Word of the Week Wednesday[18]

Word of the Week - Guffaw - The Distance Between Us - Page 17

Meaning - Loud and boisterous laugh.

Be Back Soon! + Changes!

Hey guys! I am sorry I haven't been posting much. I am getting ready for an anniversary trip and I am sick with something that no one has any clue what it is. So yay me, right? Anyways, I will be back to blogging regularly in November. 

There will also be some changes. I will no longer be doing full reviews for books older than 2 years unless it's an amazing book and I feel the need to express that. Mini review mondays will be used for older books. I read new and old YA books but I have a feeling that no one really reads the older reviews. But I still want to post them in case that one random person actually does care. So Mini Review Mondays will be for older books, verse books and graphic novels. 

Thank you guys for following me! I will be back very soon

Word of the Week Wednesday[17]

Word of the Week - Capitulate - Ashes to Ashes - Page 21

Meaning - Cease to resist an opponent or an unwelcome demand, Surrender.

Mini Review Monday[23] Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeleine Kuderick

I was expecting a book about cutting, yes, but I wasn't expecting a book about girls who do it as a ccompetitivesport. It is crazy to see how much school and popularity has changed since I was in school. It's no longer about whose the prettiest or the richest. It's about drugs, cutting and sex.

Kenna is a strong, brave girl. It is just a shame that she fell into the trap of teenage peer pressure. 

Having a sister like Avery and a "best friend" like Rennie can really take it's toll on a young girl. I can understand why Kenna maybe would have had some of the feels she had but Rennie pushed her into cutting and Avery just made Kenna's cutting seem like the right thing to do her.

I think meeting Skylar helped Kenna to realize that her friendship with Rennie is toxic. Well, that, plus the horrible phone call with Rennie and "The Snitch."

The Calming Jar is such an amazingly cool idea. I marked the page in the book and I want to try to make one for myself. 

Kiss of Broken Glass is a very short book written in verse but it has such a huge impact that it will feel like you read an entire 300  page book. I think parents should read this book. It is based, somewhat, off of a true story AND this stuff happens EVERYDAY, EVERYWHERE, to all kinds of people. 

Overall, I gave the book 4/5 mini kitties.

Word of the Week Wednesday[16]

Word of the Week - Dendrite - Anna Dressed in Blood - Page 266

Meaning - A branching tree-like figure produced on or in a mineral by a foreign mineral. Any of the usually branching protoplasmic processes that conduct impulses towards the body of a neuron.

Double Vision Review[2] Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

I tried to read Struck 3 times. For some reason I just couldn't get into it. But after signing up to participate in an interview with the author I sat down and pushed myself to read the book. I can't say that I am disappointed but the beginning of the book was hard to get through.

If you enjoy books that have to do with natural disasters, religious cults, human suffering, high school and a weird love story then this book is probably for you. Oh, and did I mention the weirdest addiction I have ever heard of? Yeah, that's in this book too.

Mia is one of the characters that annoy me but without her the book wouldn't have been what it was(besides the obvious fact that she was the main character). She was very insecure about her scars and felt that she was a freak. 

Jeremy confused the living heck out of me. He was a very sweet, cute guy but I totally didn't see the plot twist in the end happening. 

The whole war between The Seekers and The Followers seemed a lot like any high school clique situation. One side hated the other and they were both trying to recruit the same person. 

The ending is what really sold me on this book. I thought it was very adorable. The Tower and The Lovers wasn't how I pictured the book ending. I am also glad that Mia and Parker's mother was okay. I teared up a bit at that part. 

Overall, even after the very rough start, I gave the book 4/5 Mini Kitties.

I found this to be a very interesting read. I haven't read anything before where someone could absorb lightening like Mia does.

Mia is a strong character. She will do anything in her power to keep her mother and brother safe from anything that could harm them.

This book is centered around religion. More importantly the six seals. Reading this it reminded me of the show Supernatural because of the seals being opened and once they were all opened the world would end. I'm not a religious person at all and in the beginning reading this annoyed me. But eventually when things started to fall into place I liked how it all fit together to make a very entertaining story.

There were slow parts here and there, but once it picked up I was glued.

I haven't read anything like this before and I wasn't sure about reading it, but I'm really glad I did. I loved how we got a sense of things from both sides. From what the Seekers and what the Followers were trying to do and where Mia fit into everything and what she had to do to save the world and stop the storm from opening the last seal.

I liked the character Jeremy, who came to Mia. I liked what he could do, but it reminded me too much of the character Sam from Supernatural. Of course it wasn't exactly the same, but for what they could do it was very similar. This isn't a bad thing. I actually really loved that Jeremy could see visions of the future and how if he touched someone with his hands that person could see them as well.

I really enjoyed reading this and had a good time with it. I loved seeing what Mia was going to do so the visions that Jeremy was having wouldn't come true. To see how things changed and how each person changed, as well, through their experiences of what happened.

This book shows how in a time of crises, how religion can affect people in a bad way. Such as how "Prophet" was gaining a cult leading because he was saying he could hear "God" speaking to him when he was just trying to get people to follow him so he could gain power. And in the end when things were getting worse, they weren't there to stand by him.

I'm excited that there will be a sequel. I can't wait to see where Jennifer Bosworth will take the story for Mia and Jeremy.

Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.

Word of the Week Wednesday[15]

Word of the Week - Valise - Of Monster and Madness - Page 23

Meaning - A small traveling bag or suitcase.

REVIEW: The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy

I am having a hard time putting to words just how much I adored The Winter People. 

The book started off a little slow and when I was about 10% in I was about to stop reading it because the release date had already passed. I am so glad that I didn't put this book down. The first couple pages were definitely worth the struggle.

Salome isn't normal from the start. She had a near death experience and ever since then she is deathly afraid of winter. But no one believes that her fears are actually warranted. Oh... They most certainly are. 

About halfway through the book I finally started realizing what was going on. There was a curse at work. Then after Salone found the letters in her Grandmothers secret room everything started falling into place. Nevin and Aidrianna messed with the wrong witch, Kassandra, and now they both had to pay. Nevin with his inability to return home and Aidrianna with the family curse where every other generation an eighteen year old girl from her family is murdered by the "winter".

This book doesn't just have a love triangle. Oh, no. It has a love SQUARE. Two of the guys are using her and one truly cares for her but it is so hard to figure out which one is which. Colton takes himself out of the game by turning into a lunatic. Nevin doesn't know how to love it seems and Gareth just needs like a really good friend and protector. But Salome gets the pick of all three. Who does she choose? Well, you'll just have to read the book for that.

Salomes family infuriated me. How could her mother not know about the curse and what it was doing to her daughter? How could she just assume she was mental and try to send her to Dr. Bosworth? I hate when parents assume things and try to find the easiest way out for themselves instead of what is best for their child. I would really like to know what happened with her father though. He came back and had this weird seasonal ring on his finger and was insane. I dont think insane is a strong enough word, honestly. He locked his daughter out in the snow for crying out loud.

I am hoping there will either be a second book of some novellas telling different sides of the story. I would love to see Nevins, Gareths and her dads sides. 

Two questions that are nagging me though. Was Simeon the same as Gareth? And, if Nevin and Colton couldn't go back to their Kingdom then why could Gareth? There are so many ideas and theories going through my head. I love when books make you think about things.

I loved the world building. I actually felt like it was winter while reading this book. I imagined the scenes with Nevin in her grandmothers backyard so clearly. The snowflakes, the wind, the sun glaring off the snow. It all felt so perfect.

Overall, I gave the book 5/5 stars and I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

Author Spotlight: Gated & Astray by Amy Christine Parker + Giveaway!!

AMY CHRISTINE PARKER writes full-time from her home near Tampa, Florida, where she lives with her husband, their two daughters, and one ridiculously fat cat. Visit her at amychristineparker.com and follow her on Twitter @amychristinepar.

Upon starting this book, I was in a terrible reading slump. I kept picking books up and reading a few pages and them putting them back. But once I received this book in the mail I couldn't put it down.

Let me first just say that I truly wanted to slap Lyla. She was so timid and she just made me want to scream. She was afraid of everything and was actually OKAY with being that scared little girl that hid behind everyone. Luckily, that changed or I would have been ranting and raving throughout the entire book.

I love the fact that the book is centered around 9/11, hurricane Katrina and a few other natural and terrorist happenings. Pioneer uses these things to form his Brethren story and draws a ton of families into his little Community.

I have recently read a book similar to Gated and I liked it but I HATED the religious cult aspect. Gated does have the religious cult type aspect but once you get into the book you find out that the initial religious thing was wrong and something much more out-of-left-field is at hand.

Pioneer is creepy. He kind of reminds me of a pedophile, honestly. His belief in the Brethren and the fact that they are actually not about God was a very eye opening scene. This really just teaches you that you should never believe certain things will happen in a book. Everything can get turned around in the matter of one page.

I loved the fact that Lyla questioned her love for Will. She knew she loved him but she didn't LOVE, love him. She was questioning a lot of things and I am glad she wasn't the only one. Marie had some questions of her own but they weren't exactly like Lyla's. Marie was more worried about her brother and experiencing things outside the Community. Lyla was more worried about Pioneers ways and whether the world was really ending.

Mandrodage Meadows sounds like the perfect place to live. No bills, no cares in the world really. Well, yeah, except for the cult thing, obviously.

The parents in the book infuriated me. They let some random man come into their lives, spew some stuff about the world ending and they just believed him. Then they let this same man "punish" them and their children. Something has to be severely messed up in their brains to allow this to happen. I wonder if all the families were like Lyla's. Had they all gone through a tragedy that made their beliefs dwindle so much that they would put their lives in the hands of a looneytoon?

Cody's character was definitely Lyla's breaking point. He helped her realize that something about her life just wasn't right. He also put into question her feelings for Will and whether having an Intended as right. He was the perfect person to shake her world up.

The ending was very intense but it had to happen. The entire book was building up to something bad happening to the Community. I still can't believe HE survived though. Maybe Lyla was wrong about the Brethren. Maybe she was wrong about everything. I guess we will find out in the next book.

I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who likes more realistic dystopian/apocalyptic books. This book could actually happen. It probably already has somewhere in the world.

Overall, I gave the book 4/5 stars.

I would first like to say that if you enjoyed Gated or even found it a little boring then you should still at least try Astray. It gets sooo much better a lot more intense.

I really enjoyed the whole school aspect. In a way it actually made the "Meadow" kids worse because it just showed them how bad people really are. They were taken from a place where the fact that humans were horrible people was drilled into their heads on a daily basis and they were shoved into a school where the people really were horrible. I think the whole school thing really just enforced their beliefs even more and did more harm than good.

Lyla is so much different in Astray. She is brave and overcomes so many struggles. She has turned into a completely different girl but she still has her doubts. I don't think she will ever get over them but at least she has Cody to help her move along. I really like how everything about Lyla is laid bare. Her doubts, fears, insecurities and most of all her faith.

I really don't think Lyla could have gotten any luckier than when Cody came into her life. He tries to help her and he is always there for her and most people would just treat her like she is a freak. But Cody holds her hand, comforts her and doesn't care about the repercussions on his personal life.

Will got really obsessive and creepy during this book. He wasn't exactly mentally stable in Gated but at least he seemed like a semi-normal guy. Everyone got really obsessive and creepy, actually.

Astray just puts into perspective the the cult followers can be just as bad, if not worse, than the leader himself.  In actuality, Astray is extremely more cult related than Gated was. There is chanting and stalking and threatening where in Gated there really wasn't much creepy stuff until the very end of the book.

Mr. Brown and Brian took things extremely too far and I think that just added to the creepy cult factor. People can be so easily manipulated and made to believe in anything and that scares me.

In the end I think the conclusion of this book was great. The bombing was TERRIBLE. But with how The Community was I was expecting something huge to happen. Will's family came to their sense's, I think. And best of all. Lyla stopped fearing Pioneer and he didn't win.

Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.

1) What is the hardest part about being an author?

For me the hardest part is always pushing through the moments when I doubt myself, my story, and my ability to write that story well. I used to think getting published would help with this, that it would somehow validate me in such a way that I could be more confident as a writer, but so far that hasn’t been the case! I am scared that I suck every time I start a new book, every time that book lands on my editor’s desk, and every time that book releases to the wider world.

2) What made you decide to write books like Gated & Astray so far after the 9/11 incident?

I was inspired more by the Mayan Apocalypse predicted to take place in 2012 than I was 9/11. For me 9/11 was just a potent way to show how someone could begin to doubt the world and it’s future, mainly because on that day anyone who was old enough to know what was happening did doubt. Everyone felt vulnerable and no one will ever forget that feeling. There are few events that strike such powerful feelings from people than 9/11 and I felt that it was the best way to get people to relate to the characters and their decision making.

3) Are any of your characters inspired by real life people?

Yes, Pioneer. He is a hybrid of every single cult leader I researched. There are aspects of Jim Jones, David Koresh, Charles Manson, Warren Jeffs, and Marshal Applewhite in his personality--but he’s the only one.The other characters I developed may have subtle similarities to people I know or researched, but if they do it was purely accidental.

4) Who is your favorite character from Gated or Astray?

Pioneer. I like writing a villain, what can I say. It’s fun! There’s an absence of any empathy and humanity there that makes him interesting and trying to make him appear empathetic while also hinting to the reader that he was anything but, was tricky. It kept me on my toes.

5) Which cover for Gated do you like better? The hardback or the paperback?

You know, when I saw the first cover I was ecstatic. I thought it conveyed the overall sense of unease and tension that Lyla felt as the story progressed. I actually have a framed poster of it hanging up in my house. The colors, the special feel of the jacket, all of it was so much more than I imagined. But then Random House decided to retool the packaging for the book to make the look and feel more contemporary and I have to say, I fell for the new cover pretty hard too. If I had to chose I’d go with the paperback. I think in the end it fits the book better, but I still say that I won the cover lottery because I haven’t been upset with any of my covers and I realize that not every author can say that. Have you seen the German cover? It’s awesome too!

6) Will there be a third book in the series?

No, ASTRAY is the end of Lyla’s story. In my head it was always the two books, so I’m excited about moving on and exploring new stories.So far most of my ideas run to stand alones. I tend to like to read that way too. Very rarely do I read an entire series start to finish. I get fidgety--with my writing it’s the same. My favorite part of the process is starting to research and plot something brand new.

7) Do you think the world is going to end?

Some day, yes. It’s logical that everything has a beginning and an end, but I don’t have any expectations for when that might be! And I’m not preparing in any way

a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVIEW: Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi + Music Video

Oh, Ignite Me, you are so good at pulling the rug out from under my feet and leaving me completely confused and saddened. You took everything I thought I knew and twisted it around. Warner? Adam? WHAT?!

It took me eight months to read this book and I am still trying to figure out if reading it was a good idea. I didn't want the series to end and now that it has I just want to pick Shatter Me up and start reading the trilogy again.

The first part of the book doesn't come as much of a surprise. Obviously Juliette was going to be okay or there really wouldn't be a point in having a third book.

Warner was always a confusing character. He HOT, of course, but his emotions and personalities were all over the place. I was starting to think he was bipolar. My bipolar thoughts of Warner didn't change until about half way through the book.

Adam... Jesus ever-loving Christmas! He earned the new bipolar award from me. He also earned dickhead of the year award. Everyone thought Warner was the wrong guy for Juliette but in reality Adam was the wrong one. He was so volatile, temperamental and downright cruel throughout this book. I will never understand how love can turn to hate so quickly.

I loved how everyones powers evolved throughout the book. Projection seems like it must be really awesome. 

The emotional level of this book is HIGH. Everything was emotional and painful in the beginning. Adam towards Juliette. Juliette towards both Warner and Adam, Kenji towards Castle, etc. Everything just seemed on edge and a lot of hearts were on sleeves. 

Kenji was sooo different in this book. He was more talkative it seemed and he also seemed gay. Like a gay guy best friend. Some of the banter between him and Juliette was just amazing. But I do feel that Kenji was pushed to the side by everyone. No one ever asked him if he was okay or if he wanted to talk about what was on his mind. He was just expected to make everyone laugh and be the backbone of the group.

One HUGE thing I didn't expect was Warners reaction to the whole brother situation. I expected him to freak out and kill Adam. But instead he tried to BOND with him! Seriously?! I felt so blindsided by that. But I guess that just proves that Warner really is different than we were first shown. But after losing his mother I can understand how much Warner must have wanted to have a family. It will probably be awkward for Juliette some day. Uncle Adammmmm. 

The war was not a war. It was pretty much a cut scene and then it went straight to Juliette ending everything. I was expecting there to be death and bloodshed and a lot of violence but it was really all about Juliette on a ship. Like thirty pages were dedicated to her searching around this ship for Anderson. It was rather boring and a little disappointing.

I am so glad that Ignite Me had a more successful ending than Unravel Me did. I do wish we could have found out what happened to everyone AFTER the war ended. There are so many thing left open and so many different endings that could happen.

Favorite Quote:

"Do you never get exhausted being so wholly unbearable? You have as much charisma as the rotting innards of unidentified roadkill." -Warner to Adam

Overall, I gave the book 5/5 kitties.

Word of the Week Wednesday[14]

Word of the Week - Ululation - City of Ashes - Page 87

Meaning - Howl: a long loud emotional utterance;