Friday, August 31, 2012

In My Mailbox (04)

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at http://www.thestorysiren.com/ :)

It has been a looooooong time since I last posted my IMM meme. I somehow forgot all about it and just now I thought, Hey, didn't I have an In My Mailbox post every week? O.o

Anyway, this is my this week's book haul. I've been trying to keep it to the minimum since my exams are starting soon and I really, really need to concentrate on studies. Well, as much as I can with my Kindle sitting beside me and begging me to read, read! :P

Received (by the author)-



















Received (NetGalley)-



Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Review- Justice by Jade Varden


Justice by Jade Varden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A House of Cards...

When you build an entire life on a foundation of lies, it only takes one truth for the whole thing to come crashing down. I never invited the truth in. I never went searching for it. I never had any reason to suspect that the two people I loved most were dishonest with me every second of every day.

I made one bad decision, and in a single day my entire world changed. If I'm ever going to discover the truth about myself and my parents, I have to trace all the lies back to their source. I have to try to find the truth that they're hiding.

The more I discover about myself, and my past, the more I realize that lies really are better than the truth. But now that I know the lies are all around me, I can't stop until I've discovered them all. I'll pull each lie away, one by one, and examine it to see what's underneath…until this house of cards crumbles into dust at my feet.

I just hope I can survive the crash.

An e-copy of this book has been provided to me by the author.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Justice. It had almost everything I like in a YA novel and was damn engrossing. I seriously couldn't put it down once I started reading it. All the characters were nice and the story as a whole was amazing!

I honestly wasn't expecting Justice to be so awesome mainly because of the cover. I love the colour pink but if I had to judge the story by its cover I would've flatly said, "Boooring" but it wasn't! It was far, far from boring. I am not a big fan of YA mystery books so I was a little hesitant at first but I'm so, so glad I got a chance to read such a wonderful story! There were many surprise elements neatly tucked into the story and just the right amount of romance in it. :)

I liked Rain. Even though she was a completely normal character, the way the story was written just sucked me into her life. Her nature was really nice and likeable. I'm glad she wasn't another one of those female protagonists who're too stupid for their own good and keep making mistakes again and again. I felt like I could actually connect with her and the credit for this obviously goes to Ms. Varden for writing Rain's POV so beautifully. I loved almost each and every chapter.
Even though I really liked River, I seriously wish Rain and Tom could have something more between them. When the awkwardest moment of the story came, I was like WTF?!? This is not happening!! I love Tom! :( I guess it would've been funny if I wasn't so heartbroken...
Anyway, as the story moved on, I got over it and thought that now maybe Rain will give River a chance (Rain, River there names are so cool! Although I honestly think River is a slightly feminine name :P)but she didn't. And I was too busy biting my nails to see what was gonna happen next to get too bothered about it.

The best part of the book was that it's pace was just perfect. It wasn't too slow or too fast. I could easily just relax and lose myself in the story without any problem. I really, really liked Ms. Varden's writing style. It was simply superb! After the end of every chapter, there was that mysterious cliff-hanger that made me want to continue the story. I just couldn't leave it, and when I did, all I could think of was, what would happen next?? I was enchanted. :)

The accurate rating for this book would be 4.5 stars. Justice is a must-read for all YA book lovers. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!! :D





Sunday, August 26, 2012

Review-Strange Angels by Lili Crow


Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In Strange Angels, Dru Anderson has what her grandmother called “the touch.” (Comes in handy when you’re traveling from town to town with your dad, hunting ghosts, suckers, wulfen, and the occasional zombie.) Then her dad turns up dead—but still walking—and Dru knows she’s next. Even worse, she’s got two guys hungry for her affections, and they’re not about to let the fiercely independent Dru go it alone. Will Dru discover just how special she really is before coming face-to-fang with whatever—or whoever— is hunting her?

Strange Angels was an ok-ok read for me. The author probably wanted to make it an action-packed novel with a kick-ass heroine, but I'm sorry to say that I couldn't find anything kick-ass about Dru.
She was just a self-absorbed, whiny brat who was too stubborn to consider anything else except what she believed in and what her daddy dearest told her to believe in. Throughout the story, Dru seemed to keep looking down on normal people who didn't know about the so-called "Real World". Her views were painfully shallow and quite frankly, dumb.

There were several other issues I had with this book. The cover pic and the title didn't match the story at all. The summary was quite misleading as while reading it you might think that this would be a YA paranormal romance but it isn't. I couldn't find ANYTHING romantic in it. It's just the story of a dumb girl who has been killing supernatural stuff that goes bump at night for a long time and so she thinks she knows everything and when she's proved wrong, she whines. And gets annoyed. And does stupid stuff that made me roll my eyes A LOT.

I'm not saying there were no good parts in the story because there were. It's just that the number of issues I had with this book were more than the good parts. For example, I liked the slow and steady building of Graves' and Dru's relationship, and yet at the same time I literally hated Dru for unreasonably treating Christophe like crap. She just kept on ignoring the fact that if it wasn't for Christophe, she would've been dead several times already. No, she was too busy thinking of her petty problems to actually consider being a little more nice to him.

I also didn't like Graves that much. I guess, he was okay as far as the guy stuck in the love triangle (who's obviously not gonna be chosen in the end) goes. But I didn't find any quality of his that would make my like him. Honestly, he was just as shallow as Dru.

Another thing I didn't like was the repeated use of how everything smelled. Yes, okay I get it that the djamphir smelled like apple pie and the evil supernatural stuff smells like waxy,rotten o bad oranges with a bitter taste. You don't have to put it in again and again. It's disturbing and not at all fun to read.

I actually expected this book to be a lot more than I found it to be. It was pretty disappointing but hopefully in the next book, Dru will start acting a bit more mature and the story would be much better than this one.


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Review- Five by Christie Rich


Five by Christie Rich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rayla Tate’s life is about to turn vertical…again. As if it wasn’t bad enough her mother disappeared under questionable circumstances leaving Rayla to be raised by her aunt in a horrendously small town. Her overprotective guardian is determined to ruin Rayla’s life. She refuses to let Rayla out of her sight or out of the state. Provincial living might be what her aunt demands of her purposely sheltered niece; but, Rayla has other ideas. In a desperate attempt to follow her dreams she flees the safety of her home and runs away to college with her best friend toward a bright future in the art world.

However, excitement over her newfound freedom turns into terror when she is chased by a mysterious stranger on her way to school. When his motorcycle suddenly morphs into a fire-breathing pegasus, Rayla questions her sanity. Worse, the man riding next to her stirs a burning desire in her soul she has never known or could have ever imagined. Using all the will she owns, she manages to resist the compulsion she feels; yet, as he disappears into the night, she is certain he hasn't gone far.

Rayla quickly dismisses the encounter to her overactive imagination. She is determined to settle into her new life, yet the images and feelings of that night still haunt her. To make matters worse, her aunt seems to be in on the act, insisting that Rayla will soon be hunted by a pack of fae lords for a power over the elements she never knew she possessed—a power that could change the world. Quicker than she ever thought possible, she finds herself surrounded by stunning men that all seem determined to win her heart. Why does she feel drawn to each one of them? More importantly, what dark power do they hold over her? Rayla must quickly learn to fend off these beautiful and seductive pursuers using whatever means necessary or find herself lost to the fae world forever.

An e-copy of this book has been provided to me by the author.

Five was a magical and engrossing read. Once I started reading it, I really couldn't stop. The story was good, the characters were nice and the way it was executed was truly awesome. The execution of the concept was ah-mazingly done by Ms. Rich.

Even though I really liked the story, I can't say the same for the main female protagonist. I mean, it felt like all she ever did in the book was whine, ruin the situations even further, get attracted to faeries and whine some more. Even if she had done something good, I probably can't remember it because she honestly irritated me A LOT. I can't say I absolutely hate her but I don't like her that much either. Maybe in the next book, she'll be less whiner..?

All the other characters were nice and I might possibly be in love with Luke. There's just something in that name. And the guy himself was amazing. I mean, I really did like Zach but I felt that Luke was much, much better than him. Of course, he could've been even more cooler if he had the awesome Pegasus instead of Zach.

The exact rating for this book would be 3.5 mainly because I didn't find Rayla's POV much interesting. Other than that, I found Ms. Rich's writing style totally flawless and the magical feeling that I always want and expect in faery novels, was well put in this book. I would like to see how/if Zach and Luke destroy that "machine" in the next book,

Dark Matter (Elemental Enmity, #2)

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Review- The Mind Readers by Lori Brighton


The Mind Readers by Lori Brighton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary- Cameron Winters is a freak. Fortunately, no one but her family knows the truth... that Cameron can read minds. For years Cameron has hidden behind a facade of normalcy, warned that there are those who would do her harm. When gorgeous and mysterious Lewis Douglas arrives he destroys everything Cameron has ever believed and tempts her with possibilities of freedom. Determined to embrace her hidden talents, Cameron heads to a secret haven with Lewis; a place where she meets others like her, Mind Readers.

But as Cameron soon finds out some things are too good to be true. When the Mind Readers realize the extent of Cameron’s abilities, they want to use her powers for their own needs. Cameron suddenly finds herself involved in a war in which her idea of what is right and wrong is greatly tested. In the end she’ll be forced to make a choice that will not only threaten her relationship with Lewis, but her very life.

My Review- The Mind Readers was a pretty good read for me. The base storyline was different and nicely written and the characters were given a certain admirable depth. Even though at times Cameron became too whiny for my taste, I still liked the way Ms. Brighton kept a steady pace of her change in attitude towards life.

The first part of the book just sucked me in! I really couldn’t stop reading. This book really made me second-guess my own thoughts. What if someone could hear my thoughts? What would they think? What do I think about my thoughts? This was the BESTEST part in the whole book and it really made me wonder about a lot of stuff.

Everything was awesome till the entry of our supposed hero of the book, Lewis. It wasn’t probably Cam’s fault for falling for him but that still didn’t stop me from thinking about strangling her when she sooooo easily believed him and his cheesy dialogues. I mean, the guy was feeding her crap and she just blindly took it without even questioning it much. That made her a weak protagonist for me. It was damn frustrating to see her make such stupid mistakes and that’s when I lost some of my interest in the story. The middle part was okay, but nothing as fun as the first part. However, my interest in the story again went soaring when the main action scene came in the last part.

I guess the only characters I liked in the story were Maddox and the little girl whose name was somewhat similar to Cameron (dang I forgot her name!) who was pretty mature for her age. And both of these characters had a very tiny role in the story so needless to say, it was a little disappointing. But I’m sure that in the next, Maddox is gonna play a bigger part (yay!) and maybe there’s gonna be a love triangle..? Atleast, that’s what I could gather from the ending of Mind Readers.

All in all, this book was likeable enough to give it a four stars, although more accurately it’s somewhat between a 3 and a 4 star for me. I think many YA book lovers are gonna love eet! :D

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Review- A Dash of Bad does a Good Girl Good by Emma Woods


My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Summary:Liza had her life planned to perfection and everything fitted flawlessly.... except for a little infatuation about a boy named Liam.

My Review: I didn't understand what was the point of writing this book/short story. It was like it ended even before it started. While writing a story, aren't you supposed to add some matter in it? Ok, maybe the author didn't want to make this a novel and just finished it in 10 pages but even then, where was the story in this???

Oh, and starting your storybook with your female protagonist cleaning a toilet? Bad idea. The story was like, girl likes popular guy but tells everyone and herself how much she hates him because you know, she's actually having a huge crush on him. And right after then there's the ending where they kiss and tada! The girl finds out that the guy liked her too and the two rivals become lovers. The end. Awww, isn't the story sweet? -.-




Wednesday, August 8, 2012

ARC Review-Confessions Of An Angry Girl by Louise Rozett


Confessions of an Angry Girl (Confessions, #1)Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Summary: Rose Zarelli, self-proclaimed word geek and angry girl, has some confessions to make…1. I'm livid all the time. Why? My dad died. My mom barely talks. My brother abandoned us. I think I'm allowed to be irate, don't you?

2. I make people furious regularly. Want an example? I kissed Jamie Forta, a badass guy who might be dating a cheerleader. She is now enraged and out for blood. Mine.

3. High school might as well be Mars. My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time. (Mars is red and "seeing red" means being angry—get it?)

Here are some other vocab words that describe my life: Inadequate. Insufferable. Intolerable.

(Don't know what they mean? Look them up yourself.)

(Sorry. That was rude.)


 An e-ARC has been provided to me by the publisher.

My review: Confessions Of An Angry Girl was an okay read for me. The cover and the summary truly desscribe the story perfectly! And I really, really loved the cover.
The beginning was really irritating mainly because of the whiny protagonist, but as the story moved on, it got better to a point where I couldn't put it down before finshing it.
The writing style of Ms. Rozett was awesome! Even if you didn't like the characters, her way of writing out her story will automatically make you wanna read more and that's one of the best thing I liked about this novel. The story was fine but the way it ended was ah-mazing and had a bit of a cliff-hanger.

Quite frankly, I did not like Rose. Not at all. I really tried to understand her reasons for being such an uptight snob but couldn't. So yes, her dad died and it was justified for her to feel angry and upset and a bit confused. But that still doesn't give you a free pass to act all mean and rude with other people who care about you. In the first half of the book, I honestly felt like throwing a big car on her, don't ask me why. She reminded me slightly of Bridget from Here Lies Bridget.

Jamie was fine but he lost a LOT of brownie points from me when he kissed Rose twice while he was still in another relationship. That's not what decent guys do and no matter how many reasons were behind him cheating on his girlfriends, it's still too wrong for me to actually like him that much. Aside from this, Jamie was likable, I guess. Although I never really could find anything bad-ass about him. Hmph, maybe it's just me..?

All the other characters were nice, and realistic. This book showed many things that happen to us in real life and also showed us how to deal with them. The message was really nice and overall, the story was good and worth reading atleast once. I really want to read the next book in the series, Confessions Of An Almost Girlfriend and see what happens next in Rose's life :)

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

In My Mailbox (03)

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at http://www.thestorysiren.com/


Received (by the author)-

Five (Elemental Enmity #1)

by


Received (Through Netgalley)-

Confessions of an Angry Girl (Confessions #1)

by

Dearly, Beloved (Gone With the Respiration #2)

by

Received (Won via Ramblings of a book junkie)-

Don't Tell by Mercy Amare



 
       

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Versatile Blog Award

Received my very first blog award! Yay me! :D I was nominated by  Andrea, over at Literary Getaway. Check out her beautiful blog now! :) 



Rules:
  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you:
  2. Add the Versatile Blogger award picture to your post:
  3. Share seven random facts about yourself:
  4. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers who are relatively new to blogging:
  5. Let the nominees know that they’ve been nominated:
Seven random facts about me

>My friends like to call me Jojo (never really liked that nickname)
>My fav. color is baby pink.
>I LOVE mangoes.
>Favorite season is rain <3
>My fav. holiday/festival is Holi
>Uhmm..what else? Tom and Jerry, Shinchan, Ben 10:Alien Force are some of the cartoons I love to watch.
>As soon as I can, I'm gonna highlight my hair pink. :)

15 Blogs I Nominated


  1. http://kendratalksbooks.blogspot.in/
  2. http://booksaremybestfriendforever.blogspot.in/
  3. http://tabithabookblog.blogspot.in/
  4. http://dalesplace-dale.blogspot.in/
  5. http://bookzealous.blogspot.in/
  6. http://classymebooks.blogspot.in/
  7. http://gabbyreads.blogspot.in/
  8. http://waffler-scribbles.blogspot.in/
  9. http://mymiscellaneousbookshelf.blogspot.in/
  10. http://norestforthebookish.blogspot.in/
  11. http://ramblingsofabookjunkie.blogspot.in/
  12. http://readingisdreamingwitheyesopen.blogspot.in/
  13. http://courtyoung.blogspot.in/
  14. http://readingbythebeach.blogspot.in/
  15. http://escapismfromreality.blogspot.com/

Friday, August 3, 2012

Review-Sweetness by Lindsay Paige


Sweetness by Lindsay Paige
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads summary: Emily wished she was invisible. But after moving to a new town with her dad, a charming boy makes it impossible for her to disappear. Despite her feelings of unworthiness, Emily soon finds herself drawn to the safety of Jake's world.

Good looking and the star of the hockey team, Jake has a lot going for him. What most people don't see is the difficult life he has at home. When quiet Emily steals his heart, Jake vows to help her discover she is worthy of love.

Just when the two of them realize the sweetness of their relationship, they are put to the test. Only together can they overcome their haunted pasts to fight for a future together.

An e-copy of this book has been provided to me by the author.

My review: The title matches the story PERFECTLY! Sweetness was full of small bits (and sometimes big ones)of sweetness throughout the story. There were so many "awwwwww" moments and wonderfully executed scenes. I loved Lindsay Paige's writing style. It was simple and yet quite efficiently got the message through. All the characters were understandable and the story itself was AH-MAZING.

Character-wise Emily was okay. She was too..weak to be likeable in the beginning, but slowly as I got to know her and her story better, I started liking her. Sometimes, her childish nature became really irritating but overall, she was just fine I guess.

Jake was...well I don't know how to describe him. Guys like him are not real. He was SUPER understanding, SUPER patient, SUPER good-looking, SUPER sweet, SUPER everything. In short, HE WAS SUPERB!! While reading the story, I couldn't believe that a guy can do so much for a girl he likes. It was adorable. I think Jake sort of tops my list of sweetest guys in books. His character was fantabulous and his POV in the story was truly well-written by Ms. Paige.

The other characters were pretty cool too but I can't say much about them since the whole story basically revolved around Emily and Jake. I really liked Emily's dad and also little Drake. His upbeat and enthusiastic nature was cute and interesting.

All in all, Sweetness was really, really good and if you're a YA romance lover then you're absolutely gonna love it! With it's swoon-worthy and still in limits romantic scenes, enjoyable characters and an AWESOME story, it'll surely make your heart go pitter-pat! :D

View all my reviews