T.G.I.F. (17)

Thank Great Illustrators Fridays is a book meme created and hosted by Owl Read It.

They say don't judge a book by it's cover, but a lot of the time the cover is what draws you to the book in the first place. This meme is to show appreciation to the artists who put their time and effort into creating the great book covers of our beloved series.

To Participate:

• Pick a book cover you love (any book will do - released or not)
• Post the picture of the book along with the author & publisher 
• Post a brief summary of why you like the cover. 
• Take the pic above and link back to us :)

This week's TGIF cover:

The Dark Divine

(The Dark Divine #1)

Author: Bree Despain

Publication Date: December 22, 2009

Publisher: Egmont USA

Genre: Fantasy/Werewolves

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Synopsis:

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared--the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood--but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude's high school. Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy's dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it--her soul.


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I just love black colours with that pop of colour. Since having my daughter one of my favourite colours has been purple (lighter shades). So, it is safe to say I adore this cover. Can't wait to jump into this book either!

What are your favourite book covers?  Leave us a link to your own T.G.I.F. :)

Review: Adaptation by Malinda Lo

Adaptation

Author: Malinda Lo

Publication Date: September 18th 2012

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre: Science Fiction / Contemporary

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Synopsis:

Reese can’t remember anything from the time between the accident and the day she woke up almost a month later. She only knows one thing: She’s different now.

Across North America, flocks of birds hurl themselves into airplanes, causing at least a dozen to crash. Thousands of people die. Fearing terrorism, the United States government grounds all flights, and millions of travelers are stranded.

Reese and her debate team partner and longtime crush David are in Arizona when it happens. Everyone knows the world will never be the same. On their drive home to San Francisco, along a stretch of empty highway at night in the middle of Nevada, a bird flies into their headlights. The car flips over. When they wake up in a military hospital, the doctor won’t tell them what happened, where they are—or how they’ve been miraculously healed.

Things become even stranger when Reese returns home. San Francisco feels like a different place with police enforcing curfew, hazmat teams collecting dead birds, and a strange presence that seems to be following her. When Reese unexpectedly collides with the beautiful Amber Gray, her search for the truth is forced in an entirely new direction—and threatens to expose a vast global conspiracy that the government has worked for decades to keep secret.

My Thoughts: I'm just going to start off with a bit of gushing. I completely LOVED Adaptation!! I couldn't put it down and just developed this connection with Reese, the protagonist. My feelings mirrored hers and I just wanted the best for her. I hadn't read anything by Malinda Lo before, but I will definitely be checking out her other works. There was just something about the style of her writing that grabbed my attention and wouldn't let me think of anything else until I finished the novel. I even had a dream about it. Here I am finished and am just itching for the next book! Unfortunately for me, it's going to be a long wait! Also, I just want to say that I really love the cover, it's so pretty and creepy at the same time.

Adaptation follows Reese while she struggles to try and figure out what happened to her and David after the accident that they can't talk to anyone about. They've been sworn to secrecy but weird things are happening to them. What exactly is going on, they don't know, but they are determined to find out. Then she meets Amber and things get complicated, there is just something about her that attracts Reese. Then they realize that they are being followed and there are bugs in their homes. They have to figure this out before they are silenced forever.

This was a fairly refreshing read for me, it's been awhile since I've read a sci fi about actual aliens. Malinda Lo uses the widely known conspiracies of Area 51 to her advantage and weaves a tale that will cause you to ask questions. Who knows, maybe something like this has really happened, without the world knowing about it. It will make you think about it! So what do you think? Is it possible that there are aliens out there? Have they already visited us without us knowing? I have to say that I personally believe that there is other  life out there, whether or not they've visited us, I couldn't say. Whether you're a believer or not, you should give Adaptation a try, it's a compelling read that is impossible to set down!

Review: Wake by Amanda Hocking

Wake
(Watersong #1)

Author: Amanda Hocking

Publication Date: August 7th, 2012

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Genre: Paranormal / Mythology

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Synopsis:

Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone's attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs. She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back. Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever. She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove. They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price. And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

My Thoughts: >When I first started reading Wake I thought I was about to start my second ever mermaid book. Note to everyone, there are NO mermaids. I also had no idea that there was going to be a mythological background story. I was so EXCITED for that!! I love mythology!! Needless to say, I throughly enjoyed reading Wake, it took me less than a day to read it and was a fairly easy and quick read. I actually hadn't read anything by Amanda Hocking before (although the Trylle series sits on my shelf, so I will get to it!!), so this was a very nice introducing into her writing style. I will be eagerly awaiting Lullaby, the next book in the Watersong series. I've very happy to see that there are 4 books planned in the series.

So I just have to say it, I love the cover of Wake!! It's so pretty. I'm really a fan of the underwater covers that have been coming out lately. Maybe because I like the blue that comes with it. The font that is used is also one that I'm a fan of. I find the cover fairly simple overall and it doesn't really give anything away in the book. So really enjoying the covers of this series, the one for Lullaby is on Goodreads and is equally as nice, they will look very nice on my shelf.

Wake follows Gemma and Harper, two sisters that are very different. Gemma is a star swimmer, she is hoping to get to the Olympics someday. She's carefree, pretty and has a thing for Alex, the bor next door. Harper has given up her childhood to look after Gemma after their mom was in an accident. She is smart and reserved and Alex is her oldest friend. It's all she can do to try and keep Gemma out of trouble. Suddenly boys are going missing, but Gemma is fearless and still continues her nightly swims in the bay. One thing the two sisters can agree on it the new girsl in town, Penn, Lexi and Thea are bad news. Gemma tries to avoid them, but they won't leave her alone. 

I enjoyed both Gemma and Harper as characters. I would say that Harper is a lot like me, so I was really able to relate to her. Gemma was a bit harder for me to relate with, but she was still a character that I enjoyed getting to know. Both girls are great characters who try to do what is right and they are both falling for guys that they least expected to fall for.

Overall this book really surprised me in that it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, in a good way. It was really enjoyable with great characters that I was able to relate with. The story was well written and had small surprises in it. If you like mythology, you should definitely add this one to your TBR. Amanda Hocking is a great  author and I will be reading more by her soon! With a bit of paranormal, mythology and romance, Wake has made it's way to one of my favorite reads. It's a book that I will be highly recommending. Definitely check out this series!

  

Thank you to Raincoast Books for the review copy!!

Review: Rapture by Lauren Kate

Rapture
(Fallen #4)

Author: Lauren Kate

Publication Date: June 12, 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Genre: Fantasy

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Synopsis:

The sky is dark with wings . . . .
Like sand in an hourglass, time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past they must find the place where the angels fell to earth. Dark forces are after them, and Daniel doesn’t know if he can do this—live only to lose Luce again and again.
Yet together they will face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies . . . and angel dust. Great sacrifices are made. Hearts are destroyed. And suddenly Luce knows what must happen.
For she was meant to be with someone other than Daniel. The curse they’ve borne has always and only been about her—and the love she cast aside. The choice she makes now will be the only one that truly matters.
In the fight for Luce, who will win?
The astonishing conclusion to the FALLEN series. Heaven can’t wait any longer.

My Thoughts:   This one was, admittedly, a slow start for me.  It seemed like I couldn’t manage to get into the book at all, despite me enjoying the previous books in the series.  Perhaps it was because there was a tangible lack of romance.  The book seemed to pick up for me a little past half-way and then it took me no time to finish after that.

We start the fourth and final Fallen book exactly where the last one left off – with Daniel, Luce and all of their friends basically having nine days left until Armageddon.  They must complete a series of challenges in order to find the original fall site of the angels and save life as they know it.

With the idea of impending doom, I was excited to see what kind of strain that would put on Luce and Daniel’s relationship and was sorely disappointed.  They acted almost completely normal like it was just another deadline at work or something.  I feel like the tension could have been more drawn out.

But once we hit half-way, the book picked up in a major way.  We finally find out the truth about Luce and Daniel’s curse and we have more light shed on what happened before the angels fell.

Did I mention the major plot turn?  It was certainly interesting.  I have to admit, I suspected a part of it but some of it blew me out of the water.  The plot twist is what made the book for me and pulled me in.  So, if you are currently having a hard time getting through it, stick in there!

Overall, I think that Rapture was a good and bittersweet ending for the Fallen series.  There is a character in the end that I wish that I had more closure on, but I am satisfied with the ending of this good series.