Gripped into Books

Giveaway: The Duff by Kody Keplinger!

CONTEST CLOSED.
It's been quite a while since my last giveaway. Since I just love all my readers and appreciate all your support I thought it was about time I give you a little treat. As you can see, today I've decided to giveaway a copy of The Duff by Kody Keplinger. I actually haven't read it as to yet. I am very eager to get into it however, it sounds like such a great read. Don't ya think? So if you would like to grab the copy, just enter the giveway for a chance to win win win!

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.
But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.
Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

Oh and not forgetting,

RULES:

- Open Internationally

- Following is not required

- Entrants must be 13 or over
-Giveaway ends on 12th April 2012
If you meet all these requirements, just fill in the form-
CLICK HERE.

(NOTE: Do NOT leave your email address in the comments please)

Thanks for entering and Happy Reading :))

Character Interview: Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt

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Squeee! Guess who we have on the blog guys? Okay so I guess you already know with the blog post title and all but yeah it's Laura Jarratt!! Round of applause people! We have the author of the fabulous book Skin Deep.

Let me just assure you guys that it's more than what meets the eye. I'm sure you've heard of the phrase- "don't judge a book by it's cover" because it's true just don't! Saying that, you should deffo check the Australian cover. It's absolutely gorgeous.

Well, if the neither cover grabs your interest, I'm sure you'll have a reason to read Skin Deep with this interview below!

--
Thanks for stopping by to chat guys. We're so excited to have you today. Jenna, I realise it's a touchy subject but we're all keen to know about your experience after the car crash. How did you handle everything?
J – Looking back, I think I did okay. Not amazingly well but not awful either.

At first when you wake up in hospital, it hurts too much for you to care how you look. You want the pain to stop but the painkillers make you woozy so when it does you can’t think straight so at the start, it’s pretty much a blur. People keep telling you it’ll be fine and you just want to believe them. A few days later though, that’s when you start to be scared, when it hits you that it might not all be okay after all. Then you’re faced with the consequences – they get you to talk to staff to try to get you ready but really that just makes you more scared because you know it must be bad if they have to do that. When you do see your face for the first time, there’s a split second where you don’t know it’s you and you see yourself as everyone else will. Then it hits…and you feel so sick you want to throw up right there but you can’t so you scream instead, like you’re in a nightmare and you can make it go away.

It’s the day after day stuff of trying to piece your life back together when the person you were has changed forever – that’s what I found hardest. It takes ages to get to a place where you’re happy with being you again. The accident changed me a lot, not all in bad ways though, but it took me a long time to find out who I am now.

Not forgetting Ryan though. Ryan, you were the perfect knight in shining armour for Jenna. How did your feelings change as you got to know Jenna?
R- I hope my mum doesn’t read this. She’ll go off on one of her feminist rants if she does!

I guess at first I felt sorry for her – and she’s gonna kill me for saying this – but that was because I know what it’s like to have everyone looking at you and judging. Mum used to dress me in all this weird tie-dyed hippy stuff when I was a little kid so all the other kids you met knew straight off you weren’t like them. I reckoned that’s what the scar was like for Jenna. Other kids staring and shutting her out right off because of it. And some people are that stupid.

But then I got to know her and I realised she’d hate me feeling sorry for her and actually there was no reason because inside was this kinda tough, funny girl who might get knocked down by people being dumbass with her, but she was gonna bounce back even if it did take her a while.

And yeah, Jenna, you can stop sticking your tongue out at me!

So I did want to smack anyone who upset her, sure. And the more she got under my skin the more I wanted to make everything okay for her. But a lot of what did make her get under my skin was she is tough and funny, and all the time she was looking out for me as much as I looked out for her. Tough, but tough in a definitely cute way…hehe…Yes! I made her blush.

Aww. Yep. Jenna's face is turning red! Jenna, your life completely changed when you met Ryan. How exactly would you say however?
J – Nobody ever wound me up that much before, that’s how!

No, seriously, I think just making friends with someone who didn’t know me before the accident and so they didn’t have to be friends, it was just something genuine they wanted now…yes, I think it was that. It gave me back a big load of confidence. So even at the start, just hanging out with him when he didn’t have to be with me – it made me feel normal again. Also when we got together, he’s used to dealing with people who look at you as if you’re different to them. And he knows how not to care. That helped massively too.

Um…also I’d never been…um…you know…that into someone before, like going out and stuff, so that was totally different. And good…when he’s not teasing me to death! But I get him back, of course. I always get him back!

Ahem. Ryan. Boxers or Briefs? We're dying to know!
R – Boxers. Always. Black cotton jersey’s my favourite.
J – He’s got no shame, you know. He’ll love you asking him that…see, look at that grin. Mr. Smug!

Tut tut! So, a question for you both. What would be the perfect date?
R – Actually we did this on Jenna’s birthday. We both wanted to do something different, and Jenna picked because it was her birthday obviously but it would have been my top choice as well –
J – I picked a hot air balloon ride, but then he went crazy and booked us this sunrise balloon flight for two. You’re in the basket with just you and the pilot and the balloon drifts up over the trees as the sun rises and you feel like you’re rising up into the dawn. It’s the most amazing feeling. A friend of Cole’s did the ride and he took some photos for us.
R – Yeah, they came out really well. He did us a special favour too and landed us down near this horse sanctuary – you know Jenna’s into horses and this bit was a surprise. I’d fixed up for us to have a special visit where they took us round and we got to meet all the residents.
J – They have a lot of horses who’ve been ill-treated there and they nurse them back to health and look after them until they can be re-homed. Some stay forever, and then…no, you can tell them this bit, Ryan, because it was your idea…
R – No, you…I’m not telling them that…
J – LOL! Now he is embarrassed. Okay, he’d adopted one of the horses for me and I got to meet her. She’s called Bonnie and she was found abandoned and starving but she’s getting her strength and confidence back now. She’s a totally beautiful skewbald with the sweetest nature.
R – Er, yeah, moving on at speed… so that was my perfect date because it’s different, you know. Anyone can do cinema and dinner and that stuff but to make it perfect, you’ve got to surprise her with something she’ll remember.

J – It was awesome, it really was.

After reading Skin Deep, we're all ecstatic to read Laura's next book. Ryan, Jenna...Details please!
R – I like the guy in it, that’s all I’m saying. He’s alright – I’d hang out with him.

J – Okay, I’ll leak a little bit. It’s about a girl who goes into the witness protection programme. And hey, if I’m ever tempted to flatter myself I was brave about my face, when I see what she has to put up with… when she could just have walked away…

R – She’s not as cute as you though.

J – Ignore him. He’s just saying that. She’s actually really pretty. I didn’t like her that much at first because I thought she was a bit snobby but people aren’t always what you think from first impressions, especially when they’re not happy.

R – We think you’ll like it anyway! Even if it hasn’t got me in it.

J – Excuse me now, I need to go and deflate his head. Bye, everyone x

Links:
Website | Blog | Goodreads | Buy the Book

You have gotta admit. Aren't Jenna and Ryan just an adorable couple. Hearing them talk with each other is just so cute! Just read the book guys. Read the book! You can find so much more about them and how their relationship develops. It's just amazing. I know that you're going to read it now, or go buy it. RIGHT? You know you want to.

And Laura. It's been a pleasure to have her on the blog today.
A big big thank you for this fab interview :D

The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

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The Other Life

by Susanne Winnacker

Pages: 320
Release Date: February 1st 2012
Publisher: Usbourne
Source: For Review from Publishers
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository | B&N
Add it: Goodreads

3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life. 98,409,602 seconds since the heavy, steel door had fallen shut and sealed us off from the world
Sherry has lived with her family in a sealed bunker since things went wrong up above. But when they run out of food, Sherry and her dad must venture outside. There they find a world of devastation, desolation...and the Weepers: savage, mutant killers.
When Sherry's dad is snatched, she joins forces with gorgeous but troubled Joshua - an Avenger, determined to destroy the Weepers.
But can Sherry keep her family and Joshua safe, when his desire for vengeance threatens them all?

My Thoughts
Basically. The Other Life is my perfect cup of tea. It had me engaged, from the very first page. No doubt about it. It's about zombies and it's a dystopian. Both of which I love a lot. Okay zombies not so much, they’re all crinkly and ugly but usually zombies make good stories. The Other Life is an example of a good story. Nope, that’s not the only word though. Just good is really underrated. It was so so so so so GOOD! (I apologise for my great lack in vocabulary!)

The Other Life was one of those books in which I loved just by reading a few pages. And its mainly because of the writing. I love her writing style. It’s pretty much similar to Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. There were those same feelings of confinement, claustrophobia and freedom. The counting of days, hours, minutes and even seconds of how much time really has passed by constantly driven by numbers. How much these figures can really get to you.

Sherry and her family have been confined to their homes for such a long time. They can go out into the open, but not if they’d want to risk their lives. Getting killed or eaten by zombies? Not so much. But what happens when you run out of food? Would you rather starve to death or go out and try to find something to eat and also risk getting killed?

Sherry is one determined girl. She cares about her family and she really does her best to pry them out of harms way. Even with her Father, although she's very stubborn however, she's stubborn in the right choices so that she can do the right things. When does, enter Joshua. Joshua is cool. He's got that fierce determination and he's pretty hot too ;) ...then the story really kicks in.

I loved reading this. I loved reading it a lot. You've got suspense. Action. Zombies. ROMANCE. What else do you need? Dig right in!

The Killables by Gemma Malley

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The Killables

by Gemma Malley

Pages: 384
Release Date: March 29th 2012
Publisher: Hodder
Source: For Review from Publishers
Buy it: Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Everyone accepted that people were different physically. But inside? Inside, they were different too. You just had to know how to tell, what to look for.
Evil has been eradicated. The City has been established. And citizens may only enter after having the 'evil' part of their brain removed. They are labelled on the System according to how 'good' they are. If they show signs of the evil emerging, they are labelled a K . . . But no one knows quite what that means. Only that they disappear, never to be seen again . . .

My Thoughts
Gemma Malley! I've been a big fan of her books right after I devoured her The Declaration trilogy. I LOVED reading them. Her writing had a awe to it that I didn't see before. When I received The Killables I didn't take much notice of it but not until I saw Gemma Malley printed on the cover. I instantly left everything I was doing and jumped to the chance of reading. I had serious high expectations.

Horray for another dystopian novel. I just can't get enough of them. In The Killables we're introduced to a society where 'evil' ceases to exist and people are marked in regards to how 'good' they are. How cool does that sound.

Evie is not to bad either. I liked her character a lot but please excuse me as I have to first rush into what I didn't like associated with her. Raffy. Let me tell you about Raffy.Here's the thing. Raffy doesn't deserve what her has. He acts like a child that has no understanding, no care and no responsibility. He makes rash decisions without a thought about the consequences. I mean, he's just SO frickin selfish I feel like being mean to him! Okay so that's the worst I can think of but yeah, I hope I've established how much I dislike him.

I don't think I would have disliked him as much as I do if it wasn't for William. William is Raffy's brother. And he is everything that Raffy is not. He has understanding, he does care and he sure as hell is responsible. The number of things he has done, the amount he has sacrificed is just amazing. William deserves so much more and I love all these things about him. And for once, I love a guy character mainly because of what he is, not how he looks like. (Not that he's not good looking. I'm sure he is!)

Okay. So on to the story! A lot of secrets are revealed. Although, it's something good to help them all, a secret was kept a secret for a reason so it's only giving that something bad would string along. These revelations help Evie and Raffy make sense of the world they live in and help them decide what on earth to do next. It's a great atmosphere full of so much drive.

How exciting! And, as you can tell The Killables met my expectations, if not, then further. My only wish now is that William gets. what. he. WANTS!!!! As you can tell, I get very emotional when I'm talking about William. I will only be at rest until I read the next book. I need it.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

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Pandemonium

by Lauren Oliver

Pages: 329
Release Date: March 1st 2012
Publisher: Hodder
Series: Delirium #2
Other books in series: Delirium, Requiem
Source: For Review from Publishers
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository | B&N
Add it: Goodreads

I’m pushing aside
the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana
and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

My Thoughts
Oh crap. Those were the words when I finished Pandemonium. Because boy was that finish a right humdinger. There's no doubt that I devoured this book. At first, I was quite reluctant to pick it up being afraid with how everything would continue after Deliriums frustrating end. I was very wrong to do that. Pandemonium is unmistakeably amazing with such excitement and anguish that you'd be incredibly impatient to finish it off.

When I started Pandemonium, I was quite confused yet very intrigued with how Oliver fashioned the chapters. The chapters form a sequence of 'Now' and 'Then'. It was difficult to get at a a grip of at first, well for me anyway. I loved the new style though, especially as we see the difference in Lena's character.

From Delirium, Lena has always been strong but now in Pandemonium we see a new side to her. It's no surprise with what she had just been through. I was quite frustrated with her at the beginning though as the story progressed we get to see exactly how she's feeling and dealing with her stuff.

Delirium was more focused on the 'love' element of things, here in Pandemonium it's more about survival, hope and Alex. ALEX! Where art tho Romeo? I am dying and simply itching to go into detail about Alex, what with the ending to Delirium and all but I just can't. That is one major spoiler. I can't ruin it for you all. You'll thank me later. (you so will not!)

Don't you guys worry however. There is plenty of heat in Pandemonium. The romance is not as good as Delirium for me, and you'll instantly know the reason why when you read Pandemonium. I'm not going to lie however. Those scenes still had me ultimately engaged ;D What? It's Lauren Oliver we're talking about. This lady's romantic writing is top notch!

Well, all of Pandemonium is engaging. I so loved it. Did I love the ending you ask? Erm. All I can say regarding that is Lauren Oliver has done it again. She left me aghast and torn between my feelings of should I have read Pandemonium now?

Cover Alert: Reached by Ally Condie!

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Another Matched book! I have to admit, all the covers are simply beautiful. There's no doubt about that. So, the newley released cover Reached by Ally Condie, also does no justice.

Look no further...

Reached by Ally Condie

Release Date: Out : 1st Nov 2012 (UK) |13th Nov 2012 (US)

You know what I love about the covers? Let me just tell you. The covers of the Matched series are in a sort of sequence. We see in Matched, how there's someone trapped in the glass ball, in Crossed the person trying to break out of the glass ball and now finally in Reached the person finally free. Now I don't know about you guys, but I think that the sequence of the covers even show how the book itself is evolving. Which I just love. And as you know I just love love love the covers.

What do you think?

New books released this March

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A new month brings new books!

Now in this March 2012, many thrilling young adult books have been released, sitting in the bookstores waiting for people like you and me to pick up and indulge!

Here they are...

(All titles linked to Goodreads)

March 1st