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.

The Survivors by Amanda Havard

The Survivors by Amanda Havard

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: In 1692, when witch trials gripped the community of Salem, Massachusetts, twenty-six children were accused as witches, exiled, and left for dead. Fourteen of them survived.

The Survivors is the first installment of the tantalizing tales of the fourteen ill-fated Survivors and their descendants, who have been content in hiding for over three centuries. Isolated on a Montana mountainside, only Sadie, the rogue daughter, dares to abandon the family's sacred hiding place. But no matter how far Sadie runs, something always pulls her back.

On a muggy summer night in Tennessee, she witnesses a shocking scene that will change her life forever. It is the first in a sequence of events that will drag her from the human world she's sought to belong to for over a century and send her back to her Puritanical family and into an uncertain future filled with cunning witches, mysterious nosferatu shape-shifters, dangerous eretica and vieczy vampires, millennia-old mythology, and the search for her own mortality. After all...

HOW DO YOU KILL A SURVIVOR?

The Survivors will steal your heart and invade your mind. Fall into the pages of Sadie's life, a world so frighteningly similar to your own, you'll find yourself wanting to go to the Montana mountains to find the Survivors for yourself.

And it is only the beginning.

Review: Never has a book taken me by surprise SO much. I really hadn't expected The Survivors to be anything out of the ordinary, but, whoa, it was amazing! The whole book in general is so ridiculously awesome that I still cannot fathom the fact that it's over. I really regret underestimating the degree of its appeal.

With very developed characters and an intricate plot line, The Survivors keeps readers hooked on from page 1. You're probably going to hear this sentence a lot in other reviews of this book, but it's very true--the protagonist is so relatable. Which brings me to the conclusion that this book is not just a book, it's almost having a conversation with Sadie herself and having her tell you every little detail going on in her life. And even if she is different from us, we're going to be able to draw the similarities out. Every emotion that Sadie will feel--confliction, anticipation, love, fear? (LOVE, repeated again just for emphasis, cuz ya now, Sadie steals many hearts in this book) You're going to feel it too. (And yes, you will yell at her. I did. Very often...No, I am not weird! O_O'')

The language Havard uses is very smart and natural that you actually feel smarter when you read the words from the page. And then there was that one scene where I should have KNOWN what was going to happen, but fjsldfjsljj! AHH. I AM STILL IN SHOCK. OHMYGOSH.

I'm not really sure how I feel about the romance aspect of this book. I would have liked to see her relationship(s) develop a bit slower. I do not know if it is the fangirl inside of me, but I just couldn't see why she fell in love with Other Guy. I do not even want to comment on Other Guy.

...But uh, COLE PWNS EVERETT. Every day of the week. Every second of the day. Every inch to the sky!! O_O So if you read this book and you take a liking to Other Guy, I'm afraid we cannot be friends anymore...(not even if you bake me cookies! And yes, I WILL be judging you XD)

On a more serious note, to me, The Survivors really isn't even paranormal. It's unlike any paranormal book I've read--very smart, very fresh, and very addictive, and very still in my mind. But a word to the wise, you won't be able to put this one down once you start (unless you are craaazyyy and not even a good crazy like me...). Read it now if you haven't! I do not know how long I can SURVIVE without the second book in my hand. Watch out, Amanda. *creepy laughter* xD!

And now, let the fangirling begin!

~~A Reviewer's Journey GIF Style~~

The Beginning: *got it out* Okay, let's read...*five seconds later* OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!! *Cole appears* ME:

The Middle: OHMYGOSH! WHAT IS HAPPENING? *is eaten up by Amanda Havard's world of epic proportions*

Mom: Come out for dinner! Me: WHO NEEDS TO EAT? I HAVE THIS INVISIBLE CORN OF DISBELIEF TO CHEW ON!! O_O

WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING SADIE? WHERE'S SWEET, SWEET COLE? Other Guy, you need to find a hole and jump in it and dieeeeee.

O_O OH. MY. GOD. FJSKFJKSLDJF WHAT WHAT WHAT. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE. * FLIPS PAGES BACK AND FORTH* It all makes sense now o_____o

The End: No, it's over. *SOBSOBSOBSOBSOB* HOW COULD YOU, AMANDA HAVARD? I HOW COULD YOU JUST END THE SNEAK PEEK OF BOOK 2 LIKE THIS? sobsobsob.

You all need to read it now!

---

1) I recently conducted a Twitter interview with Sadie herself along with The Book Pixie! To view it, just click this [edit: updated link here for FULL interview]! (BOWL FOREVER!)

2) Have you heard the GORGEOUS song that goes along with this book? It was just released and honestly, it has been on repeat the whole day yesterday. I'll embed it down below...

Less than three, folks. LESS THAN THREE!~

Kim Harrington Interview

WOOOO! Guess what comes out this week? Clarity by Kim Harrington! It has crazy awesome characters, perfect pacing, and above all, it was written by an amazing author.

I had the honor to interview the author a month ago and here is the interview below:

1.) In your mind, why do you think people do not believe in psychics?

I think it’s because certain people need proof before they believe in something fantastical. And…I’m one of those people! I’m not going to say true psychics don’t exist, though. Just that I haven’t met a real one yet. I have visited about six (a couple times in college for fun and then a few for book research) and none of them impressed me. But my mother visited one in Dublin when she was a teenager that she swears was the real deal. So who knows?

2.) What is the one power you would want if you were a psychic?

I wouldn’t want any of the Fern family’s powers. But if I could have any ability, I’d love to be able to manipulate time. Mostly because I’m impatient.

3.) Do you bare any similarities to any of your characters?

I can be sarcastic like Clare. I worry like Starla. Also, Clare’s aversion to seafood? Totally me.

4.) What was the hardest part in writing this novel?

The hardest part was making sure all the pieces of the mystery fit into place and finding the right balance between predictable and completely unforeseeable. I don’t want the villain to be someone from left field that the reader never could have figured out. But I don’t want the solution to be too obvious, either. Somewhere in between. And that’s tough to do.

5.) Best line ever from a book/show/movie? :D

Oh my…there are so many! I’m going to have to go with one from the movie Say Anything. And it’s not, “I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen,” though I do love that line. The one I like more is Lloyd’s response when Diane says, “Nobody thinks it will work, do they?” He says, “You just described every great success story.”

6.) If you could pick one song that represented Clarity, what would it be?

Maybe “Army of Me” by Bjork, which seems totally random, but the song has this swagger and confidence to it. I can imagine Clare walking down the street with her earbuds in, nodding her head to it.

7.) What is the weirdest dream you've ever had?

This is tough because I have weird dreams all the time. The scariest weird dream I had was that I was stuck on a cruise ship when one of those stomach viruses started going around. But then we realized it wasn’t just the stomach flu…it was the zombie virus. So everyone on the cruise ship started turning into zombies and I was running and hiding for what seemed like hours. Horrifying! I also had a funny, weird one where a sinkhole opened up on a Boston street and was swallowing buildings and I was running away from it with Neil Patrick Harris.

8.) How was your day? XD

Fantastic! While writing this interview (in January), I got the news that Publishers Weekly gave Clarity a starred review!

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!

Clarity Contest Winner!

First of all, sorry; I know I said I'd post the winner yesterday, but I was drowning in homework. It's like teachers choose to give a load of work to do right before finals, LIKE WE DON'T ALREADY HAVE STUDYING TO DO /endrant.

To pick the winner, I had my lovely friend, Virtual Hat, pick the winner. Yes, I found virtual hat drawings online. But they confused me so I had my friend, who chooses to go by Virtual Hat, pick. The lucky number was 25. After shuffling the entries 25 times and then picking number 25 (which was really 8) WE HAVE A WINNER! :D

YAN!!

I should be sending out Clarity as soon as I get your addy :)

Now...back to homework and studying for finals...

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.