Thursday, March 29, 2012

My first Giveaway

Since this is my first giveaway I am a little nervous but I am going to try it. I have two books I am looking to giveaway to one lucky winner. I have posted the Rafflecopter widget on the side and listed how to enter and the terms and conditions of the giveaway are listed under the giveaway page.

You can enter by following my blog, leaving a blog post comment or following me on twitter at thebookfanatic.

The contest will run from March 29 2012- April 14 2012 at midnight. It is open to US/CA only. Once a winner is chosen I will email you. If I do not hear a response within a week I will have to unfortunately choose a different winner.

I hope you enjoy!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday-Code Name Verity

Title: Code Name Verity
Author: Elizabeth E. Wein
Format: Hardcover
Series: No
Release Date: May 15 2012

This is late and I appologize. Blogger is not putting my post up when I schedule them. Quite frustrating to say the least. To make up for this I have chosen and awesome book this week.

Two young women from totally different backgrounds are thrown together during World War II: one a working-class girl from Manchester, the other a Scottish aristocrat, one a pilot, the other a wireless operator. Yet whenever their paths cross, they complement each other perfectly and before long become devoted friends. But then a vital mission goes wrong, and one of the friends has to bail out of a faulty plane over France. She is captured by the Gestapo and becomes a prisoner of war. The story begins in "Verity''s" own words, as she writes her account for her captors.

This is a historical fiction about two girls are thrown together during WW2 each playing a different role. One is a wireless operator while the other is a pilot. The girls come from completely different backgrounds but come to be friends. When one of the girl’s missions goes wrong, she is captured by the Gaspo and becomes a prisoner of War. She writes her account of her captures.
I have seen this book floating around a few blogs so I decided to check it out. It sounds amazing. I am a huge fan of historical fiction, especially WW2. This is a book I will be moving to the top of my TBR list.


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Pure- Julianna Baggott


Title: Pure

Author: Julianna Baggott

Series: Yes

Format: Hardcover

Source: Borrowed

Rating: 4/5









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 with 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 bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used 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 slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.




Pure is one of the most realistic dystopians I have ever read. It is scary how realistic it is. The writing and setting drew me in and kept my attention. I will admit there were some parts that I felt myself losing some interest in the story but it always recovered.



The story is told mainly through the eyes of Pressia who is outside of the dome and Partridge who was inside the dome at the time of the explosion. Partridge wants to escape the dome and find his mother who he believes is alive after his father lets it slip. He is unhappy with his life in the dome, his brother has committed suicide and he feels different from the other people in the dome. Pressia wants to be in the dome, she was on the outside when the explosion happened and is part of the mutated left on the outside. She lives with her grandfather in a burned out barber shop until the age of sixteen when she must go on the run in order to avoid becoming a soldier.When Pressia is on the run she meets Partridge and their connection to each other is reveled.



I loved the setting of the book, it was so well done. I felt like I was in the story and if I looked out my front window I would see the massive destruction. We did not learn much about the inside of the dome, Partridge starts there but not much is said. Lyda also started out in the dome, but the most description we get is about the asylum she is taken to. I hope book two will give a better picture of life inside the dome and how it got the way it is.



The ending was a letdown. There was no cliffhanger to make me beg for the next book to come out just so I can know what happens. It was quite dull compared to the rest of the book. This is a series I will continue to reads, but I am not dying to read it. I wish the ending has given more.


Monday, March 26, 2012

Incarnated-Jodi Meadows




Title: Incarnated
Author: Jodi Meadows
Series: Yes
Format: Hardcover
Series: Yes
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 3.5/5

 








 

New soul

No soul
Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
Heart
Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies--human and creature alike--let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

I would have never have read this book if it was not for book bloggers so I must first thank every book blogger who mentioned this book. It sounded interesting, but it probably would have been a book I would have forgotten about it if was not for fellow bloggers so thank you.

I wasn't sure what to expect of this book in all honesty. I had no idea what direction the author would take and if I would even like the book, but the reviews and georgeous cover drew me in.

Ana is a newsoul or a nosoul as her mother likes it call her. She has never been incarnated and her mother blames her for taking the spot of a soul who was suppost to be reincarnaed. Ana leaves her mothers house to find out why she was born.

Sam thinks Ana is a sign of good things to come and takes her in and helps her get to Heart to discover why she was born.

I found the beginning a little predictable but I pressed on. Ana and her mother Li are the first  charaters introuduced. Lin has always made Ana feel unwanted and blames her for everything bad that has happened to her including Ana's father leaving them. Frustrated and confused, Ana leaves for the city of Heart to discover why she is a new soul and if she is the only one. The book picks up pretty quickly from here, Ana almost drowns when Sam rescues her.

I found the relationships were confusing. I still feel lost how everyone is connected from past lives. We get a glimpse of how these people might be connected, but it's never made fully clear. Sam and Steph confused me a lot also. Were they together in a past life or were they only friends? Will we find out in the next books? It seemed they were a couple in the past, but it is never fully brought up.

Ana and Sam. There relationship I still do not fully understand. It was clear they cared for each other and the attraction was there, but was Sam attracted to Ana or the person she was suppost to come back as? Maybe I am trying to get too much out of the story, but I felt like they had a connection but it did not feel completely real to me.

The premise of the story is about incarnation. In the beginning we get a flash of what happened when Ana was born, but that is it. There is not must else given as to why souls come back or if it has always been this way. I was hoping for more backstory.

Oh Ana, you are impulsive and easily offened. She was one of my favourite characters because she was so realistic. She got scared and confused and she could admit it. Sometimes she was impulsive, but she was also brave. She grew a lot as a charatcer in the book, In the beginning she always looked for punishment but she grew a backbone and became a strong main character. I liked her a lot.

Steph was my other favourite character. She was funny and she was likeable. She has been connected to Sam for hundereds of years, but was still willing to let someone else into his life. I liked her and I wish we got to see more of her and learn what happened to her in her past lives.

Sam was the character I felt we learned the most about his past lives, but I still feel like there was a lot left unsaid. Why did the dragons target him?

I am a little scattered brained after this book. I feel like pieces of the story are missing and I want the gaps to be filled. It kept me wanting more and I will check out the next book in the series in the hopes of having my questions answered.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

In My Mailbox (16)

IMM is hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren.

This week IMM I only got one book, but it was a good one. I am trying to buy less books. There are quite a few coming out later in the year that I am dying to read so I will hopefully get through some more of my books before they come out to ease the guilt of buying them.

My book this week was from my local library and it was Pure by Julianna Baggot. I started it on Friday and I love it so far.




















What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Friday, March 23, 2012

The Way We Fall- Megan Crewe

Title: The Way We Fall

Author: Megan Crewe

Format: Hardcover

Series: Yes

Source: Bought used

Rating: 4.5/5









It starts with an itch you just can’t shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you’ll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in.

And then you’re dead.

When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back.

Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.

Because how will she go on if there isn’t?


Warning- While reading this book you may become convinced everyone around you is carrying this virus and may become slightly paranoid. I advise you read this alone, away from the human population so you will be less convinced everyone is ill. You may still think you are.

A deadly virus has swept through Kaelyn's island community causing the government to quarantine the island. None is allowed to leave and none can come back. She starts a journal to a friend who got out before the virus began and has no idea what is happening. She keeps a log of what is happening, now it starts with an itch and ends with death.

Kaelyn teams up with her former enemy and the community that is left to battle through the virus and keep the island from falling into complete disarray.

This book freaked me right out. I work in health care so I know how easily a virus can spread and the damage it can cause. Reading about it is pretty scary. I was completely convinced everyone who coughed or scratched had somehow contracted this virus even though it is only in a book. I used a lot of hand sanitizer while reading. I am still not completely convinced it is fiction.

The characters are amazing, the story is scary and the ending is perfect. I loved every aspect of this book, nothing lacked. I wish it would have been longer. I want the second book so I know what happens next. What will happen after the outbreak, who is left and what measures will be taken to contain the virus. I need theses answers.

The biggest question I want answered is how the virus originated. Please book number two answer my questions. I may be paranoid while reading you but I am willing to take the risk.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Lone Wolf- Jodi Picoult

Title: Lone Wolf
Author: Jodi Picoult
Format: Hardover
Series: No
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 3.5/5










Edward Warren, twenty-four, has been living in Thailand for five years, a prodigal son who left his family after an irreparable fight with his father, Luke. But he gets a frantic phone call: His dad lies comatose, gravely injured in the same accident that has also injured his younger sister Cara.

With her father’s chances for recovery dwindling, Cara wants to wait for a miracle. But Edward wants to terminate life support and donate his father’s organs. Is he motivated by altruism, or revenge? And to what lengths will his sister go to stop him from making an irrevocable decision?
Lone Wolf explores the notion of family, and the love, protection and strength it’s meant to offer. But what if the hope that should sustain it, is the very thing that pulls it apart? Another tour de force from Jodi Picoult, Lone Wolf examines the wild and lonely terrain upon which love battles reason
.
Edward left home at the age of eighteen after a fight with his father. He fled to Thailand where he has lived for five years until the night his mother calls him to tell him his father and sister Cara have been in a car accident.
Cara wakes up to find that her dad is in a coma and the doctors say he will never wake up.  She blames herself for the accident and wants to keep her father of life support until a miracle happens. Her brother Edward wants to terminate his father’s life support.
Their mother Georgie is caught in the middle.  Since she is no longer married to Luke she has no say in the decision but is instead caught in the crossfire of her children.
It was hard to pick sides in this book.  I agreed with Edward, but I also knew what Cara was going though and how hard it is to let someone you love go.  I wanted a good outcome for both of them which I knew would not happen.
Georgie is my hero. She is such a strong women. I give her kudos for trying with Luke when everyone else would have walked out.  She made the best decisions she could for her family. She was an amazing well written character. She was the glue to the story.
I did not enjoy Luke as a person, but I enjoyed the snippets we got of him throughout the book, we seen exactly what his life revolved around which was the wolves. The amount of information given about them was astounding. The other side of Luke as a father, friend and husband is through the eyes of those around him.
This was not my favourite Picoult book. It had the base I always love with her books, which is a well researched and thorough topic, but it did not grab me like her other ones have in the past. This is an emotional book, have you Kleenex ready for this one.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Hidden-Kelley Armstrong


Title: Hidden
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Format: Hardcover
Series: Yes
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 4/5










Hiking through the snow, holiday baking and playing board games by the fire – what’s not to love about an old-fashioned family Christmas?

Werewolves
Elena Michaels and Clayton Danvers want to give their four-year-old twins, Kate and Logan, something their parents never had: a nice, normal holiday. No Pack responsibilities, no homicidal half-demons or power-hungry sorcerers to deal with – just the four of them, alone, at a chalet outside Ontario’s Algonquin Park.

Then a strange werewolf shows up at their door…while the town is buzzing about a young man, back from college, found half-eaten in the woods. And there’s the missing little girl …

With all the signs pointing to a rogue mutt with a taste for human flesh, Elena and Clay have no choice but to investigate. But are they the hunters – or the hunted?
Hidden is a novella of Kelley Arstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series.  If you are familiar with the series, I recommend this one, it does not really add anything else to the story but gives you a little more information on the characters you know and love.  This story featured Jeremy’s pack, especially Elena and the twins.
Normally I am not a fan of novellas, but this one took me by surprise. I enjoyed seeing the characters again; it made me want to re-read the entire series which is not good since I have a million unread books on my shelf.
Armstrong provides a further look into the lives of the twins, in the other novels she included the twins into the story, but in this one they were brought out a lot more.  Their personalities are still the same, they are still not aware of the secret their parents are keeping from them.
Elena and Clay decide to give the twins a traditional family Christmas in a rented chalet. The trip seems to be going well until a stranger appears at their door, and a dead college student is found half- eaten i n the woods.
As Elena is the future alpha she must act and investigate the murder.  The twins do not understand why their parents now have to work on vacation. Elena’s internal battle rages between being a mother and a leader of the pack.
I enjoyed the ending, it left me wanting more. I want to know how the twins will react and what will happen in their future. Will they both go through the change or only one?

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday


TTT is hosted by Jamie over at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s TTT is Top Ten Books on My Spring To-Be-Read list. I would also like to mention this post is being written outside where I am currently experiencing some amazingly nice weather. I hope it lasts.
This list could go on forever, but I promise to keep it at ten.
1) Insurgent Veronica Ross
2) The Selection- Keira Class
3) Shine- Jeri Smith-Ready
4) Pandemonium- Lauren Oliver
5) Incarnate- Jodi Meadows
6) Blood Red Road- Moira Young
7) Evernight- Claudia Gray
8) Saving June- Hannah Herrington
9) Pure- Julianna Baggott
10) Fever- Lauren DeStefano
What are your top ten books to read this spring, leave a comment below :)

Monday, March 19, 2012

In My Mailbox (15)

IMM is hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren.

This is a late IMM because this weekend has been soo busy for me. I only mananged to finish the book I started on Friday. It was pretty cramped. I did however accumulate a lot of books.

Bought New


Cracked Up to Be- Courtney Summers
Dancegirl- Carol M. Tanzman
Made in the U.S.A.- Billie Letts
The Forest of Hands and Teeth- Carrie Ryan
Eyes Like Stars- Lisa Mantchev
Vesper- Jeff Sampson
Crash Into Me- Albert Borris
The Dovekeepers- Alice Hoffman











Bought Used


Fight Club- Chuck Palahniuk
Misfit- Jon Skovron
















Borrowed from the Library


Hidden- Kelley Armstrong
Incarnate- Jodi Meadows
The House I loved- Tatiana De Rosnay
Lone Wolf- Jodi Picoult













What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Friday, March 16, 2012

Weekend Reads

Last weekend I gave myself six books to choose from and I managed to read all six.  I did start two before the weekend began, but I am hopeful that I will have another amazing reading weekend.
This weekend I have chosen four because this is going to be a busier weekend than the last one so my goal is a little lower.  Two are pretty short so I am pretty confident. There is no categories this week because they are all books from the library. I am hoping to get through these quickly because I bought some more books. Again. It's bad.

Lone Wolf- Jodi Picoult

I only have 7 days to read this one and it is day number three already so I have to get this read ASAP.








Hidden- Kelley Armstrong

This book is not too long so I know I can get through this one, I have been waiting awhile for this one so I cannot wait to dive into it.








The House I loved-Tatina De Rosnay

I loved her other two books so I hope I love this one too.  Again this one is pretty short so I hope to finish this one quickly too.








Incarnate- Jodi Meadows


I have heard amazing things about this and it has finally arrived from the library so I hope to get this one at least started this weekend.






What are you reading this weekend? Leave a comment below.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Perfect (Pretty Little Liars #3)- Sara Shepard

Title: Perfect
Athor: Sara Shepard
Format: Soft cover
Series: Yes
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 4/5










In Rosewood, Pennsylvania, four perfect-looking girls aren't nearly as perfect as they seem.
Aria can't resist her forbidden ex. Hanna is on the verge of losing her BFF. Emily is freaking out over a simple kiss. And Spencer can't keep her hands off anything that belongs to her sister.
Lucky me. I know these pretty little liars better than they know themselves. But it's hard keeping all of their secrets to myself. They better do as I say . . . or else!
Perfect is the third instalment in the Pretty Little Liars series. It continues from the second book, filling in more gaps in the story. A continues to taunt the girls and Ali’s murder is still under investigation.
The ending was a complete cliff hanger, the last chapter was action packed. Wow. I really want to know who A is! I thought I knew, but now I have changed my mind completely. Again.
As with the other books, each character is separate from one another, it is rare for them to cross paths.  This book is a lot more secretive; they are getting more clues to what happened to Ali but there not sharing. We also learn a lot more about Spencer’s sister Melissa. I don’t know if I trust her.
Spencer starts to remember bits and pieces of what happened the night Ali disappeared. She starts to have more and more flash backs, slowly leaking more clues into what might have happened to Ali. 
Ari has moved onto Shawn and has forgotten completely about Elza. Or has she. Her relationship with her family is still rocky, she is not speaking with her father and Elsie wants nothing to do with her. Shawn allows her to stay with him, but will Elza come between Ari and Shawn?
Hanna struggles with her friendship with Mona. As Mona pushes her away, Hanna finds a new friend who stands by her after Mona’s disastrous birthday party.
Emily struggles with her feelings for Maya. The spotlight seems less focused on her swimming and more on her relationship with Maya who wants to go public while Emily is not ready for that step.
This is my favourite so far. I am holding off on the fourth one to allow my brain to process all the information given in this book.  
If you are a fan of the series, this book does not disappoint. If you have not started the series I recommend it. I was reluctant at first, but now I am glad it I did.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Waiting on Wednesday- Tilt

Title: Tilt

Author: Ellen Hopkins

Format: Hardcover

Series: Sort of?

Release date: September 11 2012










TILT is the story of three teens inter-related through their parents' family relationships and friendships. As their parents pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the kids' worlds tilt, through love--good and bad:

Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year, and decides to keep the baby?

Shane turns sixteen that same summer, and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister's impending death. Can he accept Alex's love, knowing his life, too, will be shortened?

Harley is fourteen—a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.


Tilt is the YA companion of sorts to her adult novel Triangles. It features the teenagers in her adult book. I am soo excited for this one. Anything by Hopkins is amazing. I loved her adult novel, and I cannot wait to see the story through the eyes of the teenagers.

Mikayla- I want to find out what is going to happen with her and Dylan and what her parents are going to do when she decides to keep the baby.

Shane- Alex  & Shane are such a sweet couple. I want them to last and I want to know how Shane is going to react as Alex slowly gets sicker. Will he stay with him or will he find someone new?

Harley. Oh poor Harley. I felt such sympathy for her in Triangles. I'm glad I get to see her again. I hate the path she is taking to experience new things, including a older boy.

I am going to build a time machine so I can get my hands on this book faster. I want to read it now! Why must I wait to find out how everything is going? why????? I am done rambling. For now.

P.S. I swear this is the last thing. Pinky swear. Have you seen the awesomeness that is this cover? I love the colors, it's plain and simple but still sooo pretty. Ok really done now.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday




TTT is hosted by Jamie over at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday Top ten Genre Books. The genre I choose is historical fiction. I have not read a lot of historical fiction this year so far even though it is one of my favourite genres to read. This is a mix of YA and adult historical fiction I loved.

1) The Book Thief- Markus Zusak













This is not only one of my favourite historical fiction novels; this is also one of my favourite books of all time.  The setting is WW2 in Germany and it involves a Jewish girl and a lot of thieving.

2) Outland- Diana Gabaldon














I have listed this book a few times for different TTT’s and there is a good reason for it. Again this is one of my favourite books. This book is set in 1945 and the protagonist is Clair who is a combat nurse recently back from the war and is celebrating a second honeymoon with her husband when she is sucked back in time to Scotland in worn torn 1743.
3) The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas- John Boyne.














Another book set in Germany during WW2. I am seeing a pattern here. Bruno returns home from school one day to find out that his father has been promoted and his family must move far away where he has none to play with and nothing to do. He discovers a fence and befriends a boy on the other side of the fence, a Jewish boy who is there with his family for very different reasons than Bruno’s.
4) Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen













This is another favourite of mine; I have been hooked on Gruen since receiving her first book, Riding Lessons as a birthday gift. Her latest book is set in 1932 in the world of a travelling circus where star crossed lovers meet and the story of their lives and an elephant named Rosie plays out.

5) A Northern Light- Jennifer Donnelly













This has to be one of my favourite debut novels ever. Set in 1906, sixteen year old Mattie Gokey takes a job at a hotel where a guest of the hotel, Grace Brown gives her the task of burning a stack of letters, but before they can be burned Grace’s body is found drowned at the bottom of the lake.  Mattie discovers the letters could hold the truth behind a murder.

6) Memoirs of a Geisha- Arthur Golden










 


This novel follows the life of Sayuri from her childhood in a fishing village to her life as a geisha. In 1929 she is sold to represent a geisha house where her story continues as she learns how to become a geisha. She is schooled in music and dance and must learn how to survive her trade and the upheavals of war.
7) The Devil’s Arithmetic- Jane Yolen














Amazing book that has not gotten nearly the amount of attention it deserves. When Hannah sits with down with her family for Passover she believes it will be like every year’s Passover. What she does not know is that she will be transported into the past where she is the only one who knows what is going to happen.


8) To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee













This makes the short list of my favourite books of all time. I read it in high school and fell in love with it. This is the story of a sleepy southern town and the crisis that rocked its foundation.  
9) The Thirteenth Tale- Diane Setterfield













Margaret Lea returns to her apartment one night after working in her father’s antique bookshop to find a letter waiting on her doorstep. It is from Vida Winter who is gravely ill and wants Margaret to be the one to capture her history. As Margaret ponders her request, she starts to read Miss Winter’s Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation only to discover after being sucked into the story that there is only twelve tales. Intrigued about the missing tale she agrees to act as Miss Winter’s biographer.

10) Vixen- Jillian Larkin



















 

This is the first book in the flapper’s series and my favourite. This is set in the 1920’s when anything goes. It is the story of Gloria who dreams of being a flapper, Clara Knowles her cousin who moves in with Gloria to make sure that her cousin’s high society wedding goes without a hitch and Lorraine Dyer Gloria’s social ladder climbing best friend.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Anna Dressed In Blood- Kendare Blake

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Format: E-Book
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 4/5
Series: Yes, book one










If I had to use one word to describe this book it would be creepy.  It is fast-paced and exhilarating.  This book throws you right into the life of Cas and his ability to kill ghosts. This is a job that was passed down to him when his father died when he was seven. Cas, his witch mother and her spirit sniffing cat travel the world following ghost stories.  The latest ghost story brings them to Thunder Bay where a ghost named Anna Dressed in Blood.  She was a ghost who was brutally murdered in 1958 when she was walking home from a school dance. Since her murder she has killed anyone who enters her Victorian house, except for Cas. She decides to spare his life, why?
This book exceeded my expectations.  When I first read the summary for it I pictured Brothers Grimm. I was so wrong. This book grabbed me the second I started reading it. I did not want to put it down. This story will grab you and not let go. It was very cryptic and gruesome, not at all what I expected. I figured it would have some creepy factor but it would be downplayed. Again I was wrong.  This book made me want to curl up in a corner with all the lights on.  I was in the mood for something dark and that is exactly what this book delivered and more.
I liked everything about this book, it so hard to pin point exactly what made it so great for me. The characters and the story flowed together so well. There was no point where I felt myself skimming. I read every word and took my time savouring it.  I loved the ending.  It leaves you wanting more of Anna and Cas.
The cover is just a glimpse into the amazing story it contains.  It is one of my favourite covers; It’s so dark and twisty, it complements the story.
I loved this book for its darkness. If you are looking for something a little dark and creepy I whole heartily recommend this book.  I loved Blake’s writing style and cannot wait for Girl of Nightmares to come out. I already miss Anna and Cas.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

In my Mailbox (14)

IMM is hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren.

This week in my mailbox I got nothing from the library unfortunately. I do have a pretty long list of request I am waiting on, so to make up for a lack of borrowed book I bought new ones. Only four though and there was a sale. In my head this is justifiable. Plus I already read one and started a second one so really it like I only bought two. I need better excuses. Anyways, on the books!

Divergent- Veronica Roth ( Love this book)

Lanient- Maggie Stiefvater

Gone- Michael Grant

Rot & Ruin- Johnathan Maberry














Leave a link to you IMM, I would love to check it out! I hope you got some great books in your mailbox.