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November 30, 2013

Review of Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally + fun campaign from Raincoast


Racing Savannah
Title: Racing Savannah
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Publication date: December 3, 2013
Publisher: Raincoast 
Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)
Source: NetGalley
Format: eARC
Pages: 304
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Indigo 
They’re from two different worlds.

He lives in the estate house, and she spends most of her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much more comfortable around horses than boys. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin—cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries.

With her dream of becoming a horse jockey, Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules either. She’s not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack…
Racing Savannah centers around Savannah, a character that we only see a glimpse of in the previous books. However this book isn't centered around the other previous characters, but is mostly set at Savannah's new home, the stables owned by Jack Goodwin's father. That is where we meet Jack himself, portrayed as a cocky, rich boy who sets his eye on Savannah herself. 
I really wasn't as big of a fan of the characters and plot line here as I was of Things I Can't Forget and the previous books. While the rich guy, poor girl plot line is something I am guilty of enjoyed (The Distance Between Us by Kasie West anyone?) but for some reason my heart wasn't 100% into it. While I liked how Savannah is set on accomplishing her dreams even with knowing how tough and unattainable it is at times, I just didn't like how she acted around Jack. I hated how he didn't think for himself but through his father's orders and demands. One second he says he likes Savannah but the next he says he can't date her because his father would be pissed.. yea very charming Jack. I tend to adore all of the love interests in Kenneally's Hundred Oaks series, but I just couldn't like this one all that much.  
I liked Savannah's family and how she looked out for her pregnant step-mom even if she resents her father and step mom for moving her to another place as well as getting pregnant with a child when they can barely financially support the three of them. Another thing I loved was how we got a glimpse of the old characters, now several years older and several milestones ahead. I was so happy to see them once again! Even though I wasn't a big fan of Jack, I do have to say that this book delivered when I needed a cute contemporary and that isn't surprising since I trust Kenneally to always write fabulous contemporaries. 
The rest of the Hundred Oaks series:

Stealing Parker (Hundred Oaks #2)
Things I Can't Forget (Hundred Oaks #3)





Raincoast has put together a fun campaign to thank readers for pre-ordering: send them your proof of pre-order and they’ll send you this fabulous horseshoe key chain!
This special offer is for U.S. and Canada YA fans for the release of RACING SAVANNAH by Miranda Kenneally out on December 3! If you pre-order the book, you will be sent an exclusive horseshoe key chain—perfect for any busy teen on the go! You have until December 2 or until quantities run out.

Here’s how to get your charm:
1. Pre-order the book (print or eBook) through any retailer (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, your local independent bookseller/Indiebound, Books-A-Million, Hastings, etc.)

2. Email your proof of purchase (receipt or picture of the receipt) to teenfire@sourcebooks.com. Put “Racing Savannah Pre-Order” in the subject line. Don’t forget to include your home address so they can send you the horseshoe key chain! If you’ve already pre-ordered this book—not a problem! Send them your receipt!

3. You will get an email back confirming when the items have been sent out. 

4. Enjoy Racing Savannah when it comes out in December!

Optional: take a pic of you and your horseshoe key chain and share it with Miranda Kenneally or Sourcebooks Fire on Twitter! You can find Miranda @mirandakennealy and Sourcebooks Fire @sourcebooksfire.

November 29, 2013

Epic Recs: Introducing my partner in crime & December book!

So Amber @ Books of Amber recently wrote a post introducing Epic Recs which she and Judith @ Paperiot started. The slogan above explains it all. Through this book club, you and a friend force...err.. recommend books to each other... and you must read that book. By the end of the month you each make a post of the book you read, your thoughts and opinions, and also including next month's recs. 

I ALWAYS try to make myself pick up books that aren't part of my review list and I mostly do that through my books in a jar meme at my YouTube channel, however this book club isn't confined to the books I own, but to any book the recommender wants to recommend, and while that might sound scary at first, at least to me, I quite like this arrangement! 

Before we go ahead to the recommending, I should introduce the person who's doing this with me and that person is Mel at The Daily Prophecy. I have always loved Mel's blog and check it frequently and once I knew she was interested in doing this book club, I talked to her and voila! 


For the month of december, I recommended The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin because… I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH! This series is just so unbelievably good and I want her to meet Noah! (Though he's mine since I met him first and all). Mel recommended Daughter of the Forest which is a YA fantasy that is a favorite of hers. It is 500 pages, which is quite intimidating, but she said that I'll fly through this book so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that! I already got this book from the library so I can't wait to start it. The synopsis sounds fantastic and it reminds me a tiny bit of The Girl of Fire and Thorns so I'm all for it! 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #1)Daughter of the Forest  (The Sevenwaters Trilogy, #1)


THIS IS EXCITING! *runs off to start the book*
excited (1145) Animated Gif on Giphy

November 27, 2013

Review: Pawn by Aimee Carter

Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion, #1)
Title: Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion, #1)
Author: Aimee Carter
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Publication date: November 26, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Dystopian)
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 346
For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed …and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.
Pawn was such a disappointment. There I said it. I was really.. and I mean really looking forward to it because the synopsis promised a comeback for the dystopians with an actual dystopian plot line. Unfortunately the lack of likability in all of the characters as well as the absurdity with the way they behave and what is the norm for them kind of ticked me off. 
Maybe I should explain what I mean by what I wrote above. The main protagonist, Kitty, is a Doe (her last name, like Jane Doe given to all unidentified corpses), meaning an orphan. Her only way of going up the social and life ladder is to ace the test every 17 (or 16?) year old has to take. Unfortunately Kitty gets a III.. which is a far cry from the royal VII as well as the desired V or even IV. Now she has to work in the sewers.. all the way in Nevada.. so what does she decide? oh.. just work at a prostitution house for 4 months until her boyfriend takes his test.. la di la di la.. oh so normal.. WHAT?! HOLD UP! I am at AWE at how NORMAL it is for this girl to decide to work as a prostitute and all her boyfriend say is 'I promise I'll get a VI and get you out of there'… say what? also.. some scenes in which people go 'hunting' but instead of hunting animals they hunt people who have ben exiled.. and when Kitty finds that out she's horrified for a couple of paragraphs.. then BACK TO NORMAL.. Another horrifying point is when someone she knew for a long time dies because of Kitty and the next couple of pages were dedicated to Kitty JUSTIFYING that it is for the best and that person really was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just… the logic and lack of humanity in ALL the characters, the supposed good and evil is INFURIATING. I really couldn't stomach all characters and I really disliked every single one of them. 
Other than that, I felt that the plot line was wasted in terms of plain obvious revelations occurring in the book that just felt a bit too unrealistic. I had high hopes in regards to the dystopian side of the novel, and while I do like the incorporation of rebellion, I just can't understand some of the dynamic that are present in the novel. So many disconnected things happen in this novel that I wished were linked in a better way. The book felt choppy and I honestly started skimming paragraphs towards the end because I started getting restless (Reminded me of my restlessness when I read The Diviners). Unfortunately I am not going to be reading the sequel, because this whole book was a huge disappointment.  



November 24, 2013

Review: Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher


Title: Ketchup Clouds
Author: Annabel Pitcher
Publisher: HBG Canada
Publication date: November 12th, 2013
Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 272
Zoe has an unconventional pen pal-Mr. Stuart Harris, a Texas Death Row inmate and convicted murderer. But then again, Zoe has an unconventional story to tell. A story about how she fell for two boys, betrayed one of them, and killed the other.

Hidden away in her backyard shed in the middle of the night with a jam sandwich in one hand and a pen in the other, Zoe gives a voice to her heart and her fears after months of silence. Mr. Harris may never respond to Zoe's letters, but at least somebody will know her story-somebody who knows what it's like to kill a person you love. Only through her unusual confession can Zoe hope to atone for her mistakes that have torn lives apart, and work to put her own life back together again.

Rising literary star Annabel Pitcher pens a captivating second novel, rich with her distinctive balance between humor and heart. Annabel explores the themes of first love, guilt, and grief, introducing a character with a witty voice and true emotional resonance. 
This book started off as just a letter to Stuart Harris, an inmate and convicted murderer. When I got to read more as Zoe told her story to Stuart, this became such a beautiful story full of sacrifice, love, guilt, and trust. I went into this book with no expectations, and I ended up loving it. It was one of those books that really moved my heart (cheesy factor has gone haywire). Zoe's guilt has been eating her up for a while, so she decides to let someone know. That someone lives across the world from her, and is someday subjected to execution. The whole book is in "letter" form, but I'm glad that it didn't bother me one bit. I still ended up loving it just as much. I feel like saying anything about this book will end up spoiling even something small, and I think this book should not be spoiled even for something tiny. I'm going to try my best for that to not happen.
Zoe, a girl who "fell for two boys, betrayed one of them, and killed the other", is not who you exactly think she is. I loved her. I was able to connect with her so well, and she really felt real to me. Her story was heartbreaking, and I just wanted to be there for her and give her a hug saying everything will be fine. Zoe is just like any other teenager out there, pressure from her parents to do good at school, family problems, boy problems, etc etc. She couldn't tell her story to anyone she knew, so she decided to tell it to a complete stranger who was going to die very soon. That was sad. I don't want to give anything about the boys she fell for, but they were both great guys. I really loved them both, and it was awful to know that one of them was going to die. 
When the book came to an end, I was upset. I felt like I was losing my close friends, and I won't know what happens in their life anymore. I wanted to cry, but I didn't. I just felt so many emotions, it's hard to describe it. I just know that this book felt so real to me, the people felt so real to me, and it was so sad to see it coming to an end. I wonder what Zoe is doing right now, and how she's coping with her life. I guess that's the sad thing about good books...

I don't usually do this, but I think this song is perfect for this book. For me, at least. 

November 21, 2013

Review: Counting By 7s' by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Counting by 7s
Title: Counting by 7s'
Author: Holly Goldberg Sloan
Publication date: August 29, 2013
Publisher: Dial
Genre(s): Middle Grade (Contemporary)
Source: NetGalley
Format: eARC
Pages: 384
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Indigo

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life . . . until now.

Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read.
Willow Chance has just lost everything. Her parents have just died in a car crash, and she has no friends, being a quiet girl who doesn't make friends too easily. She is overwhelmed with grief. But she isn't. Willow finds a broken family, and they accept her. She takes everything around her and makes it better. And by helping the people around her, she finds herself feeling slowly better about everything.
Willow is an amazing character. She is so inspiring and kind, I automatically liked her. She takes the people and things around her and makes everything better. In the mean time, she is also battling herself just as much as the world around her. I also liked a girl named Mai, I think she is my favorite character. She is stubborn and hard-headed (which I can be like at some points) but she is also very caring. I relate her the best.
The writing in this book is in first person narration. It was a bit boring, because there was nothing really suspenseful; Not really too much of a conflict.Which is a bit annoying as you all know. That's what brought it down to a 3 star rating. The flow was a bit slow for me, as it was a somewhat childish read. I still did like this book. It was so cute, quick and inspiring. Recommended to teens and pre-teens ages 11-14.