100 Follower Contest Update

I've just added TWO more US prizes for my 100 Followers contest! Head over here to take a gander.


No re-entering is necessary for the extra prizes but if you haven't entered, do so now!

Waiting on Wedneaday (8): Bad Taste In Boys by Carrie Harris

Waiting on Wednesday is meme hosted by Jill of Breaking The Spine where you can post about upcoming books you're looking forward to.

I've known about my choice this week for a long time and am surprised I haven't used it yet. I love love LOVE the cover and the blurb looks delicious!

Bad Taste In Boys by Carrie Harris
Someone’s been a very bad zombie.

Super-smartie Kate Grable gets to play doctor, helping out her high school football team. Not only will the experience look good on her college apps, she gets to be thisclose to her quarterback crush, Aaron. Then something disturbing happens. Kate finds out that the coach has given the team steroids. Except . . . the vials she finds don’t exactlycontain steroids. Whatever’s in them is turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless, flesh-eating . . . zombies.

Unless she finds an antidote, no one is safe. Not Aaron, not Kate’s brother, not her best friend . . . not even Kate . . .

It’s scary. It’s twisted. It’s sick. It’s high school. 


Doesn't this look delicious? The cover is intriguing and beautiful and I love the tone of description. I read the author's blog so I'm assuming the tone of the blurb  is similar to Kate's voice and I can't wait to find out. It's scary. It's twisted. It's sick. And it should be mine!!!


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TEAser Tuesdays (6): The Dark Divine

On my iPod: "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse

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 page
• Be 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!

Upon finding blood near a window:

" "Mom!" I whirled around, almost smacking into Daniel, who was suddenly behind me. "Mom, where's Baby James?" I couldn't remember him being at dinner... Mom's creams were enough to confirm my fears."

-Pg. 145-146 "The Dark Divine" by Bree Despain

• Don't forget to check out my 100+ Followers Giveaway with an International prize and US prizes!

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Cover Envy (7)

On my iPod: Impossible by Anberlin

It's that time of week again! I'm showing another couple of covers that make me green with envy and stuck sitting on my hands until the novels they cover come out.


I hope you enjoy!

The Frenzy by Francesca Lia Block- So honestly, what can I say? I'm a sucker for red heads and this trend is super popular right now. I love that this novel has the contrasting reddish orange hair and shockingly light green eyes. I also love that they took that green and put the title into it and the font sort of mimics the hair which is the second focal point of the cover. Then, still playing with color, the pinkish purple eye shadow is around the author's name. This cover is stunning and looks to me like the character is hiding something major with the absence of her mouth. This is really beautiful and I can't wait to see it up close!


Here's the blurb from Goodreads:


Love is a werewolf, influenced by the moon and terror, and always about to change. Liv has a secret. Something happened to her when she was thirteen. Something that changed everything. Liv knows she doesn't belong anymore-not in her own skin, not in her family . . . not anywhere. The only time she truly feels like herself is when she's with her boyfriend, Corey, and in the woods that surround her town. But in the woods, a mysterious woman watches Liv. In the woods, a pack of wild boys lurks. In the woods, Liv learns about the curse that will haunt her forever. The curse that caused the frenzy four years ago. And that may cause it again, all too soon.While Corey and Liv's love binds them together, Liv's dark secret threatens to tear them apart as she struggles to understand who-or what-she really is. And by the light of the full moon, the most dangerous secrets bare their claws. . . 


The Frenzy is out September 28, 2010.

Anxious Hearts by Tucker Shaw- The warm colors in this are delicious and remind me a lot of Halo. The yummy rich golds and burnt oranges are reminiscent of the fall which is always such a sad time of the year for nature. It turns into something beautiful because it's dying so I feel like the fact that the cover shows fall leaves makes me believe this is going to be sad. I love the look on the model's face .I feel like I've just walked up to her and taken her by surprise but she's okay with it. The way her hair is floating makes me think of movement and change. I just found this novel today and it looks absolutely breathtaking.


Here's the blurb from Goodreads:


“Evangeline,” he repeated, calling at a whisper. “Evangeline.” He was not calling that she may hear, he was calling that somehow her soul might know that he was devoted entirely to her, only to her. “Evangeline, I will find you.”

Eva and Gabe explore the golden forest of their seaside Maine town, unknowingly tracing the footsteps of two teens, Evangeline and Gabriel, who once lived in the idyllic wooded village of Acadia more than one hundred years ago. On the day that Evangeline and Gabriel were be wed, their village was attacked and the two were separated. And now in the present, Gabe has mysteriously disappeared from Eva.

A dreamlike, loose retelling of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous love poem “Evangeline,” Anxious Hearts tells an epic tale of unrequited love and the hope that true love can be reunited. 


Anxious Hearts is already out. It's publishing date was May 1, 2010.

Movie Review: Easy A

Easy A
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: September 17, 2010
Tagline: Let's not and say we did (best tagline ever!)
Director: Will Gluck
Recognizable Actors: Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Penn Badgley, Cam Gigandet. Lisa Kudrow, and Stanley Tucci
Plot: After a little white lie about her virginity gets out, a clean cut high school girl sees her life paralleling Hester Prynne's in "The Scarlett", which she is currently studying in school -- until she decides to use the rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing.

The Short Review: Witty, hilarious with the right amount of awkward humor, this movie is a must see for any lover of YA.

The Review: From the moment I saw the first trailer, I knew I had to see this movie. Before even knowing about the plot. I saw that Emma Stone (of Zombieland & House Bunny) played the lead Olive and I knew it was going to be great. Then I saw what it was about-- a girl that accidentally spreads a rumor about herself and uses the chance to make herself more popular. Plus, it utilizes a popular trend in novels right now by paralleling the action with an classic perfectly.

I can't say I was disappointed in the list.

The writing is one of the areas where this novel shines. Every word out of Stone's mouth is funny and witty. I would have spent the entire hour just listening to her tell the story on her podcast (though I'm glad I got to SEE what she was saying). From the time she got a singing card which she proclaimed "lame" and then sang with it all weekend, I knew it was going to be one of those movies. Plus, they allowed the main character to be book smart which an almost foreign concept in high school films right now as WELL as street smart. She figured out how to use the rumor mill in her school to her best advantage and made it work.

The other cast of crazy character around her really helped to fill in the movie. From her Frenemy with the nudist parents to her crush who was the mascot of their school (and whose name would change every time the mascot did-- Woodchuck Todd to Lobster Todd) to her oddball parents to the Jesus Freak a la Hillary Faye in Saved. Everyone in the movie was a little off and was amazing because of it.

I could figure out where this movie was going and I really tried. She just kept digger herself into a bigger rut of lies and I wasn't sure she'd be able to get out of it. It tested the bounds of what is "proper" for teens to be and what is "reality". Those who were "proper" like Amanda Bynes religious nut character were out of it and portrayed just as mean as the other character. Olive was portrayed as Hester Prynne and we got to follow her around and see the reason she made each decision she did and the direct consequences of those decisions. It made a statement about people who have "reputations" being the ones that really get to see the true side of others because they don't worry about being judged. The funny thing is, Olive never did anything that was being said and in actuality was the only one who was "good". She had her problems but she would never do most of the things the other character's did and then let her take the blame for.

Emma Stone thinks you should see it too!

This idea of Olive as Hester brings me to my last point. I was a little worried about how following a classic while telling a modern story would play out on the big screen. I have to say, the director and writer worked it in flawlessly. We get a quick sum up of the novel thanks to the old black and white version of the movie (you must have the original NOT the Demi Moore version with her in the bathtub, advice directly from Olive's mouth) and then see how each person in the movie loosely takes on a person from the novel. We also get the literal "A" sown on to all of Olive's clothing which she did to truly make a statement.

Like I said in the beginning, this movie is entertaining and a great commentary on high school now if not a little exaggerated. I really enjoyed going through everything with Olive's great sense of wit as a guide, keeping the story running. I highly recommend it. It truly felt like one of my YA novels come to life in an exciting and visually pleasing way!

Rating:

Book Contest Directory

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to post a quick little update, letting everyone know that I'm now a co-author of Book Contest Directory originally created by Tina of Book Couture. This is a brilliant blog designed to advertise all contest going on right now. I encourage everyone to head on over there and become a follower so you can see what kind of cool book contests are being held every week. We'll be posting a blog every week updating new contests and which contests are ending soon. Go there and sign up your contest and/or to follow so you'll be in the loop!

This site is seriously cool and I'm so pleased to part of it!

Book Review: Once A Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

Once A Witch by Carolyn MacCullough


Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Clarion Books
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0547223994
ISBN-13: 978-0547223995
Source: Bought from Borders
Cover: I really love this cover and I think it has a lot to do with the rich purple mixed with that beautiful teal blue. I wanted to know about the girl gripping that old, ordinate book and I like that she's somewhat out of focused. I was also intrigued that she's looking behind her shoulder like she's trying to get away from something. This is a YES for me!
First Sentence: "I was born on the night of Samhain, when the barrier between the worlds is whisper thin and when magic, old magic, sings its heady and sweet song to anyone who care to hear it."


The Mini-review: I'm not sure what I was expecting but I know I wasn't expecting to be blown away by this novel's magic in every word.


Summary
:

Tasmin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and on the day she was born, her grandmother proclaimed she would be one of the most Talented among them.

But Tamsin's magic never showed up.

Now, seventeen years later, she spends most of her time at boarding school in Manhattan, where she can at least pretend to be normal. But during the summers, she's forced to return home and work at her family's bookstore/magic shop.

One night a handsome young professor from New York University arrives in the shop and mistakes Tamsin for her extremely Talented older sister. For once, it's Tamsin who's being looked at with awe and admiration, and before she can stop herself, she agrees to find a family heirloom from him that was lost more than a century ago. But the search-- and the stranger-- prove to be more sinister than they first appeared, ultimately sending Tamsin on a treasure hunt through time that will unlock the secret of her true identity, unearth the past sins of her family, and unleash a power so strong and so vengeful that it could destroy them all.

The Review:


Sorry to be punny but I get that way when I'm in love. So here it is: This book is beWITCHING! It SPELLS wonderfulness! Seriously, I ate up every word and when I got to the end I wished there were a thousand more pages to go. I liked so many things about this novel that it's going to be hard for me to put my thoughts into coherent paragraphs but I'll attempt to since that's what should be done.


The first thing that was fabulous about this novel was the voice. I think pacing helped a lot with this but the writing read so smoothly and kept me turning the pages. Even in the bits that weren't important to the plot, I found myself honestly enjoying the downtime with such a wonderfully pleasant lead.


I picked up this book because the premise sounded really interesting. I love the idea of lead being Non-Talented in the midst of an entire community of Talented people right under regular society's nose. It's so great being considered the "weird one" because the main character is actually normal. It helps me, as a normal, Non-Talented reader, relate to Tam as a person and her unique situation. I can't imagine the pain of knowing everyone around you is extraordinary and being barred to from experiencing what should be rightful yours with them. There's a scene in the book that demonstrates this perfectly: on Tam's birthday (Halloween) the family always has a big party to celebrate their magic and Tam stays locked up in her room almost every year because she won't be able to join them. It's so heartbreaking and really puts into perspective what she has to go through and why she feels she doesn't fit in.


Tam is a pretty epic heroine. She wants to prove herself and that gets her into a little trouble but she doesn't run away from her problems. She faces them head on and while she's scared, she never shies away from fixing what she started. I really respected her for that. Plus, I loved that she realized the value of a good thrift store and was able to see beauty in discarded things.


Gabriel was the male lead and he was just, well, HOT. It wasn't so much his appearance, though the dark hair and eyes and lean strong arms helped, but more his dialog that made me love him. He was witty and just the right amount of dangerous. Couple that with his love of music and the fact that he's an uber powerful wizard that can find ANYTHING in the world and time travel and you got a man made after my own heart.


I think one of my favorite things about these two as a couple was trying to figure out their relationship. It was hard to pin it. When they first run into each (literally) they're kind of snappy and rude so I thought it was going to be an opposites attract thing. Then we find out that they were BFFs when they were little and Gabriel moved away and I figured it was a reconnection sort of thing that was going to happen. But THEN we see him with another girl and I changed my mind to either Tam thinks he has a girlfriend when he really doesn't story or he does have a girlfriend and they're going to have to fight to be together story. But even that's dropped. I just really liked being wrong about there their relationship was going page after page of the book.


Time travel is really tricky to write about and if a writer's not careful they'll get too caught up in "rules" and completely lose their audience's interest. I love that this novel didn't. Without so many rules it felt light instead of weighed down and the author was able to have fun with the time traveling scenes.


One of the things I liked best about this novel is that the plot was pretty much laid out from the beginning. I wasn't guessing who the "bad guy" was or what he wanted to accomplish. I knew both of those things and just had to go along with Tam as she figured out a way to stop him. This is how I tend to write plots and it was nice to see it done in a printed version that I loved so I know it works.


Cassandra Clare said this book was "a fantastic urban fantasy with an enchanting romance at its heart" and she pinned it down perfectly. This book is great through and through and had me gripping the edges of the book until it ended. I highly recommend it and am eagerly awaiting the next novel by Carolyn MacCullough.

Rating: