Posts By: Giselle

Wednesday, October 02, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday (94)

Posted by 31 Comments

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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:

Waiting on Wednesday (94)Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
Series: Dorothy Must Die #1
Published by HarperTeen on April 1st 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Retellings, YA
Goodreads

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened?

Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then—Dorothy must die!


This was described as “The Wizard of Oz meets Kill Bill”, enough said!


What are you waiting on?


Review: Blackout by Robison Wells

Review: Blackout by Robison Wells

Posted by on 10/01/2013 • 22 Comments

Hmm.. I didn’t really get the point of this book. It would have helped if we had gotten some world building, surely. Basically we’ve got these kids who have a virus that gives them powers. They get used by the army to try to stop kids with cooler powers. The end.

It’s a shame, really, because until a bit passed the middle – which is when I realized this book wasn’t really going anywhere – I was quite enjoying it. I thought the idea of it all was creative and exciting. the powers ranged from funny, to intriguing, to kind of badass. The characters were also fairly interesting (though the narrative switches were sometimes sloppy). But in the end I still don’t know what this book was trying to be….

Review: Made of Stars by Kelley York

Review: Made of Stars by Kelley York

Posted by on 09/30/2013 • 17 Comments

I didn’t love this as much as Hushed – which was more my genre being a horror and all – but it does have an overall dark theme with a constant flow of mystery regarding a certain character. It’s a story told under a looming grey cloud where you know a disaster is forthcoming, giving it a suspenseful tone throughout. The narrative voices are where I wasn’t fully sold and ultimately stopped me from giving it my all.

Made of Stars is told through a dual perspective of a brother and a sister who have met Chance during summer break at their dad’s place. Every year they meet up and have a memorable summer, then have no contact with him until next time . This year, however, things have…

Stacking the Shelves (71)

Stacking the Shelves (71)

Posted by on 09/29/2013 • 28 Comments

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews featuring the books we got this week, and I also mention blog news/happenings of the past week. Hey pals! Sorry for no STS last week. I passed out at like 8 o’clock and didn’t wake up until morning so I figured my big haul of a whopping 1 book could wait. We are now officially in fall! I’m excited for Halloween already! I get to trick-or-treat again with my lil one woot! So yeah, I added a new division to my tour site to adult and erotica books. If you read those genres and you want to sign-up head over to Xpresso Book Tours: After Dark. It won’t be taking on as many tours as XBT but there are some…

Fresh Batch (New Releases September 29 – October 5)

Fresh Batch (New Releases September 29 – October 5)

Posted by on 09/28/2013 • 10 Comments

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

Flavor of the week:

Wild Cards Simone Elkeles Series: Wild Cards #1 Publication date: October 1st 2013by Walker Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Purchase

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain–people you…

Review: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Review: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Posted by on 09/27/2013 • 22 Comments

Perfect Ruin has a fantastic concept with the same easy flowing writing from DeStefano’s Chemical Garden series. Constrained on this island the size of a fist, we’re taken into the life of Morgan who’s been starting to wonder what’s over the edge. The one thing that is forbidden to all residents of this floating city. Oh did I forget to mention that part? Yes, the city is floating somewhere above earth. This lone city. With people. Living there!

Not only is this place the size of a cracker, but now people are being found dead. Murdered. And not nicely either – if there is such a thing. Not only do I love the fitting name – Perfect Ruin – but this story had me captivated from the get go….

Book Girls Don’t Cry: Money and Blogging

Book Girls Don’t Cry: Money and Blogging

Posted by on 09/26/2013 • 37 Comments

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:

 

Nothing in Life is Free?

On this week’s Book Girls Don’t Cry we’re talking money! Is blogging free? Is any hobby free? Very very few of them are, unless you are a very boring person whose hobby consists of staring at walls… or something. To me, blogging is a hobby just like car modeling, hunting, gaming, etc. Blogging is cheap in comparison to those – if it costs anything at all, other than your time of course.

Books: Some consider buying books a cost of blogging, but I don’t agree. Books is a cost of being a reader in general. And actually,…

Review: Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Review: Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Posted by on 09/25/2013 • 19 Comments

What a nail biter! Unbreakable has a creepy cover with an equally freaky story. For all of you supernatural thriller fans out there this one is not to be missed!

I made the mistake of starting this book at midnight; a book that has crazy happenings and intense goosebump-worthy scenes right from the beginning. Every page had me delving deeper and deeper under the covers just so I would stop imagining hellish demon ghosts at the foot of my bed! And by hellish demon ghosts I mean exactly that! You won’t find Casper in here. By page 32 my heart was already pounding from the horror of this unexplained supernatural evil that started to haunt Kennedy. Ok if I’m being honest, I kind of loved it. I’m a sucker for…