Thursday, July 7, 2011

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

Alona Dare–Senior in high school, co-captain of the cheerleading squad, Homecoming Queen three years in a row, voted most likely to marry a movie star… and newly dead.

I’m the girl you hated in high school. Is it my fault I was born with it all-good looks, silky blond hair, a hot bod, and a keen sense of what everyone else should not be wearing? But my life
isn’t perfect, especially since I died. Run over by a bus of band geeks—is there anything more humiliating? As it turns out, yes—watching your boyfriend and friends move on with life, only days after your funeral. And you wouldn’t believe what they’re saying about me now that they think I can’t hear them. To top it off, I’m starting to disappear, flickering in and out of existence. I don’t know where I go when I’m gone, but it’s not good. Where is that freaking white light already?

Will Killian–Senior in high school, outcast, dubbed “Will Kill” by the popular crowd for the unearthly aura around him, voted most likely to rob a bank…and a ghost-talker.

I can see, hear, and touch the dead. Unfortunately, they can also see, hear and touch me. Yeah, because surviving high school
isn’t hard enough already. I’ve done my best to hide my “gift.” After all, my dad, who shared my ability, killed himself because of it when I was fifteen. But lately, pretending to be normal has gotten a lot harder. A new ghost—an anonymous, seething cloud of negative energy with the capacity to throw me around—is pursuing me with a vengeance. My mom, who knows nothing about what I can do, is worrying about the increase in odd incidents, my shrink is tossing around terms like “temporary confinement for psychiatric evaluation,” and my principal, who thinks I’m a disruption and a faker, is searching for every way possible to get rid of me. How many weeks until graduation?

I thought this was a light and funny read.

The voice of Alona Dare is done so well. She is the mean, cold, b@tch you hated in school, but sadly,she dies, because of a reason that is made clear at the end of the book. But she comes back from the dead expecting the world to have stopped because she is no longer there and sadly, it's almost like she is yesterday's news. She is furious and angry and looking for help and she finds it in a social outcast named Will Killian, who can also hear the dead.

Alona is so pushy that Will blows his cover and the other ghosts realize Will can hear them. Naturally, they want his help, but can you imagine every ghost in town beating down your door to take care of your unfinished business?

Throughout the story Alona's walls break down and we see that she is still that tough, aggressive girl, but maybe there is a reason for it. Will, well, Will's crush on Alona grows. (yeah, she's still dead.) I am a hopeless romantic and I love it when couples defy the odds, but how is Kade going to defy the odds for Will and Alona? I mean, she's dead and buried, literally. But still, so sweet.

The story is not just about Alona and Will though. There is a tragic story about one of Will's friend, Lilly. She sought Will's help but he missed her help and something bad happened to her. Then there is this giant black cloud (?) that attacks Will at different times. He thinks it is his father, who committed suicide, and is angry with Will for wanting to leave his mother after he graduates. Alona, as she states a few times in the book, maybe pretty but she isn't stupid and doesn't think it is Will's father. So what is it then?

Some quick thoughts
A light quick read. - a lot of humor. - I read it in a day
I have already picked up the sequel - thanks to Judy
I want Alona and Will to be together - *realizes she is whining and is OK with it*
The boy on the cover is NOT how I picture Will AT ALL. He's way hotter in my head.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Rose vs. Luce

I have been doing a lot of reading, a lot of writing, and a lot of blogging. (Summer vacation how I love you). And I have thought about this topic several times before and I am wondering about other people opinions.

For a female protagonist would you prefer her to be brazen and self-assured or meek and mild that comes into her own, but seems to need a protector?

For example, I love Rose from The Vampire Academies. I love the fact she doesn't wait for people to tell her what to do. She assesses the situation, makes a plan and carries it out. However her faults, I think are much more apparent, such as acting before she thinks and hurting people (Adrian) due to her selfishness.

Then you have

Luce from the Fallen series (though she tries to figure things out) is more average and cautious and waits to see what others do until the end of the second book. And I think Luce's faults are subtle. I can't call her weak, but I can't really call her strong. I can't say she isn't willing to fight but I wouldn't classify her as a fighter.

My questions to you are: Which female protagonist do you prefer? and who is (are) your favorite female protagonist?

Side notes: Leigh Fallon is having an awesome giveaway at YAtopia and there is another one over at Writer Ropers and Hopes is offering up a critique of a Q letter. Um, what are you waiting for, leave me a comment and go see these ladies.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Passion by Lauren Kate


"Every single lifetime, I'll choose you. Just as you have chosen me. Forever."

Luce would die for Daniel. And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . . .

Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.

Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever

I really liked Fallen. I thought Torment was decent. I thought Passion was a filler. I feel we could have summed up the whole book in four chapters and made book four a really long book 3. I feel like I am being really harsh but I felt the plot could have been more action packed. It literally is just a time travel of Daniel's and Luce's love, which in Book 1, I was all about. But you can only read about her bursting in flames before that torrid, romantic story, becomes a tiny flame, that barely radiates heat.

I will also tell you that I was really annoyed with Luce. She went back in time because, if you remember in book 2, she had her doubts about Daniel. Um, hello, he's an angel... a little bit of faith please? I knew in Book 1, that he loved her. It WAS INCREDIBLY CLEAR in book 2, and in three at about 200 pages in, she finally gets it. Talk about dense... I feel bad for Daniel who picks her above all else, and that's not a hyperbole.

There were some good points that make me hopeful for Book 4, such as: Cam's allegiance or truce to the cause, the appearance of Satan, the fact that Luce actually gets that Daniel loves her.

One thing I really liked, even though I kind of complained about it earlier, is the time travelling. I like How L.K. comes up with authentic and different scenes for Luce to travel to, like Globe theater and a Chinese Dynasty. That was cool.

Some quick thoughts:
I think Cam is sexy...and he was once in love?!?! - I actually prefer him over Daniel
I thought Satan would be ...well...meaner...he is the devil after all...
I thought the prologue was the best part
Aztec love affair- scary!
Major show down coming on in book four.
I would have liked to have seen the other angels search for Luce.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Carpe Corpus - Rachel Caine


In the small college town of Morganville, vampires and humans lived in (relative) peace-until all the rules got rewritten when the evil vampire Bishop arrived, looking for the lost book of vampire secrets. He's kept a death grip on the town ever since. Now an underground resistance is brewing, and in order to contain it, Bishop must go to even greater lengths. He vows to obliterate the town and all its inhabitants-the living and the undead. Claire Danvers and her friends are the only ones who stand in his way. But even if they defeat Bishop, will the vampires ever be content to go back to the old rules, after having such a taste of power


Caine does an excellent job making this book flow with Book four and five. Nicely done! We start this one (and if you haven't started this series, probably not a good idea to read this post - I won't put in spoilers but they are probably going to be indirect spoilers.) with Shane and his dad in jail and more than likely killed. Amelie is missing and it's Claire's birthday - yep she's 17. It's a really sad place to be. Everyone, and I mean vampire and human alike are scared. Bishop is a cruel loose cannon.

But some good news, Amelie isn't as absent as you think, Mrynin has not traded sides and either has Michael. and then Bishop lets Shane go, right after he turns his father into a vampire. No biggie. Then some 17 year old fireworks, if you get my hint.

Again, all four members of the Glass house are sent on missions and sadly a lot is kept from Claire because everyone is unsure if Bishop still has control of her. So we spend a lot of time with her, feeling clueless, which is good because we are seeing everything from her perspective and you get frustrated like Claire does... great writing skill.

SPOILER**In the end, the fab four are key in the destruction and disposal of Bishop. Amelie, Oliver, and Sam are also very intricate, and sadly Sam dies for the cause. I was so upset but you know who was more upset, Amelie. She really did love him and she lost him. (Secretly glad it was not Shane or Michael.) The book ends with Amelie back in control and at Sam's funeral, where Amelie announces that humans and vamps are going to try and become equals.

Remember about 3 posts ago I said Caine had a lot of plot lines going on. In this book, she ties them all up in a nice book bow. I am looking forward to see the next one, but I am going to give the series a break, but will come back to it before the end of summer.

Some quick thoughts:
So happy that Myrnin is cured... but I will miss the "crazyness" of him
Claire's parents are still annoying.
Frank Collins...hmm who would have thought - nice guy?
Eve wasn't a huge part of this but I read the back of Book 7 and that one seems to be based on her.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine

In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans coexist in (relatively) bloodless harmony. Then comes Bishop, the master vampire who threatens to abolish all order, revive the forces of the evil dead, and let chaos rule. But Bishop isn'’t the only threat.
Violent black cyclone clouds hover, promising a storm of devastating proportions as student Claire Danvers and her friends prepare to defend Morganville against elements both natural and unnatural



Good news: I'm still hooked.
Bad news: Bishop is in charge
Good news: there are like five more books so it's not the end
Bad news: Bishop is in charge!

Amelie as always is in control and running underground missions and trying to keep the game moving like a chessboard (a lot of reference to chess being strategic) All four roommates are given tasks to do. And Shane, who is the most reckless and unstable has probably the most dangerous job. With Bishop in control and vampires and humans stuck in places, Shane needs to get the vamps blood so that they don't go nuts and eat humans AND he has the book that Bishop wants. Claire and Michael think this is super dangerous but Shane gladly takes on the responsibility.

Claire is back with Myrnin, you know the crazy vampire that loves Claire, wants to eat Claire, respects Claire, and makes a lot of uncomfortable comments to her. They have a cure for that disease that the vampires have but it includes using Bishop's blood (yeah because that is accessible.) We also meet Ada (which is a very odd part for me) who is a former student of Myrnin's but is now a robot that is sustained off of blood. (umm...yeah?) Anyway, Ada controls the portals and comes in handy at key points especially because Myrnin gives Claire the right to control and use Ada.

At the end: the final battle ends and there is some not so good news. Spoiler**** like Shane and his father are sentences to death. Michael is Bishop's bitch. And Claire becomes binded to Bishop. Yeah...not so good.

Caine really made the transition between Book four and five seamless. Throughout writing this I had to constantly check to make sure that I have not gone back into the Feast of Fools.

Some quick thoughts:
If Shane dies, I will be furious...turn him into a vampire...but no death
Amelie is supposed to keep track of Claire: how does she neglect this
Claire's parents are not really smart- my parents would act differently
Oliver...hmmm...i think he's hott in the villain type of way.

Friday, July 1, 2011

100th giveaway winner

My 100th giveaway is over and I am going to announce my winner!!!

Drumroll please!!!!!!

Lieder Madchen


I have sent an email to her!!!
I wanted to say thanks to my followers especially the ones who comment on my posts!! I love our conversations!!!

Tgif, Hop, and Follow


Who's ready for the weekend?! I know I am! I'm introducing a new feature for Fridays to re-cap the week's posts & to propose a question for my followers. Feel free to get involved by linking up at the bottom. If not, I'd love to read your responses in the comments. Thanks!
Link up over at Greads.

This Friday's Question:

Mr & Mrs: Who are your favorite book couples?

(In no particular order)
Jace and Clary from the Mortal Instrument book - I knew from the beginning there was no way they were related... and let's face it; he's hott.

Rose and Dimitri - The Vampire Academies - OMG I love his "it's not right" and her "Doing it anyway" attitude.

Rose and Adrian - The Vampire Academies - I know -I have her above, but Adrian was willing to change for her and he was a little dysfunctional - my heart broke for him in the end...and lets face it they had some hott scenes too.

Jack and Schyuler from Blue Bloods - I love them together. I love how they defy history to be together.

and my last

Will and Tessa - is anyone surprised by this one that knows me? from the Infernal devices series. He's the boy with the secrets and past and she's the good girl who can't stay away even though she knows she should.



Q. ACK! Your favorite book/movie character (example Hermione Granger played by the Emma chick) just walked into the room! Who is it and what would be your first reaction? You get extra points if you include visual stimulation.


A. Edward Cullen in Twilight - I remember sitting in the movie theater on the day it came out with a few of my students and just about died when he walked into the cafeteria in the movie. And my reaction would be: stare, open and close my mouth like a guppy, and then try and get a normal picture, and pray someone takes a picture :)

Book Blogger Hop

“What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you want to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf?“


Also, my giveaway for a pre-order of Clockwork Prince is still available. Look for it under my June list of blog - it's for my 100th follower!