Jasmine: To Read Vlog

So apparently I'm obsessed with the word incredibly. I used it like 25 times. Ignore that. Also ignore my crazy hair and my highlighter yellow cheer shirt. Let me know if you have read any of these books or have your own to read post. I would love to see :).

 

Jasmine <3

Series Love #14: Starcrossed Series

Series Love is a meme we came up with. There are so many amazing book series out there. We love to share the love and help spread the word. If you want to play along all you have to do is pick a series. It doesn’t matter if it only has one book or a million. Include authors name and the covers of the books.

My pick this week is Starcrossed series by Josephine Angelini



Lets just take a moment and stare at those lovely covers. Aren't they amazing? So this such an amazing series. I love it with all my heart. We all know I'm more than a little obsessed with Greek mythology. The mythology in these books is so fascinating. The storylines are absolutely amazing. The characters are even more amazing if possible. This has one of my favorite male and female characters. Take this as a warning that this is a torturous series. The second book more than the first. I'm sure the author will cackle evilly if she sees this. She probably enjoys torturing us. Now with that being said that doesn't mean you shouldn't read this series. In fact it means the exact opposite. I recommend this series with all my heart. I will even hunt you down should you chose not to read it. So if you don't want to face my wrath, I would read it. Then we can all wait impatiently together for the third book :).


Jasmine <3

Author Love #14: Michelle Hodkin

Author Love is a meme we came up with. There are so many authors and books out there that we love so much and want the world to know about them. If you want to play along all you have to do is pick one of your favorite authors. Write what you like about them and/or their books. You can also include an author bio and synopsis of their book if you want.

My pick this week is: Michelle Hodkin
Author Bio from website:
At the age of sixteen, I lost the rights to my soul in a poker game with pirates just south of Natchez. Shortly thereafter, I joined an acting troupe and traveled the world performing feats of wonder and mischief before writing my first novel, THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER (Simon & Schuster BFYR), which is available now. Its sequel, THE EVOLUTION OF MARA DYER, hits shelves October 23, 2012, and the third book in the trilogy, THE RETRIBUTION OF MARA DYER, will be out Fall 2013. PS: I may or may not be a reliable narrator of my own life.

I chose Michelle Hodkin for two reasons. One, her book was amazing. Two, shes a very interactive author. Shes always teasing us and writing extras for us. That makes me like her even more because she seems to really care about her readers( I really hope she gets the chance to see this). As for books The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is one of my favorites. It was unlike anything else I've read. I have been waiting forever for The Evolution of Mara Dyer to come out. Sadly I'm still waiting but the wait is almost over. Its due to come out next month. I'm super excited. If you haven't read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer I highly recommend :).

Jasmine <3

Waiting on Wednesday: Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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

My pick this week is:

Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Expected publication: December 11th 2012 by Entangled Publishing

No one is like Daemon Black.
When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.
But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.
After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.
Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

 

As soon as the cover for this was released I knew I had to save this week for it. Isn't that such a pretty cover? We all know I'm a big Jennifer Armentrout fan. She can do no wrong in my book. Onyx was released a while back. It was amazing of course. The wait for Opal is actually not that bad. It's only a few months. It still feels like torture though. I guess you could say I'm a little impatient. December couldn't come any faster. If you haven't read Obsidian or Onyx, you should do that. This is one of those I will hunt you down series. Save me some trouble and read it :).

 

Jasmine <3

Teaser Tuesday #17

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser for this week is from The Way We Fall by Megen Crewe

When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn's community, the government quarantines her island--no one can leave, and no one can come back.
Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.
Because how will she go on if there isn't?
Megan Crewe crafts a powerful and gripping exploration of self-preservation, first love, and hope. Poignant and dizzying, this heart-wrenching story of one girl's bravery and unbeatable spirit will leave readers fervently awaiting the next book in this standout new series.

Teaser:
I was picturing another fifteen hours of watching depressing news reports and reading more and more ahead in my books for school, which may never open again for all we know. Then I saw Meredith huddled on her cot beside my bed, silently, with tears streaming down her face.

This is from page 103 of my hardcover copy.

Jasmine <3

Scorch by Gina Damico Review

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Graphia
Source: Bought
Second book in Croak series
Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby is a teenage grim reaper with the bizarre ability to damn souls. That makes her pretty scary, even to fellow Grims. But after inadvertently transferring her ability to Zara, a murderous outlaw, Lex is a pariah in Croak, the little town she calls home.
To escape the townspeople’s wrath, she and her friends embark on a wild road trip to DeMyse. Though this sparkling desert oasis is full of luxuries and amusements, it feels like a prison to Lex. Her best chance at escape would be to stop Zara once and for all—but how can she do that from DeMyse, where the Grims seem mysteriously oblivious to Zara’s killing spree?


Review
This was seriously mind blowing. It was absolutely amazing. It was such a good sequel. The storyline was suspenseful and exciting. The characters were amazing as always. It had some of the same aspects of the first but it was still vastly different. I read this in pretty much a day. I couldn't put it down. I doubt this review will do this book any justice at all but I'm going to give it my best shot.

I adore Lex. Shes such an amazing character. She has an amazing snarky personality. Shes incredibly strong. She was going through a lot but she always tried not to let things get to her. Shes always trying to help figure things out. Most of the times she is the one that finds the solution. Oh, Driggs. Let me just start off by saying hes an absolutely adorable character. I love him so much. He has a great personality. He was always the target. I was scared for him. I will throw a hissy fit if something bad ends up happening to him. He's to important to my heart. The secondary characters played a very big part in this also. I loved how they really stuck together. Their like one big family.

This had such an amazing storyline. The suspense was killer. The action was great. There was still a few cute moments which made me very happy. This was impossible to put down because I had to know what was going to happen. It never failed to surprise me. This was a very action packed sequel. Overall I absolutely adored this. I loved it even more than the first. It was perfect. I can't wait to see what happens next. I also can't wait to meet this author next week. If you haven't read this series I highly recommend. 5/5 stars

Jasmine <3

Chase Tinker and The House Of Magic by Malia Ann Haberman

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Source: Author
First book in The Chase Tinker series
*This was gifted to me by author for review*
In Chase Tinker's world, magic, lies and secrets can be a lethal combination...
Chase Tinker has the power to move things with his mind. His brother Andy can stop time. The thing is, they have no idea where these crazy abilities could've possible come from, and, are totally clueless on how to control them. Chase wants desperately to talk to his dad about it, but Benjamin Tinker has disappeared without a word.
It's a huge shock to Chase and Andy when one day a grandfather they thought to be long dead arrives at their door. He invites them to come spend the summer with him and their cousin Janie on a remote island in an out-of-this-world house where fantastic magic can be found in practically every room, stairway and corridor. Chase can't believe his dad has been lying and keeping so many important things from his sons.
Not long after the boys' arrival at Grandfather's house, their aunt, who has been on a mission to find their missing dad, turns up, hurt, sick—and alone. Now three of the biggest questions in their minds are: where in the world is their dad? And how will they find him? Or, is he...dead? It doesn't help matters when Chase's despicable cousin James arrives and turns everything upside down, even putting Chase's life in mortal danger.
As he spends more time in the house, Chase begins to realize that, not only has their dad been keeping things from them, but Grandfather seems to be keeping several secrets of his own and Chase is bound and determined to find out just what those secrets are.
Chase soon finds out that all their magic is controlled by a strange, incredibly powerful relic hidden in the attic, and if anything happens to this relic every bit of Tinker magic will be lost forever. And, if this isn't enough to worry about, the Tinkers are also facing a terrifying and powerful enemy that is determined to destroy the Tinkers and possess all their magic, their house and their Relic. Now Chase, along with Andy, Janie and their good friend Persephone, must find a way to stop these evil beings in order to save, not only themselves, but everyone else on the planet.

Review
I love middle grade. I also love magic. This was a perfect mix of both. The magical aspect was awesome. It reminded me of Harry Potter and Howl's Moving Castle. All the characters were great.I loved how innocent they were. This had a super exciting storyline. I can't wait to see what happens next.

I really liked Chase. I like how excited he was about the magic. I also like how adventurous he was. I have a feeling his role is just going to keep getting better but hes the perfect person for it. Andy was so cute. He really grew into his magic. I love his innocence. Hes just a super cute little kid with magical powers. Chase and Andy had some pretty cool powers. I wanted to hop into the story so I could have powers too. The rest of the gang was awesome too. I loved Janie even if she was a know it all. Also Maxwell was a pretty cute partner in crime. I sense some romance brewing between Chase and Persephone. They would make a super cute couple.

This had a pretty great storyline. I loved the magic. All the different magical rooms were so cool. I wish my house was like that. There was a fair share of suspense and mystery. There was a pretty good amount of twists too. I never saw any of them coming. Overall I really enjoyed this. It was such a good read. Everything was pretty well done and I can't wait to see where the story is going to go. 4/5 stars

Jasmine <3

Cover Reveal: Abandon by Elana Johnson

Abandon by Elana Johnson

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Expected Publication: June of 2013

Third book in the Possession series
Tour host: http://atomrbookblogtours.com/
seduced by power,

broken by control,

and consumed by love...

Vi has made her choice between Jag and Zenn, and the Resistance may have suffered for it. But with the Thinkers as strong as ever, the rebels still have a job to do. Vi knows better than anyone that there's more at stake than a few broken hearts.

 

But there is a traitor among them...and the choices he makes could lead to the total destruction of everything Vi has fought for.

 

Vi, Jag, and Zenn must set their problems aside for the Resistance to have any hope of ending the Thinkers' reign. Their success means everything...and their failure means death.

 

Isn't that such a pretty cover? I love it. This is one of my favorite series. I'm super excited to see where its going to go. June couldn't come any faster.

 

Jasmine <3

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday: Shadows in the Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton

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

My pick this week is:

Shadows in the Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton

Expected release date: January 29th, 2013

             from Katherine Tegen Books    

    Your strength in heart and hand will fall. . . .
Ellie knows that the darkest moments are still to come, and she has everything to fight for:

She must fight for Will.
The demonic have resorted to their cruelest weapons to put Will in mortal danger, and Ellie makes an unlikely alliance to save him and to stop Lilith and Sammael, who seek to drown the world in blood and tear a hole into Heaven.

She must fight for humanity.
As the armies of Hell rise and gather for the looming End of Days, Ellie and her band of allies travel to the world’s darkest and most ancient regions in her quest to come into her full glory as the archangel Gabriel.

And Ellie must save herself.
Her humanity withers beneath the weight of her cold archangel power, but Ellie must hold tight to who she is and who she loves as she prepares for the ultimate battle for Heaven and Earth.

In this final installment in the Angelfire trilogy, Courtney Allison Moulton brings her dark world of epic battles and blistering romance to a blazing bright conclusion. 

 

This series is one of my favorites. I cannot wait for this to come out. It seems like the last book in a lot of my favorite series are coming out and it's sad and exciting at the same time. Wings of the Wicked ending in a huge cliff-hanger and I don't know how much longer I can wait to know what happens to Ellie and Will.

Teaser Tuesday #16

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

My teaser for this week is from Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs.

 

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

 

My Teaser:

"Even twenty minutes in a scalding shower can't completely wash the stink of minotaur off my body. I lather-rinse-repeat five times, hoping to purge the lingering residue from my hair. Getting up close and personal with a monster is never pretty, but sometimes it's worse than others." -Page 41

 

I haven't started this yet but I am so excited to read it. It looks amazing :).

 

-Marissa

TigerLily by Jodi Lynn Anderson Review

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Harper Collins
Source: Conference
Standalone
Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .
Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.
Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.
With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Peaches comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.


Review
I was so excited to read this. It sounded so amazing. It was just as good and I thought it was going to be. The characters were amazing. The setting was great. I wish I could live in Neverland. The storyline was fantabulous. I never wanted to put this down and when I did it was all I thought about.

I loved Tigerlily. I like how unique she was. She never failed to surprise me. I loved her fierceness. I loved that she wasn't what she portrayed. There was so many different sides to her. She had quite the life but she tried to make the best of it. Peter really surprised me. I think I was expecting him to be like the Peter in the Disney movie and he wasn't at all. He's a pretty complex character. I had moments when I loved him then I had moments when I didn't like him. Even though Tigerlily and Peter had some cute moments, I feel like they were both fighting for something they knew they couldn't have. Then they were forced to settle. But I think that played a big part in the story and it worked out well. I think these characters were amazing and so well done.

I absolutely love that this story is told from Tinkerbell. It felt like I was watching a movie. I loved how the story was constantly changing. There was so many twists and turns. This was impossible to put down as I said before. There was so much suspense. It made me want to go watch Peter Pan and compare. I doubt they are anything alike though and I like that. It's what makes this such a unique story. Overall I loved this book so much. It had everything a great book needs. I'm so glad I got the chance to read it. If you haven't read this one I highly recommend because I think a lot of people will enjoy this story. 5/5 stars

Jasmine <3

Jasmine: Summer Wrap Up

Hey guys! So summer is officially over for me. I've been back in my version of school for a few weeks now. I wanted to write this just so you guys can know how I spent my summer, what's coming up here on the blog, and what my plan is for the next couple months. So over the summer I passed my reading goal(which was 50) and read 60 books. That sounds kinda crazy but I'm pretty proud of myself. I've been pretty good about updating Goodreads so you can look there to see what I read. I'm attending Austin Teen Book Festival at the end of this month. As for conferences I'm planning on attending TLA in April and ALA annual in June. ALA isn't local so I'm going to be traveling to Chicago for it. If any of you are planning on going to any of those events leave a comment and let me know.I should be posting wrap ups for the conferences and events too so keep an eye out for those. As for here on the blog, things are probably going to slow down a little bit. With school its hard to post reviews and stuff. Hopefully it wont be too bad. Also we are finally getting a blog design :). Its supposed to start work in October. Our little blog isn't so little anymore. Our progress has been great lately. I want to thank all of you for being such lovely followers. Hopefully the giveaways make you feel appreciated. If any of you have a wrap up post or a plan for the rest of your year I would love to hear it. You can leave a comment of find me on Twitter. Keep an eye out for my reviews, memes, and vlogs. Thanks for reading.

Jasmine <3

Graceling by Kristen Cashore Review

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Harcourt
Source: Bought
First book in Graceling Realm series
His eyes, Katsa had never seen such eyes. One was silver, and the other, gold. They glowed in his sun-darkened face, uneven, and strange. She was surprised that they hadn't shone in the darkness of their first meeting. They didn't seem human....
Then he raised his eyebrows a hair, and his mouth shifted into the hint of a smirk. He nodded at her, just barely, and it released her from her spell.
Cocky, she thought. Cocky and arrogant, this one, and that was all there was to make of him. Whatever game he was playing, if he expected her to join him he would be disappointed.
In a world where people born with an extreme skill - called a Grace - are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of the skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.
When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.
She never expects to become Po's friend.
She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.


Review
I tried to read this awhile back and didn't finish it. I told myself I would try again. I must not have been right in the brain when I told myself not to finish this. I'm so happy I gave it another shot. I ended up loving it(as Marissa predicted). My love for historical fiction just keeps growing.

The great thing about historical fiction is they have amazing characters. Kasta is an amazing heroine. I loved her. I loved how fierce she was. Even though she's crazy kick ass she still had her caring, loving moments. I loved that she wasn't what people expected her to be. I didn't expect Kasta and Po to be capable of being so adorable. I was surprised. They were so cute. I loved it. Po was an amazing character also. He had a great personality. He was pretty fierce himself. I like how the relationship between Kasta and Po was slow then fast. There was no insta love. Another character I loved was Bitterblue. I cannot wait to read her story. I'm super curious about her life now. I love these characters so much. I can't wait to fall in love with another set of characters.

This had an amazing storyline. I loved all the action and the different settings. It was like one big adventure with twists and turns. There were torture moments when I was screaming my head off. There was tons of aw how cute moments. There was just such a perfect mix of everything. Overall I loved this with all my heart. I cannot believe I waited so long to read it. I think everything about it was great. It was impossible to put down. You just had to know what was going to happen. This has everything I think a great book needs. I can't wait to read Kristen Cashore's other books and I highly recommend. 5/5 stars

Jasmine <3

Series Love #13: A Need So Beautiful Duology

Series Love is a meme we came up with. There are so many amazing book series out there. We love to share the love and help spread the word. If you want to play along all you have to do is pick a series. It doesn’t matter if it only has one book or a million. Include authors name and the covers of the books.

My pick this week is the A Need So Beautiful Duology by Suzanne Young


Aren't those covers pretty? So I read these right after each other so the series felt really short to me. I loved it so much there could have been 8 more books and I would have been very happy. But just the two fit together so perfectly that I wouldn't change a thing. They were both so amazing. I absolutely adored the characters. They story lines were fantabulous. Even though I've read a lot of angel books, I've never read an angel book quite like this. This series is just so unique. I am super excited to see what this author comes up with next. If you haven't read this series I highly recommend. Its amazing.

Jasmine <3

Author Love #13: Huntley Fitzpatrick

Author Love is a meme we came up with. There are so many authors and books out there that we love so much and want the world to know about them. If you want to play along all you have to do is pick one of your favorite authors. Write what you like about them and/or their books. You can also include an author bio and synopsis of their book if you want.

My pick this week is: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Author Bio from goodreads
Huntley Fitzpatrick grew up dreamy and distracted in coastal Connecticut, attended Concord Academy and Yale. She flourished in a family of bookworms where everyone always had their nose in a book. She kept an exhaustively thorough journal which frightened her boyfriends but has proved very useful in her career as a writer. Her debut contemporary Romance, MY LIFE NEXT DOOR, was published in June of 2012 by Penguin-Dial for Young Readers. Now she laughs with and eavesdrops on her six children who provide her with perspective and material. She is represented by the amazing Christina Hogrebe of the Jane Rotrosen Agency.

I picked Huntley Fitzpatrick because I loved My Life Next Door so much. Since its a standalone it couldn't be a series love. So instead I chose to do author love. I think My Life Next Door was absolutely amazing. You can how much I loved it in my review. It was a debut and it was amazing. That just makes me super excited to see what else this author comes up with. I would die to meet this author and get my book signed. I hope she comes to Texas one day. If you haven't read My Life Next Door I'm gonna hunt you down and force you. As for me, I'm going to patiently wait for this author to write something else for me to love :).

Jasmine <3

Waiting on Wednesday: Let The Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

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

My pick this week is:

Let The Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

Expected publication: March 5th 2013 by Simon Pulse

A broken past and a divided future can’t stop the electric connection of two teens in this “charged and romantic” (Becca Fitzpatrick), lush novel. Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.
Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.
When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

 

This is a pretty eagerly anticipated book. I found it on twitter because someone else was talking about it. It sounds like such a amazing read. I get so jealous when I see people reading it early. The release date for this couldn't come any faster.

 

Jasmine <3

Hunter by C. W. Nash Review

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Rocket Science Productions, LLC
Source: Author
First book in a possible series
*This was gifted to me by author for review*
As Cole Alexander prepares to make his way in the world, luck would have it, he meets the love of his life, Leila McLerran. Cole is diagnosed with a horrible disease that forces him to rethink the way that he wants his life to go. With death staring Cole in the face, he makes the decision that he doesn’t want to live the rest of his days without Leila. As Cole and Leila plan for their future together, a vampire forever changes the course of their lives. Left a wreck of his former self, Cole meets Professor Job Fergusson, who steps in to tell him a secret: Cole’s disease gives him a slight edge over the undead and together they can dispose of the world’s plight. Will Cole join the secret society of the Venatori and seek revenge, or is it all too much?


Review
I'm a little conflicted with this. It had a lot of things I liked and it had some things I didn't like. I can honestly say after reading the first few chapters I didn't think I was going to like this very much. There was a little to much insta love. I'm glad I gave it a shot because I ended up enjoying it.

I loved Cole. He's super cute. He has a great personality. His feelings were very strong. He knew what he wanted as soon as he found it. He takes things very seriously. I felt like there was almost two Cole's. The one in the first half and the one in the second. I liked the Cole in the first half better. The Cole in the second half was a very intense character. At that point he had been through a lot. He changed a lot. I can understand why but I just ended up not enjoying his character as much as I was. I loved Lelia and was so sad when she wasn't in the story anymore. I thought their relationship was the cutest thing even though it started off very fast. I think both characters were very well done.

The storyline for this was almost two in one. There was Cole with his happily married life. Then there was Cole the Hunter. The two fit pretty well together. I did end up liking the first half of the book better than the second, just cause it was more up my alley. The second half was still pretty good. There was a lot of action. Overall I ended up really enjoying this. I loved the main character and the storyline was great. I think a lot of people will enjoy this story so I highly recommend. 4/5 stars
 
Jasmine <3

Teaser Tuesday #15

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser for this week is from For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund.

It's been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.
Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.
But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.
Inspired by Jane Austen's "Persuasion," "For Darkness Shows the Stars" is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

Teaser: " My father did not rent out your house," Elliot said, even if he had made it necessary. " I did. If you want to be mad, be mad at me"

This is actually not what I'm currently reading. This is what I plan on reading next. This is from an ARC so it might be different in the finished copy.

Jasmine <3

Marissa: To-Read Stack Vlogs

I recorded more to read stack vlogs for you guys.

 

 

I realized after that I wasn't actually wearing the same camp shirt as Jasmine. We have to many. Sorry for all the random pauses. I kept thinking I heard someone and I didn't want anyone to walk in and think I was talking to myself. If you've read any of the books be sure to tell me what you thought in the comments :)

 

-Marissa

 

Such A Rush by Jennifer Echols Review

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: MTV Books
Source: Bought
Standalone
A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.When I was fourteen, I made a decision. If I was doomed to live in a trailer park next to an airport, I could complain about the smell of the jet fuel like my mom, I could drink myself to death over the noise like everybody else, or I could learn to fly.
Heaven Beach, South Carolina, is anything but, if you live at the low-rent end of town. All her life, Leah Jones has been the grown-up in her family, while her mother moves from boyfriend to boyfriend, letting any available money slip out of her hands. At school, they may diss Leah as trash, but she’s the one who negotiates with the landlord when the rent’s not paid. At fourteen, she’s the one who gets a job at the nearby airstrip.
But there’s one way Leah can escape reality. Saving every penny she can, she begs quiet Mr. Hall, who runs an aerial banner-advertising business at the airstrip and also offers flight lessons, to take her up just once. Leaving the trailer park far beneath her and swooping out over the sea is a rush greater than anything she’s ever experienced, and when Mr. Hall offers to give her cut-rate flight lessons, she feels ready to touch the sky.
By the time she’s a high school senior, Leah has become a good enough pilot that Mr. Hall offers her a job flying a banner plane. It seems like a dream come true . . . but turns out to be just as fleeting as any dream. Mr. Hall dies suddenly, leaving everything he owned in the hands of his teenage sons: golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson. And they’re determined to keep the banner planes flying.
Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business—until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers—and the consequences could be deadly.


Review
 One might pick this up, scan the jacket and think it was about planes. Yes, planes and flying are a big part of the story. But this book is so much more than that. Its about life and loss and the struggles of both. Its really moving. This was a book after my own heart and I loved every page.

I can imagine Leah was a hard character to write. She's pretty complex. I really enjoyed her character. I like how she wasn't embarrassed of her life. She made the best of what she had. She never gave up on what she wanted. She really came into herself throughout the book. She changed a lot. I loved Grayson from the start. He's a hard character to understand. Even though he was a jerk sometimes I still really loved him. I loved how caring he was. I liked how determined he was. Both Leah and Grayson are complex characters and I think that's why they fit so well together. I liked their relationship because they didn't rush things. Half the time they hated each other the other half they had some insanely adorable moments. As for secondary characters, Molly isn't the type of person I would want to be friends with. But I did like her character. Alec was super sweet. I'm glad they found each other because they were super cute.

This has such an amazing storyline. I absolutely adored the planes and the flying. I loved all the attention to detail. Everything fit together perfectly. The plot had its fair share of action and drama. The storyline was very moving. The characters really grew and changed throughout the story. Overall I love this book with all my heart. I will reread it probably a thousand times. If you haven't read this I very highly recommend. 5/5 stars

Jasmine <3

100 Followers Giveaway!

So we recently reached 100 followers! Actually we're at 120 followers now and we're so, so excited. So to thank all of y'all and to celebrate 20 days until Austin Teen Book Festival we're having a giveaway.

Basically at the end the month we are to planning to go to Austin Teen Book Festival. Over 30 Young Adult authors are signing and doing panels. It's going to be awesome. So two winners will get a book signed by an author of their choice. Here is the list of authors going.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Sorry for International people this is a US/CAN giveaway. We can't afford it but we'll try to find ways to include you guys later. We're really appreciative.

Be sure to comment or tweet letting us know if you're going too. We would love to meet up :)

Series Love #12: Dream Catcher Trilogy

Series Love is a meme we came up with. There are so many amazing book series out there. We love to share the love and help spread the word. If you want to play along all you have to do is pick a series. It doesn’t matter if it only has one book or a million. Include authors name and the covers of the books.

My pick this week is the Dream Catcher Trilogy by Lisa Mcmann

I picked this series because I love how unique it is. I read it a while back and I still think about it all the time because it's so different than anything I've read. The trilogy follows the main character Janie  who is a dream catcher which basically means she gets sucked into other peoples dreams and can't control it. So that's a lot less fun than it sounds. It's about her coming to terms with what she is and what that means for her. There's a guy that helps her out through all of that named Cabel and I like him very much :). It's dark and original and the writing style is fabulous. Plus the romance is pretty adorable. If you haven't read this series I highly recommend you do. There all out so you don't have to wait and I promise the story will stick with you.

-Marissa

P. S. Yes, I know these normally go up on Friday and you all were probably wondering what the heck happened to me. Sorry I was reading and forgot until the end of the day that these were supposed to go up.

Author Love #12: Veronica Roth

Author Love is a meme we came up with. There are so many authors and books out there that we love so much and want the world to know about them. If you want to play along all you have to do is pick one of your favorite authors. Write what you like about them and/or their books. You can also include an author bio and synopsis of their book if you want.

My pick this week is: Veronica Roth

Bio from YA Highway:
Age: 23
Book(s): DIVERGENT - Harper Collins 2011; INSURGENT - 2012 Location: Chicago suburbs
Veronica is the author of DIVERGENT, a NYT Bestselling YA dystopian thriller published by Harper Collins/Katherine Tegen Books. She's also a graduate of Northwestern University, a Christian, and A Tall Person, among other things.

Website/Twitter: veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com; @VeronicaRoth
Agent: Joanna Stampfel-Volpe of New Leaf Literary

 

So it might be obvious that I love the Divergent trilogy. It's one of my favorite series ever and in my opinion the dystopian genre at it's best. One of the other reasons I love it so much is that Veronica Roth is an amazing author and seems like a person I could be friends with in real life. I got to meet her at TLA this year and get Divergent signed. She was super nice and humble and it kind of seemed like she was amazing by the turn out and shocked that Divergent had gotten so big. She deserves all the credit she gets for her amazing books and I hope she keeps on writing more of them.

Me, Veronica Roth and Jasmine at TLA
Isn't her hair awesome?

-Marissa


P. S. Yes, I know these normally go up on Friday and you all were probably wondering what the heck happened to me. Sorry I was reading and forgot until the end of the day that these were supposed to go up.

Whispers in Autumn by Trisha Leigh Review

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: CreateSpace
Source: Author
First book in The Last Year series
*This was gifted to me by author for review*
In 2015, a race of alien Others conquered Earth. They enslaved humanity not by force, but through an aggressive mind control that turned people into contented, unquestioning robots.
Except sixteen-year-old Althea isn’t content at all, and she doesn’t need the mysterious note inside her locket to tell her she’s Something Else. It also warns her to trust no one, so she hides the pieces that make her different, even though it means being alone.
The autumn she meets Lucas, everything changes.
Althea and Lucas are immune to the alien mind control, and together they search for the reason why. What they uncover is a stunning truth the Others never anticipated, one with the potential to free the brainwashed human race.
It’s not who they are that makes them special, but what.
And what they are is a threat. One the Others are determined to eliminate for good.


Review
This was such an exciting read. It was very intense. There was so much action. There was also tons of suspense. The characters were great. The magical aspect was awesome. There was so many unique aspects to this. Combined they made for a great read.

I really liked Althea. I like how she makes the best of everything. I like how she went from being weak to being incredibly strong. Her powers were so awesome. I like how even people who tried to hurt her she was hesitant about hurting anyone. Lucas is such a sweetheart. I loved him. I like how caring he was. He was so strong. Combined they were a pretty fierce pair. I can't wait to see what they do next.

This had a pretty suspenseful plot. It was very hard to put down because I was dying to know what was going to happen. there was also a lot of action. I loved all the magic. I also loved the mystery. Overall I really enjoyed this. I think it was such a unique story. I think everything was pretty well done. There was a lot of attention to detail. I can't wait to see where the rest of the series is going to go. This had a little bit of a cliffhanger so I hope the sequel comes soon. 4/5 stars

Jasmine <3

Heaven by Alexandra Adornetto Review

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Bought
Last book in the Halo trilogy
Only sixteen when she started the series, Ally Adornetto knows how teen hearts beat, and this long-awaited conclusion is certain to be her most popular book yet.
Bethany, an angel sent to Earth, and her mortal boyfriend, Xavier, have been to Hell and back. But now their love will be put to its highest test yet, as they defy Heavenly law and marry. They don’t tell Beth’s archangel siblings, Gabriel and Ivy, but the angels know soon enough, and punishment comes in a terrifying form: the Sevens, who are rogue angels bent on keeping Beth and Xavier apart, destroying Gabriel and Ivy, and darkening angelic power in the heavens.
The only way Bethany and can elude the Sevens is to hide in the open, and blend in with other mortals their own age. Gabriel and Ivy set them up at college, where they can’t reveal their relationship, and where there is still danger around each corner. Will Bethany be called back to Heaven – forever – and face leaving the love of her life?


Review
This blew my expectations out of the water. It was amazing. It was such a good conclusion. The storyline was seriously epic. The characters were amazing as usual. I'm so sad this series is over but it couldn't have gone out with a bigger bang. Everything came together perfectly.

Bethany really surprised me in this. She was very strong. She was also very human. She was fighting for herself and the life she wanted to live. She never gave up on her religion but she made her choice and really stuck with it. I loved that she got a little time to be somewhat normal and happy before things fell apart. I have loved Xavier since the beginning. He's an amazing character. I love how strong he is. Also he's very loving and caring. He's one of those characters you wish were real. He's grown so much since the start. He did give me a heart attack on more than one occasion. Beth and Xavier had so many adorable moments. I loved every second. I'm so glad things worked out for them.

This had such an exciting plot. It was like a big game of cat and mouse. There was a lot of action. All of that made this impossible to put down. I had to know what was going to happen. There was some moments that were seriously torture. I was actually screaming out loud like a crazy person. I can honestly tell you that even with all the torture it was so worth it. I don't even think this review will do this book justice. In my opinion it was too amazing for words. This became my favorite book in the series. I know this series gets a lot of hate but I think just Heaven will make up for it. If you haven't read this series I highly, highly recommend. 5/5 stars

Jasmine <3