Evermore by Alyson Noel

Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, Ever can see auras, hear people's thoughts, and know a person's entire life story by touch. Going out of her way to avoid human contact and suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen. Damen Auguste is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy. He's the only one who can silence the noise and random energy in her head—wielding a magic so intense, it's as though he can see straight into her soul. As Ever is drawn deeper into his enticing world of secrets and mystery, she's left with more questions than answers. She has no idea just who he really is—or what he is. The only thing she knows to be true is she's falling deeply and helplessly in love with him.

When I posted this book on In My Mailbox, I got tons of comments telling me how amazing Evermore was. Know I understand why. Evermore is filled with fantasy, suspense, and a group of well-rounded characters who properly represent High Schoolers of today. The reader gets to discover the power that Ever possesses and the world she lives in right along with her. The budding romance between Ever and Damen was adorable and I can’t wait to see how their relationship develops in the next book in the series, called Blue Moon, which comes out July 7th. Fans of Stephenie Meyer and Melissa Marr will not be disappointed by this enchanting novel.

Waiting On Wednesday (10)

I'm in a paranormal mood, so my pick this week is...

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH KAYLEE CAVANAUGH
She doesn't see dead people, but...
She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.
Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about the need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next...

I can already tell this is going to be a great new series, with the sequel already planned, called My Soul to Save. And isn't the cover gorgeous! August 1st could not come sooner!

Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn

Science, spiritualism, history, and romance intertwine in Suzanne Weyn's newest novel. Five sisters and their mother make their way from a spiritualist town in New York to London, becoming acquainted with journalist W. T. Stead, scientist Nikola Tesla, and industrialist John Jacob Astor. When they all find themselves on the Titanic, one of Tesla's inventions dooms them...and one could save them.

Wow, what an interesting, unique book. I loved the majority of the characters, especially the sisters, which is quite unusual. The spiritualism element was interesting, and ended up playing a large role throughout the entire book. I also loved the element of history that was weaved throughout. The reader is introduced to so many historical figures including Nikola Tesla, John Jacob Astor, W.T. Stead, Harry Houdini, the Fox sisters, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as many people associated with the Titanic, like the Unsinkable Molly Brown. What was a little annoying was that the book was labeled as a novel of the Titanic, when really the Titanic doesn’t play a role until about two thirds of the way through the book. The ending has a bit of a love it or hate it vibe, but I overall I was pleased with the read. Give it a try-you’ll have fun and learn something.

One Lovely Blog Award!

I received the One Lovely Blog Award by the amazing Velvet of vvb32 reads! The rules regarding this award are as follows:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.

3) Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.


I am going to nominate:

1. Dahlia of Dahlia's Eclectic Mind

2. Norah of My Bubbles of Nothing

3. Race of Creare

4. Books Make Great Lovers

5. Lauren of Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf

6. Nicole of WORD for Teens

7. Amanda of That Teen Can Blog

8. RR 1 and 2 of Reader Rabbit

9. Steph of Reviewer X

10. Kelsey of Reading Keeps You Sane

11. Laina of Laina Has Too Much Spare Time

12. The Book Muncher

13. Steven of Pop Culture Junkie

14. Crackin' Spines and Takin' Names

15. Chelsea of The Page Flipper

Thanks again Velvet and congrats to the other blogs!

P.S. Watch for my review of Distant Waves coming up tomorrow!

In My Mailbox (4)

Hello all! Here are the books I received this week:

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi at The Story Siren, who was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie

Bought:
Evermore by Alyson Noel

Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch. Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste… Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition. He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets. Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head. She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is. Damen is equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.

BookMooch:

The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker

Leeann's older sister Mary Beth has a gift. She is a "song reader." She doesn't read palms or tarot cards; she reads people's secrets and desires from the songs they can't get out of their minds. But as Leeann soon learns, every gift has its price.

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

It wasn't that she didn't love her children. She did. But there was a fortune at stake--a fortune that would assure their later happiness if she could keep the children a secret from her dying father. So she and her mother hid her darlings away in an unused attic. Just for a little while.
But the brutal days swelled into agonizing years. Now Cathy, Chris, and the twins wait in their cramped and helpless world, stirred by adult dreams, adult desires, served a meager sustenance by an angry, superstitious grandmother who knows that the Devil works in dark and devious ways. Sometimes he sends children to do his work--children who--one by one--must be destroyed....

I have a feeling Flowers in the Attic is going to be right up my alley!

Being Dead by Jim Crace

As I am currently in the middle of a mental breakdown revolving my Junior English speech (9 minute long final worth 20% of our grade!) I am going to use Otto Penzler's great review of Jim Crace's remarkable novel.

It begins with a murder. Celice and Joseph, in their mid-50s and married for more than 30 years, are returning to the seacoast where they met as students. They are reliving their first amorous encounter in the sand dunes when they are set upon by the murderer who beats them to death with a rock and steals their watches, their jewelry, and even their meager lunch. From that moment forward, this remarkably written book by Jim Crace becomes less about murder and more about death. Alternating chapters move back in time from the murder in hourly and two-hourly increments. As the narrative moves backward, we see Celice and Joseph make the small decisions about their day that will lead them inexorably towards their own deaths. Eventually we learn about their first meeting, and that this is not the first time tragedy has struck them in this idyllic setting.
In other chapters the narrative moves forward. Celice and Joseph are on vacation and nobody misses them until they do not return. Thus, it is six days before their bodies are found. Crace describes in minute detail their gradual return to the land with the help of crabs, birds, and the numerous insects that attack the body and gently and not so gently prepare it for the dust-to-dust phase of death. Celice and Joseph would have been delighted with the description: she was a zoologist and he was an oceanographer, and they spent their lives with their eyes to the microscope, observing the phenomena of life and death. Some readers might find this gruesome, but the facts of death are told in such glorious prose that these descriptions in no way detract from the enjoyment of the book.
After her parents do not return home, their daughter, Syl, must search the morgues and follow up John and Jane Doe reports until she is finally asked to make an identification of the remains in the dunes. We then discover that the reader has had a more intimate relationship with them in death than Syl ever had with them in life. This small gem of a book, not really a mystery in the usual sense, will stay with you long after you finish.

The Poison Apples by Lily Archer

We all know the stories of Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel. But have you ever heard of Alice Bingley-Beckerman, Reena Paruchuri, or Molly Miller? Of course you haven’t. Not yet. What these girls have in common with their fairy tale sisters is this: they are the stepdaughters of three very evil stepmothers. And they’re not happy about it. They think they are alone in their unhappiness until they arrive at Putnam Mount McKinsey, a posh boarding school located in lovely rural Massachusetts. Here is where they will plot their revenge. But first they have to meet.

I’ve got some mixed feelings about this book. The cover and summary of this book sounded intriguing, but I was disappointed to find it a mediocre read in my opinion. The first few chapters were great, when the characters and their evil stepmothers were introduced-character development was one of the successes of this novel. But once the girls arrived at their boarding school, things started to go sour. First off, it took them a while to find each other and actually form “The Poison Apples”. They spent too much time crushing over boys (and falling in love way too quickly) and teachers (I am so sick of the student-crushes-on-teacher scenario!). What was most annoying was that when the girls finally hunkered down to “cast their spell” on their stepmothers, the book was almost over, and their “spells” were extremely half-hearted. Those women were horrible and needed to be taught a lesson! The Poison Apples ended with barely any resolution, and it was difficult to tell if a sequel is in the making. If there is, hopefully it will bring some of the “oomph” that was missing from the first book.

P.S. I do want to give props to the cover artist. That cover is sweet!