Review: Redemption by Veronique Launier

Redemption

By: Veronique Launier

Pub. Date: September 8, 2012

Publisher: Flux

Pages: 360

Source: Netgalley

Guillaume: For five hundred years I've existed as a gargoyle. Perched atop an old Montreal church, I've watched idly as humanity wanders by. With the witch Marguerite gone, there is no one left to protect, nothing to care about. I never planned to feel again. But then a girl released me from my stone restraints, allowing me to return as a seventeen-year-old human boy. I must find out all I can about this girl's power . . .

Aude: Getting attacked twice in as many days is strange in itself, but even stranger is the intriguing guy I keep running into. There's something so familiar about him, like a primal drum rhythm from my dreams. But spending time together only raises more question-about my heritage, a native Mohawk prophecy . . . and an unearthly magic threatening our city..

What drew me to this book was that it was about Gargoyles, something that we have not seen much of (if at all) in young adult. Add a 17 year old boy that was trapped in stone, and I could not wait to read Redemption and started it the day that I was approved on Netgalley.

The first 75% of the book, I kept waiting for something to happen. I was hoping for explanations. Every time I thought we were going to learn something, it turned out the character changed it's mind about explaining things. I spent most of the book confused and by the time the book was over, half of my questions weren't even answered! This kept my from fully enjoying the book. I also think my issue was that from the synopsis, I was expecting a different kind of story. I assumed Guillaume was a regular teenage boy and 500 years ago was cursed to become a gargoyle. Nope, not the case. Him and his brothers are over 500 years old (or it could be 800-I'm not sure if that was a mistake on the ARC or not) and choose to become stone monsters. I can't really tell you why, because I am still trying to figure that at. Also, Guillaume is a master at the piano. He was amazing at it even before he became immortal.  Pianos didn't even exist 500 (or 800) years ago?

I did like Aude though. She was pretty cool and had a very interesting background. I liked how accepting she was of everything that Guillaume told her. I enjoyed Guillaume and Aude together. I thought they were very sweet and I liked when they were being all cute with each other. Sometimes the two of them had stupid moments though, like when Guillaume left Aude at the cemetery at night because he got emo over an old girlfriend. Dude, monsters are after your current girlfriend!!! Why the hell would you leave her alone, at night, in a cemetery??? Idiot.

I have to say though that I loved the setting of Redemption! Set in Montreal, Canada, I really had a feel for the streets and the buildings. I loved the descriptions and I felt like I was there! 

Overall, the fact that there were too many things left unanswered really turned me off. had so much potential and I am really disappointed that I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted too.  

Stacking the Shelves (2)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

I got awesome books this week and I can't wait to read them!

Only one book for review this week. I got Alchemy by K.J. Wignall. I read the first book, Blood, last year and loved it. I can not wait to read the next one in the series!

Fingerprints of You - Kristen-Paige Madonia

Wake - Amanda Hocking

The Siren - Tiffany Reisz

What books did you guys get this week? Leave me a link to your page in the comments so I can check it out!

Review & Giveaway: Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

Between the Lines

By: Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

Pub. Date: June 26, 2012

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 358

Source: Bought (and personally signed!!)

What happens when happily ever after…isn’t?

Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.

And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.

Let me just start my saying that Between the Lines is probably one of the cutest, and most original books I have ever read. All of us who write book reviews are book lovers, and lets face it, we feel that these characters are real. We think about them, we want them to be happy, we hate when they make the wrong choices. We want to help them, and be there for them. But sadly, characters in books are just that: characters in books who aren't real. Just figments of an authors imagination. But what happens if they were real? When the book is opened, they play their parts, but when the book closes, they have their own lives and are free to do what they want. That is the concept behind Between the Lines and I absolutely loved that!

Delilah loves to read. She spends most of her time reading, especially reading the fairy tale "Between the Lines". She feels connected to the main character, Prince Oliver, and wishes she could be the one that he saves at the end. But what Delilah doesn't realize is that Oliver is real. Once she closes the book, Oliver is free to be who he really is. Oliver wishes he could escape the book. He knows that there is more to the world then this story. He has tried numerous times to get the readers attention, but to the reader, the picture stays exactly the same. That is until Delilah is reading, and notices the picture of Oliver is actually moving! The two of them begin a friendship, which I thought was adorable. Delilah promises that she will help Oliver escape. I loved the connection between the two. I couldn't help but root for them.

I am a huge fan of Jodi Picoult. Her writing is always fantastic, so when I heard she was writing a YA novel with her daughter, Samantha, I was instantly intrigued. Between the Lines is definitely not as emotional as her adult stuff, but I still enjoyed it. I did feel that it read as a middle grade and not as a YA, and I think it could have been shortened by about 100 pages. Other then that, I loved everything else about it. I absolutely adored the drawings that accompanied the fairytale story. I thought it made the fairytale come to life! Which, if you think about it, was probably the point!

The story is told in three different POV-Delilah, Oliver, and Prince Oliver. The last one is the actual fairytale, "Between the Lines", but Prince Oliver is the narrator. It was interesting to see how Prince Oliver and Oliver were different, though they were the same person.

I think Between the Lines will appeal to Jodi Picoult fans, as well as young readers. I would definitely recommend it!

At ALA midwinter, I received an ARC of Between the Lines that I am giving away! Just fill out the form below. Good luck! Open to US and Canada residents!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Amplified by Tara Kelly

Amplified

By: Tara Kelly

Pub. Date: October 25, 2012

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.

Pages: 293

Source: Library

When privileged 17-year-old Jasmine gets kicked out of her house, she takes what is left of her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Jasmine finds the ideal room in an oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that she's the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad she has major stage fright and the cute bassist doesn't think a spoiled girl from over the hill can hack it. . .

In this fresh new novel by critically acclaimed author Tara Kelly, Jasmine finds out what happens when her life gets Amplified.

When I first saw this book pop up on other blogs, the cover was the first thing that I noticed. I love books that center about music and bands, but I haven't read too many of them. So I could not wait to read this one. Amplified did not disappoint. It was a cute, fun, fast-paced story. It featured great writing, great characters, and a great plot!

Jasmine grew up privileged, but she has never seen eye to eye with her dad. When she tells him that she doesn't want to go to college just yet so she can pursue her dream of music, her father kicks her out of the house. With not a lot of money saved up, her guitar equipment and a dream, Jasmine drives to Santa Cruz. It's there that she joins a band, makes friends, learns to open up and gains the confidence that she needs to become a great guitar player. What I liked most about Jasmine was how real she was. She made real mistakes, which I liked. It makes her very relatable.

I loved Jasmine. I thought she was so brave to defy her father and do what she felt she needed to do. She has so much more guts then I could ever have. She also tried out for a band, and even though her audition wasn't the best, she didn't give up. I enjoyed watching her character grow. By the end, she was so different then when we first met her. The first person she meets in Santa Cruz is Sean. Sean acts like a jerk, but he actually is an extremely smart, talented and sweet guy. I also liked how honest of a person he is, you usually don't see that quality much anymore. I love the connection between the two of them. There constant back and forth bickering was hilarious.

The secondary characters were also well written. I loved all of the members of the band, especially Veta. She was so much fun! Veta and Sean's mom was also pretty awesome.

I really enjoyed reading Amplified and I am looking forward to reading more from Tara Kelly! 

Review: First Comes Love by Katie Kacvinsky

First Comes Love

By: Katie Kacvinsky

Pub. Date: May 8, 2012

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

Pages: 228

Source: Borrowed from the awesome Mesa @ The Sagacity Quest

Like his name, Gray is dark and stormy. Dylan, a girl always searching for what’s next, seemingly unable to settle down, is the exact opposite: full of light and life. On the outside, they seem like an unlikely couple. But looks can be deceiving and besides, opposites attract.

What starts as friendship, turns into admiration, respect and caring, until finally these two lone souls find they are truly in love with each other.

But staying in love is not as easy as falling in love. If Dylan and Gray want their love to last, they’re going to have to work at it. And learn that sometimes love means having to say you’re sorry.

Books like First Comes Love makes me remember how much I love contempories. First Comes Love is an honest portrayal about first love, friendship, grief, forgiveness and family. It is beautifully written and I had half the pages marked with post-it tabs reminding me of what quotes I wanted to write down in my "quote book".

Gray is a serious, withdrawn loner. Once the popular baseball player, he pushed everyone away when his twin sister suddenly died in a car crash. He's built impenetrable walls around himself that he never wants to take down. After Amanda died, he gave up his scholarship to go to local community college to stay with his parents, who are also falling apart. 

Dylan is unique, crazy and original! When she first meets Gray she sees the beauty within, and makes it her mission to not only be his friend and break through his walls, but to help him deal with whatever is plaguing him.

The two of them are like the odd couple-and it completely worked! The connection they had was perfect. The way they knew each other-even after such a short amount of time was wonderful. No matter how much Dylan annoyed Gray at first, there was something about her that drew her to him. I really liked Gray. He was a broken guy and since his sister would never experience anything, he felt that he owed it to her to grieve for her, and give up his hopes and dreams. I absolutely loved Dylan. I have never met a character like her before. She was so eccentric and I loved that about her. She was also selfless and saw the beauty in everything. I wish I could be more like that.

There are great messages within First Comes Love. Dylan not only changed Gray, but she made me see things differently, which is amazing. First Comes Love is a very realistic, character driven novel, and I thought everything worked perfectly together. The synopsis does not do this book justice. I am so glad that I read it, and I didn't pass it up as just another "summer romance book", because trust me when I say it is so much more than that.

First Comes Love is a short, quick read with a big message. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a beautifully written contemporary. 

Stacking The Shelves (1)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

For the past month, I have not done any sort of post focusing on what books I received during the week. I thought with a month off, this would be the perfect time to switch from In My Mailbox to Stacking the Shelves. Thank you to everyone for still coming and visiting my site! 

The Summer I Learned to Dive - Shannon McCrimmon (via author)

Two and Twenty Dark Tales edited by Georgia McBride & Michelle Zink (via netgalley)

Andy Squared - Jennifer Lavoie (via netgalley) - Already read ~ review coming soon

Beautiful Disaster - Jamie McGuire (via netgalley) - Reading now! 

Speechless - Hannah Harrington (via netgalley) - Already read ~ review coming soon

Mystic City - Theo Lawrence (via netgalley)

The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater (via netgalley) - Already read ~ review coming soon

The Unloved - Jennifer Snyder (via author) 

The Lost Prince - Julie Kagawa (via netgalley)

I also got a surprise in the mail on Thursday that I am super excited for. I first read this book in High School and I am so looking forward to reading it again before the movie! 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

I love the new cover for it too!!

Fearless- Brigid Kemmerer 

Phantom - Laura DeLuca

The Wild Ones - M. Leighton

What books did you guys get this week? Leave me a link to your page in the comments so I can check it out!

Follow Friday # 31

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel of Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read! It's a great way to meet new blogger friends!

This weeks question is:  

Do your reading habits change based on your mood? Do you read a certain genre if you are feeling depressed or happy?

Answer: I don't read a certain genre if I am feeling depressed or happy, but there are times where I am in the mood for a certain kind of book.


Have a wonderful weekend everyone!