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.

Top Ten Beginnings & Endings

Hosted over at The Broke and Bookish

BEGINNINGS

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” 

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

 "My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die. I counted."

Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

“She will fight for light, and he for dark,
Battling through the ages for loves sweet spark.
Wherever two souls adore truly, you will find them, lo,
The brave Juliet and the wicked Romeo.” 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
"Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.
It did not end well."

ENDINGS

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

"'Yes,' I said. 'Isn't it pretty to think so?'” 

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
"I love you. Remember. They cannot take it."

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
“Instead, I try to adjust to the dawn, letting the tears fall where they may, because it is morning; it is morning and there is so much to see.” 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This one's spoilery so I won't include the actual text but just- ALL. THE. FEELS. 

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

No spoilers for you! Let me just say that my. Mind. Was. Blown.

That is all. 

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta

brb crying because of the beautifulness

On the YA Crush Tourney and Comic Con

Some of you may know that during the 2012 YA Crush Tourney, my boy, Will Herondale, made it all the way to the finals just to lose by 30-some votes in the last half hour to Adrian Ivashkov.
It was traumatic and heart-breaking and just talking about it is giving me traumatic flashbacks so let's not.

And as if that weren't bad enough, the same thing basically happened this year as well!

grrrrrrr.....

Richelle Mead totally threw down the gauntlet and promised a Dimitri-POV scene from book 1 if he won. Cassie Clare followed up by promising the cave scene from CP2 in Will's POV if he won.

But. He. Didn't.

Bitter? Who? Me? YES.

Darn you, Richelle Mead and your tempting temptations. To all the people who didn't vote for Will: imagine me giving you the Look of Disappointment. Uh-huh. I hope you're happy with yourselves. *hisses*
Dimitri had a constant lead of about 500 votes so it wasn't like the loss came out of nowhere and I didn't see it coming. BUT STILL.
U G H
My poor shadowhunter baby.

If it were any other fictional boy that Dimitri had been up against (and really, I mean any other character at all), I would not be this upset.
But- Will Herondale. You guys know how protective I get of him.

So. Congratulations, Dimitri. I guess.

still bitter.... I am a bittermelon

All I can say is that the extra POV scene better be good......
I'm still holding out hope for next year, though! I WILL SEE WILL HERONDALE WIN THAT DARN CRUSH TOURNEY IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO.
And they do say that the third time's the charm. *fingers and toes crossed*

-End Part 1 Rant-

NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT COMIC CON.

AGAIN.

This year's SDCC is probably the best one that I've never been to. Let's list the reasons why, shall we?

• X-Men Days of Future Past entire cast
• Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (the trolls....) + A SHERLOCK PANEL
• Benedict Cumberbatch's adorable video (brb sobbing)
• TMI PANEL (aksjdhflaksdjhf)- EVEN GODFREY GAO WAS THERE
• Robert Sheehan being his adorable geeky self and his camera
• Game of Thrones cast
• New Catching Fire trailer!!!!
• Colin O'Donaghue being his perfect Irish self
• Veronica Roth + Divergent cast
• Karen Gillan shaving her head! O__O
• Avengers. Avengers. All things Avengers
• Superman and Batman in a movie?!?!!?
• HUGH DANCY IN A FLOWER CROWN (way to go, Tumblr! #fannibal)

If you have no idea what I'm talking about in the bullet points then chances are you haven't been shamelessly stalking the internet for Comic Con updates. Good for you. I don't recommend doing this because it is literally painful each time you see something awesome that you're missing out on.

But here's the thing: just as I was starting to accept the fact that I'm not at this super awesome event, THIS GUY SHOWS UP:

LOOOOOOKI!!!

........

Tom Hiddleston shows up in full Loki attire to introduce new Thor 2 footage...

1. No

2. No

3. N o

4. NOPE

5. NOoOOOOOoO

I. Will. Never. Get. Over. This.

Goodbye, cruel world.

*crawls into a corner and sobs*

-End Part 2 Rant-

What I've been up to....

I... have been a very bad blogger.

Many apologies, my lovelies, for being so absent the past two months. A lot has been happening and I just wanted to give you all an update on my life. For one, I graduated high school!!

Aw yiss

I graduated at the end of May and just recently got back from my college orientation. I've got a tentative schedule all set up, met my roomie, toured my future dorm, and I am just super excited!
~Ahhhhh, college life, here I come!

In the mean time, I've been busy with a summer job and when I'm not working, I'm usually binging on TV shows, ranging from angst-filled Chinese dramas to trashy reality TV to the emotionally crippling Game of Thrones and Supernatural.
U G H
I can't even talk about GoT yet because it's still too soon after the-event-that-must-not-be-spoken-of, also known as that-episode-when-George R.R. Martin-ripped-my-heart-out-and-ate-it.
However, I can tell you this: Supernatural. Is. Ruining. My. Life.
Stupid Winchesters with their stupid bromance and their stupid self sacrificing and I JUST CAN'T

I am obsessed.

That being said, I have been in a horrible reading and blogging slump. I actually read a ton of books before I fell off the radar and I have rough outlines for reviews written, but I just never really got around to finishing them because those books were all spectacular and everyone knows those are the hardest reviews to write. So.... I just didn't. Yes, shame on me. 

Anyways, the point of this post is to give you guys an update on what I've been up to and to be a jump start back into blogging. I'VE MISSED YOU ALL SO SUPER MUCH. And I can't wait to start catching up on what I've missed!

Alrighty then, dear readers, until my next post! 

*Mwah!*  <3

Frigid Pre-Order Promo and Chapter Reveal

Today is an exciting day - we have FOUR HUGE SURPRISES for you! Jennifer L. Armentrout's (writing as J. Lynn) FRIGID is set to release on e-book at the end of July. If you're anything like us, you're probably on pins and needles and just cannot wait to get your hands on a copy of this book.

FRIGID has already been given the honor of being named a Romantic Times Top Pick and we're super excited for you to be able to read it as well!

Well, there's good news! Are you ready for those four awesome surprises? Here we go!

1. Due to all the excitement surrounding FRIGID, we have decided to run a special e-book pre-order promotion. We have worked out a deal with the distributor to release FRIGID a full two weeks early -- on JULY 15th!!! -- if we meet our e-book pre-order goal. EEEEP! That's right, if you are like the rest of us and want to be able to read FRIGID in its entirety before its original release date, all you have to do is PRE-ORDER THE E-BOOK NOW! What are you waiting for? GO! Pre-order it!

Pre-Order Links: Barnes & Noble / Amazon

2. Need something to hold you over until FRIGID releases? Well, starting right now, you can read the first three chapters of FRIGID for free! Just read below! 

Frigid Sneak Peek

LINK

3. Can’t get enough of the hot FRIGID cover? Want to see some behind the scenes photos that are sure to make you swoon? You’re in luck! Below you can watch a slideshow of all the behind the scenes photos from the photo shoot! Go on and watch it. We’ll wait, because there is still one more great surprise! 

LINK

4. And last but not least, if you live near Philadelphia, PA, you're in for a very special treat -- Jennifer will be in Philly in November signing not only FRIGID but also the last book in her immensely popular COVENANT series, SENTINEL! But that's not all, Adam, the super hot cover model from FRIGID will be there as well! So, yes, you'll get to meet Jennifer and Adam! Plus, there will be other great prizes that you seriously won't want to miss out on (dinner with the author and model, perhaps?)! Stay tuned for more details to come!

We hope you're as excited as we are! So now....Go pre-order FRIGID! Go read those chapters! Go watch that slideshow! And Enjoy!

Review: Eleanor and Park

Title: Eleanor and Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publication date: February 26, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads l B&N l Amazon l Book Depository

Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.

So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.

I’m not kidding, he says.

You should be, she says, we’re 16.

What about Romeo and Juliet?

Shallow, confused, then dead.

I love you, Park says.

Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.

I’m not kidding, he says.

You should be.

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

Eleanor and Park is one of those books that took the blogging world by storm and it seemed that no matter where I went, someone was raving about how wonderful the story was. Once I read this book, I understood why.

Eleanor is the new girl. Fiery red hair. Overweight. Mismatched second-hand clothes. She's impossible for the kids on her bus to ignore, and I don't mean that in a good way. That first day on the bus, everyone else looked at her with scorn and no one would offer her a seat. Except Park.

He did it grudgingly, mind you, but he offered the strange, new girl his seat. And despite their initial apathy towards one other, through comic books and mix tapes, apathy becomes curiosity, curiosity becomes friendship, and friendship becomes something more. Their little daily interactions on the school bus set in motion a slow-building and beautiful love story between two very unlikely people.

First off, I would just like to applaud the author for creating a heroine who's not the girl that everyone falls over themselves for. As much as I like reading about kickass female warriors, I also appreciate it when an author creates a girl who isn't perfect. Not personality-wise. I mean physically. In a world where 99.99% of literary heroines are either wiry and lithe, athletic and toned, or slim yet curvy, it was so refreshing to have a girl with weight issues that a lot of readers can empathize with.

Eleanor and Park together... those two are like my babies. And I swear I do NOT mean that in a creepy way. I just feel protective of them. Like I want to carry them around in my pocket and hide them from all the bad things in their lives. Because there are bad things. While Park's life is considerably normal, blessed with relative popularity and parents who love him and are in love, Eleanor's is a broken mess. The disparity between their home lives was heart-breaking and it made me all the more protective of their budding relationship which was the one bright spot in their lives.

This book was romantic, beautiful, and disarmingly real. There was nothing clichéd or typical about Eleanor and Park's love story. There are some books that you read and you fall in love with the characters - meaning you fall in love as they do, you feel what they feel. This is one of those books. And that's what makes it so powerful. 

All in all:
I had a hard time writing this review because this is one of those stories that leave your heart a little tender and bruised. It was beautiful in a way that made me ache a little because I had fallen so deeply in love with the characters. Eleanor and Park is a book that demands to be remembered not only because of its gorgeous writing or poignant story but also because of how it brings attention to issues that will always be important.

Cover Reveal: Allegiant

Allegiant (Divergent #3)

by Veronica Roth

To be published October 22, 2013

One choice will define you.

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

My thoughts:

It's so weird to have months and months of fan-made covers and now be presented with the real one...

There were some fan-made ones that were really good. Like, ones I think I like more than the actual cover. Actually, to be honest, seeing the real cover has been a little anti-climactic for me. But nonetheless, I do think the cover is really pretty- the background colors are gorgeous!- and I'm super psyched for more Tobias scenes this book to come out.