January Round Up and Book of the Month!

So this post is coming a little later than I would of liked. It was suppose to go up on Saturday but I was going to London the next day for The Fault in Our Stars event and I kind of overestimated how much time I'd have. ANYWAY I had a fantastic reading month to kick off 2013 and wanted to share what I've been reading with you guys so better late than never right?

 January's Book of the Month is Just One Day by Gayle Forman

I've heard that whilst everyone enjoyed this book a few people were disappointed by it but I have to disagree. Although I read some amazing books in January I'm trying to be a lot stricter on what gets a 5 star and so Just One Day was the only 5 star read this month. This book was everything I hoped it would be and more and is definitely one of my new all time favourite books. Hopefully I'll have a gushing review for this up sometime this month because I have so many feels I need to talk about.

Read in January

1.) Pantomime by Laura Lam (4*)
2.) The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen (4.5*)
3.) The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen (3.5*)
4.) Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans (3.5*)
5.) The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris (4*)
6.) Shades of Earth by Beth Revis (4*)
7.) Undone by Cat Clarke (4.5*)
8.) Shadows by Paula Weston (3.5*)
9.) Just One Day by Gayle Forman (5*)
10.) The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna (4*)

January's Book Awards 
Best Plot: Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans
Best Writing: Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Best Cover: The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris
Best Characters: The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen
Best Ending: Undone by Cat Clarke
Best Romance: The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen
Most un-put-down-able: Undone by Cat Clarke
Most Memorable: Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Best Moral: Undone by Cat Clarke

Top 3 Most Recommended Books: Just One Day, Undone, The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden 

Books I’m Looking Forward to Reading/Being Released in February 
Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick
Altered by Jennifer Rush
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead
Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Dead Romantic by C.J. Skuse
Sever by Lauren DeStefano

 How was your month in reading? Did you read any of the books I’ve read? What are you looking forward to reading in February?

Review for Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans 
Publisher: Usborne
Release: 15th January 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Dystopian, Afterlife, Contemporary, Paranormal.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review



Goodreads Summary:
" "I pause to look around the hive – all the podlike chambers are lit up as the drones shoot up on memories… I’ve wanted to get out of here before, but now the tight quarters start to choke me."

Felicia Ward is dead. Trapped in Level 2, the waiting room between Earth and Heaven, she spends endless days replaying memories, of her family, friends, boyfriend…and of the guy who broke her heart. The guy who has just broken into Level 2 to find her…

Felicia learns that a rebellion is brewing in Level 2, and it seems she is the key. Suspended between Heaven and Earth, she must make a choice. Between two worlds, two lives and two loves. A choice that will change everything…

THREE LEVELS - TWO LOVES - ONE CHOICE."

Review 
Lenore Appelhans is a book blogger who I’ve followed for a few years now and so when I heard that she was releasing a book I was really excited to read it and followed her from book blogger to debut author. 

Level 2 is like no other book I’ve ever read and is a total mash up of genres, Sci-fi, Dystopian, Afterlife, Contemporary and Paranormal. Lenore takes the best parts about each genre and creates something really unique and awesome with Level 2’s premise. What impressed me was how each aspect of the book tied together seamlessly so it didn’t read choppy or like I was reading several different books at once which I was worried about when I found out just how diverse this book was, instead it read very smoothly and felt like I was reading a whole new genre.

I really loved the setting of Level 2 and thought it was a really fascinating version of the afterlife. Level 2 is a waiting room of sorts between this world and the next where people view their memories and come to terms with their lives in order to move on to Level 3. I loved how we got to know Felicia by accessing her memories from when she was alive and that contemporary aspect was one of my favourite things to read about.

Felicia’s a very humane and flawed character who despite her faults I couldn’t help but like. The only thing I didn’t get was her obsession with Neil. Neil was the one thing I disliked about this book. I just found him very boring and flat as a character and didn’t really understand what Felicia saw in him at all. Needless to say I am totally Team Julian, who like Felicia, has his faults but I still loved him in spite of them. Heck I might come to regret this in later books but at least he was interesting to read about unlike Neil. Plus I felt like Julian and Felicia had much more chemistry between them.

I loved the twists at the end of this book and didn’t see them coming at all. And although the ending felt a bit rushed everything was tied up nicely. Overall Level 2 was a great debut. Lenore’s writing was full of feeling and exciting to read and I’m looking forward to seeing what she has in store for us next in Level 3.

Review for The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris

The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris 
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release: 17th January 2013
Genre: Chick-Lit, Romance
Rating: 4/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review

Goodreads Summary: 

"How do you hold on to a love that is slowly slipping away from you? Can you let go of the past when you know what is in the future? And how do you cope when you know that every kiss is a countdown to goodbye?

This is the story of a love affair, of Ryan and Molly and how they fell in love and were torn apart. The first time Molly kissed Ryan, she knew they'd be together forever. Six years and thousands of kisses later she's married to the man she loves. But today, when Ryan kisses her, Molly realises how many of them she wasted because the future holds something which neither of them could have ever predicted…"

Review 
Ali Harris’s debut novel Miracle on Regent Street is one of my all-time favourite chick-lit books so when I heard about The First Last Kiss I was incredibly excited to read a new book from her and had very high expectations. Although I didn’t love The First Last Kiss quite as much as Miracle on Regent Street it was still an exceptional read in its own right.

The book alternates between chapters from present day to the past with snippets about the different kinds of kisses in between. The chapters told in the present take place during a day counting down the hours until Molly’s big move, without Ryan. We know from the start that Ryan isn’t in Molly’s life anymore but we’re not told why and as the story goes on in these chapters you get clues as to what has happened to come between this amazing couple.

The chapters told in the past tense are told at different times during Molly and Ryan’s relationship so one minute we’ll be reading about them falling in love as teenagers the next as a married couple going through a hard time. It’s as though we are given puzzle pieces that we put together as the book goes on - the big picture being Molly and Ryan’s love story. Although I really like the idea of the book being told this way and found it very unique I did get confused at times trying to remember what had happened on the timeline and where exactly we were in the story. I enjoyed the snippets on the different kinds of kisses and really loved how they fit into the plot as the relevance is made clear towards the end of the novel.

The romance in this book was absolutely beautifully written and very realistic which was refreshing to read. Ryan and Molly have arguments, tough times in their relationship, and are far from a perfect couple, yet they still have this epic love story. I loved how their romance wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine and how they had to put effort and compromise into their relationship to make it work. Ali Harris has created a love story that people will relate to and yet it still has that fairy tale feel to it.

I had a love/hate relationship with the characters in this book. Again they are entirely realistic and can be quite hard to like at times when their bad sides show. Younger Molly really frustrated me at times but she grows a lot throughout the book and by the end I loved her. My favourite characters throughout were Ryan and Mia, Ryan is such a loveable hero as he’s just such an all-round good guy and Mia was always such a fantastic friend to Molly.

The First Last Kiss kept me guessing as to where it was going to go and although the last few chapters were really heart-breaking to read the ending has a beautiful hopeful message. The First Last Kiss was a rollercoaster of emotions to read and will stay with me for a long time to come. Ali Harris is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors and I can’t recommend her books highly enough.

Letterbox Love (19)

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey @ Narratively Speaking for UK based book bloggers to showcase the books that they’ve received each week.

This week was my birthday week but because of the dumb snow a few of my books haven't arrived yet and NONE of them arrived in time for my birthday but they did show up later on in the week when the snow started to thaw. I also got a nice bundle of review books when the snow had melted enough for the postman to trudge to my door, and they were epic so it totally made up for the silence earlier on this week. I do love the snow but when it interferes with birthday plans and books I do wish it would go. It's nearly all melted now which I'm thrilled about because for a while there I was worried it would interfere with me meeting John and Hank Green next weekend. SAY WHAT!? Yep this time next week I'll be on my way to London to meet them so I hope that's the last of the snow for now. ANYWAY let's get on to the books...

 For Review

The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead (I know, I know! Eeek!)
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (I have no idea why my copy doesn't have the title filled in, it is a finished copy. Printing mistake perhaps? Either way it's slightly annoying)
Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick (Teacher/Student relationships fascinate me and this one sounds really good)
Gilt by Katherine Longshore (I have heard great things about this one from US bloggers, excited!)
Anthem for Jackson Dawes by Celia Bryce (This sounds sad but wonderful)

 Birthday Presents

The Archived by Victoria Schwab (Squeals!)
The Essence by Kimberly Derting (Even more squealing. Also the US covers for this series are so pretty!)  
Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher (this sounds really good and has an interesting premise)
Altered by Jennifer Rush (ALL of the hot boys! Or so I'm told)
The Valentine's Card by Juliet Ashton (Valentines read 2013)

That’s it from me for another week! If any of these beauties have caught your eye and you’d like to find out more about them simply click on the title and the link will take you to goodreads for a full synopsis, reviews, and to add them to your wishlists. As always thank you to the lovely publishing folk for the review copies and various family members for my pressies! If you’re looking forward to a certain book in particular and want to request a review feel free to in the comments and I’ll do my best to get around to the book sooner rather than later. And if you decided to do a Letterbox Love, Book Haul, IMM, Showcase Sunday, Mailbox Monday or whatever else featuring the books you got this week leave me a link as I’d love to check out your books too! ^_^

 Happy reading till next time!

Winner of Dance of Shadows Giveaway

The winner of a proof copy of Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black is...

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations Imogen! An email has been sent to you :) Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway and spread the word. To everyone who didn't win as a heads up you can still download the first 3 chapters to get a taste for this book on kindle for free now at Amazon UK!

EDIT: As the first two winners never got back to me a third winner has been drawn.