Waiting on Wednesdays (9)

Waiting On Wednesdays is a weekly meme, hosted at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights highly anticipated releases.

Title: Timeless
Author: Alexandra Monir
Publishing Date: January 11, 2011
Synopsis: 

When her mother is killed in a car accident, Michele Windsor has no choice but to move in with the wealthy grandparents she's never met in New York. Disillusioned by their coldness, Michele retreats into her room, where she discovers her great-great-aunt's journal--and, once she touches its pages, finds herself hurtled back in time.

In the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele learns that a wedding is coming up between the Windsors and another prominent family, the Walkers. But when Michele attends a party, something miraculous happens: while almost no one can see her in this era, one gorgeous young man with sparkling blue eyes can. Drawn together by mutual attraction, the two bond over music and the parents they've recently lost. But when the party is over, Michele learns the truth--the man she just fell for is Phillip Walker. And she, unknowingly, has just inspired him to call off his wedding to her great-great-aunt, prompting a family feud that will last for generations.

As Michele travels back and forth in time, she and Phillip meet over and over, always frustrated by their inability to have more than a few hours together. Michele knows she should try to make a life in the present, but none of the boys at school can hold a candle to Phillip. Finally, Michele tries to end their romance altogether--spurring a tragedy that transcends generations. Has Michele destroyed her chances for happiness? Or is her love for Phillip . . . timeless? 

My Thoughts: 

Wow. The synopsis and the cover has me begging for an early release date. The plot seems really interesting, as I haven't really read much time travel novels, but this sounds really exciting and a bit scandalous :P I love the idea of Michele causing this family feud and the true love with Phillip.  I'm just a bit cautious about the last paragraph, as both Michele and Phillip travel back and forth in time. I hope to dear lord that theirencounters in time isn't over-the-top coincidental and also not too confusing as they go back and forth. Also, I love the magical effect of the cover (if only I had the talent to do that.) I really can't wait for this book to come out!

$60 Gift Card to CSN Store Giveaway

Thanks to the promotion team at CSN store, I have been allowed to have a $60 gift card giveaway. CSN has over 200 stores and you can literally find anything, from bathroom sink to the bookshelves we readers have always needed! And, I am really sorry again to the winners of the last contest, in which I didn't mail and order the prizes soon enough (because of school). However, I promise I will email the winner the gift card much much sooner. Here are some items under $60 that you could buy with, that I would love to have as my own, but my readers and followers are much more important.

Rules/Details

• Open only to US and Canada (sorry, international followers!)
• Ends July 30, 2010
• Fill out the form

Movie Poster Monday (4-Some Girls Are)

This meme is created by Tuning Into YA Books (if you haven't figure out, that's me! :)). This meme is a combination of Matching Actors Into Characters and my mediocre Photoshopping skills. I compile images together from different movie scenes and fan art (that is not mine) to create a movie poster, ever hopeful of a future movie.

I haven't done this in a long time because this has been one of the harder meme's to do because I fail at Photoshop and don't know how to do it properly.

So I've read Some Girls Are quite a long time so my details may be fuzzy. So I don't really watch American TV shows much (Mostly, I watch Korean dramas...too many to tell you the truth) and I was pondering if I should do a Korean style, but I decided against it. For Regina, I decided to cast Ashley Greene because, even though I absolutely hate her style as Alice, I saw a picture of her and felt that she portrayed Regina really well, a little bit vulnerable and a little bit mean. I also used different actresses from The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, and 90201 to represent the Fearsome Four. 

Again, if there are different suggestions for the characters please feel free to say! Or if you're brilliant at Photoshop and would like to do a guest post, please please please feel free to email me. I know my skills are very very very rudimentary. So without, further ado here's the poster!

In My Mailbox (8)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren and inspired by Pop Culture Junkie.

 Borrowed from Library (Reading)

• Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

And a number of SAT books that I'm sure no one will want to see and not throw up. Right now, I'm loving this book, maybe because I'm a die hard fan of dystopian novels. I cannot wait to write a review and post it as soon as possible. I hope to have more books soon but because of my very slow library (ARGH...frustrated), I might have to wait more than I want.

What books did everyone else get?

Ballad Review

Title: Ballad
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Flux
Published Date: October 2009
Price: Amazon ($9.95)
Synopsis:

In this mesmerizing sequel to Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception, music prodigy James Morgan and his best friend, Deirdre, join a private conservatory for musicians. James' musical talent attracts Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. Composing beautiful music together unexpectedly leads to mutual admiration and love. Haunted by fiery visions of death, James realizes that Deirdre and Nuala are being hunted by the Fey and plunges into a soul-scorching battle with the Queen of the Fey to save their lives. 

Review:

The lyrical journey that Stiefvater composes is a composition, fingered by the characters’ own journeys and the fast sixteenth notes towards the end creating dread and foreboding.

Without knowing the past and the tragedy of Dee, Luke, and James from Lament, I started reading Ballad and actually liked the mysterious tone and atmosphere it created (Lol, truth be told, I spent about 100 pages waiting for little flashbacks, until I realized that this was the second book). So on that note, I wanted to point out that I recommend you read the first book. There were few parts I was like, “Wait. What are they talking about? What do they mean”, but I didn’t think it really subtracted a lot from the plot that it left you wandering around a dark forest. That being said, let’s get on to the gritty stuff.

Oh dear, I loved James, from page one till the end. His cocky, sarcastic tone, but also his sorrowful and tragic thoughts. I laughed at his smart aleck tone and wanted to murder Dee sometimes for being inconsiderate and mean. (How could she just hurt my James!)

I actually had mixed feelings for Nuala. In the beginning and even in the end, I had suspicions with Nuala. From the start, she wants to use James for her own selfish wants, but she later grows to love James. There were times when Nuala was acting like a jealous girl and was being cruel to Dee, so for the two girl characters, I switched back and forth between Team Nuala and Team Dee. But, there was no denying the romantic chemistry between Nuala and James, and the underlying “we can never be together” love. The idea of Dee’s text suffices for the perspective we miss. The unique idea of using the unsent texts as a window to Dee’s thoughts and mind was brilliant, because it shows how Dee is scared or too saddened to say what she’s really saying in her mind, which leads to the relation of unsaid words between James and Dee. However, one comment is that I wish that there were dates on the texts, since it might help follow the story chronologically.

I also loved the supporting characters, Sullivan and Paul. Sullivan was the teacher and mentor I would have wanted. The relation between the two was like of friends and I laughed with their banter. I wish there was more of a back story of Paula, like his past and how he became to be like James (I hope that’s not too much of a spoiler for everyone).

The plot I thought fell short of the characterization. I actually liked the beginning and set-up, but there were parts when it kept going in circles as Nuala begs James to be her servant, while he repeatedly says no. Not until the end does the actually fairy battles and fights began, which to my disappointment ended rather too quickly. SPOILER: I thought Nuala’s burning and how they found her body in the dirt was too much like Stiefvater throwing the ending in at the last minute. It was way too anticlimactic and too corny. END SPOILER.

Plot: 3.5/5

Characters: 4.5/5

Cover: 3/5

I loved the burning flames and its interference with the title. However, I felt like it was too blank to really fit the lyrical passage and the title. I understand the meaning of the leaf, as a symbol for Halloween and fall, but again I felt it was a bit out of place and didn’t really symbolize Nuala.

Overall: 3.5/5

The characters and the writing really just stood out for me. The characters are beautifully characterized and complex, as they each have their own selfish desires, tragic past, but also their witty side. What I felt lacking was the plot. I loved the beginning but I felt like it could have been cut short in favor of the ending. I really wish there is a sequel to this!

Waiting on Wednesdays (8)

Waiting On Wednesdays is a weekly meme, hosted at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights highly anticipated releases.

Title: Halo
Author:  Alexandra Adornetto
Publishing Date: August 31, 2010
Synopsis:

Nothing much happens in the sleepy town of Venus Cove. But everything changes when three angels are sent from heaven to protect the town against the gathering forces of darkness: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. They work hard to conceal their true identity and, most of all, their wings. But the mission is threatened when the youngest angel, Bethany, is sent to high school and falls in love with the handsome school captain, Xavier Woods. Will she defy the laws of Heaven by loving him? Things come to a head when the angels realize they are not the only supernatural power in Venus Cove. There′s a new kid in town and he′s charming, seductive and deadly. Worst of all, he′s after Beth. 

My Thoughts

 Does the cover even need words to describe it? I love the silhouettes and the romantic nature it poses, like the fantasy we can only dream of as the sun sets and the couple holding hands. It also creates the forbidden love image. And I am loving the synopsis. Instead of having the damsel in distress type like in Hush Hush the main chracter is an angel. Also, I wish that there was a love triangle with one of the angels sent, the "new kid in town", and Bethany (the human can just...disappear or fall in love with a cheerleader xD).

On the other note, I wanted to tell everyone, my followers and readers, THANK YOU for sticking with me as I disappeared for like two months. I will be back in full force this summer and will even post up a review today :) Thank you to all!