What to Read | When You Want A Good Dystopian

Posted on Friday, January 31, 2014 4:30 AM
 

When You Want A Good Dystopian
 
 

 






In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program.

Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.
 
 
  
 






The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan's chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer.

When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.

Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

The first in a two-book series, Uninvited tackles intriguing questions about free will, identity, and human nature. Steeped in New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's trademark mix of gripping action and breathless romance, this suspenseful tale is perfect for fans of James Patterson, Michelle Hodkin, and Lisa McMann.
 










Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
 
 







It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Recommended for ages 16 and up.













New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved.
 
 
 
 
 
 Have you read any of these?


 
 
 
 



Life of a Blogger | Genres of Music

Posted on Thursday, January 30, 2014 4:30 AM
 
I've been following the Life of a Blogger posts for a while and they look like so much fun that I thought I would join in.  If you're interested in joining check out Novel Heartbeat's page.
 
Today's topic is: Genres of Music
 
My taste in music has always been all over the place, I like everything from Alternative to Country.  Here is some of my favorites:
 
 
Puddle of Mudd is my all time favorite band.  I actually saw them in concert in 2010 and they were amazing!
 
Alternative:
 
 
 
Rap:
 
 
 
County:
 

 
R & B:
 

 
 
See, all over the place :)
 
What's some of your favorite genres in music?
 
 
 
 

 

Discussion | Changing Ratings

Posted on Wednesday, January 29, 2014 4:30 AM



The other day after I had made new ratings for the blog I was trying to decide if I should go back through all of my other reviews and change those to the new rating system that I had made.  Then I thought, if I go back and change them to the new ratings I might want to change the rating all together.  

The reason being is that I think in the past that I have been a little too generous when it came to rating books.  Just going back and looking through some of my reviews, I found some that I would drop from a 5 down to a 4, there are some 4's that should have been 3's and there are some 5's that should be 6's.  

 So, now I'm at a crossroads and I don't know what to do.  Should I go back and switch the ones that I feel I rated too generously and drop them down?  Should I change that 5 to a 6 since that book was an absolute favorite? 
I don't know GIF photo: I don't know tumblr_lz90l9rGpx1r2l3y1o1_500.gif

I don't know if it's just me, but I sometimes find that a book that I read years ago and rated a 5 back then, doesn't seem like it now.  I don't know if it's because my taste in books is constantly changing or because I'm getting more 'experienced' as a reader.  Regardless, I find this happening to me quite a bit and I've wondered if it happens to other people too? 


TALK TO ME

Have you ever felt like changing a rating that you gave a book? Have you gone back and changed ratings?  Would you?
 





Top Ten Tuesday | Worlds I'd Never Want To Live In / Characters I Wouldn't Trade Places With

Posted on Tuesday, January 28, 2014 4:30 AM

 
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.
 
Worlds I'd Never Want To Live In
 









A world were you couldn't make any noise at all?  No, thank you!






I'm not good with someone telling me what I'm able to do or what I will be doing, so I wouldn't last to long in this world.


















If I was living in the Hunger Games World, I would be in District 12.  We all know that's not a very good place to be.



















 
 
 
 
 
If I lived in this world, I would have died over 6 years ago so I think I would steer clear of this one.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Don't draw attention to myself?  Yeah, I'm too clumsy for that so I would be dead within 5 minutes of entering this world.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Characters I Wouldn't Trade Places With
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Layla
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elise

 
 
 

 
 
                                                        
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
 
 
 
Angie                  
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 


Katniss
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rhine
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Which worlds would you stay away from? Which characters would you not want to trade places with?
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


DNF Review | The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Posted on Monday, January 27, 2014 8:39 AM

Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Purchased
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 14, 2006
Pages: 552
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

This won't be a very long review since I only made it to 14% before I decided to put this book down, I just wanted to share the reasons why I didn't finish this book. 

The Book Thief was recommended to me for January Epic Recs and I've been wanting to read it for a while and I had heard such AMAZING things about so I was excited to get started on it.  Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. 

I was expecting to be blown away from the moment I started reading this book and while the writing is very unique, this book was just a little too slow for me.  I'm so disappointed that I couldn't get past 14% because it seems like I'm in the minority, I don't think I've ever come across anyone who didn't like this book.  I just could not get into the story.

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this type of book when I was reading it, maybe I'll pick it up in the future and fall in love with it but for right now, it's a DNF for me.  For those of you who have read it, does it pick up? 






Cover Adoration | Masquerade

Posted on Sunday, January 26, 2014 4:30 AM
 
 
For today's Cover Adoration, I decided to do a masquerade theme and show off some of my favorite covers with masks on them.
 



 
 
 
My Favorite: I'm torn between A Shard of Ice and Days of Blood and Starlight.  I love the colors on all the covers, but those two are the ones that I like the most.
 
 
Which is your favorite?
 
 
 
 

Stacking the Shelves

Posted on Saturday, January 25, 2014 6:31 AM
 
Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that allows us to showcase what bookish things we got during the previous week.
 
Here's my haul:
 
 
Kindle Books:
 
 
Losing It by Cora Carmack (I'm reading this now and LOVING IT!)
 
 
Embers & Echoes by Karsten Knight
 
 
Well, that's it for me.  What did you get this week?
 
 
 
 
 


Book Review | Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Posted on Friday, January 24, 2014 4:00 AM


Format: Kindle
Source: Purchased
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
Pages: 433
Goodreads | Amazon

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Eleanor & Park.

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

 

CBA Discussion | Character Deaths

Posted on Thursday, January 23, 2014 4:30 AM



I’m sure that we’ve all been in that place where we have followed a series for a while and fell in love with the characters only to have them die in the end. And while I know that some people get really upset when this happens, usually it doesn’t bother me. I mean, yeah I will probably cry my eyes out and curse the world for a while but when I calm down enough to think about it, if the way a character dies fits with their personality, then I usually understand why the author went there.


For example, in one of my favorite series, that I had followed since it first came out a few years ago, the main character died at the end of the final book and from what I’ve seen on Twitter, a lot of people were upset about it and I believe the author even got threatened. But once I stopped crying and calmed down enough to think about the ending, I got it. This death fit with the personality of that character because this character was the type that would sacrifice their self in order to save the people that they loved. So, at the end when it came down to them or someone that they loved, they done exactly what I would have expected of them and exactly the thing that stayed true to their personality.


Don’t get me wrong, I HATE when one of my favorite character dies just as much as the next person and if I could have every one of them live happily ever after, I would. But I think that sometimes authors don’t have a choice but to kill off certain characters, especially if it stays true to the personality of that character. Katniss in The Hunger Games is a perfect example, yes I know that she didn’t die in the end but if she would have I would have understood because she has the type of persona that she sacrifices herself in order to protect those she cares about, we saw that multiple times throughout the series, I mean she sacrifices herself for Prim in the first book thinking that she would die in the games.

To me, if a character dies saving someone else, then their death means something. And if an author can break my heart in two, then I think that means they done a wonderful job.



TALK TO ME

What do you think about character deaths?  






Copyright © 2014 Novel Ink
Template and Design by New Chapter Designs
Subtle Patterns (Subtle Patterns) / CC BY-SA 3.0