Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I tried to resist reading this book for a long time. I just couldn't imagine how a book about someone having a "deadly touch" could be any good or interest me in anyway. When I saw it on audible, I decided to try listening to it. At first I didn't understand the sound of scratching after some of the things Juliette would say. Then I realized the way this book was written was do different than any other I had ever read. It was as though Juliette was crossing out thoughts she didn't want to acknowledge, as if she were writing in a journal. It all made sense after I got the hang of it.

The writing was.... unlike anything I have read before. Almost like poetry, thought provoking, thoroughly mind-blowing. I had no problem sinking my teeth into this one and by the time it ended, I wanted more!

Quotes I loved ...

 “Hope is hugging me, holding me in its arms, wiping away my tears and telling me that today and tomorrow and two days from now I will be just fine and I'm so delirious I actually dare to believe it.”

 “I only know now that the scientists are wrong.  The world is flat.  I know because I was tossed right off the edge and I've been trying to hold on for 17 years. I've been trying to climb back up for 17 years but it's nearly impossible to beat gravity when no one is willing to give you a hand.”

 “Someone picked up the sun and pinned it to the sky again, but every day it hangs a little lower than the day before. It's like a negligent parent who only knows one half of who you are. It never sees how its absence changes people. How different we are in the dark.”

 “Killing time isn't as difficult as it sounds.  I can shoot a hundred numbers through the chest and watch them bleed decimal points in the palm of my hand. I can rip the numbers off a clock and watch the hour hand tick tick tick its final tock just before I fall asleep. I can suffocate seconds just by holding my breath. I've been murdering minutes for hours and no one seems to mind.”


This book is definitely one of my favorites this year! It has been a while since I have read it, but I can honestly say It will be one I will read over and over again.

The characters really stand out. Juliette's been given such a raw deal in her life, but she has chosen not hate all those who have pushed her away and treated her horribly, even her parents. Instead she only wants to be normal, have friends and help people. I especially liked Warner... yes, I liked the psychotic "bad guy" whose idea of love and devotion are a bit construed. But!... I have a feeling we are going to be surprised in the next book of what Warner will do for Juliette. For some reason, I have been a sucker for the villain in plots like this. Maybe my heart really wants to help them? I don't know, but Warner has had a horrible life and I can't blame him completely for how he is. I will be desperately waiting on book #2!!

I rate it a PG17. There was some innuendo, and also a scene where sex was interrupted, but nothing graphic.

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Trailer... umm, Thursday?

So it's not Tuesday, but I wanted to wait for this....
One of my favorite book series is coming to theaters this summer!

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

It's so exciting to see characters come to life, especially ones that I have read about for the last 4 years!  Of course, I am a little disappointed by the lead role of Jace.  Once again, a British actor comes in to take away all the gorgeousness that my mind had created... Now I am sure the Karens Jace will never return... just like some other big name actor from another big named book/movie.  So here it is.....

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Book Trailer Tuesday.

I am really getting into the whole book trailer thing.  I think the reason why is that Authors are putting more work into them and making them more enticing.  I... being a book addict anyway, just can't resist a book if the trailer tempts me too much! 
For example:  I have heard a lot about the book Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. The thought of a deadly touch gave me lots of anxiety, so I really didn't think I wanted to read something that put me on edge so much.  THEN I saw this....



You see what I am talking about?  I am in the middle of this book and it is as good as this trailer makes it out to be and maybe more!

Keep your eyes out for my review!!

Have a Happy Tuesday! 

Giveaway Hop Winner!

We Have a winner!! 

Kate S.

I have sent an email out to the winner. Respond in the next 3 days or another winner will be chosen.

Thank you to all who entered!  This was a fun new experience for me!  I can't wait to do another Blog Hop!

Happily Ever After Hop

Welcome to my very first

Blog Hop!!

For those who have never experienced a blog hop, let me explain.  After you enter my fun giveaway, scroll down to the list below and click on the next link and it will take you to the next blog where someone else has a similar giveaway that you can enter!  Keep on going!!  With all the giveaways, you should win something fun!  This Hop is themed "Happily Ever After" so the giveaways should be a fairytale or a happy ending books.  
Sounds like fun, right?  Here is my giveaway! 

I just finished reading After Hello by Lisa Mangum.  She is one of my favorite authors since her trilogy The Hourglass Door, so I couldn't wait to read this.  I enjoyed it so much that I decided to share it with other book fans. If you are a big Young Adult nut (mostly obsessed) like myself, you will certainly enjoy this!!
  

 Summary:  What if the first day of your relationship was the only day you had?

Seventeen-year-old Sara is a seeker. She’s always on the lookout for the perfect moment to capture with her ever-present, point-and-shoot camera, especially on her first trip to New York City.

Sam is a finder. He has a knack for finding what other people can’t—a first-edition book or the last two tickets to a sold-out Broadway show. In New York, there is always something interesting to find.

When Sam and Sara’s paths cross, neither one of them is prepared for what they will find out about each other—and about themselves when they form an unlikely partnership in search of a seemingly elusive work of art. They have one day to find the impossible. Fate brought their talents together, but what happens when time runs out? Will love be able to overcome fate? This new novel from award-winning author Lisa Mangum explores what happens after hello.

I felt like this book would be perfect for this "Happily Ever After" blog hop.  It's not necessarily a fairytale, but a more modern love-at-first-sight.  Now days, there are more and more books with heroines saving the day, instead of a knight-in-shinning-armor type.  I enjoy both, but I also like the we-are-equals-and-a-team type too!  This is how Sara and Sam seemed to be.  It was full of adventure, emotions, romance and suspense. 

Here is how you enter: 

U.S. Only... sorry!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now jump down and start HOPPING!!!!  

 

Protecting Truth by Michelle Warren

Protecting Truth by Michelle Warren
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary:   Seraphina’s keeping a secret from her Wandering team: she’s perfecting her fighting skills. But telling Sam and Bishop the truth would only alert them to her plan: to go back in time, save her mom, and finish what she started. With the help of Turner, Bishop’s handsome twin, she progresses toward her goal but plummets deeper into dangerous territory where the lines of friendship and romance are blurred. One passionate kiss changes everything, leading Sera to unravel a shocking web of family secrets, heartbreaking ulterior motives, and sinister agendas. Love and lies collide in a haunting climax, where the truest souls may not survive.

Wait... What?... Turner?! Lots of secrets... LIES! Is anyone who they say they are? WOW!! My brain is trying to catch up with all that happened in this book! I will have to read it again just to make sure it is the same book I started with!

Michelle Warren sure didn't hold back when writing the second book in the Saraphina Parrish Series! From start to finish it was action-packed with so many reveals!! I couldn't believe this is only book 2. I almost thought this was the end of the series because so much was going on with the characters, truths coming out, answering so many questions Sera had... and THEN SOME! I was completely shocked! Usually I can see where things might be going, especially in a second book, predicting the established characters actions... BUT!!! This caught me completely off guard, which left me wanting MORE MORE MORE!

The complexity of time travel upped a notch this go round. Following who and what was done in the past or real time seemed to meld together, giving the reader a lot to think about. This brought a lot of "ah-ha!" moments to me.

Turner... without giving much away, he became my new favorite. Of course mysterious-dangerous-forbidden-dark-brooding-sexy-bad-boys usually wins my heart. What happens will make you want to laugh, scream and cry. I will be waiting (not very patiently) for the next book.

Thank you Michelle Warren for giving me this wonderful opportunity to read and share your beautiful work!

Sneak Peek!

PROTECTING TRUTH by Michelle Warren
After returning from Paris, Bishop and I ambled, hands entwined, to our dorm apartment. We stopped at the front door and faced each other. As soon as our eyes met, he closed the distance between us in one determined motion, melding our bodies together. He placed his full, warm lips over mine, kissing me with a sweet and controlled intensity. His cupped hands caressed my cheeks, and I wrapped my arms around his waist.
The intimate moment was short. I jumped, startled when someone nearby cleared his throat. Bishop and I turned to see a boy standing down the hall, leaning against a wall. The shadows of the hallway swallowed his body, hiding his features. A nearby flickering lamp only revealed the golden contours of his face and shoulder.
“Brother,” the boy said sternly and nodded at Bishop. He crossed his arms and took a confident step forward.
“Turner.” Bishop stiffened and nodded.
Animosity thickened the air. Immediately, though I’d never met Bishop’s fraternal twin, Turner, I wanted to escape and leave them to talk.
“Sera.” Bishop turned to me. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” He kissed me on the forehead and opened the apartment door. He guided me in, pressing his palm into my back, shuffling me away. I looked over my shoulder, catching a glimpse of Turner. Our eyes met as he walked into the light. An inquisitive expression crossed his face, and then he grinned in such a way that forced my heart to skip a beat.
“Wait, um, okay. Night,” I said confused, looking between the two.
The door shut tight, severing me from their tension. Muffled noises of an intense conversation trickled through the door. What they discussed, I couldn’t make out. But soon the tones turned irate, voices raised. Someone was thrown against the door with a violent smash. They’d broken into a fight.
I rushed and swung the door open, but to my shock, the two were gone and the halls were empty.
“Bishop,” I called, leaning out. My voice echoed, but no one answered.
“Bishop?” I stepped from the apartment, scanning the hallways, worried.
“I’m here.” Bishop crept from the darkness, his face red. I detected a slight limp in his step and ran to him.
“What happened? Are you okay?” I eyed his leg and reached for it. “I heard you two arguing. You said you didn’t get along, but…”
“It’s nothing, truly. Just a normal brotherly scrap,” he interrupted, and wrapped his good arm around my back to guide me inside.

OOOOOOHHHHHH, this is so GOOD!!  Enjoy!!

To view Michelle Warren's website, go Here.
Other Social media:  

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/MichelleWarrenAuthor

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4097828.Michelle_Warren

Twitter:   http://twitter.com/#!/MMichelleWarren

Here is my review of "Wander Dust", the first book in this series:  Here

 

Covet by Melissa Darnell

Covet by Melissa Darnell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary:  Dangerous to be together. Painful to be apart. Savannah Colbert knows she broke up with Tristan Coleman for the right reasons. Most of all, to keep from killing him with her new vampire abilities. But try telling her heart. Now, lost in a sea of hostile Clann faces, Sav tries to come to terms with what she's becoming and what that means for her future. And that someone is doing their best to bully her into making a terrible mistake.

Tristan can't believe Sav won't even talk to him. If being apart is her decision, fine. Just don't expect him to honor it. But even as he prepares to fight for the girl he loves, forces beyond their control take them both in directions neither could have foreseen or prepared for.

A reckoning is coming…and not everyone will survive.

Covet took off right where Crave ended. That scored high for me, I don't feel like I have lost any part of the story, and it drives me nuts starting all over again, trying to figure out where I am.

Savannah grew up quickly. She took responsibility for her reckless behavior and tried to keep away from Tristan for his own safety. Tristan was obsessed with finding a way they could be together. They both fought through jealousies and anger that they couldn't change who they were and were forced to stay away.

I felt the first part of this book was a little slow, dragging out the whole "I can't have you's" and how it tortured both of them. But by the time the second half rolled in, it really picked up, secrets were revealed with action and fighting. I was lost and couldn't pull myself away and ended up staying up way late saying.. one more chapter.

More characters were introduced, nothing too confusing, and added that much more to the plot. The characters really developed in this book, growing more and more interest.

If you still like a good vampire book, this is for you.

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Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary: Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town…

The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…

And the action-packed-swoon-worthy-frustratingly-sexy-suspense-thrilling-turn-taking fun just keeps on going in the 2nd book!

I don't know how Ms. Armentrout does it, but she did not miss a beat! Usually "middle" or 2nd books seem to drag or just give a "lull" to the rhythm and beat of a storyline. Sooooo not the case! I was sitting on the edge of my seat and I couldn't put this down! This is FAR better than the first book!! Her writing just brings her world to life on page, it drew me in and I fell in love with the characters, both main and secondary.

Getting to know Daemon a little differently this time was fun, but I still liked the full-blown-sexually-tensed arguments he and Katy got into. I enjoyed watching their relationship change, their personalities grow and the secrets unfold. Their crazy relationship got so frustrating at times, but I couldn't help but cheer for it to work out.

A new boy comes in.. Blake. Lets just say I had suspicions about him from day one, but most of all, he was just blah. How could he even compare to Daemon?? No contest! There were many times where I wanted to grab Katy and shake her and love her at the same time. I think Katy may be my new favorite heroine of all time. I love her attitude and strength, her stubbornness causes her grief and problems, but it is what makes her so great!

Now that Katy and Daemon are connected, things change in their relationship. Katy can't forget what a jerk Daemon has been in the past and can't see that their attraction and feelings for each other could be more than their strange alien bond. She fights against those feelings, not wanting what happened to Daemons brother, happen to Daemon. Things heat up, but Daemon decides to show her a new side. YES, I really said Daemon, A sweet and caring side... shocker!! How did he put it? "I'm turning into a pansy"? OH, I beg to differ Mr. Black! I would NEVER call you that!

The DOD comes snooping around, and tension falls on all of Katy, Daemon, Dee, and the rest of them. Knowing who to trust becomes more difficult than ever for Kat. while trying to figure out what happened to her after Daemon healed her, she changes in many ways.

As much as I loved this, I have to warn my readers that this isn't a book I would let anyone under 17 read. There are sexual situations, a little language and violence.

Just had to add one of my favorite parts of the book... a little "teaser".

“You are a terrible liar. You do want this. Just as badly as I do.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out.
“You want this as badly as you want to go to ALA this winter.”
Now my jaw was on the floor. “You don’t even know what ALA is!”
“American Library Association midwinter event,” he said, grinning proudly. “Saw you obsessing over it on your blog before you got sick. I’m pretty sure you said you’d give up your firstborn child to go.”
Yeah, I kind of did say that.
Daemon eyes flashed. “Anyway, back to the whole you wanting me part.”
I shook my head, dumbfounded.
“You do want me.”
Taking a deep breath, I struggled with my temper… and my amusement. “You are way too confident.”
“I’m confident enough to wager a bet.”
“You can’t be serious.”
He grinned. “I bet that by New Year’s Day, you will have admitted that you’re madly, deeply, and irrevocably—”
“Wow. Want to throw another adverb out there?” My cheeks were burning.
“How about irresistibly?”
I rolled my eyes and muttered, “I’m surprised you know what an adverb is.”
“Stop distracting me, Kitten. Back to my bet—by New Year’s Day, you’ll have admitted that you’re madly, deeply, irrevocably, and irresistibly in love with me.”
Stunned, I choked on my laugh.
“And that you dream about me.” He released my arm and folded his, cocking an eyebrow. “I bet you’ll even admit that. Probably even show me your notebook with my name circled in hearts—”
“Oh, for the love of …”
Daemon winked. “It’s on.”

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