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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Book Blog Makeover! The Little Blue Pig

PhotobucketToday I want to show you guys the latest MAKEOVER from Lea Christine Designs... This one was A LOT of fun!! ;)

Angela is a fellow book blogger who has a blog with one of the CUTEST names ever-- The Little Blue Pig. When she asked me to re-design her site, I knew I was going to have so much fun creating something totally adorable. To begin with, Angela already had a cute design but it didn't go along with her "Little Blue Pig" theme. She wanted something that was clean and simple, with varying shades of blue. And of course-- there had to be a little blue pig included somewhere!

So the first thing I do with any blog makeover that's going to include custom-drawn illustrations is focus on the graphics. In this case, I had a blast drawing up some blue pigs. In fact, I had SO much fun, I drew TWO little blue pigs and asked Angela which one she liked best. I wouldn't normally do a pick-and-choose but c'mon, they were little blue pigs! With reading glasses! I could've sat there drawing them all day! Haha, OK so here are the two blue pigs I drew:



It was a tough choice, but Angela ended up going for the first piggy because it looks more "girly." So from there, I designed the rest of Angela's header using shades of blue and purple along with a fun cut-out shape, widened the layout she had, and added some other details like a rating system and post signature which were included in her design package, aaaaaand... here are the results!

~Old Design~

~New Design!~

I really loved designing this new look for Angela's blog because it gave me the chance to create something that was both cute,simple, and unique at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE drawing girls reading books or reaching for books or dreaming about books, but sometimes it is SO nice to have the chance to do something different!

So I hope you will take a moment to stop on over to The Little Blue Pig, say "hi" to Angela, and let her know what you think of her new design. And of course, I'm sure she'd love a follow too ;) Until next time my wonderful followers!!
*****
Are you considering a new look for your blog? Do you just need an extra little something to spruce up the look you already have? Please stop on over and see me at Lea Christine Designs by clicking on the button below-- you can check out the services I offer and all the designs I have already done!

 
Happy Reading!

Cover Reveal! Entice by Jessica Shirvington

So today's blog post is just FILLED with awesome. Because-- not only do I have the honor of participating in the U.S. cover reveal for Entice, Jessica Shirvington's second book in her Violet Eden Chapters-- there is also included here a video with the lovely Jessica in it, AND special access to the first two chapters of Entice, due out this September! Woohoo! It seriously doesn't get much better than that ;)

So just to give you guys some background in case you haven't gotten acquainted with this series yet, the Violet Eden Chapters is a YA series about angels that was originally published in Australia. Pretty sweet, right? I did read and review the first book in the series, titled Embrace, and I leave links to that review and more below so be sure to check it all out :)

OK! So I'm going to just do the big cover reveal right now because I'm impatient and want to show it off!

Author: Jessica Shirvington
Series: The Violet Eden Chapters #2
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: September 4, 2012
Pages: 484
Summary: Violet Eden is Grigori - part angel, part human. Her destiny is to protect humans from the vengence of exiled angels.
Knowing who to trust is key but, when Grigori reinforcements arrive, it becomes clear everyone is hiding something. Even Lincoln. The only thing Violet does know: Phoenix's hold over her is more dangerous than ever.
The race to find the one thing that could tilt the balance of power brings them all to the sacred mountains of Jordan, where Violet's power will be pushed to the extreme. And the ultimate betrayal exposed.

<--- CLICK to enlarge! :)

O.M.G.

I swear I'm not just saying this-- I LOVE this cover!! It is so flipping bad-ass! I loved the cover for Embrace too, and this one is actually quite a bit different from the first book in the series-- much darker but also much more mysterious and eye-catching. That outfit Violet is rocking? UM, HOTT. And the details are gorgeous-- the whisp of wings, the tattoo design on her arm, the black feathers, the smoke curling around the glowing title-- I can't pick what I'm liking more!

OK, but enough of me gushing, what do you guys think? Have you had the chance to read Embrace yet? I'll be honest, I'm usually not a huge fan of the angel genre, but I totally loved Embrace.

~Links~
Add Entice to your reading list on Goodreads!

And now for an exclusive video with the beautiful Jessica Shirvington, which was a lot of fun to watch as she talks about her favorite place at home to sit and read-- I'd recommend watching it, if for no other reason than to hear her ADORABLE Australian accent ;)


And finally! If you're interested in finding out more about the second book in the Violet Eden Chapters, just click on the new cover below to get access to the first two chapters for a sneak-peek ;)


A big thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for inviting me to participate in this tour for Jessica's awesome angel series!

Happy Reading Everyone!



Friday, May 25, 2012

May Book Haul #3!


Hi guys! This week was awesome as far as books go because I got an AMAZING package in the mail from Amazon for books I had ordered-- they are AWESOME!! I also got a book from HarperTeen that I was SO looking forward to having sent, so all together it was a great week! Check out the video below, and the links are all provided too! :)


~Links~

Note! If you are interested in getting the Leviathan series, be sure to check out the Amazon links below because they are super cheap right now and the hardcovers are GORGEOUS! :D

Eldest by Christopher Paolini  Amazon|  Goodreads
Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout  Amazon |  Goodreads
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld  Amazon |  Goodreads
Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld  Amazon |  Goodreads
Goliath by Scott Westerfeld  Amazon |  Goodreads
Switched by Amanda Hocking  Amazon  |  Goodreads
Defiance by C.J. Redwine  Pre-order on Amazon! |  Goodreads

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and Happy Reading!!




Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday (27)


For those who don't know, Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly book meme where we get to let everyone know about what books we are eagerly anticipating the release of. WoW is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. Want to participate? Grab the logo on her page, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave your link on her blog!
*****
This week's Waiting on Wednesday pick is...

Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: September 4, 2012
Pages: 328
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Three teenage descendants of Medusa, now united, must claim their heritage to fight the monsters escaped from the abyss.

Gretchen may have known she was a descendant of Medusa long before her sisters--after all, she's spent her life fighting the monsters that escape the abyss--but that doesn't mean it will be easy to teach the other girls the ropes.

Greer has pressing social commitments on her plate and precious little time to train in her newfound powers. But that wretched second sight won't leave her alone, and her fabled heritage seems to be creeping into her fashionable life.

Grace has worries closer to home--like why her brother, Thane, has disappeared. He's hiding something. Could it possibly be related to the secret heritage the triplets share?

Why I'm Waiting!

I read and absolutely LOVED Sweet Venom, the first book in this series. And when I say LOVE, I MEAN LOVE!! Like, could NOT put it down. So far I am just so into this story because it's action-packed, the characters are awesome, and it takes such a fun spin on mythology. If you guys haven't read the first one in this series yet, I highly recommend getting your hands on Sweet Venom before this September!

Summer Reading Book Review: In Honor

LC's Summer Reads will be featured throughout the Summer of 2012-- These are books that I decided would be perfect for on the beach, in the sun, or pretty much wherever I happen to be this summer! Click on the button above to see what other books I plan on reading! :)
*****

Author: Jessi Kirby
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Pages: 240
Source: ARC from the publisher
Summary: Hours after her brother’s military funeral, Honor opens the last letter Finn ever sent. In her grief, she interprets his note as a final request and spontaneously decides to go to California to fulfill it.

Honor gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn’s best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn’t seen Rusty in ages, but it’s obvious he is as arrogant and stubborn as ever—not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. Despite Honor’s better judgment, the two set off together on a voyage from Texas to California. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn’s memory—but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?

LC's Take:

In Honor was a really good summer read that was not only fun and entertaining, but also heartfelt and able to deal with difficult real-life issues in a very honest and straight-forward way. I think my favorite thing about this book was that it was so refreshingly realistic and the characters were very easy to relate to.

Honor has just graduated from high school-- and gone through her brother's funeral after finding out that he was killed in combat while fighting in the Middle East. All of a sudden, Honor's world just seems to be crashing down around her. All her plans for the future become blurry in the midst of her pain and grief at losing the guy she looked up to more than anyone else in the world. Honor's parents both died when she was young and her older brother Finn was her hero. To make things even more difficult, she receives a late letter from Finn 3 days after she learns of his death-- and in that letter are the last words she'll ever hear from him. With her future stretching out before her, Honor must learn to find peace after tragedy and move on-- because after all,  life will move on with or without her.

Now after reading a premise like that, you might be thinking to yourself, well this doesn't sound like it's going to be a very fun or uplifting kind of read-- in fact, it sort of sounds down-right depressing! But Jessi was able to take a very painful topic and turn it into a learning experience for her main character, while also giving hope to the story and even some humor.

Honor as the main character was so easy to relate to, mainly because we really get to see inside her head and experience everything that she's going through. I definitely liked how reflective the story was-- I think in some books you want to have lots of action, but in this book it was just nice to read from a more emotional and reflective point of view. The reader can see how Honor deals with the loss of her brother and how she's able to come to peace about it-- as much as a person really can in that kind of situation-- while gaining the strength and maturity to move forward. I thought that that was very inspiring.

I also loved how we get to know Finn though Honor's memories of him. By the end of this book, you feel like you know the brother and friend that Finn was, and his character was very multi-dimensional despite him not ever being totally present in the story. At the end, we find out about the sacrifice he made out of love for his little sister, and you just can't help but love this guy who did everything he could to protect Honor.

Rusty-- Finn's best friend who follows Honor on her road-trip adventure that was brought on by Finn's last letter-- was a more difficult character to like. He definitely had his own personal demons-- drinking heavily and frequently being one of them-- that left me feeling a bit uneasy about him. He and Honor develop a kind of love-hate relationship, and even though I can sort of understand Honor's eventual attraction to him, a lot of his behavior just really bothered me. Rusty, despite drinking too much and giving Honor a hard time, is still her only close connection to her brother. With Rusty, she has someone who can truly empathize with her and mourn the loss of someone she loved and depended on.

But guess what! There is NO insta-love in this book, and even by the end of the story, things are left on a much more realistic note than a lot of other YA books. So even though Rusty wasn't my favorite guy ever, I think that Honor's relationship with him was much more true-to-life than other ones I've read about. I think you could agree that, even though it wasn't perfect, it wasn't ridiculously unrealistic either.

Just a warning, there is A LOT of drinking in this book. So if you don't really like that kind of thing in YA books, then it might bother you here. There's even a "tequila night" thrown in towards the end, where I could literally feel Honor's hang-over afterwards. The author doesn't glorify drinking or anything, but she doesn't skirt around it either because-- well, duh, a lot of teens drink! So she keeps it real, even the ugly bits like hang-overs.

The end of the story was totally unexpected and I couldn't even believe what was happening at first. But since life is unexpected and I think the author was trying to stay as true to life as possible, it made sense to have such a crazy ending. Also, it ends on a hopeful note that life does go on even after something horrible has happened, and you will learn to laugh again and be happy even if you feel like you never could again.

In Honor was an awesome coming-of-age kind of story. In taking the road-trip with Rusty, Honor gains some closure about the loss of her brother, and even though she'll never be the same carefree, innocent girl ever again, she gains maturity and strength from the experience. The whole road-trip aspect of this book made this the perfect summer read for me, and I would definitely recommend it for your summer reading lists as well!

~Cover Talk~

I love this book cover. Like, LOVE IT. First of all, I've always wanted to go on a road trip through the deserts and "bad lands" out west, and this cover just screams "ROAD TRIP!" to me :) Not only that, but this cover matches the story perfectly, and as you read you'll see many aspects of the book portrayed on the cover. And I LOVE Honor's boots, I want them! When you turn the book over, there is a picture of Rusty-- my only wish is that their heads weren't cut off at the chin so we could see what they look like! I get why some covers do this but I always want to know what the rest of the character looks like! I also love the font used for the titles and author's name, so overall this cover is a definitely love for me :)

LC's Rating:
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A really touching coming-of-age story about love, loss and learning to move on. The road-trip aspect of this story made it a lot of fun to read, and the message was very inspiring. Definitely a great summer book!

Get it! 


Sunday, May 20, 2012

May Book Haul #2!


Hey guys! Thanks for stopping by to see my second book haul for the month of May-- I got some awesome stuff in the mail over the past couple of weeks that I'm really excited to show you! Amazon and Goodreads links are below, and please leave me comments and links to your book hauls for this week so I can visit and see what you got too! Also, if you like the vids, please like and subscribe to my channel on YouTube at Libraryland84 :)


Links!
In Honor by Jessi Kirby   Amazon | Goodreads
Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood Amazon | Goodreads

Special Paperback Editions (sorry, I couldn't find links for some!)
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen Amazon | Goodreads
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Amazon | Goodreads
Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen   Amazon | Goodreads
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte   Amazon | Goodreads

Intentions by Deborah Heiligmen Amazon | Goodreads
Don't You Wish by Rozanne St. Claire Amazon | Goodreads
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein Amazon | Goodreads

Shout Outs!

Megan @ The Girly Bookworm
Stop on by and check out her new makeover!

Haley @ Ya-aholic
Be sure to follow her because she's awesome!

In Other News

Click on the Summer Reads button below to check out the books on my 2012 Summer Reading List!

Happy Reading everyone!!



Thursday, May 17, 2012

Book Review: The Selection

Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: April
Pages: 327
Source: ARC from the publisher
Read it in: 3 days
Summary: For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

LC's Take

[**NOTE: This review was not affected by online drama or controversy. Everything I have to say here is based on my own personal opinion about the book itself, even though I definitely think Cass needs a new publicist.]

[**NOTE #2: All the captions in the non-animated picture memes were made by me-- because, you know, I'm just THAT brilliantly witty. So please don't use them without asking my permission first. Thanks :)]

35 GIRLS. 1 CROWN. THE COMPETITION OF A LIFETIME.

Now with a story premise like that, honestly I thought it would take a lot to ruin this book for me. 35 girls all competing for one crown and the heart of one handsome prince? Sign me up and bring on the popcorn! However, The Selection turned out to be one of those unfortunate books that had about twenty-dozen little things in it that just aggravated the crap out of me, with the end result being that I was entertained by it for all the wrong reasons.

So first, a word about love triangles. I honestly don't mind them IF they are done well. But in this case, the love triangle was SO freaking forced, cliche, and angsty, I was ready to tear my hair out strand by strand. The whole thing between America, Aspen, and Maxon was just completely ridiculous, and the motivations behind their actions made absolutely no sense whatsoever. There were so many instances of juvenile misunderstanding, miscommunication, etc. that I'm not even going to bother going into specifics. All I have to say is: STOP TRYING TO MAKE THE LOVE TRIANGLE HAPPEN.


Moving on, America as a main character was just about two steps away from being completely intolerable. She was-- to put it simply-- extremely annoying (Highlight, underline, and bold extremely). I *might* have been able to stand her if all the little things that were supposed to make her seem like a fun and feisty redhead hadn't come across as painfully redundant and irritating. For example, she denies ad nauseum that she's beautiful even though she clearly is. She makes constant quips and remarks about the stuffy life that Maxon leads and he finds it to be cute (it's not). She's got the whole cliche tom-boy thing going on while every other girl is a Stepford clone-- It was just like, OK, I get it, she's one of those totally-gorgeous-but-she's-the-only-one-who-thinks-she's-not girls. And ironically? She stands out in the story because she's so "different" from the other girls, while simultaneously being about as cliche as they come.


As for the rest of the girls in the book? Well, let's just say that added to the exasperating America Singer, this book just made me hate girls. For real. Even more than ANTM.

And the guys weren't any better. Probably because they were about as manly as:


Sexy, right?

Prince Maxon was seriously one of the most awkward characters I've ever encountered-- and not in that adorable, hott kind of way either. In typical Disney prince fashion, he was so perfect and nice that I couldn't even take him seriously. He bored me to tears and was overly-sheltered to the point of being pathetic. And his behavior? It made NO SENSE. Let's review: America wrongly assumes that Maxon is about to rape her-- then she proceeds to knee him in the royal jewels-- then he pretty much brushes it off like a day later and goes back to let's-be-best-friends-because-I-don't-have-any mode. Seriously dude? I've never watched The Bachelor, but I'm pretty sure that if some strange girl told the guy that she had zero interest in him, that she was in love with somebody else, that she was only there for the food (no I'm not making this up) AND THEN wrongly accused him of being a rapist, I'm going to take a **wild guess** that he would've kicked her out of the mansion on the spot. I mean, that's a pretty serious way to offend someone, no?


But then when America tries to explain to him that Celeste the Biotch is sabotaging the rest of the girls, he throws a hissy fit, being all like, "YOU WILL RESPECT MAH AUTHORATAH!" -- and almost sends her home. Whhhhhaaaatttt???

Then there was Aspen, the chauvinistic jerk-wad who gets his panties all in a bunch when America tries to make him dinner and then immediately bails on her because he can't handle the helpless, little woman being the one providing for him. The guy seriously needed to grow a pair.

Another beef I had with this book was that I couldn't find any context for the kind of society that America Singer lives in. HOW did Illea come to be the way it is? What major events led up to the creation of a society where there's a monarchy, an eight-tiered caste system, and two different groups of rebel forces trying to bring it down? And why again was The Selection created?? (Vague explanation: it creates hope. okaaayyyy...) And don't even get me started on "The History Lesson" that was randomly thrown in, because it made absolutely NO SENSE (The American State of China? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA). Apparently there was a Third and Fourth World War where the US was invaded by China and then Russia because it couldn't pay off its massive debt. Riiiiiiiiiiight... Explain that one to me, please. In a nutshell, the "history lesson" that attempted to establish the world of Illea explained nothing.

So for me, it was difficult to find a connection to this world because it wasn't built on any solid foundation that would have made it remotely believable. And I'm sorry, but if a book can't manage to adequately explain how a society came to be and what the motivation is behind the ones leading it or trying to tear it down (**cough, cough** Matched! **cough, cough**), that for me is a major dystopian FAIL. In the end, I just had to take Illea for what it was-- a make-believe fairy-tale kind of setting that had no plausible explanation for why it exists or how it came to be.

Now if the long-awaited, delicious drama of a 35-girl competition had actually happened, I really wouldn't have cared about the absence of a thought-provoking dystopia. But where the heck was the crazy competition part of the story?? That whole Bachelor spin-off was the number one reason I was looking forward to reading this book in the first place! And the entire thing ended up being one big, sloppy mess. There were some random acts of cattiness and backstabbing, a few girls got kicked off, a few dresses got ruined, but hardly anything was explained and there was little to no build-up or suspense. What happened to--


Not only was there no drama, but I honestly couldn't have cared less about who got kicked off and who stayed. Note to the author: If you aren't going to even bother telling your readers WHO your characters are, WE AREN'T GOING TO GIVE A CRAP WHEN THEY GET BUMPED OFF. We have ZERO investment in them. So faceless, never-before-mentioned Girls #1, 2 and 3 got the ax? Umm, yeah don't care. No shock value. And Celeste the spoiled little rich girl? C'mon now, she was one big glaring stereotype and had about as much personality as a thumbtack. It was boring!! And one of the girls was named Tiny. I'm sorry, but how can I take a book seriously with character names like Tiny, Tuesday, King Clarkson, and Maxon Schreave? (Answer: I can't.)

So for me, the only thing that this book had going for it was that it was *mildly* entertaining in a mindless kind of way, and there was nothing about it that made me want to seriously punch a hole in the wall. But the rest was either very confusing or highly predictable. Everything from the characters, to the love triangle, to most of the outcomes of The Selection were all very easy to see coming from miles away. I'm sorry, but I really couldn't find anything about this book that was terribly exceptional or interesting and overall, I just wasn't impressed.

After this, I think I'll be picking up a book about killer dragons. Or bioengineered war beasts. That really sounds like a good idea right about now...

~Cover Talk~

The cover of this book is clearly eye-catching. But what I love about this book isn't the dress-- in fact, I think the dress is rather hideous if I'm going to be completely honest (sky-blue tulle ruffles?! Um, eew).  I actually love the graceful pose of the model on the cover, how her arm comes up to hide half of her face (even though Cass from Words on Paper observed that it looks like the chick is sniffing her arm pit which made me laugh) and I also like how you can see just glimpses of the other girls from The Selection in the background behind her. To me this is a really intriguing cover, and it definitely made me want to pick this one up, which... in hindsight... didn't work out all that well for me, but just the same, I am rather fond of the cover.

LC's Rating:
2star review
This book just fell flat as a pancake for me. The "dystopian" society had no context, the characters were stereotyped to death, the story was sloppy, and I couldn't make myself care about anything that happened in the competition. In the end, it was mildly entertaining, but nothing I'm going to remember in another month or two.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Book Review: Eragon

Author: Christopher Paolini
Series: Inheritence #1
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: August 26, 2003
Pages: 503
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Summary: When young Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his adopted family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of inescapable destiny, magical forces, and powerful people. With only an ancient sword and the instruction of an old,mysterious, hermit storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a Emperor whose evil and power knows no bounds. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands…

LC's Take:

I went into this book looking for a totally amazing fantasy adventure that would basically transport me into another world and leave me dying for the next book in the series. I know, quite a tall order right? Well let me tell you, Eragon was everything that I was hoping it would be-- a fun, adventurous fantasy with lots of dragons, magic, elves, dwarves, and all the ale-drinking, spell-casting, and sword-fighting I could take. I went into this book expecting an epic high-fantasy story, and I definitely was not disappointed!

Eragon is just a normal farm boy from the small and isolated village of Carvahall. Nothing exciting has ever happened to him-- until he stumbles upon a very strange stone, that turns out to not be a stone at all. Before long, Eragon is being swept up into a story that started long before he was even born, and now he must learn to be the hero and legend his name implies-- one of the long-lost Dragon Riders who will fight to end the evil rule of the Empire's tyrant Galbatorix.

I loved Eragon's character, he was just like the quintessential young hero-- brash, slightly hot-headed, but underneath noble and true-hearted. Yes he could be annoyingly headstrong at times, but Eragon was absolutely a character I could root for. And after reading so many books with female heroines-- not all to my liking-- it was incredibly refreshing to read from a boy's perspective, free from sighing, swooning, whining, pining and otherwise driving me insane. I cannot WAIT to read more of Eragon's story and see what adventure awaits him next!

I also loved the friendship between Eragon and his dragon Saphira throughout the book. The way they communicate with each other, squabble together over things, but remain completely loyal and true to the other-- everything about their friendship was so genuine. And plus, c'mon now, who wouldn't want a dragon for their best friend?!? Yeah, definitely epic :D

The plot itself, while a bit slow towards the middle, was still captivating. This was the kind of story that I could just get totally wrapped up in-- the world-building, the characters, the dialogue-- pretty much everything about this book had me wanting more.

There were definitely parts to Eragon that strongly reminded me of Lord of the Rings-- not that that's a bad thing, but it's something to keep in mind if you were thinking of starting this series. For example, the murderous Urgals were very much like Orks, Orik reminded me of the belligerent yet lovable dwarf Gimly, Murtaugh reminded me a little of Aragorn, Farthen Dur reminded me of the mines of Moria, and a lot of the language, vocabulary and names for places reminded me of those from Middle Earth. I wouldn't say that there was anything that was a direct copy, just parts that seemed extremely reminiscent to me. But once again, this in no way took away from my enjoyment of the story and I actually enjoyed this book much more than I did the LOTR books!

So altogether, I am in love with this series so far. This was one of those books that as soon as I finished, I had to race to the library to pick up the next one, that's just how addicting the story is! The very best thing about a book for me is how it takes me to another time and place and makes me feel like I'm right in the middle of the story. Not all books are able to accomplish this feat, but Eragon is in the elite few that really made me fall head over heels into another world. I can't wait to start Eldest and return to Alagaesia for the rest of Eragon's adventure!

~Cover Talk~

Totally LOVE this cover! I'm sorry, but that dragon is freaking SWEET. As a whole, I am absolutely in love with the covers for this series, as each book features a different dragon. Here we have Saphira, Eragon's dragon. She doesn't look like anyone you'd want to mess with, but at the same time she has that crooked smile and gentle eyes , which fit her character perfectly. Saphira is definitely not a whimpy dragon and will tear her enemies limb from limb, but she is fiercely loyal to Eragon and would sacrifice herself to protect him. Awesome, awesome book cover!!

LC's Rating:
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To any high-fantasy fan, this book is a must-read! Eragon gets 5 stars for transporting me into a whole other world, full of dragons, magic, quests, and adventure. I cannot wait to read the rest of this series!

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