Booknerds are pretty too: January 2012

Friday, January 27, 2012

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a great way to meet new blogger friends!!. If you are here from the Hop, feel free to stick around! (:

If you want to subscribe to my blog you can do it by email, bloglovin', RSS and GFC.

Today's Follow Friday question over at Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read is:

Q: Which book genre do you avoid at all costs and why?

A: I don't care for Horror books, I might give a chance to one this year just because I'm participating in the eclectic reader challenge.

What genre do you avoid?
Thanks for stopping by!!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Title: Incarnate
Author: Jodi Meadows
Publication date: January 31, 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 384
ISBN: 9780062060754

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

In this book we are introduced to Ana, who has spent her whole life thinking she is a no soul, lacking confidence and self esteem thanks to her abusive mother, who reminds her that since the day she was born she's worthless. When Ana turns eighteen she packs her bags to go out on her own looking for answers, knowing the only place that possibly have them is the main city, the city of heart.

Her journey is not off to an easy start, but Ana needs to know her purpose in a community of souls that have been reincarnated for centuries. Sam her love interest, doesn't think Ana is a no soul instead he thinks she's a new soul. Sam offers Ana the friendship she never had and desperately needs, the relationship between Ana and Sam was full of chemistry.

As the story unfolds she finds herself tangled in rules and misunderstandings. Those difficulties are the ones that help her become a stronger, more confident character, and that's something I truly appreciate. Incarnate is set in an amazing world that Jodi Meadows created, however, I would have loved if the world building was more balanced with the romance. I liked the premise and enjoyed the book but was not able to love it.

Overall I loved the concept behind this book and I believe it has a lot of potential for the next installment of the trilogy.

Review based on an Advanced Reader's Copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.

Fracture Review

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Title: Fracture
Author: Megan Miranda
Publication date: January 17th 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Pages: 272
ISBN: 9780802723093

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it? Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?

Author Megan Miranda launches her debut novel with the absorbing story of Delaney Maxwell, it should be just another day in her life but instead turns out to be the day she died, for eleven minutes she was under freezing water, for 11 minutes she was considered death. That should have been the end of her story, but life gave her a second chance and now her world will never be normal again.

As she struggles to cope with the situation her relationship with her best friend Decker starts falling apart. I fell in love with him from the first chapter. The way he feels about her will evoke all kinds of emotions. Miranda's writing style flows smoothly, and keeps the reader engaged through the entire book.

I enjoyed the first person narrative, all the conflict on Delaney's thoughts, until she meets Troy and her confusion starts forming deeper questions on life and death. After she meets him I start to believe there's going to be a love triangle, but is he trust worthy?

Overall I enjoyed this book, it was different, with the perfect amount of description and a little dash of romance. The only big problem I had with this book was I couldn't put it down.

Review based on an Advanced Reader's Copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.

Follow Friday

Friday, January 06, 2012

Hi if you are here from the Hop, feel free to stick around! (:

Today's Follow Friday question over at Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read is:

Go count the number of unread books sitting on your shelf. How many?

I have 85 books sitting on my shelf waiting to be read, but I also own ebooks that I haven't read... * shame on me* that's the reason I joined the 2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge.

How big is your unread pile?

Never Eighteen Review

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Title: Never Eighteen
Author: Megan Bostic
Publication date: January 17th 2012

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Pages: 204
ISBN: 9780547550763

Austin Parker is on a journey to bring truth, beauty, and meaning to his life.
Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. The doctors say his chances of surviving are slim to none even with treatment, so he’s decided it’s time to let go.
But before he goes, Austin wants to mend the broken fences in his life. So with the help of his best friend, Kaylee, Austin visits every person in his life who touched him in a special way. He journeys to places he’s loved and those he’s never seen. And what starts as a way to say goodbye turns into a personal journey that brings love, acceptance, and meaning to Austin’s life.

"Life doesn't wait. If we stand still it passes us by and by the time we understand that, it may be too late".

In this book we are introduced to Austin Parker a 17 year old boy who's never going to see his eighteenth birthday, he has leukemia. This, however, does not stop him from trying to find meaning in his life. The book is narrated in first person and we get to know all the emotions the main character is feeling.

With the help of his best friend ( and secret love) Kaylee, he visits every person around him that needs to appreciate life and not take anything for granted, Austin speaks in a voice that is honest, funny and unusually eloquent. His relationship with Kaylee is amazing, I loved how they cared for each other, you can't help but feel for them. If anything I would have loved to had more backstory to their relationship.

While Austin is burdened with his own feelings he's still trying to live the rest of his live to the fullest, he is determined to confront his fears and help all the people around him. The waterfall scene was perfect, every detail made you feel right there with them. There's some language and sexual content. I would suggest the book for a young adult 14 and up.

Overall Never eighteen is a powerful novel. I'm not going to lie, you may need a box of tissues, the ending did make me tear up and that is not an easy task for a book to make me feel so much. I found myself absorbed in his journey. Megan Bostic manages to bring all these emotions to life and makes you feel them along with the characters. This is a great debut novel and can't wait for more from this author.

Review based on an Advanced Reader's Copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.