09 October 2011

In My Mailbox - (34)

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Hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren

For Review: 
Cardsharp by Paul Westmoreland
Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
The Always War by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Pledge by Kimberly Derting
Legacy by Molly Cochran
Death Watch by Ari Berk
Trance by Kelly Meding


Pre-Orders: 
Silence  by Becca Fitzpatrick - Amazing! Definitely by favourite in the series so far.
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - Can't wait to read this one! 
My Soul to Steal  by Rachel Vincent - Another fantastic novel from Ms Vincent!

Won: 
Hades by Alexandra Adornetto - Thank you Becky! *hugs*

Borrowed: 
Ocean of Blood by Darren Shan - Squee! 

06 October 2011

Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick
Hush, Hush #3
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Rating: Essential

The noise between Patch and Nora is gone. They've overcome the secrets riddled in Patch's dark past...bridged two irreconcilable worlds...faced heart-wrenching tests of betrayal, loyalty and trust...and all for a love that will transcend the boundary between heaven and earth. Armed with nothing but their absolute faith in one another, Patch and Nora enter a desperate fight to stop a villain who holds the power to shatter everything they've worked for—and their love—forever. -Goodreads
In this book, we find out that Nora was kidnapped after the cliffhanger at the end of Crescendo, and kept for three whole months before being returned to her mum. Unfortunately for Nora, she has lost her memories of the past few months. She can’t remember ever meeting Patch, and she can’t remember anything about angels or Nephilim. This led to an excited plot in which Nora tries to search for answers, as well as trying to solve a couple of other things along the way.

The plot moves incredibly fast, and I just couldn’t put it down due to the non-stop action. The multiple fight scenes were well described and I felt like I was right there with the characters. The mythology included in this novel was also great, as is always the case with this series. I love the angels – fallen, archangels and otherwise – and I love the Nephilim.

As for Nora, I think she was much better developed in this novel than she was in Crescendo. She did come off as a little whiny and childish in the second novel in the series, but I think in Silence she has really matured and comes off as a much more well rounded character. She does make a couple of idiotic decisions here and there, but without those some ... things wouldn’t have happened. Overall, she was much more tolerable in Silence.

How could anyone not love Patch after reading this book? Ah! He is so great. We got to see him and his ‘abilities’ in action, and the way he protected Nora no matter what was awesome. He got them out of some pretty dangerous situations with some pretty dangerous people, and he didn't even bat an eyelid to protect her. I fell in love with him all over again in this novel.

As always, I loved Becca Fitzpatrick’s writing. The way she writes is simply superb and this series is just... *hugs it tightly* If you love paranormal romances you should definitely pick up this series. It’s one of my favourites of all time, and Silence is Becca's best book yet.  

05 October 2011

Blogoversary Giveaway #2: Alyson Noel Prize Pack

Welcome to my second giveaway for my blogoversary. I'll be hosting these throughout October, so be sure to check back for more awesome books. I have one that I'm sure you're going to love!

This giveaway is for two books by Alyson Noel, who I've been told is an awesome author. One person will win both Everlasting by Alyson Noel and Shimmer by Alyson Noel.





Fill in THIS FORM to enter!

Rules:
International! Yay! Go me!
- Entrees must be 13 years of age or over
- You must be a follower of Books of Amber
- Giveaway ends on October 31st, 2011

03 October 2011

If I Die by Rachel Vincent

If I Die by Rachel Vincent
Soul Screamers #5
Release Date: September 27, 2011 (US)
Publisher: Harlequin
Rating: All Time Favourite 


The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies.

But the next scream might be for Kaylee. 


Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either. 

But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life.

Anything. - Goodreads
I really shouldn't write reviews for this series, because I end up squealing over it and never get across the points that I wanted to make. Nonetheless, I just had to jot down my thoughts on Rachel Vincent’s new book, as it’s my favourite series and I must share the love. Please don’t take this review too seriously, like I said, I’m just jotting! There will be no spoilers in this review. I may actually record a video review containing spoilers, because I need to discuss this book!

As always, the newest book in the Soul Screamers series totally tops its predecessor in so many ways. The plot is amazing, the characters are swoon worthy slash lovable slash people I want to kill, and the writing was – of course – incredible.

If you’ve read the synopsis then you know that Kaylee finds out she’s going to die. This book would not be complete without even more complications that come in the form of Kaylee and Emma’s teach, Mr Beck, who isn’t really human. There are also weird things happening with young girls in and around the town. Sound complicated, right? That’s because it is. There are so many things going on in this book, and yet it never seems to get ‘crowded’, for want of a better word. The plot is perfect, along with the pacing.

Kaylee is awesome, as always. I love her so, so much, and I loved reading about her coming to terms with her death – kind of – whilst also trying to figure out a number of mysteries at the same time. Kaylee is definitely one of my favourite characters in YA, she’s just fantastic! She’s also pretty badass in this book with all the fighting and punching she does!

I don’t think I even need to go into what I think about Tod. You should all know he’s amazing, and that I am in love with him. He was so, so sweet in this book! He does so much for Kaylee in this book, while his brother just stands around being useless. I love him *happy tears* He is the most adorable thing on the planet, he really is. *swoons*

As for Nash... I hate him. Nothing has changed since my last review so I don’t need to go into detail, but as far as I’m concerned Sabine can have him. Oh! I really liked Sabine in this book! She’s not as bad as I once thought.

The ending was definitely the best part of the book. It starts to really pick up with around 100 pages to go, and just keeps building. I will warn you, you are going to cry. I had to go to school with puffy eyes because I had been crying so much the night before after finishing this book. No, I won’t tell you why I was crying – you’ll have to go and buy the book, because it just won’t be the same coming from me!

I was so nervous about reading this book after reading some of the non-spoilery reviews that are on Goodreads. So. Nervous. But I shouldn’t have worried, because the whole thing was incredible and mind-blowing. It’s my favourite book in the series so far! I don’t know if Before I Wake and the final book will be able to compare. Oh, this was great.

If you haven’t picked up this series yet, I seriously don’t know what you’re waiting for. It’s my favourite series ever, and definitely compares with Vampire Academy and The Hunger Games’ qualities. Go get it!

Favourite Quotes:
“Why are you dressed like a mad scientist?”
“You just say the word, and I’ll make the rest of the world go away. I’ll take you someplace safe where no one else can reach us.”
“I’m every bit as good as you think I am.”
“I’m dead, not impotent. Nasty rumours like that must be quashed before they gain momentum. Feel free to emphasise how very functional I am.”

01 October 2011

In My Mailbox - (33)

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway for Glass Houses by Rachel Caine! More giveaways to come during October.

IMM is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren. Go and check out her blog! 

For Review:
The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter (Thank you MIRA!) - Goodreads
Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon - Goodreads
The 13th Horseman by Barry Hutchison (Thanks HC!) - Goodreads

Books Bought Last Week:
The Lost World by Michael Crichton - Goodreads
The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans - Goodreads
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier - Goodreads
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Goodreads
The Vanished Man by Jeffrey Deaver - Goodreads
HP7 by JK Rowling - Goodreads

Thanks for visiting my blog! Do let me know what you got this week, or leave your links in the comments below.