Guest Review by Amber: Old Magic

  Old Magic 

Author: Marianne Curley
Publication Date: December 7th 2009 
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Pages : 317

Rough estimate of time it took to read : 18 hours

Source: Gifted by Kirsty

Jarrod Thornton is mesmerizing, but Kate Warren doesn't know why.

The moment the new guy walks into the room, Kate senses something strange and intense about him. Something supernatural. Her instincts are proven correct a few minutes later when, bullied by his classmates, Jarrod unknowingly conjures up a freak thunderstorm "inside" their classroom.

Jarrod doesn't believe in the paranormal. When Kate tries to convince him that he has extraordinary powers that need to be harnessed, he only puts up with her "hocus pocus" notions because he finds her captivating. However, the dangerous, uncontrolled strengthening of his gift finally convinces Jarrod that he must take Kate's theories seriously. Together, they embark on a remarkable journey -- one which will unravel the mystery that has haunted Jarrod's family for generations and pit the teens against immense forces in a battle to undo the past and reshape the future. 

* Just a little note

Before I get to the review, I just wanted to add a little message,  this is my first ever book review and  My wonderful cousin, Kirsty (she didn't tell me to say that *cough*)  has lent me some of her books that she couldn't finish,  

Since this is my first review it will only be a short, as I'm still new to this whole scene of things and need some practice.  Although Kirsty and I share some taste in books (e.g. Harry Potter, some of the Vampire genre and some of the classics), I will be reviewing my own (and my romantic partner's), so we'll have a few different genres within MG, YA and Adult. 

So some reviews you get off me will be slightly different than others as its all down to the books and how well or easy I find them to read. (Which will be difficult for me as I suffer from mild Dyslexia, which makes me read slower, but I love to read so will try my best to make my reviews readable with Kirsty's, help of course.)

Cover Reveal: Phoenix Rising

Today I'm helping reveal the cover of Phoenix Rising by Bryony Pearce. So, what's it about?

In a future world where fossil fuels have run out and democracy has collapsed, an outlawed pirate crew fight for survival on their ship, the Phoenix, kept afloat by whatever they can salvage or scavenge on the debris-filled seas. Toby has never known anything other than life onboard the Phoenix and he's desperate for adventure. But when trouble comes hunting the Phoenix down, Toby realizes that what you wish for isn't always what you want. He meets beautiful Ayla from the Banshee, a rival pirate ship and sworn enemy of the Phoenix, and his world is thrown into disorder. How can he know who to trust and what to believe? The future rests on him making an impossible choice...A gripping novel, perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz, Eoin Colfer and Suzanne Collins

Sounds awesome, right?   

 Now, for the cover....

Waiting on Wednesday (#88)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

Blood and Salt by Kim Liggett

Expected publication: September 22nd 2015 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young 

Romeo and Juliet meets Children of the Corn in this one-of-a-kind romantic horror.

“When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in—blood and salt.”

These are the last words Ash Larkin hears before her mother returns to the spiritual commune she escaped long ago. But when Ash follows her to Quivira, Kansas, something sinister and ancient waits among the rustling cornstalks of this village lost to time.

Ash is plagued by memories of her ancestor, Katia, which harken back to the town’s history of unrequited love and murder, alchemy and immortality. Charming traditions soon give way to a string of gruesome deaths, and Ash feels drawn to Dane, a forbidden boy with secrets of his own.

As the community prepares for a ceremony five hundred years in the making, Ash must fight not only to save her mother, but herself—and discover the truth about Quivira before it’s too late. Before she’s all in—blood and salt.

It explains itself, really. 

What're you waiting on?

Review: One Thing Stolen

One Thing Stolen
Author: Beth Kephart
Publication Date: April 14th 2015
Publisher: Chronicle Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Something is not right with Nadia Cara. While spending a year in Florence, Italy, she's become a thief. She has secrets. And when she tries to speak, the words seem far away. Nadia finds herself trapped by her own obsessions and following the trail of an elusive Italian boy whom only she has seen. Can Nadia be rescued or will she simply lose herself altogether?
Set against the backdrop of a glimmering city, One Thing Stolen is an exploration of obsession, art and a rare neurological disorder. It is a celebration of language, beauty, imagination and the salvation of love.

The first thing you need to know about One Thing Stolen is that the writing is beautiful, the whole thing is beautiful, in fact. But, while I do like the way it's written, it's also confusing at times, since it's jumps from real time to, well, what's going on in Nadia's head. But, that confusion creates the atmosphere and makes you feel and really see the condition, it also leads to an unreliable narrator considering we don't know what is real, who is real, and who is not.

Announcement!

Hello,  you (yes, you) just a little announcement, Amber has been on the blog off an on with Edible Books and Cosplay Antics, she hasn't had time to do anything for those two features for...well, a while but let's not focus on that. and as she told me...

Like the terminator.

And now she's back...as a reviewer!I did ask Amber a while back if she wanted to start reviewing, but at the time she wasn't reading as much so we came up with Edible Books and Cosplay Antics.

 If you've forgotten her, here's a little reminder.

Review: Denton Little's Deathdate

Denton Little's Deathdate
Author: Lance Rubin
Publication Date: April 14th 2015
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Fans of John Green and Matthew Quick: Get ready to die laughing.

Denton Little's Deathdate takes place in a world exactly like our own except that everyone knows the day they will die. For 17-year-old Denton Little, that's tomorrow, the day of his senior prom.

Despite his early deathdate, Denton has always wanted to live a normal life, but his final days are filled with dramatic firsts. First hangover. First sex. First love triangle (as the first sex seems to have happened not with his adoring girlfriend, but with his best friend's hostile sister. Though he's not totally sure. See: first hangover.) His anxiety builds when he discovers a strange purple rash making its way up his body. Is this what will kill him? And then a strange man shows up at his funeral, claiming to have known Denton's long-deceased mother, and warning him to beware of suspicious government characters…. Suddenly Denton's life is filled with mysterious questions and precious little time to find the answers.

Debut author Lance Rubin takes us on a fast, furious, and outrageously funny ride through the last hours of a teenager's life as he searches for love, meaning, answers, and (just maybe) a way to live on.

You know, I really love coming across books that have a sense of humour, especially my sense of humour. Denton Little's Deathdate is hilarious. Ridiculously hilarious, I couldn't stop laughing all the way through it, and yeah, there's issues, which I'll get to in a minute, and there were some awkward-did-you-really-go-there scenes, especially when it comes to, I don't know how to even phrase this, so let's just say, the sexual parts of the story, yeah? Okay. And some of the maybe familial relationships, It's hilarious, too. I know I'm saying hilarious a lot, but it was hilarious. it was so entertaining I didn't even care. It made me bypass. Keeping that in mind, I'm struggling to actually rate it, head v's heart kind of thing, because for me, the book did its job. I couldn't stop reading. It made me laugh. It made me smile. It made me want to know more.  But I can't rate it the way I want to, because though it did make me look away from some issues, I  can't review it that way.