Waiting on Wednesday #21

Hi Everyone!

Waiting on Wednesday is a bookish meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. For more information please visit her blog!

Want to see what I picked this week? Well you will have to see below the bump ;)

Waiting on Wednesday #20

Hi Everyone!

Waiting on Wednesday is a bookish meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. For more information please visit her blog!

Want to see what I picked this week? Well you will have to see below the bump ;)

Waiting on Wednesday #19

Hi Everyone!

Waiting on Wednesday is a bookish meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. For more information please visit her blog!

Want to see what I picked this week? Well you will have to see below the bump ;)

Teaser Tuesday #24

Hi everyone!

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB @ Should be Reading to give our readers a little preview of the book we are currently reading.

I have been hang out to read this one for SO long!! Thanks to the lovely Hannah @ The Girl in a Café <3

Make sure you see below the bump for more information :D

Review: Creepy & Maud by Dianne Touchell

Creepy & Maud by Dianne Touchell
Release Date: October 1st 2012
Publisher: Fremantle Press
Source: Purchased by me
Pages: 220
 My Rating: 

From Goodreads: "Hilarious and heartbreaking, Creepy & Maud charts the relationship between two social misfits, played out in the space between their windows.

Creepy is a boy who watches from the shadows keenly observing and caustically commentating on human folly.

Maud is less certain. A confused girl with a condition that embarrasses her parents and assures her isolation.

Together Creepy and Maud discover something outside their own vulnerability — each other’s. But life is arbitrary; and loving someone doesn’t mean you can save them.

Creepy & Maud is a blackly funny and moving first novel that says; ‘You’re ok to be as screwed up as you think you are and you’re not alone in that.'"

Waiting on Wednesday #18

Hi Everyone!

Waiting on Wednesday is a bookish meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. For more information please visit her blog!

Want to see what I picked this week? Well you will have to see below the bump ;)

Review: Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Crewel by Gennifer Albin
Release Date: October 4th 2012
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Source: Received from publisher
Format: Australian Paperback
Pages: 360
Find it on Goodreads
My Rating: 

From Goodreads: "Enter a tangled world of secrets and intrigue where a girl is in charge of other’s destinies, but not her own.

Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has always been special. When her parents discover her gift—the ability to weave the very fabric of reality—they train her to hide it. For good reason, they don’t want her to become a Spinster — one of the elite, beautiful, and deadly women who determine what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die.

Thrust into the opulent Western Coventry, Adelice will be tried, tested and tempted as she navigates the deadly politics at play behind its walls. Now caught in a web of lies and forbidden romance, she must unravel the sinister truth behind her own unspeakable power. Her world is hanging by a thread, and Adelice, alone, can decide to save it — or destroy it"

Thank you to the lovely people at Allen and Unwin for providing me with a copy for review. This in no way influences my review, all opinions expressed are my own.

Where to even start with Crewel? It was a new and unique concept, at least to me. Being able to alter threads of time? Pretty cool!

Adelice Lewys has a gift. Or I guess you could call it a curse. In a world where women, known as Spinsters, can thread time, nothing is easy. Time is nothing but a blanket of sorts, made up of threads. Spinster contain the ability to weave new threads but to also rip existing threads. Altering life and causing death.

Adelice's parents spent her whole life trying to conceal her from the Coventry, they didn't want her ability to become known. By anyone. At the end of the school year all the girls under go testing, testing to see if they could become a Spinster. Adelice has managed to hide her ability her entire life, but she slips during testing. She slips and she knows. She knows that they will come for her that very same night.

She doesn't tell her parents, so when they show up her parents have to act quickly. Adelice gets shoved into a secret under ground tunnel she knew nothing about with her mum and her sister. While her dad is left there to by them some time. Their plan fails though. Adelice gets caught, and running from collection is punishable by death. Only she wakes in the Coventry to find herself in a cell. Surely that is better than death?

Adelice starts to develop her ability inside the Coventry and along the way she discovers that she isn't like the other girls there. She is far more special than she ever thought, than any of them ever thought.

A unique and fast paced read that kept me on the edge and wanting to know more. I pleasantly surprised to find such a unique read in Crewel. Can't wait to see where the second book takes us and a very big door was opened right at the end of this story.

If you liked this review then make sure to check out my review of The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld, another book revolving around the concept of time.

What do you think? Does this sound like your type of read?

Happy reading!

Waiting on Wednesday #17

Hi Everyone!

Waiting on Wednesday is a bookish meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. For more information please visit her blog!

Want to see what I picked this week? Well you will have to see below the bump ;) heh heh

Review: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
Release Date: June 1st 2012
Publisher: Hardie Egmont Grant
Pages: 324
Series: Of Poseidon #1
Source: Borrowed from Jade <3
Find it on Goodreads
My Rating: 

From Goodreads: "Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen — literally, ouch! — both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma's gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . .

Told from both Emma and Galen's points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance."

See below the bump for the review!

Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray

The Diviners by Libba Bray
Release Date: November 2012
Pages: 578 pp
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Source: Received from Publisher
Find it on Goodreads

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

From Goodreads: "1920s New York. A teen clairvoyant. An old evil. It has begun...

Short Review: Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar

Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar

Released: June 29th 2009
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
Source: Library

My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Raw Blue was an excellent read. I highly enjoyed it, even though it had me cringing at the Aussie slang in parts! Do we really sound like that?! Oh well this just added to the books awesomeness really. It is so refreshing to find a good Australian contemporary writer. It was such an emotional roller coaster. I could not put it down. Raw Blue is a book about finding yourself after terrible circumstances and trusting someone enough to let them into your life and love you. Kirsty Eagar is a literary genius and I can't wait to read more of her work. I have Night Beach waiting to be read and I'm excited!

Happy reading!
- Amy

Halloween Spooktacular! Review: Slide - Jill Hathaway

Hi everyone and welcome to Halloween Spooktacular! If you would like to know more about this event and to also enter our first giveaway, please click here!

Slide byJill Hathaway
Series: Slide #1
Release Date: March 1st 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Purchased myself

My Rating: 4/5 Stars
Spooky Rating: 3.5/5 Cobwebs

From Goodreads: "Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth--her sister's friend Sophie didn't kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn't actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else's mind and experiences the world through that person's eyes. She's slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed "friend" when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie's slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can't bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting distant lately, especially now that she's been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again."

Let me start by saying that even before opening this book to start reading it, the cover had me spooked. I find that I can't look at it for too long because her face is way intense and I feel like she can somehow see deep into my soul. Creepy *shudders*. Because of this it took me a fair while to actually see the hands that are reflected in her eyes. Pretty cool little added detail there!

Now onto the actual review!

Review: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

Released: February 14th 2004
Series: Midnighters #1
Publisher: Atom
Source: Library

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Oh my golly gosh. This book was awesome. If you could publish awesome, it would be in the form of this book. Big statement I know. But stay with me, because this book deserves much more attention!

Most of the YA community (in my experience) has read or at least heard of the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. Don't get me wrong, I adored that series too. But this? This was on a whole other level.

Now the Uglies series is still awesome, but since reading the books, I have come across books that are similar in some ways. Delirium being one, which I feel is a combo of Uglies and Matched. They are not exactly the same but that had the same feel. ANYWAY. The Secret Hour? So original! At least in my opinion. 

*My 1 Year Blogoversary and Giveaway*

Hi everyone!

I can't believe it has been a whole year since I started blogging. It's just seems crazy to me! In a way it doesn't feel like a whole year has gone past and then at the same time it feels like it is something I have been doing forever.

To celebrate and to thank you all for sticking around I will be hosting a giveaway of exciting september releases!!

Giveaway Details:

• Open Internationally (if Book Depository ships to your country)
  
• Must be a GFC follower!  
  
• Open to new and old followers
  
• The giveaway will be open until 12.00am EST 30/9/2012 
  
• To enter please fill in the below form

The winner/s will have their choice of ONE of the following books:

Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles #1) by Gena Showalter

The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

What's Left of Me (The Hybrid Chronicles #1) by Kat Zhang

Origin by Jessica Khoury

Hidden (Firelight #3) by Sophie Jordan

Stormdancer (The Lotus War #1) by Jay Kristoff
Who I Kissed by Janet Gurtler

Some of these may not be available at the close of the giveaway, but they are available not log after and will be pre-ordered for you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please Be Advised:

• I am not responsible for lost or damaged goods from The Book Depository
• No personal information (address) will be stored or used except for the purpose of this giveaway
• Winner will be contacted by email and will have 72 hours to respond with mailing address and book choice or a new winner will be chosen.
• The winner will be picked through rafflecopter by a random number generator (random.org)
• I have the right to change giveaway details as I see fit
• Entrants must be 13 or older


• Covers shown may differ from the cover you will be sent
Goodluck and happy reading!

- Amy

Review: Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Release Date: September 2012
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Source: Received from publisher

Quick Thoughts: Really enjoyed Speechless. A strong story about the consequences of gossiping and bullying

Rating: 4/5 stars

Thank you to the wonderful people at HarlequinTeen for supplying me with a review copy of Speechless. This does not alter my review in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is the first book I have read of Hannah Harrington's, though I have been trying to get my hands on a copy of Saving June!

I want to stop here and look at the cover. It in its self sends is so powerful and thought provoking that I just couldn't wait to dive into this book.

Speechless is thought provoking young adult novel, about the consequences of gossiping and bullying. Teens these days are faced with these everyday, becoming victims of gossip and bullying. Hannah gives a powerful voice to those being bullied. As in the case with Speechless the topic of bullying is Homophobia. Hannah approaches this issue with great care and a well thought out plot line.

Chelsea, the school gossip, and main character, finds herself in a very awkward situation. Having walked in on a boy from her school making out with another boy at a party, she instantly runs downstairs to tell her friends what she saw. Something that Chelsea ordinarily wouldn't think twice about. However, as soon as the words leave her mouth and she see's the reaction of the 'popular' boys at the school she regrets ever opening her mouth.

Chelsea later finds out that the boy from her school has been hospitalised. He was walking home from the party that night and was attacked and brutaly beaten up, winding up in hospital.

The last thing Chelsea says is to the police, revealing who beat up the boy and why. This begins Chelsea's vow of silence. After being the school gossiper for so long, and having now realised what effect it can have, she no longer wants the words to come out of her mouth to cause something like this again.

Chelsea carries on with her school year, becoming shunned by nearly the entire school. Now finds she is being bullied herself. In the only class she has a chance of escaping from all of that is art. But on the first day back at school she realises that Noah's best friend, Sam is in the class with her, not only that, the only seat left is the one next to her. This is going to be a total train wreck. Or so she thinks. You guessed it. She meets a boy, Sam. But he's not just any boy, he's Noah's best friend. Yikes! She feels guilty as hell but finds that Sam 

Speechless is a captivating story about a girl who was once a gossiper and bully herself, becoming the victim, allow with others in the story. Chelsea along the way tries to figure out who really matters, and how to be the type of person she doesn't hate and to just be happy. Through her journey of silence she makes new and unexpected friends and finds herself happier than she has ever been. 

I really loved this book and I just chewed through it so fast. Speechless keeps a good pace, that kept me interested throughout. Chelsea really grows as a character through this book and props to Hannah Harrington for achieving this really effectively!! Love love loved!

So, have you read Speechless? What were your thoughts?

Happy reading!
- Amy

Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Release Date: December 2nd 2010
Publisher: Dutton
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

Quick thoughts: I absolutely adored this book! Definitely a must read. 

From Goodreads: "Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?"

I have waited for my hold of this book to come into my library for (I kid you not) 3 months at the least. So I have been waiting a good long while to be able to read this one. When I finally got the email that it had come in I was so excited. I have read Lola and the Boy Next Door and really enjoyed it, though I would have liked to read this one first since both Anna and Etienne (<3<3<3 siiiiighhh) were mentioned.

Anna and the French Kiss follows the story of Anna and the gorgeous St. Clair, or as he is later known, Etienne (at the start of this book this really confused me, I thought they were two different people for a while... Oops! Pay attention Amy!) Anna is sent to Paris, against her wishes, to the American school there. She doesn't want to leave her friends, how will she survive a whole year away from her best friend when they do everything together? Her first night there, after her parents leave, she breaks down, she can't imagine what life will be like here and frankly she doesn't want to. That is until Meredith knocks on her door to check on her. The walls are paper thin and Meredith is her neighbour, she heard Anna crying. She invites Anna to her room where Anna discovers walls of endless posters. On leaving Merediths room for the night she (literally) runs in to Etienne, the most dreamy boy at the school. Later she finds out that Etienne is the St. Clair that Meredith told her about. Meredith introduces Anna to the rest of her friends and they integrate Anna into the group.

Along the way Anna finds herself falling for Etienne, er - St. Clair.. Even though she knows he has a girlfriend (booo!) and that Meredith likes him and has liked him for long time. All of that aside she and Etienne spend more and more time together. Especially when they are two of only a few who stay at the school over the break. They become best friends. He becomes the one who knows her better than anyone else there, and he is the one who steals her heart.

Stephanie Perkins has succeeded in creating a contemporary YA novel that is light hearted but at the same time invigorating. Anna and the French Kiss is a book that I could easily read over and over, which I rarely do, without getting bored. I anxiously await Isla and the Happy Ever After, said to be released in 2013. How on earth will I wait that long??!!

For those of you who have read both Anna and Lola, I ask you this: Etienne or Cricket?
Tough question for myself to answer... I think would have to say Etienne <3

Happy reading!
- Amy