In My Mailbox (3)

Hellooo everyone!! In My Mailbox is a weekly book meme from Kristi over at The Story Siren, where we get to share the books that we have gotten over the week, either from the bookstore, the library, or were lucky enough to win/receive from other bloggers, authors or publishers.

Not going to lie, I am still working though an enormous pile of books that I've had sitting under my kitchen table for like a month now-- but I did get a few new ones from the library AND I was very lucky to win my very FIRST ARC (**excited!**) from Jessica over at ::Musings + Teen Librarian:: So now I have experienced that warm and fuzzy feeling of finding a book-shaped package by my mailbox (technically not IN it because it's too small) and I have to say, I want to win more books now ;)

From the Library

The Breakup Bible by Melissa Kantor

Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Won!

Popular by Alissa Grosso

Note: If you click on the top picture with the three library books, it turns out huge (a bigger image just wouldn't fit on my blog), and then the titles in pink will take you to Goodreads reviews. I chose The Breakup Bible and Blue Bloods, first because they both sounded really good, but also because Melissa Kantor and Melissa de la Cruz are going to be at a Teen Book Festival I am going to next weekend (yay!) And then I have heard some really good things about The Body Finder as well, so looking forward to getting into that eventually!!

If you guys have either read or heard anything about these books, please let me know what you thought or if you would read these-- also curious about what everyone else is getting in their mailboxes this week-- let me know! 

Happy reading :) 

Follow Me Friday (5)

It's FRIDAY again! Follow Me Friday is a weekly book-blogger meme hosted by Parajunkee over at Parajunkee's View. Have a book blog? You can join in the fun too! Just visit Parajunkee's site at the pink link above, be sure you are a follower of her blog and the blog she is featuring for the week, put your name in the Linky, create your own FF post on your blog, and then start commenting and following whomever you wish!

*****

Alrighty, so it is 7:30 in the morning, and I am SO not a morning person, but I have to be up to go to this all-day conference thing for work... WooHoo! So because I went to bed super-early last night and I am rushing to get out the door this morning, I probably am not doing this week's FF question-- BUT!! If you are new here or just stopping over for a visit please please feel free to leave me a comment or a follow and I will definitely get back to you later today! Love all you guys, and I hope you have an awesome Friday :)

Book Review: Hex Hall

Author: Rachel Hawkins
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Pages: 352
Read it in: 2 days

Summary: On her 12th birthday, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. Three bumpy years later, after a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, she's exiled to Hex Hall, as isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Then when a mysterious predator begins attacking students, and Sophie's only friend is the number-one suspect, a horrifying plot begins to surface. Soon, Sophie is preparing for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

LC's Take:  

Can I just say how much fun this book was to read with Sophie Mercer as the narrator? She was freaking hilarious! Her tone was clever, snarky, and sarcastic to the point where I was laughing out loud through pretty much the whole thing. (One particular LOL moment was when Sophie is observing one of the drop-dead gorgeous girls in her school : "I bet she woke up with her hair looking like something out of a Pantene commercial while little bluebirds circled around her head, and raccoons brought her breakfast or something.") She is a character who is secure enough to make fun of herself and pretty much everyone else around her, and that made this book really entertaining.

The story unfolds as Sophie arrives at Hecate (A.K.A "Hex") Hall after a love spell of hers turns senior year prom into a nightmare. Right away I got drawn into the world Sophie finds herself in, surrounded by witches, warlocks, faeries, shape-shifters, and one lone vampire (who turns out to be Sophie's roommate-- lucky girl). When Sophie meets the super-popular and snotty witches Anna, Chaston and Elodie on her first day, it's like a scene straight out of Mean Girls. Within a few weeks at Hex Hall, Sophie starts learning a lot about her past and who her family is-- all while being haunted by a mysterious girl in green who looks disturbingly similar to herself... and then of course there is the hott love interest, Archer who, unfortunately is dating Elodie, the meanest of the mean girl clique.

It soon becomes clear that something evil is lurking at Sophie's school, as one by one students are attacked by an unknown force. By the end, it turns out that there is a lot more to Sophie than she first thought possible... The unfolding drama and mystery combine into one story that had me hooked through all 32 chapters. I guess the only thing that sort of got to me about this book was that it dealt with some really dark things in the plot, especially towards the end, which didn't seem to match the humorous tone set throughout the book. Just my opinion, but those two things clashed for me. I also may have had a slight issue with the book not being quite as original as I'd have liked (if you read it, you'll probably be able to pick out certain influences from other books/movies, too). All in all though, this was still a good pick. I really loved Sophie with all of her smart-aleck observations and her down-to-earth personality, and the clever dialogue and fast-paced series of events made it super-easy to fly through this book in 2 days.

LC's Rating:

If you are looking for a fun read that you can easily blow through in a couple sittings, this is a really good book to chose. The humor keeps the story light-hearted while the mystery moves the plot along pretty quickly. Each chapter ended on the perfect cliff hanger, making it nearly impossible to put down-- altogether an enjoyable and entertaining pick!

Waiting on Wednesday (4)

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!

*****

**Oh. Em. Gee.** I am SO excited for this one! After reading Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey, I had my wonderful readers let me know that YES there WILL be a sequel with Jessica and Luscious! WOOHOO!! Here is the info for the next book which I am pretty much hopping up and down for:

Title: Jessica Rules the Dark Side
Author: Beth Fantaskey
Anticipated Release Date: January 9, 2012
Pages: 368
Goodreads Summary: When Jessica Packwood found out she was a Romanian vampire princess, she had the shock of her teenage life. Turns out that was the easy part. Now, married to Prince Lucius Vladescu, she has to claim her throne and convince a vampire nation she’s fit to be their queen. But Jess can’t even order a decent meal from her castle’s Romanian staff, let alone deal with devious undead subjects who would love to see her fail.

And when Lucius is accused of murdering a vampire Elder and imprisoned without the blood he needs, Jessica finds herself alone, fighting for both their survivals.

Desperate to clear her husband’s name and win his release, Jess enlists the help of her best friend Mindy Stankowicz and Lucius’s mysterious Italian cousin, Raniero Lovatu. But both of them are keeping some dark secrets. Can Jess figure out who to trust – and how to rise to power – before she loses everything, including the vampire she loves?

Full of romance, mystery, and danger, the highly anticipated sequel to Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side shows that sometimes a princess has to earn her “happily ever after” – with a sharpened stake in hand.

*****

Ahh!!! This sounds freaking AMAZING!! Seriously I do not want to wait until next year to get my hands on this one! I love the summary, I LOVE love love the cover, absolutely gorgeous-- I just might have to see if there is any way to grab this one earlier. Hmmm.... upcoming Teen Book Festival I'm going to and Beth will be there?? Maybe I can meet her and ask for an advance copy??? I'll try to convince her to give me one :)

What is everyone else looking forward to this week?? 

Teaser Tuesday (4)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

OK, so I literally JUST started this book this morning: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, WHO I am hoping to maybe meet at a Teen Book Festival I'm going to in a couple of weeks (**yea!**) This one has gotten some good reviews, so I am definitely looking forward to getting into it!!

I don't know what I was expecting a vampire's room to look like. Maybe lots of black, a bunch of books by Camus... oh, and a sensitive portrait of the only human being the vamp had ever loved, who had no doubt died of something beautiful and tragic, thus dooming the vamp to an eternity of moping and sighing romantically.

What can I say? I read a lot of books.

But this room looked like it had been decorated by the unholy lovechild of Barbie and Strawberry Shortcake. 

~Chapter 3, p. 33

Yeah, I can never do just two sentences haha. What is everyone else reading this week?

Book Review: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

Author: Beth Fantaskey
Release Date: January 18, 2010
Pages: 384
Read it in: 3 days

The Hook: The undead can really screw up your senior year...

Summary: Marrying a vampire definitely doesn't fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with new-found confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.

LC's Take: 

It feels like a really long time since I have posted a book review-- I have been so busy lately, so I apologize for slacking off!! I am hoping to get back into my reading/blogging groove this week :) OK, so now for my review...

Seriously, what is there not to like about this book? You've got hot vampires, vampire princesses, snotty cheerleaders trying to steal hot vampires away from their betrothed, blood pacts-- oh the drama! LOVE it. This book was fantastic, I had so much fun reading it.

Jessica AKA Antanasia (that's her Romanian vampire princess name) was an awesome female protagonist- she is funny, quirky, insightful, and a fully-developed character that you can really connect with. What I liked most about her is that she was an individual- she had her own interests and strengths, she was smart, talented, and didn't have to depend on Luscious (main love interest) to have a personality-- as sometimes happens in books, where the gal can't exist without the dashing vampire guy! **cough cough twilight cough** Jessica is a main character you can root for, and I found myself feeling the same things she did: confusion and disbelief when she learns she's a vampire, anger and jealousy when some popular cheerleader tries to steal her vampire man, and real fury and betrayal when that vampire falls for said cheerleader. One of the best parts of this book is how Jessica grows into her own- you can see her go from being this gawky, awkward teenager to becoming a regal, confident princess who is proud of who she is. That is always an amazing character development that really makes a book worthwhile and rewarding to read.

Speaking of this vamp guy, I had very mixed feelings about Luscious Vladescu-- on one hand he's an arrogant, condescending and insensitive jerk to Jessica (he is a vampire prince, after all), but then he also has a passionate, romantic side that really makes you feel for him. He has been stuck his whole life in this blood pact between two warring vampire families and was raised by ruthless, power-hungry vampire "Elders."  As a result, he is both dripping self-importance while also being extremely vulnerable. It was a roller coaster with Luscious- first I liked him, then I got annoyed with him, then I hated him, then I felt sorry for him. Despite being a vampire, he was very human, and I guess that's what made him an endearing character, faults and all. I thought the author did a really good job at making such a complex character-- you can never really pin him down with one specific trait, and I think it's a real feat for an author to be able to create someone that multi-dimensional. Also, I thought it was very creative of the author to include Luscious' point of view by having stand-alone chapters of his letters back home (despite them being extremely annoying at times- oh man, **spoiler** especially the prison one, I was dying).  

Bottom line: I really enjoyed this book, and I am really hoping there is going to be a sequel to it. The plot had me hooked the entire way through, and the ending was wonderfully climactic. The characters Jessica and Luscious are ones that I definitely want to see again-- their chemistry is just so addicting. The narrative was funny, sexy, and dark all at the same time; full of passion, high-school drama and Romanian vampire lore. This is one vampire love story that is definitely worth your time!

LC's Rating:

Strong, multi-dimensional characters and a wonderfully-addicting plot make this book one you have to read, especially  if you are into the vampire lit genre!

Musing Mondays (1)

Musing Mondays is a book meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading, and it basically just poses some insightful question about your reading style... today's question is:

Do you care if the book’s storyline is unrealistic? Will you keep reading, or will you set the book aside?

This depends. I love fantasy/paranormal/supernatural plots just as much as I like YA that takes place in a contemporary, believable setting. As long as the characters are acting in a realistic way (their actions make sense based on how the author has developed their personalities) and events take place in a logical way, then I will keep reading the book. What I probably could not stand is if a character started acting completely contrary to how they've been portrayed, or if events get so ridiculously unbelievable that I can't even take the story seriously anymore.

Another thing I will add that really bothers me is when I am reading an historical fiction about events that really did take place in the past but the author has changed everything around and sort of "tampered" with history to create their own twist on what happened. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with creating a new story out of past events, but personally, as a history major and history-obsessed nerd, I just can't stand it, and will most likely stop reading a book if it starts saying a bunch of stuff that runs contrary to what really happened-- I feel like it isn't doing history justice. (One major example would be The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory- I just couldn't like this book because I know that half the stuff it covers never could have taken place.) Maybe because these kinds of historical fictions deal with real people, I think we owe it to them to portray them as they really were and not make things up, because it warps people's perceptions of who they were in real life.

That's just my opinion! How about you? Do you mind reading an unbelievable story?