2011 October

Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

October 31, 2011 By Lori 10 Comments

Release Date: November 22, 2011
Age Group: Young Adult
Received From: NetGalley
IBSN: 9780373210244
Blurb:
When her older sister commits suicide and her divorcing parents decide to divide the ashes, Harper Scott takes her sister’s urn to the one place June always wanted to go: California. On the road with her best friend, plus an intriguing guy with a mysterious connection to June, Harper discovers truths about her sister, herself and life.

This book was great you guys. Great. It really surprised me. I was expecting to like it because I have heard lots of other bloggers raving about it. I was expecting it to be heartbreaking and it wasn’t. At all. Sure, it was sad. The situation that Harper is in makes it almost impossible to not be a little sad, but it was also kind of…fun.

You maybe have to suspend disbelief just a tiny bit while reading this. Harper’s older sister commits suicide but Harper doesn’t cry. She isn’t wallowing in grief. She decides to sneak off on a road trip with her best friend, a mysterious boy, and her sister’s ashes. That could seem a little unbelievable, right? But it worked for this book. I mean everyone grieves in different ways and Harper’s sole purpose was to get June to the place she always wanted to go.

Harper was utterly fantastic! She is kind of tough as nails and doesn’t take any crap from anyone. She was the kind of girl I have always wanted to be. It goes without saying that she was incredibly strong in the face of this horrifying situation. She was also very very loyal. I often don’t like friendships in books (is that strange). It seems like best friends are usually thrown in stories to get in the way of relationships, or to just be annoying. But Laney and Harper were real. No drama just a deep and honest friendship.

Jake. At first Jake was a little cliched. A cute mysterious boy with a attitude problem? Yeah, that’s been done a few times. But once they set out on their road trip he develops so much as a character. He’s infuriating to Harper but he also becomes her rock. Their relationship quietly becomes something more. The whole dynamic between the two of them unfolds beautifully. It might be the most realistic relationship I have read in a long, long time. It doesn’t hurt that there were these little scenes that had me completely swooning.

The music! I love books that have a strong musical theme and this one definitely did. Plus, it was music that grew listening to and that I still love today! The way Harrington draws a parallel between grief and music is amazing. Music has always been very much about my own feelings, the way certain songs can say what I can’t and do it perfectly. Saving June puts a lot of significance on music and that was one of the things I loved much about it.

One other thing, this book was almost like looking in the mirror for me. I have an older sister who has always struggled with depression. It’s been a big part of my life since I was 10 or so and lately it’s been worse. So Saving June resonated so well with me. Although my situation isn’t like Harper’s, I still had a very strong connection to her.

So uh yeah….I think you should read this. As you can see I really loved it. If you are worried about it being sad, don’t be. I only got a little teary at one point. I really highly, highly recommend this book. Read it!

Filed Under: Hannah Harrington, Young Adult

In My Mailbox!!

October 29, 2011 By Lori 35 Comments

In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie and created by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne
The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

(kind of…)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Johnathan Safran Foer

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (my review)
Thanks Shannon!!

Filed Under: In my Mailbox

Saturday Situation -58- Link up your reviews & giveaways

October 29, 2011 By Lori 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!

Book Related 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

Filed Under: Saturday Situation

Book Breakups -4-

October 28, 2011 By Lori 20 Comments

We can’t all love everything and some books just aren’t for me. Sometimes I try really hard to love a book but if it’s taking me 4 days to read 100 pages, we need to have the talk. I debated quite a while on whether or not to do this feature, but I thought it would be fun, so Book Breakups was born.

Why we called it quits:
I tried to like this book. I really did, but it just didn’t happen. The synopsis makes it sound magical and mystical, but Luminous throws some things at you within the first 10 pages that I was just not ready for. I read a lot of fantasy, so I usually have no problem suspending disbelief, but when something that bizarre and…gross happens with no lead up, no get to know the characters beforehand it really throws me for a loop. I’m not easily put off by weirdness in books, but this one was just….bizarre. The main character accepts the bizarreness very easily too. Overall, I didn’t care much for Luminous.
Here are some people that loved it:
Fictitious Musings
Books With Bite
365 Days of Reading

Eve by Anna Carey
I just couldn’t get into Eve. I tried really, really hard, but it just didn’t happen. Maybe I’m burnt out on dystopia? Because others really loved this. I couldn’t get past the naive main character. I know that she was supposed to be naive. She had a very god reason to be naive, but it just didn’t work for me. It might have just been my mood though. Here are some people that loved it:
GReads
IB Book Blogging
Candace’s Book Blog

Did you love these books? Did you break up with them also? Let me know! And if you would like to do your own Book Breakups grab the image above and come back and link up!

Filed Under: Book Breakups

Chat with Michelle Hodkin 11/1

October 27, 2011 By Lori 3 Comments

Next Tuesday (November 1st) Casey from The Bookish Type and I are hosting a chat with Michelle Hodkin! Not just any chat but a fun filled Mara Dyer discussion! With spoilers and everything! You’ve read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by now right? If not I just don’t think we can be friends anymore…But if you have then I’m sure you have TONS of burning questions and theories and you probably just want to do some gushing. You may not be able to do these things normally for fear of ruining the book for others, but never fear you will be able to do all of those things next Tuesday…WITH MICHELLE HODKIN! It’s sure to be awesome.

Since we will be talking no-holds-barred about the book there will be no transcript of the event so DO NOT miss out!

The Details:

When: Tuesday, November 1, 2011 from 8pm to 9pm EST

Where: Right here on our blogs! We will put the post with the chat room up on Tuesday.

Be warned:
If you haven’t read the book there will be spoilers.

Will you be there?

Filed Under: Author Chat, Michelle Hodkin, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Review: The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder

October 27, 2011 By Lori 6 Comments

Release Date: June 28, 2011
Age Group: Young Adult
Received From: Gift
IBSN: 9781442417434
Blurb:
Amber’s life is spinning out of control. All she wants is to turn up the volume on her iPod until all of the demands of family and friends fade away. So she sneaks off to the beach to spend a day by herself.
Then Amber meets Cade. Their attraction is instant, and Amber can tell he’s also looking for an escape. Together they decide to share a perfect day: no pasts, no fears, no regrets.
The more time that Amber spends with Cade, the more she’s drawn to him. And the more she’s troubled by his darkness. Because Cade’s not just living in the now—he’s living each moment like it’s his last.

Lisa Schroeder’s writing never ceases to amaze me. At first glance it’s hard to believe that you can become so engaged with a story told in verse. I used to think ‘how can I feel any connection to a character if their story is in verse?’ that was before I read any of Lisa’s books. They will make you believe in the beauty of verse.

The Day Before was no exception. It was gorgeous. I went into not really knowing much about it. It had been months since I read the blurb. So the book was full of surprised for me. I loved watching Amber and Cade’s story unfold slowly in Lisa’s beautiful prose. They were fantastic characters and I felt a lot of connection with them. Even though they meet and feel so strongly for each other all in one day, it still felt very realistic. It wasn’t forced at all.

All in all The Day Before was a really great read. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming. If you haven’t read Lisa’s books yet you should change that. Soon.

Filed Under: Lisa Schroeder, Verse, Young Adult

Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

October 26, 2011 By Lori 8 Comments

Release Date: November 15, 2011
Age Group: Young Adult
Received From: Publisher
IBSN: 9780062085481
Blurb:
Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

I’ve been drooling over this book for months now. Everyone has been raving. It was all true. This is a fantastic debut. Tahereh Mafi is a new talent that everyone is going to be talking about. When I opened the pages my expectations were a little high because of the buzz, but I really didn’t know that much about the story. Everything played out a little differently than I thought, but it was utterly captivating and unputdownable.

My number one favorite thing about the book was Mafi’s writing. It was extraordinary. Somehow it was raw and dark but beautiful and almost flowery (in a good way) all at the same time. I don’t know how she did it, but I was blown away by it. So many passages were quotable, but this is probably my favorite:

The moon is a loyal companion.
It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human.
Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.

Not only is there incredible writing but also very engaging characters. Juliette was so complex and well done. You can’t help but root for her. The situation she is in is impossible to fathom, but it still boils down to feelings that we can all relate to. Being unwanted, scared and hopeless. Then Adam comes along and changes everything. I fell a little bit in love with him. I also have to mention the sexytimes…all I’m going to say is they were amazingly done…sigh.

Overall this was a brilliant read. There were a couple of things that kept me from LOVING it. I wish there would have been more time spent on the world building, but I think that will probably play a much bigger role in book 2. I still really, really enjoyed the book. I think that it is a fabulous start and I am eagerly awaiting the sequel.