Up In Flames by Nicole Williams - Review

Now at this point, I’m sick of reading New Adult books that follow the track of Fifty Shades of Greyand the like. It’s depressing reading romances about college age students who are falling in love, all the while battling their pasts full of sexual abuse. That seems to be a theme in romantic fiction as of late and I’m starting to need something a little bit more upbeat and less depressing. That’s when I read Up In Flames by Nicole Williams. It was my saving grace for the NA genre because I was about ready to throw in the towel for a while!

Elle is your typical small town girl. She’s practically engaged to the town’s sports hero, she’s working at her dad’s restaurant and after graduating high school her life’s been laid out for her. She doesn’t need to worry about a thing... and she’s sick of it. She’s tired of never letting loose. She’s frustrated at dating a guy who barely touches her and most of all, she’s had enough of being told what to do and how her life will be. That’s when she meets Cole. Cole is a smoke jumper in town for the summer to work during wildfire season and he’s the exact opposite of who Elle should want. With his fiery demeanor and his smoldering looks, Elle knows she’s in for trouble, but she dives in anyway.

I really, really needed this book. I wanted a standalone that was romantic, steamy, fun and that’s what I got in Williams’s Up In Flames.

Elle was a character that I could very easily relate to. She grew up in a very tight knit family and community and while they only wanted what was best for her, they planned her life. She was left with no decisions and she felt lost. Of course when you’re a kid, your parents tell you that you can be whoever you want to be, but they also have a plan for you. A plan to help you succeed. In that way, I really felt for Elle. She’s at a critical point in her life where she has to either follow along with the plans laid out for her, or she can break free and forge her own way.

Annnnd then there is Cole. I mean this guy is smoking. He’s the bad boy with a sweet heart that fights forest fires... YES PLEASE. I loved Cole and his role in helping Elle grow to be the woman she wants to be.

This book was quick, light hearted and fun and I really enjoyed it. Beware (or take note!), there are some pretty steamy scenes in this one!

8 out of 10

Happy Reading :)

Read More

Waiting on Wednesday (14): Dominion (Guardian Angels #1) by Melody Manful

It's Waiting on Wednesday time again! For more information on this weekly meme that helps to showcase those books we can't wait to get our hands on, check out Breaking the Spine!

This week, I decided to feature Dominion (Guardian Angels #1) by Melody Manful. I'm really in the mood for a book like this. Mystical creatrues, forbidden love and high school... why is that the magical combination for me this week? I have no idea, but I do know that I can't wait to get my hands on this book!

 

I Dare You.
Look Over Your Shoulders.
Do You See Them?
They are behind you...
They are always behind you.

Abigail Cells had a nightmare the day before she met Gideon, the new guy in school who has every girl drooling just to be near him. In her nightmare, she was murdered by a magical creature. As she gets to know Gideon, she begins to remember pieces of her nightmare, and was shocked when Gideon turned out to be the creature from her nightmare. Who is Gideon really? Should Abby allow herself to fall completely for him, or is he the next disaster waiting to happen?

What are you waiting on!?

Read More

The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test, #3) by Aimee Carter - ARC Review

I am so excited to have gotten an advanced copy of The Goddess Inheritance. I’ve been waiting for this finale for a long time and I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed. I’ll try and make this review as spoiler free as possible for those who haven’t taken a dive into The Goddess series.

This epic finale is just that... epic. Never have a read a finale to a series that was this action packed. Normally it’s a little bit of action thrown in with a whole lot of loose ends being tied up. In TGI, the characters are constantly at battle, getting captured and plotting to get their loved ones home safe. I could barely keep up with the fast pacing of this book and I read it in one sitting.

When I began reading TGI, I had forgotten how much I like how Carter begins her books. She starts out in the middle of a conversation that has you a tad bit confused and works her way backwards. In that way, you get more information and you begin to click the pieces of her intricate puzzle into place. We start with a conversation between Ava and Walter that has us confused about allegiance, Kate’s well being and which members of the council really know what’s going on. Carter's particular way of immersing her readers in the story is unique and creates a need that has readers never wanting to put the book down.

Carter doesn’t spare our hearts in this one guys. She is not afraid to take the lives of the characters we love most with an ending so climactic that it really felt like you were in the middle of a battle of the Gods!

I was a bit worried that this would be another book in the series where we didn’t get to see any of Henry and to an extent that was true. We get to see more of the ruler of the Underworld than we have in past books, but not enough for my liking. If I had one complaint about the series as a whole, that would be it. We see more of Kate and James together than we do the Kate and her husband… which I won’t complain about because I really, really liked James. He became a big favorite of mine, especially after reading his section of Carter’s previous novella in the series The Goddess Legacy. James and Kate have a fun relationship and seeing them interact reminded me of my best friend.

Overall, I loved this series and The Goddess Inheritance was a great way to end it. I’m a huge fan of Greek Mythology retellings and Carter is one of the few that does it right. With the perfect amount of passion, romance, betrayal and deceit, The Goddess Test series is one you can’t miss out on.

9 out of 10

Happy Reading :)

Haven’t started the series yet? Check out my reviews for the rest of the books in the series!

The Goddess Test (The Goddess Test, #1)
The Goddess Hunt (The Goddess Test, #1.5)
Goddess Interrupted (The Goddess Test, #2)
The Goddess Legacy (The Goddess Test, #2.5)

Read More

Clash (Crash, #2) by Nicole Williams - Review

I started reading Clash soon after I read the first in the series, Crash. While it wasn’t my favorite New Adult book, it was entertaining, I liked the characters and the writing style and so I decided to continue on in the series.


Clash picks up after a few months have past and Jude and Lucy are headed to their respective colleges in New York state. They’re just a few short hours away from one another and they promise to visit each weekend. While the relationship issues that they had in highschool like coming from different worlds and grand theft auto are over, they’re discovering that while distance may make the heart grow fonder, it may also grow jealous.

I can’t decide if I liked this book better than Crash. I really liked how the two main characters were now in college and trying to be successful in a new environment, but the plot as a whole had me slightly annoyed.

It was a lot of immature jealousy and going back and forth between silent treatments and acting out to get attention. Lucy was frustrating because she was the one causing a lot of the problems in their relationship. She was overly jealous and resorted to petty tactics to try and keep Jude’s attention. The problem with this was that she had never lost his attention. Girls were all over Jude because he was the star of the football team and a bad boy, but he never once thought of anyone other than Lucy. I was annoyed with Lucy’s distrust.

There were some surprising twists and turns and the ending had me in a mushy puddle on the floor as Lucy redeems herself somewhat. Overall, it was a quick, easy and enjoyable read. If you’re sensing a trend here... that’s how I like my NA books. Short, sweet and saucy.

7 out of 10

Happy Reading :)

Read More

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) by Rick Riordan - Review

I read the entire Percy Jackson and the Olympians series quite a while ago, but with the upcoming film release of the second book (and my ecstatic enthusiasm for the series) I thought I’d review them here on the blog. Hopefully, I can encourage a few to pick up these wonderful books.

Book one, The Lightning Thief, introduces readers to the world of Percy Jackson just as his life is turned upside down. Percy is just your average kid. He’s got severe ADD and some misinterpreted behavioral problems that have him bouncing from boarding school to boarding school in NYC. Labeled as a bad seed, many of his teachers treat him as an outcast and so do his peers…except for Grover, his loyal best friend who needs crutches to walk. Chaos quickly ensues as Percy finds out that his deadbeat father who never came around is actually the Greek God, Poseidon and Percy himself is a demigod! Cue a whirlwind adventure as Percy and his gang of misfits set out to discover who stole Zeus’s lightning bolt... and to clear Percy’s name.

The Percy Jackson books are simply put, pure magic. Really, all of Riordan’s books are magical. He has this crazy ability to take an educational topic, like Greek Mythology, and transform it into a story that will grab the attention of you, your 30 year old brother and your 10 year old cousin. There are so many reasons that I love these books, but I’ve narrowed them down to a couple of the absolute best.

Creativity. Transforming your ideas about the Greeks, Riordan animates Ares into a motorcycle riding bully, Hermes into a spandex wearing messenger and portrays Poseidon as a Hawaiian shirt wearing beach man. He pulls out the most interesting qualities or characteristics from all of the Gods and spins them with a modern twist.

Characters. In the first installment of the series, Percy really discovers himself. For the first time, he’s not a troublemaker with dyslexia. He’s antsy because he’s built for battle and sitting still for that long makes him jumpy. He can’t read as well as others because his brain is hardwired for Greek and so words tend to get jumbled up. Annabeth has a chip on her shoulder the size of the Grand Canyon but she’s smart, she’s sassy and not afraid of adventure. Think Hermoine Granger but way more into battling monsters from the underworld.

Riordan’s World. This has to be my favorite part of these books and book one only gives us a taste. In the world of the Greeks, their Gods move with civilization. So now Mt. Olympus is above the Empire State building, an entrance to Hades is at a record label in L.A. and the world is constantly a battle ground for demigods and monsters. I love thinking that down the street, it’s not really a car accident but a demigod driving ran into a Minotaur. J.K. Rowling did this with Harry Potter and it’s great to see that someone besides Rowling herself has a talent for melding our world so seamlessly with fantasy.

If you haven’t read these books yet, get on it. While the first movie wasn’t my absolute favorite, The Sea of Monsters promises to be a better take on the books. I’m excited to see what they do with this movie and especially excited to meet all the new characters in person!

10 out of 10

Happy Reading ;)

Read More

Waiting on Wednesday (13): Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin, #2)

It's time for Waiting on Wednesday... a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to showcase those books you can't wait to get your hands on!

I've been craving a good historical fiction. I am a huge, huge fan of medival times and books centering around that era and so this week I'm featuring Dark Triumph (his Fair Assassin, #2) by R.L. LaFevers.

Sybella arrives at the convent’s doorstep half mad with grief and despair. Those that serve Death are only too happy to offer her refuge—but at a price. Naturally skilled in both the arts of death and seduction, the convent views Sybella as one of their most dangerous weapons.

But those assassin’s skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to a life that nearly drove her mad. Her father’s rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother’s love is equally monstrous. And while Sybella is a weapon of justice wrought by the god of Death himself, He must give her a reason to live. When she discovers an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dungeons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for?

This heart-pounding sequel to Grave Mercy serves betrayal, treachery, and danger in equal measure, bringing readers back to fifteenth century Brittany and will keep them on the edge of their seats

I read Grave Mercy last year and fell head over heels in love. It's the perfect combination of history, intrigue, romance and death. I mean... it is a story about young woman being trained at a conent as assassins. LaFever's world will draw even those weary of historical fictions in as you can't help but root for all of the characters in their efforts to keep their government from falling into complete corruption.

Dark Triumph is set to center around another character in the story and I can't wait to read more about her. She was the mysterious outlying character that you couldn't quite understnad and I can't wait to read what LaFevers has in store for us this time!

What are you waiting on this week?

Read More

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover - Review

Hopeless... where do I start with my review of Hopeless. This was a very deep and dark read with twists and turns that had you gasping aaaaand then  crying. Yeah guys, this one was pretty upsetting in a number of ways. I read it and I’m still processing how I feel.

I’m going to give you the tagline from the book as the synopsis. Of course you can go on Goodreads and read what it’s about, but I don’t think that’s an accurate or fair depiction of what you’ll read.

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than the lies...

Sounds ominous, right? Yeah you’re nervous about what the big mystery is. And I guess that’s the biggest strength of Hopeless. You go into the story thinking it’s your typical NA romance where an innocent, home schooled girl meets the bad boy in town and they fall in love. But it is so much more than that. Readers begin knowing very little about the characters and plot and come out with an explosion of information, intrigue and a hefty dose of reality.

Hopeless as a whole is not about Sky and Holder’s romance. It’s about Sky’s reality, or lack thereof. Their relationship is strong and Holder’s guidance, insight and support help Sky through a whirlwind of truths that lead her down a path to discover who she is and where she came from. She’s left at the end of the journey to discover for herself, what her future holds.

I know, I know I’m being way too cryptic and you really have no idea what the books about but really I can’t go into much more detail. Your world will  be rocked when you see the depth at which this book reads. You will quite literally fall down the rabbit hole as Sky’s world is turned upside down with the knowledge that her life is a lie.

The romance is heartwarming, the story is eye opening and you’re left at the end wondering “What in the world would I do if I were in Sky’s place?”

Not my most informative review yet, but if this review gets even one person to pick up Hopeless just to see what the mystery is about, I’ve done my job. It’s a book worth reading, but make sure you have a few hours and some tissues to spare  because you won’t want to put Hopeless down once you pick it up.

8 out of 10

Happy Reading :)

Read More

Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1) by Richelle Mead - Review

Oh, Richelle Mead how I've missed you! Where should I start with my reivew of Bloodlines? I think I'll start with why it took me so long to begin the spin-off series. Short answer - I wanted to be in the perfect mood, at the absolute best time to make sure that I would like the book. The long answer - Richelle Mead rocked my world with the VA series and not only did I need time to digest and savor the flavor of the series, but I needed time to get over the fact that these new books would center around new characters. I am both happy and sad that I waited. Happy that I took the time and fell in love with Bloodlines and sad that I didn't start them sooner!

Bloodlines follows Sydney Sage, an alchemist,  as she accepts a new mission in Florida. Sage once again finds herself wrapped up in the world of the Dhampir and Moroi as she follows Jill into hiding along with Eddie and party boy Adrian. Of course for this gang, nothing is ever easy and they must battle corruption, strigoi and of course... high school.

This review may get a little long so I've decied to break things up into what I did like about Bloodlines and things I didn't.

Liked

First and foremost, I loved Sydney. I've heard around that some people aren't a huge fan of her and I think a lot of that is becuase she's not the bad ass that Rose is in VA. For me, Rose was one of my favorite literary leading ladies. She's got a kick-butt and take names attitude that is so unlike myself and I loved reading about her adventures. Sydney, on the other hand, is more reserved. She's bound to duty and feels the need to take care of everyone all the time. On a very personal level, I can relate to Sydney's upbringing and behavior. Without going into personal details, I will say that Sydney touched my heart in a way that no other YA heroine has and I can't wait to read more from her point of view.

Adrian. I loved Adrian in VA and I love him in Bloodlines. Don't get me wrong, I loved Dimitri as well, but I had a hard time choosing between the two vampy men while reading VA. Adrian adds a sort of dark, comic releif to the story and you can help but wonder what's brewing under his wit and charm.

There isn't a lot of romance between Adrian and Sydney... yet. And I liked that. Bloodlines was a story that focused on the plot and character development. Mead didn't need to add in her brand of passionate and inevitably devistating romance quite yet as she set up a story that is a great foundation for what is no doubt going to be a gripping series.

Didn't like

Really, there wasn't much I didn't like. I felt like the book was sort of slow through the middle, but I think that was something to do with the fact that Mead needed to introduce new readers to the world of VA. The pacing was slightly off for me as the end exploded into action and adventure and I read the last 200 pages of the book in one sitting.

I feel like I don't even need to bring up Mead's supurb writing style because it speaks for itself. Richelle Mead has a way of telling a story that will leave you breathless, gasping for more. If you're a fan of Vampire Academy, vampires, Richelle Mead or just great books in general, do yourself a favor and read Bloodlines.

9 out of 10 :)

Happy Reading

Read More

Waiting on Wednesday (12): Of Triton (Of Poseidon, #2) by Anna Banks

Well ya'll, it's Wednesday again and so that means it's time for Waiting on Wednesday! A weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to showcase those books you just can't wait to get your hands on!

This week, I'm super excited for Of Triton (Of Poseidon, #2) by Anna Banks!

In this sequel to OF POSEIDON, Emma has just learned that her mother is a long-lost Poseidon princess, and now struggles with an identity crisis: As a Half-Breed, she’s a freak in the human world and an abomination in the Syrena realm below. Syrena law states that all Half- Breeds should be put to death.

As if that’s not bad enough, her mother’s reappearance among the Syrena turns the two kingdoms—Poseidon and Triton—against one another. Which leaves Emma with a decision to make: Should she comply with Galen’s request to keep herself safe and just hope for the best? Or should she risk it all and reveal herself—and her Gift—to save a people she’s never known?

Now I don't know if it's because of the dreary, rainy weather or the fact that I'm fighting a serious cold right now, but my life could definitely use some summer and some sexy mermen. For those reasons, and many many more all having to do with Anna Banks's lovely and hilarioius writing, I amwishing it was May so I could be reading Of Triton!

What are you waiting on?

Read More

Crash (Crash, #1) by Nicole Williams - Review

Crash was the first book Nicole Williams book that I've read though I've seen her name all over the blogosphere. Again, diving further into the realm of the New Adult genre, this book seems to have gained some popularity over the past few months and so I thought I'd give it a whirl.


Lucy lives for dance and the dream of next year attending Julliard. And so her dancing and her dream are the only things that are going to get her through her senior year attending a new school as her family moves to their summer home, permanently. Lucy knows that all she has to do is keep her nose clean and work hard and she'll be away from her problems and her past but all that changes when she meets Jude Ryder. The local vigilantly and school bad boy, Jude is bad news and he has his sights set on Lucy. Will Jude be the one to destroy her future or her saving grace?

This wasn't my favorite New Adult book, but I really enjoyed reading it. Crash got away from the typical sexually abused past and raw emotional future and just brought forth a romance about a bad boy looking to change his ways and a good girl finding herself in the middle of his life.

I liked both Lucy and Ryder together and I thought that their characters were fun and interesting. Rather than having a build up and one big mistake that drives them apart time and time again Ryder messes up and finally loses Lucy. Of course, the story isn't over there as Lucy and Jude learn to overcome their pasts to work towards a better future.

This book wasn't boring and I read it rather quickly, but it wasn't the most exciting of books and didn't leave me gasping for breath. It was a quicky read that left me feeling satisfied and happy and didn't have me thinking to hard. Sometimes, you need those easy reads!

7 out of 10

Happy Reading :)

Read More

Opal (Lux, #3) by J.L. Armentrout - Review

I said I wouldn't read another J.L.A. book... and then I did. I couldn't help it! I was nervous on a plane trip home to see my parents and I had forgotten I pre-ordered Opal on my Kindle. During a particularly turbulent point in the flight, I dove in to keep myself busy.

Now, I could say I kept reading out of principle. I had started the book so I needed to finish it, right? I would be lying.  Opal sucked me in and while it did take me a while to finish the book, I actually really enjoyed it.

Opal brings us back to the world of Katy and the Luxen. With her feelings for Daemon as strong as ever, it seems that nothing can stop the gang as the dive further into investigating the secretive and elusive government group set out to understand, destroy and surpass the Luxen. But not all is as it seems as Katy and Daemon learn the hard way that you can't trust anyone.

I don't want to give too much away for the readers who haven't started the Lux series yet as a lot happens in this 3rd installment... a lot. I have to say that I am slightly disappointed in myself for reading this book. After finding out that book 2, Onyx, was a copy off of a TV show about aliens AND after reading the first book in the Covenant series and finding myself reading a different version of The Vampire Academy, I was a little angry. I told myself I wouldn't read another one of her stories as I would be encouraging the unfair copy-cating. Something about the Lux series has drawn me in, though.

In my opinion, Onyx was not very well written, the plot didn't have me excited nor did it leave me swooning. I thought that the series would continue in this pattern and that I would be bored with book 3. That was definitely not the case. Armentrout brought her "A" game to the table in Opal and not only was the story action packed and exciting, but informative as well. We learn a lot more about the Luxen, the hybrids and the DOD.

Of course, you can look forward to many swoon worthy moments between Daemon and Katy too. Their dynamic and deepening love really made the story for me. They were done playing hard to get and messing around. Now, the pair began developing their feelings for each other and bonding on a different level. I really enjoyed their aspect of the story.

If you've read any reviews of Opal on Goodreads, you will notice that a developing trend seems to be exclamations of grief, shock, awe and all around disappointment with the cliffhanger ending that J.L.A leaves her readers. It's hard not to see that something about the ending of Opal really upset and devastated people. I obviously won't be giving away the ending, but I was understandably upset as well. It wasn't like the moments while reading Vampire Academy books where I cried alone in my room wondering why Richelle Mead felt the need to torture me so, but the cliffhanger of an ending was slightly heartbreaking and made me want book 4 to be released soon.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. With the thoughts of this being a copied storyline in the back of my head, I couldn't throw myself completely into the story but it was entertaining and I will most likely be reading book 4.

6 out of 10

Happy Reading :)

Read More

Waiting on Wednesday (11): Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

And it's time for Waiting on Wednesday again! This weekly meme is a way to feature the books that you just cannot wait for. For more information, head over to Breaking the Spine!
This week, I'm waiting on...

Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School, #1) by Gail Carriger

It's one thing to lean to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and thow a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea -- and god forbit anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia and her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right -- but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deciet, espionage, and the modern weaponries.  Sophorina and her frends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

First in a four book YA series set 25 years before the Parasol Protectorate but in the same universe.

I've had my eye on this one for a while and I'm surprised to see I don't have to wait to much longer! It comes out February 5th!

Something about a finishing school that teaches young woman to curtsy and about modern weaponries has me chomping at the bit to get this book. I'm a big fan of Steampunk themed books (if they're done well) and so I'm hoping Etiquette and Espionage will be as great as I hope it will be! What are you waiting on?!

Read More

Like This, Try This (7): Dragons, Cyborgs and Demigods!

Happy Tuesday! I'm so happy that I've finally made time for another round of  "Like This, Try This" from Krista over at Nawanda Files! This meme is "designed to introduce YA books that are similar to TV shows, movies and other books!" Make sure to hope over to Nawanda Files for more info on how to add this weekly meme to your blog! Let me know what you think!

Read More

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden (The Coincidence, #1) by Jessica Sorensen - Review

Over the holidays, I went a little overboard. I read about 6 books... in 7 days and they were all New Adult and romance books I got on my Kindle. I think I just needed some mindless reading to relax and those six romances really did the trick. The first book I bought was The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden. Whew, what a title! What first drew me to this New Adult book was the cover. I mean come on. How could this romance enthusiast resist that cover?

The Coincidence tells the story of shy and troubled Callie. Callie strives to be invisible her entire high school career because of an incident of abuse that happened when she was 12. Enter Kayden. He's attractive, popular and has the queen bee as a girlfriend, but all of his confidence is a show to cover the fact that he fights for his life on a daily basis. With Callie's past and Kayden's alcoholic father, college is the perfect escape for these two from different worlds. When their paths cross on campus, no one would every believe that Kayden and Callie would fall for each other as they come together to battle their demons. 

Both Callie and Kayden come from backgrounds of abuse and they find it in themselves to over come their problems. While one might think that they absolutely should not belong together because of their emotion issues, they are exactly what the other needs. They each understand what it's like to not feel whole.

I really liked both Callie and Kayden's characters. They both grew so much through out the course of the story as most teenagers will do their first year of college. Many people begin to realize that the friends they associated with in high school are not those that they want to be friends with in college. People mature and it was fun seeing both Callie and Kayden come into their own.

The plot of the story was pretty original. I found myself swooning at the lovey-dovey scenes and tearing up at the more gut wrenching ones. A really interesting part of the story is how you learn of Callie's abuse. We learn about Kayden's family problems in the first ten pages, but with Callie's issues, we only get snippets. You have to make your own guesses until at the end, all that's left for you to figure out is who is the person responsible for her trauma. This made for a really unique background story for Callie and I really liked this aspect fo The Coincidence.

While I did like the book as a whole, I did have a few problems with the story's ending. I tend to read books with a happy ending. While the story itself may be dark and tormented, the ending always brings a smile to my face and makes the hard parts worthwhile. This story ended on a very depressing note and while I'm sure book two will make sense of the ending, I wasn't a fan of being left hanging... devastated  It's not your typical frustrating cliffhanger where you just want to know what happens next. No, this ending will have you wondering why Sorensen had to put the most depressing point of the story at the end. I think this aspect made me feel unsettled when I finished the book and that is really why I have mixed feelings.

This book fits perfectly into the mold of "New Adult" and so if you're venturing into the genre as a new reader, this may be a good book for you.

6 out of 10

Happy Reading :)

Read More

New Blog Design from Icey Designs!

Well guys,

With the start of the New Year, I decided that it was time for a change in my blog design. I wanted something a little more unique, a little more sophisticated and I happened upon Icey Designs.


I took a look at both her testimonials and her portfolio and I knew that I had to have her do a design for me. After making initial contact, Hafsah asked what I was looking for... after a very vague, confusing and I'm sure annoying response from me about how I wanted something "purple" "different" "simple" Hafsah came up with a beautiful, updated color scheme and went to work. I couldn't be more satisfied with my design. It's different, unique, simple and of course purple... but updated. Hafsah dealt with my crazy and seemed to know exactly what I was looking for and executed it perfectly. She even took my subtle changes after the initial template and completely read my mind. If you are looking for an update or this is your first time looking for a new blog design, I wouldn't sent you any where other than Icey Designs.

I obviously love my design, what do you think??

Thanks Hafsah!

Read More

New Year, New Updates!

Happy New Year Everyone! I wanted to write a quick post to wrap up the great year that was 2012 and let you know what I'm looking forward to in 2013! This past year I...

Started Abibliophobic

Gained 133 followers

Read 65 books

Made new blogger friends

I had such a fun year, as I said in my 1st Blogaversary post (don't forget to enter the giveaway!) and so I had to think about what I want to do differently or rather, what I'd like to do more of in 2013! I've of course, come up with a list... I'm a list-er if you had't noticed. I wanted to branch out in my reading and blogging and try some new things! And so, in 2013 I would like to...

Read at lease 70 books

Read more Romance and New Adult books!

Read and review at least 2 Classics

Participate in some YA Reading Challenges!

Hopefully I'm not asking to much of myself but I'd like to do more in the blogging and reading department in 2013 and so hopefully I meet my goals! Below are the reading challenges that I'll be participating in!

The Debut Author Challenge @ Hobbitsies!

Reading at least 12 Debut Author Books

The New Adult Reading Challenge @ A Tapestry of Words, Tater's Tall Tails and Author Victoria H. Smith!

 I'm going for the "Moving Out" level in trying to read at least 10 NA books

YA Mythology Reading Challenge @ For Those About to Read

Read at least 10 YA or Middle Grade books about Mythology

Hopefully I'm not being too crazy, but these challenges got me super excited!! Check out my about me through out the year to check my progress! Thanks for being awesome viewers and followers! I'd love to hear what you're planning on doing in 2013! Link me up!

Read More