February 2013

Saturday, February 23, 2013

REVIEW : Die For Me by Amy Plum


Die For Me

Author      : Amy Plum
Publisher   : ATOM (UK version)
Source      : Bought
Pages        : 435 (Paperback)

Summary from Goodreads :
My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.

Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were moving to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my life would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, he put me in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen . . . until I realized that Vincent Delacroix is no normal human--that he has a terrifying destiny and enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.

Can I risk everything for love?

Book trailer :


Cover Glimpse :
Look at it, isn't that so gorgeous??? The cover only is looked really compelling!
I really like how the girl with red dress is posed backward, facing the city ahead, and I spot Eiffel Tower which represent where the story sets in. The pale skin and black swirls that seem creeping on her body add mysterious feeling and you would guess the story is not ordinary.

Review :
Wow, Die For Me is as gorgeous as the cover!

This book was fascinating in many ways. Amy Plum's writing was really great and enjoyable. It flows smoothly and in a right pace, not too rushed not too slow and also well-balanced, it's not only focusing on one element. It has a sweet love story and yet also surprising the other is that she didn't use any kind of undead creature we've known before, instead she created her own, a unique tale about a new kind of undead creature with such a wonderful characters and yes, in one of the most gorgeous city in the world, Paris! Her vivid and detail explanation about some places in this book made me want to go there so bad!

I really like the concept about Revenant. Basically it's kind of Zombie, I've never read book about zombie before so I was kind of excited (though I'm not really a fan of it, I even don't dare myself to watch Walking Dead, by the way) and this one is a better one, a lot better because they appear normal like most human being, except for what they're capable of and their certain routine to gain their power back. Very cool yet very horrific when I imagined what's their purpose and what they have to go through to fulfil it. Although it's not one of the usual dark creature like what we've known all this time, it seems quite convincing and believable, not awkward at all.

The characters both main and support here are very easy to be loved. Kate is an awesome heroine who is progressively developed. She grows stronger and more composed, still can think logically about how Vincent's identity could affect their relationship despite of her deep feeling toward him. I really understand her fear of being hurt by Vincent's compulsion to keep dying. I liked her being honest about her thoughts to Vincent but still willing to fight for their love. About the hero(es) in this book, let me tell you that 'old-fashion' guy(s) have a special place in my heart, and Amy Plum makes perfect ones. I even confused which one was my favorite, Vincent or Jules. Both of them are like chivalrous gentlemen from the past; well, they're literally from the past; with their own traits and charms. Vincent is kind, respectful, pure selfless and also very romantic; then Jules who actually barely appears in this book looks more humorous gentleman. I'd love to read more about Jules on the next book. Then also I loved to read some of other Revenants who are more like family to Vincent and loved to see that they have their own story and problems too. It makes this book more rich and enjoyable to me.

However, I need to admit that this book has some similarities with Twilight, some things of the story strongly remind me to it, the obvious ones are like the condition of Kate and Vincent; a human, ordinary girl and a mysterious guy with dark secret; and Vincent's Revenants family which could slightly remind us with The Cullens. And to be honest, when I realized about it there was a pang of disappointment in me, thought that I would read the same formula like this over and over again though I actually don't really hate it. But as I went further into the story, I found that despite of those similarities, Die For Me still shines brightly on its own way among any paranormal romance I've ever read. I can't wait to read Until I Die that already sits prettily on my shelf.

So peeps, if you are a paranormal-romance fan, or specifically you love(d) Twilight saga, please do check out this charming series. I believe you won't be disappointed.
Happy reading! =)




Friday, February 15, 2013

REVIEW : Crossed by Ally Condie


Crossed

Author      : Ally Condie
Publisher   : Razorbill
Source      : Bought
Pages        : 367 (Paperback)

Summary from Goodreads :
THE SOCIETY CHOOSES EVERYTHING.

THE BOOKS YOU READ
THE MUSIC YOU LISTEN TO.
THE PERSON YOU LOVE.

Yet for Cassia the rules have changed. Ky has been taken and she will sacrifice everything to find him.

And when Cassia discovers Ky has escaped to the wild frontiers beyond the Society there is hope.

But on the edge of society nothing is as it seems . . .

A REBELLION IS RISING.

And a tangled web of lies and double-crosses could destroy everything.

Book trailer :


Cover Glimpse :
Like Matched, the cover is simple yet pretty and I think it tells a lot about the story inside. I also love how the color of each cover represents the tablet's order : green, blue and red. Very well integrated!

Anyway talking about book version, apparently the version I have is the UK one, so it is not in the same height as the other book in this series, my Matched and Reached are in US hardback. Kinda makes me sad =(

Review :
Because I was not really into Matched, after I read the blurb I was thrilled with Cassia's journey outside the Society, I thought it would be more exciting than before. I was also excited to read the story from Ky's side, how to learn his visions and thoughts and also to dig more about this mysterious boy. I was hoping this book would not be another second-book-syndrome, would be more entertaining for me and finally I could get connected to this series like others did. But again, I think I expected too much. It doesn't mean I fully disliked this book, I still found some parts quite interesting though. Just, well, I could not be sure whether I liked this book or not.

The plot is obviously developed in Crossed. I especially quite enjoyed Ky's POV, a lot of tension and horrifying atmosphere since he's placed at the Outer Provinces in the middle of the 'war' and we also introduced to some of new characters from his side. We also see how Cassia struggles and takes a long (actually, very long one) and dangerous journey outside the Society to find Ky. But then, I realized Crossed has similar issue as Matched. The story moves very, painfully, slow. Reaaaaally slow until I felt I was lost and bored sometimes, and for some reason I didn't really get what's the point Condie wants to tell. Somehow this book was like a patchwork, some new things and characters randomly 'patched', undeveloped and made me confused almost the whole time. It was really easy to get distracted with other thing while I read this book because, yeah, I didn't find things that could excite me.

Probably if you like Matched, most probably this book would satisfy you enough. Personally I can't tell which one is better, both is pretty similar in pace (which is reaaaaaaally slow, yes) and both also made me confused many times. And you may ask why I give this book 3 glasses, actually it's more like 2.75, if I ranted so much about it. I don't know, I just feel wrong if I gave it lower rating than it is now. So yeah, hope the third book would be better. Hopefully =)




Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Cover Reveal #13 : Kick-ass heroine covers!


Found these recently, I was really curious about them before and really happy they turned so prettily amazing! 8D
But somehow, they have similar 'feeling'. Let's take a look :

Goodreads
The Falconer by Elizabeth May
This cover fits well with the stunning premise, about medieval girl who is a faery slayer to take a revenge of her mother's death. So cool, so fierce yet so pretty. One thing that quite bugging is the title's font. Somehow it's too stand-out and doesn't blend well with the cover image. Otherwise, perfect. I can't wait to read this one =D

Goodreads
Deception (Defiance #2) by C.J. Redwine
Okay, I confess, I haven't read Defiance yet *facepalm* but I've planned I'll read it soon this year. Anyway, I really love this cover, it has similar concept with previous cover which I also adore. I can say the cover is one reason why I wanted to get that book so much.

Goodreads

Curtsies and Conspiracies (Finishing School #2) by Gail Carriger
I haven't gotten this one too, but really soon I would. This series probably has very gorgeous and cool cover, I love the black and white figure is looked stand out between the background with classic pattern and vibrant color, and it has gorgeous title's font. And I love the royal blue color! So cool! =D

And... you see why I said they have similar 'feeling' right? The girls have similar pose and kick-ass feeling. I can't wait to see them sit prettily on my shelf ;)
So, that's what I thought. What do you think about these covers?



Saturday, February 9, 2013

In My Mailbox #31




In My Mailbox is a blog meme hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren. You can show some books you got over the week which you bought, borrowed or given to you.




Hi guys, how are you today? =D
Seems like I can't make this feature as a regular weekly post for a while since I won't get many books, so... yeah =)
Okay, so these are my new babies from several weeks ago :


Beautiful Creatures box set (contains Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Darkness and Beautiful Chaos) by Kami Garcia and Margareth Stohl
Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout
The Statistical Probability of Love at the First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Frostbite by Richelle Mead

I simply really happy with what I got, they look so amazing! I'm glad Beautiful Creatures box set came safely to my house after 2 months for waiting. It's so beautiful and SHINY! I'm SO HAPPY! =D Now my Caster Chronicle series is complete and I can read them with ease =)
Especially I can't wait to read Through the Ever Night, I can't wait to meet Perry and Roar again!

So those are what I got in my mailbox. How about you? Leave your link so I can check it back.
Have nice day and happy reading! =)

Friday, February 8, 2013

MINI REVIEWS : Demonglass, Silence, The Reckoning


MINI INTRODUCTION:
From now on I'll add 'Mini Review' which contain short reviews of several books I've read long ago but still haven't made reviews of them. I have busy and procrastinator life so yeah I think this feature is necessary for this blog of mine =)


Demonglass

Author : Rachel Hawkins
Publisher :
U.S : Hyperion Book CH
Indonesia : UFUK Publishing (paperback)
Source : Bought Indonesia version
Pages : 449
Rating : 4 glasses

Review :
Like Hex Hall, I enjoyed this book very much. Sophie's voice is as crazily funny, entertaining and sarcastic as before, one factor that can make me falling for a story very easily. I love how the story is nicely developed here, with Sophie's journey and her encounter with new people, including her father (btw, I like him, what a cool father =p), with unexpected identity and facts, things getting darker and more complicated about who's the real good people and who's the real bad people. It's really shocking and gosh, what an ending! It makes me really want to get Spellbound right away! ><; One thing I like in this series is that the love story somehow doesn't really dominate the whole story, instead it focuses more about Sophie's adventure finding the truth about her identity and the other things. But I can't deny that I also want to know how Hawkins will do about love triangle between Sophie-Archer-Cal at the final book. Secretly I ship Sophie and Cal more because I feel I know about Cal more than Archer. Archer is still a blurry image even after I read two books. Well, just patiently wait until I get a chance purchasing Spellbound one day =p.


Silence

Author : Becca Fitzpatrick
Publisher :
U.S : Simon and Schuster
Indonesia : UFUK Publishing (paperback)
Source : Bought Indonesia version
Pages : 592
Rating : 3.5 glasses

Review :
Thankfully my curiosity won over my soul and I didn't drop this series earlier, because somehow for some reason I couldn't really get into the story, mostly getting confused here and there and I got a hard time with the previous book, Crescendo. That book was just really frustrating for me and made me disliking almost everything (read : Nora), even Patch. Well, I never really liked him though, somehow he's not really stand out among other book boyfriends out there and especially I just couldn't understand his strange behavior. But I was glad I was still willing to read this book.
Everything seems getting better, somehow Nora is like being 'renewed', she's like other person comparing to her in previous book, probably amnesia is good for her, lol. She's maturer and willing to take a risk and surprising responsibility that appears at the twisted end of the story. Wow, truthfully I've never seen it coming, quite surprised me!
And I was more surprised because this series has the forth book. Well, just hope this series would have satisfying ending.




The Reckoning (The Darkest Power #3)

Author : Kelley Armstrong
Publisher :
U.S : HarperCollins
Indonesia : UFUK Publishing
Source : Bought Indonesia version
Pages : 366 (Paperback)
Rating : 4 glasses

Review :
I've never expected I would enjoy this series very much! It's getting better and better on each volume and The Reckoning probably is the best sequel of all. What a pleasant ending! Though most of the story of all three books is about Chloe's and her friend's attempt to runaway from an evil organization (means lack of action, actually), it's still very exciting to read, especially when their power are revealed one by one (Chloe's is the scariest, with those zombies with any unbelievable form, seriously can't read this at night!). I loved to see how Chloe becomes maturer in here. She's no longer a spoiled whiny girl and finally she can accept her destiny and her power and also willing to control it. I also love to see the relationship development between Chloe and her friends, especially with Derek. Awww, they're just really sweet together! Their relationship grows naturally, because they want to protect each other. Just sweet! I always enjoyed every parts where both of them involved in and I was beyond satisfied with the ending =D. Such a wonderful series!




Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Wishlist Wednesday #24


Photobucket
Wishlist Wednesday is a book blog hop where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some tile, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves.
This blog meme is hosted by Pen to Paper, if you want to join please visit here to find more about this meme.


Pushing The Limits
by Katie McGarry

Summary from Goodreads :
No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

I heard gajillion amazing things about Pushing The Limits and it seems very popular and receives good reviews and ratings. I really need to get good contemporary novels these days and this book has very interesting premise I can't wait to know more about it. Probably I'll purchase this book if the paperback version is available.

Have you read this book? What do you think about it?
What's your Wishlist Wednesday this week? Leave your link so I can check it back.
Thank you for visiting and happy reading guys! ;)