Showing posts with label mythology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mythology. Show all posts

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Books I'm pining for - February 2014

"Books I'm pining for" is a feature for new and old books that I want to read. So I thought I would share with everyone these books and to find out what books you are pining for. Some very pretty covers in this line up.


From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren’t always forever.

Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.


I adored Stephanie Perkin's other books and I have been hanging out for this one for so long!




Stolen as a child from her large and loving family, and on the run with her mom for more than ten years, Callie has only the barest idea of what normal life might be like. She's never had a home, never gone to school, and has gotten most of her meals from laundromat vending machines. Her dreams are haunted by memories she’d like to forget completely. But when Callie’s mom is finally arrested for kidnapping her, and Callie’s real dad whisks her back to what would have been her life, in a small town in Florida, Callie must find a way to leave the past behind. She must learn to be part of a family. And she must believe that love--even with someone who seems an improbable choice--is more than just a possibility. 

Trish Doller writes incredibly real teens, and this searing story of love, betrayal, and how not to lose your mind will resonate with readers who want their stories gritty and utterly true.

I can not wait to read this one! Something like normal was a treasure and I'm hoping this one is too! 


A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE


I've loved everything I've read by E. Lockhart and I was extremely excited to find out she had written another book. This sounds pretty rad! 


An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

The Rosie Project is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges.


I have heard so many great things about this book and it sounds like it's right up my alley.


In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of X series, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series such megasuccesses: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense


I'm a huge fan of the Vampire Academy series so I'm looking forward to reading this new series by the same author. Sounds interesting too!


Emily’s dad is accused of murdering a teenage girl. Emily is sure he is innocent, but what happened that night in the woods behind their house where she used to play as a child? Determined to find out, she seeks out Damon Hillary, the enigmatic boyfriend of the murdered girl. He also knows these woods. Maybe they could help each other. But he’s got secrets of his own about games that are played in the dark.

A new psychological thriller from the award-winning and bestselling author of STOLEN and FLYAWAY.


This sounds so mysterious and I love a good thriller!



 


For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.


I read "Speak" and thought it was an interesting read so I want to see if this would be any good.



It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

--

A timeless love story, THESE BROKEN STARS sets into motion a sweeping science fiction series of companion novels. The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy


An interesting idea and I love a good love story with a twist.

What books are you pining for?





Monday, January 20, 2014

Percy Jackson wasn't all he was cracked up to be

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson & the Olympians #1)

Rating: 3 out of 5 hearts
375 pages
Released: January 2010
Buy it @ Book Depository

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.




Review

There was so much adventure to be had in this book, maybe too much. To me it felt like it was one huge quest to conquer after another for Percy and his friends. There wasn't the normal excitement an action book has, there weren't any of those thrilling cliff hanger moments at the end of each chapter.

I hate to say this about a much loved series and characters, but it just wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be. I did learn a lot about mytholgy which I guess is one good thing. I felt that Percy, being twelve, didn't seem old enough to be making the decsions he was making. I didn't think that much of any of the other characters either.

I watched the movie when it was first released and loved it! I couldn't really remember much from the movie so once I finished the book I decided I should probably watch it again. Again, i liked it and I liked it better than the book.

I will continue with the rest of the series because I've heard it gets better and I really think the books have a lot of potential. I'm also not sure if i'll keep listening to them on audiobook because the narrator wasn't all that good. Maybe this is the reason I didn't enjoy the book as much, I will find out when I read the second.

On the cover 

The above cover is the movie cover which I actually like as it's very similar to the first book cover. Both covers have Percy with the stolen lightning bolt in hand while standing in water facing towards the city. So much blue on this cover, which is probably why I like it so much because blue is my favourite colour.

What I'm listening to next: This is not a test by Courtney Summers



Monday, April 8, 2013

Beneath that pretty cover is an ok story

Everneath (Everneath #1) by Brodi Ashton

Rating: 3 out of 5 hearts
370 pages
Released: January 2012
Buy it @ book depository

"Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen."


Review

Hmm how can I start this review? I guess I'll start by saying that I didn't really like this to begin with. Once I realised that Nikki was so unlikeable because she had been sucked of all her emotions I started to get more into the story. The idea of using mythology and bringing it into the 21st Century is really cool. The author must've done quite a bit of research into making her story feel real, like there really could be cults out there that believe in Everlivings.

I know a lot of people really loved this book but for me there was something missing. I can't say why I didn't get into this book more, I think the characters weren't interesting enough and the story was a little predictable. I did like it but I didn't LOVE it because there wasn't anything to love about it. It was a good enough story that kept me entertained and wanting to know more but I'm not dying to read the next book in the series anytime soon.

Something I really loved was the way the story was written. It didn't start at the beginning, It starts with Nikki waking up in the Everneath but as a reader you have no idea how or why she got there and every second chapter we learn a bit more about Nikki's decision to go with Cole to the Everneath.

On a side note the narrator was the same as when I listened to 'Blood Red Road' which I found very weird to have two books that I listened to so close to each with the same narrator.

On the cover




The cover at the top is the most common cover which is gorgeous! Although the main character never wears a dress like that but I love the mist, it looks amazing! The cover on the left is the cover for the audiobook.....yuk! Her eyes are creepy and the main character isn't blonde, maybe that's the light filter that makes her hair blonde, whatever it is I hate this cover.










What I'm listening on Audio to next: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley





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