July Winners!!

It’s after midnight and you know what that means? Well, I’m going to tell you. Officially my July ARC + Beautiful Creatures t-shirt giveaway is closed! Of course, now you’re all on the edges of your seats waiting for me to tell you who won.

Susanna

Brenna

Shannon

All three have been sent out e-mails and I anticipate speedy replies *hint, hint* as I am about to go on vacation.

Congratulations to the three of you and I can’t wait to get your books to you!

In My Mailbox (62)

I broke my book ban – but it was completely worth it! Besides, three weeks is such a long time to stay with a book ban, so I’m pretty proud of myself even though I didn’t make it four. But, come on, if I’m going to break my book ban, at least it was for this;

Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer

Heck yes! I was super lucky and was in the right place at the right time at my local Shoppers Drug Mart when they were doing the weekly changeover in books. This little beauty was sitting at the bottom of a pile on a cart and since the staff there love me I was able to buy it on Monday!



Then from NetGalley I got some amazing titles this week!

Eve by Anna Carey
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies

The Juliet Spell by Douglas Rees
Ambitious by Monica McKalhan
Reel Life Starring Us by Lisa Greenwald



So that’s it for me this week! Leave me a line and let me know what you got in your mailbox!


As always, IMM credit is due to Kristi The Story Siren and her amazing blog.

For Heart or Country

Legacy


Written by: Cayla Kluver

Released: June 28, 2011 by HarlequinTeen

Summary: I noticed his eyes. They were blue, sharp and intense. Despite the youthful glows of his suntanned face, his eyes were cold and unfriendly, suggesting he had great experience in the world and was now expecting the worst.

In her seventeenth year, Princess Alera of Hytanica faces one duty: to marry the man who will be king. But her father's choice of suitor fills her with despair.

When the palace guard captures and intruder—a boy her age with steel-blue eyes, hailing from her kingdom's greatest enemy—Alera is alarmed…and intrigued. But she could not have guessed that their clandestine meetings would unveil the dark legacy shadowing both their lands.

In this mystical world of court conspiracies and blood magic, loyalties will be tested. Courage won't be enough. And as the battle begins for everything Alera holds dear, love may be the downfall of a kingdom.

Oh what a horrible ending for a great story! I, of course, mean that in the best way possible. I just don't want to have to wait the long while for the next two novels. I need to know what happens next and it stopped at such a horrible moment!

Aside from the ending, there was one thing that I didn’t care for with this novel, and that was how the pacing seemed to drag for the first third of the novel. Don’t get me wrong, the story is one that will keep you going through the lull, but it’s in my opinion that about 100 pages could have been summed up in less. However, at the same time (since this is the first in a trilogy) I can also see where those pages were needed for story building to hold up the entire series arc.

I loved the world that Kluver created inside of this novel. You can tell that it’s roughly based upon true-life historical fiction but the alternate universe allowed for such exploration and the ability to create a whole new history. That, paired with her characters and the warring nations, makes this a book that’s hard to put down once you’re entrenched in the mystery and adventure.

Another thing that I really loved about this novel was how Kluver made Alera go through a subtle transformation as each chapter passed by. She started off as a little girl who was slightly petulant but did what she was told to a girl who started to follow her heart and grow a bit of a backbone. I can’t wait to see how much more she evolves in the next two novels because it’s great to see a female character become true to herself.

The romance in this novel was one of the real draws that kept my eyes on the page. I needed to know what was going to happen and who Alera was going to choose (or not choose) to be her husband. I wanted to know how far she would go for both her country and her heart. Her turmoil over the entire love triangle was heartbreaking and leaves you questioning if true love can conquer everything.

I’m giving this novel an 8/10 and high recommendations to read this amazing debut. I hope that the release dates for the next two novels comes sooner rather than later!



Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Teen for allowing me to read an e-galley of this novel.

Seriously though, what a horrible ending!

Wilde Child

Wildefire


Written by: Karsten Knight


Released: July 26, 2011 by Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing

Summary: Every flame begins with a spark.

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned.

Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smouldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

I have three hours left on my lease for this e-galley from Simon and Schuster (from the time that I'm actually writing this review, not when it will be posted on my blog), so I really need to get down and write my review so that I can cross-reference any information I may have forgotten (I’m pants at remembering names!). So this review will be written just in time for the midnight release.

This was an absolutely amazing novel to read and I am so happy that I was able to read a copy through S&S. Of course, now I’m going to have to go out and buy my own hard copy, but I think I can manage that! Seriously, though, this is a story unlike any that I’ve come across for quite a while. Not only is it overflowing in a plethora of ethnic characters (who don’t conform to stereotypes), it is also rich in storytelling.

Ash is a phenomenal character. In fact, I’m floored by how amazing she is considering that she was written by a he. Aside from the fact that this just shows the magnitude of Knight’s writing capabilities, the way that she was written really made her jump off the page. Add in the awesome mixture of all the supporting characters and you’re never left bored.

I don’t know what else I can say about this novel without repeating myself and generally sounding like a crazed person. If you haven’t already, try and get your hands on this novel sooner rather than later – you definitely won’t be disappointed. I’m giving this novel a 10/10.





My eternal gratitude to Simon and Schuster’s galley grab for allowing me the opportunity to read this novel.

Covers and Summarys for Spell Bound and Fever

I have the books that come before both these ones sitting on my shelf, but since my TBR is so out of control lately I haven’t been able to read them yet! However, that’s not stopping me from being super excited about these two for both their summary’s and their covers**.

Spell Bound

Written by: Rachel Hawkins

Released: March 13, 2012 by Hyperion Book

Summary: Hailed as “impossible to put down,” the Hex Hall series has both critics and teens cheering. With a winning combination of romance, action, magic and humor, this third volume will leave readers enchanted.

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

Fever

Written by: Lauren DeStefano

Released: February 21, 2011 by Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing.

Summary: Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.

Admittedly, the Fever cover kind of scares me and may just give me nightmares, but I still can’t wait to read it!




**keep in mind, these covers may not be final.