Dreaming of a London Holiday - Gypsy Girl

Dreaming of a London Holiday - Gypsy Girl

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BOOK REVIEW: THE RAVEN BOYS BY MAGGIE STIEFVATER By Amanda Perry Book review for The Raven Boys Author: Maggie Stiefvater Standalone or Series: Book 1 in a 4 part series Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (Sept 18, 2012) Basic Blurb: 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: Review:  There were many times I walked through my local bookstore and picked up this book, only to put it down and choose something else. I just was not quite sure about it. I read Maggie’s “Wolves of Mercy Falls” series and liked it quite a bit, but there was something about this book before I read it, it just didn't quite seem to be calling me. Finally when it was released in paperback I decided I was ready for it. Picture this if you will…. Ultimate fan-girling, clutching said paper back to ones chest while shouting “Oh MY Goodness, Get out”, falling back on to the bed and into a coma brought on by your book hangover. That’s pretty much how this book was, from start to finish. Key words there being “pretty much” Overall this story was absolutely amazing. The first Chapter blew me away with… “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Marks Eve, Blue. Either you’re his one true love,” Neeve said, “or you killed him.” TALK ABOUT A GREAT HOOK! From this point on I was completely enthralled. While I realize that a lot of YA paranormals seem to have the same general concept lately, the author manages to put a new spin on things. I have also come to see that with this particular author things don’t seem quite as farfetched as they do in so many other stories in this genre. The story is mainly focused on this sweet girl, Blue, who lives with her crazy family of all female clairvoyants, and a group of boys who attend a private school in her hometown. The boys are on a search for a Ley Line and that search brings the boys into Blue's life in some very unexpected ways. Maggie's writing is a little on the dry side. I mean that in a very good way though, think British humor v.s. American and you’ll start to get the idea. I personally am a huge fan of her writing style. The beginning of chapter 3, where the author describes Blue’s house during the morning rush, was phenomenal. This paragraph was perfectly written and left me feeling like I was standing in this girl’s kitchen and fighting my own crazy aunts for the bathroom.                                                                        The only disappointing thing about this book was the ending. Somewhere around chapter 39 or so, for whatever reason, the author diverted from her calm, descriptive story telling way. She began to rush things that really need not have been rushed. The whole climax of the story was smushed . She skimped on descriptions and flew through some of the most important scenes of the book. It was a real bummer. She also left so many things unanswered. I understand that this leaves room for sequels but every good novel should be able to stand on its own. In my opinion sequels should be optional, not necessary. Also because the ending was so rushed I feel like I missed out on something. The author jumps to a few days later as life is going on and I still don’t fully understand what the heck happened to Adam. Honestly if you enjoy YA this is a must read. It is a great book. There are some seriously shocking twists and the whole story is told in a completely believable realistic way. Maggie Stiefvater is a story telling champion whose books do exactly what a good book should, transport you to another time and place where anything can happen and your right in the center of it all. I can’t wait for the next book. Just For Fun Some Memorable Quotes from the book: “Fate is a very weighty word to throw around before breakfast.” “I guess now would be a good time to tell you. I took Chainsaw out of my dreams.” “My words are unerring tools of destruction, and I’ve come unequipped with the ability to disarm them.” If you enjoyed this review, show your support by leaving a comment for the author, or sharing it among your social network.

Celebrate David Estes New Book "The Earth Dwellers" & Enter the Giveaway !!!!

 

Your favorite Dwellers and Country Saga characters come together in this epic seventh book!

As President Borg Lecter threatens to annihilate the Country tribes in order to expand his glass-domed empire, Adele ventures into the belly of the beast. Her only hope of survival is the consolidation of Dwellers and Country power before it’s too late. Former demagogue President Nailin is eliminated, yet civil unrest infects every alliance. To save Adele, President Tristan faces his greatest challenge yet: unifying unfriendly Dwellers in the Tri-Realms to raise an army against Lecter. Meanwhile, Dazz must convince the Ice Country leaders to march with Siena and the Tri-Tribes on the gates of the Glass City. The world sits on the edge of a knife. Will Adele, Tristan, Dazz, and Siena defeat Lecter and his army of killers before the Glassies wipe them off the face of the Earth?

See where it all begun with The Moon Dwellers and Fire Country

To celebrate the release of The Earth Dwellers by David Estes, the fourth book in both The Dwellers series and Country Saga, David is giving away UNLIMITED free eCopies of Fire Country, book one in the post apocalyptic, dystopian, Country Saga. A little over a year ago, David published his first young adult dystopian series, The Dwellers, and it has changed his life forever. Since then, he’s gone from struggling Indie author to fulltime writer, he’s watched in amazement as his Goodreads fan group has swelled from 300 members to over 1,600, and growing. He's been featured on Buzzfeed, as one of the '15 Book Series To Read If You Enjoyed The Hunger Games', and has just signed on to Andrea Hurst and Associates literary agency. Andrea will we working with David to expand both the Dwellers and Country Saga, taking David's career to a whole new level.

So before the two series collide in The Earth Dwellers, grab the coupon code below and download your eCopy of Fire Country from Smashwords. Share the code with your family, friends and literary inclined pets. The only thing David asks for in return is that if you enjoy the read and continue on with the series, to please leave a positive review on Amazon.com, Goodreads and blogs for each of his books that you read.

 

Visit: Smashwords

Simply use the coupon code: WM49N and download your FREE eCopy.

Expiration Date: September 15, 2013

 

The Earth Dwellers will cap off an eighteen month journey that has taken me from unknown Indie author to still-mostly-unknown fulltime Indie author. The change is a subtle one for most people, but for me it’s a dream come true. To the hundreds (and now maybe even thousands!) of readers who have come along for the ride with me, either by reading the Dwellers Saga, the Country Saga, or both, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Now down to business. There may be some of you who have only read the three books in the Country Saga or only the three books in the Dwellers Saga, and are now thinking you’ll read The Earth Dwellers, which is supposedly the 4th book in BOTH the Country Saga and the Dwellers Saga. Well, that’s awesome! However, I must highly recommend that before reading The Earth Dwellers that you read the three books in BOTH series. Trust me, doing so will greatly enhance your experience, as The Earth Dwellers will be taking significant characters from both series and crashing them together (yes, like a water country wave) into an action-packed tale of struggle and loss and hope and friendship… And maybe a little love, too.

The Country Saga

Fire Country  Ice Country  Water & Storm Country

The Dwellers Series The Moon Dwellers  The Star Dwellers  The Sun Dwellers

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

David Estes was born in El Paso, Texas but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was very young. He grew up in Pittsburgh and then went to Penn State for college. Eventually he moved to Sydney, Australia where he met his wife and soul mate, Adele, who he’s now been happily married to for more than two years.

A reader all his life, David began writing novels for the children's and YA markets in 2010, and has completed 13 novels, 11 of which have been published.  In June of 2012, David became a fulltime writer and is now travelling the world with his wife while he writes books, and she writes and takes photographs.

David gleans inspiration from all sorts of crazy places, like watching random people do entertaining things, dreams (which he jots copious notes about immediately after waking up), and even from thin air sometimes! Recently he’s been inspired by some of his favorite authors, like Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, and Maggie Stiefvater.

David’s a writer with OCD, a love of dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or listening), a mad-skilled ping-pong player, an obsessive Goodreads group member, and prefers writing at the swimming pool to writing at a table.  He loves responding to e-mails, Facebook messages, Tweets, blog comments, and Goodreads comments from his readers, all of whom he considers to be his friends.

Where you can find David Estes hanging out:

David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite

Blog/websiteFacebook pageGoodreads author pageTwitter

Other Young Adult Books by David Estes:

The Evolution Trilogy: Angel Evolution   Demon Evolution   Archangel Evolution

Children’s Books by David Estes:

The Nikki Powergloves Adventures: Nikki Powergloves- A Hero is Born    Nikki Powergloves and the Power Council    Nikki Powergloves and the Power Trappers    Nikki Powergloves and the Great Adventure   Nikki Powergloves vs. the Power Outlaws (Coming soon!)

Book Review : Matched Trilogy Ally Condie

THINKING OF READING THE MATCHED SERIES BY ALLY CONDIE 08/11/2013 0 Comments   By Amanda Perry Are you thinking about reading theMatched series, because I recently did. I wanted to review the books as a series as opposed to individually because I honestly feel that none of the books can stand on their own without the others, with the exception of maybe the first one. The cover art on all three books was magnificent and I feel like that deserves an honorable mention. Matched was a lot like Lauren Oliver’s Delirium. In fact the two stories were so similar it made me feel Matched lacked originality… until I looked it up and found that Matched was actually written before Delirium! The first book in the series was pretty good. The story was enjoyable and easy to read. The world building was efficient enough that I had no problem visualizing the story at any point. There were even two different points in the story where I actually cried! Big, fat, sappy tears! The characters themselves were a bit underdeveloped. The relationships between Cassia (our main character) and Xander( one of our supporting characters) did not play out quite like I believe they would have in real life, and Cassia's struggle to decide which of the two boys was the one for her was actually a bit nauseating. I mean at one point in the story she was so sure this was the love of her life and then she would turn around and doubt herself wondering if she was just falling for the bad boy because that’s what was against the rules. Come on Cassia, get it together would ya!! Not to mention how she felt zero guilt at all for her betraying someone she had known her WHOLE life. That doesn’t happen in real life. On the plus side, I felt like Ky was very realistic and written beautifully. His personality was spot on and he stays true to himself through all three books. Bram was also very fun to read about. I just wish he had a bigger part in the rest of the series. I feel like he was Cassia's rock; the thing that kept her feet tethered to the ground, which she desperately needs. On to Crossed... This may have been my favorite of all three books, though the plot was extremely frustrating. I feel like the rising is just a bunch of darn bologna! The rebellion makes NO sense at all. In this book the rebellion behaves exactly like the society they claim to be against. I mean you'd think with such a strict society, people would be opposing this crazy government so they could be free, but instead it's the same with only a few modifications to the rules. I found it a bit absurd. Why bother rebelling at all if you only want to change a handful of things? Cassie and Ky should have just went to live with the farmers and said screw it all.  End series there. The travels of Indie and Cassia were very entertaining. Ky going off and meeting Vick and Eli was probably the best part of the book. I really believe that this author writes her secondary characters so much better than her main characters.                                                             Finally Reached. This was by far the worst of the three. The whole thing seemed to be an almost modern version of Fahrenheit 451…but not nearly as good.  I mean it's bad enough that our three main characters have traveled across the world to reunite and they all end up with the crock of bologna Rebellion, but now guess what? They’re being split up…again! Oh and there’s a plague. It’s almost as if the author was grasping at straws looking for a way to force the story to come together. There was a particular plot twist where the pilot accuses our main characters of some shady things, which I found surprising in a very good way, but that was one of the very few positive things I have to say about this installment. We learn that the rebellion is even more like the Society than I had previously believed (groan.) Cassia regained the red garden memory and that was a little cool.  Honestly though I don’t understand all the hype about this series. There are so many things that I felt were left unanswered. I mean why was Cassia immune to the plague but not the red pill? How on earth would Cassia's mom know what flower would be the one they needed?  Coincidences like that simply don’t happen. The whole thing was too unrealistic. The key to a dystopian story is to make it seem plausible. We, as readers, want to believe that the world could end up this way and we want to believe in those two people who defy the “Man” so to speak. This was just too far-fetched in my opinion. I do believe the concept over all was really good and the story could have been amazing had the author taken a bit more time to work out some of the kinks. What about you guys? Have you read this series? Did you love it or hate it? I’d love to hear your thoughts!