The blog design will be under construction for the next few days! :)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis



It's not hard for me to fall in love with a book. So when I saw everyone raving about Across the Universe I fully expected to be immediately taken in by it too. I wasn't, but that's ok, this was still a worthwhile read for me, one that possessed qualities I liked and ones that I didn't like as much.

The beginning of the novel starts off wonderfully. The scenes from Amy's perspective while she was still frozen were truly haunting. It was chilling to read about Amy going in and out of dreams with no sense of time; no real idea as to whether she was truly living or dead.

Another thing that was fantastic in this novel was the world building and plot. A space ship off on a mission to a newly discovered habitable planet, with cryogenically frozen people from Earth on board, and generations of people breeding and running the ship! That is one of the most original plots I've come across in the YA genre in a long time [Fake Spoiler Alert: There wasn't one vampire on board! *That I knew of.*]. I loved every aspect of life aboard the ship and even found the season to be interesting, even if it was a little revolting. Also I liked that the "mental" people are the ones with deeper feelings... I think we see that a lot on Earth already! I felt like I could imagine the ship clearly, normally I find it hard to imagine something so foreign to my brain, so props to Beth Revis for that! I didn't see the end coming and I thought the plot flowed nicely and reached a satisfying climax.

The things I didn't like about the novel involved Elder and Amy. I didn't buy their romance. It was a little bit too much like "instant love" to me which is something I easily grow tired of in a novel. Besides, I could only hear about Amy's "sunset hair" so many times before wanting to throw up. That's enough, I get it Elder, I think red heads are awesome too. I understand that he'd never seen anything like her before but I think because of this his feelings didn't feel real to me. I felt like Elder didn't receive a lot of characterization otherwise. Honestly, I found myself rooting for Harley and Amy to get together. Harley was actually my favorite character on board the ship. Another thing that irritated me was Amy's penchant for calling her father "daddy" and absolutely nothing else. In the beginning of the novel I thought I had been wrong about her age because I felt like I was reading the narrative of a five year old. Later I counted her using the word "daddy" thirteen times in the span of two pages [pages 234 & 235 if you're curious]. These were actually my only real dislikes in the entire book but it was enough to distance me from Amy and Elder both; especially since I didn't really care for them as a romantic unit.

All of that being said I will definitely be reading the second novel in the series when it releases. I am eager to see where the story goes next (I've got several theories!) and my only hope for the next novel is that Amy's use of the word "daddy" decreases and the relationship between her and Elder is fleshed out a bit more.


Rating: 3/5

Monday, February 14, 2011

Daily Dose #1


Daily Dose is a meme created by Good Golly Miss Holly. Every Monday you post a few inspiring images to your blog that you'd like to share with your readers. Since I've been looking at a local greyhound rescue my theme this week is going to be greyhounds!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (4)


I've been missing in action the past few days. I've been in a bit of a book slump the past week or so and have been devoting my time to other things. To my new followers from the hop: I still need to follow you back and I will! Thanks for stopping by my little blog. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey. It’s where you share the books you’ve read recently, are reading now, and are about to read.

Read:

Across The Universe

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This one was 3/5 for me. Review to come to explain my likes and dislikes.

Reading:

Wintergirls
Between Shades of Gray

I am further into Wintergirls at the moment. I picked this one up on a whim at Barnes and Noble after hearing about how beautiful Laurie's writing was on another blog. Her writing truly is different and for me that is making it a very enjoyable read.

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Next:


Fire Study

I could not stay away from this series for too long. I have to finish it!

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What are you reading this week?

Friday, February 11, 2011

Catcher in the Rye Book Jacket by Alexander Wells.

Book Jacket design for Catcher in the Rye by Alexander Wells.

I thought this was lovely and wanted to share.

Follow Friday & Book Blogger Hop (2)

Follow Friday and the Book Blogger Hop are for bloggers to discover new blogs and socialize throughout the community. Welcome to anyone stopping by for the first time!



Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View.

What is your favorite romance hero-type? Stereotype wise. Do you like the strong silent type or the brute macho man?

Is it wrong to say that I like a balance of both? I felt Valek from the Study series had the perfect balance of everything. Assassin by day and artist and lover by night. Another well balanced male was Peeta from The Hunger Games. He is completely different from Valek but another example of the perfect balance in a man; he was a sweet baker's son but also a passionate fighter.


Book Blogger Hop

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books.

Tell us about one of your posts from this week and give us a link so we can read it (review or otherwise)!

For my Waiting on Wednesday post this week I introduced a book called Clarity by Kim Harrington that is to be released March 1st. I think this book is going to be great and I haven't seen as much hype about it on the blogs as I have seen for other books. The Author, Kim, is also giving away some swag to those who pre-order her book. You will also be entered to win a personalized copy of Clarity as well. Check out the post here.

Leave a comment below if you've followed me and I will follow you back! Have a great weekend everyone.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Win a signed copy of Maria V. Snyder's upcoming novel Outside In.






There is a giveaway I'm very excited about going on over at My Bookish Ways. As you all know I have recently discovered Maria's Study series and have absolutely fallen in love with her writing. I plan to pick up her latest book, Inside Out, soon. This contest is to win a signed copy of the sequel to that book Outside In.

Go here to enter.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday (3)


Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

One book I am eagerly awaiting is Clarity by Kim Harrington. Below is the synopsis from Goodreads.

When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.

And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

Clarity releases on March 1, 2011. For a limited time the author, Kim Harrington, is giving out a little bit of swag to those that pre-order her book and forward her the receipt. Pre-order Clarity now and don't miss out. Check it out on her Goodreads page here.