Book Review: Stormdancer

Griffins are supposed to be extinct. So when Yukiko and her warrior father Masaru are sent to capture one for the Shogun, they fear that their lives are over. Everyone knows what happens to those who fail him, no matter how hopeless the task.

But the mission proves far less impossible, and far more deadly, than anyone expects – and soon Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in her country's last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. But trapped together in the forest, Yukiko and Buruu soon discover a friendship that neither of them expected.

Meanwhile, the country around them verges on the brink of collapse. A toxic fuel is slowly choking the land; the omnipotent, machine-powered Lotus Guild is publicly burning those they deem Impure; and the Shogun cares about nothing but his own dominion. Yukiko has always been uneasy in the shadow of power, when she learns the awful truth of what the Shogun has done, both to her country and to her own family she's determined to do something about it.

Returning to the city, Yukiko and Buruu plan to make the Shogun pay for his crimes – but what can one girl and a flightless griffin do against the might of an empire?

Stormdancer
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 452 (hardback)
Part of Series: The Lotus War #1
Purchased: Bought
Rating: 3/5 stars

REVIEW:
Phew..i just finished this one. It took me a while. I had my doubts about this book since it was steampunk and it's not my favorite genre, still i couldn't say no so i bought it.

I'll admit i had a bad start with this one and lots of problems. The original story though and the whole thing in general made me like it. I can't say it was one of my favorite reads but i'm really into reading the next one too.

To start from the beginning, my main problem was the details. There is a huge amount of details in pretty much everything and if you think that for the first 100 pages nothing really interesting was happening and the story wasn't really moving i almost gave up. Plus, the big amount of japanese weapons and  terms was confusing. There are just there, no explanation what they are. YES, there is a glosary at the end...but for god's sake..i don't check the last pages of the book, so i missed it entirely. So that was a big problem for me. For about 150 pages the book was more tiresome than enjoyable.
But when it started to grow and actually going forward it was more than interesting.

As for the characters i can't say much. They were pretty average and not people who stay with me after the book is over. I've seen them before one way or another.

In the end it was an interesting but quite average book. I'm willing to give a change to the next installment of the series.

P.S: I'm not entirely sure the words "sama" and "chan" were used properly. From the few things i've seen on manga and anime, the book version was a bit off and it seemed wrong.

Book Blast: Phantom Summer (+Giveaway)

Phantom Summer by Amy Sparling
Seventeen-year-old Taylor Gray moves to Sterling Island to get over her dead boyfriend. Mom’s cool with letting her crash on the couch, but Taylor needs to get a job before the lights are cut off again.

When the tall, dark and crazy Raine Tsunami offers her a position at his thriving ghost tour business, she figures it’s an easy way to make some cash. Taylor isn’t afraid of ghosts--that crap is as fake as her mom’s boob job. She loves their adventures on the historic island, especially the secret places he shows her when the crowds go home. So what if all the ghost stories are just legends?

When Taylor comes face to face with a ghost and Raine crosses the line between friend and boyfriend--Taylor’s new life collides with her haunted past. If murdered people end up as ghosts, then that someone she was trying to forget is probably trying to find her.

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Praise

"I was wonderfully surprised by Phantom Summer!!! I couldn't put it down. Loved everything about it."
~Amazon Reviewer Angelmusic

"The emotions are so well written... I would definitely recommend reading this."
~Goodreads Reviewer Lauren

Author Amy Sparling
Amy Sparling is a Texas native with a passion for young adult literature. In her free time she participates in an unhealthy amount of Xbox playing, attends nerd conventions and reads books with her daughter. She's studying to become a high school teacher and lives near the beach with her daughter and two cats. Amy Sparling is a pen name.

 Website * Goodreads * Twitter

$50 Book Blast Giveaway

Ends 3/10/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


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Book Blast: The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back (+Giveaway)

The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson 


Everyone knows how all those fairy tales go. The princess gets beautiful, nabs her prince, falls instantly in love, lives happily ever after and leaves her evil stepsisters in the dust.

But what happens when you’re the ugly stepsister and your obnoxiously perfect—read pretty, smart, and, worst of all, sickeningly nice—stepsister is dating the charming, tall, devastatingly handsome guy you’ve had a thing for since you were nine years old?

Quirky, artistic and snarky Mattie Lowe does not lead a charmed life. Her mother is constantly belittling her on Skype. Mercedes, the school mean girl, has made it her personal mission to torment Mattie. But worst of all? Her stepsister Ella is the most beautiful, popular girl in school and is dating Mattie’s secret longtime crush, Jake Kingston.

Tired of being left out and done with waiting for her own stupid fairy godmother to show up, Mattie decides to change her life. She’ll start by running for senior class president against wildly popular Jake.

Ella can keep her Prince Annoying. Mattie’s going to rule the school.

And no one, not even a cute and suddenly flirty Jake, is going to stop her.

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Praise

“My top pick of 2012 YA… This book is just. plain. fun.”

~Jordan McCollum, author of Saints & Spies and I, Spy

“Sariah Wilson's new book, The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back, is hilarious…What follows is a story of fun and romance with some good non-preachy life lessons thrown in.  The voice in the main character, Mattie, makes the whole thing.  I thought it was definitely a book I'd recommend to anyone with teenagers or who just want to read a good teen romance.”

~Julie Coulter Bellon, author of All Fall Down and All’s Fair

“Sariah [Wilson] has written one of the funniest stories I've read in such a long, long time. I literally couldn't put it down. Yes, my poor Kindle's battery died and I was attached to a short power cord, contorted in a very uncomfortable position while I read to the end…. Sariah Wilson captured the back-biting, insecure, hormone-driven, clique-riddled high school atmosphere so perfectly you'd think she never grew up. I dare you not to laugh as you read this witty and oh, so, romantic story.”

~Debra Erfert of Windows into Writing

“Sariah Wilson writes like the best of/most popular YA teen fiction/teen romance authors - Sarah Dessen, Jennifer Echols, Susanne Collins, Cassandra Clare.  She sucks you in and never lets you go.  I finished the ~194 novel in one night because I just couldn't go to sleep without knowing the ending!  I hope that Sariah comes out with more novels, I know I'll be re-reading this one all the time!  She's extremely talented and needs to be talked about.  I highly recommend The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back! to anyone (over the age of 12) who wants a YA novel that's a real modern-day fairy tale.”

~Hilary at Novel d’Tales

“This was such an entertaining story! I shouldn't have started reading it so late in the evening, because I didn't want to put it down to go to sleep…This is a book I can see myself reading several times. It's a fast, clean read with great characters, and I highly recommend it.”

~Andrea of Literary Time Out

The book is wonderful.  It’s quirky and fun.  The story makes you laugh and you fall in love with the characters right from the beginning…This is a well-written book.  It is one that will make you smile and sigh as you remember your first love.  And it has a moral…be yourself, believe in yourself and maybe, just maybe, your fairytale will come true.  Pick up this book.”

~Ana of The Book Hookup

Author Sariah Wilson



Sariah Wilson has never jumped out of an airplane, never climbed Mt. Everest, and is not a former CIA operative. She has, however, been madly, passionately in love with her soulmate and is a fervent believer in happily ever afters—which is why she writes romance. The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back is her fourth happily ever after novel. She grew up in southern California, graduated from Brigham Young University (go Cougars!) with a semi-useless degree in history, and is the oldest of nine (yes, nine) children. She currently lives with the aforementioned soulmate and their four children in Utah, along with three tiger barb fish, a cat named Tiger, and a recently departed hamster that is buried in the backyard (and has nothing at all to do with tigers).

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$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 3/5/13


Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.




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Book Spotlight: Lennon's Jinx

Lennon's Jinx by Chris Myers

Sometimes, you don’t get to choose who you fall for...

Lennon spends most of his time raising his little sister Currie while trying to skate through his senior year of high school. He prefers groupies with no-strings attached but finds himself strangely attracted to Jinx, the straight-A student in his choir. Lennon’s curiosity overrules his good sense as he tries to peel away the layers to discover the reason for Jinx’s skittishness.

Jinx conceals the black truth about herself from her friends. She won’t admit to them that she screwed up big time, losing her first love and what she once held most precious.

When Lennon’s band holds auditions to replace their keyboard player, Jinx comes to tryout and almost leaves after seeing Lennon. Despite the fact she despises him, she joins the band to nurture her love of music that will hopefully ease the guilt gnawing away at her.

Like the rest of his band mates, Jinx soon witnesses Lennon battling his infamous father for the custody of Currie. While confronting his pent-up anger at his dad, Lennon exposes vulnerabilities he had no intention of letting any girl ever see, especially Jinx. Their reckless pasts may bring them together or further complicate their already messy lives.

Book Review: The Tiger's Curse

Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.

 

The Tiger's Curse
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 498 (paperback)
Part of Series: The Tiger Saga #1
Purchased: Gift
Rating: 2.5/5 stars

REVIEW:
Tiger's Curse was really high in my TBR because let's be true, the summary actually makes the story to look unique and original!!

And it is. I really liked the whole curse idea with the tigers and adventuring to break it. The clues, the riddles were a nice touch, even though they weren't that clever or actually difficult to solve. So there is that.. Unfortunately, as good as the book started i just had way to many problems with it after the first half.

I tried to ignore the fact that her foster parents, didn't really care about her and let her go alone with a strange man on a trip. Are they really any phone calls after it too? No i don't think so. But the bad thing was how the story was written in general. Ren spends a lot of his time as a tiger, which mean he can't talk, that cause less dialog and more descriptions. Annoying and unnecessary descriptions, that tire you. Whenever they were going into the jungle, i thought i won't manage to finish the book. Still, i went on.

But here we are with another problem. To tell you the truth the characters are nothing special and Kelsey seems more naive, than clever as her author try to convince us for her. Res is fine, but i prefer him as a tiger. Anyway, there are some love sparks in here and you can actually see Kelsey falling in love with him (too many descriptions of how hot he is btw). BUT about the last quarter of the book the author decides to make Kelsey afraid (?) of her love for him and try to stay away from him, and pretty much destroys everything. Except it really didn't make sense to me, it was way too obvious that the whole thing happen so there is a triangle with his brother (i'm betting on that!!) later. And i do hate forced triangles....

All in all, it kept me but the "bad" parts overshadowed the good ones and right now, i'm really not in mood to actually read on with the series.

Movie Review: Gangster Squad

 Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and—if he has his way—every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It's enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop...except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen's world apart. "Gangster Squad" is a colorful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD's efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time.

Gangster Squad
Released: 2013
Runtime: 113 mins
Rating: 4/5 stars

REVIEW:
With a quite exciting trailer and cast, Gangster Squad convinced me and my friends to go watch it at the cinemas.

And the movie was as excited as expected. With a great story, directing and acting it totally stands out. It was action packed and really need to be mentioned here, with lots of violent scenes. I was really surprised by it because there wasn't really a clue about it in the trailer. I can't say though it was too much, because it actually fitted the scenes. Just have it in mind, if you have problem with blood and lots of hitting...

It was my first Ryan Gosling movie and it took me awhile to get used to his voice, but either way he was really good at his role and his chemistry with Emma Stone was unique. Then we have Sean Penn, who you could see living his role to the bone. Maybe not of his best but definitely a good one. And the third main actor was Wade Williams, who i have previously seen at Men in Black 3, and once again loved him. As for the rest of the gang, they were all great in their own way.

In the end i felt quite satisfied by watching it. I enjoyed how real it felt and how it kept you at the edge of your seat and at the same time it was serious and funny.

February Author's Kindle Fire Giveaway (INT)

Kindle Fire HD Giveaway!

The winner will have the option of receiving a Kindle Fire HD (US Only

Or $199 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)

Or $199 in Paypal Cash (International)

This giveaway is sponsored by these Authors:


The Reluctant Bachelorette by Rachael Anderson

One Classic Latin Lover, Please by Marcia Lynn McClure

Betrayal by Anne Patrick

Belleyache by Crystal Marcos

Ethan Justice: Origins by Simon Jenner

I Have People by Taylor Dean

For What It's Worth by Karey White

A Kiss of Ashen Twilight by Rae Lori

The Unraveling by Holly Barbo

Fateful by Cheri Schmidt

Dracian Legacy by Priya Kanaparti

Cascade Brides by Bonnie Blythe

A World Apart by Camelia Miron Skiba

Reality Bites, Tales of a Half-Vampire by Shaunda Wenger

Face-Off by Stacy Juba

Two Equals by Marta Szemik

The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw by Suzy Turner

One for Kami by Charlene A. Wilson

Freak of Nature by Julia Crane

Grace Doll by Jennifer Laurens

The Secret of the Scarlet Stone by T.L. Clarke

Gallagher's Hope by M.K. McClintock

The Spy Lover & Prize Winning Pacific Stories by Kiana Davenport

Rejected by Heather Bixler

Rapunzel Untangled by Cindy Bennett

A Hard Act to Follow by Henry Bushkin

Starseed by Liz Gruder

Giveaway Details

1 winner will receive their choice of a Kindle Fire HD (US Only), $199 Amazon Gift Card or $199 in Paypal Cash (Internaitonal).

Ends 2/28/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


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Book Review: The Dragon's Egg

In the fourth and final book of the Dragonslayer series, Mandulane's army is poised to attack the Northlands in the name of a powerful god, but in truth Mandulane is using the act of spreading this new faith as a way to disguise his own personal greed and hunger for power. Astrid has succeeded in warning her beloved country of imminent danger, and the Northlanders scramble to set up a clever defense, never realizing a spy in their midst is poised to take critical information directly to Mandulane. After sacrificing herself in order to set her brother Drageen free for the sake of protecting the Northlands, Astrid finds herself controlled by the stone of light. Although it forces her path of destiny, Astrid learns she must make one final choice about who she wants to be. Most important of all, her new sweetheart Trep encounters a dragon that entrusts him with the care of a dragon's egg. Trep embraces a dangerous journey and accepts the duty of protecting the unhatched dragon, knowing that its safety could impact the fate of the entire world.

The Dragon's Egg
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 222 (ebook)
Part of Series: The Dragonslayer Series #4
Purchased: Review for tour
Rating: 5/5 stars

REVIEW:
I'm always a little sad but at the same time happy for the conclusion of a series. And the Dragonslayer's series came to an end with the Dragon's Egg.

I enjoyed the three books before and this is not different! Resa Nelson's writing is still compelling and straightforward but still beautiful in a way that shares with you the magic of the book. The story is progressing with many surprises and with tons of action. The fact that even in the fourth book there was a place for getting the story a step forward and not just finishing it was something that i really liked. It was like the story still had secrets to reveal and grow and not just answer everything. Though there are no lose ends on some serious matters in the end which is good.

Astrid was one of my favorite characters at the previous books and of course she still was amazing, and even in the end we see how she shapes herself but it was another person that i loved to read about in this book. Drageen. He is different, changed and you get to see the world through his eyes and understand him way better than before. He is quite an interesting character and really different than Astrid even though they are brother and sister. His story in this one, was my favorite part to read following later Trep. Trep, a character who i didn't really pay attention before came to steal all the glory from Astrid. I liked how you could follow different people and see how the story changed them and actually connect with them.

The book does not have the perfect happy ending because it's life. It feels real. And the closing scene is one of the most beautiful scenes i've ever read, creating a sad smile but still a smile at my face. A wonderful series about dragons and humans and most importantly the change of people and the world. Enjoyed it to the core and i actually wish there was a little more. I will miss those characters.

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3 Prizes - 3 Winners

7" Kindle Fire HD + $50 Amazon Gift Card ($250 value)

$50 Amazon Gift Card

$25 Amazon Gift Card

Last day to enter - 2/28/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Prize will be delivered in the form of the winners choice of either an Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the participating bloggers. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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