In My Mailbox (27) VLOG

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.



From Traveling ARC Tours:
Delirium by Lauren Oliver

For Review:
Through Her Eyes by Jennifer Archer

From the library:
Linger by Maggie Steifvater
Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Won:
Lost For Words by Alice Kuipers from McKenzie at The Book Owl
Freak Magnet by Andrew Auseon from Kristi at The Story Siren
Willow bookmarks from Alea at Pop Culture Junkie
I Am Number Four T-shirt from HarperTeen

Thank you everyone!

Be sure to let me know what you got in your mailbox this week!

Review: Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

Title: Brightly Woven
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Published: March 2010
Source: Bought
Synopsis from Goodreads:

Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, h ...more Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, her dusty village has suffered under the weight of a strangely persistent drought. That is, of course, until a wizard wanders into town and brings the rain with him.

In return for this gift, Wayland North is offered any reward he desires—and no one is more surprised than Sydelle when, without any explanation, he chooses her. Taken from her home, Sydelle hardly needs encouragement to find reasons to dislike North. He drinks too much and bathes too little, and if that isn’t enough to drive her to madness, North rarely even uses the magic he takes such pride in possessing. Yet, it’s not long before she realizes there’s something strange about the wizard, who is as fiercely protective of her as he is secretive about a curse that turns his limbs a sinister shade of black and leaves him breathless with agony. Unfortunately, there is never a chance for her to seek answers.

Along with the strangely powerful quakes and storms that trace their path across the kingdom, other wizards begin to take an inexplicable interest in her as well, resulting in a series of deadly duels. Against a backdrop of war and uncertainty, Sydelle is faced with the growing awareness that these events aren’t as random as she had believed—that no curse, not even that of Wayland North, is quite as terrible as the one she herself may carry. 

I've had this book for a long time, but for some reason I kept putting it off. I think that I was scared that it wouldn't meet my expectations. I've read so many great reviews of it, some even saying that it's their favorite book, and I didn't want to be disappointed. I so wasn't disappointed.

This is one of those books that just calls to you. You start it, then have to stop and do something else, but it's always in the back of your mind, forcing you to rush whatever you're doing so you can get back to it. I love books like that! I think that a big part of the call was the characters. They are so, so well developed.

Syd is a strong heroine, but she has faults. She's stubborn and a bit rash at times. North is unlike any hero I've ever encountered. He doesn't like bathing, is an expert at evading questions about himself, and has a terrible sense of direction. But as the novel progresses we get to know him. We find out why he is the way he is, and that he's more than we thought at first glance. The way the relationship grows between them is so natural, I loved reading about it.

The world that Bracken created was wonderful. It's completely unlike our own, but it doesn't leave you confused. Everything is explained is such a way that you don't realize it's being explained. There were a few times when I wasn't sure about the politics, and a couple when something magical confused me, but more or less I sailed right through it.

Basically, I loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy, adventure, romance and comedy. It's definitely staying on my shelf, and I really, really hope that there's a sequel!

Characters: 10/10
Writing: 9/10
Originality: 10/10
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 48/50 A
Cover/Title Comments: This is one of my favorite ever covers, it's just so beautiful. The title is a great fit too.

Kersten Hamilton Blog Tour and Guest Post!

Kersten Hamilton is the author of the awesome book Tyger Tyger, that's going to be released in November.

You can find my review of Tyger Tyger here.

On to the guest post:

Hi, Taylor! Thank you for having me over for a guest post today and for asking how traveling so much in my childhood influenced or inspired me. It wasn’t my choice to have a perfect childhood for a writer, but I did. My official bio reads:

"Kersten Hamilton was born in a trailer in the mountains of southern New Mexico. She escaped electrocution when a typhoon blew power lines down over yet another trailer in a swamp in Washington state, and drowning when a station wagon spun out of control and onto thin lake ice in Alaska. Most of the bullets missed, and none of the incidents with bears, snakes, wolves, and angry moose were fatal."

That’s the short version, of course. The long version includes throwing knives, shooting guns (though I always preferred a bow), riding horses, raising goats, reading books and running wild.

The short version doesn’t include the painful parts, either.

Adventures are more fun to read about than they are to live. There were times when I was very hungry, very cold, very afraid, and very alone. Sometimes I was all of those things at once. I was often in very dangerous situations.

I wouldn’t want any of my children to live the way I lived, or do some of the things I did. But I wouldn’t change my life, either. Because I have a lot to write about!

 --

Thank you for answering my question Kersten! I don't think that I would have handled a lot of the things that you went through very well!

If you want to know more about Kersten and Tyger Tyger please visit her website.
If you'd like to see the other stops on the tour please go to the official tour page.
If you'd like to pre-order Tyger Tyger with free shipping at The Book Depository go here.

200 Followers!

OH MY GOODNESS! I have 200 followers! It feels like I'd finally reached 100 like last week! But I guess it was longer than that =P Thank you guys SO, SO much! I would have a contest but I kind of already have one going, so consider it my thank you to all of you!

Required Reading Giveaway!

Waiting on Wednesday (29)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we post a book that we're looking forward to the release of.

This week:

All You Get is Me by Yvonne Prinz

January 1st, 2011

Synopsis from Goodreads:

What happens when a city girl is transplanted onto a ramshackle organic farm in the middle of nowhere? Everything.

Sixteen-year-old Roar has been yanked from her city life and suddenly she’s a farm girl, albeit a reluctant one, selling figs at the farmers' market and developing her photographs in a rickety shed. And then she witnesses a crime that will throw the whole community into an uproar. Caught among the lure of a troublemaking friend, her love for a brooding boy, and her complicated feelings about her father’s human rights crusade, Roar is going to have to tackle it all. And with a camera around her neck, she’s capturing it all, too.

Yvonne Prinz and her novel The Vinyl Princess have ignited the teen blogosphere and entertainment media. Once again, she’s taken the pulse of culture and emerged with a book that is timely, quirky, and unforgettable.

 

This is so my kind of book. I love realistic fiction, and this has the potential to be funny, sweet, romantic, and inspiring all in one! I haven't read any of Prinz's other books, but I really want to! I think that this cover is really cool, especially the camara.

 

What are you waiting on? 

Required Reading Giveaway!

So, if you're like me right about now you're scrambling to get all of your required reading for school done. The problem is, most of the books assigned are boring, old, and impossible to relate to. Well, here aer two books that I think should be on every YA lovers required reading list that aren't any of the things listed above!

Yep, I'm giving away ARCs of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer and Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel! Both books are near the top of my favorites list this year! 

So when you're finished with your school books reward yourself by reading these!

Rules:
This contest is for US/Canada residents only (Sorry International peeps! I love you but I'm broke :( )
You DON'T have to be a follower to enter!
It will run from today, 8/10, until 8/24 at 11:59 PM EST.
You must fill out the form HERE to enter! Comments are appreciated but will not give you an entry.

Good luck! ENTER HERE!!!

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Title: The Body Finder
Author: Kimberly Derting
Published: February 2010 (Maybe March? Goodreads has two dates)
Source: Won
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her “power” to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he’s claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay’s intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she’s falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.

This book makes me wonder why I don't read more mysteries. That was one of my favorite elements of the book. Violet's special ability was interesting too, but what kept me reading was the mystery. And the romance, but you can find that in any book.

Violet was a great protagonist, and I related to her well. I thought that the way that she was dealing with her new feelings for her best friend made her very likeable. Everyone views bestfriends turned boyfriends as cliche, but reading this I realized how little of it you see in young adult. I thought that it was done perfectly.

The interludes when we were in the serial killers head were fantastically creepy. I would read them and feel grossed out and disgusted afterword. That was awesome! 

One thing that I didn't like was that the supporting characters, like Violet's friends, were pretty one dimensional. We only got to see one side of them. It was the same with the mean girls. It really wasn't that important to the story, but I would have liked to have seen a different side of some of them.


Basically I loved this book! I just wish that the supporting characters had been less one dimensional.


Characters: 8/10
Writing: 9/10
Originality: 10/10
Plot: 10/10
Ending: 9/10
Overall: 46/50 A-
Cover/Title Comments: Love the title! It sounds creepy and fits. The cover is beautiful but has nothing to do with the story.