Cover Reveal!! Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor!!

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

I make a rule not to use as many exclamation points as I did in the title. But rules are made to be broken, and this is certainly a game changer...
I am completely in love with this cover. I can’t stop staring at it. So gorgeously haunting. The eyes are so beautiful, and I love the way Laini Taylor’s name is in red to match.
I can still remember when I fell in love with Daughter of Smoke and Bone almost a year ago. I sincerely hope Days of Blood & Starlight will meet my expectations. I can’t wait!

Cover Reveal! Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

Summary (from Goodreads): In a city of daimons, the Carnival of Souls hosts a deadly competition. Once in a generation, every citizen can fight to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures—if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.

In our own world, Mallory knows that her father—and every other witch—fled the daimons’ city long ago. She trains to be lethal because it’s only a matter of time until the daimons catch up with them.

While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans there for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence that is the Carnival of Souls.

From Melissa Marr, bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series, comes a brand-new tale of secrets, love, and the struggle to forge one’s own destiny.

I am so freaking excited for Carnival of Souls. Melissa Marr is one of my favorite writers. I love her Wicked Lovely series. It’s the book that really got me hooked on YA literature, and thus the reason I’m a YA book blogger. I love the cover and title, which is a line from Five Finger Death Punch’s “Far From Home.” The premise sounds really cool, so I can’t wait to read it!

-Jill

UPDATED TO ADD:
I forgot to mention, Melissa Marr is running a contest for an ARC of Carnival of Souls on her site here: http://melissa-writing.livejournal.com/416422.html

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Warning: This post may or may not contain an extreme about of gushing.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Published: December 1, 2009
Series: The Caster Chronicles Book 1
Pages: 563
Summary (from Goodreads):
There were no surprises in Gatlin County. 
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

This book is told from Ethan Wate’s perspective. Ethan is a mortal boy who begins the story as a popular basketball player living in small town. He dreams of leaving everything he knows behind. Lena Ducannes is ostracized by everyone at every single school she has gone to, until she meets Ethan. But her doomsday is impending. A midnight on her sixteenth birthday, she will be claimed by light or darkness, and her life could change forever. 
I started reading Beautiful Creatures this week after I’d bought it on my Nook. I found the beginning of the story to be a bit slow; it can be hard to write a solid debut novel with a fast paced beginning. Since it’s the beginning of a series, there needs to be world building as well as a solid base to set the stage for the book to come. So I can understand why the plot would start off a little slowly in order to introduce everything and everyone.
But when the action and of course, romance began, I was under this book’s spell. I read it in every spare second I had, and it was agonizing when I had to go to class or do homework. I needed to know what happened next!
The beginning aside, the plot was perfectly paced. I was so absorbed in the plot once I got into it, that I didn’t catch that there was a date above each chapter title, until I was about halfway through. That definitely worked to my disadvantage, but I can only blame it on my own denseness and exhaustion.
The characters were each special and all of them really contributed to the story. I felt like I got to know every single one of them and their motives.  This is really important for me in really understanding everything that goes on. And the development of these characters was huge, but still believable.  The main characters, Ethan and Lena both grew so much by the end; it was incredible.  
Throughout the course of the book, I really started to love them both. Ethan, because he’s funny, sweet, loyal, and really brave. He’d gone through the recent loss of his mother, yet hadn't drowned in the grief like his father.  I also have a weakness for guys who love reading, and Ethan fit the bill. Lena, on the other hand, was quirky and cool. Despite her powers and quirks, however, she just wanted to be a regular girl.  She wanted to go to school dances. But she also doubted herself, fearing that she was going dark and would have to leave her family on her sixteenth birthday forever. 
I loved that for once, the female was the strong, powerful paranormal of the couple. In most paranormal YA (there are exceptions, of course), it’s the guy who has the air of mystery, who’s mortality you question. 
My favorite character, though, was Marian Ashcroft. She was Ethan’s mother closest friend and is the town librarian. She dressed very fashionably and Ethan describes so beautiful, she could be on the covers of magazines.  Part of my adoration is because her name was a reference to The Music Man (Marian the Librarian).  She had a tendency to quote famous books, plays, and writers, as well as read to herself aloud. I admired her so much, even though she was not a major character in the book. 
My favorite thing about the book, overall, was the symbolism. There was so much, and I absolutely loved it. Everything, even the smallest, most trivial thing, could have hidden meaning. It kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat. 
I loved the end, even though I predicted parts of it. There was a major cliffhanger ending, so I can’t wait to read book 2, Beautiful Darkness. 
I absolutely fell in love with Beautiful Creatures, and I’d recommend it to anyone. 
My rating for Beautiful Creatures is 4/5 stars. 

-Jill

Waiting on Wednesday (2)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week, I’m dying to read...

Endlessly by Kiersten White

Release Date: July 24, 2012

Series: Book 3 in the Paranormalcy Trilogy

Summary (from Goodreads): Try as she might, Evie can’t seem to escape her not-so-normal past. And what was supposed to be a blissfully normal school break is ruined when a massive group of paranormals shows up at her house, claiming that Evie is the only one who can protect them from a mysterious, perilous fate.

The deadly war between the faerie courts looms ever closer. The clock is ticking on the entire paranormal world. And its future rests solely in Evie’s hands.

So much for normal.

With a perfect blend of humor and suspense, Endlessly is everything readers could dream of in a conclusion—and the unexpected twists will keep them guessing until the very last page.


I fully admit to be in love with the Paranormalcy trilogy. There’s wit and humor, mixed with drama and romance, and of course, paranormals. And look at the gorgeous cover! I can’t wait to read Evie’s final chapter, although I can’t help but wish it would never end. 


What are you waiting for this week? 


-Jill

Book Haul!

My book haul for the past two weeks:

Comment! What books have you gotten recently that you're excited about?

Thanks for watching. 

-Jill

Waiting On Wednesday (1)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week, I am anxiously waiting on....

Legend by Marie Lu

Publication Date: January 29, 2013

Summary (from Goodreads):

The Elector Primo of the Republic has died, with his son assuming power over what’s left of the USA’s West Coast as it teeters on full-blown chaos. June and Day join up with Patriot rebels so they can rescue Day’s brother and head east for the Colonies. In order to help, though, the rebels want June and Day to kill the new Elector, who may pose an even greater threat than his father.

I know I'm not the only one dying to read the sequel to Legend. When I read Legend in January, I immediately loved it. I can't wait to see what Marie Lu has in store for us in Prodigy. 

What are you waiting for?

-Jill

Desires of the Dead & The Last Echo

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Violet can sense the echoes of those who've been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life.

As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she'd turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike's tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

The Body Finder was the most original book that I’d read in a long while. But it took me awhile to pick up Desires of the Dead, because it wasn’t in stock in any of my local bookstores. I finally bought this on Kindle and finished it the day before I was to go to the Dark Days Tour which featured Kimberly Derting, Jill Hathaway (author of Slide), and Dan Hathaway (author of Partials and John Cleaver series.)
I read this book very quickly; I simply could not get enough. I am finding myself addicted to this darker YA with serial killers and dead bodies. It’s a nice change for me to get away from Paranormal Romance. This could, technically be classified as such, but I find that these books focus much more on the mystery and suspense than the romance.
The plot of the book was very entertaining. Kimberly Derting kept me guessing until the end, something that is hard to do. Although, my original prediction was correct, I contradicted it many times throughout the book. My favorite chapters were the ones that veered away from Violet’s perspective, and focused in on the bad guys. I was astonished when I put together that the titles of these chapters in this book were the Seven Deadly Sins. These chapters make the books for me.
The character development was awesome. I could see how both Violet and the mystery bad guy changed.  Violet’s feelings and instincts were very different at the end of the book that they were at the beginning. But seeing the bad guy's thoughts change so drastically change was amazing, and added so much to the book.
The romance part of Desires of the Dead was excruciating. Jay and Violet’s relationship is so painful to read about at some points. They have such a rough time. I appreciate the fact that they were best friends for years before they got together, it makes their love seem more realistic. But when they fought my heart ached.  I wanted them to work out so badly.
Reading Desires of the Dead was so much fun for me. I didn’t automatically know what would happen, and I love to be surprised. I am giving this book 4/5 stars. 

The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting

Violet kept her morbid ability to sense dead bodies a secret from everyone except her family and her childhood-best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Jay Heaton. That is until forensic psychologist Sara Priest discovered Violet's talent and invited her to use her gift to track down murderers. Now, as she works with an eclectic group of individuals—including mysterious and dangerously attractive Rafe—it's Violet's job to help those who have been murdered by bringing their killers to justice. When Violet discovers the body of a college girl killed by "the girlfriend collector" she is determined to solve the case. But now the serial killer is on the lookout for a new "relationship" and Violet may have caught his eye....






I read this book right after I finished Desires. I’m glad I did, because I had needed a little refresh to remember what happened in The Body Finder before I read Book 2. One thing that I love about this book--and the entire series--was that I was enthralled from the first sentence. Kimberly Derting really knows how to hook a reader in, and she doesn’t disappoint.
What really made this book stick out from the others was the fear factor. It was a whole other level of creepy, and I loved that.  The connection between the color of the cover and one of the elements in the story gives me the heebie-jeebies. It’s the coolest.
What I also love about all the books is the minor characters. Although they don’t really change, they each have their own distinct personalities. They aren’t empty names.
I love the plot of this book. It was so unpredictable, except for some reason, I knew that one of the characters was just no good. And I was surprisingly right.
Violet was a badass like usual. And her relationship with Jay was as electric and strained as it was in the last book.
This book is a recent release so I don’t want to spoil anything, but I thought it was the best Body Finder book yet. I give it 5/5 stars. It was amazing!

See you soon!
Jill