Scarlet Read-Along, Anyone?

Hello lovelies! I know I've been dreadfully absent from the blogosphere for the past couple of months. Unfortunate byproduct of college, I suppose. But I'm back for winter break and I'm partaking in the Scarlet Read-Along in anticipation for Cress! :)

The read-along it hosted by Tt over at Never Ending Stories Book Blog. Here's the info in case anyone else wants to join in!

• Starting: January 1, we will read 2 chapters of Scarlet (or Cinder if you haven't read it yet!) by Marissa Meyer each day and discuss via your blog each day(not an entire post each day maybe just talk about what you read that day and your thoughts) or via twitter! If you tweet or talk about Cinder on your blog that will get you more entries into this awesome Giveaway!!!
• Prizes: We have some awesome prizes for our participants! Macmillian will be Giving-away: 5 winners will get Cinder, 5 other winners will get Scarlet, 5 other winners get Cress, and another 5 winners will get swag bags!!!!!!!!!!!!
•  Pace: There are no right or wrong ways to read with us. If you would like to do two chapters a night, that's great! If you would like to read Cinder in one night and post on your blog or tweet and discuss as we go, more power to you!! If you have not read Cinder you are allowed to read Cinder, tweet, and collect points as well. Beware of spoilers since this read-along is for the second book in the series!

1. Please Leave your: Name,Blog URL,&Twitter  in the comment box below to sign up! If you could spread the word and copy this post you can get more points in the rafflecopter below(You get ten points for signing up to read with us). Once you leave your comment in the comment box below enter in the rafflecopter for your points!) .
2. Start reading and posting on your blog and twitter on January 1, 2014! You can chat about the book and post your favorite quotes from Cinder (If you haven't read it yet) or Scarlet!
3. Tweets: Your tweets must include :  @marissa_meyer @mackidsbooks . You can enter all your tweets into the raffle copter below for more entries to win! If you dont have a twitter, you can blog about Cinder everyday and put your links for the posts in the rafflecopter below for more entries as well!
4. Be Creative: For bonus points you can do a fun post about the Lunar Chronicles and if you need any ideas; here are a few:

 -Make a Lunar Chronicles playlist 
-Fan Art!!!
 - Make a movie/Book trailer for Cress.
-Make a fun post about the lunar chronicles.-  Lunar Chronicle Cast!- Be Creative  Put together clothes, purses,tea or anything that makes you think of the Lunar Chronicles.

-Make a Pinterest board filled with pictures reminiscent of the Lunar Chronicles.

Here is the Schedule:

1/1- Read to Chapter 2

1/2- Read to Chapter 4

1/3- Read to Chapter 6

1/4- Read to Chapter 8

1/5- Read to Chapter 10

1/6- Read to Chapter 12

1/7- Read to Chapter 14

1/8- Read to Chapter 16

1/9- Read to Chapter 18

1/10- Read to Chapter 20

1/11- Read to Chapter 22

1/12- Read to Chapter 24

1/13- Read to Chapter 26

1/14- Read to Chapter 28

1/15- Read to Chapter 30

1/16- Read to Chapter 32

1/17- Read to Chapter 34

1/18- Read to Chapter 35

1/19- Read to Chapter 36

1/20- Read to Chapter 37

1/21- Read to Chapter 38

1/22- Read to Chapter 39
1/23- Read to Chapter 40
1/24- Read to Chapter 41
1/25- Read to Chapter 42
1/26-Done (Last day to tweet)

1/27-Winner'sAnnounced on Twitter/Blog

5 winners will get Cinder, 5 other winners will get Scarlet, 5 other winners get Cress, and another 5 winners will get swag bags!!!!!!!!!!!! 20 winners in one Giveaway!!?? Wow!! 

Cover Reveal: Cress

Cress (Lunar Chronicles #3)

By Marissa Meyer

To be published February 4, 2014

My thoughts:

It's. So. BEAUTIFUL.  *o*

Definitely my favorite cover in the series thus far.

Review: Scarlet

Title: Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publication date: February 5, 2013
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Source: bought

Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads l B&N l Amazon l Book Depository 

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

It’s no secret that Scarlet has been one of my most anticipated reads of 2013. I bought this book the week it came out but forced myself to wait because I didn't want to plow through and then face the agonizing one-year wait before the next one.

Ye-ah that self-imposed wait did not last very long.

And now that I’ve finished Scarlet, you have NO idea how hard it is to write a coherent review when all I want to do is flail my arms and fangirl about the book. Because it. Was. SO GOOD.

Sorry, couldn't resist some flailing...

In this retelling, Scarlet (our Little Red) has traded in her cape for a functional hoodie and her basket of goodies for a handgun. One that she is not afraid to use, I might add. This girl is a badass. Not to mention tough and stubbornly determined to find her grandmother, no matter who stood in her way. I found Scarlet to be a tougher and more fiery character than Cinder, and I ended up loving her just as much.

 And speaking of characters that I loved....
Wolf. What can I say about Wolf except

He's definitely not what I expected of a Big Bad Wolf incarnation. He was... shy. And quiet. And very adorable. Well. When he's not being an deadly fighter, that is. I can't even find the words to describe him because all I want to do when I think about Wolf is

I'm sorry. I just have a thing for fictional characters...

(I'd highly recommend reading The Queen's Army before Scarlet because it's going to provide a lot more back story to Wolf's character.)

Cinder's adventure is continued in this book and picks up soon after her arrest at the Ball. She manages to escape from prison with the unlikely help from a fellow prisoner, one Captain Carswell Thorne, flirtatious American pilot. Thorne provided some much appreciated comic relief throughout the story, and OH MY GOODNESS, you guys, I am 95% sure he's going to be the love interest featured in the next book! *Squeeeeeee*  >___<

As interested as I was by Scarlet's story, I was still riveted by Cinder's journey. Slowly, she is learning more about her newfound Lunar abilities as well as her past as Princess Selene. Watching Cinder explore her Lunar gift was awesome. I think it'll only be a matter of time before Queen Levana should head for the hills! (Fingers crossed).

Kai's story is continued in Scarlet as well. There weren't enough scenes to fully satisfy my Kai cravings (and don't even get me started on how much it's killing me that he and Cinder are not together!!) but there were just enough moments to keep me appeased. In the glimpses throughout the book, you see him dealing with Levana in the aftermath of Cinder's escape and his own conflicting emotions towards New Beijing's best mechanic.... Basically the result is me in utter agony. Especially after the way this book ended! I swear, Marissa Meyer is trying to kill me with all this anxiety. Evil, evil author.....(just kidding).

If I thought Cinder was amazing (and it totally was) then Scarlet basically took all the awesomesauce that went into writing Cinder and upped the ante, taking readers from the sweet innocence of the Cinderella retelling to a darker and grittier story. The alternating POVs in this story were handled incredibly well, and the way in which Cinder and Scarlet's arcs converged was flawless. Like a puzzle whose pieces are falling together, I'm starting to see how all these different fairytales are interconnected and it is kind of blowing my mind!

All in all:

For the love of all that is good and holy, I need that next book. I can't even bring myself to start another book because my head is still wrapped up in the world of the Lunar Chronicles, yearning to know what happens next. MARISSA MEYER, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?

Cinder Read-Along

Via Never Ending Stories and Rotten Apple Reads

Hi Guys,

Yesterday I had this brilliant idea to host a Cinder giveaway because I am overly excited for the release of Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) on February 5,2013!!  Alice Belikova over at Rotten Apple Reads is helping me host the event and hopefully we get some people to join in on this little party!!

Here are the Details!

• Starting: January 15, we will read 2 chapters of Cinder by Marissa Meyer each day and discuss via your blog each day(not an entire post each day maybe just talk about what you read that day and what you think) or via twitter! If you tweet or talk about Cinder on your blog that will get you more entries into this awesome Giveaway!!!
• Prizes: We have some awesome prizes for our participants! We will be Giving away One copy of Cinder and 1 Copy of Scarlet to two lucky winners, and did I mention these will be signed by the Author as well? Yes you heard right! Both Cinder and Scarlet will be signed by Marisa Meyer  herself  (I'm so dramatic right?) !!
•  Points: There are no right or wrong ways to read with us. If you would like to do two chapters a night, that's great! If you would like to read Cinder in one night and post on your blog or tweet and discuss as we go, more power to you!!

1. Please Leave your: Name,Blog URL,&Twitter  in the comment box below to sign up! If you could spread the word and copy this post you can get more points in the rafflecopter below(You get ten points for signing up to read with us. So once you leave your comment in the comment box below enter in the rafflecopter for your points!) .
2. Once you leave a comment below with your info below start reading and posting on your blog and twitter! You can chat about the book post your favorite quotes from Cinder!
3. Tweets: Your tweet must include :  @marissa_meyer @mackidsbooks  . You can enter all your tweets into the raffle copter below for more entries to win!
4. Blog Posts: If you dont have a twitter you can blog about Cinder everyday and put your links for the posts in the rafflecopter below for more entries as well!

Here is the Schedule:

1/15- Read to Chapter 2

1/16- Read to Chapter 4

1/17- Read to Chapter 6

1/18- Read to Chapter 8

1/19- Read to Chapter 10

1/20- Read to Chapter 12

1/21- Read to Chapter 14

1/22- Read to Chapter 16

1/23- Read to Chapter 18

1/24- Read to Chapter 20

1/25- Read to Chapter 22

1/26- Read to Chapter 24

1/27- Read to Chapter 26

1/27- Read to Chapter 28

1/28- Read to Chapter 30

1/29- Read to Chapter 32

1/30- Read to Chapter 34

1/31- Read to Chapter 35

2/2- Read to Chapter 36

2/3- Read to Chapter 37

2/4- Read to Chapter 38

2/5-Done (Last day to tweet) Scarlet by Marissa Meyer Released!

2/6-Winner'sAnnounced!

2 winner's will win either a signed copy of Scarlet or Cinder by Marissa Meyer!

Their are more chances to win:

Spread the word: copy and paste this post on your blog and put your links in the rafflecopter below!

Grab the Cinder Read-Along Button!

Cover Reveal: Scarlet

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2)

by Marissa Meyer

February 5th, 2013

Actually, I'm not exactly sure when this cover came out, but I was just on goodreads and saw that is finally HAD a cover! I was so excited, I just had to share it on my blog :)

My Book Boyfriend: Prince Kaito

MBB is a weekly meme hosted over at the Unread reader---check out the intro post here

Upon finishing Cinder (by Marissa Meyer), I found myself with a little (*cough cough* ok, maybe not so little) crush on Prince Kai..... what can I say? I've got a thing for Prince Charmings!   : )

• he is the crown prince (and eventually the emperor)
• just about every girl in New Beijing wants him
• is funny and slightly flirty
• very good-looking (which pretty much goes without saying)
• genuinely wants to be a good leader and do what's best for his people
• is quite selfless

He met her gaze, surprised, as if he'd forgotten who he was speaking with. Then, "You can call me Kai."

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

"no more 'Your Highness.' I get enough of that from everyone else. You should just call me Kai."

"No. That wouldn't be--"

"Don't make me turn it into a royal command." He hinted at a smile.

He inhaled a sharp breath. "Would you consider being my personal guest at the ball?"

The floor dissolved beneath Cinder. Her mind blanked. Surely, she hadn't hear correctly.

But he just stood, patient, and after a long moment raised both eyebrows in a mute prompt.

"E-excuse me?"
Kai cleared his throat. Stood straighter. "I assume you are going to the ball?"

"I-I don't know. I mean, no. No, I'm sorry, I'm not going to the ball."

Kai drew back, confused. "Oh. Wel... but... maybe you would change your mind? Because I am, you know."
"The prince."
"Not bragging," he said quickly. "Just a fact."

Her breath snaged as Kai leaned forward, so close she was sure for a heartbeat he meant to kiss her. She froze, a wave of panic crashing into her, and barely managed to look up.

Instead of kissing her, he whispered, "Imagine there was a cure, but finding it would cost you everything. It would completely ruin your life. What would you do?"

"Cinder."
She couldn't help it. She looked at him. Her defenses withered a bit upon encountering the openness in his brown eyes. His confidence had been replaced with worry. Uncertainty.

"200,000 single girls," he said. "Why not you?"

Review: Cinder

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)
by Marissa Meyer

Published January 3rd 2012 by Feiwel & Friends

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. 

-goodreads


Rating: 5/5
Review:
Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious. 

Let me start off by saying that there are quite a few Cinderella retellings out there. The story of Cinderella is one fairytale that is often retold  and given some new twist.

But NEVER, and I mean never ever, have I read a Cinderella retelling where the girl in question was a cyborg. Can we just pause for a moment and give Marissa Meyer a moment of appreciation, because to think up a fairytale like this takes some serious creativity.

I started this book with some trepidation because, seriously? Cyborgs? Cinderella is a mechanic??? A high-tech society setting in Beijing? Ye-ah, I was not so sure I was going to like this book, but boy was I wrong because I freakin' LOVED it. The more I read, the more the story pulled me in, the more I became invested in the characters and the plot, and the more I became addicted. I was originally going to give thie book 4 stars, but upon finishing, it would've been positively criminal to not give it a 5!

Cinder was totally not what I expected--in the best possible way! She had such spunk and I loved her sarcastic humor! She's also one of the strongest heroines I've seen in quite a while. She knows that being cyborg technically makes her "inferior," but she doesn't sit around moping or lamenting her fate. Even with her stepmother and sister's awful treatment, she stays tough and true to herself. And she's also a great friend and pretty darn selfless.

Prince Kai was also a great surprise. As I kind of detest instalove relationships, and, let's face it, Cinderella was the original instalove love story, I was worried that Kai and Cinder would have one of those love-at-first-sight kind of things, but thank goodness, Marissa Meyer, you have given me a wonderful fairytale, but still realistic romance.

The world of Cinder is so original and wonderfully crafted, that even though it's so different from our, I had no trouble imagining it. I loved that Meyer blended culture by making the story take place in New Beijing and also how eloquently she explained the technicalities of being a cyborg and how it made Cinder's life different from a human's. This book is so darn hard to categorize. It's party fairytale, part dystopian, part supernatural, part technological....trust me when I say that it's in a category all of its own.

HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Warning: beware the signs of crushing disappointment, impatience, and furious shock upon finishing this book and realizing the sequel doesn't come out until 2013.

What. The. Frak.