"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars, points of light and reason. ...And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason, for anything."
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!
Only one teaser for me this week:
That hurt, that reminder of how our family was so screwed up, we couldn't even share the people we loved with each other. And when we did, Dad removed them from our lives, like fake maps plucked out of a collection (pg 161).
~North of Beautiful: Justina Chen Headley
So far, this book is amazingly good. Hope you enjoy the teaser!!
Most sixteen-year-olds have friends. Aden Stone has four human souls living inside him:
One can time-travel.
One can raise the dead.
One can tell the future.
And one can possess another human.
Everyone thinks he's crazy, which is why he's spent his entire life shuffled between mental institutions and juvie. All of that is about to change, however. For months Aden has been having visions of a beautiful girl -- a girl who carries centuries old secrets. A girl who will either save him or destroy him.
Together they'll enter a dark world of intrigue and danger . . . but not everyone will come out alive (genashowalter.com).
I've read a few of Showalter's novels that she's written for adults, so I had an idea of what to except from her writing style and the type of characters she likes to write. Intertwined didn't disappoint. I enjoyed the main character Aden, and really liked his friend Riley who was also a werewolf. However, I thought the story was a little slow in parts, and there's still some major story lines that were left hanging. I was glad to see that the sequel "Unraveled" will be released this coming September.
One thing I liked about this book was the fact that it is introducing different paranormal characters into play. Besides vampires and werewolves, there's witches and fairies and goblins. Plus it really plays on the fact that Vlad the Impaler was in fact Dracula and that he is still alive and well in Romania. That was an interesting twist, and one that was fun to think about.
The idea of Aden living with four other souls within his body is an interesting one, and has similar parallels to Showalters Lords of the Underworld series where each man is doomed to live his life along side a demon. Having read some of these books, I could definitely pick up on similarities between the two stories. As an adult, I enjoyed the Lords of the Underworld series better, and felt that Intertwined was missing something. I'm not sure what, and it won't stop me from seeing what happens in the sequel, I just hope that Unraveled moves a bit faster now that he have all of Aden's back story.
Title: Beastly Author: Alex Finn Pages: 300 Rating: 4.5/5
I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature who walks upright – a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.
You think I’m talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It’s no deformity, no disease. And I’ll stay this way forever – ruined – unless I can break the spell.
Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly beastly (alexfinn.com).
I loved this book. I was actually surprised by how much I loved this book, considering the fact that it's simply a play on Beauty and the Beast, but I found it so well written and fast paced that I could not put it down. I picked it up from the library on my way home from work Thursday, and finished it Friday at lunch. I just couldn't put it down.
Beastly tells the story of Kyle Kingsbury, an arrogant, selfish highschooler who gets great pleasure out of making others miserable. However, he went a bit two far when he manages to royally tick off the new goth girl at the school. Kendra turns out to be a witch, who places an evil spell on Kyle, making him as ugly on the outside as he is on the inside.
When I first started reading about Kyle, I couldn't get over what a jerk he was. He was just down right mean...he thought he was so hot to trot. And then when he was turned into this beast I began to feel kind of bad for him. And by the end of the book, I was in love. It was amazing to read about his transformation, and to what him change from someone truly ugly to a beautiful person.
Beastly has been made into a movie starring Vanessa Hudgens (who I loved in all the HSM movies). This is actually how I first found out about the book. I saw the trailer on another blog, and fell in love with it and just had to read the book. The movie is going to be released on July 30th. Here's a sneak peek at the trailer:
Not the state of being, but a resort in the Caribbean. Jena, Dakota, Skye, and Owen are all there for different reasons, but at Paradise their lives become tangled together in ways none of them can predict. Paradise will change them all.
It will change Jena, whose first brush with romance takes her that much closer to having a life, and not just reading about those infinitely cooler and more exciting. It will change Dakota, who needs the devastating truth about his past to make him realize that he doesn’t have to be a jerk just because people think he’s one. It will change Skye, a heartbreakingly beautiful actress, who must come to terms with the fact that for once she has to stop playing a role or face the consequences. And it will change Owen, who has never risked anything before and who will take the leap from his online life to a real one all because of a girl he met at Paradise….
From confused to confident and back again, one thing’s certain: Four months after it all begins, none of them will ever be the same (carolynmackler.com).
I adored this book. I love how it was written in four separate parts, with four separate characters. It was so much fun to see how each of the four characters lives became tangled with each other. It was definitely different, and the fast pace kept me turning the pages as quickly as I could.
I had two favorite characters in this book. The first was Jena, who reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger. She's obsessed with quotes, and doesn't have a ton of confidence, but in the end is a stronger person due to the things she has to work for. My other favorite was Dakota. He's a real ass in the story, but I've always had a thing for bad boys. However, much to my mom and dad's relief, I did not marry one...lol. I think that's why I like to read about them so much!!
This is the first Carolyn Mackler book that I've read, but I'm sure it won't be my last. I'll be looking for some more titles from her next time I go to the library.
Also, I think this book would make a great movie. It reminded me a bit of The Sisterhood of the Traveling pants in the way it was written and I loved that movie and I think this one has just as much potential!
Something happened to fourteen-year-old Maisie Willard—something involving her three friends, all boys. But their stories don't match, and the rumors spin out of control. Then other people get involved . . . the school, the parents, the lawyers. The incident at the back of the bus becomes the center of Maisie's life and the talk of the school, and, horribly, it becomes news. With just a few words and a touch, the kids and their community are changed forever.
From nationally acclaimed author Francine Prose comes an unforgettable story about the difficulties of telling the truth, the consequences of lying, and the most dangerous twist of all—the possibility that you yourself will come to believe something that you know isn't true (harperteen.com).
Sounds like a good read doesn't it? Oh how I wish it was. This book really, really dragged. It took me almost two weeks to read it, and I read four other book in between starting it and finishing it.
The first issue I had with the book was that I couldn't connect with the main character. She seemed really distant, and I never felt as though I really got to know her. Yes, we knew what she was thinking, and what had happened to her, but I felt like it was just words. For a book about such a tough subject matter, I didn't feel any emotion. I just felt...blah.
Secondly, the way in which the book was written was just really boring. There was absolutely no change in pace throught the whole 250 pages. I often found myself drifting from the story and thinking about what I was going to make for dinner, or when I was going to clean the house.
Others might really like this book, and maybe at a different time, I would have enjoyed it myself. I was definitely disappointed because I was really hoping to like this one.
Wow, April flew by for me. It was a busy month at work and spring has been in the air. All the outside work's done, all I have to do is buy my plants for my pots that I put around the house and all is completed. I think its going to be a wonderful summer!
Reading wise, April was an amazing month for me. I managed to finish nine books this month...the most out of any month this year. I also read some of my favorites reads so far this year including Rules of Attraction, which will probably be on my list of top ten favorite books for 2010 come December. I have another good month ahead of me with some really awesome reads coming up. Also, this next month two new reads are coming out that I've been waiting for for a long time: My Fair Lazy by Jen Lancaster and The Storm Chasers by Jenna Blum.
I mentioned in my What are you reading post? that Hubby and I had a really good meeting with our Reproductive Gynocologist. Lo and behold, having decent insurance paid off, and we were able to get a supply of Follistim shots for a $150 copay. The actual cost of the shots --- $4000 for a one month supply. I wanted to throw up when I read that. I have to give myself the injections every night for eight to fourteen days, and they'll monitor everything with ultrasounds every other day to make sure that everything is responding well. So far it hasn't been horrible. I'm scared of needles but these really aren't too bad. I haven't passed out yet!! The Dr told us that over half of the women that do not response to Clomid the first drug we tried, will response to Follistim, so I'm optimistic about the whole thing.
It's Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event now hosted by One Persons Journey Through a World Of Books. It's helpful way to take a look at what you have read and what you want to read!
It was a great reading week for me. I spent most of my evenings sitting outside enjoying the beautiful weather and the newly finished backyard. I posted pictures of that here. Also, we had a really positive meeting with our RE about the whole baby issue. I've started a new medicine (daily hormone injections...its been different dealing with needles) and I go for my first ultrasound tomorrow to see how I am responding. I'm hoping for better results with these meds.
Also, I'm still hosting my giveaway for two lucky readers. I'm giving away two copies each of both Perfect Chemisty and Rules of Attraction. You can sign up here!
I'm working on the reviews now so they should be up in the next few hours...hopefully :)
This week I'm going to keep with most of the same books I had last week. I actually hadn't been planning on reading Beastly, but saw a preview for the new movie and just *had* to read it. I'm glad I did. Here's what I hope to read this week:
North of Beautiful - Justina Chen Headley: I've heard really great things about this book and I really like the cover. It seems intriguing.
Ice - Sarah Beth Durst: Repeart from last week
All Unquiet Things - Anna Jarzab: I haven't seen a lot of reviews about this book around, but I know this is a debut YA author, and the mystery of the stories sounds good.
Ghost Girl - Tonya Hurley: Repeat from last week
Snap - Carol Snow: repeat from last week
It's supposed to be another beautiful week, and we don't have a lot of plans so hopefully I'll be able to get a lot of reading in again this week!
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
