In My Mailbox 95

In my mailbox is a weekly meme created by The Story Siren that encourages other book bloggers to share what they bought, won, begged for or borrowed. It is usually held on Sundays!

From Amazon:

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: V 7: Twilight by Joss Whedon
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: V 8: Last Gleaming by Joss Whedon
• Spike Omnibus by Peter David

From Books-A-Million:

• Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
• Ten by Gretchen McNeil

I'm super excited about the books I got this week. I'm ready to finish Buffy Season 8 and I had to get Alice in Zombieland!

What did you get in your mailbox?

Where I've Been...

...I don't know if any of you have noticed but lately I've been really bad at getting back to you all in the comments and checking out your blogs. And I'm honestly really, really sorry about that. I love blogging and one of my most favorite things is connecting with other bloggers.

So what's my excuse? I've been pushing full throttle to finish up this first draft of a novel I've been working on and I'm proud to say that I accomplished my goal of completing it yesterday. This in no way, shape, or form means it's done but finishing a first draft is a mini-victory and one that I'm taking. This will be the fifth novel I've written and I can't wait to make it as strong as possible.

But because of this push, blogging has fallen to the wayside. Now that I've finished and I have to let the story bake, I should have plenty of time to visit each of you and get back to your comments! Thanks for sticking around folks and I hope to see more of your lovely faces.

Look for more gab, more posts and more awesomeness coming from Down The Rabbit Hole (oh yes I did, girlfriend!).

A Fairy Tale In Photos- The Princess and the Pea

Every Friday, I tell you a fairy tale exclusively through photos! Each week is a different theme and I search through Deviantart to find you the best of the best--whether they be pretty or spooky. All are welcome here! None of these photos are mine and you can always find a link to the proper owners underneath the photo in the caption area!

This week, I hope you aren't sleepy because this Princess hasn't slept in days. We're focusing on The Princess and the Pea!

1)

WanderingBohemian

2)

emilola

3)

krawuzi

4)

xessencex

5)

machihuahua

6)

Zonair

7)

tori-f

8)

satty-metamorph

9)

Ecaterina13

10)

Orchidhea

11)

Lauratreffers

12)

Chinese-Porcelain

13)

muwhacs

My favorite in this crowd is definitely number 5. It's the bright green of the peas and the girl's expression. It's almost like the peas are coming out of her or she's been stuffed with peas. It's all very striking to me. I also think #3 is great with her gorgeous dress and the model's expression is great. Let's not forget ador-a-kitty in 11!

Which are your favorites?

Comic Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: V3

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8: V3: Wolves at the Gate by Drew Goddard

Paperback: 136 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics; 1st edition (November 12, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595821651
ISBN-13: 978-1595821652

Series: Season 8; Volume 3

Stories: A Beautiful Sunset, Wolves At The Gate: Part 1, Wolves At The Gate: Part 2,  Wolves At The Gate: Part 3, Wolves At The Gate: The Conclusion

Source: Purchased from Books-A-Million

First Sentence: "Once upon a time...I did something good."

Mini-Review: Volume 3 adds that bittersweetness that makes Buffy so memorable.

Summary:

Vampires that, at will, can transform into wolves, panthers, insects, or fog invade the Slayer base of operations in northern Scotland, and not only walk away unscathed, but in possession of Buffy's scythe, the symbol of Slayer power worldwide. Buffy and the Slayer legion travel to Tokyo in order to learn more about their dangerous new foes, as Xander journeys to Transylvania to solicit the only person they've ever known to possess such power: Dracula. 

* The celebrated Buffy Season Eight continues with Drew Goddard (Cloverfield, Lost) writing Wolves at the Gate, with Joss Whedon continuing his role as executive producer, and Georges Jeanty as series artist. 

* Includes the stand-alone issue written by Buffy creator Joss Whedon, "A Beautiful Sunset".

Review:

In normal Whedon fashion and just like any good Buffy episode, Wolves at the Gate will make you laugh and break your heart on the same page.Working to truly deepen the story and its characters, I think this Volume was really a stand out for character development.

I was really glad and very surprised to see a return of Dracula. I always thought that episode frm Buffy was funny and was so happy to find out that Xander stayed in touch with "The Master". This comic started with Xander's connection and continued to star him until the very end. I love that each volume in the series seems to want to deepen a connection with a character and this one was all about Xander. See, in it Xander loses someone close to him and I think this is important. While Anya's death in the series was heartbreaking, it happened while she wasn't with Xander. I think it was painful that way because it seemed like maybe something could have been renewed after but it never happened. In this one, we get to see the taste of how things might be for Xander and then it is savagely riped away reminding us in a very Whedon fashion that this is war and people die. Seeing that scene between Dracula and Xander and truly understanding how much they bonded was intriguing and almost brought me to tears.

Though this is really Xander's volume, we do get quite a bit of Buffy's emotional state too. Whedon's "A Beautiful Sunset" really dives into Buffy's psyche and her sorrow over whether she made the right choice. She made herself an army but it has cost her so much to do it and it's so big that she really can't control it. This is also the infamous volume in which *spoiler* Buffy takes a walk on the Willow side of things and sleeps with a woman. I thought this was an interesting move and while it didn't bother me, I'm not sure if it was true to her character. I guess she just seemed so overwhelmed with all these girls that I'm surprised she looked to one for a lover. Again, it didn't bother me that she did, I was just surprised with her state of mind that she went for it. *spoiler end*

I also thought that the story did a good job of building up the epicness of the battle and made it seem like it's a fight that the slayers could lose. I appreciated that I wasn't sure how the battle was going to turn out. I think this is a precident set by the show and I'm glad that that uncertainty (really, that anything goes including Buffy's own death) carries into the comic series. I'm worried about the crew constantly and the writers don't put them in easy situations. I thought that Jeanty's artwork looked a lot like the characters and I'm generally not confused by who is who which is saying something.

Over all, I think this was a strong edition to Season 8 and added some of that bittersweetness that we are accustomed to after 7 seasons on the air. The familiar faces and the new ones added a lot and there was some really great character growth.

Rating:

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I Haven't Finished

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week, they post a subject and the goal is to answer the question with your top ten picks. Once you've done it, link back to The Broke and the Bookish and check out what other bloggers have to say!

Top Ten Series I Haven't Finished

There are loads of series I've started that I just haven't had time to finish. All of these are books that I own that I just haven't been able to get to even thouhg I am dying to continue on. I decided to not even think about the series that haven't come out yet.

1) Wolfsbane and Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

2) Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

3) City of Glass and onwards by Cassandra Clare

4) Hidden by Sophie Jordan

5) Passion and beyond by Lauren Kate

6) Need series by Carrie Jones

7) Where She Went by Gayle Forman

8) Crossed and beyond by Ally Condie-

9) A Million Suns by Beth Revis

10) Endlessly by Kiersten White

Which wonderful series made your list? Just looking at mine makes me want to get reading stat!

Teaser Tuesday 92

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

-Grab your current read
-Open to a random page

Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that pageBe careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others!Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles!

Defiance by C.J. Redwine

"Tell the truth, girl, or die. I don't care which you choose."

--Pg. 56 of an ARC of "Defiance" by CJ Redwine

I'm still not too far in this book. Literally all my time has gone into finishing the first draft of mine so I'm a little behind on reading. Still, every time I pick this novel up, I don't want to put it down which makes me think it is a dang good one!

What's your teaser?

In My Mailbox 94

In my mailbox is a weekly meme created by The Story Siren that encourages other book bloggers to share what they bought, won, begged for or borrowed. It is usually held on Sundays!



Simon & Schuster:

• The Blessed by Tonya Hurley
• Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Opel
• Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
• Dead City by James Ponti

From the author:

• Drain You by M. Beth Bloom 

From Books-A-Million:

• The Diviners by Libba Bray
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
• What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

From Amazon.com:

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: Volume 6 by Joss Whedon
• Spike: The Complete Series by Brian Lynch

Shirts:

So as you guys can see, I got a lot of really awesome things this week. Every day was a new surprise of books or t-shirts and that is always fun. I want to thank Ms. Bloom and Simon and Schuster for making my mail extra special!

For those of you interested, you can find out all about The Sunnydale Project here and enter to win my giveaway of a Buffy comic here!

What did you get this week?

Book Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen; First Edition edition (August 7, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0765328666
ISBN-13: 978-0765328663
Series: Anna Dressed in Blood #2
Source: Finished copy provided by publisher
Cover: I think this cover is just as striking as the first novel. It's different from all the other YA covers out there and for that reason alone I would have picked up the book. While I don't think this one is quite as interesting as the first, I think it does look great together and the creepy ghosts reaching out from the lava to grab her legs is super creepy.
First Sentence: I think I killed a girl who looked like this once.

Mini-Review: Every bit as scary good as the first!

Summary:

It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.

His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.

Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.

Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.

Review:

If you had any worries that Girl of Nightmares might not be as good as Anna Dressed In Blood, Kendare Blake puts those to rest as easily as Cas dispatches a bad ghostie.Cas and his gang are back for one more scary good time as they try to figure out where Anna went and whether they can really ever let her go. Combining characters you already know you love with some of the big questions in life and some lingering feelings, Girl of Nightmares knocks the proverbial ball out of the ballpark.

One of the main reasons I loved the first novel is because of Cas's sharp tongue, ability to take care of himself and no bullshit attitude. I mention loudly and often that he is my favorite aspects of the Winchester brothers (Supernatural) rolled up into one helluva fun character. I'm glad to see that his spirit wasn't broken by the first novel and he was back for more action and even bigger haunts this time around. The only thing that bothered me a little was Cas's inability to act sometimes in the face of danger because of his preoccupation with Anna or his fear. He didn't falter as much in the first novel so I was surprised with this. I guess it's good that he was affected from the previous events and when the time came down to it, he went above and beyond to right his mistakes. Plus, his sharp tongue had me giggling well into the night.

It would have been nice to have a little more of the Anna we got to know in the first novel in this one. Since she wasn't around, it felt that a lot of the time we were relying on the stuff we loved about her in the first book to get us through this one when she wasn't in it at all. We did get introduced to a new character Jestine who I loved. I wouldn't mind getting an entire novel in her perspective following these events. She's totally the type of character I could get into and I want her to break hold of some of the strings she's on. Thomas was yet again the perfect best friend. He's definitely the type of guy you want hanging around not only because he's smart and a great witch but also because he's so loyal. He stood with Cas even when no one else would. Carmel has some demons to struggle with on her own which causes her to make quite a few mistakes. I loved her when she was there and hated her when she wasn't which is a testament to the author's writing.

Though the plot isn't as straightforward and sometimes feels a little unwound in this one, there are still plenty of scares. Anna showing up around Cas as something completely different than the first novel was wonderfully horrifying and seeing her torture herself in front of Cas was a fresh new horror. There was also this scene in a place called the Suicide Forest (located around England in the book but it is an actual place in Japan) that was beyond creepy. I don't handle things that move when you can't see them well so that was particularly horrifying for me. The ending Hellscape that Cas and Jestine go through is disturbing and strange and haunting. The author does an awesome job of describing it and I find myself going back there often even though I finished the book some time ago.

The ending of this novel doesn't really leave room for another story and I'm not sure there should be one. This ending is so poignant and bittersweet, the perfect ending for a boy meant to send ghosts away thataccidentally falls in love with one. I'm not sure there could have been another way and I'm not sure I would love this book as much if there had been any other ending. There are very few instances where anything is every perfect and this ending was just that. Blake's writing was just as engaging as I remember it and her mastery of description and Cas's voice is truly exemplary. Please Ms. Blake, feel free to rip out my still beating heart again any time you want to if you're going to give me more of this.

Girl of Nightmares is everything it promises to be. It's scary and heartwarming and witty and funny and the perfect read for October. If you're worried you won't like it as much as the first, crack it open and let Cas put those worries to bed. Girl of Nightmares is scary wonderful!

Rating:

Favorite Lines:

There's a cat-shaped hole where Tybalt used to be, floating in her footsteps.

--Pg. 17 of "Girl of Nightmares" by Kendare Blake

Watching her blink is like watching an alligator cut through thick, brackish water.

--Pg. 50 of "Girl of Nightmares" by Kendare Blake

It's the Monday of the last week of the year, and if I have to sign one more yearbook I'm going to sign it in the owner's blood.

--Pg. 104 of "Girl of Nightmares" by Kendare Blake

This scream is a meat cleaver to the ears...

--Pg. 116 of "Girl of Nightmares" by Kendare Blake

To my left, Carmel is channeling her inner Warrior Princess, using the club to pretty good effect with one arm.

--Pg. 246 of "Girl of Nightmares" by Kendare Blake

A Fairy Tale In Photos- Tarzan

Every Friday, I tell you a fairy tale exclusively through photos! Each week is a different theme and I search through Deviantart to find you the best of the best--whether they be pretty or spooky. All are welcome here! None of these photos are mine and you can always find a link to the proper owners underneath the photo in the caption area!

This week, we've got the vine swinging, jungle living Tarzan and his beautiful Jane. Check out the photos!

1)

falketta

2)

AliciaODonnell

3)

Blasteh

4)

Jericha

5)

skwinkography

6)

Crivens322

7)

Liv-is-alive

8)

Goes-Right-Through

9)

Rayi-kun

10)

philvegas

11)

belle951

12)

nile-can-too

13)

Star1111

14)

icecreamonster05

15)

DarkOceanDream

16)

mary-star

17)

Akai-Z

18)

Toschs

First of all, you are so welcome. It was a delight to get some of these photos that have absolutely nothing to do with these shirtless wild men... Ahem! Right, so my favorites. I think #1 has a lot of beautiful emotion behind it. When I look at it, I feel touched. I also love #16 because it feels whimsical and magical in a way that a lot of Tarzan photos don't. I'm also drawn to #17 because it is so different yet it still yells Tarzan to me.

What do you guys think? Which are your favorites?