In My Mailbox (85)

We have Kristi at The Story Siren to thank for hosting IMM every week. 

Review:

The Rivals by Daisy Whitney

NetGalley:

Magic Under Stone by Jaclyn Dolamore

Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta

Library:

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Everneath by Brodi Aston 

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

What did you get this week?

Charming Covers [28]

Charming Covers is a feature here at Book Fanatics where I show off recently revealed covers/covers that I've recently found.

Nevermore by James Patterson

August 6, 2012

One last chance... 
for Max, Fang, and Dylan... 
before it all ends. 

Are you ready for the final chapter? Are you ready for the ultimate flight? Because THIS IS IT. One last incredible, explosive adventure with an astonishing ending that no one could have seen coming.

I think this is the best cover in the series. The covers here have a tendency to be really cheesy. This is far better than the over covers.

I loved the first few books in this series. But as it kept going, it got kind of old and overdone. But I kept with it because it was still interesting and I really liked the characters (most of them anyway). So I can't wait to see how it all ends.

Review: The Iron Knight

The Iron Knight

Julie Kagawa

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Release Date: October 25, 2011

Pages: 361

Ash, former prince of the Winter Court, gave up everything. His title, his home, even his vow of loyalty. All for a girl...and all for nothing.
Unless he can earn a soul.
To cold, emotionless faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.
Then Meghan Chases--a half human, half few slip of a girl--smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.
Withe the (unwelcome) company of his arch rival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end--a quest to find a way to honor his solemn vow to stand by Meghan's side.
to survive in the Iron realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. at least, not one has ever passed to tell the tale.
And then ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that turns reality upside down, challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice. 

I am probably one of the only ones who isn't in love with this series. I like it, I do. But I am not as intense about it as other are. Nevertheless, I was excited to get back into the world and read the final installment of this series. 

This wasn't my favorite book int the series. I still liked it; it was very enjoyable. I just didn't think it had the same quirkiness as the others. 

The main reason of this is that the main character in this is Ash, not Meghan. I love Ash and loved getting inside his head. He was so heartbroken and my own heart went out to him. Although I missed Meghan, I did quite enjoy the story from Ashe's perspective. 

I love the world that Kagawa has created, and I was most excited to dive back into it. I loved the adventure in this book. Though it was serious at times, it was still really fun. 

I am very happy with the ending of the series. Though it wasn't my favorite, The Iron Knight was a good addition and ending the the Iron Fey series. 

Top Ten Tuesday (10): Books for Those Who Don't Read

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and Bookish. To learn more or participate, visit here.

This week is the Top Ten Books we'd hand to some one who says they don't read.

Some of these depend on those who I am recommending the book to; they may not be for everyone. I'm going to mostly focus on people my own age for this list (hence, a list filled with young adult novels).

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- This is a given. I think everyone can enjoy this book, even if they don't read. There is something in this for everyone. 
2. Graceling by Kristin Cashore- This action-packed high fantasy would be great for those who don't read. 
3. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles- For those who I'd believe would prefer contemporary, I would recommend this book. 
4. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins- Ditto
5. Any Sarah Dessen novel- I know a lot of people who don't particularly like to read but read these anyway. These are the kind of books that you don't have to like reading to like.
6. Divergent by veronica Roth- Action packed and addicting. Good for those who don't like to read. 
7. Vampire Academy series-Again, I have seen people who don't like reading reading these. A very good series filled with romance, action, mystery, magic and more. There's something in this for everyone!

Review: Pure

Pure
Julianna Baggott
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: February 8, 2012
Pages: 448

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters...
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives teh her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost--how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers...to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged and weak, to be sued as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.
Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash...
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a lipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks hi life to leave the Dome to find her.
When Pressia meets Partridge, their world shatter all over again.

If I had to describe this book in one word it would be creepy. Not just certain things or events, but just the atmosphere of the book gives off creepy. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I really enjoyed, even appreciated, that aspect of the book. You can't argue that Pure isn't different or unique. 

The story and world was very captivating. Like I said, this is different than any other book that I've read. This is a world not long after ours, complete with allusions to our world. This is the kind of dystopian I find most interesting (for the most part) because it seems more real. 

There is an interesting cast of characters in Pure. Not just the two main characters Pressia and Partridge, but others including El Caption and Pressia's grandfather. But on another note, I didn't really feel connected to the main characters. Interested in, yes. Connected to, no. 

I enjoyed this book as a whole, but I did feel that at times it seemed to be trying too hard. I felt that there were a couple of parts that seemed to be more of feeling than anything else. 

Although it's not my favorite dystopian story, I did enjoy it. A very unique and fascinating, if not a little terrifying, world that I'm sure will find it's way onto many a bookshelf.

Charming Covers [27]

Charming Covers is a feature here at Book Fanatics where I show off covers that have recently been revealed/recently found.

Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

July 10, 2012

A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers. 

High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever. 

But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business--until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers--and the consequences could be deadly

I'm so excited to get back into the world of Jen Echols!

I like this cover because unlike her other serious contemporaries, there is just a girl by herself here. I think it's very pretty. 

This sounds different than anything I've come across, as usual with Jen Echols. Hopefully this will be as good as all her others!

Waiting on Wednesday: Stealing Parker

Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

October 2012

About a 17-year-old girl named Parker who falls for the new 23-year-old coach of the baseball team. 

Catching Jordan was very good, so I can't wait to read it's companion!

And even though it doesn't have a full premise yet, I love the short description it does have!