Monday 28 February 2011

Review for Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Last year The Body Finder- the first book in this series- completely blew me away and was one of my favourite reads of 2010. It was creepy, suspenseful and had a fantastic love story, so when I heard that there was going to be a sequel Desires of the Dead I started counting down the days for the release date pining for my next Jay and Violet fix. Desires of the Dead has an intriguing new plot. The book starts with Violet finding the body of a young boy in unusual circumstances attracting the attention of the FBI who are dumb founded as to how Violet managed to find him. They’re convinced that Violet has some kind of power which could prove very useful to them and so Violet must decide does she keep her abilities to herself or risk being used as a human guinea pig for the FBI? On top of that Violet is struggling to figure out the new rules with her and Jay’s relationship. Now that they’re officially a couple Violet feels that she can’t tell Jay things that she used to especially when it comes to her abilities, she almost lost him once and she doesn’t want to put him in that kind of danger again, so when a series of disturbing events unfold Violet feels that this time she should try and handle things on her own but with the FBI on her back and a stalker growing more and more sinister will Violet turn to the people who love her before it’s too late? What I loved about The Body Finder was how completely creep-tastic it was. Kimberly Derting didn’t shy away from the scary and that made The Body Finder completely thrilling and unputdownable. I have to say that I was slightly disappointed by Desires of the Dead’s lack of creepiness. Unlike The Body Finder I figured out all the big twists and didn’t find the villain to be as terrifying as the murderer from the first book. Kimberly Derting definitely toned down the terror taking away a lot of the suspense that The Body Finder had, taking away the thing that made it stand out from other young adult books. I personally love my thrillers and I admired Kimberly Derting for not shying away from the ugly stuff just because she was writing for a teen audience. I like my villains to be as terrifying as possible, the more sinister the better and I really hope Kimberly goes back to that theme with the rest of the books in this series. That being said I loved everything else about this book. I loved Kimberly Derting’s idea of bringing the FBI into the story setting up for potentially a whole lot of awesome in future books. Violet asks a lot of questions about her abilities in this book, like should she use her powers to help track down killers and missing people? And is she the only person with these kinds of powers or does the FBI already work with people like her? I really like the direction Kimberly Derting’s taking this series and I had to keep reading to find out what Violet was going to do. I loved seeing how Violet and Jay’s relationship developed in this book. It was so sweet and endearing watching them cautiously develop from best friends to a couple. Violet and Jay are one of my favourite young adult couples and I just love reading about them and watching them develop. As was with The Body Finder I loved all of the characters and found them to be really well developed. I didn’t agree with all of Violets decisions but I could understand why she did them so although I didn’t always agree with her choices I still respected and liked Violet because her intentions were always good. As always Kimberly Derting’s writing was wonderful if a little less creepy and atmospheric. She writes fantastic full bodied characters and creates the sweetest tenderest moments between Violet and Jay. Like The Body Finder there are alternate chapters giving us insight into the villain’s mind who in this case is Violets stalker. I always enjoy these chapters and find it adds a nice touch to the book. To sum up no I didn’t love Desires of the Dead as much as The Body Finder but it was a good solid sequel none the less. Desires of the Dead sets up all kinds of awesome for a potentially brilliant third book. I just hope that Kimberly goes back to The Body Finders roots and throws in lots of creepiness to give the third book that extra oomph that The Body Finder had. Overall I would recommend this book and I’m eagerly awaiting the next instalment to find out what happens to Violet and Jay next. My Rating 4/5 stars **** Thanks go to Headline for sending me a copy to review

Friday 25 February 2011

Author Interview with Savita Kalhan author of The Long Weekend

Hey guys, I have a special treat for you this Friday to kick start the weekend, an author interview with the hugely talented Savita Kalhan who is in fact a lovely, very sane woman despite her gritty, psychological thriller for teens The Long Weekend. The Long Weekend has been receiving huge praise throughout the blogosphere as of late but in case you haven’t heard of it here’s what it’s about. "Sam knows that he and his friend Lloyd made a colossal mistake when they accepted the ride home. They have ended up in a dark mansion in the middle of nowhere with a man who means to harm them. But Sam doesn't know how to get them out. They were trapped, then separated. Now they are alone. Will either of them get out alive?"
Interview with Savita Welcome to Jess Hearts Books Savita! Hi Jess, thanks so much for inviting me here today! Your review of The Long Weekend was amazing, and I’ve been looking forward to this interview!
1.) How did you come up with the idea for The Long Weekend?
The idea came from something that almost happened – a flyer went round the local schools in my area warning that a large silver Merc or BMW had been seen cruising outside schools at pick up and drop off times. It made me wonder how easy it was for a predator to abduct a child, and I realised that it’s not so easy, but we all know that in real life it does happen. A scenario came to my mind where it happens with frightening ease. 2.) The Long Weekend is an intense read, were any parts hard for you to write? Yes it is intense, and yes some parts were very difficult to write! The writing came easy, it was the effect it had on me that was hard. Some scenes made me cry, others made me angry and there were some that gave me nightmares. Whatever Sam was feeling, I felt too. I did wonder how far I would be able to go in terms of writing about Lloyd and what he goes through, but in the end I realised I didn’t have to describe it all in detail in order to convey to the reader exactly what happens to him. 3.) Why did you decide to write about two 11 year old boys opposed to just one boy? Or for that matter a girl was it a conscious decision? No it wasn’t a conscious decision on my part. When the idea for the story came to me, my characters arrived at the same time – particularly Sam. His voice was there right from the very beginning of the book. 4.) Did you do any kind of research before or during writing The Long Weekend? No, I didn’t do any research at all. It was one of those books that didn’t require any research. I have met survivors of abuse and heard their stories. That was enough. 5.) Why do you write for teens above all other genres? I love writing teen/YA fiction partly because I love reading the genre myself! I’m an avid reader and I always have been since I was a very young child. As I was growing up and moved from the children’s library to reading books from the adult library, I ended up reading pretty much everything in both libraries. I didn’t feel that there was anything missing at the time until much more recently. There is now a teen/YA section in all libraries and bookshops, which have a huge variety of books that cross all genres, and that’s something that wasn’t there when I was growing up. I think it’s great that it was finally recognised that there was a huge gap in the market and that there were readers who needed and wanted books that bridged the gap between childhood and adulthood. I’m really happy to be playing a part in that. Besides I think teen/YA literature has some of the best reads out there no matter what your age! 6.) You’re a UK based author, is The Long Weekend available in other countries besides the UK? If not are there any plans to go global? At the moment The Long Weekend is only available on Amazon as a book and as an eBook, but the Book Depository ships the book anywhere in the world for free, so that’s pretty good. It can also be bought through Random House as Andersen Press, my publishers, are affiliated with them. But I am hopeful that one day The Long Weekend will go into translation and be available everywhere. 7.) Are you working on anything at the moment? If so can you tell us a little bit about it? At the moment I’m working on a psychological thriller about a 14 year old boy who wakes up in a hospital bed with no recollection of how he got there or who he is. I’m almost at the end of it, so I won’t say any more about it yet... You can get regular updates at my website, http://www.savitakalhan.com/ where you can have a look around, and even leave me a message on my message board! Or on twitter http://twitter.com/savitakalhan Or on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Long-Weekend-Savita-Kalhan/117223691628538 8.) Describe The Long Weekend in 3 words. Pretty damn terrifying! It was great talking to you Jess!
Thank you for doing this interview for us Savita! To find out more about Savita Kalhan or The Long Weekend stop by the links mentioned in the interview or read my review for The Long Weekend here.

Thursday 24 February 2011

Covers So Lovely We'd Lick Them! (9)

The new feature co-created and co-hosted by LadyViolet and Jess hearts books where we show off a book cover which we find so damn scrumptious that we'd actually be willing to lick it! Every week we each pick a different cover so be sure to check both blogs!
My Pick for this Week
Supernaturally by Kiersten White
So I’ve decided to be totally unoriginal this week and pick Supernaturally, the cover’s just been released and everybody’s posting about it, but I’ve only just read and loved Paranormalcy and with my review up on Monday I decided to stick to the same Evie loving theme this week. I LOVE the colours for this cover the pretty oranges, reds and burnt out browns aren’t hugely popular colour choices compared to the purple and black and whites of most paranormal books so I love that Supernaturally is different. Once again I want Evie’s beautiful dress and OMG that girl’s hair! Blonde bombshell anyone? I love Evie so much and unlike a lot of models on the front of book covers I can actually see this girl as my beloved book bff. For me this cover doesn’t disappoint at all and can certainly stand proud next to the beauty of the first book, and if Paranormalcy is anything to go by I bet what’s inside will be just as gorgeous as the cover. If you haven’t checked out the amazing Paranormalcy yet I highly suggest that you do and if you need any more convincing you can check out my Evie Rocks review here. So that’s my cover for this week. Feel free to leave me comments letting me know what you think of this week’s pick and if you ever get insane lust over a book cover, does a lovely cover influence you buying the book? Let me know and don’t forget to stop by Rachel’s blog to find out what cover she’d like to Lick this week!

Wednesday 23 February 2011

Waiting On Wednesday (5)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is: The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter Publication Date: April 19th 2011 From Goodreads It's always been just Kate and her mom--and now 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. If she fails... I love love love the sound of this book! Greek Mythology seems to be the new thing this year in YA fiction and it’s a subject that has always interested me. The covers gorgeous and it has praise from Cassandra Clare, I’m pining on this book so hard right now and although Aprils not long it still seems like such a wait. So excited for this one! What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Monday 21 February 2011

Review for Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

"Sixteen-year-old Evie has always taken comfort in the fact that she is normal, even though her best friend is a mermaid and her ex-boyfriend is a lunatic – and a faery. In a world where paranormals are monitored and controlled, Evie works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency because of her unique ability to see through glamours. But someone – or something – starts killing vampires, werewolves and other paranormals, and Evie must figure out what’s happening before they all disappear." Paranormalcy was everything I hoped it would be and more. It met all of my expectations and then some and completely surprised me. I picked up this book expecting a good paranormal romance and whilst Paranormalcy certainly delivers that it also has so much more to offer. Kiersten White entwines light and dark perfectly, some parts of the book were action packed and full of mystery and other parts were funny and light-hearted. Most young adult paranormal stories are about a normal, plain girl who gets thrown into this paranormal world. Kiersten White offers up something original with our main character Evie already being in the middle of crazy paranormal goings on and all she wants is to be a normal teenager. Paranormalcy is very much a breath of fresh air in the YA Paranormal market bringing to the table plenty of new themes and originality. Evie’s well aware of the popularity of Vampires and things that go bump in the night and the book kicks off to a fantastically funny start when a vampire is stunned by Evie’s nonchalance towards him when- like most girls would be- she isn’t sucked into his charm because under his glamour as this hot guy she can see the aged, dried out, corpse that he really is. Evie’s awareness of the modern world makes her feel incredibly real making her immediately relatable to the reader. Kiersten White does a fantastic job of mixing legends and magic with modern technology and weapons, like Evie’s uber awesome, pink, rhinestone studded, supernatural zapper Tasey, making Paranormalcy feel very updated and cool. What made Paranormalcy positively shine for me were the characters. I love Evie. I love her so much that she’s actually become my second favourite character EVER. Picture Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, now give her brains a sassy, snarky personality to boot, and some pink but very lethal weapons to kick some paranormal butt and you have Evie. She’s a bad ass, smart, total girly girl with a heart of gold (in some cases quite literally!) who has a love for all things pink and trashy TV. She’s so different to any other young adult heroines out there. I love her more than cake and want to live inside this book forever so we can be BFF’s. All of the characters are strong and exciting to read about. I loved Lend Evie’s love interest and Lish her best friend who’s a freakin’ mermaid guys! *squee* the characters were so well developed and I enjoyed my time with every single one of them. I loved everything about Paranormalcy, the mythology and detail behind each paranormal creature was so well thought out and fascinating to read about. Although this book deals with all kinds of paranormals it has quite a lot of faerie action. Now I’m not usually a fan of books about faeries but the ones in Paranormalcy actually scared the bejesus out of me and I found them really captivating, interesting creatures. You can tell Kiersten’s spent a lot of time building this world up and it totally pays off. Kiersten White is a very welcome addiction to the parnormal romance genre. Her writings funny, dark and sassy and I already can’t wait to get my next Evie fix. If you’re bored of paranormal books and are looking for something to rekindle your love of the genre this fresh new take on things is for you. Recommended to anyone looking for an original, fun, paranormal read. My Rating 5/5 stars ***** Synopsis taken from Amazon Thanks go to Harper Collins for sending me this book to review

Friday 18 February 2011

Review for The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

"Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face. But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone." The DUFF. Designated, Ugly, Fat, Friend. According to man whore Wesley every group of friends has one, a weak link, a girl who isn’t as hot as her friends, a girl who lets the team down. Well shoot Kody Keplinger has struck gold writing a book about the Duff you know why? Because every single girl in the world feels like a Duff. Every girl looks at her friends and feels like she doesn’t measure up and that’s why everybody’s going to love this book and our heroine Bianca, because there’s a part in all of us that believes were the Duff, we can all relate. I loved this book. I loved the honesty of Kody Keplinger’s writing. In this book girls are insecure, in this book girls have casual sex to make themselves feel better and in this book each character has something going on with them that makes their lives less than perfect. The Duff tackles so many issues but above all it’s a story about friendship, body image, and facing up to our fears. I loved how Kody Keplinger wasn’t afraid to take on the big stuff. She writes about the good the bad and the ugly not shying away from anything making The Duff a very realistic and therefore a very relatable read. I loved all of the characters but my favourite has to be Wesley. When I first started reading I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like him what with him nicknaming Bianca the Duff and being a man whore and all, but I really liked him straight from the beginning and I grew to like him more and more as the book went on. B is exactly the type of heroine I love. She’s cynical and smart, funny and loyal- definitely book BFF material. I also really liked the secondary characters especially Bianca’s best friends Casey and Jessica. The characters were all really well developed and I enjoyed reading about B’s complicated relationships with them. The DUFF is an original, honest, edgy read that has some important lessons to offer readers about body image, sex and facing up to reality however difficult it may be. I can’t wait to see what else Kody Keplinger has to offer us and in the meantime will be recommending this to everyone. My Rating 4.5/5 stars Synopsis taken from goodreads

Thursday 17 February 2011

Covers So Lovely We'd Lick Them! (8)

The new feature co-created and co-hosted by LadyViolet and Jess hearts books where we show off a book cover which we find so damn scrumptious that we'd actually be willing to lick it! Every week we each pick a different cover so be sure to check both blogs!
My Pick for this Week
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Some book covers use bright bold colours, pretty swirls and other fancy stuff to draw readers into picking up the book and some use an object or has something going on between a model/models that’s key to the story. Although shiny pretty covers look great on my bookshelf I kinda prefer book covers that are simple that have something going on that makes me want to know more about the story and that’s what The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer does for me. It’s simple and elegant and sells the book. In this instance what the hell is going on between these two people? Is the guy dragging her down with him or is it the opposite? Is he trying to save her from drowning? Ahhhhhh! This little question has me SO desperate to read the book when it comes out in September this year to find out. Plus the girls dress is so pretty totally triggering off my PDS (pretty dress syndrome) I don’t know that much about this book but this cover along with the synopsis has me totally pining for it. Here’s the simple yet powerful synopsis…
Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is.
She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love. She’s wrong.
So that’s my cover for this week. Feel free to leave me comments letting me know what you think of this week’s pick and if you ever get insane lust over a book cover, does a lovely cover influence you buying the book? Let me know and don’t forget to stop by Rachel’s blog to find out what cover she’d like to Lick this week!

Friday 11 February 2011

Review for The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan

"Sam knows that he and his friend Lloyd made a colossal mistake when they accepted the ride home. They have ended up in a dark mansion in the middle of nowhere with a man who means to harm them. But Sam doesn't know how to get them out. They were trapped, then separated. Now they are alone. Will either of them get out alive?" I don’t know what I was expecting from The Long Weekend, but it sure wasn’t to be so incredibly chilled and moved by the story that I had to take breaks from it to psych myself back up because it was so intense. The book is told from 11 year old Sam’s point of view, I’m not use to reading books from such a young person’s narrative especially not a boys so when I started reading I wasn’t sure how well Sam and I would get along- turns out I actually really liked him and he quickly became my little mate. Savita Kalhan captures what it is to be an 11 year old boy perfectly and I instantly felt protective of Sam like he was a little brother figure. The book starts on what is a typical school day for Sam and his best friend Lloyd, but the pair are soon thrown into every parent’s worst nightmare when they are abducted and taken to a mansion far out in the countryside and it was at that point that the book had me gripped. The Long Weekend isn’t an easy read. I was terrified. Truly terrified for the boys and had to put the book down several times to compose myself. I felt everything that Sam and Lloyd were going through, I felt horror, repulsion and anger at the abductor and what he was putting them through. I felt heartbreakingly uncertain that they were going to make it out alive and even if they did the mental scars that they were sure to have put me on edge. The Long Weekend is written about a gritty subject matter that is so frightfully real that it gives books about vampires, ghosts and other things that go bump in the night a run for their money. It’s the bitter and honest truth that this is what actually happens in our world that makes this book horrifying to read. The Long Weekend is a short book that is easily read in one or two sittings but that doesn’t stop it from packing a punch- and what a blow it is. Although some parts were difficult for me to read I just had to stick in there and hold Sam’s hand along the way praying he would get out in one piece. I found the way the plot played out to read very true and I loved how Sam and Lloyd developed and grew up so quickly during their time at the house whilst also remaining and thinking like an 11 year old would. Savita Kalhan truly captures the physical and psychological effects of trauma showcasing what a fantastic writer she is. The Long Weekend is not an easy read but it’s an important book that demands to be read. A fantastic, gritty thriller that will keep you up late reading. Recommended to those who can stomach it! My Rating 4/5 stars **** Synopsis taken from goodreads Thanks go to the lovely author herself Savita Kalhan for sending me a copy to review.

Thursday 10 February 2011

Covers So Lovely We'd Lick Them! (7)

The new feature co-created and co-hosted by LadyViolet and Jess hearts books where we show off a book cover which we find so damn scrumptious that we'd actually be willing to lick it! Every week we each pick a different cover so be sure to check both blogs!
My Pick for this Week
Entwined by Heather Dixon
Keeping with the fairy tale re-telling theme of last week this week’s pick Entwined is a re-telling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. This has been receiving a lot of praise on the blogosphere and if the covers anything to go by it looks like it’s going to be a gorgeous book to get lost in. I love my old fashioned girly fairy princess stories and this looks like it fits the bill perfectly. Enchanted, beautiful garden- check. Gorgeous princess dress to boot- check. Grand tall standing castle- check. As well as the pretty loopy old school font and the flowers tangling themselves around the book this book just screams fairy tale princess book for young adults. I LOVE this cover and absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on it come March 29th.
So that’s my cover for this week. Feel free to leave me comments letting me know what you think of this feature and if you ever get insane lust over a book cover, does a lovely cover influence you buying the book? Let me know and don’t forget to stop by Rachel’s blog to find out what cover she’d like to Lick this week!

Wednesday 9 February 2011

NEWS on Vampire Academy spin off Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

I come bearing VERY exciting news Vampire Academy fans! First things first the US cover for Bloodlines has been revealed! Can you guess who it’s going to be about yet? Take a closer look at the golden yellow pattern on the girls face, yes, it’s only freaking Sydney!!! After reading Last Sacrifice I felt pretty sure that the spin off series was going to be about Jill but Richelle Mead has managed to surprise me again! Here’s what Richelle had to say… "Bloodlines will be a spin-off of VA, moving the previously tertiary character Sydney, a human alchemist, from the sidelines to the forefront. It will also be set in a sunny Californian high school instead of that rigid, preppy-bloodsucker academy, which I imagine will be like transferring from the Undead Poet’s Society to Bayside High."- Richelle I gotta admit I wasn’t too hot for Sydney in Vampire Academy, she sounds like she’ll be a very different character to read about compared to Rose. I’m really interested to learn more about the alchemist side of Richelle’s vampire world though and I honestly don’t believe that Richelle Mead could write a bad book if she tried so I’m still hugely excited to get my hands on this! To watch a video with Richelle talking about Bloodlines click HERE. So what do you think? Do you like the cover? Are you excited to read from Sydney’s point of view? I’d love to know your thoughts so get commenting! Jess x

Monday 7 February 2011

Review for Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin

"She knows what he is. But she can’t be sure what he’s done. The only thing Avery Hood can remember about the night her parents died is that she saw silver – deadly silver, moving inhumanly fast. As much as she wants to remember who killed her parents, she can’t, and there’s nothing left to do but try to piece her life back together. Then Avery meets the new boy in school – Ben, mysterious and beautiful, with whom she feels a connection like nothing she’s ever experienced before. When Ben reveals he’s a werewolf, Avery still trusts him – at first. Then she sees that sometimes his eyes flash an inhuman silver. And she learns that she’s not the only one who can’t remember the night her parents died…" First things first I couldn’t just let this review go by without acknowledging the beautiful simplicity of this book. The cover’s so gorgeously creepy with the gothic, proud, tall standing trees and the eerie feel of the glowing moon and blood red metallic cover. Inside the book itself there is the same scarlet red illustrations of trees and the moon at the start of every chapter and across the bottom of the pages as well as the word “moon” highlighted in the same deathly red- a very nice touch for a book about werewolves reminding me of the US covers for Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver series which I love. Wolves are one of my favourite paranormal creatures to read about so to say I was excited to read this book is an understatement. Before reading Low Red Moon I’d heard rumours flying around the blogosphere that Ivy Devlin was in fact a pen name for Elizabeth Scott -an author notoriously known for her fantastic young adult realism books in America- Low Red Moon being her debut here in the UK. Right from the start Low Red Moon completely captivated me a big reason for that being because of how beautiful Ivy Devlin’s writing is. At the start of Low Red Moon our heroine Avery’s parents have just been brutally murdered, Avery being found with their mutilated bodies although she has no real memory of what happened. You can really feel Avery’s loss and sadness making her immediately endearing to the reader. What I loved about this book is what a big part Avery’s loss plays in the story. It’s not just touched upon like a lot of paranormal romance novels it’s deeply explored with Ivy Devlin bringing in the realism she’s use to writing about as Elizabeth Scott and connecting it in with a paranormal, mysterious, love story. I love the realistic touch Low Red Moon has making it stand out against other books in the genre. If werewolves were real creatures Ivy Devlin has you completely convinced that this is how they would be. She has you believing-as much as Avery- that the old tales surrounding Woodlake town are real and are totally happening right now. Ivy’s writing completely blew me away. It’s haunting and poetic and has a strange beauty to it. She makes her characters endearing and easy to relate to and has created a fantastic, fresh, original new take on werewolves and the little red riding hood story that has been re-told so many times. I read this book really quickly because I was so caught up by Ivy Devlin’s storytelling. She really has a wonderful way of telling a story always leaving you wanting a little bit more. I closed this book satisfied, glowing with that lovely feeling you get after reading a good book. Low Red Moons ending ties up things nicely but also hints at a possible sequel. I really hope that’s the case because I would love to read more about Avery and Ben. Ivy Devlin has a bright future ahead of her as a writer of paranormal goings on and is a very welcome new addiction to the genre. Highly recommended to anyone looking for an intelligent, murder mystery/ paranormal romance. My Rating 4/5 stars **** Thanks go to Bloomsbury for sending me this book to review. Synopsis taken from back of book.

Friday 4 February 2011

January Round Up & Book of the Month!

January’s book of the month is… Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal!
So I’ve practically spent all of January threatening people to read this book or else! And not only have people been buying it but they’ve ALL loved it too. This is such a fantastic 2011 debut novel that every girl/woman needs to read. If you’ve ever been in love you will relate to this book. It’s that simple. If you haven’t checked it out already you really, really should. This book and Lorraine is going to be HUGE I just know it so you should be a trendsetter and read it before it gets big just so that you can say you were there before all the hype came along. To find out more about the fabulous Other Words For Love check out my review HERE. Best Plot: Across the Universe by Beth Revis Best Writing: Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal Best Cover: Across the Universe by Beth Revis Best Characters: Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal Best Ending: Entangled by Cat Clarke Best Romance: Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal Most un-put-down-able: Entangled by Cat Clarke Most Memorable: Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal Best Moral: Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal Books read this month 1.) Entangled by Cat Clarke (5*) 2.) Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen (3.5*) 3.) Across the Universe by Beth Revis (5*) 4.) Other Words for Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal (5*) 5.) The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney (3.5*) 6.) Choker by Elizabeth Woods (4*) Top 3 Most Recommended Books: Other Words for Love, Across the Universe and Entangled Bookish Highlights of the month Getting so many books!!! It was my 21st birthday this month so I got a lot a lot of books PLUS a Kindle which I absolutely love. I got to meet up with my bestie and bookish friend Rachel and we went book shopping (even though we didn’t buy that many books it was still good to see her!) Also wrote my very first discussion post which was really successful so I’m proud of that, oh and I got an awesome goodie bag sent to me from the lovely ladies at Random House. It’s been a very good month! Bookish Lows of the month MY COMPUTER DIEING AGAIN!!!! This subject is driving me mad and I haven’t got much to say about it other than arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I also didn’t get as many books read as I would have liked because I’ve been uber busy. Book’s I’m looking forward to in February Oooh so many! You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sarra Manning which is out now I just don’t have it yet. Haven by Kristi Cook (eeep!!!) and best of all Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting the US edition comes out this month and I’ll probably buy that instead of waiting an extra couple weeks for the UK copy to be released because I CAN NOT wait I CAN NOT wait!!!!!!!!!!! So that’s my reading for January all summed up for you guys. All links lead to reviews on my blog for each book. Have you read any of the books I’ve read this month? What were your thoughts on them? Leave me a comment and let me know and don’t forget to treat yourselves to Other Words for Love! – You won’t regret it! ^_^

Thursday 3 February 2011

Covers So Lovely We'd Lick Them! (6)

The new feature co-created and co-hosted by LadyViolet and Jess hearts books where we show off a book cover which we find so damn scrumptious that we'd actually be willing to lick it! Every week we each pick a different cover so be sure to check both blogs!
My Pick for this Week
Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
OMG OMG OMG! LOVE the cover for this book. If I thought the cover for Sisters Red was awesome Sweetly for me has totally outdone it. As you all know I love purple books *cough Nightshade anyone?* and the spook-tastic witch in the trees guarding the little house is just inspired. For those wondering this is a modern re-telling of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale and if JP’s Sisters Red is anything to go by I’m sure this will be just as dark and gothic as the original tale but with uber awesome modern updates. I am SO excited. This is the cover for the arc but I’m pretty sure that they are keeping it the same for the finished copy! Heck they better and if not I want to see this book the same but with awesome finished copy shiny improvements. I’m just so sad that this isn’t out yet but when it is I’m going to be all over it oh yes I am! Side note to authors/Jackson/kind bloggers/ publishers: I love Jackson Pearce and would like an arc NOW pleaseokthanksbye *big puppy eyes* ;) So that’s my cover for this week. Feel free to leave me comments letting me know what you think of this feature and if you ever get insane lust over a book cover, does a lovely cover influence you buying the book? Let me know and don’t forget to stop by Rachel’s blog to find out what cover she’d like to Lick this week!

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Review for Choker by Elizabeth Woods

"Sixteen-year-old Cara Lange has been a loner ever since she moved away from her best and only friend, Zoe, years ago. She eats lunch with the other girls from the track team, but they're not really her friends. Mostly she spends her time watching Ethan Gray from a distance, wishing he would finally notice her, and avoiding the popular girls who call her "Choker" after a humiliating incident in the cafeteria. Then one day Cara comes home to find Zoe waiting for her. Zoe's on the run from problems at home, and Cara agrees to help her hide. With her best friend back, Cara's life changes overnight. Zoe gives her a new look and new confidence, and next thing she knows, she's getting invited to parties and flirting with Ethan. Best of all, she has her BFF there to confide in. But just as quickly as Cara's life came together, it starts to unravel. A girl goes missing in her town, and everyone is a suspect—including Ethan. Worse still, Zoe starts behaving strangely, and Cara begins to wonder what exactly her friend does all day when she's at school. You're supposed to trust your best friend no matter what, but what if she turns into a total stranger?" I’ve really been enjoying Young Adult psychological thriller books recently and so when I heard the thrill-tastic synopsis for 2011 debut novel Choker I was more than willing to give it a read and so downloaded it as my first book to read on my Kindle. This book was everything I hoped it would be. It was dark, twisted, and delicious with a compulsively readable plot. I found it incredibly hard to put this book down and read it in two sittings. Chokers a very plot driven story. The suspense and intrigue of the murders are what keeps you turning the pages. This books fairly short so I didn’t feel there was much time to really get to know Cara and the rest of the characters but they were easy to get along with and although they weren’t the most developed characters in the world they were fine to read about and didn’t bring the book down in anyway. Being a psychological thriller Choker’s really all about the creep-tastic plot and so although the characters weren’t particularly memorable the thrills more than made up for it. Elizabeth Woods is a fantastic debut author, her writing was chilling and the plots twists and turns were fantastic and really well thought out. Sadly I guessed the big twist fairly early on in the story because I’d read an adult book similar to Choker. The twist was still excellent though and really made the book what it was, I think that if I hadn’t of read such a similar book I wouldn’t have guessed the ending. Guessing the big twist didn’t really bother me though, I spent much of the book trying to decide if my suspicions were right or not and I couldn’t wait to get to the end for the big dramatic climax. Overall I really enjoyed Choker. It scared me, made me think and kept me up late reading. There’s a big gap in the young adult market for books like Choker at the moment. Books that aren’t afraid to kill off characters and have things happen that might “upset” young readers because there isn’t a pretty sparkly happy ending. I LOVE books like this, that are real and brutal and I hope that Elizabeth Woods has some more deliciously dark tales up her sleeve for us. Recommended to anybody looking for a book that will either keep you up late at night because you cannot stop reading or because it’s on your mind and you can’t sleep. My Rating 4/5 stars **** Synopsis taken from goodreads
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