Clean Up TBR Pile Readathon

I'm already participating in the WW Readathon, but when I saw that Stuck in Books was having a Clean Up TBR Pile Readathon for 2/4 the WW Readathon days... well I figured, why not? Most of the books on my list are from my TBR pile so for Friday and Saturday, I'm reading those ones. Hoping to get 3 done in the two days.

My reading list of possibilities:

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (*CURRENTLY READING)

Immortal City by Scott Speer

Revived by Cat Patrick

Gilt by Katherine Longshore

The Lost Code by Kevin Emerson

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diane Peterfreund (*CURRENTLY READING)

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Soulbound by Heather Brewer

Snow White and the Huntsman by Lily Blake

Good luck to the rest of you!

Giveaway: Auracle by Gina Rosati

I have a REALLY AWESOME giveaway for you today! A few weeks back, I read an advanced copy of Auracle by Gina Rosati (coming out on August 7, 2012) from Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan).

I absolutely LOVED it, and Gina was kind enough to send me some swag (three of her swag bags which include an Auracle sticker, signed bookmark with charms, bracelet, magnet, and pin), as well as a signed ARC. But because I've already read it, I've decided to part with it and offer it up to one of my fantastic readers!

To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Keep in mind that this one is US/Canada only, since I'm the one mailing it out - sorry!

About Auracle:
16 year old Anna Rogan has a secret she's only shared with her best friend, Rei; she can astrally project out of her body, allowing her spirit to explore the world and the far reaches of the universe.

When there's a fatal accident and her classmate Taylor takes over Anna's body, what was an exhilarating distraction from her repressive home life threatens to become a permanent state. Faced with a future trapped in another dimension, Anna turns to Rei for help. Now the two of them must find a way to get Anna back into her body and stop Taylor from accusing an innocent friend of murder. Together Anna and Rei form a plan but it doesn't take into account the deeper feelings that are beginning to grow between them.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: This Is Not a Test

This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
Release Date ~ June 19, 2012
St. Martin's Griffin ~ Macmillan
ISBN13: 9780312656744
E-galley received from publisher for review
Goodreads Synopsis:
It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self.

To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live.

But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside.

When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

Zombie books seem to be growing in popularity and that's something that I have no complaints about! I've mentioned before that I have a certain weakness for zombie films, and books are no exception to this.
But what I found particularly intriguing about This Is Not a Test is how the zombie storyline serves more as a backdrop to the real story; which deals much more with Sloane's personal growth and development than anything else. That's something largely unexpected in a zombie book, but it does make for something new.

It does a fantastic job of questioning who the real zombies are - the killer undead wandering around outside, or the absolutely broken and shattered living girl who can't feel anything?

1. A zombie book with depth:
   
   Like I mentioned above, it's really great to see that there's so much more to this than just undead humans trying to kill living people (with some good old government conspiracy thrown in). Sloane is desperately unhappy and angry; quite frankly, she really isn't concerned with her survival at all. Which makes it rather interesting to throw her into a survival scenario. And it's so enriching to see what the motives are behind her actions, and the changes which take place to her as her situation moves along. And it's especially interesting because Sloane doesn't feel like she's really missing out on anything with the zombies taking over- her life wasn't any better before that happened.
2. Realistically scary:
   
   Even though the zombies don't play a huge role in the story, they do create a very effective setting just by being there - it's like a looming dark shadow over the entire plot. And the fact that everything is so still, so quiet for such a long time it just makes the reader more anxious for that JUMP moment. And there are so many other dark, frightening aspects to it that add to the overall ambiance - it's impossible to escape. But these other aspects are ones we can easily relate to because they're so familiar to our society and happen all the time (as unfortuante as it is). That feeling of loneliness and losing those we care about - that's terrifying.

But unfortunately, I found that there wasn't quite enough development of the story for it to really appeal to me as a reader. I applaud Courtney Summers for being able to create a rich zombie book with so much more going on than zombies - but I also have to admit that I was expecting a bit more action, and to identify with the main character both of which I found to be areas lacking.

I wasn't particularly taken with many of the secondary characters either - it was understandable that they would be upset and angry, but it seemed like they were all working against each other in rather petty ways simply to get back revenge. Every character lacked an idea of what they needed to accomplish in the long-term, and ended up stuck on short term desires. Normally I would expect such heavy, dark books to move me but for whatever reason I found it far too difficult to root for any character because I just couldn't identify. And without that relationship, I couldn't LOVE the book although I can clearly see why so many others would.

Courtney's talent as a writer is exceptional and beautiful; lovely imagery, and captivating words that draw you in. A zombie book that truly stands out among the rest- it even has a vaguely contemporary feel to it, which could make it appeal to a large group of readers.

Purchase Links

United States	Canada	International
Amazon	Amazon Canada	The Book Depository
Barnes & Noble	Chapters Indigo

HCC Frenzy Presents...

I was recently invited to visit HarperCollins Canada along with a number of other local bloggers to meet some of the faces behind HCC and hear about some of their most exciting fall releases. If you aren't familiar with Frenzy, it's the feature HarperCollins Canada has put together to showcase their awesome teen books. You can even find them on Twitter!

It was such a great night, finally getting to meet some of the lovely ladies over there and just socializing with other book lovers!

Plus there was pie. Really good pie- with fun bookish names! I tweeted along during the event, so you'll find the same information in this recap post that I shared there :)

HCC did a great job of introducing us to Shannon, Vikki, Jessica and Hadley, all who took the time to share with us some of the work they do - everything from designing the Frenzy mag, publicity, author, and editor!

 

Besides introducing their fave fall books, we also held a mini Insurgent/Divergent book club where we discussed some of the themes and ideas in the series.
And our highly scientific faction poll ended up with a fairly even split among us for which faction we would choose - the most, however, was Erudite which doesn't surprise me too much (book bloggers tend to be super smart, I find). (Fun fact: I chose Dauntless, much to Angel @ Mermaid Vison's surprise at first!)

 

There was also a special guest who arrived... a few of us had used our sleuthing skills to guess that it might be Tahereh Mafi (author of Shatter Me) and we were right! It was so great getting to meet Tahereh, who is honestly one of the sweetest, most down to earth people I've ever met.

 

Tahereh was incredibly friendly and realy took the time to talk to all the bloggers there. And amazingly enough, she surprised many of us by telling us she knew who we were from Twitter/our blogs! Seriously, there is nothing cooler than having an author remember the last thing you talkd about/your fangirl review for her book.

 

  

HCC also had a copy of Shatter Me for everyone attending which we could get signed by Tahereh (keep your eye on the blog for an upcoming giveway for a copy)!

 

 

Each of us left with a Frenzy gift bag including a HCC Fall 2012 catalogue, a copy of the latest Frenzy mag (you can sign up for your own here), excerpt of What's Up With Jody Barton?, signed Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, ARC Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon, Before I Fall book plate signed by Lauren Oliver, and Delirium & Divergent temporary tattoos. You can't see them in this photo, but there was also a Frenzy pin and Pretty Little Liars lip chap!

Okay, now on to the most important part: the fall books!

HCC Frenzy put together a list of the top 6 books they're most excited about this fall - they had plenty to say about them, and I'll try to sum it up for you here (also: each blogger received a different ARC in their gift bag of one of the 6).

• Breathe by Sarah Crossan:
  
   
  This pick's a new dystopian in a world where the outside world lacks oxygen - people can apparently go on little trips (kind of like camping) to the outside world, and so a couple teens do... and danger ensues. We were told this one has a definite survival feel to it, which sounds pretty exciting! Plus it has dual narrators: one male and one female.
   
• Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon:
   
  This one's a thriller, perhaps with a somewhat paranormal aspect to it. There's an international conspiracy, lots of action, and a computer hacker. Plus some really weird stuff starts happening to the main character, so she has to figure out the mysteries. This one is totally right up my alley!
   
• Starling by Lesley Livingston:
   
  Lesley Livingston's upcoming release is a new series, but I believe it's set in the same world as wonderou strange. Features a totally tough heroine (she's a FENCER, guys. SO COOL), some really awesome action, Nordic myths, and of course a cute guy.

• Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel:
   
  This one's the sequel to This Dark Endeavour, a fantastic series based off the Frankenstein story. Imagine Victor Frankenstein as a teenager and you get Kenneth Oppel's new series. And Frenzy tells us that this one is EVEN BETTER than the first one.
   
• Ten by Gretchen McNeil:
   
  As if this one didn't sound cool enough already, Frenzy just had to completely sell me on this one. Ten teens on an island - with a serial killer. I KNOW, RIGHT?! Total thriller/horror aspect which is awesome. Apparently Ten is super scary with an Agatha Christie sort of vibe.
   
• Debutates by Cora Harrison:
   
  Perfect new book for fans of historical fiction (oh why yes, that IS me!) - we were told that it's somewhat similar to The Luxe by Anna Goldberg but A MILLION TIMES BETTER. This is promising. It has 4 sisters in it, and they have a really great relationship with each another.

 

Teen Review: Enchanted

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
Release Date ~ May 8, 2012
Harcourt ~ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN-13: 978-0547645704
Review copy received from Thomas Allen & Son Ltd.
Goodreads Synopsis
It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?

I really enjoy fairytale retellings, so I was really excited when I found out about Enchanted.  While it can take a little bit to really get into, and the writing can be a tad strange at times, this book is a very enjoyable experience.  This novel has already gotten a lot of good reviews, but here's another one nonetheless.

1. Imaginative Fairytale World:
   The one thing that you should know about this book is that this novel is basically a fairytale retelling of a whole bunch of fairytales.  There are aspects from tales such as Cinderelle, Jack and the Beanstock, and even the Frog Prince.  The way that the author weaved together all of the fairytales so seamlessly was amazing.  There were so many aspects of other tales crammed into this book, that I'm sure that I probably missed some.  Even if you are not familiar with many fairytales, it doesn't matter at all.  You don't need to have any previous knowledge of fairytales in order to understand this book.  The rest of the world that was not based on fairytales was also very interesting.  All of the rest of the book that is not based on fairytales still feels very fairytale-like.
   
2. Surprisingly Dark Plot:
   
   I was not at all expecting such a dark, and pretty disturbing plot.  I found that this was a really refreshing twist on fairytale retellings.  A lot of the story was light, but there was a lot of emotion, too.  The dark plot I found added a lot of dimension to the characters.  The dark plot also managed to fit in with the fairytale world, which I thought was fairly impressive.
   
3. A Well Done Dual Perspective:
   
   I don't read a lot of dual-perspective books because I sometimes find that they can be really confusing.  For instance, The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy  by Maggie Stiefvater by the end had almost 5 perspectives; it became really very confusing, and I didn't think that it added anything to the storyline.  I have read some other good dual perspectives, and Enchanted  has just made that list.  Sunday's and Rumbold's perspectives were very different, and I did find them very effective in telling the story.
   

The only complaints that I have about this book are that the storyline was a bit complex, and nobody really explained it too fully. I'm still a tad confused about what happened, but I did get the gist of it.  I also found Rumbold to be kind of whiny at times, although he did have his good moments.  I thought that the romance between Rumbold and Sunday to be surprisingly realistic, considering this was a fairytale retelling.  If you are a fan of fairytale retellings, I think that this is a book for you.

Purchase Links

United States	Canada	International
Amazon	Amazon Canada	The Book Depository
Barnes & Noble	Chapters Indigo	Audible



Wicked Wildfire Readathon

I'm totally taking advantage of any and every readathon I can get my hands on, while I have the chance and have a break from school.

The WW Readathon takes place from June 20th-24th. I'm working for three of those days, but should still have plenty of time to get ready done :)
I'm hoping to finish 5 books during the Readathon. Choices include:

• The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
• Immortal City by Scott Speer
• Revived by Cat Patrick
• Gilt by Katherine Longshore
• The Lost Code by Kevin Emerson
• For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diane Peterfreund
• My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
• Soulbound by Heather Brewer
• Snow White and the Huntsman by Lily Blake
• Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Wish me luck! :)

Starting point:
Thursday, June 21 - I missed the first day and I haven't gotten very much done AT ALL. Started Reading The Immortal Rules - 18 pages in.
Friday, June 22 - Still reading The Immortal Rules and I've also started For Darkness Shows the Stars. I'm having such a hard time with reading right now for some reason!

Waiting on Wednesday {31}

Jill @ Breaking the Spine hosts this weekly meme where we can share a book that we are so excited for and are anxiously awaiting their upcoming release!

This week my WoW pick is...

Renegade (Elysium Chronicles #1) by J.A. Souders
Release Date ~ November 13, 2012 from Tor Teen

I've pretty much been drooling over this book since I first heard about it MONTHS ago, and I have to tell you that November can't get here soon enough! This book sounds so awesome and I'm thrilled that Tor Teen is publishing it, since they specialize in fantasy/sci fi books such as this one, and so far I have the impression that Renegade will be a really excellent blend of the two :) Which in my eyes, is total PERFECTION <3


Goodreads Synopsis:
Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

Leave a comment letting me know what you think of Renegade & what your pick is this week!