ARC Review- Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
 My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book Summary:   

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

An e-ARC has been provided to me by the publisher for an honest review.

My Review: From the second I started Pushing The Limits, this book got me hooked. Even when I wasn't reading it, my mind kept going back into the story and wondering what's gonna happen next. This book was amazingly written, had a mind-blowing story and wonderful, truly awesome characters. If you're looking for something really, really great to read, this book is definitely the one for you any day, anytime!

I can't even begin to describe how much I adored the characters of this book. I felt like I was connected to Noah and Echo. Their happiness made me smile, their despair sometimes even made me cry. This fact alone states how much I loved it. It wasn't just the amazing concept or the fact that it had everything I would expect in a YA contemporary romance. This book just sucked me into Noah's and Echo's life. Their pains, their betrayals, their moments of happiness, confusions and perhaps most importantly, their journey of self-discovery was what has made this book one my favourites of all time. Even though I seriously cried A LOT while reading this, the happy moments in the story were enough to make me smile on several occasions.

Echo had some serious issues throughout the story. The not-so-normal scars on her arms, the freaky incident that caused them and the fact that she couldn't remember a single thing about that night could drive anybody under the water. But it didn't break Echo. She survived. Yeah, she changed incredibly after the episode, but at least she survived and had the will to make her life somewhat normal again. This truly made me consider her as one of the strongest female protagonists I've come across so far.

Noah, on the other hand, made me swoooooon over him as soon as he was introduced in the story. He had his own set of issues but he dealt with them far differently than Echo. He was hard-core, stubborn and had his aims set. Adopting his brothers and getting them out of the foster care system was his highest priority and this made me love him even more. His love and affection for his brothers, his family was endearing. He was always there for Echo and his undoubted love for her made my heart melt at times.
Both of their worlds were vastly different and yet so similar. The way they felt towards each other was-I think- what all of us want with our "The One"s. It was like both of them were the pillar of strength for the other one. Guiding, supporting, loving each other like nobody else.

All the other characters were very, very well built-up and I really liked Echo's best friend Lila, or as Echo called her, The Good Witch, Glinda. She was also always there for Echo, helping her and supporting her. The confrontations Echo had with her dad and step-mother made me cry several times. It was ridiculous but I just couldn't help it. The torment she felt was just so..painful at times.

All in all, I don't think 5 stars are enough to describe my love for this book. I highly recommend it to all YA fiction lovers! :D

ARC Review- The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 Book Summary: 

Don't look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase's unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he'd dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister's world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

An e-ARC has been provided to me by the publisher for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading The Lost Prince. It was nicely written and had some really great characters that I liked. Faeries are one of my favorite mythological beings so yeah, that might've increased my liking for this book a teeny-tiny bit. But seriously, if you’re a fan of YA faery books, The Lost Prince would definitely interest you!

I think I would have liked this book much, much more if sometimes it didn’t feel like Ms. Kagawa was just draaaaagging on the story. Some parts were pretty much messed up and there were some scenes which were totally not required in the book. I liked some of the characters but not all.

The only thing I liked about Kylie was her blue highlights. No, seriously it felt like she was forcefully dumped in the story where she was not required just because there HAD to be romance in the book. Unfortunately, I could see no chemistry whatsoever between Ethan and her and that’s one of the reasons, this book couldn’t rank up to my favourites shelf.

However, Ethan was an ah-mazing character. His POV was commendably written by Ms. Kagawa and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Since I’ve not read the Iron Fey series, I knew I was definitely missing out on many things but still it didn’t make me want to stop reading this and the credit for that definitely goes to the author.

Overall, there were some faults in this book but the story definitely made up for them. There were some really awesome action-sequences and because of that, this book gets extra browine points from my side. Accurate rating would be 3.5 stars.
While I wait for the next book to come, I’m definitely gonna start with the Iron Fey series!

In My Mailbox (05)

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

I have been pretty busy this past week with my examinations and other stuff, so I rarely got the time to post any new reviews or memes. I will start posting normal posts from 30th September (just one more week till my exams get over. Yayy! :D). Meanwhile, here's my this week's IMM! :D

Received (NetGalley)-

Bought (Kindle)-

    

Giveaway of Soul Kissed OR Princess by Courtney Cole!

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I have spent every summer since I was ten years old with my father in London. Every summer, since I was ten years old, has been uneventful and boring.
Until this year.

And this year, after a freak volcanic eruption strands me far from home, I have learned these things:

1. I can make do with one outfit for three days before I buy new clothes.
2. If I hear the phrase, “You’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto,” even one more time, I might become a homicidal maniac.
3. I am horribly and embarrassingly allergic to jellyfish.
4. I am in love with Dante Giliberti, who just happens to be the beautiful, sophisticated son of the Prime Minister of a Mediterranean paradise.
5. See number four above. Because it brings with it a whole slew of problems and I’ve learned something from every one of them.

Let’s start with the fact that Dante’s world is five light-years away from mine. He goes to black-tie functions and knows the Prime Minister of England on a first name basis. I was born and raised on a farm in Kansas and wear cut-off jeans paired with cowboy boots. See the difference?

But hearts don’t care about differences. Hearts want what they want. And mine just wants to be Dante’s girl.

My heart just might be crazy.

To view more of Courtney Cole's awesome books, hop on to her site,

http://www.courtneycolewrites.com ;)

Cover Reveal of Reaping Me Softly by Kate Evangelista!

Expected publication: October 30th 2012 by Omnific Publishing 

The wonderful people at atomrbookblogtours.com gave me this opportunity to reveal the beautiful cover of Reaping Me Softly by Kate Evangelista!

Book description: Ever since a near-death-experience on the operating table, seventeen-year-old Arianne Wilson can see dead people. Just as she’s learned to accept her new-found talents, she discovers that the boy she’s had a crush on since freshman year, Niko Clark, is a Reaper.

At last they have something in common, but that doesn’t mean life is getting any easier. All while facing merciless bullying from the most powerful girl in school, Arianne’s world is turned upside down after Niko accidentally reaps the soul of someone she loves. This sends them both into a spiral that threatens to end Arianne’s life. But will Niko break his own Reaper’s code to save her? And what would the consequences be if he did?

ARC Review- Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 Summary: The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

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

My review: I really don't know what opt write about this book. My views are still pretty conflicted on whether I loved it or absolutely hate it. It's just that there were so many parts that were ridiculously dumb at times and other parts which were so sweet, I still have my "Awwwwww" moments when I remember them.

No matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't bring myself to like either Abby or Travis. Initially, yes they seemed interesting but as the story moved on, I couldn't help but wonder what the hell is wrong with these two. Travis seemed obsessed with Abby, overly obsessed at times and that was quite disturbing. There were many incidents in which Travis acted...abnormally and quite frankly, like a freaking insane person and yet Abby just dumbly got over it for whatever reasons.
Also, tattooing the girl's name and professing his eternal love for her in the second or third week of their relationship is so not cool. Okay, I get it that they were thoroughly in love with each other but seriously?
And I don't even want to begin about what I thought of them marrying and already talking about kids when they hadn't even graduated from college!! That's just plain freaky. No offense, Miley Cyrus.

Despite all this, I still can't deny that fact that this book was thoroughly engrossing. Yes, there were many holes in the story and in the end the message that this book gave (according to me) was not at all right. But still, I liked the writing style, certain jokes that were amusing and some scenes where I could actually see myself connecting with the female protagonist. There were times when I even warmed up to Travis, though that was pretty rare. I really, really liked Abby's best friend America who was supportive, protective and damn perfect as far as best friends go. I guess she was the only character in the book that remained a constant favorite of mine throughout the story.

Overall, I had equal amounts of love-hate feelings while reading this book and thus I'm gonna stick with 3 stars. I wouldn't recommend this to the YA readers as even though the female protagonist is 19, this book should still be shelved in Adult romance or something like that.

Interview with L.S.Murphy!

                      

To see the excerpt of Reaper click here! :D   

 

       About the author: 

    
L.S. Murphy lives in the Greater St. Louis area where she watches Cardinals baseball, reads every book she can find, and weaves tales for teens and adults. When not doing all of the above, she tends to The Bean (aka her daughter), her husband, and a menagerie of pets. Reaper is her debut young adult novel and will be released on January 7th, 2013.

She is a member of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the St. Louis Writer’s Guild.

Repped by Julia A. Weber of J. A. Weber Literaturagentur.

     -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Me: Would you like to share a short blurb from Reaper?

Linda: There's no way sixteen year old Quincy Amarante will become the fifth grim reaper. None. Not over her shiny blue Mustang. Her Jimmy Choos. Or her dead body. 
  
She’s supposed to enjoy her sophomore year, not learn about some freaky future Destiny says she has no choice but to fulfill. 
  
It doesn’t take long for Quincy to realize the only way out of the game is to play along especially since Death can find her anyway, anywhere, anytime. And does. 
  
Like when she’s reassuring her friends she wants nothing to do with former best friend Ben Moorland, who’s returned from god-knows-where, and fails. Miserably. 

Instead of maintaining her coveted popularity status, Quincy’s goes down like the Titanic. 

Maybe ... just maybe ... that’s okay. 
  
It seems, perhaps, becoming a grim reaper isn’t just about the dead but more about a much needed shift in Quincy’s priorities—from who she thinks she wants to be to who she really is.

Me: Tell us a little about yourself!

Linda: Not much to tell, really. I’m rather boring. Okay, I’ll try. I live in the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area and am a die-hard Cardinals fan. When I’m not working, I spoil my daughter and my husband.

Me: What inspired you to become an author? Was it a childhood dream or something else?

Linda: My childhood dream was to be a radio disc jockey until I discovered writing. Then it was a no-brainer. But, as often happens, life got in the way so it took me a while to follow my dreams.

Me: How did you come upon the idea of Reaper?

Linda: Reaper really started as a “what if” question and snowballed from there.

Me: Who designed/created the beautiful cover for your book?

Linda: Isn’t the cover gorgeous? The team at J. Taylor Publishing did an amazing job on it. They’ve been wonderful to me.

Me: Is there any character in your book like you?

Linda: Not really. One character does play the same musical instrument I played in high school, but that’s about it.

Now for the rapid fire round,

Me: Which mythological character would you like to turn into for one day?

Linda: I’d be a Muse, preferably Thalia.

 Me: Do you prefer coffee or tea?

Linda: Coffee. I’m addicted. I do drink tea in the winter though.

Me: If you could teleport to any place in the world right now, which place would it be?

Linda: London.

Me: Some of your all-time favorite books?

Linda: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas

Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

Hushed by Kelley York

 

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  Connect with L.S.Murphy!

  Blog: http://lsmurphy.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LSMurphy

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LSMurphyAuthor

Excerpt of Reaper

Expected publication: Jan 7th, 2013

This excerpt has been posted from  http://lsmurphy.com

A spitball stops in mid-air less than an inch from my nose.

It hangs there. I assume everyone else notices the wet wad of paper too, but when I turn to my bestie Jordan, her mouth is stuck open with her eyes half closed.

She was just laughing. Now she’s … frozen?

The sudden silence is louder than a room full of gossiping teenagers.

Mini-quakes creep up my spine like a centipede hurrying toward my hair.

I’m not entirely sure my heart is beating. I wave my shaking hand in front of Jordan, hoping this will break her free of whatever happened.

No reaction.

Why am I moving?

So many times, I wished Jordan would stop talking. Now is the one time I need her high-pitched voice to pierce my ears.

Quin, relax. It’s okay. No way this is real. I pinch my arm hard, but it doesn’t change anything.

A loud pop makes me spin around in my seat. A man stands in front of the chalkboard in a bluish-white robe staring at me through blizzard white eyes. He holds a staff in front of him that looks like melting glass.

“Hello, Quincy,” he says in a deep velvet voice. “How would you like to see your future?”

I stand and stumble toward the back of the room. “Who are you supposed to be? Gandalf?” I’m unable to keep the tremor out of my voice.

“One person dresses up like me in a movie, and that’s all I hear.” He leans back on Mr. Spragg’s desk. “I’m far more attractive than him and so much more fun.” He winks and lifts his robe, revealing a pair of yellow and red striped Bermuda shorts and orange flip-flops.

My eyes pop wider at the mismatched mess, but I keep my thoughts about his sense of fashion to myself. “Who are you?”

His sigh echoes off the walls. “I’m Destiny.”

“Who?”

Rolling his eyes, he raises the staff high to his left. Like a swordsman, he stabs and swooshes it down in an arch. The air ripples as a dark slit opens. A man in a deep brown pinstripe suit steps through. His cheap sneakers don’t match the formality of the tan fedora and horn-rimmed glasses.

A pony-sized white German shepherd saunters in behind him, and I take an automatic step back. The dog turns his head, black orbs where its eyes should be.

Pinstripe man glances my way before turning toward the person who calls himself Destiny. His features contort and a maroon tint creeps over his face.

“What the f—”

Destiny flips his finger and the new guy shuts up. After a moment, he does another finger move.

“We said when she was eighteen, Des.”

“I’m aware of that, Forsyth.”

“She’s not eighteen.”

“Really? I never would have guessed.” Sarcasm fills each word as Destiny raises his eyebrows like a flag on the Fourth of July.

Forsyth glares. “Then why am I here?”

“I let you pick the date, but I never agreed to honor it.” Destiny pats the dog on the head with sneer and wipes his hands on his robe. “Now is the time. Teach her.”

What’s going to happen next? Mark your calendar for January 7th and find out.

ARC Review- Throne Of Glass by Sarah J. Mass

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary:  After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

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

My Review: I'd read some great reviews before starting this novel, so needless to say, I had pretty high expectations from it and I was definitely not disappointed.. Throne of Glass was action-packed, had awesome characters and an ah-mazing storyline that was beautifully written by Sarah Mass. The whole time I was reading it, I kept holding my breath and wondering what's gonna happen next.

This book would've got an easy 5 star from me had it not been for the fact that all the main characters of the story STRONGLY resembled the ones from Vampire Academy. Don't get me wrong, the stories of these books are vastly different but the female protagonist, Calaena had almost the exact same characteristics of our dear Rose. Celaena's brooding trainer/ Captain of the guards, Westfall was strikingly similar to Dimitri and Prince Dorian was an exact copy of Adrian.

Other than that, I absolutely adored this book. Though there was nothing new in the characters, the story itself was engrossing and flawlessly written. There was mystery, adventure, action, romance, fantasy and a touch of paranormal. Really, what was not to love? :D

Review- Angel Fire by L.A.Weatherly

Angel Fire by L.A. Weatherly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary:  Only Willow has the power to defeat the malevolent Church of Angels, and they will stop at nothing to destroy her. Willow isn’t alone, though. She has Alex by her side – a trained Angel Killer and her one true love. But nothing can change the fact that Willow’s a half-angel, and when Alex joins forces with a group of AKs, she’s treated with mistrust and suspicion. She’s never felt more alone…until she meets Seb. He’s been searching for Willow his whole life – because Seb is a half-angel too.

 My Review: I loved Angel Fire. Though it was bit too long and seemed slightly stretched at times, the story was ah-mazing! I loved the characters, I loved the writing-style and I even liked the love-triangle! We got to know a lot more about Willow and Alex in this book, and the new, utterly swoon-worthy character Seb just renewed my interest in the series.

I actually liked Angel Fire a lot more than I'd liked Angel. Even though both the books were pretty slow at times, the action-packed scenes and the absolutely amazing character build-up in Angel Fire definitely made up for it.

I really, really liked Willow even though she was slightly different from the kind of female protagonists I like in my books. She was soft, caring, sweet and at the same time kicked-ass when she had to, though not for herself, but for the people she loved. Yep, self-less was another characteristic I liked in her :) She wasn't dumb or totally dependent on her strong, almost-perfect boyfriend. She could actually look after herself and knew when to take a stand of her own.

Alex was just as awesome as ever. He had his own moments when he seriously started doubting his relationship with Willow and I think that would've been annoying if he didn't have a pretty good reason for it. Still, the way Alex and Willow loved each other was incredibly sweet and I loved the way L.A.Weatherly wrote it.

Seb was one of the new characters introduced in this book (there were maaaaaany new characters) He was understanding, nice, and basically had almost all the characteristics of the guy in the love triangle whose not gonna be chosen

Even though I really liked this book, I feel that it could have been written in less than 706 pages. Other than that, I would say I found this book absolutely flawless. :D

Giveaway of Justice by Jade Varden!

Author Jade Varden has decided to giveaway 1 e-copy of her amazing novel, Justice! :D

About the book:  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.

To see my review of Justice, click here

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