Waiting on Wednesday: Darkness before Dawn

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we talk about books we are eager to read.

My pick this week is Darkess before Dawn by J.A. London

This electrifying new trilogy blends the best of paranormal and dystopian storytelling in a world where the war is over. And the vampires won.Humans huddle in their walled cities, supplying blood in exchange for safety. But not even that is guaranteed. Dawn has lost her entire family and now reluctantly serves as the delegate to Lord Valentine, the most powerful vampire for miles. It isn’t until she meets Victor, Valentine’s son, that she realizes not all vampires are monsters.... Darkness Before Dawn is a fresh new story with captivating characters, unexpected plot twists, a fascinating setting, and a compelling voice. Written under the name J. A. London by a talented mother-son team, the trilogy is perfect for fans of True Blood and the House of Night and Morganville Vampires series

Three reasons why I wanna read this book:

1) Vampires and dystopian novel
2) I love the Morganville - series
3) The story sounds great

Review: Cold Kiss, Amy Garvey

Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 304 (Hardcover)
Genre: YA, paranormal romance
Release: September 2011
Source: Book Expo America
Good to know: This is Garvey's first book for teens. It is a standalone, and not the first book in a series.

It was a beautiful, warm summer day, the day Danny died.Suddenly Wren was alone and shattered. In a heartbroken fury, armed with dark incantations and a secret power, Wren decides that what she wants—what she must do—is to bring Danny back.But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy Wren fell in love with. His touch is icy; his skin, smooth and stiff as marble; his chest, cruelly silent when Wren rests her head against it.Wren must keep Danny a secret, hiding him away, visiting him at night, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school, and Wren realizes that somehow, inexplicably, he can sense the powers that lie within her—and that he knows what she has done. And now Gabriel wants to help make things right.But Wren alone has to undo what she has wrought—even if it means breaking her heart all over again.

Beautiful and gripping

Cold Kiss can be described as a cross between Pet Sematary and Shiver.


Wren loves Danny with all her heart, and her world falls to pieces the day Danny dies in a car accident. She cannot live without Danny, and decides to use her special powers to bring him back to life. But things does not play out the way Wren planned. Danny is not acting like he used to before the accident. There is also a new boy at Wren's school, and suddenly she begins to doubt her feelings for Danny. She regrets bringing Danny back to life, but there is to late for regret now...

I wanted him back. I wanted him back so much I couldn't think about anything else. Everywhere I looked was suddenly somewhere Danny wasn't. My hands were empy because Danny wasn't holding them. My room echoed with quiet because Danny wasn't there whispering ridiculous things to make me laugh, or make me shiver.  (...)Danny was mine, I was his, and that wasn't going to work if he was dead. So I would make him not dead...

Garvey writes about something most of us can relate too; how it feels like to loose someone we love. I know that I have thought many times that I wish I could spend some more time with loved ones that have passed. Wren acts out on this longing, she brings the love of her life back from the dead. But soon Wren realise that it is not safe to mess with nature.

I am the kid who sticks her finger in the light socket. I am the person who doesn't check the expiration date on the milk. I am the idiot who has never looked before she leaped. I am the girl who is falling apart, right now.

Cold Kiss also deal with darker issues; the love Wren feels for Danny turns to a form of obsession after he dies. She wants to be with him no matter what. She does not reflect upon how it must be for Danny to be brought back to life, a life where he is hidden from everyone he once knew, aside from Wren. Danny exists only for Wren, it is all about her feelings.

I wrote that the book is a cross between Pet Sematary and Shiver. As with Pet Sematary, Cold Kiss is also about what happens when you bring someone back from the dead, and the person brought back is not the same person you knew before. When I mention Shiver, it is because Garvey has a writing pretty similar to that of Maggie Stiefvater. She has some beautiful quotes and passages.

I  liked some parts of the story, and the fact that the book is seeping with emotion. But I thought the story was too slow paced, nothing really happens until the second half of the book. The first half is all about how Wren regrets bringing Danny back, and it is not intereresting to read only about that from chapter to chapter. But when Wren talks more with Gabriel, things really kick off.

It wasn't love right away, because nothing ever is, no matter what the songs say, but it was the start of it. A beginning in one way, and the end in another. I think that might always be true of love.

I love that some authors still writes paranormal novels that are not part of a series, that in itself is a good reason to read this book. I have not read a lot about zombies before either, and that was also refreshing. Cold kiss is a beautiful written book that will appeal to those who like a slowpaced book that grips you.

Other reviews:
The Book Smugglers
Book Briefs
The Diary of a Bookworm

Amy Garvey is on Goodreads and has her own website here.

In my mailbox #46

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by the Story Siren, where we talk about the books we got the past week.

I have had an amazing bookweek, and I have gotten a lot of books that I cannot wait to read.

For review (via Netgalley):

Sarah Zettel: Dust Girl

Stephanie Hemphill: Sisters of Glass

Jordan Dane: On a Dark Wing

Veronica Rossi: Under the Never Sky

Cynthia Hand: Hallowed

Peter Howe: Warriors of the Black Shroud

Brodi Ashton: Everneath

Jodi Meadows: Incarnate

Rachel Hartman: Seraphina

John Claude Bemis: The Prince Who Fell from the Sky

So many great titles that I have been dying to read. I have preordered hardcover - editions of some of them already, but I am so grateful to the publishers at Netgalley who let me read them a bit in advance. (All of the titles are due out in 2012) It felt like Christmas and my birthday all at once when I got approved. I know what I will be doing in December, can't wait to get into these titles. Thank you so much Harper Collins, Random House Children's Books & Harlequin.

Have you read any of these titles yet? What did you get in your mailbox?

Review: Crossed, Ally Condie

Publisher: Dutton Books
Pages: 384 (Hardcover)
Genre: YA, dystopian, sci-fi
Release: November 1th 2011
Source: BEA
Good to know: The sequel to Matched. This series is going to be a trilogy.

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

Poetical dystopian

I had high expectations for Crossed since I loved Matched so much. I liked this book too, but it did not live up to my expectations.

Cassia finds herself in a whole new place, and she begins to search for Ky. Ky, on the other hand, is doing his best to survive and he manage to find new allies and friends.

Condie has a beautiful writing style and she is one of the best writers in the Ya - universe. Her writing is poetical, with a few words and sentences she is able to say so much. Sometimes I just stop my reading and reflect over something she has written. There are so many great quotes, so many good observations. It is simply a joy to read.

Because in the end you can't always choose what to keep. You can only choose how you let it go.

If you love someone, if someone loved you, if they taught you to write and made it so you could speak, how can you do nothing at all? You might as well tahe their words out of the dirt and try to snatch them from the wind. Because once you love, it is gone. You love and you cannot call it back

Love changes what is probable and makes unlikely things possible.

My biggest problem with this book, is that the story is too slowpaced. It takes too long before there is any real action, and once the book was finished I still had a lot of questions that were not answered. I longed for more. More information about the Society for one.

Loving him gave me wings and all my work has given me the strength to move them.

The narrative in the story shifts between Ky and Cassia. I liked that, since I felt we got to know each of them better. But what surprised me was that I felt a lot more sympathy towards Ky, he is a much more complex and interesting character than Cassia - at least in this book he is.

Even though I felt the story lacked something, I will still recommend the book. The writing style is, in itself, something that should make you read the book. I hope I will get more answers in the third book, because I will read it. I cannot get enough of Condie's prose.

Other reviews:
The Story Siren
Amy Reads
Sash & Em


Visit the Matched trilogy here.

Waiting on Wednesday: Insurgent

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we talk about books we are anxious to read.

My pick this week is Insurgent by Veronica Roth:

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

I loved Divergent, and I have been waiting for the seuel ever since. Insurgent has a planned release on May 8th, please May, come faster.

Review: The Russian Concubine, Kate Furnivall

Publisher: Sphere
Pages: 592
Genre: Historical fiction
Release: November 2007
Source: Bought
Nice to know: This is Kate Furnivall's debutnovel. The story is inspired by the experiences of Furnivall's own mother. The sequel is called The Concubine's Secret /The Girl from Junchow, and there is also a prequel called the Jewel of St Petersburg.

Exiled from Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, the beautiful and fiery Lydia and her aristocratic mother have taken refuge in Junchow, China, in 1928. On the edge of destitution, Lydia uses her wits to survive and resorts to stealing. She is saved from certain death by a young Chinese Communist, Chang An Lo, and together they are thrust into clashes with savage triads. Lydia and Chang fall in love and are swept up in a fight against prejudice and shame. Forced to face opium-running, betrayal and kidnap, their compelling attraction to each other is tested to the limits in this story of love and loss, secrets and lies.

A great historical read
The Russian Concubine is a pageturner and an entertaining read about what one would do to survive, but mostly the book is about is about love.

During the Russian revolution in 1917 a lot of the wealthty russians were arrested and killed. Valentina, who are married to a dane called Jens Friis, is a very beautiful woman and to save their daughter and herself she used her looks. But she cannot save her husband. Many years later, in 1928, the story is set in Junchow in China. Here we find people from all parts of the world, Great Britain, France, Italy and last but not least Russia.

Lydia and her mother Valentina are having a hard time making ends meet. Valentina drinks and Lydia are picking pockets in order to put food on the table. One day Lydia steals a very valuable piece of jewelry, and this changes her life and the lives of the people close to her.

I love historical fiction, but I have read very few novels based on russian and chinese history. This novel starts with a dramatic scene, which plunges the reader right into the story. From there on the book is hard to put down. There is a lot of things happening, and the story takes some unexpected turns.

Lydia is a typical herione. She is beautiful, strongwilled and stands up for herself. She is a bit of a tomboy, and she is prepared to fight for the people she love. She loves intensely and passionately, but her actions sometimes puts her in dangerous situations.

The book has a lot of surprises, especially at the end. On the negative side I did not like that we are offered the perspective of a lot of characters. I was mostly intererested in reading about Lydia, not the other characters. I also did not find that the title of the book corresponded well with the story.

But the Russian Concubine is a great historical read which will entertain you and also learn you a bit of history on the way.

Other reviews:
The Jerseymooners
Betsy's Book Club
Fire & Air
Book Reviews for Book Lovers

Kate Furnivalls website can be found here!

In my Mailbox #45

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by the Story Siren, where we talk about the books we got the past week.

Here are the books I have gotten the past weeks:

For review:

Ilsa J. Bick: Drowning Instinct (Via netgalley)

Lia Habel: Dearly Departed (Via netgalley)

Katherine Govier: The Printmaker's Daughter (Via netgalley)

Maria V. Snyder: A Touch of Power (Via netgalley)

Kristen Painter: Blood Rights (Via netgalley)

Eleanor Brown: The Weird Sisters (In Norwegian from Norwegian publisher)

Cassandra Clare: City of Bones (In Norwegian from Norwegian publisher)

Scott Westerfeld: Pretties (In Norwergian from Norwegian publisher)

Bought:

Robinson Wells: Variant

Veronica Wolff: Isle of Night (The Watchers 1)

Jeyn Roberts: Dark Inside

B.R. Collins: Tyme's End

Leanna Renee Hieber: Darker still

Lucinda Riley: The Girl on the Cliff

Michelle Paver: Dark Matter

What did you get in your mailbox this week?