Review: Sixteenth Summer by Michelle Dalton

Title: Sixteenth Summer
Author: Michelle Dalton
Series: None
Pages: 320
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Release Date: May 3rd 2011
Source: eGalley from S&S Galley Grab


Anna is dreading another tourist-filled summer on Dune Island that follows the same routine: beach, ice cream, friends, repeat. That is, until she locks eyes with Will, the gorgeous and sweet guy visiting from New York. Soon, her summer is filled with flirtatious fun as Anna falls head over heels in love.
But with every perfect afternoon, sweet kiss, and walk on the beach, Anna can’t ignore that the days are quickly growing shorter, and Will has to leave at the end of August. Anna’s never felt anything like this before, but when forever isn't even a possibility, one summer doesn’t feel worth the promise of her heart breaking….

This was a really sweet book. It took me only 2 days to read and I have to say I really enjoyed it.  The characters were likeable, the setting was perfect and it was just a perfect summer read. A little predictable at times but I like that from a romance.

Anna and Will's meeting has got to be one of my favourites ever. It was this instant attraction but it was so awkward. It felt so real and was really amusing to watch. Their romance, as it grew, was just as entertaining and I just wanted them to be happy.

Anna is a sweet girl that I really connected with. She was kind and nice and just sweet. That being said, she had flaws, like all good characters do. Will was a great love interest and they worked well together in a relationship.

Now, the ending. I rather liked it. To be honest I don't remember too much about the details but I remember being content with it. I felt it was fitting for the book and had been planned out by the author.

The book isn't amazing by any means. There is nothing hugely unique but that seems so irrelevant. It was a light, quick beach read and I got everything I wanted from it!

Review: Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

Title: Blood Magic
Author: Tessa Gratton
Series: The Blood Journals #1
Pages: 406
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: July 7th 2011 (UK)
Source: ARC from publisher



This page-turning debut novel will entice fans who like their paranormal romances dark and disturbing. It's a natural next-read for fans of Stephanie Meyer, Carrie Jones, and Becca Fitzpatrick. But instead of mythical creatures, blood magic has everything to do with primal human desires like power, wealth, and immortality.

Everywhere Silla Kennicott turns she sees blood. She can't stop thinking about her parents alleged murder-suicide. She is consumed by a book filled with spells that arrives mysteriously in the mail. The spells share one common ingredient: blood, and Silla is more than willing to cast a few. What's a little spilled blood if she can uncover the truth? And then there's Nick—the new guy at school who makes her pulse race. He has a few secrets of his own and is all too familiar with the lure of blood magic. Drawn together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick must find out who else in their small Missouri town knows their secret and will do anything to take the book and magic from Silla.


Blood Magic felt incredibly unique. Yes, magic has been done before but it felt like a completely different spin on it. The book was edgy, dark and sexy. It was like nothing I have read before. It was a mystery with history and secrets and almost everything I need in a novel.


The characters were wonderful. I really connected with Silla and I could empathise with her. She was a brave character who had been through a lot which made me admire her strength. Her brother Reese was a character I really connected with. Nick, Silla's love interest was a bit of a bad boy and I have to say I really liked him. 


Unfortunately for me the romance between Silla and Nick didn't do much for me. It was sexy, yes but I felt like there was only lust, no like or love behind it all. I just didn't really get it. That being said I did enjoy the chemistry between them.


The plot was intriguing. There was a complete mystery to unravel and I felt so involved watching Silla, Nick and Reese discover what was going on. The dual narrative between Silla and Nick really added to the plot and gave an extra dimension to the novel. I was shocked by a lot of the surprises thrown my way and I love it when that happens.


The ending wasn't too much a cliffhanger but that was good. I felt there had been enough twists and turns within the body of the novel to end slightly calmer. It still leaves a little wonder to what will happen in the next book and I will definitely be picking the second book up!


I am having a 250 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY for this book as well as two others. 

Weekly Recap (3)

I'm back blogging full time from today (yay) so I am trying to start up all the posts I stopped. Here is a recap of the posts in the past week and the books I have read and the books I am reading. 


On The Blog


Posts:
In My Mailbox (22/05/2011)

Giveaways:
250 Follower Giveaway 


Features:
Read, Review, Recommend Sign Up


Books


Reading: 

Virals by Kathy Reichs

In My Mailbox (29/05/2011)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren.

For Review

• Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey
• One Seriously Messed-Up Week: In The Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Somsonite by Tom Clempson
• Double-Cross (Medua Project #5) by Sophie McKenzie

Won

• The Hunting Ground by Cliff McNish

I would just like to let you all know that I am BACK! I have only one exam left and I had time to read. Thank goodness. I was going crazy. Posts will be back to normal from today.

In My Mailbox (22/05/2011)

Mentions:


 http://grippedintobooks.blogspot.com

Read, Review, Recommend Sign Up

Hey there :) I know I have been a bit AWOL on the blog the past month or so and I'm super sorry. This has been me recently:

I have a horrific week of 5 exams coming up this week so I shan't be posting but I thought I would give you all a chance to sign up for my feature Read, Review, Recommend. If you don't know what it is you can find out more information here. Every Friday I have a guest blogger doing a review of a book they want to recommend.  If you have a blog and would like to participate

Fill in this FORM

• The book must be YA
• I will need the post one week in advance to the date allocated
• Even if you have participated before, you can do it again :)

I look forward to discovering some new blogs in the process too :)

250 Follower Giveaway

YAY. I have reached 250 followers. It feels amazing. I can't begin to tell you how much you all mean to me :) So to reward your kindness I have decided to do a giveaway to say thank you.

HTML code:<a href="http://thereaderroom.blogspot.com/2011/05/250-follower-giveaway.html"><img border="0" width="90%" src="http://i53.tinypic.com/15oz1ur.png" /></a>

I am giving away:

The images link to goodreads where you can find out more about these great books. Blood Magic is an ARC so it doesn't have this cover.


Luisa Plaja was kind enough to donate Glee: Foreign Exchange and Rosebush so thank you so much!!! 


If I get less than 300 followers I will give away 1 book
If I get 300 followers I will give away 2 books
If I get 400 followers I will give away 3 books


The giveaway is INTERNATIONAL and you must be at least 13 years old. To enter:

 FILL IN THIS FORM

Thank you for your participation :) End date is 22nd of June 2011

An Awesome Giveaway

I will be having a 250 follower giveaway very shortly as I am only 4 followers away! I just thought I would let you know so if this is a first visit you could maybe follow me :) I have a couple of books to give away so get excited!


Another giveaway that is going on right now is over at Gripped Into Books. They have an amazing 500 follower giveaway running right now. There are some incredible prize packs so get over there!

In My Mailbox (15/02/2011)

Mentions:

http://comacalm.blogspot.com/

Die For Me by Amy Plum

Title: Die For Me
Author: Amy Plum
Pages: 344
Release Date: May 5th 2011 (UK)
Source: For Review


DIE FOR ME is the first of three books about Kate, a sixteen-year-old American who moves to Paris after the death of her parents. It introduces a new version of the undead with revenants, beings who are fated to sacrifice themselves over and over again to save others’ lives. Kate finds herself falling for Vincent, who she discovers is not the typical French teenager he appears: he is something else entirely.

DIE FOR ME presents a new supernatural mythology presented in a city where dreams are sometimes the same as reality.


What can I say? I totally loved this book. I have never been an avid fan of paranormal romances. I feel everything is too sudden and just fake. Die For Me felt like a whole new take on the undead.

First of all I loved the concept of the revenants instead of vampires or zombies. It felt very original and I will admit to having no idea what they actually were. I don’t want to give anything away but it was a really interesting take on paranormal.

I liked Kate a lot. I thought she was interesting and despite her parents dying she wasn’t too distraught that she wasn’t able to engage me. Vincent, the love interest was superb. I thought he was mysterious, sexy and yes, French! I was really intrigued by him and his involvement in the revenant world.

The additional characters were good too. I liked Kate’s sister Georgia. I really respected her relationship with her sister. I did find her to be a little irresponsible at times but that can be overlooked. Similar to Twilight there were a collection of revenants at the house where Vincent lived that has been found and saved so to speak. Yes, a little twilightesque but it didn’t bother me. They were all really interesting and brought something interesting to the novel.

The plot was a good pace. I enjoyed it from the beginning as Vincent got me really curious. I got more and more drawn in as the plot went along and I really enjoyed what I was discovering. It is full of action; swordfights, villains, kicking bad guy butt! I enjoyed it immensely.

The ending wasn’t too cliffhanger-y which I liked. It was a nice, simple ending after a climax so I felt it was suitable. I am very excited to read the next instalment which it comes out.

If you want a different kind of paranormal romance then I think this is the book for you! It made me love it all over again!

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han Review

Title: It's Not Summer Without You
Author: Jenny Han
Pages:277
Release Date: May 5th 2011 (UK)
Source: For Review


Last year, all of Belly’s dreams came true and the thought of missing a summer in Cousins Beach was inconceivable. But like the rise and fall of the ocean tide, things can change-- just like that. Suddenly the time she's always looked forward to most is something she dreads. And when Jeremiah calls to say Conrad has disappeared, Belly must decide how she will spend this summer: chasing after the boy she loves, or finally letting him go.


Just a heads up, if you haven't read The Summer I Turned Pretty then there are spoilers.


If you read my review of The Summer I Turned Pretty you will know that it was very emotional for me. Well this book is that x1000. In the last book we learn that Susannah has cancer again and the book starts with addressing her death. The grief was at the very start and had me bawling throughout the whole novel. 


Belly, distraught with grief, takes Susannah's death hard. She finds it difficult to deal with the fact that everything has changed. She can no longer spend summers at the beach house as she did before. It was painful to see her have to go through that after seeing how close she was to Susannah. I really felt for her throughout the novel and I just wanted her to be happy. She made some choices that I definitely didn't agree with but I could understand them.


Conrad just pulled at my heartstrings in this book. He was a complete jerk throughout the book and I just wanted to shake him and make him realise that his life was not over. Some of the things he did (or nearly did) were so sweet and sincere that I just wanted him all for myself. I was very sad to see Conrad and Belly having to deal with the long distance and the effect that had on them.


Jeremiah is just lovely still. It was nice to see his and Belly's friendship and they go to look for Conrad. I would love him as a best friend. He is protective and kind and caring and yes, a very sweet boy. But maybe he is a little too nice for me..


The plot took me a whole new direction to what I was expecting. There were still plenty of flashbacks (which in this series I love). It really padded out the story and made everything make a lot more sense. I also love how this book was still set in summer with just the flashback, despite the flashbacks being so key. It emphasised how much had changed since the summer before.


The ending did not fully satisfy me, but that is okay. There were hints that the next book was going to provide the deciding factor. To be fair there can never be a bad ending of this series, that's what makes it that much better. 


Overall, it was incredibly emotional, I finished in one night. I just couldn't put it down. A sappy romance novel it is not. It is full of such emotion that can't help but draw you in and keep you fascinated and you watch their summer. 


P.S if you have read the book then you will know what I am talking about. I so want that necklace. Being a total maths geek I am so in love!

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han: Review

Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty
Author: Jenny Han 
Pages:276
Release Date: June 3rd 2010 (UK)
Source: For Review


Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.


I loved this book so much. The title, though relevant, seems the impression the book is about vanity, boys and being pretty. It is about so much more than that though. It is a perfect beachy romance read but underneath there are issues dealing with divorce and friendship and relationships and it can be very hard hitting at times. 


What I loved most about this book was the characters. They were by no means perfect. There were plenty of times where I wanted to bash their head into a wall. But these make great characters. Flawed characters are realistic and make it much easier to relate to them. Belly was a sweet, caring girl who just wanted the attention of her two friends Conrad and Jeremiah. She can be irrational, overly emotional and very immature sometimes. Conrad can have such sincere moments and be a complete jerk the next. I can't fault Jeremiah too much for he is just too sweet. I need to just mention how much I love Susannah right now. She is so incredible. 


The plot was great. It was engaging and fun but at the right moments had a interjection of seriousness to break it up a little. Things got more serious towards the end as the plot built up.  I was a blubbering mess at the end for sure. It was paced wonderfully and kept me engaged the whole time. 


I liked the ending. It was a nice way to leave off. enough ambiguity for the next book but enough of a resolution to leave me happy. It also feeds nicely into the second book.


This book was a whirlwind of romance, heartache, grief and so many other emotions. I was an emotional wreck by the end of it and I did not mind at all! The characters were incredible, the romances were fun and just the overall relationship between the people were touching. If you haven't read the series, start now in time for summer!