Review: Hollowland (The Hollows, #1)

I was seriously pissed off with Amazon last week. So here's the story, I discovered this wonderful free ereader on my Android called Kindle. I know, I know, I'd been living under a rock but whatever. So I went to the store, discovered a lot of free ebooks and squealed calmly hit download.

I went ballistic, I tell you! You know how many items I got on my laptop and Android? NINETYFREAKINGTWO (the capslock is necessary)!!!!!! (and so are the exclamation points)


Who does that?! 92 free ebooks?

Anyway, I was happy as a bat! Full of positive thoughts, I felt all fluffy and squishy inside. "What book to start?", I wondered. Then I spotted Anathema by K.A. Tucker. "Oohhh, vampires," I said dreamily. It didn't turn out very good. So next, I read Betrayal by Mayandree Mitchel and instant cover lust! Well, I HATED it! Betrayal put all the capital letters in the word HORRIBLE.

I was about to give up, but all those unread books looked so sad. Plus, I felt guilty for greedily downloading them. So with a resigned sigh, I started to read Hollowland by Amanda Hocking....

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Author: Amanda Hocking

"This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door."

Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.

Review: The Immortal Rules

I received an ARC of "The Immortal Rules" by Julie Kagawa via NetGalley -- to be published by Harlequin on April 24, 2012.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

 Author: Julie Kagawa

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity. 

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. 

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters. 

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad. 

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike. 

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

Review: Wicked Lovely

Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely is the first faerie novel that I've read. It was four years ago but I could still remember the story like it was just yesterday. It's the type of book that will stay with you and make you smile when you remember it. I know! It sounds so corny coming from me. Geez!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Author: Melissa Marr

Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.
Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries.
Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.
But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

Liebster Blog Award

Liebster is a German word for beloved. So the Liebster Blog Award literally means Beloved Blog Award! The award is given to bloggers with under 200 followers. These blogs are "the best kept secrets" out there!

Review: Anathema by K.A. Tucker

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Author: K.A. Tucker

Evangeline has spent her teenage years in obscurity. Her foster parents have the emotional aptitude of robots and her classmates barely acknowledge her existence. About to turn eighteen and feeling like a social pariah, she is desperate to connect with someone. Anyone. 

When Evangeline meets Sophie after literally stumbling upon her café, she believes she’s found that connection. Willing to do anything to keep it, she accepts a job as Sofie’s assistant and drops everything to fly to Manhattan, where she is thrust into a luxurious world of Prada, diamonds, and limitless cash. 

With such generosity and kindness, it’s easy for Evangeline to dismiss certain oddities... like Sofie’s erratic and sometimes violent behavior, and the monstrous guard dogs. She’s even willing to dismiss her vivid dreams of mob-style murders, beautiful homeless people living in caves, and white-eyed demons that haunt her each night as figments of her imagination—especially when one of those figments is the gorgeous Caden. When she wakes up with bite marks on her neck, the fairy tale quickly turns into a nightmare. She slowly unravels the mystery surrounding Sofie and friends, and the reality of the bites and the “dreams.” What she discovers is far more mysterious and terrible than anything she could have imagined. 

In a world where everyone has motive to lie for personal gain, Evangeline must decide which deception is least likely to get her killed.

Review: Emerald City

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Author: Alicia K. Leppert

Olivia Tate is a broken shell of a girl haunted by the tragic events that fill her past. She has closed herself off from the world, each day grasping at something—anything—to live for. Convinced there will never be a way out, she seeks solace in the depths of her medicine cabinet. When she wakes up days later in the hospital she is introduced to Jude, the quiet stranger responsible for saving her life. She never could have guessed then that her mysterious rescuer would end up saving her life a second time, while simultaneously turning her world upside down.

Blog Hop

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Book Release: Reached by Ally Condie

Let me be honest here, I'm not exactly a fan of Ally Condie. But I'm sure her fab fans will be ecstatic to hear about her upcoming book release, Reached!

Review: Juliet Immortal

Stacey Jay has always been my guilty pleasure. I just loved her Megan Berry series! So when I picked up Juliet Immortal, I secretly hoped that zombies were involved. And please don't question my morbid fascination with flesh-eating corpses. I just think they're fun to read, ok?

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Author: Stacey Jay

Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light.

For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.

Review: Tomorrow Land

Let me come clean -- I only read Tomorrow Land by Mari Mancusi because the *coughs* cover *coughs* looks *coughs* wicked *coughs blood*.

ABOUT THE BOOK:


Author: Mari Mancusi

Imagine finding your first love, only to be ripped apart by the apocalypse. Peyton Anderson will never forget the day she was forced to make a choice--between her family--and Chris Parker, the boy she'd given her heart. Now, four years later, as she steps from the fallout shelter and into a dead and broken world, he's the only thing on her mind.

All Chris "Chase" Parker wanted was to take Peyton away and keep her safe from harm. But he waited for hours in the rain on judgment day and she never showed--breaking his heart without ever telling him why.

Now the two of them have been thrown together once again, reluctant chaperones to a group of orphan children in a post-apocalyptic world where the dead still walk...and feed. As they begin their pilgramage to the last human outpost on Earth, can they find a way to let go of old hurts and find the love they lost--all while attempting to save what's left of the human race?

Cover Reveal: Taste by Kate Evangelista

When I first saw this cover, I thought it was creepy. I really did. I mean, I'm not going to gush on how pretty it is when there is an emo-looking girl, a bloodstained gravestone and floating black feathers in the picture. Ok?

Deceiving Cover #1

It seems that there is a trend that's catching on the YA genre. 

You see them just about everywhere! Write a mediocre fantasy/paranormal story with vampires/werewolves/witches/dragons/ghosts/faeries (the more, the better), your heroine doesn't need to be an individual (remember, she needs to be helpless and pretty), add a sprinkle of insta-love, slap a gorgeous cover and call it a novel! 

Review: The Shapeshifter's Secret

I received an ARC of "The Shapeshifter's Secret" by Heather Ostler via NetGalley -- to be published by Cedar Fort Inc on 06/12/12.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Author: Heather Ostler 

Julia is finally discovering what–not who–she is.

Like any sixteen-year-old, Julia's used to dealing with problems. From her overprotective father to her absent mother to a teacher who definitely has it in for her. But everything changes when Julia's reactions become oddly vicious and angry---more animal than human. This action-packed adventure has it all: humor, romance, and a plot that will keep you guessing to the very last page.

Review: Blood Red Road

From Goodreads: Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, violent action, and an epic love story. Moira Young is one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction.

ABOUT THE BOOK:


Author: Moira Young

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she's a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.

Review: Wondrous Strange

Yey! 5 out of 5 stars for the Advils I took during and after reading this book. Advil really is the bomb. Oh wait, I am supposed to be reviewing this book? Sorry. Hold on, let me get a glass of water and some pain killers.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Author: Lesley Livingston

17 year-old Kelley Winslow doesn’t believe in Faeries. Not unless they’re the kind that you find in a theatre, spouting Shakespeare—the kind that Kelley so desperately wishes she could be: onstage, under lights, with a pair of sparkly wings strapped to her shoulders. But as the understudy in a two-bit, hopelessly off-off-Broadway production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, wishing is probably the closest she’s going to get to becoming a Faerie Queen. At least, that’s what she thinks... In this fun, urban fantasy, Kelley's off-stage life suddenly becomes as complicated as one of Shakespeare’s plot twists when a nighttime trip to Central Park holds more than meets the mortal eye.

Review: Desert Tales (Sanctuary)

Let me start by saying that I am fan of Melissa Marr's books. She is really talented and boy, can she tell a story. So the moment I saw this in the bookstore, in my most girlish high-pitched voice, I screamed, "Ah! Melissa Marr!". That earned me alarmed looks from the nerds at the manga section. I ignored them. Immediately, I searched for the rest of the Desert Tales series. I even pulled one busy sales person aside and demanded asked for numbers 2 and 3, but they didn't have it yet. *insert sad face here*

ABOUT THE BOOK:


Author: Melissa Marr

Discover Melissa Marr's mesmerizing world of Faerie . . .

The desert is far away from the schemes of the Faerie Courts--and that's how Rika likes it. Once a mortal and now a faery, Rika seeks isolation and revels in her ability to appear invisible to humans. Then, she meets him. Artistic and kind, Jayce is the last person Rika wants to hide from.

But change is coming, challenging Rika's freedom and her new romance, as her past pursues her, even into the heart of the desert. . . .

March Recommendation

Illuminated

by Erica Orloff

An epic romance full of mysteries that transcend time—fans of Romeo and Juliet and The Time Traveler’s Wife will rejoice!




Some loves are not made to last . . . Like Romeo and Juliet, Heloise and Abelard were doomed from the start, and their romance was destined to pass into history. Yet when sixteen-year-old Callie Martin discovers a diary hidden within an antique book, their story—and hers—takes on another life. For the diary leads Callie to the brilliant and handsome August, who is just as mysterious as the secret the diary hides. Their attraction is undeniable. As the two hunt down the truth behind the diary—and that of Heloise and Abelard’s ancient romance—their romance becomes all-consuming. But Callie knows it can’t last . . . love never does. Will their love that burns as bright as a shooting star flame out, or will these star-crossed lovers be able to defy history?

About the author:

"Erica Orloff is a native New Yorker, novelist, blogger, mother of four, chronic insomniac, alt-rock loving, voracious reader (and prolific writer) who has written over twenty novels across a number of genres and pen names. She currently lives in Virginia where she rarely sleeps, roots for the Yankees and the NY Giants, knits in her almost-never free time, herds worms with her six-year-old Pirate Boy, and tries to hold onto what little sanity she has left." - ericaorloff.com/about.html