In My Mailbox (16)

It's been a LONG time since I've done an IMM. That's because my TBR pile is enormous and I can't add any more books! But of course I had to pick up just one book this week or I wouldn't be a book lover. So here it is...

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Annnnd that's it for me. I've heard this book is incredible so I'm hoping to get to it sometime soon, although like I said my reading pile is gigantic! Ohhh and I'll be showcasing a new blog design soon! I can't wait for you all to see how Leah from LC's Adventures in Libraryland redesigned my blog. It's going to be absolutely gorgeous!

Leave you IMM links and I'll be sure to check them out!

Waiting on Wednesday

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris

release date: September 2012

On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits . . . right into Renaissance Firenze.

Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore.

Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever?

This book sounds hilariously funny. I keep saying I'd like to read more time travel books and this one especially sounds like it'll be a hit. Plus its a book set in Italy, which means foreign boys with accents! One of my biggest weaknesses in books.

Top Ten Tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

 This week's top ten list bloggers get to choose a genre and list their top ten books for that particular genre. 

Top Ten Zombie Books!

1. Hallowland by Amanda Hocking- Absolutely one of my favorites. This book captures the real sense of death and destruction. Also, the heroine is totally kickass and awesome!

2. The Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy by Carrie Ryan- While the first book was a little slow for me, books 2 and 3 really bring on the zombie. And I love me some Elias and Catcher =)

3. Dearly Departed by Lia Habel- Although these aren't your typical zombies (they're good guys!) I loved it all the same. It's really cool seeing a zombie romance. Who knew the undead really had manners?

4. The Enemy by Charlie Higgins- This book is pretty twisted. Its all about kids trying to survive in London after all the adults go crazy and start killing everyone. 

5. The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks- A must read for any zombie fan! It will tell you EVERYTHING you need to know to survive. One of my favorites!

6. Resident Evil series by S.D. Perry- I love the Resident evil video games and movies, so when I saw they were made into books too I picked up the entire series. My love for RE may have made me partial to this series, but there's some great zombie killing in these books. 

7. The Cell by Stephen King- The first Stephen King book I've read and its great. Cell phone waves turn people into mindless drones who kill and destroy everything. It's pretty scary and will make you want to put down that phone. 

8. World War Z by Max Brooks- Another Brooks book with some insanely good zombie stories. It's being made into a movie too, so you know it had to have been great. 

9. As the World Dies trilogy by Rhiannon Frater- OK, so I'm cheating on this one, because I own the books but haven't read them yet. BUT I've only heard amazing reviews for them so I'm adding them to the list. I've got to start them soon!

10. The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman- This is another series I technically haven't read, but am in LOVE with the show on AMC. I know the story lines don't match up exactly, but if it has to do with zombies and created my new favorite show, then the comics have to be incredible. 

Ok so there are a ton more zombie books out there, but these are some of my favorites. PLEASE leave suggestions of more zombie books that you think I'd love! 

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever. 

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists. 

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen. 

I really loved the concept of this book. I've recently become obsessed with books incorporating mythology into the plots, and Everneath has a strong modernized twist to the tales of the underworld. The everlings and Tunnels are especially creepy and were some of my favorite parts of this book! I would have loved seeing more development in this area of the story though. Perhaps more clue solving or a stronger presence of everlings to amp up the creepy factor. 


It seemed that for most of the book unfortunately, we're left with Nikki's depressing musings of her old life while she tried resolving the damage she caused by leaving for the underworld  with Cole the first time. I understand Nikki had some some seriously sad situations to deal with, but I started to feel depressed myself because of Nikki! Therefore the first half of this book was very difficult to get past as Nikki was not the happiest or easiest of characters to read. As a result, the first half of this book was incredibly slow. 


What does save this story are the awesome characters (outside of Nikki). Jack is the stellar good guy who is quite rare nowadays in YA books. He's the perfect boyfriend and a complete gentleman without appearing boring. The boy seriously melted my heart. And Cole. Oh, Cole. He was a character that was hard to hate. Even though he's ridiculously evil and manipulative, there is an inert complexity about him that Ashton did an amazing job creating. He really does care about Nikki, despite being so bad, and doesn't want to see her hurt. At times I really felt bad for the guy despite his twisted ways. 


Along with the character developments, the ending of the book was all right. Again, I wish it hadn't taken so long before the story got good. If the first half matched the second half of this book then I think I would have enjoyed it more. I will say that the ending did leave a crack in my heart and I'm intrigued to see where this story is headed. 

Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness. 

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary. 



I love it when a sequel can raise the bar for a series. Not only can you see the author's develop their talent, but you can truly appreciate the progression in a story. This is the case for Fever, the second installment in the Chemical Garden series. 


We start right where Wither leaves off, with Rhine and Gabriel escaping from the haunting mansion into a world just as hideous as the one they left behind. Where Wither is calm and creepy, Fever is full out adrenaline and fear. Every page of this book captures the dangers and frenzy that has over taken society. From degrading prostitution rings set up at a run down carnival to constantly escaping the evil Vaughn's clutches and trying to track down Rhine's twin brother, Rowan, you are never left with a moment to catch your breath! There truly is never a calm moment for Rhine or Gabriel in this book!


Although the plot has been amped up with a shot of pure adrenaline, the relationship between Rhine and Gabriel has hit a sort of plateau. There is definitely a new dimension to their connection, where it almost seems that Gabriel resents Rhine for bringing him into this chaotic new world. This romance between the two isn't forbidden now that their out of the mansion, so the electricity we saw in Wither has simmered a bit. There was definitely some sweet and tender moments between Rhine and Gabriel, but it often had to do with one of them caring for the other while sick. 


Other than that missing spark between Rhine and Gabriel, this book was non stop action. While these characters are constantly running from Vaughn, the reader really feels that sense of desperation. Now that the characters are outside of the mansion walls the risks are even greater and each new character encountered is a possibly new enemy that'll constantly leave you questioning everyone's safety! With so many close calls and heart breaking moments, Fever will be sure to give your emotions a beating! Be prepared to fall even harder for this captivating and eerie series and continue the unknowing countdown to Rhine's 20th birthday.

Follow Friday (17)

It's been almost 3 weeks that I've been MIA from blogging, but I finally got a new computer so I'm back and just in time for another Follow Friday! This meme, hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee, features two blogs and a book related question to promote/expand blogs. This week's question is...

Have you ever looked at a book's cover and thought, this is going to be horrible? But instead was pleasantly surprised? Show us the cover and tell us about the book.

Ok, so I have a feeling I might be crucified for this, but at first glance I wasn't too thrilled by The Hunger Games cover. I didn't outright think it was going to be horrible, but I wasn't expecting the love I now have for the series. Now, before I'm attacked, I read the book when it first came out and there wasn't any hype surrounding it so I had no idea what to expect. With that said, the cover just seemed a little boring. You only have the title and mockingjay pin so there isn't really enough detail to draw you in. 

However, after reading the book, and learning the significance of the pin, the simplicity of the cover fits so well. There is so much political upheaval, death, violence, loss of innocence and struggle for survival that a busy cover would just detract from the story. 

What was your answer for this FF? Leave a comment with a link and I'll come check it out!

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, 
pushing aside thoughts of Alex, 
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, 
push, 
push, 
push, 
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.


In the thrilling sequel to Lauren Oliver's hit (Delirium), readers are taken to a whole new loveless world. Life is much riskier for Lena, who is now living outside the borders with a group of rebels without Alex. There are new characters and dangers that sends this book over the edge with craziness. With nothing left in this world to lose, Lena throws herself into the uprising, working behind the lines as a cured. Here we see a stronger and much more independent side of Lena which showcases her development into a much more likable and admirable character. There is much more adrenaline and danger woven into this story with such an edge that you won't be disappointed. If you fell in love with Delirium, you'll surely become obsessive with Pandemonium. 


Everything about this book is amped up to the tenth degree. Oliver has expertly brought in elements of danger, survival, and suspense that will have any reader tense with worry. She has created such a fantastically real and vivid sense of peril for Lena and her new family outside the borders that will leave you feeling insanely anxious. Where Delirium, focused on Lena's everyday life, Pandemonium flips that world upside down. 


There is also an incredible development of forbidden love in this book. Never did I think I could fall for someone over Alex from Delirium, but Oliver was able to once again make my knees weak with Julian. Lena and Julian worked so well together romantically, which seems impossible because Alex is just as perfect! This is seriously the first time where I can honestly feel the pull of both love interests, the same as Lena. 


Pandemonium is the perfect sequel to Delirium and will leave you desperate for the third installment. We are once again left with the ultimate cliffhanger (it seems Oliver is an expert at these!) that will destroy your heart. I can't count the number of times my breath caught from reading this book. It really struck a cord with me and can't recommend this book enough!