In My Mailbox #3

Sorry I have been absent for a while guys!  I haven't had all that much access to the Internet or time to blog! In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. 


These are books that I have acquired over the last couple of weeks. 


Borrowed:
The Power of Six - Pittacus Lore
Passion - Lauren Kate
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me - Sarra Manning
Geek Girl - Cindy C. Bennett
Crescendo - Becca Fitzpatrick
Embrace - Jessica Shirvington


Bought:
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin (FINALLY!!!)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
Delirium - Lauren Oliver




All of these books were borrowed from my awesome friends except or bought by me except for Geek Girl, I received this one via NetGalley. 


Passion and You Don't Have to Say You Love Me have been sitting in my to be read pile for a while now, my friends are probably getting sick of waiting for me to return them, or have forgotten they have given them to me it has been that long! 


What was in your mailbox this week? Leave me a comment or link me to your post!


Happy reading!
- Amy

Review: Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett

Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett

Publisher: CreateSpace

Re-Release Date: December 2011

Format: Egalley

Goodreads | Book Depository

My Rating 4.5/5

From Goodreads: "Think I can turn that boy bad?" 17-year-old Jen turns her life upside down when, out of boredom, she makes a bet that she can turn school geek Trevor into someone like her. Instead, the goth girl finds herself sucked into his world of sci-fi movies, charity work, and even-ugh!-bowling. To truly belong with him-and with her new foster family-she must first come to terms with her violent past. 

Let me start by saying that I received an e copy of this book through NetGalley, this is the first I have used and received a book from here. This is my honest review of Geek Girl.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the plot of this book. The writing style of Cindy C. Bennett made it a very enjoyable read. This is a story about a girl, Jen, who is a foster child with a very troubled past. And a boy, Trevor, who is your typical geeky guy. Jen and her friends decide that Jen is going to try to turn Trevor into 'one of them,' a trouble-making teen. 

I just loved the depths of Jen's past, you don't find out how dark her past is until later on. Went light is brought to her past, I could understand why she is, the way she is. Why she act's up to get herself kicked out of foster homes and why she makes a game out of other peoples lives. Jen is almost a totally different person when she is with Trevor, she becomes more the person that she wants to be, more the person that she is on the inside, behind the mask of makeup she wears. 


Trevor is, in my eyes, such a lovable character! I just adore him, though I seem to always have a soft spot for the geeky guy. Trevor likes Jen for who she is, he doesn't judge her for the friends she hangs out with, or they way she dresses. He just likes to spend time with her. He is an awesome younger sibling to his brother with Down Syndrome, Todd. It's obvious to me that the fact that he has Down Syndrome makes no difference to Trevor or his parents. It does throw of Jen for a while as she isn't used to the affection Todd so actively gives, Though she grows to love him like a brother!

I could see where this book was heading, though that doesn't diminish how much I enjoyed this book. I knew at some point that Trevor would find out about the bet, and I was constantly wondering when it would happen. Along the way Jen learns to love Trevor the way he is and finds that she is changing more than what he is. She doesn't think this is a bad thing though, she is changing for the better in her eyes. She realises that she loves Trevor the way he is and she pulls out of the bet.

I really enjoyed this book, and couldn't put it down! If your a YA fanatic, I think you will enjoy this one as well!

Happy reading!

- Amy

Top Ten and Teaser Tuesday #4

Hi everyone!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. This week's top ten is:

Top Ten Book Endings That Left Me With My Mouth Hanging Open

These are in no particular order, because asking me to order books is near on impossible for me to do!

1. City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare
The last thing I was expecting from this book was a cliff hanger. I literally sat staring at the page mouth wide open for a good minute or so, thinking "wh-wh-wha-WHAT?!"

2. The Six Sacred Stones - Matthew Reilly
Cliffhanger? Yep and in the literal sense of the word as well. Possible life or death situation and I had to wait a YEAR to find out? That's just cruel.

3. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
Now there wasn't a cliffhanger at the end of this book, it is the last in the series, but the ending just left me with my jaw to the floor!

4. one of the Stephanie Plum books - Janet Evanovich (I can't remember which one it is exactly because they all merged into one story in my head!)
Lucky I had the next one waiting in my to-read pile!!

5. Iron Crowned - Richelle Mead
I need the next book to come out NOW. I couldn't believe the ending of this one!! Leave me in suspense why don't you!!

6. The Body Finder - Kimberly Derting
I loved this book so much, and the ending was just gob smacking!

I'm going to leave this at 6 books, this is all I can come up with, which surprises me! I even went back through my read list on Goodreads and couldn't come up with any others.

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading, open your current read to a random page and give us all a little teaser!

I'm currently reading Hereafter by Tara Hudson:

"My nightmares were what made me finally see, and accept, the truth. 


At first nothing in my wandering existence brought back memories of my life, nothing but the elusive familiarity of the woods and roads I wandered.


But then the nightmares began."






What are some books that left your mouth hanging open? What are you currently reading? Leave your answers in the comments or link me to your Tuesday post!

Happy reading!
- Amy

Review: Gone by Michael Grant

Gone by Michael Grant
Release Date: July 1st 2008
Publisher: Egmont Books
Edition: Paperback, 576 pages
Goodreads | Book Depository

My Rating 4/5

From Goodreads:  "In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE. Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.
It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else..."

I loved this book! It reminded me of I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (Pseudonym for James Frey and Jobie Hughes), but then when I thought about it, only because of the light shooting from Sam's hands, and the bullies...

I first heard about this book from Priscila at The Readables youtube channel, you should check her out, she is one of my favourite booktubers!

In the first part of this book there were many varying points of view, each with their own chapter. I find too many points of view to be confusing and hard to keep up with, which I did find a little bit with this book, but only at the start. Some of the characters didn't interact with the main characters, making me wonder why we were seeing their point of view. But i figured that I would find out in due time. As I expected when the story progressed you see where all of the characters fit in, and why we were allowed glimpses into their view.

I liked Sam's character, the hero who doesn't think he is a hero type. When he was younger he saved a school bus of kids when the bus driver collapsed, by driving them to safety on the side of the road. So you can imagine what he would be like in a situation such as this: all people over 15 years old have disappeared, with no explanation, in their place is a big spherical wall that surrounds them from all ends. Not only that there are weird things happening, Sam and some of the other kids are able to do strange things and the animals have started to form mutations. Talking coyotes? No thank you! I found I liked Sam more, knowing that he didn't want to be the one that every body looked to. The one that was relied upon. The only silver lining for Sam goes by the name Astrid.

Astrid is the genius know it all type. Only she is like a fish out of water with all of the current goings on. For someone who knows so much about everything, she has no explanation for what has happened. I loved Astrid's character. The way she looks after her younger brother Petey who has ........................... Petey is her first priority, even when she starts falling for Sam.

Caine, where do I start with Caine? Without giving away any spoilers? I don't know. But I will say that he knows something that Sam doesn't which becomes evident a little ways in to the book, and this kept me hooked, I just had to know. I was reading and reading hoping that it wouldn't be one of those series that doesn't fill you in until the sequel. Thankfully it's not!

Overall, this was a really good dystopian novel, I had to keep reading so I could find out ASAP what was going to happen next! With the bullies and the allies changing more than once, it really kept me on the edge of my seat! I can't wait to read the second one in the series Hunger! I am going to hopefully get this one from the library sometime soon, so I can continue the adventure of Sam and Astrid!

Happy reading!
- Amy