2011 July | Pages of Forbidden Love

July RAK+ August Sign Up

July 31, 2011 By Alexa 3 Comments

July
Sent:

To Loretta @ Between the Pages

~ Nightshade

~ Going Too Far

~ The Unwritten Rule

To Angela @ Reading Angel

~ Mercy Burns

~ Sirensong

To Myranda @ My {reads} da

~ The Unwritten Rule

Received:

From Loretta @ Between the Pages

~ Unearthly

~ Delirium

*Thank you Loretta, I can’t wait to read them*

August Sign Up

Now on to the RAK rules!

RULES RE-CAP –
NEW request added:

Sign up each month that you’d like to participate.
Show off your participation by grabbing our RAK button

Create a wish list (on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog etc) and post it in the Google Doc located in each R.A.K post for the month.

If you choose to do a R.A.K for someone, check out their wish list and contact that blogger for their address.
NEW REQUEST: Please, once you receive a RAK, email or tweet me {Vanessa} so that I can update the Google doc. There are a lot of requests for this!

At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR R.A.K! Make a post saying ‘Thank You’ to whoever granted one of your wishes and share it with us

OPEN TO EVERYONE!

Let’s keep our International bloggers in mind and in our hearts.

Remember, there’s always the Book Depository and they offer FREE shipping!

Easy peezy!!

There is even a giveaway going on this month!

Can’t wait for August RAK, my birthday is in August though so maybe I won’t send out as many as I did this month. I’ll probably be busy breaking my book ban to get more books for myself, using the excuse that it is my 21st birthday!

For my wishlist you can click on the tab that says wishlist at the top of my blog.

Filed Under: Random Acts of Kindness (RAK)

Fury

July 31, 2011 By Alexa 3 Comments

Title: Fury

Author: Elizabeth Miles

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: Aug 30, 2011

Classification: YA Novel

Challenge: Outdo Yourself

Summary from Goodreads:

Sometimes sorry isn’t enough…. It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But not all is as it seems…

Between cozy traditions and parties with her friends, Emily loves the holidays. And this year’s even better–the guy she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But Em knows if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend.

On the other side of town, Chase is having problems of his own. The stress of his home life is starting to take its toll, and his social life is unraveling. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel…something the perfect guy he pretends to be would never do. And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed.

In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. And three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—are here to choose who will pay.

My Thoughts:
I’m not even sure where to begin with this review because I feel many different things for this book. On one hand this book starts off extremely slow. There really isn’t much going on except that some girl tried to kill herself and everyone of the popular people only pretend to care. They all go about their lives as if nothing has really happened because the girl who tried to kill herself isn’t one of the popular girls. So a very petty drama unfolds because of the popular people wanting to stay popular. This part of the story just reads in a slow, easy way, just letting drama unfold. Having already been in high school and having moved into my 4th year of college I really don’t care much for drama anymore so this part of the story wasn’t that interesting to me.

Now on the other hand we have this drama of high school woven with these three dark girls, called Furies. Not much is really known about these girls in the beginning parts of the story. Why are these girls here and what do they intend to do? The summary says that they have chosen Emily and Chase to pay, but what are they paying for exactly? This is the big mystery throughout most of the book. It makes the dull teenage drama far more interesting. These dark parts are very creepy and add a depth to the storyline that wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for the Furies.

Overall with the mix of the drama and the darkness and depth of the furies this was a good read. I really did enjoy it by the end because there are things in this book that will make you question life when you are done. I don’t want to tell you the overall lesson of this book but it is a powerful one. I felt that this wasn’t just one of those cute paranormal romance stories, it was so much more than that. Romance is just a small part of a great story that really will make you think before you act. I would recommend that anyone reading this book stick around to the very end. The beginning makes you want to put the book back down but the ending is really where it all comes together and makes the whole story worth reading. All in all you have to have the teenage drama in this book to appreciate what the Furies are there to do, each piece will come together by the end. However, there is a small cliffhanger that makes one wonder what the next book will contain. This story gets 4 hearts from me, there were some rough patches along the way but the ending really brought everything into focus.

Filed Under: Young Adult (YA) Review

IMM (36): Vlog + New Blog Layout

July 30, 2011 By Alexa 16 Comments

Big thanks to Kristi from The Story Siren for this great theme.

People Mentioned:
Loretta @ Between the Pages
Angela and Josh @ Reading Angel
Ashley @ Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing
Enna @ Squeaky Books
Cindy @ Princess Bookie

Hope you like the new layout!

Filed Under: In My Mailbox (IMM)

On My Wishlist (1)

July 29, 2011 By Alexa Leave a Comment

Title: The Prince of Mist

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Publisher: Little Brown

Publication Date: May 4, 2010

Summary:

A mysterious house harbors an unimaginable secret… It’s wartime, and the Carver family decides to leave the capital where they live and move to a small coastal village. But from the minute they cross the threshold of their new home, strange things begin to happen. In that mysterious house still lurks the spirit of Jacob, the previous owners’ son, who died by drowning.
With the help of their new friend Roland, Max and Alicia Carver begin to explore the strange circumstances of that death and discover the existence of a mysterious being called the Prince of Mist–a diabolical character who has returned from the shadows to collect on a debt from the past. Soon the three friends find themselves caught up in an adventure of sunken ships and an enchanted stone garden–an adventure that will change their lives forever.

This is on my wishlist because it piqued my interest right away. It seems to be something akin of what I normally read; epic, profound, captivating and enlightening. The other reason I decided this should be on my wish list is because my girlfriend thinks it would be a great way for me to become more a part of her blog and ‘fit in’. I figured I would go along just this once .

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Books for Trade

July 29, 2011 By Alexa 1 Comment

So the time has come to go through my shelves and try to get rid of some books.
I’m willing to accept trades or if you have nothing to trade you can still email me an we can work something out. My email is apk1princess(at)live(dot)com
Also I live in the US, so unfortunately I’m not willing to pay international shipping rates.

ARCs:
Twisted by Gena Showalter (good)
Dead Rules by Randy Russell (great)
Spinning Out by David Stahler (great)
Witches of East End by Melissa De la Cruz (great)
Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade (ok, it went through two arc tours)
Forgiven by Janet Fox (great)
So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti (good)
Entice by Carrie Jones (great)
The Kid Table by Andrea Seigel (good)
Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (great)

YA Hardcovers:
Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg (great)
Accomplice by Eireann Coorigan (good)
A Field Guide for Heartbreakers by Kristen Tracy (good)
Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook (good)

YA Paperbacks:
Need by Carrie Jones (great)
Captivate by Carrie Jones (great)
The Secret Circle: The Initiation and the Captive Part I by LJ Smith (never read/new)
The Secret Circle: The Captive Part II and The Power by LJ Smith (never read/new)
A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson (never read/new)
Crash Into Me by Albert Borris (never read/new)
Lucky T by Kate Brian (never read/new)
Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson (never read/new)

Adult Books:
Nights in Black Lace by Noelle Mack (great)
Highborn by Yvonne Navarro (never read/new)
Last to Die by Kate Brady (never read/new)
Poisoned Kisses by Stephanie Draven (great)
A Storm of Pleasure by Terri Brisbin (never read/new)
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (great)

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Vampire Knight Volume 5

July 28, 2011 By Alexa 2 Comments

Title: Vampire Knight Vol 5

Author: Matsuri Hino

Publisher: Shojo Beat

Publication Date: September 2008

Classification: 18+ Manga

Challenge: Outdo Yourself

Summary from Barnes and Noble:

Cross Academy is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorm, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy’s dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires! Zero is suspected of killing Shizuka Hio, the pureblood vampire who murdered his family. Incensed, the vampire senate sends assassins to Cross Academy to execute him. Will the Night Class intervene, or will Kaname let Zero take the fall?

My Thoughts:
After all of the action in volume 4 this volume wraps up some of the questions from the previous volume. In the end of volume 4 Shizuka Hio is killed by Kaname but Kaname leaves before anyone can find the body. Zero gets basically set up for her murder and killing a pureblood is not allowed so there will be repercussions. The vampire Senate sends vampire hench-men to kill Zero for his crime. This makes it seem like Kaname has a darker side since he might very well be willing to let Zero die for his crimes.

I did like this volume because even though there isn’t a ton of action there is more character development in this novel. There could very well be a darker side to Kaname because we know at this point that he does care for Yuki even though he doesn’t always show it. The big question is how far is Kaname willing to go in order to get rid of Zero? After all Zero is getting closer to Yuki and he is crossing lines by drinking Yuki’s blood. Since Kaname is a pureblood and very powerful in his own right everyone is on their toes wondering what actions Kaname will take next, does he take Yuki as his own even at the risk of her hating him for doing something to Zero?

Overall, I did enjoy the character development in this volume and the end left me cheering. I don’t want to spoil the ending but I really always did like his character from the beginning so I’m excited to see what will happen in volume 6. So for this volume I will give it 4.5 hearts for continuing on the storyline in a great way with characters that are really growing on me. The only complaint I have about this series so far is that sometimes the drawings of the vampires look very similar, so sometimes it is hard to tell some of the vampires apart.

Filed Under: Manga

Waiting on Wednesday (17)

July 27, 2011 By Alexa 7 Comments

This is a great weekly theme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine to show off the books that we are looking forward to that haven’t been released yet.

Summary:

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.
She’s wrong.

Release Date:

September 27, 2011

Why I’m Excited:

This is one that everyone has been takling about and I’m just as excited for it as everyone else is. The picture reminds me of something that happens in A Northern Light though. Basically like I said everyone wants this one including myself.

What are you waiting on?

Filed Under: Waiting on Wednesday (WOW)

After Obsession

July 26, 2011 By Alexa 1 Comment

Title: After Obession

Author: Carrie Jones and Steven Wedel

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: Sept 13th, 2011

Classification: YA Novel

Challenge: Outdo Yourself

Summary from Goodreads:

Aimee and Alan have secrets. Both teens have unusual pasts and abilities they prefer to keep hidden. But when they meet each other, in a cold Maine town, they can’t stop their secrets from spilling out. Strange things have been happening lately, and they both feel that something-or someone- is haunting them. They’re wrong. Despite their unusual history and powers, it’s neither Aimee nor Alan who is truly haunted. It’s Alan’s cousin Courtney who, in a desperate plea to find her missing father, has invited a demon into her life-and into her body. Only together can Aimee and Alan exorcise the ghost. And they have to move quickly, before it devours not just Courtney but everything around her.

My Thoughts:
Sigh, Carrie Jones first series Need went slowly downhill and I’m afraid she didn’t quite pull this new idea about demons/ghosts off. The whole story was just sort of bland and the leading lady had some big issues for me. Aimee can see things in her dreams and she knows it is The River Man who took her mother about a decade ago. Aimee starts off the story dating a guy named Blake who is a great guy, smart, charming, and the top of the cross country running team. This is the point when Alan comes to town and Aimee decides, “I don’t like Blake, I want that guy.” *Slams head against computer*

Honestly, the first two chapters held a great deal of promise for this story but the instant love connection is really overdone at this point. The worst thing about it is that Aimee declares instant love but then as the book goes on, they move away from the instant love connection for a bit to have a real story line. HUH! First she is saying she wants Alan then all of a sudden she wants to slowly get to know him and be around him. While at the same time they are already boyfriend-girlfriend. The whole relationship in this book was all over the place, it was like the two authors couldn’t decide how to approach the topic and it left the relationship feeling confusing to the reader. Plus the whole River Man concept was just a little boring to me, where is the darkness??! This is always the problem that I have had with Carrie’s writing, she hints at darkness, first with her pixies, then again with a demon, but there is no darkness. Add onto all of this the weird medicine, spiritual stuff Alan does because of being half Native American and you have one jumbled up storyline.

Overall, there were some parts where the characters were actually working but they struggled in a lot of parts for me. I only had 70 pages left of the story at one point and I had to talk myself into reading them. I shouldn’t have to talk myself into finishing a book. I don’t mean to bad mouth Carrie’s writing as I’m sure many people love her stories but she is just becoming an author that I’m going to steer clear of. I always expect one thing and get something really different. I’m giving this story 3 hearts, it was ok but not something I’m going to buy to re-read.

Filed Under: Young Adult (YA) Review

Casino Royale

July 25, 2011 By Alexa Leave a Comment

Title: Casino Royale

Author: Ian Fleming

Publisher: Penguin Group

Publication Date: August 2002

Classification: Adult Novel

Summary from Barnes and Noble:

In the first of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, 007 declares war on Le Chiffre, French communist and paymaster of the Soviet murder organization SMERSH.
The battle begins with a fifty-million-franc game of baccarat, gains momentum during Bond’s fiery love affair with a sensuous lady spy, and reaches a chilling climax with fiendish torture at the hands of a master sadist. For incredible suspense, unexpected thrills, and extraordinary danger, nothing can beat James Bond in his inaugural adventure.

My Thoughts:
Ever since I was a small child, I was always a fan of 007. James Bond has been a hero of mine because I always found him to be the most realistic of all superheros. He has no superpowers but always fights for what is right. He is smooth and suave and essentially, the ideal man. Growing up, I would just think that is what I want to be. I have seen all of the movies and can even state which are my favorite actors: Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan. Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton are tied, Daniel Craig, and George Lazeby. After all these years though, I have never read any of the novels.

The awesomeness that is James Bond began many years ago in written form by Ian Flemming. Many would think the movies were released in chronological order, with Dr. No being the first; tis simply not true. Casino
Royale is when the world was first introduced to agent 007.

The book is seemingly just like the movie Casino Royale, almost verbatum. I found the book to be a bit slow and plodding, but it would seem that it did it justice to introduce James Bond. I thought the majority of the book was spent describing blackjack, poker and raoulliete. If I ever go back to Vegas anytime soon I might be in luck. Aside from that, I did not think it to be necessary. To play devil’s advocate, I would say that describing the certain key details of the games added a bit to the story as it made the reader become more engrossed as to what James Bond was doing.

There was no hot, steamy sex scenes in the book which I might be on the fence about, but the book itself still served a purpose. The James Bond that is more commonly known to the modern world is not presented in this book. However, I might have to acknowledge the fact that this is his first outting. For the first appearance of such an esteemed character, it served a purpose but I do hope that the other novels will present him in the light we all know and love.

Not a lot of action but a lot of story was there in its place. The story might not have been the best as I have stated, but I am going to remain optimistic for future novels.