INCARNATE

BY

JODI MEADOWS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This book had a little of everything. Dragons and sylph and action and romance and it was all so very good! Right, so,  this is a world inhabited by a million souls. These souls are reincarnated over and over and they remember all their previous lives, at least most of them, since they have lived for so long that is not really possible to remember everything. And then, Ana is born. She is not a reincarnated soul, she is new, and people are afraid of her.

Ana has lived in near isolation with her mother, who never misses an opportunity to remind Ana of the soul that had to die for her to live. Yet, despite her mother's abuse, Ana grows inquisitive and strong. Afraid of her mother, but not afraid to do things.

Ana embarks on a quest to find out why she was born, and she meets Sam, who saves her life and is the first person to show Ana kindness.

I found the ending a little weird, it was hard to understand what was going on. It definitely let me with lots of question and eager to read the next installment (which I will buy as soon as I have money).

I loved this story so very much, it was full of longing and the first few chapter had me in near tears. I loved how Ana was a very vulnerable character, yet strong enough to be curious and try new things.

Sam was patient and calm and strong and brought Ana out of her shell little by little, showing her there was more  to the world than just what her mother let her see.

This is a book you definitely want to read.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



WAIT FOR YOU

BY

J. LYNN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SOME THINGS ARE WORTH WAITING FOR...Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-0ld Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago-an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not drawn any attention to herself, and maybe-please God-make new friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn't need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she's building for herself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one story that I didn't like as much as I was expecting.It was good, but... It all felt very artificial. Yes, what happened to Avery is a terrible thing, and it is normal that she reacts and acts the way she does with new people. She is uncomfortable, insecure, afraid to trust others and her own judgement. And it is okay that a very cute ( read smoking hot) guy falls for her, but did the author had to play the clumsy card to get them to meet? She literally runs into him, almost knocking both of them to the ground.

I also had trouble with the friends. If I told my friends to not mention something in front of the guy I'm crushing on, and they still did it time and time again, I would be very angry. If my friends called me the B word, even as a joke, well, we wouldn't be friends anymore.

However, there is something to be said for Cam. He is very sure of himself, asking Avery on a date relentlessly, never giving up hope that someday she would say yes. The way he worries and cares for Avery and his family and how obvious it is how much he loves his sister. And Avery is a fighter, a survivor. despite the people closest to her wanting to put her down, she refuses and rises above all. She understands that it will take courage and a lot of hard work to get there, but she will do it.

All in all, it is not a bad read. But it isn't a great one.



BREATHE

BY

SARAH CROSSAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

A glass dome houses the survivors of the Switch, the period when oxygen levels plunged and the green world withered. A state lottery meant a lucky few won safety, while the rest suffocated in the thin air. Now Alina, Quinn and Bea are leaving the dome, walking straight into the heart of danger. They have only two days' worth of oxygen on their tanks. What will happen on the third day?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved the whole concept of the book. A world where you have to pay for the very air you breathe. A world where babies are tied to their beds to keep them from moving around much, therefore consuming more oxygen, a world where you need to buy oxygen tanks if you want to exercise, a world without trees.

The story is told in three different points of view. Alina ( who is part of the resistance, a group of rebels who want to restore air to the Earth's atmosphere), Bea who wants to move up in society and her best friend Quinn, who is part of the top members of society. The three of them embark on a journey outside of the dome, looking for other members of the resistance and the truth behind the politics of the dome.

I got into this story very quickly, the way the world is set up is very subtle and given to you trough action rather than words. The characters are very likable and flawed, very real. To me, Alina was the easiest to like. She is very focused and determined, she believes in the cause. Quinn is the son of very rich people, he cares very deeply for his best friend ( Bea) and does everything he can to help her. Bea was the one I liked less. And now that I think on it, she is very much like me. She follows the rules. She knows that things in their society are not perfect, but feels like there isn't a thing she can do about it and so she does nothing. She only wants Quinn to like her back.

This book is action packed  and the romance is very subtle. This is one book I highly recommend.

 

 

 

NOBODY

by

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

 

There are people in his world who are Nobody. No one sees them. No one notices them. They live their lives under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away.

That's why they make the perfect assassins.

The institute finds these people when they're young and takes them away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization. And threats must be eliminated.

Sixteen-year-old Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed the Institute's monitoring. But now they've ID'ed her, he can't make the hit. It's as if Claire and Nix are the only people in their world for each other. And they are- because no one else notices them.

Wow, I don't even know where to start with this one. Jennifer Lynn Barnes is one of my favorite authors, I absolutely adored her Raised by Wolves series and Every Other Day. But this story completely sailed over my head.

The story tells us about Nix and Claire, two people that exist in, what seems to be, another metaphysical plane. People barely notices their existence and when they do, people forget about them immediately. Claire's parents even have to tape a note in the door to their house so they can remember they even have a daughter. As for Nix, he has been trained since infancy to be an assassin.

I had a terrible time connecting to the characters. Claire has had a very sad life, but she has "trained" herself to imagine herself someplace- somewhere else every time someone ignores her. And I think that is what threw me off so much from the story and the characters. Every time Claire starts to feel bad, she imagines these situations to distance herself emotionally and it did the same to me.

As for Nix, he has always done (killed) what the Institute tell him to do. Until Claire. When he meets Claire he feels a pull so strong towards her, that he can't bring himself to kill her. But to me, the jump from hate to care was just too fast, too strong, too unbelievable. I didn't feel the chemistry in their relationship.

However, there is something to be said in the fact that I couldn't give up on this book. I just had to know what happened. The premise of the book was just too interesting, to me, to not learn what becomes of the characters.

In the end, I'm sad to say that I wouldn't recommend this book. But I definitely recommend the author. Go buy the other books by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, specially her Raised by Wolves Series.

Army Of Ten

Have you heard of Gretchen McNeil's fabulous ARMY OF TEN? No? Well, it's time you do!
Gretchen McNeil  created the Army of Ten as a way to promote her upcoming book TEN. Unfortunately, a big chain bookstore has decided not to stock TEN of it's shelves and this army is a way to bring awareness to other readers and reach more people that might be interested in this book.
Of course, becoming part of this army has it's benefits: Prizes!  There are several ranks that you can achieve by completing a determined set of tasks and each one comes with its own set of prizes.

Private

Sergeant

Lieutenant

Major 

General

To join head over the official site for ARMY OF TEN and help a faboulous author promote her book! 

Book Trailer: The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys

by

Maggie Stiefvater

" There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark's eve," Neeve said, "Either you're his true love...or you killed him."

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them- not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly yo her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of sating away from Aglionby boys. Know as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drwan to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He has it all- family money, good looks, devoted friends- but he's looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death ant the nature of love lead us to a place we've never been before.

The Raven Boys comes out on September 18!!

Armchair BEA Day 4

Share a fun aspect of your blog or life that may be completely separate from books.

Wow, I don't even know if I ever do something fun that isn't book related. Truth is, that I am an extremely shy person. The whole face to face thing with other people isn't really my cup of coffee. I'm totally OK interacting with people when they aren't able to see my face though.

But what do I like to do for fun? I love to go the movies with my friends, I love to take my three year old niece to the movies and I love to watch her talk ( her face is so expressive!). 

On the not so fun side of my life there is work. I work at a fast food restaurant and the stories at that place are a' plenty. There is intrigue and infidelity and drama and costumers that you hate and creepy costumers and costumers that put smiles on your face. There is always getting up early and not enough sleep and very kind people who will help you get through the toughest days without asking for anything in return. 

As you can see, I am a very boring person. But a happy one, because when things get tough, I always turn to books.

Armchair BEA Day 3

Share a positive "real life" experience with books.

Let me start by saying that I have yet to have a negative book related experience. All the book signings that I have been to were very well organized, with very friendly staff and very nice readers. I mean, there is the occasionally annoying person that would hog the attention of an author, but nothing too bad. But I will tell you about the first book signing that I ever went to.

Until I started living in the United States ( I was raised in Mexico), I had no idea that there were events like these. I actually never really thought much about the person who wrote the book I  was reading, or even felt any desire to meet them. I would fantasize that I was the heroine in the book, but not about the person behind said heroine.

Then, one day, my best friend ( who was just a casual friendship then) started telling me about this really great book that she was currently reading. It was set in a city where it was always raining and was about this girl who had a biology partner that seemed to hate her without apparent reason. The book didn't sound that  interesting ( I could tell that by the end of the book this two people would be romantically involved), but my friend was really excited about it so I decided to give this book a try. 'Lo and behold, said book was called Twilight by Stephenie Meyer...and despite what some people may say about this story, it has become one of my all time favorites.

The Twilight series was the cataclysm for a lot of firsts for me. Twilight introduced me to the YA section of the bookstore ( before I would only read classic literature), it was my first midnight movie release, I learned to drive so I could attend the midnight movie release, it made me and my casual friend best friends forever, and it was my first book signing.

Now, as far as first book signings go, this one was intense. Stephenie Meyer was already very famous and the total people attendance was over a thousand and I had to stand in line for about nine hours. But it was very fun and very worth it. I got to meet new people who were just as in love with this story as I was, one of my questions was answered by Stephenie Meyer and, this event,  made realize that it was okay to go totally crazy for a book, a story, a fictional character. It was OK to think that authors are rock stars.

Since then, I have attended numerous book signings, I have even attended book signings with a panel full of authors who I hadn't yet read, and I have had tons of fun. I like to listen to people talking about the books they love and have discovered new and great authors this way. I love the fluttery feeling in my stomach that I get when I get to meet my favorites and cherish the books that they sign for me.

Books have always put a smile on my face and I know that, for me, it will always be this way.

What about you? What was the first book signing that you went to?

Armchair BEA Day 2: Best of 2012

Share some of your favorite books so far this year, and /or the books being promoted at BEA that you hope will end up among your favorites.


I'll start with my favorites reads of 2012 so far. Now. some of these books were published this year, others weren't.

Shine by Jeri Smith-Ready is the conclusion to the "Shade" series. Is about a world where everyone 17 and younger can see ghosts. And, so far, this has been the best ending to a series that I have ever read. The characters ended exactly where they needed to be, even if not all of them survived. I have cried (deep wracking sobs) and laughed out loud and made some very good music discoveries with this series. 

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. This is the first book in a series and they are about a girl named Juliette whose touch is lethal. The book starts with Juliette being held captive and follows her as she comes to grips with the things she has done and the things she has yet to do and learn about herself. At times disturbing and always. always deeply moving this book really surprised me, in a very good way. I wasn't expecting the ending, and at the same time is was like I had always known. 

Taken by Storm by Jennifer Lynn  Barnes...OH.MY.GOD.This books has left me traumatized to the point that I couldn't read anything else for about a week and a half...and I still can't believe it is the end. Meet Bryn, a girl who was raised by wolves. And all I can say is this: don't miss out on this fabulous series.

Daughter of smoke and bone by Laini Taylor. When I first started reading this book, I had no idea what to think of it. This books is about a girl named Karou and it takes place in Prague. It has chimaeras and angels and magic and is full of gorgeous people. I couldn't put this book down once it got its hooks on me tough. And I am eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series.

As for the books that I am eagerly awaiting for? Take a look:

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater ( and I KNOW I will love this one). From Maggie Stiefvater comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a plece we've never been before.

Fathomless by Jackson Pearce .This is a modern retelling of the Little Mermaid, which is my favorite fairy tale.

And that is all for today folks. Hope you like my picks and that some, if not all, of these wonderful books find their way to your TBR piles!
Don't forget to come back tomorrow for more Armchair BEA goodness.

Armchair BEA Day 1 : Introductions

Please tell us a little bit about yourself : Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?
Well, hello there. My name is Cristina and I live in LA and I love rainy, cloudy cold days ( which we don't get enough of here).
I've been blogging for about 4 months ( and not very consistently). It's been a bit hard trying to get into a routine. I have to get up at 2am four days a week and even though I'm home by midday, I'm so tired that all I want to do is sleep. But, hopefully I'll find my rhythm soon.
I got into blogging as a way to express how I feel about some of the books I read, to, hopefully, get others to read the book I love.

Tell us one non-blog-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.
Mmmm. Well. I'll tell you two, since I think they kind of go together. Number one, I was born in Mexico. I moved here when I was 18 and didn't know a word in English. Reading then became a refuge, I've always liked reading, but when I found myself in a new place with no friends and not knowing the language, reading became my passion. Add to that that I've always been extremely shy, and you've got me.

If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?
That's a hard question to answer. I think I would love to meet Jeri Smith-Ready and if she could bring along Logan and Zachary I would die a happy girl. Jeri has become one of maybe three authors that I can say, with a 100% certainty, that if she wrote it I will love it. She is just that good. And Logan and Zach? Well, they are characters created by Jeri who are as awesome as she is. I would totally get tongue tied and not know what to say and completely make a fool out of myself,  but that is beside the point.

What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?
The Newberry library in Chicago. If you have read The Time Traveler's wife then you know why. If you haven't, I highly recommend that you do. It has become a very romantic setting for me, thanks to that book and well, It's a library!

Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?
I don't think that is my reading tastes that have changed. Rather my knowledge of books has. Thanks  to bloggers I have found books that I wouldn't have know of otherwise, and I love that. The bookstore is no longer a place where you have a lot of options ( and that is a shame), so the blogging community has been filling that gap for me.


Well, that is all for today. Hope to see you here tomorrow for more Armchair BEA goodness!!!