Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Who: Andrea Cremer
What: Nightshade
When: October 17th, 2010
Why: Beautiful Cover (GORGEOUS)
How: Contest Win

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating
from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and
fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for
the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human
boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the
very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose
everything--including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate
sacrifice?

Okay, so you guys have probably seen me rave about this on Twitter and notice that in all of my "Something Weeks", Andrea Cremer has been a part of all of them. Why? Because Nightshade was great and Andrea is awesome.

My favorite part of Nightshade had to be the world-building. I can understand why people call it a Paranormal Romance/Fantasy because it definitely has fantasy elements in it (don't tell me those two are the same thing or i'll claw your eyes out.) She created this whole new world of systems and packs for the werewolves in Nightshade and it was just fascinating for me to read.

Of course, in every book, there's something you don't like. For me, it was Calla. I mean, in the beginning, I loved her. She was fierce and badass and wasn't gonna let Ren overpower her with his smexy Alpha self (more on my Ren love later). Then she met Shay and she become....a blubbering fool. And that always bothers me in a part of Paranormal Romance, when the main character is all-powerful and badass then just belong bleh when the other love interest comes. As for the rest of the Nightshades, I LOVED them. They were all funny and badass in their own ways.

Shay was also a moot point for me. He was sweet and nice but he had absolutely no respect for her werewolves custom. He didn't take her responsibility to her pack seriously, and just dismissed all of her culture saying that didn't make any sense and that's that. Seriously? He could've at least tried to understand a bit and not ignore the fact that she had a deep relationship and responsibility to her pack and it's well-being.

Okay, now we can talk about Ren. People can argue all you want about him being a man-whore and too Alpha-male and whatever, but you could really tell he cared about her. And he's too Alpha-male because...well...he IS the Alpha male. But he never tries to overpower Calla's decisions and lets her decide for her own pack. I can see how Calla had to struggle to avoid temptation, since Alpha-females have to be completely "pure" until the bonding ceremony. He was sweet and considerate and just plain sexy!

My rating: AMAZINGNESS.

Happy Reading!
-Harmony

Glimmerglass by Jenna Black

Who: Jenna Black
What: Glimmerglass
When: 2010
Why: Hype
How: Bought

Dana Hathaway doesn’t know it yet, but she’s in big
trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, Dana
decides she’s had it with being her mother’s keeper, so she packs her bags and
heads to stay with her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth
where the regular, everyday world and the magical world of Faerie intersect. But
from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns
out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl—she's a Faeriewalker, a rare
individual who can travel between both worlds, and who can bring magic into the
human world and technology into Faerie.

Soon, she finds herself tangled
up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and
everyone wants something from her, even her newfound friends and family.
Suddenly, life with her alcoholic mom doesn't sound half bad, and Dana would do
anything to escape Avalon and get back home. Too bad both her friends and her
enemies alike are determined not to let her go . . .

Glimmerglass is one of those books where you see the cover and you wanna know more about it but you're kinda hesitant until you get a recommendation from someone you know well. So I finally picked it and first half? AWESOME. Second half? Kinda awesome.

Glimmerglass is the story of a girl who runs away from home with an alcoholic mother to give with her fey father in Avalon, the border between Faerie world and humans. I always think it's cool when humans know faeries exist, and they're all "Hey, we're gonna try to take control of you now" and they fail (mostly because it reminds me of the Crusades...sorry, history nut). So she comes into this world, and apparently her dad's a big wig faery, and she gets thrown into a cut-throat, dangerous game of faery politics. And then I say dangerous, I mean dangerous.

Dana was a character I would want to be my friend. I liked her because she was realistic in the way that we all want to get away sometimes, but she actually had the courage to do it, even if it gets her into major trouble. Also, sometimes she cried, but sometimes it's okay to cry. Especially when evil faeries are trying to kill you. I'd cry, so that's cool. But she also didn't just cry and sit there while the "grown-ups" played the game, she did a little bit of her "secret" undercover stuff as well (though that mostly ended in trouble as well.)

Ethan is pretty much the dude you see for most of the novel as her "love interest". He was nice, though kinda...suspicious. Something is just iffy about that boy, however charming he may be. But the tension between them was amazingly crafted and he was adorable. Then you get introduced to Keane later on as a combat teacher (she also tries and succeeds in learning basic fighting skills, which is a lot more than other heroines have bothered to do.) It does hint at a potencial love triangle, and i'm kinda leaning towards him, because he was just plain cool :)


Happy Reading!
-Harmony

Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Who: Jackie Morse Kessler
What: Hunger
When: October 18, 2010
Why: Awesome summary
How: Gift from Kelsey.

“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.”

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s
been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the
suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Traveling
the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her
constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who
care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a
painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her
phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to
battle her own inner demons?

I seriously just finished this and I really, really liked it. Hunger is the story of a girl fighting against her anorexia while also coping with the fact that because she tried to overdose on some pills, Death saw her and made her Famine, one of the four horseman (or horsewomen) of the Apocalypse.

Though it is in third person, we are mostly in Lisabeth's head. She was a beautifully complex character to read about, especially with the eating disorder war raging in her head, which she calls "The Thin Voice." The Thin Voice was mean and evil and put her down a lot, but even if it's not about eating, don't we all have that little cynical voice in our head? No matter how optimistic we are, it sits in that corner of our mind, when we're most vulnerable. This made Lisa a very relatable character to me, someone who was warring with herself to be a better person, though she wasn't sure what that really met.

The plot was insanely cool, and the reason I wanted to pick this up. I mean, there are four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Famine, War, Disease, and Death. Imagine having to be one of those horrible things, things that take lives everyday? And being thrust into it at what--16? Lisa handled it pretty well after she got the gist of it. And though unintentionally she hurt people, I admired her for being famine and still trying to do the right thing, though it hurt her.

The rest of the horsemen (and horsewomen) were each fully unique people. War was an evil, arrogant women who needed a swift kick in the ass for how power-drunk she seemed to be, which matches with what war is perfectly. Disease was actually kinda funny but serious as well, letting her know that she could do good as well as bad. And then Death was just...pretty epic. He's described as sexy and cold--but warm at the same time. And I think death is a lot like that, scary and peaceful, and entice-ful at times. So they all matched with that they were pretty well.

All in all, it was a short and strong read about anorexia and how it can affect a person, and how you can't overcome it in a few short steps, but a little at a time.

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

Butterfly by Sonya Hartnett

To everyone who suffered during 9/11, my condolences go to you. It's a day in history that will never be forgotten, even if I was too young to remember. May they rest in peace.


Who: Sonya Hartnett
What: Butterfly
When: August 2010
Why: Cover love
How: Review Copy from Candlewick

Plum Coyle is on the edge of adolescence. Her fourteenth
birthday is approaching, when her old life and her old body will fall away, and
she will become graceful, powerful, and at ease. The strength of the objects she
stores in a briefcase under her bed —a crystal lamb, a yoyo, an antique watch, a
coin —will make sure of it. Over the next couple of weeks, Plum’s life will
change. Her beautiful neighbor Maureen will begin to show Plum how she might
fly. The older brothers she adores will court catastrophe in worlds that she
barely knows exist. And her friends, her worst enemies, will tease and test,
smelling weakness. They will try to lead her on and take her down

It's going to be complicated writing this review because even after a week of complentating, I still don't know if I liked it or hated it. So i'm gonna try to sort through why I did and why I didn't. Here we go:

Butterfly is about a young girl who has self-esteem issues and just wants to be richer/popular/beautiful. Basic stuff right? Well, Plum (or Aria) was for the most part, was extremely annoying. She was a brat, ungrateful, and just made...issuses with everything. I mean, yeah she's a 14 year old, what can you expect? But i'm a fourteen year old and i'm nothing like her. I never connected with Plum, I just stood in the sidelines going 'Urgh, seriously?" So her, was pretty much a major no-no in my book.

Then came the side characters, which were really well done. Especially her two brothers, which are main components to the story. All of Plum's friends were perfectly judgemental yet caring, even if Plum didn't appreciate them like she should. Sure Dash, Rachel and Sam were especially mean, and I would've dropped them like potatoes if they were my friend, but Caroline and Sophie? Super nice people that she should've tried more to impress than the other jerks.

Now my favorite part of this book was Sonya's writing. She writes in a way so lyrical and beautiful and that's what made me keep turning the pages. It's the way she'd put things, her metaphors and such, that had me eating out of the palm of her hand. The writing is what saved this book from never being finished.

My rating? MEH. Even if the writing was good, the main character pretty much spoiled my enjoyment for this book.

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.

The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Who: Kody Keplinger
What: The Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend)
When: September 7th, 2010
Why: Curiosity
How: We Love YA Tours

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think
she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to
fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact,
Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his
face.

But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a
distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she
throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a
bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes
with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more
than anyone.

I don't like Contemporary novels. Rarely, do I pick them up (like I did with Sea and loved it!). I didn't have any interest what-so-ever in reading this book. Nope, nada, zip, zero. But then I saw all the great reviews of it and still wasn't very interested. THEN I saw it on We Love YA ARC Tours (which is run by the awesome Kelsey), I thought i'd give it a shot. Good thing I did!

I think everyone feels the Duff at some point of their lives, especially in their teens years. My group of friends are all extremely pretty and while I have a good self-esteem, I do sometimes feel like the Duff. But I know that sometimes, so do they. Everyone feels like that at least one, even the most vain, vapid, self-centered person you know. The Duff is a portray of how much being a Duffy can affect how you are and the decisions you make.

The relationship between Wesley and Bianca was purely physical and sometimes I did find Bianca's random tendencies to kiss him then smack him a bit random, it is something that people do (enter relationships like that) because they are stressed or freaking out about life. Bianca was someone everyone could relate too, at least anyone who's been a teenager.

Bianca's best friends were two people I actually didn't like. It's not that they are bad people but they were pretty annoying and I kinda wanted to skip the scenes they were in. Welsey was everything you want in a male lead with just a touch of man-whore-ness which a lot of the time, was not attractive. But he was sexy and mysterious and cocky, but you could still see that over time, he cared about her. And she just continually shut him out.

Bianca's journey through life (which makes me think of THIS Bianca ) was a book that I devoured in 3 hours and really did like! Kody is a really good writer and the whole novel embodied the feeling of looking at yourself in the mirror and sometimes not liking what you see.

Also, I LOVE the cover!

I rate: AMAZINGNESS.

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

Waiting on Wednesday :)

WITHER, the first book in The Chemical Garden Trilogy, is due to be out in 2011 by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers.

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

~~~

This book sound SOOOOOOO good! I mean, forced marriage, trying to escape, and a father going crazy to find a cure. AND I have the feeling that servant might be serving us up a love triangle! And you know how much I love those! OH OH, and the cover?! Insanely pretty! Between HarperTeen's 2011 releases and now S&S, my bookshelf is gonna be FULL of beautiful covers!

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.

'Breaking Up Reading Week' But it GLITTERS...

Hey guys, it's Harmony! As I said in my In My Mailbox post, i'm out on vacation! I'll be back in a few days, so have no fear! Don't think you'll be without entertainment though, because you won't! Promise! I have a series of guest posts set up Monday-Thursday, with a finale of moi! I promised that every last week of a month, i'd do something special! So this month is:

BREAKING UP READING WEEK

This week, we're gonna break Reading for everything it is! Covers, plots, characters, cliches, and more! I have some fantastic bloggers all lined up for this week so may I introduce the first, Madeleine Rex! Maddy is awesome and one of my betas! And she's talking about........

~~~

(For those of you who thought I was going to talk about vampires, you're probably going to be disappointed.)

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Though this little nugget of wisdom might have been affective a century ago, when book covers were primarily cloth and had little design, it’s a piece of advice that is more smirked at now than followed.

Publishers spend hours of time and many other resources to create covers that are alluring. In some cases that means misleading covers that readers find have nothing to do with the book at all. Why? Because we’re easily sold by pretty colors/people/glitter/fancy fonts. The appeal of anything pretty or mystifying, anything that begs the question Why?, or simply snags our attention while we’re glancing over bookshelves will, most likely, encourage us to pick the book up.

One of the reasons I assume publishers are dedicating more time, energy, and man-power to cover design is the absolutely astounding and overwhelming amount of books out there. We don’t have time to pick up every single one and read the first chapter, or even the synopsis. We’re busy people who are struggling to find time to read at all.

Book covers hugely affect our book buying and reading. Their purpose isn’t to protect the book from coffee stains, it’s to draw our attention, grab us, and entice us to pick the book up and read. The higher number of times a book is picked up, the more likely it is to be bought and read.

Many of the blogs I’m subscribed to have cover-related posts. Every week, they compare newly released book covers or covers that have caught their eye recently. Covers are distracting. The font on them is probably the biggest in the book. The picture the only picture. The color the only color. We say we’re done with picture books, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t susceptible to magic of pretty pictures.

On the other hand, book covers also enhance the reading experience. They can be misleading, but they can also serve as “warnings.” With covers that are done well and do say something about the actual story, we can tell that a book is for us. It’s our color of sparkle. Covers can speak to us on a subconscious level, remind us of things we’ve done or seen, or things we’d like to do. They can speak wonders for a book, or they can be a visual poem. They’re an art form. Images resonate with people. The smoking, blown-out candle on the cover of Looking for Alaska directly serves the book, acting as a beautiful metaphor. You can look at the cover, wonder, and yet never know that a significant facet of the story is staring back at you.

Glitter sparkles, catches our eye, and pulls us in. The synopsis determines whether or not we sign the contract, but the publisher already has us holding the pen.

--
Madeleine Rex
http://madeleinerex.com/

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 have Cover love at first sight (1)

A lot of people do features about covers but really? THEY'RE BEAUTIFUL! Most people judge books by there covers (don't lie) and it's a guarantee that you'll be more hesitant to pick up a book if the cover is ugly! So here, every THURSDAY, I shall do three covers which I fell in LOVE with at first sight :)

This week:

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto: Do I need to say anything about this beauty? Seriously, whoever designed this cover is a genius! The fact that the people are shadows give it a more mysterious feel than if they were visible, and the sunset (and the fact they look like they're about to kiss) hints at the romantic aspect of the story. And then seeing her wings and not seeing his makes you think: does he have wings? Very, very nice.

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain: Have a ever told you I have an obsession with purple-and-black covers? Like seriously, my best friend/co-writer makes fun of me for it all the time. I think every black-and-purple cover is GORGEOUS! Admit it, it's usually true. The position of the legs show uncertainty and shyness and the contrast of the pale legs with the purple and black just look BEAUTIFUL!

Torment by Lauren Kate: I just love all the Fallen covers. They're always so Gothicy beautiful. I mean, LOOK AT THIS! It's just....breathtaking. I'd buy this just to have that cover on my shelf! Honestly! :P The fact that her back is turned probably means she's not sure of who she is, and that many secrets are either being kept from her and by her. Interesting, very interesting ;)

So, what are some of your favorite covers?

Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

The day in which stuff is in my Mailbox (4)

Hey, guys! It's time for In My Mailbox! In My Mailbox is a way for bloggers to interact and to see what you got in the mail this week! It's hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren!

This week:
BOUGHT:

13 to life: AHHHH! Ok, you know I've been promoting this book like crazy with the tweets, being part of the blog tour, and just the other-all awesomeness that is this book! Sadly, the Universe tried everything possible for me not to get it BUT I DID! And I read it and OMG! :)

GIFTED:

Firelight: OH.MY.AWESOMENESS. Yes, yes this does come out in September. YES, it did arrive 3 days ago. And YES, it was SO awesome! Seriously, it's now one of my Top Four Favorite Books! *squeaaaaaaaaal* Oh and the boy, the boy!! *swoon* This was gifted to me by the lovely Jennifer from Crazy For Books!


Heavenly bookmark, and paper and thank-you card: OK this came in the mail (in a PINK envelope. And I stared at it in confusion. I hadn't been expecting this. My face = O.o. BUT then I remembered that I had given my address to the wonderful Jennifer Laurens and she sent me this! Yay, wonderful surprise! Thank you!

Noticed I got gifted by Two Jennifers. Hehe, hehe. ;)


Well, that's what I got this week! What did YOU get?


Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

The day in which I have a " 2010 Debut Author" week

Hi guys! I've been planning this for a while now, talking to some really nice authors to put this up! I call it:

2010 Debut Author Week!

Sounds exciting, right? Well pretty much, i'm going to have a chain of authors whose books debut in 2010 come over to the blog and talk a little bit about themselves and such. All authors get asked the same three questions and it was wildly entertaining to listen to their different answers! And at the end of the week (Friday) I'll have a special author interview where she'll actually answer your questions and comments on the comments! Ah, just thinking it gets me excited!

Ok, first up is Denise Jaden, debut author of Losing Faith (I WoW-ed this last last week if I remember correctly). It has a beautiful cover and summary: When Brie's sister, Faith, dies in a fall from a cliff, Brie's world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood, Brie must also contend with increasingly distant parents, her boyfriend's betrayal, and her sudden outcast status at school. And once she's over the initial shock of Faith's death, Brie is encountering more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. She soon uncovers Faith's role in a dark and twisted religious cult...a cult that now wants Brie as a member.
Coming in September 2010 http://www.denisejaden.com/

Welcome, Denise! If you could live with any three YA characters, who would they be?

Kate Malone from Laurie Halse Anderson’s CATALYST – she’s clean and organized and would motivate me to stay in shape; Macy Queen from Sarah Dessen’s THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER – she would keep the house clean, I’m sure of it (are you noticing a trend here – I’m seriously looking for someone to help keep my house clean and organized!); and for a third, I’d choose one of my own characters, Tessa Lockbaum. She’s interesting and resourceful and a great person to have on my side.

Where do you want to be ten years from now?

Ten years from now, I hope my son will be graduating (I homeschool him, so that will be a big accomplishment for me too!) and I would love to have five more books on the shelves. I hope to have more than an hour a day for writing by then as well.

If you could go back in time, what would you tell your old writing self?

Well, actually I wasn’t a writer when I was younger. However, if I had been, I probably would tell myself the same things I tell myself now: enjoy the process and take a mental break from the business-side of writing every once in a while. Write what you love. Explore what you’re passionate about.

Thanks so much, Denise! Hope you guys enjoyed it, I enjoyed interviewing her!

Comment! Discuss! Happy Reading!

-Harmony B.

The day in which I Shiver

Saturday, O5.29.1O

Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic

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For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ... until the cold makes him shift back again.
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Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.
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You need to understand something before you read this review, my co-writer and I regard Maggie Stiefvater as the goddess of awesome writing. Her writing is beautiful and sad, and it rocks something deep inside you that doesn't happen very often. A lot of people call this "Twilight: werewolf version" but it's something more. It's the simplicity of love, the frailness of being together and knowing that the other cannot stay.
Grace and Sam's relationship is made of movements and longing. They never say "I love you", but it's the way they sneak glances at each other, the way their hands always find each other that shows you that they do.
It's also Maggie's amazing writing, GAH I just can't get over it. It just makes you wanna smile and cry and giggle. Especially the cry. And the giggle. And the smile. Like the whole egg fixation thing. That had me cracking up.
This opened a door for YA literature and also the way adults perceive teenagers in love. A lot of people think that teens cannot understand the complexity and strange simplicity of being in love, but some are wrong. Yes, a lot of teenage relationships are not love and just infatuation, but there are high-school sweethearts and love at first sight. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. ;)
I can't even explain well the awesome of this book. That's why this is so short. Maggie Steifvater is an amazing person and an amazing writer. And Shiver is an absolutely brilliant read. Just buy it, read it. Cry, love, enjoy.
My rating: AWESOMESAUCE all the way.
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Comment! Discuss! Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.

The day in which different countries have different covers.

Have you ever noticed how beautiful other countries covers for the same book there here are? Sometimes they'll keep the cover of the U.S version, but most of the time they'll change it to match the current color and graphics that are popular in their current publishing industry. This is gonna be a really pretty post, full of different covers that will WOW you or maybe you'll say: "I like the American cover better". Either way, here's some covers!
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As You Wish by Jackson Pearce: (left: American right: Spanish)

I have to admit, I LOVE the Spanish cover a lot more than the U.S version. It's more mysterious and B-E-A-utiful. They had to change the title because 'Lo que tu deseas' doesn't sound very nice as a title, but Tres Deseos is just as good!

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FrostBite: A vampire academy novel by Richelle Mead: (left: U.S right: German)

While Frostbite is my favorite VA cover, I love love love this German cover! It's much more dark and empowering while Frostbite's cover looks more cold and calm. I think rose is on the VA German cover and I know that's Lissa and Christian on the Frostbite cover. Either way, I love them both!

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Shiver by Maggie Steamfitter: (left: U.S right: U.K)

I am sooooo torn between these two! Both of them are so so so beautiful. The U.S shiver represents a more cold and tranquil side of the story, like Frostbite did. And the U.K Shiver shows the darker, angst, emo-ish side to Shiver that we all know and love. They both feature the heart leafs, which I love love love! It' s pretty much the same graphic with different colors but they symbolise such different things!

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Comment! Discuss! And Happy reading!

-Harmony B.

The day in which I sing 'Tyger Tyger'

Tyger Tyger
Kersten Hamilton

Comes out in October.

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Teagan Wylltson's best friend, Abby, dreams that horrifying creatures--goblins, shape-shifters, and beings of unearthly beauty but terrible cruelty--are hunting Teagan. Abby is always coming up with crazy stuff, though, so Teagan isn't worried. Her life isn't in danger. In fact, it's perfect. She's on track for a college scholarship. She has a great job. She's focused on school, work, and her future. No boys, no heartaches, no problems.
Until Finn Mac Cumhaill arrives. Finn's a bit on the unearthly beautiful side himself. He has a killer accent and a knee-weakening smile. And either he's crazy or he's been haunting Abby's dreams, because he's talking about goblins, too . . . and about being The Mac Cumhaill, born to fight all goblin-kind. Finn knows a thing or two about fighting. Which is a very good thing, because this time, Abby's right. The goblins are coming.

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I loved this book. I'm pretty sure it's a series, since it says A Goblin War Book and I will excitedly wait for the sequel. I got this ARC from Net galley, so I can't spoil ANYTHING.
This is one book that has to be on your TBR list. It's the perfect mix of Irish Mythology, adventure, mystery, a touch of darkness, and romance all mixed up into a pot and poured over this book. The beginning was a bit boring and I found myself procrastinating to read it but once Finn comes into the house, I was tearing through the pages.
Another reason I loved it was because it was so wildly different from other books I had read. This is a book that teens will love, but that people 14 and younger will also be able to read and enjoy. There is romance but it doesn't swallow the whole book. Kersten balanced the adventure and romance in a way that neither took other each other.
The level of world-building in this book is amazingly. She wove Irish legends, literacy stories, and Celtic myth in a way that I didn't find myself confused because I didn't know any of them. And reading this book, I had never heard of a lot of the legends that are mentioned. But I never once felt confused about any of the wonderful myths she included in the book.
Teagen is a strong and mature character on her own and with people as well. She's not perfect, she makes mistakes, but the way she handles them and handles herself is a show of strong and mature character.
And Finn. Finn was a refreshing change from the usual bad boy attitude from other boys. Sure he was confident and gorgeous, but he treats Teagen how all girls should be treated.He was someone who would keep his promises no matter what and protect what he felt needed protecting. He's kind and gallant and a strong addition to the Mac Cumhaill family ;)

I rate: AMAZINGNESS.
Fight an old lady for this book when it comes out! (don't really, I don't wanna get in trouble. Hehe)
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Happy Reading!
-Harmony
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p.s You can preorder this book here:
http://www.amazon.com/Tyger-Goblin-Wars-Book/dp/0547330081

The day in which I Wait on a Wednesday

Nightshade
Andrea Cremer
October 19th

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While other teenage girls daydream about boys, Calla Tor imagines ripping out her enemies’ throats. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. Calla was born a warrior and on her eighteenth-birthday she’ll become the alpha female of the next generation of Guardian wolves. But Calla’s predestined path veers off course the moment she saves the life of a wayward hiker, a boy her own age. This human boy’s secret will turn the young pack's world upside down and forever alter the outcome of the centuries-old Witches' War that surrounds them all.
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Comment: OK, this summary kinda sucks but Oh. My. God. I've heard wonders About this book. It was a bunch of insanely hot werewolves, full of intrigue and mystery and fantasy! Calla's supposed to be married to Ren, supposed to. Hehehe. That smells awesomeeeee.
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Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.