Congratulations to the winners of my first ever giveaway!

The domestic winner of Divergent is the very sweet Karen of morsie reads! 

The international winner of Amy and Roger's Epic Detour is the lovely Sonia of The Story Queen!

¡Exclamation points all around!

Having a giveaway is a lot of fun. I get to share what I think about books with you guys on a daily basis, but with giveaways I get to share with you the actual books that I really enjoyed. There will be more in the future, I promise, because I really like you all. ♥

This week's question courtesy of Parajunkee's (& Alison's!) Follow Friday is:

Q: Have you ever wanted a villain to win at the end of a story? If so, which one?

All right,  I'm going to play devil's advocate and say at times that the notion of a villain is wholly subjective. While there are obviously clear-cut examples that most everyone would agree on (Voldemort) there are also ones that don't fall so easily into black and white definitions and so these are the ones that I think are allowed a little more leniency. For example, Severus Snape (one of my favorite literary characters), is considered bad and evil by a lot of people but there was never a moment in the books that I wasn't rooting for him. He was the character I cried the most over because I know there was so much about him in between the lines. Almost more than Harry winning (because that, to me, seemed inevitable) I so wanted to right about Snape. To split even more hairs, even while Dimitri (VA) was...not quite Dimitri, I wanted him not so much to win, but to win himself.

To be fair, I don't much like the characters that are annoyingly and falsely badass - those are hardly memorable - but the ones who have a journey, who are more than just a snarky mouth and a lean against the wall, and that's something we get to explore... those are the characters I love. 

Q: Many of us primarily read one genre of books, with others sprinkled in. If authors stopped writing that genre, what genre would you start reading? Or would you give up reading completely if you couldn't read that genre anymore? - Crazy For Books

The idea of me giving up reading is so completely painful and foreign that it's almost a non-concept. Purely impossible. I read a lot of different genres; I also read a lot of adult fiction and non-fiction but a lot of that I don't mention here unless I feel it can be related in some how or unless I absolutely loved it. So while you could say that dystopian fiction is my favorite genre, I think I'd be okay reading other things, too. Thankfully as the idea of dystopia is intrinsically related to the present day as new ideas are created and things happen in the world, I don't see it going away any time soon.

Author: R.J. Anderson
Publication Date: 09/01/2011
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Pages: 416
Source: e-ARC

Once upon a time there was a girl who was special. This is not her story. Unless you count the part where I killed her. Sixteen-year-old Alison has been sectioned in a mental institute for teens, having murdered the most perfect and popular girl at school. But the case is a mystery: no body has been found, and Alison's condition is proving difficult to diagnose. Alison herself can't explain what happened: one minute she was fighting with Tori - the next she disintegrated. Into nothing. But that's impossible. Right?

Although I know it's not very usual, I'd like to start off my review with a bit of a personal confession. For as long as I can remember I've had a strange relationship with music. I'd like to say that I listen to music, but listening would be the wrong verb. I experience music. I never knew there could be a name for it until after I read this book - I always thought synesthesia had to do with colors and numbers/letters, but not sound. While I was looking into it, and saw that someone referred to it as music having a three-dimensional equality and feeling I almost had tears in my eyes: that just made so much sense. So, thank you, R.J. Anderson. Not only did you write a breathtaking book, but..now I think it may have a name.

Alison Jeffries is almost just like any other sixteen year-old girl. She attends high school, she has friends, an occasionally annoying little brother and... she experiences her senses in a way that is difficult to put into words. Sounds are vivid and colorful, numbers and letters have associated emotions, and words can sound off. The almost isn't necessarily because she experiences these things, it's because one morning Alison woke up in the psychiatric ward of a hospital without any idea how she got there. Until it all starts coming back.

Ultraviolet is a book that I wish I had read long, long ago. It's a book that was riveting from the very first paragraph and held my captivation until the last sentence. And it's very much a book that I think people should read. I have to say that I loved Alison as a character in part because some of me related to her, but mainly because she was just a breath of fresh air. In order for this sort of storyline to be pulled off so much about it has to go right to evoke the feeling of believability for what she was experiencing. And it did, and it worked so incredibly well. Because the majority of the story took place with a young adult's psychiatric home the feeling of the story was pressing and urgent and served as the perfect backdrop. The cast of secondary characters were invigorating and vibrant from the unsure-of-how-to-feel-about-him Dr.Minta to  all of her fellow residents and even her mother.

And, seriously, just when you think you know what's going on - you have no idea. Not everyone could pull a twist like this off and integrate it so well into the story, but she did and I believed every part of it. I've seen that some people were iffy on the ending, but I'm not at all one of them. I loved every nook and cranny of this story and I'm hard-pressed on my book buying ban not to run out and order a copy for myself right now.

If you like a book that feels like a contemporary with a sense of urgency and something slightly more then this could be a book for you. If you like a mystery or a fast-paced book of amazingness, this book is also for you. If you're like me and you can see/feel music and need a name for it, this book is most definitely for you.

This ARC was received from Lerner Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Author: Marianna Baer
Publication Date: 09/13/2011
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 402
Source: ARC

Leena Thomas’s senior year at boarding school begins with a shock: Frost House, her cozy dorm of close friends, has been assigned an unexpected roommate: confrontational, eccentric Celeste Lazar. But while Leena’s anxiety about a threat to her sanctuary proves valid, it becomes less and less clear whether the threat lies with her new roommate, within Leena’s own mind, or within the very nature of Frost House itself. Mysterious happenings in the dorm, an intense triangle between Leena, Celeste, and Celeste’s brother, and the reawakening of childhood fears, all push Leena to take increasingly desperate measures to feel safe. Frost is the story of a haunting. As to whether the demons are supernatural or psychological . . . well, which answer would let you sleep at night?

A ball led astray was all it took for Leena Thomas to come across Frost House (a beautiful Victorian house tucked into the woods), and as soon as she set her eyes on it she knew she had to live there for her senior year. Having been sent to Barcroft Academy after her parents divorced right before freshman year, Leena sees Barcroft as her home, her friends as her family, and Frost House their private sanctuary. So when Celeste Lazar is assigned to room with Leena in her first floor room due to her injured leg there's bound to be a period of adjustment - until Leena discovers that's merely the beginning.

I know I scare easily, so it really wasn't any surprise that I had a hard time falling asleep after reading this one late at night. Take it from my experience and read it with a snuggable animal along or during the day. That said,  Frost was a crazy psychological journey that I had a difficult time putting down. I hadn't any clue where the story was going while I was reading it; I just knew that something had to come to a head or I might have had to fully hide under the covers. From the first time Leena steps into her new room at Frost House she was drawn to it. Airy and spacious surrounded on one end by windows and a sole closet that smelled slightly like her old attic.

While I really enjoyed the story part of the book, the characters sort of lost their vividness along the way for me. I want to preface that statement by saying that in part due to the storyline it makes a lot of sense for the characters to seem sort of faded. However, I had a hard time staying along with them at times and was more curious about the progression of what was going on in Frost House rather than the people everything was happening to. The relationship between Leena and David - Celeste's brother - didn't entirely win me over. They had a lot of cute moments near the beginning and in the middle, but there was one near the end that completely didn't work in any way for me, and after that I would have preferred that they not see each other.

The ending of the book was a real trip and it's very safe to say that I didn't at all expect how it ended and thought the big reveal to be quite clever and well-done. What progressed with Leena in the end, though, wasn't okay for me. I don't want to give anything away, but I felt that more needed to be done to address the problem at hand and that she needed more assistance than she was given. Yes, this is vague, but when you read it you'll know what I mean.

All in all I enjoyed Frost and think that if you're in need of a fast-paced thriller then you should give this book a try. The writing is lovely and matches the nervous feeling of the book. Just.. don't read it at night.

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event courtesy of Breaking the Spine

that showcases much anticipated upcoming releases.

(goodreads 03/06/2012):

Lauren Oliver captivated readers with Delirium, the first book in a thrilling dystopian trilogy in which Lena Haloway dared to fall in love with Alex and escape the cure, the government-mandated procedure that renders a person immune to the disease of love. Lena and Alex staked their lives on leaving their oppressive society, but only Lena broke free.


Pandemonium continues Lena’s gripping story. After escaping from Portland, Maine, Lena makes it to the Wilds and becomes part of an Invalid community, where she transforms herself into a warrior for the resistance. A future without Alex is unimaginable, but Lena pushes forward and fights, both for him and for a world in which love is no longer considered a disease. Swept up in a volatile mix of revolutionaries and counterinsurgents, Lena struggles to survive—and wonders if she may be falling in love again.

The more I think about this one, the more I'm looking forward to it. That cover is absolutely gorgeous, and after reading the little snippet from the SE version of Delirium...well, suffice to say I'm rather looking forward to its release. I'm not too big on love triangles, though, so I hope that doesn't turn into a big thing. Regardless, the cover design is 1,000 steps in the right direction. I wonder if they'll find a cure not for the disease, but for society thinking that it is one.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. If you love lists

and wracking your brain for answers, then this is the meme for you!

Top Ten Sequels I'm Dying To Read: As always, in no particular order.

1. Insurgent by Veronica Roth: This is easy. You may or may not know that I'm ridiculous lover of Divergent (which is in part why it was the US giveaway choice) and so getting to know more about the whys behind the who and what is going to be rather interesting. More Tris and more Four? Yes. I also love Veronica's writing.

2. Unwholly by Neal Shusterman: This one is not so easy. (And I'm sure by even mentioning this author that I'm going to unleash another slew of kids looking for book report answers: there are none, read the books.) I considered Unwind to be a complete story, so I'm sort of hesitant about this choice but I know I'll end up purchasing and reading it anyhow.

3. Black Heart by Holly Black: Okay, so I haven't even finished White Cat but I can already tell that is a series I love and a world I want to spend more time in. I love Cassel as an MC - he's bright and blunt and hesitant but acts anyway. And the fact that Holly created this whole, completely original background for the workers and so seamlessly integrated it into our own history is pretty darn mind-blowing. Suffice to say that I'm really enjoying it.

4. The Winds of Winter by George R. R. Martin: Please, please let there not be six years in-between books. I don't think I could stand it. That said, I know I'd wait however long it took, but I would much rather it be sooner rather than later. The whole world of Westeros is on the cusp of so much to happen and Winter Is Coming, and well, things are going to get realllllll interesting.

5. Mara Dyer #2 by Michelle Hodkin: I was left pleasantly clueless and fulfilled all at once at the end of this one, and yet I want to know more about what is happening to Mara and Noah and what started what is happening and where it's all going to go.

6. Fever by Lauren DeStefano: I want to know more about this world and what makes it tick. I want to hope Rhine makes the correct decision for her, whatever that ends up being. To be honest, I'm just so curious. And I think I need to re-read Wither.

7. Dustlands #2 (Blood Red Road sequel) by Moira Young: No idea when this one is coming out, but Blood Red Road was a book that I truly enjoyed. It was refreshing and the writing and world-building completely engrossing. More Saba and Emi please.

8. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins: Sooo...I haven't read Lola yet, but I sped through Anna like there was no tomorrow (well, I did read it during a hurricane) and as Isla was a character in Anna and the French Kiss I wonder if we are back in Paris to wrap things up? So far away, this one!

9. The Drowned Cities by Paolo Baciagalupi: Not much is known about this one, other than that it purportedly comes out next year and is a sequel to The Ship Breaker. It's because it's a sequel to that that I want to read it quite badly.

10. Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2 by Laini Taylor: There's absolutely no information released about this one, but by the ending of the first book there's going to be a sequel and I'm 1000% okay with that. Here's for hoping for next year. This is a world I desperately want to get back to!

A nice, slow week this week, but I received some neat stuff.

Imaginary Girls, Nova Ren Suma

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Sampler), Lain Taylor

Nova Ren had posted on Twitter a while back that she had signed some stock at Posman's (in Grand Central) and since I'm in that bookshop most every day, I've been checking to see whether or not one would appear. And the other day, shockingly, I saw one!

The Daughter of Smoke & Bone sampler is courtesy of Oblong Books - thanks Suzanna! It had some fun swag that I've already shared with other people. I'd say what it is, but they're probably going to be reading this. Small surprises, you know. :)

And I know that I've been behind in commenting and posting, but school has just started and I'm trying to figure out a nice pattern to fall into. Once that happens, I'll be back more, I promise! Have a great extended weekend, everyone.

This week's question courtesy of Parajunkee's Follow Friday is:

Q: If you could change the ending of any book (or series), which book would would you choose? Why and to what?

My brain is slightly mushy from studying, but I'm just going to randomly name a few things in list form. I love lists. And beware of spoilers, please, as we are discussing book endings.


- I would add about 20 pages onto Mockingjay and flesh the ending out more; the ending, not the epilogue. While I'm one of a handful that enjoyed the third book, it just needed something more to wrap up the series as I would have ideally liked. I might have also made Gale less flaky in the end, which came - for me - entirely out of left field. 
- The ending of Outside In was so completely bizarre and random that I would probably rewrite the entire 1/3 of that book to erase any mention of crazy aliens and have a less fanciful way of tying ends up, such as maybe something with more with Trella and her mom, and maybe more information about the scrubs and how they planned on keeping their little internal society running without too much conflict.
- For Across the Universe I would definitely not have had Amy and Elder make up at the end. For me it was a bit of a cop-out in some respects because if I were unplugged with no way of interacting with my parents again it would take a lot more than an "I'm sorry" to smooth things over; at least quite a bit more time would be necessary. As much as I liked that book, that bit just bugs me every time.


I'm sure there are more, but I'm at a loss and my brain is sleepy. I really like this question, and I'll try and catch up with your answers tomorrow night!