Monthly Archives:: October 2011

Sunday, October 02, 2011

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

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Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Laini Taylor
Published September 27th, 2011
by Little, Brown & Company

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages–not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers–beautiful, haunted Akiva–fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Woooeey. If you need a vacation from reality, this is the book that will haul you inside its pages and make you live inside its story! Laini Taylor created a world like you’ve never imagined. Seriously, I would love to get a glimpse inside this woman’s mind. How she came up with this stuff is beyond me. It’s incredible. I loved it!

This is among one of the best written books I’ve read this year, if not ever. The creative aspect is beyond amazing. I was enthralled by every detail. The wonderful surrounding with extraordinary characters all come to life before your eyes and it’s so… ugh… I can’t even put it in words. So let’s just say that it’s outstanding!

I’ll be totally honest and say that I picked this up because of the hype alone. I had read the blurb, but that only gave me a very vague idea what the book was about – basically that it was strange and it involved monsters. So I had no idea what to expect, plot-wise. My thoughts now: it was brilliant. It has this gothic/fantasy feel with a sweet romance and yes, monsters. The politics of the world can get a little complicated; some passages I had to re-read because there are several worlds, species, and myths to take in, but I got the gist of it and even if you don’t catch it all, it’ll make sense once you get passed a certain point.

The mystery behind Karou and Brimstone is really interesting. I would have never guessed what he used the teeth for and who Karou is. I couldn’t even come up with any theories that made any sort of sense. So I didn’t bother trying and just let the story unfold and overcome me. The romance plays a good part in this novel as well. It’s very sweet and tragic. I loved Akiva’s devotion and Karou’s stubbornness.

So yeah… get this book! It deserve each and every 5 star rating that it has been getting. You haven’t read anything quite like this before, I can promise you that!

And since everyone is adding it to their review and I don’t want to be an outcast .
Once upon a time,
an angel and a devil fell in love.

It did not end well. 
5/5 hot espressos

In My Mailbox (3)

Posted by on 10/02/2011 • 96 Comments

“In My Mailbox” is a meme, created by Kristi at The Story Siren, that features books I’ve received/purchased/borrowed during the current week.  (click on images for Goodreads synopsis) Hello my lovelies. Well will you look at that, October has showed her head. Summer is over 🙁 But that means Halloween is just around the bend – which sets the perfect mood for creepy books like Mara Dyer that I have finally received.  I hope you’re all happy with your haul this week, I sure know that I am.  Some of these I’ve waited a long time to get my hands on and I’m super excited to get into them. I have received for review: 

       

I have won in giveaways:

   

I have bought:

I have…

Review: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Posted by on 10/01/2011 • 13 Comments

The Gathering (Darkness Rising, #1)Kelley ArmstrongFirst published April 12th, 2011by HarperCollins

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn’t know much about her background – the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip – but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town – from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend’s hidden talent for “feeling” out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that…

One Woman’s Trash Giveaway Winner

Posted by on 10/01/2011 • 0 Comments

Thank you to everyone who entered! I’ve selected a winner who has chosen Wake by Lisa McMann. Winner was picked by random number generator.

Congratulations to Sophia Chang of Sophia The Writer

Sophia’s choice:

WakeLisa McMann

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people’s dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie’s seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can’t tell anybody about what she does they’d never believe her, or worse, they’d think she’s a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn’t want and can’t control. Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness…

Fresh Batch (Oct 2nd-8th)

Posted by on 10/01/2011 • 4 Comments

This week’s hot releases

Fresh Batch features some of the hottest releases this upcoming week. These are exclusively chosen by Giselle.

Flavour of the week:

               

           Carrier of the Mark                                         Leigh Fallon

Their love was meant to be.

When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she’s surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRís.

But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago—and that…