New To My Book Closet

It's that time of the week again. Time to show you what bookish goodies made their way into my home and book closet (to be saved from the evil book eating cat monster named Aria). This is inspired by the various "mailbox" posts out there (eg. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews). 

I've had a pretty insane mailbox this week. I got some amazing bookmarks from Bethany Griffin (Thanks Bethany, so much!) and a bunch of fantastic books.

Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin (Goodreads)
Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker (Goodreads)
Teardrop by Lauren Kate (Goodreads)
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads)
The Eye of Minds by James Dashner (Goodreads)
Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne (Goodreads)

I purchased a copy of Dance of the Red Death and it looks so beautiful next to Masque! Ten Tiny Breaths sounds like it'll be really good. I am also so excited to be able to read Truly, Madly, Deadly. I was surprised to get the Random House Vault package with Teardrop, Steelheart, and The Eye of Minds. Huge thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada, Random House, and Raincoast for the review copies this week.

Happy Weekend and Happy Reading!

Weekly Obsessions

The awesome Kelly at KellyVision started posting a weekly post highlighting whatever she happened to be obsessed with that week. I LOVE this idea, so much in fact that I will be doing it myself every Saturday.

Here are my obsessions this week:

BOOKS

Cover for 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil

I love the simplicity of this cover, and the slightly creepy vibe that matches the synopsis perfectly. I am loving that the title numbers look exactly like ones on an alarm clock (non digital obviously).

Cover of The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

So pretty! I think everyone immediately loved this based on the response on twitter. After reading the synopsis I am equally excited to read this one.

cover of The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Okay so this really has more to do with the name than the cover. I am not partial either way to this cover, but the name...oh the name is PERFECT! The Dream Thieves, for those who have read The Raven Boys, is such a fitting title. I am intrigued and am dying for a synopsis to be released. I can't wait for more Gansey!

Cover of Infinityglass by Myra McEntire

Stunning. I really LOVE this cover. The striking red dress against that pale green wallpaper stands out and each of these covers has such an eye catching pose for the model on the front. I think this is actually my favourite of the three. Add it to Goodreads if haven't already.

Cover of Teardrop by Lauren Kate

The water cascading as her dress is quite pretty. The mystical look to the city behind her piques by interest, especially after reading the synopsis! 'A girl who got her heart broken and cried an entire continent into the sea' leaves me with thoughts of Atlantis.

TV

Once Upon A Time

This Sunday is the episode I have waited a long time for. The one in which we get answers. The one in which   not one but two of my favourite characters are set to return. Also one that will prove my guessing skills correct once again. I am so invested in this show that I literally have a bottle of wine, tissues, and chocolate ready for what is sure to be an emotionally draining episode for me. *Yes, I get too attached to TV/book characters. It's a thing*

So what are you obsessed with this week?

Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate

Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate
Release Date –  January 24, 2012
Publisher Website –  Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers/RandomHouse
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages -  201 pages
My Rating- 7/10
**obtained from the publisher for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

What makes your heart race a little faster? Just in time for Valentine's Day, it's FALLEN IN LOVE, four wholly original new stories collected in a new novel set in the Middle Ages by Lauren Kate. FALLEN IN LOVE gives fans the much-talked about but never-revealed stories of FALLEN characters as they intertwine with the epic love story of Luce and Daniel. The stories include: Love Where You Least Expect It: The Valentine of Shelby and Miles , Love Lessons: The Valentine of Roland; Burning Love: The Valentine of Arriane; and Endless Love: The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda.

I have read all the other novels in the Fallen series and was quite excited about getting to read more about Roland and Arriane as I like both of them and feel they are not developed enough.

I went into this novel expecting some quick, cute short stories. The good thing with this novel is that it is pretty much what you expect. The stories were more interconnected than I was expecting as well which was nice to see.

The “novel” is really short, clocking in at only 201 pages, so it’s a fast read.

This the kind of book I wish I could rate each story on it’s own. I felt some were stronger than the others. I will, however, break down the review by story.

Love Where You Least Expect It: The Valentine of Shelby and Miles

This story was cute. It follows Shelby and Miles while they try to help Luce and Daniel on Valentine’s Day. It’s the one story I would consider an actual love story as it’s happier, fluff and pretty sweet.

Love Lessons: The Valentine of Roland; Burning Love

I would call this a heartbreak story rather than a love one. Roland spends his tale remembering a lost love. He decides to go see her years later and realizes that sometimes the best thing you can do for the one you love is let them be happy without you.

Burning Love: The Valentine of Arriane

The most heartbreaking of all the stories. Arriane’s love is one she can never be with due to circumstances. The ghastly end to the story results in Arriane literally burning for her love.

Endless Love: The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda.

This  felt like the weakest story out of the 4 stories. It didn’t really feel like much happened in this one, other than Luce and Daniel spending a Valentine’s Day together.

This novel really doesn’t advance the plot of the series much. It does give some nice backstory to characters like Roland and Arriane. It will be cute to see Shelby and Miles continue their tentative relationship in Rapture (I hope it happens anyways), but otherwise this mostly felt like a cute fluffy read that will be a good fit for Valentine’s Day.

In My Mailbox

This is a weekly meme hosted by the awesome Kristi at The Story Siren. It gives us a chance to showcase the books we got during the week.

The amazing Christy sent me a package that I got this week. It featured two books I was dying to read. Thank you so much Christy!

Everneath by Brodi Ashton (goodreads)*
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (goodreads)

*Everneath is not pictured as I left it at my sister's house. I already read it, and the review will be going up on Monday. I am pretty much almost done Pandemonium as well and words can not describe how awesome it is.

I received one egalley this week:

When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle (goodreads)

This is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet but with a twist. It sounds really good though. *not pictured as it does not have a cover yet

I won a novel from RandomHouse:

Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate (goodreads)

I am excited to hear about the other characters in this story. Roland and Arriane's stories especially intrigue me.

Lastly I purchased one novel this week:

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey (goodreads).

This hardcover was on sale for $4.99 at my local Chapters, so I had to grab it! I've heard wonderful things about it and can't wait to read it.

Happy reading everyone!

Passion by Lauren Kate

Passion by Lauren Kate
Release Date – June 14, 2011
Publisher – Random House
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 420 pages
My Rating- 7/10
**obtained from the publisher for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Luce would die for Daniel.

And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . . .

Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.

Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever.
Sweeping across centuries, PASSION is the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series.

Torment ended on a crazy cliffhanger. Luce decides to finally get some answers and figure out how to break the curse she and Daniel seem to be replaying over and over. I was excited to dive into this one and finally get those answers I had been wanting. While I did get a few answers, this book left me with even more questions.

This book is a quieter, less action packed book than book two in this series. We are seeing Luce and Daniel’s past lives in an attempt for Luce to understand what happens, why she always dies, and how to prevent it from happening again. The past lives aspect is my favourite part of the novel. It starts to reveal more of the story and was handled amazingly well. It could have been confusing and a mess, but Lauren pulls it all together and ties it up at the end of the book.

Luce, who I liked in the first book, made me want to scream in this one. She has no clue really what she is doing, and it ends up causing her to get into trouble. She runs from Daniel and anyone else that might actually be able to help her, and instead listens to people she shouldn’t. I knew right away that she was trusting individuals she should not, but Luce never really thought twice. Her constant need to understand why Daniel loves her, and why he would put himself through losing her each time made sense as far as breaking the curse, but she couldn’t let it go (even when she had proof).

Daniel who has been this mystery to me isn’t really made any more clear in this novel. We know he loves Luce, and we get a glimpse at how each Daniel handles her death. Some are rough, others he is expecting it, but each time he is hurt. It was nice to see his side of it, and what he went through. I feel that other than his relationship with Luce we don’t know much about Daniel himself. We get some information at the end that I am excited about, and hopefully the next book dives in even more into who Daniel is.

I really missed a lot of the secondary characters from the pervious books. I was looking forward to getting to read about them again, so hopefully they will be more present in Rapture. A new character that stands out is Bill. He is funny and I found myself laughing at some of the things he said. I did not guess exactly what his purpose to the novel ones (even though I had my suspicions) so was a little surprised by him.

The amount of new information, and an insane cliff-hanger ending that teases an epic battle (sounds like it will be very action packed) makes this an addition to the series that all fans should read.

In My Mailbox

This is a weekly meme hosted by the awesome Kristi at The Story Siren. It gives us a chance to showcase the books we got during the week.

I got two books this week, both from the library.





Passion by Lauren Kate (goodreads)
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (goodreads)

I am looking forward to both of these books. I have heard so many positive things about We Need to Talk About Kevin.

What books did you get this week? Leave me a comment and I will check it out.

Happy reading everyone!

Torment by Lauren Kate

Torment by Lauren Kate
Release Date – September 28, 2010
Publisher – Delacorte
Pages - 452
My Rating- 7/10

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Hell on earth. That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel. It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts - immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students -Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something - something dangerous. What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else? The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies

I had read and reviewed Fallen ( see that review here ) so I was very happy when my library had the second book available right away when I was done the first one.

This book takes place in a “school” Shoreline instead of Sword and Cross. The landscape and school are very different and it made for a nice change in the story. I loved the descriptions of the coastline and the water. It seems like a beautiful school to attend.

Luce in this book was more headstrong than in Fallen. She didn’t want to listen to anything Daniel asked her to do. She also put herself in danger quite a bit as a result of this. I like that she acted on her own and was not just listening to Daniel when he was giving her so little information, however she often just seemed to be doing it out of spite. I had a harder time liking her this time around. I did like that she was learning more about the Angel world and what her capabilities are. I am curious how strong she actually is, and what it means for her and Daniel’s love story.

Daniel remains Daniel. He doesn’t give Luce a lot of information as he is not able to. Since he is not in the book a whole lot we don’t really get to learn that much about him. I am hoping this does change in the 3rd book. I like him and would love to know more. Cam also remains as mysterious as in the previous book.

There are quite a few new characters that we meet in this novel. Miles and Shelby are the two that stood out. I love Miles. I think there is more to him than what was given away in this book. I also liked Shelby a lot and am looking forward to seeing her interact with Arriane (who continues to be awesome) in the next book.

I have to mention the one moment I really liked - Thanksgiving Dinner. It was the BEST.THANKSGIVING.EVER. It was so funny, awkward and unreal. It was a stand out moment in the book for me. It was nice to see everyone come together.

The end left on a cliff-hanger and it ended just when it was getting really interesting. I am looking forward to seeing how much Luce is able to find out in the next book and ultimately who she chooses - Daniel, Cam or even someone else!

This has nothing to do with the book itself, but the cover is really beautiful.

If you liked the first one, this one will leave you wanting even more.

The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate

The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate
Release Date – November 12, 2009
Publisher – Razorbill
Pages - 248
My Rating- 6/10

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

A steamy Southern beauty makes one fatal mistake
Natalie Hargrove would kill to be her high school’s Palmetto Princess. But her boyfriend Mike King doesn’t share her dream and risks losing the honor of Palmetto Prince to Natalie’s nemesis, Justin Balmer. So she convinces Mike to help play a prank on Justin. . . one that goes terribly wrong. They tie him to the front of the church after a party—when they arrive the next morning, Justin is dead.
From blackmail to buried desire, dark secrets to darker deeds, Natalie unravels. She never should’ve messed with fate. Fate is the one thing more twisted than Natalie Hargrove.
Cruel Intentions meets Macbeth in this seductive, riveting tale of conscience and consequence.

As soon as I read Cruel Intentions meets Macbeth I was sold. I wanted to read this book. I grabbed it from the library on a whim from reading the synopsis and reading the author’s Fallen series.

This different than the Fallen series. Very different. Fans of that series may not enjoy this book as much, but the writing style is the same, so if you enjoy Lauren’s writing style this book might appeal to you.

I was very torn with this book. Part of me liked it and part of me had a hard time getting into it.

The main issue I have is that I am a very character driven reader. I have to enjoy the characters to care. It doesn’t mean I have to like them, but I have to feel something. The characters in this from Natalie, her boyfriend Mike, and her nemesis Justin Barber are all unlikeable. Natalie is the front runner to be the Palmetto Princess and will do anything to obtain the crown.. She’s your typical high school “mean girl”. Her boyfriend is easily manipulated by her and agrees to go along with her in most things. The rest of the characters are just a vapid, and self absorbed as Natalie. I found it hard to even want to hate these characters.

When they play the prank on Justin I was able to guess what was going to happen to him and what various character reactions would be. The final outcome of the book however did surprise me a bit (I was expecting a much different ending). The author did a fantastic job with the ending. It perfect and actually was more in line with what I was expecting from this book.

I am a big fan of Cruel Intentions and I guess I thought this would have been more in line with that. It actually has a lot in common with Macbeth. I felt bad for Natalie in that she was popular, pretty and she let her ambition prevent her from seeing what she already had (very much like Macbeth).

My teenage self would have devoured this book and LOVED it, but my adult self may be too far past high school to really be engrossed in it.

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen by Lauren Kate
Release Date – Dec 8, 2009
Publisher – Delacorte Press
Pages - 452
My Rating- 7/10

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her

I liked the Gothic, dark feel that the novel has. The author was able to capture that perfectly. The cover is beautiful. It’s very striking. It’s fits the tone and mood of the book perfectly.

The premise of the book is a version of the star crossed lovers story. Our lovers are Luce and Daniel. The typical girl and the angel boy who loves her. I really liked the whole “past lives” part of the plot. It made some of the character’s actions a little easier to accept knowing this information. I found it heartbreaking that both Luce and Daniel were cursed to repeat their story again and again with the same devastating results. I felt for both Luce and Daniel as both of them had horrible consequences resulting from them being together.

I liked Luce for the most part. I felt I could sympathize with her confusion and her wanting to make friends. I had a little bit of an issue when it came to her reactions and actions when it came to Daniel. The first time she sees Daniel he literally flips her off. He is also rude and basically ignores her any other time they cross paths. Luce, instead of doing what she should do and tell him where to go, chases after him. She becomes obsessed. It is explained why Daniel does this and you can understand his point of view eventually but I found it aggravating that Luce was putting up with they way he treated her.

Daniel is what you would expect from the “heart-throb” of the book. Gorgeous, a little dangerous and aloof. I wish we would have found out more about him. We only find out what Luce knows. Daniel isn’t able to share a lot with her so he is still pretty mysterious at the end of the book. I am hopeful this will change in the next two books in the series.

Arriane, and Penn were two of the characters that I ended up really liking. Arriane was fun, feisty and quirky. Penn was my favourite. She was smart, rational and really seemed to want to help Luce.

I found myself drawn into the story and wanting to know what was going to happen next. I am jumping into Torment right away (as they were both ready for pick up at the library at the same time) and hope to get some more answers. I had a lot of questions at the end of the book and I am happy to not have to wait to read the next one.