Review: Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Alice in Zombieland
White Rabbit Chronicles #1

Author: Gena Showalter

Publication Date: September 12, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Genre: Young Adult/Horror

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Synopsis:

She won't rest until she's sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

If anyone had told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that's all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real.

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn't careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.

My Thoughts: I actually liked this book a lot more than I thought I would.  Normally, I hate anything to do with zombies.  I feel like they are overdone and, quite frankly, disturbing.  So, I was pleasantly surprised when I found this new take on zombie-kind.

Now, be forewarned, this is no where near a clear adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, if that is what you are looking for.  There are definitely throw-backs to the books and Easter-Eggs if you know the original series, but this is definitely it's own story with it's own plot.

Regardless, I really enjoyed this book.  Ali (or Alice) really surprised me a lot with her fortitude.  She was very reminiscent in a way of the Alice from Alice in Wonderland in that she sucked it up and didn't let people intimidate her or push her around.

I feel like the climax in this book may have been rushed a little and could have maybe been drawn out a bit more.  However, considering the fact that it is a multi-book series I am not surprised by the way it all went down.  I feel it has most likely set up for a more dramatic climax in other novels when we deal with the big bads of the series again.

I really enjoyed reading this book.  It was one of the ones that once I picked up I could hardly put down for anything.  I am typing this review up with the second book sitting next to me, begging me to crack it open and devour it.  I would totally recommend this one to any YA reader, especially the paranormal-loving ones - even if you hate zombies!

Review: Everbound by Brodi Ashton

Everbound
Everneath #2

Author: Brodi Ashton

Publication Date: January 22, 2013

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Genre: Fantasy/Mythology

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Synopsis:

Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity — a debt that should’ve been hers. She’s living a borrowed life, and she doesn’t know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away. 

Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen — and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about Nikki, and he agrees to assist her in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself.
Nikki and Cole descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they’d anticipated — and more deadly. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack — even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own. 

In this enthralling sequel to Everneath, Brodi Ashton tests the bonds of destiny and explores the lengths we’ll go to for the ones we love.

My Thoughts: First off, I want to praise the covers for this series.  I absolutely adore both the cover from Everneath and this one as well.  I loved the first book in this series and I was really excited when Everbound came out.  The last book had such an intense cliffhanger that I was still hanging on to the edge of my seat.

Jack is now in the Everneath, taking Nikki's spot in the tunnels permanently so that she didn't have to return to them herself.  Nikki is determined to do everything that she can to get him out of the tunnels, even if that means that she has to journey into the Everneath to save him - but that means that she needs help from Cole, the immortal that took her to the Everneath in the first place and who she tried to kill in the last book.  Luckily, Cole has a weak spot for her, since he wants Nikki to take over the Everneath and be his Queen so they can rule together.

I really enjoyed the time we got to spend with Cole in this book.  I am not sure what it is about him, but I really, really like him.  I mean, Jack is fine and all - the good guy all-American boy.  There is just something about Cole that intrigues me so much more.

Nikki in this novel really does try to take things into her own hands.  She no longer is playing the victim card, something that she did all of the first book.  Now, it is all about saving Jack.  She is determined and forceful and it is a nice change in her, something that I really thought was missing from Everneath. It is so nice when you can watch a character morph and learn and grow throughout a series.

All in all, I enjoyed this novel thoroughly.  It gave me more insight into the characters, the Everneath and really had me hanging on and wanting more.  It left on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I can't wait to read the third one when it comes out!

T.G.I.F (14)

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 T.G.I.F. Cover:

Everbound by Brodi Ashton

Projected Publishing Date: January 22. 2013

Publisher: HarperCollins

Short Summary: Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity — a debt that should’ve been hers. She’s living a borrowed life, and she doesn’t know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away.

Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen — and the one person least likely to help...

My Thoughts: I loved the first book in this series (which also has an amazing cover) and can't wait for this one to be released!  I love how her dress blends into the smoke. All in all, this cover is pretty awesome.

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

Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath
(Everneath #1)

Author: Brodi Ashton

Publication Date: January 24th, 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray

Genre: Paranormal / Mythology

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Synopsis:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned—to her old life, her family, her friends—before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists. Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen. As Nikki’s time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she’s forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s...

My Thoughts: Everneath is Brodi Ashton's debut novel and it is awesome!! I love mythology!! This book is based off of the myth about Orpheus and Eurydice, with a little bit focused around Persephone and Hades. I'm definitely a new fan of Ashton and can't believe that I waited so long to read this one. It's just been sitting on my bookshelf for the last 3 months with me always saying "next" (there's a couple of those books!). Finally though, I picked it up to give it a read. It's a fairly easy read, and every time I would look up and see where my bookmark was and how much I had read, I was surprised. It's just one of those books that when I was reading, I would forget about everything else and just get lost in the book.

The protagonist is Nikki Beckett. We start off with when she is waking up in the Everneath after a century long Feed, so when the Everlings  drain all the emotion from a human, maintaining their immortality for another century. Time passes differently in the Everneath, so only 6 month have gone by on  the Surface. So of course, she comes back looking like a strung out junkie and everyone assumes she was just lost to drugs. She doesn't know how she survived and remembered her life before, but it has something to do with Jack, the boy she loved.

I think one of the things that Iliked the most was the style that Ashton wrote this book in. It's basically just a huge countdown for when Nikki will be sucked back in to the Everneath, into the awful world of the Tunnels, where the last of her energy will be spent powering the Everneath until she just fades away. There has to be a way for her to survive, but it's pretty much inevitable. We also got a lot of flashbacks so we could see her relationships with the other characters and what made her decide to become a Forfeit (so  she volenteered to have her life sucked out of her). I just kept reading because I needed to know what was going to happen to her. I do have to say though, the end was a bit predictable. There was a bit of forshadowing though.

Overall, I think this is a great debut novel for Brodi Ashton and I will definitely be looking out for more from her in the future. There is mythology, romance and a bit of suspense. It has a few creepy moments,  but it ends nicely. Actually it left with somewhat of a cliffhanger, so I need to know what happens next and will be eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, Everbound. Should you read it? Yes, you should, especially if you are a fan of mythology! I definitely reccomend this one. Have you read any good YA lately that has a mythology theme? What would you recommend?

Review: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Linger

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Publication Date: July 13th, 2010

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Genre: YA/Romance/Paranormal

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Synopsis:

SYNOPSIS HERE!!In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

My Thoughts: If you've read my review on Shiver, you already know I'm going to tell you how much I love this book. Shiver was incredibly wonderful, and Linger was even better! In Shiver the narrating was switching between Grace and Sam, which was so wonderful, to see events from two different minds! In Linger we get to add to more views and insights. We get a deeper peek into the mind and life of Isabelle, and a brand new character Cole. I absolutely love reading the story from all their perspectives, and getting to see inside every character's head, the characters easily become real people, and they slip right into your heart and yank at it!

Now, I really can't go into to much here without giving away anything, so this may be a short and sweet review. In Linger Grace and Sam think the finally have what they wanted, but life is constantly throwing obstacles in their way. Grace's parents find out just how serious their relationship is and they decide now is the time to start being parents. This results in strict rules, and even stopping her from seeing Sam. This literally broke my heart. Her parents going on and on about how she is only 17 and she doesn't know what love is blah blah blah, she'll survive. I hate that. I really really hate when people decide for you how capable you are of being in love. No one knows how you feel but you! Besides, it kinda hits a soft spot for me I was 16 when I started dating my now Husband. He even proposed to me, and we moved in together. Ya, I was still in high school, but when it's the one, you really just know. and Here we are now, married, with 3 kids, and even more in love than we were back then! I'm not saying everyone in love at a young age is in real love, but I'm saying it does happen! Me and Jenn both met our now Husbands in high school.

Anyway, enough of that rant =P. Aside from that, Sam now has to assume the role as leader of the pack. As Beck's adopted son,  it's his place to start taking care of everyone now, and with a bunch of new wolves, that won't be so easy. Especially with one new wolf in particular, his name is Cole. Cole comes in with a whole lot of baggage and a very troubled past. All he wants is to just be a wolf full time and escape his life. That is until he meets Isabelle, she finds a way to get inside him like no one ever has, and just maybe, he can try to become the good person, that deep down inside, he really wants to be. It doesn't help though that he's carrying a secret that if discovered could expose the entire pack for what they are. Grace is also carrying her own little secret. Something is wrong with her, and getting worse all the time. She is trying to keep it secret because when her and Sam do get to see each other, she doesn't want to ruin their limited time together with her scared thoughts.  But things just keep propelling downward, and she may not be able to keep it secret for much longer. Will Sam find out what's going on before the worst imaginable happens? If he does find out, will he be able to help her?

This book is so jam packed with emotional story line. My emotions were all over the radar! I could not put this book down! when reading the last 30% my husband was trying to talk to me, and I told him whatever he had to say was going to have to wait because there was no way I could stop now! So I stayed buried in my book until the end. Then I closed it, hugged it, and I cried. I sat there and cried, and then my husband teased   me so I had to stop crying =P.

This is a love story you won't soon forget. These are books you are going to want to have on your shelf. They have easily made it into my top favorites. You'll want to own them not only because they are amazing, but they are so beautiful to! amazingly designed covers, and the font inside matches the color of the book! I got so excited when I opened Linger and found green font, how cool is that? I  might be easily entertained, but I thought that was just awesome!

Without a doubt, I recommend this book, go read it. right now! Add it to your TBR so you don't forget! If it's already on there, make it your next read, you won't regret it, you may even thank me :). This series is going to have a special place in my heart, that's for sure.