'Waiting on' Wednesday: Defiance

'Waiting on' Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights releases that we are highly anticipating.

This week's pick is Defiance by C.J. Redwine

Expected Publication: 28th August 2012

" Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor’s impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making."

                                              On goodreads

I have high expectations for this book, the premise sounds interesting and the cover's quite breathtaking( though we've all learnt not to trust that already, haven't we?)

What is your pick for this week?

'Waiting on' Wednesday : Throne of Glass

   'Waiting on' Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights releases that we are highly anticipating.This week's pick is Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas.

Expected Publication: 7th August 2012

"Meet Celaena Sardothien.Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover  her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?"

                                                                On goodreads

I have a feeling i'll either really like or really hate this one. I've heard comparisons to Grave Mercy but I hope it sustains my interest for a longer time...

What is your pick for this week?

Teaser Tuesday: 31st July

Teaser Tuesday is a meme hosted by Miz of Should Be Reading. This is managed by Brittany every week. All you have to do to join in is: 
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share a few sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

On Goodreads

Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning.... Welcome to forever. 

BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally. 

But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after. 

With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?

From pg 62:

"He gave me a funny look. 'Who said she was in charge?'

I didn't get it. We were all just a bunch of kids. Somebody had to be in charge. Didn't they?

'But if she's not,' I said slowly, 'then who?'

He leaned in real close and smiled like he had a secret he couldn't wait to spill.

'You are, Cheeto,' Patrick said. 'You are'"

Covers Of The Week: July 30th

Covers of the week is one of our features here, written by Brittany. Each week I post newly revealed covers from the week before and comment on them. Hopefully you'll be exposed to some new books, series and authors!

Unremembered (Unrembered #1) by Jessica Brody

Will be released on: 5th March 2013

On Goodreads

The only thing worse than forgetting her past... is remembering it.

When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.

Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.

Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.

Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?

From popular young adult author, Jessica Brody comes a mesmerizing and suspenseful new series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.

This is a cover that really conveys what the story is about (at least what I can tell of the story from the blurb). The quote, the unfocused girl's face and the title combine to straight away communicate the basic story. You know straight away that there is going to be a girl who has lost her memories in this story. And altogether it paints a pretty, neat picture, so I give this cover 4/5 stars.

True (Elixir #3) by Hilary Duff

Will be released on: 16th April 2013

On Goodreads

This is so pretty. I love the clarity of it, and how it's so simple yet it catches your eye so easily. I love the lighting: the blue colouring with the pink just peeking in from the top, My only complaint would be that the words don't stand out enough. Another 4/5 stars.

'Waiting On' Wednesdays : Days of Blood and Starlight

'Waiting on' Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights releases that we are highly anticipating.

This week's pick is Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2) by Laini Taylor

Expected Publication: 6th November 2012

"In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," Karou must come to terms with who and what she is, and how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, mysteries and secrets, new characters and old favorites, Days of Blood and Starlight brings the richness, color and intensity of the first book to a brand new canvas."
                                                                 On goodreads




As per usual, we can tell absolutely nothing about the book from the cryptic teaser:( Regardless, this is definitely HIGH up on my to reads list if the first book is anything to go by.


What is your pick for this week?

Teaser Tuesday: 24th July

Teaser Tuesday is a meme hosted by Miz of Should Be Reading. This is managed by Brittany every week (starting from today). All you have to do to join in is: 
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share a few sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Forsaken (The Forsaken #1) by Lisa M. Stasse

On Goodreads

A thought-provoking and exciting start to a riveting new dystopian trilogy.

As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet—having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up.

The life expectancy of prisoners on The Wheel is just two years, but with dirty, violent, and chaotic conditions, the time seems a lot longer as Alenna is forced to deal with civil wars for land ownership and machines that snatch kids out of their makeshift homes. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway.

From pg 22 (this could differ on different copies, e-readers and what-not):

"Someone with a shaved head and blackened teeth, with curved talons for fingers. Carrying a blood splattered weapon. Instead, I see a remarkably good-looking teenage boy staring defiantly into the camera lens."

Covers Of The Week: July 23rd

Covers of the week is one of our features here, written by Brittany. Each week I post newly revealed covers from the week before and comment on them. Hopefully you'll be exposed to some new books, series and authors!

Inbetween (Killed by Death #1) by Tara Fuller

Will be released on: 30th August 2012

On Goodreads

Since the car crash that took her father’s life three years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky—and unending—lesson in cau­tion. Sur­viv­ing “acci­dents” has taken pri­or­ity over being a nor­mal seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days tak­ing pic­tures of life instead of liv­ing it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option.

It’s not easy being dead, espe­cially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about spend­ing time with Emma, but Finn couldn’t let her die before, and he’s not about to let her die now. He will pro­tect the girl he loves from the evil he acci­den­tly unleashed, even if it means sac­ri­fic­ing the only thing he has left…his soul.

This cover definitely appeals to me. I like the colours and I especially like the thing going on with the clouds in the background. However to me the people look, I don't know, computer generated? They seem really fake-looking. Also, while it is pleasant to look at, it's not very eye-catching. I wouldn't look at this on the shelf and pick it up straight away, intrigued by the cover. This cover gets 2.5/5 stars. It's boring.

Doomed, by Tracy Deebs

Will be released on: 8th January 2013

On Goodreads

Beat the Game,

 Save the World.

One Stuxnet type worm,

One Greek-themed MMO,

One real world scav­enger hunt,

Three teenagers on the run,

And a ten-day count­down to total nuclear annihilation. 

Pandora’s Box isn’t just a myth anymore …

When seventeen-year-old Pan­dora Walker opens an email attach­ment, she uploads the most fright­en­ing worm ever invented—and in doing so, brings about total tech­no­log­i­cal Armaged­don. Every­thing from the inter­net to com­mu­ni­ca­tions to util­i­ties col­lapses and sud­denly Pan­dora finds her­self on the run from Home­land Secu­rity, the FBI and every police depart­ment in the coun­try, all of whom blame her for the tech­no­log­i­cal waste­land sweep­ing across the U.S.. With the help of step­broth­ers Eli and Theo, her neigh­bors and the two hottest guys in school– plus codes encrypted in a world famous MMO– she sets out on a real life scav­enger hunt that only she can solve. A scav­enger hunt that pits her against one of the most bril­liant men in the world—the maker of the Pan­dora worm. Her father. Only by unrav­el­ing the clues left by him in the MMO, and in real-world places around the U.S., can they hope to beat the clock ticking the days off until the entire planet is Doomed.

This, on the other hand, looks very cool and not boring at all. That girl looks like she's on a mission, and it's gonna involve some epic butt-kicking.  The boys behind her look just as determined, and the whole cover really gives off an aura of epic-ness. I like the computer pixels blending into the buildings thing: it makes me think that this'll be dystopian just from looking at it. This is a very fitting cover that gets 4/5 stars.

 The Star Child by Stephanie Keye

Will be released on: 21st September 2012

On Goodreads

The world is about to be cloaked in dark­ness. Only one can stop the night.

Kellen St. James has spent his entire life being over­looked as an unwanted, ordi­nary, slightly geeky kid. That is until a beau­ti­ful girl, one who has haunted his dreams for the past eleven years of his life, shows up spin­ning tales of a prophecy. Not just any old prophecy either, but one in which Kellen plays a key role.

Sud­denly, Kellen finds him­self on the run through a Celtic under­world of faeries and demons, angels and gods, not to men­tion a really ticked off pack of hell­hounds, all in order to save the world from dark­ness. But will they make it in time?

I love this cover. It's just so pretty and interesting looking. The sparkling dust stuff is really cool and I love how it's swirling around and you can practically see it moving. The moon looks very mystical as it looms above the guy. I love the lighting and how the guy is illuminated. The guy looks eerie and slightly inhuman, and I think the cover portrays what it's about well: Looking at that in a store I would probably suspect it was a fairy/magical story without reading the blurb. The lettering is eye-catching and unique. This whole cover is eye-catching. I rate it 5/5 stars.

Book2Movie News: The Hunger Games Finnick Odair Casting

And so continues the news release of movie castings for the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire. This week, Sam Claflin has reportedly been offered to play one of the prominent tributes, Finnick Odair. Other of his previous roles include parts in the most recent Pirates of the Caribbean movie and SnowWhite and the Huntsman.
Other actors who were rumored to be cast include Grant Gustin (of Glee) and Armie Hammer.
What do you guys think of this casting? Too old? Too ugly?
I personally feel the directors could have done a little better, he seems a little too stiff for me. But nevertheless, he joins Amanda Plummer (Wiress), Jena Malone (Johanna Mason) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch Heavensbee) in the movie set to be released on the 22 November 2013.

Jena Malone

                 

Sam Claflin

Philip Seymour Hoffman

The casting for the most part was quite unexpected, with most fan favourites not being picked. Who is your ideal Hunger Games cast?

I found my information here.

Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

"In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity."Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Rating: 4/5

I know what you are thinking. Seriously? Another one? And just by virtue of principle and an unofficial rule in vampire book reviewing, yes there will be comparisons to twilight( it really is a must nowadays..)

Well I am happy to report though, that this offers a great comparison! (or bad depending on which side you are coming from)

Step aside sparkly vegetarian vamps, here comes the REAL DEAL. That is to say Allie is a freaking BADASS. This might be just me but katana wielding head decapitating vampires are definitely a plus 10 points in my book, if I had one. It's somehow gotten quite tiring reading book after book of whiny protagonist after protagonist complaining about having to kill people, and the whole book being about self discovery and self conflict. Well thats just selfish to me. Which is exactly why I enjoyed this book so much. Allie develops a purpose and a goal in this book, not just mindless boy chasing(Comparison #1) but a legit goal in which she gives herself a mission to accomplish, the coming to terms with self being a side story.

Props to Kagawa for managing to kill the right character off at the right time (FINALLY), I really admire an author that's not afraid to do that. And if that was a spoiler then I'm sorry but people do die in this book, quite a lot really. (For those who cringed at that, I refer you to the princess diaries, it might be slightly more suitable).

Among other things, I also like how she keeps to the normal characteristics of vampires but also adds her own little flair of uniqueness to them. REAL vampires (see what I did there?) don't sparkle in the sun they burn and burst into FLAMES (Comparison #2). 

As for the other characters in the story, they were pretty well done, each of them had a certain characteristic or trait that they kept throughout so there weren't any noticeable inconsistencies. But coming, of course, to Zeke. He was the typical kind and caring male lead but I must say there was something about him I found particularly refreshing. He wasn't overbearing and overprotective but he credited people based on their strengths and merits. And since Allie is freaking strong...well you know what happens.

I felt the pace was the main vice of the story, the beginning part was too long and got slightly boring. I enjoyed her training period with Kanin(!!!) and it was necessary but some of it could definitely have been omitted. It does pick up in the second half though so it wasn't that much of a drag.

Last but not least, the cover! Boy do I have a lot to say about this one. Allison is Japanese, or at least half. If the girl on the cover is a Japanese, I'm a Mexican. And I'm not. No offense to any Mexicans. 

Covers Of The Week: July 16th

Covers of the week is going to be one of our features here, written by Brittany. Each week I'll post newly revealed covers from the week before and comment on them. Hopefully you'll be exposed to some new books, series and authors!

Vortex (Tempest #2) by Julie Cross

Will be released on: 8th January 2013

On Goodreads 

I really like this cover. It fits with the title, doesn't have too much going on, and the colours are well done (not too bright and all go well together). Also, it fits with the cover of the previous book. My main complaint would be that the models of the two characters aren't the right age. They seem much older than the models on Tempest to me, and I'm not sure if they are even the same models. They look different to me. Also the female seems a bit weird-looking with the way she is positioned. Other than that, I'd rate this cover 3/5 stars. I really like it, but I don't love it. (If you're curious, Tempest gets 4/5 stars)

Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare

Will be released on: 19th March 2013

On Goodreads

In Clockwork Princess, Tessa and her companions travel all over the world as they race to stop the clockwork army before it’s too late. As Jem’s health worsens alarmingly and his friends search desperately for a cure, can Tessa choose between the two boys she loves—even if it means never seeing the other one again?

 This cover was revealed quite uniquely: Every tweet with the hash-tag #clockwork princess revealed a little bit more of the cover. I must say that was an ingenious idea that would have definitely increased anticipation for the book, and increased the audience size because it ended up trending worldwide, so many people would have seen it. 
The cover itself is very well done. First of all it fits in with the other books, although I like that it differs from them in that The Clockwork Princess is slightly lighter, I don't know if it was actually meant to mean anything, but I like to think it is symbolizing Tessa as a character, in that she is a lighter character then Jem or Will. She isn't quite as troubled (although she doesn't have it easy!). Also the cover seems subtly more feminine than the others. The lighting and colouring all works quite well. My only complaint is that the model doesn't really suit how I picture Tessa in my head: She looks too haughty. 4.5/5 (Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Angel get the same score).

Hooked by Liz Fichera

Will be release on: 31st Jan­u­ary 2013

On Goodreads

Sparks fly when a Native American girl with a killer swing joins the boys’ varsity golf team and takes on the boy with the killer smile. Don’t miss this heartwarming and emotional new romantic contemporary!

This cover isn't anything special, to me. It's bland, it doesn't grab my attention. If I were to see this on a bookshelf I wouldn't grab it immediately because the cover looks really interesting. I know not to judge a book by its cover, but I think everyone falls prey to a pretty or intriguing cover, and this isn't either of those. I don't get why the gray tint was needed, I think the cover would've looked much better without it. As it is it makes the title and author's name look overly-bright and ghastly. I think this was a case where the tint is an excuse to disguise the female model's ethnicity, which, particularly for this particular book, is stupid because 1) You can still tell the model is a different ethnicity from the boy although you can't tell precisely which ethnicity she is, so it didn't even work very well, and 2) The blurb immediately tells you she's Native American! So why bother disguising it? The potential reader will know as soon as they pick the book up and read the back that the girl is of a different ethnicity. This cover is nothing special, and I rate it 2/5 stars.