A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

Source: ATW Tours

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.

There have been others before who’ve felt the Need, but they’re gone—erased from the memories of everyone whose lives they had touched. It's as though they never existed. This is the fate that awaits Charlotte. But the last thing Charlotte wants to do is disappear, to be Forgotten. She wants to stay with her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend’s arms forever. She wishes she could just ignore the Need, but she can’t. And as everyone important in her life begins to slowly forget her, she has to decide if she’ll fight the Need in order to remain herself—no matter how dark the consequences

Review: My mind is still trying to make sense of the ending. I keep rereading the last few pages, and all I can think is: Wow, did that really just happen? Has there been a more beautiful ending? This book takes me to places no book has ever taken me before. I rarely ever cry when I'm reading (Those If I Stay books? Yeah, I didn't get why people cried over them), but this book? It was as if everything bottled up inside of me came out. I got really emotional. I just closed the book up and I'm sniffling and all I can do now is tell you the reasons why you should read it.

It's beautiful. Seriously. The way the author connects every single word in the book together is astounding. It's told from Charlotte's point of view, but your connection to every character reaches well beyond the pages. Every ounce of pain, laughter, and confusion they feel will become your own.

Of course there's romance and friendship here, but the core of it all is something entirely phenomenal. At least, I think it is. Something mind-boggling. It really puts me in a drastic state of awe when a book is this life-changing. It certainly gave me a different outlook on a lot of things. Choices, mainly. The second I closed this book, something came over me and I went out and told my mother I loved her. (Of course, she thought I was crazy, what with the tears and all...)

I'm still trying to think everything through coherently so I'm a little fuzzy on a lot of details. Charlotte might be a Forgetten, but I will always remember her. I will always remember this story.

The one thing I know for sure though is this book? You NEED it.

~~A Reviewer's Journey GIF Style~~

The Beginning:

*CUTENESS OVERLOAD*

AHHH, CHARLOTTE AND HARLIN ARE SO CUTEEEE.

The Middle:

The End:

I am not going to cry. I am not going to cry. I am not...

In short, there are not enough words to describe how incredible reading this book is.

In My Mailbox - RT Teen Day/ Birthday Edition

As usual, IMM is hosted by The Story Siren...

It was actually my sixteen birthday this week! Sandy surprised me with a wonderful gift in the mail (picture below)--I love her! Senfaye also gave me an awesome bag full of cool things like marshmallows, The Ivy, nail polish, etc! I wish I could post the picture but I sorta ate all the marshmallows already xD

Yesterday, I went to this awesome convention called RT Teen Day! I met so many wonderful people, and had an amazing experience. My arms are extremely soreeee from carrying around so many bags, but wait until you see what other people and I got!

Some really, really cool swag! I am definitely going to be wearing that T-shirt from Simone Elkeles tomorrow! There is a whole mess of bookmarks, CD samplers, postcards, and more hidden under the t-shirt!

I also brought about 8 books from home to be signed, but I will leave them out of this post for fear that it will get really long. Most of these books are from the Teen Party swag bag with the exception of a small few (which were bought during book fair)! Yay!

Sweet Venom (ARC)

Bloody Valentine

Radiant Shadows

White Cat

Perfect Chemistry

Ghost Hunters: The Awakening

The Clearing

Goddess Boot Camp

Dreamland Social Club (ARC)

Haven

Demon's Lexicon

Oh. My. Gods

The Summoning

Enclave

The Ivy

What Happened to Goodbye (ARC)

Wolfsbane (ARC)

Born At Midnight

Darkest Mercy

Thanks for trading Haunting Violet/Dreamland Social Club with me, Lauren! Even though I was like, "This one comes out next month so no thank you," and then five minutes later, I just randomly came up to you and magically decided to trade. I think I just favor contemporary more over paranormal. And I'm really indecisive.

Anyway, I am so stoked to have gone to the convention! However, I did something really stupid. I talked to a whole bunch of people there, but I never asked for their names! And then when I came home, I realized that from all that excitement, I didn't get to meet a lot of those I talked to on Twitter.

Going to this event made me realize that authors do not get the credit they deserve from the world. I cannot wait to start reading!

...Someone there told me I was in book heaven. I completely agree.

Sweet Venom Cover Reveal

Release Date: October 4, 2011

Goodreads | Book Info

Blurb: Three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in a world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

Exciting isn't it?! :D Just 8 more months. I love Tera Lynn Childs' books, and I cannot wait for this one. Medusa? Greek mythology? Yes, please!

In which I am crazy. Again.

So last night I was at Best Buy in line to return something. And Best Buy has these reaaalllyyy tiring lines, especially during the holidays. I was zoning out and then I look to my right. WHAT DO I SEE? A FAMILIAR BLONDE GIRL.

"But whoooo...." I thought.. And then a familiar boy walks up to her. THEN IT HIT ME. SHE LOOKS LIKE GRACE...WHO DOES HE LOOK LIKE? He looks like Sam O_O. GRACE AND SAM FROM SHIVER. My mind had been blown. The guy had that crooked nose complete with that sadness look too! What do I do? I stare for another five minutes before doing somethingmore crazy.

I don't know what was stranger...me seeing a lookalike Sam & Grace at Best Buy...or me taking a picture of them from behind (did not want them to think I was loony XD)... I will leave that up to your judgement...

BUT HOLY SPRINKLES. SAM AND GRACE!!! :O

I have witnessed a Christmas miracle. Unless, of course, it's just me. And that looks exactly nothing like them. And I'm crazy. Yup. That's probably a more reasonable evaluation.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE! :D

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Rating: 5/5

Source: Netgalley

Synopsis: When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie's soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives - including truths that may be too frightening to remember.

Review: OHMYGOD. HOW AMAZING WAS THIS BOOK? I am still reeling from its awesomeness. A little bit dazed still.

Angelfire was the perfect read for me to cuddle up with in midst of all the rain in California. Like an open fire, it was warm and bright, setting off many sparks for my eyes to see. Not only were the characters molded into such beautiful beings by the author, but the story itself had a life of its own. It breathed and it lived, like all books should. The only qualm I have about this book--ONLY one--is that the beginning was a bit slow. It was a nice introduction into Ellie's life but it dragged. The upside to the beginning, though, was KATE. I LOVED KATE. I wish all best friends were that awesome.

I loved, loved, loved Ellie!!! I developed such a strong connection with her that I wasn't able to do with many other YA characters. When she felt frustrated, I was pulling out my hair with her. I felt like I was going through every event in the story along with her. I even had mini spasms throughout her sword-pwning battles. Every time she was in the middle of a fight with a reaper, I had to constantly remind myself that she was going to make it through! I mean, there was another two hundred pages after this scene. SHE WAS GOING TO LIVE, RIGHT? RIGHT? Well, with this book, you never really know. Bravo to the author for keeping you on your toes and guessing throughout. It's not a work of fluff and romance. Angelfire is the perfect balance of romance and action.

Angelfire is a book that will make you giddy and grin like an idiot. You will squeal like a crazy fangirl over Ellie and Will's endearing romance. You will get weird looks from your mother and possibly forget to eat because you just can't put this book down. And when it ends? You'll be wanting to trade your soul to the reapers for more.

(Let me digress... Since it is the holidays, I have a tradition with my sisters: We have a Sailor Moon YouTube/VHS marathon because...well... just because!! O_O DO NOT JUDGE. I am currently watching Season 3 episodes and well, I AM STILL HIGH ON SAILOR MOON. [again, do not judge xD] AND I LOVE GIFS so voila! Plus I am getting tired of my "What I thought of..." parts in my reviews SO I AM CHANGING IT UP!)

~~A Reviewer's Journey GIF Style~~

The beginning was okay~

The middle:

THIS STORY IS AMAZING. KICK THEIR BUTT, ELLIE. KICK THEIR BUTT.

OH MY GOD. ELLIE AND WILL ARE SO CUTE. AH!H!H!H!H

GO ELLIE!!!! KILL ALL THEM PATHETIC REAPERS. REALIZE YOUR LOVE FOR WILL. YOU LOVE HIM. YOU LOVE HIM! YOU MUST LOVE HIM.

The End:

NO, ANGELFIRE. YOU CANNOT END. You must last FOREVAAHH! SOB.

No! IT HAS ENDED! NOOOooo000oo.*stares at book for another half hour*

TAKE MY SOUL. TAKE MY SOUL. PLEASEEEEE. I NEED THE NEXT BOOK!! PLEAASSEE.

And for all you Sailor Moon fans out there: Angelfire is like heaven for people like us. Ellie and Will? They are about as epic as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Now that is saying something.

Yup. Read it. Read it now. Or Sailor Moon will punish you.

Morgan Matson Signing

So in spirit of Amy & Roger's Epic Detour being about road trips, let me show you several pictures of the California freeway! The drive was only about 35 minutes long, and my 8 year old sister insisted on taking these pictures of the road! There's actually more, but I figured you'd rather hear about the signing.

Anyways, prior to the signing, I was freaking out on Twitter.If you were online at the time, you'd probably see me tweet things like, "OH NO. WHAT IF I HAVE A PANIC ATTACK AND PASS OUT." Unfortunately, readers, that did not happen...but mountains of awesomeness did! I literally do not have words for this special night. I'm actually typing this an hour after I left the signing. Plus, I am using a thesaurus because I just can't think of any more words. I am speechless!

Wow, I babble a LOT... So once we arrived, we sat in one of those comfortable chairs at Vromans. This was actually my first bookstore signing! So I was pumped up, a nervous wreck, and excited. Lots of emotions, right? Ah, when I got there, I wasn't sure if it was

Morgan Matson going around talking to people, but then it was! She looked so crazy beautiful in real life I didn't notice her from the book jacket.

I tried taking lots of photos but then my stupid camera starting making everything super bright. The photo to the right is the only one that wasn't blurry. (Note to self: Bring better camera next time.) But see? Doesn't she look amazing?

Morgan Matson was is absolutely the sweetest person ever. She knew how to make everyone laugh, and the room was just abuzz with her bubbly personality. I actually calmed down a bit due to her presence. My heartbeat slowed down, which was good. She read a little part of her novel (The cabin in Yosemite part which was HILARIOUS)

Anyway during the Q&A, she was asked a bunch of questions like, Would she write a screenplay for the book? (She's hesitant about it, and sorry fans, no film options yet *tear*) What her playlist was like, How she was inspired to write this novel with her roadtrips, and What the age range was for the book. There were more questions, but the dumb ol' me can't remember anymore, but all questions were answered very cleverly with a dash of humor! :) I wish I'd spoken up more though!

...OH AND GET THIS, SOME PERSON ASKED ABOUT BOOK TRAILERS (in general)!!! She mentioned the two she had (one from the lovely librarians and the one from me!) Of course, being the shy one, I didn't speak up. It'd be rude to just pipe up during the Q&A, wouldn't it? Ah well, it's too late now. But I was SO happy when she mentioned mine. There was a lot of freaking out although I didn't show it on the outside. I am quite the expert at looking plain boring. See, this is WHY I blog, read, and love books. No one is as nice as an author--sorry best friends!

You can see the beginning of her talk below! Unfortunately, it gets cut off because my camera ran out of memory. I needed pictures so I stopped. Please put down the pitchforks! I guess this isn't a good time to mention that my hands were shaky too...

So when it was time to line up for the signing, my heart began to pound more and more. But as I introduced myself as the one who made the trailer, everything began to slow down. (Thank goodness...) She was more than happy to sign my things! (I had found postcards in my house for some reason! Ha! I didn't get anything for a reader on here though. I was too worried it was too much...Oh and they sold some at the bookstore too. I should make note of that. Yeah I'm babbling again... )

She was incredibly friendly and I think I may not just have a new favorite book, but a new favorite author too! I wish I had talked more, but it was okay. I expressed my love for her book...sorta. I took a picture, and then I left to the YA section! I must say, their selection beats any other chain store!

This just might be the longest post I've written on the blog, but it doesn't even describe how happy I was to be at her signing! I realized that even if it was across the country, I would have gone. Road trip, anyone? ;)