In My Mailbox (18)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Love Triangles: Iron Daughter

Love Triangles is a feature I created to discuss how I feel about love triangles in the novels I read. I am assuming that those reading the love triangles posts have already read the books. Please be aware that these posts may contain spoilers.

Ash-Meghan-Puck

I am starting to feel more receptive to the instant-love between Ash and Meghan and here’s why: from the very beginning Meghan reminded Ash of Ariella. I therefore think it is reasonable that he was attracted to Meghan from the very beginning. It also explains why he was a bit snarky with her—he was probably a little taken aback by having someone remind him of his lost love and of course, he also knows that a summer/winter romance is a recipe for disaster. Meghan, having no boy experience what-so-ever, was likely to have feelings for anyone who paid attention to her. I think her instant-love reaction to Ash could very well be teenage hormones and the excitement of something completely new (i.e. male attention).

Puck on the other hand has a solid foundation for his love for Meghan. He has always watched over and protected her, and has proven that he would do anything for her. He has a really charming personality, and Meghan is clearly drawn to him. Unfortunately, she can’t seem to decide which boy she actually loves and which one she is just attracted to. I’m going to go against popular opinion here and say I hope she ends up with Puck.

Who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind after Iron Queen, but for now I am happy to be one of the few Puck-Meghan supporters out there!




Have an Opinion About this Love Triangle? Link Up Below!
*Please link back to abouttoread.com in your post

Book Tunes: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Book Tunes is hosted by Amber from Down the Rabbit Hole.

I was originally going to put a quote here so that I could really explain why this song reminds me of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but I think that would give away some important plot points so I am not going to. Instead, I will just let you know that there is a scene at an "underground" party where two people are discussing love and dancing--it is one of my favorite scenes in the whole entire book! This song reminds me of that scene. 

Goodreads Description:


"Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. 

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. 

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. 

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. 

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?"

Iron Daughter

Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: July 27, 2010
Source: Gift
Format: Paperback
Goodreads Description:
"Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart."

***

I am very happy to say that I liked Iron Daughter much better than Iron King! I think the most important thing for me going into this series was that I accepted that the rules behind the creation of the fey were what they were. Once I accepted that, it was much easier to get into the story.

Once again, Meghan is on an action-packed adventure to save the fairy world from impending disaster at the hands of the iron fey. Regardless of how you feel about this genre or Julie Kagawa’s writing, I think everyone can agree that she does action with the best of them. In fact, there were several times that Iron Daughter reminded me of the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan (a must-read if you have not already done so).

I also really enjoy the characters. Puck is incredibly funny and endearing. Ash is proving to be quite the romantic and very sentimental—although his feelings for his Ariella are a bit off-putting to me. While I have always loved Meghan’s big heart and desire to help her loved ones, her lack of self-preservation instincts (as I believed Ash called it) really grated on my nerves—particularly in Winter’s Passage. I’m pleased to say she has grown a back-bone, and is now much more of the strong-willed, independent heroine I like to read about.

Iron Daughter was a great treat, and I think more exciting surprises are in store for us with Iron Queen, the next novel in the series.

Waiting on Wednesday: Vengeance

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Remembrance was amazing so I can't wait to read the sequel! And how amazing is the cover?

Top Ten Books to Read Around Halloween

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

1. Fury by Elizabeth Miles

2. Remembrance by Michelle Madow

3. The Unbecoming Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

4. The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen

5. Harry Potter by JK Rowling

6. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

7. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

8. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

9. Meridian by Amber Kiezer

10. Immortal by Gillian Shields

Spooktacular Hop

I am participating in the Summer Giveaway Hop which is hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer & The Diary of a Bookworm. Make sure you check out the hosts page and visit the rest of the blogs on the linky! My giveaway is a copy of Manifest by Artist Arthur


Goodreads Desciption:
"When fifteen-year-old Krystal Bentley moves to Lincoln, Connecticut, her mom's hometown, she assumes her biggest drama will be adjusting to the burbs after living in New York City.

But Lincoln is nothing like Krystal imagined. The weirdness begins when Ricky Watson starts confiding in her. He's cute, funny, a good listener—and everything she'd ever want—except that he was killed nearly a year ago. Krystal's ghost-whispering talents soon lead other "freaks" to her door—Sasha, a rich girl who can literally disappear, and Jake, who moves objects with his mind. All three share a distinctive birthmark in the shape of an M and, fittingly, call themselves the Mystyx. They set out to learn what really happened to Ricky, only to realize that they aren't the only ones with mysterious powers. But if Krystal succeeds in finding out the truth about Ricky's death, will she lose him for good?"

Contest Rules:

• Open to US Only
• Must be 13+ to enter
• Everyone may enter, even if you are not a follower
• Winners will be notified via email
• A new winner will be chosen if a response is not received within 48 hours
• Contest ends October 31, 2011

In My Mailbox (17)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Shatter Me by Tahreh Mafi

Twitter Party with Michelle Madow tonight at 8 EST

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Author: Laini Taylor
Publisher: Little Brown
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Source: BEA
Format: ARC
Goodreads Description:"Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. 

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?"

***

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was a heart-breakingly beautiful story. I had heard so many good things about this book around the blogosphere, and I have to say that they’re all true. Karou was such a funny main character, that she captures your interest from the beginning of the book.

I won’t lie, when I read the description of Karou’s physical appearance, I did not think for a nano-second that she was someone I would be friends with. After reading this story, however, Karou is someone I wouldn’t mind hanging out with. She’s caring and forgiving, and she has a really big heart.

As for the plot—well, there is a lot of mystery. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is told from Karou’s perspective and she really doesn’t know anything about what she is or where she came from. She’s not even sure if she’s human. Karou has been raised by a small band of demons, and they are the only family she’s ever known. Throughout the novel, Karou struggles to untangle the mysteries surrounding her life. Her quest drew me into the novel, but the answers she found is what will make this story stick with me for a long, long time.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a story of love, family, mystery, and hate. Whatever you do, you do not want to miss this one. Even if you don’t think it’s not for you in the beginning—keep reading. By the time you’re finished, it will probably be one of your favorite books.

TGIF at GReads

TGIFis hosted by Ginger grom GReads. This weeks question is "Book Blogs That Make You Smile: Pick 5 book blogs you visit often & think others should, too."

This is a tough one because there are a lot of awesome book blogs out there! Here are a few that I make me smile though because the bloggers have such good personalities and that really comes through in their posts.

Harmony's Radiant Reads
I just love watching Harmony's videos! She's really funny and she gets so excited about the books she talks about it--it makes me want to grab what she's gushing about. You can visit her here.


LC's Adventures in Libraryland
Funniest. Reviews. Ever. Lea always makes me laugh--especially when she doesn't like a book. Her blog design is also gorgeous. You can visit her here.




The Story Siren
The Story Siren pretty much keeps me up-to-date on everything. She has some awesome features (especially Books to Pine for) and I love IMM. Kristi also does a great job in her videos because her personality really sign through--she comes across as really genuine. Additionally, she has some awesome giveaways and always gives good blogging advice. If you're looking for inspiration on how to build a better blog, it really goes without saying that you should check out her blog. You can visit her here.


Down the Rabbit Hole
Amber from Down The Rabbit Hole hosts some pretty awesome stuff. She recently hosted the YA Bachelor event, which I participated in, and spontaneously hosts read-a-thons. As much as I've wanted to participate in the read-a-thons though, I live in a different time zone, so I'm usually at work while they're going on.

Amber also hosts a really fun meme on Fridays, called Book Tunes! You pick a book that you love and a song that fits the book. I know a lot of book bloggers are also huge music fans, so this is really fun to participate in! My next pick for Book Tunes is going to be Daughter of Smoke & Bone (look for it next week). You can visit her here.

***

There are a lot of really, really amazing blogs out there. In fact, there are a lot more that I can think of off the top of my head that I would love to add here. I'm going to start adding blog buttons on my side bar for blogs I visit a lot, but for now this list is a good starting point.

Vengeance Cover Reveal: Stop 4

Welcome to the Vengeance Cover Reveal Hop! Vengeance is the follow up to Michelle Madow's debut novel, Remembrance. Check Vengeance out on goodreads. If you haven't read Remembrace yet, check out my review. You can also read the Goodreads description below!

Goodreads Description for Remembrance:

"New Hampshire high school junior Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet. Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's school at the beginning of the year, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she seem to get him out of her mind? Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, the pair of them soon find that fighting fate isn't going to be easy."

Remembrance is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and The Book Depository. You can also subscribe to Michelle's email list to stay on top about the latest news about her books and release date. She also posts a lot of awesome information about the characters and the story in general. She's very active in social media, so check out her website so you can add her as your friend!

I'm also hosting a twitter party with Michelle on October 23! Michelle will be talking about Remembrance and Vengeance. Follow along with #Remembrance or this link: http://www.abouttoread.com/2011/10/twitter-party-with-michelle-madow.html

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, here is my piece of the cover:

Fun Fact: “Chelsea will open her mind and start believing in things she would have never before thought possible.”

I also got to ask Michelle a question about Vengeance :)

“A lot of readers considered Chelsea to be a bad friend. Do you think her actions were justified?"

  Michelle: I’m so glad you asked this, because this is one of the main things I deal with in Vengeance! I do think Chelsea’s actions in Remembrance were justified. She feels hurt and betrayed, and rightly so. It’s easy for readers to get mad at Chelsea since they’re reading through Lizzie’s point of view, but I hope that reading from Chelsea’s point of view in Vengeance will help them see her side of things. 

Michelle will be revealing the full cover on her blog tomorrow, so make sure you stop by and check it out!

If you missed the other stops on the cover reveal, you can still go check them out:

o October 17: Xpresso Reads

o October 18: Reading Vacation

o October 19: BelleBooks

o October 20: For Those About to Read

o October 21: Michelle Madow's Blog (for the full cover reveal and announcement of giveaway winner)

Michelle is also having an AMAZING Giveaway to celebrate the cover reveal!

One signed copy of Vengeance (not included in the picture)

One signed copy of Remembrance

A mask that resembles the one on the cover of Remembrance

Three signed jumbo Remembrance bookmarks

Two Remembrance stickers

Rules for the giveaway:

INTERNATIONAL.

It will be sent out to you on December 1, 2011 (Vengeance's release day)

You can enter directly on Michelle's website by clicking here or you can use the rafflecopter widget below.

The Mephisto Covenant: Updated Review

Author: Trinity Faegen
Publisher: Egmont
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Source: Net Galley
Format: e-ARC

Goodreads Description:

"Sasha is desperate to find out who murdered her father. When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger—Sasha is Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx’s biggest threat.

A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant—God’s promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he’s finally found the girl he’s been searching for: Sasha.

With the threat of Eryx looming, Jax has to keep Sasha safe and win her over. But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life?"

***

When I first read The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen, I loved it so much that it was really hard for me to express all of the things I loved about it. Now that it’s been a while since I’ve finished it, I’ve had time to step back and reflect on a few of the things that make this book so awesome and I wanted to share them with you all.

First of all I love stories, and this one was done extremely well. I think I expressed that well enough in the original review though, so I will move on.

The most important thing about this book is Sasha, the heroine. Sasha is instantly attracted to Jax, but when she finds out that he is a son of hell she freaks out. She fights her feelings with everything she has. Why? Because a son from hell is freaking scary!

Sasha’s reactions were so realistic to me and so normal, and I feel like we don’t get that enough in YA today. I feel like a lot of times these days, I read books where the heroine goes “Oh. You’re a dangerous, predatory supernatural creature? Well…we all have our flaws. Dinner Friday?” or “You’re tempted to kill me/would kill me if your leader asked me too? That’s alright, I still love you J.”

What??? Maybe it’s just me, but I would never react like that. Sasha has a very forgiving personality, and she tries to see the best in people. Nevertheless, she her survival instincts make her much more relatable to me. Sasha’s character enhanced the love story between her and Jax and made the entire story much more special to me. If you haven’t read this one yet, go pick it up J. I love the story as much as I love the cover.

My original review is below.

***

I loved this book! The Mephisto Covenant is a paranormal romance that involves dark angels and their quest to stop evil from taking over the world. No, that’s not a typo. The dark angels are not the evil ones in this story. I absolutely loved watching Sasha and Jax’s romance develop—they were so sweet together! Even though there weren’t a lot of loose ends in the story, I hope it will continue so that I can see more of Sasha and Jax!

The other characters were well-developed and the plot was good, but the romance is what sucked me into the story. That said, I think Trinity Faegen did a wonderful job with the story lines of the supporting characters and I would love to find out more about all of them—particularly Phoenix. Overall, this is a very engaging read and I will be picking up a finished copy for my bookshelf in September! 

600 Follower Giveaway

<a href="http://www.abouttoread.com/2011/10/600-follower-giveaway.html" target="_blank"><img alt="hop" src="http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee416/AboutToRead/600Giveawaycopy.jpg" border="0" alt="600 Follower Giveaway"/></a>

Thank you all so much for reading my blog! I have over 600 followers today, and I just can't believe it! It means so much to me that people are reading what I have to say and sharing their love of books with me. I can't even express how happy I get when I read a meaningful comment from a reader.

In order to celebrate this milestone, I'm giving away one of the following books to whoever wins. I normally don't require anyone to follow my blog for a giveaway, but since this is celebrating my followers, it seems fitting that a follower should win!

Contest Rules:

• Open Internationally (as long as the Book Depository ships to you, check here) 
• Must be 13+ to enter
• Everyone may enter, even if you are not a follower
• Winner will be notified via email
• A new winner will be chosen if a response is not received within 48 hours
• Contest ends November 7, 2011

There are  about 20 entries for this prize! That is by far the most I've ever done. Make sure you click the "Click here for Instructions" on the rafflecopter widget! It will tell you if any extra information is required and it will let you tweet & follow without having to navigate away from the page.

If you decide to post about this giveaway, please use the red giveaway image as part of your post :)

If you want to add the giveaway button to your sidebar, but aren't sure how, no worries! From the Blogger Dashboard, click on the "Design" link for your blog, click "Add a Gadget" and then scroll down the list and choose "HTML/Javascript." Then, just copy and paste the HTML in the box above into that box and click "save."

Twitter Party with Michelle Madow!

I am really excited to announce that I am hosting a twitter party with Michelle Madow on October 23rd!

You can follow along on Twitter using #Remembrance as Michelle discusses her debut novel Remembrance, and her upcoming story Vengeance. Below is the Goodreads description in case you don't know what the book is about, and you can read my review here.

Michelle is also hosting a huge giveaway for Remembrance. Check it out for a chance to win a signed copy of Remembrance, a signed copy of Vengeance and some awesome swagg--including a mask that looks a lot like the one on the book cover.

The best way to join the party is to use Tweet Chat. Here is a link to exactly where it will be: http://tweetchat.com/room/remembrance

Goodreads Description for Remembrance:
"New Hampshire high school junior Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet.

Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's school at the beginning of the year, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she seem to get him out of her mind?

Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, the pair of them soon find that fighting fate isn't going to be easy."

Love Triangles: Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer

Love Triangles is a feature I created to discuss how I feel about love triangles in the novels I read. I am assuming that those reading the love triangles posts have already read the books. Please be aware that these posts may contain spoilers.

Shay-Calla-Ren

Oh, Ren! How unbelievably crushed I was when read parts of Wolfsbane.

Despite everything, I am still on Team Ren. If anything, I am more so on Team Ren now then I was before. I think Ren’s actions can easily be explained, and I hope Calla can forgive him.

Shay had several redeeming qualities this time around—but I just don’t like him and Calla together. More importantly, I feel Calla has not truly made up her mind. Even though she left everything behind for Shay at the end of Nightshade, I do not think that had anything to do with her feelings for one boy or another. I think she did it because the Keepers were asking her to do something abominable.

Also, whenever things get too heated with Shay, Calla typically makes him stop because she’s thinking about Ren. She did the exact same thing in Nightshade—she always makes Shay stop. With Ren, however, she loses control. She just can’t help herself, with Ren. I’m willing to bet that if there were any romantic scenes between Calla and Ren in Wolfsbane, things would be just the same.

I’d also like to point out that Calla was extremely vulnerable and distraught after the last thing that happened with Ren, and I think that is why she finally gave into Shay. If she wasn’t so hurt and emotionally drained, I wonder if the outcome would have been the same.

We’ll have to wait for Bloodrose to see where this ends up, but I am whole-heartedly hoping that Calla and Ren find happiness together.

Have an Opinion on this Love Triangle? Link Up Below!

*Please link back to abouttoread.com in your post

TGIF at GReads

TGIFis hosted by Ginger grom GReads. This weeks question is "Show & Tell: Where do you grab a book and get lost in it? Show us your favorite spot you like to read at."

My bed! It is so comfy :) 

When I was in high school my bed was like my office. Half of it was covered in textbooks and papers, and I slept on the other half. For some reason it's just where I'm most productive and comfortable. It's messy in the photo because I got out of it to take this picture :) You can see my His and Her photos above it--I love them. On the night stand is The Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which I am reading right now!