I love books. And I love cupcakes. I spend alot of time reading blogs about both. Then I thought to myself, wouldn't it be fun to have it all in one? So here's the plan. Here on my little blog, you're going to find book reviews (mostly YA, because I'm absolutely addicted to them) and once in while I'll show you what I'm cooking up in my little vintage aprons, recipes and all. It's gonna be fun---visit often!! :)
To contact me regarding this blog or if you are a publisher/author with a book you'd like reviewed, send an email to:
storiesandsweetiesblog@gmail.com
See Review Policy
I am currently accepting YA books for review, but I am not accepting ebooks.
For New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie's This Week in Books & Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts) Note: This is not a meme, but I'll be hopping around to any other book haul-sharing posts I come across!
Ah, love that last one. :) So, will you be reading any of these? To be perfectly honest, I didn't really have Venom on my must-read list until I saw this trailer for it...it got to the last part where he leans down to kiss her hand and my eyes bugged out!! Whaaaat the...?? Oh, I am definitely planning on reading it now.
Well, this is a first---Amy & I actually read the same book at the same time! :) We both LOVED this one, so we both wanted to share a few thoughts on it!
It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.
His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live--not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.
Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.
Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.
Review: On Aquiring Girl of Nightmares:
Amy:Anna Dressed in Blood was most likely one of my favorite reads last year, and one of the main reasons I went to ALA this year. I couldn't wait to meet the woman behind the amazing strong willed character, Anna. And I wasn't disappointed. Kendare Blake was a pleasure to meet and shake hands with. I asked her to sign the cover of my copy of Anna Dressed in Blood and she so obliged and did so with a red sharpie to boot. I couldn't wait to bring the book home and front it on my shelf of favorites!
Becky:Yes, after completely being blown away by Anna last year, Girl of Nightmares was one of those books that it didn't matter how long the line was, I would have waiting hours in line at ALA for the chance to meet Kendare and get the coveted second book! She was awesome---and she knew of Stories & Sweeties! I think my head spun a little at that. :) I was completely starstruck.
On the "GUTS" of the story ;)
Becky:Absolutely fantastic. Every bit as good as the first, but so incredibly different. Its been a few months since Anna saved them all, and Cas starts to see gory visions of her everywhere. Is she in trouble? Has she crossed back over? He knows he has to do something, but also knows everyone will think he's crazy. So much more going on in this one emotionally, too---Thomas is an even more awesome character this time, always up for a challenge and always there to support Cas. Things get complicated with Carmel as she grapples with her part in all of it. We get to see more of the mysterious Gideon and new characters come into the picture---one that I especially loved, Jestine. She keeps us guessing where her loyalties lie (I don't think even she know for sure), but she is all spunk---her feistiness very nearly gets her killed in her very first appearance! And the gore---OH, the GORE. I have to say, there was way more gore this time around. There are times when the ghosts are almost more like zombies. Dark, dark, stuff happening all around.
Amy: EPIC!! That's all I can say about this book. I was almost trepidacious about cracking open the cover. Scared to start only because I didn't want it to end. Girl of Nightmares doesn't disappoint, and is the perfect companion to the first book. Anna winds herself back into Cas' life even though she always was present in his heart. Cas faces some tough choices throughout the book that only loving a dead girl can bring. He leaves no stone unturned or detail unpolished, which keeps you captivated from cover to cover. And as Kendare Blake promised, there is no gore lost in this sequel. Horror and Gore abound in every last blood dripping detail. I don't know where she comes up with the story but it has fresh, new twists at every bend that almost leave you breathless.
The End: Becky:I think this may be the end, my friends. Sad as that makes me, this story definitely came to a complete, mind-blowingly exciting, but satisfying end. I can't think of how the story might continue---but if anyone's imagination could do it, it's the brilliant Kendare Blake! I guess we'll have to wait and see! If not, I'll definitely miss all of these amazing characters!
Amy's cupcake match: Dark chocolate for the color of Anna's hair, cherry pie filling in the center so it bleeds when you cut into it, with wild wispy chocolate dark frosting on top. Only a dark gooey chocolate cupcake can match the darkness of this book.
Holy Moly, it's August already! Was it just me, or did July fly by way too fast. And now it's almost time for school to start again! We start a little early here...my kids go back in just two short weeks! Blows my mind how fast their summer vacation went by!
So if you're new to Stories & Sweeties, here's a little run-down of this feature: at the start of each month, I do a little thing called the "What's New List & Giveaway" where you'll find a full list of the new releases in YA for the month, and entry to the giveaway. At the end of each month, one lucky winner will get to choose any new release as their prize!
First things first! The winner of July's giveaway was: Melanie ! Congratulations! :D
August Releases: Just like previous months, I've put a little l♥ve by those books that I am really anticipating---whether I can't wait to read them or I just can't wait to have my own finished copy!
(All links go to Goodreads) Please feel free to email me if you notice any YA titles missing! :)
Giveaway Details: One winner will win a YA August release of their choice! *see note below • Contest ends August 31th, 2012 at 11:59 PM • Must be 13 or older • Open internationally. *International winners will be required to choose a book that is available through BookDepository.com. a Rafflecopter giveaway
"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.
description: Seventeen-year-old Quinn hadn’t slept a full night in twenty-three days. She’s terrified of the demons that stalk her dreams, pull her into a deep dark nothingness and whisper hauntingly of her death. Exhausted, Quinn dozes off in the school hallway, and Aaron, an amnesiac with a psychic ability, accidentally enters her nightmare. If Quinn can learn to trust her heart, and Aaron can discover the secret locked away in his fragile memory, their combined power could banish the darkness back to the underworld for good. That is, unless the demons kill them first.
My thoughts: STUNNING cover...that is what draws me to this first. Then the synopsis wows me with talk of dreams and demons, a psychic amnesiac (??), secrets and powers. Sounds awesome.
Thanks to the amazingly generous people at St. Martin's Griffin, I have a set of the Sky Chasers series to give away to one lucky reader!
The Prize: One paperback copy of Glow + One Hardcover copy of Spark
Glow - book 1
What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?
Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...
Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.
But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.
Spark - book 2
Waverly and Kieran are finally reunited on the Empyrean. Kieran has led the boys safely up to this point, and now that the girls are back, their mission seems slightly less impossible: to chase down the New Horizon, and save their parents from the enemy ship. But nothing is truly as it seems…Kieran’s leadership methods have raised Seth’s hackles— and Waverly’s suspicions. Is this really her fiancé? The handsome, loving boy she was torn from just a short time before? More and more, she finds her thoughts aligned with Seth’s. But if Seth is Kieran’s Enemy No. 1, what does that make her?
In one night, a strange explosion rocks the Empyrean—shooting them off course and delaying their pursuit of the New Horizon—and Seth is mysteriously released from the brig. Seth is the most obvious suspect for the explosion, and Waverly the most obvious suspect for releasing him. As the tension reaches a boiling point, will Seth be able to find the true culprit before Kieran locks them both away—or worse? Will Waverly follow her heart, even if it puts lives at risk? With the balance of power precarious and the clock ticking, every decision counts… every step brings them closer to a new beginning, or a sudden end...
For New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie's This Week in Books & Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts) Note: This is not a meme, but I'll be hopping around to any other book haul-sharing posts I come across!
