Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Publication Date: October 18, 2010

ARC Source: Traveling ARC Tours

Summary from Goodreads:

“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.”

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons? 

My Two Cents: 

Perhaps I've been under a rock for most of my life but I've never heard the story of the four horsemen. Anywho, it doesn't matter because the author does a wonderful job at helping us understand it. The best word to describe this novel is Ironic. What are the odds that the new Famine would actually be anorexic?

Main character Lisabeth, is anorexic and in denial. Besides having weight issues she now keeps seeing these scales everywhere and hearing a voice that's telling her that she's Famine. Freaky.... But I love it. This novel was extremely short BUT I found out everything I needed to know by the time I closed the last page. 

Death was my favorite character. Besides the fact that he was hott, I liked him because he didn't sugarcoat things. Him singing Kurt Cobain was just funny and added to his character. 

Did I like the way this ended? Not entirely. However, it didn't take away from the book. I still enjoyed it. Unfortunately some parts made it hard to continue reading. Anorexia is a serious thing and I truly commend Jackie for bringing this issue to the light even if it is in the form of a fiction novel. She definitely shows us the ugly side of it with Lisa's haunting "thin voice".

Rating:

 

Teaser Tuesady (8)

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title and author, too, so others can add the book to their TBR Lists if they want

Here's My Teaser:

"He drew a lock away from her neck and kissed the skin just beneath her earlobe, against the throb of her quickening pulse. Like the blackness outside the dome of lamplight, there seemed to be nothing more in the world than his lips, his touch, and the flood of heat consuming her."

~"Everlasting" by Angie Frazier, Page 257

I'd love to know what happens next!

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkles

Publication Date: April 27, 2010
ARC Source: Traveling ARC Tours
POC Challenge (2)
Summary Taken from Goodreads:


When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for a year, he doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him at a high school in Colorado . Carlos likes living his life on the edge and wants to carve his own path—just like Alex did. Then he meets Kiara Westford. She doesn’t talk much and is completely intimidated by Carlos’ wild ways. As they get to know one another, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, and refuses to admit that she might be getting to him. But he soon realizes that being himself is exactly what Kiara needs right now.

My Two Cents:

A little slow in the beginning but I ended up liking this one. I'd heard so many good things about Perfect Chemistry so I was excited to pick this one up. When is everyone going to learn that the person who gets under your skin is most likely the love of your life? Yes, weird.

Kiara wears whatever she can grab first, no makeup, and can hardly be considered a "girly girl". She's the only girl who doesn't show that she's smitten by Carlos' charm and wit. In the beginning he definitely rubbed her the wrong way with his cursing and bad attitude.Though, it was hard for her to figure out why she couldn't stop thinking about him.

Carlos, is the misunderstood bad boy. He's not used to people helping him out of the kindness of their hearts and not wanting anything in return. He's distrustful of adults. At first I couldn't stand him, but as the book went on I began to see that he did certain things because he felt he had to protect the people around him.

It certainly takes a while for this unlikely pair to both come to their senses, but when they do, it's hard to stop it. I love that the cover is an actual scene in the book. It's exactly how I imagined it. Great romance, and pretty steamy at times. I would recommend this one for older teens since there's some pretty racy topics in this one. I was expected a bit more from it plot-wise. It sounded like a story I'd read plenty of times, but it was still delivered well.

Rating:

Teaser Tuesday (7)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title and author, too, so others can add the book to their TBR Lists if they want

 Here's My Teaser:

"Death was sexy (and God, did she need therapy even for thinking something like that;she wasn't even Goth, for goodness' sake) and sort of nice when he wasn't being scary. But this woman, doing it with Death? That was just nasty.

~"Hunger" by Jackie Morse Kessler, Page 68

Umm yea so it's safe to say that this one is for older teens and us 20 somethings :-D

The Eternal Ones by Kristin Miller

Publication Date: August 24, 2010
ARC Source: Around the World Tours
Summary from Goodreads:

What if love refused to die?


Haven Moore can’t control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother’s house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.
In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves¸ before all is lost and the cycle begins again.
 
My Two Cents:

Can you imagine what it would be like to love someone that you haven't met yet??

Ever since she was a little girl visions and fainting spells have plagued Haven. They stopped for a bit and came back as soon as she saw Iain on tv. She faints instantly and wonders if he could be the Ethan she's dreamed about from a little girl. Reincarnation is one of those things where if you don't believe in it, you think those that do believe in it are nuts. In Snope City, the idea of reincarnation was preposterous. The fainting spells and visions were seen as signs of the devil.

My favorite character was Beau, Haven's best friend. He was blunt, straight to the point and he cared for her so much. Everyone else's character was a bit wishy washy. One day they seemed helpful and trustworthy and then the next we find out they had an ulterior motive. This was definitely a thriller. My only complaint is that it could have been a bit shorter.

This was probably one of the strangest novels I've ever read. Sometimes I would forget that the voices were teens. It felt like a very adult book. I suppose that is because these were actually old fogies lol. What I do recommend before reading this book is to clear your mind of all expectations because most likely you'll be wrong. I couldn't have predicted the ending of this novel if I tried. This was such an unexpected good read. There are not many books on reincarnation but what really makes this book stand out is the way it's written. There's always a piece of the puzzle on every page. I didn't know who Haven should trust. There's so much flips and turns that if I were Haven I probably would've given up and taken my butt back to Snope City without answers lol.

Rating:

In My Mailbox (10)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren

 

 Trades/PBS:

~Geek High by Piper Banks

~Perfect Shot by Debbie Rigaud

~Ghouls Gone Wild by Victoria Laurie

~Far From You by Lisa Schroeder

~Drama High: Culture Clash by L. Divine

~Deception by Lee Nichols

~Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchev

~The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

~Gringolandia by Lynn Miller-Lachmann

~Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold

~Abundance of Katherines by John Green

~Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala

~Three Rivers Rising By Jame Richards

                                            For Review from Publishers:

 ~Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes

~The Agency:The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Yee

~Stork by Wendy Delsol

~Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

~A Girl Named Mister by Nikki Grimes

~Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots by Abby McDonald

 

                                   Bought from Strand:

 ~The Red Umbrella by Christina Gonzalez

~No and Me by Delphine De Vigan

~Addicted to Her by Jennifer Nichols

~Silver Sea by Julia Golding

Teaser Tuesday (6)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title and author, too, so others can add the book to their TBR Lists if they want

Here's my Teaser:

"They were ready to kill, and she smelled their heightened state of anticipation. I won't die today, she thought, but I can't say the same for you.

~"The Pack" by LM Preston, Page ??


Side Note: Don't you hate when you accidentally take the marker out of the page where you found the quote?? Ugh... sorry!