Super Six Sunday (1)

Super Six Sunday is an original bookish meme hosted at Bewitched Bookworms and inspired by “Top Ten Tuesday” from The Broke and The Bookish . You can see the weekly schedule of themes here.

I decided to do a Super Six Sunday this week, because the topic looked really interesting and I would love to share!

Super Six Favorite Supernatural Creatures
(In no particular order)

 

 

 

Mermaids
Just because they are awesome :-)

 

Revenants

They are kind of like zombies but nice.

Aliens
These don't really count as supernatural. But I'm still gonna list them!
(the human-like guys not the green guys)




Faeries
(I meant to spell it that way!)



Werewolves
Not the mean ones but the nice ones. Especially in Kathleen Peacocks books.



Time Travelers
I don't know another name for them!


So that's my list! You might say that some creatures are missing like vampires or ghosts, but I have never been a big fan of either.
Feel free to link below to this feature or any other! I would love to check it out.

Stacking The Shelves (9) and Weekly Summary

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

 

Here are the books I bought/received this week.




Review Copy:
Amulet Of Elusion - Katie Lynn Johnson
Katie was nice enough to send me a paperback copy of her book in exchange for a review!

Bought As E-book:
Allegiant - Veronica Roth
I'm pretty sure this is going to be on everyone's book haul this week.
Insurgent - Veronica Roth
I read this one in anticipation for Allegiant.

Netgalley:
Lady Thief (Scarlet #2) - A. C. Gaughen
I really liked Scarlet so I am excited to read this one!

Library:
Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
The Essence - Kimberly Derting
The Giver - Lois Lowry




Weekly Summary:

Another Little Piece Review

Monday YA Author Interview With Melanie Dickerson

Waiting On Wednesday (6) Double Digit

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True Review












 

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True (goodreads link)
Sarah Strohmeyer
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary/Retelling/Romance

When cousins Zoe and Jess land summer internships at the Fairyland Kingdom theme park, they are sure they've hit the jackpot. With perks like hot Abercrombie-like Prince Charmings and a chance to win the coveted $25,000 Dream & Do grant, what more could a girl want?

Once Zoe arrives, however, she's assigned to serve "The Queen"-Fairyland's boss from hell. From spoon-feeding her evil lapdog caviar, to fetching midnight sleeping tonics, Zoe fears she might not have what it takes to survive the summer, much less win the money.

Soon backstabbing interns, a runaway Cinderella, and cutthroat competition make Zoe's job more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. What will happen when Zoe is forced to choose between serving The Queen and saving the prince of her dreams?







Review:

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True, is such a step away from the typical young adult contemporary's that have been put out recently. The cover is a bit deceiving in what the story is about.

Zoe and her cousin Jess are offered a chance at an internship at a entertainment park called Fairyland, They accept, Jess with the hope of being a princess, and Zoe with the hope of having a part at all.
After their arrival Zoe learns that she has been chosen as The "Queens" personal "Lady in Waiting" or assistant. Which requires her to pretty much wait on her every whim.

Zoe is a really cute and nice character, trying to make money for college, and trying to heal from past problems. She is also really selfless, but there is a point where selflessness is not good anymore and Zoe almost crossed the very thin line of this. The romance between Zoe and two guys (not mentioning which two guys) was adorable and sweet and altogether it is really hard to decide which guy I liked better. Zoe's relationship with her cousin is something like you would expect in best friends, not cousins. They trust each other and share each others dreams.
Zoe does grow from a fresh out of high school teenager, into someone who is capable of making decisions for herself and really maturing.

I found myself really enjoying the plot....with every character in the book being a "fairy tale" character at Fairyland. It  puts a really interesting twist on the classic "Cinderella" story.  The book flowed from chapter to chapter pretty well, although I found some points were not described enough in detail, and other were described a little too much.

Good ending, with no obvious loose ends (although if Sarah decided to write a sequel I won't complain at all I promise!).

Altogether I really liked this! If you want a standalone that is absolutely adorable, I would highly recommend this and Sarah's other book, Smart Girl's Get What They Want. And just on a side note, the cover is adorable!
4.5/5

Waiting On Wednesday (6)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is

 Double Digit (Digit #2)
Annabel Monaghan
Expected publication: January 7th 2014 by HMH Books for Young Readers


To say eighteen-year-old Farrah Higgins—or Digit—is good at math is a laughable understatement. She’s been cracking codes since childhood, and is finally at home with “her people” at MIT in Cambridge. Her talents are so off the charts that her laptop is under surveillance by both the CIA and an ecoterrorist named Jonas Furnis. So when she thoughtlessly hacks into the Department of Defense’s database, she lands in serious hot water inside and outside the law. Readers will be sad to turn the last page of this suspenseful, sassy, super smart thriller, the sequel to A Girl Named Digit.

A Girl Named Digit was really cute and fun, so I can't wait to see what the author comes up with for this sequel!

 

Previous book in series:

A Girl Named Digit (Digit #1)





Author Bio:

Annabel (Schwedes) Monaghan spent her teenage years almost making it happen. Annabel's claim to fame is being dumped by the cutest guy in Los Angeles - twice! She had dinner with Madonna once. Okay, not at the same table, but at the same restaurant. A former investment banker, she's much happier writing.

Monday YA Author Interview With Melanie Dickerson

I am super excited for this interview. I first read Melanie Dickerson in 2010 when The Healer's Apprentice first came out, and have fallen in love with her fairy tale retellings since then!

Goodreads Links:
The Healer's Apprentice (Sleeping Beauty)
The Merchant's Daughter (Beauty And The Beast)
 The Fairest Beauty (Snow White)
 The Captive Maiden (Cinderella) (coming November 2013)




Where are you from?
I am from a tiny town in “Lower Alabama,” McKenzie, about 30 miles from Monroeville, where Harper Lee grew up. And my maiden name is Lee, so I always wondered if she and I were related.

When and why did you begin writing?
I think I started writing when I was in about the sixth grade. I actually don’t remember. But around that time I started writing stories in spiral notebooks and passing them around to let my friends read them.



What books have most influenced your life most?
The Bible influenced my life the most. I started reading a chapter of the Bible every night when I was about 13 years old, and I loved the Psalms. I also really loved Jane Austen’s books, which I discovered in junior high or high school. When I was 13, I also read Jane Eyre for the first time, and Gone With the Wind, which I read 6 times in the next 3 years. Since I now write historical romance, I think it’s safe to say I was influenced by those books, since they were all period romances. I think you could also validly argue that the Bible is also a romance—God’s romance of us.


If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Mary Connealy has been my mentor since 2005, and I have lots of wonderful writer friends who have helped and encouraged me.


What book are you reading now?
I have lots of research books right now that I got from my library. I’m always researching some time period or another, and I’m actually re-reading Siri Mitchell’s Kissing Adrien. It’s a few years old, but so much fun to read.


Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
I am really behind on my reading! I hate to say it but I haven’t actually read the new authors that are out there right now. I need to rectify that.


Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
My favorite author is probably Kate DiCamillo. I love the simplicity of her writing style. But she can still make me cry with the way she puts things so poignantly. I just love her stories, especially Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux. I also enjoy Mary Connealy’s and Ruth Axtell’s books.


What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Every aspect of writing a book, from research to plotting to writing the first draft to editing, is hard and also enjoyable. I love every step, but it’s also hard work. Not sure what I would consider the hardest. Writing the first draft is probably the most time consuming and intense, and research is possibly my least favorite.


Have you been an avid reader your entire life? (since you could read)
Yes, I’ve always loved to read, as long as I can remember.

 

Ok now some fun questions:

What is your favorite sport to watch and or play?
I like watching my daughters play volleyball, and I grew up watching Alabama football with my dad, who was an avid fan, and I sometimes enjoy watching the games now with my husband. I used to love playing softball as a kid, but my school didn’t have a girls team, so I didn’t get to play very long. To be honest, I’m not much of a sports fan anymore. I do like to take naps on Saturday afternoons. That’s my idea of a fun activity! Ha!



Favorite Movie?
Do I have to pick just one? It’s a Wonderful Life. Or National Velvet. Or the long version of Pride and Prejudice.



Chocolate or Vanilla?
If it’s ice cream, vanilla. Everything else, chocolate.



Puppy's or Kittens?
Puppies

 

Beach or Mountains?
Beach is great any time except summer. Mountains are great any time except winter. (Can you tell I don’t like extreme temperatures?)



If you could be a color, what color would you be?
Red!



Favorite Dessert?
Chocolate pie, chocolate cake, chocolate cookies, anything chocolate.



If you could be a book character, what character would you be?
Elizabeth Bennet, because she gets Mr. Darcy.

Another Little Piece Review

Another Little Piece

Kate Karyus Quinn

Published June 11th 2013 by HarperTeen


The spine-tingling horror of Stephen King meets an eerie mystery worthy of Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series in Kate Karyus Quinn's haunting debut.

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish . . . a bloody razor . . . and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese's fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape—unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past.

Review:

Honestly this book confused me so much that I have no idea how to write this review.

The cover is very deceiving, if you are looking for a fun, light read do not read this book! But if you are looking for a terrifying thriller/horror then you are definitely in the right place.

Annaliese Rose Gordon is a missing persons case, who after being "lost" for a year, somehow walks out of the woods states away. She doesn't remember anything from her past life.

Annaliese is a pretty interesting heroine, who continually has flashbacks of "memory's" from other peoples lives. Throughout all of this she also is trying to fit in with her "family" and old "friends.

The relationships in this book worked out well, but don't expect this book to be romantic at all. I noticed some users of goodreads shelved it as romance, but I would personally not consider romance to be much of the book at all. Annaliese does connect with her "past" boyfriend Logan, who is still very much in love with her but ends up breaking his heart as she also connects with "bad boy" Dex.

Annaliese's friendship with Gwen is understated as Gwen try's to help Annaliese recover her memories.

The world building of this horror story is ultimately confusing in all ways....I just couldn't connect the dots from point to point. I tried re-reading the chapters but that doesn't really help that much.

Annaliese goes through so much growth throughout this book as she discovers who she is and who she will become.

This book was hard to put down in the way that the plot kept on going and was very exciting...and from what I have heard of Stephen King books this sounds pretty similar.

Although this book had the makings for a very good story, at the end I was left with so many questions that I just couldn't really connect myself into the book. But I would still recommend this book if you like horror and thrillers but be prepared to be re-reading some chapters to make sure that you take in all the little plot points and details.
I would give this a 2.5/5

Stacking The Shelves (8)

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

 

Here are the books I bought/received this week.

This week was really exciting for me!

 

 

 

 

Library:

Scarlet - A. C. Gaughen

Sapphire Blue - Kersin Gier

(I enjoyed Ruby Red so I was really quick to get the sequel!)

Confessions Of A Murder Suspect - James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

(This one looks really interesting! Let me know if you have read it and what you thought of it!)

 

E-book Review Copy's From Netgalley:

Crash Into You - Katie McGarry

 (Finished this one already and will have a review closer to release date up)

Pawn - Aimee Carter

(I have heard so many great things about this one and super excited to read it!)

 

E-book To Review From Tour (upcoming):

Covert Assignment - Missy Marciassa

(I am really excited to be a part of this upcoming tour)

 

Won:

A Really Awesome Mess - Trish Cook & Brendan Halpin

(Thanks Addicted 2 Novels)

Just One Wish - Janette Rallison

(Janette Rallison did a giveaway for two of her books each day in preparations of her upcoming book and I was lucky enough to win a copy of this one)

Resist - Sarah Crossan

(Won an ARC of this for participating in Epic Reads Tea Time!)

 

Weekly Summary:

 

Hitler's Secret Mini Review

Monday YA Author Interview With Danielle Sibarium And A Cover Reveal For Her Latest Book

Endless Review

Waiting On Wednesday (5)

How To Save A Life Review