In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie and created by Kristi at The Story Siren.
Wither by Lauren DeStefano (From Around the World Tours)
On Kindle:
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Saturday Situation (7) Link Up Your Reviews & Givaways!!
October 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Happy Saturday everyone! It’s time for a new Saturday Situation, hosted by Candace at Candace’s Book Blog and myself. So, here’s the scoop: I’m going to set up two Mister Linky’s. One for Giveaways that you want to promote and one for Posts that you want to promote. The posts can be reviews, discussions, rants, events you are planning, anything that you want people to read! I know there’s so many great posts out there that often go unread. Here’s your chance to tell the world! Feel free to link up to other bloggers posts as well! Let’s spread the love!
Reviews/Posts Linky!
In this Linky please link directly to any posts you want to share with the world! Example: Name: Fallout Review URL: http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/2010/09/review-fallout-by-ellen-hopkins.html
Please do not post giveaways in this Linky! They go in the bottom one!
Giveaways Linky!
In this Linky please link directly to any book related giveaways you have! Example: Name: Middle Grade Giveaway-It’s Raining Cupcakes and other Ends 9/30 URL:http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/2010/09/middle-grade-giveaway.html
Review: Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
October 28, 2010 By 11 Comments
Release Date: August 31, 2010
Age Group: Young Adult
Received From: Publisher
My Rating: 5 Stars
IBSN: 9781442402003
Blurb:
Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look.
Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.
As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares.
His life depends on it.
I really don’t even know where to begin with this book. It has incredibly good reviews everywhere you look and mine will be no exception. Awesome. I think that’s the best word to explain this book. I might overuse that word a lot but, this book was awesome in the truest sense of the word!
So, what’s the story all about, you may ask. Well, it’s kinda hard to explain. Isobel is just your average popular cheerleader. She’s dating a football player and has a great group of friends. That all changes when she is paired up with Varen Nethers for an English project on Poe. Then things just start to get…..odd.
Both Isobel and Varen were fantastic characters. Isobel was a smart girl. She made good choices and she was strong, because I would have freaked out and given up long before she did. Varen is just your typical brooding goth. He really wasn’t in the story as much as I would have liked, but that’s the way it needed to be. I really can’t wait to get to know him more.
There was very little actual romance in the book. Like I said, Varen really doesn’t show up that often, but when he does you either want to slap him or swoon. You get to witness the slow building of a realistic connection. There was no instant love, or realize I love him on the last page love. It was somewhere in the middle. It was perfect. It will leave you craving more!
Really, the romance or the characters aren’t what did it for me. No, that was the story! OMG! I haven’t read a story so unpredictable and gripping in a long time. This book is 500+ pages. At page 400 I still had no idea what was going on! Sometimes I find this annoying, but this time it worked. Things get a little strange in the last 200 pages. It was almost reminiscent of Stephen King. I loved it. It will have your eyes moving across the page as fast as they can.
I’ve always been a huge Poe fan. So this really was a treat. They way Poe’s stories were woven into the plot was fantastic! I can’t say enough good things about this book. You really have to read the awesomeness that is Nevermore and find out for yourself!
NaNoWriMo Here I Come!
October 27, 2010 By 24 Comments
I’m taking the plunge! I’m doing NaNo next month =/
This will be my first time and it will honestly be my first attempt at writing….anything! Very scary huh? But I’m excited and anxious to get started. I don’t know how much reading I will be doing in November because I want to dedicate my reading time to NaNo time. We’ll see how that goes. My reviews might suffer. But please wish me luck and if you are participating, let me know! My username is Loriimagination.
Let the writing begin!!
Waiting on Wednesday (59)
October 27, 2010 By 14 Comments
March 1, 2011 Walker Books
Andy is the janitor’s son, an outcast, a nobody. Then the rumor starts–that Blake has a gun in his locker. In a moment of misguided hopefulness, Andy steals the keys from his dad and opens up Blake’s locker, hoping that finding the gun will change his own status. But the gun isn’t there and Andy remains an outcast. When an unlikely friendship develops between the two loners, Blake shares most of his secrets with Andy, including the gun. But there’s one secret that worries Andy more than anything–the date circled on Blake’s calendar. Does Blake have something planned? Something that Andy can prevent? In a fascinating look at how teens deal with the now constant threat of school violence, debut author Ryan G. Van Cleave provides a unique, emotional perspective on how it feels to be the one who can prevent a tragedy.
I have always had a strange fascination with books about school shooting for some reason, so this sounds like a very interesting read.
Waiting on Wednesday was created by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Head over there to see
Scott Westerfeld Signing 10/20/10
October 26, 2010 By 11 Comments
Last Wednesday Christina from Books Are Life, my friend Kristen (she has a new blog: Turn the Page!) and I all made the 2 hour trek to Atlanta to see Scott Westerfeld! It was most definitely worth it! We got there pretty early so we left and got something to eat and by the time we got back it was hard to find a seat, but luckily we did!
Scott came out and told the story about where he got the idea for Uglies and then he talked a bit about Leviathan and the illustrations. He took a lot of questions! I really don’t know that I’ve been to a signing where a author answered so many! Scott was very gracious and it seemed like he really enjoyed being there! He said there will be one more book in the Leviathan series and then they will publish a guide of sorts. It will have lots of extra art work. He also explained why the characters in Uglies add the -wa and -la to their names, in the Japanese language there are a lot of suffixes to add to names, they each show a different level of familiarity or respect. The wa and la’s in Uglies were a play on that. I always wondered!
Scott was really funny and hearing him talk about Leviathan really makes me want to read it asap!
Here are all my pretty, pretty signed books. Oh and after he signed my books Justine came up and signed my Zombies vs. Unicorns!! I thought that was pretty awesome! Now I just need to get all the other authors to sign it!! 
I had a great time!! If Scott is coming to your area, you should definitely go see him!!
Review: Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund
October 25, 2010 By 9 Comments
Release Date: September 28, 2010
Series: Killer Unicorns #2
Age Group: Young Adult
Received From: Bookstore
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
IBSN: 9780061490026
Blurb:
Now a fully trained unicorn hunter, Astrid Llewelyn is learning that she can’t solve all her problems with a bow and arrow. Her boyfriend has left Rome, the Cloisters is in dire financial straits, her best friend’s powers are mysteriously disintegrating, and her hope of becoming a scientist seems to be nothing but an impossible dream.
So when she’s given the opportunity to leave the Cloisters and use her skills as part of a scientific quest to discover the Remedy, Astrid leaps at the chance. Finally, she can have exactly what she wants—or can she? At Gordian headquarters deep in France, Astrid begins to question everything she had believed: her love for Giovanni, her loyalty to the Cloisters, and—most of all—her duty as a hunter. Should Astrid be saving the world from killer unicorns or saving unicorns from the world?
You know when you read the first book in a new series and completely love it because it’s original and so well written? Then you wait a very, very long year for the sequel only to be disappointed? I call that the sequel syndrome, and I’m happy to say that Ascendant did not have it! I loved this book even more than the first one! Really how can you possibly go wrong with killer unicorns?
This book is almost 400 pages and so much happens in those pages! There is a lot of information and action, but it never felt rushed! The pacing was spot on! In Ascendant, we learn a lot more about the consequences of hunting the unicorns. Some very important questions were answered, but even more were brought up. I’m dying, dying for the third book!
Astrid isn’t just some high school girl shipped off to Italy to hunt unicorns anymore. No, now she is a warrior. She has the scares and the courage to back that up. In this book she is faced with a lot of choices and I think she handled them well! I really love Astrid as a main character, she’s strong and confident, but not pig-headed. I love that Peterfreund doesn’t cut any corners to make things easy for her characters. This isn’t a fluffy story about pretty unicorns! At times things even seem a little hopeless for these characters.
The romance was definitely not in the forefront of this book. Actually, it was almost nonexistent but, it worked perfectly for this story!
I can already tell that this series is going to be on my favorites list. It’s extraordinarily original and engaging. I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to see what Peterfreund has in store for us in the next installment! If you haven’t read Rampant I suggest you do so. Quickly!
