Month: October 2010

Teaser Tuesday: Nevermore

Dani @ Overflowing Shelf1 Comment
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Mizb at Should be Reading.
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the books for others!)
  • Share the title and author too so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!
My teaser this week comes from:

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

“You’re really a blond,” she said her tone just short of accusatory.

“And if you tell anyone, I will come to you in the night and smite your everlasting soul.” (277) 

Review: Beautiful Darkness

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Beautiful Darkness

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Release Date: October 12, 2010
Pages: 512
Ratings: 5 Stars
Summary (from Goodreads):
Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena’s family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.
Sometimes life-ending.
Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan’s eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there’s no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town’s tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.
Beautiful Darkness had me under a spell that kept me up until 6am. I had to finish it once I started reading. Even after finishing it, I didn’t want to sleep, I just wanted to get up and exclaim how awesome it was, but I refrained. The second book in the Caster Chronicles surpassed my expectations. Beautiful Darkness is a stunning second book in an amazing series.
Initially, I was extremely worried that Beautiful Darkness would suffer from the second book in series syndrome, where the second book is more of a place holder and nothing happens….boy, was I wrong. If anything, Beautiful Darkness had even more going on then in Beautiful Creatures. I really enjoyed Beautiful Creatures, but I loved Beautiful Darkness. If anything, I think Beautiful Darkness was better than it’s predecessor.
Beautiful Darkness picks up were Beautiful Creaturesended. However, if you haven’t read Beautiful Creatures in a while, have no fear. As long as you can remember the major plot points, everything in Beautiful Darkness makes sense. Immediately, Beautiful Darkness picks up and places you under a spell that does not release you until the end of the book. This book is darker then Beautiful Creatures, but it makes sense after the actions in Beautiful Creatures that have stirred up more turmoil in Lena’s life. I loved the darker tone, and the turmoil and the raw, powerful emotions in this book.
Two new characters are introduced in this book who pose unknown risks to Lena and Ethan’s relationships. These new charaters were definitely intriguing and hit seamlessly into the story. I was particularly interesting in John Breed. Wait until you meet him and you will be too.
Beautiful Darkness constantly kept me on my toes. I did not see many of the twists and turns Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl decided to take us on. I frequently was shocked by what occurred that I even gasped out loud too many times to remember. This book was also an emotional rollercoaster for both the reader and the characters. I empathized so much with Ethan and the pain he was feeling when Lena was being distance. Kami and Margaret capture Ethan’s voice perfectly and have created a stunning narrator. All their characters are great and it’s really easy to sympathize for them when they are going through every thing that happens during this book. And poor Ethan. I love Ethan, and I frequently wanted to just give him a hug because everything that happened.
Beautiful Darkness surpassed my expectations. The writing was beautiful, flowing seamlessly as if it was written by one person, the plot was superb, constantly keeping the reader on edge and the characters were well develop and such loveable characters. The ending was perfect and definitely left me anxious for the next book. However, ever all the horrible things that happened in this book, I hope Ethan, Lena, Link and the whole gang would be able to catch some sort of break because I felt so bad for them after the events they had to endure in this book. I cannot wait for the next book though and am eager to see where Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl take this wonderful series next.

Books of Wonder Mega Signing Recap and a Giveaway

Dani @ Overflowing Shelf23 Comments

Yesterday, on 10/10/10, Books of Wonder in New York city held a huge signing for some debut authors of 2010. The event had eleven fabulous authors: Amber Benson, Josh Berk, Alexandra Bracken, MArgie Gelbwasser, Emily Horner, Shaun David Hutchinson, Phoebe Kitanidis, Jessica Leader, Mini Scott, Laura Toffler-Corrie, and Amy Brecount White.

The event was wonderful. All eleven authors talked about their books, read excerpts, and answered questions from the audience. All the authors were wonderful and it was great chatting with them.
Phoebe Kitanidis and Jessica Leader
Alexandra Bracken discussing Brightly Woven
Mindi Scott discussing Freefall
Josh Berk with copies of his book The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin
And now….GIVEAWAY TIME!!

I have a signed copy of Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken and a signed copy of Freefall by Mindi Scott to giveaway. One winner will receive both signed copies.

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Contest Ends NOVEMBER 1, 2010

Books of Wonder MEGA Signing This Weekend

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This Sunday, on 10/10/10, Books of Wonder in NYC will be holding an awesome signing with ten debut authors. I will be attending this event and am super excited!!

Here is the official event description:

Books of Wonder is pleased to announce that on Sunday, October 10th, we will be joined by a group of eleven 2010 debut authors as they each present their first novels. On hand will be JOSH BERK for The Dark Days of Hamburger Haplin; ALEXANDRA BRACKEN for Brightly Woven;MARGIE GELBWASSER for Inconvenient; EMILY HORNER for A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend; SHAUN DAVID HUTCHINSON for The Deathday Letter; PHOEBE KITANIDIS for Whisper;JESSICA LEADER for Nice and Mean; MINDI SCOTTfor Freefall; LAURA TOFFLER-CORRIE for The Life and Opinions of Amy Finawitz; AMY BRECOUNT WHITE for Forget-Her-Nots; andAMBER BENESON for Among the Ghosts. Within these eleven novels, there are books for tweens and teens with stories that span comedy, adventure, fantasy, and drama. Beginning at 1pm, these eleven debut authors will talk about their books, take questions from the audience, and sign copies of their books. Ages 9 and up. 1-3pm.

If your around the NYC area, I recommend you stop by this event. If you cannot attend but would like to order signed copies of any of the books form these authors you can pre-order signed copies here.

Review: Firelight

Dani @ Overflowing Shelf1 Comment
Firelight
Sophie Jordan
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: September 7, 2010
Pages: 336
Ratings: 2 Stars
Summary (from Goodreads):
With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.
Firelightwas an intriguing concept that was not executed in the best way. I really wanted to love this book because the idea of this race of people descended from dragons called draki was something that struck me as very fresh and interesting. However, I was deeply disappointed in Firelight.
For me, Firelight was Twilight. Seriously. I am not a huge fan of Twilight and I  dislike when things are compared to Twilight but the whole time I was reading about Jacinda and Will, I couldn’t stop drawing the comparison. The relationship between Will and Jacinda was very reminiscent of Bella and Edward. At one point, Jacinda even says that Will is an “addictive drug”, something to keep her draki alive while it is slowly dying from the harsh, desert environment. Sounds eerily familiar to Bella being Edward’s brand of heroin. At times, Jacinda and Will’s relationship seemed a bit rushed and all over the place. The focus of all the characters was mainly on Jacinda and Will and I felt like all the secondary characters got pushed into the background and were only brought back up again when need and were never fully developed. Along with that, I felt Will and Jacinda were very one-dimensional and I could not see past Jacinda’s narration. Everything revolved around her and her problems and at points I just want her to stop complaining so the story could continue. I was glad to see that towards the end of the book, though, that Jacinda started to change and see past herself and accept other people’s emotion, she started to become a stronger character I could respect a bit more.
While I really enjoyed the idea of Firelight, the writing was constantly distracting me. I felt like the entire book was composed of very short, fragmented sentences that distracted me from enjoying the book. I was engaged by the draki way of life and wanted to know more about the hunters and draki, but the writing kept getting in the way. I frequently had to read this book in short bursts because the writing would annoy me and take away from my enjoyment of the story.
The ending of the book was a bit anticlimactic. I felt like for the first novel in a series, Firelight did not leave a strong enough impact. I was left with more questions at the end of the book than I would have liked and I really wished that more descriptions about draki and draki life were provided in the first book. A first book in a series needs to wow me to make me interested in continue reading the series. Unfortunately, that was not the case with Firelight. I might check out the sequel to see what happens next and to see if more is explained but I won’t count on it.

Waiting on Wednesday (16) – Angelfire

Dani @ Overflowing Shelf2 Comments
Angelfire
Courtney Allison Moulton
Publisher: HarperCollins
To be released: February 15, 2011

Summary (from Goodreads):

This debut, the first novel in a trilogy, is achingly romantic, terrifying, and filled with blistering action.

When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers – monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell – she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie’s powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her – an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie’s soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian’s most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives – including truths that may be too frightening to remember.

This past week, I feel like I’ve only heard talk about this book. I’m super excited for this release, even though February of 2011 is so far away. I will definitely be waiting for this book for a while, but it will be worth it.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event highlighting exciting upcoming releases. It is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Teaser Tuesday: Beautiful Darkness

Dani @ Overflowing Shelf2 Comments



Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Mizb at Should be Reading.

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the books for others!)
  • Share the title and author too so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!
My teaser this week comes from:
Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

“It wasn’t Ridley.” She didn’t sound like herself, or sure of herself. “She is not the only one who hates Mortals, believe it or not.” (86)