Mini Reviews #3: Elemental, Destined, and Somebody to Love

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Elemental

Brigid Kemmer

Goodreads:

As an air Elemental, 17-year-old Emily Morgan doesn’t have much power. That’s okay—she knows what happens to kids who do.
Like Michael Merrick. He’s an earth Elemental, one with enough power to level cities. Which makes him sexy. Dangerous. And completely off limits. At least according to Emily’s family.
But her summer job puts her in close contact with Michael, and neither of them can help the attraction they feel. When forces of nature like theirs collide, one misstep could get someone killed. Because Emily’s family doesn’t just want her to stay away from him.
They want him dead.

So this is the prequel to Storm. I was so happy when I found out that it was available on Amazon for FREE! I do want Storm, but I've been entering giveaway after giveaway for it, so, I can't really order it yet. I wish I had read Storm first though. But don't let that stop you from reading Elemental.

If you haven't read the first chapter of Storm yet, you need to. Part of it will clear up the book. In the book, Michael and his family live in an unknown community that keeps an eye on Elementals. Go rogue and you're screwed. In this community, I'm guessing that there are turf wars and the place where Michael goes to bat is part of the enemy's territory. That includes the enemy's daughter, Emily.

Well, the plot is that Emily's brother and dad want to get Michael to use his power so they can kill him. Basic. Michael wants to leave but can't. Over a short time, he and Emily start to get romantically involved. This is forbidden, of course. Gotta have that. It was sweet though to read about it, since he thought she hated him and was going to turn him in for being at the sports center where she worked. LOVE OVERCOMES ALL!

Rating, Cover, Ending:

Somebody to Love

Kristan Higgins

Goodreads:

After her father loses the family fortune in an insider-trading scheme, single mom Parker Welles is faced with some hard decisions. First order of business: go to Gideon's Cove, Maine, to sell the only thing she now owns—a decrepit house in need of some serious flipping. When her father's wingman, James Cahill, asks to go with her, she's not thrilled -- …even if he is fairly gorgeous and knows his way around a toolbox.

Having to fend for herself financially for the first time in her life, Parker signs on as a florist's assistant and starts to find out who she really is. Maybe James isn't the glib lawyer she always thought he was. And maybe the house isn't the only thing that needs a little TLC.

Just like Susan Wiggs, Debbie Macomber, and Sherryl Woods, Kristan Higgins delivers a book with realistic family drama and a romantic love story that will steal your heart.

Parker Wells, single mom and broke because of daddy's stupidity and her stupidity of not taking over her trust fun. So, she finds out she owns a house of her great aunt's up in Maine. So, she finds out it's a shack and it's in horrible condition. She decides to flip it, sell it, and then move back to New York so she can raise her kid, Nick. Then James comes into the picture. James is her dad's lawyer, and he's also a carpenter. And a good one. So, while they're fixing the house, she decides to have a summer fling. This makes the book interesting, since she believes he's there for her dad when he really wants to be with her. *Sigh. Somebody to Love was a good read.

Rating, Cover, Ending: 

Destined

Jessie Harrell

Goodreads:

When Psyche receives a prophecy gone horribly wrong, she learns that even the most beautiful girl in Greece can have a hideous future. Her fate? Fall in love with the one creature even the gods fear.

As she feels herself slipping closer into the arms of the prophecy, Psyche must choose between the terrifyingly tender touch she feels almost powerless to resist and the one constant she's come to expect out of life: you cannot escape what is destined.

The story is based on the Greek myth Eros & Psyche/Beauty & the Beast. Psyche can't see Eros when she's with him; for he fears his mother will find out he's in love with her and destroy her. So, Psyche soon has to find a way to be with Eros while dealing with a jealous sister. What fun! And the book did stay fairly close to the actual story.

What I really liked about this book was that it was set in Ancient Greece instead of the present. I thought that was cool. And I'm happy that after being undone by his arrow, Eros still loved Psyche. Psyche was brave instead of timid like I thought she be. And the love part of the story was cute. It was insta-love for Eros since he nicked himself with his arrow, but Psyche grew into it. Overall, it was a good book.

Rating:

 Cover, Ending:

*Bought these myself

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In My Mailbox #22 / Book Haul #1 / A Shell Full of Books

Hosted by the Story Siren to show people new books coming out soon or already have so people can look them up and add them to their ever growing list of 'to-read'.

BUT FIRST!

As we all know, The Story Siren, Kristi (that's how you spell it, right?) was a accused of plagierism. According to many many blogs, she's been found guilty. Now, as much as I hate it that she has been found guilty, I'm putting on my big girl pants and moving on. This isn't the first time I've heard of this. The first time was when I recieved an email newsletter from The Story Siren about the issue. Now, I truly don't care what happens. It truly doesn't concern me in anyway besides that Kristi posts about new books coming out and events starting up.

Now, I've heard of the Book Haul. Not sure who started it. If anyone finds out, let me know. But I will be doing both. Why you ask? Well, I'm not going to abandon Kristi. No. Even with this big issue, people still read her blog. And the Book Haul thing. Same there. I haven't been blogging for long. I think only six months. Doing both helps me promote my blog without having to do giveaway after giveaway with money I don't have. I'm in high school for Heaven's Sake!
If she's does it again, and I don't believe she will, I will stop doing IMM, but from there I don't know. We'll see.
Anyway, so with this Book Haul thing, I've made a button, and then I did something of my own just for the hell of it.

And then what I'm also calling it.

So, that's the plan people.

ON TO THE BOOKS!

This was a good week.

Ebooks

Won:

Slide by Jill Hathaway

Thanks goes to Jen from Jen Ryland/YA Romantics

Glimmer by Phoebe Kitanidis

Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle

Thanks goest to Lauren of 365 Days of Reading

The Immortal Rules by Julia Kagawa'

Thanks goes to Stacy of Urban Fantasy Investigations

Dust Lands: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

Thanks goes to Brittani from Hope, Faith & Books

Exchange for Donating to New Borns In Need Inc.:

The Darkess Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Underworld by Meg Cabot

Dreamless by Stephanie Angelini

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Destined by Aprilynne Pike

Thanks goes to Ashley from Ashley Suzanne

Bought (Ebook):

Charmfall by Chloe Neill

iBooks

Elemental by Brigid Kemmer

Amazon

Holy crap. That's a lot.

So, what did you get?

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Tattoos of the Dauntless

So, this week's assignment has five options.

Tell us WHY you are Dauntless.

Show us pictures that remind you of Dauntless.

Show some Dauntless tattoo ideas.

Skills needed to be a good Dauntless member.

What would be part of a Dauntless workout.

Well, I chose to do the tattoos.

I based my choices on what characteristics I think a Dauntless member should have.

Courage

Courage: to stand for yourself and your faction. To have the courage to fight.

Loyalty

Loyalty: standing by your faction no matter what.

Bravery

Bravery: standing tall in the face of danger

Fearless

Fearless: having fears and able to stand and face them

And last but not least!

What good member wouldn't have this symbol?

So, there are my tattoos. Each one representing something that Dauntless is.

And thanks goes out to all the great artists that drew these awesome tattoos. Most of these pictures were taken from other blogs or We Heart It at the time, so names weren't there, but thanks does go to Emily Miller Hernodale, who I believe hinted to me in the comments that she drew the awesome lion above. So thank you to her.

TEAM DAUNTLESS!!!

Link up to Dauntless

http://bit.ly/dauntlessfaction

http://bit.ly/choose_dauntless

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Dystopian April #6: Article 5 + 1 thing

WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

Goodreads:
New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.
The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.
There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.
Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.
Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.
That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved.

Review:

Dystopians always have the same type of plot.Corrupt government, a resistance plotting against them, and one or two people are our heroes. The only difference is the type of society.

In Article 5, rights have been taken away and the government "governs' the people by what they call Articles. In violation of them, you could die or stay in prision forever, but most likely death. Citizens are in constant fear. There is barely any money. The most jobs are as Moral Milita (MM) soldiers (as the people like to call them), and those are for men only. Women do cleaning or teacher or other 'womenly' jobs. Gah. So, it's basically the middle ages. Men provided for the family, women cooked and cleaned, children learned.

Well, Article 5 says that a family must have one man, one woman, and children. Ember's mom becomes in violation of this by having Ember out of wedlock and there is no husband present afterward. So, Ember's mom goes off to 'jail' and Ember is sent to a Catholic reform school where they beat girls to make them behave. I thought this was wrong but cool. Taking an old way of life and fusing it with future materials. That was cool. Though I dislike the beatings. Accurate, but horrible.

After a few days in reform school, Ember decides she needs to get out. This includes blackmail. Blackmail, I believe, is one of the most important ways of getting what you want in YA books. It just makes the book a bit more sinster and dark. And in this one, a soldier can't have the life Ember saw one try to hide. So, using this, she tries to break out, but fails. But then Chase comes and gets her out.

Now, from there, Chase is suppose to take her to a safehouse where her mom's at. That's what Ember's goal is throughout most of the book. When that horrid plot twist hits, I was like 'NO FREAKIN' WAY THIS IS HAPPENING!" I was mad. I can't say that much about it, I already gave away too much, but I was not happy.

Chase and Ember. Both very determined people. The War and losing almost everything has scarred them both. Chase mostly. (His uncle abandoned him after the War.) Their both smart. Ember is a little bit reservative. She doesn't show her feelings when it comes to seeing Chase again and what he's become. Chase is even more. He beats a tree because he can't seem to get his feelings out. In the book, he's mostly dark and if you met him in an alley, dangerous. But also protective. When they get into trouble, his first instinct is to protect Ember before him. When she talks about if she gets hurt or killed and the other has to keep moving, he just gets angry and tells her that's not going to happen. I loved that. But I hated that Ember couldn't see what he really felt. And sometimes I thought Ember was a bit of a cry baby when times seemed like they couldn't turn for the good.

Future: Apparently, it's going to be a trilogy. But the next one doesn't come out until next year.:(

Quotes:

"You are my home." Chase. pg 295

I recommend this to all of you who love a great story of survival.

Rating, Cover, Ending:

The ending was so sweet!

*I traded for this book.

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Up Next:

Okay, so I bought and started reading Somebody To Love because it looked like a cute read. The Hunt I will start eventually.

ONE THING! KEEP READING!

I will NOT be finishing all my dystopian books for April. Not a shocking surprise to me since I have well over 15 dystopians. So, when I am done with The Hunt, I will just be picking out books from under my self as I go.

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In My Mailbox #21

Hosted by the Story Siren to show people new books coming out soon or already have so people can look them up and add them to their ever growing list of 'to-read'.

Here's what I got!

Won:

The List by Siobhan Vivian

Thanks goes to April from Good Books & Good Wine

The Twilight Saga: the Official Illustrated Guide by Stephenie Meyer

Thanks goes to Jessica from Fictional Distractions

Delirium by Lauren Oliver (signed)

Actually, I was suppose to get Pandemonium. Don't know what happened.

Thanks goes to Lanie from FicBookReviews

Traded:

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Thanks goes to Damaris from Good Choice Reading

Bought:

Somebody to Love by Kristan Higgins

So, what did you get?

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Insurgent Cover Remakes!

So, our friends Abigail, Julia, and Kristina are having an awesome contest. A Dystopian contest. One lucky winner will win a Dystopian of their choice, including Divergent or Insurgent.

To win, you have to recreate the Insurgent.

Here's mine.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

So, what do you think? I like #2, #3, and #6.

Which ones do you like?

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Killing Two Birds With One Stone #16

KTBWOS is all about posting about giveaways that have that extra entry for a blog post or just to let people know about a giveaway. And instead of making one for each one, they're all in one post!

I have a few. Listen up!

Okay, so on A CupCake and A Latte blog, Wendy is holding a Spring giveaway just for the hell of it.

Here, one winner will win the book of their choice coming out this Spring. :D

Isn't it exciting?

Here's the link: Spring into Spring




Yep, that's right. It's another follower giveaway by Sizzling Reads!

This time, one winner will a book of their choice up to $10 at TBD.

So head on over and congratulate her and enter!

Link is on the side or right here: 550 Follower Giveaway




Live to Read is holding a RT Giveaway. :D Isn't she nice?

Anyway, these are the books six winners could win.

YEAH! SIX!

The Selection

The Last Echo

Underworld (Cabot)

The Goddess Test

:D So, here's the link: RT Giveaway

So over at I'm Loving Books, Sarah is holding a giveaway for Six ARCs. That means six winners!

Here's what you could win:

Glimmer x2

Storm

The Selection

Pure

The Masque of Red Death

Yay! This giveaway only has three days left to enter. So get on over there!

Link is on right or right here: ARC Maddess Giveaway!

Last One!

Blogoversaries. You gotta love them. :D

Anyway, it's Misa's 1 Year Blogoversay. So, to celebrate, she's giving away to two winners:

1 red bookmarker 

1 blue bookmarker with "Keep Calm and Read On" on them

And a book of their choice up to #10 from TBD.

 Pre-Made Blog Design from Wish On Paper Stars.

Doesn't that sound nice? Does to me. :D

So head on over and get yourself some entries. :D

Link is here or on the right (pic doesn't appear for some reasoen)

1 Year Blogoversary Giveaway!

That's all for now.

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Dystopian April #5: Pandemonium

WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

Goodreads: ’

I'm pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Review:

Okay, first of all, let me just start out by saying this book was incredible. I loved it. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The tension and the suspene was there from the middle to the end. The beginning the soft recovering Lena goes through was just right. GOD! I dont' like it that I have to wait forever for the last one!

Okay, so, the book takes place six months after Lena escaped Portland. Now you're wondering what happened in those six months? Well, in the book, for the most of it, it goes back and forth between Now and Then. Then being when Lena was in the Wilds recovering and trying to put herself back together. Now being the six months later and Lena's in New York on an undercover mission. I personally like it when there's flashback in a book. It gives more background information about what happened in the past and what didn't.

In the book, we get introducted to a new set of Invalids, the Scavengers, and a new organization, the Deliria-Free Americ, or DFA. The Scavengers want the cure completely gone. The DFA want the cure done even earlier. They use Thomas Fineman's, the leader, son, Julian, as an example on why because he's dying of a tumor in his brain. They say the cure will save him. Gah. That's b.s. But later on at the rally, well, something happens and it's kinda obvious if you're extremely smart. After I read, I said to myself "Duh. Why didn't I see this coming?" I really liked what happened, I just hate it how and why Julian and Lena were involved in it.

One thing I was somewhat disappointed in was that I expected there to be much more action. I figured that there be some big rebellion and Lena would be a part of it. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of action, but it contained a surprise attack and some fighting toward the end. I just wish there was more.

Lena in this book is so different from Delirium. In Delirium, she's the good girl that falls in love and starts taking risks. In Pandemonium, she's fearless, bold, and a good fighter. In the Then chapters, she's very weak, but as she goes through the months trying to gain her strength, she starts to become stronger in mind and body. But despite this, she still has nightmares about Alex, her mom, and some of the other people she left behind, which sometimes comes back to her during the day, making her vulnerable.

Julian. I didn't like him at first because he felt more like a child than a teenager to me. He was molded in to be a perfect child. He didn't know how Lena would act or what to do if and when they got free from their prison. Afterwards, when Lena starts getting weak a bit, he does start acting like his age and helping her and talking to others. But I think it's mostly because he's never been around girls that I thought he acted like a child. But due to his curiosity and his newness to Love, he starts to fall for Lena.

Speaking of falling, I hate it that Alex was not in the book. Well, he was, but in spirit. I will say that Lena thought he was dead since she hear no word about him from the beginning, leaving her cause to fall for another. BUT IT SUCKS! I loved Alex. And I feel that Lena just kinda forgot about Alex and moved on to Julian, who I don't think they should be 'in love' because they didn't know each other for that long. I think they just both wanted to feel again. But what happens at the end. I hated it!

The rest of the characters were very well developed, each with their own story and personality. I hated Raven's back story. It was so sad. And what happened to her later on in the book got me so frustrated! I wanted to punch something. And then there was the surprise near the end of the book with a character you wouldn't have thought was still alive. I was like "No way. This can't be." It was amazing!

Wish Alex was in this book more.

Future: One more. That's depressing just thinking about it.

Quotes:

Dialogue between Julian and Lena on page 300. Some parts were left out.

"What does it feel like to be infected?"

"I--I can't describe it."

"I want to know." His words are a whisper, barely audible. "I want to know with you."

"Don't believe her." Page. 175. Read it and you'll understand.

This book had me sitting on edge the whole time. Suspene, drama, and romance don't lack in this book. Beware for an emotional, action packed ride of your life.

Rating

It was AMAZING! I want to say I couldn't put it down, but my weekend got busy.

Cover:

You can really see the difference in the covers. Lena on Delirium is the good girl, whereas on Pandemonium she's the girl with attitude that will kick butt when needed.

Ending:

(Pardon my language.)

F*** Cliffhangers!

*Won this book.

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