Tuesday Talks- Cover Design

This is a Goodreads group started by Janie and Janelle. Here is the group if you would like to join Tuesday Talks. This weeks topic is what you look for in book covers so here goes; 

Simplicity: by this I mean a book that has one simple image and that is all. For example: 

I like how this cover has one symbol. Its not to over down and it has gold!! Super pretty and intriguing in my opinion.

This cover is not everyone cup of tea which I understand but I love the simplicity of the crown with blood. 

Flowers: I do not know why I love flowers so much on book covers because they hardly ever have anything to do with the book but oh well. For example: 

This one is very simple which is probably why I love it!

I loved this book. The reason I first picked it up in the first place to look at the back was because of the flower.

Shiny/Metallic- very self explanatory but I am more inclined to pick up a cover that is shiny and metallic. I'm kind of a little kid with keys. If I see a metallic cover at the book store I pick it up and see what it is about. For example: 

You cant really tell in the picture but the actual book is really shiny and metallic. It so pretty!

Another one that you cant tell but this cover is metallic purple. The whole series is like that and I find it so pretty.

So there are a few things I look for in book covers. I have many more but I feel like this post would be to long. What do you guys look for in book covers?

Invincible by Amy Reed

This book follows Evie. A 17 year old girl who has had cancer for close to a year. Doctors have given her a grim diagnosis with a short time to live. Evie has grown close to Stella and Colin in the hospital. Then suddenly she gets a second chance to live. Evie gets to go home but of course her family and friends are super protective. Then Evie meets Marcus. Marcus knows nothing about Evie's cancer and that is the way she likes it. Of course things happen from there.

Let me start off my saying that this is my first cancer type book. Yes, this is my nice way of saying I have not read The Fault In Our Stars(Im ashamed).

What I liked:

1) Evie in the first half- Evie  was such a great character in the beginning. She was strong and brave. She was accepting of the fact that she was going to die. She seemed happy in the hospital since she had friends there.

2) Stella: What a great character. Stella was so accepting. She was living her life to the fullest, which I loved so much.

3) Colin: Poor boy. He seemed to really like Evie. He wanted to make sure she was okay. He was so sweet in my opinion.

4) Evie's Parents: Wow, anyone would have been so lucky to have them as parents. I do think they were naive at times. They let Evie get away with a lot.

Things I was not fond of:
1) Evie in the last sections: Arg I do not know what happened to her but damn did she turn into this horrible character. I thought since she got a second chance in life she would be better but nope. I think this was the first character that I have read in awhile where the main character made me dislike her. With that being said  I still did want to know what was going to happen with her.

2) The ending! I think the ending totally through me for a loop. I was so upset. This review took me 3 days to write because I needed to recover. WHY???????

My rating: ♥♥♥♥

* I received this book from Edelweiss on a read and review basis*

Anticipated Releases Part 1

So I have been looking through new releases recently and there are quite a few coming out that I was really interested in. So there may be a part two to this but right now here a few that I am excited about.

Comes out: May 26, 2015! I am so excited for this book! I read Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry and absolutely loved it. The writing was so good! This is a contemporary ya book and it seems awesome!

Comes out: May 26, 2015. This one I have already read since I got an ARC but I cannot wait for this to come out so I can purchase it in hardcover. This book is like a Pretty Little Liarsesque with ballet. It's drama overload but so dang good!

Comes out: June 9, 2015. This book seems kind of risqué. Seems like a teacher/student relationship. For some reason those intrigue me(don't ask lol).

Comes out: June 2, 2015. This book is so what I have been loving lately. It is contemporary with a twist. I think it will be very mysterious and awesome. I love that we are getting thriller type books in YA now.

Comes out: July 7, 2015. I literally just found this but it sounds so cool and not to mention I love the cover! Cannot wait for this!

Comes out: June 16, 2015. This has a unique plot to it. A girl who is OCD is not something I have read about so that is great.

So that is all I have for right now. I am sure I will come up with some more later but here is just a teaser! 

What are some books you are looking forward to this summer?

The Remedy by Suzanne Young

Quinlan is a 17 year old closer. A closer is a person who acts, dresses, talks like a person who has passed. She helps the families have closure. She has been a closer for a very long time. Since this is her life she barely has a life outside of her own world. Then she gets an assignment to be a closer for a young girls family. Catalina's mother and father are the ones that wanted a closer. Of course there is a twist in this assignment. Quinlan must find out how Catalina died.

Things I liked:

1) Quinlan- I felt really bad for her during the whole book. She pretty much has no life. All her life experiences have been from different assignments. With that being said she makes some questionable decisions with some of the thing she does do.

2) Deacon- I loved him from the beginning. It seemed like him and Quinlan had a great relationship. Deacon is her helper. So whenever she needs anything while she is on assignment her is at her side. I do not agree with the way somethings happened with him but oh well.

3) Isaac- This boy I swear. He was not my favorite at the beginning because well he was a jerk. He clearly did not want Quinlan there and he made it known. He kinda made up for it by the end. 

Things I Was Not Fond of:

1) Ange: Ange is Catalina's sister. She was very angry as well. She did come around at the end but I still found the things she said and did unforgivable.

2) I do feel like the ending was kind of rushed. Yes, alot of things did happen in the book but the ending was kind of open ended. I guess I should read the actual series instead if the 0.5 book. Maybe that is why it is like that.

My rating:  ♥♥♥♥

*I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*

Miss Mayhem(Rebel Belle #2) by Rachel Hawkins

From Goodreads: Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and best friend Bee has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can return her focus to the important things in life: school, canoodling with David, her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie, and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant.

Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or connect her to David for life.

My Review: 

I completely loved the new installment in the Rebel Belle Trilogy. I had so many feelings reading that I'm not sure if I can express them all on here but I will try!

Things I Liked:

1) Harper- I thought she was bad ass in the first book! In this one she still was but I feel like she lost it a little.

2) David: This guy grew on me during the first book. This one he was a little better.

3) The story line itself did not disappoint. I think Mrs. Hawkins has a way of writing that you just need to know what happens. She writes in a comical way but the characters are so real that you cannot help but love them even when they do dumb things.

4) Bee- Even though this girl made some questionable decisions I still really enjoyed her character regardless.

Things I was not fond of: 

1) Harper and David's relationship seemed odd to me at times. I did like them together but I am not sure but it seemed strained for some reason. ( This is my opinion don't hate me)

2) Ryan- This clown just loves to mess things up! He frustrated me to no end!

3) Mary Beth- Such a naive character and I felt as though she was just not necessary!

4) David: Yes I know I put him in the things I liked but its a split for me. I liked him but the decisions he made were not cool! Yes he gets to be on this for that reason!

4) The length of this book was to short. I mean 288 pages are not enough in my opinion.( This is something I can live but really wanted more)

5) That ending though! Seriously?? Why would you do that to us??

With all that being said I still would recommend this book if you have read Rebel Belle. I think its a great addition to the series.

My rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

Where Wicked Starts by Elizabeth Stuckey-French

From Goodreads: That's when I noticed the couple we later named Bony and Mr. Creep sitting two rows in front of us. He had his arm around her, not like a father would do, or like I imagined a father would do—slinging his arm over the back of her chair. No, his arm was around her shoulders like she was his date. Bony kept wriggling but he would just grip her harder. Finally she gave up and sat still.

He leaned over and licked her cheek.

When stepsisters Nick and Luna suspect that a girl they meet at a Florida alligator farm is being held captive, they enlist an older boy with a set of wheels to help rescue her. Their parents are too busy renovating a bed and breakfast to realize the girls are in real danger.

My review:
Let me start of by saying that this is a type of book I should have loved! It is so up my alley hence why I requested it from Edelweiss. For me this book was so disappointing. I will end this review with the positive things so here goes.

Things I was not fond of:
1) The story line- I wanted to read this because of the weird relationship between these two characters. It seemed intriguing. Unfortunately this fell flat for me. It barely had anything about Bony and Mr. Creep.
2) This book focused more on other characters family issues then the story that I thought it would be all about which was the girl named Bony.
3) The book was to short. Maybe this is why it fell flat to me but yeah it was entirely to short and not much explained. Also not much detail in a lot of things either.


Things I liked(Which is not much)-
1) The step sisters Nick and Luna were pretty interesting.
2) The premise with Bony and the guy was intriguing just wish the book had more on that.

My Rating: ♥♥♥

*I received this book for free from Edelweiss on a read and review basis.*

Don't Stay Up Late by R.L. Stine

This book follows Lisa, a young high school student, who seems to be your normal teenager. She has a boyfriend name Nate and lovely parents. Lisa's life comes to a screeching halt when Lisa and her parents are involved in a car accident that kills her father. Since this traumatic event Lisa has started to experience hallucinations. She starts seeing a therapist regularly. 

Then Lisa gets an opportunity to babysit for a lady that lives on Fearstreet. Of course her mom and friends do not think its a great idea but Lisa decides to do it anyway because she wants to help out with bills. After this things ensue.

First off I did give this  stars. I had a few issues with it but not enough to put my rating any less. 

I loved these books when I was younger. This book really made me want to read more of these. 

Things I Enjoyed:

1) I like the mystery of the story. I really had no idea what was going to happen in the story, which is always nice when you guess wrong. 

2) The writing was done well. Of course since its R. L. Stine I don't think I expected anything less. 

3) Lisa- I loved her character. She was smarter than I remember some of these characters being. 

4) Nate- I will not lie. I did not like him for some reason in the beginning. Then when he did that thing I can't tell you about I liked him more. I didn't love him per se.

Things I was not fond of: 

1) The book took me a bit to get into. I'm not sure why it just did.

2) This may seem dumb but I felt like the book was kind of dumbed down just so younger children could read it. Yes, I am aware its for younger kids but reading it as an adult I wasn't liking that at all.

Other than those things, I think anyone who likes R.L. Stine's writing should pick this up. Great!

My rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

*I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review*

Reading Slump?

So I am in a reading slump! Hopefully it won't last long to where I fall behind on things but its here. I do not know about you but when I'm in a reading slump I can read but everything I do read is awful! I enjoy books less obviously. So in order for me to actually give the book I'm reading a chance I stop. I think there is nothing worse than reading because you feel as though you have to. So I wanted to tell you guys what I do when I am in a slump. I watch TV shows! Here are just a few of my favorites that I wanted to share with you guys. This is a completely different post than I would normally do but here goes anyway :)

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

So if you are a fan of this you probably know why I chose this picture. Anyway I loved this show from the beginning. I pretty much use my Apple TV for all my shows. I fell behind on this show but thanks to Hulu I am now caught up! 

Revenge

This show I swear! I am going to be honest. I was not sure at first if I was going to like this when I first started watching it but 2 episodes in and I was sold! Just watch it :).

Once Upon A Time

I had heard so many things about this show when it first came on. Of course I was a bit skeptical. With that this show is soooo amazing! 

How To Get Away With Murder!

This is the last show I will talk about. So this one is awesome to! I have only watched the first 6 episodes but still really love it! 

So there are some of the shows I watch in a reading slump. What do you guys do when you are in a slump???

Waiting For Wednesday #2

This is a weekly meme that was created by Breaking The Spine. This is where we let ya'll know a book that we are excited for! So here goes

The Book: Pretty, Baby by Mary Kubica

Release Date: July 28, 2015

From Goodreads: A chance encounter sparks an unrelenting web of lies in this stunning new psychological thriller from national bestselling author Mary Kubica

She sees the teenage girl on the train platform, standing in the pouring rain, clutching an infant in her arms. She boards a train and is whisked away. But she can't get the girl out of her head...

Heidi Wood has always been a charitable woman: she works for a nonprofit, takes in stray cats. Still, her husband and daughter are horrified when Heidi returns home one day with a young woman named Willow and her four-month-old baby in tow. Disheveled and apparently homeless, this girl could be a criminal—or worse. But despite her family's objections, Heidi invites Willow and the baby to take refuge in their home.

Heidi spends the next few days helping Willow get back on her feet, but as clues into Willow's past begin to surface, Heidi is forced to decide how far she's willing to go to help a stranger. What starts as an act of kindness quickly spirals into a story far more twisted than anyone could have anticipated.

I am so excited for this book because I read Mary Kubica's other book and loved it!! I 

cannot wait! What book are you excited about??