Another Little Piece

Title: Another Little Piece

Author: Kate Karyus Quinn

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Paranormal

Release Date: June 11, 2013

My Rating:
♥♥♥♥

The spine-tingling horror of Stephen King meets an eerie mystery worthy of Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series in Kate Karyus Quinn's haunting debut. 

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

 A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

 Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish . . . a bloody razor . . . and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese's fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape—unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past.

~ Goodreads

What I Liked:
The cover!  The cover is gorgeous and it fits the story perfectly.
I loved the descriptions and writing, it was very lyrical and enrapturing.  In other words, I couldn't get enough of this book once I started it.  Quinn did a wonderful job creating a world where monsters trudged in broad daylight in the form of young girls.
The suspense.  This book has well drawn out suspense that kept me gripping my chair and bent over in anxiety.

What I Didn't Like:
Another Little Piece has a very different yet unique and intriguing plot.  But the downside is it was very vague, and vague means confusion, and confusion means a sad face.  
Anna/Annaliese was a good enough heroine, but she just blended into all the other young heroines in YA books.  They all have the same characteristics: the overrated 'I don't know who I am.  Who am I?' aspect, the wandering facade, etc.  I wanted a fresh and new character and Quinn gave me an overrated and overwritten character.  
The 'crazy religious people' reference.  What is it with the whole religious crazies stereotype?  Adding it in didn't even do anything for the plot!
I also found some of Quinn's statements offensive:

"Some women might've found Weight Watchers and aerobics, but ours found Jesus and she gave herself to him and his great church of judgment and shame." ~Page 299

Are you serious?  That's totally uncalled for and adds nothing to the story.  It's just plain offensive.
Not cool.

Overall, I'm giving Another Little Piece a 4/5 because the intriguing plot overruled that little line.

You Are Mine Book Blitz & Giveaway!

Title: You Are Mine (Mine #1)

Author: Janeal Falor

Pages: 273

Release Date: May 6, 2013

Serena knows a few simple things. She will always be owned by a warlock. She will never have freedom. She will always do what her warlock wishes, regardless of how inane, frivolous, or cruel it is. And if she doesn’t follow the rules, she will be tarnished. Spelled to be bald, inked, and barren for the rest of her life—worth less than the shadow she casts. 

 Then her ownership is won by a barbarian from another country. With the uncertainty that comes from belonging to a new warlock, Serena questions if being tarnished is really worse than being owned by a barbarian, and tempts fate by breaking the rules. When he looks the other way instead of punishing her, she discovers a new world. The more she ventures into the forbidden, the more she learns of love and a freedom just out of reach. Serena longs for both. But in a society where women are only ever property, hoping for more could be deadly.

Via Goodreads

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On Sale for $0.99!

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Advanced Praise:

“I was blown away by the beautiful writing, haunting themes, and chilling visuals.” ~Becca at Nawanda Files

“There were times when I had to fight back my tears and the emotion that this book drew from me made me feel so connected to what was going on as if I was actually there. You Are Mine should be on everyones to-read list and I cannot wait to see what Janeal Falor comes up with next.” ~Danielle at Coffee and Characters

Excerpt:

“May I kiss you now?”

No. Kisses leave me feeling sick. “I suppose it would be for the best.”

He leans closer. I want to pull away. Thomas's kisses were callous. Painful even. The thought of more of that makes me feel queasy. But giving my permission somehow makes it harder to pull away.

His hand reaches up and brushes my face. Flecks of gold are mixed with the green of his eyes. Suddenly, he scoops me into his arms and plops me on his lap. I yelp.

“Sorry, I guess I should have warned you first.”

After straightening my skirt with quivering fingers, I hold myself stiff. His nose nuzzles against the side of my neck. Warm lips brush my jaw and sweep along my cheek until they reach the corner of my mouth. My breath comes in shallow gasps. He smells lightly of citrus.

I don't move. His fingers tangle in my hair. His lips hover over mine. A nervous flutter grows in my chest. The creak of the door opening spurs him into action.

His lips touch mine. Flowing and sunny. They grow firmer. It feels so much better than I thought it could. His fingers run through my hair, the tendrils falling out of their confinement. Heat grows between us. He pulls me closer to him. Not only do I manage to refrain from fighting him, but I want to draw even closer.

About the Author:

Janeal Falor lives in Utah where she’s finally managed to live in the same house for more than five years without moving. In her spare time she reads books like they’re nuts covered in caramel and chocolate, cooks whatever strikes her fancy, and enjoys the outdoors. Her husband and three children try to keep up with her overactive imagination. Usually they settle for having dinner on the table, even if she’s still going on about the voices in her head.

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http://janealfalor.com/

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Giveaway:

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Elegy (Hereafter #3)

Title: Elegy (Hereafter #3)

Author: Tara Hudson

Genre: YA/Paranormal Romance

Release Date: June 14, 2013

My Rating:
♥♥♥♥♡

A stalker ghost, misguided Seers, and spellbinding wraiths—Amelia Ashley has faced them all. Now her greatest hope is to spend the rest of her afterlife with her living boyfriend, Joshua. But the demonic forces return to give her an ultimatum: turn herself over to the darkness or watch them murder one living person per week until she does.

Amelia fears she might really be doomed, until the forces of light give her another option. She can join them in their quest to gather souls, with a catch: Once she joins them, she can never see Joshua again.

Faced with impossible choices, Amelia decides to take her afterlife into her own hands—and fight back.

Via Goodreads

Elegy made me bawl, strain to not peek at the next page, grip the edge of my seat, all of the wonderful emotions a book should evoke from you.  But I want to be honest with you guys, even though I had all of these tumultuous emotions while reading, I was incessantly waiting for the book to end.  Not because I wasn't enjoying the story, but because there was not much going on.  All of the action and romance mainly occur in the beginning and the last sixty pages, so I was basically droning through the middle of the book.

There was some lagging, but not enough to make me lose interest.  The pace was very steady and well-planned.

Relationships.  The most crucial part of many YA books.  Amelia and Josh's relationship felt...well... let's just say I didn't feel the emotion, the raw tenderness you're supposed to feel when witnessing a relationship.  It didn't feel necessarily fake, but it also didn't feel real.  I just wish Hudson had taken the time to delve a little deeper into that part instead of brushing over it.

Was this a good ending to the series?
Yes, it was a very good ending, besides the tiny flaws.  I thoroughly enjoyed the roller-coaster of a journey Josh and Amelia embarked on together.
Just a warning, this book does not have a happily ever after.  It's not sad and it's not happy.  It's a very vague ending that's open to discussion.

Overall, I'm giving Elegy a 4.5/5 because I loved Amelia's journey as a ghost in the real world and I fell head over heels for Josh, but I wish the author had made the narration deeper and more emotional.

Tantalizing Tuesday Feature!

Title: Deadly to Love (Elemental Killers #1)

Author: Mia Hoddell

Genre: YA/Romance/ Paranormal/Fantasy

ASIN: B00BDQ3QGA
ISBN: 978-1-291-41025-9

Blurb:

The world is dangerous - but love will kill you.

Little did Serena Jackson know that one simple, flirty remark to an anonymous guy online would lead to her world being changed forever.

She doesn’t know him, but inexplicably, is drawn. She knows it is wrong but she agrees to meet.

His real name is Kai.  He is beautiful.  And immediately Serena feels herself blindly falling for him even though she senses a lie.  She knows he is hiding something and it terrifies her.

What she doesn't realize is that her entire life has been built on secrets and lies.  The people she loved left her in the dark for a reason.

She trusted them. She trusts Kai. But as he pulls her straight into the heart of the danger the lies and deadly secrets are revealed. They overwhelm her, and the person she once was no longer exists as she is thrown into a ruthless world of elemental forces. The price of truth is her life—and now the world wants her dead.

Purchase Deadly to Love:

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Lulu (Paperback)

Praise:

“I couldn't put it down. So I finished it last night and all I can say is WOW! This book was amazing and different.” Brianna (Book Blogger)

“I loved how the author took a different approach to writing a love story in modern times with the paranormal element present. I thought it was absolutely wonderful and refreshing. Marvelous!” Kathy H (Amazon Reviewer)

“I will admit I scoffed at the way it started but in the end I had fallen in love with this story…completely untraditional it was a very original idea, not to mention modern. This story had such a good plot and the story structure was sound.” Kacii – The Kooky Bookworm (Book Blogger)

About the Author:

Mia Hoddell lives in the UK with her family and two cats. She spends most of her time writing or reading and loves anything paranormal. Mia always had a love of writing but never reading. She was more interested in sports and hated sitting still - despite getting three poems published before the age of sixteen. Finally though, she found some novels that captured her interest and developed a love of reading which is now one of her favourite hobbies.

Mia began with poems before moving on to short stories. Although she enjoyed this, Mia found she had too much to tell with too little space, so later on she created her first series 'The Wanderer Trilogy' and from there other ideas have emerged. With a total of nine books planned at this moment, she is busy working on her second series 'Elemental Killers' before moving onto the next idea on her ever growing list.

Enter the Giveaway!

http://miahoddell.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/appreciation-month-gift-cardkindle.html