Book Review: Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3)

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher: Scholastic

Publishing Date: July 2011

Length: 400 pages

Genre: YA, fantasy, paranormal romance

Source: Won

~ The Story ~

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

Summary by Goodreads

The POV’s alternate between Grace, Sam, Cole, Isabel and a surprise voice who opens the story of FOREVER. I can’t say which character captured me most. They all had something about them which made me love them even more, as individuals and as part of the various relationships.

I like them all so much, but I must say that I was mostly craving for more Cole, this man is really an addiction. Sam and Grace, Isabel and Cole are so great together. Still I wished for more moments between Cole and Isabel. Their scenes always ended when they were at their highest.

Poetry is not my favourite type of text, still Sam’s reciting make the novel an even stronger part of the series. Sam’s beautiful texts, whispered words and sung lyrics always made me go all fan girl. In duet with Cole, these two boys are definitely my favourite fictional band.

The story around the teens and wolves feels so natural and although sad things are happening Maggie’s writing feels comforting and just right. Her describing the wolves, their interactions and wolfish voices felt  real. She puts words together and somehow they form this beautiful mass of something that makes sense and affects you.

The ending left me with mixed feelings. It was the final to a much-loved series and I felt gratitude towards Maggie for creating the world of the Mercy Falls wolves. Then it left me utterly disappointed at the same time. I never considered Maggie as a writer of stereotypical happily ever afters, but I hoped for a different last sentence, maybe even last few chapters.

It was just so unsure, open and very sad (which is of course a more than acceptable feeling to evoke after the incidents of FOREVER). I just wish the open end as I see it, leaves room for another book in the series (despite Maggie’s goodbyes).

1) of the gift of carefree moments in times of war

2) the promises of aurora borealis

3) of our favourite two songwriters

4) of beautiful lyrics and words

5) of a ton of heartfelt emotions

5/5***** FOREVER- Drastic, sad, melancholic, raw with emotions. That’s it. That’s the last novel in the WOLVE SOF MERCY FALLS series.

FOREVER has so many awesome swoon-worthy and fantastic emotional moments. I didn't want the story to come to an end!

* Don't forget to check out Maggie's other books! 

* Listen to Maggie Stiefvater reading from FOREVER. 

* Watch the FOREVER book trailer. 

* Click here for Maggie’s public appearances. 

* Visit www.maggiestiefvater.com for further information.

* Thank you Maggie for choosing my tissue as a FOREVER ARC winner. Again huge thanks to Loni for forwarding me the book!

In My Mailbox #39

The idea of In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren and is to bring books to the attention of our blog readers and to encourage interaction with other blogs.

E-ARCs

Tempest by Julie Cross (Macmillan, Netgalley)
The Next Door Boys by Jolene B. Perry (Cedar Fort, Netgalley)
The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly (Hyperion, Netgalley)
Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale (Random House Children's Books, Netgalley) 

 

Won

 

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith (A book that totally made my day! Thank you so so much Sam and Headline for sending me a copy. I can't wait to read it!!!)
Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Thanks to Maria @Bookchilla ! I love the copy and hope the third novel is just as good as the two before.) 

Book Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Title: Before I Fall

Author: Lauren Oliver

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publishing Date: March 2010

Length: 368 pages

Genre: YA, romance

Source: Publisher

What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.

Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing. 

Summary by Goodreads

The story of BEFORE I FALL is set over a period of seven days and at the same time this story is one day replayed seven times. Doesn’t sound that exciting to relive one day over and over again huh? But it definitely is!

BEFORE I FALL shows how actions can change the outcome of a day and a whole precious life. It was all about the same characters, dialogues and events, but still every time Sam’s day started the replay function I couldn’t wait to see what had changed and what new was about to happen. Although it was only about that one day, each new replay holds another worthy and important revelation.

It wasn’t only the story which held me captivated but the character cast as well. BEFORE I FALL is told from Sam’s point of view and the chapters are divided into the seven days replayed.

Sam is a person that goes through enormous changes in just a short time span. And she is one of the much loved YA characters that achieve progress (which is ironic, cause she is stuck in that loop). She learns from her mistakes and learns how to become a better friend, sister, daughter and person in general. Sam learns how to find her true self and to appreciate every single moment, her family and friends.

BEFORE I FALL also has romance. One of the most beautiful and saddest I’ve read about, which stunned me because it is rather subtle and doesn’t dominate the story. Sam falls in love with someone she wouldn’t have expected to like that much once she only got the know him. Find out yourselves about his cute and caring character. You’ll love the mystery lover!! 

Fascinating is to see in how far one slightly different action or dialogue can change the entire day and also Sam’s relationships with several people. The way they interacted and fitted into the construct of that single day really got my attention.

Lauren Oliver’s words and the uncertainty of the ending made me cry buckets. All the time I couldn’t imagine how the story’s going to end and the end definitely came with a surprise.

BEFORE I FALL is the second novel by Lauren Oliver that I read and another that made me cry. Lauren Oliver has such a wonderful talent. Every single of her words is simply beautiful, each character like a friend and every new book by Lauren one I don’t want to miss!

  

1) of the magic of time standing still

2) everybody can be someone’s hero

3) of keeping the happy memories close

4) of Lauren’s beautiful words which have the power to capture your entire self

5) life is all about second chances

5/5 ***** BEFORE I FALL- Poetic, absolute and beautiful!

It’s the story of a girl on the verge of dying that will definitely have its readers crying buckets. BEFORE I FALL is a magical read about the possibilities of life, the comfort of love and the transience of existence.

* Don’t forget to check out Lauren’s dystopian novel DELIRIUM and her MG book LIESL & PO!

* Read an excerpt of BEFORE I FALL here. 

* Watch the book trailer here. 

* Download the BEFORE I FALL reading guide here. 

* Visit www.laurenoliverbooks.com for further information.

* A huge thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for sending me BEFORE I FALL for review. I love Lauren’s books so so much! 

Coveresque feat. Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (US vs. Bulgarian vs. German)

 

Here are three covers of BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, all dominated by bluish colors. My two favourites are the Bulgarian cover in the middle and the US paperback cover on the left. Both feature stairs as a major element of the plot. The German cover on the right just shows another female face on a book cover. The colors are too intense and just don't appeal to me. Which cover do you like best?

Book Review: Starcrossed (Starcrossed #1) by Josephine Angelini

Title: Starcrossed (Starcrossed #1)

Author: Josephine Angelini

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publishing Date: May 2011

Length: 496 pages

Genre: YA, fantasy, paranormal romance, mythology

Source: Netgalley 

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

Summary by Goodreads

STARCROSSED and I didn’t have the best start. I had to adjust to Angelini’s writing style first. Then protagonist Helen seemed like a very static character and the things happening to her were more than strange and inexplicable.

I don’t know on which page, maybe I was about 70 pages into the story, but suddenly I connected to it. I wanted to know what was about to happen to each character, see how they interact and what the Greek mythology references were about.

Helen and Lucas are equal when it comes to their status as supernatural beings. I really liked that this paranormal love is about two equal lovers. They fall in love, they both want each other and although they are equal their love is yet another one forbidden. Angelini involved pretty interesting concepts of the correlation between love and hate.

She also built great tension and I couldn’t wait for Helen and Lucas to get their special moment. When it was finally there…the tension just puffed. I hoped for a more vivid display of romantic scenes and still hope for that in the sequel (I'm sure Josephine Angelini will do a fab job).

We got many characters and they felt like a huge family to me, so familiar and fun. I liked all of them so much. They all have talents that relate to ancient Gods. We also got the oracle of Delphi. Their talents fascinated me, the powers of Gods or semigods seem endless.

1) we’d love to be descendants of Aphrodite

2) Greek mythology can be fun  

3) of the meaning of sand craters

4) of a pretty interesting correlation of love and hate

5) lovers are supposed to be equal  

4,5/5 ****/* STARCROSSED- Original take on the Greek mythology and home of the fantastic love story of Helen and Lucas. That’s exactly the way history can be a lot of fun!

STARCROSSED is the first of many Greek mythology themed books being released right now and it was the best to start with. I’m eager to learn more about the Greeks and Lucas’ and Helene’s love story in the much anticipated sequel! 

* Read the first 99 pages of STARCROSSED here. 

* Watch the book trailer here. 

* Visit www.josephineangelini.com for further information! 

* Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Teen for allowing me access to STARCROSSED!

Teaser Tuesday #45

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

 Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

 ' "Yeah," I said, pressing a Spider-Man Band-Aid onto his cheek."Real sexy." ' 

~p. 75

New Releases October 24th– October 30th

October 25th


Between the Sea & Sky by Jaclyn Dolamore

You Are My Only by Beth Kephart

Destined (House of Night #9) by P. C. and Kristin Cast

The Iron Knight (Iron Fey #4) by Julie Kagawa

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber

Nightshade (The Poison Diaries #2 ) by Maryrose Wood & the Duchess of Northumberland

Amplified by Tara Kelly

Three of these titles are on my TBR pile and I really hope I get to THE IRON KNIGHT, YOU ARE MY ONLY and AU REVOIR, CRAZY EUROPEAN CHICK soon! Have you read any of them?

Book Review: Hereafter (Hereafter #1) by Tara Hudson

Title: Hereafter (Hereafter #1)

Author: Tara Hudson

Publisher: Harper Teen

Publishing Date: June 2011

Length: 416 pages

Genre: YA, fantasy, mystery

Source: Netgalley

Can there truly be love after death? 

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive. 

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.

Summary by Goodreads 

Amelia awakes from one of her numerous nightmares…except it isn’t. The nightmare is reality, she is dead, a ghost and is just about to meet the love of her…well, you know afterlife.

Josh is an ordinary human with a near death experience and when he meets Amelia his entire life changes…except it doesn’t really.

When he sees Amelia for the first time he isn’t really frightened, but just gives in to the things he sees. I absolutely loved the fact that he isn’t scared or thinks that he is crazy when he sees the ghost of Amelia. Their first meeting is thrilling and somehow natural and even magical.

They also experience that they are not supposed to be together when Joshua learns about his true nature, too. The romance between Amelia and Joshua was still so easy and a nice change to the chaotic and turbulent relationships of many YA couples.

Characters of both families are involved, the living boy and the dead girl and a bunch of otherworldly and ghostly beings. HEREAFTER also offers various enemies to potentially come between Joshua and Amelia’s love.

Amelia is a ghost. But not exactly the concept of ghost we are familiar with. She has almost no memories of her past life and until she meets Joshua only exists through her nightmares. Hudson reveals an enjoyable concept of the hereafter, a struggle of powers within the dark realms and the mission to recruit as many souls as possible.

1) of a charming concierge

2) of a ghostly and eerie setting
3) of the mutual playlist of living and dead
4) of chapters with just the right tension

5)  of a new take on the ghost story

4,5/5 ****/* HEREAFTER- Elating, ghostly wonderful and one of 2011’s debuts you shouldn’t miss!

I was immediately hooked to the story, the first few chapters felt so exciting and full of mystery. Tension is perfectly built within chapters and throughout the whole story. I can definitely name it my favourite ghost story!

  

* Read an excerpt of HEREAFTER here. 

* Watch the book trailer here. 

* Click here for the HEREAFTER playlist. 

* For further information visit www.tarahudson.com

* Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Teen for allowing me access to the e-galley of HEREAFTER!

Teaser Tuesday #44

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

 Eve by Anna Carey

"He came toward us, his face only two feet from Caleb's. He was so close I could see the bits of leaves buried in his hair and the smears of ash on his tense, muscular arms. "*

~ p. 71-72

*This quote was extracted from the Netgalley  E-ARC and is subject to change before publication

New Releases October 17th– October 23rd

October 18th

Beautiful Chaos (Caster Chronicles #3) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Seizure (Virals #2) by Kathy Reichs

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Crave by Melissa Darnell

Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez  

Swear by Nina Malkin

October 19th

On the Fringe by Courtney King Walker

In My Mailbox #38

The idea of In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren and is to bring books to the attention of our blog readers and to encourage interaction with other blogs.

Featured are books that I got sent by awesome publishers in the last weeks and also my Frankfurt Book Fair 2011 haul. Some of them were bought and many gifted by the fab publishers I met there! Huge thanks to HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks, Templar Publishing, Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Egmont for all the fabulous books and great chats! 

Shut Out by Kody Kepling 

Beat the Band by Don Calame

Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon 
 
Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber  

Blood Red Road by Moira Young 

Between by Jessica Warman

Angel's Fury by Bryony Pearce

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand 

Rich and Mad byWilliam Nicholson

Food, Girls, & Other Things I Can't Have by Allen Zadoff

 

L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad 

Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad

Supernaturally by Kiersten White

A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Variant by Robinson Wells

Angelfire by C.A. Moulton

The fabulous Lauren Oliver attended Frankfurt Book Fair and I had the pleasure to hear her read some lines from Delirium. It's impressive that she can write anywhere in the world. She even wrote some words before her talk. I hoped for a chat with her and to get my books signed,  but unfortunately she had to leave early. She's super nice. You should all go to one of her events if you have the chance to! 

Frankfurt Book Fair

I just wanted to give you a short explanation for the lack of posts the last two days: Frankfurt Book Fair 2011! I went there this morning and it was SO SO awesome. I'll tell you more about my day in Frankfurt in another post. My mailbox for tomorrow will be huge! I got so many great books. You should all come next year;)

Coveresque feat. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan (US vs. Spanish vs. German)

It's Christmas!!! I wish it were already. Can't wait for the winter and snow. DASH & LILY'S BOOK OF DARES is just the perfect holiday read. Here we've got three gorgeous covers of DASH & LILY. US, Australia, Germany. I love them all. The US cover is romantic and dreamy. Australia totally convinces with the red moleskin theme and the German cover has a snowglobe on it! Which one do you like best?

Teaser Tuesday #43

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

Angel by L.A. Weatherly

" Alex had a blurred impression of a great rushing and flapping of wings, and of wind tearing at his hair, as if the whole world was whipping past. The pistol began to shake in his hands."

~ p. 41