Sunday, December 23, 2012

Burned by Sara Shepard

Burned by Sara Shepard
Released: December 4, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Pretty Little Liars, Book 12
Precended By: Stunning
Followed By: Crushed
Page Amount: 336, US Hardback
POV: 3rd Person
Buy it here: Barnes & NobleAmazon

OVERALL:
Plot-16/20
Characters-18/20
Creativity-17/20
Writing-17/20
Pace-8/10
Ending-7/10
=83/100 B
/5



SUMMARY:
It's spring break, and the pretty little liars are trading in Rosewood for a cruise vacation. They want nothing more than to sail into the tropical sunset and leave their troubles behind for one blissful week. But where Emily, Aria, Spencer, and Hanna go, A goes, too. From scuba diving to tanning on the upper deck, A is there, soaking up all their new secrets. Emily is smooching a stowaway. Aria's treasure-hunting partner is a little too interested in her booty. Spencer's going overboard trying to land a new boy. And a blast--or rather, a crash--from Hanna's past could mean rough waters ahead for everyone. The liars better tighten their life jackets. A perfect storm is brewing, and if they aren't careful, A will bury them at sea. . . .Goodreads.com


REViEW:
This series... I have such a love/hate relationship with it. I love the mystery and I really can't wait to find out who A is, but the whole time while reading these books, I groan with how stupid they are becoming. It's kind of like Ms. Shepard is running out of ideas and is all like "Here, if we just add another obnoxious, outlandish character and put the girls on a cruise ship, it will change the plot and grab the interest of the readers." Nooooo, it doesn't work like that. If this book zeroed in on the mystery of Tabitha's murder and the identity of A, this book would be amazing. I hate all the distractions and crazy unbelievable characters. Overall though, I did like the cruise ship setting and did enjoy the few messages from A and certain mysterious pieces of jewelry.

The characters were decent. I mean I liked the liars, but I didn't feel an attachment to any of them in this book. Aria was just ridiculous with her "friendship" with Graham. Emily was okay, but her little "friend" was so crazy and unbelievable I can't stand it. I love EM to pieces, but if she gets back together with Jordan I will smash my head against a brick wall. There was nothing really special with Spencer's relationship with Reefer either. It was the same thing, a liar falls in love only to have to break up with him to protect him from A. We have all seen it a billion times. Hanna was just Hanna. Her "friendship" with Naomi was interesting and I did think it was practical to believe Naomi to be A. Notice all the frienships in quotations, well I hope Shepard includes some true, believable, through life and death friendships in the next book.

I can't tell if I want to smash my head against a brick wall or what... I think I liked the ending, but I feel like I have read it before. It was no big surprise. I did like the suspense at the end and I think I have a pretty good idea of how this series is going to end. It was exciting at some points, but ultimately I just want Shepard to hurry up and make her point.
My Favorite Part: The setting, a cruise ship.

ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yep. There were some suspenseful parts.
Will I be reading the next book? I'm so close to finishing this series...I need to.

Thanks for reading!


It's a Book Thing
Review by Macy ♥

Friday, December 21, 2012

In My Mailbox: Pre-Christmas Edition '12



AHHHH only 4 days till Christmas! I must admit I'm excited. I already got 8 books before Christmas, so I can't wait to see how many I get on Christmas. I assure you I will have another IMM for the end of the month. I already completed my 50 book challenge so I think I might up it to 55. I'm trying to read a book a day till Christmas so I have been really busy doing that! I got a new laptop with a camera so it will be much easier to make my YouTube videos. Expect many reviews from now until Christmas!


Let it Snow: Ahhhh I'm on a John Green high right now! He's such an amazing author. I so want to marry him! I'm going to start (and hopefully finish) this book today! I'm excited to see his writing with a Christmas feel to it.

Wake: This book sounds good. I never read a book by Amanda Hocking before. I found this book on sale and thought it sounded intriguing so I bought it. I really hope it is a good read.

Lullaby: I was super lucky to get a signed copy of Wake's sequel! Yay! I'm now 10x more excited to read Wake because I have a signed sequel! A picture of the signature is above! 

Fated: I have a love/hate relationship with Noel's Immortals series, but I really want to try this series. I hope it's better.

Burned: AHHH I love Pretty Little Liars. I heard this was supposed to be the last book, but no. Two more are on the way. I just finished this book today and it was pretty good. I should have a review up on it either later today or tomorrow.

Hidden: I cannot wait to read this book. I'm super excited for it, even though I always complain about how long this series is. I'm hoping to finish this one before Christmas. 

What Happens Next: Hehe I got a signed copy of this book yesterday! I started screaming when I found it. THis book sounds super intriguing, I really can't wait to start it.

Pushing the Limits: Harlequin sent me this book in the mail with a snowflake bracelet. It made my day. I'm so glad they sent me this book, because it was one of the books I really wanted on my wishlist. 


So yeah, I'll be busy reading all these amazing, super awesome books. What's in your mailbox this week? Did you read any of these books? Please comment and let me know!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Deadly Little Lies by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Deadly Little Lies by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Released: September 21, 2009
Publisher: Hyperion
Series: Touch, Book 2
Preceded By: Deadly Little Secret
Followed By: Deadly Little Games
Page Amount: 320, US Paperback
POV: 1st Person (Camelia)
Buy it here: Barnes & NobleAmazon


OVERALL:
Plot-17/20
Characters-17/20
Creativity-16/20
Writing-18/20
Pace-7/10
Ending-7/10
=82/100 B
/5

SUMMARY:
Last fall, sixteen-year-old Camelia fell for Ben, the mysterious new boy at school who turned out to have a very mysterious gift—pyschometry, the ability to sense the future through touch. But just as Camelia and Ben's romance began to heat up, he abruptly left town. Brokenhearted, Camelia has spent the last few months studying everything she can about psychometry, and experiencing her own strange brushes with premonition. Camelia wonders if Ben's abilities have somehow rubbed off on her. Can the power of psychometry be transferred?
Even once Ben returns to school, Camelia can't get close enough to share her secret with him. Despite the romantic tension between them, Ben remains aloof, avoiding contact. Then when a series of eerie notes echoes the threats of last semester—and Ben keeps his distance—Camelia makes the painful decision to let go and move on. Adam, the hot new guy at work, seems good for her in ways Ben wasn't. Adam is easygoing, and seems to really care about her.
But when Camelia and Adam start dating, a surprising love triangle results. A chilling sequence of events upturns secrets from Ben's past—and Adam's. Someone is lying, and it’s up to Camelia to figure out who—before it’s too late- Goodreads





REViEW:
I really enjoyed the suspense and the crazy mystery of Deadly Little Secret. I expected the same from this book. Although the first book seemed like a stand-alone, theres a whole long series surrounding this premise. I was hoping this book would surprising just like the first, but this book kind of took a different route. It did have the same creepy feel to it, which I totally enjoyed. I was home alone one day reading this book and thought I was being watched. Yeah tip of advice don't read this alone or at night. The plot was intriguing until the end when this train took a turn into crazy plot town. I can only hope that the next book recaptures the essense of th first. 

The characters were pretty good. Camelia should learn by now to just speak up, but I still liked her character. She made sense and I agred with her point of view most of the time. Her friends were hilarious and pretty great in this book, but I did have some problems with Kimmie. Sometimes Kimmie seemed like she did not care about Camelia, which irked me. Ben was pretty good. I didn't mind him. Adam though... the plot surrounding him still has me confused. I just wonder why that one thing had to happen. Some plot "twists" made this book unbelievable and bordered on ridiculous.

The ending was so ridiculous. I feel like it could have been more reasonable. The stalked wasn't even a logical one. Like I understood why that person would d it, but it was so stupid! The first book was surprising and mysterious, this ending made this book into a beginning grade-school Nancy Drew book. I really hope the next book is more intense.

My Favorite Part: Probably how the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat.


  
ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yep. I just hope the next book is a little more practical.

Will I be reading the next book? I think so.

Thanks for reading!


It's a Book Thing
Review by Macy ♥

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Hide and Seek by Sara Shepard

Hide and Seek by Sara Shepard

Released: July 31, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: The Lying Game, Book 4
Preceded By: Two Truths and a Lie
Followed By: Cross My Heart, Hope to Die
Page Amount: 288, US Hardback
POV: 1st Person (Sutton)
Buy it here: Barnes & NobleAmazon

OVERALL:
Plot-19/20
Characters-19/20
Creativity-19/20
Writing-17/20
Pace-9/10
Ending-10/10
=93/100 A
★/5


 
SUMMARY:
My friends and I used to play lying games. Now my twin sister is living one.
When I was alive, my family seemed picture-perfect. My adoptive parents adored me, and my little sister, Laurel, copied my every move. But now that my long-lost twin, Emma, has taken my place to solve my murder, we're both learning just how flawed my family really is.
Laurel is shooting Emma nasty looks and sneaking around with my ex-boyfriend. And it turns out my parents are keeping a huge secret--could it be the reason I'm dead?
How far would they go to keep the truth buried? No one can harm me now, but Emma is still fair game. And if she's not careful, she'll end up buried, too. . . .
-Goodreads.com

REViEW:
This was orignially supposed to be the last book in The Lying Game Series. I know I beat up Ms. Shepard a lot by complaining about how long her Pretty Little Liars series has gotten (but I mean 14 books? I think that's a little excessive), but with the Lying Game series, I am thrilled there are going to be more books! This book was probably one of the best books in this series. Sure, it had its "are you serious?" moments, but overall I enjoyed this installment. The plot was very to the point, which I liked. It was a fast read, but had a lot of context. I enjoyed Sutton's flashbacks more in this book too. They seemed to be more relevant. I also loved the twist about Sutton's real mom. It was pretty random and strange, but I liked it. It seemed to work well with the crazy storyline. I just really hope Shepard doesn't take it too far in the next book.

I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book. Sutton had a lot of insightful commentary and I liked her view on certain situations, it made it easier to distiguish her between Emma. Emma was enjoyable, but I felt like she was acting a little more Suttonish in this book. I really hope she stays her nice, sweet Emma self. I really loved the supporting characters this time. Sutton's dad was very intriguing. Ethan was just amazing, as always. Thayer was mysterious, but I feel like his true character is being revealed. I'm really excited to see what's going to happen next for these characters. 

My reaction to the ending was just like "Say what? What kind of twisted person comes up with these crazy plots?" Sure the ending was completely screwed up, but all in all it was so crazy it was intriguing! I can't wait to read the next book now! The ending was intense and completely random, yet somehow it worked perfectly. Just like all of Shepard's other books.


My Favorite Part: The twisted part. If you read the book, you know the part.

ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yes, it's really twisted and epic haha :)
Will I be reading the next book? Of course! Like I HAVE to!

Thank you for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts on this series! How about that twist?  

It's a Book Thing
Review by Macy ♥

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Dreamy December

DREAMY DECEMBER!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I mean all the cheery lights, the warm fireplace, the yummy food, and, of course, no school. It sounds so wonderful right now. I know a lot of books await me Christmas morning, so I'm going into a reading coma. I plan to at least read 5 books before Christmas to fulfill my Goodreads 2012 challenge. I'm so excited for this moneth because I love writing reviews and reading. I can't wait to have more time to do so! Let me know what you want me to read next and what you wish  to see on my blog this month! And remember, have yourself a merry little Christmas.

Books I Plan to Read:
1. An Abundance of Katherines

2. Impulse
3. Wuthering Heights
4. Let it Snow
5. Looking for Alaska
6. Burned

Reviews I Plan to Post:
1. Burned
2. An Abundance of Katherines
3. Hide and Seek
4. Impulse
5. Deadly Little Lies
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