude, honey, you are ah-mazing. Enough said.

Inside Out (Insider, #1), by Maria V. Snyder

Inside Out (Insider, #1), by Maria V. Snyder on Goodreads.

Release Date: April 1st, 2010
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Harlequin
Source: NetGalley

Overall: 5 Monkeys
Interest: Series
Categories: Dystopian, Science Fiction

Challenge: 100 Books in a Year
Read between March and April 2011


Summary from Goodreads:

Keep Your Head Down.
Don't Get Noticed.
Or Else.
I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.

My Opinion:

What a great book to introduce me to the work of Maria V. Snyder! Truly amazing! Maria has created a whole new world, for lack of a better term, and it's incredibly exciting to see how it works.

When I started reading it, Trella explained how they lived in a place called Inside, and how it was built. She showed us where she was going in the pipes, but it was hard to keep up with her, I really needed a map! And guess what. I found a map of Inside, after reading the book. So now that I'm done, I can think back on it, and understand her movements better. I really think the map should have been included on the book, so we'd be able to keep better track of Trella's moves through the pipes.

Considered to be the Queen of the Pipes, and not because everyone loved her so much, Trella is a wonderful character, and I loved watching (reading) her evolution on the pages. She starts out as a closed-in character, with Cogon as her only friend (No one recycles Cogon!). But, as she realises how life on Inside really is, and how she has the power to change that, she takes a spin in the other direction. While she couldn't trust anyone before, now she's learning there's strength in numbers.

I loved Riley too. *swoon* He's the Upper who changes Trella's view of the world.

Basically, every single character is written to perfection. They all have their tempers, their characteristics, those things that make them unique, and I love that in a book.

What I love about Dystopian books are the revolutions. I get really excited about them, when I read them, because in the real world, we could really do with a few. And those that are set in motion need our support.

Trella needs to find Gateway, the door to Outside. She'll have a lot of help, a lot of it. The bad guys here are the Trava family, who rule Inside, spreading lies to the Scrubs and Uppers, so they won't unite against them.

The search for Gateway was one of the most thrilling things I've read this year. Trust and treason, friends and enemies, this book has it all. Even love, which I'm a sucker for. And I don't particularly like Sci-Fi, but man, I didn't even know this was a Sci-Fi until the end of the book! So brilliantly introduced! I'm in awe, seriously. 

I'm a new Maria V. Snyder fan, and I'm off to read Outside In. Can't wait to see what happens next!

In My Mailbox #7

This week I got a couple of books; a printed one, and a few eARCs:

Tierras de Esmeralda: La Esfera Mágica, by Pilar Alberdi.
(Printed. From Publisher.)

Summary from Goodreads (translated by me):

A land of leyend, where numerous characters face the darkness released by Ténebrus and his minions. While on the Lands of Esmerald, their inhabitants have understood that a book is worth as much as a library, and a person as much as all people, on the dark world beside them, evil lurks in shadows.

Can a group of teenagers and an elder restore hope to the villages? And what about those flying young people from Tilsmans?
To know that, just open this book, where it reads...
"Lands of  Esmerald or the lineage of the Smáragdos. Also known as the Land of the Three Kingdoms (Mytos, Circe and Artemisa), the three lineages and the three libraries." Submerge in a classical and medieval world, where the wondrous becomes real. A war between good and evil. This is just the beginning.

The Near Witch, by Victoria Schwab.
(eARC from NetGalley.)


Summary from Goodreads:
The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.
But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.
The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.
As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.
Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget.

Starcrossed, by Josephine Angelini.
(eARC from NetGalley.)


Summary from Goodreads:

How do you defy destiny?
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.
As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

Populazzi, by Elise Allen.
(eARC from NetGalley. Author Interview and Giveaway to come!)


Summary from Goodreads:

Cara has always dreamed of being a Populazzi, one of the popular crowd. But it’s not until she changes schools that she gets a shot at it, thanks to her best friend Claudia’s crazy plan. The idea is simple: The rungs of The Ladder are relationships. First get a boyfriend who's ranked low, then climb up through more boyfriends until you're not just one of the Populazzi, but the Supreme Populazzi. Yet what starts off as a fairy tale turns into a somewhat dark comedy of errors. Just when Cara reaches the top, her life hits rock bottom. She wonders why she wanted to be popular in the first place—and if there’s any way to live happily ever after now.

I've got a bunch more on NetGalley, but I don't want to make this post uber-long. What did you get this week?

In My Mailbox explores the contents of my mailbox on a weekly -not so weekly!- basis. (This feature was inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie and created by Kristi of The Story Siren.)

Indie Spotlight Month

The girls from In Between Reading and Writing and Nightlyreading have come up with the idea to do an Indie Spotlight in the month of May. Personally, I haven't read many indie books, I may have read a couple in my life. But I'm very interested in them, because I'm sure there are some indie books that are just as beautifully written as your average big-publisher-book. 

So, if you're an indie author, and would like to be featured here, on TCM, email me at ella_press@live.com.ar. We can do an Interview, Guest Post, Giveaway, anything!

Or if you're a blogger and would like to share your opinion, let me know! If you write up a post on your blog (in May!), I'll read it and link it here.

xo,

Ella

Catching Up Readathon - Update #2

I just finished Dark Lover!
One less, three more to go!

1. Inside Out, by Maria V. Snyder.
2. Blood Witch, by Cate Tiernan. <-- I'm reading this now! Nearly done ;)
3. Dark Lover, by J. R. Ward.
4. Nightshade, by Andrea Cremer. <-- I won't be able to finish these two. Too much to read for uni :(
5. and Eragon, by Christopher Paolini.

Are you doing the Readathon? How's your progress?
xo,
Ella

I started a new Romance blog!

Yes, I caved. I couldn't resist the urge, and thus, The Clock Monkey's Love Shack was born. It's merely minutes old, and it needs a lot of loving. Stop by, follow and tell me to follow your romance blog! We can be *nice* friends. *wink*
My first review, Dark Lover, by J. R. Ward, will be up tomorrow. And a blog makeover will soon take place too. I like seeing my blogs pretty :D

Catching Up Readathon - Update

Just finished reading Inside Out, by Maria V. Snyder. 

And:

OH. MY. GOD.

It is the most amazing Dystopian book I've read this year!

Sooooooooooooooo freaking good!

Wow, I need time to recover, before moving on to my next read.

Catching Up Readathon!

I'm doing the 100 Books in a Year Challenge, from both Goodreads and Book Chick City.

Goodreads says I'm 19 books behind. So, there's no way I'm gonna read 9+ books this weekend, but I do want to finish the five I'm reading:

1. Inside Out, by Maria V. Snyder.
2. Blood Witch, by Cate Tiernan.
3. Dark Lover, by J. R. Ward.
4. Nightshade, by Andrea Cremer.
5. and Eragon, by Christopher Paolini.

I know I can finish the first four, but I barely started Eragon, so I might not finish it by Monday. We'll see.

xo,
Ella

"Whisper Stories in my Ear" Challenge [Audiobook Challenge] 2011

I LOVE listening to audiobooks: when I don't want to turn on the light to read, when I'm walking to uni, on the bus somewhere, anywhere... So, I when heard about this international challenge, I knew it was for me!

The goal is to listen to 12+ audiobooks. Here's my list (I reserve the right to change it as I please):

1. Paranormalcy, by Kiersten White. Narrated by Emily Eiden.
2. Incarceron, by Catherine Fisher. Narrated by Kim Mai Guest. 
3. Saving Francesca, by Melina Marchetta. Narrated by ---.
4. The Piper's Son, by Melina Marchetta. Narrated by ---.
5. Linger, by Maggie Stiefvater. Narrated by Jenna Lamia, Dan Bittner, Pierce Cravens, Emma Galvin.
6. Infinite Days, by Rebecca Maizel. Narrated by Justine Eyre.
7. Personal Demons, by Lisa Desrochers. Narrated by Sara Barnett, Michael Nathanson.
8. The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks. Narrated by Scott Sowers, Pepper Binkley.
9. Storm Glass, by Maria V. Snyder. Narrated by Jennifer Van Dyck.
10. The Dead of Night, by John Marsden. Narrated by Suzi Dougherty. 
11. Blue Bloods, by Melissa de la Cruz. Narrated by Christina Moore.
12. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, by J. R. R. Tolkien. Narrated by Richard Inglis.
13. The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman. Narrated by Neil Gaiman.
14. Crusade, by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié. Narrated by ---.

This challenge is hosted by Bewitched Bookworms.
*Edit: Thanks to Diana Peterfreund, for bringing to my attention the fact that her book is not an AB. I can use the time I'd have used looking for Rampant, for something else, like reading another book!

10 clues that your life has become a Southern Gothic paranormal romance

I found this on the Figment blog, and thought it was hilarious! I wanted to share it with you, so here it is! 

by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia (authors of Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness)

10. If a mysterious stranger in town suddenly appears in your dreams – or if your dream stranger suddenly appears in your town – you may have gone Southern Gothic.

9.  If you move into the abandoned plantation house on the outskirts of town – or wish there was an abandoned plantation house on the outskirts of town – or wish your town had outskirts or inskirts or any kind of skirts at all – you may have gone Southern Gothic.

8.  If you find yourself eyeing the rebellious, dark-eyed, new boy/girl, and suppressing the urge to climb to the top of the Summerville water tower with him/her, you may have gone Southern Gothic.

7. If you hang out in graveyards for fun – and in particular, talk to the people who live there – and more importantly, if they talk back – you may have gone Southern Gothic.

6. If you read tealeaves or chicken bones, stick bottles on the tree in your front yard, or line your windowsills with salt, you may have gone Southern Gothic.

5. If you named your wooden kitchen spoon – say, for example, the One-Eyed Menace – and use it for more powerful, elemental transformations than bringing the Chili-ghetti to a boil – you may have gone Southern Gothic.

4. If you use the term “Mortal” to describe some of your friends the way someone else might say “Canadian,”  “Yankee,” or “Blonde,” you may have gone Southern Gothic.

3. If magical, angst-ridden poetry begins appearing on your walls – whether or not you wrote it – you may have gone Southern Gothic. (Ditto music magically appearing on iPod, pages magically turning in a book, or rooms magically rearranging themselves.)

2. If you start pining away for this or that or the other and nobody understands, you may have gone Southern Gothic.

1. If you find yourself falling in love before first sight, it’s too late. You’re full on, full-blown Southern Gothic. So pour yourself some sweet tea, go out on the veranda and sit for a spell. You’ll be fine so long as you keep reading.

Good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise.

[via Figment blog]

New book by David Levithan and Andrea Cremer coming 2013

Publishers Weekly just posted the news:

Jill Santopolo, executive editor of Penguin Young Readers' Philomel imprint, took world rights to a new YA novel by David Levithan and Andrea Cremer called The Invisibility Curse. Bill Clegg, at William Morris Endeavor, brokered the deal for Levithan, who co-wrote Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (and is editorial director at Scholastic Press). Richard Pine and Charlie Olsen, from Inkwell Management, represented Cremer, author of Nightshade (and history professor at Macalaster College). The novel follows a boy burdened by invisibility who meets a girl that has the power to see him and, possibly, cure him. Publication is currently set for 2013.

I'm reading Nightshade and it's going great, and I've heard awesome things about David's work (I've got Leviathan and Behemoth ebooks to read!). Adding The Invisibility Curse to my TBR list right now!

Happy birthday to me!

Today's my birthday!!! YAY! I wanted to post this before the day ended.

And today's also some very cool people's birthday too :D

So, happy birthday to:

Authors Maria V. Snyder and Hayley Anne Perkins, Actresses Emma Watson and Emma Thompson, Inventor Leonardo Da Vinci, and Argentine footballer, Andrés D'Alessandro.

Great people were born on a day like today. And those who'll be born in the future on a 15th of April will be the greatest kids you'll meet. Trust me, I know.

Just a quick reminder: you should enter my international contest! I haven't made a lot of propaganda for it, but you should know about it. And tell others! Go here to enter.

That's it for today. Oh, I also started reading Eragon. I'm currently reading five books. So you should tell me which one of those I'm reading I should finish first. I'm thinking Inside Out, by Maria V. Snyder, since she shares her bday with me, which makes her instantly cool.

xo,
Ella

FREE DOWNLOAD: 13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson!

To celebrate the release of The Last Little Blue Envelope, Maureen Johnson is giving us the chance to download for free 13 Little Blue Envelopes!

You can download 13 LBE to read on your Kindle, Nook or Sony Reader.You can keep the whole book, it won't suddenly disappear. Isn't that great?

The Last Little Blue Envelope hits the shelves on April 26th.

I'm ill

Yeah, Tulio. I know how it feels.

I'm getting the flu (I'm not there yet, that's why I said "getting"), my head hurts from looking at the screen, so I'm not gonna be online too much. I'm almost done with the books I'm reading, so I'm gonna have a few reviews next week.

And Friday's my bday! Have you entered my contest?
xo,
Ella

Spanish cover for Girl Saves Boy, by Steph Bowe

Look at that pretty cover! I love this type of photography, the colours are great.

But, once again, the translators have done a terrible job with the title.

What translates to Spanish as Chica Salva a Chico, is now, The Lake Girl. So, I'm assuming there's a lake in Steph's book.

I have to say, I didn't think this book would be out in Spanish so soon, so that's a nice surprise!

It'll be released on April 8th (tomorrow!) in Spain by Editorial Montena, which has a mirror in Argentina! Meaning, it's likely we Argentines will get the book here soon!

{via Historias Imaginarias}

We have our Peeta and Gale for The Hunger Games films. Beware: HORRIBLE CASTING AHEAD.

{via Heart Shaped Box and Mientras Lees}

Today we learned that Josh Hutcherson (Bridge to Terabithia, Zathura) and Liam Hemsworth (who the heck is he?) were cast to play Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorn, respectively.

Are you kidding me? Josh Hutcherson as Peeta? The Peeta I -and I imagine many others- have been waiting so long to see? He IS NOT PEETA to me. It doesn't matter that he'll be made-over, no amount of makeup can change him and make him look like the Peeta from my mind. He's a really good actor, to me anyway, but I do not see him as Peeta. And the other John isn't Gale either. How about they switched their roles up?

Terrible casting choices! For all the gods, who were the casting directors? I'm flying to the States now and setting up a strike or something at the production company. You can't do this to us fans, please! Listen to us on this one! They are not the ones for the roles! Forget about making millions of dollars. Don't you want to make a film that'll last in time?

Take the Harry Potter films for example. Who knew Dan, Emma and Rupert before them? No one. And look at them now, the most important young actors of our generation, to my eyes. Why not hire unknown actors to bring to life our beloved Peeta and Gale? Maybe they could do a better job than these two.

Being a Film student, I understand the beauty of telling stories through audiovisual arts. And this is just wrong. I don't mean to offend these actors, but seriously, the production's got it way, waaaaaaaaay wrong. 

You can see that all they care about it making a commercial film, and as many millions as they can. 

I'm torn between going and not going to see the film. But I know, in the end, I'll cave, and end up going. At least Jennifer Lawrence looks a bit like Katniss with her hair dyed.

Happy Blogoversary to Me! + 200 followers!!! + Happy Birthday to Me (not yet) = PARTY!

The Clock Monkey turned TWO last March 28th and I completely forgot! And I just realised I've reached 200 followers! :D Thank you, thank you, thank you!
And, my birthday's on Friday 15th! So, I thought: TCM's 2nd bday, reaching 200 followers, my birthday = we've got to celebrate somehow, right?

That means I'll be holding a giveaway to thank you for being there! My first giveaway!!! (The first giveaway I'll be funding)

Since I'm an international blogger, I know what it's like to not be able to enter a lot of these giveaways on the blogosphere. So, I'll be giving away a book of your choice! You choose a book under 15 American dollars, I buy it for you on The Book Depository (which, coincidentally, doesn't ship to Argentina, so I can't enter those giveaways either, but most of you aren't Argentine, so...), and you get it delivered to your house! Isn't that great! If only TBD shipped to my home country, I'd have a lot more books right now.

The rules for this giveaway are:

• You don't have to be a follower, but I want to thank those of you who are. So if you're an old follower, you get +2 entries. (If you started following the blog before I reached 200, you enter into this category.)
• Leave a comment wishing me a Happy Blogoversary + Happy Birthday (let's pretend it's my birthday)! 
• Leave me your email so it's easier for me to contact you. No email, no entry. 
• It's open internationally and it'll end on May 15th, a month away from my birthday. 
• The winner will have to be patient to get their prize, I've never done anything like this before, so it may take me a while to figure it out!

Thanks for being there! And good luck! Spread the word so others get the chance to participate too!
xo,
Ella

The Wolves of Mercy Falls' Fourth Book: Cover Revealed!

Isn't it great?
Maggie just revealed the cover for the fourth book in the Shiver trilogy.
Read her full post here. ;)