Review: Gone

Gone by Lisa McMann

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: February 9th 2010
Pages: 214
Copy: Paperback
Source: Library
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Goodreads

Janie thought she knew what her future held. And she thought she’d made her peace with it. But she can’t handle dragging Cabel down with her.
She knows he will stay with her, despite what she sees in his dreams. He’s amazing. And she’s a train wreck. Janie sees only one way to give him the life he deserves: She has to disappear. And it’s going to kill them both.
Then a stranger enters her life — and everything unravels. The future Janie once faced now has an ominous twist, and her choices are more dire than she’d ever thought possible. She alone must decide between the lesser of two evils. And time is running out. . . .

 This is the conclution to the Dream Catcher Series, and I personally wouldn't have written it any other way. If you have not read the first  book, the main character, Janie is a dream catcher, which means she falls into other people's dreams. If you have not read the first two books I do not suggest you continue reading this review  because it'll spoil them.

In Gone Janie finds out who her father is and begins to learn her choices as a dream catcher. This book is really about Janie's self discovery and making choices for her future. Unlike the first two books this is not a story about Cable and Janie solving a case with the police, this is more of a personal journy for Janie.

Again, I love, love, LOVE Cable. He's just so perfect, he's flawed but he loves Janie so much, and even when they go through tough times they always find a way to make it through.

Janie's mom finally makes a notable appearance in the book and throughout the story you find out why she is so broken. 

The ending was very open-ended, but I really like how it was concluded with Janie making a choice.

In My Mailbox 1/28/12

 This week I only got one book so I am not making a video IMM, but what I did get this week I do think is very exciting!

Bought:

There were signed copies of Nightshade at my Barnes and Noble so I picked up a copy! I am very excited to read this book!

What did you get in your mailbox?

Top Books I Need To Read Soon

I decided to make a post about books I have left collecting dust on my shelf for anywhere between nearly a year and only a week or two because I saw a few other  bloggers doing similar posts. Here is part of my To-Read Shelf:

Rules of Attraction- I got this book a long time ago, and I was really excited to read it and I still haven't gotten to it even though I absolutely loved Perfect Chemistry.



Blue Bloods- This book I got for a bargain price, and I heard that it is a great series but yet I have still not read it.






Possess- I got an Arc of this book in a trade and I really want to read it, I think it sounds really good.





The Duff- I know. I haven't read the Duff.






Two Way Street- I got this in a library book sale months ago I believe.



Wings- This is something I picked up a while ago and haven't gotten to yet.







Other- I got this at Half Price books a while ago after hearing about it on someones IMM and I thought it sounded really interesting.


You Are So Undead to Me- I was reccomended this by Katie at Katie's Book Blog





Cryers Cross- I absolutely loved McMann's Wake series and really need to read this.




Dying to Know You- This is one of my first review books that will be coming out April 1st

Review: Shattered Souls

Shattered Souls by May Lindsey

Publisher: Philomel/Penguin
Publication Date: December 8th 2011
Pages: 336
Copy: Hardcover
Source: Gift
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Goodreads

A thrilling debut story of death, love, destiny and danger

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

 This book was a very engaging and exciting book about, love, souls, and a Speaker who cannot remember her past lives even though every speaker in history has been able to.

I loved the paranormal story line in this book. It's unique, and well thought out. Lenzi sends souls on their way by helping them finish their unfinished business, while Alden, her protector, helps her relearn everything she would have known if she hadn't lost her memory as well as doing his duties as her protector.

I love books about reincarnation, and this book has a strong theme about the reincarnation aspect of the book. Because Lenzi cannot remember her past lives Alden and other Protectors gives her flashes from her past that help her realize why she cannot remember her life as Rose, who she was in her past lives.

There is a romance aspect in this book, and I like that it was added, but it seemed to be very forced and not very sincere. It was almost insta-love, but it took a little bit longer than most insta-love stories.

I thought this book was a little bit rushed in the beginning and ended up being shorter than it had potential to be.

Waiting On Wednesday 1/25/12

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Release Date: June 14th 2012

"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time."

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen year old Samantha wishes she was one of them… until the day Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything.

Jase can sense that his beautiful neighbor is missing something in her sterile home, and as the two fall fiercely in love, his family makes her one of their own.

But when the bottom drops out of Sam's world, which perfect family will save her–and will her perfect love survive?

Set among the haves and have-nots of a coastal New England town, My LIFE NEXT DOOR captures the angst, the heartache, and the raw-nerve emotions of first time love—and biting loss.

Review: Five Flavors of Dumb

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Publisher: Dail
Publication Date: November 10th 2010
Pages: 338
Copy: Paperback
Source: Library
Genre: Contemporary
Goodreads

The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.

The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?

Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

I absolutely adore this book! This is one of my top contemporary books ever. Antony John has put together very distinct and loveable characters that readers fall in love with, along with an awesome story line and a little drama this books is a favorite! 


Piper, The main character is the first character I have ever run across in YA that is deaf, and I love the uniqueness of her. Because she is deaf, ASL (American Sign Language) is used in the book in italics when it is used to communicate. The addition of ASL is great, as long as funny at times when it is used to as a sort of code to keep other people from understanding. It's also very interesting to read a book from the view of someone who can hear very little to nothing at all. Especially when she's managing a band. 


I'm not going to say who... but there is someone in the band who likes Piper and I find it extremely cute! Even though I saw it coming, it was so interesting to see how the truth of his feelings is revealed to Piper.  


I really haven't read many books before that  have musical aspects in them other than musical characters (character who play instruments) and I liked the use of music in the story. Music in books not really my favorite thing in stories, because I think it's really hard for a book to describe a song. 

In My Mailbox 1/22/12

Thanks to:

April at Book Away

Amulet Publishers

Books Mentioned:

Sea by Heidi Kling

Dying to Know You by Aiden Chambers

The Story Teller by Antonia Michaelis

The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

Review: Why We Broke Up

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, Illustrated by Maria Kalman

Publisher: Little Brown
Publication Date: December 27th 2011
Pages: 368
Copy: Hardcover
Source: Bought
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Challenges: Standalone, Contemporary
Goodreads

I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened.

Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.

From the first page you can tell that this is not your typical Young Adult novel. Just by lifting this brick of a book you can tell it will be different by the very weight of in, and then when you take a quick flip through you will notice the numerous beautiful pictures that have been added to the story.

When I saw this book for the first time I really thought it would be a good story, but it hurts me to say that that was not so. From the very beginning you begin to notice that a very important piece of the book is missing, though I myself can not quite figure out what that would be. It's almost as if the path that a book is supposed to take to complete the story has been knocked out from under it, though at the same time you know that this is a story of the two people breaking up just from the title.

Other than the pictures, one of the most distinct characteristics of this book is that the book is told in second person, which if you do not know, means that the narrator is speaking directly to a specific person, by using the word you, as in You said... I don't think I have ever read a book in second person before. It's a very interesting way of reading.

The ending was the part of the book that will probably be most memorable for me, though I promise I will not tell you why they broke up, I will say that it is like a slap in the face for the readers as well as the characters. It reminds you that all books will not have happy endings, just like in life.

Waiting On Wednesday 1/18/12

Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publication Date: September 18th 2012

Dying sucks--and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he’s a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she’s more than interested. There’s just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she’s willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't?

But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not've been an accident at all, she’s not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life. For real this time.

Review: Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: December 1st 2009
Page Count: 563 (eBook: 390)
Copy: eBook
Source: Bought
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Goodreads

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

This book really didn't cross my radar until the theird book, Beautiful Chaos came out and everyone, I mean EVERYONE was excited, so I had no choice but to see what this was about, and wow. It was better than I thought it would be.

This book takes place in a little town that's obsessed with "The war of Northern Aggression" or the Civil war, and pretty much everyone who ever lived there still lives there today, and they really don't get any visitors. The setting was pretty different that most YA settings. The main character, Ethan really hates his little town and their views and I really understand what he feels. I would hate that town.

Lena Duchannes is the newest student that the town has gotten in years, so naturally everyone is curious about her but the only one who befriends her is Ethan. Lena is not like normal girls though, as Ethan soon finds out when Lena gets angry at a girl in their English class who has  been tormenting her and the glass of a nearby window blows out and Ethan begins hearing Lena's voice in his head. And Lena's not the only un-normal one, her entire family has powers in one form or another.

This boy is told in a male perspective, which really needs to be done in YA more.


I absolutely love the characters in the story, Ethan and Lena are both so alike and yet so different that they work so well together.

The end of the book was very well wrapped up, and it makes sense that this book has a squeal, because it alone was a very long story, and this book needs more to it.

In My Mailbox 1/15/12

 

Hosted by

Kristi at the Story Siren

 

Bloggers Mentioned: 

Katie at Katie's Book Blog

For Review:

Witchblood

Thank You Emma Mills

Gifted:

Perfect Chemistry 

Evermore

Blue Moon

Shadowland

Thank You Katie!

Review: Fade

Fade by Lisa McMann
 Book 2 in the Dream Catcher Series

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: February 10th 2008
Pages: 248
Copy: Paperback
Source: Library
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Goodreads

SOME NIGHTMARES NEVER END.

For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They're just trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck.

Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody's talking. When Janie taps into a classmate's violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open -- but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie's in way over her head, and Cabe's shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both.

Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability -- and it's bleak. Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a dream catcher sealed, but what's to come is way darker than she'd feared....

I absolutely love this series. Lisa McMann has a very distinct writing style in this series and I can't get enough of it. This is the second book in McMann's Dream Catcher series, and for a squeal this book did very well. After all of the drama that went on in Wake, Janie is now working for the police to track down some possible criminals at her school. Janie has a power to fall into peoples dreams while they are sleeping, a gift and a curse.

Like in Wake, my favorite character is Cable, Janie's secret boyfriend. Cable also works for the police with Janie and the two are working together on the case. Cable just seems like a perfect guy to me- he has flaws, but he also helps and accepts Janie when she falls into dreams and needs help jumping out of them. Janie, is also a really great main character. She's had a hard life with an alcoholic mother and constantly falling into dreams, but I just love her.

The case that the two work on together- without giving to much away, is pretty crazy. It's pretty freaky to think about something like that going on at a high school,  but I just love how the story unravels in the story.

Waiting On Wednesday 1/11/12

The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe 
Publication date: January 24th 2012

It starts with an itch you just can't shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you'll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in.
And then you're dead.
When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back.
Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.
Because how will she go on if there isn't?
Megan Crewe crafts a powerful and gripping exploration of self-preservation, first love, and hope. Poignant and dizzying, this heart-wrenching story of one girl’s bravery and unbeatable spirit will leave readers fervently awaiting the next book in this standout new series.

Review: Sophie and Carter

Sophie and Carter by Chelsea Fine

Publisher: Acacia Publishing, Inc.
Publication Date: June 20th 2011
Pages: 117
Copy: Nook eBook
Source: Bought
Genre: Romance
Goodreads

While other high school seniors are dreaming about their futures, Sophie and Carter are just trying to make it through each day. Carter is overwhelmed by issues at home as he struggles to support his mother. Meanwhile, next door neighbour Sophie is left to care for her three younger siblings in place of their absent and troubled mother. All that holds these two best friends together is each other, and knowing that each night they'll sit together on Sophie's front porch swing and escape from reality, if just for awhile. But as their relationship reaches a turning point and high school graduation nears, will their friendship become something more?

I love books about people going through tough times, and what first drew me to the book was that the synopsis. Both characters, Sophie, and Carter live in families that don't care for them as they should. As next door neighbors they know about one anther's troubles and find that the only one that really understands their situation is the other. Every night the two friends meet at Sophie's front swing and talk about their day. But both are keeping a secret from one another, they love each other.

Both Sophie and Carter and very well developed characters and I can't help but love them both. The secondary characters, like Sophie's siblings are not as well introduced though, and I ended up getting the characters confused from one another.

The story's of the two character's pasts are told well for the story being just over one-hundred pages, but I feel like there are gaps in both stories that should have been filled in.

I'm not very happy about the ending of the book. It was way to open, and very little conclusion.

In all a great quick read for anyone looking for a romance story.

In My Mailbox 1/8/12

Comment and leave your links! 

Have you read any of these?

Waiting On Wednesday 1/4/12

All These Lives  by Sara Wylie
Release Date: June 5th 2012

Sixteen-year-old Dani is convinced she has nine lives. As a child she twice walked away from situations where she should have died. But Dani’s twin, Jena, isn’t so lucky. She has cancer and might not even be able to keep her one life. Dani’s father is in denial. Her mother is trying to hold it together and prove everything’s normal. And Jena is wasting away.

To cope, Dani sets out to rid herself of all her extra lives. Maybe they’ll be released into the universe and someone who wants to live more than she does will get one. Someone like Jena. But just when Dani finds herself at the breaking point, she’s faced with a startling realization. Maybe she doesn’t have nine lives after all. Maybe she really only ever had one.

Review: The Goddess Test

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: April 19th 2011
Page Count: 293
Copy: Paperback
Source: Harlequin Teen Pannel
Genre: Mythology, Romance

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.
Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

This is a modern day take on the Persephone myth in greek mythology where a modern girl, Kate finder herself making a deal with Hades to keep those she loves alive.

I have heard many bloggers say that this book has a very... pessimistic main character, and I do see that throughout the beginning of the  book. During the first half of the book I was not happy with the character's reactions with other people, though as the book went on, I found myself liking the book more and more.

I love Greek Mythology, and I really like the plot of this story. Persephone and Demeter's story is one of my personal favorites and I love how the greek gods are used throughout the story.

Romance! This is probably one of the last books I would suspect there to be romance in. When it came into play, it was very gradual and I like that. My only issue with it was that I feel like you didn't get to know the boy- Henry, before Kate begins to fall for him.

Happy 2012

Wow. So 2011 is gone... already. 2011 was such a great year. There are so many books I want to read in 2012, so many of them sound amazing!

2012 Most Anticipated 

(Click for Links to goodreads)

-The Miseducation of Cameron Post

-The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

-Incarnate

-Under the Never Sky

2012 Blogging and Book Goals

-Read Pride and Prejudice for the first time

-Read a total of 100 books

-Read and Review an Adult book

What are your Most Anticipated? What Are your goals? Comment, link!

100 Follower Giveaway!

In the past month I have gotten to 100 (plus?) followers! To celebrate I am giving away a hardback copy of Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares. All you have to do it enter is be a USA resident, be a follower, and enter below!