Teaser Tuesday!

Hey readers! It's another posting of Teaser Tuesday! Hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading, this week's teaser is...

From the outside, Coley Sterling’s life seems pretty normal . . . whatever that means. It’s not perfect—her best friend is seriously mad at her and her dance team captains keep giving her a hard time—but Coley’s adorable, sweet crush Reece helps distract her. Plus, she has a great family to fall back on—with a mom and stepdad who would stop at nothing to keep her siblings and her happy.
But Coley has a lot of secrets. She won’t admit—not even to herself—that her almost-perfect life is her own carefully-crafted façade. That for years she’s been burying the shame and guilt over a relationship that crossed the line. Now that Coley has the chance at her first real boyfriend, a decade’s worth of lies are on the verge of unraveling.
In this unforgettable powerhouse of a novel, Mindi Scott offers an absorbing, layered glimpse into the life of an every girl living a nightmare that no one would suspect.
--From Goodreads

My Teasers: "I take a deep breath, let it out slowly,  and then smile big, hoping my enthusiasm will be contagious. "Oh, hey. I wanted to tell you all. I found out that one of my friends is going to meet us up at Whistler for the last couple days of our trip. So that will be fun, right?'"
--P.g. 23, "Live Through This," by Mindi Scott

To play along with teaser tuesday, all you have to do is:


• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Be sure to leave your links so I can check out your awesome teasers too! :)

Top 5 Monday Rants

Hey readers. It's another posting of Top 5 Monday Rants. I wanted to do a little something different today, and relate it to the literary subject for this post. So, on to the list.

1) I know I've probably posted on this before, but I get so frustrated with authors who don't give out enough information in their books. Yes, I understand that they do that to keep the mystery alive, but when you read through a whole book and you still mostly have no clue what it was about, doesn't make for a good novel...

2) I've been seeing a lot of GIFs recently in reviews. Especially on Goodreads. And though this is humorous to look at:

It doesn't really tell me what you thought of the novel. And when the whole review is filled with these and with very little words, it tends to get a little annoying. Especially with the moving ones. I don't know about you, but the GIFs that move makes my eyes hurt the worse, and makes me want to turn to a different page. 

3) It gets annoying when authors who try to promote their book to me via Twitter. Yes, Twitter is a good social networking site, but when someone tries to promote their book by sending you a tweet, it seems rather impersonal. That's why my blog has a specific contact me page. 

4) Another thing relating to reviews, is when reviewers tend to curse. It's funny, that in real life, I'm not afraid to express myself in cursing. But when it's online, especially if you're doing a review, I think that it's a bit overboard. Especially if you're a book review blogger, trying to keep your reviews professional, or even semi-professional. How do you as readers feel about reviewers cursing in their reviews?

5) I was searching on line for some interesting books on Amazon, and feel like there's a inflation on e-book prices. I know I'm not the first to comment on this, but the other day, I saw traditional published books priced anywhere between $6-10. Why would I pay that much for an e-book, when I can get it in a physical print copy for a couple more dollars? E-books, traditional publishing or not, should not be that high priced.

That's it for my Top 5 Monday Rants. Hope you all enjoyed it, and have a good Monday :)

In My Mailbox!

Hey fellow readers! It's time for In My Mailbox, hosted by The Story Siren. This week I got...

For Review:

e-book copy of Whisperng Hills -- Taryn Browning

Hating Heidi Foster -- Jeffrey Blount (Thanks to Alluvion Press)

Fated -- Alyson Noel from Macmillan. (Since this is an extra copy, I will host a giveaway for this on my blog)

From Library:

Blood Red Road -- Moira Young

Eve and Adam -- Michael Grant, Katherine Applegate

Between The Lines -- Jodi Picoult, Samantha Van Leer

Blessed -- Tonya Hurley

Live Through This -- Mindi Scott

We'll Always Have Summer -- Jenny Han

Soul Bound -- Mari Mancusi

Bought:

Playing For Keeps (Neighbor From Hell) -- R.L. Mathewson.

That's all the books that I got this week. Be sure to leave your links so I can check out your awesome books too :)

Double Take! Which Cover Did It Better?

So,  I originally was going to post a review today, but the other day, I was searching for interesting ebooks on Amazon, and I came across a cover that looked eerily familiar. Here was the first cover I found:

And then I thought, wow. How familiar. So, I did some searching around, and remembered that this book also had that same style:

De Ja Vu? Which cover do you think won the better cover contest?

Review: Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan

           Book: Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brenan
           Pages: 344
           Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
           Source: Bought

Short Synopsis: Mel lives in in New Whitby which is infested with vampires, and it isn't until a vampire starts going to the same school, that Mel is starting to get fed up with vampires, especially when the new vampire student starts having feelings for Mel's best friend.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this novel very much. Though a bit cheesy at times, it was still a refreshing read on the vampire genre. 

Just because Mel lives in New Whitby, a city founded by vampires, doesn't mean she knows any of the blood-drinking undead personally. They stay in their part of town; she says in hers. Until the day a vampire shows up at her high school. Worse yet, her best friend, Cathy, seems to be falling in love with him. It's up to Mel to save Cathy from a mistake she might regret for all eternity!
On top of trying to help Cathy (whether she wants it or not), Mel is investigating a mysterious disappearance for another friend and discovering the attractions of a certain vampire wannabe. Combine all this with a cranky vampire cop, a number of unlikely romantic entanglements, and the occasional zombie, and soon Mel is hip-deep in an adventure that is equal parts hilarious and touching.
Acclaimed authors Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan team up to create a witty and poignant story of cool vampires, warm friendships, and the changes that test the bonds of love.
--From Goodreads

First off, Mel, the main character, is a strong, independent minority, as she refers herself as an ABC (American Born Chinese). Race does play a small factor in this novel, and I found it refreshing that the main character was a minority, let alone from a chinese background. Mel is also a bit sarcastic at times, but I still found her an enjoyable character to follow along to. 

Mel has a distaste for vampires. So when a vampire first starts to attend the same school, she's not exactly the first one to welcome the "monster," but she still tries to remain civil. But things go haywire, when the new vampire, Francis, starts to  show interest in Mel's best friend, Cathy. Cathy is a hopeless romantic, and is immediately smitten with Francis. I wasn't a fan of the insta-love with Cathy and Francis, but other factors come into play, which made the novel much more interesting.

And if things weren't bad enough for Mel, another friend is distraught over her dad, and thinks that her father didn't really run away. Mel does everything she can to find more information for Anna, as Anna is constantly worried about her mother, who seems to be acting strange.

And then, Mel meets Kit, a human who was raised amongst Francis' vampire family. Kit teaches Mel, that not all vampires are monsters, and that not everything is as black and white, as Mel thinks. As Kit and Mel become friends, he in turns help Mel with Anna's problems, and together they find out that zombies play a mix in the situation as well. I didn't really enjoy the zombie part of the story, but loved reading Mel and Kit's chemistry, and how their differences came together. Overall, a hint of Twilight, and The Vampire Diaries, but still a cute, interesting read. I look forward to reading more from these authors.

Would I recommend this book: Yes

Rating: I give this book a 4/5. 

A Couple of DNFs

Summery:
Evie's paranormal past keeps coming back to haunt her. A new director at the International Paranormal Containment Agency wants to drag her back to headquarters. The Dark Faerie Queen is torturing humans in her poisonous realm. And supernatural creatures keep insisting that Evie is the only one who can save them from a mysterious, perilous fate.
The clock is ticking on the entire paranormal world. And its fate rests solely in Evie's hands.
So much for normal.
--From Goodreads

My Thoughts: 

I loved the first in the series. The second was okay. And for some reason, I couldn't seem to finish the third. Maybe it was the fact that it only seemed to focus on one major thing. Evie trying to get Lend back from the Faerie Queen. And when that was accomplished, she seemed to hit another dead end with her happily ever after scenario, when the Queen placed a curse on Lend. Though I usually enjoy reading paranormal stories, this one also seemed a bit far fetched, as Evie seemed to be the only one with any real power to do anything. That, and the fact that the story seemed to drag on, and at some point, I felt fed up, and wanted to get to the point of the whole story. I may pick this one back up in the future, but for now, I was not able to get through it. 

Summary:
Girl, Interrupted meets Beautiful Creatures in this fast-paced thriller
When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn't expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she's going crazy. Fast.
But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she's come home. She's even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.
Faye knows she's the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can't trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her - and the rest of the world too.
Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller
--From Goodreads

My Thoughts:

I was attracted to the psychological aspect of this novel, but couldn't really get into it. There was a lot of mysterious things happening to the main character and her friends, but about half way into the novel, there didn't seem to be much of an explanation. The story seemed to be going in different directions, without much stability, which is a shame, because I really did enjoy the rebellious edge that Faye and her group had against the system. There were little things as well, that wasn't really explained, like why Kel was the only one able to have his own clothes, and everyone else had to wear the designated uniform. All in all, there was just too many questions and not enough answers. 

Top 5 Monday Rants

Hey fellow readers! It's another posting of Top 5 Monday Rants! So, on to the list!

1) This Monday marks my parent's upteenth anniversary. A grand total of 34 years. It's a wonder they've been together this long. It crawled up on me, and I nearly forgot. Hopefully they'll have many more.

2) My aunt and uncle came to visit for a short while, as they made their way through their vacation from Canada and Seattle. Though they're only here for a little while, it was still nice to see them.

3) I can't believe that it's already the middle of November. It only seemed like just yesterday that it was the beginning of January. Before we know it, it'll be January of next year. I'm ready for Thanksgiving to get here already. lol.

4) For the first time ever, one of my posts, the review for Kody Keplinger's A Midsummer's Nightmare, received 160 pageviews. And people in Ireland viewed my blog 155 times, which is the first time that Ireland's showed up on my blog. This month I've received a lot of firsts for my blog.

5) Anyone else have troubles on the road? Seems like I've been dealing with weird drivers recently. Just yesterday night, I was driving home from work where there was two lanes, I was on the inside, and a huge truck was on my other side. Every time I tried passing the truck, it would always rev up a bit, never allowing me to pass, and though it never crossed over my lane, I couldn't help but feel a little caged in. I don't know what that guy's problem was, but as long as it didn't hit me, I left it alone.

That's it for my Top 5 Monday rants. Hope you all have a good one.