Ascendant - Rebecca Taylor [Release + Review]

Released Today:

Ascendant by Rebecca Taylor

Title: Ascendant

Author: Rebecca Taylor

Publisher:  Crescent Moon Press

Series: Ascendant #1

Release Date: June 14th 2013

Pages: 315

Rating: ★★★1/2

Blurb:

When I was twelve, my mother disappeared. I was the first person to never find her.

I’m sixteen now and she has never been found, alive or dead.

I’m not the girl I should have been.

When Charlotte Stevens, bright but failing, is sent to stay at her mother’s childhood home in Somerset England her life is changed forever. While exploring the lavish family manor, Gaersum Aern, Charlotte discovers a stone puzzle box that contains a pentagram necklace and a note from her mother—clues to her family’s strange past and her mother’s disappearance. Charlotte must try to solve the puzzle box, decipher her mother’s old journals, and figure out who is working to derail her efforts—and why. The family manor contains many secrets and hidden histories, keys to the elegant mystery Charlotte called mom and hopefully, a trail to finding her.

Feature and Follow Friday #2

Feature and Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. The goal is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community. If you would like to join in the fun just visit one of the host's blog for the rules.

Activity of the Week: Spine Poetry. Create a line of poetry with your book spines (take a picture). Not feeling creative? Tell us about your favorite poem.

A close up for if you can't read the titles:

The Poem:

Unravel me, pretty little liars.

Shatter me, beautiful creatures.

North and south, we wither.

Heart of darkness, wicked phantom killer.

I'm pretty bad at poems, so please don't laugh at me :)

I'd prefer it if you follow me via bloglovin', since GFC is stopping..

Thank you for stopping by my blog. Don't forget to leave your link in the comments so I can follow back!

Of Poseidon - Anna Banks [Review]

This review contains spoilers.

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks 

Title: Of Poseidon

Author: Anna Banks

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Series: Of Poseidon #1

Release Date: May 22nd 2012

Pages: 324

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Blurb:

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma's gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom...
Told from both Emma and Galen's points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

Trendy Taglines #1

                                                             

Trendy Taglines is a meme hosted Downright Dystopian which features books based on their taglines-whether they be old or new. 

I choose the taglines from the Shatter Me series. I really love them, because they tell you so much about the protagonist and her story.

My touch is lethal. My touch is power. 

Of course the first thing you want to know when you read this tagline is what exactly it is with the protagonist Juliette's touch. I really liked the crossed out style, it's very original. It shows that first Juliette is afraid of her power and eventually she accepts it.  

 She will choose me. 

This book is about Warner, the 'villain' from book 1. When I read this tagline the first thing that came to my mind was: 'why should she choose you?' In the book you get to know 

Warner better and it shows why he wants her to choose him.

They want to find me. I will find them first.  

The first thing you think is of course: who are they? Why do they want to find her? The tagline shows that the protagonist is strong, she will go to her enemies herself instead of letting her find her.

What are your favourite taglines?

Bloglovin as Google Friend Connect Replacement / Alternative

                                                    
Bloglovin  VS  Google Friend Connect

                                                                     


As many of you know Google Friend Connect is most probably going to stop in a few weeks.
This means bloggers will have to find an alternative for their followers.

I have recently created a Bloglovin' account. This is not only a great follower site, you can also import the blog you are following with GFC into your Bloglovin account. That way those blogs won't be gone when GFC quits.

You can read more about Bloglovin' and importing blogs here:
Bloglovin as Google Friend Connect Replacement / Alternative

I would really love it if you could create a Bloglovin account. That way I won't have to miss your posts, and you will still get mine!


You can follow my blog via Bloglovin here:




If you have any questions about Bloglovin', don't be afraid to ask:)

PS: You can also follow me via email:)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor [Review]

This review contains spoilers.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Author: Laini Taylor

Publisher:  Little Brown Books

Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1

Release Date: September 27th 2011

Pages: 418

Rating: ★★1/2

Blurb:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Waiting on Wednesday #3

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The Bone Season & 

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Release Date: August 20th 2013

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.
Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.
The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine—a young woman learning to harness her powers in a world where everything has been taken from her. It also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

I'm excited for this book because it is a combination between paranormal (the voyants) and dystopian. I really loved this in Shatter Me and The Immortal Rules, so I hope I'll like this one too.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

Release Date: August 15th 2013

You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…
Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town…until River West comes along. River rents the guesthouse behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more? Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery...who makes you want to kiss back. Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

Blending faded decadence and the thrilling dread of gothic horror, April Genevieve Tucholke weaves a dreamy, twisting contemporary romance, as gorgeously told as it is terrifying—a debut to watch.

I'm excited for this book, because I love gothic horror novels. This one also has romance, so that's even more awesome. 

What books are you excited for?

The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) - Julie Kagawa [Review]

This review contains spoilers.

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Eternity Cure

Author: Julie Kagawa

Publisher:  Harlequin Teen

Series: Blood of Eden #2

Release Date: April 30th 2013

Pages: 446

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis:

Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.
Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike

Top Ten Tuesday #3

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.

This week: Top Ten Best Beach Reads!

An ideal beach book for me means a light, not too thick read which will not make you cry or display too much emotion and about which you do not have to think very hard.

Chicklits

Fantasy

Books about water/the beach

What is your Top Ten Beach Reads?

Teaser Tuesday #3

A weekly meme where you share two “teaser” sentences from your current read to try to entice others to want to seek it out, it is hosted by MizB. 

“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.
It did not end well.” 

- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor 

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1) - Leigh Bardugo [Review]

This review contains spoilers.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Shadow and Bone

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Publisher:  Henry Holt and Co

Series: The Grisha #1

Release Date: June 5th 2012

Pages: 356

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis:

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfill her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.

But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

Glorious. Epic. Irresistible. Romance.

YA Book Series - Novellas and Short Stories

Many Young Adult book series have short stories (#0.5, #1.5 etc) or novellas.

Here are a few that I want to read or have read.

Free Four (Divergent) - Destroy Me (Shatter Me)

Sword of Hades (Percy Jackson) - Radiant (Unearthly)

Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel, Raven and Alex (Delirium) - The Bane Chronicles (The Mortal Instruments)

Iron Legends (Iron Fey) - Harry Potter: The Prequel (Harry Potter)

Midnight Sun (Twilight) - The Tales of Dunk and Egg (A Song of Ice and Fire)

Tell me your favourite short story!