YA Cover Reveal: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Urban-Fantasy

Blurb from Goodreads:

ΕRCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID. 

I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance? Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last installment of the Mortal Instruments series!


Ha, sorry guys. I'm a little late on posting about the cover reveal. Anyways, what do you guys think about this cover? I was just fangirling about this the whole time when I saw this. So like, that's Sebastian and Clary, right? Clary's wearing white. You know what that means? THOSE CLOTHES ARE FOR MOURNING. FUNERALS. Cassie said six people we know by name will die. Who do you guys think will die?

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About the author:

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.

Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and  which later inspired her current pen name).

After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.

Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her two cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.

City of Bones was her first novel.

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Book Review : The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Published : January 10, 2012

Publisher : Dutton Books

Pages : 313

Genres : Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Romance


Blurb from Goodreads :

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.



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                                                               Review Time! 
 Alright, So I have heard a lot of good things about this book. Especially " It's so sad! :( .." Even though I hear that from people, I didn't prepare for it. So, what happens after I finished this book? I get a mental breakdown. I'm sorry. This book was just amazing. It's very realistic and the characters were well developed and the facts on their cancer was "accurate".

Anyways, like I said, this was a fantastic book! It was very, VERY intriguing. Hazel Grace Lancaster is the main protagonist. 16 years old and has cancer. She walks around with an oxygen tank. Anyways, her mom sends her to a cancer support group and their she meets another protagonist, Augustus Waters. He also has cancer...and that cancer, took one of his legs, so he only has one leg.

Alright, Another thing I wanted to talk about in this book was the plot. It was simply astounding. I loved it so much. Never once did I think that he wrote it in a very non-fiction way. The facts were kind-of "accurate". The ending was very dramatic/moody. Very sad. I loved how John Green actually wrote a "pre-funeral" scene in the book. This is one of the few books that I've read with these scenes, so that's another aspect I love about this book.

They were smarter than an average teen and they spent a lot of time thinking about life. But you know, they have cancer. And cancer sucks. So what is there to do, when your life is limited and you're dying? Contemplate about life and study I guess...

Anyways, I loved the way John Green wrote his characters. They developed amazingly and I always believed they were "Real". They just seemed real for me. I loved them as characters!

5 stars!

You know, I really have nothing to say about this book other than the fact that it was very moody and awesome. John Green's writing is amazing. I say, if you haven't read this book yet, you need to read it like right now. Put down the book you're currently reading, and read this book. I can't promise you that you'll like it as much as I did, but I can promise you that you'll give this book at least 2/3 stars!

Quotes :

“My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.”

“As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”

Book Review : Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Published : May 10, 2011

Publisher : Henry Holt

Pages : 322

Genres : YA Romance, Fantasy, Mystery

Blurb from goodreads: 

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

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                                                               Review Time! 
This is a very fascinating book! This is the first book in a Trilogy. I really didn't think the beginning was slow, I actually liked how fast paced this book was. The only thing, that was too fast paced was the romance. That was my immediate thought once something happened between them two.

This is a book about time traveling...Yes, Time traveling. To be honest, it has a very interesting storyline. I loved each and every character in this book. They had their own personality and not even a single similar thing.(Well, of course there was, but you know what I mean...I hope.)

Anyways, Like I said, this book is about time traveling. Where there is a time traveling gene running through Gwen's family. So..only about 12 people have it, and Gwen is the 12th. But wait, first, everyone thinks it's Charlotte, the sophisticated cousin. Yea. They think it's her, so basically what happens is that Gwen is totally unprepared to travel through to the past, while Charlotte spends her whole life preparing for time travel. She knows how to curtsy, she knows the foreign languages, she knows the dances. Even London's history. So, one day, Gwen travels back in time and she's totally unprepared. Now what?

I loved Gwyneth as the main protagonist. I feel like she narrated the story flawlessly, yet with flaws. Like, an optical illusion, you know? Making it seem like something when it's really not? Yea. That's what I felt when I was reading this book.

Anyways, like I said, the romance in this book was VERY fast paced. Like "Woah..", What just happened? Like, did they really just do that? That was flaw in the book that I didn't like, but I liked the fact that the beginning wasn't slow. It basically jumped right into the story, making the story more fascinating than it should be.

Now let's talk about the Prologue, so, it was very confusing for me while I was reading it. First off, It's because I don't know any of the characters, and the plot/storyline of the book. So yea, I didn't really care 'bout the prologue, but you should still read it.

4 and 1/2 Stars

So, Kerstin's writing is amazing. Surely, this book has flaws, but it's probably the translation. I decided not to point that out because I felt like translating a book this good was hard, so I didn't want to be mean. But yea, check this book out!

Quotes :

"Yes, but it's my favorite bit of wall, Gordon. I'd hurt its feelings if I didn't stop and talk to it.”

“If were were in a film, the villain would turn out to be the least-expected person. But as we aren't in a film, I'd go for the character who tried to strangle you.” 

Book Review : The dead and the gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Published : June 1st, 2008

Publisher : HMH Books for Young Readers

Pages : 321

Genres : SciFi, Post Apocalyptic, YA

Blurb :

When life as Alex Morales had known it changed forever, he was working behind the counter at Joey's Pizza. He was worried about getting elected as senior class president and making the grades to land him in a good college. He never expected that an asteroid would hit the moon, knocking it closer in orbit to the earth and catastrophically altering the earth's climate. When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland. He never expected to be fighting just to stay alive.

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                                                               Review Time!
This is a burtiful book. Oops, typo. I meant : Beautiful. The first book in the series, Life as we knew it is a fascinating book. To be honest, I think you can read the first and second book out of order, but do read the third and fourth book in the series in order. Hahaha.

This book starts off with a 17 year old teen who is currently working at a pizza place. And you know, The same thing happens in this book as it did in Life as we knew it. And asteroid hits the moon, knocking it out of its normal place/position and a little bit closer to Earth. Then everything changes. Right then and there, they get ready for the changes in the environment. Tsunamis, Earthquakes, a Famine, Volcano Eruptions... He has two younger sisters, Julie and Bri. He has to take care of them while their parents of away. Unfortunately, As it says in the blurb above, both of his parents die in the aftermath of a wave, Therefor leaving Alex, alone to watch out for his siblings. It's hard, actually, for him..for everyone.

This book is completely different compared to Life as we knew it. First, it's a different character and he's in a different place, where everything is basically, different. His "diary entries" aren't that much like diary entries, but Susan has written it like a diary.  The PoV is also different, as Life as we knew it is told by a first person point of view of the main character, Miranda, and The Dead and the Gone is told from a third person point of view where we learn about Alex's thoughts and actions in the book.

This book includes ALOT of praying and religious traditions even through the hardships of the moon...being closer to the earth. That's what I love most about this book. I'm surprised how Susan explains a lot about Alex's background, AKA religious background/his culture. Yes, the moon is ending the world, just because it moved closer to the Earth changing the whole environment. And because the moon is ending the world, Alex and his siblings/sisters are putting his faith in God and praying for a better world in a world that's ending sooner or later.

 I love how this book is also very easy to compare to real life, because they get sick, they have a famine, there are realistic environmental changes. It's one of the few traits that I love very much that this book has. This story plot is a more harder life to survive in, practically because Alex is only 17 and his parents are gone, and he's put under the responsibility of taking care of his two younger sisters, Julie - 12 and Bri - 14.

This is a very, very hard book to read. By that, I mean, you can easily compare it to reality, which makes it hard to read. You can simply imagine that. An asteroid hitting the moon closer in orbit to the Earth and changing the whole world. It's very simple to imagine, but you may imagine, it's a very hard world to live in, surviving one day at a time. 

Susan is very talented in writing. Her writing is practically amazing. I love it so much and I love this book very much too! 

Quotes :

"Gin," Alex said, showing Julie his cards. "You owe me $3,870.12."

"I wish Carlos was here," she said.

Click "Read more >> " for a short excerpt!

YA Book Release: Defy by Sara B. Larson

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance, Adventure, Action

Release Date: January 7th, 2014

Blurb from Goodreads:
Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king's army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince's guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can't prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.

The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she's sworn to protect?


Are you guys a fan of love triangles?


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About the author:
 She loves writing, reading, and dessert--but the order varies by the day. She wrote her first book in second grade about a woman who had a premature baby, complete with a "to scale" drawing of the baby's size--while her mom was pregnant. To say she was a bit precocious is putting it lightly. Now that she's an adult, she write books for teens that have magic and romance and kick-butt girls (and very few premature babies). She lives in Utah with her husband, two young sons and baby girl. She writes during naptime and the hours when most people are sleeping. Her  husband claims she should have a degree in "the art of multitasking." On occasion you will find here hiding in a bubble bath with a book and some Swedish Fish. She is represented by Josh Adams of Adams Literary.

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Quotes:
“I couldn't breathe. I wanted him to keep touching me; I wanted to feel his whole body against mine again. But Rylan was here. Rylan was listening. Rylan, who had cared for me all along.
"Thank you," I said, my voice unsteady, and somehow I made myself move and turn away from his touch to stare at the tent again, my heart hammering. Rylan's back was still turned to me, but I could see how stiff he was, as if every muscle in his body was clenched.
"I hope you are able to rest well Alex," Damien said.
"You too," I said, making myself close my eyes, to pretend I was going to sleep. But inside, I thought, Rest well? Is he serious?
It was going to be a long night.” 


“You're perfect," He said roughly, cutting off my protest. "And if I had to do it over again, I would save you every time." His mouth closed over mine and there was no more thought. No more worry. No more pain or loss or fear. There was only Damian. His arm tightened around me, crushing me to him. I clung to him as his lips moved on mine with a need and hunger that nearly overwhelmed me.”