Letterbox Love (22)

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.

 Proof Copies for Review

 
If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
The Accidental Husband by Jane Green

I've not heard much about the Jane Green but I've enjoyed some of her other books well enough so I'm looking forward to getting to it. I've been hearing some AMAZING things for If You Find Me from across the pond and can't wait to see what the fuss is all about. I'm a huge fan of Jodi Picoult's books so The Storyteller brought many squeals of joy on its arrival. This one sounds like such an impossible situation and I've heard whispers that it's her best yet so I can't wait to delve into it soon and I'm such a fan of the cover! 

For Review 

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan
 Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger
 Losing It by Cora Carmack

Why hello there new Jenny Colgan all pretty with your purple and gold cover tempting me with a story of chocolate and Paris. I'm reading this right now and loving it! The bestie has read Etiquette and Espionage and has been raving about it so I'm pretty excited to check it out. And yay! For some more New Adult with Losing It.

 Bought/Won

 
Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
Boundless by Cynthia Hand
The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks
My Mad Fat Diary by Rae Earl (Won)

My pretty, shiny, US hardcovers of Hallowed and Boundless arrived this week so I can now continue on with this series, huzzah! I fell pretty hard for the first book Unearthly and can't wait to read these two. I also feel immensely satisfied that the whole series matches, it's a rare thing these days for a series to reach the end without a cover change. I might have fell into Waterstones whilst I was out shopping for Mother's Day pressies and couldn't leave without picking up a copy of The Bunker Diary after seeing it around the blogs lately. AND a copy of My Mad Fat Diary arrived this week which I won from the publishers. I absolutely loved the TV show so I'm looking forward to reading the book, I had a sneaky read of the first page and it's already made me laugh!

 Bookmark Pretties!

 
Being the bookmark fiend that I am when Dani @ Pen to Paper tweeted about these Gorjuss Bookmarks this week I went straight online and hunted myself a couple down. These two were my favourite but they are all so cute that I can see myself collecting them all! I know, I know, I don't need any more bookmarks but you guys! LOOK HOW PRETTY THEY ARE!

 E-Books 

Butter by Erin Lange (For Review) 

Radiant by Cynthia Hand 

The Prince by Kiera Cass 

Butter sounds pretty hard hitting and incredible. It's about a boy who's going to eat himself to death, literally, on purpose. I did a little happy dance when I got approved for this on Netgalley. I also downloaded some Novellas. Radiant - to go with the Unearthly series mentioned above. I recently read The Selection and found it a cute read so I'm looking forward to reading The Prince before The Elite comes out.

That’s it from me for another week! If any of these books 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. 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!

Review for Shadows by Paula Weston

Shadows by Paula Weston
Publisher: Indigo
Release: 3rd January 2013
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Angels, Mature YA, New Adult
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Source: Bought






Goodreads Summary:
"Love. Nightmares. Angels. War. A fast-paced, compelling debut novel from a fresh new voice in YA.

It’s been almost a year since Gaby Winters was in the car crash that killed her twin brother, Jude. Her body has healed in the sunshine of Pandanus Beach, but her grief is raw and constant.

It doesn’t help that every night in her dreams she kills demons and other hell-spawn. And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who’s been appearing in Gaby’s dreams, he claims a history with her brother that makes no sense.

Gaby is forced to accept that what she thought she knew about herself and her life is only a shadow of the truth – and that the truth is more likely to be found in the shadows of her nightmares.

Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And most importantly – who can she trust?"

Review 
I love Aussie authors and settings, and I love paranormal Angel stories so when I heard about Shadows a book that features both I knew it would be a match made in heaven *cheesy pun totally intended* and so Shadows automatically became one of my most anticipated releases of 2013.

What surprised me with this novel was how mature it read. Our heroine Gaby is eighteen, lives with her best friend, and is out of school and working making Shadows appealing to an older YA/ New Adult audience. This wasn’t something I was expecting and was a really pleasant surprise as I enjoyed the mature writing style and characters.

I’ve read a lot of Angel books over the years and I think with so many of them out there it’s a tough genre to keep fresh and so I was really impressed that Paula Weston managed to add something new to the genre. Gaby thinks she is a normal girl, well normal regardless of her dreams about her killing demons every night with some hot guy she’s never met ever since the accident that killed her twin brother. When Gaby meets Rafa the guy from her dreams she discovers that she’s a descendent of fallen angels, a skilful demon fighter and holder of an important secret if only she could remember what it was. Her memories were altered on the night of the accident and she is in the centre of a war between the Rephaim who need her secret for either savour or destruction. Although Shadows covers themes that can be found in other Angel series I did find the overall plot to have a refreshing twist on the Angel legend.

What I loved most about Shadows were hands down the amazing characters and banter between them. I liked that Gaby wasn’t a helpless heroine and I loved the chemistry between her and Rafa. Rafa was protective of Gaby but also gives her space to do her own thing. Their relationship was fiery but also very grown up and respectful and I felt like Paula Weston got the romance spot on. There was also a great cast of secondary characters like Maggie and Jason who I loved just as much as Gaby and Rafa.

Shadows was consistent throughout but the last part of the book really amps up the action and is full of twists that sets things up nicely for the sequel. A lot of questions have been raised in my mind and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next in Haze.

Review for Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Warning 
This is a review for the final book in the Delirium Trilogy and so contains spoilers from the previous books.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver 
Publisher: Hodder
Release: 21st March 2013
Genre: Dystopian, Romance, YA
Rating: 4/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review






Goodreads Summary:
"Battling against a society in which love has been declared a disease, Lena now finds herself at the centre of a fierce revolution. But the Wilds are no longer the haven they once were as the government seeks to stamp out the rebels. And Lena's emotions are in turmoil following the dramatic return of someone she thought was lost forever...

Told from the alternating viewpoints of Lena and her best friend Hana, Requiem brings the Delirium trilogy to an exhilarating end and showcases Lauren Oliver at the height of her writing powers - emotionally powerful and utterly enthralling."

Review 
Lauren Oliver manages to break my heart every time with the endings to her books and after the HUGE cliff-hanger at the end of Pandemonium with Alex’s return I was so anxious to read this final instalment to the trilogy and find out who Lena decides to be with and how it all ends.

Requiem is told in a dual narrative between Lena and Hana. The book picks up only a few days having passed since the events in Pandemonium and so things are still unresolved between Lena and Alex who have avoided one another since. I really enjoyed reading from two perspectives and thought that it worked really well for this book. Lena and the invalids are in the Wilds plotting a rebellion and Hana is in Portland soon to be married to the Mayor – a powerful and sadistic man. Surprisingly I actually preferred reading Hana’s chapters the most, I’ve always loved her as a character and it was great to be back in Portland to find out what has happened to the people Lena left behind. Hana’s storyline was also really interesting and intense to read as she discovers the skeletons in her future husbands closet and finds herself in even more danger when it seems as though her procedure might not have left her cured after all.

Like all of the books in the Delirium trilogy Requiem broke my heart. Early on in the book Alex and Lena have the talk they so desperately need and it hurt my heart to find out what had happened to Alex and to see how hardened he had become. Lena spends most of this book caught between both boys and although I’m firmly Team Alex I do love Julian and my heart went out to both of them in this impossible situation.

A lot of Requiem is slow moving and it’s not until the last 70 or so pages that things really kick off with the rebellion and at times I felt like Hana’s chapters were all that kept the pace moving. It’s within the last few chapters that Lena and Hana’s stories finally collide and the girl’s reunion was beautiful and brought a tear to my eye. The ending to this book is left very open and I know a few people who’ve been annoyed by that but enough was resolved to leave me satisfied and I found the way it ended reflected the message of the story about taking a leap of faith, not being able to predict where life will take us, all we have is now.

The final paragraph has Lena talking directly to us the reader and what she said really resounded with me and once again left me in tears. Overall I think that Requiem is a final book that readers are either going to love or hate but I found it in theme with the message at the heart of this series making it a moving and beautiful conclusion.

February Round-Up and Book of the Month!

I can't believe that it's March already! I have a theory that as you get older time flies by quicker! I am looking forward to saying goodbye to the snow and colder weather though, as we move into Spring. My goal for February was to read 8 books, I managed 10 in January and with February being a short month I thought that 8 seemed fair, but I once again read 10 books! I have no idea how but I'm not complaining. I'd love to keep this up so I could reach 100 books read this year - a goal I've always aspired to but never reached but I'm not going to put any pressure on myself because that's when I tend to go into reading slumps. ANYWAY lets take a look at what I've been reading this past month...

February's Book of the Month is Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion 

For those of you who saw my gushing on Goodreads and Twitter this is a no brainer really (hardy har! I'm ALL for the cheesy puns!) I picked this one up because I liked the look of the movie trailer and my friend Ellie was reading and loving it. I didn't expect it to become one of my all time favourite books! I went into it expecting your average zombie novel full of gore, I wasn't expecting this book to move me to tears or to be so freakin' funny, so beautifully written and so thought provoking on what makes us human. If zombie's aren't your usual thing I'd still urge you to give this a try because it's so much more than a zombie novel. LOVED IT!

 
Read in February 
11.) Double Crossed by Ally Carter (4*)
12.) Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter (4.5*)
13.) Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (4*)
14.) Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (5*)
15.) The Valentine's Card by Juliet Ashton (3.5*)
16.) The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead (5*)
17.) Requiem by Lauren Oliver (4*)
18.) Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick (3.5*)
19.) Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (4*)
20.) Dead Romantic by C.J. Skuse (3.5*)

February's Book Awards
Best Plot: Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter
Best Writing: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Best Cover: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Best Characters: The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead
Best Ending: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Best Romance: The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead
Most un-put-down-able: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Most Memorable: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Best Moral: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Top 3 Most Recommended Books: Warm Bodies, The Indigo Spell, Perfect Scoundrels

Books I’m Looking Forward to Reading/Being Released in March 
Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare!!!!!
The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan
Butter by Erin Jade Lange

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

Review for The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

Warning 
This is a review for the third book in the Bloodlines series and so may contain spoilers from the previous books.

The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead 
Publisher: Penguin
Release: 12th February 2013
Genre: YA, Vampires, Witchcraft, Paranormal Romance
Rating: 5/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review





Goodreads Summary:
"In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch--a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood--or else she might be next."

Review 
Reading any book set in the Vampire Academy/Bloodlines world is like coming home. After years of reading and loving these books the characters are so familiar to me that it’s like catching up with old friends and so each new novel brings a lot of excitement because I can’t wait to slip back into this story.

Straight off the bat I want to say that The Indigo Spell is my favourite of the Bloodlines series so far, and it had a very different feel to it than the previous books in the series. This book takes a step back from the vampire world and that whole plot line and instead focuses on witchcraft and magic as Sydney caves in to her magical calling and starts practising alongside Ms Terwilliger. Sydney’s power brings unwanted attention from Ms Terwilliger’s magic hungry sister Veronica who sucks the magic and life out of her victims leaving them in an aged comatose state from which they never awaken. This book is all about Sydney’s character growth, her coming into her magical abilities, and finding Veronica before she finds her.

With Sydney breaking so many alchemist rules in this book she’s also looking to find a way to get from under the alchemists grasp and so is hunting down a guy named Marcus Finch an ex-alchemist who can help Sydney break away from them and shed light on some of the secrets they’ve kept hidden from her. When I first heard about Marcus I was really worried that a love triangle would develop in this book so I was happy to find that there wasn’t one because I really don’t like love triangles and also couldn’t stand the thought of Adrian being in another one. I’m glad that Richelle decided to give the poor guy a break and I just hope that one doesn’t develop in future books.

What made The Indigo Spell stand apart from the other books in the series was Sydrian. Adrian and Sydney have grown so much since their Vampire Academy days and both characters are at their best in this book. There are so many magical moments between them which would just make my heart melt. This is by far the most romantic book of the series and Sydrian fans will not be disappointed!

Overall although the plot is still not up to the standard of Vampire Academy’s the romance certainly is and that’s what made this book my favourite in the Bloodlines series yet. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for one of my favourite book couples in the next instalment!