Spellbound By Books: May 2011

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Passion by Lauren Kate Book Trailer

Passion is book three in Lauren Kate's Fallen series. This is due out on the 14th June 2011. Enjoy :)

Sunday, May 29, 2011

In My Mailbox (63)

In My Mailbox is a weekly post created by The Story Siren.

For Review:

Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson

Borrowed:

Books 1 - 10 of the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan

Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler

Thank you to Netgalley for Ultraviolet.

Thank you to Karen for lending the Ranger's Apprentice series and Arctic Drift to me.

So what did you all get in your IMM this week?

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Friday, May 27, 2011

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Title: Shade

Author: Jeri Smith-Ready

Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Publication Date: 2nd September 2010

ISBN: 9781847389404

Stand alone or series: Book 1 in Shade Series

Pages: 320 pages

Book Received from: Bought

First Lines: "You can hear me, can't you?" I punched the green print button on the copier to drown out the disembodied voice.

Synopsis:
Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan's violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.
It doesn't help that Aura's new friend Zachary is so understanding--and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart...and clues to the secret of the Shift.

My Thoughts:
This one had been sitting on my Books To Buy list for some time and when I finally came across this one I just had to have it. Admittedly, after buying it, it has sat on the TBR pile for a little while longer and when I hit my little reading slump I finally picked this one up.

I really loved the concept of the story. I couldn't imagine a world where everyone 16 and younger could see ghosts whereas the older folks couldn't I guess it would be kind of creepy if you were a Pre-shifter watching the teeny boppers talking to themselves LOL.. Oops getting carried away here.

Aura is an amazing character. I really enjoyed reading from her perspective (First Person, past tense). I wasn't a real fan of Logan but I definitely liked reading about Zachary and Megan.

I do have so many questions after reading this one and I'm glad that I don't have to wait long before Shift hits the shelves. This is one book that has lived up to the hype for me and I look forward to reading more of Jeri Smith-Ready's writing.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Spellbound Noticeboard (9)

Welcome to Spellbound Noticeboard. Here is where Authors, Bloggers and others can send in anything that you'd like promoted. Competitions, book releases, blog events etc. This is your spot! So feel free to send me a line if you have anything book related (Including books made into movies) and I'll be sure to post these up! I'll also be including features etc that I come across to help spread the word for other Authors and bloggers! Just email me at melissa@spellboundbybooks.com

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The sixth and final installment of the epic love story that has enchanted readers across the world. Ever and Damen have spent centuries facing down bitter rivals, jealous friends and their own worst fears—all in the hope of being together forever. Now in Everlasting, their destiny is finally within reach.

Will they be united—or torn apart forever? Readers will finally discover the truth in this anxiously awaited conclusion!

Alyson Noel's Immortals Website:

http://www.alysonnoel.com/immortals/

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Random Magic Tour: Pirates!

May 10-30, 2011

Make sure you head on over to the Random Magic Tour: Pirates and check out some awesome blogs particpating in this tour!!

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Thank you all and have a great night!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday (57)

Waiting on Wednesday was brought to you by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

This week I've chosen The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis. The synopsis alone drew me in and I absolutely love the font on the cover. What do you think? This will be out January 1st 2012.

Synopsis

Anna and Abel couldn’t be more different. They are both seventeen and in their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a big, prisonlike tower block at the edge of town. Anna is afraid of him until she realizes that he is caring for his six-year-old sister on his own. Fascinated, Anna follows the two and listens as Abel tells little Micha the story of a tiny queen assailed by dark forces. It’s a beautiful fairy tale that Anna comes to see has a basis in reality. Abel is in real danger of losing Micha to their abusive father and to his own inability to make ends meet. Anna gradually falls in love with Abel, but when his “enemies” begin to turn up dead, she fears she has fallen for a murderer. Has she?

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready Book Trailer

I've just finished reading this and wanted to share this book trailer with you all before I post up my review. It was a great book!! Looking forward to Shift. Enjoy

Sunday, May 22, 2011

In My Mailbox (62)

In My Mailbox is a weekly post created by The Story Siren.

For Review:

Redheart by Jackie Gamber

-pack included 1-4 glossy prints by Matthew Perry, and two bookmarks

Conviction of a Witch by Suza Kates

(Book 2 in Savannah Coven)

Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

Thank you to C.C. James, Suza Kates and Netgalley for sending me these fantastic books!

That was my awesome week! What did you get in your IMM?

Source: http://weheartit.com/

I just thought I would share this awesome pic with you all. (Since I'm totally addicted to We Heart It lol)

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Sticky Beak (54)

Sticky Beak is all about sharing. Sometimes we can't all get around to every single blog and website available so that's where Sticky Beak comes in. By word of mouth (well you get what I mean) we are more likely to get to those blogs that we wouldn't have normally seen without someone pointing them out to us.

The links could be to your own post, a favourite blog post you would love to share, an authors blog/website, book/writing contests, reviews you really enjoyed, tour info or anything you would love to share with others. Just use the comments below to add your link!
Here's Mine:

Cool Stuff to Check Out:
Simon & Schuster: Something To Read About: A book Club Sampler
Deadline Dames: Kady Cross (Author of The Girl in the Steel Corset) is Dame for a Day
Penguin Australia: Cool description of Richelle Mead's Bloodlines
We Heart It: I have no idea where I have been!!! This is the go to place for inspiration, pictures and awesome quotes! MUST CHECK OUT THIS!
Seventeen: What's the spookiest thing that has happened to you. Submit to Seventeen and they might quote you in the mag!!
Best Blog for Kids Who Hate to Read: A Family blog for reluctant readers and their parents.

Writers Etc:
Audiobook Creation Exchange: Thank you to Neil Gaiman for pointing this out on Twitter!
The Guardian: Can you teach creative writing?

Okay that is all from me this week.

I have news! I will be starting a new writing/personal blog in the next week or so. Spellbound By Books will stay as is, nothing will change. I felt I needed a separate blog for my writing and it will be posted under the name Charlie (My alter ego/muse). Thanks to the awesome Rachel at Parajunkee Design I will have a very funky design up in the coming days or so. So stay tuned and I will let you know when this is up and running.

Also. It has been announced.... Camp NaNoWriMo will be coming soon.

From what the email has said it will be in the coming summer months so I assume that is american summer months but it will be a month that is not November. Awesome huh?!

They also included a preview of what will be coming to the NaNoWriMo store soon

When My Alter Ego Charlie is up and running I will be posting NaNoWriMo Stuff etc and if/when a new Once Upon A Time Project is started it will be there!!

Thank you all and have a good day :)

Friday, May 20, 2011

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater Book Trailer

I have watched this three times and I can't wait to read this book to find out why one wolf stays behind. I loved both Shiver and Linger, so I am both excited and dreading what this lone wolf could mean. July can't come quick enough!!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

White Cat by Holly Black

Title: White Cat

Author: Holly Black

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Gollancz

Publication Date: 17th June 2010

ISBN: 9780575096714

Stand alone or series: 1st book in Curse Workers Series

Pages: 320 pages

Book Received from: Bought

First Lines: I wake up barefoot, standing on cold slate tiles. Looking dizzily down. I suck in a breath of icy air.

Synopsis:
Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

My Thoughts:
Cassel Sharpe hasn't had it easy, what with being the only one in his family that isn't a curse worker, his mother being in jail for a job gone wrong, his father's dead, and his two older brothers working as mobsters. So when he is found out on the roof of a building in only his boxers he is suspended until further notice. Problem is, he thought he was dreaming.

I was a bit hesitant to read this. Many of the blogs I read gave flawless reviews and I was worried that all the hype that this book has generated, that it would be a let down. Thankfully no. I loved the world building in White Cat. The fact that curse work had been made illegal made everything the Sharpe family did a crime.

I also enjoyed the bits of historical facts that were wound around the Curse Workers history. Another thing I liked was how Cassel was trying to stay clean and distance himself from his family, but because his mother had encouraged him at an early age to 'participate' in cons, he still couldn't help having a little gambling con on the side at school.
Fantastic read and I look forward to getting my hands on Red Glove the next book in this series!

Fave Line: "I spent most of my childhood jealous Barron. I wanted to be him, and I resented that he got to be him first. ' - Page 38

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Crafting Cover Design With Magic by Felicity Heaton

Crafting Cover Design with Magic

Felicity Heaton

Firstly, I’d like to thank Melissa for inviting me to come to her blog as part of my Paranormal Pandemonium 2011 Blog Tour and talk about my books. I’m a paranormal romance author who mostly focuses on writing sexy vampires, dark angels, and deadly demons, but sometimes I tackle witchcraft too, and that’s what I’ve done with Ascension.

My latest novel, Ascension (Shadow and Light Trilogy book one) is about a sassy witch heroine, Lealandra, and her snarky half-demon ex-lover Taig. When Lealandra starts her ascension, a time when her magic reaches the pinnacle of its power and a process most witches don’t survive, she has to turn to her ex-lover and demon hunter Taig for help. Not only is she dealing with her ascension, but there’s also a dark force out to kill her, and Taig is her only hope. It’s a story of magic and intense action, but there’s also a deep emotional side that will touch readers as they watch the tentative relationship between the ex-lovers grow and share the endless passion that burns between them, and witness Taig’s struggle as he tries to accept his demon side.

I wanted to capture that magic and passion in the cover for the novel. See, I’m not only the author but the artist too. I’m professionally trained as a graphic designer and have been using Photoshop for more years than I care to admit, and I like nothing more than creating graphics and covers for my books. I love creating covers for my books because I feel I know the characters and story the most, and that helps me design a cover that really suits the book and will speak to readers, giving them a glimpse of the story before they even start reading.

With the cover of Ascension, I wanted something that reflected the intensity within its pages, the desire and magic, the heat and the danger. I had an initial idea that I just couldn’t create with stock photography and some Photoshop magic, but the cover that I eventually created was one that spoke to me more than the initial design idea. I used red and orange hues to represent the passion and the heat in the story, but also the danger, and brought in elements from the story such as the New York skyline, and the magical symbols. The magical markings really help tie the two halves of the book together and add that extra layer of witchiness about it, giving readers a clear indication of what the book is about.

Lealandra, the witch heroine, is represented in the lower half of the cover and in a way she appears in part of the book, with her hair swirling as though she’s underwater as the power of her magic pulses through her, threatening to take control. I decided to have her towering over the New York City skyline to add another level of danger to the cover, an indication that she’s powerful enough to be a danger to the city and could level it if her power gets out of control.

Taig, the half-demon half-human hero takes up the top half of the book, as dominant on the cover as he is in the book, with his demon wings on show. I loved putting wings on the stock picture of the man I had found as it really brought Taig to life on the cover. I wanted to keep them subtle. At the start of the story, Lealandra has never seen Taig’s demonic appearance and doesn’t know he has wings, so I wanted to keep that sort of mystery about him. Just a glimpse of the demon in him if readers look closely enough. The male model is perfect for Taig. Taig is burly and powerful, and I think the cover shows that.

The last thing I had to do with the cover was chose a font that really said magic to me, and brought the two halves of the design together. I’d had my eye on this font for a while, since I had designed another cover, and had written it down as the one to use on the cover for Ascension. It fits the book perfectly.

I’m still learning about creating covers but this is one that I’m particularly proud of and I wanted to share the meaning behind the cover and the reasons I chose specific elements.

If anyone has any questions about any of my covers, I’d be happy to answer them if you leave a comment on this blog post.

If you’re a reader looking for an action-packed, magical and passionate urban fantasy romance with a difference, then head on over to my website and check out the excerpt of Ascension: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk

Ascension is available now in e-book format direct from my site, on Amazon Kindle, and other retailers, and is also available in paperback from Amazon.com

Ascension

Felicity Heaton

A witch on the verge of achieving phenomenal power, Lealandra must turn to her half-breed demon ex-lover Taig for protection from the dark force that is after her and also from her own magic.

With her Counter-Balance dead and her coven against her, Taig’s blood and power is the only thing that can help her control her magic and survive the ascension and gain the strength to defeat her enemy.

Old feelings come flooding back as Taig allows her into his world and Lealandra finds herself fighting not only for survival but to win his broken heart again and heal the pain in their past. Can he forgive her for walking out on him all those years ago and will he ever believe her when she tells him that he’s not a monster but the man that she loves?

Read the excerpt or find out where to buy: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/

Biography:
Felicity Heaton is a romance author writing as both Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. She is passionate about penning paranormal tales full of vampires, witches, werewolves, angels and shape-shifters, and has been interested in all things preternatural and fantastical since she was just a child. Her other passion is science-fiction and she likes nothing more than to immerse herself in a whole new universe and the amazing species therein. She used to while away days at school and college dreaming of vampires, werewolves and witches, or being lost in space, and used to while away evenings watching movies about them or reading gothic horror stories, science-fiction and romances.

Having tried her hand at various romance genres, it was only natural for her to turn her focus back to the paranormal, fantasy and science-fiction worlds she enjoys so much. She loves to write seductive, sexy and strong vampires, werewolves, witches, angels and alien species. The worlds she often dreams up for them are vicious, dark and dangerous, reflecting aspects of the heroines and heroes, but her characters also love deeply, laugh, cry and feel every emotion as keenly as anyone does. She makes no excuses for the darkness surrounding them, especially the paranormal creatures, and says that this is their world. She’s just honoured to write down their adventures.

If you want to know more about me, or want to get in touch, you can find me at the following places:

My website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk

My blog: http://www.indieparanormalromancebooks.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/feheaton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/felicityheaton

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/felicityheaton

Monday, May 16, 2011

The Screaming Season by Nancy Holder

Title: The Screaming Season

Author: Nancy Holder

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Penguin Group US (Imprint Razorbill)

Publication Date: 17/03/11

ISBN: 9781595143334

Stand alone or series: 3rd Book in Possessions Series

Pages: 328 pages

Book Received from: Nancy Holder

First Lines: Possessions: me. my sanity? they think I've lost it.

Possible Spoilers if you haven't read the previous books!

Synopsis:
The gutsy heroine of Possessions and The Evil Within returns for another year of boarding school at the haunted Marlwood Academy. Lindsay wakes to find herself strapped down in the infirmary. She had a breakdown and might have tried to kill her nemesis Mandy or Mandy's boyfriend, Troy—or both. The details are hazy, but one thing is certain: she is possessed by a spirit she cannot trust.

Lindsay soon realizes that nowhere on campus is safe. Then, she finds a surprising ally in her former rival. Together, Lindsay and Mandy must figure out who can be trusted—and who wants them dead. But when Lindsay's ex-boyfriend shows up at Marlwood, she is given a chance to get away and be free of the curse. Will she take Riley's hand and run, or team up with a new love to save Marlwood from the evil spirits forever?

My Thought

After finishing The Evil Within I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Screaming Season! Thanks to Nancy Holder for sending me this copy.

I loved the start where Lindsay wakes up strapped down in the infirmary at Marlwood Academy after suffering another breakdown. As far as First chapters go, I was utterly sucked in. Nancy Holder definitely has that knack for keeping a reader in suspense and giving us the heebee jeebees!!

I really enjoyed all the characters in this one especially how Nancy shows us the other side of Mandy. She is a bit nicer towards Mandy but it is done in such a way that you can still believe that if current events hadn't pulled them together they would still be at opposite ends of the social ladder! Miles was another welcome surprise into the mix, but one that could go either way in terms of his motives.

This is a great installment in the Possessions series and by far the most enjoyable. As far as I can tell this is the last book in the series and I was glad to see majority of questions I had were answered by the end.

And as always, I love the lists in the beginning of the chapters!!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

In My Mailbox (61)

In My Mailbox is a weekly post created by The Story Siren.

For Review:

The Fisherman's Son by Marilyn Peake

The City of the Golden Sun by Marilyn Peake

Return of the Golden Age by Marilyn Peake

Ascension by Felicity Heaton

Thank you to both Felicity and Marilyn for sending these to me :)

Bought:

MiGear ebook reader.

My Kobo reader screen broke so I've been without a reader for a week. I didn't realise how much I relied on that to read the ebooks that come in. So yesterday I decided I'd go out and buy a cheap one. AND it's colour!! It cost less than the Kobo but I think I like this one better!!

Received in the Mail

This was a very lovely surprise. Giuseppe Bianco sent this awesome poster as a thank you for my review and I now have it up in my computer room!

So, what did you all get in your IMM this week?

Also, I have a question I want to ask you all!

I am looking at starting another blog for my writing but am unsure whether this will affect Spellbound By Books (I write about anything and everything)

Should I go with a pen name (Any suggestions?) or should I stick with my own name???

Saturday, May 14, 2011

EPIC GIVEAWAY - Morganville Vampire Series!!

EPIC MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES GIVEAWAY!

Open International!!

I have books one to ten of the Morganville Vampires Series to give away which includes a signed copy of Bite Club!! And thanks to Rachel Caine, I also have a bookmark and Morganville Resident Id Card to add in too!

Giveaway Rules/Info:

To Enter please fill out the form

One entry per person

Open to everyone - International

Giveaway closes: 14 June 2011 11:59pm AEST

Note - You don't have to be a follower to enter but if you are that's great!!

Winner will be picked via Random.org and notified by email.

If within 48 hours you have not gotten back to me, I will pick another winner.

CLOSED!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Time vs. Energy by Bryan Cohen + Giveaway

Time vs. Energy

By Bryan Cohen

Many people who make excuses as to why they aren’t doing a particular thing (like working on their novels) blame the belief that they don’t haveenough time. In some cases, time is an issue but people don’t often think abouthow their energy affects their productivity.
Last year, I read a book called The Power of Full Engagement that argued time management was actually more or less bunk compared to the necessity of energy management. The authors, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, originally tested their theories out on professional athletes, before realizing that athletes only performed a few hours a week at high intensity, as opposed to people in the working world who endure 50 or more hours of work every single week. The authors say that improving your stores of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy can make more of a difference than some new-fangled method of managing the hours in the day.

The name of the game here is balance and if you’ve had trouble fitting your writing or any other creative task in, this is naturally a good direction in which to go. If you are burning the midnight oil with caffeine and long workdays, your physical energy stores are going to be low. You can up that energy with proper nutrition in your diet, exercise, and a legitimate amount of sleep. If you find yourself snapping at your loved ones and co-workers, you may need an emotional energy boost. Trying emotional control techniques like the Sedona method or Esther and Jerry Hick’s “Rampage of Appreciation” (or just plain taking some time to chill out each day) can improve emotional energy. Low mental energy means you have trouble focusing and a bad attitude. Taking up relaxing activities like yoga, meditation, or painting can heighten this focusand mental energy. If you find yourself not working as hard or not workingtowards something, you are lacking spiritual energy. Set up some purposeful goals for yourself to up the spiritual ante.

Personally, I had issues with all four of these areas before I settled down into a writing lifestyle. This isn’t a big surprise, since the four areas tend to overlap. The first step for me was giving up caffeine in all its forms, coffee, soda, etc. Through meditation, the Sedona method and goal-setting, I was able to up my levels in the other energy areas as well.

We get so caught up in life sometimes that we forget about living. Byadding more balance to my existence I’ve been able to express myselfcreatively, spend more time with my loved ones, and remember the most important aspects of living. I talk a lot about this balance in my books Writer on the Side and Sharpening the Pencil and how it pertains directly to writing (though I still recommend FullEngagement as well). While I’m sure that there are several successful writers who are raging alcoholics or who are completely unhappy, I would bet that most of them have found a personal and professional equilibrium that allows them to constantly tap into their originality.

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Bryan Cohen is giving away 100 personalized writing prompts to one giveaway entrant chosen at random during the blog tour. Personalized prompts are story starters that cater specifically to a writer’s subject matter,strengths/weaknesses, etc. Cohen will create the prompts to cater exclusively to the winner. He is giving away free digital copies of his book TheWriting Sampler to everybody who enters, which includes excerpts from each of his four books on writing. The book contains essays, writing prompts and tips and tricks to enhance your writing skills. In addition, for each of Cohen’s books that reach the Top 500 on Amazon during his blog tour, he will add a $50 Amazon gift card to the drawing (up to six $50 cards in total)!

To enter, simply post a comment to this blog post with your e-mail address. Entries will be counted through June 2nd, 2011.

Bryan Cohen is a writer, actor and comedian from Dresher, Pennsylvania. Since graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill he has written four books (1,000 Creative WritingPrompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More, 500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade,Sharpening the Pencil:Essays on Writing, Motivation, and Enjoying your Life, andWriter on the Side: How to Write Your Book Around Your 9 to 5 Job), several plays (Something from Nothing and Chekhov Kegstand: A Dorm Room Dramedy in Two Acts) and he was the head writer for an un-produced Web series (CovenantCoffee). His writing and motivation website Build Creative Writing Ideas has had over 100,000 visitors since it was founded in December 2008. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Follow Bryan on Twitter @buildcwideas

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Defiance by Lili StCrow

Title: Defiance

Author: Lili St. Crow

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy

Publisher: Penguin (Imprint: Razorbill)

Publication Date: 28th March 2011

ISBN: 9781921518935

Stand alone or series: Book 4 in Strange Angels Series

Pages: 300 pages

Book Received from: Penguin Books Australia

First Lines: Stick to the plan, Christophe had said. Stick to the plan and everything will be fine.

Possible spoilers if you haven't read the previous books

Synopsis:
Hey Sucker. It's showtime.
The Real World is a frighting place. Just ask sixteen-year-old orphan Dru Anderson, a tough girl who has taken on her fair share of bad guys. She's armed, dangerous, and not going down with a fight. So it's gonna take her a while to figure out who she can trust . .

Dru Anderson has always been a good listener. She listened to her dad, but had to gun him down when he turned zombie. She listened to the Order, but got nothing but lied to in return. She listened to Christophe, but still lost the only friend she had left.
Time to buckle up, boys and girls. Dru Anderson is done listening. From here on out, she'll face the King of the Vampires on her own terms. And if the Order has a problem with that, they can kiss their sweet little svetocha goodbye.

DRU ANDERSON'S NOT AFRAID OF THE DARK.

BUT SHE SHOULD BE.

My Thoughts:

Defiance is the fourth book in Lili St.Crow's Strange Angel series, and once again she has brought us an action packed read!

In the fourth installment we are faced with the fact that Grave's has been missing for a while, Ash still hasn't changed, Christophe being his usual full on self and Dru who still hasn't 'bloomed!

Right from the very first book in this series I've liked reading from Dru's point of view. She's a strong character that shows her vulnerability and naivety at times but is also willing to do whatever it takes to up the ante on her skills. While not alot happens at the beginning in terms of Dru being involved in finding Graves, we do see Dru begin to take charge of her life and start acting more Svetocha than in the previous books.

One thing that I both love and hate is the mention of the taste of rotting waxen oranges (danger candy)! I find myself wondering what that would taste like but at the same time repulsed by the thought Lol and it does get mentioned a fair bit in the book. I can understand it would be hard to describe that taste any other way though. On another note I loved how Lili has used Gran's owl/aspect in animal form when Dru needs it most. I found througout the book whenever Dru was in trouble I was hoping the owl would turn up!

Overall, Defiance was a great read! I look forward to when Reckoning comes out in November of this year!

Fave Line:' His other term for it started with "cluster" and ended up rhyming with "duck". '

Sunday, May 8, 2011

In My Mailbox (60)

In My Mailbox is a weekly post created by The Story Siren.

For Review:

Bright Moon by Marilyn Peake (Short Story)

Coyote Crossing by Marilyn Peake (Short Story)

In The Dunes by John Leahy

Bought:

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I was on the fence about this one, and after the signing on Wednesday we (Brittany, Bret and I) went book shopping and Brit told me she really enjoyed Delirium I picked it up. Looking forward to getting to this one :)