How I Live Now

Title: How I Live Now
Author: Meg Rosoff
Genre: YA
Rating: 3/5
Cover: 6/10

This book was different, and definitely not what I was expecting.

Knowing it was YA, I never thought it would deal with something like incest so openly, and yet there is no doubt in the book about what is going on, and Daisy shows no real qualms about it. That is one of the aspects that drew me in. Daisy's voice was so guileless, so innocent and naive, despite her age, that I couldn't help but feel protective of her.

Rosoff's account of the war was fresh and interesting in that the war didn't really play that big a part in the first half of the book.

What did annoy me endlessly, and made me have to put the book down more than once to re-focus, was the lack of quotation marks for speech. The lack of that distinction does give the book an original feel, but it messed with my brain way too much, and ended up disrupting the narrative for me, making everything more complicated than it needed to be.

The Fiery Heart

Title: The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: YA
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 7/10

This is a spoiler-free review. I'd like to thank Penguin UK for providing me with an ARC for review.

So much to say, and so little ways to say it without being murdered at the pike for spoiling the book!

I will endeavour to do my best, though.

Let’s just say that, on the worst-case scenario, you will at least be happy with all the lovin’ going on in this book. Seriously, there is stuff for everyone. Sydrian fans especially, obviously, will have the time of their lives, and should listen to Loving You before reading the book, to set the mood. But there’s stuff for us starved Romitri loons, there’s so Angeline action, some Eddie action, some Jill action, and even some Dragozera action. Hell, Richelle even added a British lad to spice things up even more. Trust me, the title of the book is definitely fitting for the goings-on. I honestly think the only one who didn’t get some lovin’ was Zoe – even Mrs Terwilliger did!

Aside from that, the biggest concern here is the ending. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been able to connect to Syd so well as a narrator as well as I did with Rose, but the ending didn’t hurt as much as expected. It got to a point where frankly, it became glaringly obvious something was going to go to s***. And so when it did, it was kind of expected. As usual though, props to Mrs Mead for suspense. The woman sure knows what she’s doing.

Bottom line, little dhampirs, is: take a deep breath, relax, grab that kleenex box and dive in. You can blame me later on if you need therapy.

Book Covers: Ignite Me, The Selection Stories and The One

I'm doing some hasty catching up here, and putting together all the beautiful covers we've been given of late:

"The heart-stopping conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series, which Ransom Riggs, bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, called "a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love"

Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she'll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew-about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam-was wrong.

In Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi created a captivating and original story that combined the best of dystopian and paranormal and was praised by Publishers Weekly as "a gripping read from an author who's not afraid to take risks." The sequel, Unravel Me, blew readers away with heart-racing twists and turns, and New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia said it was "dangerous, sexy, romantic, and intense." Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and climactic end."

Now if that doesn't pique your interest, here, have the blurb for The Selection Stories, out February 4th, right along with Ignite Me (above):

"The two novellas set in the world of Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series are now available in print for the first time. The Prince and The Guard both offer captivating views into the hearts and minds of the two men fighting to win America Singer's love. This collection also features exclusive bonus content, including a sneak peek at The One, the eagerly anticipated final novel in the Selection trilogy.

Before America arrived at the palace to compete in the Selection, there was another girl in Prince Maxon's life. The Prince opens the week before the Selection begins and follows Maxon through the first day of the competition.

Raised as a Six, Aspen Leger never dreamed that he would find himself living in the palace as a member of the royal guard. In The Guard, readers get an inside look at Aspen's life within the palace walls--and the truth about a guard's world that America will never know."

No? Still not good enough? FINE, then. Here, have the breathtaking cover for The One, out May 6th. And yes. That does look suspiciously like a wedding dress.

Sadly, no blurb for that as of yet, but I'll keep you posted.

United We Spy

Title: United We Spy (Gallagher Girls #6)
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: YA
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 9/10


What is a Gallagher Girl?

As Cammie, Bex, Liz, Macey and Zach hurtle towards their biggest and last adventure, the future is looming in the distance, and Cammie will do everything in her power to run from her.
But sometimes even a chameleon has to stop changing colours and face the music... or does she?

I honestly, seriously loved this book. I blew through it so fast, I kind of want to go back and start again.
Zach, oh Zach... if only real boys like that existed. Liz was amazing, to see her grow and develop into the powerful woman I knew she would end up being. Bex just yanked my heart and twisted. She really is that best friend we all want if we don't have one like her, and if we do, the one we treasure more than anything in the world, because they know us better than anyone else. Macey hasn't changed one iota - which I loved.

The Circle is closing in again, and as the group runs against the time to try and stop Catherine Goode from killing off all the Inner Circle members, a bigger and darker truth starts to be uncovered. Who do you trust when the Circle is everywhere? And most importantly, who do you save, and who do you hunt - the Circle members, who are trying their hardest to instigate WW3, or Catherine, who is on a psychopathic mission of cold, calculated deaths - of Circle members and their progeny alike.

When the world is your backyard, there are few places to hide. And Cammie has the best team behind her. But can a group of adolescents take down a powerful group of terrorists with moles in every government and secret agency in the world?
They can, if they're Gallagher Girls.


So, what is a Gallagher Girl? She's whatever the hell she wants to be!

The Stone Rose

Title: The Stone Rose
Author: Jacqueline Rayner
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 6/10

WHY wasn't this filmed?? Ultimate Rose/Doctor episode ever. 

And it has all the stuff we love the most about Doctor Who: crazy aliens, impossible situations, lots of humour, and the best of all... it takes place in Classical Rome. Picture The Fires of Pompeii, take away Donna and put Rose in her place, and add a hell of a lot of Doctor sass, and you have The Stone Rose.

And when I say it would have been the ultimate Rose/Doctor episode, I mean it. The Stone Rose is like a mix of Tooth & Claw, The Idiot's Lantern, The Impossible Planet, Satan's Pit and Army of Ghosts, all rolled into one beautiful package of Doctor/Rose cuteness. The Doctor is worried and possessive. Rose is teasing and flirty. And yes, there is kissing.

This is what feeds those NC17 fanfictions out there. Amazing. Fantastic. Allons-y!

And if all that wasn't enough to convince you to read it, how about this: the audiobook is read by David Tennant in his Scottish accent ;)

The Mayan Prophecy

Title: The Mayan Prophecy (TimeRiders #8)
Author: Alex Scarrow
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating: 4/5
Cover: 7/10

A little bit of a confusing start (my own fault for insisting on starting a series on book 8), but all that was quickly forgotten when the story took off. And boy, did it take off.

Hidden messages in the holy grail are only the tip of the iceberg of awesome that was this book. The whole 'Windrunners' thing created such a knot in my head, that I didn't even see the next twist coming. The switching between narrators, far from making it even more complicated, only added to the book, and allowed me to understand a bit more of what was going on, and why.

Adam's character intrigued me, and I have a feeling, considering his involvement, that this isn't the last we'll hear of him, which I'm happy about. Maybe it's just because he was the newest character to the series, but I really liked him and his personality.

And wow... that ending! Chilling (in the best way possible).

Definitely worth a read! (though I'd start with book 1, which I have already bought...)

Thief

Title: Thief (Love me with Lies #3)
Author: Tarryn Fisher
Genre: Adult
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 8/10 (seems fitting, as Caleb seems to have spent 1/3 of the book shirtless, ahem)


Jesus. F*cking. Christ.
The second I saw this book was out, I knew is was in for a long night. Five hours later, I can safely say... what. the. hell?

The thing about Thief, though, is that throughout the entire book, you just know that Caleb is going to fight for Olivia. So, no repeats of that god-awfully painful ending to The Opportunist, which ripped my heart to shreds; no goddamn bomb like the end of Dirty Red. So you'd think the pain factor would be smaller, right?
God, no.
Olivia... there's this one scene, towards the end of the book, when she bitchslaps Leah (which I absolutely loved, and have to say - long time coming, that was), when I remembered why I loved her so much in The Opportunist. The girl is feisty, she doesn't take shit from no one, and she doesn't hold back at all. But oh my god, I wanted to strangle her so much. I can't blame her for marrying Noah (though I'm seriously done with him. I really liked him, too...), and I appreciate that for the longest time, her relationship with Caleb wasn't actually cheating. Still, it was cheating emotionally, even though it kind of just felt like Noah got what he deserved (he even admitted it, ffs!), it still wasn't cool.
Caleb... ugh. Stupid, stupid, gullible man. No wonder Leah and Olivia jerk him around so much. The poor bastard knows shit-all about women. His one redeeming quality (which kind of got lost along the way when he married Leah and dated Jessica, but we don't talk about that) is that he loves Olivia so much, I actually think it's unhealthy. I'm still trying to reconcile gentle, sweet, caring and patient Caleb to the dude who is apparently into bondage and read Fifty Shades of Grey (I actually thought that was a reference to Jane Eyre, by the way, until he mentioned Fifty. That's how clueless I was about his kinky preferences).
Leah, to quote Olivia, is the "same stupid slut" as before. Nuff said. (strangling desires amped up to maximum here. I seriously could NOT believe this woman. The bitch is crazy.)
It's easy to understand why it's called Thief, though I'm not sure that's quite the right word, considering...

In short: read it. You know you want to. Because once you've heard Olivia's side of the story, these books become what Olivia and Caleb's love for each other is: codependent and totally unhealthy. And we - just like them - fucking love it.