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Audiobook Review : The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

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“Gansey, that’s all there is.”

– Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven Boys

 

  • Release Date : 9/18/2012
  • Genre : Urban Fantasy
  • Publisher : Scholastic
  • Length : 11 hours 18 minutes

Synopsis:  It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them-not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all-family money, good looks, devoted friends-but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys

Going in to The Raven Boys  I  heard a lot of good things from other bloggers and based on Kat’s review I had pretty high expectations, all of which were met. The Raven Boys reads like a modern-day fairytale. In the small town of Henrietta, Virginia three boys who attend the elite Aglionby Academy and a psychic’s daughter embark upon a clandestine quest into the mystical, occult and magic; lead by the enigmatic Richard Gansey III….

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Lazy Days of Summer Spontaneous Giveaway Hop : Signed ARC of Fire With Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

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Sense List Vol. 24

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Book Review : The Boy On The Bridge by Natalie Standiford

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  • Release Date : July 30th 2013
  • Genre : Realistic Fiction
  • Pages : 256
  • Publisher : Scholastic


Synopsis : Laura Reid goes to Leningrad for a semester abroad as Cold War paranoia is peaking in 1982. She meets a young Russian artist named Alexei, and soon, with Alexei as her guide, Laura immerses herself in the real Russia–a crazy world of wild parties, black-market books and music, and smuggled letters to dissidents. She must keep the relationship secret; associating with Americans is dangerous for Alexei, and if caught, Laura could be sent home and Alexei put under surveillance or worse. . . 

Nineteen-year-old Laura Reid has always dreamed of going to Russia.  She wants to experience the passion, violence and history of the nation’s past. When her studies bring her and a group of
American students to Russia it is hardly what she expected.

It’s 1982 and the Russia of her dreams and Communist USSR are not one in the same. Her days consist of dull classes, harassing gypsies, empty grocery stores and the constant reminder that her US passport makes her
an object of scrutiny and jealousy….

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Book Review : Half-Blood Jennifer Armentrout

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  • Genre : Fantasy
  • Pages : 304
  • Publication Date : October 18th 2011
  • Publisher : Spencer Hill

Synopsis : The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.Unfortunately, she’s crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn’t her biggest problem–staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery . . .

I know what you are thinking. How have I not read this book ? Jennifer Armentrout is probably every bloggers favorite author.

In 2011 Armentrout started off at two small presses (Spencer Hill and Entangled) , since then she has gained legions of fans and  plenty success to accompany it. She was one of  Entangled Publishing’s first books to be produced in mass market papaerback and the first Spencer Hill author published in hardcover.

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Book Review : Ink by Amanda Sun

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“When the ink stopped being ink and started being. . . well, something else.”

– Ink, Amanda Sun

 

  • Release Date : June 25th 2013
  • Genre : Urban Fanstasy
  • Page Number : 377
  • Publisher : Harlequin Teen

. . . And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine. 
 Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.
Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. . .Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive

At first glance Ink is your basic YA formula; teen girl in a new environment and a chance encounter finds her inexplicably drawn to the jerk whose personality changes could give you whiplash.

However, Sun freshens up the usual YA status quo by setting the story in Japan, giving the story a nice bout of culture and diversity. The setting gives readers a glimpse into how other people live without being “showcase-y” about it. There isn’t an attempt to spoon-feed the reader, meaning Sun doesn’t attempt to explain every nuance about Japanese life to the readers.

The first chapter of this novel will without a doubt pull you in. American Katie Green is an outsider living in Shizuoka, Japan with her aunt after the death of her mother. All she has to do is keep her head down until she can move in with her grandparents in Canada. 

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