Review: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

  Title: Wicked Lovely           Pages: 328
  Author: Melissa Marr          Source: Library
  Publisher: HarperTeen       Published: Jun 12, 2007         
  Series: Wicked Lovely        Purchase: Amazon
  Rating: 4 out of 5

Aislinn has a secret: she can see faeries. She does all she can to avoid these evil creatures, abiding all her life by simple rules set and enforced by her guardian, her Grams.

Rule #3 – Never stare at invisible faeries.

Rule #2 – Don't answer invisible faeries.

Rule #1 – Don't ever attract faeries' attention.

These rules become increasingly hard to follow when faeries start following her. Even more difficult when one particular faerie dons a glamour to talk to her. Keenan, the Summer King, is determined to see if Aislinn is the Summer Queen that he's been searching for for more than nine centuries. Aislinn isn't the only girl that he's set his eyes on, though.

I had trouble getting through the first half of Wicked Lovely. It was certainly interesting, just a bit slow paced.

Aislinn was another fierce female character. Melissa Marr wrote her perfectly. Marr balances Aislinn's strong, head-held-high attitude with being able to see faeries - something that terrifies her. Aislinn is a character that didn't back down and I loved reading her. She was a wonderfully balanced and amazing heroine. I never once disliked her.

I was definitely rooting on Seth as the pages grew on. I adored the scenes between him and Aislinn, and loved how he tried to 'protect' her from immortal faeries. He acts invincible in an amazingly cute way. I loved his unique personality not normally seen in a co-leading male role.

Now, even though I was definitely on Seth's team, I still loved the character of Keenan. He was written just as beautifully and perfectly as Seth and Aislinn. All three seemed so well thought out and balanced. Most of the characters felt like actual characters instead of filler characters and all of them had a personality, even the smaller characters.

That brings me to the writing and the plot. They were both so well done, that I was incredibly glad I kept reading. Even though it starts off at a slow pace, the pace quickly starts up and captures your attention. Marr writes beautifully and effortlessly in every sense of the words. Her descriptions illustrated Wicked Lovely in, well, a wicked lovely way.

The plot was both surprising and not, but not in a bad sense, more like a comforting way. Some points were foreshadowed and you knew they were going to happen, but many were unexpected twists in the story. It was incredibly unique too, what with the four faerie courts: Summer, Winter, Dark, and High Courts. I enjoyed all the lore that came with it, as well as the excerpts from different books on the subject at the start of each chapter.

Overall, Wicked Lovely was an awesome read and I will definitely read the second in the series.

I give Wicked Lovely a 4 out of 5.

Waiting On Wednesday (6)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week's can't-wait-to-read selection is..

  Title: Still Waters
  Author: Emma Carlson Berne
  Publisher: Simon Pulse
  Published: Dec 20, 2011
  Pages: 240
  Goodreads

Hannah and Colin seem to have the perfect relationship, but as her second-to-last year of school draws to a close and Colin prepares to head off to college, Hannah feels he might be slipping away. She knows they need some real quality time alone if she’s going to hold on to him.

So when she finds pictures of his old family lake house, she secretly schemes to get him there. But when they arrive, he’s not thrilled. Actually, he’s totally freaked out. And though she gets him to relax, his behavior become stranger by the day: he disappears for long stretches of the night, has a bizarre breakdown in a nearby diner, and when the car stops running, he seems completely unconcerned about fixing it.

The lake house holds secrets, and what Hannah doesn’t know and Colin can’t
remember just might kill them both.

First of all, the cover art is beautiful. Second, it sounds so wonderfully creepy. Count me in.

What are you waiting on?

Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop (6)

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books.

Question:
Give us 5 book related silly facts about you:

1. I have bookshelves but I don’t actually use them. The reason is below.
2. I don’t use my bookshelves because I only have about 15 books or so.
3. I house them on my living room shelf, for convenience.
4. I don’t like to dog ear my books and hate it when I check a book out from the library and there’s damage.
5. I’ve won a lot of book contests and have been sad because I haven’t won/received a book in a while lol.

Question:
If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…which one would it be and why?

I would have to say the Harry Potter world because I want to be able to do magic!! Mostly for stupid stuff such as materializing food out of thin air. *stomach growls*

Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop (5)

I messed up the previous Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop’s title. It was supposed to be 4 last time, so just pretend it was .

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books.

Question:
How did you come up with your blog name?

I like books and I like tea. Lol. It actually didn’t take very long, but I didn’t want it to be just “Meghan’s reviews.” Although that might work for some people, it’s too plain for myself lol. So there you have it, a big look in my genius mind!

Question:
Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?

I always have several going at once, so if I’m bored with one book, I can just start reading another and come back to that one when I want. Otherwise, I’d never read if I limited myself to one book at a time lol.

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

  Title: Shiver                                          Pages: 392
  Author: Maggie Stiefvater                       Source: Library   
  Publisher: Scholastic Press                   Published: Aug 1, 2009  
  Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls          Purchase: Amazon
  Rating: 3 out of 5

Grace was attacked by wolves when she was young and survived. Since then, she has spent her time watching them, one in particular. Her wolf - the one with the yellow wolf eyes.

Sam has a secret. He's a wolf by winter, boy by summer. He lives his two lives, watching the girl all the while. He never dares to speak to her while he is human, until she finds him on her deck in her backyard, naked and cold.

Now that they have each other, they don't want to let go. But with winter creeping up, threatening Sam's inner animal, they must fight to keep him human.

I've heard tons of good reviews of Shiver, so I decided it was time to pick this book up to read. Let me tell you, I struggled through the first half of it. I went back and forth from hating it and liking it, but never loving it. The closest I came to loving it was during the middle to the end, where things picked up instead of seeming like a bunch of filler scenes.

I loved the character of Grace through and through. I never once disliked her. She was strong, yet not in the overpowering way. She still was vulnerable at times, but she was brave. She was also smart and witty and an overall wonderful heroine. I enjoyed reading her character and it was one of the things that made me keep reading this book.

I went back and forth from hating Sam, to not minding him. I never loved his character throughout reading, but came to the conclusion of just liking him. In the beginning of the book, he seemed incredibly juvenile and immature. He was not the strong male character I was hoping for. He was far too sensitive at times for my taste. This got much better as the story went on and he really evolved throughout the novel, becoming more strong and mature. If this was a novel solely about Sam, I would have never finished it.

The plot was quite intriguing with the way Maggie Stiefvater created her own unique twist on wolves, what with coldness changing them. I loved when authors take a worn idea and make it their own, twisting in their own unique ideas and creativity, rather than having a clichéd novel.

There were many twists and many I didn't see coming. I was almost about to stop reading, but I got to the middle and things really started taking off more, with less mushy I-finally-have-you romance, and more I-need-to-keep-you-now-that-I-have-you action. To me, there was hardly a plot up until the middle, so I'm very glad I kept trekking.

Overall, I am definitely glad that I kept reading, as I enjoyed the last half of the book far more than the first. Maggie Stiefvater created a wonderfully unique world of wolves and romance and I would recommend this to anybody that loves wolves or just general paranormal romance. I will be reading Linger the next chance I get.

I give Shiver a 3 out of 5.

In My Mailbox (4)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren and is a weekly meme to showcase what you got over the week by buying, receiving, borrowing, stealing from a friend etc.

For Review (from Luxury Reading):

Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus
(I’m really enjoying this so far!)

E-Galleys:

The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
(ecstatic over this, I loved the first! I’m surprised I was approved! Thank you HarperTeen!)

Bumped by Megan McCafferty
(I was surprised and excited that I was approved for this one, thank you Balzer + Bray!)

Mercy by Rebecca Lim
(thank you Disney-Hyperion!)

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
(highly enjoying this so far, thank you Harlequin Teen!)

Contests:

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
(suuuuuuper excited about this, thank you to Amanda from Maestra Amanda’s Bookshelf)

Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula by Elise Stokes
(from Goodreads giveaway, thank you Elise Stokes!)

Mystify by Artist Arthur
(thank you vvb32 Reads!)

Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith
(thank you YA Books Central!)

I got extremely lucky lately and won a bunch of contests, so maybe that luck will keep going for a while? I believe I’m going to do a giveaway for everyone that reads my reviews. I’ll try to do one soon, either for 50, 75, or 100 followers .

Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop (3)

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books.

Question:
Who are you the boy/girl, instead of you the blogger?

When I first saw that question, I went huh? That was a weird way to ask the question . Anyway, I’m Meghan the girl. I’m pretty nerdy I guess? Not entirely so, I’m not really sure on that. I love reading and the computer. Anything with the computer like just plain old surfing and PC games. I love playing video games in general.

I have a boyfriend and he’s most of my life. When I’m not on the computer, I’m usually watching TV or doing something with him.

Uhh.. I’m pretty shy and antisocial, but I am pretty crazy if I know you well. I have no idea how else to describe myself without getting negative (I’m very self conscious and I hate it!)

Question:
If I gave you $80 and sent you into a bookshop right now, what would be in your basket when you finally staggered to the till?

Hmm.. entire Pretty Little Liars series. Entire Vampire Diaries series (those bind ups). Delirium, If I Stay, Before I Fall, uhh.. if I have money left after all that, then whatever looks pretty or looks very interesting (preferably both!).

…Can I have my money now?

Review: Tithe by Holly Black

  Title: Tithe                                 Pages: 331
  Author: Holly Black                   Source: Library
  Publisher: Simon Pulse            Published: Mar 23, 2011
  Series: Modern Faerie Tales    Purchase: Amazon
  Rating: 4 out of 5

Sixteen-year-old Kaye travels from city to city with her mom and the various bands she's been in. Kaye isn't normal - she's weird actually, but she considers it a good weird. She sees faeries and had three faerie friends when she was little. No one believes her when she tells this to people and they consider her strange.

When Kaye moves back into her Grandma's house where she used to play with the three faeries, she gets a message from them saying that they need her help - they need her to pretend to sacrifice herself for an ancient faerie treaty.

I struggled for the first one hundred or so pages with this book. I just couldn't seem to get into it and wasn't understanding what was happening due to that fact. I'm really glad I trekked on. I love faeries, so I thought this book would be right up my alley. I didn't really know much about the premise, though, but I was really interested as I kept reading on.

The plot was very interesting and heavy with lore, which I loved. I loved learning what a faery Tithe is and learning about the Seelie and Unseelie court. The plot had some unseen twists, which is always welcome, and they were handled quite well. I was frustrated at different times, but I cannot say anything really without giving away the plot (if you'd like to know, please look to the bottom of the review), sort of.

The writing was absolutely lovely. Everything is described beautifully, yet it leaves some details for the imagination, too. The writing is one of the things that made me keep reading the book to the end. Holly Black writes effortlessly and eloquently.

Kaye was an amazing main character because of the fact that she's strong and fearless most of the time. She has her moments of where she's completely naive and in a way scared, which balances her strong personality wonderfully. She was written incredibly well and I simply adored her character.

Roiben was dreamy and so hard to read, I could never tell what his emotions were. I loved the chapters written in his point of view, because I gained some insight to his mind and how it worked. He was so sophisticated it seemed. Another well written character.

My favorite character though, hands down, was Lutie-loo. She was adorable and I found myself practically squealing everytime she came into the story, had dialogue, or did something. I loved her.

Again, I'm very glad that I finished Tithe. I loved Kaye's world and will certainly read Valiant in the near future and am now a fan of Holly Black. I would recommend Tithe to any faerie lovers or if you've never read a book about faeries, I'd recommend Tithe as your intro into the world of these sometimes devious creatures.

I give Tithe a 4 out of 5.

Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler
Spoiler!!!! I didn't like that once she learned Roiben's real name, at a number of times she could have commanded him to ignore everyone else's commands and/or to change his name. I was practically screaming at Kaye to realize this :P.

Review: The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell

  Title: The Vespertine                      Pages: 293
  Author: Saundra Mitchell                Source: NetGalley
  Publisher: Harcourt Children’s       Published: Mar 7, 2011
  Series: The Vespertine                   Purchase: Amazon
  Rating: 3 out of 5

Amelia van den Broek is staying with her cousins in Baltimore, for a change of pace to finds friends and a suitable husband. It's 1889, but Amelia and Zora, her cousin's daughter, do not take any fun in being normal, good young ladies. They enjoy having a wicked streak, before they are to marry and have to settle down.

But Amelia is weighted by her gift - she can look into the sunset and see glimpses of the future. Having no other means to psychic abilities, people all over Baltimore start to call on Amelia for her visions, mostly pleasant. Sometimes disturbing.

And with a forbidden romance with an artist, Nathaniel Witherspoon, Amelia has trouble holding back her desires, even though Mr. Witherspoon could be harboring his own secrets.

I would like to say that I do not care for many Historical Romance books, so this review is heavily influenced by that.

The characters are a very strong point to The Vespertine. Everyone has so much depth. I felt like I knew Amelia and Zora, and I loved their characters. Amelia is in between ladylike and carefree and it's her time in her life where she's trying to find herself. She's not as graceful as most other young ladies, nor as proper at most times. Her cousin, Zora Stewart, is a mix between her parents - Elegant and witty and spitfire.

Nathaniel was an okay lead male character for me. I liked him, but not as much as other male characters. He was sweet and carefree and didn't follow any rules but his own, yet he wasn't a bad boy by any means. He just wasn't marriage material by their time's standards.

The writing was wonderful, but for me it was hard to understand at times, because of not liking historial fiction. It's like reading Shakespeare - you either understand it and love it or you don't understand quite what they're saying. Everything was described beautifully, better than a lot of books are described. The beginning of the book was confusing, but only in the way that you don't have enough information, and as I read on it was clear to me.

The setting felt authentic, unlike some historical fiction I assume. The dialogue and the descriptions - everything - was described in how one would talk if you were in 1889, and I highly respected Saundra Mitchell's intelligence by the end.

Overall, I liked the premise of the book, but I couldn't totally get into the historical setting. This is just my likes and dislikes, so if you like historical romance, I'd recommend this to you without hesitation.

The characters are lovely, the setting is authentic and the writing is beautiful. I wouldn't hesitate either to try Mitchell's other work.

I give The Vespertine a 3 out of 5.

Review: Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster (Luxury Reading review)

  Title: Human.4                          Pages: 240                
  Author: Mike A. Lancaster        Source: Luxury Reading 
  Publisher: Egmont USA           Published: 3/8/11  
  Series: ?                                   Purchase: Amazon
  Rating: 3 out 5

Kyle Straker volunteered along with three other people to be hypnotized during a talent show by one of his friends. He figured it’d just be him hypnotized to cluck like a chicken and that’d be it. Boy, was he wrong.

He and the three others wake up to find everyone sitting completely still, not blinking. Kyle, thinking it’s a joke, calls out to them that they can quit the joke. Nobody moves. That’s when Kyle thinks something a lot more sinister is going on. And when he and the others find that no communicational devices work in their village and the computers are streaming a weird, moving language, he knows something sinister is going on. Is it a plague? …Aliens??

Narrated through cassette tapes, Kyle Straker unfolds his chilling story of technology gone too far.

I want to say first that I did enjoy this book. There are several flaws, though, that held me back from liking it more.

Want to read the rest of my review? Please go here: Luxury Reading
 

I give this book a 3 out of 5.

Why do I only have some of the review here? I am going to be reviewing books for Luxury Reading, and Human.4 was my first one. Each post I have with a Luxury Reading review will be set up just like this one, where I’ll have you go to the link to read the rest of the review, because Vera (the blog owner) kindly ships books to me to review.

I will of course still have full reviews on my blog, so keep a look out for those .

In My Mailbox (3)

Just gonna go ahead and post this today, as I'm not sure if I'll be able to tomorrow. In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren and is a weekly meme to showcase what you got over the week by buying, receiving, borrowing, stealing from a friend etc.

Library:

 Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

 City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

 Evermore by Alyson Noel

 Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Won:

 The Lo Down by Lo Bosworth won from Dreaming of Books

 Timeless by Alexandra Monir won from Confessions of a Book Addict

Miles From Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams won from ?

I have no idea where this one came from, as I haven't gotten an email stating I won this, so I'm extremely confused but happy. I love this book so far (on like page 60 or so), and it definitely seems like it could be my favorite book, if it keeps up the same pace! So thank you to whomever!

I also received signed swag from Kiki Hamilton. I received four bookmarks (all signed) and a postcard that was signed to me, so that was a pleasant surprise (I didn't know they'd be signed!). If you want some swag, email Kiki your mailing address and she'll send you some! By the way, they're gorgeous! They feature the same design as her book (image below, as I don't have access to a camera right now). I'm thinking about trying to do a giveaway once I hit 100 followers, so I'll definitely include one of these beautiful bookmarks if I do! I have three to share :).

Totally gorgeous, am I right?

Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop (3)

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books.



Question:
What embarrassing thing have you done on cold medicine?

I've never done anything embarrassing while on cold medicine. And I'm assuming this question is either for or includes liquid cold medicine. That's the only kind I've ever taken :P.
I use :P a lot.... :P.


Question:
Who is your all-time favorite book villain?

Um.. this is tough because I haven't really read that many YA books (new to it kinda). I guess I'll say... Jules or Rixon from Hush, Hush/Crescendo respectively. I really have no idea.

Waiting on Wednesday (5)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week's can't-wait-to-read selection is..

Title: Forgotten
Author: Cat Patrick
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: June 7, 2011
Pages: 304
Goodreads

Each night when 16 year-old London Lane goes to sleep, her whole world disappears. In the morning, all that's left is a note telling her about a day she can't remember. The whole scenario doesn't exactly make high school or dating that hot guy whose name she can't seem to recall any easier. But when London starts experiencing disturbing visions she can't make sense of, she realizes it's time to learn a little more about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

Part psychological drama, part romance, and part mystery, this thought-provoking novel will inspire readers to consider the what-if's in their own lives and recognize the power they have to control their destinies.

That cover is so pretty, I cannot wait to read this!

Teaser Tuesday (4)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should be Reading
Rules:
-Grab your current read
-Open to a random page
-Share two sentences from that page
-Be careful not to include spoilers!
-Include the book titles and author, so other participants can add the book the their TBR pile!
This week's teaser comes from..

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

page 46
’My heart leaped into my throat. Ava. I fell to my knees next to her, too afraid to touch her, but her eyes were open and she wasn't bleeding anymore and she was alive.’

Note: I am reading The Goddess Test through NetGalley