Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Who: Lauren Oliver
What: Delirium
When: February 1st, 2011
Where: Harper Collins (Harperteen)
Why: Lauren Novel Love (and holy Jesus, THAT PLOT.)
How: Bought

Before scientists found the cure, people thought
love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria --
blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now.
Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all
citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked
forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without
pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days
left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in
love.

Did anyone doubt I wasn't gonna love this? I mean, 1) it's by LAUREN freakin' OLIVER. 2)Romance AND Dystopian? Love. And 3) DAMN, I wish I had come up with this. And that doesn't happen often.

Lauren takes us into a world after war and Independence broke us apart. The government in turn, blame everything bad on something called amor deliria nervosa, which we all know as love. Everyone receives "the cure" when they turn eighteen, freeing them from the ability to love and letting them live happy, long lives. Lena can't wait to get this, until the circumstances make her challenge everything she's been taught in her city. Lauren weaves a deep and rich writing with a plot fast enough to make you never want to put it down.

Lena, for me, was an incredibly realistic character. Sometimes I wanted to hug her, and sometimes I wanted to shake her shoulders. But that's something I love in characters because really, what person do you know where you never want to give them a good smack to the head? She was kind and compelling. I found her journey to discovering not only herself, but the world around her, beautiful and, like all Lauren novels, heart-breaking.

Alex, oh Alex. God, did that boy care about her. They're amazing together really, and watching them interact made me smile. Her friend, Hana, seriously surprised me. I didn't think she'd play such a good part in the story, and even be that dimensional. But she was caring and made ideas of her own that really made the story flow. A lot of things happen because of Hana, and I like that some of her decisions were a lot of a catalyst for Lena.

And that ENDING? Why must every Lauren Novel make me cry? I cannot WAIT for the rest of the trilogy. This is a complete and definite must read, as is her debut novel, Before I Fall.

My rating? AWESOMESAUCE

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler

Who: Sarah Ockler
What: Fixing Delilah
When: December 1st, 2010
Why: Tour
How: For Review

Things in Delilah Hannaford's life have a tendency to
fall apart. She used to be a good student, but she can't seem to keep it
together anymore. Her "boyfriend" isn't much of a boyfriend. And her mother
refuses to discuss the fight that divided their family eight years ago. Falling
apart, it seems, is a Hannaford tradition.

Over a summer of new
friendships, unexpected romance, and moments that test the complex bonds between
mothers and daughters, Delilah must face her family's painful past. Can even her
most shattered relationships be pieced together again?

Fixing Delilah is a young adult contemporary novel about a girl who's dealing with the loss of her grandmother, the busy life her mom has that barely leaves time for her, new love, new friends, and a secret family past that had long since been kept from her. Sounds awesome, right? Well, if you know me, I wasn't a big fan of contemp when I agreed to review this book. But Sarah Ockler is super sweet, so I gave it a try. Oh. My. God. I loved it, so much. This is the reason I read Contemp now people! Now unto the actual review!

Sarah knows how to write about loss. Though I haven't read Twenty Boy Summer (but it's on my TBR pile!), it was especially apparent reading Fixing Delilah. The main theme in this book is family problems, and how every family has their closet secrets and problems. Delilah's mother, who is too busy with her work to pay attention to pretty much anything else, plays a major role in the book as something that Delilah is trying to understand. And I think she portrayed that mother-daughter relationship perfectly, how sometimes when you need them, they're too busy, but they still love you anyway.

Delilah was a well-rounded character, and I loved reading her story. I liked how she went looking for answers, with or without help from other people. She decided for herself that if no one else was going to tell her anything, she had to go figure things out herself. She didn't go for the whole 'Ignorance is bliss' thing, so kudos for her. Delilah's life is a lot about her trying to discover herself and who she is, and that's a major part of being a teen! The emotions and especially the imagery that Sarah wrote into the story was beautiful and I felt that I was really in that small town.

And then of course, I must talk about Patrick. Can I have one? Their relationship was one of my favorite parts of the book, mostly because it was something that you know grew over time. It didn't just materialize into thin air, they'd known each other since childhood. This fun summer-time romance turns into a meaningful relationship and you get to see it all unfold. What can I say? I'm a romance whore and Fixing Delilah totally gave me enough in the romance department.

My rating? AWESOMESAUCE. Pick up anything by Sarah definitely!

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Who: Sarah Dessen
What: The Truth about Forever
When: April 6th, 2006
Why: Hype
How: Contest win

Sixteen-year-old Macy Queen is looking forward to a
long, boring summer. Her boyfriend is going away. She's stuck with a
dull-as-dishwater job at the library. And she'll spend all of her free time
studying for the SATs or grieving silently with her mother over her father's
recent unexpected death. But everything changes when Macy is corralled into
helping out at one of her mother's open house events, and she meets the chaotic
Wish Catering crew. Before long, Macy joins the Wish team. She loves everything
about, the work and the people. But the best thing about Wish is Wes—artistic,
insightful, and understanding Wes—who gets Macy to look at life in a whole new
way, and really start living it.

I had heard a lot about this book, and Sarah Dessen in general. But yet I had never picked up one of her books. Why? As i've mentioned before, i'm not much of a contemporary nut. Probably because I wasn't picking up the right ones. This was a book that there's no concrete reason why I liked it, it was just a beautifully emotional book to read.

The plot wasn't something epicly amazing and full of complex inter webbed lives and difficulties or nothing like that. But I think simplicity helps a lot in contemporary fiction. I mean, how many of us have lives such as in Paranormal Romance novels? Yes, we wish. Contemporary is life, and we want it to me something we can relate it. I related to Macy

Macy is something that's instantly likeable, at least to me. She was dedicating to keeping her life perfect and absolutely non-wild. She has an obnoxiously perfect straight-A boyfriend (which is urgh) and a mother who is always working plus a sister who moved. Her boyfriend is luckily absent for most of the book, but she takes up his job as Informant of all things library. And she sticks to it, even though his co-workers torment he, which I really admired. Though I would've wanted her to smack both of them, I liked the way she handled things.

The Truth about Forever being a character-driven story, loved all the characters. Macy's dad never actually appears in the story because, you know, he's dead. But with the way Sarah describes him and all the stories from Macy's past, even he was a very well-rounded character. I loved how Sarah made Wes and Macy get to know each other, by playing Truth. Truth is where you have to ask a question and the other person has to answer it truthfully, or they lose. You find out a lot about both of them for it. Also, Wes is saaaaaa-woon.

Sarah writes the type of books that "Chick-Lit" readers LOVE, with wonderful characters and swoon-worthy loves, but with a much sadder-in-a-good-way undertone.

My rating: AWESOMESAUCE. Also, if you like Sarah Dessen, you should read Sarah Ockler. Just saying.

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers

This week is PERSONAL DEMONS week on the blog!

Who: Lisa Desrocher (who is epic)
What: Personal Demons
When: September 14, 2010
Why: Epic-ness.
How: Gifted by Kelly Hobbs.
Cover note: Still think the people in this cover are WAY too old to be in High School but..it's growing on me.

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak.
She's spent years keeping everyone at a distance—even her closest friends—and it
seems her senior year will be more of the same...until Luc Cain enrolls in her
class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can't seem to stay away from
him. What she doesn't know is that Luc works in Acquisitions—for Hell—and she
possesses a unique skill set that has the King of Hell tingling with
anticipation. All Luc has to do is get her to sin, and he’s as tempting as they
come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance.

Unfortunately for Luc, Heaven has
other plans, and the angel, Gabe, is going to do whatever it takes to make sure
that Luc doesn’t get what he came for. And it isn't long before they find
themselves fighting for more than just her soul.

But if Luc fails, there
will be Hell to pay…for all of them

I had first heard of Personal Demons by stumbling upon Lisa's blog, where she posted the first chapter of Personal Demons for everyone to read. That got me hooked. When I heard ALA was gonna have ARCs, I asked my friend Kelly, who I knew was going, if she could snag me a copy. She said she would try but no promises. 2 and a half weeks passed and I had given up hope, then I got a tweet that said: GOT YOU PD! And then I did a lot of this: *dance* and this: *flails*. I expected Personal Demons to be awesome, and it WAS.

Frannie is a "good" catholic girl with a wicked streak, and most of the time, I liked her. She was pessemistic and a tad snarky, which is always a plus. But sometimes I was just like: "Really Frannie, REALLY?" She was one of those characters that you love but sometimes just want to strangle! She is really built on the grief of a past family death and along in the book You have Frannie's POV, which really does help you get inside her head because...well you ARE! But then we have Luc's POV, which really helped learn about his character and why he does what he does. Honestly, I would've thought Luc was a coniving bastard if we didn't have his POV.

Luc, while super sexy and streamy and yummm, was sooo endearing once he got over his "I iz Pride, bow down to me." thing. I loved his relationship with Frannie and how his POV shows you not only how he views her, but how he changes majorly as well. I think thats my favorite part of dual POV, because both of the characters are always affected by the relationship, you just almost never see it.

And then there's Gabe. I can't really tell you much about him expect "he's an angel and...I suppose he's nice..." Even though i'm Luc Fangirl Captain all the way, I do want to see more of him and next books and actually see a little bit into his mind! Thrice POV, maybe? Lisa's hinted at more Gabe thoughts in the future so we'll see! But this is a MUST-READ.

My rating: AWESOMESAUCE.

Happy Reading!
-Harmony

In My Mailbox (12 or 13)

In My Mailbox is started by the Story Siren and inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

For Review:

Girl Parts by John. M. Cusask (Thanks, Candlewick!)

Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins (Thanks, Hallie!) (!!!!!!!)

Freefall by Anne Levine (Thanks, Anne!)

Gifted:

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney (Thanks, Julie!)

Acsendant by Diana Peturfrend (I don't know who gave this to me...but thank you!)

Contests:

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting and swag. (Thanks, Pam!)

Library:

Birthmarked by Caragh 'O Brien

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Who: Kiersten White
What: Paranormalcy
When: August 31st
Why: Hype
How: For review from HarperTeen

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal
Containment Agency, Evie's always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best
friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a
shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals'
glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's
dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon
realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of
deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie
prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for
normal.

BLEEPING amazing. I'm serious guys, you should go out right now and buy this book and then drop whatever else you're reading and read it and love it then email me so we can fangirl about it together! Best debut of the year!


Kiersten wrote a world that had vampires, werewolves, mermaids, all the usual paranormals and wove it into something so unique and original! Evie works for something called IPCA, where instead of killing paranormals, they just track them and keep them confined so they can't do no harm. She's been working on this since she was a kid, not knowing who her parents are because IPCA picked her up from the foster care system.


Evie was an extremely likeable character! I wish she was real because she'd be an awesome friend to have. Getting to be in her mind was extremely funny with her sarcasm and witty quips! But the book wasn't all funny, which I did like. In truth, Evie had sad thoughts for being alone and scared and empty. I liked that her mind wasn't only funny, but it wasn't completely depressed. It created a nice balance within the story.

And then there's Lend. Oh sweet, sweet Lend. He's awesome, like seriously. He was nice and sweet and just in the words of my fangirl email to Kiersten: "the most IMPERFECT PERFECT TEENAGE BOY EVER." Reason for the imperfect? Because he wasn't perfect. He fumbled with his words, was awkward, sometimes didn't know exactly what to say. That goes for the both of them and was one of my favorite parts. The fact that they were so awkward at times was something that happens with ALL relationships, not the constant 'I love you *make out with fierce intense passion thing' going on.

And Reth.......was creepy. But amusing and actually pretty helpful....but still kinda creepy.

My rating: AWESOMESAUCE

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

In My Mailbox: The Late Edition

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren and inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie!

For review:

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler

Gifted:

Matched by Ally Condie

and swag, swag, and MORE SWAG!

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

Blog Tour: Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Who: Sophie Jordan
What: Firelight
When: September 7th, 2010
Why: EPIC AWESOME COVER
How: Gifted by lovely Jennifer.

With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

hhhhhh

I have no idea how i'm going to explain my blunt love for this book. So you should just go buy it. Like now.

(Anything in green is stuff my co-author, who has already read Firelight, had to say about the awesomeness)

Firelight is about a girl named Jacinda who loves being a draki and flying and breathing her fire. Her mom and sister? Yeah, not so much. Especially her super bitter sister, who never manifested. So they move her to the desert and enroll her in high school and there she meets Will, the super hot, tortured ball of awesome draki hunter.

Now the basic premise for Firelight isn't what's so original about it. I mean Predator falling in love with his prey, we've heard that before. But the way Sophie executes it, and the creatures she uses (i've never heard of draki in my life. Dragons, sure, but dragons are boring. Draki were definitely not) are what really make the book stand out among the rest. And then there's the awesome world-building going on there. Sophie invented a whole secret world for them, with type classifications, and locations, and rules. There's clans and even arranged marriages crap. Oh, i'll get into Cassian later!

Jacinda was headstrong, stubborn, and knew what she wanted and tried hard to get it. Jacinda is one of my favorite debut heroines of the year. I loved how she was so in touch with her draki side, how she never wanted to let it go no matter how much her mother tried to convince it wasn't what she needed. She argued that if her draki died, a part of her did, and the fact that she embraced it so much made me nod. You notice a lot in book that a lot of the time the girl never wants to be what she is. But Jacinda did and was determined to stay that way. Even when Will got into the equation.

Will (in the beginning) was an arrogant jerk as pretty much they all are in the beginning. But once he like, opened up, he was so so sweet and nice and honestly cared and loved Jacinda. Now, he was extremely persistent, and Jacinda was a bit of an idiot to get into some strange kid's car in the middle of the night, but I relent. Love at first (or second) sight is extremely hard to pull off without me not thinking it's genuine but she certainly convinced me.

hhhhhhh

And Cassian. Am I the only one who seriously loves him (or at least, the current and future prospect of him)? I love him too! can't wait to see for more of him in book 2. Agreed! I can't wait! He had that mysterious badass air to him, and.....I like that. Yeah, i'm lame. But Will was still my #1!

My rating: AWESOMESAUCE

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

Other by Karen Kincy

Who: Karen Kincy
What: Other
When: July 1st, 2010
Why: Hype
How: Gifted by the lovely April.

Seventeen-year-old Gwen hides a dangerous secret: she’s Other. Half-pooka,
to be exact, thanks to the father she never met. Most Americans don’t exactly
roll out the welcome mat for Others, especially not the small-town folks of
Klikamuks, Washington. As if this isn’t bad enough, Gwen’s on the brink of
revealing her true identity to her long-time boyfriend, Zack, but she’s scared
he’ll lump her with the likes of bloodthirsty vampires and feral werewolves.

When a pack of werewolves chooses the national forest behind Gwen’s home
as their new territory, the tensions in Klikamuks escalate-into murder. It soon
becomes clear a serial killer is methodically slaying Others. The police turn a
blind eye, leaving Gwen to find the killer before the killer finds her. As she
hunts for clues, she uncovers more Others living nearby than she ever expected.
Like Tavian, a sexy Japanese fox-spirit who rivals Zack and challenges her to
embrace her Otherness. Gwen must struggle with her own conflicted identity,
learn who she can trust, and-most importantly-stay alive

So I had heard a lot about the awesomeness of Other and I wanted it bad. So when April DM-ed me offering me hers, I was like YES. I read it on vacation beach-side, and I didn't get up from my towel until I finished (my parents were complaining). Yup, I think that means it's good.

The beginning took me a while to get into, but slowly Gwen's voice and the mysterious murders pull you in. The plot was seriously original, even if it did include vampires and werewolves. I've never heard of a Pooka in my entire life, or a Kitsune, and the fact that a centaur was grocery-shopping is just....(hilariously) original.


Gwen was a heroine who was steadfast, stubborn, and absolutely determined. Sometimes she got herself into sticky situations but when your trying to find someone who murdered one of your favorite people, your judgement can get a bit clouded. Nothing stopped her from searching who the killer was, not even being semi-threatened by a super tall, dark, and brooding werewolf.

Tavien was also awesome. I mean, Japanese fox spirit? That's pretty darn COOL! And he was sweet and as equally stubborn though he knew when to back out of situations that didn't seem very safe (most of the time). He was the one that stayed level-headed when she was freaking out and they were absolutely adorable together.

Her other dude Zack, was ehh for me. Didn't ever really like him, especially when the constant asking for sex started. I mean, that = instant no-no in my book. But he kinda redeemed himself in the end and SPEAKING of the ending...

Karen did an amazing job of hiding who the killer was. I guessed multiple people and NEVER came up with who the real killer was! So when it's finally revealed, i'm was like: Seriously?!?! Which is good, since most books don't really surprise me.


All in All, I give it an: AMAZINGNESS.

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

In My Maailbox (5)

Sorry, I haven't been posting as often as usual but you know I start HIGH SCHOOL tomorrow! So i've been like AHHHH O.O and preparing/orientating like crazy. But don't think just because i'm going into High School, I won't be posting everyday and on twitter. I will be!

(If you can't see it, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVtCtOKysY)

For Review:

Butterfly by Sonya Hartnett (Thanks, Candlewick!)

Greek: Double Date by Marsha Warner (Thanks, Tricia!)

Covert Youth Agency ebook by Jason Ancona (Thanks, Jason!)

The Oracle Rebounds ebook by Allison van Diepan (Thanks, Lindsey!)

Borrowed: (Thanks, SHERRY!)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoneix by JK Rowling

Bought:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

What did you guys get in your Mailbox?
Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

Interview with Rebecca Maizel, author of Infinite Days

Today, we have Rebecca Maizel on the blog talking about her debut novel Infinite Days. The review for it will go up tomorrow but if you see me on my twitter, you know I LOVED this book. I think Rebecca Maizel is one of the most talented 2010 Debuts along with Heidi and I absolutely loved loved her book.

Lenah Beaudonte is, in many ways, your average teen: the new girl at Wickham Boarding School, she struggles to fit in enough to survive and stand out enough to catch the eye of the golden-boy lacrosse captain. But Lenah also just happens to be a recovering five-hundred-year-old vampire queen. After centuries of terrorizing Europe, Lenah is able to realize the dream all vampires have -- to be human again. After performing a dangerous ritual to restore her humanity, Lenah entered a century-long hibernation, leaving behind the wicked coven she ruled over and the eternal love who has helped grant her deep-seated wish.

Until, that is, Lenah draws her first natural breath in centuries at Wickham and rediscovers a human life that bears little resemblance to the one she had known. As if suddenly becoming a teenager weren’t stressful enough, each passing hour brings Lenah closer to the moment when her abandoned coven will open the crypt where she should be sleeping and find her gone. As her borrowed days slip by, Lenah resolves to live her newfound life as fully as she can. But, to do so, she must answer ominous questions: Can an ex-vampire survive in an alien time and place? What can Lenah do to protect her new friends from the bloodthirsty menace about to descend upon them? And how is she ever going to pass her biology midterm?

~~~

1) Vampires are a very used-up subject, but you brought an amazing twist into a large market. What gave you the idea for this story?

Lenah - I wanted to write about a character who went from someone irrevocably evil trying to find their way back into the light. I was obsessed with that change . What kind of person would she be?

2) If you could live with 3 fictional YA character, who would they be?

1. Harry Potter
2. Arnold in Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian
3. Aragorn from Lord of the Rings in the hope he might want to make out.

3) Describe your book in 3 words.

Break your heart.

4) The love between Rhode and Lenah is unbreakable, mortal or not, but the bond is what brought them together. How exactly does that bond work?


In my vampire lore, when a vampire falls in love with another vampire, magic is formed, bonding those two vampires for their entire existence. It's a curse that can't be broken...that is until the ritual is performed. What's beautiful about Lenah and Rhode's relationship is that she remains in love with him after the ritual is completed and that magic bond between them is broken. She loves him even when that bond is broken. Yes, she falls in love with Justin Enos but it's a different kind of love - not marred by black magic. It's pure, human.

5) Lenah was a pretty evil but successful vampire, do you think if you were a vampire, you'd be the same?

Hell yes. She is bad ass! Oh, woops. Should I say bad a**?

6) You should! How insane was your publishing process and finding an agent?

Pretty insane - I mean, I was rejected 58573759257382493820 times with other projects and ideas. You have to believe in your work, even if it never sees the light of day. The process has to be enough.

Thanks! This was fun!

~~~

Thanks Rebecca, I had fun too! Hope you guys liked it!

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

In My Mailbox Vlog (4)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren.

For review:

Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Gifted:

Other by Karen Kincy

Traded:

The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard
Prada and Predijice by Mandy Hubbard

Borrowed:

Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

What did YOU guys get? Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

Author Interview: Heidi R. Kling

As you guys know, I absolutely LOVED Sea (the review for it is going up on Thursday!). And Heidi is sooooo nice (and efficient!) so I just had to interview her:


Summary:

Haunted by recurring nightmares since her mother’s disappearance over the
Indian ocean three years before, fifteen-year old California girl Sienna Jones
reluctantly travels with her psychiatrist father’s volunteer team to six-months
post-tsunami Indonesia where she meets the scarred and soulful orphaned boy,
Deni, who is more like Sea than anyone she has ever met.

She knows they
can’t be together, so why can’t she stay away from him? And what about her old
best friend-turned-suddenly-hot Spider who may or may not be waiting for her
back home? And why won’t her dad tell her the truth about her mother’s plane
crash? The farther she gets from home, the closer she comes to finding answers.

And Sea’s real adventure begins

A note: A lot of people seemed turned off by the touchy subject of an actual tsunami that took place in 2004. But this book isn't ONLY about the tsunami. It's more than just a story of tragedy. It's a story of hope and love and epic-awesomeness. I was iffy about picking it up too (but then Erica and Julie told me i'd be shunned if I didn't pick it up) and I LOVED it!

~~~

1. Where'd you inspiration for Sea come from? When did you decide to write about such a tragic event?

SEA was inspired by my husband's real life volunteer efforts in Indonesia after the tsunami. I wanted to write a story which would make teens and adults everywhere be able to connect to the event. It happened so far away from us, but natural and manmade tragedies happen all over the world. I think global awareness is really important.


2. Which character would you say is most like yourself?

Vera. Definitely Vera.
Kidding! I can't stand Vera. I'd go with Sienna. Hands down.

3. If you could live in a house with 3 fictional YA characters, which would they be?

OOOH boy. Um.
Hmm...Damon from The Vampire Diaries (though I haven't read the books, I'd like to assume he'd be Ian Somerhalder), the main character from 20 Boy Summer, because I think we'd get along well, and Nick from The Demon's Lexicon and sequels, because I'd like to see him and Damon RUMBLE.

4. Describe your novel in 3 words?

Hope after tragedy.

5. Has it difficult to write about such a tragic things that happened? What research did you have to do to write this?

I picked my husband's brain, and our friend, a volunteer who spent 6 months in an Indonesian orphanage. Several of the tsunami survivors themselves are my pen pals. SEA was definitely emotional to write, but I don't find "sad" necessarily "depressing" so there's a big difference there. Sea is a book about a disaster and loss and what people are doing to try and pick up the pieces and move on. Plus, there's a lot of lighthearted moments sprinkled through so readers and me (hopefully) don't feel bogged down with the tragedy.

6. Finally, Team Spider or Deni? ;)

Like Sienna, I love them both. Equally. ;)

~~~

I'm Team Deni, just saying ;)
Hope you guys enjoyed the interview, because it was great interviewing her!

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Who: Maggie Stiefvater
What: Linger
When: July 13th, 2010
Where: Amazon
Why: Sequel to awesome.
How: Gifted by Eleni from La Femme Readers

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in
Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her
parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam,
this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to
survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past
has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her
brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.At turns harrowing
and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of
love - the light and the dark, the warm and the cold - in a way you will never
forget.

At this very moment, I have finished Linger by Maggie Stiefvater. I’m writing this review the moment after (which I never do) because I need to get this off my chest. (My hands are shaking writing this review)

Everytime I think Maggie can’t write anything better, she gives me something to marvel at. I was afraid Linger wouldn’t meet up to the amazing standards I had set reading Shiver, but Linger surpassed them. Linger was everything I love in Maggie Stiefvater’s writing—angst, beauty, longing, love, heart-wrenching writing, and that strange sensation of hope when you read her words—and then some.

Linger picks up where Shiver left off, but instead of 2 POVs, we have four. NEVER once, did I have to look up at the header to see who was speaking. Maggie has a way of giving everyone such distinct voices that I always knew when it was Isabel talking or Sam.

If you know me, you know that I consider Maggie Stiefvater the Writing Goddess, and Linger reminded me why. It’s just her words. The way they can make your heart flutter or instant tears prick your eyes. She writes beautifully, decorating her words while not trying to distract you from the point of them.

Linger had everything that I loved from Shiver, that beauty of love that was so present in the first. The way you just know Sam and Grace love each other through the looks they give, the way a small touch could mean so much more than words. I've always thought that was the most beautiful aspect of Sam and Grace’s relationship.

We’re also introduced to two new voices, Isabel and Cole. I liked being able to go into Isabel’s mind because I’ve always been fond of her. She always seemed so….untouchable to me when reading Shiver and being able to see into her mind, see the vunerability and rebellion that boiled inside her, was refreshing and intriguing.

Cole was…complicated. I think that’s the word that sums him up. There were times were I loved him, times where he ticked me off, and times when I wanted him gone. But he was beautiful in his own way, broken and damaged. He was cocky and annoying and didn’t show that he cared, but I think that’s the good thing what Maggie did. I think if Cole’s POV wouldn’t have been added, his character wouldn’t have the impact it had being able to look into his mind. He would’ve just been annoying cocky guy with a broken, caring side. But being able to see inside his mind gave a new light to the world of the wolves. Showing someone that, unlike Sam, wanted to be a wolf more than anything. And I LOVED when he met Grace. I loved reading his reaction to her =P

A lot of people are irritated by Grace’s parents and how it’s unrealistic about how they don’t care, and I don’t agree at all. I have parents who care like hell, who are protective and tell me a thousand times not to open to strangers even though I already know that. But some people don’t. Some people have parents that they never know when they’ll come home. That don’t come for dinner and don’t call to say they’ll be out late. Those people exist, whether you want to admit it or not. It sucks majorly, but it’s something we can’t ignore. I think Grace’s parents portray a type of parent that does exist in this world, even if it’s not you, it’s someone.

Linger was a wonderful, heart-breaking, beautiful read that I will be re-reading a bunch of times. Maggie Stiefvater doesn’t disappoint with the next installment in The Wolves of Mercy Falls.

And the ending? If that doesn’t leave you wanting more NAO, I don’t know what does. As I did for Linger, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the arrival of Forever! Maggie leaves you at an impasse, stuck between not believing what you just read and knowing that it really did just happen. My face= O.O (expect with tears in it.) (But I cry for anything, i'm a big softie)

I already know anything she writes is on automatic buy for me, because she really is an absolutely outstanding writer. This is a book that people aren’t going to forget. In Sam’s word, this is the story of a boy who used to be a wolf and a girl who was becoming one. This is beauty. This is love. This is LINGER.

My rating: AWESOME SAUCE

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

In My Maailbox (11)

Sorry I couldn't do a vlog this week, totally sad about that. But i've been super busy and haven't had the time D: Nest week, I promise!

WON:

Prophecy of Days by Christy Readeke (signed): I won this from the Once Upon A Readathon and Christy personalized it to me! Yay! So excited to read it :)

Another Faust by Dani and Daniel Nayeri: It's an ARC but this one came out in 2009. I won it from Bookworming in the 21st Century for her June Long Contest.

Another Pan by Dani and Daniel Nayeri(ARC): Also won from Bookworming in the 21st century. I received it from Eleni from La Femme Readers though and it was signed! Another Pan is the sequel to Another Faust and will be out in October of 2010.

Gifted/Bought:

Bought:
Sea by Heidi R Kling: I FINALLY GOT THIS BOOK. I've been super excited about it forever and I finally read it and it is AMAZING. Went to sleep at like 4 in the morning reading this then Heidi was on and I started gushing to her about how amazing she is =P

Gifted:
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater: This was gifted to me by Eleni from La Femme Readers (she's so sweet!) Already read it and OMG. You guys know I love Maggie Stiefvater! Review is going up tomorrow!

And that's what I got in my Mailbox today!

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

The day I meet Ally Carter and Melissa De La Cruz!!!

If you follow my twitter, you know i've been spazzing about meeting Ally Carter and Melissa De La Cruz on the 29th. And I went with my co-author (Hi, Eevee!) and it was AWESOME. Melissa and Ally are super funny and nice and awesome. We got there a bit late, so we didn't get to participate in the raffle which made me a bit sad because it was NECKLACES for the Keys to the Repository! That's awesome! And Gallagher Girl Iron-On Emblems. Which is also aweeesome! They answered questions about the books and writing and we're super helpful and just plain funny.

There was a HUGE line for the signing. Everybody ran to get to the front. I lost my co-author for a moment in a sea of people. It was EPIC. Sadly, I couldn't take a picture with them because they were running behind schedule and were gonna miss there flight.

That is HER. ALLY CARTER. That is my book. That is her signing MY book. *flails*

It's sideways because Blogger is stupid and won't let me rotate the picture. But that's Melissa! She's so sweet! She was talking to me and I had to take like a few seconds to like take a breath and respond. Lol, and then she said she'd heard of my blog. *dies*

And yeah, we all said our goodbyes and went to the YA section and they went through a secret exit hidden in the YA section. Lol, seriously.

And that was mt first signing ever! Got 4 books signed, 2 from Melissa, 2 from Ally and it was awesome!

And yeah, that's pretty much my awesomesauce day!
Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

The day: In My Mailbox VLOG!

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Guys, I got so much stuff this week. SERIOUSLY. So I decided to do a vlog for IMM this week! Yay! Ok, tadaaaa. (P.S please tell me if i'm rambling or something because I tend to do that xD)



(If it doesn't work on your computer, go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EeUGrnv08o)

Review:

The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Micheals

Bought:

The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum
Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson

Gifted:

Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers (THANK YOU KELLY!)
Evernight by Claudia Grey

Contests:

South Beach
Hollywood Hills
Sea Change
The Year My Sister got Lucky
French Kiss
All by Aimee Friedmen

NightShade by Andrea Cremer (!!!!!!!!)

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

LOTS OF SWAG!

The day in which I kick off Emma Michael's Friday the Thirteenth Chime Blog Tour!

Hey guys! It's Monday, and I'm here to introduce the wonderful Emma Micheal's to the blog! She's a sweetheart and has an awesome book coming out called: The Thirteenth Chime.

I emailed her and asked if she wanted me to make a blog tour for her and she's been super sweet and nice ever since we met! This blog tour will be going on all the way until the release date, which is AUGUST, FRIDAY THE 13TH. Yeah, I know that's really cool!

If you guys wanna follow this blog tour, just click the button on the upper right corner and it'll take you to where we'll be posting the days! She'll appear on various blogs every 2 DAYS and you'll see seeing a lot of her on some of your favorite blogs!

The Thirteenth Chime:

No one knew of its existence until it was
removed from the attic upstairs.

In a beautiful house
that overlooks the sea, an antique clock has the power to change the course of their lives.

The power the clock resonates will not only force
Destiny and ex-boyfriend David on a journey into the depths of one man's mind long dead, but
into the mind of a man filled with hatred and bent on revenge.

With the
only clues to the nature of the clock having disappeared into the sea, Destiny and David must retrace the steps the man had taken into the darkness, before they fall prey to the trap he had set in motion over half a century ago.

Hatred never dies

Sounds crazy good, right? I'm excited to read it :)

INTERVIEW:

1) Hey, Emma! Welcome to Harmony's Radiant Reads! So you’re a book blogger turned author, how does it feel making that huge transition?

It feels wonderful! It's like when you are climbing a really big hill, you keep looking around and wondering if you will ever get to the top... it seems like such a hard climb. But it is so wonderful to finally make it to your destination! Now I just intend to hit the New York Times Bestsellers list so time to keep climbing!

2) Summarize your novel in 4 words!

True bonds never die.

3) So how'd you go about finding your agent? Any query stories to share?

Actually, I don't have an agent yet. I queried agents for over six months and I received nothing back but standard form rejections. No one even asked to see my manuscript! Then a dear friend pointed out that there was no way agents were basing themselves off of my writing as they hadn't read any of my work, so I took the plunge and submitted directly to publishers who would accept unsolicited work. I can't tell you how wonderful the responses have been! The difference is like night and day and I have been really grateful for the optimism and encouragement I have received.

4) Which one of your characters do you feel like you can relate to the most?

Probably Stephanie. I relate to her heart and spirit very much. I think others will agree with me, although there is no denying the deep bond between David and Destiny.

5) If you could live with 3 fictional YA characters, who would they be?

Willow from the new YA release of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (come on, it's Willow!), Hermione from Harry Potter so that I would always have someone to answer my research questions, and David, my YA lead guy (read "The Thirteenth Chime" to understand why).

6) Have you always wanted to be a writer? If not, what did you want to be?

Yes, I have always wanted to be a writer, although for a time I also wanted to be a surgeon! Sadly, my body is not capable of keeping up with the long hours of surgery, but at least I managed to succeed in one of my lifelong dreams and I must say I would rather get stay at home and create new worlds and novels from my comfy chair with my laptop than have to feel the weight of a human life on my shoulders in an ER. I feel really blessed and grateful for the way my life has turned out.

7) Finally, what's your most recent YA read?

Currently, I am reading Beautiful Dead by Eden Magquire.

Thank you for having me here at Harmony's Radiant Reads. Your wonderful support means so much. Thank you to everyone reading this and I truly hope you will enjoy The Thirteenth Chime!

~~~

Hope you guys enjoyed this because I really loved working with Emma and organizing this whole tour! Check out Emma's site or click the Blog Tour Button at the top for the next tour stops!

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

The day in which I join my first Read-a-thon

Hello fellow earthlings. I have decided that I would join my first ever Read-a-Thon over at Lori's blog.

The Read-a-thon lasts three days, starting tomorrow. The goal is to...well READ!

Goal: 8 books (it'd be more but on Tuesday I can't read until the night time because it's total Revision day with the co-writer :)

1. Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel
2. Evernight by Claudia Grey
3. The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Michaels
4. Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson
5. Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers

6. Prophecy of The Sisters by Michelle Zink
7. The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum
8. Rampant by Diana Peturfreud. (I actually read this one half-way but then my friend had to take it back.)

Anybody else doing this? :)

Wish me luck! Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

The day in which I get 13 to Life

Who: Shannon Delany

What: 13 to life

Where: Barnes and Noble Amazon Book Depository

When: June 22, 2010

Why: Been promoting like crazy, wanted my own copy. Also, Debut Author Challenge

How: Bought

Everything about Jessie Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now
even her hometown of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening.
All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around
Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr
Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy with a
dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to
Jessie’s small town. It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid…

REVIEW:

I've raved about this endlessly on twitter, the blog and now it's finally in my possession. And it was everything I expected (which was it being totally awesome).
The first 50 pages were kinda slow for me and I was getting very worried that I wouldn't like it as much as I thought I would. But I persisted, because Shannon Delany is awesome and I had heard so many good things about this book! And it's a good thing I did because after those pages the plot and the action really started to pick it.

Shannon has a type of writing that isn't beautifully written, but it's real. Jessie's thoughts, emotions, reactions, all of them I felt were things I would have done or thought if I was in her situation. Even in paranormal romance, I like being able to relate to my characters and feel their pain. And I was able to do that with Jessie and Pietr. I will never be able to understand the full pain of their losses, but it helped how Shannon portrayed it. It helped me divulge better into the emotions and horror of losing someone you love...and being there to witness it.

While about werewolves, this is unlike any other werewolf novel I've read. The "mythology" around werewolves is scientific and surrounded by Russian culture. Though it doesn't explain a lot about how the werewolves came to be and more specific things about them, I'm eager to read and learn more about this and it didn't irritate me.

While I did find some secondary characters flat (the girls, for example), the ones I didn't find flat was the Rusakova family! They were all lovable (some more than others) and I just wanted to find out more! Especially Max. Please Shannon, let him be in Secrets and Shadows a lot more than he is in 13 to Life. I LOVED Max. And his words are my favorite quote:

"You have to hold your arm shoulder length or above, it really triangulates
the body."

Ah, he is such a dog (no pun intended...ok kinda) Alexi was also incredibly mysterious and I'm inclined to know more about him and his motives, since they don't get explained much in the first book.
I felt that the ending was a bit rushed, as if everything happened too neatly and quickly. But I guess it fit for it, because I couldn't imagine such a tension-heated action-packed werewolf-loving book with a slow ending!
So in the end I rate it: AMAZINGNESS

Comment? Discuss? Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

p.s Sarah is such a stupid whore. Hate her, hate her, Hated her since the beginning. Urghh.

ETA:

I have 105 followers! AHHHHHHH! This is crazy surreal and amazing and unbelievable and I can hardly even look at my followers without happy dancing! Thank you guys so much for making that possible and a special thanks to the lovely Nicole and Julie for helping me throughout my blogger journey and shamelessly advertising me :P

And Thank YOU guys!