Wither Contest on The Lovely Getaway!

I have heard a lot about the novel Wither by Lauren DeStefano. I "stole" the following synopsis from The Lovely Getaway.

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 Rhine 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 Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

The following link is a link to the contest.

I am super excited for this book!

Teaser Tuesday

Yep, jumping on board with this as I ease myself into the blogging world.
The rules:
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Mizb @Should Be Reading

• Grab your current book
• Open to a random page
• Share (2) teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
• No spoilers!
• Share title and author

My teaser comes from The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

"The gun dug into her skin. Dark, blurry shapes fluttered through the blindfold someone had quickly tied around her eyes, and the sound of traffic roared in her ears." Page -48

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Book one of the Wordsworth Classic Reading Challenge was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein! I recently finished it with my senior English class.

Synopsis from Wordsworth Classics website - Begun when the author was only eighteen and conceived from a nightmare, Frankenstein is the deeply disturbing story of a monstrous creation which has terrified and chilled readers since its first publication in 1818.

The novel has thus seared its way into the popular imagination while establishing itself as one of the pioneering works of modern science fiction.

I am an English teacher. I love the classics, but this being the first time I have read this novel, it's not my favorite. Like some of the classics, it gets bogged down with pretty words and the meaning can get lost. My seniors had a hard time paying attention to this book, but we did it! And like I knew they would be, they were surprised to discover that the monster's name is not Frankenstein.

I also was surprised by how much I hated Victor Frankenstein. For as much as the monster made him suffer, I could not believe how selfish he was. The monster killed his family. I get it, a bad thing, but Victor should have warned them, been upfront with the monster, something to try to preserve the lives of his nearest and dearest, but no! He was too caught up in what he had done. I think of all the main characters I have read about, I hate him the most. But good literature evokes emotions!

The monster is a monster but he was created that way and I don't mean physically. His hatred and misery are caused by others. And without a proper mentor to guide him morally or the love of a companion or father to show him compassion, what did Victor and reader expect?

I feel for the monster.

PS. Book 6 done.

Qurey Letters

If writing a novel wasn't hard enough, you ad the Q. Letter. I'm at that point where I should start writing it. I have talked to several friends about this done research on the net, and picked up a few books and you would think with all that information, it wouldn't be so hard... OMG, it is far more difficult than writing my manuscript!

The first part of a Q letter is a concise one-liner that sums up your novel, (yeah, 99,849 words broken-down into twenty words. I have 6 possibles that I have sent to Nadine, but I know she's going to point out something that I should include, which means starting at square one at the one-liners.

With all my research and my knowledge of English, I know how important the Q. Letter is. I know how perfect it needs to be, how it needs the WOW element, and that it is the first impression and agent, publisher, and editor will get of your and your writing style.

It's super hard.

In fact, I would categorize it as unbelievably hard.

I did find this website, AgentQuery, to be helpful. I liked the voice of the website and how they gave examples and links to other sources.

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

I was a big fan of Hush, Hush and couldn't wait for this to come out, along with a bunch of my female students.

Review from Amazon -

Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portlan

d and never came home.

The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

I did generally like this book. And had I read this book last year I would have been crazy about it. However, I recently have become bored with the typical paranormal romance where the girl can only think of her love interest, and that is exactly what Nora is about.

I also didn't like the the section with her father's ghost - I won't give a ton of detail but I felt that this element could have utilized much better. It was a great idea but I felt like it was tossed out at me a few times and then it was over.

I did (and still do) love Patch. I love the fact that he isn't the typical boy in the story that loves the girl uncondtionally and wants to change for the better and does everything in his power to do so. I mean, he does love Nora and always has her interest at heart but he can be shady, a jerk, pompous. In reality no person in a relationship is perfect and each person has flaws. Patch is the character and the reason that I will continue to look for the next in this series.

Another great part about Fitzpatrick is her ability for great twists. In this novel, she def. did not disappoint! and another one happens in the last three pages... be prepared to say "WHAT?!"

Overall, I would say it was 4 out of 5

Surrender My Love - Johanna Lindsey

Yes, I do love the occasional romance novel... a nice, easy read. Book four for my challenge.

Here is the synopsis from B&N

A Lady's Scorn

Wrongly branded a spy, the dark and handsome Viking lord Selig Haardrad suffered greatly in the dungeons of Lady Erika of Gronwood. And as he hung in chains, his magnificent body wracked with pain and fever, one thought sustained him: revenge!

A Viking's Vengence

Now Destiny's great wheel has turned--and Selig's exquisite, hone-

haired tormentor has been delivered into the Norseman's hands. Now it is Selig who is the master, bound and determined to break the proud spirit of his captive "ice queen" and to conquer her with passion's sword -- never dreaming that his own heart will be vanquished by sensuous desire. . .and victorious love.

I read this book when I was younger and to be honest, I remember it to be a but "rounder" in characters.... Granted we know how books like this go... they hate each other, they resist each other, they sleep together, can't figure out why they do, then they both at different times come to realize that they are in love with one another, and then they live happily ever after... It's a pick me up... but I have read a bunch of Lindsey's books before and some of them have really great characters and great plots. This one, like I said I thought was better than I did this time, but still a nice easy read during a busy week... It relieved my stress so what could I ask for?

2 out of 5

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Book 3 down! I'm on fire!

Synopsis -

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared--the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in his own blood--but she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night held.

The memories her family has tried to bury resurface when Daniel returns, three years later, and enrolls in Grace and Jude's high school. Despite promising Jude she'll stay away, Grace cannot deny her attraction to Daniel's shocking artistic abilities, his way of getting her to look at the world from new angles, and the strange, hungry glint in his eyes.

The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more she jeopardizes her life, as her actions stir resentment in Jude and drive him to embrace the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind the boy's dark secret...and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it--her soul.

The Dark Divine is in the lead for my favorite book of the year :). I think that Grace is a great character. She is a pastor's kid fully intact with her morals, especially forgiveness, which I think is uncommon among heroes in any kind of story. She is by no means a push-over, but is very compassionate.

As for Daniel, if it isn't clear yet, I love a good bad boy, and Daniel has sins! It took at

least half the book for Daniel's secret to come out. I had an idea about what his secret was,but not confirmation from Despain. It def. kept me reading into the night, because I needed to know and I was not disappointed when the secret's background was described.

Another character, that is key in the story, is Jude, Grace's beautiful, even more warm-hearted than she brother. He's really angry and Daniel and they used to be like brothers, which only led to my curiosity as to what Daniel's secret was. But Jude, well I think you need to read the book, there is something off.