Review'd: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Book Review:
Title: Splintered
Author: A.G. Howard
Published by Amulet books on January 1st, 2013

Goodreads Summary:
This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

DeLibrarie Review: 
Wow... just wow. I don't know if I've ever read something so insanely beautiful in every way. You should know that I love me some Alice in Wonderland. It's my favorite classic book, maybe even book, of all time. I just adore it... That being said... I knew I was going to like Splintered. I just didn't realize how much. I love how A.G. Howard took a story that is very much ingrained into my brain and gave me fresh ways to look at the characters, and story itself. In particular, I thought the reimagination of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum into the two morbid Tweed Sisters of the dead was brilliant. I also like how the Mad Hatter took a backseat to the Caterpillar. In so many spin-offs, the Mad Hatter is portrayed as almost a love interest to an older Alice and I was prepared for the same thing to happen in Splintered. I was pleasantly surprised when the Caterpillar it the "dark love interest" roll.

Overall, I really have nothing negative to say about this book. It is just amazing... pure work of imaginative genius.

Oh I I could freeze time

I'm mega super crazy excited because for the first time ever!!!!! I am ahead on my reading. I set a goal on goodreads and so far I am a whopping 3 books ahead of schedule. However, I've been having a few internet problems as of late and so I am behind on my blogging...surprise...not. I have 2-3 reviews I need to get up, and 2-4 Happily Ever Endings that I need to type up... I'm trying to get them out asap but with work and this CRAZY Insanity workout that Jared and I are doing together...I'm beat. BUT I promise you I'll get all that jazz out as soon as I possibly can!

Review'd: Reached by Ally Condie

Book Review: 
Title: Reached
Author: Ally Condie
Published November 13th by Penguin

Goodreads Summary: 
After leaving Society to desperately seek The Rising, and each other, Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again. Cassia is assigned undercover in Central city, Ky outside the borders, an airship pilot with Indie. Xander is a medic, with a secret. All too soon, everything shifts again.

DeLibrarie Review: 
It's crazy to think that we wait for books for SOOO long... years. I started the Matched Trilogy about 2.5ish years ago and now it's all finished. I am never really happy when I finish a series. I'm excited to see how everything turns out for the characters involved but I'm not too happy about the fact that there isn't more to know. I don't really know how I feel about Reached yet. I think it was a little too long... there is about 100 pages where nothing important really happens. I'm ok with how everything ended with Ky, Xander and Cassia but...I don't know I just feel like the conclusion to the series was a little underwhelming. It's worth reading of course but it just didn't quite meet expectations.

Waiting on Wednesday

It's Wednesday... that means exactly one week until my birthday... which also means... only 6 days until not one but TWO of my most anticipated releases will be released. *happy dance. So I thought that for this week's Waiting on Wednesday I'd use those two books.

This week I'm waiting (and not waiting very much longer) for...

Boundless by Cynthia Hand - I seriously CAN NOT WAIT for this book to be in my hands... I will devour it.

and...

Everybound by Brodi Ashton - I just can't stop looking at this cover... it's so pretty.

So that's what I'm excited for... what are you waiting on?

Review'd: Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep

Book Review: 
Title: Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy Book #4)
Author: Jennifer Estep
Published December 24th, 2012 by K-Teen

Goodreads Summary: 
For a moment, a face flashed before my eyes—the most hideous face I’d ever seen. No matter how hard I tried to forget what had happened, I saw him everywhere I went. It was Loki—the evil god that I’d helped set free against my will.

I should have known that my first official date with Logan Quinn was destined to end in disaster. If we’d gotten into a swordfight, or been ambushed by Reapers, I’d have been more prepared. But getting arrested mid-sip at the local coffee hangout? I didn’t see that one coming.

I’ve been accused of purposely helping the Reapers free Loki from his prison—and the person leading the charge against me is Linus Quinn, Logan’s dad. The worst part is that pretty much everyone at Mythos Academy thinks I’m guilty. If I’m going to get out of this mess alive, I’ll have to do it myself…


DeLibrarie Review:
 It is no secret that I love this series. One of my favorite things about it is that she releases a new one about every six months.... I love that. :) I really think that if you like Paranormal based books... you will really enjoy this series... but don't go into it thinking that it is some epic saga of star crossed lovers... It isn't. It is light, and  quick and, yes, there is romance but that is not the whole point of the book. Also... total book crush on Logan... yummy.

Top Ten Tuesday

Sooo, I know that this was the topic for LAST week's Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish), but I didn't see this topic until after last Tuesday and I really wanted to post on it so sorry 'bout that. Plus I'm sorry that I still can't get any pictures on here... I'm working on it!!
So for this post I'm doing the topic of:

Top "Ten" Bookish Goals For 2013

 

 

1. Stop borrowing from people and libraries and read from my own TBR pile. I get sucked into borrowing because it's cheaper and easily accessible, but I keep pushing back the ones that I truly want to read: the ones on my bookshelf. It's high time I finally got to them all.

 

2. Try joining and accomplishing more challenges this year. They're such great ideas but I never join because I don't know how much reading I'll get done (some years I'm just too busy reading for school...). I really want to try them out though so hopefully this is the year for it!

 

3. Read more books before the movie comes out. There are just some stories that once I've seen it, they just aren't reading. Granted, for some movies/TV shows I immediately want to read it after seeing it like with Game of Thrones, but that doesn't always happen. So I just need to read it before I watch it. Especially now that Teen books are becoming the next big thing in the movie business. Teen books are almost always ruined for me after I've seen its televised version.

 

4. Do more blogging! We are SO remiss about this and we really need to step it up. This year we're both graduating so maybe we'll finally have more time for this instead of being forced to focus on our studies all the time.

 

5. Get more reading done. I just don't read like I used to, and I HATE that! I think there's just so much pressure to get reading done that it's starting to make me not want to read much anymore. This goes hand in hand with my goal number one. By taking the pressure off of getting a book back to someone or someplace, I can relax and read what I want, when I want without having to answer to anyone.

 

6. Read more than just Young Adult. I moved on from reading the Young Adult Genre to reading the Adult Fiction Genre (including Science Fiction and Fantasy and Historical Fiction) when I was 13 because I had read all the Young Adult stuff I could get my hands on. But lately I've been focusing on Young Adult because that's what we read here at Delibrarie and that's usually what I end up borrowing from others. Well, I really want to get back into the classics and fantasy and historical fiction because I miss them so that might be a change that's coming.

 

7. Go through my books and make sure there's nothing I don't want within my shelves. Sometimes I cling to books too much and I need to remember to only keep the ones I really want, so I should really go through and cleanse my bookshelves a little.

 

8. Do more giveaways. We never do giveaways. It's time we started delving into that part of the blogging world.

 

9. Be apart of a book tour. It looks like fun but we've just never done it and we should. So I'm going to work on that... look for a good blog tour to join.

 

10. Join Happily Ever Endings because it's such a great idea and I use it ALL the time. I want to be apart of that.

 

So that's my top ten, what's yours?

 

 



In My Mailbox

Whelp, another week has come and gone, and as promised, here is my In My Mailbox post for this past Christmas season. I got a LOT more than what I'm going to list here, but I decided to do it in incriments so as to not to overwhelm you guys and make a ridiculously extensive list of books all in one post.
So here it is! A little belated, sorry about that, but here nevertheless! Enjoy!


Radiance by Alyson Noel
I've wanted to get this book ever since it came out but I've just never done it. Well I finally did and I'm excited! I havn't read anything by Noel yet but all of her books look really interesting. So if this one goes well, I'll probably invest in several other works by her!

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
This is another one that I've always had my eye on but was never sure if I should get it or not. Well I'm doing an independent reading course this upcoming semester with a focus on the Grimm Brothers so I've been on the lookout for retellings of Grimm fairy tales. Since this happens to fall into that category, I decided to just get it. I'm a huge fan of the Twelve Dancing Princess's story so if this goes well, that might end up being one of the three stories I choose for study!

Found The Missing: Book 1 by Margaret Peterson Haddix
My brother read this and said it was good so I picked it up. It looks pretty decent!

The Seventh Tower Book 4: Above the Veil by Garth Nix
This is an old favorite series of mine from back when I was in second or third grade. It's a kid's book, I know, but I never did finish the series because I had difficutly encountering the fourth book. This, for me, is truly a find because now, after all these years, I can finally continue the series (especially now that I'm old enough to get whatever book I want online... I just find it to be MUCH more fun to discover books like this one within book stores... we'll see how lucky I can be with the rest of this series). Hopefully my age won't ruin the book though... books always seem wonderful as a child but when you reread them at an older age, they're not as great because you see the writing style as being dulled down in order to be accessible by kids. It tends to ruin books for me. So I hope that that doesn't happen here...

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
I was just intrigued by this one :)

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
I am fascinated by the Eastern societies of the world which our schools tend to avoid teaching us about so when I come across fiction based off of fact which takes place in Japan or China, as this one does, I grab it because they almost always end up being so good that I can't put them down.

Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace
A classic. Need I say more?

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Oh Jules Verne... the adventures you take us on. Can't wait to read this one!


So that's all I've got! Sorry there were no pictures today...I've been trying to make it work all day but apparently my computer is forbidding me to add pictures to my posts unless they've already been on our blog before! So we'll just have to go without them for now... sorry. Maybe tomorrow it will decide to open the link for me and thus allow me to add pictures :)

What did you get in YOUR mailbox this week???

2012 End of Year Book Survey

I realize that it's a bit late in the game to do an end of year book survey but late is better than never. So here it is! I found this at The Reader's Antidote and I've always found surveys to be fun so I thought I'd give it a go! So here it is...

2012 End of Year Book Survey

 

1. Best Book You Read in 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)

 

The Selection by Kiera Cass

This book blew my mind... I could not put it down.

 

2. Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didnt?

 

The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus. It was intriguing but long and tedious... a little disappointing in that respect but it's a classic so I'm not all that surprised.

 

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?

 

Ripple by Mandy Hubbard

I'm always a little nervous when it comes to putting mythological creatures in teen fiction because they have a tendency to make the creatures silly or inconsequential. However, this book was so real and believable and true to the severity of the creature that I LOVED it. It was such a captivating read.

 

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?

 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Not as many people have read it as I had previously supposed so I went on a mission to get people to read it especially since it had become a movie this year.

 

5. Best series you discovered in 2012?

 

A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies

This book is stunning and I havn't put it down since I picked it up late last year. It's the perfect read for winter because it takes place in winter, too. I love it.

 

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?

 

Jocelyn Davies and Kiera Cass

I had never read anything by them before this but I'm so glad I have now. They are wonderful writers.

 

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

 

Medea by Euripides

I've always been a sucker for the classics, but this type of classic genre was new to me and while the writing is tedious, this particular story was heart-wrenching. And while it was terribly sad, it has stayed with me because it is such an incredible story. Definitely a great read.

 

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?

 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Of course I've read this before, several times, but I've been rereading the entire series and I have trouble putting these books down once I've started them.

 

9. Book you read in 2012 that you are most likely to reread next year?

 

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Because the sequel, The Elite, is coming out soon. EEK!! I'll be rereading this series over and over again for the rest of my life I imagine.

 

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

 

Nightlight by The Harvard Lampoon

That cover is SO funny, I LOVE it.

 

11. Most memorable character in 2012?

 

Damon from The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith

He's so immensley different from the Damon in the television series version of this story that I love seeing the contrast. In the book he is so purely evil. I hate him for it, but it's refreshing to see a character so bent on destruction like he is. All the bad boys nowadays have this soft side to them, but not him. He's pure evil and it's a nice change.

 

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?

 

Ripple by Mandy Hubbard

Seriously, this book was wonderful!

 

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?

 

How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel

So disturbing and yet powerful...We always forget how life can be for some people and then stories like this remind us...

 

14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?

 

Until I Die by Amy Plum

She is such a fantastic writer and this series is so spell-binding that I wanted to read it right away, but I also want to wait and savor the series, too. So I put it off but I'm upset that I waited because it's SO good...

 

15. Favorite book passage/quote from a book you read in 2012?

 

I had to give most of the books I read back to people or to libraries so alas, I cannot look up my favorite quotes as of now... but go look up some Teaser Tuesdays and I'm sure you'll find some good quotes there!!

 

16. Shortest and Longest book you read in 2012?

 

Longest: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling with 734 pages

Shortest: The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus with 43 pages

 

17. Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc...) Be careful of spoilers!

 

The end in Ripple. I won't say anything more than that, except that I DID NOT see it coming and I was SO taken aback... I'm still looking for someone to talk to about it because no one else has read it apparently!

 

18. Favorite relationship from a book you read in 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc)?

 

I love America's TWO relationships in The Selection. I won't say more so as to not ruin anything...

 

19. Favorite book you read in 2012 from an author you read previously?

 

The Mandrake by Niccolo Machiavelli

That story is SO wonderul! Machiavelli is fascinating.

 

20. Best book you read that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else?

 

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Del made me read it because she needed to talk to someone about it and I'm SO glad she forced me to read it. It is now one of my all-time favorites.

 

Looking Ahead

 

1. One book you didn't get to in 2012 but will be your #1 priority in 2013?

 

Destined by Aprilynne Pike

I've been putting off the final in the Wings series, but I need to know what happens...

 

2. Book you are most anticipating for 2013?

 

The Elite by Kiera Cass!!!

 

3. One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging in 2013?

 

Do more of both!

 

I love surveys... Now off for more reading! Happy Belated New Year Everyone!