Stacking the Shelves [40]

I am joining in on Stacking The Shelves, a weekly meme hosted over at Tynga's Reviews. It is an easy way to share what books you picked up that week, and to see what other people have picked up to read themselves.

How to Participate?

• Create your own Stacking The Shelves post. You can use my official graphic or your own, but please link back to Tynga’s Reviews so more people can join the fun!
• You can set your post any way you want, simple book list, covers, pictures, vlog, sky is the limit!
• I am posting Stacking The Shelves on Saturdays, but feel free to post yours any day that fits you.
• Visit Tynga’s Reviews on Saturday and add your link so others can visit you!
  

THIS WEEK:

Sorry for my lack of posts this week. I have been under the weather with a sinus infection, and so I have not spent very much time at all on or near my computer (mostly I have been laying down, hoping I will be able to breathe through my nose in the near future!). I did add a couple of books to my shelves this week though, so I thought I would share them with you!

Purchased: 

A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas

Rhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining of Sleeping Beauty and what happens after happily ever after.

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

Rhiannon Thomas weaves together vivid scenes of action, romance, and gorgeous gowns to reveal a richly imagined world … and Sleeping Beauty as she’s never been seen before.

 The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury 

Seventeen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she’s engaged to the prince, Twylla isn’t exactly a member of the court.

She’s the executioner.

As the Goddess embodied, Twylla instantly kills anyone she touches. Each month she’s taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love a girl with murder in her veins. Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to Twylla’s fatal touch, avoids her company.

But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose easy smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he’s able to look past Twylla’s executioner robes and see the girl, not the Goddess. Yet Twylla’s been promised to the prince, and knows what happens to people who cross the queen.

However, a treasonous secret is the least of Twylla’s problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies, a plan that requires a stomach-churning, unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love?

For Review: 

 A Work of Art by Melody Maysonet
Thank you Merit Press!!

Shy, artistic Tera can't wait to attend a prestigious art school in France to prove to her famous artist father that she can make something of herself. But Tera's hopes for the future explode when the police arrest her dad for an unspeakable crime. Her father's arrest must be a mistake, so Tera goes into action, sacrificing her future at art school to pay for his defense. Meanwhile, she falls head over heels for Joey, a rebel musician who makes her feel wanted and asks no questions about her past. Joey helps Tera forget her troubles, but he brings a whole new set of problems to Tera's already complicated life. Then, to make matters worse, as her relationship with Joey deepens and as her dad's hotshot lawyer builds a defense, fractures begin to appear in Tera's childhood memories--fractures that make her wonder: could her father be guilty? And whether he's guilty or innocent, can she find a way to step out of the shadows of her father's reputation and walk free? Can she stop him, guilty or innocent, from tainting the only future she ever wanted? "A Work of Art" is a deeply felt story about self-image, self-deception, and the terrible moment that comes when we have to face the whole truth about the myths of our childhoods.

What did you add to your shelves this week?

Top Ten Favorite Heroines From Books

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! As always, I am linking up over at The Broke and the Bookish, and this week we are talking all about the heroines that we love in books. I know that they have done this topic before, but I honestly cannot remember if I was completing these TTT posts at that times. Nonetheless, I am sure that my answers would have changed anyway, so I am going to do this again (or for the first time, you know what I'm saying :). Here are my Top Ten Favorite Heroines from Books!

1. Cia Vale | The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

2. Cinder | Cinder and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

3. Scarlet | Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

4. Tris Prior | Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

5. Hermione Granger | Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

6. Meira | Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

7. Lexi | Branded by Abi Ketner & Missy Kalicicki

8. Katniss Everdeen | Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

9. Liesel | The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

10. Tess | The Lost Souls Trilogy by Tiffany Truitt

Who are your favorite heroines?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? [1]

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's a meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week. This is my first week to participate in this one, so I am very excited about it! 

Last Week I Read:

 Loki's Wolves by K.L. Armstrong & M. A. Marr (e-ARC) - 3.5 Stars

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau (Library) - 5 Stars

How to Unbreakup by Rebekah L. Purdy (e-ARC) - 5 Stars

What I Am Currently Reading:

The Boy Next Door by Katie Van Ark (own)

What I Hope to Read This Week:

One of the Guys by Lisa Aldin (e-ARC)

What books do you plan to read this week?

Review: Loki's Wolves by K.L. Armstrong & M.A. Marr

Loki's Wolves 

by K.L. Armstrong & M.A. Marr

(The Blackwell Pages #1)
Category: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy, Mythology
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Publication Date: May 2013
Page Count: 358
Format: E-Book
Source: Netgalley (thank you!)

Goodreads Synopsis: In Viking times, Norse myths predicted the end of the world, an event called Ragnarok, that only the gods can stop. When this apocalypse happens, the gods must battle the monsters--wolves the size of the sun, serpents that span the seabeds, all bent on destroying the world.

The gods died a long time ago.

Matt Thorsen knows every Norse myth, saga, and god as if it was family history--because it is family history. Most people in the modern-day town of Blackwell, South Dakota, in fact, are direct descendants of either Thor or Loki, including Matt's classmates Fen and Laurie Brekke.

However, knowing the legends and completely believing them are two different things. When the rune readers reveal that Ragnarok is coming and kids--led by Matt--will stand in for the gods in the final battle, he can hardly believe it. Matt, Laurie, and Fen's lives will never be the same as they race to put together an unstoppable team to prevent the end of the world.

GOODREADS . AMAZON 

Review: This is my first middle grade read in quite some time (in fact, I can't remember what other middle grade books I have read, if I'm being honest...). I thought that the cover was gorgeous and the synopsis sounded intriguing, so I thought that I would go ahead and give it a try and see what I think. Overall, I think that I did discover that middle grade is probably not for me, but I did think that the actual story was very fun, so I did enjoy reading it for the most part.

I have not read any of the books in the Percy Jackson series, but I do think that this would probably be similar to those. Enough so that people would probably compare them, at least. However, this book talks about Norse mythology, which I think is an interesting change because it is not something that you see very often. Instead of the usual Greek gods, the main character, Matt, is a descendant of Thor; the other two main characters, Fen and Laurie, are descendants of Loki. As the Avengers and all of those movies are so popular, it was fun to see things in this light.

Overall, I liked how we had more than one POV in the story. I am not sure if that is something that happens often in middle grade, but I think that it definitely added a lot to this story. We get the perspective of all three main characters, which makes things quite interesting as they are all very different. They all had very different voices in the book as well, which I think is very important when trying to write in multiple POVs. If they all sound the same it does not have the desired effect, but that was not the case here.

Of course, nothing about this book is realistic, and that's okay. I had to keep in mind that this book was written specifically for children in the middle grades (which was not too difficult for me since I do teach middle school). It's the kind of adventurous, battle type storyline a lot of them would love to read about. I do think that the ending was a little sudden an abrupt, and there was a definite cliffhanger, but I know that was just done to leave it open for the next book in the series.

Overall, I do think that the book was enjoyable. It was nice to step out of my normal reading comfort zone and read something that I probably would not usually read. I do think that I would be interested in reading more books in this series, but I am not sure that I will read much middle grade in the future.

Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

This Week's Releases: February 22 - 28

• Welcome to This Week's Releases! The new weekly post on Beneath the Jacket Reviews that I will post every Sunday. I am going to discuss the releases of the week that I am super excited about, and why. Some weeks there may be a dozen books, sometimes there may be two or three, and sometimes there may be none at all. That's alright though, since it's just about books I am actually interested in!

Week #8: February 22 - 28

I really did not mean to wait so long between doing these posts, but then things always seemed to come up on the weekends and they just didn't happen. I am going to try to be much better about posting these weekly, though. Currently it's raining and cold here (hoping for a snow day tomorrow since we're supposed to have a night of freezing rain), so I plan to get quite a few blog posts written and scheduled today! Anyway, here are the releases I'm looking forward to this week!

1. No Parking at the End Times by Bryan Bliss

Series: N/A

Release Date: February 24

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Page Count: 272

Why I Want to Read It: The synopsis of this book sounds amazing. I really enjoy when contemporaries focus on family aspects since a lot of them tend to leave families out of them completely. It reminds me of the whole 2012 thing, when everyone was sure the world was going to end, so I am interested to see how the author handles it. It's also a debut novel, and I enjoy reading new authors.

Synopsis:
Abigail’s parents have made mistake after mistake, and now they've lost everything. She’s left to decide: Does she still believe in them? Or is it time to believe in herself? Fans of Sara Zarr, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell will connect with this moving debut.

Abigail doesn't know how her dad found Brother John. Maybe it was the billboards. Or the radio. What she does know is that he never should have made that first donation. Or the next, or the next. Her parents shouldn't have sold their house. Or packed Abigail and her twin brother, Aaron, into their old van to drive across the country to San Francisco, to be there with Brother John for the "end of the world." Because of course the end didn't come. And now they're living in their van. And Aaron’s disappearing to who-knows-where every night. Their family is falling apart. All Abigail wants is to hold them together, to get them back to the place where things were right. But maybe it’s too big a task for one teenage girl. Bryan Bliss’s thoughtful, literary debut novel is about losing everything—and about what you will do for the people you love.

 2. The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Series: The Sin Eater's Daughter #1

Release Date: February 24

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Page Count: 336

Why I Want to Read It: I think that this book has a very fascinating premise, one that I certainly have not read before. The main character can kill people just by touching them, and somehow she is promised to the prince because his royalty is supposed to keep him safe from her gift. Seems like there could be a pretty interesting love triangle involved as well.

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she’s engaged to the prince, Twylla isn’t exactly a member of the court.

She’s the executioner.

As the Goddess embodied, Twylla instantly kills anyone she touches. Each month she’s taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love a girl with murder in her veins. Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to Twylla’s fatal touch, avoids her company.

But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose easy smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he’s able to look past Twylla’s executioner robes and see the girl, not the Goddess. Yet Twylla’s been promised to the prince, and knows what happens to people who cross the queen.

However, a treasonous secret is the least of Twylla’s problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies, a plan that requires a stomach-churning, unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love?

 3. A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas

Series: A Wicked Thing #1

Release Date: February 24

Publisher: HarperTeen

Page Count: 352

Why I Want to Read It: Another debut novel, yay! I had no idea that this was going to be a series as well, so that's pretty awesome. I think that fairy tale retellings are really great when there is a brand new, interesting twist on it, and this book definitely seems to have that going for it. We will get to see what happens with Sleeping Beauty after the kiss that awakens her, and I think that's pretty awesome.

Synopsis:
Rhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining of Sleeping Beauty and what happens after happily ever after.

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

Rhiannon Thomas weaves together vivid scenes of action, romance, and gorgeous gowns to reveal a richly imagined world … and Sleeping Beauty as she’s never been seen before.

 4. Quake by Patrick Carman

Series: Pulse #3

Release Date: February 24

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Page Count: 288

Why I Want to Read It: I actually have not started this series, and I didn't know too much about it until a few days ago when I overheard some people talking about it. Since then, I haven't been able to stop thinking about how much I really do want to read this series. I do hope to get my hands on all of them in the near future so I can just marathon the series.

Synopsis:
In the year 2051, Faith can move mountains…

Faith Daniels and Dylan Gilmore are in love, and they have a special ability called a pulse: they can move things with their minds. They're caught in the middle of a deadly war with two other pulses: Clara and Wade Quinn, who have joined forces with Hotspur Chance, the most wanted man in the world.

At the start of Quake, Faith and Dylan are holed up in a spectacular abandoned mountain lodge (once used in the film The Shining 71 years before), and their Intel friend Hawk leaves them in the middle of the night, in spite of a newly blossoming love with a girl named Jade. Hawk’s plan is to penetrate the Western State and make contact with a sleeper cell working on the inside that will give them valuable information about Hotspur’s violent plan.

But while Hawk is searching for answers on the inside, Faith and Dylan are still fighting on the outside. In a series of hair-raising battles, the second pulses duel it out, only to raise the body count on both sides. During the battles, Faith and Dylan discover an even great strength: the power of their combined love. Together, Faith and Dylan might just be able to save the world with a quake that is big enough to change the course of history.

 Which releases are you excited for this week?

Stacking the Shelves [39]

I am joining in on Stacking The Shelves, a weekly meme hosted over at Tynga's Reviews. It is an easy way to share what books you picked up that week, and to see what other people have picked up to read themselves.

How to Participate?

• Create your own Stacking The Shelves post. You can use my official graphic or your own, but please link back to Tynga’s Reviews so more people can join the fun!
• You can set your post any way you want, simple book list, covers, pictures, vlog, sky is the limit!
• I am posting Stacking The Shelves on Saturdays, but feel free to post yours any day that fits you.
• Visit Tynga’s Reviews on Saturday and add your link so others can visit you!
  
  
  

THIS WEEK:

I actually did not buy any books this week (I know, I'm shocked by it, too!). However, I did make a purchase on Amazon several weeks ago that I am STILL waiting to arrive. It was supposed to be here this week, but they just shipped it yesterday, so I guess I will talk about those books next week. Instead, I am going to focus on some of the books I received from Netgalley recently that I really need to read soon as I am already behind on them (anyone there with me?)

ALSO, today is the last day to enter my Blogoversary Giveaway! Don't miss out on the opportunity to win some awesome books and bookmarks!!

Netgalley Books:

Best Friends Through Eternity by Sylvia McNicoll

Inspired by the true story of a teen who was killed at a railway crossing, the author weaves the tale of fourteen-year-old Paige, who, taking a shortcut alongside the tracks to avoid the school bullies, is tragically hit by a train and transported to a surreal world where she encounters Kim, who died seven years before. Convinced she is only dreaming, Paige must discover a way to return to her former life. Poignant, gripping, and full of unexpected twists and turns, Best Friends through Eternity will resonate with readers who have struggled with cultural identity, a sense of belonging, and the real meaning of home.

 A Magic Dark and Bright by Jenny Adams Perinovic

She meant to help a ghost...not unleash a curse.

Amelia Dupree hasn’t seen the Woman in White since the night her brother died.

The ghost seems to have disappeared from the woods surrounding Asylum, Pennsylvania—that is, until Charlie Blue moves into the creepy old MacAllister House next door. Amelia can’t help liking him, even though she spent her childhood thinking his grandmother was a witch. And she definitely can’t ignore the connection between his arrival and the Woman in White’s return.

Then Amelia learns that the Woman in White is a prisoner, trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. Devastated by the idea that her brother could be suffering a similar fate, Amelia decides to do whatever it takes to help the Woman in White find peace--and Charlie agrees to help her.

But when Amelia’s classmates start to drown in the Susquehanna River, one right after another, rumors swirl as people begin to connect the timing of Charlie’s arrival with the unexplained deaths. As Charlie and Amelia uncover the dark history of Asylum, they realize they may have unleashed an unspeakable evil. One they have to stop before everything they love is destroyed.

 Burn Baby, Burn Baby by Kevin Craig

Seventeen-year-old Francis Fripp’s confidence is practically non-existent since his abusive father drenched him in accelerant and threw a match at him eight years ago.

Now badly scarred, Francis relies on his best friend Trig to protect him from the constant bullying doled out at the hands of his nemesis, Brandon Hayley—the unrelenting boy who gave him the dreaded nickname of Burn Baby.

The new girl at school, Rachel Higgins, is the first to see past Francis’s pariah-inducing scars.

If Brandon’s bullying doesn’t destroy him, Francis might experience life as a normal teenager for the first time in his life. He just has to avoid Brandon and convince himself he’s worthy of Rachel’s attentions.

Sounds easy enough, but Francis himself has a hard time seeing past his scars. And Brandon is getting violently frustrated, as his attempts to bully Francis are constantly thwarted.

Francis is in turmoil as he simultaneously rushes toward his first kiss and a possible violent end.

 My Best Everything by Sarah Tomp

You say it was all meant to be. You and me. The way we met. Our secrets in the woods. Even the way it all exploded. It was simply a matter of fate.

Maybe if you were here to tell me again, to explain it one more time, then maybe I wouldn’t feel so uncertain. But I’m going back to the beginning on my own. To see what happened and why.

Luisa “Lulu” Mendez has just finished her final year of high school in a small Virginia town, determined to move on and leave her job at the local junkyard behind. So when her father loses her college tuition money, Lulu needs a new ticket out.

Desperate for funds, she cooks up the (definitely illegal) plan to make and sell moonshine with her friends, Roni and Bucky. Quickly realizing they’re out of their depth, Lulu turns to Mason: a local boy who’s always seemed like a dead end. As Mason guides Lulu through the secret world of moonshine, it looks like her plan might actually work. But can she leave town before she loses everything – including her heart?

The summer walks the line between toxic and intoxicating. My Best Everything is Lulu’s letter to Mason – though is it an apology, a good-bye, or a love letter?

What did you add to your shelves this week?

Blog Tour + Giveaway: How to Unbreakup by Rebekah L. Purdy

How to Unbreakup

by Rebekah L. Purdy 

Release Date: 02/10/15

Swoon Romance

Summary from Goodreads:

First rule of breakups: There’s no going back.

For three years, seventeen-year-old Grace Evers has regretted breaking up with Sage Castle.

That day, she lost her boyfriend and best friend. And let's be honest, it's impossible to just be friends with the one person who gets you, faults and all, and loved you anyway. It's impossible not to think about how it felt to be held by him, or the way he looked right before he was about to kiss you with the most perfectly yummy kiss goodnight.

And now that things are over between them, they've become strangers to one another. Sage won’t even look at Grace, let alone talk to her!

Breakup life sucks and Grace is utterly miserable, doing whatever she can to ease the pain of losing Sage. She's spent the better part of high school pretending to be something she’s not and hanging out with people who probably wouldn't notice if she wasn't there. Crappy dates, backstabbing friends, and Sage's cold shoulder have taken their toll.

So when her parents propose going away to their house on Lake Michigan for the summer, Grace is thrilled. No more massively bad dates with horrible kissers or lunch with frienemies. Just three months of swimming,
hiking, and relaxing before senior year starts.

But when Grace learns Sage and his family will be joining them, she readies herself for a totally awkward family vacation of disastrous proportions. How can it be anything but awful if Sage won't even acknowledge she exists?

This is it, Grace's last chance to get Sage back and unbreakup.

Add to Goodreads

Buy Links:

Amazon

Review: When I decided on my February TBR I chose to read a lot of contemporary books, and I was quite happy to be able to add this one to my list of books to read for the month. It sounded so cute when I got the email about the tour, and it had me eagerly awaiting my copy so that I could get to it. It should come as no surprise that I absolutely loved this book, which is too cute for words. I read it in a day when I had time here and there, though each time I had to put it down I was unhappy. I could have sat and read it all in a few hours and been perfectly content, thank you very much. I loved how sweet and innocent the whole story and plot was, and I do look forward to re-reading this one when summer rolls around.

The book centers around two former best friends, Grace and Sage. In the past they realized that their feelings went past friendship, and so they began to date. They were a wonderful couple too, it seemed. Unfortunately, Grace overheard some of her soccer teammates discussing that her skills on the field had suffered greatly since their relationship began, and she knew that she had to make a choice; either break up with Sage or continue to be the butt of her teammate's disappointment. She decided to break up, something that she has obviously regretted ever since seeing as Sage has refused to say one word to her since that day.

At the beginning of the book three years have passed, and Grace seems to regret the breakup more than ever before. She wants nothing more than to get back together, but Sage seems to want nothing to do with her. Then her parents inform her that they will be spending their summer in the cabin at the lake...and they have invited Sage's family. Suddenly they will be forced to spend the whole summer together after having not spoken for nearly three years. Seems pretty rough!

Grace is determined to get Sage back though, and with the help of Sage's little sister, Allie, they devise a ten step plan that should get Sage to forgive her and fall for her again. Or so she hopes. Naturally, it is a YA contemporary, so it does not come without its problems. Things don't go as planned, other possible crushes come into the picture, and some things don't work out nearly as Grace had hoped. In the end, she completes the steps and everything is left in Sage's hands. 

I think that Purdy did a wonderful job of writing this story in a way that we love both of the main characters. In fact, I really enjoyed all of the characters in the book. I thought that they were all unique and interesting, and definitely well-written. Grace was a great main character, and very relateable. While she was going through a tough situation and was hurting, she never took the low road or was cruel to anyone (like the girl trying to make Sage her summer fling). She handles everything with maturity and understands that she was the one who made the decision three years ago, and so she is the one who has to fix things.

Sure, the ending may have been a bit predictable, but you should all know by now that I am not bothered by that at all when it comes to my YA contemps. In fact, it is usually something that I hope for (and tend to get a little angry about if it doesn't work out that way...). The writing overall was just wonderful. Everything was clear and detailed, and very interesting. I wanted to continue reading to see what was going to happen next throughout the entirety of the novel. I would strongly recommend this book to other contemporary fans.

Rating: 5.0 / 5.0

About the Author

Rebekah Purdy grew up in Michigan, where she spent many late nights armed with a good book and a flashlight. When not hiding at her computer and getting lost in her stories, she enjoys reading, singing, soccer, swimming, football, camping, playing video games and hanging out with her kids. She loves the unexplainable like Bigfoot, the Dogman, and the Loch Ness Monster (lots of good story material)! She admits to still having all the books she bought throughout her childhood and teen years, and she may or may not have an obsession with anything chocolate…

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

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