Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday: Raging Star by Moira Young



Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by us, that highlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication 'can't-wait-to-read' selection is:


Raging Star (Dust Lands, #3)
Title: Raging Star
Author: Moira Young
Release Date: 15th April 2014
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Find on: Goodreads

Saba is ready to seize her destiny and defeat DeMalo and the Tonton...until she meets him and he confounds all her expectations with his seductive vision of a healed earth, a New Eden. DeMalo wants Saba to join him, in life and work, to create and build a healthy, stable, sustainable world…for the chosen few. The few who can pay.

Jack’s choice is clear: to fight DeMalo and try to stop New Eden. Still uncertain, her connection with DeMalo a secret, Saba commits herself to the fight. Joined by her brother, Lugh, anxious for the land in New Eden, Saba leads an inexperienced guerilla band against the powerfully charismatic DeMalo, in command of his settlers and the Tonton militia. What chance do they have? Saba must act. And be willing to pay the price.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that cover, because it looks absolutely amazing to me! And the synopsis! I swear, I'm going to go and steal that book when it's sent to the publisher so I can have a good look at the story before it's even published! I mean, 2014, seriously?!? I can't wait anymore! What if Doomsday comes???

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Blog Tour Review: L.L Akers, 'LET ME GO'

 Let Me Go by  L.L Akers

Genre: New Adult, Coming-of-age,

Written by: L.L Akers

Available as: Paperback, Kindle version

Buy it here

Published by: SmArt Group Consulting, LLC




Meet Twin sisters Gabriella and Olivia and step into their world of crushing heartbreak, constant fear and anguish.

Reading 'Let Me Go' was almost like an out-of-world experience for me, like I was watching myself read the book, but I was right within those pages, looking out at the person holding the book.

It is a story about a trio of sisters struggling to cope with abuse, while trying to fight for their families survival.

Prior to starting the book, I asked around a little, (as always) to get a feel of other peoples views on the matter and I was shocked to see just how many people either didn't realize or didn't want to realize just how much truth there was to the story. I couldn't believe how often I heard the words

''GROSS EXAGGERATION''

And 20 percent of me agrees, there may have been slight exaggeration in a handful of chapters, for dramatic purposes, but apart from that, I'd say Akers hit the mark dead on.

The issue with domestic and or sexual abuse is, and will always be, that you can never judge the severity of it unless you've experienced it first hand, no matter how much you've read up on it. That's just how it is, you may disagree with that, but that is the truth.

Like reading all about being an Olympic Swimmer doesn't make you any more qualified than the next guy.

The sad reality is- the stories we encounter in Let Me Go are sadly not uncommon and it pains me to read reviews where people speak about it like it's nothing, a mere term that holds no importance whatsoever.
As if one was just discussing the weather or what they've had for dinner.

It's an issue that has weighed heavy on my mind for a couple of years now, but I won't get into it too much otherwise this review will spiral completely out of control!

I've watched so many families being ripped apart by the effects of all different kinds of abuse, (my mother being one of those women affected) that reading and reviewing this book was very important to me on a very personal level and I truly enjoyed getting a copy early on to do just that!

There is so, so much that can be learned from this book, it almost overwhelmed me. Issues like- why does a victim try to keep it all a secret? Surely the first thing you'd do is tell someone?
 But I'm afraid it's not quite that simple.

That said, I think it's safe to say that it was very easy for me to connect with each of the 3 sisters.

 I truly appreciated just how much research had to have gone into the making of this book, especially as  it was written purely as a work of fiction, with no 'real' truth to it.


On a different note, I found it incredibly refreshing that the characters in the book were portrayed as normal girls, no perky blondes with troubled hearts but otherwise flawless appearance, but girls who share their mistakes and let you into their hearts, which for me, resulted in buckets full of tears and raw emotion.



It's wonderful that once again, an author used their power to give a voice to all those victims out there, because believe you me, if you've been affected by domestic and or sexual abuse, or know someone who is/was,
you're not alone in this.
There will always be someone to support you.

If you need help, get it. No matter how dark the way.

Final Rating: 5/5 'Totally Amazing'












Review brought to you by: 







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Review: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite RunnerTitle: The Kite Runner
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Release Date: 27th April 2004
Find on: Goodreads

Quick Review: The Kite Runner of Khaled Hosseini's deeply moving fiction debut is an illiterate Afghan boy with an uncanny instinct for predicting exactly where a downed kite will land. Growing up in the city of Kabul in the early 1970s, Hassan was narrator Amir's closest friend even though the loyal 11-year-old with "a face like a Chinese doll" was the son of Amir's father's servant and a member of Afghanistan's despised Hazara minority. But in 1975, on the day of Kabul's annual kite-fighting tournament, something unspeakable happened between the two boys.

Detailed Review: This is a genre I would seldom pick,  since I tend to go with fantasy and dystopia most of the time, but since I've heard so many good things about it... When I saw it on my library's shelf, I just decided to take a risk and borrowed it. 

AND... It was unbelievable. I've recently read a book as haunting as The Kite Runner, which was I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill, so impregnated with hidden messages and symbolism. 

Also, besides that, you also feel like you can truly relate to the story and it in turn forms a connection between you and the author himself. It's amazing how powerful books can be.

This book portrays life not only as a happy chapter in a book, but also reveals the most painful decisions and moments that comes with life. The author nailed everything with the setting and characters. The characters were really memorable and unusual ones, but ones which will be easily remembered and distinguished, particularly Amir and Hassan. To me, the true hero is Hassan, because he showcases a life where you can be happy even through the most depressing and oppressive of times. His optimism is the his best attribute. Amir on the other hand, was more balanced. He had both bad and good with him, but the good won out in the end, which I'm glad. I want to thank Hassan for shaping and defining most of Amir's life.

I don't think I can stress how amazing the book is, but if you ask me something about The Kite Runner and I'd start babbling about it non-stop and even end up spoiling it for you in the process if I can't help it hehe...

So my last words...The Kite Runner is a book for everyone. It highlights the eccentricities of life and also the fact that even the most honorable people can make mistakes.

Brief Review: Khaled Hosseini presents a thought-provoking story to readers that is likely to leave an impression on their lives. Rich with history and tragedy, this book tells a story of mistakes and redemption. This is an awesome debut for an author who has the ability to use words to haunt you at the most unexpected of times with impossible twists that can leave you bewildered and crying.

Final Rating: 5/5 'Totally Amazing!'









QUOTE:

To Amir, this is the impression you give me,

Any fool can be happy. It takes a man with real heart to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep-- Clive Barker

Your Reviewer:



Friday, September 6, 2013

TGIF - Feature & Follow Friday #165

FEATURE & FOLLOW FRIDAY is a blog hop that is designed to provide as much exposure towards other bloggers as well as yourself, and to expand following. It's hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, each whom feature a chosen blog for a week, it's also an interesting way to get to know one another bloggers.


QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Bookshelf Tour! Take us on a tour of your shelves. 

Here's my bookshelf! It was kinda difficult to take a pic of this... 













Like it?? :P


















They're all double stacked! Sorry but no way am I going to take down allll of them!!!


So that's the end of my bookshelf tour... 

 ~ Hope you like my bookshelf! :) ~

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

One Week Blogoversary Giveaway: FINALE!!!


Today is the finale to our one week blogoversary giveaway! Thanks to those who participated! We would also love to thank these two people who have been supporting us, even though they may not have known it! These people are:


Kayla from The Bookish Owl for all the talking that we did, whether on Twitter or on the phone

The Bookish Owl

AND


Nova from Musings of a Blogder for all the funny messages we sent each other and the conversations that we've had


But on to the giveaway! Today we'll be giving away THREE books! Yes THREE! So if you're VERY lucky, you may be the winner!

TODAY WE'LL BE GIVING AWAY...

Ink by Amanda Sun

Click on the cover for the review!

Ink (Paper Gods, #1)

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.

Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it
out of the country alive.

The Culling by Steven dos Santos

Click on the cover for the review!

The Culling (The Torch Keeper, #1)

Recruitment Day is here...if you fail, a loved one will die...

For Lucian “Lucky” Spark, Recruitment Day means the Establishment, a totalitarian government, will force him to become one of five Recruits competing to join the ruthless Imposer task force. Each Recruit participates in increasingly difficult and violent military training for a chance to advance to the next level. Those who fail must choose an “Incentive”—a family member—to be brutally killed. If Lucky fails, he’ll have to choose death for his only living relative: Cole, his four-year-old brother.

Lucky will do everything he can to keep his brother alive, even if it means sacrificing the lives of other Recruits’ loved ones. What Lucky isn’t prepared for is his undeniable attraction to the handsome, rebellious Digory Tycho. While Lucky and Digory train together, their relationship grows. But daring to care for another Recruit in a world where love is used as the ultimate weapon is extremely dangerous. As Lucky soon learns, the consequences can be deadly...

Black Moon by Jessica McQuay

Black Moon (Paige Tailor, #1)

"Am I losing my mind?"

Paige couldn't help but question her sanity. What other explanation could there be for her hearing a conversation held barely above a whisper in the back of a classroom full of students? What about coming home to find one of those very classmates lying in wait in the darkness of her home, ready to attack her? 

Confused, frustrated and feeling every ounce of her social ostracism, Paige confides in the one person she's always been able to count on: her mom. But when her mom reveals a deeply rooted, unbelievable family secret, Paige discovers her world is filled with more than she ever imagined possible. A world where fairytales live alongside nightmares and secrets are the glue that binds them together. Suddenly no one is who they seem and Paige is faced with more questions than answers. Can she survive in a world filled with creatures scarier than anything she could imagine and where deceit runs as thick as blood? Or will the truth send her over the edge?

I PROMISE THIS IS THE LAST TIME (FOR NOW...HEHEHE) May the odds be ever in your favour! Good luck and this giveaway is international!
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Waiting on Wednesday: The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder


Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by us, that highlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication can't wait to read selection is:

The Museum of Intangible ThingsTitle: The Museum of Intangible Things
Author: Wendy Wunder
Release Date: 10th April 2014
Publisher: Razorbill
Find on: Goodreads


Loyalty. Envy. Obligation. Dreams. Disappointment. Fear. Negligence. Coping. Elation. Lust. Nature. Freedom. Heartbreak. Insouciance. Audacity. Gluttony. Belief. God. Karma. Knowing what you want (there is probably a French word for it). Saying Yes. Destiny. Truth. Devotion. Forgiveness. Life. Happiness (ever after).

Hannah and Zoe haven’t had much in their lives, but they’ve always had each other. So when Zoe tells Hannah she needs to get out of their down-and-out New Jersey town, they pile into Hannah’s beat-up old Le Mans and head west, putting everything—their deadbeat parents, their disappointing love lives, their inevitable enrollment at community college—behind them.

As they chase storms and make new friends, Zoe tells Hannah she wants more for her. She wants her to live bigger, dream grander, aim higher. And so Zoe begins teaching Hannah all about life’s intangible things, concepts sadly missing from her existence—things like audacity,insouciance, karma, and even happiness.

An unforgettable read from the acclaimed author of The Probability of Miracles, The Museum of Intangible Things sparkles with the humor and heartbreak of true friendship and first love.

Just from looking at the cover and synopsis, I already had a good feeling that this book would make an awesome contemporary and reminds me just a tad of An Abundance of Katherines, which I loved! 

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

One Week Blogoversary Giveaway: DAY SIX


I can't believe it! Today's already the sixth day! Today we're giving away a book about vampires! BUT it is not Twilight! 

TODAY WE'LL BE GIVING AWAY...

Bad Blood by Nicky Peacock

Click on the cover to see the review!



“I am Britannia. I am your protector. I will fend off the hungry hordes of undead hands that reach toward you. I am your steadfast defender. I will stand between you and the zombie masses as they try to taste your flesh. I am strong, unyielding, and dedicated to your survival. All I ask from you… is your blood.”

A five-hundred-year-old bloody game of vengeance will need to be put on hold if vampires are to survive the zombie uprising. Britannia and Nicholas, bitter enemies and the only two surviving vampires left in London,have to work together to save un-infected humans and deliver them safely to a vampire stronghold in the Scottish Highlands. Unable to drink the zombie"bad blood," the remaining vampires need the humans to stay alive.

But will the vampires tell the survivors who they are and what they want from them? Will Britannia be able to hold back her vengeance for the greater good?Is survivor Josh the reincarnation of Britannia's murdered true love? And can she bring herself to deliver him to the "safe" hold?

Survival instincts run deep, but bad blood can run deeper.


Good luck and pray you'll win! Be brave and take the challenge! This is international! PATIENCE PEOPLE.


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