Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday (27) The Farm: Emily McKay

Goodreads Summary: 

Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are—holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…

And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.

Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…

Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race...


Preorder: Here!!

Expected Publication: Dec 4th, 2012 from Berkley Trade

Why I Cannot Wait for This Book: Ever since I read The Hallowed Ones by: Laura Bickle I found a new love for vampires, mostly in the apocalyptic-type way. I used to HATE vampires, and I still do when it's clique, or when they glitter (sorry twi-hards). As soon as I heard the premise of this book I knew I wanted it, and I cannot wait for this one!! 



Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Bad Blogger Award




Yes, that's right I'm giving myself a bad blogger award!! I've realized how much i've been slacking on consistant posting, and I'm going to give you a million and one excuses as to why i've been slacking off (because let's face it, many bloggers have full time jobs and run households) so i'm just going to commit to you guys to try to make my posts more consistant. I don't think anytime soon i'll be able to have a new post up everyday, I wish I had that kind of dedication, and while I do have a strong love for reading and blogging, it's not my only focus.


So thanks again to my followers for staying and following my blog, each and every one of you make the work and effort worth it! I appreciate all of you and thanks for sticking by my side! 

Monday, November 26, 2012

Book Review: Breaking the Devil's Heart by: H.A. Goodman

Goodreads Summary: 

When Stewart and Layla recruit a demon to spy on the Devil, their decision takes them on whirlwind ride through the afterlife. Journey alongside this young couple in H. A. Goodman’s new novel, Breaking the Devil’s Heart, and join forces with a teenage Angel outcast to bankrupt Satan's underground Company and save Heaven from civil war. H. A. Goodman's Breaking the Devil’s Heart is a rollercoaster afterlife experience that tests a young couple's love, their grasp on reality, and the essence of human nature. What happens when Stewart and Layla tour Hell’s Marketing Department and Stock Exchange? What happens when their relationship is tested by Satan? This book is unlike anything you’ve ever read, or ever thought the afterlife might be like. Breaking the Devil’s Heart is an enlightening look into an alternate world, a new afterlife, and a profound journey inside the human conscience.





My Review: 

ReadingNook Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Going into reading this book I wasn't sure what to expect, and didn't know that it was the second book in a series. Therefore, I never read the first book in this series The Logic of Demons, that being said, I didn't even notice it was the second in a series, It read fine as a standalone and I didn't feel like I missed anything that was crucial to the second book.

H.A. Goodman created such a unique world with this book. I'm not partial to a certain religion, but do believe in God and heaven and hell, and I loved Goodman's version of what primarily hell is really like. It was an interesting world where demons are salesman trying to sell the formula to humans on earth which makes them made the wrong decision, whether it be driving away from a hit and run, or stealing, or lying whatever it is. I know religion is a touchy subject for many people, but this book was in no way preachy. It does discuss values, the afterlife, and religion but not in a way that it's opinions shoved down your throat.

This book read like a paranormal book with almost a sort-of of dystopian feel in the respect that the world-building was so well crafted that it felt otherworldly in a dystopian type way. I was pleasently suprised by this book and H.A. Goodman's writing. This book was so different then anything else i've read, so if your looking for something new and insightful without being preachy this is a book to check out.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Book Review: Ashen Winter (Ashfall #2) By: Mike Mullin

Goodreads Summary: 

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.






 My Review:


ReadingNook Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Mike Mullin blew me away with the first book in this series last year, and in fact it was my favorite book of 2011. I stated in my first review that Mike Mullin is a literary genius and this book is just as mind-blowing as the first book. We all fear the dreaded second book slowdown, if you don't know what that is its that the first book in the series is action-packed and completely blows you away, and then the highly-anticipated second book falls short of your expectations, but that does not happen in this series, in fact I have a feeling ( i'm calling this now) that the final book in this series is going to be EPIC!!

Ashen Winter picks up right where Ashfall left off, and the action begins right within the first few pages, I know many voracious readers like myself dread large books, because when you have a TBR pile tumbling over with so many books you want to get too, sometimes a 400+ page book is a turnoff for the fear that it;s going take you forever to get through, but despite this series size I always FLY through (I read over 200+ pages in less then two hours, in one sitting) Mike Mullin always leaves me wanting more, and if you haven't picked up this series yet your doing yourself a disservice. Dystopian books have gotten a bit of a bad rep. lately for having repetative plotlines and although this is considered to be dystopian it's not far-fetched or similar to anything else i've read whether it be YA or adult. This is an event that could literally happen at anytime, and any of these circumstances can be the aftermath, as scary as that is to consider I think that adds to the fear and emotion of this novel.

The plot in this book moves along so smoothly, it's hard to put down, because every few pages something crucial to the story happens, and the writing draws you in to the story in a way that makes you feel like your right along side the characters and cheering them on! The characters are extremely strong and well-developed. Alex is such a strong guy, but at the same time seems like he used to be such an underdog in his daily life, but is turning into this strong-willed, bad ass and I love it. This book can appeal to so many different audiences, I'm not a teen, in fact im fast approaching 30 and love these books, but I can see a lot of teenage boys, or girls, or adults all loving this book because anyone can relate to fighting for your life, and it's something that could happen to anyone of us at any given time.

I don't fan-girl very often, in fact I'm one of those people that if I see a celebrity in person I walk the other way and get excited later, because I wouldn't want to impose on their time, and would hate it if I was in their shoes and couldn't walk down the street without being approached, but unfortantly for Mike I pretty much twitter-stalk him and rave to him constantly about how in love with his books I am!! I pretty much tell everyone I know to read these books and am telling you that if you haven't picked this series up yet what the heck are you waiting for?