Me! Me! Me!

So, I've been away for a very long time, but I wanted to share this right now with you all because I am that excited! These are the reviews IIIIII wrote *tears up* for Portland Book Review and I just thought I would let you all know.

In my blog reviews, I do not usually write out my own summary of the book because I love Goodreads too much. It was a tad on the challenging side to be concise and write a summary + review in under 200 words, but I don't think I did too bad. Feel free to give me tips or suggestions for improving especially the summary part of these tiny reviews. Hopefully, I will continue with this for a very long time.

"Dreamless: A Starcrossed Novel

Published on August 29, 2012 by Site Owner in Young Adult

By Josephine Angelini
Harper Teen, $17.99, 496 pages

Helen is devastated because of Lucas, but love isn’t the only problem she has to face in Dreamless. Every night she descends into the Underworld trying to find the way to free the Furies and Scions from the blood debts, although every night the same torture awaits her. Exhaustion from sleepless nights and days and aching loneliness quickly leaves Helen emotionally unstable, but mysterious funny, strong and smart Orion (Helen’s saving grace), helps her navigate the Underworld is a necessity. To complete her part in the prophecy and also save herself before an impossible new foe gets her first, Helen must fight with strength she does not think she has.

In this book the author creates an incredible realm of possibilities and its vivid imagery is better than in the first book of the series. The new character, Orion, is a welcome relief of the very intense and crushingly real pain Helen is going through. Although it is a long book, the fast pacing, fights and actions make the time reading it fly by, leaving the readers with disappointment because it had to end, but eagerness for the next installment.

Reviewed by Isabel Hernandez" LINK: http://www.portlandbookreview.com/dreamless-a-starcrossed-novel/

"The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Published on July 18, 2012 by Site Owner in Young Adult

By Jennifer E. Smith
Poppy, $17.99, 236 pages

In twenty-four hours, Hadley’s world changes. On her way to her father’s wedding, she barely copes with the resentment she feels toward him and the claustrophobia in the airport. She is four minutes late, missing her flight to London, but those four minutes are key to maybe the rest of her life. Love, grief, forgiveness and redemption are all explored in this sometimes funny and sometimes bitter novel.

Early on, the romance seems to take center stage, gradually building a believable relationship between Hadley and the British boy, Oliver, as they sit and chat next to each other during the flight. Both are headed to London, but both will come out with very different experiences at the end of the day. Witty banter, quirky dialogue and realistic characters give hope that love at first sight might just exist. But it isn’t all romance. Hadley will grow tremendously and her relationship with her father ends up being the most important aspect of her interaction with Oliver. A story of beginnings and ends, this novel is a beautifully written demonstration of what it means to move on.

Reviewed by Isabel Hernandez" LINK: http://www.portlandbookreview.com/the-statistical-probability-of-love-at-first-sight/

And they are both five star books! I am oh-so-very happy to be able to expand my love of books and work with different people. There really can be nothing better than getting paid in books! Paper has to contain some vitamins, right? Right?!

Betrayal

Author: Gregg Olsen

Source: Publisher ARC

Release Day: September 4th, 2012

Summary: (Goodreads) In this action-packed thriller sequel to "Envy," foreign exchange student Olivia Grant is stabbed to death after a party--and the prime suspect is her best friend. As twins Hayley and Taylor Ryan get pulled into aftermath of this Amanda Knox-like crime, they realize nothing is what it seems. Could it be betrayal of the ultimate kind? "Betrayal" features real-life crime-solving techniques, heart-stopping suspense, plenty of red herrings, hard-hitting ethical questions, and information about the Amanda Knox case that inspired the novel. As the crime unravels, so does the twins' past...and they must face off against a family member who may unexpectedly have carried out the worst betrayal of all.

Review: Starting off with the cons, my ARC had a lot of typos and name-switching, so that impeded some of the readability. The finished copy should be better though. Also, this is a part of The Empty Coffin series, number 2, and I have not read the first one, Envy, so I am not sure if I am majorly missing out on something. I felt I understood everything perfectly.

Although the summary is mostly about the murder of Olivia Grant, it appears that this series also has the twins' story as the backdrop. They have what seems to be a paranormal connection with each other and an ability that helps them as they play detective for this and probably the other Empty Coffin books. They are compelling and their story is one that I do want to follow even after the mystery of Olivia's death is solved.

I do not think that one hundred years would have sufficed for me to eventually figure out the killer. It was a huge surprise and quite a twist in the story when the truth was revealed. It fit perfectly, but it was unexpected which kept the suspense up throughout the novel.

The cover is stunning and straight out of the book. It connects with the scene in which Olivia is killed perfectly and is as ominous as the mystery surrounding her death. This was a dark book, but the twins gave a slightly objective perspective to the story while the writing was also very narrative. It was cold more than emotionally devastating which brought out the qualities of the culprit in the end of the novel. Mystery buffs will enjoy the writing style and the rest of the series still holds appeal, although I consider this an excellent stand-alone read.

Rating: 1 2 3 4 5

Tiger's Voyage

Author: Colleen Houck

Source: Publisher ARC

Release Day: September 4th, 2012

Summary: (Goodreads) With three of the goddess Durga's quests behind them, only one prophecy now stands in the way of Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan breaking the tiger's curse. But the trio's greatest challenge awaits them: A life-endangering pursuit in search of Durga's final gift, the Rope of Fire, on the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. It's a race against time--and the evil sorcerer Lokesh--in this eagerly anticipated fourth volume in the bestselling "Tiger's Curse" series, which pits good against evil, tests the bonds of love and loyalty, and finally reveals the tigers' true destinies once and for all. A smart phone tag code on the back cover links readers to the series website.

Review: This is the fourth book in the series, bringing the end of the journey with it. At first, it was a tad difficult to get into, but a few pages, the adventure truly peaks and things unimaginable happen. This is a good book with which to end this series! My ARC did not contain the ending, so I cannot base on it on whether I am happy with it completely, but you can bet that I will be picking this up as soon as it is released!

The plot moves at a good pace in this book, but the emotional side of the characters is explored a little more than in the previous ones. There are a couple very unbelievable twists which readers may or may not have expected, but overall the characters show some growth in getting past their personal obstacles.

Kelsey is probably the one that grows the most during this story, because she ends up being in a position stronger than that of the brothers. This isn't as much her struggle between them, as much as it really is about breaking the curse and fulfilling her destiny in fighting Lokesh. The instances where she saves instead of is saved grow and are an indication of the changes Kelsey goes through.


Lots of action with wonderful writing create a story that is as believable as this exotic fantasy  can ever be. The new characters definitely add another supernatural element. New foes lead up to the bigger one and this book handles the final war very well. The battle scenes were epic! Those who love this series will definitely have something amazing to look forward to in this final book.

Rating: 1 2 3 4 5

Song: Montage

Artist: Gukkasten

Language: Korean

About: Gukkasten is a four member indie rock band from South Korea active since 2003. I first heard of them from EatYourKimchi with their songs Manicure. Insta-love right there. But this is probably my favorite Gukkasten song ever! I cannot get enough of the singer's voice with his high notes and then the deep ones and it just feels unique. Lots of emotion. The beat is addicting and although I have no idea what the song is about, I really get into it which is an indicator of a good song.To me, it does not feel as heavy as I usually think the rock genre to be. It is quick with some head-bang worthy parts, but it also slows down. If you haven't listened to them before, I hope you enjoy this song!

MV: