Showcase Sunday (32)

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Vicki at Books, Biscuits, and Tea, where we showcase what books we've gotten over the course of the week, whether it be from a book store, bought for your eReader, received from the library, or from the publishers for review.

For Review:

 

Rush by Eve Silver

Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

 

The Living by Matt de la Peña

Icons by Margaret Stohl

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

 

The Last Academy by Anne Applegate

Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton

Rush: Really looking forward to starting this one soon--I love books with aliens, and with twisted games, so this sounds like quite a bit of fun! But apparently it ends in a huge cliffhanger. Thanks, HarperTeen!

Of Beast and Beauty: I read the first few chapters of this one and they were fantastic. Gorgeous writing. Looking forward to continuing it! Not sure whether this'll be my next Coming Attractions post, or Two Boys Kissing. Let me know in the comments which one you'd rather see! Thanks, Delacorte!

The Bitter Kingdom: Eee, can't wait to start this trilogy! The first book will be my next non-ARC read, and I'm so excited! I've heard such excellent things about this trilogy. Thanks, HarperTeen!

The Living: This sounds really interesting, but I was pretty surprised to find out it was about an earthquake and not a zombie apocalypse. Thanks, Delacorte!

Icons: Not sure what to think of this one. Haven't heard the greatest things about Beautiful Creatures, but I'll go into this one with moderate expectations. Plus, it's about aliens. Thanks, Little Brown!

Siege and Storm: SO excited to read this one. I loved Shadow and Bone when I read it, so I'm looking forward to reading this immensely. (ALSO, the ARC is sexy as hell. Just sayin'.) Thanks, Henry Holt and Co!

The Last Academy: Not sure about this one, but based on the title I'm guessing it's about a boarding school, which is always fun. Thanks, Point!

Some Quiet Place: Honestly, the only thing I know for sure about this book is that the cover is gorgeous. But I think it involves personified emotions, which sounds pretty awesome to me, so I'm in! Thanks, Flux!

What I read this week: 

Golden by Jessi Kirby, 5 stars

*sigh* Guys. I love this book so, so much. Words can't even begin to describe how beautiful and stunning and poignant and affecting this amazing novel is. I'm still speechless. Review to come 4/20. 

Life After Theft by Aprillyne Pike, 3.5 stars

This one really surprised me! I still need to get around to writing my review, but this was really entertaining, but also very touching towards the end, and the last page made me very emotional. As well as that, most of the character development was really great. Review to come 4/13. Once I write it, of course. 

September Girls by Bennett Madison, 1 star

UGH. I can't even with this one. Awful writing, awful characters, and a surprising lack of a plot that doesn't involve penises and the sexcapades of infuriatingly irritating teenagers looking to get laid. UGH. Review to come 4/18.

What did you get this week? 

Leave a comment letting me know!

Review: Reboot by Amy Tintera

Reboot
Amy Tintera
Series: Reboot, #1
Release Date: May 7th, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Number of Pages: 352
Rating: 3.5 stars

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

Incredibly interesting, fast-paced, and original--at least when concerning the plot and elements of the plot--and with alluring relationship dynamics and compelling action sequences, Amy Tintera's debut novel, Reboot, is one to undoubtedly remain standing amongst other well-written debuts releasing this year. Whether or not Reboot will completely stand out amongst those debuts or outshine them altogether is somewhat equivocal, given the fact that there are some aspects of Reboot--most notably the romance--that have been done better in young adult and are a bit too similar to a vast majority of young adult novels on the market, but as a whole, I feel that the quick and ultimately captivating way in which Reboot is written will appeal to readers looking for a fun and fast read bearing a semblance of depth--something unfortunately uncommon in many young adult novels I describe as 'fun' lately.

I'll get right to it--Reboot's biggest fault, in my opinion, was the romance, and the large role it took concerning the progression of the plot, and really just the large role it took in general. Using romance as a driving point for character development and plot progression is not something I dislike--in fact it may be one of my favorite ways of developing characters and plots.

If done well, that is. In the very first pages of Reboot, we're thrown into an action sequence between Wren, a Reboot, and one of her targets. From then on, we're told, and shown, having the novel told from her point of view, that she is cold and ruthless and tough, and for that duration, I loved Wren's character. But soon after she is introduced to the love interest, Callum--who, keep in mind, I think is both a fantastic character and love interest--all those adjectives I've used to describe Wren gradually became less and less extreme.

Review: The Shadow Girl by Jennifer Archer

The Shadow Girl

Jennifer Archer

Series: None
Release Date: April 9th, 2013

Publisher: HarperTeen
Number of Pages: 336

Rating: 2.5 stars

Sometimes I forget for an hour or two that she's with me. Sometimes I convince myself that she was only a dream. Or that I'm crazy.


For as long as Lily Winston can remember, she has never been alone. Iris, a shadowy figure who mimics Lily's movements and whispers in her ear, is with her always—but invisible to the rest of the world. Iris is Lily's secret.

But when Lily's father is killed in a tragic accident, his cryptic final words suggest that he and Lily's mother have been keeping secrets of their own. Suddenly, Iris begins pushing Lily more than ever, possessing her thoughts and urging her to put together the pieces of a strange puzzle her father left behind. As she searches for answers, Lily finds herself drawn to Ty Collier, a mysterious new boy in town. Together, Lily and Ty must untangle a web of deception to discover the truth about her family, Iris . . . and Lily's own identity.

It's not a rare occurrence, especially not in young adult, where a book's romance, and the large focus on it, often leads to the entire book's downfall. To even check myself on this, I asked on Twitter which books my followers thought would have been better if it hadn't been for the romance, and I received a wide variety of different answers, ranging from Daughter of Smoke and Bone to The Madman's Daughter.

The Shadow Girl is another book worth adding to that list of books that would have been better had it not been for the romance. Or, in The Shadow Girl's case, romances, neither of which I was a fan. While I thought the mystery aspect to The Shadow Girl was incredibly fun and interesting--although perhaps a bit predictable--I didn't like how the majority of the plot was bogged down by the unnecessary and, to be blunt, just bad love triangle.

Blogoversary Party Final Day: I'm 1!

Happy birthday to me!--er, Finding Bliss in Books, that is... I honestly can't believe it's been an entire year that I've been blogging, and I especially can't believe how much blogging itself and more importantly, the blogging community, has become such an integral part of my life--which is something I've honestly never expected. This is just a forewarning that I'm most likely going to get pretty emotional/sentimental with you guys, and all of this is probably something you've read in countless blogoversary posts before, so if you want to skip all this sappiness and get down to the giveaway below, I can't say I don't understand. If you do choose to read the following, 1) thank you, and 2) prepare yourself for a very long thank you note and a good dose of sappiness. 

Blogoversary Day 7: Stephanie Kuehn

Aw, the last day of the celebration has arrived (well, not counting the actual blogoversary day tomorrow, which is a celebration in itself). Luckily, I have for you another interview, this time with Stephanie Kuehn, author of CHARM & STRANGE. If you follow me on Goodreads or Twitter you'll know how much I love this book (my first five star read of the year, believe it or not), so I'm beyond happy to have had the opportunity to interview Stephanie Kuehn, who is just as awesome as her novel. Enjoy!

Blogoversary Day 6: Kate Karyus Quinn

It's day six, and the celebration is almost to an end, but don't worry--I have an awesome and creepy excerpt from debut ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE to show you all today, as well as a giveaway for an ARC of ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE and swag! Guys, this swag has like postcards and notebooks and stickers and even those mint sheets you put on your tongue to make your breath better! Okay, I'm getting a bit off topic, so lo and behold, a fabulous excerpt from ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE:

Blogoversary Day 5: T. Michael Martin

Five days down, two days to go. Hey, everybody! Today I have another interview for you guys, this time with the funny and all-around awesome T. Michael Martin, author of the original and intense THE END GAMES! Stick around for this one, you might just learn some valuable tips for surviving the zombie apocalypse. Because it's going to happen people. 

Really.

Remember Florida? The naked man eating people on the highway?

Yeah.