Waiting on Wednesday (9)

I haven't done this in a while (basically in a month), but anways, it's Waiting on Wednesday today! This is a weekly meme, which is brought to you by Jill at Breaking the Spine!This meme is where you can post a post about what you're really look forward to. And I'm always looking forward to new releases :)

This week I'm waiting for...

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Releasing on: March 22nd, 2011

Description:

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 limted time she has left.

I think that basically everyone's waiting for this book since I've been seeing it in so many Waiting on Wednesday's over the past few weeks, but it sounds really good.  The cover is also absolutely beautiful!  I'm definitely reading this one for the 2011 Debut Author Challenge :D

What are you guys waiting for this week?

Cleo :)

Review: Priscilla the Great

Title: Priscilla the Great
Author: Sybil Nelson
Date Released: December 15th, 2010
Pages: 276
Rating: 5 out of 5

Description:
Meet Priscilla Sumner, an ordinary seventh grader with extraordinary gifts. As if middle school isn’t hard enough, not only does Priscilla have to fight pimples and bullies, but genetically enhanced assassins trying to kill her and her family. Armed with wit, strength, and a genius best friend, Priscilla must defeat the Selliwood Institute, an organization dead set on turning children into killing machines.

Add an older brother annoyingly obsessed with Christina Aguilera, mischievous baby twin brothers who could scare the sin off of Satan, and parents more puzzling than a Rubik’s cube in the Bermuda triangle and expect a smoking page-turner!

Review:
I totally agree with the description, Priscilla the Great was definitely a page-turner!  At first I was a little hesitant because it didn't seem like a lot was happening.  The beginning was more of just about Priscilla and her normal life and how she's adjusting to these powers that just randomly show up one day.  BUT!  When the action starts happening, things started picking up.

Another thing that was great about Priscilla the Great was that it was really funny!  Priscilla is such a hilarious character that she would totally make you laugh out loud while you read.  She definitely made me laugh.  Her whole family was actually pretty funny too, from her overprotective dad to her mischievous little twin brothers who shoot their snot at things, and sometimes even people. 

Even though Priscilla developed superpowers, she's still a pretty normal girl and I think that anyone can relate to her.  Even though she's not totally normal, she still has crushes on boys, has to go to school, gets made fun of, and has a best friend.  Speaking of Priscilla's best friend, Tai, she's like supersmart and I think the greatest friend that anyone could ever wish for.  She's always there for Priscilla when Priscilla has a problem, whether it's about boys or her family. 

I also wanted to add that I thought the superpowers were definitely cool in this book because in most stories you read, the person has like one power, but in this one they can have multiple superpowers!  For example, Priscilla has fire power, can hear other people's thoughts, and I think that she also has superstrength.

I really liked this book and would recommend it to other people who are looking for a book to knock their socks off.  I'm not sure if it's exactly young adult, but it's really funny and has some good action scenes, which I really enjoyed.  It's also a pretty light read and if you're looking for a change from depressing love stories or vampires, I think that you'll like it and probably end up laugh your head off :D

Cover Review:
The cover is really cool!  I like how it has the chalk board because Priscilla is still in school.  It's also totally awesome how there fire coming out of the finger because it totally represents Priscilla since it is one of her powers :)

Cleo :)

*Description from Goodreads.com
**Review copy sent by author (PDF file version).  Thank you Sybil Nelson for the copy!

Cover Crazy (4)

Cover Crazy is a weekly meme that was created by Tawni over at The Book Worms to show which cover(s) you are absolutely going crazy over!

This week I'm going crazy over the cover for Beastly by Alex Flinn!

Here's why:

• I looooove how it's so simple, but there are some details that make it so pretty at the same time.
• The white rose is really symbolic in the book and on the cover it seems to be made out of fabric... I really don't know why, but it certainly does stand out with the black background
• The font is definitely cool!  There are thorns coming out of it and on the Y, the rose is sticking out!

Which cover(s) are you guys going crazy over this week?

Cleo :)

Follow Friday (18)

Hip Hip Hurray!!  It's Friday!  Which means it's Follow Friday :)  But it also means that I officially start my winter break!!  I'm sooo happy and I hope that I'll get to spend every single day for the next two weeks posting on this blog :D :D



This weeks question is:

What did you study in college, or are currently studying and did it lead to your current 9 to 5 or are you doing something totally different?

This is a tough question considering the fact that I'm still in high school.  But when I grow up... I either want to be a veterinarian or a marine biologist.  I love animals, especially animals that live in the ocean (because the ocean is totally awesome), so why not just follow my passion for animals?

Yep, so since I'm on a break, look forward to a lot more reviews and in January we'll be doing a sort of New Years giveaway.  Also, there's a sort of poll going on here where you get to choose which series/books by a certain author I'm going to read next year.  So, stop by and vote :D

Hope you guys have a great weekend!! And break if you're still in school!

Cleo :)

Review: Hunger

Title: Hunger
Author: Michael Grant
Date Published: May 26th, 2010
Pages: 590
Rating: 5 out of 5

Description:
IT'S BEEN THERE MONTHS SINCE EVERYONE UNDER THE AGE OF FIFTEEN BECAME TRAPPED IN THE BUBBLE KNOWN AS THE FAYZ.
THREE MONTHS SINCE ALL THE ADULTS DISAPPEARED.
GONE.

Food ran out weeks. Everyone is starving, but no one wants to figure out a solution. And each day, more and more kids are evolving, developing supernatural abilities that set them apart from the kids without powers.

Tension rises and chaos is descending upon the town. It's the normal kids against the mutants. Each kid is out for himself, and even the good ones turn murderous.

But a larger problem looms. The Darkness, a sinister creature that has lived buried deep in the hills, begins calling to some of the teens in the FAYZ. Calling to them, guiding them, manipulating them.

The Darkness has awakened. And it is hungry.

Review:
Hunger is the awesome sequel to Gone.  And it is epic.  Probably more epic than Gone, or maybe just about the same.  But let me tell you: There's still a lot of action and violence and mystery going on in this book.  Even though I'm not a violent person and haven't actually really picked up a book with so much violence in it, I really love this series so far. 

There's probably not much to say about this book because I thought that Gone and Hunger were both equal... I probably should've done a review of them together now that I think about it.  The only difference is that now, everyone's going hungry, hence the title.  All the kids are facing challenges and the food problem is one of them.  Food has run out and they're only kids so hunting is hard, and did I mention that all the animals are becoming mutated?  Yeah, there are like these killer earthworms and creepy talking coyotes.  The earthworms make it especially hard to grow food which is ironic since they're really supposed to help grow the food.  Also, in the description it mentions the Darkness.  The Darkness just adds a whole new level of creepiness to this book.  It still makes me shudder when I think about all the creepy things that the Darkness has done and tried to do. 

The characters are as awesome as ever.  There are some new characters.  I think that they might've appeared at the end of Gone, but they appear much more and play a pretty big part in each of those really intense scenes because they have really awesome powers.  Like there's this one girl named Brianna and she had super speed which was really useful to the good kids of the FAYZ because during the fights, she would travel back and forth between the fighting grounds and wherever Sam was.  I still really don't like the Coates Academy kids since they are evil and I always side with the good guys (who wouldn't?).  I really felt bad for Sam, though, because he's trying so hard to maintain a whole city of kids.  Yes, just kids!  And he's only a kid himself and probably more than half of the kids won't even listen to him, because you know how kids are ;)

The plot is also really good.  The plot of the book is really important to me, and if it really captivates me, then it's already a really great book.  The plot is so fast paced that it makes you read non-stop, and then you wonder where all the time went because the book just sucks you in.

I would really, really recommend this book to anyone who likes tons of action and is okay with some violence.  Just so you know, a reviewer said that if Stephen King wrote The Lord of the Flies, this would be the product.  I've never read a book by Stephen King or read The Lord of the Flies, so I'm guessing that they're both pretty scary.  There is some killing and it can be a little gruesome sometimes, but this is just so good and if you read it, it'll keep you on your toes.  I can't even express my feelings through just words... I think if I did a video, I'd just be a ball of excitement :D

Cover Review:
The cover is really cool!  It also totally conveys everything that's going on in the book  through their expressions and has two of the characters on it.  I think it's Lana and Caine, since his blazer is fancy and probably means that he's from Coates Academy, and I don't think that it could be Drake (who's really crazy...). 

Cleo :)

All I Want for Christmas Is... (7)

This is a weekly meme that's hosted by Danya @ A Tapestry of Words, where every week up until Christmas, you choose a book that you would like to see under your tree! You also have to say why, which shouldn't be too hard :)

This week, I want: Entice by Carrie Jones!!
*Skip the description if you haven't read the first two books in the series*

Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever. But that's not quite how things have worked out.


For starters, well, Nick is dead. Supposedly, he's been taken to a mythic place for warriors known as Valhalla, so Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. But it's taking time, and meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But how to get to Valhalla?

And even if Zara and her friends discover the way, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn't just turned. She's Astley's queen.

Have you read the first book Need or the second book Captivate?  Did you say no?  Well, then, you must read those books first!  I love them!  So, of course I Need to read Entice and that's why it's on my Christmas list because I'm pretty sure that it'll Captivate me.  Hahaha, I hope you understood that.  That was just me trying to be funny :D

Only 9 more days till Christmas!!!

Cleo :)

Help Me Decide!

Hi everyone!!


So, ever since I've started this blog back in August, I've come to realize that I haven't read SOOO many of the popular series/books like Harry Potter, or even any of Sarah Dessen's books. I have decided that next year, 2011, I'm going read (or attempt to read) the whole entire series/books that you guys choose :D Sound like a good idea?


Here's the list:

• Harry Potter by JK Rowling (I know, you guys must think I'm crazy...)
• All the books by Sarah Dessen
• Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
• The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

I know, you guys are probably shocked, right?  Well, basically I haven't touched any of these books.  Except for the first Harry Potter book which I never finished, BUT! I'm ready to try the series again if that has the most votes :D  I've also read the first two books of the Vampire Academy series, but stopped.  I'm also willing to restart that series again too :)

So, to vote, just comment on this post by December 31st!  Also, just choose ONE!

Cleo :)

City of Fallen Angels Cover!!!

NO WAY!  The City of Fallen Angels cover was released today!! 

Doesn't it look so awesome??  It still repeats the image of characters on it, but instead of one, there's two!  If you want to see the bigger image, you can click here.  It'll direct you to Cassandra Clare's blog :) 

It's funny because just the other day I was thinking about when they were going to release the cover while I was reading Clockwork Angel.

Just in case you don't know, this is the fourth book in the series and I think that there are two more planning to come out after this one. 

Cleo :)

Cover Crazy (3): Impossible

Cover Crazy is a weekly meme that was created by Tawni over at The Book Worms to show which cover(s) you are absolutely going crazy over!

This week I'm crazy about the cover for Impossible by Nancy Werlin!

So, there are two different covers, but I like this one more.  Here's why:

• The scenery is just so peaceful and beautiful with the snow-capped mountains in the background being reflected by the large lake. 
• I love how the model's hair is being blown by the wind, and the dress is to die for! 
• I just realized that the title font is slanting kind of like it's being blown in the wind along with Lucy's hair.

Cleo :)

MarMar's Mini-Review: Beautiful Creatures

Cleo's already written a review for Beautiful Creatures, which you can read for the full review, but I loved this novel a lot and feel the need to put in a few cents :)

Credit to Cleo again for suggesting this book for me. I'd seen it quite a few times at bookstores and stuff, but kind of misjudged it to be a typical YA novel, which I was rather sick of at the moment. Well I decided to try reading it finally because Cleo was GUSHING so much about it (not really. but still :) and wow. I an so glad I did. Proves you shouldn't always judge a book by its cover.
This books flows from event to event, and the writing makes it really realistic. I felt like i could really relate to the character even thought it was through a guy's perspective, and it was like i was seeing his life through his eyes. The writing really is amazing and so is the plot - i literally could NOT put this book down! I think the characters in the novel really prove you shouldn't be afraid to be an individual, and its a rollarcoaster ride of events balancing the supernatural and just plain high school drama :D
Beautiful Darkness is great too, which I've also written a review for, and Cleo is reading ATM too! check it out!

keep reading folks!

signing off
MarMar<3

Cleo's Mini Review: Shiver & Linger

As some of you may or may not know, there are three of us that write on this blog and sometimes we really want to write about a book that we've read, but has already been written about!  So we do mini reviews :)

Baylee has already written a review on both Shiver & Linger which you can see if you want the full reviews!


What can I say about Shiver and Linger... They're both amazingly good!  I loved Shiver A LOT and couldn't wait until Linger came out.  I got so angry over the fact that Baylee got her hands on Linger first because Barnes & Nobles released it early and I pre-ordered mine from Amazon and it didn't come till after the release date because they weren't "notified" or something about the changed released date.  Enough of me rambling, now let's move on. 

Shiver definitely caught my attention and really captivated me!  I loved the voice that Stiefvater used in each of the books because it just seemed so calm, but not boring.  Although, at one point, I think that I started to loose a little bit of interest while reading Linger and it took me a little longer than usual to finish... I really don't know why but I think the reason was because I personally don't think that a lot really happened, and you know how they switch off between points of views, right?  Well, I found myself way more interested in Cole's part of the story, probably since he's a new wolf and he had this really interesting background story.  Sam and Grace actually kind of lost my attention... Until the end, which leaves you on a pretty BIG (and I mean HUGE!) and shocking cliffhanger!!!  It definitely left me wanting more and now, I'm sitting here waiting for Forever, the final book, to come out. 

Cleo :)

MOVIE NEWS FOR THE CITY OF BONES!

It has been revealed that..... dah da da dahhhhh...


Lily Collins! Will play our heroine Clary Fray in, The Mortal Instruments movies!


I personally didn't know that they were already casting so this was news to me, but I agree with the choice and think she will make a great Clary. Jace, though, has yet to make an appearance so lets keep our fingers crossed ladies!


Here is a link so you can get more information, i hope you guys agree with the choice as well!

Follow Friday (17)

This week's question:

Do you have an under-noticed author that you think we should all know about?

Hmm... That's a prettty good question.  Most of the authors of the books that I read are all pretty well known.  There probably is one, but I can't think of anyone off the top of my head...  I think that I shall get back to you guys on that one :)

Hope you guys have a GREAT weekend!  I know I will with all the Christmas parties going on :D  Oooo, I'm also hoping to go to Barnes & Noble to pick up a few books with gift cards I got a long time ago... Any suggestions? 

Be on the look out for some reviews this weekend!

Cleo :)

Teaser Tuesday! (8)

It's Tuesday today, so obviously it means it's Teaser Tuesday! This is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  

And here are the guidelines (if you want to join in):

•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 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!


"I turned around anxiously, looking for him so I could give him a giant hug. Yet, as my eyes searched the room, it wasn't Adrian's face I suddenly found myself looking into. It was Robert Doru's. And Victor Dashkov was with him."
-Rose Hathaway from Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead!

This is me with the book, which I got today, thank goodness for pre-ordering! 

Idea! Video Reviews?

Okay so I have been thinking about something for the past few weeks.

I found this blog the other day and the blogger does all her reviews by video. You know, Youtube videos and posts it to her blog. I was thinking that might be something interesting for me to do. I've always felt that I can explain myself better when I'm actually speaking, and I think this will help me get reviews out faster. Would you guys like to see how it works out? Or do you guys prefer to read the blogs? Maybe I could do both? Let me know what you think!

XoXo~Baylee~

Cover Crazy (2): Fallen & Torment

Cover Crazy is a weekly meme that was created by Tawni over at The Book Worms to show which cover(s) you are absolutely going crazy over!

This week I'm crazy about the Fallen and Torment (by Lauren Kate) covers!!!

Here are the reasons why:

• The dresses the model is wearing are just to die for!! They're absolutely GORGEOUS!
• I love how it gives off this gothic, sort of creepy vibe, but it's just sooo beautiful at the same time.
• The model portrays the emotions that are in this book really well, too!

Cleo :)

Review: Beautiful Darkness

Title: Beautiful Darkness
Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Date Released: October 12, 2010
Pages: 503
Rating: 4.5 out of 5



Description:
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.

Review:

Well after i read Beautiful Creatures and found out how AMAZING it was i couldn't WAIT to read Beautiful Darkness and i had to wait a while to get my hands on it but it was SO very worth it.
The summary doesn't give a lot of the book away, and to me was really confusing and intriguing. This book had what i love most about great novels - the suspense and the fact you had no idea what was going to happen next. Ethan has a great mystery to solve in this book, and in the end, every single detail is tied up together in a conclusion that you wouldn't expect. And it's really amazing, because of the surprises and what the characters discover about themselves and others.
Beautiful Darkness isn't as focused on the human world like Beautiful Creatures, where Lena, the Caster is the outcast, but opens a whole new Caster world where Ethan is now the intruder. It's really interesting, because a lot is left unsaid about Lena's world and this book opens a lot of it up. It kind of gives the novel a mystical quality, but since some things are left unexplained, and its so much more fantasy-like, it gives the reader a harder time to relate to it and make it real, so i have it a 4.5 :) This doesn't change how fantastic the book is, because it so full of surprises and revelations.
However, though the book is mainly focused on Lena's world, Lena herself is missing for a great deal of the book, which disappointed me, because Lena's and Ethan's bond was a great factor in Beautiful Creatures and to have it kind of dissipate in Beautiful Darkness made me miss it a lot. While Lena is missing, some new characters come into play too, and Ethan discovers a lot in his human world is intertwined in the Caster world, and maybe he's not the only one in the know....;)
The addition of the new characters was really exciting for me, and it's surprising the amount of depth the authors manage to give them despite the limited time some of them spend in the novel. I love how Link becomes a much more important character and how some of his virtues are revealed in this book. A new human girl also comes into play, called Liv (and she's BRITISH :O) and i really do like her personality, but at the same time, she does get in the way of Ethan and Lena's relationship
Which also brings up the love triangle(s) that forms in this book. WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS. HIGHLIGHT TO READ

Since Lena leaves Gatlin to travel with half Incubus John out of guilt of her thinking she's responsible for Macon's death, and Ethan is left alone to bond with Liv, a kinda complicated double love triangle forms. And though its easier for each to be with another, due to the complications that a Caster and a mortal can never be together, i love the determination and strength Lena and Ethan eventually prove in the end, because of all that true love stuff thats goopy but really makes your heart ache :)

ANYWAY, in conclusion, this is an amazing sequel to Beautiful Creatures, and if you enjoyed that, Beautiful Darkness just ups the epic-ness of the series :D i loved love LOVED it and you should definitely pick it up if you haven't yet :)

Cover Review: The font is in keeping to the one from Beautiful Creatures, only it's blue, and i love the swirls. The background is simply of stairs, but that represents a lot about Ethan's adventures in this book through the tunnels....its dark, simple, but gives a good representation of the mystical-ity of the book :D

keep reading folks!
signing off
MarMar<3

Do You Like to Bake?

Hey everyone!

I know this is kind of random and not really related to books at all, unless I guess you like eating yummy baked goods while reading, but my little sister LOVES baking.  She's constantly baking practically every weekend, even on school days sometimes.  She decided to create a blog dedicated to baking and fashion, her two favorite things in the world.  It's called A Teaspoon of Sugar and you can click that link to check it out :D 
Her Persimmon Cake is to die for!!  I ate 2 pieces yesterday... It's really unbelievably good.  I'm not even kidding.  I thought it would be gross, but trust me, it's the best.

Cleo :)

Review: Nightshade

Title: Nightshade
Author: Andrea Cremer
Date Released: October 19th, 2010
Pages: 454
Rating: 4 out of 5


Description:
Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

Review:
This book was really good!  I pretty much loved it from start to finish!  This book was pretty action packed, full of drama, betrayal and secrets.  And you can never forget the love triangle!  I was pretty much torn between Seamus (aka Shay) and Renier (aka Ren), Calla's love interests, but settled with Ren (I'll explain later).  YAY! GO TEAM REN!

One thing that I absolutely loved about this book was the characters!!! Even though there were quite a few (there are already 10 characters in all when you count the whole pack), they were memorable and not confusing at all!  I have like short-term memory so, I think that if you told me the name of a character I wouldn't give you a blank/confused expression, I think I would know immediately who that person is.  I loved how all the characters were so diverse and all had different interests, and you can clearly see the difference between the Nightshade and Bane pack.  Calla was an awesome protagonist!!  She was strong and very smart, basically what every other girl out there in the world should be like. 

One thing that I didn't really like about Nightshade was that there were some major parts that sort of felt like when that part happened, it was like it was no big deal or it just happened way to fast and it was just sort of thrown upon you.  Maybe that wasn't the case for everyone and it's possible that I could have missed something, but that's how I felt.  But that's the only thing that I didn't like.  The rest was great :D

Another thing that I loved (sorry for switching between things I liked and didn't like): the plot!!!  The plot was pretty much really good, despite what I said above.  It's still really captivating and as I said before, it's full of action, drama, betrayal, sacrifices, and secrets. 

Now on to why I'm Team Ren (you can skip this if you want, may contain spoilers, highlight if you want to read it!): Honestly, it was hard choosing a side!  But I sided with Ren maybe out of pity?  I just felt bad for him because in the beginning he was kind of like the player, but then eventually he started developing feelings for Calla, right?  But then Calla just sort of left him... Oh, he also sounds really hot :D I feel really weird for saying that... but yeah!  He totally does.  Who agrees with me?

Basically, to sum it all up (if you don't really want to read the whole thing),  AWESOME book!  Everything was great from the character to the plot!  It was just that one little thing that I didn't like so much about it.  But other than that, I loved it!  I cannot wait for Wolfsbane coming out next year (July 26) ... and Bloodrose coming out in 2012.  Oh dear, that sounds like a really long time.  GO REN!

Cover Review:
If I had to use one word for this cover, I think I'd go with: gorgeous.  Isn't it so pretty?  From the lilies (or are they nightshades? :/ ) to the model and to the title, it just totally explains the book!  AND IT'S PURPLE!  I'm sorry but I'm a purple fanatic!!

I also wanted to know, Are my reviews too lengthy?  I noticed that this one sort of is and I just wanted to know so I can improve and maybe next time cut down on all of my explanations and stuff... Or do you guys think that it's fine?

Cleo :)

*Description from Goodreads.com
**Review copy purchased.

Busting the Newbie Blues :)

Over at Small Review, there's an event called Busting the Newbie Blues that's going on!  It's really cool and if you're a newbie to blogging, or you're a more of an experienced blogger, you should head on over and fill out the questionnaire, and maybe meet some new bloggers.  This event is going from December 3rd to the 31st!







1.When did you start your blog?
Well, it first started off as just me, but then the next day Margaret and Baylee joined in.  Whoops, I went off topic, but basically we started in early August.  I think it was August 7th?  Sometime around there.  So, yeah around 4 months... I consider ourselves newbies because we're still trying to get into the swing of things :)

 2.Why did you start your blog?
I started this blog because I saw another book blog and I thought that this was such a cool idea and I LOVE reading and could never really recommend it to anyone because most kids at my school don't enjoy reading, or read the kind of books that I read... So, I thought that this was just a great idea to get my opinions out!

 3.What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Hmm... Nothing really... Maybe it was the awards... Like the Versatile Blogger Award.  It took me two months to finally publish it!  I was just too lazy to chose and contact all 15 bloggers that I chose... I know... Bad Cleo :(

 4.What do you find most discouraging about being a new blogger?
Well, maybe it's hard getting followers who will read your blog at first, but don't let that discourage you!  
 5.What do you find most encouraging?
When people comment and appreciate what we post.  It's like the best thing ever and makes me really happy!

 6.What do you like best about the blogs you read? Have you tried to replicate this in your blog?
I like that they try and post as many times as they can.  I try doing this on Booklopedia, but sometimes school gets in the way... but we do more than 20 posts each month, so that's good, right?  I think that this month, especially because we're going to have a winter break, we should try aiming at at least 30 posts :)

 7.What do you dislike about blogs you’ve read? Do you try to avoid this?
Sometimes I don't really like it when they don't update it... Or they do but only like several times a month.  I do try to avoid this as much as I can.  I try to post at least everyday, but sometimes it doesn't happen... But it doesn't mean that I stopped blogging!  I just have lots of homework, and like yesterday's incident, I had no Internet connection for a while.

 8.Any advice for other new bloggers?
Don't worry if you feel like you're never going to get any followers or if you feel like no one's ever going to find out about your blog!  The first person that ever followed Booklopedia (besides Baylee hehe) was a total stranger and I didn't even know how they found out about our blog... But it totally made my day :)  It definitely takes time and you have to be patient, even though it might be weird for a while if you feel like you're talking to nobody.

 9.Anything else you’d like to share about your experience?
This is definitely really fun!  I love being able to share my opinions and get my voice out about the books that I read. 

 10.Is there anything you’d like to tell us about your blog?
Hmm... well we mostly read YA books, and we're three best friends that met (and lived) in China!  Right now we're just kind of like all over the USA... like two of us are in the West Coast, and the other one of us is all the on the other side of the country.  Also, if you see that most of the posts are from me (Cleo), then it's because I'm kind of like the main contributor... I'm working on getting Margaret and Baylee to post as regularly as possible ;) 


Cleo :)

Infinity Review

Basic Information
Title: Infinity
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Pages: 448
Published/Publisher: May 25th 2010 by St. Martin's Griffin
Rating: 4 1/2 stars
Synopsis: 
At 14, Nick Gautier (GO-SHAY) is an average kid who runs with the wrong crowd. But on the night he decides to go straight and refuses to mug an innocent tourist, his crew turns on him and just as he thinks his life is over... a new one begins. Kyrian of Thrace isn't just a vampire slayer, he's a Dark-Hunter and he introduces Nick to a world that he never imagined. With new enemies who make his old ones look like wimps, Nick must either measure up or get sized for a body bag. It's kill or be killed and this kid who was born on the wrong side finds a strength inside him that he never knew existed.


Now if he can only find someone to help battle the demons that don't reside inside him.


Review:


I LOVED THIS BOOK.


That statement just needed to be on it's own. I had my eye on this book for some time and then I saw my friend from school reading so I decided it was time to buy it. It is NOTHING like what I usually read. I actually try to stay away from books with zombies and such. But this book was HI-LARIOUS! I don't know how many times Sherrilyn Kenyon had me laughing out loud because of something Nick said. He is the most sassy, sarcastic, witty (I don't care which one you choose seeing how they all mean the same thing) child I have ever read about. A lot of YA books are written from a girl's perspective now-a-days and I just loved hearing this story from Nick. 
It's only the first book so he doesn't exactly know why all these weird things are happening to him, but I know Nick is going to swallow his fear, toss out a few smart-aleck remarks a long the way, and kick some B-U-T-T. His father...well lets just say he's spoiler content, but he hasn't been around and nick's mom has had too...ah erm..."dance".. to help support them. Nick goes to a fancy school that he had to pass an entrance exam for and is on a scholarship. This is something else that I love because by the way he talks (he lives in New Orleans) and his living conditions, you'd think he'd be uneducated but he is actually smarter than most of the kids at his school. Of course there is also a bit of forbidden love going on here but I don't think the author plans to develop it until the second book. Now I'm sure some of you went "Uhhhh...zombies?? Yea...NO", but zombies aren't a part of the big plot. They were actually what helps Nick realize he is so different. As in "he has powers" different. Now just like Nick, the reader isn't exactly sure what he can do, but this just makes me want to read the second book! I highly recommend this book for people who are interested in reading something different, funny, and well, just a really good read!


XoXo~Baylee~

Linger Review

Book Name: Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls)
Author/Publisher/Date published: Maggie Stiefvater/Scholastic Press/July 13th 2010
Pages: 362
Rating: 3 1/2 stars (:
Synopsis:
In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.


At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love - the light and the dark, the warm and the cold - in a way you will never forget.


Review


Linger was a beautiful sequel to Shiver, that came with an unexpected ending. Stiefvater, in my own opinion, is an author that takes her time when it comes to the creation of her plot. By reading Shiver and Linger, I have come to find that she is a very creative and romantic writer, but her books can get a little "slow" in certain areas.


*Spoiler- if you have not read Shiver do not highlight this sentence*
---> I also love how she focused on Sam getting his life back on track now that he has become human again, and that she puts a lot of responsibility on him now that Beck is gone.


Stiefvater starts to put a great deal of emphasis on how lost Sam truly is. It seems that no matter what path Sam takes something is always going to come at him and catch him by surprise. The fact that he keeps going really proves what a strong character he is. Grace on the other hand has always been a bit of a, for lack of a better word, push over to me. She tries to please her parents and doesn't convey her feelings of neglect to them. So I love that Striefvater gave her more of a backbone in Linger. It lets readers know that no matter who they are, no one can control you unless you let them.


She -Stiefvater- does a wonderful job tying in the mundane actions of Grace and Sam's lives into the story. She starts to write about Sam's music career and I think she develops their relationship a lot. She made them feel very solid. Which was nice because usually everything is constantly rocky with relationships in YA romance books. I also found it refreshing that there was no love triangle. I don't know why I'm sure it's just because they're so over-used. It keeps the book closer to reality while still giving her plenty of room to write her fairytale love story. Although I did love the ending, it really got me wondering about what Stiefvater was going to do in the next book. Will Grace and Sam have a happy ending in the third book? Will another complication arise with the wolf pack? What does Sam plan on doing about his music career? What will happen between Cole and Isabelle, will he be able to find a cure? So many questions, but will they all be answered in the third book of The Wolves of Mercy Falls series? Well, we all have to wait for that answer.






XoXo~Baylee~

All I Want for Christmas Is... (6)

This is a weekly meme that's hosted by Danya @ A Tapestry of Words, where every week up until Christmas, you choose a book that you would like to see under your tree! You also have to say why, which shouldn't be too hard :)

This week, I want: Matched Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.


The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Who doesn't want this book???  It's probably on everyone's wishlist this year!

Cleo :)

*Description from Goodreads.com

Follow Friday (16)

YIPEE! It's Follow Friday!!  This is a weekly meme that was created by Parajunkee's View :)

This week's question:

What do you do besides reading / reviewing as a hobby??

Umm... I guess you could say that I do tennis as well...  But it's just for fun, I don't play competitvely.  Does homework count as a hobby too?

Sorry if we've been sort of been missing this week... I had lots of homework, and I'm sure that Margaret and Baylee did too.  And today, when I actually had some time to go on, I started freaking out because the Internet connection wasn't working.  But then, magically, it started working again.  Silly Internet... :D  I'm working on a review for Nightshade, so you guys should expect that sometime soon! 

ALSO! We've reached over 100 followers!!!  I think that we're going to have a giveaway to celebrate and thank you guys for being so awesome, but it's still in its planning stages. 

Hope you guys have a great weekend!

Cleo :)

Versatile Blogger Award!!!

YAY!  I received the Versatile Blogger Award from Hafsah at Icey Books, Kate at Literary Explorations, Carmel at Rabid Reads and Julia at That Hapa Chick!  Thanks Hafsah, Kate, Carmel and Julia!!!  If you guys saw this post and realized that you awarded us this award a while ago, I apologize because I have had this for a while... I know, I'm horrible :(  But anyways, THANKS SO MUCH AND YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME :D

There are four things that you have to do when you receive this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person that gave this award.
2. Write 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic.
4. Contact the bloggers you have picked to let them know about the award.

Here are 7 (random) things about me:

1. My favorite color in the whole entire world is: PURPLE!
2. My favorite TV shows include: Supernatural (GO DEAN!), The Vampire Diaries, Bones, America's Next Top Model, House, Hellcats and Glee.
3. I have the most awesome bookend ever: It's a dachshund.  I think I'm going to do a post about it later. 
4. My favorite Mexican food is enchiladas and my favorite Italian foods are ravioli or lasagna.  If you ever see me eating Mexican or Italian foods, it's always either one of these (pizza may be an exception though... although, I think pizza should have its own food group)
5. I choke on my water very often... I really don't know why. 




This is the vicious, but cute and
fluffy doggy :)


6. I LOVE ANIMALS!  I think I might want to be a vet when I grow up.  I especially love dogs.  I have two of my own, and they're pretty darn cute (even though one of them's actually really vicious (he was never socialized properly)... he's our first dog so he was kind of like an experiment... and it sort of failed, but he's so cute!!)
7. I lived in China for 3 1/2 years... It was an awesome experience and REALLY fun and I miss living there.  It was probably the best time of my life :)

Yep!  That should be a little bit about me :D


Here are the 15 bloggers that I have chosen:

• Vision Quest Fail
• Cari's Book Blog
• The Book Scoop
• Hobbitsies
• The Grammarian's Reviews
• Epic Booknerd
• YA Bookie Monster
•  Books are like People
• Nice Girls Read Books
• Diary of a Book Lover
• Call Me Crazy
• Ivy's Reads
• Small Review
• Loren Chase
• Brush Up On Your Reading

YES! 15 bloggers!!!  That took me a while, but you guys have awesome blogs and I totally enjoy reading them!!

Cleo :)