Book Review: Fairy Bad Day

Title: Fairy Bad Day

Author: Amanda Ashby

Published: June 2011

While most students at Burtonwood Academy get to kill demons and goblins, fifteen-year-old Emma gets to rid the world of little annoying fairies with glittery wings and a hipster fashion sense. She was destined to be a dragon slayer, but cute and charming Curtis stole her spot.

Then she sees a giant killer fairy - and it's invisible to everyone but her! If Emma has any chance of stopping this evil fairy, she's going to need help. Unfortunately, the only person who can help is Curtis. And now, not only has he stolen her dragon-slayer spot, but maybe her heart as well!

Why does she think it's going to be a fairy bad day?

My Thoughts:

Fairy Bad Day was, just like the title hints, a fun read! Even if it dealt with death and danger, it was a fairly fast and light read.

The main character, Emma, was a really cool girl. She had humour, and was the best of her classmates at slaying supernatural beings. So, naturally she was devestated when she wasn't assigned to the most attractive job as a dragon slayer. Not only because she had most experience in that area, but mostly because her mother was a dragon slayer - until she was killed.

Not only one, but two surprising secrets were revealed near the ending - and they really took me by surprise. Well done, ms Ashby!

Cover Thoughts:

Love it! The outfit, the sword piercing the butterfly (or is it a fairy?) and the girl's pose - just fierce!

Rating: 4 of 5

Waiting on Wednesday

Title: Angel Fire

Series: Angel #2
Author: L. A. Weatherly
Release Date: October 1, 2011


This is the thrilling second chapter in the electrifying "Angel Trilogy".

Angels will never be seen in the same way again. Gorgeous, charismatic Alex has the courage and skill of a trained Angel Killer. Unique, dazzling Willow has the beauty and power that comes with being half-angel. As the power of the malevolent Church of Angels grows, now it's up to Alex and Willow to train a new team of Angel Killers. Willow soon finds her half-angel identity met with hostility by some of the other AKs, while privately, she must wrestle with the knowledge that her father, Raziel, is a depraved, evil angel. However, while life in the AK training camp is tough, at least Alex and Willow are together. But when Alex discovers that the death of his brother and fellow Angel-Killer, Jake, was linked to a secret CIA mission to defeat the angels, he is forced to leave the camp to complete his brother's work... without Willow. Alex promised Willow he would never leave her, but with the fate of the human race at stake, destiny has ruled that Alex and Willow must be parted once more...

I really enjoyed Angel, the first book in this series (read my review here) and I hope this second one is just as good!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want To Re-Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

Today's topic:

Top Ten Books I Want To Re-Read

1. The Harry Potter series - J K Rowling
2. The Host - Stephenie Meyer
3. The Tomorrow When The War Began series - James Marsden
4. Perfect Chemistry - Simone Elkeles

5. Evermore - Alyson Noel (I wasn't a big fan the first time around, and I want to see how I like it now)

6. The Night World series - L. J. Smith

7. Hex Hall series - Rachel Hawkins

Mini Reviews: Heist Society, A Perfect Proposal, Forgive My Fins

Title: Heist Society
Author: Ally Carter
Series: Heist Society #1
Published: 2010

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind.

Then a powerful mobster is robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.

For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back.

First an all-girls school for spies, and now a family full of master thiefs? I don't know where Ally Carter gets her ideas from, but I love her imagination and concepts!

Just like the Gallagher Girl books, this book contains a possible love story - but that is not the main storyline. Heist Society is about so much more - values, friendship, family, and bravery. There is no doubt that Kat is a smart girl, she wouldn't have been able to be a successful thief otherwise, but she also has compassion, wit, courage and integrity.

Heist Society is an adventurous and thrilling read , and I will happily read the sequel (Uncommon Criminals).

Rating: 3.75 of 5

Title: A Perfect Proposal
Author: Katie Fford
Published: 2010

Sophie Apperly's family has never taken her seriously. Fiercely academic, they see her more practical skills as frivolous whilst constantly taking advantage of her. So when her best friend Milly invites her over to New York, she jumps at the chance. It'll do her ungrateful family good to do without her for a while. What s more, she's on a quest America holds the key to solving her family's financial woes, even if they don't deserve her help.

From the moment Sophie hits the bright lights of Manhattan she's determined to enjoy every minute of her big adventure. So when an evening at an art gallery throws her into the path of Matilda, a spirited old lady who invites her to Connecticut for Thanksgiving, Sophie willingly accepts, much to the dismay of Matilda's grandson Luke. Undeniably attractive but infuriatingly arrogant, he is very protective of his grandmother and seems to doubt Sophie's motives for befriending her. No match for the formidable Matilda, he eventually admits defeat, but first he has a proposal to make. He'll help Sophie in her quest to save her family from financial ruin if she repays the favour. But just what does she have to do in return...?

It's not often I read adult novels, but when I do I prefer to read books like this one! A Perfect Proposal is a chiclit novel - but it's not all glamour, beauty and gossip. No, A Perfect Proposal has heart and humour.

Sophie is a down-to-earth heroine who is kindhearted and intelligent.
Luke is a successful business man who likes living a luxury life, but he is suspicious of the people around him, thinking they're after his family's money.

When Sophie and Luke meet, they immediately dislike each other, but with a little help from Luke's grandmother Matilda, these two very different people might end up tolerating each other after all...

Rating: 4 of 5

Title: Forgive My Fins
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Series: Fins #1
Published: 2010

Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned.

Forgive My Fins is definitely a fun read! I loved Lily - she was a hilarious character. She had a short temper, spunk, spirit and humour. She was hilariously bungly, ungraceful and frank. I LOVED Lily's sea slang, she used words like "Blowfish" and "Son of a Swordfish" as foul language. Although Lily was sweet and funny, I found her a bit naive and irritating at times.She was so hung up on the thought that Brody was the love of her life, although she didn't really know him at all. Quince was a great character, and I loved when he called Lily "princess" - so hot!

Rating: 4 of 5

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Feel As Though Everyone Has Read But Me

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

Today's topic:

Top Ten Books I Feel As Though Everyone Has Read But Me

1. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

2. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

4. Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver

5. Delirium - Lauren Oliver

6. Jessica Darling series - Megan McCafferty

7. The Books of Bayern & The Princess Academy - Shannon Hale

8. The Dust of 100 Dogs - A.S. King

9. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume

10. Shift series - Rachel Vincent

In My Mailbox (week 37)

From Simon & Schuster Galley Grab:

Past Perfect - Leila Sales

All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra’s working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.

Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she’s got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it…

Fake Me a Match - Lauren Barnholdt

Avery LaDuke is in the market for a new best friend. Her former BFF, Sophie Burns, dumped her to hang out with the popular crowd at school. But the good news Avery's getting a new sister who's bound to be her new BFF too! Blake is her age and she's from New York. How cool is that? But things don't go quite as smoothly as Avery hoped. And what's with Blake becoming BFFs with Sophie? Huh?? That wasn’t supposed to happen!

When Avery gets put in charge of the eighth grade charity project, an on-line matchmaking service, she thinks she can use this project to get Blake back on her side. She decides to fix the matches so that Blake gets matched with Sam, the most popular boy in school, but when the matches come out something has gone seriously wrong! Not only is Avery matched with Sam, but the class advisor knows that someone tampered with the program. On top of that, Avery discovers that she actually kind of, sort of, likes Sam . . . and he likes her back. Torn between the guy she likes and her sister/best friend, Avery is left wondering: is there any possible way she can keep them both?

Home For the Holidays - Heather Vogel Frederick

This Christmas season, join the girls of the mother-daughter book club for a variety of holiday-themed adventures! But unfortunately, nothing goes quite as planned for any of the girls. On a Christmas cruise with their families, Megan and Becca fight over the dashing son of the ship's captain. Cassidy and her family fly back to California to visit Cassidy's sister Courtney... but when the West Coast causes homesickness for their former life in Laguna Beach, the family begins to question what state they should call home. And a disastrous sledding accident causes both Emma and Jess to completely change their holiday plans.

Between squabbles, injuries, and blizzards, everything seems to be going wrong. Will the girls be able to find their holiday spirit in time for Christmas?

Virtuosity - Jessica Martinez

Now is not the time for Carmen to fall in love. And Jeremy is hands-down the wrong guy for her to fall for. He is infuriating, arrogant, and the only person who can stand in the way of Carmen getting the one thing she wants most: to win the prestigious Guarneri competition. Carmen's whole life is violin, and until she met Jeremy, her whole focus was winning. But what if Jeremy isn't just hot...what if Jeremy is better?
Carmen knows that kissing Jeremy can't end well, but she just can't stay away. Nobody else understands her--and riles her up--like he does. Still, she can't trust him with her biggest secret: She is so desperate to win she takes anti-anxiety drugs to perform, and what started as an easy fix has become a hungry addiction. Carmen is sick of not feeling anything on stage and even more sick of always doing what she’s told, doing what's expected.

Sometimes, being on top just means you have a long way to fall....

I really hope I'll have time to read all of these before they expire! :P

Thanks S&S!

Book Review: The Iron King

Title: The Iron King

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: Iron Fey #1

Published: 2010

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

Then a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

My Thoughts:

Take a little bit of Narnia, some faerie traits from Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series and threw in a couple of characters from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mix it all together, and then season it with an Alice in Wonderland feeling. What do you get? The Iron King of course!

I was a bit reluctant of reading this book at first. True, I had heard great stuff about it, but faeries still weren't my thing. Then an opportunity that was too good to pass up on turned up, to download the book for free. I'm not one to pass up on free books, so I downloaded it right away! But the book stayed unread on my computer, I choose to read other books instead.

Then one day I finally started reading it, only to stop again about 20 pages in. The story seemed a bit too, I don't know, childish, and I once again read other books instead. Then months later I finally got back to it, read past page 20 - and immediately got sucked in in the rich and imaginative story!

Meghan was a good character, a sweet and honest girl although maybe a bit too naive at times. Puck was amusing, and seemed to be on Meghan's side, but again he is a faerie and can therefor not be trusted. Ash was from a rival faerie court, and had his own agenda and plans involving Meghan. He was cold and distant at times, but could be incredibly charming and helpful the next. No wonder this series has divided readers into Team Ash and Team Puck!

Rating: 4 of 5

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read Because of Another Blogger

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

Today's topic:

Top Ten Books I Read Because of Another Blogger

This list could have maybe a hundred books on it! The number one reason why I buy or borrow is because I have read great reviews of them on book blogs. I had to narrow down the list a bit though, so here are the ten books I'm most happy were recommended to me:

1. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

2. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

3. Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

4. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

5. The Drake Chronicles by Alyxandra Harvey

6. She's So Money by Cherry Cheva

7. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

8. The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

9. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

10. In Your Room by Jordanna Fraiberg

In My Mailbox (week 36)

Audiobook from the library:

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program--or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan--or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.

I haven't read too many reviews of this book, and didn't quite know what to expect when I borrowed it. I'm a few chapters in now and haven't made up my mind wether i like it or not yet. It's fun at times, but mostly just weird!

"Blogger" Help Wanted!

Hi y'all!

During the past weeks I have had some problems with blogger, mostly while posting comments and publishing blog posts. Since I'm not too good at this computer stuff, I figured I'd better ask you for advice! Here are my problems:

* Blogger won't allow me to publish comments on blog posts:

I am being asked to log in, which I do, then the following phrase appears: "Your current account does not have access to view this page" and then It's suggested that I publish my comment as Anonymous.

* I'm not able to publish my blog posts. The "publish" button doesn't work, so I have to click save, go back to all posts, select the post I want to publish and then click "publish selected posts" at the bottom of the page.

* When I want to edit my posts after they have been published, neither the "publish" nor the "Save draft" button is working, so there is no way I can save my changes...

* While writing blog posts, I'm not able to select parts of the text (for example select a word and change it to bold, italics etc.)

Does anything of this sound familiar? Do you know how to solve my problems?

Every little bit of help is appreciated - all these problems are starting to get on my nervs!

Top Ten Tuesday: Sequels I'm Dying To Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

Today's topic:

Top Ten Sequels I'm Dying To Read

1. Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3)

Hex Hall was really good and Demonglass was awesome. If this trend continues, Spell Bound is going to be epic!

Ever since the thrilling and chaotic cliffhanger Demonglass left off with, I've been dying to read this third book, and I still have half a year to go until March 2012, and Spell Bound's release!

2. Chain Reaction (Perfect Chemistry #3)

Perfect Chemistry is one of my favorite books of all time, and Chain Reaction isn't too far behind. Still, I haven't had the chance to read the third, and final(?) installment in the series!

3. Strange Fate (Night World #10)

The release date for this book has been pushed back several times, and last time I checked the expected publication date was February 2014 (!)

What do you think, will the people who read this series when it first was published back in the 90s still be waiting by then? I really like this series, and I hope this 10th book will get published!

4. City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4)

Read and loved the previous three books, still haven't read this one. Why?

5. If I Die (Soul Screamers #5)

This series is great, plus I'd like to have some more Tod in my life!

6. Bloodlines (Vampire Academy Spin-off)

Okay, not exactly a sequel, but the first book in the Vampire Academy spin-off series!

7. Silence (Hush Hush #3)

Nora and Patch have been through so much together, and in Silence their fate will be decided, once and for all.

8. Dreamless (Starcrossed #2)

Sequel to Starcrossed, the fabulous 2011 debut

9. Goddess Interrupted (The Goddess Test #2)

Sequel to The Goddess Test, the fabulous 2011 debut.

10. Out of Sight Out of Time (Gallagher Girls #5)

This series is one of my guilty-pleasures, and the last book (Only The Good Spy Young) was by far the best book yet! Plus, cliffhanger.

I have probably missed tons of highly anticipated sequels, feel free to remind me of them in the comments! Which books are you waiting for?

Book Review: The Body Finder

Title: The Body Finder

Author: Kimberly Derting

Series: The Body Finder #1

Published: 2010

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself.

My Thoughts:

I had read a lot of great reviews about not only this book, but the entire series. Needless to say, I wanted to read it too! So I finally got my mind out of the gutter and bought it myself! Did it live up to my high expectations? Not really. But was it a good book? Yes!

Starting off, I think Violet's "talent" was both well-developed and well-explained. She could sense dead bodies, and she didn't come to ease until they rested in peace. I liked how Violet didn't want to play the heroin. In many novels the main character is determined to find and stop the bad guy, even if it they put themselves in danger. Violet on the other hand, was glad and content to be at home, letting the police do their job.

Jay, Violet's best friend, and also the boy she is starting to fall for, was such a great guy! He was really sweet, funny and understanding of Violet's ability. He was there to comfort her, there to cheer her up and there when she needed help. I wish I, and everyone else, could have a best friend like him! :)

All in all, a good and well-written novel with the right amount of mystery, romance, friendship and danger.

Rating: 4 of 5

In My Mailbox

From my very generous cousin:

Title: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour
Author: Morgan Matson
Published: 2010

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.

Title: Prep

Author: Curtis Sittenfeld

Published: 2005

Lee Fiora is an intelligent, observant fourteen-year-old when her father drops her off in front of her dorm at the prestigious Ault School in Massachusetts. She leaves her animated, affectionate family in South Bend, Indiana, at least in part because of the boarding school’s glossy brochure, in which boys in sweaters chat in front of old brick buildings, girls in kilts hold lacrosse sticks on pristinely mown athletic fields, and everyone sings hymns in chapel.

As Lee soon learns, Ault is a cloistered world of jaded, attractive teenagers who spend summers on Nantucket and speak in their own clever shorthand. Both intimidated and fascinated by her classmates, Lee becomes a shrewd observer of–and, ultimately, a participant in–their rituals and mores. As a scholarship student, she constantly feels like an outsider and is both drawn to and repelled by other loners. By the time she’s a senior, Lee has created a hard-won place for herself at Ault. But when her behavior takes a self-destructive and highly public turn, her carefully crafted identity within the community is shattered.

Ultimately, Lee’s experiences–complicated relationships with teachers; intense friendships with other girls; an all-consuming preoccupation with a classmate who is less than a boyfriend and more than a crush; conflicts with her parents, from whom Lee feels increasingly distant, coalesce into a singular portrait of the painful and thrilling adolescence universal to us all.

What did you get in your mailboxes?

Read & Watched in August

Books:

1. Fairy Bad Day - Amanda Ashby (Review)

2. The Iron King - Julia Kagawa (Review)

4. The Eternal Ones - Kirsten Miller

5. The Body Finder - Kimberly Derting (Review)
6. The Sky Is Everywhere - Jandy Nelson

7. I Remember You - Harriet Evans

8. Amy and Roger´s Epic Detour - Morgan Matson

9. The Juliet Spell - Douglas Rees

 

 

Yay! I finally had time to do some reading! And this month's books held such great quality - I loved many of them! :)

Did you read anything good this month?

 

 

Movies:

1. My Fake Fiancé