Sunday, April 27, 2014

Starcrossed - Joesphine Angelini






Title : Starcrossed
Author: Josephine Angelini
Format: Paperback 
Release date: May 31st 2011
Genre: YA romance, Fantasy. 
Stars out of ten: 







SUMMARY 

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart. 

REVIEW

This book was gripping, from the first time Helen Hamilton meets Lucas Delos whose family has just moved to the small island of Nantucket she wants to kill him. She has no idea why and over the course of time they both are at neck and neck with each other. Helen is being haunted by Furies and nightmares. During one of these nightmares she sees Lucas on his hands and knees, feeling around as if he is blind. Cutting his hands on sharp stones, looking very afraid. Helen walks over to Lucas and tries to talk to him but all he does is mouths her name and begs her to leave him behind, Helen thinks is going to be stuck in the dry land of her nightmare forever pulling him up forcing him to walk with her. She is half awake thinking she is on a raft, only to find when she gains full consciousness that she is actually lying on Lucas, and that he saved her life. He explains that he is a Scion, lying on top of him Helen realises that she doesn't detest Lucas any more and later on realises that the fall abolished the Furies tat were haunting them both when they were near each other. 

Helen learns that she is also a Scion and that she has many abilities as every Scion has. But he is powerful but cannot control it, she gets trained by the Delos family who are trying to help Helen in finding which house she belongs to. 
Throughout all that is happening she is being hunted by Creon who wants her powers, but Helen is also falling in love with Lucas which is forbidden. They know that Helen belongs to a different house to the house in which Lucas is, the houses cannot mix. They are at war with eachother. 

FIRST SENTENCES

Chapter One: "But if you brought me a car now, it would be yours when I go away to school in two years. Still practically new," Helen said optimistically. Unfortunately her father was no sucker. 

MY THOUGHTS 

I really liked this book, because it was so fast paced and I like books that are easy to read. However I did find the whole story line a bit difficult to grasp, and the relationship between Lucas and Helen I didn't think was that great because Lucas always seemed a bit distant and his personality didn't really come through and that was a bit disappointing. However I would recommend it. 


MY BLOG IS BETTER THAN YOUR VLOG

ELLIE


Thursday, April 24, 2014

Writing about the Coverflips


22628Finally it is time for the first feature of Cover flips, where we closely study the variation between book covers over the world! It sounds very nerdy and I'm not sure it is as nerdy as it sounds. This has been done by many people, but just sit back and enjoy. 
Lets crack on!




PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER


Charlie is a freshman.

And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.



MY THOUGHTS ON THE COVER AND BLURB

I have read this book. I prefer the cover on the left, it just seems so much more inviting and happier and to me seems to have more relevance to the actual book. The one on the left is just ugly, I mean its a dodgy lime colour and has a pair of legs that look like a guy from the 1930's, I don't know.

The blurb is ok, in my opinion it's not a strong storyline and I found it very, very, excruciatingly difficult to read it and to force myself to the end. I think somebody told me to read it, so I brought it and was like "okay lets start!" without reading the blurb, or maybe I was drunk... who knows?
11614718

DELIRIUM


Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't. 


MY THOUGHTS ON THE COVER AND BLURB

Ok, the cover on the left I found on Tumblr and it intrigued me, the caption for it was "Delirium Coverflip → What the Delirium cover might have looked like had it been written by a male author, inspired by Maureen Johnson’s challenge" 
The cover isn't a published cover or anything I don't think, I know it completely defeats the objective but its hypnotising. Is it just me that thinks it is absolutely perfect. I like a book that has a good cover, that I can show off to people as I walk around with my school books and my reading book with the perfect cover perched on the top. 

The blurb is writing brilliantly, I love blurbs that have quotes on them. You knind of know then what to expect from the book 



CATCHER IN THE RYE 

Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins,
"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them."

His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation. 

MY THOUGHTS ON THE COVER AND BLURB

I like both of the covers, I mean lets be honest they both look cool. I haven't read this and it seems like a must read, but the two covers lack similarity. If I had read this book I could say one doesn't have much relevance to the story. However you cannot judge a book by its cover, I remember being told this in Primary School browsing through the 'free readers' books. Actually the first time I actually experienced book heart break I was seven and had read black beauty, it ruined me to say the least. 

Anyway, the blurb seems awesome and I have only just read it. I cant believe it, I dont know whether this is my sort of book. But I do believe that Celine has read it. 




227463

A Clockwork Orange 

A vicious fifteen-year-old "droog" is the central character of this 1963 classic, whose stark terror was captured in Stanley Kubrick's magnificent film of the same title.

In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alex—to "redeem" him—the novel asks, "At what cost?"

MY THOUGHTS ON THE COVER AND BLURB 

I love the covers both of them are totally different but captivating and eye catching. The one on the left I think would appeal to more teenagers, because it looks more modernised than the one on the right. 

The blurb looks awesome, it seems very deep. I love books in which question our existence and how bad our future is going to be, it leaves my mind to wander in crazy places. 



I'm sorry this is such a short, late post. I am very tired and hope you all don't crave your bed as much as I do right this minuet. 

MY BLOG IS BETTER THAN YOUR VLOG

ELLIE


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

The Fault in our stars - John Green

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Title: The fault in our stars 
Author: John Green 
Format: eBook 
Release Date: January 10th 2012
Genre: YA Romance
Rating: 






SUMMARY 

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.


REVIEW 

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, when a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs...for now.
Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

FIRST THOUGHTS


Chapter one: Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my of my abundant free time to thinking about death. 

MY THOUGHTS 

This book has literally hit everybody in my year, the amount of girls I see walking around with this book at the moment in my school is unreal. I read this book this time last year and still sticks out to me, such a powerful storyline, such a deep and diverse subject to read about. The writing is captivating, and the ending is horrible. John Green's words have the power to move oceans, I swear to you. 

UPCOMING MOVIE

This is utter perfection, when I found out this was being made into a movie I was so excited and eagerly anticipating the book to come to our screens. Waiting for other people to share the heartache with, makes me so much happier, like I am surrounded by bubble wrap. 

After seeing Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort working together in Divergent I was certain they would be able to pull this off and make the characters seem as vivid as they are in my mind. 

June 6th - A date to keep in your diary. 

MY BLOG IS BETTER THAN YOUR VLOG
ELLIE 

The Forest of Hands & Teeth #1 - Carrie Ryan

"I want to sleep, I want dreams to pull me from this world and make me forget. To stop the memories from swirling around me. To put an end to this ache that consumes me."


I've finished!

In Mary's world there are simple truths. 

The Sisterhood always knows best. 

The Guardians will protect and serve. 

The Unconsecrated will never relent. 

And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. 

But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. 

And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

I hadn't researched the book at all before I picked it up and decided to buy it. All I knew was that I was hooked and intrigued by the title. So when I realised that The Forest of Hands & Teeth was about a zombie apocalypse, you could say I was quite surprised. 

The 'Unconsecrated' are the zombies which are trapped in the 'Forest of Hands & Teeth'. There is a small village which the forest encircles which everyone had been told they can't go through. Mary has ended up temporarily being in the Sisterhood which is basically like nuns. In the cathedral she finds out that there is a way to get into the forest and that she, along with everyone else has been lied to, and so the journey of Mary begins...

This book was very powerful with a steady, consistent pace and even though this may be because I was trying to stay up and not fall asleep, it had me gripped and wanting more. The book was very action-packed and had several turns which were pretty predictable but hey ho. You could really capture Mary's loneliness and longing to see the ocean; she was a curious character. There were always questions that you'd be asking yourself and wanting to know straight away. Her longing to see the oceans that her deceased mother told her about gets extremely overwhelming. In fact, she lets a few people die for it...

...which leads to reasons why I did not like this book.

I think this book was mostly focused on a breakdown and I honestly thought she was crazy. The negatives were mostly because of the main character. 

-She was selfish as hell. 
-The character lacked excitement. Sure, she got excited about things but I didn't think she, herself was an exciting character. 
-She is more than happy to steal her bestfriend's guy, even though the guy has a brother who is really into her.
-The characters seemed to bland, especially her love interests. You didn't really get a full background to their relationship.

All in all, this book was a good kind of different and even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, there were also a few bits here and there that made me want to stick a knife in my eye. (Though I will probably read the second book just because of curiosity).

★★

-C E L I N E

Late Night/Early Morning Reading

I'm making this post on:

& it's 00:21 and I'm in the bathroom reading...

Why am I in the bathroom?
As a fellow roommate to three other people, I don't want to disturb them from their precious beauty sleep and it's pretty evident that they all need it, especially someone whose name starts with an O and ends with an N ;). Just joking guys, I hope you never see this. 
Why am I reading at this time especially when tomorrow is the first day of Summer term?
Well as you can see from my calendar above, the first thing on my calendar is indeed 'flying' at 06:00. Basically my school will take a group of people to fly, (yes fly an aircraft!) and the last time I was meant to go I overslept and completely missed out so this time I am being very prepared. 
My definition of being prepared is not going to sleep so there is an 80% chance that I will not miss it this time. I could always accidentally dose off but I've done this plenty of items before and it is not likely. 
If you haven't already figured, this means that I get to miss the first day, woo! :D
What am I reading?
The Forest of Hands & Teeth - Carrie Ryan
Even the title oozes excitement & who knows, I might finish it within a couple of hours!

Stay tuned :)

-Celine 

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Slated, Fractured& Shattered - Teri Terry








Title: Slated
Author: Teri Terry
Format: Paperback
Release date: May 2012
Genre: Thriller, Romance.
Stars out of ten:  








SUMMARY 


Kyla’s memory has been erased,
her personality wiped blank,
her memories lost for ever.

She’s been Slated.

The government claims she was a terrorist and that they are giving her a second chance - as long as she plays by their rules. But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is lying to her, and nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?

REVIEW 


 A world in the 2050's where the minds of 'terrorists have been wiped. Kyla a slated teenage girl moves in with a very mundane family, a mother, father and a girl named Amy (who is also slated.
All Slated's must attend a happy group,which is like a therapy session in order to help the Slated's into their new reformed lives. This is where she meets Ben, a boy who later on in the book seeks to become a person rather than a Slated. 
Kyla cannot remember any of her previous life or what she has done to become slated, however she keeps having visions of things that may of happened in her past. 
Seeking to figure out her hazy past she discovers a missing persons website, along with a girl called Lucy. 

Kyla is living in a lie, where she doesn't know how to find the truth.


FIRST SENTENCES

PROLOGUE: I run.  Fists of waves claw the sand as I force one foot to pound after the other. Scramble up, slip down, repeat. Faster. Eyes fixed on the dunes ahead. Don't look back. Musn't look. Ragged breath; in, out; in, out. Still I run 

Chapter one: Weird. All right, I haven't got much experience on which to base this judgement. I may be sixteen and I'm not slow or backward and haven't been locked in a cupboard since birth- so far as I know - but slating does that to you. Makes you lacking in experience.


THE COVER 

I like this cover, it gives us a hint of mystery. The colours are dark signifying a 'dark book' creating a horror atmosphere or a thriller. However I dislike having cover models on the front of books because I like to imagine the character and as much as I try to ignore the person on the cover, I cant because they are always staring right back at me. I dont imaine Kyla to look like that. 

MY THOUGHTS

Fast paced and amazingly written. Such a awesome and gripping storyline, the characters were all perceived so well. It is such a vivid world in which Teri Terry has created, clearly mapped out and I can only praise her for her first book of an eagerly awaited trilogy.






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Title: Fractured 
Author: Teri Terry
Format: Paperback
Release date: April 2013
Genre: Thriller, Romance.
Rating:









SUMMARY 

How do you know where to go when you don't remember where you came from?

Kyla's memory has been erased,
her personality wiped blank,
her memories lost for ever.

Or so she thought.

Kyla shouldn't be able to remember anything. But she can - and she's beginning to realise that there are a lot of dark secrets locked away in her memories. When a mysterious man from her past comes back into her life, she thinks she's on her way to finding the truth. But the more she learns about her history, the more confusing her future becomes...

REVIEW

Finding Ben has been nagging Kyla's mind since the happening in his garage, is he dead or alive? 
She finds something inside her when it rains, she can feel that this has something to do with her past, but she does not known what. 
When Nico comes into her life with what seems like a infinite number of answers about her past life, it seems like the only thing she can do it get answers. She will do anything to find out why she originally got slated, however this leads her in the complete wrong path


FIRST SENTENCES

Chapter one: Rain has many uses. Holly and beech trees like those around me need it to live and grow. 
It washes away tracks, obscures footprints. Makes trails harder to follow, and that is a good thing today . But most of all, it washes the blood from my skin, my clothes. I stand, shivering, as the heavens open. 

THE COVER

This may just be me, but what is with the pink? Now that I think about it, is that blood? I don't know, I don't like it as much as the first one. Its easily recognisable, because its basically the same photo on the front. 

MY THOUGHTS

I liked the way Kyla didn’t automatically get her memory back, I mean in some books when the main character is suffering from memory loss, all of a sudden everything just clicks

I liked how emotive it was, like I shed small   and few tears when Ben didn't realise who she was, and I feel that it was written very well. And it was also very well planned. I mean they made me love Ben so much that 


I also loved the fact she had a phobia of blood, that made her more heroic (well to me it did) I think it’s because we all have things we are scared of.


I loved how at the end she realised that Ben has dreams about her, if I could put how I felt when reading it and feel now it would just be “adsjfhdilwjhfb” I felt like screaming with happiness. 

I guess this is nobody's fault really. Its just I strongly disliked the way Kyla just automatically trusted Nico. It must be easier looking in on a situation, and analysing it. But Kyla is such an idiot. I mean, HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE? She trusted a guy that broke her fingers when she was ten?! Would you trust him? He is also perceived totally differently, it was so obvious. 







Title: Shattered 
Author: Teri Terry
Format: Paperback
Release date: 
Genre: Thriller, Romance.
Rating:






Summary 

Kyla is in danger from both the government Lorders who erased her memory and the terrorists who tried to use her. So now she’s on the run. Sporting a new identity and desperate to fill in the blank spaces of her life pre-Slating, Kyla heads to a remote mountain town to try to reunite with the birth mother she was kidnapped from as a child. There she is hoping all the pieces of her life will come together and she can finally take charge of her own future. But even in the idyllic wilderness and the heart of her original family, Kyla realizes there is no escape from the oppressive Lorders. Someone close to her may be one of them, and even more frighteningly, her birth mother has been keeping secrets of her own.

In this stunning series finale, Kyla finally finds out who she really is, and the road to this discovery, and to deciding who she wants to become, is full of dangerous twists and turns that will keep readers riveted. 


REVIEW 

Travelling to find her Mother before she was slated, the book starts with Kyla changing her appearance so that people will not be able to recognise her, perhaps the safest option to travel across England with the authorities willing her dead. Staying with her mother, who doesnt realise is the girl who was taken away from her before the slating. Stella Conner welcomes Kyla (who now goes under the name Riley) into her house for girls. Kyla hopes that bringing herself back to the home in which she used to live in as Lucy Conner before the slating will bring back memories from her past life, clearing all of the haziness and uncertainties that the Slating has brought to her life. 
Finding out truths about the Lorder government and the authorities, Kyla realises the truth behind the world she is living in, and she is prepared to bring it down. 

THE COVER 

How beautiful is this, I mean lets be honest the girl on the cover of these books seems flawless in these pictures of her. It seems so pure but she seems so strong and defiant. There is an obvious glint in her eye. I like that, I think I found that in this book Kyla realises peoples eyes a lot, she can read people through their eyes. I would love to be able to do that. Something that I don't understand is the fact that she didn't have brown hair on the cover, I mean right at the beginning of this book she did change her hair colour. Maybe it was because it shows that she is still the same person even under her new identity? 

MY THOUGHTS 

Finishing this book was heartbreaking and I was very angry at the ending. With a love triangle being brought in straight at the end.
Another thing I didn't like; At the end there were no Ben and Kyla moments, I have no idea how she would of incorporated the Ben and Kyla moments, because only at the end he was being treated for his memory, but still... we didn't see Ben nearly enough, only to reject her in the second book and then in this book he's lovely to her and then tries to kill her but right at the end, he is having his chip in his brain removed and he's back to normal Ben, but seriously I crave more Kyla and Ben moments, I just fell in love with him in the first book and I need more of that...
I would of also like to see what happened about Finley and Madison? Did he get her back or not?


Such a fast paced, thrilling read. I would recommend this to anybody who asked for a dystopian thriller.An amazing adventure to be a part of. 



MY BLOG IS BETTER THAN YOUR VLOG


ELLIE











Starting new.

A brief announcement to all of our regular readers and anybody who are interested, our blog name and theme have been changed due to the fact that we originally created this blog last year. Now I can say that half of the things I used to do, now make me cringe.

Is this the same for everybody? 
I am not entirely sure.

But this is our old blog re vamped. This is like Pimp my ride, the old car television show where they used to bring in an old car and then like make it completely amazing and super cool.

We have pimped our blog. 

MY BLOG IS BETTER THAN YOUR VLOG

 ELLIE