Monthly Archives:: September 2015

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Review: Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

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I received this book for free from Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Everything Everything by Nicola YoonEverything Everything by Nicola Yoon
Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers on September 1st 2015
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Source: Delacorte Press
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four-half-stars

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

When I went to BEA, there seemed to be quite a bit of buzz about this book. Since I am a big fan of contemporary and issue books, I knew I had to have this. I am so glad that I got this one too. It was seriously good. I was intrigued by the characters illness and how she lived her life. A lot about her actual illness was left out, but it was good enough that I didn’t feel there was lack of information. I mean, this book is really about her wanting to have a real life. As real and normal as it possibly can be with her condition anyways. There were a few little issues here and there, like her having to have books go through a special sterilization process, but yet she orders new clothes online and there’s no mention of anything special being done about her clothes. Beyond that though, this was a wonderful and heartbreaking story about a girl trying to really live her life.

Maddy has a very rare disease, SCID, which means she is allergic to the world pretty much. She has to live in her sterile home, eating certain foods, and having no contact with others unless they go through a special physical and sterilization process. It’s a lonely life, but it’s all she has known. She gets a long with her mother and her caregiver very well. Her and her mom are best friends, as well as her caregiver. She is mostly happy in her life the way it is. That is until Olly moves in next door. They start off with emailing and IM’s, then they break the rules and meet in person. Maddy is smart though. Even though she wants so much to get to know him better, and spend real time with him, she’s scared. She knows that it’s dangerous. She then starts to realize that the life she is living isn’t really living at all. She wants more, even if it isn’t safe. Even if it could mean the end. She would rather live happily for a few days, than wonder what the outside world could be like for years and years to come.

The romance may have seemed like it moved fast, but due to the circumstances of both characters, I found it to be believable. Obviously, Maddy has never had real contact with anyone besides her mom, caregiver, and occasionally a professor for school purposes. It makes sense that she would fall quickly and with not knowing what comes next for her she doesn’t want to hold back. Olly on the other hand seems like he could go out and find anyone one else, but he only has eyes for Maddy. With his home life and how he connects with Maddy it is totally believable that he really has fallen for her quickly too. They see each other for who they really are. They are willing to take risks for each other. They will lay it all out there for the other.

This was a beautiful story. I loved how the romance unfolded and how both Maddy and Olly’s stories were told. I thought that Maddy was a wonderful character who is not stupid or reckless, but willing to live. She isn’t without fear, but she also knows what she wants and what she doesn’t. My heart broke for her many times while reading this. And the ending of this book… OMG I was like “WTF!?” There is a good twist at the end. I kind of thought something along the lines of it a few times during the story, but the way it all happened was just amazing. I mean, story wise and making you really feel. I have to say that this has been one of my favorite books I have read this year. It was just so real and I loved Maddy’s story. I will definitely read more from this author!

four-half-stars

4.5 Hot Espressos

Fresh Batch (Sept 27th – Oct 3rd)

Fresh Batch (Sept 27th – Oct 3rd)

Posted by on 09/26/2015 • 4 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

Six of Crows Leigh Bardugo Series: Six of Crows #1 Publication date: September 29th 2015by Henry Holt and Company

Goodreads Purchase

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using…

Audiobook Review: Paperweight by Meg Haston

Audiobook Review: Paperweight by Meg Haston

Posted by on 09/25/2015 • 5 Comments

I really enjoyed this book as much as you can enjoy something about such a topic. I listened to this on audio and at first I was having a hard time getting into it, but the longer I listened, the more the narrator really did fit with the story. She voiced Stevie so well, that I was able to really feel for her and get that emotional impact from the book. Although this book appears to be about a girl with an eating disorder, it was really so much more. This is one of those rare instances when I really don’t like the MC, at least at for most of the book, but it actually made me like the book more.

Stevie is sent away to a treatment center for…

Review: PIXU by  Gabriel Bá, Fábio Moon (Illustrations), Becky Cloonan (Illustrations)

Review: PIXU by Gabriel Bá, Fábio Moon (Illustrations), Becky Cloonan (Illustrations)

Posted by on 09/23/2015 • 1 Comment

I don’t read a lot of Graphic Novels, but I do enjoy them once in a while. I have come across a lot of really great ones, but unfortunately this was not one of them. The artwork was beautiful, and the story was creepy and disturbing, but it left a lot to be desired. I understand that with this type of novel, you are a bit limited, though there is no reason that it couldn’t have been a more fully developed story. Others I have read are plenty well rounded. Anyways, this is a great creepy novel for going into Halloween season. It was a short and quick read. Be forewarned though, there is much adult content in this. Not just in the blood and gore, but the subject matter…

Fresh Batch (September 20th – 26th)

Fresh Batch (September 20th – 26th)

Posted by on 09/19/2015 • 5 Comments

Fresh Batch, posted weekly, keeps you up to date on the hottest releases of the upcoming week.

Flavor of the week:

Walk on Earth a Stranger Rae Carson Series: The Gold Seer Trilogy #1 Publication date: September 22nd 2015by Greenwillow Books

Goodreads Purchase

Lee Westfall has a secret. She can sense the presence of gold in the world around her. Veins deep beneath the earth, pebbles in the river, nuggets dug up from the forest floor. The buzz of gold means warmth and life and home—until everything is ripped away by a man who wants to control her. Left with nothing, Lee disguises herself as a boy and takes to the trail across the country. Gold was discovered in California, and where else…

Review: Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch

Review: Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch

Posted by on 09/18/2015 • 8 Comments

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like something was… incomplete? That things dragged on more than they should have had? Like the story could’ve been tighter, could’ve had the same essential elements and plot points, AND still give a sense of completeness, as if this small story arc of a bigger story arc has been reached?

This is one of those days – those days where I felt nothing but underwhelmed.

You guys might be well-aware of my love for the first book. I flailed over it, gave it 5-fantastic-stars, and shoved the book (and its pretty cover!) pretty much to everyone’s faces, imploring them, demanding them, that they read Snow Like Ashes as soon as they could, and that I wouldn’t be accepting any flimsy excuses. It was…

Giveaway: A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

Giveaway: A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

Posted by on 09/15/2015 • 3 Comments

Thanks to the lovely people at Disney-Hyperion, we’ve got a copy of A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston up for giveaway today! A THOUSAND NIGHTS is a dazzling retelling of Arabian Nights by E.K. Johnston – in stores October 6th! All samples and prizing are provided by Disney-Hyperion.

Make sure to: Learn more on un-requiredreading.com Check out the first four chapters of A THOUSAND NIGHTS here. #AThousandNights

Giveaway!

PRETTY THINGS IN A DANGEROUS PLACE prize pack One (1) winner receives: · Copy of A Thousand Nights; · Branded nail polish set & tea bag dispenser.

 

Open to US addresses only Prizing and samples provided by Disney-Hyperion Full contest terms and conditions found on Rafflecopter

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Review: The Sleepwalker Tonic (Nightmares! #2) by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Review: The Sleepwalker Tonic (Nightmares! #2) by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Posted by on 09/14/2015 • 1 Comment

I really enjoyed the first book, so I was eager to get to this one right away. Just when Charlie is finally happy with his family and life, things start to get weird again. Him and his brother Jack have sealed the portal to the nightmare realm, but now he has discovered that Jack has been visiting, and with the odd stuff happening in the waking world his little brother may become the one they blame. Things aren’t going so well with Charlotte’s business either, and they may lose their house.The purple mansion with the portal that they must protect. Charlie starts to discover that the weird events, and the pending doom of Charlotte’s store are connected. Now it’s up to him and Jack to save the nightmare world again,…