Waiting on Wednesday (44)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine.

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

From Goodreads:

Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

I've been a huge fan of Claudia Gray since I read Evernight way back in sixth grade. I'm always excited to hear about a new book of hers, and this one sounds freaking amazing. Plus, the cover is STUNNING. I have high expectations for A Thousand Pieces of You!

What are you waiting on this week? Leave links to your WoW posts below so I can check them out!

Branded Blog Tour & Review (Megan)

Today I'm participating in the blog tour for Branded by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki. 

Branded by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki 

From Goodreads: Fifty years ago the Commander came into power and murdered all who opposed him. In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society. He created the Hole where sinners are branded according to their sins and might survive a few years. At best. 
Now LUST wraps around my neck like blue fingers strangling me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit and now the Hole is my new home. 

Darkness. Death. Violence. Pain. 

Now every day is a fight for survival. But I won’t die. I won’t let them win.

The Hole can’t keep me. The Hole can’t break me. 
I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter. 
My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.

I'm going to start off this review by saying that I like this cover a lot. I'm not usually a big fan of the whole face of a girl thing on book covers, but I think this is pretty and gives the reader a good indication of what Lexi looks like. 

Now, on to the actual story. I wasn't sure what exactly to expect from Branded, but the book throws you right into the story from the very first sentence. There was no long rambling back-story that takes awhile to get through or a dramatic buildup. The readers were thrown right into the world immediately and it was effective in building the suspense. Lexi's name wasn't even mentioned in the first few chapters because it was all intense, heart-pounding action. I thought it was a different approach to starting a novel and I really enjoyed it. 

Once things calmed down a bit and Lexi was in the Hole there was time for a bit more world development and explanations about Lexi's family and prior experiences. It very quickly becomes prominent that she isn't prepared for the physical requirements of living in such a brutal place. Not that I can blame her. Sitting on my couch reading books doesn't exactly prepare me to fight off grown men who are trying to kill me. I admired Lexi's determination even though her situation was bleak and the fact that she didn't totally rely on Cole, her guard, to protect her even though that was his job. He did his fair share of saving her life, but she saved herself just as much.

The Hole itself was gut-wrenching. I applaud the authors for creating a world that was able to turn my stomach so easily. There weren't that many graphic descriptions of the violence, but the little bit that was there was enough to gross me out. The world in this book reminded me of the one in The Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano. A lot of the people in the Hole have lost a lot of the compassion and emotions that make them human. They've hardened themselves and resorted to violence and cruelty in order to survive. I knew that the Hole would be a prison like miserable place going into it but I was unprepared for just how messed up it was. The dynamics between characters and the way the Hole functioned was fascinating and I loved reading it even though it was disturbing.

Branded was a quick, fast-paced read with action always happening. I liked the characters and the way they interacted with each other. While there were a few minor things with the romance that I found awkward and a little forced, I really enjoyed this read for the most part. I would recommend Branded to anyone who liked Wither by Lauren DeStefano or Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi because they both have similar worlds and a similar narrations style. 

Make sure you check out the rest of the Branded blog tour! There are a lot of great blogs that have been participating not just today, but all week! Stop by their posts as well and let me know what you think of this book in the comments!

Rachel Rambles About Better off Friends

Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
From Goodreads:
For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way.

Eventually they realize they’re best friends — which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t keep getting in each other’s way. Guys won’t ask Macallan out because they think she’s with Levi, and Levi spends too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can’t help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more complicated?

From romantic comedy superstar Elizabeth Eulberg comes a fresh, fun examination of a question for the ages: Can guys and girls ever really be just friends? Or are they always one fight away from not speaking again — and one kiss away from true love?

I'm a huge fan of contemporary romances, so as soon as I read the summary of this book, I was pretty positive I was going to love it. I waited around a bit for some reviews to come out, and when they were all super gushy and enthusiastic about the awesomeness of this book, I went ahead and bought myself a copy.

Better off Friends is absolutely adorable. It's written for a bit of a younger audience than the Young Adult books I normally read, and I'd say that this book is like a Middle Grade/Young Adult crossover. It begins when the main characters are in seventh grade and follows them through middle school and high school, ending when they're in eleventh grade. Because the characters are so young, the story is a tad more innocent than other Young Adult romances. Better off Friends doesn't have any bad language or sex or alcohol, and I would feel comfortable giving it to readers in elementary school. The lack of language/sex/alcohol isn't a bad or good thing, in my opinion. I just thought I'd point it out.

Even though this book could certainly be enjoyed by younger readers, that doesn't mean us old folks won't get anything out of it. (That was a joke! I'm only 17! Hardly an "old folk." :D) Better off Friends is the kind of story that people of all ages will appreciate. It's the classic best-friends-falling-in-love storyline, which is a personal favorite trope of mine. Macallan and Levi's relationship is so natural and realistic, and their friendship is powerful on its own without counting the romantic feelings. The reader gets to experience Macallan and Levi grow up throughout this book that spans several years, and they change a lot. They are, after all, becoming young adults, so their growth is evident on the pages. As they grow and change, their relationship to each other grows and changes, and it's really interesting to see how new developments in their lives affect their friendship.

This book is light and simple and fun, and I adore it with all my heart. It's the kind of book that will make you gush over the cuteness, but it also tells a meaningful story of family and friends. Macallan and Levi have a ton of obstacles in their lives--the usual teenage things: family, friends, romance, school, etc.--and it makes them real and honest characters that the reader can't help but wish happiness upon. Better off Friends is the epitome of a cute summer read, and if you like contemporary romance books or When Harry Met Sally, I think you'll love this book.

Better off Friends was my first Elizabeth Eulberg, but certainly not my last. I'm looking forward to checking out the rest of her books in the near future. For all of you Elizabeth Eulberg fans out there, any recommendations? :)

Random Ramble: Encouraging the Reluctant Reader (Guestpost!)

Today we have another guest post by my mom! It's not always easy to get kids who don't like to read to pick up a book and my mom has some advice on how she got my more reluctant brother to read as a child! 

Encouraging the reluctant reader

Another assumption people make about our family since Megan loves books is that my son must be a big reader too. I think I even fell victim to this belief myself when Brendan was young. We had amassed a large collection of great children's books - so why wouldn't he want to read them? We had a few big hits like, Are You My Mother and anything by Dr. Seuss, but that was it. When grade school started, our home library continued to grow. We had almost the entire set of The Magic Tree House and Junie B. Jones. Megan consumed them all faster than we could get them, but with Brendan it was like pulling teeth.  It may seem stereotypical, but people say this is frequently the case with boys. I think people take that as the easy answer - write them off as non-readers and attribute it to video games or gender or whatever.

We started to spend days at the public library - first, this was a less expensive way to supply Megan's thirst for books, but it also opened my eyes that Brendan didn't hate books - his interests were just different. Where Megan loved to lose herself in the worlds of fiction, Brendan was grounded more in reality. Non-fiction books peaked his curiosity - bugs, sharks, dinosaurs, anything science or history based fit the bill.

As Brendan got older, I just needed to stretch where I looked for books. Brendan will never be as big a book fan as Megan, but not many people are. Here is a list of some of my favorite books for the reluctant reader. We would love to hear any suggestions you have for books you think other reluctant readers would enjoy.

Dan Gutman is still a hero in my eyes. The Weird School Series is fantastic, as are his books about sports heroes.
 Lucy & Stephen Hawking wrote some great books too that entwine space and science with a great storyline. (Check out the first one here)
Kingdom Keepers Series by Ridley Pearson - this series takes place inside the Disney theme parks which any fan of the parks themselves or the characters (especially the evil ones) can't help but enjoy.
The Boy Who Dared by Susan-Campbell-Bartoletti 
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman 

Do you know anyone who is a reluctant reader? I know one of my favorite things is recommending or gifting a book to someone and watching them fall in love with it! Do you have any go-to favorites that even a "non-reader" would love? Let us know in the comments below! 

We're Going to BEA 2014! (Rachel)

source

READ. WRITE. RAMBLE. IS GOING TO BEA!!!!!!

BEA's website

Much like the above minions, Megan, Katherine, and I are all freaking out. Last year, we attended BEA on Power Reader day (you can read my perspective of the experience here), and since our experience was mostly positive, we decided that this year we'd register for the whole conference. So it's official! We're going to BEA!

Luckily, we only live an hour outside of NYC, so our commute to the Javits Center isn't bad at all. We'll be staying in a hotel close by for a few nights, but unlike a lot of people attending BEA, we don't have plans to do any sight-seeing or special New York activities when we're not actually at the conference. Because NYC is so close, we can kind of just visit whenever we want, so this trip is not nearly as exciting as it is to people who live farther away. I know a lot of bloggers have epic plans to do ALL THE NYC THINGS while they're in town for BEA, but since NYC isn't that exciting to us, we don't have to worry about cramming in all the fun things. This means we can relax in our hotel room everyday after the conference is over, which I'm sure will be good for our exhausted bodies. :)

So the only place you'll probably be able to find us is at the actual Javits Center on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We're making lists of the authors/panels/events we're most excited about, so we have a few things that we'll definitely get to. Other than that, we don't have any concrete plans other than walking around and hopefully meeting people and making friends and having an awesome time.

Since all three of us are going, we'll be able to split up and cover more ground if we so desire. We all have different things we want to do, so we'll most likely be wandering around by ourselves at some point. I personally have a little list of authors I'm excited to meet/books I'm excited to get a copy of during the conference, so if you're at BEA, chances are you'll be able to find me in line for the following authors:

-Scott Westerfeld (autographing session for Afterworlds on Friday, May 30 from 3:45 pm-4:45 pm)
-Libba Bray (autographing session for ???* on Saturday, May 31 from 11:00 am-12:00 pm) *the website says Libba Bray is signing The Diviners, but I believe she might be signing Lair of Dreams? Eh, I don't really care either way. I'm just excited to meet her because Libba Bray is awesome!
-E. Lockhart (autographing session for We Were Liars on Friday, May 30 from 1:00 pm-2:00 pm)
-Lauren Oliver (autographing session for Rooms on Thursday, May 29 from 10:00 am-10:30 am)
-Amy Zhang (autographing session for Falling into Place on Friday, May 30 from 1:30 pm-2:00 pm)
-Adi Alsaid (autographing sessions for Let's Get Lost on Thursday, May 29 from 11:30 am-12:30 pm* and Saturday, May 31 from 12:15 pm-2:45 pm) *I'll probably try to go to this one!
-Holly Black and Cassandra Clare (autographing session for The Iron Trial on Saturday, May 31 from 11:30 am-12:30 am*) *I might not make this one, but Megan should definitely be there!

I can't believe BEA is almost upon us! It's less than a week away! I'm both ridiculously excited and a little scared that I'm totally unprepared. It's going to be a crazy week, especially since I'm ditching school for this and will have a ton of make-up work when I get back. But it will be totally worth it, because obviously BEA is more important than silly things like Precalc quizzes and gym class. :)

I'd love to meet some of you internet people in real life, so if you're going to BEA please let me know so I can look out for you and say hi if I see you!

Here are some pictures of what I (and Megan and Katherine) look like, so you'll recognize us if you see us:

Lauren (she won't be at BEA so just ignore her :P), me, Maureen Johnson! (as far as I know, she won't be at BEA either :P), Katherine, Megan

Megan will be especially easy to spot because she is like six feet tall with bright red hair, like so:

Katherine looks like this (minus the winter clothes because, you know, it's May):

And for me, I recommend just watching one of my YouTube videos. This video is short and I only posted it a few days ago, so it's very accurate to what I look/sound like right now.

Are any of you guys going to BEA? Let me know down in the comments! What books/authors are you most excited about? Is this your first year going, or have you been before? I did attend one day of BEA last year, but I'd still appreciate some advice from long-time attendees if you have any! :)

Waiting on Wednesday (43)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid
From Goodreads:
Five strangers. Countless adventures.One epic way to get lost. 

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most. 

There's HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love. 

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth— sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way.

The gorgeous cover of this book caught my eye the first time I saw it, and after reading the summary, I became really interested in reading this book. I love a good travel/road trip story, so I'm sure I'll love Let's Get Lost.

What are you waiting on this week? Leave links to your WoW posts in the comments below so I can check them out!

Rachel Rambles About Bloodlines

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead (Bloodlines #1)
From Goodreads:
Blood doesn't lie...

Sydney is an alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of human and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir - the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir - is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill's guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the last place anyone would think to look for vampire royalty - a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. But instead of finding safety at Amberwood Prep, Sydney discovers the drama is only just beginning...

For those of you who don't know, Bloodlines is the first book in the spin-off series to Vampire Academy. You can read my ramble about the Vampire Academy series here.

This review has no spoilers for Bloodlines, but it has some details from the Vampire Academy series that you might want to avoid if you haven't read it yet!

For the most part, I really enjoyed reading Bloodlines. It was definitely strange reading a Richelle Mead book about someone other than Rose Hathaway (aka one of the best characters of all time). Sydney, the protagonist in Bloodlines, is nothing at all like Rose. On the one hand, this is awesome because how much would it have sucked to read about another character who was super similar to Rose? But on the other hand...I love Rose! And it was hard to read Bloodlines without thinking about how much I missed her.

It took awhile for me to get used to Sydney as a narrator. Sydney's perspective of the world in VA/Bloodlines is completely different from Rose's, so it was strange to see the story through her eyes. Her views on Moroi/Strigio/Dhampirs/Humans/Alchemists/etc. were weird to me at first, but eventually, I found myself growing accustomed to Sydney's personality and opinions, and I ended up really liking her as a main character. Like Rose, she is strong and intelligent, but her strength and intelligence show in very different ways. 

The biggest issue I had with this book is that it was very slow at parts. The entire beginning seemed to drag on and on. In Vampire Academy, I was annoyed that the beginning of the book had very little world-building and explanation as to what the heck was going on, but Bloodlines had the opposite problem. There was so much world-building and explanation that nothing exciting happened. It wasn't bad enough to make me stop reading the book, but I was definitely put off by the super slow start. I wish there had been a healthy middle for both series to begin with, instead of not enough world-building and then too much world-building.

As for the rest of the book, it was still pretty slow. Unlike the Vampire Academy books, where something crazy/intense/exciting/action-packed seems to happen on every page, Bloodlines had more of a slow build-up to an actual plot. While I think it's interesting to read two different series set in the same world but structured in totally different ways, I found Bloodlines a bit boring at times, in comparison to Vampire Academy.

I loved getting to read about my favorite characters from Vampire Academy in Bloodlines. And when I say "my favorite characters," I mean Eddie. Seriously, you guys, Eddie is my favorite. I adore him, and I think he's such a complex and fascinating character. I always wanted more Eddie in the VA series, so I was overjoyed to find that he played a major role in Bloodlines.

I was not as overjoyed about Adrian's role in this story. Adrian is an interesting character for me. When he was first introduced in VA, I disliked him. It took quite awhile for me to trust him, let alone like him, so when I finally got to a point towards the end of the series when I liked him, I was amazed at the journey he had been on since he'd first entered the story. I was happy that he was finally in a place where I could like him and appreciate him as a character. But in Bloodlines, Adrian seemed to take a gazillion steps backward, and he returned to the Adrian I had a hard time liking. I understand that he's been through a bunch of messed-up stuff that made him return to his old self, but it was still really frustrating to read about him in Bloodlines. I kept wondering where the Adrian I knew and loved had gone. However, I believe Adrian's character development is really well-done and interesting, so I trust that Richelle Mead will do fabulous things with his character as the series continues.

I could say a lot more about this book, but I should probably shut up now. So, long story short: I enjoyed Bloodlines, but didn't love it as much as the Vampire Academy series, which I'm totally fine with. I had some issues with this book, but I definitely plan on continuing the series, especially with that ending! (The last sentence of Bloodlines made me SQUEAL with excitement. :D)