Dec 27, 2011

Morganville Vampires Reading Challenge 2012

Jo at Ink and Paper is hosting an awesome Challenge: the Morganville Vampires Reading Challenge 2012! I haven't read these books yet, and I love vampires, so I immediately signed up.

The challenge will run from Jan 1st to Dec 31st, 2012.
I'll use this post to update my progress.
I'll be trying the Oliver level: 1-6 books.
  1. Glass Houses: TBR
  2. The Dead Girls' Dance: TBR
  3. Midnight Alley: TBR
  4. Feast of Fools: TBR
  5. Lord of Misrule: TBR
  6. Carpe Corpus: TBR
Sign up, there'll be prizes!

Dec 26, 2011

Outside In (Insider, #2), by Maria V. Snyder


Release Date: March 1st, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Overall: 5 Stars 
Categories: Sci-Fi, Space Travel, Action
Goodreads Page
Read from November to December 2011

Summary:
Me? A Leader? Okay, I did prove that there's more to Inside than we knew. That a whole world exists beyond this cube we live in. And finding that led to a major rebellion - between worker scrubs like me and the snobby uppers who rule our world. Make that ruled. Because of me, we're free. I thought that meant I was off the hook, and could go off on my own again - while still touching base with Riley, of course. He's the one upper I think I can trust. But then we learned that there's outside and then there is Outside. And something from Outside wants In.
My Opinion:

Thanks to the Insider Series, I now like Sci-Fi books. I didn’t use to; I started Inside Out thinking it was just another Dystopia and ended up being surprised: it was a sci-fi, and I loved it! It was also my first Snyder book, and it got me hooked! Now I want to read every book by her.

Outside In begins where IO left off: the Force of Sheep had won the rebellion, the Insiders learnt they were travelling through Outer Space, the Travas were arrested, a Committee was formed and new levels were discovered. Trella and her friends thought they had nothing else to worry about, but soon they found out how wrong they were.

I truly love how Maria crafts her characters’ personalities, I could sometimes guess how some of them would act, but most of the time, everything was a surprise, which was brilliant!

This book is all about love, trust and betrayal, and making tough choices in the name of everyone on board. Trella must figure out who she can trust and defend everything that’s being threatened in Inside.

A must for Snyder and Sci-Fi fans everywhere!

Dec 25, 2011

Spirits of Glory, by Emily Devenport

Release Date: October 24th, 2010
Publisher: Smashwords
Age Group: Young Adult
Overall: 3 Stars 
Categories: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Time Travel
Goodreads Page 
Read in December 2011

Summary:
One morning the people of the North woke up and the people of the South were gone. That's the first thing every child learns on the colony world of Jigsaw. But for one girl, knowing about The Disappearance is not enough. Hawkeye wants to know why.

That's why she spent half her life researching The Disappearance. And that's also why eight Neighbors show up on her doorstep, demanding that she accompany them into the Forbidden Cities ruled by the Southern gods to speak with the Spirits of Glory. Everyone thinks Hawkeye is an expert on Neighbors, these almost-humans who move, talk, and think as if they were born inside one of the Time Fractures. But she can't imagine what they want to ask the ghosts of their ancestors, or why they need her to go along. The Southern gods caused every human inhabitant of the Southern cities to disappear overnight - what else might they do?

But the Northern gods say Hawkeye should go and her curiosity won't let her refuse, even though she's going into more danger than she can imagine. Pain and puzzlement wait along the broken interstate, along with scavengers who want to kill them all. Hawkeye's questions only generate more questions as they move farther and farther into the South, right into the heart of the Disappearance, until Hawkeye's questions have all been answered.

Even the ones she was afraid to ask.
My Opinion:

Spirits of Glory is a short but well crafted novel, with a lot of elements to put together in the end, keeping you hooked to the story. 

I really liked how Emily built this new world -Jigsaw- and how she presented us with its history and background, little by little, making us want more. 

The idea of the Time Fractures was very nicely done (being a Doctor Who fan, I tend to pay a lot of attention to these sort of things): once Hawkeye and Co. were in a Fracture, Time seemed to stretch for them, what would take a minute to do, in a Fracture it takes hours. I also enjoyed the visual of the book; Emily put a lot of detail into it. 

But that's my main argument against this book: there was, perhaps, a little too much detail, and not so much action. Whenever we got action, though, it was brilliant!

Hawkeye's growth throughout the book is also nicely written; we read how she becomes a much more mature (than she already is!) girl and how she learns how to handle things in a much better fashion, despite her disability. There's some romance in there, but the way Emily wrote it was great: it wasn't too fluffy, it was barely there, but it was definitely sweet and it worked for the book. 

It's a standalone (a plus!), I think, and a nice book if you're looking for an interesting sci-fi with a really well built world. 

I really wish we'd seen more action, because I think it would have been a great book with it.

Dec 16, 2011

Ryan Gosling Reads Young Adult

Oh, you didn't know? Well, he does. And sometimes he cries. 

(I don't know why people created this meme, but it's amazing!)
xo,
Ella

Dec 15, 2011

Giveaway-ers: The Book Depository DOESN'T ship everywhere. Better World Books DOES.

Being an international blogger, I'm often out of a LOT of awesome giveaways. Most of them are only US/Canada limited, and that sucks. BAD.

BUT, a lot of considerate people do hold international giveaways. Where do they buy the prizes? From The Book Depository. WRONG! TBD only ships to a number of different countries, and they claim their shipping is international, but this is not entirely true.

Last year, my Secret Santa got me a Gift Certificate for Better World Books. They DO ship internationally and their prices are great too!

Now, I don't want you to think this is a big advertising post for BWB, I just want YOU (who are thinking of holding an international giveaway soon) to think of buying the prize at BWB, so EVERYONE can enter. 

I'll be holding an international giveaway of my own soon, so stay tuned. 

xo,
Ella

Dec 13, 2011

UK Book Trailer for Hallowed (Unearthly, #2)



WOW. Creepy. I just loved Unearthly and I've requested Hallowed from NetGalley, so hopefully I'll be reading and reviewing it soon. I have to know what happens to Tucker!

And I think I like this style of cover more, don't you?

Borrowing Abby Grace #1: The Shadow, by Kelly Green

Release Date: October 17th, 2011
Publisher: Backlit Fiction
Age Group: Young Adult
Overall: 3 Stars 
Categories: Paranormal, Body-Swap, Mystery
Goodreads Page - Twitter - Facebook
Read in December 2011

Summary:
Sent to repair the lives and loves of teenagers on the edge of disaster, smart and sassy Abby Grace has everything going for her, except one thing: a body.
My Opinion:

BAG is a book with a lot of potential, and I felt it really could have given us more. It was all there, but not completely there. 

We meet Abby, a ghost (we're not sure about this yet) to give it a term, who's inside a girl's body: Brooke needs her help with something and Abby's here to do the job for her. 

When I was asked to review this, I said "Why not? Sounds good!". And it was, but I wish we'd gotten more info about Abby and her handler (?) Will, and also, about her Borrowing businness. I know we'll get all this in the next books, but for a First in a Series, it lacked that thing that makes you want to run to the bookstore and buy the sequel. 

Nevertheless, The Shadow is a short book (only 50-ish pages) and a fun read for a cold afternoon when you want to curl up in a sofa and read.

Up next, BAG #2: Girl Steals Guy!

Dec 6, 2011

Happy book birthday Clockwork Prince, Deadly Little Voices, Ruthless and Surrender

Some awesome books are coming out today. Have you pre-ordered any of these, and are anxiously awaiting for it?

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2), by Cassandra Clare
HARDCOVER
I read Clockwork Angel last year, and I loved it! I've yet to read TMI, though.
And guys, YOU CAN HEAR THE 1ST CHAPTER READ BY ED WESTWICK ON GOODREADS!!! GO, GO, GO!


Deadly Little Voices (a TOUCH novel), by Laurie Faria Stolarz
HARDCOVER
I haven't read any of these yet. Should I?

Ruthless (Pretty Little Liars, #10), by Sara Shepard
HARDCOVER
I don't know if I'd like these, sometimes I think I would, other times I just find a book that I want to read more.

Surrender (Haunting Emma, #2), by Lee Nichols
PAPERBACK
Haven't read the first one either, but I hear it's good!
You can win a copy on Goodreads! US only, though.
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