At Grave's End By Jeaniene Frost

Cover Rating: 1/5 (Not particularly appealing to me personally but each to their own)
Overall Rating: 5/5
Synposis: "It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield’s life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she’s successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat’s worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover’s finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger. As if that wasn't enough, a woman from Bones’s past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat’s about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she’s learned as a special agent won’t help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself—and Bones—from a fate worse than the grave."

This review will contain spoilers for the first two books. These books are my guilty pleasures, I don't know what it is about them but they never disappoint. I don't think there is one flat character. Cat is about as badass as heroines come and she can look after herself. Bones, a vampire with an English accent need I say more? I was slightly annoyed at Bones because he started to act so possessive but I forgave him because I understood his reasoning behind it. Cat's mother - yes I still hate her - but without her the books would be a lot less hilarious. At least her character had depth which can't be said for most parents in books (Twilight - Charlie Swan, a guy with a gun nothing more.) At Graves End answered a question that had been annoying me for a while. If Cat was a vampire hunter they all feared why did no one ever recognize her? Well they do now, all the vampires have heard of the dreaded 'Red Reaper'.

I love the way these books are written and even though they are adult books, which I try to stay away from, they are up there with my favorites. A new character emerged in this book and what do you know it's Dracula himself. Actually his real name is Vlad - maybe Dracula was just a nickname. I did like him though. I even began to like Ian who was the villain of the last book. You can tell an author is good when they make you like the bad guy. I would recommend this book to adults or mature teens who love Paranormal Romance. I would give At Graves End 5/5 stars.

My favorite quote:
“Get stuffed, don't you have more publicity stunts to pull?" Bones shot back. "How about chatting with another writer who can smear your name into greater popularity?" 
"What, did Anne Rice not return your calls, mate?" Vlad asked scathingly. "Jealousy is such an ugly trait.”  
 Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Undead By Kirsty Mckay

Cover Rating: 0/5
Overall Rating: 2/5
Synopsis: "Being new at school bites. But at least it doesn't kill you. Mostly. Bobby thinks she might well be on the School Trip from Hell. Looks like she's going to be on this school bus for a quite a while; could things get much worse? Yep. They could. Inexplicably, her classmates start dying...and then they come back to life again...and what's more, they're very, very hungry. With nowhere to run and no contact with the outside world, Bobby is thrown together with a raggle-taggle group of survivors at a roadside café. There's indie kid drop-out Smitty, the class beauty queen Alice, dweeby Pete and two near useless adults: a half-conscious bus driver and a volatile petrol station attendant. The frenemies struggle to stay alive - through explosions, deadly battles and a breakneck chase through the snowbound wilderness. Somehow they have to make it to safety - and get some answers - no matter what the cost. Can they survive the Undead? And each other?"


I didn't like this book, I knew I wasn't going to. I was given it by a friend so I thought I would give it a fair chance. I'm not keen on zombie books, I've only ever read one book that I liked that fit into that category. Undead is set in England but most of the language they used I knew no one in England would use an example being 'dweeb', I have never used that word and I've never heard it used. I felt the writing in Undead wasn't very mature but that may have been the point. The characters were very flat and most didn't have constant personality's. The main character Bobby annoyed me because she didn't seem to have any original thoughts, all of her thoughts were mostly repeating others, thinking about the main guy and hating the others. The only character I found slightly bearable was Smitty - yes his name annoyed me too - and he was only bearable because he made fun of the other characters I hated.

The whole situation was in no way believable. All the kids on the coach are turned into zombies from drinking carrot juice. Why would every person drink it? If you offered carrot juice to a group of teenagers my bet would be not one of them would drink it. It's vegetables blended into a juice, ew. Another thing that made it less believable is the girl, Alice, comes out of the bathroom and everyone's dead sure she cries but for what 5 minutes? The others don't seem to care at all and Pete is a psychopath who was happy to see their whole class dead. Why did everyone then insist on trying to save him? I would recommend this book to people who enjoy zombie books and I would say guys more than girls but that's just my opinion. I would give Undead 2/5 stars and that's generous.

My favorite quote
“I open my eyes and blow a straggle of hair out of my face. Not my hair, Smitty's. His head is buried in the crook of my neck and he's out cold. He uses raspberry shampoo? What a big girl.”


Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Yes it's that time again. My 100 followers giveaway got LOADS of entry's so I'm hoping that this one will get even more. This time I'm going to giveaway one copy when I get to 150 and then another at 155 and so on until I've given away 10 copies. So there will be ten opportunity's  to win. And the book? An e-book of Shades Of Grey by Michael Cargill. He has been kind enough to provide them for me.
Want to know more?

"John is not a very nice man. He works for the government. So who has tied him to a chair and what do they want? James is a British soldier during WWII. Tom is a young boy with a terrible secret 

Three stories. Three very different people. All of them battling to survive."

The winners will receive a voucher code to download the book from Smashwords. I haven't got around to reading it yet but from the ratings on Goodreads I've seen I will hopefully be reading it soon. This giveaway is international and to win fill in the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So enter enter enter!!! Any questions? Get in touch.
Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Forgotten By Cat Patrick

Cover Rating: 3/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Synopsis: "Each night at precisely 4:33 am, while sixteen-year-old London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can "remember" are events from her future. London is used to relying on reminder notes and a trusted friend to get through the day, but things get complicated when a new boy at school enters the picture. Luke Henry is not someone you'd easily forget, yet try as she might, London can't find him in her memories of things to come. When London starts experiencing disturbing flashbacks, or flash-forwards, as the case may be, she realizes it's time to learn about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future."


This book kept coming up in my Goodreads recommendations again and again so eventually I got curious about why Goodreads wouldn't stop recommending it to me no matter how often I pressed the ignore button so I borrowed it off a friend who conveniently had. Part way through the book I began wondering why I kept pressing ignore because I really enjoyed it. Forgotten has a really interesting concept; a girl who forgets the past and remembers the future. I have a bad memory myself but I doubt I could cope with my entire past vanishing every night. London coped with the help of notes, these notes had some important information and some not so  important information like what she wore. I thought that was very interesting because it showed things we take for granted like memory of what we wore yesterday would be important if we always forget. You know that moment when someone asks you what you had for lunch and you rack your brain for the answer but you just can't remember. How frustrating it is. How you may even sit for hours trying to remember. Well imagine feeling that everyday.

Forgotten had many characters that I could hate and rant about but for once I'm not going to. London herself I found slightly irritating at times but I looked past that because of all she had to deal with. I can't imagine what that would be like. Her best friend Jamie began to go off the rails but again I can't blame her for that. Then along comes Luke. An actual normal guy, he wasn't badass, he wasn't unbearably sweet or possessive. Just a normal guy and it was a refreshing change. I think he and London were perfect together and get this - no love triangle. I would recommend this book to people who need a change from their normal reads and I would give it 4/5 stars.

My Favorite Quote:
“Tears upon tears splat on to the lined pages in my hands as I read about a nightmare come true. Quickly, I wipe away the saltwater so it won't fade the ink. Because even as my chest caves in and makes me hate the chipper birds and everything else, I know that I needed to read this today, and I need to read it again tomorrow.  For me, reading is remembering.” 


Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Cover Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Overall Rating: 3/5 stars
Synopsis: "Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. 

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow."


Matched started off quite good and then it got a bit boring then good again. The book was very simple but a letdown since I had been waiting to read this for so long. The characters didn't have very much depth to them so I didn't particularly like any of them. The main character Cassia came across very shallow and didn't have many original thoughts. I didn't hate her though because she wasn't individual enough to hate, it was as if she was the narrator but not an actual character. Also the synopsis says "So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black." but that doesn't actually happen, she see's Ky's face later on in the story and that annoyed me. 


The male love interests were also quite boring, Ky and Xander also had the same problem as Cassia. Neither had much personality. The closest we got was Ky's troubled past. I can't say I didn't enjoy this book though because I did. It may have been simple and kind of boring but at the same time it was a fun read although I read it at the same time as a friend of mine and she gave up completely on it 30 pages in. I will probably read the second book but I wont buy it like I originally planned. I heard the second was better than the first so lets hope. I would recommend Matched to people who enjoy simple Dystopia as opposed to the complicated type which I prefer. I would give Matched 3/5 stars. 


My favorite quote:
"Growing apart doesn't change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that." 

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

A Song On Sunday (5)

Welcome to 'A Song On Sunday', an original meme here at Confessions Of A Bookaholic.

To take part all you have to do is:

1. Pick a song you love
2. Match it with a book you've read
3. Grab my button
4. Link back to me
5. Leave me a link so I can see your post
Simple as that!
So mine?

I picked more of a character than a book today, Vampire Academy's very own Adrian Ivashkov! (contains spoilers for Vampire Academy) I love him if you hadn't noticed. His personality changes so much during the books I had to pick two songs for him. Song one is before he met Rose, he was a carefree, arrogant, party boy in the nicest possible way.
Cue The Lazy Song:

Song two (yes another Bruno Mars song) is more like his relationship with Rose, he'd do anything for her and she wouldn't for him. Rose is then evil enough to cheat on him like in the video. Fortunately Adrian didn't throw himself in front of a train.

So whats your song this week? Oh and HAPPY EASTER!
Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

I'm running a little behind on my reviews because I've been VERY busy so here's an update of books I will be reviewing soon. Some I've read others are in the post on the way to my house.


Read:

In the post:

Have you read any of these? What did you think? Can you predict the ratings I'm going to give them? I've got quite a bit of money at the moment so any recommendations for me? Look out for the reviews!
Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

City Of Bones By Cassandra Clare

Note: I'm trying a new style tell me if you prefer it

Cover Rating: 3/5 stars
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars
Synopsis: "When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy? This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . . "

Cassandra Clare has done it again! I started City Of Bones knowing there was no way it would be better than The Infernal Devices, I was right, but it was very close. City Of Bones is set in modern times whereas The Infernal Devices was set in the reign of Queen Victoria but strangely enough I prefer that to modern. City Of Bones had some characters I recognized from TID -  I know what your thinking 'how could the characters still be alive after all that time?' Well Magnus Bane can because he's cool like that. Lucky for me because I love Magnus - but then who doesn't. As well as familiar characters there are also familiar families. Like the Lightwood's, Alec and Isabelle Lightwood are decedents of Gabriel and Gideon. I loved recognizing the names, not that I'm sad or anything!

The characters in COB really reminded me of the ones from TID. Isabelle - a less evil Jessamine, Jace - a not as awesome Will and Clary - a slightly annoying Tessa. I haven't found anyone to compare Alec to but I'm leaning towards Gabriel. I really enjoyed this book and I've ordered book 2 - should arrive next week courtesy of Amazon. I loved Jace he was just an awesome character and he had the boyish arrogance that I love so much in Will. I was sad not to see any Carstairs' because my hope for Jem is fading. There was a love triangle of course from Cassandra Clare the queen of love triangles. I'm not loving the Simon (Clary's best friend) / Jace / Clary one that you just know is coming as much as the Tessa/ Jem/ Will one. I would recommend this to everyone and I will give City Of Bones 5/5 stars.

My favorite quote:
"Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?' 
Jace said, "Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself." 
..."At least," she said, "you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland." 
"Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting." 

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Anyone who read my review for Hope's Daughter will know that I am eagerly awaiting the second book. I loved the cover for Hope's Daughter but I think this one may be even better. I love the colors in the eye. The Rainbow Makers tale focuses more on Balik's story and I for one am happy about that because I really liked his character. 

"Outwardly, Balik is an obedient member of society on Space Station Hope...he follows The Council's systems, excels at school and seems happy to follow in his parents footsteps... But Balik's real life is filled with secrets he can share with no one. As he follows his suspicions about the space station into ever more dangerous territory it seems like his whole world will unravel around him...but he doesn't understand everything...things are wrong, he is sure of that - but why exactly, he doesn't know. When Cassie unexpectedly comes into his life, Balik struggles to find his balance. For years he's investigated the oddities of the world he lives in, but Cassie makes him question things in a different way... Can he believe in this girl who seems so much a part of the system he distrusts? Would she put a stop to his plans to break out if she knew what he was really up to? Balik can't be sure of anything - except the fact that he can't leave her alone."

Want to know more? Here's a note from the author:
The Rainbow Maker's Tale is the partner book to Hope's Daughter - telling the story from Balik's point of view - and so the cover reflects the artwork from there. Anyone who has read Hope's Daughter will know where the 'rainbow' idea comes from; it's only a little aside in the book, but for me it says a lot about the person Balik is and where his relationship with Cassie begins. The Rainbow Maker's Tale is due for release in summer 2012. 

I am looking forward to getting my hands on this book, are you?
Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Delirium By Lauren Oliver

I've been wanting to read this book for ages because as you must know by now, I'm going through a kind of Dystopia phase. Delirium is set in a world where everyone believed love was a disease that would eventually kill you. That is why at the age of eighteen everyone was given a cure. No one wanted to go back to the Dark Days when love ruled nearly every action you made. 

Uncured girls and boys are separated and if you make the slightest indication you're in love then there are consequences. This never bothered Lena before, she was counting the days until her cure. She hated the feeling of the infection running through her veins. She wanted to have her procedure and the sooner the better. Only, things start to change when Lena meets Alex. She begins to doubt the government that she's always believed in and she uncovers lies that could break her forever. She can't fall in love though, she just can't but there's a problem with that. She has no choice in the matter. Lena falls in love.

"Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. 

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love."

The one thing that pulled me in this book was the concept, it was amazing. Love is a disease; amor deliria nervosa  meaning the deadliest of all deadly things. I thought it was very interesting. Delirium is a little slow at the start but it soon speeds up and gets a lot more exciting. I can't say I loved Lena but I didn't hate her and that's saying something. I felt the same way for her best friend Hana. One character I did love was Alex, he was an awesome character. He believed in love even when Lena was disgusted by it. Alex was defiant and sweet, no one owned him like the government owned everyone else. The book teaches that love does bring pain but without pain you can't have happiness and I think that's a great message. One thing I HATED about this book was the ending but I can't tell you any more about that. I really looking forward to reading the second book Pandemonium. I would give this book 4.5/5 stars.

My Favorite Quote:
“Love: a single word, a wispy thing, a word no bigger or longer than an edge. That's what it is: an edge; a razor. It draws up through the center of your life, cutting everything in two. Before and after. The rest of the world falls away on either side.” 


Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Beautiful Darkness By Kami Garcia And Margaret Stohl

I was excited to pick this up since I enjoyed the last, sadly I got bored halfway through so put it on hold for a while and that doesn't happen very often for me. As with all reviews of sequels this review may contain spoilers. 

Beautiful Darkness carried on from where Beautiful Creatures left off. Everyone tries to go back to having a normal life but that never happens. Lena is distraught over a death she thinks she caused and she pulls back from Ethan, keeping secrets that could destroy their relationship. Lena has built up a wall and Ethan just can't break it down this time. He realizes he's on his own to face the visions that only he can see when before they both could. Even with Lena trying to get further away from him Ethan is always trying to save her but what if she doesn't need saving? What if the choices he thinks she's being forced to make are actually her own. Lena and Ethan grow further apart but can either of them actually survive without the other?

"Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.Sometimes life-ending. Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems."

I thought Beautiful Darkness was an okay book but it was very slow in the middle. Although I liked Lena before there was a huge change in her personality in this book which at first I put down to grief but she seemed to broken and it was a little annoying. She was the kind of character that you wanted to scream at to get a grip. Ethan was alright in this book as he was in the first but I still prefer his best friend Link. He's just very funny. There was one new character, Olivia, who I really liked but - get ready for a rant - she was supposed to be British. That's fine when authors like Cassandra Clare do it because they do it really well but I was really considering writing these authors a letter. This is how it would have gone:

Dear Ms Garcia and Ms Stohl,

     Contrary to your beliefs ALL British know what Cotton Candy is, we may call it Candyfloss but we still know what it is. We have heard of the brand Nesquik whereas I've never heard of Ovaltine which your character kept going on about. Yes we call 'fries' chips but we do know what fries are. Finally why is Mary Poppins really the only British person she's compared to? There are so many others.

Yours, 

A British Blogger.

Okay rant over, I actually really liked Olivia because she was really smart and personally I don't see why Ethan doesn't drop Lena to be with Olivia but we all know this never happens. One relationship I do like is Link and Ridley's, yes I realize Ridley was an evil siren but I still quite liked her. I would recommend this book to people who love magic and witchy things. I would give this book 3/5 stars because I did like it but it was too slow.

My favorite quote:

“My life had taken a stranger turn than I could've ever imagined. What was I doing on this path? Where was I headed really? Who was I to take on a battle between powers I didn't understand— armed with a runaway cat, a uniquely bad drummer, a pair of garden shears, and an Ovaltine-drinking teen Galileo? 

To save a girl who didn't want to be saved?” 

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Ill Wind By Rachel Caine

I've read two books in one day, I think that may be a record! Anyway on with the review. I picked up Ill Wind thinking it was a Young Adult book because the author wrote my beloved Morganville series. I was mistaken. I really need to start checking books out, I think this has been the third I've picked up and found it was adult. I didn't mind too much though.

Ill wind is about Jo Baldwin, she's a Weather Warden... on the run. A Weather Warden's job is to keep people by delivering the world of dangerous weather but that's easier said than done. Joanne is searching for Lewis, the only person she knows that can help her avoid the certain death that is approaching. One problem, he's also on the run after having stolen three Djinn's. So not only is he on the run but he is the most wanted man in the world - things couldn't get much better for Joanna - but if she's going to survive then she has to find Lewis. And fast. 

"Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden. Usually, all it takes is a wave of her hand to tame the most violent weather. But now, she's trying to outrun another kind of storm: accusations of corruption and murder. So, she's resorting to the very human tactic of running for her life...  Her only hope is Lewis, the most powerful warden known. Unfortunately, he's stolen not one but three bottles of Djinn-making him the most wanted man on earth. Still, she's racing hard to find him-before the bad weather closes in fast..."

I enjoyed this book mostly because I love Rachel Caine's writing style, I don't know what it is but I always love anything written by her. This was a good book, not as good as Morganville, but good. As it's the first book I didn't really get to know any of the characters well but I quite liked Jo and David. Lewis, to say he's the main part of the book, is hardly in it so I don't know how I feel about him just yet. Some parts of Ill Wind confused me slightly but by the end I got it. I am really looking forward to book two. I wouldn't reccomend this to younger readers but its a good read. I would give it 4/5 stars.


My favorite quote:
“People talk about nature as a mother, but to me she's always been Medea, ready and willing to slaughter her children.” 


Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

A Song On Sunday is an original meme hosted here at Confessions Of A Bookaholic. I'm changing it slightly so it's more book related so the song has to remind you of / go with a book you've read.
It's simple to join in all you have to do is:

1. Pick a song that you loved this week
2. Match it with a book
3. Grab my button
4. Link back to me
5. Leave me a link so I can see your post
So my song of the week you ask?
Safe And Sound, I'm kinda cheating here since it was actually in The Hunger Games movie but I think it goes so perfectly. I love this song.

well

Why do I think it goes with THG? (CONTAINS SPOILERS)
I think it goes with THG because:

1. A deer appears all through the video and right at the start of the film Gale distracts Katniss while she's trying to shoot a deer.
2. It would have been the perfect song for Rue's Lullaby. Here's Rues actual Lullaby and it's very similar: “Deep in the meadow, hidden far away 
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray 
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay 
And when it's morning again, they'll wash away 
Here it's safe, here it's warm 
Here the daisies guard you from every harm 
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true 
Here is the place where I love you.” 

3. She has a Mockingjay pin

4. Lots of references to fire

5. Rue is crying and tells Katniss not to leave her and that sounds very similar to the start of the song

6. I can't remember if Katniss tells Rue to close her eyes but if she doesn't then she should have.

So what do you think of the song? Do you have a better one? And most importantly are you taking part in A Song On Sunday?
Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

My Favorite Book Of March

Pinch Punch First Day Of The Month! We are now in April which means I get to pick my favorite book of March. I went onto my Goodreads page, as I always do and looked at the books I'd read this month. I was very disappointed. I'd read only four (1/2) books last month and they weren't particularly good. The one book that I enjoyed the most was...

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning!

I gave this book 4.5 stars. Read my review 

here.

What was your favorite book of March? Tell me about it!

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Random Reads (1)

Yes I know I said I was going to cut down on meme's but this one looked fun so I couldn't resist (I'm dropping Top Ten Tuesday just to let you know). Random Reads is a monthly meme hosted by I'm Loving Books. 
The point of it is to read those books on your TBR pile that you probably would never get to otherwise. You know the ones that you put off again and again thinking I will read these soon when really you know that you will most likely NEVER get to them. 

Want to join in?

1) If you’re on Goodreads enable sorting to your to-read shelf (you should see numbers next to each book now).

2) Go to Random.org and type in the Min as 1 and the Max as how many ever books are on your to-read shelf.

3) Scroll down to the book matching the number Random.org picks.

4) Link up to your Random Reads post at I'm Loving Books.

So my Random read is #267 on my list; Divergent By Veronica Roth. It has only been on my TBR list for just over a month - since February 26th 2012 and I'm excited to start it, a friend of mine told me it was amazing so I had to add it to my list. 

Here's the synopsis:

"In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all."

Look out for a review! What was your Random Read?

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Blood Feud By Alyxandra Harvey

I picked Blood Feud up as a quick, light read and it was. Blood Feud is the second book in the Drake Chronicles series (see my review for My Love Lies Bleeding). Blood Feud follows different characters to MLLB. Instead of Lucy and Solange the point of view switched to Logan and a new character; Isabeau  St. Croix. 

Isabeau is searching for the evil vampire who turned her and then buried her alive during the french revolution. She is sent to the new queens coronation to try and form an alliance between hers and the Drakes clans. She then discovers that she is not the only one wanting revenge and they both have a common enemy, Montmarte. The one thing she didn't count on is meeting Logan Drake, personally my favorite of the Drake's. Blood Feud tells you about a different type of vampire, the hounds. If you liked the narrators of My Love Lies Bleeding don't worry they are still in Blood Feud.

Here's the synopsis:  

"It's been centuries since Isabeau St. Croix barely survived the French Revolution. Now she's made her way back to the living and she must face the ultimate test by confronting the evil British lord who left her for dead the day she turned into a vampire. That's if she can control her affection for Logan Drake, a vampire whose bite is as sweet as the revenge she seeks. The clans are gathering for Helena's royal coronation as the next vampire queen, and new alliances are beginning to form now that the old rifts of Lady Natasha's reign have started to heal. But with a new common enemy, Leander Montmarte—a vicious leader who hopes to force Solange to marry him and usurp the power of the throne for himself—the clans must stand together to preserve the peace he threatens to destroy."

I enjoyed Blood Feud quite a bit more than the first, maybe because I preferred the main characters. I now have a new favorite Drake as well - Logan. I finished Blood Feud in a few hours and liked it. This isn't the kind of series that makes you say wow but it's more of a simple unserious story. Blood Feud is highly predictable and I knew exactly what was going to happen from the beginning but it didn't bother me too much. I would reccomend this to anyone in need of a light vampire novel. I would give it 4/5 stars. 

What did you think of it?

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Clockwork Princess Teasers

Note: There is no cover yet so I'm sharing a fan made one with is really awesome.

Anyone who has read Clockwork Prince will get what I mean when I say that I CANNOT wait another year for Clockwork Princess. It's all the more frustrating when you know it's already written and just sitting there waiting to be read. And then you find out that not only is it only written it's release date has been moved from November 2012 to March 2013!

Luckily I came across some spoilers that occupied me for a while so I didn't explode. Me being the nice person I am, you get to see them right here on my blog. If it wasn't obvious enough this post will contain SPOILERS. Just in case you didn't get that from me saying I was sharing teasers.

Teaser #1
“Would you?” said Gabriel to Will,  hotly. “If it was your family?” His lip curled. “Never mind. It’s not as if you know the meaning of loyalty —”“Gabriel.” Gideon’s voice was a reprimand to his brother. “Do not speak to Will in that manner.”

Teaser #2
“He began it,” Cecily said, jerking her chin at Will, though she knew it was pointless. Jem, Will’s parabatai, treated her with the distant sweet kindness reserved for the little sisters of one’s friends, but he would always side with Will. Kindly, but firmly, he put Will above everything else in the world. Well, nearly everything.

Teaser #3
Jem knotted his fingers in the material of Will’s sleeve. “You are my parabatai,” he said. “You said once I could ask anything of you.”

Teaser #4
Jem drew the bow back and let the arrow fly; it struck the creature in the side. The massive demon worm writhed in agony, undulating as it swept its great, blind head from side to side, uprooting shrubbery with its thrashings. Leaves filled the air and the boys choked on dust, Gideon backing up with his seraph blade in his hand, trying to see by its light.“It’s coming toward us,” he said in a low voice."And indeed it was, the arrow still protruding from its wet, grayish skin, humping its body along with incredible speed. A flick of its tail caught the edge of a statue, sending it flying into the dry ornamental pool, where it shattered into dust.“By the Angel, it just crushed Sophocles,” noted Will. “Has no one respect for the classics these days?”

Teaser #5
And the gold of her ruined wedding dress.

Teaser #6
“A very magnanimous statement, Gideon,” said Magnus.“I’m Gabriel.”Magnus waved a hand. “All Lightwoods look the same to me.”

What do you think? We have a ruined wedding dress, Jem asking Will something important, Magnus being his awesome self and of course even when Will is in trouble he can come up with witty remarks. What are your predictions? If you want to know mine feel free to ask :) 

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Torment By Lauren Kate

I feel guilty for letting my blog get over run by meme's so I thought I will cut some, but now I can't decide which ones to cut so I'd appreciate people to tell me which one they like least and I will cut the one with the majority of votes.

For now I am reviewing a book I read in January and for some reason forgot to review it. Torment is the second in the Fallen series (see Beka's review of Fallen) so it may contain spoilers for Fallen. I was very excited to read it but the moment I opened the book I remembered I didn't even like Fallen that much so I have no idea why I wanted to read this but I did. Torment is set literally minutes after Fallen ended- you know the big fight scene which I still don't know what the point of it was - so Luce has to spend some time away from Daniel hidden in a boarding school for Nephilim where she begins to learn about the shadows that have haunted her for her entire life. She realizes that Daniel - the guy she's been in love with for all of a day - may be hiding something from her about her other lives. 

"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? "

I thought this book was worse than the first but it wasn't the most horrible book I've ever read. If you look past the annoying heroine, the clingy over protective angel and the pointless fights it's actually an okay book. Daniel I hated in the first and now even more, the same goes for Luce. The one character who I actually like is Cam, the evil guy. Yes good guys are so overrated nowadays. There were a few new characters including Shelby- a girl with anger issues and Miles- he was okay. I am being forced by a friend to read the third book 'Passion' because apparently it gets better. That doesn't seem likely but you never know. I would give Torment 2/5 stars (I may come back and change this later because it seems a bit harsh!)

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I'd Play Hooky With

Before I do my top ten I have a confession to make... I had to Google what 'playing hooky' was. I honestly have never heard that phrase before. For those of you who are as clueless as I am 'playing hooky' means skipping work or school (according to Google anyway). So top ten book's I'd skive for? Well I have much to many books for that list so I will do top ten books I would reread while 'playing hooky' (does the phrase annoy you as much as it does me?)

So my top ten:

1) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: I loved these books and they would probably be my first choice to reread, I'm not sure I would ever read Mockingjay because that just depressed me.

2) The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare: I adore TID, Cassandra Clare is an amazing writer and the characters she makes are also amazing: Will Herondale in particular. I would love to reread these but I just don't have the time. I may just have to take a day off...

3) The Morganville Vampires Series by Rachel Caine: This series has never once bored me and I've read 11 of them. The twelfth is coming out really soon so I would love to reread these before it does.

4) Bloodlines by Richelle Mead: ADRIAN! Need I say more? No, I really love the story it's self is just awesome, it used to be my favorite but I've read so many awesome books since this.

5) Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick: I liked this series and I'd like to see Patch again while I try and get hold of Silence.

6) Noughts And Crosses by Malorie Blackman: Definitely a favorite of mine and one of the more serious books I've read, very hard to explain. Read my review!

7) Before I Die by Jenny Downham: A very sad book which I can hardly remember, I liked it at the time so I'm hoping to like it as much a second time.

8) Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow: Quite a good series and I tried reading the latest and I was very confused so that has been put on hold until I reread the others.

9) My Name Is Memory by Anne Brashares: Really liked this book, a fast read for a day off.

10) The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer: I'm constantly dissing Twilight but it's hard to make fun of something that you can't remember at all.I definitely should read this again.

So what's your TTT?

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Sorry this has been my first review in a while but I have been REALLY busy! I'd never read a book by Alyxandra Harvey but I had heard great things about her books so when I saw this in my -badly stocked- library I had to take it out. My Love Lies Bleeding is about Lucy and Solange. Solange is a vampire, the first female to be born, and Lucy is her best friend- a human. Solange is in danger because vampires, vampire hunters and everyone in between seem to all want her dead. Her brothers and family are highly trained to protect her though so she is not easy to kill. Many unlikely alliances form all with the same purpose. They are all determined to keep Solange safe but she's just as determined to look after herself, even if it puts her in danger. I apologise in advance for the synopsis because it is very spoilerish but it's the official one on the back of the book so it's no fault of my own.

"The Drakes are rather different to your usual neighbours. They are vampires and some of the members of the family date back to the twelfth century. One of the children, Solange, is the only born female vampire known and, as such, she poses a direct threat to the vampire queen. Her best friend Lucy is human, and when Solange is kidnapped Lucy and Solange's brother, Nicholas, set out to save her. Lucy soon discovers that she would like to be more than just friends with Nicholas. But how does one go about dating a vampire? Meanwhile, Solange finds an unlikely ally in Kieran, a vampire slayer on the hunt for his father's killer."

My Love Lies Bleeding is a very quick and light read. It is highly predictable and quite cliche but I think that is what makes it good. I really enjoyed it mostly because of the Drake brothers. I loved them all - all seven of them; Connor, Quinn, Sebastian, Marcus, Duncan, Logan and of course Nicholas. My favorites being Logan - the flirty, full of himself brother - and Nicholas - the sweet mysterious brother. Lots of reviews I read were saying that the amount of characters made the book confusing but personally I think every brother had a different personality and were all completely individual. I am looking forward to hearing more from them. I didn't just like the brothers though, there was also Kieran. He was a vampire hunter but I really liked him. The main character Lucy annoyed me slightly but I quite liked Solange, she was more 'real' even though she was the Vampire. Some of the romances, I feel, were a bit quick but then again in YA they always are. I would recommend this book to Vampire lovers or those people who just want a quick read. It's not serious, it has no message, it's just a good book. I would give it 4/5 stars.

My favorite quote:
“All right.” Lucy shouldered her way to my side and made a waving motion as if they were annoying flies. “Shoo!” She narrowed her eyes. “I said shoo.”
They dispersed, mostly startled into moving. Only Logan remained, leaning casually against the wall.
“Darling, I’m not some insect to be chased away.”
“Darling?” She snorted amiably. “You’re not ninety years old, either.”
He straightened. “I’m charming,” he informed her. “And women like endearments.”

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Musing Monday (6)

I'M BACK WITH VENGEANCE! Yes that's right I have revoked Beka's blogging privileges (joking she can come back whenever she likes) and I really missed blogging. Lets have a round of applause for Beka for filling in for me. Anyway it's that time of the week again, the day that (nearly) everybody hates. Monday!  So that also means it's time for Musing Monday which is of course the highlight of your week. MM is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

Today's Musing asks:

Have you ever found a book out of the blue, read it, and then had it be surprisingly good — one that stuck with you for years? If so, what book was it?

My Answer:

Well this is a hard one because I read a lot of books that stay with me but I think I would have to choose Before I Die by Jenny Downham. It's about a girl called Tessa who is dying from leukimia but she's determined to do everything on her list before she dies. These things include Drugs, breaking the law and becoming famous. I really enjoyed this book and I read it years ago. Somehow I hadn't even thought it was a sad book but the last few pages made even me shed a tear.

Synposis:

Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.

What's your Musing Monday?

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK