2nd Blogoversary Giveaway!

Hiiii. So. I have been book blogging for 2 years now and I can hardly believe it. I'm not sure where the time went! Blogging has become such a major part of my life and one of the best parts of my life, too. I've really enjoyed this second year of blogging, especially. It's not that I didn't like my first year, but my second year has just been better in every way: I've had a ton more time to read (I surpassed my reading goal 8 months in!) and a lot more time to post regularly; I've had some great and truly appreciated opportunities to work with publishers (I didn't even request any books in my first year); and overall, there's been a LOT less stress as I've learned to treat blogging as a fun hobby and NOT a chore. And I hope to maintain this attitude and these circumstances for my third year of blogging!

I've made so many blog friends over the past two years and it means the world to me that I get to talk obsessively about books with people as I have never really had the ability to do so in real life. It is definitely my favourite part of book blogging. It's strange, I never could have imagined that I could make such good friends over the internet, but it really happened and it makes me so happy. I would list every single name here if I weren't afraid of missing somebody. But just know that if I comment on your blog regularly, then I like you!

So with this in mind, I thought it would be a good time to give back. I will be giving away:

$15 CAD to The Book Depository!

And because this is my 2nd Blogoversary, there will be TWO Winners!

Thank you and good luck!

<a href="http://recoveringpotteraddict.blogspot.ca/2012/11/2nd-blogoversary-giveaway.html"><img src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h349/AyleeArgh/blogoversary.png" title="Recovering Potter Addict's 2nd Blogoversary Giveaway!" width="100%"/></a>

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Waiting On Wednesday: Simon & Schuster Winter 2013 Catalog

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking The Spine in which an upcoming, eagerly anticipated release is highlighted on the blog.

This week, I've chosen to feature a few picks from the Simon & Schuster Winter 2013 Catalog:

Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz
Date: January 1, 2013

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Rudy’s life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island in a last attempt to save his sick younger brother. With nothing to do but worry, Rudy sinks deeper and deeper into loneliness and lies awake at night listening to the screams of the ocean beneath his family’s rickety house.
Then he meets Diana, who makes him wonder what he even knows about love, and Teeth, who makes him question what he knows about anything. Rudy can’t remember the last time he felt so connected to someone, but being friends with Teeth is more than a little bit complicated. He soon learns that Teeth has terrible secrets. Violent secrets. Secrets that will force Rudy to choose between his own happiness and his brother’s life.

I'm not really sure what to make of Teeth based on mixed reviews, but I am definitely intrigued with the story and I kind of want to find out what the deal is with this fishboy named Teeth. Also, I understand that Hannah Moskowitz's writing is pretty amazing.

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans
Date: January 15, 2013

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Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow drones, Felicia passes the endless hours reliving memories of her time on Earth and mourning what she’s lost—family, friends, and Neil, the boy she loved.
Then a girl in a neighboring chamber is found dead, and nobody but Felicia recalls that she existed in the first place. When Julian—a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life—comes to offer Felicia a way out, Felicia learns the truth: If she joins the rebellion to overthrow the Morati, the angel guardians of Level 2, she can be with Neil again.
Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself at the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind.

I'm always interested in reading books that seem like they can introduce a new and original take on the same old dystopian/fantasy stories, and Level 2 sounds like it could deliver on that promise - there are so many different elements present in the synopsis, I don't know what to think!

Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger
Date: March 5, 2013

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Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.
Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.
When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.

I mean, I would want to read Let the Sky Fall based on that gorgeous cover alone! But also, I really love books that involve elemental type powers and I am tickled that the main character's name is Vane (like a weathervane).

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
Date: March 19, 2013

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Danger intensifies for the Shadowhunters as the New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy comes to a close.

If the only way to save the world was to destroy what you loved most, would you do it?

The clock is ticking. Everyone must choose.

Passion. Power. Secrets. Enchantment.

Danger closes in around the Shadowhunters in the final installment of the bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy.

So who is NOT waiting on Clockwork Princess, the third and final book in The Infernal Devices series?! I am sure it is atop many people's most anticipated books of 2013 list and I am with them - I CANNOT wait to see how it all concludes and Clare has never been known to shy away from an action-packed finale.


How about you? Are you waiting on any of these Simon & Schuster Winter 2013 reads? Are there any upcoming books from the Simon & Schuster Winter 2013 Catalog that I didn't include here that you feel I should add to my list?

Review: Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Publisher: Penguin
Published: November 13, 2012
Pages: 384
Source: From Penguin Canada
Rating: 2 Stars

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.
When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

In short: Black City by Elizabeth Richards may cause a serious eyeroll sprain.

This is one of those situation where the book just wasn't for me and thus my criticisms will be very subjective and specific to my personal tastes and not necessarily reflective of the general opinion. So let's start with the positive: Black City has an interesting premise that, while not completely original, at least presented something intriguing to draw you into the story right away. I won't deny that Black City definitely had that addictive, easy quality to it that kept me reading right to the end. Also, that cover? Gorge.

And now for the not so positive. Black City was terribly cliched. Eyeroll inducingly cliched. In fact, I was kind of sort of impressed by how many of the overused teen book stereotypes that Elizabeth Richards was able to fit into one book. Let's see, we have not only one, but TWO instances of insta-love... within the SAME love triangle!! Ugh - I can't even. And it's not even that I've never enjoyed a love triangle before - because I have (as rare as it is) - but this one was so weak and both relationships were so underdeveloped and fast. And they were utterly lacking in any good romance squees and swoons. I had no interest in either.

And I can't say I particularly cared for any of the characters. Natalie especially - Ugh. At one point she actually uses the dreaded line - and I'm paraphrasing here - "if Day can't support my relationship with Ash then we can't be friends" and then she proceeds to dump her only friend for a boy she met and fell in love with in under a week. Natalie and Ash don't even have a good relationship - they were hot and cold with each other pretty much the entire book! I just have no tolerance for these incredibly juvenile and petty teen relationships. Can we please put an end to them?

I also wasn't impressed with the rather hamfisted allegory present in Black City - it was too literal and blunt. As for the writing, I feel like Elizabeth Richards has room for growth and I hope that she continues to improve. I would probably give her writing another try sometime, but not any sequels to this series. I want to stress that a lot of people have loved Black City and I would recommend it to hardcore paranormal romance lovers. But for those of us who have gotten tired of the same old cliches, Black City will leave you with a serious eyeroll sprain.

Other Reviews:
Alluring Reads
Avery's Book Nook
Icey Books

Authors Links:
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Waiting On Wednesday: Penguin Winter 2013 Catalog

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking The Spine in which an upcoming, eagerly anticipated release is highlighted on the blog.

This week, I've chosen to feature a few picks from the Penguin Winter 2013 Catalog:

Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Date: January 8, 2013

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When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

Admittedly, I've never read any of Gayle Forman's books myself, so my anticipation of Just One Day is based purely on what I know from what other people have said about her books: that they're beautiful and emotional and real. And for that reason, I am very interested in reading Just One Day (as well as her previous books, obviously).

The Cadet of Tildor by Alex Lidell
Date: January 10, 2013

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There is a new king on the throne of Tildor. Currents of political unrest sweep the country as two warring crime families seek power, angling to exploit the young Crown's inexperience. At the Academy of Tildor, the training ground for elite soldiers, Cadet Renee de Winter struggles to keep up with her male peers. But when her mentor, a notorious commander recalled from active duty to teach at the Academy, is kidnapped to fight in illegal gladiator games, Renee and her best friend Alec find themselves thrust into a world rife with crime, sorting through a maze of political intrigue, and struggling to resolve what they want, what is legal, and what is right.

The Cadet of Tildor is touted as "Tamora Pierce meets George R.R. Martin" and if that isn't enough to get people excited about this one, then I don't know what is. I love political medieval-era high fantasies, so I'm thinking I'm really going to love The Cadet of Tildor.

Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
Date: January 15, 2013

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Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceshipGodspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.
But this new Earth isn't the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.
Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing.

CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS! The previous two books in the Across the Universe series have been fast-paced and intriguing as heck, and I really can't wait for any new surprises Beth Revis is going to cook up for us in the final book, Shades of Earth.

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
Date: February 13, 2013

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It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.
Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

Just as with Just One Day by Gayle Forman, I have not read Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, but based on all the raving reviews for that one, I know that Out of the Easy is going to be a book that I need to read (again, along with Between Shades of Gray). And I love that Out of the Easy takes place in 1950's New Orleans!


How about you? Are you waiting on any of these Penguin Winter 2013 reads? Are there any upcoming books from the Penguin Winter 2013 Catalog that I didn't include here that you feel I should add to my list?

Review: Crossed (Matched #2) by Ally Condie

Publisher: Penguin
Published: November 1, 2011
Pages: 367
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3.5 Stars

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky — taken by the Society to his certain death — only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.
Cassia’s quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander — who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia’s heart — change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

In short: While Crossed by Ally Condie was distinctly lacking in action, there was just enough intrigue to keep me interested in reading Reached.

I am such a lemming. People say how great Matched is and I find a way to read it as soon as I can. People say how disappointing Crossed was and I put off reading it for a year because of that. And unfortunately - and despite how much I loved Matched - I can't help but agree with reviewers who thought Crossed was a slow and sort of monotonous read. Not a whole lot happens and it seemed more like just a set-up book for the final book in the Matched Trilogy, Reached. I mean, Matched was a slow read as well, but I found that it at least held my interest throughout with its excellent world building and beautiful writing. With Crossed, the detailed introduction to the world was supposed to be over with in book one and I wanted some of the action promised to me at the end of Matched.

I'm also very much disappointed that I don't feel like I have any particularly strong connection to the three main characters - Cassia, Ky, and Xander. Especially Cassia. She's a bit on the bland side. And again, I remember feeling the same way about her character in Matched, but I was willing to excuse it at the time because I thought maybe all the characters were supposed to be sort of bland and similar because of their restricted freedoms and limited choices. And with how Crossed was set up at the end of Matched, I thought for sure this was going to be Cassia and company's time to come into their own a bit more. But alas, this was not the case. They're not bad characters by any means - I just don't have any particular attachment to any of them.

Okay, okay, so it may seem like I didn't like Crossed at all, but that's not true! I am still a huge fan of Ally Condie's writing style. She somehow manages to incorporate poetry and symbolism flawlessly into the text and not have it be distracting or over-thought. Ally Condie's writing accounts for the bulk of my enjoyment of Crossed. And I can't deny that there was just enough intrigue in Crossed to keep me coming back for Reached. So what am I hoping for in Reached (to be released November 13, 2012)? Ideally, more character depth and I really hope Ally Condie takes this opportunity to ramp up the action to make a truly exciting read. It is the final book in the trilogy after all!

Previously, my review of Matched.

Other Reviews:
Books: A True Story
Burning Impossibly Bright
Lunar Rainbows
My Precious

Authors Links:
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