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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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Dealing With After : Miracle by Elizabeth Scott and Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

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 It’s time for another head to head book faceoff ! These two novels were ones I read months apart and just really didn’t have much to say about. I wasn’t even going to review them but, then I realized they dealt with the same issue; The After. What happens after a traumatic event that shakes not only our protagonist, but also a small town community.

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Audiobook Review : Between The Lines by Tammara Webber

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“Fame is people screaming your name, loving you, hating you, all on a whim”

–Tammara Webber, Between The Lines

 

 

  • Release Date: November 15th, 2012
  • Genre: Contemporary
  • Hours: 8 hours 48 minutes
  • Publisher: Brilliance Audio 

Synopsis:  Reid Alexander is used to getting what he wants – and what he wants next is his newest costar, Emma Pierce. The universe is lining up nicely to grant his wish, until he’s confronted with two unexpected obstacles on location: a bitter ex-girlfriend and a rival for Emma’s affections.
Emma Pierce just got her big break after years of filming commercials and made-for-TV movies. Winning the lead role in a wide-release film – opposite the very hot Reid Alexander – should be a dream come true. But Emma’s heart is hiding a secret fantasy: she wants to be a normal girl 

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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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Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

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  • Release Date: February 26th , 2013
  • Genre: Contemporary
  • Pages: 325
  • Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin (Macmillan)

Synopsis: Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under

 I was first made aware of this novel by the words of   John Green’s glowing review in The New York Times; and now it seem this book is the talk of YA fans. Just Google the title and you will see pages of fanart and reviews.

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Top Ten Moments from BookExpo America

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This year we focused on video so we could make a vlog about BEA….however, with Kat’s computer out of commission, it might be a while so, here is our BEA coverage in list form!

1. BEA Bloggers Conference

We really enjoyed the BEA Bloggers conference this year more than last.  The sessions were separated  by YA and  Adult. This Ihelped make the conversation more tailored. It was awesome hearing some of our  favorite bloggers speak in person.  After the session on blogging platforms we might be ready to convert to WordPress. . . maybe.

2. Teen Author Carnival

One of the highlights from Teen Author Carnival was hearing about how the cover of David Levithan’s Two Boys Kissing was made. It was taken by a teenage photographer.

3. Meet N Greet (Jess)

This year I found myself meeting and chatting with more librarians/teachers than book bloggers. I even met a charter school principal who was going to use signed books and ARCs to encourage her kids to improve their test scores.

4. The Bloggers

We met so many great bloggers. Everyone was so nice and stylish ! Special shout outs to Ashling from Reading Writing and Anything But Arithmetic, Alyssia from Mocha Girls Reads, Emily from Love YA Lit, Asher from Paranormal Indulgence, Mandee from Vegan YA Nerds Allison from Allison Can Read (who we meant to get a pic with) La’Mecia from Rotten Apple Reads and her sister Ta’Necia from Never Ending Stories and so many more !

5. Getting The Word Out There

Unlike last year, Kat and I made an effort to go to publishers we read the most and talk with publicist about Books and Sensibility.

6. Barnes and Noble’s Union Square Penguin Signing.

Kat and I are big Sarah Dessen and Marie Lu fans so we had to go to the Penguin author event in Union Square ! We showed up late (I had to go to the ELF store and  had some Famous Famigila Pizza) but standing up in the back was the best seat in the house. Richelle Mead has so many fans so we had to skip over her. I’ve linked to  Marie Lu’s fanart on her website and we asked her if she would draw something in the book.  I was expecting a logo or something instead she drew Day and June.

7. Holly Black

We went to the Holly Black signing and I told her how much I love the Curse Worker’s audiobook and she said how surprised she was that t Jesse Eisenberg was willing to do the sequel audiobooks even though he was Facebook-movie famous.

8. The Food

New York City is the place for foodies. We didn’t have time to try everything we wanted but we did try Korean fried chicken, Pinkberry (the New York ones are better than the DC ones) and ramen.



9. The Publicists (Kat)

A lot of the time the long lines at BEA are manned by people in the publications marketing or PR staff. While

waiting in line I got to chat with publicists about the books they were most excited about  and a few times they left their station to go and get me the galley we were just talking about. They were so awesome ! Siena, who works in publicity at Simon and Schuster had this cute Life’s A Witch phone case !

10. Dr. Who Fans (Kat)

I whipped out myTARDIS phone case for BEA. It was a nice icebreaker for when I met Robyn Schnieder who is a big Dr. Who fan. One woman saw it and told me she and her husband incorporated a Dr. Who quotes into their wedding.