Friday, December 28, 2012

Review: "The Replacement" by Brenna Yovanoff

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff. Published by Razorbill on September 21, 2010. 343 pages (paperback). Source: Purchased. My Rating: 5/5 Stars.

Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.





My Review



This book. Ahhh, I have so many feelings about this book. This was an amazing read for me. First, this book is so out of the YA loop it's not funny. I'm not saying it's not YA. What I'm saying is that the topics it touches on is nothing like other raved about YA books. There aren't any vampires, werewolves, faeries, assassins, zombies, or dystopian worlds. It didn't even focus on hot topics or today's issues. It was a wonderful story set in a small town that tried to deny their fear of the 'other worldly' town citizens that take a small child every seven years to replace with a revenant, or a look-a-like, that will die in short time.

Mackie is one of those children, but he didn't die young. He grew to be a teen boy attending high school with good friends and a lovely family, having to avoid iron and steel. But when he starts feeling more weak than usual, his sister seeks help from the people of the underground, Mackie's other family. But their help comes with a price..

This book had me on edge! And that cover. Woah! I have to admit, I bought it before I even read the synopsis all because of that marvelous cover! Every time I told my mom I wanted to stop reading everything I was trying to finish just to read this book, she kept mentioning that it looked like the cover of Rosemary's Baby.



That just makes it creepy. And, slightly awkward that my mother makes a connection between this beautifully chilling book and a 1968 classic film.

This book earns every one of those five stars from me. I love love LOVED it!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Review: "Every Day" by David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan. Published by Random House on August 28, 2012. 336 Pages (hardcover).
Source: Digital Library (loan). My Rating: 5/5 Stars

In his New York Times bestselling novel, David Levithan introduces readers to what Entertainment Weekly calls a "wise, wildly unique" love story about A, a teen who wakes up every morning in a different body, living a different life.

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl. 

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

With his new novel, David Levithan, bestselling co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, has pushed himself to new creative heights. He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day.



My Review


This book. Can I just say that David Levithan is a genius? 

The cover is absolutely gorgeous and automatically receives a 10 from me. LOVE IT. The summary. It's pretty simple and it sucked me in. Why? Because, it wasn't about werewolves, vampires, fairies, zombies, aliens, or a dystopian world. Although I love all of the above, I love even more to switch things up. To read a unique story line. This book exceeded all my expectations.

First, I'll go into a little bit about this book, which you can pretty much read about in the summary. "A" is a person who wakes up every day in a different body, required to carry out that person's life as usual so not to disrupt anything. "A" isn't a boy or a girl although it's easier to view "A" as a boy through the book. It seems to make things easier. "A" is just a person, a soul perhaps, that inhabits a different person every day. One day "A" wakes up in the body of Justin. He goes to school as usual and as Justin, "A" gets to meet Rhiannon, Justin's girlfriend. After spending a whole day with her, "A" realizes that to satisfy all desires, "A" must no longer follow the rules that he had set up for himself. "A" has found the person he wants to be with forever. To be able to fall asleep with and wake up to. But how is this possible when at midnight, he switches bodies?

This book took me on a ride from page one. Knowing that I was diving into a story about such a weird subject intrigued me. "A" makes his life sound just fine, that he may not be satisfied with being in a different body everyday but he knows he can't change how his reality is. Each body he inhabits is so different from the other, far beyond the lines of color and gender. It's kind of funny to follow "A" as a snobby teenage girl, a confident transvestite, a proud homosexual, a suicidal girl. So many personalities that "A" has to match up to as to not make family and friends suspicious. I had only one problem with the book: the cliffhanger. Please, David, please tell me there will be a sequel or, in the least, a companion novel! You can't just leave me pondering my thoughts for a resolution to all of this!

This book definitely earned my 5 stars. It's absolutely incredible. I didn't think I would get through this kind of book as fast as I did. But, in one day, I had devoured "A" and Rhiannon's story. I have cried with and for them. I found myself ultimately rooting for them. It's just so sad yet so joyous. What a great novel David has written. I loved it.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Rest In Paradise, Dakota..

A close friend of mine since early childhood, Dakota, age 17, passed away 12/12/12. It has been brought to the attention of the family that the funeral home is unable to take payments and the average funeral costs upwards of $7000 and that is fairly basic. They have not yet recovered completely from the cost of their daughter's services (passed away from cancer) to be faced with this again. I don't know how you feel but I feel that when a loved one is lost, it should be a time to grieve a loss and celebrate a life, not worry about money. Cody was a great kid and he deserves to be remembered in a wonderful celebration and I hope you will join me in helping the family. If 300 people can each give $10 we will meet our goals. 

 Thank you all for your donations. I feel that together we will be able to raise enough money to give his family the wish of a fitting and beautiful celebration of his life.

--Andrea

Friday, December 7, 2012

$500 Cash Giveaway!

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Sunday, December 2, 2012

$200 Amazon New Year's Giveaway! (:

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"Flygirl" by R.D. Kardon {BOOK BLITZ}

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