Showing posts with label maggie stiefvater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maggie stiefvater. Show all posts

Monday, February 11, 2013

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

Monday, November 12, 2012

November Wish List!


This wish list is from a three book hauls I've seen on Youtube and I chose two from each of their book hauls that I'd like. There link is at the end of each two. 

The Diviners by Libba Bray



Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old home town and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City - and she is pos-i-tute-ly thrilled! New York is the city of speak-easies, rent parties, shopping and movie palaces, and soon enough Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfeld girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult - also known as 'The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies'.

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of it. Even Evie's new pals - hoofers, numbers runners and activists, but all swell kids - are drawn into the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer - if he doesn't catch her first...



from goodreads

This book sounds absolutely amazing, and I hope I can read it with still doing Nanowrimo.

Speechless by Hannah Harrington



Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.

Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she's ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.

But there's strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she's done. If only she can forgive herself.


from goodreads

This seems like another take on bullying and I really haven't read that many bully books than I 'd like. That sounds strange. I mean there are many books about bullying that I wish I can read, but I haven't gotten the time. (I'm not for bullying).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAzKUsAi5PY&feature=g-u-u

The Raven Boy by Maggie Stiefvater


“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.


from goodreads

I've heard a lot of things about this book, and I've decided that I'm going to read it after a long time of hesitation.

The Selection by Kiera Cass


For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself--and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.


from goodreads

I read the synopsis a few months ago, and I knew I was going to like it, but was saving it for a time when I wanted something light and frilly. I don't like saying that, and then forgetting it. Plus the second novel is coming out soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eie2KvjXu9o


Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo


Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.


from goodreads

I heard about this book from Maureen Johnson when she was NPR in July. She spoke so highly of it, and I recently remembered it.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagwa


"In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity."Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of "them." The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked--and given the ultimate choice. Die...or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend--a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what--and who--is worth dying for.

from goodreads

I've been told to not be deceived by the genre and premise of this, so I'm crossing my fingers that I like it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp9p_CZCEQ8&feature=related



Friday, April 20, 2012

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater


  • Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Scholastic Press; 1 edition (August 1, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0545123267
  • ISBN-13: 978-0545123266
  • Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches

Summary

To break it down to the simplest form there is a girl named Grace and she has this "wolf" she interacts with since she was a kid. All her life she sees this wolf, but only in the winter. This particular wolf has yellow eyes and when she meets a boy with yellow eyes she finds herself meeting her "wolf" in person. 
Haha I know that that summary really sucks but, that is what it really is about. Maggie Stiefvater is probably one of my favorite authors because she sets this mood of coziness and the relationship between Grace and Sam is just amazingly sweet. 


Shiver has been compared to the werewolf version of Twilight and I can see that to an extent because there is paranormal creatures and there is romance, but that's it. Shiver's characters are extremely different from Twilight and the story has nothing that compares with each other. In Shiver, Sam the "wolf" is trying to not become a wolf every time the weather gets cold, while in Twilight Bella's convinced that she must become a vampire to live her life the way it should be. Also there is no love triangle in Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, so I thank her for not accepting this popular trend? of a love triangle will sell to any young adult reader. 


Something that I thought was neat, but I'm not sure that it is in all of the book's editions, but my blue book was printed in blue ink, which was pretty cool detail that I like. Also I think that the cover is beautiful in every way possible. 


So Grace is not one of my favorite characters, but she's bearable, unlike Isabel. Isabel was throughout the novel an iffy character for me. I always felt like she would back stab Grace or do something drastic, but she kept to her place as a side character and will be a bigger stronger character in the second installment. Though, Isabel is the incredibly popular girl in Grace's school, she has some problems that does come with popularity and especially when her brother dies. Isabel is not one of my favorites, but she is defiantly needed in the novel, or else everything else would fall apart. 


In the end, Shiver was a great book for me, but not the best. It's the kind of book that I'd like to reread if it was snowing outside and I had a hot cup of tea next to me, while a bath and body works candle is burning. Shiver is the kind of book that I would not recommend because one) a lot of people already  know about this book and would have read it by now and two) it's not that great of a story that I'd want to follow a whole three books through, but my mistake I already bought the whole series. Maggie Stiefvater is still one of my favorite authors and I'd like to read her other series about homicidal faeries. :)  

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater Review

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press; 1 edition (July 13, 2010)
Second book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series
This review will contain spoilers for anyone that has not read the first book Shiver.
Summary
Linger begins where Shiver leaves off. Sam is still human after having blood go through his wolf form from patients with meningitis. Grace and Sam still have a strong bond together if not even stronger. Cole, a new bad boy wolf that Beck created is immediately seen as Isabel's love interest. He comes from a stranger background than Sam, that causes an unease when reading his point of view. Sam becomes very worrying when he loses Beck and when he is not able to see Grace. With Beck's new wolves and Grace's past sneeking back up to her, Linger draws an even more vived experience with the wolves of Mercy Falls.

Maggie Steivfvater has craeated another amazing book to follow up her bestseller Shiver. Her writing is still impeccable and her flow of wrtiting point of views from different characters blows my mind at times. Personally I don't connect with Grace much , but her headstrong and brave character brings what you want to be through Grace's adventure.

Cole and Isabel have a weird love/hate realtionship - which I don't really mind - but Cole's hard to like until you find out more about him. Isabel's shallowness blows away a bit, but is still there when Cole is intruduced  and I can kind of see how the two are good for each other. The two of them together sets a double love story, while drama rises with Grace.

All in all, I would read Linger again, and I would recommened it to any hopeless romantics out there. While I prefere Shiver and believe it should have been a stand alone book Linger does answer some of the questions I had while reading Shiver that did not get answered.