Xpresso Reads

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Giselle’s Stacking the Shelves [May 18th]

Posted by Giselle • 24 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.

You know what? This is my last STS before I leave for BEA! Whooo! Next week’s is Jenni’s – and the week as well after since I will be gone. So exciting! Hopefully she won’t break the blog when I’m gone >.< So in books this week I got a couple of bookish packages in the mail, and grabbed a couple off Netgalley. One I already DNFed and one is 600 pages O_O

THIS WEEK’S BOOK HAUL:
(Click on covers for Goodreads)

I received for review:

Print book haul:

–Sekret by Lindsay Smith
–Conversion by Katherine Howe
–Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington
-The Moment Collector by Jodi Lynn Anderson
–Blind by Rachel DeWoskin

*Big thanks to Disney-Hyperion, Orbit Books, Macmillan Children’s Penguin, Hachette UK, and Simon & Schuster for these pretties!*

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That’s all for me this week!
XOXO

Fresh Batch (New Releases May 18th – 24th)

Posted by Giselle on 05/17/2014 • 9 Comments

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

Flavor of the week:

The Art of Lainey Paula Stokes Publication date: May 20th 2014 by HarperTeen

Goodreads Purchase

Soccer star Lainey Mitchell is gearing up to spend an epic summer with her amazing boyfriend, Jason, when he suddenly breaks up with her—no reasons, no warning, and in public no less! Lainey is more than crushed, but with help from her friend Bianca, she resolves to do whatever it takes to get Jason back.

And that’s when the girls stumble across a copy of The Art of War. With just one glance, they’re sure they can use the book to lure Jason back into Lainey’s arms. So…

Giveaway: The Moment Collector by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Posted by Giselle on 05/17/2014 • 5 Comments

Thanks to the lovely people at Hachette Children’s Books UK, you all have a chance to win yourself an advanced copy of The Moment Colletor – the newest novel by Jodi Lynn Anderson which is releasing this summer. Most of you are probably a bit more familiar with the US title/cover: The Vanishing Season. Both me and Jenni are very excited about this one and can’t wait to dig into it ourselves! You will see our reviews in the coming months here on the blog!

Giveaway

Hachette Children’s Books UK has generously offered an advanced copy of The Moment Collector by Jodi Lynn Anderson (UK edition) for giveaway.

Open internationally Giveaway ends June 6th, 2014 Full contest terms…

Review: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

Posted by Giselle on 05/16/2014 • 18 Comments

This is a book that has gone seriously under-noticed and that’s a shame because it’s brilliant! And even though it’s a tad predictable, I would have disappointed if it would have ended differently. It was a daring and manipulative story – and I’m a sucker for those!

This is the story of Elise’s murder, told in the perspective of the prime suspect – her best friend. In a way, this reminded me of a YA Jodi Picoult novel. You have the murder, followed by the trial – which lasts for most of the book, and this is where you learn the details of what happened filled with secrets and lies that give just enough clues to make you crazy – then at the end all is revealed with the help…

Review: The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer

Posted by on 05/15/2014 • 14 Comments

After having a long stint of bad luck when it came to murder mysteries The Secrets of Lily Graves came at me like a breath of fresh air. It’s engrossing, it’s twisty and it managed to take me completely by surprise.

Lily Graves hasn’t had the most traditional of upbringings. She’s been raised in a small home attached to her families business which just happens to be a funeral home. She’s grown up fascinated with the dead and has even worked on embalming bodies at a very young age. I loved how quirky and unconventional Lily was. She had a good sense of humour and she was really smart. Sure she got a little love sick over Matt (the boy she’s crushing on) but what teenaged girl doesn’t go…

Review: Everything Leads To You by Nina LaCour

Posted by on 05/14/2014 • 30 Comments

I feel like anything I want to say about this book has to be prefaced by me fangirling over the cover. Let’s all take a moment to stare at it and just take in it’s beauty *stares at cover* man, even the font treatment is so captivating! OK, now that that is out of the way, let’s talk about what’s inside. Nina LaCour’s Everything Leads To You is so much more than just a pretty cover. It’s a beautiful love story, it’s a magical tale that truly captures the essence of living in LA and it’s a story about strong relationships; ones you have had around forever and ones that you are just beginning to forge.

I literally just have a long list of things I loved about this book…

Review: The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Posted by Giselle on 05/13/2014 • 21 Comments

The Art of Lainey is a cute, heartwarming book with a genuine love story that gives the finger to insta-love. This is just a happy-making kind of read that leaves you with a smile on your face and butterflies in your stomach!

Lainey’s boyfriend just broke up with her, and like any teenage girl she feels as if it was the end of the world. She takes on her friend’s advice to follow The Art of War strategies and get him back. It’s a fun premise and being familiar somewhat with The Art of War I thought it was interesting to have that be a part of the story. It gave it this extra layer of depth that I appreciated. As for Lainey herself, though, she could be very frustrating…

Review: The Dark World by Cara Lynn Shultz

Posted by Giselle on 05/12/2014 • 15 Comments

With one of my favourite settings – New York City – The Dark World has a lot to offer. We’ve got a unique and terrifying alternate evil world concept, a protagonist who can see the dead, a love interest who’s incredibly charming, and an exciting climax. But… I was also disappointed by how much of a tease it was on the aspect that I found the most interesting.

Let’s start with the plot itself. It begins at school where we meet Paige talking to a ghost in the girl’s bathroom, quickly getting us to understand both her social standing and how she really doesn’t give a rats butt (trying to stay PG13 here!). This also introduces us to the mean girl and Paige’s hilarious ghost best friend. It takes no…