The Last Surprise

The Last Academy
By: Anne Applegate
Reported by: Julianna Helms
Source: ARC via Publisher (Thank you!)
Release date: April 30th, 2013 via Point/Scholastic

What is this prep school preparing them for?

Camden Fisher arrives at boarding school haunted by a falling-out with her best friend back home. But the manicured grounds of Lethe Academy are like nothing Cam has ever known. There are gorgeous, preppy boys wielding tennis rackets, and circles of girls with secrets to spare. Only . . . something is not quite right. One of Cam's new friends mysteriously disappears, but the teachers don't seem too concerned. Cam wakes up to strangers in her room, who then melt into the night. She is suddenly plagued by odd memories, and senses there might be something dark and terrible brewing. But what? The answer will leave Cam—and readers—stunned and breathless, in this thrilling debut novel.

-Summary from Goodreads
Pre-order: Mrs. Nelson's || Barnes & Noble || Amazon || Book Depository

First off, I should probably make the caveat that I'm not typically a fan of boarding school stories. But Scholastic was really kind in sending me this book, and it had a fun-sounding premise, so I figured... why not? 

Oh, why not indeed.

Teen Book Fest (incl. Stephen Chbosky! O.o)

Hey you.

Do you love Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)? Marie Lu (Legend -- my review of Legend is here and of its sequel, Prodigy, here)? Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone)?

Do you live or will be in the Southern California area on Saturday, May 11th?

I really, really hope you just said yes. Because those amazing authors (and many more talented, crazy awesome peeps) will be discussing fabulous bookishess and also signing books (!!!) from 9AM until 5PM at the Teen Book Fest, hosted by the fantastic Ontario City Library! (Sadly, not the Canada Ontario. But Canadians, stay tuned--I do believe I will be giving away some signed swag/maybe books after the event!) It will be here:

Merton E Hill Auditorium at Chaffey High (211 W. 5th Street, Ontario CA)

The door will be open at 8:30AM! If you want to know more about the event, please visit its website here. This is seriously the type of event and author lineup that makes me want to throw up because I'm so excited (sorry- but it's true!).

Comeeeee onnnn, join me! I'll be there and these amazing people will be there and it will be a day full of BADASS bookish business (alliteration *cough*).

Hope to see you there!

Live for This Book

Eleanor & Park
By: Rainbow Rowell
Reported by: Julianna Helms

"Bono met his wife in high school," Park says.
"So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be," she says, "we’re sixteen."
"What about Romeo and Juliet?"
"Shallow, confused, then dead."
''I love you," Park says.
"Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be."

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

-Summary from Goodreads
Purchase: Mrs. Nelson's || Barnes & Noble || Amazon || The Book Depository 

"Eleanor..." 

"Stop. Don't say my name like that. It only makes it worse." 

"Makes what worse?" 

"Everything," she said. 

He was quiet. 

She sat up and wiped her nose on her sleeve. 

"Do you have a nickname?" he asked. That was one of his tricks, whenever she was put off or irritated--changing the subject in the sweetest way possible.

 -pg. 107 

I don't like this book.

I think I live for this book. (Read the book. You'll get it. What I just did. But also, why I did what I just did.)

Dive In!

Deep Dive: Cephalox the Cyber Squid 
By: Adam Blade
Reported by: Roarko (my 10-year-old brother's pseudonym)
Source: ARC via Publisher (Thank you, Scholastic! <3)
Release date: April 1st, 2013 via Scholsatic (Already released!)

A brand-new underwater adventure from Adam Blade, author of the Beast Quest series!

Max's home, the floating city of Aquora, is attacked by Cephelox the Cyber Squid and his father is carried away by the Robobeast. Max and his robodog, Rivet, set off on a rescue mission. Along the way, they meet Lia, a princess of an ancient race of Merryns who live underwater. The Merryn's magic powers are fading because the evil Professor has stolen four pieces of a skull that is the source of their abilities. It is up to Max and Lia to retrieve these items and save Max's father before it is too late.

-Summary from Goodreads
Purchase: Mrs. Nelson's || Barnes & Noble || Amazon || Book Depository

This review is written by my ten-year-old brother, who I figured was perfect for reviewing this book since he's in its intended demographic and loved Adam Blade's Beast Quest.

The Characters:
Max is a smart, brave boy, and his ability to learn quickly makes him a very admirable hero. I didn't necessarily like Lia, the princess of Merryns, because she got angry very easily when Max couldn't understand her. Though I guess anyone could have gotten frustrated in that circumstance. Rivet the robodog was awesome. He could chop through metal and talk and do all these cool things. Mostly, I really liked the characters and their developments.

The Story:
The plot was good, except it seemed a bit of the same storyline as Adam Blade's other book, Beast Quest. It was almost as if Deep Dive is an underwater version of Beast Quest with different characters. Yet I still liked the story because it introduced some really interesting elements that I didn't expect, adding in awesome technology with some really cool ideas.

The Writing: 
The writing was P-E-R-F-E-C-T (my sister's transcription). Adam Blade used words I didn't know and made up some really great terms that I thought was totally awesome.

Overall:
If you like action, you should read Deep Dive. It has some really great action scenes and also pretty epic characters.

Deadly To Love Tour Stop: Teasers + Giveaway!

Hey y'all! Today, I'm excited to be presenting some teasers from Mia Hoddell's Deadly to Love. But the teasers aren't all Mia's offering--there will also be a giveaway at the end of this post for a copy of Deadly to Love and swag! Awesome, yeah?

So what exactly is Deadly to Love?

Deadly to Love
By: Mia Hoddell
Series: Elemental Killers

There is a love that is so dangerous, so powerful, so intoxicating that it embraces your heart and smothers your mind until it leaves you defenseless.

Serena knew that but still, it didn't stop her. His name was Kai. He was the most beautiful, irresistible man she had ever encountered. Their attraction was too compelling to fight and she knew she would go to the end of the world beside him. That is love.

However behind the allure was hidden a deadly secret – a secret that threatened her fragile life... But secrets best left unsaid never remain hidden forever. When Kai reveals his true identity, she is exposed to a frightening world she had no idea existed. Controlled by powerful Elemental forces her life is placed in mortal danger.

Unbeknown to them, their lives have been entwined from the beginning and it leads her to discover an even greater secret about who she really is. As the pieces begin to unravel and death becomes a reality, Serena is forced to decide what is more important...her love or life.

-Summary provided by author
Purchase: Amazon (e-book) || Amazon.co.uk (e-book) || Lulu (paperback)

 

Teasers from the book

He started to walk back towards me,his expression cautious, like a hunter who was trying not to spook its prey. I hated to admit it but he was right ~Page 27 

Slightly unnerved by the image, I laid the camera on my desk, breaking the compulsion the image had over me ~Page 44 

He glared at me as he stood up, brushing himself off but I barely spared him more than a glance. My attention was focused on Kai, his performance had scared me a little ~Page 142 

“What are you doing? What’s going on?” The hand that wasn’t holding onto me was reaching behind him and fumbling in his bag for something.

“Just stay quiet,” he insisted as he pulled a gun out of the bag he had brought with us. ~Page 173 
 
His gaze was focused on something out of the window closest to me on his left. Holding a finger up to his mouth he signalled for me not to speak as he cut the headlights. ~Page 297


Thanks to Julianna for hosting me on her wonderful blog and remember to check out Deadly to Love and the rest of the tour stops here: http://miahoddell.blogspot.co.uk/p/tour-schedule.html!

ABOUT MIA

Mia Hoddell lives in the UK with her family and two cats. She spends most of her time writing or reading and her preferred genre is Young Adult, Paranormal Romance. Before 2009, Mia wouldn't even pick up a book and was more interested in sports. However she finally found some novels that captured her interest and developed a love of both reading and writing. Mia began with poems and after getting two published in separate anthologies she moved on to short stories. Although she enjoyed this, Mia found she had too much to tell with too little space, so later on she created her first series The Wanderer Trilogy and from there other ideas have emerged which she hopes to turn into novels as well. Elemental Killers is her second series and book two will be out soon.

Find Mia Online: Blog || Twitter || Facebook || Goodreads

Mia is generously giving away one e-book copy of Deadly to Love through Amazon Kindle (Int.) and one pack of Deadly to Love (UK only) swag away! Just enter using the Rafflecopter forms below. :)

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