#FF - Feature and Follow #34

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Q: What is a deal breaker for you in a book? For example, do you abhor love triangles? Or can’t deal with bad editing?

Geez... bad editing will ruin a whole book for me. I gave up She Smells the Dead after the first page... but then it wasn't just bad editing, it involved bad writing, too. >.> That is another deal breaker for me, I'm afraid.

Beautiful cover, though...



Oh, and Julie from New Adult Addiction reminded me of something that seriously pisses me off in adult books: WHY ARE THE HEROINES (almost) ALWAYS VIRGINS???!!! They can be good, kind-hearted, worthy of happiness and pure of mind without having to all be freaking virgins, ok!? And if it was only in historicals, which would be acceptable and, well, expected, it would be alright... but contemporary books are filled with virgins, too. Who are you trying to fool here?



Let's not forget the much older heroes, either. What's up with that, authors? Why do you write about young virgin girls from 18-22 years falling for 36-year old men or older? Can't they be nice, young men of, I don't know, 25 years old, or in some way just closer in age to the heroines? Maybe it wouldn't be so realistic for historicals, but it happens a lot in contemporary, too. I'm getting tired of imagining a man of my father's age with a girl my age. Just... yuck.



 And don't even get me started on the unbelievable number of red heads and blondes in books, either. >.>

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#FF - Feature and Follow #32

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 Q: What hyped up book do you think was worth all the talk?

Oooh, I have been anxiously waiting for this question. :P

I was quite surprised with all the hype around Shadow and Bone and Pushing the Limits. I actually hesitated to join in for a couple of months... until, against my better judgement and fear of being disappointed, I went to Netgalley and gave them a chance.

Boy, was I right to risk it. I just LOVED Shadow and Bone and quite enjoyed Pushing the Limits. :)

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#FF - Feature and Follow #31

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Q: What hyped up book do you think was not worth all the talk?

I really don't want to instigate people's killing instincts any more than I normally do, but if I have to be honest, I'll just say it:

I can't understand all the hype that surged over Throne of Glass. I mean, it was an okay book, but... seriously? Normally I love books like that, with awesome heroines and weird heroes... but this one? Not so much.

Another silly book that, in my opinion got WAY too much marketing promotion was Starcrossed. I couldn't even get through the first chapter! O.o Sure, the author is very attractive, the premise is awesome and the cover is GORGEOUS. But the content... meh.

If next week's question is about the hyped up books that DID live up to the all the talk, I have some fantastic winners lined up here.Both of them got me from the first sentence.
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#FF - Feature and Follow #30

Feature and Follow is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee's View.
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Q: Best Cover? What is the best cover of a book that you’ve read and didn’t like?

Oh, no doubt about it, it was 

Hourglass.

I had a serious case of cover-love-at-first-sight, so I even pre-ordered the hardcover edition! But the minute I started reading it... well, I was incredibly disappointed. The writing felt weak, the characters were very bland, and the story simply didn't suck me in. 

It had everything to be awesome: a fantastic cover, an exciting synopsis, a mysterious hottie... too bad it didn't do it for me.

A lot of people loved it, though. But I guess that kind of thing always happens. :P

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#FF - Feature and Follow #28

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Q: Do your reading habits change based on your mood? Do you read a certain genre if you are feeling depressed or happy?
I think so, yes. Sometimes I just have to read about someone with a worse life than mine (so apocalyptic dystopians are usually the right choice), or with a better love life than mine (some romance, then, be it YA, adult, contemporary...) or with a whole other kind of reality (here comes the historicals/time-travel fiction and/or anything set in an interesting foreign country) and so on. :)
But when it comes to review books, I just read them in the order of publication, regardless of the current mood. LOL. And, yes, I suppose it does affect my reviews, sometimes.


Are your reading habits based on your moods?


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#FF - Feature and Follow #28

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Q: Summer Reading. What was your favorite book that you were REQUIRED to read when you were in school?

Well, I live in Brazil, so I had to read a lot of classics of the brazilian literature. They were not always my cup of tea, you see, what with the different 'dialect' (that's the only way I can think of to explain it) and all. The portuguese language is in constant change (I guess they all are), so books from a couple of centuries ago hold a kind of vocabulary and spelling completely different from the present one. So... it gets very annoying and confusing when you have to read a book that is supposedly in your own language, but that requires the aid of a dictionary. *rolls eyes*


Anyway, the one book I ended up not minding so much having to read for my Literature class and Vestibular (our SAT's, sort of) was 'A Normalista'.


It's the story of a girl that loses her mother, is abandoned by her father and left to be raised by her Godfather... who ends up raping her when she grows into a young woman. She tries to tell her 'stemother' about it, but the woman doesn't believe her, assuming, of course, that she was the one tempting him. The girl then becomes pregant and is sent to the country to deliver... and I remember that after a very long, very painful labor, she gets up and the baby drops on its head o the floor. It was stillborn, but even so... O.O I've read that book years ago, but the image is still vivid inside my head. I think that's why I ended up liking this book so much. It's not that I'm bloodthirsty, you see ( At least I think I'm not. LOL), it's just that it was so... crude. Just... there. The same thing for the rape scenes. There was nothing poetic or veiled or insinuated about anything. But that's naturalism for you.


What was your answer?


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#FF - Feature and Follow #27

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Q: Christmas in July! Someone gives you a gift card for two books (whatever that costs). What two books will you buy?

The minute I finished my e-ARC of this book, I knew I had to have it. And, even though the cover for the other edition (The Gathering Dark) is much prettier, I would probably still buy this one:

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Trilogy #1) 
by Leigh Bardugo

Published June 5th 2012 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

And, now that I have finally started reading the first volume in the Outlander series, I can't help but want to really see it. So, the graphic novel for it is the best way I can think of, until they make the  movie/TV series, whatever. :P

The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel (Outlander)
by Diana Gabaldon, Hoang Nguyen (Illustrator)

Published September 21st 2010 by Del Rey

Diana Gabaldon’s brilliant storytelling has captivated millions of readers in her bestselling and award-winning Outlander saga. Now, in her first-ever graphic novel, Gabaldon gives readers a fresh look at the events of the original Outlander: Jamie Fraser’s side of the story, gorgeously rendered by artist Hoang Nguyen.

Step into the captivating, passionate, and suspenseful world of The Exile, and experience the storytelling magic of Diana Gabaldon as never before.

So, which books would you get?

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#FF - Feature and Follow #25

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Q: If you could “unread” a book, which one would it be? Is it because you want to start over and experience it again for the first time? Or because it was THAT bad?


BITCH ALERT


As I am a frequent visitor of used book stores, I sometimes happen upon wonderful jewels. 
But I most likely find terrible things. Things I still can't believe got published.
What I mean is: I have read a lot of bad books. A LOT. 
So I 'll just name a few. 
(I should have known the minute I saw most of these covers, but still I tried... so it was my fault)




These are here because I coudn't keep going after the first few 5 or 10 pages. Most likely because I thought the writing was THAT bad/boring, the heroine was THAT bland/stupid, the plot was almost NONEXISTANT/UNBELIEVABLE or it sounded like a very bad fanfic.


But this just proves again how we all have very different opinions, right? Tons of people enjoyed these books. (and most of them will probably crucify me for listing Steel here, along with Halflings and Deadly Little Secret, which, to me, is a version of Twilight I hated even more than I did the original. -Please note that even Twilight didn't make this list.-).


Fans, I beg of you. Don't kill me/hate me. Just tell me, what was your answer?


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#FF - Feature and Follow #24

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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? :)

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#FF - Feature and Follow #23

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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.

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Where would you like to go to relax and read?


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#FF - Feature and Follow #19

Feature and Follow is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee's View.

Q: Fight! Fight! If you could have two fictional characters battle it out (preferably from books), who would they be and who do you think would win?

Acheron Parthenopaeus (from The Dark-Hunters) could take anyone. He's a freaking God, for goodness' sake! *-* I could even give out a few names, but I'd just be sending them to their certain death. :P 

I'd much rather have him on a pillow fight with me. And let me tell you... we would both win. LOL. But that's just me, not one for violence. I'm all for luuuuuuv. 

Now, what fight would you like to see?

Oh, and if you're a new follower, please let me know and I'll follow back. :)

#FF - Feature and Follow #17

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Q: Have you ever bought a book BECAUSE of a bad review?

Not really, no. LOL. It's usually the other way around for me, actually. But I have bought some books with really horrible reviews that I ended up enjoying immensely. So... go figure. :)

If you're a new follower, please let me know. :)

What was your answer?

#FF - Feature and Follow #16

Feature and Follow is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee's View.

Q: Do you read one book at a time or do you switch back and forth between two or more?

I usually switch back and forth between a few, but when I have a 'free' day I like to grab a book I'm really looking forward to and finish it in one sitting (if it turns out to be just as good as I hoped, that is).

What about you?
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#FF - Feature and Follow #15

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Q: What is the longest book you’ve read? What are your favorite 600+ page reads?


According to Goodreads, it was It, by master Stephen King. :)
 
It had 1093 pages of pure horror. LOL. Stephen does like to make them long. But my favorite still is, as you might already know:


 
Acheron, in all of its 722 pages glory. *-*


What was your answer?
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#FF - Feature and Follow #14

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Q: What is the best book you’ve read in the last month? What is the worst book you’ve read in the last month?

 

 

Oh, the best one was, no doubt about it, Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama. It was fantastic. It has been quite a while since a book really blew my mind like this one did. I can't stress how absolutely amazing it was. :)

The worst was probably Burn by Heath Gibson. I just didn't care much for anything about it. The plot, the characters, the writing... it was not for me at all.

What was your answer?

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