Cover Reveal: Release by M.R. Merrick + Please Comment!

Synopsis:

After uniting the shifters and calling in reinforcements, Chase has to face his toughest challenge yet: learning to control his emotions. But as tensions rise and his powers grow, controlling his emotions becomes the least of his problems.

Terrorized by a multi-shifter who is hell-bent on turning him, Chase questions just how far he’s willing to go to stop his father. Meanwhile, Tiki’s virtuous nature has placed him in the middle of Vincent’s past, leaving Chase to oppose a senate of vampires and defend a demon he hates.

Trying to balance his friends, his enemies, and his inner demons, Chase is left searching for answers about the Mark, his destiny, and where he can find the next soul piece. Stopping Riley is his top priority, but as more obstacles arise, he finds himself doubting all the decisions he’s made - especially regarding Rayna.

One thing is for certain: Chase has finally realized that he doesn’t know anything. The light doesn’t always quell the darkness, the monsters don’t always stay in the shadows, and the past doesn’t always stay in the past - sometimes, the demons inside are the hardest to fight.

My thoughts:
Wow this cover is super awesome! I love the purple, the foreboding castles, and above all, the effects on the title. Before this reveal, I wasn't really familiar with M.R.'s work, so I googled the covers and...guess what? They are just as amazing!

Here are some links to get you caught up with this series:
M.R. Merrick | Goodreads | Exiled (Book 1) | Shift (Book 2)

Book 3, Release, is released (see what I did there?) on December 10!

And now for the comment part... M.R. Merrick was kind enough to host a contest for the bloggers who participated in this cover reveal. For example, if I get the most comments out of any blogger, I would win up to $50 to Amazon. Here's the incentive for you guys, my followers! If I were to win, I'll host a giveaway for one of M.R. Merrick's e-books OR an e-book of equal or lesser value.

Sound good? I could use all the help I can get so please, please comment and ask your friends to comment. You can also help out multiple bloggers toward this prize :)

Thanks guys! Hope you like this cover as much as I do!

Review: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Goodreads description:

Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Peaches comes a magical and bewitching story of the romance between a fearless heroine and the boy who wouldn't grow up.

First line:  “She stands on the cliffs, near the old crumbling stone house.”

Whoa, I completely loved this book. This book met my expectations. Actually, Tiger Lily exceeded my expectations. I was just expecting some new love story, except set in the world of Neverland. I was wrong. It was so much more than that.

First, I really enjoyed the perspective. Most books that are set in first person focus on that one person. Tiger Lily was told by Tinkerbell. I didn’t really feel like she was the main character, though. Obviously, Tiger Lily had a lot to do with the story. The book was really a bunch of scenes told by Tink’s view. She had very little to do with the actual plot. I thought this was a very unique way of telling the story.

The love was very genuine. It wasn’t corrupted by any of society’s standards that we, in the real world, have to deal with. Peter and Tiger Lily loved each other, and that is that. Sure, there were people opposed to the relationship, but it was a really good retelling of a teenage love story.

So, I went and watched Peter Pan after I read this. I hadn’t seen it since I was, what? Five? I didn’t remember much of it. Especially how racist it is! The book definitely got rid of that. If anything, it is more judgmental towards the Englanders than the Indians. In Peter Pan, the kids are so racist towards the Indians. I didn’t remember that Tiger Lily was even in the movie. In the movie, she is the Indian princess on Neverland. She has a similar role in the book. But after reading the book and going back and watching the movie, I was amazed by all the similarities and how talented Jodi Lynn Anderson has to be in order to, in my opinion, take a classic and make it so much better.

Okay, conclusively, I feel like you all should read this book. I don’t care what your preferred genre or if you liked the movie. This book is deserving of your time and can be appealing to any audience.

Favorite quotes:

Pg. 3

“Let me tell you something straight off. This is a love story, but not like any you’ve heard.”

Pg. 80

“He (Nibs) picked up the baby, then held it out to Tiger Lily. ‘This is Baby. Our baby. It seemed too much of a commitment to name him anything else.’”

Pg. 102

“He (Peter Pan) could have been talking about bananas, and the group would have been just as enrapt.”

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Review: The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

Goodreads description:

Alona Dare–Senior in high school, co-captain of the cheerleading squad, Homecoming Queen three years in a row, voted most likely to marry a movie star… and newly dead.

I’m the girl you hated in high school. Is it my fault I was born with it all-good looks, silky blond hair, a hot bod, and a keen sense of what everyone else should not be wearing? But my life isn’t perfect, especially since I died. Run over by a bus of band geeks—is there anything more humiliating? As it turns out, yes—watching your boyfriend and friends move on with life, only days after your funeral. And you wouldn’t believe what they’re saying about me now that they think I can’t hear them. To top it off, I’m starting to disappear, flickering in and out of existence. I don’t know where I go when I’m gone, but it’s not good. Where is that freaking white light already?

Will Killian–Senior in high school, outcast, dubbed “Will Kill” by the popular crowd for the unearthly aura around him, voted most likely to rob a bank…and a ghost-talker.

I can see, hear, and touch the dead. Unfortunately, they can also see, hear and touch me. Yeah, because surviving high school isn’t hard enough already. I’ve done my best to hide my “gift.” After all, my dad, who shared my ability, killed himself because of it when I was fifteen. But lately, pretending to be normal has gotten a lot harder. A new ghost—an anonymous, seething cloud of negative energy with the capacity to throw me around—is pursuing me with a vengeance. My mom, who knows nothing about what I can do, is worrying about the increase in odd incidents, my shrink is tossing around terms like “temporary confinement for psychiatric evaluation,” and my principal, who thinks I’m a disruption and a faker, is searching for every way possible to get rid of me. How many weeks until graduation?

First line: “It was easy enough to sneak out of school. I knew that from previous experience.”

Ugh. Okay, I’m sorry. I just did not like this book.

It started out fine, humorous. But then Alona gets hit by a bus and dies.

Really?! Total cliché.

And then as I read more, I realized EVERYTHING was clichéd. Shall I make a list?

Alona = popular. Cheerleader. Athletic boyfriend. But wait. She’s still a virgin. Yeah. Right. And while she’s popular and has won homecoming queen every year, everyone secretly hates her. There’s more! Her athletic boyfriend? Yeah, he’s been cheating on her since before she died. With her best friend. And who knew? Every single person EXCEPT Alona.

But, of course, the popular girl has to have this secret home life where everything sucks because that’s how authors try to make everyone feel like popular are on the same level as us. So, this is Alona’s sucky life. Her dad is screwing some younger woman, her mom gets needy and becomes an alcoholic, her dad doesn’t care. Big deal. Alona is a senior. She’ll be gone (or she would have been if she hadn’t died) in just a few months.

And then she dies and meets Will.

Will = goth. He’s not even goth! He wears black? So what. Goth is a lifestyle, not a fashion choice. Of course all the popular crowd looks down on him, the principal gives him a hard time, and obviously he’s a stoner. Oh yeah, and he can see ghosts.

What I want to know if why he can see ghosts. I get that it’s passed down from his father’s side, but what started the whole thing?

I didn’t like the perspective. It was 1^st person but switched between Will and Alona. It started getting confusing when the scene was between them because I’d forget who was telling the story at that point.

I came into this book thinking it would be this really great thing and I’d love it. Wow I was wrooooonnnnggg. I may or may not read the sequel. I mean, the book was funny, I admit. It got better towards the end, but didn’t live up to my expectations.

Favorite quotes:

Alona

Pg. 12

“The cluster of band geeks (fourth tier, better than math geeks but not as good as science geeks because the science geeks could always be counted on to blow something up), just behind Katee’s group of friends, were also black armband-less.”

Will

Pg. 23

“See, here’s the bullshit about high school, and believe me, I’ve had plenty of time to think about this. Teachers, parents, guidance couselors…all of them are always pushing this crap about how it’s okay to be different, just be yourself. Don’t give in to peer pressure, blah, blah, blah. The truth is, it’s really only okay to be yourself if that self is within an accepted range of ‘normal’.”

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To play along just answer the following three (3) questions and leave your link at Should Be Reading:

1. What are you currently reading?

Both of these are extremely good! I can't wait to get home from school and read some more.

2. What did you recently finish reading?

Confessions was really good! Ghost and the Goth? Meh... you'll see my thoughts in a few days.

3. What do you think you'll read next?

I'm re-reading this to refresh my mind before Hidden comes out. I'm excited!

Review: Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodie by Lianne Simon

Goodreads description:

Born between the sexes, Jamie must leave behind a young girl's dreams to become the man her family expects. Jamie was born with a testis, an ovary, and a pixie face. He could be a boy after minor surgery and a few years on testosterone. At least, that's what his parents always say; but he sees an elfin princess in the mirror. When a medical student tells Jamie that he should have been raised female, he explores and discovers the life he could have as a girl. The elfin princess can thrive, but will she risk losing her family and her education for a boyfriend who may leave her, and a toddler she may never be allowed to adopt?

First line:  “Pain, sharp and insistent, dragged me back toward consciousness.”

Wow. Just wow. I think this topic was handled extremely well by the author. She delved into not only the obvious experiences of this disorder, but also the psychological effects as well.

I didn’t know what to expect when I started this book. I’ve never met a person who is intersex, or if I unknowingly have, I don’t really know what their life is like. The closest I’d have to compare is a friend who is gender dysphoric. She is physically a female, but at sometimes doesn’t know if she identifies as a boy or girl. The same thing is true with Jamie, the main character of this book. She pretends to be a male for her families sake, but really “the little princess” just wants to be a girl and wear dresses and grow her hair long.

I say “the little princess” because, I realized, this is Jamie’s coping mechanism. The brain has brilliant ways of surviving, and this happened to be Jamie’s way. She has this whole personality hiding inside her – called Iseabail, Jamie’s middle name. Iseabail is Jamie’s…you could say alter ego? It’s the female version of Jameson, the young version of Jamie. Iseabail never really left childhood and is constantly there in Jamie’s thoughts, telling her “it’s wrong to be a boy, make us completely female”. At first, I wasn’t really into this whole “little princess” thing, but as I started examining the book more in-depth, I realized how essential the psychological process was

While I don’t agree with the religion used in this book, I am amazed that Jamie stayed a devout Christian. I mean, her life was so hard. She has her family, and her family’s church telling her that god wants her to be male, while everyone else says she’s supposed to be female. But she manages to keep her faith, and for that I’ve got to commend her.

I’d have to say the one thing I didn’t like was the passage of time and the late revelation of what the time period is. The time passes somewhat confusingly. It’s one day, then all of a sudden, it’s weeks later. And the late revelation of time…I started this book thinking it was set in present day. But as the story progressed, I realized it was during the Vietnam war. I just wish this would have been more obvious earlier on.

This is definitely a book I’d recommend. Seriously, I’m actually going to school tomorrow and recommend this to my old psychology teacher. I just feel like it’s something different, on the edge of fiction and non-fiction, and something that isn’t really discussed much surprisingly. So, if you read this, tell me what you think, because I’d love to know!

 

Favorite quotes:

 

Pg. 40

His grin returned in force. “‘Hello. I’m Frank’s sixteen-year-old hermaphrodite roommate?’”

“I should at least have told you how old I was.”

“Would you be offended if I thought of you as a sixteen-year-old girl with a few medical issues?”

“Not as long as you understand I have to be a boy right now.”

Review: L8r, G8r by Lauren Myracle

Goodreads description: "The third book in Lauren Myracles wildly popular IM series " 
The winsome threesome say l8r to high school in this sequel to the "New York Times" and "Publishers Weekly" bestsellers "ttyl" and "ttfn" 

Through their instant messages, three inseparable friends have shared the ups and downs of high school. Theyve survived a flirtatious teacher, a witchy classmate, a pot-smoking smoocher, a Care Beartoting stalker, and much, much more. Now its their senior year, and Angela, Zoe, and Maddie otherwise know as the winsome threesomeare feeling invincible. Too bad Jana, the Queen Bee who made their sophomore year a nightmare, is on the warpath again. This time she has it out for good girl Zoe, and its up to Maddie and Angela to defend their friend. Not that Zoe, who's deep in love with Doug, seems to notice. A series of pranks escalates, culminating in a senior prom that no one will forget, even if they want to And it will be up to Zoe to finally take action and make sure the power of the winsome threesome prevails.

My thoughts: Ooh ehh, I don’t know what angle to take on this review. On one hand, I loved L8r, G8r. On the other… I saw no point to the story, plus it just wasn’t as great as the others in the series. There was very little plot line. Basically it was just a day to day recount of these 3 girls’ friendship. To me, they talked about sex and partying too much. But I guess that’s what makes them realistic characters. Still, about 75% of the book revolved around sex. Not saying it’s a bad thing to write about that, but come on. Most of the book? And then there’s the antagonist. Jana. Ugh. While I hate her, the girls bring it on themselves by constantly trying to get back at her. I just wanted to yell, “You’re freakin seniors. Get. Over. It.” But nope. They kept going back and were upset when Jana did the same thing. One of the characters had a really great quote. Something along the lines of “the best revenge is being happy”. I completely agree. Show them you don’t care what they think, even if you DO care. This book just wasn’t as awesome as the rest of the series. This series seems to lose my interest as it goes on. I felt like the conversations between the girls got longer as the series progressed. One of the things I was drawn to was the shortness of the conversations which made for convenient stopping points on nearly every page. In L8r, G8r, the conversations were much longer and that annoyed me. And the grammar! I know, I know. The book is in “instant message language”. Of course the grammar wouldn’t be perfect. Yet again, people don’t type like that! Most teens I know actually spell stuff out and at least capitalize the “I”! It’s unfair of me to complain about this, but if you’re going to write in this style, make it more realistic please. Now I feel bad, because really I did like this book, but from a reviewers perspective it wasn’t so great. What I suggest is at least giving the first book (TTYL) a try. I know a lot of you participate in readathons regularly. These are super quick books to read, so maybe schedule them in for a day of reading. Favorite quotes: Pg. 56 SnowAngel: well OBVIOUSLY i'm not gonna break up with him now! duh! zoegirl: cuz he gave u a *car*? SnowAngel: yep SnowAngel: i mean, what an amazingly generous thing! he's like...oprah! Pg. 143 SnowAngel: what r u talking about? we're gonna be together FOREVER. u think college is gonna change that? zoegirl: well...it's not gonna be the same, no matter how much we want it 2. SnowAngel: don't SAY that! SnowAngel: we're gonna be friends when we're 90. we'll grab our walkers and meet at maddie's house for a pole-dancing party. we'll gossip about who died and who got divorced and who's got the biggest wattle. okay??? pg. 190 mad maddie: yes! he frickin got lost 2 blocks from the club! he texted me on my cell, cuz there was a super-loud frat party going on, and i was like, "ok, take a left on pumpkin." then he'd text back and say, "i'm in front of a florist. is this right?" and i'd be, "nooo! your OTHER left, fool!" mad maddie: i'm standing in front of the restaurant, craning my head looking for him, and i get a text that says, "uh...should i be seeing fireworks?" so i type, "what?! NO, u shouldn't be seeing fireworks! there r no fireworks anywhere NEAR here!" he texts, "u sure? turn around." zoegirl: oh my gosh! omigosh omigosh omigosh!!! mad maddie: so i turned around, and there he was. and he kissed me.

Random things I learned from this series:

Googlewhack = going to google, typing in 2 random words, and trying to get only one result. I've gotten very close to this. There are 9 calories in a tablespoon of semen. This will be imprinted in my brain for-freaking-ever. Apparently, it takes 8 months for your toenails to go through a full cycle...

Review: The Turn by Lola St. Vil

Goodreads description:

There. Will. Be. Blood.

After the Council hands down a severe punishment,

A Guardian declares war on the Angel world.

 

Before the end

Lives will be lost

Love will be tested

And blood WILL flow...

 

Oh my goodness. I love this series so much. And the author is such a sweetheart. I love Lola :) I could seriously go on and on about how awesome she is, but, well, this is a book review! So let’s get to it…

I feel like this book was a great plot developer for the whole series. We find out more about the characters, especially the twins. Miku and Rio have been really mysterious throughout these books and FINALLY we learn more about them. I think this part is what fans of this series has been waiting for.

Oooh and there’s a new guy! Wolf…*sigh* he’s super hot (in my mind xD) and I think he’s a great romantic possibility for a certain angel *nudge nudge wink wink*.

Speaking of romance… Marcus and Emmy are such a cute couple. And I’m so glad Emmy is trying to take control of the relationship. She knows what she wants and she’s going to get it. Cue the applause for Emmy, the human!

Ahh there’s just these amazing scenes throughout the book. I read the book during the writing process, so I only got a few chapters every few days. The intervals between chapters was so agonizing because I was always left either in shock or “awww” moment. I definitely feel like if I had the entire book at once, it would have been read very quickly.

This series needs a lot more recognition! I honestly believe it could be a bestseller if given the chance. So, go buy book 1, 2, and now 3! And then go spread the word to everyone you know ;)

Review: Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

Goodreads description:
Calla has always welcomed war.

But now that the final battle is upon her, there's more at stake than fighting. There's saving Ren, even if it incurs Shay's wrath. There's keeping Ansel safe, even if he's been branded a traitor. There's proving herself as the pack's alpha, facing unnamable horrors, and ridding the world of the Keepers' magic once and for all. And then there's deciding what to do when the war ends. If Calla makes it out alive, that is.

My thoughts: So, let’s get down to it. Bloodrose was great. Better than Wolfsbane (book2), but not as good as Nightshade(book1).

I could not put this book down. I know most people say this about books they love, but I was seriously reading way past midnight. On school nights. Reading during class. I actually got mad when people wouldn’t be quiet whilst I was reading. That’s how captivated I was.

Pretty much the only thing I didn’t like was that a lot of likable people died. Then I knew I had to realize – it’s like Mockingjay. The book was about a war. People die. It happens. Am I still sad? Yep. Did I almost cry in the middle of a class? Absolutely.

Then there’s the love triangle introduced in book 1. I feel like this book strengthened that triangle and it is so difficult to pick a side! But I think that deep down, I’ll always be “Team Ren”. As shown to the right of my page in my “my teams” section :)

Despite how much I liked this book, I don’t really have much to say. If you’re already a fan of the series, stick with it to the end. I want to read the prequel series, starting with Rift. So hopefully you’ll hear back from me about that soon.