Thursday, June 30, 2016

June 2016 Wrap-Up!

A review of the monthly activities on the blog incl. book reviews, memes, 
reading challenge additions, book hauls

Hey Bookies!

This is my Wrap-Up post for June! Take a look:


Books Read:



Books Reviewed:

New Books:



. . . To name a few

For more details check out my In My Mailbox post for June


Book In Progress:



Over You by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

July TBR:

Over You by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
The Women in the Walls by Amy Lukavics


If you have any suggestions on improving my Wrap-Ups for the future posts, comment below.


Happy Reading!
Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Wishlist Wednesday #89


*Wishlist Wednesday is where you show a book that has been on your wishlist/TBR list for a while, the meme is hosted by Pen to Paper*



Poppy by Mary Hooper

Publisher
Bloomsbury USA Childrens 
Release DateAugust 30, 2016
Pages: 288

The Story:

England, 1914. Poppy is fifteen, beautiful and clever, but society has already carved out her destiny. There's no question of her attending more school; it's too expensive and unsuitable for a girl. Instead, Poppy will become a servant to the aristocratic de Vere family . . . and bury her feelings for their youngest son, Freddie. It doesn't matter that Freddie seems to have fallen just as hard for Poppy. He could never marry a girl like her.
But the set path for Poppy's life is irrevocably altered when it becomes clear that the war isn't going to be over soon. The chains of class, wealth, and her gender no longer matter--England needs every able bodied person to serve in battle in some way. Which, for Poppy, means volunteering on the front lines as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse. As she experiences what people are capable of--the best of humanity and the very worst--Poppy will find an unexpected freedom and discover how to be truly her own person.

-via Amazon




Meet the Author

Mary Hooper is a popular writer for children and young adults. Her historical novels have a huge fan base, as do her contemporary novels for teenagers. Mary lives in England.
www.maryhooper.co.uk



Want to see my entire Wishlist? Check it out on Amazon: Books I Dream About

Happy Reading!

Monday, June 27, 2016

New YA Releases: Week of June 27th


Here are some upcoming releases this week. Release dates sources: 
Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.




The Witch's Kiss by Katherine & Elizabeth Corr
Run by Kody Keplinger
Empire of Dust by Eleanor Herman
Winning by Lara Deloza
Chasing Impossible by Katie McGarry
United As One by Pittacus Lore


Happy Reading!
Saturday, June 25, 2016

Review : Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher
Balzer + Bray

Release DateApril 7, 2015
Pages: 368
Source: Own

The Story:

The romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the adventure of Graceling in a dazzling fantasy novel about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.
For fans of bestselling An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses, this gorgeously written debut infuses the classic fairy tale with glittering magic, a feisty heroine, and a romance sure to take your breath away.
Betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom, Nyx has always known that her fate was to marry him, kill him, and free her people from his tyranny. But on her seventeenth birthday when she moves into his castle high on the kingdom's mountaintop, nothing is what she expected—particularly her charming and beguiling new husband. Nyx knows she must save her homeland at all costs, yet she can't resist the pull of her sworn enemy—who's gotten in her way by stealing her heart.
via Amazon

Rating




My Review

Tag Line:


Her mission was to kill him.

Her destiny was to love him.

Opening Line:


I was raised to marry a monster.


Plot:


Cruel Beauty was not at all what I was expecting. Even for a Beauty and the Beast retelling. A twist on the classic tale I was open to. But, Hodge's version was not appealing. There was too much going on at once to really be focused on the story. Too many varying elements -- the 
Beauty and the Beast retelling, folklore, Greco-Roman landscapes and mythology.


The pacing of Cruel Beauty was slow for me. The story was already bogged down by all the different elements then the pacing did not at least give off a good speed with juicy bits of plot. In my opinion, the world-building was lacking. The imagery was not detailed enough for me to be submersed in the story. Top that with the complex, far-reaching elements, made jumping in and staying put in the story difficult. As for the overall writing, it Hodge's style was ordinary. Nothing really popped out at me.


All in all, while Cruel Beauty was not awful, it simply was not my cup of tea. I have the sequel but I am in no hurry to read it.

Character Breakdown:


Nyx - I appreciated that her character was a wilting flower. She has her demons and took stock of them. 


Ignifex - I still don't know how I feel about Ignifex's character . . . 


Here is one of my favorite quotes from 
Cruel Beauty:


I knew it was insane to be happy, to feel this desperate exultation at his words. But I felt like I had been waiting all my life to hear them. I had been waiting, all my life, for someone undeceived to love me. And now he did, and it felt like walking into the dazzling sunlight of the Heart of Earth. Except that the sunlight was false, and his love was real. -- page 236

Meet the Author:








Rosamund Hodge grew up as a homeschooler in Los Angeles, where she spent her time reading everything she could lay hands on, but especially fantasy and mythology. She got a BA in English from the University of Dallas and an MSt in Medieval English from Oxford, and she now lives in Seattle with seven toy cats and a plush Cthulhu. Visit her on the web at http://www.rosamundhodge.net/








***Check out Rosamund Hodges' website for more information about her and Cruel BeautyHERE


Happy Reading!

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Wishlist Wednesday #88


*Wishlist Wednesday is where you show a book that has been on your wishlist/TBR list for a while, the meme is hosted by Pen to Paper*



Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

Publisher
Tor Teen
Release DateSeptember 20, 2016
Pages: 304

The Story:

Vassa in the Night is an enchanting, modern retelling of the Russian folktale “Vassilissa the Beautiful” for young adults by the critically-acclaimed author, Sarah Porter. Leigh Bardugo,New York Times bestselling author of the Grisha Trilogy, calls it, "A dark, thoroughly modern fairy tale crackling with wit and magical mayhem."
In the enchanted kingdom of Brooklyn, the fashionable people put on cute shoes, go to parties in warehouses, drink on rooftops at sunset, and tell themselves they’ve arrived. A whole lot of Brooklyn is like that now―but not Vassa’s working-class neighborhood.
In Vassa’s neighborhood, where she lives with her stepmother and bickering stepsisters, one might stumble onto magic, but stumbling out again could become an issue. Babs Yagg, the owner of the local convenience store, has a policy of beheading shoplifters―and sometimes innocent shoppers as well. So when Vassa’s stepsister sends her out for light bulbs in the middle of night, she knows it could easily become a suicide mission.
But Vassa has a bit of luck hidden in her pocket, a gift from her dead mother. Erg is a tough-talking wooden doll with sticky fingers, a bottomless stomach, and a ferocious cunning. With Erg’s help, Vassa just might be able to break the witch’s curse and free her Brooklyn neighborhood. But Babs won’t be playing fair….
Inspired by the Russian folktale “Vassilissa the Beautiful” and her years of experience teaching creative writing to students in New York City public schools, acclaimed author Sarah Porter weaves a dark yet hopeful tale about a young girl’s search for home, love, and belonging.

-via Amazon



Meet the Author

I'm a writer, artist, and freelance teacher. I teach creative writing workshops in the New York public schools via Teachers and Writers Collaborative; I've worked with kids in grades K-10, but I've focused on junior high and high school for the last several years. I don't think I would have written a YA novel if it weren't for that experience! Reading my students' intense, passionate poetry and stories recalled my own emotions at that age. Lost Voices was my attempt to write the book I most needed as a twelve-year-old struggling with what it means to be human: a book I never really found.

As for why I became a writer, well, I grew up moving around a lot. I was shy and didn't have a lot of friends, and I read all the time. Books sustained me and gave me a sense of belonging when I was young. All the voices of all the writers I've loved throughout my life seemed to flow together into something like a speaking whirlwind. Literature for me has always been a force greater than the individuals who create it. And because that force meant (and means) so much to me, I wanted to be a part of it, to give it what I could and contribute to its power.

I live in Brooklyn with my wonderful husband Todd, an artist and fabricator of electronic art, and our cats Jub Jub and Delphine. I have an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from City College.

My website is sarahporterbooks.com. It includes my drawings of Luce and Nausicaa (who features largely in the upcoming books in the trilogy) as well as a summary of the trilogy's second volume, WAKING STORMS. There's also a selection of reviews and interviews, and occasional updates.



Want to see my entire Wishlist? Check it out on Amazon: Books I Dream About

Happy Reading!

Monday, June 20, 2016

New YA Releases: Week of June 20th


Here are some upcoming releases this week. Release dates sources: 
Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.


Summer in the Invisible City by Juliana Romano

Unplugged by Donna Freitas
Never Ever by Sara Saedi

Happy Reading!
Wednesday, June 15, 2016

In My Mailbox #26



*In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren which allows bloggers to share what books they bought/received each week.*


Hey Bookies! This week will be the twenty-sixth time hosting In My Mailbox and I am so excited to share with you what I received in my mailbox recently.


This month I only purchased a few books on account I will be heading to my first ever ALA Annual later this month. Take a look below:






*If you're interested in the other books that are on my radar you can check out my Amazon Wishlist: Books I Dream About!

Happy Reading!

Wishlist Wednesday #87


*Wishlist Wednesday is where you show a book that has been on your wishlist/TBR list for a while, the meme is hosted by Pen to Paper*



A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith

Publisher
Roaring Brook Press
Release DateOctober 25, 2016
Pages: 272

The Story:

A troubled girl confronts her personal demons in this time-travel thriller alternating between present day and 19th century Japan.
No one knows how to handle Reiko. She is full of hatred; all she can think about is how to best hurt herself and those people closest to her. After a failed suicide attempt at her home in Seattle, Reiko's parents send her to spend the summer with family in Japan, hoping she will learn to control her emotions. But while visiting Kuramagi, a historic village preserved to reflect the nineteenth-century Edo period, Reiko finds herself slipping backward in time into the nineteenth-century life of Miyu, a young woman even more vengeful than Reiko herself. Reiko loves escaping into Miyu's life . . . until she discovers Kuramagi's dark secret and must face down Miyu's demons as well as her own.

-via Amazon



Meet the Author

Lindsay Smith's love of Russian culture has taken her to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and a reindeer festival in the middle of Siberia. She lives in Washington, DC, where she writes on foreign affairs. SEKRET is her first novel.



Want to see my entire Wishlist? Check it out on Amazon: Books I Dream About


Happy Reading!

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Teaser Tuesday #20



Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just flip through your current read to a random page -- or not -- and share two teaser quotes from somewhere on said page.
This week my Teaser Tuesday quotes will be taken from my current read, Dark of the Moon by Rachel Hawthorne.



Teaser #1:

"I've loved him forever, but he can never be mine." 
Teaser #2:

"And then the squirrel ran up my legs searching for nuts.' I nearly spewed my coffee and my eyes went wide as I jerked my head around to stare at Daniel.

He gave me a wry grin and chuckled. 'I thought that would get your attention."
 

What teasers are you sharing this week?

Don't forget to tell me in the comments or on twitter; @TheTatteredPage. You can also use #DarkOfTheMoon  on twitter if you're reading it! 
Happy Reading!
Monday, June 13, 2016

New YA Releases: Week of June 13th


Here are some upcoming releases this week. Release dates sources: 
Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.



The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash
Losing Gabriel by Lurlene McDaniel
Look Both Ways by Alison Cherry
The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker
Escape from Asylum by Madeleine Roux
Sea Spell by Jennifer Donnelly

Happy Reading!
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