Bandwagon crashed! What the...

So I finished Ascend by Amanda Hocking... and all I can say is What the BEEP! She took the novel in a completely different way than I had expected...Congrats to her...really, BUT I WANTED (SPOILER*****) Finn and Wendy to be together! AND THEY DON'T GET TOGETHER IN THE END! THEY MOVE ON! Every one's happy, yaddah yaddah...

Third and final book in the Trylle Trilogy.

With a war looming on the horizon, Wendy’s fate seems sealed.

But everything she sacrificed might be in vain if she can’t save the ones she loves.

Her whole life has been leading up to this, and it’s all coming to an end.

My rants over. I promise.

OK. The third book starts three months after the second. (Its really hard to write about the third in a series because you can't give things away!) Wendy's father, who is still threatening Wendy and her soon to be kingdom, is on a mission. He kills a lot of innocent people and Wendy who is very much attached to her kingdom, palace, and friends struggles through the whole novel, trying to figure out away to kill her father who is said to immortal. I was really curious as to how Hocking was going to do it, but she uses a subtle incident Wendy has a few times and makes it work...yes it has to do with her abilities.

Three names: Tove, Finn, and Loki - that's all I am going to write.

Some quick thoughts

Hocking reminds you that your first love isn't always forever (but I rather like it in books)

Willa is a great and loyal friend

Elora not a cold-hearted bee-yatch...surprisingly loving, which made me happy for Wendy

Would have liked to have seen more on Elora and Thomas - SCANDAL

The ending came on too fast for my taste

The epilogue sums up what happened to all characters - which I love.

3.5/5

Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

This week's teaser is from Ascend by Amanda Hocking

"We can worry about that when they return," the Chancellor said."Let's deal with saving our asses right now." Page 15

Amanda Hocking Bandwagon!

Yeah... I jumped right on it!

Torn the second installment of the Trylle Trilogy...

Wendy thought she finally understood who she was and what she wanted, but everything changes when the rival Vittra come after her.

She's caught between two worlds, torn between love and duty, and she must decide what life she is meant to lead. from Goodreads.com

First, I love a torrid love affair and forbidden ones too and Finn and Wendy have that! Yes... I am a sucker for a love story! I will get to that in a bit.

Next, I stated this in my Switched Review, i like worlds that coincide with the "real" world and Hocking (did anyone hear that she is self-published and a freakin' millionaire- who is jumping on the ePublishing train with me?!)does a wonderful job merging her troll world with ours.

Wendy finds herself having to chose between her mother's kingdom and her father's kingdom who is not dead...but through actions of her father, Wendy starts to feel loyalty to her

mother's kingdom, which is where the delicious, scruffy-faced Finn resides though he does a really good job being duty-bound. Wendy has to really grow up in the novel, no longer being the bratty girl she was in the first one. She starts to asert herself as Princess realizing that she can command a room and no will tell her "no", but her mother. Wendy starts to take a page from Finn's book and becomes duty bound... to a fault at the end...If anyone has read this can they please email me and tell me about what they thought about Wendy's commitment at the end? I don't want to ruin it on here.

Near the end of the book, we finally get to see Elora be affectionate. We get to learn what she sacrificed to keep Wendy safe, that she knows what it is to love, that she is doing things for Wendy so she is safe and a good Queen, and we also learn that she will be "giving" up the thrown a lot sooner than Wendy or her are ready for. And I w

as just happy that Elora didn't turn out to be a cold-heart Bee-yatch for Wendy's sake.

Brother Matt is back in the story and even when he discovers that Wendy is not his sister (don't worry this comes out in the beginning of the story) he still super protective of her and is new brother as well.

Ultimately, Wendy is trying to find a way to keep peace between the two kingdom, but not everyone is up for that. Willa, Tove, Rhys, Finn, and Elora are though.

Some quick thoughts:

Finn loves her, knows he can't, always seems to end up kissing her at the worst moments... LOVE IT

Tove - is a great guy, loyal, kind, a good teacher, and a good friend, but let's be real that is it.

Loki - I gotta say, he could be a third stud in the book and I can't tell if his intentions toward Wendy are good or manipulative yet.

I love Finn's reasons as to why he is jealous of certain people and not of others.

I think there are faction that are going to try to give Wendy to her father

She is still continuing to develop her abilities but everyone says she is soooo strong so I want to know what other powers she has.

Switched by Amanda Hocking

I can tell you that I bought this as an eBook for two reasons, one I had seen it and also it was $.99 on B&N. So why not?

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy finds out her mother might have been telling the

truth. With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - and it's one she's not sure if she wants to be a part of.

Anyway, We meet Wendy and I would say she is well balanced. She's not an "in your face" character but she is not "weak-willed." I liked her because she was bratty to her older brother and I felt for her because her "mother" was a monster toward her. Going on, Wendy knows she is different, in the first chapter we find out she can persuade people to do what she wants by making eye contact and repeating what she wants. In comes Finn (one of my favorite names and a name in my manuscript), yes, he's the heartthrob. He's loyal and duty-bound and hott!

Some what of a spoiler (considering it happens in the fourth chapter) Wendy is a troll not the Billy Goat's Gruff troll but a new spin which I havent read yet, so big credit to Hockings for turning the perception on trolls because I def think of them as smelly and gross (anyone remember the Ernest Scared Stupid, the movie? that!) Finn is there to take her "home" to her real mother and start life over. She is also very much in danger from other trolls - Vittera. They want her because as Tove tells us, Wendy is very powerful!

Wendy has a whole world thrust upon her and is trying to be a good trylle (troll) but you get a feeling of raising frustration because she has all these questions, and NO ONE answers them for her. She is expected to be a certain way but no one gives her the why. I felt myself getting frustrated for her and for me because I wanted to know more about the Trylle world.

Some quick thoughts

Finn's my new man... though I dont love him like Patch and Will

Elora is up to something ... I probably should trust her but I don't

Tove ... I think he has a thing for Wendy - maybe betrothed?

Finn and Wendy forever :)

I want to know her other abilities.

The Bloody Valentine by Melissa De La Cuz

Bloody Valentine by Melissa De La Cruz

Bloody Valentine by Melissa de la Cruz is a novella in the Blue Bloods series. It consists of three beautifully written short stories each with a focus on matters of the heart - hence the title.

While it is not necessary to have read all the books in this series before reading this novella, it is recommended, as two of the three stories relate to events that take place in the previous two books.

The first story is about Schuyler Van Alen's friend and familiar Oliver Hazard-Perry and Freya, a character who will be the focus of a new series by the author entitled Witches of East End, due out in the summer of 2011. It is a wonderful story that fills in some of the missing pieces on what's going on with Oliver at the same

time as other things are occurring in Misguided Angel.

The second story brings us back to 1985 where we get to meet a young Allegra Van Alen and the human familiar she falls in love with, Bendix Chase. This is a great addition as it gives further insight into Schuyler's parents and just how she came to be.

The final story, and the longest, is about Schuyler Van Alen and Jack Force and their bonding ceremony which occurs after the events in Misguided Angel. This is a great way to close this book as it gives readers another opportunity to see Jack and Schuyler and witness their love for one another. It bridges the long gap between the previous book and the next book in the series, Lost in Time, which won't be out until October 2011.

Sometimes I absolutely love her books and sometimes I feel like it is a filler. I was worried this was going to be that way and I was happy to find that it wasn't!

This novella consists of three stories about love.

First we see Ollie - which my heart has always broken for Ollie because he lovedSchuyle long before she bit him. I think this short story about him and Freya, gives people who have had their heart broken, hope. It talks about his desperation and leads to his eventual healing.

Second was the story of Allegra which I loved seeing who she was instead of a sleeping mother. I saw a teenager who loved Charles but also loved Bendix (Schuyle's dad). I saw a teenage girl not wanting to give in to what she was destined to do. I saw someone very relatable (the most out of the whole series!)

Third - I am not going to write about Jack and Schuyle because I dont want to ruin it for Diana from The Lovely Getaway! But I was happy! And now I need to know how it works out when Jack goes to find Mimi!

Wordsworth Classics Reading Challenge 2011 (2)

Macbeth by William Shakespeare!

One of the great Shakespearean tragedies, Macbeth is a dark and bloody drama of ambition, murder, guilt and revenge. Prompted by the prophecies of three mysterious witches and goaded by his ambitious wife, the Scottish thane Macbeth murders Duncan, King of Scotland, in order to succeed him on the throne. This foul deed soon entangles the conscience-stricken nobleman in a web of treachery, deceit and more murders that ultimately spells his doom - taken from Goodreads.com

As an English teacher you would think that I would be a huge fame of Bill (as I so lovingly call him). I'm not really. However, Macbeth, is a play that I can read over and over again. I love the deceit, the plotting, the out and out betrayal among friends and so easy! Now this is drama!

Macbeth - what a back stabber! I love him. How quick he turns from his noble quest for the queen when the queens dangle the crown under his nose, fulling knowing that those he/she' are manipulative. And Lady Macbeth - I just love the scene where she tries to rub out that damn spot!

The witches- what great manipulators! They totally set everyone up...including Banquo - even though he dies in the end. My favorite part of the play are the predictions. I think Bill did a great weaving and crafting them. I imagine that people back in Globe theater were shocked and impressed with the way they came out.

GREAT ONE!

5/5

Teaser Tuesday

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

OK, So I had a super busy week and am still reading I Am Number Four. I know! Sad! But I did knock out an old school book! (review to come)

Anyway so the title (again) is I Am Number Four by P. Lore!

Page: 279 - For the first time I look around. Twisted heaps of metal, chunks of concrete, large holes in the ground where the bombs have fallen.

I am close. I promise!