Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Teaser Tuesday (49)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by  MizB at Should Be Reading

To Participate you:
-Grab your current read
-Open to a random page
-Share two 'teaser' sentences from somewhere on that page
-BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS

This week's teaser comes from:


The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

GoodReads

Teaser:

They watched the Jews come down the road like a catalog of colors. That wasn't how the book thief described them, but I can tell you that that's exactly what they were, for many of them would die. They would each greet me like their last true friend, with bones like smoke and their souls trailing behind.


My Thoughts: This book is nothing like I expected and I think I fall more in love with it with every page I turn. This is a wonderful read I would recommend to every one, even if is also heart breaking.


Monday, February 4, 2013

Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publication Date: February 5th, 2013

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Genre: Science Fiction / Fairy Tale Retelling

GoodReads

Synopsis:

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.


My Thoughts: Wow, just wow. Honestly I don't even know where to start with this review. I guess I will just pick my jaw up from the ground to begin with. So Scarlet, the second instalment of The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, I might have liked it even more than Cinder. Crazy I know, since I loved Cinder. But I'm not really sure what happened when I started reading this one. I just couldn't stop. I dragged this book around until it was done. First of all, just look at that cover! I love how it's so similar to Cinder's cover and not at the same time. All you get to see is Little Red's cape and hair. In case you are wondering, no Scarlet doesn't run around in a cape being all super hero-y. She has a red hoodie, much more tactful for fitting in in the future.

So, there are multiple points of view in this one, which made me a very happy person because I quite enjoy the multiple PoV's. Especially, as in Scarlet there is a lot going on and you really need everyone's PoV. It starts off with Scarlet, so we get to meet our new favourite, ass kicking, ginger, farmer girl. All Scarlet wants is to find her grandmother, who has disappeared. She is sure that she was kidnapped but everyone else, including the police, think her grandmother is crazy and ran away. Scarlet is thinking about trying to find her gran herself when Wolf shows up. He is new to town and asks Scarlet for a job on her farm, she doesn't trust him and turns him away (good girl! You can't trust a Wolf!). Unfortunately, she finds out that she needs his help and falls for him hard (Bad girl!). There is huge betrayal, I don't know if it can be forgiven, but that's all I'm going to say on that matter. I really like Scarlet, even with her judgement lapses. I hope there is a bit more with her in the next books!

Cinder is fleeing, with the help of a fellow inmate, she manages to get a hold of a ship and evade capture, for the time being. They realize that they need to find someone from Cinder's past (although she doesn't let "Captain" Thorne in on this). There isn't really a whole lot of character building with Cinder this time since she is mostly trying to not be sent back to prison so her evil aunt won't get a hold of her and try to kill her, again. But she is still awesome! Also, IKO IS BACK!!! I'm not going to tell you how, but Iko is so not impressed right away.

The third point of view is Prince Kai! There's not really a lot from his PoV, since most of it is him trying to track down Cinder so Queen Levana doesn't start a war over all of this. We all know she's just using it as an excuse though. Kai make a very bad decision in this book :( Kai, you make us all sad!

Wolf. I love him, I hate him, I love him, I hate him, I love him. Seriously. He really needs to stop being so nice and then an ass. You can't trust him at all. You want to like him, but he's the big bad wolf, so clearly he's bad, right? Bad and yummy. *sigh*

Yes, I liked Scarlet possibly more than Cinder. I can't get over how Marissa Meyer just writes in a way that I can't physically put a book down. It's crazy. She has an amazing way with words. There was so much going on but it isn't at all confusing. I cannot wait for Cress to come out. Really, I can't. It's going to be a LONG year. In case you haven't figured out if I recommend this or not yet, yes, yes, YES! You have to read this series, it is an amazing retelling! All science fiction-y and such. I loved it! See, there's five owls down there!

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Owl Post (38)



Owl Post is a weekly feature at Owl Read It where we let you know what new books we got in the past week as well as recap reviews posted during the week. It is inspired by The Story Siren's In My Mailbox Theme.

Jenn's Haul:
I got two books for my Kobo this week!


Dare You To by Katie McGarry
*Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Teen!!*
The Office of Mercy: A Novel by Ariel Djanikian
*Thank you Penguin!!*

Meghan's Haul:
Nothing for me this week :) Jenn gets to flaunt the books this week hehe.

Kristal's Haul:
Nothing for me this week, just lots of reading :)

***
Reviews from this week:
***

What new reads did you get this week

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Owl Recommend (20)



Owl Recommend is a feature at Owl Read It where we try to help you find your next great read!!


I loved both of these series.  I am considering them as series mainly when comparing them as well.  I know The Worlds of Chrestomanci are more for younger readers (maybe 9-12) but I loved them growing up and they are some of the first books I remember reading.  When I was reading Divine by Mistake I couldn't help but be reminded.


Friday, February 1, 2013

Review: The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller

The Eternal Ones
The Eternal Ones #1

Author: Kirsten Miller

Publication Date: August 10, 2010

Publisher: Razorbill

Genre: Fantasy

GoodReads

Synopsis:

Haven Moore can't control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother's house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then, an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is and who she was. In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves¸ before all is lost and the cycle begins again.


My Thoughts: All I can say is that as soon as I put this book down I was looking for a sequel and hoping that there was one.  It could have stopped at this book but I just didn't want it to end!  I didn't put this book down from the moment I picked it up.

Haven passes out and says weird things.  It has been happening since she could remember and she had managed to stop them, until now.  After seeing a famous womanizer (Iain Morrow) on tv one day it happens in front of her grandmother, after she called him Ethan - the imaginary boy she has believed she is in love with since childhood.  After that, things get weird(er) and Haven ends up on a whirlwind adventure in New York City to find out who she really is.

I would just like to point out here that I feel really bad for the childhood Haven had.  Her beloved father died in a car crash when she was young, her mother broke down and was sent away for awhile and her crazily religious grandmother took her in.  Her grandmother then deduced that all of her fainting and talking of other lives were brought on by a demon and told the whole town to pray for her - which, in turn, caused her to be completely ostracized.

I love the idea of reincarnation and books that play on that idea.  The magnetic draw to people from their past lives in this series really makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  Just thinking about it gives me the tinglies.  I also loved the moment when, by fate, Iain and Haven meet for the first time (in this life).  She gets dragged along at his pace and it seems all too soon - but at the same time it doesn't.  Not with memories of Ethan and Constance inter-crossing.

Haven, I should say, acts like detective as she tries to solve the mystery behind the deaths of Constance and Ethan.  She is unknowingly reckless with it and it causes a lot of mistrust between her and Iain.  Iain is mysterious in and of himself.  He tells Haven lies about where he is going and what he is doing - but insists that it is for her protection.  Throughout the novel I was back and forth just like Haven.  Not quite believing all the information she turned up with but at the same time not knowing what to do with it or who to trust.

The ending of this book really got me and I am excited to read the next one.  The world that Miller created drew me into it and made me sad when I had to put it down.  I loved it!