Publisher: Simon & Schuster BfYR


Thursday, October 29, 2015

Review: The House by Christina Lauren

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

Review: The House by Christina LaurenThe House by Christina Lauren
Published by Simon & Schuster BfYR on October 6th 2015
Genres: Horror, Paranormal, YA
Source: Simon & Schuster
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three-half-stars

Gavin tells Delilah he’s hers—completely—but whatever lives inside that house with him disagrees.

After seven years tucked away at an East coast boarding school, Delilah Blue returns to her small Kansas hometown to find that not much has changed. Her parents are still uptight and disinterested, her bedroom is exactly the way she left it, and the outcast Gavin Timothy still looks like he’s crawled out of one of her dark, twisted drawings.

Delilah is instantly smitten.

Gavin has always lived in the strange house: an odd building isolated in a stand of trees where the town gives in to mild wilderness. The house is an irresistible lure for Delilah, but the tall fence surrounding it exists for good reason, and Gavin urges Delilah to be careful. Whatever lives with him there isn’t human, and isn’t afraid of hurting her to keep her away.

I do love a good creepy book so of course I wanted to read this. Right in time for Halloween, it was a spooky read. The characters were great and the story was really cool. Most importantly, House actually kind of scared me. The writing was fantastic at bringing you right into things. I was able to clearly imagine House and Table and other things moving about. It felt very magical at first, but then becomes scary and very unsettling.

Gavin is a boy who there are many rumors about. He lives in the “haunted house”, he doesn’t have parents, he’s weird, all sorts of stuff. He doesn’t have any friends, but it’s because he in fact does live alone. Well, not really alone, but he doesn’t have parents. House takes care of him though. Anything he needs, House supplies. He is well fed, has anything that he needs such as clothes, books, and other things, and House takes care of him. If he is sick, there is soup made. The fire is going to keep him warm, and lights turn on and off as he needs them. Even Piano taught him how to play. Gavin has never known anything else and is happy living there. That is until he Delilah comes into his life. Or back into his life I should say. She makes him happy and he can see a future with her. He is falling in love with her. He even brings her home and introduces her to House. That’s where things start to go very bad. House isn’t about to let someone else have Gavin, and it will do whatever it has to so he will never think about leaving.

Delilah has just returned from a fancy boarding school because her Grandmother is too ill to take care of her anymore or pay for the school. Her parents aren’t very attentive and she feels like they just really don’t care if she is there one way or another. Of course, they have rules for her and are a bit strict about boys and curfew though. When she starts attending school again at home, she instantly zeroes in on Gavin. He has changed a lot since they were younger, and she is very interested. They start spending time together and then it begins turning into more. She is at first fascinated with his home, but still a bit nervous. She has good reason, as House starts doing some really creepy things and leaving her warning messages. She tries to not be paranoid about it, but soon realizes that her life may actually be in danger. She’s a smart girl and quite brave. She is willing to fight house if it means getting Gavin out of there and keeping them safe.

This book has the perfect pace to ease you into things. It starts off very charming and cute with Gavin and Delilah getting to know each other and slowly progressing to falling for each other. It also has a good slow build up to House pretty much going insane. It was very creepy at times, mostly because I was just imagining how messed up some of the things happening were. There is much more to the story than Delilah and Gavin’s relationship and House being jealous though. Delilah’s best friend is a big part of the story, and learning about Gavin’s parents. I thought it was really well done and a great read for anytime, but especially close to Halloween. I highly suggest picking this up if you have any interest in this type of book, or even if you don’t and it just sounds like it might be something fun to try.

three-half-stars

3.5 Hot Espressos

Review: Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics

Posted by on 10/16/2015 • 7 Comments

I may or may not have pissed my pants after reading this book.

Spoiler: I definitely did piss my pants after reading this book.

Horror aficionados, come and meet your match (made in hell). After reading Rin Chupeco’s Girl From the Well and The Suffering, I’ve been on a frenzy hunt for the next book that would tickle my scary bone and leave me trembling in the night. I’m not sure if you guys know, but I relish the feeling of getting scared. When my imagination goes out of control and when it feels like something is whispering to me or is floating beside me or is following me all because of a book – well, let’s just say, I feel absolutely thrilled by it. Yes, it is probably weird, but no, I am not…

Review: Violent Ends by Shaun David Hutchinson and Various Authors

Review: Violent Ends by Shaun David Hutchinson and Various Authors

Posted by on 08/19/2015 • 4 Comments

This book was really interesting. It’s about a school shooting, and told in twelve different POV’s ranging from friends, other classmates, people who knew people who went to the school it happened at, and even the gun that Kirby used. It was interesting to hear about Kirby from people who knew him in some way or another, or about the event from those who didn’t know him. It’s tragic what happened, and to see how things changed with Kirby. How premeditated it was at the end. It was something he thought about, planned, and was somewhat pushed to. In this day and age where this is a topic that people do worry about, it’s a very important book. I think how it was told was equally important too since we…

Giveaway: The Remedy by Suzanne Young

Giveaway: The Remedy by Suzanne Young

Posted by on 04/30/2015 • 6 Comments

Thanks to the lovely people at Simon & Schuster, I’ve got a copy of The Remedy up for giveaway today! This novel is the first in a new series set in a world before The Program that has just released last week!

The Program series: (Click on the covers for Goodreads)

Don’t forget to: Read the first 8 chapters of The Remedy here! Find Suzanne Young on Twitter and Facebook Share using hashtag #ReleasetheRemedy

Giveaway!

Simon & Schuster has generously offered up a THE WORLD BEFORE THE PROGRAM prize pack:

–a copy of The Remedy –plus Suzanne Young’s series The Program and The Treatment.

Open to US and Canadian addresses only Giveaway ends May 11th, 2015 Prizing & samples…

Review: In A World Just Right by Jen Brooks

Review: In A World Just Right by Jen Brooks

Posted by on 04/23/2015 • 12 Comments

This book was interesting. I really enjoyed being in Jonathan’s head and trying to figure out his different worlds and the whole “world making” thing. It was a bit confusing at times, but it kept me interested the whole way through. Especially when his worlds start colliding. I can’t say that I really liked the other characters much, but they weren’t horrible. The main thing that kept me engaged was wanting to know what was going on, and how it would all end up. I didn’t have strong character connection, but enough to want a happy ending for this. I wouldn’t say this is quite a parallel universe, but something kind of like it I guess. It was a unique story and I did enjoy it a lot. More than…

Audiobook Review: Burying Water by K.A. Tucker

Audiobook Review: Burying Water by K.A. Tucker

Posted by on 12/09/2014 • 8 Comments

Books about loss of memory are always intriguing to me. I also love a contemporary that sounds like it will be all sorts of emotional. This book delivered well for the most part. The thing that turned me off was the infidelity. I don’t ever think it’s okay no matter what. Yes, her husband was a cheating bastard first, but it doesn’t make it okay for her to do it too. Anyways, putting all of that aside, I really enjoyed this book. I loved how the past is told by Jesse, and the present told by Water and how they finally converge. I did wish for a bit more of an emotional impact, but I think because I was put off by certain things it made it harder for me…

Review: Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Review: Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Posted by on 11/07/2014 • 13 Comments

There is a lot I could complain about with this book, but I was still strangely entertained by it all. I also think the fact that it was an audiobook made me enjoy it more than if I had read a paper copy – the narrator was great and really brought the MC to life. As if she was telling me her story.

But man, the romance. *pokes out eyeballs*. First, I’m sorry but that was totally Stockholm Syndrome. Or at least it started that way, which creeped me out more than it made me swoon. This dude is forcing you to bring his criminal ass back to civilization so he can run from the cops, but you fall for his charms because he’s hot? Eh, okay.. But anyways, I’m…

Interview with Martina Boone, author of Compulsion + Giveaway!

Interview with Martina Boone, author of Compulsion + Giveaway!

Posted by on 10/22/2014 • 6 Comments

I’ve got the wonderful Martina Boone on the blog today for an interview as part of her blog tour. And you can also enter to win before you go! 😉 First, let’s see what her book is all about:

Interview with Martina Boone

Hi Martina, I actually met you at BEA where I got a signed copy of your book so I’m excited to be a part of your blog tour! 🙂

YAY! Thank you so much for being willing to host me. I’m excited to have that personal connection, because this whole process all kind of scary and exciting! : ) I’m thrilled to be here with you and your readers though, and I love the questions you sent!

Let’s start with how the idea for…