Top 5 Monday Rants

Hey everyone! It's another posting of Top 5 Monday Rants! On to the list :)

1) This Saturday was the daylight savings change where we got to sleep in an extra hour. I think I ended up being sluggish because of it, but it was still pretty nice. Anyone forget to change their clocks? lol.

2) This Tuesday is election day. It'll be fun and interesting to see who comes out on top. Anyone else tired of election coverage, and the constant phone calling to endorse whoever? Maybe it's just me, but when election time comes, the phone calls to vote whoever in your county are worse than soliciting phone calls.

3) I recently saw on the news that there's another storm coming to the east coast, all within the same areas when Hurricane Sandy hit last time. East coast seems to be getting the brunt of horrible winter weather, while the west coast seems like it's still summer... Global warming??

4) I decided not to participate in NanoWriMo this year. Though it does look like fun, I doubt I'll be able to write 50,000 words in one month. I'm still writing, but at my own pace. That and the fact that every story I try to create never gets an ending. That dang writer's block always seems to be in my way. I'd love to know how do you as authors seem to get over the dreaded writier's block?

5) My nephew experienced his first Halloween last month, and discovered his first steps this month. Maybe I'm biased, but I think he's the cutest thing ever:

He's the white rabbit from Alice and Wonderland. I swear, he gets bigger every time I see him. He'll be turning one in December.            

Anyway, that's it for my Top 5 Monday Rants. Hope you all have a good Monday :)

In My Mailbox!

Hey fellow readers! It's another posting of In My Mailbox! Hosted by The Story Siren, this week I got...

Bought:

Reason To Breathe -- Rebecca Donovan (e-book)

That's all the books that I got this week. It's been a slow week for me this week. Hopefully you all had a better week. Be sure to leave your link so I can see what awesome books you got too! 

Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

                                          Book: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
                                          Pages: 338
                                          Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal/Fantasy
                                          Source: Library

Short Synopsis: The last time Juliette touched someone, a little boy had died. She swears it was an accident, but has been locked away in a institution so that she would no longer hurt anyone. Can she survive what The Reestablishment has in store for her?

My Thoughts: A very appealing novel, but it seemed a bit too much Marvel comics for my taste. 

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
--From Goodreads

A very fast paced addicting read, Juliette is a girl who is a danger to society, and herself. She has a special power. The ability to kill a human being with just the touch of her hands. She doesn't know how or why she has this power, but she knows that she is lethal. Juliette never wanted to hurt anyone. Juliette is a very likable character, and I found to be rooting for her throughout the novel. She has an interesting "gift", but it felt a little too X-men/ The Hulk for me. 

And then, one day, a new prisoner is put into Juliette's cell. She has no idea why they gave her a cell mate, but they both find out that it takes time to trust the other. I enjoyed reading the build up and relationship between Juliette and her cell mate, Adam. And then Juliette learns that Adam isn't who he thought she was. And though she seems to forgive Adam for what he did, Juliette is also plummeted into another world with a man named Warner, who wants to treat Juliette as a weapon, but in turn promises to take care of her. At times, I found Juliette to have a dash of Stockholm Syndrome when it came to Warner, and wasn't really a fan of it. 

Overall, it was an interesting read, but I found some of the scenarios a bit too unbelievable. Juliette has powers that can kill with just a touch of her hands. And she also has the ability to smash through concrete when she really wants to. She sounds like a hybrid of Rogue from X-Men, and the Hulk. And I wasn't a fan of the writing style either, as it got a bit annoying at times with the constant strike through of intentional words. In general, I liked the story enough, but I'm not quite sure if I'd follow through on this series.

Would I recommend this book: Eh

Rating: I give this book a 3/5.

Review: Taken At Dusk by C.C. Hunter

                                              Book: Taken At Dusk by C.C. Hunter
                                              (Shadow Falls #3, May contain spoilers)
                                              Pages: 380
                                              Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
                                              Source: Library

Short Synopsis: Kylie still struggles with her feelings between Derek and Lucas, but she's more determined to find out what she really is, and if she has other family members involved in her life.

My Thoughts: I love reading this series. With familiar characters, I'm always dying to find out what's next in store for Kylie.

Step into Shadow Falls, a camp for teens with supernatural powers.  Here friendship thrives, love takes you by surprise, and our hearts possess the greatest magic of all.
Kylie Galen wants the truth so badly she can taste it. The truth about who her real family is, the truth about which boy she’s meant to be with—and the truth about what her emerging powers mean.  But she’s about to discover that some secrets can change your life forever…and not always for the better.
Just when she and Lucas are finally getting close, she learns that his pack has forbidden them from being together.  Was it a mistake to pick him over Derek? And it’s not just romance troubling Kylie. An amnesia-stricken ghost is haunting her, delivering the frightful warning, someone lives and someone dies. As Kylie races to unravel the mystery and protect those she loves, she finally unlocks the truth about her supernatural identity, which is far different—and more astonishing—than she ever imagined.
--From Goodreads

This is a series that I enjoy reading. I love Hunter's writing style, as though her novels are spread out, Hunter makes it easy to follow along to, and has review scenes without making it too obvious. In this installment, there's a lot happening in Kylie's world. She feels as though Derek has abandoned her, and so Kylie decides to give Lucas a shot at being together, even though she still has feelings for Lucas. It was cute reading how protective Lucas was of Kylie at times, and how awkward it can be when two guys are falling for the same girl. Aside from the boy drama, Kylie also has a moment with Lucas' grandmother, as Lucas' grandmother warns Kylie that if she doesn't turn out to be a werewolf, Lucas' pureblood line, may be in danger.
Aside from all the relationship drama, Kylie also has a moment where she thinks she has found other family members, from her father's side, and can finally find answers to what she really is. But things go awry when Burnett finds out that the couple claiming to be Kylie's grandparents, might in fact be impostors, hired by Kylie's enemies.
And if things weren't worse for Kylie, she is even more determined to find out once and for all, what she really is. Everyone else knows what they are, and Kylie is frustrated by the second. She has powers where she can see, talk, and help spirits find their way, she also has healing powers unlike anything else, but she also has hints where she might be a shifter. With everything that's going on, I loved reading what Kylie was going through, and the ending left me craving for more. I can't wait to read what happens next.

Would I recommend this book: Yes!

Rating: I give this book a 4/5.

Teaser Tuesday!

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

Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.
She can’t.
She used to think her problems were all in her head.
They aren’t.
She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.
She’s wrong.
In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?
--From Goodreads

My Teasers: "I studied my brother. His posture was relaxed, his arms draped casually over either side of the patterned black and gold armchair. Daniel would never believe the things that were happening to me, the things I could do, were real--aside from Noah, who would?"
--P.g. 140-141, "The Evolution of Mara Dyer" by Michelle Hodkin. 

To play along with Teaser Tuesdays, you:


• 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 read your fun teasers too! Thanks for stopping by :)

Top 5 Monday Rants

Hey fellow readers! It's another posting of Top 5 Monday Rants! Hope your weekend was more eventful than mine :)

So, here we go!

1) I don't know about you, but I hate getting spam mail. And it seems to be accumulating everyday! Do you know how many e-mails I've gotten that sound something like: "Attention! Your e-mail has won X amount of dollars! To claim your prize, please give out all your personal information!" It really doesn't say that, but you get my drift. And if any of those e-mails were actually legit, I'd be a billionaire by now. Sigh. One can only dream right? I've been forwarding all my spam to spam@uce.gov, which seems to be helping some, but I still get a butt load everyday.

2) Has anyone seen that show Honey Boo Boo? I personally haven't, but have seen clips from ET tonight, and can't believe those people actually have a reality tv show. I can't believe the behavior of that little child, and the fact that she gets away with it. I'd be so embarrassed if I acted like that when I was younger, in public, let alone on live tv. What has reality shows come to? *Shakes head*

3) I recently found an article that stated that Amazon can and will delete and close your whole kindle account without any explanation. I know that there are two sides to every story, but that is just pretty scary. For more info on that article, you can read it HERE

4) Is anyone going to see the last Breaking Dawn movie? I've seen all of them up until this one, and will probably see this one eventually. I wasn't much of a fan of Breaking Dawn part I. Hopefully the last one will be better. I personally still love the first movie, Twilight out of all of them.

5) The Hurricane Sandy that's supposed to hit the east coast looks pretty scary. I remember what it was like when Hurricane Katrina hit, and am not in any rush to relive any of that again any time soon. I hope everyone in the east coast makes it out okay.

That's it for my weekly Top 5 Monday Rants! Hope you all have a good Monday :)

In My Mailbox!

Hey readers! It's that time again for In My Mailbox. Hosted by The Story Siren, this week I got...

For Review:

Stalk Me -- Jillian Dodd (e-book sent from author for review from AToMR)

From Library:

The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2) -- Michelle Hodkin

The Secret Circle, The Hunt -- Aubrey Clark.

That's all the books I got this week. I'm still trying to recover from my pile of books from last week. So many books so little time. Be sure to leave your link so I can see your awesome goodies too.