Tuesday Review Day!

THIRST NO. 4, The Shadow of Death (Tortured Soul. Final Judgment. The Last Vampire #4)

Written by: Christopher Pike

Publication date: August 9, 2011

Released in Paperback, Kindle and ebook by Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing

496 pages

Given to me by my special someone :)

5 stars - This series is a must read!

Synopsis: The conclusion to the phenomenally successful Thirst series follows five-thousand-year-old vampire Alisa Perne as she battles a new race of immortals: the Telar. The Telar are a challenging threat. But Alisa is hungry for blood - and thirsty for revenge.

My Review: This is no longer a story about a vampire. Sita has gone from human to the oldest "living" vampire to spiritual being, back to human, then vampire again, back to being a vampire/spiritual being that transcends all planes of the universe. She is truly remarkable. I mean really, what other book has a character like this? Christopher Pike is nothing short of remarkable himself; the thought and detail he has put into Sita's life and story. She's over 5,000 years old, she's done and seen everything (twice), been everywhere and she battles the most complex enemies.

Just a quick note: The synopsis may refer to her as Alisa Perne, but she will always be Sita to me - and that is how I will refer to her! Hmph.

Waking up in Teri's body is disorienting for Sita, feeling as though both she and Teri occupy the same body and mind. Her powers are limited; her psychic abilities are only a shadow of what they used to be, but her thirst has increased to nothing she's experienced since she was first turned. On top of all that, she's got Matt to deal with. She's hiding in his lover's body without him knowing and since he tried to kill her when he found out Sita was turning Teri into a vampire, she's in no rush to tell him! Seymour isn't too happy with it either. We all know how he feels about Sita and watching her with Matt is maddening, even if he doesn't show it.

With the ancient Telar threatening to destroy the human population by releasing an incurable, therefore deadly, virus - Sita and all her friends, Seymour, Matt and Shanti are scrambling for a cure and a way to kill the Telar. It looks like the only way to win this war, will be to team up with their other biggest enemy - the IIC. You know the saying, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"? Yeah, it's something like that. There's one problem - well there are many problems, but one of them is that Sita's group of friends, has a mole. After much consideration, she's pretty sure she knows who it is and is ready to make them pay - but she could be wrong, and too late.

Sita will meet (and introduce to us) another amazing character she finds along her journey. She will also travel to the beyond and back and acquire a new "angel" on her shoulder, so to speak. But is this new attachment helping or hurting her? She can feel it's presence but isn't sure of the true nature of its influence.

When it comes time for Judgment Day, Sita has a lot to be weighed. Literally. After 5,000 years can her good deeds outweigh the bad or is it her heart that will truly be judged?

Overall: If this is a series you are not familiar with, please give it a try. This is not what I would consider a "light" read. It is deep, spiritual (not religious and preachy - just has a spiritual foundation) and really makes your mind work for the story. It's like one of those movies where you really have to pay attention or you won't get it - but if you do, it's totally worth it! Action, love, action, memorable characters and more action!

But Ma! Everybody Else Is Doing It!!

I think I've decided to jump on the Iron Fey bandwagon and find out what all the hub-bub is about! I've read the synopsis several times but never brought it home. It's not that it sounded bad or uninteresting, it's just that there are so many other series that I have and haven't read, I didn't want to add to that pile. and when I showed the book to my bestie, she brought up a point that the story sounds similar to Need by Carrie Jones.

Now, I love a good faery tale, so to speak. Wings by Aprilynne Pike is one of my favorite books. I've also read Lament and Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater, Tithe by Holly Black and Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog. I'm no stranger to the different types of fey there are in the world of young-adult fiction. 

From what I've gathered around the blogosphere about the Iron Fey series is that there is a serious love triangle going on - everyone is torn between Team Ash and Team Puck! Plus, it sounds like there's a big war going on. Not to mention the initial shock of a "human" girl finding out she's really a faery. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say she doesn't embrace her faery-side at first and wants to keep as much of her human life as possible, am I right? But then she finds out her loved ones are in danger so she has to step up to the plate and play her role in the faery world to save them. They all do. I don't mean to imply that the series is predictable but even if it was, it wouldn't bother me. I have certain expectations when I read a book. I look for certain marks to be hit so that the story follows a certain, yet not strict, order. It might go something like this:

1. Introduction to main character and friends 
2. Main character grows suspicious
3.  Detective work that leads up to...
4.  Discovery of what she really is 
5. Denial 
6. Danger 
7. Acceptance 
8. Big fight 
9. Happy ending with or without major cliffhanger for the sequel

You know, something like that. Give or take.

I don't own any of the books yet, but I think I would like to get into them very soon. Not only does this series have 3 books out already (Iron King, Iron Daughter and Iron Queen) as well as a fourth one set to release October 25th, but there are also 2 exclusive ebooks (Winter's Passage, #1.5 and Summer's Crossing, #3.5)! To me this always says: the fans loved the books so much they wanted more and since publication between books is so long, the author decided to give them a little something to hold them over. This doesn't happen for every series so when I see these short e-stories, I think to myself, "Wow, it must be good!"

So my question for you is this:

How will this series stand out from others? 

Can you give me any more incentive to read it?

For those of you who have read the Iron Fey series, you probably don't need another reminder, but if not for that than another look at the awesome cover can't hurt!

"Ash, former prince of the Winter Court, gave up everything. His title, his home, even his vow of loyalty. All for a girl… and all for nothing.

Unless he can earn a soul."

Oooh, intriguing, isn't it? For those of you who haven't read this series, are you thinking what I'm thinking? What do you mean 'earn a soul'? He doesn't have a soul? Why doesn't he have a soul? I've gotta read these books!

Book Blogger Hop #11

I'm really glad to be doing the Book Blogger Hop this week, hosted by none other than Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books. She is kind enough to continue this hop, and for that I am thankful!

So this week's question is a non-book-related!

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?

My answer: No I do not. I love animals but what I don't love is the maintenance they require. I don't do litter boxes and I'm not walking the dog at 8am in the winter time. Some might say to train it to go in the house. To me, that's the same as having a cat. Yuck. Either way, a mess is a mess is a mess - and I ain't cleaning it! I would love to pet your pets though!

Tuesday Review Day and Giveaway Winners!!

The winners of the Sci-Fi and Steampunk Giveaway are:

 Christie the Teen Librarian

Cassandra Cruz

Teressa Oliver

and

Allyson Nobles

!!!!!!

Congratulations guys!

This is the order the winners will pick their books as well. The first winner has already been contacted and chosen her books. The rest will also be emailed in order. Thanks for entering!

Now for my SPOLIER-FREE review of...

FOREVER (THE WOLVES OF MERCY FALLS, #3)

Written by Maggie Stiefvater

Publication date: July 12, 2011

Released in Hardcover, paperback, Kindle, Audio CD and ebook

390 pages

4 1/2 stars

Synopsis: In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

My Review: First, let me say that this book is very appropriately titled, because it literally takes forever to read! The book has 78 chapters!! Seventy-eight chapters is a lot and no matter how much I read in a night, I still didn't make any progress. I would be on chapter 14 and only a centimeter through the book! That's crazy!

The book starts off with a bang! A short intro with a cliffhanger right in the beginning. Maggie Stiefvater knows how to suck you in with great descriptions and analogies, then she hits you with the unexpected and your mouth is left hanging open.

As you know from the end of Linger, Grace has finally shifted into a wolf. She's just off...in the woods...doing wolf things. It's unbelievable! It's Spring in Minnesota - which sounds like an oxymoron to me! Still, Spring is Spring and the season can be fickle; sometimes warm, sometimes cold. Not good for the skin...or the pelt, for that matter!

So in this story, Sam and Cole are in some pretty dark places, for very different reasons and to different degrees. They both have their own unique ways of expressing themselves. Especially Cole! Sam is trying to cope with the comings and goings of Grace while fending off the police and their questions regarding Grace's mysterious escape from the hospital. Sam finds an ally in an unexpected person. With the whole town believing Sam is guilty of such terrible things, it's really sad. Sam is so innocent, fragile, docile, and seeing these people treat him like a psychopath is painful to watch. Cole on the other hand is struggling with some inner demons and a major turning point in his life. Isabel is indeed a factor in this change, so you definitely have that to look forward to!

Back to poor wolf-Grace. I couldn't help but think that now she was able to experience what Sam was going through all those years. Struggling to keep the two halves of his life together yet apart - Sam the boy and Sam the wolf. With the wolves of Mercy Falls in the danger of being wiped out, Sam, Cole and Isabel must figure out a way to get Grace and all their other wolf friends out of the woods before it's too late.

There is a tear-jerking moment near the end and I wish I could say more about it but I promised no spoilers! I won't say much about the ending either except that it wasn't what I expected.

Maggie Stiefvater makes a Jungle Book reference!! I love it!!

One consistent piece of this series that I enjoyed throughout were the woods. It often reminded me of times when I was young. I loved playing in the woods behind my house. If I went back deep enough there was a small stream and I would sit and just listen to the noises around me. There wasn't anything cool in those woods, like wolves that were really cute boys, but I still enjoyed it!

Overall: I have to say, an unfortunate thing about this series is that the sequels don't hold a candle to the first. Shiver was so good, so beautiful, magical and romantic that I think readers thereafter expected the same out of Linger and Forever. I know I did. Where Shiver was full of mystery and excitement and suspense, it's followers were more full of story and banter. I just wanted exciting stuff to happen! I think the only reason I was able to push through Linger to get to Forever is because I'd already become invested in the story, I had to see it through. I'm pretty sure the huge cliffhangers at the end of each book had a lot to do with, too.

Thank You. Thank You, Very Much.

I'd like to thank all of you that have shown your support and for the great advice! I am definitely taking all of it into consideration and using it to make some changes to my blog. Physical changes you will be able to see but most changes will be behind the scenes but all of them will be to better my blog and my connections to other bloggers.

Yes, it is very time consuming to run two blogs but I know it is just as important to reach out, which I plan to do a lot more of. I am very thankful for all my followers, both old and new!

So, I guess I am officially announcing that I will NOT be shutting down my blog! The truth is, it would have been really weird not doing this anymore. I would have missed it.

Come back for my review of FOREVER by Maggie Stiefvater on the next Tuesday Review Day! See you there!

What Happens When You Just Feel Like Giving Up?

So here's the deal. I've been blogging for over a year now and I love it, I honestly do. I love that I discovered the world of young-adult book readers and all the amazing things these bloggers do. I love sharing my reviews and all the exciting books news I learn. I'm always trying to stay on top of all things books, like release dates, cover releases, sequels, books being made into movies, books being made into graphic novels, debut authors and novels and so on and so on.


The truth is this: I feel like it's all for naught. I wish I had the time to promote my blog the way I know successful blogs need to be but I just don't. My monthly views have decreased and no one responds to anything I say or do AND I lost a follower today! I offer giveaways that no one enters. I'm talking to myself here! With school starting in just two short weeks, I'm beginning to wonder if my blog will be worth keeping up.


SO...basically, if this post doesn't yield some kind of response from my followers, I'm afraid this will be my final post.


To those of you that have entered my Sci-Fi and Steampunk Giveaway, I truly appreciate it and don't worry, you will still be able to win your books.

Big Release Month!!

There are a TON of hot new releases coming out this month! August is definitely a good month to be a reader and it's already gotten off to a great start!

August 1st, Circle of Fire, Prophecy of the Sisters #3, was released as well as Dream Dark: A Beautiful Creatures Story Caster Chronicles #2.5, on August 2nd in ebook.

 

Right on their heels on August 9th are Thirst No. 4: The Shadow of Death (Thirst #4) and All You Desire (Eternal Ones) #2.

Here are some more amazing new releases coming this month

  

AUGUST 16

Bargains and Betrayals (13 to Life #3)

AUGUST 23

The Power of Six (Lorien legacies#2)

Bloodlines (Bloodlines #1)

  

Vampire Academy: The Graphic Novel

AUGUST 29

The Sookie Stackhouse Companion (Sookie Stackhouse)

  

AUGUST 30

                               Fury (The Fury Series #1)     Hades (Halo #2)

 

Succubus Revealed (Georgina Kincaid #6)

 HAPPY READING!

I WENT TO TWICON!!!

I was so lucky to be able to attend TwiCon this year! It was hosted at the Hilton Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey (about an hour and forty-five minutes from me). So I brought with me my best friend, my younger cousin and a whole lotta excitement!

I wish I could say I was there for all three days from open to close but I wasn't. I went one day for a few hours but it was enough for me. I have to honest, if Robert Pattinson was there, I probably would have bought a room just to stalk him until his bodyguards had me removed! However, getting to see Booboo Stewart (Seth Clearwater), Jodelle Ferland (Bree Tanner), Gil Birmingham (Billy Black) and Chaske Spencer (Sam Uley) was really awesome!

We missed the Q&A with Booboo Stewart but caught him walking around with his enormous bodyguard. He was even cuter in person and taller than I thought. I'm 5'2 and if I was standing in front of him, I'd probably have to look up - a little.

The picture is far away because I was trying to sneak a pic of him without paying for one and I was afraid they'd take my camera if I got caught! He's the one in the white button-down if you haven't figured it out.

They auctioned off some pretty cool things like giant movie banners of Booboo Stewart (sold for $140.00); Volturi banner $160.00; a Kristen Stewart autographed Volturi picture $140.00; a Robert Pattinson autographed pic for $180.00 and a whole lot more. But the big winner of the evening was a giant movie banner of the Wolf Pack that sold for a whopping $340.00!!! Whoa. Some serious Team Jacob fans out there!

Speaking of Jacob - here's a nice pic for you...

Oh wait! That's not Taylor Lautner!!!!! That's just some dude that looks EXACTLY like him! Isn't that crazy? He is an actor that performed in an Eclipse Parody created by The Hillywood Show sisters who make parodies of popular movies and are extremely talented.

By far the best part of Twicon were the guest panels. Jodie Ferland was so sweet and funny. She working on lots of new projects so there will be plenty more movies to see her in. Some interesting Jodie facts: her favorite actor is Johnny Depp (mine too), her favorite book is Breaking Dawn (she's team Edward!) and a vegetarian. She said the best part of playing a vampire was wearing the red contacts and to shoot her last scene (right before Felix rips her head off) she had to scream and "die" over and over again! She stated Robert Pattinson was impressed she could even speak the next day. She even gave us a little squeal! She told us that her friends knew she was going to be in Eclipse before she did! They all found out online and called her screaming with excitement - but she still had no idea! She also loves to paint and draw in her free time.

The highlight of the day for me was Gil Birmingham and Chaske Spencer. They were absolutely hilarious! For example, when asked what profession they would never want to be, Gil said politician and Chaske answered crack-whore! They were also asked the opposite of that question - if they weren't actors, Gil thinks he would be a musician and Chaske said he would love to be a photographer for National Geographic. How awesome is that?! Birmingham joked about not having read the Twilight books and I'm not 100% sure he was kidding! Can you imagine?? On the set of Breaking Dawn Part 1, in the scene where Billy Black rolls out of the house to find Jacob's discarded wedding invitation, Gil told us how many times he came close to falling out of the wheelchair and face-planting in the mud!


That pretty much wraps up my day at Twicon, but first let me show you what I brought home with me...

That's right! Bella's engagement ring! Love it! Last but not least, a pic of me and my bestie at Twicon!

that's me on the left

Sci-Fi and Steampunk Giveaway!!!!!

Hey Everyone!

It's been a long time since I've been able to give anything away, so I hope you like what I have - 10 books and 5 winners!

Any of you fans of the steampunk series Vampire Empire by Clay & Susan Griffith? If so, you are in luck! I am giving away a copy of Vampire Empire Book One: The Greyfriar and an ARC of Vampire Empire Book Two: The Rift Walker, just received today!

I also have 8 sci-fi books by Henry Melton up for grabs! The books I'm giving away are:

Pixie Dust

Follow That Mouse

Lighter Than Air

Falling BAKward

Golden Girl

Emperor Dad

Roswell or Bust

Extreme Makeover

Since I have a lot to give away, here's how things will work. I will be giving away both books in the Vampire Empire Series together. The Henry Melton books will be given away in two's. The first winner will pick their two, the second winner will pick theirs and so on until the last winner will take whatever two books are left. FIVE WINNERS TOTAL!!

Rules to Enter: Open to U.S. residents only - End date August 23rd

1. Must be a follower - new or old

2. For your official entry, you must comment on a recent post
3. Fill out the linky thing with your information

Extra Entries - Spread the Word
1. Tweet about the giveaway +1

2. Blog about the giveaway post +2

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON A RECENT POST FOR YOUR OFFICIAL ENTRY! NO COMMENT - NO ENTRY!

Since this is my first time using Google Docs, I'm a little worried that entries won't go through so you may want to comment or email me (bloggerful_1@yahoo.com) your information as well.

Thanks and Good Luck!