In My Mailbox (Week of April 18th)

Books I got this week:
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Nice and Mean by Jessica Leader
The Deathday Letter by Shaun David Hutchinson
One Night That Changes Everything by Lauren Barnholdt
Shade by Jeri Ready Smith
The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells
Shadow Boxing by Sherie Posesorski
Summer of Fire by Karen Bass
Fishtailing by Wendy Phillips
The Clearing by Heather Davis(This is for Erica, since she was plotting ways to steal it when I got it. So I got it when I went to a Heather Davis's signing. I also got some swag, which is at my mommy's house.)

Winners!

The Winner of The Body Finder Grand Prize is Steph Su. Yay!
Jenny Worden wins the 2nd prize.
The winner of Radiant Shadows is Jolene Connelly.
Emails are going to be sent.
Also, I reached 500 followers yesterday. =D

The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

Rating:
Characters: 18/20
Plot: 19/20
Originality: 20/20
Writing: 19/20
Recommendation: 19/20
Overall: 95/100 or A
Source: Publisher
Only two weeks ago, life was all too predictable. But that was before I saw my first ghost. Now, along with my supernatural friends Tori, Derek, and Simon, I’m on the run from the Edison Group, which genetically altered us as part of their sinister experiment. We’re hiding in a safe house that might not be as safe as it seems. We’ll be gone soon anyway, back to rescue those we’d left behind and to take out the Edison Group . . . or so we hope.
Kelley Armstrong creates a fantastic sequel to The Summoning and The Awakening. I loved how this book's world was so unique and one of a kind. The teens at Lyle House were a part of an experiment and the people were trying to convince them that they were crazy. This is such a unique idea and found it fantastically awesome. I also liked that more was revealed about what happened with the experiment. Chloe became more comfortable in who she was and especially with her necromancy skills. I also found her growing feelings with Derek were so cute. I have been cheering on them since book one. I love Derek, he is so sweet and amazing. Simon also seems to find out who he is in this book and contributed to the romatic tension that is in the book. Tori surprised me and was a really strong character. I found her to be fierce at times. The Reckoning wrapped up nicely and I am excited to see what will happen in the next book in the series. Armstrong is a gifted writer that creates amazing characters and a wonderfully unique premise. I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoyed the previous books in this series or anyone looking for an original series should start with The Summoning. I know that you will love it.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green

Rating:

Characters: 17/20

Plot: 18/20

Originality: 17/20

Writing: 19/20

Recommendation: 18/20

Overall: 89/100 or B

Source: Publisher

Will Grayson has two simple rules: Don't care too much and shut up. Which is easy to remember, when his best friend Tiny Cooper is constantly breaking these rules. Tiny Cooper also seems to fall in love once an hour and never stops talking. Will just seems to follow the motions of life. He just seems to follow Tiny's wake, which includes being the only straight guy in the school's Gay Straight Alliance. The other will grayson(Refered to WG for the rest of the review) hates his friends and is shut off from everyone, but his Internet boyfriend, Issac. Then one winter night, WG decides to go to Chicago to meet Issac. That same night, Will Grayson and Tiny Cooper are there for a music show. The Will Graysons meet at one random street corner and their worlds quickly intertwine as they get ready for romance and the history's most awesome musical ever made.

Will Grayson was like every other John Green character. He is a bit nerdy, yet average. Suddenly he catches attention of some gorgeous girl that he didn't know until recently. I am not saying that the character is bad, but it is rather redundant. I still found his perspective to be interesting. I love Tiny Cooper. Seriously, I wish he was my best friend. I also loved Jane. She had a lot of style and was fun. WG was depressing at times, but I think that was just teenage angst. I found the characters to all be very funny and I laughed a lot during the book. The plot was slow at times, but I felt that it gradually built up. The musical was amazing and it needs to happen in real life. Other then the fact that John Green's characters were similar, I didn't find that much unoriginality. John Green is a skilled writer. His style was rather normal, while David Levithan's style had no capitalization or structure. I liked how the style bounced off of one another and created such a great story. I found Will Grayson, Will Grayson to be a funny story about growing up and finding who you are. I think you would enjoy this book, if you liked any of John Green or David Levithan's past book.

Waiting on Wednesday (54)

Title: Glimpse
Author: Carol Lynch Williams
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date: June 22, 2010
Twelve-year-old Hope’s life is turned upside down when her older sister, Lizzie, becomes an elective mute and is institutionalized after trying to kill herself. Hope and Lizzie have relied on each other from a young age, ever since the death of their father. Their mother, who turns tricks to support her family, is a reluctant and unreliable parent—at best. During the course of this lyrical and heartbreaking narrative from an exceptionally promising YA voice, readers will discover the chilling reason why Lizzie has stopped speaking—and why Hope is the only one who can bring the truth to light and save her sister.
This book sounds amazing. I also enjoyed her book from last year, and the cover is amazing.

Trailer Tuesday (11)

Here is the trailer of Sea made by Vania. I think it shows the book pretty well

Ginger High by Melissa Burmester

Rating:
Characters: 4/20
Plot: 5/20
Originality: 10/20
Writing: 1/20
Recommendation: 1/20
Overall: 21/100 or F
Source: Author
Ginger High is no ordinary school. It is a school for students with special "powers." Many years ago people came to earth from the Kingdom of Animist, a parallel universe. Two long time friends, Matthias and Amanta, attended the school and then returned home to Animist. The school has many unexplained deaths. Daisy Fisher attends the school after her old school burns down. Matthias and Amanta are called back to the school to help solve the mysteries. What are powers? And what is with this crazy school?
For most of this book, I had to reread passages several times and I still didn't have a clue. There were so many characters that I kept on getting confused on who was who and what exactly there purpose was in the book. Most characters were described by only there name and gender. Many of the character's little personalities changed randomly through out the book. I had no clue what was happening in the plot. I knew that there were murders and something to do with a high school. To me, it felt like it was just a ton of random events in one book. I did find the fantasy elements to be interesting, but the world wasn't described at all. I know that this book is written by the author when she was twelve-years-old. I don't think that she had much experience with writing. I think that this book needed a lot of work before it should have been published. There was a lack of plot and strong characters. This book needed a lot more development, too. I obviously don't recommend this book to anyone.

In My Mailbox(Week of April 11th)

Books that I got this week:
Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien
Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey
She Thief by Daniel Finn
The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen
Mistwood by Leah Cypess
The Reckioning by Kelley Armstrong

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

Rating:
Characters: 18/20
Plot: 19/20
Originality: 20/20
Writing: 17/20
Recommendation: 20/20
Overall: 94/100 or A
Source: ARC Tour
Climate change has caused all of the great lakes to evaporate. On the north shore of Unlake Superior, there is a world that is separated between the people that live inside the wall and the people that struggle on the outside. Sixteen-Year-Old Gaia Stone is a midwife who lives on the outside. Gaia's job is to advance a certain amount of infants from the poverty on the outside and into the exclusive Enclave. That is until her parents are arrested and her world is changed. Gaia is badly scarred from her childhood, because she stick out like a sore thumb. She begins to question the society that she grew up in. As Gaia’s efforts to save her parents take her within the wall, she herself is arrested and imprisoned.
I really enjoyed this book. Gaia was a strong character, she was always treated differently by her scars. She also cares about her family and friends so much. I really liked the voice that she had in the book and it was really strong at times. Sometimes, it felt like an adults voice. I also liked that she was very innocent about what was happening in her world. I adore Captain Grey. He was very mysterious, but O'Brien slowly unraveled his back story and his real personality. He seemed really sincere and honest after learning more about them. The Procreate was a great villain. He didn't have any redeeming qualities and was rather nasty. Gaia's father was really sweet and cared about his family a lot. There were a lot of characters that could be developed more. The plot was really original. I don't think that I have read a book like this in the while. The Baby Code part of the book was awesome. It was really interesting for the people that were inside of the wall. O'Brien is a great writer. She created a unique dystopian novel that was one of a kind. I think that you would enjoy this book, if you enjoyed The Giver or The Hunger Games. I really hope that there will be a sequel.

Five Things on a Friday

A ton of people do Friday Five. I am doing it today, so enjoy.
1. I am editing Sisters. It is my NaNoWriMo from last year and under the pressure of Zoe Alea. I think she will attack me, if she doesn't get it soon.
2. I am graduating High School in a year. I am really excited for it. I hope college will be as awesome as most people say it is. I am looking for colleges with Creative Writing, so if you have an suggestions, just tell me.
3. My twitter buddy Cassandra, posted this awesome post on her blog. Actually she has a ton of awesome post. Check out her blog here.
4. I am going to New York in about a month and a half. It is for BEA. I am so excited to meet so many people and be in The Big Apple. It shall be a blast. If you want to make plans, just tell me and we can set it up.
5. I longer am getting infusions as of May 7th. This is a trial run, but my immunoglobulins(antibodies) are at a normal low. My immunologist wants to see if I am healthy enough to go without infusions. I am so excited to see if it will work. I still have to get blood work twice a month, but that is no biggie.