*Review* Lola and the Boy Next Door – Stephanie Perkins

 Lola and the Boy Next Door

Stephanie Perkins

338 pages

ISBN: 9780525423287

Read 1-16-13

Format: Hardcover

Source: Own

Add it to Goodreads!

 Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion…she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit–more sparkly, more fun, more wild–the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket–a gifted inventor–steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

This was my Random Read for January and I knew I was going to love this just because I loved Anna.  This authoris an incredible writer and really knows how to put you in the shoes of her characters and feel exactly what they feel.  Both of these books were so real and readers can easily relate to Anna and Lola.  I also loved seeing Anna and St. Clair in this book.

Lola is a wonderful character.  She is smart, lively, fun and different; different in a very good way.  I would love to meet someone like Lola.  And Cricket?  Who wouldn’t want to fall in love with the thoughful, sweet, hot next door boy?  As for Max, at first I kind of liked him, but he became a jerk quickly.  We have all made the mistake of being blinded by love, but when nobody liked the guy you’re with, then something is wrong.

This story is set in San Fransisco, and because of this book, I really want to go, especially to see the wild parrots and the Japanese tea garden.  It’s obvious that the author is very familiar with this area (she used to live there) and she portays it beautifully.  The cover of the book is cute, it isn’t super fantastic, but it goes perfectly with the story becuse it really captures Lola and Cricket right down to the star on his left hand.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see St. Clair on the cover of Anna, so I’m very glad we got to see Cricket.

I am definitely a die hard fan of Stephanie Perkins now and she is on my auto-buy list.  I am very excited about her upcoming Isla, plus, next year, she is publishing a teen slasher novel and it will be really interesting to see how she does in that from romance.  Aside from a few words missing from sentences in a couple of spots toward the end of the book, it was pretty near perfect.  I loved it almost as much as I loved Anna!

Beautiful setting, incredible characters, couldn’t put it down, LOVE!!

Cover Crush (16)

Cover Crush is my new meme here at On The Shelf where beautiful and eye-catching covers are spotlighted!  Any cover can be showcased whether it be old or new, read or still sitting in your TBR stack.  Please join in, link up and enjoy some beautiful covers!

Hey!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!  I am typing this up from very sunny Florida.  I am visiting my best friend, and thank goodness I picked the perfect weekend to be away from hme because South Carolina was supposed to get ice and snow this weekend.  Unfortunately, I am a bit sick and I feel like I am going to die of bronchitis, but I’m not freezing in the process at least. I hope everyone stays germ free!

My Cover:

~Becoming a winter queen will make Ilyenna as cold and cruel and deadly as winter itself, but it might be the only way to save her people from a war they have no hope of winning.~

Mortally wounded during a raid, seventeen-year-old Ilyenna is healed by winter fairies who present her with a seductive offer: become one of them and share their power over winter. But that power comes with a price. If she accepts, she will become a force of nature, lose her humanity, and abandon her family.

Unwilling to pay such a high price, Ilyenna is enslaved by one of the invaders, Darrien. While in captivity, she learns the attack wasn’t just a simple raid but part of a larger plot to overthrow her entire nation.

With the enemy stealing over the mountains and Darrien coming to take her to his bed, Ilyenna must decide whether to resurrect the power the fairies left behind. Doing so will allow her to defeat Darrien and the other invaders, but if she embraces winter, she will lose herself to that destroying power—forever.

Why I’m Crushing:

This cover is amazingly gorgeous!  This book was the WoW pick this week for Jenea over at Books Live Forever.  When I saw it all I could say was oooooooo.  The font is not spectacular and there isn’t anything to really draw your attenttion to the author, this is ALL about the beautiful cover.  Who ever the artist is for this one is incredible.  I love the colors and the details are awesome.  Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.  So what is you Cover Crush this week?

Waiting on Wednesday (30)

 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 I am waiting on:

 Requiem
 Lauren Oliver

Release 3-5-13

 Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

Why I am Waiting:

I must have the final book of this trilogy!  I just finished Pandemonium not too long ago and I really enjoyed it.  So now, I need the last book and find out what is going to happen to everybody.  I also look forward to the switching viewpoint of Lena and Hana.  So what are you waiting on this week?

 

Cover Crush (15)

 Cover Crush is my new meme here at On The Shelf where beautiful and eye-catching covers are spotlighted!  Any cover can be showcased whether it be old or new, read or still sitting in your TBR stack.  Please join in, link up and enjoy some beautiful covers!

Hey guys!  I know it has been really slow lately on here, and it will pick up, I promise.  I have a lot of things going on at once and a new endeavor I am getting stuff ready for that I will hopefully be able to post about soon.  This week was extra exhausting because of a certification class I had for work that was a brain melting load of information crammed into 16 hours and a test at the end, which I thankfully made a 100 on.  Since I didn’t get to do Cover Crush last week, I am going to post two beautiful covers today!

My Covers:

I can’t weep. I can’t fear. I’ve grown talented at pretending.

Elizabeth Caldwell doesn’t feel emotions . . . she sees them. Longing, Shame, and Courage materialize around her classmates. Fury and Resentment appear in her dysfunctional home. They’ve all given up on Elizabeth because she doesn’t succumb to their touch. All, that is, save one—Fear. He’s intrigued by her, as desperate to understand the accident that changed Elizabeth’s life as she is herself.

Elizabeth and Fear both sense that the key to her past is hidden in the dream paintings she hides in the family barn. But a shadowy menace has begun to stalk her, and try as she might, Elizabeth can barely avoid the brutality of her life long enough to uncover the truth about herself. When it matters most, will she be able to rely on Fear to save her?

The Bourne Identity meets I Am the Cheese in this taut thriller

Even though Micah’s a star pitcher, his older sister Lindsey is the real deal—a runner so good, she has a shot at the Olympics. The two of them urge each other on, and are each other’s best support. Then the unthinkable happens: Lindsey is murdered, and Micah may have been the last person to see her. But he can’t remember what happened, no matter what their parents tell him, no matter what the police say. Did he witness his sister’s murder—or commit it? Can he recall the truth before his life is sentenced to end, too?

Why I’s Crushing:

I found Some Quiet Place when I was skimming through as list off debut titles, and the cover caught my attention right away.  I love how she is breaking apart into leaves, it’s very beautiful and full of texture.  Lindsey Lost caught my eye because of how striking the title is and the splash of blue of her lips against all that white.  These both sound really good and I can’t wait to read them!  So what covers do y’all have today?

Waiting on Wednesday (29)

 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 I am waiting on:

 

 

 

 

Why I am Waiting:

This is a companion novel to Pushing the Limits and is Beth’s story.  Pushing the Limits was amazing and one of my absolute favorite debuts, so of course I can’t wait for this one!  Beth is an interesting character and I look forward to reading her story!

 

*Review* Forgotten – Cat Patrick

 Forgotten

Cat Patrick

304 pages

ISBN: 9780316094610

Read 1-2-13

Format: Audiobook

Source: Library

Add it on Goodreads!

Each night at precisely 4:33 am, while sixteen-year-old London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can “remember” are events from her future. London is used to relying on reminder notes and a trusted friend to get through the day, but things get complicated when a new boy at school enters the picture. Luke Henry is not someone you’d easily forget, yet try as she might, London can’t find him in her memories of things to come.

When London starts experiencing disturbing flashbacks, or flash-forwards, as the case may be, she realizes it’s time to learn about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

This book sounded like it was really going to be a good read, but it actually turned out to be a bit disappointing for me.  The second half of the book was better than the first half, but it was still not wonderful.  This story concept was a really good idea, but it had potential to be so much better.  There were a couple of spots where the memory explanations seemed to contradict each other, so I was never completely clear on certain aspects of how her memory worked.

As for the characters, London was not wonderful, but she wasn’t bad, either.  She has it rough because of her memory, but she doesn’t let that stop her from doing things, so she makes herself a bunch of notes to know what she needs for the next day.  Her best friend, Jamie, I couldn’t stand.  She made stupid choices (especially considering the choices she still made even after her friend that can see the future told her she shouldn’t do), she was selfish and she acted like a total slut.  I know I couldn’t have a best friend like her.  I really liked Luke.  He was very sweet and understanding and I felt like London was too harsh with him when she would get angry over things.

The writing was pretty good; it was the story itself that fell flat for me.  There were so many great turns the story could have taken or been improved on.  For me, the most disappointing part of the story was the ending.  The way the story was building I was expecting this nice big finish or some sort of high tension finale, but, no; it was actually very anticlimactic, and I hate to say this book didn’t live up to my expectations.

Good male character, had potential, contradicts in spots, anticlimactic ending.

Waiting on Wednesday (28)

 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 I am waiting on:

 Hurt
Tabitha Suzuma

Release 9-5-13

Why? is the burning question on everyone’s lips. Why would a guy like Mathéo Walsh want to die? At seventeen, he is Britain’s most promising diving champion. He is a heartthrob, a straight A student and lives in one of the wealthiest areas of London. He has great mates and is the envy of everyone around him. And most importantly of all, he is deeply in love with his girlfriend, Lola. He has always been a stable, well-adjusted guy…Until one weekend. A weekend he cannot seem to remember. All he knows is that he has come back a changed person. One who no longer knows how to have fun, no longer wants to spend time with his friends, no longer enjoys diving. Something terrible happened that weekend – something violent and bloody and twisted. He no longer knows who he is. He no longer trusts himself around people: he only wants to hurt, wound and destroy. Slowly, he begins to piece back the buried, fragmented memories, and finds himself staring at the reflection of a monster.Tormented, Mathéo suddenly finds himself faced with the most devastating choice of his life. Keep his secret, and put those closest to him in terrible danger. Or confess, and lose Lola forever…

Why I am Waiting:

Tabitha Suzuma’s book Forbidden was so incredible, I would read anything by her!  She really knows how to pull at your heartstrings and make an unbelievably marvelous book.  So, naturally, I want this one in my hands ASAP.

*Review* Pandemonium – Lauren Oliver

Lauren Oliver

375 pages

ISBN: 9780061978067

Read 12-27-12

Format: Audiobook

Source: Library

Add it on Goodreads!

Lena joins the resistance effort against the oppressive government and fights for freedom.
After escaping from Portland, Lena makes it to the Wilds and becomes part of an Invalid community. Weak and grieving for Alex, Lena fights to survive. And then she fights her oppressors.
As the viewpoint shifts between Lena’s time in the Wilds and the present day, which is set in Brooklyn, Lena transforms into a warrior for the resistance. In New York City, the grass-roots movement for a Deliria-Free America (the DFA) is gathering strength, and its leader, Thomas Fineman, recruits more supporters by the day. His son Julian–as-yet uncured–heads up the DFA’s youth organization. Lena is tasked with blending into the DFA’s rallies; she seems to be a supporter yet she is really a spy.

I still find the concept of love being a disease a very interesting concept and  love how the author pulls it off!  I enjoyed the first book, but I think I actually enjoyed this one more because it had more action in it, where Delirium was more of a slow build.  Pandemonium jumps back and forth from what is happening now to when Lena was first out in the wilds.  I like how things connect and weave into each other from past and present.

I really liked the new relationships and characters that came in for this story.  I liked Julian better than Alex and Raven is an interesting character who I liked sometimes and wanted to blow up at other times.  There are some very heart breaking points in the book and few very slow points.  I enjoyed the ending (even if it was a cliffhanger) and I can’t wait to see what happens in Requiem (only 2 more months!).

Great characters, great writing, more action, a must read!

Cover Crush (14)

Cover Crush is my new meme here at On The Shelf where beautiful and eye-catching covers are spotlighted!  Any cover can be showcased whether it be old or new, read or still sitting in your TBR stack.  Please join in, link up and enjoy some beautiful covers!

My Cover:

I looked down at the paper, still touching the tip of my shoe. I reached for it, flipping the page over to look.

Scrawls of ink outlined a drawing of a girl lying on a bench.

A sick feeling started to twist in my stomach, like motion sickness.

And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine.

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. 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. If the wrong people notice, they’ll both be targets.

Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive.

Why I’m Crushing:

I love Japanese stuff!   Culture, art, language, landscape, it’s all beautiful!  This cover is lovely and in the style of a Japanese brush painting.  I also really like the way it drips down the bottom of the page, and it gives the cover a bit of creepiness to me for some reason.  It isn’t really a whole lot of paint, but it makes the page feel full.  I can’t wait to read this book, especially since it is set mostly in Japan!  What cover are you crushing on?

Giveaway Winners!!

Thank you for everybody who participated in my Christmas/Follower giveaway! I had a bunch of entries and out of all of them, the two winners are…..

Congratulations to both of you!  Check back again soon for another giveaway when I reach 450!!