Thursday, September 29, 2011

Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5) - Richelle Mead

Rating: 5/5


Salvation has its price.
The words stunned Adrian for a moment, but he kept going. "You're lying. What you're describing is impossible. There's no way to save a Strigoi. When they're gone, they're gone. They're dead. Undead. Forever."

Robert's next words weren't directed at Adrian. They were spoken to me. "That which is dead doesn't always stay dead...."

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s—and to her best friend, Lissa Dragomir. It's graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives outside of the Academy’s cold iron gates to finally begin. But even with the intrigue and excitement of court life looming, Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri. He's out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance, and now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and she knows in her heart that he is hunting her. And if Rose won't join him, he won't rest until he's silenced her...forever.

But Rose can't forget what she learned on her journey—whispers of a magic too impossible and terrifying to comprehend. A magic inextricably tied to Lissa that could hold the answer to all of Rose's prayers, but not without devastating consequences. Now Rose will have to decide what—and who—matters most to her. In the end, is true love really worth the price?

Fall in love with Rose and Dimitri all over again in Spirit Bound, the eagerly awaited fifth novel in Richelle Mead's enthralling Vampire Academy series.



This book is going to be too hard to review without giving away too many spoilers, but I shall try my best.

Spirit Bounds begins back at Vladimir Academy. Its graduation time, but Rose can't celebrate yet. She has one more challenge to face, the Trials. It's mandatory for all future guardians to take and pass to graduation. Naturally, that shouldn't be a problem right? Rose has had her fair share of challenges and had overcome them all, so a silly little trial shouldn't be so bad right? Rose gets anxious before the trials, but its not becuase of the trial itself, it's because of what's going to happen after. She's always had this big idea that graduating means freedom, which I think it something all high schoolers, dhampir or not, expect. But she now realizes she doesn't get to be free because she'll be in charge of protecting someone else's life. But enough about that, let's get to Dimitri ;)

Dimitri. Well for all of you who read the first 4 books, you know he got turned into Strigoi. So, of course, Rose wants to save him. But is that even possible? Perhaps. But while she's trying to think of a way to do this, Dimitri is sending her these lovely little "love letters". In these letters, he says he's watching her and basically, once she's out of the safety of the academy, he'll kill her. Romantic huh? Yeah I think so too. But despite the death threats, she's still as determined as ever to save her true love, not stopping short of anything illegal and putting not only her life at risk, but the lives of the people she loves. I love Dimitri, but there were so many times during this book that I felt like slapping him across the face. I mean, I understand where he's coming from, but there was this one thing he said (which I won't tell you :P) towards the end of the book that REALLY made me mad. I do, however, wish that him and Rose get their happy ending.

Oh, by the way, she's still dating Adrian. I was never a big fan of him until this book. He was always so snarky and obnoxious...and he still kind of is...but he really cares for Rose and will do anything for her (even help bring back her un-dead ex), which I think is really sweet.

The end, wouldn't you know it, was a cliffhanger. It was really intense. I'm still a little baffled on what's going on. And I'm glad I have the Last Sacrifice sitting right here on my shelf so I can get to the bottom of it.

The Vampire Academy Series is one of my all time favorites, and Richelle Mead never leaves me disappointed (frustrated maybe), but never disappointed. This books was full of surprises, emotion, action packed, and more.

If you haven't read this series yet, you must! And if you stopped at Blood Promise like a lit of people I know, then pick up this book and give VA another try.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Teaser Tuesday #4- Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5) by Richelle Mead




Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share one or two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


~~~~~~~~My Teaser~~~~~~~~




Nathan: "She doesn't matter." 
Rose - I bit my lip on that, repressing the urge to see if I could throw my china plate Frisbee style and hit him in the head. I decided against it. Not only would it ruin dinner, but the plate probably wouldn't get the lift I needed.
- Nathan Ivashkov and Rose Hathaway (Spirit Bound)


Good news! I'm almost done with this book (finally! :D) so expect a review, most likely tomorrow afternoon. 


Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Secret Circle

For those of you who love the show The Vampire Diaries, as well as the books by L.J. Smith, then you might enjoy the CW's new series The Secret Circle, from the creators of The Vampire Diaries and also based off of L.J. Smith's books. 


I have read the Vampire Diaries books, but not the Secret Circle ones (those have sitting on my shelf for a while now -_-). But for those of you who have read the Secret Circle books and are watching the show tonight, I'd love to hear some feed back on the differences between the two. I know the Vampire Diaries books and show are nothing alike, but that's not necessarily a bad thing :)


So check out the premiere tonight @ 9c! 


Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Coven (Wicca #2) - Cate Tiernan

Rating: 4/5

Cal, now Morgan’s boyfriend, helps her accept the truth: Wicca is in Morgan’s blood. As Morgan learns more about Wicca, she realizes that she needs to find out more about her parentage. The answers are there, but she doesn'’t know how to find them.

So, after reading Melissa de la Cruz's Witches of East End, I was in a "witchy" mood.

I admit, I read the first book of this series a few years back, so it took me awhile to remember what had happened, but once I started reading this book, it all came rushing back to me.

Even though the book is lacking in size, a lot went on in the short 185 pages.

First of all, best friends should never let a guy come between them. Morgan and Bree had been best friends forever, but as soon as Cal came into the picture, their relationship become rather tense. Cal is the new, good-looking guy that every girl wants, but only one girl can have him. And the lucky...or should I say, unlucky, girl is Morgan. Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Cal. He's great. The only problem with Morgan and Cal being together is that it tore Morgan and Bree away from one another. Bree had had her eye on Cal since he moved to town, and Bree always gets what she wants. Unfortunately for her, what she had her eye on this time had his eyes on someone else. So naturally, when Cal and Morgan let their feelings be known in front of the whole coven on Samhain, all hell breaks loose. Bree turns against her, forgetting their whole past together in an instant, and becomes all buddy-buddy with Raven. Now, if you read the first book, you know that Raven and Bree don't like each other. In fact, Bree and Morgan would always be making fun of her. But now, things change. The two girls now share a common bond: their hatred of Morgan fuels the fire in their new friendship.

But moving on, everyone hates each other. That much is obvious. More important though, is Morgan's sudden realization that she's adopted. You see, during Samhain, Cal tells Morgan she's a blood witch, so Morgan then realizes that means her parents must be witches as well. While telling this to her parents, things get heated. During the fight, Morgan says something along the lines of, "What, I'm adopted?!" Her parents' response: cold silence. Whoops, looks like the cat is out of the bag. This of course brings on all sorts of emotions for everyone. I understand Morgan's anger, but sometimes she was a tad too harsh, snapping at her parents, and her aunt. But, she was hurt, and the feelings she had were relatable for anyone who discovered the hard way that they were adopted.

Most of the book is about Morgan and her quest for finding out more about her real parents and her past. It was written really well, and I loved how there were two stories going on at the same time: each chapter began with a snippet from 'Bradhadair''s book of shadows. Later on, you'll be about to figure out who that is: I'm not going to tell you :P

The ending was such a chiff-hanger! I was so mad. I was like "Nooooo! It can't end like this!" Now, I have to track down the next book. This is definitely a good series to read, especially if you're in a "witchy" mood like I was :)

New Release

Being a big fan of Claudia Gray's Evernight series, when I heard she was coming out with a new novel, I had to read it. Today, Gray released her book Fateful. Its not part of the Evernight series, but it looks just as promising to me.

Goodreads Synopsis:
In Fateful, eighteen-year-old maid Tess Davies is determined to escape the wealthy, overbearing family she works for. Once the ship they’re sailing on reaches the United States, she’ll strike out on her own. Then she meets Alec, a handsome first-class passenger who captivates her instantly. But Alec has secrets.... 

Soon Tess will learn just how dark Alec’s past truly is. The danger they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves are real and they’re stalking him—and now Tess, too. Her growing love for Alec will put Tess in mortal peril, and fate will do the same before their journey on the Titanic is over.

Featuring the opulent backdrop of the Titanic, Fateful’s publication is poised to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the ship’s doomed maiden voyage. It is sure to be a hit among Titanic buffs and fans of paranormal romance alike.



Fateful is out in stores in the U.S today. Get your copy now! :)

Teaser Tuesday #3- The Coven (Wicca #2) by Cate Tiernan




Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share one or two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


~~~~~~~~My Teaser~~~~~~~~


"Sorry." he said, rubbing his temples. "Do you have any Tylenol?"
"Nope, sorry. Your doctor's appointment is today right?"
"Yeah."
"Here take this." Jenna rummaged in her purse and took out two tablets.
Robbie squinted at them, then tossed them down with the rest of his soda. "What was that?"
"Cyanide." said Sharon, and we laughed.
"Actually, it was Midol." Jenna said.
Matt whooped with laughter as Robbie gaped at her in dismay.
"It'll really help." Jenna insisted. "It's what I take for my headaches."
"Oh man." Robbie shook his head. I was almost doubled over with laughter.
"Look at it this way," said Cal brightly. "You won't get that awful bloated feeling."
"You'll feel pretty all day." suggested Matt, laughing so hard, he had to wipe his eyes.

                    --page 88

((This was a little longer than normal, but I thought it was so funny, I had to post the whole conversation xD))

Monday, September 12, 2011

Tackling My Shelves. Part 1

Alright, so the other day I had this huge pile of books to return to the library, right? No big deal, that's not unusual for me, but the thing is, I didn't even read more than half of them.


I have an addiction. I admit it. I like to check out more books than I have time to read. I also, love buying books. I'll get so excited for the release of a new book that'll I'll get it the day it comes out, only to have it sit on my shelf collecting dust because every time I go out, I come back with more. It's unhealthy. Sure there are worse addictions, but it's a problem non-the-less.


So, what am I going to do to fix this problem?  I'm going to avoid bookstores and libraries at all costs. Yeah I know, its easier said then done, but I'm going to give it a try. From now on, I'm only going to read books I own, which isn't as bad as it sounds really. I have tons of books to keep me busy for a while. I'm going shelf by shelf, hence the title 'Tackling My Shelves'. Below, I'm going to post a picture of my first shelf; some of the books I've read, others I have not. 


So wish me the best of luck, and for those of you who have the same addiction as me, perhaps you should try tackling your shelves ;D

I have some of my shelves organized...kind of anyway. This shelf is all vampires.
Oh and yes, in case you couldn't tell, I'm a huge Florida Panther hockey fan :D

Friday, September 9, 2011

It's Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! 


I hope you all had a good week! My week concluded with 2 members of my school's band fainting on the football field at our 9/11 Remembrance ceremony. It's really hot here. Ridiculously hot. But that's Florida for you.


I want to apologize for the lack of posts and updates lately. I've been really busy with school and everything starting up again, and have barely any free time to read. Sucks right? :/ 


Well, the good news is I will (hopefully!) be finishing a book tonight or tomorrow and have a review up, so look for that soon. 

Friday, September 2, 2011

Well...it's ALMOST Labor Day :D

So August is over and school has officially begun as of last week. But thanks to a little holiday known as Labor Day, everyone gets a three day weekend. Great right?! But before you go out and start making all your weekend plans, take a second to reflect on what the holiday is truly about.


 "It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker."

What does that mean?
It means, Labor Day was a holiday created to honor and give thanks to all those hard working Americans who make it possible to have and do all the things that the rest of us take for granted.

So, that being said, go out and enjoy yourselves this weekend. Take a trip, or get ready for kick-off with the start of the NFL's official season. Just don't be like me and be stuck at home doing homework and college apps with a nasty cold because trust me, that's no way to spend a long weekend >.<

Hope you all have a great and safe weekend!

***Reviews coming soon***

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