Best books of 2011

2011 Best Books 

(In no particular order)

1. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

2. Die for me by Amy Plum

3. Fateful by Claudia Gray

4. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

5. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

6. City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

7. Passion by Lauren Kate

8. The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

9. Delirium by Lauren Oliver

10. Lengend by Marie Lu

11. Divergent by Veronia Roth

12. Wither by Lauren DeStefano

{Review}: Demon Lover by Juliet Dark

Title: Demon Lover (Fairwick Chronicles, #1)
Author: Juliet Dark Website
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher:  Random House Publishing Group  (Dec 26, 2011)
Paperback: 416 pages
ISBN:   9780345510082 
Source: NetGalley*
Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

Description from GoodReads:

I gasped . . . or tried to. My mouth opened, but I couldn’t draw breath. . . . His lips, pearly wet, parted and he blew into my mouth. My lungs expanded beneath his weight. When I exhaled he sucked in my breath and his weight turned from cold marble into warm living flesh. Since accepting a teaching position at remote Fairwick College in upstate New York, Callie McFay has experienced the same disturbingly erotic dream every night: A mist enters her bedroom, then takes the shape of a virile, seductive stranger who proceeds to ravish her in the most toe-curling, wholly satisfying ways possible. Perhaps these dreams are the result of writing her bestselling book, The Sex Lives of Demon Lovers. After all, Callie’s lifelong passion is the intersection of lurid fairy tales and Gothic literature—which is why she finds herself at Fairwick’s renowned folklore department, living in a once-stately Victorian house that, at first sight, seemed to call her name.
But Callie soon realizes that her dreams are alarmingly real. She has a demon lover—an incubus—and he will seduce her, pleasure her, and eventually suck the very life from her. Then Callie makes another startling discovery: He’s not the only mythical creature in Fairwick. As the tenured witches of the college and the resident fairies in the surrounding woods prepare to cast out the incubus, Callie must accomplish something infinitely more difficult—banishing this demon lover from her heart.

My Review:
I have no idea why but when i started reading this book i thought it was a YA paranormal romance. Maybe it was the beautiful cover or me just totally ignoring the word erotic in the blurb. Either way it is not a young adult book but a romance novel with Gothic undertones. 


Demon lover began magically, I felt like I was reading one of my favorite Gothic novel. The mood, the amazing Honeysuckle house in the woods, the town and all its secrets, created the perfect environment for this story. The world Juliet Dark created captured your attention from the beginning.


My problem was with the characters and mostly just Callie. I understand that it might be difficult for a rational person to accept that a shadow man really does appear and make love to her but it just takes her too long to figure things out. Then when it comes to making decisions on how to act she does them too quickly with out too much thinking. I guess me being bothered by the action of one character means that the author did a good job at getting me engulfed in the story where I care about the outcome but I might have enjoyed it more if I was not yelling at her in mind constantly.


The ending was not my favorite and it got a bit annoying because of her actions but I will definitely give this series another chance and hopefully Callie learns from her mistakes and makes better decisions in the next book of this magical series.


The folklore of Fairwick was one of the elements that make this a great story. Yes, the whole incubus trying to suck the life out of Callie was interesting but there is more mystery surrounding the characters that I cannot wait to discover.


Demon Lover is a great read if you enjoy paranormal romance and references to other great books.


*Thanks Random House Publishing Group (Ballantine Books) and Netgalley for giving me the chance to read The Demon Lover prior to its release in exchange for an honest review.

Cover Reveal: Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt

Will you look at this beautiful cover! 

They say not to judge a book by its cover but I can't help and get excited about this one.

Title: Chosen Ones (The Lost Souls,#1)

Author: Tiffany Truitt Website | Twitter

Expected Publication: April 2012

Description from Publisher:

What if you were mankind’s last chance at survival?            

Sixteen-year-old Tess lives in a compound in what was once the Western United States, now decimated after a devastating fourth World War. But long before that, life as we knew it had been irrevocably changed, as women mysteriously lost the ability to bring forth life. Faced with the extinction of the human race, the government began the Council of Creators, meant to search out alternative methods of creating life. The resulting artificial human beings, or Chosen Ones, were extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly.
             Life is bleak, but uncomplicated for Tess as she follows the rigid rules of her dystopian society, until the day she begins work at Templeton, the training facility for newly created Chosen Ones. There, she meets James, a Chosen One whose odd love of music and reading rivals only her own. The attraction between the two is immediate in its intensity—and overwhelming in its danger.
             But there is more to the goings-on at Templeton than Tess ever knew, and as the veil is lifted from her eyes, she uncovers a dark underground movement bent not on taking down the Chosen Ones, but the Council itself. Will Tess be able to stand up to those who would oppress her, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life?

What do you think?

The winner is...

The winner of the 300 follower giveaway is 

Valerie @ Stuck In Books

In thanks for all of your wonderful support and helping me reach 400 followers. 

I added another winner!

Ren @ All by my SHELF

Don't forget to enter the Switched by Amanda Hocking giveaway!

Giveaway: Switched by Amanda Hocking

Title: Switched (a TRYLLE novel)
Author: Amanda Hocking Website | Twitter
Genre: Paranormal YA Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Publisher 
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Paperback: 228 pages
ISBN:  9781250006318

Description from GoodReads:

When Wendy Everly was six-years-old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be a part of it.

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for providing a signed copy for this giveaway!
This contest is being administered with the Rafflecopter entry form. 

• When it asks for email address, this is NOT viewable by the public. Only I can see it and this is how I will be contacting you if you win, so put the correct one!
• If you are confused on how to use the Rafflecopter entry form, watch this! 

Official Contest information:

• To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter entry form
• Entrants must be 13 years of age or older
• The winner will be announced on this blog post at the end of the contest
• The winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to reply or a new winner will be chosen. 

To enter click "Read more" and fill out the Rafflecopter entry form.

{Review}: Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Title: Every Other Day
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes Website | Twitter
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publisher: Egmont USA (Dec 27, 2011)
Hardcover: 336 pages
ISBN: 9781606841693
Source: NetGalley*
Pre-Order: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

Description from GoodReads:

Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human.
And then every day in between . . . She's something else entirely.
Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea whyshe is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.
When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death byone of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she'll have to do it as a human. With the helpof a few new friends.

My Review:

Follow Friday #25

Follow Friday! Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. 

It's a great way to meet new blogger friends!

This week's featured blogs are Lauren Gets Literal and Fic Book Reviews.

Q: What is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to books? Maybe you don’t like love triangles or thin plots? Tell us about it!

A: My biggest pet peeve is making books into a series when the story is not elaborate enough to deserve one. I am tired of being unable to read a book and finish a story. It appears that lately I have to wait a year for the next installment in the series of all most every book to see how it ends. There are many series that I really enjoy and wish they would never end. Then there are a those that I just simply do not understand why I need to wait three books to have the ending that was obvious in book one. 

Don't forget to check out my 300 follower giveaway!

What is your biggest book pet peeve? 

Leave me a link so I can check it out.

{Review): Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon

Title: Cinder and Ella
Author: Melissa Lemon Website | Twitter
Genre: YA Fairy Tale Retelling
Publisher: Bonneville Books (November, 2011) 
Hardcover: 208 pages
ISBN: 9781599559063
Source: NetGalley*
Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

Description from GoodReads:

After her father's disappearance, Cinder leaves home for a servant job at the castle. But it isn't long before her sister Ella is brought to the castle herself. What Ella finds there starts a quest that will change her life and the entire kingdom. Cinder and Ella is a Cinderella story like no other, and one you'll never forget.

My Review:

Let's talk about: December Releases

Contemporary Young Adult
Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay  December 27th 2011 by HarperCollins Children's Books
The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder  December 8th 2011 by Razorbill

Paranormal Young Adult

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare December 6th 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

Eternal Starling by Angela Corbett  December 6th 2011 by Pendrell Publishing

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey  December 8th 2011 by Philomel/Penguin

Every Other day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes  December 27th 2011 by EgmontUSA

On a dark wing by Jordan Dane December 27th 2011 by Harlequin Teen

Existence by Abbi Glines   December 13th 2011 by Wild Child Publishing 

Still Waters by Emma Carlson Berne December 20th 2011 by Simon Pulse

Legacy by Molly Cochran December 20th 2011 by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books

Sci-fi Young Adult
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout  December 6th 2011 by Entangled Publishing






Paranormal Romance
The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark December 27th 2011 by Random House Publishing Group
Shaedes of Gray by Amanda Bonilla December 6th 2011 by Signet

Let's talk about: The Hunger Games Movie Trailer

We are getting closer! I am super excited about The Hunger Games movie trailer. When the casting was first done I was not sure about it but I was wrong. Katniss and Peeta look amazing. 

From what I saw it appears that they are going to stay close to the book. If you have not read this series you really should. 

Come on March 2012 hurry up! 

What do you think? 

{Review}: Overbite by Meg Cabot

Title: Overbite
Author: Meg Cabot Website | Twitter
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Harper Collins
Hardcover: 278 pages
ISBN: 9780061735103
Source: Library
Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

Description from GoodReads:

Meena Harper has a special gift, but it's only now that anyone's ever appreciated it. The Palatine Guard — a powerful secret demon-hunting unit of the Vatican — has hired her to work at their new branch in Lower Manhattan. With Meena's ability to predict how everyone she meets will die, the Palatine finally has a chance against the undead. 
Sure, her ex-boyfriend was Lucien Antonescu, son of Dracula, the prince of darkness. But that was before he (and their relationship) went up in flames. Now Meena's sworn off vampires for good ... at least until she can prove her theory that just because they've lost their souls doesn't mean demons have lost the ability to love. 
Meena knows convincing her co-workers — including her partner, über-demon-hunter Alaric Wulf — that vampires can be redeemed won't be easy ... especially when a deadly new threat seems to be endangering not just lives of the Palatine, but Meena's friends and family as well. 
But Meena isn't the Palatine's only hope. Father Henrique — aka Padre Caliente — New York City's youngest, most charming priest, has also been assigned to the case. 
So why doesn't Meena — or Alaric — trust him? 
As she begins unraveling the truth, Meena finds her loyalties tested, her true feelings laid bare ... and temptations she never even imagined existed, but finds impossible to resist. 
This time, Meena may finally have bitten off more than she can chew.

My Review:
Let me begin by saying that I love Meg Cabot's books and really enjoyed Insatiable. I just have no idea what happened with Overbite.


*Contains Spoilers for Insatiable*


Overbite begins where Insatiable left off. Meena is now working for the Palatine. She is still set on staying away from vampires, especially one handsome/ son of Dracula / Prince of Darkness, Lucien. It might not be so simple to stay away from him. When an old boyfriend reappears and wants more than to see how she is doing she is once again in the middle of a mystery and forced to bring Lucien back into her life.


Overbite is missing the passion and romance of Insatiable. I was expecting the romance and fun narration of Insatiable and I just did not get it in Overbite.


*Overbite Spoilers*


I see that Meg chose the healthy choice for Meena but I just did not see the romance between Alaric and Meena. The plot was also not very interesting. It was nice to see more of Lucien's past. I just don't understand the point if it ended the way it did. 


Recommended if you want to read a book about a girl who chooses to listen to her head and not her heart.


Book Trailer:

In My Mailbox (14)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme, hosted by The Story Siren, held usually on Sundays that encourages bloggers to share what they bought, borrowed, received or won this week.

WON

Title: Brightest Kind Of Darkness

Author: P.T. Michelle

Genre: YA Paranormal

Source: A Cupcake and a Latte Giveaway

ASIN: B0058J4KSQ

Available on: Amazon

Description from GoodReads:

Nara Collins is an average sixteen-year-old, with one exception: every night she dreams the events of the following day. Due to an incident in her past, Nara avoids using her special gift to change fate…until she dreams a future she can’t ignore.
After Nara prevents a bombing at Blue Ridge High, her ability to see the future starts to fade, while people at school are suddenly being injured at an unusually high rate. Grappling with her diminishing powers and the need to prevent another disaster, Nara meets Ethan Harris, a mysterious loner who seems to understand her better than anyone. Ethan and Nara forge an irresistible connection, but as their relationship heats up, so do her questions about his dark past.

Received for Review

Title: Everneath

Author: Brodi Ashton

Genre: YA Fiction/Mythology

Source: NetGalley

ISBN: 9780062071132

Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

Description from GoodReads:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever. 
She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists. 
Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen. 
As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

Title: Hallowed

Author: Cynthia Hand

Genre: YA Fiction/Paranormal

Source: NetGalley

ISBN: 9780061996184

Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

Description from GoodReads:

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought. Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning. 

Title: Under the Never Sky

Author: Veronica Rossi

Genre: YA Fiction/Paranormal

Source: NetGalley

ISBN: 9780062072030

Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

Description from GoodReads:

Aria is a teenager in the enclosed city of Reverie. Like all Dwellers, she spends her time with friends in virtual environments, called Realms, accessed through an eyepiece called a Smarteye. Aria enjoys the Realms and the easy life in Reverie. When she is forced out of the pod for a crime she did not commit, she believes her death is imminent. The outside world is known as The Death Shop, with danger in every direction. 
As an Outsider, Perry has always known hunger, vicious predators, and violent energy storms from the swirling electrified atmosphere called the Aether. A bit of an outcast even among his hunting tribe, Perry withstands these daily tests with his exceptional abilities, as he is gifted with powerful senses that enable him to scent danger, food and even human emotions. 
They come together reluctantly, for Aria must depend on Perry, whom she considers a barbarian, to help her get back to Reverie, while Perry needs Aria to help unravel the mystery of his beloved nephew’s abduction by the Dwellers. Together they embark on a journey challenged as much by their prejudices as by encounters with cannibals and wolves. But to their surprise, Aria and Perry forge an unlikely love - one that will forever change the fate of all who live UNDER THE NEVER SKY.

Borrowed

Title: Die For Me

Author: Amy Plum

Genre: YA Fiction/Paranormal

Source: Library

ISBN: 9780062004017

Available on: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | TheBookDepository

Description 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 orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.
Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.
Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.
While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love?

What's in your Mailbox?

Follow Friday #25

Follow Friday! Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. 

It's a great way to meet new blogger friends!

This week's featured blogs are MotherLode and The Book Nympho.

Question: In light of 11.11.11 and Veteran's Day tell us about your favorite solider and how he or she is saving the world. Fictional or real life.

Answer: My brother-in-law. He is currently deployed in Afghanistan. 

Please leave a link so I can follow back! 


Don't forget to enter my 300 Follower Giveaway!