New Blog

If you're curious as to where I've been recently, or why I've not been posting book reviews or making videos, then head on over to my new blog GrazingPages The Family. My first blog post fills you in on the basics but if you want to follow the new blog then I'd welcome you with open arms.  

Review | Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Title: Warm Bodies

Author: Isaac Marion 

Release Date: Release of Movie cover January 31st 2013 Originally October 2010

Publisher: Random House 

Genre: Young Adult, Apocalyptic 

Series: Warm Bodies 

Pages: 214

Format: ebook (NetGalley) 

Rating: ★★★★

'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins. 

This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight... Source NetGalley Description

Warm Bodies isn't your typical zombie novel. Yes there are the blood thirsty zombies and the survivors, but where this one stands apart from all the rest is that it's narrated by R, who is in fact a zombie. Following his usual daily routines of ridding escalators in the abandoned airport where he lives, having rather brief conversations with his zombie best friend M, and heading out on the hunt for dinner, he stumbles upon Julie (after eating the brain of her now ex-boyfriend.) Their chance meeting changes something within R and ultimately the world. 

I loved this take on zombies! Now if you know anything about me and my usual reading habits, I have a rather big thing for anything apocalyptic or zombie related, but there does come a point when you crave something slightly different and Warm Bodies has it all. 

R is one of the most interesting, intelligent and extremely witty characters I've ever had the pleasure to read about. He captures your interest from the first page explaining the new world, his 'friends' and his surroundings in such a unique way. For a zombie that at first glance has lost everything human he has some alarmingly insightful and comical thoughts about life. As I'm sure you have guessed I adored R, so I won't go into anymore detail about him, you'll just have to read the book to fall in love with him yourself. 

The twists Isaac Marion puts on the post apocalyptic genre is brilliant if slightly predictable. The ending I've got to say didn't really surprise me. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy it because I truly did, but if you're after a little shock factor then I'd probably recommend not watching the movie trailer for Warm Bodies before you read the book. Nahh only joking, but really other than the predictability and the slightly sceptical romance I loved this book. The whole concept was wonderful and R's narration made up for any tiny issues I might have had. 

I recommend this book 100%. It will branch out to a wide spectrum of readers, from the gore loving, to the romance lovers and even to those who cringe at the idea of zombies. Honestly give this book a go. Step out of your comfort zone and read something a little different. I can safely say that you won't be disappointed. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this review and keep an eye out on my youtube channel for my video review which will be up in the next few weeks. 

Happy Reading! 

*SPOLIER SECTION BELOW*

DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK! 

The only part I struggled with in Warm Bodies was the relationship that formed between Julie and R. For me falling in love with R was pretty easy, but I'm not sure that if I was in Julie's situation I would have been so quick to fall. For Julie, R was something different, behind his appearance she could see R's intelligence growing, she could see his human side becoming stronger but without R's inner dialog I'm not too sure what Julie fell for. Julie and R's outward conversations consisted of very brief dialog which I honestly don't think were particularly swoon worthy. Though the majority of the time his actions did speak louder than words, they weren't anything more that what an overly protective animal would do. Ok, I'm speaking out of turn here so I'll reel myself in, but all I wanted to say is that for me the romantic relationship in this book wasn't 100% believable if I was to step out of R's head. 

Review | Poison Study by Maria V Snyder

Title: Poison Study 

Author: Maria V Snyder 

Release Date: September 21st 2007

Publisher: Mira Books

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy  

Series: Study Series 

Pages: 409

Format: ebook

Rating: ★★★★★

Yelena has a choice – be executed for murder, or become food taster to the Commander of Ixia. She leaps at the chance for survival, but her relief may be short-lived.Life in the palace is full of hazards and secrets. Wily and smart, Yelena must learn to identify poisons before they kill her, recognise whom she can trust and how to spy on those she can’t. And who is the mysterious Southern sorceress who can reach into her head?When Yelena realises she has extraordinary powers of her own, she faces a whole new problem, for using magic in Ixia is punishable by death... source Goodreads

Yelena is a mere few days away from facing execution as punishment for committing murder in Ixia when Poison Study beings. One of the many laws in Ixia states that no matter the circumstance taking someones life faces the death penalty, though for Yelena there's one loophole that may just save her life.... temporarily... by becoming the new food tester for the Commander.

Within the first few pages a strong bond between the reader and our main character is formed. Which is odd when you think about it, as from the first page you're routing for a killer, but that's the magic of Maria V Snyder's writing I guess. She really knows how to captivate her audience. We follow Yelena though her training as the new food taster, learning about different poisons but most of all learning who she can trust, if anyone.

Poison study is full of twists and turns and I've got to say that at no point in the book was I second guessing where the story was going. Normally I predict endings pretty efficiently, but with Poison Study I just didn't. Now I'm not sure if this was just because I din't want to guess ahead or that it was purely just unpredictable, but either way I loved reading it just as the author intended.

I absolutely adored this book, which surprised me as normally I wouldn't class myself as a fan of fantasy. I don't particularly enjoy the medieval time period either, being more of a modern day/futuristic girl myself, but I fell for this book hook, line and sinker. Maria V Synder's writing is impeccable creating interesting, mysterious and extremely well developed characters. From the get go I needed to know Yelena's secrets, no matter how terrible they were guaranteed to be. I needed to know that she would be safe, but most of all I needed to know more about the mysterious Valek!

I recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone. I loved it! So much so that I just had to pick up the second in the series, Magic Study, straight after I finished the first. [another first for me]

If you decide to pick up Poison Study by Maria V Snyder then please let me know as I'd be curious to know what you make of it, and if you've already read it... then what did you think?

Once Upon a Read - a -Thon | Day 2 Update

After a wonderful but very unexpected instant message chat all the way to Poland the read-a-thon kind of went on the back burner. I did manage to read one book and start another but I'm not very optimistic about meeting my aims. Oh the pressure. haha.

Books completed: 
The Phantom (Point Horror) by Barbara Steiner
Time Riders by Alex Scarrow (in progress)

Pages Read: 219 hmmm seemed more!


Thoughts: Oooh how I have struggled today. I'm a huge point horror fan but there's a few that really make me grrrr! And The Phantom wasn't one of them! I wish I could say that but it wouldn't be true, so I'm going to leave it at, I struggled. Now I'm reading Time Riders and hoping for a fast paced, super enjoyable read. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Currently Reading: Time Riders by Alex Scarrow

See you soon for the final update!

Happy Reading!

Once Upon a Read - a -Thon | Day 1 Update

Day one of the Once Upon a Read - a Thon complete and I managed to finish The Goddess Test by Amiee Carter. Whoop whoop. Though I personally feel that I did pretty well I'm now feeling the pressure as I still have FOUR yes FOUR books to read in two days. What was I thinking?

Books Completed: 1 - The Goddess Test by Amiee Carter

Pages Read: 204

Thoughts: The Goddess Test was amazing. I adored this book so much. The story was fast paced and the writing style just hooked me from the first page. I'd say that this was the perfect book to set off a read-a-thon! Only downside - I want to start reading the second in the series but can't until the read-a-thon is over.

Currently Reading: The Phantom (Point Horror) by Barbara Steiner

I'm now half way through day 2 and so far I've only read 5 pages ooops. Best get cracking.

Mini Challenges: 
Mini challenges for Day 1 were hosted by Loretta @Between the pages and Bailey @IB Book Blogging. Now we all know how much I love Loretta but I just could take part in her challenge because I was lazy, ok because I didn't know the answers... but shhh don't tell anyone.
But Bailey's, now that's something I can do!

Question 1: 
What is your favourite cover that has be revealed this summer and why?

Why not? This cover is amazing! I love it! I've not even read Shatter me... yet, but I'm already eager to get my hands on this one when it comes out.

Question 2: 
Do you rely on the cover the help you choose whether you want to read a book or not?
It depends. Well doesn't it always?! My mood is a major contributor and linked with a good/bad cover it can encourage me either way. Though overall probably not. If I really want to read something, even something with a really ugly cover I'll pick it up anyway, though I'd more than likely borrow rather than buy.

See you guys soon for another update.

Happy Reading!

Once Upon a Read - a - Thon

With almost one full day lost I have decided to take part in the Once Upon a read-a-thon. I've missed quite a few read-a-thons in my book blogging time and I am not about to miss another one, so here we go. Once upon a read-a-thon is hosted by Lori at Pure Imagination, Angela at Reading Angel and Candace at Candace's Book Blog. It's running from 12:01am on July 9th (yup that's today) to 11:59pm on July 11th so if you haven't already signed up then what are you waiting for?! 

I actually decided to take a trip to the library today so the majority of my 'hope to read pile' are library books, with one kindle book that I started only yesterday. 

Books I hope to read:

The Goddess Test - Amiee Carter  

(Point Horror) The Phantom - Barbara Steiner

(Point Horror) Double Date - Sinclair Smith

Die For Me - Amy Plum 

Time Riders - Alex Scarrow  

It's a huge challenge for me as currently I'm not even reading this many books in a month never mind 3 days (stupid book slump), but I'm going to do my best! Keep your fingers crossed for me guys. 

If you're taking part in this read-a-thon then let me know in the comments below, but until then...

Happy Reading! 

Review | Fracture by Megan Miranda

Title: Fracture 

Author: Megan Miranda

Release Date: January 17th 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury 

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal  

Series: Stand Alone

Pages: 272

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she’s far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can’t control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she’s reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy’s motives aren’t quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature—or something much more frightening? Source Goodreads

Review: I seem to be on my own when I say that I didn't really enjoy this book. I scroll down the reviews on Goodreads and see either glowing four or five stars with lengthy reviews that follow, but I didn't really get it.
This book caught my attention as soon as it was released. The description had me hooked and the hint of a paranormal twist forced me to pick it up. I wish I could say that it lived up to my high expectations.

Fracture reminded me, in terms of both the plot and the writing style of a Point Horror book. If you don't know what that is then it was a form of teen fiction "back in the day" with a quick but not too in depth plot. Funnily enough I love Point Horror and tend to pick them up whenever I find them, but the difference is that I'm expecting that brief encounter with the plot, the distance between the reader and the characters and basically the rubbish story, and I use rubbish in the most affectionate term possible. (you know rubbish as in those chick flicks that you love to watch but deep down you know that they really aren't that good?! I know you know the ones.) I wish I could hold Fracture in this warm fuzzy part of my heart where all my Point Horror books live but I can't. Teen fiction has come a long way since then and I have become accustomed to expect a lot more from a book.

I also became slightly irritated by the authors use of delaying the mystery. I'm sure that you know the one. Where one character knows all the answers but the character that we're reading from the perspective of is too busy freaking out over something or another to finish asking, even though that's the main reason that they are there. I have no idea why authors do this as for me it doesn't feel natural. I feel that if I was in the same situation and someone had all the answers, I'd want to know! I end up yelling at the book, "tell me already!!!" haha. Maybe it's just me.

In saying that Fracture wasn't "that" bad. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't for me. It took me a while to get though it as the plot didn't grip me, well at least not until the last 70 pages or so and the ending just left me feeling rather blerrr... Fracture was also a very short book that I should have flew through, but I felt that through the haste of the book I lost that all important connection with the characters. I couldn't even connect to the love interest, which is a shock for me as I usual fall madly in love before that main character even realises that someone else exists. haha.

Overall for me the plot was a little bland. I felt that the paranormal aspect was short lived and the main focus was upon the meaning of life and certain worthiness of one individual living over another instead of the action packed mystery that I was expecting. I personally rate it rather low because I just couldn't love it no matter how many time I try to force myself to. In saying that I wouldn't tell you not to read it. Just because I didn't enjoy it doesn't mean that you wont. This could turn out to be one of you're favourite books and who am I to tell you not to read something?!