Early Review: Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14

by Emmy Laybourne

Expected publication: June 5th 2012 by Feiwel & Friends

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

A huge store isn’t the worst place to be stranded. There’s food and water, bedding and books. But what if it’s not safe to leave? Emmy Laybourne had us from the get-go with her utterly fresh and fast-paced debut.

Six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids are trapped together in a chain superstore. Together they build a refuge for themselves inside, while outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapon spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Publication Date: June 5th 2012

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Format: eARC, 294 pages 

Series: no

Source: Netgalley

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My review

Dean and his brother Alex are late for the bus. And as they run for it, they can never imagine this might be the last time they'll see their parents. On the way to school a terrible hail storm hits the city. But this isn't ordinary hail. These are enormous balls, heavy enough to start breaking the windows and making dents in the roof of the school buses. The students are hurt and there a couple of casualties, but eventualy they end up in the momentary safety of the inside of a superstore. There are kids from fifth grade to high school seniors. And they have to fend for themselves until help comes. If it ever will.

Inside the store are fourteen people: Dean, who is in love with super athlete Astrid, whom is dating Jake, the hot jock. Niko, the boy scout, likes Josie, the girl with a serious head concussion who eventually gets better and hooks up with Brayden, the jerk. And then there is Sahalia, the thirteen year-old that wants to be a grown-up and Alex, the pre-adolescent tech genious. And the six little kids who all want their momies. 

The Network, which has never gone down, is not working. So there is no contact with the outside world. Their only source of information from the outside comes from an old slim TV, that is considered completely outdated, but, unlike everything else, works without The Network. That's how they discover that there's been an 8.2 earthquake, the biggest volcano eruption and tsunami ever documented and, if that wasn't bad enough, that there has been a leak of chemical warfare compounds from NORAD. A chemical leak that forms a very thick cloud all over the city and, if inhaled, causes different reactions depending on the blood type of the individual. Blood type O can become bloodthirsty, losing their minds and killing anything in sight.  Blood type A can have blisters all over their bodies, which can make them hemorrhage to death. Blood type AB can hallucinate and blood type B can have no reactions on the outside at all, but become sterile.

After a few days go by and they start to accept that maube nobody is coming, the teens begin to argue about who is in charge and who makes the decisions. Should they enjoy their days and play and have fun with all the store has available? Or should they organize everything, calcute how long their provisions will last, control the electric power to last longer, etc? It was fascinating to see them react to the problems that kept coming up and find the solutions. To see them deal with the issues at hand, see them deal with the very difficult small kids and with each other. 

The book showed some kinds of situations you never even imagine can ever happen, so it's good to know what is possible to do with the items at hand and how to act if certain circumstances ever come up. It may be fiction, but, however unlikely, not everything there is impossible.

I really, really enjoyed the book as a whole. There was never a dull moment, everything that happened was exciting and surprising and intriguing and made you want more and more and more... but the ending was SO very frustrating. I wish there was an epilogue or something, so we know what really happens, how it really ends. From the first sentence I knew I would really enjoy this book. And I wasn't wrong. But even though I was seriously stirred up by the plot and the characters and everything, I just wasn't satisfied with the ending at all. But I really recommend it!! Monument 14 is amazingly creative, absurdly engaging.

If you like post-apocalyptic and dystopian YAs with a strong survival theme, some romance and drama thrown in the mix, you'll really enjoy Monument 14.

* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Teaser Tuesday #25

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

• Grab your current read

       • Open to a random page
      • Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
      • Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others.

Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles.

"Sometimes I wonder if there's something wrong with me. Perhaps I've spent too long in the company of my literary romantic heroes, and consequently my ideals and expectations are far too high."
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

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That quote hits so close to home it's scary. O.o

Oh, man. This book... it has such great scenes and such stupid/badly written ones. The characters are so... not-believable most of the time, but sometimes they feel almost touchable. But one thing is for sure: The author can certainly write great sex scenes (especially the 'vanilla' ones, in my opinion. Quite, QUITE hot.). Even if the rest of the 400 and so pages are pure fanfic/amateur style. I'm looking forward to watching the movie adaptation. It will probably be better than the book. ('cause it can't possibly be worse.). LOL.

It's not that bad, really... it's just not very good. But people don't really read it for the story... so it's all good. :P

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #23

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey. 

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading?  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!


I'm Currently Reading:

Fifty Shades of 
Grey
(more like Fifty Shades of weird, boring and TOO long and fanfic-like.)

Finished:
 
Generation Dead (I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. :)
Unleashed (don't even get me started on this-... this- ARGH!)
Land of the Living (Torturously boring)

Reviews posted:

Early Review: All These Lives by Sarah Wylie

Next Reads:

Blackwood 
(I'll find time for this one this week. I have to!)
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Well, what are you reading this week? Let me know. :) 
Mine was a particularly slow week because I was part of a student Congress that took four (reading) days of my life, so I couldn't read much. LOL.

Stacking the Shelves #5

Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process!

This new feature is hosted by Tynga from Tynga's Reviews.

This week I got:

From an online store:

 Gone
(I've been meaning to read this one for a while.)
Nightshade

(Love this new cover!)

For review, from Netgalley I got: 


Precisely Terminated
Skylark
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What did you get this week?

#FF - Feature and Follow #24

Feature and Follow is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee's View.
Beautiful button by Reading Into Hiding.

Q: Activity! Dreamcast your current read.

At this exact moment I am 'between reads' (just finished something and it's too late in the night to start another), so maybe I'll go with my forever favorite, Acheron. (Yup, this is yet another excuse to gush over that delicious - though fictitious - man)

So, to cast Acheron we need someone incredibly, delightfully, surprisingly and 'Godly' tall, strong and hot... the one person who comes to mind RIGHT now is (surprise, surprise!) CHRIS HEMSWORTH!!!

   

 

Seriously now, you guys. Just look at those arms eyes. Isn't he absolutely dreamy???

Since this is my cast/my movie, I won't even bother choosing other characters. As a matter of fact, the rest of the movie doesn't really matter to me at all, as long as Chris is in it. 

(And that goes for Snow White and the Huntsman, too. Yes, Chris, I'll even bear to watch that weirdo Kristen JUST because of you, babe.)

But tell me! What book did you cast? :)

If you're a new follower, please let me know so I can return the follow.

You can follow by GFC, Networked Blogs or any other way you feel like.

Early Review: All These Lives by Sarah Wylie

All These Lives
by Sarah Wylie

Expected publication: June 5th 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Sixteen-year-old Dani is convinced she has nine lives. As a child she twice walked away from situations where she should have died. But Dani’s twin, Jena, isn’t so lucky. She has cancer and might not even be able to keep her one life. Dani’s father is in denial. Her mother is trying to hold it together and prove everything’s normal. And Jena is wasting away.

To cope, Dani sets out to rid herself of all her extra lives. Maybe they’ll be released into the universe and someone who wants to live more than she does will get one. Someone like Jena. But just when Dani finds herself at the breaking point, she’s faced with a startling realization. Maybe she doesn’t have nine lives after all. Maybe she really only ever had one.

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

Publication Date: June 5th 2012

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Format: eARC, 245 pages 

Series: no

Source: Netgalley

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My Review

First line: This is how it feels to die: It starts from outside and works its way in. 

Last line: She looks a lot like my sister.

Favorite quote: "Most people think the biggest sacrifice, the greatest act of love you can give is to die for someone. 

And probably it is. 

But Sometimes it is the opposite.

The biggest thing you can do for someone is to live."

Sixteen-year-old Dani has survived a couple of situations in which she was very close to dying during her younger years, and she also remembers her mother telling her, in a playful way, that she takes after herself. That she is the girl with nine lives. Now, she's older and has to see her fraternal twin, Jana, go through the most horrible treatments for cancer. She can't even help by donating her marrow, because, incredibly enough, they're not compatible. 

But Dani is convinced she can help in another way. She has nine lives. Enough lives to spare. So she decides she'll throw a few of them up into the universe, hoping her sister will be able to 'capture' them and get better. But by doing so, she manages to push away the few friends she still has and to convince everyone she's trying to kill herself. But they don't understand. She's just trying to save her sister.

Her parents are trying very hard to act like things are normal, like nothing much has changed, but everything has. Jena specially. Dani can hardly recognize her sister anymore. She's so small, so weak, so sick and defeated. The smallest fever can bring her down, and she has almost daily visits to the hospital. At school, Jana's old friends act like she never even existed, and Dani can't stand that. So she finds comfort in teasing/bullying her classmate Jack when she feels like talking or just hanging out with her only friend, Lauren, (who just can't shut up) when she feels like losing herself in her thoughts. 

She also hangs out with bad boy Spencer, who seems to like her quite a bit, but quickly manages to push him away when she decides to crash his Harley for one of her soul 'deliveries'. Even though she still goes to school and random auditions to please her parents, Dani has really given up on studying and acting. Both things she used to be very good at. But now she has other priorities in life. Like trying to lose her lives.

I loved this cover. From the minute I saw it I knew I had to read this book. And it was SO good! I normally try to avoid much drama, but Danielle was such a complex character. She's trying so hard to pretend she's okay, that she's not freaking out on the inside about the possibility of losing her sister any day now. On the outside she tries to look like a very funny, very carefree person, (and she has some really great humorous quotes! Cracked me up quite a bit), but we  can see she's trying too hard. I really, really liked her. And Jana, the poor girl, was so sweet, also trying to hide how pissed and depressed she was about the disease. They broke my heart.

I'm not one for very dramatic and sad books, but once in a while a gem like this attracts me and I can't help but let it take over my life for a couple of hours. Probably because I always forget that after all the suffering, they usually leave me a feeling like having one's soul somewhat... lighter. 

Sarah Wylie is a very talented writer. She sucks you into the story, she honestly makes you care about the characters and feel what they're feeling. There's no better way to read a story than to feel like you're part of it. Too bad we can't change it.

If you like your YA with realistic fiction, dramatic family issues and very well-written characters and situations, you'll be blown away by All these Lives.

* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Teaser Tuesday / Recommendation #24

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

• Grab your current read

       • Open to a random page
      • Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
      • Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others.

Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles.

“Yes. Reyn is our resident horse master. He has an excellent seat."

I grinned. "I've noticed."

Reyn's face tightened and Nell flushed, looking embarrassed. "It's an equestrian term."

"Really? I thought you were talking about his ass.”

_________________________

This book was so much better than I could have ever expected. Really, I thought it would be kind of boring or just too juvenile, or something. Well, it shut me up pretty nicely. It was fantastic!!! Much more people should give it a try. It's very, very worth it. And I was NOT payed to say that. :)

What's your teaser this week?  

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #22

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey. 

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading?  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!


I'm Currently Reading:



Finished:

Reviews posted:

Early Review: Lethal Rider

Next Reads:



____________________________


What are you reading this week?

Stacking the Shelves #4

Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process!

This new feature is hosted by Tynga from Tynga's Reviews.

This week I got:

From an online store:

Enthralled

(That's my first YA anthology. I hope it's good)

Succubus Revealed

(I loved it so much I had to get a physical copy.)

For review, from Netgalley I got: 


The Unquiet
(And read it already! Very good!)
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What did you get this week?

#FF - Feature and Follow #23

Feature and Follow is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee's View.
Beautiful button by Reading Into Hiding.

Q: Summer Break is upon us! What would be the perfect vacation spot for you to catch up on your reading & relax?

I would love to visit Scotland and/or Ireland. They both look so, so beautiful!! And I hear the people there are really nice. :) I'd probably end up doing more than just reaidng, though.Oh, and the plane travels alone would be perfect time for reading. LOL.

______________________

Where would you like to go to relax and read?


If you are a new follower, please let me know so I can return the favor.
(You may follow the blog by GFC, Networked Blogs or e-mail.)

Early Review: Lethal Rider (Lords of Deliverance #3) by Larissa Ione/Reading Romances May Challenge

I chose this book for the Reading Romances May Challenge

2) Read a book by a favorite author or from a favorite genre.

Lethal Rider (Lords of Deliverance #3) 
by Larissa Ione

May 22nd 2012 by Grand Central Publishing

Thanatos, the most deadly Horseman of the Apocalypse, has endured thousands of years of celibacy to prevent the end of days. But just one night with the wickedly sexy Aegis Guardian, Regan Cooper, shatters centuries of resolve. Yet their passion comes with a price. And Thanatos must face a truth more terrifying than an apocalypse-he's about to become a father.

Demon-slayer Regan Matthews never imagined herself the maternal type, but with the fate of the world hanging in the balance she had no choice but to seduce Thanatos and bear his child. Now, as the final battle draws closer and his rage at being betrayed is overshadowed by an undeniable passion for the mother of his child, Thanatos has a life-shattering realization: To save the world, he must sacrifice the only thing he's ever wanted-a family.

Genre: Young Adult, Steampunk

Publication Date: May 1st 2012
Publisher: Amulet Books

Format: eARC, 368 pages 

Series: ?

Source: Netgalley

_______________________________________________________

My Review:

First line: Regan Matthews was going to die

Last line: Too spoilery.

Favorite quote: From virgin to dad in zero to sixty.

Guardian Regan Matthews is pregnant and almost ready to deliver. Normally women in her situation would be thrilled, counting the minutes and preparing everything for the new arrival... but hers is a quite different situation. 

First of all, her baby was conceived in a very unorthodox way, one that made the father-to-be freak out and decide to kill her. So now she's in hiding and he's in an induced 'coma' of sorts, thanks to his siblings. A very strange situation, indeed. But it gets weirder. How? Well, the father is Thanatos, the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse. A.k.a Death, if his Seal breaks. 

And in Thanatos' mind, Regan, an OCD Aegis Guardian and psychometric empath with other gifts, has tried to purposefully break his Seal. After drugging him with an aphrodisiac and trapping him in his own body with one of her abilities. Practically 'raping' him to end the world. Even if he did enjoy it immensely and wants to do it again, he's still majorly pissed off and wanted to kill her. Until he found out she was pregnant with his baby, of course. He did get pissed off all over again when she told him they wouldn't be raising the baby.

Regan feels terrible for what happened that day. She really regrets it, but she was drugged as well, by one of Than's vampires, and didn't notice that Thanatos was 'restrained' by her powers at all. She also was not aware that there was a possibility os his Seal breaking and releasing the Apocalypse on Earth. As a matter of fact, she was made to believe quite the contrary. And now she's knocked up by a very, very mad Horseman. Very hot, too. Who wants her to make up for the eight months in which he was trapped by his siblings so as not to kill many people with his rage. And he wants her to make up for this time sexually. While they try to understand each other, his brother, whose Seal broke and is now known as Pestilence, is wreaking havoc all around the world. And he wants to kill his baby.

Oh, man. I've been waiting patiently to read this gem for months now!!! Thanatos is the perfect example of the wounded, flawed hero. And super hot and damaged. How can a girl not go crazy over that? 

It was kind weird to read about a man going on about how his virginity/his seed/his innocence were stolen, though. You usually expect a heroine to whine about that kind of thing. LOL. But it was completely understandable. He wasn't overly whiny about it, thankfully. Just indignant for a while. Then things became much more interesting.


Larissa Ione always manages to surprise me with the depth of her characters and the twists in all of her plots. When you finally think you're getting something... everything changes. LOL. It should be frustrating, but it's really refreshing. Thanatos has been my favorite character ever since the first book in the series, so I was in absolute heaven just reading more and more about him. He suffered so much... it felt good to see him finally find some happiness.


Also, her angels are very different from what we are used to expect from angels, so that, too, is quite fascinating to read about. No perfect little goody-shoes in these books. They are good, of course, but even they are not perfect... and even their goodness can go bad. LOL.


But I particularly want to see more of Harvester. She gives me very mixed feelings. Oh, and I'm dying to know what really went on in Reaper's past. And what awaits him in the future... The curiosity is burning me up!


Not to mention that I want to see more of Reseph/Pestilence. Like, right NOW. You are killing me, Mrs. Ione!!! In a good way, obviously. Sort of. LOL. That first chapter only served to make me squirm! December, come quick. :X


If you don't mind some spoilers, check out the synopsis for Rogue Rider. It sounds like it will be out-of-this-world good. :)


* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Dirty Little Secret #14

Dirty Little Secret is a weekly meme hosted by us at Under the Covers. Every Thursday we get to know other bloggers and our readers more intimately by asking them a question hoping to reveal their dirty little secrets. We hope that you will all join us!


This week's question: 

If you could read one book again for the first time,

which one would you pick and why?

Oh. You mean, in order to relive all the awesomeness, the surprises and backstabbings and the excitement all over again, like it was the actual first time? Well, I'd definitely go with my favorite of this year, which is still quite fresh in my heart and mind:

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

This book is also known as The Gathering Dark. :)


It was seriously, incredibly, amazingly good. I cannot stress it enough. 
Ok, ok... that's enough. :P


What book would you choose?

"Waiting On" Wednesday #24

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.


Right now what I really want to read is:

Arise (Hereafter #2)
by Tara Hudson


Expected publication: June 5th 2012 by Harper Collins

Amelia—still caught between life and death—must fight for every moment of her relationship with the human boy Joshua. They can hardly even kiss without Amelia accidentally dematerializing. Looking for answers, they go to visit some of Joshua’s Seer relatives in New Orleans. But even in a city so famously steeped in the supernatural, Amelia ends up with more questions than answers…and becomes increasingly convinced that she and Joshua can never have a future together.Wandering through the French Quarter, Amelia meets other in-between ghosts, and begins to seriously consider joining them. And then she meets Gabrielle. Somehow, against impossible odds, Gaby has found a way to live a sort of half-life...a half-life for which Amelia would pay any price. Torn between two worlds, Amelia must choose carefully, before the evil spirits of the netherworld choose for her.

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I really enjoyed Hereafter, so now I'm looking forward to reading this sequel. :) Hopefully it will be just as good! 

Great cover, too, huh? It will go beautifully with the first one. (Yup. I'm such a cover whore...).

What are you waiting on?

Teaser Tuesday #23

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

• Grab your current read

       • Open to a random page
      • Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
      • Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others.

Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles.

"You got that right. It's indicative of an aneurysm, get it? Brain bleed? Nothing good, in other words. But you got better while I watched. Which is impossible."
"About as impossible as you still walking around alive. And I told you, I'm a quick healer. Got anything to eat around here?"
"I'm supposed to feed you now? After you tried to kill me?"
"I'm hungry," he whined.
"Tell it to the judge." She reached for the phone, found it gone, then spotted the pieces of the handset all over the floor.   

Derik's Bane by MaryJanice Davidson

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Some people hate MaryJanice's work because she's just so light, funny and quick with her stories... but I love her especially for that. Sometimes less is more. :) Which means, to me, that sometimes less narrative and just plain quick, witty dialogues do it for me. :P 
There isn't ONE story she wrote that I didn't like, but, obviously, I have my favorites (The werewolves and Betsy Taylor).
She's not that famous yet, either. But you can check her out here. She's hilarious. And a genius. And I was NOT payed to gush over her like that. At all. LOL.

What's your teaser this week?  

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #21

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey. 

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading?  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!


I'm Currently Reading:

The Unquiet
Derik's Bane


Finished:

Lethal Rider
The Night Circus

Reviews posted:

Early Review: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Early Review: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brow

Next Reads:

Shift
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What are you reading this week?