Thursday, January 27, 2011

Review: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand


From Goodreads:

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.


Review:
Unearthly is a magical that sucked me in from page one and didn't let me back into the real world until the very last page. Unearthly has become one of my all-time favorite reads and I will definitely take time to re-read it in the future. The characters are all well-rounded and each has their own conflicts to deal with. Clara, the main character, has a lot at stake and Unearthly and this book takes her through a journey with many highs and lows.

Clara is one of my favorite heroine's in teen fiction. She is strong and won't take crap from anyone. I loved her relationships with her friends. They weren't unfocused and just barely glanced over. Her friendships were well developed and it wasn't just about Clara and some guy. Clara is an angel-blood who has been given her one true purpose though dreams. Whenever she dreams, she sees a gorgeous guy who she feels that she must save. When she is given a major clue on his where-abouts, it's off to Wyoming with her family where Clara will discover her purpose and find out more about what it means to be an angel blood. Along the way, she makes many fascinating discoveries and even finds herself involved in a love triangle.

Christian is one part of said love triangle. He is a seemingly perfect guy who is very broody, gorgeous, and mysterious. These characteristics make him such a dreamy guy and I really loved getting to know more about Christian and what makes him tick. He has many secrets, this one.

Though it is a tough decision, Tucker is my favorite guy in the book! He is such a flirt and seems like such a fun guy to be around. I love his relentless teasing of Clara! There is major chemistry between these two! Tucker is all tall, blonde, and built cowboy! Yummy! He is such a sweetheart to Clara and you can tell that he has some strong feelings for her. I love Tucker and can't wait to see more of him in the next book in the series.

Angela and Wendy are amazing friends to Clara and really help her get through the hard times and make her realize things about herself. They were well developed characters who each has conflicts of their own that weren't glazed over. They are as important to Clara as Christian and Tucker are.

Unearthly is delightful and original take on angels! I can't wait for more of what is to come from this series and I hope that the second book will be as good as this one. The end leaves off at a critical point and I am in dire need of the second book. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a good paranormal book.

My Rating:

5 Stars

Monday, January 10, 2011

Winners of Giveaways

Thank you to everyone who participated in the New Years Resolution giveaway! I had over 100 people enter the giveaway and that was a great success! And now to reveal the winners chosen using random.org:

Allyson James Pack:

Tara W.

Ya Pack:

Asenath

I have sent each of the winners an email and they have 48 hours to respond before I choose a new winner/s.

I also finally chose the winner of the Portal giveaway:

Maria

Congrats! Send me an email with your address and I will mail out your prizes. You have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.


Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Review: Vampire Crush by A.M. Robinson



From Goodreads:

I swear, my life was always totally normal.

Normal house, normal family, normal school. My looks are average, I don't have any superpowers, no one's showing up to tell me I'm a princess—you get the picture. But when my junior year started, something not normal happened. There were new kids at school . . . new kids with a wardrobe straight out of a 19th-century romance novel, and an inexplicable desire to stay at school until sundown.

And on top of that, James Hallowell showed up. James, who stole my sandwiches in fourth grade and teased me mercilessly through middle school. James, who now seems to have the power to make my heart race any time he comes near.

But something weird is going on. Because James rarely goes out during the day. And he seems stronger than your typical guy. And he knows the new kids, all of whom seem to be harboring some kind of deep secret. . . .



My Review:

This is a very cute, light paranormal read that I enjoyed. Though the vampires in the book were very unoriginal and the book was very predictable, I still enjoyed reading the novel. Vampire Crush is a nice book to read if you aren't looking for anything too deep or love vampire novels.

Sophie is a paper cutter heroine that you will find in most YA novels nowadays. She doesn't care much for her looks, people think that she is average, she dresses frumpy, and is a loner. Of course, this is the point when the gorgeous hero, James, comes into the story and sweeps her off her feet, though she refuses to admit that she is falling for him. The rest of the story involves her "fight" with the villain, Vlad, and her search for why Vlad and his posee came to her school.

While I did find Sophie mildly annoying, James made up for her faults. While his character is very generic in that I have seen him in many books before, I can't help but fall for the gorgeous hero. I can see why Sophie falls for him, though I still can't quite understand why she tries to allude him. He is so obviously in love with Sophie and a great guy for putting up with her. I wish the real world was like YA romance books in that there are tons of gorgeous, amazing, cute, and sweet guys out there waiting to sweep all of us girls off of our feet.

I liked a majority of the supporting characters, especially Violet. She lives in the 21st century yet she still acts like she is from many generations ago. She is too funny in the way she talks and how she interacts with boys. I laughed at her addiction to gossip magazines. The other supporting characters weren't as fleshed out, though there wasn't much that needed to be said about them. The villain in Vampire Crush is especially cheesy and very annoying. A bug that I really wanted to squash throughout the entire book because he was just so creepy and disgusting.

While there were a few flaws with the book, I still enjoyed reading it. A good book to read when you've picked through most of the YA section like me. It isn't horrible, it just wasn't the best book that I have ever read. If you are into vampires, you would probably enjoy this.

My Rating:

4 Stars

Sunday, January 2, 2011

New Years Reading Resolution Giveaway

New Year's Reading Resolutions

Yay! Time for a new giveaway to celebrate the new year! I can already feel that 2011 will be a good one! This giveaway will go from January 3 to January 9. For my giveaway, I have two prize packs up for grabs. The first one includes Stormwalker and Firewalker by Allyson James. I picked these books up awhile ago but have never had time to read them and my TBR shelf is already overflowing, so I thought I would put these up for grabs for anyone who has been wanting to read them. To my fellow teens, keep in mind that this is an adult romance series and while I may be able to handle reading them, I am not so sure about others. Please get your parents permission if you do decide that you want to enter for this portion of the giveaway.





The next prize pack includes a signed copy of Wings by Aprilynne Pike and The Eternal Kiss anthology signed by Kelley Armstrong. I will also throw in swag in both of these prize packs.


This giveaway is U.S. only and you must be 13 years or older to enter and a follower through GFC. Extra entries will be given if you link the contest anywhere or are a twitter follower. Fill out the form below to enter.



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