Gripped into Books

In My Mailbox (18)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It's a great way to showcase the books you've gotten over the week, whether they are bought, borrowed or free.
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I'm in a really jolly mood today, with the royal wedding and all. It was amazing, I loved Kate's dress and everything was so magical. Okay, umm I'll stop now seeing as none of this is book related LOL.

Review

Blood Magic by Tessa Graton

When I got this one, I was like WOW ...the covers amazing don't you think? And the blurb is not too bad either! Thank you Random House :)
Divergent by Veronica Roth
I know what you're thinking! How can I forget that I got my shiny awesomely wonderful finished copy of Divergent! *hides my face* but I have to say ...jealous much? THANK YOU SSSOO MUCH HarperCollins! ;D

eBooks

Wither by Lauren Destefano

Leaving paradise by Simone Elkeles

Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles

I havn't got many book as usually but I enjoyed reading them all especially Wither!

What's In your mailbox?

West of the Moon by Katherine Langrish

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West of the Moon

by Katherine Langrish

Pages: 592

Release Date: March 3rd 2011

Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks

Buy it: Amazon

An epic and action-packed fantasy adventure that weaves together Norse legends, shadowy creatures and an unforgettable hero. When Peer is orphaned he is taken by his wicked uncles to live at their foreboding mill in the shadow of Troll Fell. Here he meets beautiful and spirited Hilde and after a terrifying encounter with the sinister creatures who live below the fell the pair form an inseparable bond. They are thirsty for adventure, so when a Viking longship docks at their village, they decide to set sail for Vinland -- a mysterious place across the perilous sea. But are the ship's captain and his sword wielding son really honest sailors? What creatures lurk in the shadows and forests of the new land? And will Peer and Hilde ever return? Spanning years and continents and filled with brilliantly imagined characters and creatures, this is gripping, atmospheric fantasy at its best...

My Thoughts:
The first thing you think when you pick of this book is something negative about the cover. Right? But like 'they' say ...Don't judge a book by its cover because this book is sure one hell of a book.

It is very thick so there's so many thrilling events that occur. Action, drama and everything. With trolls, Vikings and yetis. The book is split up into three sections ...all the easier to read.

Peer is a great character. He goes through many struggles and trials with his dog Loki and his new friend Hilde as his only salvation. It's nice to see how Peer and Hilde's relationship grows from friendship to love. It's so obvious they belong together.

I 'm not really much interested in books about Vikings and trolls but here Langrish has created a splendid story world making me want to read more about them. In fact, I want to read more of her books. This one was fab. The others may be too. :)

Divergent by Veronica Roth

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Divergent
by Veronica Roth

Pages: 496
Release Date: April 28th 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins Childrens
Buy it: Amazon

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

My Thoughts:
Divergent is an unforgetabble read. It's most definetly an outastanding debut. I was immediatley consumed into it reading on until I completled it. I could not put it down. I need to read the next one now!

I am really starting to love Dystopian books now. In Divergent, it revolves around a society that is dived into fractions that are based on various virtues- Honesty, Braveness, Intelligence, Peace and Selfishness. At the age of 16, people get to choose which fraction they belong to.
Tris, the protagonist is a strong character. I instantly loved her. She’s a divergent and that’s not a good thing at all. So then she chooses to enter the Dauntless and faces many trials and tribulations, Each time it gets better and better.

I personally loved it when Tris had those private tests. You see, they were just full of adventure and life. I has this urging feeling wondering how she’s gunna get though each and every one. It was totally enjoyable to read.
Four. Tobias. Tobias. Four.
Ahhhhhh! What can I say I LOVE Tobias (familiarly known as Four). I think I prefer Tobias better, sounds way hotter ;) Roth doesn’t even put much description into Tobias, but hey everything he does just spells out h-o-t-n-e-s-s. The way she writes is simply amazing!

I never would have thought Tris and Tobias would get together. So unpredictable and you just have to love that. And their moments are ones that you cherish. Yes you got it. It’s the parts where when you finish book, you just have to go back and re-read them!

Oh and the ending! I was flabbergasted! Yes, shocked same thing. It was a hell of an awesome book. You see words cannot describe how awesome this book is like totally way beyond beyond. I LOVED IT! OBVIOUSLY, the next book, Insurgent is one to pine for! :D

Waiting on Wednesday (16)

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The last little blue enevelope
by Maureen Johnson
Pages: 304
Release date: April 26th 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Buy the Book: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny's backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.
Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he's found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions.

What are you waiting for?
Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

300 Followers Giveaway!

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CONTEST CLOSED!
Wooohooo!

Today we have reached 300 followers! As you can see I am OVER the moon. With 5 months of blogging, I think its quite an achievement and oh not forgetting that we've got over 10,000 visits as well so... yipeee. Thank you for following awesome people :)

To celebrate this achievement, we have indeed are hosting a awesomness giveway. Finally! I really needed an excuse to do one and so here are the books you can pick from...

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Divergent by Veronica Roth

West of the Moon by Katherine Langrish

Runaway by Curtis Jobling

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

RULES

- 13 years old or over

- Must be a follower

- Open internationally

- Contest ends May 25th '11

To enter just fill in this FORM to enter the giveway :)

Advertise the giveaway on your blog side bar:

Lets get this giveaway started...

Happy reading :)

MIA

In My Mailbox (17)

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Happy Easter:)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It's a great way to showcase the books you've gotten over the week, whether they are bought, borrowed or free.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Rules of attraction by Simone Elkeles

I loved both of these books. They were so beautifully written. I can't wait to read Chain Reaction, the book #3 of the series :)

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

I really like the cover to this one and I loved how everything was going with Amy and Roger.

What's In your mailbox?

Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine

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UK Cover

Midnight Alley

by Rachel Caine

Pages: 384

Release Date: September 5th 2008

Publisher: Allison & Busby

Series: The Morganville Vampires

Other books in series: Glass Houses, Dead Girls' Dance, Feast of Fools,Carpe Corpus, Fade out, Ghost Town, Kiss of Death and Last Breath

Buy it: Amazon

Claire Danvers's college town may be run by vampires but a truce between the living and the dead made things relatively safe. For a while. Now people are turning up dead, a psycho is stalking her, and an ancient bloodsucker has proposed private mentoring. To what end, Claire will find out. And it's giving night school a whole new meaning...

My Thoughts
This is another amazing addition to the Morganville series. It is just as good as the other two books!

As always, Caine was prefoemed her magic and made all the events in the book completely memorable. There are times that are funny and I just have to laugh otu loud. Action is displayed as always making the book more thrilling and enjoyable to read

Through each book the characters grow on my more and more. I love Shane and Clare. Although, Shane was a bit of a jerk at times in this book he came together at the end being the nice guy he is. Clare has signed an agreement with Amelia that lead to the introduction of Myrin, a new charactar.

Myrin. Mad scientist. You cannot get me started. He's just really freakishly werid. But a great character. He is what the book needed for that little bit of an edge bringing insanity, confussion and vulnerability. I have to admit, he did seem scary at first.

Micheal becomes 'different'.I can seem to decide whether it's good or bad. Maybe a bit of both. It'll be nice to see the badboy side of him now.

It's really hard not to give away any spoliers! Caine writes to perfection as The Morganville series really are all pieces of magic. You need them on your shelf!
...Feast of Fools follows!

A UK Morganville Vampire fan? Join the Facebook fan club!

Shadowland by Alyson Noel

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UK Cover

Shadowland
by Alyson Noel

Pages: 339
Release Date: July 2nd 2010
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Series: The Immortals
Other books in series: Evermore, Blue Moon, Dark Flame, Night Star and Everlasting
Buy it: Amazon

At the start of this breathtaking novel, Damen and Ever travel to Summerland in search of an antidote to reverse a powerful poison. But instead of the cure they seek, they find something far more sinister: the truth about their existence and the fate lying in wait of an immortal’s soul.
Now, with Damen fighting to save them from the Shadowland, Ever turns to magick, hoping to break Damen’s curse. Along the way Ever encounters the mysterious Jude, finding herself drawn to him in a way that will test her love for Damen like never before . . .

My Thoughts:
At first when start with the Immortals series I loved it! Evermore and Blue Moon were just totally great so the books set off to a great start. I saw that as soon as I started reading Shadowland but as I read on the more I disliked.

Okay so I really wanted to know what's going to happen in the whole Ever and Damen's forbidden love thing. I mean the plot it great, what's not to like? But it's just mainly because of how the storyline didn't seem to go anywhere. Everything was pretty much the same from the way things were from Blue Moon.

More and more, Ever is really starting to annoy me. So at first you make mistakes. Then another yeah its still okay. But then she keep on making the same mistakes over and over again and yes, it does get very frustrating at times. I would of liked it better if there was some self improvement and growth. But no. Still the same Ever.

Oh and what happened to Haven and Miles? There never in the picture anymore. Does she even have any friends now? I have no idea.

I throughly enjoy this series, this book wasn't all bad. There were times of suspnce and fascination and the whole love thing going on is fascinating to read. So I guess I will continue with this series to see where Ever's and Damen's relationship goes next

Cover Alert: Last Breath by Rachel Caine!

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Hey everyone!

OMG.I just came across the UK cover for Last Breath by Rchel Caine, the 11th book to the

Morganville series. It's going to be release in November 2011 and I can't wait! They're one of my favourite series and I just had to show everyone this. It's amazing!

The black and green one is the UK cover and I just LOVE it. But the US cover, the white and blue one, I like way better! I seem to prefer US covers of UK covers :)

But thats just what I think...

What do you think?

Oh and look out for Bite club, book 10 of the Morganivlle series to be realesed on May 3rd! Can't wait!

MIA

Waiting on Wednesday (15)

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Vanish
by Sophie Jordon

Pages: 304
Release Date: September 6th 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Firelight
Other books in series: Firelight
Buy the book: Amazon

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.
Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?
In bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever.

What are you waiting for?
Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

Top Ten Tuesday #1

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Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This is my first Top Ten Tuesday, and I cant wait to do it. This week is Top Tuesday Rewind, which means that I can go through the Top Ten Tuesday archives and choose a theme that I find most interesting and do it. So the theme I choose for my first Top Ten Tuesday is:

FAVOURITE HEROINES (in no particular order)

Zoe Redbird from the House of the Nights Series - Zoe is amazing, she survived her mother marriage with an controller man, she survived (SPOILER ALERT) the death of her best friend, and many other things.
Jo from Little Woman - she's a devoted sister and daughter and a talented writer. She doesn't know exactly what she wants but that doesn't stop her for trying to find it. She is the less girly from her sisters and that makes her unique.
Anna from Anna and the French Kiss - Anna is funny and has a strong personality. She has strong morals and doesn't give up.
Calla Tor from Nightshade - The alpha woman, a natural leader and strong female, what's more to say.
Auden from Along for the Ride - Auden is somewhat a strange character but that doesn't make herself less of a heroine. She's very smart and independent, handling problems by herself.
Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter Series - Besides being the most intelligent one from the trio, she's also brave and strong minded.
Lena from the Mermaid's Mirror - She's dedicated to her friends and doesn't give up when she really wants something. She also is open minded.
Brie from Losing Faith - This character never gives up while trying to find the truth of her sister death, and doesn't care if her life is at risk.
Louisa Cosgrove from Wildthorn - Besides the awful situation she finds herself in she doesn't give up trying to escape from there and in the end of the book she isn't afraid of showing who she really is.
Eliza from Wildthorn - She is a loveable girl and loves taking care of others. She also isn't afraid of other people judging her.

Reviewed by Iram: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

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Beautiful Darkness
by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Pages: 503
Release date: October 28th 2010
Publisher: Puffin
Series: The Caster Chronicles
Other books in series: Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Chaos
Buy it: Amazon

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

My Thoughts:
As always, whenever I read books I read the blurb first. So I'm reading it and then I find out it's the exact same plot as the previous book, Beautiful Creatures, but this time it's her 17th birthday like come on!

BUT, as I started reading the book and getting more involved in Lena's and Ethan's world I really enjoyed reading about thier lives. Garcia and Stohl created a unique splendour to the book that brought out all the magic in the book.

Although at times the events did move quite slow, it did at the end create the atmosphere more giving it more suspence. I knew there was going to be something big happening soon I just wanted to hurry up and get to that part!

More scenes with Lena and Ethan also enfolded. Some were good and some were bad. There was even a time where jealousy was involved. Something very different but amusing at the same time. I love Ethan and how he handles everything as a charactar. He has to be my favourite!

Garcia and Stohl wrote this book beautifully. It's no doubt that they do have a great talent. I am really looking forward to book three.

Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

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UK Cover

Blue Moon

by Alyson Noel

Pages: 362
Release Date: March 5th 2010
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Series: The Immortals series
Other books in series: Evermore, Shadowland, Dark Flame, Night star and Everlasting
Buy it: Amazon

Things have changed for Ever since she met her beloved Damen - not least because she's got a whole new set of powers, courtesy of her new Immortal status. Just as she's getting stronger, though, Damen seems to be weakening. Panicked at the thought of losing him, Ever finds a path to the in-between world known as Summerland, where she learns the secrets of Damen's tortured past. But in searching for a cure for him, Ever accidentally discovers a way to twist time so she can save her family from the accident that killed them. It's all she's ever wanted - but so is Damen. And Ever must choose between them...

My Thoughts:
Out of all the Immortal books so far, I have to say that this one is by far my favourite. Evermore was good but Blue Moon is way better.

Noel outdid her self in this book. There were events that were beyond extraordinary but also excruciating to read. As the plot twisted and turned, I found myself amazed but also I had no idea what would happen next. The suspense was overpowering and the events unpredictable.

It was great to see how Damen's past was revealed. It really gave an insight into Damen's life and how he is originally as a character. I connected more with him now then before as pieces of Ever's previous life was revealed.

I really love Romy and Rayne. They're like little kids that are so lovable and you just would love them instantly. Oh and not forgetting to mention Roman. There's not much to say except he is NOT a good guy.

Because of the awesomness of Blue Moon I am sure going to continue to read this series. Shadowland, here I come! :)

In My Mailbox (16)

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In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It's a great way to showcase the books you've gotten over the week, whether they are bought, borrowed or free.

Review

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Sofia has already read this one and apparently there some very intense parts :S ...not looking forward to that but the book is good. Thank you HarperCollins!

Angel's Fury by Bryony Pearce (ARC)

I'm currently reading this one, and so far so good :) ...Thank you Egmont!

Divergent by Veronica Roth (ARC)

I have already read Divergent and you know it's a GREAT book! Thank you HarperCollins!

Library

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
The Legacy by Gemma Malley
The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

It was my first time reading The Mortal Instruments series and they're fantastic. I recommend it to those of you who havn't picked it up yet! And... I've read all the books I got from the library and I loved them all!
What's in your Mailbox?

New books released this April

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A new month brings new books!

Now this March 2011, many thrilling books have been released, sitting in the bookstores waiting for people like you and me to pick it up and indulge

Here are a few...