Monthly Archives:: May 2013

Friday, May 31, 2013

2013 DNFs [Part 1]

Posted by 27 Comments

The time has come again to round up a few DNF books of 2013 so far. Note that I have read over 75 books this year so there are bound to be some that are simply not worth my time and effort. I also know some have seen these on my STS and are awaiting my thoughts, so here goes (note that these are not all my 2013 DNFs, just the most noteworthy):


The Brokenhearted
by Amelia Kahaney 

A teenage girl is transformed into a reluctant superhero and must balance her old life with the dark secret of who she has become.

Prima ballerina Anthem Fleet is closely guarded by her parents in their penthouse apartment. But when she meets the handsome Gavin at a party on the wrong side of town, she is immediately drawn into his dangerous world. Then, in a tragic accident, Anthem falls to her death. She awakes in an underground lab, with a bionic heart ticking in her chest. As she navigates her new life, she uncovers the sinister truth behind those she trusted the most, and the chilling secret of her family lineage…and her duty to uphold it.

I had the hardest time getting into this book. It went from great to…. not, in a very short time. The first clue that I was not going to like it came within mere pages after the protagonist loses her virginity to some guy she just started dating the week before, claiming she was in love. BLAH! Then of course he gets kidnapped for ransom because she’s rich and she has to risk her life for him–he’s the love of her life and all. I thought it was going to be an exciting superhero movie but honestly all she did in the 51% I read was cry and do dumb stuff. You can find my conversation with Jenni about it here (some very insightful info!).

Vengeance Bound
by Justina Ireland

The Goddess Test meets Dexter in an edgy, compelling debut about one teen’s quest for revenge… no matter how far it takes her.

Cory Graff is not alone in her head. Bound to a deal of desperation made when she was a child, Cory’s mind houses the Furies—the hawk and the serpent—lingering always, waiting for her to satisfy their bloodlust. After escaping the asylum where she was trapped for years, Cory knows how to keep the Furies quiet. By day, she lives a normal life, but by night, she tracks down targets the Furies send her way. And she brings down Justice upon them.

Cory’s perfected her system of survival, but when she meets a mysterious boy named Niko at her new school, she can’t figure out how she feels about him. For the first time, the Furies are quiet in her head around a guy. But does this mean that Cory’s finally found someone who she can trust, or are there greater factors at work? As Cory’s mind becomes a battlefield, with the Furies fighting for control, Cory will have to put everything on the line to hold on to what she’s worked so hard to build

I was SO excited for this one as soon as I saw it involved mythology and the mention of Dexter, but unfortunately I could not care less for any of the characters in the book. I found the character development seriously lacking, and while the premise was very creative and could have been awesome I was just bored with it. I also got annoyed by how every reference to the Furies (“Them” “They” etc) was capitalized. It was distracting every time; I kept yelling the word in my head to give it emphasis because of this, and that was just annoying. I don’t much care for yelling at myself.

The Loop
by Shandy Lawson 

Ben and Maggie have met, fallen in love, and died together countless times. Over the course of two pivotal days—both the best and worst of their lives—they struggle again and again to resist the pull of fate and the force of time itself. With each failure, they return to the beginning of their end, a wild road trip that brings them to the scene of their own murders and into the hands of the man destined to kill them.

As time circles back on itself, events become more deeply ingrained, more inescapable for the two kids trapped inside the loop. The closer they come to breaking out, the tighter fate’s clutches seem to grip them. They devise a desperate plan to break free and survive the days ahead, but what if Ben and Maggie’s only shot at not dying is surviving apart?

I think this book was DNFed at its earliest ever at not even 30 pages. Why? Basically, it starts with “Oh wow I have a lot of deja vus lately, let’s go see this creepy old guy at that psychic’s table in the middle of the street who’s been grinning at me.” The psychic creep tells him he’s in a time loop where he relives things over and over.. and the MC’s like “Huh, ok that explains it!”. O_o

Yah… Not for me.

 Insomnia (The Night Walkers #1)
by J.R. Johansson

It’s been four years since I slept, and I suspect it is killing me.

Instead of sleeping, Parker Chipp enters the dream of the last person he’s had eye contact with. He spends his nights crushed by other people’s fear and pain, by their disturbing secrets—and Parker can never have dreams of his own. The severe exhaustion is crippling him. If nothing changes, Parker could soon be facing psychosis and even death.

Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that is utterly addictive. Parker starts going to bizarre lengths to catch Mia’s eye every day. Everyone at school thinks he’s gone over the edge, even his best friend. And when Mia is threatened by a true stalker, everyone thinks it’s Parker.

Suffering blackouts, Parker begins to wonder if he is turning into someone dangerous. What if the monster stalking Mia is him after all?

I DNFed this one at 38% and honestly I don’t really have much to say about it other than I just didn’t like it. The MC was a jerk and a creep. He can only sleep if he looks into the eyes of one particular girl every day so he stalks her in the most obvious of ways and it was just…. ick. Then when his best friend tells him as such he punches him.  Eeh. I don’t know, he just unsettled me. The plot didn’t particularly interest me either it seemed like one I would forget 5 seconds after finishing the book. I was undecided as to if I would continue or not but after a few of my friends’ reviews came back not especially positive I’m going to keep it as a DNF.



I’m sure many has read books where you just know finishing it is futile, some may finish it still, I don’t have that patience anymore knowing I have so many other – better – books I could get to. If you do DNF books, let me know which ones made the unfortunate list this year! Part 2 of 2013 DNFs will be posted at the end of the year!
Book Girl Don’t Cry… Except When They Do

Book Girl Don’t Cry… Except When They Do

Posted by on 05/30/2013 • 32 Comments

Inspired by Book Buzzers, Book Girls Don’t Cry is a weekly feature where we each discuss/vent/advise on the chosen weekly bookish topic. Don’t miss Jenni on Mondays, and Amy on Saturdays:   This week’s topic was suggested by Kathy from I Write, I Read, I Review.

ALL THE FEELS!

There are always books that get our emotions involved and this week we decided to feature some books that truly gutted us into oblivion (or tears… however dramatic you want to be ;).

       

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover        Hopeless is the most recent powerfully emotional book I read. It had me in tears for most of the book. This was also my first by Colleen Hoover and it will for sure not be my last. I…

Waiting on Wednesday (82)

Waiting on Wednesday (82)

Posted by on 05/29/2013 • 18 Comments

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine  and spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.  My pick this week: Losing Hope Colleen Hoover Genre: NA Contemporary Publication date:  July 9th 2013 by Atria Books

In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him…

Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we must first dig deep into…

Review: Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Review: Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Posted by on 05/28/2013 • 24 Comments

If it wasn’t for my friends’ recommendations I don’t think I would have read this book. The synopsis makes it sound like it involves an annoying, bratty main character who whines and complains about stupid high school stuff. Lucky for them, my friends didn’t fail me and I found myself really enjoying it. The protagonist, Rose, is a little younger than I usually like my MCs – at only 14 and starting high school – but in a way it brought me back to how jarring it can be to go from one grade to the next where, suddenly, the rules are different, boyfriends and sex seem to be constant hot topics, and popularity seems to be what counts.

Rose is someone I think a lot of people could relate…

Review + Giveaway: Bitter Angel by Megan Hand

Review + Giveaway: Bitter Angel by Megan Hand

Posted by on 05/27/2013 • 32 Comments

Bitter Angel was a very mixed bag for me. The first part would easily get a 4 stars; it was intriguing and exciting, it even had my heart pounding with pure adrenaline. Unfortunately the second part left a little too much to be desired, garnering only a 2 if rated separately.

Let’s start at the beginning: After Lila decides to go out with her two best friends at a club, she never thought things would turn into a life or death situation involving gang rapes and abduction. What’s peculiar though, is she also remembers what happens if she had stayed home with her boyfriend, and that scenario was equally terrible. Although obviously not “realistic”, I found this to be very interesting. The abduction was a terrifying situation; all too real…

Stacking the Shelves (57)

Stacking the Shelves (57)

Posted by on 05/26/2013 • 35 Comments

Xpresso Weekly is my edition of Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews featuring the books I got this week, and I also mention blog news/happenings of the past week.

This week at Xpresso Reads

The time has come, lovelies! I’ll be leaving on Tuesday morning for NYC and back on June 2nd. I do have posts scheduled while I’m gone and I’ll still be on Twitter once in a while so you won’t miss me too much! 😉 I can’t wait to meet everybody there and I think I’m more excited to meet my bloggy friends than authors–oh and Grumpy Cat! Baha! Also, on the blog this week we posted a sign up for our very first giveaway hop! You should all join the madness!

Sign up!  …

Fresh Batch (May 26th – June 1st)

Fresh Batch (May 26th – June 1st)

Posted by on 05/25/2013 • 14 Comments

Exclusively titled for Xpresso Reads, Fresh Batch features the hottest releases of this upcoming week. Flavor of the week:

Spirit Brigid Kemmerer Series: Elemental #3 Publication date: May 28th 2013 by K Teen

With power comes enemies. Lots of them.

Hunter Garrity just wants to be left alone. He’s learned the hard way that his unusual abilities come at a price. And he can’t seem to afford any allies.

He’s up to his neck in hostiles. His grandfather, spoiling for a fight. The Merrick brothers, who think he ratted them out. Calla, the scheming psycho who wants to use him as bait.

Then there’s Kate Sullivan, the new girl at school. She’s not hostile. She’s bold. Funny. Hot. But she’s got an agenda, too.

With supposedly secret powers rippling…

Review: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Review: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Posted by on 05/24/2013 • 34 Comments

As my first Sarah Dessen novel I was a little worried as it seems people either love her books or don’t, so it’s a relief that I fall in with her fans. The Moon and More is an especially perfect beach read. It’s lighthearted, it’s fun, with a great summery atmosphere, and it has enough emotion to keep you fully immersed.

This book is not really about anything at all (and I say this in a positive light), or some may say it’s about everything; it’s about growing up. It spans one summer in Emaline’s life; the last summer before she’s off to college which, for a lot of us, is when our life suddenly feels changed. We say goodbye to our high school days, and often to our boyfriend…