The Book Buzzer

The Buzzer's OWL Post

2010-11-14T14:32:00.000-08:00

eh hem... Sonorus...

HEY THERE!

In honor of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1 being premiered on November 19, The Smarty Owl, The Book Buzzer and our friend Lana have teamed up to present to you a plethora of all things Harry Potter!

The main Harry Potter frenzy will be happening over at The Smarty Owl. Head on over there to see all of their great features, from The Daily Prophet to the OWL Posts. They have posted a mix of trailers, The Deathly Hallows featurettes, and just about anything else you may be wanting to discover about Harry Potter.

I will be posting two reviews: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Hopefully, both of them will be up later tonight.

Since we all know that the Harry Potter series is just so fantastically amazing and override all other books in existence, we have decided to give it a different rating system, specifically made for Harry Potter. Keep in mind that any rating on this scale automatically surpasses my beastly rating system. ;)

Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)

Ah, I forgot to introduce myself!

Angela
Gryffindor,
Half-blood,
Blackthorn; Chimaera Scale Core; 11 inches

See Rica, Sonia and Lana's stats over at The Smarty Owl!

And did I mention? We will be heading out to the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 midnight premiere on November 19! Be on the look out for our before and after posts.

Start your journey at The Great Hall

The End Begins...

11.19.10

ARC: The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

2010-11-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

Title: The Mockingbirds (ARC)

Author: Daisy Whitney

Publication Date: November 2, 2010

ARC, 339 pages

hardcover, 352 pages

Some schools have honor codes.
Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.

In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it. - Summary from Goodreads

Meet Alex. Meet the morning after.

The Mockingbirds has a thrilling, mysterious beginning. It starts off with Alex waking up after getting date raped, although not knowing it at the time. She is startled and dizzy. From the moment she realizes she's not in her own bed, Alex manages to lull the reader with her distraught confusion. Alex has a strong voice throughout the whole story, not just of your average, prep school girl, but also that of an independent female character that always has her best interest in mind, even when the pressure of the intimidating, brilliant kids at Themis Academy is on. But the most important decision Alex makes in her high school years is that of when she turns to the Mockingbirds for the most drastic and influencing help she can get.

The Mockingbirds is a student-run organization, completely unknown to the staff at the Academy, yet perhaps the most famous club among the students. Their job is to bring the justice to the students in situations where the school board is just not serious enough to handle it. Date rape, Alex's friends agree, is definitely a serious matter that should not be ignored. Through the Mockingbirds and their system of honor and strong impressions, they have the power to threaten or challenge anyone in the academy that is of wrongdoings, such as date rape. I love the cleverness of the Mockingbirds, and the way the group is run. Being composed of elite students, the set-up is brilliant and well designed, using school messengers and points to alter a students credibility and rights. The reason why it was founded is because high-class schools such as the one Alex attends believe that their students are sweet and innocent, and are too determined to succeed in important areas of life. Any incident of delinquency, and the headmasters will ignore it. Alex's older sister, Casey, created the Mockingbirds in hope that any time a student found themselves in danger or a tough situation, they would have someone to turn to for help that will always be carried through.

The story makes a turn for the better when the Mockingbirds accept Alex's case of accusing Carter, the boy she was with that night, of date rape. They bring him to "court", just like an actual case except this one is just in the dorm laundry room. If Carter is convicted of rape, he must face serious consequences, involving his expulsion from the Themis Academy swim team. It is truly amazing how the Mockingbirds have the power to control his school activities, all while working directly under the schools noses. For Alex, not only is she aware that the truth will prevail, but she also meets plenty of new friends and acquaintances that are supporting her all the way. And to top it off, a romance does blossom between her and her good geek friend, Martin. Martin is supportive of everything Alex does, and being a Mockingbird himself, is threatening his own position of power in the group by being with Alex. I like that part because it adds secrecy between Martin and Alex. It added to the suspense at the final court case and yet still stood strong. Another small, yet main character drastically helped in Alex finding herself is Mrs. Damata, her piano teacher. Alex is an extremely talented pianist, and I enjoyed that part of her because every time she described her playing or anything piano related, I could relate to and follow it too because I play the piano as well. Mrs. Damata went to Julliard, and so she is like a grandmother to Alex, someone who she is able to confide in when discussing music. And other things. Like Carter. And boys. Mrs. Damata is a character who Alex could burst out her feelings to, and she would fully understand. She is the one who helps Alex find her inner strength, and stop doubting herself and her capabilities. Mrs. Damata only appears in the story a handful of times, which did disappoint me a little. I am hoping she will make a strong reappearance in the next book as well.

The ending of The Mockingbirds is a bit predictable, but yet still extremely satisfying. There was a main part that could easily have been suspected which I won't mention, but it still doesn't ruin the "exciting-ness" of the story. Alex's character develops strongly and evenly throughout the book. She discovers how much of a difference she can make upon her life if she follows through with tough decisions that can have strong and lasting impacts on people. The writing could have been a bit more impressive and captivating, but otherwise, Daisy Whitney did an exceptional job with this book to show the importance of finding yourself, and also being aware of rape and date rape.

Lastly, one very important thing I learned from this book:

When it comes to determining a rape, this may be the key component to the accusation.

A no is a no. Not a yes.

4 Beasts

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

2010-10-14T14:13:00.001-07:00

Title: Paranormalcy

Author: Kiersten White

Publication Date: August 31, 2010

hardcover, 335 pages

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie's always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures. - Summary from Goodreads

Thanks to a VERY friendly librarian, I was able to snag this book a few days before it came out! Unfortunately I didn't actually go to pick it up until the day it was published... :(

Paranormalcy is by all means way past my expectations. With all the tacky, twilight faux out there, my taste for paranormal was at a demise. However, when I picked up this book, my love for this high-demand genre was back. Every part of this book is different from those that I had read before. The best part about Evie, the main character, is that she herself does not know who she actually is. The story was about finding that person inside of her, literally. In the beginning she is just a normal person, which I am still, months after reading this book, loving. For once there is a book where you don't truly know the main character, and since she doesn't know herself either, her curiosity and adventure is in your veins as well.

When Evie meets Lend, it's as if the whole book was merely a rocket just waiting to be launched, finally, when they meet. They bond instantly-at first, just as friends, which is the best part. Neither of them try to take it to fast, but are both content with the ever-so -as well as patient- growing bond between them. Even better, this time, it was Evie who made the first moves rather than Lend. Lend is fantastic, and his power met with Evie's is a perfect match. It's clear that they are meant for each other. Lend's abilities are intriguing and original, and constantly made me curious to know what he would do the next time he shows up.

The idea of Evie's paranormal abilities deserves 5 stars on its own. The rest of the paranormals in the story are also just so differentiated from the average werewolf/vampire scenarios, they too alone could have kept me lured into the story. The antagonist is, well, think of her as an extremely distorted (and by distorted I mean lighter AND distorted) version of Harry Potter and Voldemort. Evie and her share many things in common such as their abilities, but also have feelings for each other that are not mutual. The face-to-face scenes are not as dark and twisted as they are in Harry Potter, but they do have the perfect amount of action and suspense a 14 year old girl is looking for in such a story.

I was amused by how fairies, once their true names are discovered, are forced to do the bidding of whoever speaks their name. Reth, Evie's ex-boyfriend, had a rough, bad-boy touch with a slightly predictable twist in the end. In a more positive statement, I would call the predictable twist more of clever foreshadowing. . . However, all in all this was a very satisfying story that was was very enjoyable. It fits the description of a young adult book perfectly.

4 Beasts

The Smarty Owl - Win a Copy of Gemini Night!

2010-10-10T12:36:00.001-07:00

The Smarty Owl (my book blogging affiliate) is having an awesome contest! Check it out!

Gemini Night

One winner will get Gemini Night- the third awesomesauce installment in the Star Crossed Series by Bonnie Hearn Hill

Rules and guidelines?

You must be 13 or over to enter
Since we're honoring our followers, you must be one!
One winning entrant will get Gemini Night by Bonnie Hearn Hill. Winner will be picked using random.org or hat!

Contest limited to the United States
Contest November 15th, 2010 at midnight EST.

ENTER HERE!

Blog Hop and Follow Friday 10/8/10

2010-10-08T15:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View

This weeks Blog Hop question:

What's your favorite beverage while reading or blogging, if any? Is it tea, coffee, water, a glass of wine, or something else?

My Answer: I try to avoid drinking beverages while reading because when I do I often spill on the book. But if I do have a preference, it is usually based on the weather. . . such as hot chocolate in the winter and cold juice in the summer.

And the FF question:

How many book reviews do you like to do a week?

My answer: Well in the summer I try to do 1-2 a week, but now because of school I rarely have time to do even one a week. But I try to do at least one every week so I can let my followers know that I'm still an active blogger.

Have a great weekend! Happy hopping!

and remember: I follow back!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

2010-10-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

Title: Graceling

Author: Kristin Cashore

Publication Date: September 7th 2009

Hardcover, 471 pages

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight — she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme, and in her case horrifying, skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug. When she first meets Prince Po, 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. - Summary from Goodreads

Kristin Cashore is the master of combining fantasy, adventure, romance, and a thick page-turning plot into one book. Every part of this story was enticing, and there were little to no parts I had issues with. Every character is strongly developed and has a voice vital to the overall story.

In the beginning, Katsa, the main character, is working for her uncle, King Randa, as a form of a threatener who forces kings from other kingdoms to do what Randa pleases. Katsa has a Graceling, a special power she was born with that allows her to excel in a particular subject in life. It is believed that she has the Grace of killing, and that gives Katsa the power to kill or hurt someone with the slightest ease. Because of this Grace, her uncle basically "tools" on her and forces her to go to other kingdoms and do his bidding. And the worst part is that Katsa goes along with it. It is not until Prince Po enters her life that he makes her change her view of herself.

The plot itself is well written and very thorough. It definitely would have kept the story a page turner had it not involved Katsa and Po's romance. (Even though that was a very big part!) It is not a simple plot, but easy to understand and definitely unpredictable at multiple points. Katsa and Po are to travel and find King Leck, the ruler of Murgon for suspicion that he had captured Prince Tealiff. That adventure turnes out to be more than just a simple mission, for there are three branches off of the objective. One task they are to do is to rescue Bitterblue from the wrath of her father, King Leck who is this-close to mistreating her. The second is unexpected to the Po and Katsa (however completely expected to the reader), that being the romance between them. And the last and perhaps most important to the plot is to kill King Leck. Leck has a extremely powerful Grace that I will not mention so I do not spoil anything.

My favorite part of Graceling was the connection with Katsa and Po. None of it was rushed, mainly because of Katsa's personality, and how she refuses to ever marry or have children. However, Po manages to bring her strong walls down with wit and charm, and also the power of knowing exactly what to say at the right moment. (which I am pointing out because I seem to never be able to do that..) On their journey to find King Leck, Katsa soon realizes that the friendship she thinks she has with Po is in truth, much more. Their romance is perfect because it is not overdone, however there it is just the perfect amount so that it doesn't leave you satisfied.

Now, the ENDING. Just when you think all is well, there is a HUGE twist in the story that leaves me shocked and mad. But not in the mad this-book-stinks way. Mad in the sense that just makes me love the book more. It is brilliant and heartbreaking at the same time. It makes me connect with each character to a deeper level, and adding to the intensity of the story. Graceling is a fantastic book that will leave your heart fluttering and your reading hunger satisfied.

4.5 Beasts

THE WINNER! MY 50 FOLLOWERS/1 MONTH BLOGOVERSARY CONTEST!

2010-10-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to EVERYONE who entered this contest! I would not be anywhere near where I am right now in blogging if it weren't for my followers.

out of 433 entries and 91 entrants....

the winner of my 50 Followers/1 Month Blogoversary IS....

*drumroll*

(Jessica S.)

Congratulations Jessica! You have 48 hours to respond to my email.

Thanks for entering everyone! Come back for more updates on contests coming up!

Blog Hop and Follow Friday! 10/1/10

2010-10-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hello there everyone! It's 10/01/10. Cool.

don't you just LOVE binary numbers?! - (my math teacher today)

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View

This week:

"How do you spread the word about your blog?
(e.g. Social Networking sites, Book Blog Directories, comments on other blogs...)"
My answer: well thats an easy one! The main way I spread my blog is right here, through Blog Hop and Follow Friday! I always try to hop over to as many blogs as I can and say hey! Most of the time bloggers see my comment on their blog and hop back over to mine. And that's how I get the word out! Also, my first contest spread the word quite a bit.

This weeks Follow Friday question:
What books have bitten you?
My answer: I have two main books: The Harry Potter Series and The Hunger Games. In fact, right now I am re-reading the Harry Potter series in honor of the seventh movie, which comes out in November! I'm just trying to re-fresh my mind for everything that has happened to Harry from the first to seventh books. And with the Hunger Games, I have read it so many times and it never gets old! And I never want to stop reading it!

Have fun hopping! And heres my rule: If you follow me, I will follow you back!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

2010-09-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Author: Sherman Alexie

Publication Date: September 12, 2007

Hardcover, 230 pages

Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend and all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the authors own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he thought he was destined to live. - Summary from Goodreads

Okay, Sherman Alexie, I doubt that this book is ABSOLUTELY true, but if it is, it may just be the best Absolutely True (or Absolutely slightly changed) teenager story I have ever read. I can definitely understand how The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian won the National Book Award. It has an amazing story about one boys adventure outside of his Indian Reservation, from where he was destined to be all his life to where he finally realizes he must leave the rez go to an all-white school. There, he learns who he truly is and realizes that he can be someone that he's never dreamed of being before. He understands that life on the rez doesn't have to be the only path of life he can take. Even that being an alcoholic is not the way he should live, despite the majority of the Indians he lives with are alcoholics.

I first was interested in this book not through seeing it on shelves or that nice shiny award on the cover, but rather, in a most peculiar way. In Massachusetts, starting from third grade every child in the public school systems must take an exam called MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) for all the basic curriculum topics, including reading and reading comprehension. One year, a reading comprehension story on the test was an excerpt from Sherman Alexie's book. It was a major basketball/life changing scene, where Junior takes on the huge, big bully, all-star, ex-best friend Rowdy in a match between his all-white team, Reardan, and his old rez team, Wellpinit. He creams them and humiliates them, and while basking in all his glory he turns around to see Rowdy and his old team. He knows that most of them haven't had anything to eat today. He imagines when Rowdy comes home to his drunken father, who will of course beat him to near-death for losing. He thinks about how none of them will go to college. None of them. He feels ashamed.

Junior is one of the most amazing characters of a story I have read in a long time. He had a fervid, strong voice from the start, and it only grew stronger through the story. Who knew a boy that was born with too much water in the brain, had constant seizures, ten extra teeth and "ugly, thick, black, plastic" glasses would soon be dating the most popular girl in Reardan, be close friends with Roger, the star of the football team, and join the varsity basketball team as a freshman? Who knew that those companions would deeply respect him for who he was, no matter how poor he was? But even more importantly, who knew that a boy so unimportant, so unnormal could be the strongest, most independent and brave person on an entire Indian Reservation? Junior had a lot of guts to leave Wellpinit High and go to an all-white school off the rez. He had alot of nerve to punch Roger in the face and give him a bloody nose. He had a lot of nerve to talk to Penelope, the pretty blonde. But what I loved most about him was his love/hate relationship with Rowdy, his best friend since birth. Rowdy started to hate him, swear and hit him after he left the rez. What I believe was the true reason behind the Rowdy's violence was not that he thought Junior was a trader, but more on the part that Rowdy loved Junior too much to see him leave. But I love the way Sherman describes their love for each other (no, not in that way) no matter what happened. I love how Sherman cleverly describes guy-love, how guys can love each other alot but since their boys they won't actually admit it. I find that extremely funny, but definitely one hundred percent true. And also most of the time, their way of showing love is by insulting each other, fighting or being rude. As Junior says, "Man, you gotta love someone that much to hate them that much, too." Rowdy and Junior's friendship was deeper than the crazy weird Turtle Lake, which according to Junior, " was, like, forever deep."

Juniors adventures are, strangely, very philosophical. He is hilarious, with his descriptions of people, places and events along with the fantastic comics that go along with his story. I love his drawings of his teachers and tribe-members, the two of whom are compared to volcanoes and chickens. But apart from all the silliness and hysterical-ness of it all, the deeper meaning is what I found was the best part. Junior has lived a particularly sad life. Being an Indian is not what most people think it is. They receive barely any money from the government, and a majority of adults in the reservations have developed a habit of spending that money on drugs and alcohol. Because of this, lots of members of his tribe die in car accidents, shootings or fights with each other while being intoxicated. These deaths cause grief for Junior, and he stays out of school for very long periods of time. He is rejected by everyone in his tribe on the rez except for his family, for being a trader and transferring schools. At one point, Junior even has to get stitches from angry rez members throwing things at him. Yet he manages to stick through it, persevere, let life go on, and stay passionate to his goal of finding success, (and himself!) in leaving his safe-zone and going to an all-white public school.

Sherman Alexie reveals a culture in America that has been widely forgotten. The ever changing lifestyle of American Indians is something that most Americans are unaware of. Alexie points out that many of the rich, cultural traditions, customs and rituals are fading, and the newer generations are becoming less and less aware of their what was once a deep, thriving way of life. However, there are still those, such as Junior, who are aware of the changes, and instead of following that main road, decide to go down the one less traveled by. The road that can make all the difference, the one that shows them who they really are, and who they can be when they know not to be pulled down by who they are expected to be. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a fantastic book filled with humor, wit, character, sadness, coolness (yes!) and pretty much just about anything a young adult reader would love.

4.5 Beasts

Blog Hop and Follow Friday 9/24/10

2010-09-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hey bloggers and readers!

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View

This weeks Blog Hop question:

When you write reviews, do you write them as you are reading or wait until you have read the entire book?

My answer: I wait until I have finished the book before I start writing my reviews. I do this because often times the overall theme of the book is a process that takes the entire book to understand, and is powerfully concluded near the end. My rating for a book is decided upon the story, plot, theme, character development etc. which is hard to ascertain simply by reading and reviewing page by page. In my opinion, it takes the whole book to make it be "reviewable".

This weeks FF question:

What is your high fashion book? (Best cover ever!)

My answer: On The Adoration of Jenna Fox [Hardcover] book. there is a butterfly. If you look closely to the butterfly, a part of its left wing is missing. I would say close to ten percent. I will not say anymore about the wing, but for those of you who have read this book I hope you understand the importance of this. It's not the beauty of the cover that I love, but rather the important relation to the story from the cover.

Hoppers, I will follow you back if you let me know that you follow me!

While your here, don't forget to check out my 50 Followers Contest! Ends September 30.

Blog Hop and Follow Friday! 9/17/10

2010-09-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hello there hoppers!

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View

This week:

In honor of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, let's take time this week to honor our favorite book bloggers and why we love them!

At the moment, I have two favorite book bloggers. My favorite blog is The Smarty Owl, a YA book blog by Okapi and Rica Eat World. They have by far the best blog I know of, and their reviews are AMAZING. My second favorite blog is I'd So Rather Be Reading by Kelli and Natalie, because they were the ones who gave me my first two blog awards. And they have given me multiple positive comments on many of my reviews.

For you hoppers and followers out there: Leave me a comment saying you follow me, and I'll follow you back!

Also, be sure to check out my contest!

Ends September 30

Have a great weekend!

My Rating System

2010-09-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

All right guys- I need to make space for some more pages on the top of my blog. So, I have decided to remove the rating system as a page and simply put it as a post that I can link back to on my sidebar. So, for everyone who doesn't know how my rating system works or would simply like to see it again:

I rate all my books by "Beasts". So, my favorite books are Beastly! Ha-ha, get it?

Un-Beastly? (Highly unrecommended)

I LOVED IT! yay!

(Definitely Recommended)

BEASTLY. AS CLEARLY SHOWN BY MY REVIEW ANIMALS :)

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

2010-09-13T18:06:00.000-07:00

Title: Beautiful Creatures

Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Publication Date: December 1, 2009

hardcover, 563 pages

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she' struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations, But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. -Summary from Goodreads

Casters. The word is so simple, and it is an original paranormal creature that I have not read or heard about in a paranormal book before. That, on it's own, was a major plus of this book. The introduction was entrancing, starting the story off with dreams. Ethan Wate, a high-school aged boy from Gatlin, South Carolina, starts to have heart-thumping, blood-rushing dreams-or more like nightmares. He dreams that he is falling, tumbling through air, and there is a girl falling with him, screaming for help. But there is nothing he can do, for every time he tries to reach for her all he grabs is air. It is at this part in the dream when he usually wakes up, hot and sweaty. This beginning is quite the introduction, and now I know that there is a special girl out there he will be searching for.

The southern setting is important to the story in a way such that there is quite a bit of the book that has to do with historical references to the civil war, and it also includes a group of women called the Daughters of the Revolution - DAR. Two of the minor antagonists in the story, Emily, Savannah and their mothers as well are part of the club.

Ethan and Lena's meeting is not too cliche, rushed of forced. - Many small sections of the meeting may have seemed fake, such as the thunderstorm and high winds, but I later realized that it was truly not a pathetic attempt at making the "love at first sight" situation more tense than it was. It was just a relation to Lena and her powers, which include the ability to control the weather depending on her emotions.

But now the good, positive review stops here.

Lena is an odd girl. She owns a hearse, which she drives regularly. I would have been more than creeped out if I saw a boy or girl driving a hearse to school. Of course, the loving boyfriend Ethan doesn't seem to mind. However, I find this slightly contradicting because Ethan is a popular, jock-style teenager. Perhaps I am being too confident here, but I know as a fact that popular sporty boys have no interest whatsoever in the dead and deceased, and would immediately judge a girl driving a hearse in a bad way. So, how Ethan doesn't even complain once about the hearse seems all too unrealistic. Also, Ethan is curiously over committed to Lena. He is so obsessed with her that he is completely undevoted to himself and his values he treasured before he met Lena. After the two of them meet, he loses all his friends and he doesn't show the slightest hint that he misses them or would like to be friends with them again. He is so entranced that he even quits the basketball team, along with his potential college scholarship that may have come if he stayed true to the team. There were numerous accounts of the normal, repetitive components of the average teenage/paranormal book:

1)The meeting of the main characters. Of course C1 meets C2 and starts creeping on them. C2 tries to avoid C1 at all costs, and usually refers to calling them bad names and giving them the silent treatment.

2) The beater. Link's- Ethan's best friend- car. Of course, it's the typical old terrible car that always rattles and coughs and wheezes and just barely manages to start the engine. Every teenager in every story seems to have one of those.

3) Link is the classic best friend. Of course, when all of Ethan's other friends ditch him because he starts hanging out with Lena, Link is still there. It's not that I don't appreciate Link for doing that, but why is it always just one friend? And what makes that friend want to stick with Ethan? It is never mentioned in the story.

4) When C1 or C2 realizes that the other is a paranormal, there is chapters and chapters of explanations about their abilities. TMI!!!

The plot itself is not awful. In fact, it is, to say the least, entertaining and mysterious. There is only one main problem. Ethan Wate. Man, do I have a problem with this boy. He is an all around nuisance. He is shallow, lacks description, and is underdeveloped. He has little to no voice, which results in why I do not feel the strong connection between him and Lena. Yes, there is lots of romance, but never can I place myself in their situation and understand their love. Their personalities, thoughts and feelings are almost completely absent. I suppose I slightly understand the decent writing because it is two women writing from the perspective of a teenage boy, but there were most definitely several parts they could have polished or cut out. For example, on page 223:

" I was sure I wanted to kiss her again, but it would have to wait. If Marian had the answers we needed, I'd have a lot more chances to kiss her.

I ran through my playbook again. Pick 'n' Roll."

Tell me thats not tacky. Isn't it just wrong for Ethan, such a charming boy, to think of life and girls as basketball plays? No, I'm sorry, but I don't understand how a Pick 'n' Roll metaphorically would help them find the answers or allow more kissing time.

I wouldn't say Beautiful Creatures was a waste of time, however, I also would not say it is a good use of time either. I do plan on reading Beautiful Darkness when it comes out, but I intend to place it near the bottom of my to-read list.

3.5 Beasts

Blog Hop (4) and Follow Friday! (3)

2010-09-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hello there hoppers!

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View

This weeks question:

Post a link to a favorite post or book review that you have written in the past three months.

My Answer: Well, first off, It's not really a question. So this is not really an answer, it's more of a response. Anyways, I think that the best book review I've done yet is on the book Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. For all you bloggers that commented on it, thanks so much for the wonderful comments!

For you hoppers and followers out there: Leave me a comment saying you follow me, and I'll follow you back!

Also, be sure to check out my contest!

The Book Buzzer's 50 Follower/1 Month Blogoversary Giveaway!

In My Mailbox (3): September 6, 2010

2010-09-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren, to let bloggers show what books they have accumulated over the past week.

I haven't done an IMM in a while, so some of these books are not books I received this week, but rather several weeks ago. Still, I'm putting them in this post because I did not make an IMM for them the week I got them.

In My Mailbox

From Random Buzzers (:

The Things A Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt

We Were Here by Matt de la Pena

Won from The Prairie Library:

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

From the Library:

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Book Blogger Hop! (4) and Follow Friday (3)

2010-09-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View

This weeks question:

Do you judge a book by its cover?

My answer: I will honestly answer this question with a yes. I know that I shouldn't, but sometimes it's just so hard to believe that books with drop-dead gorgeous covers could be bad! And it's also easy for be to believe that a book with an old-looking or dull cover is not that good. Although, in multiple cases, my judgement towards book covers has been proved wrong. For example, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I admit the covers aren't exactly eye-catching, but the books themselves are phenomenal. An example of a book that I think has a fantastic cover yet is repulsive would be... the Twilight series. Sorry to disappoint, all you Twilight lovers out there!

Do you judge a book by it's cover?

Leave a comment! If you tell me that you follow, I'll follow you back!

Have you entered my contest yet?

Angela's 50 Followers/1 Month Blogoversary Giveaway! Ends September 30.

Enter Here

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

2010-08-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

Title: The Dark Divine

Author: Bree Despain

Publication Date: December 22, 2009

hardcover, 372 pages

A Prodigal Son

A Dangerous Love

A Deadly Secret

Grace Divine—daughter of the local pastor—always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared and her brother Jude came home covered in his own blood.

Now that Daniel's returned, Grace must choose between her growing attraction to him and her loyalty to her brother.

As Grace gets closer to Daniel, she learns the truth about that mysterious night and how to save the ones she loves, but it might cost her the one thing she cherishes most: her soul. - Summary from Goodreads

Bleh. The Dark Divine was a disappointingly typical paranormal story. It included all the classic components: girl meets mysterious boy, they try to avoid each other but are still pulled closer by love. Then the boy turns out to be a paranormal character- a werewolf, vampire, or in this case, a hound of heaven. Boy still has secrets that girl must find out on her own. Girl gets mad. Doesn't talk to boy. Boy still loves her. They get back together and save someones life. Sound familiar? This storyline makes me sick to my stomach, I've read it so many times. The Dark Divine was not an exception. I found the narrative of the story to be awfully amateur, juvenile and simple. Grace, the narrator, was a girl with a lack of sophistication. She was dull and mundane with nothing stark in her personality that made her truly stand out above all other girlfriends-of-paranormals. She had an abundance of lines where she would talk to herself with cliche thoughts such as the one when Pete was flirting with her.

"Why am I such a dumb girl? I mean, seriously, get it together."

Sometimes it befuddles me as to how such shallow-minded girls always seem to get the charming boys.

There was lack in Jude and Grace's relationship as brother and sister. It was just barely there. Jude always seemed more interested in taking April out on dates than seriously discussing the dangers of Daniel to Grace. And Grace was much closer to Daniel than Jude in my opinion. Whenever she had to choose between them, it was clear that she did not put much thought into the decision. The beginning was terribly slow, and although Daniel was introduced early on, his presence was never heated to the point of intensity. In fact, I found the beginning to be so bland

that at one point I put it down and didn't pick it up for another week.

Grace is most definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed. Her lack of intelligence therefore results in her obliviousness to everything. She is too simple-minded and ignorant to even question Daniel's crazy inhuman abilities. Like the time during one of Grace's flashbacks to several years ago, Daniel had randomly shown up one day with major damage done to his skull. He went to the hospital, but the next day his skull was perfect, as if nothing had ever happened to it. Unconcerned, Grace never questioned the miracle. If I knew someone who was in the same scenario, of course I would have immediately realized something was not right. But no, while most normal people would have asked or sleuthed around for the truth, instead, it took Grace several years to remember the odd incidents in which Daniel proved to heal miraculously. And even then, only when Daniel confessed to her his capabilities, did she put the two and two together.

There were quite a number of unnecessary headers in the story. For example, on page 101:

Wednesday Afternoon, At the Funeral

"A somber shadow cast over the parish, touching the hearts of all those who shuffled into the sanctuary for Maryanna Duke's funeral."

No need for repetitiveness...

One Heartbeat Later

Instead of starting a whole new section with that unnecessary header, you could just start a new paragraph?

Into The Woods

The next several pages are describing Daniel and Grace dashing off into the woods. We get the picture.

Also, many of those headers were right under the start of a new chapter, with the chapter already titled. The headers were extraneous.

The one thing that kept me holding onto this book was Grace and Daniel's relationship. They're addictive love for each other always made me swoon. They Divinely (ha-ha) loved each other, and truly stopped at nothing to be together. When Grace discovered Daniel's past and was so shocked and outraged that she refused to talk to him for months, it made me ache for Daniel to somehow in any way he could, come back for her and ask for forgiveness. Those two made made me totally hooked. All in all, The Dark Divine was not particularly special, although it was also not a book that I was appalled to read.

3.5 Beasts

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

2010-08-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Author: John Green and David Levithan

Publication Date: April 6th, 2010

Hardcover, 310 pages

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan's collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won both them legions of faithful fans. - Summary from Goodreads

I am a big fan of John Green. In all his books, he somehow manages to incorporate normal teenagers at the start and then they always tend to end up with their lives changed forever by the end. David Levithan on the other hand, I will admit that I have never read any of his books. But after reading this, I will make sure that changes. I could tell that the two of them have different styles of writing, as a little into the book it started to elucidate which author wrote which chapters. After finishing the book and looking online, it turns out my guesses were correct: Green wrote as Will1, and Levithan as Will2.

Will1 was my favorite character. I was attached from when he said "you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends nose." That is a classic favorite saying of mine every since my friends dad said that in front of our whole 3rd grade class, and it was awesome hearing it again, but this time from a book! I also got a laugh out of Will1's two rules of life: 1. Don't care too much 2. Shut up. I do agree with these rules, for at certain times these are great rules to live by. Tiny Cooper, Will1's best friend, a unnaturally large massive person with a million boyfriends who he is in and out of love with everyday, was a fantastic character. He made me crack up in the way Green always manages to make his readers do. As Will1's best friend and eventually Will2's boyfriend, Tiny is like the puzzle piece that goes between them. He is the middle link in the chain. Tiny brought Will1 to a concert in Chicago, and the two Will's met at a store near the bar of the concert. If they didn't meet, they never would have found themselves, known who they really were, and they never would have changed forever. Without Tiny, the Will's certainly would never have met. He is a high school boy yearning for love, he's optimistic, genuine, caring, and especially unaware of the damage relationships can make on him. Even though he's been through it 17 times.

When we first meet Will2, he's clearly an emo boy. He's depressed, never smiling, and takes medication for his "problem". He has no respect for his single mother who does the best she can to care for him. He is in an online dating relationship with a boy named Isaac. Yes, like Tiny Cooper, he is gay. When Will2 meets Will1 that fateful night in Chicago, their worlds turn in ways they never had before. Remember Will 1's rules of not caring too much and shutting up? Yeah, well, those are no longer an option for him. When Tiny Cooper decides to write and direct a musical about himself with the Gay-Straight-Alliance club, Will2 is the reason why he re-writes the script and turns the theme into love. Then, the two of them fall head over heels for each other and start a relationship. Yes, a gay relationship between a depressed, emo boy and a gigantically overweight one. They are together for the longest time any of them have ever been in a relationship, only to end it because Will2 tells tiny he doesn't need anyone. That shatters Tiny's heart into a million pieces, leaving him devastated. This is when Will2 realizes what a mess he's made, and spends days planning a stunt which involves Tiny's play that is so diabolical, it may just change Tiny's life forever. And just because of this one high school musical, Will1 drops everything he stands for so he can make a difference in the life of the person he loves most. Will2 is the one who comes up with the idea, and he's also the one who makes it happen. He is so struck by what he did to Tiny that day, he feels that he needs to do this to show that he still cares about and loves Tiny deeply. This one night changes the life of 3 boys. Again.

I'm not a Will Grayson, but I love you, Tiny Cooper.

The cover at first glance just seems like an attractive, shiny and cool double dose of the title and the colors. Little did I notice that the background is not just some shiny, luminescent lights. Why in fact, they are stage lights, glinting and dazzling from the picture. And only then did I realize that it actually did have quite a lot to do with the book. I would rate this cover a 5/5, even though I don't do cover ratings.

The only issue I had with this book was the, well, lack of meaning in some parts. I would warn you that this book is definitely not for the younger audience. It includes online relationships, violently crude humor, a porn store, and the excessive use of, well, teenage language. B**chsquealer and motherf***er are used frequently throughout the book. Thus with all the explicit content, I disappointingly had to decrease the value of the rating.

4 Beasts

50 Followers and 1 Month Blogoversary GIVEAWAY!

2010-08-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

Hey there everyone! So as some of you may know, today I hit 50 followers! Thanks so much for all your support and comments. They make and pull me through my days. Also, its been roughly one month since I started blogging! Can you believe it?! 50 followers in one month? I could not be more thankful for everyone whose helped me reach that goal. So, in celebration, I'm having a GIVEAWAY! There will be 1 lucky winner!

Here's what you can win:

Or..... An ARC of Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson!

Forge comes out October 16, 2010

please note - The ARC does not have the cover shown here. It has a small image of the cover on the front.

*Contest Rules*

You must be a follower to enter this contest!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment with the following:

+1 your name and email

+1 follow my blog (mandatory)

extra entries:

+1 follow me on twitter (@thebookbuzzer) - leave your username

+2 tweet the contest -leave a link

+2 add contest to your sidebar - leave a link

+5 blog post - leave a link

+1 add up entries! don't forget!

Open to U.S. residents only. (Sorry guys! I'm still a student without a job...)

The winner will be selected by random.org

Contest ends September 30.

The lucky winner will be announced October 2. I will contact them by email and a post, and they have 42 hours to respond or I will pick a new winner.

Good luck everyone! And thanks for being such awesome followers!

Blog Hop (3) and Follow Friday! (2)

2010-08-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View

This weeks question:Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?
My answer: Yes, I do have a rating system. I call it beasts :P. There are a total of 5 beasts: a Turtle, a Hippo, a Tiger, an Elephant, and a Flamingo. If they are all there, that means I loved the book. If only the turtle is there, that means the book was under my standards. I use a rating system because it helps me remember how much I enjoyed a book, and also it's useful because often when other blogs review the same book, they also have ratings, and I can compare them. Ratings are good for summing things up, and they are pretty powerful. Sometimes they tell me if I should consider picking up a book or not. Even if I know that I shouldn't be influenced by other peoples opinions.See my full rating system!
What is your answer to this weeks question? Let me know if your a new follower, and I'll follow you back!

Paper Towns by John Green

2010-08-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

Title: Paper Towns

Author: John Green

Publication Date: October 16, 2008

Hardcover, 305 Pages

When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night - dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge - he follows her. Margo's always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she's always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they're for Q. - Summary from Goodreads

The prologue was like a temptingly delectable cupcake. It revealed such a mysterious and enticing moment in which two nine year old best friends discovered a bloody, dead man lying under the tree by the town playground. That was so interesting to me because it was so different than any other book prologue I had ever read before. It was nothing remotely close to normal. The beginning was enjoyable because Green's 'set up' was smooth - the lay out of Quentin's life as a senior to introduce the main character was done well. Quentin and his friends, Radar and Ben, were hysterical teenagers who I found easy to relate to.

The beginning was fast paced, as it almost immediately started with Quentin and Margo Roth Spiegelman - his long time crush - going on a crazy, wild adventure on a night they will never forget. This berserk circumstance caused the entire rest of the book to be effected by that night. That was an enjoyable change in a storyline, because most books don't reach the climax until about three quarters of the book. Not only was the climax at the start, but there was also another, more important climax as a result of the first one, so I did not find the rest of the book boring at all. I was expecting that the next few weeks after Margo and Quentin's campaign of revenge, everything would be settled down and life would go on without any nostalgic thoughts from anyone. Instead, Margo Spiegelman disappeared, and her vanishing act was put to investigation by the one and only distressed Quentin.

The mystery that went with Margo and her small lead of "bread crumb" trails that hinted only to Quentin as to where she fled were brilliant! (However, none are to be mentioned here for the protection of not releasing spoilers) I eagerly followed Margo's trail alongside Quentin every step of the way, whenever he found new evidence and got closer to uncovering the whereabouts of his childhood crush. The so called Paper Towns that Quentin discovered were neat, real-yet-not places that I had never heard of until Green introduced them into the story. Paper Towns are some of the coolest, non-existent concepts I have ever come across.

The twenty-one hour car trip with three senior boys and one senior girl was hilarious and amusing. Every hour of the trip was the start of a new chapter, and each chapter added new humor and old jokes from the previous chapters. The unexpected problems that the crew had along the trip were fun-filled and fantastic. I found that at every moment in the trip I could not put the book down, mainly because I was laughing so hard, and that just caused me to keep on reading because I was craving for another supply of stomach-aching laughter. Ben was a favorite character of mine during the road trip, perhaps because he always seemed as if he was in constant need of the restroom at all points along the drive. And when there was not a plan for a rest stop for another four hours, the restroom improvisational skills of the clan were a riot to read about. I also grew to love the character Radar, who was another addition to the calamities of the road trip. Radar was such a comical high-schooler, who had quite the strong personality and the strangest background. He was a strong leader and a great member of the crew.

In the end, after when Quentin ditches his very own high school graduation to find a special someone he is head-over-heels with, I found quite a few philosophical thoughts within him. There were life changing realizations and moments that had accumulated inside of him throughout his experiences that were never released until those moments at the end of the story. Every bit of those deep, psychological grasps that he caught on to made it a truly beautiful novel. The main reason why I am not rating it as high as I may seem to want to is simply because it was, to me, a little bit childish at points with the teenage humor. Some of the humor was a bit crude, and books that deserve higher are ones that aren't so, well, goofy. This was a fun read, but nothing too amazing to consider a high quality young adult book.

4 Beasts

Book Blogger Hop! (3)

2010-08-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

Blog Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books

So, I was in D.C this past week and I just got back at around 3 this morning, so I missed Follow Friday :( but there's always good ol' Blog Hop to count on!

This Weeks Question:

How many blogs do you follow?

My Answer: Well, on my old book blog account I am currently following 272 blogs. On this account, it's around 20 since i'm still adding to my old account, so in total it would be about 282 because lots of follows on The Book Buzzer are repeats of the blogs I am already following.

So, how many blogs are you following?

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

2010-08-14T17:58:00.000-07:00

Title: The Cardturner

Author: Louis Sachar

Publication Date: May 11, 2010

hardcover, 352 pages

When Alton's ageing, blind uncle asks him to attend bridge games with him, he agrees. After all, it's better than a crappy summer job in the local shopping mall, and Alton's mother thinks it might secure their way to a good inheritance sometime in the future. But, like all apparently casual choices in any of Louis Sachar's wonderful books, this choice soon turns out to be a lot more complex than Alton could ever have imagined. As his relationship with his uncle develops, and he meets the very attractive Toni, deeply buried secrets are uncovered and a romance that spans decades is finally brought to a conclusion. Alton's mother is in for a surprise! - Summary from Goodreads

When I first heard/realized that this book was about bridge, I instantly thought about how it was definitely going to have boring, slow parts wherever bridge was involved, so I wasn't exactly enthusiastic about picking it up. However, Louis Sachar is one of my all time favorite authors, ever since I read his genious mastermind book, Holes. The Cardturner turned out to be hilarious from the start. Alton Richards, the main character, pretty much had the average personality of a teenager. But I found his life story to be much more interesting than that of a normal teen, especially because it was largely effected by his grumpy, bridge loving rich uncle, and his wacky-crazy-not-rich parents. Both those components concocted the multiple humorous moments in the story. One of my favorite family moments is in the beginning, when Alton is on the phone with Uncle Lester for a attempt at a friendly conversation that fails because of Lester's reclusive personality. His mom continuously pesters Alton to tell Uncle Lester that he loves him, and he's his favorite uncle. Alton describes his mothers tone: "Her voice infused with the same forced enthusiasm she used to describe the deliciousness of canned peas." Anyways, even if i'm the only one who's still here right now, I thought it was pretty clever. When Uncle Lester's health made a turn for the worse, it enticed me to go deeper into the book.

The cover is a mystery I still have yet to uncover. It's a mystery because I don't understand what it has to do with the book at all. There's a boy lying down on a couple benches at a subway station, with a book on his face. Alton, perhaps? I don't recall any scenes where that particular moment or setting for that matter is even in the story. If anyone has any guesses, I would love to hear them!

The parts of the book that were made up of Bridge explanations were definitely not as boring as I had expected. The way Sachar tried to make you accumulate knowledge about the game was EASY to understand. Squeezes, trumps, no-trumps, cardinal directions, doubling, re-doubling, Yarboroughs and bidding were only a few of the many parts of Bridge that I learned from reading The Cardturner. Every explanation was put in the simplest way possible, and even if you didn't bother to read those parts, there was always a section outlined by a black box that summed up the section's 'lesson'. There were still quite a few parts that I didn't follow, and even then, they weren't extremely important to know. It was interesting to learn that there was such a thing as a cardturner, who reads out loud the cards that their player has to them and plays the cards according to what the player tells them to play. To Alton, it turned out to be much more than a simple job for his blind uncle.

I grew fond of Uncle Lester after he grew blind, early on in the book. When Lester did talk (because he rarely did) , for the most part, he was inspiring. Sachar had a clever explanation of how to memorize cards, using the words b-o-y-g-i-r-l-c-a-t-d-o-g and simply mixing up the letters, and then putting that technique into Uncle Lester's hands.

My absolute most favorite part of the book is at page 144.

I learned something bewildering at that page.

Something life-startling.

Something called SYNCHRONICITY.

Okay, moving on from the dramatics. Synchronicity is by far the coolest word I have ever learned. "It's when two related things occur without any apparent cause-and-effect." "synchronicity was different from a mere coincidence. With synchronicity you feel that there's a difinite connection. You just don't know what that connection is."

Story Example: When Alton remembered that one day, years ago, he thought randomly thought about a kid who used to be his neighbor and was also in his grade named Doug. They were not friends, and all he remembered was that he asked Doug to be his buddy for a field trip because Doug looked lonely. The day after he had the flashback memory of the field trip, his dad told him that Doug died in a car crash the previous day. Does that seem like synchronicity to you? It does to me. I thought that was pretty amazing! Synchronicity is the coolest and most useful piece of information I have stumbled upon in a book.

The Bridge journey with blind Uncle Lester and the kid who dealt his cards, Alton, was more than just explaining a bunch of games they played together. It was about meeting inspiring and peculiar people, learning life lessons, solving personal problems, strong bonding, and falling in love. It wasn't just a book about bridge. It was also the story of the Richards-Castenada family mystery, which involved Alton's loony/crazy dead great-aunt, Annabel King, who Sachar writes about deceptively in a way to infer that, well, she may not be completely dead after all.

It was also the story of Toni Castenada, her love of the game Bridge, and her wacky explanation to why she was being so rude and said shut up loudly to Alton's face when they first met.

It was the story of Alton and his conscience, Uncle Lester, and how they worked together somehow, without actually physically being in the same room, to bring them to the biggest event of their lives.

From before the beginning, the reader is told by Louis Sachar that Bridge is a dying game. After reading The Cardturner, I hope to be one of the many young adults who have been inspired by Alton's story to bring the classic game back to life.

4.5 Beasts

Follow Friday and Blog Hop!

2010-08-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

Blog Hop is hosted at Crazy For Books

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View

This Weeks Blog Hop Question:

How many books do you have on your 'To Be Read Shelf'?

My Answer: Oh, I have quite a few. However, not even close to as many as Crazy For Books has, which is like over, what, 700? Wow! I just went to multiple library's yesterday for a re-stock of what to read, and I have about... hmmm... 20 to-read books that I actually have a copy of right now. However, on the 'virtual' to-be read list, I definitely have hundreds of more books!

Follow Friday's question is supposed to be answered in the comments at Parajunkee's View, but I decided why not put my answer down on this post anyways since I'm blogging about Follow Friday already? So here's the question:

What is your absolutely AMAZING FANTASTIC GORGEOUS book?

My Answer: That's a hard one to answer. My amazingly fantastic gorgeous book would have to be Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. It's amazing and fantastic in so many ways, and how can you not consider it gorgeous? Not only is the cover ravishing with the whole theme of winter blue trees and a stark contrasting red dot on the i in the title, but also, the font in the book is blue. The overall tone of Shiver is astounding.

So how many to-read books do you have, and whats your absolutely amazing fantastic gorgeous book?

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

2010-08-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

Title: Linger

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publication Date: July 13, 2010

hardcover, 362 pages

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past...and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves...and is nonetheless drawn to Cole. At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love-the light and the dark, the warm and the cold-in a way you will never forget.

-Summary from Goodreads

Once again, I just wanted to mention how cool it was that the font of this book is GREEN. Sadly, my copy was an ARC, so it wasn't. But the new, bookstore type are always green. On the cover, there is a green silhouette of a girl in the top right part, and a green silhouetted wolf in the bottom left part. In Shiver, there is a silhouetted blue wolf. I wonder what Forever, the third book in the series will have on the cover? My guess is two people, Sam and Grace? I hope so. And I've been hearing alot of questions about the next color scheme of the book. That would be cool if it was purple, but I really have no idea.

Moving on to the book, once again Stiefvater doesn't disappoint. Linger was filled with the same amount of excitement as in Shiver. The only major con of this book was that it had very slow moments in the first half of the book. My theory behind that is because since the Sam problem was resolved already in the first book, everything had to be calm and settled before Maggie could jump into another conflict. I think that is a smart and reasonable move.

I enjoyed how the point of view in this book added the characters Isabel, Jack's brother, and Cole, one of the new werewolves that Beck brought back with him from Canada. They added more depth and insight to the story. Cole especially, was an intriguing character who I suspected to have been the happiest and most care-free person in the world because of his fame. I was wrong. Cole was quite the opposite of that. I never fully understood why Beck chose Cole to become a werewolf , and it was pretty unclear in the story. Maybe Beck thought he would be useful, but Cole surely could not have expected the ending (sorry for the lack of information but i'm not doing spoilers), so in the end he was great help but his choosing is still a mystery to me.

The beginning of the book was medium-paced, the middle of the book heated up, and there was a major turning point in the story. Then, it got slow again, and then fast, slow, then the ending was just as adrenaline-rushing as the ending in Shiver. Linger's intensity level continuously fluctuated. The character development and each characters voice was absolutely fantastic. Every character had a different personality -finally a book like that!- and Maggie Stiefvater's skill in talent and writing made up more than half of the amazingness (not a word, too bad) of the book. Without the awe-striking characters and the fabulous writing, it wouldn't be anything close to as good as it is now. Maggie really knows exactly how, girls and boys alike, think. She knows how to develop a character, and she knows the person she's writing about more than from the inside-out.

The plot, I have to admit, was not as admirable as Shivers, probably once again noting that the situation of Sam being a werewolf was already resolved in the last part of Shiver. That forced the beginning of Linger to have to slow down the pace and get the storyline set up for the next plot. The Linger plot was just as clever and addicting, but it was spread out differently through the book so thats why I didn't enjoy it as much. I liked the gradual heating up of the story, even though there were many long, slow parts. Slowly the energy built and built, and the ending had so much fervor it wasn't even just like a balloon popping, it was as if the same amount of balloons that lift up the Carl Fredricksen's house in the movie UP popped all as a result of a chain reaction. The ending was similar to Shiver in many ways such as the excitement of it, yet it was also the complete opposite. There were more heart bursting moments. Linger is bewildering, nerve-wrecking and powerful.

WATCH OUT FOR THE THIRD BOOK IN THE SERIES OF THE WOLVES OF MERCY FALLS, CALLED FOREVER. COMING IN JULY 2011!

4 Beasts

Teaser Tuesday! (2)

2010-08-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B at I Should Be Reading. Currently, I'm finishing The C♠rdturner by

Louis Sachar.

My teaser:

"'So?' he asked, when I opened the door.

'What?' I asked.

'You and Toni? So?'

'She's just here to play bridge.'

'If you say so, Romeo.'" -Page 110 from The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

Now show me your teasers!

In My Mailbox(2): August 8, 2010

2010-08-08T16:29:00.001-07:00

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren, to let bloggers show what books they have accumulated over the past week.

Books that I have In My Mailbox

Gift from Okapi at The Smarty Owl:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

13 To Life by Shannon Delany

Borrowed from Okapi at The Smarty Owl:

Linger ARC by Maggie Stiefvater

Birthday Gift from mum:

The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

From the Library:

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jaqueline Kelly

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

2010-08-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

Title: Shiver

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Paranormal, Romance

Publication Date: August, 2009

hardcover, 392 pages

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf - her wolf - is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human-or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

-Summary from Goodreads

Now Before I start rambling, (kidding!) I must point out the blue font in the book. Sadly, I don't think library copies have the blue font. But anyways, it's so awesome! Definitely a cool first fad for books that I hope will continue.

I was enthralled into Shiver from the first page. The beginning was intense and mesmerizing. I instantly fell for the silent connection between Grace as a human and Sam as a wolf. The way they fell for each other was so captivating - Grace's bond to him was through his powerful yellow eyes. I came to love the two as much as they loved each other. I love how the point of view switches between them; I got a double dose of the story and must I not forget to mention the passion between Grace and Sam.

Maggie Stiefvater's inventiveness was definitely an A+ when it came to the werewolves. Their relation to temperature, how they shift into werewolves when it's cold and shift into humans when it's hot is the best reasoning behind werewolves that I have ever read so far in a book with them. In addition to the temperature, I am partial to how each chapter started with the temperature of the setting. That sometimes led to foreshadowing about what would happen in the chapter, *hint Sams shifting hint* and/or the conflicts and problems that would happen because they are related to wolves and the temperature of the moment.

The whole book was extremely well written. The meeting point of Sam and Grace, when Sam gets shot was terribly fervid, and at that point adrenaline rushed through my body with fear. I will admit that their relationship after meeting was a bit rush, but I disregarded that thought and accepted it because, after all, they had "known" or at least had a silent longing for each other for six years. One of the final scenes with them in Grace's car, on a cold cold night penetrated my heart. It was so emotional, so powerful, so intense. After reading the page all I could do was sit still, frozen, close the book and stare into space in shock and awe.

No character was underdeveloped, and I have to point out Sam in particular. He is humorous, witty, adorable and talented. But at the same time, he is not the perfect boy. Perfect boy books bother me so much because there rarely is such a thing. I am fond of how Sam loves poetry and music. whenever he related a situation he was in with lyrics, the lyrics he sang or thought of were beautiful and always flowed well with the moment.

Grace's friends Rachel, Olivia and Isabel were great support - Olivia's photography in the woods and her absence in existence added the perfect amount to the suspense of the story. Werewolves Jack and Shelby's pain and love for who they truly were kept the storyline moving at a heart-racing pace. The ending, which I can't explain for fear of spoiling, was bewildering, striking, and magnificent. Shiver now has my highest rating of a paranormal book, and I do expect this one to stay at the top of my charts for a long, long time. Maggie Stiefvater did an exceptional job pulling off paranormal, and her story certainly won my heart.

4.5 Beasts

Blog Hop!

2010-08-07T07:57:00.000-07:00

It's time for my first Blog Hop post!

(Book Blogger Hop is hosted at Crazy for Books)

this weeks question:

Do you listen to music when you read? If so, what are your favorite reading tunes?

My answer: I usually don't listen to music when I read because it can distract me. Although sometimes I do try listening to classical music. My favorite classical pieces are Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and three works by Aaron Copland: Simple Gifts (Appalachian Spring), Fanfare for the Common Man, and Hoedown from Rodeo. I like classical music when I'm reading or doing homework because then I won't get out of focus by singing the lyrics and then getting off task.

Fat Cat by Robin Brande

2010-08-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

Title: Fat Cat

Author: Robin Brande

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publication Date: October 13, 2009

Hardcover, 330 Pages

You are what you eat...

Cat is smart, sassy, and funny - but thin, she's not. Until her class science project. That's when she winds up doing an experiment - on herself. Before she knows it, Cat is living - and eating - like the hominids, our earliest human ancestors. True, no chips or TV is a bummer annd no car is a pain, but healthful eating and walking everywhere do have their benefits.

As the pounds drop off, the guys pile on. All this newfound male attention is enough to drive a girl crazy! If only she weren't too busy hating Matt McKinnery to notice...

This funny and thoughtful novel explores how girls feel about their bodies, and hte ways they can best take care of their most precious resource: themselves.

- Summary from Goodreads

I just wanted to quickly thank Random Buzzers for giving me this book! I saved up for quite a while to get enough Buzz Bucks for this book.

Sadly, I must say that using my hard earned bucks for this book was a bit of a waste. I chose it above the rest on the list because of the good rating on Goodreads (A 4.02 out of 5 which is pretty good for Goodreads ratings). Little did I know that I would soon be disappointed. In the description, Fat Cat sounds like a playful and light read with numerous teenage problems that I knew I could relate too. The cover was simple yet fun, a purple-covered book that I inferred resembled Cat, and a measuring tape which resembles her changing body throughout the book. It is an eye-catching, clever metaphor.

Much of this book frustrated me. Although I know the point of Cat in the beginning was to show that she was overweight, her eating habits disgusted me. Several Diet Cokes a day, plus tons of candy, sugar and chocolate? I was grossed out. In the beginning she complained that she was fat, but she never did anything about it. She just kept eating. Her hatred for her ex-best friend, Matt, bothered me as well. Cat was constantly repeating how she couldn’t be friends with Matt, but never actually explained why until the very end. I could tell that the Brande’s intention was to make the reader curious and want to read on to find out what Matt did to Cat that forced them to stop being friends. Instead of being curious, however, it just made me agitated. Cat ended chapters with quotes such as “He stabbed me in the heart,” “He showed me the real him”, etc. but she failed to explain who the real Matt was, or how exactly did he stab her in the heart? She was a complete witch with a “B” to Matt every time he tried to approach her. The worst part of her attitude toward Matt was that every time he tried to talk to her and she rejected his existence, I couldn’t feel the same hatred towards Matt as she did, I did not understand why she was being so mean, and I couldn’t act like her friend and back her up. All because I had no reason too, since so far there was no explanation of what Matt ever did wrong.

Many of the chapter endings ruined my reading experience of this book. Robin tried to make the concluding sentences dramatic and effective/powerful, but instead, most of them backfired to dramatically lame and poorly chosen sentences.

“I didn’t care anymore what I looked like or what people might say about me or whether they thought it was hilarious that a chubby girl was out there doing freestyle. I didn’t care about anyone or anything. I just swam.

I think tonight I might have made the biggest scientific discovery of my life.

I think I was born an amphibian.”

Isn’t that just a terrible ending to a dramatic, positive self-discovery statement?

Cat’s personality was odd. She was a terribly socially awkward girl at the start of her experiment, when she was fat. She absolutely never talked to boys, and just like she did to Matt, rejected their existence when any one of the male species tried to interact with her. Then, when she became skinny, *Bam!* it was as if all her awkwardness slipped out of her instantly, and she became a slut. Just because she turned skinny, doesn’t mean her self-consciousness and emotions can change that easily, that fast.

The only part I really enjoyed was the end, when Matt and Cat attempted giving each other second chances. Matt was adorable and sweet. He was nonchalant on the outside, yet heartbroken on the inside. But to tell the truth, that was about the only good part of the book.

Cats experiment failed to conclude in something productive. After Cat started turning skinny, her experiment was put ajar and her social/personal life was on the spotlight. Ultimately, I was confused as to what she acquired from the project and how it was going to help her in life.

3.5 Beasts

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Wither

2010-08-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

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

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Wither

By Lauren Destefano

Publication Date: March 22, 2011

From Goodreads:

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb - males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape-to find her twin brother and go home.

But Thine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

Why I want this book:

I am a HUGE fan of dystopian books. Books like The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games are among my all time favorites. So when I found this book, I immediately put a mental note in my head to pre-order it. The setting of the book and its characters is beyond bizarre, and I am over one hundred percent positive this is an original storyline. Original books are my favorite because they stand out to me and are put deeper in my memory than any normal book.

Also, the cover is eloquent and mysterious. I feel like the circles around the bird, the hand and the girls head are trying to tell me that they are deeply related with the book, but I'll need to find out for myself how and why. Right away everything about this book lures me in.

Teaser Tuesday

2010-08-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Right now I'm reading the book The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson.

My Teaser:

"Thinking of slamming the door in her face if she did come back, of screaming, You're too late. Thinking of her never coming back." - page 162, The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Now show me your teasers!

In My Mailbox

2010-07-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

In my mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren, to let bloggers show what books they have accumulated over the past week. Luckily, I managed to get some neat snags this week:

In My Mailbox:

Bought:

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

From Random Buzzers (thanks a bunch!):

Fat Cat by Robin Brande

Borrowed from a friend:

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

From the Library:

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Paranormalcy

2010-07-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

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

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Paranormalcy

By Kiersten White

Publication Date: August 31, 2010

From Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Evie's job is bagging and tagging paranormals. Possessing the strange ability to see through their glamours, she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. But when someone--or something--starts taking out the vamps, werewolves, and other odd beasties she's worked hard to help become productive members of society, she's got to figure it out before they all disappear and the world becomes utterly normal.

Normal is so overrated.

Why I want this book:

First off, I have to talk about the cover. Everyone's heard that you should't judge a book by it's cover, but I don't mean to talk about it in that way. I simply want to point out that it is GORGEOUS. It's so mysterious and dark, and the mystique pink dress is stunning. The cover itself lures me in to wanting to find out more about this book.

Secondly, the teaser/summary fascinated me. Lately there has been an attack of paranormal books being published for young adults, and they were pretty much all the same, for the most part. But this is something different. It's not about a paranormal human with special freaky powers or inner beings inside of them who fall in love with a helpless human. This is about an agency that "bags & tags" paranormals? A girl who can see through their powers? Now there's something different. I can't wait to read this book. It is very promising, and my expectations are not willing to be disappointed.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Review: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

2010-07-27T19:39:00.000-07:00

Title: The Body Finder

Author: Kimberly Derting

Genre: Paranormal and Romance

harcover, 329 pages

"Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her “power” to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he’s claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay’s intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she’s falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself." - Summary from Goodreads

The Body Finder is a luring, addictive book that caught my attention right from the short description in the front cover flap. When I was first introduced to this book, my friend was consuming it at the time and kept blabbing about how good it was. It caught my attention, and I promised myself to investigate the book further.

Violet's special ability was astonishingly creative. I really liked the idea -not in a creepy way, though- of a girl who could find murdered bodies. Not only was it clever, but it was also executed particularly well. Violet didn't find bodies just through one certain sense. Instead, she found them through a number of senses, all creative and enchanting.

They would omit an energy - a sensory echo - in the wake of their murder, like a beacon that only she could find, letting her know where they'd been discarded. it could be anything . . . a smell, a burst of color, a taste in the back of her mouth, or a combination of several sensations at once.

She didn't know how . . . or why . . . It just happened.

Violet and Jay were an addictive combination. I have always had a soft spot for books with boy/girl best friend relationships, I love reading about them when their together, and how they just weave with each other so easily. However, some parts of Jay and Violets friends-only relationship confused me. One moment they would be holding hands across school, and the next they would be completely ignoring each other for a week. One day they would be lying together in their beds, and the slightest provocation would cause them to cast the silent treatment towards the other for days. Their relationship was like a crouching tiger. The slightest move in the scene would cause it to pounce. For the first half of the book I knew that something was missing, something needed to happen to them because they were simply meant to be together. Finally, midway they confessed and poured out their love to each other and picked up the pace. They became inseparable.

The mystery of the killer caught on to me as if it were a fishing hook. Several chapters were introduced by his point of view, which added to the mystery and suspense of the plot. He himself includes a HUGE dangerous twist that made me feel overprotective for Violet and Jay. I felt the need, as the avid reader, to protect them from harm, whether or not there was the fact that I actually couldn't help them. The killer made me emotionally attached.

One of my favorite things about this book was the laconic foreshadowing. Often they were just phrases or a simple sentence that seemed unimportant at the moment to the scene. But they had that effect on me to seem as if they were telling me that something unexpected was going to happen, I just didn't know when or where. The foreshadowing was amusing, and it was a great addition to the story line. Every mysterious sentence kept the gears in my brain turning as I was trying to predict what would happen next.

The Body Finder is a unique, fantastic story that will drag you in like a narcotic. I stayed up until around three in the morning to finish it, as it was impossible for me to put it down. A potpourri of romance, action, murder mystery all topped with the paranormal touch, this book was a highly enjoyable read. Recommended for any young adult who wants a page turning and addictive book.

4.5 Beasts

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

2010-07-27T19:23:00.001-07:00

Title: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Genre: Paranormal Romance

hardcover, 178 pages

Bree Tanner can barely remember life before she had uncannily powerful senses, superhuman reflexes and unstoppable physical strength. Life before she had a relentless thirst for blood...life before she became a vampire. All Bree knows is that living with her fellow newborns has a few certainties and even fewer rules: watch your back, don't draw attention to yourself and. above all, make it home by sunrise or die. What she doesn't know: her time as an immortal is quickly running out.

Then Bree finds an unexpected friend in Diego, a newborn just as curious as Bree about their mysterious creator, whom they know only as "her". As they come to realize that the newborns are pawns in a game larger than anything they could have imagined, Bree and Diego must choose sides and decide whom to trust. But when everything you know about vampires is based on a life, how do you find the truth?

-Summary from Goodreads

I'm not a Twilight fan. I stopped reading the series after New Moon, and I found that book so boring I never actually finished it. I skimmed through most of Twilight. But this book, compared to the ones in the saga, was not bad, and I would say it was definitely better than the two books that I did read by Stephenie Meyer. It was a well paced story. It wasn't a page turner, but it also wasn't a "I-have-more-important-things-to-do" books either.

The head of the coven, Riley, and his head-honcho, only referred to as "She" or "her", were able to leave me to try to fill in the mystery of who they were, exactly. Bree and Diego were a good match. When the separated after spying on Riley and "She", I was excited to see what would happen with they planned to meet again. I had a gut feeling I knew. It was a little predictable.

There were some very unclear parts, such as Freaky Fred's power. Apparently he was a special vampire, but I never figured out his special abilities until the last event in the book, even though there were multiple scenes mentioning him and his special power, which apparently caused constant revulsions.I finally realized that he could be invisible, but at that point i was too confused to care. What did revulsions have to do with being invisible?

Stephenie Meyer ruined the ending before the book even began. She indirectly says Bree dies. What if the reader has never read Eclipse? She should have let the readers find out for themselves. Also, I found that several times, Meyer contradicted herself. For example, on page 71 Bree describes lips of kisses. She says "Lips like stone, no give." Eleven pages later, Bree is kissing Diego, describing it: "His smooth lips". Okay, so how is it that lips are like stone one page, and then smooth the next? Don't confuse and contradict.

Lastly, Bree's character development was...underdeveloped. Just like Bella in Twilight, she had no voice. She was a very bland character who I didn't understand or find myself relating to in any way. Overall, I think this was just an average book, and I would only suggest it to readers if they want an average, short read.

3 Beasts

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

2010-07-27T19:21:00.001-07:00

Title: Sisters Red

Author: Jackson Pearce

Genre: Paranormal Fiction, Romance

hardcover, 328 pages

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris-- the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax-- but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they've worked for.

Twenty-five-year-old Jackson Pearce delivers a dark, taut fairy tale with heart-pounding action, fierce sisterly love, and a romance that will leave readers breathless

-Summary from Goodreads

Sisters Red is slightly like a twisted version of Little Red Riding Hood, but with much more action, adventure, romance, suspense and mystery. It was fun how Jackson Pearce made the story told from the two points of view of the March sisters, Scarlett and Rosie. Pearce did a fantastic job depicting the voices of both girls, they had very different personalities, hobbies, and opinions in and on life. Pearce was able to show how the two sisters were similar in so many ways, yet so different in so many as well. For example, the whole thing about them both having "The same heart". I know, it sounds really cheesy, but the way she described it was really neat, like how, when they hunt, their hearts move as one, and they have the feeling of becoming one another.

The writing style was perfect, as the descriptions and details told by them were never overloaded with unnecessary adjectives, yet they were also detailed enough for a good image based on the descriptions to submerge from my thoughts. Scarlett was portrayed well as protective, caring and forgiving as a sister, yet merciless, ruthless, and dangerous as a hunter. Rosie was portrayed well as understanding and loving. She knows that ever since the wolf incident, she owes her life to Scarlett forever by hunt. Yet she also wants to live a life besides wolves and hatchets as well. Rosie's character added to the storyline with a good twist.

To be honest, there was one unnecessary part of the book that I should mention. The art class that Rosie took as part of a community program where they had to draw men nude? That was pretty unnecessary. I know that it is a referral to remind the reader that Rosie is starting to fall in love with Silas because one of the men she has to draw looks like him, but there were many other parts of the book where Rosie talks about how she falls in love with Silas. I found this section of the story confusing, weird and very unnecessary.

However, I liked how Rosie and Silas's relationship was not rushed, and it took about half of the book for things to really pick up between them. I highly dislike books with story lines that go from "I didn't know he/she existed" then five minutes later to "I love you". Overall, this was a great read, and I must say so far it has been the best paranormal book I have read yet.

4 Beasts

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

2010-07-27T19:18:00.000-07:00

Title: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Genre: Science Fiction

Hardcover, 266 pages

Who is Jenna Fox?

Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a year long coma, and she's still recovering from the terrible accident that caused it. Her parents show her home movies of her life, her memories, but she has no recollection. Is she really the same girl she sees on the screen?

Little by little, Jenna begins to remember. Along with the memories come questions-questions no one wants to answer for her. What really happened after the accident?

In this fascinating novel, acclaimed author Mary E. Pearson presents an unforgettable look at one human life and a glimpse into a possible future that may be closer than we think.

-Summary from Goodreads

The Adoration of Jenna fox is one of the most mysterious and psychological (deep) books I have ever read.

The beginning was a little slow, but there were so many unfulfilled explanations and disconnections in the book that it just forced me to keep reading. Pearson did an AMAZING job with the voice of Jenna. She was confused yet smart, independent, and weak yet strong. There was a major development of this character as the book went on.

What I loved about this book is it kept me guessing, and only at halfway through the book did most of my questions become clear. After some- note only some- explanations were told, the storyline goes full-speed ahead. There were new twists and more answers at every page, which only doubled my curiosity about one question: Who is Jenna Fox? Just like her, I had yet to understand who she truly was.

All the characters were well developed. Dane, the one who has something missing inside of him, the charming criminal Ethan, the real Mr. Bender. Dying Allys, Lily, the untruthful and secretive mom and dad. Every single character made an impact on Jenna and her new life. Before the accident, Jenna lived in Boston. It was really neat too hear her talk about Boston, like when she mentioned the T and shopping with Locke and Kara at Newbury Street. Those are real places (I've been to both), and it was fun to imagine the scenes since I have been there.

The plot was genious. I was especially hooked on a single phrase, that was repeated almost every chapter in the book.

"Hurry, Jenna, Hurry."

the meaning, which I realized in the end, was overwhelmingly powerful. The ending of this book was quite possible one of the most striking I've read yet. Sorry, I know I'm being very bland and un-descriptive, but if i mention anything about the ending or the main parts of the book, I'm sure to give it all away.

5 Beasts

Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson

2010-07-27T19:12:00.001-07:00

Title: Claire de Lune

Author: Christine Johnson

Genre: Paranormal romance

Details: Hardcover, 336 pages

"Torn between two destinies?

Claire is having the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: she's a werewolf.

As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever?."

- Summary from Goodreads

When I read the inside flap of this book, to be honest, it sounded like a typical young adult paranormal romance story. The girl has a secret of being a werewolf and she can't tell anyone, even her adorable boyfriend Matthew. The beginning was all right, maybe around 4 Beasts. The typical boy/girl romance starts, and I was in awe by how Christine Johnson added a bit of mystery at the beginning of each chapter to lure me further into the book. Each chapter started with a snippet of the antagonist’s point of view, a view of a dangerous and deadly werewolf that was the talk and shock of the town. It made me wonder, who was the villan?

But after Claire learns about being a werewolf, everything went downhill. Her mom had to go into this whole session about explaining the "true" life of werewolves that went on for pages and pages. The lives of the creatures had so many specific and strict rules, techniques and traits that just rambled on. The explanation pages just got more annoying and boring as they went on, but I wont go into detail because some of them may ruin the book. However, I feel it necessary to point out one odd thing: the ritual of the "Greeting". Heres some snippets from the book:

"Victoria, I greet you."

"Marie, I greet you. Claire, I greet you, too."

"I-I greet you,"

"This is Zahlia. Zahlia, I greet you."

"And I greet you, Marie. Claire, I also greet you."

"I greet you, Zahlia."

I don't mean to be frustrated, but, I was not amused or fascinated by many of the habits of the werewolves that were meant to be fascinating. And because of all the secretiveness of being one, Claire had to lie and make up excuses for people in her social life. LOTS of excuses. Too many, if i say. She acted like an inconsiderate middle school girl, showing her emotions that she was obviously hiding a secret instead of at least trying to be normal and responsible by covering it up. It was clear to me that she wasn't even trying to make an effort to cover up her secret. The excuses got overboard and obnoxiously obvious, yet somehow people still believed her.

The only thing that kept me motivated to read was the strange werewolf character in the beginning of each chapter. But, not even halfway into the book my motivation left me because the character was completely predictable. Nothing sparked my interest in this book. The main character was bland, the villan was obvious, and the relationships between all the characters were dull and fake. Overall a below average read that I would suggest not wasting your time on.

2.5 Beasts

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

2010-07-27T18:22:00.000-07:00

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Genre: Historical Fiction

hardcover, 552 pages

"It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel 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 before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul."

-Summary from Goodreads

Narrated by death, this book immediately struck my curiosity. What an odd yet brilliant way to tell about Liesel Meminger's life as an adopted child and a book thief.

I loved the strong voice of Death. Zusak made him very distinct, and portrayed his personality of grim and, well, obviously deadly, yet he was able to tell the reader that he was really a softy on the inside. I also loved how Death "is not a big fan of surprises", and he often told the reader about future events of the story way before they happen in the book. When the first shock was spoiled, I was mad, but then when the part came in the book, I was relieved because it wasn't a major giveaway that could effect the enjoyment of the book.

The plot could have been stronger, as there wasn't a major conflict between the protagonist, Lisel, and the antagonists, the Nazis. One strange thing about the ending was that Liesel had nothing to do with the resolution, which I infer is the end of world war II. However, this book is still a one-of-a-kind, filled with suspense, action, laughs, friendship, and odd display of romance, and an abundance of love.

4.5 Beasts

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

2010-07-27T14:28:00.000-07:00

Title: The Maze Runner

Author: James Dashner

Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction

Audience: Young Adut

Other Info: 1st book in a trilogy

" When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is black. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade, a large expanse enclosed by stone walls. Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning, for as long as they could remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, they’ve closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the maze after dark.

The Gladers were expecting Thomas’s arrival. But the next day, a girl springs up—the first girl ever to arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. The Gladers have always been convinced that if they can solve the maze that surrounds the Glade, they might be able to find their way home . . . wherever that may be. But it’s looking more and more as if the maze is unsolvable. And something about the girl’s arrival is starting to make Thomas feel different. Something is telling him that he just might have some answers—if he can only find a way to retrieve the dark secrets locked within his own mind. "

- Summary from Good Reads

I especially loved this book because it was a page turner, and I was up late every night, using all my strength to keep my eyes open so I could keep reading. When I had other obligations in the middle of my reading, all I could do was think about The Maze Runner and constantly calculate the time left before I could return to reading this book.

This book was absolutely compelling. Thomas and the mysterious world of the Glade drew me in from page one. James Dashner undoubtedly has an amazing imagination and creativity, as the story line and setting for this book is one of the most original I have ever read. This book had me holding on because it was filled with unexpected twists and turns, and was completely unpredictable, all in positive exciting ways. The mysterious touch on everything kept me going.

The writing style was also great, although not as good as it could have been. The main character, Thomas, had a distinct voice throughout the book and it made me feel like I really knew him, inside and out. In fact, because of his memory loss, I actually knew just as much about him as he knew about himself. That was great because I could follow his voice. When he was confused, I was just as confused. When he was running away from the grievers, I felt as if I was running away too, right beside him. I was more scared for him being killed by them then he was himself! Dashner did an amazing job connecting the protagonist of this book with the audience.

With mystery, thrill, suspense, action, and a touch of romance, this book deserves a good solid rating of…

4.5 Beasts

First Post!

2010-07-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

So, here's the first post of The Book Buzzer. This is my official book blog, and my first blog Wefreadom is no longer being used for book blogging purposes. Now, I'm going to do contests, more reviews and more memes. Stay tuned!