Review: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date: September 17th 2013.
My rating: 4.5 stars. 

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Leila Sales first impressed me with her wit and charm in Past Perfect; it was a book after a recommendation from two great bloggers (Nomes & Flann) I devoured in a few hours. It had an interesting mix of characters and was a book which had me laughing endlessly. It was a story I absolutely adored. This time once again I fell in love with this beautiful story by Sales but for different reasons entirely. 

Sales has a beautiful talent for making a story appear so real. With Past Perfect I wished that I could attend a history set up, it honestly bought out the inner geek within me. With This Song Will Save Your Life all I wanted to take care of Elise. Elise had experienced a torrid time at school and through no fault of her own. She tried to do as much as she could to fit in, until it all became too much. Elise was an intelligent girl but lacked so much confidence because of the constant taunting she had to deal with. So I’m glad that by accident a chance came her way which allowed her to shine. It did take some time for Elise to finally realise her full potential, there were a lot of hurdles which got in her way, but I’m glad when she needed the support her true friends came through.

It took Elise a while to get comfortable with who she was, she had friends but they weren’t friends just people she hung around with. I did appreciate the people she did come in Elise’s life such as Vicky and Harry and even Char who accepted Elise for who she was and didn’t make instant judgements about her. The kids at school just believed what they were told, but with the people at Start Elise had the chance to actually have her own new fresh start. In This Song Will Save Your Life, it was a huge learning and growing process for Elise, like I said before there were a lot of stumbling blocks along the way, but a lot of them I came to realise were there so that Elise could learn from them.

This Song Will Save Your Life was a fun read, it was such a different book to what I was expecting, it was a raw honest story of a girl that I’m sure many individuals out there could relate to with her situation. Sales once again weaved a story which had me up reading until the early hours. I truly appreciated the heartbreaking story she decided to treat us to. I liked how she showed that despite loads of things getting in the way you should never give up, Elise continued to battle through things and I admired the character which emerged in the end and that she could show so many people out there that anything was possible. 

Review & Giveaway: The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stifvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication date: September 17th 2013
My rating: 4.5 stars 

The second installment in the all-new series from the masterful, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after...

My Thoughts:

I loved The Raven Boys with its intricate plot, many characters, and beautiful writing.  The Dream Thieves is all of that and more.  It takes the story up a few notches in just about every way.

There are a few plot threads happening at the same time and I won’t go into detail on any one of them, but the gist of the main ones are: Ronan and his ability to take things out of dreams, the Gray May and his pursuit of the Graywaren, and the continuing search for Glendower.

Ronan, his power and family history play a major role in the story and I was excited to have the mystery behind his family and situation revealed.  However, I still feel a disconnect with Ronan and at this point he is still a lesser character to me. 

I feel the story focused more on Gansey, Blue and Adam, which was fine with me.  Actually, I’d be fine if it centered mostly on Gansey and Blue because Adam has become a bit of a thorn in my side. His pride, anger and bitterness just started to tick me off after a while. There’s always a chip on his shoulder and I just don’t understand why he couldn’t accept some help from his friends. That what friends do for each other, they help!

Gansey and Blue are the two characters that I’m most invested in, and THEIR story comes a long way.  The romance is a subtle, yet constant component of the plot, and I gloried in every small bit!! I was picking apart and holding onto every glance, sentence, and interaction!  Two complications loom over their romance.  First, the psychic prediction that Blue’s kiss will kill her true love and then the fact that Gansey appeared on the corpse road when Blue first spied him, and that most of the time means death within the year.  And yet, I can’t help but root for them every step of the way!  There must be a way around these complications!

I loved the sequel in the Raven Cycle, it surpassed my expectations!  Maggie’s writing has a way of breathing life into every character, and making them come alive!  The secondary characters were a treat because they were made interesting, real and very entertaining!  Blue’s psychic family is a crack up at every turn!  Even Chainsaw, the dream raven, was enchanting and I loved every scene she was a part of. 

If you were a fan of the first book, The Dream Thieves is a must read!  It's one to savor and spend time with.  Now the only problem is the wait I have for the next book!  

As a show of appreciation for our lovely readers I’m giving away my ARC copy of The Dream Thieves.  The giveaway is INTERNATIONAL, simply fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win.  Good luck and thanks for visiting The Readers Den.

A Kid's Perspective: Judging a book by its cover #4

A Kid's Perspective: Judging a Book By Its Cover is a feature hosted by Sara @ Forever 17 Books
where Sara gets her six year old son Shawn's perspective on a few Young Adult covers.

Hello everyone, my sister is back with another perspective and interpretation of a YA book for you guys. This week my sister chose:

I think the book The Off Season is about a girl whose house caught on fire and the only thing she has left is the boots on the cover.

Well this interpretation was definitely not what I was expecting. My sister actually had two interpretations of this book at first, her other one was that this girl gets sent back to her old country and they wear weird things such as cow wellington boots! I don't think I could choose between these interpretations, which do you think fits the cover more?

Review: Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson #2) by Patricia Briggs

Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson #2) by Patricia Briggs
Narrated by Lorelei King
Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks
Publication date: October 1st 2009
My rating: 4.5 stars 

Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places - and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind. But this new vampire is hardly ordinary - and neither is the demon inside of him.

My Thoughts:

Blood Bound, the second installment in the Mercy Thompson series has me officially addicted! 

This begins as Mercy’s friend, Stefan the vampire, calls in a favor owed.  Little does she know that repayment puts her and the pack in grave danger, not something Stephan intended, either. What they stumble upon is a powerful threat that Mercy can’t let stand and before you know it, she’s waist high in dangerous vampire politics.  Trying to distinguish the truth from subterfuge is difficult and vital if Mercy plans on staying alive. 

Like most UF’s I’ve picked up, Mercy Thompson has a new mystery/problem to overcome with each book and also a continuing story arc that progresses, bit by bit in each installment.  The new mystery is the vampire/sorcerer-crazy with massive amounts of power and wicked intent.  There were parts of this story that genuinely made heart race from fear!  Vampires are scary (and not sparkly), especially in the end!

I love Mercedes Thompson!  She’s intelligent, a master of reading complicated situations and handling them with care.  She reads between the lines and looks beyond the obvious, making her a force to be reckoned with. 

The continuing arc is the romance, and it’s the part I love best!  There is sort of a love triangle with Adam and Samuel in the mix, but not in an irritating way. Samuel has decided to stay in Washington, more specifically, with Mercy, when she’s made it clear she’s not interested. Samuel makes it clear he is.  He was her first love but finding out exactly why he was interested her sent her running years ago. Mercy could bear his children, ones that would have the potential to be born werewolves, and therefore Samuel would have children he wouldn’t outlive.  Finding out this was more a motivator than love broke Mercy’s heart at sixteen.  Now that Mercy looks back, though, she doesn’t regret the situation, because she realizes now that Samuel, as dominant as he is, would’ve wrapped her up in a protective cocoon and stifled her independent spirit.

Adam, the Alpha of the pack is domineering but still respects and appreciates Mercy for who she is rather than what she can do. He’s attracted to Mercy the woman, and isn’t looking for a pack brood mare.  Mercy knew that Adam claimed her as his mate but thinks this was in name only, just for protection. A lone “walker” coyote like Mercy without protection would be a target for the wolves and probably wouldn’t last long.  A few things happen that make it apparent that Adam’s “claim” has more power and sincerity behind it. This puts Mercy in a bind with Samuel back.  Poor Mercy, *not* with two handsome, possessive, alpha males after her! 

This was an exciting, and sometimes frightening read. Parts at the end gave me chills and goose bumps! I tried to force myself to put it aside just for my commutes.  Something I wasn’t at all successful at! I’ve just finished book three: Iron Kissed, and I have to say the series just gets better!

 

I loved Lorelei King as the narrator.  She has a warm, rich voice with a slightly sarcastic and humorous tone that I find perfect for Mercy. Her male voices are also quite good, as well, and the story flowed seamlessly because of it.  I highly recommend the audio version! 

Review: The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard

The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard
Publisher: Speak
Publication date: December 23rd 2012.
My rating: 2 stars

Colt and Julia were secretly together for a year, and no one ever knew, not even Julia's boyfriend. Why would they-they were from two different crowds. Julia lived in her country club world and Colt . . . didn't. Then Julia dies in a car accident. Colt is devastated but can't mourn openly, and he's tormented that he may have played a part in her death. And when Julia's journal ends up in his hands, he is forced to relive their year together-just when he is trying to forget. The problem is, how do you get over someone who was never really yours to begin with?

The Secret Year was a book that had been on my wish list for quite some time so when a friend gave me her book to borrow I was quite ecstatic. But what happened is what’s happening to me with a lot of books lately, I have really high expectations set, once I read the blurb I get really excited thinking this is a totally me book, it’s a book I keep thinking of buying but put off, a lot of my friends had really enjoyed the book so that sets the bar even higher. But once reading The Secret Year all my hopes were dashed, oh why book why did you have to let me down?

The Secret Year was told from Colt’s perspective (yes I was actually jumping up for joy, a male pov throughout the whole book; I hadn’t read one in so long and I was hoping it would be achy and intense like Adam’s pov in Where She Went). Colt and Julia had been secretly seeing each other for the last year; they had kept it a secret because Julia and Colt were from completely different backgrounds, backgrounds of people who didn’t really get along. Julia was from a privileged background; she lived in a huge house in black mountain neighbourhood and hung out with the popular rich kids at school. Whereas Colt was from the rundown neighbourhood in the flats. Julia and Colt ended up together one day after a chance meeting and ever since haven’t been able to stay away from each other. But to not draw attention to themselves at school they act like they don’t know one another. The only chance they get to meet is on Fridays, everything is like a huge build-up until that day. That day where they can stop pretending and just be together, where they belong, without people gawking at them like Julia’s boyfriend Austin. But then suddenly everything is just taken away in the blink of an eye, Julia’s pronounced dead after a car accident, as their relationship was a secret between two of them Colt can’t even say a proper goodbye at her funeral, mourn her properly or even tell anyone about it, it’s eating him up inside. When his friends bring her up, he has to remain closed off, show no emotion, even though he’s aching and raw with the hurt. But then Julia’s brother Michael hands him a diary, it’s full with lots of entries that Julia had written to him over the course of their relationship. Can Colt cope with her diary? Can he bring himself to read the entries, and finally bring closure to a secret year that was the most intense of his life?

I’m usually one to stay well away from emotional books, I just can’t cope, afterwards I’m always a snotty mess with puffy eyes, so I was expecting The Secret Year to be a huge emotional rollercoaster.  To be honest I did not shed a single tear. Julia’s diary entries were at times heart wrenching and torturous to read, but this book didn’t really move me in the slightest. I expected to feel some sort of emotion but I didn’t.

I found some of the characters especially Colt lacked depth; he kept on flitting from one person to the other. The blurb strongly gave me the impression that it would be solely based on their secret relationship, but by the middle of the story it kind of fizzled out and the story went down a completely different tangent. One I really didn’t like or could particularly care less about. As the story progressed I found myself further and further drawn away from Colt. The second half of the book really was pointless and just exuded a lot of sighing and eye rolling.

Even though it pains me to say The Secret Year was a bitter disappointment; I guess I went into it thinking it would evoke some sort of emotions in me, but throughout the book I didn’t feel emotionally involved with the book or any of the characters. This book didn’t even produce the urge of a sniffle. I kept hoping the book would give me something? Anything. The lesson I’ve learnt from reading this book is don’t set my hopes too high because when they’re shattered into a million pieces, all I’m left with is a huge feeling of disappointment and utter annoyance afterwards.