www wednesdays 3

WWW wednesdays are hosted by MizB at shouldbereading.wordpress.com. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?     

   

  What are you currently reading?
MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH - BETHANY GRIFFIN
I've only read a page or two of this so I don't really have a view on it yet, there's loads of great reviews of it though so I'm expecting it to be good!

 What did you recently finish reading?
 WILDEFIRE - KARSTEN KNIGHT
I've had this book for a while but the synopsis never really appealed to me, so I never read it. It was only when I stumbled across a review that mentioned it was about different mythologies (I must have not read that part of the synopsis!) I decided to read it, and it was alot better than I expected!

What do you think you'll read next?
ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD - KENDARE BLAKE
I've heard so much about this book, so I'm gonna try it even though it doesn't really sound like my type of book!

Let me know what you think about the books I have included, or link me to your WWW Wednesdays :)

review: die for me - amy plum

DIE FOR ME
Amy Plum
Release Date: May 11th 2011
Publisher: ATOM
Pages: 344
Source: bought

Rating: 2 out of 5

"My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything. Suddenly, my sister, Georgia and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen. Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies. . .immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind."

I bought this book on a whim as a very good friend wouldn't stop raving about it! However personally I didn't really enjoy it, which was a shame as I really love the plot but it just didn't grab me emotionally at all! It started off really slow paced, and it was a while before anything exciting happened which I found a little dull :(

The parts that I did like included the romantic setting, Paris has always been a city I've loved and Amy Plum described it so beautifully I was about ready to book a plane ticket there! It was nice to actually have the action unfold within the city, we get to follow Kate to art museums and quaint cafes among other places. It added a unique charm to the setting. I also enjoyed the plot line, the idea of revenants and numa is like nothing else I've read before, and I hope we find out more about their origins and backgrounds in the next books.

Unfortunately there was just something missing in this book which stopped me engaging emotionally with it. I found the main character dull, she didn't come across strong to me at all. Kate is self depreciating, and to put it bluntly has no other life than Vincent. I didn't feel empathy for her mourning at all, I just couldn't connect. Her sister Georgia, also came across as completely shallow. She cared more about partying than she did Kate, and for her to pick a relative stranger over Kate just showed that.

The romance also lacked chemistry for me. There wasn't much intimacy between them, and I don't know I just didn't believe it really. Vincent seems to become obsessed with Kate, without much reason. I just wanted more! More tension, more build-up but unfortunately I didn't get it :(. Maybe I've just been spoilt by reading books with abudance of romantic tension in, so when I read this it had no chance of comparing. Another thing I find strange is Vincent also seems far too perfect to be real? It was just too cliche for me.

This book just lacked that special something for me, even though plenty of others absolutely adore it! I don't want my review to put anyone off, as this book will be something the majority love. I think I will read the sequel as I adored the setting, and the idea of revenants so I want to learn more about them.

teaser tuesday 1

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"I could feel myself losing it, right there on the edge of crazy, but it didn’t matter, nothing mattered but the pain slamming into me in waves that brought me to my knees. I needed her, needed her to be alive even if we couldn’t be together anymore."   Crave - Melissa Darnell

 I'm having mixed feelings reading this book so far which is so dissapointing as the synopsis is so intriguing. I'm only a quarter of the way through though so I hope it gets better!

review: grave mercy - robin lafevers

GRAVE MERCY

Robin LaFevers
Release Date: April 3rd 2012
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 549

Rating: 5 out of 5

 Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

To be perfectly honest, I really wasn't sure what I'd think of this book from reading the summary. But it completely took me by surprise and I loved it! I really liked the descriptions explaining the historical and political background of the story, and found myself wishing I was part of it! The plot was really intriguing and had me guessing incorrectly what would happen next at various points in the story. When I first got introdced to the idea of the covenant I found it really cool and interesting, but doubts about it seeded in my mind. I really liked how the plot developed and ended up in a 'castle' setting, I loved all the descriptions of the pretty outfits!

 As soon as I began reading I knew I'd love Ismae, she's such a good main character in that she uses what she's been through as a source of power. She is intelligent, strong and pretty handy at knowing how to kill someone in various ways to suit her need, I absolutely love how this is reflected flawlessly on the cover by showing her holding her trusty crossbow. The beauty of this story though is that we are first shown Ismae at the age of 13, and see her grow and find herself throughout the novel. I really enjoyed seeing her start to question the covenant and it's teachings, as let's be honest the covenant was kinda creepy! It was also nice to see her hardened heart open up and for her to begin to feel love for people as well.

Duval is another outstanding character, his complete loyalty and love for his sister Anne is heartwarming. It was clear that he is truly a genuine and lovable man, and I definitely was routing for him and Ismae the whole way through. I really liked that he was never described as being beautiful, as most YA books seem to label the romantic interests recently. It focused less on his looks and more on his character. I really loved how Duval's and Ismae's romance developed. It was a slow burning romance, occasionally overshadowed by everything else but I liked that, it made it seem more real. This might be slightly spoilery but there definitely were a lot of tears shed relating to their romance at a few key points! The secondary characters are definitely not to be overlooked, as I grew attachments to many of them: Beast, De Lornay, Anne and Isabeau.


In conclusion this was a page-turning, intriguing and beautifully written novel. The blending of various elements of different genres was great, and I liked the slightly paranormal elements involved. The characters, plot and setting are all well developed, which made the story so believable. The ending was also nice, in that it wasn't a cliffhanger and left me with a sense of conclusion. I'm really hoping though that as this is part of a series that it still continues with Ismae's story, as I hate POV switches in series'! I can see the sequel being from Sybella's POV which makes me sad :( But in anycase, for fans of series' like Graceling, and Poison Study I would definitely check this out!

the hunger games film

So I saw 'The Hunger Games' for the second time today, and I have to say despite worrying that it would no way live up to the book series, I was really impressed by it! It's possibly the best book to movie adaptation I've seen. I was a little annoyed that they changed certain things from the book but I completely understand that it had to happen!

The casting was one of the things I was unsure of before seeing the film, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, really? But after seeing his portrayal I don't think there is another actor that could play Peeta and capture the role quite as he did. He was perfect. I also really enjoyed Liam Hemsworth as Gale, and Alexander Ludwig was simply superb at playing ruthless Cato. I'm still not 100% sold on Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, although I think that's more due to the fact we get none of her internal monologue in the film so she didn't seem as much of a brilliant character as she was in the books.

District 12 was done so perfectly, I never imagined it to being like a 'shanty town' but it completely captured the desperation and despair in the district. The comparison to the Capitol was brilliantly done, showing two complete opposites on a scale of wealth and luxury. I also thought that the costumes were done so well, showing the extravagance and quite frankly kookiness of the Capitol and it's inhabitants.

Seneca Crane also deserves a little shout out, as I really felt for him knowing what fate had instore for him. It was really nice to see the 'gamemakers room', and see them actually create fire, and falling trees and the mutts. I also liked the flashes of Gale at home, and seeing his reactions to Katniss/Peeta in the arena. I felt that it really came across that Gale loves Katniss, while I found that you couldn't really tell Katniss was just pretending to like Peeta, I'd be clueless if I hadn't read the books.

All in all, you should definitely go see it if you haven't already! And I firmly believe that the film completely did the books justice! Even if you haven't read the books, the film is a definite must see!

review: possession - elana johnson

POSSESSION

Elana Johnson
Release Date: June 7th 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 416

Rating: 1 out of 5

"Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn. This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play "

Wow, I'm not even sure what to say about this book. 99% of the time I was reading it I had NO idea what was going on. It read as though Elana was writing a draft, full of ideas and plot points but they were disjointed. You get completely thrown in at the deep end into a confusing world which doesn't get satisfactory explanation and just continues to get more strange.

The characters also seemed shallow to me. Vi, rebels against the 'goodies' but we never are told why. She also claims to be completely in love with her match, Zenn, but as soon as she meets Jag she seems to forget all about Zenn. Oh and she 'falls in love' with Jag, despite the fact there is no build-up to this romance, and it seems to have occurred over days.. Jag as a character has no substance, and to be perfectly honest the way he calls Vi 'babe' make me feel slightly ill.The only character I actually cared about in this book was Zenn, which is kind of ironic I guess.

I read all of Possession, in the hopes that there would be explanations, or a sudden character development that would actually make me care what happened, but there was nothing. I'm still in mixed minds whether to read the sequel, such a shame as the book had such promise, and some of the ideas were interesting but the writing style was just so horrendous.

review: illuminate - aimee agresti

ILLUMINATE
Aimee Agresti
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Book
Pages: 534
Source: bought

Rating: 4 out of 5

"Haven Terra is a brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything begins to change when she turns sixteen. Along with her best friend Dante and their quiet and brilliant classmate Lance, she is awarded a prestigious internship in the big city— Chicago—and is sent to live and work at a swanky and stylish hotel under the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous and shockingly young-looking strangers: powerful and alluring hotel owner Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing Lucian Grove; and their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called The Outfit.
As Haven begins falling for Lucian, she discovers that these beautiful people are not quite what they seem. With the help of a mysterious book, she uncovers a network of secret passageways from the hotel’s jazz-age past that leads her to the heart of the evil agenda of Aurelia and company: they’re in the business of buying souls. Will they succeed in wooing Haven to join them in their recruitment efforts, or will she be able to thwart this devilish set’s plans to take the souls of her classmates on prom night at the hotel? "

I've been excited to read this book for a while, and I wasn't disappointed when I finally got the chance to! I do wish the blurb of the book didn't give as much of the story away though, it doesn't leave much room for surprise. At over 500 pages this could be considered far too long for a YA book, but I liked that the book was lengthy. I found it allowed Aimee to fully explore, and her writing was a treat to read as it was full of imagery, atmosphere and crafted intrigue and mystery beautifully.

Haven was a main character I think a lot could relate to, however at first I found her boring to be completely honest! However I did enjoy her evolution throughout the novel, and  found the further I read on, the more I warmed to her. The character of Dante was a breath of fresh air for me, it was really nice to see a gay character portrayed in a YA novel, and for one to be portrayed well. He reminded me of one of my own friends, so needless to say he was a favourite of mine. I loved the character of Lucian, even though his sudden interest in Haven at first was sort of creepy, he definitely grabbed hold of my heart and I found myself rooting for him! Lance, I was less enthralled with. I can't say his character stood out to me, I found him bland. There is a slight love triangle in this book which might put a few of you off, and I can't say I'm happy with who Hazel ended up with but as this is a series I'm holding out hope!

Although this is an 'angel' book, the lore is handled in a way that is dissimilar to the variety of other angel books I've read, this is probably my second favourite, only to Angelfall, and that says a lot! There were so many good things about this book: the length, the writing, the majority of the characters and the plot twists. I really wanted to give it a 5 but due to my dislike of the 'resolution' of the love triangle I really found I couldn't, however I guess this is a testament to Aimee's writing that she could make me care that much about how it worked out. I will definitely be buying the sequel, as I'm waiting anxiously to see what happens next!