1 Review: Wither

Wither

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Page Count: 358

Release Date: March 22, 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR

Series: The Chemical Garden #1
Genres: YA, Dystopia, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Source: Purchased (Paperback)

 

Read summary on Goodreads, here.

In a time when girls die at age 20 and boys at age 25, some search for a cure to the deadly virus, while others have simply given up hope. In order to sustain the population, young girls are kidnapped and sold to wealthy men as wives. Rhine finds herself miles from home and about to be married to a man she's never met but she's not alone. She'll be sharing her new husband with two sister wives. While trapped in the mansion she quickly befriends Gabriel, one of the house servants and begins to plan their escape to freedom.

 

I liked Rhine's character because she never gave up and she was a very nice person. She didn't care if someone was wealthy or a servant, she treated them with kindness. I did think one of her escape attempts was a bit insane though. I also liked Gabriel's character for the same reason, no matter what he was always so nice. Linden was also nice but at times he seemed very needy and a bit of a push-over but I loved the devotion he had for his first wife, Rose. His father Vaughn is a different story altogether. He's the 'villain' of the story and a very believable one. He's cruel and evil to the core; the author did an excellent job with him. Cecily, the youngest sister wife, is a whiney little brat at first but close to the end she seemed to mature a little. While the oldest sister wife, Jenna, is her complete opposite. She comes across as cold and standoffish in the beginning but she gradually opened up and it turns out she had her reasons. I really felt bad for her.

 

This was the first time I had read a book with polygamy in it and I'll admit I was a little hesitant to begin with but the first page hooked me and I had trouble putting it down. I loved the story and the writing and I really connected with the characters. I actually cared about what happened to them. I still had trouble getting past the fact that he had 3 wives and the youngest one was only 13 and he was 21 but I didn't let that effect my rating because overall it was an amazing book. Although this is kind of trivial I have to say it, I loved the beginning of each chapter, they have the same designs as the front cover. I also loved the holograms in the pool. Having a swimming pool like that would be awesome.

 

There's a cliffhanger at the end that definitely leaves you wondering what was going to happen next. My copy also has a preview of "Fever" that leaves an even bigger cliffhanger after reading it. Can't wait to get book 2 and find out what happens.

 

Love the cover. The pink design really grabs the attention and I like the model's pose and the cute little bird.

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Review also posted to Goodreads.

2 Stacking the Shelves (16)

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that highlight's the books we receive each week.

BOUGHT

While He Was Away by Karen Schreck

Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood

The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak

 

The Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willig

What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz

 

The It Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar

Notorious by Cecily von Ziegesar

Reckless by Cecily von Ziegesar

 

EBOOKS BOUGHT

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

 

RESCUED

The Lord of the Rings: The Return in the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

*My aunt was going to give it to Goodwill and I "rescued" it.

 

 

MOVIES BOUGHT

Safe Haven

Beautiful Creatures

 

MOVIES RENTED

Les Miserables

The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia

 

 

 

 That's it for me. What did you add to your shelf?

 

 

1 Review: The Hunt

The Hunt

Author: Andrew Fukuda

Page Count: 293

Release Date: May 08, 2012

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Series: The Hunt #1
Genres: YA, Dystopia, Vampires, Fantasy, Horror

Source: Won from Goodreads First Reads

 

Read summary on Goodreads, here.

Gene is just trying to make it through life unnoticed but when you're a human, in a school and world full of vampires it takes a lot of effort. No yawning, laughing, smiling, or falling asleep during class, these are just a few of the rules that Gene has heard all his life and he must remember them all in order to survive. But when he's randomly selected for the Heper Hunt, the biggest event in years, things go dangerously wrong and he has to fight in order to survive.

 

Most of the characters in the book don't have regular names, they have designations and Gene refers to them as things like, Gaunt Man, Abs, or Crimson Lips. He usually bases it on something physical, that he can see. Gene was an okay character for me but I got really annoyed with him when he was willing to sacrifice the lives of the hepers (humans) so easily. I kept thinking "You're one of them, you should be helping them not trying to get them killed!" but in the end he really redeemed himself in my mind. Ashley June is not my favorite character, at first she just came across as selfish but she does save Gene's life so maybe she's not all bad. I did like Sissy though, she was a strong, take charge type of girl and I really liked that. 

 

When the first few pages mentions that a kindergartener gets attacked by her teacher and fellow students, you know this isn't going to be warm, fuzzy romance. The vampires in this book are not the human-loving kind I usually read about instead just the slightest smell of human will send them into a drooling, neck-cracking frenzy and they don't just drink blood. As for sunlight, don't expect them to burst into flame or to sparkle, they pretty much turn into a pile of sticky pus. All of this spells A-W-E-S-O-M-E in my book. There were a lot of weird, interesting things going on here like scratching wrists instead of laughing, cracking necks when excited and of course, the weirdest thing of all, elbow sex. It's all fun and games until someone sticks an elbow in an armpit. This is one of the few books that I just couldn't put down. The ending definitely had me hooked; I just had to know what was going to happen next.

I really like the cover. The vampires running across the bottom was a nice touch.

Rating: 5/5

Review also posted to Goodreads.

2 Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along. Just do the following:

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!

My teasers:

"A stray branch smacks my thigh as I wiggle through, and I stop in my tracks. The side door to the garage is wide open, and as I watch, it creaks wider in the wind."

Pg. 99, "Cold Kiss" by Amy Garvey
*ebook






Well that's my teaser for the week. What book or books did you feature in your post? 

3 Stacking the Shelves (15)

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that highlight's the books we receive each week.

BOUGHT

Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz
Revelations by Melissa de la Cruz
The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa de la Cruz

WON

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Won from Step Into Fiction

 

That's it for me. What did you add to your shelf?

 

0 Review: Evernight

Evernight

Author: Claudia Gray

Page Count: 327

Release Date: May 01, 2008

Publisher: HarperTeen

Series: Evernight #1
Genres: YA, Vampires, Fantasy, Romance

Source: Purchased (Ebook)

 

Read summary on Goodreads, here.

Bianca has just been enrolled at Evernight Academy and she's not exactly thrilled and decides to runaway. During her attempted runaway, she meets another Evernight student, Lucas. She can already tell there's something different about him she's just not sure what it is yet. During their time together at Evernight Bianca and Lucas become very close but they're both hiding secrets that the other isn't meant to know.

 

Bianca was an okay lead character, although not my favorite or strongest. There were times when I thought she could have made some better choices. Lucas, while he wouldn't have been my choice, I think him and Bianca are perfect for each other. He accepts who she is and she accepts him, although I'm not sure if that'll be true in the books to follow, anything can happen, but for now that's how it is. Balthazar was my favorite. He seemed so nice and sincere.

 

The book was kind of slow to start of with but thankfully picks up as you read. I liked the twists to the vampire myths. I thought some were a bit strange at first but then I remembered reading about sparkling vampires and the strangeness kind of disappeared. There was also a few little twists that I enjoyed. One I didn't see coming and the other was kind of predictable. There was sort of a cliffhanger but not a big one but I definitely want to read the rest of the series.

 

The cover is not my favorite but it is different than others I've seen and I like the font.

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Review also posted to Goodreads.

 

0 Movie Review: The Croods

The Croods

Director: Kirk De Micco & Chris Sanders

Length: 98 min.

Release Date: March 22, 2013

Rating: PG (For some scary action)

Actors: Nicholas Cage (Grug), Emma Stone (Eep), Ryan Reynolds (Guy)
Genres: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family

Source: Theater

 

 

The Croods are a family of cavemen just trying to survive. Grug, the father, is convinced that the only way to do that is to stay in their cave and not go looking for anything new and different because anything different means death. His daughter, Eep, is getting curious about what else is out there, beyond their little family cave. One night Eep leaves the safety of their cave and meets a guy named...Guy. He tells her the world is ending and they need to get to higher ground. So Eep, Guy, and her reluctant family set out to find safety.

I usually don't go to theaters and watch movies but when my family asked if I wanted to see 'The Croods' I wasn't about to say no. I have to admit I was a little skeptical at first but I really enjoyed everything about this movie, from beginning to end. The actors delivered a great performance for their characters and the colors and animation were amazing and did not disappoint me. I also loved all the strange yet surprisingly cute animals. It was interesting that throughout their journey they "invent" shoes, umbrellas, and the snapshot, just to name a few.

I liked all of the characters. Each one had a different personality, whether it was wild and crazy or goofy. Grug seems set  in his ways but I was happy with the way his character developed, at one point his selfless sacrifice had me close to tears. Some of Eep's interactions with Guy was so funny, at times she didn't say anything to him, she just sat there staring at him with a goofy look on her face. The tail on Gran's outfit was a little strange, it's like she skinned a lizard and decided the hide would make a great dress but I liked her, she liked to give Grug a hard time.

Although the ending was slightly predictable, I still loved it. I would say this movie is for anyone who wants to see a great animated movie that's not directed at just children. I fully intend on buying this movie when it's released on DVD.

Rating: 5/5

 

 

 

4 Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along. Just do the following:

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!

My teasers:

"For a moment I do not see the cardinal's worried face. I do not see the hard expression of  Thomas Howard."

Pg. 392, "The White Queen" by Philippa Gregory








Well that's my teaser for the week. What book or books did you feature in your post?  

4 Stacking the Shelves (14)

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that highlight's the books we receive each week.

BOUGHT

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards

Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon

 

The Secret Circle by L. J. Smith

 

 

 

That's it for me. What did you add to your shelf?