In My Mailbox (1!)

Let me just preface this by saying I have never participating in book blog memes before and this is my very first one!  The reason I haven't participated thus far is that I'm still a baby blogger in that I don't have many followers/hits and thus don't have much clout with publishers.  So this probably won't be a weekly thing here, but I just had to share with you what came in my mailbox yesterday....

In My Maibox is a meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

For review:

Scholastic sent The Scorpio Races (ARC) by Maggie Stiefavater

SQUEEEEE!!!

Simon and Schuster sent The Radleys (ARC) by Matt Haig as a Goodreads win

Books I swapped for:

A Stolen Life, a Memoir by Jaycee Dugard

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The Nine Lives of Chloe King by Liz Braswell

A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon

Sweetly

Sweetly
Jackson Pearce
310 pages
Publisher: Little Brown
Source: library
★★★☆☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

After being kicked out of their step-mother's home, Ansel and Gretchen end up on the road to anywhere and end up in the very small town of Live Oak, where they end up living with the local outcast-chocolatier in exchange for chores.  Despite the new chapter in their lives, Gretchen is still haunted by the loss of her twin sister all those years ago, when she was stolen by something in the woods.  But even having moved thousands of miles away, the mystery of what's in the woods stealing young girls is growing and Gretchen must act soon in order to save some lives.

Once again Jackson Pearce does a wonderful job taking a classic fairy tale and turning into a modern story with a quick, tense plot.  After reading Sisters Red earlier this week I was excited to see how she would spin the classic tale of Hansel and Gretel and to see her take on witches.  Sadly for me, the book didn't contain much in the way of witches after the first few chapters.

Still, it was a great story that contained a lot of the details of the classic tale, particularly a house that looks like it's made of candy.  Oh the candy!  There were so many delicious sounding treats in the book, I probably gained five pounds just reading it.  Chocolate covered Oreos and potato chips come to mind...

Sorry, got distracted by the yummy.  Anyway, Sweetly was a great retelling, just like its predecessor and I recommend.  I took a course in college about fairy tales, so retellings always interest me and I'll be on the lookout if Jackson Pearce comes out with another one.

PS: Can we comment on how this cover is just as gorgeous as the one for Sisters Red?  Whoever at Little Brown is picking these covers is doing a stellar job!

Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations.... ZOE!  

You've won a signed copy of Anna and the French Kiss!  I've contacted you via e-mail for you address and you have 72 hours to respond before I contact the runner up.  

Are you sad you didn't win?  Stay tuned because at the end of this month I will be doing another giveaway.

Computer Fail!

I didn't want to leave you all hanging with the giveaway, but last night around eleven pm my computer stopped working and I can't access everything from my phone.

My husband is taking it to the apple store tonight and either getting it fixed or... I dont know.  The point is I am hoping to be able to at least announce a winner tonight after my closing shift at work.  Otherwise it might have to wait until the weekend.

I am so sorry this happened at such an inopportune time.  Please bear with me!

Last chance to WIN!!

ENTER HERE.

This is your last call for my Anna and the French Kiss giveaway.  Entries will be taken until midnight Eastern and then I will be drawing a random winner.  Winner gets a signed copy of Anna and the French Kiss and well as some other YA swag I picked up at the Decatur Book Festival.  Good luck!!

Sisters Red

Sisters Red
Jackson Pearce
324 pages
Publisher: Little Brown
Source: library
★★★☆☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

I had been hearing some positive buzz from other bloggers about Pearce's latest novel, Sweetly.  When I saw that it was second in a Fairytale Retelling series, I thought I would give the first book a read, which is how I came to read Sisters Red.

Sisters Red is a retelling of the story of Little Red Riding Hood - but it's so different from the classic story you heard as a child.  Rosie and Scarlett are sisters.  When they were very young, their grandmother was attacked and killed by a werewolf; the attack left Scarlett with horrible scars and minus one eye.  Since then, the sisters have been out with their friend Silas, baiting werewolves with their good looks and bright red capes, and then killing them to save the lives of other innocent girls.  When the wolves all meet in Atlanta to find a new wolf, they follow hoping for massive slaughter.

What I liked about this book was that it screams girl power, but I think it would also appeal to boys because of the the violent werewolf aspect.  There was some definite blood and guts in this book.  I also loved how loyal Rosie and Scarlett were to each other, straight through to the end of the book.  If I had a sister, I think that's what sisterhood would be all about.  Finally, aside from all the wolf-butt-kicking-girl power, I also really enjoyed the softer side of the book, that is the budding romance between Rosie and Silas.  It was so innocent and cute, and really balanced out the rest of the book.

I could totally see this being made into a dark fairytale movie a la Tim Burton.  Three stars and I'm looking forward to seeing what Sweetly has in store.

PS:  What an amazing cover.  I would hang that in a frame on my wall, that's how pretty it is.

Die For Me

Die For Me
Amy Plum
441 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: library
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

After their parents die in a car accident, Kate and her sister Georgia move to Paris, France to live with their grandparents.  Kate is still unable to shake off her depression after her parents deaths and prefers to spend her time alone, reading at a cafe.  Then one day she catches the eye of a strangely attractive young man that she feels like she's known forever and soon she's drawn into a world that she didn't even know existed.

After a bit of a slow start for me, this book sucked me in and I literally did not want to put it down.  Hence me ignoring most of today's football festivities while holed up on the couch, turning the pages as quickly as a could, hating to even put it down to pee.  Seriously.

What I enjoyed the most was the relationship between Kate and Vincent.  It wasn't like other YA novels where the two main characters fall instantly and irrevocably in love.  There was an immediate attraction between Kate and Vincent, but they both seemed to want to take things cautiously.  They even broke up for a bit partway through the novel.  On the whole, their relationship seemed a bit more realistic than those in other YA romances, or as realistic as a relationship can be with one partner being... undead.

I also enjoyed that aspect of the novel; I felt like Amy Plum set up a whole new world in her book.  They weren't zombies and they weren't vampires, they were simply undead and that came with a whole new set of rules that were very interesting to learn about and I'm looking forward to seeing that expanded as the series progresses.

What else did I love?  Paris!  The cover is gorgeous with a view of the Eiffel Tower, but I also loved the way Amy Plum threaded in different aspects of Paris into the novel, mentioning different cafes, museums, and bridges throughout the novel.  It makes me want to visit the city even more.

Four stars - I highly recommend!











PS:  Love books that take place in Paris?  Then you'll definitely want to check out my giveaway of Anna and the French Kiss!  You can enter here.  Anna and Kate both went to the same school... hmm, I wonder if they knew each other?