Review: Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout

 

Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Paperback: 400 pages

Release date: December 6th, 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Amazon ││The Book Depository ││ Barnes & Noble

Goodreads Summary: Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

Another fabulous work by Jennifer Armentrout! Obsidian is an unputdownable and fast-paced page-turner filled with sizzling romance and action packed story. It’s just amazing that other than knowing it’d be incredible because it’s written by Jennifer, I didn’t have any idea what this book is about nor what to expect from it. Granted, it ends up being awesome. I am pulled right into the characters’ world immediately and stayed there until the last page. 

This YA paranormal is a breath of fresh air from any other fantasy books. Sure, aliens in YA are not so new, but the author succeeded in creating a story that will leave its own mark and identity to the YA world. 

Katy and her mom moved to West Virginia to start over a new life. They have lost her dad a few years ago and now, she left Florida and the past behind just before her senior year in high school. Living next door are twins Daemon and Dee Black. She gets along easily with Dee, but her twin brother has a negative approach towards their friendship and never approve of it. Despite Daemon’s cruel and unkind attitude for her, she never backs down. What she didn’t expect for them to have is the strong attraction and chemistry they felt towards each other. 

It’s really hard not to like Katy. I mean, she’s a BOOK BLOGGER! She posts IMM vlogs and other book blogging memes, which is really awesome and new. I’ve never encountered something like it before in books. She’s also an independent and adorable heroine with just enough wits and character. She stood her ground and never let the others bully her. But like everyone in real life, she has also made some stupid decisions… like making herself the bait to the bad guys. Daemon is the epitome of a real bad boy protagonist! He’s protective and sexy as hell. I really like that Jennifer Armentrout goes consistent with his character. He shows some soft side of him without ruining his bad boy image. The chemistry between these two is enough to ignite an entire house. So much that I had a hard time fanning myself in one particular steamy scene. 

Aside from the sizzling romance, this book also has some intense action scenes that left me wanting for more. Obsidian was one heck of an excellent read that YA fans do not want miss. The graphical and descriptive scenes are hard not to be captivated with, especially the action and swoon-worthy ones! The ending wasn’t a cliffhanger (thank goodness!) that would have left me wanting to pull my hair out. But there’s no way the lack of cliffhanger made me feel any less excited for the sequel. All in all,Obsidian is a must buy and read! 

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Review: Love Story by Jennifer Echols

   

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

Paperback: 243 pages

Release date: July 19th, 2011

Publisher: MTV Books

Source: Author

Buy it on: Amazon ││The Book Depository ││ Barnes & Noble

Goodreads Summary: She's writing about him. he's writing about her. And everybody is reading between the lines..

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.

The latest book I’ve read by Ms. Echols, and I wanted to thank her for giving me a chance to review this one, so… 

Erin Blackwell is majoring in creative writing it is her ticket away from the awful memories she left behind their farm. But when the day that she’s sharing her assignment in the class came, Hunter walks in. He is the stable boy in Erin‘s story and the one who take her college tuition given by her grandmother when she refuses to take over the farm someday. 

The first part of the story is really lovable. The banter of Erin and Hunter, how Hunter revise his own story for Erin and how he used some medical/scientific terms (I hate that subject! tsk) which I don’t understand some of it and so on and so forth. I view this book as a powerful one for me. But there still some parts wherein I feel bored; I think the latter part of the story is where the weak point kicks in. Though I don’t want and try not to compare this book with the other books I’ve read by Ms. Echols I still feel that this is not the book I would give a 5 star. The location was new to me, the farm and horses; the place was described unmistakably and marvelously. The romance arises precisely that not only the adult readers will love but also the young ones. I’m a bit not satisfied with how the ending turns up. But overall I enjoyed the book and salutes Ms. Echols for bringing great contemporary books in our shelves. :)

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Waiting on Wednesday: Such a Rush and Ten

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

 

Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

Hardcover: 288 pages

Release date: July 10th, 2012

Publisher: MTV Books

Goodreads Summary: A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.

High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever.

But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business--until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers--and the consequences could be deadly. 

Ten by Gretchen McNeil 

Hardcover

Release date: September 18th, 1012

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Goodreads summary: And their doom comes swiftly.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives – an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school's most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off the from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn't scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?( 
her trademark wit and wisdom in a hilarious new novel.

What are you anxiously waiting on this week? Just leave a comment of the link to your WoW post!

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Review: Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

 

Hunting Lila (Lila #1) by Sarah Alderson

Paperback: 320 pages

Release date: August 5th, 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Source: Won

Amazon ││The Book Depository ││ Barnes & Noble

Goodreads Summary: 17-year-old Lila has two secrets she's prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she's been in love with her brother's best friend, Alex, since forever. After a mugging exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust - her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organisation called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they've found them. In a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realises that she is not alone - there are others out there just like her - people with special powers -and her mother's killer is one of them…

This is the first book by Sarah Alderson that I’ve read, and it certainly won’t be the last one. Hunting Lila turns out to be one of the best books I’ve finished so far this year. This book managed to suck me in right from the beginning ‘til the end. I don’t give 5 stars lightly and this 2011 debut novel deserves it and more… because it completely blew me away. 

Hunting Lila has it all: tons of heart-pounding action, toe-curling romance and a fast moving plot. I guessed one right thing from the beginning, but felt so astonished when oodles of mysteries were revealed. I also tend to feel bored to tears sometimes when I read action in books. But in this case, that never happened to me. The pace kept throughout the story and never once did I put it down. The writing was amazing and the plot was well-built. This book easily falls into my favorite reads list. 

I think I can go on and on about how remarkable the characters in this story were. They are absolutely my favorite thing about this book! Lila was such an enjoyable and fun character. She can be stubborn at times but she’s also strong-willed and loyal to everyone she loves. And then there’s my favorite character: Alex. Because alright, any girl would be undeniably inlove with him even if he wasn’t real. Aside from the fact that he’s soooo swoonworthy, he’s also downright nice and sweet. He knows the right things to do, even if doing these things went against many things he’s taught to believe in. Seriously, what’s up with Alexes in YA? I am not complaining because all of them are awesome, and so far I think this is my favorite Alex. 

The story, although not as new, has its own twists that left my heart pounding! It was so fabulously written it was insanely impossible to put it down. Hunting Lila was an electrifying debut I could easily reread. It’s a must-read for every YA fans out there and Sarah Alderson is an author to keep an eye out for. I’m craving and dying for Losing Lila! 


Favorite quote:

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We're back (with The Hunger Games look)!

Dear readers,

               We've been MIA for more than a month because of school and other real-life stuff. We have realized that college is a hundred times more difficult than high school and we're not studying just to survive, but to pass the subjects with flying colors. Of course we're not studying 24/7. For the first time in our lives, the three of us went through some great things only college--and in my case studying very far from my family--can offer. After several weeks of posting on and off, we stopped posting altogether. I even contemplated asking Mary Ann and Clarissa if they want to shut down the blog to be able to focus more on studies and doing other things. Apparently we opted not to do that. In the eight months that we've become a part of the YA community, sharing my thoughts about the books I've been reading has become a part of my life. I never really turned my back on reading and visiting blogs during our hiatus, so I know how much we're missing out on. Gladly, school is about to be over so Mary Ann and I (Dea) decided to get back to blogging and start the summer by actively posting on the blog. Finals is just around the corner but we've come prepared by scheduling some posts during the hell week until school's out.


                     Now that we're back, Mary Ann thought that we should also celebrate the movie release of one of our all-time favorite books - The Hunger Games! All of us are huge fans of the books since we read it over two years ago. Saying we're excited to see the movie is a colossal understatement! In celebration of the movie release, her wonderful brother created a THG-themed header. Thank you so much Kuya Anthony!

                     Lastly, a BIG THANKS to our loyal followers who stick with us during our long break. Welcome to the new ones and I hope you continue to support the blog. Our blogoversary is in 2 months and we have some great books to give away. Thank you again and we all wish you a great day!

XOXO

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