Book Review: Personal Demons

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Today I shall be reviewing Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers. It is her debut novel. This book is the first in a series.

Description of the book:

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She has spent years keeping everyone at a distance—-even her closest friends—-and it seems as if her senior year is going to be more of the same . . . until Luc Cain enrolls in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can’t seem to stay away from him. 

What she doesn’t know is that Luc is on a mission. He’s been sent from Hell itself to claim Frannie’s soul. It should be easy—-all he has to do is get her to sin, and Luc is as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance. But he has to work fast, because if the infernals are after her, the celestials can’t be far behind. And sure enough, it’s not long before the angel Gabriel shows up, willing to do anything to keep Luc from getting what he came for. It isn’t long before they find themselves fighting for more than just Frannie’s soul.

But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay . . . for all of them.

My review:

You get to read from Frannie and Luc's perspectives. Each character gives us a chance to get into their head. Frannie comes from a religious family. Luc comes from hell. Luc is trying to tag Frannie to hell but he is taking longer than he should be. They both start to fall for each other slowly. It wasn’t like "OMG you're so hot." And he was like "I know, right?" It was deeper than that. But of course there is nothing better than a love triangle. Out of nowhere we meet Gabriel whose smile makes Frannie melt. She is falling for both of them and I can't blame her.

The beautiful writing made it so addicting. I was flipping the pages as if my life depended on it. Sometimes when a love triangle is formed, you feel like slapping the female character to tell her about the right choice. But Personal Demons made me confuse. I didn’t know which one to choose.

On the cover it says, " If you had to choose between Heaven and Hell, which would it be? ...Are you sure about that?" if this sentence doesn’t make eager to read this book than I don’t know what will. This phrase is so catchy. However, I did not like the cover. First of all, it gives you a clear picture of how the 3 main characters look like. Usually readers like to picture the characters all by themselves. So showing us how a character is supposed to look like killed a huge part for the reader's imagination. Also, the female model on the cover didn’t look like a high school student. Does she?

Finally this book was an amazing start for Lisa Desrochers. She created a wonderful book 1 and I cant wait for the rest of the series.

Check out the trailer here:

Tata for now

Book Review: Everlasting

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Today I shall be reviewing Everlasting by Angie Frazier. It is her debut novel. In this book, you got to experience romance, historical fiction, fantasy, etc.

The description of the book:

Sailing aboard her father’s trade ship is all seventeen-year-old Camille Rowen has ever wanted. But as a girl of society in 1855 San Francisco, her future is set: marry a man she doesn’t love, or condemn herself and her father to poverty.

On her final voyage before the wedding, the stormy arms of the Tasman Sea claim her father, and a terrible family secret is revealed. A secret intertwined with a fabled map, the mother Camille has long believed dead, and an ancient stone that wields a dangerous—and alluring—magic.

The only person Camille can depend on is Oscar, a handsome young sailor whom she is undeniably drawn to. Torn between trusting her instincts and keeping her promises to her father, Camille embarks on a perilous quest into the Australian wilderness to find the enchanted stone. As she and Oscar elude murderous bushrangers and unravel Camille’s father’s lies, they come closer to making the ultimate decision of who—and what—matters most. 

My Review:

I read this book because of its beautiful cover. It reminded me of 'The Notebook' in the boat scene. It is in blue and purple; two colours that you often don’t find together. I like it when whoever create a cover takes a full risk.

If I had known that this book had some fantasy, I wouldn’t have read it. I don’t like fantasy that much but I read the book not knowing. However, the romance and the fact that it took place decades ago made it more interesting and made me forget about the fantasy part. Personally, I don’t think the fantasy section was that huge. It only got bigger towards the end. The fantasy in this book was really good and it made me believe it. But here is my problem I normally fail at visualizing those fantasies. I am not good with picturing them. However, if we start talking about the romance part, boy-oh-boy, it was the type I like. Not the obvious one. Not the one from first sight. The one where you question whether it exist or not. That kind of love.

Camille, the main character, is so loveable and you feel sorry for her a lot. She is supposed to be marrying to someone that she doesn’t like. At all. But her marriage could only save her father. But what about Oscar? The one who sends electricity throughout her body the minute he touches her. What should she do?

I was kind of surprised when goodreads said that there was a book #2. I mean it ends perfectly and it could be stand-alone book. But I guess not. I still am interested in what would happen next. But I hope there wont be much fantasy.

 Check out the trailer below:

Love the trailer

Tata for now 

Book Review: Infinite Days

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Today I shall be reviewing a book titled Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel. It is a debut novel and the first book in the Vampire Queen series.

The description of the book:

Lenah Beaudonte is, in many ways, your average teen: the new girl at Wickham Boarding School, she struggles to fit in enough to survive and stand out enough to catch the eye of the golden-boy lacrosse captain. But Lenah also just happens to be a recovering five-hundred-year-old vampire queen. After centuries of terrorizing Europe, Lenah is able to realize the dream all vampires have -- to be human again. After performing a dangerous ritual to restore her humanity, Lenah entered a century-long hibernation, leaving behind the wicked coven she ruled over and the eternal love who has helped grant her deep-seated wish.

Until, that is, Lenah draws her first natural breath in centuries at Wickham and rediscovers a human life that bears little resemblance to the one she had known. As if suddenly becoming a teenager weren’t stressful enough, each passing hour brings Lenah closer to the moment when her abandoned coven will open the crypt where she should be sleeping and find her gone. As her borrowed days slip by, Lenah resolves to live her newfound life as fully as she can. But, to do so, she must answer ominous questions: Can an ex-vampire survive in an alien time and place? What can Lenah do to protect her new friends from the bloodthirsty menace about to descend upon them? And how is she ever going to pass her biology midterm?

My review:

At first I thought it would be another vampire book that is a copy of Twilight or a Twilight wanna-be but due to the great reviews I decided to buy this book and give it a try. Just let me tell you that this book was so much fun to read.

It is about a girl who had lived more than 500 years on earth. Then she decided that she wants to become a human once again. So her vampire soul mate sacrificed himself to commend her wish. She turns into a human and live her life. Then she turns into a vampire. So basically this book is written in 3 stages: 1) her vampire life 2) her human life 3) becoming a vampire after her short human life. We get to see the differences and the development in each stage.

Many humans wish they could be vampires for their high speed, non-sleeping days, etc. so why would a vampire want to be a human once again? This is what the book helped  me realize. It made me realize that our human life is way better than a vampire life. Living forever isn’t that exciting. It's boring. And this book could not agree with me more. Of course Lenah, the main character, had an exciting life as a vampire but she was still bored to the point where she wants to be a human again. I mean a human who gets sick, tired and hungry all the time. It sucks but she wants it.

This book told me that we don’t need centuries upon centuries to live and enjoy life but we just have to make from our short life the best years ever.Also this book had lots of flashback that helped in the understanding of Lenah's life as a vampire. And no, this book is not like twilight. In fact we get to see the ugly face of real vampires.

The cover was beautiful. I always like to stare at her eyes. Her eyes are so rich and experienced for someone who lived over 500 years.

The ending made me go "what the hell had just happened?" yes, the book ends at a cliffhanger to leave us hungry for the next book in the series.

The trailer is here:

Tata for now

Book Review: Anna and the French Kiss

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Today I shall be reviewing a book titled Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.  I cannot believe its her debut book. Why? Sorry I won't tell you till you read the description so go ahead and do so.

The description of the book:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

My review:

This is the part where I tell you why I could not believe that Stephanie Perkins is a debut author. So congrats for reaching that far.

The book was amazing. I loved it. I know you probably might had read the same exact thing on other blogs but its so true. As you might had noticed that this book takes place in Paris, France. Stephanie is so good in creating live images from France to wherever you are. So basically, thanks to Stephanie, I now know so many things in Paris and what to look for when I am there (I am so planning to go there after I had read this book).You got to know about the history of the country, museums and food. If you know me personally, you would know that I am not big when it comes to food. In fact, I hate eating but reading this book made me want to do anything to go to France and eat from their dishes. They have some amazing bakeries. Also, if you are one of those who like films, Paris is the place to live. Why? Well, you have to read the book to know the answer to that.

Lets talk about the characters, shall we.

So to start off, I introduce to you ANNA. She is so awesome and real to me. If I ever had a best friend, I would wish she would be like ANNA. She is so nice. She is there when you need her. And if her friend is in love with the same boy that she is, she is willing to give him up.

Also, we have St. Claire, who is the cutest boy in the school. I wont talk a lot about him. Whatever I will say about him wont do him any justice. But here is something that will make you love him before you even read this book. He was born in America, he was raised in England and currently lives in France. Ahh, he is the definition of perfection. I bet you will love him when you know him more.

Then there are the other characters who are somewhat minor but are all important to the development of the book. I really liked all ANNA's friends. There are Americans who happen to be studying in France. Add it to the awesomeness of this book.

Basically, this book was written beautifully. John green said about Stephanie Perkins, " its like me and Maureen Johnson had a baby."

Well, I will have to say that Stephanie Perkins book was like a mix between Meg Cabot and Sarah Dessen's writing. Yes I don’t normally compare these two authors with anyone but she deserves it.

I really don’t know what other way I could convince you of reading this book. I give up.

But here are some positive reviews for the book (I didn’t find any negative reviews).

Click here or here or here.

P.S this book won best promoted book in 2010. Click here for more info. 

Book Review: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

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Today I shall be reviewing a book titled Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. And we all know whatever is published by Simon and Schuster is usually 99% an awesome book. It is a novel for a debut author.

The description of the book:

Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew—just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn’t seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she’s coming to terms with her father’s death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road—diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards—this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.

My review:

Just let me tell you that I know America now more than Canada itself. I had taken a road-trip across America by reading this book. This book takes you on an exciting journey from California to Connecticut, allowing you to experience how is it like to be there in real life. The author wanted us to feel like we are with the characters on the road trip and she delivered that brilliantly by showing us pictures of places they visit, recites, notes and drawings.

The characters were created in a deeply manner. Amy, who thinks that she had killed her father doesn’t open up to anyone until she meets Roger. Roger was the one responsible for driving most of the trip. He seemed really sweet, caring and nice. He was all Amy wanted to get rid of her problems. But he had a girlfriend. For Amy, I liked her relationship with her dad. They seemed so close and I felt sorry for her all the time. She always compared herself to the old Amy and I liked the before/after Amy at the same time.

The book had a flashback that helped us to understand what had taken place prior the road-trip.  Morgan keeps us wondering about lots of stuff till the end. The ending was so realistic and I loved it

I was almost crying from the inside when I realized that I was about to finish this book. It seemed so big but it took me less than 2 days to read it. It took place in the summer/spring so I felt warm even though it was Christmas when I was reading it.

Right now I am more interested to visit America than ever. It seems like each state has its own tradition, food, etc.

The cover of this book was epic. I liked the holding of the hands and the models looked tanned and Roger's shirt isn’t ironed. Just perfect for the storyline.

Last but not least: I 100% recommend this book because it is totally awesome and I am glad that I had read it.

P.S. it will be one of those books that you will be hugging all the time. Just saying.    

Completed the 2010 Debut Author Challenge

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Today I will be discussing the 2010 Debut author Challenge hosted by The Story Siren.

This challenge was amazing. It made me discover so many new,talented and mind blowing authors. My favourite books this year were all written by debut authors, could you believe it?

Before this challenge, I would never had thought of reading a novel by a debut author because I always think that it is their first time and that it wont be that good.  Before this challenge I used to read books primarily by Meg Cabot. She was the only author I trusted.

This challenge basically challenged me as a reader and a blogger to read for new authors.

Let me tell you the results of this challenge:

1-     I completed it by reading 13 novels

2-     I will be doing it again next year

3-     Now I am anticipating books such as Desires of the Dead and Vanished

As you might had noticed, I love this challenge to the point where whenever I read books for it, I add it to the side bar of the blog for more exposure. I will be doing it again for the 2011 challenge.

Here is the complete list of the books I had read for the 2010 debut author challenge:

·         Amy and Roger's Epic Detour 
·         Anna and the French kiss

·         Boys, Wolves and others things that might kill me

·         Faithful

·         Firelight

·         FreeFall

·         Low Red Moon

·         Nightshade

·         Somewhere in Blue

·         The body finder

·         The Duff

·         The Mark

·         The Secret Year

·         The Sky is Everywhere

Here is the list of books I will be reading for the 2011 debut author challenge. I totally look forward!

·         Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

·         Across the universe by Beth Revis

·         Wither by Lauren Destefano

·         Vesper by Jeff Sampson

·         Between the shades of grey by Ruta Sepetys

·         Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

·         Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. By Medeia Sharif

Tata for now

Book Review: FreeFall

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Today I shall be reviewing a book titled FreeFall by Mindi Scott. It her debut novel.

Here is the description of the book:

How do you come back from the point of no return?

Seth McCoy was the last person to see his best friend, Isaac, alive, and the first to find him dead. It was just another night, just another party, just another time when Isaac drank too much and passed out on the lawn. Only this time, Isaac didn't wake up.

Convinced that his own actions led to his friend's death, Seth is torn between turning his life around . . . or losing himself completely.

Then he meets Rosetta: so beautiful and so different from everything and everyone he's ever known. But Rosetta has secrets of her own, and Seth soon realizes he isn't the only one who needs saving . . .

My review:

A book from a guy's perspective, what do you expect? Greatness. I really like books that are narrated by guys. It just makes me get into their head and know exactly how they think. To me it always seems like a whole new experience since most of the books I read are from girl's perspective and its hard to find one that always would stand out. But here we are introduced to Seth McCoy who is the bass player in his brother's band.

The book deals with teenagers dealing with their fears and fighting them. The book shows us real problems that many teenagers face and having hard time to get out of it. For example, Seth had fear of getting on stage after the death of his best friend. Another example would be Rosetta who has to face the fear of driving after the death of her parents. Both, in a very romantic way, help to overcome their fears which remind us the main propose of the existence of the word 'soul mates'.   

Also, this book made me realize and know for sure that bad things happen for good reasons. Just when Seth was on the edge of breaking down, he gets rescued by the following:

·         His soul mate

·         IC Class

·         Himself

All these things helped Seth to find the right path.

Even though the ending was predictable, I really did enjoy reading it till the end.

Here is the trailer ( you will like it more than the review)

Tata for now

P.S. by that review I had completed my 2010 debut author challenge hosted by the story siren. Awesome J

Book Review: NightShade

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Today I shall be reviewing a book titled Nightshade by Andrea Cremer. It is her debut book!!!

Here is the description of the book:

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?-goodreads.com

This book was reviewed in many of the blogs I follow. Mostly positive reviews. So I thought I should read it too. Also it looked good on the shelves so why not? So I did listen to my thoughts and was the first to get the book from the library.

The book is mainly about werewolves. Last time I read a book about werewolves I hate it so much so this book had a lot of job to do to change my perspective. Oh and to make the job a little bit harder I AM TEAM EDWARD!! (btw this is not the book I was referring too. I love twilight.)

This book was huge in a good in a way that the author took her time to build a solid foundation for the plot and the characters. Nothing seemed fake or made up. I liked the werewolves' society and how it was strong and just beautiful.

If I am going to talk about the characters, the characters were amazing. I felt like every character has its own style and voice within the text.  Calla, the female alpha, was beautiful and I wanted to be her so bad. Too bad she doesn’t want to be her herself. Ren, the male alpha, was awesome and loved him.

Now let's talk about Shay. I didn’t like him. I felt he was a baby trying to solve each mystery by putting his love in trouble. I felt like he didn’t care about Calla. He just wanted to know the behind scenes of the werewolves society.

The supportive characters were remarkable and I loved each one of them.

One thing I didn’t like is that there was so much to remember when it comes to the history of the werewolves. I just could not remember each and everything single part of that history that was introduced to us throughout the book.

I know this book will be like twilight where people will be picking teams. So I am doing it now.  

I am TEAM REN !!!!

Of course, if you haven’t guessed it yet, this book has a huge love triangle. Love it.

Talking about guessing, this book will leave you guessing till the very end.

I cant wait for book #2 which  comes out July 12^th 2011

Here is the trailer:

P.S. Please vote here for the best book of 2010.  

Book Review: The DUFF

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Today I shall be reviewing a book titled The Duff by Kody Keplinger. It is her debut book and she is only 19.

Here is the description of the book:

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

My Review:

There was heat coming out of this book.

The characters were so real to the point where I felt that I could relate to them so easily. I loved the main character, Bianca because she was so like me. We have so much in common. The way I distract myself is by sleeping. Instead she has her own methods of distracting herself. I bet all teenagers or those who once were teenagers will relate to her. She is stubborn, independent and a duff.

So DUFF means Designated Ugly Fat Friend. There is a point in every girl's life where they thought that they were a DUFF. I did once. But I was never fat so I always thought I was a DUF.

I loved Bianca's friends. I wanted to be their friend. So unfair. They are very supportive and protective of their friend, even though they are different from each other.

Now!!! Lets talk about someone very special WESLEY RUSH. The school hottie. Duff's Patch from Crescendo. Wesley is awesome and he is HUMAN!! Usually guys in most novels I read are either vampires, werewolves or fallen angels. But he was human that means he might exist. Ok so basically Wesley appearance in the novel brought shivers and electricity throughout my body.

I liked the opposite attraction between Bianca and Wesley. It was so good. Well-made.

Also the book discusses so many other issues

The writing was so good. I was trying to find mistakes, any problems but there were none.

The cover had a combination of two of my favourite colours. Pink and Yellow. Love it!!!

Ok I could go on and on about this book but I think that would be pointless since you already got the point.

YOU ARE ASKING ME WHAT IS MY POINT AFTER ALL THIS WRITING?

My point is to go buy it.

NOW!!!!