In My Mailbox (21)

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It is a way for book bloggers to post what they have received for review, borrowed from a friend, bought at the bookstore, or picked up at the library. This week was a pretty awesome book week for me. Let’s check out what I got!

For Review:

Alex Charles: The Evening Oak by Kim Reynolds

Summary: Could you believe the impossible? What if time travel is actually possible? Alex Charles is an intelligent, level-headed, high school graduate. Her parents had died in an unexpected horrific accident, when she was just 16. Friends, parties, and an unknown destiny are part of normal everyday life; but then again, she wasn’t any average girl. Enter the proverbial long-lost-uncle, Joseph Graham. Warm hearted, smart, handsome, but very mysterious due to one reoccurring issue… he is running out of time. What exactly is the “family business” that her mother kept secret all these years?

My Thoughts: I would like to thank Kim so very much for sending me not only this book but the second one in the series (I will be talking about that one next.) Kim and her family are going through tough times right now so this book is appreciated so much. As for the actual story though, it sounds wonderful. I love books about time travel!

Alex Charles: Dreams In Time by Kim Reynolds

Summary: On a cold winter’s evening in Raleigh, North Carolina, Alex Charles left 1989 and traveled into the darkness of 1942. Her mission simple: to save two boys from drowning just days before Christmas. But how could she have known the danger that awaited her in the past. Joseph Graham, her fun-loving uncle, tried to give her all the essentials necessary for time travel and changing destiny. However, he couldn’t live without his own true love, Laura Chestnut, a woman he met during the last days of the Civil War. Sometimes forever is too long to wait. Returning to 1870, Joe knew the risk, but wasn’t going back for personal gain forbidden? The rules aren’t the same this time. Even though destiny can change, how far will Alex and Joseph go to rewrite the past?

My Thoughts: This sounds like a wonderful book in the series. I cannot wait to learn more about Alex and her uncle and all of the dangers and obstacles they face!

Sophie & Carter by Chelsea Fine

Summary: While other high school seniors are dreaming about their futures, Sophie and Carter are just trying to make it through each day. Carter is overwhelmed by issues at home as he struggles to support his mother. Meanwhile, next door neighbor Sophie is left to care for her three younger siblings in place of their absent and troubled mother. All that holds these two best friends together is each other, and knowing that each night they’ll sit together on Sophie’s front porch swing and escape from reality, if just for awhile. But as their relationship reaches a turning point and high school graduation nears, will their friendship become something more?

My Thoughts: One morning I was going through all of the Goodreads giveaways and entering them (I enter ALL of them and never win!) and I cam across this book. It sounded like a super cute mini book (only 117 pages) so I instantly entered to win it.  Not even 3 hours later I got an e-mail from the author, Chelsea asking if I would be interested in receiving a review copy. I was ecstatic! The publisher sent me not one but TWO copies! I hope to have this one read soon and a review posted very shortly, with a giveaway of course! Thank you Chelsea and your wonderful publisher Karen!

Bought:

Fat Kid Rules The World by K.L. Going

Summary: Troy Billings at 6’1″, 296 pounds, is standing at the edge of a subway platform seriously contemplating suicide when he meets Curt MacCrae -a sage-like, semi-homeless punk guitar genius who also happens to be a drop-out legend at Troy’s school on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

“I saved your life. You owe me lunch,” Curt tells Troy, and Troy can’t imagine refusing; after all, think of the headline: FAT KID ARGUES WITH PIECE OF TWINE.

But with Curt, Troy gets more than he bargained for and soon finds himself recruited as Curt’s drummer. “We’ll be called Rage/Tectonic. Sort of a punk rock, Clash sort of thing,” Curt informs him.

There’s only one problem. Troy can’t play the drums. Oh yes, and his father thinks Curt’s a drug addict. And his brother thinks Troy’s a loser. But with Curt, anything is possible. “You’ll see,” says Curt. “We’re going to be HUGE.”

In an outstanding, funny, edgy debut, K. L. Going presents two unlikely friends who ultimately save each other.

My Thoughts: The title of this book instantly drew me in and then I saw that it received the Printz Honor so I just had to get it. It sounds like a very different, unique story!

Everlasting by Angie Frazier

Summary: Sailing aboard her father’s trade ship is all seventeen-year-old Camille Rowen has ever wanted. But as a girl of society in 1855 San Francisco, her future is set: marry a man she doesn’t love, or condemn herself and her father to poverty.

On her final voyage before the wedding, the stormy arms of the Tasman Sea claim her father, and a terrible family secret is revealed. A secret intertwined with a fabled map, the mother Camille has long believed dead, and an ancient stone that wields a dangerous—and alluring—magic.

The only person Camille can depend on is Oscar, a handsome young sailor whom she is undeniably drawn to. Torn between trusting her instincts and keeping her promises to her father, Camille embarks on a perilous quest into the Australian wilderness to find the enchanted stone. As she and Oscar elude murderous bushrangers and unravel Camille’s father’s lies, they come closer to making the ultimate decision of who—and what—matters most.

Beautifully written and feverishly paced, Everlasting is an unforgettable journey of passion, secrecy, and adventure.

My Thoughts: This story sounds beautiful and magical and absolutely brilliant. The cover is just gorgeous! I have a feeling I am going to adore this book!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Summary: In Mary’s world there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.
The Guardians will protect and serve.
The Unconsecrated will never relent.
And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future-between the one she loves and the one who loves her.

And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

My Thoughts: I honestly have not heard a whole lot about this book except READ IT. IT’S SO GOOD! So that is precisely what I’ll do. I am going to read it without having any idea of what it’s about and I will most likely love it!

Beauty and the Bully by Andy Behrens

Summary: What wouldn’t a guy do to get the girl?

How will garage band front man Duncan ever get the attention of his goddess-like classmate Carly, who’s so busy trying to save the world that she won’t even look in his direction? An idea hits him, literally: when Duncan accidentally bruises himself, Carly wants to know who punched him, and vows to take care of poor widdle Dunky. But as his black eye fades, so does Carly’s devotion. Duncan needs a plan. He needs impending danger. He needs a BULLY. The search is on.

This hilarious novel plays with the certainty that teenage boys will do just about anything to get a girl’s attention.

My Thoughts: This sounds like it can be cute and funny so I am willing to try it out!

Those are all of the awesome books that I got in my mailbox this week! Don’t forget to click the book titles to add to your Goodreads accounts and as always, leave a link to your IMM in the comments section!

 

TGIF (9)

TGIF is a fun little feature hosted at GReads! Every week we re-cap what has happened on the blog plus Ginger asks a question for us to answer. This week’s question is:

Character Envy:

If you could be one character from a book, who would you choose & why?

Are you guys ready for another list? You should have guessed that I could not choose just one character to envy! In A LOT of the books I read, I can picture myself as the main character or at least one character in the story, really who doesn’t? BUT there are a select few that I am just dying to be a part of; I want to walk through their fictional world. Whether it is the character’s personality, where they live, or who they love, the following girls all have one thing in common: I want to be them!

1) Author Jennifer Echols writes so many wonderful stories. Her books Going Too Far and Forget You are ones that I love and they both contain characters that really stick with me but her book, Endless Summer, is the one that really does it for me. Lori has what I consider to be a near perfect life. She lives right on the shores of a beautiful lake in a house right next to two beautiful boys. Her summer days are spent working on the water while her nights are filled with wakeboarding and parties. I am insanely jealous of this girl! I want to be able to wakeboard and do all sorts of awesome tricks. Not to mention, kissing Adam is a dream of mine!

2) In Jacquelyn Wheeler’s Soterians series, she creates a world where agents of good gain powers when the balance between good and evil shifts too far in evil’s advantage. The main character, Ashlyn, gains so many super awesome powers. I would love to be able to fly, turn invisible, and have super hearing, basically anything a super hero can do. It would be awesome to do all of those things! I should also mention that Ashlyn’s boyfriend is the sweetest guy ever!

3) Stephanie Perkins is an author who is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Her novel, Anna and the French Kiss, is probably the cutest, most adorable thing I have ever read. Anna is one character I would switch places with in a heartbeat. I want to live in France, go see old movies, share a bed with Etienne St. Clair. Oh Etienne…..so dreamy! My dad can turn into an egotistical jerk any day if it means I get to live a life like Anna’s!

4) The Secret Society Girl series (Secret Society Girl, Under The Rose, Rites of Spring Break, and Tap & Gown) by Diana Peterfreund is the one and only adult-ish series I have ever read. I read it every year during spring break with my best friend Kati and I have yet to get sick of it. Amy’s life is crazy, hectic, and full of lots of drama but I still want to be her. Her sense of humor and dedication to her secret society are qualities I so desperately want. All of her love interests in the series are my favorites plus she has a pretty awesome best friend!

5) Recently I have read one of the most wonderful books ever. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta is a beautiful story full of many twists and turns. The main character, Taylor, has had a crappy life to say the least but that does not deter me from wanting to be her. All of the lessons she learns, all of the mysteries she solves, all of the loss she goes through is SO worth it. Her story is a beautiful one and I’d like nothing more than to be a part of it.

 The week on Katelyn’s Blog (7/22-7/29):

In My Mailbox (20)

A Girl Named Willow Krimble by Giuseppe Bianco

Tune-In Tuesday (18)

I Now Introduce To You…

I Now Introduce To You…

When I first started blogging last August, I quickly convinced Kati, my real life best friend, to do the same thing. This was not the first time of which I convinced poor Kati to start something she really had no interest in doing. She has been a victim of several of my whims including but not limited to: Zumba lessons in which we learned our bodies were definitely NOT made for shimmying, the Poms Dance Team where we basically stunned the whole school with our stellar dance moves, and book club which turned out to be completely awesome but we still get made fun of on a daily basis for being a part of. So when I started blogging, I automatically assumed Kati would love it too. At first she was really enjoying herself but life got in the way and blogging seemed to lose interest with her. Kati wrote very few blogs (there were not many but trust me, the ones that were written are hilarious!) before she finally gave up on the blogging world for good…or so she thought.

A few nights ago Kati mentioned that she was visited by the great and magical Idea Fairy. She finally had the urge to blog again, had some pretty awesome ideas of what she wanted to do with it, and, of course, so desperately needed my help. How could you say no? Kati and I worked many hours most of which were of me screaming at the computer for not doing what I wanted it to do, but we finally got it to the way we want it to be. Her blog is now up, re-designed, and ready for lots and lots of visitors!

My start into the book blogging world many months ago was made so much easier and enjoyable by the unyielding kindness and generosity of fellow book bloggers. It is to those book bloggers and anyone reading this now, that I ask only one thing, please bestow the same amount and kindness on to my best friend. Give her blog and writing a chance, check it out, and even leave her a little comment to let her know you stopped by. Kati means the world to me so I would love for you guys to go check out what she is capable of doing. I shall forewarn you though, Kati likes to make A LOT of lame jokes but then again, so do I! I thank you all in advance!

Check out This Is The Way I Live right here!!!

 While you are at it, don’t forget to add Kati on TWITTER and GOODREADS!!!

Tune-In Tuesday (18)

Tune in Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely Ginger @ GReads so you should head on over and link up! It is a great way to bounce from blog to blog and discover what others are listening to! I love music but there is so much out there that I haven’t heard of before. That being said, feel free to leave a link to your Tune-In Tuesday post!

This week’s band is a band that I really, truly adore. No matter what type of day I am having, I can always count on their music to make me smile. I don’t know what it is about them but they are just so fun to listen to. I especially love long drives in the summer time with the windows down and singing extremely loud (and bad) to their music. It is perfection. There really is not much else to say except LISTEN RIGHT NOW!!! Hope you enjoy!

~These guys are just so good that I could not choose just one song. Listen to all three…or not but at least try to!~

Artist vs Poet: Unconscious Reality

Artist vs Poet: Miserably Loving You

Artist vs Poet: Adorable

Do you guys see that Monster can I am holding? Well the lead singer of Artist vs Poet totally threw it at me after their concert last year. It is still sitting in my room…washed out of course!

Book Review: A Girl Named Willow Krimble by Giuseppe Bianco

Title: A Girl Named Willow Krimble

Author: Giuseppe Bianco

Publisher: Self published

Pages: 316 paperback

My Rating: 5/5 stars

Source: I received a book from the author in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review

So, you’ve just discovered that the person who has tormented, mocked and humiliated you for the past three years is lying in the school parking lot, bleeding internally from a hit and run accident. No one else is around and you need to get to a life-and-death family emergency of your own before it is too late. What would you do? Oh, did I mention you have the secret ability to heal others just by touching them? This is just one of the many situations 13-year-old Willow Krimble must face in this Web Novel, A Girl Named Willow Krimble.

Willow lives with her mother and older brother, Wyatt; she loves hanging out with her best friend, the feisty and sarcastic Razzel Fiora, and she has a close relationship with her grandmother. Seems pretty normal, right? It might be if the two most popular girls in middle school, Shayla Stergus and Snella Burenbine, did not taunt and remind her, on a daily basis, that she was born without her left leg.

Forced to maneuver through obstacles most teenagers would not need to tackle, Willow is suddenly blessed (or cursed?) with the unusual power to heal others through touch. Ever selfless, Willow’s desire to help the injured and sick thrusts her into a world where she is given immense responsibility, putting the needs of others before her own, all the while trying to maintain her secret.

Willow’s adolescent journey takes her through an emotional cyclone where she finds joy and purpose in helping an array of patients from an old man with Alzheimer’s to a mauled animal in a pet store. But Willow soon finds out there are limitations to her ability and, no matter how hard she might try, she cannot save everyone.

Through the intermingling of joy and pain, Willow is repeatedly tested to discover just how strong she can be, how strong she has been her entire life, and how everyone possesses the ability to effect another person’s world, with or without a secret power. (Summary, courtesy of Goodreads.com)

A Girl Named Willow Krimble is a book that caught me so off guard. The synopsis had me interested, don’t get me wrong, but I had no idea I was going to fall so in love with this book. The characters were great all the way from Willow, our main character, to her funny group of friends; even the people we meet along her journey were phenomenal. The special ability that Willow acquired through this story not only makes for some interesting moments but it also causes our main character to grow and learn throughout the whole story.

Willow is a character that readers will connect to and sympathize with from the very first page. Her personality is so beautiful and kind that you can’t help but love the girl. Willow starts off as an average teen trying to make it through middle school with not so average issues. Not only does Willow face struggles such as the loss of her father and grandfather, or an over-worked mother, but Willow must also deal with the fact that she was born with only one leg. Willow suffers from low self-esteem in areas that other girls seem to take for granted on top of dealing with a lot of taunting and teasing. Your heart will instantly go out to her. She cares so deeply for others and has enough love in her to brighten anyone’s day so all that you, as a reader, will truly want is for her to just be happy. You want the teasing the stop, you want her to realize just how beautiful, wonderful, and special she truly is. But I, as well as nearly every girl out there who has gone through the awkward teenage stage knows, growing up and finding confidence in yourself must be learned. Sure your caring grandmother can tell you that you’re beautiful, or your cranky old teacher can say you really have a talent in poetry BUT it is up to you to really find that self confidence.

Willow’s great character is matched with wonderful side characters. She has an extremely strong support system made up of a mom, a brother, her grandmother, and her very best friend Razzel. Willow’s mom is a wonderful mom. She lost her husband way before she should have but she does what needs to be done to raise her two kids. She works hard at the hospital and then comes home and works even harder to stay close with Willow and Wyatt, her son. Wyatt is the type of big brother every girl wants. He has just the right amount of annoyingness and sweetness. He will drive Willow and her mom absolutely insane and then turn around and stick up for Willow whenever she needs him. Willow’s grandmother is another great character! Her love for Willow was clear to see through every scene they had together. Even though ALL of these characters are great, they still don’t compare to my dear Razzel. Razzel is the most awesome best friend ever. I can say this because she sounds EXACTLY like my real-life best friend. Her fierce protectiveness over Willow and her uncanny ability to make any situation full of humor makes her a great half to this dynamic duo. They balance each other out so well. Whereas Willow is quick to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, Razzel is there to protect her when people don’t always have the best intentions.

Even though Willow’s life is very stable and she is surrounded by many people who care for her, finding out you have an ability to heal anyone with just a single touch can be a bit earth-shattering. In true Willow form she takes it in stride. At first she is confused about why her of all people is blessed (or cursed depending on how you look at it) with this special power. Once she gets over the initial shock, Willow does everything possible to help people. She makes many trips to the hospital where her mom works, to perform miracles on certain patients. She saves random animals, random neighbors, and the occasional old, crazy man. Willow’s mission to save people takes us through such a wonderful journey. We meet many great side characters with flamboyant personalities. We learn of Willow’s limits and Willow learns about just how special she really is.

Not even 50 pages into this book I knew there was something special about it. The writing spoke to me in a way that no novel has done before.  It was simple enough for middle graders and young reluctant readers to understand but the way that these simple words were written was so beautiful and catching. I found myself actually marking page after page of some of my favorite quotes; this is something that I have never done before. The beautiful writing only mirrored the beautiful life lessons that were learned in this story. A Girl Named Willow Krimble will catch you so off guard and surprise you in the best way possible.

Favorite Quotes:

“Perfect has boundaries, Willow. Perfect ends at certain points because it is so precise and exact that it cannot go beyond its own limitations. It’s technically correct and it’s safe, but if you stop worrying about what’s perfect, then great things can happen because you are bound and shackled by nothing.”

Willow peered into her grandmother’s gaze.

“So I ask you now, Willow, do you really wanna be perfect…” Grandma Trisha leaned across the bed until she was practically touching noses with her granddaughter,”…or do you wanna be great?”

–A Girl Named Willow Krimble by Giuseppe Bianco, page 71-72

“So whenever I wonder what life may be like for me if I were, let’s say, for lack of a better term, normal, I come to realize that what I get to do is so much better than normal. I don’t entertain for fame and fortune, but if I can inspire anyone sick or well to try something new that they never thought they could do…Would I be happier if I were the next Celine? I can’t harp on what I have no control over; I can only go as far as I can with what I’ve been given. And that’s something I can be extremely proud of, no matter what the CD sales say.”

–A Girl Named Willow Krimble by Giuseppe Bianco, page 171-172

In My Mailbox (20)

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It is a way for book bloggers to post what they have received for review, borrowed from a friend, bought at the bookstore, or picked up at the library. The number of books I got this week is pretty lame BUT I am totally freaking excited about what showed up in the mail yesterday!

Bought:

 A Scary Scene In A Scary Movie by Matt Blackstone

Summary: Rene, an obsessive-compulsive fourteen year old, smells his hands and wears a Batman cape when he’s nervous. If he picks up a face-down coin, moves a muscle when the time adds up to thirteen (7:42 is bad luck because 7 + 4 + 2 = 13), or washes his body parts in the wrong order, Rene or someone close to him will break a bone, contract a deadly virus, and/or die a slow and painful death like someone in a scary scene in scary movie. Rene’s new and only friend tutors him in the art of playing it cool, but that’s not as easy as Gio makes it sound.

My Thoughts: I am so crazy-interested in this book. It sounds so different and unique not to mention that really getting inside of the kid who suffers with OCD is going to be an experience I will likely not forget. I am so glad that my book club chose this as our next read!

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

Summary: She’s writing about him. he’s writing about her. And everybody is reading between the lines..

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions–it’s her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family’s racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin’s college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she’s sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He’s joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin’s heart with longing. Now she’s not just imagining what might have been. She’s writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.

My Thoughts: Jennifer Echols is like a contemporary/fiction/romance goddess. Every word she writes has the ability to complete you suck you into her books where you desperately wish that you were among her characters. There is no doubt in my mind that Love Story will be another favorite for me!

Now do you see why I still think this mailbox is awesome regardless of the amount of books I got? I am SO EXCITED to read both of these books. Don’t forget to click the title to add them to your Goodreads account and as always leave the link to YOUR IMM in the comments section. I’ll be sure to check it out!

TGIF (8)

TGIF is a fun little feature hosted at GReads! Every week we re-cap what has happened on the blog plus Ginger asks a question for us to answer. This week’s question is:

Bookshelf Tour:

Where do you keep your books at home? Are they organized? 

You guys will yet again catch me complaining about this question, not because I hate the question, I actually think it is totally awesome and I love looking at other’s bookshelves but I complain because this question comes at a totally sucky time! In every aspect of my life, I am organized beyond belief. My closet is organized by type of clothing, sleeve length, and color (don’t believe me? Ask for pictures & I shall send them to you). My nail polishes are lined up by color, while my perfumes are in alphabetical order. I am highly aware that I have OCD tendencies and that usually transfers over to my reading habits; key word being usually. Up until recently my bookshelf, which is located in my super awesome, super blue bedroom, was organized by author last name. If there were multiple authors for one book, it was always the first author’s name that I went by. Next, it was organized by books in a series, if the author had multiple books but weren’t in a series they were alphabetical. This process worked super nice with me. What I didn’t see coming was my bookshelf suddenly running out of room. I had a few rather big IMM’s the last couple weeks and that over-stuffed my bookshelf like A LOT. I was left with no idea how to organize it. You see, that is why I complain about the question this week because now you guys will be seeing my bookshelf in all of its unorganized goodness. I am still testing out how I want it to be organized and I like the system I have so far!

How I have these organized may confuse some but it makes perfect sense to me. I first went through and alphabetized them by author’s last name/series order/book titles alphabetized. Then on each shelf I pulled out all the books that I have read so far. All of the books stacked up and anything to the right of them are books that I have read. ALL the books to the left are books that I have yet to read. To say that I am behind on my reading is a bit of an understatement!!!

*There is my bookshelf in all it’s pretty, full-length beautifulness. Ahh…I just love looking at it!*

**I made sure to show off my totally awesome There For Tomorrow signed poster in this picture. I just couldn’t help it! And if you look closely the green-lined black and white pictures are awesome moments my family and I shared at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Don’t judge. They have the BEST bread sticks.**

*Top shelf starting with the A’s. This shelf features my beautiful leather-bound Jane Austen book. I have not read a single one of the stories within that book but I love looking at it!*

*This shelf starts with the C’s. Notice how The Hunger Game series is on my TBR side. Yeah, that should be fixed soon. Also this shelf features all of my high school yearbooks (you cannot see, they are hidden behind a picture). One of the yearbooks features a lot of my own writing, something I am very proud of!*

*This shelf starts with the F’s. There are SO MANY great books on this shelf that I have yet to read. Also the books stacked on top are books that I have borrowed from a friend. They feature The Secret Society Girl series by Diana Peterfreund. This is a series you all should read!*

*These last two shelves feature L-Z. Many great books are featured among these shelves. You might want to take into account how very little wiggle room I have on the last shelf. I may be taking a trip to the store for a new bookshelf soon!!!*

My bookshelf isn’t the only place I keep books. There is always at least one book in my purse at all times. You just never know when you are going to need a good book to pull out and read. I also have my itsy, bitsy bed side desk. On this desk I keep the books I am currently reading, the books that I have read but still need to review on, and all of the books I get throughout the week so I can make sure to add them to my IMM post. This is actually my desk on a super-duper good week. My book pile usually surpasses the height of my lamp!

Okay, so there you have it, the place where I keep all my precious, beautiful books! I know my method can be a bit confusing but I like to call it “organized clutter.” It just works for me!

This week on Katelyn’s Blog (7/15-7/22):

In My Mailbox (19)

Sue’s Fingerprint by Andrew D. Carlson

Tune-In Tuesday (17)

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent (Divergent #1)

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Pages: 487 hardcover

My Rating: 5/5 stars

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance. (Summary, courtesy of Goodreads.com)

Does anyone ever come across a book that literally everyone on the face of the planet is gushing over but when it comes your time to read it you are almost resistant? You get so worried that it won’t live up to the hype so you just keep putting it off, and putting it off? For me Divergent is totally, 100% that book. Every single review I read about it did nothing but talk it up so when it came time for our book club to read it, I was like “ehhh, I don’t think I want to read this quite yet.” So I did what I do best, I procrastinated. Then a few days before our book club meeting, I picked up this whopping book (heaved this whopping book is more like it. It’s just so huge!) and sat down to read it. A day later I was done and simply amazed. From the characters, to the action, to the world building, to FOUR, I was simply blown away. As my first dystopian read ever, I know it will be hard for many books to surpass the brilliance that is known as Divergent.

The idea behind Divergent is so amazing that words cannot even describe it. Five factions. Five separate paths. You get only one choice. You could dedicate your life to selflessness, honesty, peacefulness, intelligence, or bravery. That quality and that quality alone will consume you the moment you turn 16. Gah, I am still sitting here reeling because I have no idea how Veronica came up with this in her head. College classes must have been BEYOND boring if ideas such as this consumed her mind. Regardless of how it was made, the important thing is that it is. I loved every part of the world that was created by Veronica. Obviously, the ideas of people having to choose a certain faction stunned me but it was so much more than that. The description of the city, a broken, crumbled Chicago, as well as the different areas where these factions lived, was so well-described that I could picture everything in my mind.

Characters, the main character and a certain number…errr I mean person, totally did it for me! Beatrice/Tris is a character that people can connect with and even understand and feel for regardless of how different her life is. Growing up around selfless adults her whole life, Beatrice felt out-of-place. No matter how much effort she put into being selfless, curiosity always got the best of her. I LOVE it when you get to see a character’s strength grow throughout a book. Tris is the epitome of a strong female character and I think she is one that will stick with readers for a long, long time. She may be small, weak, and an unlikely candidate for the Dauntless “Brave” faction, but she has so much inner strength and drive that she surprises not only herself, her trainer Four, but also me. I love the little moments when we would see her get frustrated and so down on herself for not getting a task perfectly right away and then all of a sudden she pushes through it and surpasses everyone’s expectations. Seriously, this girl is so kick-butt in so many ways I cannot even begin to describe how much I want to be like her. She tries so hard to fulfill what she thinks is everyone’s definition of bravery when in reality she proved she was brave the very moment she decided to join Dauntless.

Okay, I must talk about the oh, so wonderful Four for a while. I complain about this constantly but I feel I must do so again. These freaking awesomely, dreamy fictional guys are totally messing with my real-life romance expectations. No guy will ever compare to the man I have dreamed up in my head that is inspired from all of the guys that I read about in books and that means that if no guy out there lives up to my dreamt-up expectations, I will be single for the rest of my life. Being single the rest of my life means that I will no doubt turn into the crazy cat lady. You see my issue? Sigh. Four will now be added to my extremely long list of “super hot fictional men that possess qualities that I want from my future husband.” This will narrow down my dating field even more, if that is at all possible. Alright, alright, enough of me complaining, back to Four! Four likes to push buttons. He will push you past the point of breaking and then push you some more. He will act vague and distant at one point and then turn around and beat the living daylights out of a guy in your defense. Yup, that is the guy I want right there! One who believes enough in my inner strength to ask beyond what others expect from me but then also cares about me enough to want to take care of me. I was warned before I started the book that I would fall in love yet again and I must admit, everyone was so very right! He is so kind, strong, different, broken, scared but in so many ways he is just there. There for Tris whenever she needs him and that is what I love most about him. My only issue with him, I don’t have a clear enough image of him in my mind. He is strong, has nice hands, and I believe there was something in there about his lips but that is all I know. A clearer mental image of him would have made it a lot easier for me to scope out a real life Four for my keeping!

On top of all of the crazy-goodness that I have already talked about, Veronica had to go and add in some action that pretty much blew my mind away. I don’t necessarily need a fight scene in every book even though it is no secret that I do enjoy them. I just need something that gets my heart pumping a little faster. Veronica did this in pretty much every chapter. The dangers that the Dauntless  face on a daily basis had me biting my nails throughout the whole book. Jumping on and off moving trains to get back and forth to school is clinically insane but it is a detail, along with many others, that made readers realize just how serious this faction takes bravery. I loved the dangers that they faced while living in Dauntless headquarters but that doesn’t compare with the main issue they are faced with at the end of the book. All I can tell you is that the end of the book is epic, it broke my heart, it had me on the edge of my seat, and it pretty much brought me to tears because I cannot even fathom the wait until Insurgent comes out.

Seriously, there is nothing for me to say except READ THIS BOOK NOW! IT WILL ROCK YOUR WORLD <<<(words I promised @katejarvikbirch that I would use). Don’t listen to that little inner voice telling you that it won’t live up to the hype because it is so, very wrong. It will surpass all of your expectations; I can guarantee you that right now!

Tune-In Tuesday (17)

Tune in Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely Ginger @ GReads so you should head on over and link up! It is a great way to bounce from blog to blog and discover what others are listening to! I love music but there is so much out there that I haven’t heard of before. That being said, feel free to leave a link to your Tune-In Tuesday post!

This week’s band is another Warped Tour discovery. **Just so everyone is aware, Warped Tour is a pretty freaking big deal for me so you may be hearing about it for quite a while!** Anyways, my very first year going I was this little, naive girl who had no idea what to expect. I thought I would see some bands playing music, maybe buy a shirt, but I never thought in a million years that an actual band would approach me and have me listen to their music. Famous people really did that type of stuff??? Well to answer that question, no super famous musicians don’t do that, just the bands that have a small amount of followers. But remember this is at a time when I was young and naive. So the very first band that ever took the time to speak to me and gain my opinion of their music instantly became a favorite. It really didn’t hurt that their music is awesome! Phone Calls From Home is a wonderful little band that EVERYONE should know about. I haven’t heard much new from them until this past year at Warped Tour. Sure enough a guy comes walking up to me and asks if I’d like to listen to their music because they are really good. Me being the honest, blunt person that I am, says “I know your music is good. I’ve been a fan for four years now.” We then went on to discover that this particular guy was a newer member of the band and he convinced me to buy the CD that he plays on. How could I say no to that? Seriously, one of the best CD’s I’ve ever listened to. All of their songs are super fabulous. Not only to they do the pop-ish love songs really well but they also have some super inspirational songs. I wouldn’t want to call them a “Christian” band because that instantly scares a lot of people away but many of their songs do carry a really beautiful message. Okay that is enough rambling from me. Take a listen to the few songs that I have selected for you and of course let me know what you think!

 

 

Book Review: Sue’s Fingerprint by Andrew D. Carlson

Title: Sue’s Fingerprint

Author: Andrew D. Carlson

Publisher: Self-published

Pages: 232 paperback

My Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Source: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review

A gel-like substance is suddenly discovered across the country. Ted Stevens, a Director in the Department of Homeland Security, is assigned to investigate. He enlists the help of scientists at a government laboratory to analyze the ‘goo’. They discover the substance was sent to Earth and has unique properties; it can clone animals. Ted soon learns the substance can also clone humans.

Sue is the first of eleven new people cloned from the alien substance. She and the others arrive without prior knowledges (and without clothes!). They are discovered and recovered by Ted and contained on an abandoned military base. While there, the clones learn about themselves and the world around them. They also receive a message. Sue decides she must deliver it, and one morning they find she’s gone.

During the recovery of Sue, Ted learns of the clones’ message and begins to understand their true intentions. He needs to know more about the clones, so he collects samples for DNA fingerprint testing. The fate of the new people will be decided by the results from Ted’s friends at the laboratory. (Summary, courtesy of Goodreads.com)

I started this book with a completely open mind. When reading a science fiction novel, one never knows what to expect; authors are in charge of creating these off the wall, crazy, scientific instances so you never know what is coming next. While I was not completely satisfied with the outcome of this book, there were still quite a few things that I enjoyed about it.

I will start this review off with the part that bugged me the very most but don’t worry, it only gets better from there! This book is labeled as young adult. Andrew is a young adult author. BUT, and correct me if I am wrong, I thought in order to be a young adult book it was required for at least one of the main characters to be between the ages of 14 and 21, you know the ages of real young adults? While this book did feature some characters that were in this age group, the main characters that were followed were strictly adults. That is not to say that young readers couldn’t read and like this book but it is a lot easier to connect with characters that are close to your age group. I like surprises but this was one surprise I really could have done without! For the first 20 pages, I kept thinking “Okay, the teenager that we will be reading about will be introduced here. Alright, they weren’t introduced on that page, maybe the next one….” and on and on until I finally realized that we would not be following a teenager.

The characters that we were introduced to were interesting. They were not as developed as the characters in a lot of books I have read and for this book is was both a good and bad thing. Since the book was written in third person and it was a fairly short book, we learned a little about each character. While this did make it okay for the short amount of pages, I wouldn’t mind at all if it was a bit longer just so readers could learn a lot more about particular characters. We were introduced to little personality quirks among some of the more important characters, like how Martha LOVES coffee and Sue’s passion is to cook, but that is about the extent of it. I would have loved to see more character growth especially with some of the main characters like Sue, the first clone, or Ted, the man in charge of containing the clones. We were able to see the very surface of what these characters were about but delving a little deeper would have made me a happy camper! The other clones learned a lot intellectually but I think it would have caused a lasting impression if I could really get inside at least one of the character’s heads.

I read the author’s bio at the end of the book and it mentioned that Andrew received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry. Andrew definitely put his knowledge of science to use in this book which I totally loved! One semester of college science was enough for me but I really enjoyed the way that Andrew introduced the science aspect in this book. He took simple terms that many people, science degrees or not, could grasp. I don’t want to say he dumbed it down by any means but he definitely took complex terms and ideas and then explained them in a way that a lot of readers could picture and  understand.

The main conflicts that this story dealt with were iffy for me. First there is the fact that aliens are on our planet. The way that these aliens were dealt with was entertaining to say the least. Sending the clones off to a deserted military camp caused some interesting situations. However when the book reached its climax I was a bit disappointed. The whole time reading you are reminded that the aliens must be here for some specific reason and when I read what the reason was, I couldn’t believe that it was all. I am not asking for world domination or for space flying monkeys, but just something a bit more epic than the real reason. It is very hard to explain without giving away spoilers but just note I was not overly impressed with the alien’s purpose on earth.

Regardless, of the few qualms I had with this book I still found it a pretty enjoyable read. Any young people interested in science/alien stories will most likely find that they like this book too. Working with Andrew has been a pleasure and I appreciate that he allowed me to review Sue’s Fingerprint!