Books for Company: June 2013

26.6.13

Waiting on Wednesday #95

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano
Published : 25th March 2014
I am definitely a fan of YA books cross thriller books, I love a good book which can grip you and keep you gripped throughout the whole book. Nearly Gone sounds just like the sort of book which could do that.
Nearly, the character, sounds like a very interesting one who has a difficult life with no one to trust. I think the idea she doesn't really have anyone to trust will definitely add to the thriller factor. The new boy really intrigues me!

The Blurb :

Bones meets Fringe in a big, dark, scary, brilliantly-plotted urban thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end.
Nearly Boswell knows how to keep secrets. Living in a DC trailer park, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates. Like her mother's job as an exotic dancer, her obsession with the personal ads, and especially the emotions she can taste when she brushes against someone's skin. But when a serial killer goes on a killing spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper that only Nearly can decipher, she confides in the one person she shouldn't trust: the new guy at school—a reformed bad boy working undercover for the police, doing surveillance. . . on her.
Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn't figure it all out soon—she'll be next.

25.6.13

Top Ten Tuesday #11

Top Ten is run by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2013

Dare to You By Katie McGarry

Just adored this book, Katie is such an awesome author.

Boy Nobody By Allen Zadoff

Such an action packed, awesome, unique read.

Close My Eyes By Sophie McKenzie

Sophie never disappoints!

Angelfall By Susan Ee

Still to write my review on this, look out for it.

A Shade of Vampire By Bella Forrest

Beat my expectations by miles.

Hollywood Ever After By Sasha Summers

Loved this book, so much more than a romantic read.

The Vincent Boys By Abbi Glines

My first Abbi read =)

The Disappeared By C.J. Harper

Completely action packed!

The List By Siobhan Vivian

Loved this, has meaning and heart behind it!

The Tragedy Paper By Elizabeth LaBan

So nearly 5/5 but the end just let it down a little for me.

24.6.13

Cover Crazy #95

Immortals by Ednah Walters
I always have mixed feelings about covers which have computer made people like this. I think one advantage is because although the characters look like people they are so edited you can still kind of picture the characters in a way you want to.

I love this cover because :

- I like the title in that font and colour, it really stands out and suits the rest of the cover.
- I like that it provides you with the information that's it's book two. So many books don't!
- Love the font of the author's name.
Dislike :
- I am not sure about the background, it feels a bit random but from not having read the book I don't know.

Ashes and Ice - Rochelle Maya Callen
Wow, I totally love this cover! When I first saw it it totally stood out among the other covers, so pretty.

I love this cover because :

- This is really one of those covers which would really stand out on a shelf and make you think 'Wow'. I bet when reading it I would keep flicking to look at the cover again!
- Love the colours, I think the different white and blues used work really well with the ice theme.
- The ice is just awesome and I like how it's broken up like that which is like ash.
- I just think the general cover is really stunning, the girls green eyes really stand out and add to the prettiness of the cover too.

21.6.13

Review If You Stay - Courtney Cole

If You Stay - Courtney Cole

Series : Yes (#1 Beautifully Broken)

Released : 5th February 2013

Publisher: Grand Central Forever

Format : E Book

Source : Author's Representative (Thank you)

Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)/Book Depository

Overall rating

.................................... The Blurb ....................................

24-year old Pax Tate is an asshole.
Seriously.

He’s a tattooed, rock-hard bad-boy with a bad attitude to match.
But he’s got his reasons.
His mother died when Pax was seven, leaving a hole in his heart filled with guilt although he doesn’t understand why. What he does know is that he and his dad are left alone and with more issues than they can count.
As Pax grew up, he tried to be the kid his father always wanted; the perfect golden boy, but it didn’t work. His dad couldn’t overcome his grief long enough to notice and Pax couldn’t keep up the impossible perfect façade.
So he slipped far, far from it.
Now, he uses drugs and women to cope with the ugliness, the black void that he doesn’t want to deal with. If he pretends that the emptiness isn’t there, then it isn’t, right?
Wrong.

And it’s never more apparent than when he meets Mila.
Sweet, beautiful Mila Hill is the fresh air to his hardened frown, the beauty to his ugly heart. He doesn’t know how to not hurt her, but he quickly realizes that he’s got to figure it out because he needs her to breathe.
When memories of his mother’s death resurface from where he’s repressed them for so long, Mila is there to catch him when the guilt starts making sense. Mila is the one…the one who can save him from his broken troubled heart; from his issues, from the emptiness.
But only if he can stop being an asshole long enough to allow it.
He knows that. And he’s working on it.
But is that enough to make her stay?

.................................... My Thoughts ....................................

In Short

- If You Stay has well developed, interesting characters.

- My feelings for the story line changed throughout the book.

- Although Pax is a bad boy you can't help but like him.

- I felt the story went off track a little in the middle of the book.

In Long

I have to say I was really drawn in by the blurb of If You Stay, I do love a good bad boy! I was quickly drawn into the story. Pax definitely lives up to the bad boy label which he has been given by the author and is definitely an ar*ehole! Still, as I said I loved, I love a good bad boy and still found myself liking him despite his actions.

As I got more into the book I admit I sadly found my interest slipping from the storyline. At the beginning there was a lot going on and I liked both Pax and Mila. But then I started to find Mila a bit irritating, she constantly changed her mind on things and I couldn't help but be a bit annoyed by her. I found that when it came to their actual relationship my feelings on it changed as quickly and often as their relationship did. One moment I found it all a bit boring but then it got interesting and very addictive again.

The storyline itself was really addictive to begin with and I couldn't put it down, I really enjoyed getting to know both Pax and Mila. As the story line progressed I sadly felt like there were too many different little storyline’s going on and the book lost focused. I am glad I stuck with If You Stay though as towards the end I became gripped again, the part where his mother’s memories resurfaced was a page turner and seeing how it all affected the different relationships in the book.

Final Thoughts

If You Stay is a book with deep meaningful characters who I really enjoyed getting to know and go on a journey with. I found that although I lost interest in the story line through the middle of the book I was able to get back into the story and the characters towards the end and really enjoyed the ending.

20.6.13

The Time Will Come #98

The Time Will Come -

Every Thursday l am going to list a book which l really want to read/keep meaning to get to. These are mostly books which have been on my shelf for awhile now but don't have to be, maybe you got it two weeks ago and really want to read it!

Want to join in?

- Pick a book you have been meaning to read

- Do a post telling us about the book

- Link the post up in the linky

- Visit the other blogs!

Second Chance Summer - Morgan Watson

Morgan is also the author of Amy and Roger's Epic Detour which I actually adored! I couldn't put it down and it was such a good summer read, I adored it.

As always, I did plan to read this one pretty much as soon as I recieved it for review but sadly tour books got in the way and since then it's been left on my shelf looking at me.

As I am typing this I really want to start it, with England finally getting some sun I think Second Chance Summer may be the perfect book to read on a 'hot' summers day!

The Blurb

From the Flying Start author of Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour, a powerful novel about hope in the face of heartbreak.

Taylor Edwards’ family might not be the closest-knit—everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled—but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor’s dad gets devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend one last summer all together at their old lake house in the Pocono Mountains.

Crammed into a place much smaller and more rustic than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again. And Taylor discovers that the people she thought she had left behind haven’t actually gone anywhere. Her former best friend is still around, as is her first boyfriend…and he’s much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve.

As the summer progresses and the Edwards become more of a family, they’re more aware than ever that they’re battling a ticking clock. Sometimes, though, there is just enough time to get a second chance—with family, with friends, and with love

19.6.13

Waiting on Wednesday #94

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Split Second by Sophie McKenzie
Published : 3rd September 2013
First off, I love Sophie McKenzie, she is an awesome author who has an amazing talent with write all different genres of books and still manages to make them all amazing and gripping.
Secondly I love books which are written from different perspectives, it's just something I think works really well and always find more gripped by stories which have this feature.
I therefore can not wait for Split Second, I don't have any doubt that Sophie will deliver, as always!

The Blurb :

Bound together by the devastating consequences of a terrorist attack on a London market, teenagers Charlotte (Charlie) and Nat appear at first to have much in common. But, as Charlie gets closer to Nat and his family, she begins to wonder if perhaps he knows more about the attack than he has let on. Split Second is an action-packed thriller that shifts between the perspectives of its two main characters as their courage and their loyalties are tested to the limit.

18.6.13

Top Ten Tuesday #10

Top Ten is run by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Books At The Top Of My Summer TBR List

Some of these are for tour so I need to read them soon hence why they are high on my TBR. Other's I am very excited about which is the reason for them being in the pile! Although of course I can't wait to read them all =)

POD's By Michelle K.Pickett

All Our Yesterday By Cristin Terrill

Dangerous Girls By Abigail Haas

Ink By Amanda Sun

Love Is a Number - Lee Monroe

Delicate By Steph Campbell

Crash By Nicole Williams

Beautiful Bastard By Christina Lauren

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

The Selection By Keira Cass

17.6.13

UK Giveaway - Dead Jealous by Sharon Jones

Dead Jealous by Sharon Jones

People think of Mother Nature as a gentle lady. They forget that she's also Death...Sixteen-year-old Poppy Sinclair believes in quantum particles, not tarot cards, in Dawkins, not druids. Last summer, in a boating accident in the Lake District, Poppy had a brush with death. But the girl she finds face down in Scariswater hasn't been so lucky. As she fights to discover the truth behind what she believes is murder, Poppy is forced to concede that people and things are not always what they seem and, slipping ever deeper into a web of lies, jealousy and heart-stopping danger, she comes to realise - too late - that the one thing that can save her has been right there, all the time.

Rules

UK Only

End's 24th June

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Find Sharon

Website

Goodreads

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Pre Order Dead Jealous

Amazon (UK/USA)

Book Depository

Thank you to Hachette and the lovely Victoria for letting me run this giveaway

14.6.13

Review Boy Nobody - Allen Zadoff

Boy Nobody - Allen Zadoff

Series : Boy Nobody #1

Released : 23rd May 2013

Publisher: Hachette

Format : Paperback

Source : Publisher (Thank you)

Buy : Amazon Paperback (UK/USA)/Book Depository

Overall rating

.................................... The Blurb ....................................

He Is Nothing.
The Mission Is Everything.
The explosive new thriller for fans of Jason Bourne, Robert Muchamore and Michael Grant.
Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school, in a new town, under a new name, makes few friends and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die -- of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, and moves on to the next target.
When Boy Nobody was just eleven, he discovered his own parents had died of not-so-natural causes. He soon found himself under the control of The Program, a shadowy government organization that uses brainwashed kids as counter-espionage operatives. But somewhere, deep inside Boy Nobody, is somebody: the boy he once was, the boy who wants normal things (like a real home, his parents back), a boy who wants out. And he just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's next mission.

.................................... My Thoughts ....................................

In Short

- Boy Nobody had me hooked throughout the whole book.

- I liked how Zadoff flicked back and forth, going through some of Boy Nobody's memories.

- This is a very action packed book.
- Boy Nobody's character is one which I found myself really liking despite his 'crimes'

In Long

After reading the blurb for Boy Nobody I couldn't wait to start reading it, I was really in the mood for a book which could have me hooked throughout the whole book. Boy Nobody most definitely did have me hooked from the first page right until the last page.

Boy Nobody is written in such a unique, interacting way which really made me feel involved in the story and like I was actually there. I really enjoyed how Zadoff flicked back and forth between the past and present; it gave an insight into Boy Nobody’s life and helped me understand his feelings and actions.

The storyline is one which literally has action from the first till the last page, there was never a right time to put Boy Nobody down and had to force myself to when I had something to do.

My favourite thing about how Zadoff has written Boy Nobody’s character is that he really is his own person. I never felt like Zadoff tried to make him a character which he wasn’t, I can imagine that as this book was written Boy Nobody’s character just took over as his character is so powerful. I found myself warming to him more and more throughout the book and despite his faults and the crimes he commits I really liked him.

Final Thoughts

Boy Nobody is a fast pace addictive read which will have you hooked right from the first till the last page.

13.6.13

The Time Will Come #97

The Time Will Come -

Want to join in?

- Pick a book you have been meaning to read

- Do a post telling us about the book

- Link the post up in the linky

- Visit the other blogs!

Hitler's Angel - William Osborne
When I got this book I admit that I wasn't too keen on the sound of this book, it sound's very different from what I would usually read.
Then I read some reviews online and read the blurb again and I actually thought it sound's really good, I like reading different books from what I usually would and I always aim to try different sort's of books, quite often I find myself really looking the book and being very glad that I gave it a try.
Really hope I do eventually pick this up and that I am pleasantly surprised.

The Blurb

Otto and Leni have escaped to England from Nazi Germany. They thought they were safe, but now the British want them to go back. Dropped behind enemy lines, they embark on a secret operation codenamed Wolfsangel. Their mission is to find and kidnap a girl who could bring down Hitler And so begins their bravest journey yet.

12.6.13

Waiting on Wednesday #93

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This Song Will Save Your Life - Leila Sales
Published : 3rd September 2013
I am a bit unsure about this cover but looking past the cover I think the story sounds awesome.
What drawn me most to the book was where it says it's a laugh out loud voice which I always love in a book, who doesn't love a good laugh? I actually rarely read books which make me laugh just because of the type of books I tend to review.
I hope I get the chance to read this and warm to the main character, Elise. I love that it's about friendship and music, two favorite things!

The Blurb :

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

11.6.13

Top Ten Tuesday #9

Top Ten is run by The Broke and the Bookish

7.6.13

Review Infinite Sky - C.J. Flood

Infinite Sky is out in Paperback on 4th July!

Infinite Sky - C.J. Flood

Series : No

Released : 14th February (HB)/4th July (PB)

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Format : Paperback

Source : Publisher (Thank you)

Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)/Book Depository

Overall rating

.................................... The Blurb ....................................

Iris Dancy’s free-spirited mum has left for Tunisia, her dad’s rarely sober and her brother’s determined to fight anyone with a pair of fists.

When a family of travellers move into the overgrown paddock overnight, her dad looks set to finally lose it. Gypsies are parasites he says, but Iris is intrigued. As her dad plans to evict the travelling family, Iris makes friends with their teenage son. Trick Deran is a bare knuckle boxer who says he’s done with fighting, but is he telling the truth?

When tools go missing from the shed, the travellers are the first suspects. Iris’s brother, Sam, warns her to stay away from Trick; he’s dangerous, but Iris can no longer blindly follow her brother’s advice. He’s got secrets of his own, and she’s not sure he can be trusted himself.

Infinite Sky is a family story about betrayal and loyalty, and love.

.................................... My Thoughts ....................................

In Short

- Infinite Sky is a unique read which tackles difficult 'subjects'.

- I loved both the main characters and felt they were developed well.

- I like how C.J. let the reader make their mind up about Trick and his character.

- The storyline kept my attention throughout the book.

In Long

I haven’t ever read a story like Infinite Sky before and I was excited to start reading it. I was intrigued by the storyline and wanted to get to know Trick’s character and see how C.J. had written him.

I really warmed to Iris right from the beginning; she’s a young girl who is growing up in a house with two males and no one to really rely on. I have never been through something like Iris but I still felt like I could relate to her, she had a lot going on alongside growing up and being a teenage girl. While reading Infinite Sky I loved being able to go on this journey with Iris, getting to know Iris and the people in her life, especially Trick because I got to know him at the same time as she got to know him.

I love how C.J. wrote Trick's character, she left his character open for the reader so they could make their mind up about him and didn't in any way try to make him a certain person.

I really liked the pace which C.J. set the book at, it gave me as the reader a chance to get to know both Iris and Trick and therefore I was able to understand their actions throughout the book. The storyline itself wasn’t one which gripped me until towards the end but it kept my attention right throughout the whole book and then got very gripping towards the end of the book!

Final Thoughts

Infinite Sky was a really good read which is a lovely story about coming of age. The characters had many different things to deal with throughout the book and I felt like I really went on a journey with them.

6.6.13

The Time Will Come #96

The Time Will Come -

Want to join in?

- Pick a book you have been meaning to read

- Do a post telling us about the book

- Link the post up in the linky

- Visit the other blogs!

Forgotten - Cat Patrick
Not even I have not just read Forgotten which is crazy because I swear like every YA reader has, I haven't even read a book by Cat yet! She has quite a few out which I like the sound of so I really do need to try and read one of her books, hopefully this one!
Forgotten sounds just like the short of book I would really get into, I love books where someone doesn't have a memory or has lost their memory, they also grip me from the first till the last page. I really hope when I finally get to Forgotten it's the same for me!

The Blurb

With the intrigue of "Memento" and the romance of "The Time-Traveller's Wife", "Forgotten" is the perfect YA novel.

Each night when 16 year-old London Lane goes to sleep, her whole world disappears. In the morning, all that's left is a note telling her about a day she can't remember. The whole scenario doesn't exactly make high school or dating that hot guy whose name she can't seem to recall any easier. But when London starts experiencing disturbing visions she can't make sense of, she realizes it's time to learn a little more about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

Part psychological drama, part romance, and part mystery, this thought-provoking novel will inspire readers to consider the what-if's in their own lives and recognize the power they have to control their destinies.