Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This weeks Top Ten is Top Ten books to get in the Halloween Spirit!

 
1. Bliss by Lauren Myracle

This book scared the crap out of me. I picked it up because I really enjoyed Myracle's Internet Girls series and the two could not be anymore different! This is a great horror mystery with a retro storyline that will leave you terrified.

2. The First Horror (99 Fear Street, The House of Evil)

When I was in middle school I went through an R.L. Stine faze, which resulted in me reading every single book from his Fear Street series. While they all terrified me The First Horror was definitely the most scarring. These books are great quick but scary stories that STILL haunt me to this day!

3. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Pretty Little Liars is a GREAT show, but it's an EVEN BETTER book series! The twists and turns keep you on the edge of your seat and it has enough suspense to leave you breathless. Whenever I feel like I'm being watched my mind immediately jumps to A. This is a great one for people who like scary stories with plenty of drama!

4. Dead Rules by Randy Russell

The girl dies and ends up in a Zombie High School, how creepy is that! Also I found the ending very freaky, definitely a twist I didn't see coming. This ones not too scary but it still satisifies the Halloween appetite.

5. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

I love this book, and I loved how creepy it was and some points! The southern setting and magical elements, combined with the flashbacks from the past make this a great one to pick up anytime you need a dose of Halloween.

6. Monster High by Lisi Harrison

This book is more Middle Grade than Young Adult, but it's still a fun read! It's full of monsters and crazy shenanigans, perfect for a more light-hearted Halloween night!

7. Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber

This is a great fast-paced read with a funny heroine and a sexy (possibly)  vampire love interest. Raven is a great gothic main character that keeps the readers laughing, while diving into a mystery that readers can enjoy (even if you can predict the outcome).

8. Jekel loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

I loved this book, it was a great romantic read with a fabulous element of horror. Fantaskey does a great job of keeping the reader on the edge of their seat until the very end! Definitely a spooky one!

9. Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

A great read filled with teen angst and ZOMBIES! Waters does a great job of making these zombies seem human, even if they don't have a beating heart. One of my favorite YA series.

10. You are so Undead to me by Stacy Jay

A fun read about a teenage girl who is destined to kill zombies, even though she doesn't want too. This book has a good balance of creepy and hilarious, thank's to the spunky main character and her less-than-perfect job.

Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

WORLDS KEPT THEM APART.

DESTINY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER.

Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its spaces, she's never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.

Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He's searching for someone too. He's also wild - a savage - but might be her best hope at staying alive.

If they can survive, they are each other's best hope for finding answers.

Let me start by saying that Dystopian novels are one of my favorite genres in YA literature, however I think that they are difficult to get right. They can easily beome too confusing or too similar to other Dystopian novels (one of my favorite things about Dystopian novels is how different they can be).  So I was excited, yet nervous, to read Under the Never Sky.

For the first 50 pages I was wary, I found the plot slightly confusing and I wasn't sure how I felt about the characters, but as I read on I began to fall in love with everything. I really liked the fact the story was told in dual perspectives by Aria and Perry, it allowed the reader to see the world through the eyes of someone who has lived in the Outside their whole life (Perry) and someone who has just been introduced to it (Aria). If this book had been told solely from Aria's perspective I think it would have been much less enjoyable and much more confusing.

As for the characters, they really grew on me. In the first half of the book I really didn't like Aria, I thought she was very selfish and immature and I thought her reactions to Perry were just rude. Fortunately though she matured as the book went on and I began to really enjoy reading about her character. I found Perry fascinating, I loved reading his sections of the book, especially his reactions to the things Aria said to him and the inner-conflict you saw him deal with throughout. I also enjoyed how well developed the more minor characters were (especially Roar, he was my favorite), Rossi did a great job of keeping them from falling flat.

Overall I thought that Under the Never Sky was a great dystopian novel with an original premise, and enjoyably dynamic characters. I'll be waiting impatiently to read the sequel, Through the Ever Night!

Back and better than ever! (hopefully)

Hello blog readers! As you've probably noticed I have not been updating this blog for over year, it was a very busy year for me and while I was still reading, I was no longer reviewing. However I have decided to once again join the world of book bloggers and I couldn't be more excited! Thank you for allowing me to share my love of books with you!

Your fellow reader,
Morgan

Top Ten Tuesday (2)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly MeMe hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, weeks top ten is Top Ten books I had strong emotions over.

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Dumbledore dies, enough said.



2. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Oh my gosh, I literally almost started sobbing during multiple points in this book. It's the most moving novel I've ever read.

3. Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
Spirit Bound is part of the Vampire Academy series, all of which gave me strong emotions, but Spirit Bound was the one where I cried the hardest, my god I love these books.

4. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
This book inspired many different feelings in me, sadness, rage, overall unsettledness, in fact I don't think there was an emotion I DIDN'T feel when reading this.

5. Bliss by Lauren Myracle
This book TERRIFIED ME! It is literally one of the scariest books I have ever read.

6. Sold by Patricia McCormick
Usually I don't like verse novels, but this one is truly eye-opening

7. Hate List by Jennifer Brown
This book is about the after-math of a school shooting, it's touching, disturbing, and heart-wrenching.

8. Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
The most disturbing YA story I have ever read, but not in a bad way.

So this week my Top ten is actually a Top eight. What's your top ten, do we have any of the same?

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island.

Until now.

Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet. 

So I picked this book up because I'm a fan of Kelley's Darkest Power series, if you've read those you know that they are kind of a supernatural thriller with some romance thrown in, and they're a tad bit dark, by dark I mean scary and not very happy go lucky, less laughs more thrills. So that is what I was kind of expecting from this book.

I really enjoyed Maya as the main character, I loved her interactions with her parents and the confidence she had in herself. I also liked the way she approached Rafe (the sexy bad boy) she wasn't taking his bull, even if she did find him a little bit really sexy. That said I did like Rafe, he seemed nice and I did believe that he cared for Maya, however I would have to say that if Armstrong decided to create a love triangle between Maya, Rafe and Daniel (Maya's best friend) I would have to side with Daniel.  Daniel was nice and loyal, and I loved him!


The plot line of this book seemed predictable at first, but the end had me going "ummm what just happened?" I loved loved loved the shape-shifter thing, it's a paranormal aspect that I've always found intriguing but I feel like is never brought up outside of werewolves. I also liked how this book had serious parts but still had parts that made me laugh, quite hard in fact. As I said before Armstrong's Darkest Powers series was lacking in the laughs so the fact that this book had a lighter aspect was a surprise.


This book left me longing for the next book, and intrigued by the beautiful cover! The earring! The dark hair! The red lips! Give me more Maya, Daniel, and Rafe please!

Love, Inc. by Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

Zahra, Kali, and Syd would never have met if their parents' marriages hadn't fallen apart. But when the three girls collide in group counseling, they discover they have something else in common: they've each been triple-timed by the same nefarious charmer, Eric, aka Rico, aka Rick. Talk about eye-opening therapy.
Cheerful, diplomatic Zahra is devastated. Rico had been her rock and sole confidant. How could she have missed the signs? Folksy, flirtatious Kali feels almost as bad. She and Rick had only been on a few dates, but they'd felt so promising. Hardened vintage-vixen Syd is beyond tears. She and Eric had real history... Or so she'd thought. Now all three girls have one mission: to show that cheater the folly of his ways.
Project Payback is such a success, the girls soon have clients lining up for their consulting services. Is your boyfriend acting shady? Dying to know if your crush is into you? Need match-making expertise? Look no further than Love, Inc.



So I saw this book a few months ago on another blog and thought it sounded great and of course promptly forgot about it, then a few weeks ago I saw it on my to-read list and picked it up from the library, and I'm so happy I did!


Within the first few pages of this book I could tell that I was going to like it mainly because I instantly liked Zahra. Zahra is someone that I could see myself being friends with, she's sweet and funny, and a little bit snarky when it comes to her family. In fact her interactions with her family were some of my favorite parts of the book since it was so unexpected, you think you're going to read a silly break-up story but BAM you get a little struggling-with-my-heritage thrown in. Anyways, back to the characters...... I didn't really like Kali and Syd at first but they grew on me, kind of like they grew on Zahra. I loved them for their unique personalities,and their problems, I actually teared up a few times when we got to see Syd's interactions with her family, and her reaction to the break-up with "Rico".


The storyline of this book was just fantastic, at first I was surprised at the length, since it seemed relatively long for a YA contemporary novel, but I actually thought it was the perfect length! In fact I wanted more! I guess you could say I kind of predicted the end, but I was still pleasantly surprised at the way it turned out, and I definitely laughed out loud at a few of the situations Zahra got herself into.


So if you enjoy love stories, revenge stories, stories about friendship, or stories about a girl struggling with her broken family, then this is definitely a book to consider picking up!

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly MeMe hosted by The Story Siren where bloggers share what they got to read this week.

From the Library:

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

I actually had this book a couple of months ago but I never got around to reading it. I remember liking the first one and I've been hearing amazing things about this series for awhile so i decided to check it out again.

The Forbidden Sea by Sheila A. Nielson

 I've wanted to read this one for awhile, and I love the cover!

Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchey

I read the first book in this series a few weeks ago and I enjoyed it, so I'm excited to dive into the sequel!

Queen of the Dead by Stacey Kade

I loved the first book! So I'm super excited to read this one!!

The Liar Society by Lisa & Laura Roecker

I'm really really excited to read this one, the story sounds so fun! And basically if the story takes place in a boarding school, you know it's gonna be awesome.

What did you get in your mailbox this week?