In My Mailbox (147)

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

For Review:

N/A

Bought:

More Than This by Patrick Ness

Asylum by Madeleine Roux

What did you get in your IMM?

Guest Post: Why I decided to Give My Books Away for Free by Sherry Soule

September is such a lovely month. It is part Indian summer and heralds the coming of fall, which is one of my favorite seasons. I love how the brisk air brushes my skin with the unmistakable nip of autumn. I love how the world outside is dripping in golden colors, the trees ablaze with shades of red and gold, and crisp orange leaves carpet the ground. It is also my birthday month. And to celebrate my b-day with all of you, I’d like to giveaway a present to my loyal fans. That’s right—I’m giving away gifts!

To promote BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN and SHATTERED SILENCE (with more romantic escapades and additional bonus material!) and to give fans of the Spellbound series a chance to read the newly revised versions without having to buy a new copy, I have decided to offer it as a free download from Amazon for a limited time.

Since I have the most awesome readers on the planet, I will offer the first two Spellbound novels—now in one volume, “Spellbound Volume 1: Special Edition” from Amazon FREE between September 24th through the 26th for 3 days only.

LINK and ASIN# B00EXXDTH6: http://amzn.to/1dcg1Zc

I will post reminders about this and my other book promos on my Facebook page and my Twitter: @WriterSherry so be sure that you follow me at both of these social media sites, and don’t forget to check out the Official Spellbound Site.

Please mark your calendars and download your copy of “Spellbound, Volume 1” this month and you’ll get to read the newly revised edition(s) free. 

No Kindle? No problem!

You can download a Free Kindle Reading App, for your computer or mobile device. This means if you have a smart phone, an Android Tablet, or an iPad – just grab the Kindle App – and read for free!

And guess what? I will be doing another giveaway soon from my blog, so do not despair! 

Happy reading! 

Sherry

P.S. Please help me to promote this awesome eBook promo by posting it on your FB page, your blog, or by sending out a tweet with a link back to this post. ;-D

Monsters by Ilsa J. Bick

Title:  Monsters

Author:  Ilsa J. Bick

Genre:  Young Adult / Dystopian / Science Fiction

Publisher:  Egmont USA

Publication Date:  10th September 2013

ISBN:  9781606841778

Stand alone or series: Ashes Trilogy #3

Pages:  688 pages

First Lines:  Alex had fallen like this only once in her life.  That happened when she was nine and took a wild leap from Blackrocks Cliff off Presque Isle into the deep sapphire-blue of Lake Superior.

Possible Spoilers if you haven't read Ashes and Shadows!

Synopsis:The Changed are on the move.
The Spared are out of time.
The End...is now.
When her parents died, Alex thought things couldn't get much worse--until the doctors found the monster in her head.
She headed into the wilderness as a good-bye, to leave everything behind. But then the end of the world happened, and Alex took the first step down a treacherous road of betrayal and terror and death.
Now, with no hope of rescue--on the brink of starvation in a winter that just won't quit--she discovers a new and horrifying truth.
The Change isn't over.
The Changed are still evolving.
And...they've had help.
 With this final volume of The Ashes Trilogy, Ilsa J. Bick delivers a riveting, blockbuster finish, returning readers to a brutal, post-apocalyptic world where no one is safe and hope is in short supply.
A world where, from these ashes, the monsters may rise.

My Thoughts:
This is by far the longest book in the Trilogy and I'm grateful for it.  It also took the longest to read but being the last book in the Trilogy I really wanted to savour the world and its characters before it was all over too soon.

I have to also point out that there is a list of Characters at the end of the book that will help freshen the memory of what's happened so far.  I thought it be a good idea to tell you it all now so that if you are like me, and take a little bit to remember what happened in the last book.  This is a big help.

The first thing I noticed with Monsters was that it wasn't as goretastic as the other two books.  Don't get me wrong, there's violence but not to the extremes(or shock value) of the first two books.  There's more backstory  for the characters than I had noticed in the first two, and this is good because it fleshes (excuse the pun) the characters out more and I guess there was a little more empathizing with the less likable characters.

I both liked and hated that there were so many viewpoints.  Alex, Ellie, Tom, Greg, Peter, Chris. You see my point.  Right when I was getting into one viewpoint Ilsa flips over to another character.  I know this is to be expected to keep you reading... and by god did I do some reading to get back to finding out about that particular character.  But then I'd be pulled into another character .. the cycle goes on.

I couldn't help but wondering all throughout the book.. when are Ellie, Alex and Tom getting back together. And, I have to say that this time reading about Ellie, I didn't want to reach in a throttle her as much as I wanted to in the first book.  She's grown up since we've last heard from her and thank god for that.  It was actually nice to see a more mature POV from her.

Tom on the other hand seemed to be slowly falling apart at one point.  His time away from Alex really plays on his mind and in doing so, starts to form cracks in his sanity.

Wolf was a curious character I'm not sure whether I really liked or whether I was turned off from such a descriptive telling of smell lol.  He shows more so than ever the protectiveness  towards Alex but it all came back to me as Why!  Why has he changed.  And that I guess is where my answer was.  Evolving.  While I wish some other characters did a little more evolving, my shock at which characters had changed had me thinking.. HOW is this going to end.  Because right now.. she aint gonna be pretty!

While I wouldn't say this is the most ideal ending I wanted to happen, I think I'm pretty happy with how it did turn out.  I'm not sure if bittersweet is the right word I'm thinking of, but it's quite close to it.

Book Received from:  Netgalley (Requested)

In My Mailbox (146)

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

For Review:

N/A

Bought:

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld
The Last Thirteen by James Phelan

 

Every Breath by Ellie Marney
All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

And just to let you all know.  The commenting system is finally back to working.

It has taken me two days to get this post up so please excuse the lateness.  Due to the probs with my wrists some posts may be a little late but I am still posting so bear with me.  And please feel free to leave a comment now that the commenting system is finally back up and running

What's in your IMM?

Intense Debate Commenting System GONE!

I've finally given Intense Debate the Flick!

I've had nothing but trouble with this program since I've installed it.  The last straw was with the commenting on Giveaway Time!

I apologise for those who have left comments.  I am in the process of getting blogger comments working again so please bear with me.

If anyone else has had problems getting the standard commenting back up and running, please send me a line on how you did it. (melissa@spellboundbybooks.com)

Thanks

Giveaway Time!

Giveaway Time!

It's been quite a while since I've done a giveaway and I thought it would be nice to surprise you all !

Ends 30th September 2013

Open to all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In My Mailbox (145)

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

For Review:

Monsters by Ilsa J. Bick 
Ashes Trilogy #3
Immortal Combat by Leah Giarratano
The Telling #3

Bought:

The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore
Lorien Legacies #4
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Parasite by Mira Grant

What did you get in your IMM?