31 December 2013

Favourite Books Of 2013




Hey book nerds! :D Today I'm going to be sharing with you some of my favourite books of 2013! :) I have read so many amazing, wonderful and fantastic books this year, so it's going to be hard just choosing a few. However, I have also read quite a few books this year that I didn't like... I always feel very disappointed when I dislike a book, because I try really hard to like as many as I can!






Unfortunately, I'm only human (well, mostly) and I just can't like everything. I'm a picky and fussy reader and a huge critique when it comes down to it. :) I'm also a very emotional reader; the tiniest thing in a book can set me off crying for prolonged minutes at a time. This especially happens when I'm really engaged in the story and love the characters. (Also, you can add Animals into this as well!)






Please excuse the excessive use of Snape GIF's, this is the only time of the year I feel okay with posting them to relay everything I'm feeling! :P Well anyway, I hope you'll all enjoy my list for this year - I read 100 books - and completed my Good Reads reading goal for the year, so it's extra exciting. :D I hope you all have a wonderful new year, and start 2014 with a bang! :D Maybe you'll be as agreeable with my list as Snape is here. Who knows? ^.^




 

Favourite Books Of 2013



Title: Crash Into You.
Series: Pushing the Limits, #3.
Author: Katie McGarry.
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult.


The girl with straight A's, designer clothes, and the perfect life - that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list.

One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker - a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.


Isaiah has secrets too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks - no matter how angelic she might look. But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.


 





Title: Easy.
Series: Contours of the Heart, #1.
Author: Tammara Webber.
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult.


When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she's single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night - but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he's hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

 




Title: Beautiful Disaster.
Series: Beautiful, #1.
Author: Jamie McGuire.
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult.

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

 




Title: Wait for You.
Series: Wait for You, #1.
Author: J. Lynn.
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult.

Some things are worth waiting for...
Some things are worth experiencing...
And some things are worth fighting for...

Avery knows she should stay away from Cam Hamilton: he might be the hottest guy on campus but she really doesn’t need that sort of drama right now. Love is best left in the past – along with her troubles. But sometimes, the last thing you want, is just the thing you need...


 
 
 




Title: Pretty Girl Thirteen.
Author: Liz Coley.
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult.


Angie Chapman is only 13 when she gets lost in the woods in the middle of the night. The next thing she knows she’s returned home, scars around her wrists and ankles, physically exhausted. Her parents collapse into tears when they see her, but Angie doesn’t understand – until they tell her she has been missing, presumed dead, for three years.

Angie doesn’t remember anything from her missing years. But there are people who do – people who could tell Angie every terrifying detail, if only they weren’t locked inside her mind. With help, Angie begins to unravel the darkest secrets of her own past. But does she really want to know the truth?

 




Title: Wither.
Series: The Chemical Garden, #1.
Author: Lauren DeStefano.
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult.

What if you knew exactly when you would die?
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden’s genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden’s eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

 




Title: Vampire Academy.
Series: Vampire Academy, #1.
Author: Richelle Mead.
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult.


St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

 




Title: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side.
Series: Jessica, #1.
Author: Beth Fantaskey.
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult.


The undead can really screw up your senior year ...

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancĂ©. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.

 




Title: The Immortal Rules.
Series: Blood of Eden, #1.
Author: Julie Kagawa.
Genres: Paranormal, Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult.


My Vampire Creator Told Me This:
‘Sometime in your life, Allison Sekemoto, you will kill a human being. The question is not if it will happen, but when. Do you understand?’

I didn't then, not really.

I DO NOW.



 
 
 
 


What were your favourite books of 2013? Leave me a comment or a link to your blog post and I'll be sure to check it out. ^.^ Happy reading! (:

30 December 2013

Christmas 2013 Book Haul


 


Hey book nerds! ^.^ It's time for another book haul - Christmas edition! :D I'm so excited to be able to share with you guys you books I received for Christmas this year, because they're just so pretty and I want to read them all now. :3 I'm so thankful to my parents and my friends who gave me these books - please note, that this is in no way bragging! As for my reading status, I finally completed my 100 book challenge on Good Reads the day before yesterday, with my 100th book being Easy by Tammara Webber. I'm now reading another book called Stella by Helen Eve - but I'm really not far enough into it yet to comment. :P Well, that's it for today - I hope you guys had a great Christmas - I certainly did! :D


 
Video


 

Photos And Book Information






A BIG thank you to my best friend Sarah, who gave a copy of Under The Never Sky for my Christmas present - I can't wait to read it! :D









Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5) by Richelle Mead.
This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith.








The Dark Light by Sara Walsh.
Velveteen by Daniel Marks.





Eve & Adam (Eve & Adam, #1) by Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate.
Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick.




Frost by Marianna Baer.
Masque of the Red Death (Masque of the Red Death, #1) by Bethany Griffin.











 

Thoughts


I also received a £10 Amazon Gift card from my other best friend, Emmie - and I bet you can all guess what I'm going to spend it on! :P I LOVE my friends and family! And I'm so excited to have all of these books in my collection. I want to read them all now, but I'm not sure which to start first, they all look so amazing. :D They also all have some seriously gorgeous covers! I don't know which covers are my favourites, as they're all so pretty - but Across the Universe and A Million Suns are beautiful, but I also really love the cover for Embrace. Ahh, I can't decide - what do you think? Have you read any of these books? Let me know! ^.^


 

What books did you get for Christmas this year? Leave me a comment or a link to your blog post and I'll be sure to check it out. ^.^ Happy reading! (:

27 December 2013

Review: Afterparty by Ann Redisch Stampler

Afterparty
Title: Afterparty.
Author: Ann Redisch Stampler.
Publication Date: December 31st, 2013.
Publisher: Simon Pulse.
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult.
Format: Paperback, 401 pages.
Source: ARC Provided By Author.
My Rating:
Emma is tired of being good.
Always the dutiful daughter to an overprotective father, she is the antithesis of her mother -- whose name her dad won't even say out loud. That's why meeting Siobhan is the best thing that ever happened to her...and the most dangerous. Because Siobhan is fun and alluring and experienced and lives on the edge. In other words, she's everything Emma is not. And it may be more than Emma can handle.

Because as intoxicating as her secret life may be, when Emma begins to make her own decisions, Siobhan starts to unravel. It's more than just Dylan, the boy who comes between them. Their high-stakes pacts are spinning out of control. Elaborate lies become second nature. Loyalties and boundaries are blurred. And it all comes to a head at the infamous Afterparty, where debauchery rages and an intense, inescapable confrontation ends in a plummet from the rooftop...

 

Review


Afterparty is a really wonderful novel with an incredible opening paragraph that I’m sure will grab anyone’s attention. I often found myself giggling whilst reading this novel, as Ann Stampler’s writing is really funny and I loved how our main protagonist had a ‘moral compass’, which was always trying to point her in the correct direction. I did find myself confused on many different occasions throughout Afterparty. It seemed like it would go off track completely for a few paragraphs and then be suddenly back. I also felt like the sentences just kept rambling on about pretty much nothing, and as much as it seemed like Ann was trying to make a point – she just didn’t seem to get there. The majority of the time this happened when Emma was talking – maybe it’s just a quirky feature in her personality? I don’t know, but don’t get me wrong, if you can put aside these certain problems, Afterparty really is a fantastic book with a wonderful plot – and luckily for me, I managed to do so because I was so engrossed in the story.



Afterparty

Emma is our main protagonist and I really liked reading about her. She has an over-bearing dad with strict rules and is struggling with the decision to continue to be a good-girl, like she’s been her whole life – or try something new and break some of the rules her dad has set. I thought Emma was an incredibly good friend, I know I wouldn’t have put up with all the crap that Siobhan, her new best friend, did to her at all. She was also a very patient, kind, caring and overall a lovely character. I really loved how Emma slowly started to hate Siobhan, and I found it incredibly funny to see the process. At first, Emma bent over backward to please Siobhan, and did pretty much everything she said – but as the novel progressed you really got to see how much Emma started to resent Siobhan and see her true colours. Of course I felt bad for Emma – but to be honest, I don’t know why Emma didn’t dump her sooner!



Siobhan is Emma’s best friend, and from the first moment they meet – they suddenly become inseparable. I started off not minding Siobhan’s character, and I thought she was really upbeat and interesting with a quirky personality, but as the novel progressed, I started to really dislike her (I’m pretty sure you’re meant too!) Siobhan becomes more and more controlling the further you get into Afterparty, she’s also gets very moody and becomes very unpleasant and downright evil. What I found slightly annoying, was the repetitiveness of Emma and Siobhan’s arguments and fall outs. She and Siobhan fight, then make up, then fight again and make up once more! It was also always the same argument; about how Emma finds it difficult to break the rules because of her dad. Although in the end I didn’t like Siobhan’s character, it was quite interesting seeing her slowly go crazy and become so obsessive.



Dylan is the love-interest in Afterparty, and to be honest – I had really mixed feelings about him. One minute I really loved his character, the next I was wondering why the hell Emma was pining over him so much. I suppose Dylan did have his good points, he was sweet, funny and really did seem to care about her – but I questioned a lot of his decisions. I also found it really irritating that he’d just straight out believe everything Siobhan said to him about Emma, even if things weren’t perfect with him and Emma at the time. I also really didn’t like the fact that Dylan was portrayed as such a perfect character – when all he’d ever do was skip class and get stoned, then borrow Emma’s notes because she attended class. It was totally obvious that Emma liked him, and even though he said he’d liked her too at the time – he did some really jack-ass things.



Over though, I really did enjoy reading Afterparty – and sped through it really quickly! Ann Redisch Stampler’s writing is really different from what I’ve read before, but really engaging, fun and quirky all the same. For example; it took me quite a while to get used to reading sentences like ‘I am sorry’ instead of ‘I’m sorry’ – this is definitely not a criticism, as there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. It was just a surprise to read the writing with such a traditional format. I do however, believe that Afterparty well and truly deserved the 4/5 star rating, it was really fantastic and page-turning book that kept me in suspense until the very end! I’d recommend this book to any contemporary reader, especially someone who loves some good old girl drama. I really believe Ann Redisch Stampler is definitely an author to keep an eye on!




Quotes


"Watch this," she says. "New game. It’s called shock-the-dork."
She walks over to two middle-aged guys who look a lot more clueless than the one she usually likes going after. She waves a cigarette at them; they grope for their lighters, matches, whatever it takes to keep her happy. She’s all giggly and girly until one of them offers her another drink and she shrieks. "No! I will not meet you in your hotel room! I’m sixteen years old! What’s wrong with you?"
The men throw money on the bar to pay for their half-drunk drinks and sprint toward the escalator.


"I am not clinically depressed or suicidal or insane. I just want to kill Siobhan, is all."


Siobhan, when she’s annoyed, doesn’t keep it to herself.
In the morning, the slamming theme extends to her locker, books on desktops, and snack trays at break. When she talks to me, I (and everybody else within a hundred yards) can tell she’s seething.
Dylan says, "Should I avoid dark alleys and homeroom? Eat lunch with me. I’ll protect you if she creeps up and tries to hit you with a lunch tray."

22 December 2013

December 2013 Book Haul


 


Hey book nerds! :D I bring to you today, one of the biggest book hauls I've hauled yet! ^.^ I've final managed to get around to filming with my new camera, and taken the pictures with it too. :D As for my reading status, last night I finished reading Trapped by Michael Northrop, and I enjoyed it - it was good book, but very slow and I didn't feel like anything happened until the ending! Also, the characters just sort of sat around and did nothing, which was quite boring.. o.O So yeah, I gave it 3.5/5 stars. As for what I’m going to be reading next, I’m not entirely sure, but it’ll be a review book. :D That's it for today, I haven't got a whole lot to say, as nothing really is going on at all - I've just been getting ready for Christmas! Have a good week all of you. :)


 
Video


 

Photos And Book Information




Stella by Helen Eve.
Roomies by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando.


A BIG thanks to Macmillan who sent me a proof copy of Stella for review - I can't wait to read it! Also a big thanks to Hodder who sent me the copy of Roomies for review. :)





Anything To Have You by Paige Harbison.

A BIG thanks to Mira Ink who sent me an ARC of Anything To Have You for review - it looks awesome and I can't wait to read it! :D







A HUGE thanks to Mira Ink who sent me finished copies of these two books, I've already reviewed them and loved them - I'm so glad to have them in my collection! ^.^









Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell.
Stolen: A Letter to My Captor by Lucy Christopher.





Fever (The Chemical Garden, #2) by Lauren DeStefano.
Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas.









Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls, #2) by C.C. Hunter.
Blind Spot by Laura Ellen.





Lies Beneath (Lies Beneath, #1) by Anne Greenwood Brown.
Shattered Souls (Souls, #1) by Mary Lindsey.





Sweet Venom (Medusa Girls, #1) by Tera Lynn Childs.
Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, #1) by Kiersten White.








Beta (Annex, #1) by Rachel Cohn.
Seraphina (Seraphina, #1) by Rachel Hartman.


 

E-books Bought




My Secret Summer by Theresa Troutman.
Shadows (Lux, #0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
An A to Z of Creepy Hollow Fae by Rachel Morgan.
Masquerade (Heven and Hell, #1) by Cambria Hebert.








Deadborn by C.M. Stunich.
Kallos (Kallos, #1) by Khelsey Jackson.
Kallos Sorrow (Kallos, #2) by Khelsey Jackson.
A Summer to Remember (Seasons, #1) by Jessica Gunhammer.

 

Thoughts


So many books, so little time! I brought and received so many books this month, I don't know where to begin. :D Unfortunately I'm on a strict book buying ban from now on until way after Christmas. This is because of two reasons; 1) I'm getting lots of books for Christmas and 2) I've run out of room to store them, and I mean this literally. There is NO more room. D: However, I am really excited to have all of these books in my collection, and I can't decide which I'm the most excited for! They all have such gorgeous covers as well... As for the e-books, you know the drill. ;P All of them were freebies on Amazon at the time of purchase, and if you go check - they still might be! As for my favourite e-book covers, it's probably a toss-up between A Summer to Remember, Deadborn and Astral Essence - they're just so pretty. :) Have you read any of these books? Let me know! ^.^


 


What books have you brought or received lately? Leave me a comment or a link to your blog post and I'll be sure to check it out. ^.^ Happy reading! (:

20 December 2013

Review: Obscura Burning by Suzanne van Rooyen

Obscura Burning
Title: Obscura Burning.
Author: Suzanne van Rooyen.
Publication Date: December 7th, 2012.
Publisher: Etopia Press.
Genres: Sci-Fi, Young Adult.
Format: Paperback, 300 pages.
Source: Provided By Author.
My Rating:
The world's going to end in fire...and it's all Kyle's fault.

Kyle Wolfe's world is about to crash and burn. Just weeks away from graduation, a fire kills Kyle's two best friends and leaves him permanently scarred. A fire that Kyle accidentally set the night he cheated on his boyfriend Danny with their female friend, Shira. That same day, a strange new planet, Obscura, appears in the sky. And suddenly Kyle's friends aren't all that dead anymore.

Each time Kyle goes to sleep, he awakens to two different realities. In one, his boyfriend Danny is still alive, but Shira is dead. In the other, it's Shira who's alive...and now they're friends with benefits. Shifting between realities is slowly killing him, and he's not the only one dying. The world is dying with him. He's pretty sure Obscura has something to do with it, but with his parents' marriage imploding and realities shifting each time he closes his eyes, Kyle has problems enough without being the one in charge of saving the world...

 

Review


Obscura Burning is a really fantastic and incredibly interesting novel that will have any sci-fi lover hooked from the first few chapters. Suzanne van Rooyen created a great, wonderful and unique story line that kept me constantly turning the pages – I just didn’t want to put it down! There are so many twists and turns throughout Obscura Burning, which were amazing – and I loved how real the whole thing seemed – even though it was sci-fi! The smallest of decisions could set off a completely different chain of events throughout the book, and you get to experience them all with the main character. Although Obscura Burning was little confusing at times, and I found it a little hard to follow, it was pleasure to read and I loved every minute that I was reading it.



Obscura Burning

Kyle Wolfe is our main protagonist and he is gay – at least, he’s pretty sure he is. I’d like to say quickly, that if you’re not interested in, or don’t like LGBT stories in general, I really wouldn’t recommend this book. Although there aren’t any graphic scenes or much romance throughout this book at all – but there are plenty of references. Moving on! I really loved Kyle’s character, he was a really down-to-earth guy, and even though the book was written by a woman, it didn’t show through on to Kyle’s character in the writing like I’ve seen before in the past. Although a little messed up and definitely confused about a number of things in his life, Kyle was a solid, interesting, smart and generally a caring guy and very well developed. There was also this dark and mysterious edge to his because of his memory loss, which made him even more likable.



Even the secondary characters throughout Obscura Burning were amazingly well developed. Danny is Kyle’s boyfriend, and I liked his character a lot at first. He was kind, sweet and seemed to really care about Kyle. However, as the novel progressed, my dislike of him grew quite a bit – he became a little self-centred (even though he had his reasons) and I really questioned some of his decisions and motives. Overall though, he was a nice character to read about, even if I had my doubts about him. Shira is Kyle’s and Danny’s best friend and from the start I wasn’t really that keen on her at all. She was also a little self-centred, and I didn’t get the impression that she cared much about Kyle at all – even as a friend. It seemed like she actually pitied him, but that’s probably just what her character was like. Lastly, is Mya; a girl Kyle meets in both parallels; in one they become best friends and in the other she’s completely different and cruel. I really did love Mya’s character though (in the reality where she and Kyle are friends); she was kind, caring, sweet, funny and treated Kyle like a normal person – unlike pretty much everyone else in their tow – and she was definitely my favourite secondary character!



Overall, I thought Obscura Burning was a really well written and absolutely mind-blowing and extra-ordinary novel, with an ending that left me stunned and shocked to my very core. I had no idea how the story would end; and I must have come up with tons of different possible outcomes - but I just didn’t see the ending coming! I believe it well and truly deserves the 4.5/5 star rating, and if it weren’t for a few of the things I’ve mentioned, it would have definitely earned that extra half-star. Obscura Burning is a dark, twisted and mysterious novel that I’m sure anyone will be drawn into, even if they’re not a huge sci-fi reader. Susanne van Rooyen’s writing is really beautiful and in a league of its own, I’ve never read anything like it before. I can’t wait to read more from Suzanne van Rooyen in the future, she’s definitely an author to keep an eye on!



Quotes


There’s nothing worse than a doctor’s waiting room, than that dread of anticipation liquefying your insides. Spent enough time around shrinks as a kid. They always asked why. Why did you set the fire? Because I like it. But why? I didn’t know then, but maybe I do now. Because there’s real power in controlling something that beautiful and that destructive. - Page 94.


She’s going through hell? As if me getting burned was a walk in goddamn Armadillo Park. Hell is getting beaten up by your dad every night because your mom works the night shift. Hell is feeling less of a human being for liking boys. Hell is being suffocated by the guilt of cheating on someone you love. Hell is second- and third-degree burns, new dressings, needles and nurses, morphine, and split fucking reality that makes you wish you were dead. That’s hell for you, Mom. - Page 129.


"Hey, Miss Death and Feathers, at least I'm not the one banging my dead friend's boyfriend." - Page 216.