Poll: Pick my next book!

Posted by Lizzy on Dec 6, 2012 in Uncategorized | 6 comments

Thanks for voting on which book I should read next.  You guys selected Alice in Zombieland by Gene Showalter with 57% of the vote.  Read my review.  Please check out the next bunch of books.  The Pack:Retribution by L.M. Preston makes a repeat entry on the poll since it came in 2nd.  All other choice are new.  

You can always suggest books using the Other button.  The Faults of Our Stars by John Green was suggested and looks like an interesting read, so it makes an appearance this week on the poll.  Poll is on the ride sidebar.

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Cover Reveal and Giveaway: Focus by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Posted by Lizzy on Sep 6, 2012 in covers, giveaway | 0 comments

Focus (The Crescent Chronicles, #2) by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Focus is expected to be released January 2013.  You can check it out on Goodreads.

Overall Thoughts:

Hocus, Pocus, Focus.  Witches and weather.  I like how this cover focuses on her isolation, instead of romance like the first cover.  I’m not quite sure there’s much snow in New Orleans, but I suppose if it does…it is because hell froze over.

Compare to First Cover:

Blurb:

Freshman year of college is hard even when you’re not tied to the future king of a supernatural society.

 Allie dives into college head first with Hailey as her roommate and the city of New Orleans as her backyard. As things within  The Society heat up, Allie realizes that whether she’s with Levi or not, she’s in far too deep to turn back.

Author Bio:

Lazy Days of Summer – The Magic Warble Giveway

Posted by Lizzy on Jul 26, 2012 in giveaway | 2 comments

The summer is hot and the days are long.  Now is the perfect time to read.  Author Victoria Simcox is giving away three copies of her debut novel, The Magic Warble.  It is a MG fantasy.  Winners will have 48 hours to respond by email.  This contest is open internationally.  You can read my review of The Magic Warble HERE.

Summary:

Twelve-year-old Kristina Kingsly feels like the most unpopular girl in her school. The kids all tease her, and she never seems to fit in. But when Kristina receives an unusual Christmas gift, she suddenly finds herself magically transported to the land of Bernovem, home of dwarfs, gnomes, fairies, talking animals and the evil Queen Sentiz.

In Bernovem, Kristina not only fits in, she’s honored as “the chosen one,” the only one who can release the land from Queen Sentiz’s control. But it’s not as simple as it seems. To save Bernovem, she must place the gift she was given, the famous “Magic Warble,” in its final resting place. She must travel through the deep forest, climb a treacherous mountain, and risk capture by the queen’s “zelbocks” before she reaches her destination. Guided by her new fairy friends, Clover and Looper and by Prince Werrien, a teenage boy, and an assortment of other characters, Kristina sets off on a perilous journey that not only tests her strength but her heart.

Follow me on Linky or WordPress and then click HERE to head to the rafflecopter.

Check out all the other participating blogs by clicking on the picture below:

Book Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Posted by Lizzy on Jul 22, 2012 in reviews | 0 comments

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Publisher: Tor Teen

Available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook.

(Minor spoilers)

For the last couple years, I’ve noticed a severe lack of books in the YA horror genre.  But lately, when I ask people for recommendations, they always give me the same answer: Read Anna Dressed in Blood.  So before reading this book, my expectations were sky high that this author was the new RL Stine or Christopher Pike that I absolutely devoured as a teenager.  That said, for the first part of this book, I was considering if revising my review policy to allow 6 stars would be overkill.  I LOVED the beginning.  It is Gothic and creepy and the danger factor is there.  This is essential part of horror – you have to believe that absolutely anyone can be hurt.  One character actually falls victim to Anna when Cas first meets her.  The death was unexpected but played out fantastically.

And then the horror element begins to dwindle and it becomes more of a supernatural-driven story.  Cas is joined by Thomas (a weird kid who can read minds and perform voodoo) and Carmel (the super popular cheerleader that has more character development than anyone else in the story – LOVED her too).

Anna herself is a troubled soul, who suffered a very gruesome and malicious death that made her into the monster she is.  She’s killed anyone who entered her house for 60 years, until Cas…something about him makes her resist her violent tendencies and let him live.  I like her character.  She’s like a modern Casper, full of personality but with a morbid history.

Near the end, the book tries to regain its horror feel when the villain comes on stage…and succeeds until the author makes one fatal error.  Fade to black.  My God.  Don’t fade to black in a horror book!  I want to see the fight.  I want to be freaked out.  There were so much more morbid things in this book that were played out, I don’t know why that scene between Anna and Obeahman could not be shown.  GAH!  And then after the scene, we get some pathetic summary of what went down cause Cas had to go and black out.  Disappointing.  And then at the VERY end, it became obvious that certain people were “safe” and out of harm’s way.  Again, it ruined the horror element.

That said, yes…I will absolutely read anything and everything by this author in the future.  It’s not a perfect book, but I think the sequel definitely has the potential to be.

Characters 5/5

Concept 5/5

Pacing 4/5

Grammar 5/5

Ending 2/5

Summary:

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story…

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

Grade: B

This book will appeal to horror and supernatural lovers.

If you’re interested in purchasing this book, you can buy it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.  More reviews are available at Goodreads.

No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop: Signed copy of Vida Nocturna

Posted by Lizzy on Jul 16, 2012 in giveaway | 78 comments

I’m not going to make you follow me on Twitter, but you can.  I’m not going to make you follow me on WordPress, Linky, or even check out the author, Mark D. Diehl’s website.  You don’t have to visit Amazon, where the ebook version is currently only .99 cents.  You don’t have to tweet this post to all your friends or plaster it on your own blog.  You don’t have to do any of that.  This giveaway gives you a break from all the strings attached to most giveaways.  No strings attached, I promise.

Winner will be chosen by random.

I’ll send the winner an email and for 47 hours…you doesn’t have to respond.  Not until the 48th hour do you have to provide me with a US mailing address to ship a signed copy of Vida Nocturna to.  If you don’t respond, it’s cool.  I respect that.  But I’m going to pick a new winner.  If you do respond within 48 hours, I also promise to destroy all evidence of your home address and emails by fire – I’d send you a video of this destruction but then I would need to have your email again.

All you have to do is leave your name and a valid email address in a comment below.

Wait, you thought I said no strings?  Well, allow me that little one.  I’d love to be able to read your mind and know automatically that you want to win this book (Who wouldn’t?).  I’d love to be able to know who you are, where you live, and everything else about you.  But, I bet you’re glad I’m not psychic.  So, a compromise.  You leave your email in a comment and whatever name you’d like me to call you, and I’ll email you so I can find out where you live in the US privately.  I’m totally not a stalker or a crazy woman, but the heroine in this book gets a little nuts.  Find out how crazy.

Winner will receive a SIGNED paperback copy of Vida Nocturna by Mark D. Diehl.

Vida Nocturna is definitely my favorite indie read this year and top three of my all time favorite books.  It is a psychological thriller/horror novel about the power of addiction.  You can check out my review of it HERE.

WARNING:  Contains drugs, sex, and very dark themes.

Only the need will last forever.

Sara has always escaped her real-world fears by reading fantasy and horror stories. Now, as a social-phobic college freshman, she enters a dark world where horror is not supernatural and fantasy is a trap.

Evil is contagious.

Victims become predators, and every predator was once just like Sara. Imagining she’d be different was her first step toward them. Now, draped in the decadent 80s subculture, she’s rendered helpless by powers she never imagined

This contest runs from July 17th  until July 22nd.   Click HERE to check out all the blogs participating in this blog hop.