Friday, 8 November 2013

Review: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

                                                        Summary from Goodreads:


What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...

Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.


The cover of this book made me wary as I've found that some books that have awsome covers don't live up to what I tend to expect from them. Oh but this one certainly did!

I began this book wearily, not knowing what to expect but immediately I was sucked into the story of why the characters were where they found themselves. I'm a huge fan of people going into space so this book was right up my street!

I have this tendancy of deciding on wether or not I will enjoy a book or even if I will keep reading it! If you're not a big fan of slow beginnings you have no need to worry while reading this, the action begins very quickly and it gets addictive after that. I stayed up until 3.35 reading it and no matter how hard I tried to stop I just couldn't! I was hooked!

I love Waverly so much. I couldn't get over how brave she was throughout some terrible incidents that would cripple lots of others with fear. She develops beautifully as a character. She started out as a strong character and ended as a hm what word could we use? Well just imagibe something really strong and you have Waverlys character. Amy Kathleen Ryan wrote Waverley in an amazing way that made her relatable and you really connected with her. She is protecive and is wiser than most fifteen year old girls. I suppose living on the Empyrean would do that to you. There seems to be a lot of focuse on the fact that girls seem to be expected to have loads of children early on. It would be difficult to deal with such pressure but somehow she manages it.

Kierans determination really surprised me, most of the characters gave up after a certain incident happened, yet he always had his eye on the goal. He clearly loves Waverly and that makes me love him. He doesn't care what anyone thinks of him as long as he has Waverly. I was shocked by the things that he had to suffer and was more than happy when he got better. I couldn't believe how much he changed thoughout the book (I don't think it was a good kind of change either). 

Seth. Ugh, I hate Seth. He's one of those characters that remind you of someone you know. Lets face it we know at least one person like him, maybe not as extreme as he is but the have many of the traits that Seth has. At the beginning I thought that Seth would be nice, oh how I was wrong. I shall leave it there with Seth so as not to ruin the book.

The events that unfolded in the book were written in such a way that made my heart beat and made me look around my room just to be sure. I love books that do that! Its always enjoyable to read events like that in books even if you get slightly freaked out. I can not get over the little twist at the end! I mean talk about a cliffhanger. It left me turning the next page and going "NO! You can't end it yet!".

Trust me that reading this book will not be a waste of your time!

Tuesday, 5 November 2013

I met Veronica Roth


So on Sunday 3rd November my sister and I travelled to Dublin to meet Veronica Roth. I can't even begin to describe my excitement. Dublin is my favourite city and Veronica is one of my favourite authors.

The event was in Easons (an Irish bookshop) on O'Connell street. We went in, got our tickets an were sent downstairs. When we got down there were some staff that took out tickets and then asked us what faction we are. I said Dauntless and they gave us a rubber bracelet and a badge with the faction symbol on it. We also got a bag with different items in it such as an Allegiant bookmark and postcard as well as a catching fire poster. We were pointed in the direction of the Dauntless faction. We were standing while everyone else sat on the ground.

Then another staff member came up to us and asked if we wanted to move over to Amity as there were good seats. We said sure and then he got us a bad and bracelet for Amity. I thought he would take the Dauntless stuff back but he said we could keep them because he didn't want us to have to leave Dauntless fully.

After 3 Veronica came down the stairs and everyone started freaking out. The organiser of the event went up and was talking and saying how he was calm until we started freaking out. 

Then Veronica came up and read for us. She read the moment when Tris jumps, from Divergent but it was from Four's POV. Then we had a Q&A session and my question was the last question that she answered.

And then it was time for the signing!!!!!!! When I got up Veronica smiled at me and asked me how I was. I could barely talk and I was completely starstruck!! She was so lovely and then I told her how I had written reviews on my blog for her books giving them 5* and she seemed so happy!

She was such a lovely person and It was the best day EVER!!!!


Sunday, 25 August 2013

I apologise.

It would seem that I have been severely neglecting this blog and I do apologise. Honestly, I haven't been doing much reading lately as I have been slightly addicted to a number of t.v shows. (I blame Moffat!)

I hope to be able to get back to the blogging world soon but I'm not sure yet if I will.

I thank you for your patience and thank you for staying with this blog.

~Leona

Thursday, 8 August 2013

Blog Tour and Review: Dead and Missing by Chris Myers





About the Author:

Chris Myers suffers from an overactive imagination. She spent her high school years writing torch songs for fantasy guys then moved onto writing thrillers and young adult. She has a real job but would love to write full time. Her books have won and placed in the finals and semifinals for several awards including Paul Gillette, Rocky Mountain Gold, and Amazon Breakthrough Novel. Chris lives in Colorado with her daughter, her better half, and BeBe, a rambunctious Bichon.







Book Description for Date With the Dead (Book, #1):
Sixteen-year-old Jolie Livingston’s closest and only friend Drew is this really hot dead guy, and it bites that the self-absorbed princesses at school cannot even see him. That’s right she can communicate with the dead. It’s the living she has trouble with. She and her mom inherited this awesome crib in Plymouth, MA. It’s quite a step-up from the homeless shelter in New Orleans, but there’s a catch. They can’t afford the past due mortgage, so Jolie’s working on that. She starts a ghost hunting business called Ripsters. Somehow she’s managed to recruit Brittany, a glamour SAP smothered in pink, and a techie allergic to ghosts. Brit actually thinks he resembles the R&B singer Chris Brown. All that pink has clouded her vision. They both have special talents Jolie’s hoping will be useful to their venture. Right now, they’re working for a family in need of major therapy due to a dead guy with a hole in his head
This was a wonderful book! It was very well written and the characters are great as well as the storyline. I loved the whole my best friend is a dead hot ghost and how they relied on each other for a lot of things (even though he was a ghost). I really enjoyed the exchanges between the characters. It was so believable and fun. This is definitely one thing that draws me into a book and this book has quite a bit. I suggest this book to anyone really. It's an all around GREAT book! Looking forward to the next one, even though I'm not sure I like how the person telling the story will change.... I hope it doesn't disappoint because this one sure didn't.

Jolie was a fun girl. I liked her from the beginning because even after the hardships she had been through, she was still strong. Her willingness to help people was heart-warming. I didn't get bored even once while reading this novel mainly because Jolie's POV kept it interesting through and through!






Book Description Dead and Missing (Book #2): 
Sixteen-year-old Brittany Howland only knows one other girl, Jolie Livingston, who can communicate with the dead like herself. When Brittany takes Jolie’s haunt fishing to get him outof Jolie’s hair, he mysteriously disappears. Brittany isn’t sure how she’ll tell Jolie she lost her stupid ghost. Jolie thinks her dead best friend Drew has finally crossed over, but Brittany knows better. Just before Drew went missing, he revealed why he hasn’t hitchhiked to the afterlife, a secret Brittany swore she’d take to the grave.


I was worried that this book wouldn't be as good as the first one. However, not only was it as good but it was better.Ms. Myers has the talent to mix serious subject matter – even serious narration – with heavy doses of humor, which means the rather heavy topic of death can be told in a way that isn't oppressive at all. Her characters are alive. Especially the dead ones. You care about them, and they seem like real people, never caricatures.
Every character was addictive and I just had to keep reading to know more. It was highly addictive and I couldn't get enough. I am so glad that I got to read this book and I loved them.


 
Follow the blog tour by going here!