05 November 2012

New Releases: November 6 - 12, 2012


All links go to Goodreads!


This is the third book in the Immortal Beloved series, which I haven't read!

I also haven't started this series, but people seem to love it.


I haven't read The Daughter of Smoke and Bone, although I do have it on my shelf. I've been told that the beginning is AMAZING, but then the romance and the ending in general are poor. Have any of you guys read TDoSaB?


This is about a girl whose mother dies, leaving her alone. She goes to work at a shop and finds friends and things. It sounds cute!

I'm surprised there aren't more releases this week, but I guess next week everything will explode so this is the calm before the storm. 

03 November 2012

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day Two


Stats for Day Two:

Words Written in Day 2: 2400
Words Written in Total: 4400
Words Remaining: 45,600
Days Left: 28

I'm still finding it fairly easy to write. I've completed one chapter so far, and am part way into the second. It's my third scene in total. I decided to stop writing once I hit 2400 because a) it's a nice round number and b) I don't want to write like crazy at the beginning and then lose my way. So I've stopped writing, written some notes for Day Three so I know what needs to be done, and I'm now about to go and read Scent of Magic. 

How did your day go? Did you write more or less than you did during the first day of NaNo? And most importantly, are you enjoying yourself?

Stacking the Shelves (6)


Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Here's what I got this week:

Bought

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima (this is the BEAUTIFUL UK cover)

I've been seeing this around for years now, and I finally decided to go ahead and pick it up. It was only a few pounds on the Amazon Markplace, so I think this is quite the steal. I can't wait to get to it!


Rua by Miranda Kavi

This was free on Amazon so I downloaded it straight away. The cover... blows my mind. 

What did you get this week? Anything to celebrate the start of NaNoWriMo? Feel free to leave your links below!

02 November 2012

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day One - The Beginning


The first day of NaNoWriMo 2012 is well and truly over. I was too busy writing last night to do this post, so I'm procrastinating in the middle of the second day. Yep, I'm putting the writing off already. Oops. So, here are my stats for Day Uno:

Words Written in Day 1: 2000
Words Written in Total: 2030
Words Remaining: 47,970
Days Left: 28.5

I think I'm doing pretty well! I got off to a great start yesterday, and can I just say that I am SO glad I started planning this novel early on. Otherwise I might have been very stuck. I have a few things that need to be added into Day 1's parts (which will, of course, need MAJOR editing come December) and then I can carry on writing.

As soon as I've published this post I'm going to make a start on today's writing. I'm hoping to get around 2000 words written per day, to give myself something to lean on in case of an emergency. And it's my birthday on the 14th, so I might not be writing too much on that day.

Is anyone planning on going to any write-ins? I'm going to go to one in London at some point in the second half of the month, and I also want to get together with a couple of friends and have our own writing session.

How is your NaNo novel coming along?

01 November 2012

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin


The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Mara Dyer #2
Release Date: October 23, 2012
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Borrowed
Rating: All Time Favourite



Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.

She can’t.

She used to think her problems were all in her head.

They aren’t.

She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.

She’s wrong.

In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next? - Goodreads

If you've been following me for a while then you'll know that I am basically in love with the first book in this series, which I read back in February of this year. If you haven't, then you know now.

I was a bit nervous going into this because, while I was REALLY EXCITED, a lot of YA series have that second book syndrome. This syndrome basically means that the second book in the series or trilogy is a filler book, and only there to bridge the gap between books one and three. However, Evolution was not like that in the slightest!

I loved this one just as much as I loved the first book, and that's a whole freakin' lot. Mara and Noah were back as their awesome selves, there was creepiness, there were cute scenes and mysteries and it was all fabulous.

The main source of the creepiness in Evolution was the whole home invasion thing. Mara discovers that things are either going missing or appearing or changing around the house, and it's BLOODY SPINE-TINGLING. I don't know about you, but home invasion is one of the scariest things to me. The thought of someone entering your house - and your bedroom! - while you're sleeping just makes me want to cry. There were also parts where Mara didn't realise what she was doing, where she was sleepwalking, and the whole thing was just a whole bunch of creepy. AND I LOVED IT.

Mara was a BAMF in this book. She went through so much and still managed to hold herself together and not be driven totally insane. If I was in her position, I'd be checking myself into a hospital, not figuring out ways to get out.

Noah made me cry with his dedication to Mara. He was the only person who believed she wasn't losing her mind. Flawless love interest is flawless.

There were some flashbacks to... I'm not going to tell you when or where, you're going to have to see for yourself, but there were flashbacks that gave us the tiniest insight into what Mara's power could possibly be and why she might have it before pulling the curtain back over our eyes again.

This book was full of twists and turns and awesome moments. Jamie is back in it, and he is perfect. I'm actually REALLY interested in leaning more about him because of something that happened towards the end of the book.

Are we ever going to meet Noah's dad? I have a feeling he's behind something. I'm not sure what, but I'm suspicious of Mr Shaw. I've got my eye on him... well, I would have if he ever made an appearance.

I loved the glimpse we got of Mara's power, but I NEED to know more! Michelle Hodkin did a wonderful job of hinting at things and just giving us the tiniest look at what she can do before the end of the book.

I don't know what else to say because I don't want to give anything away in case I ruin anything for you. But really, this book was the best and I adored it. I'm so glad that Michelle Hodkin planned everything so well, because you can tell she had things planned from book one. *happy tears*