Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Wither ( The Chemical Garden Trilogy #1)
by Lauren Destefano

release date: March 22, 2011

description from goodreads:
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

My thoughts: Not much to explain here; the cover is AWESOME, the story sounds AWESOME. I want it, I need it, I can't wait to read it!!! What more can I say? :)

Review: Torment

Torment by Lauren Kate

publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

release date: September 28, 2010

hardcover, 464 pages

sequel to Fallen (2009) (see my review here)

intended audience: Young adult

rating:


Warning! The following synopsis and review may contain spoilers for Fallen!
description from goodreads:
How many lives do you need to live before you find someone worth dying for? In the aftermath of what happened at Sword & Cross, Luce has been hidden away by her cursed angelic boyfriend, Daniel, in a new school filled with Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. Daniel promises she will be safe here, protected from those who would kill her. At the school Luce discovers what the Shadows that have followed her all her life mean - and how to manipulate them to see into her other lives. Yet the more Luce learns about herself, the more she realizes that the past is her only key to unlocking her future...and that Daniel hasn't told her everything. What if his version of the past isn't actually the way things happened...what if Luce was really meant to be with someone else?


Review: I loved this book. I was so excited to read it because I really enjoyed Fallen. And those gorgeous covers! This book had a lot to live up to and I was definitely not disappointed. I think I would even say that I liked this one better than the first!

As Luce and Daniel's story continues, she has been relocated to an exclusive school on the west coast called Shoreline. There are normal kids there, but there is also a very large population of Nephilim there and others who can protect L ...more I loved this book. I was so excited to read it because I really enjoyed Fallen. And those gorgeous covers! This book had a lot to live up to and I was definitely not disappointed. I think I would even say that I liked this one better than the first!

As Luce and Daniel's story continues, she has been relocated to an exclusive school on the west coast called Shoreline. There are normal kids there, but there is also a very large population of Nephilim there and others who can protect Luce. This added a lot of interesting situations, because all of these descendants of angels have grown up hearing the "legendary" love story of Luce and Daniel and it puts Luce at an uncomfortable sort of celebrity status. She is not exactly sure why she is there and Daniel doesn't seem to be telling her anything. This causes a huge strain on their relationship as she just get frustrated and feels like she's being held captive and kept in the dark, and he gets frustrated that she doesn't let him protect her.

Luce kind of infuriated me in this one. Yes, I saw her side of it. She was left completely in the dark about what was going on and she tried to stand up for herself by leaving if she wanted to and try to take some power into her own hands, and that was commendable. On the other hand, I kept thinking, this angel who loves her and has been around for thousands of years is telling her to lay low for her own protection---why would she rebel against him like a petulant child? But maybe that's just the "motherly" way of thinking in me. They did a lot of fighting in this one, needless to say! But they also had a lot of very sweet intimate moments, too. Luce does a lot of looking into her own past once she learns how, and she begins to doubt her future with Daniel and remorse for the pain that their love has caused her countless families in her past lives.

There is so much going on in this one and it gets so exciting. You're constantly trying to guess who can be trusted and who will turn out to be on the side of evil! What I loved about this plot was that it completely blurred the line that separated the angels from the demons. The new characters are all great in this one, and I was so overjoyed that some of the awesome characters from the first book pop up in this one, too. Especially Arriane, who was a favorite of mine in the first, next to Penn---I almost wished Luce would mysteriously start being able to talk to ghosts so we could see more Penn!

All in all, a fantastic addition to this trilogy! There are still questions that need to be answered and it's going to be a long wait for the third book! It already sounds like it's going to be an exciting chase through 5000 years of Luce and Daniel's past!!

Visit the gorgeous website for this series here!
Visit Lauren Kate's website here!

Review: She Smells the Dead

She Smells the Dead by E.J. Stevens

publisher: Sacred Oaks Press

release date: September 9, 2010

paperback, 168 pages

intended audience: young adult

source: from author for review

rating:


Description from goodreads:
It's the beginning of senior year and Yuki's psychic awareness of ghostly spirits is threatening to ruin her life. Her ability to sense spirits of the dead isn't glamorous like the ghost hunting on television.

SHE SMELLS THE DEAD.

The smell impressions are becoming stronger. Yuki is being visited in her dreams, and she suspects that her friend Calvin is involved in something strange. To make matters worse her crush on Garrett is going unrequited, Yuki's friend Emma is on a rampage against bee oppression, and annoying Calvin Miller mysteriously disappears.

Will Yuki be able to focus her powers in time to save the lost soul who is haunting her? Meanwhile, who will save Yuki from following the spirits into the light?

Review: This was a very quick fun read. I loved the quirkiness of this book. By first impression, meaning the goth girl gracing the cover and the spooky title, I thought I was going in for something dark and gruesome---because really, what sounds more gruesome than constantly smelling the dead. But I was so pleasantly surprised! The main character, Yuki is quirky and funny and pretty confident for someone who gets constant strange looks from her classmates and is rumored to be the school witch. I loved the little addition of the thoughts running through her head throughout the book.

This was a pretty complex story---lots of subplots going on here, all of them intriguing! Some I felt could have been fleshed out just a bit more, and the arc of the story shifted just a little so that a major plotline of the book could have been resolved by the end ( I have to assume there will be sequel since the story was leading up to a big event that didn't happen by the end of the book.) I did really enjoy how her power to smell the dead led her on a detective-style mystery! She doesn't actually smell the dead person (that would be gross!), but each ghost's scent is kind of a clue to who they were. One day she is bombarded by the awful smell of vinegar and that is the only clue she starts with on how to put this ghost to rest---the rest of the mystery solving is all up to her awesome Nancy Drew skills! Its also helps that her best friend is an expert reseacher---as well as a devout vegan whose mission in life is to make everyone else feel bad for eating meat and to free oppressed bees everywhere. She was a hoot---someone I would probably be terribly annoyed with in real life, but on paper she was funny and also a great supportive friend to Yuki, which I loved.

This was also a love story, and a very sweet one at that. You could tell from the beginning that Yuki, despite her alleged crush on a boy named Garrett, had some suppressed feeling for her longtime friend Calvin. It's cute the way they start out as an almost grade-school style crush where they are constantly teasing each other, and next thing your know they are kissing in his truck. I love how she constantly referred to him so formally as "Calvin Miller" in her head as she lectures him in her thoughts.

If there is in fact a sequel, I'll definitely be picking it up to find out what happens on Samhain!! In the meantime, I think I will actually miss being with these characters! I recommend this for a quick, fun read!

Visit the author's blog here!

In My Mailbox {35}

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren, where we all share what we got during the week!

Once again this week, I was super good and didn't purchase any books! (Not for lack of trying, but hubby derailed my plans to hit Half-Price Books today. Booo..) I did, however, get an awesome package from HarperCollins, and here's what goodies were hiding inside:

Pink by Lili Wilkinson
Illegal by Beth Restrepo
Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer
The Trust by Tom Dolby
See What I See by Gloria Whelan

Incredibly excited to get into all of these! Thank you so much, HarperTeen!!

What was in your mailbox this week? I wanna see! :)

Review: Girl, Stolen

Girl, Stolen by April Henry

publisher: Henry Holt & Company (Macmillan)

release date: September 28th, 2010

hardcover, 224 pages

intended audience: Young adult

source: Around the World Tours

rating:


description from Goodreads:
Sixteen year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of a car while her mom fills her prescription at the pharmacy. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, their car is being stolen--with her inside! Griffin hadn’t meant to kidnap Cheyenne, all he needed to do was steal a car for the others. But once Griffin's dad finds out that Cheyenne’s father is the president of a powerful corporation, everything changes—now there’s a reason to keep her. What Griffin doesn’t know is that Cheyenne is not only sick with pneumonia, she is blind. How will Cheyenne survive this nightmare, and if she does, at what price?

Review: This was such a fascinating read! It was thrilling and fast-paced, I literally gasped a few times! The story was told from alternating view points and sometimes this can be distracting, but here it really worked well. Both main characters were really well written. Cheyenne, who's blindness is fairly new (she wasn't born that way, she's been blind for three years) and I felt that was very authentically presented. From the author's notes and thank yous, you can see she really took the time to rese ...more This was such a fascinating read! It was thrilling and fast-paced, I literally gasped a few times! The story was told from alternating view points and sometimes this can be distracting, but here it really worked well. Both main characters were really well written. Cheyenne, who's blindness is fairly new (she wasn't born that way, she's been blind for three years) and I felt that was very authentically presented. From the author's notes and thank yous, you can see she really took the time to research this thoroughly and that definitely shows. It added depth to her character that she could still envision the world around her and had also developed the heightened senses that sometimes come with blindness. Cheyenne was very aware of her limitations, but pulled out all her other strengths to survive this ordeal.

I liked seeing the situation from Griffin's point of view as well. Yes, he steals the car and makes the bad choice to not let Cheyenne go immediately, but as soon as you get a glimpse at his reason for making these decisions, you can't help but be a little sympathetic to his situation. He is not at all what he seems to be at first, and once you get to know this character, you start to root for him to turn it around and do something heroic to make it right. I just wanted to see him get cut a little break.

Having such real and complex characters really added to the punch of this story---you really get wrapped up in the terror, the excitement, and the hope that everything turns out alright! Highly recommend this one!

Visit April Henry's website here!

Hop & Follow Friday!!

It's Friday again and you know what that means!! It's time to hop around and make some new blog friends!! If it's your first visit to Stories & Sweeties, WELCOME!!! Please feel free to link in the comments so I can visit you, too! :)

First off, we have Follow Friday hosted by Parakjunkee's View! (click the logo to get there!)Here's her featured question of the week:
My question for you guys, what is your high fashion book? --- translation --- best book cover ever.

This is a tough one, but when someone mentions awesome book covers, these two are the first that come to mind right now for me. I just finished the second book, and I swear after I closed that last page, I just sat there staring at the gorgeous cover. Not to mention, Fallen was printed with that velvety soft coating they've been using on some book these day that i LOVE. Makes you want to keep the book with you all day and pet it like a lap dog. Here's hoping they print Torment in the same way.


Next up is the Book Blog Hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books! (click the logo to get there!)This week, she asks: When you write reviews, do you write them as you are reading or wait until you have read the entire book?

I take a few notes while reading sometimes, and if I find a particular quote that I want to mention in my review I scribble that down, but for the most part, I write the whole review after I finish. Sometimes I even wait a few days to let the book sink in fully and gather my thoughts and feelings about it.

Thanks for hopping by!

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

Wake Unto Me
by Lisa Cach

releasing: March 31st, 3011 by Speak (Penguin)

description from goodreads:
A haunted castle, a handsome young man dead for four hundred years, one heck of a scary portrait of a witch, and a treasure hunt -- not to mention a princess for a roommate! -- all await 15 year old American girl Caitlyn Monahan when she earns a scholarship to a French boarding school.

There are secrets behind the stone walls of Chateau de la Fortune, buried for ...more A haunted castle, a handsome young man dead for four hundred years, one heck of a scary portrait of a witch, and a treasure hunt -- not to mention a princess for a roommate! -- all await 15 year old American girl Caitlyn Monahan when she earns a scholarship to a French boarding school.

There are secrets behind the stone walls of Chateau de la Fortune, buried for centuries along with the mystery of who killed Raphael, the charming ghost who visits Caitlyn at night. But as Caitlyn unearths the history of the castle, nothing scares her as badly as the secret she learns about herself, and the reason she was chosen to come to the Fortune School.

And nothing breaks her heart as badly as falling in love with a dead guy.

My thoughts: I've seen this cover around alot, but never bothered to read the synopsis. When I finally did (just today actually!) I thought "Woooow!" It sounds amazing!Creepy witches, charming ghosts, mysteries and a century old french castle...sounds right up my alley!