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16 Blogging Days of Winter – Day 3

Veronica Porras (TTB)

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What Am I Currently Reading?

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At the moment I am reading The Pretenders by Lisi Harrison.

I requested this novel on Net Galley and was approved. The book is written like a journal, which is one of the reasons why it caught my attention. The feelings you get from the book are raw. Every pretender is dealing with a different issue, but are all connected in the end. The sad thing is that all five characters are freshman going to Noble Prep. It’s sad to see how much pressure are put on high school students.

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Let’s Talk About: YA Crime/Gov’t OP Novels

Veronica Porras (TTB)

Is it just me or are there not that many YA crime novels? Some of my favorite shows are Bones, White Collar, Psych, Monk, etc, and I would love to not just watch shows like those, but also read some novels like the shows. One of my go to authors for spies and con-mans is Ally Carter. She has the Heist Society Series which follows a family of high class thieves, and The Gallagher Girls series which follows Cammie, a spy-in-training destined to become the next legend.

Another author I’ve gone to is Jennifer Lynn Barnes with her The Squad Series (Gov’t OPS/Spies), and her most recent novel, The Naturals, which follows five teenagers with extraordinary talents that help the FBI solve cold cases. There is also these two phenomenal sisters, Lisa and Laura Roecker, who write about secret societies and murder. Lastly, we have Kara Taylor’s debut novel, Prep School Confidential, which is another murder mystery story that takes place within the walls of a high class preparatory.

Apart from the authors I mentioned above, I don’t really know about other crime/secret society novels within YA. This sub genre within YA is not very well known or talked about, which is why I assume there aren’t many books in the genre.

I really wish there were more…. Anyone else think the same thing?

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16 Blogging Days of Winter – Day 2

Veronica Porras (TTB)

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Today’s topic is all about the TBR. What am I reading next? Yesterday I just finished reading The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes which was a awesome book (review to come soon). After reading a heavy murder mystery I need a contemporary and the book I picked is…

16045296Goodreads Summary:

They’re from two different worlds.

He lives in the estate house, and she spends most of her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much more comfortable around horses than boys. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin—cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries.

With her dream of becoming a horse jockey, Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules either. She’s not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack.

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16 Blogging Days of Winter – Day 1

Veronica Porras (TTB)

16bloggydaysofwinter1

Favorite Books Set In Winter-Time

There are several books that I love that are set in winter time. The books in my list are all over the place. Some are YA contemporary, some are paranormal, but overall I suggest you read them all because they are the perfect books to read on a cold winter day.

  1. Let It Snow by John Green, Lauren Myracle, Maureen Johnson – Three authors. Three Stories. One Town.
  2. Frostbite (VA #2) by Richelle Mead – This is the second book in the vampire academy series and let me just tell you, ski resort, vampires, danger, and love.
  3. The Fiery Heart (BL #4) by Richelle Mead – This is the fourth book in the Bloodlines series which is the spinoff series of VA. Even a cold California winter can get hot real fast. 😉
  4. Suite Dreams by Rachel Hawthorne – This is the perfect, most fluffiest book for the winter time. If this book were a drink, it would be a hot chocolate with marshmallows.

What are some of your favorite winter time books?

Tuesday Meme

Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2013

Veronica Porras (TTB)

toptentuesdayThank you to the lovely people at The Broke and The Bookish for creating this wonderful meme.

Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2013

1. Veronica Rossi – author of Under The Never Sky

2. Shannon Messenger – author of Let The Sky Fall

3. Jessica Park – author of Flat Out Love

4. Jennifer L Armentrout – author of Obsidian

5. Rainbow Rowell – author of Fangirl

6. JoJo Moyes – author of Me Before You

7. Sarah J Mass – author of Throne of Glass

8. Alexandra Bracken – author of The Darkest Minds

9. Gayle Forman – author of If I Stay

10. Elizabeth Norris – author of Unraveling

 

What amazing authors did you discover this year?

Reviews, ya contemporary

Book Review: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Veronica Porras (TTB)

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Goodreads Summary:

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

My Initial Thoughts:

At first I thought… a book about a girl that is suicidal?! I didn’t want to read it, but the whole DJ thing intrigued me cause I LOVE music. Then Kayla was like read it for me first and I was like OKAY! 🙂

Review:

You can say I read this book in two parts. I read the first half about 3 weeks ago and the other half tonight, and it was a good idea. Why? I coincidently stopped reading right before it all went down in the story. Anyways, let’s get down to business.

The main character, Elise, is not your typical suicidal girl. She is not craving attention. She just wants someone to see her and not just ignore her. I think we can all relate to her. We have all felt invisible at some point in our lives. What struck a chord in me were her habits and ways of dealing with life (not her suicidal tendencies, but how she dealt with life after her attempt).

My second year of college was a hard one. I was tired but wired a lot of the time. At night I would walk around campus, past midnight, trying to tire myself out so that I could sleep a few hours. I would put on my headphones and try to forget the world around me. Elise and I are so similar in that way because she would do the exact same thing to tire herself out, it was weird. I was like… how does the author know this I did?! I didn’t come across a underground party, or learn to DJ, but it was surreal to see a little of myself in Elise.

This story is so powerful because it shows us that this life is worth living. Yes, this world may suck at times (or a lot of the times) and we may not be happy with the cards life gave us, but we can make the best of it. The main message of this book is “Do not settle on being ordinary, be extraordinary”. We can all do that in our own individual ways if we try.

I really wish we got to see more of Henry though. That’s my only complaint. 🙂

Rating : 5/5

Special Review, YA Paranormal

ARC Book Review: Waterfell by Amalie Howard

Veronica Porras (TTB)

1113-9780373211050-bigwI was kind of to receive a copy from Harlequin Teen through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date:

October 29,2013

Goodreads Summary:

THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE QUEEN

Nerissa Marin hides among teens in her human form, waiting for the day she can claim her birthright—the undersea kingdom stolen from her the day her father was murdered. Blending in is her best weapon—until her father’s betrayer confronts Nerissa and challenges her to a battle to the death on Nerissa’s upcoming birthday—the day she comes of age.

Amid danger and the heartbreak of her missing mother, falling for a human boy is the last thing Nerissa should do. But Lo Seavon breaches her defenses and somehow becomes the only person she can count on to help her desperate search for her mother, a prisoner of Nerissa’s mortal enemy. Is Lo the linchpin that might win Nerissa back her crown? Or will this mortal boy become the weakness that destroys her?

My Initial Thoughts:

I requested Waterfell on NetGalley because I thought it was about mermaids. Mermaid books and I don’t get along, but I wanted to give them one more chance. To my surprise this ended up not being about mermaids…

Review:

I have very mixed feelings about the book. I like it and at the same time I am not satisfied with it. Let me explain. I think the concept is good, the plot is good, I just have a few issues with some of the main characters. Let’s start with Nerissa. She seems very selfish and while she has her good moments, she seems to me like the royal brat she was raised as. Jenna and Sawyer were my favorite characters to be honest and they aren’t even the main characters. Lo was too cocky and a bit of  a jerk. Some of that may make characters lovable, but it was a little over the top when it came to Lo.

I did like that a lot of the book was very fast paced and that it was full of action. The only downfall is that I was being bombarded with information every few pages that it was hard to keep up with it some of the time. Another thing is that I cannot picture how Nerissa’s species looks. In my head they are just gigantic colorful snakes…

Overall, I like Waterfell and it intrigued me enough to want to read the next book in the series which comes out in 2014. I want to see the growth that Lo and Nerissa go through as they have to adapt to their new life and what happens now that Nerissa is queen.

Rating: 3.5/5

Tuesday Meme

Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR

Veronica Porras (TTB)

toptentuesdayThank you to the lovely people at The Broke and The Bookish for creating this wonderful meme.

This week’s TTT is Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR. In the past I would be really excited for this time of year because WINTER BREAK, but I no longer have that since I am officially in the working world, but who says I can’t attempt to read all of these books this winter right?!

1. The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines) by Richelle Mead

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2. This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

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3. The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

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4. Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally

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5. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

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6. What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang

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7. Crewel by Gennifer Albin

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8. Legend by Marie Lu

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9. Prodigy by Marie Lu

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10. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

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Special Review, YA Dystopian, YA Paranormal

Blog Book Review Tour: Sanctuary by Pauline Creeden

Veronica Porras (TTB)

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Blurb

In a heart-racing thriller described as Falling Skies meets The Walking Dead, Jennie struggles to find a safe place for what’s left of her family. But it seems as though there is no place sacred, no place secure. First the aliens attacked the sun, making it dimmer, weaker, and half what it used to be. Then they attacked the water supply, killing one-third of Earth’s population with a bitter contaminate. And when they unleash a new terror on humankind, the victims will wish for death, but will not find it…When the world shatters to pieces around her, will Jennie find the strength she needs to keep going?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18684843-sanctuary?ac=1

http://www.amazon.com/Sanctuary-Pauline-Creeden/dp/1491072067/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385951078&sr=8-1&keywords=Sanctuary+creeden

Pauline Creeden

In simple language, Pauline Creeden creates worlds that are both familiar and strange, often pulling the veil between dimensions. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long.

Pauline is a horse trainer from Virginia, but writing is her therapy.

Armored Hearts, her joint effort with author Melissa Turner Lee, has been a #1 Bestseller in Christian Fantasy and been awarded the Crowned Heart for Excellence by InDtale Magazine. Her debut novel, Sanctuary is scheduled for release September 30, 2013, and has already been nominated for two awards in YA Science Fiction.

One of Pauline’s short stories has won the CCW Short Story contest. Other short stories have been published in Fear & Trembling Magazine, Obsidian River and Avenir Eclectia. An urban fantasy short will appear in The Book of Sylvari: An Anthology of Elves from Port Yonder Press, and a vampire short will appear in Monsters! from Diminished Media Group.

https://twitter.com/P_Creeden

https://www.facebook.com/PaulineCreeden

http://paulinecreeden.com

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5284782.Pauline_Creeden

Review

First of all, if you like scary books about alien invasions, this is your type of book! I was so scared when I was reading it that I opted to read it in the morning and not at night. It took me a while to sleep the first night I read a few chapters. I kept imagining the aliens described in the book and trust me my imagination did a wonderful job at creating them.

Sanctuary is written in several POV’s which helps the reader understand what is going on through different parts of the country. It also helps us see how all the characters came together and were able to find temporary safety. At first I thought Jennie was cowardly, but as I read on the story, I noticed how brave she really was and coming out strong after everything that she experienced is awe-inspiring. I also enjoyed Hugh’s POV.

The attacks of the aliens, the science behind the alien animals, and the bible passages made it real in the sense that as you’re reading the story, you feel as if you’re in that world experiencing the attack, fearing for your own life. I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of alien invasions and The Walking Dead. This is one sic fi thrill you won’t want to miss.

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Tuesday Meme

Top Ten 2014 Release I’m Dying To Read

Veronica Porras (TTB)

toptentuesday

Thank you to the lovely people at The Broke and The Bookish for creating this wonderful meme.

Hey guys! I’m back…sort of? Not having internet, moving, and my new full-time job have sucked all my time lately. Anjie has been super busy with school as well so I’m sorry we haven’t been blogging as much as we normally do. But, alas, I bring to you a Top Ten Tuesday! Exciting right?! I am too! And here we go~

Top Ten 2014 Release I’m Dying To Read

1. The One by Kiera Cass

2. Let The Storm Break by Shannon Messenger

3. Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi

4. Panic by Lauren Oliver

5. Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead

6. The Immortal Crown by Richelle Mead

7. Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

8. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

9.The Assassin’s Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas by Sarah J. Maas

10. Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

What books are you anticipating this year?