Noteworthy Passages: Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto

Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto by Eric Luper
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pub. Date: June 1st, 2010
Pages: 293
Age Level: 14+

Synopsis via Goodreads
Seth Baumgartner just had the worst day of his life: His girlfriend dumped him (at Applebee’s), he spied his father on a date with a woman who is not his mother (also at Applebee’s!), and he lost his fourth job of the year. It’s like every relationship he cares about is imploding, and he can’t figure out what’s going on.

To find answers, Seth decides to start an anonymous podcast called The Love Manifesto, exploring “what love is, why love is, and why we’re stupid enough to keep going back for more.” Things start looking up when Seth gets a job at a golf club with his hilarious and smut-minded best friend, Dimitri, and Dimitri’s sister, Audrey. With their help, Seth tracks down his father’s mystery date, hits the most infamous bogey in the history of golf, and discovers that sometimes love means eating the worst chicken-salad sandwich you can ever imagine.

Noteworthy Passages
(WARNING: Some mild language and sexual references.)

Seth, his Dad, and his Mom; pg. 11
"It's not all right. I stood behind that company-I invested in them-and one horny bastard just cost me twelve grand overnight! A million bucks in a year on lap dances? How does someone do that?"
My mother sips her coffee. "It's a miracle those dancers didn't wear him down to a nub."
The laugh busts out of me before I can reel it back in, and it takes everything I have to not spew my mouthful of cereal across the table.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Seth," Mom says, her face flushing pinker than the marshmallow hearts floating in my bowl.

Seth; pg. 65
I remember listening to my grandfather talk to my dad at the hospital. He said that when he croaked he wanted a simple funeral-no fancy stuff. Plain pine box. Graveside service. In fact, he told my father, "Jam a hambone in my ass, let a dog drag me around, and bury me wherever that dog lets go."

Seth; pg. 139-140
Words can't describe what I feel next. The sandwich is salty, sour, spicy, and bitter all at the same time. Something in it tugs at my innards, like my stomach wants to leap out through my throat. My tongue burns, and my eyes water. My gag reflex goes into overdrive and I frantically search for a garbage can. I burst back outside and hack my mouthful into the nearest planter I can find: hosta, daylilies, impatiens, and now a bite-sized chunck of chewed up repulsiveness.
The.
Worst.
Sandwich.
Ever.

Seth; pg. 217
I hear light footsteps coming up behind me. It's Audrey. I notice her T-shirt. It reads:

To Kill a Mockingbird
Get hammer
Hold down mockingbird
Hit it in the head

It's exactly what I want to do to Dimitri.

Seth; pg. 285
I stare out the window and let the buildings slide by. Each one houses one or more families with their own shades of gray, their own definitions of love, no two exactly alike.
~~~~~~~~~

That's it folks. I sure hope that these passages combined with my Review are more than plenty enough to get you wating to read this awesome novel!









PLEASE NOTE: This is a feature hosted here at my blog in which I present you with selected passages or quotes that I deem Noteworthy from a book I've just reviewed. My hopes are of course, that these passages will make you want to pick the book up and read it. This feature was started and created by me in January in hopes of making my blog more unique. That being said, I would like to kindly request that you do not use this feature as it was intended to be for my blog only and is not a meme. If you see some one else using it, please know it is without my permission. Thank you.

Review: Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto

Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto by Eric Luper
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pub. Date: June 1st, 2010
Pages: 293
Age Level: 14+

Synopsis via Goodreads
Seth Baumgartner just had the worst day of his life: His girlfriend dumped him (at Applebee’s), he spied his father on a date with a woman who is not his mother (also at Applebee’s!), and he lost his fourth job of the year. It’s like every relationship he cares about is imploding, and he can’t figure out what’s going on.

To find answers, Seth decides to start an anonymous podcast called The Love Manifesto, exploring “what love is, why love is, and why we’re stupid enough to keep going back for more.” Things start looking up when Seth gets a job at a golf club with his hilarious and smut-minded best friend, Dimitri, and Dimitri’s sister, Audrey. With their help, Seth tracks down his father’s mystery date, hits the most infamous bogey in the history of golf, and discovers that sometimes love means eating the worst chicken-salad sandwich you can ever imagine.

Review
When I received this book in the mail for review, I'll confess, I didn't really have any expectations for it. However I was attracted to the cover, drawn in by the title, and intrigued by the premise so I figured, What the heck, I'll give it a shot. Also, this is only about the third book I've read that's been written by and about a guy in the past few years. So yeah, I wasn't really sure what to expect. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised to find Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto to be an honest, heartfelt, and humorous read; a winning combination all around in my book. No pun intended.

Seth is a lovable, well-rounded character that I immediately connected with and warmed to. His emotions were real and true, not feeling the least bit forced, exaggerated, or down-played. His ex, Veronica, well pardon my french but she's a real b*tch. Seriously, I did not like her one bit; of course this is a good thing as it would be pretty messed up if I did. I mean, she broke poor Seth's heart for crying out loud. Dimitri, the best friend, was a stark contrast to Seth but yet the pairing worked. He was annoying at times but he could also be amusing. Audrey, Dimitri's sister, was a sassy addition to the characters but I would have liked to have seen her more. As for the father, he really grated on my nerves and Luz really spiced things up.

Now, can I just say thank you Eric Luper for giving Seth parents! Yes I think you all know what I mean by this. I often find myself wondering whatever happened to the parents when reading YA books; they always seem to be either workaholics, uninterested in their kids, a single parent, or just fell off the face of the Earth. I'm glad to see Luper has included such a strong family element to coincide with the friendship and relationship elements. Luper also did a marvelous job of intertwining these elements to create such a refreshing and enjoyable read. Something else I loved about this book were the sections from Seth's podcast, The Love Manifesto, and the inclusion of what songs he was choosing to play. It really helped set the mood. The writing was also smooth and very well done.

Onto the ending, I think part of me suspected what was coming but I was still surprised by it. At first I feared that all the loose ends wouldn't be tied up but then they were. The ending, though feeling slightly rushed, was appropriate and I personally liked it overall.

Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto is the clever, fast-paced, and utterly satisfying ride into the life of a teen boy searching for the meaning of love. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to both guys and girls alike; I believe that this is a story both genders could relate to and find purpose in. Luper did a wonderful job crafting this novel and I look forward to reading more of his work in future.

Grade
Characters: A-
Writing: B
Plot: A
Ending: B+
Enjoyment/Likability: A-
Recommendable: A-

Overall: A-
Cover: A

In My Mailbox (42)

In My Mailbox
IMM is a weekly meme hosted and created by Kristie at The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

From Henry Holt
~The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Won from Anna's Book Blog
~Rampant by Diana Peterfreund
~Swag (Right)

From Jessica
~Swag (Left)

So that's all I got for this week folks. There may only be two books but I'm very excited about both of them. I hope you all got some great goodies in your mailboxes and are having a lovely weekend. :D

UPDATE: Forgot to include swag earlier so changed picture and listed the swag.

Noteworthy Passages: Break

Break by Hannah Moskowitz
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pub. Date: August 25th 2009
Pages: 256
Age Level: 15+

Synopsis from Goodreads
Jonah is on a mission to break every bone in his body. Everyone knows that broken bones grow back stronger than they were before. And Jonah wants to be stronger—needs to be stronger—because everything around him is falling apart. Breaking, and then healing, is Jonah's only way to cope with the stresses of home, girls, and the world on his shoulders. This is the story of his self-destructive spiral, his rock-bottom moment, and how he finally learns to accept help and find true strength through recovery.

Noteworthy Passages

Jonah; pg. 22
"Yeah?" I pull my shirt up and look at the huge piece of elastic around my ribs. It feels like I'm wearing a corset, which isn't as unpleasant as you might think. I wonder if I have to sleep in this thing. I wonder if it hurts if I poke it.
Yep.

Jonah; pg. 134
The next morning, my feet are shards of glass in a sock. I listen to Jesse on the rowing machine and Will sputtering in his crib until the dizziness tapers enough for me to crawl to my computer.
I Google "broken toes."
I Google "food allergies."
I Google "I'm so dizzy I can't see straight."
I Google "child abuse."
I Google "Am I going to die?"
None of the answers are helpful, although the last one takes me to some creepy links that atleast distract me for a minute.

Jonah; pg. 166
There's fake white-rap music emananting from a nearby house, like a soundtrack.
My cell phone rings in stark realistic contrast. Piercing the bubble of my whatever.
It's Naomi. She's in my phone book as "IMOAN."

~~~~~~~~

Well that's it folks. If you would like to read my review of Break, you can by clicking HERE. Hope you all are enjoying your week.










PLEASE NOTE: This is a feature hosted here at my blog in which I present you with selected passages or quotes that I deem Noteworthy from a book I've just reviewed. My hopes are of course, that these passages will make you want to pick the book up and read it. This feature was started and created by me in January in hopes of making my blog more unique. That being said, I would like to kindly request that you do not use this feature as it was intended to be for my blog only and is not a meme. If you see some one else using it, please know it is without my permission. Thank you.

Review: Break

Break by Hannah Moskowitz
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pub. Date: August 25th 2009
Pages: 256
Age Level: 15+

Synopsis from Goodreads
Jonah is on a mission to break every bone in his body. Everyone knows that broken bones grow back stronger than they were before. And Jonah wants to be stronger—needs to be stronger—because everything around him is falling apart. Breaking, and then healing, is Jonah's only way to cope with the stresses of home, girls, and the world on his shoulders. This is the story of his self-destructive spiral, his rock-bottom moment, and how he finally learns to accept help and find true strength through recovery.

Review
I have to admit, I was expecting Break to totally blow me away. Though I did end up liking this book, I felt that I spent more time adjusting to it than anything. Adjusting to the constant language, adjusting to the characters, and adjusting to the writing. Oddly enough though, the plot was one thing that I didn't have a problem adjusting to.

It took a while for me to form a solid connection with Jonah and I found that I didn't particularly care for any of the others characters, except for maybe Jesse. When Jonah was with his friends, I wasn't crazy about his personality. His 'relationship' with Charlotte seemed somewhat superficial. As for his best friend, Naomi, I just wanted to slap her for encouraging Jonah in his 'mission'. Also, though Charlotte made a certain good decision in Break, I was kind of ticked at how she went about handling things. Then there is Jesse whom I liked well enough; at least he showed more concern for his brother. Furthermore, it was Jonah's relationship with his brother, Jesse, that kind of made me warm to him. It allowed me to see his more caring, sensitive and protective side; you could tell that Jonah truly loved his brother. As it turns out, by the end of this book, Jonah had definitely proved to be a deep and complex character that I could care about.

The first half of Break, though compelling, was starting to feel a bit repetitive; but then, it delved deep into the powerful, and gripping part of the book. I even teared up a bit at one point. It was also after the half way point that I was able to quit 'adjusting' and, instead, just start losing myself in the story. I managed to get used to the frequent use of the F-word though I still didn't like this aspect of the book. Also, the writing, which had at first just seemed choppy and slightly amateurish, turned out to be something a little more raw, blunt, and effective.

The ending, in my opinion, was brilliantly done by Moskowitz and probably the best part. There were no promises or false guarantees that everything would work out perfectly; however she left me with the sense that, in time, most of the damage would be healed and that things were on the road to something better.

So ok, Break, in my opinion, had some faults. However, it also had some wonderful, redeeming qualities and I believe Moskowitz shows great promise and potential as an author. This is by no means a light read, despite being a quick one, so I wouldn't recommend this to those looking for such a book. But if something more emotionally wrought and slightly dark is what you are in the mood for, then I say this is the book for you. Chances are I will be reading it again in the future.

Grade
Characters: C
Writing: C+
Plot: B-
Ending: A-
Enjoyment/Likability: C+
Recommendable: C+

Overall: C+

Cover: A-

One Question Blog Tour: Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Today I have the pleasure of getting to be one of the stops on the lovely Lauren Baratz-Logsted's One Question Blog Tour. She is the author of the YA books Crazy Beautiful, The Education of Bet (July 12th), and The Twin's Daughter (August 31st) as well as the middle grade series Sister's Eight. I, personally, really enjoyed Crazy Beautiful and can't wait to read The Education of Bet and The Twin's Daughter. Choosing only one question to ask Lauren wasn't easy but I finally decided on one.

~~~~~~~
The Book Pixie: If you had to spend the rest of your life in one location, where would it be and why?

Lauren Baratz-Logsted: Where I live now, which is where I've lived for nearly 20 years: Danbury, CT. For people unfamiliar with Danbury, it's a relatively small city but still considered one. It has a multicultural makeup but a geographical sprall that means there's neighborhoods where you can't even tell you're in a city. I like that dichotomy and my daughter loves it here, so for now it suits me down to a T. There's one more reason I give this answer. There are definitely places I have traveled to that I have fallen in love with and could well imagine living - New York City, Seattle, London, Israel, Scotland etc - but it's a philosophy thing. If I'm going to be living a life then I'm going to be loving that life, in the moment, and not wishing myself somewhere else. At least, that's the theory!

~~~~~~~
Danbury sounds like a wonderful place to live and I'm happy to hear you are happy there. Such a great, well-thought-out answer!

Here are links to the previous and next stops on the tour:

June 18: Kelsey: What is one place in the world you would travel to in order to promote female education and why? http://thebookscout.blogspot.com/

June 22: Chelle: If you could bring any character - not your own - to life for a day, who would it be and why? http://persephonereads.wordpress.com/

Also, here is more information on Lauren's upcoming YA novel, The Education of Bet:

The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Release Date: July 12th, 2010
Pages: 192

Synopsis
Bet is sixteen, very intelligent, but only knows as much as her limited education will allow. In Victorian England, girls aren't allowed to go to school.

Will is also 16, and though not related by blood, he and Bet act like brother and sister. In fact, they even look like brother and sister. And though they're both raised under the same roof, by the same kind uncle, Will has one big advantage over Bet: He's a boy, and being a boy means he isn't stuck in the grand house they call home. He gets to go out into the world--to school.

But that's not what Will wishes. He wants to join the military and learn about real life, not what's written in books.

So one night, Bet comes up with a plan. She'll go to school as Will. Will can join the military. And though it seems impossible, they actually manage to pull it off.
But once Bet gets to the school, she begins to realize the education she's going to get isn't exactly the one she was expecting.

Start Your Day With Serial: 13 to Life Blog Tour

Welcome to Shannon Delany's Start Your Day with Serial Tour! Shannon's debut novel (and first in her YA paranormal series) 13 to Life started as a winning cell phone novel written in serial segments. During the tour you can read bits of the book in order. Miss a day? Hop to Shannon's blog http://13toLife.us/blog and check the link to the blog tour calendar in her sidebar.

There will also be a contest that will close at the end of the tour. Winners get a bunch of stuff. (More details below the interview.)

~~~~~~~~~~
The Book Pixie: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Shannon Delany: I'm one of those people who've always tried to find new and different ways to express myself, so art and writing are very important to me. I'm married, have one energetic little boy and a small farm in Upstate New York. I grew up in a very Pennsylvania Dutch part of Pennsylvania, attended college in PA, worked all sorts of odd (and I do mean "odd") jobs, got married and moved to Florida to teach. Then we came back north, lived in PA again where my son was born, moved to New Jersey then to New York.

TBP: Give us a brief description of your book.

SD: 13 to Life is the first book in a series (and my debut novel). The series follows the Rusakova family and several high school students in Junction (pretty typical small town America except for the weirdness that crops up and builds throughout the series). The Rusakovas come into town sporting a shadowy past. Jessie Gillmansen (our narrator) is pushed into a situation where she has to guide Pietr (pronounced Peter) around school. The other girls all throw themselves at him, but Jessie interprets his attitude (thanks to her own personal baggage) as big-city arrogance. A fan of paranormal novels, Jessie quickly finds herself pulled into a situation far beyond the norm as she learns more about the strange Rusakova family and the other dangerous characters drifting into Junction.

TBP: What three words would you use to describe 13 to Life?

SD: love, loss, werewolves

TBP: Do you believe in werewolves or other supernatural beings?

SD: I believe there are certainly some things we simply can't explain. I've had enough weird stuff happen in my life that I can say with some certainty there's something beyond the here and now. And I know of some people who believe(d) they are/were werewolves and vampires and other such things. Belief's a strange animal itself. If you believe you're a werewolf, who am I to say you aren't? ;-)

TBP: What was your first reaction when you saw your book's cover?

SD: "Hey! That's not what I imagined at all!"

TBP: How long did it take you to write 13 to Life?

SD: The original, serialized version took me five weeks, but it really was just a story skeleton. I probably took another month and a half to put flesh on the bones and add the subplots and little things that people will see weaving together throughout the series.

TBP: If you could co-write a book with any other author, past or present, who would it be and why?

SD: Wow. Good question. I'm a bit of a control freak so I don't know if I'm really the co-writing type. The people I think it'd be lots of fun to write something with would be any of the following: Ann Aguirre, Jeri Smith-Ready, Judith Graves, Robin Wright (an up and coming author) or my brother (who has a masterful imagination). One I'd just love to sort of learn from would be Mercedes Lackey (her Arrows of The Queen were hugely important when I was growing up). If I was co-writing a comic with my choice, I'd say Richard and Wendy Pini of Elfquest for YA and Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules) for MG.

TBP: What are you currently working on?

SD: A few things... One incorporates Native American and Norse mythology and brings a strange endtimes scenario to Florida (sorry guys!). It was my NaNoWriMo for '09. Another is, well, a totally different genre with an emphasis on technology, transportation, social struggles and love.

TBP: What is your favorite comfort food?

SD: Currently? Gooey brownies. But I'm fickle. ;-)

TBP: Where is your favorite place to write?

SD: To actually productively write, I'd say at my captain's desk. To write loose rough drafts or do copy edits? A local coffee shop that serves some awesome caffeine and sandwiches. To write the notes that build into a solid rough draft? In my car (stopped, of course) or in a tent stacked with hay near our Highland cattle (the sheep are too chatty for me to concentrate ;-).

~~~~~~~~~

I hope you all enjoyed the interview and now onto the really good stuff.

Throughout the tour Shannon is allowing us to post sneak peeks into her book 13 to Life.

~~~~~~~~~
13 to Life: Chapter 3, part R (used with the author’s permission)

"Maybe I shouldn't be the one guiding you around Junction. There are a dozen girls who'd jump at the chance.” I dropped the fork onto my tray so it clattered obnoxiously and I brought his schedule into view. I slapped it down in front of him. “Just hand one of them your schedule, okay?"
"No," he slid the schedule back without giving it a glance. "You were assigned a job-"
"A penance, probably," I muttered.
"Whatever." He swept the last bits of food onto his fork and chewed thoughtfully. "I'm your problem."
"You got that right." I stood, leaving to empty my tray.

~~~~~~~~~~
Shannon's hosting several contests during the Start Your Day with Serial Tour. The big contest will award one lucky winner with a royal amber pendant, pietersite jeweled bookmark, stuffed wolf, 13 to Life mousepad, pen, tote, signed poster, personalized copy of 13 to Life and both of the 13 to Life pins. All you need to do is comment at 13 of the blogs hosting Shannon during her 30 day tour. Everyone who does so will be entered into a random drawing. Winner may be international.
Shannon Delany's debut novel (and the first in her YA paranormal series), 13 to Life, hits bookstores Tuesday, June 22! Learn more about Shannon at http://ShannonDelany.com/ and http://13toLife.us/blog. Explore Junction at http://13tolifeseries.com/.

Noteworthy Passages: Firespell

Firespell by Chloe Neill
Publisher: Signet
Pub. Date: January 5th, 2010
Pages: 246
Age Level: 14+
Series: Dark Elite #1

Synopsis from Goodreads
As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia’s boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she’ll have to face…

When Lily’s guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So was St. Sophia’s. Lily’s ultra-rich brat pack classmates think Lily should be the punchline to every joke, and on top of that, she’s hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building.

The only thing keeping her sane is her roommate, Scout, but even Scout’s a little weird—she keeps disappearing late at night and won’t tell Lily where she’s been. But when a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school, Lily finds Scout running from a real monster.

Scout’s a member of a splinter group of rebel teens with unique magical talents, who’ve sworn to protect the city against demons, vampires, and Reapers, magic users who’ve been corrupted by their power. And when Lily finds herself in the line of a firespell, Scout tells her the truth about her secret life, even though Lily has no powers of her own—at least none that she’s discovered yet…

Noteworthy Passages

Lily & Scout; pg. 60
Exactly what had been behind that door? I decided I couldn't hold in the question any longer. "Angry drug dealer?" I asked her. "Mental institution escapee? Robot overlord?"
"I'm not aware if robots have taken us over yet." Her tone was dry.
"Flesh-eating zombie monster?"
"Zombies are a myth."
"So you say," I muttered.

Lily; pg. 101
Scout and I looked at each other for a few seconds, and in the time that elapsed during that glance, something happened--I realized I'd been given an opportunity to become part of a new kind of family; an opportunity to trust someone, to take a chance on someone. My parents may have been four thousand miles away, but I'd gained a new best friend. And that was something. That was the kind of thing you held on to.

Lily & Scout; pg. 159
"And speaking of saving the world," I said, "did you have a call after we got back last night? Or did you just sleep late?"
"I sleep with earplugs," she said, half-answering the question. "The radio alarm came on, but it wasn't loud enough, so I dreamed about REO Speedwagon and Phil Collins for forty-five minutes. Suffice it to say, I can feel coming in the air tonight."

Lily & M.K.; pg. 201-202
"You can't--," she began, but I held a finger to her lips.
"I wasn't done," I informed her. "Before I was interupted, I was making a point: Don't mess with the weirdos, unless you want to lie awake at night, wondering if one of those weirdos is going to sneak a black widow into your bed. Understood?"
She made a huffy sound of disbelief, but wouldn't meet my eyes.
I'd actually scared the bully.
"And M.K.," I said, stepping away and heading for the hallway door, "sleep well."
She didn't look like she would.

~~~~~~~~

There were more noteworthy passages in this book but I didn't want to spoil the fun by posting all of them here. lol. So I figured I'd give ya just enough to wet your appetite. :P If you would like to read my review of Firespell simply click HERE.








PLEASE NOTE: This is a feature hosted here at my blog in which I present you with selected passages or quotes that I deem Noteworthy from a book I've just reviewed. My hopes are of course, that these passages will make you want to pick the book up and read it. This feature was started and created by me in January in hopes of making my blog more unique. That being said, I would like to kindly request that you do not use this feature as it was intended to be for my blog only and is not a meme. If you see some one else using it, please know it is without my permission. Thank you.

In My Mailbox (41)

In My Mailbox
IMM is a weekly meme hosted and created by Kristie at The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

For Review from Harper
~Death Echo by Elizabeth Lowell
~Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto by Eric Luper

Won from Holly Cupala
~Signed! Dirty Little Secrets by C. J. Omololu and bookmark

Won from Book Crazy
~Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn
~The Line by Teri Hall
~Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers
~Break by Hannah Moskowitz (Just finished reading. Review coming soon!)

All in all, I think I did pretty good this week. I'm really excited to get started reading some of these books. Hope you all got some wonderful books as well and are having a great weekend. :D

Review: Firespell

Firespell by Chloe Neill
Publisher: Signet
Pub. Date: January 5th, 2010
Pages: 246
Age Level: 14+
Series: Dark Elite #1

Synopsis from Goodreads
As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia’s boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she’ll have to face…

When Lily’s guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So was St. Sophia’s. Lily’s ultra-rich brat pack classmates think Lily should be the punchline to every joke, and on top of that, she’s hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building.

The only thing keeping her sane is her roommate, Scout, but even Scout’s a little weird—she keeps disappearing late at night and won’t tell Lily where she’s been. But when a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school, Lily finds Scout running from a real monster.

Scout’s a member of a splinter group of rebel teens with unique magical talents, who’ve sworn to protect the city against demons, vampires, and Reapers, magic users who’ve been corrupted by their power. And when Lily finds herself in the line of a firespell, Scout tells her the truth about her secret life, even though Lily has no powers of her own—at least none that she’s discovered yet…

Review
With a wide array of charismatic characters and an enticing plot that kept me turning the pages, Firespell is a great start to what I believe is going to be an even greater series.

My favorite aspect of this book would have to be the characters. I thought Lily was a strong, witty, and mature protagonist. I found she was an easy character to like, atleast the majority of the time; there were one or two times I wanted to smack her upside the head but I also feel these things made her more realistic. As for Scout, well I'm going to have to say I actually liked her even more than Lily. Scout is like my ideal best friend; she's sassy, fun, slightly odd, and...well...she basically kicks ass. As for the supporting characters - the Brat Pack, the Adepts, etc - I felt they were all great characters who really helped add to the story. I have to admit, I was a bit surprised by Foley, the headmistress; she didn't turn out to be quite the person I was expecting her to be, personality wise. Then there is Sebastian; he's barely in this book but I find myself very intrigued by him. I'm very curious to see how his character plays out in the next book.

The very beginning of Firespell was a bit slow at first but aside from that, I actually thought this book was very well paced. It wasn't always jam-packed with action but there was always something going on to hold my attention and pull me further into the story. I found it to be a very compelling, even quick, read. There were various twists, some of which I saw coming and others that I didn't. I loved the Gothic boarding school setting - one of the reasons I actually wanted to read this book - and there was just the right amount of paranormal-ness to satisfy me without it consuming the whole story.

The actual writing style wasn't really anything that jumped out at me as being distinguished but it was likable enough and had a good flow and consistency. The ending wasn't exactly a big shocker but I feel it is well suited to draw Firespell to a close and leave me in eager anticipation for the next book.

As with any first book in a series, you got to lay the ground work and background information has to be given; this sometimes creates a bit of drag in parts of the book if not written properly. That said, I think Neill did a lovely job of grasping my attention with Firespell and holding it until the last page. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for the release of Hexbound, which I suspect will be even better. If Firespell sounds like something you'd like, then I'd definitely say go for it.

Grade
Characters: B+
Writing: C+
Plot: B-
Ending: B
1st in Series: B
Enjoyment/Likability: B
Recommendable: B

Overall: B

Cover: A-

Noteworthy Passages: The Miles Between

The Miles Between by Mary E. Pearson
Publisher: Henry Holt
Pub. Date: September 1st, 2009
Pages: 288
Age Level: 14+

Synopsis from GoodReads
Destiny Faraday makes a point of keeping her distance from her classmates at Hedgebrook Academy. Her number-one rule: Don’t get attached. But one day, unexpectedly finding a car at their disposal, Destiny and three of her classmates embark on an unauthorized road trip.

They’re searching for one fair day—a day where the good guy wins and everything adds up to something just and right. Their destination: Langdon, a town that Destiny’s unsuspecting companions hope will hold simply a day of fun. But, as Destiny says, “Things are not always what they seem.” Only she knows that Langdon holds far more than that—a deep secret she has never shared with anyone.

The Miles Between explores the wonder and magic of a very real world where chance, mystery, and secrets abound.

Noteworthy Passages

Destiny; pg. 4
Today is October 19, the exact same date I was sent away when I was seven. I pay attention to dates, numbers, and circumstances. Obsessively, some say. I prefer to think of it as careful observation, finding the pattern to coincidence. Can there really be such a thing as a pattern to coincidence? It would seem to defy the very definition. But many things are not what they seem to be.

Destiny & Aiden; pg. 67
As soon as we burst through the door, Aiden's tight lipsdisappear and he jumps into the air hooting. "I peed next to the president of the United States! Side by side! He asked me a question!"

Destiny; pg. 98
As we approach the outskirts of Langdon, the scattering of houses and clusters of shops hugging the road get closer together. My pulse thumps in my temples. Do I recognize anything? A shop? A house I may have visited so long ago? Colors. A tangled patchwork of tinted memories that have percolated for so many years within me surfaces. But I'm not sure if the memories have blended together to become something entirely new. Are they colors that were never really there? Brick red, smoky blue, and silvery gray. So much gray. My hazy memories of Langdon.

Destiny; pg. 149
We sit on the upper rail, each of us holding a post with one hand and our feet braced against the lower rail, facing out to the lake. The breeze blowing across the lake is gentle and slow, and yet it weaves through the branches overhead to make the softest of music, like a hundred fingers plucking the stringed bows of the tree.

Destiny; pg. 226-227
There is nothing mysterious or magical about the truth. It is simply there, cold and hard and large and unforgiving.

~~~~~~~~~

As always, I hope you enjoyed reading my Noteworthy Passages post. If you'd like to read my review of The Miles Between, you can HERE. :D









PLEASE NOTE: This is a feature hosted here at my blog in which I present you with selected passages or quotes that I deem Noteworthy from a book I've just reviewed. My hopes are of course, that these passages will make you want to pick the book up and read it. This feature was started and created by me in January in hopes of making my blog more unique. That being said, I would like to kindly request that you do not use this feature as it was intended to be for my blog only and is not a meme. If you see some one else using it, please know it is without my permission. Thank you.

Review: The Miles Between

The Miles Between by Mary E. Pearson
Publisher: Henry Holt
Pub. Date: September 1st, 2009
Pages: 288
Age Level: 14+

Synopsis from GoodReads
Destiny Faraday makes a point of keeping her distance from her classmates at Hedgebrook Academy. Her number-one rule: Don’t get attached. But one day, unexpectedly finding a car at their disposal, Destiny and three of her classmates embark on an unauthorized road trip.

They’re searching for one fair day—a day where the good guy wins and everything adds up to something just and right. Their destination: Langdon, a town that Destiny’s unsuspecting companions hope will hold simply a day of fun. But, as Destiny says, “Things are not always what they seem.” Only she knows that Langdon holds far more than that—a deep secret she has never shared with anyone.

The Miles Between explores the wonder and magic of a very real world where chance, mystery, and secrets abound.

Review
Is our life ruled and controlled by a fate already determined or, with a little extra effort, can we take can control of our own destiny? What determines why some people seem to always have it good and others the total opposite? A novel filled with coincidences, chance, and a desire to have just one day where all is fair, The Miles Between is a book that both touched my heart and captivated my mind.

Destiny is a profound observer of what she believes to be the pattern to coincidence. After being moved around from school to school, she is afraid to let anyone get too close; so instead, she watches. This all changes though when a twist of fate cuts her some slack on the one day she believes is doomed to end in disaster. Destiny was a very complex and believable character. I could tell that she was aching inside and I found myself yearning to know and understand her. I felt she developed beautifully throughout the book and I couldn't help wanting things to work out for her in the end. The other characters, though not quite as dynamic or developed, were likable. Mira was the quirky, fun girl who also acted as a bit of a mediator amongst the group; Seth was the cute, compassionate romantic interest trying to reach out to Destiny; Aiden was the slightly dorky one. Then there was Lucky, the lamb, who was indeed very lucky. After finding him standing in the middle of the road, the four teens take in the little fella and I've got to say, he really added to the story. Lucky was actually probably my second favorite character, after Destiny.

Needless to say, The Miles Between was not the light, typical roadtrip read that I was expecting it to be. As a matter of fact, it was anything but light and typical; instead it carried some much deeper undertones and was actually very unique as well as entertaining and fast-paced. Not to mention the fact that it actually evoked enough emotion in me to cause me to cry. Sure, there have been a nice number of books that have made tears come to my eyes but very few have actually made them fall.

The writing was so descriptive and beautifully done, even lyrical at times. Pearson's use of metaphors and similies really added something extra special and I was absolutely in love with her writing stlye from the beginning.

As for the ending, well I don't really want to say much about the ending because I feel to truly appreciate the ending, you need to know as little as possible about it. I'll just say that there were some twists I didn't see coming until I was already on the heel of them. It was an ending I can definitely admire and love.

The Miles Between is moving, engaging, and utterly memorable in it's originality. Mary E. Pearson did a truly remarkable job in writing this book and I can't wait to read more of her work. If you haven't read this book yet then I highly suggest that you do. I know I'll definitely be reading it again in the future.

Grade:
Characters: B-
Writing: A+
Plot: A-
Ending: A
Enjoyment/Likability: A-
Recommendable: A

Overall: A-

Cover: C

In My Mailbox (40)

In My Mailbox
IMM is a weekly meme hosted and created by Kristie at The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

Won from Shannon Whitney Messenger
~Airhead by Meg Cabot
~Being Nikki by Meg Cabot
~Runaway by Meg Cabot
~Meg Cabot Swag

From the Oh-So Awesome Adele
~Pretty Tough by Liz Tigelaar
~Playing with the Boys by Liz Tigelaar
~Japanese postcard. :D

Well that's it for me this week. I hope you all are having a fantastic weekend. :D

Noteworthy Passages: Birthmarked

Birthmarked (ARC) by Caragh M. O'Brien
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Pub. Date: March 30th, 2010
Pages: 368
Age Level: 14+

Disclaimer: Please note that this is an ARC and passages and quotes below are subject to change in the final copy.

Synopsis from GoodReads
After climate change, on the north shore of Unlake Superior, a dystopian world is divided between those who live inside the wall, and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. It’s Gaia’s job to “advance” a quota of infants from poverty into the walled Enclave, until the night one agonized mother objects, and Gaia’s parents are arrested.

Badly scarred since childhood, Gaia is a strong, resourceful loner who begins to question her society. As Gaia’s efforts to save her parents take her within the wall, she herself is arrested and imprisoned.

Fraught with difficult moral choices and rich with intricate layers of codes, BIRTHMARKED explores a colorful, cruel, eerily familiar world where one girl can make all the difference, and a real hero makes her own moral code.

Noteworthy Passages

Third Person Narrative; pg. 32-33
But she knew people were not noticing her clothes. They were staring at her face. And as she and Emily's father walked back up the aisle, to the place where Emily and Sasha were already sitting with Emily's mother, Gaia heard whispers. Muttering. She didn't have to hear individual words to know it was pity. The only thing that stung worse was the deeper message: freak.

Third Person Narrative; pg. 127
That night, Gaia ate her first full meal in days. The image of the oranges haunted her, and the memory of the sweet scent was like a mist of pure color before her nose. She craved one of those oranges so badly it was like an illness. And this made her laugh.

Mace, Yvonne, Oliver, and Gaia; pg. 219
"I don't think so. That was a sauna parlor, there, where I found you," the baker said. "They'll just think you were working the late shift."
Gaia was baffled. "A sauna parlor?"
She saw the baker and his wife hesitate.
The girl clarified in her open, childish voice. "He means it's a brothel."
The baker clapped a hand to his forehead.
"What?" the girl said. "It's a very discreet, high class brothel. Tell them Oliver."
"Real nice, Yvonne. Thanks," the teenager said blushing.
His mother looked murderous.

~~~~~~~~~~

Well everyone, those were the Noteworthy Passages for Birthmarked. There were others I would have liked to have used but I didn't want to post anything that might be spoilerish. Hope you enjoy the ones I did choose though. If you would like, you can read my review of Birthmarked HERE. :D








PLEASE NOTE: This is a feature hosted here at my blog in which I present you with selected passages or quotes that I deem Noteworthy from a book I've just reviewed. My hopes are of course, that these passages will make you want to pick the book up and read it. This feature was started and created by me in January in hopes of making my blog more unique. That being said, I would like to kindly request that you do not use this feature as it was intended to be for my blog only and is not a meme. If you see some one else using it, please know it is without my permission. Thank you.

And Then Everything Unraveled Giveaway!!!

And Then Everything Unraveled by Jennifer Sturman
Publisher: Point
Pub. Date: June 1st 2010 by Point (first published July 1st 2009)
Pages: 256
Age Level: YA

Synopsis from GoodReads
Delia Truesdale has no idea her life's about to change forever. She's too busy enjoying the California summer. Her internet tycoon mother, T.K. Truesdale, is out of town, and that means Delia can spend all her time at the beach, surfing. That is, until everything unravels.
Her mother suddenly goes missing, and everyone thinks she's dead - except Delia, who knows T.K.'s way too organized to simply disappear. But Delia's still sent to New York to live with her two aunts - a downtown bohemian and an uptown ice queen.
And in case that's not bad enough, she also has to deal with a snooty new school and trying not to fall for the wrong guy. Oh, and finding her mother.
As she delves deeper into the tangle of conspiracies and lies surrounding T.K.'s disappearance, Delia begins to suspect that the wrong guy may be the right guy...and that some secrets - especially the dangerous ones - were never meant to be unraveled.

And Then I Found Out the Truth by Jennifer Sturman
Publisher: Point
Release Date: July 1st, 2010
Pages: 272
Age Level: YA

Synopsis from GoodReads
Delia Truesdale is still searching for the truth about her mother, who is in hiding somewhere in South America. But for now, Delia has to make do with her mystery-solving in New York City, alongside her Aunt Charley (a downtown hipster), her Aunt Patience(an uptown ice queen), a detective with a questionable taste in neckties, an eccentric psychic, her brainiac friend, and Quinn, the wealthy, gorgeous boy who--gasp!-- seems to return Delia's affections. Too bad Quinn's shady CEO dad may be involved in the scheme Delia is trying to crack. And a trip to South America may be in order after all...

~~~~~~~~~
Contest Details

Prize:
~Thanks to the lovely Tooraj, one lucky winner will receive a paperback copy of And Then Everything Unraveled and a hardcover of And Then I Found Out the Truth by Jennifer Sturman.

Rules:
~Though comments are appreciated, you must FILL OUT THE FORM for your entry to be counted.
~Contest will end at Noon 12PM EST on July 1st and the winner will be announced that same afternoon or evening. The winner will then have 48hrs to contact me or another winner will be chosen.
~This book giveaway is open to participants with either a United States or Canadian mailing address only (international readers can enter if they have a friend in the States or Canada who can accept their prizes by mail.)

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