Waiting on Wednesday: If I Lie by Corrine Jackson

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we showcase books that have not yet been released.

A powerful debut novel about the gray space between truth and perception. 
Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. Because Carey’s not just any guy—he’s serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in their small, military town. 
Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she’s vowed to keep—secrets that aren’t hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she’ll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise.

I'm quite excited for this book but I'm a little wary due to the aforementioned love triangle. It does seem very interesting though, so I think I'll give it a shot. Leave a link to your WoW and I'll check it out :)

Review: Matched by Allie Condie

Goodreads | Amazon
Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. 
The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Basically, this review is a bit of a book bash. So if you loved Matched and can't bear to see it criticised, step away slowly now. I also want to mention, in light of the recent Goodreads and author fiascos, that none of the content in this bad review is intended to offend or criticise the author as a person. Yes, I get very snarky towards the end, but Ally Condie seems like an awesome person and all I'm ranting about here is her book, not her.

Matched was...boring, unrealistic, and tired. There's really no other way I can describe it. I have to say that I was vain enough to actually pick up this book because of the absolutely gorgeous and minimalistic cover, and I have to say that we should give the cover designer at least 40% of the credit for this book, because without that amazing cover, my friends, I would never have fallen into the trap of reading this.

Now, first of all (since I know I won't be able to stop ranting once I start) I'm going to list all the positive things about Matched. First of all, the romance wasn't bad at all, and that's pretty much expected considering romance is all this book is basically about.

Secondly, Ally Condie's writing style is fantastic. I was pretty much sucked into the novel from the first chapter onwards, and I didn't stop (except to roll my eyes once. Or twice. Or maybe three times) once I started. I now understand what YA authors mean when they talk about Young Adult Fiction being more of a style than a genre; there's a very distinctive flavour that most of these books take on.

And now the bad. Cue dramatic music.

I might mention here that the entire freaking story hinges on Cassia seeing Ky's face on the computer once. Yep, that's right. She sees his face once and then she's all like 'OMG! I never realised Ky was so awesomely handsome! Maybe I should start dating him!' It irritated the heck out of me. She's been seeing Ky her whole freaking life. He's not going to become more handsome just because he appeared on her screen.

Secondly, I don't know whether it was just me or if nobody felt the suspense when Cassia got really upset since she didn't know who the baddie who put Ky on her Matched thumb drive was. I don't know why, but I just don't find the idea of someone putting a picture of a boy on my computer even remotely threatening.

And the pills, oh, the pills. I didn't even get why they were so jazzed up. They might have been scary and threatening and suspenseful with the right type of narration, but The Red Pill was mentioned so often I found myself repeatedly smacking myself on the head. And although Cassia can write poetry (wait, or was that Ky?) and sort things until her screen goes blank (which is apparently meant to be a measure of intelligence), she doesn't seem to understand that if the Red Pill was deadly, the Society wouldn't allow people--or teenagers, for that matter--to carry them around.

Finally, this book is not a freaking dystopian. Yes, you guys, I can hear you telling me about the totalitarian government and how that makes Matched a dystopian, but shush. Arguably, if Matched qualified as a dystopian (beautiful air-trains and great environment and libraries and all), then urban fantasies and contemporary novels could probably also be classified as dystopians. If you ask me, this society seemed orderly, relatively peaceful, the people seemed content (EXCEPT FOR GIRLS WHO COULDN'T GET THE BOY THEY WANTED HOW SHOCKING), and it was no more dystopian than our current world. I mean, just look at Africa and global warming and infant mortality rates and HIV and poor access to maternal health care in developing nations. Compared to that, Matched is a virtual Utopia.

Overview: I don't get why this book sold for 7 figures when some really awesome books are selling for early 4 figures these days, but I guess there must be something in here that I missed out on. The romance was okay if a little bland, the writing was excellent, but there were enough negatives to make me feel constantly irritated while reading the book. If you want to read a good dystopia, go read The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood. Two stars.

Didn't like it much.

Things will be Changing Around Here

Hi guys!

So this is more of a personal/random update than anything else, but if you follow my blog and my reviews, you might want to know that things will be changing around here.

Hayley Waters, a real-life best friend, will be posting about once a week on my blog for the next year or so. Since school has started and I really don't have the time to read more than 2 or 3 books a week, we're going to divide the duties a little. I'll still be doing my Monday review, Waiting on Wednesday post, my Thursday review, my Saturday whatever-post (e.g. Meet a Blogger, a catch-up review, or a Confessions of a Bookaholic post) and my IMM, but Hayley will probably do a review once a week on a Tuesday, and I'll most likely add to the mix a TGIF post on Fridays.

This probably sounds super confusing, but I swear it's not. It will be fun. And you guys will love Hayley. She's very loveable. (That sounds so eloquent.) So yeah.

Review: What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Goodreads | Amazon
Who is the real McLean? 
Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out. 
Combining Sarah Dessen's trademark graceful writing, great characters, and compelling storytelling, What Happened to Goodbye is irresistible reading.

This story was actually very interesting. I was intrigued by the idea of a girl who changed names every time she moved towns, and I knew plenty about Sarah Dessen's writing, so I was excited to check it out. I have to say that What Happened to Goodbye didn't really fulfil all of my expectations.

The plot was, for lack of a better word, 'meh'. I mean, the whole story moved at a snail's pace and nothing really happened. If you ask me, it seems to be more of a character study than anything else, and if you read it as a character study, it's brilliant. The characters are well fleshed-out, every single one of them, and we are given backstories and interesting insider views into their lives. It's so hard to find a YA author who gives this much attention to all of their characters, regardless of main or secondary.

Sarah Dessen obviously has a great understanding of human relationships (or more so than the average YA author, as it seems). She writes about thoroughly realistic scenarios--Mclean's way of coping as she moves from town to town and deals with her troubled relationships with her parents seems very realistic. I was also quite pleased with the ending, although I won't ruin it for you here.

I also didn't really see the sparks between Mclean and Dave. For me, it didn't seem to play a huge part in the story. I don't know why, but there just didn't seem to be a lot of romantic moments/romantic tension, and that's what I look for in a fictional relationship.

I am a huge fan of food, so I was really enjoyed all of the kitchen dilemmas, especially the pickle-and-rosemary-bread-roll-arguments. It was really cute and quirky and a great addition to the novel. I also loved Opal, and how she formed a good relationship with Mclean's dad over time.

Overview: There was obviously lots of stuff that I liked about this book, but it was so underwhelming there was virtually no plot, and the book dragged on for a long time. (I almost gave up a few times--it took me more than three days to read this.) Read it as a character study, read it for the kitchen disasters, read it for the writing, but please don't read this for the plot. By all means, give it a try and borrow it from the library, but don't expect anything great--it's the sort of thing you skim through, cast aside, and forget about it in the haze of great YA reads. Three stars. I look forward to reading more of Dessen's books for the writing and characters, but this book didn't make it for me.

It was okay.

My New Header

Guys guys guys so I made a new header. I have also christened the character in my header Hazel.

This idea was inspired by Parajunkee at Parajunkee's Designs; basically, you have one character in your header all year round and you give it different clothes. I loved my old theme, but I was getting a little sick of it and wanted a bit of a change. So, ta-da! I drew part of a new arm on and scrubbed on a bit of black to make a shirt. And I realise I did a really horrible job, but it's my first time so cut me some slack :P.

So yeah! If you could comment on the new header (good or bad--I don't mind criticism and new suggestions) and suggest new outfits that I can do in the future (don't make it too complicated because I don't pretend to be artistic) that would be great! Thanks!

P.S. I'm actually rather proud of that arm. But SHHH.

Waiting for Wednesday {12}

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we showcase books that have not yet been released.

Add to Goodreads
Jane runs away from Life House, a facility for kids with mental health disorders and addictions. She boards a plane to Montclair, New Jersey, though her destination does not matter—she doesn’t plan to be alive when the plane lands. Jane has planned the perfect suicide: she’ll fall asleep on the plane and never wake up. As she’s reaching for her pills in the cabin’s bathroom, the plane hits turbulence. Another jolt, and the engine’s down. The plane crashes into the mountains of Montana, and Jane and a boy named Paul are the only two survivors. What starts out as a death mission quickly becomes a fight for life.

This story sounds so amazing and inventive--I can't wait to read it. What are you guys waiting on?

Review: The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Goodreads | Amazon
Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 
Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 
Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

'Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.'

The Fault in our Stars was a bit like that.

I don't think I can even write a coherent review for this, but I will try my best. This book left such a deep mark on me that I will never be able to explain to anyone who has not read this book. That nobody will understand until they have read The Fault in our Stars and cried until their eyes are dry.

I read a lot of books; books that are good, and books that are excellent, and books that are amazing and unputdownable.

And then there are books like The Fault in our Stars. Books that are rare and special and only come once along once in fourteen years. Books that are brilliant and humorous and heartbreaking at the same time. Books that etch their way into your soul forever.

This book...really killed me, I'll be perfectly honest here. I knew someone with lung cancer, and let me say that John Green gets pretty damn close to the ugly truth. Deaths from cancer are normally dragged out and incredibly painful with no dignity left for the patient by the end. John Green tells the real cancer story, and I would like to thank him for that.

I know this book probably has huge literary value, that maybe a year or two from now, schools will take this novel and have students and teachers dissect it sentence by sentence. And maybe that's how John Green expected his book to be read, for the full meaning of each paragraph to be understood and discussed, but for me, taking a beautiful and whole novel like this apart and tearing it down is too much. Maybe I will eventually do it and maybe I will learn something that will improve my writing, but for now, I want to keep it in one piece and enjoy this beautiful beautiful beautiful novel a few more times.

I have a chronic illness that causes constant, long-term pain. I believe that grief does change families; mine has changed. For better or for worse, I don't know. I cannot imagine experiencing what Hazel and Gus go through on a daily basis, but I know that every day, thousands of scientists are working around the clock for new drugs that may pave the way for miracles, and that hope is one thing we all--both the healthy and the sick--can have in common. John Green's novel is so much more than a novel; it shows the joy of living and tells a tragic, terribly faulted love story.

"I am," he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.” ― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

Words alone cannot describe my amazement.

In My Mailbox {5}

IMM is a meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren, where we showcase all the books we got over the past week.

Since I'm too lazy to take a picture and my camera isn't cooperating, here are the books I got:

B  O  R  R  O  W  E  D   F  R  O  M   L  I  B  R  A  R  Y

I recently signed up for an eBook borrowing programme at my local library (which is regretfully not nearly as exciting as it sounds, mostly because there are virtually no YA books available for borrowing) and managed to find this one YA title.

A Spanish Princess. An American Boy. A King set on revenge. An unrequited love and a disturbing family secret bring a World to the brink of War. 
In this coming-of-age story set in a medieval kingdom, Andrea is a headstrong princess longing to be a knight who finds her way to modern-day California. But her accidental return to her family's kingdom and a disastrous romance brings war, along with her discovery of some dark family secrets. Readers will love this mix of traditional fantasy elements with unique twists and will identify with Andrea and her difficult choices between duty and desire. 

And I got this from the school library:

Another town. Another school. Another Mclean. Ever since her parents' bitter divorce, Mclean and her father have been fleeing their unhappy past. And Mclean's become a pro at reinventing herself with each move. But in Lakeview, Mclean finds herself putting down roots and making friends—in part, thanks to Dave, the most real person Mclean's ever met. Dave just may be falling in love with her, but can he see the person she really is? Does Mclean herself know?

So...yeah. Mine isn't particularly exciting this week :P Leave a link so I can check out your IMM!

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Goodreads | Amazon
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl... Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

The premise for this story is so outlandish and creative and amazing that I've been 'Waiting on' it for what seems like years. So I was really thrilled when my parents bought the Kindle version as a present a few weeks ago :).

Cinder had an amazing starting point. I mean, who can go past a fairytale retelling featuring Cinderella as a cyborg and a mechanic in New Beijing? I also have a personal fascination with China, Chinese food, and Beijing, so I was really looking forward to the setting.

Unfortunately, many parts of this story fell short of my expectations.

Marissa Meyer's writing had nothing to do with my disappointments. She has the clean style of many YA writers, a way of sucking readers into the story without over-embellishing her sentences. The writing was so enjoyable and so natural to read that I was instantly pulled into this world. However, there was one problem.

I couldn't see the world, no matter how hard I tried.

There aren't enough descriptions of what goes on in New Beijing. Without the author saying that it was a New Beijing, I wouldn't even have known that this story was set in some distant future in China. While there were some references to wontons and dumpling stores, the world development which is so important in dystopians was virtually absent. There are also so many current issues happening in Beijing--the one child policy, the pollution, the politics, what it's going to be like so many years after Cultural Revolution. This could've been a brilliant addition to the novel, but the author didn't use it as a driving point at all. In fact, I envisioned New Beijing as more of a junkyard than a new China. This was one of the serious letdowns.

There was also virtually no suspense to the story, since I had pretty much guessed what was going to happen no more than halfway through the novel. It was all too obvious for me.

Another thing was Cinder's relationship with Peony. Since the spoiler-y event happens fairly early in the book, I'm not going to go through the trouble of putting this in spoiler tags, but if you're planning to read Cinder in the near future and don't want spoilers, skip the next paragraph. I'll tell you when to look back :D.

So basically, I get that Peony gets infected with the plague. And despite me feeling sympathy for her since she's the only person who's nice to Cinder, the problem is that we didn't spend long enough knowing her and learning about her to really feel about this event. I think their relationship should have been developed further before the infection and everything happened.

Okay, you can look back now. 

Now the good.

Iko--oh Iko. He/she was so darn adorable. I wanted to cuddle him, gangly machine parts and all. Honestly, since when do you get androids that are so freaking cute? I hate to admit this, but he was my favourite character in the story. LOVE, guys.

Prince Kai seemed kind of...shallow for most of the story, but he since he was good looking and nice, I guess he'd make a pretty perfect love interest for most people. You might like him, but I didn't find him a very real character, just a cardboard cut-out, and therefore undesirable.

Overview: The writing was very enjoyable, the characters were likeable, and I absolutely adored Iko the android. I initially intended to give this book four stars, but soon realised that there was so much missing from it. There was virtually no world-building and not much suspense. This book had so much potential but once I got over the absorbing writing, I realised there wasn't much substance behind the story. Three and a half stars. I wish I could've given it more.

.5

It was okay/It was good

Announcing WINNERS for my First Giveaway!

Guys--since venturing into the world of blogging over three months ago, I have had numerous moments that are so rewarding spending hours on my laptop slaving over HTML kinks (okay, I'm exaggerating here. I spent about two minutes staring at the coding before making my dad fix all my blog-related issues. BUT I NEED TO SAY SOMETHING PROFOUND SO SHUSH) I feel the extreme need to send all of you guys virtual hugs.

Well, what I was basically trying to say is that I'd really like to thank Robin and Bree for the amazing and totally unique opportunity to host a giveaway. For experienced and long-time bloggers this might not seem like much, but from a newbie and rather uncertain international blogger, this is seriously an out-of-this-world thing.

And now I must stop gushing and announce the winner.

Congratulations to Kimberly from the Caffeinated Book Reviewer! You have won a copy of Ties to the Blood Moon! Yippee! Let's get out the cheering squads!

Guys. Thank you to the people who entered, and thank you for coming back every day to tweet about the giveaway and whatnot. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the 40 entries that made this giveaway--my first--truly special.

No seriously. Thanks.

I hope you're going to come back and read my reviews. I hope you're going to enter my future giveaways and check back for updates. I hope you're going to journey with me through the deeply confusing but incredibly FUN world of blogging. And I hope you can all throw some confetti for Kimberly! :D
a Rafflecopter giveaway -Randomness is over-

Review: Spells by Aprilynne Pike

Goodreads | Amazon

Six months have passed since Laurel saved the gateway to the faerie realm of Avalon. Now she must spend her summer there, honing her skills as a Fall faerie. But her human family and friends are still in mortal danger--and the gateway to Avalon is more compromised than ever. 
When it comes time to protect those she loves, will she depend on David, her human boyfriend, for help? Or will she turn to Tamani, the electrifying faerie with whom her connection is undeniable?

You guys. I sacrifice so much for you. It's 10:03 right now and I'm meant to be in bed by 10:15 and there's still a small pile of homework I haven't done and I am still staying up to write this review for you. Anyway, you get the point. Here goes. And I'm kind of not really thinking about the book right now so this review might turn out really weird with a bunch of run-on thoughts and...yeah. Consider yourself warned.

If you read my last review, and I'm sorry but the link is temporarily unavailable so I can't put it here (okay maybe that's a lie but let's not pretend I'm too lazy to link?), you'll know that I didn't like Wings. The only reason why I read Wings #2 was because there was nothing else at the library I could borrow.

And because I thought that Aprilynne Pike's writing belonged to the Never Touch Again pile before I even started this book, I was mildly surprised by Spells. I didn't love it, but it was nowhere near as bad as Wings.

Many of the bummers present in Wings make appearances in Spells, namely the ever-present and ever-annoying Tamani and Laurel's irritating character.

So basically, Tamani is the 'bad boy' in the Wings love triangle, and he's in love with Laurel. And since he's deadly jealous that Laurel has chosen David (i.e. the 'good boy') instead of him, Tamani does really weird things in this book like make out with Laurel during festivals and in the forest. This annoyed me to no end, since I thought he was supposed to LOVE Laurel. You don't do things like that to people you love. Either that, or Tamani is extremely juvenile and selfish. (Actually, everyone on Goodreads seems to love Tamani. I think there's something seriously wrong with me because I find him both boring and supremely annoying.)

There's this thing I like to call the ASL;FJAS;LDKFJAKSD Faery Hierarchy in the novel. Aprilynne Pike came up with this great idea of having faeries born in different months; spring faeries being the most common, then summer, then autumn, then winter. And since winter faeries are the least common, they are also the most powerful.

It's a good idea, isn't it?

Unfortunately, the execution of this idea fell seriously short of my expectations. The author makes brave stabs at bringing in social issues to this book through the inequality between the different types of faeries, but the problem is that it's seriously overdone. Laurel keeps on trying to get Tamani into trouble by not following the rules of etiquette, and she complains about twenty times in the novel (no kidding. Honestly.) about how the rules are stupid and how spring faeries should be treated the same as winter faeries. At first, I thought she had a point and was finally making some sense. And then, it got totally ruined as Laurel mentioned it so many times I felt the need to rip a bit of my hair out.

There was a third thing I didn't like about this book, but I think it's more of a personal issue. Mothers are meant to love their children unconditionally, and I hated how weird Laurels' mum was after she discovered that her daughter was a faerie. She downright refused to talk to Laurel/refused to make civil conversation with Laurel for more than half of the book, which I thought was pretty unacceptable for a mother who was friends with her daughter for the duration of the first book. I just don't get it. Maybe someone else might.

However, there were some good things about this story.

The settings were described very well and I really loved reading about the scenery in Avalon and how beautiful it all was. I especially liked the part where Laurel gets the string of diamonds from the 'shops' and the descriptions kept me re-reading passages. I also loved reading about school in the faery world and how it differed to school in the 'real' world. There were also the pretty clothes...*dreams*

Overview: I didn't love Spells, but it was an improvement on Wings. The characters were unlikeable for me and many of the ideas in the plot just didn't make the cut. Although there were excellent scenic descriptions, it didn't make up for all the other problems in the story. Two and a half stars.


Didn't like it much.

Confessions of a Bookaholic: On Authors and Review Copies

Hi, and welcome to my first Confessions of a Bookaholic post! I'll be posting about my blogging journey and things I learn along the way. If there's anything in particular you'd like me to post about, just email me.

So recently I got my first few review copies from authors. And although I was excited, one of the first things that struck me was: What if I hate this book?

I'm not saying here that receiving a free copy influenced any of my reviews at all. In fact, I told myself to be more truthful than usual (which, guys, is saying something, since I try to tell the truth as much as possible) because I owed the truth not only to my readers, but also to the author.

The thing is, though, I don't like getting review copies from authors. Don't get me wrong, I love the books themselves, but I don't like the idea of having a personal relationship with an author before I even start their book. If I read something and really enjoy it, I love telling authors on Twitter. I love saying things like OMG YOUR BOOK WAS SO GOOD I COULDN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT I NEED THE SEQUEL SO SO SO BAD. But if I write a bad review, I never ever tell the author that I hated their book. I never tag them when I post the review onto Twitter. Because it's mean. It's like bullying. And I hate it.

In the end, I was 100% truthful when I wrote those reviews. I didn't sugar coat anything, and I wasn't any more tactful than usual. But I didn't enjoy writing the bad and the so-so reviews, and then having to send it to the author and wave it in their face and say, Hey, I didn't like your book. This this this was wrong with it and I think you need to correct this this this. It stung, even to me.

This is why I don't like getting review copies from authors. And I will continue to receive these review copies and continue to read them and post truthful reviews. But what this experience has taught me is not to form relationships with authors before reading their book. That I should reply to their email saying that yes, I will read their book, and thank you. Nothing beyond that before I start. It's painful both for me and the author when we've become acquaintances and I need to tell them that I hated their story. No matter how much an author understands that not everybody will love their work once they make it public, it will still hurt.

Is this just me, or has anyone else encountered this problem?

Review: Daphne and the Mysterious Girls Bathroom Society by Robert Shields

Goodreads | Amazon

Following years of persecution at the hands of Vivica Vance, Daphne Downing levels the playing field wielding her No. 2 Ticonderoga pencil as she belatedly enters the world of witchcraft. Daphne becomes part of the Mysterious Girls’ Secret Bathroom Society and finds out that the politics governing witchcraft are daunting and sometimes deadly. She realizes she is aligned with the Charmers in this political battle with the Spiters led by her nemesis, Vivica. Along the way, she discovers that witches do not perform magic or witchcraft but a differentiated form of physics that only some women have mastered. The story deepens as she learns about the long history of witches’ domination and annihilation of wizards.

This book was one of the most surprising I've read this year. I went into it not knowing what to expect at all...and ended up with a nice surprise.

This book was the most surprising read I've had this year. I thought the pitch was original and the author was very good at developing his world. It wasn't necessarily the most believable urban fantasy I've come across, but I can (probably) safely say that the idea has never been used before and I applaud Robert Shields for that, particularly since so many plots and ideas and worlds are reused and recycled every day (in this context, the 3R's are bad things).

Unlike many other reviewers, I actually got into the book very quickly. I found it quite entertaining especially the first few chapters, and I liked the pace of the book for the most part. Like I mentioned in my post of BeSwitched, what I love about middle grade fiction is that they are generally short, light reads.

The world is also very interesting. Although I don't fully get why wizards can't practice magic/physics, I thought the author did quite a good job of developing the idea. I mean, witches doing physics is just cool, admit it.

The characters weren't really fleshed out that well. I get that Daphne doesn't like Vi too much, but there isn't a lot of reason behind this dislike apart from the fact that they just don't like each other, which might be a good enough reason in real life but not quite in fiction. I did, however, like the part where Daphne was able to 'become' Vi and find out more about Vi's burden of responsibilities. There was also no real personality behind any of the characters--as far as I could tell, Daphne didn't really have defining characteristics, and neither did Vi's hoard of friends. And that was a huge flaw.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't the hugest fan of the writing. There were far too many info-dumps, and some of their conversations were just used to plaster piece after piece of information onto readers until I got bored and started skipping pages. Otherwise, the author's writing style itself was quite enjoyable, but all the info-dumps just really distracted me from fully enjoying the text. While I understand that, to some extent, it is necessary to feed readers a lot of information when you're going to introduce a whole new world, I think many authors should let readers discover for themselves what the world is really like through interactions and snippets of conversation instead of pages of information.

Although I was told that this book was MG bordering on YA, I thought that the story would be most appealing to 10-13 year-olds. However, there were a few vulgar references/slang in the book which would not be appropriate for that age group, so I'm a little torn as to who to recommend this book to.

And although I know that this is completely irrelevant to the content of the book, which is what I'm meant to be commenting on, I think the cover would benefit from a re-designing (e.g. making the cartoon figure's hair neater, attaching the hat to the hair, and making the font more appealing). Despite what we say about not judging books by their covers, humans are very visual and vain creatures, and I think that the cover is a huge visual barrier that might prevent prospective readers from picking up the book.

Overview: This book was quite an interesting read and I loved the concept of physics being witchcraft. However, I think the characters were a little flat and there were so many info-dumps that I really need to take a star off for it. All that aside, the characters were a little flat and I'm having a hard time recommending this story to a particular age group. However, the author should be commended for their highly original idea. Two and a half stars.

.5

Didn't like it much/It was okay

FREE Designs from my New Design Blog

Hi! So I've decided to start doing designs for book bloggers for free. I've started a design website called Quick Escape Designs, where I do book blog designs including blog buttons, tour banners, signatures, things like that. I even do page layouts. Designs are custom-made for you guys, and all you need to do is order your stuff and you'll get onto the waiting list.

Personalised designs are so expensive and can range from $10 to over $100. By making this design blog, I hope everyone who wants a personalised design can get one :).

Book Spotlight and Giveaway: Ties to the Blood Moon by Robin P. Waldrop

Smashwords | Goodreads | Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Genevieve is a teenage girl who moves in with her aunt in Alaska after the death of her mother. Soon after her arrival she learns the things she was raised to believe only existed in fairytales are in fact a big part of her history. When it gets to be too much she seeks refuge in the arms of her new boyfriend, William, only to find out he's not who she thought he was either.

Watch the trailer to see what it's all about:




Sounds interesting? The great news is that, thanks to the author and Bree at The Awesome Magic Attic who is hosting this tour, I'm going to be giving away one copy of this YA fiction novel. Check out the Terms and Conditions and fill in the Rafflecopter widget to enter. Easy. It's international, too :). The giveaway lasts for a week. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday: Undeadly {11}

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper—and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. 
Within days, she’s shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath. Who seems to hate her guts. 
Rath will be watching closely to be sure she completes her first assignment-reaping Rick, the boy who should have died. The boy she still wants to be with. 
To make matters worse, students at the academy start turning up catatonic, and accusations fly—against Molly. The only way out of this mess? To go through hell. Literally.

Come on, you have to admit that the cover is amazing. And even more importantly, the blurb looks good, doesn't it? I can't wait for this one!

Review: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

Goodreads | Amazon

The times and species have been changing at a rapid rate, and the social compact is wearing as thin as environmental stability. Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners—a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, as well as the preservation of all plant and animal life—has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have survived: Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, a God's Gardener barricaded inside a luxurious spa where many of the treatments are edible.
Have others survived? Ren's bioartist friend Amanda? Zeb, her eco-fighter stepfather? Her onetime lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers, survivors of the mutual-elimination Painball prison? Not to mention the shadowy, corrupt policing force of the ruling powers . . .
Meanwhile, gene-spliced life forms are proliferating: the lion/lamb blends, the Mo'hair sheep with human hair, the pigs with human brain tissue. As Adam One and his intrepid hemp-clad band make their way through this strange new world, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move. They can't stay locked away . . .
By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and uneasily hilarious, The Year of the Flood is Atwood at her most brilliant and inventive.

The Year of the Flood was an amazing book. Not only did it surpass my (rather high) expectations, but it also went far beyond. Margaret Atwood obviously knows her craft, and although I didn't read the first book in the trilogy (this is the second), I think this book is fabulous as a standalone dystopian.

The format of this book is quite unique. There are poems or hymns from the God's Gardener's Handbook (or something or the other) at the beginning of each part in the book, and a speech by Adam One, the leader of God's Gardeners, a religious group that is central to the plot development of the story. These and the beautifully-narrated chapters of the book combine together to create a fabulous blend of world-building, and without even having to read the first chapter, we are already shown the setting and what sort of a world these characters live in. I think that you truly need to be practiced at writing to be able to tell and show so much in a few stanzas.

If you're looking for a very unique dystopian, you're looking in the wrong place. Margaret Atwood seems to have taken a few leaves out of Lois Lowry's plots, added a few adult elements to it, and created a new story altogether.

Toby and Ren, the main characters, both end up with the God's Gardeners out of their own free will. And while the life of the 'pleebos', the street children who shoplift and live out in the open, might seem extremely unstable and very undesirable, the life of a God's Gardener isn't so great either. God's Gardeners are a bizarre blend of extreme peace and Christianity, as well as obsessive health freaks and vegetarians. At first sight (I must admit, Margaret Atwood makes them sound more appealing than I do, but then again, I'm biased after reading the book), their lives seem Utopian, with no materialistic values and almost total equality and peace, but after a while, readers realise that this religious group is, in fact, rather dystopian. I won't reveal much more here, but that seems lifted out of The Giver to me.

However, the speculative nature of the book really appealed to me, since I'm currently reading Matched by Allie Condie and comparing it constantly to The Year of the Flood--I think Margaret Atwood's book is so much more thoughtful and has more of a social commentary than Matched. I often read dystopians for the political conflicts and the totalitarian aspects more than anything else, and in this aspect, The Year of the Flood was far more sophisticated and developed than Matched. Or maybe that's just my opinion, since heaps of people seem to have loved Matched.

The characters were also marvellously well-developed, and the chapters with Ren and Toby's backstories and how they ended up with the Gardners were ones that I tore through. I love it when authors add aspects of a character's history to the book--it creates a new dimension for the character, and it makes them so much more real and relatable.

Finally, I've been reading a lot of YA recently (more so than before), and I found this book a very refreshing break from the constant romance/boy-girl tension so prevalent in young adult books. The Year of the Flood went a lot deeper than what I usually read, and it's the sort of book that I'll be thinking about and craving years from now.

Overview: I loved The Year of the Flood. The social commentary and characters were both marvelous, and Margaret Atwood's writing, as expected, was fabulous. The lack of overly-heavy romance was very refreshing, and while The Year of the Flood wasn't the most original dystopian I've come across, nor is the plot extremely complicated, it made me think a lot and question many things in my own life. Four and a half stars.

*I have to sleep now, so let's assume there's a pretty picture with stars here*

(Late) Wicked Winter Read-A-Thon Wrap-Up!

 

So sorry for the late post guys, but here's my wrap-up!

I'm so glad for the readathon since I managed to get through 4 books over the weekend, even though I had heaps to do. I really needed a wake-up call considering how much stuff I need to return to the library :). I read Daphne and the Mysterious Girls Bathroom Society, Siberia, Here (On the Otherside #1), and I also finished The Last Flood. So, all in all, a very productive weekend. Although I couldn't get the timing right for most of the challenges, I did participate in 2, so I already consider that a success ;)

Thank you so much to Rebecca @ Kindle Fever and April @ My Shelf Confessions for arranging this AWESOME event and I look forward to participating in the third one this year!

In My Mailbox {4}

IMM is a meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren, where we showcase all the books we got over the past week.

So I did get quite a lot of stuff a ridiculous amount of stuff from the library this week, but I've finished a few and returned them, so they're not here. 

Clockwise: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, The Great Gatsby by Scott F. Fitzgerald, Siberia by Ann Halam, Second Sight by Meg Henderson, and Here by Denise Grover Swank.

B  O  R  R  O  W  E  D   F  R  O  M   L  I  B  R  A  R  Y

Sorry, but I'm way too lazy to post all of the synopsises here. So meh, I've only got some of them here. But I'm guessing that most of you have read The Great Gatsby anyway :)

The sun brightens in the east, reddening the blue-grey haze that marks the distant ocean. The vultures roosting on the hydro poles fan out their wings to dry them. The air smells faintly of burning. The waterless flood - a man-made plague - has ended the world. 
But two young women have survived: Ren, a young dancer trapped where she worked, in an upmarket sex club (the cleanest dirty girls in town); and Toby, who watches and waits from her rooftop garden. 
Is anyone else out there?

When Sloe was tiny, her Papa disappeared and she and her mama went to live in a prison camp in the snowy north, in a time and place when there are no more wild animals. Mama’s crime: teaching science, and her dedication to the hope that the lost animal species can be reborn. To Sloe, Mama’s secret work is magic, as enchanting as Mama’s tales of a bright city across the ice where they will be free. 
Years later, Sloe is sent to a prison school, and Mama disappears. At 13, Sloe escapes, pursued by a mysterious man. With only hope to keep her going, Sloe sets out on a solitary 1000-mile journey. But she is not truly alone for Mama left Sloe a gift: the seeds of five missing species and the knowledge to bring them to life. 

 The moving story of a woman sending her pilot son away to fight in the Second World War -- from one of Scotland's bestselling, best-loved storytellers Nancy MacLeod's great-great-grandfather brought his family to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia from Raasay, a tiny Scottish island, in the 1840s, in hope of a better life. They prospered in this new world, despite the harsh and unforgiving winters, but clung on to their old traditions and customs for comfort. Born at the beginning of a new century, Nancy has no patience with the old ways. She declares herself a Canadian and ignores the signs that she has inherited the family's Second Sight. But when her brothers leave home to serve in the First World War, she experiences strange things that she neither understands nor wants to, so when she marries she moves far away from superstitious Cape Breton. Then the Second World War breaks and her eldest son, Calli, goes to England to pursue his dream of being a bomber Command pilot. Calli's plane is shot down and his body never found. Nancy is unable to accept his death. She can still sense a feeling of life attached to him, a branch of the family tree that grows unstoppably while all hope seems lost. And Annie, a girl growing up in Glasgow, has always seen a man in the corner, a young pilot she doesn't know but somehow feels a strange connection with!

R  E  C  E  I  V  E  D   F  O  R   R  E  V  I  E  W

I'm part of the Here blog tour, so I received a copy for review.

 Sixteen year old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend Monica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies and Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one can explain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the scene of the accident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before. 
Classmate Evan Whittaker paid Julia no attention before the accident, let alone after. Now suddenly he’s volunteering to tutor her and offering to drive her home. She can't ignore that his new obsession started after his two-day disappearance last week and that he wears a pendant she’s been drawing for months. When the police show up one night looking for Evan, he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her that Monica is still alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s really from.

That's it for me! Please include a link to your IMM so I can check out all your awesome books for this week :). 

Wicked Winter Read-A-Thon: 4th February Run-Down

Today was a pretty productive day in terms of reading for me. I finished:

and

Anyway, I've got to go. See you all tomorrow (I'll hopefully participate in some contests and do my final wrap-up post)!