Wishlist Wednesday #6

 Wishlist Wednesday is a book blog hop where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves. This is hosted by Pen to Paper ! 





This week I'm wishing for Crash into You by Katie McGarry. It's apart of the Pushing the Limits series and after reading Dare You To, I'm so looking forward to having it. It sounds amazing and since the other two books were fantastic this one should be as well! What's on you wishlist?


Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits #3)
By Katie McGarry
474 pages

 From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane 

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind. 

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look. 

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

Vanessa

My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi

My Life After Now 

By Jessica Verdi

Published April 2nd, 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire

304 pages

4.5 stars - Awesome!

Lucy just had the worst week ever. Seriously, mega bad. And suddenly, it's all too much—she wants out. Out of her house, out of her head, out of her life. She wants to be a whole new Lucy. So she does something the old Lucy would never dream of.

And now her life will never be the same. Now, how will she be able to have a boyfriend? What will she tell her friends? How will she face her family?

Now her life is completely different...every moment is a gift. Because now she might not have many moments left.



Review:

Wow. My Life After Now is definitely a thought provoking read. The main issue in this book is a big one and really encourages the reader to think about the characters and real life. I was completely emerged in the book and read it in a day. 

In the beginning of the book we get a feel for how the regular Lucy is, before she has the worst week ever. She's a nice girl, confident, and loves the world of drama. And she doesn't have any worries besides if she's going to get the role of Juliet or not. Then we watch as Lucy's world slowly falls apart, one problem at a time. Lucy doesn't handle things very well in the beginning and ends up making a mistake that will change her life forever. She finds out that she has contracted HIV. After that things get pretty difficult for Lucy but soon she realizes that with support and a positive attitude, she can handle anything. 

Like I was saying before, Lucy is a nice girl and was easy to like as a main character. It was easy to feel for what she was going through because after just one mistake, her whole world is turned upside down. Throughout the book we watch as Lucy matures and learns more about the disease that she'll have to deal with for the rest of her life. She learns how to deal with her issues and how to trust others with such huge information. Lucy has two dads and I loved both of them. They were super supportive and it was great to watch her relationship evolve with them throughout the book. Then there were Lucy's two best friends who are fantastic as well. Another character that I enjoyed for most of the book would be Evan. I won't tell you who he is exactly but he is a friend of Lucy's. There were a couple other characters who I was not fond of, in fact they really bugged me. But for the most part Lucy had some amazing people in her life and it was great to watch her realize it.

I really enjoyed this book and I don't think there was much to complain about. You can tell that Verdi did extensive research on HIV/AIDS and I really appreciated that. It made you feel as if you really knew Lucy and could feel for what she was going through and what she would have to go through. My Life After Now is an eye opener. You are able to read what it's like for a teenage girl to go through something so life altering. Getting to read about some of her family members or friends reactions was interesting and real. All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I loved how it made me think and empathize with the characters. There were some great quotes throughout the book and the ending was awesome. I recommend this book to anyone and I advise you read it now if you haven't. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Vanessa

Friday Finds #4

Friday Finds is a weekly event hosted by Should Be Reading where you list books that you have found over the week and added to your to- read list. They can be books you have borrowed, purchased, found online or whatever else!

So I've totally slacked off on this meme but it's a new year and I'm going to definitely try harder. I haven't found too many books this week and the ones I did find are from the online library. Check them out!

The Girl in the Steel Corset (Steampunk Chronicles #1)
By Kady Cross
  Seems pretty interesting so far and kind of reminds me of The Infernal Devices series. Hopefully it turns out to be great!

Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test #2)
By Aimee Carter









I've already read the first book, The Goddess Test, and I enjoyed that. So I'm looking forward to see what happens next!


My Life After Now
By Jessica Verdi
 This book sounds intriguing and I've seen some good reviews for it. I'm interested to see what it's like. :)


So, like I said, I didn't find too many books this week. But I'm looking forward to reading the ones I found. What did you find this week?

Bookish and (Not So Bookish) Thoughts #1

Bookish and (Not So Bookish) Thoughts #1

Bookish and (Not So Bookish) Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous! 

1. First of all, this is my first time participating in this event and I'm completely excited! Also, I'm posting this pretty late on Thursday but I just found it and want to try it. :)

2. Hopefully I'm able to keep up with this meme and not slack off like I did with Wishlist Wednesday and Friday Finds. I'm hoping to keep up with those as well this year. :) 

3. HAPPY NEW YEAR!! It's 2014 and I'm hoping that this year is a little better for my personal life than last year was. Fingers crossed to a better year! :)

4. Monday, 2nd semester starts...not too excited about that. But this is my senior year in high school so it's also my last 2nd semester of high school. So I guess that's pretty neat, right?

5. I just found out that one of my favorite bands, The Ready Set, will be performing at Vans Warped Tour this summer! Except... I might not be able to go. :( Maybe Jordan will have a separate tour before then? Fingers crossed!

6. Speaking of concerts that I'm dying to go to, We The Kings! We The Kings and This Century are coming to my town and I'm most certain I'll be able to see them. Anyone else love these bands? :)

7. I'm really cold right now. It's actually been really cold all week and grey and stormy. I like winter but I can't handle a ton of it. I'd like some sun...

8. So, for the New Year, my mom made some delicious chicken enchiladas and now I can't stop thinking about them. It's actually kind of disturbing, I've never loved them this much before. Anyone else eating anything good? :)

9. Oh! I just remembered that Monday is also the start of season 3B of Teen Wolf! I LOVE that show and am in love with Stiles. Well, with Dylan O'Brien in general. :) And most of the guys on Teen Wolf, I can't help it. This second part of season 3 is going to be awesome and I can not wait! Does anyone else love Teen Wolf? 

10. Speaking of Dylan O'Brien, I can't wait for The Maze Runner to come out in theaters. And Divergent! And I can't wait for City of Heavenly Fire to release, it is 733 pages long! What movies or books are you looking forward to this year?

Wow, that was pretty fun. I like this meme so I'm definitely posting each week! Well, hopefully everyone is having a great new year. See ya soon!

Vanessa

Dominion by Melody Manful

Dominion (Guardian Angels #1)

By Melody Manful 

Published February 16th, 2013 by Melody Manful 

Kindle Edition 

443 pages

3.5 to 4 stars - Interesting story!

I Dare You.

Look Over Your Shoulders.
Do You See Them?
They are behind you...
They are always behind you.

Abigail Cells had a nightmare the day before she met Gideon, the new guy in school who has every girl drooling just to be near him. In her nightmare, she was murdered by a magical creature. As she gets to know Gideon, she begins to remember pieces of her nightmare, and was shocked when Gideon turned out to be the creature from her nightmare. Who is Gideon really, should Abby allow herself to fall completely for him, or is he the next disaster waiting to happen?

Review:

I found Dominion before it had been released and found the cover to be intriguing. Then I read the summary and found that to be even more intriguing. After finally being able to read this book I'm not sure whether to give it 3.5 stars or 4 and I'll tell you why. 

I really loved the whole story line and I enjoyed the characters but I feel like some things could be improved. Dominion is told by Abigail, Gideon, and Tristan and we get to see each of their perspectives. In the beginning it's pretty spaced out but then it seems that the book is more about Gideon and Abigail, which makes sense because of their characters. But...I would have liked to learn a little more about Tristan's character because for being an actual guardian angel and supposed "good guy" he seemed a little different. I would definitely like to learn more about him in the next book. 

I did like reading about Gideon and watching him grow as a character and he is also completely good looking, just like Tristan. I mean, look at the cover! But really, Gideon is kind of unlikable in the beginning. Abigail is an interesting female lead because she is definitely more than meets the eye. She's strong and smart and pretty kind as well. She knows how to kick some butt and that is always awesome to see in a female character. But throughout the story she starts to figure out what she really feels and her true thoughts. She starts to realize who she really is. Tristan is kind and funny and is one of the only people not afraid of Gideon. A lot goes on between all three of them and it's pretty interesting to read about. 

The story line is interesting as well and I can't wait to see where the author is going to go with it. I feel like we only learned the beginning of the whole guardian angel history and I'd love to learn more about what's going on in their world. I also feel like a good part of the book had to do with Abigail and a love interest and while I enjoyed that, I also would have liked a little more into the world of the angels and other creatures. 

All in all Dominion was a great start for a promising series. I'm looking forward to see where Manful takes these characters that I've grown attached to. The ending was a cliffhanger and leaves you wanting to find out more. So check it out now!

Vanessa 

My favorites of 2013

Wow! I can not believe that 2013 is almost over and 2014 is on it's way. 2013 was a year full of so much reading for me. I really hope that 2014 will be an even better year for reading. :) Thinking back on the year, I picked some of the favorites that I read. It was really difficult because I came across quite a few diamonds in the rough. :) All the covers have links to Goodreads so you can read the summaries!

End of Series:

This year two of my favorite series ended and so, naturally, those two books are a part of my favorites.
Clockwork Princess was amazing and had me weeping like a baby in the end. The third and last book in The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. I hated to see a good series end but I loved the way it ended. Allegiant was also the third and last book in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. While the surprise ending left many readers upset and hurt, it was an awesome book nonetheless. Sure, I cried like an even bigger baby at the end but I loved the experience of feeling for some great characters. If you haven't read these books yet, make sure you do!

First in a Series:

These next books were each a beginning of a series that I plan to keep reading. Scarlet was a great read for me with a nice cover as well. With it's unique take on the tale of Robin Hood and intriguing characters, I fell in love with this promising series. I can't wait to read the sequel soon! The Maze Runner was another favorite of mine. I jumped on the bandwagon a little later than everyone else but just in time for the movie coming out in 2014. I loved the characters and the suspenseful story! I also loved the sequel. I can't wait for the movie and Dylan O'Brien as Thomas! If you haven't read these book series' yet, then try them out soon!

Stand Alone:

I start a ton of series and it seems that, most of the time, I have to read books in a series. But, I do love stand alone books every once and awhile and these were some of my favorites. Evanescent was definitely a diamond in the rough and I'm so happy that I found it. It wasn't a long book but it's definitely worth your time and very magical! I also read another of Sarah Dessen's books which are always amazing. Along for the Ride was a great read and had a good story line and awesome characters. I recommend it to anyone!

Favorites in Series:

These next books are a part of some of my favorite series but aren't the last books in the series. I LOVE the Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout and this year I was able to read the latest book, Origin. It's not the last book and that was obvious by the cliff hanger. Readers get tons of Damon and Katy, romance, suspense and humor! Dare You To is a part of The Pushing Limits series by Katie McGarry. It's the second book in the series but you don't have to read them in any order. I just recently read this outstanding novel and am so glad that I did. Be prepared for the feels if you do end up reading it! Read both if you haven't yet, you won't be disappointed!

New Series:

And last but not least, a new series that was published this year! The 5th Wave was on my wishlist and I was completely excited to read it. I was not disappointed and I look forward to reading more of the series!

So those are my most favorite reads of 2013 and I'm so glad that I had many of them. I can't wait for next year and all the books to come! What were some of your favorites of this year?

Vanessa

Six Months Later Review

Six Months Later

By Natalie D. Richards

Published October 1st, 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire

336 pages

4 stars - Interesting!

Chloe didn't think about it much when she nodded off in study hall on that sleepy summer day. But when she wakes up, snow is on the ground and she can't remember the last six months of her life. Before, she'd been a mediocre student. Now, she's on track for valedictorian and being recruited by Ivy League schools. Before, she never had a chance with super jock Blake. Now he's her boyfriend. Before, she and Maggie were inseparable. Now her best friend won't speak to her.

What happened to her? 
And why can't she remember?




Review:

Six Months Later was quite interesting and kept me on my toes for most of the book. It had a mysterious feel to it and I enjoyed it very much. 

I enjoyed Chloe's character and how she wouldn't give up on finding out information about what had happened to her. The whole thing that did happen to her was kind of creepy and totally unexpected when the book starts off. The way the book starts off leaves the reader with no clues to what happened to Chloe's mind. I enjoyed figuring out the clues with Chloe and trying to pick out the culprit. Other characters that I loved include Maggie and Adam. Maggie was a great best friend and pretty strong. I definitely felt for her in the beginning. Adam was, of course, awesome. Not only was he very attractive but he was also incredibly smart and nice. There were some characters that weren't as great as they seemed in the beginning and even Chloe's mother was a little suspicious at first. 

All in all, I enjoyed reading this suspenseful book. I was constantly thinking of everyone that could be the culprit and trying to figure out what exactly happened to Chloe. What did happen was kind of surprising but kind of expected. Overall, Six Months Later was an enjoyable read and had suspense, mystery and some romance. Anyone that enjoys a good mystery will enjoy this as well. I recommend you all try this out! 

Vanessa