ARC Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by: Holly Black

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by: Holly Black (Sept. 3, 2013)

432 pages

Genre: YA/Vampires

Source: A free copy from NetGalley for my honest review.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

My Review    

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is one of those books that you are either going to like or just not.  I don’t think there really is an in between. I am a fan of vampire novels and Holly Black so I decided to give it a chance. I enjoyed this interesting take on vampires living openly in society and are for the most part are being confined in Coldtowns where some humans also live, I mean they need food (although most of the humans that live there want to live there hoping to be turned into a vampire), but the politics behind all that you will have to discover by reading the book yourself because I don't want to get into all of that here. But even with its uniqueness I also had some issues with the book as well. Overall I liked it, but I wish I could have loved it. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a dark and twisty tale.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown opens with a bloody scene and the race to survival for Tana begins. It’s too bad this race isn’t as fast paced once you get further into the book as the opening chapters makes you believe. It’s a little slow at times and there are flashbacks that I normally enjoy in books but for some reason they didn’t work here. Instead of adding more to the story it made it choppy and they were just annoying.

Tana is an interesting and complex character. I enjoyed watching her try to make decisions throughout the book on how to handle the situation she is put in after she wakes up at the party with just about everyone dead. The two males she is on the run with added a nice little touch of conflict. I can’t say that any of the characters are too memorable though.

The biggest turn off for me while reading was that there is of course a vampire-human type romance that verges on insta-love and with how much the human dislikes vampires this had me scratching my head. Since I found this book to be more unique when dealing with vampires I was hoping this romance wouldn’t be in it, taking away some of its uniqueness. Especially since they mention in the book that it’s crazy how vampires are romanticized.  

In the end it was a good read (there is a pretty darn good twist near the end) although nowhere near as awesome as I thought it was going to be. I say read it if you like vampire stories, especially ones that have romance. If you are over the whole vampire thing then I doubt you will like this one.

**I received a free copy from NetGalley for my honest review.

Top Bookish News of The Past Week

Here are all of the top bookish stories, blog posts, pictures, and videos I found this past week. I put this post up every Sunday so come back again next week for more bookish awesomeness.

Click away and enjoy your Sunday!

I didn't have a bookish news post last week due to the fact that I was in Vegas on vacation. Don't worry though, I'm back and have brought you a ton of goodies this week!!

ARTICLES

Have you heard of the website moviepilot? If not you should check it out. It has a whole section with updated news on book to movie adaptions.

USA Today

Okay guys, this is my favorite bookish news this week, besides the trailers below of course. Adults are getting a celebrity coloring book full of sexy male celebs. I wonder how much they are going to charge for that. I'm not even sure I have words for this little piece of news, except laughter. The best part, it's called "Color Me Swoon." I'm thinking teens may find this to be awesome.



Want a sneak peak of Allegiant by Veronica Roth? I know you do!

Travelodge has recently released a list of books left behind in its UK franchises. I'm actually sad so many people leave behind books in their hotel rooms, but then again maybe the person who finds it will enjoy the book and it really does spread the book joy. Or maybe the book was just crap.

They are going to add "twerking" to the Oxford Dictionary. I'm not sure I have words for this and I didn't even know what this was until I watched the VMAs, which I am trying to block out. (Except for the very short yet amazing Nsync reunion.)

If you want a good laugh read 20 of The Biggest Dick Moves in Literature. This article is so true.

BLOG POSTS

There is a new feature over at Bookish Comforts, Piece of Cake. This week Bookish Comforts offers great advice on how not to receive those pesky gmail emails saying you received a new comment on your blog when in fact it is only your own that you just posted. I have yet to change this in my email but I plan to thanks to Bookish Comforts.

There are many times when I read a book that is getting a ton of positive feedback and a lot of attention and I just don't like it. I tend to wonder if something is wrong with me. Luckily I discovered that I am not alone, Reading the Best of the Best has a great post up this week that discusses this.

I really enjoyed Bookish Treasures' post on what she thinks authors should do when writing review requests. What frustrates me the most is not getting addressed by my name or blog title but just as blogger. Or when the requester obviously hasn't read my review policy and sends me a book in a genre I don't review.

Noteworthy blogger tips and advice can be found over at Coffee and Characters. It's a short little post but really worth the read.

Want to spice things up on the blog or just enjoy doing surveys? Here is another cool one this week, The Random # Survey.

VIDEOS

The Divergent trailer is here!! I'm beyond excited.

The Book Theif trailer is here!! It looks good. Although the best part of the book for me was death's narration and I don't know what they are going to do with that in the movie.

Review: Dance in Shadow and Whisper by: Sarah Godfrey with Victoria DeRubeis

Dance in Shadow and Whisper by: Sarah Godfrey with Victoria DeRubeis (2013)

363 pages

Genre: Supernatural/Vampire/Demons

Source: The authors gave me a free copy of their book for my honest review. Thanks you two!

Purchase: Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Kali unexpectedly discovers on her first day of human high school that she’s forbidden to eat or partake of the toilet during class time, the assigned history and species books look best on the shelves of popular fiction, and the boy she’s watching over is definitely a reincarnated war lord.

The highest powers of Kali’s people and the highest powers of Yuuhi’s people, irreconcilable enemies, designated them to find proof that Jason is, in fact, the reincarnated Ares.

All Yuuhi sees in Jason is the typical scrawny, socially inept emo kid dressed in conflicting shades of black. But Kali sees that Jason’s shadow is bigger than he is, and if the powers of Yuuhi’s people find out, Jason won’t be human much longer.

The desire to protect him from an unexpected visitor brings out her most dangerous sides. Something’s changing in her, something she can’t control, and she’s not afraid of Jason mutating into a creature of the shadows more than she’s afraid she’s becoming something even worse.

And the highest powers will be watching her.

My Review

     

What did I just read? No seriously, I’m totally confused. Dance in Shadow and Whisper is an enjoyable read and is a novel with an interesting take on vampires and demons, but it had my head rolling at times. I enjoyed the story and there were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments, but I can’t for the life of me truly figure out exactly what I just read. I was a little bit confused for pretty much the entire book. Maybe I’m just a little slow, but I’m thinking it’s because things at times aren’t explained overly well in the book. So as I sit back and continue to scratch my head I’m going to tell you what I thought of the book to the best of my ability. 

The characters all around were the strongest part of Dance in Shadow and Whisper (besides the awesome cover of course). Each one was complex, intense, crazy, unique, and out of this world. I love the importance of family and friends in this novel and how Kali and her brothers interact. If you are hoping for a romance there isn’t really one. I didn’t mind this of course, it was a nice vacation from the norm. We get a lot of different POVs in this book which at first turned me off, but then I got used to it and was actually glad because it shined some light on different happenings in the book which helped me battle my confusion problem.

The plot was kind of hard for me to follow, not the overall big picture, but the little details. The world building just wasn’t that spot on and everything seemed to be made more and more complex in a not so great way as the story continued along. I did immensely enjoy several different scenes that were creative and well written, especially whenever Kali was at school trying to be normal, these sences may have made the whole book, but some of the scenes were also a little boring for me. I do however want to emphasize that when I finally got about half way through the novel I couldn’t put it down. It was intense, less confusing, and full of action. It just made me a little sad that it took me half the novel before I started loving Dance of Shadow and Whisper.

Right now this e-book is 99 cents on amazon and I’d say to give it a shot if you are a fan of supernatural books with a lot of crazy stuff going on. I’m not sure I would technically classify this as young adult due to the big amount of curse words and other small things. I can however say with certainty that I will probably read the second one because the ending is a huge cliffhanger and I'm thinking the next book will be easier to understand and faster paced. 

Double Review: Anatomy of a Boyfriend and Anatomy of a Single Girl by: Daria Snadowsky

Anatomy of a Boyfriend (Anatomy #1) by: Daria Snadowsky (2007)
272 pages
Genre: Romance
Source: I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest review.
Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Goodreads Summary: Before this all happened, the closest I'd ever come to getting physical with a guy was playing the board game Operation. Okay, so maybe that sounds pathetic, but it's not like there were any guys at my high school who I cared to share more than three words with, let alone my body.

Then I met Wes, a track star senior from across town. Maybe it was his soulful blue eyes, or maybe my hormones just started raging. Either way, I was hooked. And after a while, he was too. I couldn't believe how intense my feelings became, or the fact that I was seeing—and touching—parts of the body I'd only read about in my Gray's Anatomy textbook. You could say Wes and I experienced a lot of firsts together that spring. It was scary. It was fun. It was love.

And then came the fall.

Review: Anatomy of a Boyfriend is a little raunchy and a lot of fun. I think it did a great job at showing real-life teen experiences.  Dominique doesn't have a bright and shiny romance that comes out of a fairy tale, hers is a much more believable first love story. Nothing is perfect and everything is awkward and there are a lot of embarrassing moments for the main character Dominique. Anatomy of a Boyfriend will bring you many laughs and make you feel awkward at the same time. While this story did a great job at depicting real life I felt that at the same time it was a little too over the top when dealing with some issues. I also love that Dominique's parents are not absent in this story but actually have a presence. I feel like that never happens enough in young adult books. I don't think this was the best well written story but it certainly was entertaining and a quick read. This book is raunchy and freely discusses teen sex. It was a little more sexual than I thought it would be, but I guess I shouldn't have been surprised given the cover. With all that being said, I encourage you to check out Anatomy of a Boyfriend when you have some reading down time if nothing else for a few good laughs. I also just want to point out that the covers of these books will make you back peddle and do a double take. I really like them.


My Rating: 3/5 stars


Anatomy of a Single Girl (Anatomy #2) by: Daria Snadowsky
227 pages
Genre:
Source: I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest review.
Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository
** This review contains spoilers of the first book Anatomy of a Boyfriend.

Goodreads Summary: With Judy Blume-like honesty and insight, this sequel to Anatomy of a Boyfriend is about life after first love--romance, sex, friendship, family, and the ups and downs of life as a single girl.

After everything that happened—my first boyfriend, my first time, my first breakup—jumping back into the dating game seemed like the least healthy thing I could do. It’s not that I didn’t want to fall in love again, since that’s about the best feeling ever. But as a busy college premed still raw from heartbreak, which is the worst feeling ever, I figured I’d lie low for a while. Of course, as soon as I stopped looking for someone, an impossibly amazing—and devastatingly cute—guy came along, and I learned that having a new boyfriend is the quickest way to recover from losing your old one.

The moment we got together, all my preconceptions about romance and sex were turned upside down. I discovered physical and emotional firsts I never knew existed. I learned to let go of my past by living in the present. It was thrilling. It was hot. It was just what the doctor ordered.

But I couldn’t avoid my future forever.

In Daria Snadowsky’s daring follow-up to Anatomy of a Boyfriend, eighteen-year-old Dominique explores the relationship between love and lust, and the friendships that see us through.

Review: I enjoyed Anatomy of a Single Girl better than its predecessor  I felt like it was better written and even more fun and unique. This isn't your typical love story but more about how young adults handle themselves after a break up. This story is more adult than the first book, Dominique is older and in college. I do wish Dominique would have grown a little more from the first book, there was some growth though. I was a little disappointed that more of the book didn't take place in college, just over summer break, but it was still a good read.  I loved Dominique's "love" interest in this book way more than the first one. Guy was smart and hot and I just really liked him. I also enjoyed that the book also focuses a lot on friendship between guys and girls and best friends since childhood. I liked to see how the friendship between Dominique and Amy really grew and dealt with the hardships of going to different colleges. Once again I think that Snadowsky did a great job at depicting real life teenage issues. This was another funny and unique read. This can be read as a stand-alone so if the first book didn't really sound as good to you then feel free to pick this one up on its own. 


My Rating: 3.5/5 stars 

Top Ten Tuesday #11: Things That Make My Life As A Book Blogger Easier

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. 

This week's topic: Top Ten Things That Make My Life As A Book Blogger Easier. I really enjoyed this topic. It is very unique.

1. Goodreads is a wonderful tool to not only help me keep track of books I want to read and books I have read but it also helps me find new books and most importantly gives me another outlet to share my book reviews with other book lovers like myself.

2. My local library is a wonderful resource of free books. I absolutely love it and use it constantly. I don't have a lot of money so the library is a great tool to help blogging be easier. I get to read brand new books and have such a wide selection at my finger tips

3. Post-Its are a life saver. I use them to mark important quotes and passages. I also use them to take notes when I'm reading. I keep the sticky note attached to the cover of the book and I update it as I'm reading. This makes it a lot easier for me to write reviews later on. I even use post-its to keep track of what books I need to read. It's safe to say there are post-its everyone in my apartment. I even use the electronic ones on my computer for various things.

4. Twitter is something I just discovered not to long ago. I think it is a great resource to help bloggers get the word out about their posts. You also get to meet great authors, publishers, and other book bloggers. I get really excited when an author tweets me. :)

5. My ARC shelf on my bookcase helps me stay on top of the books I need to read before their release date. I always keep them in order of release date.

6. My laptop  is the ultimate key to my blogging success. Obviously without it I wouldn't be able to blog. I hate it most days (seriously it is kind of a piece of crap) but without it I would be lost.

7. Bloglovin has become an important part of my blogging routine. I love how easy it makes it to read all of the blogs I follow and to stay on top of other book blogs.

8. PicMonkey is a new discovery and a helpful one at that. Its a free and easy to use version of Photoshop  I used it to create my new blog header among other things. Check it out if you haven't yet.

9. My followers make me incredibly happy and lucky to have so many great ones. They make blogging easier simply by being themselves because they give the inspiration to keep on blogging. I thank every single one of you.

10. Coffee saves my life on a daily basis. I do my blogging every day while drinking a cup of coffee. I either have a mug of coffee with vanilla creamer or I have an iced caramel coffee. I love both kinds equally.

Share the things that make your life as a book blogger easier below!

Top Bookish News of The Past Week

Here are all of the top bookish stories, blog posts, pictures, and videos I found this past week. I put this post up every Sunday so come back again next week for more bookish awesomeness.

Click away and enjoy your Sunday!

ARTICLES

We book lovers have problems that no one else seems to understand. This list is so true.

Need some dating tips? Let Game of Thrones help you out.

Do you want to know who the top-earning authors of 2013 are? Sadly, E.L. James comes in at number one with $95 million.

You must check out these 15 beautifully animated young adult book covers over at Epic Reads. Thanks to Nikki over at Foil the Plot for showing me this!

BLOG POSTS

Writer of Wrongs thinks that brutal endings to book series are the best. I'm going to have to agree on this one.

The blog I'm Booked has this newish feature called Fun Fact Friday. The post shares bookish fun facts and I love it.

VIDEO

I have not read these books but this trailer seems interesting, although somewhat confusing. I love vampires but I'm always a little hesitant about starting a new series.

Review: Someday, Someday, Maybe by: Lauren Graham

Someday, Someday, Maybe by: Lauren Graham (2013)

344 pages

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Genre: Fiction

Source: The Library

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Goodreads Summary: Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates-Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material-and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works.

Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won't call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet.

Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job.

My Review

I knew I had to read Someday, Someday, Maybe as soon as I heard that none other than Lauren Graham wrote it. I am a big Gilmore Girls fan. With that said, I was a little nervous about the book because not all actors can write well, but I was worrying for absolutely no reason.

Someday, Someday, Maybe blew me away. It was charming, funny, cute, and just all around a great read and lots of fun. The plot, although it may seem slow at times, flows rather well. I also like the occasional break-up between chapters with pages from Franny’s planner. They are hilarious (although sometimes it was hard to try and decipher her handwriting) and really emphasized who Franny was.

I love the main character Franny, a young woman hoping to make it big as an actress. She is an adorable awkward loveable character. I loved reading the inner dialogue she has with herself, which usually resulted in me laughing or giggling or just feeling embarrassed for her. Franny is somewhat of a mess, although not completely, she is just trying to find her way in the world. I love her courage and her ability to bounce back when things are tough. Did I mention I love when she has the occasional word vomit when she is nervous or trying to make a point? It is hilarious and reminded me of Lorelai from Gilmore Girls. Her roommates are great fun as well. Dan is an aspiring screenwriter and her other roommate Jane is an aspiring movie producer. The trio work well together as roommates. I actually think all of the minor characters are unique and interesting as well.

Graham also did a wonderful job at catching the New York setting just right in my opinion  I liked the descriptions of the red carpet, auditions, plays, and everything in between. Not to mention that this book takes place in 1995 and I love that Franny gets excited about call waiting and having an answering machine. I remember those days.

My advice to you is to read it. It won’t take you long to read and I think you will be captivated with Franny’s story of chasing her dream. It is especially perfect for those that find the story of a young aspiring actor interesting, and this one is.