Teaser Tuesday (6)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Title: Poison
Author: Bridget Zinn

Release date: March 12th 2013    

Publisher:  Disney Hyperion

Place: 5%

 

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart . . . misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

 

 

 

"It was run-down and seedy, yes, but it had been her home- where she'd made a name for herself, fallen in love with the wrong man, and betrayed everyone she'd ever known.

Back before she'd tried to murder the princess."

 

Link me to yours! :) 

 

 

 

Review: In the Shadow of Blackbirds

In the Shadow of Blackbirds
Author: Cat Winters

Publication Date: April 2nd 2013        

Publisher: Amulet Books

 In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her?

I- what did I just read?

I've read a few Historical books lately, I kind of got sucked in after reading Maid of Secrets , but before that, and seeing what In the Shadow of Blackbirds was about, I decided it wasn't for me, and what a shame that would've been. After I've heard a load of things about it, I decided to try it, oh and I'm so glad that I did and I can honestly say I have never read anything like it. It was just...stunning and brilliant and original.

 

It's such a beautiful, beautiful book that's shrouded in mystery, and the cover just is, captures the essence and setting in one, along with holding true to the photograph. In the Shadow of Blackbird's is not for the faint hearted,  it's grim and grey and eerie, set in 1918 where death was in the air, on your street, in your house, and killed your co-workers, next-door neighbours, friends and family in the form of the Spanish Influenza. If that wasn't sombre enough, the middle of the first World War was going on, and our main character Mary Shelley Black's (named after the Mary Shelley) childhood friend Stephen Embers enlisted months ago.

Stacking The Shelves (#6) & Recap

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

 

I have bought...

 

                                             

• The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff
• The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee
• Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf

 

Three totally different ones this time.

 

Since it's been slow, I've had time to practice my colours.

 

What did you get this week?

 

 

A recap of posts this week

• Monday I reviewed Maid of Secrets by Jennifer McGowan
• Teaser Tuesday from Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield
• Waiting on Wednesday, Dear Killerby Katherine Ewell
• Booking Through Thursday: Neither a Borrower
• Friday I reviewed Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

This week I have read:

• Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield
• The Originals by Cat Patrick

Review: Born Wicked

 Born Wicked
Author: Jessica Spotswood
Release date: February 7th 2012 

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.


After the Cahill Sisters mother dies, all responsibility is passed down to the oldest, Cate. She takes it upon herself  to raise her little sister, to keep the middle child out of trouble, to watch out for them to the best of her ability. There's a reason, besides the obvious, that Cate takes it very seriously. They're witches, and in New England,  in an alternate history, that's a very bad thing. Though basically, being born female is a bad thing. If you're found guilty of witchcraft, you're trialled (sometimes), sent away to an asylum, ship worked, or you just...disappear. Just like magic. Poof.  New England never used to be like this,  witches had control, and religion was a choice as was freedom. Threatened, the Brotherhood rose with the first Terror, casting out the witches, controlling everything and suffocating them, and God forbid you don't do as they say or you'll be acting against the Lord and  perceived as a witch. The brotherhood prefer their women weak, uneducated, obedient and as dull as dishwater.

Booking Through Thursday: Neither a Borrower.

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme, hosted by btt2, about (mostly) books and reading.
 

I’ve asked before how you feel about lending your books. I’ve asked how you feel about libraries. But—how do you feel about borrowing books from friends? Is this something you like to do? Does it make you feel uncomfortable or rushed while reading? Does it affect how you feel about the book you’re reading, pressured into liking it?

I love the general idea that comes with borrowing books from friends- the discussions and fangirling over a book you both love, but I do hate borrowing books. I don't even know why, I just like reading a book that's my own copy. Maybe it's because I feel like they have to borrow one in exchange, and I'm a bad reader that way because I hate lending books. Especially if you know they're the type of person who page folds. I borrowed my cousins copy of L. J. Smith's Night World #01-3 bind-up, and took it on holiday with me. How long did it take me to read all 729 pages of it? 8 hours out of a 10 hour couch ride to Lockerbie for an overnight stay in Lockerbie Manor, before moving onto Edinburgh and Stirling, (traffic was slow.)

I think she borrowed my copy of Vampire Diaries, can't actually remember, but she gave me back mine in pristine condition, probably because I gave her the whole 'do not fold the pages.' and the poor thing probably thought I would hit her or something.

Alas to say, she stuck to borrowing games. :)
I don't feel pressured into reading it as quickly as I can, but I wouldn't like to go over a week and a half, and I'm not pressured into liking it either, we have similar tastes, but when it comes to some books, no. She likes the House of Night series. I can't stand it.

Waiting On Wednesday (#6)

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

 

Summer didn't last. It's raining. Again. 3 days straight. And the ice-cream van's outside.

So, this week I'm looking forward to...


Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell Expected publication: April 1st 2014 by Katherine Tegen Books.


Rule One—Nothing is right, nothing is wrong.
Rule Two—Be careful.
Rule Three—Fight using your legs whenever possible, because they’re the strongest part of your body. Your arms are the weakest.
Rule Four—Hit to kill. The first blow should be the last, if at all possible.
Rule Five—The letters are the law.

Kit takes her role as London’s notorious “Perfect Killer” seriously. The letters and cash that come to her via a secret mailbox are not a game; choosing who to kill is not an impulse decision. Every letter she receives begins with “Dear Killer,” and every time Kit murders, she leaves a letter with the dead body. Her moral nihilism and thus her murders are a way of life—the only way of life she has ever known.

But when a letter appears in the mailbox that will have the power to topple Kit’s convictions as perfectly as she commits her murders, she must make a decision: follow the only rules she has ever known, or challenge Rule One, and go from there.

1) I might be a little twisted.
2) I watch too much Criminal Minds, and Bones and NCIS LA, I could go on...


What are you waiting on this week?
.

P.S. I can't even... You saw that VA teaser trailer right? Badass, just...badass.