Book Blogger Hop (6)

Book Blogger Hop is a new meme hosted by Jennifer @ Crazy For Books. This is a pretty fun way to discover new blogs and connect with more people. If you'd like to participate, visit Crazy For Books where she explains how it works.

If you found my blog through Book Blogger Hop, please leave a comment and let me know!Off to discover some new blogs..

The Julian Game by Adele Griffin

Publication Date: August 26, 2010
ARC Source: Around the World Tours
Summary From Goodreads:

New girl Raye Archer is desperate for a way into the In crowd, so when ice-queen Ella Parker chooses her to get back at her ex, the gorgeous Julian Kilgarry, Raye is more than game. Even if it means creating a fake Facebook identity as “Elizabeth” so that she can learn enough about Julian to sabotage him. While a fun and dangerous thrill at first, what Raye hadn’t counted on was falling for Julian herself—and igniting Ella’s rage.

As Raye works to reconcile the temptress Elizabeth with her real-life self, Ella serves up her own revenge. Now it’s Raye who falls victim, as Ella creates an online smear campaign of nasty rumors and trashy photographs. Suddenly notorious, Raye has to find a way out of the web of deceit that she’s helped to build, and back to the relationships that matter.

Adele Griffin’s riveting novel explores the issues of generation Facebook: the desire to be someone else, real versus online friends, and the pitfalls and fallouts of posting your personal life online for all the world to judge.

My Two Cents:

What I did like: The cover. The wig, the gloves, everything about this cover is mysterious and pulls you in making you want to immediately crack open this book to find out why this wig was such a huge impact on Julian.

The beginning was just okay for me. The main character, Raye, was smart, always made straight A's and on scholarship at a prestigious all girls school. She had one best friend who was my favorite character of all. She was a nerd, and a little weird to most people. BUT she knew who she was, and was very comfortable with it. It was Raye who wanted more. She certainly got more than she bargained for when she let slip to the very popular Ella that she can be very vengeful. Just so happens...Ella was looking for revenge on her ex-boyfriend Julian. I felt sorry for Julian at first but then I realized that he was a complete jerk. The romance factor in this book fell pretty flat for me. It didn't make me believe it was real because it moved too quickly. There was no build up to the heavy kissing and groping. It just appeared on the next page. We all know I'm all for the sexy stuff but it should be eased into a bit to be believable.

The dialogue in this book really bugged me. I like to think of myself as pretty hip, but the slang the author used seemed a bit made up.  Words like "Looze", which I thought meant loser but apparently had a different definition. That made the characters seem a bit unreal.I just couldn't imagine real teenagers speaking like that.

Now about the huge revenge on Julian, it was not huge at all. In fact, it was a huge disappointment. I was expecting a lot more from this book based on the blurb on the back and the promising cover. When I got to the last page, I thought this ARC was possibly missing pages but it was not. I felt that it still had some unresolved issues. I really wanted to like this one, but between the characters, the dialogue, and the plot it just didn't work out for me.

Rating:

In My Mailbox (9)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren

~The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams by Rhonda Hayter

~The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

~The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place:The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood

~Betrayal by Gillian Shields (woohoo!!)

~Early to Death Early to Rise by Kim Harrison

~Girls Parts by John Cusick

~Prophecy of the Gate by Michele Zink

~The Pack by LM Preston

~Hotlanta: If You Only Knew by Denene Miller

~Hotlanta by Denene Miller

What Did You Get??

Win my ARC of Matched by Ally Condie!

So I was able to score an extra ARC of Matched by Ally Condie even though I already got one at BEA. So why not share?? Click Here to Enter. This contest ends July 1, 2010. It is open Internationally!!

Publication Date: November 30, 2010
Summary from Goodreads:

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.

Matched is a story for right now and storytelling with the resonance of a classic. 

Good Luck!! 

Book Blogger Hop (5)

Book Blogger Hop is a new meme hosted by Jennifer @ Crazy For Books. This is a pretty fun way to discover new blogs and connect with more people. If you'd like to participate, visit Crazy For Books where she explains how it works.

If you found my blog through Book Blogger Hop, please leave a comment and let me know!I'm off to do some hopping myself :)

Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus

Publication Date: July 13, 2010
ARC Source: Around the World Tours
Summary from Goodreads:

His love captivated her... his secrets might kill her.
Since her sister’s mysterious death, Persephone “Phe” Archer has been plagued by a series of disturbing dreams. Determined to find out what happened to her sister, Phe enrolls at Devenish Prep in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts—the subject of her sister’s final diary entry.
After stepping on campus, Phe immediately realizes that there’s something different about this place—an unexplained epidemic that decimated the town in the 1700s, an ancient and creepy cemetery, and gorgeous boy Zach—and somehow she’s connected to it all.
But the more questions she asks and the deeper she digs, the more entangled Phe becomes in the haunting past of Shadow Hills. Finding what links her to this town…might cost her her life.

My Two Cents:

Well let me just say that I love a small town with LOTS of secrets! That always provides a great plot. Then you mix in some very weird characters, some romance, a good amount of mystery, and Wahlaaa! We have a very good story on our hands. From the beginning we're pulled in to this diary Phe's sister has left with her dreams that Phe is now beginning to see. In the end, it all makes sense. The more Phe uncovers, the more danger she's in. Then again, who likes a main character that plays it safe?? There were alot of characters but they were all needed to bring different elements to the story.

Unfortunately for me, I figured out the "who" in the mystery pretty early, but this happens to me all the time.  Even in the midst of the weird townies the author still found time to squeeze in all that wonderful high school stuff we love. We love the crushes, the tension, the bonfires, the classic mean girl and the school dances. Crazy towns have these things too! This book was pretty thick, but every single page was filled with a piece of the puzzle. I wanted to know so bad at first what the heck was going on in this town but the author weaved a fantastic plot while the readers hangs on to every clue. Definitely pick this one up. You won't be disappointed.

Rating:

Waiting on Wednesday (12)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Rosebush by Michelle Jaffe

Publication Date: December 14, 2010

Why I'm So Antsy:

See Jane run. See Jane die.

Instead of celebrating Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey shore, Jane is in the hospital surrounded by teddy bears, trying to piece together what happened last night. One minute she was at a party, wearing fairy wings and cuddling with her boyfriend. The next, she was lying near-dead in a rosebush after a hit and run.

Everyone thinks it was an accident, despite the phone threats Jane swears were real. But the truth is a thorny thing. As Jane's boyfriend, friends, and admirers come to visit, more memories surface--not just from the party, but from deeper in her past...including the night her best friend Bonnie died.

With nearly everyone in her life a suspect now, Jane must unravel the mystery before her killer attacks again. Along the way, she is forced to examine the consequences of her life choices in this compulsively readable thriller.
Love the cover for this and lately I've been so into these thriller/mystery books. What are YOU waiting on?