In My Mail Box #11

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren and inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

Won:

Fall for Anything by Courntey Summers - Thanks to Cass at Words on Paper.

For Review (all ebooks provided by S&S Galley Grab):

Haven by Kristi Cook

Darkness Becomes Her (Gods & Monsters #1) by Kelly Keaton

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Stay by Deb Caletti

10 Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz

BOUGHT:

None.  Visiting my favourite bookstore this week!

What did you get in your mail box?

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan

Goodreads Description

Here Comes the Bride -- If She Can Pass Chemistry.Eighteen-year-old Bronwen Oliver has a secret: She's really Phoebe, the lost daughter of the loving Lilywhite family. That's the only way to explain her image-obsessed mother; a kind but distant stepfather; and a brother with a small personality complex. Bronwen knows she must have been switched at birth, and she can't wait to get away from her "family" for good.Then she meets Jared Sondervan. He's sweet, funny, everything she wants -- and he has the family Bronwen has always wanted too. She falls head over heels in love, and when heproposes marriage, she joyfully accepts. But is Jared truly what she needs? And if he's not, she has to ask: What would Phoebe Lilywhite do?

My Review:

Favourite Quote: "And just the way he smiled - the kind of smile that exists only for you and anticipates the next good thing coming for you, or that whatever comes from you next is bound to be good - made my heart beat a little faster.  Made my breath come a little quicker."

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else surprised me in a good way.  I was just expecting a sweet love story, and that is amazing part of it, but it was witty, funny and smart coming of age story.

Erin McCahan writing is fun and simple but at the same time has depth.  I think it is because Bronwen has a strong and geniune narrative.  It is easy to connect with her as a character and understand and feel what she is going through.  Bronwen is dealing with the pressures of first love, family, school, getting into college, friendships and trying to make it all work together.  

Jared, what a sweetheart.  He is kind of the perfect boyfriend.   Their romance develops so slowly at first, McCahan had me on the edge of my seat waiting for it to happen. And when it finally did it was one of the most beautiful first kisses I have ever read.    I had to read re-read it a few times (well, I am a romantic sap!).

Bronwen also has a quite a few family issues to deal with.  Like a mother she never seems to please, a wonderful stepdad who she thinks doesn't want her as a daughter and a brother who is 'Jesus'.  McCahan deals with these issues in a believeable way.  She doesn't iron out the details so everything end perfectly but rather makes something the family has to works at. 

Overall, I Now Pronounce You Someone Else is an impressive novel that shouldn't be missed.

Overall Rating: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Romance: 4/5
Cover: 4/5

Recommend for fans of :  The Dairy Queen series, North of Beautiful and Twenty Boy Summer

For more reviews: Not Enough Bookshelves

For More Info: Erin McCahan's website

Fury by Shirley Marr

Goodreads Description -
Let me tell you my story.
Not just the facts I know you want to hear.
If I’m going to tell you my story,I’m telling it my way.
Strap yourself in...Eliza Boans has everything.
A big house.
A great education.
A bright future.
So why is she sitting in a police station confessing to murder?

My Review:

Favourite Quote: "Isn't it funny? The things we say, that come back to bite us. Maybe there's no such thing as innocent words after all."

Fury is smart, dark, edgy, brilliantly written and unexpected in many ways.

Shirley Marr had delivered a page turning novel that has a strong and compelling narrative. All you know at the beginning is Eliza is a killer. You don't know who, why or how. So you are sitting on the edge waiting to find out what happened as this well thought out plot smoothly and slowly comes together. The writing has a nice flow as Fury effortless goes from present to the past.

As I mentioned above Fury is unexpected but in a good way. What was surprising is how much by the end it had got under my skin to the point it made me cry. There were two scenes that made my heart ache. For days those moments just lingered. I guess going into this book I was expecting all suspense and drama but there were fun, sweet and tender moments of friendship and some raw and gritty moments that reminds you how cruel life can be sometimes.

Eliza, the main character, is not the nicest person.  She is mean and a bit of snob, but surprisingly I liked her because she never pretends to be someone she is not. And she is also not that typical teen voice. I think Eliza sums herself up perfectly in the book 'hot-tempered, unreasonable and I do stupid impulsive things...'. But she is a loyal friend to those close to her. She certainly hasn't had it easy with her absent father and her mother that is never around. By the end I had connected with on a more in-depth level than I expected.

Overall, Shirley Marr had delivered a thrilling and intensely readable debut novel.

Overall Rating: 5/5

Writing Style: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 5/5

For More Info: Shirley Marr's website.

For more reviews: Inkcrush, Lost In Stories and Girl Friday.

Note: This would be a great book for those who are participating in the Aussie YA Reading Challenge. Also stayed tuned for an interview with Shirley Marr.

Cover info:  These were some of the covers suggested for Fury.  For more covers check out Shirley Marr's website .

Thank you to Shirley Marr for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Waiting on Wednesday #10

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

 

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Release Date: 12th April, 2011

 

Strange things are happening in Maya's tiny Vancouver Island town. First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, mountain lions are spotted rather frequently around Maya's home—and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. Her best friend, Daniel, has also been experiencing unexplainable premonitions about certain people and situations.   It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret, and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy—her paw-print birthmark.

 

Why?  Because I loved Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers trilogy and this is a spin off series to it.  What I like most about Armstrong's books is that the plot always has you on the edge of your seat and the characters grow and develop as the series goes along. 

 

What are you waiting on?

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves

Goodreads Description:

Kit and Fancy Cordelle are sisters of the best kind: best friends, best confidantes, and best accomplices. The daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, Kit and Fancy are used to feeling like outsiders, and that’s just the way they like it. But in Portero, where the weird and wild run rampant, the Cordelle sisters are hardly the oddest or most dangerous creatures around.
It’s no surprise when Kit and Fancy start to give in to their deepest desire—the desire to kill. What starts as a fascination with slicing open and stitching up quickly spirals into a gratifying murder spree. Of course, the sisters aren’t killing just anyone, only the people who truly deserve it. But the girls have learned from the mistakes of their father, and know that a shred of evidence could get them caught. So when Fancy stumbles upon a mysterious and invisible doorway to another world, she opens a door to endless possibilities….


Mini Review:

Favourite Quote:

"But what if the monsters come?"
"Fancy."  Kit looked away from the drama to stare at her sisters, surprised.  "We are the monsters."

Slice of Cherry is DIFFERENT.  Did I like it? Yes (well most of the time).  Did it scare the crap out of me? Yes?  It twisted? YES!  

The world of Portero is hands down the strangest the world I have ever read but thanks to Reeves wonderfully descriptive writing you get a clear picture of this very odd world.  Dia Reeves writing is also fast moving, unpredictable and completely engrossing.    However even though I did enjoy this, quite a few times I was thinking is Reeves crazy!   For me, sometimes the scenes were a little too weird and gruesome.  That might because I am not the biggest fan of horror and can't even watch a scary movie without having nightmares for weeks.   So I am warning you this book isn't for the faint at heart.

I did however love the characters Fancy and Kit.  They are two sisters you wouldn't want to cross.  Both original, interesting and a little bit wicked.  Fancy though was my favourite, maybe because she wasn't as scary as Kit.  The romance in this book though bothered me.  Ilan looked at Kit like a predator in my opinion and it kind of felt creepy. 

Overall, this book has all the right elements if you like your books on the scary side but unfortunately I don't.

Recommend:  Fans of Bleeding Violets also by Dia Reeves or horror genre.  Or if you ever wanted to know what a killer or should I say killers are thinking this book might be for you.

Overall Rating: 3/5
Writing Style: 4/5
Plot: 2.5/5
Characters: 4/5
Romance: 1/5
Cover: 4/5

For more reviews: Goodreads

For more info: Dia Reeves website 

In My Mail Box #10

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren and inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.  (This week is 2 weeks worth as I didn't do a IMM post last week).

BOUGHT:

Mean Spirits & Young (Mediator #3-4) Blood by Meg Cabot

Grave Doubts & Heaven Sent (Mediator #5-6) by Meg Cabot

Out for Blood (The Drake Chronicles #3) by Alyxandra Harvey

Sugar Sugar by Carole Wilkinson

Mercy by Rebecca Lim

GIFTS:

Chasing Boys by Karen Tayleur

Hold Still by Nina LaCour

Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen

What did you get in your mail box?



Rating Scale - Stay or Go?

I been think a lot about rating books and changing my rating scale.  Is it really fair to give a book a mark out of 5? Should the rating scale be broken down into categories (eg plot, characters, romance, writing style etc)? Should I get rid of it all together? 

When I read other people's reviews ratings only play a small part in whether I decide to read the book unless it is a low number.  I read a lot of high rated reviews so it all goes down to the content in the person review.  I think there is a big different between 4 and 5 and the rating in between.  And of course there is the books that you want to rate a 100 out of 5, you know those kind of books you would save if your house is on fire. 

So I am asking for your input.  Do you prefer reviews with a rating scale?  Would you like rating scales broken down into categories?  What do you do with your reviews?  I would love to hear your thoughts.