Blog Tour: Scarlet Woods by Brooke Passmore.

Synopsis: Past, future, and love all exist in the door through time.
Modern and independent seventeen year old Morgan Westbrook thought she had seen all there was to her home town of Scarlet, Georgia, but one day while walking in the woods behind her house she discovers a mysterious door masked behind the trees. After admiring the door’s timeless beauty she walks through its entrance to venture into more woods, but what she doesn’t know is that the door is a gateway through time that takes her back to the year 1863 during the days of the Civil War in Scarlet.
Without knowing that she had traveled back in time, she stumbles upon Danny Carson, an attractive young man who is appalled to see that Morgan is wearing skimpy modern clothes instead of a nineteenth century dress. Although they find each other completely different than anyone they’ve ever known, they cannot help but feel drawn to one another. After spending time in another century, she discovers that she's time traveled back to the year 1863 and that the door took her there. For months she and Danny journey back and forth through the door to experience the joys of traveling to both of their centuries. When dilemmas of unwanted marriage, slavery, and war are thrown at them, they must face the perils that time travel has delivered them in both the future and the past.

My review can be found here: http://bookaholic-ness.blogspot.com/2012/12/book-review-scarlet-woods-by-brooke.html

LINKS: 
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Scarlet-Woods-The-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00AKC0LYS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355490035&sr=8-1&keywords=scarlet+woods

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scarlet-woods-brooke-passmore/1113924312?ean=2940015717860

Author Blog: brookepassmore.blogspot.com

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Yeah. You guys should definitely check this out! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Book Review: Witch and Wizard by James Patterson.

 Witch and Wizard by James Patterson.
Book Summary: The world is changing: the government has seized control of every aspect of society, and now, kids are disappearing. For 15-year-old Wisty and her older brother Whit, life turns upside down when they are torn from their parents one night and slammed into a secret prison for no reason they can comprehend. The New Order, as it is known, is clearly trying to suppress Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Being a Normal Teenager. But while trapped in this totalitarian nightmare, Wisty and Whit discover they have incredible powers they'd never dreamed of. Can this newly minted witch and wizard master their skills in time to save themselves, their parents--and maybe the world?

Liana's Summary: When Whit and Wisty are woken up in the middle of the night by some really loud noise, they don't know what to expect. Anything but a bunch of men coming in and accusing them of witchcraft and wizardry, anyways. But that's what happens. And they get captured, put in prison, and sentenced to death. Their parents are missing. What can they do? All they know is that they have to use every single ounce of their strength to fight against the New Order.

Rate(1-10): 8

I learned one thing from this book: Do not trust other people's opinions about books you haven't read yet.

Yeah. My sister said she didn't like this book, so, therefore, I was so discouraged from picking it up. I have to say that it was actually pretty good!

My friend enthusiastically recommended me this book and I was so sure I wanted to read it, but as my TBR list grew, I let my sister read it first to see what she thought, and her reaction was sort of disappointing.
Right after my friend recommended this to me, this book immediately fell into the category of I-don't-care-what-the-cover-is-I'm-gonna-read-it-anyways. When I examine the cover I find that it actually makes sense somehow! Cool, right. No wait. Hot.

I don't know what my motivation was that finally urged me to see this book and open it and start reading it today, but, I do not regret it at all.

So, basically, let's dive right into the story.

The title sort of speaks for the whole book. Witch and Wizard.

Two teens, accused of being witch and wizard, imprisoned, separated from their parents.

Whit and Wisty. Really interesting names.

Whit- He was described in the book as 'the hunk of all hunks' and I was all like what the heck, that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Mostly because he isn't even that hot at all. Because:
1. He weighs about 200 pounds. I don't care if he has muscles.
2. He's dumb in school.
3. He's a klutz.
But no matter about his appearance. I just wanted to point out that I had a really hard time imagining him, since he was supposed to be hot, but his description wasn't exactly my definition of a hunk.. etc.
Anyways, his personality. He's really responsible and he knows what to do. But what else could I expect from an 18 year old? He sort of seemed like a 15 year old, actually. I don't know. But I like him!

Wisty- She seems like one of those badass girls. She's really feisty. I saw a lot of myself in her, LOL. She's just actually a more-feisty version of me, which, I admit, is sort of hard to imagine. But what I like about her and what makes her and I so alike is that she's stubborn and insistent, and she will do anything she feels like she has to do and nothing can get in her way. She has a straight line of sight. I'm gonna get this done first, and then care about that. Sorry, but my priorities are more important than yours. I don't cry when I'm sad, I cry when I'm frustrated. Etc etc. She's a really strong protagonist!

Note about the romance: The romance is just "I love you, please love me back," hugs and kisses and etcetera. Honestly I could have done fine without it. I seriously expected no romance from this book, and I kind of considered it as an extra side-dish.

The plot was exciting and kept the readers at the edge of their seats, and Whit and Wisty are really good narrators and all, but I sort of thought the writing was a bit childish. I don't know. It seemed as if a 10 year old wrote this whole story. James Patterson did the teenage kid stereotype thing really badly and I wasn't satisfied at how he did it. All he did was write his story and throw in a few vocabulary words once in a while to make the writing seem more.. mature? He didn't really pour emotion into the writing, so, when you're reading it, it's mostly just flat. But Whit and Wisty's attitude sort of gives it buoyancy, so, some readers might not notice.

There are a plenty handful of negative reviews on Goodreads that say "The next Harry Potter, pshhhh, not even close." Apparently the book trailer said 'The next Harry Potter" or something like that and everyone got disappointed.

Not to be hypocritical or anything, but, whenever people compare something to Harry Potter I'm just like, heck no. I mean, nothing's going to replace Harry Potter. And looking at the high ratings and all the magical adventures people went through reading Harry Potter, nothing's gonna be the same as that.

So I think that comparing this book with Harry Potter was a huge mistake, because when people read this book, they expected so much out of it and their hopes got crushed so badly because it didn't meet up to their expectations.

And, personally, no. I don't think this is like Harry Potter at all. Waving a wand and having some wizard/witch powers isn't going to turn this book into the next Harry Potter, and that's all.

But, overall, this book was actually quite an enjoyable read. Some parts made me laugh. I liked it well enough to want to read book 2.

Quotes!

"I see my brother, Whit, handsome and brave.."

Who describes their own brother as handsome.

"You're a beautiful boy, I must say, Whitford."

OKAY THAT'S JUST AWKWARD NOW

"He gently kissed the top of my head."

I think that this is a really fit situation to be scared, but siblings don't act as parents to each other especially when they're only 3 years apart. That includes kissing.

"Suddenly I felt weak in the knees, numb-paralyzed.."

Now I wonder. So if the antagonist is capturing people because they're using magic, what gives him the right to use magic on people?

"Witcheria,.."

Ha. Good one.

"No. You can't come. I hate your guts."




"You may eat him."


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That's it! What did you think of this review? (;

Book Review: The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda.

 The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda.
Book Summary: Don’t Sweat.  Don’t Laugh.  Don’t draw attention to yourself.  And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.

Gene is different from everyone else around him.  He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood.  Gene is a human, and he knows the rules.  Keep the truth a secret.  It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him.  He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

Liana's Summary: Gene's always been told by his father to not bring extra attention to himself. Or he will be dead. He will be torn to pieces and devoured. The best solution is to just pretend to be one of them. One of the bloodsuckers. But, if he lets any of them find out in any abmormal heperly way, he's dead for sure. When he's chosen to be part of The Hunt, his secret is in even more danger of being uncovered. And there's the girl. She has a secret as well. But, what is it? Is it going to be a good thing? Or a bad one?

Rate(1-10): 10

When I first picked this book up, I was like, "Oh snap, this book looks pretty good. I'll give it a try." And OH BOY CAN I SAY THAT I AM SO SATISFIED. This book exceeded my expectations. It was a really spectacular, terrifying, horrifying, and amazing read. The writing is so fabulously amazing I almost died.

The suspense is so gorgeously created and it keeps the readers at the edge of their seats the whole entire time.

So let me just explain my hate for bloodsuckers right here and right now.

I hate vampires. I hate all bloodsuckers with fangs. I don't know. I just hate them (exceptions include Simon Lewis from The Mortal Instruments) So when I first cracked open this book, I was so irritated and impatient and bored. But then when I got further, everything changed. For the good. Flipping amazing.

Basically, the humans are now a rare species. And 'normal' people are the bloodsuckers. And the bloodsuckers yearn for human blood. They call humans 'hepers.' The main character, Gene, is a heper. (You don't even get to know his name until the very middle wow just wow) He's been taught by his father to not bring extra attention to himself, because, well. He lives in a world of bloodsuckers, and the only way to survive that is to pretend to be one of them. But it's really risky. If he sneezes, coughs, bleeds, etc etc, he's busted, and dead. And the whole time all the bloodsuckers are smelling his odor like 'Do you smell that? It's fresh heper.' And all that is really suspenseful because Gene could die any minute.

Gene, well. I didn't really get to know him that well. Even if he narrated with a first-person POV. He seems sort of shy and timid. I think that we as readers don't get to know him that well because he has no one to express himself to, since he can't do anything without exposing his heperness. However, one thing I know about him is that he's really noble. He illustrated that part of him so well at the end, omg. He'll save someone else before he saves himself. I guess sometimes he's really impatient and stuff. But other than that I don't know anything else about him. Dude, I don't even know how he looks like. But that's kind of good because I imagined him as Jonathan Bennett. If there's no character description then I might as well imagine him as a hot actor. LOL.

Since Gene was immersed in a world full of bloodsuckers he was led to believe what the others believed. That hepers were ignorant, wild, and brainless creatures that didn't know anything.

I hated that because he was so ignorant about the whole thing, like, when he actually met some humans he was like "OMG THEY CAN TALK AND MOVE AND THEY'RE SO ADEPT"

But, what I found interesting was Gene's description of some of the most everyday things we do that we pay no extra attention to, such as laughing, sneezing, coughing, etc. He was really clueless about hepers. Despite him being one himself.

The whole thing made it interesting.

Okay, so the romance.

The romance. I could have done fine without it, honestly. It's not really important except for the fact that the romance was the thing that urged both of the lovers to do all those brave and reckless things for each other that moved the plot forward so much.

It's kinda awkward though. I don't know.

-I KNOW YOUR SECRET
-I LIKED YOU FOR SO LONG
-LIKE ME BACK

-WHAT YOU DON'T LIKE ME BACK

-AT LEAST JUST PRETEND FOR A SECOND OKAY THAT YOU LIKE ME

-HOW DOES THIS FEEL
-WE CAN FIGHT TOGETHER

Even if it's awkward.. it's still awkwardly cute because they actually really like each other.

The ending just killed me so much omg. I was reading it and I saw the last sentence. And then I slapped the book on the table. "ARE YOU SERIOUS."

There were a lot of plot twists throughout this whole book. Did I say that this book was gorgeously and amazingly written?

Now I have to get book 2. That ending.. ugh. Let me be thankful first that this series is actually a series at all. Because if it weren't then Andrew Fukuda would be so brutal to let us readers know that the story isn't gonna continue, that it ended there.

Anyways..
Quotes!
Note: Since the quotes are from an ARC edition of this book, the quotes might not be exactly the same as the final published version's.

"She would be so delicious,.."

There's just something strangely disturbing about talking about humans like they're some lusciously delicious meal.

"Because I can smell heper."


"Those hepers are just like zoo animals."

Actually, bloodsuckers are more like zoo animals.

"It's just so good to have a...friend."


"..heper virgins.."

Is it just me or does that term sound really awkward.

"he's different."

"The Palace needs someone who is well-spoken, thoughtful, restrained, detail-oriented."


"Girls love it."

"Please."

Condescending much?

"Is it so hard to like me?" she asks, whispering, her eyes searching mine. "Is it really that hard?"


"I'm thunderstruck. These hepers speak."

Naaaaaaw.

"What's a 'name'?"

Out of all the I'm-in-dystopia-so-I'm-clueless questions this one was the worst. LOL.

"I thought I heard an asthmatic dog wheezing to death out here,"

"She holds them out to me like a peace offering."


"..burning the books."

UGH WHAT WHO BURNS BOOKS ANYWAYS
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And yeah, that's it! What did you think of this review? (:

Cover Reveal: Tainted Love by Eva Marquez.

Title: Tainted Love (Sweetest Taboo, #2)

Author: Eva Marquez

Expected release date: March 5, 2013

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Age Group: Mature YA /Ages 16+

Cover Designer: Heidi Sutherlin/Creative Pursuits http://www.mycreativepursuits.com/

Book Description:

Isabel thought her life was on track – she was doing well in school, moving quickly toward her future, and deciding who she wanted to be. Best of all, she’d reunited with Tom, the love of her life. But it doesn’t take long for her history – and his – to start catching up with them, presenting a range of uncomfortable questions. Does he really love her? Are they meant to be together? And what exactly has he been doing in their time apart?

About the author:

 Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, daughter of European immigrants, Eva Márquez has spent most of her life outside of her home country. At the age of five, Eva accompanied her parents to the United States, where the family settled permanently. After graduating from university, she went on to complete graduate studies in International Relations in Spain. Eva received her Master of International Studies degree from the University of Sydney and went on to work in the global health field in Sub Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Eva currently resides in Southern Africa.