Book Review- Slayed

I've had a stupid computer virus for 3 days (blah..finally got rid of it, but my computer is still slow and freezes for a couple of seconds).  But I finished reading Slayed by Amanda Marrone on Thursday for a Star Book Tours review.

From Goodreads:

The Van Helsing family has been hunting vampires for over one hundred years, but sixteen-year-old Daphne wishes her parents would take up an occupation that doesn’t involve decapitating vamps for cash. All Daphne wants is to settle down in one place, attend an actual school, and finally find a BFF to go to the mall with. Instead, Daphne has resigned herself to a life of fast food, cheap motels and buying garlic in bulk.

But when the Van Helsings are called to a coastal town in Maine, Daphne’s world is turned upside down. Not only do the Van Helsings find themselves hunting a terrifying new kind of vampire (one without fangs but with a taste for kindergarten cuisine), Daphne meets her first potential BF! The hitch? Her new crush is none other than Tyler Harker, AKA, the son of the rival slayer family.

What's a teen vampire slayer to do?

This was a cute and fun vampire slayer story.  I liked Daphne and how she was a kick-butt girl but still wanted a normal high school life.  And Kiki, Daphnes new friend and trainee (after things go wrong and Kiki witnesses a vampire slaying, she wants in on the action) is great fun too!  I loved her personality!  She was bubbly but had vulnerability too. 

The plot was pretty good, although it did get a little weird at one part involving the father of the rival slayer family.  But I'll leave you to read that and find out why.  I hope there is a sequel to this book and we to know more about Daphne and Kiki!

I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 150
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 115
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 104

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Star Book Tours.

Friday Finds- November 12, 2010

Here are my finds for the week:

Demonglass- Rachel Hawkins

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch.

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?  (From Goodreads)

Shift (Shade #2)- Jeri Smith-Ready

Aura's life is anything but easy. Her boyfriend Logan died, and his slides between ghost and shade have left her reeling. Aura knows that he needs her now more than ever. She loves Logan, but she can't deny her connection to the totally supportive, totally gorgeous Zachary. And she's not sure that she wants to.

Logan and Zachary will fight to be the one by her side, but Aura needs them both to uncover the mystery of her past—the mystery of the Shift.

As Aura's search uncovers new truths, she must decide whom to trust with her secrets...and her heart. (From Jeri Smith-Ready's website)

Friday Fill-In- November 12, 2010

Friday Fill-In

1. When pigs fly is the day that I will become a neat freak.
2. Apparently I must say seriously?! to my kindergarteners a lot because I heard one of them saying it when a bunch of books fell off the bookshelf the other day.
3. Call me after 11am on weekends, if you know what's good for you.
4. I don't think they'd notice a few extra bodies around here, if you know what I mean. (a line from the Great Movie Ride)
5. The most entertaining person in my life is too hard to decide because all of my friends and family are funny.
6. Everyone, except me, is getting engaged... who's next?
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, tomorrow my plans include going to a baby shower, then Food and Wine at Epcot, and finally watching the Gator game and Sunday, I want to relax!

Wednesday Wordle- November 10, 2010

Here is a screen shot of my Wordle for the week (Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from words that is seen on my blog)

Waiting on Wednesday- November 10, 2010

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Wither
by Lauren DeStefano
Publication Release Date: March 22, 2011

From Lauren DeStefano's website:

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

Teaser Tuesday- November 9, 2010

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

My two teasers:

" 'Leaving someone in his condition alone for any amount of time is never a good idea, and given his background, leaving him with a child--why, I might go so far as to call it gross negligence.'  Mom shakes her head rapidly."
~pg 17, Slayed by Amanda Marrone (ARC)

Book Review- The DUFF

Last night I finished reading The Duff by Kody Keplinger for a We Love YA! review.

From Goodreads:

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 "Duffy," she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that 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.
 
Wow.  I wasn't prepared for how in-your-face this book was.  I mean, don't get me wrong...I curse with the best of them but I guess I'm just not used to reading that in YA books or at least not with this much frequency.  And the blantat no-strings-attached sex.  Definitely not for the younger crowd.
 
That being said, after I got used to the cursing and the sex, I enjoyed this book.  It seemed to be a pretty real look into some teenagers lives.  I'm not sure if I really liked Bianca or not.  Sometimes I did, but sometimes she just seemed so standoffish.  But I did like Wesley.  Even though he was a player, he didn't deny it.  And underneath that playboy exterior, there was really a boy wanting attention underneath. 
 
There were some definite themes in the book.  That everyone feels like they're the DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) sometimes.  And everyone screws up and makes mistakes.  And towards the end, I couldn't put it down.  And I was very happy with the ending.
 
I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5.
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 149
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 114
2010 Debut Author Challenge: 39
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 103
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of We Love YA! tours.

Mailbox Monday- November 8, 2010

Mailbox Monday: Here's what came in my mailbox this week


TUESDAY

The Iron Queen- Julie Kagawa--from publisher

Unearthly- Cynthia Hand--review for an Around the World Tour

WEDNESDAY

Psych Major Syndrome- Alicia Thompson--Bookmooch

THURSDAY

The Duff- Kody Keplinger--review for a We Love YA! Tour

FRIDAY

Slayed- Amanda Marrone--review for a Star Book Tour

The Sunday Salon- November 7, 2010

The Sunday Salon

Nothing too much happened this week. We didn't get a single trick or treater (which just means that we have to eat all the candy ourselves).   We had conference night at school which is always exhausting.  And yesterday the Gators finally looked good against Vandy.  Hopefully we'll be able to beat South Carolina next week.  Today Kory and I are going with 2 other couples to a corn maze.  That should be lots of fun and hopefully they'll have yummy food too!

I finished and reviewed the following books this week:

All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

The Immortal Realm (Faerie Path #4) by Frewin Jones

The Enchanted Quest (The Faerie Path #5) by Frewin Jones

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand














I fulfilled items in the following challenges this week:
Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge: All Together Dead
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 145, 146, 147, 148
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 111, 112, 113
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 102

I am currently reading The DUFF by Kody Keplinger and up next is Slayed by Amanda Marrone.

Book Review- Unearthly

I finished reading Unearthly by Cynthia Hand earlier tonight for an Around the World Tour.

From Goodreads:

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees. . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what it is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place--and out of place, at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make--between honesty and deciet, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
 
I love a good character-driven story.  And Unearthly was definitely that.  The main character, Clara, was just great!  She was pretty but down-to-earth.  She was true to herself when it came to friends.  She wasn't rebellious, yet she wan't perfect either. And she was witty.  I loved her comeback lines against Tucker.  And speaking of Tucker--yeah, a perfect male character.  He is the ultimate guy.  Gentlemanly, funny, sarcastic, romantic, and has Clara's best interests at heart.
 
The plot of the story was interesting.  For a while, I thought I knew what Clara's purpose was when it came to Christian, but I was very wrong.  The only critique I have of this book is that I didn't like the ending.  I think maybe it's a cliffhanger and that there will be a second book.  At least I hope so.  Because I ended up having a lot more questions.  And we don't really get to find out what Clara's purpose is.  Which was kind of the whole point of the book.  I think there is a way to wrap up the book but still have a cliffhanger.  And I don't feel like this book really wrapped up anything.  But I do have to say, I really got into this book and it leaves me wanting more!
 
I gave this book a rating of 4/5.
 
Unearthly will be released on January 4, 2011.
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 148
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 113
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 102
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.