Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Title: The Replacement
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Published: 2010
Pages: 375
My Rating: 4/5


Mackie Doyle is a replacement - a fairy child left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago, to replace the baby when it was stolen away by the fey. So though he lives in the small town of Gentry, Mackie's real home is the fey world of tunnels and black, murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. Now, because his fey blood gives him fatal allergies to iron, blood and consecrated ground, Mackie is slowly dying in the human world. Mackie would give anything just to be normal, to live quietly amongst humans, practice his bass guitar and spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably back home to the fey underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem, where he must face down the dark creatures, rescue the child, and find his rightful place - in our world, or theirs.

I was surprised by how much I liked this book. And how quickly I got into it. I was taking a bit of a chance when buying it as it's not my favorite genre. But just thought I'd give it a go. I'm quite glad that I did. 


First off, I loved our lead character, Mackie. I have no idea what I liked about him so much, but I just found him very likable. As for the rest of the characters, I have to say, Yovanoff did a brilliant job writing them. They were all unique and individual with their own personalities. They were all real. 


I found the whole fantasy world very interesting. There was nothing specific, like vampires or werewolves, but there was a whole manner of different creatures with the theme of death. I did find that some of the details of how the world worked in relation to ours a little glossed over, causing me to get a bit confused at times. And I did find it strange how easily all the characters settled with the idea of the world. 


But overall, I found the writing very fast paced and enjoyable, with many likable characters and interesting scenes. I don't think it's one of the best Urban Fantasy books, but I liked it more for the writing and the characters than the fantasy aspect to it.

Teaser Tuesday (2)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should be Reading! If you'd like to join in, follow these simple rules:

• 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 lay on the ground for way too long, with my face agaisnt the wet grass and the rain soaking into my clothes. I knew if I stayed, Tate would come back with Roswell, and they'd want to take me home or worse, to the emergency room.'

It's Monday What are you Reading? (5)

Monday's What are you Reading? is a weekly event hosted by Book Journey.

Read Last Week:

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Candor by Pam Bachorz

Reading Now:

The Replacement  by Brenna Yovanoff 

Up Next: 

City of Ashes  by Cassandra Clare

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Book Review: Candor by Pam Bachorz

Title: Candor
Author: Pam Bachorz 
Published: 2009
Pages: 286
My Rating: 2.5

In the model community of Candor, Florida, every teen wants to be like Oscar Banks. The son of the town's founder, Oscar earns straight As, is student-body president, and is in demand for every club and cause. But Oscar has a secret. He knows that parents bring their teens to Candor to make them respectful, compliant–perfect–through subliminal Messages that carefully correct and control their behavior. And Oscar' s built a business sabotaging his father's scheme with Messages of his own, getting his clients out before they're turned. After all, who would ever suspect the perfect Oscar Banks? Then he meets Nia, the girl he can't stand to see changed. Saving Nia means losing her forever. Keeping her in Candor, Oscar risks exposure . . . and more.

Candor was a very quick read. After spending a week reading Graceling, it was nice to read this short and sweet book in two days. It was also nice to read a Young Adult book knowing that it isn't part of a series.

I found the writing of this book very simple. It was good at getting the story going, but it gave us little insight into the head of our main character, other than the obvious. There was also little description into the how the subliminal messaging works, other than the fact that it is delivered through the music. I didn't feel like the concept had been explored very well and fell flat, seeming a little unoriginal.

I loved the character Nia, she was the only real interesting aspect of the story. The main character, Oscar, was a little dull and obvious, and his back story seemed undeveloped.

Overall, I was quite underwhelmed by this book. I expected more depth to the concept, and definitely more excitement. What's odd is that even though it is (as far as I can tell) a stand alone book, it felt incomplete. I half expected to turn over the back cover and find a page advertising the next book. Saying this, I know I've given it a relatively low rating, there wasn't actually anything really bad about it or anything I hated about it, it was just underwhelming, as I said, and the ending was just as underwhelming as the rest of the book, there wasn't really anything spectacular about it.

Follow Friday/ Book Blogger Hop (5)

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkie!

This week's question is:

Give us five silly book related facts about you.

(These are pretty long and uninteresting, but I couldn't really think of anything)

1. I am a compulsive shelf rearranger. I love seeing all my books proudly sitting on my shelf. So I'm always there rearranging them in different ways. Alphabetical, by author, by title, by genre, by size, when read etc etc But in the end, I always end up just shelving them by what looks best :)
2. As I am still toying with the idea of becoming an illustrator, so I more often then not, have little watercolour illustrations from some of my favorite books scattered around my room. 
3. I'm known as the 'reader' in my class at college. We have a pretty open course, and our course is pretty much the time allocated that we are meant to sit in out room and work, and we rarely have a lecturer (I know. Great course right?) Of course I am a good little student and do my work, but sometimes I just need a break, and that's when I read. Probably a little more than I should. 
4. I get a lot of my books on Amazon and my family always groans every time a new book shaped package comes through the book. That's not going to stop me getting that excited buzz every time I see them arrive! 
5. I don't like owning bags that can't fit a book in. 

And now for Book Blogger Hop, a weekly meme hosted by Crazy for Books!

This week's question is:

If you could physically put yourself in a book series....which would it be and why?

(YEEE I LOVE THIS QUESTION)

This is going to be tough. The first that comes to mind is obviously Harry Potter. Who doesn't want to go to Hogwarts?! Also, the world of HP is a lot less corrupt and a lot more happy and livable than a lot of other series I can think of. 

In a weird way, I'd love to see how I fared in the Gone series. It's definitely not ideal, and I'd have to be the same age as all the characters, but everything about Gone is so believable, that I just think it'd be so awesome to actually be involved and see how I'd react to all the different stuff that happens.

Leave me a comment and link to your Follow Friday/ Book Blogger Hop, I'd love to see your answers! :D 

Review of Graceling

Title: Graceling
Author: Kristin Cashore
Published: 2008
Pages: 471
My Rating: 3.5/5

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight--she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po's friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace--or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone. With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will 
consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.


I had heard so many great things about this book! It seemed to have positive reviews all round. I was really looking forward to reading it and had pretty high standards for it. And I think that that was the problem for me a little. 


I'm struggling to put a rating on how much I liked it. At the beginning of the book, I found it very hard to get into and it was quite slow moving. I also didn't really know where the story was going. I felt like this for a large majority of the book, which is why I never fully got immersed into the story. But this was the only problem I had with it, and that was more to do with the fact that it just isn't my sort of book rather than it being at all bad.


It was beautifully written. It reminded me a lot of the Lord of the Rings. But I did find that this was one of the things that slowed the book down a little. I loved the fact that it was a fantasy set in a Middle Earth-y time, yet with no Dragons or Elves or anything like that. The fantasy in this book were the Graced, or Gracelings. It was a brilliant concept, having people with two different eyes, with one exceptional skill. I really enjoyed reading about that. I also liked the characters a lot. Katsa (I kept reading her name as Katniss) was a very good main character, and I liked how we learned about her Grace with her as the book went along. I also 
really loved Po and Bitterblue, they were very real, strong characters. 


There's something about this book that really sets it apart from anything else, yet I can't place my finger on it. There was a quality in the writing and the exceptionally clever story telling that puts this book to a very high standard. There was also a lovely well-rounded ending that I loved, and it was such a nice change to read a YA book where it's not compulsory to read the next two books to know how it all ended and know that the characters all lived happily ever after (even though, I know there are more books after this).   


Overall, I found that the first half of the book dragged and was hard to get into, but had a very endearing story and nice ending that helped a lot for me. 

Top Ten Tuesday (2)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! 

1. Twilight - I haven't read Twilight, purely because it doesn't interest me. I have absolutely nothing agaisnt it though. But I am so sick and tired of what it's done to YA books in bookshops. I have/see so many books that (as far as I know) have little to do with Twilight, with Stephanie Myer quotes and quotes like 'Twilight fans will love it!', 'The next Twilight!' all over them. I really am sick of seeing that on all of my books. In my local book shop, they have two bookshelves for YA books, and one of them is almost ENTIRELY for Twilight and Twilight-related books. I know it's how they market the books, but I just feel like Twilight has completely taken over the marketing of YA books.
2. Books with models on the cover - I don't know why, but I hate it! I just don't like it when they put people on the front cover that are meant to be representing the characters. They will never be like you imagine and I just think that it commercializes it a bit. I also think it takes away the mystery slightly.
3. Good concepts, bad executions - It's usually interesting concepts that draw me into a book the most. And I will most likely pick up a book and read it instantly if I like the concept. But I hate reading a book where the great concept is pushed to the back for the majority of the book when they could be doing so much more with it. 
4. Information overloaded chapters - There's not much to say here. I know you usually get one of these chapters in every book. I just get bored with it if the information isn't that interesting or the chapter is too long.
5. Young Adult Books represented as children's - I know that was bad phrasing, but I don't really know how to put it. It angers me when people consider YA books as children's. My mum has always called the books I read 'kiddies' books, and WOW does that irritate me! I also hate it when I see all the YA books mixed up with the children's books in the shops. I just feel odd when I see The Hunger Games sat on the shelf next to The Hungry Caterpillar! 
6. Books with really long chapters - I just feel more accomplished when the chapters are shorter. I also like it when a story is broken up into shorter chapters. It feels like there is more going on and it's nice to put down a book for the night once you've finished a chapter. But that's hard to do when they're too long!
7. Female lead's image - (bad phrasing again sorry) I feel as though this is something pretty risky to put. But I always find that female leads to a lot of books that I have read are always described as being naturally thin, or small for their age. I know this isn't really a big deal. But I like to think in this day and age with all the body image stuff flying around, that we could have a bit more variety. It's shallow I know, but it's just something I've noticed. 
8. Dismissed characters - When we get introduced to a small character who may stick around for a few chapters or maybe a whole book (if it's a series), and then get completely dismissed and forgotten about so that we never know what happened to them.
9. Too many movies! - I feel like as soon as a YA book becomes a little bit popular, they have to go and make a movie of it. I know that it's how the world works, but there have been some pretty bad ones recently, and I would like to see it handled more carefully. 
10. Normal girl finds out that she or someone she knows is a Vampire/Werewolf/Fairy/(insert other mystical being). - I know that some people really like this sort of story. Which I have no problem with. I would just like to see something more original on the shelves. 

It's Monday What are you Reading? (4)

It's Monday what are you reading? is a weekly meme hosted by One person's journey through books.

Read Last Week:

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

Reading Now:

Graceling  by Kristin Cashore

Up Next: 

Candor by Pam Bachorz

The Replacement  by Brenna Yovanoff 

On my wishlist (2)

On my Wishlist is a weekly event hosted by Book Chick City, where we list the books we would like! I've linked these books to their Shelfari pages if you're interested! 

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

  Wither  by Lauren DeStefano

 

Follow Friday/ Book Blogger Hop (4)

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee!

This week's question is:

How did you come up with your blog name? 

Well, this is going to be the shortest most boring answer. I love reading fiction. I also read it a lot, and you could say that I live in it. So I became Living in Fiction. 

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books!

This week's question is:

Do you read only one book at a time or do you have several going at once?

Occasionally, I may start reading a book, then find it impossible to wait to the end to start reading another. But usually I like to keep one going at a time as it's quicker. 

Review of My Soul to Take

Title: My Soul to Take
Author: Rachel Vincent
Published: 2009
Pages: 345
My Rating: 3/5


She doesn't see dead people, but…
..She senses when someone near her is about to die.
And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder.
-Literally.
Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school.
But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does.
And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next…


My Review
I wasn't really sure if I was going to like this book, and to be honest, I'm still not sure if I really liked it. I had heard good things about it, and the concept really interested me. But when I came to starting it I became very skeptical as I'm not really one for Urban Fantasy. If you are interested in that however, I'm sure you'll love this!


The whole Banshee/ Reaper element was very interesting, and a nice change from Werewolves and Vampires. The issues they tackled concerning death was also a great new take on the Urban Fantasy genre. 


One thing that I noticed when reading this is that most of the book is split with either an exciting death premonition scene or talking scenes where we are a bit overloaded with information. As much as I found the information interesting; interesting wasn't enough to stop me getting bored at times. But on the opposite side, I found the death premonition scenes exciting, and the ending was certainly exciting with a good couple twists.


I liked the characters and some of the exciting twists, but overall, I was a little bit bored and don't think I like it enough to read the next one. If you are a fan of Urban Fantasy, however, I suggest you look into this book, it might be for you!

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we share the books we are looking forward to coming out!

The Death Cure by James Dashner

The Death Cure is to be the third installment in the Maze Runner trilogy! I'm pretty damn excited for this to be released as I LOVED The Scorch Trails. 

Unfortunately there is no cover or synopsis out yet, but I will definitely make a post about it when it does!

Teaser Tuesday (1)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should be Reading. If you'd like to participate, just follow these simple rules:

1. Grab your current read.

2. Open to a random page.

3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

4. 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!)

5. Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

6. Comment on host's post, linking your Teaser.

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

'I screwed the lid back onto my bottle and pushed it toward the middle of the table. "But does the penalty still apply if we save someone who wasn't supposed to die?"'

It's Monday What are you reading? (3)

What are you reading? is a weekly meme hosted by One person's Journey through the World of Books, where we share our read books, books we are reading and books we are planning to read for the week!

My read books are linked to their reviews and the rest to their Shelfari pages if you're interested :)

Read Last Week:

Across the Universe  by Beth Revis

A Killing Frost by John Marsden

Reading Now:

My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent

Coming up: 

Graceling  by Kristin Cashore 

Darkness be my Friend by John Marsden 

The Killing Frost (aka The Third Day, The Frost) Review

Title: The Killing Frost
Author: John Marsden 
Published: 1995
Pages: 278
My Rating: 5/5

In the third installment of the Tomorrow saga, the anything-to-survive existence of Ellie and her friends has sharpened their senses and emboldened their plans. They aren't merely on the defensive anymore; they're also striking back. Their strategy? Attack the enemy not just on land, but also on water. If they have any hope of sabotaging the formidable container ship at Cobbler's Bay, then stealth is a must, but so, too, is one very big explosion. And if they fail, they may face a whole new kind of terror -- imprisonment.


The Tomorrow Series be John Marsden is easily one of my favorite book series, and I've only just read 3/7 books so far! I cannot begin to explain how incredible and powerful, not just the writing but the story and the 
situation. 


A brief overview is: Ellie and a group of friends from Australia go on a camping trip for a week and come back to find that they town (and country) has been invaded. Everyone is being held in the Showground and Ellie and her friends must go into hiding and do whatever they have to do in order to stay alive agaisnt this brutal enemy.


This is only the third book, and already the events are reaching much more powerful and devastating heights than the last few books. The layout of events in this book were also a lot different to the first two, but I can't say anymore on that without giving anything away. One thing that I really love about these books is that, even though the whole series so far has been about the same group of people in the same general situation; it never gets monotonous, boring or repetitive. There is always something new, something exciting, or some shocking twist just waiting to happen! 


I feel as though I am there with the characters and feel myself growing and warming to them. They are all so believable and real. They also react like real people. It's not like in films, where normal characters can just whip out a machine gun and shoot at the bad guy, be the hero and be totally fine like that. They all have their own individual way to coping with the events that happen. 


In this book in particular, there wasn't quite as much character development as the last two. I think this was mainly because Ellie was on her own throughout quite a portion of this book, so it was more of just Ellie's development and thoughts. There was a shocking twist right at the end, that I don't think I'll truly get over, it was so sudden there wasn't any time to be sad! But that's another part that makes it so realistic! 


I think it's a crime that this series isn't more known! I highly recommend it! Though saying that; it's not for everyone. It's one YA book with no fantasy, (not a huge amount of) romance or Sci Fi, but instead follows this group of realistically real teenagers as they struggle to survive during a war on their country.       

In My Mailbox (3)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

Bought:

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent 

Had heard of this before and after reading a few interesting reviews, decided to buy it.

Candor  by Pam Bachorz

Bought off Amazon with Graceling. I'm glad to finally start reading some dystopian again, I've missed the genre. 

Graceling  by Kristin Cashore

I've heard a lot of good things about this book, so thought I'd give it a try. I'm not too keen on the UK cover though....

Received: 

Cloud Atlas  by David Mitchell

My lecturer kindly applied for about 30 of these books to give to my class in honor of World Book Night.

And here we have the gorgeous Ali modeling the new books! :D

Review of Across the Universe

Title: Across the Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Published: 2011
Pages: 398
My Rating: 4/5


Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules. Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship—tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next. Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there’s only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.


My Review
When I first heard of this book I was really interested in the concept - I've never read anything space-sci fi before. But I was slightly put off by the romance suggested by the cover and the blurb, as I'm not a huge fan of that sort of genre.

The chapters switched between Amy's point of view and Elder's. This I loved, as it gives two totally different perspectives and shows how different the two people from different worlds think and act.

I also loved how well thought out the whole colony of people living on the ship was. It was strange yet believable. As much as I did enjoy the mystery, I did find a few parts a tad predictable. But it wasn't a huge problem.

As for the romance, I was glad to see there wasn't as much as I was expecting due to how it was implied. The story was mostly focused on the mystery and sci fi. There also wasn't any of this love-triangle stuff that you get in a lot of YA novels these days, and instead there were other problems involved. But I still think fans of the romance will enjoy this.

Overall, I enjoyed this book very much, and read most of it in a day in fact! It was a refreshing and interesting read as there isn't much out like this in YA at the moment. I'm looking forward to the next one!

Follow Friday/ Book Blogger Hop (3)

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkie, giving people a chance to make new friends in the book blogging community! 

This week's question is: 

Just like Ashley said (love it) "Ashley the girl..." who are You the Boy/Girl, instead of You the Blogger?

I'm Vicky. I just recently turned 18, and I'm currently on a hopeless course at college studying on Art and Design. I've got one more year, then I'm hoping to go to uni. I would like to be a Concept Artist or Illustrator or something involving film art. Other interests I have are WW2, Astronomy and films. I currently work as a nighttime cover cleaner at some offices nearby my house, and transcribe for an online podcast called MuggleCast. I also have two gorgeous cats named Oliver and Ali (that's Ali in the sidebar).  

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted by Crazy-for-Books, it's a great way to meet new friends in the book blogging world!

This week's question is: 

"If I gave you £50 (or $80) and sent you into a bookshop right now, what would be in your basket when you finally staggered to the till?"

This is tough because the bookstore nearest me is pretty small and there aren't always a huge choice in books, although they are good with their latest releases. 

But here's what I came up with (I've linked them to their Shelfari pages if you're interested):

1. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
2. Matched  by Allyson Condie
3. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting 
4. Numbers: The Chaos  by Rachel Ward
5. Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
6. The Dead by Charlie Higson

Also, if anyone out there is caught in the regions effected by the tsunami, please stay safe, my heart goes out to you! <3

Waiting on Wednesday (2)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly even hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we share books that we just can't  wait to read!

Title: Plague 
Author: Michael Grant
Release Date: April 2nd 2011
Pages: 512

Eight months after everyone over the age of fifteen disapeared from the town of Perdidio Beach, California, the stakes are still rising. The kids in Perdido Beach are still starving. Yet despite the simmering unrest left behind by so many battles, power struggles, and angry divides, there is a momentary calm in Perdido Beach.

But enemies in the FAYZ don’t just fade away, and in the quiet, deadly things are stirring, mutating, and finding their way free. The Darkness has found its way into the mind of its Nemesis at last and is controlling it through a haze of delirium and confusion. A highly contagious, fatal illness spreads at an alarming rate as sinister, predatory insects terrorize Perdido Beach. And Sam, Astrid, Diana, and Caine are plagued by a growing doubt that they’ll escape—or even survive—life in the FAYZ. With so much turmoil surrounding them, what desperate choices will they make when it comes to saving themselves and those they love?

I can't even begin to describe how EXCITED for this I am! The day that it comes out, I'm going to be pretty much incapacitated with this book.

The Gone series is my second favorite book series, next to Harry Potter. I've loved every book more than the last. It's strange cause when I first read the first book, I was distracted waiting for another book to arrive in the post and didn't really get into it.

Obviously, that's not the case now, and I'm counting down the days that I can get stuck into Plague!

Review of Poison Study

Title: Poison Study
Author: Maria V. Snyder 
Published: 2005
Pages: 409
My Rating: 4/5


Choose: A quick death . . . or slow poison . . .
About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve.
She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace -- and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.
As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting.
Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control.
Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear . . .


I had heard good reviews about this book, and after reading Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder, I was keen to read this. I was lucked out when I found the whole Study Series for sale at £5 (or £1.99 each)! 


There were two things that really made me like this book. First of all, I liked the strong female main character. I've read plenty of books with female leads and strong female leads, but it really takes a lot for me to like them. Yet somehow, Yelena won me over. I also liked the dynamic of the other characters (Valek, Ari and Janco).


This brings me to the second point that made me like this book. You get a lot of cliches with YA books, especially in the fantasy genre. But Snyder was able to avoid them in this book. None of the romance was obvious or forced and there was none of the usual love triangles that you get in a lot of YA novels, which I loved!


I did find some of the details a bit confusing and sometimes got a little bored wondering where the story was going. But there were clever non-obvious plot twists and back story told in portions to keep you wonder and reading on.


Overall, I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. Even though I'm not dying to read the next, I will get to it eventually, and look forward to it when I do!

It's Monday What are you reading? (2)

What are you reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey! Where we share what books were read last week, currently reading and what we are about to read.

I've linked my read books to their reviews and my the others to their Shelfari pages if you are interested! 

Read last week: 

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (Review coming soon: I just finished it about 30 minutes ago)

Reading Now:

Across the Universe  by Beth Revis (just started this about 10 minutes ago) 

Planning to read next:

A Killing Frost by John Marsden

The Replacement  by Brenna Yovanoff 

In My Mailbox (2) Birthday Edition

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren that features books bought or borrowed within the week!
Strangely, all the books I've had this week, I got today because it's my 18th birthday! Half of them I received as gifts and the other half I bought with some of my birthday money when I went out this afternoon. I've linked them to their Shelfari pages if you are interested!

Bought:

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Second to the Study Series. I'm reading Poison Study, and got the next two for £1.99!

Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

Third in the Study Series, also bought for £1.99.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

I've been looking forward to reading this for a while, and just couldn't resist getting it today.

Received as gift:

The Killing Frost/ The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden

I talked about the mystery of these books in a previous post here. This is part of the fantastic Tomorrow Series and had to be ordered special online from the US. I'm so excited to read it! 

Darkness be my Friend by John Marsden

The fourth in the Tomorrow Series. Again had to be ordered special as there is nowhere else to get it here. It's a second-hand library book from Australia! 

Specials  by Scott Westerfield 

Third in the Uglies Series. Looking forward to reading this too!

Review of Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

Title: Revolver
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Published: 2010 (?)
Pages: 211
My Rating: 4/5

1910. A cabin north of the Arctic Circle. Fifteen-year-old Sig Andersson is alone. Alone, except for the corpse of his father, who died earlier that day after falling through a weak spot on the ice-covered lake. His sister, Anna, and step-mother, Nadya, have gone to the local town for help. Then comes a knock at the door. It's a man, the flash of a revolver's butt at his hip, and a mean glare in his eyes. Sig has never seen him before but Wolff claims to have unfinished business with his father. As Sig gradually learns the awful truth about Wolff's connection to his father, Sig finds his thoughts drawn to a certain box hidden on a shelf in the storeroom, in which lies his father's prized possession - a revolver. When Anna returns alone, and Wolff begins to close in, Sigs choice is pulled into sharp focus. Should he use the gun, or not?


My Review: 


This was a lightning fast read. Barely 200 pages with large writing, I read it in a day! I'm really having a hard time to come up with anything to say for this review, it was just a perfect little read that was brilliantly written.


Set in the Arctic Wilderness in 1910. Sig discovers his father frozen to death and sits alone in his cabin with the corpse and his father's revolver. Not long after, a strange man named Wolff shows up claiming business with Sig's father which he now expects Sig to complete. 


Wolff was an extremely disturbing character. I felt for Sig as though I was sitting in the cabin with intimidating form myself. The current story was interspersed with chapters cleverly telling of Sig's family and father, and the events leading up to his death. The book also had very strong themes of hope, faith, choices, family and wealth all wrapped up into one. It was a very refreshing read, and like nothing else you'd find in the Young 
Adult genre.


I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a quick real written YA read!

On my wishlist (1)

On my wishlist is a weekly meme hosted by Book Chick City, where we share what books we are dying to buy and read!

It's my birthday tomorrow, so I'm planning on going on a book spree (in shops and Amazon) with some of the money that I get. Here are my top choices:

Candor by Pam Bachorz 

Iron King by Julie Kagawa 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Across the Universe by Beth Revis 

Follow Friday/ Book Blogger Hop (2)

Follow Friday!

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee!

What embarrassing thing have you done on cold medicine?

My answer isn't very interesting here, as I honestly can't think of anything. Usually when I have a cold, I just lie on the sofa and sleep or watch TV, so I don't always take a lot of medicine if I can help it.

Book Blogger Hop!

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy-for-Books!

This weeks question is:

Who's your all time favorite Book Villain?

Mine is probably the most obvious you could pick, but it just has to be done:

Lord Voldemort. 

I don't think I really have to explain this much. He is the villain of my childhood. The one person who is known throughout our muggle world. Evil and awesome.

Waiting on Wednesday (1)

Title: The Dark Hollow Places
Author: Carrie Ryan
Date: 22nd March '11
Pages: 384


Annah knows she has a twin sister, but she forgot her long ago. Back when they went to play in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, she and Elias lost her, and after that there was no going back to the village. Life's been hard, but Elias has taken care of her, and living in the Dark City can help one to forget the horror of the Unconsecrated—if you try hard enough. But when Elias disappears, Annah's world crumbles. To her, life isn't worth much more than the walking dead who roam the wasted world she lives in. It's not until she meets Catcher that she cares to start living again. Yet Catcher has secrets. Dark, terrifying secrets that link him to a past she's longed to forget and to a future too deadly to consider. Annah must decide: Can she continue to live a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the answer to all her problems?

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine. This is the third in The Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy. I loved the first book, but was a bit disappointed in the second. I'm still looking forward to reading this though.