Review: Mind Games by Kiersten White

Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

from goodreads


I was really excited when I found out about this book. I ended up getting it through my nook ASAP, and finished it in a couple of hours. This novel has made me feel extremely fluffy and good, even though it's not so much of a fluffy sort of young adult novel. This is the kind of book that I want to buy a hardback cover for.

Kiersten White also wrote the Paranormalcy series, which I've heard about, but never really wanted to read because it was in the whole craze of paranormal romance, and I just couldn't handle anymore than I already read, previously. As I started reading the novel, I noticed that the writing was really simple, but the action in it was written wonderfully. I haven't read a really action packed novel is forever, not really, but still, I liked it. Something to take note of is that the novel is written between the two main character's points of views. Also, when you read Mind Games you jump write into the madness, and then you get pulled back to the past-which is as much action packed as the present. At first, that really got on my nerves, but I ended up liking the buffering motion it gave, while still giving you something to chew on.

Fia and Anna are two very different main characters, but they work well with each other. I, personally, favor Fia so much more than Anna. Probably because we see in side her brain first, and I'm just more used to her throughout the series. The idea of the novel to me, doesn't seem very light and girly, but Mind Games makes me feel like Kiersten White took a page out of my very close group of friends' party, and added a bunch of these crazy aspects.

I like the fact that I'm suspicious of pretty much everyone. You're always kept on your toes, and when I read it I felt like I was floating through this world, and just kept wanting to read more, constantly. I will definitely look into more of Kiersten White's novel. BTW this novel just came out last week, and I believe her next novel comes out in September of this year. Mind Games is the first of it's own series, which doesn't continue until the winter of 2014, which sounds far away, but that's just because I still can't believe it's the year 2013. To stop the rambles that keep spilling out, I'd tell my best friend to read this book and give it a head nods, thumbs up, and smiling like there's no tomorrow. (5 out of 5)

Don't Quote Me (#25)

Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

I had the absolute delight to get a signed copy of the novel, through a goodreads giveaway. So, when I started reading the book I had somewhat high standards for it, as a lot of you guys told me how lucky I am to have it signed, and how just amazing the book is. I have to back all of you guys up and say that you are 100% correct. :D

I heard about Libba Bray when I first got into the entire YA books. She's very popular among the YA readers, and I'd like to imagine her, Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Scott Westerfield being the best English teachers and authors anyone could as for. Beauty Queens is not a quick read at all. It took me several sittings to get through the novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The novel is written in third-person with some epistolary documents sporadically spread about. I just enjoyed the humor of pretty much everything.

Having a bunch of beauty contestants is difficult to remember each and everyone of the characters, but I think because of how the novel is kind of written in pieces of the girl's personality, it showcases them one at a time. Because this novel is pretty much satire of the pageant world, it was like having an argument with my best friend about how stupid and brain-washed those girls are.

One of my favorite things about this novel is, as a teenage girl, you look and see Hollywood starlets looking 'beautiful' because they do this, and do that and look like a certain way, when they aren't nearly as awesome as you are. I guess what I'm trying to say is, not every teenage girl is going to look like a size zero, 5'8 model straight out of the runway, and we as teenage girls should take that in stride, because I don't want to be as skinny as a stick, and be hairless like mole rate, just because the tv says I should be. So this book is pretty much a f*** you, media, and your idea of what makes a girl beautiful.

Uhh...I hope this review made sense, and the weird part is the day I'm writing this review, is the day I got a letter by National American Miss asking me to go to their casting call. Somehow they got my name and address, even though I don't do pageants. If some of you guys have gotten a letter from them too, and you don't do pageants please let me know. I'm really freaked out that they even have me in their database. Oh well, I give Libba Bray's Beauty Queens a head nods, thumbs up. (4 out of 5)

E.A. Riggs Needs Your Help!!

I have probably raved about Casey Barnes Eponymous for months, but it's completely true. If you haven't read about it yet, here is my review. Recently, I found out that the author of that novel started a Kickstarter project, hoping to get a publicist to get the word of the novel out there. I have done my job already by telling you guys about it, and I hope that you guys can help contribute just a little bit of money to help this going.

I'll leave the link here.

What's a Kickstarter?
It's a way for small/independent people get a 'producer' by the people that love what they do. You can donate as little or as much as you want. I, personally, love this because it just gives everyone so much more chances, and because the internet is awesome like that, I hope you make this novel big. :D

Summary of Casey Barnes Eponymous:
It's three weeks into the school year when music junkie Casey Barnes gets a second chance with her mysterious, heartbreaking ex-boyfriend. She comes up with a plan to win him back, but it soon spins out of control as rivalries, revelations about him, and music itself all start to collide. For Casey the newfound attention means learning the difference between wanting center stage and actually being on it.

from goodreads

Book Tag: Playing With Emotions

Saw this tag on tumblr, and decided to do it.

1. Happy

To Kill a Mockingbird just made me happy. Not because the book is a light fun read, but because it was the first book that I liked to read on my own as a kid.

2. Sad

This one goes to The Fault in Our Stars, it's just over all sadness after you read it. I've been meaning to reread it, but I kind of like the idea that there a tear stains in it, and the book preserves them.

3. Angry

Clockwork Prince, I don't like it as much as I thought I would, and I don't think that I will be finishing the series.

4. Nostalgic

Again this is To Kill a Mockingbird, and I think it's because of the innocence of the book that just makes me nostalgic.

5. Scared

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. The book is about Jack the Ripper, as a ghost, so who wouldn't be scared.

6. Surprised

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, I didn't think I'd like it as much as I do. I always say it's a good book to cuddle up with. :D

7. Disappointed

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, I think everyone had a shocked face when they read this book. It took me literally forever to dig my way through it.

8. Distressed

Divergent by Veronica Roth, my adrenaline was pumping on mad high throughout the book. I read it in like a day in a half. It's very action packed and suspenseful.

9. Confused

Cinder by Marissa Meyer, got this for my b-day last year, and just got confused and stopped. I should pick it up again, because it's a hardback copy and I feel like money was wasted. :(

10. All of the feels

It's a tie between The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. Both wonderful books, and the feels are really feely.

Interview with Missy Fleming Author of Happily Never After

Hi guys! I got a chance to interview a Missy Fleming, and even though I am not interested in her novel, I'm sure some of you are.





Happily Never After


There's no such thing as happy endings.

Savannah, Georgia is rumored to be the most haunted place in America. Quinn Roberts knows it is. She's felt the presence of spirits her entire life, investigating and photographing them with her best friend. Only none of those encounters ever turned violent, until now. The menacing darkness feeding off her stepmother has promised she won't live to see her eighteenth birthday.

After a chance meeting Quinn reluctantly allows actor Jason Preston into her life, which has complications of its own. She's not used to letting people get close. Falling for him while fighting for her life, and her family's legacy, only complicates things more. Jason shows her exactly what she stands to lose, especially when she's being attacked by the mysterious entity. Each attack is more violent and terrifying than the last.

With Jason's help, she dives into the Roberts' family history, searching for a link between a woman who went missing a hundred and fifty years ago and what's happening now. What they find is a brutal murder and that the ghost doesn't just want to hurt Quinn, it wants revenge.

It wants her life.

from goodreads


Did you always want to become an author?

Yes. I started with poetry pretty young, then it morphed into ideas for stories. I have to say it probably took me like five years to finish that first book. Happily Never After is the second novel I ever finished. I began writing thinking I’d do adult romance because it’s what I enjoyed reading. Once I ventured into YA and paranormal, then fantasy, things took off from there. For some reason, it’s easier making worlds up then setting something in reality. Don’t know why that is!

How did Happily Never After start as an idea?

I’m a huge fan of shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures. I had in my head I wanted to do a ghost story, set in a great historic city like Savannah, and it grew from there. Quinn is an amateur ghost hunter who’s always sensed the presence of spirits, so when building her backstory it somehow picked up more and more aspects of Cinderella. So, I figured, why not? I imagined a southern, gothic Cinderella and I really think I’ve accomplished it. Happily Never After is a special story to me. I have the characters cast, a soundtrack fitting the mood and setting, and launching into the sequel I’m exploring a new frontier.

Advice for inspiring young authors?

That’s easy. Do not give up. And find a critique partner, a fellow writer who is similar to you and who understands your style. So much has changed in the publishing world, making it more important than ever to understand who you are as an author. Are you happy self-publishing? Is it the best you can offer? Don’t write for the market, for what you see selling. Write for yourself. I always said if no one sees my writing, I won’t feel like I’ve failed. I’ll have these stories which mean so much to me and finishing them is one of the greatest feelings in the world. I’d be completely happy with that.

What was the hardest part in writing Happily Never After? Easiest?

I’d say the hardest was capturing the essence of Savannah, Georgia because…wait for it…I’ve never been there. I studied maps and history, immersing myself in it. I’ve been to Georgia, was born there, but never to this fascinating city. It’s hard to bring a place to life when you’ve never walked its streets. I also struggled with mixing in the Cinderella elements. Was there too much similarity? Was there not enough?

The easiest part was Quinn, the main character. Her struggles and her abilities were the center of the story, the part I had in my head from the beginning. I knew where I wanted her to go, the girl I hoped she evolved into. And she’s still evolving. There are big tests coming up for her.



Favorites:

Color?   Black, purple. I also love earthy tones like browns and greens.

Sport?  Football, hands down. LOVE the NFL. Also having roots in the south, NASCAR has always been popular in my house.

TV Show?  I am a huge, huge fan of Lost. Still watch the seasons over. Once Upon a Time has really got me hooked as well, obviously. Others include Big Bang Theory, Scandal, Game of Thrones. And of course Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures.

Movie?  It’s always impossible to pick one. I’m a proud geek so I love stuff like Avengers, Dark Knight, Star Trek, The Hobbit. To be honest, my favorite movie of the last couple years, the one I can watch over and over is the reboot of Star Trek. Gone With the Wind is up there as well. Basically anything J

Book?  Another impossible pick. I reread a lot of books, but the one I read the most is The Host by Stephanie Meyer. Which is strange because I’m not the biggest fan of Twilight. It just pulls an emotional response from me every time. Of course, Pride and Prejudice is another. I LOVED all the Game of Thrones books. The new Bloodlines series by Richelle Read. City of Ashes. There are just too many to list.

Author?  For YA: Richelle Read, Cassandra Clare, Suzanne Collins   For Adult: Nora Roberts, Kristin Higgins, Sherryl Woods, JRR Martin. There is never enough room for me to mention favorite books or authors. I read A LOT.

Where can we find you online?

Right now, only at fireandiceya.com.  I’m still working on getting a website and facebook page. I spent so much time getting the book ready and lost in my others that I’m way behind on the times. I’ll get there, but I can be reached through my publisher’s website for now.

Don't Quote Me (#24)

Dissolution Kickstarter

Hi guys, I was emailed about Dissolution by Indi Martin, and thought that I really wanted to help out a new author. Indi Martin is launching a kickstarter, which if you did not know already, it is a way for inspiring creators to get producers without having to ask multi-millionaires to fund their projects. You can donate to the project from anywhere to a dollar to +50,000. Of course, not everyone can donate that many, so every dollar counts. Indi wants to actually make her own comic book, so go please help her out.

I have some links that I hope you check out for more information:

http://thinksbooks.blogspot.com/2013/02/dissolution-kickstarter-blast-sign-ups.html

You can read the first few chapters here:
http://dissolutionnovel.blogspot.com/

Seven Deadly Sins of Reading Tag

1. Greed: What are your most expensive and inexpensive books?


My most expensive book is probably a school textbook, but I have never bought a book over 20 dollars. Most inexpensive book is A Midsummer Night's Dream, I got it for a dollar and some cents at Barnes and Noble because I had a giftcard.

2. Wrath: What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?


John Green is my love/hate relationship, because I love his writing, but his stories are easy to see the solution of. That's probably is just me, but I love The Fault in Our Stars, but Looking for Alaska, and Paper Towns were a bad experience for me.

3. Gluttony: What book have you deliciously devoured over and over with no shame whatsoever?

I wouldn't say there was no shame whatsoever, but I was one of those Twilight fans. I was hooked for a couple months or so, but now I look back and think,"What could I have possibly like about that series?" Don't judge me.

4. Sloth: What book have you neglected to read due to laziness?

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Cinder by Marrisa Meyer

5. Pride: What book do you most talk about in order to sound like a very intellectual reader?

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, just because it's a classic and is also one of my all time favorite novels.

6. Lust: What attributes do you find most attractive in male or female characters?

Confident guys are never a bad thing in a male character. Someone like Gus from The Fault in Our Stars.

7. Envy: What books would you most like to receive as a gift?

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson and a new copy with a pretty cover of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Web Series You Should Be Watching on Youtube

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
I'm obsessed with this series. If you didn't know it's a modern day adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and it's just wonderful. You should check it out,and like and subscribe, because they are really amazing actors, and crew. :D

Hipsterhood
I found out about this series over the summer and was so sad to see the season to finish. The second series is full of the Lizzie Bennet cast and it really should get more attention on YouTube, but it has a low viewer count that I just wish will get high and higher. BTW the guy that plays William Darcy, will also be in season two, but they need to get more money on their kickstarter account. Help out if you can, but you don't have to. I forgot to say it's a love story about two hipsters in California. Wonderful in every way, go watch it.

Squaresville
This series just came back from a few months long inbetween season break. The show also has the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Lydia in it, Mary Kate Wiles. She is an amazing actor, and this series is the epitome of teenage life and is ridiculously hilarious.

I name these series to spread the word of what I love. Please check them out and help them if you like them as much I as I do. :D

Love and Hugs,
Clara

Cinders and Sapphires by Leila Rasheed (At Somerton #1) Review

Rose Cliffe has never met a young lady like her new mistress. Clever, rich, and beautiful, Ada Averley treats Rose as an equal. And Rose could use a friend. Especially now that she, at barely sixteen, has risen to the position of ladies’ maid. Rose knows she should be grateful to have a place at a house like Somerton. Still, she can’t help but wonder what her life might have been had she been born a lady, like Ada.

For the first time in a decade, the Averleys have returned to Somerton, their majestic ancestral estate. But terrible scandal has followed Ada’s beloved father all the way from India. Now Ada finds herself torn between her own happiness and her family’s honor. Only she has the power to restore the Averley name—but it would mean giving up her one true love . . . someone she could never persuade her father to accept.

Sumptuous and enticing, the first novel in the At Somerton series introduces two worlds, utterly different yet entangled, where ruthless ambition, forbidden attraction, and unspoken dreams are hidden behind dutiful smiles and glittering jewels. All those secrets are waiting . . . at Somerton.

from goodreads


I received an email a few weeks back from netgalley. They were promoting this new young adult novel from Disney-Hyperion. The main thing that made me want to read it was that it was in that costume drama category, that I was and still kind of am still interested in. The selling point was that it is for the younger readers of Upstairs, Downstairs or Downton Abbey.

I really loved this book, and I wish I can compare it to another costume drama novel, but all I have is watching a lot of costume drama television series from the BBC. I find that this novel is wonderful for learning about that Regency era and the people that are involved in an old English lord's manor. Leila Rasheed's writing is passable. I don't think it's anything beyond the normal, but I did love the flow that came with reading a novel that suppose to have that old English voice in it. That factor was spot on.

Cinders and Sapphires have gotten me into looking for costume drama novels(please tell me the correct genre of novels like these, I don't know what else to call them besides costume dramas). I think that point of view change was sufficient and used 'correctly' in the novel, though I'm not that big of a fan of point of view change. The characters were well written, and because of a huge family and servants that live in the manor, it took sometime to remember who was who, but you can manage just fine.

I loved this book, and I think it's a wonderful series to read inbetween those times when costume drama shows are off air, and you need something to wet your appetite. So Leila Rasheed's first installment of At Somerton gets a head nods, thumbs up. (4 out of 5)

Don't Quote Me (#23)

Paper Towns by John Green Review

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life - dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge - he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues - and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer Q gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew.


Paper Towns is the third book I've read written by John Green. I loved the Fault in Our Stars, but was slightly disappointed in Looking for Alaska. I had high hopes, and it did meet those expectations and didn't at the same time.

from goodreads

I feel like I praise John Green a lot because he wrote my favorite book, The Fault in Our Stars, but Paper Towns was the book that made me really notice that he had some skill. The entire book was well written, but the only problem I had with it was that it didn't make me keep on reading. That sounds terrible, but it's true. I could not finish reading it, because the book was a constant of okay, fine, school life, doo-dads, that did not feel suspenseful or interesting enough to keep me reading.

John Green writes young adult books that have some what smart characters, while having so many pranks, and adolescent things that make me laugh. There wasn't one character that stood out to me as my favorite or anything, because like I said the entire book was like a roller coaster that was extremely high off the ground, but had no twists and turns. The speed could match one of a golf cart on high.

My favorite part was the humor. I love the fact that there are those little things that make it have its own identity. The Black Santas were my favorite story, among Q's stories.

I don't have much to say for Paper Towns, but I'd give it a head shakes, thumb down, shoulders shrug. (2 out of 5)

Love Affair with Your Favorite Book

This Thursday is Valentine's Day, love is in the air as they say. I however am and have been single since the little time I have been on this Earth. If you are like me, and find Valentine's Day seriously boring and stupid, and would rather read a book. Here are some books that will hopefully make you feel better on Valentine's Day.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
This book is quite the heart breaker, and if you aren't afraid to laugh and cry over a fictional guy, then read it


Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.



from goodreads



Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
A kind of cheesy love story wrapped up in this crazy fantasy world somehow works, and is one of my favorite novels of 2012.


Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

from goodreads

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater 
Another crier, but it's one of few books that I can cuddle up on my bed and read the entire night.

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

from goodreads

Cursed by Bethany R. Myers
This author was someone I found online, and have been reading her short stories a lot. It's a short read, but a good one in my opinion.

Murderous witches. Cannibalistic dwarfs. Bloodthirsty dragons. Sixteen year old, skullery maid   Tess will have to battle them all because she has been cursed by true love's kiss. Read it for free.

from BR Myers Blog

Update: Where have I been the entire month of January?

Lately I've been reading a lot of books that I haven't really liked so much. As the effects of that becomes constant over the last month or so, it has been hard for me to find time to want to blog. Though, I want to continue, but will not promise any five day posts like I did in the previous year.

So what am I doing at the moment?

1. Reading Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
2. Paper Towns by John Green review to come
3. Don't Quote Me meme will hopefully to come back this Wednesday
4. I've decided to leave my nanowrimo novel where it is at the moment
5. Busgirl Blues by Bethany R. Myers review to come when story is fully posted
6. Cinders and Sapphires by Leila Rasheed review to come
7. Update on webseires on Youtube that you should be watching